News from LeAnne

So, the above graphic is a map of the route we walked for the Days of '47 Parade yesterday, July 24, 2008. Dad and I got up at 3:30 that morning, and drove out of the yard at 4:30. Mark met us at the line-up area on West Temple at 7:30. We had previously arranged for Steve Beagley (Kyle's dad) to take our rawhide handcart to the line-up area, since he had a truck and we were in a car. Steve then rode with Lee and Pam Jeffs in the covered wagon they had hauled up to be the Castle Valley Pageant entry. Dad and Mark and I pulled our handcart with several other handcarts in the Sons of Utah Pioneers entry. By 8:30, our handcart was ready to go, but Mark and I needed to hook up with a shuttle driver so that we could leave our cars at Liberty Park (the parade terminus) and still get back to the starting point to walk with the handcart. We never did find that guy. We simply decided that Mark should leave his truck at Liberty Park and I would bring him back to West Temple and leave my car parked there, then he would bring Dad and me back to it after the parade. Well, the traffic was so congested, that by the time we maneuvered to the park, we had only five minutes until the parade would start. And the SUP handcarts were to be entry number 5. So we hightailed it north on State Street. We got to about 300 South by 9:05 and knew that the parade had already begun. So we parked the car and walked up the parade route until we met up with Dad and the handcart and then fell right into step with him. It was a little adventure for Mark and me. And we all had a nice time walking and waving. We saw a few people we knew---Enid Cox, the Woolseys from Castle Dale, our cousins Deon and Ross Pincock. After the parade and our nice rest in the park at the end, we went to Mark's house for noodle casserole and ice water. We talked about the plans for the trek after the pageant. Then Dad and I loaded up and headed for home. It was a pretty good trip.

Fawn, you asked about the author I mentioned, Dick Francis. I don't know that much about him, really, except that he is a former steeplechase jockey who got injured and then tried his hand at writing fiction. He has written over 40 mystery novels, and they all center around the horse-racing world and various things connected to it. His protagonist is always a guy in his mid-thirties, but they are not all the same character. Sometimes the protagonist is a steeplechase jockey and sometimes a veterinarian or a horse-trainer or even a photographer or painter of horse portraits or caterer at the racetrack. The mystery is always interesting, and the romance is very low-key. The protagonist usually becomes a hero by saving the day or getting out of a tight jam or something like that. I really recommend his books as a light read that engages the mind and makes your brain work. I'm not even that much of a horse person, let alone a racing person, but I've really enjoyed the 15 or so of his books that I've read so far.

Heading to pageant practice for now. When is everyone planning to attend?

The Beagley's Summer So Far...

Every summer of our marriage has had its joys, adjustments, happy moments and challenges. This one is proving to be no different. Above is a photo shoot that I did of the girls in early May. Below is a pic of Claire in the hospital about a week later. You all know about our scary experience when she stopped breathing and in the few seconds when I didn't know if she was going to be taken away from us, I was so grateful that I had taken these cute pictures of my girls. After Claire's incident, she was life flighted to Primary Children's where we spent 3 days and they did countless tests to see what was wrong with her. They figured out that it was probably reflux and she is on some medication for it. She has been a fussier baby than my others and we don't know if it is still the reflux that is making her that way or if it is colic or ??? I said to mom the other day, "parenthood is the biggest guessing game you will ever play!" I have also had a pretty emotional time getting used to having 3 kids and with Claire's added fussiness. I just hope she can grow out of it and be a happier baby.

This picture, of course, is at the blessing luncheon. Thanks to those of you who were able to attend. It was a very nice day.
This is a cake that I did last weekend for Kyle's step-sister's wedding.

Sorry these are out of order. This is Jannika's birthday cake from her luau party. I can't believe my little girl is 5 and getting ready to go to Kindergarten next month. She is very excited. She had some dental surgery on Tuesday in Provo. They put her out and even had to pull one of her teeth. She is playing Bessie in the pageant with Hannah as Cora (and we are Joe and Tilda again). Thanks to LeAnne for all her help with my kids during the surgery, at the pageant site and just in general. We love you!

There are more things that I want to write about but this will have to do for now! For more updates you can also check my other blog http://www.kyleandjanell.blogspot.com/

MILLER NEWS OF JULY 2008

I hope this is going to work. It's such an excellent idea. I hope the kids will all put things on too. This time I wanted to just choose a few pics to share from the past few months.
Dakota is a sophomore in this picture. He's 4th from the right counting Coach Hugentobler. He was on the Manti High School basketball team. This year they won the 2A state championship so this was an assembly to recognize the team. It was so great watching Kota and the other boys play and work as a team. Hunter and Cassidy also played on BB teams. They love it.
The next shot is little Brooke. This is how she learned all her colors. She would play with the play doh and match objects to each color. She turned 2 in April.
Next we have a photo of Tim and Brooke in the sky ride at Lagoon. We had a great day there with some cousins and friends.
The next pic is Hunter's winning baseball team. He's 3rd from the right on the front row. They took first at Ephraim Lions Tournament. Then they went on to take third place in the state tournament in Spanish Fork just this past week. They were an excellent team and very fun to watch. Hunter plays 2nd base and pitches and sometimes outfield. Koty also played baseball for the Manti Templars. He plays shortstop. Cassidy played for an accelerated team and a city team. She pitches and plays 2nd base. Ridge played coach pitch this year. He mostly played shortstop.
Next we have Cassidy and Brooke on the 4-wheeler. We went camping a couple weeks ago and the main camping activities were 4-wheeling and motorcycle riding (not to mention fishing, shooting guns, drinking pop, and eating junk food). We actually camped at the spot where Tim proposed to me in 1991. There's also a tree with our names carved on it from the year we met at snow college in 1987. Anyway, it was fun to get away for a couple days.
This last picture was taken in February for Ridge's baptism. We had a fun day with lots of Seely and Miller cousins helping us celebrate. We all clean up pretty well, don't you think?
Love, Fawn

Checking in

Hello. This is LeAnne. This is my first blog post. How hip am I? Today I'm visiting at Janell's house, and we have spent the morning setting up this blog. What a great benefit it will be to have our family updates all in one place and easy to access together! So here's a little update on me. I'm helping Dad and Mom get ready for the pageant. I won't be playing Millie this year, but I'll be helping Janell and Brenda with their kids behind the scenes. Also, a friend of mine from Orem is bringing her ward's youth group to see the pageant and camp overnight and have a little tour of the Castle Dale Cemetery to see the graves of the REAL people in the pageant. No news in the social column, but the work area is going fine. I occasionally temp at Joane's office in Price and also for Carolyn Jorgensen at Castle Dale City. And the typing at home is going along as per normal. My friend Ellen Smith Hadfield is living in Castle Dale, as you may know, and her family got asked to play Wink and Anna in the pageant! She was very excited and attributes it to the fact that they are living in the red brick house where Wink and Anna lived. More likely it's because they are an energetic young couple with four little boys the right ages for the parts! Ellen and I go yard saling together occasionally. And we trade Jane Austen movies. Here's a little movie review . . . "Finding Jane" was very good but not exactly realistic. "Miss Austen Regrets" was also very good and a lot more likely to have been what really happened. And here's a book review . . . "Straight" is my favorite Dick Francis novel so far. I've read about 15 of his 30 + novels. The others are also good to greater and lesser degrees. I'd like to read ALL of his books eventually. Okay, that's enough yammering for today. I'm looking forward to reading what you all have to say!

Welcome!

This is Janell. Welcome to wonderful world of blogging! I must admit that I am an addict but you don't have to be to enjoy an occasional foray into the Seely Seasons blog. Please feel free to post an update or just a picture and leave a comment on others' posts. Don't feel like you can only post if you have something BIG to talk about. We want to see even just a picture of your latest project or ballgame! I hope that this can be an easy and fun way to stay connected with each other. Enjoy!