We're Back!!!

Sorry. We've been out of the realm of blogging. The last couple months were super busy. We went on vacation to Sedona with Dad's friend, Jeff and his daughter, Gabbie. School started, which of course is hectic. Jace leaves for band some days at 6:30 am, Luke leaves at 7:30, Layton leaves at 7:40, I leave at 7:50, and Dad leaves around 8. During the month of September, Dad had the possibility of being deployed to Texas for a couple of weeks to help with the hurricanes. In fact, he got orders 3 different times, but they were cancelled because Mom was so close to having the baby.
Speaking of which, Tressie Joely West was born September 18th, 8 lb 1oz, 21 in long. As you see from the pictures, she has lots of dark hair and we think she'll have blue eyes. We thought Troy would have a hard time, but he is the sweetest new big brother you've ever seen. He always wants to hold her and gives her random kisses on her head and sits and talks to her. It's very cute. He suddenly does seem to want bottles and pacifiers a lot though.


I recently found out about a really neat opportunity. The Phoenix Symphony is bringing in Franc D'Ambrosio, the world's longest running "Phantom", to perform at their annual New Years Fundraiser. And they're having auditions for Christine! They're looking for a girl 8-18. I recorded some music yesterday after school, but when I listened to it, all the high notes are distorted so I'm going to record again tomorrow with more high quality professional equipment and maybe again on Tuesday. We'll see how it goes. They may just pick a really young girl because it would help with the fundraising. I used this picture for a headshot; it's from Homecoming. And speaking of which, Homecoming was just on Saturday! It was so fun. I went with one of my bestest friends, Tucker Denton. We kept joking that we obviously won the "Most Attractive Couple of the Night" Award. :) On Friday, instead of going to the game, we went to our friend Joe Zeigler's house and played "capture the flag" on the golf course behind his house. Then we had a huge SuperSoaker war and then went inside and watched Princess Bride. very fun. On Saturday, all the guys in our group went to the priesthood session of conference at our stake and then picked up all the girls afterwards. We took pictures at the Denton's house in their front sitting room and on their grand entry staircase so that we didn't have to pay for the ones at the dance. Then we had a delicious dinner provided by the moms. After that we went to the dance but left as soon as we could. School dances are pretty scary. We then went to the Duncan's house to watch a movie, but it was already 11, and Tucker was adamant about having me home when he told my parents we'd be home so our carpool left around 11:30. I'm so glad I can trust him. It was very fun time. My group of friends seriously rocks!
Anyway, we should be getting family pictures in the near future, which is why this blog looks all mismatched and everything. Sorry about that. :)