And here is a picture of me and Kerry in Las Vegas several years ago. See, smart AND pretty!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
In Defense of Cafeteria Religion
You should read this incredible post on rhetoric, religion, and not being a sheep by my sister-in-law, Kerry. That's why she's the writer in our family- because the girl can really write. She is recovering from surgery and needs diversions so go over to her excellent blog Windmill Watching and leave her clever comments!
And here is a picture of me and Kerry in Las Vegas several years ago. See, smart AND pretty!
And here is a picture of me and Kerry in Las Vegas several years ago. See, smart AND pretty!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Forever friends and tin foil dinners
John's parents still get together every month with a group of friends they made in the first ward they lived in over 30 years ago. John and I have been so lucky to make great friends in our ward, too. Although we're the only ones left still in the neighborhood, we are forever friends with these guys! We headed up Millcreek canyon to make tin foil dinners and enjoy one of the last nights of summer. Charlie loved following Evelyn and Andrew around and throwing rocks. Of course, we underestimated how long tin foil dinners take to make (I never seem to remember!) and ended up feeding the kids s'mores before their dinner. Luckily I had a stroller for Charlie to be contained in for a few moments so I didn't have to worry about him ending up in the creek.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
MahMaw and BahPaw
We had so much fun with my parents while they were in town! Charlie just loved having both grandmas and grandpas around. My dad has already returned to the UAE but we still have my mom for another month.
Reading books with Grandpa. Charlie loved playing with Grandpa, especially in the early morning (they're both early birds). Charlie could say "Grandpa" by the end of my Dad's trip. It sounds like "Bah Paw". Cute.
Just out of a bath and snuggling with Grandma. Charlie's version of "Grandma" is more like "Mah Maw".
Playing in the hose (and a makeshift "pool") outside with Grandpa was a daily occurrence. My dad whipped the yard into shape while he was here- I'm so grateful because we haven't been able to keep up with the yard like my parents do.
Reading books with Grandpa. Charlie loved playing with Grandpa, especially in the early morning (they're both early birds). Charlie could say "Grandpa" by the end of my Dad's trip. It sounds like "Bah Paw". Cute.
Just out of a bath and snuggling with Grandma. Charlie's version of "Grandma" is more like "Mah Maw".
Playing in the hose (and a makeshift "pool") outside with Grandpa was a daily occurrence. My dad whipped the yard into shape while he was here- I'm so grateful because we haven't been able to keep up with the yard like my parents do.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Guess who's 2 months old?
Our perfect, pink, smiley baby niece and cousin, ELIZABETH! Oh, how we love her even though we have never met in person. (One day!) Can you even stand the cuteness? Because I cannot. We love you, Elizabeth!
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Charlie- 16 months
With all the craziness of the summer, Charlie's 15 month checkup was a little late. He got two more immunizations but only cried for a few moments because the nurse gave him a sucker (his first). That distracted him from his pain pretty well!
He weighed in at 29 lbs and is 34 inches tall. At 16 months, he is the size of a large 2-year-old. Love that solid boy! He's getting lots more hair and it's looking like it might be curly!
He's finally gotten attached to a lovey. For right now, he's pretty happy to cuddle with any soft blanket, although he does have one particular favorite one that he loves. He's also started to cuddle up to pillows and stuffed animals.
Charlie has really started to enjoy reading and looking at books much more this month. In the past, he's had only a passing interest, but now he'll sit for longer periods of time looking at books with me. I love it!
Charlie spent 4 days and 4 nights at Grandma and Grandpa T's house while John and I were on our Stake's Pioneer Trek. He had so much fun with them! They went to the pet store, had "Christmas in July" where James and Charlie opened new toys, and played in the backyard in the sprinklers and a new baby pool. A special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa T and Kate, Anne, and Chelsea who all pitched in! We didn't worry about him at all because we knew he was so taken care of!
He's gotten some more words, including "Bah-bah" for Aunt Barbara. There's a baby gate separating our part of the house from Aunt Barbara's apartment and Charlie will stand at the gate and call for her, "Bah-bah!" It's so darling!
He loves to run up to me and hug my legs. The other day, he squeezed me and said, "Mama" while he was hugging me. Melt my heart.
He has started to run and climb. He can now climb on the couch and tries to use his toys as stools to climb up.
He also has begun reaching up to the countertop and likes to see what he can pull off. He has a little suitcase that he loves to drag around and the other day he dragged it over to the door and stood on it so he could get a better reach on the doorknob.
He has two new molars on the top and he's working on two new molars on the bottom. They look so painful, poor baby!
He loves playing outside and quite often is found wearing only a diaper playing in the sprinklers or with the garden hose.
He still knows what an elephant says and will bring me his elephant toy so that we both can make the trumpeting noise. The other day at the doctor's office, I taught him how to snort like a pig. He will do both "tricks" when you ask him what those animals say. He's working on horse and fish and bunny and dog, too.
He loves eating grown up food. Chili is one of his favorites.
He thinks all unidentifiable electronics are phones. Right now he's holding the Wii-mote (the Nintendo Wii remote) up to his ear and saying, "Mama! Dada! Bah-bah!" like he's talking into a phone.
His love of music is still very apparent- he loves to sing along and dance to music. We, of course, are very pleased about this!
Charlie's getting more mischievous- his latest escapades have included pooping on the floor (not pictured to spare us all) and toilet papering the entire upstairs. He also loves to climb into the toy box (which he usually gets stuck in) and lately has started sitting on the bookshelf.
He weighed in at 29 lbs and is 34 inches tall. At 16 months, he is the size of a large 2-year-old. Love that solid boy! He's getting lots more hair and it's looking like it might be curly!
He's finally gotten attached to a lovey. For right now, he's pretty happy to cuddle with any soft blanket, although he does have one particular favorite one that he loves. He's also started to cuddle up to pillows and stuffed animals.
Charlie has really started to enjoy reading and looking at books much more this month. In the past, he's had only a passing interest, but now he'll sit for longer periods of time looking at books with me. I love it!
Charlie spent 4 days and 4 nights at Grandma and Grandpa T's house while John and I were on our Stake's Pioneer Trek. He had so much fun with them! They went to the pet store, had "Christmas in July" where James and Charlie opened new toys, and played in the backyard in the sprinklers and a new baby pool. A special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa T and Kate, Anne, and Chelsea who all pitched in! We didn't worry about him at all because we knew he was so taken care of!
He's gotten some more words, including "Bah-bah" for Aunt Barbara. There's a baby gate separating our part of the house from Aunt Barbara's apartment and Charlie will stand at the gate and call for her, "Bah-bah!" It's so darling!
He loves to run up to me and hug my legs. The other day, he squeezed me and said, "Mama" while he was hugging me. Melt my heart.
He has started to run and climb. He can now climb on the couch and tries to use his toys as stools to climb up.
He also has begun reaching up to the countertop and likes to see what he can pull off. He has a little suitcase that he loves to drag around and the other day he dragged it over to the door and stood on it so he could get a better reach on the doorknob.
He has two new molars on the top and he's working on two new molars on the bottom. They look so painful, poor baby!
He loves playing outside and quite often is found wearing only a diaper playing in the sprinklers or with the garden hose.
He still knows what an elephant says and will bring me his elephant toy so that we both can make the trumpeting noise. The other day at the doctor's office, I taught him how to snort like a pig. He will do both "tricks" when you ask him what those animals say. He's working on horse and fish and bunny and dog, too.
He loves eating grown up food. Chili is one of his favorites.
He thinks all unidentifiable electronics are phones. Right now he's holding the Wii-mote (the Nintendo Wii remote) up to his ear and saying, "Mama! Dada! Bah-bah!" like he's talking into a phone.
His love of music is still very apparent- he loves to sing along and dance to music. We, of course, are very pleased about this!
Charlie's getting more mischievous- his latest escapades have included pooping on the floor (not pictured to spare us all) and toilet papering the entire upstairs. He also loves to climb into the toy box (which he usually gets stuck in) and lately has started sitting on the bookshelf.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Busy, busy
This week:
-my parents are here visiting from the UAE
-is my last week of school ever! (with finals and papers and projects to show for it!)
-I'm working on a press conference for Child Rescue and the Candlelight Serenade (have you bought your tickets yet?)
-Charlie is turning more into a little boy and is less of a baby every day (bittersweet!)
-I have fun social events to attend and put on
-I'm planning fun things to squeeze into the last bit of summer
It's a little crazy over here! What are you up to in these last few weeks of summer?
-my parents are here visiting from the UAE
-is my last week of school ever! (with finals and papers and projects to show for it!)
-I'm working on a press conference for Child Rescue and the Candlelight Serenade (have you bought your tickets yet?)
-Charlie is turning more into a little boy and is less of a baby every day (bittersweet!)
-I have fun social events to attend and put on
-I'm planning fun things to squeeze into the last bit of summer
It's a little crazy over here! What are you up to in these last few weeks of summer?
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Thoughts on Trek
-I was amazed by the incredible amount of work put in by the organizers (specifically Mary, Bob and Patti). It was overwhelming. We're talking an 80 page journal/handbook for every person (200+), a half dozen crafts, pioneer stories not just told but re-enacted several times throughout the days, costumes, a trading post, digging enormous pits to roast turkeys, horse riders to serve as the "mobs" to chase us out of Nauvoo and later to be the Pony Express, and an actual city of Nauvoo set up at Mormon Flat. And at first, I admit, I thought a lot of it was unnecessary. But I heard from many youth who noticed the extra details and were completely floored that their leaders loved them enough to go to that much extra effort. After I heard that, I *got* it. I knew that all the extra work (literally thousands of man hours) was worth it to make a life-changing experience for these kids.
-Being so tired at night that I slept through almost everything, except the moose that wandered into our camp the first night, literally ten feet away from my head. It woke me right up and I did my best to frighten it away without getting my head trampled on. Or wetting my sleeping bag from fear. After I shooed it away from our campsite, it lingered near our camp for about 20 minutes, which I spent wide awake, watching it and praying that it would go away. Finally, it did. The next morning, another leader said he heard it too but because he was without his contacts, he was sure it was a bear and that he was a goner.
-Feeling so tired physically that I thought I would pass out, but then somehow summoning the strength to go on. We had an extremely rigorous first day- we trekked about 14 miles over about 10 hours. This killer day included the women's pull, an intimidating series of hills over which only the women pulled and pushed 19 handcarts. I was so proud of all the women, but especially the girls from our family. We were one of the last handcarts in line and we left our cart to go up the hill and assist others. Then we turned around and did it again, and again, and again.
-During the women's pull I needed to take a break and use my inhaler. I was feeling tired but fine, I just needed to catch my breath. However, one of the support personnel (who I'll call HK), who was on a horse, saw me using my inhaler and was extremely concerned about me. He dismounted and insisted that I get on his horse and ride to the top. I declined over and over and he insisted over and over. I told him I didn't know how to ride a horse, that I was afraid, that I was fine, that I just needed a rest but to no avail. This ended the man pushing me up on the horse, with me helpless to stop him because one foot was in the stirrup and the other hopping on the ground trying to get on the horse but failing miserably. Meanwhile the I'm pulling the saddle off and the poor horse is just trying to escape. John finally came to my rescue. It was hilarious!
-The very touching and spiritual testimony meeting. It went for hours without a lull in the line up of those waiting to bear their testimonies. Many of the youth shared their initial reluctance and dread at coming to trek and their complete change of heart after being on trek. One young man shared how he was waiting to turn in his mission papers. His mom convinced him to come on trek and after participating in the young men's fireside and hearing testimony borne from his leaders about the importance of serving missions, he felt the witness from the Holy Ghost that he needed to press "submit" on his papers as soon as he got home.
-Being on the beautiful land where actual pioneers walked, worked, and sorrowed. What a blessing to live in this valley!
-Feeling very tenderly about my trek "children". The last day, some of each family "died" and I cried my eyes out. I really could put myself in the place of the pioneers for a brief moment and imagining losing a child or another family member and then having to leave them behind and continue the arduous journey was very, very sad.
-Learning how to motivate and inspire and encourage teenagers was hard! We had seven teenagers in our family, ranging in age from not quite 12 to 17. They were incredible kids though- they didn't complain, even when we were all exhausted and hot and dirty and had horrendous blisters. The last night we had some rain and wind so we squished all the kids under our tarp shelter. Lying there listening to them laugh and laugh at the flashlight shadow puppets they were making was one of the highlights of the whole trek. Just I as I grew to love them in a short time, they grew to love each other.
-Being so tired at night that I slept through almost everything, except the moose that wandered into our camp the first night, literally ten feet away from my head. It woke me right up and I did my best to frighten it away without getting my head trampled on. Or wetting my sleeping bag from fear. After I shooed it away from our campsite, it lingered near our camp for about 20 minutes, which I spent wide awake, watching it and praying that it would go away. Finally, it did. The next morning, another leader said he heard it too but because he was without his contacts, he was sure it was a bear and that he was a goner.
-Feeling so tired physically that I thought I would pass out, but then somehow summoning the strength to go on. We had an extremely rigorous first day- we trekked about 14 miles over about 10 hours. This killer day included the women's pull, an intimidating series of hills over which only the women pulled and pushed 19 handcarts. I was so proud of all the women, but especially the girls from our family. We were one of the last handcarts in line and we left our cart to go up the hill and assist others. Then we turned around and did it again, and again, and again.
-During the women's pull I needed to take a break and use my inhaler. I was feeling tired but fine, I just needed to catch my breath. However, one of the support personnel (who I'll call HK), who was on a horse, saw me using my inhaler and was extremely concerned about me. He dismounted and insisted that I get on his horse and ride to the top. I declined over and over and he insisted over and over. I told him I didn't know how to ride a horse, that I was afraid, that I was fine, that I just needed a rest but to no avail. This ended the man pushing me up on the horse, with me helpless to stop him because one foot was in the stirrup and the other hopping on the ground trying to get on the horse but failing miserably. Meanwhile the I'm pulling the saddle off and the poor horse is just trying to escape. John finally came to my rescue. It was hilarious!
-The very touching and spiritual testimony meeting. It went for hours without a lull in the line up of those waiting to bear their testimonies. Many of the youth shared their initial reluctance and dread at coming to trek and their complete change of heart after being on trek. One young man shared how he was waiting to turn in his mission papers. His mom convinced him to come on trek and after participating in the young men's fireside and hearing testimony borne from his leaders about the importance of serving missions, he felt the witness from the Holy Ghost that he needed to press "submit" on his papers as soon as he got home.
-Being on the beautiful land where actual pioneers walked, worked, and sorrowed. What a blessing to live in this valley!
-Feeling very tenderly about my trek "children". The last day, some of each family "died" and I cried my eyes out. I really could put myself in the place of the pioneers for a brief moment and imagining losing a child or another family member and then having to leave them behind and continue the arduous journey was very, very sad.
-Learning how to motivate and inspire and encourage teenagers was hard! We had seven teenagers in our family, ranging in age from not quite 12 to 17. They were incredible kids though- they didn't complain, even when we were all exhausted and hot and dirty and had horrendous blisters. The last night we had some rain and wind so we squished all the kids under our tarp shelter. Lying there listening to them laugh and laugh at the flashlight shadow puppets they were making was one of the highlights of the whole trek. Just I as I grew to love them in a short time, they grew to love each other.
Playdate with Harvey
A while ago, my childhood friend, Rachel, and her darling son, Harvey, came over for a playdate. We couldn't resist a photo opportunity of these two cuties!
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