A little love from the islands!

Right before Christmas Ella had her Polynesian Dance Recital and I am still trying to figure out how to add a video clip, but here she is with her dance buddy Kyalea

She is very proud and is doing very well, especially since Eddie acts as her own private tutor!

I added Aloha Oe to the playlist not because it was one of Ella's songs or because this rendition is any good, but for the pure kitch of Tia Carrere singing it.

All that glitters is not princess nail polish...some of it is princess hair glitter!

This week we celebrated Liana's 4th birthday, and we did it in style!
All year long Ella and Liana have been talking about "When it's my birthday..." usually adding things like "everyone will dance a ballet with me" or "we should have only girls and no boys, except (every boy they know by name here). There are so many ideas and requests that I cannot even begin to listen to them until November when birthday season begins.

This year Liana told me she wanted a princess party with Cheetos. I was grateful because I know how to do that, but then the details began, "I want puffy Cheetos, not crunchy ones!" "I want glitter in our hair" (because she attended a fabulous party a few weeks ago where they had hair glitter and nail polish) - "I want some crafts to do and some pizzas you sprinkle things on, and I don't want a cake cuz I don't really like cakes. " And so it went.

I tried my best, we borrowed the hair glitter, bought some sparkly princess nail polish, made ponytail holders and clips for everyone to glue glitter onto, we strung sparkly beads onto pipe cleaner bracelets and even made some foam-sheet "watches" for boys to glitterfy. I bought the puffy Cheetos and the mini pizzas (which everyone, birthday girl included ate plain) We had chocolate and strawberry ice-cream, chocolate and strawberry syrup, whip cream (or whup cream if you are my daughters), and all manner of candy sprinkles.
We even had sparkly stuff in the goody bags, including shiny sunglasses which I think make the party photos spectacular.

At the end of the day as I was putting my exhausted girl to bed she asked me "Why did you want today to be my birthday party?"
Not quite sure what she meant, I answered that Saturdays were good party days, and it was before all her friends left for Christmas Holidays.

She asked me again "But why did you want today to be my birthday party?"
I thought a minute and said "Because I wanted to have a special day for my special girl, is that a good reason?"
"Yeah! Good night Mommy, I love you."

Tonight when I was putting her to bed she said "I hope I had a good birthday."

Liana my angel, I hope you did too!

Turning 34

I had thought about a few things to post in light of my birthday, but then the stomach flu came into our house and I spent the little computer time I had this week figuring out how to add a playlist to the blog.

So consider it a birthday gift to me if you take a moment and enjoy some seasonal Ella Fitzgerald. I love her voice, and the attitude she infuses in her songs. When I was little for a brief while I thought I could grow up to be her.

That dream may not come true, but I have a house full of sleeping, and soon to be healthy people that I love, and I am going to bed myself, so have hope, prayers are answered, illnesses do pass, and moms do get to sleep, sometimes even on their birthdays!

The power of saying yes!

The power in saying yes
Years ago when I was not even an aspiring actress yet, barely an aspiring acting student, I learned an exercise where you must say yes to everything your partner offer within a scene, you can't refuse of reject their idea, but must simply “say Yes” and go with it. Of course there was a lot of hilarity involved with these practice scenes, but I think that there is definitely some power in saying yes to the things that pop up in your life.

Not much later, when I was a mere Sophomore and still not accepted on the acting track at BYU, I auditioned for a Chekov play called “the Three Sisters.” As I recall, I made it through initial auditions and one round of call-backs before being cut, and while I was disappointed I was also a realist and knew it would have been somewhat early for me to be cast in starring roles, I was after all, only a sophomore.
Then the cast list went up, and there were 3 girls my age cast in lead roles, and to make things worse, the non-speaking maid role had gone to a Russian girl who fittingly spoke little English.

I was very disheartened but I was already moving on to the next show to audition for. I heard from the girls who had been cast what an amazing experience they were having, the rehearsals working with a lot of more experienced actors and the incredible director Barta Heiner. I was very envious and only a little bitter at not being a part of it all.

Three weeks before the show was to open, the aforementioned incredible director approached me outside of the theatre lobby, just next to the SLAB (a large flat “bench “ on the ground floor of the Harris Fine Arts Center)

She explained that the maid role had come open (perhaps due to lack of communication?) and offered it to me. I knew it wouldn’t be glamorous but I thought that maybe I could learn something just being in the room with all that talent and so I said yes!

I was right, it was not glamorous, but it was amazing, I walked into a basically crafted show, and had to figure out how to be where the maid was supposed to be, I had to follow people around carrying a large silver tray and sometimes a heavy silver tea service, I had to sit in the wings for hours at a time waiting for my 2 seconds on stage. I learned that sometimes the actors aren’t the only ones you have to say yes to, during a preview performance a door on stage got stuck and while others chose to leave off the side of the stage, I knew the silver tea service wouldn’t fit so I had to kick the door open, graceful? NO, but it was pretty funny.
And yes, I did learn a lot just being in the room with all of that talent. My example probably could end there, I count among those I got to know during that show some of my closest friends, and I learned a work ethic that served me well in all my shows since, but the story goes better than this.

You see, the show had started and was going well, and there was some question about the date of an upcoming matinee showing, we had understood that the theatre would be closed on a certain day and many of the cast had made plans, then we learned that tickets had already been sold and that the show would have to go on. My friend Mireille was playing the sister-in-law Natasha, and had made plans to be in LA, I believe for a professional audition, and was unable to reschedule.

I was asked if I would take her role for that performance. I would like to think it was because I had shown some ability, but in fact it may have been that we were the same size and I fit the costume. In any case, I accepted and began three days of intense cramming. The rest of the cast rallied around me and held emergency rehearsals of all my scenes, the backstage crew made sure I was where I was supposed to be and helped me tape copies of my scenes to the walls backstage, the leading man kindly lied to me and told me the terror in my eyes during the first few seconds of my first entrance gave him “something interesting to play off of”, in short, it was an incredible experience that I will never forget, and it taught me that no matter what comes up during a run of a show, I can deal with it.
I think about that amazing time and all that I would have missed if I had said “no” and today, I am going to try to say yes to more things. For example, my little bosses just came in and asked if I wanted to watch Saturday Morning Cartoons and snuggle with them, I think I’ll say “Yes”

Happy Happy Birthday Nina

A year ago I met one of the most important people in my life, I had known she was coming, I had felt hints of her personality through my belly wall, and I loved her already, but I didn't know until I saw her, how much she would mean to me.

Nina is one of my favorite people in the world.

From the start she has known what she wanted and persevered to get it.

She wanted to surprise us, and didn't let us know she was a girl till she was born.

Her C-section birth was her doing too, she sat her little bum in my pelvis and refused to be moved by anything less than a major surgery.

In the last year she has applied her determination to many new skills and is doing well at all of them.

She has learned; to smile,

to crawl,

To stand;

to walk,

To do the dishes;

To use a telephone;

Even how to drive a car!

Happy Birthday My Beautiful Angel Girl!


Do you think maybe this year you could learn to actually get the food in your mouth?

kindergarten girls

Today was another milestone, Ella's first field trip, to the Pumpkin Patch. I wasn't able to chaperon so it was an exercise in letting go and trusting the school. They returned her in good health, a little dustier and a lot more tired. She proudly brought home her pumpkin and we carved it up like a "vampire that looks sideways a little."
We had our dinner, our Monday night Family Home Evening and made it into the tub with relative ease, when someone new showed up.

I call her "CRAZY MAISY" she is the insane and giggly creature that seems to take over my daughters when they are too tired or have had too much going on to process (for example your first field trip day ever!)
Maisy may sound fun, but when she makes my oldest girl refuse to put her clothes on apres le tub, Maisy is not our friend.

Ella was being silly and lost her bedtime story because she didn't put on her PJ's, lest you think me inhumane, I gave her 3 warnings and the final one being that if I saw her run through the halls naked one more time she would not get a story that night. As you have already surmised, Crazy Maisy went streaking through the hall and the story was lost.

I am glad that my daughters cherish their bedtime stories, but from the reaction that came next, one would think Ella's entire future happiness had rested upon her hearing that story. She howled and railed, she cried and hyper-ventilated, she had to go to time-out to try to calm down but ended up in bigger trouble for yelling at us, her innocent parents.

40 minutes later, she finally calmed down enough to lay down and crash, dead to the world asleep.

Eddie asked me where she gets the hyperventilating thing from and I had to confess, she is a girl, our emotions and our bodies are very tightly connected.

I was once a kindergarten girl too I give you exhibit "A"

I look pretty sweet and innocent, I was pretty sweet and innocent. I had two evil older brothers who made it easy for me to be the sweet and innocent one in the family (at least until I became an evil older sister, sorry Mary)
I can only now appreciate what my Mom went through, she survived 6 kindergartners, half of them girls.
Of course I can also now appreciate the benefits of really knowing a five year old girl.

Picture day hit us a few weeks ago, My big girl had a hard time sleeping the night before picture day (lack of sleep and Ella are a little too common) She was so excited and nervous for her class picture to be taken, her mind was racing and she couldn't fall asleep.
The next morning she spent ten minutes looking in the mirror because her teacher told her to "practice your smile"
She didn't just admire herself, she practiced all kinds of smiles and examined the benefits of each. She wanted her dimple to show, but she didn't want to show too many teeth, and so on.

One of the joys of having this beautiful girl in my family was seeing her face when she saw this face:

The perfect school picture!

Protecting marriage part 2

For those of you who read my blog looking for cute pictures of the girls and anecdotes from my life, those posts will return, but I wanted to respond to some of the comments that have been made here on the blog and in emails others sent to me in regards to Prop 8.

I must confess I have been thinking about what to write for weeks now on the subject of Prop 8. It's not so much that I didn't know how I felt, but rather that I know how hurt and/or offended some people would be. I have had friends, close friends who are gay/lesbian since High School. I have loved these friends and felt sorrow for the struggles and conflicts they have had to experience because of their sexuality. I have been grateful for their friendships, valued their opinions, and enjoyed their presence in my life. I do not believe that because they are living a homosexual life that they are inherently evil or bad. I do not believe that they want less in life or that they feel any less deeply.

That said, I do believe that homosexual behavior is against the teachings of the Scriptures. I don't say this in a dismissive way, I'm not saying that just because it is a "sin" I'm against it and that is all there is to the issue. I am saying that I believe God gave us the commandments for our benefit and protection. I believe that sexuality is not the most important part of identity.

I am saying that I believe that God's plan for me started before this life and continues after it. I believe that marriage was created for the purpose of creating families. I believe that a man and woman are each given a definite role in marriage and that those roles were created by God for reasons. I believe that Marriage is not something humans have a right to re-define, in order to be all inclusive or to make things easier. I believe these things are true because I have read and studied the scriptures, prayed and meditated on my own, and I have lived 30+ years on the planet observing and interacting with families and individuals.

I grew up going to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and believing in God and Christ, but please don't make the mistake of thinking I am simply a parrot or blind to the reality of the world.

I have chosen to live my life following the commandments of God as taught by Jesus Christ in the scriptures. This was a very deliberate choice made in my early twenties and reaffirmed on a daily basis, I knew in making this choice I would be giving some things up. There are friendships that would not last, and romances I would not undertake, experiences I would forgo because I believe that in sacrificing things that are nice, fun, and even some things that were fulfilling, I could achieve things that were even more important, including my marriage and family which I hold to be sacred. I believe that sacrifices are required of everyone in life.

I am not perfect and not without sin, I hate confrontation, I don't want to cast stones, but neither can I sit quietly while my beliefs are attacked by some and dismissed as uninformed or naive by others.

Protecting marriage.

Here in California we are currently getting ready to vote on something really important this year, Prop 8.

Prop 8 basically would add to the Constitution of the State of California the words

"Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."


It would not affect "Domestic Partnerships" or remove any priviledges which California has already granted to same sex couples, it simply states that the word marriage is preserved for the union man and woman. So what's the big deal? Why does it matter if gay couples want to be married? How does that affect me?


This is the big deal, marriage to me is not just a word to put on whatever floats your boat, Marriage is one of the most important gifts God has given me.


I believe that God is a loving Father who has a plan for us, He wants the best for us, the most happiness possible. He has given us His son Jesus Christ as an example of perfection and asks us to follow that example and try to perfect ourselves. God gave us marriage as an example of perfection as well, the very best circumstance for happiness.
1 Corinthians 11:11 "Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. "


I'm not saying I have a perfect marriage, or that I have ever even seen one, I am saying that God knows the greatest happiness we can achieve comes from our family relationships and that the best circumstances for those relationships to grow in, is a marriage. A marriage where a man and a woman come together in love, respect, and commitment, to make a family, to have children and to raise them, all in a partnership with God.

Neither gender can reproduce on it's own, both are required to produce children and I believe that both are needed to raise children. Obviously this doesn't always work out, but that doesn't mean it isn't the best way for families to grow.


To me, marriage is like a Diamond. As I understand it, carbon molecules are exposed to pressure, heat, and passage of time, and the miracle is that rather than be destroyed, a thing of great value and beauty is produced. Diamonds are not just sparkly things, they are strong and used right they can cut through substances otherwise impenetrable.
Married couples are exposed to great pressures and trials too, and like Diamonds, we can produce relationships that will get us through things that would otherwise trap or cripple us.


So I value my marriage, at 7 years I think we are still very much in the formative stage but have already made it a thing of beauty and strength. My goal is to have a diamond like marriage, clear and pure of flaw or defect, strong enough to cut through any obstacle.


I ask you to consider the effect on the value of a diamond if any clear looking gemstone were allowed to be labeled "diamond"

Yes, real diamonds would not change in their chemical composition, they would still retain their properties, but they would lose the value they had. Diamonds would no longer be something one could rely on as being strong and durable, but simply as something shiny.

I think this has already started to happen to marriage, high divorce rates, abusive or neglectful spouses, and infidelity have cheapened what marriage means to many people. Society as a whole is not doing enough to value the importance of family and as a result we are seeing greater trials and hardships.


When I teach my children about marriage, I want them to know that God has something great in store for them. I hope that they will strive to have a true marriage, where each individual overcomes selfish desires to make the family something great. I don't want schools to teach my children that any relationship can be called a marriage.

I hope that marriage and family can again become something it once was, the most valuable thing in our lives, worth more than careers or passions, not just a relationship begun with a party. I want marriage to mean what it should, not just a contract signed by two people, but a covenant with God to create a family.

I can't control the rest of the world, and I don't want to, Free Agency is another of God's greatest gifts to us, His children. But I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity this November to say that I believe in the sacred nature of marriage and that I want my state to uphold the bare minimum of standards, by defining valid marriage as "between a man and a woman"

I hope that you'll join me by voting Yes on 8.

Contagious!

I have alluded to recent illness but felt it was time to come clean, we had the dreaded "Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease" Actually only Liana had it this time, perfectly timed to miss her 2nd Tap class, her regular dental check-up, the first week of pre-school, and 2 weeks of church.
As we were biding our time indoors, not exposing our secret illness to others, I had a lot of time to reflect, if not a lot of time to write it down, and so, here are a few thoughts I came up with.

1-Sometimes you just have to quarantine yourselves, for the good of all.
2-Sometimes you have to break your quarantine so you and your children don't go crazy!
3-If you are breaking quarantine go to the grocery store that is farthest away from your home, this way you not only get a longer break from being cooped up, but you also avoid seeing people from your play group/ward/school/etc. who know you have the dreaded disease.
4-If you see someone you know at the farthest away grocery store, try not to let them see you, if they do, nod politely but do not engage in conversation - Remember, plausible deniability is your friend, and the less details the better. All it takes is one person saying that they saw you "spreading the plague" and you will be blamed for whole outbreak, even if your child was the last one to get it.
5 - Do not tell people who don't have children the name of the disease your child has. trust me, you say "Hand, Foot and Mouth" they hear "Hoof and Mouth" and you are never invited to another BBQ again.
- and finally,
6 - If you don't like what your pediatrician says is the correct amount of time to wait before rejoining the populace, ask your friends what their doctor/advice nurse said and choose your favorite answer.

Country Bumpkin Pumpkins

Well, it is October, and Fall has come to Southern California, we had 104 degree weather last week, and down into the sixties last weekend. The cool was short lived, but it was perfectly timed for a trip to the pumpkin patch with Eddie's work. We climbed the "Hay Castle" and took the above shown picture before heading off to the patch.

The girls were delighted to get a free ride
Especially since their favorite pack animal was pulling the load
The girls started with the thought that we should get the biggest pumpkin we could find, then we told them they could pick their own so they decided to find the smallest pumpkins they could, so that they could pick and carry it on their own.

Nina decided not to go with this one, but she was happy to sit in the mud while we took her picture with it.

Ella searched high and low and in and out of the vines
Liana got a little help wrestling the little pumpkin of her choice
and seemed very satisfied with the results!
Part of the festivities included painting your own pumpkins, and here are our results

It should come to no one's surprise that Ella won the prize for the "most creative" pumpkin (far right) Not only did she paint "bloody teeth and blue spit, and a purple ghost!" but she also painted actual leaves and used them as stamps on the reverse side.

I've not posted in a while because we have had colds and stuff, so I thought this little photographic essay might be a nice way to say Happy Fall Ya'll

glory days

Recently my 5-year-old boss was caught red-handed in my photo boxes, I am not an avid scrapbooker, I am not the most organized of mind, my pictures (from the pre-digital era) are in photo boxes, sort of sorted, in general epochs of my life. Ella happened to be in BYU-HFAC section and uncovered the following gems.

I find myself smiling when I look at them, what pretty young things we were, what a pretty young thing I was! Of course at the time I often felt the angst of being unmarried, relatively unsuccessful at getting cast in productions, untalented in comparison to my closest friends, and lonely.

Amazing thing perspective.

I know that I cried when a cast list was posted and I wasn't on it, I know I felt sad and even slightly depressed when my friends were dating or got engaged or married, I know that I lost hope when the crushes I had pinned hopes on for eons graduated or left. I know I felt all of that, and that it was real, but looking at these pictures from the perspective of 7+ years of marriage and 5+ years of motherhood, all I really think about is how much fun it was.

In High School when someone said "these are the best days of your life!" I laughed and knew that that was not the case with me, but now that I am thirty-something, I guess I can see how sentimentality might make someone see that as true.

Ella's First Day of Kindergarten

Well, we survived it, truth be told we did even better than that. Here is Ella in the outfit she wanted to wear on her first day of school. I was very brave and let her choose her own clothes, and in case anyone wants to know, the sparkly white sneakers from Walmart are tons more sparkly than the ones at Payless! Can you tell she felt confident? (credit for this pose goes to her tap teacher, who taught her well, Hiya Ginger!)
We walked her to the courtyard outside of her classroom and waited for her teacher to give her a name tag. Once she was properly tagged, I gave her a kiss, told I was proud of her and told her I would be back to pick her up. The teacher asked the children to line up, and so Ella walked right to her spot so that she would be ready to go in.
I had some supplies (tissue, wet-wipes, etc.) to donate for classroom use, but I was waiting for the teacher to take care of all the students first before I asked where to put them.

This is a picture of Ella right before she said (and I quote)
"What are you still doing here?"
Liana and Nina and I watched her go into the class, left our bags of supplies inside the door and then went to a PTA welcome where we ate donuts and signed up to help with a craft fair near Holiday time. We left to make our umpteenth trip to the pediatrician's office to take care of the millionth form so that Ella can have all the medicines she needs available in case some peanut sneaks into campus.
We made it back to school right on time to wait for Ella to emerge triumphant from her classroom, here she is, exiting the gate where she had to raise her hand when she saw her mom and shake hands with the teacher before she could leave.
And finally here is our girl, mission accomplished, she played with Hula Hoops during recess, colored a raccoon, and survived snack time, what more could I ask for?
Aren't you proud of me? I didn't even cry!

Letting go a little bit

For those of you who have sent your first child to Kindergarten for the first time already, you know pretty much what I've been feeling this last week, If your child has a potentially life-threatening allergy then you might know exactly what I've been feeling this last week.

From the first time Ella had her first reaction to Peanut Butter at 15 months of age, I have not let down my guard very much, I've tried to stay relaxed, tried not to stress the things I can't control, but I have controlled the things I can pretty strictly. By paying attention to my instincts, (and by that I mean the promptings of the Spirit as well as my own logic etc.) we have managed to keep her alive and thriving and ready to go to Kindergarten.

She is anxious to get there, to be helpful to the teacher, to teach the other kids how to tie their shoes, to bring about World Peace in a day. I am anxious for her to go, anticipating the freedom that one less body, however small, allows on grocery shopping days etc.

I am also terrified, the two times she has had to receive emergency medical attention were both times I wasn't with her. In both cases, I guess it could have been me, I can be flaky with the best of them, I forget things all the time, but it is a testament to the gifts of intuition that come with motherhood that she hasn't had more reactions. So you can imagine that the prospect of her leaving my care, even for a few hours a day, gave me some anxiety.

If you are feeling anxious along with me right now I encourage you to take a deep breath and let it go, let it all go!

We met with the school nurse and Ella's new teacher last Friday, and I am breathing much more freely now. The Nurse was kind and direct and helped me to see that as food allergies have become more prominent they are used to dealing with all the precautions and remedies associated with the issues. The nurse was great, but surprisingly, the greatest relief came from a few simple words uttered by the teacher, who said "My son has a peanut allergy too." She is used to reading labels, scouting a group of children for signs and smells of PB, washing and wiping down tables and chairs, and though I am still preparing Ella in every way I can, I am no longer feeling the dread of letting her go.

This isn't the closest school to our home, it isn't technically even our school district (though only by a block or so) but for a variety of reasons we applied for and received a transfer for her to go to her new Elementary school. We were told that another Kindergarten teacher there was "the best teacher I have ever known, in any grade" and so of course I hoped that Ella would be assigned to that teacher. Thankfully I do not control the universe and now, when I cry a little tomorrow morning as I send Ella into class, it will only be the usual neurosis of a parent sending their little one off to the world.

Fancy Nancy's new friends

Recently my baby Brother (who is of course all grown up with a job and stuff) gave my girls the best gift I think you could give a kid, BOOKS!!!!!

To be precise, he gave them each a book from the "Fancy Nancy" series, which if you don't know about, you should.

http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/harperchildrens/kids/gamesandcontests/features/fancynancy/default.aspx

They address the issues that many girls age 3-16 are faced with, specifically, family members who are not fancy enough. It seems my daughters have taken these stories to heart and their lives have become tres bon, which is of course a fancy way of saying fabulous.

This is how fancy girls get ready for bed,
These fancy girls are also patriotic,
Ella's Primary teacher has even gotten into the act, she made this masterpiece for Ella,
C'est Magnifique, Non?

As part of the Library's Summer reading program Liana and Ella each got a raffle ticket which they could choose to put in a drawing box for different prizes. Raffles for small children are a little bit cruel, Ella and several other children asked when it would be their turn to win. Liana actually won a prize much desired among the 3-5 year old girls, however, her best friend, who had entered for the same prize, cried copiously and hysterically when she did not have the same luck. There were many sad children coming home from the Library that day, but this was Liana... If you wipe away the chocolate cake, her butterfly glasses make her look a little like Fancy Nancy herself.

Even Nina has become a little fancy, her hair is growing in and if you fluff it just right after her tub, she looks like this:

And if fancy hair isn't enough to get her on the fancy list, how do you like this action? At almost nine months she has realized she is capable of climbing stairs, of course, as a lady of leisure she likes to stop and sit to rest a minute and that is where she falls victim to the laws of gravity, so even with the safety gate she isn't allowed to play unescorted in the living room, what could be fancier than round the clock body guards?

Here's hoping you all get a little fancy in your lives soon!

Vacation Sensation

A month ago we went to the Utah, it was a really nice trip, and now that we have been home a while, I am finally checking email, returning phone calls and even blogging. I was going to try to do a trip journal and share the day by day account here, and then I remembered, I have only a few minutes of sanity in which to type, so here are a few highlights.

The Drive: Call me crazy but there is something nice about spending that time together, Eddie and I actually talked about things going on in our life and future, and since the grandparents bought our family a portable 2-screen DVD player last Christmas, we actually got to talk uninterrupted. Of course it wasn't idyllic, but thanks to my Great Aunt and Uncle Donna & Hal, (thank you for the generous use of your home) we broke up our journey both on the way there and on the way home.
Eating out: I rarely eat out anymore, it was really nice to order things I like, try new things, and not do any dishes.

Seeing Family: We started out trip with Eddie's Sister Tammy and her beautiful family, they have a gorgeous new little girl and we felt honored to see her while she was still so fresh! The older kids are cute too and it means a lot to me that my children really get to know their cousins and count them as friends too.

We also had half of a reunion with my side of the family, My two older brothers and their families, My parents and my family all negotiated the hazards of large group activity and managed to have a lot of fun doing it.

My brother Peter has some of the cutest and smartest children I know, each more talented than the other, thanks to my sister in law Steph, I am sure.

We stayed in the same hotel as my brother Matt and his family, my sister-in-law Tia is not only beautiful and intelligent but she also has the added attraction of coming from really wonderful people. Her parents are kind and generous and fun, and I'm not just saying that because they bought me breakfast one morning. Her Brother Brad works at the Cottontree Inn, our accommodation in Provo I recommend it highly, continental breakfast in the lounge, indoor and outdoor pools, who could ask for anything more?

My niece Kirstyn was excited that she was staying to see Miley Cyrus at the "Stadium of Fire" for July 4th, what she doesn't realize is that to my girls, she is just as cool and amazing as "Hannah Montana".

Museums: We took the kids to the Discovery Science Center in SLC, and the Bean Museum of Natural Sciences and the Museum of Art at BYU.

Discovery was great for my girls, Liana didn't want to leave the 3& under section, she could have stayed in the "birdhouse" all day, after all, the sofa was just her size.

The Bean museum cannot be beat for price, it's free, the parking is free, and you can see "Shasta" the liger who my brothers and I agreed is the same one we saw alive at Hogle Zoo when we were kids - Of course I just googled Shasta and found she died in 1972, two years before I was born, so much for accuracy, maybe we saw her stuffed there.
There are worksheets for every age to hunt down data, including "how many Lions are there on the main floor of the museum?" I think the answer is 18 but maybe Shasta should count for 1/2?

The Museum of Art holds a special place in my heart, I used to work early morning janitorial there. They house of of my favorite paintings in the world, "Fallen Monarchs" by William Bliss Baker.

In addition, Eddie got a hair cut at the Bon Losee Academy, including an invigorating scalp massage and the highly complimentary advice that his hair is "perfect for a faux-hawk". We also swam in the indoor pool, visited with old friends and shopped for things we didn't need. All in all a great vacation.

Picture Pages

Last Saturday we went to take a family portrait, we hadn't taken one since I was 1 month pregnant with Nina and we didn't even like that one enough to hang on the wall.
The family picture we currently display looks like this:
So you can see that we are due for an update, something that includes all three of our girls and shows them to be the happy loving twerps that they are. That picture does make me happy though, after all, look at Liana, she is so cute in that picture and she is smiling. Look at it now folks, you may not see her smiling in a picture again for awhile.
I am not crazy about having my picture taken either, but I am avoiding the reality that is my chubby chin and wacky hair. Liana with her perfect skin hair and teeth, has somehow come to hate the camera already.
I hoped to have a smiling picture full of her joy of life and silliness to show in this post, these, however, are a few of the options she gave us to chose from.

We ended up with a family portrait with a grump in it, secretly however, I kind of like it, I have candid shots of her doing all sorts of things, including big goofy grins, but now I have preserved for history this phase of her little life, when she made the decision to not smile and stuck to it with the fervor that only a 3 year old can have.