Swimmers take your mark...

Emily had a swim meet in January.


Em on the block during warm up.

The 'game on' face.

Freestylin'

Congrats from the big sis.
This was a pre-comp meet so Sarah didn't swim.

And look who's here! Cousin Hillary!
She's cheering for the team.

This would be Hillary and her excellent butterfly.




Hillary and Emily even got to swim in the same heat. Fun.




Hillary edged out Em in the breastsroke.



Newsflash from Sarah: "You took 5 seconds off your old time!"



A perk of having cousins on the same team...

sitting next to your sister at the meets.

My brother in law Henry... a Real* man.

Able to hold a fuzzy pink robe for his daughter and a purse for his wife and have fun doing it. Love this guy.

This was a small, dual swim meet which made for an easy Saturday morning outing. Love those. Love Emily. So proud of her hard work and great attitude!!

*Go Real Salt Lake!

Baker's Dozen

.

I have a friend who posted a random sampler about herself. Twelve mostly unrelated tidbits. It got me thinking (dangerous, I know) and I decided to share a few of my own.

1. I'm typing this while wearing my daughter's U of U baseball hat. I've never been a baseball hat girl. I was just curious how I'd look in it. My hair's up in a ponytail and pulled through the hole in the back. I'm not including a picture because this look doesn't increase my hip and cool quotient, at all.

2. There is a green twig in a little ceramic pot on my kitchen windowsill; the remains of an orchid given to me by a friend when our dog Ralphie died. I nearly threw it out because I'm not gifted in the horticultural arts. I'll be darned if there isn't a little bud on the end of that twig!

3. The Superbowl is in two weeks. I don't particularly care about the game, but I'm interested to know who's going to be playing during halftime. Tom Petty a few years ago was great. I know... I'm old.

4. Even though Emily is 9, I still love to watch her wake up in the morning. That was my favorite time of day with my babies. I rub her back and brush the hair from her face. It's a sweet time for me. Sarah wakes up earlier and to an alarm clock. She is so good that way, but mornings are hard for her. Dark winter mornings are no fun.

5. Rich and I made Tortilla Soup to take to dinner at my parents' tonight. Topped with green onions, deep fried tortilla strips (sinful), sour cream and grated cheeses. It's pretty good. My sister Tatiana (who I adore and who makes me laugh) said, "This soup is off the shizzook!" Her hip and cool quotient is in the savant range.

6. Sarah and Emily both gave talks in church today. Sarah in Sacrament meeting and Emily in Primary. They did such fine jobs! Sarah's was about strengthening the family and Emily's was about Jehovah and the Plan of Our Heavenly Father. They are amazing.

7. My mom has high blood pressure and so do I. Just had to up my BP meds. Dang. Although, if this is as bad as it gets, I can deal. While we're on the topic of my health... I may have a tiny little buzz going on from all the cough drops I've had recently. Riiiiicolaa!

8. My dad is having a total knee replacement tomorrow. Good luck Dad! I Love you. My family typically avoids illness or surgeries that might render my skills necessary. Really, the only time I've known my brother and dad to shiver with fear was at the mention of me being their nurse someday. Heh heh heh.

9. I'm the Music Chairperson in our ward. Is it totally inappropriate to get the ward choir to sing 'Love Shack' by the B-52's? We've got a great director and very accomplished accompanist. I'm even singing in the choir now, but only for moral support. I do NOT have a very good voice. I am, however, enthusiastic.

10. Rich wore a shirt today that made my heart race. A black and grey longsleeved baseball shirt. Nothing fancy... but he sure looked fine. It reminded me of when we were dating and I'd watch him play softball. Smile.

11. I love Sunday dinner with my family. I can't believe how blessed I am to be so close to my family. My brother and sister are fabulous and wonderful and they crack me up and I love them like crazy. I have the best parents, the best inlaws, the most darling nieces and nephews... you can see where I'm going with this.

Love. Them. Do.

12. I serve as the accompanist for the Primary in church. It's a great calling! We're starting to learn new songs for this year's program. Beautiful music. It makes me so happy to hear their voices singing about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love that I get to be there while Emily is still in Primary.

13. I have 9 billion pictures in boxes and piles in my house and zero scrapbooks. I need to do something with them and I can't bring myself to get started. I love looking at pictures of my family and our life so far, I just can't even imagine where to begin. I think this is how the hoarders they show on TV must feel. Overwhelmed. I guess I'm going to have to be brave and just dive in.

There. I feel better now.

Lodge Minivan

This is the color of ski cheeks.

You may have heard it described as a healthy glow.

In reality it is the body's outward sign of a desperate attempt to not freeze solid.



This is the color of relief.

"I've made it through the first half of the first day of skiing for the year!"

We didn't ski much last winter and it was a challenge remembering skills learned a while back.



Dashboard dining.

Rather than paying $8.00 for a cup of chili, we brown bag it and eat lunch at Lodge Minivan conveniently located in the parking lot of Brighton Ski Resort.

This gives us a little time to kick off the ski boots, warm up and relax for a bit.



Sarah relaxes with a book.



Daddy relaxes with a coma. (Kidding. I'm just jealous of his ability to drop off anywhere, anytime)



Emily relaxes in "full backseat splendor". (Em's words)

If you look closely you can see my little one's golden hair under the cocoon of blankets.

After some food, some tunes, some good literature and a few zzzz's, we take our warm again selves back into the elements and ski!!

Let me state several objectives of our little ski outing:

1. To have a day of wholesome family recreation.
2. To be active and exercise our bods.
3. To develop our mad skiing skills.
4. To get above the ultra nasty inversion and find some blue skies.

Mother nature chose to play games with us and we skied in very cold, zero visibility, sideways snowblowing, snowdrift forming conditions.

Back in the valley, our neighbors enjoyed blue skies, sunshine and temps in the 40's.

Tiny weather bitter.

Okay, now I'm done.











We really did have a fun time. I'm looking forward to our next day on the slopes!

Fair enough.

Some History:

This is me at 17... fit, athletic. My body did whatever I asked it to do.

I won a few races. Life was good. (Life is still good. It's just not 17 good)

This handsome man is my dad. My adorable sister Tatiana is on the right.

This is a picture of my dad when I was in high school. In this shot he's just about the same age I am now.

Back when I was an obstreperous teenager, one of my favorite pastimes was mocking my parents. In particular, my dad. Dad has a good sense of humor so he could take it. Besides... there was just so much good material! I am a kidder, I kid (said in a cheesy French accent)


More History:

Back in the day, we had a Zenith corner console TV in our family room. It had a remote control and a vertical row of shiny silver buttons down the right side of the screen for manually changing the channel, volume, etc.

More often than not, when you entered our family room you'd find Dad laying on the ground in front of the TV. Feet close to the screen, head away. I think there were a few reasons for this.

1. Dad worked hard and needed some down time.
2. Dad had some lower back problems and it felt good to lay flat.
3. Sometimes he couldn't find the remote and laying close that
way he could change the channel.

Dad was gifted in the art of channel surfing using only the big toe. The toe. It is legend to this day.

We teased Dad a lot about 'the toe'.

The real entertainment happened only infrequently. The whole fam would be enjoying a show (or trying to enjoy a show but unable to do so because 'the toe' was surfing) and without warning Dad would call out, "OH! OH!" and leap vertically off the ground from a completely supine position, hopping to the wall and clutching at his calf.

Cramp. Charley Horse. Either way... good laughs. Me as egocentric teenager lacking empathy? Pretty much.


Fast Forward approximately 27 years (ouch):

I worked a graveyard shift last night. A very pleasant night as these things go. Came home, hugged Rich hello and goodbye, then got Miss Emily off to school. Sarah had already left by the time I got home at 8 am. I sat down, had breakfast, watched some news and unwound for a while until I hit the wall. That's when I happily climbed into bed and fell asleep. Sound asleep.

One and a half hours of wonderful, much needed, deep sleep.

At the one and a half hour mark, I awoke in confusion and pain. "OH! OH!!" In my half asleep state I'm hitting my calf, pinching my upper lip (I heard that helps once upon a time) and pulling on my big toe (ironic, no?) trying to get my calf to unclench. I finally woke up enough (it was the screaming that did it) to hobble out of bed and force my foot flat on the ground to stretch out my calf. I'm ready to disown my left gastrocnemius. Traitor.

It's been three hours since I awoke to the above described terror. Unable to go back to sleep I'm now further sleep deprived and limping because of the residual pain in my calf.

Sorry Dad. Really. Sorry. I love you.

Christmas '09

The traditional opening of jammies on Christmas eve.


If only Emily were more expressive.
We never know whats on her mind.



Sarah in her snowflake pj's.



Em giving a leopard print MEOW!



The annual running of the girls.



"Oh boy! Oh Boy!"



"A Wii! No Way!"



"And Beatles RockBand!"

Em's first pair of toe socks.



Trying to play the piano in her new toe socks. Priceless.



Watching all the fun on Christmas morning.



G & G came over to check out the loot.

You think you know a guy...

Em bowling a strike.




Wearing the neck warmer Emily made for me! So warm and cozy, my head was beginning to nod. A happy Christmas morning for sure.

She's making a list & checking it twice.

Emily, who is nine years old, is a big fan of Christmas. She's a big fan of life. That's more accurate. Emily is so full of joy and is such a happy little girl!
It shouldn't be a surprise then that for a big event like Christmas Eve she would get organized and make sure she's not forgetting anything!

Here's the full translation and explanation of the above photo:


Christmas Eve to do list

Make treat for Santa - check (She made darling cupcakes)

Hang up stocking - check (It was placed with care on a chair by the fireplace)

Arrange the presents nicely - check (They looked good to me! This may have been a front for tallying up numbers of presents and for fondling/shaking as many as possible before the big day)

Wrap and finish Mom's gift - check (It's the sweetest handmade gift ever. I get cold and sometimes put a scarf on to keep warm in the house. Em made me a neck warmer. Pictures to follow soon. I love it!)

Set out eggnog - check (A nice big glass was set out by the cupcakes)

Be a shepherd in the Nativity - check (See earlier post. She was an angel in the church nativity and had enough of that role)

Wrap presents - check (Wrapped and placed thoughtfully 'neath the tree)

Give Sarah her's (hee hee!) - check (Inside joke having to do with a tiny crush)

Tidy up the living room - check (Please note that none of the tidying and arranging was assigned to her by a parental unit. These are things she saw needed doing. What a wonderful ability to have developed at the tender age of 9!)

Play on Free Realms
Visit Snowflake and buy her winter clothes
Earn foo gems - check, check and check. (These last 3 items have to do with Em's love of computer games. In between wrapping and tidying and handcrafting gifts she took a little time to unwind on the computer. Not only did she accomplish all of these things, but she also cheerfully delivered neighbor gifts)

Fall asleep fast - negative (She was so excited for Christmas Eve and Santa's visit that my darling Emmy didn't fall asleep until almost 1:00 am! Sometimes its impossible to get everything done on your to do list)

I love you Emily! I would be sad without the happiness and excitement and giving you bring to our Christmas.

Thanks Sweet Pea!

Here comes Santa Claus...

After the Nativity, things loosened up a bit.



We sang some Christmas carols.

And then this guy showed up!

Tony's smiling because he's been a good boy all year. Nothing for him to worry about.

Santa happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped to say hello to some of his favorite people.

"Well... I'd really like a puppy"

Santa very gently explained that he never brings dogs on the sleigh because they bark at his reindeer.



Santa was so charming that even though the puppy request was nixed, Emily still liked him very much.

You just know a girl who wears light up antlers is going to get along really well with Santa.

Sarah's thinking, "Oh man... its been a while since I sat on Santa's lap. This seems a little awkward"

Hey. If Tony can do it, so can you.



She was good all year and didn't ask for a single thing. Typical and awfully sweet.

Santa was so patient to let us get our pictures taken with him on his busiest night!



Santa loves Grandma and Grandpa. They're some of his best helpers.

What a fun Christmas Eve!!