Time Is Flying

It seems like just yesterday this darling little girl was home with me all day long. We played and read and cuddled and napped and had fingerpainting sessions and played at the park.

How sweet are those pigtails?

Now she's 12 and excited to do new things...

...like go to the Temple! At 6:30 this morning, Sarah and I went to the Temple where she was able to do baptisms for the dead. What a sweet experience it was for me to be present for Sarah's first trip to the Temple. Thank you Sarah.

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman...

Okay, so there isn't enough snow to build a snowman...

but its markedly colder & less springlike today

than it was two days ago.
(May I have some cheese with my whine?)

This was taken Friday afternoon and it was

lovely enough to be playing on the patio.

The forsythia has put on her best yellow dress!

These two girls are ready for spring!

Funnies

Growing up, one of my favorite things to do on Sunday was to grab the comics section (a.k.a. the funnies) find someplace warm, (which could either be a sunspot on the carpet or crouched with an afghan over the heat register) and hunker down for a good read. A good read consisted of surveying the various comic strips from front to back, reading the faves and then time permitting, taking another stroll through the pages and reading some of the lesser strips.

Faves - Doonesbury, Bloom County, Garfield

Lesser Strips - Cathy, Hagar the Horrible, Beetle Bailey

Rich and I haven't subscribed to a daily paper for probably 15 years. We do however, mooch off of my folks and get a little newsprint ink on our hands every once in a while when we're at their home for Sunday dinner.

The same can now be said of our girls. Last Sunday I took this pic of Sarah reading the funnies. When I downloaded the photo and was looking at it I decided to tweak it a little. I've got a magic cartoon button which when pressed, makes a photo look like it belongs in the funnies section of the paper. Very fitting.

p.s. Sarah is feeling much better and starting to look and act like her normal, delightful self. Amazing what antibiotics and rest can do.

My mezzo-soprano

Here's Emily. My little bit of sunshine.

I just returned from driving Emily to school and was still laughing as I pulled into the garage. I usually don't have the radio on when I'm driving the girls around so it's quiet enough for them to be able to talk. I love this time because there's no telephone or TV or computer game vying for their attention. The almost Spring sun was slowly starting to come up over the hills behind us. As I drove down the hill I was looking at the green shoots of bulbs breaking through the dirt and birds hopping on the lawns... kind of in my own private Idaho for a bit. Then I woke a little and heard Em singing. It wasn't a tune I was familiar with and the words didn't ring a bell so I listened more closely. Emily had on her deep opera voice......

"...must go back to the building of doom.

It isn't a place of cheer- but gloom.

ten times ten, and twelve divided by threeee,

pencil sharpeners growl and growl at me..."

I can't remember all of it but dang she is so funny! I'd laugh and she would produce another line of Elementary School Operatic Tragedy. Just off the cuff, impromptu singing. It was the most delightful way to start off a school week. Kind of a musical rant about school for eight year olds. She is so creative and smart! (By the way, Rich and I went to the opera this year with my folks. Regina. Thought it would be great. American composer, has some ragtime. Utah Opera Company. It was beautifully executed but the most painfully depressing opera ever. Em's little outburst was more comedic/tragic than Regina.) I'm so excited to see where Emily's talents and

interests lead her!

Antibiotics and TLC

This was last weekend. Sarah and Emily having some sister time in Em's bedroom.

Here we see all the paraphernalia necessary to play Pollies, Barbies and a bit of Littlest Pet Shop. As you notice Emily's eager grin and the tools in her hands you'll quickly surmise that she is preparing to undertake Barbie's coiffure.

One week later I have no photo for comparison. It's too sad. Sarah woke up at 4:00 am today with a ruptured eardrum. Really... enough already. She is not a happy camper. She was just starting to feel recovered from being sick the last time. Antibiotics and TLC for Sarah. Hang in there sweetie.

Fifty, Nifty United States...

At the start of the school year it was announced there would be a special school choir comprised of 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th graders who were willing to attend early morning choir practice twice a week. Emily was so excited to be old enough to participate and signed right up. I have to say I don't remember hearing Emily complain about getting up early for choir practice.

The choir performed during school at an assembly last week and then later that night had a concert for all the families. They sang music by American composers, both old and new. It was well done and lots of fun.

If you click on the photo you can see Emily on the far left, 2nd row.

Emily is our little songbird. We're happy to see her developing her talents. We're also proud of the way she made a commitment and followed through. Way to go! We love you Miss Em!!

Sunday Fashion Show

Last Sunday was the birthday dinner for my extraordinary Mom and my darling nephew Clark. These Sunday dinners are a highlight for me as I get to be with my little family and my parents and sibs and nieces and nephews. There is always an embarrassing amount of good food and nearly just as much laughter.

On this particular evening, before dinner was served, my niece Megan informed us she had just got her dress for the junior prom and had brought it with her. Of course we demanded a preview. A few minutes of anticipation- then she floated down the stairs. Wow!

(I think in this shot she's trying to find a way to process all of the ooh's and aah's and compliments.)

She is so beautiful... inside and out. Her date is a lucky boy.

Not to be outdone... Clark who is uber fashion conscious came up from G&G's basement full of long outdated couture with these fabulous rainbow striped suspenders. Point of interest - his father actually wore these. Yikes! He tucked in his shirt, hiked up his pants and gave us a show. Zoolander/Blue Steel worthy I think.

Here are Mom and Clark sharing the birthday bench.

Clark has been busy teaching snowboarding and we have missed not having him with us. Thanks for coming Clark!

Happy Birthday Mom and Clark. Love you so much! oxoxo

5:00 Update

By 5:00 this evening I was feeling pretty good about life -

~Sarah is on the mend from a long week of illness.
~The snow has already melted away from yesterday's storm.
~I'm reasonably caught up with laundry.
~A large pan of homemade stew was simmering in the
oven making the house smell very friendly.
~A bathroom was being whipped into submission.

I was squatting on the bathroom floor in front of the shower with an 'I mean business' scrub brush in hand and a slight buzz/headache from the noxious fumes of the cleaner. Just then, Emily called and I turned around with my too long bangs hanging in my eyes and saw that Rich was home from work. I looked up to say hello and saw his smile and then the flowers.

Surprise! No reason. Just, "I wanted to say I love you and tell you that I appreciate you." How did I ever get such a good man? (Not to mention yummy as well.) Emily ran and got her camera and took this picture.

I love my husband more now than I did 20 years ago. More and more every year. I'm so thankful Heavenly Father let me have Richard. Life is good.

Super 8

My mother's mother passed from this life into the next, one year ago. As my mother is an only child, all of her parents' possessions have come to her. Things acquired over the course of a long and productive lifetime are almost too numerous to count and nearly always impossible to store in one basement.

Mom has gradually sifted through the majority of her parents' treasures and recently came across a box of super 8 mm film shot by my grandpa. With her amazing can do attitude and persistence she spliced the smaller reels together into one large one and rescusitated an old projector.

Today was Sarah's first day back at school after missing 3 days being sick. I was at the hospital attending an inservice when my phone rang and a rather trembly Sarah said she needed to go home. She just wasn't well yet. I called my mom who picked Sarah up and brought her back home with her. When I finished my meeting I went to get her and found my mom enthusiastically putting the final touches on the last reel of film. Today was the premiere of these long neglected films. We put newspaper over the windows in the front door and found a dark corner in the dining room where some poster paper was taped on the wall for a screen.

The lights were turned off and the projector turned on. The sound of the film going through the spools and ratchets was the only accompaniment. The blurry images on the makeshift screen made my heart overflow with emotion. There I was, 10 or 11, at my great grandmother's little place in Bennington Idaho. A moment later, I was celebrating Christmas in our home in Foster City California. The image blurred and cleared and there I was hunting for Easter eggs at my grandparents home in Salt Lake. Places of my childhood. Little parcels of Heaven here below. Thats how it feels when I look back. In truth, the geography means nothing. Those places could have been anywhere. It was the people caring for me, encouraging me, teaching me... loving me that made it so sweet.

As I sat on the floor in my parents' dining room with my mother and daughter, the tears flowed. What a precious few moments. I'm awfully thankful for those blurry snippets of family and home. It brought back very powerfully the incredible examples of parenting and grandparenting that have blessed my life. I've got some awfully big shoes to fill and some beautiful memories to help me along.

Feeling nostalgic, I found a few pictures of my childhood and the people who made it so safe and happy for me.

Dad, Mom, Tony and me on the front porch of Grandma Idaho's little house. (Living far away from our grandparents, we differentiated who they were by where they were. )

Tony and I in the back seat of Grandma and Grandpa Salt Lake's car. Probably coming back from Lehi.

Me with my pride and joy red Schwinn, matching red coat and my sweet Great Grandma Idaho. This was taken in front of our home in Boise.

Tony, Grandma Salt Lake and me at Hotel Utah. I think we were celebrating Tony's birthday in style.

Tony reading a Christmas story to Tatiana at our home in California. There could not be a better big brother.

Tatiana and I swimming in Uncle Hank and Aunt Ruth's pool. They were Grandma & Grandpa's dearest friends. Tatiana was and is still the kindest, smartest, and most darling sister.

No Mas!

Enough already! Last week it was Emily and this week its Sarah. She got sick Friday and ended up with a sore throat, upset stomach and fever. We got her checked out and it is a mean virus. All we can do is treat the symptoms and keep her hydrated. She has been miserable but is feeling a little better.

That same day, Rich and I had tickets to see Madame Butterfly courtesy of my brother and sister in law, Tony and Connie. I really wanted to go but was torn about leaving Sarah when she was sick. Turns out I didn't have to worry at all because the same fabulous lady who took care of me when I was sick was able to step in and take care of Sarah. It was so comforting to know my Sarah was in such capable and loving hands. Thanks Mom... what would we do without you?

The ballet was beautiful. I know... Puccini wrote it as an opera, but it was staged as a ballet in 1995 and now Ballet West has mastered it. It was gorgeous and heartbreaking. Definitely not a romantic comedy, but so lovely. The tickets were a birthday present for us and Tatiana and Henry from Tony and Connie. Thanks guys... we had a great time!