I really shouldn't...

particularly after the last two lovely posts, but I just can't help myself. Please enjoy this "semi-nice Mother's Day song".



Thanks for indulging my occasionally warped sensibilities.

(Sorry it comes with a short commercial)

Page 85

Sarah came home from group piano lesson yesterday with a big smile.

"Have we got the May issue of the Ensign yet?"

Someone informed her she'd been spotted in the magazine. I ran down to the distribution center and bought a few copies. Sure enough... that's my girl on page 85!

The mothers in our Stake were invited to attend the Young Women General Meeting at the Conference Center with their daughters. It was such a wonderful evening! Our favorite talks were by Sister Elaine Dalton and Pres. Uchtdorf. The best part of course, was being with Sarah.

In a few years, Emily will be in Young Women's and I'll be able to go with both of my lovely daughters!

Influence

Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life. The mother's image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the young child's mind. It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness,

the first assurance that there is love in the world.

David O. McKay


St. George Utah 1967

As we age, we begin to realize the value of a mother's love

and the enormous depth of her commitment to us.

No other relationship we form can ever be as close

or profound as that with our mothers.

Anonymous

Alta Lodge September 1978

I'm so thankful not only to be a mother to Sarah and Emily,

but to also be the daughter of such an amazing, lovely and talented woman.

Happy Mother's Day.

Spring Break: Part Deux

(involving a ridiculous number of photos)

Thursday we went to see Les Mis at my niece Megan's school. It was a girls night out and I loved it. Not just the great music, but the company as well. Connie and Megan, Tatiana, Maddie and Hillary, and me and my girls. I'm so grateful we live here, close to our family and not in some far off corner of the world.

p.s. Nicely done Bonneville.

On Friday afternoon, we went to the aquarium along with the rest of Northern Utah. What a crowd!! The parking lot was very full and we were lucky to get a spot close to the aquarium. We were happy! The woman who tried to pull into the same spot... not so happy. I was 3/4 of the way in just as she began to pull in. Nose to nose.

Sort of like this:

(bulls courtesy of The Pioneer Woman)

It was a teensy bit tense in the parking lot. I was in the spot and felt I had every right to be there. The 'lady' in the other car did not appreciate my presence and requested that I leave. This was done with raised voices and arms flailing out the window. Having never encountered anything similar, I didn't budge and just laughed. Loudly. The other driver left and from the backseat I heard Sarah say, "Tawanda!". Oh my.

(May I recommend the addition of an athletic supporter to your ensemble if you're planning to visit the aquarium on a busy day. You'll feel safer and perhaps more confident in the parking lot this way. Gird up thy loins)



Petting the stingrays is a highlight.

Little Henry, Em and Sarah peering into a coral reef display.

Love these anenomes.

Intrepid explorers paddling the Amazon.

Cousins. Yay!

Even with all of Northern Utah vying for a spot in front of the exhibits... it really was worth a visit.

(I'm happy to report, the gold bullet sustained no damage while left unattended in the parking lot. We were a bit wary of the 'lady' with a temper)

On Saturday afternoon, we drove to Provo for the BYU Ballroom Dance Team's big year end performance.

A fun tribute to Hairspray.

A great jive number.


Mmmm. Dreamy. It's hard not to like a waltz.

The team was celebrating 50 years and included a big number with nearly 200 alumni from as far back as the sixties. The team is internationally ranked and puts on quite a show. Gorgeous costumes.

(Along those lines... contrary to the costume designers on Dancing With The Stars, it is possible to perform a Latin dance while clothed)

It was a wonderful opportunity to see them perform. Definitely worth the drive down, although Rich and I have decided we're not fond of University Parkway. Oh the humanity. Even with lights and a siren you'd be hard pressed to get through that stretch in a reasonable amount of time.

That wraps up the highlights of our spring break activities this year. I think the girls were able to relax and have some fun. I sure enjoy having them home. By the end of the week we got some sunshine and the snow melted. Happy spring break!

Spring Break '10 and Word Power

The girls are out of school this week. Hooray! Its so fun to have them home with me. We won't be going on vacation till later this month. Instead, we're having a staycation. Nothing too exciting... out to lunch a few times, the aquarium on Friday and we're hoping for a cousin sleepover too. Utah weather can be temperamental in the spring, we all know this, so we didn't make any outdoor plans. We weren't thinking it would be this fickle!

This is what our neighborhood looked like Tuesday morning.

Our trees and shrubs were heavy laden with wet snow.

Even our patio furniture is tired of getting snowed on.

A pair of finches were glad we still had seed in the feeder.

On Monday, we finished the fifth and last book in the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. This has been a great read aloud series. Sarah's comment was, "This is so much better than those Twilight books" (she's read the first two) "Fablehaven beats them into the ground with a stick!" I concur. Sarah took this pic of me from across the room and in low light, hence the grain. We were getting close to the end and things were getting tense!

One of the things we like about Brandon Mull is he doesn't dumb down anything, even though these are books for young adults. In this picture, I'm trying to figure out the pronunciation of a word. Stumped? Possibly. If a word comes along that I think the girls might not be familiar with, I stop and ask them if they know what it means. Halberd? Anyone?

Here's a quote from near the end of the book:

"...they carried slender spears and swords, and gave haughty looks to the astrids"

I asked Em if she knew what 'haughty' meant.

"Umm. Does it mean that they think the astrids are hotties?"

Oh Emily. What would we do without you?

Happy spring break all!

A Date With a View

Rich and I went skiing a few weeks ago. So much fun!

As we got off the lift I spied a photographer set up out of bounds. It was just like being at a high school dance again! There was another couple getting their picture taken in front of us and we (I) heckled them to get them to smile.

Soon enough it was our turn and I'm pretty sure if we agreed to all the poses the photographer suggested we could have put together our own portfolio and started heading out on 'go-sees'. We opted not to go with the pose wherein we would be sprawled on the snow with our heads tipped toward each other.

We thought our photo session was over until an hour or two later when a photographer (ski paparazi) jumped out from behind a 'slow' sign in the middle of a run. Slightly disconcerting.

Dig Rich's sweet slalom!

It was a glorious day at Brighton! Sunny and cold but not windy. And to top it all off there were a few inches of fresh powder. I ended up not skiing after lunch because shortly after these pictures were taken I wiped out and knocked my melon pretty good. Headache. Of course just that morning as we were driving up I said we should probably buy some helmets. The girls wear them but we never bought any for ourselves. Duh. Anyway... lesson learned.

Thanks for a wonderful date Rich. I love you!

Ahh... here it comes.

I knew it would finally happen.

Spring is coming!

This is the tree I see when I look out our kitchen window. And those fluffy white clouds in a blue sky were gratefully received after our fair share of inversion days.



This is looking toward the West. There's a scrub jay at the feeder and some fatboys (a.k.a. male California Quail) in the tree.


I don't know what kind of bird this is other than tiny and darling.



The beautiful bird hanging out in our bush is a Rufous Sided Towhee. He and his pals really like it in there. I took this pic on a grey day a few weeks ago.

More of tiny and darling. I know this isn't in keeping with the Audobon Society's mission, but I would very much like to paint those itty bitty toenails fuschia.

These are Cedar Waxwings.

Check out the little crests on their heads and the bandit masks over their eyes. Love these birds. We don't see them all winter long. It's fun when they show up.



They're very social. I've never seen just one. More like seven to ten at a time. This picture was taken looking through our tree... they're sitting in the neighbor's tree.



This beauty is a female California Quail. I love seeing them up in our tree rather than running around on the ground. Much more elegant when they're not waddling about. (words to live by)

Now you know... I've become a birder. Not a very good one. But I'm having so much fun watching the birds outside our window.

Get ready folks. All signs are pointing to Spring!