This gallery contains 4 photos.
Holy junk am I behind on the last 2 months. I am only taking online classes so I wouldn’t have to take a semester off or miss class for Master D’s homecoming and a few little trips thrown in, and … Continue reading
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Another trip, another adventure, another tale to be told. This time it was to Arizona to enjoy the sun, the warmth, the nephews/cousins cuteness, visiting family and hiking between Christmas and New Years. 12/30 Camelback mountain while Ari helped Michele … Continue reading
Another set of cliff notes for our holiday season. I can tell you it flew by. If time just keeps speeding up at this rate, when I am 70 I am not going to be sure anything at all is happening if I don’t write down the moments in the very next moment. I think
I must need more blueberries or ginko biloba or to join lumosity.com, most likely all of the above.
December 6th,
Wyatt’s 13th birthday. We made cupcakes for him and he wanted Michele S chicken lime tacos for Sunday dinner.
Lelu enjoyed herself a big strawberry shortcake cupcake.
December 12th – our annual girl’s night nutcracker performance with McKinley, Sierra & Kenzie and Christina joined us this time…a little estrogen needed in a house of testosterone.
Dec 15th – Our Christmas shopping to LA adventure begins with Tito’s Tacos. Good thing they don’t have those in SLC..So yummy and hard to resist.
The Grove decorated so beautifully, Cherie & Kelly
Christina & I…we saw the Hobbit and I slept through a lot of it…and I DID NOT eat any sugar free gummy bears this time.
December 16th, As we were eating dinner watching this incredible sunset, Cherie was on the phone finding out Kenzie was getting her appendix out. We drove her to the airport to put her on the next flight, sadly ending her much needed girl’s trip. On the way to the airport there was a three car pile up right next to us on the 405. Yikes – as if our nerves were not already shot.
The sunset only got more beautiful. Such a bitter-sweet moment. We went back to our little beach house and I finished my final paper and emailed it to B to print and give to one of my babysitters who drove it up to the U and dropped it off in the philosophy department. I dreamed all night long there were problems and in my dream was told I was going to get a ‘C’ for Cinnamon. Also in my dream I was crying about how many things I like with cinnamon but that “I COULD NOT GET A “C”. I woke up laughing. I went out and told Kelly & Christina, we were all laughing and the next day got better, especially when we found out Kenzie did great in her surgery and was on the mend.
December 17th Perfect breakfast with a Cinnamon spiced Chai – even if I did end up with a “C” – life is good! (I didn’t end up with a “C” – but the hardest earned “B+” in the history of my schooling.)
Crazy people in LA do crazy things for attention. Poor cat and I don’t even like cats.
December 18th Successful shopping safari – as B would say – we were ready for Christmas, if not ready to leave 75 degrees to go home to a snow storm.
December 20th Ari’s Christmas dance recital.
The most festive and out of my comfort zone Christmas nails. It’s like Christmas lights on the end of my fingers.
We went to see “Walter Mitty” – great movie! but my favorite moment of the entire season (next to talking to Master D) happened in the bathroom at the movie theatre. You all know how I love Seinfeld…I went into a stall and realized too late that there was no toilet paper, Ari was in there with me so I say to her “Please find me some toilet paper” when underneath the stall comes a hand with some TP and the woman says “I can spare a square”. If I hadn’t already been where I was – I most certainly would have peed my pants.
We made trains with the J&C and boys, opened our pj’s and dreamed of talking to Master D the next day!
I saved the best for the last….there is not better gift than when you are deprived of part of your family on Christmas day, than to skype for an hour – always emotional to say goodbye but only for eight more weeks.
The gang at Brighton on a beautiful day – minus Michelle & Aub at home ‘slaving’ away.. (Wyatt and Lelu in the helmets)
It’s a problem when you wait almost 2 months to write about stuff. I will most likely forget something. This year for Thanksgiving, we were lucky enough to have Michelle & Maruan, Aub, Jeff, Christina and their boys. The day before, however, on Wednesday didn’t quite go as well as I usually like it too. I ruined the first set of rolls that I made, then the next batch just didn’t quite raise, so the rolls were pretty much a bust for our meal and then Aub’s flight was VERY delayed and a nightmare of traffic at the airport.
Thursday morning shined anew and we had plenty to be grateful for:
1. The turkey got put in bright and early
2. We went skiing. Christina skied for the first time in eight years and didn’t fall down once – neither did I. That’s a big deal. We rocked it!!
3. Michelle and Aub prepared all the veggies and peeled the potatoes while we were gone.
The adult table with an Ari photo bomb
The table of kiddos…poor Landon & Lelu. They are almost adults
4. The food was awesome – except the rolls…. yet no one complained that the rolls sucked.
I think this is Lelu’s plate so not all food groups are represented, but you get the idea..
5. i dragged everyone to see “The Book Thief”, which I absolutely loved (in my top ten favorite books) and no one else did because it’s kind of a downer story — even though the main character triumphs in the end. I’m grateful they humored me.
6. On Friday, it was fairly nice weather and we all walked to the park. We played baseball & soccer. Aside from B pulling some kind of toe/foot muscle, it was a ton of fun!
a little soccer..
An electronic game at the park, that would be Michelle diving for the button, And the little kids just hanging around..
a friendly baseball game, with little to no bad sportsmanship from unnamed players..
Lucky little Ari got a ‘massage’ from uncle Maruan
The brothers Taylor settle in for a hold-your-tummy-long-winters-nap.
7. This is the last Thanksgiving without Master D. He had 3 meals that day. So much gratitude for the people of New York!
8. I have a nearly perfect life….just the right amount of imperfection.. for me… and it’s enough. For that I am pretty dang happy!
1. She is happy 95% of the time…really!
2. She has the most infectious giggly laugh.
3. She doesn’t take any crap on the soccer field, even if the other girls are a foot taller (which many of them are)
4. She LOVES babies (and animals)
5. She really enjoys being helpful to me.
6. She is extremely observant to how everyone around her is feeling.
7. She can pretty much do anything she wants physically (gymnastics, dance, sprinting, soccer, surf..)
8. She will come to the aid of her brother whenever anyone (including us parents) she perceives is picking on him.
9. She loves hanging out with TT and all his buddies (I’m not sure I will love that in a couple years)
10. She loves loves loves loves her cousins and aunts.
11. She is a tough little cookie full of sass.
12. She’s my mini-me:)
I try to be politically correct most of the time. I do not like jokes in bad taste…normally. But this is my borderline inappropriate blog:
I have a professor that I am having a very difficult time figuring out how to get an A from him. So far I am a solid B to B+ and it’s not for lack of hours put in. I will not, however, divulge his name or even what the class is called for fear of……repercussion? A guy in my class sent me this photo of my professor and his twin:
I am not a Simpsons fan so I have no idea what this characters name is but look at the VERY strong resemblance!
Another strange coincidence that we’ve noticed in our lives lately is the race of our coaches this year. Now I know this would not be strange if we lived anywhere other than Draper UT – but I am pretty sure we’re working with the few:
So far their team is winning again. Fourth year of TT playing and fourth set of new coaches. He seems to land on winning teams. TT is getting a lot more play time in this year. He’s 1st string offense, defense and special teams.
This is B’s trainer he’s been working out with the last few months. He seems to be working miracles in B’s arms. I didn’t think his arms could ever get as big as they are right now. I will have to snap a photo to show you. Mike came out to watch TT’s game last week but sadly left just before TT made a great interception. I will have to replace this photo at some point because B does not like it.
Ari’s coach and his daughter photo bombing…I was going to try and crop her out but I think it’s one of the funniest photo bombs I’ve seen.
I thought this post would be the appropriate place to end with a joke I heard this week:
A guy died and went to heaven and went through the pearly gates. There was a massive wall of clocks behind St. Peter. The guy asks what the clocks are for. St. Peter says everyone has a clock and it only moves if you tell a lie. There was a clock that had never moved, so the guy asked whose clock is that? Oh that’s Mother Theresa’s. Another clock had only moved twice and he asked whose clock that was? Oh that’s Abraham Lincoln’s. So the guy asks “where’s Obama’s clock?” And St. Peter said “Jesus hung it in his office as a ceiling fan.”
08/19/13 New schools for everyone except me. Not just my kids either, Jeff and Christina took the leap of faith to join us in Zion. haha – that’s a joke. But they up and sold their house in CA in one day and moved up here just in time to start the new school year with my kids. They’ve been staying with us the last two weeks and tomorrow they are thrilled to move into their own house here in Draper. I still can’t believe it and Continue reading
I bought the twins a dirndl and leiderhosen and I LOVE THEM wearing them. My time to dress them up is probably coming to an end soon so I will make as much of it as I can. Think I can talk them into wearing these for halloween?
B found a great place to drown himself – what’s up with the Mr. Incredible angle?
The whole Austrian adventure loving bikers. from the Left Saxtons, Seacrests, Sullivans, Saxtons (they aren’t related), US Zimmermans, Grangers and Lakes. Our guides in the front row Dennis, Ron and Mirjam
Guest Blogger: Lelu
When the parents are away, the kids can finally play 🙂
This is our Utah-Arizona adventure extravaganza with some of our favorite people.
If I posted separately about everything we were up to the last month, I’d have at least five more posts and probably bore most people to death. So in the same manner as my previous quickcast – Here’s our top news stories:
05/23/13 Ari had her spring dance recital – which I missed again. Boy, that makes me seem like I get ‘bad mom of the year’ award. We were flying home that night. Once again, trip planned before the recital was planned…
05/31/13 I went to visit Aub in Portland for two days and failed again to take any photos. Continue reading