Olympus High School Class of 2000 Alumni Website

We just finished our swimming lessons for the summer.  I’m really glad I signed them up, even though my kids still don’t know how to swim.  Last year, we said “Oh, we’ll just go to the pool a lot.  We don’t want to pay for swimming lessons.”  Ha.  We didn’t go once!  So, I knew this year I would have to have some motivation, like forking over 90 bucks to get my kids to the pool.  It’s true that none of them really learned how to swim, but they are more comfortable in the water and I suppose learning to swim is a process for some kids.  It is for mine.

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Swimming Lessons: A work in progress

I LOVE my garden! Look at the goodies I found in my garden today, wahoo!

Lettuce is coming on strong for some yummy summer salads!

Love those green bell peppers!

Tomatoes are starting to bloom, before long they’ll be ripe and ready to eat!

A cucumber?!? I had no idea that any were even close to being ready, then walaa I found this baby!

Chili peppers – bring on the salsa baby!

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Look what I found in my garden today!

“Mom!  I’m hungry!”  I glance up from my shovel and notice offspring belonging to me is standing nearby looking at me with indignation and, apparently, hunger pains.  “Um, okay.  Go fix a quesadilla.  Can you do that?”  “I don’t want a quesadilla.”  “Hmm, how about a hot dog?  Can you warm up a hot dog?”  Offspring nods happily and trots off toward the house.  I breathe an internal sigh of relief.  Problem solved.  And, I didn’t have to stop what I was doing, which was digging in the backyard.  I’m trying to cover up the hundreds of feet of pipe that makes up our sprinkling system.  It’s not easy work, and I when I get going I don’t like to be interrupted, especially for silly things like feeding my children.  Is it just me or do meal times seem much closer together in the summer?  Breakfast seems just a few moments ago and the children are hungry again.  Thank goodness for microwaves.  It’s a happy day indeed when your kids figure out how to read the numbers and push the buttons.  All I have to do is shout out instructions from the yard: “Push three, zero, then start!  The green button!  That’s the start button!”  There have been a few mishaps.  For example,  chicken nuggets cooked in the microwave for three minutes on one side are not nearly as edible as those that have been cooked for thirty seconds.  Also, my children quickly learned (to their fright and my amusement) that one must remove all silverware from the plate before putting it in the microwave.  It’s alright.  A few sparks and small sacrifice of a bit of  “meat” and breading is worth being able to work uninterrupted for a few hours outside.  Yes, I have decided that summer is here.  And no, I don’t want to hear from those of you suffering from OCD about June 21st technically being the beginning of summer.  And yes, I realize there were three inches of snow on the ground yesterday morning.  Nevertheless, summer is here.  Children attending school will soon be finished this week.  I have partaken of the first small harvest from our garden.  And, I let my children run amok and fend for themselves for meals while I happily scraped about in my rocky maze of sprinkler trenches.  All of which lead me to this declaration: It’s summertime!  Now, go fix yourself a dang quesadilla.  (name that movie)

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I can’t be bothered with dinner. Summer’s here!

Is time not just cruising by?! I honestly can’t believe that May is wrapping up and June is just around the corner. I am SO ready for summer, however, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with Jack out of school! The boy needs things to do, and Mom is just a little too boring sometimes! Anyways, I’ll try to do a little recap of the month. And seeing that I haven’t taken any pictures, this post may be a bit more wordy than usual

Speaking of Calahan lately this little spitfire of energy is my constant shadow. He sits on my lap while I work on photos, he’ll play by my desk or in the kitchen when I’m cooking, he has to have “mommy do it” which basically means only mommy can get him a drink, make him breakfast/lunch/dinner and all the snacks in between, only mommy can read him stories, play games etc etc. Most of the time I love being his number one… except when I need to go to the bathroom or want to shower! The other night as Tim and I just settled into bed Calahan started crying out for me. I took a deep breath, because I was exhausted and wanted to sleep, hopped out of my bed, turned on the hall light and walked down to his room. He was laying there half asleep, half crying for help. I asked him what was wrong and he said he was scared. It just about broke my heart. I kissed him and told him he didn’t have to be scared and that I loved him. He just looked up and said, “ok mommy” then he turned and fell right back asleep. I love this little boy. I love all his crazy ways, like how if he had the choice he’d wear jammies with his cowboy boots and his “robin” red sweatshirt EVERYDAY. How when I wash his clothes he runs up to me and says, “mommy, these clean?!” with the most enthusiastic grin he says “thank you mommy, thank you!” then hugs me and immediately strips down to put his freshly cleaned clothes on. How he is terribly picky and if you don’t do things the “right way” he’ll just throw what ever you were trying to give him across the room. Jack NEVER did that, seriously he never did. It makes me laugh when Cal does it, well most of the time I laugh, sometimes I just look at him and think, “really! you want to fight about this!” He’s so stubborn, knows just what he wants and I admire that about him. I can’t believe the boy will turn 3 this summer… he’s my baby!

Jack has become quite the little artist. He LOVES to draw and will sit at his desk every day and draw picture after picture. I absolutely love his creations. This picture above is Two Face from Batman. We’ve had a lot of conversations about Two Face lately. I hurt my leg in soccer and Jack was laying on my bed with me. He sprung up with excitement and said, “Mom, your hurt leg and your other leg, it’s like Two Face! One bad, one good!” I laughed and laughed at his observation, then squeezed him til he begged me to stop. Jack is sprouting into such a thinker and creator. Another one of his favorite topics is the “silent E” Out of the blue he’ll come up to Timothy or I and shout out a word that he thinks has a silent E, The other day he said, “dangerous has a silent E in it because A says it’s name” We try to explain to him that dangerous actually doesn’t have a silent E and then he’ll go quiet until he thinks of a new word that actually does have a silent E. He makes me smile every day. I love love being his mommy.

Jack and his best buddy Hunter. These two Star Wars fanatics would be tied hip to hip if they had the choice. Hunter has “the coolest house” according to Jack. The other day he asked if he could live at their house with all of their toys. Don’t you remember that friend that had all the cool things? Gotta love friends with all the cool stuff!

(this picture is from 2 years ago… kinda makes me miss my short hair!)

Timothy was sworn in last week to officaly be a lawyer in Utah. The poor boy didn’t want to go but thankfully he had to! It was the first official event that we’ve been to for his Law degree. Last year he loathed the idea of walking for graduation, so he just up and decided not to walk even though I pleaded on my knees for him to do it. You can imagine my giggly reaction when he said he “had to go” in order to be sworn in. Anyways, I’m sure proud of my man.

I’ve been busy with photos, helping my sister with her Delicious Health Classes in Midway, just finished The Help, we’ve been trying to get out to explore the beautiful mountains, so fart we’ve done 2 little hikes this spring, LOVE my Utah mountains! We also got a family pass to our local gym and are loving it! Tim and I have been working out and then we’ll grab the boys and all go swimming, they have a really cool inside play pool that the boys would live in if we let them. Anyways, this is us in a nutshell! Hope your May has been fabulous! We are very much looking forward June and all the wonderful things that summer will bring.

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May

Two girls are great.

Two girls who love each other. Lyvia is nothing but sweetness to Amelia and is now being rewarded for her kindness by big smiles and bubbles from Amelia.

Two girls who are growing. Amelia is getting bigger every day. We go into the doc this week- but I’m estimating her at least 12 pounds. I love the chubby little rolls on her legs! Getting out the summer clothes has been fun for Lyvia. She is very into dressing herself and choosing her own clothes- so you can imagine some of the interesting outfits. Lyv is almost in 3T- I can’t believe it!

Two girls are a big change. More experienced mothers were supposed to warn me how different things are! There are all sorts of books to help you adjust for life with one baby. No books on adjusting to life with two- I’ve looked! Maybe people figure you’ve already done it once- just double it! But, after a few months, I finally feel like I’m getting the hang of this.

Two girls who love bath time. Millie is finally over the screaming phase and now totally into the warm water. Of course, Lyvia loves to help. She pulls up the stool next to the kitchen sink and rubs the washcloth on Amelia’s feet. Lyv also loves the “big tub”. Bubble bath is Lyv’s favorite thing- but only if she can dump it in the water. She wants to know when Millie can take a tub with her…

Two girls who adore their daddy. Dad is a superhero at our house. According to Lyv, he can: reach high things, is very strong, can fix anything, knows the answer to everything, can make her hurts better, can calm Amelia’s cries. The other day when Millie was crying, Lyvia says, “It’s ok ‘Melia. Daddy will be home soon.” And he was. And he calmed Amelia right down. Maybe there is something to this super-dad thing?!

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Two girls.

I haven’t blogged in about a week. In fact, to be totally fair, it’s been longer than that since I “really” blogged and didn’t just put up some photos or video or a short link. I’ve been really having to drag myself to the computer lately. I think part of the problem is that it’s gotten nicer outside and part of it is that I’ve been unusually busy and my online time has been cut in half, if not more. On top of all this, I’ve been really pushing myself to stay on the wedding blog, since it’s still a one-woman show and it’s turning into something of a three-ring circus over there. So, those are all my excuses for not blogging.

I really need to blog, though, because part of the purpose of this blog (outside of sharing incredibly personal information with strangers and people from law school who never really liked me anyway) is to keep my long-distance friends and family up to date on our little life. Because I’ve fallen behind, I have a lot to update everyone on. In fact, it’s safe to say that I have more to blog about right now than I have in a really long time. (And no, this post isn’t focused on my hair.)

There have been a ton of changes with us lately. I hate change, by the way. Is there anyone who really likes it? I’m always really reluctant to change too at once, especially if I don’t feel like I have control over anything, even if the changes are good ones. All of our recent changes have been good, but they make me want to roll over and take a big fat nap.

Anyway, updates and changes in no particular order:

• No, not pregnant. I feel like people are going to be looking for that from now on, but (as a heads up) I won’t be telling anyone even if we do get pregnant because I’m understandably more cautious these days. It will be a “Oh, we’re pregnant! And it’s a boy! And I’m having him in about four days!” kind of post, but we have a good couple of years before that’s going to happen. So no holding of the breath, please.

• We made a decision about the house thing. I really can’t commit to buying right now, since I can’t commit to anything that permanent, so we’re going to rent an apartment. We thought about renting a house or townhome or anything with a bit more room, but we’ve decided that we don’t want to have to maintain that much while it’s just the two of us. Plus, whatever we save on our rent goes towards our future mortgage. However, although many people made good arguments about scaling down to a one bedroom apartment, we’re getting a two bedroom in the Cottonwood Heights area because sometimes we really just need to be able to retreat to our own spaces so we don’t strangle each other. (Hopefully that doesn’t say anything terrible about our marriage!)

• Our car got totaled when a woman hit Kyle in the city library parking lot. We’ve actually got two cars, but one has been broken since we got it in August and since Kyle takes public transportation a lot and I’ve been working at home, we’ve just been sharing my trusty old Jeep. Luckily, Kyle wasn’t hurt in the accident but Baby (my Jeep) isn’t going to make it through the summer, so we’re going to take the insurance money and get something else soon. I’m on the hunt right now for a car dealership that isn’t going to rip us off. I’m sad about my Jeep, just because I’ve had her forever, but there are worse problems in life than having the opportunity to buy a new car.

• I got another job. Now that I’m officially not going to be worried about maternity leave or daycare for a long time, I didn’t really have an excuse not to go out and work. Plus, although the freelancing is working out nicely, I actually have a harder time organizing my day if I don’t have to do anything, so I needed an outside responsibility to balance things out. So, I’m now a nanny forty hours a week for a pair of doctors who have a two year old son. Yes, I’m probably the most overqualified nanny in the world, but I needed something that was semi-flexible so I could keep up my freelancing and other projects. I work two to four really long days and have the rest of the week off, so that works out nicely for me, and they’re paying me much more than they probably should. Plus, I just hang out with the kid all day and he takes three-hour naps, so I have time to work even when I have him. The other benefit is that it’s definitely curbing my mommy urge. He’s about the cutest kid in the world, but I’m pretty relieved to leave him at the end of the day so I can get the stickiness out of my hair. I never realized how much work it is just to make it to the grocery store or the bank when you have to worry about diapers and car seats and temper tantrums.

A trip to the zoo, where we watched the same elephant for an hour
because a certain someone had no interest in the rest of the park.
An hour.

That’s about it. There are other exciting things in the works that I might be sharing in a while, but right now we’re just worried about buying a car and getting ourselves moved. It really is like we’ve been on hold for a long time and now we’re moving forward, even if it’s not in a direction I thought we’d be taking. It might be lazy, but I’m sort of looking forward to just laying low for a while, with minimal responsibility and lots of saving up for bigger things in the future. As crazy as this life is, I’m still so grateful that I’ve ended up in a place where Kyle and I have lots of time to spend together and we don’t feel pressured to do anything we don’t want to. Sometimes, I think we really couldn’t have asked for more right now.

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Changes

Housesitting is pretty lovely. I really don’t mind living with my parents and I definitely didn’t mind spending a month out in Napa living with my extended family, but there’s something about having a place with only two people rattling around in it that makes me rethink our plan to ever have kids…

Of course, we’re not staying in the crummiest of houses. Dad and Chris’s house isn’t huge, but it’s very comfortable and beautifully decorated. It’s also located in one of Salt Lake’s better neighborhoods, so Kyle and I are just a walk away from great bookstores and restaurants. Plus, Kyle’s commute has gone down from one hour to ten minutes, so he’s definitely not complaining. And, best of all, someone around here doesn’t know how to secure their wireless internet. Yay!

One of the big perks of housesitting for my father is his insane music collection. Although I never had to deal with a deadbeat dad, my Deadhead dad used to get lost in his music when I was little, spending hours in the basement blasting Jerry Garcia. He used to take me to all of the record stores in town, trying to get me interested in the difference between the ’69 live album and the ’74 live album. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the best pupil, even when we took a special trip to Haight Ashbury to see the house that the Grateful Dead used to live in…a trip that was perfectly time to coincide with my I-Hate-That-I’m-On-Vacation-With-My-Dad-Leave-Me-The-Hell-Alone phase.

It wasn’t all rock and roll, to be fair. My dad has a real penchant for jazz, folk, blues, and great original cast recordings of classic Broadway shows. I got to see John Prine, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, and countless others before I turned ten. I also had a pretty impressive record collection for someone who couldn’t tie their shoes…but I just could never see why Dad seemed to constantly need a fresh feed of music. So many CDs. So many CDs!

No matter what was going on my dad’s life, the music collection continued to thrive. As we went from house to house and my dad’s family situtation changed a couple of times, there were always the trips to the record store to replace the albums that a person simply shouldn’t live without. Kind of Blue from Miles Davis. One Fair Summer Evening from Nanci Griffith. Truckin’ Up to Buffalo from Grateful Dead. Learning to Flinch from Warren Zevon. And always John Prine Live, the album that has my parents and I on the cover. No, really, we were there and now we’re immortalized in music legend. Bit of trivia: this album also has my favorite version of my favorite song in the entire world, “Angel from Montgomery”.

We’re on the right hand side…see the Asian looking woman, the little kid in red, and the guy with the intense facial hair? That’s the Lane family.

Pic for comparison:

I always thought that his music addiction was just one more thing that I didn’t get about my dad. Until, of course, we stopped in at a used music store last spring and I stumbled on a copy of Deadicated, a Grateful Dead tribute album that’s pretty fantsatic. I was lamenting the fact that I had pawned my copy in college when Kyle mentioned that he didn’t know any of the songs. Apparently, Kyle made it all the way to 26 without listening to the Grateful Dead. I immediately bought the CD and then made him sit in the car while I tried to download everything I knew about the Dead into his underprivileged brain. “Listen to this chord change…isn’t that incredible? Mellow and powerful all at the same time. Oh, and listen to these lyrics. Do you get it? Here, wait, let me back it up again so you can really listen to it. There. Isn’t that just mind blowing?”

Apparently, the answer was no. But my husband laughed and shook his head and said, “You’re so your dad. You’re more like your dad than anyone else on the planet.”

It’s the truth and every day I see it more. I used to hate his retreats into seclusion, but now I get manic if I don’t get a couple of hours to myself every day. I thought the road trips to all of the crappy Utah historical monuments were a trial I had to endure to get into heaven, but now I really like getting in the car, picking a direction, and just driving until something interesting happens. And while I used to think that my father’s basement music sessions were just a noisy way to keep us all at arm’s length, I find that I have to take twenty minutes every now and then, lock myself in the bathroom with my headphones on, and just crank that iPod up as loud as I can get it…which is never loud enough. I’m looking forward to the day when they can permanently implant Eric Clapton music directly into my ear canal.

And so, while my father tours Argentina (with his iPod safely anchoring him in the sixties), I’m slurping all of his music into my computer and making playlists of all those songs I always thought I never got. And, oh, there might not be anything better.

Hanging with Warren in front of some of my father’s music collection.
If you don’t own Learning to Flinch, I’m sorry to tell you that your life is woefully incomplete.
Best album ever? Very possible.

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My Father’s Music

When I was about 13 I started wearing bikinis. I was one of THOSE Mormon girls. You know, the ones that wore immodest swimsuits. Penel was none too pleased. However, she gave up the right to have an opinion on my wardrobe choices when she made me buy my own clothes. She might have immediately regretted that decision, but she didn’t show it. Well played, Mom. Well played.

So, since I was 13 I have never owned a modest swimsuit. Just call me a hooker. It’s ok. I’ve been called worse. That’s 14 years of immodesty every summer. It’s been great. However, the time always come during the summer that I feel like people judge me on my barely there swimsuits. Which is fine because I do know that I should wear items that are more modest. You should all note this moment because it is not often that I admit to wrong doing. March 1st, 2010 will go down in history as the day Natalie said she is wrong.

This does not mean I will burn all my bikinis in some weird cleansing ritual. No way. No how. However, I have decided that there might be times that I need to cover up. So the other night I attended a little open house for some darling swimsuits that are modest AND cute. Who knew?! My childhood neighbor married a darling girl who was sick of not being able to find cute swimsuits that were modest. So, she started making her own. And low and beyond it’s turned into a fabulous little business.

And because I couldn’t just choose one, I bought two new suits. Pretty cute, huh? All the swimsuits fit perfectly. It is kind of amazing. Now I just need it to be summer.

I’ll wear these when I need to look like I always dress modestly. I’ll fool everyone.

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My mom can now say she is proud of my choices.

Remember when I moved to a bigger room in my tiny house back in the summer? The main reason for this move was so I could have a bigger closet. I heart my closet. Seriously I do. Sometimes I just want to sit in it and look at all my clothes. I don’t do this of course. But sometimes I just want to. Just because I COULD sit in my closet.

Since moving I have noticed that maybe having a bigger closet isn’t the best thing for me. You see, when I had this closet I was forced to keep it clean. Because if I didn’t, then the door wouldn’t close and people could see my mess. I’ll all about hiding things. It’s the appearance the really matters, right?

Ok, so small closet = clean closet. And if you know me you would then know that big closet = messy closet. And you would be correct. 100% correct. Hurricane Natalie came through about a month ago and unleashed her furry all over the closet. Clean clothes. Dirty clothes. Didn’t matter. They were all on the floor in a big heaping pile. When I couldn’t tell which clothes were clean and which were dirty, I pretty much just had to wash them all. Because smelling the armpits of an article of clothing to see if it is clean really isn’t the best approach.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures. I performed an intervention on myself.

And so…. I did laundry.

Five loads of laundry to be exact. Five loads is a lot for one person. It took me 2 days to do it. And it took me 45 minutes to fold and organize it.

Things I learned during the 2 day laundry extravaganza:
1) If I leave clothes in the basket longer than 1 day after they are cleaned, they will never be put away
2) That I hate doing laundry
3) That if I hired someone to do my laundry, my life would be complete.

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It's almost like I have a whole new wardrobe. Almost.

There’s nothing like being home for the holidays. Of course, this is a little more complicated these days, since my home is with my family, but Kyle is my family and his family is my family and our families are very far apart. If you’re lucky enough to marry someone whose family lives in the same place your family lives, make sure to count your blessings! It’s a little crummy to always be on the wrong side of the country from someone.

It is nice to be in Utah, though, and this will be the first Christmas that Kyle and I will be here together. He’s been able to join in on all of the family traditions that I remember from my childhood and see the city lit up with the holidays. It’s amazing all the little things that you don’t realize make up a holiday until you’re introducing them to someone else.

You know, when my little brother was born, we had to buy him a Christmas stocking. For my entire life, we had had three stockings: one for my father, one for my mother, and one for me. Our stockings were knit and embroidered with our names and they all matched, but my little brother’s was purchased at Mervyn’s and had a Mickey Mouse head on it. I remember being a little unsettled when it went up on the mantle, only because it suddenly looked a little crowded. Four stockings seemed like too many for one fireplace. Of course, now…

Next year, we’ll have even more stockings! Stevie and John are expecting a baby this summer. It’s amazing…last Christmas I wasn’t married, Stevie wasn’t married, and Jake wasn’t living with us. My father wasn’t even married, so there’s a stepmother and two more siblings that I didn’t have. It’s incredible how fast a family can grow!

I did manage to start a new Christmas tradition this year, as I wanted to for my 101 in 1001 list. Funny, though, I didn’t start it for Kyle and myself as I thought I would. Instead, I made four advent calendars for my mom, her two sisters, and my grandparents. I filled them with Disney pins that Kyle and I got during our last trip to Disneyland and they’ve had a good time discovering them every day.

In fact, they’re liking them so much they’re planning on trading with each other and refilling them with new pins so they can do it again! And just think…at this time last year, my family didn’t even know what Disney pin trading was. Now I think they’re single-handedly buoying up the industry!

I hope everyone is having as warm and happy a holiday as we are. Except for the fact that I won’t see Kate, who usually comes home to visit Clint’s family, or Jed, who usually comes home to see his family, I’m looking forward to reconnecting with a lot of old friends in the next couple of weeks. And then (and then!!!!) we’re off to Ohio. I’m so excited for that trip, I know I’ll spend the whole plane ride leaning forward in the hopes that we’ll get there a little bit faster…

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There's nothing like being home for the holidays. Of course,

We went to the lake again this summer and had a blast! We really missed Ryan and look forward to going with him next year…(fingers crossed) a huge thanks to my parents for letting us crash at their cabin.
When i was in 2nd grade and we were living in arizona. my parents bought a boat and these bright colored plastic visors. they were like 4 for a dollar and my mom just bought them to keep on the boat thinking they wouldn’t even survive the first summer! It’s so funny because they don’t have that boat any more but they still have a few visors. stockton was obsessed with this orange one

Ellie, Will, Stockton and Sloane




Stockton thinks he is a lion

Sweet view

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the lake 2009

We’re off to Disneyland tomorrow and we won’t be back until Sunday.

I have mixed feelings about this trip. On the one hand, I’m ecstatic. Kyle and I have never been to Disneyland together and one of the big selling points for moving out West was that we’d be closer to these parks. (I know, I know, we’re weird.) Plus, this is a mini-celebration for Kyle getting his new (and much better) job, so this should be great.

I’m also really stressed about it. Despite the fact that we’ve been living here for two and a half months, we haven’t saved up enough to move out. This is partially due to the fact that I still haven’t found work and partially due to a lot of little things, like needing car repairs and other unexpected expenses. A stream of income that I was depending fairly heavily on failed to come through and Kyle’s dream that I would finally have the time to write that best-selling novel has not come to fruition, either.

Honestly, I don’t feel like I deserve to go to Disneyland. I’ve been out of work since July 1 and even if you don’t count that first month (which I would have needed off from work to pack up the apartment anyway), I’ve now been unemployed for more than three months. If I was in grade school, I would have made it all the way through my summer vacation. Think about how long the summer was when you were in the sixth grade. That’s how long I’ve been spending money without bringing it in.

I just wish some foothold would catch that would let me get things in my life moving again. I hate this sense of waiting…waiting for jobs, waiting for events, waiting for Kyle to get home. Even this trip…part of me feels guilty for spending Kyle’s hard earned money on what will likely be a wonderful trip and part of me knows that I’ve enjoyed looking forward to the trip as much as I’ll enjoy being on it. And when we come home, Kyle will go back to work and I’ll go back to waiting.

I need to start making some decisions. Even if the choices available aren’t the choices I’d like to follow, anything has to be better than treading water, right?

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We're off to Disneyland tomorrow and we won't be back until

ONE.
Lyvia really has her own personality that is bubbling up all over the place. I love this picture with her pigtails- something that she has a love/hate relationship with. She wants to be “beautiful” with piggies in- but they bug her in her carseat, where she promptly rips them out. Then she’s sad because she can’t put them back in herself. It would be maddening- but she’s just so dang cute!

TWO.
Ice cream is a favorite. Like mother, like daughter I guess. The other day I asked Lyvia what she wanted to eat for lunch and she said, “an ice cream cone, please!”

We went to Arctic Circle and got cones.

THREE.
We went to a pumpkin patch this year to find the best pumpkin. Daddy and Lyvia are pulling the cart with one lone pumpkin. Some of the pumpkins were still a little green, but we finally found one that Mom liked. We told Lyvia she could pick out any pumpkin she wanted. Man, that girl is selective! She and Daddy searched the entire pumpkin patch and she kept saying, “Green, green” which Jason interpreted to mean that these pumpkins had green on them. So he finally found a big orange one- but she said no. Then just as we were walking out she found a small, all green, acorn squash. “It’s my favorite!” Lyv declared- so we bought her a squash for Halloween.

FOUR.
Ever since our camping excursions this summer, Lyv has loved the tent. On our last trip- she even cried when we had to take the tent down. “My tent, I love my tent,” she sobbed until Daddy told her we could set it up again later. (Don’t you love how ambiguous “later” is?!) So when I saw this pop-up tent at IKEA, I knew it was birthday present material! Lyvia loves her tent. She takes all her blankets and books inside and reads to her dolls, Mary and Allie. We even play puzzles in there in the mornings!

FIVE.
This picture is two fold.
Lyvie-Loo still LOVES reading and books. Seriously, she is in some sort of library/reading/snuggle phase- and it’s the best! I love cuddling with her in the rocking chair or on the couch and reading a stack of books. Her current favorites (as this is constantly changing): “the robot books” a.k.a. Walter Wick’s Can You See What I See?, A Big Fat Hen, Hoodwinked, One Little Mummy, The Little Engine That Could, anything Maisy, If You Give A Pig A Pancake.
And second- that Princess Aurora dress seems to find it’s way over pretty much anything she wears. She even took a nap in it the other day. But being her father’s daughter, Lyv will not eat in the dress- she doesn’t want any “spills” to ruin it! She calls it her “Aurora Dress”, twirls in it and says, “Isn’t it lovely?”
So. Dang. Cute.

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the friday FIVE

That night we went shopping, and to an art gallery, spoke to an angry Russian, ate at Red Rock Cafe (drank lots of delicious cream soda) and on our walk back to the BnB we saw Mandy. It was one of those moments where you are like, oh I know you from somewhere, right?! Then we walked through the Temple grounds and reminisced about our wedding day.

It was great to be out and about, holding hands with the man I love most.

PS We went and saw 500 Days of Summer, and I must confess we didn’t love it.

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6 Years Together

I’m not a huge fan of Vegas.

Vegas takes a lot of energy and a lot of money. It also has the uncanny ability to make you feel like everyone else in the city has more energy, more money, more youth, and less body fat than you ever will. Vegas is what I imagine Disneyland would be like if I had a really bad hangover.

That being said, I was looking forward to this trip to Vegas. Chris and Kristen were getting married at Caesar’s Palace and they are two of my absolute favorite people. Plus, Kyle had never been to Vegas, so I figured we could take in the sights together and that would quell some of my anti-Vegas vibes.

Unfortunately, Kyle had to go to Ohio, as you all know, and this threw a bit of a monkey wrench into our plans. We had been planning to drive down, but I didn’t want to make the five hour drive through the desert by myself, so at the last minute I booked a plane ticket. I figured I’d pop in on Saturday morning, go to the wedding, and then pop back out on Sunday afternoon. I even convinced Jed to make the three hour drive from his new home in Irvine, CA, so we could pop in and out together.

On Saturday morning I caught an hour long flight and got into Vegas early in the morning. I had booked a room at the Marriott by the convention center to avoid all the traffic on the strip, so I was able to settle down in my quiet hotel room as soon as I got in. Jed was still on his way and it was too hot to do anything so I snuggled up in the king size bed and watched hotel room television.

Jed got to town in the afternoon and we dressed up in our finest and headed to the strip. We had some time to kill, so we went to the forum shops at Caesar’s Palace and shopped for a bit before grabbing some pre-wedding snacks. Finally, at six, we headed out to the gardens for the big event.

But…

When we got outside, there was a wedding going on and it was NOT Kristen and Chris’s wedding. Nobody around looked familiar and there was a general sense of things not being as they should. Jed jokingly asked if I had the right day and all of a sudden it all sunk in…Kristen and Chris had made a big thing about getting married on 9-6-09. They even filled their invitation with confetti nines and sixes. And we were there on the 5th.

I have no excuse, other than that the events of this summer had scrambled my brain. I, the wedding queen, totally showed up a day early for the wedding. For no damn reason at all.

There was a lot of panic and shock and cursing and general chaos on the way back to the hotel, but after a hot shower I was able to get things under control. I had to change my flight and book another night in the hotel, but it all worked out and Jed was such a trooper that he actually stayed an extra day with me so he could be my date for the wedding. We ended up hitting the town that night, taking in the strip, and grabbing a really terrible steak and egg dinner at 2AM, just because we could. Hey, when in Vegas…

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What Happened in Vegas (Part One)

- Plant mint in some sort of container. It will take over.

- Even as crafty as I am- sometimes it’s worth to just buy it at IKEA.

- A two-year-old meltdown is pretty common. Other moms are not judging you when your kid falls apart in public, they are just thinking, “I’ve so been there! Hang on!”

- Contrary to popular belief, sisters-in-law are pretty awesome.

- Stay calm.

- Baking soothes the soul. Ok- maybe just my soul!

- I’ve never seen wallpaper as a good idea.

- We should start saying things like, “That’s so rad” or “My house is a hot mess”. Some phrases should just not go out of fashion!

- One should not feel guilty for eating popcorn for dinner.

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Trust me on this one…

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Randomness

Once upon a time I worked at a magical and beautiful place called Oakcrest. Actually, twice upon a time, as I did it the summer of 2002 and 2003. I dare say that Oakcrest (an LDS girls camp for 12 and 13 year olds) is something people don’t understand the significance of unless they’ve worked there, so I won’t even try to describe what exactly it is and what it means to me. I’ll just say (as cheesy as it sounds), that I grew up there. I gained a solid testimony of the LDS church there. I discovered who I was and what I wanted out of life there. And last Sunday I got to go back with two of my best friends, Lindsey and Becky, that shared those same experiences with me, to give a little fireside to the 2009 staff. It made me feel old…and it made me feel grateful.

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Oakcrest…

I have been nannying four days a week and have had no time to blog, so I will now try to catch up for the last month or so.

Back in the days of the never ending rain, we tried to have fun inside by building forts in our basement.


We were thrilled when Parker (Lance’s best buddy in AZ) came into town and we got to play with him one morning. Luckily they just moved to St. George, so I am sure we will get to see them much more often.

Tons of swimming. Lance does such a good job with his little floaties.

Annual cousin campout. There are a bunch of little girl cousins and they are so sweet to Lance!

(I am loving Lance’s hair btw. I am so happy I didn’t cut it. I love the cute wings. You would think once I found out I was having a girl I would have been more likely to cut Lance’s hair, since she can have the long hair, but no!)

I hit the 6 month mark and I am feeling really good. Just hoping I don’t start to swell up!

We had a super fun 4th of July party at Spencer’s aunt and uncles who live on the Thanksgiving Point golf course, so of course, we took some impromptu family pic’s!

And of course watching the fireworks. Lance loved the “boom-booms!”

And of course, the sparklers!

We have also tried to take advantage of our pass up Millcreek Canyon. Last week we had a campfire and BBQ with the Reams.

Man we love the summer. Spence got sick of his long curls (tear!) and buzzed his head, so as soon as I take a picture of him I’ll have to upload it. Well that’s about the last month in a nutshell.

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Lately…

Day two of unemployment was super productive. Kyle didn’t have to go to work today until noon, so I popped out of bed at 8, did some dishes, made us breakfast, did some more dishes, and cleaned the kitchen. Kyle left right as Nate showed up, so Nate hung out in the dining room with me while I packed up six or seven boxes worth of our stuff. We walked to McD’s and grabbed lunch and then headed over to MoMo2 for a work date.

This summer is now the 3rd summer in a row that has found Nate and I hanging out together, silently, each absorbed in our own projects. Every now and then we stop and compare plans to save the world, but then we get right back into it. Today Nate was working on a presentation that he’s going to give about this alternative government that he’s come up with and I was doing exercises that are supposed to unlock my creativity and inspire my entrepreneurial spirit.

I love hanging out with Nate and doing this kind of thing, because the time flies by. We stayed at MoMo2 until a little after 8, when I realized that I was a terrible guinea pig mom and needed to go home to feed the girls. Nate left a little bit after that and I got dinner started, so that chicken nuggets and macaroni-n-cheese were waiting for Kyle when he got home from work. It was sort of a we’re-poor-and-it-sucks kind of dinner, but at least it was ready and waiting…so that means I spent all day today being productive…

(I am starting to notice that I have an almost panicky drive to make sure that not a minute is wasted…as though I secretly know that I don’t deserve to have “time off” and I had better make sure that I’m earning my keep one way or another…does this mean there’s a nervous breakdown in my immediate future? Stay tuned to find out…)

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Day 2 of Unemployment and All is Well (…maybe…)