Katie's premium blog

Seattle

2011-10-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had the great privilege of going to Seattle for my sister's wedding. We had such an excellent time there. Almost all of my extended family came which was AMAZING!!! I love my family. While there we did many of the touristy things, took the ferry, visited Pike's place market, had delicious sea food, went to the art museum, and blew our kids minds by visiting the 99 year old Starbucks. The wedding was lovely in every way. The pictures of the wedding (on this blog) were taken by Jenny's friend Megan and my cousin Kristin. After the wedding we traveled down to Olympia to stay with our very hospitable, long-time friends the Penrods. We have always wanted to see their town! It was so chilly and rainy (it's still in the 90's here.) But we enjoyed doing some of the "fall" things we don't have here. Seattle is now on our visit again list. And I thought I would throw in a picture from my hike to the Grand Canyon. One of my best friends from the BYU-came to hike with me 1 week after the wedding. It was a bit crazy, and we had "mom brain" when Tara left her bag with all her things, and I left our hiking poles back in PHX. When we arrived at the GC the night before our hike and found we didn't have shoes for Tara, and no poles we thought we may have to throw in the towel and do the small hike and go to the IMAX. We were totally bummed. But we decided to go anyways even though we had a very late start. The general store opened at 8am so she was able to get some hiking shoes and a hat (luckily I had brought tons of extra clothing.) We didn't get on the trail until 10am so we booked it down in 2.45 hrs. My knees were not happy about that. Going down to the river and to Phantom Ranch was awesome! It was so beautiful down there, like a little oasis. Thankfully we were able to make it only having to hike for 1 hr. in the dark. And even more thankfully I remembered the head lamps. My legs were totally thrashed for a few days but overall it was such fun! I'm pretty sure we annoyed tons of people with our chatting but it made the time fly. Next year we are going to hike N. rim to S rim.

At the beginning of the hike, and right after we made it out.

SUMMER

2011-06-12T14:05:00.001-07:00

Lucy and Carmen got their hair cut at Aunt Jennie's

very fancy salon...they loved it.

Carmen Before

And After!

They love calling it "the bob haircut"

IT has been unseasonably cool this month so we have

spent a lot of time in the back yard...not just the pool

The kitchen is Grant's go to place. I have

gates and locks to keep him out when I'm busy. His

favorite things to do here are: climb on the table

and destroy anything on it, climb into his high chair

Pull out all the pots, pans and dishes, empty the food

he gets to in the pantry, and last but most dangerous,

climb into the oven.

2011-04-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

Lest you be creeped out, I had to take these photos at night,

and then thought they were funny so enjoy.

The best part is our back yard if you continue

towards the left on the pic. above you will come to

a small grove of 8 citrus trees.

Below is our garden patch. We love it!

new book shelves.....happy

This is the dance room/gymnasium

Lucy has perfected her cartwheel since this photo

Grant literally empties my bathroom stuff everyday....everyday!

passing time washing doll clothes :)

I caught this photo of Eden playing with her little plastic friends

not our dog

ta-da

So, here are a few pictures of our house. It still has a lot of work, and many changes have been made since these pictures, so you can use your imagination! We really enjoy living on one level. It is actually possible to do cartwheels from one end of the house to the other!

Pictures from Various Happenings

2011-01-09T19:13:00.000-08:00

I get an oppresive feeling in my chest when I think about journaling on this blog...akin to doing the laundry. I'm pretty sure it's my personality, I guess I just like the pictures the best. So here are some pictures...you can make up stories in your head to go with them....yippy! Have fun!

Update

2010-10-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

I know it has been quite a while since I last posted. Since the summer, many things have happened for our family. Matt started a new job in Phoenix. He is really enjoying it and it has been better in almost every way. Needless to say, we've moved to PHX. It is strange to be back, but we are used to it now. We are living with family right now while we save and look for a house. Our house in Colorado sold within 24 hours of the listing for the full price! It was a huge blessing! Lucy, Grant and I went back a few weeks ago to meet the movers and make the final arrangements for the closing. We loved seeing our friends and spending a bit more time out on the front porch with the neighborhood kids playing on the grass. I will really miss that. Maybe some kids will enjoy our gravel yard? Or maybe we will find a house with crunchy, stiff grass, ha ha. The kids are doing well. Lucy and Carmen started school at Mercury Mine elementary. I went to MME. I would be lying if I didn't say it's totally weird to send my children to a school so full of memories for me. Not all good memories either. But who has all good memories of elementary school? Eden started preschool, also at the school I went to. She is really enjoying her time there. Grant is growing up. He is such a precious part of our lives. We love his enthusiasm for life. He growls like a lion and pats you on the shoulder when you pick him up. He loves to pull Eden's hair, and stroke my face. He is trying to crawl. Lucy crawled at 10 months and I think Grant is on that track. It's so interesting to see the differences in my children. Carmen and Eden crawled at 6 months. All the girls walked at 12. Grant is also walking if there is something he can push on, but he can't pull himself up to standing yet. He is a strong little guy. He babbles and can say, "ma ma, da da, ba ba." I swear he says "MA MAAM!" when he is needing me. He sure hears his sisters do it all day. He is clapping, waving and feeding himself. My heart is full of love for these sweet little children and I am grateful every day they are mine. Lucy was baptized the first weekend of Sept. She is such a wonderful girl. I don't know what I would do without her example and help.

Last few weeks

2010-07-27T14:05:00.001-07:00

Eden not so sure about her first horse ride

Carmen eating "BYU" sparkle ice cream. She ate it for about 5 min. and then tossed it...it tasted like carbonated, tart cough syrup.

Lucy and her great Nana

Grant and his new buddy Wilson who is 3 months younger and 1 inch taller than Grant...ha ha

Grant and his sweet cousin Sophie...we miss your cheeks little chica!

Eden, Olivia (cousin), and Carmen at Heritage Park

Grant and his Aunt Elizabeth

Lucy and her cousin Hannah

Sweetie and Grant

The Roji and the Andersons...so many people!

Jake and Lucy on the tram up in Estes Park

Chillin at Aunt Minnie's

Mr. Fuzzy Fro

This is the pool before all the toys, bubbles, and popsicles

Matt and his cousin Richard with their tired little girls

Lucy and Ashely

A few weeks ago we were so happy to have our great, long time friends, the Andersons come and visit. We have multiplied quite a bit since we last vacationed together (5 new additions.) Last week we went to UT to visit family and friends. It was fun to see everyone--Lucy has been begging us to move there. She had a wonderful time at her Auntie Minnie's house sleeping over with her cousins. Eden and Carmen missed some fun due to the stomach flu. But overall we were able to see many people who we miss and love!!!

Vacation in Estes Park

2010-06-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

The view of the Rockies from our cabin

Eden and Carmen were so pleased with the place, they really wanted to stay inside most of the time

Lucy and her friend Oscar with their baby siblings

We heard some of our friends were going and decided to tag along...it was awesome!

Grant was awake and happy for the whole hike

This Mule deer was just eating breakfast one morning right by our car

If anyone wants to join us...we would love to go back! The YMCA cabins also had tons of things to do, mini golf, swimming, horseback riding, zip line, hay rides, free classes, archery, soccer, b-ball, volley ball, serious craft lodge, even a sunday chapel service! The girls loved the buffet breakfast in the lodge-mmm plenty of sausage :) All in all it was a blast!

Birds

2010-06-08T19:04:00.001-07:00

Outside our living room window, just about 1 foot away is a robin's nest. We have loved watching the mother bird sit on her bright blue eggs, seen the babies hatch and watched them grow like crazy and eat worms every 15 min. of the day! It has also been a great way to get friends and neighbors to come over and visit. And my favorite baby bird, Grant with his Liverpool shirt matching my baby brother, Matt!

2010-06-04T07:12:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! My sister has a great post about our summer goings-on. Check it out!

just click on Sarah on my side links

I love my life...Happy Mother's Day to me!

2010-05-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

Snuggy

2010-04-16T09:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday night was CRAZY! Eden was easy because she fell asleep at 6pm

Grant's Blessing day

2010-04-11T14:33:00.000-07:00

The "little man" is what everyone at church called him. He was very dapper..thanks Deans!

Everyone looking tortured, and Eden looking guilty

Family picture in front of the house. The sun was a bit bright, but our eyes are just week from the winter

trying to get the kids to cooperate...not successfully really. And yes--that's the color of my legs, no tights!

Grant and Maymay

Carmen invited 3 friends for a tea party to celebrate her birthday, they had a great time and so did we!

Grant enjoying the party for about 5 seconds before crying

Carmen's birthday, Easter and a few random photos

2010-04-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

Looking for Easter eggs

our little Easter chick (he really only wore this for 10 min)

This is a before and after, the before on the bottom. She was very sad the ears broke off but quickly made use of the broken pieces.

Yeah! Easter treats!!!

Carmen has a very "special" doll lion that matches this backpack. It was a hit!

She also got a Dora game to go with the leapster that sings a song with lyrics that say "stir, stir the chocolate, My nose is a peanut" Soooo funny for kids!

Grant and our next door neighbor Sam. He is exactly 3 weeks younger than Grant. We are very happy he has a friend already!

Here is a video of Grant laughing. For a special treat, listen to the background noise....pretty premium!

Denver St. Patrick's Day Parade

2010-03-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning we headed to Denver to watch Lucy dance in the St. Patrick's Day parade. She left earlier with some friends. Luckily we made it just in time to see her dance, unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the road. It was fun and quite an adventure. I just have to say that I love our stroller....too bad the pioneers didn't have one.

Irish bag pipers

Here you can see Lucy from behind. Her curls come in handy for Irish dance!

you can't make Lucy out but she is there :) Her dance troupe is ranked the best every year so they get to be in the honorary beginning part of the parade.

Eden and Carmen showing their 1/8 Irish pride! After the parade, our neighbor had a huge party with a bounce house and all sorts of fun. It was the most we have ever done to celebrate St. Patrick's day. So....Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-03T18:29:00.000-08:00

Matt, his Dad Carlos, and Grant-- a 3 generation photo

The girls wearing their "Lanie" dresses as they like to call them

I was finally able to get some smiling photos at the zoo

milky tongue...mmm

Brushing a ginormous goat..and Carmen fell face first out of the suburban if you are wondering about her nose...it was a bummer!

We went to Prescott Valley to visit Matt's grandma "Cookie." It was a lovely visit and the girls had a great time

Carmen's camera work

6 WEEKS OLD!!!

2010-02-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

Grant was 6 weeks old yesterday. It is so fun and amazing to watch them grow and learn in such a short amount of time. He is getting big!!! I love chubby babies. Now if only I could get out of these darn maternity pants......

2010-01-26T10:19:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time...Hi! I thought I would post a few pics of our newest addition, Grant. He was 4 weeks yesterday. It sure goes by a lot faster when they are out rather than in. He is a great little guy and we are all so happy happy happy that he is part of our family. And I am soooooo tired! We have had some interesting times with the girls. The other night Lucy and Carmen painted their hair with nail polish...whoops. Eden has finally stopped wetting herself willfully after a successful bribe with a small toy kitchen. The kids have started watching large amounts of TV after a long break..oh well. And we are all stocking up on our trans fats by having "emergency dinners" at McDonald's (not so yummy but fast.) Yes yes, it's all part of the plan :)

Summer

2009-05-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted for a LONG time. I am in PHX with the girls for my youngest brother's high school graduation....crazy! Congrats Matt! When I graduated he was 7 years old and lamented that no one would be around to attend his. But we all came. Unfortunately Matt had to stay in Denver. He is always a good sport when it comes to us having fun and him working...thanks Matt! So, that's what we're up to. Our home computer is TOTALLY busted and it's kind of hard for me to make posts on Matt's phone, thus the long pause. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!

Good News

2009-04-30T06:26:00.000-07:00

MATT PASSED THE BAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and yesterday Lucy learned to ride her bike, it was GREAT!!!!

Crazy, Wonderful 6 Weeks

2009-04-07T12:26:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Sweetie's 80th birthday party in Salt Lake this last weekend. Can you believe she is 80? I hope I have her genes! It was so fun to see my family and cousins

Carmen and I on her birthday enjoying a special treat!
Carmen's 4th birthday party.

The Dean's came to visit the middle of March. We have started the tradition of having a cousin birthday party. It is a blast, the kids love giving and receiving presents from each other

While at Pearl St. one day, the kids had a great time mauling their Dads out on the grass.

In Estes Park an outside view of lunch

an inside view of lunch. They thought it was hilarious when people would lean up against the window without noticing someone was eating right there.

Almost all the cousins on a picnic table outside Estes Park. Only Chase is missing, but he was much to small to lay on the table.

At the beginning of March I went to San Francisco for a girls weekend. Here we are at Alcatraz, we had such a great time!
Eating clam chowder on the Pier. Here is Ronna with her new baby girl Caitlynn, it was so wonderful to see my friends and their new babies :) In the middle of it all, my mom came to visit. It has been a great beginning to springtime!

Trees

2009-03-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

I made this spring time center piece for a Relief Society dinner. It cost a total of about $25. I'm very pleased because I love the look of these fake cherry blossoms and they retail at Pottery Barn for $89, and That does not include the fuzzy bunnies or the green place mat!!! It's a good thing I still have dead branches in my back yard! Also, here are the girls playing with their favorite house plant.

Post something new!!!!

2009-02-23T19:56:00.000-08:00

My camera batteries are dead and I can't find a charger. Matt is taking the bar tomorrow (Tues. and Wed.) This has been the kind of stress that hangs over your head and eats away at you little by little until you just start going to bed at 6:30 to avoid it. There have been layoffs around these parts and so passing the bar is essential to maintaining our lovely lifestyle. I have also been feeling so grateful for our happy lives lately. We are so blessed and I realized that it isn't just because of Matt's job etc. It's because my grandparents, great grandparents, parents and in laws, siblings, and friends have worked hard and given us many good lessons to bring us to where we are now. And of course God has been a huge part of our happiness...of course.

Girls Rock!!!!

2009-02-04T08:30:00.001-08:00

This is a picture of my sisters, my Mom and my daughters.....LOVE!!!!!

Instinct?

2009-01-28T07:22:00.000-08:00

It was freezing yesterday, a high of 18 maybe? So after school I took the kids to the mall to play at the kiddie park. After about 20 minutes of happily running, climbing and so forth, Eden came over to me and laid her head on my leg with a moan. I picked her up and she slumped into my arms. Something deep within me told me this was not normal and that I should run...run away. I picked her up as fast as I could and ran to a corner outside of the play area...with tiled floors. Not 5 seconds later she was projectile vomiting all over the floor....and my arm. Luckily I had tons of wipes and was able to clean it all up without one person noticing! Amazing! And double bonus...since it was cold I had a coat to cover up the barf all over my arm! This is not the worst story so far. Lucy takes the cake throwing up in the security line at the airport. Luckily Matt had his game on and grabbed a security bin before she lost it. Security just threw it away as "biohazard." Good thing for instincts!

Goings on

2009-01-15T12:06:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas with plenty of sunshine and good company in Phoenix. The kiddies loved playing with, jumping on, and torturing their many aunts and uncles. Of course said aunts and uncles were very obliging. Since we have been home, all has been pretty cold and mostly quiet. I have enjoyed the post holiday lull, it's given me a chance to do a little organizing and cleaning (a little.) Carmen and I have been coming up with a few new things to do. She is working hard on writing and spelling her name. Both Lucy and Carmen started gymnastics and seem to enjoy moving and running! I've realized that in the winter, we don't do that as often. Anyways, we are alive and doing well. Except maybe for Matt, who has to take the CO bar in 4 weeks :)

2008-12-14T10:57:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Bedtime visit from Santa

2008-12-04T18:29:00.000-08:00

Tonight Santa came to visit. It was a surprise to us all! He went into Lucy and Carmen's room (after they had laid down for bed), jingling bells and laughing the famous "ho ho ho." This was a great thing for Matt and I. Lucy asks me daily if Santa is real. I tell her that the story of Santa is real, and it is up to her if she wants to believe. Of course she does, but the literal thinker in her doesn't. The girls were in awe, and very willing to tell Santa what they wanted. Luckily, "Santa" will be bringing them exactly what they asked for. Lucy wants "sports stuff" and Carmen "a ballerina tutu." Easy enough. What a great ending to a long day (medical tests and snowy snowy cold streets.)

Snow Princess

2008-11-29T09:21:00.001-08:00

First real snow

2008-11-29T09:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was chilly, but sunny. It was supposed to have snowed several times so far, but only left a thin layer of frosty ice a few weeks ago. Matt and I were woken up this morning by the screams of "SNOW!!!! It SNOWED!!!!" Unfortunately so was Eden. But, we are so excited that winter, or winter weather is finally upon us. We had a great Thanksgiving with our friends from BYU, the Workmans. Yesterday Matt organized the garage (it took 7 hours.) Now we can fit my car in there! This morning we decorated the Christmas tree and now we are about to have hot chocolate...what a great weekend!
p.s. Lucy didn't swallow her tooth after all. The other day she came in and told me she had found it on the stairs while playing outside. I think it's amazing that she actually found it. She did too..she got 2 visits from the tooth fairy :)

The other tooth....lost.

2008-11-25T13:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the girls and I were out in the backyard raking leaves. While raking I was listing to Lucy play a wooden Peruvian flute when all of a sudden she tossed it on the ground and began to scream. I ran over and looked into her mouth, which she was gaping open at me. At first all I saw was a dab of blood on her tongue. I told her to calm down, she had only bitten her tongue. While keeping her mouth wide open she attempted to say.."I swallowed it, I swallowed it!!!!" All the while there was fear in her eyes. Still not understanding I took a closer look into her mouth only to realize that she had knocked out her other top front tooth with the flute, and swallowed it. Two for two with the good front tooth stories Lucy!

Ugly, Awesome, or both

2008-11-11T07:34:00.000-08:00

pigeon lamp..what do you think?

Here are a few pictures of the inside of our house. It is finally starting to come together, although there are many many many more boxes to unpack. Mostly artwork and things for my unfinished studio, or books for the bookshelves we have yet to paint. I wanted feed back on this lamp we have. What do you think? It is in Eden's room. Let me know!

2008-11-04T16:19:00.000-08:00

Several people have expressed interest in seeing my newly painted/carpeted basement. So, to give you some idea...it used to be a dingy yellow with a tan ceiling and old old brown carpet. It looks much brighter and welcoming now. Thanks to my Mom and Grandma (Sweetie) who helped me paint and chose the carpet. It was fun to do something new to a space I care about :) Sometime soon we will get some more storage for all those girly toys.

2008-11-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful break from unpacking...going to Disneyland with Matt's parents. Kathy made the girls some amazing witch dresses. It was a blast! Now I'm having a really hard time getting back into the unpacking...a REAL hard time!

2008-10-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

I thought I would put up a pic of our house. We are wrapping up the painting and things so that we will be ready to move in next week. I am SOOOOO excited to have this house. I can't wait to have wood under my kitchen table instead of carpet. And a fenced back yard? AWESOME!!!!! I also thought this picture of Eden was funny. I was in my room talking with Matt and this is what I found when I came out. At least I know if anything happened to me, she would be able to feed herself :)

The Environment

2008-10-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

"On August 19th 2007, an oil tanker off the coast of Australia split in two, dumping 20,000 tons of crude oil.Senator Collins, a member of the Australian Parliament, appeared on a TV news program to reassure the Australian public." So this is what they say. I'm positive it's not real. But I thought it was hilarious anyway.

Visit from MayMay and Poppa

2008-09-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend was great. Matt's parents came to visit and we had so much fun. We went to the fall festival in Boulder and toured our new house (almost ours). Matt and I also went on a date for the first time in several months and it was the most fun I've had in a while. We went to this funky little modern restaurant down town. While we were there, the lady at the table next to us was talking about a play she was going to. I really wanted to do something different, so I butted in and asked her what she was talking about. It turned out that her husband was doing a one man show, with a very renowned band about 28 different failing musicians called bubs. So, we ended up going to the show which was in a small black box theater. It was very entertaining. We ended up meeting a lot of theater people from denver and making some good conections for future theater info. It was a great night!!! Thanks for babysitting MayMay and Poppa!

Fun and stress free in the E.R.

2008-09-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

So on Wednesday night I was scrambling to make dinner for the missionaries. Matt wasn't going to be home in time to have them over, so I was bringing it to their home. They needed to eat at 5pm. This is definitely not a good time of day for me...with the kids :) I basically had to banish them to their room so that I could cook. The whole time I was thinking.."I'm happy to do this for the missionaries, and I'm sure I'll be blessed for it." Let's just say I was totally blessed. Right as we were getting ready to leave to take them dinner, Lucy stood on a kids chair that suddenly flipped over and she whacked her chin on the counter. Speaking from past experience, things like this don't go so well for me. Usually I feel very nervous and completely stressed out. But, amazingly enough, I was calm, collected, organized...even happy! So, we dropped of the dinner on the way to the E.R. The hospital was empty, so we got into a room right away. Of course as all hospital visits go, this still took about 3 1/2 hours even though it was not busy. It was actually very hard and tiring to entertain the kids in that tiny room for such a long time, but I didn't mind!. Matt was taking the train to meet me, but fell asleep and missed his exit...ha ha ha. Usually I think that would make me flip my lid...but again...no stress. The whole experience was quite remarkable. Lucy was very brave, she didn't even flinch or wince or anything! I'm very grateful that I was so blessed that day!!!

Fun in Colorado

2008-09-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

Lucy and my cousin John at the Air Force Academy
Lucy and Carmen in Louisville ready for Lucy's birthday party
The food was good!
Lucy's party
Eden at Carmen's preschool, funny I didn't get a picture of Carmen, she was too busy having fun to pose for meWe love living here in Colorado. We have been having a great time going to the mountains, to Boulder, the children's museum, Down town by way of light rail, to parks, and just being outside in the perfect weather. We just made an offer on a house and it was accepted so we are in the process of buying our first home. The prospect of not having boxes in my living room, and having a garage is very exciting, but buying a house is.....um scary. However, we love Louisville and can't wait to move there!

2008-08-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well, Lucy got $2 from the tooth fairy and $5 from us, so she was totally happy about the whole thing. Lucy started school on Monday and that is going really well. She had a few crazy afternoons of screaming, but I think it was due to exhaustion. She woke up at 4am the morning of school with a bad dream related to watching the execution of Aslan in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. She was just too excited for school that day, so she didn't go back to sleep...he he. By the way...we were visiting some friends when she happened upon some big kids watching that movie. Anyways, Eden and Carmen and I are enjoying the mornings, just chilling at home. It's nice when they are still very entertained with their toys. Eden has also got the hang of entertainment and when nothing is going on she will bring me the remote and point to the tv.....oops!

2008-08-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

We bribed Lucy to let us tie her tooth to the door. It was loose for several months and was starting to turn brown. I'm amazed that she did it! Also, we have officially moved to Colorado. It is beautiful and we are really enjoying the weather. Matt started his new job yesterday and was very happy about it. We are so happy to have made it here!

UTAH

2008-07-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

I just returned home from UT to a very unorganized house. Of course, I'm the one who has not organized, ever in my life, so this is a little stressful for moving. Our trip was great, we saw lots of family and friends, it was especially great to see the Bostonians, the Andersons, Crawfords and Barbers. I attached a picture of Eden doing her thing. I think this pretty much sums up her personality. She is a grungy little kid. But oh so cute!

Caller ID

2008-07-22T19:26:00.001-07:00

Today I was checking my caller ID to see who I'd missed while I was gone. To my shocking surprise Marie Osmond had called! Too bad I wasn't here to chat. Maybe I'll catch her at church next week ;)

SAN FRANCISCO!!!

2008-07-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

What a soft Q!
Ronna sculpting Eve by Rodin, or doing the conga?
Lucy and the MUMMY AHHHH!
Banalance
Katie and David by Hansen
Lucy thought the hair on his arms was grotesque and facinating
Eden reeking havock at the SFMOMA, I'm not kidding
Carmen contemplating Kline, Lucy actually said, "hey, that's kid painting" ha ha little does she know!
Carmen matching Rothko!
Lucy and Rauchenburg
Lucy thinking hard about the Gates of Hell, and about running away and not taking anymore silly pictures
Okay, this trip was amazing! We had such a great time with the Edwards. Since I took so many pictures, I thought I would categorize them. So, the first category will be the art that we saw while we were there. On thurs. Ronna stayed home with her kids to rest. I took the 3 girls on the train to downtown to go to the SFMOMA. We tried to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit but really only glanced at it because there were soooo many people, and the double stroller didn't quite manage. But, the kids were happy to see a few of her bleeding on a hospital bed. Carmen was really intrigued and carried the book we got with her all over. She kept saying things like, "why does Frida have a tree on her neck, does that hurt?" I tried to explain the difference between paintings and photos, but hers do look pretty real. On Sat. we randomly went to the Stanford museum of art. I actually liked this one better because they had a fantastic collection without the crowds. The kids really loved the balancing banana by Oldenburg, Carmen aptly renamed it the "banalance." My favorite for pictures sake, and maybe because Eden kept trying to chat with it was the sculpture by Duane Hanson, David the mechanic. And of course the mummy was a hit. But, what kid doesn't love to see a 2000 year old dead woman?

2008-07-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

Matt, the girls and I came to Phoenix for the fourth of July. It has been a great trip. We have all enjoyed spending time with family and hanging out in the backyard pools. Yesterday, my Mom, sister , the girls and I went to the new PHX children's museum. Foam ice cream anyone? It was actually a great place and we will definitely be back. Matt's mom made the girls the darling dresses. So I guess my red eye reduction flash didn't work so great :) Next week we are off to San Francisco, so stay tuned for more adventures!

2008-06-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to SanDiego. The weather was amazing, and Tara had a super house just 1/2 mile from the beach. The girls loved their new friends (4 kids) and I loved to see my friends too! We went to the beach, the zoo, the pool, lego land (for the free 5pm-6pm hr.) and to a great park. Mostly the kids loved to play outside and ride bikes etc. Tara and I had fun painting the kids faces and keeping all 7 of them in sight where ever we went. I can't wait to go back next year!
p.s. Tara is one of my best friends from BYU, we were both BFA painters at the same time and met in NY city :) Here is Lego Land's version of the city

2008-06-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. So, I'm pretty much the worst blogger, but hopefully no one is really checking this anymore. So if you are...your in luck! We are having a great summer so far. We recently returned from an excellent trip to UT where we saw our great friends the Bryners. They had a horrible family wedding to attend (complete with a gift bag of tootsie rolls and gold fish crackers.) But, we had a really fun time seeing them. Lucy and Eve were like 2 peas in a pod, literally. We also saw my great friends Susan and Karen and my splendid family. It was great. Tomorrow we (Katie and girls) are headed to San Diego to visit The Gillberts! We are going to hang out at the beach and the zoo. It is very hot here. Our condo is poorly airconditioned so yesterday my bedroom hit 87 degrees. Woohoo CA! This last week Lucy was in a camp called Camp Invention. They spent 5 hrs. pr. day making things like rockets and cities out of recycled materials. She LOVED it! Carmen, who now is only to be called "grumpy bear" and I spent the week organizing and running errands..fun!

2008-03-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

Today was a long, boring day for the kids. I had to pre-register for surgery at the hospital. It took about 3 hours. While registering Carmen fell down some how and a huge blue goose egg grew out of her face. There was a nice lady who brought her an icepack, which I tied to her head.

2008-03-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

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2008-03-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

2008-03-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty normal day. No one hurt themselves too badly. Carmen did fall about 4 feet onto her back from some monkey bars, but she's fine, no blood. I finally made some space on our patio for the kids to play. If I'd have known it would be so popular I would have done it months ago. Isn't it a nice little yard...he he he. I think the girls will die if they have a real yard some day.

2008-03-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

Sarah sent me this Marzapan from a small nunnery in Toledo Spain. What a nice sister, what nice nuns. It is tasty.

Purpose/disclaimer

2008-02-14T15:02:00.000-08:00

I want to share funny things that I see, and that happen to me.

Be warned, I'm a really bad speller.

To begin, here are a few pics. I found this sweet decopage at the dollar store. Carmen added, "ahhh, she's so pretty, is that baby Jesus' mommy?" I think I'll buy more