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August 18, 2009
There are two good things about going to the park. First, I get to visit with some friends, one of whom I haven't seen in years. And second, when a random kid decides she doesn't want her birthday balloons anymore and her nice dad doesn't want them to go to waste, everyone gets a balloon. Try as I might to get Pearl to actually smile or at least look at the camera with Carli's kids and their balloons to document the evening, it just wasn't going to happen. Too much fun to be had I guess to take two milliseconds out of your exploration of how balloons float (and how to get the string off your wrist) to pose for the camera.
August 17, 2009
I needed some time to think tonight and set about trying to find a quiet place to do so. I was ticked off, sad, heartbroken, confused, upset, and well you get the picture. I ended up sitting in my car by the temple crying and praying for some answers. I thought it would be the perfect place to ponder my feelings without distractions but apparently so did everyone else. Everywhere I turned there were people walking, giggling with their girlfriends, kids on skateboards, and dogs barking. Don't get me wrong the temple is a reverent and quiet place but I probably should have gone to a session inside where it's actually peaceful and quiet.
August 16, 2009
For Sharing Time we learned about how to prepare to go to the temple. The kids were more excited about finding the clues under their chairs than actually listening to the lesson. Me? I wondered how on earth teachers come up with such cute ideas for Sharing Time and thankful that my class somehow lucked out with not getting a single Sharing Time assignment this year.
Anyway... back to the lesson. The kids were each given a piece of paper and told to draw the temple on one side and their family on the other. When you hold it up to the light, you're supposed to see your family together inside the temple. You know, "Families Can Be Together Forever." After some prodding by Jeff I reluctantly set about drawing the Logan Temple and our little family. The tricky part about this was not just drawing something that sort of resembled the temple (let's not even go there with my stick figure renditions of us), but holding it up to the light to get a picture of us together forever.
Even if eternity seems like a very, very, very long time some days.
August 15, 2009
After a week of searching for the perfect outfits, trying to convince Jeff that this would be a fun family activity, and dreaming about the cutest family pictures on the planet (seriously, I've been dreaming about this for weeks), I woke up to a downpour of rain, wind, and fall-like temperatures. Don't get me wrong, not having the heat was nice but the rain! Honestly!!! Did it have to rain on the ONE, SINGLE day that I've been looking forward to for a month now? Oh and did I mention that we drove to Logan just for this, spending the night in a trailer with Pearl kicking Jeff and smashing my face so Jeff's lungs and eyes didn't swell shut from cat allergies at my parent's house? And to make it even more disappointing, well infuriating really, by the time we would have finished our family pictures the clouds had parted and the sun was coming out. We drove home to absolutely gorgeous weather and not a cloud in the sky. So much for ironing Jeff's shirt the day before.
But I'm not bitter or anything.
Ok, maybe a little bitter since I'm cheating on the picture today and using one that I took last night instead. I just couldn't bring myself to take a picture today of a cloudless and gorgeous blue sky after the storm. The one good thing about this whole weekend was that we got to visit with all the grandparents... my parents, my Grandpa J, Jeff's parents, and my Grandma & Grandma A. It's been awhile since we've seen my Grandpa J, plus we had to get Pearl's gun from the Peacock Reunion repaired. And my Grandma A turned 75 today so we dropped by for a birthday visit. Luckily the gun repair shop was open and we even came home with a new toy... a top! We spent a good hour playing with all the tops in my Grandpa's kitchen, testing them out to find the perfect spinner. I wish we lived just a little closer so we could see all the grandparents more often, and help them out more. So even with the rainout we had a few silver linings in the clouds... now if we can just find a time to reschedule without the rain AND more importantly, convince Jeff to drive all the way to Logan again just to smile for the camera.
August 14, 2009
Pearl and I went to visit my best friend from high school, Becky, and her newest addition David. I was excited to hold a new baby, since mine has suddenly turned into a 30 lb. squirmy and talkative toddler, and I don't really remember just how tiny newborns are. Was Pearl really this tiny at one time? Pearl on the other hand, was more interested in the Frontrunner Trains, airplanes buzzing overhead, and the Mr. Potato Head toys. She was pretty bummed that Becky's other three boys were visiting Grandma so she could get some much needed rest and time with just the new baby. I still can't believe Becky has four kids and I'm still on one! But after figuring out that it wasn't nearly as fun when you're the only one around, Pearl decided she wanted to hold the baby. She was so excited but as soon as you put David in her arms she would say "all done" and try to give him back. But then as soon as you picked him back up she wanted to hold him again. We did this for a few minutes until she got the idea that she was supposed to hold him for longer than 3 seconds... and look at what a great shot I got! She was seriously so excited to play with him and laughed and laughed when he sneezed It almost made me want another baby... until he pooped (which Pearl found even funnier than the sneeze) and we high-tailed it out of there!
August 13, 2009
Fear no longer! I have my cookie baking groove back! No one can possibly know the excitement I am feeling now that I successfully baked an entire batch of chocolate chip cookies worthy of my previous single days! Oh the joy! Apparently the trick is to actually let Pearl help with the baking or screw all conventional baking wisdom and just measure the flour my way. I realized it would be an easier clean up to just let Pearl help instead of giving her some miscellaneous supplies. So I put her in charge of pouring each of the ingredients into the mixing bowl. She thought it was awesome, especially when we turned the mixer on and she could see it turning everything around and around. Oh and then her favorite part? Putting in the "chocolates," and sneaking in a quick lick of one before putting it in the bowl. When Jeff came in the house Pearl started to shout with pure excitement "Daddy I make cookies!" Seriously, so cute. What wasn't quite so cute was when she found her little rolling pin and starting smashing my perfect cookies on the cooling racks. Good thing she only got to one of them before I nabbed the rolling pin and distracted her with the idea of having a tea party instead.
August 12, 2009
Not to get too preachy, but today's picture was taken because of a press conference I attended. With Utah's new texting law in affect, the Zero Fatalities campaign held a press conference to show just how dangerous texting while driving is, and that no texting while driving WILL be enforced. Reggie Shaw was 19 when he hit and killed two men while texting and driving. The effect of this horrific crash affected many more lives than the families who lost a father, husband, brother, and friend. A video of this story was released today at the event - please take 15 mintues of your time to watch it! Reggie spoke at the event and shared how this has changed his life forever. The widows who lost their husbands were sitting right behind me just sobbing. I was amazed at the courage Reggie and these women must have to share their story in the hope that it will prevent another tragic event like this. Personally I have enough distractions while I'm driving (namely a screaming two year old in the back seat) to not add one more thing to the list like texting. Plus, since Jeff and I are still living in the cellphone dinosaur era (surprised we don't have the mega cellphones from the Saved by the Bell days), we don't even have texting! Shock and awe I know. Ok, so we're really just too cheap to pay for it but at least we aren't tempted to text and drive.
If you're intersted, here are a few news stories of the event and video:
August 18, 2009
