Maine-bound

We're off to Maine tomorrow morning... :-) Hope everyone has a great couple of weeks!

Happy Birthday, Grace!

How can she be SIX?! What a beautiful girl. I don't care how old she is, I still see the little baby in her. I hope I always do. The first moments knowing Grace were truly magical: she was an old soul at the beginning, looking at me with wise eyes, like she knew all the answers already. Parenting her continues to be trying to know the person she already is and helping her find her strength, bravery, and patience. Grace humbles and amazes me everyday. Thank you, Grace, for teaching me so much and for being so true to yourself. I learn so much from you.

All Grace asked for from us was a guitar, which we happily picked out for her. She idolizes Brandi Carlisle, which I think is pretty darn cool. I picture this on her album cover some day:

Grace with the BEAUTIFUL cake Oma made for her (thanks, Oma!!):

whole new holes

Here's hoping I don't shock the grandparents....

Anna got her ears pierced on Monday. She's been wanting them pierced for quite a while now, and finally talked Adam down from his original thought of 32 being a reasonable age to put holes in her head. I got my ears pierced at seven, so after that age seemed like fair game to me. We both agreed she had to be old enough to take care of them herself, which, quite honestly, she really wasn't when she was seven. Well, around Christmas time Adam and I told Anna that she could get her ears pierced when she felt ready. Once given the okay, her pleading all but stopped, and she would only occasionally bring it up (I think it was more the temptation of the forbidden that enticed her). Finally she started bringing it up again a few weeks ago and while Auntie Mik was here seemed to be the perfect time to do it. I must say I was really, really glad to have Mikaron there with me for support (I got nervous!!). Anna was the picture of serenity and poise, though. She got a bit nervous, they put both earrings in at the same moment (why didn't they have that technology when I was a kid?!), and she declared immediately after that she was "okay" and was excited to see what they looked like. Really, Mik and I both agreed she was amazing. Grace loved watching it all and has even said since that she's "proud for Anna." I'm happy that she still looks like a little girl, just a little sparklier. Adam was shocked we went without him, and often talks about Anna "before she had holes in her head", but I think he's adjusting just fine. And, you have to admit, she looks quite cute:



I have had quite the exciting week. Adam completely surprised me by having Mikaron fly out for my birthday (Soley couldn't make it--we missed you, Soley!!!). Adam and the girls came to visit me at the Needlepoint Joint, which was already a surprise, and a few minutes later, Mikaron walked into the shop. It was perfectly executed. I was stunned and immediately started to cry. It was great. Then Adam surprised me again by saying we were headed to Alta Lodge for two nights. Here I was planning to go to GS day camp for the next two days, and Adam informs me that they already know and I only think they need me: they don't. So, very disoriented, I leave work (everyone there knew, too), go home and try to pack (if only I had known, I would have done laundry!). Well, we had a great time needless to say. It was so nice to spend so much time with Mik with nothing else we had to do... We had a lot of plans to do lots of different, fun things: yoga, hikes, a movie, time at the spa, but mostly we ended up sitting on the beautiful patio, talking and eating: DIVINE. We did sit in the hot tub and sauna, we made it to REI for a birthday shopping spree, and we flew down the mountain on the alpine slide, but my fondest memories will always be just hanging out with Mik. Thank you so much for coming out to spend the weekend with me, Mik! I loved every minute!

Then, after we got back from our relaxing weekend, Adam and the girls had a big party for me (I had found out about this part of the surprise). We had a great group of some of my favorite people. It was a great, great day. I was exhausted from all the hullaballoo, but--Man--what a way to turn 36! Thank you so much, Adam. You make me feel special every day, but this weekend topped it all. :-)

New Me

It's amazing how great cutting 10 inches can feel... I was ready and I LOVE my new hair! (and didn't Anna do a great job with my big ol' camera?! The first one is even at 3.2! She's got a steady hand.) The girls get their hair cut this afternoon.

Girl Scout Camp

Last week, Anna and I got to go to Girl Scout Camp. We had a GREAT time (and it fulfilled my dream of going to camp). We learned lots of songs and games, Anna (and I) made new friends, we had great camp counselors, the weather was perfect, we were busy, busy the whole time, and it was especially nice to have that time with just Anna. Anna is a busy girl these days, and when she is home, she plays so well and so much with her sis, I don't have a lot of time to be with just her. Being at camp together was really a joy--a time I'll always remember for sure. I often say that Anna is the nicest person I know, and being there together reminded me that she still is. She is such a nice person: always so happy and agreeable, willing to try new things, honest, and I even got some snuggle time with her every morning when she climbed into my sleeping bag with me (now that REALLY never happens anymore!). We've been singing all the songs all week and can't wait to share them with the rest of the Brownie troop. Oh, and Anna's camp name was Starry Night. Very fitting, I think! There are many great pictures of our trip (Adam's camera did okay!), so here are quite a few:

Learning to tie knots as we wait for our dutch oven breakfast (that the kids and counselors made).

Trefoil Ranch, which is east of Provo, is a GORGEOUS camp.

Starry Night riding Derby, a frustratingly lazy horse who kept stopping. She learned to be super assertive! That is Mt. Timpanogas in the background. Again, beautiful.

Inside the lodge eating our lunch.

Starry Night with all of her loot from the Trading Post. She brought up her cookie credits from selling cookies and got to buy lots of good stuff: a pillow, a fan/flashlight, and two horses (one for Grace--see, I told you she is nice!)

Doing the limbo... Not one of Starry Night's strongest skills. :-)

Their troop did one of the flag ceremonies for the whole camp (there were probably about 100 kids there). Starry Night and Yellowfeather folded the GS flag.

Mist (Annakai) and Starry Night writing during a stop on one of our hikes.

Starry Night with two girls from her troop who also came to camp, Chocolate and Mist, and their camp counselors, Sundance, Hershey's, and S'mores.

A rare picture with me (Sunny Day)! Starry Night had just been a turtle in a skit, hence the face make-up. This is right before we loaded up and went home. It was a great, great time.

Since we got back from camp, we've been swimming a couple times at some outdoor pools, gotten together with some friends, the girls started swim lessons, and Girl Scout Day Camp starts tomorrow. Oh, and I cut all my hair off. :-) I was even able to cut a 10" ponytail off, so I can donate it to Locks of Love. Now my hair is SHORT again (not as short as I've been before, but still pretty darn short). I love it and will try to have Adam snap a picture of me tomorrow to post.

Happy Father's Day!

To all the fathers out there, Happy Father's Day!!!

To Adam, Happy Father's Day, hun! Thank you for being such an amazing father for the girls and such a great partner for me. Father's Day is so much more fun now than it was for me growing up. Thank you for making that true.

To Gary, Happy Father's Day! Thank you for being such a kind, loving, honest, sincere father. You are everything I could ever want in a father-in-law. I can only hope Adam turns out as good as you have. :-)

And, to my mom, Happy Father's Day to you, too. Thank you for being both my mother AND my father growing up. I don't know how you did it, but I thank my lucky stars you did. Thank you.

Last night, I went to one of the best baby showers ever for a friend from my knitting group, Kristi: good food, great company, and perfect presents. One member of the group said that "every group has a heart, and Kristi is the heart of our group" and I couldn't agree more. Kristi is one of those enviable people who likes most people and most people like her, and is completely generous with her time, love, and attention. So very different from me.... I really don't know how she does it. But, it was great to celebrate Kristi's first baby, who will be born in July. Kristi got oodles of knitted gifts (ironically, even more than usual from our knitting group!); it was obvious all night how much we all adore Kristi. Here is what I made for her baby:

It's Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket made out of Ecco, a superwash DJ weight wool (very springy). It was truly a fun knit. While knitting it, it is like origami, in one piece that looks like nothing wearable, then you cast off, make one fold, sew two seams at the shoulders, and you have a jacket! A great, great knit. I found the pattern in her book, The Opinionated Knitter.

Before the baby shower, we had a perfect day going on a bike ride along the Ogden River Parkway with Jenn and Peter (we were quite the entourage!), stopping at a new shop along the river for some warm beneighs (sp??) and cafe au laits. It was finally a warm day and was just beautiful out.

Last Sunday, our good friends from college and early SLC days, Cable and Lesley and their two boys, came to visit us. They were visiting Cable's parents down in SLC and came up for the evening. It was so great to see them again. Their boys are adorable (and their parents are not bad, either!). :-)

And, at the beginning of the week, we had a great time visiting with the Girz family, who moved to Ohio last August. It was great to see Anna and her best friend, Ana, together again (who Grace absolutely adores, too), and Grace loved playing with her pal, Nick. I loved getting to hang out with their parents, too. And, while they were here, we got to see Suzanne, Emma and Kate a lot, too. That was one really great part of our week. We got to go to the Nature Center, have lunch along the river, the dads took the kids swimming and Kim, Suzanne, and I went on a hike, we had a pizza party at our house, and we took the new train to SLC and went to the planetarium at the Gateway. Thanks, guys, for visiting and for spending so much time with us while you were here! It's just not the same without you here; we miss you every day. Keep in touch!

I'm off to put some cinnamon rolls in the oven. Grace just finished her card while I've been typing this; Anna is still asleep and will have to finish hers later... Good thing Father's Day is ALL day. :-)

Riding Trinket

The highlight of our summer so far has definitely been the girls getting to ride our friend Stacy's horse, Trinket. Trinket is an amazingly kind, well-behaved horse, and Stacy is equally as kind--and is amazingly good at sharing her horse enthusiasm and knowledge with the girls. I can't think of anyone Adam or I would trust more with our girls on a horse. Anna started by getting to brush Trinket down, including her mane and tail:

Grace wasn't so sure at this point, preferring to take care of Trinket's carrot and apple we brought for her:
I have never, ever seen Anna smile as big as when she was on the horse. She absolutely loved it. It was so good for her to learn to HAVE to be loud enough for Trinket to hear her, and "click like she means it." Anna got it, and Trinket listened. A good lesson indeed for her to use with everyone in this life.
I wasn't really sure if Grace would ride Trinket on this trip, because she usually prefers to check things out first, but she got right on--without even a pause. She liked riding her and also had a smile on the whole time, but didn't want to go again after her first ride. That's okay. She, of course, is ready to go again, as she says, "now that she knows what to expect." All good training for her life as a farmer (still what she wants to be when she grows up). :-)

In other, much sadder news, this week, we had to put our cat, Oskar, down on Saturday. Although we all loved Oskar (including everyone who has ever come to our home, because he had such personality), it was time. He had been peeing on our carpet downstairs last fall, stopped, and then started peeing again last week. We did all the tests, and he was perfectly "healthy." He was also attacking our dog. Whenever he barked. Even in front of company. Not good. He also tended to walk around the house moaning more often than not. We really think that although he was physically healthy, his mind wasn't. So, it has been sad and a bit empty not having him around, but the house feels much calmer (and I'm finally starting to get the smell out of the carpet...). Both Tycho and Celie (our other cat) are much, much happier. And I'm not kidding. I think it was for the best. But a really, really hard decision to make. And a hard thing to explain to the girls. They're doing pretty well, though, and giving lots more love to the pets we still have than they ever have before.