sixteen

In April we celebrated Sam's sixteenth birthday.  I brought home this dinosaur friend to appease Grant who was greatly disappointed that Sam wasn't going to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate.  Sam pardoned the dinosaur.  Everyone agreed he was too cute to smash,  so we just shook the candy out of him.


We all had dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe.

And earlier Sam and I had lunch at Kneaders.

And we couldn't properly celebrate Sam without movies.  We made several trips North in honor of his big day. One Saturday in April Sam and I enjoyed a trip to the Megaplex at Valley Fair Mall to see Oblivion and have lunch at Zuppas.  This picture was from a beautiful Tuesday.  It was wonderful to see Salt Lake City blossoming with tulips and daffodils, and the trees dressed in my favorite baby lime green leaves.  Sam and Ben went to see Upstream Color at the Tower theater.  Grandma Martha and I entertained the little ones at a McDonald's in downtown SLC.  I was sure I had taken Sam and Ben there many years ago.





Sam blesses our lives with ideas...like this one. A day that would have been lost if it weren't for his persistence, and creativity, and passion for a special day, and persuasiveness.  Sam you are great company. I hope you love being sixteen.

triumph and survival

I have cleaned my room.  I am forty-one years-old, and this is a moment of personal triumph.

 As I think I have mentioned before, I have had this arrangement with God; I get my house in order and He will give me the password to move out of crisis mode. We came up with this plan as long ago as May of 2012, perhaps it was longer. God is more patient than I am.

It got worse before it got better, as things so often do. Over the previous months I had worked to contain the majority of the disorder to the top floor, specifically my bedroom and the girls' room.  In December I took my eyes off the prize. I believe they were reasonable distractions.  First--Christmas.  Second--Christmas carols.  December annually means I take another stab at playing the Christmas hymns with some degree of adequacy, and that takes time away from laundry.  And so the piles in my room grew, and when the girls needed to find just the perfect pair of pink stretch pants, rather than diving in, and risk getting lost in the piles themselves, they flung and flung, this way and that way, and soon the floor became a less than lovely collage called what-to-wear. And that's how things stayed, even though, as you know, guests arrived.  That welcomed chemical messenger, who creates just the right balance of warm hospitality and defensive pride-- that makes the need to clean just before guests arrive feel particularly urgent, stepped out the moment I stepped in my room. It was as if God needed the mess to be there a little longer.

If it is any consolation to my guests, the whole scene gave me nausea on a daily basis as well. And the worst of it, the little pests that torment  me even now-- since even though the crisis has passed the family still refuses to go naked, or even just barefoot--were the socks.  There were hundreds of them, white with green toes, white with blue toes, black, off black, Christmas socks, Halloween socks, even Easter socks, mismatched and scattered all about. At one point I had them basketed and earnestly anticipating some kind of reconciliation with their long estranged partners.  Then, one day, Sophie discovered the joy of recreational flinging, and like confetti they flew.

I think it was conquering those little socks that gave me the courage to finally overcome the mess, that and the grace of God.  After months of just feeling too depressed about the mess to even face it, we cleared one path and then another... me and the angels, and the Elmer chocolates in the little heart shaped boxes stashed way back in the corner of the top shelve in my bedroom closet. It was as if God had decided the time had come.

So January was folding socks and surviving this. Cold.  

And there were other triumphs.  Sam and Ben, and their friend Steven produced a short film for the LDS Film Festival twenty-four hour film contest.  I was proud of them for working together so well and creating a film in such a short period of time.  Sam also went to drama camp and enjoyed watching several plays at Westminster college in Salt Lake.

 Olivia and her friend Emma, and Mary and her friend Joey entered the school science fair.

 I was grateful to spend two Saturdays with our dear friends from Beijing, the Carrillo family. They invited us up to their new home in Draper for lunch one week and the next week the little kids and I enjoyed celebrating Diego's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese.

mary's birthday

Mary was lucky this year.  Her birthday was on a beautiful, warm Saturday. We had bacon, sausage, and doughnuts for a birthday brunch, and at noon I took Mary and some friends, and siblings to see Brave at the dollar theatre.

This was the Friday before.  Birthday treats, hat, and Mary's sweet teacher, who is from Hong Kong--like Mary.

Birthday evening we had Panda Express and Mary met her new primate friend. Mary is year-of-the-monkey...or ape in the case. Grandma Martha arrived home from California in time for dinner and Red Velvet cake.

 

Happy Birthday sweet Mary--we love you.

colorado trip-October 2012-day two

Friday morning we had rain as we left the motel and drove towards the A-frame where Anne and Eric live.  The high desert plains still had their own mysterious beauty in the gray morning, almost more other-worldly without the mountain views.  We dashed in the house, unaccustomed to the cold wind, to say our first hellos.My sister Anne and their amazing tomato plants. 

After surveying all the interesting lofts, and corners, and artifacts in the A-frame, the kids were ready to go back and brave more outdoor exploration. The rain was still falling so the insect life that they had enjoyed in summer 2010 had retreated.  Eric promised that the weather man had predicted sun by ten o'clock, and miraculously, it appeared right on schedule. The wind blew the clouds away quickly,

and this beautiful double rainbow appeared.

This is the view of Mount Blanca that Anne and Eric enjoy everyday.

Sun in eyes face.Soon we gathered back in the van and Anne joined us on a trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

This was the view from the visitors' center, where along with enjoying the scenery and exhibits, we discovered that the van door had some mysterious issue preventing it from closing, and confirmed, with symptoms, at least one case of the stomach flu, thankfully the cleaning supply closet appeared to be open to the public, so I took advantage. 

But we couldn't let that stop us for as far as we had travelled. Those who were well enough and less concerned about the van door ran ahead to the sand dunes while I stayed back to bundle up the sick with the blanket that Grandma Martha wisely sent with us, and to fashion a door lock with Sam's belt. 

 Then Sophie, Anne, Granddad, Caitlin and I ran to catch up with the others who had already started to ascend the mountains of sand, or so we hoped, as all we could see were moving dots on the landscape ahead of us.  They seemed so far away and the sand so tremendous in comparison, I prayed that the stiff wind wouldn't cause the sand to envelope them.

 Sand in eyes face.

We would have liked to have spent more time on the dunes, but the sand was too painful when the wind whipped it into our faces.  There should also be wonderful hiking in the mountains surrounding the dunes.

We drove back to town, where it was decided that Anne and Granddad would go to the Chevy dealer to investigate the van door, as holding it for the entire ride home to Utah seemed like a comical, yet implausible solution.  As we were driving the rain returned, quite heavily this time. I stayed with the kids back at the motel, where the sick could rest, and the well could bounce off the walls and drive me crazy, while I tried to coerce them into watching another half hour of Disney channel. Meanwhile the big boys enjoyed the quiet of their own room and the movie channel that was featuring a month of horror movies, much to their pleasure.

Anne and Granddad returned with Sprite, soda crackers, and the good news that the Chevy dealer had fixed the jammed lock easily and at no cost.  We drove Anne back to her house and we went, as promised when  the rain started to fall, to the movie theatre.  Granddad and the big boys saw Taken Two. The girls and Grant saw Hotel Transylvania, which they had been anticipating for some time, and William and Sophie and I saw a combination of that, the theatre lobby, and with the manager's approval-- Franken Weenie, which I thought was very engaging for the half hour that William allowed us to remain.

After dinner we drove back out to Anne and Eric's home where Eric was preparing a delicious lasagna.  The kids enjoyed communing with the pets and we gathered in front of their television to indoctrinate my boys, who already considered themselves Bill Murray fans, but had never seen What About Bob.

It was a happy, memorable evening. I was grateful to be able to spend time with Anne and Eric in their beautiful and unique home.

may and june 2012

 There were so many days to be grateful for in May and June.  For the sake of family history, and in the spirit of self-indulgence, I'm finally posting my summer archives. 

 As the end of the school year approached, Ben performed in his middle school's production of Seussical Jr,

 The Grinch is a small role, but with lots of on-stage time, and a short solo.  I was impressed by Ben's confidence and excited to hear him sing. I could possibly be the only person with this problem; I don't actually cry when I watch Suessical Jr. I weep.  I can't hear Horton sing I'm alone in the universe without uncontrollable tears. I think it could be the companion song to the Red Hot Chili Pepper's Under the Bridge. Just a thought. Now, as it turns out, the girls will be in yet another production of Seussical Jr. this fall, so I may start counseling now.

There he is with the barbells.

In May, Kyle graduated from elementary school, none too soon, in his opinion. Ben finished middle school, and Sam completed his freshman year of high school. This was our celebration lunch at one of our family traditions, Diego's Taco Shop.

The same day the kindergartners held their end of the year performance with lots of dancing, singing, and recitation.

As school ended the sleepovers began, and became so frequent, and politically charged, they had to be outlawed.

And the lessons I vowed to make happen began as well. It felt like I spent most of the month of June in the van.

All the big girls had dance class. I forced them to be in the same class to avoid too much driving or hanging around. Bethany may not forgive me for that. We'll see.

Caitlin went to a week of sewing camp. This skirt was one of her projects.

This is our wonderful Miss Jenny. Her school is called Thimbles and Threads.  I never imagined I would take a daughter to sewing lessons every week, but Caitlin's good friend was going and invited Caitlin to come along.  Caitlin has had so much fun, and came home with so many cute creations, now all the sisters want to go.

   Mary and Olivia went to three days of basketball camp at UVU.  The girls loved their coaches, and Mary is excited to play basketball again this winter.

Sophie was inspired too.

Ben, Kyle, Bethany, Olivia, and Mary went to bluegrass camp. This was their end of the two weeks performance. It was a blast. 

 And while I am in that neighborhood, Kyle had been a huge help to Grandma Martha while I was away in Colorado, so to thank him we went to his favorite restaurant, Se Llama Peru, on Center Street in Provo.  It is located next door to the Great Salt Lake Guitar Company where the kids take music lessons.  In the cold months, I am easily persuaded to stop in for two to-go cartons of their delicious french fries that they serve with a wonderful spicy green chili sauce called aji verde. I asked the waitress for their specialty and she recommended the lomo soltado. It was amazingly savory.

Sam didn't go to any classes in town, but discovered an affordable video equipment rental business called Underfunded Productions in Provo. He spent the month of  June experimenting with new equipment and working on a short movie with his siblings and friends. He was also the only one in the family lucky enough to stay at a Marriott this summer. He flew to San Antonio for with his teacher and classmates for the FBLA nationals.  He had a great time touring San Antonio, especially the Alamo, Ripley's Believe It or Not and Six Flag's. Sam really deserved some fun time away.  

Sam experimented with building some of his own equipment too, so I spent a lot of time wandering the aisles of Home Depot while he gathered his supplies.

I had some mom and daughter time with the girls, Farr's Fresh and MIB 3. I cried in that too.My college roommate Kathy came to stay with us for a few days because our roommate Carrie was getting married.  

I was grateful to see them both and be a part of Carrie's happy day.

Kyle and I took the younger kids to the zoo while Sam, Ben, Bethany, and Grandma Martha went to the long awaited Utah opening of Moon Rise Kingdom at the Broadway theatre in Salt Lake City. I saw it later and it became one of my new favorites.

I just realized William wore his pajamas to the zoo.

The new Rocky Shores polar bear exhibit.Picnic in the van.

Grant spent too much time playing with my phone and other electronics.

So did Caitlin.

And William.

So I attempted to relieve them of their addictions with outings like this to Utah Lake. This one didn't go over so well. It was too hot, the air was thick with smoke from the fires, and apparently Utah Lake is creepy. But I was grateful they were willing to check that off my summer to do list.  I would love to go back with happier kids and kayaks.