This week the Hall's vere vacationing in California, so I got to take care of Taylor, their oldest son. We had a great time and did all his favorite things: walking, being outside, hot tubbing, swimming, taking long luxurious baths, and eating ice cream just about every night, it's a rough job I tell ya!
I also have been massageing his back muscles and noticed that they have evened out. The muscles to the right of his spine were full of knots and visibly tighter than his left side, so last Sunday I had my sister Andrea take a look and give me ideas of what I could do massage-wise. She showed me some strokes and areas to massage and Taylor has been a good sport to let me lotion him up and get the knots out.
Wednesday morning I took Taylor up with me to meet Erica as a second interview for a job teaching a ballet and pointe class. I found out later that they went with another applicant. Darn, it would have been a lot of fun. Wednesday I also got a call from the Dance Showcase studio to sub some ballet classes, the same classes I taught last week. I decided to take it and called a neighbor to watch Taylor. The first class worked hard and were really focused. The second class was totally if not completely bored, so I am learning if that is in response to a class that is too basic or too advanced.
This week I also worked on my vision board in the down time or when Taylor was sleeping. I took my huge corkboard and made a huge collage out of magazine pictures and words about the 'Vision of my life'. It was really fun to do and I got to really ponder on what it is that I envision creating with my life. The summary:
Health and Wellness
Marriage, Home, and Family
Grad School, PhD, publish a book
Financial wisdom and abundance: learning to love budgeting
Publish a book, the title: Trees and Roots
Be in a Broadway play
Take voice and piano lessons
and I don't know if I have hung my pageant shoes up yet or not...
But above all, as I was using my Indirect spatial awareness in viewing my life and taking it all in, a scripture boldly called out:
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you"
Pondering on this scripture felt like peace to the thundering storm. Finally something made sense and I could move forward in confidence.
I was reminded to yield to the flow of life and allow these things to BE. My tendency is to get anxious, like I am somehow behind in life because everything is not yet fulfilled. But the truth is that I am walking hand in hand with God and all is well.
After the Halls got home Saturday evening I went to do baptisms for the dead at the Timpanogos Temple to kind of seal the study I had been doing for my lesson on Sunday. In my lesson preparation I discovered my new favorite scripture in D&C 128:18
"...It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a bcurse unless there is a welding clink of some kind or other between the fathers and the dchildren, upon some subject or other—and behold what is that subject? It is the ebaptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the ffulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time. And not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the gfoundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto hbabes and sucklings in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times.
The idea of a welding link fascinated me because part of my role in my family is to serve as a link, so this is just another layer of the purpose and divine timing of my life.
My dream is to catch the Spirit of Elijah so much that I fall in LOVE with genealogy work. I am working up to that, so any glimmer of that dream coming true is like finding buried treasure.
There was a big group at the temple, so I got to read my favorite passage in John 15 about the True Vine and connect all the ideas swimming around in my mind and heart from my study this week.
It's interesting about this phase of my life, where everything is up in the air, it is hard for me to be present in the moment. My mind is always racing into the future and everywhere I am not, with new ideas of what to do with the money I will someday have or the names of my children. Seriously.
After the temple I indulged in one of my favorite things on this planet: a pedicure. Mmmm....a dark plum color with white flowers, so darling and my open toed shoes I wore to church today showed them off brilliantly! I love being a girl!
Afterwards I took myself out to Costa Vida for a late dinner and headed home feeling refreshed, pampered and ready for anything.
I have been mulling over this daycare job that I have been interviewing for that is up in Salt Lake with only 10 hours and less than desirable pay, 3 strikes. Saturday night I felt prompted to just let it go, so I wrote the lady an email and sent it off.
Today, Sunday, began our new church schedule and meeting house. We are back at the Talmage Building on BYU campus with 10am start. That is where we met before moving to the new church building on 800s, so it is nostalgic to sit in classroom desks and chairs again for Sunday School. Speaking of Sunday School, I was all pumped up to give my lesson only to find that the Bishopric was taking care of teaching the classes. I secretly was relieved since I felt like I bombed my last lesson, but I was really excited about this one. So much so that I was venting to my Relief Society President and counselor after church and they indulged me in hearing the mini version of my lesson with props and all.
And, a super blast from the past flowed through the door today at church. My friend Kareena Sorenson that I served in institute leadership with during my first few years at UVU is moving into my ward next week and came to check it all out. It was a thrill to see her and remember how inspiring she is.
So, more job hunt this week. I am actually really excited about it because I found a lot of fantastic office jobs on Craig's List that looked appetizing!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
A Hall-aday week
Monday, Tuesday,and Wednesday of this week Heather was with her family in California for Christina's temple date, so I was with the 4 kids while Jeremy was at work. They are good kids and easy to be with.
Monday Robyn had a birthday party for Luke across the street. When I went to pick her up, I finally got to reconnect with Jordyn, a girl I went to junior high with at Lakeridge. She is coming up on her 5th wedding anniversary, prego with her third baby and well settled in a house on the next street. Wow, time flies.
Tuesday I got word that my Grandpa Conway passed away that morning and had a moment of tears as I read the email that he was actually gone. Funeral services this weekend.
That afternoon I took the 3 kids (Allison was playing with friends) to the BYU art museum during the day and we went to Alyssa Merrell's wedding reception that night. It worked out perfect because Jeremy was hosting a big party at the house. This wedding reception was voted a 10 and possibly the funnest one we have been to. We were counting how many receptions we have been to together, all 5 of us, we lost track after 7, its our favorite thing to do together. The reception was on Osmond Lane, so the spacious backyard included a separate mini playground for the kids. By mini, I mean fully loaded with a few swings, multiple slides, and plenty of inbetween to crawl, climb, and run around on. So they loved that, and I loved the photo booth at the beginning of the reception to document this time with them. And of course the chocolate fountain, cake, brownies, and other goodies qualify as dinner's dessert. My only thing-I-would-do-different-next-time is to provide a substantial dinner. We had frozen burritos that just didn't cut it and left extra room for treats at the party. Supporting the bride and groom seems like the cherry on top of these occasions when I take the Halls, it is just too much fun. We got home late and I think they finally all fell asleep around 10:30 after checking in the party at home and sampling the pink lemonade and chip and dip combo.
Wednesday I got a call from one of the dance studios by the Hall's house to come substitute teach a couple of ballet classes, so I raced off to do that as soon as Heather walked in the door. This job hunt has felt like sewing a patch work quilt, more like a mosaic. It feels like bits and pieces of possibilities are the common reply from my efforts to get a job.
The classes went well and a tender mercy: I found out about teaching these classes a few hours before, not a lot of preparation time, so I planned to use the class I prepared for the BYU dance camp in June. I got to BYU and found my prepared class a bit advanced for these kids and simplified it on the spot. When I got to these classes at this studio prepared to teach the simplified class, they were ready for more and I was prepared. Thank You Heavenly Father.
I have mixed feelings about teaching at this studio and at studios in general because unless it is a conservatory styled studio, their focus is on winning competitions and filling up their windows with trophies. Ballet then becomes the hoop they have to jump through to get to compete, totally on the flip side of how I was trained.
Thursday was my free day this week to get my life in order and ready to move upstairs to make room for Curt and Mand in the basement at the Folks'. It felt good to clean out my closet and throw away all the old lotions and potions and clothes that just don't work anymore. Not to mention the company of Marg and Nate who were down for the funeral.
Thursday night I took Kim and David to see "Joseph" at the Scera Shell. Every new song I heard "oh this is my favorite". Needless to say, they relished every minute of it.
Friday night was the viewing for Grandpa Conway at the Larkin place. It was so great to reacquaint with cousins and catch up on all the new babies and life plans. I recognize these times are few and far between when I get to see my cousins, so I am working on being the ice breaker and the one who reaches out first. It is still not the most comfortable for me, but I am getting better at it. I pray a lot hoping the fire of the spirit will melt the way. It works for some relationships and others take a little more time to warm up.
Friday night I went with Dad to pick up Ren and Cathleen from the airport. We stopped and chatted over some Crown Burger, mmm. Dad and I shared a caramel shake, who orders a caramel shake? Crunchy chunks of anything go hand in hand with soft ice cream in my book. That night I let myself in at the Halls and slept there so they could leave at 3am for their California family vacation. I get to hang out with Taylor and Rocky this week while they are gone.
Saturday were the funeral services for Grandpa Conway and I took Taylor with me. It was a beautiful service and the reality of the goodness of his life is a lasting impression for me. It was the most cheerful funeral service I have ever experienced.
After the luncheon we crashed at Julianne's house and Mags and I got some more time to chat. Taylor was such a good sport, but he did enjoy the multiple kinds of Jello and Funeral Potatoes. We got home late and went straight to bed.
Sunday was low key if I ever knew it. We went to church, saw my cousin Emily and came home to chill. That night we went over to visit with Joe and Matt before they went back home. Everyone except for Christina was here for the funeral services, amazing.
Monday Robyn had a birthday party for Luke across the street. When I went to pick her up, I finally got to reconnect with Jordyn, a girl I went to junior high with at Lakeridge. She is coming up on her 5th wedding anniversary, prego with her third baby and well settled in a house on the next street. Wow, time flies.
Tuesday I got word that my Grandpa Conway passed away that morning and had a moment of tears as I read the email that he was actually gone. Funeral services this weekend.
That afternoon I took the 3 kids (Allison was playing with friends) to the BYU art museum during the day and we went to Alyssa Merrell's wedding reception that night. It worked out perfect because Jeremy was hosting a big party at the house. This wedding reception was voted a 10 and possibly the funnest one we have been to. We were counting how many receptions we have been to together, all 5 of us, we lost track after 7, its our favorite thing to do together. The reception was on Osmond Lane, so the spacious backyard included a separate mini playground for the kids. By mini, I mean fully loaded with a few swings, multiple slides, and plenty of inbetween to crawl, climb, and run around on. So they loved that, and I loved the photo booth at the beginning of the reception to document this time with them. And of course the chocolate fountain, cake, brownies, and other goodies qualify as dinner's dessert. My only thing-I-would-do-different-next-time is to provide a substantial dinner. We had frozen burritos that just didn't cut it and left extra room for treats at the party. Supporting the bride and groom seems like the cherry on top of these occasions when I take the Halls, it is just too much fun. We got home late and I think they finally all fell asleep around 10:30 after checking in the party at home and sampling the pink lemonade and chip and dip combo.
Wednesday I got a call from one of the dance studios by the Hall's house to come substitute teach a couple of ballet classes, so I raced off to do that as soon as Heather walked in the door. This job hunt has felt like sewing a patch work quilt, more like a mosaic. It feels like bits and pieces of possibilities are the common reply from my efforts to get a job.
The classes went well and a tender mercy: I found out about teaching these classes a few hours before, not a lot of preparation time, so I planned to use the class I prepared for the BYU dance camp in June. I got to BYU and found my prepared class a bit advanced for these kids and simplified it on the spot. When I got to these classes at this studio prepared to teach the simplified class, they were ready for more and I was prepared. Thank You Heavenly Father.
I have mixed feelings about teaching at this studio and at studios in general because unless it is a conservatory styled studio, their focus is on winning competitions and filling up their windows with trophies. Ballet then becomes the hoop they have to jump through to get to compete, totally on the flip side of how I was trained.
Thursday was my free day this week to get my life in order and ready to move upstairs to make room for Curt and Mand in the basement at the Folks'. It felt good to clean out my closet and throw away all the old lotions and potions and clothes that just don't work anymore. Not to mention the company of Marg and Nate who were down for the funeral.
Thursday night I took Kim and David to see "Joseph" at the Scera Shell. Every new song I heard "oh this is my favorite". Needless to say, they relished every minute of it.
Friday night was the viewing for Grandpa Conway at the Larkin place. It was so great to reacquaint with cousins and catch up on all the new babies and life plans. I recognize these times are few and far between when I get to see my cousins, so I am working on being the ice breaker and the one who reaches out first. It is still not the most comfortable for me, but I am getting better at it. I pray a lot hoping the fire of the spirit will melt the way. It works for some relationships and others take a little more time to warm up.
Friday night I went with Dad to pick up Ren and Cathleen from the airport. We stopped and chatted over some Crown Burger, mmm. Dad and I shared a caramel shake, who orders a caramel shake? Crunchy chunks of anything go hand in hand with soft ice cream in my book. That night I let myself in at the Halls and slept there so they could leave at 3am for their California family vacation. I get to hang out with Taylor and Rocky this week while they are gone.
Saturday were the funeral services for Grandpa Conway and I took Taylor with me. It was a beautiful service and the reality of the goodness of his life is a lasting impression for me. It was the most cheerful funeral service I have ever experienced.
After the luncheon we crashed at Julianne's house and Mags and I got some more time to chat. Taylor was such a good sport, but he did enjoy the multiple kinds of Jello and Funeral Potatoes. We got home late and went straight to bed.
Sunday was low key if I ever knew it. We went to church, saw my cousin Emily and came home to chill. That night we went over to visit with Joe and Matt before they went back home. Everyone except for Christina was here for the funeral services, amazing.
A Play a day...
A couple of weeks ago Rose and I went down to the Shakespeare Festival and to see our cousin Megan who is living in St. George and doing the Dental Hygiene program at Dixie. It was probably the funnest road trip Rose and I have taken, it was all out fantastic!
We drove down on Sunday, so our typical raucous road trip-y music had to wait. But it set the stage for a wonderful chat with Rose. She had just returned from a pioneer trek, so we chatted about that in addition to the general catch-up on our lives. We read Elder Eyring's conference talk and shared our testimonies about family, marriage, and the purpose for all of it.
We drove straight to St. George to stay with Megan, our plan was to stay with her that night and get a hotel in Cedar for Monday night, but we decided to stay with her for the whole trip since it really wasn't too far to drive from the Festival. We played a very distracted game of up and down as we attempted to catch up on everyone and everything. Thankfully Andrew kept the game rolling reminding us which hand we were on amidst our chatty conversation.
Monday morning we got up and went hiking at Red Cliffs, beautiful with HUGE red rocks canyon/camping place. We found the hike we wanted, but it was 1/8th of a mile. So we forged our own and followed Rose up the rocks. This woman is a hard core cliff conqueror. I don't know when Rose got so adventurous, but we didn't stop til we reached the top and I mean the top of the red rocks. After conquering each big rock I looked at the next one in disbelief asking "are we going up that one?" But we didn't stop. At the top while we rested we caught up with Megan and rekindled our cousin connection. It was so good to catch up with her.
On the way down I began navigating until we were headed farther away from our car below. Then Rose led, I have much more practice following her than leading, so I happily turned that role over to her for the descent.
That afternoon we hit the pool at Megan's complex, perfect timing, lunch time when all the kids are eating and napping, so we had the pool almost all to ourselves. We chatted, played water volleyball, had canon ball contests, caught some serious rays, and chatted some more. So fun!
Once we were home, we showered and dolled up for our play that night and our traditional dinner at our favorite, The Pastry Pub, mmmm!
On the drive, we sang our hearts out to all our favorites: ABBA, Grease, Hairspray, Michael Buble, etc. And wow, we have a lot of inside jokes, I would like to say they are common the family, but a lot of the ones we reminisced about on this trip were RMO: Rose and Mere Originals.
After drinking in all the thrill of play orientation with Fred and the Green Show, we saw Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors in the Adams Theater. Our attempt to get a picture in front of the wooden Adams Theater sign was a hoot. We couldn't quite get it without our heads in the way when we took it so we asked Diane, one of the ushers to take it. The bells signaling the start of the play are ringing and we were explaining to her which way the camera faces and which button to push and make sure to get the sign. We just laughed when hers turned out just as unsuccessful as ours, heads in the way.
We sat in the balcony on the side, never again, you only get half the facials which are the best part. But the play was fantastic, as always! Rose had brought goodies for the play, so she was furiously unwrapping starbursts at intermission for the second half.
We drove back to Megans for the night and at 11pm we started the 2 hour Bachelorette finale and ate Megan's yummy peach cobbler with Breyers ice cream. I think just about anything else in the world would have been more productive for me to do, but the peach cobbler and girl time justified the show.
Tuesday morning we hit the outlet mall in St. George and ran into the most fantastic sale at Shade, buy 2 get 1 free. Rose and I now have multiple matching items in our wardrobe including some fantastic retro dresses.
We rushed home and grabbed some snacks for the road as we headed out for Cedar to see The Secret Garden in the Randall Theater. Our beloved Brian Vaughn played Dr. Craven, the choreography was awesome and the whole design of the play was fantastic! We loved it and cried multiple times, then sang the songs for the rest of the day.
After the play we headed back to Megan's to chill for a bit. We watched this fantastic cake show where a team of cake artists made a tiki torch cake that breathed fire, it was so cool!
That night we were treated to dinner at Cafe Rio, so yummy. We gabbed our way through the meal and ate way to much. Then we headed to Tuacahn to see Footloose. Megan works at the gift shop there, so she got us free stand by tickets. We saw the last part of the pre-show, dedicated to the 80s in the spirit of Footloose and we danced on the sidelines. Afterwards, the cutest little Downs girl got up on the stage and did a show for us. Her name was Kaitlin, but her stage name was Millie. She sang the Star Spangled Banner and invited us on the stage to sing "Tomorrow" with her. Hysterical!
Footloose was great, Thayne Jasperson, a fantastic dancer, played Ren. A bit after intermission it started to lightning and sprinkle with some serious wind, so they cancelled the show and invited the audience back another time. Shoot, we will just have to go down again, darn it! ;)
We crashed at Megan's one more night and drove home at 6am so I could get to the Hall's by 10:30am Wednesday. Even at 6am, we were singing away to Kieth Urban, Michael Buble, Toby Kieth, etc.
Rose is an absolute gem and I got to experience her nurturing side this trip. She has the incredible capacity to make everyone feel included and like they are the top, not to mention the generosity and F-U-N that oozes from every cell in her body. Wow, I got lucky to be on this mortal trail with her.
Wednesday I spent at the Hall's and semi coming back to reality.
Thursday I went swimming with Taylor and the Hall's. Taylor was perky for hours in the pool, he loves being in the sunshine and going swimming, so it was a double bonus day for him.
Starting Friday I was housesitting and dogsitting for Angie in Salt Lake. She has 2 dogs and 1 cat that I was taking care of for the weekend while she was in Italy. Friday I went up and got settled, let the dogs out and fed them, then crashed for a couple of hours before picking up Rose to go see The Fantasticks up at Sundance. I picked her up from work, saw her work, and we headed south. We looked all around for the UVU School of the Arts reception I was invited to and finally found it after hiking up in our flip flops to the theater. We found the party and instead of a few complimentary tarts there was bean dip and chips, fruit, veggies, rolls, artichoke dip and a man at the end cutting succulent delish ham. This is why I want to be a wealthy philanthropist, to be invited to parties like these with fine dining and professional arts performances. We sat fifth row just off center in the reserved section and loved it! The play was hysterical and kept us laughing, our favorite line "Come on Mortimer, die for the man". It was super well done and we finally connected the songs we know with the scenes and storyline. 4 plays in 5 days equals Happy Souls, I recommend it.
Friday night Rose slept over with me at Angie's and got up for work at 6. Didn't even hear her get up, but I was good morning-ed at 6:30 by the dogs ready to go out. I guess their day starts that early, mine typically doesn't.
Saturday I took care of the house and dogs while planning my sunday school lesson on D&C 121-123. Beautiful lesson with a heavy climax. Saturday night I was with the Halls for a typical movie night and bedtime routine.
We drove down on Sunday, so our typical raucous road trip-y music had to wait. But it set the stage for a wonderful chat with Rose. She had just returned from a pioneer trek, so we chatted about that in addition to the general catch-up on our lives. We read Elder Eyring's conference talk and shared our testimonies about family, marriage, and the purpose for all of it.
We drove straight to St. George to stay with Megan, our plan was to stay with her that night and get a hotel in Cedar for Monday night, but we decided to stay with her for the whole trip since it really wasn't too far to drive from the Festival. We played a very distracted game of up and down as we attempted to catch up on everyone and everything. Thankfully Andrew kept the game rolling reminding us which hand we were on amidst our chatty conversation.
Monday morning we got up and went hiking at Red Cliffs, beautiful with HUGE red rocks canyon/camping place. We found the hike we wanted, but it was 1/8th of a mile. So we forged our own and followed Rose up the rocks. This woman is a hard core cliff conqueror. I don't know when Rose got so adventurous, but we didn't stop til we reached the top and I mean the top of the red rocks. After conquering each big rock I looked at the next one in disbelief asking "are we going up that one?" But we didn't stop. At the top while we rested we caught up with Megan and rekindled our cousin connection. It was so good to catch up with her.
On the way down I began navigating until we were headed farther away from our car below. Then Rose led, I have much more practice following her than leading, so I happily turned that role over to her for the descent.
That afternoon we hit the pool at Megan's complex, perfect timing, lunch time when all the kids are eating and napping, so we had the pool almost all to ourselves. We chatted, played water volleyball, had canon ball contests, caught some serious rays, and chatted some more. So fun!
Once we were home, we showered and dolled up for our play that night and our traditional dinner at our favorite, The Pastry Pub, mmmm!
On the drive, we sang our hearts out to all our favorites: ABBA, Grease, Hairspray, Michael Buble, etc. And wow, we have a lot of inside jokes, I would like to say they are common the family, but a lot of the ones we reminisced about on this trip were RMO: Rose and Mere Originals.
After drinking in all the thrill of play orientation with Fred and the Green Show, we saw Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors in the Adams Theater. Our attempt to get a picture in front of the wooden Adams Theater sign was a hoot. We couldn't quite get it without our heads in the way when we took it so we asked Diane, one of the ushers to take it. The bells signaling the start of the play are ringing and we were explaining to her which way the camera faces and which button to push and make sure to get the sign. We just laughed when hers turned out just as unsuccessful as ours, heads in the way.
We sat in the balcony on the side, never again, you only get half the facials which are the best part. But the play was fantastic, as always! Rose had brought goodies for the play, so she was furiously unwrapping starbursts at intermission for the second half.
We drove back to Megans for the night and at 11pm we started the 2 hour Bachelorette finale and ate Megan's yummy peach cobbler with Breyers ice cream. I think just about anything else in the world would have been more productive for me to do, but the peach cobbler and girl time justified the show.
Tuesday morning we hit the outlet mall in St. George and ran into the most fantastic sale at Shade, buy 2 get 1 free. Rose and I now have multiple matching items in our wardrobe including some fantastic retro dresses.
We rushed home and grabbed some snacks for the road as we headed out for Cedar to see The Secret Garden in the Randall Theater. Our beloved Brian Vaughn played Dr. Craven, the choreography was awesome and the whole design of the play was fantastic! We loved it and cried multiple times, then sang the songs for the rest of the day.
After the play we headed back to Megan's to chill for a bit. We watched this fantastic cake show where a team of cake artists made a tiki torch cake that breathed fire, it was so cool!
That night we were treated to dinner at Cafe Rio, so yummy. We gabbed our way through the meal and ate way to much. Then we headed to Tuacahn to see Footloose. Megan works at the gift shop there, so she got us free stand by tickets. We saw the last part of the pre-show, dedicated to the 80s in the spirit of Footloose and we danced on the sidelines. Afterwards, the cutest little Downs girl got up on the stage and did a show for us. Her name was Kaitlin, but her stage name was Millie. She sang the Star Spangled Banner and invited us on the stage to sing "Tomorrow" with her. Hysterical!
Footloose was great, Thayne Jasperson, a fantastic dancer, played Ren. A bit after intermission it started to lightning and sprinkle with some serious wind, so they cancelled the show and invited the audience back another time. Shoot, we will just have to go down again, darn it! ;)
We crashed at Megan's one more night and drove home at 6am so I could get to the Hall's by 10:30am Wednesday. Even at 6am, we were singing away to Kieth Urban, Michael Buble, Toby Kieth, etc.
Rose is an absolute gem and I got to experience her nurturing side this trip. She has the incredible capacity to make everyone feel included and like they are the top, not to mention the generosity and F-U-N that oozes from every cell in her body. Wow, I got lucky to be on this mortal trail with her.
Wednesday I spent at the Hall's and semi coming back to reality.
Thursday I went swimming with Taylor and the Hall's. Taylor was perky for hours in the pool, he loves being in the sunshine and going swimming, so it was a double bonus day for him.
Starting Friday I was housesitting and dogsitting for Angie in Salt Lake. She has 2 dogs and 1 cat that I was taking care of for the weekend while she was in Italy. Friday I went up and got settled, let the dogs out and fed them, then crashed for a couple of hours before picking up Rose to go see The Fantasticks up at Sundance. I picked her up from work, saw her work, and we headed south. We looked all around for the UVU School of the Arts reception I was invited to and finally found it after hiking up in our flip flops to the theater. We found the party and instead of a few complimentary tarts there was bean dip and chips, fruit, veggies, rolls, artichoke dip and a man at the end cutting succulent delish ham. This is why I want to be a wealthy philanthropist, to be invited to parties like these with fine dining and professional arts performances. We sat fifth row just off center in the reserved section and loved it! The play was hysterical and kept us laughing, our favorite line "Come on Mortimer, die for the man". It was super well done and we finally connected the songs we know with the scenes and storyline. 4 plays in 5 days equals Happy Souls, I recommend it.
Friday night Rose slept over with me at Angie's and got up for work at 6. Didn't even hear her get up, but I was good morning-ed at 6:30 by the dogs ready to go out. I guess their day starts that early, mine typically doesn't.
Saturday I took care of the house and dogs while planning my sunday school lesson on D&C 121-123. Beautiful lesson with a heavy climax. Saturday night I was with the Halls for a typical movie night and bedtime routine.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
So at water aerobics class on Thursday I am jogging around creating a vortex with the 2 other class members when Joy (the white-haired grandmotherly member of the class) says to me "I can tell you got a professional haircut"
"how?"
"All your hairs are the same length"
"Thank You?"
Thursday night Kim asked me to paint her toenails and fingernails
"Sure"
First we pedicured her toenails and painted them before moving on to her fingernails. As I went to trim her fingernails she asked "Will you teach me how to do this?"
How do you teach a blind person how to clip their fingernails? I was at a loss for words mostly.
"how?"
"All your hairs are the same length"
"Thank You?"
Thursday night Kim asked me to paint her toenails and fingernails
"Sure"
First we pedicured her toenails and painted them before moving on to her fingernails. As I went to trim her fingernails she asked "Will you teach me how to do this?"
How do you teach a blind person how to clip their fingernails? I was at a loss for words mostly.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Recuperation week
Wow, two weeks in a row!
This week was a beautiful recuperation week from the reunion hoopla. Sad to say goodbye to family members, but great to reacquaint with my bed, work, and ward. Last Sunday I spent the day with Rosey up in Salt Lake and visited my Grandpa Conway who was in the hospital. We had a great chat with him and I was amazed to see how sharp his mind still is. He had a "to do" list for Rose to take care of his garden and other odds and ends. We read Elder Ballard's talk from this last conference to Grandpa and had a great laugh over the initial story Elder ballard told of the Edsel car. We asked Grandpa what an Edsel was before we read the next line of the talk "if you don't know what an Edsel is, ask your Grandpa." Roger and Melanie came by and we had a great chat with them. As we were leaving and discussing Grandpa's move to a rehab place, Roger mentioned that Uncle Alan was put in as a Bishop that day, so we wouldn't be able to come up until Monday. Oh great! He will be a great bishop, were my thoughts.
Sunday night I called my Relief Society President about visiting teaching stuff and she told me about the change in our Bishopric that day, then she said " I think it's your uncle" WHAT!!! Sure enough, Uncle Alan was my new singles ward Bishop! I was so excited, but also very sad to have missed the meeting and the chance to thank and say farewell to my previous bishopric whom I loved very much!
Monday morning I took Ren and his family to the airport with a hopeful thought of seeing them in January for the OSU MFA audition. Monday afternoon I had lunch at Guru's with Angie, one of my dance professors from UVU and my very dear friend. The bit about our conversation that stood out to me was about relationships and the temple covenants we make as latter-day saints. I felt like I was able to shed truthful light on the importance of those covenants within the broad plan to be like God.
Tuesday I spent the day with Taylor Hall wile his family was at Lagoon for the company party. We met my family at the zoo for the afternoon and I got in free for pushing Taylor in his wheelchair! It was so fun to be there with all the kiddos and extend the family time a bit longer!
Wednesday was my serious recuperation day with Yoga in the morning followed by a 3 hour nap, mmmm yummy! That night I helped Kim and David make their collages from the reunion. I was mostly willing, but we had a great time! It was so fun to go through magazines and explain the pictures and words for them and let them decide what to include. They got a repetitive kick out of the words created when we would cut out a letter to use it for the collage. Words like "ideo" and "reative"
Thursday I went to the afternoon water aerobics class at the Provo Rec Center. I am in to swimming laps and water aerobics these days as a fantastic means of gentle exercise to keep my body in shape in the off dancing season, I have reconnected to the fish within! After water aerobics I took Joe and Stu's kids to the Bean Museum. We ran into Matt and April in the play room area, so fun! It was so fun to watch the kids get excited about the animals and have an outing with them. The reunion was great, but it is outings such as these when I really get to bond with the kids. I also appreciated this outing as another drop of oil in my motherhood lamp! I will love and enjoy motherhood more than I think I will.
Friday I spent the day with the Halls. I took Taylor swimming at the AF pool and just had a ball with him. He noticeably perks up when he gets in the water. It was so fun! I also ran into my friend Kari Jo from school and it was really refreshing to see her and reconnect to that part of my life again. Friday night I went up to the Tabernacle Choir Pioneer Celebration Concert with my Aunt Annette and Uncle Gordon, cousin Beth and brother Aaron. It was fantastic!! It was celebrating 80 years of the Music and Spoken Word broadcast, so it was filled with the history of the broadcast, pioneer stories, and permeated with personal testimonies and experiences of how this boradcast has made a difference in the lives of many. My favorite part was the video footage of children playing while the choir sang "I feel my Savior's Love". It reaffirmed my testimony of how central the Family is to the plan of Happiness.
Saturday I spent the morning visiting with Jessy and Kyle who were in my ward a couple of years ago. Jessy and I were roommates and tehy are headed off to medical school tomorrow. It was really great to visit and catch up before saying goodbye. We visited for longer than I anticipated and I could have stayed there all day, but I was off to a bridal shower for Alyssa Merrell. Alyssa and I were in the same ward during our YW years. It is amazing how time flies by, but occasionally stops to let you take in the view. I saw people I haven't seen for years, now with babies, boyfriends, and big bucks. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever catch up, until I remember that I am very happy where I am at and know that I am in my perfect journey. Saturday night I tended Robyn and Taylor while the rest went to West Side Story. I love hanging out with Robyn, I felt like I followed her around like a little sister excited to play whatever games she picked out.
I got home last night excited to take a luxurious shower and prepare my lesson when Rose called about 12:15 to tell me about her great dating weekend. Nothing is better than midnight chats with sisters, especially when it involves boys:)
Today at Church I got to hug my aunt and uncle and officially meet my new bishopric. They all carry the mantle and seem perfect for their callings.
Today was my day to teach Sunday School and I learn something new everytime I teach. Today it was: capturing the essence of the lesson and focusing on one main principle is more effective than covering miles of ground.
This week was a beautiful recuperation week from the reunion hoopla. Sad to say goodbye to family members, but great to reacquaint with my bed, work, and ward. Last Sunday I spent the day with Rosey up in Salt Lake and visited my Grandpa Conway who was in the hospital. We had a great chat with him and I was amazed to see how sharp his mind still is. He had a "to do" list for Rose to take care of his garden and other odds and ends. We read Elder Ballard's talk from this last conference to Grandpa and had a great laugh over the initial story Elder ballard told of the Edsel car. We asked Grandpa what an Edsel was before we read the next line of the talk "if you don't know what an Edsel is, ask your Grandpa." Roger and Melanie came by and we had a great chat with them. As we were leaving and discussing Grandpa's move to a rehab place, Roger mentioned that Uncle Alan was put in as a Bishop that day, so we wouldn't be able to come up until Monday. Oh great! He will be a great bishop, were my thoughts.
Sunday night I called my Relief Society President about visiting teaching stuff and she told me about the change in our Bishopric that day, then she said " I think it's your uncle" WHAT!!! Sure enough, Uncle Alan was my new singles ward Bishop! I was so excited, but also very sad to have missed the meeting and the chance to thank and say farewell to my previous bishopric whom I loved very much!
Monday morning I took Ren and his family to the airport with a hopeful thought of seeing them in January for the OSU MFA audition. Monday afternoon I had lunch at Guru's with Angie, one of my dance professors from UVU and my very dear friend. The bit about our conversation that stood out to me was about relationships and the temple covenants we make as latter-day saints. I felt like I was able to shed truthful light on the importance of those covenants within the broad plan to be like God.
Tuesday I spent the day with Taylor Hall wile his family was at Lagoon for the company party. We met my family at the zoo for the afternoon and I got in free for pushing Taylor in his wheelchair! It was so fun to be there with all the kiddos and extend the family time a bit longer!
Wednesday was my serious recuperation day with Yoga in the morning followed by a 3 hour nap, mmmm yummy! That night I helped Kim and David make their collages from the reunion. I was mostly willing, but we had a great time! It was so fun to go through magazines and explain the pictures and words for them and let them decide what to include. They got a repetitive kick out of the words created when we would cut out a letter to use it for the collage. Words like "ideo" and "reative"
Thursday I went to the afternoon water aerobics class at the Provo Rec Center. I am in to swimming laps and water aerobics these days as a fantastic means of gentle exercise to keep my body in shape in the off dancing season, I have reconnected to the fish within! After water aerobics I took Joe and Stu's kids to the Bean Museum. We ran into Matt and April in the play room area, so fun! It was so fun to watch the kids get excited about the animals and have an outing with them. The reunion was great, but it is outings such as these when I really get to bond with the kids. I also appreciated this outing as another drop of oil in my motherhood lamp! I will love and enjoy motherhood more than I think I will.
Friday I spent the day with the Halls. I took Taylor swimming at the AF pool and just had a ball with him. He noticeably perks up when he gets in the water. It was so fun! I also ran into my friend Kari Jo from school and it was really refreshing to see her and reconnect to that part of my life again. Friday night I went up to the Tabernacle Choir Pioneer Celebration Concert with my Aunt Annette and Uncle Gordon, cousin Beth and brother Aaron. It was fantastic!! It was celebrating 80 years of the Music and Spoken Word broadcast, so it was filled with the history of the broadcast, pioneer stories, and permeated with personal testimonies and experiences of how this boradcast has made a difference in the lives of many. My favorite part was the video footage of children playing while the choir sang "I feel my Savior's Love". It reaffirmed my testimony of how central the Family is to the plan of Happiness.
Saturday I spent the morning visiting with Jessy and Kyle who were in my ward a couple of years ago. Jessy and I were roommates and tehy are headed off to medical school tomorrow. It was really great to visit and catch up before saying goodbye. We visited for longer than I anticipated and I could have stayed there all day, but I was off to a bridal shower for Alyssa Merrell. Alyssa and I were in the same ward during our YW years. It is amazing how time flies by, but occasionally stops to let you take in the view. I saw people I haven't seen for years, now with babies, boyfriends, and big bucks. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever catch up, until I remember that I am very happy where I am at and know that I am in my perfect journey. Saturday night I tended Robyn and Taylor while the rest went to West Side Story. I love hanging out with Robyn, I felt like I followed her around like a little sister excited to play whatever games she picked out.
I got home last night excited to take a luxurious shower and prepare my lesson when Rose called about 12:15 to tell me about her great dating weekend. Nothing is better than midnight chats with sisters, especially when it involves boys:)
Today at Church I got to hug my aunt and uncle and officially meet my new bishopric. They all carry the mantle and seem perfect for their callings.
Today was my day to teach Sunday School and I learn something new everytime I teach. Today it was: capturing the essence of the lesson and focusing on one main principle is more effective than covering miles of ground.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Ruby Reunion 2009!
Wow! You know that idea about blogging more often? Well...
This past week my immediate family gathered for a family reunion in honor of my parents 40th Wedding anniversary on July 11th and of course the 4th that connotes a plethera of family traditions for us. The traditional gift that goes with 40 years of marriage is the ruby stone, so this event was affectionately known as the "Ruby Reunion!" Our goals to Reconnect, Unify, Be together, and Yak alot summarize our purposes for gathering for the first time in 5 years. Everyone was there, all 51 of us!!
We stayed at my uncle's cabin up above Sundance. It was a great location away from civilization, but close enough to Macey's. Dialogue for this event has been flooding my inbox since January and everything turned out great! Here is a brief synopsis of what we did.
Monday (July 6, my birthday)
-Birthday Dogpile
My wakeup call was a customized dogpile with added members and many birthday wished!
-Orientation from the parents
-Games in "the meadow"
-Pirate Ship
The spatious back deck was designated as the Pirate Ship, complete with a fantastic sail made out of a fitted sheet slipped on to a wooden cross and tied with rope to the banister. My nephew Rowan has been planning this and came prepared with a treasure chest, knives, canons, bandannas, and flag... it was wicked awesome!!
-worked on collages*
*This is our family history, everyone makes a collage of magazine cutout words and pictures about them.
-Italian dinner night
My family sang to me and my mom presented her gift. I asked for an iPod for my birthday and I got one... made out of marzipan!
-FHE: Ashton Family Jeopardy!
So fun! We brainstormed about Phil's fettishes, family ancestors, sang 1776 quotations, and filled out the birthdays for everyone in teams.
Tuesday 7
-Hike up to Stewart Falls, we paused periodically to read and discuss pioneer stories. We even crossed the Sweet Water river on the backs of our "rescuers" across the designated patch of trail.
-Tortilla demo: how to make spinach tortillas
I was frantically running around preparing for the talent show
-Talent Show Part I (Rose and I were the MCs with bejeweled outfits and flowers)
Lots of piano solos and some really great skits and songs
-Latino Dinner
-Talent Show Part II
Rose and I did the comedy piece from my last concert which was a Q&A... in fully hooded purple tye-dye unitards. Deep and cosmic questions were answered with Modern Dance, Rose was the announcer and I was the dancer. My feet got colder and colder as our turn approached and I finally whispered to Rosey "I can't do it". I was so hesitant to perform not knowing how my family would respond to this piece. But she urged until I said I would do it without the costumes. So we stood up to go and my brother who knew about the costumes saw we weren't in them and shouted that we MUST use the costumes. I finally consented and we rushed to put them on.
I was so relieved to hear the laughter fill the room as Rose went out, then me and we went through the whole piece.
Throughout the week many referred back to some of my responses, so I know that their cosmic questions were in fact answered in that Q&A session! :) The best was my nephew Dallin (12) "your performance actually GAVE me questions... like, who likes to watch this kind of dancing anyway..." yes I love being a Modern Dancer!
I also played the part of Kathy in "The sign on Rosie's Door" reading, was a backup singer to Simon's solo "One Last Kiss" from Bye Bye Birdie, and the marshmallow girl for Ren's "Chubby Bunny" contest only the words were "Ruby Reunion". My brother Joe won with 10 big marshmallows stuffed in his mouth and a clear vocalized "Ruby Reunion".
-Bedtime
The only downer for this location is the limited bedrooms and oodles of couples with kids. So I slept up in the master bedroom with Jules and Joe and their families (9), Riss, Rose, & Brinn on the floor and marg and Nate on the bed, a total of 14 people. The whole floor was bedding for bodies.
Wednesday 8
-Family Pictures!
Nate is a photographer and patiently took pictures all morning of individual families and groups of sisters and kids. When my parents arrived we walked to our spot and set up. While Nate setup, Rose and I distracted the kids. We sang all the songs we knew with giant actions and animated faces. It worked!! we had happy children for the group shot!
-Star Wars Birthday Bash (I cochaired this event with Doug)
We had 2 groups rotating through "I had a little Jawa", musical chairs for seating ont he Millenial Falcon, relay races to test their ability to use The Force, and the Jedi Training Camp (an obstacle course outside complete with dueling Darth Vador). Doug rented a Darth and Obi costume for him and Carl. The kids were a bit freaked when he first came out, but once he took off his mask they thought it was pretty cool. At the end we smashed a Darth Vador pinata that my mom has been making all month and went inside to decorate Yoda cupcakes and sing!
-Phew!! All my official responsibilities were complete: talent show, Latino dinner, and birthday bash... so I just sat on the couch and chatted for a couple of hours.
-Family Pictures in Ruby Red shirts
We quickly went out for good light and took family pics in our Ruby Red t-shirts that Rose and I ironed on logos for on Sunday
-Russian Dinner night
I anticipated this night to be disgusting, but it turned out to be almost my favorite and totally delish!
-Family Council
In the past this has been the dreaded bucket of worms that we discuss the elephants in the room. But my parents planned it with the kids in mind and simply officiated our family mission statement "KFB" (Keep the Faith Brother/Babies) and talked about when it started with my oldest brother Ren on his mission. Each family got a glass brick with vinyl letters "KFB" and ribbon to tie around it to display at home.
-Walk
A few of us went on a walk that night and Sean called Christina so we walked up ahead of her on the way back. Love special phone calls... hmmm
Thursday 9
-Princess Pamper Party
All the little nieces have been waiting for this all week and were good sports during the Star Wars stuff because they knew this was coming.
We (all the girls) dressed up, painted nails, read Princess and the Pea, decorated crowns, went on a princess scavenger hunt for bracelets, barrettes, and hugs and kisses from the king (Grandpa), and were escorted to the ball by their handsome princes (dads and brothers in Burger King crowns) They were even announced by a royal trumpeter (Rowan) with a ding-a-ling and their royal names (Cathleen). They all danced at the ball and had a glorious time!
-Water Play
We played with water balloons, a kiddie pool, a big blow-up slide with water, water guns, and a slip'n slide. The kids enjoyed it fast before the real water war began between the team on the deck and everyone else. It turned into pots, pans and bowls of water launched across the banister. No one left dry, unless you were holding a baby or a camera on the side.
-Group bathtime
6 little girls in the jetted tub upstairs, doesn't get more fun than that. Then the boys turn, I wasn't invited to that party.
-Chinese Dinner night
-Family Treasure Hunt and game night
What family gets excited about doing a treasure hunt together? We did these all the time growing up. "Pirates are always going around looking for buried treasure, but they didn't realize the treasure was the happy memories they were making along the way." (something like that)
-Game Night
Played Barnyard Rummy and caught everyone on the final hand. I was the only one down with one card left. Half-way around the circle, Brinn discarded a Rummy and I called it!
-Worked more on my collage
Friday 10
-Temple trip to Provo Temple
Early morning session with baptisms afterward. We took a group of 85 family names to baptize and confirm. This was my first time doing family names and it was a special event to be there with my older brothers and participate in the ordinances with them.
-Family Fair
The long windy garage tunnel was filled with games: shooting out a candle w/ a water gun, shaving a balloon without popping it, guessing how many raisins in a jar, knocking down milk jugs with a tennis ball, balloon animals, putting the bean in the cup on your head with chopsticks, and hoola hooping. Then we went upstairs for doughnuts on a string and parachute play. Some of the kids climbed into the parachute to be tossed up in the air,and some had to hold someone else's hand in the parachute to feel okay, it was so cute!
-Family Movie Night
We watched "The Muppet Musicians of Bremen" a family favorite for the kids. I hadn't seen it for years, so it was fun to finally connect the beloved lines my brothers frequently quote in conversations to the scenes in the film. Like: "What the clunge is this?"
Then we watched "The Court Jester" with Danny Kaye, another beloved Ashton must see film if you ever want to belong to this family. However, most of us worked on our quilt blocks. Our gift to our parents this year for their anniversary is a quilt block from everyone sewn into some sort of pillowcase or wall hanging. We each drew something significant about us on our square with fabric markers.
Saturday 11
-Closing Devotional
Each of the kids got a "kinder-egg" from Europe. These eggs have a chocolate shell with a little toy inside connecting back to our theme of treasure, rubies, pirates, etc.
-Cleaned up
-Adult Dinner
All adults 18 and up went to the iBuffet by Movies 8 and then to Stu and Lisa's for an evaluation of the Ruby Reunion. Joe told "Goldirocks" story (his 3 Bears story in an Asian accent) it is hysterical!!
The overall word was that it was a great success and can't wait for the next one in 3-4 years! All our goals were met, the cousins know each other, our testimonies are renewed, and everyone enjoyed the time together.
This past week my immediate family gathered for a family reunion in honor of my parents 40th Wedding anniversary on July 11th and of course the 4th that connotes a plethera of family traditions for us. The traditional gift that goes with 40 years of marriage is the ruby stone, so this event was affectionately known as the "Ruby Reunion!" Our goals to Reconnect, Unify, Be together, and Yak alot summarize our purposes for gathering for the first time in 5 years. Everyone was there, all 51 of us!!
We stayed at my uncle's cabin up above Sundance. It was a great location away from civilization, but close enough to Macey's. Dialogue for this event has been flooding my inbox since January and everything turned out great! Here is a brief synopsis of what we did.
Monday (July 6, my birthday)
-Birthday Dogpile
My wakeup call was a customized dogpile with added members and many birthday wished!
-Orientation from the parents
-Games in "the meadow"
-Pirate Ship
The spatious back deck was designated as the Pirate Ship, complete with a fantastic sail made out of a fitted sheet slipped on to a wooden cross and tied with rope to the banister. My nephew Rowan has been planning this and came prepared with a treasure chest, knives, canons, bandannas, and flag... it was wicked awesome!!
-worked on collages*
*This is our family history, everyone makes a collage of magazine cutout words and pictures about them.
-Italian dinner night
My family sang to me and my mom presented her gift. I asked for an iPod for my birthday and I got one... made out of marzipan!
-FHE: Ashton Family Jeopardy!
So fun! We brainstormed about Phil's fettishes, family ancestors, sang 1776 quotations, and filled out the birthdays for everyone in teams.
Tuesday 7
-Hike up to Stewart Falls, we paused periodically to read and discuss pioneer stories. We even crossed the Sweet Water river on the backs of our "rescuers" across the designated patch of trail.
-Tortilla demo: how to make spinach tortillas
I was frantically running around preparing for the talent show
-Talent Show Part I (Rose and I were the MCs with bejeweled outfits and flowers)
Lots of piano solos and some really great skits and songs
-Latino Dinner
-Talent Show Part II
Rose and I did the comedy piece from my last concert which was a Q&A... in fully hooded purple tye-dye unitards. Deep and cosmic questions were answered with Modern Dance, Rose was the announcer and I was the dancer. My feet got colder and colder as our turn approached and I finally whispered to Rosey "I can't do it". I was so hesitant to perform not knowing how my family would respond to this piece. But she urged until I said I would do it without the costumes. So we stood up to go and my brother who knew about the costumes saw we weren't in them and shouted that we MUST use the costumes. I finally consented and we rushed to put them on.
I was so relieved to hear the laughter fill the room as Rose went out, then me and we went through the whole piece.
Throughout the week many referred back to some of my responses, so I know that their cosmic questions were in fact answered in that Q&A session! :) The best was my nephew Dallin (12) "your performance actually GAVE me questions... like, who likes to watch this kind of dancing anyway..." yes I love being a Modern Dancer!
I also played the part of Kathy in "The sign on Rosie's Door" reading, was a backup singer to Simon's solo "One Last Kiss" from Bye Bye Birdie, and the marshmallow girl for Ren's "Chubby Bunny" contest only the words were "Ruby Reunion". My brother Joe won with 10 big marshmallows stuffed in his mouth and a clear vocalized "Ruby Reunion".
-Bedtime
The only downer for this location is the limited bedrooms and oodles of couples with kids. So I slept up in the master bedroom with Jules and Joe and their families (9), Riss, Rose, & Brinn on the floor and marg and Nate on the bed, a total of 14 people. The whole floor was bedding for bodies.
Wednesday 8
-Family Pictures!
Nate is a photographer and patiently took pictures all morning of individual families and groups of sisters and kids. When my parents arrived we walked to our spot and set up. While Nate setup, Rose and I distracted the kids. We sang all the songs we knew with giant actions and animated faces. It worked!! we had happy children for the group shot!
-Star Wars Birthday Bash (I cochaired this event with Doug)
We had 2 groups rotating through "I had a little Jawa", musical chairs for seating ont he Millenial Falcon, relay races to test their ability to use The Force, and the Jedi Training Camp (an obstacle course outside complete with dueling Darth Vador). Doug rented a Darth and Obi costume for him and Carl. The kids were a bit freaked when he first came out, but once he took off his mask they thought it was pretty cool. At the end we smashed a Darth Vador pinata that my mom has been making all month and went inside to decorate Yoda cupcakes and sing!
-Phew!! All my official responsibilities were complete: talent show, Latino dinner, and birthday bash... so I just sat on the couch and chatted for a couple of hours.
-Family Pictures in Ruby Red shirts
We quickly went out for good light and took family pics in our Ruby Red t-shirts that Rose and I ironed on logos for on Sunday
-Russian Dinner night
I anticipated this night to be disgusting, but it turned out to be almost my favorite and totally delish!
-Family Council
In the past this has been the dreaded bucket of worms that we discuss the elephants in the room. But my parents planned it with the kids in mind and simply officiated our family mission statement "KFB" (Keep the Faith Brother/Babies) and talked about when it started with my oldest brother Ren on his mission. Each family got a glass brick with vinyl letters "KFB" and ribbon to tie around it to display at home.
-Walk
A few of us went on a walk that night and Sean called Christina so we walked up ahead of her on the way back. Love special phone calls... hmmm
Thursday 9
-Princess Pamper Party
All the little nieces have been waiting for this all week and were good sports during the Star Wars stuff because they knew this was coming.
We (all the girls) dressed up, painted nails, read Princess and the Pea, decorated crowns, went on a princess scavenger hunt for bracelets, barrettes, and hugs and kisses from the king (Grandpa), and were escorted to the ball by their handsome princes (dads and brothers in Burger King crowns) They were even announced by a royal trumpeter (Rowan) with a ding-a-ling and their royal names (Cathleen). They all danced at the ball and had a glorious time!
-Water Play
We played with water balloons, a kiddie pool, a big blow-up slide with water, water guns, and a slip'n slide. The kids enjoyed it fast before the real water war began between the team on the deck and everyone else. It turned into pots, pans and bowls of water launched across the banister. No one left dry, unless you were holding a baby or a camera on the side.
-Group bathtime
6 little girls in the jetted tub upstairs, doesn't get more fun than that. Then the boys turn, I wasn't invited to that party.
-Chinese Dinner night
-Family Treasure Hunt and game night
What family gets excited about doing a treasure hunt together? We did these all the time growing up. "Pirates are always going around looking for buried treasure, but they didn't realize the treasure was the happy memories they were making along the way." (something like that)
-Game Night
Played Barnyard Rummy and caught everyone on the final hand. I was the only one down with one card left. Half-way around the circle, Brinn discarded a Rummy and I called it!
-Worked more on my collage
Friday 10
-Temple trip to Provo Temple
Early morning session with baptisms afterward. We took a group of 85 family names to baptize and confirm. This was my first time doing family names and it was a special event to be there with my older brothers and participate in the ordinances with them.
-Family Fair
The long windy garage tunnel was filled with games: shooting out a candle w/ a water gun, shaving a balloon without popping it, guessing how many raisins in a jar, knocking down milk jugs with a tennis ball, balloon animals, putting the bean in the cup on your head with chopsticks, and hoola hooping. Then we went upstairs for doughnuts on a string and parachute play. Some of the kids climbed into the parachute to be tossed up in the air,and some had to hold someone else's hand in the parachute to feel okay, it was so cute!
-Family Movie Night
We watched "The Muppet Musicians of Bremen" a family favorite for the kids. I hadn't seen it for years, so it was fun to finally connect the beloved lines my brothers frequently quote in conversations to the scenes in the film. Like: "What the clunge is this?"
Then we watched "The Court Jester" with Danny Kaye, another beloved Ashton must see film if you ever want to belong to this family. However, most of us worked on our quilt blocks. Our gift to our parents this year for their anniversary is a quilt block from everyone sewn into some sort of pillowcase or wall hanging. We each drew something significant about us on our square with fabric markers.
Saturday 11
-Closing Devotional
Each of the kids got a "kinder-egg" from Europe. These eggs have a chocolate shell with a little toy inside connecting back to our theme of treasure, rubies, pirates, etc.
-Cleaned up
-Adult Dinner
All adults 18 and up went to the iBuffet by Movies 8 and then to Stu and Lisa's for an evaluation of the Ruby Reunion. Joe told "Goldirocks" story (his 3 Bears story in an Asian accent) it is hysterical!!
The overall word was that it was a great success and can't wait for the next one in 3-4 years! All our goals were met, the cousins know each other, our testimonies are renewed, and everyone enjoyed the time together.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Today in Relief Society we talked about family history. Its sneaky presentation distracted me from zoning out and when my teacher explained that blogging is part of "what we can do now with family history" I was engaged and committed to blog a bit today eventhough the ups and downs of my week seem rather ordinary. But I have to remember that you are not living everyday of my life and it was actually a wonderful eventful week.
Monday I sacrificed my tredmill date to meet with Drew Williams, a supervisor over my new grant proposal internship I am starting. His office is in the advancement bldg at the top of campus, so while I was in the neighborhood I stopped to see Bill Bridges since his office is now up there too. He reminded me how much he loves and adores me and my family and as usual I left feeling warm and fuzzy from the shower of compliments that usually accompanies visits with him. I hurried down to class because we had a guest teacher, Tito who is here setting Alwin Nikolais' "Crystal and the Sphere" on the Ririe Woodbury company in SLC. His class spent 45 minutes on the floor doing Nikolais based technique which was a combination of coordination, strength and flexibility building. Tito demonstrated with my friend Shauni how to grab the foot with the opposite hand stretching the leg behind the head and pulling the shoulder and chest through the window between leg and arm. Needless to say I felt strange sensations in odd places throughout my body for the remainder of the day, but unlike any of my friends woke up feeling light in my joints and relatively ironed out in my body.
Tuesday my afternoon rehearsal was cancelled so I called up my friend Kendra and went in for a happy haircut and new do. I tossed my cares and curls away and the vivacious emerged. I left prepared to take on my life in a much more styish way.
Thursday I ran into my old institute teacher Brother Bartholomew who I haven't seen for over a year since he took a full-time position at BYU and left UVU. I was in his class for most of my college experience and consequently feel very grateful and connected to him for what I learned from him. We chatted about what's going on in my life including the current dating scene. He paused and asked me more about that. I made the comment that I am looking for someone who can run along side me through my life because if he can't keep up then it won't work. Brother B looked at me and stated "you don't get it." In my mind (of course I don't get it, if I did I would have it figured out by now) After he shook his head, he kindly painted an image for me that changed my perspective on what the marriage relationship is all about. He held up his hands and measured about 12 inches in the air before he said "this is how much you can do, you and God together" then he widened his hands quite a bit and stated "this is how much you can do with a husband and God". He continued "I could not have done half of the things I did without my wife, marriage is not inhibiting, it's empowering." I had never thought about marriage like that. I was under the impression that if a low maintenance male someone wants to hop on board with me and go where I want to go and put up with my family, then it could work, but I am not dragging anyone through life and certainly not waiting for anyone to figure it out and sweep me off my feet. However what I figured out about marriage that day was so different. I finally caught a glimpse of the truth of this teacher's statement and the magnitude of the plan Heavenly Father has laid out for us. I imagined my future marriage as a fluid give and take relationship with someone just as excited about my life goals as I am about his and I was overwhelmed that anything could be that sweet. I guess I never thought it possible to find someone that I could share all my deep desires and life goals with and have him absolutely love me for it and be my number one cheerleader. What I learned that day is that it is possible and I will have it at the perfect time. I felt a huge wall around my heart had just melted away.
Thursday night I hing out with my cousin Beth Ann Wells. She treated me to Cafe Rio and the movie of "Le Corsaire" (a pirate flavored ballet)afterwhich we went to BYU to see BYU's Theatre Ballet perform with the Royal Ballet School of London, which was fabulous! I bumped in Dave and Natalie Fullmer at intermission and I was able to tell them that Hilary was bautiful in the opening number of the "Sleeping Beauty" variations. And the Royal Ballet School was of course fabulous! Their performance of the Don Quixote pas de deux was exhilarating, the most exciting I have seen yet!
Friday I went to my friend Anita's reception and realized an urgency to do something about my awkwardness on the social dance floor. I can pirouette and split my legs, but when it comes to schmoosing on the dance floor with a guy, I could not be more stiff,uncoordinated, and ungamely. Sheesh! I came home and watched "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days" and wished my sisters were there to laugh with me.
Saturday I went to my friend Jessy's shower and chatted with my dear friend Amber. When I got home Biddy Thomas came over to visit and it was so good to see her. We chatted about the reality of "what to do after graduation" and some of the wonderful implications that come with that upcoming phase for me. It was great to get her thoughts about finances vs. experience. I hurried to rehearsal with Maeva and then on to work at Halls before I picked up my friend's mac hard drive to transfer my China footage from the Halls to school. I am finally getting a move on this project, hooray!
Work was great, I love my job! I can't believe I get paid for playing mom. When I came home I watched "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" with Spencer Tracy, the old black and white film... super good acting and super creepy. But still applicable to today.
Today was a fun day at church with all my favorite people oohing and awing over my hair. One boy in my ward that hasn't really spoken to me in a while came up to me after sacrament mtg and harrassed me for chatting with my friend and not already being at Sunday school then proceded to come with me to sunday school which breaks his record of about a year of absent attendance at sunday school. Hmm,saving souls one haircut at a time. :)
Monday I sacrificed my tredmill date to meet with Drew Williams, a supervisor over my new grant proposal internship I am starting. His office is in the advancement bldg at the top of campus, so while I was in the neighborhood I stopped to see Bill Bridges since his office is now up there too. He reminded me how much he loves and adores me and my family and as usual I left feeling warm and fuzzy from the shower of compliments that usually accompanies visits with him. I hurried down to class because we had a guest teacher, Tito who is here setting Alwin Nikolais' "Crystal and the Sphere" on the Ririe Woodbury company in SLC. His class spent 45 minutes on the floor doing Nikolais based technique which was a combination of coordination, strength and flexibility building. Tito demonstrated with my friend Shauni how to grab the foot with the opposite hand stretching the leg behind the head and pulling the shoulder and chest through the window between leg and arm. Needless to say I felt strange sensations in odd places throughout my body for the remainder of the day, but unlike any of my friends woke up feeling light in my joints and relatively ironed out in my body.
Tuesday my afternoon rehearsal was cancelled so I called up my friend Kendra and went in for a happy haircut and new do. I tossed my cares and curls away and the vivacious emerged. I left prepared to take on my life in a much more styish way.
Thursday I ran into my old institute teacher Brother Bartholomew who I haven't seen for over a year since he took a full-time position at BYU and left UVU. I was in his class for most of my college experience and consequently feel very grateful and connected to him for what I learned from him. We chatted about what's going on in my life including the current dating scene. He paused and asked me more about that. I made the comment that I am looking for someone who can run along side me through my life because if he can't keep up then it won't work. Brother B looked at me and stated "you don't get it." In my mind (of course I don't get it, if I did I would have it figured out by now) After he shook his head, he kindly painted an image for me that changed my perspective on what the marriage relationship is all about. He held up his hands and measured about 12 inches in the air before he said "this is how much you can do, you and God together" then he widened his hands quite a bit and stated "this is how much you can do with a husband and God". He continued "I could not have done half of the things I did without my wife, marriage is not inhibiting, it's empowering." I had never thought about marriage like that. I was under the impression that if a low maintenance male someone wants to hop on board with me and go where I want to go and put up with my family, then it could work, but I am not dragging anyone through life and certainly not waiting for anyone to figure it out and sweep me off my feet. However what I figured out about marriage that day was so different. I finally caught a glimpse of the truth of this teacher's statement and the magnitude of the plan Heavenly Father has laid out for us. I imagined my future marriage as a fluid give and take relationship with someone just as excited about my life goals as I am about his and I was overwhelmed that anything could be that sweet. I guess I never thought it possible to find someone that I could share all my deep desires and life goals with and have him absolutely love me for it and be my number one cheerleader. What I learned that day is that it is possible and I will have it at the perfect time. I felt a huge wall around my heart had just melted away.
Thursday night I hing out with my cousin Beth Ann Wells. She treated me to Cafe Rio and the movie of "Le Corsaire" (a pirate flavored ballet)afterwhich we went to BYU to see BYU's Theatre Ballet perform with the Royal Ballet School of London, which was fabulous! I bumped in Dave and Natalie Fullmer at intermission and I was able to tell them that Hilary was bautiful in the opening number of the "Sleeping Beauty" variations. And the Royal Ballet School was of course fabulous! Their performance of the Don Quixote pas de deux was exhilarating, the most exciting I have seen yet!
Friday I went to my friend Anita's reception and realized an urgency to do something about my awkwardness on the social dance floor. I can pirouette and split my legs, but when it comes to schmoosing on the dance floor with a guy, I could not be more stiff,uncoordinated, and ungamely. Sheesh! I came home and watched "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days" and wished my sisters were there to laugh with me.
Saturday I went to my friend Jessy's shower and chatted with my dear friend Amber. When I got home Biddy Thomas came over to visit and it was so good to see her. We chatted about the reality of "what to do after graduation" and some of the wonderful implications that come with that upcoming phase for me. It was great to get her thoughts about finances vs. experience. I hurried to rehearsal with Maeva and then on to work at Halls before I picked up my friend's mac hard drive to transfer my China footage from the Halls to school. I am finally getting a move on this project, hooray!
Work was great, I love my job! I can't believe I get paid for playing mom. When I came home I watched "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" with Spencer Tracy, the old black and white film... super good acting and super creepy. But still applicable to today.
Today was a fun day at church with all my favorite people oohing and awing over my hair. One boy in my ward that hasn't really spoken to me in a while came up to me after sacrament mtg and harrassed me for chatting with my friend and not already being at Sunday school then proceded to come with me to sunday school which breaks his record of about a year of absent attendance at sunday school. Hmm,saving souls one haircut at a time. :)
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