More Pictures from the Beach

Karli texted me last week and asked if I would send her a few pictures from the formal photo shoot our family had at Laguna Beach in . . . July. I'm such a slacker. So, I spent much of the day sorting and editing pictures I had long neglected.

Here are a few of the casual moments I captured. Tomorrow--the more formal shots.

 Dad and two of his girls.

I love these two of Lily tumbling on the beach. Looks like that wave is exploding out of her feet. Which, by the way, it probably was.

Do you have any idea how I much I love that these two have each other? 

It could have been lonely to be the very youngest of seven, and it could have been lonely to be the very first of all the grandkids.

 Instead, they have each other forever. More like cousins than aunt and niece.

 Best buddies. Hopefully for their whole lives.

A few of the cousins--my nephew McKay. That kid. He is so much fun.

 My nieces in their matching shrugs made by Grandma Janie.

 It was a long time to stay dry and clean for these kiddos. They did pretty well, but by the end, they were ready to throw stuff in the ocean and get wet and sandy.

 Notice Hyrum's devilishly sweet face as he tries to hide the fact that he has a huge handful of sand ready to throw.

Lily and her favorite girl cousins. These sisters only live five minutes from our house, and I'm so glad they've all been able to grow up together.

Miss Annie turned one month old while we were on the beach, and I don't think she loved the photo shoot too much.

We did manage a few shots without her crying, but the wind was too much for her.

Heidi and her mini-me. Ellie looks so much like her mama at three years old--curlier hair and more outgoing are the only differences between their three-year-old selves.

This picture makes me really miss Ben. That guy loves babies and kids so much, and I know he will miss his nieces and nephews (and younger siblings) a lot while he's gone on his mission.

 Lily loves Nathan. Loves to play with him, loves to grab him for a quick kiss, even when he doesn't want it.

Lily kept running to the waves with Nathan on her shoulders, and he would belly laugh each time the waves caught her feet. This last one may be my favorite shot from the whole night.

 I want to remember that moment forever.

Sending Pieces of Us to Peru

I had to deliver Ben's Christmas package last Friday. Missionary packages through the postal service have about a 20% chance of being received, so instead of risking that, I found a local woman who travels to Peru a few times a year and will deliver packages to the mission offices for a fee. It was a little more expensive than the post office, but it was worth it to me to know that he will actually receive his Christmas stuff. It's nothing exciting, as you can see from the list, but every present was chosen with love from his family. What a missionary will do with a magic 8 ball, I don't know, but Hyrum and Micah were convinced that he'd love it. Who am I to say? One of the stipulations of using this service is that nothing can be wrapped, and that makes me a little sad. I hope he can leave the box alone and not open anything till Christmas, but I seriously doubt that.

The weirdest thing about delivering this package was the timing. It's weird enough that I had to complete all of his Christmas stuff the first week of November, but the package will be arriving in Peru on November 16th.

What's weird about that? Ben probably won't even be in Peru until November 19th. It's crazy to me that he won't even be in the country yet, but the package will be waiting for him. One of those Twilight Zone moments of life.

Saturday #44 on a Sunday--A Piece of Me

My Saturday got away from me yesterday--kids' chores, big school project, and a few football games as added distractions (Go, Devils!).

I didn't keep very many treasures from my school days. I wasn't very sentimental, and I didn't think those random pieces of construction paper would ever matter to me much as an adult.

There was one exception. Fourth grade Idaho history notebook. I've saved the entire notebook, intact, since I graduated from Mrs. Swenson's class at Morningside Elementary. I remember finding the small scrap of oddly shaped vinyl somewhere equally as odd, and thinking it looked like Indian pottery, I glued it to the cover. I remember coloring the cradleboard and baby and thinking I had the most beautiful baby name--"Springtime." Most vividly, I remember the assignment we had to color the mountain bluebird. I had a great idea. I would cut tiny feathers from a magazine (the only one we had at our house at the time was TV Guide and I searched every page for shades of blue), and ombre the color from tail to head. It would be beautiful.

I started out so small. But I was nine years old, and an art project that took hours was not my thing. The feathers got bigger and bigger, the colors less carefully chosen.

I remember being disgusted with myself when I placed the eyeball--too sick of the whole thing to fix it.

That bluebird is dozens of scraps of my nine-year-old self. And now, I love it. I love the memories it awakens--doing a Basque dance with a few of my friends for the class talent show, recess, wearing my first store-purchased dress for class pictures that year (Mom had always made mine, and my Aunt Garna bought me one that year--a floral print with a burgundy vest that I was very proud of.).

I hadn't thought of my Idaho history notebook in years, to be honest. On Thursday night, Micah was working on some homework, and he told me that he had chosen the state of Idaho for his state report. He pulled out a packet of papers and began asking me questions.

Suddenly, I remembered my Idaho history notebook, and that it contained all of the answers.

I sent him up to his room to wait while I dug through my single box of childhood memories--a big clear tub jumbled with ID cards, snapshots, newspaper clippings, my Merrie Miss banner, and brittle prom corsages. At the bottom was my notebook. Triumphant, I walked into the boys' bedroom bearing the answers to all questions Idaho.

We carefully turned the faded pages and I shared with my boys memories of fourth grade. Coloring the state horse to look like (as I titled the page) "My horse Lady." Fringing every inch of the state flag with schoolhouse scissors. Showing them my beautiful mountain bluebird--Micah exclaimed, "That's really cool, Mom!" He didn't even notice the unevenly cut feathers or missing scraps of paper. I smiled to myself.

Carefully turning the creaky pages, he found the facts page and began copying down the answers--star garnet, Gem State, syringa, Esto Perpetua--written in my best fourth grade penmanship. "This book is a gold mine, Mom! Thanks!"

It was a magical, circle-of-life moment. So much more personal than a Google search, my fourth-grade self was teaching my fifth-grade son all about the state that I love. Never did it enter my mind when I saved those beloved pages that my children would learn from them as well.

And I can still rattle off all 44 counties in alphabetical order, just like Mrs. Swenson taught me.

Ada, Adams, Bannock . . . 

Learning Some Stuff From Dad

Brad has had a lot more free time on his hands lately.

He's been playing "monkey in the middle" and taking long walks and completing projects around the house.

Can you see the swing in the background?

Brad and Micah were trying to figure out how to mount new support beams so that the swing will be able to hold all of the craziness that I'm sure will take place on it now that it's been sentenced to an existence at the Sanatorium.

What I loved about this project is that Brad really needed Micah's help--it wasn't some contrived "Let me help!" assignment--and Micah knew it and felt quite grown up. Getting Micah one on one is always a joy. He has interesting, clever, and sometimes quite deep thoughts that often shock me when they come from a ten-year-old mouth.

Whenever there's a project, Hyrum wants to be included. He holds screwdrivers and sweeps trash. He runs back into the house for drinks of water or forgotten directions. He wanted to help hang this picture last night so bad, but he didn't have his chores done yet. He ran and whined and cried and complained, hoping Brad wouldn't have the screws all the way in the anchors before he finished.

Lucky for him, Dad saved one for him.

Man, I love these three boys of mine. I'm so glad they have a dad who tries to include them in his projects, even when things would go much smoother and faster if he could just finish them himself. I need to take a lesson from his playbook.

Reluctantly Returning to My (Political) Blogging Roots

There it sits, resting softly in a bed of used dryer sheets, sharing space in the garbage can with a no-longer-sticky Rapunzel sticker and Eve's most recent reading book.

I voted yesterday.

When I began my blog on Election Day, 2008, politics and elections were occasional topics of my postings. As I go back and read them, I see how my opinions have changed. Mostly, however, I see how apathy and hopelessness have become my overriding attitudes about it all.

Funny how we change, right?

It's been months and months (maybe even years) since I ventured a political rant, but I just couldn't let today pass without expressing my opinions on a few issues.

People have become so disenchanted with Obama that pundits predicted the Republicans would retake six seats in the Senate and gain control of both houses of Congress. As of last night, Republicans won at least seven seats, and a few were too close to call. I wish I could be hopeful that change will come, but I’m not really. I've passed the point where I think the Republicans or the Democrats have solutions--or even the country's best interests in their sights. Republicans reelected an NY congressman who has been indicted on over 70 counts of fraud. And they want to trust their vote in running of our country to a man who is employing all of his energy to stay out of prison? And every Democrat on a national ticket did their very best to distance themselves from President Obama--the person who, as President of our country, is supposed to embody the views of his entire party. It seems that people have become so entrenched in the idea of what a political party is supposed to represent that they look past flaws in candidates' moral character to further the "party" ideals. 

When did the right to vote change from voting for the best candidate to voting a party ticket, even when your party of choice presents a candidate that may be unethical, unqualified, uninformed, or at the very worst--a puppet to further someone's agenda? When did Americans become so numb, so lemming-like, so uninformed, so  . . . dumb? 

I'm not just writing this because I have a bad case of sour grapes this morning, because I don't. I'm just so frustrated with what politics have become in this country.

A friend of mine posted this comment on Facebook yesterday, and his response was so wise I wanted to share it with you. He wrote:

As a trial lawyer, I do not care whether a judge is "conservative" or "liberal," but rather whether he will act judicial and follow the law. If the judge follows the law, then I can advise my client properly. I voted "no" on one of the "conservative" judges you listed because, in my experience, she does not behave judicially. I voted "yes" on nearly all of the "liberal" judges you identified because they act judicially and follow the law.

We are extremely fortunate that we do not elect our judges in the large Arizona counties. When judges are elected, the lawyers appearing in front of the judges become their primary fund raisers, which raises a serious conflict of interest for litigants. A judge should not promise to rule in a particular way, and should not be beholden to a particular constituency (i.e., plaintiff's personal injury lawyers, defense lawyers, prosecutors, public defenders, etc.). Rather, each case should be decided based on the facts as determined by the evidence presented in court.

Judges are paid to make decisions. When they do, at least one of the parties is unhappy with their decision. But if the judge goes through the proper steps, behaves judicially, and follows the law, we can have predictable decisions. It's not a perfect system -- no system that relies on human beings is perfect -- but it is better than anything else that has been invented thus far.

I agree with Scott. Voting shouldn't be based solely on a candidate's identification as "conservative" or "liberal." A vote should also consider whether or not a candidate knows what is required to serve in the position for which they are running. Do voters ever read candidates' bios, or do they look for the big red R or blue D following their names and use that as their primary reason for casting their vote? Isn't that how kindergartners make decisions--"R is in my name, so I'm going to vote for that person"? I know it's more complicated than that, especially since both parties have an inherent ideology that underlies what each letter represents. I get that, and I know that it can be helpful, but it shouldn't be the primary reason for casting a vote.

The State of Arizona made a huge mistake this year when electing a new State Superintendent of Public Instruction. While the election was still very close this morning, it looks like Douglas (R) will defeat Garcia (D) for this position. Douglas is a former local school board member whose sole platform for running an entire state's education system was to eliminate the Common Core curriculum. She wouldn't appear for debates or publicly support her platform in arenas where she had to field too many questions. She ran on the party ticket. Garcia is an associate professor of education at ASU who has years of experience in the field of education. Now, whether or not you support Democrats or Republicans, here's a question. If candidates were elected for the positions for which they're running based on experience, knowledge and, as Scott wrote above (and I know he was speaking about judges, but his wisdom can be translated to other positions as well), know education, know the laws/rules of education, "act [like an educator], and follow the law," then . . . how could this happen? I think most people voted out of fear of the term Common Core, while most of them haven't taken the time to understand what a candidate can do with their work experience and formal education background. Would you trust a doctor who had earned his degree watching Grey's Anatomy and ER, then they felt they knew enough to be a doctor, just because they knew the head administrator at the hospital and agreed with his approach to medicine?

I know politics can be polarizing and aggravating, and I realize that many of you will not agree with my positions. That's fine, and I hope you leave a comment so that we can debate and agree and disagree about the issues.

Arizona, you got this one wrong, and I hate to see how the students may suffer from the choice of the parents.

Arizona First-World Problems

Can you figure out what my day involves?

No, it's not just cleaning out the freezer.

The freezer broke. Not good. I guess it's good that I got the privilege of cleaning the entire freezer, tubs, shelves, and walls, and waiting for the repairman who is due sometime between 8 and 12--"just for fun" (name that movie).

Not only that, but the class I'm taking right now requires that I learn something I've always dreaded--statistics.

I haven't had a formal math class since Mrs. Stover taught me Algebra II way back in  . . . 1986, 28 years ago. I look at this stuff and not only is it Greek to me, it's horribly difficult to wrap my mind around. An entire semester of stats compressed into six weeks. This isn't gonna end well for anyone.

And finally, to top it all off, I finished my run this morning, only to get CHILLY in my sweaty clothes. Fall decided to hit Arizona last night. We can't keep the windows open all night without freezing everyone out in the morning (like 67 degrees inside), and my three little kids wore jackets! to school today.

I know. You should feel bad for me. My life is tough.

Saturday #43--Obligatory Costume Post, With a Surprise Ending

I know you've already met Alice.

She wasn't that into trick-or-treating. After three houses, she was ready to call it quits. Dad forced her around the block, then she was happy to stay home, sit on the front porch, and hand out candy to the kids.

Can you guess who this handsome elf warrior is? No. He's NOT Peter Pan. See his attached shadow?

Hyrum knew from the second we started discussing costumes that he wanted to be Link from the video game "Zelda." His shield may not have been the same and he may not have had the flowing blond locks, but the rest of the costume was perfect.

He initially balked at wearing long johns under the tunic until he saw how they looked exactly like Link's, and then he was hooked.

Micah was the hardest to costume this year. He wanted to be someone that meant something to him, but he's been Harry Potter before, and he didn't think he could really dress up like Percy Jackson. After much talking and Internet surfing, we decided on this. Know who he is?

He is the Titan Atlas, balancing the world on his back (with the aid of a few strips of velcro).

I loved this costume. I loved Micah's originality in thinking, and he loved seeing who actually knew he was Atlas. He was surprised how few people actually knew. (Frankly, so was I. I made the mistake of calling him a Greek God. Duh, Mom. He's a Titan. Oops--did I ever feel stupid.)

All three of my monkeys, ready to take on the neighborhood.

The boys have lots of friend that live right around us, and their posse roamed and knocked and gathered candy for a few hours. Around 8 pm, they wandered home, bartered for their favorites, then hit the pillows without a sound.  That is the measure of a good Halloween night in my book.

No pictures of Lily, but she and her friends decided they needed to host a big party for all of their friends. Eight pizzas, liters of soda, 6 bags of chips, three dozen doughnuts, a cooler full of ice and a scary movie (Sixth Sense). Over 20 kids crashed at our house, and she deemed it a success. Personally, I couldn't stay in the room while the movie was playing, but Dad was around to make sure they all behaved.

And since this is Saturday, my post wouldn't be complete without a photo of me, right? Well, I surprised everyone in my family with a rented costume of my own this year. Can you guess who I was?

When I stood next to Alice, it was a little easier to guess that I was the Queen of Hearts from Wonderland. I was brave and wore the costume to help in kindergarten (because if you can't wear a cool costume to kindergarten, where can you wear it?), and I wish I had a picture of the kids' faces when I walked in. There were heroes and princesses and one pink bunny, and they all couldn't believe I was dressed up like a queen! They asked me who I was, and before I could answer, one little boy (who will now and forevermore remain my favorite) said, "I know! You're the queen of beauty!" Ah, the innocence of kindergarten.

The costume was really quite cool. I've always had a thing for noisy, shiny taffeta, and this skirt was both noisy and shiny. I'd never worn a corset before in my life, and one of my funniest memories from this Halloween will be me kneeling on the floor in my bedroom, directing Hyrum how to lace the back of the corset. It was hilarious. And it was hard to breathe--never really believed it, but it's true. Eve was quite concerned when I told her I couldn't breathe, and she kindly asked me about it repeatedly, making sure I was ok. Hello. Beauty pinches sometimes, especially if you're the queen.

This isn't the best picture, but doesn't the dress look amazing? It was fun, more fun than I thought it would be.

Plus, Alice thought it was great that we went together.

I don't think she understands what the Queen of Hearts was like in Wonderland . . . Don't tell her.