The Moon in Real Time

I took these tonight from telescope. It was an amazing night seeing the moon that close and in real time.

I am soooooo sorry

I just want you to know how sorry I am that I got into your make-up and spilled your perfume all over you bed. I am sorry I ate your lip gloss and gummy bears. Katrina, Michelle, Jeanette, and Mom I am sooooo very sorry.
However, I think today we are all finally even.

Camilla's New Skirt

Yes, so I'm back on the blogosphere. I kept thinking I needed to go back and update everything from the past 7 months, and that just isn't going to happen; so I'm just starting from today.

Camilla kept begging me to take her to the store so that she could buy a "pioneer skirt" with her Christmas money. She loved how the ones down at the Mormon Pioneer Trail Center (aka Winter Quarters Temple Visitor's Center) are "twirly," and she felt confident that Walmart would have just what she was looking for. I was a bit more skeptical. She did however, get a learning to sew and craft kit from Santa and she really really wants to learn how to sew, so I decided we would just make her one. She sewed up the sides (first time on Mom's sewing machine, and boy was it exciting), and I did the rest, but it really turned out cute. It twirls great and she wore it to church today.

A Reason to Celebrate

My parents have been married for 50 years today, and it is truly a reason to celebrate. They are a model for me to follow of determination, friendship, and forgiveness. As I have personally experienced, and observed, all marriages are hard. Although I cannot know what marriage has really been like for them, I lived with them for 21 years of my life, and have talked about them with my older siblings and I know that times were hard. I mention this because I want to say thanks for sticking through it, thanks for showing me that when it comes to the ones you love, you never give up. I remember asking my dad once if they ever thought about getting a divorce, and he told me that word was a bad word in our house in that it was something nobody was going to discuss. Thanks dad for showing me what marriage meant to you. My mother takes fabulous care of my father. She washes his clothes, cooks his meals, and always supported him in his job and callings without complaint. She taught me what it meant to be a support, and to care about another person more than you care about yourself. Thanks mom for showing me how to be a wife. Thank you both for making your marriage last and for allowing me to grow up in a home with a mother and father who honor their temple covenants. I love you. Happy 50th!

The Zoo and the Recital

On Monday we went to the Topeka Zoo becuase it is free on my zoo membership that expires this week. I figured it was time to go check it out. Our friends the Tilley's went too.

Mary Emma checking out the tiger.

It was a beautiful day with everything in bloom, however, my allergies were so bad one eye almost swelled shut.
Although I was miserable, the kids still had a good time, and that's what counts.

Wednesday was the rehearsal for the recital, as well as overpriced pictures. This is Camilla and Hyrum's dance dynamos class. (Notice Camilla's sleeves, I used old knee highs and sewed them in.)

Thursday evening was the performance. In this picture Camilla is the tallest girl, next to the boy on the right, and Hyrum is on the far left.

Chimney sweeps with face paint.

Both kids did really well. Camilla seems to have real dancing talent in that she hardly missed a step. She told me later " I love being on the stage!" I guess she takes after her old mom. I was also impressed with how well Hyrum knew the dances. He hasn't liked dance that much, and so I was surprised by how happy he was on stage, and how much he seemed to enjoy the performance. By the end of the recital (their 3rd number was the very last one) Hyrum was getting a little bored and started making up his own dance; I was laughing out loud by the end. So, the recital is over, and both kids seemed to have a good time, and Mary Emma even had some booty wagging going on in the aisle. I cancelled them for the rest of the summer, but by next fall, who knows?

Super Heroes and Chimney Sweeps

The other day Hyrum told me he wants to be a superhero when he grows up and not a missionary. So I told him that missionaries have more power than any superhero could hope to have because they have the priesthood of God. "But," he said, "can missionaries fly?" "Well," I responded, "I flew all the way from Utah to Puerto Rico when I was a missionary." "No mom, not in a plane, I mean really fly." Oh well he had me there.

Camilla and Hyrum's dance recital is this week and one of their numbers is "Chim Chim Cheree." I had fabulous intentions of making Camilla a plaid dress and Hyrum a matching vest, but with Jacob gone, ideas like that never materialize. So, everyone else in the class is wearing cut offs, and a tie around the neck or something. Yesterday I got my sewing machine out for a few minutes and this is what I came up with. I think they look cute, and Hyrum gets to wear the hat my brother brought me from England after his mission.

Eight is Great!

It's been 8 fabulous years. Here's to us:

I Love You!