NOTICE...

Including this post there are seven (SEVEN) new posts. Imagine, me waiting so long to post that I had to have seven entries! I've spent a LONG afternoon with photos and collages and trying to sound coherent (and I would be embarrassed to tell you how many times I've gone over the posts to edit!).

FYI, you can double click on the collages and they will enlarge (not to be patronizing; this is for those among us with not in the know).

Springtime in Colorado...

 

Michael (handsome in his uniform) and his lovely wife Sarah were finally able to live together! Thank you U.S. Army for letting this happen after only 7 months of marriage (snarkily said). Steve was coming home for the weekend,Dean and Renda, brother and sister extraordinaire, brought Helen back to CO from her visit in AZ. It was conference weekend and was so much fun! The intersection of family merited a visit to one of our favorite places, Jack and Grill. Too much good food and not enough good company. Footnote, a week or two later I noticed a bad smell in the car. It was Michael's "doggie bag." Oh, how I missed him at that moment, not!

 

We are enjoying Allison's expanding skill set. Her school had a Mother's Day later in May and she gave Mom and I pedicures. Emily hung out with us until she had to go to work but we couldn't talk her into getting one (still don't know why, it's relaxing and fun...) You can see her lovely face as I captured her getting her highlights, so happy was she that she forgot to smile. I had to take a picture of her waxing Emily's legs. Yes, Emily wanted it! Alli waxed and pulled, Emily grimaced and bit pillows. Allison even had tweezers to try to get the strays that didn't come out. When all was finished we determined we're going to invest in a wax pot so the wax will be thicker and the tweezers won't be necessary. Emily is so thrilled.

 

Okay, the girl's 19th Birthday was pretty laid back. You can tell by Allison hiding behind her hair since she had no make-up on, gasp! Alli's gifts? A triple process hair color and a gift certificate to Sally Beauty Supply (the latter a little selfish on my part since it was to go towards purchasing acrylic nail supplies!). Emily's gifts? A Sony PSP handheld game system and two games, the Kingdom Hearts game being one she had been dying to play. So excited was she her Chinese food dinner flew out of her hands and onto my carpet. Sweetly she cleaned it up immediately and, sweetly, her sister jumped in and helped her. And the last picture? Allison is eating cake out of a grocery bag we had put in the garbage (hey, it was a new bag and the cake was inside, okay?). We ended up with four, FOUR, cakes in our house that weekend (long story) but the one she's noshing on was one her boyfriend made for her (Helen and I found it to be dried out and a little sticky but she wanted just a little bit more).

A Relaxing Lunch

 

This post is out of order but I don't know how to change that! After the newlyweds left Denver for Provo Steve's parents, Tony and Bette, took us all out to dinner at Red Robin. It was SO nice not to cook! We had a terrific time except for the moment Helen found out that her Burnin' Love hamburger had jalapenos on it ;)

A Wedding in Maryland

 

The day before the wedding was wonderful! After attending a morning session at the temple Christina took us on the Metro to Washington D.C.! I had never been! We walked down the Mall, seeing all the monuments. We ended at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. I got to see the orignial Star Spangled Banner (!!) and many other wonderful things in American culture. Having grown up watching her cook I had to have my picture taken with Julia. She didn't mind.

 

The Washington D.C. Temple is so beautiful! While we were inside Emily and Allison took some exterior shots. The grounds are gorgeous! And we had to include a photo of the cute updo Allison gave herself that day. I also had to include the photo Em took of the illegally parked car. She just couldn't believe that a temple patron would so blatantly scoff the law!

 

Christopher and Christina Faria, blissfully happy newlyweds! It didn't matter that the weather was quickly cooling or that the wind had come up. We were all thrilled to be there sharing this sacred moment with them.

 

Christina had worked at an Italian restaurant in a lovely old neighborhood D.C. and they were more than happy to have her wedding dinner there. It was just across the street from a Metro stop and I must tell you as a snazzily dressed wedding party we drew a lot of attention on the train. It was a beautiful end to a beautiful day!

Mother's Day 2011

 

We were traveling home from Baltimore to Denver. Arrived at the airport, turned in the rental car, made it through security and decided it was time for breakfast. I saw Panda Express but Allison wanted a doughnut. Puh-leaze!

As we left our seats in search of food on the terminal the girls asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day. I told them a new iTouch as my 8gb was full. 16gb or 32gb would be fine with me! I was just less than half serious. As we stepped off the carpet onto the main terminal walkway we were immediately faced with a Best Buy vending machine! Best Buy! Vending Machine! ipod Touch! 8, 16 AND 32 gb! Weird!

Then Allison reminded me that she still wanted doughnuts. I said I didn't know if there were any on the terminal. Looking ahead a noticed the side of a rounded sign for Baskin Robbins. Thinking they'd have a cookie substitute for her craving we approached. It was a Dunkin' Donuts! Excitedly I told the girls I had changed my mind, I wanted a sweet vintage '68 Mustang for Mother's Day. Turning around I had to sigh deeply. I had used up all my luck :{

postscript: I did get my Panda for breakfast and it was marvelous!

Fun Friday the 13th (May)

 

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:
Yes, they love gummies! Organizing by color was not only a fun OCD kind of thing to do but was also deemed a fun way to see personality by color choice (hey, Chris is a psychology major!)...
My good friend, Lisa, made many chocolate covered pretzel rods...
The beautiful quilt made by Grandma Helen...
Michael and Sarah were at the open house on Chris' phone...
Table decor was pictures of the newlyweds...
Sarah was enjoying the playlist. Don't let Chris fool you. He saw the camera and stopped dancing to make a face...
Alex, Alli and Em, the indentured servers for the night...
Trees of cupcakes!...
Beautiful photos!..
I'm missing pictures! Between my camera, the external hard drive and Picasa I need to find them!!!

Memorial Day With the Hadleys

 

Pancakes, butter eating, getting the dog to do tricks, cuddling and watching movies. Cory, Annie, Trace, Kena, Jax, Mason and Livvy... thank you for making our Memorial Day weekend so much fun!

Good Grief! It's MAY 16th!

I finally have a day off where I'm not a chicken with my head cut off (a rare phenomenon in our family, as anyone spending time around me in the last 2 years can attest to). As I sat to update my blog I wondered what to say. As I pondered I decided to wander to my loved ones blogs. Reading them made my heart so full. As I read them I had many stories and anecdotes flood my mind and I want to share them so badly.

Here we go again...

I started composing that blog entry on April 14th. That was a month ago! You know what I hate? That I'm still that chicken with it's head cut off and I'm tired of my blog reflecting that. There is so much that happens in all our lives. If I'm so busy and don't blog then why do I feel compelled to write all about it? Maybe it's guilt. I feel badly that I haven't kept this up, or that I haven't been clever (I like to think of myself as a clever person). Business isn't conducive to cleverness.

So I'll try to be better and share more. School's out in two weeks. I think that will help. Let's face it, I'm typing this entry on a school laptop in a Home Ec. room in a Middle School.

Previews of things to come or not... Finishing a bathroom remodel before Christopher's wedding, finally getting to see Washington D.C., the actual wedding and the parties that followed and, last but not least, fun with hair coloring

PS. To my new daughter Christina, I love you. Thank you for making my son so happy AND I'm trying to watch my usage and punctuation. Yes, you've inspired me!

PPS. To my other new daughter Sarah. Love you too! You are inspiring me to be a better blogger by your cleverness and sweetness.

PPPS. Just to let you all know Emily is an avid reader of all your blogs. She's always asking me the "have you read...?" questions. Maybe I should make her a co-contributor on my blog. Hmm, not a bad idea.