Silent Sunday

It's Sunday afternoon. I'm not feeling too good. My throat is killing me when I talk, swallow, drink, eat or breathe. Hence, I'm staying pretty silent today, enjoying the sights and sounds around me. I have watched nature takes its course today through our large office and front room windows. The day began with gusty winds, chairs and toys being blown around the yard. Then came the snow. Light at first, but steadily increasing to a consistent dump of snowflakes from the sky. The toys, grass, and pool cover quickly disappeared and my world became white. Soon after, the clouds passed, and the snow began to disappear as quickly as it had come. Now the sky is blue with white sheet like clouds throughout and even the puddles of water left behind are beginning to shrink. I wish the large, ball like object clogging my throat would shrink with them. It's nice to sit back from the hustle and bustle of life and just take it it all in-even if it's just for one day.

March is about to come to an end. That means April is nearing. The thought of April brings about many emotions for me. Almost each day of this glorious month is chalk full of activities, many of which I need to be prepared for and on top of. My goal is to enjoy these activities, all of them, and to not worry or let myself be overridden by them. I plan to breathe in and out slowly each day and if I have a chance, I will post on the blog. We'll see.

As for today, I am still catching up on the events of March. I think I started today with the girls Dear Edwina play and so it goes from there. I also went back and finished up Lindsay's birthday festivities which were March 7th - 9th. Enjoy the reads.

Puzzlemania

I believe I got this puzzle when I was in third grade from some type of G.A.T.E. party. How it has manage to stay with me all these years, and still have all of its 9 pieces, is beyond me. It seems to resurface from the game closet every 9 months or so to test our brains and patience levels. Kayla and my Mom, two people that skipped grades and have high IQ's , seem to be drawn to this type of challenge. Me, not so much. I have tried many a times to work on it, only to be left with 2 turtle bums or 2 turtle heads in the end. I know it has been solved in the past, but I can't even remember the last time that was. Well, it has been hanging around our kitchen desk lately, and this morning Kayla started working on it, and BOOM, here it is. This is a milestone for us and we just want to document it for posterity. Hopefully this puzzle will stay in our family for many more years and generate or kill off many more brain cells.

Tomlinson Crew Part II

Two days later, we had another Tomlinson crew come through town.. This time is was John's brother Bob and his family. They had traveled down for Oregon to spend Spring Break with Julie's family. I don't know the last time our kids had seen each other, if ever, but they've gotten to know each other through their blog, so it was fun to actually be together. We had dinner at Wingers, popcorn and sticky wings and all. The kids just had a grand old time down at their end of the table while the adults got to catch up a bit. Oh, and we can't forget Toby the Dog. Brenna was very happy to meet Toby the dog. He didn't get to join us for dinner, but he did get his own ice cream cone at Artic Circle. We all filled up on some serious ice cream shakes and sundaes. We love it when people come to town to visit. We're so glad you guys stopped by, sorry it couldn't have been a little more spring like in the weather department. You'll have to come back in summer and swim. Lots of love!

Tomlinson Crew Part 1

This weekend, we were so glad to have my cousin John, his wife Megan, and their two kids Daniel and Rachel stay with us. We used to hang out with John & Megan years ago when we were living in Provo and they were at BYU. We always have a great time together and it's been fun to see their family grow. Megan and I were pregnant at the same time with Daniel and Brenna, but Daniel got to join this earth life a little early, while I finished out my pregnancy with B. They are just an awesome, laid back family that we enjoy spending time with. The girls were very excited to have their cousins here to play. I think John and Megan watched our kids back in the day, and now our girls can watch their kids. The cycle continues. We hope they had such a good time that they will come back and visit us again soon. Love you guys!

Soccer Queen

Emi started Indoor Soccer a few weeks ago. Her team is mostly comprised of her neighborhood friends, both boys and girls. She loves it, though we're yet to find much in life that Emi doesn't love and that she doesn't feel "oh so happy" about. She puts her uniform on first thing Saturday morning and usually doesn't take it off until bath time, which is sometimes not until Sunday morning. They really don't keep score at this level, but Emi's team does have a tendency to score goals for the other team. They just get so excited around those goals. Well, last Saturday Emi scored HER 1ST GOAL, and it was into her teams goal! She was sooooo excited and proud. If you know her, you can just imagine. Here's a few pictsures from that game.

Dear Edwina Play

Tonight was Opening Night for Aubrey and Kayla's school musical Dear Edwina. With all of the hustle and bustle going on around here, I had never even been to one of their rehearsals, so I really did not know much about this play. I did make it to the Kindergarten show this morning, but there were some sound system problems that kept me from hearing much of the show. But tonight, everything ran smoothly. It really is a great show if you ever hear about a production near you. Here is the basic storyline:

Edwina Spoonapple comes from a family of very talented children. One sister is a math wizard (that's Kayla's part), another is an amazing dancer, and her brother is very musical. The family frig is constantly full of their awards. Edwina's talent is giving excellent advice. There are hardly awards to put on the frig for that.

Kids from around the world write her letters asking for advice. Aubrey was a letter writer from Spain who's brother was very annoying and made disgusting noises and she needed on advice on how to not have him make a scene at her upcoming birthday party. Edwina gets her friends to act out these letters as well as the answers in her make shift studio, aka garage.

In the end, (sorry to give away the ending, but it's the best part) her little sister Katie (Kayla) comes home early from Math Camp after people have been mean to her. Edwina gives her great advice and realizes that it's not about the awards and certificates on the frig, but more about the hugs from your little sister and the fact that your friends have a great time being in your productions. The duet at the end with Edwina and Katie as they come to this realization.

Up Close at the Jazz Game

Tonight Robert and I went to the Jazz game on 'work' tickets. It's the best way to go. We had dinner in the Sports Club at the top of the arena. It has all glass windows over-looking the court, which was good because we were still eating when the game started. Our seats were just behind the visiting team and were the soft padded kind placed in front of the arena seats. There's a bonus right there. The best part was just being so close to the game. Seeing and hearing the players and the refs. We had a very chatty and friendly ref on our side of the court. You could see the more laid back side of the players, coachs, and refs from this view. TheJazz were playing the Washington Wizards. Can you name a player on the Washington Wizards? I couldn't, but that's okay. I know our Jazz men, and my favorite player, Brevin Knight, got quite a bit of playing time.
These seats were also good for star gazing. Local star gazing, that is. Sitting across court from us, in her usual seat, was Gayle Miller, wife of the late Larry H. Miller. She had a few of her grandchildren with her. President Monson was in his usual seat inside the Zions Bank Suite. I also saw several State Legislatures and even my 2nd cousin Mark, whose wife is the star of the Sports Den commercials here in Salt Lake. It was a fun night and Robert was especially glad to be there, and not at working on projects at home. Yeah!

Sneak Preview

The basement is coming along. The painting is done, the carpet is in, and the projector and screen have been delivered. At the end of a busy Monday night, we decided to get a little sneak preview. Here it is:
We just have to keep pluggin' along and it will be done soon. Yeah!

Graffiti or a Love Note

Isn't it amazing how we are all different, especially husbands and wives?



Tomorrow we are getting new carpet in the basement. We wanted to paint the guest bed black, so it seemed like the perfect time to get it done with the old carpet removed. After working on the bed for a while, the fumes were starting to get to me, so I switched jobs with Robert (who was sweeping the floors in preparation for the new carpet tomorrow) before I passed out. When I turned around, he had added some graffiti to our basement floor. The idea of painting something other than the bed never even crossed my mind. I guess I should just be grateful he did not do it on the wall. Tomorrow, it will be gone, but those of you who read this will know it is there under the carpet...

Long Saturday

After our very short night of sleep, we needed to get up today and get to work on removing all the carpet from the basement. We had moved 90% of the furniture on Thursday night, so there were only a few last things that needed to be moved so we could get the carpet out. Fortunately, we have a mechanical room, a storage room (below where our front porch is) and the downstairs bathroom to stuff all the items from the family room and two bedrooms. The mechanical room is actually the least stuffed to give you an idea of what those rooms look like at the moment.



Once the last bits of furniture were moved, it was time to get to work on the carpet. Aubrey helped us remove staples from the stairs, and was having quite a fun time as you can see. We were able to get all of the carpet and pad up and out of the basement by around 12:00, just in time to head off to the tile store before it closed to look for tile for the master bathroom remodel we are currently working on as well.

Date Night

There is a time for romance, and a time for getting work done. For us, tonight was a time for getting work done. We ordered new carpet for the basement and will have it installed on Monday, so we now have no other options but to get the painting done in the basement quickly or risk making a mess on our new beautiful rug. Saturday's are always crazy around our house, and this Saturday will be busier than usual, so after Robert came home and we ate and cleaned up dinner, it was down to the basement for a little prep and painting. We started around 7:00 and finished up just after 3:00 am. It was a long night, but it sure looks good down there now, and it always feels great to make progress and get close to wrapping up a big project.

Quick Update

Life has been a little busy around here lately. I thought I'd just post a few quick updates on our current projects and lives. Let's start with the important part - PEOPLE!

Robert is still gainfully employed and the TD acquisition is going pretty smoothly. He continues to run, bike, and swim and loves the biking part of it.

I am working on balance - the story of my life.

Aubrey just found out she got into Honors English at the middle school. She has a solo in the school musical, Dear Edwina, next week. Were excited to see the show.

Kayla is making her musical debut in this play. She has mastered her roundoff-backhandspring-backtuck. She's working on a science project about magnets, and reading a historical fiction book about a girl who lived at the turn of the century.

Lindsay turned 8 yesterday. She starts going to achievement day activities next week. She is growing up and maturing into a beautiful girl. She moved up to a more difficult gymnastics class due to some scheduling conflicts and likes the challenge. She still loves purple and got a variety of purple shirts for her birthday, and her first quad set of scripture. Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price in one book.

Emi loves school, friends, and just about everything in life. Happy, happy. She's started really reading and does her own few verses in family scripture reading. She loves High School Musical.

Brenna is busy. Are all 2 1/2 years olds this busy? She loves going to the little gym and being with her friends, both human and dog type, especially puppies!

-Basement remodel - Coming along; carpet ordered (are we sure we like it?) Need to finish painting bedrooms, which means emptying them, blah.

-Bathroom remodel - SLOWLy coming along. Not good at picking out tile for floor and shower.

-Family Math Night - Coming along (I sense a theme of slow, but steady progress here) It will be the 1st one of it's kind at our school and a big production, but have GREAT people working on it.

-B.O.O.T. Camp Primary Activity - Coming along. A Build Our Own Testimonies activity coming up at the end of the month.

-Still excersicing for physical, emotional, mental health and to have fun and spend time together. Not running as much because it's still freezing here and I refuse to run indoors after February.

Though our lives are often busy, we are trying to choose the BEST of the good, better, and best and Enjoy the Journey!

Lindsay's 8th Birthday

Today is Lindsay's 8th birthday. It was a very exciting day. She was glad to go back on track today, so she could share her birthday with her friends and class mates. For dinner, she wanted to go to Red Robin. She had recently received a Student Award with a Red Robin free meal ticket, so that's where we headed. She had her favorite dinner, mac 'n' cheese and opened presents at the restaurant. She loved her new purple sweater from Mom & Dad and new purple shirt from the Hawkers. She loves purple. She also got new scriptures and a princess clock that sines stars on the ceiling from her grandparents. She is so grateful for everything in life and loves to share her happiness and joys with us. It was a fun, fun, day and we're so glad we could celebrate Lindsay. Love you lots Lindsay-lou!!!

Pizza, Pizza!

Lindsay decided to have a Pizza Making Party for her 8th B-day. She and her friends each got cooking sets, so they could make their own pizzas. They measured, rolled out their dough on their cookie sheets and added the toppings of their choice. They trick was getting them all in the oven at the same time. When they were done-it was PIZZA time. Yum. Yum. Here are the extraordinary chefs in their aprons and below making their creations. It was a very fun party! Happy Birthday Lindsay!