D's Debut - Rev. Parris in The Crucible

Let me just say - This was not an uplifting play, D was a hideous character, his sweetheart's date, Taylor, was absolutely your worst nightmare young girl and D's best friend Dallin was an awful judge (I wouldn't have even recognized him) - but they all deserved Oscars!  And I'm very happy to have got to know all these kids before seeing them in this play or I may have been very scared in D's choice of peers.  It was pretty much fatal attraction in the 1600's, with a lot of yelling.  These kids are like rock stars too and didn't even lose their voices.  Very impressive for high school kids!

D and I were ecstatic to have Dave & Shel make it up to see him, Gma & Gpa, Becca & Sagan, Roma, Michelle T., Cherie, B's business friend Wally, his salesman Paul & his wife, Our old neighbors The DeTienne's and D's YM leader.  He felt very loved!  Thanks everyone!

A Twelve Year Old Girl's Happy Place

Morgan and Lelu, sun, swimsuits, green grass and top ramen

Cool Lava Caves & Hiking - a Super Romantic Valentine's Day

Our friend's The Maxwell's met us down there.  We stayed at another friend's second home that has an amazing backyard, pool, hot tub etc.  Since Sharon and I are training for the Moab half marathon, we needed to run 10 miles while down there.  It was in the 50's and we didn't have to wear gloves or ear covers and we took off our jackets and it was sooo nice.  I can't wait until spring!! 

On Sunday, we went out to Snow Canyon and hiked out to these Lava Caves.  You hike out and all of a sudden there's a pile of lava rocks and underneath is a cave.  I can't say they made me feel very comfortable - esp since that poor guy got stuck in those nutty putty caves and they had to make it his tomb. So not healthy for my already fully developed claustrophobia.  B and the kids and the Maxwells all thought they were awesome. 

B gave me a Valentine's card that was just so romantic and heartfelt that I nearly swooned with love in my heart - Oh wait that happened in my alternate universe and this is my reality blog.  Um then let's just say NOT!  Valentine's just isn't his thing - or Anniversaries so thank heavens I have a gold credit card with no limit;D

St. George, Soccer and Some Brie Time

Valentine's Day/President's Day weekend we headed down to St. George for Lelu to play in a soccer tournament.  (She's in the blue shorts directly behind the girl in red in the middle right of the photo, running down the field).  Our favorite babysitter lives down there going to Dixie and she came over on Friday and watched Lelu play in both games.  I think that may have had a little to do with Lelu making her first goal of the year.  She is usually a mid-fielder so she doesn't get many opportunities to shoot. So we were all very excited. The weather was absolutely beautiful - 60 and sunny.  Their team won both games Friday, so played Saturday in the play-offs.  In the first play off game neither team scored and we went into overtime.  There was this ref that kept calling fouls on our girls.  She even called one on Lelu and she's not the least bit aggressive.  I say "she" with a little doubt because the ref was a "PAT", if you know what I mean (ambiguous gender). With 2 minutes left in the second overtime, PAT called a personal foul on this girl who tripped right along with the other player and 'it' gave the other team a goal kick.  PAT basically handed the game to the other team.  Our coach wouldn't let any of the girl's shake PAT's hand after the game and he let Pat have it.  Even the other teams parents thought it was an unfair call.  It was our little glimpse into how Appollo Ohno must have felt being disqualified from the silver medal.  Okay, so it was a grain of sand on his beach of disappointment......but still - we'll be watching for PAT again.

Miracles Do Happen!

Last week my dishwasher decided to freak out. 3 days went by before anyone wanted to wash all of the dishes. I am embarrassed to admit, I didn't even have a dish strainer. From what I read on the internet, the dishwasher was supposed to be off to dry out because some water splashed underneath and then reset itself -so I was waiting for it to reset. Finally on Sunday, when we didn't have anymore clean dishes and I was making lunch, B started washing and washing and washing. I think he spent more time washing dishes that day than he has in the last decade. I promise I am not exaggerating! I am very grateful because I DO NOT enjoy handwashing dishes. But I did everyday until Thursday. Please throw me a pity party! I also watched Cherie's baby and changed his diaper last week too. It's been awhile for both and I can't say that I miss either one. My dishwasher has now been reset and the universe is back in alignment - in case you were worried.

MOM! WHY ISN'T OUR FRIDGE MAGNETIC??!!

Poor Mr. T - last week on Sunday he was very distraught that our fridge was not magnetic (it's wood) and our oven's are not either (stainless steel) - it just wasn't fair! Our last fridge was magnetic! Caden's fridge is magnetic! What is wrong with us?? I told him he could use the trash can but I guess that wasn't appealing to him. Monday morning, I got up and I have this routine where I sit on my chair and turn on my little lamp in the living room, read a few scriptures, drink my chai and meditate. I turned on my little lamp and was greeted by Darth Vador, Luke Skywalker and their cohorts. I couldn't stop laughing. I got out my camera so I could always remember his ingenuity! And they are still there.

What Was I Thinking Not Planning SUNNY WARM Girl's Trip This Year?

From the left back row Cherie, Amy, Jodie & Me - Bottom row Kelly & Connie (sorry about the glare behind us. I'm just proud I figured out how to set up my camera to take it)

This is up at Kelly's cabin for one night. She has a beautiful cabin about 15 minutes from PC. We went up for dinner on the first night of Sundance. The traffic was awful and it was snowing. It was fun to spend some overnight time with the girls, but I am really really kicking myself for not planning a getaway to some place warm, sunny with green and flowers. We've had more than our fair share of inversions this year. It seemed there was no one weekend that would work for everyone so I just didn't do it. But I've realized I need it for my sanity, to keep my Tourettes at bay so I don't completely fill up our swear bank and save my soul.

D's Dance Photos so Far This Year

So the girls in the first 3 photos on here are all cousins. That should be fun to talk about at family reunions, huh? I have no idea why Jessica is barefoot here. She is a tiny little thing so it's not like she was trying not to be taller than D. This Halloween Dance Photo with Kenzie is a perfect example of D's dramatic range of expressions. He uses many of them in daily interactions with his parents as well. Like we are yanking out his heart if he has to clean up dog poop or change some light bulbs.

Erin was able to bring out D's security with his masculinity. Lavender pajamas.......he is such a different breed than his dad! Of course, Andrew (in the pink) takes the cake. He plays a mean piano too!

This is Sweetheart's Dance last night. I keep telling D that he's going to have to be careful not to date any girls named Taylor because it could present a real problem. I would totally make an exception for this Taylor. She is a senior with a 4.0 gpa, Sterling scholar, got a 33 on her ACT, sings, acts and has 5 full ride scholarships to college to pick from and is, in my opinion, the cutest girl he's taken to a dance. AND she asked him. When he got home last night he said it was the funnest dance so far. There's nothing wrong with the name Taylor Taylor anyway, right? - she could be like really cool and go by Taylor (squared) (I can't figure out how to get the little 2 next to her name)