Puppykins

When talking about missing L, I left out one of our family members who missed L, too.  So I'm making that up by including a few photos of her.

I was taking some photos of my cute hound when B opened a door.  This somehow caused the puppy to move toward the camera and this was the result.

Here is J trying to help me get a good shot of the pup.  (Of course, she's a full-grown dog but she'll always seem like a pup to us.)

And here she is, Miss Cavalier King Charles Spaniel of America, aka L's "sister," who missed L when L was gone and who is glad L is back home.

Sunday evening

Sundays are always busy.  Today felt extra busy.  However, my sister, her daughter and husband and I went to visit my mother.  My sister and I got into a picture snapping mood that had us all laughing (I should call it the battle of the cameras).  My sister and I got out our cameras to get pictures of C & D.  What a cute picture of a cute couple.

Then we had Mom sit between C & D for a picture.  Mom is wearing the cute pajamas that I gave her for Christmas (can't see the pajama pants I made except just barely).  We'd had to wake Mom up to visit her.  In the following picture, it looks like she is sleepy but she really didn't seem sleepy at all when we were visiting her. 

Then, I began snapping pictures of my cute sister who loathes to have her picture taken.  The more I snapped, the more she told me to quit and began to retaliate by taking pictures of me.  We were all laughing and laughing.  In the following picture of my sis, this was just before she rolled her eyes about my taking pictures of her.  However, C & D agreed with me that this is a cute picture, although I know I'll pay for posting this with her posting the shots of me she took when I was hamming it up for the camera.

Ah well.  Here she is (below) taking those pictures she is going to post on her blog to get her revenge.  :-)  However, she should know that I'm trying to remember "Individual Worth" and letting my true self shine through like Jamie Lee Curtis did a few years ago in a magazine spread (hence my post of that photo of me with billowy hair a few posts ago).  So I am girding myself up for her post. 

So there you have it:  two cute young people, a sleepy mom and one cute photo-taking chick, all on a Sunday evening.  :-)

Days without L

L went to girls' camp with a friend's ward.  We've been missing her (don't know if the brothers would admit it, though).  She should be home today.  None too soon because I can hear thunder.   

Here are photos of the overworked brothers who wish their sister were here to share in the work.  B has them working in the vegetable garden.  Here's J:

Here's T: 

And here's the master mind behind all that garden work, B:

Here's the absent Miss L.  I think this picture is cute.  

Thursday night, T & J had a sleepover at their cousins' house and that was L's first day at camp.  That evening, it was strange for B and me to come home to an empty house after our little drive to drop the boys off and to get an ice cream cone at DQ (a little parental celebrating).  As much as I often relish the peace and quiet of the house when no one is home, you have to have hubbub to appreciate the quiet.

Another photobook??

Here's a beautiful picture (thanks, L) of a beautiful bunch of irises in our garden. L has such a knack for taking pictures of small objects like flowers, bugs, and other things in nature. Today, I've been helping her create a shutterfly photobook of her pretty photographs. Fun. Fun. We both enjoy creating like that.

Individual Worth

May's Young Women value is "Individual Worth." This value is to teach (1) that we're children of Heavenly Father who knows us and loves us; (2) that we should love ouselves; and (3) that we should love others. "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" (D&C 18:10), which encompasses everyone. Sometimes that is difficult to remember--both regarding others and regarding ourselves.

05.20.09

I'm just checking in.  I noticed that I haven't posted anything on this blog for a week.  I think that might be a new record or something.  I've been sick the past few days and busy the few days before that.  Be advised. I am going to take a few weeks' vacation from Facebook--I'm Facebook-ed out.  

In addition to all this, I have to fight for computer time.  Once school is out, it will become even more problematic for me to get computer time--every moment will be hard-won this summer.  So while I'm not necessarily taking a blogging or emailing vacation, it could begin to seem that way.

So, I thought I should do a heads up for any of you who may think I've slipped off the edge of the universe, because I have.  

School ends this Friday but really it will end Thursday, aka tomorrow, since my kids don't want to go on Friday.  Despite the computer log-jam it will create, I'm actually looking forward to summer vacation.  Maybe I'll need to get a job.  Maybe I'll clean my house.  Maybe I'll do some fun projects.  Maybe I'll develop some good habits.  Maybe I'll just be toasty here in the desert.  Who knows.  Hope all of you have a nice summer.  I'll be in touch when I can. 

Some recent events

On Tuesday evening, T received an award for Geometry "Student of the Year."  He received a certificate and a "Mathematics" pin.  I recorded rather than took a still picture of the presentation and, evidently, I don't know how to upload a video to my blog.  I don't want to post it on YouTube first.

L had a percussion concert on Wednesday evening and, same thing, I filmed all three songs they played.  I don't know how to post those either.  I thought the percussion group did well, even if Lindsey is SO ready to be done with the percussion class.

Once again, I can't leave J out.  He is just counting down the days until school ends.  He was ready for school to end weeks ago.  We have six more days of school and he plans to skip the last day!  He is looking forward to scout camp this summer.

Wassup with the kids . . .

T had a band concert this past week.  He's in the white shirt playing the flute.  I thought the band did well.  I was glad all five of us could support T.

This is L after getting her braces put on about two weeks ago.  She's not sure she likes having the braces.  She was always a slow eater and now she is a slower eater.  

If I include photos of the other two kids, I have to include a photo of J--soccer has ended.  He's beyond ready for school to end.

Mother's Day

H--Humorous

A--Active

P--"Pretty good but mostly pretty"

P--"Participator"

Y--"Y" graduate

M--Musical

O--Outgoing

T--Talented

H--Honorable

E--Easy-going

R--Religious

'

S--Singer

D--Durable

A--Admirable

Y--Yea!

Surprise visit

I had a nice visit today with my first nephew ever, JSM!  (He's pictured with me, above, in a photo from circa 1987!)  What a surprise visit and how nice to see him.  He's had a good semester at USU and is home for a short visit.  Thanks for stopping by, J.  It is always great to see you.

G.I. Jill

I recently finished reading this book about former Miss Utah Jill Stevens.  Her stories gave an interesting window on her experience in the military and her experience in pagents.  Of course, the tone was different from Jane Pauley's book, but I liked this book.

Skywriting

I just finished this book today.  As I've said before, I do I like nonfiction.  I did like this book.  I think I particularly liked the parts where she talked about her parents and their family relationships.  She has an interesting writing style.

Segued

Another misspelled word--segwayed vs. segued.  Drats.  And another scene from our Easter drive.  Pretty.  

P.S. about Shutterfly

[Inset is a sample picture of a 5 x 7 photobook from Shutterfly.com.] OK, OK, after all my griping about Shutterfly and my hellish Christmas experience compiling a 12 x 12 book for B's parents, I have to confess that I logged back on Shutterfly this week and put together a [much simpler--with almost no text] 5 x 7 photobook for my mother for Mother's Day. I included pictures of her parents and early life. Then I segued into her marriage and tried to include most of the family pictures (my parents and siblings) I knew about, but not including the copyrighted photos of more recent vintage. I also ran out of space before I included any grandchildren (that's a book for another day, I guess).  I included extremely short captions this time and no text. It is my overall impression this go-round that the Shutterfly photobook process has really improved since December. On the other hand, (1) I knew more this time going in to this project so I avoided some of my previous mistakes. (2) A lot of the trouble I had before involved text and I had only small, brief captions this time. (3) This was a different photobook format that I used.That said, I think I'm hooked. I've been thinking that now I need to expand this online album of uploaded, scanned photos of Mom to include photos of Dad and then make a booklet about their lives and our family life. See, it just goes on and on. I'll need to post sample pictures of this new booklet when it comes. Check out the Shutterfly site to make a book of your own! http://www.shutterfly.com/

Beauty

This is one view from our Easter Saturday drive.  Who knew there was this beautiful view when one was a distance off and facing north toward Virgin?