Santa at the Mall

Julia saw Santa yesterday at the mall. No, we did not go sit on his lap. The kid is scared of her own Grandpa half the time, you think Santa is going to be any better? Instead, we happened to be at the mall anyway, and we walked past, stopped, and looked at him for a couple of seconds. Perfect set-up, if you ask me.

Take it Bird by Bird

Here I sit, eating rainbow sherbet. NOT PUKING. WOO! I seem to do all of that in the mornings.

Anyway.

This pregnancy is much better than the last one thus far. Yes, I am still more ill than most pregnant women, but a) I was prepared for that, b) we got medical intervention (i.e. prescription anti-nausea medication) much earlier, and c) we've been getting lots of help. I've only had 1 IV thus far, and rather than going to the ER, I got to go to the IV infusion therapy clinic, which is cheaper, faster, and generally better. And now I'm all set up with home health, should I need more IVs. We're praying that the phenergan holds up (last time it just quit working after a week or so), and I can continue to feel sick in the mornings, but generally well in the afternoons and evenings. And, I went to the doctor this week. Heard the heartbeat. That always makes things a little better, to be reminded what you're doing this for.

Of course, when I'm actually sick, I'm not nearly this optimistic. I basically want to put myself in a medically induced coma for the next 6 weeks. Which leads me to the title of this post. Back in the days of high school, I heard a talk somewhere (seminary? church? fireside?), that went something like this: Mom has school-age child come to her one evening to tell her that he has a huge report on 25 different types of birds due the next day. He hasn't even started! Panic sets in! What are we going to do?! And the Mom tells the kid, "Son, you've just got to take it bird by bird."

This, of all things, has stuck with me. So whenever I'm having a particularly rotten time, Clark reminds me that I've got to take it bird by bird. One day at a time, we'll make it. Don't worry about all the days and weeks left, just think about today.

44 birds left (give or take). Some days I really hate poultry.

And a Merry Christmas to You!

Dearest friends:

Merry Christmas! Normally I'd be telling you this at your door with a nice plate of cookies, a smile, and maybe even a card. But, alas, I don't think there will be any plates of cookies this year. Instead we will be doing our best to have dinner every night and keep ahead of the laundry. Please know that we still love you, and are thinking of you, we just can't do much more than survive in our current pregnant state.

Love,

The B's

Now see here!

No, really. See here. Just in case you don't regularly read Clark's blog.

Weekly Quote 11/30/09

"God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied.
Come to God's own temple, come;
Raise the song of harvest home."

Come Ye Thankful People, Come. New quote up!

A Little List of Our Recent Happenings

A brief look at what we've been up to:

• Julia has been singing up a storm. She loves to sing her version of Happy Birthday ("Happy to you," over and over again). At least we think that's what it is. Which is strange because we never sing that song. Also, she's started singing Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam. Except Jesus wants Julia for a sun-BIT!
• We put up our 3 fall decorations. . . on Tuesday. Oh well, we'll get one good week out of them.
• I've been busily crafting some Christmas gifts, and they look GREAT! I'd post pictures, but we wouldn't want to ruin any surprises, now would we? I'll post about them after Christmas.
• Having never been to Tuacahn before, we decided it was high time to get ourselves on over there. So we went twice in one week. Once to see the 5 Browns, and then the next week we saw Peter Breinholt with Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband. Both excellent shows. Though, I must say, the 5 Browns, while excellent musicians, could really work on their showmanship. Lots of ridiculous head jerking, and awkward announcing of pieces. I think they are in kind of a hard place - between a classical music performance (where you are given a program, and then you play, and then people clap) and a rock concert (where you talk between pieces, and there is an energy in the audience). Probably didn't help that they were filming the concert to be broadcast on KBYU in March, and thus our applause was scripted (meaning a guy with a sign told us when to clap and when to shut up). And lest you think it was unenjoyable, they really are fabulous musicians. Peter B was delightful, as usual, and Ryan Shupe (along with his band) was highly entertaining.
  
• My Lieto concert went well, and my solo was great, or at least I think so. I was really glad that I tried out. And I wasn't all that nervous - I was WAY more nervous to audition. I think there is something about knowing people have confidence in you that makes the nerves calm down. In any event, it was a good time.
• I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that Thanksgiving is less than a week away. Where did November go?
  

Weekly Quote 11/16/09

"Oh wow, a bow!"

This was a very loud comment made by Julia in the middle of Stake Conference. Delightful. New quote up!

Scary

Apparently we can add another thing to Julia's list of things that are "scary": earwax. She pulled out a baby Q-tip, stuck it in her ear, and then freaked out when she saw the wax. Tears ensued. I don't get it.

Weekly Quote 11/9/09

"You're dealing with children. They need to be terrified. It's like mother's milk to them."

Glee brings me much glee. Especially everything Sue Sylvester says. New quote up!

Leafy! Fall! Concert!

It's time to announce the upcoming fall concert for Lieto! I have this nifty flyer that they emailed to us, and it's lovely, but I simply don't know how to put it on my blog. So I'll just have to do my best to describe it to you:

{Pretty fall leaves!}
{Orange! and yellow! and red!}
Lieto Voices
Presents
A Fall Choral Concert
November 14th
7:30 pm
Eccles Fine Arts Building
@ Dixie State College

Featuring the Faure Requim and other sacred choral works.

Ticket Prices:
$10 Adults
$5 Children (18 and under) & Students

Tickets can be purchased through the box office at the Dixie State College.

{Pretty fall leaves! In the background!}

So you should come. Uh, also, someone talked me in to trying out for a solo last night, and then I actually got it. I was somewhat shocked. Don't get me wrong, I'm terribly excited about it, I just didn't think I'd get it. It's the Pie Jesu from Faure's Requiem. Beautiful stuff.

I get pretty nervous. So if anyone wants to let me practice singing in front of them between now and next Saturday, I'd greatly appreciate the chance to get some of my nerves out. But even more reason you should come! To hear the solo! And help me feel less nervous because I've got friends out in the audience!

Halloween

Hey, so, it was Halloween last Saturday. Woo! We decided that Julia should be a fairy, because she has this wand that she loves, and she goes around the house saying, "Poof!" Such a great idea, right? Well, she lost the wand while we were trick or treating at the mall. Oh well, she got most of the partying in before she lost it!

We'd been to story time twice during the previous week (because we LOVE story time at our house), and we had a Halloween carnival with some friends Saturday afternoon (which was quite fun, thanks Cheryl!). But did I take pictures of those things? No. I didn't even bring a camera to the carnival.

Here are some pictures of the later festivities:


We carved the pumpkin on Saturday, and barely finished before we went out trick or treating. We hit up the mall (where they ran out of hot dogs with only 8 people in front of us in line), and then went around the neighborhood. Julia had a fabulous time with all the other kids, running up to the door and knocking.

(Do not ask me why my daughter has crazy hair. I'll just lie and tell you that a strong breeze must have come right when the picture was being taken. We seem to have lots of strong breezes in our living room. That's the only explanation I can think of.) Clark and I decided to go as Sneetches. We kept trading the green star back and forth all evening. I thought it was highly clever (and low budget).

Weekly Quote 11/2/09

"And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller."

Popular Halloween music is found to be lacking, but Michael Jackson is always good to dance to. New quote up!

Family Vacation!

Note: This is a pretty long post. No one will be offended if you don't read it. Except maybe Julia. But she is easily offended these days, so don't think anything of it.

Hey, remember when we went on vacation a few weeks ago? No? Well, we did. And it was great! We decided that we needed a family vacation, just our family, and since we aren't hindered by kids in school, we thought it would be nice to go in the forgotten month of October. Also, October is a lot cooler than August. A bit cool in the mornings, but better cool in the mornings than scorching in the afternoons. I felt like the weather was perfect the whole trip.

We headed out on a Wednesday night for Moab. Julia loved the hotel. Well, really she loved 2 things about the hotel: the old style phone (we had to unplug it so she'd stop calling people), and the big mirror. Who doesn't love big mirrors?

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Then we got to spend Thursday and Friday at Arches National Park. Clark and I went there on our honeymoon, so it was fun to revisit all those beautiful arches. And we finally made it to Double O Arch! Last time we were prevented from finishing the hike due to a fiasco, which we don't like to talk about, let's leave it at that. But we knew that we had to make it a point to get that hike in immediately, since we've been waiting for 5 years to see it. So Thursday morning, off we went.

Clark and Julia at one of the O's:

A family photo at Double O (don't you think it looks like a thought bubble?):

And we decided hey, we made it all the way to Double O, let's head the last half mile to Dark Angel. Which is cool, but not as cool as the arches.

After all that we were about spent for the day (and starving), so we headed back to town, had some food, and cruised around downtown Moab.

Then on Friday we did Delicate Arch and some of the other small hikes (Balanced Rock, Windows).

Can you see our teeny tiny family?

Julia loved the "Tweet tweets!" This raven was RIGHT next to us.

And a recreation of our favorite honeymoon picture:

Clark at a Window (Julia sleeping, which she did for a lot of the hiking time):

Shannon at another Window:

At Balanced Rock, we decided that Julia needed to stretch her legs and get some real hiking in. (If you can call a paved trail real hiking, which I think you can do when you are 18 months old).

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Mostly, she liked to sit on the side. It's like a bench made just for her!

Friday night we met up with Suzanne, who also happened to be in Moab for a zoo class, and had a lovely dinner at the Moab Brewery. Good food, even better company.

After dinner we got out of town and headed to Cortez, CO. Google said it would take about 3 hours. It took more like 2 (maybe even less than 2).

Saturday was spent at Mesa Verde National Park. I had never been there before, and it was amazing. To think of people building these homes in the rock thousands of years ago is incredible.

Clark was pretty brave to carry Julia in the backpack while going up ladders and through tunnels. Ok, lies, we let her walk through the tunnels (since they are still taller than she is), but nevertheless, Clark was a champ.

Julia was less than interested in what the tour guides had to say, but we managed to get through 2 guided tours and 1 self-guided house before we hit major meltdown mode. Apparently 3 days in a backpack, plus all the driving in the car, naps on the run, and no crib in our second hotel make for a cranky cranky kid. There were a couple of time outs and lots of tears. So when we got back to the hotel, Clark and Julia crashed.

And the next day we headed home via Four Corners and Page, AZ. Since Julia and I had never been to New Mexico, and none of us had ever seen Lake Powell. Once again, Google said it would take about 9 hours. It took us 7. A pleasant surprise, to be sure, but wow. 2 hours off? That's a bit excessive, don't you think? Anyway, we all got our picture taken at Four Corners:

Apparently Julia has the same problem I do: an extra-long torso. All these tummy shots make me realize we're going to need to get some bigger (longer) jackets and tops.

And now we can say we've seen Lake Powell. From the car. But it still counts for something. And the McDonald's in Page is really quite nice. In case you were wondering.

We were exhausted when we got home, but it was good to get out of town for a few days and spend time together as a family. (I love how I say that like we don't spend time together every single day. You know what I mean.) Hooray for vacation!

Julia Goolia

Here are a couple of random little things about Julia that I've noticed lately:

Every time either Clark or I starts playing the piano, Julia dashes off to the study so she can play the keyboard. And by play I mean hit the button for the demo song, and then dance to the music. And when the first song stops (before song #2 can start), she resets it to go back and play song #1. Apparently she's got specific musical opinions already. I'm not sure if she hates the music we play on the piano, or she wants to be more involved, but that is what she does every single time. Without fail.

Also, the kid has touch issues. We went to the pumpkin patch on Monday, and started off at the petting zoo. Julia LOVES the animals, but she is very hesitant to touch them. Her friend Craig was in the pen with the goats while she was hesitantly putting her finger through the fence. And once she touched them, that was enough, she didn't need to sit and pet them. Just for looks, thank you very much.

I've been trying to have more structured activities for Julia during the day (especially since I've got a break from watching Isaac for a while, so she gets bored). I decided to make some play dough, just to see how it turned out. It was actually kind of a different consistency, but I thought it would definitely be fun to play with. Then I showed Julia, and had her touch it. I believe her exact words were, "No. No. No. Scary." So much for that.

Other things in the scary department: the vacuum ("Mama scary"), the lawnmower ("Dada scary"), (aren't you pleased that she has learned these gender roles already?) and the garbage truck. But buses are OK. In fact, buses are wonderful. She hears them in the distance and gets very excited about the, "BUS! BUS!" Even though sometimes it's not really the bus, it's the garbage truck. Secretly, I laugh inside every time she does that. Is that mean?

Weekly Quote 10/26/09

"So take me down to Birken Street
And maybe that's where we can meet
And maybe, but I don't know."

Peter B. in all his glory. New quote up!

Singing

Julia has started singing along with us lately. She will sing the first line of Baa Baa Black Sheep by herself, as well as the row row row part of Row Row Row Your Boat. And she'll fill in the words at the end of each line in Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Also, she sings the echo on the Hello Song:

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Counting

While on vacation (which is another post entirely, a post which will hopefully exist soon), Julia surprised us by demonstrating that she can count to 10. So we spent a lot of time in Mesa Verde counting stairs and steps and rocks and birds. Lots of fun. I've been trying to catch it on video for a while now, but she would rather say, "Cheese!" and then run around to see the pictures on the camera. Finally I was inconspicuous enough to get it. To be fair, she rarely says 1 (you have to start it for her), and 2 and 4 sound the same (and sometimes 10, though she is getting better). But we were highly impressed and how she picked this up all on her own.

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Sweet Sweet Squash

I mentioned before that my beautiful Butternut Squash was destined to become a lovely soup. Soup day was Tuesday. I peeled, chopped, and roasted that squash along with some apples, then sauted it with some butter, onion, garlic, added chicken broth, and then some cream for the final touch. Ohhhhhh, it was heaven. I've still got leftovers in my fridge, and I look forward to having soup for lunch (again).

And it turns out that 2 squashes (or is it 2 squash?) makes waaaaaay more than needed for the soup alone. So I made some Cinnamon Butternut Squash Muffins, recipe courtesy of $5 dinners. And, in fact, I had enough to make a double batch, so I've got a whole bunch of delightful muffins sitting in my freezer, waiting for those days when I don't have much time for breakfast.

And, because pumpkins are a squash afterall, and who doesn't love roasted pumpkin seeds, I decided that it would be fun to roast the butternut seeds. They are, in fact, delicious. And don't they look pretty sitting on my leaf plate? I knew I wouldn't regret buying that thing (even though this is only the 2nd time I've ever used it).
I feel so domestic.

And fall continues to be glorious.

Weekly Quote 10/19/09 (3-day-late edition)

"I can't wait to start singing and dancing and maybe even putting on the Ritz a little bit."

Well, it's Thursday. Kind of late for the weekly quote post. I was just going to forget it for this week, but then Clark asked me about it, and then I found out we have a Birken Street here in town (totally brightened my day), and well, I thought it was better late than never.

Last week's quote was from Glee. Sue Sylvester. Almost all of her lines are like gold. Sweet manna from the comedy gods. (Is that sacrilegious to say?)

New quote up.

Fall Things

Fall has finally arrived, and as such, I decided it was time to get some decorative squash to put on our counter. Which we will then eat. And love. Especially you, Butternut Squash. You are destined to be an amazing soup. Luckily, I just purchase this darling trifle bowl from my friend Holly, so I thought why not? Let's give the squash a bowl. I like how it turned out:

And then (and then!), I won something from We Chirp. Who I love, because a) they have fun giveaways, and b) they are as obsessed with Glee as I am. Guys. Glee. It pretty much rocks. And it's on tonight. If you haven't watched, I urge you to do so. Awesome music will be in your head all week long. Anyway, back to my winnings:

Good grief, how darling is that?! It's now sitting on my couch, in all it's lovely glory. Thanks to Heidi Devlin Design!

As an aside, I also won something from Give Away Today, and it arrived yesterday, and I'm terribly excited about it, but it's going to be a Christmas present for someone, so I can't post a picture of it yet. Soon. Christmas is only 71 days away! ( I don't know if that thought makes me happy or highly stressed out.)

Halloween Preview

Oh, I can't wait!

Weekly Quote 10/12/09

"I shall have. . . . a Birthday Cake!"

That was from last week's episode of Community. Good grief, that was a hilarious moment. New quote up!

I need a favor. . .

Have you heard of Nie? The lovely blogger who was in a place crash last year, but she's alive and kicking, and I find her blog to be inspiring. So. I like Nie. And apparently Nie is going to be on Oprah. Oprah! I am so excited to see it! It airs tomorrow! Oh wait, I have one problem. . . . WE ARE GOING OUT OF TOWN TOMORROW. At the exact time that Oprah airs (4pm). Nooooo!!! So, I have a request: Any of you folks out there want to record it for me so I can watch it when I get back? Anyone? Please? I'll bring you cookies!

And let me thank you in advance. Or should I say, let Julia thank you in advance. She's become awfully polite lately, saying thank you all the time. Here's an example:

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Oh those boys are much too much. . . .

A little video to brighten your Monday.

Le Weekend

Ah, conference weekend. I do love General Conference. Unfortunately, Julia doesn't seem to love it as much as I do, so I was quite distracted during the 3 sessions we did watch. Though I did just listen to Elder Holland's talk again, and wow. Wow. Powerful. If you missed it, go, listen. You will not regret it.

Saturday morning brought the marathon to St George. Which means that Friday night brought a fair number of house guests to the Blockburger residence. We had my cousins come stay (they ran in a cross country meet in Cedar Friday, and then set up a watering station at the marathon), and the Adams family pitched a tent in our backyard so Emilie could run the marathon (in under 5 hours!! Go Emilie!). So we figured, having never been before, it was high time we headed to town to watch those marathoners cross the finish line. I had no idea so many people turn out for this thing. It was a party! People everywhere! Bands playing along the course! People cheering! Camp chairs lined up along Main Street! Dogs, strollers, balloons, lots and lots of people! It was a blast. So glad we went, even if we did miss the first session of conference.

Also, I apparently decided that conference is the time to bake, because I made a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting on Saturday, and on Sunday I made bagels. I was going through some of my old recipes and found one for bagels, so I thought, Why not? And they aren't too bad. Not the best bagels of my life, but not bad. They are just plain, so maybe next time I'll try to spice it up with some cinnamon and raisins, or poppyseeds or something.

And in case you were wondering, yes, fall has arrived here in St George, and I love it. Cool nights, mmmmm. Though Julia doesn't seem to love it as much, because she gets cold. And then wakes up. In the middle of the night. Multiple times. Which doesn't really mix well with my insomnia. And couple that with Clark's new early shift at work, and I basically woke up for the day at 2:45. Fabulous. Tonight we're closing the windows. Wish us luck!

Weekly Quote 10/4/09

"I've never been so lost,
I've never felt so much at home."

This was from the song I Woke Up in a Car by Something Corporate. New quote up!

Ten

10 years ago today (and by "today" I mean "the day before General Conference"), I met my dearest Clarky. It took us a very long time to figure out the day we actually met, but it was indeed the day before conference. Clark and his roommate Dave were at our apartment when I came home, either playing Nintendo or talking about it, I'm not sure which. Clark had already met most of my other roommates the weekend before, when I was out of town. And then someone (Andrew M.) came to tell us that there was a car stuck in the moat, so of course we had to go look while they attempted to tow it out. Many sarcastic remarks were made about the poor driver of that car. Then we went for a walk around campus, and Clark and Dave eventually invited me (along with the rest of my apartment) to come to their apartment for breakfast before/during conference.

I wouldn't say it was love at first sight. But we certainly were fast friends.

What a good day.

Time Out for Women

Alright, this post is for all you Southern Utah women out there. Time Out for Women is coming to St George. I've never been to one of these before, but I hear they are amazing, and quite rejuvenating. Basically it's a Friday evening and Saturday morning and afternoon full of inspiring speakers all designed to give us as women sweet assurance. That's the theme for this year, "Sweet Assurance: the certainty that comes when you know life's truths." Chieko Okazaki will be there, which, if you ask me, is worth it by itself. So come!

November 6-7, 2009
@ The Dixie Center

The cost is $57 for the full weekend if you register by October 7th ($50 for Saturday only). After the 7th it goes up to $65. And, get this, if you register as a group of 5 or more, it's only $47 per person. But you have to register by October 7th for that deal. I know that's like a week away, so time to get on that!

I'm volunteering for this event, which means that if you have any questions, you can ask me and I can. . . ask someone else, since I know very little. But it also means that I'm supposed to be spreading the word, so if you can all spread the word too, that'd help me out. In fact, I have a whole bunch of pamphlets at my house that I'm supposed to hand out, but I'm not exactly sure where'd I'd do that, since I have no life outside of my home. So if you want a pamphlet, I'd be happy to give you one, or two, or twenty. And if you have any suggestions on where I should be passing these things out, send them my way.

Weekly Quote 9/28/09

"La, la, la, la, lamp post,
La, la, la, la, lumps in my oatmeal."

Bert and Ernie sing about the letter L. New quote up!

Highlights

I haven't felt like blogging for quite some time. Nothing exciting is going on, and my Julia-free-time is all soaked up by things like "eating" and "showering" and "cleaning the bathroom." Here, in a bulleted list, is a smattering of what we've been up to:

• Pining for Autumn. It turns out autumn is on its way, as it is only supposed to get to 90 today. Last night we opened our windows, and this morning it was cold. Cold, I tell you! I'm so ready.
• Killing bugs. Lots of them. Spiders, roaches. Yucky stuff. I think we need to spray.
• Visiting National Parks. Well, really, just Bryce a few weeks ago and Zion last Saturday. But we're planning a trip to Arches and Mesa Verde in a couple of weeks. We're quite fortunate to live so close to an abundance of national parks.
• Making good use of the local library. Julia loves to go and look at the books (and play with the toys). Occasionally we'll hit the Toddler Time at the St George library (the Washington library story time starts at 10:30, and Isaac comes over at about 10:45 every day, so that doesn't really work). Also we've been checking out a lot of movies. Currently we're watching the first season of House.
• Watching NewsRadio. On Hulu. Good stuff.
  
• Listening to lots of Girlyman. We're obsessed, I tell you. OBSESSED!
• Singing! Both Lieto and the Keynotes have started back up, and I am ever so happy about it. Lieto has a fall concert full of religious music (November 14, mark your calendars), but the Keynotes are preparing for the Christmas concert. CHRISTMAS! I am always in such a delightful mood on Wednesday afternoons, because I have been fed by the dulcet tones of that blessed season.
  
• Running the ward. OK, that is an exaggeration. Really, Clark was just marvelously busy for one Sunday, as he taught Elders Quorum, and then taught Sunday School for all the youth (ages 12-17), and then played the organ for Sacrament Meeting. A busy day, to be sure, but only one day. And for that day I had the joy of trying to tame Julia for 3 hours. She starts going to nursery in less than a month. Of course, there is General Conference, and we're going to be out of town the other two weekends, so next time we go to our ward? She'll be going to the nursery. We're all terribly excited.
• Speaking of Julia, she's learning all sorts of new things. She's talking more and more, and surprising us with the words she knows, like "stroller." She just said it one day, I didn't teach it to her. And "bow." She started saying it one day and I could not figure out what she wanted. "Bow! Bow!" she said, while patting her head. Clark had to tell me that she wanted a bow. In my defense it makes absolutely no sense that she would know about bows, because she rarely wears them. And it wasn't a Sunday. Apparently she likes to get all dressed up to play with her friend Craig.
  
• Not napping, let me tell you. We just hit the 1 hour mark, and I hear Julia stirring. All you parents of toddlers who take 2 or 3 hour naps? My envy overfloweth. I have no idea how to get her to sleep longer. And I have the added problem that if I leave her in her crib, she'll cry and wake up Isaac. And as much as I want both of them to only take a 1 hour nap, I don't think my nerves could take it.

Anyway, now I've got to go. If you have any suggestions on how to get a longer nap out of this kid, please, share.

Weekly Quote 9/21/09

"It's so early. . . you guys want to go get some coffee or something?"

Val Kilmer. The Saint. New quote up.

Help?

Does anyone in the St George area have canning stuff I can borrow? I guess by "canning stuff" I really mean the big tub to can it in. Or a pressure cooker. But I don't know how to use that (not that I've ever actually canned anything anyway). Basically I've got jars, I'll get lids, and peaches are on sale at Harmons, so I would welcome anyone who has knowledge, skills, or supplies they can share.

Weekly Quote 9/14/09

"And what about all the September moons?"

I am so very glad it is September and not July. The weather forecast has only double digits for the next 10 days! I'm also very glad to have Peter B. music in my life. Apparently glad enough to keep the quote up for 2 weeks. New quote up!

Clark's not the only one growing crystals

Do you know what happens to the Cranium sculpting clay when you don't play it for 5 years?

It crystallizes.

Salt crystals galore. Apparently we need friends to come play games with us more often.

Bonked

My baby bonked her head today. Hard. And then cried. Hard. And now we all feel awful that it happened.

Bryce Canyon

To celebrate the rest from our Labors, we decided to go to Bryce Canyon and make a day of it. Clark already hit on the basics (including Julia's eruption). But here is where you'll get the good stuff - the pictures!

I am forever in awe of the beauty of Bryce Canyon. It takes my breath away every time I see it. And I feel that hiking there is a unique experience in that you get to go down into the amphitheater and be surrounded by hoodoos. And where else do you hike down first and up last? OK, I guess that's how you hike the Grand Canyon. But still. Not your run-of-the-mill hiking excursion.

Pulling a hat switch. (What I wanted to say was "hat trick," but switching hats isn't really a trick.)
One awesome family photo. Be looking for it on your Christmas cards.

Sleepy baby.
At this point in the hike, Clark was D-O-N-E. It was quite the role reversal. Apparently we've found the threshold for equal fatigue in Clark and Shannon on a hike, and that is adding Julia's current weight to Clark's load.

As an aside, we got a new hiking backpack! Or really, we came into ownership of an old hiking backpack! How old you ask? Oh, somewhere around 25 years. My parents gave us theirs. Apparently Whitney hated it, so it's not as well used as you would think. And all things considered, I think it's a good one. You would have to ask Clark if you wanted a more thorough opinion on the matter.

More Maps

We've been spending some more time with the maps, and Julia the Sponge is learning a lot. Here's a sampling:

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She knows Russia, too, I just forgot to ask. And sometimes Mexico. She's learning more states as well. I don't know how she'll ever be able to find Rhode Island or Luxembourg (Germany is hard enough). Good thing we live in the West (along with most of our family and friends)!

Little Helper

I got home from the grocery store the other day, and while I was bringing in all the bags from the car, Julia decided to help put things away. Behold, my little helper:

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Weekly Quote 8/31/09

"You have not kept me apprised
Of the tales of your life
And I wonder where you have gone."

This was from a song by Girlyman called I Wonder Where You Have Gone. Thanks to an itunes gift card for my birthday, I finally purchased their Little Star album, and now I'm somewhat obsessed. To put it mildly. I basically listen to them every chance I get, and I love it.

New quote up!

Clarky Hilarity

Last night, I'm quietly reading my book when Clark comes over to me, singing, "Jingle, jingle jingle; you will hear my sleigh bells ring." And then he busts out with this:

"I might be Santa Claus. I'm not sure."

And then I died laughing.

End scene.

Weekly Quote 8/24/09

"Marry, sir, she's the kitchen wench and all grease;
and I know not what use to put her to but to make a
lamp of her and run from her by her own light. I
warrant, her rags and the tallow in them will burn a
Poland winter; if she lives till doomsday,
she'll burn a week longer than the whole world."

This was from The Comedy of Errors. Sorry for the lengthy delay, but there is now a new quote up!

Four-eyes

I just found Julia playing with my racquetball glasses (goggles?).

Future athlete?

Future scientist? (You really want to follow this link. Trust me.)

Or future wack-o?

Oh yeah, I'm old.

It turns out I had a birthday. It was lovely, thanks for asking! My parents came down to visit, along with my brother and sister-in-law. We went to brunch at 25 Main (which was delicious food with horrific service, but oh well, I think the food made up for it), and then had some delicious Red Velvet cake made by Clark (with Cream Cheese Frosting made by my mom).

I even got binary candles.

Oh, so yummy!

And then we went to Cedar City to see The Comedy of Errors at the Shakespearean Festival. It was excellent, though I expected no less. Actually, The Comedy of Errors was our Valentine's Day present to each other, but since you can't go in February, it was a little late. It was fun to go with my family, and to have them with me on my birthday.

Clark also decided to give me 6 days of birthday surprises, since we've been married for 6 of my birthdays. First, he gave me some flowers:

Then he played short order cook on Sunday and made me breakfast in bed. (Also, I didn't take any more pictures.) I ordered pancakes. He used an old family recipe. (Bisquick is probably someone's family, right?)

Then he bought me a pie from Croshaw's Gourmet Pies. German Chocolate. DELIGHTFUL.

And that's as far as we've gotten with the surprises. There have been a few mishaps that are most definitely not Clark's fault. The way I see it, this stretches my birthday out for weeks. Weeks! Who doesn't want that?

And now I'm only 2 years away from 30. What a pleasant thought.