Amazing Sister

This post is overdue but i have to give my sister the praise she deserves. Last Tuesday my youngest sister, Holly, performed as a soloist in Skyline High's Concerto Night. There were twelve soloists who performed with the orchestra. I may be a little biased but i honestly don't think I'm far off in saying that Holly was the best. She played Carmen Fantasy (an arrangement of Bizet's opera, Carmen) and she was AWESOME! She wore a vintage lace dress with a striking red sash and a red rose in her hair. She totally looked like a Spanish beauty. Her playing was amazing!! She had so much energy and flair. You could tell that she was just having a ton of fun up there and that made it fun for everyone to listen to. Morgan said it was "Wow! Really cool! She's playing really cool." She played amazingly fast and accurately. I think everyone was just in awe. At the end her equally cool brother went up on stage to give her a bouquet of flowers and when we saw her at the end of the concert she just kept laughing and saying it was a dream come true. I am so proud of her. She is truly amazing. (The picture at the top is not posed. Holly kept giving the audience little flirting looks throughout the performance. Also cool is the fact that she played on a violin that my dad carved for her. Check out her video on YouTube if you want to hear how great it was.)

One Day - Two Celebrations

Today is Pi Day. Pi is a number that relates a circle's circumference and area to its diameter. It’s not a holiday most people celebrate but at my high school (Skyline) it was big. There were t-shirts that could be purchased and pi projects presented and contests in math class. If you were in math class at 1:59 then the teachers brought you pie because pi is 3.14159, etc. I only know those six digits of pi but I like the holiday. I ran with a really nerdy group of friends in high school. Since graduation we have gotten together mostly around Christmas and on Pi day. It has good memories for me. And luckily I married another math nerd who also appreciates the celebration. So go eat some pie and measure some diameters and circumferences. Happy Pi Day!
The other celebration is my best friend’s birthday. Jill and I knew each other a little in junior high but really became friends our first year of high school. She was the best friend I always wanted. In high school we were always together. I think there was a permanent place set for me at her dinner table because I was at her house so much. We spent lots of late nights up talking about boys and the future and boys. We had hours and hours of study groups for AP history classes. We had tons of fun times. After high school we moved to BYU together. We lived together for 3 ½ years and had some great times there. She made sure I studied when I needed to and I tried to help her relax when she got uptight. So for all the late night talks and for keeping me on track and for forgiving me when I messed up and for all the ice cream parties and the laughter and just fun friendship and support, thank you Jill! Happy Birthday!

Faith and Frustrations

Emma has so much faith. When she says prayers and we ask her to pray for specific blessings – like for Morgan to get better from his sickness – she often skips the asking part and just goes right to thanking Heavenly Father – "We’re thankful that Morgan can get better" What a great example! It is very sweet.

Another funny thing she has been doing. She really likes to dress herself, often changing her outfit two or three times a day. The last two days whenever she has a hard time getting the clothes on she says, "These pants are being mean to me!" or "this shirt" or whatever she feels has a desire to make her frustrated.


Yesterday we went to Walmart. The security had been tripped and a voice kept saying over and over, "Please return to the nearest associate . . ." I didn’t think much of it. Emma’s eyes were wide and she kept scooting away to look around at things. When we got in the cart and were moving away she asked me "Mom, was that a monster? A monster was talking!" She honestly thought there was a monster hiding somewhere talking to us. It was cute and funny.

To two cute boys

Last night it was the kids bed time. They were jumping from the little table to the couch with their capes on (aprons on backward). I told them they could each jump two more times and then it was jammie time. Morgan jumped twice and i pointed him to his room. As he passed by me he reached out and just whacked me in the legs. I grabbed his arm and brought him back to talk to me. I said "Morgan, we don't hit. What do you need to say to me?" His answer was "RrrRrr! I wish i was a GIANT!" It was hilarious. It totally made me laugh. It may not have been wise to laugh but i couldn't help it.

Does this sound familiar to anyone in my family? When i was about 10-years-old i was working on something at the kitchen counter. My younger brother Greg (who would have been about the same age as Morgan is now) was trying to push a chair up to the counter to get in on the action. He kept pushing it right into me. My mom asked him "Greg, what do you need to say to Leslie?" He answered, "Rrr! I wish you were a GHOST!" The similarity of response is uncanny. I guess that is the affect i have on little boys.

A pink baby kitty who is sick

We had a sick weekend, and no i don't mean like the slang for cool, good, awesome - i mean laying around throwing up. Emma got sick on Friday night and that started all the fun. She threw up a few times before learning to run to the toilet before letting it all out. On Saturday evening Morgan started. Nate was out running some errands. The kids laid on the bathroom floor and took turns at the big porcelain steering wheel. In the hour and a half Nate was gone we had six throw-up episodes. Morgan was mostly better by the next morning but Emma just couldn't shake it. Both kids were very nice. Emma kept using her happiest voice to tell us "I'm getting all better!" and saying she wanted "Jesus to pray for her." She also told us she was a "pink baby kitty" (hence the title). Morgan was really nice to entertain himself while we snuggled with Emma. He was very helpful and sweet. They were too sick to really watch a movie so i turned on a Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites tape. We all laid on the floor in the hall (close to the bathroom) and listened to the story. So the clean up was not fun, we spent a lot of quarters on laundry and felt very sad for our two sick kids, but all in all it was a sweet weekend of just being together and helping and praying for each other.

I've been promoted

Often when my kids are playing pretend i am told that i am the bad guy. "You're mean Medusa." "You're Maleficent." etc. But yesterday i received a promotion. The kids came in and Emma announced "Mom, you're the pink princess." Yeah! We had a wonderful time meeting each other and using our sweetest voices and talking about everything pink. Maybe my new years resolution to use my "nice voice" is finally paying off. Or maybe it was just a short phase. Whatever the reason I was very happy to be the pink princess for one afternoon.