Final installment of my birthday weekend

Last but not least, I spent a couple of nights at Queen Scarlett's beautiful home with her family. Her adorable daughters won their way into my heart (they were there already, but now it's totally cemented) with their welcoming and loving attitudes toward me and Theo. I felt like their aunt and just loved being around them. One time I was playing the piano for her 4 year old and she was supposed to be getting ready for bed instead of twirling to my music. When they asked her to stop dancing she said: "I can't...the music is TOO beautiful!"

QS gave me the royal food treatment with her delicious goat cheese and tomato baked pastries. Sorry, I don't remember the official name. Mmmmm....It was such a treat not to have to worry about food, dishes (I didn't help at all since I was holding my baby most of the time), cleaning up toys, and all the other chores that come with the 3 year old and 6 year old territory back at home.

It was such a nice vacation. I loved every bit of the trip, the conference, the food, the relaxation etc. but above all I enjoyed just being able to talk and talk and talk with my good friends. Everyone needs a "time out" once in awhile. And it had been a long while since I had one!

Thank you to every one who made it possible, including my dear Aunt Astrid and Arnold and Mandi. Thank you to my grandma for watching the kids for one day. And a huge thank you to my husband who without complaint watched Rebecca and Joseph all weekend, fed them (=Chuck E Cheese, IHOP, Costco hotdogs), entertained them (a train ride, Splash water park, fun shopping adventures) and loved them. After hearing everything they did I thought they wouldn't have missed me at all. But when I asked Joseph what his favorite part about the weekend was he said: "Picking you up at the airport!"

Ahhhh, it's good to be loved.



My adorable "nieces"



Making beautiful music together



Scarlett's amazing culinary delights



We met at the BYU foreign language housing in 1996! Can't believe it's been that long.



Keep smiling until we meet again!

Time Out For Women

The next installment of my birthday trip to Sacramento included meeting up with my friend "Queen Scarlett" and going to Time Out For Women, a weekend women's conference hosted by Deseret Book. The theme for the year was Infinite Hope, so it was just an uplifting weekend with inspiring words and music. I felt a little emotional that weekend (not in a bad way) and the several of the musical numbers made me cry. Music just touches your soul. I wasn't able to take notes because I was holding Theo, but the whole experience left me uplifted and wanting to try harder to be a kinder wife and mother. There weren't any guilt inducing speakers, just uplifting thoughts that made you want to be better. It definitely made me want to go again in the future.



With Michelle at TOFW



Having a blast at TOFW



Inspiring music by Jenny Oaks Baker, violinist and mother



Sweet and gentle Ardeth Kapp



Scarlett and I at Ambrosia cafe.

Ohhhh, the deliciousness of it all..... We ate our dessert first because our paninis weren't ready, but it didn't matter....it was all so wonderful the order was irrelevant.



Peach pancetta panini



Mercy River Trio

Birthday trip to Sacramento

For my birthday I flew up to Sacramento to spend the weekend with two of my dear friends. It was Theo's first flight and he did great. Everywhere I went people commented on what a happy baby he was.



Ready for take-off!

First I visited Michelle, who treated me to a wonderful French cafe lunch and a frozen yogurt place where you can put any toppings on you want and they weigh it and charge you by weight. We went on a long walk through a forest area by a lake and had a wonderful time catching up and visiting. Theo and I spent the night at Michelle's home. It was great to see where she is located now and visit with her sweet girls.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

I love September. It's my birthday month. In my heart I celebrate all month long. Not with presents from others, not with singing or cake every day. But with a joyful feeling. Joy to be alive. Joy that I was raised by the most wonderful parents for me. I rejoice with every passing year that I'm still on the path I've always foreseen for myself. I'm grateful to be fulfilling my mission on earth. I don't worry about growing older, although I'm sure I won't enjoy some of the side effects. But I know this life is just a journey to get to a more glorious destination. I love life. I love my family, this beautiful earth and the wonderful experiences I have been privileged to have. Life is good.

Happy Birthday to Me!

A face only a 6 year old could love?

R: "Mom, is it alright to tell your parents when you have a crush on someone?"

Me: "You SHOULD tell your parents when you have a crush on someone."

R: "I have a crush on someone. His name is [xyz]."

Me: "Hmmm, what does he look like?"

R: "Well, he is missing one tooth and the other one is already coming in."

Only in second grade...

1st day of 2nd Grade

Oh where, oh where has my little girl gone????
It was just yesterday we were here.

The End (of summer, that is)

I got a little blue this week as I realized summer vacation was coming to an end... So, spur of the moment we went to our little local zoo. You can walk the whole thing in an hour, but it felt good to do one last "hurrah."

At least I'm in good company. Sheri Dew writes the following about Marjorie Hinckley:

"[She] loved the sound of the screen door slamming shut as children ran in from the backyard...Marjorie savored the days she had her five to herself, and she went to great lengths to keep summers unstructured so her young ones would have time to lie in the gully and listen to the birds sing if they wanted to. She wept each fall when it was time to send her brood back to school; even when school was in session she looked forward to the moment each day when her children burst through the door and started scrounging for an afternoon snack. One day when Dick had to stay after school for some grade-school discipline, Marjorie marched over to his classroom and announced to his startled teacher, "You can do anything you want with this boy all day long, but after3 pm he's mine."

(quoted from "Glimpses")

Ahhh, I'm going to miss my little girl. But it's time to go back to school.

My joys

This big little guy makes me smile! 17 pounds at four months! I don't think I could possibly enjoy a baby more. What a joy. I love how he puts his soft little chubby hands on either side of my face and pulls my face into his and plants a big, slobbery kiss on my cheek.




I love it when babies fall asleep on the floor in the middle of everything going on.



Theo continues to feel so comfortable in Rebecca's arms.



Joseph and Theo are good buddies. Theo trusts Joseph more now and frequently laughs at Joseph's silly faces and antics. When Theo is lying down Joseph loves to lie down on top of him or next to him and roll with him. A common phrase around here is :"Don't squash the baby!"







A little sitting up here and there at 4 1/2 months! Theo has been our strongest baby even though the others were strong and sat up early, too. He has been pulling himself forward for awhile now whenever he sits on your lap or is the bouncy seat or the car seat. He wants to get going with R and J!

Goodbye Erin and Mary

Some of our very dear friends moved away this summer. I can't believe how many friends have left lately. Woe is me! :(

Erin and Michael and Warren and I go back to the Foreign Language Housing Days where we were all single and all met. We got married in '99 and they got married in '00. They followed us to the LA area, first in Glendale and then moved even closer, right into our stake. It was so fun having them close. They have been great friends and we will miss them dearly. Erin is like a sister to me. We're both the oldest in our family with the same number of younger brothers. We both love classical music, play instruments and feel deeply about the gospel. We wish them well on their new adventure. We are excited for the path they are on and the opportunities they have found. We will miss you but are grateful you're such good skype/chat communicators! :)


BYU '98 Chantelle, Jen, Dorothea and Erin


Warren, Dorothea and Erin at BYU '98






My kids and Erin's kids



Yummy steak b-b-q with barbequed corn (a first time doing it myself!). It was delicious.



Equally missed will be Jeff and Mary and their kids. We met in the Santa Monica 2nd Ward. Mary has been such a special friend to me. She is such an incredible example of service. She was always helping someone, bringing a meal or watching someone's kids. We always loved getting together with Jeff and Mary and talking about life or the gospel. We hope our paths cross again someday. We are grateful doors have opened up for them and that they have an exciting future ahead. We will miss you very much!

Summer Friends and Family Days

We didn't go on any trips this summer, but we still had plenty going on. We saw lots of friends and some family.



Cecilia and her sister Katarina from Sweden (my brother and I stayed with her in Goteburg over a decade ago.) Cia was an exchange student at my mom's house during high school.Our families have stayed in touch. It was a lot of fun talking to them and sharing a wild western b-b-q with them.



Rebecca and second cousin Ava.

We spent an afternoon with a bunch of extended family out in Riverside, including visiting with the Kaufmans and Barbara Honey who were here from Utah.



Facepainting at a birthday party for a friend in LA.



One of the highlights of the summer was reuniting with long lost missionary companion Kevan. I had looked for Kevan over the decade that Warren and I have been married. I had heard stories about their mission in Brazil and Boston (they both served in both places) and Warren had always said how he would love to find Kevan. I tried different things over the years, but it wasn't till this past January that I got lucky through facebook and finally found him! It took months to get a get together worked out, but we finally did and it was great to get to know their whole family.



We also went to Girls Camp for a day up in the mountains at Idyllwild and spent a day at Ward Youth Conference up at Lake Arrowhead.



Philipp and Fred stopped here for three days on their way from Kyiv to BYU. We're proud of them for going back to school and facing another semester! Go Cougars!

We also said goodbye to some dear friends (separate post). :(

It's been busy!