"And Should We Die Before Our [Summer] Is Through . . ."

Sunday, July 25, 2010

If anyone is wondering about the title of this post, it's because having this much fun is going to kill me. Seriously.

But all kidding aside, I LOVE Pioneer Day, In fact, it's one of my very favorite days of the whole year and I look forward to it. I daydream about Pioneer Day every winter when a Cache Valley inversion has trapped me in its cold, cruel grip and I haven't seen the sun in days and when I go outside and icicles form on my elbows.

Daydreams of Pioneer Day just save me during days like that! And here's why:

Every Pioneer Day we wake up at the crack--well, WAY before the crack of dawn--practically the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT--(I don't wake up at 5:30 a.m. very often) and begin our trek to the Salt Lake Valley. But we ride in cars, not wagons, and get there in an hour-and-a-half, not days, to attend the Days of '47 Parade and show our pioneer spirit. My father LOVES parades and this is one of the highlights of his whole year. We do not sleep overnight on the parade route, but Dad has started talking about "maybe doing that someday" so who knows? Maybe that's in our future. Anyway, we arrived and found a great spot, right in the shade. See, a family who had slept there the night before had pitched an awning, but the shade was well behind their chairs and they seemed to be more focused on having a front-row seat rather than having shade, so we usurped their shade. Although that sounds really shady (pun intended) doesn't it? But really, they just kept scooting their chairs closer to the road to get a better view, so we appreciated their shade!

Anyway, here we are getting ready to see the big show:



And here's the picture of us that we're NOT using in our adoption profile because I look drunk, James looks stoned and Bethany is growling at something. He he he he!!!



Yep, we're really great (excuse me, I need to grab another beer, "Hic!") parents! He he he! But on with our story. Ruby and James (my brother) came with us and Bethany was thrilled to be with her cousin Ruby again (back to that cousins-are-awesome thing):





(I do not know why those pictures imported sideways. I rotated them . . .hmmmm. Well, tilt your head to the side, please.) We really enjoyed the parade. We could see everything really well and I took some pictures of the floats but you know, It just looks like I took pics of the heads of the nice people in front of us. So I'll fore go the pictures.

After the parade, we headed to Raging Waters where we met up with the rest of our family. Mom had reserved a cabana right by the kiddie pool, which was so handy, and we all swam and slid and just had a WONDERFUL time! Here are some highlights:

Playing with the Bethie Boo:





Riding the Slides:



And a word about water slides: I love them. I love them. I love them. I love that moment when you're just about to get on, and you look out over Salt Lake City and the sun is kissing your skin like an old, affectionate friend (not enough to burn, mind you) and you step into the water and onto the tube and you start WHOOOSHING down, and water is splashing under and around you and you feel like you're flying! That, my friends, is summer. And I may or may not have said, "I love this! This is summer!" while I was zooming down the slide.

But my favorite is riding slides with James and NOT capsizing the landing:



I considered using this picture for our adoption profile but instead of looking like we're fun and full of life and are great parents, I think this picture just says, "Jenny looks like a Muppet. A wet, soggy Muppet."

So we'll cut to the ice cream sandwich break with a much cuter star:



We had a wonderful time at Raging Waters, and when it was time to go we were just dead. D-E-D dead. Bethany didn't even make it a block before falling asleep on the way home. And when we rolled back into North Logan, fireworks were greeting us and welcoming us home. SUCH a nice day!

And in all seriousness, I love the pioneers. I love my ancestors who sacrificed everything to come to a place "far away in the West, where none shall come to hurt or make afraid." I've never truly been afraid--not like they were. I've never been really hungry or cold or hot or ANYTHING like they went through. And here I am, running around and playing and enjoying my life, all because they laid the foundation for me. I guess there's a reason why I'm a daughter of the Utah pioneers and not, in fact, an actual Utah pioneer. I'm just not hardy enough. Actually, I'm a wuss.

But I'm a very grateful wuss. What a fun day. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Cousins, Cousins Everywhere!

The great thing about cousins is that they're best friends . . .but related. So even if you haven't hung out for awhile, they're sure to keep popping into your life at semi-regular intervals. And when they do, you're SO glad (or at least we hope we're glad because families are forever and you're linked to these people, right?).

Anyway, in our case we are SO glad when cousins pop in! And Bethany is blessed to not only have a lot of wonderful first cousins who are her best friends, but also some pretty awesome second cousins! And this week we did a lot of serious second-cousin bonding.

To start this post off, I need to give some space to Bethie's cousin Tate, a.k.a. "Cousin Speedy," the cutest little hombre to ever run about in a sombero:





Seriously, nothing is funnier than watching this little guy run around in this hat. It's wider than he is tall and he just RUNS. He needs a soundtrack. So, so funny! But back to our post.

My cousin--I'm very fond of my cousins, too--Michelle has two little girls, and my Aunt Sheri, who was watching them while their brother had surgery and their other brother was with my uncle, decided to bring them to Logan for a couple of days so they could spend some time with Grandma-Great and their Logan cousins. And we Logan cousins--I'm counting Cambrie as a "Logan cousin" as she's been here for the summer, which we're all getting quite used to and, in fact, we may not let move--(like my run-on sentence?) did all we could to show them a good time!

We started with a picnic at Willow Park. Cousins, cousins, everywhere and ready for lunch!



And we actually had quite a crew with Bethany, Cambrie, McKenzie, Jocelyn, Savanna, Claire, and our brave lone hombre, Tate. After our picnic, the kids dug for buried treasure (Bethany taught them that you yell, "Ooreka!" when you find something so we had a lot of little shouts of "Ooreka!" going on)



We climbed trees for awhile and played "Sleeping Beauty" in the trees (with Cambrie and Bethany really getting into it, as shown):



And then we were off to see the animals at the zoo.



(And thank goodness, the tortises were not mating again, as they were in our last visit!!! That's always SO awkward.) We all enjoyed the animals but I'll tell you, as time went in it just got hotter and hotter until it was definitely time to head across the street to the Logan Aquatic Center and a dip in the pool.

There's nothing like that first dip in the pool when you're THAT HOT to make you say, "Ahhhhhhh." It's like all of your troubles are just erased in one, beautiful moment and the world goes from a place you can't stand to a place of loveliness and everything good. AND there's nothing like that snow cone after you've had that dip to make you say "Ahhhhhh" again! That's just the cherry on top.

Savanna eating her rainbow snow:



And Bethie doing the same . . .



. . .to the very last drop:



While Grandma-Great looked on and enjoyed her posterity and her nice chair in the shade:



The next day, Bethany and I took Savanna, Claire, Grandma-Great and Aunt Sheri to The American West Heritage Center for some day-before-Pioneer-Day fun. We rode the train, rode the ponies, panned for gold and treasure ("Ooreka!") sat in teepees, fed chickens, chased peacocks, and went to another tea party. All in all, a very fun time and Bethany loved getting to know these "new" cousins! Saying goodbye was hard all around, but after promising she'll see them again at the reunion in a couple of weeks, Bethany finally let them go after many hugs.



You know, you just can't have too many cousins.

Happy Birthday Dad(s)!

Last week, we celebrated the birthdays of two of our favorite men: James and my dad! (My dad's birthday was first--both in days and in years, of course.) Since their birthdays are just two days apart, and since we're conveniently neighbors now, the men decided to have a joint party. So last Sunday (on my dad's actual birthday and two days before James') we gathered at my parents' house to commemorate the occasion(s). It was a grand celebration.

We kicked things off with some Mexican stack-ups (a big surprise there, since that's the meal requested every year!) and two pies: raisin cream for my dad and chocolate cream for James. Bethany helped me make the chocolate pie, all the while singing, "Do you want to make PIE like a SAMURAI??" and then we yelled, "PIE-YAH!!" a lot. (Please refer to The Backyardigans episode #2, Season 2 entitled "Samurai Pie." It's a good one.)

Anyhoo, after stuffing ourselves with good eats, it was time for presents! Again, I had help with the gift wrapping from a certain three-year-old, the fastest bow-sticker in the west!



This year we surprised Daddy with an iTunes gift card:



A new shirt:



And we were all REALLY surprised with all of the extra doo-dads that Bethany stuck in with the shirt (I didn't see her slip those in!), including some dress-up rings, a bit of ribbon, and a refrigerator magnet (you never know when a fella is going to need those things):



Then we totally didn't surprise him with the Shop-Vac, because he'd asked for it many times and it was sorta expected. But he was happy just the same!



And then Dad opened his gift that we all pitched in for--a fancy schmancy "Little Giant" ladder so he can reach the tops of his new very-vaulted ceilings and turn off the smoke detectors if they're acting up (er, he'd never do that really . . .)



But he was very pleased with his ladder. Either that, or he's a good actor and just seemed really pleased! And then . . .THEN. . . we ate pie . . .



And raisin cream pie is perhaps some of the best dessert ever, ever, EVER created. So I made a chocolate pie for James, but ate the raisin pie myself! YUM. All in all, it was a fun party for two wonderful men whom we love dearly! Happy birthday, guys!

Sweet Moments with Surprise Endings

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Tonight, for a bedtime story, I decided to tell Bethany her adoption story again (kinda glammed up with "Princess Jenny," etc. to make it more exciting). Anyway, the following conversation happened:

Me: "And then we took the beautiful baby to a very special place. Do you know what place it was?"

Bethany: "The temple!"

Me: "That's right! And what happens in the temple?"

Bethany: "We get sealed!"

Me: "Yep! And what does that mean?"

Bethany: "We'll be a family forever and ever!"

Me: (Getting teary, trying to say something profound and wise to really hit the point home when--)

Bethany: "And you were my one true Butler Tyrone!"

Me: "Um, yes. I'll always be your true Butler Tyrone." (Kiss and goodnight.)

Somehow, even spiritual things come back to The Backyardigans. Oh well. :0)

Every Bloomin' Thing

Sunday, July 18, 2010

I love surprises. Love surprises. REALLY love surprises. So it's just been a delight this summer to discover all of the wonderful perennial plants Tracy (the former owner of this house) planted in the yard! When we moved in, it was early spring and I had no idea what plants were in the flowerbeds. I knew she had attended the yard and flowers faithfully, and I knew perennials were there. But I didn't know what to expect. (Horticulture isn't my forte, but I'm working on it.)

Anyway, it's been such a joy to wake up and voila! There are daisies. Voila again! There are lilies. Voila and voila and roses and these purple flower thingies (still not sure what they are, but they're pretty) and bleeding heart and all kinds of beautiful plants. It's really been a joy! I just go outside and relish every blooming thing. Even the purple bush, which is home to approximately 1.2 million bumblebees (give or take a few).

Thank you, Tracy. You don't read my blog and don't know me at all, but bless you for making the flowerbeds so pretty and for brightening up my summer! I've had such a blast discovering all of these treasures--and my inner horticulturist (who has been screaming to get out) has now been unleashed. So here's to a fun flowerbed future! Bless you!

Cool Pool Parties!

'Tis the season for splishing, splashing and otherwise enjoying a dip in the pool. And this week we've been dipping and dunking so much our fingers are almost permanent raisins!

Last week, Ruby (our niece/cousin) turned the ripe old age of 3, so we went down for her party. SO fun! What a sweet gal. Here she is, with her amazing cake:



Bethany loved "helping" with the presents!



And then we had a yummy BBQ (seriously the BEST hamburger I've had all year!) and the dads took the big girls for a swim--James and Tracee have a swimming pool in their community HOA:



Needless to say, Bethany slept all the way home. But after a couple of days, as temperatures rose, we just had to take another dunk. So we invited Cambrie over for a little swimming party in the backyard. The girls had a lot of fun--other than the little fact that Bethany was in a "I want to splash BIG!" mood and Cambrie was in a "Don't splash me!" mood. I think they had a lot of fun anyway--especially when we broke out the bathtime Barbies!





And since THAT was so much fun, well, we just had to get in the pool again the next day and swim for 2-3 HOURS. Bethany simply couldn't get enough!



Yep, she slept well that night, too. And then the couple of days after that, we went with our FSA friends to the Logan Aquatic Center. Yep, it's a season for splishing and splashing, and we're nowhere NEAR being done! Good thing I like raisins and don't mind a few wrinkles, right?

Man, I LOVE summmer.

A Girl's Best Friend is Her Grandpa!

I heard an interview with Ann M. Dibb last year (she's President Monson's daughter) and she said that her dad always says to her daughter, "Now, who's a girl's best friend?" And she's supposed to reply, "Her grandpa!" I love that. And I think the above picture illustrates the point.

My dad will just play and play and play with Bethany. She seriously has him wrapped around her little finger. This picture was taken last week when she was playing her "Put Grandpa to bed" game. She piled on the blankies and books and told him stories and sang him songs, and he'd pretend to sleep, just loving the whole thing. He was in there for an hour doing this!

Yep, I think President Monson has it just about right. (He's not the prophet for nothing, you know!)

Tea Time!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Last Friday, Bethany and I went to a garden tea party at The American West Heritage Center. Oh my goodness, so much fun! My friend Teresa had learned that at the center twice a week, they have tea parties for little girls and their moms. So we decided to join her and her daughter Aly, along with our friends Erin and Ellie and cousins Annette and Cambrie. The first thing we did was choose a hat:



All of Bethany's friends found a hat right away that they liked, but Bethany had to try on every single hat before making her decision(s). I say "decision(s)" because she switched out hats about three times! (Bethany reserves the right to change her mind, and often does.) After the hats, we played some little games on the lawn. The tea party was in the shady lawn of the farmhouse, and it was SO pleasant! A nice breeze, blue sky, nice shade--perfect!

After the games, Miss Rachel and Miss . . .um . . .I forget her name ("God Bless What's-Her-Name") taught the girls how to set the table and then taught the girls proper manners. Then Miss Rachel and Miss . . .um . . .walked around with yummy sweets and asked the girls if they'd care for a cake, or whatever, and the girls were expected to say, "Yes, please," or "No, thank you." Charming!



Tea for two, and two for tea (that is, lemonade):



Little Ladies:





A peacock, his peahen and five sweet chicks all wandered around the yard, lending just another fun element of the atmosphere:





After "tea," Miss Rachel and Miss . . .um . . .helped us make paper dolls.



Bethany colored the face of her paper doll blue. She's very cute, but looks like she could use a little oxygen. Anyway, after the tea party, we decided to explore the Heritage Center a little and enjoy some of the attractions. We especially liked the train:



Running around with the goats (Bethany actually kissed them goodbye when we left, ew!)



Riding the ponies (Bethany named hers "Burra.")




Playing pioneer games (I almost turned into one of those moms who say, "You'll poke your eye out with that thing!" But I refrained. But I also watched closely!):





Playing in the little pioneer cabin:



And running through the sprinklers--which I'm sure the real pioneers would have appreciated greatly on hot July afternoons!



All in all, a very delightful afternoon! I totally recommend it!