Sunny Friday Evening

Finally! Sing hallelujah.

Rainy Sunday Afternoon

Our back yard, just a few days ago

It's raining outside, and grey, which is better than sleeting outside and freezing, I suppose. This spring has been a doozy: only a couple of days over fifty so far. Most days have still required that I dress Wyatt in boots, snow pants and gloves. There are many things I love about Minnesota, but this spring has reminded me of one thing that I don't: the seeming neverendingness of winter.

Spring is around the corner though, or so they say, and it will be exhilarating to see the green budding out on the barren tree branches and hear the birds sing every morning. Our bedroom gets beautiful morning light, and there's something so satisfying and peaceful about waking up at a reasonable hour on a Saturday morning and lying in bed in the sun for a few minutes, listening to birds.

This last year of teaching has been good. I do love teaching, and these college-age kids are pretty great human beings, most of the time. Not every class is a home run (some are foul balls) but a good class with good discussions, some laughter, and evidence of engagement and interest can lift me all day long. My home study seminary class has been wonderful, too--one of the best classes I've ever taught. Great kids, and so willing to talk about the gospel. They teach me too. I've enjoyed my Wednesday nights.

I do miss writing though. Why is it that I can't figure out how to integrate it into my life in a more regular way? I started a new novel, but then when I got hired at the last minute at UWRF I put it aside, vowing to get back to it when I got on top of everything at school (ha!). I've also felt the change of not blogging very much--not only am I not blogging as much here, but I stopped blogging for Segullah last year and don't do guest posts and other writing nearly as much as I used to.  I almost feel sheepish saying, "This summer! This summer when I'm not teaching I'll write more." But didn't I say that last summer and still the months got away from me? What I've got to do is make a plan and stick to it. But that's never been my strong suit, especially when kids and family need me too.

There have been so many sad, hard things on the news this week, as well as in the lives of some people I know. Ethan saw me watching the news of the marathon bombing the day it all happened and he looked at me very seriously and said, "Mom, you know it's not good for you to watch too much of that." (I think my kids were taken aback in December when I started crying in the middle of the kitchen a few days after the Newtown shootings. Crying moms always freak kids out.) But with Boston and the explosions in Texas and some tragedies in friends' lives and the never-ending freezing cold weather part of me has just been feeling like, "Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!?!" (You guys know that emotion, right?) Sometimes life just seems so hard. And not my life, really: just life, life. Sometimes when I'm at the grocery store I watch people, just really look at them (without them knowing of course, or I hope they don't know it, because who wants to think people at the grocery store are really looking at you? Horrors.) Anyway--sometimes when I watch people it just seems so clear to me that everyone is fighting a hard battle, as Marjorie Hinckley is wont to say, and I just think everybody in this world should be given a big, fat break.

And yes, I realize that this post makes me sound like I have Seasonal Affective Disorder, which I don't think I have but who knows, but even if I DO then the good news is that it's seasonal. Everything, all the hard stuff, it's seasonal. Life is so good, so very rich and beautiful and fun and important, and even for those whose lives are truly one hard slog--people who are not me, who would give anything to have even one of the blessings of family or health or financial security that I so often take for granted--even for those people, this life can also be good. I think of my pioneer ancestors who sang the line, "And should we die / before this journey's through / happy day!" -- a joke Forrest and I often have between us -- and I wonder what it would be like to live that life. A life so hard that the thought of rest and reward at the end of it was all that gets you through.  And still they kept walking and slogging. So many people keep walking in the midst of so much difficulty, and some of them even take a break from walking to sing and dance and eat a good meal with people they love. These are the people who inspire me most.

So. Spring will come. And I'm really okay: just ruminative. It's probably just the rain. I hear a little over a week from now, we'll finally have a day that's sunny and 65. I'll go on a walk and take in the sun and all will be right with the world.

March Madness

Holy frijoles, you mean I need to try to encapsulate everything besides Disney that went on in the month of March in one post? And this includes three birthdays, one Easter, a smattering of kid stuff, and uploading videos to Youtube? Alrighty then, I'll give it a go. First, birthdays!

Elise Julia turned FIFTEEN. Can you believe it? I can't. She's almost as tall as me, but I still have her by 1/2 an inch.  Here she is, her beautiful 15-year-old self:

This is a "family party" year for Elise, so we all went out and saw the new Wizard of Oz movie, then merrily criticized it all the way home. I fear Forrest and I have infected our children with the tendency to over-think giant plot holes and bemoan flimsy character motivation. But ripping a movie to shreds is also kinda fun, in its own way. (It was nice looking, I will say that.) Then we went home and enjoyed the first of many March birthday cakes:

Wearing her new green St. Paddy's Day sweater

Nothing like a Dad who photo-bombs. 

Speaking of Elise, she also had the opportunity to perform for a special Young Women's event a couple of weeks ago as well. Each young woman was asked to perform or create something that spoke to their testimonies. Elise chose a Christian song she learned at camp last year and did a wonderful job performing. Gave me chills. Here she is, singing beautifully . . . and the back of our bishop's head (please ignore--seated iPhone video):

Forrest also had a birthday: the big 4-2. Time keeps a-marching on. Forrest said he wanted a SingStar party for his birthday which, when I told my mom, made her laugh out loud. "Could you ever imagine your dad saying he wanted a SingStar party for his birthday? In a million years?" No, not in a million years, but to be fair to my dad, how many men would have that birthday request? Well, at least one: my man. We invited over five families and ate, laughed, and sang the night away. It was a great time; not a single party pooper in the bunch. In fact, everybody was singing loudly from the couch, as you can see:

See all those open mouths? Singing.

And to commemorate the fact that our Morrissey concert wasn't canceled once, not twice, but THREE TIMES (the third being the final cancelation--alas, the Morrissey tour is no more), here is Forrest and Steve, our Morrissey concert compadre, with a little tribute to a man who's now apparently too old and/or sick and/or tired to manage a heavy touring schedule anymore:

And then there's Jonas Leo! He turned the even bigger 1-2. A monumental birthday! Alas, he's also on the "no party" year (well, alas for him :-), but he was happy to go to DeLeo Brothers pizza with the family and eat some cake when we got home. He and Dad shared--that's what happens when you decide to come into the world one day after your dad did, 30 years before. As you can see, he also had to share a birthday cake.  

New headphones. And money! Money is always Jonas's favorite. He gave me $3 before I went to the grocery store yesterday and whispered, "Hey, can you pick up a box of Cocoa Krispies, just for me?" I was happy to oblige.

The biggest news, though, was Jonas receiving the Aaronic priesthood. He did a great job finishing up his Faith in God award and looked so confident and mature up there reciting his Article of Faith in front of the congregation. His dad gave him a beautiful blessing, too. Hard to believe my little boy is growing up so fast:

Currently my favorite 12-year-old in the universe.

Ethan didn't celebrate any birthdays, but he's been busy with school and speech, among other things. He's had a great run at speech this last month, placing highly in a number of competitions and earning 4th place at sectionals. It's hard to get a good feel for what that means if you're not familiar with speech, but our section is big and competitive: we have two of the biggest speech schools in the Midwest in our section, so placing at sectionals is a big dang deal. Ethan competed most of the season in creative expression, which is a piece he wrote himself, but he also competed in Duo, which is a pair of performers interpreting a script that's either humorous or serious. Ethan and his friend Ryan did a take on Jurassic Park which was HILARIOUS. If they do it again at the speech banquet I'll have to see if I can video it. But I did happen to be there judging at a meet when Ethan and Ryan won first place and got to watch the awards ceremony. It's kind of fun to watch the kids' faces as they figure out they're getting closer and closer to first place and they might just win it. You also get to see the famous speech "one clap!" All the kids on the gym floor have been called up as the top scorers and they find out in real time who wins. Ethan and Ryan are in the red ties:

And then there's Wyatt Dean! He's busy growing up but staying cute, as usual. A few pictures as evidence:

This week he gets to be "Star of the Week" in his Kindergarten class and we made a special poster this weekend. Two sample questions, answered without hesitation:

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: A stunt man! (News to me!)

Q: If you could have one wish, what would it be?
A: An army house with a bunker underneath. (You know! An army house with a bunker underneath? He drew a picture, but I still had a hard time quite picturing it. He thinks we could probably build one in the back yard.)

And lastly, Easter. This year the pictures weren't too bad, although I didn't take many Easter egg hunting shots. Now that the kids are getting older, it's mainly Wyatt who's getting up early, but all the kids still hunted for eggs with their names on them. And I still herded them outside before church began and made them smile for the camera in the freezing cold. Ah, springtime in Minnesota!

They are a good looking bunch, though. Gotta love em.

Whew! There it is. Thanks for sticking with me, even if you skimmed. Now onto spring. Please? Spring?

More Florida

And the travelogue continues!

On the third day of our trip we took a two hour drive south to visit what has been dubbed, by someone somewhere at some point in time, the best beach in the USA. And it was a very fine beach, I do agree. The sun was shining and temps were pushing 80, so it was a perfect day to go. It was a little busy, but the sand was excellent.

Here we are, frolicking:

Or reading a little Manga on the beach:

Of course, the boys had to play a little frisbee:

This is my favorite frisbee pic

Jonas chose not to play frisbee and instead decided to bury himself in the sand. I tried to get a picture of him but my camera focused on the guy in the foreground instead. I figured it was a perfect representation of the particular brand of ambiance you find at a public beach in Florida during spring break.

Here he is close up, sans tattooed-manboob guy:

After spending the day at the beach we headed to our new hotel, a sweet condo complex run by Hilton Grand Vacation Club that we sold our souls to stay at for a bargain basement price. It was a fantastic hotel--two full bedrooms, kitchen, nice pools, etc.--but Forrest and I had to spend 2 1/2 hours of our Monday morning listening to a sales agent named Jack Hammer (no I am not kidding), a grizzled man with a distracting case of post nasal drip and very little patience with "customers" who supply non scripted answers to his scripted sales questions, drone on about how "excited" we should be ("You're excited, right? Right? Aren't you excited?") to become "owners" instead of "renters" because "owners" are "winners." We escaped, though. Barely. And thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our time in our fancy digs.  

Later that day we took off once again to explore another Disney property, this time Epcot. It was my first time at Epcot and I loved it. So much to look at! I kept wishing my mom was there so I would have someone with whom I could meander through all the specialty shops; alas, the kids weren't so much into souvenir looking-but-not-buying. The food was good, though, and the kids were happy about that. We had some nice BBQ, some tasty Italian pastries, crepes, teriyaki chicken. So much better than the chicken sandwich at Tomorrowland.

Wyatt, enjoying some caramel sauce. He ended up drinking it straight from the cup. No, this was not an international delicacy. Just caramel sauce.

Jonas, making the acquaintance of a terra cotta warrior.

Wyatt, celebrating our Scandinavian heritage.

Elise, mysterious, with a fan.

A bonsai tree, mostly because it's cool. 

The boys (and Forrest, can you see him?) watching a street performer in "Italy." Elise and I were off getting pizza and Italian pastries.

All of us at dusk. A nice Asian family asked us to take their picture, so I asked them to do the same. It's a little blurry, but it's still a nice shot of all of us.

Fireworks at the end of the night.

Our last full day we spent at Hollywood Studios. At least part of the day. We were a little Disney Park pooped and only lasted until the early afternoon, then we left to enjoy the pools and do a little outlet shopping. But no pictures of that. Actually, I mist have been a little picture pooped as well, because I only took two at Hollywood Studios. First, this cute one of Wyatt and the Disney Dogs (although Goofy's near-humaness contrasted so sharply with Pluto's very-doggishness that it confused me as a child--was Goofy a dog, and if so, why did he wear clothes and Pluto didn't?) Anyway, there were only two people in line for photos with the Dogs, so I made sure I got one of Wyatt. It's the rule of lines at Disney: see one that's uncommonly short? Hop on in!

And here's the picture I forced the kids to take after riding the Rockin Roller Coaster. Super fun ride (even Wyatt loved it) and even though the kids weren't altogether thrilled that I made them put on hats and take a picture, I think this is a keeper. Even if Wyatt's hat is completely covering his face, he makes up for it with his "rock on" hand signs.

We had a fabulous trip. It's hard to believe that we only have one more year of all of us together . . . but I'm not going to think about that right now. I'm just grateful we have the chance to have great experiences like this.

Now we're back in Minnesota with only our memories to keep us warm. (Seriously. High teens today. Ridiculous!) But spring, real spring, is just around the corner. I can feel it.

Florida 2013 Part 1

As I sit typing this at 7:18 a.m. on Monday morning, it's snowing steadily outside. Low temperatures will be in the single digits all this week. It's hard to believe that just a few days ago, we were doing this:

Today is also the first day back to school for all the kids--but before they can go Ethan is outside shoveling the driveway. At least we have our memories!

And we have a lot of great memories. The trip was just wonderful: the weather was perfect (except for one rainy morning) and everyone was happy and healthy. Here's a bit of a travelogue of our adventure.

Our first day was spent at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It's a nice park to start with because, while there are a few fun rides, it's not as overwhelming as Magic Kingdom. My favorite ride was probably Expedition Everest--Disney World's take on the Matterhorn. We had to promise Wyatt that he could close his eyes when the Yeti appeared and he spent most of the ride with his head buried in my side, but he liked it once it was all over. 

But the best part of Animal Kingdom is the safari ride. So many cool animals, up close and personal in a natural environment. Here are a few shots:

Hippo under water. (This picture wasn't taken on the actual safari ride, to clarify.)

Hippo on land

Bovine with crazy big horns

Beautiful giraffes

Lion on a rock. We debated whether or not there would be actual lions, since we're just driving around in an open air jeep looking at these animals, but I trust that the moat separating the lion from the jeep was sufficient. You never know, though. Some of those lions are leapers.

Elephants at the water, and a very cool baobab tree.

 There were a lot of fun things to see, like bongo drums:

The 3D movie "It's Tough to Be a Bug." (No matter how many times I've seen it, I'm always surprised when the stinger stings me in the back.)

(Wyatt photo bomb.)

Happy kids on a dinosaur ride:

Wyatt's smiling face:

Wyatt measuring himself against a gorilla, a la Hogle Zoo:

And one more of Wyatt, on his brother's shoulders. If you look closely, you can tell that he dressed himself that morning:

Hopefully Wyatt won't even know this picture exists when he's 15.

The next day we headed to Magic Kingdom. For those of you who've only been to Disneyland, Disney World has many of the same rides, but some of them are at different parks (like "It's Tough to Be a Bug" at Animal Kingdom.) There's still plenty to do at Magic Kingdom, though--and there were plenty of people trying to do it all with us that day. Crowds notwithstanding, we still had a lot of fun. We even met Mickey! We thought we were going to see a show of some kind at the "theater," but turns out it was just a Mickey photo op. But the line was short, so we thought, what the heck! 

Ethan looks huge in this picture, mostly because Forrest is slouching. I, however, am not slouching, so he IS getting kind of huge.

Some of the highlights of the day were the Buzz Lightyear ride, a perennial favorite:

We also loved Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Forrest's favorite, Pirates of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, though, Splash Mountain was closed for renovation. Dang! The only other lowlight was choosing to have lunch at the big cafeteria in Tomorrowland. Super busy, super expensive, and super disappointing food. At least Wyatt had fun with the grapes:

The kids also got a little tired of me taking their picture. Bless them. Here's a couple of my favorite kids-who-don't-want-their-picture-taken pictures:

(This one is actually at Epcot, but it fits the theme.)

They're so kind for humoring me.  Pictorial evidence notwithstanding, we DID have a great time at Magic Kingdom and had enough stamina to stay until dark. (Although after the Tomorrowland lunch debacle, we did leave early enough to head to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner instead. Cost just as much as a Disney dinner, and so much better!)

That's enough traveloguing for one post. Stay tuned for part two!

Aren't they both cute?