New York Trip with Meesh last year.

 

 

We had such a lovely time. I was planning on spacing these pictures out and including descriptions, but since it's been a YEAR AND A HALF! Thought I'd better just get it out there. I wish I'd gotten some pictures of Deja and her place in Boston that we also visited. That was another wonderful part of this trip. She was on bedrest and couldn't make the trip over to the Apple with us like we'd originally planned. I sure would love to go back --I feel like -well, I know, we just scratched the surface of NYC while we were there.

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Mother's day in Sacrament meeting.

There's a reason why the Madonna and Child is an iconic image, and it's not not just because of who they are.  I watched a mother in front of me today in sacrament meeting with her baby, and they were a single unit.  I realized that this is what they'd be for months until the baby stopped nursing, started to crawl, and eventually, walk.

I watched the rest of the family --a dad and little 2 year old girl, and although the dad took his turn, and the mother sometimes held the little girl on her lap it wasn't the same.  The baby owned that woman and knew it.  This wasn't a sleepy, gentle Messiah-type baby either.  This baby was brash, outgoing, active and wasn't scared of anything or anyone.  I couldn't help thinking that although some of this little person's security came from the heavy duty, waistband type elastic bond between her and her mother, this child came with this Danny Devito style personality.  It was amazing.  She worked the entire row of people sitting behind her --getting a giggle out of each one of my kids, my husband, and me, then started on the family next to us.  She flailed her arms and legs, testing out all of the space around her. She chewed on her Peter Pan board book with slobbery gums, then flapped it open and smacked her forehead on the top of the open page --showing us how she reads.  I reflexively judged this to be a good mother that reads to her baby ( I was crappy at it when my kids were babies --waiting until they understood the language to read to them so I didn't waste my time). After we saw the baby's demo she opened her mouth up wide in a gappy smile, and with her perfectly round head, I couldn't help think of PAC-man and giggled again.

The little girl squirmed on her mother's lap.  She knew this was where she belonged, but she wouldn't be here for long.  This wasn't going to be a docile nursery kid corralled into the groove all the other kids were run through.  This was going to be a first grader that knew every inch of the playground and her teacher's patience. This was going to be a teenager that experimented and pushed.  This was going to be a young woman that picked her own life path and ran down it head first.

Meanwhile in the mother's memory, in the mother's skin, would be lodged that Madonna and Child feeling.  It would help the mother not throw her out the second story window when the girl would break her wedding plates.  It would help the mother clean up puke off her best Sunday dress when the girl at ten would have the flu.  It would help the mother to stick by her child's side even if she found out it was HER CHILD that was the bully in her class.  It would help the mother to not be repelled by actions confessed to her by her teenager late at night in the dark, and to pull that daughter back onto her lap where she would belong still.

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Scary surgery (and tomatoes).

 To help get in the mood for Halloween, we took the kids to the local "Pumpkin Plunge".  They throw a million pumpkins in the pool, and the kids play with them, then get to pick one to decorate.  I saw water dodge-pumpkin, pumpkin catch, and kids using the pumpkins like water wings. 

 We had a bumper tomato harvest this year, but the difference is this year I have a new toy to play with to save them: the (drumroll please) EXCALIBER 9 TRAY.  I know --sorry to shout, but I've wanted this dehydrator for so long! 

 The tomatoes came out so beautiful with their different colors, and they taste GOOD just by themselves.

 Ari went to the hospital on the 28th to get the surgery done for her cochlear implant on the other side. 

 She started getting a little nervous before the anesthetic, so Jeff pulled up backgammon on his phone to calm her down.

 They just finished the surgery and were bandaging her up, and she woke up.  They quickly finished and wheeled her into the waiting room where major pain meds were administered.  We were told originally that this would be a far less invasive surgery than the first time, but it turned out the same.  They still had to make a huge incision, and hollow out a place in her skull for the processor to sit in.  She still has recovered very well, although as of today still needs some ibuprofin or tylenol a couple times a day.

 

 It didn't stop her from dressing up and going trick or treating though.  I made her pirate costume and Tia's and my black and white swan costumes. Kai had his heart set on this alien costume he'd seen online.  Fine with me.  One less thing to sew.

We had a happy Halloween!

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I've been busy.

Remember me mentioning heading up the school carnival?  That kind of took over my brain the last month of summer.  It turned out fine.  I shamelessly stole pictures off the PTA blog to show you.  I was too busy to shoot pictures myself.  Although at times I wanted to shoot myself.

 The Blowups.  We get sponsors to help cover these.

 Concessions.  we had snow cones, cotton candy, and popcorn.

 Basket auction.  We also had a raffle of a BYU basketball signed by the team.  Yes Jimmer too.

 

We served dinner.

 

And had plenty of carnival games.  It looked like rain but it didn't.  Perfect weather. I was pretty happy with the results, but last week I went to a PTA meeting where they raised twice as much money doing a Walk-a-thon.  Huh.  Oh Well.

 jeff and I went to Park City for an anniversary trip right after the carnival was over.  We were able to stay right in a big resort for a week.  The condo was beautiful.  I felt like I was staying in Pinocchio's house.

It looked like a little alpine chalet with all of this carved wood and European fixtures.

 

We hiked to the top of Timpanogos Peak our first day (only 4 hours to the top! Most people take around 6.  I felt very speedy). 

We also did a hot air balloon ride. I loved it.  We've been going to look at the balloons on the 4th of July for years, but this was the first time we went up in one.

We spent one day riding the lifts up to the top of the slopes and then riding down on mountain bikes, but I'm not going to tell you about that because a thunder storm started and it didn't end well :) The rest of the time we were running, shopping, and eating at some fabulous restaurants.  Try the Mustang  if you're ever up there.  We also bought some olive oils and balsamic vinegars at the Mountain Town Olive Oil Company

So fun in there.  We tried just about every kind, then bought the Tuscan herb olive oil and the lemon (delicious); and then bought the wild blueberry balsamic, and the blackbery ginger.  Oh.My.Gosh.  I can't describe how yummy.
Anyway you know how I said the acupuncture cured my graves?  It didn't last.  I might be getting radio-iodine after all.  I'm not too happy about it.  I'll come back and write about that, Ari's new cochlear implant (on the other side!), some canning and dehydrating projects, and of course, our Faaaaaaabulous Halloween costumes.

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