4/30/2010 - Iris' Play

My sister continues to make strides in the acting world. She played a great role in "A...My Name Will Always Be Alice." There were some funny parts. Well done play. I laughed A LOT during this thing. Apparently the hardest part is the "monologue" (no singing). Iris did a great job and even got some positive reviews. Rock on, sis. We enjoyed the show!

4/12/2010 - Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge

While in Vancouver we also took the advice of locals and checked out the Lynn Valley suspension bridge. We were not disappointed. Great place to go with the family. The bridge is 166 feet above the river and you are in one of the thickest old-growth forests around. Lots of short-or-long hikes to choose from. It really is a beautiful place to spend time with loved ones and see some BC beauty while still close to the city.

4/11/2010 - Vancouver BC trip

The Vancouver BC temple is opening soon, so that gave our family a chance for our kids to see the inside of a temple before they are old enough to participate in ordinances. So, we packed the kids in the van and made the 6 hour trip north. We stayed with family in Vancouver. I had forgotten what a beautiful city Vancouver is. It's a really cool place. We enjoyed an evening/morning with them (so gracious to host distant relatives) in their beautiful home with a gorgeous view overlooking the bay from west Vancouver. It's a stunning view to wake up to. Wow. It turned out that he was also a temple open house tour guide. We got to see the grounds and tour the interior. What a great experience, particularly for our kids. I was tending to 2-yr old Clara, who happened to be acting up (tired) while we were inside, so I hung behind and tried to keep her quiet. An interesting moment, while we entered the celestial room, she was still having a hard time being still, so I distracted her by telling her to look up. While in that beautiful place, she was able to be still only while looking up. Now I also realize the gorgeous, sparkly chandelier had a lot o do with it, but it made me think nonetheless. This was a great experience that I believe our family will never forget.

4/8/2010 - Grade School Concerts

It's concert season for our grade schoolers. We've had some fun at our concerts. Emery's third grade concert, Moriah's first grade concert (pictured here) and Brooke's Kindergarten concert. Our school teachers do great work and should be commended. When a teacher can make music fun for a child, it greatly enhances the educational experience. It's fun to see them perform, too!

3/23/2010 - Brooke's Birthday

Wow. Brooke is 6 now.
Each of our children's birthdays come as a bit of ashocker to me. They really are growing up. We only have them in our home for a short time. So, she insisted on Chuck E Cheese (CEC) for her party. Had about 12 of her friends come. Grandpa Elton was even there, too. What surprised me was what an enjoyable experience CEC was. Every other time I have been there, it's crazy...let alone trying to keep track of 12 or so kids in a busy place. But this was not that way at all. It was a mid-week, daytime party, and that made all the difference. We were the only ones back in the party area, and the games were not overwhelmed with people at all. I highly recommend, if you have to do a CEC party, do it during mid-day. Seriously.

2/11/2010 - Space Needle Salon

My sister is a hair stylist in Seattle. I took the opportunity for a road trip, just me and my little girls, and drove up to get their hair done and see some family. I knew her shop was in downtown Seattle, but I was surprised when we got there that, you sit in the chair, look out the window and BOOM, there's the space needle right there in your grill. That's pretty cool. Oh yeah, and she did a great job on our hair, too. :-)

Prayer for the bored

(click to enlarge image)

The ‘portrait’ she made at school for father’s day last year adds some insight to this post.

In the last week or so, Moriah has independently decided to include me in her prayers. Without any input from us (that I’m aware of), she has said something similar to this in multiple family prayers recently:

“…and please help dad at his job, because he does boring stuff all day. He sits at a computer and prints out paper and reads and stuff. Help him not be bored.”

The best part about this is that she’s totally sincere. She is concerned that daddy might be getting too bored during the day. Hey, who am I to argue? If she wants to pray for a little excitement at work, an answer to that prayer may or may not turn out to be a good thing!! Hhhmmmn.