bear cubs

If you happen to be out and about on the east side of Salt Lake during the summer, you might catch a glimpse of my DH going on a run, hitting some tennis balls with Analisa, or his latest thrill, hiking up the canyon with our little bear cubs. Here are some pics of their latest adventure.

lemonade

On April 21 she played piano on Temple Square.
On April 23 she performed on stage at the Capitol Theater.
On April 24 she fell down a steep flight of stairs at Fort Cooke and broke her wrist in two places.

In the words of my sister Crystal, "...when life throws you lemons you should make lemon bars, lemon curd, lemon tarts, lemon sherbet, lemon cupcakes and my favorite, good old fashion lemonade!"

And so she did.

Notice the VIP treatment with dear 'ole mom washing her hair in the sink. That lasted about a week. Then she moved on to her own style pass at the salon.

She continued to dance as well as play treble clef only on the piano, accompanied by 9 weeks of serious music theory study with her piano teacher Bridget, who wouldn't hear of taking time off for a broken wrist.


She was able to attend Youth Conference and Girls Camp...


She finished up drivers ed and made the blue sweatshirt (above) and the white dress (below) in sewing class.

And continue life as any normal teenage girl would.


The one thing she had to give up for a few weeks before she couldn't stand it any longer was tennis. She went out on the court anyway, cast and all, and worked on her forehand. Her signature stroke, the two handed backhand, took a THIRTEEN week hiatus and she was forced to run around the ball or slice and change up her game drastically. Her non LDS coach said to me the other day, "Well, I guess you could call this, how would you say, a blessing?" Hilarious, coming from our somewhat serious coach Mark. Who knew taking away use of her left hand would build confidence in her forehand, improve her back hand slice and break tennis habits that had no other possible way of being corrected.

She took off her removable cast a few weeks ago, still not able to fully bend or use her left hand and signed up for a local tournament and wouldn't you know it, she won the whole darn thing in her age group. Yes, we believe in a having a few lemons thrown our way every now and then. The results can be quite delicious.

Love you Analisa. You are my hero!

quote of the day

"I didn't cry once today. It seems all my twoubles are disappeawing."

typecast

Sarah and Kooper perform for the kids at YASE. Her voice teacher, Shawna said they were way to babe-a-licious to pull this off but I think they did a good job. Happy weekend!

SOAR

A couple weeks ago we shipped our fair skinned Sarah off 45 miles south to bond with her brown skinned brothers and sisters at a multicultural camp called SOAR. It stands for Summer Of Academic Refinement. At the camp the kids are assigned a mentor who helps with the entire college application process as well as an in depth look at possible majors. They prep the entire week for the ACT, hike the Y and get involved in service projects. Kids flew in from as far as Tonga, Hawaii, Hong Kong and Texas to name a few, for a week of spiritual and cultural feasting. As can be seen from the smile on her face in the picture below, my girl had the time of her life! She even met several girls who she'd love to room with next year if the stars align.

Brett and I drove down for the banquet where we were greeted with the sweetest embrace. She forgets sometimes how much she loves us. Sending her away for a week is worth every penny because it helps her realize that her Dad and I are indeed two of her biggest fans who want nothing but the best for her crazy self! So after our warm embrace the first thing she says to me is, "Come here Mom, I can't wait for you to meet my boyfriend! Actually I have two! I just know your gonna love'em..." See what I mean. Crazy. We met counselors, mentors and roommates all of which felt like life long friends. I've never seen so many beautiful, wholesome 17 year old kids gathered in one place! We shared an awesome meal followed by a mini fireside/ slide show put to music that the kids all sang along to. It was my first introduction to the song Waka Waka which has since become our family party song.

Boyfriend # 1


Boyfriend # 2


One of her many delightful roomies from Hawaii


They call themselves soul sistas.

land that i love

I figure I'd better post a few of our 4th of July pics before the month slips away!

We made what's becoming our yearly traditional trek to Provo and met up with Crystal and Omar for The Stadium of Fire. This year Brett and I and the boys watched from the outside of the stadium while our three girls watched from the inside. Sarah met up with one of her SOAR boyfriends (more on that later) while Kate and Lisey sat in the BYU co-ed section and sang their guts out with the live and in person, Carrie Underwood . The songs Cowboy Casanova and Undo it (dedicated to a too cool for words, H.C.) never sounded so good says Lisey.

Samuel insisted I take pictures of the fire works. "Did you get that? Did you get that?", he would say. It doesn't matter how many times you've seen them, "fire.works" (pronounced as two separate words in our family) always light up the sky like magic. I love this holiday and everything it represents!

I forgot to mention. If you are ever in Provo and looking for a good, very inexpensive place to eat yummy Mexican food, try Gallo Giro. It's the bomb. Thanks sissy.

mo' please

You may have seen some very cool Billboards over the last few years with inspirational sayings like the one with a picture of a 9-11 firefighter and the message When others ran out, he rushed in. Courage. Pass it on. I remember the very first time I laid eyes on one of these. I drove home and told Brett all about it. I thought it was so awesome that someone would put time and money into putting something out there not only worth reading but thought provoking as well. It turns out the people behind it from The Foundation For A Better Life do tv-spots as well! Click the link and pick any one. They are beautiful!

Thanks to a few people we know in the biz, our three little "orphan boys" were able to participate in an upcoming spot ...

Remember Oliver? The message is about manners and saying please and thank you. The boys had a blast getting into character pretending to eat cold porridge. After the shoot we drove straight to the pool and let them dive in, head first!

sweet sixteen

It was a windy day in Chicago. I had just put my newest baby girl, Katherine, down for a nap and headed toward the kitchen when I overheard Sarah and Analisa deep in make-believe conversation. "Well I am almost SIXTEEN," I heard Analisa say as she peeked her head around the door just into my view. I froze that moment with a picture because it hit me like a ton of bricks. Someday those sweet little faces that consumed my every thought and move would grow up, and life would be more than baby dolls, dress-ups and pb & j!



That day came on June 28. My little Lisey pie has grown taller than her own mama, and has in fact, turned 16.



As I look back and think about how that sweet little girl used to sneak into my bed and snuggle my face every morning. I am in awe at the incredible young lady she has become. She's a genuine beauty through and through. How lucky I am to travel this journey with her and forever call her mine.