Oh, What do you do in the summertime...

when all the world is green....

Do you swim in a pool, to keep yourself cool?






Oh yes. Most definitely. Along with a few other things that have kept us busy these past two weeks.

The big girls headed east to Reid Ranch and tried out a little horse-back riding. Analisa came home and asked to take up lessons. You know, on our free time. Heaven knows we just don't take enough lessons around here. HA!




I think we'll stick with tennis for now. Cause of the outfits and all;)


Miss Kate spent a week at Suzuki Institute fine tuning her skills on the violin.


A very nice person, affectionately called Papi, spent an all too short week visiting from Mexico. Watching the World Cup with him was such a treat! We miss you Papi! GOOOOOOOOL!!!!


Mr. Samuel Brett lost his very first tooth. After watching everyone in his entire kindergarten class lose various teeth throughout the year this was a very proud moment to say the least.


Marisa and her kids spent a few days with us as well. We played dress up, went up the canyon for a cook out and joined up with my other two sisters and their kiddos for the girls dance performance in Sandy.
















Don't you just love summer?.... So do I!

si se puede

These are my people...

Minus my Mom and my baby sister Cristina, these are the people I grew up with. The little caption in the back over my Dad's shoulder says it all. Everyone has a story to tell. And do they ever! Each one of these people have led fascinating lives full of love, hardships, and triumphs.

I love them dearly and feel blessed to call them mine.

At 5am this morning Crystal, Marisa and Omar took to the canyon to play out a physical representation of the journey we call life in the form of a marathon. Even driving into the parking lot watching runners of all ages and backgrounds head toward the finish line made me emotional.

Marisa (in the blue tank) drove with her three kids all the way from Oklahoma to support Crystal. She ran her 2nd half marathon and beat her own time. I am so proud of her! Her tenacity for life is inspiring.






And this is Crystal, running with her incredibly supportive husband, Omar. Words cannot describe how proud I am of her. She trained for her first half marathon less than a year ago while her husband worked in California. She maintained a full time job, took care of her two awesome boys and fought diabetes all on her own while reaching her goal. She and Omar decided to train together for the full marathon and crossed the finish line with tears of joy, pain and a huge sense of accomplishment.

Si se puede Crystal. You are my example and inspiration. There is nothing you can't do sweet girl. Don't forget that!

born to sing

Friday night we wrapped up the end of recital season with this...


An hour or so later she joined up with the band in Rock the Lot and jammed out to a little Muse and Heart.


Talk about a rose among thorns... never a dull moment... rock on

Schools out for Summer

Goodbye to making these 5 days a week!

(This was obviously taken during our Narnia craze.)

Hello to flexing our muscles at the pool and tennis courts. Ready or not here we come!

growing pains

Maybe it's the season or maybe it's just that I'm getting older, but lately I've been reflecting on how fast time has gone by and how quickly my sweet, precious babies are growing up on me and it makes me sad.

We spent Mothers Day at my in-laws and she had pictures like this draped around the table as a centerpiece.



That's my mother in the center photo holding Sarah at 6 weeks old. She always told me watching her girls grow up and leave her nest was the hardest thing she's ever been through. And that's saying A LOT coming from her. Oh, how I miss her! And there I am with my little 2 year old Sarah, sporting our red coats. How I miss those days of packing her and Analisa in the stroller and showing them the world through my eyes. Where has the time gone?

Brett and I went to a neighbors wedding yesterday. I spent most of the time with my face in my napkin sopping up tears thinking this could be us a handful of years from now. Will they be ready? Have we taught them enough to help them navigate through life's inevitable twists and turns? Will they remember all the things we tried to give them and teach them? I hope so!

Happy Day

I awoke to a telephone call from some of my favorite people singing Las Mañanitas/Happy Birthday all the way from Oklahoma. A few minutes later I stumbled on to my computer where I was flooded with sweet messages and well wishers from near and far. If there was ever a reason to have a Facebook, that would be it. I have spent the day surrounded by my kids and handsome hubby, just the way I like it! Thank you to all for your sweet texts, phone calls and messages. I am truly blessed beyond measure!

xoxo, me

silly girl

Silly girl Sarah got asked to Skyline's Prom by her best bud Canon. It all started with the late night banging on the door and a poster on the doorstep that looked like this:



She responded in kind with this:



A few weeks before the big date we realized she had a dance performance the same night as prom. Sarah reluctantly called her date to cancel. Long story short (Which she told Sarah style from the pulpit the next day in Sacrament meeting! Call me for more details on that one!), he wouldn't take no for an answer. He picked her up for pictures looking like this:





For dinner he took her through the Wendy's drive-thru while the rest of the group went to a fancy restaurant, and waited in the audience in his tux while she did this:



She changed back into her Cinderella dress as soon as her number was over and enjoyed a wonderful evening reminiscing with her date and good 'ole Skyline friends who she hadn't seen all year. Leave it to her to make an evening like that amazing.

brace face

Going through orthodontics with three of my girls didn't seem so bad. Go in with with crooked teeth, slap some braces on and voilà, a year or so later, perfectly straight, gorgeous teeth. With my 40th b.day looming around the corner, I said to Brett, "You know, I've always wanted to have straight teeth. Maybe it's time for me to just go ahead and bite the bullet."

And bite it I did!

As I lay in the doctors chair looking up at the TV screen on the ceiling, the movie they had playing was none other than The Princess Bride. "Oh good!" I thought. "This will really help get my mind off things."

Typically, my favorite scene in the movie, the one that replays in my head long after the movie's end, looks something like this:


On that particular day all I could see was this:


And the words repeated by this guy over and over again!

They stretched and pulled and super glued 28 baby tooth sized razor blades on to my permanent teeth leaving me questioning why in the world I would ever put myself and my children through such torture.

Needless to say, my vita-mix has been running on turbo speed and I have rekindled a love for mashed potatoes and ice-cream. I hope and pray that a year from now I can smile with confidence and say it was all worth it. Today ...not so sure.

True North

Had to share some photos of our annual CDT concert at the Capital Theater. This was one of the first years I didn't sneak a peak at rehearsals and waited for an actual performance to watch my girls in action. All I'd heard from them was how unexciting it was and things like, "Hope you're not too disappointed." During one of the school matinees, I sat way in the back of the balcony with my date Joseph, not expecting to much. Surprisingly, I was simply overwhelmed by the beauty of the message. The title True North embodied it perfectly.

There was a birth and a childhood..


a journey and migration (Analisa was in a dance that depicted caribou, her friend nicknamed her Bambs in honor of her gorgeous deer like stag leaps)...


there were threats and temptations...


and the purifying power of water...


There were many other symbols (Aurora Borealis) and metaphors that all pointed back to their journey...


towards True North...


During Capital Theater week, the older girls are assigned "little sisters" to mentor and look after. Analisa's little sister clung to her like glue.


There was also plenty of time to bond with dear friends.


And time for scary poses for the camera.


I snapped this picture of the family greeting the girls after coming off stage.


You've got to love the proud grandparents who dote on their girls.


And the Tias and cousins who show their support year after year! Thanks guys!








How I adore these girls and how privileged I am to be on this journey with them.

Piano Girl

A few weeks ago my girl Analisa had the chance to audition, win and play at the beautiful Assembly Hall on Temple Square. She put in countless hours in order to pull off a solid audition. Come performance time she was looking a little like this:


As she stepped on to the very high platform to play the piece I'd heard a thousand times before, I felt my heart pound out of my chest for her. A hundred little silent prayers shot out of my head as I held my breath listening to her music fill the room. She was poised and confident and played it better than I'd ever heard it all other 999 times before. We were so proud of her! I wish I'd been allowed to record it. It was gorgeous. She's a hard worker, that girl of mine, and it was so rewarding to see it all pay off when she needed it the most.

My pictures don't do the night justice. Brett, Matthew, Grandpa David, Tia Moni, and her not so secret admirer, Howard, all treked out in the rain to hear her play. It was a night we'll long remember.