About 3 weeks ago my girls, who where off to various camps at the time, where asked to sing for my niece Julia's baptism. We picked the girls up that Saturday morning, headed to the church and pretty much gave them 20 minutes to rehearse before the actual event. Analisa had probably played the song twice in her life and it was the first time my cute nieces Ariana and Serina had ever sang it with the piano. I tip toed into the room where they were rehearsing, camera in hand and filmed a small portion of their song. In my typical fashion, it is wobbly, out of focus and not complete. The message and spirit however, are there which is why I even bother sharing.
With the start of school and the many adventures that lie ahead for these little beauties, I pray the words to this song will guide their path.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
My Spanish Rose
From Brett:
20 Years Ago...
This photo represents one of the happiest days of my life. I felt like I was the luckiest man alive and I couldn't believe that I actually had found her and she actually said yes.
I spent a-lot of years waiting for my turn and I had no idea that I would find a priceless pearl from the Spanish barrios of Houston. Who would have thought that? I had no clue, no inkling of the road that would lead me to where I am now and that I would find her when I did and how I did. Life is full of serendipity and twists and turns. If you listen down deep, life will take you on adventures and journeys you never imagined or anticipated. And they all will lead you to your true and best self, your most fulfilled self, the one that can only emerge when you have that unique person in your life that fills in all the empty spaces.
Friday, August 13, 2010
longing
Life has been on turbo speed these last few weeks. Only 10 days left of summer and I feel like it just began. Sad.
My mom, dad and two sisters came in from out-of-town which have made things around here extra eventful. Mom impressed us yet again with her absolutely divine cooking. I wish I had the photo skills and vocabulary to adequately describe her gift. It is pure magic what that mama of mine can do with a few simple ingredients. In Papi's exact words, "Pues Martha, te aventaste como siempre." Translation: "Well Martha, as always, you out did yourself!" I have picked up a few of her secrets and can duplicate a teeny, tiny bit of her recipes but mostly I just sit back in awe and take just one, or two, or three... extra bites to savor her magic before she leaves and we're left with cold cereal and boring pizza.
As much as I LOVE her cooking I miss her company the most. Her sweet laugh and the sound of her voice. We enjoyed some quiet time lounging around the pool watching the kids jump off the high dive while talking politics, dating and future possibilities. We'd come home, send the kids to bed and talk some more. It's usually when she's here that I realize how much I truly missed her company. Now she's gone- back to school, work and life's up's and downs in Oklahoma. What I wouldn't give for one more mole enchilada, but even more, a warm mom embrace and the chance to tell her face to face how much she is loved.
miss you, mom.
My mom, dad and two sisters came in from out-of-town which have made things around here extra eventful. Mom impressed us yet again with her absolutely divine cooking. I wish I had the photo skills and vocabulary to adequately describe her gift. It is pure magic what that mama of mine can do with a few simple ingredients. In Papi's exact words, "Pues Martha, te aventaste como siempre." Translation: "Well Martha, as always, you out did yourself!" I have picked up a few of her secrets and can duplicate a teeny, tiny bit of her recipes but mostly I just sit back in awe and take just one, or two, or three... extra bites to savor her magic before she leaves and we're left with cold cereal and boring pizza.
As much as I LOVE her cooking I miss her company the most. Her sweet laugh and the sound of her voice. We enjoyed some quiet time lounging around the pool watching the kids jump off the high dive while talking politics, dating and future possibilities. We'd come home, send the kids to bed and talk some more. It's usually when she's here that I realize how much I truly missed her company. Now she's gone- back to school, work and life's up's and downs in Oklahoma. What I wouldn't give for one more mole enchilada, but even more, a warm mom embrace and the chance to tell her face to face how much she is loved.
miss you, mom.
Friday, July 30, 2010
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.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
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!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
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.
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.
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