Brinners

The best thing about Brin is that you never know what is going to come out of her mouth. Sometimes I think if you looked through her ear with one of those doctor-lookey-light-things you would see a hamster running on a little wheel, powering her random thoughts. Last night we were at Panda Express between erands and dance class. She had her little kids meal all packed up and I told her, "If you are finished, please throw that in the trash". She answered, "NOOOOOO. I'm leftovering it". Left-over-ing. That killed me. It's a new verb, as in to 'left-over' something. Caroline had better speech and vocabulary at age three than Brin does now at five. I think I prefer her this way, though, because she is always a kick in the pants.

What the Hail!

WHY OH WHY is it hailing the last week in May??? I mean, come on! It's almost June for crying out loud. Of course I spent the day cleaning with Whitney (you could have eaten off my floors) and the kids all came through with muddy shoes. Oh well.

Today was, of course, Memorial Day. I didn't think much about this day, as we don't have family buried in Utah and Jeff is in London on business, but as I drove to my tennis lesson tonight I listened to NPR's Radio West. Doug Fabrizio (LOVE HIM!) was interviewing Gene Jacobson, author of We Refused to die. Here is a summary:

In 1942 the Japanese army forced about 70,000 US and Philippino prisoners of war to march some 80 miles across the Bataan Peninsula on the way to a prison camp. More than 10,000 died or were summarily executed along the way. Among the survivors was Gene Jacobsen - who published a book about the ordeal. Jacobsen joined us back in 2004 to share his story of three and a half years as a prisoner of war. (Rebroadcast)

Here is the link to the broadcast:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1284397

Just as I drove up to the courts the broadcast ended and Doug announced that Gene Jacobson had died last May. With tears streaming from my eyes I wondered: how I could love him so quickly? How I could feel so much gratitude and compassion for this warm voice? I was so sad that the world had lost him. I realized how few men (and I mean real men) there really are toady.

Thank you to those out there who have given or are giving the "fullest measure of devotion".

Brin is Five!

For Brin's fifth birthday we went to the Kangaroo Zoo (a warehouse filled with bounce houses) with seven little girls. They had a blast on the "rides" and loved the balloon animal lady. She made the girls princess hats and a special rainbow for Brin. Other kids began asking her to make them a rainbow too, but she said that special creation was reserved for the birthday girl alone. It was super cool!

seepy baby

One of the many difficult transitions babies make is the famous "two-naps-to-one" that occurs at about 18 months. Gracie Baby is having a hard time deciding when to sleep and for how long. On this particular day I knew she needed to sleep again in the late afternoon but when I put her down she played 'jump in the crib' for 30 minutes and then cried to get up. By this time it was too late to have her nap and still expect a reasonable bed time so I let her stay up. Minutes later I found her sitting at the playroom table, sound asleep. How is this even comfortable? Why didn't she go limp and fall off and onto the floor? Why weren't there more people in my house to see this amazing display of cuteness??? So many questions...

Happy Easter

Brinley, Gracie, Caroline and Paige at Grandma's for our Dinner and Easter Egg Hunt.

Utah: This is the Place!

Rave reviews are flooding in for the Freedom Academy fourth grade production of "Utah: This is the Place!" Not to be missed were the fur trappers, the Native Americans and, of course, the Mormon Pioneers. Caroline starred as Kirsten the cooking pioneer, representing the hard work the women exerted to feed their resource-strapped families. As she stirred her imaginary cuisine in the front row she developed, true to form, a silly pioneer alter-ego and began feigning vomit as she sipped from her bowl. I watched in horror from the back row as she stirred, sipped, gagged and spit through the moving pioneer tribute song. Finally, toward the end of the song, she spotted me standing in the back with a red face. Busted. As our eyes met I motioned with two fingers to my face, "I'm watching you..." My Robert DeNiro to Ben Stiller impersonation worked and she straightened up. Funny girl.

Olé!

Happy Cinco de Mayo from our shortest little jumping bean. We served chips and salsa from this sombrero along side our Mexican-themed dinner. Gracie couldn't resist wearing the hat we were all trying to eat out of. Jeff kept mumbling, "Does anyone even know what Cinco de Mayo is about?" Caroline informed him that it was Mexico's independence day, although she didn't know from whom they had been liberated. I would like to apologize to out neighbors to the south for being so ignorant about this holiday, but thank them for the enchiladas, fried ice cream and guacamole.

Cabo San Lucas

Jeff and I spent five days in Cabo at the Rui Palace. Highlights included swimming with the dolphins, glass-bottom boat tours, massage at the spa and relaxing by the pool and on the beach. In this photo we are standing between 'lovers beach' and 'divorce beach' at the end of the Baja peninsula. Behind us you see the pacific ocean with tumultuous waves and undertows and in front of us the Gulf of California with calm shores. I also loved watching the nightly wedding on the beach of our resort. One of these was interrupted by an out-of-control horse and teenaged girl rider. I hoped someone would capture that for America's Funniest Home Videos!

It is so much work to go away, so nice to be gone and so very very good to be back home again.

Happy 15th

Don't adjust your set...you aren't seeing things...yes, that is indeed Beverly Burke wearing a pair of JEANS!

Jenny and I planned a fantastic party to celebrate her 15th birthday on February 29th (you do the math). There were throngs of well-wishers comming and going, old friends from around the country and lots of family. Not to mention cake.

Just some of the flowers she recieved. She is so loved!

Chop-chop-snip-snip

Our cute neighbor just graduated from beauty school and cut the girls' hair. Brin brought her Kit Kitridge doll downstairs and wanted an identical haircut. SO STINKIN' CUTE! We have to round brush it every day but it is well worth the time. Caroline wanted highlights in her hair, but I knew that Jeff would object. As I talked to Chantelle about this Caroline explained, "My dad is SO old school".

That killed me.

In the end she did get some blonde hightlights and looks beautiful. Of course.

Super-Duper Fun FUN FUN

We were the happiest people on earth at the happiest place on earth in early March. Jenny, Jeremy, Brock and Paigie joined us. Perfect weather, five to ten minute lines and the best kids on the earth. It really doesn't get any better than this.

As we rode the tram in and the recorded voice welcomed us Jeff mocked along in his radio voice, "Welcome! To the Happiest Place on Earth. At this time, please! Open your wallets and hand over to us, all of the money you have inside!"

Boingers

Disneyland is like many other self-contained places, which is to say that things seem normal while you are there that do not seem normal in the everyday course of your life. For example: in your regular life you would not pay $5.50 for an ice cream sandwich. But in the Magic Kingdom that seems quite reasonable. Clothes are much the same. In your normal life you would not wear a sweatshirt with a duck or a dog or a mouse embroidered on it. You would also not wear hot pink "boingers" on your head for two days. But in this context...anyting goes. Feel free to apply whimsy to all aspects of your day.

This is probably why I keep comming back. And back. And Back...

Matchy-matchy

For our trip I decided to dress the little girls in super-cute matching outfits. I also made each of the four (including Paigie) matching jewelry that fit their personality. When I came home with the first outfit Jeff rolled his eyes (he says he didn't, but I know he was at least thinking about rolling his eyes). By the time I was packing their suitcases, however, he said, "Now, you have matching outfits for them every day, right? That is a super cute idea." I can get away with anything if it's for the girls!!! By the time I came home with the third outfit Caroline, who is nine, said, "Mom- really. Enough with the matching clothes. One is cute, but this is getting ridiculous."

All day in the park peole comented on how cute they looked.

On the teacups

Brin's face says it all...

kiss face

Why do all babies give open-mouthed kisses?

Grace face

Sorry, friends, but my baby is the cutest.

Dippidee

My favorite funny friend Courtnee turned me on to Dipidee, a local bakery. In many ways I really wish she hadn't. I'm finding myself thinking of excuses to drive 25 minutes up to American Fork to buy a $2.50 cupcake. For my 35th birthday I ordered the most delicious chocolate cake with super cute pink polk-a-dots. Worth every penny, every calorie, and every ounce of teasing I recieve for being so obsessed with these cakes.

Tennis Camp

In January a few of the girls from my tennis league attended the Vic Braden tennis camp in St. George. We worked hard all day for three days and then ate out at night, went to the movies, shopped and talked (and talked and talked). Each of these ladies is beautiful inside and out. I'd die without their friendships!

Caroline the great!

I love that I know my kids so well. I know what they are thinking even before they do. :) So when I saw this magic show kit in the dollar bin at Michaels I had to get it as a stocking stuffer for this tricky little girl, and did I hit the jackpot! She set up magic shows at almost every event we attended over the break. Here she is with her lovely assistant, Molly McIntyre

The Love Dr. is IN

Over the holiday we had an extended family party and white elephant gift exchange. Here is my mother in law who received Mario Brothers "Love Dr." boxer shorts. In years past I would have DIED of embarrassment to see her open such a provocative gift, but we've seen quite a loosening of her morals these past few years and she appreciated the humor in the gift.

Here are a few of the clever gifts at our exchange: Aunt Heather brought a half eaten box of chocolates and a picture of Brinley with chocolate all over her face. Jenny brought an elaborately decorated pair of bedroom slippers with lace, bows and rhinestones. The were made of maxi pads. My dad found a super funny hat at DI, which Beverly actually liked and wore around the rest of the night. Jeff brought a rubber chicken, hand sanitizer and an article on avian flu. Jeremy brought a huge color picture of himself in front of a Christmas tree which he signed, "Best Wishes from Jeremy". My personal favorite gift (which I brought) was a pacifier tied with a note that read, "This note is to be read by Grandma Beverly or Grandma Connnie. Congratulations! You are going to be a Grandma again! Announcing baby Runia, due to be born July 2008. Love, Jenny and Jeremy" Jenny isn't expecting a baby, but it took a few minutes to straighten out the confusion and convince the Grandmas that this was a white elephant gift. Super fun times! I was more excited about these gifts than our real ones!

Gracie turns one

December 27th marked Gracie's first birthday. We celebrated with my family who were in town for Christmas and Jeff's family who all live in town. Caroline also had a piano recital that night and was happy to have loads of fans in the audience.