31 May 2012

. . . weather or not . . .

. . . today's conditions . . .


 . . . heavens! look at tomorrow . . . 


. . . only seven short days ago . . .


. . . and my memory 
has already faded . . .


30 May 2012

. . . an old fashioned revival . . .

. . . when i pruned the heck 
out of this sweet alyssum
i crossed my fingers . . .
. . . that was a month ago . . .


. . . and although the geraniums 
have slowed way down . . .
. . . the alyssum has made 
a remarkable comeback . . .


. . . i believe in weekly 
miracle gro mondays . . .
. . . what i don't believe in 
is triple digit temperatures 
from now til november . . .
. . . boo . . .


29 May 2012

. . . wonder woman . . .

. . . i'm referring to 
this little girl's mother . . .
. . . because just look 
at the kind of birthday party 
she threw for 
soon-to-be-ten-year-old addison . . .

. . . strawberry lemonade 
was the theme . . .
. . . including die-cut lemonade banner,
 color coordinated everything, 
homemade pink lemonade cupcakes, 
fresh fruit, 
apothecary candy jars, 
and a matching swimsuit . . .

. . . addi will turn a whole decade old 
at the end of june . . .


. . . but this year, 
she blew out her birthday candle 
a month early . . .
. . . because her family 
is relocating to california 
until the end of summer . . .
. . . where amber 
and the kids will play 
and chris 
will be working his tail off . . . 
. . . thankful for a summer job . . .


. . . when the kids found out 
they'd be gone 
for almost three months, 
three of them 
~ those with summer birthdays ~
 were quite upset . . .
. . . what about our birthday parties,
 mom????? . . .
. . . and so, nice mom that she is . . .
. . . hosted parties 
for all three birthday kids 
on memorial day . . .
. . . the day before they move . . .

. . . yeah, like i said . . .
. . . wonder woman . . .


28 May 2012

. . . why i plant red flowers . . .

. . . because they look fabulous 
with christmas decorations 
in december . . .
. . . and ~ thanks to sophie, 
my apprentice/substitute gardener, 
who kept them alive for eight days
 while i was out of town ~ 


. . . they still look fabulous 
with flags on memorial day . . .


27 May 2012

. . . road trippin' . . .

. . . i like to drive . . .
. . . this is lucky, 
since sitting time 
is severely limited for bill . . .
. . . i was behind the wheel . . .
. . . while he rested in the back . . .
. . . he is very good 
at not being a backseat driver . . .
. . . i, on the other hand, 
am a very annoying 
passenger seat nagger . . .
. . . so, this situation 
was a best case scenario . . .

. . . here are some scenes 
from the road . . .
{and, yes, many are iphone pix taken by me while driving. shhhh!}

. . . i swear i was 
behind this semi 
filled with what appeared to be 
river rafts of some sort 
for about a half hour 
between flagstaff and page . . .
. . . it was verrrrrrrrrrrrrry windy 
and that thing was fishtailing 
and swaying all over both lanes . . .
. . . i nearly had to stop 
for a dramamine 
just watching it . . .


. . . mmmmmmmmm . . .
. . . public restrooms . . .
. . . my favorite . . .
. . . especially when 
they're held together 
with cardboard and duct tape . . .
{at least instructions were clearly posted 
and all amenities were included}


. . . clever advertising . . .
. . . it caught MY attention . . .


. . . starting the climb from sandy 
into little cottonwood canyon . . .


. . . when you're used to 
arizona's "green", 
it's hard to believe places like this 
really exist . . .
. . . lush pines and cottonwoods, 
which were just 
starting to leaf out . . .
. . . truly lovely . . .


. . . there were 
a crazy amount of bikers . . .
. . . i mean 
the kind without motors . . .
. . . and what goes up . . .


. . . must come down . . .
. . . this group was going 
about 60 mph . . .
. . . there are signs all along telling you
 to "share the road" . . .
. . . these guys were hard core . . .


. . . in the half hour it takes to drive
 from the freeway in sandy 
to the resort at snowbird, 
the temperature 
drops twenty degrees . . . 


. . . luckily, the cliff lodge 
was comfy and cozy . . .


. . . now we're home again . . .
. . . after a day of driving 
on extremely well-patrolled 
highways and freeways 
this holiday weekend . .  .
. . . all the more justification 
for my penchant 
for only going about 
three or four miles per hour  
above the posted speed limit . . .
. . . two cars absolutely flew past me
 between kanab and page yesterday . . .
. . . and i must admit there was 
a certain sense of satisfaction 
when not thirty seconds down the road 
i watched as a highway patrolman
 waved them both over 
to the shoulder . . .
. . . then as posted on many signs 
along the side of the road, 
i slowed down and pulled to the left 
as i passed them . . . 
. . . with my cruise control set about 
three or four miles per hour
over the speed limit . . .
. . . nanny nanny boo boo . . .


26 May 2012

. . . location location location . . .

. . . who knows if/when 
i'll ever make a quilt top 
in a setting like this again . . .


. . . jessalyn and i 
found the fabric 
for baby hayden's crib bedding 
at american quilting in orem . . .


. . . fabric ~ 
vintage modern 
by bonnie and camille . . .
. . . pattern name ~ 
charlie brown chevron . . .
. . . construction site ~
snowbird, utah . . .


25 May 2012

. . . here's your sign . . .

. . . while i was "stuck" all day
 at snowbird, 
bill went to spend some time
 with his younger brother . . .
. . . they planned to meet halfway,
 then ride together . . . 
. . . so, after filling the car with gas
 {again} 
he parked 
in the huge empty lot
of an abandoned big box store . . . 
. . . when they returned 
three hours later, 
the car was gone . . . 

. . . g . . . 
. . . o . . .
. . . n . . .
. . . e . . .

. . . only then did john 
notice a tiny sign ~ 
not on the row where bill parked
 ~ saying no parking 
was allowed there . . .
. . . our car had been towed 
to a fenced lot 
four blocks away . . . 
. . . by a fabulous towing company
 who only accepts cash 
{and lots of it!} 
as payment . . .


. . . bless their hearts . . . 


24 May 2012

. . . gno . . .

. . . jessalyn and i 
had a couple of hours to kill
 while bill and drew 
went on a "good walk 
spoiled by a little white ball" . . . 

. . . mani/pedis it was . . . 

. . . good thing i have 
a utah friend
 who could recommend 
a nail salon . . .
. . . thanks, lesli! . . .
. . . royal nails in pleasant grove
 didn't disappoint . . .
. . . i'm a big fan of the razor 
and hot wax . . . 


. . . we even tried 
the shellac manicure . . .
. . . ask me in a couple of weeks 
if it's all it's cracked up to be . . . 
. . . jess went with
 girly/fluorescent/glow-in-the-dark
 pink . . .

{because she's young and cute}

. . . i, on the other hand, 
went with the predictable/bland/
goes-with-everything 
french manicure . . . 

{because i am old and boring}


23 May 2012

. . . HSTs . . .

. . . since we had so much fun
last week . . .
. . . our quilt group decided
 to meet again this week . . .
. . . i'm there . . . 
. . . but in spirit only . . .
. . . don't worry, though . . .
. . . i'm totally sewing . . .
. . . just with 
a different background . . .


. . . cutting squares 
for baby hayden's quilt . . . 


. . . and making lots of 
half square triangles . . . 
. . . HSTs as they are known 
in the quilting world . . .


. . . for today, however, 
i will refer to them as 
half SNOW triangles . . .
. . . yes, that's white stuff 
falling right outside my balcony 
as i stitch away . . . 
. . . utah is so confusing . . .


22 May 2012

. . . on the menu today . . .

. . . lots of white pom poms . . .
. . . diet coke . . .


. . . and howie . . .


21 May 2012

. . . patties . . .

. . . remember this 
"smiling pile of poo"
 emoticon? . . .
. . . i find it very funny 
when amanda includes it 
in her texts . . .


. . . what i don't find funny 
is there were three of them 
{of the cat variety 
~ AND I DO NOT HAVE A CAT!!!
 which i chose not to photograph 
~ you're welcome ~}
this morning 
in my freshly mown front yard . . . 
. . . and i managed to step 
in two of them . . .
. . . smiling pile of poo? . . .
. . . i could almost them
laughing at me . . .

. . . #timetobuynewwalkingshoes . . .



20 May 2012

. . . sunday funday . . .

. . . true fact . . . 
. . . some churches 
are prettier than others . . .
. . . this one was particularly lovely . . .
. . . with the wasatch mountains 
in the background . . .
. . . and because 
these two were inside . . .

. . . bill was even more impressed 
with this backdrop . . .

. . . i hope you found beauty 
on this sabbath day . . .


19 May 2012

. . . dinner and a show . . .

. . . tate got to choose the location 
for his birthday dinner . . .
. . . organ stop pizza . . .
. . . home of 
the mighty wurlitzer pipe organ . . .


. . . my kids think 
i ought to moonlight there . . .
. . . you know ~ 
on the nights 
when i'm not playing 
at church or at the temple . . .


. . . i'm thinking a sparkly jacket,
 bubble machine, 
train whistle, 
and some dancing feline puppets 
would spice up our meetings . . .
. . . i wonder if they could fit that 
into the ward budget? . . .


18 May 2012

. . . the twins . . .

. . . every . . .
. . . single . . .
. . . year . . .
. . . they have their birthdays 
{click those links and watch these two age backwards}
. . . tate william hansen 
and william orin romney . . .
{i requested their photo be taken somewhere other than bed this year}

. . . then the other two amigos 
had to join in . . .
{that's elliott andrew on the left and tagg christan on the right}


. . . the kids gave bill 
a great big basket 
full of portable treats . . .
. . . something to eat . . .
. . . something to drink . . .
. . . something to listen to . . .
. . . something to read . . .


. . . many hands make light work 
when it comes to opening gifts . . .


. . . although tagg 
seemed more interested 
in whatever was on tv . . .


. . . tate got beachwear from us . . .
. . . but i bet he was 
waaaay more impressed 
when he opened 
this batman costume 
from his mama and daddy . . .


. . . proving his continued love 
for super heros . . .