Singing and Spinning

Ice Castle - close ups

2011-11-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the close-ups from our day at the ice castles. There's even a picture of me. Not something that happens very often. :)

Ice Castles - The group

2011-11-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

Each year you can find beautiful snow castles up in Midway. This year, we finally managed to make it up to them before they closed. It was a cold day but it was definitely worth it. We went with my parents and my sister's family.

We almost got in trouble because of the brief snowball fight we had in one of the open areas. The girls thought it was really cool.

We went first in the afternoon, then went and had BBQ (that was only mediocre) and then went back to see how the castles looked in the evening with all of the lights. I thought they were super cool in the day but far better at night.

Scott, Mark and Bear Lake

2011-11-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

Scott and Mark went up to Mark's cabin to work on the hardwood floor and do a bit of snowmobiling. The weather was beautiful and they got more snowmobiling in than they did flooring. I'm sure you would do the same based on the photos.

Tibble Fork Sledding

2011-11-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

After a beautiful snowstorm, our family decided to get together with the Dodge and Sanford cousins for a day of sledding. Up at Tibble Fork there is a great sledding hill. It is right off the parking lot and not too hard of a climb. Ivy, Matthew and William had no problems going up and down it. Okay, well, Ivy didn't do much in the way of going down but she did enjoy building snow balls and making snow angels. Jade had a great time going down and even climbed up the higher hill and went down it.

I love the pink cheeks on my little girls after physical exercise and chilly air. When they are bundled up in their bright snow clothes, I am filled with smiles and warm fuzzies.

WPPI - Las Vegas 2011

2011-06-11T23:02:00.000-06:00

This year I was lucky enough to get to go to WPPI in Las Vegas. Mark had me go down and help at his booth during the trade show. In return he put me up and I got to take a ton of AMAZING classes. My first night there started the event off bigger than I ever thought possible.

Okay – so I’m a Nikon shooter. I love my camera. I love the way it feels in my hand. I love the way in shoots in low light. I love the weight and feel of it.

But, I didn’t carry it with me to the Sony Fashion Show with Nigal Barker because I didn’t know what to expect. Boy, am I sad I left it in my room.

Enter my iPhone (and people scoff at camera phone shooters- haa)…

Sure – the faces might be a bit blown out and the exposure isn’t perfect, but I’m not ashamed to share them either.

Anyway…

The conference has been amazing. I can’t wait to recap all that I have learned. To share with you the things that have touched me and motivated me.

I’m not a professional photographer. I don’t “fit in” with this crowd, but I cannot tell you how much I am loving the information I am gaining. I’ve attended an Adobe Lightroom class, a couple of motivational classes (about you and your style) and an amazing class about using the 5 components of photography to encourage your creativity.

By the way, I am sticking with Nikon. Even though the Sony sounds like an amazing camera – especially after hearing Nigel talk it up like it is the greatest camera maker in the world. And, Canon – I love Canon but for speed of continuous focus I’m sticking with my Nikon.

Valentine's Day at my parents

2011-06-10T22:48:00.000-06:00

My mom does an amazing job at celebrating holidays. For Valentine's Day she decorated the tables full of love and hearts. Plus she and dad made all of the food in the shape of a heart and a pretty pink. - Heart rolls, heart meatloaf and pink potatoes - perfectly delicious. The grandkids all had a blast.

Cards for Valentine's Day and for fun...

2011-06-09T22:46:00.000-06:00

Jade really wanted me to do a special photo shoot of her in her solo costume. (She's doing a beautiful solo to "Alice" from the Tim Burton movie). Her costume is so perfect. She went through some of the positions from her dance while I snapped away.

Then we decided to take pictures for their Valentine's Day cards. I think they both turned out just like them.

Some Photo Booth shots...

2011-05-09T23:50:00.000-06:00

Jade's Birthday - Installment #3

2011-05-08T23:02:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I only hinted about Jade's birthday party about 2 months ago, but I am finally getting around to sharing her birthday with you. As far as birthdays go, this is one that I am particularly proud of. Not because I am so awesome, but because she could not have been happier with how it turned out.
Much like Ivy's birthday party, I have a great deal of gratitude to my mom (and dad) for all that they did to make it truly amazing.
The theme that Jade selected was "Alice in Wonderland". She wanted to have her friends over and watch the movie and make personal pizzas. So that is exactly what we did.

We decorated the house with big tissue flowers, hearts and bright colors. My mom made the very fun banner with her "foster-cricut". (It is her friend's cricut but it lives at my mom's house). Then in the dining room I set up another photo booth to take pictures of the kids for their party favors. (By the way, The balloons were all done by "Balloons by Malloon"

As each of the children arrived, I had them select a tea-cup, blue-bottle or a cupcake to hold while they posed with the Mad Hatter. Some of the girls really hammed it up, while others sweetly posed and smiled.

During the movie, I printed all of the photos and put them in the photo envelopes like you would get at a high school dance.

The kids had a kick creating their own pizza. A lesson I learned? Don't go overboard on the toppings. Kids want pepperoni, cheese and more cheese for their toppings.

During the movie, everyone had popcorn bags, licorice, M&M's and bottled water. For the sake of my floor, I'm glad I did water. But maybe flavored water (like Propel) would have been a better option. The water mostly got sipped on and we were left with a bunch of nearly full bottles.

Half way through the movie we took a cake and ice cream break. I made basic white cake and basic chocolate cupcakes. The one thing I did to make them "Alice in Wonderland" like was to use my Rose pan from William-Sonoma and my Flower cupcake pan from Pampered Chef. Then I drizzled a LOT of white frosting on them and covered in bright-colored sugars.

The movie ended just minutes before the parents started to show up to pick up their little girls.

Jade had a wonderful birthday party, she loved having her friends from school and dance come together and all get along like they had known each other for years. (I was really surprised at how well they all played and embraced one another. I was nervous about it and therefore had her limit her invites to those two groups).

The Tim Burton "Alice in Wonderland" was really great for 8 year olds. It isn't very scary, there are no inappropriate or sketchy scenes and the soundtrack is very fun. There were moments that they all did a bit of dancing.

Annual Snowmobile Outing

2011-05-07T23:35:00.000-06:00

Over the years, Scott has enjoyed a nearly annual snowmobile outing. This year, Scott got several outings with Mark but just one with a big group. They went up to Daniel's Summit (I think) and took some gorgeous pictures in the beautiful snow and bright sun.

Unlike the first year they went, no one got lost. There were no injuries nor major sled damage. And I might add, those uneventful trips are the ones that make me the happiest.

Here are some of the absolutely stunning photos that Scott took.

First Gymnastics Meet 2011

2011-05-06T23:45:00.000-06:00

This year Jade is competing in Level 4. Last year as a Level 3, was her first year. She fell in love with the individual competition and often stressed about her scores. This year, she had even higher expectations for herself. It isn't about improving her own score, it is all about getting in the 9's across the board.

During her first meet of the season, she didn't get straight 9's. She missed her dismount on the beam and her floor routine was shakey. She was not thrilled with her performance. But, she did qualify to travel and that (I thought) would take some of the pressure off of her.

The night before the race she was a bit on edge. I wasn't sure what was going on until I sat down with her to make sense of it all. As it turned out, she was stressed about "what if?" she didn't get all blue ribbons (9's)? Hopefully she learned that getting straight 9's isn't the best goal but rather improving her score time after time.

Forever Friends...

2011-05-05T23:28:00.001-06:00

Many years ago I used to spend several Saturdays with these beautiful women. We would laugh together and support one another. Nearly every time we were together we would enjoy Little America's rolls and mashed potatoes.

During that time we became lifelong friends.

We don't live in the same city. It has been 8 years since we have all been together (and even this time we still missed Sasha). But when we got together for dinner at the Dodo, it was just like old times. We laughed, talked, supported and encouraged one another.

I can't wait to get together with them again. Hopefully we won't wait another 8 years.

Jade's Birthday - Installment #2

2011-05-04T23:10:00.000-06:00

Apparently we spend birthday's on field trips. (Okay, Jade's birthday was the next day, but I could only take off one day or the other so we pretended that the field trip was on her birthday).

Ivy got to go on this field trip as well. Luckily the field trips I signed up for they opened up to younger siblings. :) For this field trip, they were short on chaperones, so my mom joined us as well. Which was a HUGE help.

The girls got a long perfectly and Jade let Ivy hang out with her and all of her friends.

My mom is so good at getting the kids really involved in the museum and learning about every single exhibit. I so wish that I could be more like her. It is a goal of mine. :)

We went to the Planetarium and the 2002 Olympics Museum. It was very fun getting to see some of the photographs from the Olympics and to watch a movie full of quick highlights from the winter games. 2002 was a pretty cool time to live in Utah.

Jade's Birthday - installment #1

2011-05-03T22:32:00.000-06:00

Birthdays we like to make special and we seem to gravitate towards our own traditions. One thing that is fast becoming a tradition is going to a tepan restaurant for each of the kids birthdays. We went a few days early for Jade’s because we were able to have both sets of grandparents join us.

This time, I brought my good camera with me and I wasn’t afraid to pull it out.

Here are some of my favorite things about Tepanyaki….

The onion volcano that turns into a choo choo train (complete with the conductor/chef’s whistle).

Large shrimp and extremely tender filet – cooked rare, of course. (Soapbox – for those of you that cook your steaks well done or even medium well, you are losing so much of the flavor and you are making your meat tougher. Please, next time you go to a restaurant ask for medium rare. If you don’t like it, they’ll throw it back on the grill for you. Stepping down now).

The chicken is usually my least favorite – but when you do the feast for two, it comes with chicken. (Yes, the feast for two feeds all 4 of us and we buy and extra soup and salad for the girls to share).

Two girls who cleaned their plates get to enjoy the complimentary birthday ice cream. And as a mom, I couldn’t have been more happy than when they shared it nicely and never complained or pushed the other out of the way.

It was a very fun night. The only down side of a tepan restaurant… it is really difficult to have a conversation with the rest of the group. The fans are loud and the tables are large.

Birthday celebration #1 for Jade – done. Next we have a field trip, treats and school, treats at the gym, and a party. Phew – being 8 is a big deal.

Dance Costumes...

2011-05-02T22:29:00.001-06:00

This year, at dance, Jade is extra busy. Not only is she doing jazz company and hip hop company, she is also doing a solo and a trio. So for the first time, we have had to worry about costumes. I was very nervous when we started discussing options and a bit stressed when we started talking about prices. But in the end, I am absolutely thrilled with the way they turned out. Her trio costume has an adorable criss-cross low back with a fringe skirt. Under the skirt are little booty shorts. The sequins is really itchy but hopefully they will adapt. For her solo (Alice - from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland) she wanted to look like Alice. The costume is FANTASTIC and I especially love the bloomers underneath.

Daddy Daughter Date - Scott style

2011-05-01T22:23:00.000-06:00

We were all off work and school for Martin Luther King Day. So while Ivy and I stayed at home and had a play date, Scott took Jade four-wheeling. Dan and Jaxson went with them and the four of them had an absolute blast. The weather was warm and clear although a bit on the muddy side. Scott took a video of them sloshing through the very deep mud, and the video was filled with the sounds of Jade's adorable giggle.

I absolutely love that Jade enjoys getting dirty and being outside. Since Scott never got his boy, it is a good thing he has a rough and tumble little lady.

Not Quick by Delicious

2011-04-30T22:14:00.000-06:00

Several years ago, Coscto carried a Raclette grill by Trudeau. Scott had memories of eating around a Raclette as a missionary when church members would have them over for dinner. Because of awesome memories, Scott bought one and we were excited to try it. The first thing we realized was that our fancy grill was only good for4-6 people. So we searched and purchased a second. Amazon carries them now.

Over the years we have have had several dinner parties centered around these table top grills. And they are dinner parties that are talked about for years and asked for a repeat.

Here’s how it works…

There is a granite side and a non-stick side of the grill and under the grill are individual non-stick pans.

The granite side is for beef and chicken, the non-stick side is for seafood and the bottom side is for the vegetables and anything else that you want cooked in cheese and butter.

On our table we had plain steak and chicken, teriyaki steak and chicken, peppered steak, shrimp, halibut, grilled onions, mushrooms, spinach, sliced potatoes, steamed zucchini and steamed broccoli.

Everyone gathers around the table and cooks and eats and cooks and eats and cooks and eats – it is AWESOME. There has never been a time that it didn’t taste amazing. Nor has there ever been a time that the conversation stalled. Every time we’ve done it, the kids eventually leave the table and the adults are left to continue indulging themselves with shrimp cooked in butter with some cajun or lemon pepper seasoning and cheese melted on top. Delicious. Even picky eaters or those with special diet needs can indulge and eat the foods they want with the seasoning that they like.

It is an all day ordeal/event. We started cutting and marinating 4 hours before dinner. Dinner takes about an hour from start to finish. Then after dinner, there are two dishwasher loads full of dishes and granite grill plates that are soaked and scrubbed before the grills can be put away.

A few pointers – only use tongs for the meat, have separate tongs for raw chicken, have two butters (one for cooking and one for spreading on rolls), DO NOT scratch the non-stick surface or your grill won’t last you very long, use LOTS of butter. The last pointer – use olive oil on the granite slab while you are preheating it.

For $100 you can purchase a great tool that will be the source of dinner parties and excellent meals for years to come. Totally an investment in awesome memories.

PS – My Teriyaki Sauce recipe…

1/4 cup Kikkoman Teriyaki

3/4 cup Soy Sauce

2-3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tsp garlic clove (minced)

pinch of ground ginger

Lexi Luu Dancewear

2011-04-29T22:12:00.000-06:00

After Ivy's birthday party, we had a couple of friends from dance come over for a quick photoshoot. My friend, January, has become a representative for Lexi Luu dancewear. They seriously have adorable clothes and the girls love wearing them to dance and gymnastics. In order to help my friend get her business off the ground, we did the photoshoot and created fliers and a blog to help her advertise.

The pictures were an absolute hit and the girls loved pretending to be little models.

Seriously Folks - She's only 5

2011-03-06T20:42:00.002-07:00

I loved having the photo booth set up. After all of the kids had left, Ivy put on one of her dress up costumes with all of the jewelry. She then came down and asked me if I could take some pictures of her. She cracked me up posing and smiling for her pictures. Talk about a grown up 5 year old cutie.

Some Favorite Faces

2011-03-05T21:01:00.001-07:00

Here are a few favorite family faces from a little shoot after the party. There is Jade, Axel, Harrison and Matthew. Too too cute.

She may be 5 but it was her 1st Party

2011-03-03T20:40:00.001-07:00

So this year was Ivy’s first friend party. And that little girl knows how to do BIG. There were a dozen little girls and boys at our house for two hours. If I would have let her, Ivy would have invited at least a dozen more. But, I could only handle so many.

Ivy selected the theme “Princess Bubblegum” because, as you can guess there are “Princess Bubblegum” paper goods and party favors at every party store. Oh wait, there isn’t a thing with such a random and totally Ivy theme. So we had to create on our own…

We started out with an invitation that pretty much shouted “IVY”.

Then we decorated for the party. My mom created the favor bags and the banner. We gathered everything we could find in bright pink and lime green.

While we waiting for all the kids to arrive, we played Dance Central on the Kinect. And then the party started. We played lots of games and decorated foam crowns and monster visors from Oriental Trading. Then we started playing games. The first game was “pin the bubble on Ivy” (much like “pin the tail on the donkey” but with a tiny balloon and a 20×30 blow up of Ivy pretending to blow.

The thing that we learned is very very important, should you choose to play the game at a party of your own. Tell the kids to keep their hands up as they walk to the wall. How do I know that that is so important? Well, Ivy didn’t keep her hands up and SMACKED right into the wall. She had a bloody nose off and on for the rest of her party. It was awesome.

Once she quit bleeding, we played Musical Chairs and Unwrap the Parcel. The kids had a great time playing the games. And were excited for cake and ice cream.

After that we took pictures of everyone with their crown or visor. Poor little Ivy had a bit of a swollen nose. (Darn wall). We finished the party with a pinata that was far too hard for little five-year olds to break. But they had fun with it and loved gathering the gum that filled the princess crown pinata.

We packed a LOT into a 2 hour party. But with five-year olds, their attention span is not very long. In fact, musical chairs seemed to lose their interest if they were among the early outs. Lesson learned.

In the end, it was a lot of fun, a fair amount of work (it could have been a bigger production) but it was manageable and Ivy loved it. I feel badly that I couldn’t let her invite everyone that she wanted. I actually like the idea of only being able to invite as many kids as you are old. Maybe next year I’ll be able to hold my ground a little better.

*** PS – The banner and gift tags were made by my mom with the help of a Cricut. The cake was made by Sandy of Sandies Candies.

Mystical Princess Photo Shoot

2011-03-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

For Ivy's birthday invitations, I decided to do a little themed photoshoot. Both girls wanted to dress up as princesses. Ivy was Princess Bubblegum and Jade was Queen Heaven.

Sometimes I am blown away by the beauty and sweetness in their faces. I always want to remember how much fun they have together when they want to. The sweet hugs and kind words that are said between two sisters that love each other are some of my favorite moments as a mom.

I needed to make a picture of her blowing a bubble. These are some of my favorite out takes.

A New Year's Eve Worth Mentioning

2011-02-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

As I go through and get caught up on my posts, I realized I had neglected New Year's Eve. How could I forget New Year's Eve, you ask? Well, I didn't take a single picture. Not one. And since my memories are visually stimulated, I missed this one fun night.

In the past we spend New Year's Eve celebrating with my family. But this year, my folks were in California with Tom's family so we were on our own.

My work is on the calendar year, so end of quarter is also the last day of the year. It sucks but it is how our family has gotten to celebrate New Year's Eve for the past 6 years. But this year turned out differently. I was able to completely close our quarter by the 30th. On the 31st there was not a single order that I needed to track or locate. It was awesome.

We went to Dan and Angela's for a very fun family oriented party. Everyone played games. Everyone ate lots of yummy food. Everyone laughed and had a blast. Ivy played dress up (because that is what she does every single chance she gets).

It was a great night and very different than what we typically do.

Ivy's Birthday

2011-02-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

Ivy is five – and all day she reminded us that it was her birthday and that she is five. Oh the list of things that she can and will do now that she’s five! I’m crossing my fingers that her “now that I’m five I’m going to do whatever you ask me to do” really does happen.

We went on a field trip with Jade’s second grade class.

We went to Tokyo for a Teppan dinner.

We opened presents.

We read her book and called it a night.

Happy Birthday Ivy Rose!

Baby Lydia's Blessing Day

2011-02-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some super sweet pictures of Baby Lydia on her special blessing day.