Spring Break-St George style

So, after what seemed like the craziest, most busy week ever in the life-of-Sarah....I woke up early the morning after Easter, packed speedy quick and headed south to St. George with Lilian, Rebekah and two of Rebekah's pals (Shannon and Patricia) in tow. We drove the 5-hour journey also speedy quick. Which I suppose means that really the drive likely took less than 5 hours. All this hurry, hurry, hurry so we could sit down, take it slow, and get that hurry out of our system for a few days in the sun.

Neither Shannon nor Patricia had ever been to St. George before so we enjoyed showing off the red-rocked beauty of southern Utah. Not that I'm a native myself, my visits only starting just within the past 10 years or so. And because St. George makes for a great Spring Break retreat, apparently half of the students from their high school were also down south. Which meant that within a few hours of arrival, the three girls had been asked out on a triple date. Some other friends, twin brothers, were visiting their grandparents in the very same subdivision where we were staying and we saw them every day. It was a teenager trip, Lilian and I were just along for the ride...playing the roles of designated photographer, taxi driver and bank.

But relax we did. And even if we spent our days somewhat on the go, it was a different kind of go which made it happy and welcome.

I have a feeling that we were probably not supposed to touch the tortoise, let alone actually pick it up. I believe they are protected in Snow Canyon. I'm afraid we let our excitement of actually finding one run away with us....

Apparently no visit to the dunes is complete without having buried yourself in the sand...

    

Lilian clambered all over those lava rocks like a mountain goat, giving me fits of panic as I imagined her tripping or losing her balance. Those lava rocks are ridiculously sharp and I could only too easily imagine a trip to the ER for stitches. But when I voiced my concern she calmly replied, "It's okay, Mom. I'm made for climbing." Well I guess that makes it all okay, then?

We hadn't originally intended to hike in Snow Canyon, just visit the sand dunes. But the weather was nice and the landscape seemed to be calling us so, despite the fact that our footwear was not ideal for hiking, we took the Butterfly Trail and explored some petrified sand dunes and lava tubes. I have to admit, I was pleased to discover that those $5 Old Navy flip flops gripped the rock quite well....

 God's handiwork is pretty darn impressive, is it not? The landscape and the girls... 

Isn't it interesting that the teenagers enjoyed chalking just as much, if not more, than the 5-year old? Although I have to say, Lilian looks like she has them beat hands down when it comes to ice cream joy.

Pool time. Every single day. 

Why does it seem each time I hike the crack it feels tighter? Some potential proof...I came out the end with a hole in my t-shirt from skinnying past the rock. That's never happened before. I suppose an easy explanation would be that maybe I am gaining weight? But Rebekah said she feels like things are tighter in there too. Maybe it's just a claustrophobic mind thing....

Spring chickens

I consider it spring when the calendar hits March 20th. And then of course the weather usually starts to get warmer. The daffodils come up followed closely by hyacinths and crocus', and finally tulips. Grass starts getting greener. The birds chirp and the trees blossom. It's all good stuff. But this year we got another sign of spring that we don't usually experience....baby animals! Realistically, we do have a field of cows behind our house. And they do tend to have the cutest little baby calves in early spring. But other than awwww-ing over them from my back windows, I don't have much contact.

This year was another story entirely. Not for baby calves, mind you. Those were still a window viewing experience only. But take a look at this early spring cuteness....

We had a family Easter dinner and egg hunt at Uncle Kevin's and Aunt Kari's burgeoning farm. They have recently decided to try their hand at raising chickens and goats. I tell you what, it's pretty darn cute to watch those baby goats run around the yard with the kids, just like a dog would do....darn cute, yesiree.

Token Easter Egg hunt pictures:

It's kind of nice to be at a point where though my older daughters may not want to hunt for eggs themselves, they do enjoy hiding said eggs. I didn't have to do a thing. Julianne even stuffed them full of candy for me.

But hey, wait! The baby animal cuteness is not over yet. Because do you want to see what we have roaming around in our very own backyard?

Clearly this a big step beyond the window-viewing or farm-visiting, awww-inspiring, cuteness. This comes along with not only the novelty of soft and fluffy and cute right in your own hands....but also the responsibility of feeding and watering and making sure they don't get stuck in the wagon or squeeze under the fence into the neighbors backyard, shopping at C-A-L Ranch for chicken feed and hay, etc.

As of right now, we are chick-sitting for some neighbors who have been out of town on vacation. But seeing as our backyard is backed up to a farm already and we have all sorts of open space for an enclosed coop beside and behind our man cave...the situation may become more permanent. A partnership of sorts, where we share the financials and chores...but also the eggs. Time will tell what ends up happening with these little feathered friends. But in the meantime, it's been awfully fun to watch them grow. I'm rather shocked at how big they've got in only two weeks time. The yellow duck (that Julianne has temporarily named Sabrina...) is huge! And in another funny little moment, Bryan brought one of the chickens into our kitchen yesterday evening and introduced it to our five parakeets. They all looked a little shocked....the parakeets AND the chicken.

Singing Disney style

Julianne is in Disneyland this week. I'm guessing the majority of her time is being spent riding the attractions, seeing the sites, flirting with the boys, hanging out at the beach, and staying up way too late with her roommates in the hotel. But the real reason for the trip is performing. So before they left we got a sneak peak at their show....a medley of songs from Princess and the Frog and Mary Poppins....before they officially unveiled it at California Adventure and Disneyland.

She lights up the stage, doesn't she? 

And in a like-mother-like-daughter moment....
Julianne was assigned to sing the solo "Practically Perfect" from Mary Poppins. It's a song I know really well having sung it numerous myself... at a vocal master class and a subsequent recital and then also at the Cherry Hill summer concert the I performed with Higher Ground last July. And so I found it humorous as I looked at the pictures I'd taken, to realize that we both made similar facial expressions as we channeled the Mary Poppins character....

....I'm practically perfect from head to toe,
If I had a fault it would never dare to show,
I'm so practically perfect in every way,

Both prim and proper and never to stern,
Well educated yet willing to learn,
I'm clean and honest my manner refined,
And I wear shoes of the sensible kind...

Brandon is twelve

Brandon turned 12 this past week. It's kind of freaking me out a little bit. But what else is new? This being my 3rd child to turn the magical age of 12, I have history to look back on... and therefore was not only NOT surprised...but completely expecting to weird out at least a little bit, just as in years past. There's just something about that age....

His birthday kind of stretched out over a few days. It was a week from the land of crazy at our house so we weren't really able to get it all done in one day. But hey, who's going to complain about a celebration that keeps going and going? So with breakfast in bed, birthday donuts for all the gymnastics teammates and a late night gift fest on the actual day, a birthday dinner at Taste of India the next day, and then a sleepover with some gymnastics friends on Friday...we got the boy officially celebrated.

 Yes. The kid did indeed ask for a microscope for his birthday....

Brandon was promised this rifle when he turned 12-years old. Bryan put a fancy new scope on it for him.

But the cool thing about turning 12-years old....receiving the Aaronic Priesthood and being ordained to a Deacon at church on Easter Sunday. This was new for me. Coming from a family of all girls and then having two daughters before Brandon came around obviously did not prepare me for what a neat experience this would be. My parents came to participate....this was not only the first time Bryan had the opportunity to pass down the Priesthood through the family line, but also the first time for my Dad as well, seeing as he didn't have any sons. I think it meant a lot to all three of them.

It being Easter Sunday, a photo shoot commenced....
Lilian was grumpy. Bummer.

The Wiffer Girl

 Lilian is my near constant companion. She follows me around everywhere. She accompanies me on errands, taxi driving, rehearsals and voice lessons. We watch TV together, read together, cook together, many times she climbs in my bed at night and we even go to sleep together. But there are plenty of evenings when I have things going on where she gets told "no, you have to stay home." She doesn't like that. She likes to be my buddy, go where I go. So there have been many times where I am leaving to the sound of her tears and complaints.

When Bryan tells her that she can't go, that she needs to stay home with him this time, she'll tearfully reply "But I want to go wiff her!" Struggling with the TH sound in with, Bryan teases her about being the "wiffer girl."

So when I had to reschedule my ticket date to see Hale Centre Theatre's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang I decided to add an extra ticket and bring the Wiffer Girl with me. After all, when her older siblings were her age, I took each one of them to see their first musical at Hale. Rebekah saw Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, Julianne saw Annie, and with Brandon, it was Beauty and the Beast. So maybe it was time to bring Lilian wiff me to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

And now neither one of us can get the song out of our heads....

A good case of the giggles

Ever have a laughing fit...in the middle of Sacrament Meeting at church??

I'm a firm believer in singing the hymns. Good and strong, loud and proud. And really focusing in on the words we're singing and the message behind them. Bryan knows this, seeing as he shares a hymn book with me each Sunday. So as we rounded into the 3rd verse of All Creatures of Our God and King this past Sunday, I wondered as he chuckled beside me. I continued to sing through another stanza as I tried to figure out why...it was clear he was laughing at me. And somewhere in my brain I knew something didn't feel right about what I had just sung. I glanced back at the previous words and in an instant I realized what I had done.

"Did I just say flushing???" Bryan nodded and chuckled again. My brain had taken flowing and combined it with the word rushing in the verse just above, which came out flushing.

Thou flushing water, pure and clear.....

I started giggling. And then those giggles expanded into something stronger. And pretty soon both Bryan and I were shaking with silent laughter. I could not stop! I was laughing so hard that tears were rolling down my cheeks. I was laughing so hard that when I glanced up at the Bishop (we were on the 3rd row) I found him watching us with a big smile stretched across his face and his shoulders shaking a bit as he found humor in watching the two of us try to control our mirth. I would think I had myself under control, only to look up at Bryan's face and the whole thing would start all over again.

Isn't it funny how the strangest things can give you a good case of the giggles?

I wonder how many other people heard me sing good and strong, loud and proud....Thou flushing water, pure and clear.... 

MOAT

....the Mother Of All Tests.

Except that Rebekah's history teacher gives a MOAT each term. Seems to me that something like the MOAT which is aptly named to inspire fear...or motivation to study....would be an enormous test only given once a year or perhaps once each semester. But no, once a term it is. The test is all about historical who's and what's and when's. It's worth a whopping 300 points....because the kids have to have the exact definition word-for-word perfect. It doesn't matter if they have explained the word, person or event correctly....if there is even a "it" or "and" or any other word out of order or left out....minus 5 points. (Which bothers me, actually. What's the point? I'm seriously considering an email to the teacher...)

Rebekah was rather stressed about this term's MOAT. She didn't feel ready. She even got to the point where she floated the idea past me of allowing her to miss her history class the next day so she'd have an extra day to study and would be able to officially make up the test because of an absence. I reminded her that just the day before, she had spent her evening at a friend's house watching "The Bachelor" finale and that frankly I didn't feel overly sorry for her. And yet....I did take slight pause. Rebekah has a 3.9 GPA that she is trying to maintain. And that GPA is important when it comes to scholarship and college opportunities. But darn it all, she needed to learn a lesson about procrastination and responsibility, yes?

Rebekah studied and studied. And after I got tired of quizzing her, I went to bed and she stayed up late studying some more. I think we were both surprised (and relieved) when she got a full 300 points on the test! I'm not sure she truly learned her lesson on procrastination however. Seeing as just a few days later she left her end of term english essay on "The Grapes of Wrath" to the very last day of term...finished it with just 10 minutes to spare before the official drop dead due date and time. Sigh.

St. Patty's Day

I get a little excited about St. Patricks Day. Oh who am I kidding...I get a lot excited about holidays in general. St. Patricks Day isn't an overly big holiday but I've got Irish blood in me so I tend to get more excited than most about this particular holiday, minor as it may be. And though we don't get into all the leprechaun mischief...I do have decor spread around the house and we make a big deal out of wearing green and making a big Irish meal. This year we upped the ante and decided to attend the St. Patricks Day parade in Salt Lake City. It's something I've wanted to do for the past few years but it always seems to conflict with Brandon's state gymnastics meet. This year, the difference being Brandon's meet was an evening one. I was surprised at how big the parade was! I expected it to last maybe 45 minutes max so I was slightly taken aback when we got there and saw the hordes of green clad revelers and discovered that there were close to 100 parade entries. And I tell you what, it was fun! If you ever get the chance to go, do it!

This is the only time I could get Lilian to look at me for a picture. She went into stubborn mode right after....as you can see from this picture:

These two beautiful ladies are friends of mine from high school. They dance in the St. Patty's parade every year. It was so much fun to see them!

 

It ended up being a weekend of green celebrations as the 17th was actually on Sunday. A little more subdued than the craziness we saw at the parade, but still a lot of green wandering the halls and sitting in classes at church. Lilian and I were "twinners" with our green and white striped dresses and matching green fingernails.

Aren't we silly....

Mother/Daughter texting

Julianne (from school...lunchtime):
     Mommy! This is your loving daughter! I am in the utmost distress! I realized the oreos you have purchased are completely unprotected! I will not tolerate this kind of disregard for my snacks safety! I should have transported them to a safe-haven this morning, however I was otherwise engaged. My only hope at this point is for you to forgive me of my negligence and take up the job I left unfinished. Protect the oreos, transport them to a safe-haven before it is too late! I leave you with my blessing, and a hope that one day oreos will be free to sit in the open without fear of consumption.

Me (from South Jordan...a lunch with my sisters):
     You're in trouble. Brandon is home sick today. However he does have an upset tummy so perhaps he will leave all your precious snacks alone and your negligence won't come back to bite you in the behind.

Julianne:
     I am doomed.

I'm going a little bit crazy

This is what my past couple of weeks have looked like:

*Monday Feb. 18: CLEAN....for 8 hours. Discouraging how messy the house can get.

*Tuesday Feb. 19: Meeting with the stake primary presidency to plan a training meeting.

*Wednesday Feb. 20: Stake children's choir rehearsal that I am in charge of that will be included in the stake Easter Cantata in a few weeks.

*Thursday Feb. 21: Higher Ground rehearsal. Song practice with my mom and sisters in South Jordan for a funeral we were asked to sing in. Higher Ground performance in Farmington.

*Friday Feb. 22: Visiting teaching appointment. DARE graduation for Brandon.

Saturday Feb. 23: Send Brandon and Bryan off to Phoenix for a gymnastics meet. Sing at the funeral of a sweet woman who lived next door to me during all my growing up years in Taylorsville. Meet high school friends for a reunion of sorts at Leatherby's. Adult session of Stake Conference in which we are providing music...and Elder L. Tom Perry is attending. (I'm Stake Music Specialist, remember?)

(Okay...this is not Leatherby's...it's the Spaghetti Factory where we met up a few weeks ago. But same people involved. Humor me.)

*Sunday Feb 24: Main session of Stake Conference...providing music. Stake choir practice later that evening to continue preparing for the Easter Cantata.

*Monday Feb. 25: Babysit my "Monday Twins." Stuff Monday Folders for Brandon's teacher at the elementary school. X-rays for Brandon...no broken arm, yay. Stuck in Bountiful because of a high speed police chase and subsequent freeway closure....but meet up with Bryan who is also stranded and an impromptu date night ensues.

*Tuesday Feb. 26: Voice lessons in the morning. Accompany Rebekah on the piano while she sings for solo and ensemble at the high school. Miss singing in my own master class so I can take Julianne shopping for jeans...she has exactly 0 pairs.

*Wednesday Feb. 27: Another stake children's choir rehearsal....spend all morning making cookies for them as a reward for their fabulous singing.

*Thursday Feb. 28: Higher Ground dress rehearsal. Chorale rehearsal down in Draper.

*Friday Mar 1: Presentation on U.S. presidents for Fun Fact Friday in Lilian's Kindergarten class. Meet with Julianne's school counselor to register her for high school (Drivers Ed....ack!) Attend the Crystal Cup gymnastics meet at Salt Lake Community College to watch my niece Kaitlyn compete...she's on the girls team at Brandon's gym.

*Sat. Mar 2: Appointment with Julianne's doctor....making decisions as to whether we are done with growth hormone or not. Lots of prep for stake primary training.

*Sun. Mar 3: Send Bryan off on a business trip to Los Angeles. Take Lilian to a song practice...she was a part of a special musical number for a R.S. lesson. 3-hour block of church. Stake Primary training meeting where we teach how to integrate sharing time and singing time...I prepare and present 4 different songs, and lead a couple of others. Stake Choir practice for the Easter Cantata.

*Mon. Mar. 4: District Science Fair for Brandon in Layton. Babysit "Monday Twins."

*Tuesday Mar. 5: Make an early breakfast for Rebekah and send her off to take the ACT. Higher Ground rehearsal and set-up. Higher Ground performance for my ward Relief Society Birthday party.

And none of this actually includes all the time I spent taxi-ing Brandon to gymnastics (he goes 5X a week) or Julianne and Rebekah to their theatre class, tap class and various other rehearsals. Or the stress that came from a particularly worrisome situation that arrived Presidents Day weekend that kept my brain spinning on overload and resulted in many long phone calls and an unwanted meeting. (Yeah...I know that's vague. Forgive me. But it's personal. I wouldn't mention it but it was part and parcel of the whole crazy busy of that week.)

It just never ends, does it? I keep telling myself....just get through this presentation or that performance and then you can take a breath and relax with a glass of milk, a cookie (or 3) and watch an episode of Downton Abbey. (I'm still in season 1....I know, I've got to get caught up!) But it never happens. Because I finish one thing and immediately have to start prepping for the next. I tell myself that I should simplify my life...but honestly, I'm not sure how. Maybe I just need to accept that my life at this time is rather crazy and find ways to prioritize my time better and enjoy the journey....instead of whining. Because I chose this! And I'm so incredibly thankful for my life and my family and all my opportunities. And also because I know that I'm not the only one and that my list here is very likely similarly crazy to many of yours....