Heather tagged me...

Three Joys
1. My family--a good man, who has known me and put up with me over 16 years, who provides well for our family, who always forgives me and knows how to change. My two sweet daughters, and amazing support, love and friendship of our extended family members.
2. Sleep--I love sleep. Mostly naps, and only the kind of sleep that comes on when it is time to sleep, not the kind that leaves me waking up in public places unaware that I ever fell asleep.
3. Friends--I love my friends. I love the ones who have known me 25 years and the ones I've known a year. I love their forgiveness, their example, their awareness of my imperfections and all the fun and conversation we have when we are together.

Three Fears
1. My loved ones not outliving me
2. Earthquakes
3. Due dates

Three Goals
1. Surviving my first year of homeschooling
2. Patience with my family members
3. Not gossipping

Current Obsessions
1. Twilight series. It's hard to call this an obsession when Sommer has taken obsession on this topic to a level I can't possibly duplicate, but still, it is an obsession for me.
2. Sleep. I really love it. I don't get to sleep all day, but I do think of sleeping more than I think of any other thing. Sad, huh?! Narcolepsy really does cause sleep obsession though.
3. Getting pregnant. It has been over a year now, and I'm really supposed to have a baby in my arms for Pete's sake.

Random Facts About Me
1. I don't eat leftovers. Gross!
2. I love school. I want to go back one day. I'd like to study most anything, but I'm really fascinated by women's studies, naturopathic medicine, any cultural studies, especially social culture and psychology. I have had my eye on this degree program at UW since before I finished my undergrad at BYU. I read that description and find that it covers EVERYTHING I am interested in. I don't know how I'd narrow my studies in order to conduct the two years of research, but honestly, I'd be fascinated to go to the materialistic jungles of the Salt Lake valley and dissect perfectionism in LDS women there. I'm not joking. I really would like to make some headway in that area. They really need it (again, I'm not being facetious). I met a woman at BYU who had raised her five children and then one day she sat down with all her family pictures and cut herself out of every one. I'd be really interested in studying the psychological ramifications of the stay at home mom who shelters herself socially from the world for thirty years. (Love the role of the stay at home mom, I'm one...just not an isolated one). I'd love to address the bleached teeth, highlighted hair, fake tan, name brands, Prozac and competition that has evolved in the social culture there. There are many other things to study, and I'm sure I'd bore you with more discussion of those, but something benefitting women would be my greatest interest.
3. I don't really use the microwave. I don't like the idea of it, I don't know, I just don't use it very often. I use it to defrost some things, or to melt butter, but that's really about it.

I tag...
Dee, Sommer, Mindy and Courtney

Calling all moms of daughters...

So I bought some of Heather Bailey's Trash Ties back in December. I never blogged about them because I didn't really use them much. I bought the 4" ones, and wished immediately that I'd gotten the 12" design. Oh well.

So I was admiring someone's hair at church on Sunday, and her mom said she got the idea on some blog about hairdos for little girls. She sent me the links...you can check them out here and here.

Anyway, both sites showed some great uses for Trash Ties, so I'm going to do some experimenting here soon. I'll post pics when I get around to doing this!

Anyway, with scraggly hair like my girls have, I need all the ideas I can get!

Live, laugh, love...puke

Is anyone else wondering when home decor that says, "Live...Laugh...Love" or something to that effect is going to go away? I'm all for the stuff that is already hung on the wall, but I'm always amazed that there are more and more inventions utilizing that tired phrase. I ran into it at Target even! Is there some coalition that is bent on seeing to it that everyone has that saying in every room in the house or something? I'm OVER it!

If an idea comes to you that drives you to put that phrase on a new medium, ie: banana peels, just RESIST THE TEMPTATION! It's BEEN DONE!

This came up for me just now because I was on a digital scrapbooking website that had primary colored bottle cap looking things that said, "Live", "Laugh", and "Love" on them.

Can't we all just live, laugh and love and stop talking about it so much!?

Family pics

I mentioned in my post about our trip to the cabin in Colorado, that my sister-in-law Pam spent some time taking nice pictures of the family, individual family, and well...whatever we wanted. It was so great! I love having other people take pictures! She is so knowledgeable and talented, and I am really happy with the pictures she took. I was THRILLED to see them on her website today so I could snag them and post them. All the grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa Pierce.

Mike, Sage and Porter Pierce


Us

Grandma (Sydney) and Grandpa (Perry) Pierce

The whole Pierce side of the family.

What a treasure! Thanks Pam!

Fun family photoshoot...

I had fun taking pictures of the B family. Mom let the whole family pick out their own outfits, and we had fun taking pictures while they played and posing too. Cute kids, nice people. It was a fun morning.

Splash Park...

We had a nice weekend! I took pictures in the morning for a client and Chris took the girls with him on a service project. I was home first, but I had a honey-do list that went for hours (yes, in our house the lists are made by my husband, not me), so I got that done. Once we were all home, it was time for naps and Chris kept working (he never stops) out in the yard. Then we made him stop for a few hours to go to a splash park and cool off. It was a nice thing, but we were in a really sketchy neighborhood in Tacoma...so it was interesting. Sorry about the really funky

photo exposure, I'm experimenting with my camera's parameters, and I don't feel like fixing them!

Sage and Porter visited...

We were so lucky to have Sage and Porter here for three days! We didn't do many fun things, but we had fun around the house, and we went out for a couple of hours looking at houses for them with a realtor, Sage had two job interviews (and got two offers) and we relaxed. It was fun to have them, and we really, really hope that they relocate HERE! However, we want them to do what is best for them too...kind of.

Mommy love...

I love this picture of my mom. I don't know why exactly, I think because I know she probably felt a little silly having it taken, but she liked it too because it was my dad's idea. She just looks a little child-like in the picture, and though she's anything but childish, she's young at heart, and I love that about her. I wish I could have been there to celebrate her birthday with her at the Cheesecake Factory. She's my best friend. My greatest example, supporter, and fan. I love her. I love that she gets excited about teaching young people every morning at 6AM, I love that she spends 600% longer preparing her lessons than she does teaching them. I love that she is challenging herself at this new empty-nesting stage of her life, that she's reading the Twilight series, that she water skis like a champ and downhill skis with the best of them. I love that she can laugh and laugh and that there's a noticeable difference between what she laughs at at 9PM and 11PM. I love that she doesn't really like animals, but she still took pity on the pets she let us have (many, many of them). I love that she loves good music but doesn't know who makes it or sings it or writes it, so she mostly listens to the Mormon Tabernacle choir (also good music). I love that she has the perfect house for entertaining grand kids...the garden with berries to pick, the slip 'n' slide in the backyard and three furnished bedrooms with fresh pillow cases on fluffy pillows waiting for our heads to rest on them. I love that if she knows something is healthy, she also believes that it tastes great. I love that she has no better chance of staying awake for a movie than I do, that she knows what it is like to take a cat nap at a traffic light and that she's always on standby when I get in the car for more than an hour drive, to provide me with that invigorating conversation that will keep me alive until I reach my destination. I love that she never makes me feel like I'm a burden to her, even if it is five o'clock in the morning and I need her to come rescue me from the flu or a daunting day a head. I love that my husband has no complaints about her. I love that she lets me know when she doesn't like something I like. I love that she raised me on "The Carpenters" and that we had a swing hanging from the ceiling in our house growing up. I love that she loves us to have family time, that she says really long prayers and that she is always interested in new "healthy" things.

I love that I'm her only daughter and that she's my only mom.

Happy Birthday to YOU, mom!

To health...

I recently read Jodi Picoult's novel, "My Sister's Keeper", it is a really good read! The premise is that a young couple with two young children finds out that their 2 year old daughter has acute leukemia. They decide to genetically create the perfect embryo, 9 months later, a child to be a donor match in order to help save their sick child live longer. So the book begins with the donor daughter (now 11 years old) seeking medical emancipation from her parents so she doesn't have to undergo the next procedure, a kidney transplant. (This is all in the first two or three chapters, so I'm not giving the book away at all.)

Anyway, the book really tugs at your heart strings, especially if you are a parent. I could relate on some levels with all sides of the conflict, and I cried several times as the author described the anguish of having a daughter facing such intense medical procedures.

I had just finished the book when I visited Mimi at Children's Hospital. I parked on the wrong floor, so we didn't go directly to the NICU. We were in this hallway, and this darling little girl came vrooming down the hall on a red scooter. She was beaming and I thought briefly of my Ruby when I first looked at her. I quickly noticed a man following her, who I believe was her father. He was carrying some a metal stand with tubes that led under the little girl's dress.

It was just a moment, maybe fifteen seconds as our paths crossed, but I can't get it out of my mind. I just brace myself for any similar experience and count my blessings that thus far, we have been so blessed with health...not just for the four of us, but for the most part, even our extended family.

Baby Mia born...

I know I blogged before about Mimi's baby, Mia. Well...she was born on July 8th, and so far she's beating the odds. She's really beautiful and looks so healthy. I was really thrilled to meet her the other night, and snap a few pictures that Mimi and John wanted. She has a long, unknown road a head of her, you can read about the journey here.

Our Colorado Adventure...

DAY ONE: We flew on a REALLY late flight, and landed in Denver at midnight. I took the girls on a shuttle to the hotel while Chris got the luggage and scouted out the car that Uncle Doug so kindly left for us in a parking lot close by. By the time Chris got to the hotel, we were asleep. If you are ever in Denver, I was really impressed by the Comfort Inn and Suites there on Tower Road. It was really clean, the free breakfast was hot and tasty and the staff was super friendly.

DAY TWO: The family met up at Water World, Colorado for a day of fun. No one brought a camera, so I don't have pictures of all the fun, but it was fun. Ruby noticed that there weren't many lines, and she said, "Maybe water world is trying to be more fun than Disneyland because there aren't long lines!" Ruby and Mattie held hands all over the park, and the twosome was a little threesome with Pierce on most of the rides. They had a great time. Chris' cousin Matt, and his wife Jeanette met us as well, and it was fun to have so many people to run around with. After water world, we had dinner and headed down to Colorado Springs to stay at the cabin.

Unfortunately, I seriously hurt--maybe broke--my tailbone on the first kiddie ride, so that sort of put a damper on my day because I couldn't really sit down on anything and not torture myself in pain. (It still REALLY hurts a week later.)

DAY THREE: Chris' mom's side of the family has a cabin on a mountain that overlooks Colorado Springs. It is a great spot because we are removed from some of the fancier places, and by the time you get to our little spot, it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere! There is a little stream that runs right through the property, and the kids spent a lot of time playing there. When we wanted to, we took a short drive to the community pool.

Anyway, on day three, we took it EASY. I read Jodi Picoult's book, My Sister's Keeper, most of the day and there was lots of fun by the stream for the kids and some good card games, etc. Pam and Matt made a yummy meal for everyone, and we celebrated Pam's birthday a little early over some SUPER YUMMY tres leches cake that Pam made.

DAY FOUR: We got up and took a LOT of pictures. Pam is the family photographer, and she did a great job of taking pictures of the whole entire family, individual families, etc. Sage and I (budding photographers) tried to pay attention to her ideas and we learned a few new things about our cameras. I don't have any of the pictures Pam took, but I did take a few over her shoulder of the grand kids with Gma and Gpa. I'm really excited about the pics she got of my family, and I can't wait to post them when she mails me the files. She's a master at photoshop as well, so I sat that night and watched her touch up the pics and learned so much! Thanks Pam!

Left to right: Gma Pierce, Pierce, Gpa Pierce, Alice, Mattie, Porter and Ruby with little Zoe in the front.

In the afternoon, Chris' uncle Billy and his wife aunt Eileen brought Nana up to the cabin. Chris' Uncle Bill and aunt Moe from his dad's side of the family also came for a few hours and we really enjoyed having everyone there. (Isn't it crazy that Chris only has two uncles and they are both named Bill?) Ruby has a special bond with her great-grandma, and she was happy to see her for a little while. We are really grateful that we could spend a little time with Moe, as she suffered a stroke five days later and is now on hospice. We are grateful to have seen her at the cabin, full of life and a quick mind. I am always amazed that she can so easily recognize my voice! She's blind, and though I've only seen her a handful of times, she always knows it is me talking and she is always sure to ask me about life for us at home, as she lived here once upon a time.

We went swimming after lunch that day. Nana, Bill and Moe watched as the kids showed off their swimming know how and the men harassed each other with constant pranks and water to the face. DAY FIVE: Fourth of JULY! We had quite the fun-filled day! Pam and Matt and Grandma and Grandpa organized several little games for the kids. They had fun with a treasure hunt (the treasure was some rocks painted gold), a money hunt and collecting some shells by the stream.

The men set up a coke can a ways away and they shot pellets at it. They had some wager, but I am pretty sure that no one ever managed to take the can down.

That night we went to the Flying W Chuck Wagon for dinner and entertainment. The place was pretty amazing, a huge barn that sat like 1200 people for dinner. They had the process down pat, so that everyone was eating at the same time, the food was warm and tasty. I was really impressed, but most of all I just loved the cultural aspect of the night. It was interesting to think about the "cowboy" lifestyle that once prevailed, and is now a dying culture. After dinner, we enjoyed a little show by some really talented cowboy musicians.

After dinner, we drove up to one of the switchbacks on the way to the cabin and watched the fireworks from there. There was quite a show down at Manitou Springs, and we all had fun oooohhhing and ahhhhing at the display of fire.

It was a late night, but some of the family played with sparklers by the stream before heading to bed (not ours, they went to bed and did sparklers the following night). What a nice holiday!

DAY SIX: We took advantage of our last full day together by going up to Pike's Peak. What an amazing journey that was! I was surprised how many people made the trek that day...the place was hopping with people. At the top, Alice was asleep, so Chris and I took turns in the car with her. The view was stunning, the cool air was refreshing and if there hadn't been a major infestation of pesky flies, the experience would have been perfect.

It was cool to learn that the anthem, "America the Beautiful" was written as a result of it's author, Katherine Bates visit to Pike's Peak. After seeing it myself, I can see how it could inspire such feelings.

We had a picnic on our way up. It was hot, and Mattie and Ruby opted to eat under one of the picnic tables. Good idea!

DAY SEVEN: We got all packed up and cleaned the cabin. Then we had a little family devotional as we didn't attend church that day. We said goodbyes and Pam and her family headed south to Albuquerque and the rest of us travelled north to Ft. Collins, where Sage and Mike, and Chris' folks and little brother all live. We had an easy evening of rejoicing over spacious, lengthy showers and clean laundry.

DAY EIGHT: Gpa, Doug and Mike had to work, so my family went along with Gma and Sage and Porter to the most spectacular park I've ever seen. Spring Canyon Community Park is a HUGE, wheelchair accessible park with equipment that can be enjoyed by people of all physical abilities. I was amazed at the concept, and by how many different things there were for the kids to do there. There was a little splash park there, a great huge field and the largest, most innovative play area I've ever seen. We had fun firing off these balloon rockets that Grandma and Grandpa had. They were a hit at the park and drew quite a crowd of interested children. The kids had a good time chasing after the balloons. Such a good time that I am going to buy some here.

Mike and Doug got off work and hit an afternoon movie (Hancock) with Chris. Nana came to the house and we had dinner and enjoyed visiting outdoors for a long time while the kids played on the trampoline. Ruby also organized an "orchestra" and ordered Mike (guitar) and Doug (drums) around while they practiced accompanying her on the piano. She was very insistent that they not play unless she was playing, and some other funny little demands. She prepared the "concert" before dinner and then we sat in the living room and she played six songs with Mike (Doug had to run to work) strumming along on his guitar. She took it very seriously. She gave us each some money before the show started that we were told we had to give back to her at the end of the show. It was really cute and was a fun way for her to show her progress in piano. I was told I could only call her "band leader" at one point, and she told Chris he was the "mission leader". Very interesting.

Ruby, Alice and Porter on Chris. They were having non-stop fun for at least an hour and a half playing so hard together (the adults rotated in and out, but the kids were constant).

It was really hard to leave, but the next morning...our flights were leaving, and we had to get on the plane. Ruby started crying in the car on the way to the airport. I love that her little heart wraps itself around her family in a way that makes her cry when she has to say goodbye. She and Grandma shed their tears and shared last hugs and kisses and we were off.

Thanks to everyone for such a fun-filled trip, for playing with my kids, letting me read an entire novel, feeding us, taking great pictures of us and just for being such a fun family to be around. Until next time!