There Are Beautiful Blog Posts...

And then there are these...
It seems to me that a little over a month ago, I pledged to start a blog life, much like my old blog life, where I would capture the happenings of our life, record it, and maybe even make it whimsical.  So what happened?

Well, Christmas happened.  But before that.  We had the obligatory violin recital and orchestra concert.  They were fabulous!  When she is forced... er, I mean determined to practice, her talent blossoms like a pleasantly fragrant flower which has been nurtured and loved by a lone nagging/screeching...er, patient, long-suffering gardener. (The flower is Abby and her violin talent... the patient, long-suffering gardener is me).

See how lovely she looks... almost musical!

Then we had the glamorous and traditional, Trask Britt Firm Christmas Party.  This party is very fancy and held at the Grand America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City.  It is swanky, it is posh, and it requires WEEKS of preparation... for Amy.  Nate just dusted off his old tux and he was good.  Amy must decide what to wear, then when that won't work, what else to wear.  Then what jewelry goes with it, and what shoes.  Then book the babysitter (oh how we will miss our home teacher who goes on a mission in February).  Then get the hair done, but not too close to the event because a little regrowth shows some depth to the hairstyle.  It is always on a Friday, so I had to work but not sweat, then get the kids settled, then get ready but not dressed yet, then get dressed, but no lipstick in case I need some water or something (HEAVEN HELP ME THIS IS ONLY DINNER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD DID NATE REALLY JUST GET READY IN 5 MINUTES!!!!!).  And then, we are ready, and we look GOOD!

This is what Nate wore to our wedding.  This is my new dress.  He got more compliments than I did.  I am not bitter.  Maybe a little.  But not a lot.  Okay maybe a lot.

Then we celebrated Christmas in Casper, WY with our family.  It was a good thing, not exactly easy.  I may write about that another time.  It is a story for another post.  But I did want to share the gift I got my mother this year.  I made it, with Nathan's help.  Well, my friend, Rachel helped too.  When my mom was put on hospice this year, she asked me to help her write her obituary.  After writing it, I asked her if there was anything else she wanted to add and she said, "My life is my children."  So I asked my friend, Rachel, to cut that for me in vinyl, and I put it on a wood board for her.  And this is what I made:

It's a little blurry, but it is her quote, with the pictures of her kids hanging underneath, when we were kids.  I like how it turned out.

Another new development in our lives is that I got a smart phone for Christmas.  That is a big deal because now I can do this...

Hello Selfie!

We are now staying busy with school, work, after school activities like piano, ballet, tutoring and homework.  We have a new checklist system to try and keep us organized.  The girls are trying hard to follow it.  They don't LOVE it, but they DO it because if they don't they get in TROUBLE.  This is what Iris thinks of it sometimes...

Actually, I just found this picture of her and knew I needed a picture of her.  I thought it was HILARIOUS, much like most of the faces she makes throughout the day.  But she does like to use this expression often.  LOL!

Last but not least, one of my favorite oldie but goodie thing we are trying to do more of is "special time".  We have scheduled it into our check lists so that the girls get some one on one time with us at some point during the week.  They usually choose playing a game.  They are discovering new games and LOVING it.  I am loving it too.  Special time is a chance for them to just let loose, have fun and not have to worry about being nagged at or harped on.  It's kind of nice for us too, because we don't have to be parent wardens... we just get to be parents.  We also get to enjoy when the kids make fun words like this...

It's like a really bad fortune cookie message... or a really good one :)

Until next time... which could be 20 years so I hope you liked this one!