Hoping to catch Michael saying "Mama" on tape... He Does say it!!

TIME

These photos were stuck in a scrapbook I had worked on back when 'scrapbooking' was all the rage and I could not get over the darlingness of my little children! I remember taking these pictures! I remember dressing them in matching red clothes, fixing their hair and moving the leopard print ottamon so that it sat in front of the Christmas tree. We lived in Cedar Hills at the time and it was Grace's first Christmas. I can hardly believe how small they each look and how much time has passed since. Please help me to remember..

Take time to think – thoughts are the source of power.

Take time to play – play is the secret of perpetual youth.

Take time to read – reading is the fountain of wisdom.

Take time to pray – prayer can be a rock of strength in time of need.

Take time to love – loving is what makes living worthwhile.

Take time to be friendly – friendships give life a delicious flavor.

Take time to laugh – laughter is the music of the soul.

Take time to give – sharing brings joy to your heart.

Take time to work – work is the price of success.

Take time to dream – dreams show you what is possible.

Take time to do your work well – pride in your work nourishes the mind and the spirit.

Take time to show appreciation – it's the frosting on the cake of life.

15 Years?

So, can' t quite belief it but my own 15 YEAR High school Class Reunion is being planned for this summer! I have gotten involved (I guess as one of the Senior Class officers I have some responsibility in it.) It has been fun to hear from old highschool friends and re-hash with them. Can't believe it has been so long since I was in highschool and then again, it feels like forever ago. Life just keeps moving on and now I have a highschool student of my own! Now THAT is Scary!

Lexis' Gangster Moves

If only my duck-taped camera would record longer...

Tooele County

Noah was assigned Tooele for his "County project" and so, Mom, Michael, Grace and Noah all headed off to see the area. We visited all the major buildings including the Bensen Grist Mill and the Old County Courthouse (pictured here.) We collected plant samples and tried to get into one of the many salt factories. Grace was the official photographer for the day and she did a fantastic job! While both kids complained quite a lot that their play date was cut short and that they had we had to drive about over an hour to get there, afterwards, we all agreed it was really quite fun to explore another area of our home state. Noah's results? 300 points out of 200!! He did an outstanding job!

New York City

Lexis got the opportunity to travel with her Interior Design class to NYC over Spring Break! She LOVED it! They visited all of the major attractions and did all kinds of shopping. Seems like each time I talked with her she was at one store or another; American Girl Doll store in Times Square, Saks, Hershey's Factory... Lucky girl! And what a fantastic experience. One she won't soon forget, I am sure.

Cheese!

Lexis got the rare opportunity to experience her teeth WITHOUT braces! After over a year of "pain and suffering" her Orthodontist took off her braces only to put them back on correctly a few days later. She was seen licking her teeth and smiling widely. After having her teeth covered in hard metal for so long, she said she could hardly belief the feeling of her bare teeth and a lot of very wide grinning was happening. One more year to go, Sunshine!

WAY too much fun!

A treasured photographic of Daddy and I. This photo has been cut and the original and it's negative is lost. I keep this is in a small frame so that I might look at it always. Me with my Dad.
I remember this moment with ease. I can see the environment around us that is not pictured here. I recall the thoughts and the sounds and the conversation that happened just prior to the photograph.
Boy! He was so cool! This Dad of mine! We sat together, me in my long sleeve shirt and he in his pink Big Dog swim trunks and black tank top. I wore this because our suitcases had been lost on the flight to the Dominican Republic and more than likely because at this age and in that current frame of mind, the swimsuit my parents had bought for me to tide us over until other clothing came was not something I would wear on its own. What a shame!
I want to shake that 15 year old girl until the marbles in her head stack up straight. How could I think this long, lean frame wasn't worthy of a swimsuit? In fact, why the heck wasn't I flaunting the darn thing?
Dad and I sitting their coolly in our shades when a young European boy came straight up to me and handed me a shell- the very one I am holding in my hand in this photograph. He told me I was beautiful in his strongly accented English and I smiled. Dad smiled too. He agreed and often told me the same.
I still have that shell. Honest, I do! I am a keeper of things, a hoarder, a lover of small trinkets that represent memories. I remember hearing that my Grandma Thurston was a hoarder as well. I like to think this trait was passed on to me from her.
Each and every time my gorgeous teenage daughter sets off in her swimsuit I am reassuringly satisfied. Whether she is walking on the beach, headed to a water slide, whatever-- it brings this mother great joy to see the confidence my child has in herself.
I like to think one generation gets better than the previous, that the insecurities in my head were purposefully Not passed on to my own daughter.
She'll roll her eyes and call me funny if I say this to her directly, but that doesn't matter. She knows she is beautiful and when I tell her that this is true, she'll take it as something her mama says all of the time and than she'll go out and wear her swimsuit with confidence.
Funny that this is where this post has gone. I suppose this is the beauty of journaling. I intended to canonize a photograph that I cherish of me and my Father. It will now be in this journal so I have done that. Unintentionally, I divulged the inner thoughts of a young teenage girl in the early 90's and figuratively patted myself on the back for not passing this thing onto my own.
Not exactly sounds of the ocean coming forth from that shell but better.

Lexis' Posse

Lexis has gotten even closer with her group of friends this year, it seems. They are great bunch of girls and they seem to always have something fun planned. Lexis tends to be quite the ring leader and there is the occasional drama as is to be expected within a bunch of teenage females but it has been so fun to see her really enjoying her time. As a side note, she is HILARIOUS! Really a funny girl! Quick witted and she definitely keeps everyone around her laughing.

Final Design Board Project

My Final Design Board in my Interior Space Planning class was due today!

Here's it is in the works...

So I'm really proud of my final project. It took me HOURS but really turned out well. Mom's comment when I e-mailed her my project along with a few of my fellow student's finals was "only Erica loves this as much!" It is true! I really love this!

Grace's 1st Birthday!

She is having another birthday REALLY soon and I can hardly believe it! It feels like just yesterday we were singing Happy Birthday to my bald headed one year old! Someone pass me the pause button!

Dressed to Impress

The kids sit waiting for their Dad to pick them up for church and I just couldn't resist taking a picture of these two beautiful kids! Obviously, they didn't notice me. Perhaps cartoons are on?

This is giving me gobs of inspiration for my latest design project! Whoever the designer is--Amazing!