Rachel and The Bard

On November 5-7 Rachel performed in her school's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is the first play of Shakespeare's that I read (waaay back in sixth grade) and it is still one of my favorites. She worked really hard and had a great time. She played the role of Moth, one of the fairies that attend to the fairy queen, Titania. Although she didn't have many speaking parts to memorize, it was really physically demanding in that the fairies had to hold many poses for long stretches at a time. Although all the fairies were great, I think she was the most beautiful and graceful. That's probably the proud mom in me speaking out (but I don't think so.) Brad, the kids and I attended opening night because Brad had surgery the next day. On Saturday night, the kids and I went again. Suffice it to say, we are all proud as can be. So without further ado, let us begin!

Rehearsals.

Getting made up to look more fairy-like.

Fairies in the woods.

Fairies at play.

The whole cast. The kids all did a really good job and the play was most enjoyable. One of them even broke his foot in three places Friday night and still performed wonderfully for Saturday's shows. Ah Rach, you rock!

My Boys

Last Tuesday my Caleb turned 9. Wow, how time flies! It seems like just last week when I held my little boy for the first time at the hospital and cried because of the love I felt for him. Now he's one year away from being in double digits.

The Saturday before that, my Bradley had a birthday. Things sure have changed from when he would come and take me on hikes to enjoy the fall scenery with not much more to worry about than studying and making sure we got good grades at BYU. It doesn't seem like that long ago when I decided that we would go through life together and have a family of our own.
We had some very low key birthday parties this year. Brad got a card and a few gifts but he really didn't feel like celebrating much. Why you ask? Because the day before his birthday, he had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair some cartilage that as his surgeon put it, "...looks like someone took a cheese grater to it." Funny thing though, as he was coming out of the anesthesia, he proclaimed loudly to the nurse, "All I want for my birthday tomorrow is for BYU to win." They did beat Wyoming the next day 52-0. Happy birthday, my love.

Caleb looks really happy in his birthday picture, doesn't he? Truth is, he had been sick all week, the doctor says is was probably H1N1. The next night, my parents took him to Pirate Island and he had a good time in spite of feeling so badly. (I thought he just had a slight cold.) We came home and he had a fever. I took him to the doctor the next day and he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Happy birthday, bub.

They are both doing much better now and I'm so glad that they are in my life.

Great Costume, Poor Visibility

Caleb's Halloween Costume

Pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Now you can see why he didn't want to wear his costume to the piano recital earlier that day. He originally wanted to be Indiana Jones this year but we couldn't pull off a costume that was satisfactory. (I refused to pay $30 for a cheap felt hat and whip and he didn't want to wear Brad's cool hat because it was the wrong color.) My brother Ed has this authentic looking Darth Vader helmet and he suggested he be a Pez dispenser. So with a cardboard box, a little paint and some strategically placed foam, Caleb walked the streets as a giant inanimate object. Or should I say he waddled the streets. He had a hard time navigating the steps because the box was so cumbersome. Luckily he had his good friend Alex the Viking close by to navigate the steps. By the end of the evening he transformed from a Darth Vader Pez dispenser to a Caleb Pez dispenser.
Still, he was popular, he even got extra candy for his costume. He really enjoyed it. He was a hit at the school parade as well.

I was a little sad that Emma and Rachel didn't go trick or treating this year. Emma went to a friend's Halloween party and Rachel went to hang out at a friend's house. Emma never even got dressed up. Rachel dressed up the night before for a stake dance where she and two other friends dressed up as dead princesses who died of broken hearts. They looked really cute with just the perfect amount of creepiness without being gross. I wish I would have thought to take a picture of them. At least they carved pumpkins. It was a fun day.

He Writes the Songs

On Halloween morning, Caleb had a piano recital. It wasn't your regular recital however. All of the songs that were played had a decidedly Halloween theme to them and most wore their costumes. Caleb didn't wear a costume and you will see why in a later post. In addition to the spooky songs that they learned, this year, Bonnie Kemp (the piano teacher) challenged them to do something else. This year they had to compose and play songs that they wrote themselves. Caleb really enjoyed writing his own song. I think some of the songs that were written by them were better than the ones written by the professional composers. (I might be a bit biased, but I don't think so.) Here is Caleb playing "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter.



Here is Caleb playing his original composition "Lost in the Graveyard"

We sure are proud of him. I love him.

Where I Left My Heart

Road trip.
Sometimes that is the only way to get from here to there. This last weekend, we packed up our car and headed west to California. It was fall break for the kids so we decided (kind of on the spur of the moment) to go and visit the Tripletts in El Dorado Hills and Dan and Abby in San Jose. We left Wednesday afternoon after I checked the kids out of school. Now any opportunity for them to play with their cousins is good enough but to check them out of school? A bonus. At the request of Rachel and Emma, I checked Caleb out first and then check them out at 11:15. Why you ask? After second period, they have something called flex time. It's when students who are struggling with classes get extra help and students who are doing well are rewarded by extra curricular activities. So the girls wanted to be checked out while they were watching a movie, "so everyone can shout good bye to us on the way out." They're crying out for attention aren't they?
We didn't leave Salt Lake until 2:30 because the tires on my car were in really bad shape and Brad wanted to have them replaced before we drove. When we finally started on the road, Caleb and the girls were more than a little anxious. To top that delay off with another, we ran out of gas three miles outside of Wendover. Brad thought that we could make it with the gas that we had in the tank. Well, he was ALMOST right. While we waited for roadside assistance, there was a little bit of goofing around on the Salt Flats.

After a long drive, we finally arrived at Valerie's house after 11:00 everyone was in bed and they left the door unlocked for us. In the morning, the Triplett kids went to school (with a small amount of protest from Grace) and we set out towards San Fransisco. It was a beautiful, sunny day, with just enough fog to give it some atmosphere.

We had lunch by a farmer's market on the Ferry Pier. I love farmer's markets. I need to frequent them more often.

The boys were really fascinated with the stand alone public toilet. Too bad it was out of order.

How can one go to San Franscisco without seeing the Golden Gate Bridge? You can't. Neither could we.

We drove around Golden Gate Park and stopped for a minute at the American Legion Art Museum. No one else was interested in going in, Emma wouldn't even leave the car. It was a beautiful building though.

We drove along for a while and found a beach that we could walk around for awhile. We stopped at a place called Fort Funston. Apparently, it means "everyone bring five or six dogs each with you to the beach" in another language. I think we were the only humans there without a canine companion. Still, with the sun peeking through the fog and the sea shell hunting, we had a good time.

The fog is good for atmosphere, but not for maintaining any semblance of well-groomed hair.

We all got a little wet but Caleb got very wet. He was uncomfortable and this is how he was in the car during the two hour drive to Dan and Abby's in Mountain View.

We stayed with them for the evening and enjoyed their company. I love talking to Abby and Dan and I would like to keep their kids Lucy and Kate. Lucy, 3, is quite precocious and I find her endlessly amusing. Here was an exchange that she had with Rachel and Emma:

Emma: Do you want to know a secret?

Lu: Yes.

Rach: Are you positive?

Lu: Yes.

Em: Are you sure?

Lu: Yes!

Rach: Are you sure you're positive?

Em: Are you positively sure?

Rach: Are you surely positive?
Lu (with both of her hands held up): Enough with the funny stuff!!

The next morning we drove back up to El Dorado Hills and were happily reunited with the Tripletts. Brad to the scenic route through Steinbeck country. It was beautiful, if a little too long.
We just hung out with them all day and didn't do anything in particular. Saturday Dan and Abby drove up and we swam, watched a lot of football and went out to eat.

On Sunday morning, we said goodbye to and headed for home. But before we headed across the Nevada, desert, we took a detour to gold rush country.

Here's the fam looking for gold in the American River. None was found and it was decided that skipping rocks was more enjoyable.

Sutter's Mill replica.
Me in my comfy driving clothes.

So that is our short trip in a big nutshell. It was short but fun.

Start of the Fifth Decade

Sunday was my birthday. Did I do anything fun for my 41st? If you consider driving across the Nevada desert all day fun then yes, I did do something fun. Before you feel sorry for me, let me say that the reason I was driving across the lone and dreary wilderness was because I spent the past few days with family in Northern California. I will save that for another post. Here are the highlights of my actual birthday:

1. Got a call from my mom and dad wishing me happy birthday.

2. Got a call from my sister-in-law Rachel and her kids wishing me happy birthday. Her six year old Ellery, guessed I was turning 60. (I guess I look a lot older than I am.)

3. Got out of a speeding ticket somewhere in the middle of Nevada. I made a point to be very pleasant to the officer and mention that it was my birthday. Thank you, NHP!

4. Got these little presents from Brad and the kids (Caleb picked out the Tinkerbell cup on his own):

I also got this HUGE birthday card they picked up at a gas station somewhere. I think I might get it framed. Every house needs a picture of a leather clad mouse sitting crossed-legged on the fender of a motorcycle belonging to a rebel cat couple.
What a way to celebrate my birthday.

My Mom is Amazing

Rachel got a part for the school play again. She will be playing the role of Moth, a fairy in "A Midsummer's Night Dream." That is one of my favorite plays of Shakespere's and I'm looking forward to seeing it.

The drama teacher wanted a specific dress made that I knew I couldn't pull of satisfactorily, so once again my mom came to the rescue. Here is my beautiful girl in her beautiful dress.

Thank you mom!