The Children's Museum

For play group this week, we decided to go to the zoo. It's been great weather, and school's not out quite yet, so it wouldn't be too crowded. Alas, the forecaster predicted rain, and sure enough, it poured the day before our planned trip. Better safe than sorry, we then decided to go to The Children's Museum at the Gateway. It was so much fun! They had a ton of stuff there, and so much attention to detail. I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't gone-- or anyone who has, for that matter. We're planning a trip back next week after Eric's done with school.


Riley, my OCD child, spent most of her time in the huge and very detailed play house, trying to get everything organized. Hard for her, because all the other kids there kept playing with things and not putting them back in their proper place. Rats!


Just one room of the house.


Riley loved the horse...



Stephanie loved the horse...


Iris did not.

They had a helicopter on the roof the kids could go in.

Iris wanted none of it.

I didn't get pictures of everything they had-- not nearly-- and you'd be too bored to look at them all even if I did. But just take my word for it, and go.

Alas, I didn't think to get a picture of the whole group this time around. Guess we'll just have to do it again! Thanks to everyone who went-- we had a blast!

Oh and PS, it ended up being a beautiful day, so we could have gone to the zoo after all. Maybe next time.

Whilst driving home today, and stopped at a stoplight, I turned to my left in time to see the old man driving the car next to me reach over to the old woman in the passenger seat, grab her hand, and bring it to his lips. He then brought their clasped hands up further and gently stroked the side of her face with the back of his fingers, all the while looking at her with such love in his eyes. By the time I turned my now-misty eyes back to the light, it had turned green, and the old man had left me in the dust.

How I hope that's Eric and I in 60 years!

Baby Shower for Miriam

My book group had a shower for one of it's members, Miriam, a few weeks ago at Mimi's Cafe. She's due at the end of the month, and looks fantastic!

Miriam, Alyssa, and me

Stephanie, Suzie, and Dani

Miriam opening gifts

The cute socks that Stephanie knitted- she's so talented!

We love you, Miriam, and are so excited for you to welcome your sweet new baby boy!

General Conference 2010

Conference was wonderful, as usual, wasn't it? I always feel so uplifted and supported after watching. There was such a strong emphasis on family this time, and how we all need to do better, but our leaders have this gentle way of putting it that makes me feel not that I've been doing poorly, only that I can do better. I come away with a renewed determination to do more, be more. I truly love this gospel, and am so grateful for the knowledge I have been blessed with.

Iris at 19 months

I cannot believe Iris is already 19 months! Where has the time gone? I haven't posted just about her in a while, so I thought I'd catch you all up on her goings on.



She loves to play with her toys, books, and babies. Sometimes just climbing into the toy box is all the entertainment she needs.


She's a pickier eater than she used to be, which can be frustrating. Riley got finicky about food around 18 months, and has never stopped, so at least I know what's in store for us.


She and Riley get along really well, for the most part. Riley is pretty patient with her, and Iris loves to tag along. She doesn't seem content to let Riley cause all the mayhem, and is now our Troublemaker-In-Training.



She's talking more and more these days, and can say about 20 words (at the last count). She's climbing everywhere and into everything. Keeps me on my toes.



She loves books, and can be occupied with a stack of books while I cook dinner or try to clean. If I'm very quick, I may even get a whole room done before she finishes and comes to undo my work. Dear girl.


She is so sweet, and if caught in the right mood, will cuddle-- that's the time my love for her is an almost physical ache in my heart. She's added so much to our family, and we can't imagine how we got along without her.

Iris Helena-- we love you!

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

While it's horribly embarrassing, I just have to write about my experience last night. And I need to provide some background. So there's a relatively new dessert cafe open in Orem, called The Chocolate. It's on State Street by Classic Skating, in one of those old houses converted to a store. It shares a building with a photography studio. It's amazing. Eric and I went there a few weeks ago at the end of a date, and it was... wow. Delicious. And mostly reasonably priced. As Eric and I waited for our treats, we crossed into the studio area, to use the bathrooms. There we found pictures on the wall (obviously) and felt free to criticize. I really didn't care for most of them. On our way out, I noticed a sign that said Ladies Night at The Chocolate is on Wednesdays. Open an hour later and free milk all around. Huzzah!

Fast forward to last night (Wednesday). I had Stephanie and Alyssa over to watch a movie, and when Eric got home earlier than usual, we realized there was still time for us to make it to Ladies Night. Huzzah again! Off we went, and again, as we waited for our treats, we went over by the bathrooms to look at the pictures. I can't lie-- I took them there just to show them the pictures I didn't like. Mean, mean, mean. As we turned the corner, one of us joked about how horrible it would be if the photographer was around to hear us. And then we (mostly Alyssa and I, Stephanie was nice) proceeded to make fun of these pictures. Not horribly, I guess, but certainly not nice. I began to feel uneasy, like someone was watching me. Sure enough, I turned around to see a man on a couch at the other end of the room, mostly in the shadows. Wow. We stuttered out some apologies, and tried to get away, but not before he could say something like, "Oh, so you don't like them? Let's see some of your pictures." Wow. I was mortified. Beyond mortified. And I also just felt bad.

So we hid out upstairs and ate our treats, not having the courage to go downstairs in case we were to see him again. But then the cashier guy brought us up three tarts, and told us they were from the photographer, who said not to worry about it, and that there were no hard feelings. He was concerned he might have been rude, and hadn't meant to be. Wow again. Could I have felt any worse? I think not. We continued to be hideously embarrassed for a few minutes, until the photographer himself came upstairs. I wanted to sink right through the floor. But he was amazingly professional. He said not to worry about it, and he knew he had to have thick skin to be in a business like his, etc. We were able to apologize again, and chatted for a few minutes, friendly as anything. I was very, very impressed. He was quite professional. So, shout out to Studio 216 in Orem. It's not my cup o' tea, but I really respect that guy.

Now all I need to do is work up enough guts to go in there again to drop off the "sorry" note I wrote this morning when I had a guilty conscience, so I won't feel banned from my new favorite place.

Oh, and never do that again.

Riley's 5th birthday... better late than never

Happy Birthday Riley! February 22nd

We actually had the party on her birthday, and I've been meaning to post about it ever since. It was a lot of fun... mostly. First we did a pinata, which everyone except Riley seemed to enjoy.

She took one whack at it....


...and spent the rest of the time up our apple tree.


Oh well. She liked getting all the candy after I finally broke it on the tree. These new pinatas are a little too sturdy for kids.


Then we had cupcakes and ice cream. Yes, she's plugging her ears while we sing to her.


Then presents. She, of course, enjoyed this!


Then bowling. She took her first two turns, and then ran around like a dog the rest of the time. Why does she look so scared, you ask? It's her new picture face.


We had her family party the next Sunday, and had a lot of fun there, as well. Thank you so much, Lad and Liz, for giving her a weapon.