O Christmas Tree!

Last year we purchased what we thought was the perfect Christmas tree.  Five days after the lights were aglow the perfect tree was as dry as a creek bed in southern Utah in August.  We only turned the lights on Christmas morning for pictures while we opened presents and then the tree went dark.  This year I have been a little nervous about the whole tree thing.  We waited a little longer than normal this year in hopes that the tree would last through the holidays.  Wouldn't you know it, the man-of-my-dreams is now so involved in a huge case at work that he has had no time to get a tree and wasn't  really clear when he would.  I finally decided that if I waited for the trial to end there would be no trees left.  So.... I enlisted the help of Andrew and Zach and we went tree hunting, without the Dad.  It didn't feel quite right to do it without him but we did find a tree (only 2 stops).  The boys brought said tree home and covered it in Wilt-Pruf (J&L promises it will keep the tree green and supple!) and re-cut the bottom and plopped into water.  After it dried they brought the new perfect tree it into the house and now it sits in all its glory in the family room, naked, waiting for the-man-of-my-dreams to put the lights on it.

Tis' the Season

I have had the hardest time getting into the holiday spirit...that is until the snow came. It was so beautiful and all of a sudden......it was CHRISTMAS!

Smile!

Another year, another Thanksgiving and another photo for the Christmas Card.  Next year we will have Peter home from his mission and it will be Zach's last one before leaving for his mission so we will have the whole family together and maybe we will have an official family portrait done but this year it was the same story. (How's that for a run on sentence!)  Get everyone together, deal with the whiners, find the dog, pose the group, check the viewfinder--can we see everyone?--make the boys behave, calm the man-of-my-dreams down,  get the dog's attention.......SMILE!

Dear Friends

                                                                        President-Elect Ryan Paul

This past week was the Utah Museums Association's annual conference.  I have had the honor of serving on the board for the past 5 years, with 2 of those years as president.  I have loved serving the museums in the state of Utah and more importantly, I have loved getting to know the unsung heros who are the caretakers of the treasures of our state.  These wonderful people give so much of their time and talents to often unpaid positions in organizations with very limited funds.  I will miss the association I have had with them.  

I thank my friends for taking in someone with no museum experience and allowing me to learn from them.  I will remember long road trips that allowed for long getting-to-know-you-better conversations, auctions with the Ryan & Jayceen Show, sitting and laughing with the girls at conferences,  new babies born into the UMA family and loved ones lost,  tiptoeing through delicate situations, sharing book titles, more laughter,  watching our museums grow more confident at the State Legislature and sharing heartaches as well as happiness.   All of these memories, and more,  make for lifetime friends who I will always hold close to my heart.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you dear friends!

What Happened to Fall?

      the melting snow

A week ago I was enjoying the glory of fall, today I am looking at melting snow.  A lot of melting snow.  Ten inches of melting  snow. We woke up yesterday to bending trees in our yard and broken trees all around the neighborhood.  Someone sneaked in during the weekend and stole our fall.  I have been so cold that I didn't think about taking a picture until this afternoon and most of the snow had melted but I took a photo anyway.  I won't forget this fall theft.  Oh, no I won't.

Principessa Scout

don't even think about it

I think that I have created a monster.  Yesterday I took our little dog, Scout, to the groomer. (Not one of her favorite activities, but I digress.)   While  I was at the "crocodile groomer"  (as the-man-of-my-dreams refers to it) I saw a soft, warm pad that I thought Scout would like for her crate.  She has spent the past couple of days shivering as the weather has turned a little cooler and I was trying to find a way to warm her bed up.  I bought the fake-fur-blanket-pad- thing and brought it home.  When I took it out of the bag and put in on the floor she immediately parked her little body on it and took possession.   "Well," I thought, "isn't it great that she likes it."     

Last night I put the blanket in the bed  and she went straight in and snuggled down for the night. This morning I when I opened the door to her crate she didn't come out.  Typically she is out, down the stairs and headed to the back door.  I bent down and looked in and slowly she came out. I thought, "Hmmm, she must really like her blanket." 

I got breakfast for Zach and sent him out the door to school and looked around, no Scout.  Not normal, but okay, she must have gone back upstairs.  I went up and looked in her bed...no Scout and no blanket.  Now this wasn't an easy thing to get into the crate in the first place so I was surprised to not find it there.  I looked around the room and peeking out from my closet was a little dog snuggled into her blanket. Now, let me just say, I have NEVER seen her drag anything around larger than one of her toys and here she had dragged this blanket across the room and into the closet.  

This was only the beginning.   She usually sits in my lap as I work on the computer.  Not today.  She usually follows me upstairs as I shower.  Not today.  All day she has parked her little 4 pound body on that blanket.  She dragged it from spot to spot and growled at anyone who came within a foot of her.  What have I done?  This is not good. 

Breathing Fall

a boy and his dog

 I love fall.  I have always loved fall.  When I was little, fall meant new school clothes, the smooth feel of a stack of lined school paper, apples, the amazing colors of the trees as the leaves began to change and my birthday.  Finally, the hot humid days of summer were coming to an end and warm sweaters and knee socks were coming out of the back of the closet.  

I still think of these things as the days begin to get a hint of crispness in the air but over the years other things have skittered across my mind with the coming of fall.  New teachers for my children in school, shopping for new shoes to replace the stinky ones that have been worn all summer by little, and then big, feet.  Fall sports- first soccer and now football -for the boys and music lessons for all.  I think of the potential of snow coming to cover the weeds in my yard that I am tired of pulling, and the leaves we are going to have to rake before the first storm comes.  I think of the-man-of-my-dreams birthday and how much he loves everything fall.  I think of the acorns falling off of the trees and try to remember what the farmers almanac says about them and what they mean for the winter to come.  I think today of the quickness of the passing of time and wonder at the reality that my baby boy is now a senior in high school. 

What will I think of next year as school starts without any of my children dressing for that first day and standing with the dog on the front porch for the painful, first day of school picture?  I don't know, what I do know is that I am going to breathe in every mother-moment with this amazing last child and be thankful for the memories of fall that each of my children have given me.