Girlfriend Getaway

It was sort of like an extension of Mother's Day.  

And by the way, my Mother's day was wonderful.  I took an after-church nap while Jon dressed the kids in aprons and enlisted their help to create a nice meal for me.  This is such a sweet gesture because if you know my husband, then you know that cooking is not his usual thing.

Everything turned out great! 

The next day, while I was scrambling to balance work, cleaning, cooking and all the other "mom" duties by myself, I grumbled out loud, "I want Mother's Day back."

Well, I only had to carry on for three short days before I got all the respite a mother could wish for.

Last summer, my dear friend, Tracy, moved to Arizona.  Tracy and her family were some of the first people we met when we moved to Washington.  They were like the social planners of the ward.  Tracy was always arranging playdates, planning campouts and hosting dinners and parties at her house.  Even after she moved to a neighboring community a few years later, Tracy continued to regularly invite many of us from her old ward over for lunches and get-togethers.  

Then she moved really far away.  Almost as soon as she moved to Arizona, she was planning a trip for some of us girlfriends to come for a visit.  Though it was tricky finding a weekend that would work for all of us, we eagerly accepted her invitation. 

She is the hostess with the mostess.  Her home is ah-maze-ing!

Our whole family was lucky enough to visit back in February, when the girls competed in Phoenix.  We had a wonderful week-long visit.  This girls' trip was equally as wonderful but totally different.  I'm so lucky that I got to go back.

Tracy's backyard is like a resort.  We spent a lot of time by the pool.

And chatting around the fireplace:

Tracy grilled us some burgers for a lunch served at her swim-up bar.  Isn't she adorable?

Left to right: Stephanie, Camille, Anna, Me, Tracy and Jackie

When the sun got too warm, we slid into the pool to cool off.

We sometimes got a little crazy, too.

Look at Anna's toe touch!  Impressive, huh?  I promised I touched my toes, too.  The picture just didn't capture me at the height of my jump. :)

There's a little bench under the waterfall:

One evening, we rode Segways while we watched the sunset.  It was a blast!

A short hike to Hole in the Rock gave a pretty nighttime view of the city:

After a delicious pizza dinner, we went for decadent ice cream treats.

On Sunday Camille and I discovered that we have matching skirts.  Luckily I brought another dress that I changed into so that we weren't matchy-matchy at church.  

I styled the hair of each of Tracy's girls for church so I had to get a picture with them.  Cute girls.  Made me miss mine.

Brinkley, Kennedy, Me and Madison

After church we visited the Mesa temple.  

There's a wonderful visitor's center on the temple grounds.  We watched a beautiful movie about families and cried as we thought of those we'd left at home.

Soon enough, it was time to leave the cacti and return to the evergreens.  This is Tracy's guest house:

Beautiful, right?  Her entire home is decorated as lovely as this room.  Our accommodations were deluxe.  But I was ready to return to my simple life and be with my family.

I knew I was almost home when I saw this out of the window of the airplane:

While I was away, the family was having all sorts of fun.  Jon and Caleb went on a father and sons campout.  Alyssa had a blast eating candy for dinner in between walking laps at Relay for Life.  (A huge thank you to our very generous family members that helped her raise funds for this event!) And Natalie got to have a sleepover with Emma and her two favorite babysitters of all time, Megan and Paige.  There was scarcely any time to miss me.

What a wonderful weekend filled with fond memories!

Not Your Everyday Stylist

Alyssa was in desperate need of a haircut.  I have a regular hairdresser that I quite enjoy, but trying to find an appointment that coordinates both of their limited availabilities is difficult.  For that reason, when we find ourselves with a few spare minutes in Alyssa's schedule, we kinda have to go to whomever can take us at that very moment.

Friday evening found Caleb and Jon at the Mariner's game and Natalie at a birthday party.  I needed to make a purchase at the mall so I decided to take Alyssa on a mother-daughter shopping trip and squeeze in a haircut, too.

JC Penney salon.  I'd been to one--though not this exact one--at some point in my life and it seemed a decent place for a simple straight-across, trim-up-the-ends cut.  So I called for a late afternoon appointment and they could get us in in 45 minutes.

We checked in at the front desk and the receptionist said she would let our stylist know we had arrived.

A few minutes later a senior man wearing black orthotics came shuffling around the corner.

"This old man just finished getting a haircut," I thought.  I wondered silently if the stylist that had just finished up with him would be coming to get us shortly.

Imagine my shock when he called out Alyssa's name and then escorted us to his styling station.  

What?  This is our stylist?  Is it even appropriate to call him a stylist?  Everything about it just seemed wrong.

The situation soon went from awkward to awkward-er--maybe even awkward-est--when he asked Alyssa to stand while he sat in the chair to get a different angle on things!

It wasn't a good haircut.  Even I, with my untrained eye, can see some inconsistencies in length.  And it was altogether much shorter than Alyssa wanted.  She couldn't stop tugging at the ends and I knew she was terribly disappointed, though her personality is so darn easy that she scarcely said a word about it.

So you know what made it all better?  A beautiful gluten-free, salted caramel cupcake and getting to pick out a new outfit. 

Still, she definitely won't want another haircut anytime soon and she'll likely be leery of a senior citizen with shears.

Dynamo

Being a substitute in Natalie's school means I get to see her often in the halls, but a school rule prohibits me from ever subbing in her class.  Perhaps it's because the principal fears a parent might give their own child an unfair allotment of attention or maybe the child would be distracted by having their parent be the teacher?  Whatever the reason, in Nat's case, it's probably for the best.

One day, I was a substitute for another second grade teacher who happens to be Natalie's walk-to-read teacher.  So, for a short 45 minute period, I got to teach my own daughter reading.  After school, I asked her what she thought of having me as her teacher.

"Well, it's OK," she said unenthusiastically.  "But you're just a little too...what's the word?...dynamo."

"Dynamo?  What do you mean?"

"It was our word of the day once.  It means...oh let me think...it means...well, it's the opposite of monotone."

"I'm too dynamo?  Isn't dynamo a good thing?  Monotone would be boring."

"Well, yeah, it's a good thing.  You're just a tiny bit too dynamo."

Shoot.  I thought she was going to say I was the best teacher she'd ever had.  Instead, she was quite possibly embarrassed by me.

Well, it turns out she just might have inherited some of my dynamo-ness.  She recently brought home a book her classmates wrote the week she was the class VIP.

Look what some of them said about her:

Like mother, like daughter.  

Being dynamo isn't a bad thing, is it?

Birthday Raincheck

Because we were in Spokane for her state meet, Natalie missed Emma's birthday party.  This was actually the second year in a row that her state meet caused this conflict.  These two share all of life's milestones so missing a birthday just doesn't feel right.  Last year, Natalie got a private redo of Emma's party.  This year we planned a special birthday outing to celebrate.

First, they got their nails done:

Then they got lollipops and cake pops:

Then, the next day, I took the girls for some self-serve frozen yogurt.  They had both received gift certificates to our local yogurt shop for their birthdays.

Natty said, "It's the best day of my life two days in a row!"

Yeah, outings with Emma are kinda like that.  Like the best days of her life.

Happy Birthday, Emma!  We love you.

Postseason

It wasn't exactly the happy ending we had imagined.  A rather disappointing postseason brought Natalie's otherwise successful level five season to a close.  You win some and you lose some; it's not the end of the world.  But it may well be a turning point.

Several weeks ago, Natalie suffered a minor injury to her sternum that left her feeling major pain.  It was particularly painful on bars and nearly kept her from participating in her sectionals meet.  But we enlisted the prayers of our family and friends and after receiving a priesthood blessing, she was able to compete at sectionals (She placed 10th) and qualify for state.

Natalie and buddy, Morgan, anxiously awaiting the announcement of the state qualifiers.

The injury healed fully but something in Natalie still seemed off.  Whether it was a lack of focus, determination and/or drive we can't be sure.  But it felt like just as her teammates were hitting their stride, Natty was hitting the skids.  She once had to stay late at practice because her coaches just weren't seeing what they wanted out of her floor routine.

Her first and only fall of the season--on her cartwheel on beam--at the state meet only added to the disappointment.  It was difficult to watch her fall below other competitors that she'd been outscoring all season.  It just wasn't how the state meet--the biggest meet of the year--was supposed to go.  And she knew it.  Which is why she melted into a puddle of tears as soon as it was over.

So here we stand at a fork in the road.  Is her heart still in it?  Is it just too demanding of a sport that requires more hard work than she's willing to give?  Or will this setback only motivate her to refocus and rededicate herself to overcoming obstacles?  She really could be great.  But she has to want it.

Teammates: Carly, Morgan and Natty

Whatever her decision, we are very proud of Nat.  She has had many great reasons to celebrate this season--like two first place finishes!  And her team ended up being the state championship team!  It was crazy, really.  A deja vu of Alyssa's state meet.  Her team ended up tying for first and although AGC would've won the tie breaker, our gym's owner decided to share the state title--the exact rare and unlikely scenario that happened with Alyssa's level 8 team this year.

(I'll insert a picture of the state championship team here as soon as I receive a copy of one from a friend.)

Congrats on a great season, Nat.  Even if the postseason wasn't what we thought it would be, we still think you are pretty darn amazing.

Regionals 2013

 It really was quite the weekend.  Natalie's baptism one day, Alyssa's Regionals competition the next.

In preparation, each member of their team got a new workout leo.  Alyssa's had her eye on one of these since we first came to the gym a year ago.  It's tradition--even a right of passage--for regional qualifiers to be given a new AGC workout leo.  She wore it proudly on the last day of training before this, her last competition of the season.

Auburn Gymnastics Center Level 8 Team:

L to Rt: Clare, Gabby, Emma, Maison, Beth, Ali, Alyssa, Kati, Maddi, Trinity and Karlei

We love these girls.  They are crazy talented.  They work hard but they know how to have fun, too.  They are the best of friends and wonderfully supportive of one another.  There's a special sense of belonging that comes from being a part of this cohesive team that we had not previously experienced in Alyssa's gymnastics career.  How blessed we feel to have been a part of it this season!

Alyssa had quite the fan club at her meet.  Both sets of grandparents, Chad, Amy, Maureen and Sarah all joined our family in cheering her on.  And she did not disappoint. (I just regret not getting a picture of the fan club.  Many of them even sported team shirts to show their support.)

This amazing floor routine earned her a 9.625 which was good enough for 2nd place:

Region 2 comprises gymnasts from Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho and Montana.  Alyssa's age group had 31 girls in it.

She was ninth on bars and beam and her 37.125 all-around score landed her in 5th place.

It's a relief to have such a successful and memorable season at our new gym under her belt.  Lys has been very happy.  She loves this sport and is extremely excited to dive right into training level 9 skills.

Way to go, Alyssa!  We're so proud of you.

Natalie's Baptism

The clouds were thick and drippy, but that is the only thing that wasn't perfect about Natalie's baptism day.  

We thought she looked stunning all dressed in white.  

And when she saw her dad, also dressed in white, walking toward her in the hallway of the church, she said, "Daddy looks like an angel."

The service was wonderful.  There were two very age appropriate, short and sweet, talks on baptism and the holy ghost.  They were followed by the ordinances of baptism and confirmation.  Natalie thought the font was so warm and inviting that she wished she could get back in.

Her two grandfathers served as witnesses.  They also, along with Chad, Christopher and Jared, assisted in the confirmation.

We felt so blessed to have so many family members and dear friends there to share this special day.

What major life milestone would be complete without Emma by Natalie's side?  They are, as they say, friends since heaven.

Linsey and Alyssa wore the same dress to the baptism.  And they did not plan it.  They are becoming such beautiful young women, aren't they?

We enjoyed visiting with everyone at an open house following the service.  

On the way to the church for her baptism, I expressed to Natalie that I feel the greatest quest of her life will be to learn to recognize, understand and follow the Spirit.  That's true for all of us really, isn't it?  And this baptism and confirmation was the first step in that quest.

Congratulations, Natty.  Words can't possibly convey just how much we adore you!