Blog Family Drawing
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Parents on the hot seat
Well, the Smith girls have provided an answer. They sat us down for an informal chat, with questions they came up with. We were not allowed to see the questions beforehand (I guess so they could spring the unexpected on us, 60-minutes style). So what you see is our unprepared responses to the probing questions that had to be asked!
I edited a bit for length...that's the privilege of being the one who knows how to use the video software and who posts the blog.
Sorry...must run. We're fielding calls from the local TV stations calling to offer our girls positions as reporter interns.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Girl Talk: The Year In Review
So we sat down and I asked each of them a few questions about this past year so you'd be able to hear what they thought of this past year. I apologize in advance for the sound and video quality; none of our children have a lisp, but it sounds like it on here.
We'll start with Anya, in 9th grade this year...
But wait...there's more!
Next up, Miss Emily...
And Emily, part 2...
And now, Jenna...
Jenna, the encore...
The parents may or may not contribute a v-blog in the coming days. Stay tuned.
If you've just come to our blog for the first time, feel free to browse our past posts via the listings at right. Or just bookmark this webpage and revisit us as often as you like.
We'll try not to be boring.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The joy of a pre-lit tree
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!...and an edible cell
· Nuclear envelope-------pink frosting
· Nucleolus---------------orange fruit snack
· Chromatin--------------red frosting
· Cell wall-----------------black ring
· Mitochondrion----------blue Jelly beans
· Lyosome-----------------blue frosting
· Rough ER----------------green squiggly icing
· Smooth ER--------------hard macaroni
· Golgi apparatus---------purple frosting
· Micro filaments--------thin spaghetti
· Micro tubles------------thick spaghetti
· Cytoplasm---------------bare cookie
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain...
Yeah, the makeup is a little extreme, but when she was on stage it looked great!
Anya had a great time and we loved watching her perform. (multiple times the parents watched her perform) But, we're all kind of glad it's over. Practice almost every afternoon for 2 months, then night rehearsals, Saturday rehearsals and performances for the last 2-3 weeks. We missed having her around! And she was feeling pretty wiped out!
On another note, some fall pics Karen snapped of Em & Jen while the leaves were still vibrant. They turned out fabuloso!!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Costumes
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Birthday Weekend
Very exciting!
Jenna made me several things, but this artistic rendering of her and me was a fave (one set for her, one for me):
Emily's home made certificate/objet d'art:
And new duds for Dad from Aunt LeAnne in Oklahoma:
The girls and Karen always approve of Aunt LeAnne's choices.
After a day of recuperation, we began Jenna's festivities, first with a present from the parents:
One from Pastor Dan and Miss Candi (it's kind of a kid version of a scrapbooking decorative cutting tool):
And Jenna's sisters made her a scrapbook of pictures of her and them through the years, along with commentary, encouragement, and silly captions on each page.
Jenna loves to go to the park just a few steps from our front door, but we don't let her go alone. Anya will occasionally go with her, but begrudgingly. So Anya gave Jen this highly valuable certificate:
And Jenna unwrapped her stylish outfit from Aunt LeAnne:
She had to wear it to church on her birthday, of course!
Monday brought her birthday party, with friends Hannah, Hannah, and Madelyn. We began by decorating our goody bags.
We made a quick trip to the Dollar store. Instead of gifts, each friend brought $3 and we went to the Dollar Store where they each picked out three things for Jenna, and had to tell her why they picked them for her when she received them later on at the party. Jenna also picked one thing for each of them that reminded her of them, and we added that to their goody bag.
Hannah picked this hat for Jenna, and Jenna had picked out the same hat for Madelyn!
After a few rounds of Hide the Beanie Babies, the girls ate homemade pizzas they put together themselves. Then it was time for candles on the cake. Uh, I think I caught Jenna off guard...And, the lovely birthday serenade:
After the cake, we played a couple of rounds of Mario Kart Wii, a kind of kart-racing video game. Hannah F was a Nascar Champion! She rocked the Kart!
Jenna and her friends...
Good times...good times...
And the parents weren't even that worn out!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Gardens, but not of the flower variety
This one is some sort of monument to tradesmen, or masonry, or construction workers, or something. Note the guy's pants are brick. Very stylish. By the way, that's a self-portrait of Thomas Child, at least the head. I don't think he wore brick pants in real life.
A representation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the idol in the book of Daniel:
I know...kind of disconcerting. Body parts scattered on a small hillside in a backyard.
And that 's the thing. This is STILL in people's back yards. All the original homes still surround this. There's lots of other sculptures to examine, 12 in all, but here's one more:
And remember, he carved and assembled all these on his own over 50 years ago! The stack of books on the right is the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price (the last three are Mormon sacred writings, for you non-Utahns).
It was a memorable stroll. Odd, but memorable.
Next we headed a few miles west and just a little south to the International Peace Garden. This was created to help foster peace and create understanding of different cultures, or some such mumbo jumbo.
Basically it's several acres of a park with different areas dedicated to different countries, with various representations of those cultures.
For example, in France, a miniature version of the Eiffel Tower, small enough to put next to your fireplace.
In Switzerland, a remarkably accurate (if by accurate you mean "it looks like a 7th grade science fair volcano") rendering of the Matterhorn with a lovely Swiss chalet at its feet.
In China, we wondered, "why does this Lion have a ball in its mouth?"
Near the great wall of...Korea? I don't pretend to understand. I just report the news.
Another lion, this time sans a mouth ball, and protecting the entrance to Vietnam's patch of grass.
Evidently in Mexico hundreds of years ago, the people had really big heads. And could have used a good plastic surgeon for their noses.
After a while, Anya expressed a bit of weariness with the Peace Gardens.
We took that as our cue to leave.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
David Copperfied?
I don't get this; as I do this so-called magic, it seems utterly ordinary. But when I do this, the girls are amazed, a-MAZED I tell you.
So much so that they had to get it on film:
I know...kind of a let-down, isn't it?
At least they find me fascinating. I'm highly doubtful that will last.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Red rock, sand, and arches
And we managed to bring quite a bit of that red sand back home with us. Our dryer lint will be tinted a slight shade of pink for the next few loads.