Pokey Trip and Chloe's 3rd Birthday

Aren't blogs great? It's so fun to go back and look at old posts. Three years ago, I posted this. What a joyful, crazy time that was. And now, three years later, we have this:

 And what a joyful, crazy time we are living now! This picture was taken last weekend in Idaho. We were at Duncan's sister's house and Chloe found this princess dress in her cousin's room. Boy, did she love wearing that thing. You can imagine the resistance, yea, even the tantrum, when it was time to leave. I have to admit, she does look sweet in it.

Yes, we were in Idaho last weekend (Pocatello and Rexburg). We had a nice visit with family, and we celebrated four birthdays (MaMere's, Hannah's, Chloe's and Mine--which isn't until March). And yes, I have many pictures of the occasion. We'll start with the birthday party in Pocatello (a.k.a. Pokey). In the first picture, I think Charlotte is already calculating a plan to get some cake, and you will see how she succeeds.

 I received two Christmas movies that Duncan watched every year growing up. Can't wait to carry on the tradition!

 The next day we went to Rexburg to bring cousins Madelyn and Ian back home to their mom and dad. (We actually rented a Chevy Tahoe so that we could all go in the same car. Fun times!) Oh, the spinning and twirling!

 By Sunday afternoon, we were ready to go home. This is what the girls looked like five minutes into the drive. Ahhh....silence.

 Well, except for Duncan. :)

If you're still reading this post, I'll show you how we celebrated Chloe's birthday the day of. Chloe and I made a butterfly cake. Then we all went to Malawi Pizza in the Provo Riverwoods for dinner. Then hopped across to the Provo Beach Resort (also in the Riverwoods) for a carousel ride, watching the indoor surfing, and playing on the toddler toys underneath the ropes course. You can imagine the resistance, yea, even the tantrum, when it was time to leave. Happy birthday, Chloe! We love you!

Believe You're Pretty

The other day I came across a few pictures of moi and immediately started picking them apart. (Let's face it, close-ups can sometimes be brutal.) I chose one that I thought looked decent and, like I do with all of my photos, opened it in Photoshop. Then I set to work making a few touch-ups on the things about my looks that bother me. (See if you can find the tweaks I made.) Nothing too drastic, mind you; after all, I am one who abhors how the popular media manipulate images and create unrealistic standards of "beauty."

BEFORE

AFTER

 

Then I thought about this blog post that I had read earlier in the day about body image and I felt kind of ashamed. Why am I being hard on myself?  Why am I focusing on aspects of my face that you wouldn't see on a magazine cover? So, I've been thinking a lot about loving myself more, and loving other people more, and not immediately "sizing" people up based on how they look. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to let my body go to pot, but I'm not going to expect too much of myself either. To quote one of my favorite movies: "You see, the French girls would tell you, to believe that you are pretty would make you so" (Wives and Daughters). I think I like that first picture better anyway.

Charlotte says, "Go Cougars!"

We're so proud!

Carillonneur

I don't know when it started, but Chloe has developed a love of bells, especially the bell tower at BYU. Maybe it was when we told her that daddy used to play the bells in the bell tower. In any case, she gets excited about any little sighting of the tower and its bells, and if we are anywhere near it, she wants to look at it and wait to hear the chimes.

 A couple years ago, I happened upon this CD in the BYU Bookstore and bought it for Duncan because he used to play the carillon and because Dr. Cook was his mentor.

I pulled the CD out the other day after Chloe couldn't stop talking about the bell tower. She loves listening to it. There is even mention of Duncan's name in the notes.

Christmas: Part III

As you can see, I'm a little behind (since I'm still blogging about Christmas), so please bear with me. One of our pre-Christmas outings was to the Riverwoods in Provo. The Riverwoods shopping area recently received some upgrades, including some new pedestrian areas where there used to be through-streets and parking stalls. This made it nice to walk around and enjoy the Christmas lights, the pretty shops, and Santa's house. Here is Chloe staring intently into Santa's eyes.

Warming our hands:

Dazzling lights:

Inside Blickenstaff's toy store:

Charlotte is always such a trooper...since she usually gets stuck in the stroller for hours at a time. The horsey rides inside the toy store are free (at least they were that night). After strolling around for a while (and buying my Christmas present in Williams-Sonoma) we ate dinner at Malawi Pizza there in the Riverwoods. Very yummy food, and a good cause as well. I think we'll go back to the Riverwoods next year, but make sure we go on an evening when the old-fashioned carolers are there.

Christmas: Part II

A few days before Christmas, we got tons of snow, so Grammy and Papa gave the girls an early Christmas present: a sled. We thought the wheelchair ramp behind Grammy and Papa's house would be the perfect place to try it out. Chloe loved it...

...but Charlotte wasn't much of a fan.

Chloe even went down some bigger hills around the neighborhood.

The birdbath in Grammy and Papa's back yard provided the perfect pedestal for a natural snow cake. We thought it was lovely how the snow accumulated so perfectly into the shape of a cake. We just had to put some candles in it!

Grammar Girl

http://choosingeasy.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/no-nicely/