Spiritually lifted, a big surprise and what would it be like to have a dog for a day?

This past week we enjoyed watching General Conference on BYU TV. In between sessions on Sunday, Gabriella and I made cookies and didn't have to worry about eating the batter thanks to a recipe on a new friend's blog.


We also had BBQ...yummy! Using only the best sauce from Florida and my trusty crock pot.


After conference was over I got a phone call from Tess. She is one of my buddies from college who is now Dr. Tess. "I'm two hours away from your house," she says. "I was going to surprise you but I forgot your address." Okay, I'm thinking I really need those two hours to clean, clean, clean. So I did...(in my rush I fell going up the stairs and gave myself a carpet burn) NICE!
Tess came with her awesome dog, Cooney, (I know I didn't' spell that right.)
Ella Bella loved her dog, talking to her, petting her, and just really loved having a dog for a day. Really.
Here is what "Having a dog for a day," looks like...


But before you all think how great it would be to get her a dog for Christmas, think again, we like to visit dogs for now.


We then took Tess out to lunch, shopping at Aspen Grove and to the Columbine Memorial. Later that night I took her with me to YOGA class.
The Memorial was beautiful.




At the park we saw something very cool and Gabriella couldn't help herself, I huge balloon she thought!
One of the many things Gabriella loves is flowers, she couldn't help but to stop and take a whiff....



Then before we knew it the next day had come, we watched Speed Racer and then it was time to say goodbye.



Tess you are welcome anytime, just give me 2 hours notice...
Here are some videos...so cute!

Playing Catch

So I guess I have a lot to catch up on....
where to begin???
I never finished my final day with Erin so here are some pics. She and I went the Denver Nature and Science Museum...I think Erin was in Heaven. We saw the IMAX,an Astronaut, and lots of cool dead things.
Enjoy



Here is the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter...this is the one we saw in person before is was launched...(Steve correct me if I'm wrong)








Downtown!
We ate at Hard Rock...and had a very irritating server and an even more interesting story from that experience but one I'd rather not post for the world to see...ask Erin if you dare.

What a blast! I tried to cram as much as I could into a weekend, not too shabby I'd say. Thanks for coming Erin...okay who's my next guest?
TESS!

Pretty is as Pretty does

Have you ever heard that saying, "pretty is as pretty does"?
I grew up hearing it.
It was just one of the many things my great grandmother would say.
Here is the official definition:
Pretty is as pretty does. (old-fashioned)
"something that you say which means that you should judge people by the way they behave, not by their appearance."

Dad called me this afternoon to let me know that Wilma, my great grandmother who is 92 years old, had a stroke early this morning. I don't know much about what is going on, only that she is paralyzed on her left side.

Since one of the reasons we have this blog is to serve as a sort of scrapbook/journal, I just wanted to record this saying and perhaps a few memories.

I spent a lot of time eating lunch with Grandma from 8th grade to junior year. As a senior I was trying to be cool, taking my buddies to McDonald's for lunch, (We didn't have a cafeteria) so I didn't eat with her as often.
When I did eat with her she would often order a whole Domino's Pizza just for me or make me turkey sandwiches.

I grew up from the time I was 6 to 17 years old enjoying my birthdays with lots of family around. A few times Grandma Janet(Wilma's daughter) and Wilma would have me and my dad over to celebrate our birthdays together.
She gave me a bikini when I was like 12 or something...Mom and Dad didn't like that too well. Not to mention that every birthday I got clothes and had to immediately try them on to make sure they fit. It was embarrassing.
One time Wilma got locked her bedroom and I had to kick the door down, well not really down but I got it open.
She would let me use her curling iron during lunch so I could look really cute when I got back to school.
There was always a soap opera on TV during lunch, and one time she gave me some good advice about tweezing eyebrows, "Be careful, if you do it too much they don't grow back."
She, along with grandma Janet gave me a great Graduation Party. They put a lot of effort in it and it would be the last time so many family members gathered together just for me, (other than my wedding reception). Great grandpa Pete was there, along with Paw pa and Mawma, Clint, Geri, my immediate family and many others.

Things are changing. The memories of my youth are clouded as I try to think back to birthdays and visits that were routine.

As time passes by I will lose more of those guests that came to celebrate.
I am sad.

I am currently working on typing Wilma's memoir, although I only have the first 50 pages. I am hoping I might be able to get the rest so that I can have it printed and bound so that her descendants will have a piece of the past.

"you are only as beautiful/handsome/pretty as your deeds."
One things for sure, I'll always remember that pretty is as pretty does.

My Little Helper

I just thought I'd make a quick post, in order to document a little behavior I noticed today. Ella, when she feels like it, is a really excellent helper.

This month the Elders Quorum is assigned to take down the chairs at church after meetings. During such months, when Ella inevitably wants to run, drink from the water fountain, be a pill, or all of the above, we go around the periphery and stack chairs in the classrooms to pass the time (and keep her on a bit shorter of a leash--the straightaways that the chapel offers are just too much fun to walk down). Today was one of those days, and as we'd go around, we'd get into this little routine where Ella would push/pull one of the chairs over to me, and I'd stack it. Now I wasn't waiting around for her to do it...I'd grab plenty myself. However, it was just so neat to have her help. And after she'd help me, occasionally she'd look up and say "Good Job High Five", after which we'd high five and then run (well, she'd run) to the next classroom.

This evening we emptied the dishwasher together. Ella knows where nearly everything goes, including the Pyrex. She had it halfway to the Lazy Susan when I came over to help. She's a very smart little girl. She's also very funny...right now she says a lot of c's like h's, so "car" comes out "har" and "cup" comes out "hup". That doesn't really relate to the rest of the story, except to say that as she'd grab cups from the dishwasher to put away she'd say "hup". Ella has taken to mimicking everything I say (or a lot of it), which means that I occasionally get a "dang it", but often get prayers, as well as a lot of other cute stuff. I'm truly honored to be her daddy.

Anyway, I hope that I didn't bore the rest of you with that stuff, but this blog serves partial function as a family journal, and I didn't want to lose those details. I hope that I can continue to be as close to her as she grows, in spite of new trips to time out and the fact that any reprimand causes her to tear up nearly immediately. I've come to understand my Heavenly Father a bit better through the experience, in that I have to do things that make her sad in the short term (like putting her down for naps), in order to accomplish larger goals for her and ensure eventual happiness.

Daddy

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I hope you all enjoy these pictures I took today of gorgeous Gabriella.

















I've never seen anything cuter!