26 May 2009

Memorial Day

David, Amelia, and I spent Memorial Day in Sanpete County, Utah celebrating the lives and decorating the headstones of my pioneer family. The day was perfect - blue skies and wispy clouds casting shadows on rolling green hills and pastures full of sheep, cows, and horses. (Amelia loved the animals. More about that below...)



We met the Goodmans and, armed with Rachel's fabulous notes and map, marched through the Moroni and Mount Pleasant cemeteries. Memorial Day is a big day there and everyone seems to gather at the cemeteries to visit and reminisce. Everyone knows your family somehow and has stories to share. It is amazing to me how a place where you've never lived can feel so much like home. (Maybe it's because every headstone read Blackham, Anderson, Christensen, or Sorensen!)
Following the cemeteries, we stopped by David and Dianne Blackham's for lunch and more family. I can't tell you how long it's been since I've seen many of these people and how great it was to play catch up. As long as we live in Utah, Memorial day in Sanpete is definitely going to an annual event.

Before I sign off - back to the above-mentioned animals. My cousin David Blackham has ZEBRAS! (Click on the photo to enlarge and look to the very center of the shot.) They are pastured in Wales and we took the short detour on the way home to stop and see them. David is dreaming of creating an African Serengeti-type park for them and other wild animals but keeping wild animals happy (and alive) is proving more difficult than planned. (There were six zebras originally, and now there are only two.) They are a funny sight in the middle of Utah out in a pasture of horses!

18 May 2009

Fore!

Amelia had her first mini golfing adventure last Saturday.  She loved it!  Sadly, the course was a little lame.  No windmill, no dragon spewing fire, no disco lights along the greens.  Even the water features had been drained.  What ever happened to the mini golf courses of the 1980s that we all loved so much?

From such great heights

Holladay Preschool hosted their spring carnival recently.  In a sea of colorful and inviting booths like face painting, cotton candy, and a cake walk, it was this vinyl monstrosity - a 25ft inflatable slide - that caught and kept Amelia's heart.  So, we bought our tickets and she slid again and again (ALL BY HERSELF).  This kid knows no fear.

Good Day Sunshine

Oh how we love the warm weather and all it brings - sugary snow cones with too much syrup, dinners in the backyard, and blow-up pools.  Thanks Amanda and Caroline for providing Amelia with non-stop entertainment and her mother a reason to buy Oxy Clean in Costco quantities.

Tell Me a Story


Old Hanford, CA friends Randall McGee and Groark were in Utah, performing at the Treehouse Children's Museum in Ogden and there was no way that the little girl inside Teishi was going to miss the opportunity to introduce her daughter to the dragon Groark!  Amelia loved the singing and story telling and is still singing, "Tell me a story...", their signature song.  When grown-up Teishi got a shout out from the stage, she felt just like a kid again.  (The best part of the show was always when Groark would call you by name in front of everyone.  Hello superstar!)

As a footnote, if you have kids, live in Utah, and haven't visited the Treehouse Children's Museum - what are you waiting for?  It's totally amazing and hands-on!