One Year of Preschool Down!

It's amazing to me that Amelia's teachers have survived a whole year with her.  Oops!  I mean, it's amazing to me that Amelia has completed an entire year of preschool.  She's growing up so fast.  She has loved Miss Becky and Miss Lynn at Wasatch Presbyterian Preschool and all of her new friends there.  We are definitely proud parents.  Now, what to do with her all summer long???  Blerg.

Natquaida, Idaho.

I have the privilege of working with the Young Single Adults at church.  They are such a fun group of young whipper-snappers.  (I can say that because I am OLD.)  We tagged along on their weekend retreat to Idaho and had a ball.

Spent the day in Jackson Hole, WY where, as fate would have it, it was Antler Fest or something like it.  Antlers on sale as far as the eye could see.  A little strange to say the least, seeing all of those antlers in one place like that.

Stopped into the candy shop and discovered that everywhere David goes, he's a celebrity.  Alison grabbed a package of Flicks candies and asked if anyone had ever had them before because she had such fond memories of them.  With all eyes on the candy, it was time to divulge that David had actually designed the packaging on Flicks!  Everyone was in awe and we just had to buy a package.  See?  A celebrity.  And I married him.  (Before he designed for Flicks, by the way.  You could say that I saw in him star potential.)

Amelia literally spent hours tailing Coco and Tori and trying to do everything that they did.  And they were so good to her.

It was hard to pack up and leave Natquaida.  Look at the view!  And don't bother Googling "Natquaida".  You won't find anything.  The Wrights made up the name for their home in Idaho - that's natquaida cabin, natquaida ranch.  (Get it?  "not-quite-a"?  Very clever.)

Easter Egg Hunting in PJs.

When did a visit from the Easter Bunny turn into a visit from Santa Claus who comes like a ghost in the night?  I only have memories of Easter egg hunts fully dressed in my Easter dress and shiny clickadees (that's what I called patent leather dress shoes that clicked when you walked on pavement).  At any rate, the Easter Bunnies were good to Amelia this year.  (I say "bunnies" because there are many in this fortunate little girl's life that play to the holidays.)

After the pajama egg hunt, Amelia donned her beautiful Easter dress and paraded her way up to church and back, telling everyone along the way that her Grandma Lorla made it for her.

The only speed bump in the day came at Sunday dinner with the Kennedy family.  Traditionally, an egg cracking contest is held complete with brackets and a champion.  Amelia's egg was actually doing quite well in the tournament until the very end, when a small fracture turned into a complete meltdown.  (Insert lesson on "It's not about winning, it's about how you play the game" here.)

Getting Grandma to Play the Piano.

My grandmother Rheta is amazing.  She is kind and thoughtful, polite and proper, beautiful and sunny, and musically talented beyond measure.  She has spent her life playing in symphonies and orchestras and teaching violin and piano to eager students but as of late has stopped playing.  "...Too old... too tired... can't find my glasses..."  But recently, she started playing the piano for some of her friends again.  What a treat to be visiting California and convince her to play a little for us.  (Amelia even got a quick lesson while seated next to the master on the bench.)  And, of course, she played beautifully and without a hiccup!

A lot of the trip I had the opportunity to sit at my grandmother's knee with my laptop and record her memories.  She is a hoot!  I'm organizing my notes and will publish them for the family soon.  Here is one of my favorite stories and one that highlights my grandma's sense of humor (in her words):
The Sorensens and we were traveling in Europe - I don't remember what country.  We stayed in a place with lots of rooms.  There were a lot of tourists there.  We had to share a bathroom with another room; it was between the two rooms.  You had to remember to lock the door on the other side.  There was this one day, I went into the bathroom and there, just in front of me, was a naked man.  He'd forgotten to lock the door.  Both of us were in total shock.  We both turned and left.  I saw his back end, too.  The next morning at breakfast, France said, "Who's the guy from last night?"  I said, "How do you expect me to recognize him with his clothes on?"

I couldn't close this post about our trip to California without a mention of Amelia's "nest building".  For whatever reason, Amelia spent every afternoon of our visit collecting the fallen branches of the willow trees in the courtyard and placing them tenderly in a pile to make a nest.  The gardeners even left it alone because they recognized just how dedicated she was to the cause.  What an imagination!  

Disneyland is All About the Memories.

You guessed it!  February found us at Disneyland (again).  But come on, when friends say that they'll meet you there for a few days of fun, how can we resist?  Often, when people find out how much time we spend at Disneyland their jaws hit the floor.  Then I go on to explain that we go to meet up with long lost friends or have family along for the journey which turns the Park into something different and special each day.  So, I make NO apologies for our frequent visits to hobnob with Mickey or how many churros I eat in a seven-day stretch.  (I've stopped counting...)  It's all about the memories!

Shout out to the McKinlays for joining us on this trip.  And what fun to meet up with the Hiatts, too!  The kids had so much fun together.  We parents were thoroughly worn out at day's end!

Each Disney trip has some unique memory that gets filed away in my brain.  Although, admittedly, some of the trips are starting to blend together.  (No, that is not a sign of too many trips to Disneyland!)  This trip's treasure was certainly meeting and talking to Oscar Martinez, chef at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street.  Oscar is the longest tenured cast member at Disneyland.  He is a slice of Disneyana history!  His memories of Walt Disney and the Park itself are amazing and each time he'd pass by your table he's share another tidbit.  In fact, Walt Disney loved his wife's milkshakes so much that would have her, and only her, make them for him when he was visiting the Park.  "She knew just how to get the milk and ice cream balance right."  Thank you, Oscar, for the memory!

A Very Merry Christmas.

2010 was a California Christmas.  We travelled many a snowy road to get to the west coast sunshine only to be met with overcast skies and rain.  But the trip wasn't about the weather outside - it was about the people and memories being made inside!  Enough smalltalk about the weather.

It was wonderful to see everyone - grandpa and grandma Lorla John, great grandma Rheta, uncle Bill & aunt Jenn, Kyle, Heather, Noelle & Jackson, Ramona, Ryan & Kerry, Brittany & Ashley, Carol, and the King family.  There never seems to be time enough for all of the visiting.

At the top of Amelia's wish list was a Pillow Pet.  And not just any old Pillow Pet... a purple unicorn Pillow Pet.  Grandma and Grandpa Lorla John did not disappoint!  To this day, I think this has been her favorite gift ever.  ("It's not just a pillow - it's also a pet.  It has a hook and loop system," quotes Amelia whenever anyone asks.)

A close second to the Pillow Pet were new Play Doh sets from Aunt Monica and Uncle Aaron.  I can't tell you how many pretend ice cream cones I have now consumed.  Good thing pretend food is light on calories.

David added in a pilgrimage to GMT Games in Hanford where we took a self-guided tour of their warehouse, bought games, and Amelia played with their packing peanuts.

No self-respecting Central Valley girl would pass though Hanford without a scoop of Superior Dairy ice cream.  Yes, that's just ONE scoop.  One scoop of strawberry heaven!

One parting comment before we leave Christmas past.  Amelia cannot stop talking about her "darling Lewis" (AKA my parents' dog who tortured her in his puppy days).  She misses him, she talks about him, she wonders what he's doing without her there.  This photo best illustrates their sweet relationship.  Amelia had fallen asleep in the car, we carried her in and set her on the couch, and darling Lewis promptly ran up and rested his head next to her, just to be close.

Caught, red-handed (or purple-faced).

Isn't being a kid fun?  Toys, makeup, and markers.  Oh my!