Summer?

I've been living in Salt Lake for a long while now, so you'd think I'd clear from my head the notion that Summer begins when May begins. It's fun to pretend like summer is here though. Crosby insists on shorts every day now - rain or shine, D and I are still snuggling under our down comforter, and I still can't bring myself to put Lennox in short sleeves most days. I really appreciate the rain and actually like it. It's no fun when you're a kid though; Crosby's ready to get OUT!

Lack of summery weather didn't stop us from attending our zoo date. A group of friends who used to work at Dan's back in the day all decided to get together... some with kids and some sans kids. Erik & Alysa brought Callan, Mirjeta & Jared came with Tavi, Steph brought Tyler as her date ;) I've missed them! Too bad I didn't get pix of everyone. Here's the trio of us girls.



Crosby wasn't loving the spitting dinosaur. Neither was I.



Every time I observe the gorillas my heart sinks :( It is quite fascinating that just by looking at their faces you see how intelligent they are. Did I hear someone say wasted potential? Seriously... I'm planning on making friends with them soon because they might rule the world someday and gain back some justice. Wow we must look like big-time idiots.



D's beanie epitomizes our lovely ever-changing Utah climate... cold one second and hot the next.



Croz was fond of trying on hats



My 30 days of Bikram just ended. I thoroughly enjoyed making it to as many classes as possible and taking in one of my favorite sources of solace... I hope I can consistently revisit practicing Bikram, as I love it dearly. But for now, back to dancing in the kitchen!

My dad's Brazilian friend Dalva was staying at my parents' place so D & the boys & I went twice to visit with her. She is awesome. She is animated. She is loving. She has something to say every millisecond! I loved "talking" to her, even if my dad had to translate every word. Since Portuguese is a mixture of Spanish and French I was banking on understanding some of what she said. C'etais tres difficile. I was incredibly impressed with my dad, though! He knew EVERYTHING she said. His language skills were flowing like mad. I very much enjoy listening to and watching people speak different languages. Communication is fascinating. She was the cutest lady and kept saying how much she loved Crosby and that he was full of love. She would point to Lennox, who was crying both times she saw him, saying he's the nervous one. She kept looking at D holding the boys and saying that one of the best things you can ever have is a man who loves and takes good care of his children. I hope we see her again someday...



Cam & Auds are officially moving out of their Cottonwood Heights home :( We have loved our visits there and I cannot BELIEVE it's already been two years since they moved back to Salt Lake.

Cousins.



I was acting all nostalgic Saturday night, taking pictures as if they're moving away from us forever. It's just hard though because they still don't know EXACTLY their next destination and #1 that's been outrageously difficult for them but #2 I keep feeling inclined to savor every moment with them before they potentially go somewhere really far away. I can't think about it too hard; Cam holds quite a large part of my heart.



And who holds a large part of Crosby's heart?

Brig.



Well, each one of them really... they are the only cousins he gets to see on a regular basis and he loves them so much!



We all went over for a farewell movie night in their huge beautiful backyard. All snuggled in our chairs with our blankets and sweatshirts. Eating peanut M&M's, popcorn, and blueberry ice cream watching Despicable Me.



Nan & Grandpa with all of the grandkids.



Sunday morning I went crazy with the zucchini bread again. Baking, that is. I just have to have aromas filling the kitchen! I made some to freeze, some to give away, then we were off to church. Then to Sabita's to make her a birthday dinner (her favorite stir fry), as her bday was on the 20th.

Monday we took Sabita on errands. Then had a playdate at Colette's place; they just got a new tramp & invited Croz over to jump with Stella and they had a blast. Lennox slept the whole time down in their basement. Colette has this gorgeous home and when I walked into her kitchen I was overcome with the most delightful citrus scent. There was this sleek silver contraption on her counter with a soft blue light in the middle, steam slowly escaping out the top. An essential oil diffuser. This is now on my list of things I probably will never get but really want. It was magnificent.

In our ward they're trying something out called "Nourishing Neighbors." They leave out cute little take-out cartons with a name & phone number. They're names of older folks in the neighborhood who could use a dinner & a visit. So I grabbed a certain one, feeling like I should take that one. The problem is that it sat for at least a week or two and I started to feel horrible, so on Tuesday since I was making chicken noodle soup I called the number and told the lady I'd be by with dinner... I was so glad I chose her! She ended up having a history with my Great Aunt Fay and other family members. We sat in her living room having a nice visit. She was a lot of fun to talk to and I guessed her age to be 75 or so. She said she just turned 90. I was in shock. She wants me to bring Croz & Lennox in the summer to visit.

I have been working (only mentally) on improving my chicken noodle soup. I had only made it once before by combining two stellar recipes and it really turned out despite how intimidated I was to make it. It's the kind with those thick noodles and a murky broth. Red potatoes. I made a HUGE batch this time, so was nervous on proportions but threw stuff in anyway and didn't meticulously measure. I don't know why I do such things when I could risk wasting a batch of soup meant to feed 16+ people. Maybe because it is so outrageously daring. Ha! What an exciting life I lead. Anywho, the soup prep took a good part of the day mixed with the duties of young ones but I was loving making it. I made a big batch of breadsticks as well and took dinner to our downstairs neighbors. It was the day of the U2 concert and so I was allowing myself lots of caffeine and lots of loud U2 music with reckless abandon. When my mom showed up to watch the boys she must have thought I was quite the strange one as I'm divvying up bowls of soup for people while frantically saying, "I haven't even tasted the soup!"

Jigga making chicken noodle soup and dancing to "Get On Your Boots!"



The U2 concert! This has been the date D & I have been waiting for! Steve bought tix for us about a year and a half ago but due to Bono's emergency back surgery/recovery, they had to reschedule the tour dates. So **MAY 24TH** has been this big blinking light of a day to look forward to for SO long!

The album below is the one D bought me the month we started dating, in October of '98. I love the B-Sides part of it. It takes me back; we would have U2 and Led Zeppelin playing in my parents' living room into the wee hours night after night. This was our "getting to know each other" time that I'll never forget. It is where my soul squared away a place for D. We did nothing but talk for hours and hours and hours night after night while everyone was sleeping. There was this kind of building up; for an entire two months we didn't hold hands. We didn't kiss. We just talked and gave looks. It was magic, and so was the music.



Needless to say... ECSTATIC!!!



I love my bro.



Seriously I don't remember ever being so revved up for a concert. The crowd was electrically charged. They walked out so close to us. I was screaming 12-year-old girl style.



In heaven.



I kept thinking how some guy was singing so loud and I'd turn to look at D and it was him! Everyone was singing/screaming so loud the entire time. Blake & Steve were dates.



They played some great songs that I never thought I'd hear at a U2 concert, like Zooropa, Miss Sarajevo, & Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me



Toward the end Bono had the coolest mike suspended from cables or something. At first it was red and then they turned it sparkly to match the stadium-sized disco ball for "With or Without You." It was the GREATEST show; we absolutely loved every second.



We've loved each other a long time & U2 reminds us of that ;)



Wednesday morning we met at the park with the Daveys! Arthur and Croz had the greatest time chasing birds with sticks. Running free, digging in the sand, sliding and swinging. Karin and I got to chat some while tending to the needs of the teeny ones.



Wednesday night I escaped with three of my buddies to a movie out at Jordan Commons, which was a nice diversion. So refreshing to laugh and talk no boundaries with the girls!

Thursday was Jiffy Lube day, more Sabita errands, and yardwork day. I finally pulled some weeds and worked 'til 9 pm pruning laceleafs. I've been wanting to for days and weeks on end. It's just that this entire week Lennox has barely slept in the day. It has been truly exhausting because housewise I can't get anything done. I don't understand how he went from 2 or 3 solid naps per day to zero. I know teething is playing into it, but he's got to be exhausted...

Friday we spent the day at Cam & Audrey's helping them move. Croz had a ball playing on the tramp and walking barefoot outside all day. Everyone pushed really hard and got almost all of the moving done; most of it to their storage unit and then the rest to my parents'. I can't believe they're going to be EVEN closer... living at my parents for now. I am afraid we could get used to this!

Friday was Claire's birthday too so we all booked it to the park to have cake & ice cream and open presents before the rain came pouring. Happy #6, Claire!

It is a true delight to be this boy's mom. He is acting older...



... and wiser. He asks lots of questions. If we're going to the store, he needs to know which store. If I mumble something he has to know what I said. He asked me the other day: "What is time?" and "Do you know how much the kitchen weighs?" as he held up a ruler :) He's still a sucker for anything construction!



I've been telling him that as soon as we clear off the patio we can get his sandbox out. He's been helping me work in the yard... he asks for tools and gloves and likes to look for worms. He LOVES to run free and that is the one thing I regret... I wish he had more opportunities to!



Lennox likes to think he's helping in the yard ;) He has made it clear lately that he despises being away from his family. He has to be where everyone else is, preferably within a five foot range of his brother, who he worships.



Finally that first tooth emerged... can you see it?! He's had bubbles under his gums for a while now, poor guy



He will chew on most anything. We can't get enough of this Jigga; he is a roly-poly ball of giggles and drool.



Even though he's teething and probably doesn't feel great, he always manages to smile continually! He is the most pleasant, sweet baby. His eyebrows are starting to crack me up. Very animated.



Speaking of eyebrows, I am here to present (drumroll) ... Mini-D!

Mama's Lil' Baby

Loves Bake Sale Time!

Because Lucy and her cause mean so very much to us, my mom and I brainstormed last year ways we could donate more than 10 bucks to the March of Dimes. My mom came up with the brilliant idea of trying out a little bake sale on my lawn. We are both quite passionate about baking, so we tried it out and that first bake sale ever brought in a profit of $750... even on a rainy day. Well this second time around came with bigger and better expectations (and many helping hands/joint efforts) and WOW did the hard work deliver!

My cousin Codi & fam were all about the publicity/adorable signs/awesome presentation, etc. My mom and I concentrated on packaging and baking, baking, baking away for three days straight. Not that we did ALL the baking... many hands pitched in with many various delicious items.

I gotta hand it to my boys. They dealt beautifully without an attentive mom. I gladly turned into a Betty Crocker robot while Jamie & Munga helped out with them. Jigga sprayed the Pam.



I have to say how much fun we have doing this! There is a lot of excitement that comes with it because it feels like a bit of a crapshoot as far as how well the bake sale will do... Do we have enough items? Will we get the crowd there to buy them? Here's some shots from the living room the night before...



The tables were filled with goodies, all packaged and in their containers. It brought some serious joy to my heart! Though it may sound like bragging, I MUST document what I made! It was so much fun! Here's the list: zucchini bread (12 large, 12 small), orange-frosted cranberry cookies (12 dozen!), gingersnaps, frosted brownies, coconut cake, coconut cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes, indoor s'mores, chocolate chip cookie bars (4 pans), ranger cookies, double chocolate cookies, and cinnamon rolls (thanks to Caitlin's help!) Seriously I loved every second of it. And the energy that drove me was the thought of Lucy herself and her amazing story and her amazing parents.



With the bake sale set to begin at 10, we were frantically trying to sort out placement of tables, items, etc. and the pressure came on pretty quickly as soon as passersby got a glimpse of the lovely sight. I remember panicking a little and kind of freezing because I wasn't sure what to do as the clock only said 9:20 and people were wanting to buy something!



There was an amazing raffle spread-



And... drumroll... amazing Lucy and her lemonade stand! Really too cute for words. If you didn't get to see her in action, you MISSED OUT!



Really the presentation was irresistible!



Something else was irresistible as well. That would be this pink gorilla; Team LucyBug's mascot! Brinton was literally walking into the street, stopping cars with his huge gorilla hands, and ushering them onto the side road to park and attend our bake sale. He was an absolute hit. And really helped to gather the crowds!



A steady stream of people kept coming for a while, so we all couldn't be happier with the outcome and the good weather.



I was very pleased and touched at how many friends, neighbors, and ward members showed up and supported. I think our grand total either came to or exceeded $2200.



My dear friend Mirjeta came and she happens to be in the midst of what Codi and Blake went through with Lucy. A preemie baby in the NICU. Her sweet boy Tayt (aka Tayterbug) has been there going on eight weeks now. After having stood alongside Mirjeta throughout her pregnancy, hospitalization, and birth I may have a bit more of an understanding of the depth of this situation and what Codi had to have been feeling. I know that all the sympathizing/phone calls/I'm sorrys I can muster can't replace the way it feels to talk to someone who has traveled the exact same road. I'm so glad that Mirjeta had the opportunity to talk with Codi for a bit about everything. Love you Mirjeta & Tayt!



The friends and family kept coming... Lennox developed a love affair with Jerry's beard



Could the weather have been more perfect?! Even called for some sunscreen-applying. So excited for another warm day this Saturday on the day of the walk! We'll be there Luce, in our pink and green! Love you very much!



Best team ever.



Best Nan ever.



Best Mom ever.



Happy Belated Mother's Day to all of you hard-working, loving, kind, and patient Moms. I myself am absolutely PRIVILEGED to be the mother of two incredible boys who radiate and give to me a happiness that can be found nowhere else but in our own home. Love to Crosby and Lennox!

Easter Weekend

It's been a nonstop past week. D has 4 different tile jobs lined up so when he's not at school, work, or his mom's mowing the lawn he's laying tile. Croz and Lennox are nonstop. But they are my joy. I feel so lucky to be their mom. Last Wednesday night around 10 pm D and I were watching Mad Men and I felt this immediate sick in my gut. I sat up and said, "I feel extremely sick, I'm going to bed," then I woke up at 1 am and was throwing up/diarrhea all night. Weird. Thursday I had to have D stay home because I couldn't do anything for most the day. I felt so bad taking him from an entire 10-hr work day. He was awesome though and helped me so much. One thing I love about D is he knows when he needs to take over and does it. Diapers might be a little skiwompus and the house may be slightly more messy than normal, but I am so grateful for my man. And how much he truly cares for, loves, and enjoys spending time with his kids. Friday I was still kind of getting over the sick, so I couldn't take Sabita on errands but could only concentrate on laundry, kids, and making 100 cookies for our big family birthday party/reunion on Saturday. It was all good; I was able to catch up on a lot that day and started to feel so much better.



My dad and his sisters had been planning this birthday party/family reunion celebration for months and it finally came to its fruition on Saturday... it was a lot of fun and so wonderful to see some of my family/cousins from New Mexico and elsewhere that I haven't seen or talked with for so long.

So here's who started it all... Allen & Ruth, my Grandma and Grandpa Beck. I love this picture of them and wish I could travel back in time to see what they were like then. It is so sad because... without saying too much... my grandpa is pretty messed up these days and I hadn't seen or talked to him for years. But I have some AWESOME memories on the Beck side; memories that made my childhood magical.



My grandma turned 80 in January and my grandpa turned 90 last December.



The celebration was thrown for 3 of the siblings and their descendants, and so here's our section with a bunch of old pics



I love this old pic of the original Beck family... can you spot my dad? He looks EXACTLY the same!



This pic of us cousins was taken at the Lagoon Saloon! It is ever so classic. There's my cousin Dak at the top, then cousin Lindsay, my brother Cam, my cousin Ryan, and me.



The best word I can come up with for my Grandma Ruth is sturdy. She is a sturdy woman in that she withstands A LOT! I can't imagine the antics she's put up with over her long life with my grandpa. She is a strong strong woman to have raised 5 children, and all with a smiling happy face I'm sure. I love her very much and she is an example of strength to me. She embodies the definition of endurance. Also she is so smart. I can sometimes just look at her and see wheels turning in that mind. I'll always remember my grandma's voice and the sound of her laughing. I loved the days as a kid when all of us cousins would go play at her house in the room upstairs where the ceiling was the shape of their pointed roof. She played the piano and I loved the sound of her out of tune piano. There was the piano bench with random patterns and patches of fabric. Putting ice and Pepsi in her purple metallic cups in the summer and seeing the sweat drip down the side. I can't put my finger on how her house smelled, but it was familiar and I loved it.

Grandpa Beck is an inventor. His life has consisted of nothing but projects. The memories from childhood that I have of him are nothing but a smile on his face, fun, and new ideas. He had an enthusiasm for ideas in general. I remember talking to him a few times where a regular conversation would seem to spark his imagination unexpectedly. I always admired that about him; he let everything influence him in an innovative way. His whole life he has discovered ways to make various things out of tires! As a child this was outrageously cool. He made a huge train out of tires when we were little... I remember sitting in the dining car of the train and peeking out the peepholes. There was a tire treehouse, a tire trailer with a spiral staircase. His claim to fame was tire horses that he would anchor on a spring in a circle slab of cement. He would put real horse hair on them for manes and encrust their faces with colorful gems. They gained popularity so he started to sell them for money. My cousin Lindsay said on Saturday how she remembers the tire carousel he made and one of the "horses" was a pink Miss Piggy that he made just for her.



Some snapshots of horse heads



Crazy odd but so cool!



Lindsay and I were poring over some old pics her mom had brought and there were many that I had never seen so I had to take pictures of pictures. The one at bottom right was a sleepover all of us cousins had one summer. We just piled blankets on Grandma Beck's lawn, walked to Dairy Queen (when there was one on 13th South!) and bought a Dilly Bar, came home and slept under the stars.



My mom and dad!!!



Steve, Cam, and me playing the piano at Grandma's



Cam and Tab and the famous piano bench that I love so dearly



The Becks. (minus Tab) It was pulling teeth to get all these folks for a picture. Rosy, Alice, Jared, Julie, Ruth, Allen



Some of the cousins... Steve, Dak, Lindsay, Lis, Cam, Ryan



Yolanda (my cousin Ryan's wife), my cousin Lindsay, and me



Ryan, Cam, and Steve



D had been tiling Jon & Susan's house all Friday, all Saturday, and then ended up having to pull an all-nighter through Saturday night. He's done this numerous times on tile jobs and I know he has his reasons but I hate it so much. They were out of town and he was trying so hard to get it done but I just worry about his health and his heart.

Anyway we had tossed around the idea of driving to Panguitch and back on Easter Sunday to visit Vee (my grandpa -Pops' - brother on my mom's side) who is I believe 94 and in the hospital. We don't know what his future holds health-wise and so we really really wanted to go and see him and tell him we love him before we might regret it. Still not quite sure on Saturday if we would go or not, D finally said, "Well how important is Vee to us?" And we looked at each other and I started packing for our day trip.

Needless to say I was a bit concerned about our drive because I had woken up in the night 5 different times between the two boys and then D was in no condition to drive as he was wrapping up the all-night tile job at 7 am on Sunday. But we knew we could do it, so we had Croz check out the Easter bunny goods as we were scrambling to leave.



He was so excited because he got a new sand bucket with fun tools in it. He started calling it his firefighter bucket because it has a hose. Crosby's favorite color is light blue, so he has a light blue Easter basket. The bunny brought him some light blue Dove chocolate eggs, a sugar bunny with hummingbird eggs inside, some sidewalk chalk. Although he loves chocolate, his favorite surprise was definitely the bucket and he wanted to bring it on our trip.

While Croz & I were celebrating Easter, these guys were doing their low-key thing. D fell asleep on contact



Lennox didn't miss much though because this is what the Easter bunny brought him



We finally got on the road and it was a bit rough because Lennox didn't really sleep but Crosby was an absolute jewel for the entire day. He was incredible and I was praising him left and right. We had to stop numerous times because Lennox was screaming and too many of those times were off the side of the freeway because I had to burp him and a highway patrolman stopped to see if something was wrong. I said nope just burping my baby. He goo-goo gaa-gaa'd at Lennox and said, "Want to come ride in my truck with me?" He was really kind and helpful.

Our first destination:



In Panguitch the hospital definitely isn't hard to locate! Beth had made custard (Vee's fave) the night before and ran out to Marie Callender's for a lemon meringue pie to send with us. We packed things up to take into his room but Lennox was hungry so we sat in the hospital lobby while I fed him a bottle. D was chasing Crosby around, little box of chicken nuggets in his hands as he's pacing the hospital lobby saying, "Take me to Vee, take me to Vee!" It was the best.

I love Vee. D really feels a special connection with him. I think part of it is he reminds us of Pops, who we miss so incredibly much. He was darling. His eyes are amazing and they remind me of Pops too; blue and clear. He looked pretty good but the main thing we noticed was very worn out. We visited with him for a while. The times D has visited with Vee, he has always called him "Lee." He really does think D's name is Lee. When we first walked into the room, I reminded him who I was and then said D is here too, my husband, and he was like say what? After D visited with him though he recognized him and when we left he said, "Bye Lee," so we were laughing pretty hard.

Beth was so cute and had typed out a long note to the nurses telling them exactly what to do with the custard. He needs a piece of it warmed in the microwave. And then the rest can be shared. When we told him what Beth sent: custard, pie, and a box of chocolates he closed his eyes and shook his head back and forth slowly. "Where the hell am I going to put all this food?" He asked about how everyone at home is doing. He said he wished they gave him more physical therapy. He seems to resent the fact that he does nothing but sleep. He wanted us to hand him his cell phone to call Beth but then asked the time - it was 2:45 - and he said oh no, she's still at church. So he's totally sharp, just tired.



When we first walked into his room we had Crosby say hello. The room was completely silent as Crosby looked at Vee and said in his sweet high-pitched three-year-old voice, "Hi Vee. I was wondering if you want to come to the zoo with me." I think because we were singing "Going to the Zoo" in the car.

It was bittersweet to give Vee what felt like possibly a last hug and last look into his eyes, but when we told him we were headed to Bryce Canyon before driving home that very day, he said, "You better get on the road." Love you Vee!

So onto the next destination with Frog and the Jigga. Crosby still had not eaten his chicken nuggets because he kept saying, "No I want to eat them in the canyon."



As soon as we hit the park entrance, sunshine turned to wind and blizzard-like snow! The weather was a mishmash up there, but it is incredibly beautiful to go there; I love it so much. We hit the last day of free national park week, so that was a bonus.





Picture ops were popping out to me left and right, but it was cooooollld, the wind was harsh and Lennox was beat so we had to be choosy with where we took his picture!



Croz fit in a nice little trail run in the snow



We hit all the lookout points (it's too bad it was so freezing cold, not that we had time to hike anyway) and D would stay in the car with Lennox while Croz and I would hop out and see what there was to see. He took his bucket with him at every lookout. At this one there were about four other people just silently looking down at the canyon. Croz & I approach the lookout and he broke the silence with a hearty, "Mom I want to scoop some snow or sand!" Poor guy, I kept telling him we'd find a place for him to play with his new tools and he was so patient.





The wind about blew us down into the gulley



The snowflakes were silently floating down into the canyon. It was gorgeous.



Once we got back down to Red Canyon the weather was still pretty cold but not windy. We told Crosby that there's Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon. As we were driving around Red Canyon, he said, "I want to call this smash tree canyon, because it's like the trees are smashing out of the canyon." Ahhh, poetry.



We found a spot to park where D could walk with Croz up to the red dirt and rocks he had been eyeing as I was crazily circling the campsites for the perfect spot. Me and Jigga stayed by the car so I could feed him. He was soooooo sweet because at this point he was exhausted. I can't believe he had it in him to take even a bite of "real" food. But the end-of-the-day sun kept peeking in and out and so he was watching the shadows and shapes and colors. Hopefully breathing that fresh air deep into his little baby lungs. My serene little Lennox.



D & Jigga; it started to get freezing cold





Crosby and his firefighter bucket, getting all packed up





The road home. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!