Recent happenings

It has been a while since I updated my blog and I have been severely reprimanded by several Aunties... So here are your Bella pics. You can stop the harassment anytime :).

This is a recent photo from the front of our house. I like the cute smile on her face, and it is only slightly blurry so you can get the feeling of constant motion that accompanies the child.

This pic is from a recent overnight camping excursion that we went on with a group of my friends from college. There were 10 adults and 11 kids under the age of 5. They put us in a campsite a little too close to the river for comfort sake. Luckily, we only had to fish one of the little ones out of the water and no one fell in the fire this year, so all in all the trip was a rounding success.

We brought our two hammocks and they were a hit with the kids. Here is a picture where we managed to get 10 of them in at the same time. I kind of felt sorry for the ones who got stuck in the middle. (you can kind of see the pained look on Eleanore's face)

Bella and myself in a quieter moment when we had the hammock to ourselves. I love my hammocks. This is one I bought in Brazil while on my mission. (We got to cross the border once in a while for our P-days in order to buy cheap stuff in Brazil and eat at the Brazilian buffets. It was the highlight of serving near the border) My other hammock is made of multicolored plastic twine and I got it in Nicaragua. My host father there knew how much I loved theirs and helped me bargain for one from a door to door hammock salesman. (I guess he wasn't actually a door to door salesman actually just someone who walked down the street calling out and selling his wares. He only came to your door if you called out to him saying you wanted to buy something. It's a sales technique that is used too infrequently here in the US. The ice cream trucks have kind of cornered the market.)

This is a rather freaky pic of Bella taken during the 4th of July fireworks. She must have moved just as the camera went off. Unfortunately none of the pictures we took that night look much better. The reason I am posting this is that it reminds me of a scene in the second Ghostbusters movie where the evil overlord spirit is trying to take over the body of the baby. A bit too much Vigo the Carpathian for my tastes.

Memory tag

I saw this meme on Susan's blog and thought I would play along:

Participate if you like. Ignore it if you prefer.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don’t want to play on your blog, or if you don’t have a blog, I’ll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Liberty Park

One of the benefits of city living is our proximity to a lot of fun things, principal among these in my book is Liberty Park and in the summer the Seven Canyons fountain. Since we have no yard of our own we end up at the park at least twice a week. So anyway, here is a flavor of one of our favorite summer activities.

The fountain is a representation of the rivers and canyons that surround Salt Lake City and the water runs down the creeks and into a pool that represents The Great Salt Lake. Unlike other purely ornamental fountains, wading and playing in the water is actively encouraged.

These pictures were taken about a week ago when we went together as a family after the Blue Prince got home from work.

The Blue Prince had his hands full while wading through the bigger lake pool. Bella chose that moment to grab on his leg and knock him off balance. I of course took the picture instead of helping him out. (he didn't actually end up falling in)

Liberty park is also home to a large duck pond which is feeding Bella's current obsession with ducks. Here is a couple videos of her chasing after a flock. She got quite put out when they ran into the water and we wouldn't let her follow them in.

When Papi picks the PJs :)

Papi was sweet enough to get Bella ready and into bed all by himself last night. This morning when I went to get her up I had to smile at the get-up.

My Garden

As many of you know I have decided to try a garden this year. We live in a condo with very little green space but as there is very little formal landscaping either I was able to request one of the sunny dirt plots for my garden. (one of the benefits of a 8 unit HOA). So here are some pictures of the beginning of my garden. I took them last week and already there is a huge change with the peas, tomatoes and squash getting huge and being in bloom.

Here you can see my tomato and pea plants next to the wall. Onions in the middle,

Radishes in the front and Cabbage and Zapallito in the back.

We brought back seeds for the zapallito from Uruguay as it is a type

of squash that you don't see grown here. (apparently it is legal to transport seeds

just not fresh fruit or veggies internationally). I also have some tiny Bell Pepper and Cucumber plants that I started as seeds but haven't really flourished post transplant. We will see if they ever get big enough to actually bear veggies.

Here is the other side of the garden. More peas and tomatoes. My herb garden: Basil, Cilantro, Tarragon, Dill, Oregano and some Green Onions.

In the back you can see my Gardenia (Jasmina) plant that my dear husband bought for mothers day. It had/has several buds but has yet to actually bloom, I'm not sure what is wrong with it.

The garden has been a lot of fun and I've been able to harvest radishes, onions and all my herbs fresh for when I cook, which has been fantastic.

Bella Pictures

Looking over my blog I realized that it has been far to long since I posted some updated Bella Pictures. Got to keep the core demographic of grandparents and aunties happy.

I've got a cute hat

But mommy I want to play with the camera
It has so many fun buttons to push.

Why yes I do let my daughter run with sharp objects.

The flowers obviously need fixing.

Bella and the tool supplier.

I'm a frog

Mom keeps saying don't pick and eat the flowers
But I conscientiously disagree. At least pansies are non-toxic.

And finally a video of Bella being a froggie with Papi.

Tempting offers

So I got this e-mail from my dear Ishi the other day and thought it was funny enough to share.:

"Believe it or not - I read your blog - So I have mapped out your future - Move to Las Vegas and get your PhD. Bev and I help you with Bella. You could work part time with Kathleen at the PG's office or for Jared in his private fiduciary practice. And boy, do I know plumbers!!!!!!! xoxoxoxoxox"

Very,Very tempting. Excellent childcare, and good jobs for both me and the Prince. Bev has worked with Ishi since my youngest sister was born, and watched over us in the summers. She is practically one of our large mixed up family now. This is the only picture I could find in my online collection where she appears, which is a shame since she is not showing her fantastic smile :).

(Bev, Joanie, Ishi, Myself and the Blue Prince, Sho and Ariana)

As tempting as the offer is, unfortunately we will have to decline for the time being, at least for the next two years until the Blue Prince finishes his schooling to get his plumbing licence. We have actually been thinking what we want to do at that point and moving to Las Vegas is one of the options being considered (among others) but it is still very up in the air. (I tried to convince the Blue Prince we should live a year in Uruguay at some point but he's not convinced, I guess my villa in Piriapolis will have to wait).

The two Vans

Michele wrote a comment asking who the these two good looking gentlemen were in my group of pictures. This is my Grandpa Van and my Cousin Van. Grandpa Van is my father's father who lives in Leeds near St. George. He has the best orchard I have ever been in. We stopped by his place on the way back from the Wedding and he filled us up with fresh cherries. I thought we had brought enough back for weeks but they are already gone.

Cousin Van lives with his wife in Arizona. He is going to Med School (following in the footsteps of his father) and will be starting his third year soon. Poor Sap.

My Grandpa Van once had the best personalized licence plate I have ever seen. It said "Van's Van" of course.

James's Wedding

So last weekend we took the trek down to Las Vegas for my older brother's wedding. It was an eclectic bunch. My brother's new wife is Russian and that was the predominant theme in the food and beverages (Vodka anyone). Our family is conservative LDS and my brother and his friends are a Bohemian conglomeration of people he has met while living in Washington, Las Vegas and Chicago. His Best Man was dressed as a pirate. All went well everyone got along swimmingly. Here are some lovely pictures of the event. Enjoy!!

James, The Pirate Best man Jinks, and even odder my Dad without a Beard!! I was doing double takes all weekend.

The Beautiful Bride Nelly and her dad Nikolay. He is an incredible artist.

It was very cold and snowy for part of the day. Hence the blankets being passed about for the ceremony. My dad says no more May weddings at Mt. Charleston, but it was Memorial day weekend for heaven sakes. This is a picture of my mom's friend Danielle and a friend of my mom's from High School, Ann. (She wins the award for the most random person to show up considering she traveled from Utah just for the wedding. She hasn't even seen James for over 10 years. Maybe she just wanted to have an excuse to go to Vegas. The more the merrier).

Blue Prince, Myself, Bella, Emily, James (the dashing groom), Caitlin, Grandma Simper and my mom.

Me and my sibs, just missing Sho who decided to ditch us for a study abroad opportunity in Prague. Looser (just kidding sissy, we love you). I love that James is doing a Jig.

Our Beautiful little family. Bella was a hit and did well though we had to take a little brake in the middle as she was getting a bit overwhelmed by all the love. She was the only little person in attendance. Oh the pain of being the first grandchild.

An unexpected encounter

Guess who I met at a random Costco in Las Vegas last weekend selling his wares?

That's right Greg Olsen himself, in all his glory selling and signing his artwork next to cases of frozen burritos and huge bags of apples. It was such a random encounter. He was very nice and chatted with me and my sister Emily for a few minutes and even gave us a copy of his art catalog. I almost asked him to sign the catalog but I thought that would be a bit much. Not to mention cheap as he was obviously there as a ploy to try and sell stuff. I guess that is one way to try and take your art to a more mainstream audience.