Birthday

I don’t typically do B-day tributes but I am going to make an exception in Eliza’s case because A. she does these b-day tributes for everyone else, and B. Younger siblings naturally complement their older siblings--an older sibling usually knows how brilliant or holy or awesome their younger sibling thinks they are--but the niceties don’t flow as easily downstream. The younger sibling might know that their croquet ability or shoe fashion sense is admired, and that’s as good as it gets. Then it all changes when the older siblings get into their 70s and their youngers have a few good years to mock the broken hips and uncontrolled public flatulence. Eliza is a victim of this evil tradition, so she deserves a write up from me, not as her older brother, but simply as Sharkman, citizen of the world.

Eliza has always been one of the most interesting people you know. From the time she was 5 or 6 and sprained her ankle and had 2 little American twins who were somehow born with British accents follow her around the backyard with pillows to lay her ankle on, to the time she admitted on her blog that she runs out onto the golf course whenever it rains, sobbing and mumbling things about Mr. Darcy, to anytime you hang out with her for 5 minutes, she is always capable of being very funny, interesting, smart, engaging, self aware, original, helpful, patient, merciful, wise, loving, open, generous, extremely attuned, selfless, and game, game, game. Piggy is always game for anything social and fun. That’s a huge deal to me. She is a great mom and has a strong and deep soul. And when she dances, man, she leaves it all on the floor.

Everyone has a few people that fall into the category of “always comfortable and always fun to be around.” Eliza is on my list and, I’m sure, the same list of many others.

I’m so grateful Lizey was born 23 or 24 years ago because she has added so much color, wit, goodness, and great times to the family and to my life.

Happy birthday, Pig.


Christian

Mini Me

We took Oliver miniature golfing a week or so ago for the first time. We went with our friends, the Ritchies, who are in town for the summer from BYU doing a law school internship (is that what you call them???). It was so fun to hang with them just like old times. They were really our first friends in Albuquerque and the funnest, most easy-going couple. We were really sad when they up ad left us to go to BYU Law School and can't wait til they come back to ABQ for good! Here's to a fun night of mini golf and to a fun summer!

Baby Showers and Hummer Trucks= Happy

Christian decided it would be fun to take Oliver to the local truck and Hummer dealership. I don't even need to point out the obvious and sheer joy this brought Oliver. See for yourself.

Don't know if this was allowed, but Christian didn't let it stop him.

Pure bliss...

This is a little late, but last week or so we threw a baby shower for Rachel A.. She's due on June 11th with her first baby, a girl. So, we called in all the troops and got organized and it turned out to be such a fun, relaxed, and cute night. Rachel looks absolutely AMAZING for being 9 months pregnant. I was in charge of the desserts and games. Let me tell you, this is the first and LAST time I will ever make Oreo truffles or roll-out cookies. Rest up in the next couple weeks, Rachel- you're going to need it!:)

I had big aspirations for these cookies, but as you can see, they only half-way turned out.
Oh, but don't you worry, they tasted MUCH better than they looked.

Sad that the biggest hit of the night were the cupcakes (from a box). Note to self: In the future, keep it simple. People like it better that way anyway.

Rachel's the third from right in the black. Amazing, right?

Just a little eye candy. Can you believe the fru-fru-iness of this little number? My Mom gave this to me. I had to take a picture.

Her baby acne is finally gone! Yeah!

Where's the Camera?

I took the kiddos to get their pictures taken about 2-3 weeks ago. We took them to the strip mall studio here in town, so don't be too appalled if you're a real photographer. Since I'm not, I thought they turned out pretty good.

Don't worry, we ordered this one in black and white.

Psyche!!

Um, we've actually decided to stay public for a little while. May privatize in a few months, but we'll let you know. Sorry you got punk'd so hard. Carry on.

PRIVATE

We're taking the leap- going private. Just so you understand why, here is a quote I got off a friend's blog:

Rob Nickel, a former undercover police sergeant that worked to catch online predators, said this on Oprah about a month ago...

"Number one, you won't find my children on the Internet," Rob says. "A lot of parents will put their kids as infants. Well, I've done so many search warrants where we seize pictures people have downloaded off the Internet of infants and 2- and 3-year-olds for sexual gratification. I would never put my children on the Internet."

If you want to share pictures with your family and friends on social networking sites such as Facebook, Rob says to make sure your security settings are set so that only your friends can view the images. " A lot of people leave it wide open for the whole world to see, and that's probably one of the biggest mistakes. Most social networking sites out there will have security features in place under the privacy setting."

That's enough reason for me. If you want an invite, leave your email address or send me an email and I'll send you an invite. And any silent lurkers please give me your email address for an invite as well. We love blogstalkers, know you're out there, and want to send you an invite, even if we've never met. We'll officially go private one week from today. :)

BBQ Time!

It's that time of year again: BBQ TIME!!! I love, love, love it. Not that the food is amazing (not a huge hamburger fan myself), but there's just something so nostalgic about them that just screams, "good times!" Anyway, our friends, the Sego's celebrated their birthdays this weekend with a backyard BBQ and I must say they have a perfect set-up. It was so much fun.


Even Amelia got in on the action. "Mmmm, I love me some Dr. P," she mumbled right before she passed out for the night.

Nooshville, U.S.A

I had my friend Shauna (aka Noosh), the one with the portrait painting business I told you about a while ago, do a picture of Oliver for Mother's Day. I can't believe how great it turned out.

Check her stuff out at
http://www.littleshopofshavs.com/







She charges about 1/3 of what she should and I don't know of anyone else who does these as well as she does, so call in the next 2 minutes and get a set of free knives!!! (jk about the knives. Serious about everything else).


Christian

Like A Star

I promise there wasn't any bribery involved in producing this video...He may or may not have had red-stained lips all day. Totally worth it, though. Enjoy!

Lyrics:
"I am like a star shining brightly, shining for the whole world to see.
I can do and say happy things each day, for I know Heavenly Father loves me."
(From LDS Children's Songbook)

Sharing Time

I'm always excited when I find an easy, convenient food that is healthy and natural. I have always loved Stretch Island Fruit Leathers (all natural, 45 calories, equal to 1/2 serving fruit), but I have finally found something to top them and they taste even better. And, I found them at Costco. With 130 calories per serving, they are the equivalent of 2 servings of fruit and 1/2 servings of vegetables. My son is eating vegetables after 2 1/2 years!

*In case you can't see the image, it's Sun Rype Fruit Source Mini Bites with Veggies.