A Fairy and a Tail

Here is a lovely fairy donning new wings, wand and frilly skirt from an auntie, who also supplied her with super special Tinkerbelle panties! She is now embarking on adventures in the land of make believe, and couldn't be more appropriately attired.

Here is a snoozing baby boy with his tie-dyed tail in the air. Chasing after fairies can be tiring!

Portrait of Mavis

I painted this portrait of Mavis just a few weeks before baby Jack was born. I'd been wanting to have a portrait of Mavis done for a while but had kept putting it off. Oddly, I suddenly got excited about it. It must have been the right time to do it because it just flowed from my hand almost as easily as writing my name. This was somewhat miraculous to me as I have not enjoyed drawing faces or painting like this for a long time, and have not felt I did it very well in the past, but this portrait was super fun and turned out very well. Vivid colors and patterns represent to me Mavis's vivid, intense personality, and her intelligence. Her eyes also belie intensity despite her reclined pose. The dominant colors are pms 360 & 374 (greens), 114 (yellow), 198 (red), 325 (aqua blue), and 701 (pink).

Huck Finn Fishing at Lindon Days

The Little Fisherwoman poses, sort of.

Baby brother looks on.

The creek has been blocked and stocked. She makes her first cast.

She relocates next to the real Huck Finn. Check him out!

Daddy helps, and she catches one!
Ohhh!
Eeeew!!!14". Look at the trout's size and colors.The feat is recorded by the Little Miss Lindon 2008 RoyaltyDaddy is excited, but the little Fisherwoman is still not sure about it.

Red, White and Blue

This is a little bit of my view out of the kitchen window, looking across the back yard to the base of the mountains. One of the best things about our location is the view of the mountains (which this shot doesn't really highlight). But I also love the flag I can see from my window. The colors look beautiful in the early morning, right after the sun surmounts the towering blockade of Timpanogos and the Wasatch range.

Radiant morning light sets this flag aglow and lights the patriotic feelings in me. Living in the land of the free, enjoying relative peace and tranquility in a world full of religious and political oppression (among a host of other enormous atrocities) I am full of wonder at the opportunity of my blessed state. Why me? Why have I been so blessed? There are so many with better hearts than mine who are probably much more deserving than I.

I am full of gratitude for my situation. I wouldn't want to give up my life of luxury, as it were, with the freedom to worship whom I will, the confidence to walk the streets of my town believing I will meet friendly faces along the way, the gift of peaceful participation in political processes, and the support of lifelong friends and family.

The injunction to not take for granted one's blessed state in life comes to mind in the words found in Luke, "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required" (Luke 12:48). My prayer when I look to the flag is that I may have the wisdom and strength given me that I may be an instrument for furthering love among my associates. May I be inspired to perform in a way that promotes faith and freedom, and fosters goodwill in the world. It is a difficult task to aspire to. Falling into selfishness and forgetfulness (sometimes known as laziness) is easy. Being quick to condemn and slow to reach out are far easier to accomodate. But when the sun comes up in the morning and spreads warmth down the hill into my back yard the flag lights up and I am filled with the light. I know it is the light of Christ. My mind feels clear and my heart feels full. Then it is easier to love and to smile.

As a child I noticed tender tears in my mother's eyes as we stood along the curb, hands over our hearts, and watched the flag go by during the Independence Day parade. I marveled that the sight of the flag borne by soldiers in the parade could fill her with such emotion. I certainly didn't feel much for it at the time and wondered if I ever would.

Traveling to many countries since then, and spending time trying to learn more of the diverse people of our world has helped me develop a more profound feeling of kinship, admiration and love for all of my earthly brothers and sisters. I remember the beauty of the student body at BYU Hawaii. They came from so many different countries. I had a roommate from Tonga, one from American Samoa, co-workers from Mongolia and Tahiti, a roommate from Hong Kong, a good friend from Taiwan, and a variety of acquaintances from all over the world. It was my privilege to be hosted in Tonga by a very generous woman (my dorm mom who took me and several other girls with her on a visit to her homeland) and her people. As a missionary in the Canary Islands for a year and a half I met hundreds of people trying to get by. The majority of them were so kind. There was Juanita, an old woman in Cruce de Arinaga who welcomed us with kisses and delighted in sharing time with us even though I know she didn't understand us much. There was the Muslim family I met on Gran Canaria with their 3 children. They lived in two rooms that were part of a small complex shared with other families. They had large, intricately patterned rug on the floor, and a small set of cups with a hot plate and tea pot in the corner of the room—not much in the way of physical possesions. But I have never entered a home since where I felt the spirit of love so strongly as I did in that room...and the wife didn't even speak a word in the same language as we did. Experiences in Thailand, Switzerland, and other locations have broadened my ability to feel brotherhood and care for the people all over the world.

An increase of love and appreciation for all people everywhere has also increased the burden of sorrow I feel when I learn of oppression and tyranny in other lands. Christian pastors currently being held in labor camps in China simply for believing in Christ rather than in Communism, a child only a few years back watching his family killed in civil war in Sierra Leone, then fleeing to a country whose language is foreign and trying to survive (I know a man about my age who had this terrible experience firsthand less than 15 years ago), women and children soldiers, drug related murders and beheadings (one of my mission comps had a brother who was threatened with beheading by a druggie who was found the next day subject to the brutality he had threatened.... lesson learned—do not threaten evil acts on the Lord's missionaries because you may suffer for yourself what you threaten to inflict on others).

These stories and others like it that I have heard both firsthand and through the news, paired with the greater love I have learned (and will hopefully continue to expand in years to come) for others is what heightens my appreciation for the tranquility of our relatively free and peaceful country. I see now that what brought tears to my mother's eyes was her ability (much greater than mine then) to feel and to love as well as her understanding and appreciation for the gifts of freedom our forefathers bestowed on us in the founding of this amazing country, despite its imperfections. I too am deeply grateful for this country. All of this is what makes my heart swell when I see the red, white and blue, the stars and stripes, the flag of the United States of America.

Kiddie Widdies

This is the day Jack discovered he could roll over. He did it again and again and again.


Sister doesn't want to be left out of the pics.


Cousins, 3 months age difference.


A good mommy, changing the dolly's clothes.

Random Food Pics

M's yams (her favorite food) and broccoflower.

Easter treats — steamed mussels.

Janet's Easter bunny bread bowl with veggies.

Olives fit so well on small fingers!

Our peach tree is in full force right now. I've been processing peaches (mostly drying them in the dehydrator and making peach cobblers) all day for days (it seems so anyways).

Can you see the resemblance?

I originally did this illustration of M just for fun. Then I altered the illustration to create the banner across the top of this blog. The illustration and the real thing used to be even more alike before a friend chopped off some of M's bangs and other chunks of hair all over.

Colorful Christmas toys

These are pics from last Christmas. I think I like this toy as much for the rainbow of colors as for the musical function.


What better hiding place than a huge box on Christmas morning?

A greeting card I designed recently

Purple ink (pms 2597) on white Somerset paper.

Yellow & Gold Vegetables

I just picked these a few minutes ago. There are lemon cucumbers {pms 393}, yellow summer squash {pms 109}, yellow bell peppers {pms 100}, tomatillos {pms 386}, yellow tomatoes {pms 137}, and tiny pear tomatoes {pms 1235}. In addition to the green paint, my kitchen wears this fresh aqua blue {pms 324}.

First tooth

t'dye4

Get great tie dye from tdye4. Or have tdye4 host your next party so you can do your own tie dye without having to do any prep or any clean up! She does great parties for all occasions, and all ages.

Gold digger - pms 1235

Diggin' for gold.

the biggest slide at Kangaroo Zoo

A Golden Beet

Spring Sweaters

All bundled up in pms 166, 657, 656 & 7508. Snuggly.

babies

First bath. Sweet sister. Sea horse onesie (one of my favorites by Sonya Evans of bean child; I picked this up at the Beehive Bazaar last year; pms 1375). Beautiful boy cousin.

Juicy, intense, red!

Fruits, wombs, beating hearts. This picture reminds me of these womanly emblems of life because of the seeds, the soft flesh, the inner chambers, the flowing juices of the fruits. PMS 179. I love the closeness, the freshness, the warmth, the demanding nature of red.

The house smells rich, and fruity. Mostly it's the peaches. The tree is heavy with the ripening crop. The counters are sticky with the dripping juices. The dehydrator is full of sliced, and diced bits. We've got reds and oranges all around. A fullness for the eyes, a feast for the belly, and a delicious aroma that makes me smile. Giddiness is around the edges and happy delirium lurks behind that round, fuzzy peach. Juicy and sweet.

The tomatoes are amazing as well. The other day I pureed a few pounds of them to add to the chili I was making. So red and sweet smelling, fragrant and warm was the puree (the tomatoes had been in the sunshine, still on the vine only moments before) that I almost couldn't resist drinking it up like a smoothie. It gave brightness to the flavor of the chili, that's for sure.

And the peppers have a special sweetness hidden in their robust ridges and thick skinned juice pockets. It comes up around the edges of the tongue after the sparky (but still mild) bite gets to me. Fresh produce from one's own garden is fabulous!

Pebble Pets — turtle and dog

These Pebble Pets are some I created when I taught a mid-week Young Women's class for church several years ago. They are fairly small, maybe 2.5" tall at the most. Don't mind the plastic bird from the Cinderella Polly Pocket set (you couldn't even tell what it was, could you?) in the center of the photo.

Baby Jack Jack

Most of you have probably already seen this announcement I designed shortly after Jack's arrival. Baby Jack is 6 months old now.

A baking day & a cheese sandwich

Josh is the baker. I am the custodian that comes in at the end of the day to clean and make the kitchen usable for the next culinary adventure.


To make a cheese sandwich we assemble the ingredients using slices of Josh's bread, then compress and heat the assemblage between the wavy plates of "the George" (i.e. the small countertop size George Foreman grill—something similar to what Michael Scott uses to cook his breakfast in bed).


When the cheese has melted enough to make long stretchy strings perfection has been achieved.


p.s. If you don't have any of Josh's bread to use there are acceptable, even delectable substitutes such as store bought rye bread, or dark pumpernickel bread. Muenster cheese is one we commonly use, although there are many delicious alternatives. Additionally, a slice of some Boar's Head brand ham works especially well with rye bread.