Amidst dance shoes, leotards, and braces

Later today I will be taking my daughter to her bi-weekly dance class taught by Colleen Collins Smith, an 80 year old dance legend and someone that I love so much for so many reasons.

26 years ago almost to the date, I started dancing in her studio myself. A neighbor invited me to go and I was hooked from that day on. I didn't even own a leotard or tights, but soon wore them almost every single day as I danced through life during my teenage years.

I remember being in Colleen's class at the old BYU Academy in Provo when my life changed FOR TIME AND ALL ETERNITY! I was in a beginning level class since I had only been dancing for a few weeks and had quite a ways to go before making it into "The Company." That class practiced right after mine and often I would see them coming in to wait for us to finish. I looked up to them and couldn't wait to move up into their world. They got to wear character shoes instead of just ballet slippers and did such fun routines with lifts because they had boys in that class.

Not long after I started, I saw HIM for the very first time. He came early to wait for his class, but not to stretch out. Oh no, why waste time doing that? It was the perfect time to mingle and flirt with all the girls. It was so weird, but I was instantly jealous. I didn't even know his name and I didn't even really like him (because it doesn't matter if you know someone for real...you can still like a total stranger, right?) He was tall and skinny, with braces and a dark blonde, mullett (not a long rock star mullett, but one nonetheless)...you 80's chicks remember the look. It wasn't love at first sight, but there was an instant connection that really perplexed me. There was SOMETHING very special with this guy. We never really met and we never talked until the following April during our end of the year Big Show dress rehearsal. It was then that he took the opportunity to introduce himself backstage in a very gentlemen-ly and romantic way......by using a bandana to flick me from behind! I turned around ready to smack whoever did that when I saw HIM standing there with a big smile and a "Hi, I'm Brendan."

Long story short, we became best of friends through the summer and a little spark developed 6 months later. I eventually did make it into "The Company" and we spent many years dancing and laughing on the dance floor. It's now been 25 years since we "got together" and today we celebrate our 20 year anniversary. I know now that the connection I felt those many years ago was much more than I realized.

We didn't meet that day.

We were reunited that day.

I know we were best friends before we came to earth and I believe that my spirit recognized his when we were blessed to find each other amidst dance shoes, leotards, and braces.

Today I celebrate 20 years of being married to my best friend and it just gets better and better with each passing day. We really GET each other and that is such a great feeling.

So I drive 30 minutes each way twice a week to take Allison to dance not only because she loves it and not only because I believe Colleen is the best around, but because with a story like ours, where else could OUR daughter dance?

Too many choices

I hate having too many choices. Especially when there is no right or wrong. Picking out an ice cream flavor is even difficult for me sometimes.

Years ago, back in ancient times, there was a little book called a journal that most people wrote down their daily happenings and deepest secrets. I used to do that......

Then scrapbooking became more than just sticking photos in magnetic albums. I ripped all mine out of them and started with the fabulous pastel colored cardstock and added a few stickers and yes, even cut my photos into shapes....what was I thinking? But then that became my journal of sorts. I did individual books for each of my 3 kids until they were each about 5 or 6 then started a family scrapbook with lots of great embellishments, nice coordinating paper, and lots of journaling. I used to feel good about that.......

Then this thing called blogging came around and it was so much faster to journal your thoughts and/or events, attach a few photos and Wah-lah! So fun to share with family and friends everywhere. No cost involved (although I will always be secretly addicted to paper. Always have been since I was a little girl.) But you get the idea. Loved it, but was sad to see my scrapbooks and supplies gathering a little dust.

Then this thing called facebook took over the world. At first I couldn't understand why people cared that someone was taking a nap. Or why someone would take the time to say something like, "had a great day shopping. and get tons of comments. Seriously.....didn't get the fascination. But alas, I got hooked. Why take the time to journal, or scrapbook, or blog, when a few sentences and a click to add photos will do? I'm not even going to attempt to look into Twitter. I can't take it! Aaaahh!!!!!

So what to do is the question. Some things are just too private and personal to share that a journal still seems like a good idea once in a while. Scrapbooking will always be a love of mine and I have way too much stuff to just give it up completely. I love blogging because it can eventually be published into a book (if I ever figure that one out) and it's a great way for me to keep up with our many family and friends that don't live close by. But facebook is a fun way to post photos and I love being able to keep in touch with friends and my kids' friends who I may not see very often without having to "bug" them too much. It's been an awesome tool to see what Jordan is up to in college. Going to a weekly email on his mission is going to kill me!

So if anyone has any brilliant ideas as to what choice is best or how to combine them to be more efficient I welcome your comments. It's too much to keep up with and I need to get back to living my life and get off the computer!!!!

Two little girls....

As I sit today missing my son who has moved away to college, I can't help but count my blessings that he is only 30 minutes away and I can talk to him whenever I want. It's just different, and I hate it. I don't think you actually realize that when you give birth to that beautiful little baby that the goal is for them to become independant of you and LEAVE YOU! But it's what is "supposed" to happen. So again, I count my blessings.

But what isn't supposed to happen is for little ones to leave earth so soon. Today would be Livvy's 13th birthday. Sweet, beautiful, funny, little Livvy. Our neighbor and Allison's bestest buddy.

They were attached from head to toe. Neither one of them would eat unless they were together. They loved putting on bright pink lipstick and playing dress up everyday. They sang silly songs and made up little dances to them. And on and on they would play from sun up to sun down always together...always laughing...until that fateful summer day a little over 9 years ago. It's not for us to question and I know we don't understand the full picture, but it's hard to figure out why the Lord needed her back so soon.

Livvy we treasure every single memory and photgraph that we have of you. Allison's life was touched forever by you and we will never forget you. Happy Birthday Olivia Newton John, as Brendan used to always teasingly call her.

Today also marks 6 months since Gracie left her earthly life. 6 months....that's such a long time. Tom and Michele's strength and testimony are an example to us all. Gracie is the toughest little girl I know and I know that she is blessing heaven with her little spunk. I just wish we could all see it and enjoy her with us. She was such a miracle from the beginning. Once she was home, I really thought that she had beat the odds and was here to stay. She was such a little fighter and I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to know her just a little bit during her short earthly stay. But again, we have to have faith and trust in the Lord's wisdom and plan.

Two little girls that touched our family forever.

Two little girls that we will never forget.

Two little girls that suffered more than their share on this earth so that the rest of us could reflect more closely on our blessings.

Two little girls that helped us remember what is really important in this life.

Two little girls who are now two little angels in heaven watching over all of us and helping us try harder to be worthy to see them again.

Mom, I'm Bored!

No, those words are not coming out of one of my kids mouths. They are coming out of mine!!!!

I feel like a kid who just started summer break and is missing all of her friends and the routines already. The last few days have been REALLY DEPRESSING around here. I haven't had little ones around during school hours for years, but I've filled up my days with housework, errands, my bow business, and with SPORTS!

I miss my kids already and all of their daily summer adventures. Even if it just meant driving them to their friends' houses and hearing a comment or two about their day.

Bows have slowed down to a mere trickle so that doesn't consume more than a few days a month now. I guess you could say I'm semi-unemployed or semi-retired, whatever sounds best.

But last night I think I figured it all out. What I really am missing right now is FOOTBALL! This is the time of year where I run around all day to get everything done because our evenings are spent on the bleachers watching 2 to 3 games a week! I miss packing the car with blankets (for padding and for warmth), filling up jugs of ice water, making game snacks to munch on during the games, spending my mornings on the phone or in meetings with the other team moms planning the weekly dinners and game parties, making dinner plans for those away games, etc, etc, etc! That's been our life for the past 7 years! I miss seeing all of my "boys" on the team and catching up with all of their parents on the bleachers. Many of those boys have now received mission calls and many more have moved away to college. We plan on going to a few games, but it just won't be the same. Jordan is helping Tom with Max's 6th grade team as the quarterback coach so we'll have to go see a few of their games too.....it's going to be hard to cheer for AF though, but we'll do our best.

I wasn't prepared to say goodbye since we thought we still had 3 years left of it with Jake. But he decided that golf was more his thing. He worked DANG HARD all summer long on improving his game and we are all so thrilled that he made the high school JV golf team! But it's not a sport where parents can come and watch and cheer on their boys. So we just get the stories when he gets back from practices and tournaments. We're excited that he's doing something that he loves so much.

So just like when we used to say, "Mom! I'm bored." And our mom's would reply, "I have lots for you to do if you are looking for something to do....." I still have piles of laundry waiting, disgusting blinds to dust, windows to clean, closets to go through, hundreds of photos to scrapbook, a frig that is never full enough to shop for, but I just don't have any motivation to do any of it.

I think I just need a few days to wallow in my pity-party and then I'll figure out a new normal. That is, after I help Jordan pack up his room this weekend and move away from home next Wednesday.

WAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Thanks for listening to me whine.

I'm sure that homework projects and long drives to dance in Provo will kick my behind in gear in no time.

Changes, Changes

Allison went from long hair and braces...... to short hair...... to no braces.

All set for 8th grade!

Here is a photo of Jake on the day he got his driving permit. I think it's a great idea to have them practice for a whole year before having their license, but not such a great idea that I have to be the one in the passenger seat with him and have it be my car! Actually, he's a great kid and a pretty good driver so far, but it's still scary. Just working on a few little kinks. Now he's all set for HIGH SCHOOL!!!.

Welcome Home Grandma and Grandpa!

(Actual event date was July 23, 2009)
It was such an exciting time to welcome my mom and dad home from their mission to Colombia after 18 months. We spent the day cleaning up the house, making posters, and Ed went and bought them few groceries. Brendan painted their family room a few weeks before (pre-surgeries) and I had fun re-decorating a little bit downstairs for them.

Here Noah and Taya put the finishing touches on the Welcome Home banner.

Waiting and more waiting. Actually, we made it to the airport with only a few minutes to spare. We cut it way too close, but we made it, thank goodness.

The weirdest thing for them was to see how much taller Jake and Allison were and Jake's deep voice. They looked great and happy! It was a week long party afterward!

Since we were all together....

Just a few days after my mom and dad came home, we decided to take photos of the whole crew while Julie and Carlos were in town. We just had Julie's mom go over to Ed's since she lives only a few blocks away. Good thing he has such a great backyard.

Just with the grandkids (left to right, top to bottom): Taylor (4), Jake (15), Jordan (18), Allison (13), Gavin (7), Grandma, Ryder (18 days), Grandpa, Ian (4), Noah (8), Taya (6)

One of our last complete family photos for a while. We'll try to sneak in another good one before the mission...

The really good ones were taken with Ed's camera, but I don't have copies of those yet....these are just a few that I was able to get snapped with my camera. It was a great feeling to be all together again after so long and to have the addition of Ryder be so new to our family.

I love this photo our our little "E." Such a funny little character that he is.

Park City Coaster

We took a family day trip up to Park City to spend time together before my uncle Tony went back to California. He truly is the life of the party and always has been. I'm glad that my kids have gotten to know him and love him as much as I do. We started it off with a ride for all of us on "The Coaster." We think it's so much more fun than the Alpine Slide. Then we went to a nearby park for a great picnic, playtime for the kids, and ended it with dessert at a little gelato place. Fun little getaway, great summer memories.

American Idol 2009

Some seasons of American Idol are definitely better than others. This years was one of our favorites ever. Unfortunately our top choice ,Danny, came in third and our next choice, Adam ,came in second. But we knew it was a season worth going to the concert. We got tickets on-line the second they went on sale.

We had it circled on our calendar for a few months. Then Brendan needed to have surgery on both hands to fix his carpal tunnel problems. He scheduled his first of two surgeries for the morning of the concert!! I told him that wasn't a good idea, but he said he'd be fine. Ok.....but it won't be, I thought to myself.

The morning of July 15th came and the hospital called that his surgery was scheduled for 1:00 PM. Kinda pushing it, I thought again. We got to the hospital and the doctor had an emergency come up that delayed Brendan's surgery to 3:00. Great....there's no way we'll make it to the concert now. His surgery went well and he was in post-op by 3:45. Now the hard part for him...recovery. After being through 5 knee surgeries with Brendan I know how hard it is for him to come out of anesthesia. He is always violently sick and it takes him hours to stabalize enough to get released. We only had 2 hours until we needed to be on our way to the concert. He acted extremely loopy and funny and drugged up....not normal for him at all. He seemed to be ok enough to be released by about 5:30. But then the fun began. He got sick in the car and couldn't move by the time we pulled up in the garage. He basically crawled into the house and made it as far as the couch. He insisted that I go up and get his clothes to change, bring him some nausea medicine and that he would be fine.

We left for the concert at 6:30 with a puke bowl in tow. Oh.....the things we do sometimes. It was up to me to get our whole family up to the E center in 30 minutes during traffic safely. Are you kidding me? Me? The one who doesn't drive past 7200 south--ever!

Made it just in time! By intermission poor Brendan was finally himself again and we all enjoyed the concert so much. We met the Gledhills up there and had fun spending that time with them. Too bad we couldn't do dinner or more fun before. Everyone of the finalists were amazing. Even the ones that weren't that great on the show did a great job at the concert. The anticipation for Danny and Adam were too much. We loved them!!! Kris was the American Idol winner, but Adam really stole the show. That is until he took off his jacket and wore only a vest and started acting a little too gay for my comfort. Awesome performer though!

It was fun to have Nicole come with us since we bought her a ticket back in May before "the breakup." We weren't sure how that would all work out. We all had a good time together. After the concert we grabbed some burgers (Brendan was finally hungry). Jordan and Nicole drove separately and went to a late dinner and then to the midnight show of Harry Potter. Oh, to be young again and be able to function on a few hours sleep....those were the days of a LONG AGO. Crazy day for all of us, but what a great memory!

Kari's Cabin Fun

My good friend Kari and her family have a cabin at sundance that we have been going to since we were in Young Women's together way back when......It's more of a little cottage really, but it has many great memories and I'm so glad that our own children have been able to have spent so much time there together. This year we happened to have Brendan's cousins boys with us and we all had a great time! We brought our lunch and met her at her parent's house which is up Provo Canyon in Springdell. It's just as great as the cabin with all of it's rustic charm and the fabulous pond out front.

The kids spent hours in the freezing water. We had lunch under the huge trees and played some more. Then we all drove up the few minutes to Sundance and went to the cabin for dinner and more fun. The kids went on a hike down to the Sundance Resort to buy suckers. It was so nice to have older ones to lead the way so us old fogeys could just relax inside. Jordan and Savana were the tour guides and did a great job with all the little ones.

Here is a fun video of Jake and Jordan having a hot dog eating contest. No, it wasn't to see how many each could eat....they decided to just see who could eat one the fastest.

It was funny to see how cute little Gates became Jordan's shadow for the rest of the evening. Notice how she just has her little feet up on his leg like they are just the best of friends.

Jordan was getting over a cold/cough and ended up taking a nap on the couch while the rest of us went out to make smores. I caught Gates sitting next to him pulling up a blanket and tucking it under his chin. Is that the cutest little thing or what?

We had a busy week ahead and weren't able to spend the night, but it sure was great to spend the day with good friends!

(July 8, 2009)

Uintah's Camping Trip

July 10 - 12, 2009

Kind of a last hurrah before the Peden's moved to Arizona (sadness) we decided to all go camping together with the McGuires. Not the Peden's favorite activity, but the kids all have so much fun that everyone decided it would be worth it. Well, maybe except for Richard who put on a half smile and tried to have fun amidst the bugs, the dirt, the sleeping accomodations in a tent, and the smoky campfire.

We took a day trip up the canyon a bit further and ended up at Provo River Falls. How can I have lived in Utah for 30 years and never seen this amazing place!!! It was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. We spent a few hours walking and hiking all around the many waterfalls and taking lots of great pictures. Each of the boys came to the conclusion that it was a perfect spot for a proposal in the future....the far future, right?

We ate lunch at this fun little diner, but I think they saw the size of our group and the rowdiness of our kids and seated us outside on a nice, but private deck out back. We had a boys table, a girls table, and the grown ups sat in the middle table trying to dodge spit balls between them.

The food was great and we were stuffed, but the boys went for the challenge of eating The Pig Trough which was a ginormous banana split. They ate the whole thing in just a couple minutes!

We walked around Mirror Lake a little unprepared for the chilly temperatures that the higher altititudes brought. I had one jacket and two very cold girls. This was how they ended up walking most of the way......

We camped right by the river in a beautiful little spot where the kids spent hours throwing rocks and exploring. Our nights were filled with amazing food, games of charades by the fire, and marshmallow roasting.

The kids had a blast telling jokes and being goofy and renaming The 1:00 club from last year to The 6:00 club this year. That means that they stayed up until 6 am and THEN went to bed for a few hours until their tents got too warm in the morning sun. Crazy, but super fun memories!

(Emily Peden, Dillon McGuire, Kennedy McAvoy, Jordan Smith, Cameron Jeffers, Jake Smith, Sarah Richey) A.K.A. "The 6 o'clock Club"

Farewell Richard, Debra, and Emily! We will miss you so much. Thank you for the many, many years of wonderful memories. We hope that we can continue our traditional annual family trip, maybe not always to the mountains, but always with some of our favorite people.