Pink Lemons

Happy birthday to our four-year-old Kyrie Grace. She wanted a lemon cake. She wanted pink frosting. So what did she get? A pink-and-yellow swirl cake with lemon pudding underneath and pink-colored lemon-flavored frosting on top.


Happy birthday sweet little girl! You're so precious to us.

A Day of Thanks

Last week was so busy—our homeschool group performed last Friday night the Pilgrim play for which we've been rehearsing, and much of our free time last week was consumed in getting costumes together, making sure lines were memorized, and rehearsals. And piano practicing, lots and lots of practicing the piano, because there was a recital on Sunday evening in which Christian, Libby, and Jackson each played a solo and a duet.




We had a fantastic Thanksgiving day yesterday. After much threatening and cajoling my parents drove from SLC to share the meal with us, and there were many smiles and much goodwill all around.


Everyone always asks us, especially with regard to Turkey Day, "What do you eat?" As you can see, we could hardly think of a Thanksgiving food that wasn't Turkey, and our table was almost bare. ;)


Today: bringing up the Christmas decorations! *squee* We already dragged out the iTunes Christmas song playlist yesterday, while preparing the meal. :)

Life, and the opposite

When Libby was just an infant, our next-door neighbor died. It was such an interesting process; he just gave up the will to live. He stopped eating, and then he stopped getting out of bed; then he stopped waking up. And yet it was almost a week of uninterrupted sleeping before he finally passed. His wife, though she was a good fifty years older than I, was my friend. Every day I talked to her, asking how she was, how he was...

He became an entry in my (non-online) journal at the time, because his passing was somehow part of our life, part of our daily doings.

I was just thinking about that, just now, as I wrote a small note in my Uncle's online obituary guest book. How interesting, I thought, that my neighbor (whose name I can't even remember now! Though I still remember his wife Leona...) got a mention in my journal, and not my own Uncle Boyd. It never even crossed my mind, until minutes ago, to mention him.

Boyd is my mother's sister's husband. He was an intellectual—a professor and department dean of social work at the University of Utah. I can't really remember any good conversations we ever had; either I was too young to converse cogently, or our interests perhaps too disparate. He wasn't the sort who bounced other peoples' grandchildren on his knee, so our communications were brief ("How are the kids? How many?") though cordial. But he was a good man—kind, always smiling and greeting my politely. I know my aunt is really going to struggle without him, he was a very doting husband and she is physically declining.

And though I had no idea when I would see him again, different yet is the thought that I won't see him again. He's moved on, finished up all his list of Things To Do here. No more earthly cares or sorrows will pain him again.

Uncle Boyd Oviatt, though our spheres rarely touched, there is a small void where you were. I'll remember you with fondness.

The baby turns TWO

It's hard to believe my tiny Macky is two years old today. Little sweetie! It's fun to have a toddler and not (1) a pregnancy or (2) an infant. This is something we've never done before!

Macklin's a total chocoholic since Halloween, so instead of a cake we baked him like 90 chocolate-frosted chocolate cookies.Here he is, licking the beaters after the frosting was done.

"Happy Birthday to you..."

Pleased with himself, when he blows out the candles. :D

And here he is a couple of weeks back. Dinnertime, feet up on the table despite my remonstrances, eating a cob of corn. We're so darn fond of our caboose. :)

Happy Birthday Macklin!


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Now playing: Muse - Muscle Museum
via FoxyTunes

Jackson's baptism

Happy Birthday to Jackson! We were so happy that his eighth birthday fell on the first Saturday of the month, and that he was baptized on his birthday. That's pretty darn special.



Here he is, guarded by his new birthday Transformer, Optimus Prime, blowing eight candles on the cake.

After a totally fun day of baptism and lunch with all the family who were able to be here, we changed into jeans and drove to Ephraim to bowl. Jackson's a straight-down-the-middle-of-the-lane man, and he got several strikes and spares. In fact everyone, even little Ethan, got spares and most got strikes. With Blaine's totally insane schedule it was our first family day in a long time, and it was heaven.

Happy birthday, Jackson Haymond Lee!