What A View!

We visited this magnificent tower in Chicago on the way home from our Thanksgiving trip. All I have to say is...I love that city! It's awesomely goregous at night - the view from the tower is so spectacular. I guess because I grew up in Reno and lived in Las Vegas, I'm drawn to the big city and always will be. The most amazing thing about Sears is that on a clear day, you can four states, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. Amazing!
A first for this picture is that it's the only one where Kyra has EVER smiled while we were in a group pose. That took 6 long years!

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Well, it was the first Thanksgiving we traveled for...ever. We've always spend it at home, or at least in the same city. We spend our time with Aunt Ven, Uncle Tim, Nana, Grandma Joyce (Tim's mom), Jason, Ryan and Mindy in Effingham, IL. Thank goodness the gas prices agreed with our budget, we once filled up an empty tank for $27! It was a great blessing to have so much food, relaxation (they live in the woods) and most of all, to be surrounded by family. Besides eating our hearts out, we also visited Springfield, IL and went to the Abraham Lincoln Museum and learned more about that great President. The best part was on the way home, we were able to visit Chicago for a few hours and visited the Sears Tower; what a COOL place. I'll post a picture soon.

I did this LO while nursing (not literally) Kyra when was really sick with the flu last week; it was so awful, she even had to go to the hospital and get rehydrated. I felt so bad for her -in the middle of leaning over the bucket puking, Kyra said, "I WANNA LIVE!" I had to keep my laughter inside as I was right in the middle of the worst sickness in her life. It was also very sweet how she became so sentimental (while puking) and would tell me and Greg, "I love you, Mommy" and "I love you, Daddy." Kyra definitely has a sweet spirit and it certainly shone through - even in her darkest hour.

Momma Mia Inspired...

My first LO in weeks...my most favorite movie in the whole world right now is Momma Mia and I just choreographed "Dancing Queen" for my classes. I decided to do something with my studio picture and thus this LO was born. Here's the journaling:

"This is the picture that hangs on the 'Instructor's Wall' at Dance Expressions. My dream of teaching at a dance studio came true on September, 2008. It has been a great blessing to bring others to joy of Zumba dancing."

Little girls will be little girls...

Here are Kyra (ragdoll) and Nina (Gabriela from HSM) all decked out for the ward Chili Cook-Off/Halloween party and happy as little clams :-) Making happy memories with the girls (as well as my other children) is the best way for me to heal from my own sordid childhood and feel the sweetness of innocence and joy in truth the way a little girl has a divine right to feel. Blessings to all of you out there who have experienced this same enlightenment :-)

Side note: Adobe PhotoShop Elements ROCKS!! I was able to cut and paste Kyra's head in the side-by-side picture from another picture to get them both smiling. It took me all day to figure it out, but Scrapbook Memories TV show on the BYU channel has excellent instructions. Check it out!

Meatloaf Anyone?

For part of Nina's preschool program at the YMCA, she's been taking a Kids in the Kitchen class and has been cooking up a storm each Wednesday. I started to feel the pressure of "bad mom syndrome" since I realized I hadn't really let me the girls help my cook at all except for when cleaning up the brownie bowl...so here's proof that I let down my hair and the girls helped create a tasty meatloaf that didn't have any leftovers :-)
The joy also here is that someday THEY will be cooking me food and I'll get to say "EWW, GROSS!"

My Raked-Up Cutie!

I stumbled on another "joy" moment on Friday when I caught the girls collecting leaves from the cul-de-sac and making a pile in our center common area. Just when I thought with my adult mind that leaves are just another plain annoying and bothersome thing to clean up in the yard - there is a 5 year-old who delightfully relishes in gathering and rolling around these little crumbs of nature and loving every minute of it.