My Favorite Outfit

Dear Elijah,

I love this picture. I love this little outfit on you. Your Mama gave it to me three years ago. She knew it was special to me. You are wearing it in a favorite photograph of me holding you. I still keep it in a sealed plastic bag in Cozette's top drawer. I like to pull it out and hold it occasionally. The scent of your room has long faded. My love for you has not.

Three years ago.

Time is merciful. I have learned this lesson over the last three years.  This past Sunday,  Everett gave a talk in Primary on the Holy Ghost. He shared that after your passing, the Holy Ghost witnessed to him that things would eventually be better, and that his heart would not hurt forever.  I have pondered Everett's simple testimony. We cling to the Lord's promise. We place our faith in Him. There is a void in our lives and some days are heavy, but we are filled with hope.

Happiness fills my heart when I think of you. I remember when your Aunt Nikki and I would fight over who got to hold you. I like to believe that I always won. I was a little stingy with you. When you came for Everett's baptism, I had a terrible cold.  I tried to resist the temptation of kissing you, but I could not resist. I kissed you a hundred times, then I had to pray very hard that you would not get sick. My favorite memory is when you first came home from the hospital. I woke up at 6:00 am the following morning, because I heard you stirring in your parents room. I stole you from your Mama and it was pure joy having you all to myself in the quiet morning hour. We had the most delightful conversation.

I am grateful for my treasured memories.

It is a gift that I have so many.


Love,

The Birthday Boy

This is not the birthday boy. Everett was so excited on Brad's birthday, that I had to check with Nikki to see what she fed him for dinner. He thought he was quite amusing jumping in front of the camera just before our picture was being taken. I tried telling him to stop several times, but it was difficult since he was making us laugh. When Everett saw this picture of himself, he told me he liked it so much that I should make it my screen saver.

Notice the expression on Everett's face. We could not get him to settle down.

Kayleigh and Everett sang a special song to Brad. She had worked very hard creating a song about their Daddy to the tune of Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. We tried to film them, but they were being so silly while singing, that we had to start over several times. They never did make it through the song with out laughing.

 It pains me to admit that I did not make his birthday cake. 

Brad said that he wanted an ice cream cake.

It was not very good.

The other day, Brad asked me if I had ever heard of Wimbeldon.

Really, he did.

I pondered whether or not we had never discussed this subject in the almost 17 years I have known him. We have had so many sports discussions. I have learned so much from him. Brad told me that he only wanted to tell me about that 10 hour tennis match.

We laughed about it later. 

It makes me wonder what else we do not know about each other.

I hope we have many more birthdays together, so we can find out.

The Literary Queens

The Society of Literary Queens held its first official meeting last evening. It was an uplifting event where good friends enjoyed each others company; new friendships were introduced and delicious food was served. Most importantly, we discussed our beloved book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

This Guernsey Literary is the inspiration for our society.

We agreed that we would love to be friends those lovely people on Guernsey Island. Nikki dreams of meeting her own Dawsey. I personally love Isola. Elizabeth's humanity is something to be desired. The world would be a better place if more people were like her. 

We were tempted to serve potato peel pie, but we feared it would not be as tasty as Will Thisbee's potato peel pie.

We settled on Strawberry pie. 

Some of our favorite lines from the book:

"Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books." ~Juliet

"I hope you will come to feel Elizabeth by your side as I do. Her strength did not fail her, nor her mind, not ever--she just saw one cruelty too many." ~ Remy

"I don't want to be married just to be married. I can't think of anything lonelier  than spending the rest of my life with someone I can't talk to, or worse, someone I can't be silent with."  ~Juliet

" I do love playing dead bride!" ~Juliet

Jill is modeling some of Nikki's  shoes.

I should have take taken a picute of Nikki's closet. A highlight of the evening was  when some of our friends went to check it out for the first time. Truly, it does look like a department store. Her shoe selection is something to behold.

The Literary Queens.

Next month: These is My Words.

Just the thought of Captain Jack causes me to have heart palpitations.

The Gangsta Rap Video

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It delights me that I am able to post the Papa Day Rap on my blog.

I am going to nominate Meredith to be the U.S. citizen of the year for helping me!

The Gangsta's Rap

I am asked the question "when is Daddy going to be home" about 30 times a day. Cozette asks the most, but Kayleigh and Everett never go a day without asking this question too. 

The happiest time of the day is when Brad arrives home from work. 

Daddy is cool. 

He is never mean. 

He spends time with us.

He is so nice. 

He teaches us.

He makes everything more fun.

He works so hard.

He loves us so much.

He always makes time for us.

We just love being with him.

Daddy is so funny.

These are only a few reasons why we love Brad so much!

One little gangsta practically has his pants on the ground! 

This year, Kayleigh and Everett surprised Papa with a gangsta rap! 

Papa Day Rap

'Yo Papa you've always been the best

Compared to the rest!

Taking us to the ice cream parlor,

giving us five dolla'!

You're the best story teller I know,

You always put on a great show.

when we go camping, you take your big bed,

You make me hit my head.

You always tell the best jokes,

I laugh so hard I almost choke. 

When we're with you the fun never ends

that's because you're a true friend.

Happy Father's Day!

Curly or Straight?

One of Kayleigh's favorite things to do is straightening hair with her flat iron. Her cousin, Mary-Faith, has been Kayleigh's most faithful and agreeable subject. We always ooh and ahh at Mary-faith's perfectly straight hair when Kayleigh is finished. The first time Kayleigh straightened her hair, I was quite amused at Barbara's reaction.

Her eyes just about popped out of her head.

Mary-Faith was striking with her hair a few inches longer, but she also looked a few years older.

This can be very shocking to a parent.

Kayleigh's latest subject was Cozette. Last night, Kayleigh announced that she was going to straighten Cozette's hair, and before I could answer, they were off to Kayleigh's bathroom.

Here is the result of them playing beauty parlor:

When Kayleigh was done, she and Cozette waltzed into my bedroom.

Cozette screamed with excitement, "Look, Mommy!" with a pacifier hanging from her mouth.

My eyes popped out of my head.

It seemed like I was looking at a 14 year old with a pacifier in her mouth.

I did not like it one bit!

I like curly better!

For now.

Dear Provo

Dear Provo,

My memory of you had faded. I had forgotten how beautiful your mountains are. Enjoying a cool weekend without humidity was an unexpected treat. Riding bicycles at night wearing jackets over Memorial Day weekend is a phenomena I had never experienced before. It delighted my children to count your LDS chapels. We counted at least 40 from the interstate as we traveled back and forth to Salt Lake City. We even noticed that in some places chapels were located across the street from each other. We stopped counting eventually. What was even more spectacular was the vision of your beautiful temples from the interstate.  

I finally went back to BYU. I started laughing when I revisited Stadium Terrace. I lived in apartment #2 for a year. I thought that place has stood still in time, because it had not changed since 1989. The only change was the jacuzzi area was filled with concrete. That area is now a bike rack. I wonder how many students have swam in that courtyard pool over the last 21 years?

My children loved BYU campus. They are already planning to attend your great university. Everett has the dream of playing baseball there. Kayleigh said she can totally see herself on that campus!

Brad fell in love with Cafe Rio. I was introduced to it last month when I was in Arizona. Brad has mentioned several times since we've been home that he "sure could go for some Cafe Rio!" 

There were so many wonderful activities and places for us to go. Hiking the "Y" was not easy. I never attempted it when I was a student. Even Kayleigh and Everett said it was difficult. Brad thought it was easy. He even carried Cozette on his back the entire time. We enjoyed eating ice cream at The Creamery. The Brick Oven was a family hit. All of the cousins loved eating there. My personal favorite was eating treats at Kneaders. Their raspberry bread pudding with vanilla gold smothered on top was out of this world.

The most special part of our visit was attending your beautiful temple. I did the work for a beloved great aunt.  In 1990, I had the opportunity to attend the temple when I was a missionary at the MTC. It was wonderful to be back.

I must be honest and admit that I was freezing here. We were not prepared for the cold weather. 70 degrees in Utah is not the same at 70 degrees in Georgia with all of the humidity.

These cousins love each other. 

Barbara and Mary-faith had not arrived yet.

The kids enjoyed the balloon hats at the Brick Oven. The last time I was at The Brick Oven was in 1990. My date mentioned to me that Donny Osmond was sitting across the room. I told him that it was not Donny, because the man I was seeing was not as good looking at Donny Osmond. My date went and got his autograph to prove it was indeed Donny Osmond! 

The famous Stadium Terrace.

Everett at his future stadium!

Future BYU students.

Cousin Co-eds holding hands.

Brad, Bill, and Shirley posing with Brigham Young!

The kids loved rolling down this very steep hill. I'm sure many students have done this over the years. It was a surprise to see the new underground library extension.

We finally made it to the "Y". I'm afraid of heights. I was worried that Everett would not be fearful enough. After we sat down, we witnessed a young boy tumbling about 10 feet down the face of the mountain. He was literally doing rolls. His brother was trying to catch him. Finally, he  caught himself. Truthfully, it was quite upsetting. We were very thankful that the boy was not hurt.

Kneader's Bakery

It took about 10 minutes to decide what I was going to indulge myself with!

Kayleigh is gazing at Edward who obviously has a crush on her.

Everett is trying to have a serious vampire face!

A view of Provo from the Y.

We know there was much more to do.

We simply ran out of time.

Thank you for being such a gracious host.

I hope to see you again soon.

Love,

The Wedding

We traveled to Utah last week for the wedding of my niece. It was a pleasure to witness the sealing of Rebekah Dawn Simpson to Tyler Clark. She was married for time and eternity in the Bountiful, Temple. The sealing was especially meaningful to our family because my father-in-law, Bill, officiated the ceremony. It was very emotional witnessing a grandfather seal his granddaughter to her sweetheart. His words to Rebekah were tender and sweet. Three of them stand out in my mind.  

Time is fleeting.

I could not help but remember when I was the bride. Rebekah was only about seven years old. She was tall and lanky, full of life, and I loved her instantly. She has grown into a beautiful young woman.  I found myself thinking that time has indeed slipped away.

I thought of my own daughters.

Kayleigh's turn will come too quickly. I joked with my sister-in-law, Barbara, that when Cozette gets married we will be old women, and I sure hoped that we wouldn't be using canes by then!

Cozette was a flower girl at the reception.

My favorite part of the reception happened quite by accident. Rebekah started dancing with her father. I stood up to take some pictures, and as I turned to sit back down, I noticed Rebekah's brother Scott looking at her. His lip quivered with emotion, and he had tears come to his eyes. It was a beautiful sight to see a brother lovingly gaze at his sister. I told Scott that I would remember that special moment for the rest of my life. He expressed to me how much he loves Rebekah.

Outside the Bountiful Temple.

Kayleigh and Everett with Caroline. Tyler surprised Rebekah at the reception by singing a love song to her. Everett came up to me afterward and said, "I'm not singing at my wedding reception!" I assured him that he did not have to sing if he did not want to!

Cozette, Kayleigh, and cousin Caroline.

Everyone knows about "Caroline Style." She likes converse, pirate vests, jeans, Uggs, and anything else casual. I like to think of Caroline as Scout in To Kill a Mocking Bird. They even make some of the same facial expressions. This lovely dress was not exactly "Caroline Style," but she was a trooper and wore it beautifully!

I won't go into detail how B-A-D Cozette was part of the time!
I think this picture expresses it best.

True love.

Rebekah's and Tyler's wedding is a memorable experience that we will always cherish.

I took about 277 pictures of our trip to Utah.

More posts to come!