CHANGE IN BLOG ADDRESS

So, after weeks of struggling with my blog address and functionality (and like ZERO online help and no phone number or email to contact anyone), I am finally throwing in the towel and starting over. I think it has to do with the fact that my main email address for the blog was my Nature's Sunshine email, and somewhere along the way, they have disallowed it (since it's a non-funtioning email address I would suppose). That address was the only one with full editing rights.

I enjoy blogging as a form of journaling, whether or not anyone follows me. But, if you do, you can find my new version at: www.susanharward.blogspot.com.

It will take me awhile to get the layout and functionality back to what I want, so pardon my dust while I'm working on it!

City Creek

Although my intention was to wait a little while for the crowds to die down at the new City Creek, we decided to take Atty on the Trax near my house, and we ended up going downtown.  It certainly is a gorgeous shopping and entertainment area, and of course there were a lot of people there (though not as many as I feared).  We ate dinner in the food court, and sampled the food from Taste of Red Iguana, since we love the restaurant so much.  Atty loved, loved, loved the train, as we knew he would.  And we took the wrong line home and ended up in West Valley City (now that Salt Lake is enough of a metropolis to have a colored line system), so Atty got to experience PLENTY of train rides!  He was pretty wiped out by the time we got home. 

Notice how Atty has his index and middle fingers crossed ... no, he's not making a wish.  He just loves to cross his fingers like this!

Steph and Mickel's New House

After twelve long years on a very difficult path, Steph and Mickel were recently able to purchase their first home together.  And what a home!  They're really making up for lost time.  It's in a gorgeous neighborhood in east Draper, with a beautiful yard, spacious interior and a view to die for.  At one point, I said to Steph, "You just can't stop smiling, can you?"  They are so happy with it, and feel that it's the perfect house for them.  Kaiya, unfortunately, has been a little traumatized about leaving her friends in Sugarhouse behind, and has cried nearly every day.  But I know she will make new friends quickly, and will hopefully feel better about it soon.  And both she and Teague weren't sure if they wanted their own rooms, so I guess we'll see how that goes. 

I'll have to post some pictures showing the house after they got everything moved in.  It looks great!  Congrats to Steph and Mickel, you guys deserve it!

Cousin Deanise

My cousin Deanise, who I really don't see very often at all, was in town recently with her daughter, and she put together a lunch for all the aunts, cousins and cousin's kids that could make it.  I think all the girl cousins except Alice and Debbie (who is still back in Washington) made it, along with the three surviving aunts, and assorted kids.

Laura gets her own shot because she came in late.  :-)  Deanise is next to her (in the blue shirt).  It's always great to get everyone together, and I wish we could make it happen more often! 

Tea and Manis and Monster Trucks, Oh My!

For Christmas, I gave the girls certificates for Afternoon Tea and a Mani/Pedi, and I gave the boys tickets to the Monster Jam truck show, and recently we used them.  First the boys went to the monster truck show, where, as you can see, they had very good seats for all the action.  We were a little concerned that Atticus wouldn't like it and/or wouldn't keep the earplugs in, but after a couple of times of walking him out of the arena, he settled in and watched the show.  Teague, who is an old hand at monster truck shows, loves it just as much as ever! 

Meanwhile, the girls all met at Grand America for their Afternoon Tea service.  As you know, Kaiya has been to tea before, and the last time we went she said her only wish was for Mom and Aunt Kris to go with us.  It was all very proper and fun (though I unfortunately forgot to take any photos).  Then Steph, Kaiya and I went on to get our manis/pedis (Kris couldn't come with us this time).  Though Kaiya loves her fingernails and toenails to be painted, this is the first professional mani/pedi she's had.  She LOVED it!  And it was just in time for them since they were leaving a few days later for their cruise. 

Bob Jones The Bear

In February I went to Idaho Falls for business training.  It was very intense, but fun.  My business partner, Karen, was there of course, as well as two consultants we've been working with - Heather and Kristen - and Karen's sister Laura.  We found a great house to share, and though it didn't look like much on the outside, it had been completely remodeled on the inside.   We found this bear in a hallway at the place we were meeting, so we named him Bob Jones.  Bob Jones the Bear. 

Kaiya and Teague's Newest Sports

The latest sports that Kaiya and Teague have tried are basketball, which, if you know our family, is their mom's game of choice through her school years (through college), and skiing.  As usual, they are both doing great! 

I'll have to get some pictures and/or video from Steph for the skiing.  Kaiya in particular has taken to it like a duck to water, and really loves it.

So, the other day Kaiya told me that she now wants to learn to ice skate.  I jokingly asked her if there is anything in this world that she does NOT want to learn.  She thought it about it very seriously, and came up with this list: she does not want to learn to: 1) build a house; 2) fight a fire; or 3) fight in a war (and die, she always adds).  I guess everything else in the world is possibly on her to do list. 

California Trip

Kris and Sterling gave me a trip to Disneyland for Christmas, so on New Year's Eve (technically, since we got going after midnight, New Year's Day), we began the long drive to California.  Driving mostly during the night made the trip a bit easier on Atty, although I'm not sure how many more times I'm going to make that trip by car.  I told Kris I think I'm flying next time whether she does or not.

Also, unfortunately, we were all sick to varying degrees with some sort of stomach flu - with Sterling and Atty probably having the worst cases.  Fortunately, by the time we arrived in California that morning, the worst seemed to have passed. 

We stayed at a great condo in Oceanside, which was just a short walk to the beach.  It had a full kitchen, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, so it was plenty roomy. 

Atty was pretty happy to have room to run around and play.  We spent some time at the beach, and Atty really loved the water and the sand.  And the birds. 

The next morning Kris and Sterling went to Magic Mountain and Atty and I hung out at the condo and at the beach.  We had lunch at a place that sold the most amazing fish and chips, and played with the ball on the beach. 

The next day we went to Disneyland.  Now, the major reason that we scheduled this trip when we did was that it was (we thought) after the Christmas break, and theoretically should have been during one of the slowest times.  Wrong!  It was more crowded than I have ever seen it before.  I guess that with the good weather, the Rose Bowl featuring teams from fairly close by, the weak American dollar, and holidays falling on the weekend this season, it all converged into a perfect storm of PEOPLE.  You could hardly walk anywhere, and I think we only went on a half dozen rides or so in two days, plus a couple of shows.  It was hard to judge Atty's response to his first trip to Disneyland, because he was always a bit cranky about waiting in line so long by the time we went on anything.  But I still enjoyed D-land, and Atty seemed to really love the Haunted Mansion.  Unfortunately, Kris pulled a muscle or something (lifting and/or holding Atty), so she was in a lot of pain.  The next morning she dropped us off at the park and then went to an instacare place.  It helped, though she was still in pain through the rest of the trip. 

I failed to get very many pictures at the park, but here's a few ...

 

The last one (black with white streaks) is my phone camera's attempt to capture the snowfall they do during the season. 

After our two days at Disneyland, we were going to spend some time in San Diego, and then come back up to the L.A. area to spend a couple more nights.  But since we didn't really have any specific plans for L.A., and Kris was still in a bit of pain, we decided to head down to San Diego for the day, and then drive home that night (thanks anyway for the offer of accommodation, Annette!).  We ended up stopping for lunch and beach time in Ocean Beach, which had a very hippy-kind of vibe, and where they didn't seem to like little kids all that much and where the homeless seem to camp out.  But it was a good lunch (after a bit of a concerted effort to find a place that seemed appropriate; i.e., that would let Atty in the door), and we had some more fun beach time. 

 

 Thanks, Parker's, for the great trip and memories!

Christmas 2011

We've had a fun Christmas season.  Even though I have struggled to find the Christmas spirit this year, having Kris and family here for the holidays definitely helped get me motivated to at least put a tree up!  So, here's a brief summary of what we've been up to ...

Kaiya has been taking violin lessons, in addition to piano.  She is doing really well in both, though she now says that she would rather do the cello than the violin.  Mom says she'll need to stick it out for a few more months, especially now that she's really starting to get the hang of it!  Here she is performing in a recital recently.  P.s. the boy she is playing the duet with is 12 years old!  Kaiya performed in three numbers.

Kaiya and Steph and I were able to go to the Nutcracker this year, and that was really special.  I don't think I've been since Kris was performing in it, and that's been a long while.  The costumes and scenery have all been updated.  I asked Kris to come along as well, but she thought Sterling might be surprising her with it, so she didn't.  He ended up taking her to Las Vegas for second row seats at the Phantom of the Opera instead!  Well, we'll just have to go to the Nutcracker again next year so Kris can go with us. 

So, as I said, Kris celebrated her birthday this month - her 30th!  Having my "baby" be that old certainly does make me feel old!  But I told her (and in total sincerity), I think the best decade is the 30s.  You've figured out stuff, and you're still young.  Since Mickel also has a birthday two days before Kris, we did a joint birthday dinner at Little America (a favorite with Kris at least).  Mel and his other kids were also able to join us, and it was a lot of fun. 

Somehow my artificial tree got buried somewhere when Kris and Sterling moved in (at the back of the stair closet, I think), so I was kind of forced to get a cut tree this year.  Kris and Sterling were kind enough to buy it ... those things are expensive these days!  So we went to a tree lot on the corner of State Street and 90th South.  Now this tree lot is unique in that they had real live reindeer AND Santa AND they were selling hot tubs and frozen halibut.  Very strange. 

Atty wasn't too impressed with Santa ...

These reindeer were trying to eat out of the trough, but their antlers kept getting tangled together.  Neither of them was about to give an inch, so they just butted heads back and forth.  It was pretty amusing to watch. 

We went up to the Zoolights at Hogle Zoo this year (me and the Sharps and Mel).  I haven't been to this before, and it was actually pretty amazing.  I didn't get any pictures (too dark and cold), but here's a commercial version ... (no, I don't know who the people in the pictures are)

The kids came to my house on Christmas Eve, after a day spent visiting Grandma Pyne and Grandma Harward.  Sterling played and sang "Hallelujah" for us, which was a special treat ... as were Kaiya's violin numbers.  Hey, we're edging ever closer to the Pyne tradition of having a full-blown Christmas Eve program.  When I was a kid, we all had to do some kind of talent before we could open one present each on Christmas Eve. 

It was so much fun to have a child around on Christmas morning, even though Atty didn't really wake up until about 10:00 am.  He's a little young yet to get what's going on, but he was sure tickled about all the presents he got!  His favorites, I think, are his shopping cart and his blue basketball. 

Another special treat for me this Christmas was having my good friends Tim and Mark in town.  We went over to Mark's niece Shannon's house on Christmas Day.  It was quite a houseful!  I made a couple of new friends, was entertained by some very soap opera-type stories, had WAY too much good food, and had a chance to catch up with Shannon and her cute girls. 

This is Mark on the left, and Tim on the right.  They have been good, good friends to me over the years.

This darling little girl is Sophia (and her grandma Cory, Mark's niece).  Everyone wanted to steal her and her brother Dominique.  Even Tim.

Tim and Mark stayed with me that night, so we were able to hang out the next day.  We got up late, had a great breakfast, went shopping, and had a great lunch (did I mention that I have eaten entirely too much this month?).  Then yesterday we all (meaning me and my girls and their kids - plus Sterling - Shannon and her girls, and Tim and Mark's friend Mike) met for lunch at Zupas.  I'm sad to see them go so soon, and look forward to a visit in Tucson soon.