Yesterday, we had the opportunity to see the "Body Worlds" exhibit in Salt Lake. I had some people question my judgement on taking my kids. My thought? How could I not take them? I didn't want them to miss this opportunity to see their bodies like they never have before. Beforehand, we talked about what they would see (yes, real bodies...some with "privates" showing). Sarah's only concern was, "What will happen when they are resurrected?" We met my mom and dad and Jeff and Alice. I have to say the exhibit met almost every expectation I had. I thought I'd be a little more blown away (I don't know how), but that being said, it was still very much worth it. Sarah had a little harder time than I thought. Surprisingly, what bothered her the most was the darkness (everything surrounded in black w/ very little lighting), the quiet (only the sound of a heartbeat played along w/ every one's whispers) and she didn't really like the specimens that showed only blood vessels(really nothing more than floating, painted vessels still in the shape of the body). I don't think having eaten Crown Burger right before helped either (while I wasn't at all nauseous, it sat pretty heavy on my stomach...it was a bit warm in there, too). Photos were not allowed, but you can see a great slide show and family guide at the site http://theleonardo.org/bodyworlds/index.php

Some of the highlights were:
-The baby portion. Tiny embryos and fetus'. I never fully realized how developed a 9 week fetus was...amazing. It was hard to see the 23-32 week babies (I have to say baby not fetus). How anyone could believe in abortion is beyond me.
-Seeing diseased organs and bodies. Black smokers lung, brain tumor, severe arthritis, artificial hips still in the body, deformed spine...all amazing and so enlightening.
-The huge camel...soo cool!
-Andrew and Josh got to hold a human heart. Notice their faces in the photo...I absolutely loved their looks of wonder. We also got to play around w/ a microscopic camera...so cool to see your skin so close. You could even see the small flaws in my diamond!
-We couldn't help but think about who these people were. What was there life like? What did they look like? We happily speculated about one body in particular; we concluded she was old and that her body had probably never been able to stretch and move as they had her displayed. I can't help but think she thinks its pretty cool, too.
-Loved the little Leonardo-esque notebooks. (Rachel...totally seems like a little touch you would have done and I wondered if you'd suggested it to your dad! lol) The kids took notes and sketched pictures of what they saw.

A few thoughts about the exhibit. It was very quiet...almost reverent. I had the feeling that everyone there felt only awe and respect for A) the people who donated their bodies and B) the miraculous body itself.

While this gave me a look at the body I've never had before and increased my wonder for it's complexity, I couldn't help but feel a great sense of awe for our spirits. Looking at these bodies was incredible...our bodies are amazing and beautiful, but I feel that it is truly our spirits that make our bodies amazing and beautiful...it's our spirits that bring these bodies to life. I'm sure you're thinking, "duh," but it really is incredible to think of how they work together. I gained a greater appreciation for the body, but it also increased my testimony our spirits...our soul. I really hope if you have the chance to see this you will go. Let me know what you thought...I'd love to hear others insights and feelings.

Things are a changin'

Well, yea, a lot has changed....homes, jobs and a spouse and yet our friendship always stays the same. With things pulling us in different directions and not enough time, our friendship doesn't change! On Saturday, we had the chance to go to a movie together and even got to hang out long enough for Chad to wash her car! ;) WE saw "Ghost Town." Loooved it...laugh so hard we cried. Other than a few unnecessarily strong words (stops me from giving it a full recommendation), I loved it...really loved it! Love you friend...movie again this Saturday??!!! :)

So, I'm not the coolest mom on the block when it comes to letting my kids do things such as lemonade stands. I think my kids have asked to do this for, oh six years or so. Guess I'm just not much of an entrepreneur. With their off-track time and the warm days coming to an end and having the witness of friends, I finally caved. (I couldn't look like a completely lame mom in front of their friends, now could I?!) I made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies, they priced them and made the signs. Turns out we live on a great corner for business...they sold every cookie...except the ones they ate. One guy even bought ten cookies! It was so funny watching them wave people down with their signs. It was great spying on them through the front widow as they ran their little business. They had a ball and it wasn't as annoying an activity as I thought it would be! They were so pleased with the money they made and I'm sure they'll be begging me to do it again soon.

A very special preview

Last weekend my dear friend, Andrea Madsen was in town. Andrea's brother-in-law is the construction manager for the Oquirrah Mountain Temple and we got to have a private tour and sneak peek! I was soo excited...what an opportunity! It may be hard to tell what is what in the dark construction photos, but I thought it would be fun to share anyway. A few thoughts I had while going through:
-Love the two staircases that will face eachother on the main floor (like Bounitful and Timpanogas)
-Since this is a "smaller" temple, I love how intimate it will feel
-The views are just incredible. I almost wish there was a way to keep the windows clear...they framed the outside view like a painting!
-As we were on the third floor, I looked up through the skylights (so cool there are skylights...love the beautiful natural light) to see Moroni just above us. So cool! More windows I wished could stay clear...that really was neat to look up and see that.
-Amazing the attention given to the quality of construction. It was pointed out to ust that the wood moulding around the doors in just one room of the baptistry had taken 2 weeks to put together.
I believe the temple is scheduled for completetion in the Spring of '09 and I can't wait. Our stake is in charge of the open house so I'm sure there will be lots of opportunities to help out.

I feel like life has been pulling me away from the blog. I'm not sure that last week was any busier than any other week, but somehow time flies by and everyday is filled with something. Just thought I'd share a few photos from last week.

As my kids were soaking up the last bit of summer in the backyard, I peeked out the kitchen window and found Jenna and Sarah going to town with the hose and the sidewalk chalk. As soon as I opened the back door, Sarah excitedly pronounced they had created a nebula. I love that girl and the creativity that pops out.

Laundry and junk. Does it ever go away? Of course that is a totally stupid question to ask. It is the bain of my existence. However, I am working really hard on accepting it and trying to enjoy the process of doing. Yea, sounds stupid, huh?
But, it's never going away...I'm just grateful I'm here to do it and that I have people to do it for. As for the junk, I filled several bags from the playroom and kids rooms (shhh...don't tell them). That always feels good. I have MS do a pick up about every other month...I am always amazed that I can find something (make that a lot of somethings, to donate) each time. Funny story. Last month I tried to be up front w/ the kids about the throwing out/donating things. I thought we could all be mature about it. As soon as I asked them to find some toys they could "share" they got really stressed and tearful. They tried to put on brave faces as they handed me a few things to part with. I think I will stick to doing the purging when they're not home!

The remainder of the week was filled with baseball, soccer, Stake temple day, a scout camp out, piano, gymnastics and stake conference. Friday we did some testing with Sarah regarding some concerns and issues we've been having with her eyes and ability to process things. I will post more on that later. After conference on Sunday, we enjoyed the rest of the Sabbath in "nature" ;) with Megan and Cameron. We had a little picnic lunch up American Fork canyon. It was beautiful and the kids loved it...especially throwing rocks in the river!

Ohh, now I know what sucked up all my extra time. One small thing I forgot to mention. I read the first two books of the Twilight series in, oh about 2 1/2 days. Yes, I know, I'm about 2 yrs behind the curve on this one. Loved the first one, found the second one depressing and now I just feel exhausted by their relationship and am slowing down on the third one (only 1/2 through). I think Bella is pretty miserable despite being so in love! lol I'm not a full blown fan, but it feels good to be reading again. I'm sure this bit of trite news will be received w/ shock and laughter by those who read these books long ago and with disappointment and laughter by those who think they are a waste (uh um...Ryan). Either way, I am enjoying the books!

This is seriously funny I'm posting this.

No really, it's laughable. I had mentioned before that I learned how to make a photo canvas in Photoshop (thank you Teresa!). I've had several of you ask me how this is done. Let me emphasize it is the ONE and ONLY thing I know how to do in PS. My directions, I'm sure are totally not savvy as far as explanations and terminology go. Hopefully, they make enough sense for some of you to muttle your way through and have some success. My PS abilities are totally untapped...I'm looking forward to learning so much more. I'm really the last one that should be giving out PS directions, but here you go...don't laugh.

-file
-open
Go to your files where your photos are uploaded to (mine are in my Kodak file). Select photos you want to use. You can select multiple photos by holding down the "Ctrl" button.
-Crop (this icon looks like square w/ the left upper and lower right corners extended beyond the square with a diagonal line through it...it's the third button down on the left of the tool bar (there should be a tool bar on the left)
You will need to crop the photos to size to fit them on your new "canvas." After you select the "crop" button, a tool bar w/ dimensions should come up along the top. You will have to play w/ what sizes you want. For any of the canvas' you've seen on my blog, I usually crop about 2-3 inches for width and height. (this will give you a square crop, if you want a rectangular crop adjust for that. Set resolution to 300. Now click on one of the photos to be cropped. You will see the crop icon. Click and drag it across the photo. You can move and adjust it. Hit enter when you want to save the crop. Repeat for the rest of the photos. Now you've cropped your photos you need to open new file for the canvas, go to:
-file
-new
Set the dimensions for the new canvas. Just add up the size of the photos you've cropped. For example, 3 photos @ 3 in X 2 in I'd create a canvas 9 in x 2 in. (adding a bit more if you want some room for white borders). Set resolution to 300. The new canvas will pop up. Now, go back to the tool bar on the left and select "move" button. This is the top right button my tool bar. It has a left pointing arrow w/ a compass looking arrows next to it. Move photos to canvas. If you need to adjust a photo after you've already moved onto another photo click on the "layer" of the photo you want to move. ("layers" are shown on the bottom right)
-text
You can add text to your canvas by clicking on the "T" on the left tool bar. You can adjust font, color and size
-file
-save
Name and save your file. Save it as a JPEG


G O O D * L U C K

So my friend, Greg, issued a challenge to have lunch somewhere different. (you can read about it here) Now he currently lives in Switzerland....and I live in Utah. Hmm....you tell me which one is more exciting. But, that's just the point of his challenge. Take advantage of what you have where you are. So this morning as I was getting ready go to my local Holiday gas station to get my "freshie" (a fresh soda from the fountain) I thought of Greg's challenge and I decided to indulge his request.

Jenna and I drove to Chick-fil-a, grabbed some lunch and headed to the park. Yea, I know, it's not the Alps, but, it is the Wasatch Mountains. (see....it's all how you look at it, eh?) So there we were, just the two of us enjoying this almost-fall-day, at the park, surrounded by the beautiful mountains of Utah.

As I'm sitting there, I realize that my days as a mom-at-the-park-with-little-ones is limited. In other words, my kids are getting big and I'm getting old (and big). I observed a young mom there with two little boys. What? Wasn't that just me with Josh and Andrew? I swear it was.

Jenna and I just hung out for bit. Climbing, playing, swinging. She loved it all. It totally cracked me up when she curiously looked at the "Vita Course" signs on the track and began imitating the moves. My favorite moment was when we were swinging side by side and Jenna happily says, "We together mom." Yea, we were together on the swing, but my heart swelled a bit at the thought that we were together. So in that moment, I enjoy that I'm at the park, with Jenna and not at home eating our typical lunch of Top Ramen. So thank you Greg for issuing the "lunch break challenge" and I in turn, challenge YOU to make your lunch special.

**LOL I just noticed I spelled "Chick-fil-a" wrong...and I'm not going back through Photoshop to fix it. Sorry!

A little extra room in the nest today...

I know I'm still a ways off from truly having an empty nest, but today I'm getting a melancholy glimpse into how it might feel. Yes, I'm looking forward to 2 1/2 hours all to myself, but just for today I'm a little sad to see my baby take this step. Today is Jenna's first day at preschool. She will have "Miss Amee," the same wonderful teacher that Sarah had. This morning, I pulled out one of Sarah's pink backpacks, but she said, "That's not my backpack!" I know, I'm a sucker and she's my baby so off to Target we went for her to pick out her very own backpack. (it doesn't take much to get me to Target) I can tell she is excited...she's been ready to go since 9:30 this morning...school starts at 12:30! She's watched all the others head off to school and I know she is thrilled that it's finally her turn. I had to chuckle, when I took her to the front porch of the traditional first-day-of-school photo she knew exactly what to do. As we were driving in the car, she knew she was going to school and instinctively started singing her ABC's. Between her small size and the large size of the backpack, she had to carefully crawl do the steps to keep her balance. Sadly, it will be no time at all before her size catches up with her backpack. As soon as we got inside she began to explore and had no problem telling me goodbye!

Viva Las Time-Away-From-Kids!

Yes, this is unusual, very unusual. And, I will take unusual because I'm sure it won't be back for awhile. Chad and I took a quick trip to Vegas with some friends from our neighborhood, April and Wade. I've been through Vegas and around Vegas, but I've never directly experienced the downtown "Strip" in its current form. We found a great deal (sit through a time share presentation) that offered 2 nights at a resort (an interesting place to sleep) and some tickets and coupons for local food and entertainment (buffets and shows that no one goes to and at times you wouldn't go). Before we arrived we found out we had actually been bumped from the the resort to a Hilton down the road (which I thought was actually more clean and quiet). April and Wade were still at the resort so we had access to all the amenities. Kind of funny they expect us to be interested in buying a property we don't even get to stay at, huh?! Since I already sound like I'm on a negative rant, let me quickly say that aside from the sales presentation we had a wonderful weekend.

Our first night there, we had reservations at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill at Caesar's Palace. We knew this would be a splurge and mmmm....was it worth it! We couldn't resist tasting each others dishes. I had a Mahi with mango, Chad had Salmon with a black bean sauce, April had a Halibut with a red chili sauce and Wade had Pork Tenderloin. Wow. They were all so tasty. I think April's was actually my favorite...the red sauce was such an unexpected yet delicious combination with the halibut. (sorry, I'm not a "foodie" so my descriptions are not great) After dinner we walked around "the strip" a bit. We watched the fountains at the Bellagio. Wow. That was an amazing site. They were all synchronized to music and shot so high into the air. The water pressure was so intense that is almost sounded like fireworks going off. Also, so beautiful at night with all the lights. Definitely one the trip highlights.

The next day began with sleeping in and relaxing by the pool with a book. Then it was off to the time share presentation. I will spare you the details. Lets just say I'm still undecided as to if 90 minutes of being very uncomfortable is worth the good deal on the accommodations. Luckily, the cringe moments with the salesmen quickly became a memory with a massage. Ahhh. We then headed to Isla at Treasure Island for dinner. I had the most delicious shrimp tacos. After dinner we walked "the Strip" some more. This time we headed over to the Wynn. This was another highlight of the trip. The way it was decorated was just amazing. The floral tiles and carpet were so colorful and vibrant. There were also these amazing Asian-type lanterns that moved up and down. It was a really fun place to walk around. We then went through the Palazzo. Another beautifully decorated casino. These both seemed to be a step up from Caesar's and Treasure Island.

Our last day began with sleeping in (I have to include that because it never happens at home!). After checking out, we headed to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. (These were the only worth while tickets given to us from the time share presentation) As if all the casinos weren't big enough, this place just seemed even bigger! As we walked through the game floor, we noticed they had a "House of Blues." What a trip this place was. The decor seemed like it was inspired by some one's acid trip in the 70's. Almost everything was done with bottle caps, license plates and other random bits of metal. So cool to look at. This was another trip highlight. We then headed to the M&M store to get some goodies for the kids.

Seriously, Vegas is crazy. Talk about sensory overload. I was astounded by the sheer size of everything and how they fit so much into one building. I was struck by each casino's ability to offer something unique and fabulous. It was also interesting to observe how deceitfully well everything is planned out. There was no straight shot from point A to B....you are hypnotically led where the casinos want you to go (you can't even cross a street with going up escalators, over bridges and through casinos). Everything is cleverly crafted to benefit the casino and satisfy the worldy appetites and passions of man. I was slightly surprised that we didn't see too much overt filth. I'm certainly not ready to call Vegas family friendly, but we didn't see or experience some of the shocking things you hear about (gone were the hoards of nasty fliers being passed out and all over the ground). I am so grateful that Chad and I had the opportunity to get away (again!) and we had a wonderful time with the Morden's.