Long-sleeved shirt day. Neil Young, Feist, and crepes. Steaming hardwood floors. Organizing drawers. Eating the last of the chocolate chip cookies before 10a.m. Watering thirsty hydrangeas. Husband gone for 4 days. Baby wouldn't let go. Wanting new art. Can't have enough eye-candy art. Good conversation with friend. Sad conversation with young friend. Laundry neatly put away. School supplies waiting for their new-school home tomorrow. Papers wanting to be written on, lockers wanting to be filled. 5:30 a.m. alarms waiting to awaken sleepy girls. Comfy gray sweats and slippered feet stubbornly refusing shoes. Dog awaiting a scratch. Missing loved ones. Gardeners filing out of white vans. Pine needles falling. Arms wanting to hug someone.

Short post! Surprise. I know I can get wordy. Did you know that :

Attainable and Obtainable are pretty much synonyms with differences in meaning so slight, that you really can use either of them?

Now you do.

Here is a photo of Tony Horton and Kyle Korver with his brothers in Santa Barbara on Brett's work trip. I think it's fun. Brett says they have a really neat family, all boys and nice parents. They all play basketball. Too bad he doesn't play for the Jazz anymore. I should have been there dang it.:(

How cool is this chair from a furniture studio in L.A? That would make quite the statement in a living room eh?

Brock and Kim left. Sad. It was pretty darn fun. Have a great Sunday. I can't wait to hear Ali's talk on Blessings of the Holy Ghost. It should be pretty good.

The Day After..

It is the day after. It is the day I have been dreading for about the last 5 years. I'm pathetic, I know. If you know me, you know I'm talking about Spencer leaving home for college. I knew that after today, he will go straight on his mission, back to college, marriage, etc. etc. It will never be the same.

The night before..

It's going to be ok Kate!One last family trip to Huntington Beach via Seal Beach. This photo obviously at Seal Beach..
At Ruby's on the pier in Huntington.

I am pleased to say though, that I feel full of hope today. Yes, I cried for probably 2 hours after I hugged him goodbye and drove the long drive from Provo to my mom's. Yes, I cried as I sat in my window seat on the plane which was directly in front of Bountiful and the Bountiful temple. It was an overwhelming feeling of loss and pride and aching and excitement. Too many emotions for one little body. That much I know.

So, I decided that I can't feel all of these emotions anymore. Not on a regular basis as I have been. I just can't. I couldn't even call my friends in Bountiful for the hour or so that I was there. I couldn't see anyone I cared about to add to what I was already feeling. I just needed to see Lauren, who just got home from Mexico. I had her come over to Misty's and it was so good to see her.... like, really good. She helped me a bunch by crying the whole time and lamenting that Syd was going to forget her, Kate would never know her, our house is not the same.... (ha ha Lauren. You know I love you.) Then I just had to get out of there. Drive away and get on that plane.

STAY FOCUSED. That is my new motto. Focus on what I want, what kind of person I want to be, what the Lord wants for me. Focusing on or wishing for anything else just hurts me and my personal progression in the end. Forward with Faith. I know it, but I haven't totally been able to do it. So, with those thoughts in my head, I came home and began cleaning out Spencer's room. It was melancholy, but not depressing. I was so happy for him and the experience he will have this year at BYU. He will love it!

BYU. What a great place. I had so much fun with him the last two days. We ate out, walked around the bookstore and Walmart, his dorms, and then Walmart again. We listened to music. Well, mostly I would turn the song after I heard words I didn't like, but it was still fun. One kid asked him where he was from. Spence said, "California." The kid said, "Yeah, I thought so. You look like you're from California." Spence said, "Where are you from?" The kid said, "Oh, just from Utah. About 30 minutes up the road." Spence said, "Oh, that's cool." NO mention that he was from Utah about 5 seconds ago. Spence loves that he's now from California. He is living right by all of his new friends and still gets to see some Bountiful friends at the neighboring college in town, so he's excited. I felt like I was checking into BYU just yesterday. I remember everything about that first year. Fun times.

I came home and Ali is LOVING this new dance place by us. She is doing a dance intensive this week and is coming home so excited every day. It is the caliber of Dance Impressions with the feeling of Creative Arts. It will be great for her.

Mom, I'm so happy here! I just had a great class! Weee!

The poster I had in my room growing up. When I saw this in the lobby, I took it as a sign Ali was supposed to take here.

We are signing Maddie up for art classes (any kind of art class she could possibly want is available) at the Art Center in Pasadena about ten minutes away. I really think it will be perfect for her. Syd is finally in gymnastics and tennis.

The girls got to go to Norah Jones and Corrine Bailey Rae last night. How lucky are they?! Brett dropped them off at this cool outdoor venue in Hollywood, then drove to Long Beach to get me from the airport, and by the time he dropped the babes and me off, it was time to get the girls. They loved the concert. Who wouldn't? Norah and Corrine are complete music babes. That's what I'll call them. And Sheryl Crow.

I still have no friends, :) but I know I will. My Julie/Julia experience starts next Wednesday, September 1st. Something new to cook every day. My family will love me!! We've set goals and are excited about working towards them. We have fitness goals, personal progress goals, pursuing talents and hobbies goals...lots of goals.

I'm finally going to finish this house. I need curtains, new paint for Maddie's room, finish planting flowers, one more pillow for one more chair, kissing pictures in front of world sites put up in my room. It should keep me busy enough to not be lonely. I might actually enjoy the quiet and calm of days to myself with just one little sweet baby girl. We'll see.

Finally, to make things even better, the pool company fixed our pool heater while I was gone. We swam all together today for a few hours and it was warm, bathtub warm, Belnap pool warm. It was the best. I can't believe this is the first time we've done it.

Before I sign off, I literally had a tender mercy today. (Jane, I'm not kidding.) I had kind of decided that I am ready to really begin here and invest if you will. Well, there is a flowering bush that I love... a gardenia bush. Every time I come to California, it seems like I smell these and think- oh I wish I could have a bush that smelled like that. I wish they grew easily in Utah. Maybe they do, but I've always associated that heavenly smell with California. I thought about buying one before I left to Utah, but I didn't know if the landlord would want one, not sure if it needs sun, shade, support, etc. I decided to think about it. Well, I had decided as I was watering my flowers today that I would get one. Darn it, I deserve to smell that every day if we are here. I can indulge. I moved the hose to a big pot with green coming out, but that we had not really watered since moving 2 months ago. I had never really noticed it actually. For the last week, we have been watering it every day. Today I saw little white flowers. What? What is this plant? Those flowers looked familiar and I caught a whiff of that smell. No way. We had one all along? Yep. I had the bush I wanted, with the flowers, but I hadn't been watering it. Hmmm. The words came to my mind, "Erin this is a tender mercy just for you. Here is the bush you wanted right in front of you. It's like your new life here. You have to water it to get the flowers." I knew that Heavenly Father was talking to me. It was a very neat moment that is hard to explain, but is very distinct...when you know that the Lord is letting you know He loves you and is mindful of you. It gave me hope.

Brock and Kim came today. We just watched a movie out by the pool and now we are going to bed. Life is good. The flowers are blooming. e

Day 4: JANE

Registered Maddie for High School. Don't even ask. It made me cry. It was the last straw of a bunch of things and when the lady said, after I had been there for two hours waiting already, "Oh wait. The district hasn't even mailed us your paperwork. To us, you don't even exist yet. You have to go back to the district, blah blah blah. You need to find out what is going on. You shouldn't even be here today." Why didn't anyone tell me that new students don't need to go register with everyone else? Why can't they make this process simple?

Happy thoughts, happy thoughts...

Cake Boss Extravaganza. Jane and Maddie decided that they were going to make a cake and cover it with fondant just like Buddy from The Cake Boss does. We went to Michaels and bought the supplies. We could only find one round cake pan so instead of two layers, it was a short one. They didn't care about the cake so much anyway. They wanted to experiment with the fondant.

We also bought canvases so Maddie could paint a painting for Spencer and new friend Kate for college. Here is Maddie's project for Kate.

Here is Jane's Sponge Bob project. Good job Jane! You're such a big girl!

In N Out. Even though there are a few of these in Utah, we still had to go there for Jane. She asked us, so what can I do? I do what she says on this trip.

Dodgers Game. Spence, Maddie, Jane, and a friend went to the Dodgers Game. We live close to the stadium and these games are really fun. When Brett and Spencer went while I was in Utah, they saw this young guy singing this. Apparently he sings at almost every home game. The staff saw him do it the first time and now they find him and supply him with earphones so he is perfectly synced when the song comes on.

Crowded House. Brett and I saw their concert tonight in L.A. I was tempted not to go tonight and pay money since I saw them last night, but I wanted to go on a date with Brett since I never see him :) and I wanted him to hear them and start feelin the love of good live music. He's doing better. He's the one who surprised me with the Harry Connick Jr. tickets, which I absolutely loved. Crowded House was so great. We had comfy seats and loved it.

Day 3: JANE

Old Town Pasadena. I love living 10 minutes from Old Town Pasadena. It's basically 3 long blocks of stores. That's it, but it's quaint and I like those stores. On day 3 though, I wasn't feelin it. By the time we got there, I sort of wanted to hurt my girls. I just didn't want to walk around Forever 21 and Urban with teenagers and especially my teenagers. Kate and I needed some peace. So I dropped them off while the babes and I went to the.....

Norton Simon Museum. Wow, I really liked this museum. It is the perfect size and has the perfect mix of artists, styles, paintings and sculptures. My favorite painting today was The Ragpicker by Manet. I also like Bust of a Woman by Picasso, because it didn't look like his typical work. I remembered stuff from my college art classes that I tend to forget over and over. Van Gogh was fascinated with peasants. Degas liked the female form doing just about any mundane thing like "wiping her leg" or "washing her arm." He isn't just the ballerina guy. I love the warmth of Rembrandt. The best part of the museum was the outside. I can't explain it, just look....

"The Dance"

I walked around this beautiful lake where there were sculptures, waterfalls, etc. So peaceful. Just what I needed.

Dot's Cupcakes. My two picks were almond coconut and dark chocolate with cream filling. We each got two minis. Very very nice.

Amoeba Music. This was the place we missed a few days ago due to no GPS. Well, I found out that Crowded House was playing there yesterday. This was one of my favorite bands in high school and I still love them today. I couldn't believe my luck! Yipee. I drove into Amoeba by myself and made it fine. I walked in and stood right next to the little stage. 1st row. I listened to Crowded House play for free for an hour, then I got their autographs and drove home. I returned home and talked to Brett about his trip to Santa Barbara. Cool picture coming..

Sleeping on the Tramp. Older kids, Kate and Jane slept on the tramp last night. I am so appreciative to Kate for giving my kids such a great summer here. I'm grateful that Jane and her family bought her a ticket out here. She unfortunately has seen as many tears as happy laughs, but it is what it is. I'm grateful she's here. Jane's favorite thing to say is "Tender Mercies!" any time any positive thing happens whatsoever. It's way funny.

Day 2: JANE

Manhattan Beach. I'm so glad we went to this beach today. There are a bunch of factors that go into having a good beach experience. Toys, not getting too red, actual waves. Surprisingly, waves really vary from beach to beach, even ones close by each other. Manhattan Beach has good waves. The girls were boogie boarding the entire time. Also, traffic to and from the beach is a huge factor as well. There is a carpool lane all the way there and I never had to get on the 10. Trust me, that's good.

Bagel Sandwiches and FroYo Yogurt Shop in Montrose. Julianne made these bagel sandwiches for me once and we've been loving them ever since. Take a bagel, slice it in half. Put ranch (not mayo) and mustard on top. Sprinkle shredded cheese. Melt a little in microwave. Layer good turkey, salted tomatoes and avacado. Voila. Very good. Montrose is the cutest little street with cute shops and food. We just needed a little somethin somethin after our easy bagel sandwiches.

Shredding the Gnar and Santa Barbara. If you don't know what shredding the gnar is, you really aren't from California. That is actually Spencer's day surfing and Brett's for work. Spencer is going surfing tomorrow too. He is having so much fun this summer. Too bad we haven't been in any place long enough for him to have a full-time job. I hope he can remember how to STUDY and WORK at BYU. Brett is in Santa Barbara watching NBA players exercise. Well, he is watching a doctor analyze how NBA players use their muscles and knees, ankles, etc. Research for work. Oh and he's there with Tony Horton. I feel badly for him that he has to do that. That's ok. Jane's here so we're good.

Little Manhattan and Toddlers and Tiaras. After the beach, we all needed a little rest time, so out came one of my favorite movies. Cutest movie ever: Little Manhattan. Now, I can hear the dumbest reality show ever from the other room, Toddlers and Tiaras. I'm blogging instead. I feel like graham crackers and milk, but I'll be good and not act on that craving. Goodnight.

Day 1: JANE

LACMA Museum in L.A. I liked the pop art floor, the HUGE bright red artsy elevator, the light garden outside, and the Rodin sculptures. I didn't like the parking ticket, because my wallet was in Brett's car and I only had 99 cents (actually Jane had 99 cents) which only lasted an hour and I didn't make it back in time. grrr.

Randy's Donuts. We met Larry, the owner. His brother, Ron, is the other owner. I have no idea who Randy is. I told him that seeing the donut rolling down the street in the movie 2012 made me want to eat a donut at his establishment. He was happy and said their lovely shop was also in IronMan 2. Ali was embarrassed that I talked to him, but she saw in the end that he ended up liking us or at least getting a kick out of us and our randomness.

Beverly Hills. I finally drove through Beverly Hills and saw how beautiful and incredible those houses are. We drove through on accident, because my iphone died and I lost my GPS abilities. I can't drive in L.A. without it. We were two blocks away from Amoeba Music, where we had planned to go and I turned the wrong way on Sunset Boulevard unknowingly and went on an hour detour through Beverly Hills.

Tight Rope Challenge at the Park. Kate picked up the girls and took them to a park, where she tied a cord around two trees and saw who could walk across it the farthest. She has really saved my kids this summer. I like her.

Asian Flank Steak Salad from Si's blog. It was really good. When school starts, I am doing a 30-day Julie/Julia experience. My friend, Si is the Julia Child character and I'm the Julie character. I am going to make something off of her cooking blog (abountifulkitchen.com) every single day for one month. I am doing this, because A-I am going to be lonely lonely lonely without Spencer in this house or state, without my girls all day long, and without a husband until 8ish at night. I am worried about myself a little. B-I want to keep improving my cooking skills and add more variety to my same stuff I get used to making. C-Food is good. I like food.

Deep Thought

When you die, if you get a choice between going to regular heaven or pie heaven,

choose pie heaven. It might be a trick, but if it's not, mmmmmmm, boy.

Happy 20th Anniversary Brett.

A Recent Quote:

In Order to Be Happy and Enjoy Life you Need 3 Things:

1-Something to Do

2-Something to Look Forward To

3-Someone to Do Those Somethings With

Husbands are good that way, aren't they? Thank you for the last 20 interesting, crazy, fun years.

Here's to the next 20. Cheers. Clink.

Santa Barbara

Harry Connick Jr. with Dave and Bobbi Jo at the Hollywood Bowl

L.A. Temple with the "fruit" of our labor if you will. Love this tree.

Bear Lake part 2. Never let a Scorpion in your Shoe.

I had to share these photos. What is this game called?? When you shake your face back and forth vigorously and then snap photos to capture your warped face? Enjoy.

How cute are these pictures of Sydney? She tried and tried until she got up. yeah!

This is kind of cold and awkward..

This is harder than it looks.

Dad to the rescue.

VICTORY!!

I did my ritual "get-up-for-a-total-of-two-short-runs-where-I-can't-seem-to-keep-my- wakeboard-pointed-straight-thus-tending-to-go-out-of-the-wake-which-I-don't-like-and-getting-scared-so-let-go-and-get-back-in-the-boat-and-then-am-sore-for-a-week." And don't think it didn't take a long time to put dashes in the above sentence either. Remember, I don't have a lot to do here yet...

Thanks for indulging me. Got to have these for future blog book. e

Bear Lake Takes the Cake. Don't hit a Snake with a Rake.

We went to Bear Lake this summer with Chris and Darcy's family. It was so nice to be up there with them, but way too short. We have missed the boat, especially since we didn't go to Lake Powell this year. My favorite thing is feeling the wind in my hair as we drive on the lake. There is nothing better than sun on the skin and wind in the hair. This might go down as one of my all-time favorite things. I had the same feeling when I used to have a convertible in college. (Thanks dad :)

Here are some pictures that only begin to capture the magic called summer on the water.

Kate driving the boat. She always insists on driving.

Cutest picture ever...

Two cousins.

Beautiful all the way around.

Maddie's getting really good on the wakeboard.

Chris and Darcy, the all American couple. I don't know why I wrote that. It just sounds good. Who wouldn't want to be the "All American Couple?"

Spence and best cousin, Jace. Yes girls, they're both single..

I love when my Ali smiles like this.

We always just hug on the boat like this. The whole time.