I am happy this fall.

I have been playing for the choir director at the high school for the past three weeks. I play for his chamber class. I can't believe how good he is. I can't believe what he expects out of this choir. They are amazing. He is amazing. I have learned more in the 3 weeks in music theory, vowel placement, composers, overtones, discipline, than I've learned in a long time! I realize how little I know and how NOT good I am at the piano when he asks me to play a 16 part Eric Whitacre piece. Or gives me a song that switches between 7/8, 2/4, 3/2, cut time, back to 7/8 and play it Vivace. haha SUPER HARD. I love it.

Kate is in preschool and just that little bit of time makes such a huge difference in me feeling like a woman and not just a mom. Does that make sense? Enough time to read or get a new shirt or deep clean or or or. Anything! Enough time to do lots of stuff, but not too much time.

Sydney has a not so great teacher without her great friends and has had a bit of a tough start. She is doing a little better as of this writing. I checked her out of school for a whole day so she could see the Space Shuttle Endeavor fly right over our heads and go shopping and to lunch. The fly over was seriously so cool. Won't forget that image of the 747 and the Endeavor on top followed by two jets directly overhead.

Ali is having a great year! I was so worried and there she goes making new friends, involved,  and happy. She has 100% 5:55 a.m. seminary attendance all on her own.  I never thought I would say this, but I love going to the football games and watching her cheer! She has had some growing experiences that I think are valuable and it makes me happy to see her grow.

Brett's doing well. The commute doesn't bug me as much anymore. Am I just used to it? I'm laughing as if that matters. He's the one doing it! He was on the road a full hour and a half yesterday to work.   He still really likes his job.

Can hardly get Maddie for 5 minutes when she's not playing or studying at BYU. She really really loves it. Of course she does. We flew her home for a mid-semester weekend! We went to the football game, had kids over here, shopping at the Americana, a concert, and off she went again. It was so great.

Love Spencer! He is writing great letters full of personal growth and some success in preaching! They are on the verge of a stake in Siberia. Very close and I'm grateful he has been a part of seeing that form on his mission. In the past 3 months, he has sent two 5-6 page handwritten letters just addressed to me. I read those over and over. I was out at the pool a few weeks ago and Brett came out and sees a shirt on our table out there and goes to lift it up and then Spencer's letter is under it. He says, "Why did you bring this out here?" I just said, "so I can read it if I want to again." haha I'm pathetic.

Here is something kind of cool which completely relates to the above...

Many people watched in amusement, some in horror, as Clint Eastwood spoke to "Obama" via an empty chair at the RNC. There are trails and hills all around our house. Brett bikes these many times a week. My girlfriend made me go took me on a hike one summer morning to show me this.

At the time, I had no idea that there is an artist who has put a few cowboys, a bit larger than life and mounted on wood, on various hills overlooking the freeways. We hiked to Clint and stood by him. It was very cool. When you know what to look for, you can see Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and a few others kind of "watching over you" as you drive past them. Very cool.

Well, I looked up at Clint the other day and wouldn't you know it, this is what I saw. LOVE IT.

Does this election not scare you to death? I don't think I've seen the world in this much turmoil in my lifetime. We are at such a critical time and the decisions we make will have HUGE consequences. And people can't SEE it! It's blows my mind! 

The weekend Maddie came home. Liking the football games!

 The spoils from Maddie's adventure

 First day of preschool. So cute

 Weekends away :)

 Mom's new wig. She looks so good! And she's handling chemo with her typical I can do anything style!

St. George with bffs from Bountiful. Afraid to go and that it would make me sad, but I loved it!

 
Sydney's first day of school. At Panera trying to dry the tears..

First day of junior year with favorite friend Lauren. We must love Laurens!

It's a Monday. I love Mondays. I'm going to read books to Kate. Brett is working from home and is walking Sydney to school :) :) Putting up Halloween stuff today and for FHE we are making pumpkin buttermilk pancakes. ok gotta go. e

Hi everyone. How is your day going? -erin

Far Away Friends And Birthdays

Look how sweet this video is from my friends in Bountiful. I woke up this morning, with a lot to do today and was just needing to get going. Birthdays are no big deal as you get older right? Still lots to do. However, when I saw that they had taken the time to do this, it made me so happy! What a nice thing to do. I especially died when I saw Benny's face in Colombia on his mission? How did he know to do that? Tanner in Hawaii? LOVE ALL OF THOSE KIDS. Love the energy displayed by these lovely women: Thank you guys! I don't feel quite so far away :)

HERE

RUDY BEN BLAKE (2002-2012)

Rudy, you were the sweetest dog. You will be greatly, greatly missed. Your cute face, those ears, your ballerina angled feet, your love of travel and adventure. We had you for 10 healthy, wonderful years. All of my kids' memories include you quietly there. Just always there. I'm so glad we had just gone camping with you and had you snuggled in our tent. I'm glad we had played with you and given you a bone that very day. We know you are happy. Thank you for your kind disposition, and for always coming back:)

We love you.

ok one more round...

Our ward went camping for 3 days at the Carpenteria State Beach. It is such a great campout! Great dutch oven cooking by Elaine (the Si of this ward) and within steps of the water. I've decided that kids LOVE camping. Kate didn't know what to do with herself. Climbing trees, scooters, food, sleeping with mom and dad AND Rudy in the same bed is pretty cool. Sydney created a girls club and led the little ones in song for about an hour.  

Below, the girl on the right is my friend who sings with me and shares piano duties with me. She sounds like a Disney Princess. She really does. I don't so much :) But she is great! The one on the left just moved from Pasadena and is an avid biker. She's the one who helped me surprise Brett with a mountain bike for Valentine's Day. For once, I knew I gave a great gift!

 About half a mile down the beach from our tent were hundreds of seals having their babies. It was so cute! Big fat moms and little babies hopping all over the moms. We walked there and by the time we got there, Kate was out on dad's shoulder. (Yes I know she has a pink shirt and red bow. That's the way I DUUU IT!)

I am so grateful for family and friends. Still missing these girls below. (And Laurie. And Becky. And Micah. And my ward. ) I am so grateful that our family has come to visit so often! I don't feel so removed from them. 

Love this pic. I am so so grateful for Brett!

Hi everyone. We have had a bunch going on and I just thought I would post pictures. 

Sydney with class friends at their choir concert.

Brock and Kim came to visit and being the great aunt that I am, I took them to the coolest place! It's a Noah's Ark. It's interactive so kids can just wander, load the animals, sweep up their poop, cook food, climb around, move the animals, create rain, etc. Every animal is a masterpiece of recycled materials. It is so interesting to see what the artist used for every body part. Here is Kate unable to contain her amazement at what she is seeing.

 How cute is this picture. Jane is being pretty serious for sure. Nothing cuter than kids in their pajamas at a cousin's house :)

 This is Kate with Ali's friend Mitchell. She is always being carried by some teenager. She is very comfortable with teenagers and with boys. I am assuming it is because her baby mind remembers Spencer. Mitchell is 6'4? 6'5 so she is up really really high in this picture.

 Tyler. Really neat kid.

 These pics below were taken in Ventura where we got to meet my sis-in-law Katie and Leokadia. We missed Tom who stayed home in Philadelphia. It was a great day!

 Have I already posted this? Kate hugs them so so close it makes me laugh. Signs your 11 year old is jaded at Disneyland. Pinocchio and Gepetto came skipping by us. We said hi to Pinocchio and Sydney leaned over and said, "Ten bucks Pinocchio is a girl." I bet this Jake the pirate below is a girl too. He is pretty dang short. But really Kate, back it off a bit.

I like talking to Russians

I've had 3 conversations in the last two days with Russians. How lucky am I ? I was in Santa Monica for the day and I talked to an Armenian who talked about how awful it was in Armenia, which I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know used to be a Russian state, when the Soviet Union collapsed. He said for 2 years, Armenia was in the dark. No power, no lights. The banks went away, post office, any government office was just gone. It was chaos and it was COLD. He said everyone just left, just fled Armenia.

Then I spoke to someone who is from Ukraine. I don't know why I always want to say the Ukraine, but I think that is obviously incorrect. Anyway, she left right as the Soviet Union was collapsing too. She said as soon as Gorbachev came into power and people could get out, everyone did! She has never been back and has no desire to.

The sad thing is that the man I first talked to, had just finished his masters degree in Economics when the USSR collapsed. Then there was just nothing. He came here with his wife and two little children and is now a driver for a car service. He's been a jeweler, etc. He was pretty negative about the "American Dream." And by pretty negative, I mean extremely disillusioned.

The woman from Ukraine works as a nail technician. She seemed happy to be in Santa Monica and with her family who all came here.

Ali's friend Tyler has a grandmother who was telling me about leaving India in the 60s and the process of choosing California while her sister chose Florida and the process of being sponsored. Very interesting! I so admire anyone who can start completely over in a new country without knowing the language. As rough as it is in America currently, I believe it is still a chosen land of promise for people seeking safety and freedom.

(like the statue of liberty photo? I know, I know. It's good.)

I am listening to the Louvin Brothers tribute album. I love it so much. Love old country as it reminds me of my dad and riding in his truck in Montana and how different everything seemed there. Everything seemed slower, people friendlier, etc. From the moment I would go stay with him, it only seemed natural to listen to his old country music. Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and the likes. He would make me watch Lonesome Dove and any other western I would agree to. I'd pull out my dusty boots that hadn't seen the light of day since the last visit and it was great. We'd drive around the ranch and say hi to the people boarding horses and he'd point out the geese. We'd sit on the big back porch and he'd shoot BBguns with the kids. Shirlee would make great food and we'd go into quaint Red Lodge for an ice cream or trip to the old fashioned candy store. Dad would buy the kids a little toy or a cowboy hat. I'd walk from the house to the wooden gate at the main road and then back looking at the water running alongside me or up at the beautiful mountains. The air smelled good. I'd go into the old barns and see all of the saddles dad had. He was definitely more about the idea of having saddles in the barn then ever using them to ride. One time, he hired a friend from town to come up to the ranch in a covered wagon and we all went on a wagon ride around the ranch. It was so great. Great memories.

Here's a great one.. Must You Throw Dirt in My Face sung by Merle Haggard. Turn it way up and close your eyes.

We are going camping tomorrow on the beach in Santa Barbara for 3 days. I am going to get a wet suit for Brett and for Sydney so they can go surfing! I can't believe we will have 3 days of Brett all to ourselves with no distractions. I want to make the most of it. I am also nervous to sleep in a tent and hope it doesn't get too cold. Kate is so excited she can't stand it.

My two oldest girls are at a 5-day Youth in Government retreat in Sacramento. They are working with the senators and will be at the capitol the whole time. It is super confusing and I have no idea how to even explain it, but it is an awesome experience for them. Maddie is a lobbyist and Ali is a trial lawyer. I miss them already and it's only been half a day. They don't get to go camping with us. Brett and I are going with our 2nd family we say which consists of us and the two youngest.

Yes, Ali got flowers for Valentine's Day. So did Maddie. So did I. I'm glad Sydney didn't although she got a necklace! (Don't ask. There is a very cute but very, um forward boy who has decided that he really really likes Sydney. Yikes. 5th grade) Brett was saying the family prayer the morning after Valentines Day and he said that he was pause grateful big pause that all of his girls were pause remembered on Valentines Day and pause seemed to have a big pause Valentine. I open my eyes like, wait, is Brett actually making a joke in the prayer? My eyes were met by Maddie's, Ali's and Sydney's looking back. Then Brett said he was pause grateful that Spencer's Valentine was thousands of miles away while he was on his mission. ha ha that did it. Prayer was done for the day. 

And how good are Sugar Cookies? I mean, seriously, could you not eat 20 at a sitting? I used the Cutler Cookie's recipe off of Si's blog and it turned out great! I could have sold them! ok I am babbling. bye

You just don't hear this every day

I have some friends here who are smart. They both went to MIT where I know that he, at least got his doctorate. Then he decided to work for NASA and has been working on the Mars Rover for the last 7 years. I think I've written about them before.

So, yesterday she came by to pick up some dehydrated apple chips from me. Anyway, she comments that she was sorry she couldn't come to the RS activity last night because Dave has been working late this week. Then she mentions something about he has to trouble shoot the rover blah blah blah. "Oh yeah" I thought. He sent the Mars Rover out and now he's somehow working on it while it's in space. I commented that it is so weird that she says that like it is no big deal.

Then she said, well he's trying to decide if he wants to do surface phase or not. He wasn't going to because he's a little burned out and besides, he'd have to go on Mars time. Wait, whaaat? What is MARS TIME?

Apparently, if he commits to do Surface phase, it will be a 3-month commitment from the time the Rover lands, which is on August 5th. So leading up to the landing, he has to move his days by 40 minutes each day. This will mean that during this time there will be a chunk of time where he is up all night and asleep all day. But he just keeps moving 40 minutes each day until he's back in the real world. How cool is that?! I told her, how in the world could he NOT do the Mars phase? Just to be able to tell your grandkids that grandpa had to go on Mars time once when he directed the MARS ROVER!!! wow. wow. So cool.

I am majorly fighting being lonely for Utah right now. "Utah" means everything I love to do there and everyone I miss all wrapped up in one. I do ok for a while and then it just hits me hard sometimes.

Plans are moving ahead (in my mind anyway) for Maddie to volunteer in an orphanage this summer. She will need someone to go with her. Her friend Sam said he'd go just now like it was a great idea ha ha. I don't think he can go being that he's male even though he is pretty much her brother.

Why does this never get old??

Yesterday, I drove Ali to dance. Her dance place is about five minutes from our house. Well, as I got to the block of her studio, I noticed that they were filming a movie/tv show/commercial? on the sidewalk. Usually traffic is rerouted but not this time. I felt very very strange slowly driving by trying to see who it was. I dropped off Ali and then did a u-turn so I could drive by again. This time I lucked out and sat at the stoplight right in front of the action. I heard the director say GO and then saw the two guys in the scene pretend they were walking down the street, stop in front of a restaurant and talk. Extras went by on cell phones, sitting down at tables, etc. Then she said CUT and I noticed that the director was this woman...

Then the light turned green. Things like that are still REALLY WEIRD for me.

On another note, I LOVE playing for Broadway Brunch. It stretches my piano playing abilities like crazy. I get about 10 to 12 songs to sight read and then play a day later. This time, a woman wanted to sing Til There Was You from Music Man. We had no music. I thought, I really really like this song (mostly thanks to McCartney) and so I thought I'm just going to wing it. Nobody will know. So I just let go of my inhibitions and started playing the way I thought it would sound. It ended up really soft and matched her voice and it just felt like I was playing from my heart and didn't need the music anyway. We did a full keychange and I had to figure out a bridge etc.  I wish I could do that often. It is hard. It makes me feel like I'm broadening in some way. Then I came back home and watched Mary Poppins with my Kate. Man I love that girl. I love just snuggling with her under my covers, and watching Mary Poppins. Which, really, is that not the most brilliant movie? Such a great great film all around.

I also made Sydney watch the original Star Wars trilogy with me this past month. It struck me that she just needed to know why people wear those Yoda backpacks around at Disneyland. Now she knows. She gets Leia and Han. She gets why Luke always felt drawn to Leia but why he would never end up being her Han.  It just all makes sense now.

On a better, less wasteful note, I'm finally organizing my life! It feels good. Brett's office which was a wasteland of papers that were never used, is now my office with cute little cubbies and where everything has its place. It's clean and it's mine. It makes me really really happy. I now feel empowered and want to keep tackling projects. I'm going to paint the hallways next. Mostly because I have to paint something about once a year. I don't know why. Also they really need it and the smell of paint and seeing the marks disappear under the roller feels really really good.

Finally, I want some new pants. And one pair of navy toms or maybe converse to wear with my jeans that I wear every single day. I also want to make Maddie volunteer at an orphanage in Thailand. I hope she agrees with me and finds someone to do it with her.

I have had soooo many visitors this past month! It has been awesome. Here are a few of them...

 This activity never gets old for Kate.

This family is my family.

 The guy on the right is Kate's fav male cousin. Proud of the two on the left, both for different reasons. Katie, bright, beautiful, about to be an adult. Braden, self motivated, funny.

 Kate's favorite people. More than the people below. Ask anyone and they'll tell you in a whisper so I won't hear and wonder why she loves them more.

I like this picture because I'm wearing the sweater Si gave me because the color was wrong for her. And I like Brett.

Hollywood is kind of gross. But this little part is cool. Sydney liked this because I had just made her watch Star Wars as I said so she got it. 

Next on her watching list....Anne of Green Gables! A MUST if you are female!!

ok bye. erin