I like my babies delightfully plump.

The fatter, the better.

  

Great (ish) Falls

The family visited Great Falls National Park yesterday.  Liam and Elsie climbed over boulders and hopped over stumps and roots. Liam found a gigantic beetle and Elsie found some tadpoles.  They said the park reminded them of Alaska. I wish . . .

Birthday Time

My 30th birthday was a delight. It was thought-provoking and absolutely no tears were shed about getting old.  We did some swimming, thai food eating, played a serious game of homemade ''Pin the Hive on the Bee,''  noshed on gooey brownies, and enjoyed the august air at an outdoor concert. Liam sweetly surprised me with these blue hydrangeas.



 Curiosity killed the cat- and then cut Liam shaving with his dad's razor.

 I am inspired by flowers, the color blue, and my mother-in-law Leisa's creativity. This painting, a gift from her, reflects all 3. The vase of multi-colored blooms was a gift from Brady. Every time I visit the farmers market I am compelled to stroll by the perennial flower stand.  I'm always 3 steps away from buying a bouquet for myself, but then retract my idea when I start to feel too self-indulgent.   Brady picked up on my flower-lust ques and brought these home- 30 flowers for 30 years.

Josh Groban and I go way back. Some good birthday fate brought him to me for my 30th. His music will probably always remind me of my 20's.  My BYU roommates and I discovered him while trying to settle on fun music that we could loudly listen to and sing along with on Sunday, without being tattled on. I've packed around his CDs since.

 The concert was energetic and his performance was impressive. Brady and I sat on the lawn snuggling in the moonlight, basking in the romantic music- it was one of life's rare perfect moments.

We went on a walk and found "the perfect pine cone" which Liam and Else turned into peanut buttery, flax- seeded bird feeders. Here Liam has the pine cone in his mouth so he could climb high up the tree to place the bait.  Unfortunately we had a rainstorm yesterday and the bird feeders have since been turned back to regular, "perfect pine cones" - just now lovingly hung on strings.

I guess you could say I 'have a thing' for West Virginia.  I love the drive, the way I can't stop singing John Denver when I'm there, the swimming holes, the history, the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.  It feels wholly American and totally relaxing.

Liam said this was the luckiest day ever.  Our trip started with finding a West Virginia quarter. Then he used the coin in a soda machine that yielded 2 sodas from one button push.  Then we swam for hours in perfectly warm water and ate rainbow ice cream.  Life is good in WV.