A Spoonful of Sugar

Updates

2011-04-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

Oh sheesh,

I'm having a hard time keeping 2 blogs updated. I'm combining our personal blog with my photography blog to simplify.

Check us out at tarabutlerphotography.blogspot.com. Update your address bars:)

Love ya.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Our little Pirate had no idea what Halloween was all about but he sure looked cute and his parents wanted to take him trick-or-treating.

While out trick-or-treating, we ran into some of Crew's fan club. We looove these cute girls.
Crew spit out his passy when he saw the one in the big girl's mouth (who was dressed up like a baby) and kept grabbing hers, it was so funny.

Here are some other pics we took of Crew this month:

The end of summer

2010-10-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

We finished the summer by getting to go to DC to visit Katie and her new hubby and Ben and his family. We took a 2 day trip to visit my lovely New York. I saw "my" lovely NY, because it was such a treat to get to show Scott my version of the city - where I lived, where I went to school, my favorite places to eat and to visit - tell him all my crazy roommate stories and crazy NYU professor stories, oh my. It was so weird because I felt like nothing had changed - even the security guard at the front desk of the Steinhardt building at NYU was the same! And he acted like he remembered me because he let me in without an ID. Or maybe he's just been there too long and doesn't care anymore who gets in. Or maybe the fact I had a baby strapped to me made me look very unthreatening:) I also collected some stuff I've had in storage in NY for 5 years. It's just too weird to close a door, and open in 5 years later with a husband and a baby, and NOTHING has changed. The only thing that HAD changed, was that I saw the city for what it was, rather than for what I hoped it held for my life....

Here's NY:

Brooklyn Bridge

Patsy's Pizza, mmmmmm.

Steinhardt NYU - Voice Studio

Central Park

Times Square

Dylan's Candy Shop

Central Park

Love Statue

Kisses:)

Crew was sooooo good. He just put his little feet up on the stroller and took it all in, he is such a sweetie. EVERYONE talked to him.

Here's DC:

National Cathedral, we are dorks.

Lincoln Monument. Scott and I left Crew sleeping at Katie's late one night, and jogged around the monuments. They are so beautiful at night, all lit up, without the crowds, and it was cool outside.

Cupcakes with Katie. I'm always up for a good cupcake.

Wright brothers airplane - Smithsonian.

We got to drive into Charlottesville VA to visit Ben's family and see where Katie is starting grad school (she and Ben are both at UVA). We got to take little Cameron to Monticello and to a peach farm.

Virginia is so beautiful, I would love to live there. Crew got to see his cousins, and I got to see my little nieces and nephews.

We took some professional pictures of Ben's cute family - you can see them here
What a fun trip. I want to go back soon!

Summer...

2010-09-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

We took Crew and Drew to the BYU Creamery. Crew loved it and he doesn't even know all the Graham Canyon ice cream goodness that awaits him.

We went to lunch with Scott's siblings and had them over for a movie night. Crew loved hanging out with his Aunts, Uncles, and future cousins. Andrea is pregnant with twin girls!! Ahh! A dream come true!

We went to Sundance to watch a student of mine in Big River. We love Sundance (one of our first dates, and also where we got engaged) and it was fun to bring Crew up.

Crew sat mezmerized by the music and the bright lights on stage.
Precious Boy.

Suzanne (Scott's momma) is so sweet and came to BYU every Wednesday over the summer to watch Crew in the office next to where I taught. He loves his Grandma and Grandpa Butler. Suzanne said if Crew got fussy, she would play a recording of me singing on her phone to calm him down. This picture is funny because she is trying to calm him down with my voice, but he sees me in the mirror and WANTS me.

Crew sprouted a mohawk. I love his strawberry blond crop of hair. And the big smile he always seems to have ready.

We went to my cousin Audrey's wedding, and Crew belly laughed when we danced with him.

We went to the roof for Daniel Mooney's (our new bro in law, he married Jennifer) birthday. We loved the view of the temple. The food was very....Utah.

What should Crew be for Halloween?

2010-09-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

When I was single I would put Halloween off until the last possible minute because it usually meant having to go to some lame party.

Fast forward a couple years, and I can't WAIT for Halloween! We went and got Crew a costume in August before they get picked over, and then my mom said she had also bought a few. They are all so cute, it's hard to decide! We are taking votes:)

Pirate??

Peacock?

Little Chicken?

Yesterday

2010-08-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made a cake. And since now that cake is half eaten in a tupperware on the kitchen counter after we took it up the canyon for family night and devoured it while the mosquitoes devoured us, and nobody will ever know/care that it once was cute, it needs a picture on the blog.

It was a giant cupcake cake mold that my mom bought me at the Williams Sonoma Outlet in Vegas. The recipe on the back was dense and yummmmmy.

Oh, and Crew sleeps like this: Except usually his head is scooted as far into the corner as it will go. And sometimes he has double thumbs in his mouth. I see this and it's hard to not pick him up!

My Wicked Quilt

2010-08-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this project for about 4 years. Off and On. And last week someone randomly asked me if I ever finished it and if I had pictures of it. It's been at this stage for about 2 years. I need to finish the binding so I can say I am DONE. But here it is, we (my momma and I) designed it - made patterns from coloring books and other quilt patterns....

(this isn't the quilt obviously, but isn't Crew cute in his Bumbo chair? He sat in it right next to the piano and stared up at my voice student completely fascinated with the warm-ups, sooooo cute.)

Oh and yesterday:

You'd THINK this was a baby fascinated by his brightly colored toy. But back up and....

It's a baby completely fascinated with Shark Week on TV with his Uncle Andrew.

Back to the Quilt:

The Beach

2010-08-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

We got to go to Newport for a week with my family, and it was so fun to take Crew swimming and to the beach! Katie flew out from DC to be with us, and Scott got to come for half of the week, thank goodness for the Pioneer Day Holiday school break. One of the many things I love about Utah:) Everything seems fun with a baby - The world suddenly seems new again because you get to watch the baby discover it! Even if the baby is a little too young to really get it - I find myself getting excited about things and narrating them to Crew, only to realize he is probably way too little to really get it (look Crew!!! A Rainbow!! A BIG Rainbow!!! See all those pretty colors?) But who knows maybe some of it soaks in. The beach was sooo fun with Crew, he LOVED the sound of the ocean and turned his head all around to see where the sound was coming from and then just stared at it. He bounced his little feet in the wet sand when we held him over it, and he pulled his feet up if they touched cold water. And I have to say he looked dang cute in his little sunglasses!

Oh and I have to mention that the "Lucky" song by Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait got played about 300 times on this trip and I am NOT exaggerating. We have it on our phones, and if Crew fussed, someone would whip the song out. As soon as he heard the intro, he would stop, get big eyes and just listen intently. Amazing. And I used to love that song :) !

The Ranch and 4th of July!

2010-07-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

We got to go to Stadium of Fire this year for the 4th! I had never been before, and Carrie Underwood sang (Ah-May-Zing). AND it wasn't cheating on our annual tradition (Scott and I talked all through the 4th of July fireworks 2 years ago and kept talking until we looked up and realized the entire crowd had completely cleared out and it was 2 in the morning....we had only known each other a few days and started dating from that point on). So it wasn't cheating to not go back to the original lawn-by-the-temple location of our first Fireworks, because these were the same fireworks - we just got to see them from INSIDE the stadium, not from across the street on the temple lawn. These things are important and must be explained. Anway....
Crew Loved the Stadium of Fire. We put plugs over his ears to block some of the sound - it was LOUD! He Loved the singing and the bright fireworks. He snuggled right in and stared, took it all in. Oh I love this boy. And the big one holding him.

We also got to go to the Ranch for the 4th. I love getting away to the Ranch with no cell phone service, no internet. It feels a little weird for the first few days, and then I love it. My Great Grandpa bought the ranch during the great depression and it is 10,000 acres of beauty. This is Scott and I at the Ranch 2 years ago. We had just started dating. We went last July when I was preggo and this year with Crew. My grandpa came when he was a little boy, and he came with his grandkids when we were little, and the ranch just makes the generation gap seem so small because not much has changed in all those years. Crew never met my Grandpa Haynes, but it sort of felt like I was introducing them when I took Crew to the Ranch.

The Double Wedding

2010-07-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

Phew! What a celebration! My sisters got married - both of them - on the SAME day. Enter Double Wedding. Enter me as the photographer, and this was one crazy, sentimental, and very fun day. Happy Wedding day to "The Girls" and their fantastic new husbands.

3 months (Crew Gets A Girlfriend)

2010-06-12T22:07:00.000-07:00

My little Crew Bear is 3 months old! How did that happen? I just packed away the 0-3 month clothes. It is hard to be too sad about it because he is getting so much personality. He laughed for the first time today, and this week he learned to grab things with his hands and gnaw on them. Oh I love this little boy, what did I DO before I had him?

Last night about 45 minutes after I had finally gotten Crew to sleep and in his crib, I had the strongest urge to snuggle him and didn't want to wait another few hours for his 3 am feeding. My first thought was no - he's asleep, you're supposed to leave him in his crib. My second thought was - no I DON'T have to! I can snuggle him whenever I want. So I gave in to temptation and brought him to bed with me for a few minutes. Yes it woke him up, and yes I had to feed him and get him to sleep all over again. Was it worth it? YES!!

Crew's cousin Claire (the first grandDAUGHTER of the family) was a preemie born just a couple weeks before Crew. The cousins are staying with us for a few weeks and yesterday both babies were both awake and so mellow. That almost never happens:) So Karen and I grabbed some outfits and played dress up with our babes.

A Garden.

2010-05-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

Spring keeps playing games with us. My dad was so excited about his garden that he put it in before the rest of the yard... wouldn't you know it snowed 2 days after this! Come on, Utah, it is almost June!!

I tried to hold both Crew and the Camera and take a picture....

My dad playing with Crew - don't know who is cuter, my dad playing with the baby, or the baby:)

Surprise!

2010-05-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

This was the scene in my room yesterday morning!! Oh, I love these nephews. So cute with baby Crew.

When I got back from Arizona, Scott surprised me with this Crib!!!!!! I had seen it and loved it, but totally didn't expect to actually get to own it! Thank you to Scott's parents and everyone who came to my shower for helping us get it!

I also came home to this beautiful blanket that my Aunt Stephanie knitted for Crew. I think this blanket is amazing. It took my Aunt Stephanie months to knit, and I secretly hoped it would be for Crew. Her handiwork is so precise! Crew loves it too!

Bridal Shower

2010-05-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

Our amazing friend Stephanie Biggs threw Katie and Jen a bridal shower while we were in Arizona. It was DARLING! Not much of a surprise considering everything Stephanie does is adorable. I couldn't believe the details she put into it! She called it "Tea for Two." It was so fun to see our friends in Arizona that I hadn't seen in so long.

Jennifer and Stephanie

Stephanie had her cute nieces there helping out.

And Sheri Toolson, our next door neighbor in Arizona brought some of her famous food and helped a ton!

Two lucky Brides!!

Arizona!!

2010-05-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

I got to escape the snow for a few days to go to Arizona when my sisters went through the temple. They'll be getting married in Utah, but since we grew up in Arizona, they wanted to go there for their first time through. I was nervous about taking Crew in the car for 10 hours, but I drove with my parents and we drove it in 2 six hours shifts. We had to take a few breaks for Crew to eat but he was such a good boy! I think Crew knows he is supposed to love Arizona.

He alternated between being really mellow...

and really smiley!

This is Crew spitting up. Aren't you glad you get to see this? I caught it in action!!! Poor little boy spits up so much he isn't gaining weight like he is supposed to.

He spits up so much that we decided to just pull over and burp him out the window.

I love Crew hanging out the window - first road trip!

My brother Ben and his family flew in to AZ that same day, so we went to the airport to pick them up.
Here is Crew meeting his cousin Claire who was born just a couple weeks before him. Claire was a preemie, and Crew was giant!

Our dear friend Kathi offered to watch Crew while we went to the temple. Kathi and her sister Taya turned Taya's living room into a nursery for a few hours, and they watched Claire and Crew and Taya's grandson! They were champs for being able to handle that, and I was so relieved to know that Crew was in good hands!

Here we are at one of our favorite restaurants Gecko Grill - all of the cousins are in this picture! We went to this restaurant so much while I was growing up that it was sort of surreal to be there and have a baby and Ben have 4!

At Tia Rosa's - another of our favorite Restaurants. Gotta teach Crew what good mexican food is!

I decided I wasn't up for driving home with Crew in one 10 hour shift. So I flew back to Utah, and my parents decided to fly too. Katie and Jen and their fiance's drove the cars back.

Traveling gets more complicated with kids, I'm finding out. Sheesh! I took 6 times as much stuff with me as I would normally take - just for one tiny baby! Loved watching Ben and Karen juggle 4 kids at the airport.

Ducks

2010-05-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

Scott and Crew came with when I shot Jen and Daniel's engagements. Crew loved the water and the ducks. I love watching Crew's face when he is seeing, hearing, or feeling something for the first time. He gets so focused and intent and just absorbs it.

Baby Shower!

2010-05-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

Some darling ladies in my ward threw a baby shower for Crew and me! I felt like I was walking into little boy baby wonderland! I still don't think I caught all the amazing details. Sorry Crew - you were too little to enjoy the most amazing party you will ever have because, lets face it, your mommy just isn't this creative. What fun!

Spring

2010-04-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Thank GOODNESS it's Spring! We went to the park last Saturday to enjoy some sunshine.

This picture cracks me up.

I think one of the boys in our family kept the other boy up way too late last night because this is what I walked into this morning:

Am I ever going to get tired of taking pictures of these 2 together?

Appparently the swing works wonders for getting Crew to take a really long morning nap (especially when he only slept from 2-5am last night). Thank you, swing, for letting me get a shower, several loads of laundry, photos edited, and a blog post done.

Crew loves to be bounced or rocked. Remember that episode of the office where Dwight is sitting on the bouncy ball at his desk? That is us. Because Crew loves the bouncy ball. So we bounce for hours a day. When we stop bouncing, he starts crying.

Crew's Blessing Day!

2010-04-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Crew was blessed this Sunday! We were so grateful to have friends and family come for Crew's blessing, and then after we had a luncheon at our house:

Dave Lemke - My sister Katie's fiance

Scott and his Brother Craig and his Cousin Matt

Scott's Dad -aka Grandpa Butler! and Brother Mike

My sisters-in-law Andrea and Jill, who are married to Scott's brothers

My sister Jennifer and her fiance Daniel - the big day is only 2 months away!!!

Crew and his Grandma Butler who has driven up to BYU lots this last week to watch Crew while I taught the rest of the semester:)

And here are our first "family photos" - we couldn't get Crew to stop crying for longer than 30 seconds, so it was an adventure:)

Thanks to Scott's longtime roommate Ryan Tucker for taking these photos.

I'll always have a soft spot for Ryan and his wife Sherri because of our parallel lives...

Sherri and I were in the same singles ward in South Provo. Over the course of about a month, I showed up at the temple several times, and each time, Sherri would coincidentally be in my session. We had a few heartfelt conversations, mostly about how much we didn't want to be single anymore.

About a month later, Scott and Ryan moved into our ward. They had been waiting for a place to open up in our ward for about a year. They moved in - and Scott and I were engaged 7 or 8 weeks later, and Ryan and Sherri were engaged about 7 or 8 weeks after that. They had baby Lizzie in December, and we had baby Crew in March. Heavenly Father works in beautiful ways.

Here's the proud Daddies:

and Momma's:

We love the Tuckers!

3 weeks

2010-04-04T22:23:00.000-07:00

This is Crew in his Blessing outfit - the same one my brother Andrew wore years ago, and the same one that all of my nephews have worn. I love it. We decided we better bless Crew next week before he grows out of the outfit!

Last Sunday Scott and I spent 5 hilarious hours trying to do an official photoshoot with Crew. He peed on everything, spit up, pooped in my hand, cried, nursed, cried, slept when I wanted his eyes open, squirmed when I wanted him asleep...this guy is telling us who is in charge! We got a few, although I have to say that if you are contemplating taking your own child's newborn picture, my advice would be - don't! I thought it would be so easy and I could take pictures at my leisure, but nope! Trying to wear too many hats at one time. Plus, everything he does is adorable to us, so it's hard to be discerning...

Before we had Crew, Scott asked me "Are you going to take naked pictures of our babies?" I said "I don't have to, why are you opposed?" He said he thought it was just a little weird. Fast forward to Crew's newborn shoot and Scott is like "Oh, come over here, this is the cutest angle of his bum!"

I love Sock Monkey.

We're not sure if Crew likes sock monkey....

or not, hehehe. I mean, how inappropriate, Crew.

Bathtime

2010-04-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

The first 2 weeks.

2010-03-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Our little Crew Bear is 2 weeks old and I don't know how that happened. It's still registering that we don't have to give him back to anyone and that we really do get to keep him! I had such grand expectations for the fabulous pictures I would take of his first 2 weeks of tiny newborn life, but the way things turned out I am just starting to manage showering and walking!

AND on top of that we are moving - and things are spread between 2 houses and it feels like there is no order anywhere! I use the term "WE'RE" moving loosely because I haven't done much of anything except sit and nurse Crew, take naps on the floor of the few rooms that have carpet, and occasionally give input on which cupboard things should go in. If you ever want to get out of moving, just get a c-section and be super dosed up on Percocet - it seems to be doing the trick!

On the other hand, sometimes these super-hectic times are the sweetest, and I think I will look back to sitting in the craft room nursing my newborn bundle and talking with my mom about where embroidery floss should go, watching Scott come in to coo at Crew sleeping in his car seat in between trips to the moving truck, listening to conference talks and singing hymns to Crew while Scott and I moved our closets in on Sunday instead of going to church (ox in the mire), and everyone being so nice about me being completely useless!

I did pull out my camera a few times, and here are a few of Crews first 2 weeks of life....

First a picture from my phone - it warms my heart.

Crew Yawning. He looks just like his Daddy expect he got my big mouth.

This is how he sucks his thumb. Makes me nervous he's going to claw his eye.

I get to take naps with this little bundle.

Yummmm.

Crew - 4 Days Old. Just home from the hospital and smiling.

2010-03-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

A very cute (at least I think so) video of Crew the day we got home from the hospital.

introducing....Crew Hudson Butler

2010-03-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

He's here! I have loved having him here and can't believe he is already 5 days old! Scott's family has a tradition of the oldest son's middle name being somewhere the mother has lived. (Scott's middle name is Austin). We chose Hudson from my time in NYC - I lived in the Hudson Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, overlooking the Hudson River.

I was inducted around 11:30 on Monday morning and didn't deliver until 4:30 am on Tuesday. I was in labor for about 17 hours, and pushed for 2.5 hours - the last half hour with forceps. Crew was still not budging, his heart rate was going down, the stress on him caused meconium, and I was developing an infection from it. I was taken to an emergency C-section. They delivered the baby and then called a Code Blue on him because he didn't breathe for the first 3 minutes. Our families were in the waiting room (mine had been in the delivery room until I was taken to C-section), and the Code Blue got everyone really scared. Crew started breathing, though, and they put him on CPAP, and he is a very healthy baby boy. He weighed in at 9 pounds 3 oz, 21 inches long, and, I must note, a 37cm head - which is 4 cm above average.

I have some nerve damage and I still can't adduct my right leg, which means for now I'm not holding Crew while I walk. We think when the swelling goes down that nerve will have better function.

Meanwhile, the joy of having our sweet baby here has been unlike any other. I feel like I need to stare at him all the time so I don't miss a second of this. The delivery was definitely not what I expected, and what my doctor called "worst case scenario", but I felt angels helping me get through it - angels in the form of competent and caring doctors and nurses, my husband, my mother and father, and my sisters, and those from heaven who came to help welcome Crew to this world.

We called all Monday morning to see when we could come in to be induced! We raced over as soon as they told us we could. They said they would hold our hospital bed for 20 minutes and so Scott was a nervous wreck about me taking this picture. We got up to Labor and Delivery and had to wait a few minutes until they were ready for us:) I was a little scared at this point, but mostly excited, and blissfully unaware of what lay ahead!

Hooked up to Pitocin, with an epidural keeping me nice and comfy.

Katie and my mom camping out close to midnight when they let me start pushing. Scott was trying to study for a test the next day and sleep on the floor - you can sort of see his feet on the left.

My first glimpse of Crew after the C-section. I kept asking why he wasn't crying and no-one answered me - they were sneaky about that Code Blue! I was really drugged when I saw him, but said "he looks like a Bloomfield!" And asked to have my Oxygen mask removed so I could kiss him.

The nurses giving Crew his first bath and dressing him.

Scott was the first to hold Crew after everyone else worked on him - finally! Scott sat in the nursery with him while they wheeled me back to the Labor and Delivery room to recover and sleep a little bit. I remember my nurse Kimmy coming in to talk to me and I felt so glad she helped me get through that - she was amazing. Scott was with the baby and in my drugged state I also remember my mom coming in to talk to me and telling me to sleep.

They wheeled me down to mother and baby and I got to hold Crew (after a fashion) and nurse him.

If I look like death in this picture, it's because I had just gone through a near death experience. Scott is crying and we are so happy to have our family together and sound.

Crew and his Daddy.

I was in the hospital from Monday until Saturday and didn't feel quite ready to come home! It's a lot easier with all those nurses around and with the hospital beds that don't make you use your abs! Katie came and helped me shower and get dressed - quite the feat, and Andrew and my Dad came to help me come home since Scott (can you believe the luck?) had a midterm on Saturday he couldn't get out of. Here is Crew in the blanket I made for him, in his carseat with his Grandpa Rich (my dad), and with his Aunt Katie.

waiting for baby....

2010-03-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

I went to pour some milk in my cereal the other day and realized that the baby in my belly expires before my carton of milk does! How's that for being close to your due date...2 and a half days away and I am ready to get this baby out! So excited. Here's some fondest memories of pregnancy - most recent first.

First, in response to people asking for belly pictures, Scott and I were waiting for this cute couple to show up for their engagement shoot a couple days ago, and I handed Scott the camera....

Scott giving my huge swollen feet a pedicure. (I hoped it was maybe preeclampsia so they would deliver the baby, but one false trip to the hospital and nope, just really swollen feet and some jumpy reflexes, darn it.) My feet were 3 times as big as they are in this picture though, if you can stomach that.

Here is our temporary crib set up and waiting for the baby. We aren't going to set up the nursery and big crib until we move in a couple weeks

I made this baby quilt with my mom - the back is yellow and minky soft because I want him to actually use it - and I'm going to wrap him up in it to bring him home from the hospital.

Cameron and Jake came to stay with us a few weeks ago while their mommy was in Virginia in the hospital/bedrest (my beautiful neice Claire was born 5 weeks early), and it was so fun to have them here. Especially to have Jakey keep kissing my belly and asking every few minutes "Tara, what's your baby BOY doin'?" I got creative with my answers, and Jakey always believed me. The best was when Jakey started lifting my shirt to give the baby "bzerks" by blowing/spitting on it. Or when I'd say the baby was kicking and he'd dive across the room and say the baby had just kicked his face really hard.
This is how I saw Jakey most of the time:

Over Christmas break we went to Disneyland with our little nephews, and Jakey sat right next to my belly on one of the kiddy rides and kept patting it, saying "it's okay baby, don't be scared"

Here's Disneyland:

Isn't my mom pretty as a brunette?

The first of a "3 generation picture" at Christmas:

Opening Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve (our tradition) and realizing that there was an extra set of little boy jammies for our baby - that made both Scott and I tear up.
The nephews wanted to "show" my baby the jammies by putting them on my tummy.

Enjoying the nephews while they were visiting from Virginia and getting so excited to be parents:

Tyler is generous with his kisses if you have a valid "ow-ie"

He was a bit skeptical:

We had one-on one spend the nights with the nephews, and you know what that means - treats in bed and stories from Scott.

Watching my mom and Cameron make Christmas cinnamon twists, and realizing they make the same face when they are concentrating:

Cameron made these beautiful Christmas necklaces for all the girls in the family. Thank you Cameron.

Phew, I am so relieved I got a blog post done before I deliver! I've been so grateful to have been busy this semester before the baby comes so the wait doesn't drag on and on. I've had students this semester who are happy and talented and fun to teach, Scott has been busy with school, we had the Holidays and lots of family around, my parents - and the rest of us helpers - have been neck deep in building a new house, and my 2 sisters got engaged and are planning a double wedding! All that has helped the wait go by quickly. Somehow my wacked out hormones of the 2nd trimester evened out this 3rd trimester, and it's been much easier - despite being fatter than ever and having a foot constantly stuck in my ribs. It's so exciting to think that the next blog I post will be pictures of my baby! I am so curious what he looks like, and I can't wait to hold his little snuggly body and wrap him up and smell his little newborn head. Oh, I can't wait! I think the next few days are going to be the LONGEST few days of the whole pregnancy!

I have to say that Heavenly Father answers our prayers - 2 years ago I hadn't even met Scott and was wondering if I would ever have the blessings of marriage and family. Yesterday I counted 7 friends of ours from that ward who also got married "later" - who are now married with beautiful babies. Hard times come and go, and the love of the Lord shines through it all. And while we are waiting for those hard times to pass, we can look back to some of the richest experiences of our lives - I am so thankful for the things I got to do and experience while I was single, and for this exciting chapter that lies ahead: motherhood.

We are famous (not really)

2010-01-28T20:46:00.001-08:00

But our wedding is featured in Latter Day Bride, 2010 edition.

The other good news? We finally got our wedding album from our photographer - just weeks before our first child arrived - almost 18 months from our wedding!

Also, my friend Michelle (LADY M) started a fabulous blog called Lady Passages, and if you want to see pictures of my fat self and pregnant belly (and my nephew Jake talking hugging the belly, as usual), here is the link:

ladypassages.blogspot.com.

You'll probably have to scroll down a little bit until you get to my chubby smiling face.

Happy Birthday to Scott

2010-01-21T17:45:00.001-08:00

Scott had a birthday, and to celebrate, we went his parents house in Payson for a birthday dinner with his family, some delicious chocolate cake, and a present (baby monitor!)

Later in the week, on his actual birthday, we went to see Avatar in 3D. We usually get sick watching movies in 3D, but this film was A-mazing!!!

Sleep Talking

2009-11-29T09:25:00.000-08:00

My sister Jennifer just posted on her blog about my sleep talking. It's embarrassing to me but apparently hilarious (and annoying) to other people. To hear my latest sleep conversation click HERE and HERE. Especially click on the second one if you want to hear a Corndog compared to a Testimony.

Our 1st Anniversary

2009-11-26T20:06:00.003-08:00

I can't believe we've been married a year. We went to the Cheesecake Factory (yummmm). That was the first week I had started feeling the baby kick, so Scott sat next to me where he could quick put his hand on my belly if I mentioned kicking.

Then we drove up to the Gateway, and Scott let me pick out a necklace at Brighton. Then I went to the bathroom and pretended that I didn't know he was buying it, and I acted surprised when he handed it to me all wrapped up in the car. He thinks he's sneaky:)

P.S. I've learned the direct approach is a good thing. A good example of the direct approach-AKA- a hint "You should buy me a necklace like he did in Marley and Me. A good time to do that would be for our anniversary because I'm pregnant and I would always remember that you gave it to me and it would be sentimental and I would love it always. There is a store called Brighton at the Gateway. This necklace is really pretty. I'm going to go to the bathroom now."

I feel so grateful to this man who decided to cherish me and who works so hard for our little family. He's been such a gift to me. We've been through a lot together this year, and I look back to our wedding day and wonder how I even thought I knew him when I know him so much more now, appreciate him more now, and can't help but love him more now.

It's Thanksgiving. Scott, get back from El Salvador already - I miss you!

Virginia

2009-11-25T22:30:00.003-08:00

We took a trip to Virginia to visit the little nephews in October. One day we went to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, and took Jake because the other nephews were sleeping. He was hilarious. Most of his sentences begin with "but...." or "why can I not....."

Me: Jake, do you want to hold my hand and be my little buddy?
Jake: But, don't you already have a little buddy in your belly? (pronounced "belluh")

Me: "This is the where Thomas Jefferson used to live. He died 200 years ago."
Jake: "But when's he gonna come back alive?" (He's covered the basics of resurrection.)

Then we told Jake he had to be very very quiet during the tour of Monticello. To Jake that meant a constant stream of whispered questions. Questions like:

" But why did he die in that bed? But who carried him out? But did they have lots of guys come carry him out? But where is he buried? But why did Grandma Robin just ask a question in a loud voice? She talked really loud. But why can I not see Thomas Jefferson? "

Oh my gosh I love that kid.

He's a good sharer.

We went to Colonial Williamsburg one day. Tyler loves Andrew. It's almost funny how much he loves Andrew and will go to Andrew when he doesn't really go to anyone but his mom. He kept kissing Andrew /sucking his face. Hilarious.

The stocks at Williamsburg.

Katie and Jake at Darden.

My brother Ben is in the MBA program at Darden. A beautiful campus.
Sweet Tyler with his adored Andrew

My Bir'day/It's a Boy.

2009-11-25T22:20:00.001-08:00

Scott is a cute husband. The kind who has pink gerber daisies delivered to work for no reason and for reasons like it's your birthday, and who picks you up from work and drives you to the Sweet Tooth Fairy Bakery and lets you pick out a coconut cupcake and then happens to have candles and a lighter in his pocket, and drives you to the park you always went to while you were dating and sits under the shady tree with you and tells you you are cute while your big ol' pregnant belly is hanging out and you are stuffing a coconut cupcake in your mouth.

Also, while we were at the park the nephews called from Virginia to sing happy birthday. I told them we had 2 cupcakes at the park and were blowing out the candles. Jake asked why we only had 2 cupcakes? Scott said because we only had 2 people in our family. Jake was concerned because there were 3 people in our family (he counts the baby in the belly) and I told him the baby could taste some of mine.

Jake: "But does the baby like it?"
Me: "Yes, the baby loves cupcakes"
Jake: " But how do you know, did the baby tell you?"

Scott's dad has a birthday just a few days from mine, so we shared a birthday cake:)

I told Scott all I wanted for my birthday was to go to the Ultrasound in the Mall place. Just to make sure it was a girl, even though I already knew it was. I was 15 weeks pregnant. Scott thought it was kind of dumb to pay $60 to find out something we already knew, but since I wanted it for my birthday....

And that, my friends, is the shocked look on my face when I found out it was a boy! Oh, I am so excited for my sweet little boy to get here. He might have a lot of pink clothes and blankets, but I am so excited.

California

2009-11-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

The bad thing about not posting for a long time is that it is more intimidating to finally post because there is so much to cover! Kind of the same excuse I use about writing in my journal! It's so much easier if you do it more often.

This summer I got to go to California on a trip with my family. Scott had to stay behind and work, which was sad. But I got to see Carmel and the Redwoods for my first time and I loved it! We went to the aquarium and the oldest seaside fair and it was fun. I was 11 weeks pregnant and fighting the nausea - not sure how much the deep fried twinkies helped:) We met up with my mom's brothers who live in Northern California, went to the Kind Tut museum - which by the way, did NOT include king Tut, and then finished the trip with In'N Out. Yummmm.

Carmel

I need more beaches in my life.

One of the beautiful beach "cottages" at Carmel.

A banana slug at the Redwoods. Bet you can guess how it got it's name.

The fam at the Redwoods.

Jen and my Dad at Carmel

more of beautiful Carmel.

We just had to give it a try

Yum?

My mom and I at the Aquarium

more Aquarium

A DELICIOUS dinner at Basil Restaurant in Carmel. We went to see Julie and Julia after this and it was very fitting. Not a deep fried twinkie in sight.

On the drive home I decided we needed to have a taste test of Bubbilicious, Bubble Yum, and Hubba Bubba to see who had the best grape gum. That killed 15 minutes of the drive. I can't remember which one won, but I did call Scott Hubba Bubba for the next few days. He appreciated it.

The cousins jumping at the beach

The Aunt the Uncle, the Mom and the Dad jumping at the beach :)

Some News....

2009-07-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a mother-post because of how long it's been since I bothered to blog. Here's what we've been up to:

We moved. Just across town. It involved lots and lots of cleaning. It involved lots and lots of help from our sweet families. I feel so grateful for how willing they were to pitch in and help us.

Here's Andrew, Jennifer, and my Mom, coming to scrub out our disgustingly dirty new place before we moved in. I was so frazzled by day 4 of cleaning our disgustingly dirty old place we were moving out of, that I didn't get a picture of Scott's brother Craig and Mom Suzanne, who came to help us clean for hours upon hours. And also I didn't get any pictures of all the brothers and dads and cousins who helped us load and unload the moving truck because I was slightly distracted with Scott's trip to the ER just as everyone showed up. Yes, he sliced his hand/wrist with a razor blade while cutting packing tape. Yes, he got 7 stitches. Yes, it was his 2nd trip to the ER that week because he was also in a car accident. He's okay. He just has a Mazda symbol branded into his arm.

We painted a desk. We bought the desk for $15 of Craigslist. It was ugly, but it came with this other desk that was a beautiful antique that I fell in love with. I saw this desk at Thanksgiving Point

And thought it might be cool to try to replicate it on our ugly desk. So 4 cans of the wrong-color paint, and a couple months later, here are some before/between/ and after shots:
BEFORE:

Remember when I said ugly desk? I meant every word of it.

BETWEEN:

Blegh and Blegh. Back to the paint store...again. And again.

AFTER:

In our new house. We still need to put the rest of the handles on. I love it.

Voluumm/ my brother Andrew had another break dance competition.

My mom came to this dark noisy club in her Ann Taylor cardigan and sparkly sandals.

I love her.
Speaking of which, pretty sure my top that night was Ann Taylor too.

Scott and I celebrated our second 4th of July together:

Last year we hadn't even been on our first date but sat next to each other and talked all during the fireworks until 2 in the morning. This year we went back to the exact same place. I also wore Scott's sweatshirt - the same one he had brought for me last year in case I got cold. We're nerdy like that.

We are also nerdy because we've been commemorating things like the anniversary of our second date. We went to Sundance and rode the ski lift like we did last year:

Sundance is so beautiful.

We also browsed through the gift shops at Sundance. All of a sudden things like brightly colored blocks are really interesting because....

We're expecting. Another way of saying I'm pregnant. We've come a long way in a year. I feel so grateful every day for the chance to be married and be starting a family. I tear up about it a lot. I feel so much love. And gratitude.

I also feel a lot of nausea. Here's Jakey with his doctor kit yesterday. At my parent's house. He put bandaids and a cast on my arm, and then stuck his stethescope on my growing belly....

I love him so.

Went shopping for maternity clothes with my mom today. She sat down in the dressing room and handed me things to try on and hung them up when I was done, just like she did every summer when we'd go to buy school-clothes for the next grade, just like she did when I gained the freshman 15 and none of my clothes fit me, just like she did when we bought "grown-up clothes after I graduated from college, just like she did after I moved back from NY and I was so sickly skinny nothing fit me, just like she did when I was trying on outfits for dates, and wedding dresses, and now maternity clothes. Oh the giving goes on and on.

Can't Wait.

NEW WEBSITE!

2009-05-30T00:52:00.000-07:00

Oh goodness, I haven't posted on this blog in forever. That's because I've been so busy over on my photography blog. And Guess what?!? I just got a new Photography WEBSITE! Please stop by and check it out: tarabphotography.com. I'm pretty excited about it:) And I promise to post here again soon.

David Archuleta Concert!

2009-04-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

Kate and Jenny had their birthdays this last week, and to celebrate my dad found us 8th row tickets to the David Archuleta concert!

We decided to forego a yummy dinner to get there in time. We were so excited!

We got hyped up by taking pictures of us in front of the stage.

Then we were told that although the concert started at 7:30, he wasn't actually coming out until 9:30.

That curbed our enthusiasim a bit. But it was an excellent opportunity to clear old text messages from my phone.

Let's be honest, David is an awesome singer. And he had fun out there.

But not as much fun as my sisters did.
Happy Birthday, Kay and Jay-jay!
Best quote of the night (mom) : " I didn't realize David Archuletta's music was going to be so HARD ROCK. "

Cameron is Special

2009-03-25T09:36:00.003-07:00

I just can't get enough of this boy! The little boys were visiting their grandma in California for a week and yesterday was a happy reunion. Cameron wore his joy school crown all day, and came to the grocery store with my mom and I. He pushed his little cart around and my mom let him put anything he wanted in his cart. He inspected the apples and got a rotisserie chicken. "Let's get one of those little turkeys for me!" And tried to sneak 7 packs of ding dongs.

My dad has been in the hospital all weekend with a weird heart thing. They still aren't sure what was wrong with him but have done enough tests to know he's not going to have a heart attack anytime soon. My poor dad looks so tired and feels so crummy.
Good thing he has these special boys to keep him company!

Want to Come?

2009-03-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

I am so excited. I love love LOVE the end-of-the-year recital. This year's duet recital is featuring some pretty fierce ladies, some of whom I've taught for all 3 years I've been teaching at BYU. OH am I ever going to MISS YOU when you graduate!

(Thank you Beth Johnson in the photo above for being a good sport:) And a really good singer.)

Dear Emily,

2009-03-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Emily,
Thank you for the beautiful flowers.

Thank you for being a welcoming loving sister-in-law and for the cheerful bucket of spring I found on my doorstep last Monday night. Thank you for being aware of others in the midst of your own life. It says so much about what kind of person you are. I love them, and I love you!

Tara

Jennif

2009-03-15T04:48:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I've been a terrible blogger this week.

I'm writing this as if anyone noticed I hadn't blogged in a week, but who am I kidding, I went on a blog-fast for 4months (exactly the time it took me to meet and marry scott) and everyone was just fine. I just have to say things like that every once in a while on the blog to make myself feel popular.

So here's a little tid-bit for ya
I photographed this pretty girl recently. If you want to see more pics of my pretty sister Jennifer (jen-jen, jenny, jblo,jennif, rejinef) you can click on my photo blog link on the right.

Let's talk about an embarassing but maybe-you've-done-this-too moment. Today I saw a PERFECT STRANGER at Target and before I could stop myself I called her by name and had a nice little conversation with her about all these details of her life and these things we had in common...because just the night before I had linked on to her blog from a friend's blog. Creepy of me, I know, but if you take that part out of it it was a lovely way to make a new friend:)

Let's also talk about this smoothie that I simply cannot stop drinking: It is brown and green and it's ingredients include spinach and kale and it is DELICIOUS! Don't believe me ask the dishes.

If you want to drink lots of green leafy vegetables and make your taste buds do backflips, here is your magic:
Blend 2 cups Spinach and 1 cup Kale with 1 cup OJ. Blend til a smooth pretty green color, and take the kale off that big stalky stem in the middle before putting it in the blender. Then add 1/2 banana, 1/2 c frozen bluberries, 1/2 frozen raspberries. Blend, then add ice, then enjoy. It tastes fruity and fresh and is low in sugar.

Let me see what else I took pictures of...
Oh yes, Cameron and Jake must have come over for another slumber party because I have a picture of this:

which is just about the cutest thing in the world. Scott loves to tell these boys bedtime stories almost as much as they like to hear them, and then they go home and tell their mom all about the details of Scott's life when he was a little boy. It is always amazing to me how many details they absorb.

This slumber party we decided it would be fun to get our jar of change and let the little boys get money out of the jar as we went around town to do things. I thought they would think it was fun to pay for things. Instead they got nervous whenever they were supposed to give their "moneys" away for things like ice-cream and dollar store toys. Cameron got really big brave eyes and handed the ice-cream guy a penny. As a result these two little stinkers had big pockets heavy with change by the time we tucked them in at night. Jake decided to put his "moneys" in his pillow for safe-keeping overnight. When he woke up the next morning they weren't there, and no matter how hard we looked we could NOT find those moneys.

Jake kept asking Cameron if he could have some of Cameron's moneys and Cameron kept flatly denying him. Jake would come to me and in the sweetest voice say "he's not givin' me moneys cuz he's MEAN" and I would tell him Cameron was a very nice boy and ask him again. After 3 go-arounds with the denying/he's mean thing I decided it was about time to pull out all the stops.

That's right, I told him about the little boy who got a bike and a new train for Christmas, and how he saw the other little boy who didn't get anything for Christmas. He decided to share and gave the unfortunate boy his new bike and train and he felt SO HAPPY. It makes us happy to share, even happier than when we have the things ourselves. It makes us happy to make other people happy.

Cameron sat and listened to that story and then got some "moneys" out of his pocket and handed them to Jake. Then he put a big grin on his face and came and sat on my lap. He remembered you were supposed to feel happy at the end of the story. I told him how proud I was of him and how happy I felt. Then he turned around and showed me his smile, threw another penny and jake, and showed me how his smile got bigger every time he tossed a penny at Jake.

Oh I'm going to miss those boys. I love those little stinkers.

Jake helped me make buttermilk pancakes with buttermilk syrup for breakfast:

cute little stinker.

Oh I have this picture on my camera, too. Which means that we made home-made spaghetti noodles last Sunday. It was kind of a disaster but it was sooo yummy.

Arizona and Valentines Day

2009-03-02T23:31:00.000-08:00

Scott and I drove down to Arizona last Valentine's /President's Day weekend. We didn't decide to go until Friday at noon, and two hours later we were on our way. In the midst of our packing flurry, my romantic hubby decided it was a priority to surprise me with these:

because he didn't want me to "go without" on Valentines day while we were out of town. I hated having to leave those beautiful roses behind! What a nice husband. He's nice even in the middle of the night when my sleep talking wakes him up. He drives me to work so I can put my make up on in the car, drops treats off to me at work, listens to me analyze my day, tells me I'm pretty with my retainers in (I'm not), goes to the grocery store with me on Saturday nights and snuggles with me while we watch Mary Tyler Moore re-runs. I keep being surprised at how much I like this marriage thing.

Anyway, this roadtrip was fun. We hadn't been on a roadtrip since we had just started dating and went to Southern California with some friends...on the way back everyone ditched us and squished into the other car so we could be alone and we just talked and talked and talked. Scott even went 15 miles UNDER the speed limit on the way back home on that 1st roadtrip so we could have more time to talk.

I keep digressing. This was such a fun time to just sit in the car and eat sunflower seeds and see the snow melt outside our windows as we drove down to sunny AZ.

We stayed with my cousin Kelly and her family:

(to see more of their family pics visit my photography blog, link on the right)

Here's us with Kelly's kids Daimon and Ellie at one of the many many restaurants we went to while there. The best thing about AZ, besides the sun and getting to show Scott where I went to high school and seeing my dorky pictures on the choir wall with the "Rachel from friends" haircut which I thought was SO awesome, was the FOOD. We ate and ate and ate and when we were so full we didn't think we could stuff another bite in, we went to Grimaldi's and got a pizza. Yes, Grimaldi's has a franchise in ARIZONA!!! I HAD NO IDEA!!!!!!!!!!I've craved that pizza at least 3 times a week since I moved away from NY 3 years ago.

We also saw Confessions of a Shopaholic (loved it, loved the book) and helped Kelly pick out new perfume:

Here's Kelly smelling my Gum Package to clear her nasal passage between sniffs:

And here's my Valentine, loving every minute of this gum sniffing exhibition.

A couple days into our trip, my parents heard we were having so much fun that they decided to fly down. Good thing, too, because my mom found 2 awesome tables at Dillards for a quarter of the price Thanksgiving Point and Dear Lizzie are selling them for. We made quite a scene at Dillards packing them up, and Scott and I drove them back up to Utah, and now I have one sitting in my living room. Thanks, Mom:)

BTW here is my new yellow purse, happy president's day to me:) TJ MAXX is better in AZ, too.

Apparently AZ really misses my sister Katie because they named a store after her:

I'm jealous, KaBloom.

Miss you, sunny Arizona!

Mickey's Stupid Clubhouse

2009-03-01T09:05:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago Cameron and Jake took my mom and I on a date to go see Mickey's Clubhouse at the Energy Solutions Arena. We piled into the car, buckled them in their carseats armed with snacks and pull-ups and almost 2 hours later, we STILL hadn't gotten there because of a massive wreck on the freeway. Poor little boys.

And not that I have anything against Disney, because I don't, but the show was kinda dumb. Although who am I to complain because more than a few unsuspecting Japanese kids had to sit through our dumb show at Tokyo Disneyland when they could have been on the rides.

All in all I'm glad I got to go on a double date -Me and Cameron, Mom and Jake...I love spending time with these little boys and my mom.

Butler Family Pics

2009-02-11T22:34:00.000-08:00

A few Sundays ago, before Scott's brother Mitch left on his mission, we took some Butler Family Pictures. My sister Katie was nice enough to come and hold the camera so I could be in some of them. I was looking through the pictures and this made me laugh out loud - Katie sat in for me while I adjusted the settings on my camera....

And here's the "rill dill"

Mike and Andrea!

2009-02-07T09:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we spent the day at Scott's brother's wedding. We LOOOVE Andrea and I'm so excited to have another sister in law! Here is Mike and Andrea's Wedding and the ensuing celebrations. Mike was cracking me up all day:

Make Me Happy!

2009-02-05T15:48:00.000-08:00

The family reunion this summer was at the beach. The first day we took Jakey down to show him the waves and he ran along the shore shouting "MAKE ME HAPPY!!!" It doesn't take much for that kid. He is so vivacious and grateful and throws himself excitedly into every new thing.

I am really going to miss these little boys. Ben got accepted to Business Schools in Austin and Virginia, and wait-listed at Wharton, and who know where Scott and I will be in the Fall, so anyway the dice turns I'm not going to be seeing much of "the littles" come September. I don' think it actually sunk in until last week that they would be leaving and I stayed up late crying about it. I couldn't help it! These little boys have been such a bright spot in my life these past few years. They are so simple and wise and sweet and happy and they just take your mind off hard things. I will forever remember Cameron taking me on a "date" one very dark day. What am I going to do without these little Stinkers?

I went to my parents house last weekend and walked into this:

I mean what am I going to do without being able to walk in and see little Cam Cam playing "monster eye" with Grandma Robin? Especially when he has that cowlick sticking straight up in the back.

And it will be so weird on birthdays to only light the candles once instead of 20 times to let the boys sing and blow over and over again cuz its so fun.

Oh well.

Not that it's any substitute, but at least I'll have these

and these

to MAKE ME HAPPY.
(Thanks, honey)

And LOVE YOU, LITTLE BOYS.

Honeymoon

2009-02-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

Scott is finishing up (yet another) practice LSAT. I put some rice on the stove to go with dinner and decided I would quick do a blogpost while it cooked. So now I am sitting in a house that smells like smoke since I burned said rice while doing said blogpost. Not sure if I was trying to burn us out or freeze us out of home - now all the doors are open and it's COOLD.

Our camera died on our honeymoon. I forgot that we'd taken a few before it died so I was excited to find these: I obviously didn't know we were low in battery or we probably wouldn't have a dozen shots of our feet on top of stars in Hollywood. We saw Wicked our first night in LA, then went to Coronado Island and spent a couple days at Hotel Del, then spent a day at Disneyland. (No I did not convince Scott to wear Mickey Mouse Groom ears. But we did go for sentimental reasons - we went to southern california on a road trip with some friends early in our dating, and Scott managed to get just the two of us to Disneyland for a day.)

href="http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr35/tarabloomfieldbutler/Honeymoon-2.jpg">
WICKED! Scott loved it, much to his surprise.

The husband himself, downtown LA.

We have a half dozen pictures like this(above) and this (below) and then our battery died. Good thing, because it would have been really sad to have wasted our camera battery life on something unimportant! I mean, imagine going on a honeymoon and not having one picture of your feet on stars names, that would be sad....

Mike (Scott's Brother) is marrying the lovely Andrea this Friday, and
Scott takes the LSAT on Saturday. We are READY for this mad studying to be over.
Hurrah!

snowflake cookies

2009-01-29T14:24:00.001-08:00

It was snowing outside and inside yesterday.
These were for my mom's Young Women New Beginnings night. Aren't they beautiful?
(I tried frosting a few and then was given the "special" job of silver ball putter-onner)

Scott's Birthday

2009-01-29T13:24:00.001-08:00

Scott blew out 29 candles last week.

His Dad and Brother Craig cut the cake:

His Mom made the cake (and the delicious homemade chicken noodle soup over mashed potatoes dumplings - are you kidding me, yum!!!!!) His sister Emily gave him a beautiful picture of the San Diego temple

The nephews made him cupcakes and delivered them

Scott played with his Birthday i-phone courtesy our moms and dads.

And I pitched in and kissed him on the forehead

All in all, it was a great bday week for the great scottie b.

There is a dance move named after him....

2009-01-29T13:15:00.001-08:00

Yes, there is. In the archival legends of EFY counselors everywhere, there is a certain dance move named "The Scottie B". I'm so proud.

Scott originally did it as a joke at EFY. I somehow talked him into doing this at one of Drew's break dance competitions (above), and don't you worry that the dance move even manifest itself at our wedding.

Love you, Scottie B.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

We went to Tucanos for New Years Eve dinner. Too bad I wasn't on the ball enough to write the thoughtful "goodbye 2008, hello 2009" lists. I'm a little behind the game.

However, THANK YOU 2008. I like you. You gave me my husband, finally:
So I will always love you, 2008. And 2009, I'm so excited for all that you hold.

Happy Birthday, Mommy

2009-01-22T13:27:00.001-08:00

It was this Girl's Birthday on Dec 30th.

I love celebrating my mom's birthday. It falls right between Christmas and New Years and is such a festive time of year. My mom is such a generous, compassionate, creative and funny person and I've been so lucky to have her as a mom. You feel so motivated and understood after talking to her. Perhaps that's why so many people feel comfortable talking to her and value her opinion. She's somehow able to make everyone feel important.

We planned on going to Zinn Bistro in Salt Lake for her Birthday. In fact, we drove to Zinn Bistro several times this Holiday season, and it has become a bit of a joke in our family, because we never actually eat there. It is a delicious family run restaurant in Salt Lake, and the food is YUMMY. The fact that they are still in business is a testament to how good the food is, because they are SO rude it is hilarious. The first time we drove up they told us they had run out of food (It was 1pm and we were there for lunch) They kept repeating the line "we cook fresh every day" which somehow was supposed to make us feel better about having taken time off to drive all the way up there. Don't most restaurants cook fresh everyday? A few days later we called ahead to make sure they were open (the answering service said they were), coordinated 8 schedules to get all of us up there, the sign on the door said they were OPEN, but mix those letters around abit and NOPE! , they weren't! I've actually only eaten there once and have tried 7 or 8 times. That one time I felt like they hated me for being there and actually daring to come to their restaurant and taste their food. The kicker is that a few days after this series of tries, we get a call from ZINN saying they had a reservation for us and why weren't we there? Then we were firmly scolded - "is there a REASON why you didn't call to cancel?" Sorry Zinn Bistro we've tried... a lot.

So here's us at another yummy restaurant at the mouth of little cottonwood canyon...we look happy enough for a bunch of foodies!

Dad Mom, me and my brother Ben.

2009-01-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

We rented Cameron and Jake for a slumber party last Friday, and boy did we have fun.

We started with a roaring game of Simon Says

Jake didn't quite get the rules of red light/green light, he just ran as fast as he could

Then we played "tackle Scott"

Which resulted in being hauled to the kitchen

Jake waited patiently for his treat. "Tara, I NEED something!" What do you need Jakey? I NEED ICE-CREAM!"

So I gave it to them.

Their very handsome Uncle Scott put on a video

And they had treats and watched

Until they finally dozed off....with visions of the "spend-the night" fairy dancing in their ice cream filled heads.

They left their boots out for the spend the night fairy to fill.

Scott left early to study, and I awoke to two little boys calling "where are you guys" and wandering around the house holding boots full of candy. Being the responsible aunt that I am, I let them get in bed with me and eat all of their candy while they watched the rest of the video from the night before. Chocolate on the sheets but it was a great way to start the day:) Love you Cam and Jake!

Elder Mitchell Butler

2009-01-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

Scott's youngest brother is going into the MTC on Wednesday. That makes 4 Butler boys who have gone on missions and it is a proud day, albeit bittersweet to have to say goodbye for 2 years. We took some Butler family pictures to mark the big event.
Here's Mitch

And Reed and Suzanne

Marry Christmas

2009-01-09T11:25:00.001-08:00

Yes, It's January 9th. Yes, I took my Christmas Tree down yesterday. Yes, I start teaching again on Monday, and Yes, it's been over 4 months since I updated this blog.

During which time I got married.

So I decided it was maybe time to put this out.

And yes, I spelled Marry like that on purpose.
It was a lovely Christmas break and I'm sad to see it end.

Visit my Photography Blog!

2008-11-22T12:18:00.000-08:00

This is where I post my latest shoots....

tarabutlerphotography.blogspot.com

Tyler's Blessing

2008-08-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

This little booger was blessed on Sunday,

He's all smiles and adorable-ness and it was hard to take these pictures because all I wanted to do was throw the camera down and pick him up and cuddle him and kiss those chubby cheeks.

My brother Andrew, and then Cameron and Jake were also blessed in this little outfit. All the girls on my mom's side of the family were blessed in the same dress my Grandma was blessed in...which leads me Olive, Sadie's unborn girl chil', who will wear the dress next. I decided that we needed to document Olive-in-the-Womb and Sadie and Dan's 1st anniversary so I took some pictures that look like engagement pictures...only slightly scandalous engagement pictures since, yes, Sadie is pregnant. And, I have to add here that I spent a few days with Sadie in a swimsuit on the Beach and she gets the "i still look better than most people ever will in a swimsuit even though I am seven months pregnant" award.
Then Cameron saw that I was snapping his picture and all on his own scooted over and put his arms around Jakey like he had seen Sadie and Dan do.
Dan was whining about getting his picture taken, and Scott felt to mention that I had brought my camera on our first date - (we were hiking, okay? What was I supposed to do, leave it at home????!!!) Dan's response was "I'm surprised there was a second date" My comeback was:
So there, Dan.

And besides, Scott's gotten pretty good at posing for my pictures.

We love you, Tyler.

Independence Day

2008-07-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am just now posting about the 4th of July. But you won't be sorry because that means you get to see that Ben's neighborhood had an Independence Day Parade and those peeps go all out for the Yoo Ess of Aaay:

Here's the Bloomfield contribution:

Good thing my mom had that red shirt on. Because otherwise you might have thought she forgot her USA cape. Or her flag balloon helmet.

Scott and Sheri's family was in town and they came for the big parade, too: Here's Preston being all hardcore with his beard and Tyler
Smiley Mark pushing Jakey

Pretty Paige with Ty
My pretty Aunt Sheri - I snapped a pic with her next to Ben...
and Uncle Scott decided he needed one too....haha.

Happy Fourth of July! (A month ago)

Goodbye, Russians

2008-06-26T20:48:00.001-07:00

I kind of hate to post these last pictures of the Russians because it means they're really gone. A few hours before they left, I started feeling this compulsive need to take pictures even though there was nothing exciting going on. I think it was my last "holding on with the fingernails" attempt to keep them here somehow...
Guess I got used to having 7 extra people around, because the next day it definitely felt like something was missing. Goodbye Russians, we'll miss you. And Ola, I really really really hope you will come live and study here next year.
Ola started tearing up at dinner and was blinking back tears for the next couple hours until the Bates came to take them to Salt Lake. She gave me a hug that lasted five full minutes - every time she'd pull away she'd start crying harder and then put her face in my shoulder again so no one could see. Kept saying "lubilu" (love you) As their ride pulled away she was drawing hearts with her hands and pointing at us....can't decide if that is a good memory or a bad one.
Andrew probably said it best "I think they're sad our week is over, but sadder that it's one week closer to going back to where they came from...."
So glad you came. Lubilu.

Russians Day 6

2008-06-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

"What must it feel like to own a mountain?"
That's what Svetlana asked when she saw the Ranch. I thought that comment summed it up on so many levels...comparatively we have so much in this country that would be/is astonishing to much of the world.

I guess I just feel afraid I will forget and take it all for granted. Not recognize the blessings. Not help. I do take for granted. Without meaning to.

Before we left we asked what their favorite thing was and they all said the ranch.
They adored the 4 wheeling. I noticed how Americans smile and show teeth for pictures, where Russians stop the merriment and get very solemn looking for pics. And if they do smile, they definitely do not show teeth.

They thought the zip-line was fun ( at least to those adventurous enough to try it, which of course included Nastya)
Played games at the Cabin, this is Drew with Jula and Nastya, my cousin Rachel and her friend Tyler. (yes, he knows that his name is the same as our new nephew Tyler)Ate and chillaxed. I just said chillaxed.

Played with the nephews. Here's Katie's friend Mike playing with Cameron out by the creek/crik. Cameron found a wild wish to blow.
Here's crazy ball of energy Jakey, who at a young age discovered the most efficient way to get popcorn to your mouth. I am so proud of you, Jakey.
Here's the girls with beaded Cam and Jake, after we set off fireworks and played a rousing game of "sally walker." Svetlana German pulled out a full-on Russian folk dance for her "little -sally-walker-walking-down-the-street" trick. She is awesome.
Couldn't help feelin warm and fuzzy when I saw this sign. My grandpa used to always say touched you last when we said goodbye to him. We'd try to tag and run to sneak in the last touch But he'd even stick his hand in a moving car to touch you last, and he always won, no matter what. I feel like he's still winning, and still touching us last because of so many things he passed on, like a love for ice-cream and show-tunes, but I always feel particularly close to him when I go to the ranch. Felt grateful for the ranch, and for my grandparents and great grandparents, and it felt good to know that in a way, their legacy and hard work was now reaching not only across generations, but across oceans, when these Russian girls were able to come enjoy it.

I think Drew finally realized on the last day that he had a very captive audience with these girls. He made sure he rode right in between all five of them on the way home and ate up the attention. On the late drive home, Svetlana was in the car following mine. She saw camera flash going off in our car, and said "Tara must be taking pictures of Andrew among the flowers" (aka girls)

Yes I was. Because how can you resist documenting your 72nd time of listening to The Pussycat Dolls "Wichoo" in a week. Two hours up to the Ranch, two hours back, automatic repeat. I would try to switch it and Oksana would command "Tahra, buskot dol". I wasn't complaining because at least it wasn't rap. They don't speak no english, but they do be speakin' all the words to this song, be havin it memorize. Which is good, because now they can say the first English they learned was Ebonics. "Nobody gonna love me better, I'm gon' stick wichoo forever"
Here's Drew, with an exhausted flower on his shoulder:
Ola, you could not be cuter.

Rodeo (Russians Day 5)

2008-06-23T12:26:00.001-07:00

Strawberry Days Rodeo in Pleasant Grove Utah.

'Twas a rootin tootin good time.

Russians Day 5

2008-06-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

Went and toured Kohler's grocery store. Which was actually kind of dumb. But we did get to watch them decorate a cake to look like a giant hamburger

And they gave us free ice-cream.
And we got to see how they put saran wrap on the meat.
Then we went to Thanksgiving Point to tour the Dinosour Museum.
Ola being silly.
Svetlana loved how interactive the Museum was.

Our neighbors Taylor and Peggy Smith and my Mom and Dad wanted to buy the girls some clothes. This was exciting because they only own 2-3 shirts to rotate between.

So we went to Kohls. Nastya said "nyet" and laughed at just about everything I showed her. Eventually after walking through the entire store we found something that she liked. Guess I don't have a russian fashion sense.
Oksana with Peggy Smith
Svetlana with my Momma. Sveta is so darling, and gives kisses on the cheeks to say thank you.
Oksana with Taylor Smith

Taylor and Peggy Smith then took the girls to the grocery store and gave them each $10. He told them to buy candy or gum, but they bought essentials - razors, deodorant, and, well, mascara. Which I know is an essential.

Ola was going to spend her $10 on razors and batteries. Taylor told her he had lots of those at home so buy something else...
Thanks, Taylor.
The girls came right home and changed into their new clothes. They got all gussied up to go to the rodeo.

Russians Day 4

2008-06-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

Took the girls to get pedicures. On the way we stopped by Xenias house to see their quilts - the girls were ecstatic when they saw them. Their reaction made her tear up a little bit - I'm guessing/hoping their enthusiasm made her feel better about spending hours and hours and hours quilting 8 quilts!
Svetlana tried out the long arm quilter.
Pedicures:
Oksana thought it tickled.
Alina soaked it all up.
And they all had very cute toes. And green flip-flops which they wore for the next several days, including to the ranch, and to church.

Then we walked around Roberts Craft Store. They had never seen a glue gun, and we got some for them to take back to the school in Russia.
Hamburgers for lunch - at Chadders.

Then to Costco: Free Samples

And lots of M&M's. When we took them to the candy counter at BYU on Monday we let them pick from the huge selection. They examined all of the candies and then four of them chose - - - - plain m&m's. We told them we would get those for them later. Good thing we did because they ate this huge bag in less than 24 hours.
Ola tried on my sunglasses and they totally dwarfed her. She's my favorite. Shh.

The Bishop's wife Jackie Whitlock came over to make cards with the girls.

And at night they watched The Devil Wears Prada in the theater room.

Russians Day 3

2008-06-21T01:13:00.000-07:00

The girls spent the day at Girl's Camp with the ward in Alpine. I spent the day at work and got home just in time to see this: Ola came up the stairs and then dramatically dropped to her knees and crawled all the way from the stairs to her bedroom, stopping to "fall asleep" on the floor along the way, and saying "Spakonanoche" (goodnight). She chatters in Russian and acts everything out. It's so understandable I forget she's not speaking English. She's like one of those mimes at the circus only way way better.We were up until 2 in the morning one night watching her stories. She had us all in stitches. You listen to that husky voice and how she throws every ounce of that tiny scrappy body into acting things out how her eyes light up when she's telling you things, and how she makes you laugh because she's so clever and creative and you sort of fall in love with her. instantly.

Also tonight, Ben helped them all set up e-mail addresses so we can k.i.t.: They love Ben.

I seriously felt guilty being at work because I kept thinking about the girls and missing them, and thinking I should have just rescheduled the voice lessons for after they left. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Russians Day 2

2008-06-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we made 8 quilts in 5 hours. Marathon!

These girls are so focused. They were excited about the project and then stayed intent on it the entire day. They didn't want to take a break to go to the front of the room and grab a sandwich for lunch because they wanted to finish. Only 13-16 yrs old, and so determined.

This is my Aunt Kris. She teaches at a High School in Salt Lake and we went and made the quilts in the schools home-ec room. The girls hovered around her so they wouldn't miss a detail when she was giving directions.
Alina is so beautiful. She wore this cute dress and 3 inch heels to come quilting. Love her.
Some of Kris co-workers came and spent the day helping to make the quilts

Alina and Kelly
Sarah and Oksana
Nastia and Heather

Svetlana is the home ec teacher at the school in Russia. She was fascinated by the rotary cutters and wanted to take one back with her. She flitted around the room like she was in home ec heaven. Her quilt turned out beautifully.
Xenia, our very talented neighbor in Alpine, came up to help with the quilts. She took them home with her so that she could use her long-arm quilter to quilt all of them. So generous. She brought her neice-in-law Amy who spoke Russian with her.
Jennifer loves Ava. Ava is my Aunt Stephanie's mother, who as a child went to school where the orphanage is now. She came to help with the quilts. So did Ava's granddaughters Katie and Rachel.
We were expecting to have about 4 people to help with the quilts, and look at this roomful of generous women who spent the entire day helping.

Glad they can take those quilts back with them as a reminder of their time here. Thankful for art and self expression in any form, it uplifts the soul and gives something to be excited about, and a sense of self- accomplishment.

Ola is so artistic. She was going around the room showing people her quilt and talking about how she put the colors together and how she like the combination of dark and light colors. She drew a picture of Katie on the whiteboard:

Pretty good, huh?

After quilting we went Rock-Climbing:

Nastia was the best. She got all the way to the top, and kept doing climb after climb.
Ola was pretty good, too....

But the rest of us were so tired after one or two climbs we laid on the floor and watched Nastia, and talked to Stephanie when she called my cell. Stephanie is seriously a celebrity around here. I said hello, hi stephanie and there was a rousing chorus of "shtefaneee!" When I am driving around with these girls I listen to them chatter in russian and the one word I recognize and that gets repeated over and over is "shtefanee" which is followed only by "Jafe" (jeff) and Alaigsandra (alexandra, stephanie's daughter).
Then we went to Texas Road House for dinner. I can never predict what they'll like or not. I gave them a handful of peanuts in the shell out of the big bucket by the door and that brought a big round of excited "sank-you's" I thought they would love the chicken fingers with the dipping sauces, the bbq pork, the sweet potato with brown sugar and the mashed potatoes and gravy. They took a bite or two and then said they were "full". But when the plain roasted chicken breast got there, they devoured it. Same with the rolls.

The waiters had the girls get up and try country line dancing with them. It was Svetlanas b-day the week before, so the waiters did a round of happy birthday hee haws for her. They put her on the saddle and the entire restaurant shouted hee haw at her.
She is the most delightful person. Always pleasant, treats every new experience as an enchanting adventure she can't wait to try. That's probably why she looks like she's 25 even though she's 41. Hee-haw!

Russians day 1

2008-06-16T22:36:00.001-07:00

This is Ola.

The Russians are here! We've waited a year for this.

Try as I might, I will never ever be able to communicate the nuances of the day in this blog - I am almost hesitant to write this because it won't even come close to telling the whole story, but here I go.

This is Jula.

I love having them here. I was nervous yesterday I wouldn't have anything to say to them for a week, and now I am just nervous they will have to leave before I am ready to say good-bye. I am trying to soak up every minute.

Toured BYU today. But first, we delivered their laundry to them that we had done the night before (after convincing them they did not need to wash their clothes out in the sink and that our washers would not damage their clothing). They asked for an iron this a.m. and I offered to do it so they could get ready faster. They handed me a stack of ironing consisting of t-shirts, jeans, and a pair of sweat pants. I got a kick out of this since there is no way I would iron my sweatpants, and I thought it was so cute that they wanted to look their very best and took such good care of their things.

So at BYU, we found a harpist in the basement of the HFAC,
Showed them the moving bookshelves and the part of the library where you can study and flirt,
Katie took us to the nursing building and introduced us to "sam" the ugly but expensive medical dummy
Ola went for a ride on the hospital bed and tried on a hip and neck brace.
We went to the RB and joined in on part of an aerobics class, saw my office and had one of my students, and me, sing for them, watched some swimming/diving, watched some ballroom dancers practice, watched a raquetball game, volleyball and basketball class,
Went to Jamba Juice, who offered to donate 7 jambas for them,
And they drank Jambas while they went bowling:
Which was a first time experience. Svetlana asked me if I went bowling often with the other teachers here and if I was competitive in bowling. lol.

Then we went to Hickory Kist Deli on Center Street. The owner, Clint, is a fantastic guy who was so nice to make it special for the girls. He gave them sandwiches and a bag of homemade caramels. He brought out a bottle of old fashioned root beer for each of them, and they all took one sip and decided they did not like it. Also, they did not like ice in their drinks. Nothing cold, nothing spicy. Including the cinnamon bears we bought at the bookstore. "nyet!"

Then we went to Haven Salon, where my friend Christie and three other stylists gave the girls haircuts. The girls, including the leaders, loved this experience and kept looking at themselves in the mirror and trying not to smile. They were giggling and giddy and it was actually very touching to see how enthusiastic and appreciative they were. Christie asked "who first?" and 3 girls shot their hands in the air. They all kept saying "sank-you, sank-you"

Here's the final product group shot. Sank-you so much Christie and friends.

Then we went to a BBQ at the Stirland's house. This was great because they invited several friends who speak Russian, and it was so fun to have more translators around and really get to speak with the girls!

Xenia Stirland outdid herself on the BBQ - brisket, baked beans, funeral potatoes, salad, homemade ice-cream,

But what the girls couldn't get enough of was the watermelon, they went back for heaping plate after heaping plate. Fruit is such a treat for them. They were surprised that we would put raspberries in our salad - mixing savory and sweet.

Here's Mike at dinner, who served his mission in Russia, he was darling with the girls. It was fun to just listen to them talk with each other and have him translate what they were saying!

Mike actually met his wife at the MTC - they both served in Russia and were both teaching there. Here's Svetlana with Mike's adorable baby. (she's 41 - can you believe it?)

Plugged my i-pod into my car so the girls driving with me in my car could have something fun to do since I can't exactly carry on a conversation with them. They love rap music. I know, because the past 2 nights they've asked to get on the internet and watch rap music videos. They know American music much better than I do. So today in the car I searched my i-pod for something resembling rap. Wondered if the Dreamgirls soundtrack would do the trick. Kept searching. Found a Beyonce song on there and a random Gwen Stefani album, don't know how that got there...Andrew???? Anyway, I was glad i had it because I don't think my show-tunes would'a been cutting it today.

Got the bright idea to unroll the sunroof and it was a hit, they stuck their hands up and said woooo and when we got close to home I drove slow and let them stand up with heads sticking out the sunroof and my one Beyonce song blasting. Don't ever question my 'cool-factor' again. I'M A SURVIVE WHAT. But I do think there is going to be some competition to ride in my car tomorrow. Although, I don't know, maybe my mom's been hiding some p-diddy on me or something.

Here are some pictures of playing in the Stirlands yard after the BBQ - they have this fun merry-go-round and a few dogs:

Something is wrong with my eye. Stopped by the doctors office with my 3 beyonce-lovin' Russians in tow, and the nurse told me to put a hot washcloth on it. The girls are curious what I am doing and they have all looked at my eye, and told me the word for it in Russian, and then, oh my gosh this is so good, get ready for this one, tonight Ola got the translator and told me that she knew a remedy for my eye - get some ear wax out of my ear and then put it on my eye. I said eew, and laughed, and then was afraid I made her feel bad, so told her I would try the hot washcloth first and then try the earwax if that didn't work. Start praying that the hot washcloth works.

Jula, Ola, Alina, Oxana. Nastia was still getting haircut.

Yesterday when they got here I thought I would never keep their names straight, and now about 24 hours later I not only know their names, but am starting to get to know their individual personalities.

Little Cameron came over this morning before the Russians had woken up and said "I'm here to play with the Russians. Why aren't they out of bed? " I think that's how we all feel. I'm so excited for them to get out of bed tomorrow

And I wish I could speak Russian!

Hello Russians

2008-06-15T23:52:00.000-07:00

They're here, and they will be for a week. Here's Ava when she saw them at the airport.

happy father's day

2008-06-15T22:58:00.000-07:00

When I was 3 years old and we lived in Denver, my Dad worked long hours for one of the big accounting firms. I remember going to work with him once or twice - late at night in my pajamas, and laying on a blanket at his work while he worked into the late hours of the night- but he came home for dinner so he could see me and Benji and help us get ready for bed. The few times I got to go back to work with him must have been very exciting, because I still remember them.My dad loves babies.

When I was in elementary school, he would sweep and mop the floor every night, after we were supposed to be in bed. I remember, because I would get out of bed for "drinks of water"
My family was camping in Eagar when I was about 9, and we went fishing. My mom took the little kids back to the camp, but I got to stay and go fishing with my Dad and just me, and we kept catching Craw-dads. Which are gross. But I felt cool. And grown-up.

My dad taught me to knit. He showed me how to make slippers and then finished up the hard parts for me. He had rheumatic fever when he was a very young boy and back then the doctors made people with that disease stay in bed. He was bored so my granny showed him how to knit, and he made some beautiful things when he was 8 that are now family treasures. I got into quilting a while back, and he'll come and help you think through a quilt, and look at it and make you feel like it's cool, too.

My freshman year of college, he was literally an angel in my life. He occasionally had to be in Utah for business that year and I don't know how he magically knew my schedule, but he just happened to show up and be there at some very significant times, that were really an answer to prayers.

He's laughs at my jokes and makes me feel clever and witty and worthwhile and important, and he'll listen when things aren't great, and give blessings and pray for me, and he's a nice level practical voice, who can stay unemotional and logical, and yet understanding and encouraging and compassionate.

He is an optimist.
He drives around a truck that says POORICH on the license plate - a gift from my mom. It was supposed to be a play on his name - Rich. Like poor rich, only the r's are combined. But it looks kind of like poo rich or poor itch.

He doesn't really sing or dance, but he loves to listen to singing and dancing, and to watch plays, and he's come to my performances, and puts his brain and thought into it. Once he came to a rehearsal for South Pacific, and told me a day or so later "I've been thinking about this, and that scene where Nellie.... it seems to me that she might be feeling more sad than mad. It's not really my area of expertise, but you might want to think about incorporating that...." And it was just what the scene needed, and so darling that he would have that on his mind for a few days, and try to figure it out, and tell me about it.

He does nice things, like coming out when there are groceries to be unloaded, or car-seats to be moved, or dishes to be done, or gas tanks to be filled up. He sort of quietly appears on the scene when those things need to be done, and magically does them without you even really realizing he's done them.

Just last Sunday morning I was in Alpine and scrambling to get down to Provo for 8:30 am church. My dad was up before I was, preparing his Sunday School lesson. I made it to the car, and he had pulled it out and started it for me. When I got in the car, there was breakfast on the front seat, which he had made for me. I think it says a lot about his habits that I wasn't really surprised that he had done this, because I'm used to him being thoughtful like that, but I was grateful, and it made my morning go a lot more smoothly, and I got to church on time.
He'll do things like get out of bed at midnight and go look for the screams of "wounded animals" with me, and then not care when it turns out to be just healthy croaking toads in our pond.

Went to my brother Ben's house for Family Home Evening and a BBQ a few weeks ago. Here's what I saw:

My brother and my Dad, after a busy work day, and with still a million things to do, down on their hands and knees on the family room floor with the illustrated scriptures open, teaching Cameron about Ammon like it was the most important thing they could possibly be doing. There's my brother, teaching his little boy, and my dad there, up close, a quiet watchful presence, watching his son teach his son. That little boy is awfully lucky to have a Dad and a Grandpa like that.

Whose fun for the night is a rousing game of Motorboat - the FHE "activity"

Grateful for him.

Grateful for the other Fathers in my life that I get to observe regularly

My brother Ben who is such a great daddy and works so hard to take care of his little family.And for Andrew, who is so sweet with those little nephews and who I watch already developing those qualities that will make him a wonderful father.

For Dan, my cousin Sadie's new husband, who has taken on Ean and Aiden and Cole like it is the most natural yet important thing in the world, and who I observed being just the cutest with them and with Sadie. We all love you, Dan. And we are all excited for Olive Leigh (that's my vote, anyway :))

For the men I date and associate with who are uplifting to be around, who I see fulfilling priesthood responsibilities and who make me want to be a better person.

And for the fathers-in-bud, aka my nephews, who are daily learning things that will determine what kind of fathers they will be:
Happy Father's Day!
Love you love you love you.

she's back

2008-06-13T23:05:00.000-07:00

She's got a fantastic tan, The diving rings are retired, at least for another year. Approximately100 children are madly in love with her and will think about her every time they put on floaties and swim trunks and smell that cocunut sunscreen. After teaching swimming in Arizona for a month, KATIE is back! And we are glad.

We went to the park and had a picnic to celebrate.
Volume was so excited he was running up trees and flipping off them. Cameron was sliding like a loco. Which, he will tell you, means crazy in spanish.

Cameron and Jake couldn't get enough of her.

And neither could I. So Katie, if you were planning on doing anything with anybody else until you start that new job up at Primary Children's, pencil them out.

voice

2008-06-13T15:36:00.001-07:00

I really, really love my job. My focus was on performing for so long, that it has been a really surprising blessing to discover that it is equally fulfilling and exciting to teach - and oftentimes more so. It invigorates me. There is nothing like that moment when something clicks with a student, and the light goes on and they just get it! And that look of happy surprise in their eyes when they do something really good that they have never done before. I love that!

But the best, the very best, is when a student begins to realize the depth of their own God given talent, and to trust this. It is a form of self-acceptance. To allow themselves to be unique. To go by how it feels rather than by sound. There is a spirit that settles on the room then, that is peaceful and motivating at the same time. So many times I feel the spirit teaching me things to teach, that are beyond my own capabilities or anything I learned in grad school.

One of my voice students is a fantastic woman named Connie Sokol. I had read her column in the paper long before she walked into my voice studio, and I have grown to appreciate her even more through working with her and her approach to learning and personal growth. Her voice has grown so much in the past 6 weeks, and she has had many-a-moment where we are both jumping up and down in her lessons because of the beautiful sounds coming out of her mouth!

She is the President of a company called LIFEChange, which is a personal life-coaching program helping women and families improve their quality of life. She forwarded me this column that she sends out to her clients because it talks about life lessons she has learned from our voice lessons. It really really made my day so I am going to post it.

www.lifechangeprogram.com

LIFEChange LIFETip

A Clear Vision

June 11, 2008

Doing it just for you!

Hi Ladies,

I've been practicing a combined form of self-help and talent development that has just been for me, and me alone. It is---voice lessons. For some reason, the act of standing in front of a complete stranger and choking out sounds that cause pain to nearby dogs is quite healing for me.

Over the past six weeks I've learned many things about myself while trying to allow my "inner voice" to come out: to be vulnerable, be open, and just be. My fabulous voice teacher shared with me the following concept and it's helped me in many ways. As I tried to reach some very high notes (anything above a middle C for alto me is high), she gently shared that I was pushing it; that my higher voice muscles were there, that they could do their job if I would just allow them to start working. It would take a little bit for them to get used to the idea but they could do it, if I would just relax, trust, and be natural.

On my first tries, some sounds were akin to going through puberty. But over the weeks I've found it's true: as I've relaxed and allowed it not to sound beautiful from the start, the right muscles have started doing their job and are making some sweet music.

I'll let you apply this principle in your own life (i.e. allowing children and husbands to do what they are capable of doing without us doing it for them and "pushing" our agenda or way...or, you know, something like that). Meanwhile, I invite you to choose something in your life this summer (hobby, passion, past-time), that is your time alone, and that will help you softly and happily learn new layers about yourself. For me, it's made me peaceful and live in the present moment. And that's something to sing about.

All my best,
Connie

Connie at BYU Education Week - Aug 18-22, 2008

BYU Campus Education Week "The Journey of Lifelong Learning" August 18-22, 2008. Over 30,000 women attend! Connie's topics include marriage, parenting, fitness, and life balance. For more information or to register, click here http://ce.byu.edu/ed/edweek

Quick Links

What is LIFEChange?

President's Message

Purchase LIFEChange Kits

More About Connie

Quote of the week

"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love."
Henry Drummond

Real LIFEQuestion

What bit of advice has helped you through difficult times?

Submit a response to info@lifechangeprogram.com

All experiences or answers must be true.

See Connie's article in Deseret News in Utah on the 2nd & 4th Mondays in the family section.

You can also check it out at www.DeseretNews.com

yoasis is the new smart cookie

2008-06-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

for those of you who know me well, actually, who am i kidding, you wouldn't be reading this blog unless you knew me, and you wouldn't have to know me very well at all to know that i am addicted to Smart Cookie. or was.

It's not so much the cookie that I loved, although that is very good, and if you want a cookie, be smart, and go there. it was more the 15 minute break in my workday where i got to walk across the street from the kmb and talk to the nice friendly girls who work there, and enjoy the cozy funky decor and take 15 minutes all to myself - sort of like when a dog does something good and is rewarded by getting a cookie. although i think dog's cookies are vitamin fortified, and these are not. although, that would have been good seeing as how i ate an awful lot of them last year.

and how i got the label "the cookie lady" in the kmb, because I would go to smart cookie and buy cookies even if I wasnt in the mood to eat them and then pass them out to whoever crossed my path, like coworkers and students and random strangers. I just liked going there. it got me out of the kmb for a few minutes and it was cozy and cheery inside when it was snowing, and plus, passing out cookies makes people like you. oh wait, maybe they just liked my free cookies.

anyway, none of this matters now, because with the demolition of the kmb and my subsequent move to the rb comes the need for another hang out, another "you wanna go, where ev'ry body knows your name," like on that old tv show Cheers. I digress.

As luck would have it, I am now addicted to Yoasis: conveniently located by the RB. It is "pure frozen yogurt." low on sugar. It's kinda sour like plain yogurt, only frozen, and you put fresh berries on top and it is heaven to the tastebuds. i knew it was my new addiction when i put it in my mouth and i sort of felt like crying because it tasted so good. that's only happened a few other times in my life - the first, well, only, time i had a godiva chocolate covered strawberry, (those things are $10 a piece and it was a gift), the first time i had a sunset roll at happy sumo sushi, and once in NY when i came home from an audition and ate some random stuff that had been cooking in my crock pot all day, and i'm pretty sure that one was just cuz i was really really hungry. and probably also cuz it was a bad audition.

I know you are all waiting with baited breath to hear how this ends. Here it is. Went to Yoasis on my break today. It worked out great. It was yummy. It was healthy. the people working there were friendly enough.

and then tonight after dinner Giulianna and Annie and I went to smart cookie.....just to say good- bye to it, you know. I think it's awful to end a relationship with out any sort of closure.
plus we were craving a cookie.

but you know, things just aren't the same for me over there at smart cookie. The girls working there are not the girls who added me as facebook friends after seeing me at their store every day for 8 months. talk about investing in a relationship. The frosted lemon drop cookie has either lost it's pizazz, or i've just eaten too many of them. But most importantly, the KMB, which is directly across from smart cookie, is now a pile o' rubbish. And I don't like to think about that. But if you do like to think about it, you should read this really short article in the daily universe abut it. It tells about all the cool things the kmb has been over the years, like an auto shop, and a girls dormitory, and a pre-MTC language training center.
here's the link:http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/68813

I may or may not have a memento of the KMB, which now sits on my desk. I'm not going to tell you what it is, but for 48 hours before the south wall was knocked down, the old knight mangum hall was the "night" mangum hall. It didn't change the pronunciation any, so it was totally legal.
It was a brilliant idea. And the construction worker said it was okay when i went back the next day. Yippee!

a date

2008-06-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

Went on a date with Cameron today. We went to BYU and did lots of fun stuff.

The first time Cameron and I went on a "date" was last summer. I had gone through a break-up with someone the night before and knew that I would feel b-a-d when I woke up the next morning. It was one of those nights where I didn't want to go to sleep because I dreaded waking up and having to face the next day. Anyway, his mommy knew I was having a hard time and so the next morning I awoke to my phone ringing and Cameron's little 2 yr old voice "wanna go onna date wi'me?" Boy did I ever. We went to the Movies and watched Ratatouillie and he snuggled on my lap and ate half a big bucket of popcorn fistful by little fistful and by the end, I was feeling much better. Maybe I should start a company called Rent-a-Toddler. This would be the advertisement:

Anyway, I think that's what he must have been remembering when I said "date" to him today because the conversation in the car down to Provo went like this.

Me: "Cameron, I'm so glad you could come, this is going to be so fun! We get to go to BYU on a DATE!"
Cameron: (long pause) "I can't remember his name who broke your heart"
Me: (Pause) Oh... you mean last summer when we went on a date to see Ratatouillie at the Movies?
Cameron: "I thought it up..............It was Mike."

That was funny. I've never dated a Mike but now I know to watch out if I ever meet one.

So the first fun thing we did on the date was use the crosswalk. Cameron pushed the button all by himself so the guy on the screen would walk.

Next, we went to eat where the Cougars eat - at the Cougareat. Cameron was expecting to see cougars in BYU football uniforms, but I explained on most days they just wear jeans and shirts like us. We went all around the Cougareat to explore our dining options, and Cameron chose to eat a hot dog. With no bun, ketchup, or mustard.

While at lunch, he called Aunt Jennifer to see if she wanted to come see him while he was at BYU.

Then, we went to the Candy Counter in the Bookstore, and there were so many choices; it was so exciting! Cameron danced like a chicken in front of the counter because he was so excited.

And when Aunt Jennifer got there, it made everything even more exciting!

This is smart and pretty Jennifer, in her BYU nursing uniform.

Cameron chose some candy and gave the lady a dollar. She handed him back his candy and some change. A few minutes later he said "That was so nice of that lady to give me candy AND money!"

Cameron did silly things with his candy.

He kept insisting that Aunt Tara take his last piece of candy because "I want to share with you!" What a nice boy.

Then Cameron counted his money that the lady gave him back with the candy.

He remarked again how nice that was of her. Cameron wanted to find somewhere that would take his money. So we decided we better go find somewhere.

We found this sucker. It only cost one of his moneys, and the lady gave him a receipt, which he was very proud of and kept in his pocket and showed his dad later that he had "like a grown up".

Off we went, in search of another place that would take the rest of Cameron's money.

We found Jamba Juice. And a giant blender. And the lady gave him money back again! But that's okay, because it's always nice to put money in your pocket. Or in your new piggy bank that you are going to paint with your mommy when you get back home.

Mom, Dad, and Drew flew to AZ today. On the drive home, Cameron told me "I'll babysit you cuz nobodies home with you. So I'll come babysit you. k, Aunt Tara? "

You are a very nice boy Mr. Cameron. And a great date.

*special thanks to Cameron, who let me take as many pictures of him as I wanted so that he could see himself on the "Pacuter"

saturday morning, 8am

2008-06-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

We've driven past it on State Street a million times. Every time we say "wonder if that place is good," but we never stop to try it out. So today, at 7:30 am, when I heard the words "breakfast" and "ma and pa's diner", I didn't care that I was still lying in bed, and awfully comfortable. I saw that cafe sign in my head and thought -PHOTOSHOP....I could make it look old and vintage.....- and that was it. I was out of bed and in the car in under 3 1/2 minutes flat. With my camera, of course.

The sign boasts:
Which is exactly what I got:
Good thing the garnish was an orange wedge, because otherwise it might not have been a healthy breakfast.And Cameron loves healthy breakfasts.
And his green Crocs.

And his monkey PJ's.

He also loves Drew, who got picked up from EFY this morning and came directly to breakfast. Welcome back, Volume. I missed you. It's been quiet around here.
All in all, the cheese wasn't melted, the potatoes were dry and flavorless, and the gravy tasted like flour. But it didn't matter. Not one bit.

Because where else could you go on a Saturday morning and find
A Christmas tree. Fully decorated. In June.
Wood. Painted. Americana.
Centerpieces that remind me of my favorite NYC diner on 51st and B'wayNewspaper stands in every color!!!!!!!

And an awesome giant gum ball machine...that the gum gets stuck in on it's way out. Which makes your nephews happy...and then sad. But don't worry, we got it figured out.
It was a great way to start the morning. I'm glad we went. Especially because I'd been missing Cameron and Jake while their other Grandma was here visiting. And I'd been missing Drew.

Who has inspired Cameron to pick up some B-boy moves.

No kidding, he was really doing this to break dance music today. It was sooo funny. He's 3yrs old by the way....
And super tight. And fly, yo.

auto

2008-06-06T15:27:00.000-07:00

Too bad I just bought a new Camry.

Because today in Lehi, Utah, on the way home from one of the best quilt stores ever (we're making quilts with the Russian orphans who will be here in a week, yay!), I saw this:

Which would have been way more awesome-er.

Oh well.
P.S. My mom's hot.

the tale of...

2008-06-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

Watched a movie earlier this week called Miss Potter, about Beatrix Potter. You know, she's that lady that wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and The Tale of Jeremy Fisher. Here's Jeremy:

He's a frog that tries to go fishing, but the fish eats him instead, and then spits him out because his galoshes taste so bad. So "instead of a nice dish of minnows-they had roasted grasshopper with lady-bird sauce; which frogs consider a beautiful treat; but I think it must have been nasty!" THE END

Love it. Love the early 1900's British silliness. Love the watercolor illustrations. Love Jemimah Puddle-duck and Timmy Tiptoes.

Love that earlier this week I was in Alpine and sat down to type on this blog. I had the windows open to let in some breeze. It was about midnight, and I kept getting distracted by this distant scream outside. At first I thought maybe it was the little girl next door, but I kept listening and it didn't sound like a human scream. I figured it would go away, but instead, it just kept getting louder and more frequent, until I was convinced it was some poor animal that was was hurt. I was pretty sure one of the neighbor's horses had either broken a bone, or was giving birth. It was either that, or one of the wild deer had finally eaten enough of our tulips to give himself a belly-ache (not likely). After about a half hour of this screaming becoming more and more insistent, I felt like i was going to cry because of this poor poor animal who was obviously in agony. Why was no one helping it? I couldn't stand it anymore. With maternal instincts in full swing, I got my dad out of bed, we put on sweatshirts and grabbed flashlights and set off across our backyard to the field by our neighbors house. When all of a sudden, we heard the scream again - but coming from the wrong direction - it was in our backyard. Now this was turning into a horror film. What was it? We both froze and waited for the scream again, when it suddenly seemed like a chorus of "screams" was being unleashed on us just a few feet away - we creeped a few feet over , shined the flashlight on our pond, and found this:

It was Jeremy Fisher. And his wife Elizabeth. Who weren't hurt at all. Who are much cuter in watercolor.

Ah, Jeremy Fisher. Don't you know you have to be quiet if you want to catch any fish? Especially when it's past midnight.