Em (only the Littles can call her that)

June 29

Em - she has a natural ability to work with children, especially these little ones.  One of my favorite things about watching her with Kate or Daniel is how she always is asking them questions.  She tries to stay up on what they are doing and will often ask them about specific things that have happened or are coming up.  She also plays with them... she'll thrown them on the couch pillows, think of fun ways to get them to eat dinner, let them roll her up like a taco, dance with them around the front room, and read books to them on the couch.  Kate and Daniel are at a tough age, where they don't know when to stop or when they have crossed a line from fun to frustrating.  But Emily is patient (we give each other grumbling looks at times) and is firm with them and once she's had a little break is ready to try a new activity with them.  She's a remarkable you woman with a great many talents.  I'm so grateful that we have her!

Our resident artist

Gah!  I wrote this whole post and then somehow lost it... so this version might be a little shorter :(  

So I interviewed Amy a few days ago about her artistic interests.  It was fun to hear how she saw this talent come about.  From my point of view, her painting and drawing skills didn't come out of nowhere exactly, but her skill of expressing her talents seems suddenly deeper and surprisingly advanced.  She has a vision of what she's trying to create and then she does it.  I love watching her unfold.  Anyway, here is the basic background of our resident artist according to her...

• She took a class in 7th grade, kinda liked it, but didn't feel like she was that good.
• During a trip to Disneyland with her mom (when in 8th grade, I think) she went to "Art Studio" - a little class they offer on how to draw animated characters.  The instructor breaks down how to draw a character.  Amy drew Donald, Scrooge the Duck, and Sally.
• She would draw a little on her own
• In 9th grade she started drawing more and part way through the year asked the "teacher of Young Masters" (the more advanced art class offered in Junior High) if she could join the class.  After looking at some of her drawings the teacher let her join.
• In class they did mostly sketching, which she liked.  At the end of the year they did a painting unit and she loved it!
• She likes painting and sketching, but she thinks she's better at painting (she's pretty amazing at both).
• At the end of the school year (2015-2016) her ward was having an auction fundraiser for camp.  She painted two pieces for it - the temple and the first vision.  The bishop and I got into a bidding war over the First Vision piece.  In the end I let the bishop have it (but only because Amy promised that she would paint one for us).
• After the fundraiser several people in her ward asked if she would do some custom work for them.  A friend of her mom's also asked her to do some paintings for the rest home where she worked. That ended up being her first paid art job and she's had a few other offers for painting jobs in the future.

So here are some of the pictures that we've seen recently with a brief background.

Sent via text on June 1.  This was the first "Sacred Grove" painting she did (and I can't get it to rotate!).

This is the second one that she did and it is the one I got into the bidding war with the bishop over.  The first picture is without people and then she added them in for the second picture.  I also like the photo of the painting... her bushes and painting plate and the tubes of paint...

 

The early stages of her Timpanogos Temple picture that she also did for the camp fundraiser.  

 These were her first commissioned paintings done for a rest home.  She was given very specific parameters on color and design.  I was impressed not only with the artwork but how she handled the correction and adjustments that she had to make (for example, she wanted to add in a little more color - like a red boat in the lake, but was told to change it).  This is the after the first session...

 

 And the finished product...

 These are the other paintings in the series for the rest home.

MGB update - July 26

The left side is welded on.  So is the left floorboard.  They've been using John's welder and plasma gun.  It's been great to have friends (and make friends) who have helped with different parts of the project so far.

 

Tyler cleaning off the clutch plate in his new onesie.  Initially I thought it would be fun to get them both these working overalls so that they looked official.  Turns out they are way more practical than just cute.  Tyler had been mentioning that he'd really like one so we didn't get burned by the sparks from welding.  And Matt had his pile of work clothes that would not be salvageable because of the grease and grime.  He wanted a onsie too, to spare more clothes.  Done.

MGB update - July 9 Welding

There is some serious stuff going on in the garage these days!  I will frequently walk into the garage and have either Matt or Tyler or both will look up to see what I need.  Today, both heads were down as they were working.  Focused.  That's what they are, focused!  Tyler has had some experience welding from a class he took last year in school.  He's steadily improving, but how cool to be able to be actually welding (as long as it holds)!  This is the left rail and floorboard that they were working on.

 

It's fun to watch this guy watch Tyler.  He's done a little of the welding but Tyler has done the majority.  It still is fun to try, as you can see on his face.

 

Both were quick to make sure I wasn't looking at the plasma cutting/welding as I watched them for a little bit.  I turned away when I took the pictures.   Matt is working with the plasma cutter.

 

  

Tyler doing some welding.  It's pretty cool.  I gotta admit.

4th of July

 I love the 4th of July.  I love that I was raised in a family that celebrated it and in a community that values it.  Matt had to round in the morning so he decided to ride his bike and I drove down to Provo to the parade and he met us there.  I can't remember why we were delayed that morning, but we were sitting at the beginning of the parade route instead of the end like we usually do.  So mom called a few times to check on our progress and then met me at the parking lot for the Provo Rec and we hustled over to meet up with everyone else.  As soon as I arrived all three of the Littles ran to join cousins or uncles (Oliver didn't exactly run, but he was reaching for Uncle Brett).  It's one of the greatest blessings of being around family - the interactions here and there and the familiarity that grows to be surprisingly strong.  My relationship with my siblings has been especially valuable in my life.  I'm so very grateful that our children have the opportunity to form those bonds with family, immediate and extended.

Kate and Daniel were super excited at all the people and the mood of the parade.  Well, that is until some guns were fired and the police sirens started going off, then Daniel, who was sitting on Troy's lap at the time, covered his ears and had a very concerned look on his face.  After a few minutes he came over to sit with Amy and Emily who had shown up not long after we got there.  Amy had slept at Emily's the night before and then they walked to where we were sitting.  The parade seemed seemed shorter this year (when does a parade ever feel shorter?) but it was so fun  The lit

After the parade some of us had decided to go swimming.  It worked out perfectly to be just a few blocks from the Provo Rec and to have parked in it's parking lot for the parade.  We all walked back and changed and spent the afternoon in the relatively calm Provo Rec pool.  It was so fun.  We wanted a family pictures (minus Tyler).  We probably shouldn't have told the Littles that we were going home after we took a picture...

It was Brett's family, Ash-Anna, Robyn's girls, and our crowd for most of the time.  Lot's of fun!

 We headed home for naps and a little down time.  Then we all met back up at the park next to our neighborhood for a pot luck.  You can't reserve the park so we headed down about 5:30 to see if the pavilion was free and set up.  It ended up working out so well.  We ate and chatted and the kids played some games we brought or at the playground.  I worried that they would get bored before the fireworks started at 9 or later, but the time passed quickly.  As dusk started to settle in quite a few other families came to the park as well.  Apparently we weren't the only ones who had this idea (I think it is usually full every 4th of July).  As soon as the fireworks started booming Daniel crawled into my lap with his hands over his ears.  He's long been sensitive to loud noises and we had them going off behind us, in front of us in the park, and all throughout the valley.  Brett took the following two pictures of our fam...

Those storm clouds look pretty intense, but it didn't rain at all or slow down any of the fireworks.  In fact, it was a much more pleasant evening than I was expecting, probably thanks to the cloud cover

 Oliver Mac was pretty exhausted from the day, bless his little soul.  He snuggled in with Grandpa Tay for a while before he and Mom volunteered to take the Littles home and they put Kate, Daniel, and Oliver to bed. 

    

I tried the panoramic mode on my phone and tried to capture the evening and all the fireworks...

 

What a great day.  Pretty much perfect in my book.  I'm grateful for this wonderful country.  Happy 4th.

Matt the electrician

July 1

It was a few years ago that we started talking about getting some shelves and a desk for this wall space.  It's a lot of wall space to fill, but I envisioned it as a very usable space for the kids to do homework or projects.  I looked at pictures and tried to figure out what I thought would work.  Matt looked at the ideas and felt like he might be able to do the project.  So we sat down and drew out this picture of what we wanted. 

We came up with the idea of having a table in the center, in stead of a built in desk, so that we could move it out and sit behind it to watch TV while working on a project.  Eventually we realized that Matt's schedule and responsibilities were not going to allow this project to happen.  We contacted a guy named Monte, showed him our drawing, got an estimate, and then waited until it was something we could do. 

We thought it would be cool to have some lights at the top, but Monte didn't do electrical work, but I happen to know a cool guy who taught himself how to do it when we were finishing the basement.  So This is Matt a few days before the install getting the electrical work done.  He's pretty awesome!  This also works as our "before" picture.


 Ta da!!  It's in!!  I was more nervous about this because I'm not so sure of my decorating skills and this was a big, non-removable, expensive project.  But I love how it turned out.  We found the table and chairs on KSL classifieds and Monte painted it to match the set.  It's fun to see it go from paper to reality. 

Bandaid twins

Our Dominican Republic preparations have included getting our *********** shots.  No one was especially excited about it (who would be) but I was particularly impressed with how well everyone did.  Matt went a few days ago but I went this morning with the Littles and then made arrangements to meet Amy and Shanine at the health department this afternoon.  When Kate and Daniel were getting ready I sat them on my lap and had an open bag of fruit snacks on the desk next to us.  The nurse was so quick that as I pointed out the fruit snacks and talked to them about how they got to eat them as soon as they were done she had already poked them.  They both whimpered, but the pre and -post-anxiety was cut down to a minimum.

Kate got a Wonder Woman bandaid.  She wasn't familiar with the superhero, so the nurse and I both told her how brave and strong she was.  Kate seemed happy with the bandaid choice.  Later in the day when I went with Amy she mentioned that she got a Wonder Woman bandaid, too.  So when I got home I asked her to text Kate a picture of her bandaid.  Kate thought that was awesome that they were bandaid twins and asked if we could text a picture back to Amy.  

Another visit to Matt's office

July 5

So the sandbox has been a popular activity for Kate and Daniel this summer.  Hooray!  But I think it was the cause of Daniel's latest injury.  He woke up from his nap really crying but not getting out of bed.  I went up and his eyes were still closed even though he was crying.  I wondered if he was having a bad dream or night terror (err... day terror in this case).  I talked to him and rubbed his back and he fell back asleep though  he didn't ever open his eyes.  Then an hour or so later the same thing happens.  This time I finally get out of him that he can't/won't open his eyes.  I tried to open it for him and he screamed!  I tried to lay him down and put some eye drops in but he wouldn't open his eyes at all to let it in.  I tried a little but he was so upset I couldn't really do it.  After almost 30 minutes I decided to call Matt.  He said to bring Daniel down.  Daniel quieted down in the car but still wouldn't open his eyes.  He kept his eyes closed all the way up to Matt's office, sniffling as we went.  They had us wait in the "procedure room" (I don't know what they call it) were I tried to ask Daniel questions to keep him distracted (that's when I took this picture... makes me a little sad to see his face all solemn).

Just a few minutes before they were about to put some solution into his eye that would make any scratches or abrasions visible with black light I had convinced Daniel to try and watch a show on my phone.  He slowly opened his eyes and started to watch Bob the Builder.  They still wanted to see if his eye had been scratched, so they put the solution in his eye (which Daniel did not enjoy) and held up the black light.  Sure enough, there was a scratch right across his pupil.  It wasn't deep but they thought they would try putting this bandage on his eye to help protect it.  Daniel pulled it off before we got home.  Poor kid.  I like him all the time.