A Birthday Party?

You heard it right..

I am notoriously known as being..

A BAD BIRTHDAY PARTY MOM..

It's bad, I know..

It's important, I know..

It means so much, I know..

I'm just bad at it, I know..

Wouldja like a little Walker

birthday party history??

Chelsea ~ 3 parties

Savannah ~ 1 party

Adi ~ 0 parties

See??

Toldja..

I promised the little girls they could each have a birthday party this year..

..and shock-of-all-shocks

I kept one promise!!

One week after Savannah's actual birthday?

Par-tay..

She planned it..

She wanted everyone to wear their pjs,

have snacks,

watch Rocketman..

{have you seen this movie??

one of our favorites..

btw - if you don't like stupid humor

pretend I didn't recommend this..}

..the happy birthday-girl..

..Baylie..

{of "Bizbannah" fame..}

..Mazie..

..some of the gals..

..just "hanging"..

..the whole gang..

top: Rachel, Hailey, Savannah!

middle: Sophie, Mazie, Tyler {Adi's friend}, Adi,

Chloe {Adi's friend}, Sydney

front{?}: Maddy, Baylie, Abby, Lizzy

..some gifties..

..Adi invited her friend Chloe to come

{handy, because her 2 sisters were invited},

and at the last minute,

her buddy Tyler showed up!

{he fits in easily, so no biggie!}

..present time!..

Hailey & Savannah ~ cousins!!

.."the littles"..

..Sydney really likes to be the center of attention..

..our one "no-show" Jessica,

she came by to bring a gift &

say Happy Birthday!!

Easy?

Yep..

Fun?

Yep..

Happy girl?

Yep..

Yay for birthday parties!!

My First Cross-Reference!

Scripture Reading and Hair-Drying

These go hand-in-hand, am I right??

Well, my answer is YES!!

I have struggled all of my married life to be a consistent scripture reader.. Of the personal study-type. We have always done a pretty good job as a family, and it is nearly impossible to compare myself with Davy and his consistent, in-depth, detailed, diligent scripture study. {really, he's amazing}

To tell a little back-story, when I was younger {I'm guessing 12ish?} our ward had a scripture-reading program, where each ward member would receive a certificate for 30-, 60-, 90-, 6 month, and 1 year scripture reading - with NO misses. Our family took on this challenge. I think somewhere between the 90-day and 6 month mark my parents may have missed a day, but my sister and I kept going. We each received the 1 year certificate. We kept on going. It became quite a feat. I remember once, we were spending the night at my Grandma Ruth's, and my mom called at about midnight {on the ONE phone in the house} and remembered we had forgotten to read that night. WHEW!! She saved us from a miss!! I may be mistaken in my remembering, but I'm pretty sure my sister and I went 6 YEARS without missing a day. Pretty incredible, I'd say! Unfortunately, I think once we missed, we just kept on missing.

Fast forward to my whole marriage. As I stated before, my husband is a diligent scriptorian. I have been his cheerleader. I have always been impressed with his example. I guess being impressed was as far as I would go. I wanted to do my personal scripture study. I just didn't want to do anything about it.

Skip ahead to about April 2009. I was incredibly morning-sick. I could hardly make myself stand up. In desperation, I moved a folding chair into my bathroom so I could sit while I dried my hair. Somehow this evolved into my using the scriptures on my iPhone to read while I was drying my hair. VOILA! Somehow, this.. THIS was the key!

Now, I'm not saying I haven't missed a day. I have, for sure, but for the most part, I am a very consistent reader now! I'm not sure what it is.. uninterrupted time to myself? the white-noise blocking out other distractions? being stuck in one spot for that 10-15 minutes? I'm going to have to answer, D: All of the above. In addition, it feels weird, even wrong, if I'm NOT reading my scriptures while that hair dryer is on...

{and can I say - I'm retaining, and even enjoying The Book of Mormon? It doesn't even feel like a chore!}

Heaven & Hell..

A friend of a friend posted this on facebook today..

There's a huge fire in South Salt Lake County..

..he gets credit for naming this picture, too..

So, Guess What??

12 years ago today,

I got one of these....

..are you jealous??

You should be!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAVANNAH!!

WE LOVE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!

Music's In.. My Soul?

Music and Me

You know how everyone has a genre of music they love??

Ya.. Me? I don’t..

Now, I feel like I am a somewhat musical person. I am a decent singer. I am a pretty good pianist {mostly self-taught}. I played the viola for about 16 years.

I should have "musical tastes".

I should. But I don't.

I started realizing that I tend to just “like” {or not like} whatever the person I’m with likes. I am generally a pleaser, and so I don’t tend to “push” things {like my "music choices"} on people. In fact, if I’m in my car alone {it happens every once in a while!} I listen to.. well.. nothing.. Just me and my thoughts on a ride..

Growing up, I just listened to what my parents liked. Which was {mostly} John Denver and the Beach Boys. There were also lots of other parental era tunes, but for the most part, these two. Not that I’m complaining! I still really love them both, and they totally bring back lots of memories. But, I still consider them my "parents' music", and not my own.

I distinctly remember being in Junior High, over at my best friend Jeanette’s house. (She was an only child who had the whole upstairs to herself!) {Not that I had a huge family to deal with, but she seemed to live the “college girl” life as a 13-year old}) Anyway I remember her pulling out an REO Speedwagon record. I had no idea who they were! In fact, looking at the cover of the album, I was sure this was some kind of "hooligan" music.. She played their most recent popular song.. Didn’t ring a bell.. I had never heard it. I literally never listened to "Top 40" radio. This continued {kind of} through high school. I still didn’t really listen to the radio, but I was starting to make my own music choices. For some reason, I chose to like music that was a bit outdated. My senior year I was psycho about the Go-Go’s. They had hit their peak 2-3 years earlier, but I chose to “love” them late. I’m not even sure I liked them that much, I think it was of my way of being unique? I got a kick out of how much it bugged my friends that I insisted on listening to them in my car.

Now, I have many songs I like. I spend a lot of time in the car with my 19-year old daughter who loves to have music on. Always. But again, if I’m by myself, its quiet.

I guess if I had to pick a favorite genre, I’d say MUSICALS. It’s fruity, I know. But I love me a good musical. {except Carousel – hate it – ..but even then, it has a couple amazing songs} I don’t know why I love them so much.. Maybe there is a part of me that wishes I could experience a day that happens in the form of a Musical. It makes me giggle just thinking about it. {now that I think about it - maybe Musicals should be its own entry}

I guess a bonus to this quandary is I don't spend a lot of money on CD's.. well, for me anyway.. {so I guess that really doesn't count as a bonus} AND I guess I don't go to lots of expensive concerts, because my favorite never seems to come to town.

Now, I'm left feeling like that was a rant, because I honestly don't know how to end this post.

Well, Here Goes Nothin'!

I am sooooo stumped on how to start this..

Basically, I'm starting a project..

If you're so inclined, you can read it!

HERE! On my blog!!

Because that is where I'm putting it..

I feel like I need a tiny bit of explanation..

So here goes..

Ready??

I have a friend..

She's known to the blogging world as Landeelu Landerson..

I happen to know her in person by another name..

But I digress..

She is my blogging idol..

She knows this..

I've told her more than once..

Really..

She's the reason I started a blog in the first place..

She is!!

Any-hoo.. Landee has started a project called

"Me: The Abridged Version"

..and I love it, and want to start too..

So basically, I'll be writing things about ME..

They will be random..

They might be short or maybe really long..

The idea is to eventually alphabetize them..

..and then have a kind of..

"Encyclopedia of Marci"..

It's just a little something fun..

I think it will be a cool posterity kind of thing..

I'm now going to quote Landee..

..twice..

"The subject matter will be random and silly and maybe even heartfelt from time-to-time. Who knows, right? But I'll be putting it all here on the blog. I'll then label it with the letter it will be filed under making it easier when the time comes to compile and print my book."

"I think your kids would love it. . . I think your husband would love it. . . "

So,

That, in a tiny nutshell, is what I'm doing..

If you have questions.. comments.. suggestions.. would like to learn more..

..leave me a comment and I'll try to help you out..

{I will be labeling these posts as M:TAV, and the letter!}

Pondering on Bizbannah..

This is Savannah..

Maybe you know her..

{one of her many nicknames is..

BIZBANNAH

..given by her friend Baylie,

..back when Baylie couldn't say

SAVANNAH}

..modeling a hat she made..

..more on that in a minute..

Savannah has been making a very hard decision..

..what instrument to play in orchestra..

..she's been deciding between the Viola & the Cello..

This decision has to be made TODAY..

..definite pros & cons to each..

Pro - viola - mom played for 10+ years..

Con - cello- size..

{I think these are the main points at the moment}

She was really decided on the viola,

until the orchestra assembly..

..decisions..

..no one in our house is good at these..

I also got this note on my bed this morning..

Mom,

While I am at school

can you call Angie and see

if I can get more layers?

Savannah

For our "back-to-school" haircut,

we put a few layers in her hair..

apparently, she wants some more..

I'm not sure she realizes this will potentially mean

more time in the "stylists chair"

{meaning the folding chair in my bathroom}

She's definitely a "tween"

She's more "in to"

a little more grown up stuff..

but still, really just a little girl..

*sigh*

Have I mentioned her plate is a little full??

On top of orchestra starting next week..

{Tuesday & Thursday 8-8:50 before school}

She's in dance Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

{totalling 8 hours/week}

AND she has her last Activity Days today..

{every other Wednesday 3-4}

{so will be starting Young Women in 2 weeks,

every Wednesday night}

AND she has lots of homework..

AND she's in piano..

{Wednesdays 3:45-4:15 + practice}

..here she is practicing this morning..

..her recital song..

"Paparazzi"

yes, the Lady Gaga song..

{is her teacher hip or what??}

{hip probably isn't a very hip word..}

..some art homework she did last night..

..just thought it was cool..

{is cool better??}

..oh yeah..

There are kids from the high school going to India,

and they asked the 6th graders to help with hats to take over..

In the last week and a half

she's made 5!!

Savannah!

You are one crazy, busy girl..

I LOVE YOU!!

*by the way..

she chose..

Viola..

*also, Baylie also used to say

BIZBURBAN..

for Suburban..

Y Do We Climb It??

September 6, 2010

So, we decided to hike the Y..

MOST of us had never done it..

I KNOW, it's one of those

"things to do when you live in Utah County"

..we just hadn't got around to it..

Until Monday!

{and yes, Labor Day

is apparently a VERY popular day

to hike the Y..}

Did I mention it was 48 degrees when we left our house??

What is up with that early September??

First to the top!

The view!

"Y" poses!

..making a quick plan..

Ta-da!!

Chelsea & Adi decided to go clear to the top!

Savannah was content to relax at the bottom..

Savannah, ever the animal lover,

hoped to see a lizard on her hike..

She didn't find one..

No worries!

She brought her own!

**if you're wondering why you don't see ME in any of these photos..

well, after turn 2 {there are 10}

I decided to wait on a bench and read my book..

{my Kindle syncs with my phone}

I'm reading "The Help"

I highly recommend it!!

Wrong on so many levels..

A Mini-Reunion of Sorts..

August 28, 2010

Davy's sister Carole came to town

{from San Fransisco area}

She and her 6 kids haven't been ALL together

in over 5 years!!

So they met up in Utah,

and we had a brunch!!

The whole gang!

{minus Brian, taking the picture}

{Please excuse the details..}

back row: Glo {Davy's sister}, Chris {Carole's #4}, Megan {Brian's wife}, Grandpa Glade, Jennifer {Carole's #1}, Rachelle {Carole's #5}, Stephanie {Carole's #3}, Adrianne {Glo's #1}, Grandma Rosemary, Nick {Julie's #1}, Savannah, Julie, Marcikay

front row: Brian {Carole's #2}, KeAli'i {Jennifer's husband}, Kimberly {Carole's #6}, Carole {Davy's sister}, Hailey {Julie's #2}, Adi, Chelsea

We were missing Davy's other sister, Beckie and her 3 kids & spouses.. {and 3 grandkids!}

Oh! and Davy!! {he was hiking Timp}

12 of 15 grandkids!

Carole's family..

Pretty impressive!

sisters.. and me - the in-law!

Rosemary & Glade!