General Conference in Utah

We arrived in Utah midweek before General Conference weekend. It actually tends to be the initial reason why we all congregate in Utah around April and October every year. Daniel comes home for Conference and the rest of us flock to him like birds to bread.

My poor parents.

I don't think they've had a decent viewing of General Conference (sans wild animals in the house) for years. They are so patient. And Granny even gets into it with preparations to keep the kids busy. This time she had them coloring ties, playing General Conference bingo, and hanging up pictures related to the speakers and topics being discussed. They LOVE Granny's "busy work." They get right into it and make it their own, waxing artistic all over the place. And she's so wonderful to give them free reign with the supplies, even if their ideas don't jive with her plans for them. She's great at relinquishing expectations - something I hope I'll be able to master sooner than later, too. (Maybe it runs in the genes? I'm crossing my fingers.)

Snow in Utah: The Dog Frolics and The Blossoms Fight

Cash is no longer a part of my sister's family. After over a month of searching high and low, they finally found a suitable AND affordable rental for their family. The one flaw in its suitability was its lack of a fenced-in backyard. Cash now resides on a sprawling property with a new family and a sibling or two of his own species. He never looked back. And while Sara and Jarem are understandably saddened by this parting, they know it's for the best for both parties.

However, in terms of our snow day, Cash was still very much with us. He tackled the snow the same way he tackled the rocky trail a couple of days before: bounding about - up, down, up, down - like a dolphin leaping through rolling ocean waves. Fangs were bared in pure joy and ears defied gravity, extending up like giant bat wings. Cash epitomized the word frolic that morning. We even tried to stage a race across the front lawn to recreate our awesome bridge pictures from our hike. It didn't even remotely work. Cash took off to the side and the kids discovered that trying to run through snow the height of your knees was quite the challenge. See the tongues hanging out all over the place in concentration? (I'm not talking about the dog, here).

And then there were the blossoms. The beautiful, new blossoms on the neighbor's apricot tree that had birthed just the day before this late winter storm opened up and smothered them with an icy, coruscating shroud. I don't know if they made it or not. I'll have to ask my dad. But the pictures of these snow-laden blossoms strike me as simultaneously stunning and tragic. As you can see, I may have gotten a little carried away, bending and twisting under the apricot tree. I just couldn't pass up the layers of contrast: the blossoms representing new life, spring; the vengeful, malignant, stifling snow; and the brilliant expanse of blue heavens, unfurled like a standard of hope and a promise of light and warmth, a big brother to referee the pitiful struggle for life below.

Snow in Utah: The Oregonian Transplants Starve

Ari and Jude got all bundled up like marshmallows and made it out only to last about three minutes before the crying started. I don't think they had eaten breakfast yet, so they weren't too happy about being shooed outside with the rest of us. Check out Jude's face in the following pictures. You just don't know the definition of stubborn until you've met this character. He absolutely refuses to be coaxed to do . . . well . . . anything really. His actions have to be on his terms and his terms only. I have this thing I do with my camera. It's a really brilliant thing, if I do say so myself (pat, pat, pat). I tell whatever kid I'm photographing that if they look really closely into my camera and smile, Lightening McQueen (or Cinderella, if it's a girl) will wink at them. Then, when the shutter closes, I get all excited and say, "Did you see it?! Did you see him (her) wink at you?! No? Well, let's try again, then. Look a little closer this time. Smile a little bigger." It works pretty well most of the time. Just look at the two successive pictures of Ari stone faced and then grinning from ear to ear. Jude, however, never cracked a smile. Not even a fraction of a smile. He has the most smoldering smolder I've ever beheld. No, scratch that, he doesn't stare fire, he stares daggers. Blue steel. Doesn't he just look like a children's clothing model in these pictures?! It would never work out, though, since his 'look' screams, "buy my clothes or I'll hunt you down and make you wish you'd never seen this magazine." Boy, I have a lot of respect for my sister and her husband, they have to be really, really creative people to navigate this child through life. Jude is a crack up and I love him all the more for his strong personality.

*Notice the pile of crepes in front of a very content Ari? Food is key. Food = smiles. :D

Snow in Utah: The San Diegans (and Arab) Freeze

As much as I don't like the snow, I'm glad it snowed. Buddha always talks about snow and how much he enjoys playing in it. And he really does. He delights in it . . . even when he isn't dressed properly for it . . . like just about every time we encounter snow (including this one). Disregarding everyone's warnings to the contrary, Bugga started out his romp through the heavy powder without gloves. That didn't last long. He came to me with numb fingers, thoroughly terrified that they were going to fall off (because I may or may not have exercised the parental right of inspiring obedience through recitation of tales of woe and horror that befall those who fail to obey). I huffed some warm air on them and rubbed them quickly between my hands and then we bundled them all up in some of grandpa's HUGE gloves. He was rather put out that he couldn't insert each finger into it's own slot since his tiny hand really only filled up the palm of the glove. Pipilo watched the action from inside the house, behind the windows, safely and warmly enveloped in grandpa's able arms. Unkey Dino decided to multi-task. He's not a fan of frigid weather (really, who is?), so he used his precious few minutes outside to dig out the cars while the kids played around him.