Frost

Taking a leaf out of Carrie's book:

Follow That Bird

Addie has had a runny nose and a fever and has generally not been feeling well, so we have been doing a lot of couch-cuddling and TV-watching together. Her favorite is "Big Birt". Even after all these years, I still like this movie. Here's Adelaide bopping along to her favorite "Follow That Bird" song:

(I can get my camera to work in about 30 second spurts. Watch for the fun black lines in the last few seconds of the video!)

p.s. What I REALLY needed to get a video of was her temper-tantrum after she realized the movie was over. Now THAT'S entertainment.

Family Pictures '09

Because there's no such thing as too many pictures of my daughter.

(By the way, I started this post in the middle of November, but then I had to upload these high quality pictures one at a time and yes, it took me until December. Don't judge me.)

I love these pictures because they're so honest.

The End

If you want to see our Halloween costumes

click here. Yep. We're boring. I actually was a haunted wood spirit (aka ghost) but I used this dress and just didn't tie it up. I put on scary eye makeup and I think it worked out rather well. We stayed home on Halloween night and Caleb and I watched a scary movie. I am just enjoying the time before Adelaide realizes that we should be out getting candy.

p.s Thank you Carrie for the cute blog post all about ME!

Happy Birthday!

(I found lots of fun pictures like this when I uploaded pictures after Ashley and Caleb's trip this fall.)

This little miss is 24 today! I remember, vividly, the day that I went to meet her in the hospital. She was a c-section and had a perfectly round head, smooth pink skin and kissable cheeks. Once she came home she was the object of everyone's affection. Emily and I fought constantly over who got to hold the baby. We're still fighting over who gets Ashley. We all want her all the time.

She continues to be a ray of sunshine and a blessing to all who are lucky enough to have her in their lives. It has been immensely rewarding to watch her become the incredible mother that she is to Adelaide. I feel closer to her now than I ever have. I love mothering together and only wish that she were closer and we could do it more often. I frequently lament the fact that I am raising these boys on my own and without family to sit around and appreciate them with me. When Ashley and Caleb were recently here I got a small dose of just that. She was there to appreciate the subtleties of my boys' personalities and quirks. We giggled as we watched the interactions of Addie with my boys. She noticed the details that I needed her to. I tried, with my boys help, to kidnap Addie and keep her when they flew back to Utah in September.

I love Ashley's ability to laugh at herself and to make the best of whatever her situation is. This quality has and will continue to serve her well. What a blessing it is to call her my sister. Happy Birthday Ashley!

Look at my cute family!

Here.

And Here.

My Camera Is Broken...

So here are three videos for your enjoyment.

Here is Carrie's favorite:



And here's mine:



And here is Nat's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI

(You have to go to YouTube for this one. But it's worth it.)

You may have seen these already but they're still hilarious.

The Food Post

It has been less than a month and I am posting again. Don't faint. Caleb and Adelaide are at Sunday Dinner (yes the caps are necessary- it is an Event). I am home sniffling and sneezing and headach-ing. And I was looking through pictures to find ones of me that I could photoshop to look cool...err...because I miss my husband and child.

Anyway, apparently I take a lot of pictures of food with the intention (ha ha!) of blogging about it later. And since I am home eating a "dang casa-dilla" while the rest of my family eats homemade hamburgers and chicken teriyaki, I thought I would invite all of you to take a culinary journey with me. So here is what we have been eating lately.

Homemade bread


Couscous stuffed tomatoes

Moroccan Chicken

Homemade cream puffs

Pecan Tassies

Fresh mint brownies (for movie night)

And because I can't resist, here is my baby eating fresh salsa from our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Long Time Coming

Here are some pictures from my visit to California. Finally. It has been sitting as a draft for about a month now. I loved seeing my mommy and daddy and watching them grandparent. (Mom, can that be a verb?) So, here we go:

Seaworld
(As you can tell, Adelaide liked the sea creatures better than the birds this time.)

Mt. Helix
(I finally got to go up here. It's neat.)

We went back to Seaworld again.
(This was mostly so I could argue with Adelaide over an orange smoothie.)

Baths in Mom and Dad's pool of a bathtub.
(I have never seen such a happy baby. "Whoa..." she says)

The Beach

The End

Say Hello To My Little Friend

About two weeks ago I noticed a caterpillar happily munching on some milkweed outside our house. (Thank you Caleb for not letting me pull it up.) I kept an eye on the little guy and last week I went outside and found this:

Because I can't just leave things alone, I brought him inside and looked up how to take care of a monarch butterfly. This morning I went into the kitchen and noticed this:


Adelaide kept saying "Bu-fwy! Bu-fwy!" She loves it. So our beautiful butterfly is airing his wings out in the kitchen. What an amazing little miracle we got to witness. I can't wait to watch him fly away this afternoon.

Navigating the Potty

Warning: If the words "poo-poo" and "potty training" offend you, stop reading now. Even though I guess it doesn't matter because you just read those words anyway.

Now if it were up to me I would NOT be potty training my sixteen month old, but she started telling me "poo-poo" about a month ago. I figured "what the heck" and bought a little potty. She has been going on it pretty frequently. This video was from when we first got it and Adelaide was trying to figure it out. Don't worry- she knows how to sit on it now. (And I don't let her put her feet in it now that it's- ahem- used. No matter how many Clorox wipes I use.)



I have to say that my favorite part of this video is the first fifteen seconds when she is distraught that she pulled her diaper tab off.

Ye Olde Faire

I know this was a while ago, but I thought I would get on the blog and talk about our experiences at Nerdfest- I mean the Renaissance Faire. Say what you will, it was a blast.

Here we are about to journey up past Ogden:



Ian and Aaron got in some good sword practice before the jousting started.

These guys were amazing. This was real, full contact jousting. The week before when Caleb and I were here, one of the knights blacked out on his horse for w few seconds because a lance glanced off his helmet.


Those horses were huge. I thought it would be fun to watch the jousting, but it was actually kind of scary. It all ended well though, and our knight won.



Jakob learned how to juggle from the court jester. He was actually really good, and apparently went home and perfected the art and is now giving his mom tips.

We found this Robin Hood hat for Jakob and he was in heaven. Look at those archery skills.

Next year our costumes will be even cooler and we'll know more what to do and not to do. Gypsy dancing, yes. Outlaw show, no. Homemade cream soda, yes. And giant turkey legs for everyone!

Abba

Emily, Lee, Meg and Carrie circa 1979

I wish that I could get to some current pictures of my father but they are currently in the abyss of this computer's memory. You'll have to just take my word for it-- Lee is still a handsome man. I have known for as long as I can remember that he is the most handsome, the smartest, the kindest and most generous man in the world. All little girls are entitled to think they got the best dad around. The truth of the matter is that I did.

When I was little he used to take us to his institute classes on daddy daughter dates. I loved watching all the students line up after class to ask him doctrinal questions. This reinforced my belief that he was the best-- everyone else seemed to think so.

Wherever I have gone in my life his reputation has preceded me. When I went to BYU he had already paved the way, I could add religion classes by dropping his name with the professors. His midwestern influence could be felt all the way up to Madison where he had worked with many of the members of the church. When I went to Samoa he had been there the previous year, leaving an impression on all the school faculty. I was again, Lee's daughter when we arrived in Maryland. One of his dear friends was Luke's sunbeam teacher. All of the comments from those who know him are the same, glowing praise of a man who has spent his life in the service of others. I have always loved being Lee Donaldson's daughter and the favor that it has bought me in the eyes of those that know him. It always has been and remains an integral part of my sense of self.

This legacy of dedication to the Lord's church is one that I cherish and pray that I can pass on to my children. Little Isaac carries his grandfather's name in the hopes that he will carry on that legacy.

What a blessing it is to be Lee's daughter!

Happy Father's Day!

Grandma Lisa-isms

As most of you know, my Grandma Lisa passed away last month. I have been thinking about her a lot and some of the things that I do that I could categorize as "Lisa-isms". Most recently I have found myself looking up and printing song lyrics and singing them around the house. The funny part is, I had been doing this for almost a week before I realized that is something my grandma would do. Hopefully the coats and coats of bright red lipstick will be coming next... Anyone else have a Lisa-ism?

p.s. I'll post some pictures soon. I promise.

My Momma

I find myself a little teary this mother's day morn as I go through and find pictures of my mom. There are so many avenues that I could take as I pay tribute to my mother. But what comes to me is how present my mother has always was and how present she still is, despite the distance.

My mother was at every race I ever ran, no matter how far away it was. She went to every performance of every play that my siblings were in. She attended all the improv events that Kirk participated in. She advocated for Spencer wherever she could. A day without a conversation with my mom is the exception. She calls to find out how sharing time or my presidency meetings have gone. She carries on long and boring conversations with Luke over the phone. She cooked me a Thanksgiving feast after Isaac was born. She holds my babies and cares about every milestone. She is so completely there for all of her kids (and so many other kids). She is now so present and attentive to all her missionaries.

It's a miraculous blessing to have this woman as my mom. She means everything to me as I find myself following in her mothering footsteps.

I love you, mom. Happy Mother's Day!