memorial day

Our weekend ended up being on the quiet side. We prayed and prayed for our Papa Ray who had a surgery as part of his cancer treatment. And we wished that we could have been up in UT to celebrate Grandpa Randy's birthday with everyone.

So, Cori and I took a day-date on Saturday to eat Indian food and look at pianos. On Monday, we took the kiddos mini golfing. We put Eden in a carrier and things went a lot better than last time. We flew our flag, talked about our military family history, grilled ribs and artichokes, and enjoyed the 88* water in the pool. We managed to light up the fire pit in there somewhere, and even set the tent up for the G's to sleep in (they ended up in their sleeping bags on the floor of their room).

It is a sure sign of summer when all the backyard toys end up on the pool side of the yard. Two and a half days of school left!

1st year down

This week marked Grant's last day of preschool for the school year. At the end-of-the-year party, Grant was sprinkled with the much anticipated "magic glitter" which turned him from a 'younger' to an 'older'. He is ready to be one of the big kids on preschool campus next year and to be Miss Carrie's helper. 

He made good progress this year. He completed 100%+ on his last assessment: colors, letters/sounds, shapes, counting to 100, months, days of the week, his birthday, writing his name etc. Miss Carrie also gave him a little reading assessment and to my surprise, he sounded out a full page of words. It makes me laugh. We worked so hard with Grace to help her learn to read and write at this age. We haven't put nearly the same amount of work into it for poor Grant, but he is picking it all up anyway. He is one of three kids in his class that is making early reading progress, and Miss Carrie is really excited to help them along next year.  

Here he is playing a round of "Drip, Drop, Splash" (Duck, Duck, Goose AZ style).

For months, Grant looked forward to the annual field trip to the Phoenix Wildlife Zoo. It was on this field trip last year when Grace was in Miss Carrie's class that Grant fell in love with his future teacher on the log ride and decided that he might just like going to preschool. It was bittersweet for me. Last year, he was still so shy, still my little buddy glued to my side. This year he has become his own little guy, more confident, a class clown. 

 He was brave enough to feed the giraffes this year. Those long tongues make me a little jumpy too. No telling what they might do...

And, of course, the log ride with Miss Carrie. He loves the picture below, "Look how big I am smiling, Mom!"

     

Some other things about Grant lately: He can be quite the fastidious cleaner, when he wants to be. Though I have to constantly remind him to pick up his clothes, toys, and dishes, he is very good about helping me on our cleaning days. My love for clorox wipes seems to be rubbing off. I can get him to rub anything down. The other day, I caught him scrubbing his favorite star wars shoes.

He is our official car DJ. We can play songs off my phone through the car's bluetooth connection. He will sift through the album art and select songs for everyone in the car. Whenever I play a new song that he likes, he will ask to see the album picture and makes a mental note of the music that is surrounding it so he will be able to find it later. It is always so cute to me to listen to his selections. He really pays attention to the songs that people like best.

A couple of cute things he has said lately:

• "Mom, I may have to give you some of my money. This is the best dinner ever!"
• "This is kinda the most fun day. Don't worry, mom, I'm having fun." (Spoken over a quesadilla that was shared at a Dell Taco in a chunk of town I was not familiar with, but in which we were stuck when my car battery died and I couldn't get him to school.)
• "Will you give me a face/leg/back/foot mashage (massage)?" (Question that makes its appearance every night during family scripture time. All three kiddos will line up like a crescent of sun rays with their feet in my lap and I will rub legs while Cori reads. Keeps them quiet :) Grant is always the instigator.)

life lately

It is hot. And it isn't even June yet. We had a splendid little rainstorm a few weeks ago. Got to make the most of those days around here. The sun starts climbing before 5 AM. Cori and I have had a lot of early mornings and late nights trying to get our milage up in preparation for ragnar. The big run is just 3 weeks away. 

 Mother's day was so special. Good food. A great nap. New treasures.

In between long runs, final soccer games, temple trips and some yard work, Cori and I have spent our Saturdays working on this playhouse. We finally got the paver pad finished and were able to move it into place. Anytime Eden can squeeze out the door she baby sprints across the lawn to it. She loves to ring the doorbell, let herself inside, peek out the lemonade stand window, exit the house, close the door and then repeat, repeat, repeat. 

Today is Grant's final day of school for the school year. The pool was a toasty 88* last night. We are so close! 

practicing smiles and sketches

8 Years

Me and Cori (and Grace) on anniversary no. 1.

8 years ago this morning I married Cori - love of my life, apple of my eye. So glad he is mine to figure it all out with, to make mistakes with, to laugh and roll my eyes and hug it out and work and pray with. 

We have a lot of travel coming our way this summer and so wanted to keep it simple and close to home for our celebration. We are still on the hunt for a SCUBA certification class, but took advantage of last Saturday night to live it up in Scottsdale. 

We took the last tour of the day at Taliesin West. Though I have been familiar with Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural style and influence since my first humanities class, I was surprised by the experience of visiting one of his designs in person. We both were. 

The compound began as a winter camp for Wright and his 3rd wife. They were building on a budget. Originally there were no windows, just structures. To help supplement income, they invited a dozen "apprentices" to live with them, learn at the feet of the master, and help build for the price of room and board. Thus began the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Aspiring architects (and some of the original, at this point octagenarian, apprentices) still live here working towards BA or MA degrees in their craft. They share their time between Taliesin West in Arizona, and the other Taliesin in WI, Wright's home state. 

Anyhow, it was fascinating learning about Wright - he was quite the eccentric, narcissistic scoundrel - his spirited 3rd wife, Olgivanna and their life here. Even more so, it was amazing to experience Wright's design in action. Everything is built to his 'human scale.' He was just 5'7" and considered anything over 6 feet a waste of space. Doorways are short and cramped and thus guide their trespassers to generous living areas that are at once wide open but cozy, bathed in shadowless light but warm through his use of colors and materials. The angle of every wall, the placement of every vase, the design of every piece of furniture has form and function. Though we were following a tour guide, it was like Wright's hand was pushing us along from behind. 

The entrance to his office. A good example of the "compression and expansion" theme that pervades his work: the small compressed spaces that guide visitors through to the open living spaces.

The pergola terrace, tetraglyphs in the foreground. He was fascinated by these glyphs and their influence is seen in the familiar patterns of his stained glass motifs.

They originally had all this water tanked up to the property until the compound got electricity in the late 40's.

Wright was captivated by the sea. He said the desert reminded him of the ocean floor. He built Taliesin West to appear as a ship sailing into the southwest sea of the Phoenix desert. Pictured above is the bow of his vessel.

Cori exiting the famous Garden Room. ( I kinda wasn't supposed to take this picture. But the tour guide told me I could keep it as long as I don't sell it. No danger of that I think.) You can get an idea of the height of the doorways with Cori there for comparison.

The water tower which is no longer in service.

A peek into the apprentices' quarters.

The music theater room. Wright was taught architecture by a genius of acoustical engineering. There is not one single 90* angle in this entire room and it functions like a stone megaphone. At one point the tour guide turned her back to us and it made no difference in the sound whatsoever. There is also a little cove for a grand piano cut into the right side of the stage. The piano sounds as clear and bright as anything. Olgivanna taught the apprentices to dance, perform and play musical instruments and the Wrights would hold 'Taliesin Nights,' - formal affairs for the who's who of the west. The Wrights would position themselves at the back of this amphitheater during the performances so they could covertly catch up on the gossip being discussed by their guests. 

After the tour we headed downtown to have a fancy dinner at Cowboy Ciao. Every little bit of me was so happy spending that evening with him. Here's to 8 to the power of infinity more, mon cheri!  

so ready for summer

Gracie had friday off school. Friday is usually the day Grant and I clean the house. But we got our chores done earlier in the week so we could go to the zoo. I am very ready for everyday to be like this. 

We stopped at the store for lunchables on the way out and the G's thought it was the most amazing picnic lunch ever.

Gracie cashed in one of our camel ride vouchers. Grant took a pass. And we got to visit with Dutchess, the 52 year old orangutan. 

 Wipeout!

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool and on the couch with a pile of books.

Just a few more weeks until summer break, hurray!

grantigus lately

Interspersed with some pictures from last Saturday's soccer game is a little update on our little man. Round 2 of soccer has been great for him. He is playing with a handful of the boys he played with last time, but now they are renamed the Power Stars. He is getting more and more confident, and has even scored a couple of goals. The boy has a smile on his face each and every time he kicks the ball.

He really enjoys preschool. Most days. He writes his own name and tries to spell other words. He will bring me papers full of letters which are actually the first letters of individual words in a whole paragraph. Grant still loves doing projects with Grace - they busy themselves with the art cabinet on a daily basis.

Grant is a great buddy in the mornings before preschool. He occasionally whines about running errands, going visiting teaching, and the other things I drag him around to. But he wants to be good. He is amazingly well behaved during my weekly presidency meeting - hoping Eden will start following his example there. Grant is a great little cleaner when he is in the mood for it. Also, and this still amazes me, he loves to watch cartoons and play Wii, but for only so long. He will watch/play for a little while and then turn the tele off and find something else to do. 

We did a month of swim lessons to prepare for pool season. The first lesson was a little rough. But by the last lessons he was being brave and happy with the new things being asked of him. He is still a little nervous in the deep by himself, but the summer is off to a good start on the swim front I think. I really just want Grant confident and capable so that I can keep both eyes and arms available for Eden. That girl is going to be the death of me, but more on that later.

He still treats us to the occasional fit. Most of his grouchiness is manifested in non communication. But overall, his temperament is good. He starting to become a bit of a comedian. It sneaks up on us sometimes. The other day he fell into the pool. When he surfaced, I was ready for tears or at least some anger. But he stood up and said, "Are you kidding me? I just fell into the pool? Did you guys see that?" Cue crazy Grant laughter.