A Few of My Favorite Things

All of our children were home with one last weekend to enjoy before school starts tomorrow. We spent it in the mountains - one of my favorite things to do. This is Rainbow Pools.
Scott and Doug jumping together.
Ouch for Ben.
Camera in hand to catch all the action.
I love this picture of all four of the boys jumping together.
This is my favorite outfit - shorts, tshirt, baseball cap and backpack. I'm so glad Emily likes this outfit too.



Devils Postpile at Mammoth Lakes, California.


Rainbow Falls



Some of the boys wanted to catch a little fishing time.
Others just relaxed.
I love this picture of Matt helping Thomas.
My brave Emily, (actually very afraid of heights) did great on a zip line.
And both Emi and Tom tried climbing.
The four boys did some mountain biking. Unfortunately, Ben came back wounded.

We also visited Obsidian Dome and then ended the weekend at church in Yosemite Valley.

Joke of the Day

Karin and Ben have finished their time in San Francisco, Scott has finished his summer term at BYU, and school begins on Monday for Doug, Tom and Emily. I really wanted to have one last weekend with all of us together before everyone goes in different directions and I am home all alone during the day.

We came to Mammoth Lakes which is a ski resort in the winter and has hiking and mountain bike riding in the summer. On the way here, Matt was telling how we would travel through Yosemite National Park and then enter the Ansel Adams Wilderness. Tom piped in by saying "Oh so will that be in black and white"?

Farewell Concert

For two years Doug has been studying piano with a wonderful teacher at CSU Stanislaus, Dr. Stephen Thomas.Our family is very sad that he has left the University and moved on to a new position at Brigham Young University - Idaho. In July he gave a farewell concert and invited Doug and a few others to participate with him. Here are a few video clips of the evening. I did not post the solo pieces that Dr. Thomas played because I haven't had a chance to ask his permission.

In the home of our lovely neighbors, Jerry and Kathy Callister, Doug is playing Liebestraum No. 3 by Franz Liszt

Prelude in G minor, op.23, no. 5 by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Ashley Callister Carter, a former student of Dr. Thomas visiting from Chicago and playing Fantasie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, op.66 by Frederic Chopin

Dr. Thomas concluded the evening by sharing his feelings about music and nature and God. Jessica sang "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" accompanied by Doug and then Doug and Steve played it as a duet.


Friends often say to me how proud I must be of Doug. I am proud of him, but my predominant feeling is that I am happy he has found something he loves. All people should be so lucky to find early in life something that touches their soul. Most, spend entire lives searching for something that fulfills them. How blessed we are to have the Gospel and music.

I am proud of the work that Doug has put in. All accomplished musicians make a performance look easy. But even if someone has a gift, there is still a lot of work required. Doug has practiced what I would consider faithfully for a 15-year old boy and he is getting better at practicing and doing more of it. It isn't easy when others are watching TV, playing with friends or just relaxing to sit with a metronome and work at the piano. This summer, when the Callisters were on vacation, Doug regularly hopped on his bike twice a day, rode to their home and practiced, sometimes 4 hours in a day.

I am glad that he feels this talent belongs to him. When he first began lessons with Steve, of course he was nervous and asked me to come along. After a short time, he told me he no longer wanted me in his lessons. Since then, everything he has done has been between him and Steve. I am glad for his independence.

Again, we are so grateful for the wonderful person Steve is and the sacrifice of his family as he spent nearly every Wednesday evening in a lesson with Doug. He is a generous, kind, funny person and of course a beautiful musician. We will miss him and we are still crying (literally).

Grande Finale to the Weekend

So, after Karin left us on Friday, Emily and I sat together and watched A Little Princess. This is one of my favorite movies and has been since I read the book in about the fourth grade. We were only half way through the movie before Emily started crying. I felt a little guilty, but it's such a tender story and I knew everything would end up ok and Emily would just love it, so I didn't turn it off. However, when I tucked her into bed she was still crying and said she never wanted to watch the movie again. Sigh.

But tonight, her Uncle Creed took her out for ice cream for her birthday. I'm sure all of his other nieces and nephews are wondering why she gets treated like a princess. Well, this is how it happened. On July 4th, just a few days after Emily's birthday, we sat in our backyard watching Tom light off fireworks and Emily asked Creed where his birthday present for her was. He replied that if she gave him a birthday present, he would give her a birthday present. That night, after the fireworks were over, I found her sitting at her desk making Creed a book for his birthday (only 4 months late) and so tonight Creed returned the gift exchange and treated her to Baskin & Robbins.

Boy Scout Hike/Girls Week

On Wednesday, the boys left for a hike in the Emigrant Wilderness, they will be gone until Saturday night. I am so happy for my boys and so grateful for Matt being willing to take them hiking. He is very generous to help the Young Men in our ward, 12 in all, have this experience. It is so much work and I think he is such a great man to do this. Here he is talking to them the night before, to make sure they all have their equipment (I've been to the store 4 times and spent $395. on food for them - so at least they won't go hungry), I love watching him work with the youth, he is a natural.

You may wonder why Emily is in the picture....no she didn't get to go with them. Like me, though, she thinks scouts have the most fun of anyone. She has said she can't wait until she is a Cub Scout. I always thought the hikes my brothers went on were much better than Girls Camp. One of these days she and I will have to take a hike together.
Doug getting his attitude on.
The fearless leaders - Stuart Spencer, Matt, Mike Jack, Cliff Schaefer, Leo Lopez.
What can I say?
So since the boys are gone, we get to have a "girls only" week here at home. Lucky for us, Ben was in Texas and so Karin joined us too. Emily loves to paint, sew, color and tape things together.
Karin and I went to see the Harry Potter movie - loved it - and left Emily with Louisa, the most artistic girl I know.
Sunday is Karin's birthday and so we celebrated early with her. What could be better than a tea party?

Karin left today and so tomorrow it will be just Emily and I. We will be baking with her new birthday gift, an Easy Bake Oven. I hadn't even considered buying her one, because somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered how much work it was to make a tiny little cake and how it didn't really taste good. But I've read my sister's blog and seen how much fun she and her daughter have with their oven and I wanted to share the same memories with Emily. Who cares about the work and the small return in baked goods - the time together is worth it. Doesn't she look cute in the apron and hat? Our friend Annie gave them to her for her birthday.

Just So You Know

I think this is worthy of a blog post. The Tour de France began 3 days ago and Matt and I are already enjoying watching much of race everyday. We have our favorites that we have watched for years and we love cheering for them. The leader in the yellow jersey this year is Thor Hushovd AND here I am having my picture taken with him in 2009 when he competed in the Tour of California. I think this is pretty close to celebrity status for me.