The Grinch....

This picture really cracked me up, because it looks a lot like Rontu (our Bengal Leopard cat). This cat looks so totally disgusted with his predicament, and that's how Rontu's been acting lately--he is perturbed that we won't let him live on the kitchen counter, offended that he's not allowed to sit at the dinner table, and puzzled as to why he's not considered human.

Homemaker Extraordinaire, or... Mormon Muffins!!!

Yum--Yum!!! These muffins are so delicious! I got the recipe from a local restaurant that is known for their muffins. They are loaded with bran, and buttermilk gives them a nice, rich flavor.

EVIL SUB....

So this week I had to be gone for three days from school because of a workshop I had to attend. My kids (HS students) HATE to have a sub! They always claim that any of their bad behavior is directly caused by that particular sub's evil nature. When I got back today, they were practically kissing my feet! They were so relieved to have me back. I felt pretty happy that they like me!

Odds 'n ends

Me trying to be "cool" in Jared's sunglasses. He told me I didn't quite achieve my goal. He thinks I look "mom-ish."

A couple of random pix I wanted to add. This is from Jared's summer Air Force encampment at Camp Williams. He's second from the right, back row. He seems to be taking the Air Force thing pretty seriously. It freaks me out to see him in military gear: reminds me of Jeff in his younger days.

Jon, Leisha, and Jared doing a group back rub at Lake Powell. I liked this picture.

Lake Powell Lifestyle

Earlier in the summer Leisha and Jared's cousin Taylor Morley came to Lake Powell to hang out with us for awhile. He, Jared, and I climbed all over the place.














The great Risk game: Leisha and Jon pwned Jeff and Jared big time! Laura provided moral support by making popcorn for both teams.










Leisha and Jon on one of their hikes. Jon won the "mountain goat" award for effortlessly running (floating) up steep hills with no apparent effort in about 1/10th the time of the rest of us!
















The kids and I on top of the world....














Poor babies were tired after a windy/rainy night that sent everybody fleeing off the top of the houseboat into the interior in the middle of the night.
























We were at Lake Powell with Leisha, Jon, and Jared at the end of August. The weather was comfortable, even though we got hit with a couple of big rainstorms and windstorms.
We all hiked on the surrounding red sandstone cliffs. It was stunningly beautiful and serene!

Wedding Day

This picture was taken on Jon and Leisha's wedding day.  I love how happy they both look.  Leisha's hair was done at 7:30 a.m. and was still going strong looking good at 7:30 p.m.  

My Gorgeous Daughter....

The way they were...

Here are some pictures of Leisha and Jon when they were kids. (Jared is in the background--he had been happily eating dirt and Leisha had been happily playing in it.) Both of these have been put in a slideshow put together by Leisha to be shown at the wedding reception.

Leisha has done her own flowers and centerpieces, her own slideshow, and her own music CD.

These two kids are the BEST! They are a perfect fit for each other!

Bridal shots

Last week Leisha went in to the Salt Lake Library to have her bridal shots taken. These are just a few I snapped while the photographer was working.

The library is listed as one of the top 100 buildings in the United States for architectural design. It has winding staircases, glass ceilings, banners, plazas, unique rooms squeezed into small spaces, and is generally fascinating. It was a great place for Leisha's pictures, and it was fun to walk around and see people gawking at the girl in the wedding dress in the middle of the building.

a very B-A-A-A-D Cattitude

Our cat Rontu spends each night in a basement room--a nice room with a couch, a window, and a litter box. He enters it happily enough each night, but each morning he acts as if he has spent the night in Alcatraz and can hardly wait to get out.

Jared snapped these pictures of Rontu's morning routine: step 1: insert your snout into the narrow door opening; step 2: slowly draw your snout downwards and begin to push your skull into the opening to make sure your owners won't shut you back inside.

Jared's solo and ensemble (mis)adventures

Two weeks ago, Jared was selected to play in the state-level solo and ensemble competition. He advanced to state by receiving a "1" on his region-level competition. The song he was working on was the first two movements of a Vivaldi piece: I was his accompanist and so we had rehearsed together many times. He had this song DOWN! He could play it very movingly and with great attention to dynamics, vibrato, etc.

On the day we went to play at the state competition, as he was tuning his cello, his a-string slipped and almost came loose. To tighten it back up, he had to keep cranking and cranking the tuning peg--practically breaking it off! It took about 3 minutes, during which time the judge kept saying, "You're still flat... You're still flat..." The clock was ticking, and other contestants were watching. It was very intense. By the time Jared got it tuned, he had started to sweat, and had to remove his tux jacket. I could tell he was completely discombobulated by the whole thing--it doesn't take much to throw your concentration and mental state off.

He did NOT play well. It was so disappointing! He hit the first note wrong--which he has NEVER done--and his playing was hesitant and cautious. He felt really bad and embarrassed. I tried to buoy him up as much as possible, but I had to admit that it didn't sound nearly as good as it could. Last week he got his score back, and it was a "1-", which I thought was very charitable on the part of the judge. The score made him feel a little bit better, but he did not qualify to go on to the higher level competition, and he still felt bad about it.

Wedding Plans, Part I

This is one of the pictures Leisha was considering for her engagement announcement, but we talked her into a different one. This one, however, is quite nice.

We have decided that she will be doing her own flowers--she developed quite a gardening knack last year while helping a neighbor up here get her yard ready for a wedding. She also has a good eye for plant combinations--so she's already got some nice looking pots (in different shades of green) with some interesting flower combinations growing in them. Her colors will be green, white, and yellow. (Or should I say--sage, cream, and pale sunflower?)

It also looks like we'll be doing some of the food service and set-up: the caterer we had contacted earlier, and who delayed getting back to us for four weeks, was charging an extravagant amount for tiny bits of food. So that is still in the works. The wedding invitations are done and have already arrived--now all we need are the photos and we'll be ready to mail them off.

Meanwhile, my sister is whipping her backyard into shape for the outdoor reception: she's putting up a new fence, bringing in fully grown trees, adding lots of flowers, redoing her deck, and putting in new deck stones around her hot-tub. This wedding was the perfect excuse for her to spruce up her yard, and she jumped at it!

Photographic Fun

These are a couple of photos Leisha took when she was experimenting with her new camera during her photography class at Weber. I like the mellow look of both of these photos. The field where Jared is playing his cello was under five feet of snow from December through late March. Today is April 20th, and it's only in the last two weeks that we've been able to see ground cover again. The winter has been brutal!

The Offspring

This is the most current picture taken of Leisha and Jared. You can see one of our log-home arches behind their heads. The beanie hat is Leisha's new and improved way of styling her hair when it's wet. She puts it on, leaves it on for a few hours, and then when she takes it off her hair is somewhat wavy and not so frizzy. Jared's main hair-styling method consists of keeping it very short to keep it under control.

Sheepish Moments

A neighbor's sheep escaped from their pasture and made their way onto our property to nose around for some food. Notice the inquisitive look on this sheep's face.

Our Bengal leopard cat observed the invaders with interest from a safe perch on our wrap around deck. He seemed to recognize that fellow mammals were ahoof and also seemed to recognize that they came in peace.

The proverbial black sheep made his appearance.