Easter Photoshop Magic

So, I liked my nephew Edward and his younger cousin Lucy in this photo,
but Rachel looks a little startled.

And this one is cute of Rachel,
but Lucy is distracted and Edward solemn.

Solution: combine them in photoshop!
I LOVE the computer!!

Houston Christmas

When I was visiting my cousin in Houston,
she took me to see this house near her neighborhood.
No snow, but one has to admire the Christmas spirit!

Local Parade

This year for the fourth of July we did not go to the Big Parade.
We went instead to a small local one.
Only one band, and only half a dozen (small) floats,
but it was cute and friendly.
AND I finally got to do something I've wanted to do for years--
run across the street with a camera to get a picture of our group
as the parade folks go by!

Happy Easter from Lady Mortimer

I don't think she liked being placed among the cold eggs
(they had been in the refrigerator)
but she was a fairly good sport about it.
Happy Easter to all reptile-lovers everywhere!

Perfect Christmas Snow

Up at Bear Lake we had lovely snow for Christmas.
Driving down Logan Canyon was also very Christmas-y.
The snowmobiles had evidently been out enjoying themselves,
and the plows had huge heaps of snow by the sides of the road--
taller than my parents' heads, as you can see in the photo--
and the trees looked all flocked.
Best, however, were the ice crystals that had formed on the snow surface:

I'm glad I got some pretty Christmas snow at Bear Lake,
because it had been raining down at lower elevations
and the snow was mostly gone except for a patch here and there.
It rained again today.
Sigh.

Parade Highlights

Fire engines are very loud...

Sun is awfully hot and bright...
(I had pre-frozen the drinks the night before,
so they doubled as coolers...)

But the missionaries are out,
high-fiving all the kids...

And look, it's Paddington Bear!

I always like the floats and the bands a lot, too,
and my favorite are the bagpipers.
This year there were THREE bagpipe bands!
Also, the historic hearse made its annual appearance,
which made me very happy, too.

My idea of the perfect fourth of July:
get up early and go for a balloon ride,
(never done it, but some day I will!)
and then go to see a big parade with lots of family,
especially kids who enjoy it,
and have lots of cold drinks and icy things to keep us cool,
followed by a lazy afternoon with a picnic,
or barbecue,
in a shady park somewhere,
with games for the kids
and naps for all the adults,
ending up with a big fireworks display
that is near enough to see very well,
preferably while lying on a blanket,
as they explode seemingly over our faces.

I had a very nearly perfect fourth of July this year!
Parade, nap and fireworks,
and of course, my family!

St. Patrick's Day Dinner

I eat corned beef and cabbage just once a year.
I actually quite like the corned beef,
but the cabbage is a bit trickier.
Normally I cook the corned beef in a big pot on the stove,
and add the cabbage at the very end,
but today I was gone all day so I put everything in the crock pot.
I am not used to crock pot cooking,
and so I put the cabbage in with the corned beef,
and let it cook all day.
Mistake.
Soggy, soggy cabbage.
The corned beef turned out fine, though.
Hopefully I'll remember next year to wait on the cabbage.

I Love Being a Princess

There is a Backyardigans episode set in Ancient Egypt where Tasha ('Princess Cleotasha') sings a little number called "I love being a princess." When I walked into my room at the Fairmont Hotel my last night, I began to hum it!
This was my room view:

And they gave me a suite:
An extremely large living room area:

This contained a dining zone as well:

(and a kitchenette):

And here's the bedroom (one of two.)

I should have hosted a party!
Mostly what I did in this grand space was unpack, repack, and SLEEP.
(Alas, no time to go use the pool, not with spending the afternoon out touring mosques and the citadel and the bazaar.)
It was sure luxurious, though.

Sparklers

After dark on the Fourth, we had a little celebration of our own with sparklers and glow sticks.
I couldn't resist a few shots with my camera:

The patterns are kind of cool, showing how my nephews raced around with sparklers (sometimes one in each hand).

Nothing Says Summer Like Watermelon

Grandma wisely opts to serve watermelon to the kids out on the driveway after their swim:

Ooh, yum!

Eating down to the rind:

Everybody likes watermelon!

Provo Parade

The Provo Fourth of July parade is the best in the valley.
Proof:
They had TWO bagpipe bands.
I adore bagpipes.
(Even if both bands played "Scotland the Brave."
Hey, it's not like you've got a lot of key options with bagpipes.)

In addition to the bagpipes I derived considerable entertainment from watching my nephews watch the parade:

We all kept cool by eating frozen Otter Pops:

But parades can be loud!
The cannon at the end had the ground trembling.
Ellie doesn't look happy, but I was proud of her for not fussing.

Happy Independence Day!

I had such an amazing Fourth of July.
First I went with my sister and her kids to a balloon ascension:

We got there after the balloons had already inflated, but we did get there in time to see them taking off:

and rising up into the early sky before the sun rose over the mountains:

Wow, what a sight!

I would love to ride in a balloon some day.

Coloring Eggs

Ethan, Dave, Mom and I colored eggs on Saturday night.

Emily's Easter Spirit

Egg Hunt at Bear Lake

I have always loved Mom and Dad's method of hiding eggs.
Here's Sophie looking for an egg:

Found it! Now it goes in the basket.

Ethan meanwhile has discovered where the Peeps have been put.

Upon the end of the hunt, when set on the hearth to be photographed, Sophie promptly opened up one of her plastic eggs (we had both real and plastic) and proceeded to eat the "nacky" (candy) inside.

Christmas Presents!

What fun to unwrap presents Christmas morning!Charles and Jennifer with their presents, including the game Risk, scarves knit by Jennifer's sister Cheryl, some great "cutility" kitchen tools from Emily, and books and CDs and the earrings and shirt I brought them from Greece.

My presents included a Day of the Dead book (from Charles & Jen) and Day of the Dead magnets (from Ted), a Tolkien book and a Steve Irwin crocodile set (also from Ted & family), a 3D puzzle of Neuchwanstein castle from my friend Heather, a KNIFE from Uncle Glen which he made himself!, and a wonderful stuffed crocodile which I named Caligula, from Emily.

"Caligula" is of course the name of one of the less pleasant Roman emperors (I was thinking of Madame Medusa's Brutus and Nero) but also the name means, literally, "little boots."
He's a very darling Ikea crocodile!