Visiting the trains

The Olympics car

Climbing trains

An old caboose


Fountain in front of the Union Station

This is actually why we went to the Union Station yesterday. This new movie coming out in November is doing a cross country train tour. They had an entire train that you could walk through and see how they made the movie, costumes, special effects. Just a big promotional gig. It looked like it would be fun. I hadn't seen a lot of advertisement so I thought the crowds would be fine. NOT SO. The line to get in was 3 HOURS LONG! Sorry, not interested. So we settled for a picture in front of the train. (The kids couldn't care less if we went on the tour.) Instead we visited all the trains they have parked on the side of the station. This was a big hit. It was Laci's second time. Gina, when you bring the kids up. I want to take your kids here. They'd love it and it's just downtown Ogden.

Raining like crazy

According to the weather report it has rained 9 out of the last 11 days. What is this, Portland? It's getting REALLY old. There's been so much water in such a short time that in some places it has become a problem. My yard is full of mushrooms. We have to keep checking on the drainage from the gutters. So far seems to be alright. Tomorrow night Nephi's parents are staying with our kids and Nephi and I are staying at the Marriot downtown. Just for fun. The arts festival is on Saturday and I'd imagined what a fun time it would be strolling the festival (minus the kids) on a sunny day. Don't think that's going to happen now since it's supposed to pour on Saturday. Oh well. Regardless of the weather it will still be a fun mini get away. The kids are so excited for grandma and grandpa to come. By the way, I forgot to mention that they're celebrating their upcoming birthdays with them while we're gone. Brigham practically cried himself to sleep because he's so excited and was just so frustrated he couldn't instantly fall asleep. He wants morning to come NOW!

Awesome air show

When we moved to S. Ogden I knew one of the perks would be living close to the air base. I've always been a HUGE fan of air force aircraft and love air shows. When we lived in North Dakota we even left church early with friends to drive an hour to the show at the base there. So to live one freeway exit away from one is very cool for me. We went to the show on Saturday afternoon and managed to get up close on the bleachers. It was AWESOME! All kinds of stunt planes, jet fly-by's, and demonstrations. One of the the most amazing things believe it or not was watching a huge C-17 land right in front of us. It's enormous and yet uses very LITTLE space on the runway. It just comes right to a stop like it's no big deal. And then it just backs up and heads off. Unbelievable. I really wanted to stay for the Thunderbirds but of course before they could fly the kids were crying and starving (we will be better prepared next time) so we had to leave. I was disappointed. BUT, today was day 2 of the airshow and I knew the Thunderbirds would be flying at around 4pm-ish. All during church I could hear jets flying overhead and it was making me crazy but I kept telling myself I was where I'm supposed to be and I just let it go. But when I got home, I was on the lookout. And what do you know.... The Thunderbirds IN FORMATION came over the hill, very low, and flew right over me!!! They were so close I could easily see the birds painted on the bottoms. When they reached my house they all turned to the left and flew off that way. I was ecstatic!!! Then a few minutes later I could hear the roaring and I ran back outside and they came from behind my house and headed off. This was as good as being at the airshow. A show with no traffic to deal with! I saw the Thunderbirds in North Dakota so I was alright with not seeing the actual show . This was good enough. For the next hour they flew back and forth and all around. But never as close as the first two times. It was fun. I took a little video on one of their pass overs. They are quite high on that pass but I didn't have my camera when they flew low.

Ahhhhh......I love Ogden.

my house in early summer

I post these mainly for my mom who hasn't been able to make it up since I moved in last fall. I've been hard at work on the landscape. Cleaning it up, manicuring, planting, etc. It is a far cry from when we first moved in. It was very unruly back then which didn't seem appropriate for the style of the home.

Brigham's Opera

Waiting for the show to begin.

These pictures don't show it, but Brigham really got into the production. He was acting right along with the best of them!

Having fun before the show.

getting his "stage makeup" on. Brigham surprisingly didn't mind this at all.

The Utah opera company sponsors the 1st grade opera every year. The kids write it themselves and the company sets it to an orignal score. At first Brigham was nervous about the whole production but eventually it became a big deal to him. I bought a dvd of the program that somebody put together.

Looking to the future.....

Laci heading off to her last day of preschool.

cathing up A LITTLE

I know it's been too long since I've written. I'm far enough behind that I can't properly even catch up. So here's a quick catch up.....
Today was Brigham's last day of school. It was an exciting day for him. He could hardly believe that summer started for him this afternoon. I was happy for him and especially proud when his report card came home with entirely perfect scores. He's such a great kid.
Laci finished preschool last week. It was sad (for me, happy for Laci) as I walked her to her school for the last time. I just kept thinking how this was the last moment in time I may ever have a preschooler. In mere seconds she would go in the door and that would be it, I would never walk my preschooler to class again. It made me want to cry. I even video taped that final time as she walked to the door. It was such a big moment for me I had to capture it. So anyhow, much to Laci's delight she's been enjoying summer break for a week now and is looking forward to kindergarten next year. That's a whole other emotional can of worms in my future. Moms, you know what I mean. It's so great to watch kids grow up and it's so heart wrenching at the same time when you realize you're living moments that will never come again.

I started working at an in-home daycare last week. It's going pretty good. I could already tell stories but it's late at night and I'm too tired. My kids get to come with me which is so nice. They get a little antsy but so far they're doing great. The 1 and 2year olds are so stinkin adorable that my kids absolutely love them. And the love is mutual. I hope they'll continue to enjoy each other. Brigham especially loves to play with babies. I know. I know. I should have another one myself. Sorry. Probably NOT going to happen. I think we're all getting our baby fill through work. As much as I love my own babies it is too awesome to be past that exhausting and tedious baby stage. The girl I work for loves me so much she wants me to stay for a LONG time but I've already told her I'll have to stop in the fall. The kids go to a school in a different part of town and I'd have no way to pick them up. So for the summer we'll just keep at it. It's nice to make a little money. I haven't been able to do that for a long time. For that reason alone I wish I could continue in the fall. I just don't see how I could.

I'm going to Idaho Falls tomorrow. Leaving at noon-ish with the kids to hang out with Kim's family. Should be a nice time. Nephi will come up later with his mom. They have to pick up Gary at the airport. Gary was in Virginia with Frank (Nephi's brother) who just moved out to Virginia.

Still loving South Ogden. It seems to be really a good place to live. I've constantly impressed with the opportunities that are available to us. Just not used to that. Still LOVE the house. I've been working in the yard almost daily since spring came months ago. I'm not an artist but I've decided that landscape is my creative outlet. It truly feeds my soul. Ever since we bought our first house years ago I've considered yard-scaping one of favorite past times. I'm constantly thinking, planning and revising ideas and options.

Looking forward to the summer.....

my letter to a friend.

This is a letter I sent to my friend Kim today. I realized while I was writing that I'm updating her better than I'm updating my blog so I decided to just post the letter. I don't think Kim checks my blog often anyhow. She may never know!



Hi! Thanks for the card! That was such a fun surprise. When I read it I was touched and I also immediately thought."Wow, Kim's getting sentimental in her old age!" ha ha! I loved it.
I had a great Mothers Day. I didn't have to teach at church. Nephi made me us breakfast, helped more than usual at dinner, and I was pretty much lazy all day and Nephi didn't get mad at that. I loved it! I think this is the first year I've ever thought that Mothers Day was all it was cracked up to be. I ended up buying myself Crest White Strips for my present. A friend in the ward mentioned she was getting teeth whitening for her gift and it seemed genius to me. When can you ever get teeth whitening and not feel guilty for the expense? Well, white strips are pretty reasonable and I checked the reviews on drugstore.com and they were overwhelmingly good so I felt it was a safe bet. On the second day I used them I was overzealous and used two sets of strips right in a row. I fried myself. My teeth hurt so bad!!! I even went to the store and bought sensodyne and that didn't help. Today the pain had subsided so I started up again. I'm seeing results already and I think I still have 4 days left.
Today was a warm, overcast day. Nephi worked on sprinklers and trimmed a huge evergreen we have. I mowed a little. I love yard work days. The backyard behind me is irritating me so bad! They DON'T mow their lawn! There are patches of grass 2 feet tall! UGH! It wouldn't be so annoying but our yard looks DIRECTLY into theirs if you remember. I found on KSL classifieds that someone is selling 45 feet of those privacy slats that you can put through chain link. I've already called them and planning to buy them. I hope it looks o.k. It won't be enough to go all the way across but we're going to center it on the fence and hope it's not too tacky. Brigham plays with the little boy from that yard. You should see it, they play hide and go seek through the fence! Who would've thought it was possible but they do it....and have a great time! So I still want them to be able to see each other but we won't have to look at all their crap lying around.
Frank has been applying to different jobs in places such as Colorado, California,Texas, and Virginia. He was offered positions at all those places but they picked Virginia! They'll be there in a month!!!! Crazy! I'm excited for them though. Kate's never had real adventure in her life. It will be good for her. I think Susie is trying to put up a strong front since she's realized that she shouldn't get dramatic and emotional on her kids when they're trying to make something of themselves. But I really do feel for her. If it was me in her place and it was Brigham moving across the country I'd be bawling too. At least she's got more kids that are closer than Virginia. That's the perk of having a lot of kids. I'm doomed for lots of heartbreak down the road no doubt when my TWO kids go off into the world. I'll be wishing I'd had more then.

P.S. So You Think You Can Dance starts in two weeks on the 21st! Happy Day!
Talk more later! Lillian

He finally lost his first tooth.

Brigham has been suffering with his loose tooth for quite some time now. This evening he finally decided it was time to get some dental floss around it and pull it out. Yuck. I told him where my dental floss was and he ran off to get it. A little while later he started screaming (with joy) that his tooth came out. Apparently while looking for the dental floss he came across my tweezers and started messing with his tooth and the next thing he knew he was holding his tooth ! Gross huh?! Pulled out with tweezers!!! It made me queasy to think about. But he was THRILLED. He made a round of phone calls to let people know what happened and to talk about the money he would be receiving from the tooth fairy. He dropped his tooth in his bedroom carpet a couple times and had major tears because he thought all was lost but we managed to find it both times. He's finishing up 1st grade and just now losing his first tooth!

Just having fun on a beautiful evening.

Acquiring a taste for hiking

The weather was nice enough again last week that I decided to finally give hiking a try. Actually I want to get more into trail running than hiking. I went two days and LOVED it. I can drive to the base of the mountain in the same time it takes me to get to the gym. Maybe 5 minutes. I hiked the lower trail that still climbs quite a bit. The trail is often literally on the edge of the mountain. I have to really pay attention. The second day I hiked I ran quite a bit of it for over an hour. It was AWESOME! My lungs and legs were really getting a workout. I did stop several times to take in the scenery. I was overlooking the entire valley. Amazing. I was running eye level with a helicopter flying by! For awhile I was mesmerized by the F-16's. They were doing their practice runs. Usually they fly over my neighborhood and I don't really know where they go, but from my view I was able to see exactly what they're up to on those practice runs. I could see easily to the air base so I watched them take off and land, circle around, skim the runway and take off again. It was such a treat for me since I'm hopelessly fascinated by air force aircraft. Two aircraft skimmed over the mountain top and I had to sit on the trail so I wouldn't get dizzy and roll down the mountain when I looked up. I could easily read the bottom of their wings but I didn't see the airforce markings so I'm not sure if they belonged to them, but they were flying around the base so they probably were. ahhhhh....this was all so much fun for me. I had an amazing run. The next night I was telling my neighbors about my new love for mountain running and they told me I should not be doing that solo. It just simply isn't safe since there are incidences that women are robbed and probably worse. Definately not common, but it can happen. I felt so deflated. I knew they were right. It really isn't wise for me to be out there by myself. I just don't know enough people yet to have a running friend. I had envisioned how fit I was going to get in the month and a half I have left before the kids are out of school, and I felt like it went up in smoke. There's no way I can replicate that kind of running in town. It's just not the same as a rocky winding trail. grrrrrrrr.....
Last complaint: It isn't fair that Nephi can run trails solo with little concern because he's a guy and I can't. It's just not fair.

Our annual Easter Egg Hunt!

Gina and I threw together a hunt for the kids. They LOVED it as usual. Last year Maggie and family was in on it but she left the day before. So it was just us. We put change into some of the eggs and that was a HIT! Nobody cared about the candy. They were too busy counting change!

Brigham's a mad scientist

Uncle Jared gave Brigham a set to make real crystals at home. This was step one of what seems like 137 steps. Weeks later we still haven't made it past the first few steps.

Back with Grandma!

The Gold's are home from their mission!

Playing at the park with Frank's kids Ty (right) and Cameron (left) and Gracia (middle)

this is actually how they slept! They talked for quite awhile with the lights off but they were so well behaved!

Christal brought dressups for Laci and Gracia to wear. She is such a fun aunt.

Jared and Christal slept at our house the night before we all headed up to Idaho Falls for Nephi's parents return from their Hawaiian mission. We had a good visit. (I had to crop Christal out of the picture because it was one of those where your eyes are halfway open and you look stoned! )

Oh yeah, still hangin tough!

This IS actually the same New Kids shirt from my childhood. I've stored it away in a box and I decided it was time to get it out and start sporting it again! I actually wore it to a church activity tonight. Nobody seemed to appreciate it but I got a kick out of wearing it! By the way, my whole family was embarrased including Brigham. Isn't he too young to be embarrased over a t-shirt?

this is funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dkupwzIWKI