trap 'em

Today is my dad's birthday! What a guy my dad is.. I love him so much. He makes us all laugh and he makes us all proud. Love you, daddio.

And while we were able to talk face to face, while being miles and miles apart, using the technology that often traps our attention for hours at a time, I still liked this video.. ha! How ironic.

Setting ourselves free the last few days while being with family has been so nice. We've visited, played, wrestled, baked, harvested the garden, and laughed a lot. It's nice to unplug every now and then. But then again... it's so fun to plug right back in and see what's going on with everyone. Happy surfing, internet friends!

Here are some quick pics from today:

 don't know what face this is, but I love his pjs!

This has been happening more often lately, and I love it beyond belief. 

Somehow, these original doors from the SLC Tabernacle have taken up residence in the Reeder's; Stacey remembers going through these doors during General Conference breaks to go say hi to her Grandpa Benson. What special memories these doors hold.. I love that I can see them every day here! 

And my little monkey is really turning a corner, I think. He has been so sweet, fun, gentle and hilariously rambunctious this last week. Hearing new, more complicated words are just so fun coming from him. 

10 hours

Donner's Pass, CA

Wednesday morning of last week was the day we made the long drive from north of Sacramento, California to Salt Lake City, Utah... we were ready for 12 hours in the car, but somehow made it in only 10, and hit some inclement weather along the way, too. The kids did so wonderfully, I can hardly believe it. Very little crying, if at all (can't even remember right now), and lots of excitement.

Lake Bed, NV

The landscape was absolutely beautiful in the shadows of the clouds. Clouds make everything that much prettier, so we were in love with all that we saw. I took all these pictures from the back seat while Mark drove for the first half and last hour or two of the trip.

More of the same

When the kids napped for a few hours in the afternoon, I hopped in the drivers seat and subtly changed the 'noise' to my music, and enjoyed my time to myself while Mark caught some shut eye too. I love driving... I love it! And good music makes it even that much better.

Nevada's flat lands

 I did get nervous when we neared Utah and hit some wet snow. It felt so much different than Alaska's snow.. it was thick, and the car would lurch when the wheels would hit it on the road. I slowed significantly and reminded myself that I could do it.. I have to say, I miss Alaska's ice and dry snow.. I was used to it. Wet snow is a different ball game.

Hills of the Sierras

 When we passed the Nevada State Line, my heart sped up a bit and I sang as much as I could remember of the state song, "Home Means Nevada" - my dad can sing / hum it much better than I can. I loved driving through the beautiful hills of the Sierra Nevadas... beautiful (see above picture and below).

Pre- Rockies / Sierra Nevadas

 There was a lot of different weather, and as we would rise and fall with the altitude, we could really see the change in patterns. Snow to rain, to partly sunny. It really made the drive more interesting.

The Great Salt Lake

I think Mark called these parts of the banks of the Great Salt Lake. There were people wind surfing on these rough, windy, and shallow waters. The colors were fantastic, though..

Utah's Rockies

Entering the Rockies was a lot of fun, too. Seeing Northern Nevada was really exciting for me, as I spent my entire first 18 years in the southern part of the state. My mother had a photography book of the Nevada cowboys, and the country always looked so beautiful as I'd turn the pages.. now I've seen it for myself.

moving day has come again

image

Mt. Williamson of the Sierra Nevadas by Ansel Adams

I am up far too late (11:11 pm - make a wish!) for the eve of yet another moving day. Today we met up with some great friends for a brunch at Awful Annie's (it was far better than the name deludes - I am so impressing myself with that word.), I ate 1.5 of my 3 buttermilk pancakes and all of the bacon I could. And Patty even gave me (okay, us) a lb. box of See's chocolates! She had read on facebook about my little addiction and inability to share. She is a chocoholic like me and had compassion on my poor suffering soul.

Back on track. After running errands, and calling Security Forces (a story I may or may not share... both sad and embarrassing) to clear something up, and lots of laundry, we set out for the mall so I could splurge again on some more eyeshadow... NARS is quickly becoming a must have for me. Have you seen it in all its sparkly glory? It's beautiful! But I'm done buying it - 2 duos is enough for me. I now have light and dark shades, glittery and non-glittery. Also, I have completely worn down my Toms after a year+ of usage... I really think they should last longer if we're giving them to active children in third world countries, but I'm not in charge, so I'll just support and buy another pair. So that's what I did. I bought the navy this time and I'll keep my grey, holy ones for my 'days off from dressing.'

Back on track. We grabbed some dinner for Mont (french fries and apples from old Mac's), then made the drive home watching the Jungle Book. When the kids were finally asleep (at 8:30), Mark and I set to work packing up everything in boxes and bags, then Mark braved the chili rain and loaded the car up as much as he could. What is left are kitchen odds, and other ends.

Our gas tank is full, and tomorrow we set off down a new stretch of highway [for me, at least - I've never driven through Northern Nevada, even if it is my home state] soon after the kiddos wake up, and brave the 12 hour drive to Utah. I'm excited to see some family, fall foliage, and friends. Perfect triad. Also pretty excited to swing a tennis racquet around.

an old show new again

In the background of this afternoon, after sliding the glass door wide open to let in the fresh fall air from outside, the TV was turned on to The Dick Van Dyke Show somehow.

Watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang nearly every day for the last 4 weeks or so, I've become quite the fan of Mr. Van Dyke's, and have been curious to see this other show of his. Well now was my chance; granted, it was in between feeding both children, going outside for walks, and fun on the backyard's slab of concrete, and also picking up toys. Fortunately for me, there were a few on back to back, so I caught a few minutes here and there.

I loved it! Mark came home and the last show was wrapping up. We sat down and enjoyed the moment with our two babies and had a laugh at good old American Television.

Have any of you seen it? He has a certain allure about him on screen that makes you laugh and want to watch more, without him being overly silly or obnoxious. I think it's charming. And Mary Tyler Moore is so pretty, not to mention stylish. Her character is very cute in this show, and I love the old fashioned relationship between television husband and wife. Their bedroom set up, and how he tries to scare her even after he turns off the scary movie before bed, then he ends up having the nightmare?

Or how he found a grey hair on her and she is so frustrated with him and her grey hair, that she bleaches her hair which turns into a regretful all day fiasco? All so fun.

If I could find the box sets, I may have to add this to the list of shows/movies to introduce to Mont. So far, he likes the old stuff too.

random 'i likes'

First of all, thank you for everyone's nice comments on my last post. Wether it was a comment left on the blog, or on facebook, I really appreciated the nice things you said! Thank you a thousand times.. We've had several good days in a row since then, and I am seeing a light at the end of the Terrible Tunnel. : )

I have so many things running through my head, so here is a hodge-podge of all that circles in the abyss of my mind this evening. ("abyss" doesn't have to be empty..)

• this may be my new favorite song.. and used as the opening theme to this particular show makes me giddy and cataclysmically full of excitement. I love this show...
• found this little video on a blog tonight, and like her, I love the dancing and music. All the outfit changes and segment set ups must have been intense. But the result is so worth it.  Mark, will you do this with me? Yes? You're the best, but I think we better go shopping.
• it's general conference weekend!!! what a fun challenge it is to watch it with two little ones. Here is what they did while we tried watching today: 

(and yes! I'm fully clothed.. goodness... sorry for the scare... 

but I love this picture, so, sorry)

• fabric for a very 'plain & easy' quilt I'm planning on making for Emmy. It's only 2 fabrics: 1 fabric for each side. It'll hopefully go on her bed when she's a bit bigger, reversing sides when we're tired of one or the other. Now I just have to hope that the next time I have the poppy fabric in my shopping cart, it will stay there. Last time I was checking out, someone stole it right out from under me! Didn't know that was possible online.. 

• Disneyland! We went down to the happiest place on earth last week and had an absolutely exhilarating time. Mont couldn't hug us hard or often enough; it was the cutest thing. Pictures from here and Santa Cruz coming soon. I can't believe I haven't posted them yet!