The 80's called, they want their shorts back...

For Mike, Kristen and Shonda - you may think my Jared has channelled Jude Winterhalter circa 1982, however, these are shorts that he begged, pleaded and bargained for last time we went to Old Navy (actually this year). Unfortunately, we have not seen leather topsiders recently, so he had to go with the Vans slip-ons complete with "Off the Wall" logo.

Our New Family Favorite

We LOVE this!

We Did It, We Did It.....Lo Hicimos!!

We finally had the house painted!! I was worried that we would have to replace some wood because some had been exposed, but it all went well. I also stressed about the color, but they got started so quickly I didn't have a chance to change my mind. It looks way better now, unfortunately I am now looking at the landscaping and seeing what needs to change there. Yikes!!

By the way, the title is a Dora the Explorer reference in case you are not Nick Jr. watchers.

Gordon B. Hinckley

My brother-in-law, Brett, sent this link to us. It is a great tribute to a great man who will be sorely missed.

Ode to Kristen

Do any of you have a friend that is so wonderful, so incredibly special, that you feel you need to dedicate a whole blog entry to them? Well boy do I - her name is Kristen. This obviously is a picture of us together.

We have been friends since before elementary school. Somewhere I have a picture of us on the swingset in our backyard with cheesy grins. She has fond memories of stringing Cheerio necklaces at our house.

Every Halloween, Kristen came up with a great costume - always with props. She was the envy of every Beehive/Miamaid/Laurel at the youth dance, especially the year she came as a cowgirl complete with guns and fake eyelashes. As we moved on to high school, I remember Kristen wanting to throw not just a Christmas party, but a Christmas "Extravaganza". So the planning began.

BYU came around and we had the opportunity to room together. When we knew the other one was having a bad day, that was our cue to head over to Brick Oven and bring home a pizza. One trip back to Provo, wonderful Phyllis made us some Rice Krispie treats. They were cut in narrow strips so I called them Rice Krispie fingers. The next trip, Phyllis made them into the shape of hands complete with candy rings just as a joke.

Kristen has always had an amazing sense of humor. I remember she was driving us somewhere in her sporty RX7 and we stopped at a light. She told me to look over at the car next to us. As I looked to see a car full of good looking guys, she rolled my window down so it looked like I was doing it. Being the shy thing I was then, I was mortified. Ugh! I was thrilled when her next car did not have automatic windows. However, I made the mistake of mentioning that to her and when the same opportunity arose, she reached over and opened my door since she could not roll down my window.

I have many more Kristen stories, but maybe I will save them for a part two another day. I am glad I have a friend like Kristen who I can call and tell about a special Lifetime movie starring Mario Lopez AND Mark Consuelos (also Erik Estrada). She understands just what a remarkable show that must be. She knows I understand when she sends a text message that just reads "Kudzu".

What more can I say than Kristen is a real "sweet-heart" and "you are loved". She knows what I mean.

(P.S. Is that good Kristen?)

Meet the Masters

We thought taking our kids to museums and programs at the school such as "Meet the Masters" were great way to broaden their horizons and make them more culturally well rounded, however, after looking at Jared & Kendall's art session, I really wonder if we are doing the right thing........







Jared with half a head is a favorite of mine and after seeing this art, I am sure you will not want to see Matt angry!!

Family Time

Matt took some time off this holiday and although we don't go on vacations, we manage to get in some fun family activities. It is our tradition to go to the Los Angeles Temple every year and look at the Christmas lights. This year, the visitor's center is closed, which is a little dissappointing since they usually have several trees decorated in fun and creative ways. We have added a new tradition to this tradition in the last few years - we get dinner at Tito's tacos....YUMMMMM!!

We also had a chance to go to the Getty Museum. As Kendall would say, it was so, so, so, so cold out that day. The museum and grounds were beautiful. I could do without all the 17th century furniture, pottery, etc. This is what I go to see:



and this:



Something about a Van Gogh, Pissaro, Cezanne, Degas, Khnopff etc. just speaks to me. Also, I loved the "family room" where we got to write on the walls (in dry erase marker) like the monks wrote in their beautiful books. Here is what Kendall wrote, which was my favorite:




And finally, here is what Matt likes to call the "I'll Build You A Rainbow" family picture since I am never in the pictures (too bad we didn't name Jared "Jamie").