A Splash of COLOR

Well I can officially check one more thing off my "bucket-list." This weekend Troy and I went with Cam and Kelli Andersen to the Festival of Color at the Krishna Temple. It was the experience of a lifetime! It is the Hindu tradition for welcoming in spring, and in our opinion, a tradition worth keeping and passing on. Words can simply not portray the vibrance of the color, the exotic scent of the powder, the music, and the childish exhiliration of throwing color at perfect strangers.

We arrived early to enjoy a few hours of color splashing up near the temple, then went down to the pavilion for the big moment. With thousands of people gathered on the hill, they counted down from 20 to 1, when everyone released their powder at the same time. I took more pictures than I could ever post, but here are some of my favorites, from beginning to end.... (see if you can spot where I made my face an iconic graphic image on some unsuspecting kids tee-shirt)

As Long as We Both Shall Live?

Troy is currently in the market for a Revolver. He has been wanting one since we got married, and the bug has really got him now that we have two wee ones and camping season is once again upon us (or so he says.....). He is hoping to purchase an old family heirloom from the family friend it was sold to, but this revolver is a beast, a far cry from the short-barrel ones on the market today. He was going over the pros and cons with me (while I lovingly pretended to be interested) and we had the following conversation:

Troy: So the Ruger is easier to aim without a laser, but the Smith & Wesson has a laser grip attachment.
Me: Oh yeah?
Troy: Well that can make a big difference when a bear is coming at you and you don't have time to try and aim...... the laser would be nice.....
Me: Well the good news for me is that since I've been running lately, I'm pretty sure I could outrun you if you miss.
Troy: Hmmm, Not if I shoot you........

Seriously, I was taken so off-guard that I laughed until my face and sides hurt. That's what I get for marrying a man with such a practical brain. I guess I better start watching my back...

Snowed In

Decades ago, my great-grandfather built a two-story cabin out of cinderblock as a place for his family to enjoy the mountains that he loved so much. For years the cabin has been a place of summer and autumn fun, filled with hikes, barbeques, sleepovers and the occasional bat in the woodwork. But until this year, we have had very few winter memories at the cabin since cinderblock is not a great insulator, and it tends to be colder inside the cabin than out during the winter months.

This year, my dad and youngest brother Michael spent hours digging out our summer fire pit, and created a little Eskimo ampitheater for a little nordic barbeque action. It was a BLAST! We all showed up around dinner time and hunkered down in our open-air igloo. We roasted hot dogs, ate girl scout cookies (samoas.....mmmmh) and toasted some soft-ball sized Mexican Marshmallows. We cozied up around the fire until around 9:00 pm, and then decided that it was either go home, or stay the night. My dad only convinced us to go by promising that this was only the beginning of a tradition to be repeated in years to come. What can I say? I'm pretty sure my dad is the coolest. In fact, I'm willing to bet my dad's igloo is better than you're dad's igloo. ;)

A Fairy Lovely Evening

Last night was our first time attending Provo Library's annual Fairy Tea Party. It was so much fun, that if I had known what I was missing, I would have started attending before I had a 3 year old excuse to bring along. I spent the earlier part of the day sewing Aliyah a "spring fairy" costume complete with hairpiece, wings, and purple eyelashes. She was soooo excited, it sounded like I was accompanying a miniature tap-dancer as we walked down the hall to the reception area. We turned the corner, and *Gasp!* there stood the loveliest pink fairy, flanked by two 10 foot dancing fairy statues. She smiled at Aliyah and said excitedly, "I'm so glad you made it! We've been waiting for you!" Then she leaned down and whispered conspiratorialy in her ear "You're a REAL fairy, aren't you? I can always tell the real ones." Aliyah's eyes got as big as silver dollars and she she nodded solemnly that yes, she was indeed a real fairy. Once in the grand ballroom (decorated with draping tule and lights) The fairy king appeared to welcome the royal fairy court, after which a ballet was performed. After drinks and refreshments, there was a Fairy Promenade and all the little fairies got to do a twirl on the stage. Another beautiful pink fairy played harp music, and we danced and pranced until the not-so-magical cleaning crew kicked us out. It was a spectacular evening, and all the better for spending it with a 3 year old who really and truly believed that for one evening, she really was a fairy.

In keeping with the magical evening, Aliyah used her fairy powers to best the pro's at a card game. I must say she is the cutest card shark I've ever seen.

Story Time

Mom, I'm going to tell you a story.

Ok.

Once upon a time, I broke these glasses. But it was an accident. The End. Now wasn't that a nice story?

Hmmmm.....

Also this week:

Gavin learned to put on his own lipstick. Red is definately his color. (I am going to start locking up my purse....)

When it started to snow cottonballs on Friday, I asked Aliyah if she wanted to make a snowman. She said no, she wanted to make a Snow Bunny. (Huh?) so we gave it our best attempt, and I think we did pretty alright for amateurs. Gavin kept tearing his face off, so he was banished to the mud pile at the back of the yard, which he thoroughly enjoyed. The best part was having a Family Kung Foo Fest later that afternoon when Mr. Snowbunny had wilted and was no longer recognizeable as much of anything. All in all, a very enjoyable activity.

The Law of the Pack

My children have started moving in packs. Well, one pack, seeing as there are only two of them. But two is enough. More than enough. Their pack mentality is "Search and Destroy." They roam the house searching out freshly cleaned spaces, and preying upon the unprotected remnants of my sanity. Then they wait oh-so-patiently for that unsuspecting moment when their usual innocence has rendered me completely unsuspicious, and then...... they POUNCE!

Today while I was cleaning up lunch, they wandered into their room to play with their toys. Innocent enough right? Wrong. They emptied every basket, drawer, and shelf in their room into one mass pile in the middle of the room. When I discovered them, they scattered (of course) and re-grouped in the bathroom. While I was still reeling from the bedroom destruction, they grabbed the toilet brush and it's little recepticle, and used both to shower the bathroom in toilet water. I came running when I heard the splashing and uncontrollable giggles, and stood sputtering in the doorway, stunned and speechless. With a tremendous amount of self-control I removed the tools of destruction, stripped Gavin down to his skin and stuck him in the shower. Aliyah was suddently nowhere to be found, and when I finally located her, she was 10 feet up, in the top shelf of her bedroom closet (how did she even get up there??!!).

After prying her down and sticking her into the shower with her brother, I stepped out to get towels to throw over the toilet-water mess (we have a standing shower w/no tub so no drowning dangers) and discovered that somewhere amidst this chaos, Aliyah had time to sneak out to the kitchen and dump the remaining lunch into the carpet. Gavin must have been acting as the decoy. Figures. Defeated, I made my way back towards the bathroom where I was absolutely unsurprised to see water running into the hall carpet. They had worked together to create a masterpiece of hydro-engineering using water toys that made all the shower water run out onto the bathroom floor. Genius.

Time elapsed since onset of destruction? 10 minutes! In as many minutes as I have fingers, they had managed a more efficient demolition job than any orange-vested crew I've ever seen. Sigh. I called Troy and told him I was hiring a sitter to take over for the rest of the day.....week.......month(?) and I would be back when the house was clean and I had relocated my fragmented sanity. He reminded me that the economy hardly permitted such luxurious measures, and suggested I take some time out for group-therapy (blogging). So, thanks for the session ya'll, now I'm off to get ahold of my day, or some tranquilizer darts. Whichever I find first.