I Write the Songs . . . and Movies :)

I'll start with memories of Darrin. I was barely thirteen when Angela and Darrin got married. Even though I was still pretty young (and immature) when I first knew him, I never felt like he treated me differently than an adult. I appreciated that. Those early teens are weird years when you want independence and respect, but are also fairly childish still. There was one thing that I immediately loved about Darrin: he was a Star Wars fanatic. It didn't take much time to realize that he was an overall movie fanatic, really. I think he missed his calling in the film industry. :) I'm no longer surprised, but continuously amazed about how much he knows about movies - who makes them, various techniques and technologies. I find it impressive when people delve so deeply into things; I don't have that kind of passion for anything that pushes me to learn on a deep level. He's also always struck me as a humble, non-judgmental guy, just taking people as they are. Those are great qualities.

I'll always think of Raymond whenever I hear the song, "I Write the Songs". One of my first memories of him is playing and singing that song. I always felt really special because I shared my birthday with him. I loved it when he called me his birthday present when introducing me to people. I idolized him from the beginning. I loved it when I went to college and I got to be his student and be with him in the dance department. I got to know him a lot better, and wasn't disappointed to find him less than I thought he was. I appreciate his integrity. I never got any special treatment because I was his sister (not from him, anyway). The lowest grade I ever got in my dance classes was from him, but I got what I earned. One semester when he was directing DancEnsemble, I auditioned and he could have put me in the company but I didn't really deserve it. I honestly didn't resent that at all. I was sad not to have the opportunity to be in the company while he was director, but I could see that I wasn't good enough yet and I was glad that he didn't give me something I hadn't earned. I was, and am so proud that he's my brother.

So grateful for all of the "August kids". :)

Mother, I Love You

My very first memory of Mom is of being disciplined, or rather post-disciplining. I have no recollection of what I'd gotten in trouble for or what punishment had been meted out, but I clearly recall Mom giving me a big, long hug afterward and telling me she loved me. In that moment I understood and felt profoundly that she would always love me no matter what choices I made. It hasn't been until much later in life that I've understood what a profound impact that kind of understanding can have in a child's life.
She has no recollection of negative interactions when I was a teenager (bless her memory!), but I know we had our scuffles. Mom helped me get over shirking and complaining about work by making me wash the dishes by myself every day (by hand) for an entire year. April can back me up on that. :) My poor hands! It was a hard-learned lesson, but it did me good. I think after that I was mostly a cheerful cleaner, if not completely proactive. hahaha
As many of you know, the move to Preston was very difficult for me. I had trouble getting and keeping friends basically the entire time. I got much closer to my family as a result, but particularly Mom. Now that I am a Mom I can see how painful it must have been for Mom to see me struggling so much. The entire first year we lived there I think I came home from school crying most days. Mom kept assuring me that I was okay just as I was, and that I just needed to like myself and then other people would come around. But mostly she listened when I needed to talk, built me up and just loved me.
Oh, how I ache for people who don't have meaningful relationships with their earthly parents! How difficult it must be to believe in God's love for us when you have no one modeling it here! I remember a time that I had made a choice that I was extremely ashamed of, and it took me a while to work up the courage to tell Mom about it, because for the first time that I could remember I had to wonder if she could still love me after she knew what I had done. When I finally did, she handled it just right. She said to me, "Rachael, you're okay. And I still love you." And that helped me feel like Heavenly Father still loved me, too. In fact, in that moment I knew that He did, and that I was not a lost cause.
Thank you, Mom for helping me believe in my worth as a daughter of God. That was a priceless gift. I love you.

We Love You, Angela

I'll go stream of thought style for this one . . . I remember loving Angela's sweet, angelic (how appropriate!) singing voice from the very beginning - the quality has always reminded me of a flute, and I loved it when she sang around the house . . . Angela picking me up from piano lessons at Sister Seamons' house in Jerome and driving in a crazy serpentine pattern to make me laugh (I loved it when she did that) . . . from my perspective, it has always seemed like Angela was ready at any moment to have a party, and she would be well prepared with plenty of junk to party with . . . after high school she went to Provo and we all got showered with BYU gear - it was beautiful :) . . . more than once I sneaked into Angela's room (which was always so neat, it was rather shocking compared with other rooms in the house) and stole some of the candy she often kept on hand - sorry about that, Angela - I think she knew it was me, but I don't remember her ever yelling at me about it . . . I remember thinking that she was just gorgeous, particularly for her engagement and wedding photos - what a knock out! . . . also have vivid memories of her in her prom dress that mom made - pretty sure that style of dress was prominent in my drawings for a long time after that . . .

The older I get the more amazing I think Angela is. I'm pretty sure I know no other adult that is less likely to hold a grudge than her. It's just not how she's programmed! She seems to have an infinite well of forgiveness in her heart, and I just love that about her. She takes people as they are, and never seems to expect anything different. It ended up not being in the Lord's plan for me to serve a mission, but I planned on it from the age of twelve, being highly influenced by the choices of my older siblings, including Angela. I was just so proud of her. Even though I didn't end up serving a full-time mission, I know that even just planning and preparing for it was a blessing in my life. I love Angela so much. What a fantastic older sister she is. She's fully supportive and completely non-judgmental - you can't have a better cheerleader than that! When she showed up at the marathon around mile twenty-four last year - well, it was just perfect timing. I needed that boost right then; she gave me the motivation to actually finish the rest of the race at a run. I don't think I'd have managed it without that. She's just amazing, and I am continually awed by her strength and her tremendous faith. The perfect phrase to describe her is "steadfast and immovable."

Lesser Known Memories of Dave

My first memory of Dave was actually just 'hearing' about him. Around the time that I announced to people at school that I would be moving across town I was exchanging notes with a mutual friend. I hadn't yet met Dave, and somehow my friend knew the ward boundaries even across town. When he learned my new location he wrote in a note, "You'll be in Big Dave's ward." My thought was, "Who is 'Big Dave'?" Neither Dave nor I recall the first time we spoke, but I do remember the day that I put a face with the name. Our first Sunday in our new ward, the Sunday school teacher introduced everyone in the class to me. After he introduced David Allred I thought, "So that's 'Big Dave'. He's not very big." :)
During our senior year, I got rides with Dave a lot to school, partly to make sure that I could be on time to ballroom (he's very punctual). One day that I'd gotten a ride with him I had some errand that needed doing and somewhat urgently apparently because I asked him to drive me there during the lunch hour. We had AP English together after lunch and we arrived a little late. We walked into the classroom separately and tried to  stagger it slightly to try to avoid teasing, but it didn't work. Boy, we got a lot of ribbing from our class mates. That was the first time that our teacher ever got a hint that we might be more than friends.
After his mission, and after our first post-mission date someone that came through my checkout line invited me to go swing dancing that evening. I didn't really know him, but he was a friend of a friend from work and so I said yes. I was a little nervous since I couldn't even recall the guys' name, but not nearly as nervous as mom was. She was so upset with me for accepting a date with a guy that I didn't even know! While she was still at the store Dave came in and I invited him to come with me, as a safety measure and because I just wanted him with me. Mom was so relieved. I was driving somehow - the guy (Travis) met me at the store, and then I picked up Dave who wasn't too thrilled to go (since he really doesn't love dancing) but was going to keep me safe. Dave was in the backseat by himself and Travis held up the conversation single-handedly, talking about himself and horses. *eye roll* We ended up meeting a group of people at the dance that Travis had planned on meeting up with, which meant that he definitely had a ride back home. I danced with him once (he was awful), and then Dave and I got out of there. So, it all worked out!
Dave got me out of more than one scrape while we were single, and keeps me sane now. I always knew I could count on him for anything - even after I'd broken up with him (I did try not to take advantage of him since I knew that I'd broken his heart, though)! He's always been a gentleman - completely respectful of me as a woman and as a person. He's a really smart and steady man, but he's never made me feel inferior. In fact, he's made me feel like I am capable of doing anything. I am profoundly grateful to have him in my life, and to have had him in my life for so long. He's just my favorite person ever. The end. :)

This is our Charity . . .

I was so thrilled to get a baby sister! I had been wanting one for as long as I could remember. But then I wasn't the youngest anymore. I wasn't so young that I was truly jealous, but it did turn out to be unsettling. I was suddenly expected to be much more mature than I was used to. Too old to act some ways, but too young to be making certain decisions. It was a confusing time.
I loved that baby girl. I was a master at making her laugh. When I got older she was really insistent that I play with her, which I was sometimes willing to do, but not always. I lost my temper with her more than once, and sadly I would end up hitting her out of frustration. Mom punished me by making me play with her for a solid hour every time I hit her. I always ended up enjoying our time together, but it didn't take Charity long to discover that if she felt like I wasn't playing with her enough then she could goad me into being angry enough to hit her, resulting in a punishment for me that was a reward for her being deliberately irritating. I felt very vindicated later when she admitted to doing her best to get me in trouble on purpose - I knew she was, but mom thought I was crazy. :) Smart little stink.
I missed Charity when I went off to college. We had been sharing a room before that, and still did when I'd come home for the summer (I think?). She was just so smart that I really could talk to her about anything and she'd understand! She's always been very precocious, and I bragged to anyone that would listen about my younger sister who though much younger than me was smart enough to be a real friend that I could have worthwhile conversations with. And I still enjoy having conversations with her. She often surprises me with her insight and wisdom. She's got a good head on her shoulders. :)
My favorite memory with Charity was when I took her out on a formal date for a Christmas present (pictured above). On Christmas day it appeared that all she was getting from me was a card, but in the card I told her about my plans to take her on a fancy date. She loved watching me get ready for the dances at school and wanted me to make her fancy, too. We went the day after Christmas. It was so fun because I could tell that she was loving every minute of it. Totally worth it.
I love you Charity doll. You're my favorite younger sister. ;)

Stream of thought memories of Nathan

. . . Nathan and Raymond in a physical fight and me crying hoping that would make them stop :) . . .  I already mentioned in another post a memory of a Christmas that Nathan gave me a beautiful dress, and feeling surprised at his skill in choosing it . . . Nathan in high school being the youngest member of the jazz choir and being called Mickey Mouse . . . Nathan having heated discussions with mom and dad (high school) on gospel topics - they were probably mostly heated with mom :) . . . Nathan's awesome red hair (I hope I have a red head baby) . . . his awesome blind eye - not that I thought it was awesome because he was blind in that eye, but because the tear drop shape of his pupil was so cool to me, plus it's a slightly different color! . . . his crazy "girly finger" (his words) which I just always found fascinating, especially because when he played guitar he had this special little glove just for that finger to make it less painful to play . . . I also enjoyed watching his prominent Adam's apple move when he talked and sang :) . . . him buying two sets of boxing gloves and duking it out in the backyard with friends for fun! . . . him padding around the house in mismatched socks and/or Birkenstocks . . . occasionally walking around the house in just boxers . . . him dancing ballet in tights, in a very masculine way . . .  him saying something to me that kind of implied that I was too fat to be a ballroom dancer at BYU, then soon after being apologized to because he realized how it sounded and that wasn't precisely what he meant . . . 
hahaha Some of these memories seem like they could be bad memories for me (mostly just the first and last I guess), but they're not really. I have to admit freely that I don't have very specific memories of interactions with Nathan. He is six years older than me, and I view him as intellectually superior so I personally am a little hesitant to try to converse with him one-on-one, but I love to listen to him talk to other people because it reveals how his mind works. It's really different from mine, and really amazing. For instance I remember a conversation about honesty. He posed the question, "Is it always wrong to lie?" Mom instantly responded, and my initial thought was, "Yes!" Typical to Nathan style (I'll call it devil's advocate) he cited the Holocaust, and the people that lied to German authorities about Jews they were hiding in their homes. "Was lying wrong in that instance?" he challenged. Really, can it be any wonder that Nathan is suited to be a lawyer? hahaha
Also, I just have to say that I love and respect Nathan. He is amazingly gifted and talented, and it's so fun to see him in the roles of husband and father. When Raymond left for college or a mission or something, I consoled myself with the knowledge that I still had at least one brother to hug (obviously, that was before Andrew came along). I loved hearing Nathan practicing jazz piano music. He could see that I really liked it and he actually bought me a video as a gift once that was designed to teach improvisation on the piano. Sad to say, I never watched the whole thing through (although I'm pretty sure he did) - I still have it just in case I decide I have the courage. What was neat about it was that he noticed how much I enjoyed it, and he gave me tools to help me learn to do it myself. I just didn't have enough courage to follow through. :)
Happy birthday, brother!

Highlights in My Memories of Mike

I really do love reminiscing about all of my favorite people. We seriously have an outstanding family, and the people we've chosen to marry are no exception! My first memory of Mike was before I even met him. hahaha Since I am two years younger than April I had a lot of opportunity to observe April in various stages of 'like' with boys (not that it happened as frequently as it did with me). The Christmas break after April started dating Mike I was forcibly struck by just how much she liked this Mike guy. I had never seen her so . . . giddy! It was a strange thing to witness because while I knew I'd gotten giddy frequently, I'd seen her like guys but it had never affected her in this way. I was pretty sure that this was going to end up in a marriage. During that break we got to meet Mike, and I was so impressed with him for being open enough to give us all hugs - good ones, too! :) He is clearly a good match for April, because April is never more happy than when Mike's around.
It's already been mentioned in a Christmas memory from Charity, but the first Christmas after they were married, Mike set a trap for Charity and I to get past to reach the presents. To us it was pretty complicated, although Mike later told us that it was like one that his dad had set when he was really young. That made me feel pretty smart. hahahaha Charity and I slept in the loft so he could set it on the stairs, and she seriously woke me up every hour starting at 2! I finally gave up trying to make her sleep at 5, and we started attempting to get past the trap. :)
One last memory. April and Mike were still living in Provo when I was there for a summer term. It was my junior year. I was taking a calculus class (because I had to), and I hadn't had a math class since my junior year of high school -- and it wasn't even pre-calculus! Math does not come easily or quickly for me, but Mike took the time to personally tutor me. He was so patient and encouraging. I was convinced that I was just a math idiot, but he bolstered my confidence. I got an A- on the final. It was just too bad that I didn't get to have that as my final grade. I ended up getting a C . . . that's how badly I was doing before I got Mike's help.
Mike, you rock. I'm glad you're part of our family!
Added later: I was pondering what to write about after I sent the prompt out, but I forgot one of the things I thought about. I totally hung out with April & Mike while I was in Provo. One of my favorite memories is watching Pride & Prejudice with them. I totally love it that Mike was completely masculine, and still loved a high quality chick flick. :) April scored. I did, too, even though Dave doesn't like to watch Jane Austen movies with me. hahaha

To sell or not to sell?

That is the question. I've taken so long to post because I've been conflicted. On the one hand, I really do like having both mine and Dave's parents in the same place. Especially because Dave's family hasn't had a place for us to stay comfortably. That's still kind of the case, but less so. I think. We'll see, because this Christmas is Dave's parents' turn, and mom and dad's house is rented out. Anyway, on the other hand that house is quite the beast to maintain if it's not being lived in. It is either way, but it is really a lot to maintain if it's not being lived in. On the other hand I'd be sad if it was sold because it is an awesome house with a large yard - the grandkids love it. I love it, too! The indoor pool cannot be beat for an exercise option.
We personally would be willing to take care of it on the off chance that we do end up in Preston. You all have heard about that possibility haven't you? In terms of property and house we already have a place that could be had for an unbeatable low price . . . but no job. Not even one that's unavailable because it's filled, it's unavailable because it doesn't exist. At least not in Preston, and commuting really does not appeal.
That aside, even being stripped of all the special touches that mom has put into that house (a costly process in and of itself, I would think), I have a hard time believing that that house could sell for a worthwhile price. However, the bottom line is that while I would ultimately prefer that the house isn't sold, I can also see in terms of practicality how it would really be a burden to mom and dad to keep it if they're serving a mission(s). And if that's how the spirit directs them, then who am I to fight that? It just darn well better be a move that's dictated by the spirit. :) So my vote is: don't sell unless you have clear direction from the spirit to do so.

Christmas rememberies . . .

One Christmas that stands out in my mind is the year that mom made me a dress. We lived in Boise, and I was nine. Somehow mom must have known that I loved the fancy dresses that my cousin, Staci Stokes wore . . . or maybe she just liked the style, too. Regardless, I did love Staci's dresses and wished that I had one. They probably cost a crazy amount - as the only daughter, she was a little bit spoiled. Anyway, what is especially funny about this memory is that I actually saw the dress well before Christmas. It's tricky to hide homemade gifts. The dress was hanging in mom and dad's closet and it caught my eye when I was in there one day for a legitimate reason. My little heart beat faster, but then it occurred to me that it might not be for me at all; it might be for April, or for somebody not in the family at all. Not wanting to completely ruin the surprise for myself I quickly exited the closet, but naturally continued to wonder about it for the remaining time until Christmas morning.
On Christmas morning as we walked from our room to mom and dad's for the devotional I couldn't resist peeking to see if that dress was out; we could easily see where gifts had been placed from the upper floor. I could hardly stand waiting through the devotional to find out that the pile that had that beautiful dress was mine. I was so thrilled when I found out it was.

That might have been the same Christmas that Nathan gave me a beautiful dress, too (wish I had a picture - it really was gorgeous). Obviously, he didn't make it, but I remember being so surprised that he had picked it out himself. I didn't know yet that Nathan was actually very good at gifting, but somehow in my mind it seemed inconsistent with his personality in general. Or at least with what I understood about his personality at the time. Now it makes sense. haha

July Celebrities

I think my title of choice will make sense as the post goes on. I'll share my memories in the order that the birthdays happen in the month of July.

I don't actually recollect meeting Tim - I was young enough when he and Sarah started dating that he just kind of appeared. :D Tim is a celebrity because it seems as though everyone that meets him adores him. Seriously. My first memory of Tim was actually in that six-month period between his return from his mission and Sarah's return from hers. Mom talked about him pretty often partly because she was worried that he wouldn't be available for Sarah when she came home. She had heard reports or something that he was dating some gal in his parents' home ward (I happened to know the young lady a little). Clearly there was nothing to worry about really, since Sarah & Tim's future together was pretty well settled within a week of her return. I also remember very clearly the first time we took Tim out on the boat. Pretty sure it was Mom that asked him if he had slalom skied before and he said that he had a little bit. I think we were all prepared to give him tips if it didn't go very well for him. But he got up just fine and showed us how it was done! It totally changed the way we skied - true story.

Andrew John. Oh my goodness - he was an adorable little boy and I can't help thinking that he's still adorable even though he's taller than me now. :) One of my favorite memories of Andrew is when he was really young he called water, 'lapo'. If ice was in it then it was, of course 'ice lapo'. He was very insistent on calling it that for a long time. There was no conflict in his mind when everyone else called it water. We joked that maybe that's what water was in the Adamic language. Another favorite memory of Andrew is his nickname for me. He called me Ra-ree . . . although he said it more like 'Wa-wee' because he had trouble with the r's. It's my favorite nickname ever, and in fact the only nickname that I ever offer as an option if people want to call me something other than Rachael. I find the nickname 'Rach' horrifying. Yick. Just because I've expressed that I bet that Tim will start calling me that . . . but please restrain yourself. :) Andrew's a celebrity because he certainly seems to be a bit of one in Preston and he certainly was that, if only briefly in Nauvoo.

And finally Sarah. From a very young age I wanted to be like her. In my mind she was practically perfection. She was beautiful, had a lovely voice, and was a great dancer. As I got older my view of her changed, but I still totally thought she was awesome. She was outgoing, positive and funny. Before her mission she lived at home again for a year working at the store. After she left I really felt like people sought me out just to ask about Sarah (see, another celebrity). Every time I worked I was asked by at least one person how she was doing and I was instructed to send her some kind of greeting. It astonished me how many people knew her and loved her - and she had lived there for such a short time! I still wanted to emulate her in a lot of ways, and my efforts to do so had a really positive effect on me. I don't think I've ever really expressed it, Sarah but thank you for being such a great example to me. You and Tim are really an excessively awesome couple. :D

Girls marry men like their fathers

A friend of mine recently told me after I told her that Kate was her daddy's girl, "Now, no pressure to Dave, but studies show that the largest predicting factor in the kind of man a woman will marry is her father and how he treats her." Not that I have anything to worry about. I married a man a lot like my own dad, and in all of the best ways. One of the best ways that they are similar is that they are both worthy priesthood holders. It's been a wonderful blessing in my life. I often ache for sisters in my various wards that for whatever reason do not have a priesthood holder in their homes.
One of my first memories of gaining testimony of priesthood power happened when I was . . . 9 or 10 maybe? My baptism and confirmation were wonderful, but this experience was different. We were visiting our Christensen cousins in Nevada. I remember those kids seeming to have an affinity for karate/martial arts types of things. I was downstairs in their home doing whatever I thought karate was with Katie and Peter when one of them accidentally smacked me in the face really hard with their forearm. It hurt quite a bit. My jaw felt particularly wrong and it didn't feel better after a couple of hours like I would have expected a minor injury to.
Mom suggested that I could have a priesthood blessing. I quickly agreed to that plan and we asked dad to give me a blessing. I imagine Uncle Jim participated. I don't at all remember the words of the blessing, but I do remember that within minutes the throbbing subsided. It was evening by that time, so I went to bed soon after. When I woke up in the morning the pain was gone completely.
I'm profoundly grateful for a father (and mother) who honored and respected priesthood power, and who lived and continues to live in such a way that he stands ready at any moment to use that power to bless his own family as well as other families. I'm also grateful that I married a man just like him in that regard.

I am the Luckiest . . .

When Dave proposed to me we had been unofficially engaged for three weeks. He wanted to make his proposal a complete surprise, but I had already told him my decision (we had been praying about it) and he hadn't told me his . . . I was impatient and insecure not knowing exactly where he was at (especially after I had revealed where I was at), so I basically teased it out of him. We were both really busy with school and work - Dave had a hard time finding a minute to go ring shopping, and then finding a little bit of time to get together for him to propose was also hard. As my story makes pretty clear - between my memory and my schedule it was HARD to get it officially done. Just to explain some of the conflicts, I was involved in a dance project, and being a guest performer for a piece in a different dance company. The names mentioned were the directors of those things (Pat's a man, just to be clear). This post is taken almost verbatim from my journal, dated 12 November 2004:

We [Dave and I] were supposed to meet at 2:30 yesterday and I thought that I had until 5 when I have rehearsal with Caroline. But I had forgotten until 11 a.m. yesterday that I had showings for Dancensemble [that afternoon, too]. Pat insisted on going in show order, and the piece I'm in is in the second half of the show. Dave and I met at 2:30 and I told him [the situation] and he seemed more distressed than he usually is by that kind of info, so I knew something was up. [I did try to get Pat to change things up after I'd met up with Dave and observed his unusual reaction to my schedule change, but I couldn't explicitly tell Pat that I thought my boyfriend was going to propose. What if I was wrong? Not sure that Pat would have been sympathetic, anyway.]

Anyway, so since I had at least forty minutes until I had to go [for showings], Dave and I drove around for awhile just talking, and wishing we had more uninterrupted time. I felt so bad - he let me know that he had planned a picnic or something and I was just like, "Can you consolidate your plans into an hour?" So Dave dropped me back off, I performed my piece and I finally got to leave at 4. We went to Wendy's for some food . . . we took the food to Rock Canyon Park and found a picnic table. Dave had a CD player with him and he played The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack (which was not his original intention, but the CD he wanted wasn't with him). I thought it was good. So we were just eating and talking by ourselves there.

Then this cute little family showed up with their model airplanes and soccer ball. They were cute. I totally suspected a proposal was coming at that point and so I wondered how that was going to work with the family there. [Kinda wondered if Dave would just abandon his plans] They left eventually though.

Dave changed the CD to play a song . . . called The Luckiest by Ben Folds. He just held me and looked at me sweetly during the song. It was tender. Then when the song was finished he fished in his coat pocket and got down on his knee and said, "Will you marry me?" and I said, "Yes!" then he put the ring on my finger, a ring that he chose himself.

I needed to go to rehearsal, but had to call the parents before I went so they could be the first to hear the official news. I was subsequently late for rehearsal, but it was super fun to make the announcement. All of the dancers seriously swarmed me for a group hug. :) Also, I specifically chose to post my entry today because it marks the anniversary of mine and Dave's first kiss - not only with each other, but ever for both of us. Eleven years ago. Angela's birthday helped me remember. haha Happy birthday, Angela!

April, love . . .

Guess I'll start first since this was my idea. Recall that the prompt is "First/favorite memories of April, Amy, and Julie." I'm starting with April, super glad for the opportunity that I gave myself b/c I had to share some words at April's engagement dinner and didn't have any idea until the day of. And I did a terrible job - luckily, April doesn't remember much about it. :) So here's to redeeming myself for my own satisfaction. Ha!
April, I think, has always marched to the beat of her own drum. I don't think she ever felt compelled to do anything just because other people were doing it. And she didn't back down from doing anything she took it in her mind to do even if it was possibly weird.
A prime example of this is something that she did in 6th or 7th grade I think. We lived in Boise at the time and April's best friend was Deanna Foutz. I have no idea where they learned it, but they sang a little song called "The Hairy Blues." Lyrics are as follows:

I've got it all over my belly,  I've got it all over my back. You better watch out, I'm gonna have a hair attack! I've got the hairy blues, I've got the hairy, hairy blues.

They had some actions, too! April sang it with gusto. The memory of it totally makes me giggle. One other fun fact, that may be surprising to some of you - April played football with the boys in elementary. It's true. :)
Julie had me impressed from the beginning. My first recollection of her is that she dared to mock Raymond.  I enjoyed it b/c before Julie entered our lives Raymond was just an idol (at least to me). I loved him a lot - how could I not? He proudly claimed me as his birthday present every time he introduced me to someone! But everything Mom said about him painted him in the light of perfection. Kind of hard to relate to, y'know? She made fun of him, and it humanized him for me! It simultaneously made both Julie and Raymond relatable.
I have been racking my brain for very specific memories of Amy, but I can't really think of any that are specific! Nathan and Amy got married during my freshman year at BYU, and I plunged head first into dating after I arrived there. As was inevitable, I had many dating woes that needed talking over and Amy was a sympathetic and helpful listener having fairly recently just exited the dating game herself. And I don't recall that I met her that night, but the first night I saw her was onstage with Nathan and the rest of Dancer's Company. I was instantly in love with her hair (duh), but we found out later that we unknowingly witnessed hers and Nathan's first kiss; he stole one behind the cowboy hat that was part of his costume for a dance they did to Aaron Copland's Rodeo. *gasp*

To: Grandma, From: Kate

Jack n Beanstalk

Let the record show

I planned this reunion! Mom, feel free to print it off for your reunion scrapbook. I really did get around to scrapping it. Not many pictures for it though, huh. The Disney reunion was MINE! :D

Sisters love!

A little something that was being passed around on Facebook - but I know not all of you are on that crazy social network, and I wanted to share it with you.

IT'S SISTER WEEK!!!!! If you have one sister, or more, who makes your life interesting and fun, is a blessing in your life, generally makes life worth living by being around, copy and paste this to your status!

I feel blessed to have FOUR sisters, and TWO sisters-in-law (my sistas from other mistas) - and you're all awesome! It's only too bad that we don't live a little closer to each other. Lots of love to Julie, Angela, Amy, Sarah, April, and Charity! I'm grateful to have you all in my life.

Family Home Evening: The Creation

We didn't play with our Christmas Play-Doh until last night. New Year's Eve was as much of a party as we could handle without it. :D But I decided that this part of the gift would go well with a creation lesson. So we used the nursery creation lesson and then got busy. It was a hit! Above is a tree (in case you couldn't tell).

Below: a monkey and a whale

Before and after: a lion and a lamb
Poor lamb never really had a chance. :)

For Angela . . .

Kate's range of facials just kills me. More of that another time.




Someone needs to show Angela when she's near a computer k? This is the outfit Angela gave Kate for her 1st b-day.

More Memory Lane

Another excerpt from a letter to Nathan:

How is your mission going? The scribbles are from Charity. I'll translate: "Bash in a bap konk." That's what she said it said.

What?!! Ha ha!