The Nasty Patch

We had this nasty patch of dirt in the backyard along the house. It was pretty much a litter box with wood chips. I had the dream (obsession) of covering it all up with garden boxes. So, the in-laws were kind enough to donate some old lumber to the cause and we made a Family Home Evening activity of it. (Actually, we had several FHEs on this subject. I think Binx has, "Faith is like a little seed. Plant it and it will grow." ingrained into her psyche sufficiently by now.)

We dug, cut the wood, and screwed everything together.

Laid and leveled the boxes.

And even though we threw out most of the top dirt, we decided a barrier might be good between the box dirt and the overhauled litter box.

After filling the boxes and cleaning up, pictures were necessary.

And planting eventually followed. 

It's pretty much a pizza garden, because we like pizza around here.

We had pizza (grilled, whole-wheat, thin crust, margharita) last night, and the night before. 

(And that's grilled cabbage ladened with Tony's.)

There's no shame in being a dinner repeater, right? 

The only problem is that our two potted herb gardens full of basil might not make it through the summer...

Puzzling

Kenz walked into Binx's room this morning to find her playing with her puzzles.

I guess this is how they're doing puzzles these days.

Favela Painting

Favela = shanty town. In Chile we called these areas "las tomas". 

If you have never had the privilege to visit, walk amongst the inhabitants, and talk with the people who live in these conditions, it is truly a human experience. Stripped of the audacity that comes with appearance and material possessions, you feel as if you are communicating soul to soul.

Abject poverty in shades of dirt: 

dirty animals

 and dirty kids. 

I can still almost recall the smells of dirty laundry water, urine, floor wax (like turpentine), wood, and dry dirt.

The expanse and masses that live in these conditions is breathtaking.

They surround major metropolitan areas in Latin America.

Stacked house upon house.

The higher you live (farther from the city), the poorer.

Laden with crime, gangs and drugs, the poverty is only part of what inhabitants face.

As an effort to lighten lives of those who live in favelas in Brazil, two Dutch painters have created masterpieces on cement and cinder block. 

It's favela painting.

Check out this river with koi fish, painted on a retaining wall.

Or making this

into this...

Whether or not it achieves a greater purpose in alleviating poverty by giving hope,

I think it's pretty cool.

What I Do

When people ask what I do at work, I tell them something along the lines of maintaining university compliance with federal and institutional regulations for animal use on campus. It makes their eyes glaze over. 

I don't blame them. 

But that's not all I do in this office. I also coordinate the ORCA Mentoring Grant Campaign on campus and create the newsletter that is distributed to donors and alumni.

Well, today is special. I received the copies of the first newsletter I helped author and produce. 

I was pretty excited, so this picture goes into the online scrapbook/journal.

Now back to printing all the emails. Just kidding. No, but really.

Office Space

The week of the MCAT, I also interviewed for a job at BYU. Well, I got that job and now have an office with this view. 

Yes, that is an orca cut-out reflection in the window. I manage the ORCA grant campaign, mentored research, and do federal and institutional compliance for the use and care of animals on campus. So far, so good. 

Potty Trained!

Ladies and gentlemen! We are officially potty trained! (Diapers during naps and at night don't count at this point, right?)

Although we have casually put Adi in panties in the past, last week my angel of a mother-in-law started potty training Adi full-time!

And last night, after Adi had gone to bed, Ryan said... "Adi didn't have any accidents today." 

Wow! 

I guess when they're ready, they're just ready!

Thank you so much to my mother-in-law, Jennifer, and my mom and brothers who have helped make it happen!

Relaxing in her newly found freedom. (:

Little Things

Kenz brought home some shrimp bruschetta from Red Lobster tonight from her work lunch.

She saved it all day long so that I could try some, then insisted on me having the last one. We ended up splitting it. I love that girl.

Featured!

A friend from back east has developed and runs a blog about parenting. I've seen it a few times, and have been duly impressed. Jasmine finds great parenting tips and tricks as well as health awareness and notices about child safety. She is fabulous.

Anyway, yesterday she asked if she could highlight our post about Adi's Santa pictures on her blog as part of their weekly highlights. It was fun to be featured, and I would encourage moms out there to check out her blog, it's quite informative and educational.

Believe

A few weeks ago, Ryan told me about FotoFly. I'm not sure where he learned about them, but after looking at the gallery, I was hooked. 

So, we scheduled our five-minute slot. Friday was the big day and we dressed Adi up to meet the jolly old elf himself. She was really excited when she saw Santa, although still apprehensive. (I won't mention that I've been priming her since September...) But, the nice thing about FotoFly is that the parents can dress up like Santa if you feel like your kids will do better.

So, Ryan donned the red suit, and voila! 

An almost-smile, she still wanted me. (And notice Ryan's awesome watch... :)

LOVE this. (Just wish the bow weren't covering her face so much.)

So sweet. 

Merry Christmas! 

In Case You Live in Media-Controlled Communist China

Last night, Ryan found the funniest link on our friend Dave's facebook. 


So naturally, he showed me. 


I will admit that, at times, our sense of humor is different (as evidenced by my lack of laughter towards Borges), but last night it was spot on. 


The link was to a post from Eli McCann's blog "It Gets Stranger" about an accidental text conversation and it. was. hilarious.


So naturally, I shared it on facebook. 


And, over the past twenty-four hours have been seeing it everywhere. In fact, come to find out, Eli and I had 16 friends in common on facebook. So, after commenting on Dave's link, asking for Eli to post his blog stats, I found out that it has had more than 18,500 hits in 48 hours. 


So worth it. 


Check it out: Snuggie Texts 


And, my friend Jolyn said it best... 


"If you haven't read this yet your excuse better be that you've been living in media-controlled communist china for the last 48 hours. Because it's big, and everyone else knows about it but you. Eli McCann is the next Dave Barry of humor writing. I would, however, like to know how Jane feels about being exploited like this..." 


PS - anyone know Jane?

The Bear

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan told me about a traumatic experience he had had as a child.

He said that when he was a child, his family watched a movie called "L'Ours" or "The Bear" in English. When he heard that I had never even heard of it, he was baffled. He described a scene in which a cougar hunts a bear, chases him through rugged terrain, and backs him into a few corners and tight spots. He said that as a child, when the cougar was getting close to catching the bear he said, "No, no, no!" and turned off the TV.

Funny boy. (Although I don't blame him.)

Take a look at the clip...

Meow!

We know what Binx will be for Halloween this year. She was obsessed with the cat ears and loved seeing herself as a cat. She laughed for a good 5 minutes then spent the rest of the time at the store looking at herself in the mirror and dancing. She screamed when we took them off and left.

I am not-so-secretly obsessed with this video. Kenz says I think it's funnier than it actually is because there's probably nothing else I think is funnier right now. I can watch it over and over and still not get enough of her face when she jumps back up and starts dancing, then says, "Meow" and runs off. It cracks me up.

Tonight, We Made a Difference

Tonight's outreach activity with the Red Cross has made the work of the past four months worth all the effort and frustration. We taught basic first aid skills to roughly 25-30 Spanish-speaking parents and scouts, which involved lots of fake blood, marshmallow "bones" and a water balloon fight. The scouts had fun and learned the skills. My team had a great time and bonded. But most importantly, I know we made a difference.

After my bloody compound fracture instruction, one parent told me that first of all, she hoped nothing like this ever happened to her. (I don't blame her.) But, if it did, she would now know how to confront the situation, which she had never known how to do before. I thought to myself, "This is what's it's all about. This is the purpose of this Outreach Program that I have been working so hard to establish. Tonight, we made a difference."

A Bat...

We found one slumbering on our back porch the other day.

It kinda freaked us out.

Sick Shades

This Binx cracks me up. She has two pair of these shades. Why two? They were buy one get one free and Binx is infamous for busting sunglasses. Really, she can snapped a side of in less than 15 seconds once. Don't say I didn't warn you.

And, bonus for us and for her optical health, she likes to wear them for somewhat-extended periods of time. They also appear to be tamper proof because, as of yet, we have not had any casualties with these.

Here she is blowing kisses to some stranger (probably) but we'll pretend she's blowing a kiss to her mom. Speaking of blowing kisses to strangers, we went to BYU Creamery one day and she was blowing kisses to the construction workers working on the pipeline between Heritage and the Law Library. I've gotta get that shotgun now.

Double Rainbow

The weather in Utah has been odd lately (not that weather in Utah is ever really consistent). The latest weather that we've been trying out here is similar to what we had in VA, only without as much humidity. I have honestly really enjoyed the slight humidity that onsets afternoon thundershowers.


Here's a picture after Sunday's storm: A double rainbow. Speaking of which, I heard that double rainbow guy is running for the office of President of the United States.

Smart Cookie

We made cookies to give out to neighbors on Sunday. We put them on the counter, just out of Binx's reach. I turned the corner to find this.

Binx really wanted a cookie.

So, she opened the dishwasher and climbed on top of it to grab a once unattainable cookie. I think she is one smart cookie.

Jeep

Grandpa's Jeep.

I told you she loved it.

It's Gestures Like These...

... that make me love my job.

Last week I got an e-mail titled, "Just wanted to say a little thank you!" and it made. my. day.

Let me share...

---

Dear McKenzie,

I met with you last week. I just wanted to email you a quick thank you. It was wonderful to meet with you, I have never met a counselor before who was so actively involved in helping set up internships and explaining resumes. You are simply splendid at your job. Have a great day.

Paris

---

Thank you Paris.

Party! Party!

There is never a dull moment with this little girl. She was sitting all messy, eating in her chair when out of nowhere she starts chanting, "Party! Party!"

Who says dinnertime has to be boring?

Grandma Davies is to blame for the "Party!" chanting.

Then the other morning as we were on our way to work/school she yelled, "Surprise!" from her car seat. Funny girl.