Haircuts

On Monday, the girls and I went to Heidi's house.  We got to hold/play with her darling 3 month old and her darling 2 1/2 year old. And she trimmed and highlighted Michelle's hair, cut and highlighted my hair, and cut Ella's hair.

BEFORE

BEFORE

After

After

Dog-gone it, You're 6!

On Saturday, Gabby had a "dog" themed birthday party for her 6th birthday.  How did she get to be 6?  It seems like just yesterday she was 6 days old...

 or maybe 6 months old....

 BUT definitely not 6 YEARS old...

We played several games including Pin the Tail on the Doggie; Doggie, Doggie, Where's Your Bone?; and Musical Doghouse (like musical chairs but one chair was the doghouse and if you sat in it, you were out).

Gabby opened her presents and got such wonderful things from her friends and from her sisters:

 Of course, there were cupcakes and ice cream and she smashed a cupcake in her face.  She is a Panameno after all.

 And of course, there was a pinata.  I loved watching these darling kiddos hit the pinata.  And since it was a small party and the kids are still young, they all got three different turns to hit the pinata five times.  And then they still hadn't broken it, so I helped them out.

It was a fun birthday party, and Gabby has been enjoying her presents ever since.  She's a lucky dog!

Tears and Memory

Oscar Wilde said, "Music is the art which is most nigh to tears and memory."   I hope when Michelle reflects back on her violin/fiddle playing, that there will be mostly memories and that if tears come, they will be happy tears.   Last week was her fourth fiddle concert.  She has been taking violin lessons for 3 1/2 years now.  I am so pleased with how much progress she has made.  Her playing is improving.  Memorizing songs is becoming easier.  She usually practices without complaint (at first, there were often tears...it is hard work to learn to play the violin!)

This year, the students played 20 songs.  In order to play the song, each student must memorize the piece and check it off with Mrs. Montgomery in advance.  Last year, Michelle had learned about 13 or 14 songs but memorized 9 of them.  This year, she had learned or at least begun learning most of the songs they performed, and she had 12 of them memorized.  She played "Bile Them Cabbage Down", "Mary Had a Little Lamb", "Ashokan Farewell", "Orange Blossom Special", "Cripple Creek", "Irish Washerwoman", "Danny Boy", "Camptown Races", "Old Joe Clark", "Little Brown Jug", "Old MacDonald" (complete with sound effects for a mockingbird, chicken, woodpecker, cow and mouse), and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."  I was really happy that she was able to memorize twelve of them and feel confident that she can add at least 3 or 4 more to her repertoire next year.  Not only that, but she did smile a little bit during the concert.  And even when she was concentrating, she just looked serious, not unhappy like she often does.

It was a great concert.  Malachi played the cello.  Linda played the keyboard.   Zac played the guitar on most songs and he played the drums on a couple.  Hannah played the mandolin on a few of the songs.  Wonderful concert and wonderful to see the progress that the students are making!

Book Club at the Cabin

On July 31, it was Book Club.  It was Becky's turn to host, and we held book club at Jackie's sister-in-law's cabin up near Oakley (past Park City).  It is beautiful up there.  Not everyone was able to make it due to illness and vacations, but the seven of us that went had a wonderful time.  Becky had us each read a different book that featured a character diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. We discussed the unique gifts and interests that our characters had due to this syndrome as well as the challenges it presented for them and for those that loved them.  We had a great discussion.  We talked and laughed and ate.  Becky made delicious chocolate cake.  So yummy.  We stayed up until 3:30 AM talking.  

I had a bit of trouble falling asleep...which is pretty common for me.  Then I woke up, wide awake at 6:30.  So I only got about 2 1/2 hours of sleep....not nearly enough.  But I was able to read for about 45 minutes before anyone else got up. Then we ate breakfast (bagels, coffee cake, yogurt, fruit, oj, milk...all provided by Becky).  About 10:30, we headed back to Salt Lake.  It was such a fun trip.  We hope this will become a new tradition.

Here's a few pictures.  I am sorry the first one is so blurry.

Other Happenings in Calgary

Most of the rest of our trip to Calgary was a little quieter.  We went to the park, the kids played together, we talked and visited, the kids made crafts. Suzy and I took the kids to the mall while Rebecca and her kids had dentist appointments.  We ate poutine, a traditional Canadian food.  It is french fries with gravy and cheese curds.  Gabby didn't want to try it, but Michelle, Ella and I all loved it.  We also got ice cream from the Marble Slab (which was a lot like Cold Stone).  We were surprised to see that Safeway (a grocery store) and Target were inside the mall.

Michelle had an accident though.  She was riding a bike through the alley and she fell.  She tore up her knee pretty badly and had gravel imbedded in it.  I am not good in situations like these, but thankfully, my sister's next door neighbor, Aubrey, studied sports medicine. She came over and told us what needed to be done and volunteered to do it if we wanted.  So first, she rinsed it repeatedly with saline and wiped off as much dirt and blood as she could.  But there was still gravel in the wound. So she used a toothbrush to scrub the wound and remove the gravel.  Then she used a q-tip and nail clippers to cut off some of the skin that was just barely hanging on so that she could scrub it some more with the toothbrush.  It hurt!  But Michelle was a trooper.  Uncle Nathan let her watch Hop on his I-pad.  He also went to the store and bought her ice cream (and the neighbor brought her over a Dilly Bar.  I sat behind her and held her tightly as Aubrey cleaned the wound and wrapped it.  Nathan applied counter pressure to her ankle to help with the pain.  Michelle breathed deeply and Nathan teased her that she knew just what to do when she has a baby someday.  Then she growled at Nathan...which we all thought was funny, so she did it several more times.  She was a trooper.

Here are pictures of her the next day after we unwrapped it to clean it again. It looks significantly better than it did when it happened, but it still doesn't look pleasant.  But she has been so brave.  Each time it was time to change the bandage, she wanted to change it herself.  And on Monday of this week, it was looking so much better.  It had scabbed over and was really well on the way to healing. But then she tripped and fell and ripped the scab right off and it bled and opened up somewhat again.  Not as badly as the first time, but I still feel bad for her.  But she is brave:

On Sunday, after church, we went to see the Calgary Temple.  When we visited two years ago, it wasn't fisnished yet.  The grounds were closed since it was Sunday, but we were able to walk around and see it and take some photos.  It is up on a hill so we could also see much of Calgary as well.

My sister, Becky, made the girls all matching skirts.  They turned out so cute. 

View of downtown Calgary from the temple.

My sister Suzy.

We had such a good time in Calgary.  I wish we could have stayed longer.  I love spending time with my sisters and brother in law and my nieces and nephew.  It was wonderful.