how's this for arts & crafts?

Yay, Memorial weekend was my scrappin' weekend. I have found the only way to get much scrapbooking done is to be able to give a chunk of effort toward it at a time. My aunt Melanie felt the same way. So the scrappin' weekends were born. We have been doing this for several years now, every General Conference Weekend. We scrap, we watch conference, John takes care of kids and cooks. It is really swell. This time we were both on the Bermuda cruise over conference so we had to reschedule the scrapbooking. It worked great, we had the full 3 days, so we even took a break for game night with the family.

So, here's me goin' to town.... Melanie, cropping til she drops.

I worked on Jack's book for the first time! I did 31 pages for him. Here are a couple of examples:

Lily Jane had to get in on the action, too. That is her tiny supply tote on her table. Cute, huh. My sis-in-law Leslie gave me a big one like that for my b-day and it came with a baby too. LJ loves it.

Here is the game night I mentioned...we were up til 3am! We are playing the Great Dalmuti. So fun, good fast moving card game. In this pic John is the greater peon, Melanie is the lesser peon, Me and Randy are merchants, My mom is the lesser Dalmuti and Dylan is the greater Dalmuti. Anyway Dylan never moved all night. He kicked all of our butts.

Had to throw these in, Jack tried corn on the cob for the first time! :)

He likes it! Smart kid.

Dancing Queen

Friday night was really something special. Lily Jane had her first Dance Recital! Dance class this year has been really fun. Lily has this kooky Danish lady for her teacher. Her name is Miss Veba, and she is darling. The girls all love her. I love the class because it is very low-key. No big pressure, no competitions, no "modern" pelvic-thrusting dance moves for little girls who are WAY too young, (seen that a million times! Yuck!) just cute, basic ballet. Her class was the 3-year-old class, though she turned 4 while she was in it.

So here she is, all ready and on the way to her recital...

The 1st dance: "Are my Ears on Straight?" (the dolly dance) "....I'm a little doll who has dropped and broken..." Lily, Samantha & Adelaide. There are actually 8 little dancers but I cropped it to be able to see LJ better."Tippie-toe turn...."This is the 2nd dance, the Danish Folk Dance. It is so darling. Lily's partner is a cute little girl named Callie. Dance #3: "The Duck Dance" "...watch me now and I will do my duck dance just for you...quack, quack!""...When I jump my feathers fly, especailly when I jump high!"#4: "The Purple People Eater"The Grand Finale, "The Hope of America"

Lily Jane was so proud! My sister even gave her roses. A bunch of family was there to see her--she kept asking everyone if they saw her dance. Later she was listing off the people who came..."mommy, daddy, grandma, grandpa, the Russells, The Lesters..." The Russells and Lesters were actually not there so Joan asked her about that and she said "oh, they were in the back row watching me. I couldn't see them but they saw me." Funny, sweet girl! We love her so much!

And...just for fun!! Here is a pic of me from my first dance recital.

1982: "Do the Hula"

That's me, Natalie, and Mandy. I am pretty sure. Even though I don't really know these girls and have not seen them since 1982! :)

=W=

So, I think most of you know of my love for music--especially rock, though I like most kinds.

I was born and bred on classic rock and hair metal:

(think AC/DC, Def Leppard, The Who, The Doors, Rolling Stones, Scorpions, Boston...)

Then when I got my own music--7th grade or so...I got into lots more hair metal and glam rock:

(the likes of Motley Crue, Poison, Bon Jovi, Slaughter, Metallica....)

In High School/College I expanded on to the newer Alternative Rock, more pop rock, and Punk too:

(The Cure, Depeche Mode, Live, Stone Temple Pilots, The Origin, Bad Religion, Green Day, No Doubt, Belly, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Rage against the Machine, U2, Cake, Dance Hall Crashers, Red Hot Chili Peppers....)

Nowadays I still listen to all of the above, plus many other bands I've discovered and love:

(Killers, Snow Patrol, Letters to Cleo, Ben Folds Five, Fall Out Boy, Kelly Clarkson, The White Stripes, Dashboard Confessional, Jet, Daughtry...so many more)

Though I love all of these and could just keep adding more faves to this list...I must now recognize what I consider to be my favorite 3 bands:

Led Zeppelin

Nirvana

Weezer

And, of course, the best of these (and the only ones who are all alive and making music) is...

Weezer!

Their new album--the 6th one of their career---deemed "the red album" by fans already--is coming out on June 3rd!

Let me just say that I don't totally approve of the hat or moustache but I will also say I love rivers no matter what he does...and of course it is kind of a joke....

Anyway I have heard most of the album already (thank you, internet!) and I have posted links to hear my favorite 3 songs so far here on my blog. They are on the right below my profile and stuff. "Troublemaker" is the best, then "Pork and Beans", then "Everbody Get Dangerous". Listen, enjoy!

...and (this just in!) They world-premired their new video today. A very funny shout out to youtube watchers everywhere--It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend watching it:

Here it is: The "Pork And Beans" Video! Go! Watch! Now! YouTube WORLD PREMIERE!!!

Long live the Weez!

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

So what bands do you guys like???

Weston

I have been catching up on everything that has been going on over the last couple months, the good and bad. A month ago our family lost a precious little boy. My cousin's 20-month old son passed away on April 23. He was happy and playing one day, got sick and was vomiting that night, and just a couple of hours later, he was gone. After an autopsy it was discovered that he had a stenosis on his colon; a narrowed area which eventually closed off the colon and it ruptured. By the time he was throwing up, nothing could have been done to save him. Weston Lee Campbell

This was taken at our family Christmas party in December.

Weston was not too sure what to think about Santa, he accepted the gifts, but warily kept his eyes on the jolly old man. Just look at those big brown eyes! My heart is hurting for Weston's parents, Emily & Jeff--and also for my aunt and uncle, Paula & Courtney. They had Weston with them often, and that's how we got to know him well. He was their only grandbaby. He was just a couple months older than Jack. Ever since this happened, it is like a cloud in the back of my mind. Why did he need to leave earth so soon? Will I have to lose one of my children? How does one go on? The other night I was in Logan for my stamp club and chatted for a while with my friend Kimmie, whose daughter passed away a few years ago. She talked about how she got through...and still is. Anyway my heart broke for her all over again and I cried my eyes out all the way home. Does this seem normal? Because I don't feel normal. I know that our loving Heavenly Father is watching over and taking care of us, and must take his children back to him...but I am still so bothered/haunted/upset by all of this. I am apalled that anyone should have to endure this kind of pain, and I am afraid of losing one of my little family.

Well I am sorry for the "dark" post, but death is hard. We miss and love you Weston! I will do my best to help take care of your family who misses you so much!

David or David?

I am such an American Idol junkie!

I have never loved both of the finalists so much! It is so fun, because it will be great whoever wins. I really think it will be good either way--for both of them, but

based on last night alone I think it would have to be David Archuleta!

However, I think David Cook is more ready to make an album right now, knows his style better, is more marketable to everyone, and I think he is the one I would be more likely to listen to. A lot of people say he is arrogant...I don't think so. But I hated Bo Bice for that reason, and a lot of people disagreed with me. Anyway--may the best David win!

Jack's First Haircut!

This was last month--he was 16 months when we finally took him in for a haircut. The only reason I hesitated is because it feels like the last official step out of babyhood. Especially for a little boy. They come out of their first haircut looking so different, like a little man.

Can you believe this messy little rat's nest on the back of his head??? I would carefully condition, comb and tidy this mess each day, only for the gnarled wisps to return after each nap.

"uhhh...I don't know what's going on, but I guess I'm game..." Our official family stylist--Stephanie Stowell. Steph has been my best friend pretty much since our senior year in high school. (Oh so long ago!!) She does a fab job with the Barnard locks, and she's a swell gal too! Love ya Steph! (She will never see this because she avoids all things computer. Oh well--) He was such a good boy for the haircut. No screaming, grabbing the scissors, or anything! The finished product. Just like I feared, now he looks like a grown-up little man. He is officially a toddler when we can send him off to nursery next month (a much anticipated transition actually!) These babies grow up way too fast!!!!All my handsome, newly-cropped boys--haircuts all happen at once since we don't live near Steph any more. *sigh* I do miss Logan quite a lot, for many reasons...though I like it here in Pleasant Grove too.

Bermuda Cruise

Hello everyone! Obvoiusly, we have been back for a while but FINALLY I am updating about what we have been up to! The cruise to bermuda was F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!!!! I LOVE cruising with Stampin' Up! Here is John with our Ship, the Ms. Noordam (Holland America Line) Our room would be just above John's head, about a half-inch to the left, on deck 6. We had an awesome verandah where we could go hang out and enjoy the solitude of being in the middle of the Atlantic! As we sailed out of NYC, Manhattan Harbor we all went out to enjoy the view of Lady Liberty. Very cool! Goodbye, USA...hello one week of paradise!
These are just a couple of the gifts I received from Stampin' Up! while on the cruise. It is so cool...each night when we come back to our room after a long day of fun, our covers would be turned down, a chocolate on our pillow, and a gift from Stampin' Up! They really make us feel appreciated.
Bermuda is a 21-mile island in the middle of nowhere in the Atlantic. The captain said you kind of have to pass by the general area if you are crossing the Atlantic, making it the middle of an ocean crossroad. That, combined with the fact that it is set on a huge craggy reef with sometimes volatile weather, makes it a common place for shipwrecks and other trouble. And so are born all the legends of the Bermuda triangle. One fun thing was all the multi-colored buildings. This is a common look for tropical island homes, but in Bermuda it is a law. Each neighborhood has a color palette, and the residents must choose one of the colors to paint their home. Also, it must not be the same as the building on either side. I thought that was pretty funny. I chatted with an old man on the bus one day, he told me he could only choose salmon, lavendar or canary yellow for his home. He had yellow but didn't like it so he had to move to another neighborhood so he could have blue! Funny.

Of course, everything is tropically green. There were a lot of pretty flowers too. We bought a 4-day bus pass and buzzed wherever we needed to go on the bus. It was an efficient and inexpensive way to travel! We also did a fair amount of walking, which could never offset all the yummy food we ate on the ship. We would have had to walk all the way home to do that! Some of the stuff we did in Bermuda: Checking out caves and old forts, beaches, shopping, a very cool glass factory, and a few museums. A very nice place to visit!!
Being on a Stampin' Up! cruise is different because we know a LOT of the other people on the boat. We get to see Shelli and the rest of the corporate team, plus so many Demonstrators we have made friends with over the years. But the best is my very own downline, friends and family who are also cruise achievers! Here is our group this year: (from left) John and I, Janice and Kevin Barlow, Melanie (her hubby was sick that night) and Jill and Landon Kirk.

After the cruise was over, John and I spent 2 more days in NYC. It was like another vacation! We explored a TON of Central Park, (in 3 different visits!) Spent 5 hours at the Museum of Natural History, saw 2 broadway shows, and so much more. We saw all the historical sights and ground zero and rockefeller center and the Empire State Building and so on...My favorite was seeing "Wicked". It was VERY good and we were on the second row all the way to one side. We were very up close and personal with the stage. We also saw Spam-a-lot which was very funny even though I am not a huge Monty Python fan. It was much funnier with all the spoofs and songs. Also, Clay Aiken played Sir Robin. He was so funny and obviously a good singer! We even saw him outside afterward. Fun. NYC pretty much rocks. It is one of my very favorite places. Here I am in front of Macy's by Herald Square, with a view of the Empire State Building behind me. Groovy.
* Sigh* Another fabulous vacation is now history!!! But good news...As of April 30 I have earned Stampin' Up!'s next trip--March 2009--to an all-inclusive resort in Kona, Hawaii! ALOHA!!! Thank you to all of my wonderful supportive customers and family who help me to keep doing well with my business!