Happy Pictures of the Week

These pictures were taken from one of our favorite family adventures! I know we don't look happy in the picture below, but trust me we are. We all look wind blown (especially Wes' hair) and I remember smelling fishy but we had the time of our lives!

In the Summer of 2006 we camped on the Oregon coast with Wes' family. Wes had a wonderful idea to rent a boat one afternoon in Netarts Bay. The friendly folks at the Marina advised us for just a little bit more money we could rent some crab rings and try our luck at catching some crawly crabs. It am sure it was hilarious to see our little family trying to catch crabs. We would quickly pull up our crab rings from the bottom of the bay and deposit our loot at the bottom of our boat. The girls at time would start screaming at the top of their lungs because the little crabs would start moving their way. Wes and I would carefully measure the crabs to make sure they were big enough and then put them in a bucket. At one point I accidentally flung one of the crabs onto Wes' lap. The poor guy! He wasn't injured though.

It was so much fun though to be out together in the bay trying to manage the boat and catch the crabs. It was challenging, funny, and a whole lot of FUN! We saw seals basking on the sand bars and even caught a bright, pink starfish, which of course was thrown back.

We ended up catching 12 Red Rock Crabs and 1 Dungeness. The Netarts Bay Marina steamed up the crabs in a giant pot and then Wes and I cleaned them up. We took them back to camp to share them with all the family. If you have never had FRESH crab I highly recommend it! There is nothing like it in the world!Since we will be vacationing close to Netarts Bay again the summer we are already planning on going crab fishing again. I can't wait to be out there in the boat again with my family on our own little adventure by the sea.

My Blog in the Spotlight

So a couple of years ago I ran across a site that is great for finding out what is going on around your state. It even includes FREE family activities! Love that! Every Thursday I get an e-mail with the fun, family weekend activities that are coming up. The site is http://www.gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/. Well a few months back they wanted local family blogs to showcase and I thought "why not" and I submitted mine. Well, I've just been notified that my blog is being featured. I am quite flattered that my little blog is being noticed in any way.

Here is the link for the blog on their site http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/attraction/Blog-Random-Thoughts-of-Liz-Salt-Lake-City-UT-84101-US

Here is what they have said about the blog "Random Thoughts of Liz is a blog that's filled with the musings of a local mom who likes to go hiking in the warmer months, creates meals using homegrown veggies from her little garden, loves watching and being involved in community theater, and enjoys sharing stories of parenting and family fun."

The Salt Lake City Editor, Holy Bishop, notified me that they are currently choosing the "Best Local Blog". Nominees are chosen based on reader reviews, so if you like my blog I would love for you to rate in on their site. If you don't like my blog or think it can be improved tell me too. Feedback is always good :)

Our Sweet Erica has started her Mission

My sister-in-law Erica went to the Missionary Training Center yesterday to begin her LDS mission. She will be serving in South Korea. We are really going to miss her!! The great thing is Ellen will be updating Erica's blog (link in blog roll) every week with information about Erica. Yeah! By the way Ellen, I hope you don't mind that I am borrowing this great picture of Erica going into the MTC.

Rainy Day

I woke up this morning to cool, clean rain. It is somewhat comforting to wake up to rain. There is something almost mystical about it. Now, granted it was interesting to fill my tire up with air at the 7-11 while it was raining. Granted I really shouldn't complain. It was common practice for me when I was younger to take walks because it was raining. I absolutely loved it. Once in college I decided to go out in an drenching, downpour. I had a rain coat on, but everything else got soaking wet. My jeans, shoes, everything. It did take a while to warm up after that one which was interesting because I had a show to do at the Off Broadway Theatre later in the evening. I distinctly remember laughing to the sky that occasion though while the rain dripped on my nose.

Another thing I loved about the rain when I was a kid were the bugs that would venture out. When I walked into work this morning the sidewalk was alive with worms. I carefully watched my step, avoiding the worms, not because I wouldn't like the squish of them under my feet, but because I like bugs. When I was a kid I would make worm hotels. It was sad when they would occasionally drown in the hotel pool. I hated to see them die.

I LOVED the snails that would venture out on the rainy days. They were one of my favorites. One rainy day in 5th grade I decided to bring some snails along with me to school. I placed them in my desk while I went about my day doing schoolwork. At one point I had to go out to the hall to take a test I had missed. Suddenly there was screaming from the classroom. My teacher advised me to get back into class. Girls were standing on their chairs. I looked at my desk and sure enough, my new little snail friends were climbing down the legs of my desk. My teacher quickly and gruffly advised me to take them outside. He informed me that snails were for eating and not for keeping as pets. I was greatly offended at the idea that my little friends would be eaten, but I wasn't one to break the rules. I quickly scurried outside and deposited the snails on the wet grass hoping that they wouldn't be trampled at the next recess.

Isn't it funny that even when we grow up we can still like bugs and walking in the rain. Maybe growing up in some ways is a myth. Sure we get responsibilities and jobs and we learn to do "grown up" things, but really there are parts of us that really never change.

We're famous...well sort of.

So the girls and I headed over the the library yesterday to get new movies and books. To my surprise I saw pictures of myself and Lydia in the glass cases in the entry way. What a surprise. The Empress Theatre is displaying several of their past shows complete with programs and pictures. Lo and behold there was a picture of myself in Midsummer and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Lydia was in the fairy picture for Midsummer. I wish I had copies of the Midsummer pictures. I wasn't smart enough to take pictures of the show when I was in it.

Anyway, it was funny to see myself and Lydia on display. Sure it is just our little, local library, but hey, how often does that happen.

Grounded? How about Scrabble?

I came home today to find Adelle officially grounded from playing outside. She didn't listen when advised to stay in our yard. She decided to go next door to play with a cute, little girl. Adelle is my social one, but still she broke the rule and so now she can't play outside today or tomorrow. With it being such fine weather it would have been wonderful to go on a family walk, but with Adelle being grounded that was out of the question. Instead we decided to play Scrabble together as a family. Adelle rotated what team she wanted to be on. Wes and I used to play Scrabble a lot in the past. We are very competitive when it comes to board games so we don't often play them anymore. It was fun to involve the girls though. Lydia actually did well for her first time playing. I am proud to announce that I won too. Woo Hoo! That was even after I took over Wes' letters that he was tired of. He was holding a Z, Q and W in the last part of the game.

The whole evening when awry when Wes decided to crumple up the scores and launch them across the room at our heads! Yes, you can imagine what happened next. A full blown paper ball fight! I retreated for most of it to supervise Adelle's bath.

This is what I came back to. Pure mayhem! Ah, the joys of "family night". Honestly it was a lot of fun to laugh uncontrollably at the silliness that surrounds me. Of course I am never silly myself!

Our Grand Night at the Ballet

The girls and I had the wonderful opportunity last night to go to the Capitol Theatre to watch Ballet West perform Treasures of the Ballets Russes. There was a woman in the ward who was unable to use her tickets and so she offered them to us. We couldn't pass up the chance to go. We got all dressed up in our finest apparel to go on our "date".
When we arrived at Capitol Theatre we had some time to walk around and explore. I took the girls up the balcony to see the large, crystal chandelier, to peer at the box seats, and to look down upon the orchestra pit. All of the orchestra members were dressed up in tuxes or black dresses. Did you know that there is a net covering part of the orchestra pit. Perhaps it is so the ballet dancers won't fall to great injury if they trip. From there we got cushions from the coat check so we would be able to see the performances better.


Three different ballets were performed: "Les Biches" (The Does), "Prodigal Son", and Polovetsian Dances from "Prince Igor".


"Les Biches" (The Does) was a ballet that took a whimsical look at the 1920's flapper scene. There wasn't really much of a story to this one, but it was still very interesting to watch. Instead of tutus the women wore flapper dresses with their toe shoes. Some in fact didn't even wear the toe shoes. Instead they just wore ballet shoes. One female dancer even performed holding a cigarette holder while wearing long beads. Adelle especially enjoyed the long feathers that adorned each of the girls heads. The funniest part of this ballet was watching the only male dancers "the athletes". They were quite humorous as they would strike their strong poses and hop about all manly. They even made fun of their own moves at one point. Adelle said this was her favorite ballet.


The next ballet, "Prodigal Son", was my favorite of the three. The picture below is from this ballet.

It is based around the biblical story of the prodigal son. The story itself expressed through dance was very moving. Adelle even began to cry at the end. I had to tell her that it was going to be alright. Lydia remarked afterwards that she was concerned when the "drinking companions" started robbing the son of all of his clothes. She was worried he was going to be naked on stage. The dancer was left practically naked except for his nude colored dance shorts.


The "drinking companions" were so very interesting as well. They all had bald caps on and moved at times as a single entity. They were eerie and created quite a tone to the ballet.


What amazed me about this ballet was the emotion that was present. It was unlike any other ballet I have seen before. Some of the dance moves were so technically difficult and innovative as well. One very moving part of the ballet was watching the prodigal son suffer after he has been robbed, beaten and left destitute. The male dancer was literally crawling along the stage collapsing and dragging himself along. It was incredible.


Watching the story of the prodigal son being played out in such a dramatic fashion reminded me of the original parable. It reminded me that even when we make mistakes and fall into the deepest sin we are still able to return to our Heavenly Father and be welcomed back with open arms. It of course is never an easy process, as it wasn't for the prodigal son in the ballet, but it is possible and well worth the effort.


The last balled, Polovetsian Dances from "Prince Igor", was more traditional then the other two ballets. There were grand costumes and large group dances. This was Lydia's favorite because it was so vibrant and the dances were so big. Men dressed in hunting costumes that would date back to an earlier Russian era leaped and raised their bows to the sky in jubilant fashion. The warrior wives danced with plaited hair spinning and bouncing joyously. Female, Persian slaves flowed across the large stage moving their brightly colored veils, enticing the warrior men. Adelle especially liked the lead Persian slave with her sparkling costume.


What a wonderful evening it was. The girls were quite tired when we headed home at 10:00 and both fell asleep. I don't think it will be an experience that they will forget any time soon. I know I won't.