Piano and stuff

Kennedy has been taking piano lessons for the last year and a half, and she had her first piano recital last week. She had her two songs completely memorized and she did SO great! I was one proud mama.

I even recorded them! (You're welcome, mom) :)

"When the Saints Go Marching In"

"San Francisco Trolley"

Move over, Mozart!

She is growing up so fast. She is SUCH a sweetheart, and is so caring, loving, compassionate, funny, smart, beautiful, friendly, talented, etc., etc., etc.  And I'm not at all biased.

Also, remember how last year we went to the Holi Color Festival?  Well, because we had so much fun, Kennedy and I went again, this year. (To the Salt Lake location.) The weather was awful, cold, and wet all day- until we arrived. Because the sun loves us.

Yay for throwing chalk all over each other!

(Her hair is still pink.)

Can I just say that I love living on a street where there are so many kids? Especially girls who are Kennedy's age.  On days where we have nice weather, the girls play outside allll day long.  And they make snack stands. Where they sell fruit snacks, water, and Kool-Aid.

They each successfully cashed out with about $2.00 (or 2 "dollers"), which of course they then quickly ran to the nearby gas station and spent it on candy. Because that's what kids do. (I feel old saying that. "Those darned kids!")

Also, because I know you always want to see more pictures of my puppy, here you go. (She is getting so huge! I love this little (big) dog.)

Lastly, because she makes me laugh and I love her, here are more pictures of Kennedy, entertaining us by trying on Casey's glasses at dinner.

A little more Bali

Well hey there, friends! (And random blog stalker(s)!)  I finally had a little bit of downtime (and a new computer), so I figured I'd tell you a little bit more about our adventures in Bali.  ...Because I know you were sitting on the edge of your seat, biting your nails, sweating with anticipating, waiting for me to share my sightings and experiences with you.  I just know it. Well, I am to please. So here you go.

We last left off with the beautiful beach on Christmas Day.  Honestly, there's not much that can top that. So I should probably stop, now - ensure that I end on a good note. But that's not my style. My style is more blabbing on and on about nothing at all, until I forget what I was talking about in the first place.

But I digress...

Bali. Right.

We spent a large portion of our time out in the swimming pool. It was marvelous.

Kennedy swam so much that her hair turned green.

 We saw a few of these tiny (AND SO FREAKING ADORABLE) little guys hanging out around the swimming pool.  Ohmygosh they're so cute.

We did a lot of doting over this darling little girl.

Gosh, I love her.

Here's a cool supermarket. It stunk. Stank? Stunk? 

It had an unpleasant smell.

But it was cool. And cheap. 

Brandon, Jennifer, and I went to do some yoga.  This was the beautiful pathway to the yoga building.

Too bad I can be in this room every time I do yoga...

We had a little lunch, afterward.  It was so great to spend some time with these fabulous people. I love them.

Later, we all went shopping. And stopped for photos.

This was a common sight. These people must have strong necks.

This was also common sight. Statues were EVERYWHERE. With little flower offerings at the base of them.

While shopping, the girls were getting bored, so my mother suggested that they pose as mannequins. They were highly entertained. And even more entertaining. (See my mom's blog for more (and better) pictures of this.)

This is just a cute picture of my brother and me. I miss him.

On one of the days (don't ask me which one- I can't remember. That's what I get for waiting so long to blog about this.), we went to the Bali zoo. It was pretty dang cool. But it will have to wait for another post. Sine I have a bunch of pictures of it and I don't want to overload you with them all at once. So for now, here we are at the front of the zoo.

(I just realized that I went an entire blog post without talking about my puppy. Can you believe it? I can't. Although now I just talked about her. Man, I really am obsessed.)

Is anyone else loving this weather as much as I am? Seriously! Can I get an Amen?!

A random Wednesday post

- Happy March 27th!!!!!!!

- Did anyone see the moon last night/this morning? BEAUTIFUL. 

- I feel the need to publicly admit something: 

I am obsessed with my dog (Maddie).  No, really. OBSESSED.  Like- I can't stop talking about her to random strangers. "Hey, lady at the checkout counter at Trader Joe's! Want to see a picture of my puppy? Isn't she cute? And look at this one. And this one. Here she is, eating her toy. Oh- and here she is, sleeping.  And here she is, chewing on my shoes..."  

It used to be that (pre-puppy), when I went to Target to get groceries, I'd find myself wandering into the kid's section and women's section to find all sorts of cute clothes for Kennedy and myself (there's some sort of rule that says you can't go into Target and walk out with JUST what you came for...). And don't get me wrong- I still do that. However, now I find myself wandering more toward the pet aisle, finding things my little puppy would love to play with. Or eat. Or sleep on. Or wear. (Don't worry. I haven't bought her any clothes. ... Yet.)

Obsessed, I tell you.

But seriously - can you really blame me?

AHHH!! She's so cute!!!! 

In my defense, I'm not the only one with this new-found puppy obsession.

These two are steadily becoming best friends. Kennedy sits on her, mauls her, dances with her, carries her, plays dress-up with her, has 'tickle fights' with her.  And as you can see by Maddie's facial expressions in these pictures, she loves EVERY minute of it.  ...

 So precious.

Oh my word, we are so in love with her.  I just wish she would look like a puppy forever. (But maybe not ACT like a puppy...) She has already almost doubled in size :(  *sniff *sniff

- Ok, I did say this was a  "random" Wednesday and not "puppy" Wednesday post.  So let's change topics, shall we?

- Spring is nigh! I'm so excited to finally get my fingernails all dirty with earth. Utah weather is always iffy in the spring. Last week we had snow (yuck), but this weekend is forecasted to be beautiful. Time to dig into my garden. My yard will thank me. My wallet, on the other hand, will not.

- I've been addicted to apples/peanut butter, lately. But not the fake peanut butter. Only the good stuff.

- I've also been addicted to these yummy ice-breaker fruit mint things. I probably go through a pack a day.  *Droooooooool.

- We went skiing last weekend (making lemonade from lemons, with the uninvited snowfall...)! We had so much fun. Kennedy is a natural. I, on the other hand, am slowly (but surely) learning.  (Hi boyfriend, in the background!)

Casey and his friends took us to this cool fort in the trees.  Kennedy was fascinated.

She said that next time we go, we have to bring hot chocolate. I think that's a splendid idea.

- I got a new computer: A shiny new Macbook!! (My old laptop died. RIP.)  And I love it. Thanks for convincing me to buy it, mom :)

- One thing I don't think I can ever go generic brand on is toilet paper. Only Charmin for this derrière.

- I'm craving pizza. (When am I not craving pizza?)

- I have about 250 more Bali pictures to go through. I'll post them, sometime. I'd like to say the reason I haven't blogged is because of my dead laptop.  But it's not. I just have a crazy busy life.

A crazy busy AWESOME life.

Thanks for being a part of it.

Peace out.

I haven't forgotten about you.

I promise.

It's just that....

...I have been a bit preoccupied.

You see, my heart has been stolen.

By a girl.

A special girl.

With big brown eyes.

And a wet nose.

And fur.

And soft, floppy ears.

I'd like to introduce to you:  "Madison" (or "Maddie," for short)

I am already so freaking in love with her. I can barely stand it. But I will.

We will play games, go for walks, cuddle on the couch, go to the mountains, swim in lakes,  play fetch...

I love you, Maddie.

Now please don't chew on any more of my shoes.

A Jolly Bali Beachy Christmas

Christmas this last year was quite different, for a few reasons:

• Kennedy stopped believing in the big fat man in red.
• We weren't at our own house or sleeping in our own beds. 
• We didn't have extended family gatherings/dinners/parties/etc.
• We were out of the country. And in a foreign country that didn't really celebrate Christmas.
• There was no Christmas tree.
• There were no presents on Christmas morning.

But it was probably the best (and most memorable) Christmas I've ever had, for other reasons:

• We were with my mom.
• We were with my brother.
• We were with my sister in law.
• We were with my nieces.
• Kennedy was with her cousins.
• We focused on being with each other and how happy that made us.
• We felt like we had everything we needed.
• I WAS AT THE WARM SUNNY BEACH!!!

      ('nuff said.)

And 'nuff babbling. I can only be sentimental and serious for so long. Time for pictures.

On Christmas Eve (day), we went to the Goa Gajah Elephant Cave Temple (I told you there were temples everywhere). It rained.

This seriously cool cave/temple was built in the 9th century. Do you know when that was? A long, long, long time ago.

The cave was pretty impressive. And large. And detailed. And I don't know about you, but if I'm going to go worship or take sanctuary somewhere, I'd probably choose somewhere a bit less.. um... creepy.

Notice my (and Jen's) colorful clothing? Well apparently they thought we looked like skanks when we strutted on in there, because they made us cover our bare shoulders and knees with clashing sarongs. (Most temples down there actually have that rule. No skanks. Also, women can't show their bare shoulders or knees.) Aren't we cute? And happy? Because we are. Both.

 After the temple, we went out to eat at a lovely restaurant. I forgot the name of it. But here we are. Trying to dry out from the rain:

And here is my fancy food.  Have I mentioned, yet, that food is uber cheap down there? Well it is. This fancy pork dish probably cost around $4. I nearly threw up when I came back to the US where they charged $12.00 for a salad.

That evening (yes, Christmas Eve), we exchanged presents.  The most well-received one (besides my mother's FOUR HOUR SPA TREATMENT), was Aysia's cute little baby. She was so dang sweet with that thing.  (Gol, I miss that little girl...*sniff *sniff)

Before we retired for the evening, we were bid goodnight from Bali by way of a gloriously colorful sunset. Wow.

Goodnight, little frog on the window.  (He and his friends sweetly serenaded us every night while we slept. It was darling.)

The next day was Christmas! And what better way to spend Christmas than with your family at the beach in Bali? No other way, I do declare.
The drive down there was an experience in and of itself. It was beautiful.

And full of statues...of cops. If they are there to make you think they are real, it worked.

We stopped for lunch at a cute restaurant which had a beautiful view of a pond.

Hi girls!

Kennedy requested that I take her picture, in her new sunglasses and in her swimsuit, in front of this entryway. "This would be a cool picture, mom! Take it!" 

After making a few wrong turns then finally asking for directions, we found the holy White Sands Beach. 

And because I don't think you can have too many pictures of a place this beautiful, I will post a few.

*sigh...

The classic 'sandy toes' picture.

Yes, the water was this clear. Yes, it was that blue (although the coloring in the pictures don't do it justice). Yes, I want to go back. Yes, I'm wondering why I still live in Utah. Yes, I'm going to go cry, now.

Man, I sure wish there were some place for me to worship while I am sitting at the beach... oh look! Another temple! 

And just in case you wanted to fly a kite, a guy would gladly sell one to you.

People will also come to your chair and offer to give you hour long massages for $10-15 dollars. Brandon opted for the $7(?) foot massage. 

It was finally time to leave the beach. (Sad.) But the drive home was full of laughing, talking, and singing every Christmas song we could think of.  (In many different accents, which made it more entertaining for the little girls.) We also made up words to Holly Jolly Christmas, which we performed and recorded for the world to see (here or here). 

I love my family so much.

That was, by far, the best Christmas ever.