Father's Day 2009

(We are back after a week of traveling through Idaho. Those pictures will come soon, but first I had to do Father's Day.)

Father's Day is always an exciting day. Brie has been counting down to it since Mother's Day. It's fun to show Scott how much we really love and appreciate him as the "daddy" around here.

Here is our little family at a wedding reception at La Caille the night before Father's Day. What a way to begin the festivities, eh? It was gorgeous and the food was HEAVENLY!Also in preparation for the big day, I held a Primary Activity day for the kids in our ward. Saturday morning all of the kids came to the church with their dads to paint ties for Father's Day. It was so fun (and very easy for me). We had a bunch of white ties (used ones from the temple), paints, puff paint, brushes and fabric markers. The kids all made beautiful ties for their dads to wear to church the next day. I think it was fun for everyone to see all the dads at church in their special kid made ties. Some dads were even wearing two or three ties. Very cute!On Father's Day, Scott woke up to the Sunday paper and a breakfast of eggs, hash browns, toast and orange juice. He also received presents and paintings from the girls. (The drill is kind of a funny story - This is the same drill Scott got for Father's Day 2 years ago. When he built our garden a few weeks ago he said the battery charger wasn't working. So, he went to mention it at the Costco costumer service desk and they said the drill had been recalled for that exact reason. He got a brand new drill! Sweet!!!!)That evening we had the Buchanans for dinner. We had salmon cooked in coconut milk and lime over Jasmine rice, mixed green salad with pears, rasberries and almonds and pie for dessert. Yum.
And as a special tribute to Scott - a cheese tray and ginger beer!
I am so grateful for Scott as the father of my kids. He loves them completely and is so fun with them. I love my Dad and will always be grateful for the love he has given me, everything he has taught me and the person he helped me become. I am so glad we have Fred in our lives also. He is a wonderful father, father-in-law and papa. We are so lucky to have these Dads that love us and teach us. Happy Father's Day!

Brielle's Ballet

Last night was Brielle's first ballet performance. She was in "The Wizard of Oz" at Kingsbury Hall. It was quite the show. There were so many dancers from Brie's age (3 year olds) to older teenage girls who looked quite professional. The costumes were amazing! All the dancers looked so cute and so beautiful. Brie's little class was chosen to be the little "Glenda the good witches". They came out on stage in a bubble and danced to a bubble song. They wore crowns, had magic wands and of course, their ballerina slippers. They twirled and tapped their toes and jumped, etc. Then they did some leg lifts and Brie's friend Marissa got trampled by one of the bigger girls in the class! She started bawling. All the other girls got distracted and lost what they were doing. Brie just stared at Marissa very concerned until their dance was over. So sad, but it will be quite funny when they are 16!

The ballerina's getting dropped off for their big show.Scott and I went to a great Vietnamese dinner with our friends, Matt and Claire, until the show started.

A very proud daddy going in to see the performance with his huge bouquet of flowers.
We were not allowed to take pictures or film, but this is the picture I snapped right at the very end. It was the finale with all the dancers on stage. Brie's group is in the front being escorted across the stage for their applause. Brie was lovin' it!Afterward, we picked Brie up and she was so excited. I really don't know if performing in such a big show or getting lots of flowers from Scott was more exciting. All we've heard about is how much she loves her flowers.
It was a neat night to have Brie in her very first ballet. She will continue with ballet/tap class next year, so this could be the first of many ballets. Congratulations on a fabulous show to our little Brie Brie!

Highland Games 2009

Well, it happened again. Scott and his dad put on their kilts and we went to both the Friday and Saturday festivities of the Scottish Festival and Highland Games. It was a great time again except that both days we all went running to our cars when the rain, thunder and lightening started. Crazy!

Friday night is really fun. There is a mass pipe band and then two different really cool Celtic bands. Everyone sits out on the grass or dances. Brie even got to dance with Papa!

Saturday has it all. All the men in kilts throwing heavy objects in Highland Game competitions, girls competing in Scottish dances, a lot of bag piping, a mass pipe band, the parade of the clans, eating meat pies, haggis, nips and tatties and a very happy Fred Buchanan.Scott, his mom and the girls walking through the clan tents.
The Buchanans waiting to march in the parade of clans.
Fred gets some "First President of the Utah Scottish Association" privileges so we got to ride in style.
Breille and Ava loved watching the Scottish dancers compete.
The Mass Bands marching down the field.
Molly's Revenge played Friday Night and Saturday. Check out the passion in the piper!
The sheaf toss, Scott thought it was called the sheep toss when he was a wee lad.Here is the stone toss, he threw this 37 feet 3 inches.
They have to throw this weight up over the bar. This is one of many techniques.Best picture we could get of Brie. Nice huh?
Ava (with a Scotty dog painted on her cheek). She is very concerned with what is going on.
Scott trying to pose with the girls. They were totally not going to cooperate for the camera that day!
Until next year!

Primary Paying Off

I get to be in Primary with Brielle each Sunday. She speaks out quite a bit and then we have to come home and have her sit on a chair and "practice" being reverent in Primary for 3 minutes. The thing is that most of what she says makes everyone laugh or try not to laugh. She has a WONDERFUL teacher, who she adores. Here are some of the things we've heard since she started her Sunbeam class in Primary.

*We were looking at a book that had a picture of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. She told me who everyone was. She pointed and told me who the Wise Men were and then I pointed to the shepherds to ask who they were. She said, "The Foolish Men".

*Brie was helping Scott do the laundry. Scott was putting whites in and said he had a feeling there might be some more whites in the other basket. Brie said, "Did the Holy Ghost tell you that?"

*The other morning we were watching out the window as the street sweeper come down the street. Brie said, "Look Mom, that is one of Heavenly Father's creations."

* We were walking up to the church and Brie got so excited when she saw the church. She told me that is where Jesus and Heavenly Father live. And Pat Leverich (her teacher). I guess she is up there with the trinity and lives and the church.

* Brie was sitting in Sharing Time one week. All the little kids were trying their hardest to sit still and pay attention, but were pretty wiggly. After awhile, Brie raised her hand and said, "Umm, teacher, I'm getting pretty bored." Nice. And everyone turned and looked at me with their smiles on their faces.

*When Brie says the family prayer at bedtime she always makes sure to bless the baby in "mommy's biggest tummy ever"!

*One day Brie told me that the Holy Ghost was whispering to her in her ear. She could hear him. I asked what he was saying. The noise she made sounded quite a bit like the electric toothbrush I had been using at the same time she was getting her "whisperings".

Life in the Backyard

On Memorial Day Scott built a garden for us. Yea! We have been wanting to plant some veggies and we are both very excited that we have the spot to do it now. He built the garden box, filled it with compost (bat and chicken poo) and then planted tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini and some marigolds to keep cats away. I can't wait to see it all grow and eat those garden grown tomatoes! Delish!Ava dumping the "dirt" out of the garden. Remember it is a whole lot of poo! Nice.Another story: So, one day a few weeks ago, Scott was mowing the lawn and saw a quail frantically fly away. He looked at where she had been and found a nest with 18 tiny quail eggs in it in our lawn. They were right on a sprinkler head. So, that part of the lawn has been long and dying while we waited for the baby quail to hatch. The other day the girls and I went into the backyard and found egg shells in the lawn. We saw lots of empty shells in the nest and then saw lots of baby chicks scurrying after their mom under a bush! It was SO INCREDIBLY EXCITING! The mom was very nervous as we tried to watch them under the bush. She gathered all of the the little quail under her wings so we couldn't see them. The dad quail stood on the fence squawking and was really upset trying to get us to go away. Now they are gone and we get to water the grass again. It was all very cool to watch.Mama quail with all her chicks hidden underneath her.
Daddy quail watching us very carefully.This evening, the girls and I went out front to help Brie practice riding her princess tricycle and color with sidewalk chalk. We ended up sitting on the front lawn with all the neighbors and watching quite a show. There were four jets and a big plane (assuming a fueling plane) flying loops right over our house. They flew in a big circle, passing over our house each time, about 20 times. They were so close and flying SO low. They were really loud and the whole house was rumbling. It felt like the 4th of July. Very cool. Every time they flew away, Ava said, "Bye bye plane!"And here is life in our house. Taken as I wrote.