festive fans

a simple craft

chosen mostly because of the relative availability of supplies 
from my meager craft inventory 

After some searching, we found everything 
except for the red-colored tape and the silver star stickers, 
so instead we made do with red and yellow crayons.

It wasn't until hours later that it dawned on me how practically useful our morning craft was,
as we were literally melting in the summer heat that finally decided to stick around

just when our cooler decided to quit

luckily, we only had to use these artistic hand-powered fans for a short two days

and now we are basking in the breeze of a brand new central air system

thank you FamilyFun CRAFT FINDER 

and thank you Smedley

Our Dad is the best!

This year we treated Dad to breakfast in bed for Father's Day. 

And since I enjoyed the same luxury on Mother's Day, it stood to reason in her young mind to inquire, 

"When is sister's day? Then I can have breakfast in bed."

We love our Daddy.

Happy Father's Day!

Pony Express

They rode in just in front of This is the Place Heritage Park, those dedicated Pony Express 

Re-enactors; exchanged the mail bag and then were off again quicker than you could say 

"150th Anniversary of the Pony Express."

It was HOT and there was no shade.

but when they finally woke up from being lulled to sleep by the long drive,

the kids became honorary Riders and galloped their ponies across the plains 

in a manner to make their 5th great-grandfather proud.

And then they fed the horses. Once . . . twice . . . and again.

those horses were sure feelin' glad that they made the long journey. 

As were we.

Project

My project of the past few months:
editing, design & layout of Pony Express Adventures --
Exciting, REAL stories of the daring Pony Express riders
retold and delightfully illustrated to appeal to younger readers.


I have enjoyed working with my dear mother-in-law 
(researcher & storyteller extraordinaire) 
and my talented husband 
(graphic designer & professional mapmaker)
to produce a work that celebrates the rich heritage of the American West


It has been fun to hear the adventures of my children's 5th great-grandfather, Major Howard Egan, and get into the historical and ancestral spirit of the upcoming 150th Anniversary celebrations. 


View more information at News Blaze


If you are interested, you can order a copy at http://lulu.com/ponyexpressbooks

list of likes

I was recently pondering on things that I like. 

So here they are in no particular order 

(but beginning with my favorite, of course) 

Joe

clean kitchen floors

books

dimples

sleep

smell of rain

Russia

secret codes & words

ballet

hiking

crunching leaves in Autumn

pistachios
chatouts with my sweetie gril

campfires

almonds

laughing until you cry

caliope music

trains

sharing cucumbers with Max

Spring?

On the way out the door yesterday, I exclaimed "it is soooo cold!" 

and it was. 

With a light snow falling, Laila summed it up nicely when she said, 

"but mom, I thought it was Spring!?" 

Well, spring snowstorms aren't all that uncommon in Utah. 

I've seen them many times before.

But when we woke up this morning to a january-esque winter wonderland, 

I began to question whether this was the normal crazy weather,

Or just Mother Nature's way of saying April Fools!

a bowling first

For Grandma Beth's birthday, 

we all went bowling!

a first for them. 

I think that they liked it

although they didn't seem to differentiate between 

running around the entire bowling alley like crazy

and actually taking their own turn down the lane.

and wouldn't you know it,  

they still beat my score