Kids!

She's little miss diva here. We are so glad to have sun and warmth outside that we spend as much time outside as possible.

Wesley is all boy, and we love it. He loves the dirt, by the way. Daddy found a game to play with Wesley.

She is slow, but at least she is riding.

Grandpa Nash

Baby me and my Grandpa Nash, who passed away Sunday afternoon:

When we'd visit he would talk about reading our blog and keeping up on his great-grandkids' lives.

So, wherever you're reading the blog from now, Rachel and Wesley love and miss you.  Keep checking in on us--- we can't wait to see you again someday.

Sister's weekend in St. Louis / St. Charles

We always stop at my Grandma's house in St. Charles.  She passed away years and years ago, but we have great memories here.  The house was in the family for a long time and is now a historical site, so it looks nearly exactly the same.  My Mom was raised here.  It is only about two blocks from the river.  Although it is simple, I think it's beautiful.

This is the Catholic church next door that my Mom attended, and a few relatives were married here.  It is beautiful.  Across the street is the hospital where I was born.

 I should have taken more pictures on the inside, but it felt irreverent.

St. Charles' main street is amazing.  There are shops and cafes in original buildings.  The shopping was fun, and the scenery was beautiful.  The roads, sidewalks, and many of the floors of the shops all have the brick that is shown here.  Quaint! This was my Mom's "stomping ground."  Who wouldn't love that?

 More of Main Street in St. Charles. 

 We stopped by the St. Louis temple.  I was married here.  It was neat to go back.  

The Chicas:  Tiffany, Robyn, Mae, Dawn, and Me.  We giggled, shopped, argued a bit, but mostly we just had a blast being all together on this rare occasion as sisters.  They are my best friends.

We had a family gathering at my cousin Caroline's home on Sunday.  Her home was beautiful.  It is a 100 year old home, and she did a fabulous job of decorating it. 

We sat around while the Aunts and Uncles answered questions about my heritage and told stories.  It was so fun, and I gained great insight into my Mom and myself.  Can't beat an experience like that.  Priceless! 

As we get older, it is harder and harder to get everyone together.  We only had three of the Aunts/Uncles and a handful of cousins. 

Thanks for the wonderful weekend girls!

Eggs

If Rachel ever doubts whether I love her, I'll remind her of the time in 2011 that her mother was out of town for the weekend, Rachel refused to take "daddy doesn't do eggs" for an answer, and I actually scrambled an egg for her to eat for breakfast:

As much as I hate eggs, I guess I love my kids even more....  that, and it's Sunday so I couldn't take her to McDonald's for an egg sandwich instead.

Green

Because regular boxed macaroni and cheese isn't gross enough on its own....

....Rachel insisted that we add green food coloring.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A light at the end of the tunnel....

A little bit of spring popped up outside this morning.

....I've probably just jinxed Utah into another snowstorm

Stop Motion Ballerina

Why I didn't vote for Gary Herbert-

SL Tribune: Herbert sells out

Standard Examiner: Herbert must veto HB477

Herald Journal: Utah open-records bill must be revisited

Deseret News: Citizens file for referendum on HB477

Utah is now the only state in the country that allows legislators and state officials to keep their electronic correspondence secret from the public.  HB 477 Undermines the current Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA) by excluding emails, voicemails, instant messages and text messages from public disclosure.

Notably, it was a GRAMA request last fall that revealed a UDOT employee was involved in an extra-marital affair with the president of the contracting firm at the middle of the disputed I-15 bid which led to the agency paying an undisclosed $13 million dollar settlement to the losing bidder to keep them from suing the state.  Under HB 477, none of the information about the affair or the subsequent payout and cover-up would have been made public.

What bothers me the most is the brazen attitude with which the legislature rushed the bill to passage in less than 48 hours from the time it was made public.  

These are quotes from senate President Michael Waddoups last week:

“We want to pass the measure before leaving Friday.  It will complicate matters if it has a weekend to fester,” he said, adding that he did not want senators subjected to pressure from the bill’s opponents over the next two days.

“We really don’t need to have a committee hearing. But we think this is one of those that has a high enough priority,” the Senate leader said. “We think we understand it very well.”

He said the issue has been studied for some time and that the bill contains much of the same language as legislation that surfaced briefly after a task force examined GRAMA three years ago. At that time, Waddoups said, the House wasn’t willing to pass changes to GRAMA. And last year was an election year for all House members, as well as half the Senate.

“Nobody likes to do this in an election year,” Waddoups said. “So now is the time.”

Daddy's treat!

I wonder why Daddy was his favorite tonight. Could it be the vanilla whipped cream? He Loved IT!

Weekend Update

Saturday morning - Savoring the last few moments before the framers put up the second floor walls and forever blocked our view of the warehouses at the Freeport Center:

Wes' morning ritual usually involves playing on our bed:

Happy birthday to me- a new grill:

Rachel always asks to take pictures on our phones when we're at Lowe's and always takes one of this ceiling fan which she wants:

Since cake is awful, we celebrated Tyler's 28th with a key lime pie: