Meet me in St. Louis

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to watch Erika Slate perform in "Meet me in St. Louis" with my good friend, Rachelle. I was completely floored - I don't think I'm just biased either - Erika was fablulous! She was composed and animated and the costumes were so fun! She looked beautiful. We actually got to sit by Terry and Chris, which was a blast. I will be attending all of Erika's plays. : ) I took a bunch of pictures. I just love plays and especially when I know some of the stars!

Fathers

To my loving Father,
who is unlike any other.

I hold you in the greatest esteem ~
To me, a Renaissance man you seem.

You are a Patriarch, musician and artist,
a gardener, philosopher and scientist.

In my youth, a tree house architect,
sanctuaries my memory will protect.

Engineer of sledding luges
with all the wisdom of Confucius. (Aaron came up with that line - the best one I think

A dreamer and achiever who inspires
others to reach greater heights and fire.

A standard to me in all you do, I am grateful for and love you.







(I think my son, Elijah, looks uncannily similar to my dad when he was a child!)



I am so grateful for my dad who I can turn to in any dilemma and he'll be understanding, supportive and full of wise words of guidance. He is a reservoir of knowledge as a result of his thirst for learning.

He is witty and has a great sense of humor. He is also thoughtful and insightful.

I am grateful for how he teaches us about our roots, our cultural identity, and family history. Happy Father's Day, Dad!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, AARON!

In my life, a best friend I hold dear
is one whose standards are very clear.
One who embodies my hopes and dreams
and whom I hold in the greatest esteem.

You are to our children a loving father -

I love to observe how you adore each other!

You are affectionate and kind, fun-loving and thoughtful,
Your sacrifices and love make life really beautiful.

Your testimony and faith helps to sustain us,
in difficult times you buoy us up and lead us.

Aaron is a really loving father, who always has time to play with his children or read them a book. He's always ready to give them a blessing when they are sick.

The kids love it when he'll put on his swim trunks and take a bath with the kids.

I'm grateful for his love in our home, his strong leadership and faith. He gave Elise his old set of scriptures because when we study together, she wants to join in.

He has great perspective, works really hard to provide for us and strives to be worthy of the priesthood. We love you Aaron and we are so grateful for you!

Our Memorial Day Trip

This past Memorial day, we met our friends Jeff & Susannah down at Williamsburg, VA to go to Busch Gardens. We love them so much and will miss them when they move to LA later this summer. Jeff and I were RAs at the single dorm together when we were at BYUH. He's a super charismatic, high energy person with such a great sense of humor! I can't imagine a more perfect match for him than Susannah. She's so smart and talented! She recently performed in Little Women which was a musical.

(Beware, there is a ton of pictures in this post! : )
This picture captures our time together - the guys always mapping out our next stop, the next thrill ride. Really, they transformed into excited little boys! It was fun because we always had someone to ride with. I got to go on some awesome rides with Aaron, the kind that make you feel airborne. And while Susannah wasn't particarly fond of rollercoasters, she was delighted with the 4-D rides that were too much for me. I just can't handle stuff, real or imaginary, attacking my face!
Look closely, Aaron and Jeff are on the front row waving! This one is called Escape from Pompeii, with a lot of cool pyrotecnics - Jeff wondered, "How can this be legal?" : )

It's the girls' turn! Dragon Land is a fun kids' area, equipped with a little splash park too!


Elise was a tiny bit nervous going on a ride by herself, but as you can see, she quickly got over that and went twice on this ride! I think she felt so independant and loved waving to her parents on the sidelines.

This is the Griffon, one of the best rides. I felt like I was flying! We did this one several times and a couple times on the front row.

Fun times at Water Country. The day we went there were seriously no lines. It was warm in the water, about 80 degrees, but getting out was a little chilly! I just realized that we've been to an amusement park every year for 3 years in a row - we really are amusement park junkies!