Talmage, Adessa, Eric, Bella
Matt and Angela, Bauer and Brian, Nolan, Rae and Collin
Maidie, Sherri, Ty, Eric and Maidie
Sherri and Tessa, Sam, John, Gucci
The kids
The ladies 
The Gents
The Hosts and Great
At home in the Graveyard
Addie and Poppa Rick the Pirate
Addie, Dad, and Gucci the scary Witch
Emma the black Cat and Addie Sleeping Beauty
Construction Workers Mom and her little bro. Dode
Grandma Gucci's Scary House
Mom's Beautiful Girl
Addie and Olivia Kate at Gardner Village a few weeks ago.
My sister-in-law Amy just got back from a cruise of the Mediterranean. Needless to say, jealousy oozed from every pore of my body. As I was flipping through her pictures I was reminded of just how much I love Italy. She travelled to Pompeii, which is among the most fascinating places I have ever visited, my beloved historic Rome, and many other places filled with fascinating sites and delicious food. I loved Rome, and had the opportunity to go to a place called the Capuchin Crypt. This is the MOST fascinating place I have ever been. The crypt is below the church, you are strongly encourage (basically charged a fee) to make a donation to enter the crypt. What happened is, they dug up a buried and dead order of Capuchin Monks, and decided to make a chapel out of their bones. Why not? This sounds like a totally normal thing to do right? Ummm, no. It is weird, it is wrong, maybe even morbidly grotesque, but it is fascinating. All of the decoration and design is made of human b
ones, the chandeliers, the mosaics, the alters, EVERYTHING. They have separated each of the rooms out by theme; 1st is the room of the skulls. The decor of this room is done with skulls, and is topped off with I believe 5 monks still in their brown robes, 3 in front and two laying on the sides, with leathery pieces of skin still clinging to their faces. 2nd is the pelvis room. 3rd is the leg and thigh bone. 4th and Last has the skeleton of a baby holding a reaper and scales plastered to the ceiling. At the end of my tour and trip to Italy, I had a greater appreciation of our lovely clean, bright, chapels. The Cathedrals are amazing, dark, looming, beautiful, and terrifying, but they aren't right. The feeling is obviously one of fear, where as our chapels are obviously of hope. If you happen to find yourself in Rome, don't miss out on an excursion to the capuchin crypt. Leave the crypt and then go and do a session at the new temple, you will never question your beliefs again.
It was my Junior year in High School (a new High School for that matter), I had a boyfriend left behind at my old school, a few new friends at my new school "Woods Cross," a fairly difficult load of classes, far too many extra curriculars with drill team, dance company, dance class, and teaching for my mom's studio, what I really needed was a break! Or was it? One of my friends invited me to go play laser tag with a group of people from Woods Cross and Bountiful High. I needed to make more friends in the area, plus, a night of running through a dark maze shooting lasers at people, who could resist? I accepted and offered to drive one of the cars. When they all showed up at my house I saw the skinniest sandy haired boy I had ever seen in my life. This kid had to have weighed 140 pounds soaking wet, I had him beat by a good 20. Of course this wee little lad wanted to ride in my car so he and another boy rode in the back seat. We arrived at Laser Quest and quickly the running, dodging, and screaming began. I intended to seek and destroy. The only problem was that this sandy haired twig followed me all through the maze constantly trying to hunt me down and shoot me. He was the hunter and I was his prey! He beat me. A few weeks later I kept seeing this name "Talbot" on my caller I.D. and had no idea who on earth it was, until my girl friend told me it was the very sandy haired twig who had chased me the entire evening of laser tag. The old boyfriend drifted off into his world at the old high school and I became available to do the same at my new one. Needless to say, John continued to hunt me down until I had given him a fair chance. I am certain that this comes as a surprise to all of you who know my sweet passive hubby, but when my sweet passive hubby sees something he wants he morphs into the most determined of human beings alive. John was the nicest, most genuine, active, person I had ever met. He was interesting, fun, smart, and game for anything as long as we were together. We spent the next couple of years dating until he left for his mission and I left for college. After his mission, he packed up his bags and moved to Cedar City to pursue me yet once again. Nothing had changed, he was just as determined as he had been as a Junior in High School, and as you know, he captured his prey. After we had been married for a time John and I were chit chatting when he began to recount to me his impressions of the first time we met. I was thinking, "oh great, I saw this amazon come thundering out of a house and thought, hmmm, I like hearty lasses," much to my surprise, he didn't even mention amazon or hearty. However, he perfectly recounted what I was wearing, how I had my hair in a "Topsy tail," and what he had thought the moment he saw me. I hadn't even remembered what I had worn, but he did. From the time I met John, which has almost been half our lives, I have seen the kind of person I should be. Eventually, this sandy haired boy turned into a mousy haired man who has me beat by a good 60 (which I am most grateful for) , a man who has always supported me and my craziness and loved me for, through, and despite it.
"The Circus, the Circus, I love the Circus," a favorite line of mine from Bugs Life. I have always loved the Circus, It is such an event and production. Being a History nut I know that the circus used to be a very big deal, it would travel by train from town to town, parade through the town before opening, and then put on a very fancy performance that people had never before seen. The Ring Master was persuasively dramatic, the performers dressed in amazing costumes, they had freaky people on display, and the exotic animals could not be seen anywhere else. Obviously human rights now-a-days would not allow people to be sold to a circus because they were a midget, or extremely obese, or had an abundance of testosterone causing them to be bearded, but back then, this practice was commonly done. A great Circus was always looking for a "one of a kind" freak that would draw the crowds. In our current society the Circus doesn't have the same allure it once had, but is still an event I can't miss. We have all seen Tigers and Elephants, contortionists, and motorcyclists in the cage, but for some reason it is still just as entertaining as it was the time before. Adessa enjoyed the show until it was 10:00 p.m. and an hour beyond sleepy time. We got the cheap seats but saw the show just as good as if we had the expensive seats. Plus, Adessa loved the view from the upper bowl, it was like having an Aeriel perspective, you can't beat that.
2nd Birthday Party
3rd Birthday Party
Oh what joy fills my heart, my show is back! I cried as I do every time I watch the Biggest Loser. They analyzed this L.T.'s physiological age and he is like 49 in his body rather than 23 which is his biological age. He eats and he smokes, I don't know how he will ever quit both addictions. Crazy! After watching the first show I already have a few favorites and a few hopefuls selected. The main thing is that it always motivates me to be improving myself in some way. What better way to spend the evening than reflecting on how you can improve as a person. I love watching people overcome what is hard and seeing the joy that they feel when they have accomplished a difficult task. There is just nothing like it. I strongly recommend watching this fantastically motivating show. You won't believe in 5 weeks how different these people look. Imagine losing 24pds. in 1 week.
I remember thinking that when you have kids in pre-school and dance you are an old mom. Technically speaking, and by my own definition, I am now an old mom. Freaky! I learned a valuable lesson on the first day of Dancing School and that is, you don't tell your child they have dance until 1/2 hour before it begins. From 10:00 a.m. until dancing was over at 5:00 p.m. she paraded around in her dance suit and asked every 2 minutes "am I going to dancing school now?" Needless to say, we left 2 hours early just to appease her. Adessa loved Miss Sarah, she talked about her all night and wanted to call her on the phone this morning if she p
ooped on the potty. Don't worry, a drew a line there. Confession: after dropping her off and taking pictures I cried. Yep, I couldn't choke them back. There is something surreal about seeing your baby walk confidently away from you. She seemed so big and yet she is such a runt. John said that we would have to give Miss Sarah a nice Christmas present for daring take Addie on, but the verdict was that she obeyed and participated. The only glitch was when she said she wanted to do a running leap instead of flicks across the floor. This is minor to crying, or peeing in the studio. I still think we will have to give Miss Sarah a nice Christmas present before this is all over.
to read, but haven't taken the time to do so. Like most classics, you have to be very patient while reading this 1897 masterpiece. I decided with all of the recent "Twilight" and vampire hoopla, that I would compare and contrast the original concept and beliefs of vampires with this new contemporary image created by Stephenie Meyer. It was fun to see the similarities that she decided to keep and how she decided to make them different. It's worth the time and patience. The last was "Milkweed" this will be for those of you who love the WWII literature. It is enlightening and devastating. The writing is brilliant as the story is told by a young child who literally has no idea who he is. Certainly worth the very quick read and tears. Call me crazy, but I always imagine myself in each story that I read. It wasn't until I was in my early twenties as a college student that I really developed a passion for reading. Now I can't seem to stand going to bed until I have stayed up way too late in the night escaping to a time, place, or land that someone else has created for me. For those of y
ou non-readers out there, I strongly recomend Youth Literature. I personally think that if you don't love to read it is because you haven't found the kind of literature you enjoy. I love classics, youth literature, and murder mysteries. Maren, let's think happy thoughts for the next selection. I am not sure how many times I can experience devastation and love (I always feel way too deeply for the characters) in my life before I become a complete mess. Do you know of a good Star Trek book or anything? Come on you're killing me. No seriously, I love all the books you have given me and I thank you for fueling my night time addiction.
If you were to look up the words green and beautiful in the dictionary it would say: Liverpool, New York. I have never been to a more lush and wooded place in my life. Not only was I able to enjoy the beautiful "country" scenery, but I was able to visit my sister and her 2 kids. Never a dull moment. Immediately upon arrival the adventure began, and the series of unusual events didn't cease until I had safely landed in Salt Lake. I could seriously blog the longest account of my vacation in the history of all blogdom, but to spare all including myself I will abridge the story into a list of highlights with pictures. 
