Is It Ever Gonna Warm Up?

Emma's new Easter dress compliments of Aunt Julie
Yesterday at Sugarhouse Park

Also yesterday, at the U of U Easteregg hunt

We ran into our friends Kris and Michelle up at the U. Emma was keeping a close eye on everybody

Out at Aunt Barbie's for the annual "EEH"

This post is brought to you by "Peeps" the official candy of Easter. After the initial immediate sugar rush, it drops the subject into a stupor that can (in this case) lead to napping. Emma is growing out of the nap-stage of toddler hood, so this is a little unusual. It gives me a chance to bring you all up to date.

As you can tell by the title, I grow weary of the cold weather. We ventured out to the park yesterday afternoon because it was so sunny, but the sun was quickly counterbalanced by the brisk wind out of the North. Nice weather to head South and sit on a rock like a lizard, I think.

Emma has taken advantage of two different egg hunts this week. The first was at Aunt Barbie's, where Denny said she had a blast, and enjoyed playing with her cousins. The second was yesterday morning at the Huntsman Center at the U of U. Kat told us about it, so we went up to participate. It started at 9 sharp, but we arrived at 9:04. Big mistake. Next year we will get there early. Many kids had baskets brimming with the colored eggs, while Emma's seemed almost empty with the seven or eight eggs found in the nether regions outside of the big round dome. Some of the other kids took pity on the empty-looking basket, and put some of their booty in her basket. I am assuming that it was because of her basket, and not the fact that it looked like Emma was being followed by her grandfather. Pity works. Everybody else's parents all look so young!

Denny has been working like a mad dog on the organ for the choir number today in church. She did great, even though I could tell the E key above middle C was sticking on the upper manual. It wasn't her fault, the organ needs work. She does a great job and works so hard.

Well, Denny just arrived home, the dog barked, and Emma woke up, so my time here is done. Time for some malted milk eggs! Ok then.

The first crocuses of spring....

...were unceremoniously yanked up by their roots by our young missy...

....who didn't appear to have a shred of remorse about it.

I figured as long as they were out of the ground, we might as well get a photo op out of it.

Okay...I've been meaning to document cute things that Emma's been saying lately. She's talking up an absolute storm, but sometimes runs into problems getting her words untangled and out of her mouth. She makes progress every day, though.

- She likes to agree with me by saying, "Yeah! I do!" This works well lots of the time (when I ask, for example, "Do you want a piece of cheese?" "Yeah! I do!") and makes me laugh when I say something like, "Won't it be fun to get your Easter basket?" "Yeah, I do!!"

- Sometimes when we look at alphabet letters I'll say something like, "That's a 'B'. What sound does a 'B' make?" She's so used to hearing me ask her what sound a letter makes that whenever she hears an unfamiliar noise she wants to know what sound it makes (e.g., we heard thunder booming yesterday afternoon and Emma said, "What's that sound make?")

- She likes to talk about what things are edible vs. inedible. She'll see a picture of...a truck. "No eat truck!" she'll say. "No, we certainly don't eat trucks." Then she'll start reciting a list of things we can't eat...her blanket...the chair...her sippy cup....[and moving on to people]....Mama...Aunt Barbie, etc. "No eat Aunt Barbie!" When she sees a picture of something we CAN eat, she then wants to announce whether we have to cook it or not. "Can eat grapes....no cook grapes," she says, making the sign for cook by flipping her palm back and forth on her other hand. One day she saw a picture of a lobster and said, "No eat lahster!" I said, "Yes, you can eat lobster. But you have to cook it first." She seemed fascinated by this. Sometimes out of the blue she'll pipe up with "Can eat lahster!!"

-- She has a hard time saying "watch" and says "cha" instead. When she gets up in the morning and wants to watch cartoons she'll say, "Cha T.V.?" And sometimes she'll say, "Mom! Cha me!" if she's doing something she wants me to see.

-- She also has a hard time with "fall" and says "la" instead. If she falls off her chair she'll say, "Emma la down."

-- She says "yeah, sure, you betcha" sometimes.

She's a delight, even when she does pick the flowers.

Buy This Book!

My niece Angela Hallstrom has just had a wonderful novel published (her debut) called "Bound on Earth."

"This novel is about three generations of a modern-day LDS family and deals with the power of family and staying together in the face of trials. In a series of interconnected stories, you are able to see life through the points of view of a young man with bi-polar disorder, an older daughter who always tries to do what is right, and a mother who struggles with her ability to be an effective parent, as well as many other contemporary issues. Bound on Earth can be purchased from Amazon.com where additional reviews are also available. More information on the author can be found at AngelaHallstrom.com. The cover illustration was provided by Anthony Sweat [one of Angela's brothers] and his additional work, both LDS and non-LDS themed, can be viewed at AnthonySweat.com. "

(Thanks to my nephew Andrew for providing this good description.)

I encourage you to buy and read Angela's book so that

1) You will be enriched by reading her well-crafted and insightful prose,
2) She will become rich and famous, and
3) I will be related to a rich and famous person.

Surely three compelling reasons to support this gifted young writer!