Our Morning at the BYU

Having nothing pressing, actually nothing at all, on our calendar today, I decided to drive to Provo to visit the Brigham Young University with Emma. One nice thing about living in Draper is that we are now halfway between Provo and Salt Lake. I've a soft spot for Provo and the BYU campus and now it's only 20 miles away instead of 40. So off we went. We parked at the bottom of the steps on the south end of campus, close by where I used to live. We walked by my old apartment and I told Emma I used to live there. "Let's go in!" she said. "Nah, we don't know anybody there." "Let's go in!"

So Emma rang the doorbell and a fresh-faced student answered the door.

"Hello....I used to live here (choke)...30 years ago. May we come in?" She said sure, and so we went in and chatted for awhile. Her name was Lindsay. She was very hospitable. She took a picture of us in her kitchen.
I remember my sister Julie visiting me in this kitchen once. We sat at the table and I think I wadded up something and tried to make a basket into the garbage can but didn't make it because it was precariously overflowing. I remarked, "I live in filth and squalor." It was touching to see that in 30 years some things don't change...


(Permission to take picture of garbage cheerfully granted by Lindsay.)

I asked Lindsay what her major was, and she said, "Music. Piano." "No kidding," I said. "I was a piano major, too." "No way!" (etc.). "But I got my music degree from Portland State." "I'M from Portland," said Lindsay. "No way!" (etc.) So seeing we had several things in common we talked for awhile longer.

We walked over to the botanical gardens at the bottom of the steps.


Saw a tight little group of young ducks.

And then we walked up the 147 stairs. I climbed these stairs a year or more ago and remember my lungs feeling like they were going to explode. This time around was much better. Seemed kinda easy. Maybe it's the new hip (thanks, Dr. Mariani).

We headed for the BYU Bookstore, because I knew there would be many attractive features that would interest Emma. Here are some of the things you can find at the BYU Bookstore.

Insignia apparel for teddy bears

Flags of many nations

Candy

Kitschy religious objets d'art

Modest summerwear

(Why wear one layer in 90 degrees when you can wear three?)

Sanctioned reading material

(I realized after I took this that my nephew's book is on the far right; the blue one. Sorry I didn't center it, Tony.)

Free magazines

BYU Creamery ice cream

Emma resisted the ice cream and chose a bag of blue and pink cotton candy.

She lounged on lush BYU grass...

...and saw a Costa Rican stone ball

Then we wandered back the way we came and climbed back down the 147 steps.

Fed the ducks some cotton candy (probably a nice change from all that infernal bread).


Even saw some turtles on a log.

We loved our morning in the rarefied bubble that is the BYU campus.

We Moved

To Draper, about three weeks ago. That's a pretty good excuse for not blogging recently. I was packing and cleaning and then cleaning and unpacking. But it is something to blog about, too. Stuff going on = stuff to write about but no time to write it.

We miss our friends in the former 'hood. Miss the Garden Heights Ward crowd. But the new ward seems good, too. I suppose they're all good (except when sometimes they're not). There are more children here for Emma to fraternize with (or maybe sororotize, since she's a girl). She has been making many acquaintances.

We like our new home very much, although it is more of a commute if, say for example, Joe wants to go to work in the morning. Sometimes he takes the train...catches it at A Hundredth South (dont'cha love Utah...One Hundredth South???) and listens to Dennis Miller on the I-Pod.

From our front yard we can see hang gliders off the point of the mountain in the late afternoon. The other day we drove up to where they take off and land. What a spectacle. A sea of high-sensation-seeking individuals nearly bumping into each other in mid-air.

There are more birdsounds out here, which I like. And wind in the trees, which I REALLY like. That might be my favorite sound, wind in the trees. That and train whistles, which we hear more of here, too. Reminds me of my youth in La Grande, the sound of the train. (But Paul Simon says everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance. One winter night, two houses ago, when the furnace came whooshing on, I said "I love the sound of a furnace coming on," and Joe mumbled, "Everyone loves the sound of a furnace in the distance.")

We like the neighborhood a lot so far and hope Emma will be happy growing up here. There are a few internationally adopted children in the ward (one from Nepal, one from Cuba, one from Russia). And two little Thai girls, aged 3 and 5, up the street whom Emma has played with a few times. And our next door neighbors are, get this, native Chinese. They have a 20-year-old daughter who goes to school in New York City. So ethnic diversity is, surprisingly, alive and well in Draper, Utah. That's a good thing. Plus, Draper Elementary School has a Mandarin immersion program starting in first grade (which is one of the reasons we chose this house, because it's in Draper Elementary boundaries and I really want Emma to be in this program).

Everything seems so fraught with significance when you first move in...you see somebody crossing the street out your window and think, "Am I going to know that person for the next 25 years?" When the Primary kids got up to sing on Mother's Day I told Joe, "We're going to be going to these kids' wedding receptions." "That's a lot of nested bowls," he replied.

Haven't been taking tons of photos lately. I took some the other day at an end-of-the-preschool-year assembly for Emma. They had a Crocodile Hunter type of guy come in and show a bunch of reptiles, snakes, turtles, etc. to a group of about 40 four-year-olds. It was pretty intense and halfway through Emma came and sat on my lap; she was a bit leery of the critters. He put a live scorpion in his mouth, for crying out loud. He said the way you could tell whether a scorpion was harmful or not was to put it in your mouth to see if it stung you. Har har. Then at the end he hauled out a 10-foot albino boa constrictor for everyone to pet. It was half fascinating and half creepy. And the photos didn't turn out very well, maybe all for the best.

But I do have a dandy photo from two weeks ago, when we went to Andy and Kathryn's graduation from the School of Accounting at the U. We are ULTRA proud of them. Andy graduated in December, but went through the ceremony this semester with Kat (who, by the by, was chosen as the outstanding senior in Accounting). They are smart AND photogenic.


Congratulations, AndyKat.

Happy Easter to Our Birthday Girl

Easter and Emma's 4th birthday happily coincided today....She had lots of visitors and found some eggs in the yard to boot. Thanks to everybody who helped her celebrate her special day.

No, Emma does not have a growth....

It's merely a giant gumball, tucked 'twixt cheek and gum, that Aunt Julie bought her at Jungle Jim's last week. We love Aunt Julie and it was so wonderful to see her.

And below is a picture of Emma and her friend Madelyn playing outside two days ago, when it was actually sunny for a change.



And that's about all I got right now...

Ack

It's been like six weeks or something since we posted. I hang my head in blogger shame. I guess we've been busy, but busier people than myself with blogs manage to keep posting, so again I hang my head.

But what am I, superwoman? Enough guilt!

So here are some pix...in no particular order...and maybe I'll get with the blogging program again soon.

Emma looked cute before church today and let me take her picture.

Then I let her take MY picture.


A few weeks ago we went to a McDonald's and saw two other lovely Chinese girls playing there. Joe took a picture with his cell phone. Aren't they all pretty?

About a month ago Emma's darling friend Brianne and her mom Susan came up from Provo so we could go to a Chinese New Year party together. Brianne brought Emma a Valentine's goody bag that included barrettes, so Emma wore them to the party.

They got to do some ribbon dancing.

And we'll end with an Emma self-portrait. And yes, her toenails needed trimming.


This post has no theme. But I feel no guilt.

Welcome, Year o' the Ox

We were a little tardy celebrating Chinese New Year (aka "Spring Festival," which strikes me as a tad optimistic). The actual lunar new year was January 26, but we had our fete a week or so later. Eats were from "Little World" (14th So. and State; muy delicioso).


Presents were lovingly wrapped by Grandpa.

Emma was born in the Year of the Rooster (way back in 05). According to the internet...so it's gotta be true...this is what Emma's like:

"People born in the Year of the Rooster are deep thinkers, capable, and talented. They like to be busy and are devoted beyond their capabilities and are deeply disappointed if they fail. People born in the Rooster Year are often a bit eccentric, and often have rather difficult relationship with others. They always think they are right and usually are! They frequently are loners and though they give the outward impression of being adventurous, they are timid. Rooster people's emotions like their fortunes, swing very high to very low. They can be selfish and too outspoken, but are always interesting and can be extremely brave. They are most compatible with Ox, Snake, and Dragon."

Hunh. Well, I certainly agree with two of the statements:

1. "They always think they are right"
2. "...are always interesting"

Plus, of course, she is deep, capable, talented, busy, devoted, and brave. But none of that other stuff.

In other Year of the Ox news: Emma continues to be deeply enraptured by craft projects.

And conceived of the display below, which now graces the ceiling above our bathroom counter.




Last week we spent a fun evening at Uncle Matt and Aunt Erin's for the annual Superbowl din-din (me, I never even know who's playing, but the food and company are outstanding). Emma loves to be with cousins Josh, Jonah and Sam.

And it was an occasion to take the annual Superbowl Sunday Rib Photo (third year running). So, below, we have pix from 2007, 2008, and 2009. Our little rib-eater appears to be thriving.


Happy new year to you, yours, AND the ox you rode in on.

My Daughter is a Mouse

At some point a few months ago, Emma became "Baby Mouse." Maybe it was after we read "Guess How Much I Love You," a book wherein a mommy and baby mouse contend to see who loves the other more [oh wait, it's bunnies in that book; but we've got some other book with moomy/baby mice]. Maybe it was from watching "Imagination Movers," which features a character named Warehouse Mouse. Whatever the source...Emma wants to be a mouse. She lies on her back and waggles her "paws" in the air. Her preferred game is "Find Baby Mouse" (in which she hides in the same place every time, next to the piano). A typical conversation with my young rodent goes like this:

"Emma, would you like a drink?"

"Baby Mouse!" (meaning, "Kindly refer to me by my correct name").

"Baby Mouse, would you like a drink?"

"Squeak!" (she doesn't make a squeak noise, but says the actual word)

"Would you like milk or apple juice?"

"Squeak!"

"Milk?"

"Squeak!"

She also coaches me in dialogue throughout the day. "Mama, throw Baby Mouse the ball and then say, 'Good catch, Baby Mouse' Say that!" (If I had a nickel for every time she's said "Say that!".....)

When I ask her what her name is, she says, 'Emma Claire Jiayan [last name] CJ Young Mouse" (she likes to say "CJ" because of her two middle names).

We love our funny little mouse.

Cookies, Crafts and Crashes

That's what Emma's been up to lately. The "cookie" part was yesterday, when she and big sister Jane undertook a baking project. January sugar cookies (who says the season is over?). Emma was fully involved and took a long bath afterward.




But the end results were pastel pretty and quite delicious. I ate roughly seven of them just today!




The "craft" part has been during the last few days. Emma's very deft with a pair of scissors and embarks on feverish, mysterious construction paper projects from time to time. Below is a mask she created with paper, twine and scotch tape. Pretty cool, and who cares if the eye holes don't line up with the actual eyes.


Nobody was injured in the "crash" part last week. She just went sliding down the mild slope in our backyard on her saucer a few times. Almost as fun as sledding at Sugarhouse Park and not nearly as hazardous (we've been a few times...and it's kind of a heartstopping experience for many reasons).

And the hike back up the hill isn't as bad as it seems.



Sorry we've been slacker bloggers lately (all five of you who care). We'll try to update again soon. In the meantime, happy January doldrums.

Happy New Year!

It's Beginning to Feel Alot Like Christmas

It must be getting close to Christmas. “How can I tell?” you ask. Well there are a few things that happen every Christmas season. First, I get the urge to buy a new Mercedes, wrap a big red bow around it, and park it in my driveway. Second, even though I have seldom used an electric razor, I start to feel inadequate in the shaving department with my triple-blade cheapie. The third symptom of Christmas is the yearning somewhere in the back of my consciousness for a Chia “something.” It doesn’t really matter which shape or form, I feel the need to grow green things around various troll-like shapes.

I was watching an ad for a diamond store, where they were boasting about their big 25% off everything sale. I happened to be close enough to read the small print that stated “No actual sales may have occurred at the full pre-sale prices.” Nice. They offer 25% off of something that has been marked up 1,000% in the first place, and the discount is fake to begin with. ‘tis the season, eh?

While I am rambling on about it, what is with the ads that started two weeks ago to lure us in for some last minute shopping. Last minute? I haven’t even started, and they want me to wrap it up. You hear claims about how their year will be ruined if the Christmas (holiday) season doesn’t improve. I am still trying to figure out why I should care.

I’m not bitter. In fact, I am having a great time experiencing Christmas with a three year old. It’s great. We watch many of the great Christmas movies together: The Bishop’s Wife (original only, please), Polar Express, Scrooged (“This is one Santa who is going out the front door”), and everybody’s favorite Santa Conquers the Martians (Crow and Tom Servo did this one up right!).

We put the tree up right after Thanksgiving, and Denny has the house decorated up very nicely, so the season has been very lovely this year, despite the constant attempts of Madison Avenue to mess with it. Emma is so fun and excited. I hope you all have as nice a Christmas as we are having, as Andy says, “Keeping it real.” Ok then.

Smile! (or not...)

Last year we took some really great Christmas pictures of Emma. She was giggling delightfully, with a sparkle in her eye, in each one. This year we tried to recreate the magic. Got a cute black and red velvet outfit, curled the hair, put a bow in. And here is a sample of the results.







Ah well. She's still our cutie patootie.

Go Find a Big Book....

We haven't taken many pictures lately, and I don't have much interesting to report. We've all been kind of sick the last week with various combinations of upper respiratory and lower GI ailments. But in the interest of posting something new, I'm stealing an idea from the blog Seriously, so blessed. Here's what we do:

1. Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages. Don't pick the coolest or most impressive one, just the NEAREST one.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence and post it!


So the nearest book at hand is the authorized biography of Hugh Nibley (by Boyd J. Petersen). Page 123, 5th sentence, reads:

"As he wrote to a friend who was going through marital problems, 'Common ground does not exist' between the two worlds." (He's referring to the credo that one must live "in the world but not of the world.")

So...what's in YOUR nearby book?

7 Thangs

I was tagged by two people recently (Peggy and Julia) to reveal seven things about myself.

1. I have nachos almost every Sunday after the block.

2. After Emma came home we watched a lot of "Signing Time" videos and I learned the sign language alphabet from the DVDs. I now compulsively finger spell words the way I used to type on my knees when I was taking typing from Guy Hafer at La Grande High School.

3. I enjoy folding laundry.

4. Sometimes when I'm practicing a piece of music that I have to perform I pretend I'm in the Music Olympics and imagine color commentators speculating on my chances for success ("Do you think she can navigate this tricky key change coming up? This is where the young Bulgarian upstart crashed and burned.") It manages to make me a little bit nervous.

5. I don't really like pretzels. I've tried to.

6. Garrison Keillor's column is the first thing I read in the Sunday Tribune, followed by Parade Magazine and the obits. The comics aren't funny. (Do you EVER laugh at a comic? Do you ever even SMILE at a comic?)

7. I can't whistle very well, which has always made me a little sad.

I tag BARBIE to write 7 things about herself in my comments section...

I Heart the Book of Mormon

I have to write about this before more time slips away. My niece Julia challenged our family to read the Book of Mormon during the month of October. I’ve only read the Book of Mormon fast one other time, when the stake Relief Society invited us to read it in preparation for a women’s conference (I remember I taught a mini-class on the Gadianton Robbers, of all things; they’re really a fascinating bunch).

Most of the time when I read the Book of Mormon, I plug along just above stall speed. I try to read a chapter a day, but then I skip a few days and have to go back and read the heading of the last chapter to figure out what was going on “when we last left our hero.” (Reminds me of something Marjorie Hinckley wrote in a letter to one of her children: “I’m reading one chapter out of each of the standard works every day. I’ve been doing it for four days now and am only three days behind.”) I plod through the Isaiah chapters and the war chapters and look forward to 3rd Nephi, and then I whiz through 4th Nephi, Mormon, Ether and on to the (bitter if you’re a Nephite) end.

This time around I skipped chapter headings entirely and read 17-18 pages a day. Things made much more sense. That section where we backtrack in time (the Record of Zeniff) wasn’t as confusing as it usually is. “Okay. Limhi was the son of King Noah, who was the son of Zeniff, who left Zarahemla and went to the land of Nephi. Zeniff—good; Noah—BAAAD; Limhi—good. Alma—VERY good. And then everybody eventually winds up back in Zarahemla again.” I even got caught up in the war accounts, and I have even greater admiration for Captain Moroni, a passionate, skilled leader and not just some zealous flag-waver.

And I have a new love for Mormon himself, who pawed through piles of records to get just the right distillation of history and doctrine. What an enormous undertaking. How just plain smart he must have been (I love what Ammaron tells Mormon when he’s only a kid: “I perceive that thou art a sober child, and art quick to observe.”)

But beyond all the history, the urgency of the message was so fresh this time. During a fast read-through the major themes just keep getting hammered and hammered:

1. Keep the commandments.
2. If you keep the commandments, you’ll prosper (in all the ways that matter most).
3. This is a unique land with a unique purpose.
4. Jesus Christ will come to earth (and after 3rd Nephi, will return to earth).
5. Keep the commandments.

Oh yeah, and ix-nay on the costly apparel and fine-twined linens.

What a book. I love it. Nay, I lurve it. Thanks, Julia, for the challenge!