snowboarding on the 4th

94" base at Snowbird.
Justin, Ryan and Alex are taking advantage.

vicarious

My life is a little mundane. Preschool, swim lessons, house cleaning (or blogging when I should be house cleaning), cooking, work... not all that exciting. Luckily for me my little sister is very hip and happening.  She works for the incredibly talented Matthew Robbins and is showcasing her hands, right arm and neckline for his new book. Very cool.

Kimmy's also got a very hip friend, Noelle. Noelle is hands down the best chit chatter (for lack of a better word) I know. She could show up at a party, not know a soul, and by the end of the evening be everyone's bff. She has a gift. This latest story is one of my all time favs.

Sunday night swinging

neither here nor there

• i ♥ jamie oliver. I am so in favor of the Food Revolution. Knowing what you are eating; preferably whole, natural, unprocessed foods. Especially in our schools. I'm loving this season and going to go back and watch last season. That doesn't mean I didn't just eat a chocolate marshmallow brownie. I did. 

• Anna might be the sweetest baby in the world. I am loving this newborn period. Nursing her is a great experience, not angst ridden like it was with Ella. Having enough milk makes all the difference. 

• A baby announcements that I sent to a friend in Italy was returned to me. Apparently Lucia has moved. Thankfully this box wasn't checked: "Sorry for not having delivered this submission as the recipient is....deceased." Those Italians. Tell it like it is.

• Ryan and I had our 10 year anniversary last week. We went out for dinner to celebrate and I thought we were going here. I was a little surprised when we ended up here. And Ryan was a little surprised that I thought we were going to celebrate 10 years together at a deli. 

• The Podium Girls are one of my favorite things about professional cycling. This may be one of my favorite outfits yet. You can't fully appreciate it because the mid-calf bike jersey/pant suit with white stilettos aren't in the video, but still, it's pretty great. (No need to watch the whole thing. First 15 seconds will suffice.)                                                     The "I missed the Royal Wedding, but made the Tour de Suisse" girls weren't bad either.

• Just bought our tickets for Ben Folds. This is 2 years in a row. Feeling very hip. And a little old, because I think that possibly only people over 30 like Ben Folds.

• I've made this recipe twice, and liked it both times. I cooked it longer than it called for. 

• Ella often says, "Why were you making their mouth go like that?" Translation: What does that expression on your face mean? Why are you happy, surprised, upset? It is funniest when she says it in reference to an illustration in one of her books--"Why is Boots making his mouth go like that?"
• Happy Father's Day.  If you are Ella's Pa you got one of these, and you loved it.

Jamie's Nursery

Ava's fantastic nursery caught the eye of the world wide web. You can see the post here. Nice work, Jame!

first friend

I was searching through some old photos the other day and happened upon these pictures. Travis and I were initially friends by circumstance--our parents were friends in college and we only had each other. Then in college we became friends again, this time by choice. Our daughters are now little besties, which I love. Good friends, then and now.

"Big Trav" and "Baby Al"  We are 4 months apart. Love the accessories and the pose.

I am ET. Obviously.

this and that

Kimmy, who is always up on what is up and coming, introduced me to two great things. 1) The LDS Children's Sing Along app is fantastic. Totally worth the $4.99. Ella has learned so many great songs all on her own. We love it. 2) Shellac (aka gel) manicures. I am not a manicure person. But I am a fan of the shellac. It's like having chip-free acrylic nails without the acrylic. Thanks, Kimmy.

I sent this video to Grandma Packer, but she couldn't open it. It's not a great movie, but does showcase Ella's keen fashion sense. 

• Aunt Bev (everyone should be so lucky as to have an Aunt Bev) asked for this recipe I brought to our Memorial Day lunch. Tuscan Bread Salad:

One loaf crusty bread into cubes
5-6 ripe tomatoes, diced
2 yellow or orange or red peppers, diced
1/4 c chopped basil
1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella, cubed 

Dressing: 6 Tbs olive oil, 3 Tbs balsamic vinegar, one clove minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste

Toss the bread cubes with a few tbs olive oil and bake at 400 until brown, about 10-15 minutes. Toss all the ingredients together, let rest for a few minutes and serve.

• I've got a new sub-header.  Try as I might I couldn't embrace the chaos....it just wasn't in me. A new mantra was needed. In med school when you asked a tired, overworked, underpaid (seriously underpaid, by about -100K) med student how they were doing a common tongue in cheek response was "Living the dream." But here I am, now on the other side, living the so-called dream. And it's filled with dirty diapers, snot nosed kids, crying babies (both at work and at home), and sleepless nights. But it's pretty great. Wouldn't have it any other way.
• Speaking of great, this girl is such a sweet baby. I am enjoying the newborn period SO much more this time around. Not sure why, but I'll take it. 

• My favorite conference talk was on kindness by Elder Ballard.  I have a dear friend who has cancer and her outlook is unsure at best. I was talking to her the other day and with deep wisdom she said that this life is all about our relationships. Relationships with our family, friends and God. The rest simply does not matter. So true. 
• I have reached the post-baby hair loss stage. I thought I was skipping it this time around, but oh no, hair is coming out by the handfuls. Not fun. But I should try and remember that, really it doesn't matter. Perspective is easier to talk about than to actually embrace. 
• Remember this recipe? Try it in a cupcake version. No liners needed. Just spray Pam in the muffin tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Seriously good.
• Speaking of recipes, I'm loving a new cookbook--Our Best Bites. Good "what should I cook for dinner tonight" kind of recipes. Thanks, Janice, for the tip.

Davis County Sheriff's Mounted Posse Junior Queen Contest

This was the year to enter the Davis County Sheriff's Mounted Posse Junior Queen Contest. No pesky horses to get in the way. Check out the video. Made me laugh until I cried. Honestly.

golfing girl

Pa Paul took the morning off of work so he and Ella could see the wildlife at Jeremy and hit a few balls.

Sighted: 6 goslings, 1 daddy duck sitting on the eggs and 1 mommy duck eating seeds. When asked how she knew the duck on the eggs was the dad Ella was slightly incredulous. "Because the mommy was getting seeds." Of course.

ella in the city

east coast trip, as seen from the iphone, part 3

the launch of bijou (tay's remote controlled sailboat). it was pretty great. but next time we'll make sure we know which frequency we are on before we set sail so we don't look foolish.

thank heavens for the iphone. camera, map and entertainment. 

cupcake cart. yum.

east coast trip, as seen from the iphone, part 2

jamie and i braved the rain with the three girls

dinner in harlem at society

east coast trip, as seen from the iphone, part 1

i gained super-mama status by taking the red-eye with two kids

we visited the farm where gabe has his gardening class

thayer and i caught the late show. you can't see it, but her phone says 11:51. 

thanks to chris for watching the kids

Sunday afternoon

On Monday morning Ella told our nanny "On Sundays we can't do the things we really want to do." Should I be proud or a little sad?

good eats=good day in san francisco

Ryan and I went to San Francisco this weekend for a quick trip. The weather was great, the company was good (we went with Doug and Janet, Ryan's parents) and the food...oh the food. Almost enough to make us pack up and move.

On Saturday we went on a run to Coit Tower. About halfway up I remembered that I hadn't run for a while (Anna's three months and I didn't run while pregnant. You do the math.) and probably shouldn't have tackled it. But it was fun despite the pain. And I burned enough calories (in my head at least) to thoroughly enjoy the gluttony I had planned for the rest of the day.

After finishing our run we went straight to Bloem 'n Sugar and had one of these:

An authentic Belgian Waffle. Mine also had blueberries, raspberries and...strawberry ice cream. Yeah, really good breakfast food. Ryan ate two. 

Then we rented a car and drove on over to Sausalito and ate lunch at a delicious Italian restaurant. Ryan and I shared a Margherita Pizza and a salad. It was delicious.

Next we headed out of town to Muir Woods. Here Janet found her true calling: nature walking. She had hurt her foot the day before but she blissfully limped along oohing and awing over the Giant Sequoias. Or was it the Coast Redwood? I can never keep them straight. Either way, they were tall and beautiful.

I told Ryan we were taking at least one picture on the trip. This is it.

We left the woods (Janet has already planned her return trip) and headed to Nappa Valley. Unfortunately it was the Saturday before the busiest restaurant day of the year and we didn't have reservations. So we couldn't go where we really wanted. But we made do. Indulge me (as if you haven't already) ; here is our appetizer and dessert.

Potato Dumplin’ Bruleé 

sky hill farms goat cheese, roasted apples, confit meyer 

lemon, creek side ramps, smoked almonds, local raw honey

Lemon Thyme Crème Brulee 

chilled huckleberry stew, little lemon scones, sweet cream

The rest of the meal was good, but the beginning and end were phenomenal. Perhaps the best I've ever had.

A pretty great day, start to finish. Thanks Doug for leading these folks for the past year so we could make it happen.

The pumping every three hours and spilling milk all over myself in the dark car wasn't super, but you can't have it all, right?