The other day as we drove into the City, Clara was babbling and said, “Gee zee ma.” To which Millie responded,
“MOM! she said, “gee zee ma”. That means mom’s a genius!”
Aw, shucks, Mills! You can be Clara’s interpreter any day of the week.
She then went on to instruct me that I had to make special mention of this exchange in my blog. Duly noted dearest daughter!
Tonight as we drove home from swimming at the gym we were listening to Eva Cassidy’s rendition of “Kathy’s Song” by Simon and Garfunkel. Millie sighed deeply and said,
“Mom, I L O V E this song. I think about the rain, look out the window and smile.”
And earlier today she treated me to something truly special.
You have to see this to believe it, my friends. Don’t skip the vid, or you will really be missing out on a treat!
FOR RIZZLES! THIS IS HOW I SPEND MY DAYS!
THIS IS MY LIFE!
(ain’t it swell?)
Things I really hope you noticed: What Millie did to my kitchen to make our brunch possible. Also, did you happen to see all the crazy things on the counter top? If not, go back and see if you can spot her her otter and her back pack. Also, I hope you also noticed the the pile of dirty diapers on the stairs – I run a classy establishment!
No doubt you noticed her “make-up” – which is worthy of its very own post. Long before brunch took place Millie decided she wanted to be a “mean rainbow dog” — saving that for another post….it was just as awesome as brunch.
I am guessing not. Unless your name happens to be Kevin, Khaliel, Cameron, Summer, Ian, Brynn, Chas, Bette, Tess or Parker Kelly.
For me it means an awful, awful lot.
When I was a young’un my siblings and I spent hours and hours listening to the Broadway recording of Pirates of Penzance. And when we could get our hands on the VHS tape we would watch it over and over and over again. While I longed to be Mabel, Brynn was plotting how she could be cast as the Pirate King. Mom used to let us take the cushions off the sofa so that we could “climb over rocky mountains” just like General Stanley’s daughters. Ah me! Playing Pirates is one of my favorite childhood memories.
So you can imagine how I felt this past Friday when Millie fell in love with it herself.
Here is how it all came down: Millie wanted to put on this dress. She did and began dancing around the room. I told her she reminded me of one of the “maidens” in Pirates of Penzance. We’d watched this movie for the first time last week. She decided that we all needed dresses and that we should head down stairs to watch it again!
“I’m DOWN!” said the mom, aka me.
And during this second viewing, something really CLICKED with Millie.The first time she watched she was mildly interested but this time SHE WAS INTO IT!! Perhaps being in FULL costume had something to do with it?
In fact we were all in full costume (as per Millie’s request)
Maiden #1:
Maiden #2:
Clara wore this pink dress
Matron #3:
And I wore this skirt
and this hat
Aren’t we DAAAARLING?
Millie had an absolute BALL!
I would like to send a shout out to a certain man, who currently resides in some celestial realm, whose name is Joseph Papp.
Mr. Papp,
You did many extraordinary things in your life – Shakespeare in the Park, that is some serious “good action” thanks for inventing that. Way to go there! But of all the amazing things you did I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your brilliant & buoyant adaptation of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. You took it in the shorts from those “purists”/scholar types who thought you’d defiled Gilbert & Sullivan’s masterpiece — Seeing as the three of you are all in a celestial realm I would imagine you have had a good laugh about this together by now. (I would love to see what they have been working on these days!) I may not be a fancy critic – or a person of influence or opinion or power – but I tell you what, I love your show. It has brought me so much joy. And now, as you can see, one generation later the JOY carries on.
I love you, dear sir and feel so grateful for the gift you’ve given me and mine!
P.S. And way to go discovering that dashing young actor, right out of Juilliard – KEVIN KLINE! Props to you for that one. He was my first “movie crush”. One of his leading ladies, Meryl Streep once said of him, “Kevin is heaven” and to that I say, “AMEN!”
For all you Pirate of Penzance enthusiasts – please enjoy the following photos I yoinked off IMDB.
I just discovered Picasa – I will tire of this soon, bear with me.
The other day Millie and Clara were hanging out in Clara’s room – taking books off the shelf and “reading”.
As I watched them potter about it struck me that this was one of those wonderful moments where they were happy, and enjoying this simple activity together and so I grabbed the camera and did my best to capture it.
(I realize this is a bit on the small side, but if you click on it you can see it bigger and get a better sense of it.)
Today is my friend Erika’s birthday. I would love to tell you a little bit about her.
She is a beauty. A thinker. A worker. A love. A true friend and a wonder!
She is a person of true depth and goodness.
I still remember the first time I saw her. This is so wrong of me but I judged her hard core. She was so beautiful and confident I thought, “Oh, she looks too good to be true. I doubt we’ll be friends.”
How lame was I?
And how wrong was I!
Actually, I was right about one thing – she kind of is too good to be true. I guess when I saw how beautiful she was, how stylish and put together – I figured that was who she was and what she cared about. Now, I will be the first to tell you that this woman can do fashion. She is put together and she is a hot tamale – but she is sooooooooo, soooooooooo, sooooooooo much more than her very beautiful exterior!
I think that as I got over my own stupid insecurities I could see that behind her flawless beauty was a heart that loved God – truly and completely. She cared about and loved and wanted the same things that I did. To be true to the covenants she’d made with God. To create a home where the Spirit could be. To be a devoted wife and mother.
One of the things I love and admire most about Erika is her commitment to live the gospel with her whole heart. She is so committed to doing what is right, no matter the cost and no matter the consequence. Oh, how I love and admire her for her integrity and her desire to do what is right.
When we met I was brand newly married and she was still single. She was one of the few people in the singles ward who would be my friend. Once I was married I became invisible to most of the members in the ward. It was kind of odd. But Erika, bless her heart, reached out to me in love – and because of her confidence and goodness we became fast friends.
We spent many, many hours talking over our goals and our hearts’ desires. More than once she wondered out loud if she would ever get married…Little did I know how many MORE hours we would spend talking over these matters of the heart as our friendship carried on.
Her time in London, when we met, became a moral crossroads for her. She learned a lot and had to make some very hard decisions. It was the beginning of a pattern for our relationship. I would stand back in awe, on the side lines, shouting out encouragement, as she was put to the test (and by test, I mean the test of life) and watched in admiration as SHE PASSED with FLYING COLORS!
Oh, if I had the time to tell you the epic story of how she met and married her wonderful, wonderful husband, Travis. Never, ever have I seen a couple be put through so much to earn the blessing of being married. On their wedding day I sat in the temple and wept as I watched the two of them. This much I can tell you, this is a powerful, wonderful couple. I love them. I actually crave them sometimes. They are so DARLING together – such a dynamic team. I wish we could be next door neighbors. I really, really do!
Erika has tons and tons of energy. Even when she is tired it seems like she could light an entire city with her energy. She is determined and hard working. She is willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to get the job done. She is also really, really funny! We have shared some serious laughs.
Speaking of laughs – one of the things I love most about Erika is her ability to laugh at her mistakes. She is a wonderful ability to analyze a given situation, and herself in that situation – see it clearly and also see how to go forward. And when it is funny – she laughs about it. Isn’t that cool?!
One of my favorite memories of her is when we were running around London with a frozen turkey and a bunch of potatoes in her carry on suitcase. THAT WAS NUTS! And so stinkin’ funny! The end result was awesome when we hosted Thanksgiving for about 20 people, thankyouverymuch. But getting that bird around London was NOT easy!
She is PASSIONATE! Deeply, deeply passionate. If there is something that matters to her…SHE CARES! She really, really cares.
She has many, many talents and skills – but the one I would like to mention right now is that she can parallel park an Escalade as though it were a Mini Cooper. And that ain’t small fries, my friends! That is skillz! With a “z”!
The other thing I love and appreciate about Erika is that she is a talker! (And very articulate at that) Do you know what happens when one talker (me) is put together with another talker (Erika)? LOTS OF CONVO, people. We are talking serious conversation! When she and I were last together we talked so much that I think we were still talking as she drove away. Did I run after the car? I think Poor Travis finally had to roll the windows up to get us to STOP.
Erika comes off as being so poised and put together you could never imagine that she is a person who has known and overcome the kind of challenges that would wither and destroy the heart of a lesser person. Everything about her says, “CHARMED”, but I tell you what – she is real. As real as they come. She has true grit, substance and power. Her greatest power is manifest in her ability to love.
It has been a thing of beauty to see her love poured out upon her son. Never have I known a more devoted mother. She delights in her little boy. DELIGHTS in his every gesture and accomplishment. One time we were talking on the phone and he sneezed in her face and she laughed and said to him, “One day that will be inappropriate, but right now I think that is the CUTEST thing ever!”
The love I have for Erika and the friendship that we share feels to me that it started many, many years before our initial meeting in London in 2006. I think we knew and loved each other LONG before. What do you think, E?
Happy, happy birthday – my dear and wonderful friend! How I love you!
But thanks to modern air travel we get to see each other once and a while. Not nearly as much as we’d like, but I wont complain…too much.
She was just here, and can I tell you something – I have made a discovery about her,
She. is. magic.
While she was with us she:
taught primary, and had everyone in the palm of her little hand
took care of my children in the morning so that I could sleep in
shoveled tons of snow while Jan was away on a business trip
did ALL our laundry – folded it, put it away and IRONED everything!
read to Millie, laughed with Millie, taught her about science, philosophy, imagined all kinds of crazy things with her, made up games with her
She watched Millie and Clara overnight so that Jan and I could escape for a while
She made sure that she took care of her other New York based relations – going into town to watch John-o, while Cam and Nikks went to the temple. Then she visited for an afternoon with Allison. Then took the train home with her son in law, Jan and they talked all the way!
Not to mention she talked with me for hours and hours, helped me re-arrange furniture, went with me to the mall, took a date with me into the City where we found some fabric for a sister’s future wedding dress
you know who you are where you are and why I am writing this you are not here to see what we have been up to whilst you do your thing miles and miles away from not here – which is where you are and it is irrelevant except for the fact that you are not here – which basically means that you are not with us – and that stinks, full stop
So, what do you think of my Faulkner impersonation? Deep. Right? I always thought anyone could do what he did – but perhaps I am wrong? It is harder than it looks to not use any punctuation and blather on like there is some hidden meaning to what you are saying.
Hmmm.
What I want to know is, do you think when I try to write like Faulkner I am,
a) brilliant
b) annoying
Just checking.
Now on to the report and the photos.
Here’s what you have been missing:
Man, am I GLAD I bought that new tub of Eucerine! So is Clara.
You lucky dog, you have missed yet another snow storm ENTIRELY.
It has been okay because my mom, aka THE ROCK STAR has been here
And apparently the three Nephites are landscapers for our next door neighbors. They took pity on us poor females and shoveled the drive way with their big bad plow! Can you believe it?! SO KIND!
At any rate the girls were loving the snow
I on the other hand was VERY bummed out by the snow. I had arranged a whole day in the city – just me and the previously mentioned rock star relation – but had to cancel due to the snow.
When the going gets sad I go ahead and make SOUFFLE (thanks to dear AJ’s recipe – some of the sadness was alleviated)
It don’t look super appetizing, but you have had more than one of these so even though the camera on my phone is rummy – you know how good these suckers are.
Let Millie’s reaction be a witness to it’s deliciousness!
That night before bed Grandma, Millie & Clara cooked up a surprise for me.
A PERFORMANCE where the costumes were worn over their jammies, and Grandma provided a curtain which Clara and Millie used to their full advantage!
If you weren’t missing us before, I know you are missing us now!
Today was the Valentine’s party as Millie’s school. We walked through the door and sat down in the entry way to examine her loot.
Later in the day we watched a romantic movie
Can you tell what it is?
How about now?
It was swell and inspired much mirth and you’ll never believe it –
D A N C I N G!
So that is the news with us.
Clara would like to send you a special message via her balloons,
Read it and weep
because we are weeping without you.
P.S. We hope that despite the fact that you are working very hard that you will stop and take time to
After all that goodness it was hard to believe that the best was yet to come. But the very best was waiting for us – just a 20 minute drive away – at the Draper temple.
The temple is on the mountainside looking out over the valley below. It is an impressive location and a beautiful place.
The rooms where the weddings take place have super high ceilings. Being in the room itself made me feel so exultant. I think we needed a room that big and a ceiling that high – it seemed the perfect place to match the height of our emotions.
I cannot tell you how handsome my brother looked – there aren’t words. It is a beauty that comes when one is lit from within. To me he has never looked more handsome.
And the bride – oh, the bride! she was the same – as though light was pouring out of her.
I will forever remember them, side by side, looking like true royalty – BEAMING with a light that touched every last one of us.
After the ceremony, as per tradition, the wedding party waits for the bride and groom to come out of the temple as husband and wife.
Chas had something special planned…
At least I have never seen anything like it before!
Let me offer a little explanation. This wasn’t just fun. (Although it was really fun.) It has significance for Sam and Chas. My bro, a much reformed “weak hugger” loves to pick Sam up and give her a spinning hug.
Sam is an artist and painted this for him as a gift, when they were dating.
The writing is in Italian and it is something that Chas often says to Sam, which translates to, “I want good for you always.” They fell in love under shooting stars.
Now, tell me – is that not the sweetest?!!?When I first saw this painting it brought tears to my eyes. It would melt even the coldest heart, methinks!
Here they are! Mr. & Mrs Charles Kelly!
The little flower girls looked lovely – despite being absolutely miserable in the cold – they held it together pretty well.
Clara’s momentary happiness would soon fade into…
…full on CRUSTIES!
She was looking at Jan pleadingly, as I removed her coat, as if to say, “Dad, you’re sensible – are you going to let her do this to me?!?”
Lest you think me a totally cruel mother, willing to expose her daughter the “elements” for a few cheap photos. Crusty Clara was not with us long.
Once she warmed up she was happy again. See photographic evidence below:
I am both sad and relieved that I don’t have more photos of the wedding to show you.
Sad, because I bet you’d like to see some more, I would too. But this is all I have. Once the professional photographer showed up we weren’t allowed to take any more photos. And we had to be in a bunch of them as well.
Relieved because now I don’t feel like I have to post a billion photos at this current time because that last post there were a million pictures to choose from and it took me three days to load them up and post them.
As I have an “in” with bride and groom so as soon as they have more pictures of the wedding I promise to hit them up for a few that I can post here for your viewing pleasure.
just when everyone is getting sick of it and giving up their blogs, guess who is getting on the blogging bandwagon...me! That is about the time I catch on to whatever is trendy and cool, long after it is trendy and cool. At the very least I hope to amuse my sisters and my mom. I know how to pick an audience, don't I? I am not entirely sure if there will even be a theme but if you stay tuned perhaps we'll figure it out together. oxox Lize
