Birthdays!

(So sorry for the numerous postings in one day, but I finally downloaded the pix from my camera and wanted to get them all posted and recorded...)

Here's Andrew (33) and I (28) on our birthday...
I will say it's one thing to have a birthday the day after Christmas and something else to also share it with your spouse!
We had a good day...I shopped solo (have to hit those post-Christmas sales!), and we also went to the mall with the whole fam later on in the afternoon. From there we dropped the kids off at my Mom's and went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse--so yummy. We had plans to also see a movie, but we weren't really dying to see anything in particular and instead went back to Mom's to include the girls in our birthday celebration by going out for ice cream. The night before Lily had asked what kind of cake we were going to have, but neither of us wanted to have a cake, and I know she was bummed that we weren't having a party. It sucks for the kids too because they only get one birthday to celebrate for both parents, and for most kids...the more parties, the better. Oh well....that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and calls.

Christmas Morning

(I apologize for the smallness of the pictures in advance but wanted to post them as a collage rather than a running stream of individual photos.)
Christmas morning gets more fun as the girls get older. Luckily they are still too young to want to get up in the wee hours of the morning, so we didn't even get things rolling until 8:30 when Andrew got home from working an overtime shift from 4 am to 8 am.
The girls loved everything they received, although Lily had a little beef with Santa. She has been asking for a purple unicorn, and Santa was able to find a My Little Pony unicorn/pony that was white with purple hair and thought that would be sufficient. But as soon as Lily opened it she said, "Hey! This is not a purple unicorn--it's a white unicorn! (as if she'd been cheated somehow) After a little convincing and reassuring that it was still a purple unicorn (it had plenty of purple hair and purple sparkles on it's flank), she got used to the idea that she could live with it. (phew...Santa was worried that he'd already scarred her at 3 years old!)
Zoe just loved everything about everything...the unwrapping, the opening of the packages, the candy (esp. the candy!) and just loved the whole idea of what we were doing.
It's just so fun to experience Christmas from a child's point of view.
We are spoiled and are so grateful for the many gifts we enjoy not only at Christmas time but all year round...first and foremost, the gift of a tiny baby who came to earth to live as a mortal so that he could atone all mankind and lead us back to Him. Merry CHRISTmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent at our house. I had purchased a spiral ham which I cooked for dinner among other things. I invited Mom, Scott, Carter, Torrie and Hannah over to share it with us. We had a nice time visiting, and Mom gave the girls and I a present to open up that night....matching nightgowns/pajamas along with coordinating dolls. The girls were so pleased. I can't imagine the time that went into sewing them all, and I am amazed at my Mom's talent.

Christmas party

Here we are at my Mom's Christmas dinner/party on the 21st. We had yummy cornish game hens, exchanged sibling gifts, played games and got to hold the newest member of the Fedor clan, Finn.

Lily's Preschool Christmas Program

December 18, 2008, Clearfield City Library
This was truly an event that I wish I had on tape; however, after about 8 seconds of recording my camcorder ran out of juice, and all I have are still frames.
This was the typical preschool program you'd see on any Christmas movie but funnier because my daughter was involved. She was classic Lily and pulled an attitude during the first song, Jingle Bells, when the boy next to her picked up her jingle bells instead of his own. She was MAD and made sure the whole audience knew it. She would throw her hands in the air and would slap her knees repeatedly while scowling deeply, daring anyone to contradict her misery.
From that point on it just got more entertaining. Of course she was front and center and took the liberty of standing up whenever she pleased. The little kids around her were singing so well, and there was Lily, determined to NOT sing or participate because darnit! that boy took her jingle bells. The following song she was supposed to wear a large candy candy hooked around her face but she was still too mad and wouldn't do it. Finally, during a nativity song, she consented to wear what I thought was a camel, but instead of singing she proceeded to spit during the entire song. (Later I found out she thought she was a horse, and what do horses do? yeah, spit. *sigh*)
Then, as the well-constructed program came to a close, the singing teacher told the kids they had to sing We Wish You a Merry Christmas really loud or Santa wouldn't come. There was one little boy that I thought was going to pass out because he was singing his lungs out...almost literally. He was bright red in the face, and his mouth was stretched as physically possible for him. Unfortunately I missed much of his antics because I was trying to silently coax Lily to sing as well.
Then the man in the red suit came, and Lily wouldn't have any of that either. As you can see from the picture, I had to almost hold her on Santa's lap for the photo op that I think all parent's make their children do, happy or not. She reluctantly told Santa (but it was directed towards me, holding her on his lap) that she wanted a purple unicorn. That was all the conversation consisted of. Later Lily told me she didn't like Santa. (alrighty then...) Zoe did a little better. She at least sat solo, but once she discovered that he was much more scary in person than from far away, she wanted me. She did however, say thank you amidst her teary cries for the candy cane he gave her. Oh my, kids, kids....what do you do?
A memory for cherishing (and laughing at) for a long time.

Snow and cold and such

I personally am no fan of snow, but the girls sure did like playing in it for as long as their hands had feeling...

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Welcome Finn!

So my cute, little nephew, Finn William James Fedor, arrived Tuesday evening, Dec. 16, at 7:51 p.m. weighing 7 lbs. 3 oz., 21 inches long via my big bro, Ryan, and his wife, Chris. (how's that for a well-constructed sentence?)

Congrats guys!

ughh

I. hate. the. cold.....
That's all.

A first

So I received a call from a lady in my ward who was desperate to find someone willing to play the organ in sacrament meeting today. Of course this was on the way to our big, annual Austin family Christmas party yesterday morning in the snow. I told her that I actually have never officially played the organ but could play the piano if worse came to worst.
Our Saturday played out; we had a fun time with extended family, I scored some nice white elephant gifts, played games, ate food and made it home without getting an accident.
And then I remembered that I had to worry about whether to attempt the organ or just settle for the piano on the morrow. I shouldn't stress about it, I've played piano for 20 plus years of my life, and hymns are definitely not the hardest pieces to play, but my blood pressure always goes a little higher when I am being counted on for something publically. And then, this morning I get another call from the same lady needing me to not only play in sacrament meeting but in Relief Society as well. Well, okay, I'm already invested in the whole church block, so what the hey!?
Relief Society, no big deal...I"d much rather play piano than teach the lesson (which I have to do next week). I skipped out on Sunday School to give myself some familiarity with the organ and see if I could swing it. Surprisingly, playing the keyboard was almost easier than playing the piano, but it was all the voices that I had no idea about. I made a desperation call to the organ master (my sis, Torrie) to see if she could guide me through putting the organ on the right settings. In my messings-around I discovered a very cool memory button that had pre-recorded prelude music on it. I definitely used that button at the beginning and end of the meeting (people must have wondered why the prelude sounded so full and rich while the actual hymns were lacking in full, organ glory).
When all was said and done, I got through all four hymns (of course there was a rest hymn), and am chalking it up to experience. There's a first for everything, and now I get to stress about my lesson this coming Sunday. Opportunity appreciated, but I am just fine with not being the one behind the swelling pipes if I can help it.
And while on the subject of firsts, I have also had the uncomfortable ailment of not one, but two cold sores for the last 10 days now. I've never had them before, and I'm still waiting for them to show any signs of healing. And since this is the giving season, I gave Andrew and Lily some cold sores, too, so we're all having a great time slathering on the three different types of topical ointments I've purchased. I do have to say though, that I'd rather have a cold sore than a cold. I'll consider myself lucky (knock on wood).
Ten days....

Cookies, a Winter sandbox, and our own Grinch

Our Christmas season has officially begun. My mom invited us over to her house to decorate sugar cookies, spread some Christmas cheer, attend the Bountiful light parade and eat chili on Friday night. It was a fun time to be had, and the girls loved getting such a sugar high. Unfortunately Andrew missed all the festivities as he was at work, so we ate plenty for him. Here we are at the parade...
Then on Saturday I stole an idea off a friend's blog about using brown sugar as a sandpile to stave off the Winter cabin fever. (Thanks, Sarah!) Lily absolutely LOVED doing this. I found a 2 lbs. bag of brown sugar for 88 cents, and it was the best money I ever spent on an activity. After loading up a cookie sheet with lots of sugar and arming Lily with different kinds of containers to dig and pack and form, she was happy as a clam (or maybe I should say crab).

To end the weekend, I literally felt like the grinch (not by choice but by circumstance) when I discovered that part of the lights on my new pre-lit tree had gone out late last night. Well, I wasn't about to have a tree with a non-lit section, so I had to de-decorate my tree and take it all the way down, putting it back in the packing box and loading it in the car for a return/exchange this morning. The whole time I'm thinking, 'wouldn't it be fitting if Lily were to come downstairs (with visions of sugar plums dancing in her head) and ask, "Why Mommy, why are you taking our Christmas tree?" To which I would have to reply, "There's a light that's broken, so you see, I must take it back to the north pole (or Tai Pan) and fix it (or get a new one)'.

Let me tell you, during my hours of undecorating and taking the tree down I was not a happy camper. I like the decorations once they're up, but I've never liked having to take all my Christmas stuff down when the season is over. And I can most assuredly say that I REALLY don't like having to put up a tree, decorate/undecorate, take it down, get a new one the next day, put THAT one up and decorate again. But I do have to say that it looks even better than the first and is worth it to have ALL the lights in working order.

Let's bring on the Season!

Grandma Arlette's visit

Here are the girls with their Grandma Arlette who came to visit us right before Thanksgiving. They couldn't get enough of her reading to them. It was good to see you, Arlette!

Cyber MOnday

So I've been browsing the internet and have come across a particularly good deal that I thought I'd share...ON www.babycenter.com they are offering free shipping with the code FREESHIP if you spend $1 or more....the great thing is they have Halloween costumes marked down 90%...around $2 for many really cute ones. Can't beat that....a little prep can save you loads in the long run. They are also having tons of clearance items in many categories including clothes, maternity, gear, toys etc. With free shipping for the next two days on any order there are some SWEET deals to be had. Happy Shopping!

Ordinary

So I've been at a loss for good posts because our life here is pretty ordinary. While ordinary might be described as mundane or unexciting on some terms, I find myself relishing in our nondescript life at the moment. It seems like so much of the past several months have been upheaval for some reason or another, and I now feel like I am breathing and thinking at ease.



And while I'll probably never not stress completely, I do appreciate times (even when it seems like the holidays should be stressful) when I can just leisurely float in our little pool of ordinary and love it!

I love this picture because it reminds me that Zoe, at 20 months, is SOO good at reminding us to say prayers at mealtimes. She gets her food and her arms immediately fold, waiting. (Then, when we say amen, she claps wildly--just like they do at nursery when the prayer is done)

Belated Halloween/Fall pix

putting 'curlers' (leaves) in Zoe's hair

leaves are more fun with someone to share

Heroes and Victims in Prop. 8 Struggle

To preface, I love reading Orson Scott Card's weekly article in the Mormon Times section of the Deseret News. As I read today's all I could think was AMEN....couldn't have said it better myself.

Many people worked to pass Proposition 8 in California. Those who wish to be our enemies are working hard to blame it all on the Mormons, but our votes alone could never have done the job of protecting marriage from a fatal redefinition.There are many heroes in this struggle, but I want to call special attention to the young Saints in the singles wards of California. Outside the Church, most of their peers were against Proposition 8; inexperienced in marriage and child-rearing, they saw no harm in gay marriage.So when our Latter-day Saint singles heeded the call of the church's leaders to take part in the defense of marriage, they, more than any other group of Saints, were swimming upstream.They worked hard. They took risks. And many of them paid a price that is heavy indeed.
Many of them lost dear friends -- sometimes with bitter, angry recriminations from people they had once been close to.It seems ironic that these young Mormons were open-minded enough to be friends with people whose lives were so different from their own; but their friends, in the name of tolerance, could not remain friends with Mormons who merely stood up for their faith.If the situation had been reversed, if Prop. 8 had failed, these LDS young people would not have rejected their friends who voted to repudiate the meaning of marriage. And if they had, would they not have been condemned as bigots, for being unable to tolerate someone else voting his conscience? I have been more fortunate. All my gay friends who might have repudiated me for supporting Prop. 8 had already condemned me long ago for standing by a Christ-centered, prophet-led church. The gay friends who remained at the time of the vote already knew my views, and our relationship continues. (Not that I lack for hate mail and death threats from the "tolerant," mind you. It just didn't come from my friends.) I suspect that the young Saints from those California singles wards felt the cost -- socially and in their hearts -- more keenly than anyone.But as one of them pointed out to me in a conversation soon after the vote, "Now we know what it was like for believers in the Book of Mormon." So many times, the division between the followers of Christ and their opponents and persecutors was not geographical or national or cultural -- it was their own friends and neighbors who turned on them.

Reading the end of the book of Helaman, we can hear the voices of those who attack the church (and all religions) today. They accuse us of continuing a "wicked tradition, which has been handed down unto us by our fathers, to cause us that we should believe in some great and marvelous thing ... therefore they can keep us in ignorance, for we cannot witness with our own eyes."They accuse the church of wanting to "keep us down to be servants to their words, and also servants unto them ... and thus will they keep us in ignorance if we will yield ourselves unto them, all the days of our lives" (Hel. 16:20-21). Their story is that we Mormons somehow oppress them and force them; they claim to be our victims. And yet they are the ones who tried to force us to accept their radical change through judicial edict, rejecting a clear majority vote only a few years before. All we did was tell the truth, and try to persuade other people to act on that truth by voting for the proposition. We forced no one. We deceived no one. It was democracy. Out here in the East and South, many of our young men and women are serving missions in California. When a particularly vicious and bigoted ad showed Mormon missionaries bursting into the homes of gay couples, wresting the rings from their fingers and tearing up their marriage licenses, we feared that this might make people feel justified in acts of violence and hostility toward our missionaries. If we had put out an ad showing gay activists forcing their views on unwilling citizens, it would have actually been true -- since that is exactly what happened to make Prop. 8 necessary in the first place. But we were careful never to do or say anything that might seem to condone violence against individual gay people. They took no such care for our missionaries. Here is where the Savior's admonition to Peter comes into play. We can see that they would not bear it if we treated them as they have treated us -- but we will not treat them that way. This victory in California was by a shockingly slim margin. The forces arrayed against us depend on concealing actual scientific and historical evidence from the voters -- it is frightening how close they came to blinding a majority.Our opponents will move on to other states -- Massachusetts and Connecticut, for instance. And they will make us their targets and whipping boys. By painting us as the group trying to "force" our beliefs on unwilling people -- falsely accusing us, in short, of doing exactly what they really are doing -- they hope to arouse hatred and rage toward Mormons and use that as a means of prevailing in the political contest. We must be prepared to be the victims of lies. We may also see acts of violence and persecution by individuals and governments against Mormons, individually and as a church. What we must not do, what we must not tolerate, is the slightest action by any member of the church to harm or persecute others. They declare themselves our enemies, but we refuse to recognize that declaration. We know that we are in fact the friends of all; that a society that organizes itself to promote traditional marriage is the one most likely to promote the general happiness -- even of those who choose not to enter into such a marriage.We are not fighting a war, we are liberating people by telling them the truth. Only when they know the truth can they be free.

Political banter?

Okay, first off I have to say how much I hate politics...always have and probably always will. There is something about political banter that never sits well...two heads trying to butt against each other...with no real progress. I hate the contention, the frustration and the absolutely stupid circles that are run with no progress.
But as the political scene has been hard to ignore, I find myself grateful for the choice and ability to say these things. I read an article by Orson Scott Card a couple weeks back on tolerance and how it is SO misunderstood. People cry for tolerance, or even demand it, yet they miss the whole point.
Tolerance does not mean that I have to agree with you or even like you...it means that we peaceably agree to disagree....it's not conformity or uniformity. You have an opinion, I have an opinion, and that's okay....because of the great country we live in we have that freedom to have an opinion and shouldn't have to feel like we are less or more because of it. It simply is.
Perhaps that's why the political scene is so unappealing to me. I simply don't understand how people get a high from trying to force or 'persuade' their beliefs on anyone else. Contentiousness and heated but getting nowhere. What a waste of time.
Despite my wariness of all this, I am, however, so grateful to have the beliefs and values I do. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that this country was divinely inspired and instituted, and although I am skeptical with the current political scenery and the direction in which democracy is going, I know that these beliefs and values which make up each of us as individuals can either unify us or divide us depending on how we choose to 'tolerate' each other.

CArving PUnkins

Here's our rendezvous with some large gourds. Lily was excited to help until she saw the innards. (her face in the bottom left picture about says it all.) From the time Andrew wielded the knife (looking a little too comfortable stabbing and gutting), Lily was content to just sit and watch. Zoe watched from afar for matters of trying to contain the mess. I did the sketching and carving of one 'happy pumpkin' and one 'scary pumpkin'. Their faces are not in their full-fledged glory seeing as I have not lit them up in the dark of the night (we had to carve in the middle of the afternoon due to Andrew's work schedule). Thusly said, Zoe was still scared of the scary one and kept on making a little scared sound while pointing to the scary pumpkin and saying, "hewwy". For the record though, she is now fond of petting the pumpkin after we showed her that it was 'soft' and 'nice'.

Halloween or bust

After reading many a blogger who has been there done that, we here at the Pedersen household are finally taking advantage of the Halloween festivities to be had. Like many others, we too visited a......PUMPKIN patch (gasp!). We had a good reason to wait as Lily's preschool hadn't scheduled their field trip to said pumpkin patch until today.

Grandma Allred came to participate in the fun and help me take pictures. I was pleasantly surprised at all the activities and was basking in the unseasonably warm 70 plus degree weather. (who'd ever think to worry about getting a sunburn at the end of October?)

We got to go on a hayride where our farmer picked various crops and told us the rundown of each one. We got carrots, onions and Indian corn to take home.

Then we stopped to find our pumpkins,

rode back to the main part of the farm and got to play on all the fun activities. We saw farm animals, went down a big slide, jumped in a big blow-up pumpkin, rode a cowtrain and went through a haybale maze. Lastly, the girls got to enjoy playing in a big corn box....soooo much better than sand (corn can't get stuck in your hair and is much cleaner than sand...what a good idea). They were so sad to leave but were exhausted and thirsty.

Jump, jump!

Come on Zo, you have to come THIS way...

two little girls. in a little cow train. even when the whole train is empty.

let's get one of these...Let's get one of these...

The last month of pictures

Halloween curse?

And for the second time, the sale of our home fell through....the buyers had exactly 8 hours to back out before they'd lose their earnest money, and they called to tell us they didn't get their financing. Are you serious?! Good thing I hadn't started packing in earnest yet. I was extremely let down despite the fact that I was not looking forward to the stressful weeks ahead.
And we wait...
Unfortunately, the election is coming soon and could drastically affect the way the housing market and sale of our home could go.
And so I don't wallow in the negative I am glad that we are in no particular hurry to move...
Mortgage rates are up and could stay up, so we don't have to worry about paying more for a new mortgage...Lily can stay in preschool, and we will actually get to celebrate Halloween...I don't have to pack like mad...am I convincing myself yet?
Ah, what will be will be...until the next offer....

A funny

This one was kind of long to post under my normal 'Lilyisms' so I thought I'd document it here. It's more funny if you're familiar with Super Why on PBS.

On one of Lily’s favorite shows, Super Why, the character (Super Why) has the power to change the story and will switch words to have the story read the way he wants. I’m always amazed at how much Lily retains as a direct result of t.v. watching (encouraging, I know). So imagine, to my surprise, after chiding her to eat something for breakfast when Lily told me, “I can’t, see! It’s in my story…I don’t want everyfing (anything)” (I shook my head in amazement at her imaginative little plot to get out of eating breakfast…not a big eater in the morning). And no, it didn’t work when I told her that I had the power to change the story to say, “Lily wants to eat everything!” (10/17/08)

And the winner is...

San Salvador, El Salvador/Belize Mission! Just a big shout out to my little sis, Torrie, who received her mission call tonight. We are so proud of you and know you'll be one rockin' sister missionary. Love you!

ughh

you know that feeling when you feel like you're getting nowhere? that is me right now.
We got an offer on the house Tuesday, we counter-offered, and they accepted. Now (supposedly and hopefully) we will be out of here end of the month. That being said, the house hunt starts in earnest once again. After being online for so long on the same house sites, I feel like all the houses meld together. I start getting really frustrated because I just want to find that perfect house at the perfect price---is that really too much to ask? sheesh!
We did get a good idea of where we want to live in Syracuse and the type of house we like, the trick is finding one that's available...
We did a little calling around to learn that the one empty house with a gorgeous floorplan we both loved was under contract. (are you serious?!) However, the agent did say the sale might fall through, and if not, there's a possibility we could build (yes, build!) the exact same house for the price that the already-built one sold for. that would mean getting to choose our own location and everything as well as giving us four months to live with family...saving up a little more to put down on the house at closing. All speculation at this point, but it's all I can hope for at this point. I'm just sick of looking (and it's only been two days!)
I think we may be in trouble.

Dirt, garage sales and 5 years later...

I find it kind of interesting when people will say, 'oh, you just have to have a little boy'.
I guess all things associated with boy--rough and tumble, dirt and bugs, snails and puppy-dog tails--seem appealing? If that really were the reason, then said commenter would realize that I certainly don't need to have a boy because I have Zoe.
I often tease Andrew that Zoe is the child he got as a payback from his 'angelic' days as a child. She can be as sweet and docile when she wants but can also be so defiant and downright stubborn that I just shake my head and force myself to laugh. (I told myself to do just this tonight when she was eating dirt for the fourth time in about as many minutes) I personally don't see her appeal of dirt--maybe once to subside any curiosity, yes, but it's numerous times every day. I guess I can conjecture that she's deficient in some kind of mineral, but even that's probably not the reason...she just plain likes to do things of which I disapprove. ('Hey! I know a fun game...let's see how many things I can do that MOm doesn't like and then do them over and over again).
I just have to shake my head again and realize how different two little girls can be...same two gene donors but entirely different personalities. One (the smaller, but barely) will pinch/hit/kick the other (older, but not always the wiser), ensuing screeches and crocodile tears calling for some kind of intervention. (And for the umpteenth time, Lily, you're bigger--stand up for yourself or atleast move out of range!)
But, on the flipside, Lily is the one who is very physically daring while Zoe is very tentative with what she does/tries. Interesting.
And, as my title suggests, we had our first yard sale this morning. This was in combination with several other families in our HOA. We had a fairly good turn out, got rid of some stuff and netted $80. (It could have been more had Andrew not given a bunch of stuff away last month--he's definitely NOT a pack rat).
Last, but not least, Andrew and I celebrated the BIG 5 on the 20th....doesn't seem like that long until I start to list all we have done in that five years. Time flies--here's to many more 5's!

Home again, home again...

...jiggity jig.

Our trip home was a little close for comfort. (see previous post for vacation pix and detes) The night before we were to leave we learned that there were only two seats available, and there wouldn't be enough seats until the following day. We went to bed and hoped for the best. Luckily the coolest pilot in the world informed us early the next morning that a third seat had opened up. So we went to the airport hoping that no one else would be bumped onto that flight, and we were in luck...we got the last three seats.

We were sad to say good-bye to Dad and Arlette but are so looking forward to seeing them in November when they come out to Utah.

It's always good to be home but hard to come back from vacation. Andrew hit the ground running and went to work that night. The week went by so fast. We had a few walk-throughs which seemed optimistic and very interested but haven't heard back from them, so the real estate game continues.

Saturday we enjoyed good company at a neighborhood/HOA BBQ and later a birthday party for Lily's little friend who is also our close neighbor. The girls had SUCH a good time, the wonderful family who put on the party outdid themselves with making sure it was a fun time for all. I think the highlight was the pinata with scads of candy. As Lily walked toward me with a bag full of goodies she said, "Look! I got candy! Now I can go home." (Such good party etiquette)

KC Travel Log

The girls (and Andrew and I) had so much fun in Kansas City visiting my Dad and Arlette. We are fortunate enough to have airline ties (thanks, Ben) and purchased standby tickets to fly out on Thursday morning, the 4th. The plane ride was nice. There was even an extra seat giving us a full four to spread out on. The girls did great and the ride was under two hours.

It's always so nice to see Dad and Arlette and so great to see the interaction between them and the girls. They took to 'Papa' and 'Wama' right away despite not getting to see them too often and loved all the cool things to see (ie large, dead bugs they like to collect, squirrels, bunnies, deer and other critters). In fact, Dad and Arlette injected some kind of 'bug' (pardon the pun) into Lily regarding insects. They had her inspecting all the unusual species as well as chasing the crickets to see how many she could stomp on. Upon arriving back home she found a dead dragonfly and proudly picked it up for me to see. (no thanks!)

Dragonfly anyone?

Here's Zoe admiring a bunny to the right of the tree

On the way back from looking for deer in the field next door

When we arrived, Dad and Arlette had done such a great job of preparing...there were all kinds of toys and activities for the girls to do...a swimming pool full of balls, baby dolls, magnets, a cool bath toy Elmo, puzzles, stuffed animals and coloring books. They loved it. Of course we took advantage of all the great places to eat. I forgot to bring my camera to Arthur Bryant's BBQ but just imagine a cafeteria tray heaped with a pound of slow-smoked meat of all sorts with a stack of white bread and their famous Sweet Heat sauce....yum! Arlette put up some serious competition with her great cooking as well. We were fed well and came back a little rounder. We got to enjoy some retail therapy as well as go to Hallmark so Dad could show off his family. We ate at the Crayola Cafe and let the girls roam the Crown Center Mall. Along with great food, great shopping, and of course a Cleveland Indians versus Kansas City Royals baseball game (the Indians won 9-3), we most enjoyed hanging out with Dad and Arlette. Each time I get to see them I am freshly reminded how much I truly miss and love them. Thanks for your hospitality and kindness and for putting up with us...we love you guys!