Feast your eyes on THIS!

Yay for relatives moving to Dallas. My brother and his family moved to Dallas this last weekend. Lucky for me, since Justin had to start work before they closed on their house, we had a house guest for a couple of days. And you all know what I do when the boys out number the girls in the house...SEND THEM TO THE GRILL!!!

And grill they did. Fresh corn, fresh pineapple and Adam's famous burgers in a melding of culinary flavors to amaze and delight. Two words...DEEE- LISH!
So check this out. It was my first unofficial Mother's Day last Sunday and Adam surprised me with tickets THIS CLOSE to the Symphony for their performance the Saturday before. I don't know how many of you can say that you were serenaded by an entire symphony for Mother's Day, but I was. They played a song in tribute to all the mothers in attendance and they actually sang along! It was rad too because after the intermission, they had a jazz concert featuring this amazing trumpeter and his rocking guitarist and drummer. Those guys were wailing on their instruments. It was a hopping party, for reals.
The Myerson Center is so amazingly beautiful inside. Just a really pretty architectural piece. What a fun place to spend an evening. It's only a few steps away from my office but it feels like its miles away (which is just where I want to be.) And, on our exit from the building, we got to feast our eyes on this beauty. I am not making this up. Who does that?!? I couldn't resist capturing this on film. What a crack up! You know you're in Texas when... Anyway, as usual, Adam has out done himself. I really did luck out with that dude.

And welcome to Texas, Justin and Katie. May the humidity be as merciless to your hair as it is to mine...(what? you didn't expect me to be frizzy alone, did you?)

I kept mulling in my head how to adequately pay tribute to my mom and realized there was no adequate way and this will have to do. This beautiful woman, almost too young looking to be the mom of all these kids, is a hero.

She's brilliant, in every sense of the word. She graduated high school at 15, college at 19 and by the time she got married and had my brother, she had a fluorishing career with a sharp trajectory upward.

She does not get rattled. She handles every situation with grace and makes it look easy. She was an only child but figured out how to raise 9 kids and stay sane!

She has a knack for making people feel at ease and she does that by truly, honestly believing that people are good, and capable of the most amazing feats we can dream of. She is one of those rare humans that believes the only thing wrong with some people is that they need someone to believe in them, to tell them they can do better, and if they get that, they will. The striking thing about her is that she's usually right. If she gets her hands on a lost soul, they are no longer lost.

She is fearless. She is tenacious and capable and feisty and she always taught me that the one way to face a fear is to walk right into it. I owe to her the fact that I ever accomplished anything because she doesn't believe for a second there's anything you can't do.

And she's hilarious...and that helps when the world just seems like too much.

I know God made all kinds of moms out there, each one perfect for her children, and I know that all moms can tie for the best mom ever...but I'm grateful that God picked mine for me. I love you, Mom!

This is me asking for advice:

WARNING: IF YOU ARE NOT A PARENT OR DO NOT HAVE A DEEP AND ABIDING LOVE FOR NURSERY FURNITURE, I WILL NOT BE OFFENDED IF YOU SCROLL RIGHT PAST THIS POST TO THE HAWAII POST BELOW. IT'S HAPPY THERE... :)

So I've decided to break down and start looking at nursery furniture, strollers, car seats, etc. for my not so little baby girl. I really candidly have NO idea what to look for and everyone and their mom seems to think that this is the make or break decision of a lifetime. So here's the help I need:

1. Cribs: what to watch out for, what is potentially hazardous, where to find them, drop down sides or not, convertible to toddler bed or not, and brands, if you have any favorites.

2. Strollers: I know there are as many kinds out there as there are kids. What is the best kind to get? Do you buy your stroller w/ your carseat so it can snap in? Are there strollers that can transform from infant stage to bigger toddler?

3. Carseats: Brands? Type? Bells and whistles? I honestly know NOTHING about these so please hook me up.Basically, I want to know what you wish you had known when you had your first kid.

Oh, and I keep hearing strong opinions one way or the other about neutral colors for all of the above. The argument is either that if Jr. #2 is a boy, we don't have to buy all new stuff OR that I'll want everything very girly for this baby and everything for a boy very boyish...or that it will it all likely be wrecked by the time Jr. #2 comes along. Thoughts? Thanks in advance all. I'm seriously as clueless as I could be so any advice would be AWESOME!

At very long last!

Are you as bored with our blog as I am? Good grief! It took me long enough. But I have an excuse. We were in Hawaii! Here's the highlights:
We went to see the temple and BYU Hawaii and then we hung out on the North Shore...

Battled through a rather dense jungle with a muddy, rocky path and we were wearing flip flops...all to reach the top of the waterfall. The scenery was amazingly beautiful.

We took in the scenery...

from the top of this volcano which we hiked...

Just when we thought we were close to the top, we came upon THIS flight of stairs. It was huge, long and steep! I was definitely getting tired by this point (especially after hiking the waterfall the day before) but the view was completely worth it!

We made freinds with tons of sea animals at the Hawaii Sea Life park - Hawaii's version of Sea World. (Even this place was right on the beach. You could watch the waves crash the whole time you walked around the park!)

We visited Pearl Harbor...

Saw a submarine and then cruised out to the USS Arizona memorial where we saw the name of one of my ancestors on the monument...

Ambled through some beautiful gardens at the Dole Pineapple Factory, took a train ride through the plantation fields and saw all kinds of pineapple varieties...

Visited the Polynesian Cultural Center where Adam stole the show. Here he is playing the drums with his new found friend. You wouldn't believe this but Cornfed was working the crowd and had everyone in stitches by the time he got off the stage.

See, he even got a crown for his efforts. Isn't it dashing?

We visited a botanical garden and sampled the local fare....

And I tried to pull this giant pineapple from the ground...it didn't work, of course.

Of course we spent tons of time at the beach, eating ice cream and just relaxing. It couldn't have been a better trip. We loved it and I'm so glad to have gotten to go before the baby got here! But, as always, there's no place like home. It's good to be back.