Chromatic Birds

As mentioned earlier, I been making wool felt birds and wanted to show off one of the final results: I sewed them in order onto ric rac for something to hang in your kitchen window.

Pretty and simple, but also time consuming....

A close-up:

This is only one of the final results... the other, which I hope to begin soon is for our bed :)

birds

I started with a few birds from an ornament kit we made in Relief Society...

and got a little carried away:

Bonus pic of Adam and Elliott, the mushroom bandit:

Thanksgiving 2010!!!!!

Since I never got around to posting photos from last Thanksgiving (I can't believe a year has raced by!), we aren't doing much this Thanksgiving, and there are a lot of lovely ones with Briana...may I now present: Thanksgiving 2010!

It started with a few days of Sisterfest at Briana and Candice's house in Salt Lake City.

First off, we walked around Sugarhouse and ate at Omar's Raw Foods

Then we picked up Bri's car at the shop and followed her home:

The next day we also ate at Omar's Raw Foods :)
All 3 of us had bought Living Social Coupons!

Sara came up from Provo to visit

Adam got a sister-in-law backrub

while Bri and I made mac and cheese with Ian's friend Ivy (check out that beautiful black clay baking dish!! Briana always ad the coolest kitchen supplies - actually, the coolest everything.)

It snowed the whole night and we had a 1 am snow fight.

This captures what I love about Bri: up at 1 am baking a complicated treat with organic powdered sugar while wearing a silly hat.

I miss these beautiful Wasatch Front mountains

Here's Adam in front of his Freshman year dorm: Budge Hall

Some YouTube videos and a little sibling preening at Ian's dorm room...

Adam and I ate at the Red Iguana with Zina, Davey, and Pack!!

Whew, that was all pre-Thanksgiving...for real Thanksgiving, we spent the night with family friends, the Hollaways, in Huntsville, north of Salt Lake.

We made delicious food, hiked to a natural outdoor hot spring, ate pie, and then sat in the hot tub! There are even some legendary photos of us (including my mom!) running in the snow in our swimsuits. They're on facebook :)

Then, we played Apples to Apples, massaged each other's backs and had a yoga competition. Nothing like some good ole' family fun!

Here's Adam with the snow blower on the day after Thanksgiving.

A little snow slack-lining

Back at Bri's house, we made gnocci with our cousin Bridgette.

And Briana asked me to help her start knitting some socks (which I recently finished and gave to Thomas)

Serious work!

The holiday lights at Temple Square!

Additionally, I found a street named Tess!!!!!

And saw good friends Vanessa

and Analiesa

*Not many pictures of my parents, but they were there!

**This was also the Thanksgiving when I was secretly pregnant! My family didn't suspect anything, or at least they didn't say so, but Corrie knew! I felt okay, but was tired at night and would get instantly motion sick the moment I sat in a car. I also had a panic attack in Ian's Ford 'Exploder' as we attempted to drive down the steep, snowy, freaky hill of the Avenues to get free bread for Thanksgiving. Absolute terror. We never did make it down the hill.

Oh, I love this Thanksgiving! It was the best. So many memories :)

I guess this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for last Thanksgiving. The one where we were all together being crazy at Briana's house.

Yoga meditations

I went to Bikram yoga (hot yoga) tonight and it was wonderful. I am so energized...and it's 12:15 am!

It was my 5th class since I had Elliott (I just started going again about 2 weeks ago) and for some reason, the 5th class is always a turning point. It's been fine since I've been back, but today, it actually felt...delicious.

It was meditative and relaxing to work through all the poses, sweat, and be 'alone.' I know you're not supposed to think of things going on outside the class, but I did. I thought of tons of great things to draw in my sketch book - but alas, I probably will never remember them andrecord them.

I also thought of Elliott (ha!) and how he is in such a cute stage right now. He's 4 months old this week and just adorable. His arms are so soft and squishy; I love squeezing his forearm in my hand. He has grown a lot, filled out, thickened up. He has shoulders now - as opposed to the wrinkly slope connecting neck to arm he was born with. His jaw is more defined and you can fit your fingers under his chin. He loves his "crispy dog" (a stuffed dog with crinkly material inside) and can hold on to it and somewhat bring the crispy ears to his mouth.

When I'm in the kitchen, I put him in the bouncy chair and hand him colorful plastic spoons to keep him occupied. Sometimes I let him lick apple slices or pieces of banana. He LOVES them. He's going to be a big eater (like his parents!). But for now, he still loves his milk. He's a regular milk monster! He is very protective of his milk while he's eating. When I hold him and he wants milk, he now know it comes from my chest and he tries to dive there. So funny!

I remember something I heard in a yoga class a few years ago: the teacher said something about respecting others' yoga time by being quiet because this could be the only hour they have to themselvees. I feel like I have come to understand that concept! I know I only have one baby and will probably think my life was so easy when I think of this in the future, but it is wonderful to get time away from Elliott. When you have a baby, your mind is constantly in two places. I think that's what people are referring to when they say "baby brain" or "nursing brain" - it's that you are thinking about yourself and another person, so you are never fully paying attention to others. Or, if what they say doesn't have to do with what you are taking care of at the moment...you put it out of your mind.

Anyway, it's nice to be back exercising.

Here's a cute photo of Elliott helping me sew:

and a recent video:

California Visit

Here are some more photos from our trip to California before and after the trip to Mill Valley:

Elliott loved being with my dad, and my dad loved being with Elliott. He would sneak in and hold Elliott while he was sleeping and loved singing the old lullabies from when we were kids.

Elliott took baths, went jogging

sat at the table:

met some lady friends:

received gifts:

And Elliott even met the fabulous JMO!

Mill Valley, CA

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I fell in love with Mill Valley. It is a beautiful town just North of the Golden Gate Bridge and the rolling coastal hills of Golden Gate State Park - which is full of trails leading to cliff-top views and black rock beaches.

It was interesting to be at Fernwood in the Fall. Since it's a natural burial site, the grounds change with the seasons. In the spring, the grass was taller, but this visit in the fall, we realized there were many more graves near Briana than we had noticed before. There were even about 4 new graves near Bri since April - those plots are going fast! We need to get ours reserved :)

In the photo below, all the large rocks scattered around are grave markers.

I cry thinking about how beautiful Briana's spot is. She's on a hill facing West so she gets beautiful afternoon sunlight. All around are rolling hills. It's near San Francisco, but much more serene/quiet/peaceful.

From her grave, you can see the road, Tennessee Valley Road, that leads to a trail head for horses, walkers, hikers, and bikers to enjoy the beautiful coastline.

At the beach, the rock formations showed many colors and textures.

Elliott's new trick: bubble goatee.

Road Trip!!!

We stayed at a hotel about 0.25 miles from Fernwood! Here is a photo toward her hill. You can see the tall Eucalyptus trees (left of center, background) that shelter her.

I loved being so close to her spot and I kept thinking about how fun it will be to visit Mill Valley year after year. Even though it feels familiar and perfect for Bri now, it's fun to think how familiar and Bri-like it will feel in 20 years! I felt like I was visiting more than my sister's grave, I was visiting her.

A bike trail from the Golden Gate Bridge passed just outside our hotel and our hotel provided complementary bike rentals...so:

We all rode through Sausalito

past the darling houses (a somewhat Laguna Beach feel, but different...)

and beautiful morning view of San Francisco:

to the Golden Gate Bridge!

Back at the hotel, we lounged and relaxed in the sun

Uncle Thom helped Elliott swim

The downtown shopping area of Mill Valley has a beautiful kitchen store and home decoration store...

We even saw Ian's Pumpkin Patch!

P.S. Did you know there is an Arcade Fire song called "Cold Wind" that was on the show 'Six Feet Under' in 2007? I've heard there was an episode of the show featuring a natural burial at Fernwood. I don't know if this song was on that episode (I've never seen the show and don't even know what it's about, beside death, in some way), but it feels like it was. There's a line that says "If you're going to San Francisco, lay some flowers on the gravestone."

Here it is.