Frankenstein

Last night the first production of Mortal Fool's Theatre Project premiered. It was such a great evening; finally seeing the work, long nights away from kids and wonderful artistry come together to produce Frankenstein. The idea started about a year ago, when David Morgan and Ward Wright would come into my office at BYU and we would talk about producing the kind of theatre we wanted to see and why we all chose it as a career to begin with. Thus the seed was planted for MFTP. Instead of talking we actually did something. So we started this company with a core group of artists. We lean towards good classical works or great adaptations of wonderful literature so it seemed right to pick this version of Frankenstein that has a very classic feel and sounds like the Shelly novel. David and Ward would be in it and I would direct. It has truly been a pleasure working with this group of people. The acting is the finest I have seen here in Utah and Nat of course did an amazing set. I hope if you read this and live in Utah you will take the opportunity to see some wonderful theatre.

Down the Narrow Path

All summer the girls have been begging to hike the Narrows in Zion's Canyon. For those of you who have been there, it is truly one of the most beautiful places in Utah. We took them last fall and they could hardly wait to go this summer. We finally made plans for last weekend. Hiking through the river in the slot canyons is really fun and a great adventure. Dotter #3 even started hiking but ended up on daddy's back. Great fun! Great day! Prior to that we always try to see a show at Tuachan in St. George, this fall we saw Aida. The weather didn't really cooperate, but we enjoyed it. Another St. George must is breakfast at the Bear Claw on Main Street. There is always a wait, but it is always worth it. The best french toast ever!

I like to think of these times when I get especially frustrated with the dotters or when they are driving me crazy and I don't think I can bear another minute with them. I often tell the Dotter's Dad we need to savor these moments and our precious family time. They love to spend time with us and they love to be together. I realize this will not always be. So these times are tender and sweet and I hold them close to my heart.

I hope you have a chance to enjoy sweet moments with your families. Savor them!

Crowns Fit for Any Queen

Are you looking for that perfect crown for your outfit? I just finished working on these beauties. If you are looking for a fun, whimsical and unexpected gift for someone special or a special occasion, let me know. I also take special orders, or I can personalize them. I am hoping to do a craft show this Fall/Christmas season so I'll let you know when. I'll be posting pics of all the things I'm working on.

As always, I use vintage finds. This crown is sporting vintage earrings and a deco shoe clip.

This crown is fairy inspired.
This crown is Marie Antoinette inspired.

Things I Love.......Things the Dotter's Love

I had some time to be at home today, which was so nice. Time just to putz around the house. I can't even remember the last time I did that..... As a lot of you know I love all things vintage, but I especially love vintage dishware or really any vintage kitchen thing. I decided to rearrange my cabinet today and thought it looked so cheery, I took a picture of it for you. I went to a great tag sale this weekend and found the perfect thing! A little child's cabinet to put all of the dotter's little dishes in, because they love dishes and kitchen stuff as much as I do!!!! It just warms my heart that my little dotter's love to go to tag sales, antique stores and see all the "cool old stuff". I will finally have my flea market buddies, because Nat can only take so much. But the dotter's; they love to go up and down the aisles with me and look at all the treasures. I still need to keep a close eye on #3 but for an almost 4 year old she does pretty well!

A closeup...don't the colors just make you happy?

The great tag sale treasure....I'm thinking about painting it
Brooklyn and Bella cheer each other on the great find! Isn't it cute?

Skirts Rule

On a winter's eve, a long one keeps you warm
On a warm summer day, skirts keep you cool
Wear the right one to compliment your form
One for every occasion; Skirts definitely rule

--Lyn Lomasi

Wanted to share the latest project I've worked on. I found this really cute pattern and fell in love. The skirts were fairly easy to make. It took about 6 different fabrics and I love all the Amy Butler line and also Moda....so needless to say the fabric was not cheap. But the skirts turned out so cute and the girls love them! I still need to finish Bella's. They are also unique, not something you can find at Target. (Although I love Target!) The cost was about $15 in fabric and about 3 hours of my time. I've been working on some other fun projects and plan on posting pics soon.

Brooklyn and Bronwyn have been wanting to make a vintage button bracelet. On Saturday we were off to Confetti's and they went through the bathtub of buttons and picked out some for their bracelets. Turned out pretty cute!

I loved this photo. I savor these moments!

Making Big Moments Special

Today was the first day of school....which went great if you care to know. The girls looked adorable in their new school outfits and shoes. Brooklyn also made her lunch which was exciting to do, being in the first grade and all. But what I really want to talk about is last night. Nat and I really wanted to make the last evening of summer vacation special. We wanted to create a "moment" that our girls could always remember. Now I'm not saying you have to go to a lot of work to create special moments. Sometimes they are so natural and spontaneous that they are magical. Sometimes, like last night you need to create magic. I want to share our magical moment with you. Most of my close friends know I have an insane schedule. I have many things going on in my life, but my children, they are my heart and I always want to try and create special moments that we can share together. Now about last night........

I made this really cute garland that I hung above the kitchen table (it's still there because it looked so fun.) It instantly transformed the room into a magical place. I made each of the girls crowns to wear during our special dinner. Each crown had their name and what grade in school they were going into. I stopped at Sweet Tooth Fairy Cupcakes and bought them "a to die for" treat. They are so pretty too! Nat took care of dinner and had a wonderful idea. Our kids favorite restaurant is Sweet Tomatoes, (a salad bar place) so Nat created Sweet Tomatoes at home for the girls. They loved it. It really struck me what a simple idea it was and yet they were giddy about it. Why have we not done this before? We set a pretty table which included wine glasses, that they love to use. They were upstairs in the room as we prepared the special feast. When the girls came down the stairs there were audible gasps and then giddy sweet laughter. They were so excited and gave us huge hugs and thank-yous. We all sat down with our salads and talked about the upcoming school year. I also gave them clipboards of things that they need to accomplish everyday throughout the year. We clicked our glasses and cheered each other good wishes for the upcoming school year. The evening ended with some beautiful Fathers' blessings given to them by Nat.

Although I'm not able to spend as many "moments" with my children as I would like, I try to make as many as I can special. I want my children to have great memories and to feel how much they are loved by their parents. I know that we accomplished that last night. In my kitchen on my wall is a saying, to remind me daily about "moments". I know it's used often, but it still is my favorite.

"LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY THE BREATHS WE TAKE, BUT THE MOMENTS THAT TAKE OUR BREATH AWAY..."

On a side note, yesterday was also my 14Th Wedding Anniversary. I am so grateful to have a loving, kind companion in this life journey together. He is also a wonderful father too! I love you Nathaniel! To many more amazing years together......you take my breath away still.....

Our festive table

Bella's crownBrooklyn's crownThe daily clipboard assignments....
We love these special "moments" with our girls!

Reaching the Summit

All summer I have been working on a project at BYU for Homecoming Spectacular at the Marriott Center in October. It's a awesome show that showcases all the talented BYU groups. We also honor a BYU founding father. This year it is Eugene Roberts, who was the first athletic director at BYU and he founded the Timp hike. We wanted to film the actor on the top of Timp for the finale, so we hiked yesterday and filmed on the summit. (About 12,000 feet) I was a little nervous about going because it's a pretty intense hike. About 20 miles round trip. Nat decided to join the shoot and hike and we were laughing about the last time we hiked Timp. 15 years ago this month! I think we were in better shape then and skinnier! We made it up in about 5 hours and spent about 3.5 filming on the summit. It was awesome. It included a lot of aerial shots with a helicopter and some ground shooting. It was also fun working with my great friend Jeff Parkin and his son Jeremiah (who played the young Eugene). Jeff is writing the script and he directed this film shoot. He is an amazing talent! And Jeremiah hiked that whole way at 10 years old! I forgot how good it feels to really accomplish such a physical feat! It was fun and although I'm feeling it today, I'm glad I REACHED THE SUMMIT! (The theme for BYU Homecoming this year.)

The helicopter has a camera mounted on front, to get the shots.

The actors on top of the summit.Filming beauty shots on the ground.

The awesome cast and crew!