Recap

What have the Wileys been up to lately?

1. Lots of baseball for both the boys
   
2. End of school -- Summer break begins!
3. Scott's away on his 2nd annual frisbee golf tour with "the guys"
4. Beautiful weather & blooming flowers
   
5. Seven Peaks water park is open and we were there on day #1 and #2 and yesterday and today.
6. June gave up her pacifiers (or as she called them, "fies"). We tied them to a bunch of balloons and watched them fly away through tear-filled eyes. That part was heart-breaking, but since then she's been fine.
7. Scott & I celebrated our 12 year anniversary! Yay us!
8. Finally finished our taxes
   
9. Discovered that birdseed, when dropped in the dirt below a feeder, or when buried in stashes by a squirrel, grows
10. Finally went to the Provo Farmer's Market. Not quite the same as our beloved South Pasadena Farmer's Market where I could go get a delicious ear of roasted corn on the cob every Thursday evening, but it's getting there.
    

Most significantly, my sister Annee & her kids are here visiting all the way from the other side of the world. So far we've had a great time hanging out and playing together at home -- the kids have been getting along famously -- and going on some fun outings. Annee and Rachel have both been doing a better job of blogging lately than I have, so please go here and here to read up on all the fun stuff we've been doing. It's so great to be in the same town at the same time with all my sisters.

So Rachel has been trying (and succeeding) to post a photo a day on her blog through the month of May, and has challenged me to do it next. I may or may not try. You'll see on Monday, I guess. It would be good for me to get over my blogging rut.

Practice makes Perfect

One of those principles we learn early in life is that when you practice at something you get better at it. Practicing also increases one's endurance and stamina and ultimately one's abilities.

When Scott and I were dating and first married, one of our favorite treats to eat was the Big Ed's Super Saucer -- a delicious version of the cookie/ice cream sandwich. It was hard to find -- only certain convenience stores carried them -- and the myriad of copycats were not equal substitutes. They were huge, and it used to be that we'd get one to share and we could barely finish it, but after a while, I'd conditioned my stomach to be able to eat a whole one myself. That was a proud day.




When I lived in the dorms at BYU, my favorite treat was the grasshopper shake from Cosmo's Connection. They made them thick enough to eat with a spoon and I'd ask for it "extra crunchy" so they'd leave the big Oreo pieces in. A shake cost $1.50 and I would measure all expenses against a shake. Should I get that magazine for $4.50? That equals 3 shakes, so no. 75 cents in the vending machine for a pack of M&Ms = half a shake. They were huge and overflowing and at the beginning of my freshman year I couldn't eat half of one, but by the end, after daily practice, I could finish the whole thing. (Can you say Freshman 15?!)




Then there's those pint size cartons of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk, introduced to me by my father. It's so rich and densely packed, one would last for weeks. But again, with practice and a little ingenuity (microwave it for 15 seconds to the perfect level of meltiness) last week I was able to finish a whole carton in one sitting.




I think you see where I'm going with this. You might think it's limited to ice cream products, but it's not. Today we went to CPK and I was able, for the first time, to finish an entire Chicken Tostada Pizza on my own without feeling sick or overstuffed. And I can also slice open a pineapple and eat the whole thing myself.

What's the point? I don't know. I guess I should be alarmed and do something about this, but I think I'll put it off a little longer. This is my last chance to use pregnancy as an excuse for poor eating habits, so I might as well live it up, right? Afterall there are so few benefits or upsides to being pregnant at all, let alone in the dead of summer, why take one away?

Wiley Home Nature Update

Seeing as it is now well into May, I know you have all wondered how our yard is doing this Spring. So here is a Wiley Home Nature Update.

First a little record keeping.
Mother's Day 2009 was great. These beautiful flowers were presented on Saturday along with a clean car. Two things that I love. Then Sunday came complete with sleeping in, a break from usual Sunday chores, a delicious breakfast, a husband whose church meetings were canceled, an easy & delicious dinner, and of course perfect presents. We got to go on a walk after dinner and capped the night off with my favorite dessert -- s'mores cooked over our backyard fire.

I call this series Just Can't Get Enough (enlarge the pictures to see the correlation)





















Now on to the Nature Update.

First of all and quite notably, we have wildlife this year.










Birds & squirrels are a common sight (as are bees & aphids, but we'll ignore that for now) and I have to refill my birdfeeder daily.



Second, we planted our garden and it is thriving (so far).

We anxiously await our harvest of tomatoes (2 varieties), peppers (4 varieties), pumpkin (that Oliver started from seed at school), peas, zucchini, carrots, watermelon, and 7 types of herbs.

Third, and most exciting to me, my Dogwood tree is in full bloom.



This is a tree I insisted on planting right outside my kitchen window, in spite of our landscaper's protests. It reminds me of the beautiful tree that sat right in front of our childhood home in Kensington, MD, covered in delicate, almost exotic, yet classic and understated pink blossoms. My mom used to say their shape should remind us of the cross Jesus died on and the points on the pedals like the nails in his hands. What gave her that idea, I don't know, but it has stuck with me.



Our flower pots were delivered and they are beautiful, we got new top soil, we had a nice display of bulb-blossoms, and about 75% of the perennials survived the fall-splitting. Tonight the boys and I released ladybugs onto the honeysuckle in the front to try to combat the aphids. Hopefully that will work. I bought a new honeysuckle to put in the back that will hopefully be more fragrant. That's another plant that reminds me of my childhood and sucking the nectar out of the blossoms on Melanie Curran's backyard fence.

Dan Reneer of Honeytree commented to me the other day that the best thing about Spring/Summer/Fall in Utah is that every day either the daytime is perfect or the nighttime is perfect. He's absolutely right, and I appreciate the perspective on the impending Dreadful Hot Season. I will try to focus on the nice cool evenings and appreciate the long-lasting sunshine as I'm melting away all day long (exascerbated by my incubation state).

The other evening as Scott and I sat outside watching the kids play contentedly, I commented to him, "We have a good life" and I meant it. We are very blessed that the worst things we have to worry about are the leaning post in the front yard and a growing birdseed bill. Even though it seems like everyone I'm related to is doing something more exciting (a romantic "hawaiian" getaway, my dream european tour, going to Harvard, buying a new home, a picturesque race along the C&O canal -- well not the running part but the location), I still wouldn't trade my happy life for anything.

not much to show for a month gone by

So the trouble with having great photographers in the family is that you tend to leave the camera work up to them, and hence we have little to show for our week in California for Spring Break. If we're lucky, Steph might post more photos here so be on the lookout. Suffice it to say we had a great time just hanging out. No major plans or outings. Just cousins, grandparents, puppies, ball games, BBQs, birthdays, and bike riding. The drive out was fine, back was worse. Unfortunately we never made it out for the Montrose Cristo (I know, Paul&Ryan, unforgiveable), but we did get to try the great new Vietnamese place in Montrose.

The next day after we returned from CA our out-of-town guests started to arrive. We got to host them, but they were actually here for Rachel's graduation from the BYU Marriott School of Management with her Masters in Accountancy (I'm just bragging a little). We had such a great time with Steve & Ie Li & family here, as well as Mom & Dad and Uncle Zack.




















In typical Zackrison family reunion fashion, the weekend was complete with late night talking, game playing, lots (and lots and lots) of great food, house hunting with Mom & Dad, and great cousin bonding. We missed Annee terribly (the only missing sibling) and admired her restraint to not just hop on a 20-hour flight to be here too. Once again, Rachel and Ie Li are both notoriously avid photographers, so my camera did not come out much. Check here and here for more photos of the weekend.

Having house guests is always a good incentive to try to complete some projects I've had in mind.









This time I worked on these mini-silhouettes, inspired both by modern trends and traditional details. I saw these mini round ones on the mantle of the White House in the (highly recommended) John Adams series.

Now life is back to "normal" and the kids are finishing up their school year and enthusiastically anticipating the opening of Seven Peaks (ugh!). Scott is busy at work these days, with some pretty cool projects on the horizon.

I'm 26 weeks along now, and my belly continues to grow faster than with any of my other pregnancies, and my body is starting to complain a bit in the way of aches and pains and shortness of breath, etc, etc, etc. I'm trying hard not to get too depressed yet, as I still have the longest, hottest months of summer ahead of me. But I am starting to get excited too -- pulling out the old baby boy clothes, seeing newborns and imagining my own.

June is starting to get interested in the concept of a baby in my tummy. Oliver is excited to be the baby's stylist. Brenden still doesn't have much to say about it. We're still unsettled on the name. Might have to come down to a coin toss.









I'll leave you with some awesome footage shot by Oliver which I found on the camera today. He's trying hard to try to come up with something to send to America's Funniest Home Videos. We'll keep working on it.