Thursday, September 6, 2007

Pavarotti and Papa

I can't help but feel sorrow as the world mourns
the passing of the great tenor, Luciana Pavarotti.


My dad (Papa to the grandkids) was the first to introduce us to the world of opera,
in hopes of cultivating some culture within his "small town" kids.


Opera was a great love of his and I immediately fell in love too.
I remember being moved to tears at the first opera he took me to.
It moved me like nothing else before...it still does.
It was a weird and wonderful experience for me.
From that point on, my dad and I shared so many wonderful date nights at the
Houston Grand Opera.
It was a soul connection for us both.


During the last few months we had together, often times we would just sit,
hold hands and listen to music together.
"Nessun Dorma", our favorite aria, was usually the song of choice.
I'd put the cd player on repeat and we'd just close our eyes and soak it in.


I will never hear this aria without thinking of him and the many loves we shared.
Here is Pavarotti singing "Nessun Dorma" for the last time in public.

(press "pause" and let it load)




Wednesday, September 5, 2007

The Flying Trapeze Artist

So you know Natalie loves gymnastics...climbing, flipping, flying high in the sky.
Well, she out-did herself today.

The following took place in our garage as I began to load us up in the car for an outing:

As Lainey was hanging in her carseat on my left arm, diaper bag on the other,
I gave a quick jab with the ol' elbow to the garage door opener.
Nat giggled with delight. She loves being right next to the door when it's raised.
I go about my mommy business, buckling Lainey in, etc.
Next thing I see from the corner of my eye is Natalie flying high,
and it's not the usual launch from Daddy's arms.

Up, up, up she went!

Apparently, she grabbed on to the garage door and once it started lifting her up,
she decided to just hang on for dear life!
She rode that sucker all the way to the top.
Then just dangled, swinging from side to side.

She finally caught her breath and screamed,

"SOMEBODY HELLLLP MEEEE!"

After I got her down she laughed and said,
"Mommy, that was FUN!"

It actually did look like fun.

Lil' monkey in strength training for her big

"Swing From the Garage Door" Day


Baby Sis just chillin. She better not be taking notes...




Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Labor Day and Family Fun

We spent Labor Day this year at the beach.
Lainey started crawling.
Natalie fell in love...with the beach and Allan, Gina's boyfriend.
Daddy's ok with it, Gina's got her dukes up:)


A few of my favorite pictures from the weekend



TROUBLE!


(this subtitle will suffice for any picture with these two)



Discovery

(she was in awe of the sand and starfish)

Daddy's girls

(sigh)






Friday, August 31, 2007

Mirror Mirror...

Grant turned 3 last week.
I think we ALL got a kick out of this crazy mirror.




The Birthday Boy thought it was HILARIOUS!


Thanks for the laugh kiddos!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Nattie's Turn


As I've said before, Natalie LOVES taking pictures.
When I hear her giggle with camera in hand, I know she's taken "a good one."


I love her perspective.



She thinks she looks funny in door knobs, faucets, etc...creative.





This one made Emily and me laugh...Claire, are you ready for your EXTREEEME CLOSE-UUUP??



The girl loves taking shots of her feet! She does NOT get that from her mama.





I couldn't get Lainey to look at ME! Nat thought that was funny.



So I just went with it...




Nat, you're blowing our minds.

I can't wait to see what God has planned for you.