6 months ago
Saturday, June 30, 2007
super dooper wooper busy week
lots to do... no time to write about it... see pictures of horse camp and our day in Boston on flickr button!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Dancensation 2007
Someone go get Grandma Pearlie...
Grace danced in her first formal dance recital last weekend. It was complete with all the bells and whistles - professional costumes, lighting, big nice auditorium, reserved seating, and awards at the end.
Grace is the youngest and smallest in her dance class. She was so amazing. I couldn't believe what a good job she did at getting up and trying really hard to do her steps and not goof off onstage. She had the best time and I think that's what is most important. There were several little girls backstage with their "stage moms" who cried for much of the recital. Not Grace - she loved every aspect of it except for the waiting time to go onstage. The only thing that was stressful for me was the dress rehearsal and pictures on Friday. I had Hattie with me and it was a 2 hour ordeal. The recital was a breeze in comparison.
I danced as a little girl and so did all my sisters. Even after I quit taking dance lessons, I have always liked to go out dancing and to watch dancing. It is so fun to have a little girl to take to dance class and to watch her perform. I have to say too, that the recital was pretty fun to watch as a whole. The other dance numbers were entertaining and the older girls were quite good.
When Grace came onto the stage in her ballet costume, I seriously started crying. She is so beautiful and I am so proud to be her mom. Her tap number was really cute too. She had the job of picking up birthday present props one by one and passing them out to the dancers as the dance started. I was really surprised at how much coreography the kids had learned along with their dance steps.
At the end, we gave Grace the traditional dancer flower bouquet. She got one at her little Christmas recital and now knows that it is what she should get. She asked if she might get one this time too. She was also given a pink ribbon at the awards ceremony. That was pretty cool for her too.
The evening was also a new experiment with Harriet. Since the recital didn't start until 7pm, we decided we just couldn't take her without real fear of her crying through the whole thing to go to bed. So, I hired my first teen-age baby sitter ever. She reported that Harriet was perfect and went right to bed and never cried or fussed. I was so relieved that it worked out. Now I have someone that I know I can leave Harriet with at night. We use to take Grace out when she was a baby because she would fall asleep anywhere and didn't go to bed until late anyway. Not Hattie - she goes to bed promptly at 8pm and really likes to do it in her crib!
I am really glad that Grace has done dance this year. She has learned so much. She has really grown into a big girl and dance has been part of that. She has also made some great little friends and so have I in the process. We will be sad to leave dance for the summer.
Grace danced in her first formal dance recital last weekend. It was complete with all the bells and whistles - professional costumes, lighting, big nice auditorium, reserved seating, and awards at the end.
Grace is the youngest and smallest in her dance class. She was so amazing. I couldn't believe what a good job she did at getting up and trying really hard to do her steps and not goof off onstage. She had the best time and I think that's what is most important. There were several little girls backstage with their "stage moms" who cried for much of the recital. Not Grace - she loved every aspect of it except for the waiting time to go onstage. The only thing that was stressful for me was the dress rehearsal and pictures on Friday. I had Hattie with me and it was a 2 hour ordeal. The recital was a breeze in comparison.
I danced as a little girl and so did all my sisters. Even after I quit taking dance lessons, I have always liked to go out dancing and to watch dancing. It is so fun to have a little girl to take to dance class and to watch her perform. I have to say too, that the recital was pretty fun to watch as a whole. The other dance numbers were entertaining and the older girls were quite good.
When Grace came onto the stage in her ballet costume, I seriously started crying. She is so beautiful and I am so proud to be her mom. Her tap number was really cute too. She had the job of picking up birthday present props one by one and passing them out to the dancers as the dance started. I was really surprised at how much coreography the kids had learned along with their dance steps.
At the end, we gave Grace the traditional dancer flower bouquet. She got one at her little Christmas recital and now knows that it is what she should get. She asked if she might get one this time too. She was also given a pink ribbon at the awards ceremony. That was pretty cool for her too.
The evening was also a new experiment with Harriet. Since the recital didn't start until 7pm, we decided we just couldn't take her without real fear of her crying through the whole thing to go to bed. So, I hired my first teen-age baby sitter ever. She reported that Harriet was perfect and went right to bed and never cried or fussed. I was so relieved that it worked out. Now I have someone that I know I can leave Harriet with at night. We use to take Grace out when she was a baby because she would fall asleep anywhere and didn't go to bed until late anyway. Not Hattie - she goes to bed promptly at 8pm and really likes to do it in her crib!
I am really glad that Grace has done dance this year. She has learned so much. She has really grown into a big girl and dance has been part of that. She has also made some great little friends and so have I in the process. We will be sad to leave dance for the summer.
JURY DUTY
I did my civic duty, so y'all better appreciate it! After post-poning it for a year (due to having a freshly newborn baby last year), I reported for jury duty on Monday 2 weeks ago. I naively went in thinking that I would be there until lunchtime and then would be dismissed to go home and play with my mom for a week.
NOPE - NO FUN FOR YOU!
In the words of Judge Chernoff (after I had pleaded with every valid excuse I had) "we would like you to serve as a juror with us, will you serve." Why didn't I yell NO WAY! ? It was a little intimidating as I was standing there at the judge's stand with an accomplished and senior judge, 3 attorneys, a court reporter, an accused murderer and 3 armed court guards staring me in the face in close proximity. Ok, FINE, I'll do it, but again, y'all better be appreciatin' it.
So, I was called to be a juror on a murder case, no less. When they told us earlier that morning, the 2 cases that were a possibility and one was a homicide, a sinking feeling in my stomach told me I wouldn't be leaving anytime soon and I was right.
I have had lots of people ask me about the details of the case and I couldn't talk about it when I most wanted to (during the trial) and now that it's over and a week past, I have no desire whatsoever to drum up the yucky details of it. Still, I know all you freaky CSI fans want to hear the gore, so I will tell you what it was like to decide if a man should be put in prison for the rest of his life for strangling a woman to death and leaving her body in the alley way behind his apartment.
Basically, it was like reading a novel. Each day, new details and information to the story were given in court and you were always left hanging at the end of the day with a lack of closure in the story. The next morning brought more details and evidence and then the same thing again - no closure. I thought there would be more closure by the end of the case, but there were some seriously wide open holes in the story left and it was really frustrating to have to decide if we had enough information to recreate new details or if we had to ignore even more of the ones we had.
Here's the gore: it was basically a crack party gone bad. A woman in her forties who had just come from her daughter and grandchildren's house, (previously just released from jail) went looking for a good time and found it at this little sad apartment building with a bunch of strangers. It was seriously a soap opera - you couldn't have written a more convoluded story. The new strangers invited her up for some crack smoking and she met a 50+ year old guy who was renting a room in one of the apartments - a basic stranger to the others as well. They exchanged phone numbers at the end of the night and he called her at 2:15 in the morning and she was never seen again until her body was found in the alley 4 days later. The reason it took 4 days for the body to turn up in the alley was because he left her in his bed in his room and only threw her out when his room-mate (who had been in a hospital since before the party for attempted suicide) came home from the hospital. The crime scene photos weren't pleasant, but of course having watched way too much tv, most of us were desensitized enough to be able to handle looking at them. We had the works from phone records to DNA evidence to boxes of bloody stuff. (no bloody glove, and the "knife" was missing!)
The trial only lasted 7 days (and I say ONLY as in comparison to some of the high-profile trials that take weeks and months.) It was short and sweet because the accused actually confessed to the murder on tape at the police station. The purpose of the trial wasn't to prove that he did it, it was to decide whether he had premeditated it and whether it was extremely atrocious enough to qualify for 1st degree murder and send him to jail forever. He also claimed self defense and said that the 118 pound 5'6" woman came after him with a knife. (Why would you get rid of the one piece of evidence that would set you free?! EVERYTHING else was in his room!) After about 5 hours of back and forth deliberation, we decided that it was NOT self defense and he was too "coked up" to have premeditated anything and also that (although atrocious to kill) the killing was not EXTEMELY atrocious. We could think of much worse ways to die and much more suffering that could have happened to a person. So we came to the conclusion that he would be guilty of 2nd degree murder which still allows for some of those same feelings, but not to the extreme degree that is 1st degree. He will be sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole at 15 years. He's already like 52 years old, so he'll be in jail for the better part of the rest of his life.
The judge said that if we were picked to be on the jury that it would be one of the greatest experiences of our lives and that at the end we would be glad we did it. I have to say, it was really interesting to see how the justice system works (it's really not like what you see on tv - but what is?) and it was also good to learn about new things. I know all sorts of things about crack and cocaine now! However, at the end, I don't know that I am glad I did it. It was extremely hard to leave my kids for that long and I do wish I had been able to see more of my mom and Emily. David even ended up giving some vacation time to the trial because the trial was still going when my family left. He stayed home with the kids until the trial was over.
I think that if you could sign up for jury duty and do it when it didn't disrupt your life so much (like when would that happen?!) that you really might enjoy it and be glad you did it...
At least I can say I helped put a criminal behind bars and gave a little peace to a family who has been suffering for over a year since their mother and grandmother was killed.
NOPE - NO FUN FOR YOU!
In the words of Judge Chernoff (after I had pleaded with every valid excuse I had) "we would like you to serve as a juror with us, will you serve." Why didn't I yell NO WAY! ? It was a little intimidating as I was standing there at the judge's stand with an accomplished and senior judge, 3 attorneys, a court reporter, an accused murderer and 3 armed court guards staring me in the face in close proximity. Ok, FINE, I'll do it, but again, y'all better be appreciatin' it.
So, I was called to be a juror on a murder case, no less. When they told us earlier that morning, the 2 cases that were a possibility and one was a homicide, a sinking feeling in my stomach told me I wouldn't be leaving anytime soon and I was right.
I have had lots of people ask me about the details of the case and I couldn't talk about it when I most wanted to (during the trial) and now that it's over and a week past, I have no desire whatsoever to drum up the yucky details of it. Still, I know all you freaky CSI fans want to hear the gore, so I will tell you what it was like to decide if a man should be put in prison for the rest of his life for strangling a woman to death and leaving her body in the alley way behind his apartment.
Basically, it was like reading a novel. Each day, new details and information to the story were given in court and you were always left hanging at the end of the day with a lack of closure in the story. The next morning brought more details and evidence and then the same thing again - no closure. I thought there would be more closure by the end of the case, but there were some seriously wide open holes in the story left and it was really frustrating to have to decide if we had enough information to recreate new details or if we had to ignore even more of the ones we had.
Here's the gore: it was basically a crack party gone bad. A woman in her forties who had just come from her daughter and grandchildren's house, (previously just released from jail) went looking for a good time and found it at this little sad apartment building with a bunch of strangers. It was seriously a soap opera - you couldn't have written a more convoluded story. The new strangers invited her up for some crack smoking and she met a 50+ year old guy who was renting a room in one of the apartments - a basic stranger to the others as well. They exchanged phone numbers at the end of the night and he called her at 2:15 in the morning and she was never seen again until her body was found in the alley 4 days later. The reason it took 4 days for the body to turn up in the alley was because he left her in his bed in his room and only threw her out when his room-mate (who had been in a hospital since before the party for attempted suicide) came home from the hospital. The crime scene photos weren't pleasant, but of course having watched way too much tv, most of us were desensitized enough to be able to handle looking at them. We had the works from phone records to DNA evidence to boxes of bloody stuff. (no bloody glove, and the "knife" was missing!)
The trial only lasted 7 days (and I say ONLY as in comparison to some of the high-profile trials that take weeks and months.) It was short and sweet because the accused actually confessed to the murder on tape at the police station. The purpose of the trial wasn't to prove that he did it, it was to decide whether he had premeditated it and whether it was extremely atrocious enough to qualify for 1st degree murder and send him to jail forever. He also claimed self defense and said that the 118 pound 5'6" woman came after him with a knife. (Why would you get rid of the one piece of evidence that would set you free?! EVERYTHING else was in his room!) After about 5 hours of back and forth deliberation, we decided that it was NOT self defense and he was too "coked up" to have premeditated anything and also that (although atrocious to kill) the killing was not EXTEMELY atrocious. We could think of much worse ways to die and much more suffering that could have happened to a person. So we came to the conclusion that he would be guilty of 2nd degree murder which still allows for some of those same feelings, but not to the extreme degree that is 1st degree. He will be sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole at 15 years. He's already like 52 years old, so he'll be in jail for the better part of the rest of his life.
The judge said that if we were picked to be on the jury that it would be one of the greatest experiences of our lives and that at the end we would be glad we did it. I have to say, it was really interesting to see how the justice system works (it's really not like what you see on tv - but what is?) and it was also good to learn about new things. I know all sorts of things about crack and cocaine now! However, at the end, I don't know that I am glad I did it. It was extremely hard to leave my kids for that long and I do wish I had been able to see more of my mom and Emily. David even ended up giving some vacation time to the trial because the trial was still going when my family left. He stayed home with the kids until the trial was over.
I think that if you could sign up for jury duty and do it when it didn't disrupt your life so much (like when would that happen?!) that you really might enjoy it and be glad you did it...
At least I can say I helped put a criminal behind bars and gave a little peace to a family who has been suffering for over a year since their mother and grandmother was killed.
first of many
I "owe" a bunch of blogs. I have had so many noteworthy things happen this month and they deserve space on the blog. I just have had so many that I haven't had a chance to sit down and record them.
My mother came to visit on June 9th. She came to tend my kids while I had a jury duty assignment (see next blog.) My sister, Emily, came too. Grace told her she had to come. "If you buy 2 plane tickets, then 2 people can come!" Emily is probably our most frequent and regular visitor and we love to have her. She also loves to have a "grace and hattie fix."
We ended up not having much time to play since I was called as a juror. (We had a fantasy that I would have to go in for only 1 or 2 days and then we could spend the rest of the week playing.) The kids and I were also really sick when my mom got here and my kids stayed sick for much of the week, but we did do a few fun things at the end of the week. We went out to dinner at The Quarterdeck, Grace's favorite. We also did lots of "bumming" in Maynard, our favorite thing to do together. They took the girls to Erikson's Dairy for ice cream. We also did our Father's Day shopping and mailing and of course, lots of gabbing.
Other than me getting called to jury duty, the craziest thing to happen was that their plane ride home turned into a plane ride to Vegas, a car ride through the desert at 3am to St. George and then a small plane ride home to Salt Lake just in time for Father's Day brunch!
It is always nice to have them here and I am so extremely bummed that I didn't get to see them much before they had to leave.
My mother came to visit on June 9th. She came to tend my kids while I had a jury duty assignment (see next blog.) My sister, Emily, came too. Grace told her she had to come. "If you buy 2 plane tickets, then 2 people can come!" Emily is probably our most frequent and regular visitor and we love to have her. She also loves to have a "grace and hattie fix."We ended up not having much time to play since I was called as a juror. (We had a fantasy that I would have to go in for only 1 or 2 days and then we could spend the rest of the week playing.) The kids and I were also really sick when my mom got here and my kids stayed sick for much of the week, but we did do a few fun things at the end of the week. We went out to dinner at The Quarterdeck, Grace's favorite. We also did lots of "bumming" in Maynard, our favorite thing to do together. They took the girls to Erikson's Dairy for ice cream. We also did our Father's Day shopping and mailing and of course, lots of gabbing.
Other than me getting called to jury duty, the craziest thing to happen was that their plane ride home turned into a plane ride to Vegas, a car ride through the desert at 3am to St. George and then a small plane ride home to Salt Lake just in time for Father's Day brunch!
It is always nice to have them here and I am so extremely bummed that I didn't get to see them much before they had to leave.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Surprise Birthday Velvet!
blog by Grace
Happy Birthday Velvet. You are 9 years old! You are my favorite dog. I love you Velvet. I made you a surprise card. My mom helped me make party hats. We gave you and Shadow doggie bones for cake. I loved Velvet's surprise party.
(Velvet has been a member of our family for 8+ years. We know she was 9 months old in March of 1999, so that makes her birthday sometime in June 1998. We don't know the exact date because we rescued her. Today, Grace decided that we should have a birthday party for Velvet, her favorite dog. I told her that would be a great idea because her birthday is in June, but we don't know the day. So, now Velvet's real birthday will be June 6th. PS - Shadow's birthday was in early April. Happy Belated Birthday to Shadow too. She is 7 years old and we rescued her at 8 weeks old.)
swing
blog by GraceDaddy is the best Daddy ever for building me a swingset. Putting together my slide and house. I like the swinging teeter-totter and the regular swing. Harriet has her own swing on it too. My friends came to swing with me yesterday.
(It took Daddy 5 hours to build on Saturday. Mommy would have taken an action shot of Daddy and Grace building the swingset together, but she was busy tending a 6 week old baby and Harriet.)
Hooray for swings! Good job Daddy!
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