Summer joy.

McCall and her little family have been spending a few days in downtown Salt Lake at the "Little America" hotel, for a stay-cation.  It is her husband's family tradition to spend the night on the 23rd of July and attend the big "Days of '47 Parade" the next morning.  (July 24th is Utah's celebration of when the pioneers first entered the Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young, and it's a pretty big deal here - the parade is televised and everything.)

Libby has been in heaven.  McCall told me that Libby was playing around their hotel room and said, "I wish this was our new home."

McCall said that guests of  Little America can use the pool at the Grand America (across the street) as well.  Yesterday, they had the pool pretty much to themselves ... all day long.

Well, I'll tell you what little Libby Love ...

if you guys decide to make that your new home,

I'm moving in with you.

Denver.

Sometime back in June ... maybe it was June ... at least I think it was June ... the girls and I took a road trip to Denver.  Chloe had plans to move to Los Angeles (as I mentioned in this post, here) and Sophie had gotten a nanny job in New York for a year, so Haley (mainly Haley) decided that we should all take a girl's trip to Denver and audition for the X-Factor. It was mostly for the adventure, the fun, the time together, and I was all for it.  Eight hours isn't too bad of a drive, and I have actually wanted to visit Denver for a long time.

Haley and Chloe had both auditioned for American Idol in previous years. ("You've got a nice voice, but it isn't strong enough for American Idol ... Your voice is more suited for Broadway than American Idol ... We've raised the bar now, so it's a no ... Yada, yada, yada.")  I figured their chances of making it onto the X-Factor were pretty slim to none, so I made a suggestion.  You girls would have a much better chance of making it if you auditioned as a group.  There aren't as many groups and you guys sound really good together.

So they learned a song ... one song.  They sounded really, really good.  And I wasn't the only one who thought so.  But this post isn't about that ... it's just a quick one about hair, since I haven't posted in a super long time and I have posts waiting in the wings that I want to do but feel the need to post in the order in which things have happened, sooooo ....

Our favorite hotel to stay at on our road trips is the Hampton Inn.  LOVE IT. Great rooms and the most comfy beds you would ever hope to sleep in, in a hotel.  (At least a hotel that is reasonably affordable.) Sadly, the Hampton Inns in Denver were not reasonably affordable at all.  BOO.  We opted to try our hand at hotwire.com and picked out a cheaper rate in the heart of downtown Denver.

Score.

We had no idea how close the hotel was to the venue, the Denver Coliseum, where auditions were being held - we just hoped it wasn't too far.  Fortunately, we lucked out with the location and how nice the hotel was. (The beds, however, not so much.  Lopsided, with crunchy sheets.  Very disappointed compared to our beloved cozy Hampton.)  But I did love the little bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and lotion:

Good Hair Day - In Good Condition - Peace Be Still

Fantastic marketing.  When I took this picture of the girls I thought it could totally be an ad for shampoo. 

They were nice and fresh.

And looked adorable, ready for this little adventure together.

(They thought they'd be cute and hold hands - knowing I would get a kick out of it.  I totally did.)

At the end of the audition day, they were a little less for wear.  It had been a really, really long day.

But after I took this picture, of these three happy faces, it instantly became

one of my new, all time favorite photos ever.

It makes me happy ... for SO many reasons.  I sure love these three.

(Oh, and then we went to McDonald's.  Of course.)

  

"hey mom!"

McCall and her little family were at Disneyland last week.  Her husband, Jared, snapped a picture of her snapping a picture. Whenever Libby picks up Logan, he gets a big smile on his face.  He always has.  Now add the hand raised ... I am dying at how sweet this is.  

I could seriously eat them both up.

That's a Wrap.

Sophie Corinne Wood

Alta High School Graduation

June 6, 2013

Utah Valley University

I don't know what it is about high school graduation day, but i love everything about it. There is a special kind of buzz in the air, and happiness abounds.  Especially for this little girl of mine.  Baby #5 had her day in the "sun" last Thursday and couldn't have been more excited.

The graduates had to be there early, so Sophie's friend Josie drove down with her and said she would save us seats.  Josie called me after they arrived to ask where I wanted to sit.  NOW. I have a very particular spot that I like to sit in ... seems a little odd, but I prefer the back of the arena, behind all the graduates, so that I can watch all of those glowing faces walk into the ceremony.  My very favorite pictures of the day are always the ones where my kids are walking down that tunnel.

When I first saw Sophie, and looked at her face, I thought, Oh my gosh, she is McCall.  I was looking at the same face I had seen when her big sister had walked down that tunnel ten years earlier! It was a little freaky.  Then I looked at McCall and said, "She is you!"

I turned back around to Sophie and as the Pomp and Circumstance March started to play, my eyes welled up with tears. This was it.





Libby and Logan joined us too and I was so glad they did.  Since Logan is the best baby on the planet, and pretty much the best baby who ever was, he did great.  He had his snacks and his pacifier so he was GOOD.  Libby, on the other hand, likes to go go go, so being quiet in a confined space is a little bit harder for her.  Thank heavens her mom thought to bring the ipad - except when Libby wanted the sound up really loud because she couldn't hear it over the noise.





With eight hundred and eighty two students in Sophie's graduating class, it was a really long program.  But a good one and entertaining.  We all got a kick out of what each student did as their name was read - being the next recipient to receive their diploma.

I would like to be posting a picture of the silly pose Sophie made when it was her turn, which was on the big screen, but we sort of lost track of her in the crowd, and I wasn't quite prepared with the camera when that happened.  (NOT happy about it - but I'm pretty sure I can purchase a copy of the picture somehow.)





Haley managed to get Logan to sleep for a brief 15 minute nap.  (McCall deemed her the baby whisperer.)

And then it was over .....

The end of an era for this mama, and the start of a bright future for this beautiful girl of mine.

Congratulations my little Did-Did.  
I couldn't be more proud.

My mom and dad were here from New York and got to attend three grandchildren's graduations.

(I know ... you wish you got to sit through three graduation ceremonies too, huh?)

McCall had a dermatologist appointment afterwards but didn't want to miss out on lunch with everyone, so we said we would wait for her.  But don't you worry about it ... we headed straight for our favorite place for a snack and a couple of diet cokes to tide us over in the meantime.  

#thegoldenarches  #partofanyspecialday

Seniors.

Sophie's high school had their "Senior Dinner Dance" on Friday night.  One of her best friends, Makayla, picked her up for the event.  These two girls have been friends for most of their lives.

And by most of their lives, I mean literally ... most of their lives!

Sort of takes the expression:  BFFL to a whole new level, doesn't it?

They grew up .... how did that happen?

Chloe Ray and Jennifer Love.

SO. 

Before I get off the subject of my little Scarlett Starlet, Chloe Ray - another actress that she has always, always, always reminded me of is Jennifer Love Hewitt. I can't quite pinpoint if it is their facial features (real cute, feminine), their mannerisms (girlie, quirky) or their body type (curvy, hour glass), but for years I have thought that. When I see Jennifer Love in anything - I think of Chloe.

When my girls were young, we used to watch the TV show "Kids Incorporated" all the time and loved it.  If you've never seen it, it was a teeny-bop sitcom.  The cast was a group of youngsters who were in a band together and would perform a couple of numbers during the show.  Jennifer Love Hewitt was on the show at one point, as was Stacey Ferguson, aka:  Fergie (she couldn't have been more than eight, and was so darling then) and Mario Lopez (he sure makes the rounds, doesn't he?).

When Jennifer Love resurfaced in other shows, there was just something about her (hmm, maybe the fact that she reminds me of one of my own) that drew me in ... I'm a fan.

Surely, I have mentioned this before, but Chloe is my daughter who is in pursuit of the Broadway dream.  Ever since that girl was little, she has loved to sing and perform and be on stage.  She is at her happiest when she is involved in some type of production.

Chloe recently finished a run of "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang" at a local theater and her plan was to move to Los Angeles as soon as that show wrapped, BUT .... another little show called "Footloose" came her way, so she is currently living in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the summer playing the part of Wendy Jo.

I miss her now, I will miss her like crazy when she moves to L.A. and then eventually New York, but I have always encouraged her to pursue her dream of musical theater.  (I told her I look forward to wearing a sparkling gown at the Tony Awards when she invites me.)

When Chloe was still a teen, she got the part of playing one of the wives in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."  They asked her to dye her hair black.  UM, NO!  I thought they should get her a wig ... but Chloe was all for it.  So she and her sister Haley, unbeknownst to me, went ahead and did it. Surprisingly, we loved it.  (Who would have thought?) She kept it dark for quite awhile too, and since then her hair has gone from dark to strawberry, to blonde, to brown, to strawberry and back to blonde.  (I think she's in the right profession - she can pull off lots of different looks.)

(Chloe and Jennifer as strawberry blondes.)

(Chloe and Jennifer as brunettes.)

(Chloe and her husband in her second run of "Joseph" ... wigged this time.)

(In "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang".)

(In "9 to 5".)

(In the studio, as her silly self.)

Wigged or not, silly or serious, I absolutely  adore her.

#numberonefan

(Top photo and photos 1,7 and 8 were taken by the talented Keala Jarvis.)

We bought a ZOO.

I remember driving down I-15 around Christmastime and seeing the billboards of zoo animals (lions and tigers and bears zebras, oh my!) with big, bright bows around their necks and thought how stinking adorable those ads were.  I thought it was VERY clever marketing for our local Hogle Zoo - to get people to come out and visit the zoo during the holidays.

Guess I was wrong about that one, wasn't I?  It was, in fact, VERY clever marketing for the movie, "We bought a Zoo."  It looked adorable and I kept telling myself that I needed to go see it with the kids.  They weren't as excited about it as I was though.

I had been having a really rough day at work (actually, it was a relationship issue).  The guy that I had been dating had sent me an email that made me SOOOOOO mad - like more mad than I can ever remember being.  (Yeah.  I was fuming.)  I just couldn't shake how upset I was with him, to the point where I couldn't sit at my desk anymore.  

What gets my mind out of my own reality is sitting in a dark theater, with a ginormous screen in front of me, at the movies.  I can totally lose my thoughts and engage myself in someone else's script for those couple of hours.  So I got up from my desk right that minute and drove down the street to the nearest theater.  I was hoping there would be something that I wanted to see, starting at just about the same time that I arrived.

And fortunately, there was. HELLO, "We Bought A Zoo."

I loved it.  I thought it was adorable, and I was crazy about the cast that played in the movie.  How cute is Matt Damon?  He was such a great dad, and I thought there was really good chemistry between him and Scarlett Johansson.

My daughter, Chloe, reminds me of a lot of different actresses, and Scarlett Johanssen is one of them.  And when I saw that cutie little red-head who played Matt Damon's daughter, Rose, I thought, Oh my word.  That little girl is so much like Chloe was as a little girl.  She was just too precious.

SO, is it just me?




Or is there a little bit of a resemblance going on?

A little thought.

I have had ZERO time for blogging lately, and I am sad about it.  The blog posts that I'd like to do are really piling up ... well, as far as blog posts can pile up.  I've been away so long, I just noticed today that Photobucket has changed once AGAIN and I have no idea when that even happened.  But I will say this about that - when I have time to poke around a bit, maybe I'll like this new way better, because I really didn't like the old new way at all.

So this post is a happy little thought, so that the next time my good friend Delanie looks at my blog, she won't  have to say to herself (and then later to me), Enough of the post about posing, P-Dove!  We already know and don't want to see that anymore.  (Right Del?  Love ya!!!)

 

Posing 201.

SO ... talk about posing, right?!!!!  That cutie patootie, wisp of a girl on the far left of this picture is my friend, Trish.  She posted this picture on Instagram and I had to immediately call her and tell her how adorable she looked and what a fun little pose I thought she had going on in the picture.  I mentioned that my sisters and I always try to get a good angle for taking pics, etc. and she commented on how she thought this was a good angle for her, and then laughed at the fact that it was a little exaggerated.  (Note to self: remember to try Trish's pose the next time we're taking pictures.)

Well ... not too long after that, my sister Leslie had a birthday. Now, Leslie is one of the biggest Mitt Romney fans/supporters that I know. In fact, one of our brother-in-laws told me he was really worried about how Leslie might react if Mitt lost the election. (She survived, but it did take a while to get over the loss.)  

The sisters were all going to go out to dinner and shopping to celebrate Leslie's birthday, and I wanted to pick up some balloons for her.  While I was at the party store I noticed that they had a card board cut out of Mitt Romney.  Leslie had to have it.  (For what?  Who cares ... if for nothing else than a good laugh on her birthday, that was good enough for me.)

Spring was driving the car when they came to pick me up.  Everyone had been running a little late so Leslie just wanted to honk and have me run out.  Nope ... she needed to come in.  She didn't want to.

"Why do we need to get out of the car?  Polly can just come out, I don't understand why we all need to get out and go inside."  Spring made her get out, and Les was slightly annoyed.

But when Leslie opened the door, and saw Mitt standing there, her reaction was pretty priceless.  "Oooohhh."  She walked up to him and gave him a hug and a kiss.  Her man.

After I took a few (engagement) photos of Leslie and Mitt, we decided to take a group shot.  Spring and Leslie dibbed getting to hide behind Mitt first, so Courtie and I were on the ends, and I remembered to give Trish's pose a go ... and Leslie noticed, "What's your pose? You look good."

I shared my new found tip:  Stand a little more sideways, kind of throw your head back, and tilt your chin.

Next picture .... Les and I both did it.

Then we did it again .... a little too head tilty though ... looks a little silly.  (Okay, a lot silly.)

Then we got a picture with Leslie and her daughters. (I think Leslie just may have found a new favorite pose.)  What do you think?!!!  

 

smile