A little news from DC...

The topic of today's post is: MEETING THE PRESIDENT!!!! That's right, folks. Mr. President himself. My brother Aaron has a way cool job where he works on the President's Speech Writing Committee. As a perk, he gets special access to the West Wing of the White House (he gives an amazing tour, by the way) and to el presidente himself! Last Wednesday, Aaron took the family along to get a photo and brief audience with President George W. Bush. Dad got pretty excited about the opportunity and flew the college kids from UT to join in the fun. We were only missing Melinda (and OH how we missed you, Lin), who was kept hostage by a choir director who did not want to lose her for their dress rehearsal.

As we waited to meet Mr. President, the anticipation grew. By the time the door to the oval office opened for us, I honestly was more excited than when I was a kid and it was my turn to see Santa. I caught a glimpse of President Bush from the back of the family line, where I stood with Jenny and Dan. We watched him greet each member of our family. He first shook Aaron's hand and then exclaimed, "Where's the mother?" (He had been briefed that there were 11 kids in this fam). The president then gave Mom a warm cheek-to-cheek hug. She was glowing. Two aides (probably Secret Service dudes) moved the couches in the oval office back so the photographer could fit our family in the photo. Then they told us to spread out a bit, which was a bit of a surprise. (We're used to cramming together to fit in a Sears Portrait Studio - habit, I guess). The President, looking at our group, exclaimed, "Well, if you're a fan of family values like I am, this is heaven!"

Mr. President was very warm and folksy. He took the time to shake hands and speak with each member of our family. We even got a "You betcha". Toward the end of our visit, he called Mom back into the oval office (she had exited to the Rose Garden) and made the following statement: "People ask me what it's like. I tell them some days are happy, others not so good, all of them are joyous." I've been thinking about that and how it can apply to pretty much every role from President to parent.

I got the sense that President Bush is a truly good man. He has a tough job, and I continue to pray for him and the rest of our leaders.

Here are a few fabulous photos from our day at the White House:




CJ - How random that you would see my sister in the airport on her way home!!! Thanks for the encouragement to write up this post. :0)

Looking at the world through rose-colored glasses...

My computer screen is pink. There is something wrong with our poor little Mac. It is older than any of our children and has performed well, so I suppose we cannot complain too much. For the record, looking at the world through a rose-colored computer screen...not all it's cracked up to be. I can't see links if they are merely of a different hue instead of underlined - that's kind of frustrating. There are all sorts of other issues. Strangely enough, red looks like it might be blue in my pink computer screen. There's my latest excuse for being absent from the blogosphere. My own pictures look weird, so I don't feel a strong inclination to post them. Who knows if they have red eye or not???

That said, we went TOTALLY red yesterday (everyone in the family in red coats) to attend the Palin rally. It was within walking distance from our house, and we were politically motivated enough to brave a little wind to see Sarah herself. It was great fun! Spencer and his buddy "the other Spencer" from our ward hung out in the double stroller, pausing from their play to shout "U-S-A" and wave their red pom-poms. Emma loved the music and was rocking out. I thought it was pretty funny to hear Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" as Palin's theme song when she came onstage. Adam found lots of people with which to engage in politically charged conversation. We all had a good time.

A few photos from our going RED.

Emma and me
Spencer and "the other Spencer" (their title for each other)
Adam and Spencer
Sarah Palin and "Tito the Builder" - VA's version of Joe the Plumber

jellyfish from finding nemo

jellyfish from finding nemo
Originally uploaded by Adam W.

Some of Spencer's art work. First time his drawings have a real face. =)

Need some input

Hi folks, this is Adam. I hope Marie doesn't mind too much that I hijack the blog to mix in some business.

Just need to decide on a look for TimePoke, a time utility, and on a blog theme for my company's blog and thought I'd get some input before going forward.

For the TimePoke design:

http://cellarlabs.tumblr.com/post/52081469/this-is-the-first-pass-at-the-design-for-timepoke

http://cellarlabs.tumblr.com/post/52081727/here-is-the-second-design-logo-is-a-bit-different

For the Cellar Labs blog theme:

http://cellarlabs.tumblr.com/post/52083451/im-choosing-a-theme-for-this-blog-here-is

http://cellarlabs.tumblr.com/post/52084167/here-is-the-second-design-this-one-is-called

If you wouldn't mind just adding your thoughts to this post, I'd love to hear them.

Adam

July Roadtrip

I've tried twice before to upload these pictures, but blogger stalled on me. Here are a few photos of a VERY fun road trip up to see my college roomie, Katie, and her cute family in Rochester, NY.

On the way, we stopped at Sunset Ice Cream, a Wride family tradition and the inaugural visit for Spencer, Emma, and me. It was definitely worth the minor detour.
We went to the Hill Cumorah Pageant and took a moment to pose with some warriors from the cast.
Here is a cute photo of Annie, Spencer, and Cameron having a SPLASH PARTY in Katie's backyard.
We went to the most AMAZING Children's Museum in Rochester. Each area has a different theme: fairy tales, Berenstein Bears, Sesame Street. There is so much to explore there!
Spencer loved playing with both Annie and Cameron. Here he is sneaking a look at that cute girl. Annie and Spencer were being "mailmen" in the Clifford area, wearing their uniforms and delivering all of the mail to the appropriate puppy mailbox.
We had a BLAST up in Rochester, Katie! Thank you for all the good times and good food!

EFY Water Song

Time to upstage myself. We had a family party yesterday to celebrate my parents' 30th wedding anniversary, and at the party we figured out what hymn the tune for "Bip the Bee" came from (Hymn 144: Secret Prayer...knew that tune rattling around in my brain had come from somewhere good). We ALSO convinced my EFY Health Counselor brother Dan to record his VERY clever lyrics to the music of "Enchanted," encouraging EFY particpants to hydrate. And now for your viewing pleasure...

Bip the Bee

This post is for our sweet little friend, Lucy. It wasn't too long ago that Spencer was absolutely terrified of bees too. They like to buzz around the swingset, and Spencer found them to be unwelcome visitors (in other words, screamed when he saw them). However, one day he presented a challenge to me while swinging. "Mommy, tell me a story about bip and bees." What came out was this little ditty. It is no great masterpiece, but it is just silly enough to have made bees our buddies.



And so...my current solution to childhood fears and other angst? Music. It has proven to be a calming and motivating influence in our home. I am always making up songs about bath time, brushing teeth, washing hands...whatever seems to be a dilemma in our household. It keeps both the kids and me in a good mood. We hope you like this song too, Lucy.

Disclaimer: Spencer's outfit is of his own choosing, and Emma's face is covered with chocolate chip cookies. No shame in that.