25 March 2011

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One thing you will notice when have a phone with 32 GB of memory is that you take an excessive amount of pictures and NEVER delete any of them. This means that every picture you have ever taken is now at your fingertips. This eventually causes a download times to be excessive, hence the origin of today's title. It has an advantage that during boring meetings I find little gems from the past and share can them with you.

Like this one.


And these of Violet looking at our new baby chicks. In a display of solidarity, Violet wore her beak that she made at school (it's bird month).


We went to the park.






Somehow, Violet's excitement about being a "big girl now" makes me a little sad. I don't want to lose my little bug, but there's no hope for stopping time. I'll just hold on for the ride, I guess.

19 March 2011

Violet the Chef. And Furniture Mover.


Violet likes to move furniture, and she likes to cook. And luckily, she is very conscious of the dangers of cooking, i.e. hot stove, hot oven, and hot pots. In the videos below, she was in the process of relocating her table, chairs, a floor mat, and lots of toys from one side of the house to the other. And all the while, she was cooking dinner (pasta and soup) for her toys. What a fantastic multi-tasker:-)







Here, Violet helps me make some bread dough. She's a very diligent helper!




In this photo, Violet is using her cool tye dye socks as mittens. She was very excited to tell me that she had mittens, and I couldn't figure out what she meant. Until, that is, I returned to the dining room and realized what she was up to.



Random Mardi Gras show shot. I played with a local blues band on Friday night, March 4th. It was fun:-)


Toward the tail end of spring break, we all went up to Rigby, Idaho, to visit our friends Phyllis, Shawn, and Gus. Phyllis and Shawn were fabulous chauffeurs and took us on a day trip to Jackson, Wyoming!

The Tetons. Crappy cell phone picture, but still they are beautiful.


Vi and Phyllis wave from the gigantic antler arch (one of four) in the central square in Jackson.


A very interesting find in the window of an otherwise staid fur shop in Jackson. Fur jockstraps, with or without a tail. Guess what Mike's getting for Christmas!?!


06 March 2011

Big trucks and explosions




This blog will be briefly hi-jacked for purposes of showing pictures of big trucks and other stuff that I saw on my recent trip to a gold mine in Nevada. Last Thursday and Friday I was a chaperon for 20-something college grad/ugrad students during a visit a gold mine. It is one of the more fun "benefits" of being an adjunct faculty within the Utah State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. I saw big the trucks and explosions, so it was a smashing success. Boots, vest, safety glasses and hardhat are all standard issue. I look dashing, no?

Big truck.

Big truck.

Big front loader.

Big 'splosion. (there is a video to go with this but it's taking too long to upload)

Here are some other pictures of Violet.
Sunset

I'm sure all of you know where she learned this look.

02 March 2011

Photos For the Fun of It

I'm procrastinating. Who wants to do work when you can do something else, right?

Violet takes her space shuttle for a spin. The blankie/cape gives her extra speed.


Notice Orange Kitty. Violet strategically placed her in front A) for safety, and B) so she'd have a good vantage point.


Violet has taken up painting as a new pass time. She's pretty good!


She's also learning to use scissors. She uses them at school, and kept asking for some at home. So now she has her very own pair.


One day about a week or so ago the kids at school got to play outside....without their coats, boots, and mittens! It was in the 40s that day, I believe.


The next day, on the other hand, was quite cold and snowy. With a little help from Mr. Bob, the kids made a fantastic snowman.


Here, Violet helps inspect the bottom of the snowman.


The Sunshine Academy had a Valentine's Day party, complete with exchange of valentines. Violet thought it was pretty cool that she got to hand them out to everyone.


She also thought it was pretty cool that she got to collect a lot of valentines, as well!


Another day prior to the snowstorm. Violet really loves riding this big, blue plastic doggie.


Enjoy. And feel free to utilize our blog for your own form of procrastination!