A river runs through it...

Giggling with the girls

This is just a preview of pictures from our family photo session on Saturday. We're all grinning in this one thanks to my dad shaking his fanny behind the photographer. Believe me, if you know my dad, you know it was a once in a lifetime event.

Grandpa can shake it. Who knew?Speaking of once in a lifetime events...

I was thinking about my family and how these are the only pictures of everyone together. Both sets of my grandparents. My parents. Us kids and our spouses, our children. It's nothing short of miraculous, all things considered.
I find it personally poignant that we are photographed in front of the river that is so integral to all of our lives. My grandparents have lived on the riverbank for nearly a century, the river a steady backdrop to their daily lives. My mother learned to swim in the river, in places most would avoid for fear of drowning. Kent barely escaped drowning in the river while whitewater rafting. As kids, we all loved learning to fish from our parents and grandparents, roasting hot dogs in the river bottoms as the firelight tinged our faces.

As an adult, when I am most troubled or stressed, I seek out the shores of the waterfall. I've heard that some cultures believe that the sound of a rushing river mimics the sound of the voice of God. It is for me as well. It is only here that the beauty can drown out my thoughts, the raging water making my human troubles insignificant.
If you mull over the similarities, between what it means to belong to a family and the condition of a river slipping through the Snake River Plain, there are parallels. On some level--constant, meandering and reassuring, both rivers and families can be a haven.

They can also be tumultuous, treacherous and unpredictable--the river overflows its banks and boundaries, swollen with water--destroying and renewing in the same deluge. There are casualties. Sometimes people are lost in the undertows, the floods. More often there are moments of water encrusted by an azure Idaho sunset, lush beauty so rare that your heart breaks to look at it.

My family is like this river. We laugh, cry and love. We hurt, break and forgive. Thankfully, blessedly, despite our inevitable imperfections and all-too-human ability to wound, we are bound by a this timeless inertia, a living entity making its way, the best way it can.

Happy 11th Birthday Talia!

Talia is officially 11 years old... she is becoming such a beautiful young girl. 

This year was so fun, as far as birthday presents are concerned. Talia was in desperate need of a brand new bike and I knew she wanted a cruiser. So after several shopping trips we found the perfect bike. This is her getting her first peek at her hot new ride! She's such a wonderful kid, it really makes it fun for me to spoil her just a tiny bit once in a while. 

Me and my Tiny T

I love you so much Talia...

The big 10 has been quite the year for Talia. She was in soccer, dance, had tons of friends and also had her picture in a magazine. She also competed in a cake bake off with her grandma Duppy. Duppy entered a red velvet Waldorf Astoria cake. 

This is Talia and her extra special carrot cake. 

 She was also a member of the children's chorus in the Sounds Choir production of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'  and I think she did very well. I went to see it on opening night, and again on closing night and they were both fantastic performances. She worked very hard to be a part of the show and spent about 8-10 hours a week at practices learning the music and choreography. She made quite a few friends and had a great time. 

This was closing night  and already a budding actress, she donned a grin for me to take a picture, 

 

then, when the picture was over, her true feelings about the show being over came through. 

Here's Talia with her little brother, one of many admirers who came to watch the show.

This was just a taste of the backstage mayhem from 70 plus kids, costumes, makeup, candy, little supervision... no wonder she liked it so much. 

She's a cover girl!

So, I'm hanging out at my desk one afternoon and my editor, Steve Smede wanders by and casually asks if I have access to any kids. Access?

Well, there's usually four of the little curtain crawlers hanging around my vicinity most of the time, so I say yes.

Are they cute? he asks.

Cute? What kind of a question is that for a mom?

I'm biased.

After some finagling, the next thing I know, I'm bringing Talia and Aubrey to a photo shoot downtown a couple of days later. It was very cool: Lights, camera, action and all of that.

I'll be honest, I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. I'm tickled pink and bursting with mama pride. Plus, that Smede is a very talented guy, even in the midst of cow poo, but that's another story...

So, the result is that my Aubrey is featured on the cover of Idaho Falls Magazine's Summer Fun Guide. I couldn't stand waiting to get the digital version out there to you all... in the mean time, hears a sneak peek at a the magazine that I just scanned in. Hopefully, they won't sue me for copyright infringement, since technically I owned the original copyright to the kids. He. he. he. But, be a dear, would you and pop over to the actual website in a few days at http://www.idahofallsmagazine.com/ to check out the issue, just in case.

Check out Talia! She's working her stuff in the issue, too. It's a actually promotion for the Scoop Jam, an ice cream festival to raise money for the Roaring Youth Jam on the Greenbelt this summer. The youth jam, is a great cause, and pretty fun for kids and their parents, so if you are hungry you might as well go hungry.

What a way to kick off our summer! I think this is going to be a summer to remember for sure.

Much love to you and yours... and of course, ice cream.