Kade

Kade Allred is my very good friend. From him I have learned that there are people in the world whom when you put great trust in them, they become the very best of friends. I am learning how to be more vulnerable, because that is the only true way to live. I thank him for his kindness and friendship and for accepting me when others wouldn't. I thank him for his eyes that see me in the light I wish I saw myself in. Father sends us people when we need them.

The Majesty Of His Creations

I sit on the old dead tree in my yard, the one blown over by last week's storm. The wind makes my hair dance. Above me the sky is cotton candy; wispy, pink clouds on a blue sky. The eastern horizon is the most magnificent of sunsets. I turn my face to the southwest and the sky looks of purple bruise, lightning electrifies the air in silence. My heart swells with the beauty of this world. Can my simple eye capture it all and my human's heart contain it? I look down and the wild green grass bows in the wind. At the base of a tall tree, not five feet from me, a family of small round mushrooms clusters together as if preparing for the advancing storm. I breath in deeply of the delicious air and wish I could bottle it up for days when my heart needs recharging. The once-cotton-candy sky above me has blown away and turned to thin clouds of grey-blue. Oh the power of our Savior's hand, and the majesty of His creations.

Summer Intensive: Laurie Sefton

The last three days were so great. Full of hard work, sore muscles, sweat, exhaustion, and lots of learning. It was so neat to work with Laurie Safton, she is very good at what she does. And she is not so unfeeling as she appears. After we finished yesterday, she told us she sees something in all of us. She said she got goosebumps watching us bring her vision to life, and she almost cried. She was very proud of us and gave each of us a hug. I look forward to working with her in the Fall and hopefully sometime in the future beyond then. I have learned many things from her, and many things about myself the past few days.

Apricot Syrup

It stormed last night, blew over one of our tall trees. Today was one of the most beautiful days I have ever witnessed. It was the perfect temperature and smelled like rain and there was a nice breeze. I have been bottling apricot syrup all day. Lib and I watched a period piece while we sorted the fruit and then we listened to John Mayer while we made apricot syrup and bottled it. I ate some with my pancakes and it was delicious. We opened all the windows and doors and it was just a lovely day.

Up-Date

It's been a while since I've written, but writing lately has seemed too hard. I am busy and haven't been able to find the time to allow the words to float to my mind and organize themselves. But all is well. We have started Summer Intensive at IBT and it has been a good week. I am sore all over and tired, but I am grateful. We went apricot picking yesterday after we got home. I sat in the top branches of a large apricot tree and picked for an hour. When gusts of wind would blow my branch would sway slightly and there was something I liked about that. Yesterday Ray started his choreography, he had Eden and I perform for everyone to show how he wants it. He likes the way we move with contemporary movement and how we make the choreography more than just vocabulary and steps but how we make it ours and real. Organic is what he calls our movement. I babysat Nina tonight. I love her. She had me hold her more tonight and I tickled her and tossed her in the air and we went on a walk and she sat on my lap and I read her books and I held her on my hip as I vacuumed and she put her little had on the handle to help me. I brushed her curly hair out and hoped that one day one of my little girls has curly hair. I got a letter from Tyson. It was so fun to hear from him. I love him.  He is such a good man. I am tired, and I feel like crying because of the gratitude that is making my heart feel too big and my throat tighten.

Merman

Maurin and I buried Severin and I sculpted the sand into a merman. We brought Bruce, he loved it and we wore him out. We had a homemade sub sandwich for lunch and chips and fresh salsa. The small cliff that was against our little beach was full of holes where small birds flew in and out of. I fell asleep on my stomach and got sun burned on my back. It was windy and I loved it. A beautiful, beautiful day.

Watermelon Monkey In The Middle

We brought a watermelon to chop up for lunch. Mom suggested we take it in the water to play with and to make it cold. Watermelons float. We played monkey in the middle but we didn't throw it. We just shoved it under the water, which was all the more fun because we couldn't see it and we didn't know where it was going to pop up. Mom and dad came in and played with us.

Clay Masks

We dove down to the lake floor and grabbed handfuls of soft, grey clay. We put it on each others faces. Dad just looked at us and shook his head, he loves us.We laughed so hard my stomach hurt. 

Time With Nina

I babysat Nina (year and a half) for the second time yesterday. We went on a walk and made kiss sounds at a cow and a horse to make them come to us. The horse was not cooperative, but the cow greeted us with a wet nose. I told her about every flower we saw and every animal noise we heard. Children need to be talked to, they are curious about life and everything in it. Even when they can't talk back to us, they hear and take in everything. I helped her brush her little teeth and I took out her short pony tail because she wanted to brush her hair. So dark and curly! We cleaned up her room and listened to the CD she loves. She had me hold all of her blankets and sat on my lap as I read her stories. She kept getting up and grabbing another book before I could finish the one I was on. I kissed her on the cheek, wished her goodnight, and placed her in her bed.

Nutella Hair And Pretzel Men

Eden and I dipped pretzel sticks into nutella and flung them up in such a way that it resembled little pretzel men with nutella Elvis hair. We use to do that when we were little, but with our fingers and homemade whipped cream.