She's Walking!

Paige took her first tentative steps the Saturday night before Easter at Grandma & Grandpa Miller's house; of course I missed it - Amber and I were at Yummy Yogurt. She repeated the trick as soon as we got back though, and all week I've continued to encourage her to keep it up, but she wouldn't ever take more than 3 or 4 steps at a time. That changed today at church. We were out in the foyer during 3rd hour and something must have clicked, because all of a sudden she was walking! I video-taped her when we got home, as soon as she woke up from her nap. Yay, Paige!

Life's a Beach!

My oldest sister, Jennifer, had the phrase above in bumper sticker form on the back window of her red blazer when she was in high school. And if you live on the coast in southern California, it's true! I went to the beach often growing up, every day I could the summer before high school (with Jill MacAllister), and regularly over the following four years. So, I was excited to take Paige for her first trip to the beach last week while we were in California. Papa helped her feed the seagulls, she was intrigued by the sand but wasn't really sure if she liked it or not, and she didn't touch the water - it was still too cold. In the third picture you can see the Palos Verdes Peninsula (in the background) where I grew up, and in the last picture you can see to the north - Redondo, Marina del Rey, Santa Monica and all they way out to Malibu.

Happy Easter!

We spent a WONDERFUL week in California at my favorite place in the world, Grandma & Grandpa Miller's. Paige had a great time swimming and playing with her cousins, Margaret and Andrew, and I basked in the glory that is Palos Verdes. We were there almost a whole week and celebrated Easter our last day there. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a fabulous time.

Guitar Heroes

Amber's comment on my last post gave me the encouragement I needed to get back on the computer after a 2 week long techno-vacation. If you have ever been to Honey and Papa's house you know what I mean by techno-vacation. With a 10 year old computer, dial-up internet, and no television (not even local channels) I thought I might go a little crazy here, and Honey and Papa agreed. So they told me to sign them up for high-speed internet and cable w/ DVR. I happily obliged. However, it took 2 weeks for the cable company to get their behinds out here, and in the meantime I read a few books, did some gardening, and played more with Paige. Honestly, I ended up enjoying my time away from the technology I'm usually addicted to. That two weeks was my own little techno-vacation, and it was kind of nice. Now that I'm here with my Mac and wireless internet and laptop and HDTV and DVR, Honey and Papa have more technology then they are equipped to handle. Over the last few days since the cable guy made his visit, I've had to give computer lessons, increase the font size on the computers' display, set up a new email account, and give DVR remote lessons, etc. Since I'm going to be around for a little while to be "the operator" mom has decided that maybe she can get a new cell phone (the one they've previously refused to get rid of, for fear of never being able to figure out how to use another one, is over 5 years old) but I might just delay that acquisition for awhile just to let them get use to the new gadgets they already have.

By the way, I hooked up the Wii last week and introduced Mom and Ruben to Guitar Hero. I snuck a few pictures while they were too engrossed in the game to protest. It makes me smile just thinking about it :)

Happy Birthday Paige

We celebrated Paige's first birthday last Sunday (10 days early) so that her daddy could attend. We had the party at the Heber House and besides the usual Sunday dinner guests (McEuens and Johnsons), Grandma Honey and Great-Grandpa Miller were there; Chelsea, Eddie and Andrew drove up all the way from Vegas; the Hribars and Oehlers came, as well as Kendra and Miles, Jill, Tim and Quinn, and Michelle and Noah. Thanks for making it so fun everyone! I must thank my mom especially for taking a detour on her way home from Aspen to be there and for all her hard work in the kitchen (even with an aching shoulder). Thanks Mom!!!
Paige was a very happy birthday girl. She LOVED the balloons, patiently sat through opening the presents, and throughly enjoyed her birthday cupcake. I can't believe we've already passed that milestone!

Tired

This was Paige today, 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave for Sacrament meeting. We didn't make it. Nap time was WAY overdue.

Angry

Over the last several months I have become very interested in politics. I'd never been too political before, but I knew what I valued and which party reflected my values and that's how I voted. Last summer I read "A Mormon in the White House" and became intrigued. I really liked what I read about Mitt Romney, but I realized I needed to know about the other candidates before I could decide Mitt was the one. And what I learned is that I really can't stand McCain (or Obama or Hillary), and the more I listened to Romney, the more I liked him (maybe even loved him). So I was upset to hear when he dropped out of the race. Upset is probably an understatement. I realize this post isn't exactly timely, but I wasn't planning to post about this at all until today when I read the full transcript of Mitt's CPAC speech. Read it. What I can't understand is how conservatives couldn't rally behind this man? Especially considering the options! And you know what? I kind of hate to say it, but I think it comes down to religion. I'm pretty sure there was a political alliance between McCain and Huckabee that definitely did damage, but I think the problem true conservatives had with Romney was that he's a Mormon. The political pundits will continue to ignore this issue, because it would be unseemly to bring it up in this "tolerant" day and age, but there is nothing else that I can think of to explain how any conservative could watch and pay attention to the CNN debate or listen to and compare McCain's speeches to Romney's and still go out and vote for McCain. Not only is a large part of the conservative base comprised of evangelicals, who are known to not like Mormons (to put it mildly), but also - I'm sure there are other Mormon's out there who know what I'm talking about when I say that (outside of Utah) - no matter what you do, you're not good enough if you're a Mormon.
As I read Romney's speech today, it made me really sad and angry (all over again) that America missed it's opportunity to elect this great man as president. I truly hope that Mitt decides to come back in 4 years and try again. Maybe by then, after the person America elects this November royally screws things up, we'll be ready to elect the best candidate - despite the fact that he's a Mormon (and not black or a woman).