February Camy and Macy pictures

The girls still keep me busy. I've also been working part-time from home when the girls are asleep or with John, and I really enjoy the change of pace and reconnection with my old world. I haven't taken as many pictures lately, so here are a few quick photos taken during breakfast. These girls are going up fast! I really love 3 year-olds, so I will miss this stage.

For anyone who has ever called me "Scrooge"

This podcast is a great explanation of how I feel about Christmas gifts-doesn't it drive you nuts to know that you are probably spending $50 to give someone $10 of happiness? I think I called Liz at least 4 times to make sure I was at least getting close to an 80% value of happiness in my gift-giving.

The Faces of CaMacy

When the girls were first born, we would often get asked if they were identical. As newborns they looked similar:

Higlight text to see if you can guess which is which --> | Camy left, Macy right |

And they did look similar, as most newborns do. There were a few tell tale signs. For me ears were first way I could keep them seperate, then noses, then smiles. Then personalities got a chance to come through. If I am sitting on the floor and one jumps on my back I can tell which one it is by their approach and style of landing. Although knowledge this does not preclude me from the parenting trait of calling out the wrong name when trying to audibly intervene in unfolding mischief.

Three years later, we still get questions if they are identical. Friends try to guess which one is Macy or Camy. The 50/50 odds never seem to be in their favor. It's tough. I am able to keep their children seperate becuase one is a head taller than the other and has dark instead of blond hair. Camy and Macy don't even stand still long enough for one to figure out which is which.

I remember an exercise I participated in when I was growing up where I was presented with two oranges. My group and I were asked to describe the two fruits. We set out analyzing and came up with a list. The moderator then noted that all of the points we made were describing how the oranges were different from one another. We did not note how much they had in common. The point of the exercise was to highlight the inclination we have to highlight differences rather than appreciate what we have in common.

As I was trying to manage the hundreds of pictures that end up on our camera, I noticed a few pictures that I liked in particular. I noted them, and pulled them into a program together. Soon I had a pretty good collection of shots of Camy and Macy. They do have their differences. Now as I look back at baby pictures, it is much easier to distinguish the two girls. So many features that were then invisible are not readily apparent after seeing how they have grown up. But it is the things we share in common that are important.

Here are some of the pictures from the last few months of Macy that I liked:

And here are some of Camy:

Visit to Tilden Park

Last Monday, we went to Tilden Park with Grana & Tibu.

Tibu demonstrated the open-hand feeding method, which may or may not be better than just being bit. Macy thought it was very humorous.

They even tried feeding a few animals:

Then we walked over the play structures nearby:

And then we went to the carousel:

Trip to Santa Cruz

We traveled down to Santa Cruz the week before Christmas. We went to the beach, rode a diesel train, ate food, and saw the Muppet Movie. Below are some pictures of the same.

Camy enjoyed drawing in the sand.

Macy worked on a sandman.

The girls also enjoyed riding on a train:

This was the canopy of trees as we rode up and down the hill:

We also got the girls to stand in one place long enough to snap this picture:

Picutres of Edna are rare. She is usually behind the camera. So I was mostly on point this trip, and we have some pictures with her in it:

Trip to Yosemite

We went to Yosemite National Park last week. (Pictures courtesy of Edna)

The favorite activities (most preferred first) were
1. Throwing rocks in the river
2. Climbing on rocks
3. Seeing waterfalls
4. Drinking hot chocolate
5. Riding on the park bus
6. Looking at wildlife
7. Riding in the car
...
99. Sleeping
100. Hiking

We received many smiles and few scowls from other hikers at the park as our girls were collapsed, crying on the trail, begging us to carry them for part of the 1000ft paved "hike" up to Bridal Veil Falls. Wills were exerted, and character was built.

We eventually made it up the path as some sort of disjointed family slinky - with parents periodically hiking in place and children eventually running to catch up. I don't know that I could say I "enjoyed" the hikes, but I did not necessarily dislike them either. But it did end in the only picture with all four of us in it.

Although I can't claim to understand the pattern of not wanting to hike because there were other times when they were skipping and running down the trails. If it was cold (and it was chilly in the morning), Camy definitely wanted to be carried.

For other hikes we traveled like this:

Here are the girls in a "cave" we found while climbing rocks:

We also stopped by the Ahwahnee Hotel to warm up. The girls spent most of their time on the warming bench in the fireplace trying to blow out the fire.

We did see deer, squirels, stellar jays, crows, and ducks. No bears. I would be hibernating by then if I were a bear.

The girls were very excited to see the rainbows in the water falls. They also enjoyed throwing rocks whenever the occasion arose.

Women in Business Conference

This last weekend I went to Utah for BYU's first annual Women in Business Conference. I've been working with a few other women (and an extremely supportive crew at BYU) to organize this event for about a year and a half. It was fantastic and exceeded our expectations. I absolutely enjoyed it!

The event was filled to capacity- 250 women, including many great friends that I haven't seen in years. Getting the chance to reconnect with these women was the highlight of the conference for me. I found it inspiring to see a large and varied group women who are smart, hardworking, focused on the gospel, and happy. Though many of us are often criticized for pursuing careers and many have not had the ideal major life events (thus leading our pursuit of career), this didn't really come out. The focus was on the good we can do and how we can support each other.

I meet Whitney Johnson (author of my favorite blog)- she is just as wonderful in person as she is in her blog.

I also spent time with my family. I'm realizing both that I am more like my family than anyone else, and that I also like my family more than anyone else. They/we are hilariously fun.

And with the weekend theme of strong, smart, good women, I spent Sunday with my Grandma. She is 93, but still active and sharp. She was just as lucky as I am in finding a great husband who supported all of her crazy schemes. He supported her decision to go to graduate school in Boston when they had 3 young kids (in the 50's); he never pushed her to join the church that he loved (though she eventually did); and he cared for her through all of her health problems. With her, too, I saw more of myself in her than I have before.

Then I came home to my little girls and my husband. Despite the tantrums, dirty laundry, dirty dishes, and other household work, I am so glad to be home with my family....but excited for next year's conference!