Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue Sea

I was in 7th grade when my family moved to the house where my parents live now.  I was excited about the move not because I would get a big room, a new bed, or even because I got to choose the color of my walls (which turned out horribly anyway).  I was mostly excited because we would have a pool!  In the last 10 years, this pool has supplied endless tans, smiles, and pruney fingers (which we call wrinkly stinkly) for the Peterson family and friends.  

When the cousins come to visit, all of whom are younger than the Peterson kids, they spend as much time as possible in the pool.  

Halle, below, is not only a pool junkie, but also the resident ham of the Murphy family.

This is Erin and Bridgette.  They represent the darkest and lightest skin tones in the family.  Now that Linds has grown up and has a baby of her own, she has symbolically handed the family babysitter title over to Erin.  Not really... but metaphorically... Neither Erin or Lindsay know anything about this metaphoric title I just made up...

Halle the Ham

And this is Maren the fish.  Maren is easily one of the fishiest people I know.  In fact, one day, she puked at the fair (thanks to the wonderful Starship 3000).  But by the time we got her home she was feeling all better and hopped in the pool.  I believe she stayed there for 3 or 4 hours.  

She is also a talented diver.

But I need to teach her a little about pointing her feet :)  And yes, according to Kelsey, it is pointing your feet, not your toes.  That's a discussion for another day.

Bridgette stayed in the pool for quite a while...

And had the soggy non-swim diaper to prove it.  After a while we took her diaper off and just let her swim in the buff.  I have some adorable pictures of nakie swimming Bridge... but didn't want to end up like the Demaree's of Arizona (how ridiculous) .... so I left them out of this post.

She had fun jumping off the side into Erin's arms, but was a little reluctant at first.  

Maren and Emory (in the background) spent their time diving for torpedos.  A fun activity, although not one I could easily take pictures of.

And to be honest, I'm not sure what Mason was doing... but he was there!

Writing this post, I had the song "Baby Beluga" stuck in my head.  My mom used to sing this song to us (and still does).  Watch this video to relive my childhood with me. Aren't you so glad I bless your life with random youtube videos that have little to no connection with anything else on my blog?!  Really, what is better than a baby whale on the bottom of the ocean, sleeping peacefully under a wool blanket?

An all too familiar post...

This feels a bit like deja vu. (I'm too lazy to figure out the symbols that go with that word...)  A two week trip to Idaho & Utah, filled with family events & dance.  The last time I did this trip was about a month ago.  I have been lucky to get lots of work in Boise this summer.  

Again, I have a plethora (best word ever) of photos to sort through and too many stories to be told.  Again, I will bless your life with a small homage to my trip in a preview of what will fill this little blogarooski for the next week or two.  

So... here it goes!

Baby Gavin:

A wedding:

Bittersweet partings:

And... Splatterpainting...

Ooh... this one's gonna be good!

Anatomy of a Braid meets Self Portrait

Since my recent discovery, I have been rocking the French braid for probably 3 out of every 4 days.  I have even been experimenting with contemporary versions of this conservative classic as well.  As Grant has been working during the day, I have had to document my braid adventures on my own.  Unfortunately for you, this means self-portraits in a mirror.  Love those...

Here we have the awkward, "I'm taking a picture of myself and not even trying to hide it because the camera is in the picture too..."  Shameless. 

And it didn't even show off my newly acquired braiding skills!  So I switched to the back view.  But the bump got in the way.  (This bump was once termed "Kelsey Peterson hair" by a family of girls I know.  I'm so proud.  And yes, my hair is still in high school.  Excellent.)

Better angle, awful shakiness.... but you get the idea.  How did my hair get this long, you ask?  Let's just say I live in Texas, my hairdresser lives in Idaho, and I don't go home that often....

I had one attempt at artsiness.  I thought this picture showed off my best features... wrists and fingernails... hah sure.

And then I found an angle that just might work.  Then I just had to hold still.  Ultimate challenge.

And then wham!  Clarity!  This is what I call the "Loose Swoopy Braid with the KP bump." 

Take that!

Now I just have to work on getting Grant to grow a beard...

Oh and by the way, I'm headed to Boise this afternoon and thus will be M.I.A. for a bit. 

Shalom!

On the Back Burner

I'm not in the mood to write a lengthy or clever blog post today as I'm a bit preoccupied.  Last night, Grant & I went to the public library and picked up a few good reads.  I checked out The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, a novel that borders the line between history and fantasy, and I'm already sucked in.

When the summer began, I checked out a few non-fiction history books from the library and wrote about it here.  However, it wasn't long before I discovered that non-fiction just wasn't going to do it for me this summer.  I've been fictionized... and I love it.

A Special Day

Today marks the two year anniversary of the day I married my best friend!  Those two years have been very distinctly different from each other, each offering their own difficulties as well as their own joyful occasions.  I could recap all of the gushy and lovey-dove stories that have happened in the last two years... or you can just read all 150 blog posts we've put up since then...

In celebration, we took off for the weekend.  Destination: East!

We bought a map at the local Target and hit the road!  I have a lot of pictures just like this one because I seem to take this picture every time we go somewhere.  Grant is our designated driver.  This has nothing to do with being inebriated...

With my sugar-free snack pack on hand, we were ready to see where the black top would take us.  

In fact, it ended up taking us on this route: Around Dallas (to check out the Galleria Mall on the way), through Athens (a town I read about in a Texas oil family's fatty biography, The Murchisons), up to Tyler, and then finally to a small town called Ben Wheeler.

We ended up at the Roseland Plantation, a cute Bed & Breakfast restored to it's original 1850's condition (well, besides the added electricity, plumbing, etc.)  

We decided that we love the feel of a nice B&B.  In comparison to predicable hotel chains, you go to a B&B for a unique experience, in this case, one filled with history, charm, and of course, a few quirky people.  We had lots of fun wandering around the Plantation and talking to the owner and other guests.  I'll probably include an entire post on the Roseland Plantations soon.

On the way home, we celebrated with some homemade ice cream!

Of course, I found a way to injure myself on this ice cream ball... If you look close you can see the missing skin on my hand.  I'm very skilled, I know.  

It was the perfect getaway.  Now we're just counting the days until we can do it again!  Anybody know of good B&B's in Texas?

The Cutest Baby on Earth

Well... he's the cutest until I have one of my own, of course :)  I finally got to meet Gavin, my new nephew and the only grandchild in both of his parents' families.  

He wore the onesie I made him that day, despite the fact that it dwarfed him.  It's because he loves me.

I didn't ever take him outside for pictures or even really take him to a spot indoors with good lighting.  But luckily his cuteness knows no bounds, even despite horrible lighting.

He does that cute cross-eyed thing when he's trying to look at you up close.  

Oh snap.  So cute.  I love his baby skin.  So soft and almost furry feeling.  AND he smells like Baby Magic.  That is quite possibly the best smell on earth.

Here he is with his cute mama.  She hasn't been doing so hot lately and she wrote about it here.  We have been praying for her lots because honestly, isn't having your first baby hard enough without stupid health complications?  But she's hanging in there.  She always does.  Love you Linny!

He was still oh-so-teeny when I met him.  I'll get to see him again in two weeks and I'm afraid he won't be oh-so-teeny anymore.  By that, meaning he may weigh 9 pounds...

Here he is with Grandma Peterson.  Awww precious.  But not like "my precious."  More like Precious Moments precious.  (By the way, I chose the linked video especially for the excellent spelling and outstanding song choice.)

Gavin has tons and tons of hair.  Honestly... compared to me and my baldy brother and sister, Gavin is loaded.

And, most importantly, he has awesome alien eyes.  Way to go Gav-Gav.  You are officially the coolest, cutest, and most Baby-Magicy nephew I have ever had... yet...

On Hairstyles

In a quick departure from the Boise trip chronicles, I would just like to update you on the exciting inner workings of my mind (or my hair...).  My hair is currently the longest it has ever been.  This is partially because I haven't cut it since Thanksgiving... shhh.  All that hair tends to weigh down my head, which unfortunately, is already a bit sensitive.  It is officially as hot as Hades in Texas now so I'm constantly struggling between the sweaty hair down look and the painful hair up-do.

However, the world has righted itself now that I have discovered and adopted the official FLDS hairstyle. The single, long, French braid.

Unfortunately I don't have Sally Jeffs here to do it for me but I am quickly learning. This cutting edge hairstyle offers some nice natural air conditioning on my neck and back while still maintaining a stylish modesty.  And as a plus, it spreads out the weight of my hair while still keeping my hair out of my face.  Quadruple win!  I haven't taken Imitrex, let alone Tylenol for the last 3 days.  Life is gloriously stylish and pain-free :)

Endnote: The owner of this humble publication does not practice nor endorse polygamy.  She also does not truly believe this up-do is stylish.  However, give the poor sucker a week and she may be fully convinced.  On the braids... not the polygamy.

Stuffing my face with the goodness

Continuing on the Boise trip catalogue, (that's the cool way to spell it), is another Peterson Family must.  Sushi!  If you recall, Grant & I recently made sushi at home.  While it tasted excellent and was also excellently priced (a necessity when parents around around...) it is pretty hard to replicate the awesomeness made by a real sushi chef.  

So we headed downtown to a sushi place I hadn't been to yet: Yoi Tomo.  Along on the trip were: 

Mom & Pops Peterson (aka Grandma & Grandpa)

And the walrus children.  Wait a minute...

Oh there we go.  The smiling children.  When we were little we looked like twins (partly because he was huge and I was scrawny).  It's pictures like these that remind me of those days.  He really is my twin... just born a few years late.... Really.

First, you must start with wasabi & ginger.  I never eat the ginger.  It's gross and makes my mouth feel icky.  But it is comforting to see it sitting there.  It's a necessary decoration.

Yoi Tomo is right next to the cool new movie theater downtown.  Thus, they have named lots of specialty rolls after movies.  This one in front was called the Ten Ten (wait... is that a movie?)  We called it the corn dog roll because honestly, it tasted like a corn dog.  Yum.

I don't remember what this one was called.  Any help Mama?  But the tempura crunchies and orange eel sauce stuff on top make this roll excellent.  Oh, plus that cream cheese.  Good combo.

I believe this was the Anger Management roll.  Eel, avocado, sesame seeds.. this one was probably the favorite of the night.  At least for those table members who don't support corn dog sushi....

And this lovely is Grandpa Mike's favorite.  Unaki Nigiri.  Unaki means eel and nigiri is the type of sushi: fish on top of rice.  Pretty basic.  Eel prepared in this way has a BBQ chicken-y flavor.  Yum.  And it's not raw which is good for sushi wary patrons.  However, the texture is a little... funky?  Which makes it a difficult dish to swallow for people like my sister, Lindsay.

While I think sushi is one of the best things on the whole planet, I have also come to terms with the fact that I really don't eat real sushi.  I love deep fried sushi, or sushi covered in sauce and filled with all sorts of interesting and innovative ingredients.  Suffice it to say, I love American sushi.  Traditional Japanese sushi is much more pure and simple, focusing on the flavor and freshness of the fish instead of adding distracting extras.  It's kind of like saying you love Mexican food when all you have had is Tex-Mex.  It's good nonetheless... even if not very authentic.  But hey, I'm okay with that.  After all, I'm American and proud of it!