9/11

I was working from home on the morning of 9/11 and sitting at the computer in our bedroom. Annie, who was attending Sacramento State at the time, was getting ready for classes. She flipped on the TV in our room and after a few moments, said, "Justin, look." I turned around to see smoke billowing from the New York City skyline.

We spent the morning in shock, watching ABC and Peter Jennings share the horrific events as they unfolded. I'll never forget the sadness, the fear, and the outrage of that day. We feared with each passing moment that reports of another attack, perhaps closer to home, would happen. We knew the world would never be the same.

It's five years later, and I feel some of those same feelings as I remember that day. But pictures like this make me proud to be an American. This is an artist's rendering of some potential designs for replacing the WTC buildings.

There had been some discussion of filling the gaping hole of ground zero with a solemn memorial, but that's not how American's do it. We come back bigger and stronger. I love that the WTC is going to be replaced with even larger, grander buildings. That is the American spirit.

Just One More

This photo of Julia is from the same time as the last post, but I couldn't pass it by. Her love of pizza makes her undeniably both her mother's and her father's daughter. Also, her adorability factor is a dead give away.

Treacherous Pit

I hesitated in posting this photo because my lawn looks so bad. Just trust me - this is the one patch of yard that my sprinklers can't reach. Everything else is a verdant paradise. We don't call it Eden for nothing. But I digress - back to my girls.

The north-most portion of my yard consists of a wooden ledge and a three-foot drop off, which all of my girls have been fascinated by, as shown here. The fact that each of them has fallen into this treacherous pit has done nothing to lessen their curiosity. If anything, it has increased its allure.

Annie captured this particular sequence on film (or in 1s and 0s). Kate, as always, has kicked off her shoes and has donned her princess crown. Genna, as always, is furthest into the pit. Not even the presence of an over-grown fig tree will keep her away. And last but not least, we have Julia stuffing her face with some left-over pizza and looking surprised that mommy caught her about to launch herself over the side.

Djinn, Djinni, and Genies in a Bottle

This post is dedicated to you, Joe.

Toward the end of Majda's stay with us I asked her about Djinn. The funny thing was that she called them 'genies' which brought to mind this:

But of course, that isn't what she meant. You see, she is afraid of them - and Robin William's genie just doesn't strike fear into the heart of many (unless you have phobias in regards to blue people or cabaret).

Majda described them as beings who were evil, who sought to hurt you, break up marriages, possess your body, and commit a wide variety of nefarious acts. "But," I said, still thinking of Disney's genie, "there are good ones right?"

She said there were good ones, but she dismissed them. She said that at times they frighten her, and that she reads the qu'ran to feel better, but she can still feel them over her shoulder. Yikes. She spoke of them as if they were very real beings of fire. Probably more like this image:

Now, this is quite a bit more frightening. According to Majda, there are many magicians in Oman who specialize in being able to control djinni, and people come from all over the Persian Gulf and from Africa to use their services. Ms. Cleo has missed her calling!

I guess we all have our fears. Mine involve spiders and giant poodles. In my defense, though, I am more likely to encounter a spider than a genie ... or am I?

Sacramento Temple Dedication

On Sunday the Sacramento Temple was dedicated. It was a wonderful event, and it made me think on how nice it was to be able to tour it with some of you.

Here is a photo we had taken of us when we took just our little family. It was hard to get the Moroni statue at the top of the Temple in the photo, especially with us grappling our children. You can see from Genna, at our feet, that they were feeling a bit ... restive ... after the one and a half hour tour. It was worth it, though. If for no other reason than to be able to quote Kate when she first saw the celestial room: "Beautiful! Look at the princess chairs!"

That's right Kate, look at those princess chairs. I intend to see you sitting in one of them in about eighteen or twenty years - either after getting married to a nice young man, or serving a mission. That goes for all three of you (and any others that have not yet arrived).

Fairie Princesses & Parenting

With our students gone, we have been able to reclaim the play room for playing. Cute girls playing leads to photographs, which then leads to blog content. So here you go.

First we have Kate decked out in a tutu and fairie wings. She is also wearing her now famous 'princess face.' She even has her feet planted saucily. She loves posing for the camera.

Genna took a bit more convincing, though she finally did come into the room for the not-so-spontaneous photo shoot. She opted for the fairie version of 'sagging': her wing straps are hooked around her elbows, not her shoulders. Kids and fashon these days ...

Fairie-time continued for a while, though they refused to look the camera in the lens. I didn't know fairie princesses could be so ill-behaved. The only way to discipline them is to take away their wings, but then that is the makings of a fairie quest (to reclaim her wings) and we can't have that. It is a qanundrum. Parenting has never been so difficult.

Acquired Taste

Majda, in her last week with us, prepared an Arabian dinner. It made for a pretty display so I had to snap a shot. The upper food, in order from left to right, is: baba ganouche (eggplant paste) with dried pomegranate powder, grapeleaf and rice dolmas, and hummus with olive oil. The bottom row is Mediterranean flat bread and rotisserie chicken (prepared per the standards of halad in Islam) and roasted potatoes.

I liked the food, though the side dishes all require an acquired taste to fully enjoy. You can see in the corner that we didn't bother trying the new food on the girls. They enjoyed their good old red-blooded Yankee (GORBY, for you Canadians) macaroni and cheese.

Slick

I had to include this photo because, man, I look good! Look at that tux. I am slick. I put the 'ick' in slick. Hmm, no, I mean, I put the 'lick' in slick. Uh. Er. That doesn't work either. I just look crazy good, OK?

(the womenfolk look nice, too)