Getting Home

One cab ride through the snowy streets of Zurich to a flight that was delayed.


A sprint through the Munich airport while calling me to tell me you would make the flight but someone's in your seat and you have to go.


9 1/2 hours of crowded seating, bad food, and work... only to face a drive home on this.


An instant that makes it all worth while.


We're glad you're home. Even though you travel a lot, we still get so excited every time someone yells, "Dad's Home!"

Owl Project

Cami's second grade class is dissecting owl pellets this week. Apparently owls... well there's no nice way to say it... vomit up pellets of whatever they can't digest. These are collected, sterilized and given to school children to dissect to learn about what owls eat. Lovely.

Parents had to sign a permission slip and while Cami was very excited, she wanted to know if they were really OK to touch. I explained that they were sterilized and all the germs were dead. She asked me, "How do they sterilize something? Do they stare really hard with their eyes?"

Taylor and I both burst into laughter at the sight of Cami's imitation of what this process might look like. She was pointing at the imaginary object with wide, crazy eyes. We let her know that it was very high temperatures rather than people with super powerful eyes.

The great thing about Cami is that she laughed right along with us for the next few minutes. I've often wondered why I have so many funny conversations with Cami. I don't remember having these with Dallin and Taylor. I think she just has such a creative mind that any explanation seems possible. It sure makes life fun.

Snow?!?!

This is what it looked like when I drove home from getting my car inspection today. (By the way, I was there for 3 1/2 hours and they had NO HEAT. Sitting in the cold shivering did not help my mood when I was informed that in order to pass inspection I would have to have new brake pads in the front and back and new rotors in the back - grrrrrrr.)

This is what it looked like about 45 min. later.

This is what it looked like 15 min. after that.

The snow was so wet and heavy that I had to go out and shake it off the fragile plants/bushes/small trees that were bending to the ground so they wouldn't break. Two hours later it rained and washed off the plants and trees, but we still have quite a bit of snow on the ground.

Halloween Howl

Bridge Valley has a 6th grade Halloween Howl every year. This party includes a haunted house staffed by teachers (on the stage and very cool), lots of food, costume contests, and really loud music. Taylor has been looking forward to this since Dallin went two years ago. Her hippie costume looked adorable and she had a great time. She didn't want to walk in alone, so she had a friend pick her up so that they could walk in together (I so remember that as a teen).

Halloween Party

We enjoyed the 9th Annual Seguine Family Halloween Party last weekend. We went back to Winding Brook Farms for a Hayride and s'mores by the fire. It was just cold enough to bundle up, but not freezing. We are blessed with wonderful friends and enjoy sharing this traditions with them. Next year will be our 10th anniversary. If you start planning now, all of you could come and join us October 2009! When Dallin realized it would be 10 years next year he said, "We're gonna have to blow it out!" Happy Halloween!

Speed Talker

We were in the car listening to the radio.

Cami: Is it hard to be the talker for a commercial?
Me: What do you mean?
Cami: The person who talks really fast at the end.
Me: Oh, that person has to tell about the rules that go with the contest or product. Not very many people can talk fast enough to have that job.
Cami: I think I could do it. Maybe I'll grow up to be a fast-talker person.
Me: Maybe.
Cami: Actually, I think I only know how to say prayer words fast. Have you heard how fast I can pray when it's my turn?
Me: Hmmmm... I think I know what our next family night needs to be about:)

(Disclaimer that must be read super fast: This post in no way condones the art of fast praying. The Seguine Family appreciates all efforts at prayer and does not discriminate for ability to speak either slowly or quickly... or even relevantly when tired.)

Girl Weekend - Day 3

We spent the last day in the city. We took the Metro to Union Station, walked to the Capitol Building, the Art Museum, and the Smithsonian. It's always a lot of walking in DC, but the weather was beautiful and Courtney was so excited to see the Capitol that we couldn't help but be excited too. I was surprised by how taken Cami was with the work of French Impressionists (I wish I would have taken a picture of her in front of one). She told me later that that was her favorite part of the trip. Who knew?




After totally exhausting the girls we headed back, said goodbye, and drove home. It was so fun that we have decided to try to have a girl weekend every year! I love spending time with my girls and it was a pleasure to get to see Courtney enjoy bonding with her cousins. Trish is great in so many ways. I'm so glad we married brothers - thanks for being such a trooper and for keeping Taylor fashionable;)

(Just to give credit where credit is due... when I returned home the house was clean, the grass was mowed, and the laundry was done. Thanks for making the weekend possible sweetie!)

Girl Weekend - Day 2

Friday morning we decided to let the girls play some games and swim while Tricia tried to feel up to shopping. They had a great time playing Courtney's games and we got rid of a lot of energy in the pool;)


We headed out to the mall before lunch. The shopping was great and Taylor loved all the advice. She was very brave about spending her hard-earned money. She ended up with some really cute outfits!

We rested a little in the afternoon and then went to PF Changs for dinner followed by a PARTY planned by Courtney and Cami. It was a blast.

Girl Weekend - Day 1

Early this Spring Dan and Trish came to visit and while they were here we did a "What Not to Wear" in Ed's closet. Tricia is the most trusted fashion expert in the family and Taylor was awed by the whole experience. She decided to start saving her money and try to talk me into a "What Should Taylor Wear" weekend with her Aunt.

The short story is that through babysitting, teaching piano lessons, and allowance, Taylor saved a substantial amount of money and we decided to plan a "Girl Weekend". We chose Washington D.C. (fairly close, great shopping, free museums, and public transportation) and put the plan in place. Tricia kept it a surprise for Courtney (see here) and my girls were counting the days for our adventure.

We left on Thursday and drove to the Tyson's Corner Marriott. We checked out the mall, but didn't buy anything without our expert. We watched a movie, went swimming, ordered sorbet for dessert, and waited for our cohorts to arrive.



Unfortunately, Tricia called to inform me that she left her dinner on the side of the road and wasn't sure if she was bringing us a stomach flu. We gave her a separate room (thank heavens for Marriott points) and did not give each other warm embraces that first night. Courtney was very surprised and excited to see us and we assured her that we would have a sleep over once everyone was feeling better. It was a great first day (except for the throwing up part for Trish:)

Conversations with Cami

These conversations were in the car today.

(I turned on Radio Disney and she really liked the song)
Cami: Oh yeah! Let's raise the roots mom!
Me: I believe the saying is raise the roof honey.
Cami: Whatever, let's just raise it.


(We passed a horse farm where they give riding lessons)
Cami: Courtney and Elle both take horseback riding lessons. They even went to a summer camp.
Me: That's really cool.
Cami: I think what I need is a summer hamster camp. Wouldn't that be funny to see all the hamsters running around everywhere.
Dallin: Cami - that's disturbing.
Cami: I know. But I think it would be just my speed.

Dallin

Dallin came home two weeks and announced he was auditioning for Robe Choir at school. This came as a small surprise to me as he has never showed any interest in singing. I was, however, very excited for him. I offered to help him prepare, but he declined. I picked him up after the audition and he said it went fine. Yesterday he found out he made the choir! I'm excited for him to try something new and learn to love singing. Proud of you Dal!

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After general conference, we always try to improve our habits relating to the gospel. Dallin has decided to create a few extra minutes in the morning to read scriptures. The first day he sat down to read he randomly opened the scriptures to Alma 47. This is the story of Amalickiah and Lehonti. This story was mentioned several times during conference and is an important message for youth about staying in high, safe places and not being deceived by degrees. He said to me as he was gathering his backpack, "You'll never guess where I randomly opened the scriptures this morning. Right to the story about Lehonti. I guess I need to really pay attention to that message."

My response, "That is not a random event."
My silent response - Amen.

Guess What?

Philadelphia is getting a Temple!!!

Over the past several years, hundreds of people have been baptized in the city of Philadelphia. Travel to the Washington DC temple is almost impossible for many. The people of the Philadelphia Stake have been praying for a temple for almost 10 years. Yesterday at General Conference they announced the building of a temple in Philadelphia, PA (Cheers went up all over the area in homes and church buildings and many tears were shed).

Throughout the afternoon there was plenty of speculation about where it would go. Ed and Dallin spoke with the Stake President at Priesthood session. He said that Pres. Eyring and Pres. Uchtdorf told him that people in the suburbs can travel, but the people in the city NEED to be able to get to a temple and receive the blessings that go with it.

We are so thrilled and excited to have a temple within an hour. We know our lives will be blessed.

This is a picture of the Manhattan Temple. The Stake President said that the plan is to build one in this style right in the city.