Easter Photos 2013

I've decided I really shouldn't torture the family with a photo shoot more than twice a year. 

It's pretty painful for them (and me) to have the required patience with my budding interest in photography. 

I find solace in one thing:

I am being a great example

of diligent pursuit of hobbying.

I hope that all my girls

will have hobbies

that they love and enjoy

and don't give up

for any reason.

(especially when they are moms)

The pictures may look good

but trust me

they took a good hour or two

and there were many many outtakes.

Thank 

goodness 

for

digital.

My favorite moment of the day:

making out with LG

while the kids watched

and/or

hammed it up for camera.

 

My second favorite moment:

watching the girls enjoy the shore.

Note to self:

no guardrails

Crazy Family.

I'm really bummed

we didn't get a good one

of this set-up.

really bummed.

Rescued after 15 years, 6 months, 26 days

Take two llamas.

They are totally different from each other.

One is a pasty white blonde boy from the Bible belt

who is extremely intelligent, mild-mannered, and a lovely person.

The other looks almost Mexican (even though she isn't)

 is from Southern California

and is fun-loving, a total control freak, and crazy like a fox.

They are both Mormon llamas

and they have a lot of the same interests

like

the outdoors, music, family, education, spirituality, and playing volleyball.

These are the two llamas.

Just for the sake of the story.

They met on their Mormon missions.

They love each other very much.

One day they just knew they had to get married,

so they started making plans.

The boy llama being the shy kid that he was

never proposed

and the girl llama orchestrated every detail of their lives

and was then resentful that they boy

never proposed.

15 years, 6 months, and 26 days later

they land themselves in the

office of the marriage counselor.

Again.

They tell their story of

love and marriage

and how the boy llama

had another semester of college

to go in another state

and the girl llama

was all stressed out

and they just got hitched in 10 days.

The girl llama says

"I was a mess, I started freaking out."

The boy llama said

"I married her instead of finishing my semester

because I didn't want to lose her."

The marriage counselor llama

says

"Aw, that is so sweet.

In your own screwed up way

you let him rescue you.

How romantic."

The girl llama

was like

"Why the heck did I stay up 

all night

crying

when

we

watched

Ever After

wondering

why I sold out

to the ultimate

love story?"

Isn't he cute?

Daddy's Baby

I guess LG had been trying 

to grow his hair out again.

I hadn't noticed

until a few days ago he

lamented to me,

"Alice, I forget how far back

my hair has receded

until I grow it out."

Bad for LG.

Good for me.

I love his hair buzzed.

Imagine my surprise

today

when Caroline

brought this photo to me

and said,

"Mom this is so strange.

Dad doesn't have pokey hair."

LG I guess

you are going to have to 

keep

your

hokey pokey

style.

We're you trying

to grow it out

at hopes of

revisiting

those newlywed days?

Better luck next time.

Hide Yo Girls

The other day Abigail was hanging out in her cami.

She kept trying to push it.

A few weeks ago, 

I told the girls they could wear their camis to bed

for comfort if they wanted.

LeGrand had enough and laid down the law.

"No more camis!

Before I know it,

you're going to be

wearing them outside too."

He told Abigail to go to her room and put on a shirt, "Now." She wasn't moving. He said, "You better get to it, or I am going to start stripping down right now, one piece of clothing at a time." I was cracking up. I told her to call dad on his bluff. There was no way he was going buck naked.

He got both his shirt off and his undershirt,

and took his belt off.

When he started unzipping his pants,

she ran off screaming

in horror.

I laughed and laughed and laughed.

LG put his shirts back on.

He was feeling all exposed,

especially since Abigail made fun of his bare body.

Or should I say bear body?

We don't believe in letting our daughters as hoochie mamas.
We want to keep them sweet and innocent for as long as possible: their whole lives preferably.

I was raised the same way. I am not going to lie. I hated it. As a teenager, I fought my parents on it daily. One time my mom tore a dress that I was wearing in two (right in front of my boyfriend) because she was sick of tired of me wearing things that were too short. (I hope my sister has forgiven me by now, it was her dress) I bought my own bikinis and wore them when my mom wasn't looking. I washed them myself and hid them away in the back of my drawers. I wanted to be like all the other girls. My brothers seemed pretty keen on making sure my sister and I dress modestly too, which we didn't understand because they were perfectly fine dating the girls who didn't really cover up. I now understand they were being protective.

And you know what? WE ABSOLUTELY SHOULD BE PROTECTIVE.

Some people may think that our modesty policy is a little absurd, but do you know what? I don't care.

While most of my girlfriends were having sex in high school and some ended up pregnant, I proudly stayed a virgin until I was married. I am glad that I did. I never regret that decision. Not a day in my life have I felt like I made the wrong choice. I want for my girls to be chaste and make the same choice to remain abstinent until they are married. And yes, dressing modestly has a direct correlation.


I love my sweet sweet girls.
I love that they are pretty good about dressing modestly.
They seem to get the principle that modesty provides protection.

I want them to love themselves for who they are
amazing daughters of God.
They truly can 
change the world
just by being 
a source of light.

Romance for Poor People

LBJ and LadyBird courted over 90 love letters
and we can read them online here.
I know what I will be doing all afternoon:
reading real romance for free.
The love letters are
living proof
that you can have romance
at the price of a few stamps.

LG and I have an honorary membership in
America's newest poor class.

The middle class is taking some serious hits.

Add in four kids to the mix,

and it was time for a frugal

Valentine's Day.

LG and I started a new Valentine's tradition.

We each got $10 to spend on each other

at our favorite local Dollar Tree.

I made up a package called "Dreams come true" for LG.

I used some of his favorite things

and added in some dream hearts explaining.

- He loves lemon juice in his water. 

   (I wish I could make all your lemons into lemonade)

- A toy stuff basketball 

  (I wish I was always your soft place to land)

- Toy airplanes

   (I wish I could take you on a getaway)

- His favorite gel pens 

  (I wish I could do all your work for you)

- Sugar-free candy for the diabetic 

  (I wish you could eat as much sugar as you wanted)

- A McDonald's giftcard for the man 

  who loves breakfast 

  and is married to a lazy breakfast chef.

  (I wish I could hire you a breakfast fairy)

LG wasn't quite as cutesy, of course,

but it was still so fun to see what he picked out.

He knows me well.

And isn't that what Valentine's is about?

thinking of each other

and showing that you know one another

better than anyone else.

I feel loved

just knowing

that LG knows me.

I'm a huge believer that gifts don't have to cost a lot of money.

My dad talked at my Grandma Dorothy's funeral
about how she would always pick up little things
here and there and the five and dime to show
that she loved you.
One of his favorite gifts:
a portable toothpick holder.
That is one of the things he remembered
most at her funeral.

I love Valentine's Day. It may be my favorite.
I also love the love language of gift-giving.
I look forward to all of our future
Dollar Tree romances.

And for the record,
last night we got a tray of
chicken nuggets from
Chik-fil-a
wrote off all the evening
activities
and sat home as a family
and watched
Pirates of the Caribbean.
It was pure bliss.

LG + AG 4Ever

Happy Valentine's Day

to the love of my life.

And with a good marriage counselor

I hope it stays that way.

Keeping it real.

I love you LeGrand Gold.

My Brother's Take on Mormon Feminism

There has been a lot of talk lately

about a movement of

anti-Mormons

who have penetrated the active church-body

by inviting the women to wear pants to church this Sunday.

I'm privvy to these things because I live in Utah.

It was on the front page of the paper.

LG read part of the article to me

when he was home for lunch

the other day.

We discussed the stupidity of it.

Women have always been able to

wear pants to church.

Why would any woman

want to be a Bishop?

We laughed.

Then LG made my day.

"Alice you look so sexy in a skirt."

So I posted this on facebook.

Feminist Mormons are planning a "wear slacks to church day" 

to celebrate the similarities between women and men. 

I'd rather celebrates our differences. 

Besides my husband thinks I look hot in a skirt. 

If that means I'm objectified, so be it.

It got a discussion going.

Perhaps my favorite part of the discussion

was my ultra-conservative, gun-slinging, Limbaugh-loving,

football-coaching, huge-dog owning, Idaho-dwelling

brother saying this:

(for my non-Mormon friends -

this first question is what is asked of 

the members to determine

worthiness to attend the temple)

(YM is short of Young Men

YW is short for Young Women)

• Erick Wills Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

  Yesterday at 9:15am · Like
• 

  Alice Wills Gold Erick Wills, the answer is no, but I do have an opinion about giving the YW the same budget as the YM. 

  Yesterday at 9:27am via mobile · Like
• 

  Erick Wills I am good with that. My opinion and what we did in my ward when I was over finances was the YW had a bigger budget. Crafts cost more than firewood.

• Alice Wills Gold Who woulda thought Erick Wills is a feminist?

  23 hours ago via mobile · Like
• 

  Erick Wills No, I am an equal differencialist. The sexes are different and should be treated as such, just not lesser or greater.

Yes, feminist crazed ladies,

the men of the church

are not anti-women.

In fact,

they are 

what my brother calls

equal diffrencialists.

I am proud to say

that I now

have a great term to describe

what I am too:

an

equal diffrentialist.

And so is 

this Mormon scholar.

She touches on some deep

Mormon doctrine here

and I loved her article.

I'm so grateful for the women of the church

who magnify their callings

and bless the lives of my daughters.

Here are some recent photos

that Sister Seale

e-mailed

of Sophia and her buddies

at their 

female only

activity days

held

every other week.

I love how these photos

showcase what we teach

Godly girls.

Choose the right.

Be modest.

Be tough.

Be beautiful.

It's crazy to me
that scorned
women can
find these things
wrong.

I don't want my daughters
to be anything
but
equal diffrentialists.

And trust me,

no woman

should ever want to

be in Cub Scouts instead.

I know,

I've been a Scout leader

three different times

in my

"mom only to daughters"

lifetime.

We will have a perfectly happy picture!

My mother-in-law requested family photos for Christmas.

In an effort to keep the Christmas budget,

we opted for my mad raw camera skills.

Yeah, I took one photography class

so that makes me qualified right?

Wrong.

So very wrong.

Add in
a dog on a leash,

a crappy crappy tri-pod

some cold weather

and a

"as stubborn as I'll get out"

nine-year-old

and

wa-la

eventually

you have me screaming:

"We will get a perfectly happy picture.

Gosh danget."

That got some smiles.

We can always count on laughter

to see us through.

And laugh, we did.

Like always.

Here are some good outtakes.

I was trying to test the shot
and I had already set the timer
so they entertained themselves
through the 10 sequential shots.

We got a bunch of great shots
and in about 10 of them
Caroline was sticking out her tongue.

I like to call this one
"Don't drop the dog."

The funniest part was that
I had no idea this was even happening.

When we got home, 

Sophia came into my room and said,

"Mom I learned something important today.

You can't put a dog in the simba pose for a picture

like you can a cat."

It wasn't until I went in to edit the photos that

I understood what she was talking about.

Please, don't eat my head.

 These are the best that we got.

I really like how the scarf pose

turned out

minus Abigail's expression

and the random blanket

on the grass.

Don't even worry about the discarded

old fashioned sled.

Geez.

I really don't know what I am doing.

We got our perfectly happy pictures.

Merry Christmas Faye.
These will be on their way to you
in your Christmas package
as I know you won't be able to figure
out how to print them from here.

Oh and sorry,
I forgot to do a pose
with LG.

Maybe next year.

The Art Fart

I really hope Sophia doesn't decide to read the blog today.

I do believe she'd die of embarrassment.

I must write though

because it's stories like this that I don't want to forget.

And I do forget.

I forget as early as next week if I don't write it down.

LG's been playing with new camera more than me. I love it.

We finally got Sophia into an art class.

She has shown a real propensity for art since she was a toddler,

and I am so grateful we finally have the means to help her along.

Check out her very first project.

I dare you to say she's anything less than a prodigy.

And now, here's a little art fart funny from Friday.
I went into the studio to tell Sophia that I was there to take her home.
She was happily working on a picture of SpongeBobSquarePants in colored pencil.
Next to her was the cutest boy about the same exact age
working on what looked like a tribal tattoo.
They were both having a blast doing the art thing while bantering back and forth.
It made this mom very happy to see Sophia in her element.
When you know something about your kid, you just know.
And I have always known that Sophia has the soul of an artist.

Minutes later Sophia bounds out to the car and we head home.
I zone out thinking about all I have to do
to get out the door that evening in time for
a friend's birthday party and a choral concert of my nephew at BYU.
All of the sudden Bella and Sophia are cracking up.
I ask them what was so funny.
Through fits of laughter they tell me.

Sophia - Nooooooo, don't tell her.
Bella - I have to. Sophia likes __________!! (I can't remember his name)
Me - (Not surprised in the least.) What' so funny about that?
Sophia - Nothing. Nothing.
Bella - Well, Sophia and _______ were messing around hitting each other and being silly.
Sophia - STOP! Bella don't tell her.
Bella - And then Sophia...
Sophia - (butting in because if the story is going to be told, she's going to tell it) We were just playing around, and all of the sudden I farted. It just came out. I couldn't help it.
Me - Oh my gosh, how embarrassing. Did you just die?
Bella - It gets worse mom.
Sophia - So then the teacher comes in and asks us if we need anything.
Bella - And _____________ says, "Do you have a clothespin?"
Me - Did it stink?
Sophia as red as a beat - "I guess so."

This may not seem funny to any of you, but it's moments like this when I just love being a mom. It is so fun to watch your kids grow up and become adults who are embarrassed by bodily functions.

Now, here is something to make it up to Sophia whenever she reads this story.
Sophia brought this home last year from school after the class all wrote down anonymous compliments.
She is one cool kid, even with the gassy gas.

And me, you ask?

How's the photography going?

Well, it's going when I squeeze in the time.

Here is one of my practice shots

while I was outside the art studio waiting on Sophia.

We are learning about aperture.

Photography is art.

Maybe I should leave it up to Sophia.

It's a lot more complicated then I expected.

(That's why I've dragged LG into the hobby,

he's my scientific go-to man.)

Check out my the website of my super cool teacher.

Here's a photo of another one of my cool kids.

She's taking a cooking class right now.

I've always known that Bella would grow up to be a beautiful cook.

Shooting action is more difficult

especially without the right lens

but here is our Abigail.

I always knew she'd grow up to be a soccer star.

Caroline.

Notice that she's reading dad a bed-time story.

At 6 pm.

That's how it goes around here.

Isn't he cute?

I do believe my car is in need of a wash.

And here is LG's latest project.

An expose about the life of a housewife.

Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.

All the time.

Even on Sunday.