No Parking Except at Turnouts

2009-06-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

Peter the Shark!

Spring memories

2009-06-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

I love April in Virginia! The Red Bud, the dark Sugar Gum blossoms, the forsythia and peeking green. I found these pictures from this last spring and wanted to share them.

The first are from a road trip we took to the Shenendoah's during Spring Break. James found an old turn of the century Bed and Breakfast where we were the only guests for the night. It was quaint and charming and I felt transported to the past.

These next are from our annual trip to see the cherry blossoms downtown. The Jefferson Memorial sits on the tidal basin which is the center for the cherry blossoms. The trees surround the basin with a walking path just beneath. My camera didn't capture the beauty of the evening. It was truly magnificent.

This is under a magnolia tree near the James Madison memorial across from the Tidal Basin.

Matthew holding the Washington Monument in his hands.

Grandma Suzy

2009-06-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Grandma Suzy's birthday and I wanted to honor her and thank her as a wonderful grandmother! She loves my boys so much and would do anything for them. And she does! She is an incredibly talented seamstress and has helped me so with lots of little projects. When she was visiting a month ago, she happened to arrive just in tme to make Jonny a very cool cloak for medieval day. Here are pictures of her work and as you see she didn't stop with Jonny's cloak, she made one for each of the boys. I am glad they will have these to remember her always and the talent and love she shares. Isn't she amazing?!

I included a picture of the dragon Jonny drew for the day as well.

2009-05-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

Steph and Tam flew to North Carolina on May first. Sarah flew in that night and I drove down, picked her up at the airport and took her to Kim's. The five of us were together for a whole week! What a dream. It was more fun than I have had in my lifetime! I was grateful they all willingly came up to DC for three days as well. Kim and I live in the Garden of Eden states and we enjoyed the trees and flowers especially. Here we are all together in my newly arranged Towanda living room!

Coffee House Poetry Night

2009-05-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

I love Mrs. Markon! Jonny's Fifth Grade teacher is an amazing woman who had mentored her class with so much love, enthusiasm, inspiration and brilliance that it is a phenomenal place for the students there. They have all thrived under her tutelage and she believes so much in the kids that their lives are empowered. Jonny has become quite the writer this year as was evidenced last night at the class coffee house/poetry reading. One boy strummed the guitar and another beat bongo drums for emphasis during the readings. Each kid had on a groovy black coffee house t-shirt and a black beret. They all read a poem they had written about themselves and several kids read an additional poem they had written. The audience was only allowed to snap in keeping with the cool atmosphere and we were encouraged to have our tissues ready! It was a wonderful evening. Here are Jonny's poems:

I Am Jonny

I am dreaming and imaginative.

I wonder what the world holds from us.

I hear the sound of battle.

I hear explosions.

I want to become one with my imagination.

I am dreaming and imaginative.

I pretend I am a dragon.

I feel calm.

I touch an array of objects.

I worry for the environent.

I cry for peace.

I am dreaming and imaginative.

I understand not, why we have war.

I say things.

I dream wonders.

I try to write this.

I hope for the second coming.

I am dreaming and imaginative.

on the lighter side.....

The Origin of Turdzilla

An Epic

By Jonny Liechty

Once Godzilla the evil one

Had a lunch of sticky buns
And made a turd

Without a word.

The city dump

Made the jump

With some toxic waste

And radioactive paste

Turdzilla grew

Made out of pooh.

He sought material waste

To fill his hungry face

And wandered off

To parts unknown

Without a trace or a

Single bone.

And that is why

No babies cry

Because of Turdzilla

Son of the evil one.

Rather Silversteinish eh?

A new Spring

2009-02-21T08:06:00.000-08:00

Finally the lull of my life has ended. For months I have not wanted to engage in anything on my down days other than Netflix and my computer. But alas, I just recovered from a week of the flu and new life has beseiged my soul. I up and applied to finish my BYU degree through the BGS program they offer (I only have 25 credits till I have my bachelors.) I've planned to do that for years, so why the ambition now? I actually feel driven to move forward in my Hebrew studies so doors will open easier to return to Israel, and this is what urged me to send in my application.

I started reading again. After creeping through two or three books this last half a year that I still haven't finished and turning down month after month of two different book clubs, I picked up a book called The Faith Club which I have wanted to read for years. It's engaging for me since it talks about the relationship between Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

I am working on several songs with my voice teacher in anticipation of a Spring/Summer concert at the temple visitors center in Maryland. Two of the songs are in Italian (considerably easier to learn than French) including a long time favorite, "O Mio Babbino".

I started a personal history at dad's request, so that he can include it in his own autobiography. Dad asked for four or five pages from each of us, however I am at six just on my first eight or so years of life. I am really enjoying this, and trying to make it well written.

Along with this project I have felt a renewed fervor for scrapbooking which I haven't done for years. I want to put together my own pre-married life scrapbook now, since each of the boys have one of their early childhood years.

And now, here I am in my jammies at 11:30 Saturday morning working on my third post for the day. You know, it must be that I am finally on top of this virus that layed me and my kids up for a week.

Anyhow, we'll see how long this motivation to be overly occupied lasts. Life is so full, so rich already, these distractions can most often add to the joy but can on occassion get in the way. I think the ebb and flow of it all is natural and good, and if one thing is certain, we should not feel required to overextend ourselves by comparing or guilt.

Happy Spring! We look forward to our cherry blossom and Dogwood visitors!

Creme Brulee

2009-02-21T07:26:00.000-08:00

We had a fun evening of making creme brulee. I bought the torch two years ago but only now got it out of the box. It was Jonny's idea. He begged me for a week and later admitted he just wanted to try the torch. But the dessert was delicous! I try creme brulee at restaurants whenever I can and endorse the Zoom creme brulee in Park City, perhaps also available at the Tree Room at Sundance. But ours was pretty darn good. We put a little too much sugar on top, but as a whole, with fresh berries, it was a success. I ate two and a half.

Knights in Shining Armor

2009-02-21T05:51:00.000-08:00

Na na na na na na na na na na na na....BATMAN!

Matthew as Iron Man with the tin foil rolls for weapons.

The wicked pringleator!

Weilding the swords with my meat mallet.

My boys love weapons. It's all about the gear! I would rather put it this way than to say that they are violent. They just really dig action. Last week I bought three boxes of aluminium foil and they forged swords and armor for themselves, (and Peter put on his Batman gear.)

National Pie Day

2009-01-27T12:49:00.000-08:00

As simple as PIE! Yummy chocolate tarts from Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts. And above the tarts, a layout of the table.

Banana Cream from the Lion House Cookbook. And below, the famous Lady Bird Johnson Pecan.

Cherry with a cheat code lattice cutter from Williams Sonoma. And bottom, Apple from Favorites!

Thanks to Sarah, National Pie Day was a success at the Liechty home, after nearly 10 years of it passing by unnoticed. We had lots of neighbors and friends who joined us and Brent and Ralph were here for the pre-celebration baking, three days earlier, when I made a blueberry, Tollhouse chocolate and pumpkin pie to freshen up my crust skills, and to appease Matthew who just happened to start a crazy pie obsession about the second week in January. I figure that Matthew like his cousin Oliver for the Contreras family, can be our patron Liechty for NPD since his birthday is January 5th. Lucky for Matthew, I had already been sparked with the desire to make pies by Sarah.

I had the happiest day in a long time on Friday January 23rd. Peter and I danced to Sympathique as I rolled out crust after crust, mixed fillings, melted chocolate, sliced bananas, emptied cans and dusted flour off my nose. In the end I made two sweet potatoe pies, one apple, one cherry, 6 chocolate tarts, one banana cream and the winner! the pecan pie recipe that Lady Bird Johnson made for JFK the day he was killed. It rocks! Our friends brought a fruit tart, a chocolate cream and lots of vanilla icecream. James and I agreed, it was one of the happiest nights we've had in a long time. Thanks to the pie, and Sarah and Martha and Favorites and the Daily Universe January 1995, the Lion House and Pink Martini and all those friends who jumped on board and called out Happy National Pie day as they walked through the door. I now believe we will continue this fun mid January American tradition.

The crazy posting

2008-12-17T18:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the upcoming post! It will be forever evidence that I am still learning how to do all this stuff.

Christmas Joy!

2008-12-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

I am not sending out a formal Chrismas card this year, (we spent a lot on our pictures last year!) and since I have this brag set up, I thought I'd put some fun shots from this last year.

This summer we drove cross country to Utah and back to Virginia. These are some pictures from our stop at Niagra Falls and Mount Rushmore. I daresay we would do the drive again. The boys did GREAT!

Matthew was a great running back for his football team this year. You can't tell how muddy he actually is. His other teammates were not nearly as muddy after this game, but the way Matthew plays football... he became well acquainted with the mud.

This is a classic shot of what James spends a lot of his life doing. (He is on his lap top).

You know those guinea pigs I complain about all the time? Here are a couple shots of how cute they actually are so you understand why I can't get rid of them.

Jonny's is Fluffy(left), Stevie's is Snuffy(right) and Matthew's is Puss in Boots which now Peter believes is his (up at the top).

Stephen is a good little musician. This is his Spring concert for music at school. He also plays the piano now and played a duet for a concert this Christmas. (up at the top)

Peter is in heaven as the youngest of four boys who have already attained a load of toy dart guns and weapons of various sorts. This is a super long shot nerf gun, bigger than him!

Jonny won third place in the regional pinewood derby last March. Finally, just in time since it was his last year to enter,

he won the pack race in January and Stephen got second place.

Here are the brothers at the regional competitions looking cute.

Distinguished Students and My French Song

2008-12-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

This one is for Kim. If it weren't for her gentle prodding I would never get around to additions for my blog. So I am waiting for my most recent pictures to download and I will from there figure out what to tell you all about.

I do have two occasions I want to brag, I mean blog, about but I am unknowing how to include the dramatic evidence. Perhaps before I actually post this one, I will figure it all out and you can see first: the certificates that Jonny and Stephen received from their elementary school for being chosen as "distinguished students". And second: I will include the recording of myself singing at my voice recital last Sunday. (And of course there is a recording of Peter singing "I am Iron Man, na, na, na na, na, na Iron Man" as well as the entire Power Ranger Ninja Storm theme song, on pitch.)

So in hopes that I will be able to figure out the mechanics of scanning and adding sound recordings to the post, I will elaborate on these two items.

Three times a year the teachers at Island Creek Elementary pick a student from their class who has distinguished themselves in one area or another. Jonny and Stevie both had this honor when they were in First Grade and then graciously again this Fall. It was fun to have both of them receiving their award together. Jonny's teacher's gave him an award for "writing words that knock Mrs. Markon and Mrs. A'hearn's socks off" (I should include one particular poem). Stephen's teacher gave him an award for "Excelling in Mathematics". It was great! They even got to hug the school mascot, "Cosmo the Crocodile. " Maybe subconsciously I married James so we would have smart kids.

And as for me...last Sunday I performed for the recital of all my voice teacher's students. I sang an entire French song! called Au bord de l'eau by Gabriel Faure. It is a lovely soprano song that lilts and swells with sap and I just loved singing in French (even though James said I sounded like an American with a bad French accent.) Then I sang Show Me from My Fair Lady. That one was fun because I just love musical theater and I even did the Maria from Sound of Music point- up- to- the- sky- with- my- index- finger on the super long high note I held out forever at the end of the song. I am hoping that this Spring I can swing a concert just for myself, maybe a dozen songs. I really love singing, but I have some improvement to make on breath support etc.

So I will post this without evidences and include them later. Thanks, Kim.

This last one is the one I wanted you all to see of the famous Iron Man and Power Ranger songs.

A Midsummer Night's Dream by the Mount Vernon Stake

2008-11-24T10:08:00.000-08:00

This last weekend our stake presented A Midsummer Night's Dream. Matthew and Stephen and I were part of the Mechanicals which is a group of actors in Athen's putting on their own melodrama for the Duke's wedding. I played "Quince", the leader of the Mechanicals, who organizes the players and fights for dominance against the very dramatic lead actor, "Bottom" (he who later gets turned into a donkey.) Our segments were the funniest because all the characters are very silly. I loved being in the play with my boys. They did very well and had a good time. I really love Shakespeare too and am happy to have finally had a speaking part in a Shakespeare play. I hope it's not the last.

I included a cast photo. The play was set in present day Washington D.C. The Court were dressed like senators/proffessionals, the Mechanicals like working lower class people and the fairies like the homeless. We were trying to show that all classes have magic and value to them. It was fun. I am in the green hardhat like a foreman, Bottom is in the jumpsuit in front of me by Stephen and Matthew. Vanessa Rich (Croshaw) from highschool is in a blue hat holding her violin (she played music for the play) and maybe you'll recognize the flowery dress that "Thisby" wore, a man dressed up like a woman. That was Stephenie's bridesmaid dress from Colleen Covey's wedding.

After the final show, as we cleaned the church and took down the stage, a bunch of us started singing Les Mis and Phantom and Wicked. Thespians! I just love the theatre!

Just in time, I am blogging!

2008-11-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

Here is dad, (below) crying with these lovely women, being overtaken with the love of being in Peru with this breathtaking landscape, and with the people! And this girl (left) was just little and had to carry this sheep so people would take pictures of her and give her soles. )Below left, a good shot of Cusco with Viva el Peru shaved into the side of the hill. And bottom, a picture of dad with a Christus on the hillside of Cusco in the back ground.

This is my balcony view (below) in the Villa of Urubamba and (right) is a great shot of the Sacred Valley.

I just started this blog in time to write about my fantastical trip to Peru with Kimberly, Stephenie and Georgalie. It has been 11 years since I've been out of the country and as we exited the airport in Cusco having just encountered vendors on every hand selling "trinkets", and drove out into the dry hills and dusty streets of a foreign country, the tears burst and my heart bled. I was travelling at last! I dream and dream of travelling, particularly back to Israel, but the feeling I dream of was just what was had as I realized I was in South America with a Passport and purse full of soles, to be with people of the world again at last!

I will get pictures up when I can. I must say though that I had ocassions of favoritism during the week long trip and they were the ocassions when I felt most happy and most in tune with the fact that I was with my sisters and dad in Peru! They were: walking down a dusty hill under eucalyptus trees after we had dined at Hacienda, a Latin ranch home a century old. It was spring in Peru and the air and earth were tinged with beautiful excitement (maybe it was that sip of Pisco Sour I was peered into before lunch, or the coca tea I drank to help with altitude sickness). All I know is that I felt perfectly happy and natural, and Peruvian. We did model shots for the camera, sang, something not recalled, and viewed the surrounding landscape in joy. We saw flocks of green parrots at the end of the road and walked out into a field to smile at three farmers, using scythes to cut alfalfa.

Then, in the villas of Urubamba, I awoke to the trill of birds and the mid morning light of the sun through my bedroom shutters. From the second floor balcony off my room I stood and breathed the air tinged with the neighboring farmhouse fire. The hills rolled up and down in shadow and light, green and yellow. I saw animals in the farmyard and heard voices, warm language, imperceivable but true, in the nearby. The gardens of our villa were planted with honeysuckle, foxglove, jasmine and other beautiful flowers I didn't know, that fragranced the air like paradise. A whole five days of adventure stood before me and I was at pure peace with the condition.
(I have now attached the picture at the top that shows the view from my balcony!)

Actually being at Machu Pichu was a dream! It was however a tourist attraction, until the evening of our first day. We were tipped off that we should do our best to reenter the park after it had closed and have it to ourselves. We three sneakies did just this and with excitement and fear we got past the gaurdhouse and into the ruins of Machu Picchu at sunset. We were in the windswept summits of an ancient village, alone and out of breath. We were ALIVE! Until Jorge whistled us out and wouldn't even accept our pardones and 10 sole bribe

And at last! Our night in Cusco, on our wind down back to home. We left our tourguide at the main square and with chill in the mountain air, we entered the court to the center fountain. We watched the full moon rise accenting the cathedral towers. We spoke to peddlars in Qechuan and bought more trinkets. Then we spied a family from our hike up Waynapichu the day before. A 70 year old Colombian, his son, daughter and daughters boyfriend. Our friends! We joined with them and spoke for a half hour, exchanging email and words in eachothers language. We kissed them goodbye and walked up the hill to the Monasterio, up the hill on Peru's streets, among Peruvians, with Spanish sounds and words around us and feelings of contentment and joy! Viva el Peru!