I touched a Llama!

This year we attended the Holi Festival at the Hare Krishna Hindu temple in Spanish Fork, Utah.

Little bit of background. ...

Celebrated in India (and Utah) each year the Holi festival commemorates the victory of good over evil. This is brought about by the burning and destruction of the demoness named Holika. This was enabled through unwavering devotion to the Hindu god of preservation, Lord Vishnu.

Holi got its name as the "Festival of Colors" from Lord Krishna, a re-incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who liked to play pranks on the village girls by drenching them in water and colors.

The festival marks the end of winter and the abundance of the upcoming spring harvest season.

We throw our colors and dreams into the air and the God of Spring takes them.

It was an interesting and fun experience. We went with a couple friends early in the morning to save our spot. We bought our "colors" and walked around the temple grounds until the festivities started. We went inside the temple and watched men play their instruments and chant. The tune was stuck in our head all day! People danced, clapped and jumped around; once the ground started to shake we decided to leave. This is our group outside the temple.
This is the "before" picture when there was only a few people there.

Zach was so excited when he got feed one of the llamas. I on the other hand watched Amazing Race recently and was to nervous that one would spit on me, I stayed behind the camera.

We picked our spot on the large grassy knoll and enjoyed lunch together before the crowds of people arrived. Taking in the warm sunshine of spring and having fun with our friends. Then HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of people came! It was insane!!! We became so tightly packed sitting on the grass that no one could move. All the brother (minus 1) found us so we took a little family picture. Hi Mom!
We got a little restless sitting there so long that we already started playing with the chalk we bought. We watched women dance for us and were told the story of the Holi festival. Then with a large countdown and many screaming people the color throwing began! Within seconds of throwing there was large enough chalk cloud to block out the sun! We continued to throw chalk blindly until we all ran out, the dust settled and people reappeared.


We finished off our evening with a LONG shower and met up later for a bonfire. Utah has finally started to see warm weather and we decided to take advantage of it. Never in my life did I think I would be excited for 50 degree weather. Oh Utah, what have you done to me?!?




HAPPY SPRING!
Love,
The Lymans

ps.... I'm still finding purple dust everywhere.

Going Private

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Hope everyone is having a great week!

Adventures with a little t

No, this isn't my child, but she was a huge part of my life for the last few years. Typically this blog serves as keeping my parents and loved ones updated on our current events but this is also my journal of sorts, so I write about everything. Lately I've been taking several trips down memory lane and realized that one day those memories are gone and I have no record of them.

So today we are blogging about my fun adventures with a little girl named T.

I first became her nanny when she was only 6 weeks old. I remember the first night I came over to meet her parents they handed me this little pink bundle, and my heart instantly melted. She was so tiny and so beautiful. I couldn't believe they trusted ME with such precious cargo. When T was tiny she was a bit of a pill to put to bed. Everyday I wrapped her up in the "caterpillar blanket" and rocked her to sleep and once she was out I would carefully attempt to put her in her crib. Within seconds of me walking out of the room, T would begin to cry and wanted to be held all over again. Most afternoons I just let her fall asleep on my chest because it was the only way I could get T to sleep for more then 30 minutes. Secretly I loved those little cuddle sessions and wished she would sleep for days so I could hold her just a little longer.

Once T started crawling she was all over the place! Getting into everything and always making me laugh. T didn't really like the bouncer very much though. I don't know if it is because she loved to explore or if she just didn't like not being able to see me while I washed dishes. Our days were pretty simple in the beginning. T woke up, we changed her diaper, made her breakfast while we watched Wonder Pets, cleaned her face and sang songs while she giggled in her high chair. Sometimes we would go for a walk or see what the neighbor kids were doing before T needed a nap.

Every week we went to Gymboree class and T loved it! She couldn't talk yet but I could tell how much she loved to crawl around and play with the other kids. I have to admit, T was the cutest kid of all! I loved watching her learn about the world around her. I could tell right away what a smart kid she would be. T intently watched her surroundings learning everything she could, when other kids were blowing bubbles in their own spit.

T-bird, makes the BEST faces! I love this picture because it shows just how fun she is! T had a face for every occasion. I wish I could have caught them all on camera.

I did catch a lot of T growing up on camera though. She was my favorite model. SO PHOTOGENIC! I had too much fun taking her to the park and having our own personal photo shoots. We even did a couple shoots in the living room and I'm sure her Mom loved the photos too. These are some of my favorites....

One of the living room shoots in the tutu dress. Look at those eyelashes!
Playing around in Gymboree

Christmas Pictures in the park right after you learned to walk.Some favorite memories...
This is T with her very first cupcake, I think. T LOVES sweets! This kid can eat sugar all day and not think twice about it. It was always easier to get her to eat fruits then veggies.
No need to worry about my finger, I survived with all digits intact.

This picture is from the first time my brother and I took T to Knotts Berry Farm. Of course it is tradition for my family to ALWAYS get a funnel cake whenever we go. We decided to include T in our little tradition and she loved every minute. Fearing that her parents would kill me for loading her up with greasy, powdered sugar heaven I only gave her a little bite. I didn't realize that she would love it so much and beg for more! I decided to give her the healthy option and to dip her little puff treats in the jam. I couldn't give them to her fast enough!

T and I frequently visited all the parks in the OC area. She loved something different about each park. Feeding ducks, playing on the swings, and watching the animals in the zoo were some of our favorite activities.

Alright that about ends it for this trip down memory lane.

Tune in next week for another fun adventure.

6 months already!?

Where has the time gone? This Friday will mark the half way point of our first year of marriage. CRAZY!

March has been a busy month for us

Zach is about half way done with paramedic school, I can't tell you what a happy thought that is. This week is finals and then time for a little break. I wish we were going to CA to enjoy the warm weather but alas, we both still have to work.

I started working for Heritage Makers, they make really fun stuff! You can check me out at
www.storybookingwithsara.com

Last week I had a horrible Kidney infection and was in WAY to much pain. I dealt with it for a few days but finally had to go to insta care and get some meds. They started kicking in a couple days later and now I'm feeling much better. I'm still on antibiotics for another week but I'm happy the pain is gone.

We were asked to speak in church on Sunday. Zach did AMAZING as usual, and I spoke too fast and tried not to pass out. Overall I'd say it went well. :)

Last weekend we went to the IMAX theater and watched Alice in Wonderland. It was awesome! Then on our way home got lost in Ikea for a couple hours. It was fun dreaming of decorating our new place. I've been watching too many home makeover shows lately.

That's all folks.

I love my daddy!

He sends me the BEST "care packages" now that I'm out on my own!

Thanks Dad! I'm so lucky to be your daughter! :)