The Suisse Family Robinson

I was on a mission to figure out what 3-D movie was at Disneyland that starred Michael Jackson. I remember seeing it on a family trip to Disneyland when I was 4 years old. After searching the IMDB and thanks to YouTube, I discovered it was Captain EO and all about how Captain EO saved the universe from an evil queen by singing and dancing. The short film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and screenplay by George Lucas. The full version is posted on YouTube but I'm just going to put the main song from the movie. I love the part where the guards turn into MJ's dancers :) Fun stuff!

Reed read my blog tonight and asked why I hadn't written anything about Michael Jackson yet. I'm not sure why he cared because when I told him about the news he started laughing at me! Ah well, I still love him even when he makes fun of me.

So, my family went to Disneyland when I was around 4 years old. We saw a 3-D movie there that starred Michael Jackson as a captain of some spacefaring vessel and there was singing and dancing and a storyline that I don't remember. I was very confused about how a person named Michael Jackson could look and sound so girly. Later on I remember driving in a van with my family to a park and listening to an audio cassette of Michael Jackson's album Bad. My favorite song was Man in the Mirror and even at a young age I listened to the lyrics and found them to be very powerful. That song continues to be my favorite MJ song of all time and it started a love of his music. My dad bought the HIStory CD set and I listened to it so much that when I went away to college he let me take it with me!

I don't really know why he turned all weird and psychotic but I'm sure he had a legitimate reason. Bottom line is that a piece of music history would have been lost if Michael Jackson had not been born. Where would artists like Justin Timberlake have gotten their inspiration? Who would have invented moonwalking? Where would the 20-minute long music video be? I'm sure my family will make fun of me for posting this :) I would like to go on record as saying that I didn't cry when I heard the news, I'm not that crazy.

In tribute, here is my favorite song being performed at the 1988 Grammy's, complete with gospel choir.

Our 30-day free trial of cable ends this week so I was enjoying a chicky TLC show the other day. At least, I thought it would be enjoyable because most TLC shows are. But this one left me hyperventilating in my seat. It was called Twins by Surprise and, like the title would suggest, it was 4 stories of women who during labor discovered that they were delivering, not one baby but two! All of the women had no genetic markings for twins which made me hyperventilate even more. My only comfort- the reasons these women did not know that they were carrying twins until birth are avoidable. 1. Not having a home birth and home prenatal care (having home prenatal care would mean no ultrasounds). 2. Having a modern birth (one of the women delivered back in the day when ultrasounds were not available). 3. An unassisted home birth (um, who in their right mind would choose that?! This woman birthed footling breach twins with a very frantic husband as her only companion! Very dangerous). Whew, I'm breathing... I'm breathing... I'm breathing...

I asked Lara some questions about her Daddy-

Q: What do you like to do with your daddy?
A: Daddy tickles.

Q: What books do you like to read with Daddy?
A: Thomas the train! (Which is actually the Little Engine that Could but she thinks that all engines are Thomas right now).

Q: What songs do you like to sing with Daddy?
A: ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, Up and Down.

Q: Do you love Daddy?
A: *giggles and smiles really big*

Since Father's Day is tomorrow, my product post comes with a big thanks to Reed for doing 95% of the dish-washing in our home. Diamond Brite is a dishwasher detergent that does not contain any phosphates. Phosphates can cause a lot of damage to our earth's water ways so it's great to feel that we're helping save the environment by washing our dishes :) Dishwasher detergent is also one of the most common household cleaners to be ingested by small children. The ammonia and other chemicals in regular detergent can severely burn the throat if swallowed! Diamond Brite doesn't contain any harsh chemicals that can harm small children, so I can breathe easy when Lara wants to help load the dish washer.

My sisters and I have always been into musicals and in my mid-teenage years one of our obsessions was Chess: the Musical. This musical's composers are the guys from Abba and the lyricist is Tim Rice which is kind of an odd combination. The storyline has always been confusing to me so I really just like it for the music. The musical as a whole is mediocre but has some great numbers in it. Last night I discovered that WOSU Great Performances series was broadcasting Chess in Concert starring some really big names! Josh Groban as Anatoly, Idina Menzel as Florence, and Adam Pascal as Freddie. Since we were also big huge RENT fans plus Josh Groban fans, this was a big find! So, in honor of the days where Jamie, Suki, and I would clean the house while belting out songs from Chess, I am posting a video of Josh Groban singing the Anthem. It's not my favorite but it's probably the most powerful and emotional song in the whole musical.

To Reed:

Happy 4th Anniversary! It's been 4 years since we've been married, 5 years since we've seen each other every weekend, and approximately 11 years since we first met. So here is a list of things that I am glad for today-

1. I'm glad that you went on a mission. Without it I would never have been interested in you.
2. I'm glad that we wrote while you were on your mission. I love looking through them now and laughing! Remember your April Fool's Day joke?
3. I'm glad that I promised you a date and I'm glad that I reminded you of that date during Zion's Camp.
4. I'm glad that you were jealous when Aaron Lewis hugged me at the Institute dinner. You should have been jealous! You wanted a handshake instead!
5. I'm glad that we waited a year to get married. It was hard but in the long run it has made us stronger people.
6. I'm glad that I knew you as a friend before I liked you. I remember talking with you about Linkin Park among other random things. You might have been too quiet for me but you were a really nice guy.
7. I'm glad that you were willing to drive me and the gang around :) I remember us all getting lost on my 17th birthday when we were going to the skating rink!
8. I'm glad that you are a wonderful father. Lara adores you and Vivi just breaks out into smiles whenever you come into the room!
9. I'm glad that Heavenly Father blessed me with you in my life and that we are married for time and all eternity in the temple. Love you!

I played the organ yesterday for sacrament meeting and during prelude I thought to myself "Wow, I am so out of practice that I'm beginning to hear things! Those 16 pedal stops sound horrible!" I continued to play the opening hymn which sounded all right but as soon as I played the first chord of the sacrament hymn I knew something was really wrong. I looked over to my left and found the problem- there is a transposing dial on the console of the organ (which I usually check before I start playing) and it should be set to 0. But this time it was set to 4 half steps lower! The really bad thing was that this particular hymn was in the key of F major which is a pretty low key. While I'm playing the first verse I'm trying to decide what to do. There are a lot of factors that I have to consider- Should I wait and turn it between verses? Should I just suffer through the hymn being 2 whole steps too low? Can the basses even hit those low notes? The sopranos are probably thinking "What is going on?" because they're singing low A's. While I am thinking of all the scenarios I am messing up the first verse because it's hard to think through things and play at the same time. I decide to correct the dial between the first verse and the second verse and when I start the second verse I could hear the whole congregation do this weird glissando while they adjusted to the new key. The bishop almost got whiplash when he turned his head to look at me so he could figure out what was going on. Oh, the life of an organist. (This happened to a friend of mine except that he was playing Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains 2 whole steps too high.)

Sadly, my vacation week has quickly passed. Don't get me wrong, I love my work and I also love spending time with Lara and Vivi so I am glad that I get Fridays off during the summer!

I have a week off between Spring and Summer quarters and this year I'm not actually traveling for vacation. I get to spend my time with my little dears-

And...


Today is Tuesday and so far I have-

1. Gotten my butt kicked by yoga.
2. Read this book...And this book...both of which I highly recommend.
3. Did dishes. Ick.
4. Went to the pool and was very glad that I invested in one of these...5. Paid another $300 so that Murphy would stop peeing all over our living room.
6. Napped when miraculously both girls were asleep at the same time. Yay!

Items on my to do list-
1. Potty-train Lara.
2. Switch Vivi to the crib.
3. Go to the zoo.
4. Go back to the pool.
5. Show yoga who's boss.
6. Make more money so that the vet bills won't kill us. (Thanks to Melaleuca for giving us that opportunity).

My product of the week is inspired by my UPS rant from a few days ago. Because of our wonderful UPS delivery man I have been without my prenatal vitamins for a whole month. I have certainly felt a marked difference in my energy and all-around vitality. I have felt more tired and exhausted lately and not just because of Vivi and Lara. I don't have as much energy in a day as I used to. Let me tell you, I'm looking forward to receiving this month's order so I can start taking my vitamins again? Melaleuca's vitamins work so well because of a patent-pending process called Oligofructose compounding. To learn more about the process, visit www.melaleuca.com. Basically, Melaleuca's vitamins dissolve better in the digestive tract so that our bodies can absorb the nutrients and minerals more easily and efficiently. And nobody else's vitamins can say that! Other brands of vitamins can actually rob your body of the nutrients that they're supposedly supposed to give you. So hurray for Oligofructose compounding!