Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! 
I'm going to take my kids to the Church History Museum in Salt Lake.  They currently have a "hands on" exhibit of the Book of Mormon and I'm dying to see what they do.  I'm especially wondering if there will there be arms for us to cut off.  But I suppose that would make it a "hands off" exhibit, so maybe not. 
Anyway, for my birthday this year I am sharing a Christmas song arrangement I did a while back, a medley of We Three Kings and Amazing Grace.  It's one of my most favorite things I've ever written, and I'm quite partial to my own work :).  I've thought of a lot of ways to go about sharing it, and I settled on uploading it to the web (Scribd.com) and allowing people to download it.  It works when I try it, but please let me know if it doesn't for you.  I'm posting it to Facebook too but you're kind of my test group.  Take it as a compliment. 
Below is the explanation of how the song came to be.  I've also uploaded this to Scribd, but thought it would be a nice touch here.  Above all, have a very happy my birthday!


Guide Us to Amazing Grace: The Background


When I was eight months pregnant with my first baby and during a surprisingly sound sleep, I had a very vivid dream in which I was at a music conference where a man was playing the piano. It was very noisy and I had a hard time hearing the piece, but as I sat in my chair leaning forward to focus, I realized it was a blend of We Three Kings and Amazing Grace.

After I woke up, I thought about the two songs and how appropriate they were together. The reason the wise men were seeking the Christ child in the first place was because He is the source of pure grace and redemption! Of course Amazing Grace was their quest! As I worked to merge the songs, I felt that the melodies meshed together wonderfully. The original verses of "We Three Kings" outline the wise men’s gifts and their symbolisms. That didn't really go with the search for grace that I wanted to portray, so I wrote original verses to tie the meaning of the two songs together. The choruses fit beautifully with only minimal chord structure changes, and the words flowed together easily. The end result excites me more than words can tell.

I originally arranged “Guide Us to Amazing Grace” for SATB, and added an SSA version because I usually sing with women. My sister then asked for an SAB arrangement for her choir which for some crazy reason had about twice as many women's voices than men's. After a few years of not quite knowing what step to take next, I realize that the state of the worldwide web is such that it may be the perfect vehicle to share my song with whoever may want to use it.

Today is my birthday. In celebration, I would like to offer my song to the world. If you want to use it for church or school or family or anything, please do. Make as many copies as you need. Share it with your friends. I have the song (SATB, SSA, SAB, plus a separate piano accompaniment) on Scribd.com under “Guide Us to Amazing Grace” in a PDF file version. If you would like a clearer copy, please contact me at PaigeRLMoore@gmail.com. I will send you the mus version (currently, scribd.com does not support mus), and a link where you download FinaleReader, a free music-reading software program. My greatest wish is that the song will enrich your hope to guide you to amazing grace.

Paige Levanger Moore

1 September 2011

Family Pics 2011

My brotherinlaw Spencer recently took some Family Pictures for us. He's cool like that. Although he did say that our family was the hardest group of people to do.  Elijah just wasn't into it.  Here are some of my favorites! Oh, and if anybody is looking for some free pictures while he figures out how to be a photographer, he might want to talk to you :)

Not just reading... PERFORMING

Miriam has totally caught onto reading over the past few months. It was with Dick and Jane that she really figured things out. She had gotten to the point where she was reading most of the stories without help, then one time she was saying wacky words that I didn't recognize at all. I looked at what she was reading and said, "Honey, you know that word," meaning, "Quit goofing off and read it right." "But Baby Sally's saying it, Mama, and she can't talk very well." I but had to laugh. Sure enough, she created a different voice for every character. Jane talks high, Mother talks higher, and Father is deep. Dick is kind of like a beach bum hippie (kinda like Shaggy on Scooby Doo) and Sally starts all words with "N" (kinda like Scooby and the R thing he has going on). It kind of gets annoying, especially when Dick and Sally talk back and forth for two pages, but I'm totally impressed with her ability and desire to not only read the words but to own the characters. When she's tired, though, she tells me "I'm just going to read it all regular." Which she pronounces "reg-lee-ar." Gosh I love this girl! Anyway, here is Dick and Jane as performed by Miss Miriam. I looked for a story where the characters switch off pretty often so as to highligh the vocal personalities. I chose the one where Tim the teddy bear falls into the construction hole but (don't worry) the bulldozer brings him back to Sally. The first time we read this one it was kind of emotion. Remember, this is a pretty darn empathetic girl we're working with here.

When she saw I had quit recording she was a little worried that the story hadn't yet been resolved (refer to the previously mentioned natural abundance of emotionality). So we filmed the rest of it just in case you're trying to figure how exactly it is that Tim returns to Sally's loving arms.

Tootsie Rolls

I have been much more cute and creative with Miriam's hair lately. It helps that her 1970s-little-boy-bowl-cut has grown out quite lovely. My hair interest might have started when she took ballet last fall and I had to have an "updo" for her. See, for myself, it was pretty fancy to put a barette in rather than just leaving it down. Then I started putting cute little braids in to hold my hair back. Then with working with Miriam's hair, I've gotten suprisingly good. I have found it is most important to have something to do with the top of her hair, then to take it back into ponies. If I just do the ponies, the front and top fall out and are in her eyes. My cousin Eve (actually she's my cousin's wife, but I claim her) taught me how to do this cute little thing on top. We call them Tootsie Rolls and we love them. Miriam adores all the attention that she gets when she wears them and it's so nice to be able to keep her hair out of her eyes. We do these every other day at least. Anyway, I check out www.cutegirlshairstyles to get ideas, and I sent a little how-to to CuteGirlsHairstyles because I constantly get the "how do you do that?" and it would be nice to give them a place to see how I do it. But I haven't yet heard back yet, and since I already have the writeup and pictures, I figured I'd pass it along!

TOOTSIE ROLLS

Time requirement: 10 minutes
Materials needed: rat-tail comb, spray bottle, rubber vands if finishing into ponies

1. Partition off a thin section in the front. Wet down and divide into two.
2. Take one side and cross it over then under the other like you're tying a shoe.
3. Go over and under once more with the same strand.

4. Go over and under twice with the other strand.

5. Slowly cinch the hair down. The twisted part will go underneath the tunnel formed by the roots of the hair.
6. Pull tight to finish.

7. Continue with the second Tootsie Roll.
8. And as far back as you want.
9. You can stop here and wear it down.
10. Or continue into ponies.
11. Or add twists, braids, etc.

I find it is easier (and stays better) to work with damp to wet hair. Smaller portions also work better than bigger ones.

Thanks to my sister Erin for taking the pictures, and to Miriam for sitting through it (my favorite shot is her playing her Leapster. VERY common hair-doing activity), and to my niece Adelle for posing with the twisties. This is Miriam's favorite way to wear it right now because she likes to shake her head back and forth and hit her face with the braid ends. Whatever floats your boat. But I feel like a COMPLETE SUCCESS when we do these because she looks so good and everybody knows that her Mama did it for her. YAHOO!

Real Life Commercials

This is a shot of Miriam washing her hair in the bathtub tonight.

After perfecting the quaff, she turned to me and pronounced "I call this one the Santa Claus." She's thinking of opening a beauty salon if anybody is interested in a 'do.

And now Eli's turn.

"It's a pillow. It's a pet. It's a pillow pet."

TRUCKS

My boy Elijah loves trucks. Oh boy oh boy. He loves watching big ones, he loves playing with small ones. He can sit and watch a ten minute youtube video of a garbage truck on its route without moving a muscle. "Truck" was one of his very first words but it took me a surprisingly long time to realize that DRRRRR meant truck. DRRRRR has evolved greatly and now most everybody understands that he's saying "truck." So for Christmas, Santa excitedly purchased a big old bag of matchbox-type cars, along with some track and other sundry truck accessories off of ksl.com. I wrapped up the bag nice and tight and stuck it clear under the guest room bed in the basement, because it was kind of heavy for the top of the shelf that Santa is using for the rest of his stuff. Imagine the joy and excitement that Eli felt in his heart when his random poking around under large objects finally resulted in a huge bag of TRUCKS! HOLY MOLY! I wish I could have seen him find the bag and realize what was in it. Instead, I only saw the utmost radiance around his face after he dragged the bag (and it's not light) to the bottom of the stairs and started unloading it. OH WHAT A FIND! "Can you believe this, mom? Somebody left a huge bag of trucks under the bed down here! I'm sure glad I looked because WOW these are just sitting there doing no good! Aren't you glad I found them?" Please note also the record amounts of snot this boy sports. When he was in the hospital with RSV at 6 weeks, the nurses said he had the snot production of a 2 year old. Now that he's almost two, that has multiplied accordingly. I wish I had taken the camera downstairs with me because once there, I saw that he was taking the cars out one by one and sorting them by type. To his right he has lined up all the van-type/big trucks. On one of the stairs he has the trucks with Sesame Street characters. I told him to help me clean them up and he could go show one to dad. Surprisingly enough, he did it right off. And ran as fast as he could to show his new car (he chose a crane with Bert driving it) to dad. I think Santa made a darn good choice! And Christmas morning will be a HIT!

My recent project

I mentioned that we went to Mexico this April. GREAT TRIP. And it's even greater the farther we get from it because you kind of forget the hard parts (fitting in naps, the torrential rain, the freaking hot sun, two sick kids on the airplane back home etc). Brent's parents paid for the whole thing, and took Brent's two brothers and their families as well. So for Christmas, I decided to document the trip in a scrapbook. I have finally finished and I am quite proud of the result! I'm quite certain that my parents.in.law don't read my blog (if you do, Ron and Judy, you can pretend to be surprised on Christmas) so I'm going to post some of my favorite pages for your viewing enjoyment.

This is the only photo series that has all four grandkids. It made me laugh.

This is the right hand page of the Chichen Itza spread. Please note that the Chichen Itza main temple will go across the whole book. Pretty cool, I know.

I loved the beach in Mexico. By far my favorite.

And this is the cover. Oh I'm excited for the final book to come so I can see it in print!

My foray into couponing

Last year at this time I got into couponing. It started with a seminar by the Grocery Guru and just snowballed from there. For a while I would take the coupons from our paper then go buy two more at the Holiday down the street and spend a couple of hours stapling, cutting and filing new coupons, purging the expired ones, and scouring all the couponing websites for the best deals at all the grocery stores. It was fun. And I got some really good deals. But it really did take a lot of time. And I was always thinking "oh I have to get to this store and I have to make sure I have these coupons and I have to update my coupons to make sure I have the most current ones etc etc etc." And it took so much time to make the list and get my coupons in order and shop for the best best deals that I didn't make my weekly menus and shop for those. And then there was the times that the thing I went for was sold out because everybody else had the same coupons and the same great deals as I did so I would be kind of antsy needing to find another great deal because I didn't get the one great deal and ARGGH. I would end up with some great cheap food but no meals. And no gumption to create meals because I had spent so much energy on obtaining the food. So the grocery couponing kind of settled out of my favor. But don't worry because I haven't given up on coupons altogether! I found that I could get FABULOUS deals on shampoo, conditioner, body wash, makeup, toothpaste, floss, medicines, etc at my local Walgreens. Seriously, I have so much of this type of stuff for virtually free that now I don't even get it unless it is free. I have tons. At least two years' worth and that's not exaggerating. And diapers! Not free, but a lot cheaper than Costco, which is where I was buying beforehand because it was the cheapest I could find. And the good thing about shopping the Walgreens deals were that there were just a few items a week and I could prepare beforehand. So now I don't cut all my coupons when I get them. Which is nice because instead of buying more papers I just asked the neighbors if they would pull their coupons for me. And then I just file them away and when I check my hip2save.com weekly Walgreens list, I just get out the file of the date of the coupon and see if I have it. And I rarely print coupons unless it's for multiple dollars... like on a dvd or diapers. Yeah, it takes a little time but nothing like the overwhelmingness I felt before. And my Walgreens is close (which is why I chose Walgreens over RiteAid or other stores with similar ads)... we frequently walk in good weather and the cashiers all know me and my kids and ask about them when I go without them and ask about me if Brent for some reason stops in without me. It's kind of embarrassing but I'm okay with it. And thankfully I've done it for long enough that I don't have to sit and think and figure for a long time to "get" the deal. And even more thankfully I've done it for long enough to see that the same deals really do keep coming up so if I miss it I don't feel as sad. What I've really gained, though, is just knowing that there are DEALS. If you do this and this you can get this. And I'm much more aware of things like that. For example, I noticed that at Burger King you could get a Whopper combo meal for 2.99 on Wednesdays. Cool. Then I got some BK coupons in the mail and one of them was buy a Whopper combo meal and get another Whopper free. So I went on Wednesday to get my combo meal plus free Whopper for dinner when I notice that on the same sheet of coupons I can get a kids meal for 99 cents with the purchase of a combo. So I added that on top of it. And then got an order of crown nuggets for the kid who wasn't getting the nuggets in the kids meal. SO I ended up with two Whoppers, a drink, fries, two orders of crown nuggets, kid fries, a kid drink, and a kid prize for $5. I was excited. And most of what it took was just being AWARE of the deals and the coupons. I do love seeing people with binders of coupons because I knew exactly what they're doing and how much fun they're having doing it. But I'm glad I've toned it down and am more moderate in what I do than before. Because I still save a lot of money. And I feel a lot calmer in my heart. And there's no coupon for that :)

Holiday home cookin'

Halloween has been a lot of fun this year. My kids go crazy when they see halloween decorations on people's lawns, and OH they love the candy. This past week I have had a lot of fun making Halloween Dinners. Here's a sampling :)

1. Ghostly Shepherd's Pie. I think these ghosts are SO CUTE! They would have been even cuter if the mashed potatoes were a little more mashy, but whatever. Miriam also made ghost cupcakes for dessert for the same meal. Elijah liked them better prior to the cooking.

2. Jack O'Lantern Pot Pie. Miriam liked eating the eye piece slice.

3. Bone rolls. They didn't really turn out as "boney" as they were in my mind, but nobody seemed to mind. We dipped them in soup. I LOVE SOUP IN THE FALL!

Miriam got pretty into the at-dinner picture taking. There is a whole series of me eating this entire dinner. Seriously, there's probably 40 pictures documenting the meal. This is an awesome one of me. I thought I looked cute when I winked, but apparantly I don't.

I started taking some of the other side of the table and got this shot. I was looking at the image thinking "GOSH THAT'S A GREAT ONE" when Brent turned the camera he had to show me what they were laughing at... me winking. Oh well, at least it produced a good picture.

And here's the whole family as we currently stand.

I hope your halloween has been DELICIOUS ;)

Where in the world?

Today Miriam, Elijah and I were at the Conservation Garden Park looking at plants to combine into my park strip. The Turkish Speedwell are doing good, but not thriving quite like I'd like them to. Anyway, I could not find anybody to question and was looking at some pre-planted potentials. I turned and saw Miriam running up the ramp that was behind me. I walked over to her, realizing with each step that Elijah was nowhere in my sight. I went back to the pre-planted tables where I knew he was with me and nothing. I went up the ramp and nothing. I ran partway down a pathway or two and nothing. I sent Miriam down one way while I took another and nothing. I still couldn't find anybody working there to ask for help (but positively didn't have to tell anybody that I'd lost my kid). "Don't worry, Mama," said Miriam. "I remember what he looks like." "Oh yeah?" This while running still, but quite interested to see how Miriam would describe Eli. "What does he look like?" "His face is... (grand pause here while she searches for the right word... and then finds it) ...funny. (Another pause, but shorter this time.) And he laughs." I laughed right out loud. And luckily not long afterwards we found that funny little face dancing and, sure enough, laughing on the rock beds. Being off the paths and trails, I knew he wasn't supposed to be there but I was so relieved to see him I didn't really care.

Boot-Scootin

When I was uploading pictures from my birthday I realized that some of these pictures were in fact in movie form! That makes me really happy because when we arrived at the venue that night, I realized my movie camera's batteries were dead. As a member of the Midvale Arts Council, I participated in some karaoke contests this summer due to lack of a lot of other participation. After 50s night and 80s night, Miriam asked if she could sing on Country night. So she chose a song and worked it up. We did Alan Jackson's Tall Tall Trees. I am admitedly biased, but she did a fantastic job. I sang with her so she could stay "on," but I think she did a great job. AND she got 3rd place and won a $50 gift certificate to WalMart! Not too shabby!

The Prize

I mailed Britney's prize off last week and got a Facebook message from her today saying that she had received it. HOORAY cause the Midvale Post Office has a history of taking a really really long time to deliver stuff. Here is what she got.

And here's a list of the songs on the CD and some of why I included each one. Hmmm. I actually don't have the exact order that is on Britney's CD. But I'll give them to you in chunks.

The first bunch are piano songs. As a pianist, I know more piano songs than other types and I really enjoy piano songs.

1. 12 Variations in C by Mozart. This is the "Twinkle Twinkle" song but in classic Classical form. I love it and really should learn it.

2. Fantasie Impromptu by Chopin. This is an awesome piece that starts with a crazy fast section, then transforms to a slow melodic section and ends up with the fast one again. The middle section's melody was used in the 40s song "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows." I don't think I've ever heard that song, but my mom would sing it whenever I practiced this one. I played it my last semester at Boise State but sure can't any more. Again, I'll have to start practicing.

3. Rhapsodie on a Theme by Paganini. This is the song used in "Somewhere in Time." I played it in high school and is a crowd favorite.

4. Claire de Lune by Debussy. This is also a very popular one used at the end of "Ocean's Eleven," when they're watching the Bellagio's fountains.

5. Reverie by Debussy. Debussy was a composer during the early 20th century. He wrote music to sound like the impressionistic paintings that were popular at the time (think Monet). This piece is one of my favorites. It's not as popular as his Clair de Lune, but I think it's equally as pretty.

6. Prelude in C by Prokofiev. I played this at Ricks the first semester I started studying music seriously. It is one of my favorite styles of pieces: a very busy background with a slower melody over the top of it. I've never heard it anywhere but myself playing it, but if it were up to me, it would be much more popular.

7. Winter Wind Etude by Chopin. I loved this piece upon first hearing it when I was at Ricks. While I've tried to play it, I've never spent enough time to get it past the first few measures. Oh well, I can still listen.

The next section is vocal/opera. I had a hard time in school appreciating classical vocal music. Then I realized that it's like any other style of music... you just have to find the pieces that call to you and then you can totally appreciate it. I didn't ever study vocally nor was I in many choirs in college, so unlike the piano ones, I haven't learned to love these through practice, just listening.

8. Wachet auf from Cantata 140 by Bach. I don't know where I learned of this piece or why it calls to me, but from the first phrase I feel peace. Don't know why, because the words are in German and mean "Wake up!"

9. Barcarolle from Les Contes d'Hoffman by Offenbach. This is the opera that was in the beginning of "Life is Beautiful." Fantastic movie doing a fantastic job of incorporating opera music.

10. O Mio Bambino Carro from Gianni Schicchi by Puccini. Again, I don't know where I learned this piece but I love it. I think Sarah Brightman does a version of it.

Last chunk is orchestral music. Again, none that I've played but many that I love.

11. The Moldau by Smetana. I was at Ricks (living with Britney) when I learned about this song in my Music and the Humanities class. I instantly loved it. It is an aural story that tells of the Moldau, a river which runs through what is now the Czech Republic. There is a "river theme," the river passes by a peasant wedding, moonlight on the river, little woodland animals, and arrives at the castle. I have shared this piece with lots and lots of folk, but it is one that should be listened to much more than it is.

12. Brandenberg Concerto #3 in G by Bach. I think Bach was a genius. When I was working, I always used ribbons when I played this song. It's such a bouncy song that the kids would run around and wave the ribbons and it was so happy!

13. Rhine Symphony in Eflat by Schumann. This is another piece written about a river. The funny thing about this one is that Schumann, being the moody and depressed musician that he was, tried to kill himself by jumping in the Rhine river. Not sure if the jump was before or after he composed this piece, but either way it's pretty funny. There are parts of this song that remind me of the soundtrack to "Willow," which I have seen a lot more often than most people.

14. New World Symphony by Dvorak. This is another classic. I'm not sure if the melody is from a spiritual or if the spiritual resulted from this piece, but the tune is the same as "Goin' Home." Love it.

There you have it. Since compiling this list, I've thought "OH I should have put that song on or OH I should have done that one." But maybe there'll be a volume ii.

And for some other birthday shots, here is Miriam and Brent performing a Scooby Doo puppet show for me. I don't think I've blogged about Miriam's undying love for all things ScoobyDoo yet. I'll save that for another day.

And here's one of Elijah and I. I love this boy!

And the winner is...

Britney!! By way of introduction, Britney is my dear friend with whom I was randomly assigned as roommates at Ricks College. Together we somehow survived homesickness, roommate drama, boy drama, lack of food, and school. We lived together in Rexburg for two school years. She went on a mission to Honduras while I was in Chile (and there's a hazy memory that we were in the MTC at the same time... but that might be just a dream). Afterwards, we both went to Utah State and always took Spanish classes together. She was in love with the way one of the teachers said "Ute and Payute." I never caught the vision, even after he repeated it numerous times, but I remember it to this day. Good times, good times. Britney married Brandon in May (I think it was May) of 2000 (so they don't have to count to know how long they've been married) and I was a bridesmaid. I still have the purpley/diamondy bead necklace we as bridesmaids wore. She currently lives in Idaho Falls area with her four girls, one in 2nd grade, kindergarten, then twin toddlers. And Brandon, of course.
The Happy-Birthday-to-Paige-Prize that Britney has won was inspired by Marika's comment and Ginger's follow-up. And dipping also from Eleanor Roosevelt. Yes, inspiration from Marika, Ginger, AND Eleanor! You can't beat that. A favorite quote of mine from Eleanor Roosevelt is "A day out-of-doors, someone I loved to talk with, a good book and some simple food and music. That would be rest." So to my favorite mother-of-twins, I am sending you REST! Even in Eastern Idaho, September is finally a great season for a day out-of-doors. For the someone I loved to talk with (loved here is used, I believe and at least when I say it, in the subjunctive tense meaning a wish or desire rather than in the past tense meaning the person is gone), you'll get a picture of me! For the good book, I am sending a pre-loved copy of Fannie Flagg's "Can't Wait to Get to Heaven." It is a delightful story that takes very little focus and brainpower, yet brought me such joy. You can keep it and read it, or pass it on if you've read it (or don't like it). For the simple food I am sending my favorite microwave popcorn, Pop Secret Homestyle. If you haven't tried this yet, you're in for a treat. Honestly the best popcorn ever. Well, maybe kettlecorn fresh from the kettle is better but even that's close. And for the music, I will openly admit that my knowledge of current music is pathetically woeful. My favorite song of the past year was Feist's 1-2-3-4, but the Sesame Street version. "1-2-3-4 monsters walkin' 'cross the floor. I love counting, counting to the number 4..." And that's not on iTunes. I know. I've checked. So instead of recent hits, your CD will be Paige's Favorite Classical Pieces. And there you have it. A day out-of-doors, someone I loved to talk with, a good book and some simple food and music. A recipe for rest if I (or Eleanor) has ever heard it.
Thanks to all who participated in my first-annual birthday drawing! It helped make my birthday wonderful.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my birthday next week. Hooray! I have always loved my birthday, even the years that it's been on the first day of school or in the first week with brand new college roommates. It's always been MY day. Even when things are just normal, like they usually are, they're a little more special because those things are on my birthday. When I see people walking around with a silly smile on their face I think "it must be their birthday." I don't mind the getting older part of it, either. I feel it gives me more clout and authority to say "mid-30s" rather than "20 something." Anyway, this year I'd like everybody else to feel as much speciality on my birthday as I do. So I'm having my first-ever drawing. I'm not quite sure yet what I'll give away as a prize, but if you would like to enter the drawing, simply make a comment on this post. On Wednesday, September 1 (my birthday), I'll put all the names in something or other and pull one out. That lucky person will get some lucky thing from me! I'm going to do the drawing on my birthday even though it may mean that it won't be an on-Paige's-birthday-present for you (of the 5 people that read my blog, only 2 live in Midvale). It's all about me, see, so this birthday activity will be for ME on MY BIRTHDAY. It's kind of like when I mail a birthday package or card to somebody else, I like to do so on the birthday of the person, so that I get to celebrate that person's birthday ON their birthday and to heck with when they finally get the thing. If it gets there late, they can pretend their birthday lasts longer. So, shout out a birthday message to me and get ready to win! Can't lose on this one. Sorry about the generic birthday pic, but I am currently in Boise and don't have access to my pictures. Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Family Pictures

We took family pictures back in April. I had the same photographer that Kelsey got for her wedding and I really liked her (www.laf-photo.blogspot.com). She could improve in time-related things (scheduling was hard, then we took pictures in April and I just got the disc now), but otherwise I thought she was great. Miriam was being an absolute pain. She is usually delightful, but HEAVENS she had issues. Kudos to Linnea's husband's doll antics for getting her to smile. Elijah deadpanned a lot, but I'll take that over the girl's scowl. He did smile, but he is trying to escape the family hug. Here are some of my favorites!