Attn: fellow Charles Dicken's fans

I have been a major follower of Masterpiece Theatre since I was a teenager. My mom got me hooked to it. For those of you who are not aware of what Masterpiece Theatre is (it's actually called "Masterpiece Classic" now), it's a program that they have on PBS (for us, channel 79). It's on Sunday nights and they make wonderful and beautiful movies. They are called "made for tv" movies, so they aren't in theaters or anything. Anyways, starting this Sunday night, and continuing every consecutive Sunday for like a month, they are showing one of Charles Dicken's works "Little Dorrit." I have never actually read it or seen it but have read others by him. Here is a little summary of what it will be about:

Amy Dorrit's (Claire Foy) gentle spirit has never been dampened by the confining walls of the Marshalsea Prison she's lived in her whole life. Despite the dark shadow of debtor's prison, Amy lovingly cares for her father William Dorrit (Tom Courtenay), the longest serving inmate. A possibly redemptive light unexpectedly shines in the form of Arthur Clennam (Matthew Macfadyen), who has been left with the intriguing threads of a mystery after his father's death — threads that will intertwine his family and fate with the Dorrits. Clennam's exhaustive search for answers involves murder, fortunes gained and lost, the upper echelons and lowest dregs of society, and most surprising of all, a tender romance. Adapted by Andrew Davies (Bleak House, Pride and Prejudice), Little Dorrit, based on the book by Charles Dickens, is a sprawling story as timely as it is moving.

If you love Pride and Prejudice (with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth) and other English classics, you will probably like this. If your not familiar with Charles Dickens, his stories mostly take place on the dirty street of London but are always full of interesting characters. So it will be a bit more dark and grimy than Austen so be prepared. Anyways, hope you enjoy and if you are interested in learning more, just go to www.pbs.org!

A Big Day for Tay !!!

Well, at exactly 6 pm tonight, Taylor turned 2 ! We had a great day together at D-land (I know, why go on his b-day, he still gets in free?). I figured I'd check out the crowd and see what other little kids had their birthday today...Ok, pretty much the whole world... it was beyond crazy. It's funny, I always plan ahead and attempt to get there right when it opens and every single time, ya, it never happens. So I got there at 11 and left around 2. It was a very quick trip but long enough to be ready to go home. Of course we went on Pirates (Yeah!) but spent most of the time at California Adventure where the crowd was much smaller. Tay mostly swam, or sprinkled, in the water area and for the first time, enjoyed getting sprayed in the face! It was fun to watch.
The trip home was quite entertaining as well. While hitting major traffic, of course, (ya, I always plan and attempt to leave before the dreaded 91 deadlock but you know... Ah, I hate the 91!), for the first time ever, I saw a car switch drivers! while driving! and then cross over like 4 lanes in 2 seconds. Insane.When we got home, the rest of the night was spent spoiling the heck out of him. We had some yummy Carl's Jr (Tay likes the chicken stars) and then had some Cold Stone. So Tay had a total of 2 ice creams and one cupcake today, all chocolate (or as he says, "dat dat.") But his favorite part of the day was getting his Jack Sparrow action figure! I was questioning whether or not he would be into it but he definitely was. He loves putting Jack's hat on and off and placing his sword in and out of his hand! He's only had Jack for not even 24 hours and has already lost his "effects" (what Pirates call weapons and such) a couple times in our front yard grass! Anyways, we had a blast celebrating his special day with him.
We also had a little party, Pirate themed of course, for him last Sunday with my family. He got lots of great gifts and had lots of fun with everybody. Taylor is also really into shoes right now, any kind of shoe, my shoes, girl's tap shoes (from the white house), flip flops, whatever. So he got a lot of shoes for his birthday. He loves to play in water so my mom gave him a pair of red Mickey Mouse boots, which will be perfect for Washington too. We attempted to make the Cafe Rio burrito thingys and they turned out pretty dang good. Instead of a cake, I decided to go for cupcakes. So we had a great party and I had a blast planning it.

We love Taylor and look forward to watching him grow up! He is such a cute and funny little boy who lives for swords, boots, and chocolate.

Close Encounters of the Disney kind...

He loved them, especially Tigger! They were buds.

My pictures of you...

Here are a couple of new pictures to show what we have been up to lately:

Making Valentine's Day cookies with Grandma and Grandpa

Tay's curly hair

Tay's new obsession is building a "Pirate Cave" in the living room

Riding the turtle with Grandma and Grandpa at the San Diego Zoo

"Homey-G"... Taylor loves to wear my hats, shoes, and sunglasses all day long around the house!

And he loves umbrella's and to help hold them- that's perfect because we'll be using them a lot in Tacoma!

Watch out for Captain Taylor Porter!

Us with some cute bears...

Tay modeling his glasses while in line for Toy Story

On the bridge at D-land

Taylor all of a sudden has started to say a bunch of words. One of them is "wa-wa" (water) so now it's water 24/7. Everywhere we go, we look for water, and of course, pirate swords...

The Song of the South-Tales of Brer Rabbit

Taylor's new favorite video on you tube has become the "Tales of Brer Rabbit" from Walt Disney's "Song of the South." It's got the wonderful song "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah" in it. If you haven't seen it, it is great, a real classic. I remember watching it when I was little! Uncle Remus tells the story of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox in hopes of teaching the lesson that you can't run away from trouble. It is actually what the ride Splash Mountain at Disneyland is based on. I love children's movies and books etc that teach valuable lessons like this, which is one of the reasons I like Dr. Seuss so much. Sometimes it's a lesson that adults need to be taught as well. I often wish I could run away from my troubles! Anyways, Taylor loves it- we usually watch it after his bath every night. Towards the end of his bath he always says "Hmm Hmm," which signals that he is ready to get out. Again, if you haven't seen Song of the South, "Hmm Hmm" is what the hummingbirds and bumblebees say to Uncle Remus when he is looking for the blue bird on his shoulder. Taylor also gets a kick out of Brer Bear when he gets the buttons and tail ripped off him. It's hard to explain, you'll just have to watch it.

The Getty Villa

So, we have been doing a lot of excursioning the last couple weekends. We figured we better see all the amazing and beautiful places in southern california before we leave. Even though I have lived here most of my life, there are so many places that I have never been to but have always wished to see. The Getty Villa is one of those spots. It is in Malibu, right next to the ocean. Take a look:

The Getty Villa is home to an extensive collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. It is modeled after the Villa dei Papiri, a Roman country house in Herculaneum buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Here is the Peristyle located just outside of the museum.

One of the hallways in the Outer Peristyle. I loved the Corinthian columns that lined it.

The Romans painted the walls inside of their houses with decorative motifs to give an illusion of being outside with nature.
One of the two bronze sculptures at one end of the pool- it is a replica of the real piece of art found at the Villa dei Papiri.

The Inner Peristyle

The Marbury Hall Zeus. It was found on the grounds of the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, Italy in the late 1700's. Really wish I had this in my house!

Taylor fighting the Roman's with his favorite thing in the whole world right now, a sword.

Taylor and mom


The boys chillin' by the pool in the Outer Peristyle


Trying to get a family picture and again, failing to get a decent one. Oh well... hope you enjoyed the tour and hopefully got a little taste of the ancient Roman world.

Tacoma, Washington!!!

We FINALLY found out where we will be moving this summer! We are very excited to be moving to Tacoma, Washington this summer! It was one of our top choices and is close to some of my family and pretty close to Boise where Sonny's family is. We visited there in December 2007 when Sonny did an externship there. We stayed on the air force base and I remember two things about it: lots of rain and trees! I think the rain will take a little getting use to but it is also near the ocean which I am exstatic about. I know, I know, it's not like the beaches here but it's still the ocean! I know that we are really going to love it there! I think Sonny is a little disappointed though that he won't be able to tell his friends that he will be living in Hawaii...