Holladay, Cottonwood, and Ponies

Soon after Brad and I were married, we moved into a side-by-side duplex in Holladay. It had a fenced backyard, an apple tree, green grass, 3 bedrooms, and one lovely landlord. Eileen, our landlord, lived next door.



Eileen was awesome. She was fun, witty, compassionate and loving. I stayed home to be a mom after giving birth to my first child, Norah. Initially, it was very lonely. Brad worked many long hours, he and his partner had just started Griffiths & Turner the year before. My work had been in Provo, so none of my work friends lived in Salt Lake. The church congregation in our area was small, and there were very few young mothers.Eileen became my confidant and friend. She had raised children and also knew what it was like to be married to an attorney. Soon I was calling Eileen my best friend.
Eileen had a daughter named Paula. While we lived next door to Eileen, Paula married a doctor named Glen. Paula was 41 when she married Glen, neither had any children but were anxious to start a family. Paula began fertility treatments soon after the wedding. By the miracle of in vitro fertilization Paula and Glen had a daughter, her name is Lauren. Eileen kept me apprised of all the heartbreaks previous to the successful pregnancy, so I was thrilled when Lauren was born.
Lauren turns 3 on Tuesday. Her parents threw a fun-filled party in her honor last night at their beautiful home in the Cottonwood area. They have an incredible spread nestled in the back of a quiet, shady cal-de-sac. There were pony rides, delicious snacks, lovely party favors, and lots of folks we didn't know. We don't quite run in the same circles as Paula and Glen, but everyone was friendly. There were older moms with young children at the party. This was comforting to me because there are very few mothers in my neck of the woods who started their families at 30. I suppose the demographics of northern Utah Valley and the east side of the Salt Lake Valley are a bit different.
The girls couldn't get enough of the ponies. I've often wondered what ponies think about. If they do think about stuff, what do they think about the birthday party gig?


Oh, to read the text on the photos, you will probably have to click on the photo to enlarge it, sorry.