By Special Request: Silly Lily Turns 1 !

OK, all you impatient Silly Lily Club Members - here are my photos from The Big Day.

It was a very fun event - Lily was a trooper, as always, smiling and humoring us endlessly.

Anne probably has better shots, so please check her blog, too.

A Hoppy Easter it was

It was a Hoppy Easter, or "Wii-ster" as Bobby, Brandon and Lynn would call it, for us all!

The Hassan family celebrated Easter for the first time --- with us! I had fond flashbacks all day long of their very first American celebration: the Fourth of July at our house. I'm hoping that they don't think all Americans are INSANE, based on Jim Kelly a.k.a. "The D I GUY," bringing 1,000 presents out and then the resulting inevitable chaos and frenzy that that many crazy gifts brings. Also, Jake skipping around the yard dressed up in a giant white bunny costume added to the sur-reality of it all.

Kate and Neil joined us, too, which made the whole weekend very festive.

LOng Live the Kelly family and its love and insanity!!!

The Month of Lily

The administrators of this blog hereby declare April to be renamed "The Month of Lily." It is fitting, of course, because it will henceforth and forever be known as the month of Lily's birth.

This is Lily in her custom hot tub at the Kelly compound in early January 2009 (a.k.a. The Kitchen Sink).

I will be representing the Happy Valley Kelly klan at THE event of the year: Lily's first birthday celebration in Erie, PA the weekend of April 15th.

Aren't you jealous????

Luck O' the Kellys

With a name like Kelly, well, you must agree that we are pretty much legally required to go NUTS in honor of St Pat.

Just sharing the revelry!

a MUST SEE video

A friend of mine emailed me this video clip and it is so great I wanted to share it with all beloved happyvalleykellys fans.

It is a clip of a panel discussion recently at Harvard - the topic was basically living your religion. A 20-year-old Mormon student was invited to speak for the church members. I watched the entire clip (21 minutes) and was mesmerized! It is too rare to find intelligence and spirituality merged, but Rachel Esplin does it beautifully! I was moved to tears several times by her simple, powerful presentation. A must see for all Mormons and those interested in how a simple humble Latter-day Saint lives her religion!!!


Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

The First Annual Kellys' Panini THROWDOWN

Move over, Bobby Flay.

The Kellys, in fine Food Network form, held a Panini Throwdown last Sunday. Everyone brought their own panini grills and cooked up their favorite panini masterpiece. The, the surprize moment: we had arranged for our good friends Sylvia and Bob Taylor to come and judge the creations!

Meat Lover's Favorite: Matt Kelly's Marinated T-bone
Truest Panini Creation: Jake Kelly's Grilled Veggie Panini Sandwich
Best Presentation: Chrizelle's Apricot Chicken Skewers
Master Bob's Favorite: Amy's Parmesan Chicken Planks

A good (and delicious!) time was had by all!

YOUTUBE Mormon Messages

The impossible has happened: I just watched YouTube for the first time! (Note to self: Never say you are "never" going to do something - like say you will "never" watch YouTube!)

There is a file called "Mormon Messages" and it has some great videos on it.

I just watched several talks by Elder Uchtdorf - a true spiritual giant among us. My favorite is "Lift Where You Stand." Check it out at ww.youtube.com/watch?v=NoEO3pK4wN4.