mleballard & family

Where Can I Turn for Peace?

2012-01-26T22:12:00.008-07:00

Back in November, I received a last-minute invitation from my neighbor to go to the Mormon Women Project "Salon", a conference for women. I needed to go to Salt Lake anyway, so it worked out perfectly. I quickly made arrangements for my kids, drove with my friend to Salt Lake, stopped to run my errand at the Apple Store, and then we went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Because I hadn't planned on attending, I walked into the meeting without knowing anything about who the speakers were or what topics they would be covering.

The keynote speaker was an 87-year-old woman who slowly made her way up to the podium with her walker. If anything, she was slightly underdressed, and the delivery of her address was noticeably erratic. She started off by saying that she was supposed to talk about choices but had decided to talk about limitations, and then she was off on Hillary Clinton, Condeleezza Rice, Olene Walker, and women of influence. Although the speaker's physical abilities might have been on the decline, she was exuberant and witty. We heard stories about what a bad singer she was, assignments from a writing class she teaches, and about playing tennis with her brother. My attention was waning, not because she wasn't enjoyable, but because I could not figure out where she was going with her ramblings.

Then she began relating a long story about the oldest of her five daughters, who suffered from severe mental disorders and was later diagnosed as anorexic, bulimic and bipolar. But it was the early 1970s and information about (and treatment for) these diseases was not readily available. Her daughter had gone off to college in California, and they spoke with her over the telephone every Sunday. After receiving some letters from her, they became a little alarmed. And then one day they received a call from their daughter's friend, saying that the daughter was very sick and they needed to get there immediately.

The speaker, Emma Lou Thayne, decided to go to California by herself. The daughter was clearly overcome with some severe problems, and a visit with a psychiatrist landed her in the hospital. Emma Lou pled with him to let her take her daughter home. A medication was administered and she had thirty minutes to get her daughter on the plane. Chaos (and some miracles) ensued, and they boarded the flight and were able to fly home to Utah.

But the struggles were far from over. Her daughter's behavior was bizarre and dangerous and she was admitted to a psychiatric ward. Doctors didn't know what to do, and Emma Lou wondered how her daughter would ever live a normal life.

In the middle of this bleak trial, Emma Lou was serving on the Young Women's General Board, and she was asked to write a song for an upcoming conference. She sat down at her desk and easily wrote these words:

Where can I turn for peace?
Where is my solace

When other sources cease to make me whole?
When with a wounded heart, anger, or malice,
I draw myself apart,

Searching my soul?

Where, when my aching grows,
Where, when I languish,
Where in my need to know, where can I run?
Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?
Who, who can understand?
He, only One.

He answers privately,
Reaches my reaching
In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend.
Gentle the peace he finds for my beseeching.
Constant he is and kind,
Love without end.

My jaw just about dropped. This peculiar lady standing in front of me was the author of the hymn that had spoken to my soul and become so special to me. (If this isn't one of your favorite hymns, read through the words again. And then memorize the song so you can have the words with you when you need them.)

Music was added, the song was sung at the Young Womens conference, and later added to the LDS Hymnbook. At that point in the MWP conference, Ariel Bybee, a retired Metropolitan Opera singer, sang those beautiful words that have repeatedly come to my rescue and healed my pain.

Emma Lou Thayne pulled her message together and talked about making decisions. She counseled that we should stay in touch two ways: vertically with the Divine and horizontally with the human. And if we can stay right in the middle, we will be happy.

I was still a bit shocked by how that whole talk had turned out when Emma Lou Thayne came up to me as she was walking down from the podium. "In my next life, I want to be tall just like you. Are you a singer too?" How disappointing that I'm not. But I did thank her for writing one of my very favorite hymns and sharing that story with us.

Sometimes, when I am singing hymns at church, I find myself wondering what it was that prompted them to be written. What trials and challenges were the authors facing? (Sometimes I can't really focus on the words to the hymns at church because my kids are being so loud.) Sometimes I wish I were a good singer so I could walk around my house singing songs out loud instead of just in my head. And sometimes people invite us to things at the last minute and we are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

Passport Photo Fail

2012-01-24T19:27:00.008-07:00

I tried to take our own passport photos today. But when they are printed out as 2 x 2s, their faces measure 1/4 of an inch too large.

We'll try again tomorrow.

And tomorrow, we'll skip the green Kool-Aid for lunch.

It turns out that going skiing is a little like having a baby

2012-01-23T10:40:00.005-07:00

About five years ago, Steve declared that we were going to be a skiing family. It was a surprising announcement because Steve hadn't ever been much of a skier. I snowboarded a bit during my early college years, but I hadn't been on skis since I was twelve. (And the whole reason I switched from skis to a snowboard was because I wasn't a good skier.) But we live in Ogden and have world-class skiing right in our backyard, so Steve decided that we were going to be a skiing family.

I put off joining him and the kids for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I do not like being cold. Steve repeatedly assured me that once I had good gear, I would not be cold. A few years ago, Derrick worked at Snowbasin and had access to free guest passes, but I used the excuse that I didn't have snow pants or a good jacket. . . and there was also that problem that Adam was always sick. The next year I complained that it was too expensive. . . which is completely true, especially when you need snow pants and a ski jacket. Last year was supposed to be my year to finally go skiing, but I was out of commission.

I got snow pants and a good ski jacket and Monday was supposed to be my debut. But we ran into babysitter issues, Adam came down with a bad cough, and I wasn't feeling very well.

The stars finally aligned, and on Friday, I went skiing for Rachel's birthday.

Thursday night, I had some emotions that were strangely similar to the feelings I had exactly nine years earlier. . . the night before Rachel was born. We had spent most of January 2003 (and December 2002 . . . I was an impatient pregnant lady) waiting for our baby to come. But that night, I knew it was time. We had been to dinner with the whole Ballard Family in North Ogden. On the drive home to Logan, Steve asked me if I wanted to go to find a trampoline or some swings, but I told him we didn't need to. She was coming.

I was nervous and excited and had a hard time going to sleep. I knew it was going to be hard, I knew that it was going to be painful, and I knew there was no turning back. (Huge understatement. . . I was completely unprepared for Rachel's delivery.)

Fast forward back to Thursday night. . . I was actually a little embarrassed at myself for being so nervous about going skiing. But I knew it was going to be hard, I knew it was going to be painful. . . and once I borrowed skis from my friend, there was no turning back. What if fell getting off the lift? What if I couldn't keep up with my kids? What if I spent the day being miserably cold? And what if I never wanted to go back and crushed Steve's dream of being a skiing family?

But I didn't fall, I'm still much better than my kids, and I wasn't even cold. And skiing is a whole lot easier now than it was when I was twelve. (Hurray for awesome improvements in ski equipment.) I had fun with my kids. . . lots of fun. . . and I can't wait to go again.

(It should be noted that not only did Lucy fall getting off the lift once, she also fell off the lift. It was right close to the bottom and she didn't get hurt. Lucy is really good at falling off of things. . . bar stools, horses, the dock at Jenny Lake. . . but it actually looked more like Steve pushed her off.)

After that, we figured she was safer riding up by herself:

Rachel is a pretty good little skier:

And Lucy is still a bit wild:

Derrick brought Kaleigh up and joined us for lunch:

Kaleigh couldn't get enough of the snow. And I couldn't get her to stop eating it:

Steve kept seeing people he knew and they kept asking him if those were all his girls. (P.S. We'd claim Gracie any day.)

And back to my comparison of going skiing and having a baby. . . I came home tired and exhausted and didn't really want to get up out of bed the next morning. My body was so sore and it still hurts to walk down the stairs. But, just like having a baby, it was completely worth it.

I haven't been feeling old enough to have a nine-year old:

But then I saw the crows' feet around my eyes in this picture and it looks like I am aging faster than I thought:

What a fun birthday memory.

Thank goodness for health insurance

2012-01-18T22:26:00.007-07:00

2011 Ballard Family Health Insurance Claims

Steve: 9

Emily: 45

Derrick: 4

Rachel: 10

Lucy: 4

Adam: 24

--------------------

Total: 96

Sometimes I complain about the $1100 per month we pay in health insurance. But this really puts things into perspective for me.

I have these childhood memories of my mother spending hours and hours on the phone trying to sort out medical claims with insurance companies. We have health insurance from SelectHealth, and I haven't had one problem with them.

I'm actually a huge fan of SelectHealth. Not only have they provided our family with excellent medical and dental coverage, they have also really impressed me with their community involvement. Last year, SelectHealth donated $2500 to the Oasis Community Garden as part of their Select 25 awards program. That money went a long way in helping us at the garden, and it was pretty amazing to go to the awards luncheon in Salt Lake and learn about all of the other incredible groups they generously contributed toward. SelectHealth also sponsors lots of great activities like The Classic Race and Salt Lake's New Year Celebration: EVE. (And they even hooked me up with free entries to both. Can you say that about your health insurance company?)

I just found these fun pictures online when I searched for that link to The Classic.

Good times.

If SelectHealth is your health insurance provider, you should get online and register for My Health. You can access medical records, (including labs, imaging, pathology, and procedures) insurance claims, and more. It pulled up Steve's labs from clear back in 1999. Which is awesome.

P.S. It is ironic that Derrick is the healthiest member of our family (his four claims were for three dermatology appointments and a visit with the dentist). A few years back when we were applying for private insurance, he was the one who was rejected and deemed uninsurable, but they (BlueCross BlueShield, I think?) were perfectly willing to cover me. Bad pick.

Adam's New Hat

2012-01-15T23:21:00.003-07:00

Has everyone been to Little Cherry Blossoms on 25th Street? It's one of my very favorite businesses in Ogden.

It's the first place I go to buy hair bows for my girls, ties for Adam, and cute shoes for Kaleigh. It's the first place I go for a baby gift and the first place I go when Adam needs a potty break. (Not really, but that's probably what Carey thinks. Adam really likes her bathroom.) It used to be the first place I'd go after meeting with Derrick's lawyer. (His office is right across the street.) I just love visiting with Carey.

Carey writes a great blog too. (It covers all sorts of things. . . how to make felt rosettes headbands, a recipe for the perfect pie crust, how to force bulbs to grow in the winter . . . way more than just about kids' clothes.) Last month, she hosted a giveaway and I won a free boy hat of my choice.

Little Cherry Blossoms has these knit military hats for little boys that are absolutely adorable. You can see a brown one if you scroll down and look at the pictures she has posted with her giveaway. I figured that I'd be able to find some pictures of Adam wearing one, since we have purchased a few, but the problem is that Adam loses them. Apparently quicker than I can take a picture. I just love these hats, so when I won the giveaway, I knew exactly what I was going to pick.

I made the mistake of taking Adam with me, so my prize ended up being a free boy hat of Adam's choice. Little Cherry Blossoms is filled to the brim with darling kids clothes and accessories, including a bunch of charming hats for little boys. But as soon as Adam set his eyes on this beauty, there was no talking him out of it.

He put it on and wore it for two days straight. That means he wore it to preschool. And to bed.

And yes, he left the foil sticker on it. Derrick was so proud.

With my luck, this will turn out to be the hat that he never loses.

A Very Belated And Very Long Christmas Post

2012-01-14T17:53:00.015-07:00

I thought I had everything about Christmas all planned out . . . . but I didn't plan on Kaleigh locking the keys in the car on Christmas Eve (day).

Steve told me I really shouldn't post pictures every time we run out of gas and lock our keys in our car because then everyone can see that our life is a wreck. But rest assured, I don't post pictures every time we run out of gas and lock our keys in our car, so you'll never know how much of a wreck our life really is.

After trying to break into the car himself, Steve finally gave in and called the locksmith.

Even though Steve was the one outside vacuuming the car and Steve was the one watching Kaleigh, I was the one blamed for the key getting locked inside. It was my fault that we were locked out of our car because I have been trained by my father to have multiple spare keys. (I had only been driving what. . . three years before I met Steve, so I don't know why he thought he was exempt from the last eleven years of "training".)

Dad, please direct all future discussions about spare keys to Steve, so we can share the responsibility.

We went and ran all of our last-minute errands together with the kids. While we were at the mall, we took the kids to see Santa. Kaleigh slid right out of the stroller, cut ahead of everyone in line, and ran straight for Santa's lap. She was so delighted with herself that nobody did anything to stop her. (I was stuck back in line with the stroller and couldn't get to her anyway.) She told Santa she wanted a treat for Christmas. And it turns out he had one to give her. The rest of the kids waited patiently for their turn and asked Santa for a surprise (Rachel), something purple (Lucy), and a dog (Adam).

We went home, had a quick dinner, and let the kids open their presents from me (pajamas) and their presents from Steve (their favorite box of cereal).

The kids were bathed and ready for bed earlier than ever. We read a few Christmas books together and then Adam (who was most excited about everything) eagerly went to his room and fell sleep without any complaint.

Steve took the girls and went a little deeper into the Christmas story with the help of these new Bible videos that show the Life of Christ. (They are even more interactive on the iPad.) And then I started wrapping.

Steve made some preparations with this "half of a cow" that was on our counter. Rachel was not impressed.

Derrick came home from work and went to go to sleep and found his big Christmas present: a new mattress. He was so happy that he came right up and hugged me and Steve. (That doesn't happen all that often.)

We were all finished and ready for bed in record time (before 1:00 am).

I let the kids decorate the tree and I didn't move one ornament. That's why, if you look closely, you can see some interesting "ornaments", like a rubber shark halfway up the tree on the left.

Christmas morning was LOUD. (It didn't help that I woke up with a sinus cold.)

The kids broke through the streamers that were set up to keep them from sneaking into see their loot before everyone got up. Lucy said it felt a little bit like a spook alley so next year I will get red and green.

Derrick's present for Lucy was perfect- too bad they weren't from Santa.

Steve received a special pair of shoes from Rachel. He put them right on and wore them all day long. If you are lucky, you might get to see them in person someday.

Two things I wish I would have taken pictures of: all of the different outfits Kaleigh wore on Christmas Day and all of the food that Derrick consumed. For breakfast, he ate most of his box of Corn Pops in a big mixing bowl.

The big hit of the morning was the iPad. (I think Kaleigh is on her fourth outfit of the day in this picture.)

Everyone took their turn with it. . . I didn't get a chance to play with the iPad for a week.

All of the kids were being entertained by their electronics and everything quieted down. (Quiet enough for me to take a nap on the couch.) When I woke up, Kaleigh was still watching her birthday video. Over and over and over again.

I took five of these videos and I should edit them into one, but I don't want to take the time right now, so I here are my favorites.

We all wore adhesive mustaches to Steve's parents' house. On the way there, Lucy just about died laughing.

Aunt Kay came and brought big candy canes for all of the kids. And then she pulled a little surprise out of her bag. It's a shame I didn't get my camera out fast enough to get a video of the first song because it was the best.

After lunch and presents, we were back to our house to get ready for the big dinner.

Derrick told us he couldn't believe how many presents he had received for Christmas and reminded us how spoiled we are here in America.

These pictures really don't do it justice, but Steve cooked the most amazing prime rib I've ever had. He also whipped up roasted potatoes, asparagus, candied yams, and mashed potatoes. It was impressive. Especially when he washed all of the dishes. He is pretty amazing.

After Derrick ate dinner (his fourth huge meal of the day) it finally caught up to him. He went downstairs and tried to sleep off his stomachache while we opened presents upstairs.

And that was our Christmas.

P.S. The Christmas tree is down!

Being Sick

2012-01-10T23:19:00.010-07:00

I want to remember what it feels like to be sick so I can better appreciate my life when I'm healthy.

Being sick:

-Forces me to say more sincere prayers.

-Reminds me how happy I am to be finished with the pregnancy stage of my life.

-Is hard on my kids. And my husband. (Especially the husband.)

-Leaves me wondering what people did before the days of peppermint tea, ibuprofen, space heaters, and popsicles. (And super comfy memory foam mattresses.)

-Gives me another reason to love using text messages as a form of communication with my daughter. (She got sick first.)

It took me two days to get over it, but I am back to a warm welcome of dirty dishes, loads of laundry, (Steve actually had to go buy Lucy a new pair of tights on the way to school this morning) and ten million other things that I got behind on.

I might even take down the Christmas tree tomorrow. (Or I might not.)

Happy Birthday to Kaleigh

2012-01-02T21:03:00.004-07:00

Kaleigh watches this video at least twenty times a day and shows it to everyone who will watch it with her.

She also likes to "blow out the candles" until my phone is wet with spit.

California Part 3: The Saadehs

2012-01-02T18:26:00.007-07:00

It seems odd to be documenting this trip to California for Nicole's wedding without including any pictures of the bride and groom. And since I didn't take any, I stole this one off of Facebook. I will count on my photography friends letting me know if this is not kosher.

So here they are, Mr. & Mrs. Haynie:

Next, let me say that the Saadehs really know how to throw a wedding. You don't often see dancing like there was at the reception. I think most people under the age of 70 were out on the dance floor. I even got up to learn the traditional Lebanese dance.

The music was loud enough that it was a little difficult to visit with people. But that meant that we got ourselves (and our seven kids) invited to brunch the next day.

And, lucky for us, the Saadehs throw really great brunches too.

The fabulous hosts, Heba, Anthony, and Najib:

Najib and Heba have a beautiful backyard and the weather was finally perfect. The kids were absolutely fascinated with the lemon and orange trees. I sent them on a scavenger hunt to find something of every color, and they came back with tiny white, pink, red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple flower petals and green leaves. Such a stark contrast to what could be found in the dreary December weather we left behind in Utah.

All four Saadeh siblings (with little Anthony), George, Najib, Sana, and Nasseeb:

My dad served an LDS mission to Lebanon and spent a lot of time with the Saadeh family from 1972 to 1973. He and his companion had dinner with them once a week and their mother, Suad, tutored him in Arabic. My dad was also a guest at many, many birthday parties and some extra special family dinners. He says that Suad treated him as well as if she were his mother.

Three more of my third cousins, Yasmin Saadeh, Georgi Saadeh, Michel Karam:

Kacie Malouf, George Saadeh, me:

George & Lynette Saadeh (parents of the bride) and JTM:

Nasseeb Saadeh and Margaret Malouf King:

Gabby & Sana Karam, JTM, Zeina Akkawi, George Saadeh:

Isam Akkawi and daughter, Yara:

Me and Sana Karam (she currently lives in Saudi Arabia):

George, Najib, Sana, Nasseeb, Rebecca, Sydney, and Anthony:

Kaleigh marched right up to four-year old Anthony and told him he was cute and handsome:

The food was incredible. The spread honestly looked like something right out of a magazine:

Hummus:

Spanakopita:

Baba Ghanoush:

I believe this was a cooked Lebanese yogurt called Laban:

The best baklava I've ever tasted:

It's a shame I was busy monitoring seven kids and didn't get to relax and fully enjoy the food. I would pay big money for a piece of that baklava right now.

At the brunch, they celebrated Suad's 80th birthday with this delicious mango cake.

Suad, about to blow out her candles:

And as soon as they found out we had a birthday girl, they quickly transformed the second cake into a birthday cake for Kaleigh. It was so very kind of them:

The group shot, taken after Kacie and I left:

California Part 2: Balboa Island

2012-01-01T23:03:00.020-07:00

Day three in California was beach day. The weather was still a little cold and chilly so most of the kids changed out of their swimming suits and back into regular clothes. It was a big mistake and we learned our lesson: when going to play near water (regardless of the temperature) always dress kids in swimming suits. And bring towels. I don't know what we were thinking.

We drove to Balboa Island and rode the ferry across the bay. It was the best three dollars spent on the entire trip; the kids loved it. We thought we were going to play in the sand and dip our toes in the ocean. . . but of course, most of the kids got wet up past their waists.

They ran into the water:

And then let the waves chase them out of the water:

Back in:

And back out. Over and over again. . .

A big highlight of the trip for Lucy was when she told me that her pants were too uncomfortable (because they were soaking wet). I suggested that we cut them off into shorts. "You're just going to take a pair of scissors and cut them off?" she questioned, in surprise. Yep. That's exactly what I did.

The kids were playing carefree:

Until one little boy was taken down by a little wave. Rebecca was in the middle of taking this picture right when it happened, and she quickly ran over to rescue him. But since she still had her expensive camera in hand, I hurried in and pulled him out of the water. That left me with soaking wet pants. . . so I took a pair of scissors to my jeans as well. (Thank goodness that camera stayed dry. . . and thanks for all of the great pictures, Rebecca!)

Rachel was the only one smart enough to wear her swimming suit:

She was also one of the lucky ones who found a sand dollar. She was just a little excited:

There were lots of happy faces on that beach:

Lots of playing in the sand:

Kaleigh wasn't quite sure what to think of all that sand:

There was a whole lot of shell collecting:

And even some seaweed gathering:

I made silly faces at Kaleigh until she laughed:

And laughed:

And kept laughing:

Until she drooled:

As usual, I had to pull Lucy out of the water so we could leave:

We drove around and admired all of the beautiful ornamental landscaping, ate a late lunch, and hurried back to the hotel to get ready for the big wedding.

California Part 1: Disneyland

2011-12-31T11:36:00.013-07:00

We planned a trip to California for my cousin's wedding. Nicole is technically my third cousin, but she happens to be my very favorite third cousin, so a trip to California to celebrate her marriage was in order.

The original concept was a cram-eight-girls-into-my-Pilot trip, but it later morphed into a take-everyone-but-the-working-husbands-and-difficult-little-boys trip. That means Steve and Adam both stayed home.

We stopped in Las Vegas for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and a quick visit to Coke World and the M&M Factory. And then we kept on driving to California.

The next morning, we made the kids eat as much as they possibly could at the breakfast buffet and walked over to Disneyland:

Right inside the gate, we saw Minnie Mouse:

And then I saw this sign, and I was relieved that Adam wasn't with me:

Our first ride was the Jungle Cruise, and it did not disappoint:

We hit most of the main rides: Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo the Elephant, Tiki Room, Indiana Jones, the train, It's a Small World, the carrousel, the Matterhorn, Peter Pan's Flight, Storybook Land, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Teacups:

And the kids got to meet lots of Disney characters:

We cruised through the park rather quickly, thanks to Talmage and his special needs pass. Rachel was in need of some attention, so I took her and Kaleigh over to explore California Adventure. They had a good time riding one or two rides together:

But then Kaleigh fell asleep, so Rachel went on some of the bigger rides by herself. She is brave:

We waited in a long line to ride Mickey's Fun Wheel. . . and then it promptly started raining. The wind was cold, and ferris wheels are so so slow. We were trapped in our cage at the top when they announced that they were experiencing technical difficulties.

By the time we got off the ride, our shoes and pants were soaking wet and we were freezing cold. It was a bit disappointing because it was only 5:30 pm, and we had planned to stay at the park until midnight. As we were exiting the park, I asked the lady at the gate if they ever offer anything as compensation when it rains. I was sent to talk to someone else, who sent me to talk to someone else, who sent me to talk to someone else. Rachel was near tears and begged to go back to the hotel, but I told her to give me five more minutes. We walked out of guest services with $900 in free passes.

We spent our "bonus day" at California Adventure Park, and it was much more magical for me. Slightly warmer, less wind, no rain, and the rides and are inspired by Disney movies from the last few years. . . meaning I've actually seen them.

I think we hit all of the rides, except for a few that were closed because of the wind. My favorites were California Screamin, Soarin over California, Redwood Creek (the kids could have played there all day long and I felt badly that Adam wasn't there- he would have loved it), and Toy Story:

(That was the score from my first ride through. Yes, Lucy beat me. I didn't realize you could rapid fire until the very end of our second time through and now I can't wait to go back and beat Rebecca's score.)

The cameras on the California Screamin captured some pretty funny faces:

But nothing beats this shot from the Tower of Terror:

Kaleigh rode every ride she was tall enough for and cruised around the park as happy as could be:

Rachel was extremely helpful throughout the entire trip. And I finally found out why. . . she wanted a churro. We sent the others off on another ride and snuck away to buy her a special treat:

By the end of the day, my shoulder was throbbing in pain, but I had such a great time. I left Disneyland thinking we never needed to go back, but after our second day at California Adventure, I was already planning out in my head when we could return with Steve and Adam.

We stayed long enough to watch World of Color, and then we caught one more ride on Soarin Over California and called it a night.

My Favorite Christmas Gift

2011-12-29T12:38:00.002-07:00

Late at night, on Christmas Eve, my sister emailed this to me.

Pretty sure it's my favorite Christmas gift of the year.

Thanks, Rebecca.

I'm Back

2011-12-26T23:34:00.007-07:00

After a long, unintentional hiatus from blogging, I'm back.

Where in the world did December go?

(I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures, so most of these are camera pics. And I stole some of from Rachel's iPod and some off of Facebook.)

I sold a trailer full of poinsettias for the Junior League of Ogden. And had a few discussions over the pronunciation of the word poinsettia:

We decorated our Christmas tree:

We went to Snow Days at Weber State University, which coincidentally, might have been the last time it snowed:

We took the kids to their first Weber State Mens Basketball game:

I finally took Adam to the doctor and left with three prescriptions for him and one for me. . . He had a really bad cold and I found out I have a separated shoulder. (Last week, my favorite uncle taught me that a "separated shoulder" is a poor term to use. And that Insta-Care doctors aren't generally suited to deal with orthopedic problems.)

We celebrated December birthdays at Ballard Family Sunday:

Kaleigh was the most pleasant present-opener ever. She was absolutely delighted with every single gift, making it very fun to watch.

My sister nominated me for What Not to Wear:

Not really, but after seeing this picture, I think I should probably give in and let her nominate me. This picture was taken the day I took Adam to the Insta-Care. I was at the pharmacy filling prescriptions when I got a text from Steve that the power was out (again) and to go pick up the girls from church. By the time I got there and picked them up, it was time to go to Ballard Family Dinner. It had been a rough day, and I had no energy to change my clothes. Steve came down to the kitchen wearing a grey shirt and his corduroy pants. . . said he didn't want me to be the only one wearing corduroys. When Derrick showed up late, wearing a grey hoodie, I figured we probably needed a picture. How embarrassing.

Steve's winter rye finally decided to sprout:

We participated in the Children for Children concert at the Jefferson Creative Community Center:

The kids discovered all sorts of funny apps on their iPods and spent hours and hours giggling at their creations:

Their current favorites are Snoopy's Fair, Singing Santa, Holiday Video, and MouthOff. Singing Santa would be what the lucky folks in my ward got to hear during Sacrament Meeting a couple weeks ago.

We held the second Ballard Girls' Night and went to the Holiday Open House at the Eccles Community Art Center. Afterwards, we came back to my house to make gingerbread houses and drink hot chocolate.

It was pleasant/enjoyable/fun/loud/rowdy, depending on who you ask.

I made a couple of late-night Christmas shopping trips and only got pulled over once. A fix-it ticket forced us to finally got our taillights fixed. (Debra, tell Aaron it was a fuse.)

Rachel and Lucy played their last Jr. Jazz basketball game of the season:

We attended the Milligan Family Christmas Party and got to ride horses:

Adam required full-time supervision:

Other activities included laying on the heated floors, talking to the chickens, and playing Mormon Mouthful:

We were excited that Steve took the day off work to go with us. . . but then he stayed up all night working and had a rough morning moving three families from our ward. (The whole story is way better than that and includes having to wake one of the families up and then watching one of the ladies they were moving be taken away by the police in handcuffs.) Steve slipped away from the party and drove to Preston to get some much-needed food. He ordered. And then realized he didn't have his wallet with him. Tired and hungry is not a good combination for him; he probably should have just stayed home.

My two cousins and I decorated Rebecca's car:

We went to our wonderful ward Christmas party:

Steve spoke in sacrament meeting and invited one of his employees to go to church with us. Adam sat on the visitor's lap during the sacrament and grabbed a whole handful of bread and quickly shoved it into his mouth before I could do anything to stop him. Rachel and Lucy were well behaved, but we were sitting so far back that they needed binoculars to see the speakers:

We went to the Sonora Grill Christmas Party. No pictures were taken because there was nothing worthy of taking pictures. I will be planning next year's party.

Rachel and Lucy went to the symphony with the Dave Ballard Family. And the adults went to Sonora Grill for Rebecca's birthday dinner:

(If you need another reason to love December, try the Chiles en Nogada at Sonora Grill.)

This photo of Kacie was taken by Rachel at Rebecca's birthday dinner. I'm not sure what's going on, but since Kacie just had a birthday, I figured I should probably post it. Happy Birthday, Kacie!

Lucy wrote her letter to Santa Claus:

Steve let Adam do his own hair for preschool:

And it seems like I spent a whole lot of time dealing with random issues.

We thought our mail was stolen off our front porch. But after spending hours on the phone, we found out that the mailman had just scanned the packages incorrectly:

I created our family Christmas card online and waited patiently for them to arrive. . . only to find out that there had been a glitch. So then I had to re-create and re-order. Those cards came with a mistake on them as well. MyPublisher was kind enough to replace them, but then they didn't send as many as I had ordered. As in not enough to send out. (So please don't be offended if you didn't receive one.) And if your mailman asks for 15 cents before he will give you your mail, that's because I accidentally sent the first half of our cards out with 29 cent postcard stamps on them.

We received at $9,000 bill from the IRS. It is completely incorrect, but the process of digging up all of my receipts from 2005 to prove that they are wrong is a bit of a project.

California pictures and how to pull off a five-day trip to Disneyland/California for four people for less than 800 bucks coming soon!

Lessons on Hair from Amanda

2011-12-05T23:27:00.009-07:00

I've been friends with Amanda for four years.

An unlikely friendship, of sorts, because Amanda is everything that I am not.*

She plays the piano and the organ and has a beautiful voice.

She wears well-planned outfits and knows all of the rules of fashion.

She wakes up at heinous hours of the morning to go running.

She is a fabulous listener.

Her pantry is always (and I mean always) stocked with whatever ingredients I am in need of.

She has organization down to an art. Literally. She has everything in her life organized AND she knows how to make it pretty. (Think magazine holders covered in pretty paper that you would want to display them in your living room.)

And she can tell all sorts of stories that make you lose control of your bladder and knows all sorts of things that my naive ears have never heard of from her years of working as an STD nurse at the health department.

But most of all, Amanda knows hair.

In my quest to become a lady, (T minus 55 days) I solicited Amanda's help with some new hair skills. I should note that my sister-in-law, Angie, deserves all of the credit for everything I know about hair to this point. (Thank you!) Despite my plan to be a mother of boys, so I wouldn't have to learn how to do hair, with Angie's help, I have mastered the art of "the flip". But some days, seven and eight year old girls are too old for flips. They are enthralled with braids, and my tomboy fingers never learned how to braid. (I am, however, an extremely fast newspaper roller.)

Hair is actually a big topic of conversation at our house. But I had written myself off saying, "I can't braid." I was always gawking at Amanda's hair at church. Then the Greener girls started showing up with beautiful braids. And soon I was seeing braids everywhere. The turning point might have been when I read Steve's cousin's series of 30 Hairdos on her blog. Even though it was tempting to wait a few years for Rachel to be able to do all of the hair in our family, I decided it was time to learn how to braid. And just to clarify, I knew how to braid. Just not how to make it look good. Especially those loose side braids that everyone is doing these days.

I have had two official hair lessons from Amanda. And I ask lots of lots of questions every time I see her. This is what I've learned:

1. Bobby pins are your friend. Buy them in bulk. And since we are very good at loosing them in bulk, I am ready to install a magnet strip next to our bathroom mirror like I saw on Pinterest.

2. Don't wash your hair every day. This has been a hard thing for me, but I am getting better. Every time I compliment Amanda on her hair, she smiles and says, "It's because I didn't wash it this morning."

3. Dry shampoo is your friend. No need for the expensive kind, go buy this.

4. You can get away with wearing jeans and t-shirt for the rest of your life if put on nice boots and do your hair up.

5. Good hair takes time and effort. And since it turns out that my girls love me more when I braid their hair, I spend most of my efforts on them, not me. (I will be forever grateful for the two-second lesson on how to do the Wrap Around Pony Tail, since it seems like that's all I ever do with my hair these days.)

The Waterfall Braid is the most-requested hairdo in our house these days. It started as a Sunday-only option, but now I can usually pull it off in eight minutes. That means, if I have to start over and try again, I should still be able to finish in under fifteen minutes. And if fifteen minutes per girl is what it takes to send my daughters off to school happy, then it's worth getting out of bed at 7:30 in the morning to braid hair.

I am in need of LOTS more lessons because I still have LOTS to learn. Like how to backcomb a pony tail and how to do any of this braiding on me. Did you know that I spend less time and effort on my hair than 85 percent of the other people in this family? That means in a family with three boys, only one of them spends less time on their hair than me. Any guesses who that might be?

*Amanda likes good food and she likes to shop so who wouldn't want to be her friend. As a side note, Amanda was the very first person I confided in, just over three years ago, when we first found out that Derrick was going to become a dad. I really wasn't particularly close to her then. . . which is partly why she was the perfect one to break the news to. That part about her being a fabulous listener worked out pretty well for me too. And after dozens and dozens of heart-to-heart conversations over the last few years, it still works out for me.

Ogden's Windstorm

2011-12-02T23:23:00.006-07:00

Yesterday was one of those days where I had a million things that I needed to get accomplished.

But I completely underestimated Ogden's windstorm. . . . and the impact it would have on my day.

Photos from standard.net.

6:39 am- Rebecca posts on Facebook that the wind had woken her up early in the morning.

7:30 am- We look out the window and see that our garbage and recycling bins have been knocked over and that trash is being blown up and down the street.

8:15 am- Phone call from preschool teacher, canceling preschool; her power had been out since midnight.

8:20 am- Phone elementary school and is told that there is no power outage there; school will be held as normal.

8:30 am- Steve drives Rachel and Lucy to school.

8:45 am- I restart a load of laundry for the fourth time. Power keeps flickering on and off and we finally turn off all lights and unplug desktop computer.

9:15 am- Steve gets call from server saying that he doesn't feel comfortable going outside in this weather. (Steve and I laugh. But I think it is actually still laughable once you know which server it was.)

9:19 am- I post on Facebook that my friend should bring her little twin babies over to my house to stay warm.

9:21 am- Our power goes out. My laptop is out of batteries and my phone is at less than 50 percent.

9:45 am- Steve assesses damage to yard. Plastic has been blown off hoop house, and wind is still far too strong to put back up. Trash cans blow over for a second time.

10:30 am- Drive Steve to Fresh Market to pick up some things for the restaurant.

10:40 am- Get out of the car to take this picture of downed tree blocking traffic on Harrison; wind is still crazy strong and I get hit in the face with a stick.

Quite a few peripheral roads are closed due to downed trees and power lines.

10:50 am- Start seeing pictures on Facebook of smashed cars, etc. Read about a friend whose windows in their Pilot were blown out by the wind. Read post from Ogden Police warning people to drive carefully because there are lots of power lines down. Or better yet, stay home. We are told to expect 24-48 hours before power is restored.

11:00 am- Look over at van parked twenty feet away from me in front of Sonora Grill and watch it sway back and forth and feel my Pilot rock back and forth. Think to myself what I would do if van flew up and slammed into me.

11:08 am- Watch things blow around outside. Hear sirens from ambulances and fire trucks. Send text message to Steve saying that maybe he should close the restaurant.

11:20 am- Drop off Adam at neighbor's house so he can go play at the gym with his friend, Madey. (I know that sounds like a strange thing to do and I really did try and talk them out of it, but they love going to the daycare at the gym. Gold's Gym had power and was open, so Madey's mom still had to teach her cycling class.)

11:30 am- Drive around neighborhood to look for major damage and check on some neighbors to see if they need any help.

12:00 pm- Go to Rebecca's house to charge computer, cell phone, eat lunch, etc. Pass this sad site at Beus Park on the way:

1:02 pm- Steve posts on Facebook: We have been getting a lot of phone calls today. Sonora Grill has power and is open for business! The wind has died down enough to drive so come down and enjoy one of our lunch specials starting at $6.99. Come charge your cell phones, use our wi-fi, and stay warm. You can even bring your hair dryers and curling irons and get ready in our restrooms!

3:20 pm- I leave Rebecca's house to pick up kids from school and soon realize that it takes a very long time to drive across town when all of the traffic lights are out. Slowly learn to avoid main roads and approach busy intersections from peripheral roads to get through intersections faster.

3:50 pm- I finally make it to the elementary school to pick up Rachel, Lucy, and neighbor kids.

4:15 pm- I arrive home to a chilly house and turn on the gas fireplace. Warn kids that they must not open the refrigerator or the freezer. I am very concerned about the $12 worth of ice cream I bought from Farr's the night before.

4:35 pm- Decide that there's not much to do at home without power and get ready to go to the gym. Pack clothes to shower, but drive by neighbor on the way who informs me that we have a gas water heater, so we should have plenty of hot water at home.

5:02 pm- Neighbor texts me to say that power is back on. (Nope, not ours.) I walk on the treadmill and watch some awesome coverage of the windstorm.

6:53 pm- Return back home to a very dark house. Lucy is scared. And to be honest, our block is a little spooky when it's pitch black. Quickly gather pajamas for the kids and drive back to Rebecca's house to eat dinner, bathe kids, and make cookies.

8:45 pm- Pick up Steve from Sonora Grill.

9:00 pm- Steve calls around to check on people in our ward and tries to coordinate some sleeping arrangements for employees without power or other sources of heat.

9:15 pm- I put Adam and Kaleigh to bed. (Adam was our bravest child and went to bed clutching his cute little lizard flashlight.) Rachel and Lucy get set up to sleep in sleeping bags in front of the fireplace.

9:21 pm- I take temperature reading of milk in refrigerator: 55 degrees.

9:30 pm- Steve declares that our garden is ruined. Dreams of eating fresh lettuce in December are crushed. He goes back to work.

10:20 pm- Steve is on his way home and tells me that the Christmas Village looks crazy bright.

10:29 pm- I post on Facebook "Dear Neighbors: your houses all lit up with bright Christmas lights seem to be mocking us." It was very odd to be wearing headlamps and crowding around the fireplace while our neighbors across the street had full power.

10:35 pm- Rachel and Lucy continue to have a great time eating ice cream while Steve and I quickly go through refrigerator and freezer. Milk, meat, and leftovers all get thrown away. Vegetables, cheese, and condiments get moved outside. Our fridge is emptied.

10:47 pm- Power comes back on!

. . . . .

So that was only thirteen hours. I am quite embarrassed of how disrupted our life was by not having power for half of a day.

I spent today being very appreciative of all of the conveniences I enjoy because of electricity. I have new motivation to wash the dishes and start the laundry at night before going to bed, instead of waiting until the morning like I usually do. A sink overflowing with dirty dishes and mountains of dirty laundry is not a good way to start a power outage.

And I feel badly for those who are still without power. I delivered dinner and firewood to some friends who have been without power for over 40 hours now. They are at home with their brand new baby, just four days old.

I called Steve right after I left their house and told him that I was actually a little jealous. Everyone was sitting on the couch and the fire was crackling and it was just so cozy. And my friend has a way of slowing life down to a pace that allows you to feel and see and notice things.

I clearly need to take some lessons from her.

P.S. Our insurance agent called us today to check on us to see how we were doing and ask if we had any damages. Impressive customer service!

A Thanksgiving of Firsts

2011-11-29T23:01:00.002-07:00

This was the first Thanksgiving that I cooked a turkey at home so we could have our own leftovers. (It wasn't the first time I've cooked a turkey, just the first time I've cooked a turkey on Thanksgiving.) Steve and I were down in the kitchen together at 3:00 am to taste our turkey, right as it came out of the oven. I wish I would have taken a picture, not only because it was a beautiful turkey, but because it will be a great memory. . . up so late at night, picking away at that turkey.

On Thanksgiving morning, we participated in the First Annual Jefferson Neighborhood Turkey Trot. We had a fun group of 20 neighbors and 2 dogs who ran/walked/biked/scootered down to the cemetery and back. We had "pacers" on bikes and Jed even set up a water station in front of his house to keep the runners hydrated. For being planned last-minute, I'd say the race was pretty legit.

This was the first Thanksgiving (in a long time) that I didn't get sick. I went to the hospital a couple weeks ago and ate radioactive eggs for my gastric emptying study. And I am now clinically classified as "normal". No more gastroparesis for me!

(This picture above shows Derrick's second plate of Thanksgiving dinner. He inhaled it just as quickly as his first.)

After dinner, we held our very first Thanksgiving play, complete with pilgrim hats and bonnets. (I tried to get away with using the construction paper I had at home, so the hats are a little on the small side.) We also made butter, Indian corn necklaces, and attempted to make boondoggle keychains. (Don't ever buy lacing string from Oriental Trading. It is too thin and difficult to use. And don't click on that boondoggle link unless you have a few minutes to spare. It is guaranteed to make you laugh.)

The highlight of the weekend was definitely the First Annual Drumstick Kick. Two years ago, we held the First Annual Ballard Family Kickball game. This year, we challenged the Critchlow Family to play against us.

The Critchlows showed up with their entire family in custom designed t-shirts and had four generations of cheerleaders. We started with a game for the kids and then moved onto the main event. It was physical. And it was fun. And we are going to need a non-biased referee for next year's game :)

The Critchlows certainly gave us a run for our money, but Team Ballard held off, narrowly winning by two points in overtime.

P.S. Does anyone know of any dodgeball leagues around here? After watching him catch and throw during the kickball game, I think dodgeball might be Derrick's sport.

This was the very first year that I didn't look at any of the ads from the newspaper or online to map out a plan of attack for Black Friday. I seriously didn't look at one advertisement. That might just be the most monumental of anything on this list. Even my ten-year old niece was completely shocked. We started shopping at 10:30 am and returned home mid-afternoon. Black Friday shopping is a casual affair for us. . . which was good. Because I was plenty sore from the kickball game.

We went and watched the Ogden Santa Run for our first time and cheered on our favorite Santa:

One of the Santas carried around a bag full of candy and handed out treats to all of the kids:

So fun. We will definitely be participating in the race next year.

And, seeing how we never took down our Christmas lights from last year, I think that technically makes us the first to have our Christmas lights up for the year.

Cooking with the Vegetarian

2011-11-28T22:18:00.009-07:00

On Sunday, I prepared a Thanksgiving Leftover Dinner with Rachel and Lucy. I was teaching them how to make gravy out of the turkey drippings and Rachel was absolutely disgusted by the layer of fat at the top of the jar.

"So you're tell me that if you killed me and cut open my leg and sucked out all of the fat . . .

that's what this is from the turkey?"

Lucy revels in comments like that, but Rachel's culinary insights tend to have an impact on my appetite.

The End of an Era and the First Official Ballard Girls' Night

2011-11-21T23:01:00.001-07:00

It is with great sadness that I announce that Craft Day is over. Gone forever.

In reality, it has been over for a while now. I was just in denial and couldn't admit it.

Craft Day began soon after we moved to Ogden, some four years ago. Rachel and Lucy were ecstatic to live close to their Ballard cousins and asked if they could play with them. Every single day. I didn't want to annoy Angie with their incessant requets, so we designated one day of the week to get together and play. And thus, Craft Day was born.

At first, we actually made crafts on Wednesdays. But then we started integrating get-out-of-the-house adventures into Craft Day, and we had to switch to Tuesdays. (Angie needed a day to recover from Craft Day before she had to go back to work.)

For three years, our allegiance to Craft Day was impressive. We both went to great lengths to schedule our other activities and obligations around it.

I think the first official Craft Day may have been Webkinz lessons. (Just kidding.) I wish I had a complete, comprehensive list, but this is what I pulled up via blogs. (Thank you, Angie, for convincing me to start a blog so I have documentation of so many of these activities and thank you for documenting so many others yourself.)

Here's what I found: a life-changing trip to Antelope Island, swimming, going to the Weber County Fair, more swimming, a lemonade stand, painting plaster of paris animals, picking tomatoes and digging for potatoes, playing with beads, going to Beverly Hill Chihuahua and an impromptu talent show, making caramel apples, making gingerbread cookies, making reindeer, going sledding, making robots, making bouncy balls (Lucy's all-time favorite Craft Day), indoor swimming, going to a 3D movie at the Clark Planetarium, Snow Day (playing with shaving cream and dipping pretzels), making crepes, lots of kickball games, a bike ride down the Ogden Parkway, going to the Horse Parade and Painted Horses on 25th Street, making Foamerators, epic trip to Minnetonka Cave, La Beau's, and sailboating at Bear Lake, Antelope Island, Round 2 (more info on Antelope Island here), making quacking ducks, shucking corn, making slime, treasure hunts, going on a hike and painting pumpkins, iFLY, dipping pretzels, going to see Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Dew Tour, going to the Treehouse Museum, making Valentine iPods, going to The Conference Center, bowling, more swimming, Children's Parade & the Farmers Market, Pioneer Days Rodeo, Pickleball Lessons, and Kool-Aid Tie Dying.

But then we became negligent. Unintentionally. Suddenly there were five kids in school and fivekids with homework. (When we first started Craft Day, Gracie was the only one in school.) We modified our schedule and switched from weekly to twice a month. We were also trying to fit in piano lessons, dance classes, birthday parties, Activity Days, Scouts, softball, baseball, wrestling, tennis, farmers markets, and basketball.

We made dioramas and Ojos de Dios, tennis ball people for Grandma Gloria's birthday, and butter and boats for Thanksgiving. We went toDiscovery Gateway and Temple Square, sledding, and drove to Heber to see the Midway Ice Castles.

I was out of commission for a few months and Angie's work schedule changed. But we loved Craft Day, so we tried to resurrect it with glass etching, bike decorating, and a trip to Pioneer Village. We went to things like the Horse and Hitch Parade, the Archery World Cup, the Rodeo, and we played in the sprinklers and got snowcones.

Leslie moved to Ogden with her kids and we tried to keep the Craft Day tradition with a few more activities: making ice cream and duct tape flip flops. Craft Day was, after all, one of the things we used to lure her here to Utah.

Craft Days kept getting canceled. And then we had this great Learning Circle discussion on traditions and I had an epiphany. Craft Day had served its purpose. And it was over.

. . . . .

There is some good news. Craft Day has been replaced. Let me introduce you to Ballard Girls' Night. Once a month. Girls only. (Sorry boys.) And since it only involves the older kids, adult participation is optional. (I didn't give much notice for this first one, so I was the only adult on Saturday night.)

We went to the Weber State vs. BYU women's basketball game at the Dee Events Center.

The girls hung out with Waldo the Wildcat:

They were caught on camera, up on the JumboTron, but I was one second too late snapping a picture of it:

They hiked up to the very top row of seats to see what the court looked like from up there. And then they took a lap around the entire rim stadium. They screamed and cheered. Gracie caught a t-shirt. And they even watched most of the basketball game. (Rachel says practically all of the basketball game.)

Just like the Craft Days of old, it was perfect. Watch for more exciting Girls' Night activities in the future. . .

A Magical Family Home Evening

2011-11-20T18:31:00.003-07:00

Family Home Evening lessons rarely work out so perfectly at our house. Especially when Steve is gone. And I know a successful FHE probably has more to do with the stars being aligned than the actual lesson itself, but I thought I'd share last week's lesson anyway.

How can we talk to Heavenly Father while we are on the earth? (Pray.)

Prayer is what we are going to talk about tonight.

I am so thankful that we can pray to Heavenly Father, He always listens. It makes me happy to know He is there and cares about me.

How do we get ready to pray? (Fold arms, bow our heads, and close our eyes.)

What is the first thing we say after we begin with Father in Heaven/Dear Heavenly Father? (Give thanks.)

Why? (It lets Him know we are grateful for all he has given us.)

What is next? (We ask for help or for what we or our family or loved ones need.)

How do we end our prayer? (In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.)

I am going to tell you a story about Daniel, found in the Bible.

King Darius chose one hundred and twenty princes to rule his kingdom. Daniel was a good man and he was the king's favorite. He made three presidents over the princes and Daniel was the first of the three presidents.

The other presidents and princes were jealous (that means they didn't like him) of Daniel. They tried to find a reason to complain to the king about him, but they could not. Daniel was obedient and did nothing wrong.

The other princes finally came up with a plan to get Daniel in trouble. They knew Daniel worshiped God and prayed every day. They went to King Darius and asked him to sign a law that for the next 30 days no one could pray or ask any favor of God or man, except the king. Anyone who disobeyed the law would be thrown into a den of lions. King Darius signed the law.

Daniel heard about the law, but that did not stop him from praying to Heavenly Father. He prayed three times a day in his home like he had done before. He knelt by the window and gave thanks to God. He loved his Heavenly Father very much and knew he needed his spirit with him.

The jealous rulers watched and saw Daniel praying. They went to the king and told on Daniel and reminded him about the law. The king was angry with himself for signing the law.

He tried to find a way to change the law because he loved Daniel and did not want him killed by the lions. But once a king signed the law, it could not be changed.

Daniel was thrown into the lion's den. (Have the children talk about how scary that would be and let young children growl like a lion.) The king said to Daniel, "Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee." (Daniel 6:16)

The king fasted (didn't eat) that night and could not sleep. Early in the morning, he arose and hurried to the den of lions. He cried out and asked Daniel if his God saved him from the lions.

From within the den came Daniel's voice, "My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouth, that they have not hurt me." (Daniel 6: 22) (Talk about the angel and let young children pretend to be a lion that growled but then the angel shut its mouth.)

The king was so happy and told everyone in his kingdom that Daniel's God was the true and living God.

Why did Daniel pray when he knew he would get in trouble? (He loved his Heavenly Father and it was a commandment to pray.)

Did Heavenly Father listen to Daniel? (Yes.) How do we know? (He sent an angel to shut the lions' mouths.)

Does Heavenly Father listen to your prayers? (Yes. Share examples.)

The Lord loved Daniel and he loves all his children just the same. He strengthens us when we make good choices and forgives us when we repent for making bad choices. He is always there for us.

. . . . .

The plan was to immediately drive to Deseret Book and let each child get one of these cute little lions to remind them to pray. And that being tired or in a hurry isn't a good excuse not to pray- Daniel prayed even though he was going to be thrown in a den of lions.

But then we found out that Deseret Book closes at 7:00 pm on Mondays. So the kids had to wait until the next day to get their lions.

So far, the lions have been extremely effective at reminding the kids to pray and reminding me that every once in a while, the heavens will open and your kids will be reverent and learn something from Family Home Evening.

P.S. The lions are only $6.95 and 100 percent of the proceeds go to Chapters of Hope. Rachel is absolutely in love with Zulie the Zebra. Can anyone think of a lesson that goes along with zebras?? (Not Noah's ark. . . I don't want to have to buy two of each animal.)

On My Mind

2011-11-19T23:40:00.002-07:00

I Love the World Wide Web - And Now My Kids Don't Have Clean Clothes To Wear Tomorrow

2011-11-18T23:50:00.007-07:00

Back in 1994, my dad taught a high school class called The World Wide Web. My dad has always been a forward thinker, and I am guessing that his was one of the earliest classes of its kind. So progressive, especially for a tiny farming community like Hyrum, Utah.

And I still believe that I was probably one of the first people to "chat" online. My dad figured out how to search and connect with other people who were on the World Wide Web, and I spent quite a few Sunday evenings asking people (mostly middle-aged men) if they would like to talk to me. That sure seems creepy now. (I was in the eighth grade.)

I would love to see some of my dad's class lessons and read what the World Wide Web was thought to be/expected to become seventeen years ago. (If this is making you nostalgic, and you miss hearing the old internet dial-up noises, click here.)

Dad, ~~if you still have~~ if you can find anything from that class, that's what I would like for Christmas.

I rely on the internet for so many things: banking, cooking, shopping, diagnosing illnesses, and learning how to do things all sorts of things. (Like type words that are crossed out.) The internet is absolutely amazing and my life would be drastically different without it.

The internet is also my very favorite source for entertainment. Facebook, blogs, Pandora, Pinterest, Netflix, Hulu. (Has everyone discovered Spotify?)

I am generally able to exhibit an appropriate level of self control when it comes to spending time online and on Facebook, but I didn't do very well this morning.

My neighbor posted this picture of a "Cycle Up" table on the side of a street:

So I went to the website and discovered, not only the PIT IN desk from Japan, but also inhabitat.com.

Pretty soon I was learning about Germany's Roller Coaster Walkway, created by sculptors, Ulrich Genth and Heike Mutter:

I guess now I have a reason to go to Germany someday. While I'm there I will go check out the green roof that is planned to cover the A7 motorway that connects Germany to Scandinavia.

Lots of other green roofs and really cool buildings to check out on that website.

I was ready to return to my morning chores of dishes/laundry/make beds when my friend posted about this funny blog that she reads called Rants from Mommyland. Today's post called Mommy Has a First World Problem is hilarious.

And for the record, in our family it's "Daddy" who has all sorts of first world problems:

Having to unwrap the dishwasher tabs before putting them into the dishwasher. (He seriously asked me to go through and unwrap all of them so, in the rare occasion that he starts a load of dishes, he doesn't have to go to the effort of opening one himself.)

And who wants to go to the effort of grinding fresh pepper? That's way too much work.

Funny Steve.

I'll have to think what sort of first world problems I have. . . ?

Facebook is clearly one of them, at least for today.

Superheroes

2011-11-16T09:24:00.001-07:00

"Superheroes are something that you look up to. Because that's what my sister told me," Adam confidently stated from his booster seat on the way to preschool.

Madey replied matter-of-factly, "No, those are just airplanes."

Madey is Adam's friend. (She is the cute little girl who ran the Kids K race with Lucy in September.) And she is the only girl that Adam is willing to sit next to at preschool.

Sometimes they have picnics together:

And sometimes they dress up in princess dresses and high heels. I would post the picture, but Adam took my phone and deleted it after being teased by his sisters.

I told Madey's mom that I love having Madey over to play because she's a good influence on Adam (tells him to help pick up, not to hide when it's time to leave, etc.) And now I'm suddenly worried that might mean that he's a bad influence on her?

Get better so you can come over and play again soon, Madey!

Are You a Drive-Around-Town Mom Too?

2011-11-15T08:57:00.002-07:00

Steve was talking to a couple the other day who asked about me and what I did. He told them I was a stay-at-home mom. One turned to the other and said, "Oh yes, she's a really good homemaker and does a lot of baking." Steve immediately knew that he had alluded to an inaccurate interpretation of me and our lifestyle. He explained that I'm actually not much of a stay-at-home mom, I'm more like a drive-around-town mom. (Oh yeah, and Steve also let me know that he corrected her and told them I'm actually not much of a baker.) Heidi, I need those baking lessons STAT.

This is what my day was like yesterday:

8:27 am Drop Rachel and Lucy off at school (two minutes late)

Dishes, laundry, finish cooking and cutting up pumpkins

10:00 am Drive Steve on errand and drop off at Sonora Grill

Post Office

Make beds, vacuum, do Kaleigh's hair, prepare FHE lesson

11:45 am Pick up neighbor and take to preschool with Adam

12:00 pm Derrick calls, asking why I'm not home

12:10 pm Return home and send Kaleigh off to a movie with Derrick

12:30 pm Visiting teaching appointment #1

12:52 pm Missed call from Rebecca

12:53 pm Text messages from Rebecca:

Are you home??

I am at your house

Your car is here. . .

Your car is unlocked FYI

1:28 pm Check in with Rebecca; no emergency

1:29 pm Text messages from Steve:

I need you to bring keys to me

I also need the case to the Microsoft office

1:30 pm Visiting teaching appointment #2

2:15 pm Drive to preschool to pick up Adam and nephew

2:45 pm Drive to school to check out Rachel, Lucy, and niece

Parent of Lucy's friend sees me and hurries over to ask if I saw invitation for her daughter's birthday party. The one that starts at 3:30 pm. . . (Nope.)

2:50 pm Phone call from Living Scriptures. After lengthy small talk about the beautiful weather, I tell him we love our Living Scripture DVDs and I would love to buy more when I can get them at half-price like I did two years ago. He thanks me, tells me he will make note of that, and concludes the call, just like that.

3:00 pm Drop off Rachel and niece at orthodontist

3:04 pm Receive email from Steve: help proof asap, needs to print today

3:10 pm Drive Lucy home to change out of school uniform, grab snacks for Adam and nephew, things for Steve, piano books

3:2o pm Run into Megaplex to buy gift card for birthday present

3:28 pm Text message from Steve:

Can you come look at this camera? Please? At Sonora.

Me: Was that today? (I completely forgot about meeting we had scheduled with Imaging Depot at Sonora Grill.)

Steve: They just got here

Me: I can be there in 20

Steve: Bring your camera

3:30 pm Lucy to Kangaroo Zoo for birthday party; have to go inside to sign waiver

3:40 pm Pick up Rachel and niece from orthodontist; have to go inside to schedule next month's appointment

3:45 pm Drop Rachel off at piano lessons

3:50 pm Meet brother-in-law at my house to drop off niece and nephew (twenty minutes late); run inside to get camera

4:00 pm Arrive at Sonora Grill (thirty minutes late)

Talk to Imaging Depot guys; quickly edit menu

4:45 pm Pick up Rachel from piano lessons

5:00 pm Drop off clothes at Your Valet (The lady says, "You're running a bit late today.")

Back to Post Office for second time of the day.

Back home to pick up Kaleigh and get Tylenol for Rachel

To Sonora Grill to get a smoothie for Rachel

6:00 pm Pick up Lucy from birthday party

6:15 pm Drive around to pick up some things for church

6:30 pm Home. Finally.

6:32 pm Kaleigh pees all over the floor. Huge puddle. (Thankfully, it's the kitchen, so that makes clean-up easy.)

6:33 pm Start kids on baths

6:35 pm I make phone calls and try to puree pumpkins in our tiny blender while Rachel makes dinner.

7:00 pm Dinner. If you call Totino's pizza in the toaster oven dinner?

7:30 pm Family Home Evening

8:30 pm Pumpkins to Sonora Grill to puree with huge blender stick

8:45 pm Kaleigh to bed

9:00 pm Lucy to bed

9:30 pm Adam to bed

10:00 pm Rachel to bed

10:00 pm Phone call

11:00 pm More cleaning up around the house, change sheets

11:30 pm I'm interrupted in the shower by Lucy, who has just thrown up all over the stairs. I quickly get dressed, get her in the bath, and start cleaning up the horrid mess. Try to keep Lucy off of my newly changed sheets. As soon as carpet is cleaned, throwing up continues. All subsequent vomiting makes it into the toilet.

12:45 am Get Lucy set up to sleep on floor of my bedroom.

1:00 am Wash my hair in the sink (never got to it in the shower). Start laundry.

1:30 am Work on emails in my inbox (I try to keep them under 30)

2:00 am Fall asleep typing on the computer

2:05 am Pull myself up out of the massage chair, say a prayer, crash in bed

Do I long for more simplicity in my life? Yes, especially after a busy day. Do I think it's going to happen any time soon? Nope.

When is someone going to make a car with a built in vacuum?

I don't know how I would survive without my iPhone: 39 phone calls, 47 text messages, 18 emails.(Kelly, I just realized I missed a call from you.)

There is something extremely motivating, liberating, and even exhilarating about canceling a scheduled surgery. HURRAY for no surgery for me today!!!

Why My Kids Will Never Be Good at Competitive Sports

2011-11-13T22:05:00.008-07:00

I'm just not much of a yeller. (If I were more intense, I probably would have been better at competitive sports myself.)

It should be noted that the guy next to me stopped yelling and complaining about the refs as soon as he saw me taking a video. Maybe it would be advantageous for the kids if there were cameras pointed directly at all of the parents in the bleachers.

After the game, Rachel was so confused. "At first he (the coach) yelled at us not to foul, and then he told us to foul as soon as they touched the ball."

That would be puzzling to a third grader, just learning the rules of the game.

I later told her when there is a loose ball on the court that she should get in there and grab it. "But then they will think I'm mean."

We might need to switch to a different sport. (Are there any sports where you can be nice?)

We were almost home when Lucy piped up from the back seat. "So, did we win or lose?"

Remembering Summer: Amy Jo Photography

2011-11-12T10:24:00.003-07:00

When we went to Vernal this summer, we met up with a friend from high school, Amy Jo Photography, for some pictures of the kiddos. Amy Jo lives in Houston, but, lucky for me, she comes back home to Utah every once in a while. We drove clear up Dry Fork Canyon in search of some Vernal-esque landscape and ended up on a beautiful hiking trail.

My very favorite shots are these ones of Kaleigh, which is ironic because she was exceptionally ornery and completely uncooperative. I am absolutely amazed that Amy Jo was able to get anything out of her. Having pictures taken immediately after arriving via a long car drive, made even longer from road construction, was a bad idea. Please learn from my mistake.

Adam was a good little picture-poser, when he wasn't distracted by sticks, bugs, rocks, etc. Rachel and Lucy think his haircut in these pictures is hilarious. His hair before the haircut would have been even funnier.

And what can I say about Lucy? She would pose for pictures all day.

Rachel was determined not to expose her teeth. Poor girl.

And this was the only group shot we got while Kaleigh was still smiling. We had this picture printed as a 16x20; Steve smiles every single time he walks by it.

We marched out of those woods seconds before a tumultuous rainstorm hit. Tumultuous was the first word that came to my mind to describe that rain. It was wild.

I absolutely love photographers that offer high resolution images with print release on a cd. And I've never seen any as classy as hers:

Thanks, Amy Jo!

I Guess I Need to Start Cleaning My House

2011-11-11T23:01:00.016-07:00

Rachel walked into my bedroom the other night, quickly scanned across the baskets of folded laundry that needed to be put away, the various stacks of things on my nightstand and dresser, Steve's socks and shoes strewn across the floor, etc. And then she says, "Well, I guess I didn't get my OCD from you."

We dropped Rachel's friend off after basketball practice the other night. All of the lights were on in their house and the curtains were open. As we pulled out of the driveway, I said something about them being on display and Rachel quipped back, "Well their house is clean." (And then she proceeded to question me as to why their house is cleaner than ours.)

I think my favorite is when Rachel groaned and then very seriously asked me, "Do you think I'm going to have to go over to Lucy's house and clean up after her when she's a mom?"

. . . . .

Lest you think the picture of the pigs is a photo I stole off of Google Images, it is not. This is the first public introduction of "Sonora Grill's" pigs. (I will take a better picture when I am formally introduced to them.)

Thankfully, the pigs do not live at our house and I am not their caretaker. They are technically Dalton's pigs and they live in the valley where they are fed scraps from the best restaurant in town. (Lucky pigs.) And apparently, they like to escape, Houdini-style, and tear through the fields for some exercise. I wish I could get some pictures of that because I never knew that pigs could jump.

PLEASE NOTE: These pigs WILL NOT be served at Sonora Grill. EVER. They are part of our continued efforts to reduce waste and decrease our environmental impact on our community. And it's cool to have a pig. Especially when you aren't the one taking care of it.

Repost: Proud To Be an American

2011-11-11T09:48:00.003-07:00

I'm not trying to make a habit of these doing these reposts, but I wanted to write about David Linton's visit to Lucy's second grade class for Veterans Day. It wasn't too different from his visit to Rachel's class, last year. (Except many of the "questions" from the students in Lucy's class were actually stories about combat video games they play at home.)

It turns out that Kaleigh is significantly faster than last year. So I spent a good deal of my time chasing her around the classroom instead of taking pictures. Here's all I got:

My feelings of gratitude for our veterans hasn't changed much since last year. It still makes me smile to think of my grandma, Edna May Milligan, serving in the Navy. And I am still so very proud of my grandpa, Dr. Raymond Malouf, for volunteering to serve as a doctor in the Navy.

So here's my post from last year:

Reposted from November 2010

A few weeks ago, Rachel's second grade class was assigned a project for Veterans Day to identify relatives who have served or are currently serving in our military. She was so excited to turn in the names of fifteen relatives and was able to quickly gather photos of most of them:

H.J. Milligan

Edna Milligan

Gary Adams

Andrew Burkhardt

B.J. Christiansen

Dr. Raymond Malouf

Curtis Loosli

Daniel Malouf

Jacob Malouf

Slade Flitton

Clark Crockett

Neil Crockett

Kent Ballard

Robert Whitney, Sr.

Robert Whitney, Jr.

Rachel's teacher posted all of the names and pictures up on a "Veteran Wall":

My maternal grandmother, Edna Milligan, was one of the only women on the wall!

Students were also asked to invite their veteran relatives to come speak to the class about their experiences with the military. Since many of our veteran relatives are deceased and the others don't live nearby, Rachel asked our neighbor, David Linton (her bonus grandpa) if he would be able to go to her class.

This is the introduction Rachel gave, "This is my neighbor. We call him Boy Pam because his wife's name is Pam and my little brother can't remember his name. But his name is really David."

David shared his stories of serving in the Special Forces and jumping out of airplanes, jets, and helicopters as a paratrooper. The kids had about a hundred questions, as you can imagine. They wanted to know all sorts of things like what happens when you land water, and has he been to iFLY yet? (Okay, that was my question.) Then the kids all lined up and shook his hand, thanking him for his service to our country.

It sure made me grateful for all of those people who risk their lives to protect our freedoms. I love the story of my Grandpa Malouf when he went to the recruiting station in Salt Lake City in 1942. "You, a Doctor, want to volunteer for military service in the Navy?! Do you feel all right?"

He crossed the equator and spent the next two years eating spam, being trained to use a machine gun, catching a 35-lb Spanish mackerel to win a fishing contest, performing surgeries in less-than-desireable facilities (including a commandeered grass hut), avoiding centipedes, growing the best beard around, and learning that "WAR IS HELL" in Guadalcanal. I love that he planted a garden with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and radishes while he was there.

Thank you for serving our country!

Amn't

2011-11-10T23:39:00.008-07:00

One of my favorite words in Adam's vocabulary is his made-up word, amn't.

It's a contraction of the words am not, and he pronounces it more like am-mit. (A bit more sophisticated than ain't.)

And he uses it a lot. For example. . .

Me: You sure look cute in your suit, Adam.

Adam: I amn't cute! I'm handsome!

My friend, Kristin Wilkerson, took the picture of Adam after she photographed my cousin's wedding. The other kids weren't smiling or looking at the camera, so they all got cropped out. (That'll teach 'em.)

P.S. I was hopeful that Adam would behave better once he started wearing a suit. So far, that hasn't really worked out.

At least he's charming.

Mi Hermano

2011-11-09T19:07:00.006-07:00

I let the kids stay up until 11:00 pm on Monday night so we could go to Sonora Grill with Paul.

It was awesome.

Repost: The Right to Vote

2011-11-07T23:38:00.004-07:00

Reposted from November 2010

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-Grandmothers who lived only 90 years ago. Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were jailed for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

(Alice Paul)

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat, and poured raw eggs into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

A psychiatrist was pressured to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. The doctor refused. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men:

"Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity."

Thus unfolded the "Night of Terror" on November 14, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote.

Forty prison guards wielding clubs went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of "obstructing sidewalk traffic."

(Lucy Burns)

They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head, and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

(Dora Lewis)

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed, and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting, and kicking the women.

What is going to stop you from voting tomorrow?

Work?

Young children?

Carpool duties?

Your vote doesn't matter?

You're just too busy?

Read again what these courageous women went through to earn us, you and me, the right to vote.

What a privilege it is to live in such a time, in such a place.

(Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, Mrs. Abby Scott Baker, Anita Pollitzer, Alice Paul, Florence Boeckel, Mabel Vernon [standing])

Conferring over ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution at National Woman's Party headquarters, Jackson Place, Washington, D.C.

Most of this information was actually taken from a chain email that was first circulated on the Internet in 2008. I verified the authenticity on snopes.com and made some edits after checking their sources: Alice Paul and the American Suffrage Campaign, From Equal Suffrage to Equal Rights, and Jailed for Freedom: American Women Win the Vote.

. . . . .

Now that I've convinced you that you should be willing to make great sacrifices to vote, I am going to tell you about a little shortcut for next year.

Any person in Utah who is registered to vote may vote by absentee ballot. (Each state has different rules regulating absentee voting; no excuse is required in Utah.) But you are too late to cast an absentee ballot this year- absentee ballot applications must be received no later than the Friday before the election, and absentee ballots are only valid if they are postmarked before (not on) election day.

Click here to obtain an absentee ballot application for next year. Select that you would like your name placed on the permanent absentee voter list, and you'll never have to stand in line to cast your ballot again. Brilliant, right?

Wikipedia's definition says: An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station. I really am willing to go stand in line to vote, but as long as there's an easier option to vote, I'll take it. I'm sure I'll be able to find something else to do with my time.

Last Sunday at the Spiral Jetty

2011-11-06T22:27:00.004-07:00

Last Sunday at the Spiral Jetty, the sky was sunny and temperatures were in the 60s.

(This Sunday in Ogden, there is snow on the ground and temperatures are in the 30s.)

We have made two previous trips to the Spiral Jetty. Once in September of 2007 and again in November of 2009 (seen here and here). Never have we been when the water level been so high.

The jetty was constructed at a water level of 4195; last Sunday the water level was 4196.8 feet. (Current water levels can be checked at this link.)

Some kids did all they could to stay dry:

Some were less cautious and did all they could to get wet:

It was a completely different experience with all of that water, but the Spiral Jetty is always intriguing. Always captivating. Always an incredible adventure.

I finally talked Lucy into getting out of the water. I was plenty cold, but she would have stayed in all day.

Rain boots and jeans were clearly the wrong choice of attire. We would have been better off with swimming suits and Chacos.

Steve made hot chocolate on the camp stove; it was perfect.

Check out all of that salt on Oliver's face? (Or is that Silas?)

Glad I was able to talk my fun neighbors into going with me and taking some of these great pictures:

You can read Saren's version of our trip here.

And if YOU want to go to the Spiral Jetty:

Call me. I'm usually up for an adventure.

The road out to the Spiral Jetty has been greatly improved. Any car should be able to reach it just fine, but the trip will leave your vehicle a bit salty.

Directions can be found using Google Maps by entering Rozel Point as your destination.

More detailed (mostly accurate) directions can be found here. (The general directions are correct, but some of the mileage measurements are off.)

There is no cell phone service for the last 10-15 miles as you are approaching the Spiral Jetty.

A bathroom stop at the Golden Spike Monument Visitor Center is recommended.

The End.

The Magic of a Toaster Oven

2011-11-05T23:41:00.002-06:00

I bought a toaster oven yesterday because we have wanted one for ten years now. And there was a $20 instant rebate on the Cuisinart model I saw at Costco.

We've only owned it for one day and I'm already thoroughly pleased with my purchase. Maybe even a little giddy.

No more soggy microwaved pizza and other leftovers. And no more impatiently waiting for the oven range to heat up. But the real magic of the toaster oven is that Rachel can use it. She is currently enthralled with cooking, but letting her use the oven range frightens me. (I think it frightens her too.) The toaster oven is perfect.

For lunch today, she made herself a grilled cheese sandwich with havarti cheese and pesto. (The pesto was made with purple basil; that's why it looks so unappetizing.)

She was so pleased with herself that she went ahead and took some pictures of her creation with my phone. Ten pictures, to be exact.

I love toaster ovens. I love havarti cheese. I love it when people take pictures of food they have prepared. (Except when my husband bakes himself a chocolate bundt cake when I'm in the hospital and thinks it's appropriate to send a picture of said chocolate cake to wife in hospital.) And I love eight year olds. Especially mine.

Sleepy Adam = Sick Adam

2011-11-04T22:35:00.010-06:00

Adam fell asleep in his chair before bedtime. I had to wake him up for a bath because he is a stinky boy.

He laid right down in the tub and fell asleep. Like for real asleep.

(As long as I'm displaying a picture of his little bum, please note that his Y crack has disappeared.)

He woke up this morning and threw up. Good boy, he made it to the toilet.

And then he laid right down on my bathroom floor and went back to sleep.

Poor little boy had to miss his very favorite day of preschool: Double Trouble Day.

The boy seems to be sick a lot. Probably because I didn't breastfeed him long enough.

Halloween a.k.a. One Big Non-Stop Party

2011-11-02T22:58:00.003-06:00

For Halloween this year, we had Rachel and Lucy as Thing 1 and Thing 2:

Adam as Captain America:

Kaleigh, the bumblebee:

And Derrick, the gangster:

(Not really.) Derrick's been sporting this look for about a week now. He spent six years trying to grow his hair out long enough to be braided into cornrows. And he finally made it, just in time for Halloween. His boss and co-workers at the hospital didn't recognize him and thought he was a temp. He said it hurt so bad that he couldn't sleep the first night.

Halloween has somehow morphed into a month-long celebration brimming with heaps of candy and treats. And we happily partook of as many festivities we could. We started out by attending Jed's Halloween Carnival a couple of weeks ago. The kids played all sorts of amusing games (the mummy wrap is still their favorite), looked at all of the fun decorations (he has quite a collection), and had some walking tacos for dinner. It also served as a great trial run for our costumes. (I learned that it's a bad idea to dress as a cowboy and wear your husband's size 13 cowboy boots.)

On Friday night, we went to our ward's Chili Cook-off and then quickly hurried out to North Ogden to catch the tail end of the trunk-or-treat for Richard & Gloria's ward.

Saturday was the fun party at Dalton & Holly Jones' house. Holly is a great party planner. She doesn't leave anything out, and we felt pretty lucky to be on the invite list. The kids decorated cookies and made "ghost suckers" and "mummy candy bars". They touched intestines (spaghetti), hearts (peeled tomatoes), a brain (cauliflower), eyeballs (peeled grapes), and a leg bone (giant bone). There was root beer with dry ice, elk chili, and giant bowls of all sorts of candy. Seriously. She doesn't leave anything out. The highlight was definitely roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.

On our way home, we drove by a trunk-or-treat in process at Burger King. The kids convinced me to stop, and within 45 seconds of arriving, Rachel and Lucy were declared the costume contest winners. They won a gift card to Burger King, a free pizza from Papa Murphy's pizza, and free ice cream cones for everyone. Parents were coming up to them and asking if they could take pictures of their little toddlers with them.

At that point, I wondered if maybe we had a shot to win the costume contest at the Halloween Spooktacular at the Dinosaur Park. Despite our best efforts, we've never won. . . but Fred and India cleaned house last year and walked away with the coveted prizes. We payed our entrance fees and ran around to a few of the advertising/trick-or-treating tables. (I'm not sure why the people at the dinosaur park think we want to pay to be attacked by Scentsy ladies and Herbalife salesmen. I would actually rather NOT get the piece of candy.)

As soon as the costume parade started, they announced, "This year, we are going to do things differently. Instead of cheering and pulling out your favorites, everyone gets a prize!" Blast. The only reason we went was to win the costume contest. I guess that's what we get for being greedy. (The exciting prize was a coupon for a free cup of hot chocolate from the Cafe. . . where they also sell scones and other food items. Another advertising ploy.) Needless to say, this is the last year we will go to the Halloween Spooktacular.

And then it was finally "real Halloween". We started out with the 1st Annual Jefferson Avenue Halloween Parade. This shows all of the kids except for Shai and the Trahers, just before we started the parade from the Loosli's house:

I think we should add a costume contest to our neighborhood parade for next year. Ashlun and his excavator costume definitely would have won.

David Linton patiently waited for the parade to begin. He was our only spectator and gave candy to all of the kids.

After the parade, the kids played games on the grass, took turns trying on Ashlun's costume, and posed for more pictures.

When's the last time you've played Red Rover?

Saren made some delicious black bean soup so we could eat some real food before all of the candy:

And then we were off to the Jackson & Eccles Park Trunk-or-Treat. Somehow we also fit in trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, hot chocolate at Sonora Grill, and Ashton's long-awaited spook alley. In the middle of all of that, Lucy turned to me and declared, "This is like one big, non-stop party!!!"

Yes. it. was.

NaBloPoMo 2011

2011-11-01T23:03:00.002-06:00

I am going to attempt to keep up with NaBloPoMo this year. We'll see how well I do.

I have all sorts of great pictures I need to post from Halloween and our Sunday drive out to the Spiral Jetty, but today hasn't worked out quite as planned, so they will have to wait until tomorrow. It turns out that I don't need any of the writing prompts provided by BlogHer for NaBloPoMo; I have enough thoughts and ideas to last a lifetime.

Here's my random list for today:

-Lucy stayed home sick again today. But this time, it was legitimate. She lost her voice yesterday and threw up (just a little) last night. The worst part is that after I carried her up the steep stairs of our neighbor's basement, calmed her down, and gathered the other kids (and their costumes) to go home, I realized that I forgot to clean it up. My neighbor is way too kind and told me she would take care of it.

-I accidentally deleted an important "note" on my phone when I synced it to my computer this afternoon. (My continuously updated "Must Do" list that I am totally dependent upon.) I spent two hours trying to recover it, and even Steve's efforts were fruitless. I feel strangely lost without it and don't know what to do with myself. If I am supposed to be doing something for you, (or with you. . . I also lost some information on my calendar) I may need a little reminder.

-The first day of November means that I had all of the kids pull out their coats, snow pants and boots. They took turns trying everything on to evaluate what we need for winter, which is going to hit Ogden this weekend. (I'm okay with the dropping temperatures now that Halloween is over.) I like this list of winter outerwear by Design Mom.

-Within the last four days, I have ripped holes in all four pairs of my jeans. I wear jeans every single day, so this is a problem. (Technically, Adam ripped one hole and my phone wore a hole through one of the other pairs.) If you see me around town wearing dress pants or skirts, just pretend that I've turned into a lady.

-I publicly admitted to shaving Rachel and Lucy's legs every couple of months on this popular blog on a post about girls' self image. I defended myself by saying that my daughters have never wanted to wear makeup or dress "older", they just don't like hairy legs. I also added that they are being taught that the way you treat people is more important than the way you look. The very next morning, I woke up with a huge pimple. Rachel looked at me and asked, in complete seriousness, "Are you really going to go to the party with that on your forehead?"

-We officially survived as a one-car family for two months. Steve did some negotiating with me, and we agreed that if he rode his bike to work until Halloween, he could earn an iPad. We did purchase a Honda Element for Sonora Grill/Steve/the chef a couple of weeks ago, but Steve followed the rules and had Courtney keep it at his house. Steve is riding his bike to pick up the Element this very minute and should have his coveted and long-anticipated iPad by the weekend. I have to add that Steve also lost twenty pounds. And I haven't had to pay one parking ticket in two months (a record for Steve). It turns out riding a bike has all sorts of benefits.

The Juice of the Grapes

2011-10-29T23:40:00.000-06:00

Earlier this year, Steve told me that he thought it was time for us to take our grape juice to a new level. Much like my Uncle James has done with his amazing apple cider, Steve thinks we need to find the perfect blend of grapes to use to make the perfect grape juice.

He thinks all jars of grape juice should be uniform in flavor (and color).

But I absolutely love this beautiful spectrum of purples and pinks.

So I had to tell him no.

The Last Tomato Harvest

2011-10-28T23:37:00.005-06:00

Rachel, Lucy, and I did one final tomato picking before the freeze and gathered four boxes of tomatoes. Steve told me they were not "restaurant quality" so that means I might finally make some marinara sauce this year.

It was some serious work to pull the tomatoes out of the ground and untangle them from the cages. Some of the plants had grown up and over the cages and back down to the ground. . . a good ten feet long. And they had some massive roots like this:

My stomach muscles were sore for two days.

It should be noted that the strongest roots were on Aunt Lucy's Heirloom Tomato plant. It took me a good five or ten minutes whacking away at the root with a hoe before I could pull it out. Much to Lucy's dismay, we will not be planting Aunt Lucy's Tomatoes again next year.

This was an odd year for tomatoes. (Or is every year an odd year?) We had a late start and dealt with some difficulties with insects and diseases. (I am voting on giving up being "organic" and using pesticides and fungicides next year.) We lost seven or eight of our fifty-four plants, but we still yielded about 1600 pounds of tomatoes.

And we settled on a few things:

Brandywine and Early Girl tomatoes, we are so over you. You will never grow in our garden again.

On the other hand, we couldn't get enough of our Sun Sugar and Golden Jubilee tomatoes.

Next July feels like so far away, so we are savoring these last tomatoes of the season. Rachel has fallen in love with Caprese Salad. . . she asks me to make it every day and even requested to take it to school as her home lunch.

After clearing out all of the tomato plants and tilling the soil, Steve planted winter rye. Since we can't rotate our tomato crop, we are going to try using this winter cover crop to improve our soil. I think my husband's level of happiness over the last few months has been directly related to how the garden is doing, so let's hope it works.

Crazy Hair Day Repeat

2011-10-26T13:35:00.002-06:00

Lucy's crazy hair from last year was such a hit that we went for a repeat:

Instead of using a plastic cup like last time, we tried a roll of toilet paper and a styrofoam cup. She said it didn't hurt this time and left it in all day, so I think the toilet paper is the way to go. She had enough hair leftover that we probably should have gone for two rolls of toilet paper.

Lucy was not in the mood for pictures, and I had to beg and plead to get these shots before she went to school.

After school was a completely different story.

Pretty sure she would have posed for me all day.

And Some No-Longer Crazy Teeth

2011-10-26T13:31:00.001-06:00

Two months ago, Rachel's teeth looked like this:

And now they look like this:

We can't believe it!

We Have a Winner

2011-10-24T23:11:00.002-06:00

Thanks to everyone who officially entered the Win a Date with Jed Platt contest by commenting on my blog (and to those who unofficially entered by sending me private messages).

It sounds like you know some great ladies who definitely deserve a date. . . but an entry like this is hard to beat:

Congratulations, Leslie! You just won a date with Jed Platt.

P.S. I have to admit: I have an ulterior motive in setting Jed up on dates. Once he called to see if I was home because he had something really important to give me. "A wedding announcement?" I facetiously asked. He laughed. And then he told me that when he finally gets married, I will be delivered a hand-chiseled announcement. Like most of you, I've never seen a hand-chiseled wedding announcement. And not only am I curious to see how he pulls it off, I'm super excited to receive one someday.

uea

2011-10-23T22:12:00.001-06:00

jr. jazz basketball practice. flu shots. maggie's birthday party. the zookeeper. dinosaur park. jamba juice. 4th street park. sheet forts. cousin sleepover. piano practicing. ogden river parkway bike ride. kayak park playground. picnic lunch. basketball with uncle dave. shaving cream baths. lego towers. staying up late and sleeping in. the smurfs. costa vida. mckay birthday party extravaganza. grape picking. grape juicing. caprese salad. book reading. book report writing. spoon me. church. stuffed peppers. baked potatoes. snickers salad. pumpkin bars. halloween decorations.

and tomorrow morning, it's back to real life.

p.s. we don't usually enjoy so many fun treats and activities, but i was trying to use up my coupons from my entertainment books. somehow I ended up with five.

Lucy Rocks

2011-10-20T11:11:00.003-06:00

Every few months, there is an awards assembly at school. (There might be a defined schedule, but we're on our fourth year at this school, and I still haven't figured it out.)

Awards assemblies are great for the kids who receive awards. They aren't so great for the kids who don't receive anything. And they can be really hard on the sister (Lucy) of the girl who receives an award at almost every single assembly (Rachel).

So I wasn't too surprised when Lucy told me she wasn't feeling well this morning.

I was a little surprised when she came upstairs and showed me what she had made:

Is Lucy brimming with confidence?

Or did she create this to boost her damaged morale?

. . . .

Poor Lucy. Not only is she the middle child, but she's stuck in between an extremely bright older sister with OCD and a younger brother who receives all sorts of (mostly negative) attention. (I am working on that.) I clearly need to spend more time celebrating Lucy and her successes.

At the beginning of the school year, Lucy was selected as the first "Rockstar of the Week" in her class. You can see an image of the poster she filled out here.

Top 10 Things You Need To Know About: Lucy Ballard

10. I've been to 13 states.

9. I have 16 cousins and 1 is in my class.

8. I brok my collarbone when I was 2.

7. I've been in the newspaper.

6. I have a brother adopt from South Africa.

5. I have a niece.

4. I have a blog.

3. I've been on TV.

2. I won a buritto eating contest.

And the number 1 thing is. . .

I've been in Jenny Lake.

(And by in Jenny Lake, she means she fell off the boat dock into Jenny Lake. On a freezing cold, rainy day.)

Here is my version of the Top 10 Things you Should Know About Lucy Ballard

10. Lucy is definitely a morning person. She wakes up happy and pleasant. And when she is tired, she goes to bed. (What a concept.) We don't have to set an alarm in the morning; Lucy is always in our room at exactly 7:01 am.

9. Lucy has always enjoyed school, but this year is extra special because her cousin, Layla, is in her class. Lucy is very responsible with her homework. My sister-in-law was mentioning something about the assignment for Lucy's class and I had to admit, I never help her with her homework. She comes home from school, she does it, and she has me sign it. No reminding, no prodding, and no begging required.

8. Lucy bites her fingernails. Some people might think this is a bad thing, but as a mother who can't stand her children having long fingernails, it's just fine with me.

7. Lucy likes bugs. She also likes to kill bugs. When Rachel starts shrieking at the sight of a spider, Lucy moves in, ready to take care of business.

6. Lucy doesn't get cold. This makes me extremely jealous.

5. A few weeks ago, Lucy was working on her cursive handwriting. She had made herself a chart and was very diligently practicing each letter. I finally asked her if she was learning cursive in school, and she replied, "No. I just wanted to learn it."

4. Lucy is LOUD. (I have no idea where she got that from. Because Steve and I were both extremely shy, quiet children...) But Lucy has some serious self control. She always wins quiet contests and can be bribed to be quiet on long car rides. (A bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken will buy you four hours of silence.)

3. Lucy has always been our most easygoing child. She doesn't care about a lot of things and she doesn't complain. She doesn't compare cookies or other treats to see which one is bigger; she just happily eats the one you give her. And she doesn't know this, but her favorite colors have always been dictated by the least favorite colors of her older sister.

2. Lucy frequently makes really random comments that make me laugh. Like. . . "I wish our house were made out of gummy bears."

And the number 1 thing is. . .

Lucy is a peacemaker, just like her father. She always has been, and I hope she always will be.

Lucy rocks. And if I can find my very favorite video of her as a three-year-old explaining how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I will post it.

P.S. Rachel was very aware of Lucy's feelings today and kindly printed off this certificate for her:

Picture Randomness

2011-10-18T17:35:00.005-06:00

Lucy drew this picture during church a month or so ago. Half of our row was laughing so Steve texted me to ask what she had drawn. I tried to inconspicuously take a quick picture to text back to him. . . and was a little embarrassed when the flash went off.

We have a new bishop in our ward; Steve and sleepy Brother B. still sit up on the stand as counselors.

Adam taught Kaleigh how to use the camera on my phone so he can have someone take pictures of him whenever he wants. This also means that I find hundreds and hundreds of pictures of Adam posing (and Kaleigh's face) on my phone.

It appears that Rachel had a few wounds. And she likes to label them:

Last month, Adam mysteriously fell off a barstool while watching cartoons and landed on his chin. Hard. I took him to the emergency room because he was acting really funny and then fell asleep and would not wake up. The CT scan was normal, but we were sent to the dentist for x-rays of his jaw. At first they (the dentist and oral surgeon) thought it was broken, but after a second round of pictures, decided the bone was fine, and that it was the tissue that had been damaged. He was on a "no-chew" diet for two weeks. . . which really only lasted five days.

Our dentist was bothered that the ER doctor hadn't addressed why he had fallen off the stool. It seemed out of character for him to fall asleep while watching cartoons, so we wondered if he might have syncope issues like me (and Rachel). And then one day I went back outside to see what was taking Adam so long to come in. Apparently, he was too tired to make it into the house and just went ahead and laid down on the longboard. Maybe he is a little short on sleep these days?

I had my six month post-op appointment and everything looks great. Adam was enthralled with the ultrasound machine and took plenty of pictures and videos to document the event. He thought the sound of my heart beating was something inside my body trying to get out. Thank goodness that's not the case.

Dr. Steppacher picked up and moved to Chicago, so I will now be following up with the surgeon who performed my second operation, Dr. Goodman. Dr. Steppacher just happened to be here long enough to help me. . .

In other surgery-related news, I just barely called and canceled my bladder surgery that was scheduled for next month. Having it done before the end of the calendar year seemed like the logical thing to do, since we have met our maximum out of pocket for the year. But I finally realized that my uneasiness about it was more than fear of another operation and recovery- it's not the right thing for our family right now.

I feel like a burden has been lifted and am now looking forward to the holidays, ski season, and maybe even a half-marathon in May. . . we'll see. My decision was confirmed when Rachel overheard me telling someone I wasn't going to do it anymore. "You're having surgery again?" Her face was filled with despair and she instantaneously had tears in her eyes. As wonderful as everyone was to help take care of everything while I was out of commission, I think my kids need me right now.

Steve and Adam got matching tattoos at Vinto Pizzeria to go with their matching Carhartts. It took us a while to finally go to Vinto, but it did not disappoint. The kids' pizza was the best deal; if we lived closer we would be stopping by much more frequently. I think we should have some temporary tattoos made with Sonora Grill's logo. Would you let your kids wear one?

Adam has a new responsibility chart. He happily wakes up and gets dressed and makes his bed, among other things. Sometimes, he goes ahead and gives himself an extra magnet for things he deems worthy of acknowledgement. So far, he has earned a toy from the dollar store, a trip to the dinosaur park, and bumper cars at Fat Cats.

When it's only a dollar, everyone gets a toy.

Rachel and Lucy are absolutely fascinated with the mural going up on 23rd and Washington. (It is pretty amazing.) We've been by a few times to watch the artist paint. She is a super nice lady and always says, "Come see me again." So now Rachel is just sure that we are obligated to keep going back to see the progress.

We went and cleaned out our two plots at the Oasis Community Garden. Apologies to the gardeners whose neighboring plots were compromised by our 33-foot long spaghetti squash plant.

It's kind of sad to say goodbye to the garden for the year.

My cousin, Ben, got married last Saturday, and we went to Logan for the ring ceremony and wedding lunch. Kaleigh wasn't feeling well, but she perked up as soon as the dancing started. . . and then got ornery as soon as I tried to take a picture. Typical.

We've eaten tin foil dinners three times in the last week or two. My kids get really excited for them and I end up with very few dirty dishes to wash. I use a pot to pre-cook the potatoes, but that's about it. It does make me wish we had a fire pit out back. . . Someday, someday.

It made me smile to see the way Steve labeled this bag of dehydrated peaches. They really might be "The Best Ever". Steve recently informed me that although I introduced him to dehydrating, he is now the expert in our family.

Fine with me.

How to get FREE toilet paper and batteries

2011-10-18T12:45:00.007-06:00

(FREE after Staples Rewards)

1. Sign up for Staples Rewards. You can do this online or in the store. (It's free.)

2. Go to Staples.

3. Buy one pack of toilet paper ($5.99):

4. Buy two packs of these batteries ($9.99 each):

5. Before you pay, give the cashier this coupon.

6. Pay your total, which should be $22.66.

7. You will receive $19.98 back as Staples Rewards. Staples Rewards do have to be spent at Staples, but there are no rebate forms to fill out or submit.

Okay, it looks like the toilet paper and batteries will end up costing you $2.68, but that's pretty much free, right?

(Get 100% back Staples Rewards 16-Count Duracell AA or AAA batteries offer is valid 10/16/11 thru 10/29/11. Limit 2 packs per customer per week. In store only.)

Be Careful What You Post Online. And a Contest. And a Halloween Party.

2011-10-14T16:06:00.003-06:00

Last year, my neighbor was one of the speakers at the Utah Heritage Foundation Preservation Conference.

As he was being introduced, the master of ceremonies said, "I didn't really know much about Jed Platt, so I googled him to get some information to share with you."

Much to Jed's embarrassment, he had pulled up this lovely blog post from a couple of years ago.

Jed (at that point, a very red Jed) was introduced, among other things from my blog post, as our favorite neighbor and the beneficiary of my fun little contest.

. . . . . .

A couple of months ago, we had a neighborhood potluck dinner. I asked Jed if he would bring his big parachute that he had brought to a neighborhood barbecue a few years prior. He brought the parachute. And some awesome rockets that were launched sixty feet into the air. And he sat on the grass and supervised twenty-two kids for most of the evening.

I thanked him profusely and told him I owed him some tomatoes, caramel popcorn, or a date. He replied that he didn't know what to pick because they all sounded like good prizes.

I'm pretty sure that means he wants me to host another contest for him.

So, without further ado, I invite you all to participate in my new contest:

Win a Date with Jed Platt, Round 2

I'm going to review the reasons why you (or someone you know) would want to win a date with Jed. And then you need to leave a comment and let me know why you (or someone you know) should be the winner.

1. He is still a talented designer and devoted historian.

2. He still has an incredibly sweet mother.

3. He is no longer in his thirties, but mighty close.

4. He still throws impressive Halloween parties. (More on that in a second.)

5. He is still LDS, but instead of devoting his efforts on a Methodist church, he now spends his days working at the Christmas Box House.

6. He still does nice things for us, like show up at our door late at night with awesome toys for my kids, even though he moved down the street.

7. He still likes to eat at Sonora Grill. (Which may be part of the reason he doesn't complain about my matchmaking efforts.)

Like last time, please feel free to enter someone in the contest without their consent.

Jed and winner will enjoy a dinner for two at Sonora Grill. And I will add that the winner may be selected randomly or based on the responses given, depending on my mood for the day. This contest will close Sunday, October 23 at 12:00 midnight.

. . . . . .

Do you want to check Jed out, for yourself or someone else, without going on an official date?

Well, here's your chance.

Jed's famous Halloween party is tomorrow night. And this year, it's open to the public because he is hosting it as a fundraiser for the Ogden Christmas Box House.

P.S. Even if you aren't interested in a relationship with Jed, you should still come to the Halloween party. I will be there with my kids. . . and the money is going to a mighty good cause.

Our Awesome Exotic Anniversary Trip

2011-10-12T12:32:00.008-06:00

We wanted to do something memorable for our ten-year anniversary, but we also decided that we were going to stay "home". . . as in, we weren't going to go stay overnight anywhere.

One of Steve's servers went to the Bonneville Seabase in Grantsville this summer and declared it the neatest thing he had done in Utah. I took his word for it and called and made reservations for me, Steve, Rachel, and Lucy to go snorkeling with the tropical fish in the middle of land-locked Utah.

(And I know it's not typical to invite your kids to tag along on your anniversary date, so we must be super cool parents.)

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I drove right by it:

Maybe I was too distracted looking at all of the snow on the mountains:

If anything, it only made the idea of snorkeling in the middle of the desert seem even more bizarre. We were quickly greeted and hurried inside because they were waiting for us to arrive so they could feed the fish.

First reactions:

They are standing a good eight feet from the water. Getting them in the geothermal pools did not look very likely.

Steve got out there and willingly fed some fish:

"Fed some fish" is a bit of an understatement. These were 36" tropical fish that were vigorously jumping in and out of the saltwater.

And a stingray that actually jumps up partway out of the water to be hand fed. (There are two stingrays at Seabase. Their names are Steve and Irwin.)

Oh yeah. And a shark.

It is actually just a nurse shark, but any kind of shark is pretty exciting. (There are two at Bonneville Seabase.)

Lucy started to warm up to things and wanted to let the little "mollies" nibble on her fingers:

And then she was ready to go. We watched a 15-minute video and then she and Steve suited up in their wetsuits and snorkeling gear:

Lucy required minimal coaxing and got right in the water with Steve:

Steve and Lucy went off snorkeling and I happily took on the role of photographer.

It wasn't too long before Rachel decided she wanted in too, so I went and got her suited up:

Getting her in the water was a completely different story. This picture shows the last time Rachel smiled for a while. It turned into a bit of a production and I might have uninvited her to any future anniversary trips.

Steve finally gave up on Rachel and went back to snorkeling with Lucy.

Lucy eventually got out for a minute so Steve could feed the fish romaine lettuce:

And then we moved over to the Abyss where it was a good ten degrees warmer and only had small fish. We really should have started in that pool; Rachel got right in. This isn't a great picture, but it was the only one I got of all three of them together:

Lucy was a rockstar.

And Steve was too. Because as long as you're there, you have to pay the extra $5 and let the guy throw tuna at your head to attract all of the fish. It was pretty awesome. And since I had so much fun making Adam's Columbus Day video, I made another one:

And for those curious how much our fun day at Bonneville Seabase cost us:

Water entrance fee: $20 (x 3)

Snorkeling gear rental: $11 (x 3)

Wet suit rental: $8 (x 3)

Romaine lettuce: $2

Tuna: $5

Total cost: $124

Steve wants to go back for their "scuba experience" so he can go to the bottom and pet the sharks.

Completely unexpected. Absolutely incredible.

Happy Columbus Day

2011-10-10T23:52:00.000-06:00

I edited my first video tonight. It took me TWO HOURS to figure out how to edit this two-minute video:

I was mostly happy to see that Adam pays attention at preschool.

forage

2011-10-08T23:14:00.010-06:00

We generally go out to eat for our anniversary. Forage had been on our list to try for a long time. So a reservation was made.

I (somewhat sheepishly) took all of these photos with my phone and here is the full report:

Organic radish:

The "soil" was edible and tasty . . . but unidentifiable.

Soft scrambled egg with maple syrup and sherry cream:

Steve didn't like his; I happily ate it for him.

New potatoes and whey with greens and Great Salt Lake herbs:

One of the best courses. I kinda wanted to lick the plate.

Roasted chicken and bonito broth with cucumber roasted in spruce and little neck clam:

Unfortunately, we don't like clams. Or cooked cucumbers.

Pastured pork roasted over embers with carrots roasted in drippings and yoghurt:

Sadly there was only one carrot. I would have preferred a plate of five. Or seventy-five. That one measly carrot was absolutely amazing and enough to make me want to go back to forage again.

Northern Utah duck roasted with juniper, apples and beets, elderberries:

A perfect little meal. Perfectly perfect. I never knew I liked duck.

Unripe pear and sorrel with sparkling yogurt:

We quickly googled sorrel. It was ground up and frozen. And delicious. The sparkling yogurt was pretty cool too. This was probably my favorite course. It was the epitome of creative dining. The flavor, texture, and color were all perfect. It takes great talent to make a dish like this work.

Peach with fresh cheese and chrysanthemum:

I've had better peaches. And cheese. And I'm not really into eating chrysanthemums. Or maybe it was just overshadowed by the incredible pear dessert.

When you are served eight courses, you automatically become a food critic, out of necessity. Everything was really nice and we had a pleasant experience. Well-prepared dishes with distinct, savory flavors. A bit slow for our liking, but then again, we are used to doing five things at once. And we were sober.

ten years

2011-10-06T22:49:00.001-06:00

1 camper trailer

2 lengthy legal cases

3 homes

4 kids (plus a bonus)

5 miserable pregnancies

6 restaurants

7 trips to vegas

8 national parks (and far more than 8 trips to our favorite)

9 vehicles

10 years of marriage

and to think it all started with a canoe and some s'mores. . .

Summer Wrap-up

2011-10-04T23:52:00.010-06:00

Last Friday we went to Pineview Reservoir with some friends and neighbors to soak in the end of summer. The temperature was abnormally hot, and we had a great time. Like one mom said, "I kind of feel like we should have been doing this all summer."

School has started, Labor Day has passed, the harvest is on, and the days are getting noticeably shorter.

Summer 2011 is, emphatically, over.

Time to evaluate how we did on our list of 25 Things to Do this Summer:

X Antelope Island

X Summerfest

X Raptors Baseball Game

X Beus Pond

X Bike Ride

X North Ogden Aquatic Center

X Lorin Farr Pool

X Lagoon

Lemonade Stand

X Pick Strawberries at Day Farms

Pick Raspberries at Uncle Ray's

X Bear Lake

X Vernal

Ride Horses

X Roast Marshmallows

X Make Ice Cream

X Oasis Community Garden

Camping

X Swimming at Berghout's

X Splash Pad

X Farmers Market (I am counting Oasis Market)

X Parade

X Pineview Reservoir

X Snow Cones

X Neighborhood BBQ

Twenty-one out of twenty-five. . . not bad. I've already picked out a design for a lemonade stand that should get plenty of use next summer. And even though it's sad to see our tradition of picking raspberries at Uncle Ray's house come to an end, we now have access to the gigantic patch at my parents' new spread in Idaho. We went to visit for the first time over General Conference weekend:

Yeah, I think we have raspberries covered. And we can live without riding horses. . . but what?!? NO CAMPING? This has got to be the first summer our kids haven't gone camping. (Steve and I did go without them.) Maybe we need to figure out a weekend to fit in a fall camping trip.

Goodbye summer. . .

Millions of Peaches

2011-10-02T23:51:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday was the magical day that we got to go pick peaches with my grandpa in Brigham City. We didn't think it was going to happen this year, so we were pleasantly surprised to receive the phone call.

My kitchen counter has been covered with ripening peaches for week now, and every time I look at them, I think of this song.

This weekend we canned peaches, dehydrated peaches, canned peach jam, dehydrated peach fruit leather, and made peach pies. I love peaches.

And I also love my grandpa. I am so thankful that his life has been preserved, yet another year, to instill and fortify the memories of this treasured tradition, and the many others; they will be cherished in our hearts forever.

Rachel is Not an Ant

2011-09-27T09:39:00.003-06:00

Last night, Rachel and Lucy got sent to bed early for fighting.

At 9:00 pm, I got a text message from Rachel that said:

Look at the note under the basement door it is true

My favorite part is where it says, "I am not an ant I can carry more than my own body weight".

It is still making me smile this morning.

I love these notes from my kids. (And, of course, I happily obliged and let her come up and have a snack and read scriptures with me.)

I think I am going to start a foundation:

2011-09-26T14:56:00.008-06:00

Parents Who Love Television and Video Games

Either of these two boys could be the poster child:

While stuffing clothes into the washing machine. . .

Adam: Hey, this is like playing a video game!

Me: Oh, yeah?

Adam: Yeah. Doing laundry is like playing video games.

Me: How's that?

Adam: At first it's hard, but if you do it over and over again it gets easier, and then you win!

Driving home from preschool the other day, after slamming on my brakes. . .

Isaiah: That's inertia?

Me: What did you just say?

Isaiah: That was inertia?

Adam: What's inertia?

Isaiah: When the car stops fast but your body keeps going.

Me: Where did you learn about inertia?

Isaiah: On Sid the Science Kid.

I'm not saying you don't have to be careful WHAT your kids watch and WHAT your kids play.

I am saying there is a lot of television watching and game playing going on at our house. And I think my kids (and nephew) are smarter because of it.

Day for Kids

2011-09-23T00:09:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday, the Boys and Girls Club in Weber County sponsored a "Day for Kids".

Our neighbor, Soniya, spent the weekend with us while her mom was out of town and filled us in on all of the details.

Participating locations included the Ogden Nature Center, the Eccles Dinosaur Park, The Ice Sheet, Papageorge Dairy, The BSA C.O.P.E. Course, and Fat Cats.

Rachel and Lucy were funny. They timidly asked if there was any chance they could "please, please, please" go to something. Hmmmm. Don't I always choose playing with my kids over other activities? Almost always. Especially when it is free.

We made our game plan and assumed that Fat Cats and the Dinosaur Park would be really crowded. Since a lot of kids wouldn't even know what the BSA C.O.P.E. Course was, we figured that was our best bet to avoid the craziness.

Sure enough, when we arrived at the Boy Scout offices, we were the only ones there for the Day for Kids.

Rachel, Lucy, and Soniya had a fun time climbing on the rock wall, but they were too young to ride the zip line or do anything else on the ropes course. We were about to leave, but a photographer from the Standard Examiner came, so the girls went back up the rock wall again. Rachel (and Lucy's) foot made the Sunday newspaper.

We took a break to attend a baby shower and then hurried over to The Ice Sheet. I anticipated lots of kids and lots of lines, but there were very few kids and no lines. (It made me second-guess our prediction about Fat Cats.) Some of our neighbors and cousins came and joined us, and the kids had a fun afternoon ice-skating.

I sure love Ogden and all of the family-friendly activities available in our community, yet I am still amazed how poorly attended many of them are. If something like this were to take place in Logan, it would have been a zoo. Hurray for Ogden, and lucky us. We will continue enjoying all of the fun things Ogden has to offer until everyone else catches on and decides to come join us in this fun town. Did I mention the houses across the street and next door to us are both for sale?

A Visit From the Flowerdays

2011-09-22T02:00:00.009-06:00

Derrick's former bishop from South Africa (who was fundamental in the process/miracle of bringing Derrick to the United States) came to visit us with his wife last night.

We had a wonderful time hearing updates about the people in East London and other happenings in South Africa. At least it was wonderful in between Lucy jumping off the coffee table and Adam shoving my phone in their faces to show them the games he was playing. Glad I got a babysitter for the rest of the night.

Our Pilot was full of car seats so we crammed into their rental car and took them for a drive around Ogden and through the canyon to Pineview Reservoir. Stephen Flowerday even managed to stay on the right side of the road.

And then we went to Sonora Grill, where Steve ordered half the menu for them to eat. Seriously.

Fresh Guacamole

Auga Chile de Camarones

Tropical Swordfish (possibly my favorite thing on the menu)

Chipotle Seafood

Chile Rellenos (another favorite)

Pozole (my first time trying it. . . would never had guessed it was so good)

And those were just our appetizers.

Stephen told us about some of his experiences as a former member of the stake presidency. Funny stories of first-generation members the church in South Africa and nearby countries:

The man whose friend was asking about the church, so he gave him his temple recommend so he could go check it out. (Yes, the nonmember went through a session at the temple.)

About one branch who had a girl passing the sacrament. They were told that girls can't pass the sacrament because they don't hold the priesthood. So they were surprised when they went back six months later and she was still passing the sacrament. They had just gone ahead and given her the priesthood.

And how the temple in Johannesburg has workers monitoring the celestial room to make sure things aren't stolen. People like to take home souvenirs and think they can swipe something to take home with them. . . . right after going through the temple.

Lots of food. Lots of laughs.

Made me even more excited for our upcoming trip to South Africa.

Sixteen more months.

The kids have been working hard to earn money.

They are up to $307.

Craft Day: Duct Tape Flip Flops

2011-09-18T18:13:00.003-06:00

The other day, Rachel and Lucy spent the afternoon making duct tape creations with the neighbors, and I remembered that I never posted the pictures from our Bonus Craft Day (planned around Karen's visit to Utah) last month.

Maybe I was subconsciously trying to suppress the memory. With thirteen kids and four adults, it was a bit chaotic. (I really do need to add something to help absorb the noise in my kitchen. Curtains should be on my to do list. What else would work???)

You can find instructional videos on how to make duct tape flip flops all over the internet. They tell you to trace the bottom of your shoe to create a template and then to make your flip flops out of cardboard.

But we like to do things easy, so we just covered old flip flops up with duct tape. (This was timed perfectly. . . at the end of the summer, when all of the kids' flip flops were getting old and dingy.) You can buy Duck Tape with cool prints just about everywhere now: Target, Walmart, Staples, Home Depot, Lowes, Michaels, Shopko, etc. And I saw on the Duck Tape website that they just came out with College Team Duck Tape.

We cut lots and lots of strips of duct tape (about five inches long), stuck them to the edge of the kitchen counter, and let the kids get to work. There might have been a couple of kids whose mothers insisted on expressing opinions/helping/taking over their project.

This is what they/we came up with:

Can you guess whose feet are whose?

This one should be easy. . .

I'm curious to see if Karen asks to attend Craft Day next time she visits :)