No allergies to marshmallows - or dirt!

We had a great time camping. There were no campfire mishaps, poison oak rashes or rock-climbing injuries. And Brennan was happy he's not allergic to marshmallows. He must have had 10 or so. We went to the same place they went to for fathers and sons. It's great because it's far from civilization, so it's private and free of charge. And it's so beautiful there - lots of trees.
Plus it's close to some great rock-climbing. It took about three hours for all of us to get a turn - including Kristen's whole family.



I even got up on the rock. It was even more fun than I thought it would be. It's a great place to learn because there are so many handholds.

This is me repelling back down. I'm hooked. We're already planning our next climb.

Camping List

We're going camping today. Here's our camping list. It might motivate you to go camping. Or it might remind you why you don't camp. This pretty much sums up what I've been busy doing today:

Our Camping Packing List
CLOTHES
____clothes x __days
____underwear
____socks
____belts
____pajamas
____shoes
____sweatshirts
____hats

TOILETRIES
____toothbrushes
____toothpaste –adult and kids
____deodorant
____combs
____hair bands
____shampoo & conditioner
____chap stick
____medicines
____contacts/case/solution/glasses
____diapers & wipes

SLEEPING
____tent
____sleeping bags
____air mattresses
____air pump
____portacrib
____lantern
____flashlight & batteries
____pillows
____noise maker
____sleeping meds
____bedtime books
____scriptures
COOKING
____paper towels
____dish cloth
____dish towel
____dish soap
____tablecloth
____bowl
____spoon
____spatula
____knife
____cutting board
____pam
____pot
____pan
____hot pad
____trash bags
____marshmallow roasters
____Coleman stove
____propane
____lighter
____cups
____plates
____silverware
____can opener

FOOD
____water
____ice
____sippie cups
____soy milk
____milk
____orange juice
____sausages
____pancake mix
____cantaloupe
____syrup
____margarine
____hot chocolate
____marshmallows
____graham crackers
____chocolate bars
____snacks
____picnic lunch


MISC
____DVDs
____cell phones
____trash bags
­­­­____nebulizer
____camera & batteries
____flashlight
____tissues
____sunscreen
____insect repellent
____poison ivy block
____hammer
____broom

Our garden, 2008

It never ceases to amaze me. I put tiny shriveled up seeds in the ground, turn on the automatic drip system, and the next thing I know there are cute little green plants coming up all over. So far we have corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash and cantaloupe. I will plant the pumpkins in July and the beans and peas in the fall. Oh yeah, I also did peppers from seed. But they aren't doing so great. I haven't had much luck with them in the past either. Anyone have any tips? Yesterday was a gorgeous gardening day - not too hot. I weeded the whole garden, which took a couple hours because it had gotten totally out of hand. When I was almost done, Spencer asked, "Do you think the weeds already dropped their seeds and they're just going to come right back?" Yes, Spencer, they probably will.

Laundry Room

Dave is really starting to figure out how to get me to do things. If he tells me I should do something, it has the opposite effect. I resist. I KNOW we need to do it, but telling me is NOT what motivates me to do it. So a few days ago Dave told me he wants to take a load to the dump (since we have things like broken microwaves and DVD players), so we should go through the house together to find things to throw away. Then last night, since we didn't have any Netflix movies to watch, he started with the laundry room. The hardest thing for me to do is to start. So since he started it, I joined him, and an hour and a half later our laundry room was organized, clean and free of clutter. I would show you a before picture, but I didn't take any. Plus I'd be too embarrassed. Let's just say I couldn't open the door all the way. And the great thing was that he took things down to the basement, which I hate to do. Especially at night. Some of us never grow out of our fear of dark basements.

Memorial Day

It didn't really feel much like a holiday since Dave still had to work, but we did manage to have a fun day anyway. And we put the flag up and grilled hamburgers, so that helped us feel festive. This morning we cleaned the house (I love to start the day off with a clean house) and rode bikes. This afternoon we went to the water park, which we bought season passes for. We usually set up our above-ground pool, but I just can't handle the stress of it with Brennan this year. He is a CLIMBER! And he is constantly going outside. I would just never be able to relax with it up. So we thought this year we'd do the water park instead. They just opened it up in our town last year. It was a chilly day, so the place was practically empty. But the boys didn't seem to notice that their teeth were chattering and loved going down all the little water slides. Even Dallin had fun and didn't want to leave, and he has not been much of a water person. He never did want to swim in our pool. So maybe this will help him learn to like water.

I love strawberry season

I made these lovely strawberry tarts for dessert tonight. I was going to make a strawberry pie, but it didn't look like I had enough strawberries. So I made half a batch of sugar pie dough, cut out big circles and put them in muffin tins. Then I baked them, let them cool, filled them with diced fresh strawberries and topped them with a fruit glaze. Yes, they were as good as they look.

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Today was a big day - Brennan started nursery!! We've looked forward to this day for about 6 months, when he decided he was not content to sit still in class anymore. Dave stayed with him for a few minutes then snuck out. Every time I checked on him he was totally fine. He looked like such a big boy sitting there at the table with everyone else. His nursery leaders were concerned when they looked at the ingredients of the play doh and discovered it contains wheat. So they watched him closely to make sure he didn't eat any. They also had to keep the animal crackers away from him. But they said he was happy the whole time. Yay!!

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Sugar Pie Dough

1/2 lb butter

4 oz sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 lb flour

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Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Work in flour until it forms a ball. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Roll out, put in a pie pan and scallop the edges. Using a fork, poke lots of hole throughout. Bake at 325-350 about 15-20 minutes, or until edges turn golden brown. Cool. Fill with lots and lots of cleaned and dried whole strawberries, stems removed. First put in the largest berries, pointy side up. Once the bottom is covered, work your way up, using smaller and smaller strawberries to fill in all the spaces. Don't skimp. Use lots of strawberries! Top with glaze:

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Strawberry Pie Glaze

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup water

2 Tbsp corn starch

red food coloring

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Mix together in saucepan and stir while bringing to a boil. Boil until clear and thickened. Let sit a few minutes. Optional if in a hurry: put in ice bath to cool. Spoon over pie. Chill and serve.

Spencer's Baptism

Dave performed his first baptism.

Today was Spencer's baptism, and it was wonderful day. This morning we gave him his own set of scriptures with his name engraved, which he was really excited about. Mom came up (dad and grandpa are both sick). I gave the talk on baptism and mom gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. Spencer said he couldn't stop smiling afterwards, and he told Dave he felt free. I sang a duet with a friend, which was an interesting story. A few days ago Dave asked me if we were going to do a special musical number, but I didn't want to sing alone and couldn't decide who to ask or what to sing. Then last night when we were on our date, my friend called to see what time the baptism was. We sang together in a quartet Easter Sunday, so I knew she had a beautiful soprano voice. I'm an alto. So I asked her if she would sing a duet with me today. She said she'd be happy to, so we talked about it and decided to sing Baptism ("Jesus came to John the Baptist,...") I always loved that song, and it turns out it has a pretty harmony. I practiced last night and this morning, we ran through it a couple times before the baptism, and it came together nicely. There was a good turn-out, and it felt good to see our friends and family there to support Spencer. Afterwards we ate cookies and visited in the cultural hall. I made a batch of chocolate chip and a batch of snickerdoodles, and one man told me they were the best chocolate chip cookies he's had, and he is not a young man. Then we (our family and Kristen's family) went to see the new Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, in the theater. It was also a very good movie, and the kids did great. Even Brennan sat still for the first hour and forty-five minutes. After that he got pretty antsy. We picked up pizza on the way home. We're all going to bed early tonight. Spiritual experiences are always exhausting.

Indiana Jones

Dave and I haven't gone to the movies on a date in so long I can't even tell you. We'll take the boys to a kids movie occasionally, but for our dates we prefer to go out to dinner and watch a Netflix movie at home. We see the main ones you gotta see on the big screen - Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc. But there haven't been any like that in awhile . . . until today. We watched the new Indiana Jones movie, and it was awesome! I haven't enjoyed a movie that much in awhile. It was funny, action-packed without getting too lengthy (I hate fighting scenes that go on so long I'm bored out of my mind), and just had a classic feel to it. We went on a double date with Kristen and Nathan. First we went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant near the theater. It was cool because there was an old-fashioned car show going on downtown, and there were lots of older couples dressed all cute in fancy 1920's attire. We had bought the tickets in the afternoon because we knew they'd get sold out. After the movie we went out for dessert. We wanted to get the bananas foster again, but they were out of bananas. So we got the chocolate cake a-la-mode, and it was rich and delicious. What a fun night!

Girls are not soft boys

There is such a big difference between girls and boys. I know I'm stating the obvious here, but since I'm so much more familiar with little boy behavior, I find little girls fascinating when I happen to spend some time with them. My friend just had a baby a couple weeks ago, so we had her 3 year old daughter Sidney over to play with Dallin this morning so my friend could have a break. It's the first time we've had Sidney over for a play date, although she and Dallin know each other from church and primary presidency meetings. She came over wearing a cute little brown and white dress and pig tails. Dallin, wearing old hand-me-down jeans and a football shirt, told her, "You look like a girl in that dress." Then she proceeded to choose all of their activities. "We're going outside now." Dallin and Brennan dutifully obeyed. "We're playing in your bedroom now." Again, they followed her happily. This went on for an hour. The boys didn't mind one bit. They were thrilled to have such a cute little friend over. Then something very interesting happened. I had arranged for another friend's kids to come over to play also. She has a girl who is almost 5 and a boy who is almost 3. As soon as they arrived, her daughter took over. She started calling all the shots, and Sidney went along with it. She barely spoke another word the rest of the time she was here. It was like she had been dethroned by the oldest girl in the group. There was no fighting or struggling for power. Everyone just understood this is how it is done. And all the boys just went along with it.

Hard Light

Yesterday I went over to Kristen's house to help her take pictures of a friend and her children. Then we played with the pictures on Photoshop. Everything we know about Photoshop we learned from Pioneer Woman. Kristen introduced me to "hard light," which of course she learned from Pioneer Woman. Look at this cool picture of Brennan (pre-haircut). I used "Unsharp Mask" on the eyes to make them pop, and the "Hard Light" makes it look so dramatic.

Tofu tip

I made a lovely tofu stir-fry for dinner tonight, and Dave made his yummy egg drop soup. For those of you out there who turn your noses up at tofu, hear me out. Since Dave started working for his current employer, we have greatly reduced the amount of meat we consume. His doctor is very big into preventative medicine, especially vascular health. He teaches his patients that meat should be eaten very sparingly (hmm, where have we heard that before??), not only because of the cholesterol, but also because of the animal protein, which isn't healthy in high amounts. I think it's wonderful! I like meat and all, but not all the time. And Dave used to think dinner wasn't dinner unless it contained meat. But he has totally changed his perspective. As a family, we eat a ton more fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains, and we are always looking for good meatless meals. And this is my favorite way to eat tofu: first, get the firm kind. Then cut it into strips, coat it with corn starch, and fry it in oil until crispy. Don't add it to the stir fry or else the sauce makes it soggy. Just drain on paper towels and put on the side or on top of each serving. My kids absolutely love it. Seriously.

Hair cuts

Tyler has been asking me to cut his hair for several days now. I guess his bangs were making his forehead itchy. But I just didn't seem to get around to it, so today he threatened to do it himself. I immediately set up the chair in front of the T.V. and lined up the boys. I trimmed all four little heads. They did a great job - even Brennan held relatively still. They all got candy afterwards for good behavior. Tyler said he wanted a buzz cut, so that's what he got. It sure is short! I apologized afterwards, but he said it's perfect. Oh well, it will grow.

After haircuts and baths, we all cleaned up before Dave got home (Really, it was quite a productive day! No wonder I haven't had a chance to blog until now), because I like to have the place tidy for family home evening. It helps invite the spirit. Dallin wasn't doing his part (as usual), but asked for another piece of candy. I told him he could have some if he actually helped. And he did! He got a big container and went through the house putting toys in it. I think that is the most he has ever cleaned in his life.

Birthday, round 2

Spencer's ocean cake (I cut the letters out of a fruit roll-up because I ran out of icing and didn't want to make more)

We had a family party at Kristen's house.

Mom, dad and aunt Marilyn all came up.


There is one good thing about the heat here - the evenings are beautiful.
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We had a fun dinner and birthday party last night. Then right before we left, as we were all outside visiting and enjoying the beautiful weather, Dallin ran right into the open tail gate of their truck. His forehead started bleeding pretty bad, and sure enough, he had a deep gaping laceration. There are many times (especially with 4 active little boys), that I am so grateful to have a PA in the house. We went home, and Dave closed his wound with some Dermabond he likes to keep on hand. That saved us a trip to the E.R., which is something I was in no mood for at 8:00 on a Sunday night. Of course, when are we ever in the mood for the E.R.? Dallin did a great job and held incredibly still as Dave cleaned it out and applied the Dermabond. That stuff is awesome. If he had gotten stitches, he would have needed at least 5 or so. I was going to keep Dallin home from preschool today because he slept in late after a traumatic night, but it's luau day today, and he didn't want to miss it. Plus he was excited to tell everyone about his cut.

Bike ride

Yesturday we went on a family bike ride. Brennan rode in the baby seat on the back of Dave's bike while Tyler and Dallin went in the child carrier pulled behind his bike. Spencer and I just rode our own bikes. We went on a 3-mile round trip bike path down by the beach. It was a hot day, but there were a lot of shady trees along the way. It was beautiful and felt so good.

We were going to go to the beach next, but it looked way too crowded and we were all sunned out. So we decided to go to our favorite barn and fruit stand instead. We ate ice cream (Brennan got a rock candy lollipop), played with old fashioned toys, bought peaches and fed the animals. There was some excitement when the farmers had to load up the sheep into a truck to make room for all the new baby goats. The female goats were looking pretty fat and were apparently ready to have their babies any day now. Spencer got to help by opening and closing the gate each time.

Change of plans - twice

Spencer's new curtains. I love the colors - ocean greens and blues with a masculine brown stripe.

Yesterday did not turn out how we planned. We decided last week that we wanted to go to the temple. Technically we're in the L.A. temple district (3 1/2 hours away), but the Fresno temple is only 2 hours away, so we often go there instead. We thought we would take all the kids, stay in a hotel and have one of us do a session Friday night and the other one do a session Saturday morning. Then we were going to do something fun with the kids on Saturday, such as the zoo. We went there a few years ago and really liked it - they even have camel rides. But as the week progressed, we watched the weather report and saw that it was supposed to get up to 103 there on Saturday. That sounded rather miserable. So we prayed about it and felt strongly that we shouldn't take the kids after all. They were disappointed, but we told them we'd go to the beach today instead. Okay, plan B. I called my mom on Thursday and asked her if she could watch the kids Friday evening, and she said yes! Great! Dave got home from work in plenty of time and we arrived at the temple 30 minutes early - perfect. But we were immediately concerned when we saw that the parking lot was empty and the gate was shut. There was a hand-written note on the gate saying the temple was closed due to a power outage. At 7:00 it was still 102 outside (I love having a thermometer in our car now). Ahhg! Now what do we do? We just parked in the shade and looked at the beautiful, serene temple grounds as we discussed options. Unfortunately we had grabbed a quick bite to eat on the way so we weren't hungry. There are lots of good restaurants in Fresno, too. We ended up driving to a huge shopping area. We went to Linens and Things and found great curtains and floating shelves for Spencer's ocean room. So the evening wasn't a total wash. I wonder if we still get blessings, even though we didn't actually get to go in the temple, because we sure made a valiant effort.

Our hot little outing

Dallin tries to pull the sword from the stone - don't you love the dragon??

Knowing it was going to reach the upper 90's yesterday, I decided to take Dallin and Brennan to the park nice and early. We usually go to the downtown park after the library, but Dallin wanted to go to the "dragon park" instead, which is very close to our house. So we went there on the way to the library, around 9:45. (We would have gone even earlier, but I didn't have any clean shorts for Brennan to wear. So I had to sew the sides of a clean pair we had that was too big around the waist. If our next kid is husky, we're in trouble, because I've sewn all our pants to make them fit Brennan). It felt great in the shade, but it was already too hot in the sun! Dallin couldn't go down the slide because he said it was too hot. Luckily we brought a snack, so we just relaxed under a tree and ate. Brennan was so excited to be outside that he kept running - away from the park. When I called his name to come back, he ran faster, the little pill. I forgot to pack the stroller, and when we got to the library, he did the same thing. He kept trying to run away, laughing and ignoring me when I called him. He's beginning that stage when he knows what I want him to do and purposely does the opposite. This makes going places a tad more complicated and dangerous and it was totally stressing Dallin out. He kept saying, "Mommy, get Brennan!!!" Funny that it wasn't that long ago that Dallin did the same thing. What am I saying - he still does it. But when he sees his brother doing it, it scares him. We picked Tyler up from Kindergarten on the way home and didn't leave the house again for the rest of the day. It got up to 99.

Cub Scouts, Babies, Salmon and Book Club

Yesterday was fun. It was Spencer's first time to go to cub scouts, and he was thrilled! He looked so dang cute in his cub scout uniform - I'll post a picture when I get a chance. We drove his cousins, and they spent the whole way there telling him what to expect. While I waited to pick them up, I went to Kohl's and bought a baby shower gift. It's always fun to buy dresses for other people's babies. I found a really cute green summery dress, but I could not find a little white shirt to go with it. Now I know how people feel about trying to keep their girls dressed modestly - it's tough! I wrote a note on her gift that I would keep looking and give her a shirt later. I got a size 12 mos, so I have plenty of time. I also picked up a fresh Alaskan salmon fillet for dinner (not from Kohl's, of course). I grilled it with Teriyaki marinade, and it was SOOOO delicious. It may have been the freshest, yummiest salmon I've ever had. It wasn't the slightest bit fishy-tasting. After dinner I went to the baby shower, which was very well-attended. It was for a lady who has been trying to have a baby for years and years. She's been attending a group that doesn't believe in any kind of baby monitoring, diabetes testing, ultra sounds, and of course pain medication. I won't comment, except to say that I can't imagine a worse experience myself. But to each his own. I left the shower early and headed over to a book club. We started a new book - 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. I've never read it but the intro sounded good. To be honest, we spent most of the time chatting, which I love. We haven't had a book club meeting in months, and we had lots of catching up to do.

It's That Time of Year Again

The days are longer (which means our kids go to sleep later and wake up earlier) and the days are getting hot. It's supposed to get up to 99 by the end of the week. I'm not ready for the heat! I'm perfectly happy with the ideal weather we've been enjoying for the past few months. Too bad it can't last forever.

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We had a lovely birthday dinner last night. We took a cake and candles to the restaurant. It was very slow there and it felt like we had the place to ourselves. Spencer loved his combo platter - everything, that is, except for the oysters. I explained to him that no one in the world likes those except my dad. So he wanted to save them for him, but I thought it would stink up our fridge. Dave said, "You can take it to school for show and smell." That really cracked him up. Then we went to Michael's, and Spencer picked out some ocean decor for his room - a fish net, an anchor, some fish wallies and some stamps. The kids had a blast exploring that store. And luckily the place was practically empty so we weren't disturbing anyone.

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Spencer helps paint his ocean wall.

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I moved that heavy bunk bed all by myself! I didn't want to wait until Dave got home.
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Doesn't the shark's jaw look awesome up against the blue wall??

Spencer turns 8 years old today! Wow. Time for him to start being accountable and everything.

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Ever since his ocean unit in Kindergarden 2 years ago, Spencer has wanted an ocean room. But since I am so slow to do decorating - not that I don't want to do it but because I'm indecisive about how to do it - it hasn't happened. Plus I wanted to make sure it wasn't just a passing phase. Well his love of the ocean has only intensified. Now he wants to be a marine biology photographer when he grows up. Last year when he got $20 for his birthday, he spent it on a real shark's jaw. When he got a couple dollars from the tooth fairy, he bought a prehistoric shark tooth (just trading one tooth for another much cooler one). When we go to the aquarium he is like our own personal tour guide, telling us all the facts and impressing all the elderly volunteers.

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So for his birthday, I am giving him an ocean room. When he came home from school yesterday, he was SO excited to find me painting his room and said it was his best birthday present ever. Tonight we are going out for seafood, his favorite. Actually all my kids love fish, which is weird to me because I didn't learn to like fish until after I was married. I made cupcakes for his class, and I'll make a cake for tonight, and then we're getting together with the family this weekend for a big family party - it's also my nephew's birthday. This is birthday season. And we still have half a cheesecake we need to eat.

Mother's Day

Picture taken December, 2007

I love Mother's Day! I love to be pampered and showered with flowers, candy, cards, hugs and kisses all day. I got to sleep in and have a restful morning. Dave gave me a glass pedestal cake stand, which I have been wanting. He knows me so well. I love to hear talks at church about mothers. Today's talks were excellent - I cried. I love to hear the primary children sing - today they sang Love Is Spoken Here and Spencer carried the boys' verse (not a solo, but no one else was singing very loud). Primary was a tad on the crazy side as we combined junior and senior primaries for sharing time so the female teachers could attend relief society. We had the kids make cards for their moms. Picture four long tables and 43 children in a crowded, hot little room. In retrospect we should have done it in the cultural hall. I love to have a break from cooking. Tonight Dave is making grilled chicken with a southwest relish and fruit salad. He made a cheesecake with fresh strawberries for dessert. He is a really good cook - he follows recipes to the T. I love my boys, and I love being a mother.

Fathers and Sons

Dallin wasn't so sure about being on the rock

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Tyler loved it and got almost to the top of the rock
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Spencer made it all the way to the top - about 70 ft
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I put them all straight in the bath when they got home

I love having all boys, especially during the annual fathers and sons camp out. Last night Dave took the three big boys camping and rock climbing while Brennan and I got to hang out. After I put him to bed at 7:30, I gave myself a pedicure and watched Sweet Home Alabama. This morning after breakfast we went shopping at the outlets. Brennan is such a good little shopper. I just put him in the stroller and he's totally happy for hours. On the way home we stopped for lunch at a yummy deli. We ate outside - the weather was gorgeous. Too bad this is only an annual event.

Life without a fridge

If we thought it was tough going a day without a microwave, it's been ten times tougher going a day without a refrigerator. A couple days ago our fridge (less than 3 years old) started making a strange loud noise. When we woke up yesterday the food wasn't particularly cold. So we called the Sears people, but they can't come until this afternoon. I had to clean out the fridge, put what I could salvage into our cooler, transfer the freezer stuff to Kristen's chest freezer, and feed my family from a cooler all day. But I'm not one to wallow in self-pity (to quote my mom, "I don't mind suffering in silence, as long as everyone knows that's what I'm doing"), so here's me looking on the bright side:

1. Dave called Sears so I didn't have to. That's huge. You know how I hate to call people.
2. At least the water is still working. I love my filtered fridge water.
3. We were low on food anyway, so I didn't have to throw that much stuff away.
4. I've never cleaned out our freezer, so this was a good time to do it. I had 5 partially-used bags of frozen mixed vegetables.
5. Brennan is so cute I can't stand it. Okay that has nothing to do with my fridge, but I can't think of any more bright sides, and he's sitting here doing his fake-o smile that cracks me up. The boys are going camping tonight and I've got a chick flick on its way, so life is good.

The DMV

One of the most pleasant surprises we had when we moved here was the friendliness of the DMV, of all places. Growing up in Maryland, I had learned to dread and avoid the DMV at all costs. Lines were always long, workers were beyond rude, and nothing was ever accomplished in just one visit. In contrast the people who work at the DMV around here are nice, happy, and laid back. We've had to go there several times in two different towns, and each time we leave amazed at how pleasant the experience was. In preparation to sell our Saturn today, we located our title - still from WV (we never got it transferred), along with our current registration. But we were concerned when we saw that the registration card says "Not transferrable - No title provided" written on it. So I called the 1-800 number for the DMV (on the white board of things I need to do today but didn't want to), and the guy said I had to apply for a new title, which could take several weeks, before I could sell it. So I woke up Brennan from his nap and braced myself to figure it out at the DMV. The line was short and moved quickly. The man told me I did NOT have to get a new title. He gave me a bill of sale form and said that's all I would need, along with the old title, to sell the car. I was in and out of there in 15 minutes and it turns out we can still sell the car today. I just like nice people. They make life so much more pleasant.

Car Wash

The boys helped Dave wash the Saturn yesterday. We're selling it to a family in the Spanish Branch that lives 15 miles away. The branch president has been picking them up for church and driving them back home every week.

Tyler & Dallin got a tad wet in the process.

Good thing Brennan never figured out how to turn the hose on.

"Spray us, mom!" So I did.

Have you thanked a nurse today?

This is National Nurse's Week. So if you have a doctor's appointment this week, make sure you thank your nurse. Dave said the nurses were a tad disgruntled yesterday because all the hospital gave them was 1 helium balloon for all of them to share. He took his nurses breakfast this morning. The two Mexican nurses he works with on Tuesdays love these particular breakfast burritos from a small town Dave passes on his way to work, so he picked those up. He's so thoughtful.

As of today, we're putting the van search on hold. Even though we got an amazing quote for a new Odyssey (practically the same price for a used one but with much lower interest - the dealers are hard up right now), I just don't want to have such a high car payment. We drive the van so little and wonder how many more miles we can get out of our Montana, even with its transmission problems. Dave called the mechanic this morning and he agreed he would just drive it 'till it dies, since we would get so little for it the way it is anyway. Now we can work on actively saving for the next van so we can get a much lower payment when we do bite the bullet and buy one. Yesterday I spent all afternoon scrubbing our van inside and out in preparation for trading it in today. It looks so nice now I don't want to get rid of it.

I Hate Shoes

I had a fleeting thought last night that we should round up shoes in preparation for this morning. That would have been a good idea. Mondays are hard for shoes because we've gone one or maybe even two days without wearing them, and that's more than enough time to get lost. Instead we waited until 7:50 this morning and could only find one each of Tyler's and Spencer's shoes. We eventually found Tyler's other one, but Spencer had to wear a pair he doesn't like (someone gave them to us, and they fit okay but they're hard for him to walk in b/c they're so clunky). I finally found his other shoe as we were running out the door 10 minutes late. They usually walk to school (we live 10 houses away), but we were so behind today that I decided to drive them. That sounds simple enough, but the Saturn was parked behind the van and the car seats were sitting out. I never did buckle in Dallin and he realized it just about the time we got back home and started freaking out that a cop was going to get us. I'm not sure I saved any time by driving. But we did manage to get there just as the bell rang. I just hate to feel rushed like that in the morning. Spencer is particularly sensitive to that, and I don't like to send him off to school in a rushed tone.

Adventurous Cooking

Ever since we ate at that fabulous French crepe cafe for my birthday, I've been itching to create my own crepe masterpiece. So I found a wonderful recipe for vegetable crepes in my Meals For a Month Cookbook that I tweaked for dinner tonight. It was a perfect Fast Sunday dinner because I was able to make it all before church and just heat it up when we got home. Plus as hungry as I get for dinner, I never want anything too heavy after fasting. I sauteed onions, carrots and mushrooms, then I added spinach, frozen potatoes and cheese. I rolled them up in the crepes, put them in a 9x13 pan and poured cream of mushroom soup mixed with milk on top. It was so light and yummy - everyone ate it up. Then for dessert I made hot fudge sauce to put over ice cream. Next I want to make dessert crepes - strawberries with Nutella and ice cream. So simple and yet so delicious.

I LOVE junior primary! For those of you who don't know, they are the 3-7 year olds at church. The senior primary (ages 8-11) are fine, but they start to get a bit smart-alicky by then. I think we have a particularly active junior primary, but I feel like I'm able to get them under control with stories, and their little faces are just fixed on me like, "What's going to happen next??" I just love them! Today for sharing time I put up eight pictures of families from the scriptures (Adam & Eve, Abraham and Isaac, Lehi and his family, etc.) I would give them clues and they would have to guess which family I was describing and tell one way we can learn to strengthen our families from them. It went great. Senior primary didn't go quite so great. We played 20 questions, but they didn't always know what question to ask. I just haven't figured out how to prepare for them as well yet.

Arrrg!

Tyler has just about the most expressive face I've ever seen. It's a small face, but it's all features.

My life is being consumed with choosing a new van. This week I have spent countless hours searching for titles, perusing the internet, and test driving vans with Brennan while everyone was at school/work. It's all very exciting, but a bit exhausting. It doesn't help that I'm still catching up from our trip to Utah last week (unfortunately no house cleaning fairies came while we were gone), and on top of it all I've had a terrible cold that is just about over now except for a nagging cough that keeps me up all night. Last night I slept on the couch so that I could sleep sitting up a bit plus not keep Dave up all night, as I had been doing the previous couple of nights.

We went on a fabulous date last night. (Are all the married couples out there going on weekly dates?? We've been doing much better since Kristen moved here with 2 babysitters we can call last minute). We had dinner at an old inn downtown we've been wanting to go to for awhile. We shared a rib eye steak, which was delicious, and as usual, there was plenty of food for both of us. Dave said it was the best steak he's had in this town, and there was no wait, which is amazing for a Friday night. The upstairs was the lounge, which sounded quite crowded. But downstairs was the more formal restaurant with live music. We could watch the busy downtown on one side of windows and beautiful gardens on the other - it's actually where we took our family Christmas picture last year. We got the Bananas Foster for dessert, which my friend has been bugging me to try forever. She'll be happy when she hears we ordered it and loved it. They saute butter and brown sugar right in front of you, then add bananas and pecans and top it off with some kind of alcohol, which makes quite a display as it all burns off - we're talking lots of flames that make all the other diners turn and ask, "What's that?!" Then they pour it all over vanilla ice cream. It was quite delicious. When we got home we watched a very funny French movie called The Dinner Game. I find all kinds of fun things on Netflix.

Have a wonderful Sabath day tomorrow. I have everyone's shirts ironed and boys bathed, so I'm in good shape.

Scavenger Hunt

Last night we went on a photo scavenger hunt. I got the idea out of Family Fun - my favorite magazine. I think everyone with kids should get it. It's where I got all the ideas for Tyler's knight and dragon birthday party. By the way, Dallin really did have fun. He just didn't want his picture taken at the moment.

We had a blast. We love to go on family walks in the evening, and it was fun to have a list of things to search for along the way. The boys really got into finding the best rock...

... or "something yellow" to take a picture of.


Then they would find a better one & have to take a picture of that too.


We recruited cousins to help us with our human pyramid, interrupting their dinner (sorry about that, guys)

Of course no walk would be complete without finding water to play in.