Sunday, August 30, 2009

GRE



Mike just took the Graduate Record Examination, a three-hour, three-part, grueling examination that determines your fate as a grad student. It is quite an accomplishment just to finish the test, let alone get a decent score.

He has to wait a couple of weeks to get his complete score and, being in his situation before, I know it can be a stressful and scary time. So congratulations, Mike, and good luck. We hope you get the score you need to get into the school you want.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Monster Truck Show!

Well last saturday, Jeff, Mike, Brian and I all went to the Monster Truck Show that was held in the Rio Tinto Arena in Sandy. I'll have to say I had a lot of fun!!! Jeff got the tickets from his co-worker, but after looking at the tickets he wasnt too happy that they were "crappy" seats. Also, he did NOT want to pay for parking which is understandable. We almost didnt go, but he found some available free parking in the theater just across the street from the venue. :) Was a bunch of fun. Mike was pretty fun, and got me all pumped for shouting out, "An Escalade!" haha. So this picture is for you Mike! :)

Okay sadly none of these pictures are from the actual event, I forgot my camera but here are some of them:
The GraveDigger!






Blue Thunder!!!

The Maverick!!!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Hotels- The Game


Sorry that I keep posting- apparently I have no life. This is a crazy request, but I figure since so many of you are good at finding hidden treasures, I would ask for you to keep your eyes open at the local goodwill/ DI/ Garage Sales. I played the game HOTELS when I was growing up and LOVED it. I really think that Brooke and her friends would get into it also. Of course, they don't make it anymore, and on E_Bay they are running $50-$75. If you happen to see a copy of this, would you grab it and let me know and I will buy it from you? Thanks!

Friday, August 21, 2009

A New Favorite Recipe

I just wanted to pass on a new recipe that we tried a couple of nights ago. It was REALLY good (blair said that it was johnny carino's good, and that's a real compliment from him!). Don't know if anyone else will like it, but it's SUPER easy to make, SUPER fast (20 min. start to finish and on the table!) and will impress those girls at BYU for family night. It made enough for our family. We also discovered that you can DOUBLE it and freeze half of the sauce for another (Make pasta on the day you serve it).

Bon Apetite!

8 oz. Heavy Whipping Cream
1 can Cr. Chicken Soup
2 chicken breasts (cooked and cubed into small pieces)
1/4 c. chopped onions
2 cups cheese (they say mozzarella, but I used cheddar!)
5-6 cups coarsely shredded FRESH spinach
package of pasta of your choice (I used the tube pasta (real proper name, huh) but bowtie would also be great!

While your pasta is cooking-
Cook onions w/ a little butter and add chicken. When onions are soft add cream and chicken soup, cook on med. for 2 minutes- add spinach and cheese- stir and cook until spinach is limp (approx 2-3 minutes). Serve over warm (cooked) pasta. NUMMY!

Blair says that he thinks is would be good w/ baby shrimp in is, if you like that kind of stuff.

What is this?


I have to say that this post has no real importance, just trying to

discover the meaning of the above picture. We have several pictures from Uncle Brian that he sent the kids while on his mission. This one was their favorite. We just cleaned out the front room and found it up by the TV (where it had been balanced so the kids could see it often). I am sure that there is a good story behind it...so do tell Brian.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

I propose a Mom week



Mom is great, is she not?

For us, she has been a saviour. Twice this year she has dropped everything in her life to help us when we were in a pinch. The only thing she couldn't leave behind were her headaches, but still she came to help us when no one else could.

The greates part about it is that we did not solicit her help; she offered the moment it seemed we needed her. Mom has a keen sense of what people need and how people are feeling. She always gives an inquisitive squint while looking into the distance, divining precisely how to care for someone or something's emotional or physical needs, as if she is straining to tune in to a fine frequency that she can only hear if she tilts her head just so. I think she has a gift and I think it is wonderful.

Happy Birthday, Mom. We love you and cherish you and think that you are wonderful.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Raising children is an awesome responsibility. As I look back over time, there are so many things that I wish that I had known. I am so thankful for each of of you. And to the spouses for those who are married, I am eternally grateful to you as well because as a team you are preparing the next generation.

I was listening to Elder Holland's talk that he gave in the April 2007 General Conference. I would like to share something that Elder Holland said in that talk. While this is aimed at marrieds with children, it is none the less good counsel to remember as you start having children. I want you to know that I have never found any of you guilty of what he is saying, but unfortunately, I may have been guilty and if I have, please forgive me.

I apologize if this is not the proper venue for this and if not please contact me individually and let me know. I never want to be overbearing as a father. I will accept your wise counsel with humility.


"We must be so careful in speaking to a child. What we say or don't say, how we say it and when is so very, very important in shaping a child's view of himself or herself. But it is even more important in shaping that child's faith in us and their faith in God. Be constructive in your comments to a child—always. Never tell them, even in whimsy, that they are fat or dumb or lazy or homely. You would never do that maliciously, but they remember and may struggle for years trying to forget—and to forgive. And try not to compare your children, even if you think you are skillful at it. You may say most positively that "Susan is pretty and Sandra is bright," but all Susan will remember is that she isn't bright and Sandra that she isn't pretty. Praise each child individually for what that child is, and help him or her escape our culture's obsession with comparing, competing, and never feeling we are "enough.""

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Pictures of the Nieces and Nephews





















I had SOO much fun taking pictures of your kids- thanks for giving me the opportunity. I have posted a couple of my favorites. I am sure that there are others that you'll like more (we took almost 650 pictures of the kids and water sliding- a little over the top, huh!). I have also had some fun manipulating them. Can I tell you how much I love doing pictures- if I could make $$$ at it- even a little, when my kids are older I would love to do this and weddings, after I learn more! Love you all! (Greg, would you please put up some pics of your kids when you have time- we need to add them to this crazy post!)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Crazy Beans

Thanks for a great weekend everyone. I can't tell you how lucky we are- there are a lot of people in our family now, and I can't think of anyone that I wouldn't want to have around. We're pretty lucky to get along so well. The only thing that could have made this weekend better would have been to have Greg and Hayley and their kids with us. Can't tell you how much we missed you guys- just wasn't quite the same. (I tried calling a couple of times, sorry we missed you- we were thinking of you!!!!) And maybe if we had your eyes, we would have found Mike's tooth! Yes, Mike lost part of a front tooth while having a marshmallow war.

Seems like if it isn't an abscessed tooth, or jumping into a fan, or loosing a tooth, it wouldn't be a reunion. Wonder who's turn it will be next year? Thanks Josh and Alisha and Dad for the very cool "adult" slip and slide. My kids loved it (Blair's included in the "kids" category on this one!) I have some fun Rigby Lake pictures that I'll put on soon. It would be great if everyone would make a couple of CD's and maybe we could exchange them at some time. Mike, I know that you especially have some great pictures that I would love to steal. I miss you guys. When we got home, Brooke, Brant, and Alex all started asking when we could go and have another reunion. There are so many fun traditions that I just don't think that they could do without. We're looking forward to next year. Ahhh, 4 toddlers, and 2 preschoolers. That is something to look forward to....

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Wiki


No, not as in "Wiki" the sound a record makes when a DJ scratches it. Wiki as in an online community where individuals contribute to content. I am talking about sites like www.wikipedia.com (how unfortunate for you if you have not yet experienced the glories of Wikipedia).

After we had Emiline and while feeding her in the middle night, I found that I had a lot of extra time and not a lot of moving space or light to do anything in. We have a laptop, so at first I would just sit and surf the web for an hour while Emiline ate. Then, I learned the joys of wiki.

I started off with Wikipedia. I would do little things like edit grammar in an article or rearrange sentence structure. Then I began building my own pages, as evidenced here.

In the past few months, I have gotten burned out with family history. I guess I had looked at one too many census. Then I remembered that there was a glorious family history wiki that was beckoning me. I have since been very involved in creating pages (mostly about cemeteries in Virginia) as evidenced here.

The code takes some experimenting and getting used to, but I love being able to compile a database of family history information that may be useful to somebody somewhere. And yes, it appears that I have way to much time on my hands.

Check out the wiki at Family Search Research Wiki.

Monday, August 3, 2009

A favorite Uncle has passed away.



Born December 4, 1925, my favorite Uncle has returned to his Heavenly Father. No uncle has been loved more by a nephew than my Uncle Earl.






Here are some other pictures of Earl.





Sunday, August 2, 2009

AFV


One of my favorite family memories is watching "America's Funniest Home Videos" together on Sunday evenings. Even when I was a teenager, this was a great way to spend time as a family. Amazingly enough, the show is still on and it is now a family tradition for us. I usually make cookies to eat during the show, we all snuggle up on the couch and laugh the evening away. Who doesn't enjoy a few cute babies, guys getting knocked down because they've been kicked, and people getting scared by fake rats!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Jazzercise

I just discovered the most amazing exercise in the world: Dancing.

Okay, I didn't actually discover dancing, but I started doing it this morning with my daughter and realized that it was an excellent cardio workout. So I continued for half-an-hour. Here are the advantages I found:

  1. You can do it instantly, without having to go to a gym; additionally, you can do it in any attire, or none at all (not recommended)
  2. You get to listen to your favorite music (this morning it was Rooney and Owl City)
  3. If you are creative and unashamed, dancing is rarely boring
  4. You can exercise with your children, thus increasing rather than decreasing you time with them
  5. You can exercise with your spouse, loved one, or roomate
  6. Intermittent slow paced songs allow you to stretch or perform yoga between cardio workouts
  7. It is free
  8. You may improve your social status by developing some killer moves
It sounds silly, but it is actually the only way I can get exercise without my children getting jealous that I am not playing with them. Plus I have a blast doing it.