This Weekend

* On Friday, we went to a new place at Station Park, Brixton's (a baked potato restaurant!), for my birthday lunch out with 'The Girls.'
I didn't realize S.P. was such a happening place in the middle of the day - I saw several other people I knew there.
I guess I'll have to 'make an appearance' there more often!  ;)

* The afternoon was spent carting my daughters to and from friends'/parties.

* We went to The Roof with Matt's parents for our "anniversary dinner" on Friday night.

 (they want to take out each of their kids/spouse on an annual basis, so they use their
anniversary date to keep track of who they've taken out and whose turn is next)

* After returning home (and consuming much food & dessert), we thought it prudent to go out in our neighborhood in an attempt to WALK OFF dinner.

* Saturday morning, I did my first (of the required five) turn of being the chaperon/volunteer at the Bye Bye Birdie rehearsal that Katelyn is a part of (and will be performing in November).
Side Note: it was an interesting "study" in human behavior.
Each participant is suppose to sign in with their name and time of arrival prior to each rehearsal.
As background information, there has been a lot of emphasis put on the importance of being at and ON TIME to every rehearsal.  The directors have said that they will be giving out additional parts to those who do well in this area, and taking away from those who do not demonstrate dependability in this area.
One of my jobs is to check in all the kids.  So, when not everyone was there by the starting time, I wondered what those other kids would write down when they finally did arrive....
AND I observed that the majority of the kids (who were anywhere from 1 to 15 minutes late) STILL wrote down the time that the rehearsal started (when they were suppose to be there by) on the sign in sheet.
Hmmmm....See?  Interesting, huh?

* Matt & I took a jaunt up to Snowbasin...

for a Gondola ride and afternoon mountaintop dining,

followed by some hiking.

Apparently, we didn't get the memo about the XTERRA Utah off-road triathlon that was going on up there Saturday!
(notice all those cars down in the parking lot?  Normally, you wouldn't expect to see that AT A SKI RESORT in late Summer/early Fall)
So, we shared the area and our lunch table with that crowd!  (talk about some amazing athletes!)

* I attempted to go donate plasma....and was rejected. :(
The snag? Low protein.  I guess I better start eating more liver and tofu!  Yippee! (not.)

* Matt & I went up to the Bountiful Temple to do a session.

(I did pretty good staying awake this time!)  ;)

* We made sure to end the evening with a treat at Dairy Queen.
A Cherry float always hits the spot.

* Since we have afternoon church, I like to spend the morning reading/viewing things on www.lds.org.

I first read this blog post.

Which led to/referenced this article.
Valuable things to ponder. 

* We did our "yearly measurements" on the kids (height, weight, shoe size, waist/inseam).
It was only about 2 months late, I usually like to get to it in the Summer PRIOR TO going school shopping, but oh well.....
I write these all down and keep it in my purse, so I don't have to keep it all in my brain,
and I can look at it when I'm out shopping.
It's also fun to see how much they've grown from the year before!
Although everyone has grown and gained weight, the most unanticipated are:
Kyle now sports the same size shoe as his dad - a size 12!
Katelyn is just 4 inches away from being taller than I am!  She is only 10 yrs. old!

* Churchy-Church

In Sacrament meeting, we heard from a returned missionary who'd served in New Zealand.
THAT'S where I dreamed of going on my mission back in my youth!

While sitting there, I tuned-in to the fact that Matt needed me to rub his neck - he was not exactly
displaying a great deal of calmness at the moment - because of his first Gospel Doctrine lesson he had to teach in Adult Sunday School the next hour.
He prepared A TON on this lesson - and only taught a small portion of it before time ran out.
(Ya never know how it'll go with the class participation factor)

* After church, I made squash casserole.
(we've still got an overabundance from our garden!)

* We had dinner and FHE at Brenchley's

While talking together afterwards, we had an intriguing conversation about the lesson many of us had had in our Relief Society/Priesthood classes today titled,
 "Beware of Pride."

Bottom Line:  We ALL have it in some form.
(withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, won't change our mind to accept truth, comparison, fault finding, jealousy, love the praise of man, don't receive correction easily, rebellion, puffed up,  defensiveness, not happy for another's acheivement, etc., etc.)

AND we all need to overcome/repent of this sin!

* I started my [Sunday night ritual] weekly letter to Ryan out on his mission.

Lessons learned at the Kitchen Stove

With the start of a new school year, and a new work schedule (all day) for me, I instituted a new "dinner plan."
That plan involves other people than just me making dinner.  Brilliant, eh?
I'm not available in the days to do all the dinner planning/prepping like I used to be PLUS it's time for my children to discard the phrase, "I don't know how to cook" from their vocabulary!
So, Kyle has Mondays.
Haylee has Tuesdays.
Katelyn has Wednesdays.

And I'll do the rest of the days.  EXCEPT, according to this article, my husband should be doing Sundays. ;)

There were also some "rules."

1. It has to be a REAL meal.  (Ramen, Mac & Cheese, and Spaghetti-O's or anything like unto these are excluded!)
2. They cannot repeat the same meal within the same month.
3. It has to include a vegetable and/or fruit, plus be a balanced meal (with a protein and a grain.)

 Here's how things went the first week:

Kyle wondered why it took him 2 1/2 hrs. to make dinner!
He learned that he shouldn't leave the kitchen multiple times in the middle of making dinner - especially when he has put butter in a saucepan to melt!  ;)
He also learned it will go a lot quicker if he cut up all the vegetables and cooked/diced the meat BEFORE he started cooking!

Haylee wondered how in the world we could stand eating all the pancakes she'd made WITHOUT any syrup!
She learned that she should probably take inventory of ALL the ingredients (including condiments) she will need for her dinner and, if we don't have them in our pantry, she should write them on a shopping list BEFORE mom went shopping a few days prior.
(Luckily, mom knows how to whip up homemade syrup, and saved the dinner).  ;)

Katelyn wondered why her entree did not yield as large of a quantity as it usually does (like when mom makes it) and worried there wasn't enough for everyone to feel satisfied.
She learned that she should follow the instructions on the size of pan that the recipe says should be used and add ALL the ingredients that were cut and measured ahead of time.  (She used a smaller pan and everything wouldn't fit in it, so she just filled it and then left out the excess ingredients).  ;)

{Hopefully, they all become more proficient, with time!}  :)

This first week, I had to answer a lot of questions and assist with various tasks, when asked, so I actually had to be available or present - but I did not take it over for them when they struggled; I wanted them to be "in charge."  My vision is that one day, they'll all be able to function in the kitchen like a well-oiled machine, and I could walk away from the kitchen or our home, and everything would run normally without a hitch and they would pull off dinner with success!

{In other words, I hope to "work myself out of my [cook] job."}

Pick Any Two

Here's one of my favorite signs I've found on Pinterest: 

(it's SO true!)

I actually presented it to my husband and told him to do just what it says......PICK ANY TWO!

He looked over the list, and reread it, and thought about it, and scratched his head.  He let out a few, "Hmmmm's."  He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, and then he closed it without saying a word.  His face looked troubled, conflicted.  He was in a stupor of sorts before he was able to answer.  BECAUSE HE WANTS IT ALL!

But, I told him he had to narrow it down to two.

Can you guess which two he picked?

Hint: he DIDN'T pick the "Works full time" one.
So, I asked him if that meant I could quit my job.
He rebuttal-ed, "You don't work full time."
Well, if he wants to get technical about it, I am not employed at my job "full time" (but don't get me started about telling a Mom she doesn't work!!!)  I also kindly informed him that I work at my job 24 hrs./week - which is 2/3 of "full time," so that means he now needs to decide WHICH of his two picks he will choose for me to reduce by two-thirds to compensate for that?!?
;)

Now, THIS is My Kind of Camping

About five years ago, there was a motor home that Matt's work repossessed and he got permission to "try it out" and he brought it home.
(I blogged about it back HERE)
The kids were ecstatic!!!

 {Li'l 7 yr. old Haylee}

And it was perfect timing because our ward campout was already scheduled for THAT weekend!

The kids played in it, and packed their stuff in it, in anticipation to go.

WELL, it turns out that the credit union's president's definition of "trying it out" ONLY MEANT to drive it home - and DID NOT mean we could actually take it anywhere for real camping (our definition of "trying it out.") 
OH.
So, Matt drove it back to work and the kids did not take this "misunderstanding" well.  We tented it that weekend.....And they have always wished for "what could've been" five years ago.
In fact, these old photos have been coming up on our computer's screen saver lately, and the kids are all like, "Ahhhhhhh!" whenever they see them.


Fast forward to the present day:  My good friend's mom bought a camping trailer with the hopes that her kids would USE IT - but they're not.  So, after two summers of non-use, she opened it up to a broader circle of contacts; her kids' friends - which is where we come in!  She let us use it - and her truck to pull it with - AND she WAS GRATEFUL it was getting USED!  ;)
(SOOO generous!)
So, our kids previous unfulfillment can now be filled!  :)  Better late, than never!

The weekend outing was a SUCCESS because MY kind of camping now includes:

1.  THIS....

{After a few recent years of Girls' Camp, I think a camper trailer is the only way I want to camp now!  If I have my choice!}

2.  Weather that is 'just right' - not too hot, not too cold

(And the turning leaves add a nice touch, too!)

 3. Nice big rocks that provide a place to sit down.

 4. Something to keep the kids busy, so they aren't creating [dangerous or annoying] "fun."

 Brookelle really took the hunting-for-a-leaf-at-least-as-big-as-your-palm to heart!!  ;)

5. Being close enough to a town that has famous shakes. 

 {Dairy Keen in Heber City}

6. Having full hook-ups/electricity so that the T.V./VCR worked

How much can we CHEAT at camping?!? ;)

7. Also, thanks to the full hook-ups, being able to cook everything in a "kitchen" and have all the food in a refrigerator - plus wash dishes in a sink!

8. A BED to sleep on.

9. Real cover/protection for when it rains. 

10. But, I won't ax "The Great Outdoors" altogether - the camp fire part, with the s'mores, 

and the fire's relaxing, hypnotizing affect, along with the great talks/stories 

that happen as we sit around it, is still a favorite of ours!

Thanks so much to the Williams' & Badham's!

We're Livin' Back in the 21st Century Again

About two months ago, our microwave just went ka put.

It was about the same time - give or take a couple of weeks - that our ice maker also quit working - AND our mini van broke, too.

It was official.  WE MUST HAVE A MISSIONARY GOING OUT! 
{Because the Adversary tries to get ya any way he can during the prospective missionaries final days/weeks before departure....it happened to me, too, 23 years ago - So, I already know the drill - I'm onto him!  My "challenges" were ALL problems with vehicles, though.}

But, back to the microwave.  I had JUST finished cooking something in it, and I simply opened the door to retrieve my food, and at that very instant, it just blitzed, and all the lights went out - never to work again.

It was very traumatic for my children because now they were "going to STARVE!"  Ya know, because the method of "cooking" ALL their life-sustaining food was gone!
All your basic staples like:
microwave popcorn
hot pockets
Easy Mac
Instant oatmeal
leftover pizza
nachos
corn dogs
edamame (OK, that was mine!)

Over the last little while, our fridge has filled up with 37 assorted sizes of tupperware containers because no one ate any dinner leftovers anymore - since no one knew how to re-heat it without a microwave!

We had to like melt butter on the stove!

We had to google, "Can a hot pocket be baked in the oven - and How?"

We had to boil water on the stove, then toss in a bouillon cube, and wait for it to boil some more to make broth -- it took like 8 1/2 minutes!  Oh my!

We had to use the oven to try to melt cheese on tortilla chips - and it didn't turn out the same - bummer.

You don't know how many times we went to use the microwave, stopped, only to remember; Oh yeah, we can't.  Now, what am I suppose to do?!?  So irritating!

Can you believe the "hardships" we've had to go through?!?  ;)
Bwa ha ha ha.....we're such wimps!  The pioneers did it!

But, today was a happy day when the repair man came to our home with all his handy dandy tools & Good News - the right parts had finally come in!  He took that microwave right outta the wall.......

 ........and he dissected it, and......uh, er, I'm not quite sure....he just did his repairman thang!  OR maybe (by the looks of this photo) it was out-of-this-galaxy messengers who came and "zapped" it back into working order with their rays of light.

WHATEVER it was - everyone is rejoicing!

But, we don't even have a chance to use it again right now - because we are literally leaving on a camping weekend this minute!
(At least the trailer we're camping in has a microwave!)  :)

Dinner Insurance

Because Ryan & Kyle have Youth Conference Wed.-Fri., they are going to drive down to an extended Brenchley family reunion later in the week.
And because Ryan is not allowed to drive Matt's car, we have to leave him the minivan.
Which means the rest of us (5 people) are driving down in the car.

CAR = VERY LITTLE STOWAGE ROOM

So, the plan is that we will just take our bags of  "essentials" with us, and the boys will bring everything else with them, like the coolers and boxes/bags of FOOD!
We're suppose to do dinner for everyone Sunday night, and I am leaving everything I need to make it at home for them to bring.

Brave, no?

Pretty much, dinner for 42 people rests on the boys' shoulders!!  ;)

If they do it right, the family gets dinner, if they don't, no dinner.  And I'm pretty sure that would cause a bit of mayhem!

So, even though I verbally gave instructions, multiple times......I KNOW firsthand just how good their listening skills are.....

I provided some additional helps!

{This note was left on the kitchen counter.}

But, sometimes, they still don't get it.  They might listen to the very 1st thing I say, but everything else is lost.  Or vice versa.

I spelled it out the best I could.  

There were FIVE written notes, with a Sharpie, hung in various places in all.

And, instead of just giving them a list of things to pack from the fridge, I put all the items in a grocery bag for them to pull out of the fridge to pack, so there was less of a chance of leaving something behind.

There were 10 grocery or ziploc bags inside the fridge/freezer that were labeled for their convenience.

Short of flashing lights, talking computers, robots, or brightly colored arrows, 

I tried to cover all the bases.

;)

It Once Was Lost, But Now Is Found

Back on August 30th, Kyle went to a ReAL Salt Lake soccer game with Matt.  RIGHT BEFORE they were about to back out of the garage, Kyle made a last minute decision NOT to take his iPod with him to the game.  So, he ran back into the house, and put it........somewhere.
That somewhere has been a mystery ever since.
He absolutely cannot remember where he put it down.
I've tried to mentally and physically walk him through that evening of the soccer game, and there's just NO RECALL.

So, if you can't recollect, you just have to start looking and looking, and searching and searching - EVERYWHERE.
He looked in his bedroom - through every drawer, on every shelf in his closet, and under his bed.
He looked through his locker in the mudroom - and then everyone else's, too.  (Much to his sisters' dismay.)
He looked between and under all the couch cushions.
He looked through all his pants pockets - and through all his dad's pants pockets.
We figured it got mixed up in the play room somehow, and then thrown in one of our many toy buckets when someone was cleaning up - so he started going through every toy bin and drawer - NO LUCK.
He looked all through the garage just in case he never really made it into the house all the way and set it down out there instead.
HECK, I even had him look in the spice cupboard.....because once, when I was first married, I could not find my keys for hours (I was stuck at my parents' and couldn't go home that night).  And THEN I found them in their spice cupboard the next morning!  But, unfortunately, this time his iPod was not amongst our nutmeg and garlic powder.

{sigh}

This was REALLY BAD timing for him to lose his iPod, because, lately, he and I have been trying to give a "sales pitch" to his dad about how Kyle should get his own cell phone now.  Matt has been dragging his feet because he hasn't been sure if he is ready/mature/responsible enough for that yet.  Losing this was a humongous "Case in Point" that was NOT in his favor!  ;)

He had started to face the cold, harsh reality that maybe it was gone for good (accidentally thrown in the garbage can?)

THEN, today (29 days AFTER it went missing), I got out one of my cookbooks to make some rolls for Sunday dinner.  I was flipping through the pages to find the recipe, and I come upon THIS:

THERE WAS KYLE'S iPOD RIGHT INSIDE THE COOKBOOK!!!

I started chanting/screaming, "Oh My Word!  Oh My Word!"

Matt thought something was terribly wrong with me, and came over to investigate......and TA DA there it was!

Now I remember, I was making Stir-Fried Rice for dinner that [Aug. 30th] night and I had the cookbook open to that recipe on the counter beside my stovetop.

Kyle must've come into the house, after deciding he did not want to take his iPod to the soccer game, and just set it on the nearest counter top - which happened to have an open cookbook on it. (He obviously didn't even notice.)  And THEN whoever cleaned up and put away the cookbook later on, just shut it not paying attention, iPod in there and all, and put it back on the cookbook shelf.  Not to be disturbed again until Sunday.

WHO WOULD'VE GUESSED?!?

Kyle was out doing fast offerings at the time, so he wasn't even home for the discovery, but I made him watch me flip through the pages of the cookbook when he returned (he thought I was odd, but what else is new?) and THEN when I came to the Stir-Fried Rice page, HE COULDN'T BELIEVE HIS EYES!  (He was so glad!)  But, it was deader than a doorknob, and he couldn't use it until charging it for a while anyway.

So, the moral of the story:  If you've ever lost something, in addition to looking in the spice cupboard, it might be good to also check out your cookbooks!  ;)

And the verdict is still out as to whether Matt will agree to letting Kyle have a cell phone!

This Weekend:

* Started off with Brookelle swallowing a marble on accident.
It scared her pretty bad!
Weird that all of a sudden we're all interested 
and concerned with her pooping times & details.
As of today NO marble has been "recovered" yet!  
 
* I used a spa gift certificate I got for Christmas

for a 75 min. aromatherapy massage.  

I can tell I'm getting OLD

because it wasn't all nice & comfortable and relaxing 

like it has been in years past!

Sometimes I felt a bit of discomfort -- due to my

old tight, strained, stiff, stressed, spasming muscles!

* Went to Ryan's last regular season Basketball game.

Their opponent was last year's VHS Sophomore team.

Needless to say, they got SMOKED!  

The other team even started with one guy down, and they still led the entire game!

My hope was that they could just prevent a "total BLOW OUT."

 Meaning NOT letting the other team win by 30 points or more. 

They accomplished this!  yea!

* Watched "Love Story" on Netflix.  (Me, not Matt)

It is a 1970 romantic drama.

{the year of my birth}

Is it weird that I liked some of the clothes/coats

the actors wore?
  "Love means never having to say you're sorry" 
 is the famous line from the movie -- but I don't agree!

* Picked up my Bountiful Basket in the morning,

and Matt picked up one-fourth of a cow 

that we went in on.....except I think the meat packing co. 

neglected to give us about half our meat.  Aargh!

You'd think we're hoarding food, or something!  ;)

* Saturday jobs were supposed to be happening.

Instead there some sort of angry controversy that

climaxed with one [unnamed] child throwing a big-ish toy

at another child, who ducked, and instead

it hit the wall.  Our new house wall.

And caused a gash.  Lovely.

I called off the "Arctic Circle" reward run for

EVERYONE right then and there.

{Weeping & Wailing & Gnashing of teeth followed my announcement}

* Took an afternoon nap.

(I all of a sudden got super tired - probably because Ryan woke me up early

trying to figure out how to order tickets online to the 

Musical at his High School that he was planning on taking a date to.)

The fact that Ryan woke up early on his own proves he really wanted to go!  ;)

* Had some good laughs with this YouTube video that

Ryan went around showing the [older people in our] family:

* Went to the Bountiful Temple.

We decided to go this afternoon/evening since 

Matt's mom was working/volunteering in the

Temple at that time.  We [finally] ate dinner in the 

cafeteria downstairs.  We kept saying we should do

that sometime, but never had -- 'til now.

* I got all cozy & comfy in my jammies and got into bed

while Matt & I were reading/watching T.V./playing on our iPads,

when Ryan called and asked if he and his date and the other

couple could come "hang out" at our home.  

They must've been just out on the corner, because they

all walked in the house just a few minutes later....

and I was still hiding in my bedroom because of my lack of proper

state of being dressed.

Then I started to worry about what they could snack on, 

so I threw my clothes & bra back on, raided Matt's chocolate

stash and went down to deliver the treats & meet the kids.

{She was a very cute girl!}

* Sunday:  Daylight Savings Time Begins -

which made it hard for others to get up in

our family, so I got first dibs on the shower - 

and HOT water the whole time!  ;)

* We saw this video clip in Young Women's class at church.  

I had tears running down my face almost the whole time!

Only through the Power of the Atonement, literally

borrowing power from Christ, who already suffered for us,

could anyone of us go through something like this.

* Had two meetings after church....

didn't get home 'til late afternoon.

(No time for a Sunday nap - good thing I got it on Saturday!)

* Made Slow-Cooked Pork Roast 

w/ potatoes, onions, & carrots for dinner.
(Odd considering I have all that beef in my freezer?)

* Katelyn made [box] brownies for dessert.

* Started a good new John Grisham book.

(I can tell even though I'm only on pg. 55)

 

(I've read all his books.  I REALLY like them!)

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

 And No.  I'm NOT talking about the "Jelly of the Month Club" (from Christmas Vacation).  :)

About 10 days ago, Matt & I finished our "Year of Dates".   I gave this to Matt as a gift for Christmas 2011.  I tried to think of all the things that we have always talked about doing, "We should do THAT sometime!" BUT never have.  Our "date bucket list" so to speak.

He was nice and told me it was "The Best present EVER!" (In his opinion, even better than the iPad HE gave to ME last year!) There were 12 pre-planned, [mostly] pre-paid dates in the basket, one for each month of the year. Shortly after Christmas, we sat down with our new 2012 calendar and decided all the dates and WROTE IT IN PEN (that makes if official, ya know! :) We really looked forward to it all year. Here's what we did.....

JANUARY

Utah State University Basketball Game.

We went back to our Alma Mater dressed in our Aggie fan duds for a basketball game and went to some of our old stompin' grounds: dinner at The Factory Pizzeria & ice cream at Charlie's.  (We're so sentimental.)  We were a bit disappointed that our names we had carved into one of the tables [Matt + Suz w/ a heart around it] all those years ago wasn't even detectable anymore - too many more carvings on top of it, I guess.  :(

FEBRUARY

A horse 'n' carriage ride around downtown Salt Lake City.  

It just so happened that the city was celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the SLC 2002 Olympics that night (with Mitt Romney present) so fireworks started going off while we were on our ride.....COOL!  Except, the downside to that was that it scared the horse and our driver had to turn it around and take a detour.  (but we scored a coupon for a future ride due to the unusual circumstances!)  We dined at P.F. Changs afterwards.

MARCH

A Spa Date Night

Massages, pedicures, hot wax treatments, and spa treats.

APRIL

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Session

We had never been to this temple before.  It's a cute, small one.  Then I got to experience Lamb's Grill - somewhere Matt has gone with work a lot and had talked about, saying he'd have to take me sometime, but it hadn't happened yet.  (He says it's better for breakfast than lunch.)

MAY

Brian Regan concert at Tuacahn

What an enjoyable time.  We laughed so hard!   The opening act was great, too.

JUNE

Picnic in the Park

We went to Sugarhouse Park in SLC and had Subway on a blanket and played cards -- until the breeze blew them away.  This was really relaxing and was kind of in honor of our college days when we hung out at the park quite a bit...to escape homework, roommates, or to just soak in the sun & fresh air.

JULY

Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City

We had tickets to "The Merry Wives of Windsor".  We had to concentrate SO HARD to understand/translate the lines they were saying.  How many years has it been since we studied Shakespeare in school?!?  We were kinda rusty on those language skills.  ;) haha.

AUGUST

I had a date planned to go to Snowbird and ride the tram, then go hiking around.......BUT on the day we had it on the calendar was the day we were moving OUT of our old house, so we postponed it to the next weekend.....BUT on that day, we were moving IN to our new house, so we rescheduled it to the next week...BUT on that day, we were still unpacking....you get the picture.  Snowbird never happened, but the last week of August we.....

Took a trip to San Diego instead - just the 2 of us!  

That counts as a substitute August date, right?  We got to finally relax after several weeks of WORK!  We (among other things) rode in a cycle rickshaw, took in a Padres game, lots of good restaurants, and attended a "60's Party."  (can you see the "SF {heart's} MB" I wrote on the VW bug?)    :)

SEPTEMBER

Cooking School

I was the "chef's assistant" during the demo portion of the class.  The class was "Mainland Chinese" themed.  We made Spring Rolls, Egg Drop Soup, Lemongrass Chicken, and Ham-Fried Rice with Bok Choy.  It also happened to be my birthday that day, so afterwards, the chef let me keep the apron (as a gift) and then took us downstairs to the bakery and let us each pick out any dessert we wanted!  woo hoo!

OCTOBER

We went to the Draper Temple and did sealings.....

then to dinner at Kobe Restaurant.  Doesn't the sight of this Udon bowl make you feel like saying,  

"FEE-FI-FO-FUM!"?  :)  

If you ever go there, Remember this:  SUNSHINE ROLL.  yum.

NOVEMBER

A "Slumber Party" at The Eliza Court Inn....sans children, of course.

DECEMBER

Holiday POPS Concert with Paul Cardall 

Hosted by KUTV ch. 2 Newsanchors, Mark Koelbel & Shauna Lake & directed by meteorologist, Sterling Poulsen (who knew?  a man of many talents).  We wished we could've heard from Paul Cardall even more - Matt really likes his music.

And now the "Year of Dates" is over.  (boo hoo)  Don't ya think Matt should reciprocate the idea for me in 2013, now?  Christmas is in a week, I guess we'll find out then......  :)

Are You Sure we Share the Same Genetics?

Haylee's about as big around as my pinkie....

Yet, she's on the "ALL CARB DIET".  Have you heard of that one?  I'm sure you've heard of the "low carb" or the "no carb" diets, but Haylee has no interest in those - she prefers the "NOTHING-BUT-CARBS" diet.  If you're a bit dyslexic or have 40+ yr. old vision, your eyes may have read it this way: "All CRAP" and "Nothing-but-CRAP."   
It's pretty much the same thing!  No meaning lost with that mistake.  :)

Yet, she looks like this:

In our family, every week, a different person gets to decide the dinner menu [then help cook] for one night.  Do you know what her choices have been over the last few months?  I tried to tell her to pick a "real meal."  She says her choices ARE real....

She eats SO WELL on these nights!  (As compared to "normal" nights when she is forced to take one morsel and just stares at it for 30 min.)  By complete contrast, on "Haylee's Choice" nights....Seconds?  Thirds?  Fourths?  YES.  She takes 'em!

And for her most recent birthday, she wanted a "Cookie Bar" - and she put us all to shame in her consumption abilities.

Yet, she looks like this....

{the Karate belt could go around her 4 times!)

On the flip-side, while I was shopping at Costco yesterday, I just LOOKED at the Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies, and I'm up about 3  1/2 pounds this morning!?!!?!