A Year of Dates: Weeks 9 & 10

Week 9: While in AZ, we took advantage of the plethora of babysitters and headed here: Fond memories, nostalgic feelings, etc. We were married in the Mesa temple almost 13 years ago. After a quick trip to Pete's Fish and Chips for lunch, we headed back to enjoy the rest of the day with the fam.

Week 10: Progressive dinner. After rejecting all 7 possibilities I found for our date (I'm not kidding:-), Zach thought it would be fun to make a list of 6 restaurants and roll the dice to see where we ended up for each part of our dinner. He was right. It really was fun. After appetizers at McGrath's Fish House, our dice led us to Mimi's Cafe for dinner. We decided against the 45 minute wait and rolled again. After a quick stop at Costco, we went down to Sam Hawk in Provo for some amazing Korean food. Unfortunately, though the food is wonderful, the wait is not, and they told us it would be a ginormously long one. So this time we just chose Cracker Barrel and stayed there for both dinner and dessert. I decided the Cracker Barrel is highly underrated in terms of quantity and price. The apple strudel dessert was fantabulous. We ended the evening playing Ticket to Ride with the Larsons. Good time had by all.

Delish

If you are wondering how to use your asparagus (rather than just roasting it of course, which is still very good). . . try this recipe right here. From a cousin-in-law's recipe blog . . . YUM!

Sunday Notes

"The world would take the people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature."

(Ezra Taft Benson [1899-1994], as quoted in Ensign Magazine, March 2009, p.52)

Flashback Friday

A note I found today (written by my nephews in October 2004 just before we moved back to Utah): "Good Luck to Utah!!!! I will miss you guys!!!!!! I hope you have a good time !!!!! From, braden, Skyler, Darin (also known as D-dog)"

Tricky Leprechauns

A leprechaun dyed our milk green yesterday. 3/4 of the children thought this was very tricky and VERY delightful. 1/4 (in the form of certain 5 year old) did not. After 2 bites of his cereal, his face turned the precise shade of the milk and he could do no more. When the tricky leprechaun came back to dye our dinner green, he was fine with it. Just no green milk. He was really hoping the leprechaun magic would lose power at midnight and the milk would turn white again for breakfast this morning. No such luck . . . but I did go buy more milk today.

Top Pics from February

Cheeeeeeeeeeese:

He was screaming the whole time I took this. He got stuck and I ran for the camera:
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz:

Zeeky:

Future Rachmaninoff:

Botox gone bad:

Schmootsy strikes again--he might have set a record of destruction for this one. Possibly 7.5 seconds?

Wacky Wednesday: Kye chose to wear a sweater vest and swimsuit over his clothes to be all wacky:

After face planting on our sidewalk:

Top Ten--February 2009

Long awaited. Highly anticipated. I aim to please.

10) Adam update—Current interests, bordering on obsession: socks and shoes. Current nicknames: schmooty, schmeeksy, schmeetsy, meeksy, and schmootsy-poots. Current favorite foods: milk, cheese crisps, apples.

9) Curse my economical nature: I seriously loathe Walmart. I didn’t think it could get any worse. I was wrong. I ended up there one Sat. night sans children to enjoy the horrendous crowds, appallingly long lines, and a fascinating checkout girl obliviously ranting about how the pervs on anime shows are the only comic relief . . . with examples. Whaaaaaaaaa? (Of course, if I was REALLY economical, I’d be an Emily and never have to shop at Walmart again. I’m just not there yet.)

8) Kye’s “botox gone bad” look: two face hits in two days. Picture to follow.

7) I was hung up on. By a telemarketer. I was hung up on. By a TELEMARKETER! After politely (I’m not kidding—I was very nice) asking the name and location of their company (she answered me), and explaining that I had asked several times to be removed from their call list and was there anything I could possibly make SURE that I be taken off because I didn’t like wasting their time or mine, all I heard was silence. She hung UP on me! The calls haven’t stopped.

6) I: If you get me a drink of water, you’ll get a go & do point (our current rewards system)

M: Who’s going to give me the go & do point?
I: I will, but what what I meant was, will you do me a favor?

5) My recurring “momnesia”: I found a note on my counter in my handwriting. “$150 $200 for both” I’m pretty sure I found it the day I wrote it and I have NO IDEA what it means. Can you tell me? No, really . . . did I talk to any of you about this? Did I find something to buy on craigslist? Did I sign the kids up for an extracurricular activity? Did I agree to sell 2 of the children? I kind of wish I knew.

4) Adam’s new obsession that rivals shoes and socks: toothbrushes. He loves them so much he will find the bathroom drawers in whatever house he happens to be in at the time and shove all the toothbrushes he finds into his mouth. (Sorry about that, Rachel.)

3) After Kye puked for the sixth time in an hour, he suggested we say a prayer. We did, and sure enough his prayer was answered. Though he still felt sick, he didn’t puke again.

2) My first ever sick day: Zach stayed home to watch the kids while I had the stomach flu. For the first time in my adult life, I spent the entire day in bed. I watched a long movie, sipped Sprite, and slept. It was wonderful. And also very weird. Thanks, Zach.

1)S: (after realizing Zach remembered NONE of the recent conversations we’d had about home improvements) Do you EVER pay attention to me?
Z: Of course I do.
S: (closing my eyes) If you pay attention to me, what color are my eyes?
Z: Uhhhhhh . . . ummmmmm . . . green? And brown?
Sigh. (They’re blue.) :-)

Flashback Friday

South Dakota trip -- Summer 2004

Lucy's incomparable fashion sense:

Beautiful SD sky, just before a summer thunderstorm, which we watched from the porch:
Kye-kooski (aka Erkel):

Kye "helping" G-Gma Lee with the laundry.Gpa Ron taking Kye and Maja for a ride:

The annual water fight (usually started by Gpa Ron):

The Fesler cousins:

Zach, relaxing with the kiddos:

Maddie and Lucy helping Gpa Ron plant some flowers.

Some of our greatest family memories come from our trips home to SD each summer.

A Year of Dates: Weeks 7 & 8

Week 7: In a slight break from tradition, we ended up on an errand date from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. Zach helped me clean and vacuum out the car in preparation for the trip to AZ. After a quick trip to Sam's Club, our fabulous date was over and we spent the evening playing games at a friend's. Fun stuff. I'm nothing if not creative.

Week 8: Even better . . . Zach spent all of that Friday up in Logan. He arrived home in time to help me pack the car for our trip the next morning. That finished, we watched TV for a few minutes before I went to bed. But still . . . we were together, and that's what counts, right?

Tell All Tuesday

What kind of sports do you play, watch, or like?

Not many, unfortunately. I really don’t participate in any sports at my age. I like to walk. Does that count? A few weeks ago Zach and I played racquetball for our date, and that was fun, but I don’t think I’d do it unless it was to spend time with him. I enjoyed playing volleyball, but I really don't have the natural coordination for organized sports. Trust me on this. Ultimate Frisbee is fun, and I probably play that . . . oh, at least once a year. I enjoy watching gymnastics, ice skating, and swimming, and most Olympic sports. (I draw the line at boxing and curling, however.) I like watching football more than baseball. Basketball is my least favorite to watch. I like watching college sports more than professional. But really, it’s not my thing. I’d rather be reading or getting stuff done.

Golden Birthday in Arizona

We celebrated Isaac's golden bday in Arizona. After a breakfast of his choice (Crispex, Kix and Fiber One all mixed together with milk and strawberries on top), we went to the park with cousins. Then we met Gma D and G'Gma Betty at Red Robin for lunch. He loved the balloons Gma D brought him and he giggled when the servers sang to him. He kept offering me bites of his food because it was so good. We spent the afternoon outside in the sunshine, swimming in the kiddie pool, playing checkers on the back porce and riding scooters.

Isaac and two of his AZ cousins turn 4 within 2 weeks of each other, so we had a triple bday party on Saturday. We played Duck Duck Goose, Relay Races, and Machines, and then topped it off with a pinata and BBQ. Isaac spent most of the week running from Gpa D's spankings.

Happy Birthday, Zeeky-boy. We are so thankful you are in our family!

Isaac's Fourth

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Four amazing things about our 4 year old:

1. Balls, basketball, Legos, knights, baseball, swords, cars, guns, and soccer. He's loved it all since the day he was born.

2. Hugs, kisses, snuggling, and holding. He's not attached at the hip, but he needs to be given lots of affection. We're happy to oblige. . . we know it won't last forever.

3. Sharing food, treats, toys, and books. He especially loves to share bites of his food. "Do you want a taste?" "Here, you can have some of mine." Love that.

4. Great self-entertainer (aka "the king of distraction"). He'll play for hours with legos, his castle, books, etc. However, it took that boy 45 minutes to get dressed this morning because he kept getting side tracked with toys, books, blankets, brushing teeth, and looking out the window. Most of the time his ability to entertain himself is a blessing. I can already see how interesting it will be to get him to do chores.