Staying dry in Washington

Zàijiàn(goodbye)

2011-01-05T23:35:00.000-08:00

This will be my last blog post from this site. Mark has set up a new blog for us to use while in China. I guess I wont be able to use this one while we are there. Words that pop into my mind to describe how I feel right now are; excited, sad,bittersweet,trusting,discombobulated,happy,in limbo,sentimental,sick to stomach,optimistic,in disarray,frustrated,loved and so many more emotions. Oh, and emotional(just to forewarn everyone). I know everything will be alright and that we are making a good decision for our family at this time. I will keep in touch with everyone, maybe not through FB but emails and maybe even snail mail. Could any of you that read this send me your home address. It's been so long since I've sent an actual letter but I remember loving sending and receiving them when I lived in Taiwan, of course that was pre-email so it might not be as exciting. Zaijian peeps.

New Chapter

2010-12-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

We are leaving for China in less than two months. I can't believe how fast time is going. Some days I'm so excited and other days I'm really sad to leave our life here. We have lived here a little over 6 yrs and out of all the places we've lived, this is what I consider to be "Home", well except for Logan(which will always be home). I've lived in Asia. First time I went I was 19 yrs old, second time I was 21, third time I was 24. Now at 42, I've lost some of that "nerve" that I had each time I went to Taiwan to teach English. I was so adventurous. I guess I still am to a degree or I wouldn't be moving to Beijing with my family. I think that's the key though, I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't with my family. A couple things have already happened that have made me realize that this move(18-24 months)has already opened doors to some new friendships and opportunities. First, I was looking online about 1 1/2 months ago for blogs written by people who have either lived in Beijing or who are living in Beijing now. I came across a single woman's blog that is from Tennessee and who lived in Beijing for 3 years. She wrote an amazing blog about her time living in Beijing and about all the things she did there. I really admire her because she traveled so much within China, she pretty much spent the majority of her time with people from China and Beijing and she experienced everything. Her name is Teresa and we've become really good friends through email and FB. I ask her all kinds of questions and she writes back and gives me all kinds of great information. Come to find out she was an extra in one of the "Work and the Glory" films. She is going to be in Beijing in March and I look forward to meeting her in person and hanging out with her. Secondly, Mark's work is being so generous with what they will pay for that we felt like it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up on. Our kids get to go to a private school with amazing benefits, they will pay for Kiah to come over while she's not in school and they will pay for our housing, which during this time in our lives we(as is the case for all of us)need a break from a huge house payment. I don't mean to brag but instead want to say how grateful I feel for this opportunity. It's a blessing in disguise so to speak. It came at a good time in our lives and I truly feel is going to be an experience filled with so many wonderful possibilities. I am going to miss home like crazy, our friends and family, our church congregation here. I'm sad but it's such a short time really that it will be over in no time and we will be back in Issaquah hanging out with friends again.I guess I shouldn't say this is a new chapter because it's not like my chapter of living here in Washington is over. Maybe I should say it's a new book and my life here in Issaquah is a really good one(like a good book) and I've just sat it down for a minute to check out this new book. That's pretty much what I do anyhow. I always have a few books going at one time. I'll be posting about our life in China, I will keep everyone updated and for those that can or want a big adventure, come visit. PLEASE!

Traugott und Helene

2010-11-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Europe had it's ups and downs for sure. I fell and hurt my ankle and knee at the beginning of the trip which caused pain throughout the rest of the trip. I also got sick and ended up having a sinus infection and bronchitis. It was a trip where one night we took a train to a new city(got in around 8pm) then the next day Mark had meetings all day and I checked out of the hotel around noon and left the suitcases at the hotel and then went out site seeing(as best as I could with a swollen ankle and knee), then we would catch another train around 5:30 and do the same thing all over again. I realize we were in Europe, so I shouldn't complain BUT when you don't feel good and you are running from one city to the next it's not ideal. Paris with Mark was amazing(except from falling outside Notre Dame) and then the end of the trip was wonderful. 24 yrs ago I went on exchange program to a small little town in Germany, Hereford. We were matched up with a student who first came and stayed at our houses and then we went and stayed at theirs. I was paired with Dagmar Hagerbaumer. Like me she is the youngest in her family and like me she has two older brothers. Our parents are close in age, hers are now 71 and mine are 78. We hit it off immediately unlike some of my friends who never got along with their exchange student. I felt very blessed. While I was in Germany we traveled to Berlin and this was when the wall was still up. Our German teacher set it up for us to be able to travel into East Berlin and meet secretly with a group of LDS German teenagers. In East Berlin the LDS people were not allowed to practice their religion but in their homes they secretly held church. It was amazing to meet with them yet at the same time it was very depressing. I remember their questions were about things like Michael Jackson and movie stars. We weren't allowed to take the money we had exchanged from the German deutchmark into the East Berlin dollar back into West Berlin. We all gave our money to the LDS group we met with. It was very little but they were so appreciative. At the end of this trip we went to Berlin for a night and a day. The whole time I was there I felt like I had a huge smile on my face. Our hotel (which was amazing) was in the East side of Berlin. Where back in 1986 the East side was blah and drab in colors and feeling, now the East side has new buildings, fancy hotels and a huge amazing train station. More money has been put into the East side which was nice to see. I went to the Jewish Museum and spent about 3 hrs there, it was one place I was told to not miss. It was worth the limping around. After that I took a tour bus and sat up top like a tourist but it was nice to sit for a little bit and be able to see all the sites. It was amazing to see all the places I remember seeing with my High School class. We would drive by a historical site and I could see my friend Alison and I walking around as teenagers and I couldn't help but smile. After Berlin we took a train to Bielefeld, which is a really small town about 20 minutes from where my host family lives. It was so random that Mark and his co-workers needed to meet with a seller in this small town yet such a blessing. Dagmar's parents Traugott and Helene have sent my parents and my family a Christmas card ever since 1986. As far as I know I am the only one in my High School group that has kept in touch with their student and host family. Dagmar and her 2 yr old daughter Naya came and picked me up in the morning and took me to her parents house. When we pulled up to their home they had stuck an American flag in a flower pot and on the door their was a big piece of paper that said Herzliche Wilkommen(translate to happy welcome or much welcome). They were standing there waving with huge smiles on their faces and I instantly felt at home. We spent a long time talking(Dagmar's dad speaks English pretty well but her mother doesn't speak any English)and looking at photo's. Then we had a yummy soup that her mother made and Dagmar's brother Fred joined us for lunch. It was so relaxing and such a great day spent with her family. We then went to Dagmar's home and let Naya take a short nap and then we went shopping for the kids and to buy a bunch of chocolate for my family. That night we met Mark,Dagmar's parents, Dagmar's husband and teenage son for dinner at a Chinese place in Bielefeld near the train station so that we could catch the train to Hanover after dinner.
It was a great night and I will never forget my day spent with them. It was the perfect ending to a long but wonderful trip.

Trains,planes and automobiles

2010-10-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

This is not a relaxing trip to say the least. It's been wonderful and beautiful but I have never been more ready to say goodbye to my suitcase and the clothes I brought with me as much as I do right now. I don't know if it was the cobblestone streets and my weak ankles or just being tired but in Paris I fell. No surprise I know but it happened. My left ankle and right knee swelled up immediately. Right by Notre Dame so at least I had a beautiful view as I fell in front of everyone. I can walk (thank goodness) but it kills. What do you do though when you still have 6 days left in your trip that includes planes, trains and taxi's? You buckle up and make do. I did see a doctor in my hotel room yesterday in Munich(cost was 180$). She suggested I go to a hospital and have x-rays taken. First she suggested an ambulance which I said "no thank you but I think I'll take a taxi". Mark took me to a hospital where after seeing a doctor(and students, I felt like I was in Grey's anatomy minus the good looking doctors)getting x-rays(which they made me do in my underwear, I think just to make fun of the American)and then seeing the doctor again it cost just 100$. Crazy, US Er's would never cost so little. It's a little strange having students feel your ankle and knee while talking in German. They were all very nice though and very thorough. Now we are in Leipzig and then heading to Berlin tonight. It's been an amazing trip and despite having an ankle that compares to an elephants, it's been great. I get to see my babies in 4 days. I'm so excited. Ich liebe meine Kinder. I think I said that right.

Hanging out in Luxembourg, Luxembourg

2010-10-22T05:45:00.000-07:00

I don't have any photo's yet to add to this post but I wanted to get some thoughts out. We have been in Luxembourg for three days now and tonight we leave for Paris. I'm a bit nervous because of the strikes and riots that are going on but we are hoping (based on what people have told us) that the Parisians will take a break for the weekend and not riot, instead go spend some time with their families and relax from all that striking and fighting with the police. I hope! I'm missing the kids a lot. You think you wont because as a parent(and especially a mom) you are kind of ready for a vacation but then of course you realize how much you miss their cute little faces and getting hugs and kisses from them. That's how I'm feeling today. I miss my kids.:(
I love Luxembourg though and the people. I love how they speak both French and German and in their conversations they will go back and forth in both languages. I can pick out certain words in German and understand a tiny bit what they are saying but then the French flies right over my head. I'm really excited to see Dagmar and her family next week. I'm tagging along with Mark as he goes from city to city in Germany meeting some of Germany's biggest sellers with Amazon. It's a coincidence that the last town we visit is only 1/2 hr from the town my host family lives in. The Hagerbaumers are picking me up next Thursday and taking me out to lunch and to hang out with them. I haven't seen them since I was 17, yet we have kept in touch every Christmas. Dagmar's parents send my parents a card every year. They are good people.
You don't realize how young of a country we live in until you go outside of the US. I love all the old churches here, the fort that goes right through the city and I love all the cobblestone streets, though they are making me feel a bit lopsided for some reason. Things I like so far on the trip; being with Mark,the people(saying Merci goes a long way here),croissants, croissants and croissants. Things I don't like; being away from family,not being able to speak French and that everything seems very expensive. That's vacation though, right? Hope this finds everyone well.

Times they are a changing

2010-10-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

Sofia started 6th grade this year(middle school,oh my)atI MS. What a big change for her. I think she looks too young to be in Middle School, as do a lot of her friends. Sofia said to me one day "middle school is going to be fun, right mom"? What was I to say " No, it was some of the worst years of my school years"! Instead I told her it was a lot of fun and she would love it as well. Now almost a month later, she does love it. She doesn't love all of her teachers (who does?) but she likes going from class to class, she has some great teachers(one being a neighbor of ours) and she's made some new friends. Maybe she will be the 1st kid to love Middle School. Ha ha.
Miles started 1st grade and going all day. He wasn't so sure about his teacher(since Sofia had been talking about how she had his teacher and didn't like her and that she was mean, which she wasn't)and didn't want to go. The first day he came home and said to me "Mom, guess what? My teacher is really nice"! Phew, I was so happy to hear those words and hear how happy he was. He has class with two friends, Maggie Noble and Ben Hawkins, both from church. He as well is still happy with his class and loves going. A big plus for Mark and I is that at night he's completely worn out and goes to be much better. Thank goodness. It was weird to not take photo's of all three kids on their first day of school. It was strange to not be there for Kiah's first day of school and to have her come home and tell us all about it. Now we talk on the phone and she tells us about school and all that goes along with it. Such changes in our home this year, from college aged, to middle school, to Miles going all day. It's going to be a great year and I'm excited to see the kids continue to grow.

Two weeks in Utah part uno

2010-10-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

I can't possibly blog about everything we did in Utah and post photo's. That would take too long. Plus Mark is out of town on a hike, so I can't call him to figure out how to do what I want to do with this post. I'll try and get by on my own though. We spent two wonderful weeks in Utah, mainly in Logan visiting my parents. We were able to see family and friends during that time and also catch up with my parents who we hadn't seen in two years. With my foot surgery last year and being in a cast most of the summer we weren't able to visit them. Because of that we decided to spend two weeks in Logan. I said that already, sorry. It was a bit bittersweet because we also dropped Kiah off at school, so it was fun to be with her but sad to leave her. Here is a photo of all that we packed. We had to pack for us but also Kiah's stuff to drop off for school. We were jammed pack to say the least, oh and we had Hope with us. That was fun.
Now on to the trip. Here is a photo of my beautiful niece Kim and her nephew Alex (my nephew's son). Floating down Logan canal is a must. Miles and Sofia loved it. Here's Mark canoeing out at the marshes. We always spend a day or two with the Zollinger's out at the farm. I love this barn and so do the kids. Maybe if one of the Zollinger's read this, they can tell me how old the barn is? I know it's a Historical landmark but I can't remember when it was built. If you look real close you can see Sofia at the end. She's about to swing from a rope. The kids love it there. I wish this photo could truly grasp how beautiful of a night it was when we were driving past the Logan Temple (where Mark and I were married). It was a gorgeous summer night and the moon was breathtaking. The kids were griping about us going down memory lane while in Logan but they love to see the temple an finally gave us a break and didn't make fun of us. No trip to Logan is complete without a day spent at Bear Lake. The blue water, the raspberry shakes and tots with fry sauce. yum. Unfortunately the day we decided to go was so windy that we couldn't even play in the water. That didn't stop us from having fun though. The kids still waded in the water, we went to LaBeau's (where I worked and lived for a summer as a teenager) and took some great family photo's. Kiah and her tot dipped in fry sauce. Family shot that Mark was adamant to get. We celebrated Sofi's 11th Birthday in Ione,Idaho at Mark's aunt Marcia's house. I don't think it was her ideal birthday, she'd rather have been at home with friends but we made do with what we had. Plus we left the next morning to drive home and we left Kiah in Idaho. I think Sofi was a bit sad about that. Despite their complaining about each other, they are very close and Sofi really misses her big sister.

To Epiphanies and beyond......

2010-05-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

While cleaning up my desk and putting photo albums away I found a note that I'd written and put in Kiah's scrapbook I made for her. I thought I would share it. I was going through her album look for photo's I want to use for a gift for her on graduation. I remember writing this little note and the feelings I was experiencing at the time.
"I've been writing lately about Epiphanies that I've been experiencing. Some by myself, some with the kids, some with Mark. With the girls I have had similar moments. I've just now begun to understand and realize that Epiphanies are revealing scene's or moments, illuminating discoveries. I have had many of these special; almost heart stopping times with Kiah. When I was in labor with her and it seemed to be going along smoothly, she all of the sudden became distressed. She was facing sideways and would not turn. My doctor told Mark and I that he might have to do a C-section. They wheeled me out of the birthing room to an operating room. I was very nervous(being first time mom and just 23) and I could tell Mark was as well. With hard work from both the doctor and myself(more from me of course) Kiah was delivered at 11:49am on April 3,1992. Whether every mother experiences this or not is of no relevance to me (not to be harsh), it was my moment. They put Kiah on my stomach after they cleaned her up and she was so beautiful. This living breathing being was ours. I touched her little hand and she clutched onto my finger and I looked into her eyes and was in awe. Babies are so inspiring, they remind you of starting fresh, of innocence and all that is new and trusting. Later I would experience this with Sofia but in a different way. Still amazing nonetheless. We get to be a part of their moment that for them is new and unsure. It reminds us to trust again, to look at our surroundings and have faith. As a young mother, I had no idea what was in store for me when they handed me Kiah. I just knew that she was mine, that she trusted me, she looked into my eyes, held on to my finger and we were mother and daughter".
That's been 18 yrs now since that wonderful day. She leaves for school and will one day not too far down the road become a mother herself. I love her more than words can express and feel honored to be her mother.

Butternut Squash Soup

2009-10-09T22:25:00.002-07:00

Today I was loving the fall colors and the smell in the air and it made me crave soup. I tend to crave soup on fallish days and cold days, I'm sure everyone is that way. I went to you tube of all places and typed in "butternut squash soup" and a little video popped up that looked good and sounded easy. The website is www.harvesteating.com
You can then look up Butternut squash soup. It turned out really good if I do say so myself. It satisfied my fall soup craving. I also bought a good bread to go with it. We all decided the soup tasted better with a bit of sour cream as well. It was lacking something and the sour cream did the trick. The recipe also calls for one medium sized squash, I would add a little more to make it thicker. I would've liked ours better if it was thicker. I love fall. It always makes me think of being a kid in Logan, Utah. It makes me think of trick-or-treating in the snow, the spook alley that was in the basement of the old library, my mom's soups and the colors up Logan Canyon. This time of the year always makes me a little homesick. I loved sitting with the family tonight at the table, eating soup and laughing. Miles was eating pancakes and done before the rest of us and then he was running around like a maniac while the rest of us ate and talked. That's how most of our meals are. If any of you make this recipe, let me know what you think or if you have one you make that you really like, pass it on.

My sweet girl

2009-09-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

Today is picture day at school so Sofi wanted me to do something special to her hair. She had it relaxed almost a month ago and she has loved it. While the woman was doing Sofi's hair I could literally see her pulling the curl out of Sofi's hair. Whatever she put on her hair did wonders. It's that age old story of a girl with curly wanting straight and then there are girls with straight that want curly. For those of you who have felt Sofi's hair before you know it's the nappiest hair ever. I find these little circles of hair around the house and you can pull one end of it out and it's almost 5 inches long and let go and it goes back to this little circle of hair. The girl has the curliest hair I've ever seen. When she was little it wasn't that curly but when it started coming in more it went crazy.
One time when Sofi was about 2 she was standing at the counter in the kitchen and she took a metal fastener out of her hair and was about to put it in a light socket. I told her she needed to give it to me. Next thing I know she's flinging back and falling on the ground and smoke was coming out of the socket. She was fine but maybe that was the turning point for her hair :) This morning while blow drying her hair and then straightening it she got all excited and said "today I get a plastic comb". I had no idea what she was talking about so I asked. Just a little FYI for those that don't know, Sofi is in 5th grade now. She said that when they take school photo's they offer each kid their own plastic comb to fix their hair and this would be the first year she would be able to get a comb and use it. I almost started to cry. In the past Sofi has had her hair in cornrows, extensions, poofs and headbands for her school photo's. Now with her hair relaxed it lays completely down and she can comb through it. It made me sad that she was so excited to get this plastic comb today. I have watched her out of the corner of my eye as she looks longingly at her friends as they run their hands through their hair, or as Kiah brushes her own hair or puts it up in a ponytail. It's hard to watch.
It's so fun to watch her now as she looks in the mirror and tries all kinds of new styles with her hair. It sounds so superficial but it's a big deal to her. It's a matter of feeling more like the other girls instead of different. Which at this age, they don't want to be. I'm excited for Sofi today too and that she gets to use the plastic comb. Go Sofi!!!

A little late but hopefully not too late

2009-09-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write up a short note about Mexico since I somehow never did. I went straight from Mexico to foot injury and have forgotten how fun the trip was and how beautiful. It was our 20th anniversary so we needed to do something special. On our honeymoon we stayed in a tiny cabin in Yellowstone with a wood burning stove and no bathroom.
While that was romantic and all we could afford at that time, 20 yrs later needed to be something bigger. We were gone for 9 days. We first went to Cozumel, which I loved and would like to go back and spend the whole vacation on that island. The water was amazing and the resort we stayed at was magical. We took a boat back to the main island and from there we rented a car and went inland to see ruins. We saw Coba, Chichen Itza and Uxmal. Uxmal was my favorite one of all.
We stayed at a Hacienda on our anniversary. It was kind of out in the middle of nowhere so I was a bit apprehensive about the accommodations, it ended up being the most beautiful place we stayed at. Mark had arranged for us to have our dinner outside but it started to rain so we ate on our veranda. It was delicious. The pool there was the coolest and after a hot muggy day it felt good to swim in. The place we stayed at has also accommodated Sting and President Bush. It was gorgeous. Definitely a step up from a little cabin in Yellowstone. We drove back to the coast and stayed in Tulum which is a cute little beach town. It was at the Tulum ruin that I fell and hurt my ankle and foot. Now 2 months later I've been put through the ringer because of that fall. I still have great memories of the trip and loved every minute of it.

bye bye baby

2009-09-04T23:21:00.000-07:00

My baby started Kindergarten this week. Where did all that time go. I swear he was just in diapers yesterday and drinking from a bottle. Now he's starting school and it's feels strange. I had mixed emotions when I dropped him off, it was sad yet having sent two other kids to Kindergarten and survived I knew I would be fine with Miles gone. It also helped that it was a nice sunny day and I went and visited a friend. The teacher had the kids line up against the wall and wait until all the kids had shown up and then she marched them down to their classroom. He is so much taller than the other kids that he looks a bit out of place yet emotionally he's the same as the others. Miles had brought in a shirt the night before class and asked me if it was "special" and should he wear it to school? I went into his room and he had his backpack and clothes all laid out and ready to go. When we were leaving to go to school he asked me if there would be a "welcome party" for him when he got there. I love that he was that excited and that he knows to feel welcomed and cared for, instead of feeling scared and alone. It does feel strange to be sending my last child to school. Kindergarten isn't really long enough to do anything but it is enough to have a break. It just feels strange to have him gone during the day and to know he is growing up. He's been such a momma's boy and I hope that doesn't change. When he got off the bus the first day I was ready to take photo's of him getting off the bus. He ran at me so fast yelling "mommy" that I had to brace myself so I wouldn't fall down. He's a lean kid but he's strong! That made me more weepy than when I dropped him off at school. It feels good to know you are still loved.

Last hoorah of summer

2009-09-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

I have been stuck in the house far too long this summer because of my ankle and foot. On Sunday after church Mark called to tell me he was on his way home after meetings and it popped into my head that I wanted to go camping. Mark would never say "no" to camping so he came home and we packed up in record time and headed off to go camping. We didn't get to our campsite until about 8:45pm, so we just sat up camp and went to bed. There is a fire ban so when it's 9ish at night out in the middle of nowhere, with no fire going on, there isn't much to do but go to sleep. Because of going to bed so early, we woke up early. Mark, Miles and I took the canoe out while the girls slept and it was completely peaceful. It was just what I needed. There were no sounds, the sun was out and the scenery was amazing. Plus I was with my two favorite guys. What more can you ask for? Oh and I had a cold coke waiting for me back at camp. That topped it off. We played by the river for a while and then headed down to cooper lake to go swimming in a swimming hole that Mark knew about. It was the coldest water I've ever gone swimming in, but it was just that initial freezing, it got better. We played for a while and then headed home. It was short but sweet and just what the doctor ordered. Well actually my doctor would most likely be upset if he knew I was out and about on my foot but I had about had it and I needed to be enjoying the last days of summer. Hope you enjoy the video that Mark made.

Double digits baby!!!!!

2009-09-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

Sofi just turned 10 and had been counting down the days for her double digit birthday. It's so strange that she is already 10. It seems like yesterday that Mark and I flew to Florida to adopt Sofi. We had got a call the week before she was born from a lawyer in Florida that we had sent our adoption papers to. A Birth Mother had seen our portfolio and had chosen us. I can remember it so clearly. We flew to Florida on a Sunday and Sofi had been born on Saturday afternoon. We went with a car carrier and that was all we had. We flew in around 2am on Monday morning slept a bit and then got up to go to the hospital. It was so surreal and like I was floating on clouds and that the clouds were carrying me from one stage of the adoption process to the next. We met the lawyer at the hospital, signed papers (he only cared about the check and asked about it a couple of times, what a loser),and then went upstairs to the nursery. It was so strange to one minute have it be Mark, Kiah and I and then in the next have a nurse point to a crib and say "there's your baby girl." They told me to sit in a rocking chair and then they gave me Sofi. I held her while Mark made tons of phone calls to family and friends. I fell in love with her instantly and it's been pure love ever since. I can't imagine my life without Sofi, I can't imagine our family without her. It's like there was this spot in our home, in every picture, at the dinner table, while saying prayers, while going on vacations that was just waiting for Sofi to fill it. It truly feels like I was just in that rocking chair holding her and looking at her beautiful big eyes and holding her little fist in mine just yesterday. Now she is almost as tall as I am, she is a spunky, feisty, fashionable little 10 yr old. I'm so glad she is in my life. Happy 10th Sofi!!!

You breath in when I breath out

2009-08-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

I found this video on a blog recently and loved the song and video. It made me cry actually, well not cry as so much as bring a tear to my eyes. Being immobile like I have, I have been counting on people and needing more support than ever. I loved this video in the sense that we all need that extra support every so often and it's good to know that there is someone there to catch you when you need it. I have been lucky this summer to have great family and friends that have done just that. They've given me hugs when I needed them, and catch me when I need help. I know that there are things far worse than having foot surgery and that this is small compared to other things. I'm just not use to being stuck in the house or not being able to go and do as I please. It's been a test to say the least. Why have I never heard of this group before? They are from Scotland and their accents give me goosebumps( I have this thing, a bit of a crush when it comes to Scottish accents). The video is good and the song is even better.

Loving me some Rilke

2009-08-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

I think because I'm down and can't do a lot that I've been thinking of all the things I can't do. I've been known to complain a tad(Mark will laugh about this) about walking and hiking. Of course now that there is no possible way for me to do either, I missing it. Maybe this will be my HUGE motivation to get out there more and hike. I was reading from a book I have of Rilke's poems and I found this one. For now I guess I will enjoy Mark's photo's and read about walking and hiking instead. Enjoy.

A Walk

My eyes already touch the sunny hill.
going far ahead of the road I have begun.
So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp;
it has inner light, even from a distance-

and charges us, even if we do not reach it,
into something else, which, hardly sensing it,
we already are; a gesture waves us on
answering our own wave...
but what we feel is the wind in our faces.

by Rainer Maria Rilke

Going Stir crazy

2009-08-16T01:21:00.000-07:00

I think after my foot is all healed and I can be more mobile I am going to rearrange and decorate my room. After staring at it for so long because of this stupid ankle, I've about had it with the view. After looking around at my room for weeks now I think it's time for a change. I haven't had much to write about since I haven't really done a lot since getting back from Mexico. It has been a bit of a bummer actually but I am on the mend and I think I see the light. You will notice in the photo's that they are all taken from the same angle, it's not exciting but I thought I would share. Enjoy and if you have any decorating suggestions, fire away.

U2 and MRI's

2009-07-15T00:54:00.001-07:00

You might ask what U2 and MRI's have in common? Nothing would be my answer. Last week though I had my first MRI (of my right ankle that I hurt in Mexico). I'm very happy that it was my ankle and not my head or body because I think I would maybe go insane or need some drugs to sedate me a little before hand. I was very happy that I could choose music to listen to for the 45 minutes that I had to lay completely still. I chose U2 but it was a toss up between that and Bob Marley. I was afraid I would want to dance a little if it were Bob so I went with U2's greatest hits. It helped and I was so glad that I could listen to music to tone down the loud sound of the MRI machine. Have you seen one of those before? They are huge and so loud. As I lay there on the table being completely still yet holding on to a buzzer thing that I could push if I needed help (yet was told not to because they would have to stop the procedure), I kept thinking that it would be something simple like a sprain and nothing more. Unfortunately it's not something simple like a sprain and I have to have surgery on the 11th of August. I ruined some of the cartilage in my ankle and some of the ligaments. How bizarre is this though. They will drill into the bone and let the blood seep out into my ankle which it will form new cartilage. He also has to repair some of the ligaments. If that surgery doesn't take, then they will take cartilage from a cadaver and place it in my ankle/foot. How fun does that sound? Tons, I know. I then will be on crutches for 6 weeks, the boot after that for a couple weeks and then physical therapy.
I have a great orthopedic surgeon though that a friend referred me to and I feel completely safe in his hands. Unfortunately the podiatrist that I went to before him told me it was just a sprain and to wear the boot for a week and then take it easy. I wont be going back to him any time soon. I'm not looking forward to surgery. I have a bit of a fear of surgery and being put under. I'm glad though to be getting my foot worked on and hopefully strengthening it. I can think of funner things I'd rather be doing this summer but I know it will be better in the long run. If you have any movie(DVDs) or book suggestions send them my way. I will have plenty of time to watch them and to read.

Wisdom teeth are HUGE!

2009-05-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

I just got back from taking Kiah to get her wisdom teeth taken out. They wrapped her teeth up in a nice little packet and gave them to me. I took one look and had to put them away. It's been so long since I had mine taken out that I don't even know if my parents kept mine or not but those things are HUGE. No wonder we have to have them taken out, there wouldn't been any space in our mouth for them. I feel bad that we had to wait for our insurance to roll over again for the new year, because by the time I took her in, they had all pushed up through the skin. She was scheduled for tomorrow and today I called to see if there was any way to get her in because she's been in so much pain. Luckily they had a cancellation and were able to fit Kiah in. She was one loopy person when they wheeled her out to the car. She kept poking at her lips and gum's. I would tell her to just lay back and sleep but she would pull the mirror down and poke at her face and try to talk to me and say how huge her face was. It was a bit entertaining to say the least. I had my wisdom teeth taken out when I was 16. My parents didn't have the greatest dental insurance and had to pay for it out of their pocket. They weren't so happy to hear I had 6 wisdom teeth. It was a joke for a long time that I couldn't just have 4 like everyone else but that I had to have 6 and it was 100$ a tooth. My dad only had 2, his parents were probably very happy. I think Kiah will do great and recover fast. She has a pretty high pain tolerance and she is young. It's just hard to watch her go through all these steps that get her closer to leaving the house. Like turning 16, dating, driving, next year she's a senior, getting her wisdom teeth taken out. All those teenage milestones that get her closer to becoming an adult. I will have to take some good photo's later of her, swollen cheeks and all.

Photo's from a funeral

2009-05-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

I hope a couple of these photo's aren't looked at as morbid but that you can sense the happiness that we all felt at Grandma Smith's funeral knowing that she was with her husband and parents and other family members that have passed on. These photo's show the great posterity she left and the family that came together to honor her and her life.

Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling

2009-05-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

Mark's sweet Grandma Smith passed away last Sunday and we drove to Rigby, Idaho for the funeral on Wednesday. Her daughter-in-law and two of her granddaughters sang the song "Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling" at the funeral as per her request. It was hard to not cry and also hard to not have a big smile on our faces because she has been ready to go for a long time. Her first husband passed away when Mark was probably a year old and then her second husband passed away in 1992. She has missed him very much and has said for the longest time that she was ready to go and be with her "Howard." She also loved to tell us that she could be taken at any moment because she was humble after all. We haven't seen Grandma Smith for a few years because of her health and because of the distance. We were in her area last Thanksgiving and would've gone to see her but she didn't know who anyone was anymore and Mark wanted to remember her when she was spunky and had her memory. I think it would've been too hard to see her the way she has been the last few years. I wanted to list a few things that I remember about Beula and that I will treasure about her. When they had the Teton Dam flood in 1976 there was tons and tons of fabric that people thought had been ruined by the flood and people were just going to throw it away. Mark's Grandparents (being the resourceful people they were) knew they could wash it and reuse a lot of it. Grandma Smith washed tons of fabric and cloth and made quilts for people who had lost blankets due to the flood and then later she made quilts for her family. We have a quilt with some of that material. Mark's Grandma also made our wedding cake. It was three layers and was beautiful. It had red roses on it. Her and Howard also cooked a lot of the food that we had at our reception. Grandma Smith loved her flower garden and took care of it with such love and grace. The flowers in her backyard were immaculate. Grandma Smith also had rows and rows of raspberries. If we ever stopped by her place in the summer we would go outside and pick raspberries and sit and eat in the backyard and talk to her. She wouldn't let us leave without taking some jars of bottled raspberries. They were delicious.Grandma also flew out to California when Kiah was baptized and then when we went to the Temple with Sofia later that day. She was so happy to be there with us and her family. Grandma Smith had many trials in her life and a lot of them brought on by her own family members but she never gave up and her faith never wavered. Mark's uncle Doug and his family did a video one night a few years ago of Grandma and interviewed her, they wanted to ask a bunch of questions about her life before she couldn't remember anymore. They asked at the end of the CD what she would like to tell her family, that she would want them to remember. She said " to always stay close to their Heavenly Father and to always bear their Testimony of him." Then they asked if she would like to sing a song and she sang the one I mentioned above. It was so sweet. She will be missed but at the same time, she lived a full life. She was 86 when she passed away. We all know she is with her "Howard" and as happy as can be.

My baby is growing up!

2009-04-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

Miles lost his first tooth this past week. His permanent tooth had popped up behind his baby tooth and the baby tooth had been loose for a while. Sofi came home one day and told Miles that his baby tooth was bleeding and could she wipe it with some toilet paper? He is not wise to the ways of an older sister that has had this same trick pulled on her by her dad. She grabbed the tooth of course and yanked it out without him knowing that she did it on purpose. He just thought it came out on it's own. He was so excited and is still excited that he lost a tooth and had the visit from the Tooth Fairy ( 5$ was not my idea, that was Mark's). Sofi sewed a little pouch for him to put under his pillow for the tooth to go in. It was very cute to watch Sofi get all excited and to get Miles more excited than he already was. It's amazing how fast the teeth start to move. His big one is already moving up to where it's suppose to be. Now another is popping up behind a baby tooth. I think the kid is going to need braces. For right now though I'm enjoying these 1st's with my youngest and trying not to think about the day when he will be bigger and when he's not my baby anymore.

Oh no you didn't!!

2009-04-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

While at Kiah's state drill competition last month Sofi played with the silly putty that I bought for her and Miles. The competition was an all day event and I knew they would get bored so I packed some things to play with. Silly putty should be safe right? Wrong when your 9 year old thinks it would be funny to put it on her dad's hairy arm. I love the look on his face though and her head peeking through like "am I in trouble?" It took him a while to get it all out and he lost some hair. I thought it was pretty funny actually but then it didn't happen to me.

High Tea with my girls

2009-04-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

We went to Vancouver Island for Spring break last week. The first part of the trip we backpacked out to Mystic Beach (which is very beautiful) and the second part was spent in Victoria,BC. There is a Hotel there, the Empress Hotel and it's famous for it's High Tea. Kiah and Sofi wanted to have High Tea but I wasn't about to spend 45$ per person for them to experience it. We instead found a cute little place called the "James Bay Tea Room." It was very cute and quaint and charged 16$ per person instead of the highly overpriced Empress Hotel(which is cool to walk through and walk around the grounds). These are some pic's of our Tea time. They have all these yummy little sandwiches and crumpets with jam. They have herbal tea or caffeinated tea, you choose what you want. I have to explain that the photo at the end is Sofi sad that the tea and all the goodies are gone. I had to add it because Sofi loves to drink hot tea. It's all herbal of course but she drinks it when she gets sick, when it's cold outside and even when it's hot. The girl loves tea with sugar and now that she discovered tea/cream and sugar she wants me to fix it at home. It was a nice time spent with Kiah and Sofi. They were very cute. It was a beautiful day. The only bad part was when I coughed so hard (I'm still dealing with bronchitis) that tea came out my nose. I ran outside to cough so that I didn't scare any of the old people that were there having their tea and crumpets (I think we were the only young people there).

My baby keeps getting older!

2009-04-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

Kiah(my oldest) turned 17 today. Next year she will be a senior and then out of the house. I can't believe she is already 17 though. I've always associated this time of the year with three things and all of them to me, mean "life, hope and love." I associate this time of the year to those things because Kiah was born on April 3, it's always around Easter and when she was born it was Conference weekend and here we are again with it being conference weekend. I don't want to brag about Kiah on here (because I could ya know, I am a bit bias and I will brag with photo's instead, hee hee). Except to say she amazed me as a baby, a toddler, in Elementary school, Middle school and now High school years. I love her with all my heart. She means the world to me. Happy Birthday Kiah!

That's my girl!!!

Allergies, Smallergies

2009-04-03T16:22:00.001-07:00

I have been consumed by sickness and allergies for a few weeks now that I haven't felt like doing anything. I hope I am coming out of my fog. There is some questionnaire thing floating around on facebook recently and one of the questions was "have you ever hit rock bottom?" I think being sick these past three weeks has definitely been the bottom of something for me. I find it interesting that the first day that I feel some normalcy that we had snow in the morning and then sun ever since. Does anyone else suffer from allergies and have asthma? What do you do during allergy season? Or are you like some of my friends that have never had seasonal allergies a day in their life(I'm not asking that with bitterness at all, ok maybe a little :) ). I'm so excited for summer though. I can't wait to have all the windows open, the sound of bees buzzin' and birds chirping. Bring on the sun!

Helping myself

2009-03-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

I recently read a blog post that I totally loved and I wanted to try it myself. This person set a New Years resolution to try to live her life as if she were 20 years older and suddenly had the chance to do go back and do it all over again but knowing what she would know 20 years into the future. I'm 40 now, what would my 60 (HOLY CRAP, I don't want to think of that) year old self say to me now? This is my list of what I think I would say and then I need to take it to heart and truly live by it.

1. Stop worrying what people think of you, most likely they aren't thinking about you. It's not all about you ;)

2. Get up off your butt and start walking and eating better. I know if I don't my 60(HOLY CRAP again) year old self is going to be sore, sick and not very happy.

3. Quit drinking diet coke or any carbonated drink, it's not helping at all.

4. Invite people over more, go out more, be more social. Don't worry if your house isn't clean, if you just don't feel like being social that day, get out and don't think about it too much.

5. Pray more and about everything. Ask for help with your kids, your feelings, your doubts, your fears. Trust more in prayer.

6. Realize that life can be a lot worse. Life is good. Great husband, great kids, supportive family and good friends.

7. LOVE YOURSELF! you are worth it :)

I have lived a great life so far and I want the rest of my life to be even better. What would you tell yourself?

A family that hangs out at the beach together, stays together ;)

2009-02-22T05:26:00.000-08:00

Here is my favorite family photo we took at the beach this past weekend. It's very hard to get Miles to stand still long enough for us to get a family shot. Most photo's of the family maybe three of us are looking at the camera but Miles is always this blur. This one turned out though, so it's worth posting. Notice how bundled up Mark, Kiah and I are and then look at Sofi and Miles bare feet. I don't know how they handled it? They were so cute at the beach though. Miles was totally into his kite, Sofi was intent on making a castle and Kiah hung out and talked to Mark and I. It was a great day in Ocean Shores.

a mom and her girls

2009-02-19T14:34:00.000-08:00

Who knew life could be so good? Growing up I never thought I'd have such a wonderful family, such great kids and a great husband. I had hoped but I didn't think it would be this good. I really don't have much to say except that I feel really grateful today for my kids and husband. I can't say that having girls is any better than having a son, they are equally wonderful. I love the bond I have with my girls though. Sure we have our differences at times but I love who they are and who they are becoming. Kiah will graduate 2010 and then off to school somewhere. Sofi has 1 1/2 years left of elementary school and then will become a middle school girl! I'm cherishing the moments I have with them, trying to impart whatever words of wisdom I have . Aren't they dang cute? I think so. Kiah loves to talk, tell me every detail of her day, kids at school, boys etc.... Sofi wants me to do crafts with her the minute she gets home until she goes to bed. She likes to talk but not as much as her big sister. Sofi is more soulful, likes to stare out the window and think. Kiah like I said, loves to talk, talk, talk. I'm not complaining. I value the time we have to talk, she has been that way ever since she was little. Kiah cries at movies, laughs hard and is sensitive. Sofi loves to learn, do gymnastics, but to find humor in something it has to be really funny or quirky funny and then she will laugh out loud. I love my girls and I love Miles of course but this is all about the Griffith gals.

Color of Water: A Black man's tribute to his White Mother

2009-02-12T14:24:00.001-08:00

This is the title of the last book we read in the book club I'm in. It's written by James McBride and I loved it. I've been telling everyone about it. James writes about his life growing up in Harlem, his life with his siblings and how he saw his mom as a child and then later as an adult. At the beginning of each chapter is an interview of James Mother, Ruth McBride.
She tells about her life growing up with an abusive Jewish Father who treated her mother terribly. She meets her first husband and is disowned by family because he is Black. She converts to Christianity and with her husband co-founded a Baptist church. Her and her first husband had 8 children and James McBride is the last of those 8. His Father passed away before James was born. Later Ruth marries again and with her second husband, raises 12 children. The second husband also passed away leaving Ruth to raise the children by herself. Ruth raises her children to go to the best schools, sometimes busing them all over NY to the best school for each individual child. She raised 12 children that went on to become Doctors, Teachers, Writers, all having successful careers. She is an amazing woman. She was married to two amazing men, who loved her and gave her the respect she never had growing up. I think she is a testament to faith, unconditional love, perseverance and hard work. James gives his Mother a beautiful tribute. If I could be a sliver of what she is as a Mother, then I will feel I have accomplished something. It's a wonderful book, touching, funny at times and one I would recommend to anyone.

Sweet little Miles

2009-01-30T00:22:00.001-08:00

Who says boys can't be deep and sensitive? Not me! Tonight while getting Miles to bed we were petting Ebony(the new kitty)and listening to her purr. Miles started talking about Ty our only boy cat we've had and who went missing about a year ago. Once Miles starts talking about Ty (who he loved completely)he gets crying. Tonight was no different. The tears started coming and really big tears. He also was doing that whole take in a deep breath and hold it for a second and then let it out and cry some more. It was making me so sad. He said that when we had Ty it made our home even, three boys and three girls(even though we also had a girl cat but I was not about to get technical with him). He was so sad that our family isn't even anymore. He asked me if I thought Ty was in Heaven, I said "of course he is." Then he asked me if I thought Ty might come back in another kitty's body? I guess my kid believes in reincarnation? Who knew? We had a talk about how Ebony is our new kitty and that we love her and she loves Miles. I told him that one day he would see Ty again but that for now Ty is very happy and will be just fine. Then (and this broke my heart) he asked what would happen if Mark, Kiah, Sofi and I died, would he and Ebony be alone? I don't know what got into his little mind to make him think about such deep and sad things? He's 5 for heaven's sake, he shouldn't worry about stuff like that. He's such a sweet little boy. He's a very tender and sensitive boy, I hope he keeps some of that when he grows up. Not so much that his feelings get hurt too much, but just enough to keep him kind and caring. I had conversations with my girls like this when they were Miles age, but I didn't think I would have them with Miles for some reason. It was wrong of me to assume that little boys aren't sensitive like that. I have been proved wrong over and over again with Miles. I didn't know what a boy would be like but I think I set certain expectations and assumed. I'm glad I've been proved wrong, it's opened my eyes to a whole new world. I love it.

It's been an off week!

2009-01-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

I've been having a really off week. For many reasons. Some I'd rather not go into. What I will tell you about though is my Amazon fresh.com ordering and the mistakes I've made. We like to order our food from Amazon fresh and have it delivered early in the morning around 6am and we don't have to be up to sign anything when they drop it off.The items that need to be kept cold are kept with ice bags and so they can stay outside for a while before we even get to them. I also like Amazon fresh because anything over 30$ is free delivery and we always order over 30$. Because of some other things that went on this week that kind of threw me off, when I ordered my items I wasn't exactly thinking correctly. First was when I thought I ordered two boxes of Cinnamon toast crunch cereal and got a big box of 24 boxes. We do love Cinnamon toast crunch but still it's going to take us a while to eat it all. Second was when I ordered two 6 packs of coke(which I should be ordering diet not regular) and got 4, 6 packs instead. I do not need that much coke. Like I said I should be drinking diet coke instead. Hopefully next time I order my brain is working a bit better. I'm just grateful for websites like amazon fresh so that I don't have to shop all the time. It's one of my pet peeves. Plus I discovered one of my new favorite popsicles on amazon fresh and the kids love it as well. You should try it out. It's yummy.
P.S. You have to like the Acai fruit. It's not overly strong in this bar like it is in other products so you don't have to totally love it. Like my husband doesn't totally love it, but loves this bar. I have to hide the box in the freezer from my 5 year old son because he will eat it all gone, but he is a really good eater. Not your typical 5 year old. Try it though and let me know what you think.

3 songs being played over and over

2009-01-17T14:15:00.001-08:00

I get in moods where I play a few songs over and over again. Then I get tired of those and move on, but for a period I'm addicted to those songs. I thought I would share the 3 that I can't seem to get enough of right now.

My three right now are:
1. Lost- Coldplay

2. Empty- Ray Lamontange

3. Gold digger-Kanye West (I like to dance a bit in the kitchen, what can I say?)

What are you listening to over and over again right now? Is there a song that you are embarrassed to share, like my Gold Digger song? C'mon, don't be shy!

Quotes of all quotes

2009-01-10T23:46:00.000-08:00

I saw this quote on someone else's blog and loved it instantly. I've been thinking lately about what I want to write and have felt a bit blah about writing on my blog. This quote has me going though. It's by Anais Nin.

"We write to taste life twice, once in the moment and in retrospection"

I think that is so beautiful. We do write, or I at least write things down to experience it again, or I guess in hopes that my posterity and their posterity can experience it once. Maybe a little insight to who I am and who I was. I love writing funny things, like the time I called a number in Provo, Utah hoping to find a meditation center (I needed some peace in my life at the time and was having a hard time finding it). I asked the woman on the other end of the line if they taught meditation there? She hesitated and said "No, we are a mediation center." I felt a bit dumb. I'd gone to the M's in the yellow pages(in a phone book, we used those back then) and had read it wrong. The funniest part was how annoyed the woman was. I laughed, she hung up. I also like to write down things that aren't always uplifting and happy, but tell about what's going on at that time in my life and feel it needs to be told. Like when Mark's Grandma passed away last year and it was very hard to watch Mark deal with the loss. She was a great woman. She loved basketball and would always talk to us about the Jazz when we lived in Utah and followed them. I love to write about my kids because they are the loves of my life, and Mark. They keep me young but then at times make me feel so old. Like with Kiah turning 17 in April then having a 9 year old that has one more year after this year and then she goes into Middle school. Then there is Miles who hasn't even started elementary school yet. They love me unconditionally, well so far they do ;) I love writing in my Journal and my blog. I need to remember that there doesn't always have to be something profound or totally amazing in order to write. It's just fun.

Hubby did good!

2009-01-04T15:45:00.001-08:00

We love to make shakes and smoothies(one child in particular-Sofi). We were saddened the day the blender died. Shortly after that Mark and Sofi were visiting our friends the Woodhouse's and she had a mixer that Sofi HAD to run home to tell me about. It's the Elite Cuisine Mixer.
Sofi thought it was so cool because it comes with :
-Four tall cups
- Four spill-proof lids
- Four foam-grips
- One tall blending cup
- One small grinder cup
- Two stainless steel blades
- One main motor base
You can attach a tall cup to the base(upside down) and blend your drink, oh and it has the spill proof lid. When done take your drink off and either use a straw with it or take the lid off. It can blend and mix drinks, chop nuts, grate cheese and I'm sure a plethora of other amazing things. I hinted to Mark that it would be a nice gift to get for Christmas. He heard my hint and I got the Elite mixer for Christmas. The only bad part was that so many things were coming in the mail before Christmas (since we do most of our shopping online, we can't stand the stores during the holidays) that I opened the box with my gift in it, thinking it was one of my boxes. Oh well, we still wrapped it and put it under the tree. It's very cool though. I've lost count of how many smoothies Sofia has made. She is quite the little cooker and maker of yummy things. I don't want to plug products on here but if your blender gives out on you one day, give this one a try. Very, very cool.

"Congratulations, you are Blue"

2008-12-30T20:49:00.001-08:00

I took the color personality quiz today. Winter break boredom might be getting to me. After so many questions (that I was suppose to answer with my first thought, not analyzing the question at all)the test told me my color is Blue. I'm pretty happy with that. Blue is a good color, it's always been a favorite. I like a lot of things that are blue. Like blueberries, bluebells,smurfs,cookie monster etc.... Do I have to agree with everything it says if your color is Blue? I agree with some of it. Here are the things I agree with.
1. "Blues" seem to genuinely connect with others
2.Everything "Blues" do is quality-based
3.We are loyal friends, Employees and Employers
4.They pay close attention to life's special events
5."Blues" are dependable and thoughtful(I like to think I'm both of these, I try to be)

I don't agree with these things but then maybe I don't agree because they are true.
1. It said that "Blues" are sainted pit bulls. Nice.
2. They never let go of something or someone once they've committed.
3. We can be self-righteous and moody(ok, the moody part might be true)

I like this last part on the definition of what it means if you are the color "Blue".
It says "Stacey, your personality profile indicates that you have significant portions of other colors in your overall makeup that help shape your unique personality style."

Not that I'm telling anyone else what to do but if you take the color personality test, let me know what your color is. I'm curious if I have any other "Blue" friends out there. If not, no worries because I love all colors. Well puke green has never been a favorite.

My cutie Mom!

2008-12-27T11:56:00.000-08:00

My mom and dad are visiting for Christmas, they are both 78. They can't do like they use to which is part of life but also sad at times to see. They can't drive for long periods, my mom can't see very well and they both can't hear the greatest. Again, it's part of life. What I'm getting at is that we have to improvise and think of other ways to entertain them or things to do while they are here. Last night I started asking my mom about some of her favorite memories as a kid at Christmas time. She can remember tons of stuff from when she was little. My Mom said that one thing she loved at Christmas time was that her mom would cook and bake yummy foods. Her mom was a great cook, my mom is a great cook and unfortunately it was not passed on to me. Sigh! I think I have it in me if I would just care enough to bake as much as my Mom did. My mom had two sisters. Nin(Virginia) and Toots(Ruby). My Aunt Nin was 10 years older than my mom and was out of the house going to school and then going on a mission and my mom and Toots were the only ones at home. My Mom has brothers but they were also gone off doing their own thing. My aunt Toots was 8 years older than my Mom but they were close. The memory she told me was so sweet and cute and I can just picture it in my head.
She said that one Christmas Eve her and Toots (given the name because my mom said that's what Toots did a lot, ahem.... if you know what I mean)were jumping on their beds too excited to go to sleep. She said that when they were jumping they were singing "Jump in bed and cover up your head because Santa is coming tonight." Then they went to jump under their covers and smacked heads. She said they were laughing to hard to even cry but that the next day they both had big bumps on their foreheads. I love that this was her favorite memory because Toots was my favorite Aunt and she was spunky (despite her MS) and I can just see those two laughing and laughing. Toots had a very contagious laugh and so does my mom. In this photo, My mom is on the right and Toots is on the left.

Traditions make me happy!

2008-12-24T23:42:00.000-08:00

"Traditions" is not just a song sung by Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. It means "passing on, handing over." We have two Traditions that happen every Christmas come rain/snow/sleet or hail. They are from the Griffith/Scott tradition book. There really isn't a book but if there were, these two would forever be in it.
The first we did this morning(or I should say Mark did with Miles and Sofi while I took Kiah to the doctor). I think I've mentioned before the famous potato donuts from Mark's Grandma? If not you can look it up at www.niffgurd.com . The recipe is even on there if you'd like to start making it be your family tradition, if you do please credit Mern Lindquist. She was Marks sweet Grandma who passed away this year. I have been eating potato donuts since I was a little girl though when my Mom and Dad would take us to Pete's spudnuts in Logan,Utah. Good ol' Pete had a hamburger place on Main street in logan, but they also sold potato donuts which were big and so yummy. I have met people that didn't grow up in Logan but had family there and remembers eating those donuts as a kid. That's bringing in a memory and this is about traditions, sorry.
The kids love making potato donuts though, and I'm not sure if that's because of the mess and playing with the dough or because they get to eat as much as they want while making them. I hope this is one that my kids pass on to their kids and so on.
The second tradition is from my side of the family. It is from my Mom and it was her Mom's recipe. It's called Green death and I have had it every Thanksgiving and Christmas since I can remember. It's a drink and so easy to make and kids love it. It's one large can of pineapple juice, 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups of water,1 packet of lemon/lime kool-aid (not always easy to find) and 1/4 cup of lemon juice. You mix it all up and freeze(I usually use a cake pan 9X13).
When you are ready to serve it, put in a cup, about half of the cup and then fill up the rest with 7-up. The kids don't usually help make this one because we usually make it the night before we have our big dinner and the kids are in bed. I've loved it, my brothers love it and we now have it at our houses for the holidays because our kids ask for it. Traditions make me think of the Holidays, families together, new families being formed. It's important to create new traditions but at the same time you have to hold on to things that your families have been doing forever, passing them on, handing them over. Here's to you and yours. Wishing you all a Happy Holiday and praying for peace and joy in your lives.

No fun in the sun, just some fun in the Snow!

2008-12-19T22:04:00.000-08:00

We played in the snow yesterday with the kids. We had a great time, despite the cold and despite the fact that we have lost our Utah blood! A good time was had by all.

Epiphanies

2008-12-06T22:32:00.000-08:00

This is another journal entry of mine. Instead of picking one from when I was little like before I chose one from when Sofia was a baby. I chose it because I had been looking at Sofia's baby book this weekend and I found a copy of this journal entry that I had stuck in with a photo. It took me back to a special time in my life, still a special time in my life.
March 2000
" I've believed for a long time that the meaning of Epiphany was a thunderous enlightenment, a revelation to those that were worthy to receive it. Then a friend reminded me of it's true meaning. Epiphany= a revealing scene or moment,an illuminating discovery. I had forgotten that Epiphanies could be small moments in our lives, loving, enduring and special times. As a mother we sometimes feel our lives are so mundane and unappreciated. Because of this I suppose I had begun to believe that an Epiphany couldn't possibly work it's way into my boring life. Yet I've had so many, some related to being a mom, some not. I need to remember that they happen everyday, to everyone. This photo of Sofia reminds me of one very important illuminating discovery. When this photo was taken it was definitely a moment for me. We had just bathed Sofia in our little hotel room in Florida(about three days after picking up Sofia at the hospital)and she cried through the whole bath. It was very warm outside, being that it was August in Miami. We opened the curtains, and laid her down on her stomach. She must have felt the sun shinning through the window, that feeling of being inside and out of the heat, yet you are aware that the sun is on you. It's very soothing and obviously it calmed her down. Her eyes were so alert and open to the world around her. Another Epiphany was later that night. I had gotten up at some awful hour of the night to feed Sofia and it was dark, the only light was from the moon peeking through the blinds. I was in a sleepy state, not even coherent of whether Sofia was drinking from her bottle or not. I looked down at her and those eyes of hers were wide open like they had been earlier in the day. She was peaceful and looking all around the room and at me. It sounds cliche' but our eyes met and we bonded in that moment. I fell head over heels in love with her then. I think we were both aware of how much we needed each other. I felt and continue to feel truly blessed. At times she will be laying in my arms, almost asleep and I look into her eyes and see what I saw that night in Florida when she was just a few days old. We are bonded through that moment, connected."
Think of the big and small Epiphanies you have had. I guarantee you've had more than you can count.

Montana vs. Oregon and hanging out with family

2008-11-27T23:18:00.000-08:00

At one point we thought the drive from Spokane,Wa to Menan,Idaho (don’t feel bad if you don’t know where it is, nobody really does)was going to be 8 hrs. We already knew the drive from Issaquah to Spokane was 4 hrs. Marks sister Sara asked why we didn’t just drive down to their place in Boise and then up and around to Menan with them, thinking it would be the same amount of time. Later we found out it was 6 hrs to Menan from Spokane, plus the 4 from Issaquah. It’s only two hours shorter but hey, two hours less when driving with kids for a long time means everything. It means sanity vs. insanity. Even if the drive were the same amount of distance in driving I still would pick the Spokane through Montana, down through Idaho route any day. I have three reasons which I will list in order of importance.

1. In Montana the speed limit is 75 vs. the 60 in Oregon. That is a huge difference.

2. Montana and the part of Idaho that we drive through are very pretty. The part of Oregon that we would have to drive through after crossing the Columbia River going to Boise is UGLY. In my opinion.That's just my opinion.

3. You can pump your own gas in Montana. That drives Mark and I crazy that you can’t pump your own gas in Oregon. I understand that they are giving jobs to people by doing that but it’s annoying. I like getting my own gas thank you very much.

After all that our drive wasn’t so bad. We drove to Spokane on Tuesday night and spent the night and then left Wednesday from Spokane around 10:30 and got into Menan (to Marks Aunt and Uncle Doug’s house) around 6:30. Kiah drove for 3 ½ hrs, which was a nice break for Mark. I didn’t drive because my head is too fuzzy due to the sinus infection. We made one stop for lunch in Missoula for about an hour and other than that we sailed on through. It wasn’t too bad. The kids watched movies, they didn’t really fight and some took naps.
It has been a lot of fun watching the kids play with their cousins. Each one of our kids have one or more cousins that they are really close to. Kiah’s cousin Garrett and her are very close and are cute together, they are like two peas in a pod. Today we had everyone tell something they were Thankful for and Garrett (who is almost 17) said "Kiah." They are cute cousins, nice to each other, supportive and funny. Miles has his cousin Cory that is one month older than him. Those two run all over with transformers, making up all kinds of stories that involve bad guys dying at the hands of their transformers. They are cute. Sofi has her cousin Tanner who is a few months older than her. Whenever we get together they act a little shy at first like they have forgotten each other and then within a little bit of time they have both disappeared and they are off playing a board game or outside jumping on the trampoline. Those two are cute because they know when they need a break from each other. They don’t fight; they just stop playing for a bit. Then you see them running off to play again. I love watching the kids play with their cousins. I never really had this type of experience growing up. My cousins are all older than me; they teased me more than anything else. Menan is very beautiful if you ever want visit this area. If you go to Rexburg and then look west you will see Menan. Marks Uncle lives up on a crater. From their balcony you can see the winding of the Snake River, the Rexburg Temple and the tips of the Tetons. It’s flat and dry, which I’m not use to. I think I’m a bit spoiled living up in Washington. Yet, this is another kind of beauty. It’s breathtaking actually. So far, despite being sick it’s been a good trip.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

2008-11-24T21:30:00.000-08:00

I haven't been sick for the Thanksgiving Holiday for a long, long time. I can't knock on wood this time though because I am in the middle of a snotty nosed snotfest. It came on fast and hard. Ask Amy about it, she has it too. I hope none of the other Twilight gals get it. If so, blame not just me, but Amy as well. I will say "sorry" now and get it over with. We are driving to Menan,Idaho on Tuesday. Menan is near Rexburg if you are wondering. I had never heard of it until Marks aunt and uncle moved there a few years ago. I'm not excited about the drive, I wasn't before the sickness and now I am even less excited. My head feels huge and there is this area around me with waded up tissues from the day that I just don't feel like throwing away. This is not a pity party post, I promise.
It is meant more as a wish that you and yours have a wonderful, relaxing and fulfilling Thanksgiving. I hope all of you stuff yourselves completely full, you should. I'm tired of hearing people say they are worried about eating pie or too much turkey or whatever during the holidays. We should be good to ourselves, don't over do it but be happy, savor the tastes, all the sauces and breath in the smells. Breath it in for me, because right now I can't smell a thing! Happy Thanksgiving!

I changed my vampire name, Yahoo.

2008-11-21T16:16:00.001-08:00

Your Vampire Name Is...

Opal of the Night

What's Your Vampire Name?

La La Shan

2008-11-20T23:44:00.001-08:00

I really don't have anything to say but I wanted to put up another photo that Mark found from our first trip to Taiwan. We met this funny, very nice Chinese man in the city we lived in and him and his family ended up becoming good friends. He has two daughters and it was amazing to watch how he interacted with them. He adored them and put them on a pedal stool. The way he treated them (them being girls) is something you don't see in the Asian culture very often. Maybe it's changing some, I hope. Sydney took us with his friend Mr. White up to La La Shan in the mountains (shan means mountain in Mandarin). We took this long winding road up to see old huge trees, that's what La La Shan was and is. Funny because now I live in an area with tons of large and old trees and I don't have to take a long winding road to see them. It was beautiful and the countryside in Taiwan is worth getting out to see. Plus it's much cooler up in the mountains and it was a treat to get away from the city and the heat.
I love this photo of Mark and I. My legs look long, which I love. Also this was when I was a few pounds lighter, dang weight gaining! I also had long hair and had it pulled back in a ponytail, the only time I've had long hair in my adult life. Anyhoo, thought I would post the photo. I guess I did have a few things to say.

flashback Monday with Mark and Stacey

2008-11-19T23:41:00.000-08:00

Mark tonight had a dire need to find his old yearbooks. Nostalgia I guess. He didn't find the yearbook but he did find a bunch of photos. I love this photo that he uploaded and I'm stealing it from him.
It's one of my favorites of us and I had forgotten all about it. Mark and I went to Taiwan the summer after we got married. We were married June 16th,1989 and we went when school got out for BYU Provo the spring of 90'. We were in Taiwan teaching English from I think May to the end of August. We made around 20$ and hour and the minimum wage at that time was around 5$. We made a nice amount of money (we bought a car with it) and had a fun experience together. This photo was taken on a Sunday and I know that because I wouldn't have worn a skirt any other day and Mark wouldn't have worn long pants any other day. By the time we walked, took a train and walked a bit more, it took us about 90 minutes to get to the English branch from our house each Sunday. It was well worth it though because it was a nice social day and our only time to be with a bunch of foreigners. Mark taught the Gospel Doctrine class and the people in the class were the elder missionary couples. They were really funny. If you want to hear something funny, talk to a woman or man from Idaho trying to speak Mandarin. It's hilarious. Not that I can speak the language much better, but put a rural accent with it and it's funny. This photo brings back great memories though. Skinnier, funny, free, new, exciting and adventurous memories.

quotes and more quotes

2008-11-19T22:16:00.000-08:00

Mark tonight was looking for his old yearbooks and found a couple journals of mine in one of the boxes he brought up from the basement. I started leafing through them and had forgotten that I use to love writing down some of my favorite quotes. Or if I heard a new one, I would write it down on the side of the paper or at the bottom, just about anywhere in my journals. I thought I would post a few of my favorites that I had forgotten about and have been rejuvenated by.

Quote 1)
I am not afraid of the storm, for I am learning to sail my ship
Louisa May Alcott
Quote 2)
Children require guidance and sympathy far more than instructions
Anne Sullivan (Helen Kellers Teacher)
Quote 3)
Follow your bliss
Joseph Campbell
Quote 4)
It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves
Shakespeare
Quote5)
In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer
Albert Camus

That last one is one of my favorites. Especially after moving to Washington. In the winter with all the rain and dark skies I have to remember that within me is light and the power to have a positive attitude and that summer WILL come.
What are your favorite quotes?

Thanksgivings of Yore

2008-11-13T18:06:00.000-08:00

My friend Denese posted photo's of her kids Halloween costumes through the years. I loved looking back at her kids when they were wee ones and now seeing them getting older but still wearing costumes was fun. I decided to post our Thanksgiving photo's instead. I have to be different, what can I say? Plus a lot of Kiah's Halloween photo's are in frilly,scary photo albums that I don't want to take photo's out of to scan. I say frilly because they were gifts and that was a while ago. I'll have to take a pic of one sometime just so you can see how gaggy they are. Most likely you have some of your own. The photo's don't start until Sofi was a baby because other Thanksgiving photo's are also in albums somewhere. Oh well. You can see the change of our family from 1999 to present. There are a few photo's so sit back and have fun. Oh, some of Mark with his big burly beard are going to be a shock to those that have only known him in Washington. They are funny.

I should have more but that's all I've got right now. I'm not sure now if Thanksgivings of Yore is such a great idea. Halloween would've been a lot funner. Ooh or Christmas. That will be next month.

Trendy Wendy and Spacey Stacey

2008-11-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

Today is my flashback Monday. Last night we went into Seattle and picked up a friend from Logan that is here for a Convention and took her around the city. Wendy and I have known each other since Middle school. We went to the same school's since Kindergarten but didn't really know each other until Middle school. What is it lately with me getting together with friends from my past? Anyhow Wendy is here from Denver for her work and I'm so happy we got to see her.
I haven't seen Wendy in probably 15 years but that was just a quick "hello" thing. After High School we stopped hanging out and didn't hang out in the same group anymore. I think I saw Wendy in Logan at a Fair 15 years ago and we said Hello and that was it. Kind of sad. It was until lately with the wonderful "Facebook" that we reconnected. Go Facebook. Believe it or not I was small in middle school and High school. Wendy and I were the same height, dressed the same, both short and tiny. At school they called her Trendy Wendy and I was Spacey Stacey. We were inseparable. We both were pretty trendy. We wore our penny loafers with a dime in them, not a penny (we were trying to be different ;D). Then our knee high argyle socks, our long khaki shorts, then a sweater with a long sleeved button down shirt underneath. We wore this in Logan, in the winter, in freezing temperatures. I just have to say that we never had the big Utah hair. Nothing against those of you that did. We still love you! Wendy and I had short hair (I know for me that's a big surprise). We thought we were pretty cool. That was the look though. Preppy but trendy. We would also wear our IZOD shirts but put a safety pin through the alligator. I don't know why we thought that was cool. My memory that I wanted to share today though and is one that Wendy brought up last night and is about an incident with a car....
We had an old car of my Grandma's that she wanted us to sell and it had been sitting in our driveway for awhile. I didn't have my license yet, Wendy was over, My parents were going out for the night and I was a bit tempted. My parents left, we waited a bit and then decided that we wanted to go downtown to get a soda. In our immature teenage minds thought up a plan that would allow us to take the car but not get caught. We would mark with pencils the exact place that the tires were in so that when we came back we could line them back up into the same spot. How stupid is that? I mean really, only crazy teenagers think of that kind of stuff. We went outside got down on our knees and marked in pencil (so that we could erase after) where the tires were. We took the car downtown and got a soda at the old Smith's grocery store on 4th. I don't even think I enjoyed it because I was so nervous that I would run into someone, see my parents, get caught, crash the car. It was not enjoyable. When we got back home it took us forever to get the car back where the marks were. I hadn't even taken drivers ed yet. We were down on our knees again erasing the pencil marks when my parents pulled up. We told them we had dropped something on the ground and that we were trying to find it. How lame were we? I was not a good liar. A few days later my mom asked me if we took the car out while they were gone. Like I said I was not a good liar and I had to tell the truth. I got into a bit of trouble for that. Wendy and I had some fun times together. Both goofy and crazy. In High School if Wendy wasn't with me people would ask me where she was and vise versa. She was a good friend and I'm happy that facebook is around so that people like us can reconnect and get to know each other again. I have more funny Wendy stories that will have to be for another time.

Prayers in my Heart

2008-11-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

I have some prayers in my heart today and if it's not too corny I thought I would share them. If you in turn want to include them in your prayers, the more the better. Today Miles turns 5. We met his Birth Mother the day after he was born and he was placed with us the following day. The night we met her she cried the whole time. I was at a loss for words but I had prayed that I would know what to do for her. I could only sit by her and rub her back. What else do you do in that situation? She was giving us this wonderful gift of life, there is no other gift that equals it's value. She is in my prayers today, as she is every day.
Yet today when I look at Miles I keep seeing her face. I send out a prayer today for Lillian that she has happiness and peace in her life. That she knows that Miles is doing good. She told me in a letter a few years ago that she didn't like the name Miles and wouldn't have chosen it herself. I thought that was funny. Sofia's Birth Mother is also in my heart and prayers today. Her name is Neeco. She is older than Miles Birth Mother and had more stability and support in her life, I pray she still does today. I find it only fitting that on November 1st I found myself in a Wendy's and Sofi, Kiah and I looked at photo's on the wall of Dave Thomas. This month is National Adoption month. While we ate there we talked about him and how much he cared about adoption having a positive image. I have a prayer in my heart today for friends that are waiting to adopt. They are on such a wonderful and blessed path. I have a prayer in my heart for all the Birth Mother's and Birth Father's that are either in the process of making the decision to place their child for adoption, or are feeling sadness today because they wonder if their Birth child is doing ok. Can you tell I feel a bit emotional? Those are my prayers.

Baby Mama

2008-11-04T23:50:00.000-08:00

Alison and I met at Edith Bowen Elementary School in 5th grade. That would have made us about 10 and the year was 1978. Freaky! Her family had moved from Alaska and we hit it off instantly. We've been good friends ever since. Alison was always tall, has blond hair and lots of freckles. I've always been short, brown hair and freckles. We thought we looked like LaVerne and Shirley and if you don't know who that is then you aren't cool enough to read this post! I could write post after post about funny times spent with Alison. Here are a few.
1. She still teases me to this day about Bill Petzel who spun me around from the loop of my painter pants in middle school.
2. We watched Grease so many times together that we knew it by heart.
3. I called her from Logan when she was visiting her grandma up in Vancouver,WA crying that this guy I liked (my first real boyfriend)dumped me. I cried and cried and she just listened.
4. Alison and our friend Ned shared a locker in Middle school and had mice in the locker named Sid and Nancy(also if you don't know who that is, you aren't cool enough;D). The vice principal,mr. maughn found out and made them get rid of them, which now makes total sense.
5. Jump to when Mark and I got married. She couldn't understand why she couldn't go into the Temple with us(not a member)and threatened to dig a tunnel into the Temple. Kidding of course. She was waiting outside when we came out, in tears.
6. We have talked to each other on each of our birthday's no matter where we are, ever since we've known each other.

I'm writing about Alison because she is expecting her first child this month. She is having a girl. She met her husband while living in India. His name is Suresh and he is the nicest man. They are going to have one beautiful baby girl. This past weekend Kiah, Sofi and I went down to Vancouver where her and Suresh live. They actually live in her grandmother's house that I called so long ago crying about a stupid boy. Kiah and I put on a shower for Alison. Her mom and dad live in Salmon River and she came to the shower as well. Alison and Suresh haven't lived in Vancouver very long so she doesn't know very many people. I think there were about 11 of us there and it was the perfect amount. She got a lot of nice things and it was fun to watch her open up her gifts. It was a long and at times stressful weekend but I was very happy that I spent time with Alison and her mom. It felt like old times. She of course teased me about Bill Petzel and my painter pants. She had to bring that up in front of Kiah, anything to embarrass me. Here's to old friends and new friends. Next time you see one of them (or talk to them), let them know how much they mean to you.

Duped by a 9 year old

2008-11-04T15:45:00.000-08:00

One last post about Halloween and just because I think it's too funny and totally shows Sofi's personality to a "T." Each Halloween Mark has the kids pick a big pile of their favorite candies and the rest he takes to work. Yes he is the grinch of Halloween. That and we both have had bad teeth as kids and don't want the same for the kids. This year was no exception. He let Sofi have her stash a few days longer than most. Last night he told her to pick out 30 of her favorite(this is after she had already eaten tons and tons) candies and give the rest of the bag to him. He called me from work today and told me about the sneaky little trick that she pulled. She had taken out the bag and replaced it with a big towel. He got to work, went to give candy to his friends and pulled out the towel. No candy. We both had to laugh. We could totally see Sofi in all her sneakiness creeping up to the bag knowing she was pulling it off, with a big grin on her face nonetheless. I just confronted her (with a smile on my face). Her cute smile came out, she tried not to, her nose scrunched up,big grin and laughed that real laugh. You've got to love it. Kids are too darn funny and innocent. What a cutie.

"Every party has a pooper and that's why we invited you"

2008-10-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

This Halloween brings back a memory of Mark and I's first Halloween together. We lived in Wymount in Provo and our church was having a Halloween party, the party I don't even remember. It's what came before the party that is the memory. I had been to a few Halloween parties in my day and knew what parties were suppose to be like and that one dresses up for parties. I did what any person in Utah does when trying to find a costume and is a bit stumped. I went to the D.I. I bought clothes for me, some polyester 70's dress and for Mark polyester pants and jacket. There were accessories as well. We were going to look good together.
I had long hair then, past my shoulders. I know that might be a surprise to a lot of people that have only known me with short hair. It's true though.
I will try to find some good long hair photo's for you. I found this lovely photo. Not me of course but my hair was ratted that big. I went home, got dressed, ratted my hair up like no other and set off to pick Mark up at BYU. I pulled up to our normal pick up spot. I picked him up after work and classes. I sat in the car and watched him walk towards the car not really paying attention to me (which he should have)but only seeing the car. Mark opened the door, stuck one leg in looked at me and said "oh, I'm so sorry. wrong car." He then went to step out and shut the door. We had an old Toyota corolla, no power windows in that car (we didn't even have heat much less power windows). I had to reach over and roll down the window to let him know it was me. The look on his face was priceless. I so wish I'd had a camera then. The party ended up being boring. What was I thinking, it was Wymount. I would do it all again though to see Mark's face. He was embarrassed and that hasn't happened much in our marriage. The embarrassing moments are left up to me. Tease Mark next time you see him. Ask him if he's gotten into a car with a strange woman on Halloween night recently!!! Oh, sorry my party pooper reference is because Mark wouldn't dress up with me for the party. He never has and never will. It's not his thing. Big party pooper!!

Blue light specials and first time bra's

2008-10-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

A friend posted a while back about her Grandma and mentioned KMART'S blue light special in the blog. It brought back a fond (not really fond, embarrassing is more like it)memory and I am all about posting things that could embarrass myself.
I can talk about bra's here, right?
I unfortunately started wearing bra's a lot earlier than most of my friends. I had some friends (no lie and you probably know people like this yourself)that didn't start wearing bra's until High School. I wont mention any names. My mom had my dad drive us out to KMART (she didn't get her license until she was 65)to go shopping for my first bra. What do we find while shopping for that first training bra? A blue light special. Just to let you know, I did not want to be there, I didn't want to get my bra at KMART and I didn't want my dad to have to drive us to the store so that I could get a bra. It didn't start out great I should have known. My mom saw the blue light in all it's glory and we had to hurry over to it. Bra's on sale, yeah. All shapes and colors. My mom found the training bra's and proceeded to take them out of the boxes and one by one try them on me over my clothes. That was the icing on the cake. Horrified is not even close to how I felt. In the end I did walk away with a bra. I wore it to school the next day and hated it so badly that I went into the bathroom and took it off. I stuck it in my backpack and didn't wear it again for a while. Not until it was very apparent that I needed to wear one.

Sofia is telling me now that her friends are wearing bra's. She keeps asking Kiah and I if we think she needs to wear one. There's nothing there. She will be like my friends that started everything later. She has plenty of years to wear one, she will hate them like the rest of us. Why start now if you don't have to? I for sure will never try them over her clothes at a blue light special or any special for that matter.

Flashback Mondays

2008-10-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

I am copying a friend of mine, hopefully she wont mind. She shouldn't she got the idea from someone else herself. The idea is to post something each Friday of something you have thought about from your past during the week.I'm going to change mine and post on Monday. Just to be a little crazy and live on the wild side. My friend had posted about her Grandma's and a photo of them where they have their arms around each other. I found that so sweet. It got me thinking of my Grandma Scott. I was 16 when she passed away and I have a lot of great memories of her. I was 3 when my Grandma Parrish passed away and she lived in West Virginia so I never lived by her to even try to form the tiniest of memory with her. My Grandma Donna Scott was fun though. Flaming red hair, great smile, tons of energy and amazing cook. Oh, and did I mention funny. As my friend posted about her Grandmas I too am going to list five tangible things that made me "flashback" and think about my Grandma. This is fun.

1.Horlicks Malties(which are chocolate flavored malt type lozenges, kind of hard to explain). My Grandma had these up in a cupboard in her kitchen. They were always too high for me to reach but if I were good she would get it down and let me get some. I loved them and this was the beginning of my addiction to Malt. I still love malt balls and malt shakes( caramel cashew shakes make the best malts,in my opinion).
It was our little secret though and my brother's didn't get them. I'm sure they got something else but this was my treat with Grandma and that's all the mattered to me.

2. Fresca. My Grandma was not big on Carbonation. She rarely had soda's in her house, it was mostly milk, juice or water. If we went up in the mountains for a picnic or had a family reunion at their house or somewhere else she would buy soda's and her soda was always Fresca. I would always ask my Grandma for a sip of her drink. I probably could've had my own but I loved to ask my Grandma for some of hers. They only had one flavor then, none of these extra ones like blackberry fresca or orange fresca. It was more simple. What I loved about my Grandma though was her having a Fresca was her living on the edge, when she pulled out the Fresca she was relaxing and chillin'. She was too cute.

3. Peanut and Butter Sandwiches. One year my Grandma stayed at our house while my parents when on their anniversary trip(and I will never ever forget this). I remember having a great time with my Grandma. My Grandpa stayed at home because he had to take care of the farm. They had a wheat farm and also some cattle. I must have asked my Grandma to make me a peanut butter and jam sandwich for school because she gave me one to take with my lunch. I can still remember biting into that sandwich and getting not just peanut butter and jam but peanut butter, butter and jam. It stuck so bad to the roof of my mouth. I asked her when I got home why she did that and she said "well you asked for a peanut butter sandwich." I've never forgotten that. I don't think I ever will. It made me laugh so hard. I started noticing that older people did that, put butter on their sandwiches. Now my own parents do that but they didn't do it when I was younger. It's only been in the past 10 years. That was a good one though. She said it so seriously.

4. HUGS! I'm sure all Grandma's give great hugs, how could they not. My Grandma's hugs have been on my mind this past week. Her hugs always came with a big smile and she had a warm and welcoming one. I know a lot of people who still have their Grandparents around. My own kids had their Great-Grandparents around up until last year. That's pretty lucky. I'm trying to pull on memories back from when I was 16, which I know isn't forever ago but I'm not a youngster anymore either. I miss my Grandma. She was sweet. I'm sad that she passed away when I was at that age in my life when you don't want to visit "those old people." I was going through my selfish stage. I didn't visit her as much. I can't do the what if game though. I just hope she knew how much I loved her and how much I loved her hugs. Oh and her hugs came with a smell that every once in a while I will get a whiff of, just out of the blue. I will be somewhere and take a deep breath and there it is, my Grandma and then I sigh and have a memory of Grandma Donna Scott. I put this photo up of my mom and Miles because I can't find one of my Grandma hugging me. Plus it's Miles Birthday next week and I can't believe 5 years have gone by that fast.

5. Deer Hunting weekend (though I'm anti hunting). Now they call this time in Utah UEA weekend. When I was younger I think they actually gave it a name that had to do with deer hunting. I could be wrong. What this weekend meant to me though was fun, fun, fun. I stayed far away from the boys and my dad if they shot a deer. My parents would come pick me up at school, in the car with the trailer behind. The trailer would be loaded with all the fixin's and things you need to keep you happy and warm while camping. It was an old camper. It had a table that folded out into a bed, a tiny kitchen, a closet, a couch that folded out into a bed and then a bunk bed above it. My Grandparents would go with us in their trailer and our neighbors the Wrights (which I've mentioned before)would go as well. The next day (after getting up to our favorite spot up Logan Canyon)the guys would leave really early and it would be just us gals left back at camp. My mom and I would sleep in, eat some breakfast and then go to join the other gals. I would run over to my Grandma's trailer as soon as I could.Her trailer was always warm and toasty. We would play card games, go on walks, find treasures, take naps, eat goodies. The guys would come back (hopefully without shooting a deer)and then it would be more fun with everyone all together. The best though and what my best memories are of are the daytimes with my Grandma and my mom. I will always associate fall and the mountains with my Grandma. She is probably the first one that taught me to appreciate and love the mountains, then my dad(her son). BTW this trailer looks exactly like my Grandparents.

My Grandma passed away in her sleep with a smile on her face. She smiled all the time while alive it seems right she would pass away smiling. I'm never sad when I think about her. Only good memories and happiness. I have to smile myself when thinking about her. I will also put up a pic of my Grandma later today. I've got to find this really cute one of her with her flaming red hair(most likely clariol) and her funky 70's shirt. It's great.

Dear Diary!!

2008-10-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today I found my journal from when I was 8 years old. There were parts that made me laugh and other entries (because I was a sensitive and kind of deep kid for an 8 year old)made me want to cry for that little girl I once was. The laughing is what prevailed. I thought I would include a few entries to give you some insight into my 8 year old mind. Enjoy, laugh, think I'm crazy, go find your old Diaries and if you don't have any, START one now!I'm going to write it in my awesome grammar and spelling from when I was 8, it makes it so much better.

February 18,1976:
"Well so far I've had a happy day. I saw a flock of birds. They were so pretty. All those birds flying back and forth, it was buitefull. I think Lucky (my neighbors dog and little yeller is my dog) likes little yeller cause one is a girl and lucky is a boy. the note my mom gave me is nice. I love my Mom more than any body ells but I love my Dad too and my brothers too and my Heavenly Father very much. The end."

I'm not sure why I always wrote The End at the end of my entries? Funny. In reading my entries I've also noticed that I was an awful speller, seriously.

March 7,1976:
"Today I went to see the Freaky Friday and it sure was Freaky but it would have been better if I had seen it on Friday."

Yes that was my humor,such slapstick humor. Ok, last entry.

November 27,1976:
"Today I read page 9 in my Holy Bible. I guess I don't read too much in my Holy Bible but I do as much as I can. Now I am on chapter 2. I will try to do better."

Those are just a few of the truthful,sweet things I wrote as a kid. I noticed that at the end of almost every entry I stated who I loved, which was pretty much everyone. Sometimes I just wrote at the end that I love everybody or as I wrote it every body. Through the eyes of a child. So at the end of this post I'd like to say I love everybody. I'm grateful for family and friends and I love you all. The End!

DejaVU not VujaDE

2008-10-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

When I was younger and this one friend of mine and I would be doing something together one of us would say "VujaDe, I have the strangest feeling this has never happened before." That was a long standing joke. Now Mark and I break out in that joke for fun. Oh, the humor. I had a major DejaVu yesterday and I did not act the way my friend Vicky Wright did. I will explain. When I was 16 and had my driver's license a friend of the family Vicky (who was also a neighbor and had been a babysitter) said she would teach me how to drive a stick car. I lived in an area in Logan called the Island and one of the ways to get out of the island and downtown or up to the University is by going up the steep dugway, which is a steep, steep hill. You can ask anyone in Logan(that is from Logan) where the steep dugway is and they can tell you. It's been called that for as long as I can remember. Vicky decided in her old Volkswagen station wagon to have me drive up the steep dugway on my first time driving stick. Not smart. This is the same family that when my older brother was maybe around 12 was told by Vicky's mom to pull their car into the garage for her. My brother pulled it in and went right through the back wall of the garage. My mom was furious. Other things we've done to this family.I picked up a BB gun that my brothers and Vicky's brother's were playing with(I was 3)aimed it at Vaughn and shot him in between his eyebrow's. He still has a scar. I also shut their cats leg in the door and broke it. It had this little cast thing on for awhile. They still love us though. Back to my driving lesson with Vicky. I didn't hurt their car thank goodness. I did however get stuck in the middle of the steep dugway and had to put it in park and have Vicky drive it up the rest of the way. There was a long line of cars behind me honking and losing patience with me when I was trying to shift into 2nd. Vicky on the other hand was just laughing and not losing any patience at all. She never once got mad or said we should just go home. Maybe it's going with someone other than family that's the trick.
Jump ahead to yesterday to Kiah in the drivers seat of a used Volkswagen bug and me in the passenger's seat teaching her to drive stick. We live in a development that has hills, we live up on a hill so to get going anywhere you have to go up the hill and then go down the hill. Like me she got stuck in the middle of the hill when she went to shift into 2nd. Unfortunately there were all these neighborhood boys around, all about 9 years old and some we knew. They just stood there and watched and the crowd grew and grew. My nerves got more and more stressed and Kiah got more and more upset. I told her what to do but she started rolling backwards so I told her to put her foot on the break and she was yelling "I am putting my foot on the break" and then I was yelling "if you were putting your foot on the break, we wouldn't be rolling backwards." Again, the crowd of boys is still growing and Sofia and Miles are sitting in the back. Sofia was laughing and Miles was playing with a transformer and in his own little world. I was not like my friend Vicky. I was not calm, cool and collected. I did not act the way I wanted to or had pictured myself acting. It's funny now, but it wasn't so funny then. She put on the break and got out, we switched places and I drove up the hill. Just like Vicky had done for me 24 years ago yet in a much happier way. Kiah went on to tell me that she didn't want to learn how to drive stick from either Mark or I because we just get upset with her.
I do have to say that I'm the one that took her out driving in the expedition though for the first time on the roads and on the highway. She is a good driver, very safe, very cautious. It's just that whole clutch,break,gas thing. Mark came home later from meetings at church and took her out driving. She came back later feeling much better and she actually drove her car to school today. She's been driving my expedition to seminary and then to school and I've had her bug. I'm proud of her, I wasn't so proud of myself. Too bad Vicky doesn't live around here. She could teach all of my kids to drive.

One Meme to another!

2008-10-18T00:27:00.000-07:00

Deb W. tagged me with a Meme, which to be honest I had to look up to see what that even meant. Duh. It's been a long week! A meme can be a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from one person to another. You've got to love the internet and blogs. I love blogs because it gives me a chance to read peoples thoughts that maybe they don't share all the time in a conversation in person. It can be quick thoughts we jot down in a hurry, or even thoughts we take a lot of time pondering about. What I love is that what might be jibberish or something boring to the person writing it, can be uplifting, funny and touching to the one reading it. I love blogs. I can catch up on friends lives, see photo's and feel closer to family that live far away. I am suppose to post the fourth photo in the fourth folder in my pictures file. This is the fourth photo in my folder.
It's not current and it's really out of place but I'm kind of glad it's the one that popped up because I love it. Miles and Sofi are asleep in our bed. Miles is so chunky here, I miss that. He has to be around 2, which makes Sofi about 6. Miles still sleeps like this. On his back, but he usually has his hands tucked behind his head. I love that Sofi is snuggled up to him. In the day they don't always get along. It's nice to see this photo and see how peaceful they look by each other, that's not always the case. When is it always that way with siblings though? I love this photo. It brings back sweet memories. Thanks Deb. I tag Mark, Amanda and Amy.

32 degrees ain't cold!

2008-10-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

Mark took last Friday off work and Miles and I went with him to Mt. Rainier for the day. Friends like Jeanie helped with Sofi, and Kiah took care of Sofi after school, which allowed us to go. We were very appreciative. I was not appreciative that we had to leave around 7am but once we got up to visitor center and found out it was the opening ceremony for the new center I was glad to beat the crowd. I'm not one to wear a lot of layers. I'm normally a few degrees hotter than most people but I have to say that I was very grateful that Mark talked me into wearing layers that day. Miles had on the most layers and he still got cold. We parked at the visitor center and started on our hike up around Paradise. It's called that, I'm not just saying it's paradise(which it is, but without the warmth). We hiked a 2.7 round trip hike and were able to get up close to a glacier. It was beautiful.
Things not fun about it.
1. Miles slipped and fell really hard on a patch of ice(even though Mark told him to go around the ice)
2. It was straight uphill the whole way(no switchbacks), which meant steep downhill coming back (ouch on the knees)
3. A Ranger got mad at Miles when he stepped off the path onto the meadow, which he did to avoid the same patch of ice (that they should've chipped off or put rock salt on before people started hiking on)
4. Wished that Kiah and Sofia could have gone
Things wonderful about it.
1. Spent the day with Mark and Miles
2. Surrounded by beauty the whole day
3. Ate huckleberries while hiking
4. Threw rocks in a river for a long time with Miles and watched him have a huge grin on his face
5. Had a yummy dinner in Enumclaw on the way home

Ride on the Peace Train

2008-10-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

"Ride on the Peace Train" is a song by Cat Stevens. One I've loved for a long time, anything from the old Cat is good. This weekend at the Salmon Days fair I bought Sofi and Kiah a nice sterling silver peace sign (very small and dainty) necklace. The guy that sold it to us reminded me of something that I had forgotten, that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the peace sign. The peace sign surprisingly started in England. On an Easter Sunday a group of people marched from London to a factory in the countryside where Britain built its atomic bombs. Gerald Holtom was the artist and textile designer who created it. An international brand that became as familiar as a stop sign - from grim and gritty, to groovy, like a universal trademark, according to design consultant Richard Williams.
"The clever thing about it is, it's a mark we can all remember," Williams said. "Because we can all draw it. You have to see it once to be able to draw it and there are very few marks that work that way. That's why it can grow so quickly, why so many people can adopt it, because they can just scribble it. So when people were making placards they didn't get it wrong, they knew what it was." Williams also said "I think it's a good symbol because it is actually quite simple." Simple, as simple as the three lines and a circle, etched on the headstone of Gerald Holtom's grave. The Peace sign was not introduced to the US until the 60's. I guess we were a bit late to jump on the peace train.

Now 50 years later I wonder what Gerald Holtom would think of his symbol and how people perceive others who support the peace sign. Because it seems that if you truly support the peace sign you are branded unpatriotic. A person in the US can have a confederate flag in the back of their truck window and people just look away. Whereas a person with a peace sticker instead of a flag sticker on their car is looked at as less patriotic. Does that make sense? I've lost Uncles in wars. One of my Uncles died after the war due to complications because his parachute didn't open up. I have patriotism in my family. I'm patriotic. I'm also for peace. What I love about the peace sign (sorry I went off there for a second, I'm back again to the peace sign now) is that the symbol has been used for so many things. It's been used as a symbol against tyranny in Greece, against apartheid in South Africa and by the US troops opposing the Vietnam War. Yes, US troops, not just the hippies back home. People always associate it with anti-war protesters but it didn't start out as that. Like I said above it started out as a symbol used by a group of people that didn't want just the British Atomic bombs, they didn't want any Atomic bombs. I know it's not a major anniversary but it's been a pretty big symbol for a long time. A symbol that most everyone recognizes and a symbol that one man started in hopes of stopping something that would destroy people not bring them together. I'm hopping on the Peace train. Anyone want to join me?

Donny Osmond,Purple socks and Issaquah High

2008-10-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

First off, Donny Osmond has not made a surprise appearance at Issaquah High School. However today is game day and I'm being supportive and wearing my Issaquah sweatshirt(plus I'm freezing). I at one time was totally in love with Donny Osmond. Despite his Corny family and himself and that he has obviously had some work done on his face, I will forever have a crush on the young Donny. Again, that is the young Donny. I use to have purple socks,I had Donny and Marie barbie type dolls. They had purple outfits that they wore. I wore purple shirts with Donny's face plastered on the front. I watched the Osmond show every week. I sang in front of the mirror "I'm a little bit country, I'm a little bit rock-n-roll." Sad I know. I was a true fan.I have to say this was when I was around 9 or 10. Now I wear the Issaquah purple and I'm a fan of the football team and the drill team.
Mark and I have joined the ranks and are excited about the games(well I am, I can't speak for Mark)and watching kids we know play and perform. Like Kiah of course. I'm that mom now that wears the school sweatshirt. You wont find me in purple socks or anything else purple. If Donny were to show up at Kiah's school I might have to go down there to see him. Not that he would have a reason to go. But he does like purple!! Go Issaquah!

Lovin' those Huckleberries

2008-09-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we drove up 90 and picked Huckleberries. Mark as a kid would pick Huckleberries with his grandparents when his family would go visit them in Idaho. I had never had any until we moved to Washington but have heard him talk about them our whole marriage. I've heard about how they turn eggs green if you have them in pancakes and eat them with sunnyside up eggs and the Huckleberries get in the egg yolk. Or something gross like that. When we moved here and started hiking we realized that they grow all over in the wild. They are purple, juicy and yummy. From what I've heard from others, the Huckleberries you pick in lower elevations are more red. We found a place up 90 last year and picked a bunch and made jam and used a lot of them for shakes and also pancakes. We decided on Sunday to go back to our spot and pick again. When we got up there, there were others cars in our spot and people were picking berries. We were not happy. Our secret spot was taken. We drove up the road a bit more and pulled over. Kiah had taken homework and was too busy to pick with us. Sofi picked but they went straight to her mouth (none in the bowl), and Miles helped Mark and I. Miles was so cute. He sang a song for me about Huckleberries and how he loves them. He also told me that "Huckleberry picking season" is his favorite season. So cute. He lasted for a while with Mark and I. Sofi was in the car with Kiah and Miles worked his way back to the car as well. Mark and I picked quite a bit. My hands and nails were a deep purple by the time we were done. Sofi's tongue and teeth were purple as well. The area we go to has bush after bush full of berries. We had friends over Monday night and had Huckleberry pancakes and the fixin's for dinner. For dessert we had Huckleberry shakes. It was yummy and well worth the drive up the mountains. It's a good tradition even if in the end it's just Mark and I picking and the kids in the car staying warm. It just gives Mark and I more berries to eat.

In Awe

2008-09-28T01:27:00.000-07:00

The other night while sitting and watching the Issaquah High School football game I had a moment where I was in awe of our surroundings. I realize I was only in China for a short time but being in Beijing and experiencing a huge city like that was intense. I lived outside of Taipei(which is the capital of Taiwan)and Taipei is a fairly big city, but Beijing is like no other. It could be overwhelming at times, yet you could walk down a small alley and not hear the sound of the city and forget all about it for a minute. Back to the football game though.
As I sat there watching the sunset and looking at the crowd and the field and breathing in the crisp clean air I thought about what I had just come from not quite a week ago. That I really do take it for granted, the wide open spaces. The clean air, the trees and the fact that we really don't have traffic compared to theirs. I think I felt some culture shock coming back from China and again I know I was there for a short time but it's so intense and so different that it really effected me. In a good way. I went to Germany when I was 17 almost 18. This was before the wall came down in Berlin. I went over with my high school to live for just 2 months, it was an exchange program. For one week of the trip went took a train to Berlin. One of those days we spent in East Berlin. I will never forget the way it looked or the feeling it evoked. It was drab, grey and depressing. We met with a group of LDS teenagers in one of their homes. That part of the day was the best part. We had to meet in a home because they were not allowed to practice their/our faith. They had so many questions about America and about being LDS teens in America. When we left I remember all of us (about 19) gave them our left over money. The money you change from West Berlin money into East Berlin money has to be spent, you can't take it back across the boarder.I remember it only being a small amount that we gave them but they were so appreciative. The reason I write about this is because I think a part of me thought that China was going to look and feel like East Berlin did. Drab, sad, depressing, stifling. I was happy to see that it was clean, people are happy, they are active,and so friendly. I know that life isn't the best there for everyone. The majority of the people are poor. They seem to have something though that makes them smile all the time. Maybe they have an inner hope that those of us that haven't had to struggle like they have,have. Maybe it's years of determination,and trying to make the best of what they have. I loved that people were outside a lot. The older people, like grandparents were out a lot with their grandkids. They seem to take care of the grandkids quite a bit. They had them at parks, at the stores, walking around sites. People seemed to be enjoying what they have and using it as much as they could. I saw sadness and felt it. Yet I left being surprised more by the happiness that I saw and came home being extremely grateful for all that I have. Wide open spaces, clean air, safe neighborhoods,good schools, our church and our friends here. Most importantly my family who brings me happiness and gives me that inner hope.

I've been tagged

2008-09-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

My friend, Heather tagged me:

20 Years Ago:

1. Coming back from living in Taiwan for 4 months.
2. Attending USU in Logan,Utah
3. Studying German and Sociology at USU
4. Thinking about going on a Mission

10 Years Ago:

1. Moved from Utah to California
2. Looking into adoption after trying to get pregnant for a few years
3. Learned to quilt
4. Not aware that soon we would be adopting cutie Sofia

5 Years Ago:

1. Adopted Miles
2. Sent Kiah to Middle School (boo hoo)
3. Looking into moving to Washington
4. Trying to lose weight

3 Years Ago:

1. Getting use to the rain and living in Washington
2. Learned to Knit
3. Sofi started 1st grade and then it was just Miles and I all day
4. Broke my ankle backpacking and still had to hike out

1 Year Ago:

1. Sent Miles to pre-school (sad, but yeah also)
2. Kiah started High School
3. Was still in my 30's
4. learned to crochet

So Far This Year:

1. Turned 40
2. Mark and I have almost been married for 20 years
3. Went to China
4. family has been safe and healthy. such a blessing.

Yesterday:

1. Ate dumplings at a yummy restaurant in Beijing,China
2. Took a taxi to the Beijing airport
3. Flew for 10 hrs from Beijing to Seattle
4. hugged the kids for the first time in 12 days, yeah

Today:

1. Woke up too early due to jet lag
2. Hanging out with Miles
3. Get to run tons of errands due to being gone for almost two weeks
4. get to take Kiah shopping to get her ready for Homecoming

In the Next Year I’ll:

1. work hard at getting in shape
2. read books from the new york times book review list(something my brother has been doing and he's read some really good books from it)
3. Reach out to my brother Kyle that I'm not so close to and try to form a better relationship with him (I only have two and need to try and be close to both)
4. Find somewhere to take a cooking class

I tag Mark,Shellee,Amy

Last blog from China

2008-09-21T01:21:00.000-07:00

Some last minute thoughts on China and my trip here. Since living in Asia before I've known how kind and loving and funny the Chinese people are. I had forgotten how many times one hears "Hello" out of the blue by kids and teenagers and sometimes even adults who love to say it to you. Or other times you will walk past someone and most likely the only English they know they say which is usually "hello how are you?" If I were to reply they wouldn't know what I was talking about. I usually say something back in Mandarin and they smile back. I love when an old man or old woman (like around 80 something)will smile or say "hello." I was saddened to find out that only 50 million people in all of China are in the middle class and the rest are either the poor or rich. 50 Million out of 1.3 Billion. That's staggering. It makes me very grateful for all that I have. I have loved all the historical sites I've seen. The people I've met like our guide Rosemary and some of the people that work at the Amazon office here in Beijing. I believe they would give you the shirt off their backs if you needed it. Beijing is huge and at times overwhelming. Yet you can get lost in a Hutong(the old alley's and area's of the city)and not hear the chaos of the city. That's where you feel peace and actually are able to walk a little slower and see the faces of the people.
I've loved the food we've eaten, well most of it. I've had hairy crab which I didn't think I'd like (only the shell is hairy not the crab meat)but I did. I've had duck hearts,little shrimps that you eat whole eyeballs, shell and all. I've eaten so much mutton I don't care to eat any again. China or maybe just Beijing seems to be big on Mutton. I've had dishes that look beautiful and dishes that don't. I burnt my hand on a hotpot so bad I wouldn't be surprised if it was a 2nd degree burn. I told Mark it will be my souvenir from China. I miss my kids like crazy. I can't wait to get back to them. It's funny because the day before coming to China I was so antsy and couldn't focus on anything because I was so excited,it's been the same today but instead it's because I can't wait to see my kids. I want to hug them all and talk to them. I want to have little hugs from Miles, Eskimo kisses from Sofi and hugs from Kiah followed by a long talk. It's been a great trip. One I will never forget. Traveling is wonderful and something everyone should do if possible but being with family is irreplaceable. Goodbye China, Hello Issaquah.

2008-09-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

The guide that had taken Beth and I around the Forbidden city took some of us out to the Great Wall on Friday. We went to the Mutianyu section which is about 2 hrs east of Beijing. There is a section of the wall that most people go to here in the city named Badaling and during the Olympics the bike races went past it. We wanted something less touristy and farther out. I'm glad we chose Mutianyu. Rosemary was an awesome guide. She got us a Mercedes van(airconditioned, thank goodness), there were four of us, we were gone about 6 hrs and it cost us 53$ total. Though walking the Great Wall was no easy feat, and at times I thought I might die from pain and sweating so much, it's my second most amazing thing I saw here next to the Forbidden City. I'm glad we weren't here during the Olympics because Rosemary said that it was crowded and 90% of the visitors were westerners. We decided to get there when it opened at 8:30 and there were hardly anyone there. It was quiet and peaceful, well as peaceful as it can be when you are in pain. Let me explain the steps as best as I can. None of them are the same. Some are only 7 inches wide and 2 inches high, then you would go not very far to where they were about 2 1/2 feet tall and about 7 inches wide. This being straight up the whole time. Not flat until you got to the towers where you got a little break. I went about 1/2 a mile which doesn't sound like much at all but when you consider that in that in 1/2 mile I went about 500 feet straight up, steep the whole way, and then had to go back down, it was intense. Mark, Ankit and Kyle decided they wanted to go on farther and then go to this one section called the wild wall where technically you aren't suppose to walk on. I think they missed the sign that said danger, prohibited. Rosemary (who normally doesn't walk where I walked to, she usually just waits back at the open air tram that we took up)and I waited for them. She told them that we would wait and see them in an hour, they were back in 15 minutes. She didn't know that Mark and Kyle are avid hikers and that Ankit where go wherever they go. On the way back from the wall Rosemary took us to a Mongolian hotpot restaurant. It was so yummy. I burnt my hand on the hotpot which wasn't so great and later Rosemary bought me some medicine to put on it that smells like Soy Sauce but it helped. We ate tons of food, had our own private room and it came to 28$, for 5 people. The Wall 53$, the food 28$, the Soy Sauce cream for my hand 1.80$. Hanging out with Mark and some friends at the Great Wall, Priceless.

Loved the Forbidden City so much I had to see it twice!

2008-09-18T23:26:00.000-07:00

After the situation with Walmart Beth and I headed over to the Forbidden City. At USU I took Asian History classes, I've read many Chinese books fiction and non-fiction about the Ming and Qing dynasty. I've been fascinated by that time period for a long time and the thought of being able to see the Forbidden city brought butterflies to my stomach. Pure excitement. Mark had told me that if someone approached us outside saying that they could be a tour guide for us and if it seemed reasonable, to take it. A woman approached Beth and I outside the East wall and her fee was a good price and her English was very good. Her name was Rosemary and she knew her stuff. I don't know if you've seen the movie "the last Emperor" or not but there is a scene towards the beginning. PuYi, the last Emperor goes running out of one of the big halls out to where all the Eunochs and guards are and they are all bowing to him and it's in this huge open area.
That place was amazing. The whole area is more than 7.4 acres. Even though I loved seeing those grand area's, the carvings,the Lion's and the big buildings. It was when we got to the outer courts and saw where the concubine's and the Emperor's living quarters, that I really enjoyed the tour. There were less people, it was cooler(that day was very hot)and it more interesting. We saw more of what their every day life would've been like. The tour ended in the Imperial Garden. It was the only place that you felt that the last Emperor (who was chosen to be the Emperor when he was only 2) had a place he might have been able to run around in a be a kid. It was beautiful. It was one of the most peaceful places I have been to here in Beijing. It was a nice end to the tour. Rosemary was a great guide. I felt like one of my dreams had come true. To see the Forbidden City was up on my top 10 list of things I want to see in my lifetime. One down 9 more to go. I went again with Mark a few days later. We didn't get a guide and we took our time. We started out at the Imperial garden, which was a nice way to start it. It was fun to see it with Mark. We took our time, we'd stop, take photo's(of course), have a drink, sit in the shade(again a hot day, but beautiful blue sky),eat a bit. Just nice and relaxing.

Embarrassing moment in Beijing!

2008-09-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

I might embarrass myself for posting this experience but here it goes. On Monday I needed to head over to Walmart (yes there is a walmart in Beijing)to buy products of the female variety. When my friend Beth and I got there we went into the store but found out real soon that it was more like Macy's, high priced and fancy. Yes once again this is just Walmart, no Mary Kate and Ashley clothing being sold here. We went back outside a bit confused and wondering where to buy the feminine products. All around the city they have information booths set up for the Olympics and have kept them up for the Paralympics. Most of the people speak some English. We made our way up to the Information booth wanting to only ask where a pharmacy might be. There were about 5 women and one teenage boy in the booth. Lucky for me the only person that could speak English in the booth was the teenage boy! We asked where a pharmacy was and he wanted to know what we needed. We said medicine and he wanted to know what kind. He would not let it go! Beth asked if any of the women could speak English and the guy kept telling us he could help us and kept saying "I can help you, trust me." Beth in all her glory said " we need feminine products" then the teenage boy replied " oh you mean padsssssss(litterally drew out the ssssss forever)." It was embarrassing and hilarious. We were then informed that if we went behind the fancy Walmart there was a Walmart grocery store and I could buy the "padsssssss". Then the teenager turned to the women spoke some Mandarin and they all laughed. It was a great moment in my trip to Beijing. We went to the right Walmart where you could buy anything from live turtles (for turtle soup) to feminine products (thank goodness). We had to walk past the information booth on our way out to get to the subway and the whole group smiled and waved at us. I swear the teenage boy had an extra big smile on his face. I'm sure he had a good story to tell his friends. It was comical if anything. One to go down in the books or in a blog.

Burnt Offerings

2008-09-14T02:56:00.000-07:00

Today we had a bit of a late start but in the long run it all worked out fine. It allowed Ankit and Jason (guys that Mark works with) the chance to get out of the office and go sight seeing with us. First we took a taxi to eat at Old Beijing Noodle. The food was yummy, even the alien looking fish with small shrimp coming out of it's mouth. I think our waiter was a bit bugged by us, oh well. We ate, we paid, we left. We walked to the Temple of Heaven which was very near. It was massive. It covered a space of 640 acres, or 1 square mile. We didn't see the whole area even though we were there for 4 hrs.
The Temple of Heaven was used by the Emperor as an animal offering Temple for hopes of good harvests. I'm not describing it very well. If you want to read about it I'm sure you can get a much better description online somewhere. There were a few things that really stood out to me and took my breath away. The first was how many trees there are on the grounds of this Temple. I'm surprised that through time,pollution and just plain old disregard for nature that there are so many. I'm not very good at guessing but if I had to I'd say there are well..... A LOT! More than I have seen outside of just nature, row after row, after row. When you are in a city of pollution, major high rises and more and more buildings than you can imagine, to see that many trees cared for is very impressive. The second thing that took my breath away was the Hall of prayer for good Harvests. The Hall sits on a three-layered white marble round altar. The marble is rough and worn from the weather and it's beautiful. There were other things that were beautiful but those two things jumped out to me the most. If you look up the Temple online most likely the Hall of Prayer for good Harvests will be the photo they show. It's supposedly the most famous temple in the world? Mark got some great photo's if you want to check them out on flickr. It was a great (hotter than I would've liked it to be)day!

"First ever Vegetarian Restraunt in Beijing"

2008-09-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today my friend Beth and I went to see a Lama Temple in Beijing, a Buddhist temple. I being naive didn't know what the Lama meant but it's Lama as in the Dali Lama. The Temple was smack dab in the hustle and bustle (well everything in the city is in the hustle and bustle)of the city, yet when you stepped within the courtyards you couldn't hear the sounds outside at all. It was beautiful. After being out in the heat and craziness of Tienanmen square the day before, it was a treat to walk around the Buddhist Temple which was shaded and very peaceful. It took us about 3 hrs to walk through the whole Temple. That specific Lama had a lot of rooms. One room is where he studied mathematics, another numerology, or one he studied esoteric s (which was a bit funny when outside one building they accidentally spelled it exoterics). He was quite the learned man. The last building had an 80 ft. statue of Buddha carved out of a single white sandalwood tree. We weren't allowed to take photo's, which with my little camera I wouldn't have been able to capture the grandness of it anyhow. It was very impressive. The feet were huge. It was 3 stories high. After we went through the whole Temple we were a bit hungry. Across street was an alley that boasted the "first ever vegetarian restaurant in Beijing" we thought we would give it a try. It ended up being really good and our food was around 4$ a person. Cheap. The thing that was funny though is that on the menu, on the first page of this vegetarian restaurant, were lamb kabob's. The second page had a dish with beans and sausage. There were vegetarian dishes but half the menu consisted of meat dishes. The food was amazing and cheap and it was another great day in Beijing.

19 Years later, wow!

2008-09-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Asia(China) with Mark and I feel like a kid again. Well not a kid but I feel giddy and excited to be here with him. We lived in Taiwan the summer after we got married. We lived in a town near the International airport, Neili. It was a fun summer, we had other friends from the US living there as well and we all hung out together. All of us owned scooters and at times we would be driving down the back roads at night looking like a scooter gang.We taught English privately and in schools. Last night after arriving in Beijing we went out to eat dumplings and it brought back so many memories. I also ordered a coke, which they opened up the can and poured it into my tall skinny glass for me. All these things, along with smells, the heat, the HUMIDITY have brought back memories. Great memories. I miss the kids, true. Yet here I am with Mark. My love, my best friend the person I experienced Asia with 19 years ago. I feel excited, safe, giddy, youthful (except I'm sure my feet wont feel youthful after all the walking),and happy(despite the 11.5 plane ride). I will have to post a photo when I get home of Mark and I when we lived in Taiwan the summer of 1990. We had a great time. I had a high school student there that still keeps in touch with me, Jericho. We met great people. Saw amazing things. Rode trains, buses, scooters,taxi's and all at times(not always) holding on for dear life. Asia is an experience like no other and one that everyone should experience some time in their life. The Asians are hospitable,funny,proud,caring and curious. Which can make for a very interesting adventure. I will keep posting. I will sign off with a big smile on my face!

To tot or not to tot?

2008-08-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

While staying at Bear Lake we had to go to LaBeau's for food and shakes. One of our favorite things to get are their tater tots and fry sauce. We haven't been able to find fry sauce outside of Utah. It's kind of funny to be honest, it's a Utah thing. When the Winter Olympics were in Utah there was even a collectors pin that had green jello and fry sauce on it. Funny. We have found that if you ask for onion ring sauce at red robin it's pretty much the same as fry sauce in Utah. Try it, it's good. The older we get and the less fries we consume, the less we crave fry sauce. Yet.....when we go to Utah we give in and dunk to our hearts content! Oh, one more place with yummy fry sauce and probably my all time favorite and for two reasons. The training table. I love it because 1)you order your food from a phone at your table and 2)guacamole bacon burgers! Yum. They do have yummy fries and yummy fry sauce. I might sound like I eat fries a lot. Really I don't, nor do I eat tater tots. Except in Utah when the coveted fry sauce is around and it's free. Yum, takes me back.

“To understand your parents' love you must raise children yourself.”

2008-08-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

This trip was a hard one for me, in regards to my parents. This might not be the most uplifting blog. My parents are both 76 and not the healthiest 76 year olds around. I've met some 80 year olds that could run circles around my parents and not be out of breath. It makes me sad. This trip left me wanting my parents from just even 9 years ago back. 9 years is not that long ago but that's how long ago it was when we adopted Sofia and my Mom stayed at our house in Providence,Utah with Kiah while we were gone to Florida. My Mom took care of Kiah for about 10 days, she fed her, got her off to school, helped with her homework, played with her,fed her more,got her to bed and then did the same thing over again the next day. There is no way my parents could do that today. While we were at their house my Mom kept apologizing and saying she was sorry that it was so boring and that this is probably how it will be now when we go visit them. She apologized for the kids being bored. It broke my heart. I told her we didn't go to Logan for any other reason but to see them and to be with them and that is what we were doing. We didn't need anything else. Mark did a lot with the kids and I appreciate that. I sat with my Mom, I massaged her arthritic hands, I watched the cooking show with her (even though she just listens because she can't really see the tv anymore even if she sits right up in front of it)and I sat and crocheted while she listened to her book on tape that she orders for free from an organization for the blind that has every book on tape you could ever think of. My Mom was a big reader. I don't remember a time she didn't have a book she was reading. She told me once that she just went from one book to the next, no lulls in between. My Dad likes to putt and that's what he did. He might shuffle around and tell the same stories over and over again but he's still independent enough. My Mom on the other hand I feel is slipping from me. She forgets things I have told her, she can't hear the greatest, she can't see hardly at all. A daughter and her Mom have a bond that is strong and even though it's still there and even though I loved just sitting with her,I'm sad for that bond that I'm losing. I didn't want this to be totally depressing. I wanted to share a photo of them at Bear Lake sitting under the cheap umbrella we bought so that they could sit down by the kids while they played in the sand and not die of heat. I don't think my Mom could see that well and my Dad dozed off, but I know they had a good time. The kids would tell them what they were building or doing. My Mom would ask what the kids were doing out in the water. We had a fun time with them at Bear Lake. This is our 3rd time in a row that we have gone to Bear Lake with them when we are visiting them for the summer. I hope we don't wear them out too much but it's a great memory for the kids and it's a fun time for me to spend with my parents. I hope my Mom knows I wasn't bored. Being at their house wasn't about being entertained. It was just about being.

Turquoise Water and Raspberry Shakes

2008-08-19T17:20:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite places to go to as a teenager in the summer was Bear Lake. One summer a group of friends and I would go up every Thursday in the morning and stay all day. We would take lunch and a cassette player (because yes I am old) and we would stay all day until it got dark and then head back to Logan. Another summer I lived there while working at La Beau's drive'In. A friend of my parents owns La Beau's and I think my parents wanted to get me away from some friends of mine so they sent me there to work. :) I would work for 5 days then on the night of the 5th day Renee La Beau would take myself and another girl back to Logan that also had the day off. We would spend that night at our parents, then the next and on the morning of the second day she would pick us up at 7am and drive us back to Bear Lake and so on. It was a great summer. I made a lot of money for a teenager, had fun at Bear Lake and got really tan (which let's face it, was important in the 80's). Now when we come back to Logan to visit family we always go over to Bear Lake and stay overnight. The water is so low and there are more cabin's than there use to be, but other than that it's still the same. I love the first view when you come around the bend after Sunrise campground. I see that blue with Turquoise in the middle and I can't wait to go swimming in it. Then we drive down to Garden City and I see La Beau's and I know eventually we will go get a raspberry shake and I'll get a turkey avocado sandwich. My kids love playing in the lake, it's not too cold for them since they are use to cold lakes living in Washington. I like that it's shallow for a long time and I don't have to worry about the kids safety. They don't go out very far. We just went there this weekend with my parents and the kids. My mom asked me if I thought the kids would still go to bear lake on their own after they are gone (my parents)? If I thought they would bring their kids there? I think they will. It's not a commercialized place, yet it's fun and breathtaking. It's peaceful for parents and fun for kids. It holds memories for Mark and I and we are creating memories with our kids now at Bear Lake. I hope they want to do these things when they are older and have kids of their own. I hope they have good memories that they want to continue carrying on and sharing. Did I happen to mention I love Bear Lake?

who says you can't go back home?

2008-08-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

When will I stop referring to where I was born and grew up, as "home" or as "I'm going back home"? No matter where we have moved to or how long we have lived there it never fails that when we are going to go to Utah for a week or two in the summer I tell people we are going back "home." Which brings me to that statement that people say "you can't ever really go back home." True that what your home was as a kid will never be the same, but it's still always going to be your "home, your comfort (if it was a comfort as a kid), your familiarity,your place." Things can change, new stores, new developments, new people, new everything, but there are still those same things that make it yours. The swimming hole that my friends and I use to go to every summer is still there, the candy store that we rode our bikes to is still there (most likely there isn't penny candy anymore but still it's a small family owned store),there are still the same people in my neighborhood that know me,there is still the old theater that shows older movies twice a week for a few dollars, there is the canal that we use to float every summer and people still do today. There are still enough things left that make it my "home" that when we drive into Cache Valley I take a deep breath and sigh. I smell the fields, the alfalfa,and yes the manure (though it doesn't smell great it brings back memories),I see the Logan Temple on the hill and USU on another hill, I am home. I know all the places I want to go, to see, the people I want to see, the things I want to eat. These little comforts that I take back to my other home with me. My permanent home. That's another thing. When I leave my childhood home and I'm talking to people I say "we are leaving to go back home." I have my past and my future I guess. Both needing each other. I don't like the thought of what it will be like when my parents are gone and there's no reason to come back here each summer. Will we still come to remind us, to bring the kids. Will they get bored of hearing our stories, are they bored already? Most likely. It's funny though because at night when the kids can't sleep they ask us to tell them stories about our growing up and the fun things we did. I have great memories of my childhood home and I say you can go home.

She must have been a beautiful baby.........

2008-08-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Mark made a comment about Sofi's smile. That she has the best smile. She does. She always has and she always will. When she smiles her eyes sparkle and you can't help but smile yourself. When we adopted Sofi she was two days old. We picked her up from the hospital. I still remember going into the nursery area and Sofi was in her little bassinet thing. The nurse said to me "there's your little girl" it was so strange, in slow motion, yet so beautiful. The nurse made me sit in a wheelchair all the way out to the car, it's hospital policy. Mark and I laughed the whole way out. Then the nurse had to help Mark and I get her in her car seat and get her all strapped in. I think she was a bit concerned. It had been about 7 years since we had done the whole baby thing. We were rusty. I write about it now 9 years later and it seems like just yesterday. This month is her birthday. She's as cute and sweet now as she was when I first held her.
She is a funny,spunky,feisty,sweet,artistic,physically strong,sensitive,and loving girl. I can't imagine my life without her. My heart skips when she breaks out in one of her big smiles and laughs at something she finds extremely funny,because when she does it brightens my day.

Surprise for Mark!

2008-08-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

This will make Mark so happy. I have decided to join the land of bloggers. Mainly for family and friends because lets face it, who else wants to read this kind of stuff? I have long since given up on scrapbooking. Took much wasted time and money in my opinion. Now I make books through shutterfly and spend less time and less money and there is no more of the fru fru stuff on the pages. I feel less stressed and that makes me happy. I do tend to look longingly at the scrapbook store when we drive by, memories of cute stuff and all that paper. Oh how I love that paper. Then I think of how fast I can whip out a book going through shutterfly(my next venture is blurb.com because they are cheaper and I think better quality). This will also be a fix for me, a replacement so to speak for scrapbooking. Does it sound like I miss it? At times yes. I know Mark doesn't miss me going. We have a cute store here in Issaquah though. I go in with Kiah when she needs stuff for school and I touch all the paper. I'm telling you, I have a thing about paper. All the textures and patterns. It's the same with me going into a fabric store. I can't get enough of all the different fabric and patterns. I get a bit fixated. Ok enough. This is me saying I have a blog. There will be more to follow. Hopefully not too boring.