February is over?

I just looked at the calendar and realized that it is almost mid-March?  What happened to February?  February is usually a great month as it is: short, the birthday month for Malik and Tevia, and usually means warm weather is returning to Phoenix.  Since I didn't even notice it end, it obviously was short.  We had fun birthdays for Malik and Tevia.  I think they were both happy with their presents and it was great to have family and friends over to celebrate Malik turning 10.  Tevia's birthday was more subdued this year (compared to 2011) and in the end we had a fun dinner at her favorite Greek place.

In terms of other facets of life, February was similar to January for work.  I have done a better job of dealing with the stress, but I still have felt stressed.  I guess when I wanted to go out and find a more challenging job I forgot what challenging meant!  Though this has been tough for me (feeling stressed and being so busy), it has also been a learning experience.  I have been stretched and have learned many things.  One thing is that most people are just not very happy.  Another is that people who yell and scream are no fun to work with.  It amazes me that people think they have the right to yell and scream at others; and it makes me wonder if they really think that is effective.  Maybe it is for many people.  For me it actually makes me want to help them LESS.  So take that meanies. 

Through all of this I have loved being able to work from home and spend more time with Tevia and Enok.  Enok will often sneak into my office just to be around me.  If I'm not busy I will let him.  He will bring in some cars and play under my desk, or play with my desk light, or ask me questions.  I love him so much at this age.  He is the perfect mix of cute but not a baby.  My boys continue to amaze me as we were able to attend a couple of music concerts for both Jarek and Malik.  They are so talented. 

At the end of the month it was great to have my mother come visit.  It is always nice to see her.  I know she struggles trying to find time to spend with everyone, but hopefully she knows we love her coming out here.

Here's hoping March goes out like lamb. 

Bald Wives?

I just had a quick question. I was remembering the other day the promise that some of the girls in the family had made last year about shaving their heads. I was just curious as to what the plan was and when they were planning on following through. :) Should be interesting to see what really happens.

Velma-s line

A report:
So this newfamilysearch has helped bring families together and get names to the temple!  I can report success.
My grandfather's second wife was Velma Brown. We never called her grandma, even though she was his wife since we were born.
She gave me a long history of the Brown family before she died, so I have her "Brown family" records for 7 generations.   One of the reasons for this is because they lived in US.
That was the longest line I had until now.
Her mother's father's line is Hanning.  Last year I saw someone else had done a sealing for the great grandfather. Now I see a whole line has been added!  I called my sis yesterday to see if I should do some of the temple work for some of them, (it says READY) in new family search), or let them do them.  She showed me how to see who turned the names in, and low and behold, one of the persons working on the line was  a guy in Kathy's stake who actually taught her genealogy and is on the high council!  So I emailed him. He is a far distant relative, but it is nice to see connections!  The other girl has not answered yet.
So I now have another line going back to 1780's, and someone is doing the work.
One time Velma told me that all her ancestors were very religious, and that she thought she had Mormons somewhere in her history.
She did or does now!
If and when any of you want to actually do some searching, we should divide up the lines and each pick a family line to work on, so as not to duplicate.   First come first serve!  

THE GIANTS WIN!!!!

Well they did it and my very own and last prediction documented on this very blog came true...And the giants will win the super bowl!!!! Will probably post more in detail about this event on COX& CO =) but just wanted to say for the record right here.... GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!! the super bowl was awesome this year!!!!!!

Reading List

I have decided recently that I would like to make an extensive list of important books that I would like to eventually read through out my life. I haven't thought too hard about it yet, and mean to make a good list eventually, but I was thinking I could maybe get some input from everyone. Currently here are some of the books I have thought about :

-Les Miserables

-The Narnia Series

-The Screwtape Letters

-Dune

-The Infinite Atonement

-The Miracle of Forgiveness

-Flatland

-The World is Flat

-Freakonomics

-The Star Wars Books

-The Holy Temple

-Dracula

-A Tale of Two Cities

-The History of the Church

-1776

-The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin

-The Complete Sherlock Holmes

-Don Quixote

-1984

-Robison Crusoe

-Uncle Tom's Cabin

This isn't an extensive list. I've just been meaning to write this blog for a while now and I wanted to get this blog written so you could maybe start thinking about this with me. Maybe we could try and read some together for Cari's family book club idea. Thanks for all your help.

Resolution And Date Day/Night

So I finally made my resolution for 2012: to spend more time with my husband and children.

First, you may be thinking "Dude, it's February." Yeah, yeah. You try making, let alone keeping, a resolution when you're working 12+ hour days trying to get a tax website launched. Go ahead - try it. Lemme know how that works out for you.

Second, if you know the particulars of our daily life in this Wall household, you may be thinking "Is it even physically possible to spend MORE time with your family than you do now?" I've got to admit, I've got a pretty sweet deal. Being able to work from home AND set my own hours is beyond a dream situation. And there are some weeks when we'll go DAYS in each other's company without a break. Unless you count sleeping. Which I don't considering the amount of talking people in this house do in their sleep. :)

But time spent occupying the same space isn't the same as time together, if you catch my meaning. So I've been thinking about it this week and solidified my resolution during my morning walk (yeah, I said it that way to make you think it's a common thing. Don't be fooled.) I want to spend more real time with each member of my family.

So far, for the whole day and a half (I was testing it out last night) I've been trying, it's been going awesome. I spent an hour last night playing with just Speed in his room (Hazel was on her computer or something). Honestly, my back hurt from sitting on the floor that long and my fat preggo belly hurt from him crawling on me, but it was a lot of fun to see him run around and bring me toys and make animal noises and jump on the bed. And I might be flattering myself, but I think he had fun too.

Then today when Jacob's planned trip to the office was postponed, I decided it was his turn. So we dropped the kids off with the in-laws (thanks again, Tevs) and headed out for a lunch date. We just got some gyros and frozen yogurt and talked for about an hour and a half but it was good to have time together, out of the house, just the two of us. We've been slacking a bit on our date nights lately with work being so busy and all, so I think I'll recommit to that as part of my resolution.

Hazel's still a bit harder. For starters, she just doesn't sit still long enough!! That girl is on hyper-speed lately. She'll sit for one book, maybe two and then she's off. Same with songs. Same with toys. Same with about anything except TV shows and computer games. Wonder where she gets that from. ::whistles innocently:: She has been asking me to sit and watch shows with her, so maybe I'll try doing that more often. I wouldn't think that would be a big memory-builder, but she does always remember the last time we sat down and watched the Phineas and Ferb movie together, so maybe it is for her. And everything IS better with Perry.

In the spirit of doing things that are more interactive, we decided to do a family date night tonight. We headed off to the big mall in Glendale (Arrowhead something-or-other) to walk around. It was a LOT of fun.

First thing when we walked through the door, Speed goes "WOW!!". Apparently he hasn't seen that many people in such a small space in a long time. We walked around for a bit and then took a stop in the board game store. The kids thought that was SUPER cool because they had rubber duckies that light up when you threw them on the floor. At least I'm hoping you were supposed to throw them on the floor. Oh well.

Then we headed downstairs to the Lego Store. With those prices, there was no way we were getting anything tonight, but that's ok - it's still fun to look. Hazel wanted to look in EVERY single model window to see what was inside. They had computers at kid level, so you can guess what Speed went for. They do have some fun stuff out. They even had a completed Super Star Destroyer on display. ::drool::

Next we hit up the Disney store. Now, despite having spent a week at DisneyWorld right after Speed was born, our kids are not super Disney fans. Probably because there isn't much Disney stuff on Netflix. Go figure. But from various sources (ok, cable TV when we're on vacation and merchandising), they do know Mickey and several of the other characters. And we do have a small, but growing selection of the good Disney movies. So I wasn't too surprised when they were excited to look at everything but not going crazy. Then they saw the plushes. Then they saw the Perry the Platypus plushes. I told you everything is better with Perry. Then Jake and I saw the "buy one get one free" sign on the plushes. Score!

To be fair to the Disney store, the plushes were quite reasonably priced even without the sale and Jacob had already said he would like to get them each something small at that store. But with the BOGO sale, they each got something medium. :) To further the BOGO love, after a quick stop at the play area (which was CRAZY packed), we treated ourselves to some BOGO Orange Julius before heading home.

Poor Speed didn't make it home conscious as he never settled down enough to take a nap today. But he's very happily snuggled in his bed with his new Nemo, so I don't think he minds. And Hazel is SO excited to "bring Perry to his NEW home" and has spent the night making him "talk" (he makes the Perry noise when you squeeze his paw). The last thing I heard her say tonight was "Good-night, Perry. Now be quiet." I'm thinking it was more than worth it.

Fun day and a fun night. We're off to go watch...something - Jacob hasn't picked yet - to finish out our date night. Gotta say, I love my family. I hope they always know and feel that.

January - The Monday of Months

I don't know about everybody else, but January was a tough month for me.  I'd say mostly just because of work.  Almost every day it seemed like there was a new emergency, or a new urgent thing that needed to be done, or just plain dealing with angry people.  I'm used to days like this every once in a while, but almost every day for a month?  That is difficult to endure.  I am hoping February gets much easier - or at least 'normal'.  It just seems like for a month straight I was exhausted and stressed.

The odd part is, besides work, January was a great month.  I love to start out with new goals and work to achieve things.  I've seen progress in my boys, our family, and my own personal life.  I've lost nearly 10 pounds in January (can't believe I had that much to lose in the first place!).  I started playing volleyball with Tevia, which has been fun.  I've started running a mile a week and seen progress.  Meals have been spectacular.  Weekends have been fun.  The weather ideal.  So it is funny that I can base so much on a month ONLY by what happened at work.  But even though we all know work isn't that important, it certainly can have a big impact on our lives.  If ever there were a month that going to a bar after work and getting hammered sounded like a good idea, this was it!  I used to think it was dumb to go drown your sorrows because as soon as you sober up, you have to deal with them again.  But I think for the first time in my life I can see some logic in it.  There is value in forgetting - or leaving behind - the stresses of the day and enjoy the evening.  Yes, tomorrow you have to face them again, but at least you didn't spend all evening and night worrying about them.  Don't think that I am planning to take action on this.  I'm still not really tempted to drown my sorrows in alcohol (sorrows is the wrong word - stress would be better).  But I can see how so many people do it on a daily basis.  My guess is most people just really hate their jobs.  That is too bad.

The good news is today was already a much better day.  So hooray for February.  As mentioned, January had some great moments.  Here are a few:

- Seeing Jarek get inspired to work on family history and do some indexing.  He continues to be a shining example to me.  What a great spirit he is.
- Eating lunches with Enok.  I love eating with Enok during lunch and seeing his bright disposition and eternal smile.  It has been a much-needed break for my working days.
- Saying prayers with Malik.  I love to hear Malik say his prayers (he likes to have either Tevia or I there to listen each night).  He has a very grateful spirit and truly converses with his Father in Heaven.
- Spending nights watching Malcolm in the Middle with Tevia.  I haven't enjoyed sitting watching a show with Tevia so much since watching BSG in Hong Kong each night.  I look forward to it each night.

Life is great.  I am so blessed.  I love having my brother and sister in Phoenix.  I look forward to having my parents move out here - someday.  And Tommy and Holly.  Families are forever.

personal and/or family vision statement, mantras, etc

I have not really used this type of motivation before.  Lately, I have seen several articles on making family and personal vision statements.
Last year, I did finally  make one for me, " Let me be a channel of thy peace", from a song I heard.
In today's RS & Priesthood lesson, (Lesson 1 - George A Smith), they list his 11 creed statements he tried to live by.  They were awesome! I hope you all got to read them.  If not, check them out.  How about, "I would not be an enemy to any soul."  or :I would not knowingly wound the feelings of any,  not eve one, who may have wronged me.."  "I would live with the masses and help to solve their problems..."
I know the Ketchesons have a family motto.  I think having a family mission statement could be a good idea.
As for a personal one,  I think I will make one for each year, and write it at the beginning of my journal, and focus on that all year.

Goodbye 2011

Looking back at 2011, I think it was a great year.  There were stressful parts and challenges, but overall it was a great year.  Here are a few of my favorite moments and things of 2011.

Favorite vacation: Tevia and I celebrated our 15th year of marriage in 2011.  We had planned several trips, including even booking a trip to Belize.  But in the end we went to Mexico at the resort we love.  It started off stressful as the airline would not accept my passport due to it being wrinkled.  This required missing a day of our trip and going to Tucson to get a new passport.  But even while missing one day, the trip was great.  Though I think she sometimes doubts it, I am still in love with my wife of 15 years.  I have never questioned my decision to marry her.  15 years seems like a long time and I look forward to our next 15 years.

Biggest decision:  After 11 years with Prudential, I decided it was time for a change.  The direction of the company and my boredom with my job led to making the huge decision to leave.  I started my new job at the end of July which involves working from home (which has been great!).  Four months later the division of Prudential I worked for was sold, so the decision to leave seems to have been good from multiple perspectives.  So far, so good with my new job.  But making a change like that is stressful and requires adjusting.

Favorite new toy: With my new job I was able to get a new smartphone of my choice.  I chose the HTC Incredible 2 and have loved it from day one.  I also bought a new car, the Kia Optima, which I still love.  So let's call it a tie, though one was significantly more expensive.  And now I can't go around quoting "I drive a Dodge Stratus!".

Best business trip:  No international trips in 2011 for me, but my trip to Las Vegas where my brother Jacob accompanied me and we met up with Tommy and his then new girlfriend Holly was great.  From a great opportunity to teach at the conference to a great burger with Jake, a fantastic dinner at a Bobby Flay restaurant, and ending in a fun show with the Blue Man Group, it was a quick trip full of great memories.

Favorite songs of 2011:  I still love music and each year I typically provide my top 10 songs.  Here are mine for  2011:

- New Low by Middle Class Rut
- Love You Like a Love Song by Selena Gomez
- Till the World Ends by Britney Spears
- Come Around Sundown by Kings of Leon
- My Body by Young the Giant
- Bulletproof Heart by My Chemical Romance
- Help Is On the Way by Rise Against
- Blow by Ke$ha
- Riptide by Sick Puppies
- Sail by AWOL Nation
- Honorable mention for Friday by Rebecca Black as I still sting that song almost every Friday.

It was also a great year in that our kids' hearts didn't get worse.  I have been very blessed in 2011.  I'm grateful for my family and friends and look forward to an even better 2012.

2011 favs

Movie:  The Help, The Tree of Life
Book:  Nemesis, The Survivors Club, Pathfinder

2012 Predictions

Mom:
Dad and I will move
Tom & Holly will have a baby
Cari will have a boy, name- Hunter
Jimmy will finally get rid of Dash
I will lose my dad and aunt Doris
Bret & Tevia will let Jarek come here for a week this summer
Enok will start to excel at sports
Speed will get even faster
Jarek will have a girlfriend
Jimmy will learn to water ski
Mom will get to visit another temple somewhere she has not been
Someone in the family will start to help me with genealogy

Random Thoughts

- Yesterday was an awesome day. We went out for breakfast and sat talking about life and the future and just things while the kids played in the "chicken playground" (we were at Chick-fil-A). Then after a few hours of work, we spent the whole night playing our various video games. Hearing Hazel cheering for me while I fight a dungeon boss in the new Zelda and then hearing her say things like "Oh no, Mommy, your guy died!" and "Mommy, you shouldn't be on fire." - I just love that she's involved in one of my hobbies like that. Then there's the fact that she's SO excited for "her turn" (which involves running around the village - the safe zone - hacking at bushes and throwing pottery). I just love that she loves things I love. And then there's Speed, who isn't quite dexterous to do any of the controls himself yet, so he runs between all 3 screens and watches the different games we're playing and then goes to bang on the keyboard of the kids' computer. I have a feeling he's on the same path and I couldn't be happier about it.
- I had a dream last night about my Grandma Knutti. She passed away almost 3 years ago. It was a silly, odd dream - something about going to get her a hot dog from a fast food place and she wanted weird stuff on it and I was worried that they wouldn't have her weird toppings and that she was expecting us back sooner than we'd be back because she was in Salt Lake City and the hot dog place was in Farmington. Like I said, weird. But I woke up from the dream (mostly because Jacob was yelling something in his sleep) and it made me a little sad that my time here with my grandma was gone. And it reaffirmed to me that I really want my kids to have relationships with their grandparents. I was too young when most of my grandparents passed away to really remember them well and a big part of that was the distance we lived from them. But that's life and it happens. But now, with video chat, it doesn't have to be that way just because we don't live close.
- I love my family and they are the most important thing to keep strong in this life. I just finished the last book in a series and at the end, several of the main characters make what most would consider the "responsible" or "noble" decision but it just made me sad. At the risk of spoilers, I won't point out which book or go into specifics (in case we're friends on Goodreads and you already know what book I'm talking about). But if that "noble" decision is hurting your family, it might be time to rethink it.

Speaking of families, my little ones are stirring, so I guess my musings need to come to an end. :-)

Favorite Christmas shows

Hey everyone,
Let's make a list of each person's fav Christmas shows!
Mine, How the Grinch Stole Christmas,  hands down.  Second, Rudolph

Happy 30 years to us!

As I ponder over the last 30 years, I am grateful for this man who came into my life. 
Yes, you all know we argued and disagreed over the years, but we knew our marriage was forever, so we worked on it, sometimes over and over again, and we are getting much better at communication, (which is often the base of arguments)
I dated in jr high, high school, and after- a lot.  I met many guys, I had never dated what  I would consider a righteous man in all those guys. I didn't even know there were men with old-fashioned principles, morals, and integrity out there. 
Of course,  joining the church led me to meeting missionaries who had these qualities, yet, I would never have believed that a young man coming off his mission would have the guts to marry and older, divorced lady with a kid.  
I give dad credit for having the courage to do so, realizing even more how hard that must have been- as each of my sons came home from their mission and dated.  Imagine Kathy telling me she was going to marry a divorced guy with a child. Wow!  
For those who think I got gypped, I did not. Living together with anyone will be be a means to learning patience, people skills, listening skills, communication, etc.  
Being with your father has brought me greater blessings than just that.  We have a great trust in our marriage.  He gives me the stability I craved after my childhood.  He teaches me strength in the gospel, and encourages me to learn and study and do my best.  
His careful budgeting in early years have allowed us to enjoy our later years.  
I had just as many personality issues as he did.  I believe all people have issues to address.  That is part of our progress.  Mine were not as evident, although crying too much was awfully obvious.  
Although I have sometimes wished he was the more romantic, charming type; I clearly realize that I have known that type, and I would much rather have my husband, who is sweet on the inside, loyal through and through, and cares more deeply about me than anyone in the world.
He has given me 4 amazing children, a life I love, a house that has been perfect, and continues to support me as I go about  saving the world one person at a time.  :) 
Thank you honey, for everything!  

Tree of Life

Months ago a movie came out that intrigued me.  Tree of Life came out with Brad Pitt (an actor who I enjoy watching) and won the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival.  The film was loved by many, and panned by others.  What intrigued me the most was that the film was about God.  Many of the reviews I read talked about how religious it was.  I even read a few reviews by members of the church who found it interesting from a Mormon perspective.  But Tevia and I never got around to seeing it in the theaters and finally a couple of weeks ago we got around to getting it from Netflix.  We sat down alone one night to watch the movie after putting the kids to bed.  We hadn't invited anyone else to watch this film as I had a feeling that not many of our friends/family would like this movie.  But I had high hopes that I would.

The movie is an "artsy" movie.  There isn't much dialogue.  But the movie immediately caught my attention as it focused on a family with Brad Pitt as the father that had three sons.  The majority of the movie focuses on the life of this family with the boys around the age that my three boys are now.  But throughout the movie there are tangents and though-provoking questions.  For example, a good part of the beginning of the movie focuses on the creation of Earth and shows some of the creation phases.

As the movie credits rolled my eyes were filled with tears.  It has been years since a movie has had such an impact on me.  Tevia and I embraced and found it even difficult to discuss the movie as we were so filled with emotions.

Before I talk more about how it impacted me, I wanted to comment on the film. The director (Terrence Mallick) does a supreme job of getting emotion from his actors with limited dialogue.  I was impressed with almost every actor in the movie, especially the three young boys.  I could feel their pain, their joy, their confusion, and more by just the look on their faces and body language.  His directing reminded me a little of another director I love: Alfonso Cuaron (A Little Princess; Harry Potter 3).  I can see how this film would be difficult to watch for some people.  It is slow.  It is open-ended.  It asks questions and doesn't always answer them.  The cinematography is phenomenal.  So the film itself was a joy to watch for me.

But beyond that, the emotions hit home for me.  I could relate to this movie in many ways.  I could see myself as the  oldest son trying to figure out his relationship with God.  I could see myself as the father of three boys having to deal with obstacles.  I could remember asking the same questions at points in my life as snippets of prayers are interlaced into the movie.  I could remember facing the temptations of a young boy, the love of an oldest brother, the love of wonderful mother.  The list goes on.  And through all of these emotions I was constantly feeling that I wanted to be better.  I wanted to be a better father.  A better brother.  A better spouse.  A better person.  A better Child of God.

I haven't been impacted by a movie like this in years.  I thought about scenes for days afterwards.  Even now, weeks later, I can still vividly feel some of the scenes.  And to be honest, I think I have changed some things after seeing the film.  One thing I have done better at: enjoying each moment.  I'm not terrible at this, but I think more than before I have enjoyed watching and feeling each moment with my family.  Work has become even more secondary.  And God has become an even bigger focus.  For He has given me all that I have.  And I could NEVER complain about what He has given me.  Even in the face of tragedy and sadness, I know He loves me.  I may not understand everything, but I have faith that He does.

In the end I don't think everyone will like this film.  In reading the reviews on RottenTomatoes it is interesting to see how this film affected some people.  It seems you either love it or you hate it.  Usually when I watch a movie that I love, I want to share it.  This one was different.  I wanted to keep it personal.  I didn't want others to see it and not feel what I did.  To cheapen it.  To have their opinion have an impact on mine.  But I did love this film.  I felt love.  I felt God.  I felt hope.  I appreciate artists that can have that impact on me.

The Grandparents

Well, although I attempted to call my parents on Thanksgiving during the drive from CA to AZ, I did not have good reception, so I just thought I'd wait till we got to Jacob's, and then I thought it was too late.  I was reminded to and prompted to several times, but just ended up not calling home to Cleveland all weekend.
I left my cell phone number, along with dad's and Kathy's, with everyone...
but alas, as I called my mom from my cell during  the 2 hour drive from the airport to home, I ended up feeling pretty guilty that I didn't call sooner.  I have never missed talking to them both on Thanksgiving, and have not gone a full week without talking to them in a  long time.  And won't do that again.
Yes, dad ended up in the hospital, and mom awoke Thanksgiving morning to some serious health troubles also.  Kathy and Fred played double duty, as Michael & Marsha had left their dog with dad, and were at a wedding in Florida.  Between helping mom, and running over to dad's to get the dog, and trying to cook Thanksgiving dinner, it must have been pretty crazy over there.
All are okay and home now, although my mom's nerves are all shook up and she had to stay in bed all day.
She asked me 4 times, "why didn't you call all weekend?"  I feel like a terrible daughter.  I truly should have. It  would have meant so much to her.
Why didn't they call me? I called my sister to ask her, and dad and Carol agreed not to bother me during my big celebration with Tom's wedding, as there was nothing I could do anyways.  I guess that is true.
Back home and right into reality pretty quickly.... :)

The Muppets

We went with the boys to see The Muppets yesterday.  As someone who grew up watching the Muppet Show and loving the Muppet Movie, I was excited.  But I was also worried that I would go in expecting too much and would be disappointed.  I'm happy to say that I was not.  I loved the movie.  It was everything I think a muppet movie should be.  I laughed, I cried, I sang, and I was able to do it during a movie where I didn't have to worry about any crude jokes or risque parts so that my boys could be there, too.

We don't go to the theater much these days, but this reminded me of being a kid as I sat with a tub of popcorn and a soda, laughing and enjoying a value-filled film with some great musical numbers.  It was a fun afternoon.  I hope this starts a trend of family films and musicals.  I've been saying for years after the success of Dr. Horrible and some musical episodes of tv shows (Buffy/Scrubs) that musicals are bound for a rebound.  This film was created by some of the people that did "Flight of the Conchords", another show filled with musical numbers.  And Brett from the show even wrote some of the songs.

This is easily a movie worth spending your money to support with hopes they make more like them in the future.

The Official Announcement

So I think most or all of the readers of this blog already know this, but for the sake of our progeny and record-keeping and all that, we're expecting number 3 sometime the end of May/beginning of June. So anyone we told but asked you not to talk about it, yes, you can talk about it now. Cheers.

my brother and Marsha

I think it has been awhile since I shard much about my brother, Michael.  I really should keep you guys more informed on your aunts and uncles.
Mike & Marsha went on a cruise from TX this summer with her daughter and her husband.  They love to ride horses, so this is on an island somewhere where you can run the horses.  He takes beautiful pictures of scenery, I should share some with Tevia.
I thought they looked so happy in this photo.

Boys Night Out

I missed out on the Mexico trip to Rocky Point as my new job doesn't have quite the vacation plan my old job did. This left Jacob Webb and I home alone and I decided we would to a boys night out. It happened to fall on Jimmy's birthday, so thank you sis for letting him out. We decided to go out to dinner and then hit some golf balls at the driving range. Jacob Wall and Jimmy were both in, so the four of us headed up to Tokyo Lobby for some sushi. Jimmy hadn't really had much sushi, so this was his chance to try some things out. I think he endured it well. We ordered a spider roll, a tempura shrimp roll, a "what-the-heck" roll, a "sex-on-the-beach" roll and a deep-fried california roll. As usual they were fantastic. The SOTB roll was on deep fried plantains, which gave it a very unique and sweet taste. Jimmy tasted the ones without raw fish and didn't lose his lunch or anything. It was a fun dinner. After dinner we headed to Kathy's for cake and ice cream for the birthday boy. We then loaded back in the Optima to head up to hit some golf balls. Jimmy had only hit golf balls a few times before, so we gave him some pointers and in the end he did quite well. He's definitely ready for the course, though he would disagree. I actually hit much better than I anticipated and it made me anxious to play some golf. Maybe someday soon. It was nice and cool as we hit the balls in the night air (the range was lit) and we tried hitting the golf ball picker-upper that taunted us in the distance. We then dropped Jimmy off to spend the rest of his birthday with Kathy and then the rest of us headed over to Jake's to spend some time in the hot tub. Cari had purchased some cream soda for us, so we headed out and talked guy talk while enjoying the cool air and the warm water (not too hot, just the way I like it). We will need to do some more nights like this in the future, though Jacob Webb won't be here much longer. And though it was a fun night, I still would rather have been in Rocky Point eating paletas y tacos and playing on the beach with my little boys. Maybe next year...

Opera Night / Service Project

Friday night I was lucky enough to have a date with Tevia. It was opening night for the Phoenix Opera and we headed down early to have dinner and see the opera. We dressed up a little and found a great little restaurant downtown called Thai Elephant. The food was fantastic and the service was great, too. We definitely will go back. Tevia's eggplant dish was superb, and my seafood Pa Thai was wonderful. Afterwards we headed to the Opera. There were two operas being done. The first I had never heard of Cavalleria Rustica. The second was the clown opera - Pagliacci, which I was excited to see. These were my first operas - at least that I can remember. We sat on the top/back row, but right in the middle, so it wasn't that bad. The night started with everybody singing the national anthem, which sounded really cool. Almost everybody sang, which made sense since most people probably like singing. The first play was a little slow and not all that great. And though I did enjoy Il Pagliacci much better, both were based on adultery and murder/vengeance. My assumption is that not every opera is about such great subjects, but we'll see. In the end the night was enjoyable and it was great to get out with Tevia. The next morning we woke up early for a service project at our park by our house. We did it as a church along with another church and a couple of other groups. Most of the people were from the church. It was fun to work on a project that you know you can benefit from. We use this park all the time, so it was great to work there. I worked with Cari and Jimmy (and later Tevia joined us) to get the weeds out of the sandpits and edges and then rake them. It was fun working with them and we got a lot done. Several times we had people approach us asking who we were with and thanking us for the service at the park. That felt great and showed that there are grateful people out there. I really enjoyed this service project and hope we can do another one next year. The weekend ended seeing the first half of the BYU game which was fun and high scoring. We then switched to watch the movie Priest, which I actually enjoyed. It was a great day.

where have all the bloggers gone?

Fav conference talk?

I rated mine as I took notes this year.  Wow!  A lot of 4 stars.
My favorite has got to be President Monson's!  That talk about the 10 commandments still in effect, etc. was right on!  I loved his facial expressions, and his 'pauses'.  I love how he is back to being himself, after a few years of adjusting to his new role.

visit to Cleveland 9/2011

I love being with  my mother!
Had Breakfast with Frank, spent several hours with my 2 cousins talking and laughing, (Vince and Sammy Cianciola), saw Doris, Michael bore his testimony at church which was special, dad & Carol treated us to a 5 Star restaurant, and I truly enjoyed every moment.
Doris is down to 118 after the chemo. They say the cancer is gone. Her hair is coming back in.  She is very tired and week and it is hard to see her like this. She has been so fun and bouncy my whole life.
Glad to be home safe and sound, though.  I worried about the drive home, but my back held out well. I laid down in the backseat for 2 of the 8 hours, and that was nice.

Please try and call or write the grandparents once and awhile. They are all pretty bored with life.

Skunk Lake Camping

So due do our not entirely conventional work situation and the fact that our weekends from now until forever are pretty scheduled, we've decided to start taking short camping/fishing trips during the week. Since we haven't done much fishing or camping since moving here, we just picked a random place. This week's pick was Lynx Lake, which will forevermore be known as Skunk Lake. More on that later.

So Skunk Lake is just outside of Prescott, AZ, which is about a 90-minute drive from home. So after my Tuesday conference call ended, we threw all of the stuff in the car and headed out. The camping area was more expensive than we usually go for ($18 a night) but it was also more developed than we usually go for (stairs and LOTS of outhouses and designated fire pits, etc.).

As soon as we go the tent set up and gave the kids some food, we headed straight down to the lake, which was a very quick hike thanks to Jacob's planning and selection of campsite. The fishing looked very promising but in the end was pretty unfruitful. Jacob did catch several small (about 3 - 4 inch) fish - we cut one up and tried to use for it bait with the bigger ones that were jumping up out of the lake, teasing us, but no luck. In the meantime, the kids were WONDERFUL and just played on the shore of the lake and got disgustingly muddy. After the kids just couldn't take anymore and we were pretty sure that the big fish were just trolling us, we headed back to camp to our back up dinner of hot dogs.

In the middle of cooking and eating said hot dogs, Jacob jumps around like something just stabbed him in the ankle. Nothing had actually stabbed him in the ankle, but there was a HUGE beetle crawling up his leg. Seriously, this thing was nasty. Once that drama passed, we were once again roasting and eating our hot dogs when Jacob says almost too calmly and too loudly, "Cari, don't move." So of course, I figure I either now have one of those giant beetles on my back or he was just being really, really mean and trying to make me think that I did. I gave into my more girly instincts and started jumping up and down and ran toward him.

So guess what. No beetle. A skunk however? Why yes.

There was a skunk underneath our picnic table no more than 2 feet from me. As calmly as I could, I gathered the kids up and moved out of range while Jacob tried to figure out what the creature was doing. In a move that shocked us all, he didn't spray us, but ran away when Jacob threw a rock at him. After the excitement died down from that and Jacob yelled to the other campsites to be careful, we settled back into our hot dogs.

But about 30 minutes later, here comes the skunk again! It didn't get as close this time before Jacob scared it off. Again, we were pleasantly surprised about not getting sprayed. About this time, the kids had been asking to go to sleep, so we had a quick family talk and decided that we'd try to stay the night even though there was obviously a skunk in the area. I mean, it had already come by twice - how many more times would it get brave enough to visit?

The answer: 16 times. And no, I'm not kidding. About the fourth visit, I had backed away and Jacob was following the skunk to make sure it got farther away from our camp when I told him I found it over on the other side by the campfire. To which he replied that he still had skunk Alpha in his sights about 10 feet away. So what do you know, there's two skunks.

And wait! There's more! By the last sighting before we went to bed, we counted FOUR, yes that's right, FOUR different skunks hanging around our campsite. We had stayed up late to do some star and planet gazing with our new telescope (got a great view of Jupiter!) and eventually Jacob just got a big pile of rocks near our chairs for whenever the little bandits got close. And somehow, we never got sprayed, though tails went up several times. Even after we went to bed, we could still hear them moving around in the campsite and walking next to the tent. It made for an interesting night's sleep. The fact that our air mattress couldn't seem to hold a full helping of air also made it interesting, but the ground wasn't that hard and was pretty even, so we lived.

After our eventful night, the next day was pretty relaxed. We got up, ate a nice breakfast of Spam and eggs, and broke camp. Then we drove down to the creek where the map said we could pan for gold. We didn't find any ourselves, but we did run into a nice man from Tucson who had found some. In fact, he told us he had been there for 5 days panning for gold. Interesting people you meet while camping. Then on our hike out of the creek, we met another nice woman who was on the hike to "scatter the ashes of her departed hiking companion". Again, such interesting people.

 We then decided to try one more hike even though the kids were tired to these ruins at the top of the "mountain" (after living in Utah, it was a small hill, but whatever). I had fun finding all of the plants in the little pamphlet at the trailhead and the view from the top was pretty cool. We're not entirely sure how those rocks count as "ruins" but we're not anthropologists. We also saw this cool horned lizard on the trail.

After that we were on our way home and back to work. It was a good trip despite the skunks. It'll probably be another week or two before we can go again, but we're excited to keep having these short family camping trips. We might even go back to Skunk Lake again sometime, but we'll definitely be staying in the other campground and bringing something a little harsher than rocks to take care of the skunks should they have a repeat performance.

Havasupai 2011

The last time we planned a trip to Havasupai the week before we went there was a huge flood (due to a dam break) and they closed the place down for a year. That was about 3 years ago and I have been anxious to get back to see all the changes that took place. We finally got to go this last month, but unfortunately not everyone was able to go. This trip we went down with me, Tevia, her father, and Jacob Webb and Millie. It would have been great to have others come, but this group was fun and we had a great time. Tevia has already posted a bunch of pics over on her blog. But I'll focus more on my thoughts. We left early to drive up there, which in the end I liked better than the other two options I have done: leave the night before and camp and then drive the hour in to the trail in the morning, or leave late at night and hike down while still dark. We also decided to try out the mules this time for our packs. Though a bit pricey, this was great and I will most likely do it again in the future as it was a much nicer hike with just a camelback pack where we could enjoy the beauty and not be exhausted when we arrived. The hike down wasn't too hot or strenuous thanks to that. As we left the village of Supai to go to the campsite (where the falls are) I was excited to see the changes done by the flood. They were dramatic. A new set of falls had been created that you pass on the way to Havasu falls. They were really cool and in the end I enjoyed them a lot as you can actually jump off the top of them. It was very fun to walk across the top of a waterfall (which I've never done before) and then jump down into the pool below where the sheets of water are falling. The height was only about 30 feet, so it wasn't too high (or all that scary), but it was fun. These falls also had a cave behind them that you could crawl behind the falls and jump through the falls, which is always fun. We went here twice to jump and have fun. Havasu falls also changed - a lot. All of the cool tavertine pools were obliterated and they are gone. The pool where the water falls in has shrunk considerably, so it is not as fun to play in or jump into. It is still beautiful though. They are still breathtaking. This was one thing that really got to me. As we hiked in and ran into the water, even though I have been here a couple of times before, I had forgotten how beautiful it is. And it isn't like I stopped imagining that it was beautiful - it was just even more so than I remembered. We found a great camping site as the place was basically vacant the first night or so. This was a neat feeling as the last time i was there it was packed (which eventually over the weekend it got packed). Being in such a place with hardly any people around was great. Mooney falls, my favorite to hike down to because of the cool path down, was basically the same, but the pool beneath it had also been diminished and was much smaller. We enjoyed playing here, though as the stream down has some fun fountains and gorgeous rock formations. We also hiked down to Beaver Falls - or at least fairly close to it. I'm not a huge fan of these falls, but the hike through the grape fields is cool. The food and company was great. We hiked a lot, so we didn't have all that much free time. The hike out went fine. We made it out fairly quickly and without a big pack it wasn't nearly as strenuous. You just forget how long 10 miles is. It makes for a long hike. I was glad to be able to go and look forward to our next trip back - in maybe 8 or 10 years.

Resurrecting the Family Book Club

I propose we resurrect the family book club. Okay, that was probably obvious from the post's title. Moving on.
Book: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Time Limit: read it by Christmas
Age Limit: it's a Newbery book, so I think Malik and up can participate if desired.
Please be sure to pass this on to those extended family members who don't read the blog so anyone who wants can be included.

If anyone wants to know (and if I haven't talked to you about this before), some of my ideas to actually get this book club going and sustainable are (1) to pick relatively short books. At first I thought I would prefer under 150 pages, but I didn't realize how much that would limit us. So I don't think we should set a hard limit, but go for shorter books (which means no Atlas Shrugged - boo). (2) Do a book about per quarter of the year, so 3 or 4 books per year. Some of us have the time and/or reading speed to get through a book per month, but lots don't. I think 3 - 4 months is more reasonable for many of the family. (3) No more than 1 religious book per year. I know that it seems safe because that's one thing we all have in common but religious books can be very boring or very confusing for some people. Okay, me. But you get the point. One per year should be fine, especially since the book club is completely voluntary. :-)

So if we actually get a group of us to read this book and to then discuss it when we're done, I guess we can just pick someone else from the group to pick our next book sometime around Christmas. Happy reading!

My dad

Just FYI, my father's health continues to head downhill.  He is in and out of the hospital repeatedly, like every other week.  I talked to Carol today, and she was pretty worried.  They cancelled their fun day tomorrow at a friend's party, and also just cancelled their Vegas trip.  He has been in bed for 2 days, and can't seem to get the strength to get up.
I may go down to Cleveland sooner than I thought.

Houston - 2011

Until late last year I had never been to Houston.  Then I spent about 3 weeks there for a client.  Now I am with another company and nearly a year later and here I am - back in Houston.  My company has an office here in Houston and I am here doing some training and meeting people.  I flew in this morning and will be leaving in two days. 

Today after work I didn't have any plans (besides a call at 10PM) so I decided to go down to the restaurant I fell in love with while here in Houston last year: Japaneiro's.  I was in heaven as I ordered the Avocado Cream Soup and a Hawai'i roll.  So awesome. 

So now I am catching up on some things that I haven't had time to do lately (like blog).  Since starting to work from home, it seems even harder to travel away from the family.  But this will be a quick trip.  I have another short trip next week to New York/Connecticut.  Then in the next two months I should be doing a trip to Europe and Asia.  That will be fun.

I have enjoyed my new job so far.  I have been busier than I expected, but the people are very nice and it has been quite a different experience than working at a huge, public corporation to a smaller, global company.  I look forward to growing with this company and hopefully will continue to enjoy working from home.  So far no major issues.  Yesterday Enok came barging into the room (where my office is) yelling "Brandt - I know you're in here somewhere!"  Fortunately I wasn't on a call or anything.  =)

Happy Birthday Jacob

When I think of what I was going through 28 years ago today, and then remember a similar scare I went through with Bret, it is amazing we keep doing it again and again.
Yet there is something so special when babies look into our eyes that endure us to them forever.
So as I watched Kathy go through this experience for herself, I couldn't help but ponder this miracle again.
I had such dreams and visions of what I would give each child; what I would teach you all to do.
I pictured in my mind not castles or cars, but cookies and books and games and gardens and sunsets.
The journey has been wonderful, and each child made the journey even sweeter.
I say a special prayer every year for each one of you on your birthday.  The Lord's gifts are always better than any I can give you. He has been generous to all of you.
To Jacob, on your birthday- I wish you many happy moments as you travel through life, getting closer each day to whatever dreams you have, finding fulfillment along the way.

A growing family

A warm welcome to Holly, who I hope Tom adds to the blog, but it's Bret's blog actually, so we should ask him.
And to Lexi, who can't  blog yet, but has already not only joined our family, but has entered my heart and brought me such joy.  Cute toy lamb. I think she likes it.
We are a blessed family this week, with birthdays, and blessings and beautiful moments; I am so glad we can be together to share them this coming weekend.

Thank you

Thank you all for all the great hospitality, food, fun, chats, etc.  It was wonderful being there so long with all of you!  You all made me feel so welcome and I enjoyed each day.   See you all soon!

New Job - Great Life

A month or two ago I was sitting at work thinking how bored I was.  I wasn't being challenged and really wanted to contribute more.  I thought, "hey, you really need to find a new job".  And so I did.  Finding a job is not easy.  There are millions out there that don't have jobs and have been looking for months.  But I was able to find one fairly quickly and have been working here for two weeks now.  So far, so good.  It was hard to leave such a great company as my old company, but there are times we need to take risks.  We need to move to something different to stretch ourselves, to stop "waiting" for it just to happen.  And so I did. 

With this came a reminder of how blessed I am.  I really am a lucky man.  As I was laying next to my youngest son yesterday as he held my hand in his and held it to his chest, I couldn't help but utter a prayer of gratitude.  What I've done to deserve such a wonderful family and blessings is beyond me.  I attribute it mostly to my beautiful wife.  Being home (yes, I work from home now) I get to see her more in action in her role as mom.  And she does such a great job.  Maybe she's just putting on a show for me while I'm home, but either way it is great work.

Little Kathy with Bret

Does Lexi look like Kathy?

New Phone

I had to get a new phone for my new job.  How fun!  Since I have never even purchased a cell phone - let alone a smartphone - before, I was looking forward to it.  I have used a Blackberry for the past few years at my old job.  It worked well and there were many things I used often, especially while traveling.  But I knew I wanted something better than a Blackberry and was going for an Android phone.

As with most larger purchases, I spent a lot of time looking at reviews and trying to make a decision before I even went to the store.  I was convinced I was going to get either the Droid 3 or Thunderbolt (Jake has this phone).  After playing with several of the phones I realized I didn't really like the Droid 3 and the Thunderbolt (besides its horrible battery issue) didn't have the ability to work as a global phone (none of the 4G phones do yet).

In the end I found a phone I really liked.  I left the store to check out reviews and in the end returned to get it.  I absolutely love it so far.  It is very similar to the iPhone - both in size and style.  It is the HTC Droid Incredible 2.  I've had it for several days and have loved everything about it so far.  The battery even appears to last almost the entire day.  I am on Verizon so I can call everyone I basically know for free.  Who knew a little device could bring such fun and excitement?

Lost and Found

When Jacob and I were dating freshman year of college, he gave me a white gold heart-shaped locket on a chain. Before he left on his mission, I put a picture of him and a paper where he'd written "I love you" in it. I wore that locket pretty much every day while he was gone and even after he got back. At some point in the first year or two of our marriage, I couldn't find it. I looked for years. And then we moved and I figured it was gone for good. Then we moved again, this time to a different state. We've lived here for over a year and I would still occasionally think about this necklace and how important it was to me and how sad I was that I had lost it.

This morning I was cleaning out the second bedroom because it's just a mess. I opened a small random jewelry box on the sewing table and it had one of my YW medallions in it. Then I lifted the little paper that it was sitting on and I was in shock...





I told Jacob it was going to be a good weekend. :-)

all the pretty birdies

I felt like Cinderella today.  As I sat on the porch reading, I had small yellow finches come by over and over. They sing so beautifully!  Then my bluebirds came back, and they flew all around, up and down.  So pretty. Then the cardinals came, and they also have a beautiful song.  The hummingbirds came along, humming away...
Then, a big beautiful blue heron flew over.   Wow!  How sweet it was!

Pulling the Trigger

On Friday July 8, 2011 at around 1:00 PM I sat in front of my screen and hesitated.  Was I really going to do this?  Was this the right choice?  My questions were answered with a confident affirmation, but it still felt “odd”.  I decided to let the moment sink in.  I figure there aren’t many moments like this in a person’s life.  Big decisions that can lead to joy or pain – or more of the same.  I sat there and read through the email again.  I wanted to make sure I hadn’t left anything out.  Or said anything stupid.  It was short; to the point.  I took a few deep breaths and savored the feelings.  They were feelings of excitement, fear, and joy.  But mostly excitement and joy.  The time had come.  In fact, it was probably long overdue.  But I am not one to make decisions hastily.  I definitely would consider myself cautious and risk-averse.  But everything comes to an end.  Even if we don’t want them to. 

I placed my hand on the mouse below my hand and clicked.  My computer screen flickered in an instant as it determined what to do.  And then the message was sent.  The subject: Official Resignation.

This moment had been building for a few years.  It was about four years ago that I was at a similar crossroads and had been praying and fasting for inspiration on what to do.  Resigning seemed a likely course, but I was pushing for the opportunity to do an overseas assignment.  And it was late in July of that year that I received a phone call asking if I’d be interested in taking my family to live in Hong Kong for the next 2 – 3 years.  It was all I had dreamed of – and I grasped it with ambition and without fear.  The next year was a blur.  Indeed we moved to Hong Kong.  And our time there was wonderful, but didn’t last more than a few months; certainly not the years we had expected.  I returned to the USA with a somewhat broken heart.  The dream had been so fleeting. 

Years later I was back in the same spot.  Hoping and wishing for something more.  The opportunity to utilize my talents and exercise my mind.  This time the answer was not an exotic relocation to the orient, but rather a new opportunity with a global company that is rapidly expanding.  A place I believe I can contribute and make better.  And with that a new chapter in my life will begin.  The Prudential chapter has ended.  

Hero of the week

I thought it might be uplifting and fun to have everyone write one person they saw either in person, on the news, wherever, that gave them inspiration and showed courage:  and I thought maybe it is time we let Jarek and Malik add their two cents in the blog.  Maybe as we go about our week and are watching, we will notice small or large acts of service, kindness, or courage more.  Then we can share them with each other.
I will be on the lookout!

Safe

Last night on our way home, Jimmy and I stopped at the grocery store. I was still in my bathing suit so I opted not to go in. So we parked and Jimmy got out and like always before he closed his door, he told me to lock the doors. I always think this is silly because I am a grown woman =). Then he came back two seconds later to get his wallet and scolded me because I hadn't locked the doors yet. So this time I did. After a couple of minutes I put down the front mirror and started to brush my hair as it was a mess from being in the pool earlier. And after only a few seconds a strange man appeared outside my window. He was fairly close to the car and was staring at me. Then he started to imitate me brushing my hair. So I stopped and put up the mirror. I obviously wanted him to go away. Well this brought him closer. He was now only inches away from my door and would not stop staring at me. Now I was a little freaked out. After a couple more minutes of him just staring at me and no sign of Jimmy, I hopped into the driver's seat and moved the car. He put his hands up like "oh come on".

I parked right in front of the store hoping he would not come back. Not even 2 minutes later he was back. Now he was actually bending over and looking into the driver's side window. Literally, just staring at me. He did not look nice either. I actually became somewhat afraid. I knew that nothing could actually happen since I was right in front of the store but I was still very uncomfortable. I didn't roll down the window because I am too much of a chicken and like I said, he did not look nice or friendly.

Finally, after I continued to look away, he walked away. Staggering off. I think he was on drugs or might have been drunk. A tear trickled down my cheek and I was so glad he was gone. Jimmy came back pretty soon after he left and saw that I was obviously distraught. He asked what happened and so I told him the story. He was pretty upset and asked where this guy had went. I didn't know so we backed out and started to go home. But right then, I spotted him at another car. Surprised Jimmy actually got out of the car. I wasn't sure what he was going to do but turns out he didn't do anything. He just listened to this man ask this other man for money. He got back in the car, grabbed my hand, told me he was sorry that had happened to me, and we went home.

Point of this story is that I am so grateful to my husband. It was amazing to feel such peace and security when I saw him walking out of the store towards me. As soon as I saw his face I felt safe. And I am just so grateful that he had asked me to lock the doors. I do not know if this man would have tried to open the door. He was only inches away and definitely noticed that it was locked. Maybe he wouldn't of done anything but once again, I am so glad for having such a loving and protective husband.

Fishing the Delaware river

We tried really hard...
Dad looked up places to fly-fish, and after some map-reading and finding sites on line, and trying to get a license for him, and looking up restrictions, we decided we were ready to go.
My friends told us that a place called Rosco is a very good fly-fishing area, and it also has regular fishing.  Dad looked up the current ratings, and Rosco said good, and Delaware River said Excellent.
and so we headed out toward the great Delaware, and dad didn't bring a map because he thought he knew about a road that drove all along side of it, and we did find the road, but- the road was up  on the mountain side, and the river below.  We found a few places to stop, but the river was raging and high and deep, even along the edges.  We drove for 2 hours,  and found a small town with a bait and tackle shop.  He was happy because he did find a good fishing net like he wanted for a good price.
The lady there said the river was too swollen and all muddied up from the torrential rain storms we had on Sunday to fly fish.  She claimed the fish would not even see a fly unless you added sound or smell to it. (I had no idea they did that but the evidently do)
  We saw a bridge going over the river to Pennsylvania, and some people fishing from the rocky shore there. We drove on over there, and he gave it his best for about 3 hours.  He caught one tiny  4" fish.
No one else was catching anything.
I thought it was too early, as we arrived at 4.  There was no shade, and I couldn't sit and read in the car or in the camp chair, so I was pretty uncomfortable.  (I had sat on the camp chair the night before watching fire works, and it isn't so great for bad backs).
I patiently watched him and enjoyed just the beauty of the area.
As we started leaving about 7pm, sure enough, bugs came out and some fish started jumping.  (should I insert here that I told him to come at 7 cause my dad told me fish don't bit in the hot, sunny hours)?

So he tried a bit again and finally gave up.  Poor dad.  But I think he liked the actual sport of throwing his line out there over and over again.  I like the sit and relax kind of fishing.  Next time I will bring my pole.  7 hours and no fish, but a beautiful ride.

Isn't she a little young...

Last night, we put the kids to bed early, because they were still a little sick, very tired from being up so late the night before to see fireworks, and because I wanted a little alone time with Jacob before he took off for the Scout's High Adventure for the rest of this week. So we put them to bed around 7:45ish. At about 8 pm, we went out to swim and enjoy our hot tub for a little while. When we came back in around 8:30 pm so Jacob could get ready to go (yeah, they leave for the High Adventure at 9 pm - I know it's weird). And guess who had snuck out of bed and was playing her computer games?!? I figured we'd have until she was at least 9 or so before she start pulling that trick.

May and June

I've been pretty neglectful of blogging lately. Not sure why - probably all of the fun video games that have been sucking up my free time (Spiral Knights!). But since I'm up early today thanks to this heat wave that makes me go running before 7 am or I die, here's some of the happenings of the last two months:
May 1: Hazel turned 3! Most of the day was a pretty normal Sunday but we had family over for cake and presents in the evening. My only goal with birthday cakes is that the birthday girl or boy can recognize what I was trying to do. So the fact that she could name every character was good enough for me, even though Rabbit turned out a bit weird looking. For the record, I had been asking her for several weeks what she wanted for her birthday cake and every time, she'd say a different Winnie the Pooh character, so I went for a regular cake with all of them that she named. She got lots fun presents from people but as usual, her mom and dad won favorite present with Candyland. She probably plays it 3 times a week now, but we were doing about 3 times a day when she first got it.
mid-May: Jacob took a trip to Las Vegas with Bret. Bret had to go for a business thing, so Jacob went along to keep him company. I was not at all bothered (even though we had never been to Vegas together) until....he told me he was going to eat at Bobby Flay's restaurant. So unfair. But he made up for it later (keep reading).




May 21: Jacob and Speed went on their first Father and Son camp out with the ward. Speed was born during the camp out last year, so they just missed it by that much. :) I was told that Speed was really good and they had a good time. (Apparently it was a little chilly in the morning.) Also on this day, Speed turned 1! I can't believe he's that old already. We had the whole family over again and had pizza and cake and opened presents. The video footage from his presents is actually pretty sad because Hazel's crying most of the time and Jacob and I are trying to remind her that these are Speed's presents, so no, she can't open them. I'm sure she'll do better with that as she gets older.

Beginning June: We went camping in central Arizona for Bret's birthday. It was a fun, albeit short trip in a place we had never been to before. It was pretty cool, because it was this valley with a decent sized stream running through it (not terribly common here), so it was this big pocket of green surrounded by a huge chunk of desert. It was pretty fun scenery on the drive in and out. We had fun fishing (well, I tried - Jacob actually caught something), playing in the water and in the dirt, and just relaxing. (I wasn't kidding about the dirt.)



















Unfortunately, there are fire restrictions in place right now because of all the wildfires down here, so we didn't get to have a camp fire, which was a pretty big bummer. At least on our way out of the camp site, we did some fun off-roading with Pink 5.

mid-June: Jacob and I took a very short trip to Utah. Of the whole day we were in Utah, I spent it at the office (business trip for me) and Jacob spent it at the condo replacing a toilet and doing other repairs (business trip for him). He did get some time after his toilet job (apparently it takes more time to have meetings and set up a computer than to replace a toilet - who knew) to play tennis with Tommy and Holly and her friend and soccer with Webb, who we were staying with. (Jacob's the one in the orange shirt.) Then we were off first thing the next morning to Las Vegas.
As previously mentioned, we'd never been to Las Vegas together (unless you count the 6 hours crashing at the Marriott New Year's Eve of 2009 - which I don't) so I was actually pretty excited. We stayed at the Venetian, which was nice but not worth it for the price. There are nicer hotels that are cheaper, but I'm glad we tried it. And we ate at Bobby Flay's restaurant....twice. :-D It was SOOOO good. Best thing I ate: the roasted corn soup. It was just delicious. I could live off that stuff. Everything was seriously yummy, which is why we ate there twice! (I didn't take any pictures of the food there because Jacob thought that was a little too touristy.) We also went shopping, ate gelato with strawberry sauce somewhere else that looked like spaghetti and meatballs (I thought it was a cute presentation and it was a more average restaurant, so I didn't feel weird taking pictures there), saw Super 8 (meh - J. J. Abrams has made better movies), went swimming, went to Fremont Street (it was much more fun last time I went), and just walked around the strip being tourists. It was a fun trip and a very nice, extra long date. This was another one night stay, but it was good to get away. (Hey - there's a picture of me AND Jacob on this post - that's rare!)

In the meantime, our kids were left with Bret and Tevia. They got to stay here in Arizona and go swimming and go for a short trip to visit Tevia's parents. The report was they were very good and had a fun time. I know Hazel was glad to see me when they got back but Speed took a little more convincing. It was the first time we had left him for that long so I think he was a little confused.

End-of-June: Since then, we have just been relaxing! There's been a lot of swimming and gaming and general playing with whatever the favorite toy of the day is. Some of the winners have been: that pink doll stroller from the earlier post, tennis balls, the cars Speed got for his birthday, my alarm clock, and the kids' bottle of shampoo. Yes, my children are pretty silly.
The other big piece of news from recent times is that Speed's hair was just getting too long....so he had his first ever hair cut. I think he looks so much older now. He was very good and sat very still for Jacob. Hazel was (again) more of the problem because she wanted to see exactly what was happening and then when Speed was done, she wanted her hair cut! Thankfully she got over it quickly when I told her no way.

That's about all from us for now - we're just having fun and relaxing since July is a pretty laid back month for us. Jacob has one Scout trip but other than that, we just get to play and swim and have fun. Oh, and did I forget to mention that we bought a hot tub? Hehe....

Counting blessings

Who did you pay for sunshine today?
How much did your body cost?
Who did you pay for the rain last week?Who owns the planet?
How much did your vision cost?
Who did you pay for the air your breath?

Maybe you are more blessed than you know!
(from Peaceful Daily)


I am happy today for the beautiful weather we have had, my first raspberries, the book Heidi, and we may go fishing on Tuesday!  I have all day to catch up on little things, and looking forward to swimming later and playing some games.