If You Could Put Summer In A Bowl, It Would Taste Like This . . .

Mexican Dip

2 cans black beans, drained
2 cans chopped tomatoes, drained
1-2 bunches green onions, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1-4 bell peppers (red, orange, or yellow)
2 avacados
1 small bottle of Catalina salad dressing
1 tsp. fresh garlic
1 tsp. salt

Mix together and serve with tortilla chips! MMmmmm! Enjoy your tasty summer!

(recipe comes from James' sisters!)

A True Family Celebration!

We were so priviledged to have Brianna's birthmom and birthgrandma come a long way to celebrate Brianna's first birthday with us. They are both so wonderful. They are kind and gracious, and oh-so-fun! It was great to see them again in person. We enjoyed having them here and truly consider them as part of our family. In fact, don't you think we look like family??

Brianna enjoyed all of the attention, and was very adorable. She interacted happily with them . . . so long as it was on her terms. She is such a happy little soul, and I think that it showed. I am so grateful that they had the chance to see sweet Brianna in person, because pictures and my descriptions can never do her justice. I will always treasure their visit, and I know it will come to mean a great deal to Brianna, as well.


Brianna, after pouring strawberry lemonade all down her front, and just before her birthday cake.

Obviously, this would be after the cake which she thoroughly enjoyed!

There is so much more to say regarding what this day meant to me and how blessed I feel, but words seem to be failing me at the moment! So, for now I will say, Thank you, again, Adrianne, for your selfless sacrifice! Thank you Cindy for supporting your daughter in her difficult decision! And thank you, God, for orchestrating this beautiful miracle in our lives!

Father's Day 2007

To my Dad: Thank you for buying Trix cereal and Wonder bread when you would go shopping. It balanced out the "green drinks" and the alfalfa pills. Thank you for not being afraid to show affection or emotion. Thank you for not wringing my neck when it may have been OH-SO-TEMPTING! Thank you for helping me to clean the carpet in that nasty old apartment in Provo, and then helping me to get out of the lease! Thank you for fixing and organizing so many things for me and my family. Thank you for your steady testimony and your example in my life. I love you! Happy Father's Day!

To my Father-in-law: Thank you for waiting outside for me the very first time I ever drove to your home in Vernal. Thank you for driving all the way across the country with us to help us move. Thank you for helping to extend the wall in our kitchen. Thank you for accepting me as one of your own children. Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for raising such great kids -- especially for the one I married! I love you! Happy Father's Day!

To my sweet husband: Thank you for loving me always. Thank you for balancing me, and helping me to see things more clearly. Thank you for your unfailing support in anything that I ever even dream of doing. Thank you for your humor and for your honesty. Thank you for loving our children so much; For your patience with them and your affection to them. Thank you for your testimony and love of the Lord. I love you! Happy Father's Day!

Birthday Girl!

What a beautiful baby! What a wonderful year!

I love:

her cute little folded arms for prayers.

how she signs "please" when she wants something.

how she "talks" on the phone.

her attempts at "amen" at the end of prayers, and "hello" when she has the phone to her ear.

how she hugs her Daddy, her brother, and myself.

how she loves her baby dolls!

how she loves necklaces and bracelets.

how she is so smart that the child-proof locks for the cupboards are no challenge to her.

her smile!

that she lets me sleep at night!

her beautiful eyes!

how she loves to wear her 'girly' shoes.

her laugh!

Brianna is truly a Joy! Thank you, God, and thank you Brianna's birthmom, for blessing my life and my family with this little angel!!

Why I Will Never Be Translated . . .

Many moons ago, we purchased a small bucket of plastic frogs at the dollar store as part of a birthday gift to one of Ben's little friends. We did not realize until later the true treasure we had found. As I went to wrap it, I started to read the outside of the bucket to James. We took turns passing it back and forth, reading different parts, and laughing until our sides ached and tears were streaming down our faces.

It was made in China, and there is no doubt that it was also translated into English in China as well. Needless to say, the kid never received this part of the gift! We decided we couldn't part with something that provided that much entertainment. Now, maybe we were a bit tired, or overstressed, but even now I still find it funny. I'll let you decide for yourselves.

Here is how the bucket reads:

The best game for partents with children!

JUMPING FROG

Enjoy all your family!

Suitable for age of over 3

• Draw a line or mark far a distance from starting point. Jump frogs at starting point. The one makes frogs jumping over the line or mark is the winner.

THE OTHER PLAYING WAY:

• Jump frogs far away at the same position. The farest is the winner (to identify owned frogs by colors).

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Except the attached drum, you may use other vessel to play, such as cup, jar, box, ladle, pot, bowl, basket ... etc. The vessel should not be too large. The smaller vessel you use the more interest you get.
2. After playing a couple of times, you will be skilled to control the exactly jumping distance and position.

LET'S TRY!

• Jump frogs into drum from a distance.

MADE IN CHINA

Let me just interject that if I ever had to translate anything into Chinese, it would either provide hours of entertainment to the Chinese, or it would start WWIII. I promise I am not trying to pick a fight with the Chinese, . . . afterall, I am a partent with children!

P.S. It is much more funnier to be read aloud. : )

One of My Favorite Things

I never thought that I would buy anything from an infomercial. Ever.



Then, one Saturday as I was watching TV and folding laundry, an infomercial for ProActiv (http://www.proactiv.com) came on. There was nothing else on, so I watched as I folded. As I watched, I began to have hope that I wouldn't always have flaming red facial skin, full of pimples. I had gone to several Dermatologists who had diagnosed me (just by looking at me) with Rosacea. They all prescribed the same stupid medicine, metrogel, or metrolotion, or something. Stupid, because it did absolutely nothing to help clear up this condition.

Before

When James began his residency, this condition worsened considerably -- must be affected by stress. I had become so self-conscious about my very red, very broken out face that I had become withdrawn. I didn't want to go out.

Before

So, when I saw this infomercial, and began to have hope, I called and ordered the product. When it arrived, I remember thinking, "Well, here goes nothin'." I had tried so many products. Some of them even seemed to work . . . for a short while. So, when my face cleared up within a month, I was very happy, but wondered if it could truly last. It has been about three years now, and I am still thrilled with this product! I will never regret calling that number, or ordering this great product! That decision literally changed my life. I now have a confidence of which I had never dreamed.

After

P.S. - I'm not even getting paid for this endorsement!

My Only Regret Is That You'll Never Hear the Tune

Ben makes up songs all of the time. Truly, there is probably at least one new song created each day. Yesterday, Ben was singing a great song about soldiers. James tried to record the song, but Ben wasn't comfortable with that. He did, however, let James write down the lyrics. This took a while, as Ben would get carried away, singing, and James would not be able to keep up. Ben had to sing his song about three different times, and, of course, it changed a bit each time.

Here are the lyrics as they were written:

These people were children.

They grew up to be these warriors.

Then they got passed to be the troops

and they are going to fight in this History!

And now they are fighting for themselves and their families.

These people do what they are supposed to do.

And they always know to look for the flags that show that that's their armies!

They're like the Stripling Warriors,

Only they know what the Stripling Warriors know.

If you choose to learn this song, remember that it is always sung best while marching up and down the hallway. It is to be sung loudly, and boldly!

My Babies Are Growing Up

Ben with his graduation cap and certificate! What a cutie!

This was taken Sunday, after Church, hence the suit. What a handsome boy!

Ben wouldn't smile, so I smashed chocolate all in my teeth, and grinned at him. This was the result!

Brianna has developed a love for her shoes. This shows her trying to put on one of her shoes after it had fallen off. She is so smart. She opened the velcro, and lifted her foot up to try to put it on!

My Baby is WALKING!! We snapped this picture of her standing, because she's been doing so much of that lately, and then, suddenly, she was walking across the room to me! She is amazing! She is so steady on her feet already!

Aaaahhh! Vacation.

Warning: If you do not like travelogs, do not read this. However, this is my blog, and I wanted to record my memories of this vacation so far. Read on if you want to, but remember that I warned you! : )

James' vacation began last Friday when he returned home from work. We were too tired to really do anything that night, although Ben had been in "Vacation Party" mode all day. I asked Ben if we shouldn't wait to have the party until James came home. He promptly replied, "No! I'll be in bed by then." Wise kid. He was right. He organized a treasure hunt, created an invisible pinata filled with invisible candy, and gathered all of these "presents" for Daddy.

Saturday morning, we got up and readied ourselves to go to Opening day at the waterpark to which we have season passes. It was cold! The sun only peeked through the clouds for literally like 5 seconds while we were there, and the water is not heated.

Well, despite the freezing cold day, and the freezing cold water, Ben made a break-through! He was out there playing! He wasn't clinging to us, or begging us to be right there with him. He was enjoying himself, and kept wandering farther and farther into the water. At one point, I jokingly said to James, who had only ventured in up to his ankles, "So, if he runs into trouble out there, are we going to send the lifeguard after him?" To which my witty husband replied, "Of course! He's getting paid to go into this cold water!" Thankfully, Ben returned to us just fine. We then heard about the "warm" water and headed there. I think it was just in time, Ben's lips were starting to turn blue from the cold. After warming up in the water for about an hour, we left.

James took us to Walmart, where he purchased a bicycle for me, and a seat for Brianna to put on the back of his bike. Mind you, I hadn't ridden a bike since I wrecked for the um-teenth time as a child and decided that I just wasn't cut out for it.

That evening, a dear friend from Columbus came all the way down to watch our kids for us, while we got away for the night. We rented a hotel room, and enjoyed our first over-night get-away since Ben was born. It was wonderful! And we are sooooo grateful for our wonderful friend.

She brought her nephew with her to play with Ben. They had a blast. They even caught a bird in our backyard and played with it for about an hour and a half. They built a nest for it, and had great fun feeling like they were pet-owners.

The next day, Ben found the same poor bird in our back-yard again. He played with it for about an hour again. I felt so bad for the bird. I was unsure if it was injured, or just too young to fly. That mystery was solved when I watched it jump off of our deck and make its way across our lawn to its' Mommy. It was heart-wrenching. This poor mama robin had obviously been nearby watching her poor baby get manhandled by a well-meaning boy. I swear they kissed when they reached each other, and then the mama immediately started catching bugs and feeding them to her hungry, traumatized baby.

Speaking of mama's feeding their babies, Brianna absolutely refused to take a bottle from my friend. She ate everything else well, but apparently, bottles are to be kept within the family. Soon after we returned, she gulped down a bottle while on my lap! What a doll!

On Monday, we decided to go camping. It sure takes a lot of gear to go "rough it". We spent hours gathering and packing our supplies and food. (Somehow we forgot the camera, darn it!) Finally we set off to the campground at a nearby park. We set up our tent, and roasted hotdogs for dinner. We were visited by a racoon at our site that night. Luckily, I had seen him just before dusk, so we wisely packed all of our food into the trunk of our car. But that didn't deter him from looking.

With all of the bugs and dirt, Ben kept saying, "Why did Daddy want to go camping?" and "Why did Daddy think this was a good idea?" When James slapped at a mosquito in the evening, Ben made a bee-line to the tent. The next morning, however, Ben had a great time catching all of the daddy-long-legs that were crawling all over the outside of our tent! And later, when his little feet were just black, he announced that "Boys are supposed to get dirty!" I guess he adjusted pretty quickly.


For breakfast, James cooked pancakes and sausage on our campstove. I love eating a pancake breakfast outside in the morning. It's just refreshing! Then we broke camp. Brianna fell asleep right before we were to take down the tent, so while she napped, we played UNO at the picnic table.

After she woke up, we went for a family bike ride! It was actually fun! And I didn't wreck! Unfortunately, Ben did, but he pulled himself together, got back on his bike, and had fun! Brianna seemed to completely enjoy being a part of this family activity. We found the smallest bike helmet we could, but it still moved down over her eyes from time to time. Even still, she never complained. Every time I caught her eye, she was smiling!

Wednesday was spent working in our yard. We tried to make our yard look as if someone actually lives at our home. We did make great progress, but it was a lot of work. James worked the hardest!

Interestingly, as we were working, a dog wandered into the yard, trailing his leash behind him. James figured he had gotten away while on a walk. He kindly tied him to our tree, thinking that its owners would surely be by any moment. He even gave the dog some water. As the hours went by, I felt bad for the dog, and fed him. We debated over just letting him loose again, or calling the dog pound. Finally, I could stand watching him on that short leash no longer. I said, "Just let him loose." So we did. He wouldn't leave. He followed us around and wanted to play with us. He wanted to go into our back yard. It was interesting. Finally a little neighbor boy did come looking for him and took him home. So, we had a dog for an afternoon. I think that was a little longer than James was comfortable with, but afterall, HE was the one who tied him to the tree!

Thursday was Ben's graduation from Pre-school. On Wednesday night, he asked me what graduation clothes he was going to wear. I told him he could wear whatever he wanted. Then he explained that he meant a cap and gown--in black. I told him that he wasn't going to wear a cap and gown. He wanted to know how old he'd have to be to wear them. I told him when he graduated from high school. He said, "Well, I have to wear something for graduation!" So, on the way to his graduation, James stopped at card and party store, and purchased a paper graduation cap, which Ben was thrilled with!

At the actual "ceremony" there was a little platform--two steps up, small platform, two steps down. As each child's name was called, they would march up the steps, get their certificate and stand proudly for a photo. Once again we forgot our camera. When Ben's name was called, he stood, stooped over in a gorilla-like fashion, and walked poutily up the two steps. People couldn't help but giggle, myself included, but when Ben heard this, he couldn't handle it, and he laid down on the platform--head on the stair he had just come up, body across the platform, feet on the first stair down. He was starting to cry, when his Daddy lifted him up and moved him to the side.

After the ceremony, I apologized for laughing, but said that I thought he was trying to be funny. I imitated how he had looked, and he started to giggle, too. Later, though, he told me that he "doesn't like to stand up in front of all those grown-ups." I guess he's pretty normal!

Friday, we went back to the waterpark. This time it was a hot, sunny day! We brought Ben's good friend, and we all had a marvelous time. Brianna was pretty nervous at first, but by the end of the day, she was dangling her cute little feet in the water and making contented sounds. She is such a doll. She is just full of life and fun! And she looked sooooo dang cute in her little swimsuit!

We went straight from the waterpark to Ben's five-year-old check-up where he got three shots. Not a fun ending to the day, but he did great and didn't cry at all. He is growing well, and the nurse practitioner was very impressed with his intelligence.

This has been a wonderful vacation so far! We have made great memories which I will treasure always!

If you actually read this whole post, award yourself 200 points. If you comment, award yourself another 50 points!

Mama said . . .

All before noon today:

"Ben, why is your floor covered in the dirty clothes that I've told you to pick up for the last three days?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I think you need to lose a priviledge for not picking them up like you were told."

"What priviledge?"

I thought I'd get him where it hurts here, "You may not go to sleep in my bed tonight."

"Oh. That's good. I wasn't even thinking of that. Thanks Mommy."

************************************************************************

After sending Ben to his room to clean it, I went to check on how things were going. Upon entering the room, I was hit with a distinct odor: bleach.

Now, if Ben were 15, I might be impressed at this smell when I've asked him to clean his room. But Ben is 5. And so, my heart skipped about three beats as I quickly scanned the room for the source. There it was: Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface cleaner.

With forced calmness I ask, "Ben, where did you --" just then, I step onto damp carpet. "--spray this?" I finish. "On the carpet??"

Ben shakes his head 'no' and points to his Playhut, with it's fabric walls and ceiling. Apparently my forced calmness didn't fool him, and he sensed that he might be in trouble. Indeed, the walls and ceiling of his Playhut had been thoroughly sprayed, which also meant that the carpet all around had received it's own dousing.

Together we scrubbed and dried the carpet and the Playhut


*********************************************************************

By now I was feeling the need for some positive diversion, and a large dose of chocolate. So, when Ben asked if we could make cookies, I heartily agreed.

He put in the butter and helped measure the sugar. He helped crack the eggs and add them. The mixer was happily mixing. Things were going well. We were happy.

Then, I raised the mixing blade part of my Kitchen Aid to add the dry ingredients. Ben reached up and turned it on. Yup, butter-sugar-egg-mixture all over my kitchen.

****************************************************************

And so, if James calls you tonight, wondering where his wife is, just tell him to follow the trail of cookie crumbs to the figure rocking manically in the corner.