A Peek at the New House

My niece, Kate, has repeatedly requested pictures of the new house.  So, here you go Kate.  This is just a taste of some of our favorite aspects:

A Panoramic view of the front of our home:

One view of the back of our home:

 The fire pit, deck, and flagstone patio:

The garden in the foreground, and the orchard in the back ground:

Even though we're well into summer, I love this picture from our deck, looking in our backyard:

The exercise room:

The theater room, note the popcorn maker:

This is the MOST. COMFORTABLE. CHAIR. in the world!!

So, there is a beautiful, generous kitchen, a generous playroom, a living room and family room,  and bedrooms and bathrooms, but if you want to see them, you better come visit! ;)

Remember me? I used to blog.

Remember when I used to post semi-regularly?  And sometimes I was even funny or insightful?  Those were the days, my friends.

So, .... What is up with you?  It's been so long since we visited.  I hope all is well in your world, and that all your loved ones are safe and healthy!
Us?  Well, let me see...

We now have an Elementary School Grad!  Bring on the middle-schooler tween!  5th grade was an incredible year for growth and maturing for Ben.  He is well-prepared to succeed in middle school!  It is delightful to converse with Ben.  If all "tweens" are as fun and creative and smart as Ben, then I don't know what all the fuss is about.

The Princess turns 7 this week!  She's not the least bit excited.  (Ha, ha!)  I asked her what kind of cake she wanted.  She said a flat chocolate cake (a Texas Sheet Cake).  I asked her what she wanted on it.  She thought for a moment, and then replied, "Hobbiton".  I guess we're raising her right, although, I have absolutely NO idea how to pull off that cake decor.

The fabulous, perfect dog we dearly love, passed away this last Wednesday in the wee hours of the morning.  :(   It was a sad and unpleasant discovery to find his cold, stiff body on my bedroom floor.  This took place while James was away for a week.  I wasn't sure that I could handle taking care of his body (Rascal's body, that is) or the sadness of myself and my children.  Then, I thought of the pioneers who woke to find their husband's or children frozen next to them, and had to bury them in the cold hard earth, and then walk away.  Honestly, I drew my strength and courage to do what had to be done from them.  Sounds silly to compare my situation to theirs, but in the moment, it seemed perfectly applicable.

James just spent his first week at girl's camp in his capacity as High Councilor over YW.  He loved it!  And, I'm pretty sure they loved him, and were incredibly grateful for his assistance.  He is such a fabulous man, and I'm so lucky to have him as my eternal companion!

Me? Hmm, I'm pretty boring.  In fact, whenever Ben says family prayer, the blessing he asks in my behalf is for help in doing the laundry.  I think he believes that's all I ever do.  He should pray for help for me in doing the dishes -- those are usually piled up.  Oh, well.  Besides doing the laundry, I am currently team-teaching the 5-6 year-old's at church.  It's not that big of a class in actual numbers, but--oh my!--in energy/activity/volume/tangent-creating level it's approximately equal to 2500 5-6 year olds!  But they are sweet!  And when we can get them to stay on topic, and to truly answer a gospel question, it is impressive the gospel knowledge that they do have in those amazing little minds.

We love our new home, and our yard, other than the weeds (aaaaah!  Curse the blasted weeds!!).  Our little orchard consists of 4 apple trees, 6 peach trees, 3 pear trees, and an unidentified (maybe plum) tree.  There is currently an open slot in the orchard, where our cherry tree didn't survive the winter.  Then, late frosts lost us most of our peaches.  And, tonight, I counted a total of four--that's 4, as in 1, 2, 3, 4--pears, between all three trees.  That's only one pear for each of us.  What's up with that??  But, our apple trees are bursting!  So, this fall, you know where to come for ripe-straight-off-the-tree apples!  And, we have a nice guest bedroom to accomodate you!

Well, that's enough about us, please tell us more about you!

Rainbow Chard Soup

Occasionally, I do something really smart.  Occasionally, I am a really good mom.  And, even more occasionally, I am both smart AND a really good mom.  Yesterday, I had one of those moments!  I took the kids to the grocery store with me after school, and set them loose in the produce department.  I let them pick out LOTS of fruits and veggies.  Our cart was so colorful, and they were so excited!
Then, we went home, and, while they devoured a bowl of fresh berries each, I used some of those yummy veggies to make some stew.  It turned out SO pretty and SO yummy!  And, the kids were excited to eat it, because THEY had chosen the veggies.  We all ate the yummy stew with some dark pumpernickle bread.
But, when I knew I had truly succeeded was this morning when Ben asked, are we having the same dinner tonight?  When I said "probably" he was SO happy!  That makes me happy!

Here's what I threw into the pot yesterday:

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/4 onions
4 garlic cloves
2 celery stalks
5-6 stalks of rainbow chard (this was so fun and colorful!  Pink, Orange, Red!)
2-3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup whipping cream (because it was in the fridge)
2/3 cup evaporated milk (because it was in the fridge)
chopped up ham
salt
Monterey Steak Seasoning

I sauteed the veggies, then added the chicken stock, whipping cream, evaporated milk, and ham and let it simmer on the stove for a couple of hours.

The one thing I would have changed is that I would have put in MORE veggies and less ham.  :)  Super Yummmy!

2013

This year I hope to:

Read:
Falling to Heaven, by James L. Ferrell
The Peacegiver, by James L. Ferrell
Bonds that Make Us Free, by C. Terry Warner
The Anatomy of Peace, by The Arbinger Institute
To Draw Closer to God, by Henry B. Eyring

Exercise:
30+ minutes per day, 4+ days per week, every week

Take time to:
Enjoy the small moments with my family and friends.
Be still.
Study Brazilian Portuguese.

Maybe:
Go to my birthplace, Western Samoa, to visit my parents on their mission.
Become a Foster Parent.

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Home!

So, ... we moved one month ago, today.  Who moves in December?  Only crazy people.  Who hosts the office Christmas party 8 days after moving?  Only crazy people.  Now that we've established that we are certifiably crazy, let me just say, "Whew!  That was intense!  Let's never move again!"
Many blessings came as a result of our insanity:
We were blessed to have amazing friends and ward members come and pack up our whole kitchen at the old house, and drive with all those boxes to the new house and completely unpack and settle the kitchen in one morning and afternoon!  (What a brilliant concept and enormous blessing!)
We were blessed to have a dear friend (adopted sister) come in and hang all our pictures for us!  (What a HUGE blessing!)
We were forced to settle the main area quickly, and decorate it for Christmas!  Which really was a blessing in disguise.

The party was a success!  After that, it was time to focus on Christmas!  We hit the Nutcracker and The Hobbit in one day!  (It was actually a huge deal that The Hobbit opened on the same night as the office party we were hosting!  We are glad that we made it to the movie the next day.  And, for the record, the Nutcracker tickets were purchased months in advance, before we had found a house, made an offer, or moved.  And, when they were purchased, there was no doubt in my mind that we would have already seen The Hobbit the night before!  So, I wasn't just crazily trying to pack everything into one day--even though other evidence points to insanity.)

We spent time unpacking boxes, and wrapping presents.  We were watched over by our Elf on the Shelf, Jimmy.  We attended our new ward, and found that Ben was the only boy in a Primary class of girls.  That was hard.  We prayed, and the next week, he found out that he had been in the wrong class, and had at least two other boys his age!  Cue the Alleluia Chorus!!  Brianna, of course, made instant friends!

Christmas was wonderful!  We were blessed, in that although James was on call, once he came home on Christmas Eve (a little after 7) he was not called out again until Christmas Day evening, so he was with us for Christmas Eve and most of Christmas day, and did not miss out on any of the essential stuff.

Then, we headed to Utah for the Crowley Christmas party later that week.  It was fun, as usual, to be with family.  The next morning, we attended the temple with my niece who received her endowment in preparation for her mission to Argentina.  Strangely, I could NOT keep my eyes open during the session, which I felt terrible about.  It's like maybe I was tired for some reason.
Following the temple, we headed home, with my wonderful parents, who are preparing to leave on their mission in March to Western Samoa, to serve in the Apia Temple.  (Yes, that IS where I was born!)  Well, in Apia, not in the temple.
And, since we were already decorated, we threw a New Year's Eve party!  Then went skiing to Aspen for two days with just our little family!
What a great month!  I hope yours was great as well, and I hope that you know that I'm grateful for you.  :)
Um, I'm going to bed now, don't wake me until February!

Never A Dull Moment

Brianna is so fun, and definitely one of a kind!

Brianna has her own sense of style that is as one-of-a-kind as she is.  This was our conversation while getting ready for school on Monday:
Me: Um, do you maybe have a pink shirt to go with that skirt?
Brianna: Nope!
Me:  Ok, I guess red might work.  But, do you think we could choose some different socks?  I mean, just because there's no blue anywhere else in your outfit?
Brianna:  That's the fun of it!

******

Brianna also has an issue with mixing up her words, or syllables within words.  She knows exactly what she means, and usually we can figure it out, but it's often hilarious.  Two recent examples:

Brianna: I know the devil's real name.  It's Christopher!"
Me: What?!  No!  It's not Christopher.
Brianna:  Yes.  It's Christopher, my primary teacher told me.
Me:  Oh!  No, honey, it's Lucifer, not Christopher.


Brianna:  I think I'm getting the Frank of this.
Me: I think you mean the HANG of this.
Brianna: Well I say the Frank of this!

Dream Castles

I just spent a delightful half hour or so snuggling with Brianna as she animatedly described her dream castle.  It was so fun to see her light up and hear the excitement in her voice with each new idea.  Here are some of the highlights of the tour of the castle and grounds.

• There are flowers pretty much everywhere, inside and out.  Roses, in particular were mentioned a great deal.
• There are no stairs, instead there is an elevator for going up, and a super fluffy and soft slide for going down.  When descending on the slide, you must take a golden stick with you, and as you descend, you have to stick the stick into holes at the different floors where you would like to get off.  Then, you send the golden stick back to the top via the small elevator just for sticks.  Were you to forget your stick, you would slide all the way down and end up in the pool.  
• In the pool, there are thousands of dolphins who let you ride on their backs.
• There is a restaurant, a theater, a game room, a drawing room, a library, a place to buy journals, a ball room, a necklace shop, and for people who are too poor, there is a sort of soup kitchen.
• Her teachers, doctors, cooks, etc. all live in the castle too.
• Outside, there are a lot of ponds and bridges, and trees with picnic benches.
• There is a fishing pool, where the fish will just come right up to your poles, and there are spanking things for the fish who don't.
• There is a farm for growing foods eaten in the castle.
• There are cows and sheep, but we don't kill them, unless there's no food and all the stores are empty.
• And, there's a place for daddy to hunt.

On the Way to Her BFF's

As I was driving Brianna and her best buddy to his house last week, I overheard them talking in the back:

B: I love your house!  It's like a castle!  Seriously, with all those bricks going up, up, up!
Q: I know, but it's not a castle, it's like a temple.
B: Ya, totally.
Q: Because castles always have that water around them, so that if someone's trying to get in, they just fall right in the water.
B: Ya, castles have the water that goes all around the outside.  So the guys go "la, la, la, AAaaaah!"
Q: Ya, that's what I just said.
B: Ya, and I would 'spect that they have sharks.
Q: Ya, sharks.
B: Or dolphins.
Q: No, not dolphins.  Dolphins don't eat people. Sharks do....  Or killer whales.
B: If I had a castle, I'd have dolphins in my water.

Olympic Dreams

Once school starts, this will be the first time, in a decade, that I will have both kids gone for a majority of each day.  Admittedly, I have felt somewhat lost, and have wondered what to do with the rest of my life.  I shared this with my mother, and she expressed that she was having similar feelings of her own.  My older sister just graduated from college, and is seeking a job, and my younger sister has been under-employed for a while now.
All of this was on my mind as I watched the olympics yesterday, and I think I've hit on some inspiration!  I have decided that the four of us should become the world's first synchronized tandem diving team!  Honestly, I can't believe that this hasn't been a sport yet, but I will totally use that to our advantage!  Think how the media will eat it up: four people, two generations from the same family, ranging in age from 35 to 70, deciding that it's never too late to follow your dreams!  We will inspire millions!
Now, there are some obstacles that we will have to overcome, but that just adds depth to the story, don't ya think?  Take me, for instance, I don't know how to swim, am terrified of heights, and I really dislike being seen in a swim suit.  We live in four different states, and three of us don't even have swimming pools (well, one of us has a pool as part of their HOA, and one of us has a 42" deep above ground pool)!  But those are the biographies that we find most inspiring-- when the athletes have to overcome insurmountable obstacles!
Now, while I'm trying to figure out how to break it to my younger sister, that we will all be moving in with her for the duration of our training, why don't you tell me what the Olympics has inspired YOU to do?

Happy Birthday James!!!

Happy Birthday to my dear, wonderful, amazing husband, lover, and Best Friend! You are my everything! I hope you know how much I love you and I hope this is a wonderful year for you!