TINY BUBBLES ... MAKE ME FEEL HAPPY, MAKE ME FEEL FINE

ALOHA!

The last Saturday of June is always the Luau. This year it was a new location, new time, new everything (pretty much) and of course, we found out the actual time about an hour before it actually started. I was just cracking up when she called Sari's class and the music started. The girls all looked at each other and started to dance, totally confused but mostly getting the song right. At the end of the song she said, "I apologize to the girls, they didn't know they were going to dance that song. It is from last year and I didn't tell them but I had a request for it so I thought I would start with that."

Usually Kuulei kills a pig (well, Garth does) and they cook it in the ground but this year hula has not been Kuulei's focus so she pulled the left over meat from LAST YEAR out of the freezer. No one got sick so I guess we lucked out. Ben was disappointed to not be able to help with the traditional way of preparing the pig. ("In the Hawaiian way, the Tongas make their pigs too salty". To quote, Kuulei, the Hawaiian. And no offense to my reader(s) who are married to (a) Tongan(s). That's just what she says and how she clarifies it.)

I'm just going to put in a bunch of pictures. You can see for yourself. The black and white or brown and white costumes are for the kahiko (sp?) dances, or ancient hula. The yellow and blue are for the awana or modern dances. (Thanks for the correction, Kim!)

There are not very many pictures of Rachel that I am going to post because most of the time she was being crowded by a large lady who looked like the guy Chevy Chase meets in jail ("I don't even know your name." "Bend Over." "Nice to meet you Ben, Victor Hugo ... You shouldn't wear too much eye makeup, makes you look cheap ...") Anyway, one complaint is that not very many people want to watch overweight, middle age, white women dance hula poorly. But since they are Kuulei's bread and butter (so to speak) she caters to them and they are slowly taking over more and more of the program. I would rather see the keikis dance!

So, Rachel and Erica were totally off but I put this picture in anyway so you could see everyone's tapa cloth. If I had known I could just go to Michaels and get a stamp ... gees, think of the hours saved. Of course, it wouldn't have looked much like tapa so I wouldn't have been able to do that.

The girls were dancing in a new place and half of them were at Girls Camp for the dress rehearsal, as a result Emma and Sari danced cheek to cheek almost every time because they didn't know their mark. Also, usually Kuulei puts little rugs (okay, I do it) out so they will know, but she (me, I stayed clear of all details) didn't this year.

Watching the Luau - Larry, Matthew, Ben, and Clayton. Haha. It was hot and humid, thank goodness we brought our own water cooler and although we were in the very very back, at least we were in the shade.

Another great candid shot that my mom is going to kill me for posting! (Love you, Mom and Dad, thanks for coming all the way up to eat year-old pig and see your granddaughters dance!)

After the Luau we headed to our own backyard for pictures. Rachel and Sari were incorrigible (but cute) and without their implements or greenery.

And then goofing off after the Luau ... we stayed up until 1 a.m. playing dominoes with Clayton and Grandma and Grandpa. The pictures are blurry but we were all laughing so hard it would have been difficult holding still.

Here's one conversation snippet, after my mom blocked my dad:
Gpa: "Well, Dear, looks like you want cold feet tonight."
Larry to my dad: "'Cause you will be on the couch." Pause "But Ben will be warm." (Ben gave up his bedroom to Grandma and Grandpa so he is sleeping on the couch.)

Ben gives his Grandma some love.

Sari cracking up at Ben because he was trying to show us his owie on his tummy. Nice mess in the garage, I know.

And finally, my bruised arm. Wicked awesome isn't it? It is all boggy and when I move it I can feel ... jello-y type stuff slosh around inside. Puke! (And clearly, I am at the age where Botox would do me some good!)

CONGRATS TO SEESTOR DEWITT aka ELIZABETH

CONGRATULATIONS ELIZABETH! You are the lucky winner!

Looks like this contest prize is going to have to ROCK because Elizabeth is one of the craftiest people I know. Consolation prices will be going to Jason and Trina and Kim for being extra creative in their replies.

For the skeptics, here are details:

I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS and MOM AND DAUGHTER GIRLS' CAMP

This is crunch week. The week before the Luau is always crazy and I thought I was out of trouble this year because Kuulei said everyone could recycle their costumes.

Except they couldn't. Turns out girls (and women) grow.

Yesterday I had to sew three dresses and two sashes, AND paint Rachel's skirt. I stayed up until 2:30 on Tuesday night, then got up at 07:00 on Wednesday (yesterday) and sewed all day.

This is how I painted the fabric for Rachel's skirt. These squares are eight inches and I painted THIRTY of them!!! That is SIX YARDS! Now I have to wait for it to cure and then sew it into a skirt that looks somthing like this: and I have to sew Rachel a sash too.

Three dresses that I had to make this week are like these orange and red ones (top for the orange, bottom for the red behind Rachel). They all have to be fitted to the person wearing them. They take just about 4 - 5 hours to sew. The other one was a blue mu'umu'u like shown in the top picture. (And I think I sewed nearly every costume (except the ugly or wrongly made ones) in these pictures, by the way.)

I survived yesterday, thanks to my friends: Julie (pictured with her daughter, Courtney at Girls' Camp) took my three little boys to see "Horton Hears A Hoo".

Charmaine (pictured with her daughter, Journey, Sari's BFF) went to WalMart and picked up seven yards of eyelet for me (You know how it is so hard to STOP what you are doing to go pick up one more thing).

Larry fixed dinner and did dishes. He took the boys to Fred Meyer and got the grocery list of food I need to make Rachel and Sari their requested lunch for Girls Camp today.

Ben watched his little brothers and helped with anything I asked him. He hasn't complained even once.

The little boys played outside as much as they could. It has helped that we have backhoes and stuff in the neighbor's backyard digging the pool (and digging up or burying thousands of dollars in plants).

Today, Thursday, was Mother Daughter Lunch at Girls' Camp. These pictures are for those who used to be in my Ward and would lilke to see what people look like now. Oh, this is a DREADFUL picture of Karen. She does NOT look anything like that! She is spry and darling as ever!

It must be noted to Brenda (YW Pres) knows how to camp. She makes an excellent kitchen area.

My girls requested Utah's chicken salad for lunch. It IS yummy! Ben and I spent the morning cutting grapes, apples, pineapple, green onions, and celery. Larry wrote notes for the girls to read. When I gave Rachel her's she said, "This is not the only note I've received this week." Turns out SOMEONE had "protect the camp" duty over the weekend and made a note a day for Rachel to read. Larry felt like he was outshined. So sad to be the dad of a teenage girl with a sweetie. Anyway, lunch was so fun!

Sari is too cute for words. I can't believe that she is almost 12! I love their camp shirts this year. (Sari is wearing hers).

Rachel, as a YCL, has a pink one and a DARLING brown hoodie. Rachel LOVES camp this year! I didn't see any overalls, but the girls all brought them.

On the way down from the parking lot, you can take the switch backs, or go straight down this hill. Of course, we chose to go straight down the hill. With coolers, chairs, cameras, etc. on us, we were loaded like Sherpas.

I went up to Zion's Camp with Julie and Charmaine and I have a great story! It is hilarious - so don't drink water while reading it. (Don't you hate it when you start a story with "this is hilarious" and then you have all kinds of pressure to make it great.)

We were headed down the hill, with the above listed things AND nine milkshakes from "THE RAM" (Think "Grannys" in Heber City, Utah). Julie was in front, then me, then Charmaine. We were about where the girls are in the picture above, when I watched in horror as my ankle rolled over a rock and I landed on my knee. (this is where it gets funny) Then the cooler, which I had slung over my back (the wheels on the bottom were useless for this adventure) fell down and hit me in the back and knocked me ON MY FACE, head down the hill! Julie and Charmaine were very nice and were worried about me. I was so embarrassed but immediately started making jokes like, "I hope someone recorded that. It would be perfect for youtube" and such things. (Psychology here - it helps to MAKE people laugh when you know they want to laugh anyway, that way you are still in control -see?). Two young women from River Ridge Ward came running up to see if we needed help.(Yes, but not the kind of help they are trained for.) Two milkshakes did NOT survive the crash and I am sorry to say one of them was Huckleberry. After lunch, on our way back to the car, we reenacted the fall:

We loved doing this! We are dorks, I know! For the reenactment, I laid down more sideways than the original fall because the points of impact were tender.

Okay, so it looked better (or worse) before I cleaned the blood up, it was totally running down my leg. And though my ankle didn't hurt when it first happened, it has since swollen up and is VERY stiff. My other knee has a wicked awesome bruise. I will post more pictures, if it gets any better (worse) looking.

When I got home I showed Ben my arm and he took this picture. Nice bump, eh? I am proud of it. It looks like I could have a break there but it doesn't hurt enough to. Also, that is bruising, not dirt! I think it is going to look really cool. (If you've read previous posts, like this one, you know my family takes perverse pleasure in this type of thing.)

Back to the Camp and the fall: After we were done laughing ourselves silly with the reenactment (while the young women of Brentwood cheered us from below and chanted "SisTA Sant SisTA Sant"), we were making our way back to the car when, I kid you not, Charmaine tripped on a dirt clod! We reenacted that too:

At this point, we were laughing so hard we could hardly stand up. Julie was the last one standing and never did fall. This is her by her Suburban, pointing to her "man-sized feet". Her words, not mine, but she claims their size is why she did not fall.

You'll just have to believe me when I say, it was hilarious and I feel very grateful to have friends who will laugh and be silly with me.

Oh, Daniel also had a pack meeting on Tuesday and got about six pins and nine belt loops for Webelos. Chris Frost is cub master.

Don't forget - tomorrow I draw for the new prize! Comment here.

Wii LOVE ROCKBAND!

I think that you won't be seeing much of me for a while and it isn't the four dresses for the luau that I have to have sewn by Thursday, either. It is our new favorite game. Wii were going to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for the "We Survived Another School Year" celebration and instead (and for the same price) got this:

Yeah, it's that good. Even Larry likes it.

As you can see there are some extra kids in the picture. We had the Stokers over for Family Home Evening tonight. The lesson was on Pioneers and we made handcarts out of marshmallows, graham crackers, and frosting. We also played Pioneer Games, like the stick pull, hide the thimble, and leg wrestling. Here are some more pictures of our fun:

Ben (hat) and Austin were evenly matched in the leg wrestling. In the stick pull Ben took him out easily. The best stick pull was Larry and Ken Stoker, it was a draw. Both "joked" of newly acquired hernias.

Mikayla just got right in there and leg wrestled Daniel. She beat him two out of three. You go girl! She also plays a mean drums on Rock Band.

Joseph (gray shirt) and Tanner are the same age and same build and they had a great time playing these games! They were evenly matched on the stick pull and on the leg wrestle.

Instead of getting a good night sleep, I stayed up until the wii hours of the morning unlocking songs with Ben and Daniel on Rock Band. It was great bonding time, especially when wii all worked together to try to get five stars. Wii had a blast!

Our first five stars on "Dirty Little Secret". Daniel was on vocals, Ben guitar, and yours truly rocked the drums. (Bad picture - priceless memory).

Don't forget to comment appropriately in the contest a couple of posts down! Or click here.

LAKE DAY! Weekend Update and some business regarding the contest

There have been questions - the contest is still open, I will write down all the qualifying people on FRIDAY. Some of you commented but didn't qualify. Why? If you haven't entered yet, scroll down to the previous post and read what you have to do.

Okay, now to the topic of the post - LAKE DAY!

The only thing better than having your own lake house would be having a friend who has a lake house! For several years now we have had a lake day tradition, where every Friday we go to Long Lake and the Pugh's house there. This week was small - just us, the Kwons, and Jan and Ben Pugh. We also brought up Jake Grover.

Matthew was cautious around the water, but wore his life jacket anyway. It's my rule for when the kids are on the dock.

The three little boys working on their mud castle. The water is still really low and it is SUPER COLD!

The cold didn't deter Daniel and Joseph at all.

The Pughs have the most incredible rope swing in their yard! The kids love it! This gave me a heart attack but I didn't want to break the brother bonding going on.

This is our Ben, Ben Pugh, and Jake Grover playing by the water.

I got to play with Grace Kwon! How cute is she? I adore these babies!

Here is Kaelyn Kwon with her mom, Hye Sean. Two pretty girls!

Unrelated to the LAKE DAY would be that the microclimate around our house is changing this morning. Our new neighbors are putting in a pool (and a fence) and so they are cutting down a bunch of their trees. They would rather have a sunny backyard than trees. Look in the bottom left to see the men pulling the tree.

And the trees came tumbling down! This one narrowly missed the deck. We heard them give the guy a bad time for chinking it wrong. Our family room is a lot brighter now. We didn't realize all the shade their trees gave us.

Good thing we are planning to put in a couple of fruit trees and at least one shade tree in the front yard. One reason I loved this neighborhood was all the trees. We did let him cut down a tree in our yard. We hope we get the wood (like he promised) for our future wood stove and to make some cool seating around our future fire pit.

Our tree before:

During:

There she goes!

Ka-thump!! A similar sound was made when I tripped on a book last week and fell hard on my knees - and broke a nail.

Kinda sad:

In other news - Larry survived his first dry-councilman talk. I went and watched him. He did great. He received several heartfelt compliments.

Rachel and Sari are off at Girl's Camp and won't be back until FRIDAY! I'm stuck at home with a bunch of BOYS!!! Help!!

At Bookclub I was told that my "problem" is that I "think too much about the books you read" and that I should just read for pleasure. I do read for pleasure and sometimes I THINK for pleasure too. This same person did not partake of the Crack Cookies (Pecan Cookie Bars - recipe soon to be posted) so I will take her input with a heaping Tablespoon of salt.

The next book is my pick. I chose:

"SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!" (and a contest)

The last day of school, Sari dressed up as a kindergartener, complete with her hair in curly piggies. She wore her kindergarten art shirt to school. In this picture you can see Joseph with his new one and Sari in her old one.

Joseph's last day of kindergarten! We will see Mrs. McGonigal again in two years for Matthew.

Sari visited the middle school and was so excited to learn that her new group will be "Explorers", the same group both Rachel and Ben had when they were in 7th grade. We are very happy, too! We know all the teachers and what to expect.

These pictures are Sari with her friends - one is Charli (Sherralyn) and Courtney (with the orange hair). Why is her hair orange? No one knows. Not even her.

Rachel spent the last day of school at Silverwood with her friends. This is her and Mega-phone.

Ben went to school to get the 100 points his English teacher was giving.

You might be wondering why Ben is smiling when he is usually rather crusty. Well, if you look closely, you can see poor little Matthew* being smushed by Ben. I believe that is the reason for the smile. Also, he is (finally!) outgrowing his crusty age.

I sewed this fabulously sturdy (and unfortunately light colored tote). It said, "Homeschooling Mom of Five Who Is Also Stake Primary President" to me.

I tried a new apron pattern, it looked better on the envelope, but I shall survive. Sari has it pulled funky.

Thank goodness it has FINALLY warmed up here! I absolutely love the chalk in the driveway. Really, I do! I have friends who won't let their kids do this but I think it is just summer fun at it's very, very best!

Last of all, anyone who can work the name of the band who sings the song that is the title of this post into their comment will be entered into a drawing for something a little fun.

*No Matthews were harmed in the making of that photo.

FATHER'S DAY

Read here to see my touching tribute to Larry (and someday I REALLY will post about my dad who also celebrated a birthday in May, but didn't qualify for the brother post.)

Actual Father's Day, after church looked like this:

Yep, that poor old beast of burden, our Suburban died again. USAA came and we finally got home about 6:30. I made Larry his requested dinner of Stroganoff and all was mostly well.

From left to right in the photo - Tracy Grover, Levi Liljenquist, Tracy O'Donnal, and Larry in the suit.

PS, We got our car back on Tuesday. The verdict - the battery cables had broken.

I LIVE AT FARTSWELL SMELLEMENTARY

Every year Farwell Elementary spends the last two weeks of school stressing out parents with field trips, huge projects, lunch with the kids, talent shows, and (new this year!!!) 6th grade graduation.

Let's start with LUNCH WITH YOUR KID! What fun!! Unless you have three in the school and it SNOWS that day - then you are frantically running back and forth between classrooms to get quality time in with all the kids and their friends.

Nick, Daniel, Wyatt (my field trip experience has taught me that Wyatt is a little poopie but his coloring reminds me so much of my brother, Jason, that I put up with him.), Joseph and Matthew. As tempting as it was to enjoy the grayish-green burgers they bbq'ed for the kids, we brought Carl's Jr. (yes, I prostituted my integrity and went there - I had previously sworn them off because of their pornographic commercials - but I was in a hurry.)

TALENT SHOW - mercifully, this year it was held just one hour after the lunch. Matthew and I hung out in the gym until it started. Bad lighting and my small camera - but at least I have proof that I was there! Sari is the one on the far left, as you are looking at the computer. Then Molly is in the middle, and Emma on the right. You can see Kuulei's silhouette. She is a dedicated teacher!

The girls did a fantastic job!

Joseph was the ONLY kid in his kindergarten class to not start school already reading (besides the two kids who didn't speak English). That was good news for us! Because they take the "lowest" three kids in the class, Joseph gets to join the summer reading camp. Every other week or so this summer, he goes to reading camp for a few hours and he gets ten new books each time. Of course, I had to go to the school one night to be taught how to make text connections with my child. (I could have taught the class by now.) But I figured it was worth the one hour inconvenience. And by the way, I think Joseph reads just fine for a kindergartener going into 1st grade. (Most four letter words - NOT those four letter words! This is a family blog!) But this just proves that I am a book slut and will do almost anything to get one.

6th GRADE GRADUATION.

At first, I was like, 6th grade graduation? Big deal!! But then I looked at the report cards of a few of my OTHER kids (not Sari - she has straight A's) and I thought, well, this may be the only graduation we get! Still, I did not go all out like some parents. We didn't buy her flowers or gifts, we didn't even get her siblings out of school to see her. I may regret it someday, I know.

Sari sang a duet in the 6th grade song. She sounded lovely!

Afterwards, we took lots of pictures! Sari has gone to this school for seven years! This is the longest we have lived anywhere, and the longest that I have lived in one place. Here we are, beaming with pride for Sari's graduation! We ARE very proud of Sari. She is super responsible, always does her homework on time, and she gets to skip up a level in Math next year.

Mr. Bontrager, Sari's teacher this year, Mrs. Stauffenberg also taught 6th this year, she was Sari's kindergarten teacher, and Cindy Purdue (6th grade teacher this year) was Sari's 3rd grade teacher! Mrs. Himley, in the cow shirt was her 4th grade teacher. I think it is fabulous that she has been able to build a relationship with all of these teachers.

Mrs. Crouch was Sari's first and second grade teacher. She was super tough, but Sari thrived. She is also the person behind the phrase "Mrs. Crouch pants". She is an older lady and wears her elastic waist pants snuggly under her bosoms. One day Sari was trying on pants in the store and when she came out of the dressing room she exclaimed, "These look like Mrs. Crouch pants!" I believe she was in the first grade when she made this observation. Fashion diva. The second picture is of Brig Jackman, choir teacher extraordinare! We just love her kind soul.

Sari going through the line, first shaking Christine Larsen's hand (social worker and Saint, trying to rehabilitate the mean girls - I am sure she was celebrating afterwards!) And then Mrs. Aubrey, the PE teacher.

Sari was one of three students out of all the 6th graders in the school asked to give a speech. They all had to write a paper that started with "I Believe" and then finish it. We didn't even know about it until Sari told us that she had been selected. We didn't help with one word.

Here it is, live and in person, or you can read it at the end of this post.

After the graduation I had several people come up and tell me, some with tears, how much Sari's talk impacted them.

I must confess to a moment of near gloating, but I squelched it. A parent sitting in front of me turned to me before graduation and said, "OHHHHH, Sari's talk won? Well that figures, Ryan's talk was about his dad's conversion to the church. (she's Mormon, too) It was really profound but religious so they didn't pick it. But I am sure Sari will do fine." Well, Sari's talk ROCKED and she was by far the best one of the three. (IMHO - and not that it was a competition anyway.)

Last but not least Matthew's eyes turned BROWN!!! Up to Thursday, they were green. Freaky. Also, he announced that he wanted his named changed to "Matt".

Sari's talk - I BELIEVE THAT MIRACLES DO HAPPEN
On December 2, 1997 my little brother Daniel was born. The doctor had to use the forceps during the birth process. He was not being very careful and he cracked Daniel's skull. The doctor said that he would most likely not make it. As soon as possible my dad gave him a blessing so he would get better and live. It took awhile and a lot of physical therapy, but Daniel made it. He may have a little bit of trouble in some subjects and sometimes he may tend to get a little bit sensitive, but other than that he is perfectly normal. Daniel has always been the peacemaker in my family. Without him we would be a house full of chaos when the parents are gone. It is a huge miracle that he lived and is still here today. Sometimes people are mean to him about how he acts or what he does, but I am just happy he is here. A chinese proverb says "the miracle is not to fly in the air or walk on water, but to walk on earth". I really respect this quote because it describes my outlook on the whole world. I am glad that I came across this quote because it reminds me to be thankful to live. Today I look at this world saying Miracles do happen. I am grateful for what I have and happy with everything that I do. You could ask me if I would change my life right now and I would say, "No. I would not change it for the world." I hope that someday you can say that too.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

The following is a transcript of an ongoing email between my family members: (edited for non-relevant detail)
MOM: Hi to all, Just a quick note to let you know that Jon was diving for a Frisbee at scout camp and hit the dirt. (I am not sure if he caught the Frisbee or not.) Anyway, he broke his clavicle in two places meaning the middle piece was just there - wherever it wanted to be - and even the non-medical people around could see it was broken (Skin poking out, etc.). He is having surgery tomorrow (Friday the 13th) to put a plate on the clavicle from one end to the other, and to stabilize the middle bone.

Snookie: Not to be insensitive, but ... did he catch the Frisbee???

Teilani: Not to be double insensitive, but... I'm voting that he was at camp for approx 1 hour before this happened. Anyone else in???

Tif: Well not to be triple insensitive, but did it draw blood, did he lose his shorts, or catch a fish in his mouth? Otherwise, not a 10. We are very strict about the rules.

(LONG LONG ago we developed a set of rules for scoring injuries received , primarily regarding watersports, but it applies to pretty much everything now.)

Teilani: I agree with Tif, but didn't we say that if you break a bone it's an auto 10? So, not to be quadruple insensitive, but did the bone puncture the skin? I don't think we have rules for internal bleeding, out of sight, out of mind...so, probably by default; it could be a 10...

Mom: I think any injury requiring surgery defaults to a 10. Jon did say when he saw the skin poking out he immediately laid down - this was a wise decision on his part as I remember Dr. Austin used to always start him out on his back if he was doing any kind of procedure on him as that is where he would end up anyway.

Tif: It sounds like we need to amend the family rules to include things that need surgery. I think internal bleeding should ONLY count if it requires surgery, or if it is a SEVERE concussion. None of this namby-pamby mild concussion stuff. And the most important question remains - did he or did he not catch the Frisbee? Also, any pictures of the protruding bone or pushed out skin? I will say this for Jon, when he does something; he goes all the way with it. He doesn't just break his clavicle, he breaks it free. He is an inspiration and example to all of us.

Snookie: Someone needs to forward this to him so that today when he is outta surgery and on Percocet he can have a great laugh...
As insensitive as it is.
:D

Jon: Missed the Frisbee

Not a graceful fall

Bonus for getting up right away

No blood on the outside.

Total score = 7

Snookie: I'm so sorry, maybe next time.

Tif: Bummer. Good luck next time. I think you are a little hard on yourself, I vote that you scored at least an 8.5 based on injury received.

Snookie: Fine fine, I'll go with an 8. How’s that? ;)

(At this point I wonder what Snookie is taking because he is not a “make-a-face-with-punctuation-keys” guy.)

Jason: There are some things you are overlooking in the story. I want to know how long into the camp Jon was. Here are my observations. First, there was never any doubt that it wasn't graceful, hence the reason no one asked that. Second, of course he missed the Frisbee. If he had caught it then everyone he told would have heard that he caught it and mom said she didn't know. He said he got up right away and that there was no blood on the outside, uh duh, this from the guy who needed to lay down to have his blood drawn. I think he certainly would not have been right up if there had been puncture. Finally, the largest contributing factor to the score in my opinion is the lameness of the activity involved. If he had been playing rugby with some polys or rock climbing or something of that nature than I would agree with the 7. That is tough. However playing Frisbee...that automatically bumps it to a 10. You have to give props where they are due, to play a game of Frisbee and end up breaking a collar bone, in surgery and then hospital stay is extremely unusual therefore with that in mind it has to be 10. The only thing more lame would have been popping an eyeball out playing foosball.

Teilani: Like I asked, on the 2ND QUESTION:::::: How long were you at camp? I'm voting you were there for an hour. This is Jon we are talking about. He jumps right into everything. I think by default it is a 10. Frisbee, kind of lame. No one catches Frisbees except dogs. So I don't think the sport itself warrants a 10, but breaking a bone playing Frisbee definitely does. It's a lame activity, (sport) whatever. And if you don't want the rest of your meds, my neighbor will buy them from you...just an idea to make a little extra cash. It could pay for a tent.

Jon: I was there 3 days. The game was ultimate Frisbee so there was a little competition involved. And the surgeon said my bone was broken into 4 pieces not 3. I'm now the proud owner of a titanium plate with several screws. I had my first percocets!!! WOW!!!!

Teilani: Frisbee...$.30...
Your first percocet??$30. (Impressive...)
Your first titanium plate...priceless.
ESPECIALLY since this is the first in the family! You beat Destry. Now that's impressive. Hope you feel better soon, and I'd make up a better story than the Frisbee to tell people.
Something good, like I said, Frisbee, kinda lame...

CONFLICTED and sad

If you are looking for cheer or funny, step away from this post.

What? You're still here? Okay, just remember, you could have left ... (I would have)

Monday night I read this book. I have felt compelled to read it for the past month or so and I am not sure why. It was so sad and so .... hopeless. Conflicted, I am also glad I read it, but wow ... drugs suck! Basically, this man and his family have lost their son over and over and over.

I finished this book and went to the computer to read my email. I had received an email from my mom that said my cousin Doug and his wife had lost their beautiful boy earlier that day. Daxton was found in his crib, with the blinds' cord around his neck. Doug and Brittany were out of town. My heart breaks for their family. We are not super close, age difference, distance in growing up, etc. I believe Larry knows Doug better than I do because he was Larry's TA once at BYU, but family heartbreak is family heartbreak and it goes through the generations and cousins like an earthquake.

Daxton Douglas Kunz

I do know this about Doug and Brittany, they are amazing! Their oldest daughter has Russell Silver Syndrome, Brittany got her RNA while pregnant with Daxton and before that she ran races to earn money for RSS. I adore Doug's parents, my aunt Ranae and uncle Ryan. They have raised ALL remarkable children and have the biggest hearts. Also, I had the HUGEST crush on Ryan when he married Ranae. It was the rosy cheeks - Doug and Daxton have them, too.

So, Monday night was pretty hard, I was up until 3:30 in the morning while Rachel finished her project. Since then I have thought (obsessed) about those two "beautiful boys".

And this is my conflict and it sounds horrible, I know - I may believe that there is something worse than your baby returning to our Heavenly Father and Jesus and being perfect and exalted and someday welcoming you back Home.

I've been hugging my babies a little longer and looking more deeply into their eyes. Having who we love with us is such a gift.

ALL BECAUSE TWO PEOPLE FELL IN LOVE

This weekend we went to Richland for Larry's parents' 50th wedding anniversary celebration!

When Mom and Dad Sant got married a stamp was only 3 cents! A new house cost $12,000 and the average annual salary was $4,600.00. A gallon of gas cost ... wait for it ... TWENTY FIVE CENTS!!! The hula hoop was introduced that fine year! "My Fair Lady" was on Broadway and "Bridge Over The River Kwai" was the number one movie. Alaska became the 49th state.

Back to 2008, when we got to town, Friday night, a few of us headed over to Double Dragon in Kennewick for LEMON CHICKEN!

The lemon chicken people are Steve and Kaelynn (pictured with three of their kids) and Linda and Jean. I LOVE lemon chicken! So yummy! And the owner remembers us and that we drive down from Spokane for their food. It really is very, very good!

Saturday morning we had pictures at the Church:

This is Larry's parents and their eight children: Cheryl, Linda, Larry, Steven, Michael, Howard, Kathryn, and Jean.

Yeah, that's a lot of people - and that isn't even everybody! Missing in action - Cara, Bruce and Katie from the Coltons, Robert, Daniel, Andrea, and Sariah from the Rhotens, and Gary, Jenessa, and Joshua from Howard's family.

We even got a little family picture. Joseph and Matthew just spontaneously hugged like that. I love it! You can tell that Ben and I were suffering from allergies because of how swollen our eyes are. That comes from both the Hathaway and Harding side of the family.

I LOVE this picture of Grandpa with the Grandsons and Great-Grandsons. (Missing Daniel, Robert, Remington, Bruce, Gary, and Joshua.) The photographer also took a picture of Grandma and the Granddaughters but it wasn't on the CD I got. Hopefully it exists and I will get a copy.

Also in town for the celebration were Mom Sant's brothers - Valdon and Larry, with their wives Carolyn and Barbara. My kids ADORE Larry and Barbara. They don't know Valdon and Carolyn very well but they are very nice and sincere people.

After pictures we had lunch. The little boys were about to eat their arms, they were so hungry!

Food at last!

Then we had a program. The Sants have a lot of talent in their family.

The Balero girls and our girls sang, "I Am A Child of God".

There was a mix up about whether or not Rachel and Sari were supposed to do a hula. I wish I had known that they were still supposed to, it would have been very easy for them to do.

Lance played "Moonriver" on his saxophone while a Volmer-Merkley girl (Kayla?) accompanied him. I love that song. I remember my dad playing it on the 8 track in our livingroom.

Valdon, who is Mom Sant's younger brother, played a song from the 50's also. I didn't know that he could play too. I wonder if Uncle Larry took lessons?

Howard and Jennifer's kids sang "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". They are doubly genetically blessed musically and they did a great job.

Kathryn put all the grandkids' names into the song, "A Few of My Favorite Things". It was cute.

Kathryn quilted this beautiful quilt and we signed the card. Hmmm ... I think we lucked out!

I don't have a picture of this, but Michael and Rayleen made the most amazing video for the reception! I just loved and I can hardly wait to get a copy of it. I am sure that our kids will wear it out watching it over and over and over again.

I guess that when Larry was little their family liked to play "Fruit Basket" after Family Home Evening. So we played a lot of fruit basket. A lot. It was fun!

This is just a small sampling. Kathryn had a craft of a name board.

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Jean did magnetic bookmarks, and everyone just enjoyed each other's company. Larry was very proud of himself for correctly guessing the amount of candy in two of the six bottles. He won PeanutButter cups which Karen, Rachel, and I consumed in less than 10 minutes while in the Mother's Lounge. Larry won Remington's heart by feeding him the fish that were in the other jar.

Katie, Christa, and Sari were pretty much inseparable! How fun to have cousins your own age. (I wouldn't know but it sure looks fun.)

Are these boys about the cutest things? Kevin, Nick, Joseph, and Matthew LOVED the stage. They tried REALLY hard to just sit there and not play with the stuff, but that didn't work out for them. They had to come down.

We were at the church all day, but there was some time for some rest (okay, not for Kathryn, but I think almost everyone else did). Larry took all the kids who were at the church to Dairy Queen for dinner. He liked being able to do that.

Dono and Randy take a break from their duties.

Don't they look cozy? Karen and her niece Lilly and Larry and Matthew. Yes, Larry really can sleep like that! And so can Matthew.

Saturday night we had an Open House for Mom and Dad.

The granddaughters wore their aprons. That is what the seven polka dot aprons that I made were for. I didn't take any pictures during the open house because I spent most of the time catching up with SaraSara (okay, her name is Sara, but I call her SaraSara. I don't know why), her cute husband Nick, and Karen, Sara's sister. Aren't they beautiful? I had a great time talking to them. Thanks guys!

Sara and her husband and two of her kids. I can NOT believe that this is about the only picture I have of Sara and she isn't even smiling her fabulous smile! Anyway, here is my favorite story about Sara - I met her when she was about six and she was beautiful then, too. I said to her, "You are a very pretty girl, Sara." She said, "Thanks, but I hope that I am also nice because pretty doesn't last but nice does." She won my heart! I still love her.

And this hottie is my niece, Karen. Those Sant genes are not at all dominant, are they?

I watched Larry make the rounds and he seemed to have a good time catching up with everyone. He had a small middle age trauma when he heard that one of his classmates is a grandpa already. Breathe deep and slow, Larry. Other than that, it seemed like there was a ton of people who came in and Larry got to do a lot of remembering.

After church on Sunday, I tortured our children with more picture taking.

This picture I took on accident and I actually love it.

We ate more food at Kathryn's house and then grilled (verbally, not actually) Julie's new fiancee and that was too fun. We stayed later than we planned, but had a great time! Thanks, Linda and Dono for putting us up and Kathryn for your party planning!

MANITO PARK kindergarten field trip. It happened in the Conservatory, with a shoe, by Mrs. Sant

Today I went with Joseph's kindergarten class to the beautiful Manito Park for their annual field trip. I was very happy to have the opportunity to go. I am grateful that my friend Julie watched Matthew all day for me. I like to help in my kids' classrooms (with non-child interacting activities) and I like to be there. Let's face it, no one else watches your kid the way you do.

Here's the thing - I don't like field trips! The bus, the noise, the dirty grimy hands, the little people everywhere, I could go on and on. If I were a drinkin' woman, I'd be flying four sheets to the wind before we left the driveway of the school yard.

Some highlights from this year's trip - I accidentally stepped on a mouse in the Conservatory AND killed it! I smashed my finger in the window of a bus and broke my nail in half across the middle of it, the owie part (nail bed?), there was so much goose dooky around the pond, you could barely walk. I sliced my middle finger in a freaky way and it bled a lot and got on my hoodie. Last but not least, a sweet boy in Joseph's class forgot his lunch so I gave him mine. Of course a 5 year old needs sustenance more than I do, and I was happy to give it to him, it was just one more thing.

Also, I am out of checks. What??? How did this happen? I have no idea. I swear the last time I reached in the box there were more.

Back to pretty flowers and happiness - here are some pictures of our FUN day!!

In the Conservatory, before the unfortunate mouse incident. Joseph and his friend, Bryce. Joseph is pretending the cactus poked him.


This pretty flower was about 5 feet away from the mouse incident. I want to blow this up, like 3 feet square and hang it in Sari's bedroom. She would LOVE it.

After the Conservatory, the boys rolled down the hill. They did not lose their breakfasts. Bonus.

In the Japanese Gardens, with Mrs. McGonigal looking over their shoulders. They were counting how many ginormous koi fish they could see.

Joseph and I by the pagoda and the waterfall. Us and the chick behind us were THE ONLY PEOPLE in the garden area and she just followed us like magnets. Hello. It's a big park, go somewhere else.

Today was a photographers' paradise. It was cloudy, so there was lots of diffused light. I spent my time chasing little boys.

Joseph and some classmates watch the Mama duck and her ducklings. There were two more right under Joseph's head. You aren't supposed to feed the ducks at this park because they want them to stay wild and able to care for themselves.

Finally, this is the apron I made today.

Contest winner gift - and some pictures of aprons

I mentioned in my weekly update that I made seven aprons. Here are a couple of pictures. They are both made from patterns I purchased. The first apron is called the Emmeline apron. I can hardly wait until her Lola apron pattern comes out! I will be all over that! The second pattern is just a McCall's.

This little honey is the gift UTAH won the drawing of the 100th post.


Yes, it IS reversible!!

I know, I know, I love it too!!

I can hardly wait to make some more! I think next time I will add pockets (too late now) so that it can be a crafter's apron, too. I also figured out how to make it for a woman who is larger than a size 8.

Larry says it will fit Heber, just right! Rachel didn't want her face in the picture. Silly girl.

Last but not least... the apron I made for Sari ...

Okay, so I made quite a few ... I love the rainbow of colors - and yes, these are all reversible, also. (Same color on the other side.)

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Questions about the brothers answered

Jon, the oldest brother is an OB/GYN. This is him and my sister at my Grandma Harding's funeral a few years ago. If you click on the picture and look at it big, you can see Jon has drawn the female reproductive organs and is explaining something to Teilani - maybe how IUDs work? That's my family for you - body functions anytime, anywhere. Oh, and I think we may have learned that Jon does not like green beans - check out his plate.

Jason (pictured with Joseph) is the middle brother and he is the police detective/helicopter pilot. Right now he is with the Coast Guard, but he has also flown Apaches for the Army and was a Marine to start with. He is still a detective in Salt Lake City where he was known far and wide for being able to find stolen cars AND (this is what I am most proud of) being an excellent undercover guy. (Here is where Larry makes some slightly off color jokes about Jason being excellent under the covers - not that he knows.)

One time while we were all camping this old man walked into our campsite WITH A HATCHET and started talking to us. Of course, I am thinking that we will soon be that night's dinner. Jason followed him out of the camp and seriously disappeared in front of our eyes. When he came back 15 minutes later he knew everything about the guy, without actually talking to anyone. (He wasn't a serial killer, just a great-grandpa of a VERY large family and for all he knew, we were his descendants.)

The Rabbi (pictured with my cute niece Zya) is not a rabbi, but a computer geek. That is why I blocked out part of his face. He is super paranoid that people are out to get him and all the rest of us. Even though this blog is private, so the only freak shows that see it are the ones I invite, he doesn't like his picture out there for the masses. I have to respect that. (And he could hack into my computer and destroy me.) You can see in the picture why we call him Rabbi. "Snookie" is shortened from "Snookums" which I think Teilani and I started calling him that just to bug him and it stuck around. I don't really remember. Rabbi? Teilani? Anyone remember? I don't think he likes it much, but what can he do? It has given him the perfect alias, so I am sure he is grateful for it now.

Staci asked if any of the other brothers have nicknames and I don't think they do. No, wait, Larry just reminded me - Jason's flight name is Elvis. He used to call himself "Mud". Jon was called Sione by my parents when we lived in Hawaii but I think now the only nicknames he has come from his doc-lings and aren't printable in this family-friendly blog.

(Do you know what doc-lings are? Have you ever been to a teaching hospital and seen the almost important Doctors following around the REALLY IMPORTANT DOCTORS? They look like ducklings following the Mama duck (sometimes lots of squawking too), but they are DOC-lings. haha - we came up with this when Daniel was in Primary Children's NICU.)

WEEKEND UPDATE with compelling question

Let me start with the compelling question:

Are scarves really back in or did this sweet thing get a hickey (ahem, I mean flat iron burn) on her neck?

Sari finished her author presentation on Christine Harris. She wrote the Undercover Girl series. Sari LOVES those books.

This is Rachel singing at the her Final Choir Concert. She was perfectly lined up so that this was the one and only shot I got of her, from where I was sitting. Like the ring on her finger? They sang, "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend". It was extremely cute.

The girls - Christy Bonkermeyer, Rachel, Megan Voigtlaender, Alyssa Jamison, and Jordan Hardy. Such cuties!

Larry and I went to the Temple on Saturday. One of the workers was the former Bishop McIntire from the Hayden Lake Ward. Later I saw Joyce and Laurie Dillman. They still look the same, just more gray. SisterDillman said she remembered me, Brother Dillman, in his retired Military style said, "Because of my age and social standing, I don't remember what I ate for breakfast." Here they are in January 1989:

This is a picture of Nina Lear, my companion, and a terrible picture of Jim and Pat Duval. We were so blessed to be able to teach Jim and he was baptized. He baptized several other people soon after he was baptized. I still hear from them at Christmas, but the McIntires and Dillmans gave me a more detailed (and glowing) report of how active they are in the church and what great missionaries they have been. Jim and Pat Duval are the salt of the earth and just the nicest people you will ever meet.

I am always so grateful that I went on a mission! I feel doubly blessed that I get to live here now, too. Although I never served "up North" where I now live, I think that I have seen people I knew from my mission almost every time I have gone to the temple.

I sewed seven aprons, because I am totally into aprons right now. I also made four pillows for my couch:

The refrigerator is making a high pitch squeal and if it doesn't stop soon, I will shoot it.