Like mother, like son

Yesterday after church, Daniel decided he wanted to make a cake for fun. He wanted to make a cake shaped like a cooked turkey. We talked about ideas of how to do that, then he realized he should make dark meat and white meat. In the end, we had a great looking turkey cake that was part white and part chocolate, complete with some stuffing pieces leaking out the back end. I'd say this kid has a bright future ahead of him!
Check out the white meat breast and the dark meat drumstick. Yum!!!

A followup post

I felt the need to follow up on my last post by showing what happened to the poor Ninja who served as a priest in the lesson. Sadly, on another day at another time, Daniel didn't need a priest. What he needed was a victim. And so it was that the same poor unsuspecting Ninja found himself with a fuse wrapped around his leg and a flaming match at the other end of the fuse. I know there were some magnesium filings involved as well, but mostly I know what the end result was. Here lies the poor Ninja of days gone by...

Tell me the stories of Jesus.....

Come on in! Take a peek in our house during family home evening. Daniel gave a sweet lesson about gratitude including several scriptures from the Bible, quotes from a talk, and the reenactment of a famous parable.

There once were ten lepers. (In this case, I think the missing hands have more to do with disorganization in a teenage boy's room than with the actual effects of the disease.)

They came to Jesus to ask what they should do to be healed. (Despite his appearance, he did not tell them to use the Force.)

Jesus told them to go see the Priests, so they did.

Only one returned to give thanks to Jesus. He told that one that it was his faith that made him whole. The end.

After the parable, the lesson continued as we each had a chance to list different things we are grateful for so we could see the "thankful-o-meter" move its red arrow from left to right. I was thankful at that moment for a son who had the engineering skills to make such a thing actually work!

Monday, November 3

Mom: Daniel, you look so handsome. I want to take a picture before we leave. Just stand there in the hallway for a minute.

Cheyenne: Is Daniel leaving on his mission???

Mom: No, we're going to a band concert!

Not so Eensy-Weensy

Apparently our Halloween was all about "bigger is better." Here we see Cheyenne disguised as a giant spider and although you cannot see it, she has a giant spider butt. That shot is followed by one of my two children (look closely by his right leg or click on the picture to see it bigger) about to be eaten by Godzilla! Eeeeekkkkkk!!

Problem with weight gain

I recently had Daniel at the doctor where we were thrilled to learn that he had gained some weight and is now in the 10% percentile for his age. Apparently he saw my excitement and translated that as 'more is better.' Any suggestions on how to deal with sudden, excessive weight gain????????

The ABC's of my life of late

Since starting this blog, there have been many periods of my life when I've wanted to blog, but I've been too busy living my life to take time to write about it! The last four weeks or so have been that kind of busy plus some. To catch you up and to record my thoughts for posterity, I'd like to generate an alphabetical listing of my life over the last month or so.

A - Apples. I got lots of apples from my generous mother-in-law, so I made lots of apple stuff.
B - Birthdays - I got to celebrate and celebrate and celebrate my birthday. Cheyenne is sure I'm 25. If that's true, then I must be a trophy wife to Dale. Cool! Then we all got to celebrate Cheyenne's big ninth.
C - Cheyenne - Cheyenne just takes time: time for school, time for playing, time for helping her be Cheyenne.
D - Daniel - Daniel just takes time: time for school, time for playing, time for helping him be Daniel.
E - Eating - No matter how busy I become, there are some priorities that never fall off the chart.
F - Friends - Thanks to my birthday, especially, I got to spend lots of time with many of my dear friends. Thanks for everything, everybody!
G - Games - I wasn't playing many myself, but I did manage to squeeze in some listening to BYU football. It's been a shaky month, but they are back to winning games. Yea!!
H - Housework - Again, no matter how busy I get, some things don't go away. It's happened late at night, but the toilets have been scrubbed and the house is tolerable.
I - Infinite blessings. Fall is a great time to think of harvests and blessings. We've had a lot. Things have been crazy, but not a day goes by that I don't see the hand of God in my life. We have every need met, excessive joys and blessings on top of that, and opportunities galore. Each day I could make a list that would go on and on. Sadly, I often get too busy to do so. However, when I stop for a just a moment, I can visualize the list and that keeps me going.
J - Japanese student. We had the privilege of having a 14 year old Japanese student stay with us for a week. He was part of a larger program that visits Utah each year. I loved the experience of getting to know someone from a different culture and having my kids share that experience. Mid week, Daniel pointed out that he'd decided he and Kentaro had more in common than different. That comment alone made the week worth it!
K - Kids - Did I mention that I spend a lot of time doing things with my kids??
L - Laundry (see 'E' Eating and 'H' Housework)
M - Math. I spend a lot of time tutoring math. I mostly do Geometry these days with my cute teenage boys, but I probably spend even longer doing Cheyenne's third grade math with her!
N - NOAH'S, NOAH'S, NOAH'S - This has been a dominant force. Noah's has officially opened its second facility in South Jordan, UT. The opening, the stockholders' meeting, the new website, it's all been a time-consuming affair. For those of you who haven't also been living there lately, make a note to check out www.mynoahs.com
O - October. In some ways it felt like it came and went so fast that I have no record of it. In other ways, it feels like I lived a lifetime and experienced months of things in one short month.
P - Pies. Early on in the month, before things got out of control, we squeezed in a little pie baking to foward our quest to make all 300 pies in the pie book. The apple with just brown sugar and a touch of spices was really good. The peach with vanilla bean sugar was just okay. Oh, and 'P' is for pumpkin seeds. I love roasted pumpkin seeds. I ate a lot of them!!
Q - Queasy. That's how I've felt at different times this past month as I've watched the great economic crisis destroy my savings, as I've listened to campaigning for the upcoming election, and as I've seen tragedy unfold in the headlines. It's a good thing I have the letter 'I' and so many others to counteract 'Q.'
R - Reading. I'm still reading, if only in 2-minute increments. It enhances my life so much. I'm still helping Cheyenne read. I help at the school changing Take Home Reading books. And I encourage Daniel to read.
S -Single motherhood. Refer back to 'N' above to see that I spent a lot of time at Noah's this last month. My time has been only a fraction of that spent by Dale who has worked almost non-stop for a month now. I have determined that I would make a lousy single mom.
T - Trick or Treating - We had a very warm Halloween night which made the trick or treating pleasant even for me! Cheyenne was a giant spider and Daniel went to school as a couch potato. Pictures will be coming later, because words are simply inadequate at every level!
U - UEA - The kids were out of school for three days for their fall break, also known for the Utah Education Association meetings. As I was consumed with Noah's, they had a great time-- thanks to my mother-in-law and my sister. They had sleepovers in Kamas and at the cabin, and they were happy, happy kids. THANKS, family!!!
V - Very simple pleasures. When our Japanese student was here, we spent a day playing in spots on the Mirror Lake Highway. We hiked, we threw rocks in the lake, we climbed up Provo River Falls, and we roasted hot dogs. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed each moment of these simple things we often take for granted.
W - Wood, as in splitting it. When I went to retrieve my children from Colleen's cabin, they were splitting wood for the winter. It had been a long time since I'd split wood. The smell of the chainsaw brought back powerful teenage memories. I had to warm up, but I can still split wood. There is something very satisfying about a little knowledge like that.
X - Xtraordinary weather!!! Ok, I'm cheating a little on the spelling, but the sentiment is there. Mid-October brought our first big snowstorm, but it passed quickly and was followed by two weeks of gorgeous, warm, fall weather. With highs of 65-70, I enjoyed Fall like I've never enjoyed it.
Y - Yippee! My friend Evan had another MRI and his brain tumor shrunk again. Cheyenne faithfully prays for him multiple times a day, and we could not be happier to see positive gains for him. Chemo has been so difficult, and forward progress means everything. Yippee!!!
Z - Zoo! I got to go to the zoo with Cheyenne for her birthday. I took Cheyenne, her twin cousins, and a friend to the zoo. It was a gorgeous fall day, and who can't be happy at the zoo?