Snapshot of Gratitude

With Thanksgiving just around the corner and lots of Thanksgiving posts and podcasts to create for Power of Moms, I've sure been counting my blessings a lot.

We're starting a new tradition of creating a "snapshot of gratitude" each year (and April and I made this podcast all about it). The snapshot of gratitude involves capturing some of the top things that make me happy and grateful on one paper each year and having my kids do the same (well, they can choose whether to write out their stuff or say it and I'll record it - this way I get to record their voices each year as well as their best friends, favorite foods, favorite memories, favorite places and all that). By doing this every year at Thanksgiving, we'll be heightening the gratitude we all feel plus creating an ongoing "snapshot" of what we love each year that can be a key part of our personal and family history.

Here's the form I made (and you can download your own form here if you want one - could be a nice thing to do before or after Thanksgiving dinner. . . ):

And here's my list for this year (just what came to mind when I took a 1/2 hour to do this - of course I can now think of things that perhaps should have been on the list ahead of what did make the list but that's OK - it's not meant to be totally comprehensive, it's just a "snapshot":

And I have to add that I'm SOOOOO grateful for health given the long hard road I've watched my cousin and his family endure with their sweet daughter Cami's cancer this past few months (and the long hard road they endured a couple years ago when she first got cancer and then thought she'd beat it for good). And I'm SOOOOO grateful for miracles - they were able to locate a super rare bone marrow match for Cami and the stranger whose bone marrow just happened to match Cami's very generously agreed to give her some of his marrow. Cami's body has accepted the marrow and now she's on the beautiful (but long) road to recovery!

Check out this beautiful post Channel 2 did about Cami:
http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_8135.shtml

Eliza's basketball and dance

It's been so fun to watch Eliza's basketball games this year. She's on a great team with many of her best friends and the coach is one of her best friend's moms. So it's a great situation for her. And this year, she's really coming into her own on basketball. She's feisty and aggressive out there. She goes after that ball with all her heart and is red-in-the-face and totally sweaty by the end of each game. She's getting better at dribbling that ball quickly and effectively down the court and she's made a few baskets even though that's not her strong suit right now (I think that only comes with a lot of practice and somehow the hoop out in the backyard gets overlooked in favor of homework and violin practice...). And she's got grace out there. She moves like a dancer as she flits down the court. It's sort of a fun combination - aggression and prancing.

That blur in the middle is Eliza, speeding down the court:

Here she is just after going for a shot:

Here's Liza with two of her best friends who are on her team (their team is called "Blue Lightening" - see their exciting matching socks):

Here's the team after their first big win (it's been a hard year since their team is all 5th graders and they've been playing against lots of much bigger and more experienced 6th graders, but they've put forth valient efforts!):

Today Eliza went to a Junior Jazz "Hot Shot" basketball contest with her basketball team. And she came home with this!

She won a medal for dribbling, a medal for shooting and got the overall 1st place trophy. This girl gets to go to regionals now. We were all quite pleasantly surprised.

Eliza's also doing a beautiful job in dance this year. She's performed in two major concerts this year and it's a joy to watch her express herself through dance as she gets stronger and learns more and more about how to move her body in lovely ways. Weekend before last, she performed this truly lovely dance where she and the other 5 girls in her class were flitting falling autumn leaves. I think it was the best thing in the whole concert and that Eliza did a fabulous job.

Here's their dress rehearsal - they were even better in the real thing. Eliza's the one in an orange dress who starts off the whole dance (sad I didn't start videoing just a few seconds earlier!)


But here's everyone at the end of the concert.

They danced wtih these beautiful scarves that they made themselves:

It's so fun to have a daughter who is both tough and athletic and graceful and lovely. Sure, she's got her emotional and dramatic moments and sometimes she turns her feistiness in directions where it's not as welcome as it is on the basketball court and sometimes shows her drama at times when it's not as beautiful as on the dance stage. But we're so very grateful for our Eliza.

And here's a "collage" she made of some of her favorite things right now - violin (she gets to play in her first recital in a couple weeks and she's practicing hard!), writing (the dictionary), art, music, photography, and skiiing (her 5th grade "passport" that'll get her into all the ski resorts in Utah this winter - we'll see how many we can hit!).

Cream Cheese Apple Dip

My sister Saydi taught me how to make this scrumptious apple dip a few years back and now it's a family favorite every fall. It's so easy and is so much better for you (and better tasting in my opinion) than caramel or other apple/fruit dips.

Mix together in an electric mixer until smooth:
1 8 oz. brick of cream cheese (or neuchautel low-fat cream cheese)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp milk (if you want to make it a bit less stiff but I usually skip this)

Serve with slices of your favorite apples (our favorite varieties are Fuji or Honey Crisp or Gala).

First Snow, Home Improvement, and a Book Signing

Last weekend, we had our first snow. It snowed all morning and part of the afternoon on Saturday and it was so pleasant not to really have anywhere we had to go - we all loved just staying home for a big chunk of the day. We chatted and had a pretty nice time together while we cleaned out closets and gave lots of clothes and toys to the DI (I'd just re-read this article so I was fired up to get this done!). Eliza and I created some abstract art in the afternoon - she's had this paint set and some canvases forever and we just haven't got around to using them. I was so glad to finally have a nice slow day when we could do what she's been wanting to do for a long time - just sit and paint together.

Here's what we came up with (and wow, they sure looked different when they were wet - the colors were much more vibrant!)

(Eliza's painting is on the left, mine is on the right.)

While we painted, the boys went over to a MineCraft competition at the library with some neighbors and had the time of their lives.

Then we finished off the day with a game night, something we haven't done in way too long.

How I love the rare lazy day at home!

The kids were pretty excited about the snow, with visions of skiing and snowboarding dancing in their heads. They all saved up for season passes this year so this'll be the year they really get to ski a lot!

Despite a skiff of snow and some colder temperatures, the kids and all their neighborhood friends are still spending lots of time on the trampoline. Isaac came in from jumping the other day and said, "Mom, I think that trampoline is the best thing we've ever bought. It was totally worth working and waiting." Nice to hear.

Luckily, just before the first real snow, we finished the big fat project of scraping down, sanding, priming and repainting the trim on this house that we could reach (the third floor will have to wait - need a lift for that! And the paint's mostly fine up there for now.) I had three different painters come and look at the project but they never gave me bids and sort of disappeared. Frustrating. The summer wore on and then the fall and the sad peeling paint on the porch windows of this house was just stressing me out. I didn't think the old wood could make it through another winter unprotected without some serious problems.

So on a beautiful fall Saturday three weeks ago, we decided to seize the day and just do as much painting as we could ourselves.

After working three full Saturdays plus a couple hours in the warmest part of the day most afternoons, all the most problematic areas have been scraped, sanded, primed and have at least one coat of top coat. The rest can wait until spring.

The back windows that just had old white paint on them are now painted to match the rest of the house (the windows in the middle and upper story in the picture below) and the basement windows that were boarded up for years and needed serious scraping are now painted to match (some day we'll get that old brick refurbished...).


The porch still needs a little more work - the burgandy color detail trim needs to be done - but the badly peeling paint on all the posts is gone, replaced by good fresh paint. (Wish I'd thought to take a "before" photo because you really can't tell in this photo that we've done very much. You can see that I tried to remove some of the ugly pinkish paint myself there on the right but I didn't get very far - I think we'll need a professional to do that. But again, I've had masonry restoration companies come and they won't give me a bid! And the wood on the floor needs to be refinished but that'll have to wait for springtime...)

And another home-improvement project -
After three years of living in this house and getting stressed out every time anything spills on the counters, worried the moisture will get behind the cabinets and cause rot or something like that given that there was nothing but a bit of sloppy caulk where the wall meets the counter top, we finally got a nice backsplash installed.

It took a long time to find someone to install the tile (I've done tile before but I without the right equipment and expertise, it's a big pain.) I finally found a guy who could do it for a fair price. Plus fix some broken tile and caulking issues in a couple of the showers. Finding people to do work is just plain hard!

I was determined not to get analysis paralysis by looking at the umpteen million backsplash ideas on the internet so I just went to Home Depot and Lowes and picked three options that would look OK with the gray counter tops, cherry cabinets, dark wood trim and yellow paint. Despite my determination not to stress over this, I pored over those three options way too much. But finally we had a family vote and went with the winner.




It was this one - a mix of glass tile and slate that seemed to tie all the colors in the kitchen together nicely - and the subway-style brick pattern gave a nice nod to tilework of the period of our house.

And here's the finished product that we were all pleased with. We decided not to have the tile extend all the way up to the cabinets everywhere because we liked seeing the yellow walls and thought too much tile would make the small kitchen feel too busy and darken it up quite a bit. Plus there's no need for a tile beyond where we have it installed.

 It feels so good to have projects that have been on the list for years finally crossed off!



Last Thursday night was busy and fun. I headed down to SLC for a nice dinner and event right on the set at KSL Studio Five with my friend Allyson (she and I have been on the show a few times). We were able to hear a wonderful speech by the founder of Shabby Apple about seeing needs, responding to needs, working on a shoestring budget, making do and reaching high - all of which really resonated with our work at Power of Moms. Wished we could have stayed for the rest of the evening but had to hurry over to a book signing . . .

It was a pleasure to be with some of the local authors of Deliberate Motherhood again and present some readings and do book signing at one of my very favorite bookstores, The King's English.

 

My parents were kind enough to show up for a bit at the end. Always so good to see them. I've been to so many of their book signings all my life - fun to reverse roles this time round! What wonderful, supportive parents I've been blessed with.

Here are all the local authors of our book - SUCH great women. I wish we could all be neighbors and chat every day.

And one more thing - weekend before last, Isaac finally had the party we haven't got around to for ages (he never gets birthday parties with friends because we're always at Bear Lake for his birthday and he loves being with cousins but it's nice to have a friend party sometimes too...). He invited 12 kids, half girls, half boys. Only the girls showed up which was fine with Isaac since they're some of his best friends. Too bad the boys missed out! They all had a great time jumping on the trampoline, eating Isaac's favorite snacks (7-layer dip, fresh apple cider, and apples with dip) and playing Reverse Charades. Such a great group. I'm so loving doing these simple parties to get to know my big boys' friends!

Displaying Kids' Art

We've got some real artists around here. Typically, their masterpieces have been tucked into their "special things" folders/binders. But some of their masterpieces just beg to be displayed.

So a few months ago, we went to the dollar store, found some simple wood frames (that actually matched the wood moldings in our house very nicely - yeah!) and adorned our kitchen and back stairs with beautiful framed art.

The kids were so proud and pleased. I think their artwork really is lovely looks extra nice in a simple frame. We plan to change out what's in the frames when the kids have something new they're especially excited about. 

Top to bottom in the photo below: Eliza's oil pastel landscape, Eliza's green collage (she saw these clippings from a craft project she was working on spread across the table and liked how the scraps looked so she carefully glued them all to paper), Oliver's swirly colorful designs that he worked so hard on

Top to bottom in the photo below:
Eliza's intricate collage, Eliza's hands, Eliza's depiction of peace on earth

Photo below: twins' artwork from school - I love how they came up with very different takes on the same art project.

I'm trying to get the big boys to contribute to our gallery but they just aren't interested right now. Oh well. I'll take what I can get!

Forgotten Resolutions for School Year 2013-14

So I just found this blog post from August that I guess I never quite published.

It's interesting to see what I planned to do and what I've actually done. It's good to see what I need to really get working on!

• Be a better sister and daughter. Respond more quickly and fully to my parents' emails and blog posts and phone calls. Call, email or text one of my siblings most days. Think of them and pray for them more. (I need to work on this one quite a bit.)

• Be a better wife. Put away my work in the evenings when Jared is home, plan more dates, give more compliments, do nice little extra things more often. (I've been sort of good at this sometimes but I can be better.)

• Be a better mom. Plan more time to get out the door and to get to bed so that I'm not in "hurry mode" so much and I can really listen and make time for moments more. Take each child on an individual date every month (even if it's just part of an errand I need to do). Spend extra time with each child when I tuck them in, giving them sincere compliments and thanks for things that happened that day. (I have done better with this one this year but I can definitely do more - I'm recommitted thanks to this podcast I did a few days ago.)

• Be more involved in the kids' school. I was WAY involved for years but then took things down a few notches for a while. I'm feeling a real need to get more involved in their classrooms again. (I get an "F" for this one. I've missed every PTA meeting even though I'm on the board because they've happened right during all Isaac's Cross Country meets and I haven't followed up on my offer to do special storytime/character education in the twins' class - yes, maybe it's the teacher's job to follow up after I offered but I think I'd better be the one to follow up at this point if it's ever going to happen...And after seeing just a few not-too-stellar grades from first semester, I've committed to checking Power School every Sunday with each kid so we can keep up on their grades better.)

• No eating anything but fruits and veggies after 8pm. (I probably get a "C" on this one. I feel so much better when I keep this rule but long hard days just make me crave a treat after the kids are in bed!)

• Get up earlier - 6:40 so I can be at the table by 7:00 for scriptures and have breakfast on the table by 7:20 so we can be on time for school. (I've been getting up and getting myself downstairs much better than in previous years but I've still got a ways to go on this! I just feel SO tired in the mornings and a couple extra minutes of laying there seems like gold even though it really doesn't do anything for me...)

• Be on time for things. Plan extra time. Be five minutes EARLY for things even. (I think I get a "B" on this one. I've actually been much better at being on time for things and have stopped being so optimistic about how long things are going to take - that's one area where optimism doesn't serve me well.)

Now that this is published, I'm going to be extra serious about this stuff. That's how I am. Once I say I'm going to do something out loud or to someone else, I'm much more likely to actually do it than if I just commit to myself!

Goodbye Millie

About a month ago, we said goodbye to Millie (well, her name is actually Millenium, named after the spaceship in Star Wars that Ashton was obsessed with when we got the car).

Millie served us well for 8 years but after nearly 150,000 miles, she was starting to have problems that were starting to be expensive. So we figured we'd better trade her in for something a bit newler while she still had some value.

We got Millie her when the twin were about 3 months old. We'd just sold our little house in San Jose, California for a great profit and were excited to be able to pay cash for something we never imagined we'd want - a mini van. The old SUV Jared brought into our marriage could seat 8 but getting kids in and out of carseats just didn't work in that thing (and we had SEVEN carseats!). After shopping around for a while, we realized a mini van was by far the most practical and comfortable choice for our family and settled on a white Toyota Sienna.

When we first got her, Millie felt very grand to me. I'd grown up with old beater cars that broke down all the time and the SUV was bumpy and hard to maneouver. Millie was quiet and smooth and easy. The doors opened and closed at the click of a button. There was tons of cargo space in the back. Life with Millie was good.

We drove that car to California many times and all up and down the west coast. We drove her to Mexico one time. Millie took us on tons of long trips to visit family all over the place. Then last summer, in one final epic adventure, Millie took us over 5000 miles across the US and back on our epic road trip, serving as our home base for about 3 weeks. Plus she made thousands of trips to the school, the store, scouts, dance, you name it. 

I have to admit I shed more than a few tears as I cleaned all our stuff out of Millie and then left her there at the dealership and took off in our very nice but soul-less and name-less new(er) van. I found tickets from events we loved, maps of hikes and cities we enjoyed, and a couple long-forgotten matchbox cars that reminded me of my little kids. I found old scratched DVD's and CD's that got us through many a long trip. I remembered all the audiobooks we listened to together and the great conversations we had and the many many games of "I Spy" and "20 Questions." I saw the marks the carseats left permanently on the seats and remembered all the times I buckled my babies into those carseats over the years. I unloaded the sweatshirts that have been so handy to keep in the back of the car and remembered all the times we grabbed the out of the back to enjoy a sunset on a beach in Mexico or a hike through the Redwoods or a nippy afternoon wandering through San Francisco. I found an extra bumper sticker from the Grand Teton Relay Jared and I did with a team of his family members - Millie was home-base for a 6 sweaty runners for two days and a night during that crazy fun race that we did for two years in a row. 

Our new van is nice. It's simple and reliable. We went with a Honda this time and found a good one with low miles that was only three years old. We're still settling on a name. Gray Goose (it's a gray/silver color and isn't the prettiest car), or "Gigi" for short is the current favorite. And we're really grateful we were able to get a newer car before Millie really started to fail. Gigi will bring us just as many good memories, I'm sure. But I'll always have a very fond place in my heart for the car that was a central part of so much of our family life for so many years!

Classic French Crepes

Classic French Crepes

(This is the recipe that came with the crepe pan we received as a wedding present. 15 years later, the recipe and the pan are still going strong!)

Ingredients:

1 ½ c. milk

6 eggs

1 ½ c. flour

3 tbsp. melted butter

½ tsp. salt

3 tbsp. sugar

Mix in blender or with hand mixer until well mixed and frothy. Best to let stand for 30 minutes before cooking (or make the night before and keep in the refrigerator overnight).  Mixture should be about the consistency of heavy cream. For easy pouring, put it in a pitcher or measuring cup with a spout (or keep in the blender container). Preheat non-stick small frying pan or crepe pan for about 30 seconds on medium high heat. Pour about 2 tbsp. of mixture into pan then pick up the pan and tip it around to coat pan with a thin layer. Cook for 30 seconds or until it gets little bubbles throughout and the edges start to curl. Then flip over and cook second side for 15-20 seconds. Slide cooked crepe out of pan and onto plate to cool. Then keep going!

Filling Ideas:

• Nutella and banana slices and/or berries (works best if you put the crepe in a warm pan while spreading the nutella, the heat helps it spread better)
• Lemon juice with powdered sugar
• Fresh chunky jam
• Butter and cinnamon sugar
• Cookie butter with bananas

Conference Weekend

Somehow this draft never got published - so it's sort of old news now. Oh well.

At long last, we made it down to Saint George this past weekend (well, several weekends ago now). Due to an over-abundance of family events other scheduling issues, we hadn't yet met the great new renters/buyers (they're doing a lease option) who moved in months ago. It was so good to see the house looking so beautiful and to go over some things about the house in person with its new occupants.

While we were there, we were able to enjoy one of our all-time favorite family hikes (Castle Rock), swim in the pool in our development that was a huge part of the kids' growing-up experiences, and see some dear friends.

Plus we watched and listened to Conference and were richly fed. I thought Conference offered an extra-lot of concrete and direct messages addressing issues that have been on the forefront of a whole lot of church-member's minds combined with beautiful reminders of the truths we know but need to remember and understand more fully.

We drove north during the morning session on Sunday so we could spend a few precious hours with my sister Charity who was in town from California. We watched the afternoon session with her and she and I enjoyed some great walks and talks afterwards. Nothing like talking with a sister about what we're learning and about the "happy's" and "sad's" in our lives.

We found the most perfect autumn tree on our walk and loved watching its leaves shimmer and make that special sound that reminded us so strongly of the breeze we fell asleep to and woke up to in the home we grew up in (there were lovely quaken asp trees all over in the front yard of that house).

My Conference Notes
(I'm including this here so I can easily find this stuff and refer back to it. These notes are things that stood out specifically to me - things I need to remember and/or do. What I've written here is not meant to be a summary and likely doesn't involve messages that will resonate with everyone. I love how every one of us who listens to these talks can find something that is specifically for us, if we listen with purpose, using the Spirit.)

Saturday Morning Session

• Hales. Leaders work very hard to find what God wants them to share in conference. Some things said will be hard for you but if you listen with faith like they are words straight from God, you will be greatly blessed. To do: Learn the whole armor of God scripture (Ephesians 6: 11, 14-18)
• Soares. Come into Christ. Be meek like Christ. Do something a little better each day. Control tempers. Be humble. Just take it when people are giving us a hard time - take it with love.
• Sister Stephens. Use the Holy Ghost - a gift we all have, a gift of real power. Endowment is power fully available to both men and women. Priesthood power in its highest form is only available to a man and woman together. Great stories (review them). Women are blessed and strengthened through the  covenants they keep. Men and women need each other.
• Dube. Covenants say we will accept callings. Be not weary in well doing. Teamwork is vital
• Bendnar. Tithing. There will always be enough and to spare. Be sure kids see when I'm paying tithing, share more personal stories of how tithing has helped us with them.
• Uckdorf. Members are asked to do a lot not by leaders but by God. Ask questions and worship in accordance to the dictates of our own conscience. God is working with imperfect people so mistakes are made. Some suffer because of mistakes but no significant decision in the church is ever made w/o serious direction from God. Come and add your talents and its ok to have questions. You probably  have more in common with others than you think. The church is designed to help those who are struggling. There is room for everyone in this church. Many of the finest souls are in the church but we're not perfect people. If you seek truth and want to make truth into action, come.

Saturday Afternoon Session (need to finish watching this - we were hiking and fixing up our house Sat afternoon so I've got a little catch-up to do)

Sunday Morning Session

• Eyring. Greatest commandment. Love God and love one another. Fulfill callings to obey these commandments. The miracle of becoming one in marriage takes time and takes lots of love and use of the holy ghost. Life in families is meant to test us.
• Oaks. Don't serve other gods. Traditional families are increasingly less common. Let us have the courage to not compromise about things that are essential parts of goods plan.
• Sister Oscarson. Choose you this day who you will serve. Story of Isabel. Great chance to have a great life with another family. Mother said no. Gospel was more important. Story of avoiding immobility and substance abuse in the 60's. Don't expect the reward w/o working for it. You have the primary responsibility for your own conversion. seek the things of a better world.
• Mayes. We make mistakes. Christ has made it possible to be whole again. Must have ordinances and endure to the end. Testimonies like our bodies need to be whipped onto shape. We have to develop spiritual stamina..we have to pay the price of stamina and work to finish the race. To do: Memorize 2 Timothy 4:7 - "I have tonight a God fight, I have kept the faith."
• Scott. Story of Ammon. buried weapons. Were counseled not to defend their families physically. More important to defend themselves spirituality.Monson. Gratitude for wife. Suffering and sadness are universal.we need to become more spiritually refined through our hard times. Commitment to God should not eb and flow. Must listen and pray every hour whether they be hours of sunshine or not.
• Monson. Gratitude for wife. Suffering and sadness are universal.we need to become more spiritually refined through our hard times. Commitment to God should not eb and flow. Must listen and pray every hour whether they be hours of sunshine or not.

Sunday Afternoon Session

(I was taking notes on my phone which sadly died and lost my notes on the 2nd to last talk. Darn! Will re-create and re-listen soon)

Ashton's Havasupai Trip

Ashton had SUCH a fabulous trip to the Grand Canyon with his science class. He became the semi-official photographer and videographer for the trip and created this really excellent video that he presented to the teachers who led the group and all the kids who went.

If it looks a bit blurry in places, that's because all the water footage was captured through a ziplock bag. Since he didn't have a waterproof camera, he put an old camera into a ziplock bag, reinforced it with duck tape, and captured some pretty great stuff! And of course, he had to include a segment featuring the chocolate fountain at the restaurant they ate at on the way down...