Hawaii Vacation 2008

Hawaii Slideshow Coming Soon!

I've been working on this slideshow all morning. I'm exhausted. Pics, pics, pics. So much beautiful blue water, beautiful blue skies... and outside my window is cold, white snow, with icicles, and sub-tropic temperatures, and I'm stuck indoors with an overactive 7 year old, years worth of laundry to do, dishes exploding out of the sink AND the dishwasher, floors that need swept, teeth needing brushed, dog needs walked, Mike's stuff needs put away (who can come help me haul it to his bed, so he'll actually have to live with it instead of my having to see it all the time?), clutter everywhere!!

Back to the pics of the best vacation ever. When CAN I go BACK!!?? I promise, I'll take my dog so no one else has to care for her. She'd love it too!!

A Time For Giving, and Gratitude

Not too many weeks ago, our Wight family found out about a dear friend of ours that has had tragedy strike in his family. He's not just a friend, he's a relative and one of our very favorite country artists. We have prayed and prayed for his son, Briggs to recover from medullablastoma, a type of brain cancer. He's only two, but he has the heart of a lion and has been fighting courageous battles daily through this trial. We are very excited that he was able to come home for Christmas, and that his parents are able to care for him. Prayers are needed greatly. Their daily updates on their carepages page speak of their gratitude, Briggs' fighting spirit, and the many blessings that have come their way during this stressful time. A friend of theirs has set up a website to help us all follow along, make donations and get the word out. Please visit www.teambriggs.org to see updates on Briggs' condition.

And I'll get to the Hawaii stuff again later. With all the Christmas hull-a-baloo I'm really needing some honest down time. I'll put together a slide show and post it this week. We had a MARVELOUS time.

Why I Have Time to Post in Hawaii

I think I want to come with a tour guide next time. But today we started off slowly. And it is getting dark here so quick each night. This whole post/comment is so random. I honestly think things through most of the time when I post, but I'm just sitting here in our room, next to the open door to the ocean porch that is pitch black.

Did you know that palm trees when blown in the breeze just so will make the exact same sound as rain on pavement? Yup, it does. Very confusing when you are kind of expecting rain anyway. You just never know.

Today we: went to Turtle Bay, some shore just west of that to watch some incredible waves/surfing (Kelli B. I saw YOUR twin out there! She did dang good! And I have pics to post later!) Elise, Mike and Alan hung out IN the water, while I just watched on pins and needles as waves from 2-7 feet came crashing around my family. Okay only about five of them were actually over Mike's head as they crashed around him, but it sure looked like it hurt. Alan got a nose full of sand from one and a pretty good sized wave got Elise at least twice. We went on a walk on our beach here and Mike and Alan caught a small sand crab (I have pics!) and Elise continues to scream when they are mentioned... someone please tell me why she is terrified of crabs, but will pick up a grasshoper no questions asked!??

We've been taking it slow because my poor legs are retaining water at an interesting rate. I'll take pics of my ankles tomorrow. If I'm up walking too long or too fast, my stomach starts to tighten up, and not let go. The doc didn't seem concerned about this when I discussed it on my "pre-flight inspection". It only happens when I walk too much. So I walk less!! The sun is GONE by 6 and I'm not sure what to do after dark here, and we haven't really had the chance to do much during the day since our late starts have been causing lazy mornings (which is perfectly fine by me!) On late starts we've had to wait for Lance and Ryan to return from the other side of the island to either do something with them (they had our car) or take them to the airport to island hop. We got to the best breakfast place on the island Hukilau and it was jam packed yesterday morning... so we ate at McDonald's which was amazingly beautiful inside for the run down shack it looked like outside. The food was the same though, although the menu did include SPAM which we don't eat in Utah, at least I don't think we do, do we??

We plan on going snorkeling, back to the PCC, and doing more beach watching/playing in the next few days. We pick Lance & Ryan up from the airport again on Saturday. They went to Kauai, I think. We've decided to cook more and eat out less since it isn't terribly expensive to stay in, but we do want to hit some hot spots keeping in mind that I can't eat sushi!! We got corn, coconut and some crazy delicious red fruit that was fuzzy on the outside today from a roadside stand. (wow that sentence is a nightmare!)

I'll post this since it is so long. It started out as a comment back to Kelly!

Rock on Rip Curl Mom! Any other fun ideas? It has been too cold for a shave ice, honestly!

Oh, yesterday we went to: The Polynesian Cultural Center (did the Luau AND the night show), Mike and the boys went to the Laie Temple while Elise and I went to the grocery store. I got all that in reverse order, we went to the PCC last!! Didn't get back till late, so we crashed after that.

Hawaii 5-0

I'll start off at the airport. We arrived safely and timely too! We got there just in time to hear that we needed to be there EARLY because of a headwind. Thank heaven. Mike got us some lunch at Burger King, and we marched onto the plane.

Here is Elise watching the airplane get loaded up.

A view from the window. Pic courtesy of Elise.

Photo: Vicki courtesy of Elise

Photo: Elise courtesy of Elise

View out the back of our room. We are on the 5th floor. The weather has been pretty good. Windy mostly on this side of the island. Mike's brother and cousin were staying on the west side of the island. His brothers have left this morning for another island, and his cousin is here hanging out with us. We had a couple terrific rainstorms, and some great ocean breezes.

We saw sea turtles swimming out there yesterday morning. At first we didn't know exactly what they were, but we figured it out. It was neat to watch them surface and disappear gradually beneath the surf.

I'll update again later. We went to the PCC yesterday and I got some video.

Stolen Holiday Eating Tips

I just borrowed, okay I totally stole this from one of my friend's blogs just now. I loved it!! It sounds like something I'd say. And I'm not Aunt Vic to this cute kid, but he is cute and I'd let him be my nephew... Now if I could just figure out how to steal her christmas tunes.

Thanks Karen!!

Holiday Eating Tips:

My sister (or as Austin says when he saw her Christmas card "My favorite Aunt Vic") sent me this email and I thought it was great....Enjoy!

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday
buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you
see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're
serving fudge.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare.. You
cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who
cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if
you're going to turn into an eggnog-oholic or something. It's a
treat. Enjoy it.

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of
gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out
of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim
milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like
buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to
control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is
to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New
Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to
do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after
circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food
and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like
frosted Holiday cookies, position yourself near them and don't
budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of
attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave
them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each.
Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin.
Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one
dessert? Labor Day??

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the
mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean,
have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the
party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention.
Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the
corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but
rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly
used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Video to Watch

Okay, if you are NOT a dog lover, maybe you are a snow lover. If you are neither of those, maybe you'll still like this video if you love watching animals do stupid things. Or maybe you are just cold hearted and can relate to how cold this dog must be after his romp in this beautiful powdery snow....


Go here: http://maniacworld.com/dog-having-a-blast-in-the-snow.html

And hold your belly, cause I did. It reminded me quite a bit of last years snowfall here at my home, and my little puppy (okay she wasn't that little, but she was a puppy and I had to dig her dogloo out several times with her trapped inside wondering what the blazes I was letting the cold air back in for...) running around in the snow. She learned to eat apples in the snow last season. Now she is eating ALL the apples in the yard as my apple tree is very overactive and I hate the apples on it. They are gross.

But she loves them.

I've got tons to do today, so I'll post something important tomorrow.

Exciting UltraSound

Okay, so I just had to let you ALL know a little tidbit about our last ultra sound. You know, the long one where they make the mom drink a whole quart of water before they press down on your bladder to "get a good look" around.

We've got, of course, the small look at this baby being a little girl... but beyond that she's got a beautiful skeletal structure and

We got a great pic of her face. She looks exactly like Elise did. Pointy chin, perfectly spaced eyes, cute nose and posed for the shot too. Maybe I'll figure out how to get that on here so you all can see her. I carry it around in my purse if you happen to see me and want to see it sometime.... Just ask.

Only difference, this one would not let her legs be still for a second. I swear she's a ballerina who loves to fly. It isn't kicks, it is real honest to goodness flutters. You know when those ballerinas fly up in the air and wiggle their feet back and forth? Yah, like that. I'll never be able to do that.

From her very first ultra sound she's been moving around. That first one we caught her having the hiccups and rolling, yes full barrel rolls.

Beyond the baby update. I've been watching Elise carefully for years and I think she has some potential as an aerobics/athletic instructor of sorts. I'll catch her stretching in the living room and talking out loud about what she's doing. She just tells me she's practicing for when she shows her friends at school how to be athletic like her.

HAHaHA!! I love that kid!

Now if I could just get her motivated to clean my house. Oh, it is Saturday. blah.

Quick AHA Moment

So on my way home from lazing around at my mothers for an hour or two after my chiropractic visit today, I realized that no matter HOW hard I try to bring a piece of mom's homemade fudge home for Elise, it doesn't make it 5 minutes in the car before I've mindlessly eaten it all gone. Or did it just disappear? Yup I think it did, right into my cavernous appetite for things I shouldn't eat containing too much sugar or salt and not enough water.


Oh, and you CAN send a thumbdrive through the wash and it comes out squeeky clean with your pics and docs intact. Though I wouldn't suggest doing it just because. Because THAT part is scary.

Hallelujah!!

Pre-Thanksgiving Festivities

I have a lot to get on this post! I've got pics from the First Grade Thanksgiving Program that was yesterday, and today, I've got a house FULL of little girls. Amazingly enough I don't feel quite like singing that song from Annie... You know the one about 'little girls' that the orphanage lady sings in her drunken stupor of hatred for her job. That is a fun one if you ever get to that point! I really like that show. I bought it for Elise, she hasn't watched it for quite some time... oh well.
So, on to the story telling of the festivities of the Pre-Thanksgiving bash!!

First Grade Thanksgiving Program

This is the kids singing a song. It was cute. Can't remember what it was at this point. But I caught them on camera.

Here is Elise and a small group of kids in her class reciting a part of the poem that they practiced so diligently for.

Looks like we lost a few kids on this one...





This is the kids singing this amazing song sung by a Native American father to his son about getting an education. I loved it. Just envision me trying to hold a camera still while sobbing quietly enough that others can't hear AND especially that it isn't caught on tape!

Sob sob. Wah!



This is my Little Pilgrim


Three Little Women?? Could be!



Okay this is my house FULL of Little Girls. Yup, count em. There are SIX. What did I get myself into? Just kidding. They were fine. I had them over to entertain themselves. It was great. We've got a cousin, a pre-schooler, three first graders and a fourth grader. What a bunch. And I let them eat in front of the television. Naughty, Nutty Me!



There is me. For any of you NieNie followers. I tribute this to you. A self pic of the Vickster. I'd look much better with green eyes, and some make up? haha! NieNie always looks beautiful in her pics. Man I could use a hair cut, I look quite shaggy!!!

Don't forget to pray for her NieNie and her family ladies. She's back up here in Utah recovering in Provo. She has not, as of today, seen her children yet, nor have they seen her. But Mr. Nielsen is living there with CJane's family, oh and all his kids in retro house.


Now I must go fold a load of laundry and cut up some sweet potatoes for my special Thanksgiving dish that I get to fix every year for both sides of the family.

Speaking of Sweet Potatoes!! My mother told me the most amazing thing last night. I told her about picking up some YAMS at the grocery store. She informed me that I most certainly did not. And she most definitely informed me that I did. What we sell/buy here in the United States is ALWAYS sweet potatoes because yams only grow tropically AND they are quite poisonous until they are cooked. So you could DIE while skinning them! AND they are considered a very untolerable weed and most countries hate them.

So we will forever be having Sweet Potatoes, not yams. But either way, they are sweet the way I make them!!


Have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!!

Thanks!

Hey Friends and Family,

Thanks. I just had to say Thanks! Your comments on my last post (for Elise, by Elise mostly) were perfect and I read them often. Thank you SO much for your support, your love and your happiness for our little surprise package! Mike and I are VERY excited, nervous and quite surprised ourselves still. And having your comments to read (and YOUR blogs) while I sit at the kitchen table feeling little tiny kicks and punches is just so unreal and so wonderful and so incredible and I seriously feel like I need to be pinched, but then I get kicked again so I guess that counts.

I've got another thing to be thankful for (in addition to BILLIONS of other things). Mike must have hit his head when he fell off a roof the other week (he swears it was only a 3 foot drop, but yeah, whatever) and he decided sometime between whenever and this past weekend to take me and our daughter to Hawaii next month. Yes, December. Yes, the month of Christmas. Yes for Christmas and our anniversary (the 29th of EVERY December). What a gift!! He wanted to literally surprise me with tickets in hand, but he knows me and knows the stress that would cause. So he decided to just surprise me by telling me he was thinking about it. THAT was surprise enough, and I did ask him if he hit his head. But I digress, we are going. He finally bought our airfare, and I got "approval" from my OB and my chiro though the chiro said we'd both be in better shape when we come back if we take him with us... there's a thought!! I did ask, Mike said no.

So we'll be off mid-December to a place I only dreamed about ever going to, and we are taking our daughter. I'm thrilled beyond measure at this chance to create memories for her, and for me! Hopefully a 9 day stay will be long enough, but not too long. I already hate laundry, and being in a bathing suit so we'll have to see!

I'll post pics from the First Grade Thanksgiving Program tomorrow. I've got to get on top of the laundry again. I mean folding and putting away and more washing, not literally on TOP of it. Just get it done. Oh, and the dishes need done again.

What is with people in my family eating and wearing clothes? Why can't we ingest food via IV's and run around sans clothes? I'd eat green jello all day if I could really. No problem. I hate dishes. But I'm certainly grateful to have food, and clothes to wear. Honestly, you DON'T want to see me sans clothing. Scary. Big Scary.

Have a Good Day today.

Elise's Announcement.

"There is no word for that"

Okay, I indulged in E.R. last night, and Mike didn't say anything about it, other than how tired he was... whine whine whine.

It was quite an interesting episode. Not so much blood and surgery, but more reflective than it usually is.

Dr. Banfield relives her past, an experience that no one ever wants to go through, while she's working on a child patient. It was really quite interesting the way they tied Dr. Green back in and his chemotherapy and all that.

Anyway, Dr. Banfield got home from her shift and her husband is sitting on their son's bed, and they finally connect emotionally after what must have been several years. And she finally lets her guard down, lets herself talk about their son's passing away, and finally cries about it. But the words that she said were so profound.

"When your parents die, you are an orphan. When your spouse dies, you are a widow or widower. When your child dies, there is no word for that."

She's right. There isn't. Even with all my faith, all the knowledge I have of what is our plan of salvation, losing a child doesn't have a name because it is just that painful that no one can name it. There are no words to express that condition.

My heart aches for any mother who has lost a child, in any way. Miscarriage, death, still-born, accident, suicide, mishap, war, age.

There are no words for that pain.
I love you!
Vicki

8 Things Tag

8 Things:

8 Favorite TV shows... (in no particular order)
1. Days of Our Lives
2. Super Nanny
3. E.R.
4. Friends
5. Grey's Anatomy
6. Scrubs
7. CSI
8. Law & Order

8 Favorite Restaurants...(again, in no particular order)
1. Javiers
2. Cafe Rio
3. Costa Vida
4. Bajios
5. Cheesecake Factory is pretty good.
6. Lonestar Steakhouse
7. Chilis
8. Taco Maker

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. The first real snowfall
2. Being able to walk my dog again.
3. Seeing my baby on a great ultrasound next Wednesday!
4. Thursday night TV- Grey's & E.R. I always pray that Mike works late so I can watch!
5. Having my house clean, and being able to clean it up again myself.
6. Going baby stuff shopping.
7. Finding the time in Mike's schedule to go to the temple again sometime.
8. All things Christmas, except shopping. I suck at shopping

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. I didn't go to the chiropractor.
2. Updated my blog with what I did.
3. Ate TWO (yes two) artichokes and paid for it all night long.
4. Didn't have to drive anyone anywhere!!
5. Should have taken a nap.
6. Watched television to my hearts content, or until the I'm a mom so I should really be being a mom right now kicked in.
7. Wished I'd have put away the laundry.
8. Suggested, successfully that Mike take our daughter out for a daddy daughter date and they brought Kung Fu Panda home to me!!

I'll just do what Kristi did and tag whomever wants to be tagged. So, TAG YOU'RE IT!!!

How I Wasted My Day Today

So let me be perFECTly clear about my "wasted" day. I do this frequently, and I don't feel the least bit bad about it, for the most part... And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Feel free to join me any Tuesday you'd like to.

I got up and started the morning off walking through the kitchen, fully intent on enjoying a lovely breakfast with my husband and our daughter, when I got caught completely unawares by a SMELL. The same smell that catches me off-guard on occasion. And off to the bathroom I darted to spend the first ten minutes of my morning head over the sink, throwing the NOTHING up that was in my stomach. I don't mind this so much, because there is nothing there to puke up, but it still starts the day off wrong.

Mike shouts from the kitchen table, "Anything I can do for you, Vicki?" Between heaves and spitting I mutter, "Can you PALEESE take the garbage OUT of the house?" Thinking in my mind, I know this smell is never going to go away, it is totally in my smell-memory haunting me. But it got the garbage out!!!

Next I enjoyed a bowl of cheerios, while I watched our daughter get ready for school. Hallelujah, she made it on the bus AND Mike went to work.

And I sat down in my lazy chair with the laptop and logged in to Pioneer Woman to continue to read the love story of my dreams! Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. Ah Marlboro Man. I married me a different one but he's great all the same.

I spent FOUR hours reading her web-book and waiting, albeit impatiently, for her to post the next installment!! She's got great photos of horses, incredibly simple posts about ranch living, and some great cooking and photography information (that I didn't read!). All the while, I ate as many Wint-o-Green LifeSavers as I could handle. When I finally noticed that it was after NOON, I thought I ought to eat. I am pregnant and all. I got up and made some Angel Hair pasta with some parmesan and an artichoke with 4 Tblsp of melted butter for dipping. Ah, heaven!! I ate the pasta quickly, as I KNOW that I LOVE artichokes and butter. I discovered something new about myself today though... I really really love butter more than I do artichokes! Hmm. I cooked a second artichoke and more melted butter. MMMM.

And then I had a few small brownies. Thanks Mike for cutting the entire 9x9 of brownies into very small pieces. (All of this by the way has been done in exactly what I slept in last night, plus a beanie!!) I have had a couple glasses of water, and I went to check on the horses, they let themselves into the lane sometime before I got to them at 145. Which is fine I guess, I'm the back up for the back up who called me at 145 to go check on them. They were grazing peacefully right where they should be, by the cemetery!!

Our daughter is home now, I've watched a tiny bit of TV, talked with Mike on the phone (he called me, which rarely happens actually) and started the fireplace going. I'm trying to get our daughter to go outside and play with her dog who desperately wants some attention and some exercise.

So now I ought to maybe get started on looking like I didn't do nothing today. Mike is coming home sooner than usual tonight, we need to get homework done, laundry put away that I folded late last night, and helpful hands just put out my fire in attempt to make it better.

Oh, the artichokes were good. Real good.

And I updated my mommabookworm blog. Check it out here. Oh, and you ALL need to blog MORE cause I get SO bored during my day at home... Please!!!

Today's Tomato Soup By Me.

So I collided two very good Tomato Soup recipes and made my own! This is what I ate for lunch today. It wasn't all that bad. Add a grilled cheese sandwich and I was good to go.

The first of this recipe I borrowed from the blog Top Of The Morning. The post was Tomato Soup Nazi. His recipe is for a can of diced tomatoes. I used a quart of fresh home canned whole tomatoes. Canned last summer. YUMMY! And to that I added a can of diced carrots. Mainly to hide that acidic tomatoey thing that happens sometimes. Back to the recipe. Heat your oven to 450 degrees and grab a large cookie sheet. Open your tomatoes and carrots and drain the liquid into a separate dish. Pour the toms and carrots onto the baking sheet. Drizzle some Olive Oil over top, and sprinkle with pepper and oregano. Put in oven to caramelize for 20 minutes (more or less depending on factors like altitude, patience, how much the toms were cooked originally.) When they come out they should look about like this:

While your toms and carrots are cooking, add the liquid that you poured into that separate pan to a large soup/stew pot and add some minced onion. Or you could use real onions, but I didn't have any. Cook those up nice, or however you'd like to I guess! Here's a pic of mine.



Ah, here's a pic of ALL the major ingredients. I'll get to the Campbell's Tomato Soup in a minute.


After you're toms and carrots are cooked, add them to the onion mixture. Be careful, they are hot and that oil is tricky and slick! Add the can of Tomato Soup (this part and the quart of toms- comes from my mother's homemade tomato soup recipe). Stir in, heat through. Add oregano to your desired taste. I used some Real Salt. Cause that is yummy.

Then while your soup is boiling for 5-10 minutes on the stove, hurry and whip up some grilled cheese sandwiches. If you need instructions.
Asking me for them wouldn't be good as I usually burn at least one of them. Each time. And don't forget to stir your soup occasionally.


Looks pretty dang good. I ate it. Elise hates most anything I cook.
So it is a good thing this didn't make much!!
I hope you, or someone enjoys these crazy recipes I put on here. I guess it is a way of making my life seem less monotonous and a lot more yummy!

Voting

I voted today. Just a minute ago, during what I thought was going to be a "lunch rush". But I forgot that I live in a quiet little valley where things are pretty sleepy during the daytime. I'm so glad that I didn't have to wait and stress about it. As they handed me that blue voter card thing, I felt my eyes pop out of my head and the wheels in my mind just jerk to an immediate stop as I realized I've never, ever voted on anything remotely electronic before!! What happened to good ol' paper ballots that you have to punch cute holes in? Where MY fingerprints are ALL over it and I know I punched those holes, cause I looked and MADE SURE!! It was even stranger to be handed a voting card by a seemingly 15 year old boy. Okay, he probably had to be 18, but he barely shaves and he can't have a clue about voting, or what it means if he has his ipod in his ears the whole time. And you should have seen HIS FACE when I let my eyes pop out of my head in wonderment on this electronic voting idea. I could have sworn he looked at ME like I was an alien - or a completely non-computer savvy person. Which, I'm no WHIZ at, but I've got some skills in the computer department... So I walked around the table, and looked at the selection of voting machines available. There were several, I'd say almost ten available. I chose a quiet one in the corner to be able to channel that inner voice (aka The Holy Ghost) to help me pray for the ENTIRE COUNTRY as we cast ballots today. I quite frequently pray for the leaders of our church, other churches and nations... but how often have I prayed for voters nationwide? Never. That was humbling. I can still feel it in my heart. The weight of our country's votes is huge! I'm worried. I'm scared. And we haven't felt any of this "economic turmoil" that the world has felt, that even my own blessed neighbors complain about. I'm blessed in such a special way I guess, to not feel that. I'm scared for our country because I've noticed the selection for elected officials is getting slimmer and well, our choices have not been very shiny examples of people that I personally want to lead me into the future. I hear so much negative campaigning, so many rude and uninformed comments that I don't know whom to trust outside of the promptings I feel. I slid the card in the slot (that the BOY told me is in the upper right hand corner) and waited for anything... the building to blow up, the computer to start smoking... anything. And I got nothing for a second. Oh, maybe you have to really PUSH it in a little more. I did, and the computer popped up with an information filled page of words. I read every one, well, until I got the main idea of how this works. Touch where you want to mark, if you don't like that selection, touch it again and mark the one you wished you'd marked in the first place. Then the BIG question came. Who would you like to vote for for the next President and Vice-President of the United States of America? The fear, the tension, the stress again filled my soul as I offered up a silent pleading to my Father in Heaven to guide me, the nations' voters, AND whichever idiot we collectively elect. I selected my choice, and moved on. Each page thereafter I knew exactly whom I was voting for because I'd read my handy voter thing from the post office. I based 90% of my selection on that information solely. I was glad there were only 5 amendments to our Utah Constitution up for voting, and really glad that at least two of them were no-brainers! Then came the eternally long list of judges! These folks interpret laws on a state level, they really hold us in their hands. I know next to nothing about them. This part was hard, but I cast my votes.

Whew! All done. Oh, not quite, you get to go back over your answers, not one time, not two times, but THREE times. It is there on the screen and you can select print if it looks right to you, or reject and do it all over again (I resisted the urge to do it again). THEN it prints it out on a grocery store receipt thing to your right. Handy. I looked at it carefully for the most important decisions to me- they were correct well, they were as I intended them to be. Then to the next page, double check your answers/selections and again on a third page. Next you get to decide if even all of THAT was right, or as you intended it to be. That would make three chances you have to re-vote. I selected to cast my ballot instead of doing it over. (And I didn't want to break the machine, they can't be cheap.) Grabbed my little blue voter card and walked away to the next table where I saw the "I VOTED" stickers being handed out.

The guy handing them out was interesting. I said, "Oh, now I get a fancy sticker, Yeah!" and held open the top corner of my coat so he could apply it to my right shoulder. He said, "Oh we can't get that close or we'd be dating!" and laughed as I took it from him and placed it MYSELF on my sweater. What ever happened to being okay with being touched? I wouldn't sue him for putting a sticker I wanted him to put on my sweater, on my sweater... Now if he made a quick grab at anything else there would be some debate, but just to put a silly sticker on me? WOW! So off I went. As I left the library doors, I whispered, mostly to myself, "whew, glad that is over with!" and the lady from the first check in table said, "I know!" and went back to reading her book. I waddled back out to my car. Holding my belly that protrudes from my coat like I'm 7 months or so along (take note I'm 17 weeks and two days today, that puts me in my 4th month!) and taking my time getting back to my car. The grass is wet, the air is clean crisp and cool, my back hurts, my belly hurts and I can't wait to get home and pray some more for our country's wellbeing and to take a nap. I still wish I could bring my cute doggie inside to nap by the fire with me. She is very good inside, even though she's strictly to be an outside dog. One day I'll win that argument with my husband. One day I'll have a dog with me everywhere I go, and not a pocket pal either.
A big dog. The one I've got right now would work just fine. She's a treat.
Blue Houdini Princess. Here's to you pal and our long strolls in the back 40 where no one can bother us as we enjoy nature and smells and each other.



Yes, just look at her adoringly looking at Mike.
Amazing isn't it, how the one that proclaims the least gets the most?

Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween 2008



This is how I celebrated this morning. Orange Pancakes. I always home make my pancakes. Below is Elise's favorite recipe. We call them Caillou Pancakes.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 whole egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
maple syrup

Steps:
Melt butter (I do this in the microwave). Add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add egg and milk too. Mix together with hand mixer until smooth. (For the orange color, I used food coloring!)
Obviously, heat up your pan, and your syrup and cook the pancakes!! YUMMY!!


The Party LAST night.


Mike's Aunt Sharon, who lives two doors down, but it is a LONG walk.
Hosted a Halloween party for her nieces and nephews KIDS!! She is awesome!

This is Tina (Mike's cousin) dancing with the kids. We are so glad she was able to make it into town for Halloween. She lives in Connecticut. She hates it there.
But says the trees are pretty!

More dancing. You can see Uncle Brad playing the piano. He ROCKS! Look at little Preston in black. He loves to spin and jive. Little Ashton the Tiger is ROAR on the dance floor.


Uncle Brad plays in a for real band. They played at my wedding reception. Terrific job, all the time!! They play local gigs and weddings.
Mostly oldies and some originals.

Little Preston helping clean up the stepping stones (aka napkins) the kids used
for their musical chairs game.


Aha! Here are the pics of the musical chairs game on pumpkin napkins that turned out to be a money maker!! Aunt Sharon would give the kids that found a pumpkin napkin to stand on a nickel or penny
when Uncle Brad quit playing the piano! So fun!


Here is Ella-Bella-Tinker-Bella.

Have you met my littlest CowGirl Friend? Looks a lot like Jessie from Toy Story.
But she is Reagan.

This is how Elise left for school YESTERDAY. It was cold, but her Gryffindor cloak is really thick. And she wore MY witch hat. She's so cute. She wanted to take her broom, but the school said no props, so, no broom.

First, I've been delaying this TaG!!

Okay, so a few WEEKS ago, Jenn C. tagged me on her blog for a pretty interesting tag. You get into your folder of pictures (most of our billions of pics are on a separate hard drive and I'm terrified to mess it up...) and get into the fourth folder, and post your fourth picture. Explanation of the picture is necessary. Next, tag four people. HA! I've been cruising everyone's blogs and I think most of my bloggo-friends have already been tagged with this one!! I'm sure I'll find someone!!

I noticed this morning that after doing all those last few posts, I have about 8 folders actually on my computer. When I'm done with them, I shuttle them off to the monster hard drive. So before I do that, I'll post #4 of #4.


This is my rambunctious, active, beautiful, sassy, bossy, do-it MYself, niece Reagan. Before bedrest I used to watch her on day each week. Now I'm just lucky if they stop by to say, "hello!" and mess up my toys! Which, Amy (their mother) puts away!! I love having them over. It brightens my lonely days here in these four walls when no one has updated their blogs for me to read...

This was at last night's Halloween Party at Aunt Sharon's house down the street from here. Reagan dressed up as a cowgirl. She even got NEW cowgirl boots for the occasion. I'm terribly jealous. During the everyone gets a prize version of musical chairs, I called at Rea-Rea to strike a pose and she did! She smiled when the bulb was flashing, but this is what the camera captured! Worth SO much as it is SO REAGAN!! Love that kid.

And I was going to post this pic later today anyway!! haha Lucky me.

I'll notify my tagged blog-o-friends via a post on their blog. Watch out! Hahahahhahaa!

PS I tagged: Cami E., Haun Home, SueZan W., Brandi H., and Whitney V. I know, that is 5, not 4. I just couldn't help myself.

Elise's Birthday 2008!!

Uncle Jeffrey. He is a major dork, but we keep him around for laughs!! He is awesome. We had the entire family over for Elise's birthday. It was fun, loud, and we had guests way too late. I was sick all day Monday, but it was fun to have everyone over.

Elise blowing out the candles in the living room!! This is her third birthday cake actually! My mom has pics of the first cake. Elise made HERSELF, without my help, and we all tasted it. It was terrible, but pretty dang good considering she had ZERO guidance and no recipe. She's quite the explorer.

Cousin Brady did NOT like the purple thing on his head. It kind of pulls your hair, but it is for his size head!! I can't believe it fit on his dad (Jeff's) head.

Elise got a bike from her parents (me & mike) AND from my grandparents. Elise shares a very special birthday with my grandfather (my dad's dad). He is an incredibly important person in my life and I hope that she never forgets him. He turned 80 with her this year. Happy Birthday Grandpa, even though you don't have anything to do with the internet!!

Soccer, Fall 2008

Okay, there is me. Mike took that awful picture. I'm eating a plum, and my boobs are so flippen huge. UGH!

Elise's BFF Charly is so awesome. In the spring, they were on different teams too, and they were both number 5. This year, on different teams, they both picked the same number AGAIN!! They are like pb&j.

Like I said, Peanut Butter and Jelly!!

I think the girls on the Silver Malmutes are walking back for half-time or something.

I think Elise kicked the ball here, but Mike was the photog for this game.

This one for SURE was a kick. She enjoys playing, but I'm not sure she loves it...

All of these girls just watched as the ball went past them from this illegal in-bounds throw in. I will be so excited if she plays longer. I'm going to be one of the most embarrasing mothers on the side line! Yelling at the top of my lungs about everything! I told Elise I would not coach her team until she was at least 12. I'm not terribly excited about coaching, as I wouldn't like the parents that are just like me, but I'd do it if I have to!

On to the next post. I've got a few to do today!

Capitol Reef, 2008

Okay, this was a couple weeks ago. I'm slow. We had a great time. Elise and I crossed the stream and wandered around a beautiful valley for about two hours, at a very slow pace, cause I can't walk fast anymore. This pic of Elise on the other side of the stream from me, is when I had to convince her she could come across at this point, even though I crossed further upstream. She was so scared to fall in this cold water! HA! She ended up getting her feet wet anyway.

If you squint really hard and zoom in to the top of this mountain, you'll see the off-grid campus, two flags (one American, one Utah), and a few little people standing around. But really you can't see them in this small picture. This is, by the way, the hill that Elise and I climbed DOWN and back UP again... It isn't as steep as it looks, but it is quite exhausting and rocky terrain!

Here's Elise coming back down from touching the big mountain that we gazed at for quite a long time. It is SO LARGE!!!

And there it is. Huge.

Elise next to the tallest thing I think I've ever stood next to! Where is my repelling equipment and belayer when I need them?!

Here is Elise, standing beside this HUGE cliff. It went up for ever. I would have loved to repel DOWN this wall. It was amazing!!

Some crazy surveyor, maybe, took it upon himself to paint his name and title on this beautiful rock. What the... Why?!! The shadow is me, of course. I'm not sure how he/she wrote that high, or that large, maybe a ladder, but it was large. I could have reached maybe to the date at the bottom.

Here is Elise the Tracker. Using the book that Grandpa Wight bought her in Glacier National Park, we tracked elk, deer, cow, rabbits, and possibly a bear!! She is standing next to a large ant hill. These were all over. Kinda scary.

Here is the cliff from the plateau that the campus sits on. Note the color differentiation and the holes possibly from bats or birds using the mountain as their home. Such a beautiful place!! I want to go back sometime without a hurry back home kind of mentality. Going with Mike and Ken for work was fun, but completely exhausting. The people there are awesome and the facilities are FANTASTIC!! I'm rooting for a home just like this one day in the forest somewhere not too far away!!