Crab Legs

It's a fact, my kids are a little... different. I have to admit that I've been known to call my children... picky shhhh. I'm here to retract that comment and admit that I actually have wonderful eaters. I have a child who when we go to McDonald's she chooses a side salad instead of french fries. I have another child who eats anything you put in front of him except maybe lasagna, go figure. I have one nutty kid who when given the choice between a snack of cookies or Sushi, she'll choose Sushi. Hands down our entire families favorite food is Crab Legs. Owen brought home the following Essay and it cracked me up. Here it is in it's entirety:



Have you ever tried crab legs? They're the best in the universe! I love them so much I once spent $50.oo I had been saving for months on them. What?! You don't like them? Let me explain why you should.

Lets talk about the butter. The rich, creamy butter dipped in the delectable meat. The meat is very moist with butter. When you bite into the meat, the butter comes flowing out, filling your mouth up.

Now it's time for the spices. The oakey spices were shipped from the finest farms. The black little pepper lingers in your mouth because you can't get rid of the taste.

Now for the cracking shell. The shell splits open revealing the wonderful meat. The sound lures you closer, closer till the meat is in your mouth.

Don't you just want some crab now? I hope my essay has knocked some sense into you. If not, I'll just take you to taste them yourself. Let's go!

A Priceless Christmas Memory?

In my mind, I think back to the memories of my childhood. Of course there's a special place that hold all of the wonderful Christmas memories I have. My Dad loved to make sugar cookies and we couldn't have Christmas without them. I remember the year that my Mom injured her cornea. She was able to take her patches off right before Christmas Eve and so we rode around looking at Christmas lights while she cried in gratitude for her sight. I'll never forget the Christmas Eve that my sister and I had a fight. I woke up at 5am Christmas morning thinking "She'll never come in and crawl in bed with me like she always has done". Then I saw the light under her door and next think I knew she was bounding in my room and jumped under the covers while we waited for Mom and Dad. Of course there was the annual pageant with each of us dressing up to perform the story of Christ's birth. My Mom was a wiz at turning a towel into a Shepard's head scarf. One of the most magical memories I have is that of visiting Santa. I remember heading out to the mall, all of us dressed in our most festive attire. We sang carol's all the way and stopped to deliver our sugar cookies to friends along the way. Once we got there, I can remember the smells of the season... cinnamon, hot cocoa and fellow shopper's perfume. I see us walking towards Santa's house and seeing the lights, hearing the music and getting butterflies in my tummy. As we approached, there was Santa's elf ushering us up to his chair. Santa, arms open wide, welcomed us and gave us his undivided attention as we expressed the desires of our little hearts.


Is that really how it happened or has my adult mind glorified the memories? My experience as the Mother instead of the child is quite different...


We head out to the mall with Daddy mumbling in the back ground that it's absolute Highway Robbery the amount of money they charge for one 5x7 photo. Once in the car, the arguing begins as to what we are going to watch on the car DVD - of course I win because "darn it we are going to listen to carols and enjoy them!" We arrive at the mall and can't find a parking space and once we find one, someone swoops in front of us and takes it without another thought. We enter the mall, shoulder to shoulder with hurried shoppers and smells of body odor. We are now in a race because the faster you walk to Santa's house, the less people are going to get in front of you. As we approach, Santa's elf stands, hand out to request your hard earned cash while telling us the wait is two hours. In line, the first hour isn't so bad but how much can you really expect out of the little ones in your life? The whining starts, I'm telling them not to cry or they'll have red eyes for the photo. FINALLY, we are at the threshold of Santa's chair. He says "Next", slightly grumpy from too many chin pulls and soggy diapers on his knee. He quickly poses the kids for the perfect shot. Then askswhat they each want, never understanding their requests, and hustles them out the exit. Stunned and glassy eyed, the little ones say "I just want to go home".

Is this how they will remember it? I hope that with time, their minds eye will forget the long lines and grumpiness. I hope they too will transform the experience into one of magic... and in case they do and come to me as a parent and "Why isn't like when I was a child" I took these pictures to show them the truth.

Missing

So I haven't blogged since before we even moved into the new house. As I logged onto my blog page I noticed the last entry I made was about my Best Friend, Shana. This is very appropriate because I have been missing her terribly. I thought I was doing soo well until about October. I started missing all of these little things. As you can imagine it's only gotten worse since then. These are just a few of the things I'm missing:

• Going trick or treating together and ending up at our house with the kids decorating cookies.
• Bragging to all of our other friends "Have we started Christmas shopping? We were done in August." Along with that, I miss starting our Christmas projects in July. I didn't make one thing this year.
• Listening to all of the yummy dishes Shana was cooking up for Thanksgiving. I loved having her family join ours for Thanksgiving but of course it's bitter sweet for all that she wasn't there.
• Having her tell me what all of the Black Friday deals were. She knew I didn't like to go but she wanted to make sure I knew what they were.
• Moving to the Harlem Ward and her not being there. For years we talked about being in the same ward and it finally could have happened, but she's not here.
• Picking up the phone and hearing her on the other end. More than hearing her, I miss her listening ear.
• I miss giving her a hug. I love hugging her kids, it's like hugging a part of her. One day they're going to tell me to knock it off already.

It feels like she's been gone forever already, but I know I have a lot of life yet to live without her. I'm very grateful to those around me who care about me and have surrounded the hole in my heart and filled it with love.

Shana Meredith

In the last month of her life, my dear friend Shana asked me to help her put a BLOG together for her friends and family. Here is the link... pass it along to those who knew and loved her.

shanameredith.blogspot.com

Warp Speed

This week our house has ALMOST turned into a home. It has been amazing the speed at which the builders have moved and the many changes that have happened this week.

Painted arch into the family room:



Master Bath Vanity:



Kitchen Cabinetry:


Fireplace, no mantle yet...

Kitchen cabinets and pantry:

All of the trim is done:

Girls

The girls have been very cross at me for not posting pictures of their Birthday present. They wanted a Kitty and here she is. Her official name is Lily, but she's affectionately and creatively called Meow-Meow.

Here she's a bit closer to the size she is now. Don't let the peaceful sharing of food fool you. Once dinner is over, Sophie thinks Meow-Meow is her personal play/chew toy.



Couldn't resist putting this picture in. Nana rolled the girls hair and they are too adorable. Of course, I didn't get a picture of the finished picture but just imagine Shirley Temple.

Hunting Island, South Carolina

I am not a beach person. I love to look at the beach, I love to smell and hear the ocean and I love to walk along the beach... preferably in the fall, but that's where the love stops. I don't like to get in the water (maybe because I got stung by a jellyfish once or because my brother almost drowned in the ocean) I don't like to get sand stuck to me and my new dislike is fearing that my kids are going to get pulled under by a riptide.
Lately, Steve and the kids have been watching a lot of Discovery Channel. I didn't realize how much until I heard Griffin say this on the trip to the beach:
"No one swallow any water. If you do, you might swallow a plankton and you might get really sick." Hmmm... plankton wasn't exactly on my radar, sharks yes, Jellyfish - definitely. Despite my somewhat paranoid issues, I enjoyed spending time with my sister, Hillery and my Mom and niece and nephew Reagan and Logan. Here are some pics:

The drive into the park is awesome. It's like a jungle. Hunting Island is the least commercial beach I've ever been to. I highly recommend it (if you're a beach person :))







McKay having fun:


Now don't those waves look menacing?



Kaylee striking a pose. I love that she loved staying near the shore. She was afraid a crab would pinch her toes.


Owen: His yellow goggles made it much easier for me to spot him in the surf.

Griffin: Don't know what that face was all about? Maybe he loves the beach like his mother!

My Mommy

I've been soo lucky to have my Mom stay with me for awhile. We have had the best time and truly enjoyed each others company. The kids loved watching Nana get out her sketch pad and draw. She's truly and artist (although she would downplay this) and loves to sit and sketch. For me, her visit was such a help. She helped me cook, she helped me clean, she listened, she talked, she is a wiz at laundry... the list goes on and on.

We had the most giggles doing a photo session:

Sophie trying to get in the picture. Sophie LOVES my Mom and I love this picture because it is how you often see my Mom.

This is Nana, the kids and I making homemade Crab and Cream Cheese stuffed Ravioli with homemade Alfredo Sauce... it was heavenly.

Pioneer Legacy

My sister, Heather invited us to a special presentation that she wrote and produced based on the lives of the Mormon Pioneers. It was touching on several levels. First of all, it was amazing to see the talent that my sister has. Secondly, it was inspiring to see the Faith that the Pioneers exercised despite the many tribulations they faced. I'm so grateful for their example. I look at the world around me and the many trials and tribulations that my children will face as they grow up and find it easy to be overwhelmed. I'm so thankful that I was able to have a reminder that with the Legacy that has been left for my family by the Pioneers, I have the tools (Faith, Scripture, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ) that will enable us to endure to the end.

Depiction of a home in Nauvoo, IL around 1842. The Pioneers left their homes and all their belongings, minus necessities to escape religious persecution. Notice the dolls that were so lovingly left behind.

Picture of the Nauvoo Temple. The women gave their China to the builders. The china was ground up and used in the exterior which created a beautiful shimmer in the walls.

A covered wagon. Most of the pioneers weren't lucky enough to have a wagon and instead pulled handcarts across the prairie to the West.

A tent in winter. Several handcart companies were caught in the mountains in early snowstorms. A group of rescuers left Salt Lake to help rescue the victims. Two young men physically picked up the weak members and walked them across a frigid creek, time and time again. They received physical injuries that stayed with them for the rest of their lives.

Drywall, yeah!

It's amazing how much difference drywall makes to a house.

Steve posing in our new Master Closet (he's nervous it's too small, haha)



Garage



Fireplace in Family Room:

House Update

House with completed siding:




Arched foyer leading into family room:



Garage insulation:

Drywall is complete... stay tuned!

Summertime Vacation

Highlights from our Camping Trip to Millen, GA:

The trip there:


First sight:


Kids looking tough "We aren't scared of no stinkin alligators"


The beautiful Spring:


Two alligators harrassing us while we were fishing:

Huge roots of a fallen tree:

Lion or tiger or bear print? Oh my...

Family bike rides. This was my favorite part of each day. The temp was about 20 degrees cooler in the woods and the breeze from the bike ride was heavenly.

Sophie trying to recover from the family bike ride. I think she pulled Steve along the whole trip.

Beautiful swamp:

Turtle soup anyone?