I go to church with (at least two) authors who have self-published full-length novels!  I loved creative writing in High School but the dedication to craft an entire story and then edit, re-edit, re-edit (and, oh yeah, write it) is something I have never wanted to do.  But here are two books that two of my friends have written:

The Plasma Master, by Brian Rushton.  It is a sci-fi adventure about a teenage boy who escapes post-H.S. doldrums and saves a significant part of the galaxy (but not by playing video games).  Available for $.99 for your Kindle or Kindle App

Awakenings, ‘Neath Ancient Ruins Lie, Book One, by Mabel D. F. Cowie.  It’s a fantasy about a Scottish servant girl who deals with some unexpected guests in the dungeon.  Available in paperback for $10.95 or $.99 Kindle or Kindle App.  

OK, if that wasn’t enough, I came across this totally hilarious satire about Christmas stories, also.  The idea from the trio of authors is that there are so many stories about Christmas that are so formulaic that pretty much any topic could masquerade as a heart-felt Christmas story.  They were so daring and brave in their assertion that they found a way to somewhat randomly select titles for their stories BEFORE the stories were written.  So authors Brian Rushton, Amy Rushton and Kevin Rushton each penned a silly story (or picture book) titled, respectively, “The Christmas File”, “The Christmas Hamburger” and “The Christmas Head”. 

I read them last night, and then showed my wife the Hamburger one before church today.  We were forced to read all of them to the kids tonight after dinner and everyone laughed in all the right places.  (I am quite confident there is some social commentary going on in the Head story that I didn’t pick up, but see if you can find some humor and irony in Kevin’s choices of character names and “heads”).  This one is a FREE book that is downloadable in many eReader formats and it will only take you 10 minutes to get through the stories.  Once you read them, you might be tempted to start your own stories, like my wife and daughters did tonight.

Oh, and lastly, lest I not forget, my friend Wes Dyer has co-founded a website with his brother-in-law Chris Crittenden at www.pasplore.com. 

They created a tool that will automatically find recipes on web sites you visit.  At the touch of a button, the recipe is gathered up into digital recipe cards that Pasplore will keep handy (and organized!) for you.  I have started cooking with my laptop on the counter instead of a recipe printout.  They are still on beta, but if you like to cook or if you ever search the web for recipes, then this is a tool worth having.  I am excited that I can start my journey away from the huge binder of printed recipes we keep in the cupboard.

Sometimes I think that in LDS vernacular or tradition (or maybe anyone’s tradition) that Miracles are held in our minds to be difficult to attain, very rare and/or large-scale things that are viewable on large, grandiose scales.  I have come to disagree with that notion and I have a few thoughts about it I’ve wanted to share for a while.  (One of the stories involves some of our friends and I’ve held off posting because parts of the story could be embarrassing, but it’s been long enough now that I’m posting it anyway.  And I won’t use any names to make sure the innocent are protected.  )

One old experience, first.  I remember in 1999 I was a zone leader for the Bonnie Doon district in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  It was a really large district (it mirrored the stake) and it stretched north into what felt like the “far reaches” of Northern Alberta – an oil town named Ft. McMurray, AB was the northernmost town in our district that had missionaries in it.  After being in the zone for two months, it was my turn to travel around the zone for a week and spend time with each of the companionships.  We drove for a long time and after several days I wanted to stop and stretch my legs in the upcoming town, Lac La Biche.  There was a nice lake near the town and we walked along the walkway enjoying the fresh Spring greenery.  I was sad that there was no branch in Lac La Biche, but we stopped anyway.  About five minutes out of the car a woman approached us and asked if we were missionaries for the church.  “Yes,” came the reply.   She replied  that someone in her family wanted to be baptized but they didn’t know how to contact the missionaries.  Needless to say, we were able to help her out and several weeks later, the person was baptized.  I am convinced that there were many ways that she could have been led to contact the missionaries and she would have certainly found a way without us being there, but to me, it was a miracle.  I think the reason the Lord let it happen in this way was to show His missionaries that He is aware of His Children and that He will guild them to the truth. 

Recently in our home, you might have noticed, we started raising backyard chickens.  If you’re not sure, there are multiple posts about it here, here, here, and…. here, for just a few examples.  Anyway, when they were young and very much a novelty, some friends were over and we were playing with the baby chicks in the garage.  We had had the chicks for several weeks and connections were being formed, field trips to the next door dirt pile for dust baths and roosting lessons were part of the regular activity.  Anyway, through an accident, one of the children hurt one of the baby chicks, Wynona.  Here she is (I think):

She was hurt pretty bad and I was convinced she was going to die.  I was okay with that, chicks are really cheap and getting a new Wyandotte chick would be a pretty easy feat (I think our guest was hatching plans already to buy us another one, actually, if you would pardon the pun).  Anyway, Rebecca and Brianna were very torn up and sat in the garage trying to deal with the sadness of the seemingly inevitable death of poor, little Wynona.  

It was such a terrible event for so many reasons!  Rebecca and Brianna were obviously sad; Poor Wynona was going to die; our poor guests were trying to deal with the fact that their child had caused this sadness.  Even with all this difficulty, I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t really a very big deal – chickens die every day so we can eat them.  Clearly, the loss of an innocent chick is sad, but in the scheme of all the travails on planet earth, this was microscopic.  But to the children in our family it was big.

So my wife comes in from the garage, with Brianna and Wynona.  She comes to me and says that she thinks we should all pray for Wynona and that Heavenly Father will bless her to make her better.  I must confess, at this point I was not happy with the situation.  I mean, c’mon, this is a little chick, we can buy a new one, and she’s lying in your hands convulsing.  I think she’s going to die and I’m Okay with that fact.  But I say, “Ok, we can pray.”  (There isn’t really another answer I can give to that question).  Rebecca amps it up one more level, though, and asks if I would offer the prayer.  Right now. 

So, house guests, kids and all, we kneel down and I say a quick prayer.  To be honest, I was embarrassed.  I didn’t want to pray about this with or in front of our guests, but I tried really hard to make the prayer as sincere as I could.  Our guests soon went home, promising to pray for Wynona as well.  I am sure that their kids offered prayers that night.  Rebecca and ours did and I probably did as well. 

Rebecca made a little bed for Wynona and she slept next to Rebecca on the night stand.  When Rebecca woke up the next morning and eagerly checked on our chick, she was as good as new and chirped a good morning reply to Rebecca. 

Amazing!  It was such a relief, but the Spirit flooded in to me as I realized it truly was the hand of God in our chick’s rescue.  I thought about it more and more and I finally decided that even though chickens die every day, pet chicks that kids have a special relationship with don’t die every day (or nearly as often, anyway).  I was convinced that God didn’t really care much for the chick, but he cared for our kids and wanted to show them that He hears and answers prayers, even if it wasn’t a “big” miracle, it was still a miracle, and our kids’ faith in prayer has been strong ever since.   

On Christmas Eve we went sledding and our friends the DuRee’s joined us up on the mountain.  It ended up being the perfect activity for the day before Christmas.  Asia and Brianna fell asleep without a hitch that night.  Here are some pictures from the day:

		Asia sledding VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

		Rebecca Sledding VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

		Jess and Kaleb VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

This one w/ Jessica and Kaleb is just so funny! Jessica is totally worried about running in to some trees and Kaleb just keeps grinning like, “bring it on, Mom!!”  In Jessica’s defense, there was a scary turn on this route that made it look like you were going to smash right into some trees on the left side. 

That night for dinner we had build-your-own Christmas Tree pizza and floating candles::

(The cheese does look kind of gross here, but we mixed Mozzarella and green food coloring so the trees would be green)

We also “acted” out the Nativity using some of our stuffed animals for the enactment.  My favorite Character was Rexina the Alligator playing the part of the donkey.

We finished the night by watching How the Grinch Stole Christams and went to bed.

I didn’t get any pictures of Christmas day but we had a great time opening the presents, eating candy and playing.  We went to a local nursing home and put on a 30 minute program of Christmas Carols for the residents – Brianna sang a solo of Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer.  The residents joined in for Jingle Bells (and they were all very excited when Rebecca let them keep their bells).  Rebecca sang Sleigh Ride and Breath of Heaven which were wonderful.  The Caroling was one of the highlights of the entire Christmas season for me.

We attended Sacrament Meeting and enjoyed some Christmas narration and many wonderful pieces of music.  While I was leading the Choir, Asia snuck into Mom’s purse and sent me a text message from her phone. It said “Matt you are sille wen you tes me ASia”   Honestly, I had no clue she could figure out how to send one all by herself but she managed to make it happen.

We ate dinner with Mom and Kenny afterwards and enjoyed a great time cooking, playing music, and looking at my Mom’s new computer and accompanying electronic art pad. 

Merry Christmas Everyone!  May the love of the Savior shine down on you.

I took a brief trip to SLC to visit with my Grandpa Bettilyon who’s health is ailing.  His kidney function is down to about 10% (or below) of normal and the doctor’s are anticipating that he will not be able to hang on for long. 

I had a great time talking with him on Saturday and Sunday.  Sunday also was his 93rd birthday!!  While he was awake he was very lucid and carried on interesting conversations and he was in very good spirits.  I had a few questions that I asked him to see if I could get interesting responses.  I still remember a few of our interchanges.  He was not very forthcoming in his answers and when I tried to ask follow up questions he just changed the subject, so I know at least his personality is still red!  This is My dad Lee, Grandpa, brother Andrew and me:

I asked him if he would tell us how he gained his testimony of the church.  His response was that he thinks he always had one.

On his birthday I asked him one of my friend’s favorite birthday questions:  What have your learned in the last year?  It was kind of a funny question to ask because he’s been around for so much longer than a year and he, frankly, has been sitting in bed for most of the last year.  He asked me a question in return, wanting to know why it took so much pain to get out of this life.  I thought about his question for a while and then answered that Elder Scott had talked about that once.  He was a little surprised, but I told him the talk was about why we must suffer through pain in this life and then he understood.  I told him I thought it was interesting that the beginning and ending of life often were both surrounded by suffering and pain.

I told him I was going skiing with Allen the next day and he told me to be careful and not to break my leg.  Later in our chat he told me to be careful again and not to break my neck.  I told him if I did that I’d be seeing him sooner than he was expecting.  Grandpa took the joke well and laughed for a few good moments.  He really seemed at piece with his situation and the life he has lived.  It was very comforting to be able to talk with him and Ruth.

I was also able to stop and visit with Rebecca’s parents, Rick and Eileen.  We had a great visit and I was able to tell them about the time that Wynona almost died as a Chick and Rebecca made me pray for her chicken with our dinner guests.  Eileen in particular loved the story and commented that Rebecca’s love of animals far exceeds Eileen’s or Rick’s and it is something that is all her own.

Don’t really know what’s happening here but Asia is acting pretty normal here, so I had to post it.

Brianna sang in her school’s choir this year and there were several Christmas concerts that went along with that.  Here Brianna is with her choir on a Thursday night concert.

And we all gathered ‘round and sang Christmas carols together after the concet.  Brianna and her classmates singing here.

The PTA made sure there were a few crafts for the other kids that came along, so Asia made a moose hat and we also enjoyed some hot chocolate.

Afterwards daddy worked hard to set up the chairs and Rebecca worked hard to tune the camera up.

Also this month has not been too rainy (until the last day or two).  Once the “inversion” left (I only use quotes to show I understand what real inversions are like, but ours was still bothersome) we had some clear skies.  Here is a sunrise from our house.  this also helps me remember that we have finally passed the Winter Solstice, so the days are starting to get longer!!  It’s a rare day when I am up to see the sunrise, so this is just evidence of how late sunrise happens in December around here.

We recently drove to North Powder, Oregon to visit with Justin and Emily while their daughter was baptized.  They were great hosts, we enjoyed a few days of R&R with them and my dad while we were there. 

Emily, Lyndi, Keanna, Justin and Ayla. 

Keanna, in what I like to call “soft focus” and my dad in his normal state.

A fun tree that I found during an evening walk around North Powder and an interesting shed that I thought made an interesting commentary on how different people can sometimes work together to make something that works.

Grandma Tami trying to be happy I’m taking a shot of her while we wait for the baptism to start and Rebecca on our walk around town.

Asia borrowed some rollerblades from Ayla and we tried to “skate” around the town a little.  I liked this one where Mom was catching her.  We also drove up to the local ski resort (one chair lift) and played in the snow.  The kids loved throwing snow and goofing off together.  This is about the time I lost my poor glasses.  I am getting used to contacts again now.

Brianna, wholeheartedly enjoying the snow and playing with her cousins.

We drove back on Monday just in time for me to take off for class again.  We had a great time!

The Young Women in our ward recently had their annual Personal Progress kick-off and in addition to a few projects on the table, most of the young women finished projects by participating in a production of Women at the Well. 

Rebecca volunteered to give two personal voice lessons to each young woman who wanted to sing in the event.  I think most of them took her up on it.  Some of the talent in our ward is amazing!  I was even more amazed, however, by the testimonies that rang through while they were on stage performing.  I worked a little with two of the Young Women as they directed the show.  Watching the transformation from fledgling operation to total stage performance really was a credit to them and also to our wonderful Young Women leaders.  Some of the ladies got a bouquet of flowers for their participation.  I got a HUGE bar of chocolate, like this one. We got home late at night and I proceeded to read articles on Business Strategy and ate my ENTIRE candy bar in one sitting.  It was all the reward I needed to keep on reading.  “Oh, I finished another page?  I’ll just take another bite as I write some notes here.”   Mmm.

One of the projects was a garden the YW had worked on all summer long.  This was next to a colorful and tasty fruit basket.  Have you ever seen compost look so tasty and appealing??

I wasn’t very impressed with my dark-room camera skills, but I really love how this one of Ashlee turned out.

Rebecca took the kids to a park on, presumably, a day that I was studying.  Some of the pictures turned out REALLY cute. 

Asia has been working on the monkey bars and bragging a little about her calluses.

Brianna was screaming and while the picture isn’t the cutest, I love the composition of her between two blurry bars in the park.  Nice shot, Beck!

Rebecca has been practicing a little with the camera.  She was playing with aperture and snapped one off of her hubby’s five o’clock shadow.

Mom took the kids and our neighbor to a Saturday event in Duvall at Camp Korey.  It was a beautiful day with great pics of the kids.

Asia, looking cute and knowing it, is getting ready to enforce her will with her stick. 

The start of a race and, YES, a chicken.  We don’t own this one.

Asia and Dom just naturally posed for this one. 

So I have come back from the world of studying.  I decided the other day that I should download the contents of the camera card and when I looked to see how long it had been since the last camera download it had been since Rebecca’s last post.  I’ll try to capture  a few  of the things we’ve done since. 

We celebrated our Day of Service by participating in our stake’s activity of washing headstones at a nearby cemetery.  Sounds kind of weird, and it was a little weird at first, but after a while, it didn’t matter and I actually started thinking about the people who lived in this area 150+ years ago.  We found an ancient old grave that was from the early 1800’s, we found some that had almost worn completely off, some headstones had broken and been glued together again.  I must point out that in the Pacific Northwest, moss grows on everything, so what we were cleaning off, generally speaking, was moss that had been growing.  Halfway through, Rebecca turns to me and says “I want a small headstone that is polished.  Nothing else.” 

At the end I was surprised how quickly two hours went by and we all had a great time. 

This week Matt had a 3-day retreat with his 32 new best friends in the MBA program (hereafter, “the Program”). The old Rebecca (the 21-year-old who grudgingly tolerated Matt’s full time work and school for his Bachelor’s degree) might have felt sorry for herself, but the new and improved Rebecca (the more self-aware, proactive 30-year old) decided the kids and I would have some adventures, too. And boy, did we have fun! The fact that this was the most gorgeous week of the year worked out in our favor.

Thursday, while Matt rode on a bus, braved a ropes course, and ate dinner with the Program, the kids and I had a rock-throwing contest at the river. We played at the playground and watched Deep Space Nine together. Matt and I had fun talking on the phone that evening about the animals around Camp Brotherhood where he stayed, especially this crazy looking Emu that ate a dandelion out of Matt’s hand and made sounds like congo drums:

Friday, while Matt had classes and played game after game of volleyball outside, I took the kids to good old Lake Tye with some friends. We talked while the kids floated in their tubes and created sand structures. We had a quick & easy favorite dinner of tomato soup and quesadillas and more Deep Space Nine. I enjoyed falling asleep early and waking up early, feeling refreshed.

Saturday, the most boring day for Matt, was the most exciting day for me. Matt had more classes and another bus ride home. But I woke up motivated to get some work done and go have some serious fun with the girls. I cleaned ALL the bathrooms thoroughly, all on the same day! I don’t know the last time that happened. It was tedious, but I felt great when I was done. I put dinner in the crock pot, packed lunches, and took the kids to Saltwater State Park.

We explored tide pools. Asia picked out rocks for me to overturn and we all watched with baited breath as little crabs and critters scurried to get undercover. Brianna discovered beautiful shells with what we decided must be mother-of-pearl lining inside. Asia and I poked around in the seaweed.

We moved on to phase two of Saltwater state park: getting into the salty waves of the Puget Sound. The three of us ventured out in our swimsuits and flip flops as the tide rose. We would shriek every time a wave swelled and splashed the cold water higher on our legs.

The sun was sublime. When I laid on my towel in the sunshine, I kept checking the time and saying to myself, “Let’s stay just a little longer…” It was that cozy, settled feeling of sleeping in late without a care in the world. While I lay basking in the sun, the girls kept very busy building homes among the driftwood.

Here’s a tour of Brianna’s quaint abode:

THE FRONT DOOR (yes, the nail-decorated 2 x 4). Eek! When was the last time Brianna had a tetanus shot?

THE CUBBYHOLE (COVERED). What’s inside?

THE CUBBYHOLE (REVEALED!). It had fun rocks and shells tucked inside, safely out of Asia’s reach so she wouldn’t “accidentally” add them to her collection.

HOME SWEET HOME. Ahh.

And here is Asia’s well-ordered home:

THE STACKED STICKS and THE HAPPY CHILD. The sticks have a serene Zen feel to them, don’t you think?

THE SHELL COLLECTION. Asia’s most prized accomplishment of the day. She didn’t mind following the park rules to leave them behind for others to enjoy.

What a great week! I thoroughly spoiled myself and the kids with sunshine. The best part is we played together and we all enjoyed it. And we got happliy reunited with Matt again. The gears are already turning, making fun plans for his next Saturday at school…

With the new school year, I have taken on a new supportive role to two full-time elementary school students and one full-time working and MBA-ing husband. I feel a shift in my way of thinking, in a good way. An interesting quote I encountered recently has become motivating to me:

“ It is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking, than it is to think yourself into a new way of acting.” – A.J. Jacobs

I have decided it is time to do less thinking about my challenges and do more acting. But then another question came to mind: “How do I act? There are so many good choices of how to spend my time, how to teach my children, and how to support my husband! Which choices are best?” Guidance for a good criteria came quickly in answer to my prayers.

“The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life.” – Julie B. Beck

I know that if I strengthen my relationship with God, he will increase my ability to communicate with him and to really see and hear the answers to my prayers. I will be fortified to make good decisions and move forward one day at a time if I put my relationship with Him first.

 “What can we do to better prepare our children spiritually for their eternal roles? Perhaps the most inclusive answer is: Teach them how to live the principles of the gospel.” – Elder M. Russell Ballard

To me this means that teaching my children the gospel will benefit them more than anything else. It is like teaching a child to fish so he can fish for a lifetime. If strengthening my relationship with God will help me, teaching my children to do the same will most definitely benefit them now and in the future.

I am happy for the opportunities I have to live my life how I choose and to help those around me bloom. The accompanying challenges will only make me and my family stronger.

The kids started school a few days ago. They were ready and excited!  The girls and I had a lot of fun meeting teachers at the ice cream social, packing school supplies in their backpacks, checking off lists, and laying out clothing in advance.

Asia was excited to go to school all day and take a lunch. She was blissfully in her element while organizing the many pockets in her backpack and lunchbag. It was so fun to see her genuine smile on the way to the bus.

Brianna counted down the 10 days until school started. She was really excited for a teacher brand new to her school, especially since that teacher told her the class would start off the week with some fun art projects.

The excitement for the beginning of school has been palpable in our home. Next agenda item: building palpable excitement for HOMEWORK!

by Matt

Poor Asia was sick at the beginning of the week.  Not necessarily “Labor Day Weekend” as the post title dictates, but it was too cute not to post.

We tried to take a hike on Saturday up to Bridal Veil Falls but gave up once we saw how horrible the traffic out of town on Highway 2 was, so we turned around and walked around Lord Hill Park instead.  The only way I could convince the kids to go on a hike was to promise them swimming later on Monday, so they came along with grouchiness and complaining.  This was about the only fun moment we had, it seemed.

We turned around once we got to the top of one hill and went back to the car.  On the way home I declared our deal invalid b/c they were so winey on the “hike.”  They agreed to another hike on Monday and that we would swim after the hike on Monday, instead.

So we left early Monday, before traffic, to walk on the trail to Barclay Lake.  A flat 1.5 mile jaunt.  The kids had fun (and the shade from the trees made ALL the difference in Asia’s attitude.  I think she is a vampire).

The lake had beautiful shimmers from the sun on it.

Mt Baring here.  I tried to climb it once, but it didn’t go so well.  Once we arrived at the lake, however, a woman told us that her husband was just preparing to base jump from the summit any moment.

Here he is jumping off.  If you look really , really close you can see a little black speck in the middle of the sky.  It’s our base jumper.

He opened his chute and landed on the far shore of the lake.

We drove home (now in the traffic.  grr.) and swam in Lake Tye per the negotiation.  After an hour we drove home and enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches with our friends in a celebration of the end of summer.

Rebecca and I were looking over pictures from the trip last night and she was sad I opted to post the other picture of her dad, Rick, instead of this one:

It captures Grandpa Rick just so well!  He was all ready for the shot, looking at me, I took one photo said “wait!  I need one more,” paused to tune up the camera, and he points to something off on the hill (a cave I think.  He is sharing his childhood memories of the Anderson family cabin with his daughter, of course) and totally covers Rebecca’s face.  He is still smiling for the picture, but he just couldn’t stand waiting to point back to the hill.  So this one is for you, Beck.   (This is also justification for a light meter, I guess, but I’ll just have to wait on that one).  Love you, Grandpa!!

So the boring laundry ended at the hotel finally and we kept going the next day to have fun on our trip.  We spent most of Friday around Temple Square and the church campus.  We enjoyed lunch at The Garden restaurant.  It was funny to see the clientele at The Roof and The Garden.  Some “fancy” looking business men waiting for their unscheduled reservation at The Roof, bragging about their businesses, and then the families enjoying a bite to eat with their returned missionaries.  (There were TWO of them at the same time.  Why am I surprised?  And I guess it’s a wonderful thing to come home from a mission – honorably, I mean).  Anyway, the highlights were the fried pickles and the view of the Salt Lake Valley (and the temple, of course). 

We went to Temple Square after that.  I’ve been wanting to take pictures of the Salt Lake Temple for about a year now and finally had the chance.  I want to get more pictures of the temple in our home and so I was prowling for picture opportunities.  (So if I digress about photography and you get bored, just skip ahead, or if you want to critique my amateurish frames, please give me some hints, or whatever).

This was Rebecca’s fav.

Wanted to try some sort of crazy composition.  I think the tree branches add a little too much.

I liked this one with the East part of the temple framed in by the wall initially but maybe not as much now.  This one from the North side is fun, but it shows Moroni from behind.  You might disagree, but I decided it was hard to take a bad picture of the temple, the architecture is just so stunning!

Poor Brianna was feeling sick this day so getting smiles was tough, but we had a grin in this shot. 

Asia tried hard to get us back to the North Visitor’s Center one last time to ride the escalators.  She finally convinced me and I snapped a shot of her REAL smile.  I guess the trip back was worth it. 

Though I didn’t get a shot, we also visited the South Visitor’s Center.  There’s a new display in there with a 3-D mock-up of the temple.  It has the South wall carved out and sections of all of the rooms.  There is the chapel downstairs, a room for the First Presidnecy and Quorum of the Twelve, another bigger room next to that for something else, a small room on the East side with a desk and a picture of (I’m assuming) James E. Talmadge, and a huge room on the top floor that is reminiscent of the original design of the Kirtland Temple, with two sides for people to sit in, a floor covered in (hundreds?) of fold up chairs and yet more seating on the sides that also seemed to fit another hundred or so.   By far this was the kids’ favorite spot. A video a the church’s newsroom is here.

Poor Brianna not quite smiling, but having a good day none-the-less.   (I liked the bokeh on this one, it’s not quite as heavy handed as I usually do.)

Trying to get something a little more formal and it just makes it goofier. 

We went to the Church History Museum across the street and most of the upstairs was a quasi children’s museum.  A section with dresses, a boat and even…..CHICKENS, or stuffed chickens, at least.  They looked like Sassy Chicken.  I had really missed snuggling them to sleep so I held them tight.  Sorry if you get jealous, Rebecca, I just can’t handle it when I’m not close to them.  Rebecca was also able to capture some fun shots of the kids’ dresses while they danced at their own fiesta (above).

By then we were tired so we moped around in the sun for a while.  Rebecca took advantage of the situation quite sucessfully.

We spent the night at Allen’s and Britney’s.  Al and I were able to jam on the guitar again – it has been a few years, I think, maybe since our last family reunion when we went river rafting – and played the likes of Rush, Metallica, DMB and even some Rage Against the Machine.  Woot!  Allen then showed us his masterful Pac Man moves on some PS3 Pac Man game.  As I write about it, I am reminded of the days when we used to have an Atari and all of the neighborhood boys would come over and watch Allen play Pac Man the Original.  He could go FOR-EV-ER!  I remember laughing about how hot the power brick would get b/c he played for so long.  Now-a-days, if he didn’t have a job or family to worry about, I’m sure he’d be in the double-digit world leader board, not the triple-digit one.  Go Al!

We drove home to Emily’s on Saturday night and she hosted us for a second time.  And then we enjoyed the drive home.  We were parked on I-90 for a while as you can see above.  But the real adventure of the ride home was starting the book Gone With the Wind.  I asked Belinda Berryhill what book had characters as good as The Wheel of Time.  She responded, unhesitatingly with GWTW.  So we tried it.  Rebecca hasn’t had a book she couldn’t put down for a year or so, but this is one of those books for her. 

Glad to be back.  Now we can get ready for kiddo’s School and my MBA program.  Woo hoo!

Thursday night and I am sitting in a hotel waiting for laundry to finish drying.  I have opted to work on a blog post with some pics from our trip to pass the time.  (And doing laundry in a hotel has been really enjoyable, BTW).  For all of our friends in UT that we didn’t visit, I’m sorry we didn’t get to see you.  We have crammed everything possible into our trip and I’m still not sure we’ll get a chance to see all of our immediate family members even yet.    So hopefully next time.  (Or come visit in Seattle anytime  .

We started off by driving to Emily and Justin’s to stay the night.  We played for a few hours, snapped a few pics and went to bed.  Ayla is always happy to smile for the camera. 

Keanna on the swing.

On Saturday we drove to Andrew and Katherine’s house.  Andrew and I went to a local wall in Pocatello and tried our hand at bouldering.  The spot we picked was actually a really nice city park that had grass, bark and garbage cans.  Andrew proved, once again, that is is the man and solved a few problems that I could barely even attempt. 

We stopped for a visit at Great Grandma and Grandpa Sadler.   By this shot Brianna is already deaf from the continued requests to “smile” for the camera.

We also got in a visit with Great Grandma Lela Anderson.  Rebecca and Lela here.

We stayed the next night at Jason and Rachel’s house but it looks like the camera never made it out of the car.    We had a great time catching up and then drove down to the cabin together on Monday.

Rebecca and Rick enjoying the vista out the East side of the cabin.  The area is covered with aspens, meadows and wildflowers. 

McKenna holds some wildflowers to her face for one of her many, MANY shots that I took of her.

And this expression was just too funny and cute not to post.  She is a cute little girl that kept coming and giving me snuggles whenever I needed them.

Sadie enjoying a marshmallow.

We celebrated Abby’s 7th birtyday.  She opened presents near the smoky fire on a rain-soaked log.  She was still happy at least!

Ivy takes shreds of wrapping paper to the fire.

Dave and LIz show off ribs and chicken.  Dave “accidentally” purchased 6 racks of ribs instead of 2 so there were a “few” left over.

Trystan struts his stuff before going to the lake to fish.  On the way to “leech lake” we got separated from each other and hung out in this parking lot for a while.  (What family reunion would be complete without some miscommunication about where we are all supposed to drive to, anyway?  It felt like it was just part of the necessary course of things to wait for half of the group).

Still don’t know what happened to Grandpa’s hair but it got fixed pretty fast.

The girls wait in the sun for the rest of the group to show up.  Rebecca, Asia, Aubrey and Brianna.  Asia looks like the sun is “draining all of her energy.”

Aubrey is ready to rock!

Finally made it to the lake.  Brynn grins ever so slightly; a rare event for the camera I think.

Grandma and McKenna enjoy the sunshine.

Lisa enjoys a few casts.

James teaches Brynn and Ivy how to cast.  I don’t think they caught anything.

Grandpa  Rick shows that the lake really was stocked with some Rainbow Trout.  I never saw or smelled it getting cooked, so I hope it was tasty.

Five of us woke up a little early and drove to Orangeville to go bouldering near Joe’s Valley Resivoir.  We all had fun and relative levels of success.  Thanks to Rachael for watching our kids while we took hers climbing.  James did a great job and Trystan and Sadie proved they were naturals at the sport.

James atop one of the boulders.

Matt trying out a problem.

Rebecca finishing up a problem with a smile.

After the cabin we drove to the Provo Temple and enjoyed lunch, a walk around the temple, and gawking at all of the missionaries on their P day.

Asia actually smiled for this shot!  This is in the back of the Provo Temple with some really tall decorative grasses.  I asked the girls to think about getting married in the temple.  Asia smiled.  Brianna didn’t react. 

We also stopped by Great Grandma and Grandpa Bettilyon’s apartment in SLC and had a great visit and caught up with each other.  (Whew!  We just visited all 5 Great Grandparents in less than one week)

We decided to stay in downtown SLC for Thursday night so we could spend the day at Temple Square and the surrounding campus.  (The fact we had a coupon for a free night didn’t hurt, though!).  More later.

While I was taking the GMAT in prep for school this fall, Rebecca and the Kids were in charge of a Butter Churn station at the Stake Activity.  They dressed as pioneers and helped participants throughout the stake shake whipping cream into butter.  The girls used the table for shade while Rebecca worked hard.

One of the best benefits was the leftover cream that we took home with us.  We enjoyed Indian Food, Rice Pudding, Leftover Rice Pudding smoothies and more. 

Sometimes life will bring you full circle without you even realizing what is stacked in the cards.

When I was in my first real year of High School at Hillcrest High I was a Husky.  I remember looking at the cover art of my elder brother and sister’s Hillcrest Student phone directories and admiring the Husky sketches.   Through a really dumb (and funny now) event I was ejected from the school and started at Brighton High as a Bengal.  BHS and HHS were the worst rivals.  Huskies mocked the Bengals because they were all East-siders who drove beemers; Huskies were a bunch of druggies.   So of course I started to admire the Bengals that were sketched on my BHS phone directories instead and mocked anyone who was a dog.

College brought the SLCC brooms Bruins (whatever that is?) And then the Utes.  My father taught me to love the BYU Cougars but now I bleed red, instead.

Now in an ironic turn I’ve decided to pursue an MBA at the University of Washington.  Guess what their mascot is?  A Husky.  And their rival?  A Cougar.

So at least i’ll be able to mock Cougars some more, but somehow I’ll need to find it in myself to be a dog again.  I hope I can do it.  (And if there are student directories with sketched Huskies on them perhaps I can pine the day away by admiring them…i’ll be sure to let you know)

Go Huskies!!

We woke up today to blue skies and sunshine.  It was the epitome of a PNW summer day.  Not too hot, a perfect breeze, wispy cirrus clouds combed across the sky in melodious arcs, and soft sunshine well into the evening.

Our day started a little rough, I felt sick and moped in bed, Rebecca had wanted to get outside to the weather but didn’t even bother asking.  Instead she went to Garage Sales.  I remember that she picked up some sleeping pads (for backpacking) which I was excited about, didn’t have enough cash on hand for the 8 quart dutch oven (garage sale-ing is dangerous, it’s OK that she only brings a small amount of ca$h along), and some other odds and ends.  She was ready for a nap, but I was feeling better in the afternoon and also wanted to get out into the weather.  It took some getting done, but we finally made it out of the house at 4:30 in the afternoon.  Oh well, better late than never.

We drove up I-90 to Denny Creek campground and took a hike to Franklin Falls.

The falls were tall and enjoyable.  Brianna posed on a boulder in the stream for a while.

Rebecca smiled as her feet got wet in the stream.

Asia posed for a few shots.  If you look close on the right you’ll see a little rainbow in the mist.

Brianna by the Rainbow. 

I enjoyed following Brianna’s lead and holding up my shirt in an effort to be more lady-like.

We stopped for Pizza at some fancy pizza place when we found the Thai restaurant was closed and navigating to the Mexican joint was too difficult.  They added Pesto to the top of our marinara-cheese pizza for free.  It was Pestilicious, as Rebecca coined.  We also stopped for a peek at the Snoqualmie Falls on the way home – always a treat.

We have a little park down at the end of our subdivision.  We’ve been going a little more over the last two years since they installed cooler toys there.  We had fun getting there and playing a little bit:

I love this one of Rebecca on the swing because you can kind of tell that she’s not really enjoying the ride that much.