Moving Trucks, Boxes and a Happy New Year

We're in that limbo state currently.  You know the one... you have no official address, Christmas is over but you haven't celebrated New Year's yet. Just a constant state of loafing. I knew this moment would come too. I told several people that I just had to get the stupid trailer loaded and once it drove away everything else would be pie in the sky. It was true, however the events leading up to that were C-Razy!

Moving events rarely go off without any hitches. Or in our case on the first round there was no un-hitching to be had because the first truck from ABF (which was incredibly late) pulled up and attached was a very long flatbed trailer with one single cube on it. We had talked about doing cubes in our original plan and had decided that even four cubes probably wouldn't be enough for us and where in the world would we have put four cubes anyway? So needless to say, we told the driver, "We didn't order no stinkin' cube." and sent him on his way. So now our volunteer helpers were helpless and said to give them a call when the real trailer finally arrived. About an hour later it did and like an army nearly all our helpers returned to pack the trailer, un-hitched. 

Side note: We lived on a dead end so the traffic was fairly calm, however as our truck driver was trying to park a 28' trailer in a tight spot it seemed that every Tom, Dick, Harry and Sally wanted either in or out of the circle. It was a damn traffic jam to be precise.

I digress.

I kind of like the cleaning process, however realized that I had packed my scrub brush and all I had left was the toilet bowl cleaner which I planned to throw out. I'm sure the bleach killed anything that was on the brush as I used it to scrub some hard to reach surfaces. Also after I had cleaned all of the bedrooms, I needed to occupy Noelle and gave her a little bag of snacks which she and her little friend Eleanor dumped in her bedroom closet and were flicking through the space in the bottom of the doors. Boo came into the kitchen where I was cleaning and asked, "Did you see what they're doing in there?" Well duh, of course not because it wouldn't be happening. He thought it was funny to see little fingers flicking goldfish crackers out from under the doors and to hear two little girls giggle at the idea. I however was freaking out because I no longer had my trusty vacuum to clean up small crumbs and the thought of washing the floors again was not a pleasant one. However it obviously wasn't the end of the world because here I am blogging about it.

We finished the last bit of cleaning just as the ABF truck came to reattach the trailer and take away all my worldly possessions. I know that's all they are but I'll sure be sad it for some reason something happens to that trailer. 

Side note: One of our neighbors who might be missing the social skills part of her brain, just couldn't get over "how much stuff" we had. She just kept telling us how she couldn't believe we'd filled up that much of the truck. Only half really. 

So now we're just awaiting the arrival of Boo's parents and brother who will conclude their holiday travels in Maine here with us as we ring in the New Year. If anyone has any suggestions for celebrating with a 20 month old let us know. 

 

Christmas Talk

Last Sunday, Boo and I were assigned to give talks as part of our ward's Christmas service and as a kind of goodbye to our fellow friends in the ward. But seeing as how Mother Nature took over early Sunday morning our church cancelled all of its meetings. Needless to say my Christmas talk was for naught. So I thought I would post mine onto the blog to share with a broad audience. I did share it with the crowd we had dinner with later on Sunday night. Keep in mind that its rather short given that the choir planned to take up a large portion of the meeting. So this was my six minute talk. (I'd post Boo's talk but he wouldn't even share it with the post dinner crowd, so I'll leave it up to him to decide.)

Christmas evokes different images for everyone. Some think of silvery white yards decorated with plastic Santas and festive lights. Others may think of family come and gone, large feasts, or that favorite gift. My Christmas memories begin to swirl as I start thinking of my Christmas lists, lines at the post office and any dreaded traveling. Best described as a catatonic state; characterized by muscular rigidity and mental stupor, sometimes alternating with great excitement and confusion.

As a child our two day celebration went as follows:
Go to grandparent’s house for Christmas Eve party with Dad
Dad delivers us to Mom’s where we read the Christmas story from the New Testament, open one gift before going to bed and pile all four kids into one room so that Mom has ample space to spread out her workshop to finish any gifts or sewing projects.
We’d wake up at some dreadful hour and yell from the other room “Can we come out yet?” as if we might self destruct the minute we cross the threshold. Being the youngest I was usually sent out on covert missions to inspect what Mr. Claus had left and return and report on my findings, only to ruin my sister Rebekah’s big Christmas surprise of a Ken doll she’d asked Santa for.
Around 7:00am we usually emerged to our tree lit living room to begin our day. By 8:00am we would call Dad to let him know we were ready to be picked up and continue the day’s journey. We would hop around from one place to the next, opening gifts and enjoying them only long enough for them to get lost and have to leave.

After getting married not many things changed. Ryan and I found ourselves setting an alarm to get up early enough so we could spend some time together before starting the day. By the third or fourth Christmas we had it down to a science; we’d allot a set amount of time to each set of parents as not to “dine and dash” but so that we felt we were giving equal amounts of time to everyone.

Christmas was loosing its spirit, or had I never really had it to begin?

For our last Christmas as Utah residents, Ryan and I organized a Sub-for-Santa for one of my Sunbeam’s family. He was the youngest of three boys being raised by his dad who was doing the best he knew how. Luckily for Ryan and me we had friends who rallied around and made it more than a kind gesture, but more of a miracle. It was a lesson in charity and truly brought us great joy to see people who showed their gratitude through their humble actions the following Sunday at church.
King Benjamin prophesied of Christ’s advent and ministry in this manner:
“For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles…” (Mosiah 3:5-8)
Born into circumstances that were unconventional, birthed in a stall surrounded by animals, yet his purpose on this Earth was beyond the comprehension of all living things. Christ’s birth was a miracle.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King! Let ev’ry heart prepare him room, And Saints and angels sing. (“Joy to the World,” Hymns, number 201)

Besides the hustle and bustle of Christmas day, I usually enjoy putting out our Christmas decorations and setting up my tree. I have a system, and as long as Ryan brings the boxes down from the attic he doesn’t have to help, which he enjoys. I put out our nativity and I rearrange all the characters as I imagine it might have been on the night of Christ’s birth. Then I rearrange them again, because I don’t think the “wise men” made it there fast enough to have a front row seat. But after 20 or so days of decorations, just before Christmas I’m usually ready to put it all away. I think to myself, “My heart is not in this.”
President Hinkley reminds that:
“Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful.
It is peace. It is the peace which comforts, which sustains, which blesses all who accept it.
It is faith. It is faith in God and His Eternal Son. It is faith in His wondrous ways and message. It is faith in Him as our Redeemer and our Lord.” – President Hinkley, Dec 1997
What peace sustains us through the holidays? Or better yet through the year?

When I think of peaceful Christmas nights, I’m reminded of my Santa-suit-wearing Dad, who equally possesses the same decorating vigor as Clark Griswold, sitting in a dimly lit living room longingly gazing at the lights on the Christmas tree, listening to Christmas hymns and carols. I’m not sure what he’s thinking about. Maybe his lists of people to buy for and the stops he’ll be making on Christmas day. Whatever it is, I sometimes imagine that maybe he’s thinking about what it may have been like the night the Savior was born. Or what it might be like if our world really could have peace and joy. For a single moment he has found peace in the season.

While searching for my own peace and joy – or was it peace and quiet, I can’t be sure? I could hear in the background some music from the single Christmas CD that has yet to be packed.

“The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light He will bring us goodness and light”

I thought for maybe the first time how profound these words are. “He will bring us goodness and light.” Christ has and does bring goodness and light. Christ’s light shines in many of those around us. We have received his goodness and light though friendships, dinners and helping hands.
Christ’s goodness has manifest recently in the blessings our family has received. Christ’s goodness is what brings me peace this holiday season.

Box Slide

As you can see from the picture, we're gearing up for the big move. We're getting stuff packed and clearing off shelves and clearing out cupboards. But what else is there to do with a pile of boxes in the middle of the living room? Make a slide, of course.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

I really shouldn't be posting to my blog at this current moment because I have a mental list of things to do that is ten, no maybe more like fifty miles long. However since this is only one of my many creative outlets, yet it allows me to communicate with many people at the same time I thought, "What the heck."

In anticipation for moving I feel like I can't even find a place to start packing in our house until I finish about four sewing projects, give them to their respective owners and then I pack all that crap up and start in the guest room. However this is ever so difficult because for the next two days I'll be devoting my precious time to LL Bean shoppers as I wrap up my quick stint there. (I would have never taken the job had I known I was moving.) However I have given myself a deadline of Sunday night to have all projects complete and out of my house.

With my fifty mile list looming we will be having a Grinch style home these holidays as well. I tried to have a Christmas tree but it was so lovely yet undecorated that I felt like I needed to give that six fingered baby to someone who could love it more than I knew I would. So thanks to the Sorensen's who came and took it home to their family. I just can't fathom digging out all my holly-jolly decorations just to hurry and pack them back up. Good thing Noelle is still little and will not remember back to the year of no Christmas tree. Thank goodness we'll be going to Maine for Christmas so that it doesn't turn out to be the Christmas of no Christmas's'.

So off I now go to finish aforementioned sewing projects so I can then clean off the futon which needs to be photographed so it can be posted to Criagslist and then the real fun can begin.

By the way, did you know it gets really hot in Arizona? I had no idea.

We're Moving!

I should have just put the title to this post as the Winds of Change: part deux. So where are they blowing us? Arizona. Yes I can feel the warm winds now. Actually I can't feel anything because I have frostbite from the cold arctic air that moved in to New England today.

Boo has accepted a job and will still be working in real estate and using his degree in ways other than litigation. Hooray! I think that makes him happy? His offices are in Peoria, AZ and we're in the process of finding some where to live near those offices. We're especially excited to be close to friends we haven't seen for a while, but at the same time extremely sad to leave the friends we've made while living in Mass.

We'll be packing up and heading out the first week of January. So don't plan to come and visit until at least March. I think February is already booked. ;)

By the way, since telling people we're moving to Arizona, I found out its really hot there in the summer. I had no idea. Doi!

Elfed

We've been Elfed. Click here to see.

November Wrap Up

Well now that we're winding down to the end of the month I figured I should tell you about our holiday and weekend in Maine. (sorry no pics for the big events.)

We celebrated our first ever Thanksgiving with no family. We planned to make our annual trek to Maine and be with our family up there, but Boo thought he would have to work on Friday so we made arrangements to feast with some friends in our neighborhood. We split up the cooking which was a great learning experience since I usually just chop a few vegetables and then watch the process from the sidelines. But instead I made my own cranberry sauce, which was so fulfilling - for some reason to listen to the berries pop open and then to watch it all turn to the most beautiful color of red was all I need to be convinced that there is no satisfaction from canned cranberry sauce.
We had an interesting experience with our turkey however. (not one of my items to cook) Our friends decided to try out the ever-so-popular frying method. After much research and advice they thought they were set. It smelled great when we got to their house, but for some reason it didn't heat up enough to "fry" so it basically boiled in oil. Luckily some other friends had an extra turkey that they were willing to donate to our cause. We ended up eating the meat from both birds and both were really tasty.
Later that night I was processing the holiday while trying to sleep and realized that of all the things I was supposed to take and seems to be a Thanksgiving staple, I totally forgot. STUFFING! I forgot to make the stupid stuffing. We had so much food that we didn't notice. So i guess we'll be eating stuffing as a little side dish for the next few months.
Now we're in Maine enjoying the weekend playing games with lots of cousins and watching movies. We were sorely outnumbered for the Utah vs. BYU game and were so sad to see such a sad display of athletics. Its not often that we get to see a game on TV and then to watch them lose is pretty sad. Then to add insult to injury with a bunch of BY-Pooh fans. Lame.
The upcoming week will provide a nice kick-off to the holiday season as I assemble my Christmas cards and attend the annual wreath making party with the church. We're still trying to decide how to decorate our tree so that Destruct-O Noelle doesn't get the best of it. I think the antique glass ornaments will have to wait a few years.

THankSgiviNG

Sometimes I like to be a complainer and decide for a while that I don't want to be thankful for anything, because picking up my house everyday isn't fun to me, and I'm not always thankful for the stuff I have. And then sometimes I'm not thankful that my local grocer is giving away free turkeys if I earn 20 stupid turkey points because I always fall short and never get the dumb thing and end up saving scraps that do me no good and are still in my purse well after they have expired. And sometimes I'm not thankful for my car that needed repairs exceeding our expectations and costing four times more than we planned.

But then I remember that even if I hate picking up books every single day and shuffling crap from one room to the other, I am thankful to have a roof over my head and room for my guests when they come. And that I am thankful that I have a car at all considering this time last year we had only one car and Boo had to take it to work most days. And I am thankful for people who call out of the blue to offer me their extra turkey points so that I can have a free turkey. I'm really happy for these reasons of thanksgiving. I hope all my blog stalkers find things to be thankful for at this time of year too! Happy Thanksgiving.

BTW.. That is my favorite tree in all of Belmont. Well at least it was when I took the picture although we still have some amazing colors just up the street. Fall in New England is the best.

Video of Noelle Reading in Her Easy Chair

Well I guess third times a charm? I have tried to post this a couple other times but it wasn't working right. Anywho, this is a little ditty I put together of Noelle reading. She pretty much will sit on whatever is her height and usually clears out the bookcase daily. Her voice is pretty funny too. If you listen closely you can understand what she's saying, a little bit.
To view this video click here.

Organization and De-Cluttering A House

That was the topic for today's parenting class or "mothering" class that is held for the three wards that meet in our building. Every month they have a member who might have an expertise in a particular area lead the discussion.

Our discussion leader had some great credentials and some great ideas, however how is a person or people like myself supposed to get over the fact that it just might be genetic? I don't know why - my mom is the MOST sentimental person I know and like some people she saves outfits from 35 years past because they have some kind of attachment to a special event in her life. Great. Fine. But don't pass that on to me. (BTW.. you should listen to the broadcast from NPR about "Too Much Stuff" - Click on the link to listen.

I have the desire to be greatly organized and have my Rubbermaid bins all labeled and sorted, but the truth is I don't. I even have spaces in my house that are catch-alls. More than one - more like four (that I can either see or think of off the top of my head.) I would like to think of them as spaces of good intentions. "I intend on sending that baby gift to Lacy, but every time I repack the box it doesn't get sent and I have to pull out the outfit because by now her baby has outgrown it."
"I intend on sorting through Noelle's clothes and putting the overly used ones in the goodwill box and the rest in the attic, but the bin sit in her room where I occasionally open it and remember that I was going to do something with it."

Maybe its that we just have to much crap?! Ah ha - that's more likely the case. Because like one or more of our parents we too see the value of free stuff that might be useful to us someday. And who knows what it might be useful for, but heaven knows I'll have it. Like the computer monitor that we will NEVER use again since it takes up the entire desk, but Boo says we paid good money for it and its a "really good" monitor.

On to the next point, which is that we may possibly be moving to a less expensive/ more efficient apartment. Its absolutely magnificent because its all brand spankin' new and we'd be the first to occupy such space. But where will be put all our stuff? The idea is to move and save some money and be happy and hopefully someday purchase our own space. (even if real estate prices are going down, we still won't be able to buy a square to squat on.) But what will we do if we can't have all our "stuff?" How much will we be able to store in those nice walk-in closets? I guess we'll have to get rid of it - oh please let us get rid of some stuff. I'm not moving that monitor one more time.

I'd like to hear anyone's thoughts on this.
Here are some links from the class that may also be helpful to any of you.
Ineedmoretime.com
The Container Store
Organize.com
Organizeit-online.com
Organized-living.com

Happy Halloween

We have had a lot of fun gearing up for this Halloween. We've been finding 'spooky' things to do throughout October, but got serious when we carved our pumpkins on Sunday night.

Tonight we greeted a few trick-or-treaters by giving them a trick rather than a treat; play-doh. A few older kids thought it was pretty cool. Noelle didn't really understand until the neighbors brought her a goody bag and we let her get into it early on in the evening by opening up a rice crispy treat. She was in heaven. Then as we went around our circle and she realized that more people were giving out treats. She also liked walking around with our little neighbor Jimmy who was Gordon the train. Noelle kept pointing at the eyes on his costume and would say "choo-choo." I didn't know she knew that. See she's smart.

We later stuck a sign on our goody basket and walked over to some friend's house for their tradition of home made doughnuts on Halloween. This is an event we've been looking forward to since last year. Noelle loved it because she was able to run around with all the kids and eat lots of sugary treats. She was the cutest ladybug. Our pictures are in order of the night.

Before heading out for doughnuts - Check out our awesome pumpkin art.

Look at her sticky face! In her goody bag there was a jack-o-lantern sippy cup, which she insisted on carrying all around until we put her to bed.

More sticky face!

Its a Wicked Time of Year

Yes it is folks, the haunting time of year, as well as the season for the Broadway show Wicked to be in Boston. We've been celebrating in every way we know how.





Noelle has tried her costume on for all the guests that have been haunting us this season.



We went to a costume party -

I thought this picture was kind of scary looking.

The other is more clear so you can see how cool our costumes were.

Reb, Mom and I got to go and see Wicked at the Opera House -it was AWshum -

Noelle in Her Easy Chair

Grammy Albertsen sent Noelle this little chair that she likes to sit in while she reads books and draws on her DoodlePro.

Most days she'll bring in two or three books and just sits and reads and reads and reads in her little sing-song voice.

Noelle recently has taken notice of the camera and now says "cheese."

Haunted Hay Ride

This afternoon we headed over to the Wilson Farm to take a ride on the haunted hay ride. There are different props along the ride, some "scary" and others just for fun.

Do you like how the skeleton is looking at us? His eyes were moving back and forth.

There was one creepy farmer guy that looked fake and then he cam out of the little fruit stand to chase us. Then he got in his little four-wheelin' buggy and chased us a little.

Noelle had no idea that he was supposed to be scary. She was cautious but not frightened. It was a fun time and we'll probably go again later in the week when Grandma Nay and Auntie are here.

Apple Picking

Here are some pictures from our apple picking adventure.

(We have more coming.)

Look at those eyebrows! Must be sour.

We really weren't in any need for apples so I picked for other people. Climbing the tree was a total throwback to my childhood.

We really have been up to something....

So I open my blog daily for only one reason, which is to get to other people's blogs to see what they are up to. I look so often that I know instantly if they've updated it lately, I know, how lame. But I'm slightly guilt stricken with the fact that I haven't updated my own and who knows how many people do the same thing I do and just flip in and out of my blog thinking 'gosh it would be nice if she'd put up some new pictures and something interesting.'

We really have been doing fun stuff and seeing fun people, its just that I haven't been diligent in taking pictures and what fun is a blog post without pictures? Oh well. Working chronologically here's the fun stuff we've been doing:

Auntie Rebekah came for a short visit before heading to PA for a conference. She was so kind to hang out with us while we were sick with Montezuma revenge and to help with our yard sale (see previous post). She also made shopping fun and bought Noelle the cutest cow girl boots ever. When we put them on her for the first time, Noelle went around the house kicking things because she had on her new big boots. She really likes wearing them and looks pretty darn cute. During Rebekah's stay we also managed to get a quilt finished for a baby shower, had a little bit of an accident on I-93 and visited some of our favorite stores. The Rach and Beck love fest is always a good time.

A few days after Rebekah left, Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Ted came for a short visit. After a treacherous trip to get here we had a great time visiting with them and getting an early glimpse at some of the fall foliage in Vermont and Massachusetts.

Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Ted with Noelle at Joseph Smith Jr birthplace.

We visited the birth place of Joseph Smith, Jr. and went to Walden Pond where we were enlightened a little more on Thoreau's two year stay there. The weather was really warm and I was wishing I had brought my swim gear to Walden.

Noelle and I put our feet in.

We ventured downtown and meandered through a classic car show at Government Center and then spent a while at Fannieul Hall for lunch and shopping.

Later that night while the guys were at priesthood meeting the ladies did some shopping at Target. Grandma wrapped up her Halloween and Christmas shopping. We went up and down the toy aisles pushing the buttons and tried on bike helmets, tried out the bike (bad idea with a tired baby who thinks everything she touches is hers), and checked out the Halloween stuff.

Trying on the bike helmet

Noelle thought the bowls with the hands that try to grab you were pretty funny. When they line up ten bowls that all try to grab you as you walk by it is pretty funny. We had a great time with the the Grands.

Noelle added them to her list of people to call for when she wakes up, in this order: Daddy, Mama, Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma, Daddy. She knows a sucker when she sees one. She also became very confident in her dancing while they were here. Danced all the way through dinner one night. The waitress thought it was pretty funny too.

So that brings us up to date, and tomorrow we're going to do one of those New England-y kind of things - apple picking. Some of our regular pool/beach/playgroup friends are getting together to pick apples. I'm not planning to pick many because I don't want to waste them and have no desire to can or make stuff with them. I know, lame again. Boo will eat them.

Great News!

WE have the greatest news to announce, just in!!!

Boo passed the New Hampshire bar exam.

We're so excited we poohed our pants! ha ha ha

But really we're so proud of him for letting us spend a long time in Utah so he could study even though he missed us so, so much. He's so smart and doing such a great job as an attorney. (he even went to Federal Court for the first time yesterday!) We sure think he's swell.

Princess Playgroup

Yesterday was the beginning of something new at our house...Princess Playgroup! Yep, that's right folks, one day a week for 2 1/2 hours I get to drop my Jelly Bean off for a little time with her gal pals and I get to do whatever the heck I want. Then every fourth week they come to my house to check out our books and toys and music while the other mommies ditch out. What a great system.

They even got to watch the popcorn shoot out of the popper!

Annielle, Noelle, Buddha (Lauren), Bea Bea

Playing with the jewelry and getting their hair done.

What is that face my baby is making?

I love Craigslist!

We were recently given a new table! Hooray, it will not only fit our small family around it, but if we were to ever be so kind to invite more people besides the missionaries over for dinner we can now expand it to fit a few more. It will add 24 more inches of hosting love may we ever need it. However, the very best part is that I sold our old table that we've had for as long as we've been married, which- let's be honest is a long time now, and it only took 24 hours!! Thank you Craigslist.com! Rock on Shockacon!

Now if only we could replace our floor, how's that for ugly?

Don't worry, driving with us is safe.

So Boo and I are officially the coolest people in the whole world. If you haven't been out to visit for a while then you probably haven't seen our "new" car. Yes its just a couple of steps up from good ol' Rusty, the Ford truck that I drove for five months before moving east. Even a little newer. But our 1990 Honda Accord aint nothing to shake no sticks at. It cost us less than a new TV and works fine. For a few bucks more we scored a fix it yourself book on Amazon. The first project was the air conditioning, which I mentioned a while back. Now tonight we got to tackle the bumper. It came to us mangled so we just had to make sure it didn't fall off. However some unkind person who will have their day in you know where, backed into or clipped or whatever to add a few more scratches, a new crack and made it so the bumper would come off in a strong wind. How it managed to stay on while driving on the freeway is a mystery to us. Any how, Boo and I managed to re-secure the bumper, figured out how to take the turn signal lamp off, and figured out that the light was in fact not broken, just burned out. How smart are we? And we are even still friends! So needless to say with some wire and a few odds and ends screws that I found the bumper should be just fine for the time being and we'll even fix the light. So come and visit anytime and if you're lucky we might even give you a ride in our "new" car.

7th Annual Family Fun Days and Labor Day Weekend

This past Labor Day weekend we went to Maine to compete in the Mitchell Family Fun Day event. I'm sure many of you perked up and said to yourselves, "family fun day, what is that? I bet it was fun?"
Well basically its a weekend of planned events which over the weekend help to proclaim one family as the overall winners. The events were as follows (in order of play):
badminton - which we played wrong according to Dictionary.com - too many players at once. Next year I'm looking up the rules for every event so that we don't get cheated out of a win. This would also have helped since we could have rotated in players instead of needing all four representatives to play at once. One family member was none too excited for badminton and decided to loose the game for us, not once but twice (it was double elimination.)
Horse Shoes - I'm a weakling. I couldn't throw to the pit or else they would go all crazy and nearly kill a spectator. Next year the above mentioned family member will sit out badminton and only play horse shoes. He was actually very good at this one. Boo was also pretty good.
Wiffle Ball - Ok so we did girls against boys and got spanked. Luckily it was scored by number bases touched and then divided by number of players for each family. We didn't do so bad at this considering two played and one was designated pitcher. Boo had some great hits and I only hit pop flies. I had however been practicing with some of the kids in the 'hood' and realized that wiffle ball was easier to hit with only one hand.
Archery - For the most part our family did really good at archery. We each got four tries to hit the targets to earn points for our family. I only went once considering that I nearly lost my elbow and now have an ugly bruise to show for it. I even cried a little because it hurt so bad. Grammy Albertsen got some good bruises too.
Mormon Cranium - This was our game to organize. It was hard to compete when you typed up all the questions. The little kids couldn't have cared less about this game, however in a small group it will be a great FHE activity. We did ok.
Scavenger Hunt - This was a relay event and we had to find certain items from around Grammy M's yard or shed or garage. We actually won. We happened to get the longest green bean to knock the Mitchell's out of first place. I thought it was a lot of fun.
This year it was decided that the winners would take home a poking stick, to be used with camp fires and such. Only Papa Mitchell would have saved a branch from a tree that was hit by lightening during hurricane Bob in 1991. The stick will have the winner's names carved on it and they get to keep it until the next Family Fun Days.
You might be wondering where Noelle was during all the fun? She was everywhere. Climbing, escaping, napping, playing with Grammy A or the cousins. It will be a few years before she's competing.
Hopefully next year we'll be able to get more of the Albertsens out here to help represent.
Also while we were not laboring, Boo and I got to get in a game of golf. He did really well. Now when I say well, its relative to the number of times we actually get out and play each year. Bogey golf is great! I on the other hand chose not to keep my score. However, we did have a great 9th hole. Thanks Boo.

Martha Stewart Can Kiss My Grits

Last night we went to our friends, the Sundahl's, for a "tree house party." Throughout this summer they have been working on a very impressive tree house in their back yard. So with Indian food on the menu, I offered to make the dessert. I'm sure by my title you can already sense my demise.

Yesterday happened to be one of, if not the hottest day of August 2007. I believe that my commentator friend on NPR said that the heat index was 104. That means that with the humidity it felt like "the inside of a mouth." Terrible day to try a new recipe, especially one that involves a ton of butter.

Not thinking I printed out the three recipes, with a total 20 steps that were supposed to produce a great cake. I even watched the video from her show so I would do it all exactly the way she did. During my production I realized that this was also a two person operation. (well three actually because they have a kitchen aid mixer which counts in our kitchen as another person, which we don't have.)

This is what it was going to look like!

All was workable until the frosting portion of the experiment. Our house was just too hot. The butter was too soft and my whipped butter cream frosting looked terrible. Boo and I conjured up a solution however once we got the frosting on the cake it wouldn't stick, also because it was too hot. It wanted to melt and slide off. We tried to put it in the fridge to cool it down but every time we took it out we had the same surprise, a huge pile of frosting at the bottom of the cake. We needed cake suspenders to hold it up. We learned that more in this case is not better and that patching up the sides where it had slid down didn't help. So needless to say our cake was a flop. It tasted fine, but looked awful.

Maybe I should have taken my sissy's advice and gone and bought the chocolate cake at the Costco. It would have looked a million times better. Also, I have learned that Martha's recipes are not for the faint of heart and she should put a disclaimer on the recipe that says in extreme heat and humidity this recipe is sure to fail.

Thanks to our friends who actually ate the cake.

Oh me of little faith

Last night we went to the baptism of a new friend Luis. I was thinking that he is incredibly wise for his years. Before the baptism we had him over for dinner with the missionaries. This wasn't the first time he'd been to our house as Boo had participated in the discussions with him before. But he's only 17, lives with some relatives but takes care of himself while his mother has left to take work somewhere, he doesn't know. Doesn't know his father at all either. We got talking about school and his plans for after graduation. I told him that if it was me, I'd be freaking out and that I thought he was really calm for his situation. I commend his decision for being baptized. I know that he thought through it very carefully. It was a really nice event to be part of.

Cape Cod Day

So one of these years we will indeed make a trip to Cape Cod for more than just a day's worth of activities. Maybe we'll get smart and go in the middle of the week and stay through a weekend?

We were invited to go to Nickerson State Park to do some camping with friends from the hood (neighborhood). Boo and I packed up our beach gear the night before and decided we'd head out early Saturday morning, as to beat the crazy end of summer beach goers. For those of you who have never driven to the Cape on a Saturday in the summer, it really only has two ways on, Bourne and Sagamore bridges. We haven't ever gone over the Bourne bridge, but the Sagamore creates a serious bottle neck for getting on and off the Cape. But if you leave early enough like we did you will avoid all of that nonsense.

Noelle eating some spilled Fruitloops out of the dirt. Ah, I love my scavenger baby!

We hung out at the camp ground for a while before heading out to Marconi Beach. Boo and I tried some boogie boarding.

Noelle just played in the sand and made new friends on the beach, as she wandered off while I was snapping pics of Boo in the water. I think they group she was hanging out with was laying bets on how long it would be before someone in our group noticed she was gone. (disclaimer - no we're not bad parents, its just that the baby sensors were turned off for those who agreed to watch her for us, and its ok, we can still be friends.)

After the beach we went back to the campground and went on a nice bike ride just before dark. Seeing how I was on a tiny little bike the workout was a little more intense than I had planned on. But it was still a really beautiful ride.

- We'll just call this picture "WIFE" the ultimate ball and chain

We ended the night with a tasty dinner compliments of Papa Bokovoy. He even made his own ketchup.

Thanks for a fun day on the Cape. Next time I go to Nickerson I plan on bringing my bike and sleeping in a yurt. Yes three state parks in Massachusetts offer yurt camping, I bet you're jealous.

Blueberry Picking Dejavu

We went blueberry picking again, but this time we went for the smaller more tedious berries to pick. I don't know blueberries very well, but Jen says they're better to cook with. I'll take her word for it. However I'm so smart I put two boxes full of berries on the top of the stroller and then tried to do some four wheeling and dumped my hard to pick berries into the crab grass. It made me swear. Poor Ian's virgin ears. We scooped up as many as we could and then had to go back and pick some of the fat berries to top it off. Good enough for me. When I rinsed them I found a bunch of sticks and grass in the strainer.

We thought maybe the babies would like to just hang out in the stroller, but they didn't fit as well as we would have liked them to.

The Freedom Trail for the Millionth Time

Riley and Tate win the prize. I think I just did the Freedom Trail for the millionth time. We didn't get going until later in the day so we weren't able to complete the whole thing, but we saw some good stuff and and did the Bunker Hill Memorial at the beginning of their Boston tour. It has a new visitor's center that just opened this summer. Pretty cool.

They also saw Fenway Park (which Tate had never heard of, duh), the Museum of Science, and the aforementioned Six Flags. No beach though. We like to go to the beach, but I couldn't convince those boys. I guess three days really isn't enough time to do it all. And its kind of an expensive journey if you try to do it all.

Roller Coasters and White Trash

This summer seems to be a summer of firsts. Blueberry picking and now Six Flags! My brother Riley and his friend Tate skipped on over to Boston after their week at EFY in Palmyra, NY. We made the venture out to western Massachusetts to experience its major attraction of Six Flags New England. I wasn't sure if we were going to the Massachusetts version of Lagoon or if we were going to the Warner Bros version of Disneyland. Needless to say all of these places have one thing in common; the common definition, in demonstration of white trash. Yeah, I said it. Honestly folks, I realize there is a water park attached to the theme park, but is it really necessary to pretend that your swimsuit is part of your roller coaster riding attire? Absolutely not! Not only did I see things I didn't ever want to imagine, but I guess I had no idea that body shape versus swimsuit really doesn't matter to the general theme park population. One word: scary. Maybe I only noticed because we were standing in line for long periods of time and I had a lot of time to evaluate the fashions.

Despite our neighbors in line we got to ride some awesome roller coasters. Superman was so fantastic that I honestly couldn't say or scream a single word. I thought my tongue might fall out. Seriously. It was crazy scary/fun/pee your pants cool. Another fun one was Batman, hence our picture.

L to R: Tate, Riley, Boo (with flamboyant hand pose), Rach

Noelle unfortunately didn't get to come, however we are so indebted to the Jackson's for letting her pretend she was Ian's twin sister for the day.

A very New England thing to do

Last Friday we participated in one of the classic New England activities of the summer. Fruit picking!!! Yes folks, there are many places around where you can go and pick your own fruit. Common varieties would be raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and of course apples. Ryan and I have gone with the youth in our ward to pick apples for the annual apple pie making night at the church, but that seems so limited with such a large variety of produce to choose from.

Rachel with Noelle and cousin Ian

So Noelle, Ian, Jen, Lindsay, and Spencer all got our pick on. (sounds like something you'd say about the guy in the car next to you who is picking his nose.) I digress. We found a lovely orchard for picking and with the rainy conditions and cool summer air it was one of the most spectacular things my Utah native eyes had ever seen. I wasn't exactly sure what a blueberry patch looked like and much to my amazement there were loads of berries. I decided that there aren't too many things much more beautiful than a loaded up, ripened blueberry bush. Be still my heart.

Needless to say we ate our fill of berries and took a bunch home too! Definitely a tedious task, but worth the experience and money.

Something to blog about

So we haven't been doing too much in the past week besides pretending to be hermits and staying in our house because its too damn hot to be outside and chances are that it might just be so humid it will rain. I played the inside outside and back inside game while trying to rid our garden of some weeds. I won't be playing that one again.

Besides being completely perplexed about returning to the working world versus raising my child, we've just really been reinforcing that bond between mama and Jelly. However she does put on a good show when Boo leaves in the morning. I even think it makes him feel better about himself to know that she's sad to see him go and so happy when he returns.

Noelle got some more immunization shots today and she totally knew they were coming. Poor girl. But she did get some super-fly band aids that sparkle. But besides the shots, our doc said she seems so much older than she really is and its not because her head is the size of a three year old either, or that she's a little bit tall for her age. Its really because she wanted to chat the head off the doctor with her baby gibberish. Does that sound like anyone we know? Guess not. We're so lucky.

A girl's got to have her shoes...

Noelle has discovered shoes. She has dragged a few pairs into the living room so that she can try them on and walk around in them. You'll notice her carrying her "purse" which is also her bucket. However what you can't see is that she has her comb in the bucket as well as the shovels. I couldn't help but to laugh a little as she continually tried to get the one shoe on. What a persistent child, that's why we love her.

Utah Wrap Up

Phew! That's right, I said it. We survived, all three of us. Three weeks and one day. We returned from Utah today to the hot and steamy bum hole of Boston, but actually we're happy to be home. I can't wait to weed the garden, which by the way, Boo did a great job taking care of. We only had one plant fatality. Boo survived the NH bar exam and Noelle was a dream on the flights home.
I've thought of a list of things that make me glad to be home:
1. Boo
2. My bed
3. No need to borrow a car
4. My garden
5. Jelly Bean in her own room

Ok so this list is lame but really I'm happy to be home.
We did do some fun stuff while in Utah. In chronilogical order:

Fourth of July - Cooling off on Independence Day '07
Grandma Nay's birthday at the zoo
High school reunion, twice
Lunch with old friends - Noelle and R at the Fowles'
Water skiing at Bear Lake

Pickleville Playhouse
Golfing at Sweetwater
BBQs - Noelle with Great Grandma and Grandpa Grow
Settlers of Catan
Basket Loft
Swimming in Grammy's pool
Playing with cousins - the "little lady" swinging with Maddy and Bud
Herding cats at Target Portrait Studio
Deseret News 10K - no I didn't run it! (Vic, Reb and Kate after the 10K)
Pioneer Day

Thanks to those who drove us around or lending us their cars, for feeding us, and for the extremely cheap entertainment, new clothes and good company. We love you and can't wait for those of you to come and visit in the next few months or to see you on the web cam.