Boulder Falls

Our trip to Boulder Falls started with a dreary day...this is what greeted us when we arrived.



It wasn't much of an improvement when we started on the hike and were again greeted with bad news...



Fortunately, no one died and we had a great time. As Matthew said, "Those falls were AWESOME!"



I had some fun messing around with the camera and different filters like the color swap.



Also, Matthew and Josh were in a very SILLY mood...




We ended with Seth crying on the grass because he didn't want to go home.

New

It has been almost a year since I got a haircut. I have been looking for a black skirt (that fits right) for almost a year. I was so desperate that I made both of these a goal for this year and I was going to get a nice haircut since apparently I only get one once a year. I know, sad right?? Well, I am happy to announce that I was able to fulfill some of my goals while regaining sanity.

Awesome haircut $38
Fabulous black pencil skirt $23
Smashing Pumpkins downloads playing in the car $4.00
New outlook on life - priceless

I didn't get enough...

I didn't get enough sugar cookies over Christmas. I usually make a bunch for neighbors (and us) and John's mom always makes a round of sugar cookies that we eat a few times during the month. That is usually enough to last till Valentines or Easter when I begin to feel the need for them again. That didn't happen this year....
So, tonight I made more. They were pretty good. I used a non-roll recipe and it tasted decent. The best part was the frosting where I added Cotton Candy flavoring. Next time I am going to try Raspberry or Orange Creme frosting...yum...

In the Hot Tub...

In the hot tub today while we were swimming...
Math was floating around. He looked up and said, "Mom, this is like a paradise."
"Yes Math, it is."

The Bane of Dickens

Why don't I like Dickens? I have started 3 of his books hoping that it will be the one I will make it through but I have never made it through any of them. This is VERY UNUSUAL for me. I even made it through Farewell to Arms which just about killed me. The only other books I have stopped reading are Jane Eyre and Killer Angels but it was because they were just too sad. It was so sad for Jane and all the different men that I couldn't keep reading. Obviously, I have finished these books many times now but the first time through I cried too much.

So...why don't I like Dickens? I do like sad novels and he is the same time period of almost all my favorite authors. Love the all the Brontes, Austen, Elliot, Hugo, Tolstoy, James, etc. With the exception of Jane Austen, none of these writes are especially bright and cheery (although Elliot isn't too bad). My point being that I love crazy & sad novels (but not Tess). Why then can I not handle Dickens? I need someone to inspire me to read Dickens or give me a good reason to feel okay about not reading him. I feel like I must be missing something from my life not reading Dickens. Someone help...

Perhaps it is the terrible videos of his books I was forced to watch in school....

Amish Friendship Bread

My brother and sister-in-law gave me a starter over Christmas. Every time I make up the bread it only lasts a day. It makes 2 loaves or 6 little loaves. Today John told me to not give away the starter but use it to make 2 or 3 sets of bread....I would be making 6 loaves ;) He suggested we freeze them and then use them throughout the 10 days we have to wait till the starter is ready again for cooking. Also, apparently we watch too much Food Network because Josh added the suggestion that I make a few different flavors (I have tried a few already) every time I make it and then he, John and Hyrum will sit and I can present different breads for them to judge. He'll call it Iron Chef Bread Challenge...hmmmmm....

PS...On a side note, there is an Iron Chef Wii game coming...I wonder what that will be like.

Got to keep the help happy...

Sometimes John gets a little stressed. He's gonna have a big job with lots of responsibility plus he doesn't have much time till it starts. He feels like he's got to get a lot done in the next year and his lab is making him "do" things instead of just making an analysis on the computer. He prefers the computer over the wet lab.

Anyway, he has some small irritations on his face and got frustrated because he was in kind of a frustrated mood. So I suggested that it probably wasn't stress and he might have accidentally hit his face with a stick of butter causing the irritation. It think that made him feel better ;)

Hi, I am Seth and I am two years old...

Seth is DEFINITELY two years old. We have hit the "mine" phase. "Seth, you can't eat that, it's not yours." "Yes, mine...that's my candy. My candy, my candy, my candy." "Seth, today is mommy's birthday." "No, my birthday. It my birthday. No mommy, Seth's birthday."

Seth isn't very grumpy anymore, in fact he is down right delightful most of the time but there is a reason we call him Mr. Contrarian...

The year of the Rat

2008 was the year of the rat but for us it was really the year of the breaking. In the last year we have had to purchase a new computer (our other computer was about 9 years old so it wasn't a big surprise), a new washer (the old one was free so I can't complain), and a new camera (which I didn't want to buy because I wanted to wait till I could afford a really nice one but still got a pretty nice camera). The scanner also broke but hasn't been replaced because it was a low priority compared to the rest.

Now the TV is starting to be fussy. I hate our TV. It is so annoying and you have to use the remote to change inputs and you can't hook a DVD player into the back of it. If you misplace the remote you can't use the TV. Anyway, it has been almost "dropped" by me a dozen times. Then I remember that I would have to replace it so I don't "drop" it. I can't really say that I am sad about the TV. Now that everything is HD it makes no sense to get an analog TV again and there aren't many for sale anyway. I don't know which kind to get though. The other problem is deciding if I should get the scanner I have finally saved for and hope it is awhile before the TV completely goes or use the money towards a new TV and then save again for the scanner. What would you do? I need a scanner because I have a truckload of pictures to scan and projects to work on. On the other hand, without a TV we can't use the Bionic Eye which would be a blow to many activities.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to complain (too much) because I am very thankful that everything waited till this year to break. Last year we could not have afforded it so we have been blessed. I am just a little concerned because the only big things we have left to break are cars :) Let's hope they hold on till we can afford to replace them but they are getting close to being old enough to get a driver's license for themselves so I am not sure...

Here's looking forward to the Year of the Ox...

Sweater morning, t-shirt day

So this morning I was greeted with a few inches of beautiful snow so I thought how wonderful, I can wear a sweater. By midday it had heated up too much (and the heaters in our apartment are hard to control) so it turned into a t-shirt day instead but that's okay because the t-shirt matches yesterday's make-up and the ponytail better anyway ;)

So it's been awhile...

I know...people keep asking me when I'm going to blog again. I guess I just didn't have my heart in it recently. First off we unplugged the kids for awhile because they were getting too crazy with their screen time (I thought of you, Patti and Scott when we did it). I was just sick of the complaining. They aren't allowed any computer/video games (video games of lego or pbskids) during the week except Wii Sports and then limited to 1 hour screen time. Needless to say that over Christmas there was much whining. Therefore, the computer was unplugged for most of the day along with the TV completely. We plugged everything back in on Sunday after family council with the understanding that any breaking of the rules would bring seriously consequences.

Also, there was a certain other young (sort of young) man who was having a hard time regulating his computer time. Although he wasn't playing video games, staying up till 2 or 3 in the morning is still not allowed by me so the computer plug strip gotten take away from him till he agreed to follow the rules. I would like to add that he broke his own rules that he wrote last night with the computer but I don't know what punishment he should receive yet :)

Anyway, there are just some crazy times in life where everything is sort of messed up (or just my mind is messed up :). November was a stressful month and so by December I didn't feel like doing anything!! So...I didn't do anything which you always think is going to make you feel better but it doesn't. I always think I am just going to do my household stuff and callings and nothing else. I think that then I won't be overwhelmed. I won't try and do anything extra like hobbies or reading or self improvement. The problem is that is never works. A person just feels less useless and blah so I am trying again to start the constant fight of getting something else done ;) We'll see how it goes...

Even though I am trying to do better, I don't think I am ready to try and catch up on the last 2 months though...I am not that happy yet ;)