I’ve been tagged…

by my friend Mary. I am suppose to tell 7 facts about myself. I am a pretty transparent person, so I will try to dig deep for some lesser known facts.

1. I was the Vice-President of the Karate club in college.

2. When I was a bit younger, I wanted to work in network broadcasting, and I did broadcasts and mini shows in high school. I was the technical director, a bad one, for KBYU News in college. I also was the camera operator, audio tech, font/teleprompter operator, and more.

3. I am a certified water aerobics instructor.

4. I went to 4 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, 1 high school, 1 college. I have lived in 6 different states and one foreign country.

5. I have been on a gondola in Venice, swam in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, ate fondue in Switzerland, seen the fjords of Norway, walked the beaches of Maui, Hawaii; drove across the Netherlands/Holland, snowshoeing at Sundance Resort in Utah, rode a wave runner all the way around the island of Bora Bora and drank from a coconut on a motu, shared a very small taxi with 5 blokes from London (not in London); took a Swedish class in Stockholm with immigrants from Estonia, Africa, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, etc. I LOVE to travel, I want to see the world.

6. I have been to both the summer Olympics and the winter Olympics.

7. I once took 16 flights in one month! With trains, boats, car, subways, tram, taxis, bus, bike and more in between all those flights. Flight #16-just the smell of the airport made me sick!

I am now suppose to tag 7 others to tell 7 facts about themselves. I assume they should be bloggers. I told Mary I don’t think 7 people read my blog, so this could be a problem. And she tagged some of them already! So here it goes, the following have been tagged–Aynn, Jessica B, Audry, Tanya, Kamber, Alicia K, and Jessica S.  So, hop to it ladies!

My Weekend

Friday Morning

My dad cut his finger open working in my basement, and it won’t stop bleeding. I ran errands around town.

Friday Afternoon

Took Welly for his booster shots.

The day we found Welly in the window well and I decided to keep him! Christmas Eve 2005

Took the kids to visit MIL/Grandma at her school. It was career day and they had a police officer showing the students all his body armor and weapons. He showed the students his tazer, and one of the kids in the class says, “My dad’s been tazed by a police officer!” hmmm..playdate at his house anyone? He also showed them a rifle that is accurate up to 3 football fields, it was kind of intimidating.

Friday Night

Family outing to IKEA; Dinner at their restaurant-Jackson ate an open faced sandwich covered in mayonnaise, hard boiled eggs and cold shrimp! Jason and I thought that was funny, he chowed it! The rest of us had Swedish meatballs and potatoes of course, followed by apple cake with vanilla sauce. We were looking for basement ideas and the kids went to the little play area. Several hundred dollars later, we left.

Saturday Morning

Jason to the gym to lift weights with a friend–he’s hurting bad, he plays ball, not so much into the weights…but that’s about to change! He says soon I’ll be able to wash my clothes on his stomach.

Me and kids to the city Arbor Day Celebration–I take them every year hoping to win a tree in the giveaway. Last year I won a great tree, no such luck this year.

Saturday Afternoon

Jason and kids hung out at the house (I think) while I went to a baby shower.

Saturday Night

Dinner at Famous Daves with MIL and family; Kids went to the park with Grandma; Jason went for a haircut and me to the mall-I was searching for “transition shirts” I am in that “Is she pregnant? or Does she need to lay off the carbs and hit the gym?” phase.

Sunday

Sleep in late-we have no idea what the kids were doing! Jason made us French toast and thick cut bacon for breakfast, and he had to keep making me new pieces of French toast because they had to be just the right texture-not too soggy so I wouldn’t gag and throw up! He was pretty patient about my being so picky.

The kids both had total meltdowns before church-Savannah because she wanted to brush her teeth AFTER she put her dress on and Jackson because he didn’t want to wear a shirt with buttons and he wanted to wear flip flops. We were only 5 minutes late for 11 o’clock church.

Sunday Afternoon and Present

Famous Dave leftovers, nap interrupted about five times, 4 year old said, “I learned something at church.”  I said “What did you learn?” And a sweet angelic voice sings, “Mother I looooovvvve you, Mother I dooooo.” My eyes got a little moist. Dinner-hamburgers, corn and grilled pineapple, 6 year old with a headache and threw up, in the bathtub now; 4 year old picking dandelions and bringing them to me as I type. Me-trying to read and respond to 62 new e-mails.

Ready for another week!

Spring Break/Roadtrip 2008/SoCal

We drove to Orange County, California for the kids spring break. It was our first trip in our bigger vehicle! It was much nicer to be in a roomy SUV with a DVD player and extra trunk space. I was pretty sick the first couple days of the trip with a respiratory infection and pregnancy stuff (hence the lack of daily posts). I am a little late posting the details because I couldn’t find my media reader for my digital memory card to upload the photos to my computer. Our camera cord doesn’t work anymore. Anyway, here is the recap of our week:

1. Laguna Beach-playing in the sand, sunburn for me, unfortunately no basketball for Ja-no one on the court

2. The Jasons played violent video games (my husband and my brother)

3. Houston’s Restaurant-Jason’s favorite place to eat, Hickory Burger and their famous 5 nut brownie! The word on the street is if the head guys/gals show up, and stick their fork in the brownie and don’t get nuts in every bite…someone’s in trouble. I had the Hawaiian Ribeye followed by a hot fudge sundae with the most perfect candied pecans I have ever tasted; great servers too.

4. Lunch with brother, hanging with sister and niece

5. Kids playing with Grandma and Grandpa and going to the park (we could fit their bikes in our trunk with room to spare)

6. Dinner on the patio every night

7. Matinee interrupted by a fire alarm and forced to evacuate and leave theatre! We went to a new theatre for the same show.

8. Daily trips to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for Danielle and baby’s caramel apple cravings. (Sara how much do you charge for a homemade batch?)

9. Shopping at South Coast Plaza, specifically H & M-love this store, the Swedish obsession I guess.

10. Inexpensive, long lasting, cute flower and rhinestone pedicure

11. And the kids favorite–Legoland! We had buy 1 get 1 free admission coupons off EBay; the lines are shaded and sometimes even have benches, totally geared toward young children, it was great!

Savannah at “Volvo Driving School” It had stop signs, street lights and lanes etc

Dad hand pumping the fire truck, followed by “putting out a fire” in a building and pumping the truck back to the finish line. Some dads got waaaaaay into this, and really wanted to win. I am not sure about their self-image when beating a couple toddlers makes them feel like a man.

Jackson and Savannah jousting.

Dad opted to be a spectator the second time around on the planes, not exactly made to fit 6 foot 5 inch riders.

Great weather, great food, great shopping, great entertainment, great family time–Successful Spring Break! Looking forward to camping in the spring and a trip to a lake house this summer.

 

Yummy food and Famous Cookies!

I might not make great food, but I definitely know where to find it..Sara’s House, Audry’s House, Jaimie’s House and Paradise Bakery & Cafe! I have surprised some of you with a cookie or two from this bakery. It is a chain, but don’t count it out–it is yummy! Great salads, sandwiches, soups, breads, muffins, quiche and more! I love their chippers-oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They are little cookies with just the right ingredients! You too can try them if you live or visit Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, Indiana, or Massachusetts! Want to go? I’m in.

Stockholm, Sweden

Last summer, Jason and I went to Sweden for 10 days! We had not been there in seven years (since moving back home after living there a year.) Here are a few of the 225 photos I took. Stockholm is beautiful!

Been sick

I had hoped to post most days, however I have been very sick. I’ll be back soon with lots of news.

Where is Spring? And Stuffed Mushrooms

I woke up this morning and opened the blinds to a blanket of snow! I mixed up two loaves of banana bread with my rotting bananas and just tossed them in the oven. Yum! I love banana bread (no nuts), and it will taste even better tomorrow after its had a day to sit; Sat down with a cup of hot cocoa and stared out at the snow…and then I remembered it’s not November, but the second week of April and I should be looking forward to pedicures, flip-flops and capri pants! Where is Spring?

Stuffed Mushrooms

I made Stuffed Mushrooms for a dinner group and also a family party. They are so easy and taste great. Everyone asked for the recipe so here it is:

50 medium sized mushrooms

1/2 pound country-style sausage

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and Pepper

Wash and remove stems from mushrooms. Combine uncooked sausage, cream cheese, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stuff the mushroom caps. Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Scoop out your mushrooms onto a beautiful platter and serve immediately. (They get cold fast.)

Baby Update

I had an ultrasound today. My official due date is Nov 5th!

Getting Ready for Summer

Well, we had our yard aerated, thanks Rob! And we picked out our seeds for the garden even though it’s still in the 40s around here. I bought the kids some new gardening gloves from Target to get them excited, and bought myself some to make sure the baby on the way doesn’t soak up anything yucky like fertilizer or manure!

My neighbor, JB, held a free class on gardening at her house! She taught us all about rows, planting, watering, sprouting, and made us refreshments from her food storage supply. She got me all pumped up to grow my own fresh food.

Our church owns a couple acres of land near our chapel and they let families claim a plot to reap and sow. We did this last year–planted 10-12 different vegetables and flowers-watered and weeded…for a few weeks and then we slacked. We taught the kids a great lesson-if you don’t take care of your garden, it dies. I heard through the rumor mill that people were not happy about our weeds and even a group of people spent some time on our plot! Whoops–and our neighboring plot proprietor watered it for a bit! It was our first try. This year we are going to do 4 vegetables, plus the giant pumpkin seeds we always get from the city Arbor Day Celebration. Wish us luck! (What do you do when you go on vacation? Do you get a garden watcher?)

To get ready for summer, I have also made a daily time schedule for the family that includes exercise time for me, meals, reading, playtime, outside time, chores and more! We are going to have an organized, fun, productive summer!

Currently Reading

“A quiet scene now rises before us. A large, roomy, neatly painted kitchen, its yellow floor glossy and smooth, and without a particle of dust; a neat, well-blacked cooking stove; rows of shining tin, suggestive of unmentionable good things to the appetite; glossy green wood chairs, old and firm; a small flag-bottomed rocking chair, with a patchwork cushion in it, neatly contrived out of small pieces of different coloured woollen goods, and a larger sized one, motherly and old, whose wide arms breathed hospitable invitation, seconded by the solicitations of its feather cushions–a real, comfortable, persuasive old chair, and worth, in the way of honest, homely enjoyment, a dozen of your plush or brochetelle drawing-room gentry; and in the chair, gently swaying back and forward, her eyes bent on some fine sewing, sat our old friend Eliza.”

-Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Did you know the Quakers helped escaped slaves on their way to Canada? I didn’t until reading this book. I reasearched a few stories and many Quakers were highly involved in the Underground Railroad with their homes and farms being major hiding places.

Take a quick trip:

www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad