More great things ahead...

I posted a few days ago about the new links to church magazines online. It looks like they're planning to add even more to the New Era site. Here's a post from LDS Media:

"The New Era has posted a survey for teens, asking them to select from a list of possible online features those items that would be most important to them. For instance, do they want more photos, videos, or stories by teens? Or do they want a mobile Web version of Church Web sites? Or perhaps they would like guest blogs by teens. Whatever their preference, they can tell the New Era about it. If you know any teens who would like their voices to be heard, encourage them to take this survey."

How often do people ask what you want and really listen to the answer? Try it out. I think they're listening.

It's in the bag!

Here's another bag recipe; this one brought to us courtesy of Elder Gee and the Estrada's: TACO SALADAbove, you'll notice all the ingredients: single serving dorittos, taco meat, cheese, tomato, lettuce, avocado, sour cream, salsa, hot sauce, red beans. [Disregard the strawberries. Those are to serve on the side. Jeffrey thought they were supposed to go in his taco salad-gross! Dad-don't even think of trying it and telling me it tastes good.]

First, snip a small hole in the corner of the chip bag and mash the bag together to crush the chips. (My kids favorite part.)

Next, cut a slit across the long side of the bag.

Then fill with the ingredients of your choice (This is my favorite part-if you don't like the way it tastes, it's nobody's fault but your own!)

Stir it up and get to it!

My kids ate about 2 bags each. It was great and clean up is easy!

Have fun!

How do I love thee?

Happy Valentine's Day

Stand Tall, Abe Lincoln by Judith St. George

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
"Sometimes there is a happening in our lives that changes the way we think about ourselves and sends us along a new path..." This, from the introduction of Judith St. George's Stand Tall, Abe Lincoln. I love her approach to the lives of our President's and the impact they can have on kids.

Don't save this book for President's day of next year. Jeff and I had a great time reading and discussing this account of Abraham Lincoln's early years. It was a great way to build on the discussion they were having in school and see how well he was remembering what his teacher offers.


View all my reviews.

Congratulations!

It's official! Jessica was accepted to BYU Provo. We're so proud of her. She's not only a great student, but an incredible person. She will do well there. And what will we do at home without her? Well, we're not thinking about that. We're focusing on the positive, and there's a lot to be positive about. BYU is a great school. Mark and I have great memories of our time there. I miss those mountains! We're excited for her opportunity. She's already looked at potential classes and teachers. This feels like it's happening so fast. Can my baby really be going to college? It's not that it makes me feel old. I'm OK with that. But I'm starting to feel...I don't know...that mother bear instinct maybe? Over protective? Last week in Sunday school they asked me to describe how it felt to have Jessica leaving for college. I think they wanted me to say that I was ready for her to leave and happy for her to have the opportunity....(They were comparing it to how our Heavenly Father felt about us when He created the earth and sent us here to learn and grow.) ...I started to cry. I certainly feel those things, but I just hope... I don't know how to finish that sentence. I know it's something she needs to do, and we've tried to raise our children to be independent, self-sufficient and all the rest, but now that the time is coming for her to fly the nest, I don't know if I'm ready. Can't I just keep her home one more year?

But look at that beautiful valley! I know there are so many great things waiting for her, how could I ever think of holding her back? One of our returned missionaries came back to Arizona for a visit. He was helping his sister get settled at ASU. It was amazing to see how protective he was of her. That's when I realized, what I needed for a little peace of mind...I'm going to recruit some 'big brothers' to keep an eye on Jessica. Fortunately for us, we have several to choose from! All of our former assistants will be in Provo (except one that's living a little farther north), plus there are several other returned elders and sisters that will be there. I won't have to worry about her, and I know she'll write and call all the time so we won't be lonely for her...right Jess? We have just a few more months with our family all home together...I'm planning on making the most of it. Love you, Jessica. Congratulations!

Photography pin

This was a fun outing-though I don't know if you can tell it from the pictures. I had to get some shopping done for zone conference, and the kids, although bored, weren't that excited about going to the store with me. So we brought the camera along. They're always bugging me to let them take pictures of their own, but it seems like we're always in a rush when we're in picture mode...and since Brandon's working on different scout activity badges and pins, I thought I'd let them get creative. These first 3 are Brandon's attempts at capturing interesting angles and patterns.

The following three are fun to look at-but sad because bikes aren't meant to hang on a wall! (see our previous post about the bike trail.)

Here's Amanda having a go at-in a moving car no less.

I don't know how he did, but Jeff managed to get three shots of this rabbit as it ditched from side to side to get away from us. I tried several times, but all mine are blurry. He has 3 like this that you can actually see the rabbit!

Here's one Brandon took, but the lighting didn't work quite right (even on auto)...so we played with the picture at home later.

This was so fun, but I think I'm in trouble. It's so easy and crazy, the kids will want to do it all the time.

Jeffrey and I were at a local high school waiting for Amanda and Brandon to finish a piano rehearsal, so we had another experiment with changing angles on a subject. Anybody have a favorite?

At that same high school-we tried playing around with blurred images. Not too impressive, but fun to try.

We're going to try some with optical illusions, but that have to wait for another day.

Ghost

Glowing monsters
Horrifying Monsters
"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"
Scarrrrrryyyy
"Th th th th th th th th th th there it is!"

by Jeffrey Neal Bassett

Can you really call this work??

I have the perfect job! Just look at these kids!

Grace is such a girly girl.

Luke claimed this crib as his own and would not let anyone else sit in there with him (Grace)
She is constantly rocking the baby back and forth while she says "baby, baby, baby"

Her own little kitchen.

While I was taking pictures I discovered that she says "Cheeeeese". cute!!

They are always trying to play in the water but never succeed. I figured since it was almost time for baths anyways I might as well let them have a little fun.

Jack loves Jeffrey so much. He always tells him "Jeffrey, you're my best friend."

Sunday Fun

After Church, Mark got all the kids together and should us some new links on LDS.org - New Era . This first link is expecially for youth ages 12-18-linking each issue of the New Era magazine to activities on the web. It also has links to a you tube channel the church created just for them (Check out the side bar.) The Ensign also has a direct link to articles (to any of my friends of any religious background, each month there are great articles in the Ensign directed on helping establish strong families and marriages.) There is also another you tube channel titled 'Mormon Messages' that provide a balance for all the negative things people say about our faith: what we believe straight from us and not from our critics or detractors. (I've always wondered why if someone wanted to know about what I believe, they didn't just ask me instead of listening to people who will look for the worst and try to discount and twist the best.) The Mormon messages channel is updated each week with new videos. You can get a sampling of them from the side bar. Jeffrey's favorite section was the link to the friend magazine. Here's a pic of the menu:
So far, the game tab leads you to these two choices. He sat down and finished all the hidden puzzles all in one day. I'll admit, the hidden puzzles are always one of my favorites when the Friend comes out each month, and this time, and it's even better online-perfect for a young children. We also navigated some of the other links.

Morning Madness

What a way to start the day!

We hiked Camelback again Saturday...or at least the kids hiked it again and this time Mom & Dad joined them.

It's a great climb, but it starts with some killer stairs that almost make me want to turn around, except that I know the fun part is just ahead. This is the part I like...climbing over all these huge red rocks.

It looks a lot smaller from the ground, and then you start hiking and wondering when it will end. Taylor kept taunting me with "one more climb like this last one and we're there."

In the picture below, Brandon has just scaled one of the steeper sections of the hike. There are some great iron rods drilled through the rock...I always to choose to hold tight to the rod. (One day I'll get a picture of those. Great object lesson.)

The crazy thing about this hike, are the people who lap you 3 or 4 times. They literally run up and down the mountain...and some of them are pretty old. There's a lady in our congregation that climbs almost every day. I don't know her exact age, but she and her husband retired years ago...70's?

That's Taylor way up there. The picture below is that same rock, but a different person in the distance and taken from a different angle. Brandon and I chose to stay on the trail and hike around that rock instead of up and over it.

Jeff dutifully packed snacks for the whole family. As impatient as I was to get started, I was grateful for them when we got to the top. It's fun to take a minute and catch your breath at the top and count all the tennis courts and pools below. There are some pretty incredible estates that you can see from up there. Somebody put a cardinals flag at the top.

Yes, I'm as tired as I look, but it's a great kind of tired.

Almost to the end of the trail...Jeff was the first one up, but the last one down. It's always amazing to watch him run up the hill, but when it comes time to climbing down, some of those descents are steep. He literally slides down on his rear.

The great things about a long hike on Saturday, is that everyone gets to bed on time in the evening so we can all wake up fresh for Sunday! By about 9:30 everyone, OK, almost everyone-Taylor was up a little longer, was sound asleep.