Will work for Fruit

This is that sad time of year when all my dried and preserved fruit is almost gone. I ate the last of my dried apricots the other day and we have only a few small rolls of apricot leather left. I am rationing our home-canned applesauce supply and much to our chagrin have made us eat the dreaded store canned sauce. Morgan cannot even believe that it is made from apples. In years past i have comforted myself by walking around the neighborhood looking at fruit trees and estimating the harvest i may be able to attain from kind neighbors. This year, sadly, i cannot even do that as those trees are far, far away. Yesterday i walked into a roadside produce stand to see what price they put on their apricots. It was nearly 10x the price from my favorite Willis boys sidewalk apricot stand. I was sorely disappointed. I made the mistake of smelling an apricot and could not resist buying just one as a special treat. Oh how i miss those neighborhood apricot trees and Gramps' apple trees. I hardly know how i will survive the fall without being able to harvest and preserve more fruit. In the meantime i will ration out our supply and savor every bite of that wonderful Utah fruit. Thanks to all who have shared your bounty with me throughout the years.

Don't tell Jamie . . .

Jamie (Jameson now that he is getting older) is my brother-in-law. He likes to make fun of how unhealthy my dinners are. So don't tell him about what we ate for dinner the last two nights. On Monday night we had Hootenanny Pancakes for dinner. They were served with low-fat yogurt only - no syrup, jelly or powdered sugar - so that made them a little better. Then last night was Morgan's choice of dinner. We had scones, big beautiful glasses of fresh berries (red and blue and a little whipped cream on top for some white), and lettuce served Waters family style (just big circle chunks cut from the head of iceberg)with tomatoes on top. It was delicious and the kids ate very well both nights. Only i know it was not the most healthy dinner fare. Oh well! Here's hoping tonight is a little more healthy.

Some Firsts

We have had a very busy week including some firsts here. On Sunday Nate and I gave our first talks in this ward for Father's Day. That evening we had our first dinner guest at this house. We invited our neighbor, Mrs. Wise, to share our roast. We had to very quickly clean our family room and breakfast nook so it would look somewhat presentable. It turned out to be a nice evening. The kids loved having a surrogate Grandma here to give them ample attentions and she appreciated being with other people. Since we got things cleaned up i am now willing to post the first pictures of our house. This is our "breakfast nook" where we love to eat and watch squirels and birds in the backyard.

This week the kids started swim lessons. It is a fun program with nice teachers. They really focus on just getting the kids used to being in the water. They do lots of songs and splashing games and feel the class is successful if at the end everyones hair is really wet. It has been good for Morgan and Emma. This week is also the big music festival in Bartlesville, OK Mozart. Luckily the Community art center is close to the pool so we have been able to catch some fun kid events on the way home. We attended princess stories where the kids got mini Cinderella shoes filled with M&Ms. We went to a class/concert about blues. The presenter was very fun and even put in a few anti-smoking plugs. Today we got to see "Digeredoos and Boomerangs" the kids loved it.
The kids in their gymnastics clothes

We have also had the kids gymnastics (or as Emma says, "gym-A-nastics) class on Mon. and Wed. evenings so the kids are exhausted. They have gone to bed without even a peep. That has been nice. It has been a good busy week and we are looking forward to some days off of everything for the weekend when we will take our first trip to the Oklahoma City Temple.

Teach him correct principles . .

I'll just try to teach Morgan correct principles and let him teach the other kids. He has already made a good start of it.

* About a week ago Emma was getting dressed and wanted to wear a jumper without a shirt under. I sent her back in her room and pretty soon i heard Morgan talking to her. "Emma you need to wear a shirt under to keep your shoulders covered. You need to be modest." It was great. I let him handle it and pretty soon she came out happily wearing the dress with a shirt under.

* A few days later after we had FHE about rules and responsibilities I heard the kids start to wake up. As Emma left the room Morgan called her back, "Emma be sure to make your bed." When i went in both beds were made, well at least somewhat straightened.

* Then just the other night Emma was complaining that dinner was not ready yet. Morgan came in and said, "Emma, if you are really hungry you should say, 'Mom, what can i do to help with dinner?'" They both helped me finish getting ready and were happy when dinner started.

He is such a wonderful brother.
He is also developing a good sense of humor.

* He was waiting for his turn in the bathroom but Emma was in there upset about something and crying. I told him maybe he should use a different bathroom because she might take a long time because she was just "cryin' her head off". A minute later he tried to go in and check on her. She got louder. He came out threw his hands up in frustration and said, "Now she's gonna cry our whole ceiling off!"

* The next day Emma was throwing a fit about something. I put her in her room, came out and flopped down on the couch by Morgan. He looked at me questioningly and i said, "She is Out of Control." Morgan looked at me totally serious and asked, "Mom, how do you think she got out?"

I don't think we're in Utah anymore

I am trying to get used to Oklahoma. It seems so very different from Utah where i have lived my whole life until now. One difference is the storms here. In Utah when we get a good big rain the prayers usually tend to be "we are thankful for the much needed water." In Oklahoma when we get a good big rain the prayers have been "please bless us and our homes to be safe." Both views are totally valid in the respective states. Starting Sunday night and into Monday we got over 4.5 inches of rain. It was a wild storm. It kept me up much of the night with the incredibly loud thunder and with the worry that our house was going to flood. I had to get up at 4:30 AM after i remembered that the one remaining box in our house was full of our family photos and was sitting in the corner of the house most likely to flood. The usually small creek behind our house did flood well into our yard but luckily did not make it to the house. It rose so high and so fast that it washed the cement/wood bridge away. The next day Nate had to drive a different way to work because the usual road was flooded. The Caney river through town reaches flood level at 13 feet and by the end of the day was near 17 feet. It was incredible. We were in awe as we drove to gymnastics, everything was flooded. The baseball and soccer fields had turned into small lakes. We could only see the tops of flags and structures at the mini-golf place. It was very strange.

The Secret's Out

Well, the secret is finally out. We had our ultrasound this afternoon and we are having . . . a Boy! We are due on October 20th. I was pretty certain it was a boy but it was fun to see him. We are excited to see how another boy turns out. Now the great name debate can begin in earnest. So far the kids have decided on Bemm and Vanilla. We need help. Give us your suggestions.

Why We Haven't Been Blogging - Excuse #3 & Excuse #4

EXCUSE #3 - Getting settled
We moved into our house on Monday, May 19th. The same day Nate started his new job. It was a crazy morning but we got everything into the house. I felt cool, and lazy as i sat out on the front porch checking off boxes and directing the movers where to put things. We had unpacking service too but i didn't want the movers to be here all night so they just did what they could by 5:00 and left. Luckily they got the kids room totally unpacked so they have felt pretty settled since day one here. It was still a mess but at least they had all their toys and stuff. The rest of the house is taking a little longer (yes we are still trying to get everything organized).




EXCUSE #4 - A Wedding
At the end of that first week we very quickly pack another suitcase and headed to Portland, OR for our brother Jameson's wedding to Kamrah. It slowed down the settling in process but we are so thankful we were able to be with them. It was wonderful to be in the temple with them for the sealing. It reminded us of our own eternal marriage and the spirit in the temple is a always a wonderful teacher. We were so grateful for that moment of peace. Our extended family, especially Carrie, watched Morgan and Emma for us while we were inside. Thank- You!!! We are so happy for Jamie and Kamrah and are glad we got to live in Provo near them while they were dating so we got to know her a little better.
While we were waiting to photos to be taken at the temple we had some adventures. The kids were all playing around the fountain. Nate asked me "Which kid do you think will fall in the water first?" It wasn't more than a minute later that Morgan was bumped into the fountain. Oh, goodness! He was soaked up past his waist. He had to take a few pictures in his wet clothes. Luckily Aunt Michal was more prepared than we were with extra clothes and cousin Dylan was willing to share his same size clothes. Thank you. As we were getting ready to leave Dylan dropped his pants and "watered" the beautiful flowers on the temple grounds. You just have to laugh on days like that.
The reception was at a beautiful mountain Bed & Breakfast. Beside a little rain during the ring ceremony, it was a wonderful reception. We had a great time. We loved being with so many of our family. It was great to stay up late talking and laughing both nights we were there.

Why We Haven't been Blogging - Excuse #2 - Moving

I can't really complain because the actual moving part was pretty easy because ConocoPhillips did it all. We are so grateful that we got to have movers come do it for us. Our apartment was totally packed with boxes. I couldn't believe how much stuff we had. The movers were unprepared for how much equipment and food and books we had crammed into our little apartment. It was pretty funny. They packed up everything (including our computer) in boxes, came back the next day to put all the boxes in the truck and they left. Some wonderful friends in our ward watched my kids and helped me get everything clean while Nate defended his dissertation. I was able to attend Nate's defense presentation. It was great to see the whole picture of what this project has been. So often i heard about frustrations or some major breakthroughs but it was awesome to see all that Nate has accomplished. He was successful in his defense and passed with flying colors.
While the movers were working at our apartment we had one of those moments that we moms long for and that make the hard work of motherhood worth it. I told the kids that i couldn't play outside with them right then because i needed to get some dinner ready. Morgan asked me why i had to make the dinner. I answered that I had to because i am the mom and that is part of my job. He thought about that for a few seconds then looked at me and said, "You have lots of jobs. You clean our house, you make the dinners, you take care of the kids, and you write in your journal, and lots of stuff. Mom's have a lot of jobs!" Yes we do. Then he looked at the movers, thought for another minute and said "Movers just move people. That's all. That must be pretty boring." It was so great. He understood a little bit how much we moms do. It was a great payoff moment.

Why we haven't been blogging - Excuse #1 Good-byes

We spent the first two weeks of May saying lots of good-byes. We were able to spend time with friends from high school and old roommates, and with Nate's family, and with my family, and with friends from our ward. Thank you to everyone who came to party with us. We feel blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives. It was great to see you all again. We loved every minute of catching up with friends and hated the actual saying good-bye part.

Sadly, we even said a more long-term good-bye to my Grampa B who passed away May 6th. We traveled down to Toquerville for the funeral to celebrate his life. It was a sad reason to gather but it was nice to see extended family and even to play another string quartet with my sisters. I was/am very grateful for the times we got to spend with Grandma and Grampa B in their little Toquerville paradise with our kids last Fall. Grampa was an amazing, inspiring person. I am glad that my faith allows me to know that this is not a permanent good-bye, but that we will be reunited with him after this life.

We also spent some time saying good-bye to the mountains with one more hike and another dinner up the canyon where i spent so many evenings as a kid.

Thanks to all for touching our lives and teaching us so much. Be sure to keep in touch.