Food Talk

I bought Kate some swim goggles today. As I was driving home from the store, she was looking at the package and she said, "Oh, these goggles have 15 degrees of fiber in them. That's very good for you."

The other day when she was with Scott at the cabin (I think on a 4-wheeler ride) she said, "I wonder what the clouds taste like. Do you think they are nutritious?"

Afternoon Tea (cocoa)

 I totally spoiled myself this weekend with afternoon tea (hot chocolate) at The Grand America with my sisters and two of my eldest nieces on my side of the family. WOW! What a treat! This is probably the first time in my life that I felt rich, elegant, and sophisticated. That feeling wore off eventually, like when I came home and realized I'm just a lower-middle class wanna-be who gets excited just hanging out in The Grand's public restroom. Yup, pathetic. But tea was divine!   

Snowbird

 On Scott's birthday, we were up at the Snowbird Resort with my niece and her six friends playing chaperon for their co-ed senior trip. Scott slept in the boys condo and I slept in the girls condo. Kate stayed with my sister and her husband but my brother-in-law brought her up to be with us during the day so we could have some fun with her.

 We took her up the mountain on the tram. Elevation: 11,000 feet. Who would've guessed June 16th would be a winter wonderland?

 Cameron (that bro-in-law I mentioned who drove Kate up to see us), Me, Scott, and Kate. 

 Cameron brought his brother, Kimball up with him. Their family has owned a time share at Snowbird (the one the girls stayed in for this three-day senior trip) for as long as they can remember.

 Cute girl...

Two Horrible Chaperons - we had a noise complaint BOTH nights. The front desk called us at 12:30 am the first night and then the security officer and the guest services guys came to our door the next night at 12:00 am. When they showed up, they let us know that we would be EVICTED if they received another complaint. Golly. We had no idea we were being THAT noisy. We were quiet and ready for bed when we were informed of the noise complaints so the kids were pretty bummed. They wished the bothered party would've just tapped on our door and let us know that we were too loud. We would've quieted sooner. We just didn't know anyone could hear us. On the final day, the lady next to us complained again to the front desk that we RUINED her vacation and asked for financial compensation. Her husband was trying to work and we were just too noisy! So noisy that they had to leave to Park City (sorry for not feeling sorry for you honey). We ran into her in the hall and heard a mouthful of venom from her. She gave us one dose of HATE SPEACH I will never forget but wish I could.

 But laying the drama aside, we had a wonderful time. The graduating seniors in our group had a wonderful time. Kate had a wonderful time. What else matters?

 We swam in a heated 90-something degree pool surrounded by these beautiful snowy mountains.

Truly Splendid!

Kate on the Tram.

I'm so glad Sam chose us to be chaperons. I wish we weren't so irresponsible - but on second thought, some people are just plain ornery. I think that lady next to us who complained was just grumpy and probably would've found something else to complain about if we hadn't been there laughing and enjoying ourselves.

Lesson learned: be tolerant!

My Dad and Me...

 My Dad and me, when I was 6 weeks old.

...when I was about 10 years-old. He was the Bishop at the time and he took me with him to wish one of the missionaries a Happy Birthday.

...at my graduation from High School.

 

...with my mom at my wedding reception.

 ...skiing at Brighton.

...with some of my family at my graduation from College.

 ...dancing in Puerto Rico.

...starting it all over again with my girl.

I love you, Dad. Thanks for always being there for me. We've had so many great moments together with so many more yet to come. Happy Father's Day!

Check Out Scott's Birthday Present!

Scott is celebrating his 34th birthday TODAY! His birthday present arrived at our doorstep a couple days before his big day and he couldn't wait to open it. His choice of gift hasn't changed much since he was about eleven. All the years have done is turn him into a bigger kid.

 I love how you can totally see him mouthing the words, "Woh, Cool!"

Now, don't misunderstand. I'm not totally awesome. I didn't select this for Scott's birthday and surprise him. I wish! No, Scott researched what he wanted, he talked it over with me, and he ordered it online as a birthday present from me. I wish I was that awesome that I could know just what toy would make his heart sing. The only thing I do know is that this boy loves toys!

Happy Birthday, Scott!  Mmuwah!

Fun in the City!

 Don't worry - I brought a change of clothes!

God Principle: I'll Do You One Better

Some weekends, Scott gets a hankering for a nice juicy steak or some relaxation at a meal that only dining out will do for him. Often we will tell Kate that we are all going to go out on a date for dinner and she gets excited and asks, "Can we go to Dairy Queen?" I just laugh and think, "If you only knew what we want to offer you..." Scott tells her that he wants to take her to Texas Roadhouse or Chili's or Red Lobster, whatever the case may be at the time. And this reminds me of how God most often has bigger plans for us.We can pray all we want for a certain house, car, spouse, job, date, present, recovery, child, body size, whatever - but God
might have bigger plans.
"As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into  the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."--1 Corinthians 2:9

God Principle: Trust Me

Kate was giving me the third degree last Sunday. She started while I was doing her hair. She couldn't tell what style I was going to give her and she asked several questions and I wasn't in the mood to explain my every move to her so I said, "I'm not going to intentionally make you look ugly, okay. Just calm down." She still insisted on specifying exactly what she wanted. I felt frustrated. I had this vision in my mind of how I wanted to style her hair but her fears were getting in the way of me being able to style it. Every time I brushed up a section of hair she was frightened that I would put it in pig tails and she would jerk her hair out of my hands. I assured her that, No, I would not put her hair in pig tails. So she let me continue only to whip her head around again insisting that I don't pull half of it up either. I was so aggravated with having to stop and start again that I just said, "Trust me! I love you. I'm trying my best to help you."
 
We got over the hair dilemma and after church and dinner we wanted to go with my mom, dad, brother and his family on a walk or something. Initially I thought it would fun to walk to the Lagoon Trail and I remember lots of kids bringing their bikes and I offered to take her bike so she could ride it on the trail. We live in a very hilly neighborhood and Kate hasn't learned to master hills on her bike. She was afraid. I told her the trail had some slight ups and downs but that it would be a perfect place for her to get some riding practice. She wanted to know if the ups and downs were long or short. She berated me for a good ten minutes with her questions and fears. I could tell she was full of anxiety and uncertainty about this unknown trail and how it would impact her. I tried to ease her concerns. I said, "Kate you can do this trail on your bike. I wouldn't recommend it for you and take you there on your bike if I didn't think you could do it." More fears and worries. I felt like she didn't trust that I would do what was best for her. I reiterated, "Kate, please, you gotta just trust me. I love you. I want you to be happy. I know you'll enjoy it. The trail is perfect for you to practice riding on your bike. It will be great."

As I was in the middle of importuning her to trust me, I got it. I heard something familiar in my words. I imagined God saying the same things to me. He just wants me to trust Him. He wants me to be happy. The plan He has, though hard to do, is what I can handle and good practice for me to learn. I can do it. He loves me."

"[E]veryone has worth because we are all children of God. He knows us, loves us, and wants us to succeed and return to Him. We must learn to trust in His love and in His timing rather than our own sometimes impatient and imperfect desires." --Cecil O. Samuelson Jr.

Kate's Symphony

Last night after Sam's high school graduation, I told my parents that we were stopping for dessert and since they were riding with us, they had to come along by default. We called my sister, who was riding in the car behind us with her hubby and the Graduate, Sam. We told them they might as well come along since Sam is the reason for the celebration...

While at the restaurant, Kate was banging two forks together and it sounded like she had some intention to the clattering sound she was creating so I thought I would ask her about it.

Me: "Kate, what is your symphony called."
Kate: "Bingo Was His Name-O"
Me: "Oh really?"
Kate: "Yeah. See." (then she demonstrated and I could hear the rhythm of B-I-N-G-O finally.)
Cameron (my brother-in-law, who was sitting next to Kate): "is it in F minor?"
Kate: "No."
Grandpa: "Is it in a major chord?"
Kate: "Yes, it's in fork major."