Utah Trip

Last month, Jude and I took a quick trip to Utah so we could visit extended family and attend my cousin Jordan's wedding. As nervous as I was about leaving Josh with Matt and friends for five days, everyone did amazingly well with the arrangement. Matt was happy to have some company at home, Jude was happy to get so much attention, Josh was happy to see so much of his friends and his Daddy, and I was happy to hug and kiss relatives for the first time in years.

First stop after arriving at the SLC airport was my sister Melissa's apartment. Second stop, of course, was Costa Vida! I've been missing my Mexican food. Now don't go telling me that Costa Vida isn't Mexican, because I won't listen! It's just a different kind of Mexican and I appreciate it in a different kind of way. I made sure to get some so-so dirty Mexican while I was there too. The sibs and cousins and I went out late for Alberto's one night. (Baby free! Can you believe it?!) I got a huge cup of horchata. Mmmm.

That little Star Wars label up there is from a breakfast place we went to in Melissa's neighborhood. She lives on the Univ. of Utah campus, so she has to put up with crap like that even though she bleeds blue.

After breakfast that first morning, we stopped at Kay Cummings chocolate shop and stocked up for the weekend. Jude did his best to draw in customers from the window, but apparently nobody thought he was cute enough.

We also walked around the park a bit so Jude could yell at the ducks and dogs passing by. When we went to the store for baby supplies, Jude stuck to Uncle Mike like glue. Those two are buddies. 

We visited Grandpa John's grave and got to see his beautiful new headstone. Aunt Beverly gave us a tour of some of our ancestors in the cemetery, as well. 

That night, we went to Oakley's house for a barbecue and some volleyball. Jude loved meeting Baby Scarlett. His enthusiasm was a little overpowering for her, especially when he tried to squeeze her, and point out all her pretty facial features, and feed her romantically from his plastic cup.

I just had such a great time being with my cousins. I miss Oakley all the time. We grew up together, and I kind of wanted to just snuggle up with her every night and talk about girl things and boy bands til we fell asleep. When we were little, Oakley and Melissa would always make Christiana and me be the boys when we played pretend. So there we are, in the bottom right, holding our princesses like old times.

But I didn't get to stay with Oakley this time. Instead, we had a great hotel room next to the Ludlows and my grandma. Jude slept amazingly well, and we had a nice hot breakfast every morning. Have you ever seen a hotel cafe with a separate TV in every booth? Crazy! 

Practicing his eensy weensy spider with Aunt Stephanie.

Friday was the day to make Stephanie do my hair, and then get lost on the way to Brickerhaven for a huge family dinner. I got to see so much family that I hadn't seen in years. Cousins, cousins of cousins, kids of cousins, aunts, uncles, Grandma. It was lovely. We also got to see a video of Jordan and Fan's Chinese wedding, which took place a month before. It was not official, but it was very colorful, Chinese traditional, and really important to Fan's parents, since she is their only child. I love Fan already. She is an amazing woman, and a babe. Good job, Jordan.

Saturday was the wedding in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a beautiful ceremony. Jordan literally had tears dripping off his face the whole time. There was just so much happiness in that room. 

I ended up running around quite a bit helping with the luncheon and such, and I'm glad I only had one kid to pawn off so I could be useful. That night there was a beautiful reception in Alpine.

After the reception, we stopped for a few minutes to visit some old friends, the Loudens. They are amazing people who used to live in Redding. They are great friends to my parents, and my old seminary teachers. 

The next day after church, we all went to lunch at Uncle David's house in Provo to celebrate Grandma's birthday. We ate amazing brisket, then shared stories and one-liners about Grandma. It was a really full house!

The trip was too short to do all the catching up I wanted to do. I wanted to do a session in the Salt Lake Temple, to revisit BYU for chocolate covered cinnamon bears, to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform, to shop through the new City Creek Mall, and to eat frozen yogurt. Not enough time, but I was definitely starting to miss this little guy.

I told him I'd bring him back something special from Utah. I'm so lucky he was satisfied with extra airplane cookies and Fruit-by-the-Foots from Grandma Sara. Easy to please.

Something New: Weeks 34 and 35

So much to catch up on! I'll start with this.

August 19 -- Ate at a yummy pizza place in Salt Lake City with my fam. Its style was true Italian. They had amazing gelato, the first I've had since Italy. I think it was called Settebello, but I'm not sure.

August 20 -- Had an unpleasant experience waiting for my flight home from a layover in Detroit. Ended up renting a car after hours of waiting in the airport with an upset toddler. The new part: Jude and I sat and watched the airport's amazing fountain for a long time. Matt had told me about this, but you can't know how cool it is until you see it. Its patterns and timing and thick streams will keep you watching, like a mini Bellagio in Michigan!

August 21 -- Attended my first preschool board meeting at the school/church. I guess I had gone to one before in May, but this is the first one I was involved in. I received responsibilities, I presented my case for something important, it feels real now.

August 22 -- Started a sewing project for a friend of my cousin. Before I went to Utah, I made two snake toys for my cousins' new baby boys. They loved them! Now I'm making one for my cousin's friend, and a couple more for my boys because they were sad when I packed them in my suitcase.

Here's one that went to my cousin. It's a great project because it uses mostly fabric scraps, and it's great for kids because it  helps them learn four different fasteners: velcro, buttons, snaps, and ties.

August 23 -- Triple chip blondies. Have you had them? They are AMAZING. Anything with butterscotch and chocolate is addicting for me. These babies were so delicious that instead of giving half of them away like I had planned, we ended up keeping them all for ourselves. Actually, we did share a couple with the missionaries when they came over for dinner. One of them liked these so much that he took the recipe home. Seriously, a 21-year-old guy wanting to make an effort for dessert? They're THAT good, people!

August 24 -- Tried to make soy vanilla pudding in the Blendtec. Big FAIL! I was excited to give Josh milk-free pudding so he wouldn't barf it up, but it didn't set right. But then again, besides smoothies, no recipes we've tried in that blender have actually turned out well without adjustment and extra effort. I think something's wrong.

August 25 -- Took some fabric from my stash and whipped up a Zebra skirt! This is the first time I've successfully made a skirt just by eyeballing the pieces with no pattern. And since this was clearance fabric, I think it cost me a total of $4. Score!

Also, I tried dried wasabi peas for the first time today. Previously I was too scared to try them. They're not as hot as I expected, and actually quite good.

August 26 --  Met a new Elder when he and his companion came over for dinner. This one plays the piano and was overjoyed to go through all my sheet music and play a real non-electric keyboard for the first time in months.

August 27 --  Met with a new piano student. She's older than my other students (high school),  more advanced, and wants to pursue music through college. This is so exciting for me! Seeing her music brings back so many memories. I can't wait to start working with her.

August 28 -- Ordered the Turkey Bravo sandwich at Panera. It was scrumptious. But then, my opinion might have been affected by the overall good feelings of having lunch with fun friends and no kids. That situation could probably make dirt taste good, too.

August 29 -- Visited Shannon, my new visiting teachee. I had never spoken with her before and it was great to get to know a new friend. This woman is amazing.

August 30 -- Improvised tomato sauce from my own homegrown tomatoes! Even though I really like to cook, I rarely just take random ingredients and throw them together without a recipe. It wasn't bad. I used fresh basil, balsalmic, olive oil, onion, garlic, salt, pepper. You can't really go wrong with that combination.

August 31 -- Played in a softball game with a bunch of friend couples. This was so much fun! I hadn't played softball in years. I mean, not to brag or anything, but I was the back up pitcher for my elementary school team, soooo....I'm kind of a big deal.

September 1 -- Ludington! We drove our little family to Ludington after lunch to see the beach and the famous sunset. It was more than worth the trip! That beach is absolutely perfect. It reminded me of San Diego, and the sunset was out of this world. More pictures to come later.

Also, on the drive, I started reading "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother". I can't tell yet if it will be helpful, but it's interesting.

Something New: Weeks 32 and 33

It's been more than two weeks since I reported on this little goal, so here's a bunch of days all at once.

August 5 --  Ate the most delicious homemade pizza of my whole life. (Sorry, Dad.) Matt made deep dish pizza (BJ's style) for the first time, with my homemade pesto sauce, a delicious chicken-onion-artichoke mixture, fresh tomatoes and cheese on top. I only wish we could be sure to replicate it exactly as it was, minus some salt. I want to eat it every day. Wish I had taken a picture, but we had friends over that night, so it disappeared fast.

August 6 -- Made kettle corn for the first time. Turns out it's super easy on the stove. Just oil, kernels, sugar and salt. The reason for making this was I had some girls over again to watch the newer 2007 BBC version of Persuasion, since the last one didn't satisfy. Loved this one!

August 7 -- Started reading a book about Ronald Reagan for book group, Peggy Noonan's When Character Was King. It's pretty good so far. And it's good for me to do some smarty-pants biography reading once in a while.

August 8 -- Watched an episode (or two or three) of the first season of Prison Break. Sometimes I hate it and sometimes I'm hooked. I'm sure I'd like it more if they stopped killing people. Not exactly what I like to watch right before bedtime.

August 9 -- Made blueberry cobbler, adapted from a recipe in The Bread Bible. It was seriously amazing. Addicting. Sounds good any time of day. The perfect thing to do with all the blueberries I have in my freezer from over-picking last month. The secret is to squeeze half a lemon over the fruit before baking to make it nice and zesty. Mmm...my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Oh, also that night we cooked purple green beans that I had picked from Dow Gardens. They turn green when you cook them! How cool is that?!

August 10 -- Learned how to sew button holes on my sewing machine. This was for a couple baby gifts I was working on. Here's the dress:

August 11 -- Made donut muffins for a barbecue. They are to die for. I know I'm raving about all these new recipes this week, but seriously, we hit the jackpot! These muffins are easy to make, require just a few ingredients that I always keep on hand, and taste just like cinnamon sugar donut holes. My family would flip!

August 12 -- Got a huge zucchini from a friend at church, so I decided to try to make chocolate zucchini cake. I had heard it keeps cake really moist, but mine didn't turn out exactly as I wanted. It was still moist, but a little crumbly, and I had to whip up some caramel sauce to hold it together. I'll try again someday.

August 13 -- Made a purple baby dress for my new little cousin.

August 14 -- Finished the pink and green baby dress for my other new cousin.

August 15 -- This was the start of a quick little Utah trip. I flew out with just Jude for six days so I could attend a cousin's wedding and see family. This was my first time flying with just Jude and he was actually amazingly well behaved! I could NOT believe it. It put me in a great mood when we arrived. On the plane, I also started reading Northinger Abbey on my Kindle, and am loving it. It makes me laugh inside on every page.

Jude soaking himself at the DTW fountain

August 16 -- Saw my cousin Oakley's beautiful new house. (I have a lot of cousins.) She invited some family over for a barbecue. She is my "twin cousin" and one of my best friends growing up. I miss her like crazy! Also she made me create an Instagram account, so that was new too.

August 17 -- Met more new baby cousins at a family gathering at Brickerhaven. Seriously, all my cousins make the most beautiful babies. On this trip I got to meet so many new family members: Robbie, Doug, Fan, Noah, Paisley, Scarlett, Nico, Regi, Kaya, Christian, and a ton of people from the Clive family. I had been gone too long!

August 18 -- Shared the role of Wedding Planner for a few hours. Scrambled to arrange seating for the wedding luncheon, scrambled to rearrange seating when everything changed, and ran the bouquet to the bride before they made their grand exit from the temple. It was fun and crazy. I also saw part of the new City Creek Mall in Salt Lake.

My awesome cousin Jordan and his babe-a-licious bride Fan

More about that trip coming soon...

"Weird Pictures" (Title by Josh)

Note: This post was accidentally published yesterday before it was finished. Sorry if you've already seen most of it and were completely disappointed with my editing skills!

JOSH

4.1 years old

Josh says funny things. He makes me LOL and ROTFL every day.

He was making squids (yes, squids) out of Legos one day and told me that he built a boy squid and a daddy squid. I thought this was sweet, and very creative. Then he told me that the mommy and the baby squids died. Apparently somebody shot them. Hmm, maybe I should let him play more video games...?

While silently watching me work on the computer, he saw me "cut" a paragraph of text, and before I could find the place I wanted to paste it, he said "Push V now." What?? (In case you don't know, Mom, Ctrl + V is the shortcut to paste text.) How in the world did he know what I was doing? And how did he know about keyboard shortcuts? He watches every detail of what I do, and I'm starting to feel the pressure!

Taking a rest on the walk into Dow Gardens, making Jude laugh

I got a bunch of pregnancy test strips in the mail (because I'm neurotic and think I'm pregnant all the time). Josh saw me open them and asked what they were. I figured I might as well tell him the truth. Later, after putting it together in his head, he came to me and explained, "Mom, when your tummy's really big and you have to go potty, you say 'Let's take a test!'" That's absolutely right, Josh. He's mentioned it a couple more times since then. Now I just hope he doesn't associate the word "test" with pregnant pee for the rest of his life.

Later, still thinking about it, "If you have a baby in your tummy and you put clothes on, it will just POP!...The shirt or the dress will pop, not the tummy."

First time watching Star Wars

He brought a paper airplane home from a babysitter one day and it got smushed in the car. When I fixed it, his eyes got all big and he said, "YOU know how to fold paper airplanes??!" He said this with excited surprise, and maybe a little reproach, as if it was the best skill ever and I was a terrible person for keeping it a secret from him. CoolMom points earned for the day.

I handed Josh a pad of Post-it notes and told him to write a little note to my brother so I could send it with a package. I guess he interpreted my instructions in a different way, because he handed back to me a bunch of music notes he had written. Then he told me to label them with their correct names, like half note and quarter note. Maybe he already understands that music has its own way of communicating! Either that or he's a smart alec....

He was watching a carpentry show on PBS while he was waiting for me to turn on a movie for him. When I tried to, he calmly said "Mom stop, I'm trying to watch this guy build a boat." He will watch anything on TV. Matt: "I don't think it's a boat, buddy." Josh: "Maybe a person?"

"What does this say?" pointing to a heart on the Honey Nut Cheerios box. "Helps Lower Cholesterol" I tell him. "Ohhhh. I wanted it to get rid of the cholesterol!"

JUDE

17 months old

Jude continues to test me. At all times, I find myself either wanting to smother him with smooches, or punt him out the window. There's not much in between. Lukewarm is not my temperature these days.

He emptied four different spice containers onto the floor this week. He's way too good at unscrewing lids. He did the same thing with my make up, mascara, toothpaste, travel shampoo bottles, two cereal boxes, and a big container of buttons this week, as well. Darn your manual dexterity, Jude!

After a scolding, he walked himself to time out. He tried to stick his nose all the way into the corner and was frustrated when it wouldn't touch. What do you do when your child actually likes time out?

Jude has always been a pain to take to the playground. I've had to follow his every step because he is too ambitious for his wobbly little legs. He only wants to go down the highest, longest slide on the playground, and won't go near the little baby ones. He wants to climb all the stairs to the highest point, and then slide down by himself, usually on his stomach. We're finally at the point where my little daredevil can manage alone without falling to his death, but I still have heart palpitations every time.

Speaking of climbing, Jude climbs onto every table he can find. Lately he tries to climb on top of the piano too, which makes me wish I could swear in different languages. He loves to move step stools so he can reach light switches and play with those all day. He rocks back and forth in his high chair so violently that it almost tips over. He has regular tantrums because I am constantly thwarting his will to destroy.

Skyping with grandparents

Stopping to check out the fish at Meijer. Don't let that innocent look fool you.
He's really thinking of what he can use to break that glass!

On the cute side, he's a pretty good little dancer. He shakes his head around and bounces his legs every time he hears music. He tries to sing too, which I need to get on video.

He tries to say everything I say. His baby talk vocab is growing every day and he gets so excited when I understand him.

He copies everything Josh does, even if it's swinging underwear around like a nun-chuck so they can fight.

He thinks he's really funny when he puts underwear on his head. I think it's funny too, but I've been forbidden to post pictures of such nonsense because his father thinks Jude will be embarrassed someday. Of a hot pink underwear hat? I don't get it.

I love my job.

(P.S. Most of these pictures were taken about a month ago.)

Something New: Weeks 30 and 31

July 22 -- Learned and then taught a new song in Primary for Pioneer Day: The Handcart Song.

July 23 -- Took Josh to Vacation Bible School for the first time. This one was at Chapel Lane Presbyterian Church and he absolutely loved it. He came home singing the songs every day. And it was basically fifteen hours of FREE babysitting, so we're all excited to do it again. Here's the port hole picture he came home with, which goes along with the "Dive Deep" theme.

July 24 --  Downloaded a new game on the Kindle. It's called "Flow Free" and Josh is really good at it. It's a puzzle type game with pipes, and I like that it's kind of educational. Thanks, Grandma Cheri, for the idea.

July 25 -- Watched the 1995 BBC version of Jane Austen's Persuasion with some girlfriends. Honestly, I thought the book was much more romantic, but some of the characters were funny, and it's always better to watch a movie with friends so you can make fun of it together. I'm excited to see the newer BBC version of this movie.

July 26 -- Went to my friend Nicol's new house. It's really cool and unique. I can't wait to see what she does with all the space.

July 27 -- Listened to the pastor at Chapel Lane on the last day of Bible School. Heard how they pray, flipped through their hymn book, and met some new people. I'm convinced that our church needs to put "Lift Every Voice and Sing" into the hymnal.

July 28 -- Went to the most extravagant wedding I will ever experience in my life! Our friends from business school, Alexa and Miguel, got married at her family's summer home up in Lake Leelanau, MI. Maybe I will share details in a separate post, but there's just too much for right now. It was crazy fun, and it would blow your mind. This was our first time up in beautiful northern Michigan too. We'll be going back.

July 29 -- Made homemade pickles out of the cucumbers we grew at Dow Gardens. Find a really good recipe here.

July 30 -- Got my piano tuned for the first time. This guy Ed Higgins did a great job, so let me know if you need a reference. It's amazing how much more beautiful my piano sounds when it's freshly tuned! So bright and crisp and perfect! I just want to sit in that room all day and play!

July 31 -- Made chocolate coconut banana mini muffins for a Relief Society activity this week. They are pretty good, my boys will eat them, and I got rid of some brown bananas. Win-win-win.

August 1 -- Took Josh and his friend Luke to open gym at the gymnastics center. They loved it! We'll be doing this again.

August 2 -- Made some delicious new healthy-ish recipes with my friend Sarah. Summer Vegetables with Sausage and Potatoes and Mint Chocolate Fudge Pie. But get this...the pie is made with TOFU instead of heavy cream. And you can't even tell! Seriously, if you know me, you know I love desserts. I wouldn't lead you astray. This is a good one, and really low-calorie. I used to be afraid of tofu, but not anymore. Try it!

August 3 -- Tried Fels Naptha soap on some deep baby clothes stains. Fels Naptha...what a name. I can hardly even say it! It seems to work okay with newer stains, but not with the ones that have been set in for years. I guess I was expecting too much?

August 4 -- Finished reading The Secret Garden for book group. I didn't mention this as a new thing when I started it, so I figure it counts. Also, I started sewing a cute baby dress for my cousin, using a new pattern. There's nothing more fun to sew than a baby dress. Here's a little peek.