Table for Eight

Just before leaving ... the whole group of girls with their camp leaders. Papaya and her favorite mentor/Camp Director. Several dads come up to help supervise and keep camp safe. These dads were kind enough to let Bam paint their nails during craft time. Bam on the ZipLine. (So fun.) Caisa on the ZipLine. Bam and her friend after a night of rain. Staying dry inside the car while it POURS. (The road to the mountain campsite was nearly washed out. As a result, camp had to end a day early. Lots of rain.) Church friend and leaders. I am so glad our daughters have a chance to go to camp each year. It is not always fun to put aside normal teenage life, but man, is it worth it to spend a few days in the mountains with people you heart. (And we're so thankful for the photos--thanks leaders for getting them out to us. Along with the video. So fun.) ***** PS: I realized yesterday while the kids were swimming (we try to swim a leas...

Kind of random, but I'm making pesto today for the first time. Ever since Elder Meehan left on his mission, I feel the need to try new things. I guess it's my way of distracting myself, getting lost in new things?  Oh, who knows?! (And probably, who cares? Ha ha ha.) It's a way to pass the time-- that's all I'm sayin'. But back to my point! Today I'm making pesto at Janae's--using her basil, her AWESOME BlendTec blender, my homegrown garlic, my olive oil ... and my $49.99 per pound PINENUTS! Yup, you heard me: Pinenuts are $49.99 per POUND here in Utah. What in the honk?  Funny, yesterday I tweeted about how expensive pinenuts were and people immediately replied "pesto doesn't really need pinenuts." WHAT?!  That's not what FoodNetwork says.  Now, I may only be able to afford two tablespoons of pesto, but I'm making it according to The Iron Chef's recommendation, people.  Work with me here.  I do...

Lu and Me getting ready for her baptis m--two weeks after m y return from Survivor South Paci fic (2 summers a go). First of f, Happy Friday ! G uess what? It's snowing here in Utah this morning. Woo hoo! Okay, so back to my point : I have a confession to make. A s much as working out and taking care of my phy sical/mental body/mind has CHANG ED my life (Survivor was the o riginal cataly st) ... after Survivor Caramoan, I somehow lost my love for doing anything remotely physical. And I mean anything. And as a result, I stopped working out (minus a few random long walk s, hikes, and trips to the pool) until this past M onday. This past Monday! Yup. I hadn't worked out--really worked out--si nce Monday of this past week. It's hard to believe (for me) , but true. I don 't know why I stopped ( W e 'll I do. My brain just said "NO " ) . And I'm not sure why I started again ( T he brai...

Sunrise this morning. Utah. Today I'm sending all my love, strength, and prayers to my friend NeYoda. She was diagnosed with leukemia a few months ago and is receiving a long-awaited bone marrow transplant next week. (Amen.) NeYoda (aka Neola) means the world to me, so if you have any extra peace or prayers to shoot out into the Universe, will you please send one out for her today? Here's a little about her and how we became the best of friends: About three years ago I'd been cast for Survivor 21 and cut a few weeks before we were to leave for the game. I. Was. Devastated. Being on Survivor had been a lifelong/10-year goal of mine (My first audition was at age 30, and I was 40 at the time.). I just couldn't believe I was that close --and now my dream was gone. I didn't know what to do? So, I did the only thing that seemed natural: I went to the gym and met my friend Neola for a workout. (We'd been meeting at the gym for months as I prep...

The ducks at Oquirrh Lake near our home. Well, I made it to my first day of class at BYU... thanks to friends with jumper cables and a battery charger. (Thank you Janae/Jeff. XO.) And ... it was a great first day of classes. I really liked my students and am looking forward to fall semester on campus. BYU is so close to the Wasatch Mountains; it is amazing: Y Mountain (my view from the faculty parking lot). In other news, our kids learned to make their own lava lamp on Tuesday--and it was way cool. (The internet is crazy-awesome. Seriously, what did we do without it? ) Jr., Zu, and Bam at the start (It's a combination of cooking oil, water, food coloring and Alka Seltzer tablets.) Freeze-frame of the lava lamp. Groovy baby. Papaya. ***** PS: Our daughter Bam taught herself to make this bow bun yesterday from a post on Pinterest. Isn't it cute? If you have long hair you have to try it. Bam's bow bun.

My thoughts are all over the place today: --The news of the shootings at the movie premiere in Denver. --My insomnia. (Up at 2:38am today.) --The Olympics in London. --Our son's new job with The Color Run. --Big Brother 14. --Short hair or long hair? Blonde or brown? --Our daughter's missing retainer. --etc., etc., etc. What does it all mean? Well, I'm not sure exactly. But here's what I'm thinking: No matter who you are OR what you do, one of the most important qualities we as humans can develop (and hopefully inspire in our children) is bravery . Because truthfully, life requires extreme bravery. It just does. Don't you agree?  And, do you consider yourself to be brave?  If so, tell me about it at dawn_meehan@byu.edu--I'd love to hear from you. ***** PS: I'll be posting a recipe tomorrow in the Recipe of the Week section. Woo hoo! This one's inspired by some pizza I had in Hong Kong this summer. Homemade...