Table for Eight

It turns out yesterday was not the end to our Stolen Phone Story. At about 10am on Thursday, the owner of the $3 Car Wash (Which isn't $3, PS. No idea why?) phoned to tell me he had re-reviewed the security footage from night Dave's phone was stolen and had more information for us. For those of you following this wacky story, this would be our 4th day of interaction with the employees, managers, and owner of the car wash.  Every day they have tried a little harder to help us get Dave's phone back AND find the person who took it. To be honest, as I read the number on this inbound call I thought to myself, "How could there be more? We already know the footage doesn't show the license number of the car/car owner that took the phone?" But it turns out the car wash owner wasn't satisfied with just letting this go. He wanted to do all he could to help us--and give his business a positive reputation. So, my point! The car wash owner was able to ...

Dave and I. November 2013. A few days ago when I blogged on Dave's bday I mentioned that I would tell him all of these things IN PERSON vs. on the blog. But you know what? I never did. 8( We did gifts. We made his favorite dinner. We blew out the candles. But I didn't take the time to tell him what I wanted to say. And I know I should have: it's something I keep coming back to. But why share it here on the blog? Well, here's The Why: 1) Because the blog is a journal for me. Yes, a very public one. But that wasn't the case when it began. Literally me, my mom and maybe 3 friends read it. 2) A few years ago I read a book called An Hour to Live , An Hour to Love by Richard Carlson (author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ) and it had a major impact on the way I view my life and the people in it. The overview is that on his 18th wedding anniversary Carlson wrote a letter to his wife telling her what he would do if he only had an hour to live. I...

Dave and I: Thanksgiving 2013. (And finally, a pic with my darker hair. LOL!) We are so glad it's December. This is probably our favorite month of them all: we have a few birthdays, school is out for part of the month, Hanukkah is this month ... and we get to celebrate the birth of Baby Jesus. Woooooohooooo! But before I get ahead of myself, I wanted to thank my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and their kiddos for making the 12-hour trek to our home for Thanksgiving. It was SO good to spend Thanksgiving with you (though we sure did miss Elder Meehan). We love you so much and had a great time visiting, eating, and spending time together. (Did I mention eating? I think we did that a lot!) My brother and his beautiful wife.   Our kids playing at the park (it was about mid-50s--which is warm for November in Utah!). Lu and Papaya at the park. My niece on the slide. Cousins at the lake. Two Jrs and Zu. (Literally, my nephew...

Happy Birthday, Jr.!  We love you so much.  You are SO special to so many people.  We are so grateful to celebrate this AWESOME day! (PS: And sorry your bday isn't a school holiday. Seems like that should be a rule, no?) *** PS: Dave's back from his trip to Tennessee. He had so much fun visiting his mom (on her farm).

German man catches 500lb+ Atlantic Halibut, Aug. 2013. (Over 8 ft. in length.) (c) imgur.com, 2013. Having spent a significant amount of time swimming in the South Pacific and South China Sea-- solo --photos like this scare the crap outta me. Yeah, I said it, " They scare the C-R-A-P out of ME !" How is it even possible for a halibut to get 8 ft. in length?   (I'm pretty sure t he last time I had halibut it fit on an 8 inch plate.) What the what is going on in the waters near Norway? **** Random Sidenote: On S23 Ozzy caught us a halibut and it was one of the best fish I ever ate. Oh man. Survivor South Pacific: Savaii Flashback Cochran and Jim Rice at Redemption Arena. (Two of my favorite people.) (PS: Jim's getting married next month to an incredible woman. So so so happy for him.) (c) Monty Brinton, 2011.  

(c) Chef-in-Training, 2013. I know it's summer, so the last thing on most people's To Do List is "Make Cauliflower Soup." But this is INCREDIBLE cauliflower soup. Like, my kids can't stand cauliflower, but they get it EVERY time we go to Zupas . (PS: Zupas doesn't know me, but if you are in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, they have locations near ya. Jussayin'.) Anyway, I have a huge bag of cauliflower, so we decided we are going to try and copy-cat Zupa's recipe for Wisconsin Cauliflower soup tonight. And just in case it doesn't turn out supa, we're making bread. (You can always fill in the gaps with a big chunk of bread. Carbs have a way of making everything A-OK.) My bread. (Tee hee) Here's the complete recipe, in case you'd like to try it, too. It's from Chef In-Training (which is a beautiful blog, PS): http://www.chef-in-training.com/2012/09/copy-cat-zupas-wisconsin-cauliflower-soup/ **** PS: In other...

Today, Dave and I celebrate 22 years of marriage. Holy cow--that's a lotta years. A lotta years. Dave, I love you so much. Thank you for being my absolute best friend and partner on Planet E. You are--hands down--the best thing that ever happened to me in this life. And I still think you have the bluest eyes I've ever seen (yeow!). I love you. XOXOXOX, Dawn Dave and Jay, 2011.   **** PS: I thought for fun, and posterity, I would list a few of my favorite early "you" (Dave) memories here today: --Our first meeting. I know you and Jeff T say it was at the Sizzler, but I seriously don't remember that. For me, our first meeting will always be Jeff L's bday party in the Huck's backyard. That night is ETCHED in my memory. Every detail. What you wore: Videos To Go shirt. Black shorts. Black braided belt. Cross country shoes. Handsome blue eyes. What we ate: pizza and soda. Who we sat with: Rick H. What we talked about: promo pizza ...