Table for Eight

Met this guy Saturday while Dave and I were visiting a working farm in our area. Hilarious. I mean, turkeys are seriously trippy looking. For as long as I can remember I have been a To Do List kinda person. I make a list for myself each morning. I make a list for our kids (well, now that they are older, it's not so much a list as a calendar). And I make a HUGE list on our chalkboard wall each Sunday night with the BIG events, appointments, holidays or due dates for our family. I'm not sure why, but there's just something that makes me more calm/happy about seeing things on a list.  Now before you say "Oh, that's a Type A Personality thing" or "Lists are for X kinda person," l et me just say this: the lists aren't about achieving something, and  I usually don't panic if I can't complete everything them, t he lists just help me feel some calm and control in a world that is fairly detailed and often UNCONTROLLABLE. Yanno wha...

Soooooo glad it's Friday. It feels like it's been a super-long week. Actually, it feels like it's been a super-long winter; we have really been battling colds/sicknesses/injuries since October of last year. But in between sicknesses, we are good overall.  So no reason to complain-- just gotta get through it. PS: Something I've been thinking about lately, how do you manage colds/flus/temporary injuries?  Meaning, do you take time off work/school? Do you rest, etc.?  Dave and I were talking this week and both agreed that we see so many people work through their sicknesses. Now granted, sometimes situations require that you do, but when they don't, how do you rest and recover from illness? And do you teach/help your children to heal (by resting, what?)?  I'm just curious because we notice our own kids are feeling the need/pressure to work through illness--and I can't help but think that's not a good thing.  Just a thought. Have a great week...

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...

Thanksgiving Day, 2010. Me. (Throwback Thursday) I was thinking this morning that I really love Thanksgiving; I have so much to be grateful for this year. Now I'm not sayin' my life is perfect. (I know, until now you thought it was--hahaha.) Like many of you, our family has had our share of "hard" this year: Saying goodbye to our oldest son for 2 years as he left to serve a service mission ; health problems ; hospital stays ; loved ones w/ mental health "things" to face ; tragedy in our neighborhood ; the suicide of a dear friend; my own experience being WAY humbled after Survivor Caramoan aired--and the anxiety and sadness that accompanied it ; theft . . . and the list goes on an on.  And on. But despite all of these hard experiences, I still feel super grateful today. Because I have a really strong belief/faith that God is good, life is beautiful, and people are kind (so kind). So today I want to make sure and let my family (especially my ...

Elder Meehan and other service missionaries in his area. (At dinner with some people from their ward. So kind--they are often provided dinner.)  Reasons I'm Excited For Thanksgiving 1. My family is coming to dinner. (From out of state!) 2. Even though it's our first Thanksgiving without Elder Meehan, he told us he'd been invited to SEVEN different homes for dinner that day. (We love Indiana peeps!) 3. I have a reason to bake a lot of bread--and cook some of my favorite things.  4. Thanksgiving reminds me of some of my most favorite Survivor friends. (It's an interesting phenomenon, but when people "starve" for a period of time, one coping mechanism is to talk about food. A lot. And both times I played Survivor that was the case; I always ended up talking about "Your Ideal Thanksgiving" with the other players. I think Sophie, Whitney and I bonded over some Thanksgiving menus in the South Pacific. And Michael and I definitely talked t...

Early morning seminary (Papaya, Bam, Jr). (*seminary = religious class) School doesn't begin until Wed. for Zu and Lu. (So we went on a walk after school drop-off--with Harriet.)