tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81374032024-03-06T22:15:54.718-08:00Luma SolemAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.comBlogger323125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-56675964465006128542018-06-11T00:41:00.001-07:002018-06-11T07:15:15.402-07:00Moving to Seattle<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
Yes, it's official. The Kobersteins are pulling up stakes and moving out of state!<br />
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I will be leaving Google Mountain View and heading to the Seattle office to work for Cloud Billing. Danielle has been looking at houses for what seems like the past 4 years straight. In the end we decided to try our luck in a new state. It was a joint decision with the family to make the move out of the area to somewhere it might be a little easier to raise our 4 kids. While I am very excited for the change I am also very sad to be leaving behind my childhood home here in the Bay Area. I will miss frequent visits from Mom and Dad Koberstein and Severson and our various siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, and friends in the area. You will all be missed!<br />
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It has been a hard decision to move. We ended up choosing Seattle because we are able to find a place there that meets everything that we wanted. We really did try to find a way to stay in California. Everything we looked at in the Bay Area area required us to compromise something important to us. Long commute, worse schools, or tiny run down house. We chose an area in Redmond, WA that has all the good things we were looking for: schools like Danville, a commute like Palo Alto, and housing prices like Newark.<br />
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It's odd when you make a decision like moving. You try your best to figure out how it will change your life but I find it nearly impossible to actually know if a big life change is going to be better or worse. It seems like the things that have the biggest effect on your life are often so small that you cannot anticipate them fully. Maybe your neighbor just doesn't get along with you. Maybe your new job will be much more rewarding. Maybe your children will fall into a circle of friends who are up to no good. Hard to say. That said we are fairly confident that we are going to love Washington. So far it has been great every time we have visited. I already have a long list of things I want to do in the area and the people I have met have been nothing but kind. The excitement we feel about our new home makes the sadness we feel about leaving our old home easier to deal with.<br />
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It has been a lot of fun living in the Bay Area. I remember when Dr. Ng, my professor at BYU, suggested that I apply to Stanford because I had a good chance getting accepted and it was close to home. I then had to ask where it was located and was surprised to find out it was in Palo Alto! After being accepted for a Computer Science masters program, Danielle and I moved back to the Bay Area for grad school, never thinking we would stay long past graduation. All we could "afford" here was one bedroom at my in-laws house! But the housing bubble popped at just the right time for us to take advantage of, and thanks to generous support from family, we bought our first house. And I found out the hard way that you shouldn't move into a new home without your wife. Danielle still teases me about moving into our first home without her!<br />
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A lot has happened since we moved into our Juniper Ave. home. We have had two additional kids born! Each a delight to our family. I've had jobs at two big companies, each one teaching me and helping me progress. I have learned how to rock climb and found a life long belay partner in Devon Child! I became a long-distance runner and conquered multiple marathons and even a 50-mile ultra! -- dragging my brothers Lynn and Weston along for the ride (and even Danielle a little bit). We have loved together, laughed together and cried together. It has been a great home for us.<br />
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And so, with many fond memories and dear associations, we bid farewell to California, looking ahead with excitement and some anxiety for what we will be like as Washingtonians!<br />
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And if you ever find yourself in the Seattle area please, come by for a visit. We would love to have you over and have a guest room at our new house just for you!<br />
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Jon<br />
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PS: For those interested I am planning on biking from here to Seattle 100% self supported. I'm a little nervous about the audacious goal I have set for myself so I would not object to a few Strava kudos to encourage me to keep on pedaling and not quit half way there.<br />
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Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/11123959<br />
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkoberstein/</div>
Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15409137455740404601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-73638302331995281272018-06-08T13:01:00.000-07:002018-06-11T13:03:48.354-07:00Happy Birthday baby!It's been a big year for my birthday girls. Xochitl turned 8 in April; Dawna turned 12 last week, and Jade turned 5! My mind is spinning with big kids!!<br />
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My five-year-old Jade is imaginative, loving, and absolutely adorable! She's been looking forward to her birthday all year. Every time we go to any store and she sees something that strikes her fancy, she says, "Get this for me on my birthday!" Unfortunately, I couldn't buy out Target, Party City, Michael's, and Toys-R-Us for my daughter's birthday, so we had to pick and choose just a few things. Still, the night before her birthday, she told me exactly how her morning should play out:<br />
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"When I wake up, I'm going to open the window covers and then I will see a beautiful unicorn in the window. You could tape it if you want, or you can just lean it in there. Then, I will come out and see my breakfast and my birthday presents."<br />
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I, for one, was glad that she shared this vision with me, because there's NO way I could have come up with that on my own. And of course, with such specific ideas in mind, it was no problem making her birthday morning wish come true! She found a rainbow unicorn card in her window, had presents lined up along the fireplace, and delicious blueberry pancakes with bacon and apple juice!<br />
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The only trouble was timing... usually, Jade wakes up around 8:30am, just after the big girls go to school. But as a special treat on her birthday, Jade woke up at 7am... oops. So, her breakfast wasn't really ready when she got up, but she accepted my tardiness with understanding.<br />
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She also had a perfect vision in her mind of her hair-do for the day: "I need five ponytails. In a diamond shape like a crown. Then the ponytails have to get together in the middle to one big ponytail." ... I did my best... and she seemed pleased with my efforts:<br />
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(Really can't go wrong with those awesome curls!)<br />
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We had a relaxed morning of opening and enjoying presents, with local company stopping by to read new stories together: Fancy Nancy!<br />
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Later that afternoon, we had a party! Jade had previously made arrangements with Mandy Pim to have a swim party at her backyard pool. We also found a zebra pinata at Bro. and Sis. Wiggin's Grocery Outlet store.<br />
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I am generally not a fan of pinatas... big sticks mixed with little kids scare me... so I made a "string pull pinata" game, which only lasted about 30 seconds... but at least nobody was getting swung at... and everybody loved the abundance of Air Heads and Blo-pops that filled our little striped friend.<br />
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We also had a "treasure hunt" in the pool. Jon and Jake (the dads at the party) tossed a variety of coins into the pool and the kids had to dive in and get them. One coin had zebra stripes on it and was exchanged for a little zebra prize. Grace Ringlein found the right coin and won the game! Everyone else still got to take home a few coins. Everyone thought the game made perfect cents (sense...get it? teehee!)<br />
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Jade is showing us how grown up she is every day. She loves practicing piano, reading and writing, and counting. She loves for us to play ponies with her and enjoys sibling and friend time, especially when they are willing to join in the game! She is going to make a fabulous five-year-old and an impressive kindergarten student! I just hope I am ready for that...yikes...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-21224883586383312102018-06-02T11:16:00.000-07:002018-06-04T11:21:58.060-07:00My baby's not a baby. Dawna turned 12! Oh. My. Goodness! I had a hard time sleeping the night before her birthday as I contemplated how much she had grown and changed since she was born... and how much I've changed since she was born (not a super flattering thought...)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDoza_zIwH-bLzEO80veQkP5ud273iCD8SLXGX5VlKjtLArs7WyQSLyfGl8IeemMnNwyPr_Ntbe69VlmRBvKP4tf65CJjue94jg5014IdNs3jv24dZEJ_chHKAuivcLVsZWVZI/s1600/100_1512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDoza_zIwH-bLzEO80veQkP5ud273iCD8SLXGX5VlKjtLArs7WyQSLyfGl8IeemMnNwyPr_Ntbe69VlmRBvKP4tf65CJjue94jg5014IdNs3jv24dZEJ_chHKAuivcLVsZWVZI/s320/100_1512.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then... </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6P1VYAhnHWjeEhWCBNyjA2ATxQQv4UTlCjM_TkclH6_O9VGEbv5xXhOpyJcMN8Hh8qNqVRCl4B2xkEW7lHgKUZbiHXeotossCVZJ0TyfuI3g5ngU0HzBmc6T98-rleLhKL2K/s1600/IMG_20180601_073517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6P1VYAhnHWjeEhWCBNyjA2ATxQQv4UTlCjM_TkclH6_O9VGEbv5xXhOpyJcMN8Hh8qNqVRCl4B2xkEW7lHgKUZbiHXeotossCVZJ0TyfuI3g5ngU0HzBmc6T98-rleLhKL2K/s320/IMG_20180601_073517.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And Now...</td></tr>
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Don't blink! Babies grow fast!<br />
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Dawna celebrated her birthday on Friday by taking Sara, Hope, and Lizzy to the Peak to go climbing.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigeKwJklnX2m27_-frtroUPRSG_Vfu-kePeM_TMqXv27WLO0Js9NF4sn_YftnKVWe3a9GfAompOMwYTV6OmdEejpJ-KuNpvAG6yTebn3fYiD7Y9zZ2KzJO3Gp2aPfynqtJBJkv/s1600/IMG_20180601_162739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigeKwJklnX2m27_-frtroUPRSG_Vfu-kePeM_TMqXv27WLO0Js9NF4sn_YftnKVWe3a9GfAompOMwYTV6OmdEejpJ-KuNpvAG6yTebn3fYiD7Y9zZ2KzJO3Gp2aPfynqtJBJkv/s320/IMG_20180601_162739.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Then we went out to ZenSen sushi. Sara and Hope were not taken with the food... As the girls watched the little plates go by on the conveyor belt, Dawna voraciously grabbed and devoured piece after piece... all while her friends looked on and one commented, "I'm just looking for something edible." It was a cultural experience, to put it mildly.<br />
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After sushi, we returned to the Whitfield house for watermelon cake, requested by Dawna.<br />
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The best part of Dawna's birthday celebration was Saturday morning. Sara and Mandy joined us for a trip to the Sacramento Temple for Dawna's first experience with baptisms for the dead. Incidentally, Sacramento is the only temple Dawna has been in before... as a baby, she came with me in a front pack to the open house!<br />
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Elder Grandpa Koberstein shared 7 family names with us for the day. Among them were 3 Korsch sisters from Germany and two Koberstein girls: Anne and Mary.<br />
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And after all that, I nearly blew it... I was so sure my recommend was in my wallet... but it was not! Between all our moving hustle and bustle, I must have packed it with my temple clothes. Shoot!! Temple workers saved the day by calling in to our bishop or stake clerk or someone... whew!!<br />
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It was very special to me as a mom to be with my daughter in the temple. To me, the temple is heaven on Earth, so peaceful and beautiful, the place I feel most centered and confident in understanding who I am. It is God's house. Witnessing Dawna's desire to go to the temple grow over the past year and seeing how she sacrificed climbing time this week to make sure she had time to get her recommend was very uplifting to me as a mom. Maybe I'm doing something right... or maybe (more likely) she just came that way. Dawna has always been an angel baby and continues to be an angel baby... or angel child... but now a tween... soon a teen!!<br />
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And as a final bit of growing-up fun on Sunday... Dawna and I shaved our legs together!<br />
Welcome to young women's!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-43418879275738955082017-10-25T21:32:00.000-07:002017-11-05T21:33:05.826-08:00Overs and Unders <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There's always a first time for everything, right? Well, after having kids for 11 years, we finally took our kids to Disneyland for the first time! I was very nervous about going to Disneyland. I know it's commonly branded as the "Happiest Place on Earth," but I was pretty sure that with my aversion to crowds, simulacra, and standing in lines, I'd have a hard time creating an enjoyable experience.<br />
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However, I am happy to report that it was overall a very fun experience! I'd like to report on some of the things that OVERwhelmed and UNDERwhelmed me about our days at Disneyland.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><u>OVERWHELMED!</u></b></h3>
My biggest fear about going to Disneyland was imagining that we would be spending hundreds of dollars in admission, and then spend 90% of our time waiting in ridiculously long lines for a 10 second ride... Well, I am glad to report that I was completely OVERWHELMED by how well that park handles the thousands upon thousands of people that come daily! Many rides, like Buzz Lightyear and Haunted Mansion, never stop running--the cars on the tracks just move slowly while you walk along a conveyor belt to load and unload the ride. Other rides, like Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Cruise, and Indiana Jones, just load and unload such massive amounts of people that the line moves at a reasonable speed the whole time. Pirates of the Caribbean was the most stunning example of this. Approaching the ride, I could see many switchbacks and twists and turns and stanchions guiding the queued crowd... and yet the sign at the end claimed "Wait time from this point: 15 min." I did not believe it. I was fully expecting to wait twice or three times that length. I kept and eye on my watch, however, and we were never standing still for more than a few moments in that line. It was exactly 15 minutes from that sign to our arriving at the beginning of the line! I was truly impressed. Disneyland KNOWS how long their lines are! Plus, their rides are all a decent length of time! Some as long as 10-15 minutes! Which makes a 20 minute line wait seem all the more worth it!<br />
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Also, I was OVERWHELMED by how well the FastPass system worked! It's a truly brilliant idea that makes you, in essence, able to wait in two lines at once! We utilized the FastPasses very well on the first day and were able to hit Buzz Lightyear, Rockets, Star Tours (in which Dawna was pegged as the rebel spy), Space Mountain, Matterhorn, and Nemo Submarine all before noon! Unfortunately, our second day was less successful with the FastPasses... we spent much more time in line then... but still got everyone's first choice experience accomplished.<br />
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The completely immersive experience is totally OVERWHELMING also! There is SO much attention to detail in every part of the park! There was hardly even any cobwebs or dust to be seen, even in the line waiting areas of the attractions. I particularly loved the rides like Guardians of the Galaxy, which put you in the middle of a narrative and part of the story. They utilize very low lighting in a lot of their attractions to make the experience more intense and immersive... which is great, except it's impossible to take any good pictures of those details... I guess that's why we have YouTube commercials...<br />
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Lastly, I was OVERWHELMED by how, in many ways, Disneyland is a genuinely happy place. The workers seemed encouraged (or required) to stay positive and cheerful (as evidenced by one worker's song: If you're happy and you know it, get off the handrails!). Those dressed as characters spend a few individual moments with each group of kids and actually talk to them and ask questions. Dawna had a lovely talk with her childhood favorite: Cinderella<br />
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We met two other princesses that day as well (as requested by Jade): Ariel and Snow White</div>
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But in addition to the characters and workers, even the masses of patrons are generally happy. While waiting in line to meet the princesses, one sweet little girl fresh from the Bibbidi-Boppity Boutique happily shared her sparkles with Jade--who then happily shared them with me. </div>
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And did you know that wearing Mickey ears is a totally normal thing there? They come in more varieties than I could have ever imagined! We had fun spotting them all day--Chewbacca Mickey ears and glowing Halloween ears were some of our favorites! </div>
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<u>uNdErWhElMeD...</u></h4>
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And while there were many wonderful things about our Disneyland vacation, there were a couple things that were frustrating and disappointing...Like the inconsistent or incomplete information on park hours... Does it open at 8 or 9? When does it close? 6pm? 8pm? 11pm? And why do Disneyland and California Adventure (two parks that are literally 100 yards apart) close at different time?? And does a bottle of water really have to cost $5?? I was thankful that they allow park visitors to bring in outside food so you don't HAVE to buy the super expensive stuff inside. </div>
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Nemo's Submarine ride. Totally underwhelming. Maybe it's because I remember it as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or maybe it's because I'm a snotty SCUBA diver that has seen all that fake stuff for real... </div>
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Also... the Monorail and the Jedi Training show were closed and cancelled due to heat... Come now, Disneyland, you're in southern California--how are you not prepared for heat??</div>
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At the end of the day (or two days) of Disneyland and California Adventure, I thought it was a wonderful place to spend a vacation with our family! I would even go so far as to say I do recommend Disneyland as a great place to visit! So glad Jon had this "team-building" event so we could all enjoy our Disney adventure!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-34911907732424830062017-09-29T23:59:00.000-07:002017-10-09T00:19:14.535-07:00Happy 33 to Me!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Oh Happy Day! Adele came to visit for a couple days between her trip to Taiwan and her trip to Utah! This amazing niece of mine brings fun and happiness wherever she goes (don't let Jade's focused face distract you, she really is having fun!). </div>
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She read stories to Jade while Larry was in class--this one was a library book about Claire the glass-wing butterfly. I can't help but remember that we named Jade Claire very first after she was born... and then Leanora, and then Jade... random bit of Koberstein family trivia there... anyway, back to Adele...</div>
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Dawna and Adele still share a very special bond as sister-cousins who lived together for two years. Nothing is too embarrassing for them to try together--for example, Adele is trying to get her humming to register on the ukulele tuner clipped to her nose... no luck. So...<br />
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... Dawna has to try it. Also no luck... but lots of giggles..<br />
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The last day Adele was with us, she and Dawna took on the very grown-up job of babysitting all of their younger siblings (7 in all) while all of us parents went out to dinner and then to an escape room in Santa Clara! We were gone about five hours and they had all the kids fed, read, and put to bed when we all got home. </div>
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I called this my "birthday party" even though it wasn't really planned as such, and came a week early. But really, a good steak dinner, an escape room, and lots of friends is the best fun any 33-year old girl can ask for! I had the good company of Becca and Isaac Snow, Angela and Andrew Ringlein, Emily and Jake Biesinger, and Paul and Becca and Aaron and Emily Severson for our attempt to escape detention. </div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">It was a pretty good escape room. The progression was very dependent on interactions from the staff (who were all very nice, but not excellent actors), which is a different style than the others I've done. I think I prefer the stand-alone type where there are mechanisms that are more independent of interaction or interference by escape room staff... </span></div>
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We finished the scenario in 64 minutes! Not quite fast enough to make the wall of honor, but still a good time... especially when I discovered the cool reflecting ceiling picture I could take! (Sorry Becca Snow! You were on the bar...)<br />
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Well, friends, thanks for coming to my party! I'm ready to turn 33 next week!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-32614467331562509492017-09-22T19:23:00.000-07:002017-11-05T19:34:32.793-08:00Dad's Book Club: The Glass Castle Time for me to read a grown-up book. My friend Angela R. suggested this as a good read, plus there was a movie coming out and we've been feeling jealous of Dawna's book/movie club. So I borrowed a copy from Sis. Garrett, who impressively remembered to bring it to the first day of school and give it to me when I was picking up the girls!<br />
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This is a fun and moving book to read. At some points, you laugh, at others, you are aghast with disbelief and anger, and still others you are moved to tears. Rex, the father of the Walls family, is filled with ambition and ideas, but lacks the qualities necessary to bring his visions to life. Unable to keep a job long, his family is pushed from place to place. Sometimes, the kids thrive, other times, they are victims of terrible circumstances. I loved the experience of pulling a piano through the house. I loved Jeanette's creativity and resourcefulness in making her own braces. I loved the way the Walls children had to bond together to overcome and rise beyond what their parents offered them. </div>
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I came away with a feeling of gratitude for Jon and my own dad as they are excellent provider for my family (past and present) and also both are super fun dads. They have all the positive qualities that Rex exhibits in the book without the frightening and sometimes sickening experiences that he exposes his children to. </div>
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We went with the Ringleins to see the movie after Jon and I sped read the book in a week. I think the movie was just OK. It painted Rex in a much kinder light than I felt he deserved based on the book. Still, I couldn't help but picture Haymitch Abernathy most of the time... (actor crossover from Hunger Games...) </div>
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<b>Bottom line:</b> I would definitely recommend the book, but feel more ambivalent about the movie. </div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-45584589365151535092017-08-08T15:55:00.000-07:002017-08-18T16:13:36.947-07:00Empty Sea (AKA MTC)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Why do we send our young missionaries to the MTC (Empty Sea) to become fishers of men? (teehee!)</div>
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No better way to celebrate my mom's birthday than going to tour the new additions to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT! Heather and I and six of our kids joined us on the tour. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJw7j-nHv_fQyMbvzMTv56T7tJy9M2-_E-_ZHcQdMJFkSNaoN706p6iWvuqvEs8srPZvycBsYiQl6unVi2GgZjz3-Bc_vzji2dgAd74XJQYjgFJhyphenhyphenkXaxD4BzWv2XEBcYfUm78/s1600/IMG_20170808_161803.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJw7j-nHv_fQyMbvzMTv56T7tJy9M2-_E-_ZHcQdMJFkSNaoN706p6iWvuqvEs8srPZvycBsYiQl6unVi2GgZjz3-Bc_vzji2dgAd74XJQYjgFJhyphenhyphenkXaxD4BzWv2XEBcYfUm78/s320/IMG_20170808_161803.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We learned that the Provo MTC is one of fifteen centers around the world. We got to see the cafeteria, gym, dorms, classrooms, and study areas around the campus.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhon_wp5DDVNAP03_yFHjBGiyuFfBdHmawR3IKYr6HXzf8vqN6lJ3tCNdQcSqniUn_1wSqG6fHvadhnj7XNQ1-nkp0eSjT-0AZciuMvgYwarJofdNtsEtfV6_0feC_xeyvQWC0s/s1600/IMG_20170808_154125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhon_wp5DDVNAP03_yFHjBGiyuFfBdHmawR3IKYr6HXzf8vqN6lJ3tCNdQcSqniUn_1wSqG6fHvadhnj7XNQ1-nkp0eSjT-0AZciuMvgYwarJofdNtsEtfV6_0feC_xeyvQWC0s/s320/IMG_20170808_154125.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The new building has many beautiful murals portraying scenes from the scriptures. Here's two hopeful future sister missionaries! It was also fun to imagine their cousin, Sister Amanda Severson, now serving in Perth, Australia, walking these halls just a couple months ago.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqH-ypb-dGzACnjjfLiXKkskoGg0lRzjPAtgtESRVekEORXXOaPkMAgp-u1cHJ3hf4COqCLJfdhax1xn-l2VlNWzd30e9tvU8xOT6A3sPwk-0F-Ey0-fRTwnMR37LwICw4JMuk/s1600/IMG_20170808_154018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqH-ypb-dGzACnjjfLiXKkskoGg0lRzjPAtgtESRVekEORXXOaPkMAgp-u1cHJ3hf4COqCLJfdhax1xn-l2VlNWzd30e9tvU8xOT6A3sPwk-0F-Ey0-fRTwnMR37LwICw4JMuk/s320/IMG_20170808_154018.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Two more missionary hopefuls. These boys are halfway to missionary age (my goodness, where does the time go??) and they loved exploring the maze of halls and rooms throughout the MTC.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0MPrThgX6tDjK1C4gFxW6qHSGPULqKUq9mpIVgZPci-xWNWbEehATfZonplp6K4GfiULb5HvPdKrhjgewNuFk54E1xggLtLpglX2QXeJ8e2YtnwoIHAEwiweH3qDMBxC12D5/s1600/IMG_20170808_161154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0MPrThgX6tDjK1C4gFxW6qHSGPULqKUq9mpIVgZPci-xWNWbEehATfZonplp6K4GfiULb5HvPdKrhjgewNuFk54E1xggLtLpglX2QXeJ8e2YtnwoIHAEwiweH3qDMBxC12D5/s320/IMG_20170808_161154.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Xochitl's favorite area was this calm studying area. She loved the decor on the walls and the scriptures on the squares--kind of like a treasure hunt for the scriptures. We waited here for a short film in one of the classrooms.<br />
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Heather had many great memories of the MTC to share with us. Here she learned Spanish and many principles of gospel teaching for her mission in New Jersey. I didn't spend time in the MTC before my mission. Our training involved many hours of rehearsal time with the Nauvoo Brass Band. However, I did spend many hours in the MTC as a BYU student. My upper level Spanish classes required us to volunteer using our language skills, so I decided to go to the Training Resource Center at the MTC and pose as an investigator for the missionaries learning Spanish to practice with. There were some comical moments in the TRC, but more than anything, no matter the reason, the MTC is always filled with the spirit inviting you to try to preach the word to all the world. I know the missionaries that are trained here are called by Heavenly Father to serve His children all around the world. It's a wonderful place! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com02005 900 E, Provo, UT 84604, USA40.26019 -111.6449979999999940.066305 -111.96772149999998 40.454075 -111.32227449999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-12326914352354935312017-07-06T18:46:00.002-07:002017-07-06T21:15:04.891-07:00Big Words<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So, what are we doing this summer? We're learning some big words. Like Maxillofacial Surgery and Maxillary Osteotomy. Jon undertook this adventure to fix his bite and his teeth once and for all! After many months of braces, x-rays, impressions and models, and many classes and consultations...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(It looks like we robbed the pharmacy, but I promise, all of those were prescribed!)</td></tr>
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...operation day arrived! The surgery was at the Richmond hospital (not super close to our house, so many thanks to my Beccas and my in-laws for taking turns watching all my kids for a full 24+ hours).</div>
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<b>Friday, June 16</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGafpZmb4NCnIQ3aw8bxz5nPvc-_hAf49_CiQ6vMyIIK0EXxTKjJuLyVhFPYndkXaI2at9zyBjbwsNhTjG140K9M2V00f6swB7hNDankPLJamLHhp8sZN8dKyU4LJQThY6uPUJ/s1600/IMG_20170616_133130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGafpZmb4NCnIQ3aw8bxz5nPvc-_hAf49_CiQ6vMyIIK0EXxTKjJuLyVhFPYndkXaI2at9zyBjbwsNhTjG140K9M2V00f6swB7hNDankPLJamLHhp8sZN8dKyU4LJQThY6uPUJ/s320/IMG_20170616_133130.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Chillin' in pre-op. Jon looks super cool in his temperature controlling surgical gown, I.V. tube, and ... hair net? I'm not totally sure what the purpose of the cap is since he was totally shaved bald anyway...</div>
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This is where I said goodbye and headed out to wait. The surgery itself was about two and a half hours. I saw many nervous families in the O.R. waiting room and didn't want to hang around there too long, so I went out for a walk, grabbed some food, etc... so by the time I got back into the waiting room, I was only there for about 15 min. before Dr. Fallah came out to report that everything had gone as planned, and Jon was slowly coming around from the anesthesia (and yes, I did have to look up how to spell that...). </div>
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And what was the surgical plan exactly? Well, skip ahead if you're squeamish... but here's <a href="https://www.baoms.org.uk/patients/procedures/26/maxillary_upper_jaw_osteotomy#What_does_the_operation_involve_" target="_blank">one surgeon's</a> description:</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #2e2e2e; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"The operation is all carried out from the inside of your mouth so that there are no visible scars on the skin of your face. A cut is made through the gum above your upper teeth to gain access to the jawbone. The upper jaw is then cut with a small saw to allow it to be broken in a controlled manner. It is then moved into its new position and held in place with small metal plates and screws. The gum is stitched back into place with dissolvable stitches that can take a fortnight or even longer to fall out."</span></div>
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<a href="https://image.slidesharecdn.com/maxillaryogs-131229022240-phpapp02/95/maxillary-orthognathic-surgery-48-638.jpg?cb=1388283952" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="638" height="240" src="https://image.slidesharecdn.com/maxillaryogs-131229022240-phpapp02/95/maxillary-orthognathic-surgery-48-638.jpg?cb=1388283952" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #2e2e2e; font-family: inherit;">Sounds fun, right? Needless to say, it was quite a relief to hear that everything had gone well. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #2e2e2e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">So once all that was done, Jon was moved to a recovery room upstairs. I caught up with him just as the nurses were finishing up getting him settled with ice packs, oxygen and humidifier mask, IV with antibiotics, saline, and morphine, sequential compression devices on his legs, heart rate monitor and blood pressure cuff. Yeah, he was pretty attached to that bed for a while. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3iWGN7G9OOlJ8sywv6vAVEkTvsr_EoFmkfNvGBQ7y-PD_PbkxnHaZwxJvD8eWdJl-ForHyZvIy7OcyE3XReWYH4nzqTJZcmYz_t934QKsS5qPkm1xoh2SJiXiRNjB8Fa_Xza/s1600/IMG_20170617_093105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3iWGN7G9OOlJ8sywv6vAVEkTvsr_EoFmkfNvGBQ7y-PD_PbkxnHaZwxJvD8eWdJl-ForHyZvIy7OcyE3XReWYH4nzqTJZcmYz_t934QKsS5qPkm1xoh2SJiXiRNjB8Fa_Xza/s320/IMG_20170617_093105.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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He also had these cool snap thing stuck all over his chest and ribs... I'm not really sure what they were for... some kind of monitoring, I'm sure, but I'd never seen the like... they reminded me of Larry's Snap Circuits Electronics set. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Hsp2NFuUcWk5_ZMOaGE3tF-0zFwNLEWyIYJ6uBzGvwYnizbThMXJCZZDZRrC7MxMgZpQup-eBIJOZtHU3ix0HlY51JVXV1HeI2sTUJ_kV4hper2zXEdB8UFb8BBrGeZs2p-2/s1600/IMG_20170616_195816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Hsp2NFuUcWk5_ZMOaGE3tF-0zFwNLEWyIYJ6uBzGvwYnizbThMXJCZZDZRrC7MxMgZpQup-eBIJOZtHU3ix0HlY51JVXV1HeI2sTUJ_kV4hper2zXEdB8UFb8BBrGeZs2p-2/s320/IMG_20170616_195816.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I felt a little emotional coming into the recovery room, seeing Jon, who is always so capable and strong, in so much pain and hardly able to stay conscious, hardly able to talk with his teeth wired shut. With his eyes barely open, he reached for my hand and squeezed it three times-- our little code for "I Love You." I pulled up a chair and we settled in for a long night. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9yCiKlaFgSOy2CmMFtzRmoj22AjeP-dpNg3YfDA03Fj4GO1BoqaSDniJddWcpVKPOG4YwevVaHzWceICxGbCWc4lbzvS2D0BsqgW6LqMl4Tjg7GirWQoLNMXDu4ExuWyEgZ8F/s1600/IMG_20170617_101050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9yCiKlaFgSOy2CmMFtzRmoj22AjeP-dpNg3YfDA03Fj4GO1BoqaSDniJddWcpVKPOG4YwevVaHzWceICxGbCWc4lbzvS2D0BsqgW6LqMl4Tjg7GirWQoLNMXDu4ExuWyEgZ8F/s320/IMG_20170617_101050.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Of course, it felt like every time Jon was just getting to sleep, it would be time for more meds or vitals or vomit or something, so really there wasn't a lot of rest happening. But I did get very creative about sleeping in a folding chair.</div>
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<b>Saturday, June 17</b></div>
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Early in the morning, Jon finally felt like getting up and going for a walk (a requirement for dispatch from the hospital), so he got untethered as much as he could and used the IV stand as a sort of walker. After one short lap, he was ready to lie down again and drink some broth, which he said tasted like liquid steak! ... I guess after eating nothing for over 24 hours, vegetable broth could taste like steak...</div>
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Look at that smile! :)</div>
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By 11am Saturday, Jon met all the criteria for release from the hospital, so one at a time, all the monitors came off and we were ready to head home. </div>
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<b>Sunday, June 18: Happy Father's Day!</b></div>
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Our reclining couches have been put to good use since the surgery. Jon was supposed to sleep with his head elevated for two weeks following the operation, so we've had slumber parties in the living room every night! </div>
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Also, for ten days with his teeth wired shut, Jon was on a liquids only diet. My BlenTec was used many times each day, to add some variety to the steady intake of Ensure shakes. Some blended recipes were quite delicious, like Reese's peanut butter milkshakes, apple pie milkshakes, and yogurt smoothies. Some things were good, like seven-layer dip puree, broccoli cheddar soup, and mashed potato soup. Other things were a little strange, like potato salad soup and BBQ chicken puree (SO NOT RECOMMENDED!) And still other things were downright bizzare--like the gelatinous blob that was created after putting a whole cup of noodles in the BlenTec... Also not recommended... unless you're entering a science fair. </div>
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As an added bit of bonus fun, since all his "food" had to be slurped through his teeth, nothing could be too hot or too cold. So milkshake and soup alike were served at a sort of tepid room temperature. Try drinking something with your teeth clenched shut sometime... it's interesting. And then be grateful that you don't have to do that for ten days straight. </div>
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<b>Tuesday, June 20</b></div>
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As rest improved, so did Jon. By four days post-op, he felt well enough to sit up and strum... and hum a little through clenched teeth. </div>
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<b>Wednesday, June 21</b></div>
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First day out and about! Not even a week after surgery, Jon and I got out walking in the wetlands. </div>
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The smile is getting better :) </div>
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<b>Friday, June 23: One week after surgery</b></div>
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Feeling good enough to play Legos with the kids... and then clean up the Legos with the kids ;)</div>
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<b>Sunday, June 25</b></div>
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No pictures, but Jon was brave enough to stand and "sing" with my ward choir (remember his teeth are still wired shut) so Bro. Ross wasn't the only one in the men's section... Everyone in the ward was super impressed! </div>
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<b>Monday, June 26</b></div>
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Best. Day. Ever! The wires holding his jaw shut came off and were replaced with orthodontic rubber bands. The bands are strong and still hold the jaw still, but at least he gets to take them off to eat! </div>
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Ironically, at Dawna's ortho appointment the same week, she got to start wearing rubber bands too! So nice to share these experiences with daddy! And now he has an even better open-mouth smile!<br />
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Jon had a lot of interesting observations about his teeth and jaw once they were unwired. His whole eating structure had changed. In the past, his front teeth met end to end (this is not ideal) so a lot of chewing happened in the front of his mouth instead of the back. And suddenly, he had to re-learn how to chew--because his incisors were cutting like scissors, as they should, and his back molars were grinding, as they should, but this was a new feeling for him. I got questions such as "Do you chew on both sides of your mouth or just one at a time?" and "What does your tongue do while you're chewing in the back?" Honestly, these were things I'd never thought about and I had an opportunity for introspection on my eating methods... I tend to chew on one side of my mouth at a time, and my tongue acts as a sort of blockade for either side while I chew. Take a moment to consider how you eat. It will be revealing :)<br />
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<b>Friday, June 30</b><br />
A mere fourteen days after surgery, we got out to enjoy the beach! No swimming of course, but a nice dip of the toes and jaunt up and down the shore put him in good spirits! The swelling has improved a lot, the stitches are still hanging around, but overall, this tough guy has made quick work of recovery! He's eating more and getting up and around more each day. Next week it's back to work :( I'm going to miss having my hubby around all the time, but I guess it's time to move on to our next great adventure...<br />
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...with a great smile! </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-17508707446424766972017-06-09T22:18:00.000-07:002017-06-18T23:06:38.910-07:00Four for now...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Good morning, four years old! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLVqToasv3VIFSpcI_BoSxh5vXXIMePuuP-IIJwfAH5mhK0T068Hg1ek99usXSYo3_PvB7ssDZ-Efw-loIujy5M6AgFzX-PYRTQGmlloQvlGwmu0cD-1hpaZFBJjj_SlIRBzJ/s1600/IMG_20170608_071923.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLVqToasv3VIFSpcI_BoSxh5vXXIMePuuP-IIJwfAH5mhK0T068Hg1ek99usXSYo3_PvB7ssDZ-Efw-loIujy5M6AgFzX-PYRTQGmlloQvlGwmu0cD-1hpaZFBJjj_SlIRBzJ/s320/IMG_20170608_071923.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Jade wanted to continue our tradition of bringing breakfast in bed for the birthday kid. Pancakes and bacon were her request!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg45yVJVTDT_CgQcIyKFRnXHRJw4Invn06WaDYocrmzJ7dqbP-W578GKwfAdA5xz3ukMboCi-LYPzBFQ-zgUL9m3Shwh2udGTOsNU29FgVI8ztX8F8uLmAQEv5hVxkM5M_72FZi/s1600/IMG_20170608_073006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg45yVJVTDT_CgQcIyKFRnXHRJw4Invn06WaDYocrmzJ7dqbP-W578GKwfAdA5xz3ukMboCi-LYPzBFQ-zgUL9m3Shwh2udGTOsNU29FgVI8ztX8F8uLmAQEv5hVxkM5M_72FZi/s320/IMG_20170608_073006.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Jade is a very active girl. She loves going to open gym at "Nastics-for-day" (aka gymnastics), loves swimming, climbing, and really loves riding her bike--which was upgraded in size for her fourth birthday!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fVtIDkPRulzVKfPoVuYOck5T7SPenYuCoD3DbfIPoPF6pAgiKK-Wi4ObFEvSNiWEBw_dtBvW5MU9027ahrKVJQK1RM2euMu91zPn6gtiXELTDXM9M3R6YLWYbJj0qCraJzEJ/s1600/IMG_20170609_104547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fVtIDkPRulzVKfPoVuYOck5T7SPenYuCoD3DbfIPoPF6pAgiKK-Wi4ObFEvSNiWEBw_dtBvW5MU9027ahrKVJQK1RM2euMu91zPn6gtiXELTDXM9M3R6YLWYbJj0qCraJzEJ/s320/IMG_20170609_104547.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Jade's other love right now is My Little Pony. She got two new ponies: Cherilee and Applejack, as gifts from her siblings, and then had a somewhat impromptu "Pony Picnic" with some little friends on Friday (who says babysitting can't be fun??). Adelyn, Conrad, Jade, and Sage were the 3/4 year olds, and they were accompanied by siblings Larry, Jack, and Zyna... and Adelyn's mom. The kids enjoyed some coloring, dancing, and "Humpty Dumpty Pony Pie" games. <br />
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Her chosen menu was: PB&J sandwiches, quesadillas, veggies, and mud and worms for dessert :) Thanks to Nana for sending the "4" candle. It went perfectly with everything! Simple, last-minute, but delightful birthday fun!<br />
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Also, she's been saying for a while that she'll "climb to the bell" when she turns four. And she did just that! On her fourth birthday, she climbed all the way to the top of the auto-belay at the peak and rang the bell at the top! (movie is a little long... she had quite a few "resting" moments arching her back all the way and tossing her curls...) </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FLXsW0IvwpU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FLXsW0IvwpU?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
I love this smart, sassy, curly-headed princess of mine! But don't be in too big of a hurry to grow up...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-58825950641114757692017-06-06T22:36:00.001-07:002017-06-07T10:43:14.724-07:00"It's not every day your young [lady] turns eleven..." -Hagrid...and for that reason, there's nothing else I could possibly do but create a Harry Potter escape room birthday party!<br />
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First off, many humble thanks to Angela Ringlein for helping me see this project through to the end and bringing the sparkle and shine to everything there! And many thanks to Miss Hannah Reeves, whose beta testing of the puzzles, riddles, and codes was vital to the success of our escape room! And thank you to the <a href="https://lockpaperscissors.co/craft-1st-escape-room" target="_blank">Lock, Paper, Scissors</a> site, which provided an excellent escape room blueprint! It was a lot of work, but WOW! what a fun and awesome way to spend a couple weeks! (especially if you have an angel of a daughter who's turning 11 and loves Harry Potter :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(she said we could match...I must still be a cool mom!)</td></tr>
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The other secret to our success was the folding/expanding accordion walls in most LDS chapels (not to mention the foyer furniture there also...). Perfect place to put a few bike locks... and a great way to have a progressive room!<br />
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I'll do my best to not include any spoilers in my description, in case you want to try our escape room some day... it does require a fair amount of Harry Potter knowledge, as per design, but one HP guru per group is sufficient to succeed.</div>
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So, according to "Lock, Paper, Scissors," to make a good escape room, one must "sketch out a story line" for your room to follow... so here's mine: </div>
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"It's an ordinary school night in the Gryffindor common room. Among the students reading, studying, and chatting, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are playing wizard's chess! Now, we all know that Ron is the superior chess player, but we also know that he's the six of seven kids, and his chess set is a hand-me-down that has seen many many games of chess. As such, just as Ron is about to win, his queen misses Hermione's king... and smashes instead... her time turner! In a whirl of magic and hourglass sand, everyone in the Gryffindor common room is transported one week into the future! </div>
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"You now find Hogwarts School of Wichcraft and Wizardry in an uproar, on the verge of closure, because 6-9 Gryffindor students (depending on the size of your escape room group...) have seemingly vanished for a week! Albus Dumbledore will be announcing the closure just before dinner in the great hall in exactly ONE HOUR! You must get out of the common room, complete all of your missing homework, and make it to the great hall before the announcement is made if you are to save the school!" READY??? GO!!!</div>
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The Common Room: </h3>
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Announcement board...</div>
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Arm chairs...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQaptHxjyYQEQp0MUNLXapcgHYU0OcZDdSfwWdFRuLgo2n-7WVIBLBXYEdpA27WSkMNgCZmLL0ld0kBz3AoQWOH8X4rjELA9yST_wB86xQcIiR5HHEP4Gaijl9OCfHnIIoDRdU/s1600/IMG_20170602_123127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQaptHxjyYQEQp0MUNLXapcgHYU0OcZDdSfwWdFRuLgo2n-7WVIBLBXYEdpA27WSkMNgCZmLL0ld0kBz3AoQWOH8X4rjELA9yST_wB86xQcIiR5HHEP4Gaijl9OCfHnIIoDRdU/s320/IMG_20170602_123127.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Basket of S.P.E.W socks, bookshelf, and chess game...</div>
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Curiosity piqued?? :) So was theirs... </div>
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This is Dawna's birthday escape crew... (we actually ended up running the room four times over the weekend, but this is the only one I took pictures of)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQIM2W8a2yuQGDkxDG48ou_DWIzUoS3S8yYm5RZtObOQxCVEuWA6TFY01Eorxr8M1jht-PdgwcXksuHgW9edj1zhiiGNgktfk8YxAw-fiaqLcwretGC9-SQ5IbxIP4GlbuQFfo/s1600/IMG_20170603_112759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQIM2W8a2yuQGDkxDG48ou_DWIzUoS3S8yYm5RZtObOQxCVEuWA6TFY01Eorxr8M1jht-PdgwcXksuHgW9edj1zhiiGNgktfk8YxAw-fiaqLcwretGC9-SQ5IbxIP4GlbuQFfo/s320/IMG_20170603_112759.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqT9nEHsBu15G_UImNJRYxpgTRtttv4-5EKiMWHzdF5gi8kWtSzmjo0JOrZ3cJzswkgagnWISp3Ew6PKpJ8oblDlEzQw9qk11tbjBZwFAIDxXHanuVL1k5cIfDlpi4g1XvERh/s1600/IMG_20170603_115414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqT9nEHsBu15G_UImNJRYxpgTRtttv4-5EKiMWHzdF5gi8kWtSzmjo0JOrZ3cJzswkgagnWISp3Ew6PKpJ8oblDlEzQw9qk11tbjBZwFAIDxXHanuVL1k5cIfDlpi4g1XvERh/s320/IMG_20170603_115414.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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(I loved that many of the kids came in costume!) </div>
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But that's not all... because remember that part about missing a week's worth of classes and having to make up the homework?? Well, enter the...</div>
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Hogwart's Classrooms! </h3>
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(ok, so it's like 4 classrooms smashed into one little space... deal with it...)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3wGEbL-zMpEL7oEZAHZfD1KHxiQAjwYmP8cPtPle6vpA0jatYs8jKpdOhRPEL9SC1ndogVaZgwr2Ij4c0EmKhHjd95Zp9bHF0yLLD-d9rkEWlibV6wIezbAuOFsX2W8Le-a8/s1600/IMG_20170602_123239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3wGEbL-zMpEL7oEZAHZfD1KHxiQAjwYmP8cPtPle6vpA0jatYs8jKpdOhRPEL9SC1ndogVaZgwr2Ij4c0EmKhHjd95Zp9bHF0yLLD-d9rkEWlibV6wIezbAuOFsX2W8Le-a8/s320/IMG_20170602_123239.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looking to the right... (notice the 5 additional locks on the second accordion wall)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnifwnCENuC1Pwj3n6TCCyb1YOrXrp-8igTRBNcxJrF8MDd29tklWgLOxQcAsKzRrKqJMsEPLvqkEVQ2Bw0X2fW9VHYxX4t6J06Xf_E8IyWJ2BN5vPN9vkmz_MzwtE4wDiA9Hf/s1600/IMG_20170602_123259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnifwnCENuC1Pwj3n6TCCyb1YOrXrp-8igTRBNcxJrF8MDd29tklWgLOxQcAsKzRrKqJMsEPLvqkEVQ2Bw0X2fW9VHYxX4t6J06Xf_E8IyWJ2BN5vPN9vkmz_MzwtE4wDiA9Hf/s320/IMG_20170602_123259.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looking to the left... interesting... </div>
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The design of this space turned out to be really fun as the chairs served as a kind of maze they all had to maneuver around as they worked... now for a few close-ups...</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSzEy8a2lfJfjrWxUEaRCbwR45aOHpLFlYFbdaV6sxze2mPuc9nrLz7E9zo6G2DgQ_WjYRO-lI7_9uB2fwIE68cijsJggxdg9PWGOZeAiM4-pQ32QS3p7TlaFXeb9YRLUuk6XX/s1600/IMG_20170602_123328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSzEy8a2lfJfjrWxUEaRCbwR45aOHpLFlYFbdaV6sxze2mPuc9nrLz7E9zo6G2DgQ_WjYRO-lI7_9uB2fwIE68cijsJggxdg9PWGOZeAiM4-pQ32QS3p7TlaFXeb9YRLUuk6XX/s200/IMG_20170602_123328.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transfiguation (also a mysterious locked chest below the board)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQ3rlVcOlObAa4q7HKAkPTtmU0AX4fExWqzcvZn7FGcS2K7dOdn_RYtJYz6eCZPp-oPD0ESXBxyyegtTHF8Pub2H12rtowxJw-PTHK9xx2unHmJiDyOZxwEYY7-goSg2NMNWD/s200/IMG_20170602_123319.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Potions... (actually had a cooler setup later, but missed getting a picture)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQ3rlVcOlObAa4q7HKAkPTtmU0AX4fExWqzcvZn7FGcS2K7dOdn_RYtJYz6eCZPp-oPD0ESXBxyyegtTHF8Pub2H12rtowxJw-PTHK9xx2unHmJiDyOZxwEYY7-goSg2NMNWD/s1600/IMG_20170602_123319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwpaPW31J0f1EoxzYFiwOSfZROkbRSOz5SgT3_B73bWDu8tX5olJVfRj6ODybUhLMb0B0joLWATUP0yULqQN1z6x4GPa5wH6hn0RYuvVjmA7vzuZ-fPFeAg1QqlPrmLWAQQmS/s1600/IMG_20170602_123311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwpaPW31J0f1EoxzYFiwOSfZROkbRSOz5SgT3_B73bWDu8tX5olJVfRj6ODybUhLMb0B0joLWATUP0yULqQN1z6x4GPa5wH6hn0RYuvVjmA7vzuZ-fPFeAg1QqlPrmLWAQQmS/s200/IMG_20170602_123311.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ancient Runes</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMv2xq6E1YWv-l-x8CEGoL_Ms6T-VxydvQQthlSqHJeKCn70AybQYDJbmXtt_MR8EumaZEE0oUkKqTY93t26Sv3Dtthh2BILcgAuusA7nFwXCZwMj3BGt_UAXJMoU9tCmZeq06/s1600/IMG_20170602_123305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMv2xq6E1YWv-l-x8CEGoL_Ms6T-VxydvQQthlSqHJeKCn70AybQYDJbmXtt_MR8EumaZEE0oUkKqTY93t26Sv3Dtthh2BILcgAuusA7nFwXCZwMj3BGt_UAXJMoU9tCmZeq06/s320/IMG_20170602_123305.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Divination (it's a crystal ball, ok?)</td></tr>
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And... I didn't get any pictures at all of my kids working on this section... lame... note to self: bring a designated photographer next time...</div>
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The birthday kids made it through the room in a respectable 1 hour and 10 min., which wasn't enough to save Hogwarts, but plenty for having a great time! I did catch the moment of final escape into the Great Hall (it's not a great video, but I love the excitement of the kids!)</div>
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<br /><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8FVcDWs4-TI/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8FVcDWs4-TI?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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Once they made it through, the kids got to enjoy a lovely Hogwart's dinner, complete with chocolate frogs and heaps of fried chicken :) </div>
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(on a side note... the other groups made it through the escape room in 1 hr. 27 min., 58 min., and 1 hr. 6 min. All the other groups besides the birthday party kids were a mix of kids and adults. All in all, for my first escape room, I think my timing was pretty good!)</div>
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A very happy birthday to my lovely intelligent daring and darling daughter Dawna! Thanks for lighting up my life always, and especially around your 11th birthday! I may have a new obsession now... </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-1883738132009723822017-05-11T17:12:00.000-07:002017-06-05T21:41:20.472-07:00Baloo the Builder with Bears<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
For the last three weeks, I got to work with Larry's cub scout pack on their "Baloo the Builder" experience. I researched some simple woodworking projects and decided on this fun one from Boys Life: Make a <a href="http://boyslife.org/hobbies-projects/projects/52075/make-a-candy-dispenser/" target="_blank">Homemade Candy Dispenser</a>.</div>
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This experience was somewhat "blind leading the blind," as I have no actual woodworking experience... I'm sure Weston would have been a much better candidate... But we did our best, following along in the Bear Cub handbook... </div>
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Week One</div>
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The boys were introduced to some basic tools and learned a little more about them: hammer and claw, saw, sandpaper, and screwdrivers. They learned about pilot holes and why we love them, and learned vocabulary such as Phillips head, thread, and leverage... </div>
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Each of the boys got a "practice block" to try out the different tools, complete with sharpie instructions:) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsqZmVZ_Mntuu8GsZCk6iehW3x_Wu4KrtYXript8YgRlG-j6ektb0UoJLohSJBoz8fpoBSP6-KhG2o9AfySIAu4NgcSoG0ndzJUU1XBpv8slUaVAZnGwMmxoT0_Lc3n5V8F_x/s1600/IMG_20170427_154027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsqZmVZ_Mntuu8GsZCk6iehW3x_Wu4KrtYXript8YgRlG-j6ektb0UoJLohSJBoz8fpoBSP6-KhG2o9AfySIAu4NgcSoG0ndzJUU1XBpv8slUaVAZnGwMmxoT0_Lc3n5V8F_x/s320/IMG_20170427_154027.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The boys learned that the joy of a pilot hole when working with screws... and how to use leverage against a big nail... and learned to be thankful for power saws... and realized that sanding takes f o r e v e r! </div>
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After practice time was over, they starting building for real! They used a saw to cut pieces of dowel for the pull handle. </div>
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Then they attached the bottom with wood glue, nails, and screws</div>
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Week 2: </div>
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The cubs kept sanding, nailing, and screwing, and when everything (except the top) was attached securely, they got to stain their projects to a beautiful cherry... the only problem was... well... after they had dried and we came back the next week...</div>
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Week 3: </div>
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SHOULD have been a quick assemble of all the pieces, but the stain made the wood swell or bend or something just enough that most of the slides in the middle no longer fit inside the center... so we spent a LONG time continuing to sand (and a couple I even had to take home and use our planer on them) So, if you are planning to do this, maybe don't do the staining part... </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgGkfvjsZzV5YtCJTRAW2UQQJZuAfpBjn4tG2u1jSCjhYBMoVdC56oAHkgpQ6up4zcX8_VSePqhxPBPbM04Zm3T_n40rNwpx2HBbKEP-rTwox-UyOANwbMfQYVNCZX1azWh2q/s1600/IMG_20170511_170040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgGkfvjsZzV5YtCJTRAW2UQQJZuAfpBjn4tG2u1jSCjhYBMoVdC56oAHkgpQ6up4zcX8_VSePqhxPBPbM04Zm3T_n40rNwpx2HBbKEP-rTwox-UyOANwbMfQYVNCZX1azWh2q/s320/IMG_20170511_170040.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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The jar tops were attached with finishing nails (also kind of a pain to nail into a skinny jar rim; highly recommend a tiny hammer)</div>
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But even with a few surprises and setbacks, 5 out of our seven boys were able to take home working candy dispensers after three weeks of work. </div>
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The boys each brought their own treat to share, and we all indulged in Skittles, M&M's, jelly beans, and gumballs! </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-43382111596990012852017-04-23T22:38:00.000-07:002017-04-23T22:38:03.053-07:00Spring TeaseTomorrow school starts again... spring break is over... A week-long teaser of summer break makes it all the harder to return for six more weeks of school, state testing, and projects.<br />
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But it was a fabulous break. We left last Friday for Oregon to visit Aaron and Em. On the way to Central Point, we stopped by Sacramento to see baby Ada, all of two weeks old! And I admit, I did chuckle a little as Weston was describing how Ada was so much different "when she was younger..." How much younger can she get there, Daddy?!? But it is true that our little ones change so quickly, even before our very eyes...<br />
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Anyway, after dinner and baby cuddling, we got on the road again and arrived at 2:30am at Rabun Way and plopped our kids--and ourselves--into bed.<br />
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And no more than 5 hours later, a parade of Pokemon loving cousins were running laps around the house having battles, trading posts, and quizzing each other on HP and EX's and etc. And a couple hours after that, we all hit the ground running to our first adventure: and... I can't remember the name of the place--will update later... A little drive, a short hike to the right, and we arrived at a beautiful huge waterfall!<br />
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And then back to the left, was the Valley of giant boulders (or something like that--update to real name later...) Lots of fun climbing, exploring, and even sliding to do!</div>
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The boulders surrounded a little beach by a raging river of death! ... or some beautiful rapids :) There's something about rivers and rocks and sticks that can keep kids entertained for hours!</div>
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And on the same day as that beautiful sunny hike through the woods, we continued up the mountain until we hit SNOW!! Lots of snow! Crater Lake was our lunch destination!</div>
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Ever since I saw Emily's post on Instragram, I wanted to do this!! I got to roast hot links in the snow!! I LOVE their little portable fire pit! Dream come true!!!!</div>
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Something fun for everyone at Crater Lake! Dawna and Adele busied themselves building a snow fort/palace/mansion: </div>
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Jade found plenty of snow to taste (one of my favorite pictures of the day):</div>
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Apparently, snow comes in many delightful flavors... much like ice cream! </div>
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Jon, Adele, and I raced little snowballs down the slope and over the ridge overlooking the lake! Super intense racing...</div>
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And to top it all off, we harvested the largest icicles we could get off the roof of the resort! Jon won.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYrvw9Wzsi7Prv1xAAqUDafdr85xk6_1UsCjwAVhyphenhyphen17m6G_dG_iQHrKINdl4V7S3D4k2FgC-CGj-Zwy883kgpWcCGBK8iaRYRqSaroYe5atnpxJv47Gm7kSHq1AanQqQBv4Qn/s1600/IMG_20170415_161521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYrvw9Wzsi7Prv1xAAqUDafdr85xk6_1UsCjwAVhyphenhyphen17m6G_dG_iQHrKINdl4V7S3D4k2FgC-CGj-Zwy883kgpWcCGBK8iaRYRqSaroYe5atnpxJv47Gm7kSHq1AanQqQBv4Qn/s320/IMG_20170415_161521.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And Jade and Malachi will tell you that icicles also come in many delightful flavors...much like Popsicles! </div>
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And after all this, we weren't even done with our first full day of vacation! Once we returned home from Crater Lake, Aaron and Jon went off to indoor soccer and long distance running, respectively, and Emily and I ate more food :) </div>
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Sunday we slowed down... a little... but still stuffed in as many Easter delights as we could. I got to play in a trio with Adele and Emily at church. Adele and Dawna dyed eggs with the kids while we hid plastic eggs in the house. Then we had a delicious lamb dinner. After that, we did the Easter story in eggs and the kids followed clues to find their Easter presents... yeah, that was our "slow" Easter Sunday...In the midst of all that, Dawna and Adele found a few minutes to serenade us on their instruments:</div>
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<br /><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Yyoo2xMZmkc/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yyoo2xMZmkc?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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...a more grown up reprise of their original hit:</div>
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LOVE THOSE GIRLS!!! Then and Now... </div>
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Anyway, back to spring break... </div>
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Monday dawned bright and early once more for the big kids. Aaron and Jon, who had originally planned on taking the older kids backpacking but changed plans when rain came, took each of their older three kids on a caving adventure. They had a wonderful day, and hopefully my other contributor to this blog will fill in the details of their adventure... Emily and I had a very relaxing day at home with our little ones. It was a little nostalgic of our Lansing Court days, when all we had was little ones. We almost forgot what to do with them... but they reminded us of what they love to do. So we went to the park, read stories, played music... all the little kid things we miss sometimes with the hustle and bustle of active older kids. </div>
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Tuesday was a celebration our our seven-year-old Xochitl! (Even though she wasn't officially 7 until Wednesday... but really, what kind of birthday is driving home from vacation??) We caught an early matinee of Beauty and the Beast starring Hermione Granger... I mean... Emma Watson :) then headed straight over to the Rrrink for some exciting ice skating! Xochitl is a quick study with anything involving balance, so with a little guidance from Aunt Emily, she was swooshing around the ice in no time! Jade and Larry made good use of the plastic "helpers" and Dawna did quite well after having roller bladed a lot this year. And it's always fun to see what Adele has been working on in her ice skating lessons... and try to copy her... mostly Aunt Deeb just ends up looking foolish... but having fun! </div>
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On the way home from ice skating, Xochitl picked out two ice cream cakes from Cold Stone. Yum!</div>
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And we all know the Koberstein tradition of car trouble when traveling I-5... running over the moving dolly with the Quest, tire blow out, car being backed into, hitting a deer... so when Wednesday came and our vacation was almost over, Fate had to hurry and squeeze some car trouble in. Eva's battery was quite dead and decrepit on Wednesday morning. We weren't going nowheres. The car wouldn't start at all! So I called roadside assistance and they offered to tow us to a garage... but I thought it would be easier to just have them replace the battery on the spot. Only problem was... we had to get the battery. My manly main man Jon got on a bike and rode to the auto parts store with a backpack, bought a car battery, and biked home again! This is not an activity for the feint of heart. Those batteries are HEAVY!! He made it back to Rabun way just in time for the mechanic to get to work! And with only minor damage to clothing and sidewalks...All in all, it's one of the kinder car trouble experiences we've had. All the kids were happily playing with cousins, safely parked in front of Aaron and Em's house :)( ALMOST something to smile about... </div>
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So we got home. And on Friday to finish off our spring break fun, we all enjoyed Larry's "field trip" to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium! Paul and Becca et.al joined us and now we all have annual passes to the aquarium! Many thanks to the thoughtful people there who made the "Family Pass" include two adults and ALL their children! All too often a "family pass" is for two adults and two children, which is pretty much useless for us...</div>
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Maybe the Jellyfish are cousins too!</div>
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Squids will be squids... We loved the "Tentacles" exhibit!</div>
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Playing with light settings on my Pixel XL. I liked this picture of Zyna!</div>
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Happy Spring Break!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-6549876876494407302017-03-13T00:06:00.001-07:002017-03-13T00:06:40.756-07:00Dad's Book Club: The Great Gilly Hopkins and The Higher Power of Lucky<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This year, one of Dawna's goals was to create a "Read it-see-it" book club with some friends. The first book the girls picked out was this:</div>
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/The_Great_Gilly_Hopkins_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/The_Great_Gilly_Hopkins_cover.jpg" /></a></div>
To be honest, I'd never heard of it before the Ringleins suggested we read it. So we checked it out and Dawna read it... and Jon read it... and then I read it... and it was a good read! A moving coming-of-age story as one young foster child learns how to be part of a pieced together family. And then learns how her own selfish and hasty actions could change her life forever...<br />
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The movie was also very enjoyable. It's set in a more modern time frame than the book was, but still carried the message well. We watched it over at the Ringlein's house and had a very good discussion with the girls after, comparing and contrasting the book and the movie, discussing thematic elements... next time I'll have to take notes so I can blog better about it...<br />
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Bottom line: recommended!<br />
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But Dawna's Read it-See it club isn't the only place we're getting story time these days... You see, Dawna was recently moved up to the competitive climbing team at The Peak, which means practices three times each week... sigh... I feel like a real commuter now... between Dawna's climbing and Xochitl's gymnastics, I'm driving about 40 min. to and from practices 4 out of 5 days a week... So I thought I'd make better use of the drive time by checking out books on CD from the library (yes, I know about Audible, but my old '07 Odyssey has a great 6-disk CD player, and no Aux input, so books on CD it is...)<br />
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In the last two weeks driving around town for sports, we've listened to an entire book:<br />
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...the Newbery winner from 2007. Also a fun book to read. Lucky, the main character, is just 10 years old, Dawna's age right now, and Lucky's mannerisms and behavior were perfect for that age, I thought! Lucky lives in a little town called Hard Pan, CA, with her guardian after her mother died. Lucky is smart, always doing her homework so she can be a world famous scientist someday. Lucky is brave, chasing snakes out of clothes dryers and staying calm in dust storms. Lucky is thoughtful, considering questions such as "What is my higher power?" But most of all, Lucky is still just a little girl who needs to feel secure and loved, which makes me think of my baby Dawna... who is not much of a baby anymore, but just like Lucky, needs to be picked up and snuggled from time to time so she can remember how much she is loved!<br />
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Bottom line: recommended... but be advised there is a somewhat lengthy chapter involving a dog's scrotum...parental discretion (or better yet, discussion...) is advised :)<br />
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SO... we're on to a new Read it-See it assignment and new discs in the car...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-85920128926776442322017-02-10T22:47:00.001-08:002017-02-10T22:47:48.035-08:00Shootin' Hoops<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP8m8-JCrwFf83Ig0ACRdqufenuse3ac9Wlu9hI9Iwy_vHmvFcAh6-c44yDNID7Py7HFIPFyCldq6Uay6ceH5_Hh-7pGkcFO4TYw3WR2dHdgdCTocTLEFsvxgXcYRqS3-0-3Ci/s1600/IMG_8461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP8m8-JCrwFf83Ig0ACRdqufenuse3ac9Wlu9hI9Iwy_vHmvFcAh6-c44yDNID7Py7HFIPFyCldq6Uay6ceH5_Hh-7pGkcFO4TYw3WR2dHdgdCTocTLEFsvxgXcYRqS3-0-3Ci/s320/IMG_8461.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We now enter the world of team sports! Took us quite a few years to get our first taste of this as parents since our oldest didn't have much interest in sports involving balls... but Lawrence decided to try it out this year! </div>
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He plays with the City of Newark's CoEd recreational basketball program. There's not even any practices to go to, it's just come and play on Saturday morning. There's a group of about sixty kids split up into six teams; Larry is on the Bulls!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8PRjtCmVog3vchOq9jSxlES9XqpINI3j21CEUBYzhL7MQNs1A4U4B_KUyNzbit17nS7fPezkQNkHB5XSGmikgfR3lM_zwFbrPlADy988pCYw4W-pUbp3iF_-kY2XEXc5ygo9/s1600/IMG_20170114_091401637.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8PRjtCmVog3vchOq9jSxlES9XqpINI3j21CEUBYzhL7MQNs1A4U4B_KUyNzbit17nS7fPezkQNkHB5XSGmikgfR3lM_zwFbrPlADy988pCYw4W-pUbp3iF_-kY2XEXc5ygo9/s320/IMG_20170114_091401637.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
He wasn't so sure about being on the Bulls... that is, until we read about Michael Jordan. Now he's all about the Bulls... I've loved seeing how he really gets into the game, running back and forth across the court, posting himself under the basket and trying to remember all the rules! We've also been having fun practicing at the church after scouts on Thursdays and at Paulecca's house on Wednesdays.<br />
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And yes, I've discovered I'm one of THOSE moms... the ones who cheer too much... and too loud! But Larry doesn't mind having a silly mom there :) So GO 11 BULLS! THAT'S MY BOY!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-33170766310102501602017-01-22T22:11:00.000-08:002017-01-24T23:08:55.805-08:00Birthday Boy!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzS69eVer0AUiY-lscQ9wK34NaJJ-0B9k7auxyt2z8-Io_94vOR15ipdz2o-x0JfqAcBX8B0d5Xe4cN4x4pUhLYTpcdKt6N1UFCCqDmTXA5F2shKaZ12WlOgsb3PFQowv5WYCY/s1600/IMG_20170122_190732387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzS69eVer0AUiY-lscQ9wK34NaJJ-0B9k7auxyt2z8-Io_94vOR15ipdz2o-x0JfqAcBX8B0d5Xe4cN4x4pUhLYTpcdKt6N1UFCCqDmTXA5F2shKaZ12WlOgsb3PFQowv5WYCY/s320/IMG_20170122_190732387.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Happy birthday to my dearest Jonathan! Many happy returns of the day! We enjoyed many good wishes from family and friends via text, phone calls, Instagram, and even snail mail (my mom always gets it to arrive right on time! I don't know how she does it!).</div>
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But we did have one unhappy return of the day after all the rain over the past two weeks... </div>
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I guess our fence just couldn't take it anymore... yay for being homeowners and the surprise projects that responsibility sends your way...<br />
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Anyway... back to the fun of Jon's birthday...<br />
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We had a most delightful supper with Paul, Becca, and their kids on Sunday afternoon. I fried up some Opal Eye that Jon caught on our dive trip last October; we baked some butternut squash from Norm Prince's garden; and Becca brought some fresh sour dough bread from her own starter! We felt all rustic having hunted and gathered most of our meal! <br />
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Still, we couldn't resist raising our glasses of store-bought sparkling cider in celebration of this strapping young man! Jon, you've been by my side for more than half my lifetime. I can't even begin to express the depth of my love and appreciation for all you've given me, all you've taught me, and all we've experienced together. Your energy and enthusiasm for life is a blessing to everyone who has the pleasure of knowing you!<br />
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Last but not least... Jade helped end the day on an adorable and relaxing note... her renditions of the "Squids will be Squids" tales.<br />
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Happy Birthday!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-12562099115539897432017-01-08T20:35:00.001-08:002017-01-08T20:35:35.490-08:00Shelter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A big rainstorm was coming through this weekend!</div>
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So, naturally, we slept outside :) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4PDA-Bl-6JH7npg6KeVIGaiiZA5FZDMB3MVVC_k61spRWetfIcCPHfHTfUJWe07DXJuNsJOuFgM_61Ib7T1Jhfe9WlI1nbjYrlXt3tLOoAMELpPnAfRlw5b9ONgVRbb1LAW_z/s1600/IMG_20170108_153448045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4PDA-Bl-6JH7npg6KeVIGaiiZA5FZDMB3MVVC_k61spRWetfIcCPHfHTfUJWe07DXJuNsJOuFgM_61Ib7T1Jhfe9WlI1nbjYrlXt3tLOoAMELpPnAfRlw5b9ONgVRbb1LAW_z/s320/IMG_20170108_153448045.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Dry, cozy, and toasty warm all night while raindrop lullabies pitter patted me to sleep. Oh! And there were lots of awesome frogs sounds, too! Now we know we're ready for wet winter camping adventures!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-37006330145497162292016-12-29T20:37:00.000-08:002017-01-08T21:19:45.736-08:00Snow way!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our 12th anniversary was spent in the company of our favorite people: Dawna, Lawrence, Xochitl, and Jade. Traditionally, Jon and I have ditched the kids for anniversary fun, but we were feeling generous this year. </div>
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On Christmas, Santa left a suitcase full of new snow clothes, a little toboggan, and a giant card explaining that we'd be spending 3 days in beautiful snowy Yosemite! Day One was really just an evening tour of the valley, with one short stop to touch the snow and admire the view and the previously assembled snowman (see above...). </div>
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Day Two dawned beautiful and icy! We even got to use the snow chains we've been storing for a decade! Nice that they felt useful! We drove up Glacier Point Road and found a little turn-off where we could get some sledding in! We were out in the snow for over four hours running up, sliding down, throwing snowballs, playing games... lots of people came and went in the time we were there, but one particularly memorable person came sliding down the hill, stood up, looked at my oldest daughter, and said, "Hey there!" in a somewhat alluring tone. I was about to punch the kid in the face for flirting with a 10-year-old... but then, to my surprise, Dawna said, "Oh, hi Jonathan!" Wait, what?? Turns out that this kid is on the climbing team at The Peak with Dawna. How incredibly random that we ran into him and his family on an unmarked turnout up Glacier Point Road in Yosemite... </div>
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On the way out that night, we enjoyed pizza at Half Dome village (who knew you could get pizza at 8pm in the middle of a national park??) and went to bed dreaming of our next-day's adventure... </div>
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Day Three dawned bright and early as we headed back up Glacier Point Road to the ski and snowboard area. While the downhill slopes were still closed, the cross country and snowshoeing trails were open and groomed and ready for adventure! </div>
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I could write a book about our day out there, but I'll spare you the length and just give you the table of contents: </div>
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<b><u>The Kobersteins Go Cross Country Skiing! </u></b></h3>
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<b>Chapter 1:</b> In which there is much giggling and excitement in renting cool equipment! </div>
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<b>Chapter 2: </b>In which it takes a REALLY long time to get ready (snow clothes and bathrooms don't mix...)</div>
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<b>Chapter 3:</b> In which Mom and Dad set a way-too-ambitious distance goal </div>
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<b>Chapter 4: </b>In which the skis go on and it takes half an hour to get <b><i>to</i></b> the trail... </div>
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<b>Chapter 5:</b> In which we find ruts to put the skis in and actually start moving!</div>
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<b>Chapter 6:</b> In which most of the snow clothes go into mom's backpack</div>
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<b>Chapter 7:</b> In which we stop for lunch</div>
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<b>Chapter 8:</b> In which we go downhill for a while... NOW it's fun!</div>
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<b>Chapter 9:</b> In which we have to turn around... and go back uphill</div>
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<b>Chapter 10:</b> In which Jade can run faster uphill than the kids skiing uphill</div>
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<b>Chapter 11:</b> In which is shouted "I Quit!" </div>
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<b>Chapter 12:</b> In which skis are removed and carried over shoulder back to rental office. </div>
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<b>Chapter 13:</b> In which mom and dad decide to come alone next time...</div>
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<b>Epilogue: </b>In which, on the drive home, all the kids decide it was fun after all :) </div>
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(Total distance skied: 2 miles... )</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-42225631374070881722016-12-12T10:59:00.000-08:002016-12-12T10:59:07.737-08:00The Handy Man Can<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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From down the hall, I heard a thwick, flump thump. Oh dear. Upon entering my closet, I found that the hanging racks had suddenly decided to quit and ripped right out of the drywall. And yes, in the exciting tradition of jobs poorly done, we find yet another example in our house with closet clothes racks installed just into drywall. Studs are overrated, apparently (although I must admit I'm a little impressed that they've lasted these 7 years...).<br />
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Anyway, lucky for me, my handy husband Jon jumped into action, watching quite a few DIY YouTube videos and scheming and planning some new, sturdier shelving for our closet.<br />
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Saturday was the big day! Off he went to the "Hard Work Store" as my kids so lovingly call it, with our dainty little Crosstrek Perry, only to realize that he needed the Big Mama mini van Eva in order to get all the large pieces of wood home. So, after a little car shifting, he and the supplies were all home and he was starting the project. But any project that requires only one trip to the hardware store is hardly worth mentioning. Saturday's portion of the project took 3 trips, ultimately finishing off with the addition of a new member of our power tool family:<br />
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Isn't she beautiful?? (Weston will be so proud...)<br />
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Once installed, Jon demonstrated his strength and the strength of my new shelf and rack by doing several manly pull-ups on them (but sadly would not repeat the feat for my camera...but trust me, it was amazing!) I'm convinced these will NOT fall off the wall :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizKA-WzNyDf1xbQo4BIa0_oP4A9dx4S4NuyJSAPBWFfBlM84pOPG1bhetVn8pjWfVlAvqTaBgCORy62A8ZOXaWkVB6n0u8I6d1UCLYA01Y5vyXJnelEZmBDISYtnCArBmU4Nq1/s1600/IMG_20161212_102739253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizKA-WzNyDf1xbQo4BIa0_oP4A9dx4S4NuyJSAPBWFfBlM84pOPG1bhetVn8pjWfVlAvqTaBgCORy62A8ZOXaWkVB6n0u8I6d1UCLYA01Y5vyXJnelEZmBDISYtnCArBmU4Nq1/s320/IMG_20161212_102739253.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And now, an ode to my Handy Man:<br />
<i>Who can fix my closet?</i><br />
<i>Buy a saw or two?</i><br />
<i>Happily completing yet another "honey-do":</i><br />
<i>The Handy Man...</i><br />
<i>Oh, my Handy Man Can!</i><br />
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Thank you, Jon! I'm so ready to move our stuff back into the closet!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-29385896727797261932016-12-03T19:10:00.000-08:002017-01-05T19:12:20.534-08:00Breakfast with Santa! Our elementary school has an annual Breakfast with Santa. This year is the first time the Kobersteins have attended, mainly due to the fact that they asked our Leopard Choir to sing :)<br />
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Even though I was a skeptic at first, I was overwhelmed by how much fun it was and even joined in the festivities by getting pictures with Santa (something I've never done before...)<br />
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After the choir sang, I stood in line to take pictures... the line was REALLY long--and you can see why... McLoy Photography offered their services to the school and we got some really cute pictures! Sadly, Larry wasn't there (he was at his first day of basketball) so I only have my girls in the pictures with Santa.</div>
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This is my favorite picture of the bunch. Jade's 3-year-old Christmastime has been magical for her. She lovingly embraced the idea of Santa Claus and told him exactly what she wanted: A Rainbow Dash pony... and that did indeed appear on Christmas morning! I love the feeling of magic around Christmas!Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15409137455740404601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-55468322727780143992016-11-07T09:34:00.001-08:002016-11-07T09:34:38.157-08:00Channel Islands SCUBA 2016<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lqZckNZPPDA" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />
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We had an amazing dive trip this year aboard the Conception! For the first time, I took our GoPro down with me on several dives (last year I took the camera but forgot a memory card...) I'm still learning how to manage a camera underwater, but I think I got a good start... I learned that holding still is very difficult underwater and my angle was a little high when the amera was attached to my forehead... but hopefully this montage will give you all a little taste of life aboard the Conception!<br /><br />
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Of course, some of the most memorable moments of the trip happened when my camera wasn't in my hands... including:<br /><br />
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<ul><li>A VERY large dorsal fin...the captain saying, "That's unusual behavior for a Great White... I think we're done diving here." (thankfully heard after getting back on board...)</li>
<li>A bald eagle attacking a seagull and enjoying it as a hearty lunch!</li>
<li>Dolphins playing and jumping around the wake of the boat</li>
<li>A playful seal inspecting our spearfishing catches</li>
<li>An obnoxious fish that snatched my very first scallop right out of my fingers and ate it! grrr...</li>
</ul><div>It was a blast to be sure! We caught a lot of opal eye this year, but unfortunately didn't make it out to the great Ling Cod reef we hit last year. Jon made a historic catch of two lobsters in one dive! </div><div><br /></div><div>Many thanks to our local family (Terry & Luetta, Weston & Myra) for taking care of kids while we enjoyed our trip! </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-28821463555291717602016-07-11T23:23:00.004-07:002016-07-11T23:23:43.824-07:00SquawstruckSo recently Danielle gave me editing permission on her blog. And by recently I mean a year or so ago. She has been patiently wondering if I would ever actually contribute to the blog. So today to Danielle's astonishment you get to hear from the other much less talented contributor to Luma Solem.<br />
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Note: All the images have a title. Hover of the images with your mouse to read them.</div>
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Squawstruck</h2>
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Devon and I had planned on doing <a href="https://www.mountainproject.com/v/squawstruck/106897735">Squawstruck</a> last year right after the Koberstein reunion. However I managed to crack a rib the week before we were scheduled to do the route. (And yes it was cracked despite what the other blogger said about <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8137403#editor/target=post;postID=9214061181858480078;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=2;src=postname">it previously</a>) This was very disappointing to me but I only had myself to blame. But my dearest wife Danielle told me that if another opportunity came up to do the climb I should fly out to do it. It just so happened that Devon was in the area this past week.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPIL_phvPRYZ0BYQNIQZsDUZtEKndzXMx2DcA9oJNp9KRUQL3kYLo8lSpUDWGli6pcb9GVYNdLQQAip-Ics5cnNxV5pYkPfrIQypVsWbGfutoeF_EN2_H4QNpzcB-t7WHP7BGU/s1600/1squawpeakrockcanyon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPIL_phvPRYZ0BYQNIQZsDUZtEKndzXMx2DcA9oJNp9KRUQL3kYLo8lSpUDWGli6pcb9GVYNdLQQAip-Ics5cnNxV5pYkPfrIQypVsWbGfutoeF_EN2_H4QNpzcB-t7WHP7BGU/s640/1squawpeakrockcanyon.jpg" title="When I was at BYU I used to wonder what it would be like to climb on of the mountain sides. I never thought I would actually do it 10 years later!" width="640" /></a></div>
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Final plans were not made for the trip until a few weeks before the trip. It felt a little hectic but it was also nice to not have any time to stress about it. During my preparations I realized I would miss my Father's birthday as the trip was on the same weekend as his birthday. It was sad but I had already committed to the climbing trip before any birthday plans were made and the tickets were non refundable. So I decided to head out on the climb anyways. Sorry Dad.</div>
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I have done a few 'big' climbing trips in the past few years. Details can be found on <a href="https://www.mountainproject.com/u/jonkoberstein//108333725?action=ticks&">my mountain project page</a>. So far most of my routes have been in the easy range. However Squawstruck is the longest and hardest route to date. It is a 5.11- and 1900 feet of climbing broken up into 22 pitches. I was very excited to try something hard that required a little bit of skill and ability. I was looking forward to testing all the training I have been doing while Dawna and Larry are in their climbing class.</div>
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Devon and I decided to start our climb at midnight. This would require a little bit of climbing in the dark but would help us avoid the heat of the day. Unfortunately I had to travel and work on Friday and didn't get to sleep until 10pm. This is why I look a little bit crazed in this 1 am start-of-climb picture.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaO9dn31GKkcROVsf4m3MhbszjSQLWhBxB9x75ASDVDi7tF2fz-hqY5Qe4VH13w-Mwo4RUe1ZXkIFHsiv7omRz-ttojn9PbdqLK8a8koYqc0jGldJ4j54naHcVTszpG-ND54R/s1600/20160709_011954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaO9dn31GKkcROVsf4m3MhbszjSQLWhBxB9x75ASDVDi7tF2fz-hqY5Qe4VH13w-Mwo4RUe1ZXkIFHsiv7omRz-ttojn9PbdqLK8a8koYqc0jGldJ4j54naHcVTszpG-ND54R/s640/20160709_011954.jpg" title="The mean green fathers-of-four climbing machines!" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">We did not coordinate our outfits. It just happened.</span></td></tr>
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Fortunately the climbing was interesting and hard enough that I did not feel tired again until after we were safely back in Provo.</div>
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The only snafu during the climb happened on the first pitch. We climbed up an intimidating roof which had some good pockets that made it easier than it looked. And then when we got to the top I was moving my belay device around and it jumped out of my hands. I heard it hit the rock by my feet once and I shouted something incoherent. Devon felt it slide past his feet and then we heard it hit something soft on the ground 110 feet below us. At this moment I knew that I had again ruined our attempt to finish the route. You need two belay devices to do a climb like this. We talked about options and Devon decided to rappel down on his device and look for mine on the ground. We didn't hear it hit the rock on the way down so IF we could find the device it should be safe to use for the rest of the climb. With little hope I waited in the dark at the top of the first pitch to see if Devon could find the device. Amazingly he found it just after he lit upon the ground. I heard a loud shout of joy and then he climbed up and we were ready to go again. Also this gave me the chance to use the Munter hitch as an improvised belay device. That's the first time I've had to do that. Glad I have spent the time learning how to do that.</div>
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After a several hours of climbing in the dark the sun began to show up. I was happy to turn my head lamp off. Climbing in the dark makes finding holds harder and my light was getting dimmer making it harder as I went. The only down side about the sun is it mean the dreaded heat was coming. We hoped that the rock wouldn't get too hot to hold in the afternoon.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUMokLcdR3AGHkCvPNqWODy0v5sWvUp_AqrKxzDoZIYD2N2hVnt8FOT0rzh_O1q0qIRo3iUe6KpqWVPTAWSxXiQhUqkq6JxgdcNf_436upsfo3k2mCOvfp01jnth4BFyV-7zM/s1600/20160709_054015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUMokLcdR3AGHkCvPNqWODy0v5sWvUp_AqrKxzDoZIYD2N2hVnt8FOT0rzh_O1q0qIRo3iUe6KpqWVPTAWSxXiQhUqkq6JxgdcNf_436upsfo3k2mCOvfp01jnth4BFyV-7zM/s640/20160709_054015.jpg" title="Is there a green UFO in Devons glasses?" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunlight approaches!</td></tr>
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Unfortunately the most interesting photo opportunities in a climb like this are not easy to capture. Because you are holding onto the cliff attempting to not fall off. So you end up with a bunch of pictures at belay stations or near them like this one.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6h1WlLVFXCB37NH3p3Q9Vs5VEcX3_ZxCCrNoG67VjWMSOnOkU1Z6J5tpr9ELceMRdvo6m1AUfLNBt_SPPhLzkBJbcD_PVznPBJnujrks9PUJXmTraAuBP2_SYKFDA2iOdItm/s1600/20160709_070714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6h1WlLVFXCB37NH3p3Q9Vs5VEcX3_ZxCCrNoG67VjWMSOnOkU1Z6J5tpr9ELceMRdvo6m1AUfLNBt_SPPhLzkBJbcD_PVznPBJnujrks9PUJXmTraAuBP2_SYKFDA2iOdItm/s640/20160709_070714.jpg" title="Devon was clipped into another bolt so I was not actually belaying him like this." width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chilling 900 feet up the route.</td></tr>
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So I'm going to have to use words to explain a few of the interesting things we saw.<br />
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Pitch 2 has the leap of faith. You climb up a pillar and then have to down climb 10 feet of the far side of the pillar and step jump onto the face of the wall next to the pillar.<br />
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Pitch 3-5? At one point during the climb I went to stick my hand into a pocket and a large wolf spider (3 in across) crawled out. It surprised me a bit and I decided to skip that pocket. Luckily it was on easy terrain and didn't require me to use that particular hold to climb through.<br />
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Pitch 6 was my hardest lead. 5.10c. I was pretty pleased with myself at this point and even considering leading something harder. However some unexpected falls when I was following Devon in the next few pitches reminded me that I am prone to falling as the grade approaches 5.11.<br />
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Pitch 9 was the Orange Julius pitch. It started off with a small cave that had a mystery liquid dripping out the bottom. I suspect it was bat guano. A little further up there was some of the strangest and worst rock of the trip. It was oozing yellow-redish rock. It was more a mix between clay and rock than actual rock. I'm really not sure why it was oozing.<br />
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Between pitch 11 and 12 was a cave or mine.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgXNFz0pYOiFhxzJUT2RHgmlnn-xHeSfbXiXiDXfVrmMBnikQJkHkddYcKAcVnFObPMMGnXr1KPeXU98lYo6d7yKyZN6xmIKyuGUIJaZUhskuucglbyKtltA6cGRdbkpfL09Vy/s1600/20160709_075535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgXNFz0pYOiFhxzJUT2RHgmlnn-xHeSfbXiXiDXfVrmMBnikQJkHkddYcKAcVnFObPMMGnXr1KPeXU98lYo6d7yKyZN6xmIKyuGUIJaZUhskuucglbyKtltA6cGRdbkpfL09Vy/s640/20160709_075535.jpg" title="Was this a spelunking trip? Why are we underground on a climb?" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last shade until we hike down.</td></tr>
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The cave was supposed to be a nice place to cool off from the sun but fortunately it hadn't gotten too hot yet. As we climbed higher the wind picked up and kept us from boiling in the afternoon.<br />
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Pitch 14 The crux pitch. Devon lead this pitch (he also led the other 5.10+ pitches before and after this one). He did an amazing job and only fell twice at the crux. These where his only two falls for the whole trip. I unfortunately claimed quiet a few more falls on the climb. But not too many more than Devon.</div>
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Pitch 15 was missing a bolt on the crux. I hate to admit it but I was glad that Devon also lead this one. It looked scary with the missing bolt. It would have been a pretty good fall after the missing bolt.<br />
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Pitches 17-22 We thought that since we had passed the crux the rest of the climbing would be easy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4HIOlk-IPitBr2P3qTWIWiLV0rclB1GJF68hMIGUF4E-eSMRMR-mnw-lfPD0Z4-czjswrpgRMMveU_19EK1lXppGyG-zcvXFwUF0JbP81MkbB7VrrOxqRpRzWcq04LwlTKcT_/s1600/20160709_144904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4HIOlk-IPitBr2P3qTWIWiLV0rclB1GJF68hMIGUF4E-eSMRMR-mnw-lfPD0Z4-czjswrpgRMMveU_19EK1lXppGyG-zcvXFwUF0JbP81MkbB7VrrOxqRpRzWcq04LwlTKcT_/s640/20160709_144904.jpg" title="The people on the trail looked like little ants." width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting up pretty high now and nearing the top.</td></tr>
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However we forgot that some of the following pitches were nearly just as hard as the crux. All the way to the last pitch the climbing was pretty tough. The "easy" climbing included several roofs and difficult moves and all felt much harder than the rating would indicate. I think the long day took it's toll on me. These last pitches had some very very sharp rock as well. There were pockets that had razor sharp crystals like the inside of a geode. The limestone up here and was so sharp that the slopping holds felt like they had little pin head sticking out of them. It was nice because it made it easier to hold onto the rock but we also paid the price for the nice sticky rock.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwx0Et_qd4FxoBKGGgWE3CEL8aUa5HRqH754SCHTHHDSPqcpmj78QJtIKT0FzVLWBqyX8ucoUIz6FJWY44O6h3dXjzco9pq7lnEVgazG-yYcwDHqJZVjMAs1jOEs0bb31ebDYL/s1600/IMG_20160711_142816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwx0Et_qd4FxoBKGGgWE3CEL8aUa5HRqH754SCHTHHDSPqcpmj78QJtIKT0FzVLWBqyX8ucoUIz6FJWY44O6h3dXjzco9pq7lnEVgazG-yYcwDHqJZVjMAs1jOEs0bb31ebDYL/s640/IMG_20160711_142816.jpg" title="It is healthy to enjoy doing this to yourself?" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back of my hand.</td></tr>
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Also at about this point I ran out of water. 3 liters was not quiet enough water for comfort. I had to climb the last 4-5 pitches sharing water with Devon. He only brought 2.5 liters of water but doesn't leak water as much as me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZdocM7d3z7bbmT1UJ0RPib6hOwNaZtqYzG3X8bL-K0TKvn8JwsJ3DMRMa1lOAf9QwebJxItsdM9DftDF5LgYXrWIAchva0G44oxt0xEIioYQRfBlZR5kN3PT9Sk38ZLrh2Gpa/s1600/IMG_20160709_145326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZdocM7d3z7bbmT1UJ0RPib6hOwNaZtqYzG3X8bL-K0TKvn8JwsJ3DMRMa1lOAf9QwebJxItsdM9DftDF5LgYXrWIAchva0G44oxt0xEIioYQRfBlZR5kN3PT9Sk38ZLrh2Gpa/s640/IMG_20160709_145326.jpg" title="We claimed the mountain for the USA." width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Topping out!</td></tr>
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Finally we reached the top! When Devon yelled back that I was on belay he startled a group of girls sitting near the flag. They were not expecting to see two smelly men crawling up the cliff face.<br />
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Now all we had to do was hike down with no water. Seemed like a small task at this point. On the way down I began to feel something touch the back of my throat. I tried to spit it out but it would not move. Panicking a little bit I asked Devon what was in my mouth. It was my uvula. Apparently if you don't drink enough and breath a lot (due to hard climbing) you can dry your uvula out enough for it to swell from the irritation. It was an odd feeling to have your uvula dragging around on the back of your tongue. Fortunately it quickly healed once we reached the drinking fountain near the bottom of the climb.<br />
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I recently heard a famous climber say that the best climber in the world is the one who is having the most fun. By this metric I definitely have a chance at being the best in the world. I know that I am the luckiest. I have a wonderful family who supports me in my crazy adventures and even tags along with me when I'm not trying things that are too crazy. Between a great climbing partner, my wonderful wife and my four perfect kids I truly am the luckiest and at least the happiest climber in the world.Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15409137455740404601noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-74415075079820139422016-06-27T07:46:00.000-07:002016-06-27T07:46:18.882-07:00Summer Fun, Something's begun!Our first week of summer was filled with fun and excitement on all fronts.<br />
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Around the house, it was fun to watch <a href="http://www.renewal.com/" target="_blank">American Home Renewal</a> work hard replacing all our windows and our sliding patio door!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZb7ZVhPYxkQMJw8SbZgWT-blC5H9dGjlDioKJSRcJZAHD70e4Sy4dlbfephBZWCIiXYQGtgzW0LapwDWV04QC-qNGaxWbHVpLDG7YxK5epBfLFZZZpG5VRDv_VtebrFbTZr6W/s1600/IMG_20160621_120609478.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZb7ZVhPYxkQMJw8SbZgWT-blC5H9dGjlDioKJSRcJZAHD70e4Sy4dlbfephBZWCIiXYQGtgzW0LapwDWV04QC-qNGaxWbHVpLDG7YxK5epBfLFZZZpG5VRDv_VtebrFbTZr6W/s320/IMG_20160621_120609478.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Scaffolding had to be used to reach the upstairs window and trim. Jade was particularly tempted by the low bars and potential for climbing...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTUmY5RupyqLwVYtL-Hz8rlGo6YUd6g3eT8l2BQksELZabyWH7CzV23f5yNXXD2XRA_EIPOVqYeMgw89ECo202THaLAS9sjc_5-hnwQdRzYxdJEVdhg4HhCXOYzwZ1IZ4_bgG/s1600/IMG_20160615_082526920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTUmY5RupyqLwVYtL-Hz8rlGo6YUd6g3eT8l2BQksELZabyWH7CzV23f5yNXXD2XRA_EIPOVqYeMgw89ECo202THaLAS9sjc_5-hnwQdRzYxdJEVdhg4HhCXOYzwZ1IZ4_bgG/s320/IMG_20160615_082526920.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Goodbye old door!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlbg5hRcJCE1Ap2YCdFjU0YM69falgYQlDgjqJkCEQwzbLdAmEQ8kXEj_lItLSuVjVf3uZEpVq7UUNypootf5Y7QNzDP9lQ7CNqtwnr1sFXGe5GldmfC1sbnZwOh5DiW5H8Iy/s1600/IMG_20160615_091830204_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlbg5hRcJCE1Ap2YCdFjU0YM69falgYQlDgjqJkCEQwzbLdAmEQ8kXEj_lItLSuVjVf3uZEpVq7UUNypootf5Y7QNzDP9lQ7CNqtwnr1sFXGe5GldmfC1sbnZwOh5DiW5H8Iy/s320/IMG_20160615_091830204_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Fun to see one by one the old windows go and the new slick windows go in!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1lSmtrqneonIWWDGDKi_x71C-3RDYwjF1Or7n0NgpymezSNNNeJekJr1KKxaXjn487sg_x0lYWn6yC2tU_41g9yECT7y3iPVOtpb6lZmJQi3VcGvxD6HzF2jjz-GjDO5lTnLM/s1600/IMG_20160627_073501907.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1lSmtrqneonIWWDGDKi_x71C-3RDYwjF1Or7n0NgpymezSNNNeJekJr1KKxaXjn487sg_x0lYWn6yC2tU_41g9yECT7y3iPVOtpb6lZmJQi3VcGvxD6HzF2jjz-GjDO5lTnLM/s320/IMG_20160627_073501907.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And now there are bedroom windows that my kids can actually open! And they're up to code and fire safe and all that jazz...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivYnCYEWasmnTDRdtgNxkejlI1U-6pEWXDNhudTNerYR5Phty25g3wGox3bxQhBFrgySG4oL69GtV-q7AXBsoZ9iyOYDKdwYoF9GKVSWvbWlCgAiB4NuEnhIbUzzowXYmdYElM/s1600/IMG_20160627_073635752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivYnCYEWasmnTDRdtgNxkejlI1U-6pEWXDNhudTNerYR5Phty25g3wGox3bxQhBFrgySG4oL69GtV-q7AXBsoZ9iyOYDKdwYoF9GKVSWvbWlCgAiB4NuEnhIbUzzowXYmdYElM/s320/IMG_20160627_073635752.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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But as any homeowner knows, one home improvement project begets another... so yes, as you can see, we now have a painting job to consider... yay...</div>
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For our Cub Scout, the first week of summer was filled with loads of learning and crafting and shooting at Cub Scout Day camp!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXb1dCUHkSDk_Vamp4z2igvMj9yNieFiaD5ZO854zJ0gMalpc0FWMYlHUx9keLagc9dQzP4wRppo5gF5H8tzroAyBsrmvT8CCDw5yvYPrPeK3kiJb9D1yI-uTmfpDb_FUDmaB0/s1600/IMG_20160624_123802771.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXb1dCUHkSDk_Vamp4z2igvMj9yNieFiaD5ZO854zJ0gMalpc0FWMYlHUx9keLagc9dQzP4wRppo5gF5H8tzroAyBsrmvT8CCDw5yvYPrPeK3kiJb9D1yI-uTmfpDb_FUDmaB0/s320/IMG_20160624_123802771.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Lawrence's den performing the classic "JC Penny" skit ("Where'd you get that jacket? ...shoes? ... watch?" etc. "From JC Penny." Last scout runs by wrapped in a towel. "Who are you?" "JC Penny!" haha...)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIf7Wgeaz2YUIFCV3hJn-B3eHUqk5oi_lusk9qBrxAQj6josWlo9JAH9dK7Wavs9D2VZIll0lE9WZgZ6AkeZqOO6loZ0s_GJUjjmvLjrEKBBGKHkPOibDTm28VkliQDDFnnIt/s1600/IMG_20160624_130109660.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIf7Wgeaz2YUIFCV3hJn-B3eHUqk5oi_lusk9qBrxAQj6josWlo9JAH9dK7Wavs9D2VZIll0lE9WZgZ6AkeZqOO6loZ0s_GJUjjmvLjrEKBBGKHkPOibDTm28VkliQDDFnnIt/s320/IMG_20160624_130109660.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In spite of a rough beginning to the week with the scout trailer being burglarized, the leaders pulled off a great camp for the boys. Lawrence was particularly proud of a wooden box that he made and the gold bead that he earned for making a bulls eye on the archery range! On the last day, I treated the kids to McDonalds for lunch and had a picnic lunch at the park before watching each den perform their skit. </div>
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Back at home in our garden, we thinned out the carrots and enjoyed nibbling on the little ones, making room for bigger ones to grow. We're trying some multi-colored fun this summer in the garden, including purple/white/yellow/orange carrots, green and gold beans, and yellow/red/purple beets. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFV8MedEqxJLutIKw2P5JhcuVmOJ4biEnMlQjo1EhACTtdg94t8cnszn09kzHQpdBfrm8k4Of-IRwgXKm6_d4VRFn-PXS0hvV8AgZLrs20wmiJmdDqy-rITw6Rj1H7SumGAN1/s1600/IMG_20160625_172027635_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFV8MedEqxJLutIKw2P5JhcuVmOJ4biEnMlQjo1EhACTtdg94t8cnszn09kzHQpdBfrm8k4Of-IRwgXKm6_d4VRFn-PXS0hvV8AgZLrs20wmiJmdDqy-rITw6Rj1H7SumGAN1/s320/IMG_20160625_172027635_HDR.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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The only big downside to the week was that daddy was gone at Zion's camp all week. He had a great time helping the boys do some climbing and serving with the youth, which is a good thing, but the evenings are always harder when daddy's not home... and clearly, my photography is not very good when daddy's not home... </div>
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Week one of summer fun: done. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-76002861008953572062016-06-08T22:06:00.000-07:002016-06-12T22:07:28.913-07:00Three Through and Through!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hMkSQTogVDiqUakmGvGS8cw28KuWQDD2NoK5sOWEVYaACuCFRNSHT8eHjXK41DtgecgPtz7Os2ILGn5QNHUlbxyXId43cGx8Gv2YhisX-SbDk91eqPAcremMvz-Tvm954NuH/s1600/IMG_20160608_154601246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hMkSQTogVDiqUakmGvGS8cw28KuWQDD2NoK5sOWEVYaACuCFRNSHT8eHjXK41DtgecgPtz7Os2ILGn5QNHUlbxyXId43cGx8Gv2YhisX-SbDk91eqPAcremMvz-Tvm954NuH/s320/IMG_20160608_154601246.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
My baby is three. Yikes. (pause for a few deep cleansing breaths...)<br />
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Jade loves to sing, loves to chat, really hates her curly hair (probably because so many people like to tug on her curls...), loves "Nastics-for-day" (gymnastic s day), and climbs like the craziest little monkey you've ever seen! She scales the outside of the stairs, tries to climb up door jambs, and loves to traverse around the low hand holds while Dawna and Lawrence are at climbing class. And lately, she's been into My Little Ponies like crazy. Every day after the big kids go to school, she asks, "Wanna play ponies with me?" On one particularly busy day, I hadn't found time to play with her yet, and she informed me, "Mom, Jesus knows how to play ponies," in an accusatory tone. Ok, Jade, I'll try to be more like Jesus. ;)<br />
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We did most of the celebrating the day after her birthday... because on her birthday, a couple friends and I dragged the poor little thing into the city for...<br />
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The Hunger Game Exhibition!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsNdEZSRhh9zDt-OC5SoX1qqC2qEhq0nqiwXm34f7PmF-3bgM4mzcbuMXq5fYA8nMaIpsDgfOUV3JsLRL1HRVWa2AZxMrjbCcr2Q9w9zyAVzekY8KPq1cwKDf2kmzu5lecy_7T/s1600/IMG_20160608_114928085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsNdEZSRhh9zDt-OC5SoX1qqC2qEhq0nqiwXm34f7PmF-3bgM4mzcbuMXq5fYA8nMaIpsDgfOUV3JsLRL1HRVWa2AZxMrjbCcr2Q9w9zyAVzekY8KPq1cwKDf2kmzu5lecy_7T/s320/IMG_20160608_114928085.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
But really, what three-year-old wouldn't want to sit on the set and pretend to get interviewed by Caesar Flickerman for the third Quarter Quell??? Yeah, I know... all of them... I think she mostly had fun though. There were quite a few interactive exhibits. to play with...<br />
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Anyway, after school, it was crazy as usual getting homework done and getting to climbing and gymnastics, and in the middle of all that, I took Jade to Costco to pick out a birthday cake. She picked a cheesecake (yesssssss!!!) and enjoyed putting her very own candles in it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnlLPnvbOhqT7joMA8KBt47GJ4A-HkfMKaSL0JJwaLv5bg5M0w562UIT61gvf8458K1lVIxm7cnFDfyYoIUnaXGMfo9VwliA9Uc9lubSyVUXC1aTSXAQrmOoqcpfC54-vTuxU5/s1600/IMG_20160608_195858107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnlLPnvbOhqT7joMA8KBt47GJ4A-HkfMKaSL0JJwaLv5bg5M0w562UIT61gvf8458K1lVIxm7cnFDfyYoIUnaXGMfo9VwliA9Uc9lubSyVUXC1aTSXAQrmOoqcpfC54-vTuxU5/s320/IMG_20160608_195858107.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The next day, she actually got to open all her presents and have her favorite dinner--pepperoni pizza with the pepperonis taken off--NOT cheese pizza, mind you... and as a bonus, Alex came over to play!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFBZcsrXJEVv8uV3zCplJq5dZ3wk1Q7RVZW9YJQXsoRe7khv9z6xr2wE4Je7S2zADrrGhKHWbuuA75BfVZplw12HYmIh0cxtIP1NOBmAAM_miw4UdRxRrbj5TaNmDGHEk5q4lH/s1600/IMG_20160609_122453275.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFBZcsrXJEVv8uV3zCplJq5dZ3wk1Q7RVZW9YJQXsoRe7khv9z6xr2wE4Je7S2zADrrGhKHWbuuA75BfVZplw12HYmIh0cxtIP1NOBmAAM_miw4UdRxRrbj5TaNmDGHEk5q4lH/s320/IMG_20160609_122453275.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
All in all, a successful little birthday for my sweet little one! Can't wait to see what this new year brings to you, Jade!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-43187973215199591952016-06-03T20:41:00.000-07:002016-06-12T22:07:44.998-07:00Pinewood Derby!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Ladies and gentlemen, take your seats! The race is about to begin! But before the cars are lined up and the lever is pulled, let's journey back in time a bit to see how we got here...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuFmJkPlYReXT6GV01frESBFBTbAccwr4RtQ_kWo1mF6c4d1TZlmLpDoOzkZ4_Mk0wybt4vbILrPC67la9bMD9-Fkb5uFF9HAusXhJzF4cXboNA_EXBy3LqrVml_vWgY-7Hh8/s1600/IMG_20160603_184521867.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuFmJkPlYReXT6GV01frESBFBTbAccwr4RtQ_kWo1mF6c4d1TZlmLpDoOzkZ4_Mk0wybt4vbILrPC67la9bMD9-Fkb5uFF9HAusXhJzF4cXboNA_EXBy3LqrVml_vWgY-7Hh8/s320/IMG_20160603_184521867.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As any scout mom knows, a pinewood derby event begins long before race day--in our case, months before. Lawrence got his car kit back in March, but there was no date for the race set. Even so, we took initiative and started to get to work on his car. Back in April, the same weekend as the quarry climbing in Sacramento, we brought that pinewood derby car kit to Uncle Weston's house... for he is endowed with many woodworking tools, yea, saws of all kinds hath he in the garage. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN28v2cUgIEuZBWKo_qEIeP0Wwq9d09hg9-46s8OBkZoIyL7DIhMQeiZ3zHVukpCjqnyu83hLGpIi8uciu0K4FwEzHgBQis7dkcpAjXvM3qDqhKoSXMCI3QmwqiVz2MRIoJ9Ek/s1600/IMG_20160430_104637498.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN28v2cUgIEuZBWKo_qEIeP0Wwq9d09hg9-46s8OBkZoIyL7DIhMQeiZ3zHVukpCjqnyu83hLGpIi8uciu0K4FwEzHgBQis7dkcpAjXvM3qDqhKoSXMCI3QmwqiVz2MRIoJ9Ek/s320/IMG_20160430_104637498.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Lawrence sanding his axles on the drill press! Perfectly safe, I assure you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI5Uwf7iJx9kRRJRli_CZlvsXNfhjM9KIUeU2XF1EDnHCmIOHnbvn5R9xyk1jha_OHQE15x_RT8Ms35xl6aCH0xUjx04VyeGBmBK88el7L3dG59H1BstA-8P8ic7bryjwRRdn3/s1600/IMG_20160430_100601078_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI5Uwf7iJx9kRRJRli_CZlvsXNfhjM9KIUeU2XF1EDnHCmIOHnbvn5R9xyk1jha_OHQE15x_RT8Ms35xl6aCH0xUjx04VyeGBmBK88el7L3dG59H1BstA-8P8ic7bryjwRRdn3/s320/IMG_20160430_100601078_HDR.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
And here's Lawrence cutting his car shape out on the band saw, which is a significantly scarier instrument...<br />
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But don't worry, daddy's fingers are there to take the fall if something should go wrong...</div>
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The sisters of the cub scout hanging around that day could not resist trying to tell Larry what he should do to make his car fancy and awesome! Larry was not particularly interested in their wild ideas. But thanks again to Uncle Weston, he found scraps around the garage and helped each of my girls design and cut their own cars. </div>
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Dawna made an awesome pickup truck. Xochitl designed a classic race car with fins going up the back and everything. Jade wanted a little truck, and so she got a little half-sized flat bed to call her own. The cars got painted; we ordered extra pinewood derby car wheels for the girls' cars, and waited for a date to be set for the big day!</div>
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Finally, June 3 was date decided upon. But there was just one minor problem... our troop had no pinewood derby track. </div>
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Somehow, I volunteered myself to find out what track the other troops around the stake had used and where they were stored and figure out how to get one. My phone scavenger hunt led from Becca S. to Jeff A. to this guy named Larry S. </div>
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Larry S. was an electrical parts store owner in Fremont, getting ready to retire and downsize his shop. Way back when, he was involved in cub scouts and had stored in his shop for many years a pinewood derby track. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNumSuf-qArE9gTDtyQlqNiwLMIrE_74t7rgVfDvU2LS7hngEuineUKBssQ8ouwG0bCQgyKvd7E5Eq3sjSGHIq6agJafFtcL0bCTuqV_VGHO5Z3vHQm-wchppLnQpXcBvk4LsB/s1600/IMG_20160603_185245647.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNumSuf-qArE9gTDtyQlqNiwLMIrE_74t7rgVfDvU2LS7hngEuineUKBssQ8ouwG0bCQgyKvd7E5Eq3sjSGHIq6agJafFtcL0bCTuqV_VGHO5Z3vHQm-wchppLnQpXcBvk4LsB/s320/IMG_20160603_185245647.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And as it just so happens, our troop was on the hunt for one at the same time that he was trying to get rid of it. Perfect! And so it was that literally one week before our pinewood derby, I went to pick up a very fine hand-crafted track, along with loads of other goodies such as a winner's podium, cones, signs, and all manner of decorations. </div>
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All in all, thanks to Larry, S., we actually had a very nice pinewood derby. Had it not been for this fortuitous meeting, our derby would have been much less fancy... or may not have happened at all... Our little troop of ten boys was delighted by the event. The following Sunday, one of the boys even gave the event a "five star" rating.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxHK3LoldISz9DWcK2PxQkZiF_f72P6u_1ry_NoWL56gdk2XrSsL8xX0k08q0uG3syf2xXOxUMSg3KIw4RMdvKF5_qgTMuezllG2fDTrYhudUI9tm0qyBS5_NzNzloSwXsiNJ/s1600/IMG_20160603_192316735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxHK3LoldISz9DWcK2PxQkZiF_f72P6u_1ry_NoWL56gdk2XrSsL8xX0k08q0uG3syf2xXOxUMSg3KIw4RMdvKF5_qgTMuezllG2fDTrYhudUI9tm0qyBS5_NzNzloSwXsiNJ/s320/IMG_20160603_192316735.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
So, was this meeting Larry S. and finding a track at just the right moment a miracle? Well, that might be too strong a word to use. I sometimes like to call it a stroke of "guk," (rhymes with luck) meaning God Understands and Knows. He understood what we needed and understood how the parents and leaders of the troop were doing their best. And He knew how to align the timing to fill the needs of both parties. God indeed Understands and Knows what we need. As we are obedient, He'll nudge, align, and arrange things to make our life just a little easier. And that's what happened with this pinewood derby track thing...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcBk1BGFPcjPojs7eOn0h7ABTYzoquk_pJgERVSxGhysBQ_sd1LEs7h1BsFRWH1gOaOc0OzImHeKhFo1dP9CY8kWEpzGOMfBzb8gpm1hRed8p7OWGy8p4FK8qKErFfnZRRSGb/s1600/IMG_20160603_192108535_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcBk1BGFPcjPojs7eOn0h7ABTYzoquk_pJgERVSxGhysBQ_sd1LEs7h1BsFRWH1gOaOc0OzImHeKhFo1dP9CY8kWEpzGOMfBzb8gpm1hRed8p7OWGy8p4FK8qKErFfnZRRSGb/s320/IMG_20160603_192108535_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
So in the end, Troop 197 got to have their pinewood derby. Lawrence, with some assistance from dad's YouTube research on how to weight cars and bend axles, got second place for speed out of the ten boys!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMSoSlp0XYbyAhrPisoyXKw3vIwcoddpfQp11olcn-LH2tqMJQu7Vo_7gdcDznk8z-_72RFSyBv37cUelT-wttqTIj_lEi-DnXl6v6BNK9Rxahdx1Pqcuax8MF8Dxz4CZjUw-/s1600/IMG_20160603_193700079.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMSoSlp0XYbyAhrPisoyXKw3vIwcoddpfQp11olcn-LH2tqMJQu7Vo_7gdcDznk8z-_72RFSyBv37cUelT-wttqTIj_lEi-DnXl6v6BNK9Rxahdx1Pqcuax8MF8Dxz4CZjUw-/s320/IMG_20160603_193700079.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
And after the event, many many races were carried on late into the night! Fun times on the race track! Can't wait for next year's derby... and this time, we won't have to go on a wild hunt for a track :)<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8137403.post-24852034547880771842016-06-01T20:36:00.000-07:002016-06-05T21:38:57.948-07:00Terrifically Ten! Our darling daughter Dawna is a full decade old now! As a mom, it feels almost surreal to have a kid so big! She is an incredible girl, as anybody who has met her knows--far more than I could ever have imagined she would be!<br />
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Dawna is always so aware of having healthy, yet still special and fancy, treats for her birthday. This year, she wanted to make apple swans for her class. Jon and I made these a month ago for the Mormon prom dinner based on this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLXEiMIiF5E" target="_blank">YouTube Video</a>. We were all up late Tuesday night carving 18 of these babies (I insisted that the kids in her class could share them...).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikukR1cEzEEBQcy9MQEFx9Lw1eM_xppgI0-41pntne5Fg5TlG1nm-fmwQMmystm0oCFj50clK5ciPbECP1vdy2qOoYsh-ewh_KLaL3ntKT5Erk1VUFM5f0iJd2wz0Q4on8WbE4/s1600/IMG_20160601_093405258_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikukR1cEzEEBQcy9MQEFx9Lw1eM_xppgI0-41pntne5Fg5TlG1nm-fmwQMmystm0oCFj50clK5ciPbECP1vdy2qOoYsh-ewh_KLaL3ntKT5Erk1VUFM5f0iJd2wz0Q4on8WbE4/s320/IMG_20160601_093405258_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
All the kids in Mrs. Chapman's class were impressed and enjoyed their swans! Especially when they dipped the wing slices in caramel and peanut butter! Mmmmm.... <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGAQWJ4SO_fqD38wHDyH_UFVtlIcfTqh5mPSeCw1GAFWCLxtMb-yczk4fmDSOZLTprA5dymqQn7qYd5ezdnjB3juwRmp8w25BjFE97kEpcD8RD5zefg3FKSR9UsQ6OTc6xi91/s1600/IMG_20160601_095501695_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGAQWJ4SO_fqD38wHDyH_UFVtlIcfTqh5mPSeCw1GAFWCLxtMb-yczk4fmDSOZLTprA5dymqQn7qYd5ezdnjB3juwRmp8w25BjFE97kEpcD8RD5zefg3FKSR9UsQ6OTc6xi91/s320/IMG_20160601_095501695_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Dawna also loves naturally beautiful things! She asked for fresh flowers and an exotic fruit--so we found this Santa Claus melon! It was quite delicious! Very light green flesh with a good sweet taste--though I couldn't tell you if it was ripe or not...but we loved it! </div>
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And since Dawna's mom couldn't get her head on straight enough to figure out a birthday party, the primary presidency did it for her :) Sis. Ringlein invited the activity day girls plus a couple extra to come over after school to escape the heat in her pool!<br />
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I made this watermelon "cake." It's literally a cylinder of watermelon frosted with heavy whipping cream--whipped almost to butter status to make it thick enough to stay on the wet melon--and then topped with fruit and coconut cookies. </div>
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Just for proof--once it was cut through, you can see that it's just solid watermelon! (you can tell that I didn't exactly get a straight cut... so I filled it in with some whipping cream...) It was refreshing and delicious on a hot summery afternoon! And MAYBE healthier than cake... definitely<br />
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Hard to keep a candle lit in the afternoon breeze... </div>
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Happy Birthday, my dearest Dawna! Lover of good books, fruits and vegetables, and all things musical! I can hardly believe she's TEN!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16231548355220217321noreply@blogger.com0