To Tired to Title

Well the day began at 3:00am. Poor Noah had a high fever, swollen tonsils, and gagged and threw up after taking his medicine. We got him all cleaned up remedicated and put back into bed. 4:00am came and I just couldn't get back to sleep. I was supposed to hike Sombrero Peak with Mandy and our mutual friend who also is my neighbor who is moving this week and has not hiked to the top of the peak yet. I was going to cancel figuring I would be to tired-then I decided to just get up finish some chores and just go. I was the only one who had been to top, and it's one of those trails that isn't marked very well in some areas and nonexist in others, and I really wanted Chris and Mandy to be able to check it off their list too. I'm so glad I went. Early morning-when the stars are still shining is a pretty special time. I met up with Chris and we picked up Mandy. The three of us gals started on the trail around 5:30-we made it to the top of the peak around 7:30 and we were back home by 9:00. It was a little hairy on the way down-(think lots of medium sized boulders slipping out from under our feet. I ripped out the back of my pants sliding down the mountain. But it was really fun! No pictures of me...one was taken but it's pretty bad. So, here are my two adventurous friends.

Noah's fever has broken but he's feeling pretty bad still. I think we are going to spend the day reading and napping.

Hannah and I went to the zoo for the first grade field trip last Thursday. It was so fun! Hannah's piano is really coming along. She can now play Keep the Commandments and wants to play it every Family Home Evening. I'm really proud of her. Piano and sewing I really can't help her with at all-but she loves it and does most of her practicing on the piano all on her own accord.

im startingggg tooo ffffffffaaaaaadddeeeee awayyyyyyyyyyyyy.

Mel

Random Ramblings and Epiphanal Moments

We slid back into life relatively gracefully... Well it felt more like stepping into a whirlwind after experiencing the slow pace of vacation in Hawaii. The kids have had a funky something. Hannah's consisted of high fever for three days followed by a heat rash on her trunk area and a sinus infection. Noah has shown slight lethargy during the day followed by extreme lethargy in the late afternoon and a high fever that lasts for only a couple hours. Wakes up in the morning fine then repeats the cycle again. Hmmmm. Jared is busy with work and church and has fully recovered from his sunburn.:) I've been busy volunteering at the school, trying to keep up with all the photography business that has come my way. Which has been great! It's a continual learning process for me. I get so anxious before a shoot though-especially one where I'm getting paid. I'm pretty cheap-but I still feel like I'm winging it. If I'm winging it-the session should be free. If they like the pictures enough to buy them then I can charge more for the prints. Ah hah! You have all just witnessed a moment of epiphany. See, this is why I like writing- blah blah blah then wham it hits me. Feel free to comment on my epiphany-here are a few pictures of the last two weeks worth of work.

I really enjoy taking pictures and getting to know families. Okay- I LOVE IT! However-I know I really need work on the technical aspects of photography. There is so much to learn. There is so much I don't know. This is what becomes overwhelming for me. Each photo shoot I come away with a little more insight. Which is good-but should I be excepting $$ when I'm still gathering insight? Bottom line I think I would be able to sleep better the night before a shoot knowing that no money would exchange hands until the final product was approved and desired.

HAWAII

We had an amazing time! Here are the highlights from our trip and how we spent our time away from home.

Three days of diving...

*We were not diving with the humpback whale. A fellow diver stuck his face in the water and we handed him our camera.

Almost everyday afforded us whale watching. This female and her calf greeted us when we were on the dive boat. The picture above is her hanging out beneath our boat.

Gliding through canyons and over the sea.

Long drives to nowhere...

Enjoying the local talent and heritage...

Reflecting on our greatest blessings and privileges...

We had a great time! We miss the ocean, but are so glad to be home with Hannah and Noah. The cruise was fun despite the drunk, grumpy, and half naked Seniors that seemed to make up 80% of the ships patronage. Jared and I loved having breakfast, lunch and dinner together every day. While Jared was in class on the ship I was able to find a quiet corner of the ship and get lost in Persuasion. There are 495 pictures not show here...and hours of storytelling I'll spare you. If you would like to see more pictures of our adventures go to http://picasaweb.google.com/mel620/BestOfHawaii

Bottom line we had an AWESOME time, and we didn't DIE...

Aloha!

Mel

TWO MORE DAYS!

I can't believe we leave in two days! And what am I doing right now in preparation- Figuring out how to have a playlist on my blog and writing a new post. In my defense I will say I needed a little emotional unwind time. I just waved goodbye to Malea and her family after a wonderful five day visit with them. Five days just wasn't enough. Sniff sniff. We hiked, we shopped, we lunched, we laughed, we cooked,we cleaned up puke,we fell, and I picked cholla out of her underarm. It was great!! I'm sad it's over. I suppose spending a week in HAWAII with my amazing husband will cheer me up though. I'm finally past the- We have a higher probability of dying and orphaning our children by flying across the ocean and spending over a week without them mode. That was rough. I don't think I have ever experienced anxiety attacks like that before. Thank you to all those who witnessed my madness so gracefully. I am now onto the -WHOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!! We are going hang gliding over canyons and ocean side cliffs. We are going night diving with Manta Rays. We are spending a week together just the two of us in one of the most romantic places in the world! No worries! Almost... I really think I have duel personalities sometimes-minus the blackout periods. Keeps life interesting though. So I decided Hawaii would be the theme of my first blogger playlist. Sorry there are only two songs-had to pick the chillens up from school.

Aloha,
Mel

Recipes

Okay here they are enjoy!

Aparagus Mimosa Salad

Vinaigrette
2 tbl lemon juice
2tbl white wine vinegar
2tbl olive oil
2tsp Dijon mustard
1tsp sugar
1 garlic clove pressed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. For vinaigrette, combine lemon juice, vinegar, oil, mustard, sugar, garlic, and black pepper. refrigerate until ready to use

Salad
1 1/2 lbs asparagus spears trimmed
1/4 cup sweet roasted red peppers drained cut into thin strips
1 hard cooked egg sliced
lettuce leaves

Yummiest Jello Salad
2 cups coarsly crushed pretzels
3/4 cup margarine or butter melted
1 cup, plus 3 Tbl sugar, divided
1(8oz)pkg cream cheese, softened
2 10oz pkgs, frozen raspberries, thawed
1 6oz pkg rasberry jello
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup mini marshmellows
1 8oz carton Cool Whip

Combine crushed pretzels, margarine and 3tbl sugar. Press in 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 400 for 8 minutes. Cool. Beat cream chesse and 1 cup sugar. Fold in Cool whip. Spread over cooled pretzle crust. Refrigerate. Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Add marshmellows and sti until melted. add raspberries with thir juice. Let stand 10 minutes. Pour over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate.

Easter Traditions

Me: "Noah-open your eyes!"
Noah: "I can't the sun's in my eyes"!!!!
Me: "Just real quick, one two three open."
Noah: "It's too bright, I'm not opening my eyes."

That's better....

Well, I'm pretty big on traditions-and am always looking for something to add to make the holidays special. Christmas and Easter are the two I probably put the most effort into. Growing up we had a picnic every Easter. Some I enjoyed and some not so much-but I always liked that I could count on the Easter picnic. It was a tradition. Well now I like to have a picnic the day before Easter-though that has not worked out the last two years. I still like the idea-however this year the Saturday before Easter went a little different than those in the past and I liked it. It really worked for us. I had planned-(knowing a desert picnic wasn't going to happen)that we would go up to see the Easter pageant on Friday night-then Saturday once we realized Friday wouldn't work out. Then we cancelled all together knowing the kids would be asleep by time we got there and we wouldn't get home till after midnight-not a great start to our Easter. So.............................We did yard work, took the kids to the community Easter Egg hunt, rode bikes together,did more yard work, and had a really nice dinner together on my Nana's china. Which brings me to our families traditions that we have started and really enjoy year after year.



The Jerusalem Dinner

I have made this more elaborate in the past but this year I kept it really simple.

Fish

Dried Apricots

Lentil Soup(from a can)

Matzo bread

Ashkenazi Jewish Charoset-chopped apple, walnuts, cinnamon, honey, grape juice



We do this to get a feel for some of the foods the Savior would have eaten during the Feast of the Passover-His last supper. We usually have this dinner sometime during the week leading up to Easter. This year we had it the night before. We first heard about this activity in Janet Hales book-A Christ Centered Easter. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. It's fantastic. Another good Easter book is Max Lucados - Small Gift in Gods Hands.



The other tradition we have picked up is numbering Easter eggs 1-12 place symbols of events leading up to the resurrection of Christ with accompanying scriptures. LOVE IT! The kids really enjoy it. They get to hunt for eggs and have some substance as well. We did this activity on Easter after dinner. Though this year didn't go quite as smooth a previous years-it's a little more complicated with little hands.



We tried out the resurrection cookie activity, and well....we probably won't do that again. I've heard about this for so many years, maybe I've built it up to much. We'll see if the kids miss it next year.



This year we had family and friends over for a ham and potatoes Easter meal. It was really nice to have everyone in our home. Jared and I provided the ham, rolls and sour cream potatoes-and other provided some amazing salads and desserts. I will soon have the recipes to share. (On a side note I have walked 8 miles today so far in attempt to ward off the consequences of my gluttony last night.)



Some activities I have heard about is getting up before sunrise Easter morning and having a sunrise breakfast and discussing the Saviors' life. I think we will give this one a whirl next year.



I think we will also try and see the pageant the weekend before Easter to kick off the week. Instead of trying to cram in a trip to Phoenix right before Easter.

All in all, I felt we had a meaningful Easter and quality time together as a family. For that I am grateful.

The Botanical Gardens

We went to the botanical gardens today with the Hamiltons.

The Butterfly Exhibit

Lot's of butterflies. In fact one was so big, it looked like a bird in my peripheral vision as it swooped in and landed on my eye. I yelled and swatted it away-(which is a big no no at the gardens) My eye still hurts. This thing was huge!!!

The Worm Box

The kids loved this. They actually only found one worm but really enjoyed digging in the soil. Okay, I have to rant just a little. We were in the designated "CHILDRENS AREA". Noah found a Century Plant husk and was playing with it. A woman of the grumpy, know it all,children should be seen and not heard variety scolded Noah and said not to touch anything-it may disrupt the surroundings etc... etc... At first I was apologetic-until I realized she didn't even work there and AND we were in the childrens area. You know it's interesting all the talk on childhood obesity/laziness/lack of imagination that seems to plaguing the children of this age. The children who are not welcome to hike on the trails, ride bikes in the street, or otherwise make their presence known in any area where children are not solely designated to be. Well-I will take my children hiking, bird watching, and exploring. We will visit art museums, botanical gardens, and the theatre. Further more I will stop making my children only ride on the sidewalk in front of our house. Play in the street! I'm paying for it too! Slow down people, and if your reflexes are a little lax-maybe you should stop driving. I am sick and tired.... Okay, I'm done for now. Here are some fun pics.

Do worms bite?.....

The gardens are very inspiring. Jared and I can't even seem to master the grass patch in the back yard-but we do have garden aspirations. A yard full of edible landscape.... I want a salsa garden, an Italian herb garden and a salad garden would be nice too. I would settle for a salsa garden though. We also want citrus trees. Orange and Lemon. Hannah and Noah planted seeds from a squash, tomato, and bell pepper. We had them in cups and various potters along our front window. They sprouted and looked really promising. Then I put them outside where they froze then burnt up. I did hear later that they probably wouldn't have produced anyway. Most grocery store produce is-"sterile". Those are my words. The person who I spoke with sounded much more intelligent on the matter and is an avid gardener.

The weather is amazing right now. I just want to lay outside all day long...........................................

-Mel