pure imagination

thinger

2011-12-08T23:03:00.003-07:00

Annie was reading today and read the word "finger." She was confused and wondered why it said "finger" instead of "thinger." (she has always said thinger, and we never corrected her 'cause we thought it was cute). I told her the word was finger and it was correct in the book. She was devastated and started crying thinking that she wasn't smart. I don't know how she's going to take it when she finds out about santa...

2011-05-20T14:53:00.002-06:00

it's been my turn for teaching the neighborhood preschool the last few weeks, and the kids have some placemats that they can sit on to keep them in order. At least, that's the idea. Well, on one crazy day the kids were having a hard time not running around so I told them that they had to stand on their mats or they were in hot lava. It worked ok for a while until they went overboard with the idea and every time anyone was anywhere off of their mat they would have to yell at the offender that they are in the lava. it created more commotion than the kids just being off their mat.

this is just one of my great ideas that kind of backfired on me.

another such moment occurred when i was teaching school in logan. i had the kindergartners in my class at the time and they had a lockdown. i don't remember if it was a drill or real but we had to cover the window in the door in our room, and hide under the table or something. i, in my brilliance, thought that it might be too scary to tell them that there might be a suspicious person walking around so i said that we were pretending that there was a lion outside and we were hiding from it. yeah. pretty soon there were crying kindergartners scared that they were about to be eaten by a lion.

don't worry. i've got lots more good ideas.

love this girl!

2011-05-19T22:12:00.004-06:00

yes those "socks" are done with marker

eva's prayer the other day...

"heavy father, thank you for this day. bless mom, dad, joshie, and annie, bless the food, name of jesus christ amen. end of story."

some other recent evaisms...
"my boobies are hungry."
"my heart is starting to die! i need some food. healthy food from our garden."
"i'm gonna go poo, then i'm gonna do a cheer."
"aye aye captain mom" (followed by a salute)

always entertaining!

2010-11-03T17:27:00.002-06:00

Eva: mom why do we need lotion?

Me: so your skin can be soft and smooth.

Eva: oh, like the sidewalk?

Yes, exactly like the sidewalk.

sent to the office

2010-09-13T12:13:00.002-06:00

I had to pick up Annie from the office at school today.

On my way out the door to pick her up at school at the regular time, I got a call from the school saying that it was early out day, and that Annie was sitting in the office.

When I walked in, the secretary said "are you here to pick up a kindergartner?" I said "Yes" as I looked and saw a row of forgotten kindergartners sitting, waiting for their unfit parents to come retrieve them.

At least I wasn't the only one who forgot their kid. I looked at the row of kindergartners, and picked out the cutest one to take home. Luckily it was my kid.

Sorry Annie. I'll try to remember next Monday.

Earth Day Resolutions

2010-04-30T13:36:00.004-06:00

I know this is late, but what kind of Environmental Studies Major would I be if I didn't post about Earth Day?

This year to do my part to help out our planet, I am going to try to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer in a more timely manner so that I don't have to wash the same load of laundry 2, 3, or even 4 times because it gets too stinky from sitting in the washer for days at a time.

Starting tomorrow.

That and not driving anywhere or really leaving the house for that matter because I have 3 kids under the age of 5. My energy is best spent doing something more productive than hauling the kidlings around Target or to the library. You know, something more productive...like doing laundry.

Just doing my part for Mother Earth.

sun days

2010-03-13T14:23:00.002-07:00

today after eva's shower, i was getting her dressed and she asked if we were going to church today. i told her that no we weren't going to church because it's saturday and we go to church on sundays. she thought about it for a minute then said "well it's nice and sunny today."

Best. Mom. Ever.

2010-03-09T13:48:00.003-07:00

I just opened the microwave to throw in some popcorn and I found a bowl of soup I was heating up for Annie...left there from last night! I never gave it to her, and she didn't ask. Don't call DCFS on me. I'll feed her today I promise.

thanks panda

2010-01-15T12:07:00.004-07:00

last night i was making a recipe that called for soy sauce. it was coconut-lime chicken soup if you are interested. i looked in the fridge, and realized that i didn't have any. i remembered that at dan's work they have a basket in the lunchroom with all the little condiment packets that people get with their take-out food. i called him to bring some soy sauce home if they had any. he said he would, and if not, he would stop by the store on the way home to get some. so a little while later he showed up with some panda express soy sauce packets and told me that they didn't have any at work. instead of going to the grocery store, he had just gone to panda express and asked for some soy sauce.

nutrition 101

2010-01-04T10:50:00.002-07:00

setting: lunchtime. eva goes to the fridge to get some yogurt to eat.

dan: "no yogurt, we're going to have lunch."

me: "i don't care if she eats yogurt for lunch."

dan: "no. we are going to have a nice healthy meal."

me: "ok you fix lunch for us"

dan looks around in the fridge and pantry for a while...

dan: "do we have any corndogs?"

halloween joke

2009-10-17T13:51:00.001-06:00

a little cartoon i made for your enjoyment.

costa rica day 7

2009-09-30T21:38:00.005-06:00

may 7, 2008
before leaving la fortuna we decided to hike to a waterfall. we got up in the morning and went and were the first ones there. we had the whole place to ourselves for a while so we played in the river downstream from the waterfall and watched the blue morpho butterfly flutter around. about an hour later the place started getting busy with visitors, and we hiked out. the hike down to the waterfall wasn't too bad, because it was all downhill, but coming out was straight up made even more difficult by carrying the kids.

after the waterfall, we all piled in the van to travel across the country to the caribbean side of costa rica where we would be staying for most of the rest of the trip. before we left we had some tentative arrangements but nothing concrete for places to stay, and dan's co-workers gave him some grief about that. they thought it was weird for us to just go down there with no real plans and wing-it...especially travelling with 6 kids.

so we asked directions on the best way to get to puerto viejo and we were told to head in a general direction and then ask for directions along the way. the roads in costa rica are poorly labeled when they are labeled at all so it made for an interesting road trip. i speak spanish as does my brother-in-law, and my sister manages ok with her knowledge of italian, but one of my favorite times was when we sent dan out to ask for directions. we were out in the countryside where they didn't speak english, and for some reason we thought it would be a good idea to send the non-spanish speaker out to ask for directions. needless to say we went a little ways further and then asked again for directions.

we were under the impression that it would take us 5 or 6 hours to get there, but it ended up taking us at least 10 hours to get to the house we were renting just outside of puerto viejo.

costa rica day 6

2009-09-30T16:46:00.004-06:00

the next morning we had arranged to go on a little rafting trip for the morning. it was a really gentle river so we just floated along and looked at the wildlife. we saw sloths, bats, howler monkeys and even a crocodile. the funny (or not so funny) thing is that part way through our trip we stopped to swim in the river for a little while, and the kids were floating down in their life jackets and swimming and stuff. we got back in the boats to continue the trip and right around the next bend was the crocodile. also, our trusty guides decided to take our inflatable raft right up and nudge the crocodile. i could just imagine it taking a bite at our sturdy ship.

when we pulled out of the river we stopped by some peoples house where they had made us fried plantains and some cheese. it was pretty tasty. they also had some brand new little puppies that entertained the little kiddos.

later that evening dan and i left our kids with my sister and we went to find some hot springs. there are lots around, and we didn't really want to pay $50 to go so we found a reasonably priced one. it took us a while to find it with the directions given us and with the limited signs. eventually we found it, and it was fun, but basically just a big hot tub.

i had been to costa rica previously when i was in college and we went to a really cool hot springs that had beautiful plants and more natural surroundings and waterfalls and stuff, but we paid a lot more to go to that one. so i was a little dissapointed this time when it was like going to a community pool. you get what you pay for i guess. we had wanted to find some natural hot springs along the river, but weren't able to pry that information out of the locals.

more on costa rica....

2009-09-30T16:18:00.003-06:00

so, over a year ago we went to costa rica and i never finished writing about our adventures. well, i am going to attempt to recall what happend on the rest of the trip and show a few more pictures.

so, i left off the last post about costa rica arriving in la fortuna. so we spent the night there and in the morning after a breakfast of fresh fruit and gallo pinto (rice and beans) at the hotel we headed into town. my brother in law decided he wanted to see if any stores in town sold a backpack to carry their 1 and 1/2 year old little boy. we asked at numerous stores and nobody really knew what we were talking about. so we decided to abandon the idea and head off toward volcan arenal and go for a hike (ok so really more of a walk since we had 4 kids under age 4 with us).

arenal is an active volcano, so you can see the boulders being spewed out of the top of the volcano, and hear the eruptions. we never had a clear night where we could see the volcano, but during the day we were able to have some good views. we hiked to where there was an old lava flow from about 10 years ago or something. it was cool to be able to see an active volcano.

down with ticketmaster!

2009-08-19T11:02:00.002-06:00

so last night we bought our tickets to pearl jam in salt lake. the tickets themselves weren't cheap, but then on top of that there is a $3.00 facility charge per ticket, and an $11.60 convienience charge per ticket! ok ok so i go to check out and if i want to print the tickets at home it's an extra couple of dollars so i went with the free mail option, then there was the order processing fee of 5 bucks. holy cow. just tell me up front how much the tickets are going to be. don't tell me one price then add on an extra $15. ok so that's how i really feel. however, i am really excited to see pearl jam.

American Dork

2009-08-18T22:43:00.002-06:00

I hate that the D is right next to the F on the keyboard because I always seem to type "american dork" for my address (you know, instead of american fork...which is way cooler than american dork). I am already a little self-conscious about living in utah county, and this key placement doesn't seem to help.

doing our part in the kingdom

2009-04-29T11:06:00.002-06:00

so the other day (actually the other week), dan and i went snowboarding up at park city. we had stopped by the cabin to say hi to my mom, and apparently someone who had stayed at the cabin had left a whole bunch of beer. my mom kept a few for herself (you know for marinating meat...) and gave the rest to us to put in the garbage on our way out. well, we thought we would go make some friends at the ski resort, so we wrote on the box "have one on us", and "free to a loving home" and the obligatory "don't drink and drive" and decided to set out the box in the parking lot so people could feel the love after a day of skiing. well we left the box out while getting ready, but there were just people with little kids and stuff around. i decided that we shouldn't leave it by our car in case there was some sort of law against handing out alcohol to anyone and everyone who wanted to happen by. anyway...i chickened out, so we just put the box in the back of the car. after we got home, we put the box in the carport, but dan decided we better get rid of it before the weeblos come over, so he took it over to the neighbors house and gave it to them. they were appreciative. well, i guess i just want to know if we can count this as "missionary work", you know, contacting the less active/nonmembers even if it was to give them beer. maybe i'll mention it at the next ward council meeting. what do you think?

i am failing as a parent

2009-02-28T19:00:00.002-07:00

I obviously need to get my kids into gaming more, you know, to prepare them for the future.

Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Children For The Apocalypse?

fire

2009-02-23T13:53:00.003-07:00

dan's little brother is on a mission in the detroit area. a couple of weeks ago, their apartment complex burned down. here is his letter describing what happened. i hope he doesn't care that i posted it, but i thought it was pretty good.

Elder Simpson woke me up at 3:30 am and our window glowed with orange light. As I gazed through the blinds I find drips of burning vinyl siding flying past the window. we get up and run outside, the only thing grabbed is the cell phone to call 911 and the mission president. Upon exiting we see a raging inferno high on the third floor. The fire was growing fast in the cold breeze. Molten vinyl dripped onto my shirt and a spot on my foot. we watched as soon we found our own apartment blocked by flames. We stood and prayed. and then started screaming to wake everyone up. everything was left inside. car keys, wallets, shoes. I was in pajamas and Elder Simpson only was wearing shorts and a tee-shirt. As we stood, Elder Simpson only could repeat, "Our door is on Fire! Our door is on Fire, Elder!" were called over to the side of the building by a man, where we found a woman and a man holding a baby. the woman apparently had taken her shirt off to cover the baby. Thick heavy smoke billowed out the apartment. the man calls for us to jump on his shoulders. I tell Elder Simpson "You're lighter, You go." He fearlessly climbs up the man and reaches halfway up the railing. The woman in histeria, is hesitant to hand the baby down. off to the right a window explodes and glass shoots everywhere. The smoke is only getting worse and Elder Simpson can hardly even keep his eyes open to help the baby. We are hollering to send the baby down first. The woman hands the baby to the man and he leans way over and hands the baby to Elder Simpson who soon loses his balance atop this guy. he reaches out and catches himself on the railing with his left hand, and with his right he wraps around the baby and pulls her in close. I run over to him and he lowers the baby to me. I looked as I was holding a little 7 week old crying baby named Kennedy with burns on her face. Next the mother climbs over the railing and climbs onto Elder Simpson he lowers her down and she grabs onto a little fence nearby. by the time she is down, a detroit edison truck(electric company) pulls up and grabs a ladder and helps lower the man down. the woman jumps into a police car as the officer calls for an ambulance. she was heavily burned. and taken to the burn unit in Flint. We take a stand back and watch the fire growing. the two fire truck spray the fire with everything they have and soon an enormous truck drives up. it extends hydrolic arms for stability and after a few minutes of hooking up as many fire hoses as it can it raises a large ladder with two huge soaking hoses. there is someone trapped right above our apartment and the two smaller trucks spray and block the fire around the window and the large truck extends and breaks through a window and the lady jumps onto the platform with the fire fighters. she climbs down and the ladder takes its place above the fire and begins unleashing its wrath. at a rate of 1000 gallons of water per Minute the fire now has a worthy opponent. bit by bit the fire is calmed as the staircases become waterfalls and our apartment becomes a wadding pool. at about 4:00 I call President Rawson and then Bishop Juarez. We ask for some clothes and something to eat. At this time, we are freezing and finally somebody from a neighboring complex gives us blankets of which I wrap myself up and stand upon to give my poor raw freezing feet a rest. We decide to go to the Apartment Clubhouse which has been opened to shelter the now homeless. I am hungry, malclothed, and pretty much have nothing anymore. somebody brings in some bread and cereal. the Bishop arrives as donates us his shoes and coats that appeared nearly new. another man donates some pants that were 4 sizes too big. A whole community begins awaking and pouring out their support. The American Red Cross arrives and extends some relief and gives us a voucher for some clothes and food. In time we are given a new apartment in the opposite end of the complex. The Relief Society President Sister Hagan comes and brings us some clothes and groceries. The Mission comes up and brings Desks and matresses. The fire has been out for a little while and we go the the apartment which only sustained smoke and water damage and we can ask the firemen to grab anything we need we get keys cameras clothes books; all covered with the horrible aroma of burning plastic. A few hours later as they are boarding up the apartments we run in there and have about 7 minutes to get everything else we want. I find my headlamp and begin sloshing through the dark apartment looking for everything i think salvagable. I grabb the Area Book which holds the precious records of hundreds of missionaries efforts in the Area and my journal soaked through and through. and now we return with our treasure in our brand new Chevy Malibu with a melted bumper and headlights. And that the Way it is. Love Elder Bolke

my sister-in-law posted some pictures and media links here.

new slang

2009-01-23T13:41:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

in this episode, michele attempts to play the guitar and sing the song "new slang" by the shins. disclaimer: this is a first time recording, editing, and first thing in the morning as well. but anyway, enjoy.

three little birds

2008-12-11T21:13:00.002-07:00

annie loves the song "three little birds" by bob marley. here is her rendition.

enjoy.

can you feel the temperature drop?

2008-11-20T21:17:00.002-07:00

i play the flute in the wasatch winds symphony, a community band here in utah county. as i was walking out of rehearsal to my car tonight one of the other flute players was just leaving and rolled down her window and enthusiastically tells me "you're awesome", she then continued with "your presence exudes coolness." i was taken back a little bit with this compliment, but then recovered and stuttered something real cool like "hey thanks" or something like that. i mean, i like to think i'm cool, but it's always nice to have some reassurance from the outside. i won't let it go to my head though because i do realize that is was a compliment from a fellow band geek.

if anyone wants to get in the holiday spirit in early december come to the christmas concert.

wasatch winds symphonic band

"a holiday spectacular"

monday, december 8, 2008

7:30 p.m.

american fork high school

catalina island

2008-11-11T22:06:00.004-07:00

last thursday we went drove down to california to go to catalina island. we went with a couple of friends, and NO KIDS! i don't even remember the last time we had a weekend without the kids. thanks to mom and dad, and dan's parents for watching them. anywho here is a recap of our trip....

we drove all day thursday down to huntington beach where we stayed at the hilton across the street from the beach. it was pretty nice, except for the beds were double beds which made for a cozy night for our friends that went down with us since they weren't married. they weren't even dating or anything. they are both married but to other people. anywho, mike brought down his blender so he could make smoothies. i thought it was kinda weird that he wanted to pack his blender, but i sure enjoyed the smoothies for breakfast.

mike with his famous blender

well, it took us a little bit longer than we thought to get to the ferry in long beach, so we missed our 10:00 ferry to catalina island, and were put on the 12:15. alicia decided she needed to roll out some muscles in the middle of the terminal, until some guy made her move out of the main walkway. we had our bikes with us, so we went for a bike ride and found some lunch before returning to get on the ferry.

alica

dan and i in front of the catalina express ferry (dan is being extra safe by wearing his helmet).

avalon bay

when we got there, we rode our bikes to the hotel, checked in, then walked around the town. most of the transportation around town is done by golf cart, so we rented one and went for a tour of the town. we drove the course for the triathlon we would be doing the next day.

overlooking the harbor

that afternoon, we rode one lap of the bike course to get a feel for it. it was up a canyon, it wasn't real steep, but steep enough that it made me wish i had a granny gear on my bike to make it easier to pedal. then we rode the run course. all of this prep work made me nervous for the race because i am not too good with hills, and this was a pretty hilly course. anywho, the next morning we got over to where the race was going to start, set up our transition areas, and shimmied into our wetsuits. a little bit before the race was going to begin, mike realized that he had his wetsuit on backwards, and had to take it off, and put it on correctly. dan was in the second wave to start and i was in the last, so i sent dan off and hoped that he wouldn't drown. he did awesome though. so we swam in the ocean up one side of the dock, out to some bouys, then back to shore. then hopped on our bikes for a 3 lap course up the canyon and back down. while riding up the canyon i was wondering why i always think it is a good idea to sign up for these triathlons...i still haven't figured it out (it's kind of addicting), coming down the canyon was fun though. dan lapped me on the bike, and actually finished the whole thing before i even began the run. the run had a couple of long steep hills, so i ended up walking part of it. i still need to work on running a lot. anywho, i ended up with 8th place in my division, and dan with 13th in his (his was a lot tougher division than mine). our friends also did well.

after the race.

we had tickets for the 7:00 ferry that night, but decided to trade them for sunday morning. so since we had the afternoon, dan and i decided to go diving. we rented some gear, and went for a dive among the giant kelp forests. it was pretty cool. the deepest we went was about 70 feet. that's the deepest i've ever been. there were lots of fish, and of course the giant columns of kelp. it had taken us so long to get the gear and stuff so it was dark by the time we came out. we had lights and stuff, and there were plenty of other divers nearby, but i still get nervous in the dark so we surfaced.

we had cold stone ice cream for dinner, then went to a movie. the theater was way cool, the ceiling was dome shaped and there were murals painted all over. there was even an old organ right up near the front.

the next morning we packed our bags and got on our bikes to ride over and catch the ferry, when we found out that the winds were too strong so our boat was cancelled. we rode over to the dock anyway and changed our tickes for 2:00. well, that boat was cancelled too. so finally, about 3:00 we were advised that all of the ferries for the day had been cancelled, so we had to stay another night on the island. the hotel we were staying in gave us half off since we were stranded, so that was cool. that afternoon dan was able to go out to one of the sailboats with a guy we met the day before. he lives on his boat, and when he found out that was dan's dream he invited him to go and check out the boat. they took some kayaks out and dan hung out on the sailboat and swabbed the deck and stuff, while i went shopping.

dan and peter going out to the sailboat.

earlier that day we had seen the missionaries and found out that they had a group that meets at the bank at 4:00, so we went to the services where there was one other member besides us and the missionaries. i guess that area has only been open since january and they have had 13 baptisms, but all were spanish speaking and attended the 6:00 services. the services were about a half hour long. we sang a song, took the sacrament, the missionaries each shared a thought, and then we sang again and that was it. it was great. the missionaries invited us back to the spanish services, and asked me to share my testimony. we went back at 6:00, and there were a couple of families there that we were able to meet. we had the same services, but in spanish. they did have sunday school after that for about a half hour. it was pretty cool.

so the next morning we were finally able to get on our ferry. the seas still had some big swells, so they were handing out puke bags, and on the deck below us there were people taking turns puking into the garbage can. it was awesome. anywho, we made it back to the mainland, and drove all day and finally reached home at about midnight last night. we had a good time, and it was fun to get to know alicia and mike better. i went to pick up the girls this morning at my mom's house, and when i got there the girls looked at me, then went right back to doing whatever they were doing before. i asked annie if she missed me, she said "nope". well, at least it's nice to know i was missed while i was gone.

october

2008-11-11T21:40:00.003-07:00

stuart and i did the lake powell triathlon. he was brave and did the olympic distance, i did the sprint distance. i was scared because i thought it was going to be pretty flat, but there were some good sized hills. it was fun. i ended up with 3rd place in my division. they gave me a medal and i ran before they could take it away. a kid i went to elementary school with won the whole thing for the olympic distance, and one of the kids i coached on swim team won his age group. stu did awesome for not having run in a couple of years.

the girls on halloween. well, this was actually taken the weekend before when we went to jon and nicole's halloween party. on halloween we went trick or treating at dan's work, then dan took the girls around to a few neighbors. they thought it was great.

barack and michelle (c'mon, use your imagination!)

we went to go pick out pumpkins, and the girls had so much fun. annie's was carved to look like a panda bear.

this was me on halloween night (i'm a stick person). after dan got back from taking the girls trick or treating, i made annie go out again with me so i could walk around in my costume after dark.

catch-up

2008-11-11T21:23:00.004-07:00

so i know i've been a blogger slacker lately...so here's a quick recap of the last few months.

september:

dan and i did the summit triathlon. they gave me a 3rd place medal, then changed their minds and i ended up with 5th place. at least i got a picture of myself with the medal before it was stripped from me.

i also did the timp tri club swim across deer creek. it was about a 2 mile swim (round trip) across the lake and back.

we went to logan for our annual tradition of the demolition derby. we also stopped in brigham city for peaches. i think this was annie's 4th demolition derby. yeah, we're pretty white trash.

dan had a birthday, and i made him this awesome cake. i had seen pictures of maisy's that she made for xander's b-day, and i thought it would be appropriate for dan since his birthday is on national talk like a pirate day.

i sprained my ankle while running in the dark. it was sprained pretty badly, and i skinned up my knee pretty good too. this was a few days after.

we went up to midway to emily (dan's sister) and nate's cabin house where they reside on the weekends. they made some yummy tacos. we went on a walk, and the leaves were beautiful.

for something interesting to read

2008-10-19T22:47:00.003-06:00

since i am too lazy to post something of my own...you can read this if you haven't already read it.

tennis anyone?

2008-10-07T22:33:00.002-06:00

"tennis is a gay sport anyway, you can quote me on that"

dan's comment when we were discussing some of the bond propositions for american fork city, one of which apparently included tennis courts or something.

don't vote...

2008-10-02T13:44:00.000-06:00

threehead

2008-08-26T10:04:00.003-06:00

last night we went to maceys to stock up on food storage items and as a reward for the girls not having too many tantrums we got ice cream cones. while we were eating them, annie missed her mouth and ended up with ice cream on her forehead. this morning she was reminiscing about our fun trip to the grocery store and how she got ice cream on her threehead.

costa rica day 4

2008-07-26T14:10:00.002-06:00

lets see if i remember our trip since it has been so long since i have posted about it...

sunday may 4th. (jaco to la fortuna)

we woke up and decided that since we had spent the night at a hotel right on the beach, we had to at least go down to the ocean for a little while before heading back towards alajuela. we walked across the parking lot and onto the beach at about 7:00 in the morning. we were the only ones in sight. it was pretty cool. the water warm, but the girls weren't too sure about playing in the water yet. annie just wanted to build a sandcastle up by where we had left the towels. we stayed for a little while then decided we had better leave to get the rental car back to alajuela by noon.

we made it back, and had the rental car guy drop us off at the airport where we waited for a couple of hours for chame, jon and family to arrive.

we met up with those guys, rented a big 12 passenger van and started off toward la fortuna, north of the san jose area. we drove for an hour or so, singing songs along the way, then stopped for some dinner in san ramon (i think). we drove for a few more hours on winding narrow roads until we arrived in la fortuna.

annie's quotes

2008-07-26T13:58:00.003-06:00

a few quotes from annie lately:

"I found pearl jam between my toes"

"girls go to hello kitty school, boys go to dinosaur school"

"i want the nice mom (or the nice mary poppins - if she is being jane or michael that day)"

costa rica day 3

2008-06-04T19:38:00.007-06:00

costa rica day 3

saturday may 3: woke up this morning and, after a refreshing shower, went out in search of breakfast. we walked through the outdoor market where vendors were selling mostly vegetables and fruit and stuff, but we also saw a lady selling hats. we tried a few on annie (she had claimed dan's hat as her own) but she always would say that it didn't fit. so we gave up and continued our search for food. we found a bakery and bought some juice and some bakery goods and sat outside and ate breakfast near the dog that was foaming at the mouth.

on the way back to the hotel we walked through the market again. amongst all of the costarican vendors there was this white lady wearing a bonnet. yep a quaker lady. apparently further north in costa rica near monteverde there is a big settlement of quakers. anyway she was selling bread and jam and looked a little out of place, but i guess so did we. there was also a guy on top of a truck feeding sticks through a machine. we came to the conclusion that it was sugar cane and he was juicing them. we didn't try the sugar juice, but we probably should have.

well we packed up our stuff and headed toward manuel antonio national park. it is a park on the beach that has some trails through the rainforest. we drove the windy road from quepos to manuel antonio. when we got close to the park there was an official-looking guy in an orange vest and a name tag showing people where to park. we got suspicious when one of the other guys (not official looking) came by to tell us that it cost 2000 colones (about $4) to park. we watched everyone else and they were paying, so we decided to pay the guy because we didn't want them to be mad at us (and our rental car). so we walked toward the entrance to the park and asked some guides at the entrance if the car parker guys were official, and they said "no, but they will watch your car for you." i hate feeling like i'm beeing taken advantage of because i'm a tourist, but our car was still there when we got back so i guess it was worth it.

this was outside the door of our car when we arrived

at high tide you have to cross through some water to get to the entrance of the park. dan helped annie cross, then as he turned to help eva and I annie sat down in the middle of the little stream. well, as we got to the ticket booth, there was a short line of about 3 people. one of the guys who worked there saw me carrying eva and let me cut through the line and made a lady move her stuff off of a chair so i could sit down. anyway, by the time i sat down for a second dan had made it through the line. during our trip people generally loved seing the kids and going out of their way to help us. i guess that is one reason to take babies on a trip.

so we hiked through the rainforest on a trail along the coast. dan had annie in the backpack and i had eva in the baby bjorn. apparently the majority of people that go to manuel antonio just take the short hike to the beach on the other side of the park as some people were carrying bags of ice and drinks and picnic items. this was nice because the rest of the trails were practically empty. we took a few short, but sometimes steep, hikes through the rainforest where we saw a couple of sloths, a troup of monkeys, and a few other random unidentifiable animals.

annie mostly just wanted to put rocks in this little pond

after leaving the park we stopped at a cool restaurant overlooking the ocean. they had taken an old airplane and made a bar in the inside, and the restaurant around the rest of the plane. it was kind of a fancy restaurant which usually scares me, however i loved it because it was all outside (but covered) and they didn't care that dan and annie weren't even wearing shoes.

we were going to meet chame and jon and their family the next morning at the airport so we started driving back towards alajuela. it was pouring rain and dark. in costa rica you could be where it appears that you are nowhere near a town and all of the sudden there will be someone riding a bike or walking on the road. people don't walk off to the side of the road, they walk the line. this makes for a stressfull drive. well, a couple of hours later near jaco, the rain suddenly stopped, and eva suddenly started crying. she had had another one of her famous diaper blowouts. so we pulled over in jaco (think spring break surf town) and found a place under a lightpost to try and change her. we were on the main street so people were walking by and i had eva in the trunk of the car (the trunk was open) screaming at the top of her lungs. after getting her wiped down and into a clean onesie we decided to just stay there for the night.

getting a hotel room in jaco was a difficult task as everything was full on a saturday night. after trying about 3 hotels we decided to try one last one right on the beach. they had a room which what i understood had a double bed and a single bed. however after paying and getting to the room we had just a double bed. apparently i need to brush up on my spanish, i guess it was a double or a single. we decided to stay anyway and put eva on the floor - which didn't last too long. so the four of us shared the double bed. it wasn't as bad as i was expecting however at about 4 or 5 in the morning it sounded as if every bird from the rainforest was right outside our room screeching at the top of their lungs. not just nice little good morning chirping, but jungle squaking of many different varieties of very loud birds. i acutally started to laugh a little bit to myself as i thought "are you serious?"

soul train

2008-06-02T09:17:00.003-06:00

this is a little excerpt from the email that we got from dan's little brother joey joe joe jr. shabadoo. he is on a mission in detroit.

"at this one door we knock on the lady answers and say she doesn't care about the Mormons because they don't believe Black People have souls, (a comment we hear lots) and elder Dedrickson replies back, "It has been clinicly proven a fact that Black people actually have MORE soul than White People." Check and Mate."

i always figured that was true, but didn't know it was clinically proven. wow. does anyone remember that movie soul man from the eighties? that was good.

costa rica day 2

2008-05-28T15:06:00.003-06:00

costa rica day 2 (may 2):
we woke up with the sun and after our continental breakfast of bread and jam, corn flakes, and baby bananas we set out for a walk of alajuela's center. we went to the plaza in the center of town where little kids were feeding pigeons and squirrels. one of the little boys gave annie some peanuts to feed the squirrels.

we checked out the cathedral, went to the market, then did the obligitory stop at pops ice cream shop. i had some sherbet - cas (i don't know what this is in english) and guanabana (soursop - i think) flavored, dan had coconut and mango, and annie had some chocolate chip. mmm. we took our ice cream, walked across the street to the plaza, sat next to a drunk guy on a bench and had our morning snack. on our walk, eva's pacifier fell out of her mouth somewhere so i suggested we take the same route back to the hotel. about a block away was eva's paci in the gutter. it had only been run over probably once so we picked it up, put some hand sanitizer on it, and rinsed it off back at the hotel. good as new.

we decided to rent a car and drive down the pacific coast. earlier on in the week, before we left for costa rica, eva got sick. we thought she was done with the diaper blowouts, but a couple of hours into our trip to the coast we stopped in a small town (orotina) and eva was covered in poop. we made space in the trunk to change her diaper and after about 20 wipes she was all clean. luckily we had stopped next to a little restaurant, so we were able to wash hands, get a bite to eat, and drink some yummy juice.

back on the road, we crossed the tarcoles river. you can walk out onto the bridge and look down to see the crocodiles basking in the sun.

about five hours after leaving alajuela we ended up at our final destination for the night - quepos. we were able to find a cheap hotel, and went out to get some food in the pouring rain. we found a place down the block and had some dinner. on the way back to the hotel i was telling dan that our hotel reminded me of the cockroach hotel we stayed in in mexico, except that it didn't have the cockroaches. when we got back to the hotel and turned on the dim light, i heard dan chuckle, then he set off stomping his foot at something. it turns out we had a huge cockroach in our room. dan, the fearless hunter, was able to kill the bug and put it in the toilet where it swirled around for a while. meanwhile, eva was having another diaper blowout, and unfortunately since we went with the cheap hotel, that meant no hot water. sorry eva.

we survived

2008-05-22T15:33:00.003-06:00

so, we survived our 13 days in costa rica.

day 1: (thursday, may 1) our day started out with a call from continental airlines asking us where we were. no, we weren't late for our flight, but our flight was going to be delayed and we were going to miss our connection in houston. they wanted to get us on a flight in 45 minutes. however, we were still at home and would not be able to get there in time.

they did find us a flight on another airline so we would be able to get to costa rica that night.

we had packed all of our stuff for 4 people in one bag, so when we got to the airport and weighed our bag, we were over the baggage weight limit by 10 pounds. we pulled out enough stuff and shoved it in our carry on bags and barely got under the weight limit.

the flights were uneventful, and when we got to costa rica that night, the guy at immigration let us go through a special line so we didn't have to wait in the long line.

we asked the cab driver to take us to a hotel, and he took us to a decent one in the center of alajuela called la guaria.

after getting our bags to our room, we asked the guy at the front desk where we could go to get a drink (not a "drink", but just a drink) so we walked around the town that evening, went and bought some juice and grape fanta at the liquor store, then went back to the hotel to watch pimp my ride and get some sleep.

to be continued...

was this my idea?

2008-04-30T16:59:00.003-06:00

so tomorrow we are leaving for costa rica. i decided it would be a great idea to take our two kids, and meet my sister and her 4 kids (oh yeah, husbands too - but they kind of count as kids anyway). so make that 2 women and 8 kids travelling through central america.

did i mention we leave tomorrow and we have yet to secure any type of lodging?

donations please

2008-04-23T10:27:00.005-06:00

a while ago dan was walking into the house and looked over toward the neighbors house to where they have a trailer parked. standing behind the trailer (away from the road, but in plain sight to dan) was one of the guys that lives next door peeing (toward our house so dan got a good view). this is the same guy that we were talking to one sunday afternoon when he was drunk and his fly was wide open.

well the other day, i walked onto our deck in the back yard and i looked over toward the neighbors house (our house is a split level, so the deck is up high and we can see into the neighbors yard) and i saw the little girl who lives there squatting by the side of the house, then get up and pull up her pants.

so, due to the recent activity at the neighbors house, i am taking donations to fix their bathroom, or at least rent one of those porta-potties to put in their yard.

it's just allergies i promise

2008-04-14T16:20:00.002-06:00

so last weekend during conference dan was "touched by the spirit" i guess. we were watching tv church, when i looked over and saw dan crying. what was on you might ask? the deseret first credit union commercial.

check it out

2008-04-11T14:36:00.002-06:00

anyone up for this concert?

colorado

2008-04-04T15:41:00.007-06:00

well, alyssa did a great job summing up our trip to colorado last weekend, but i'll post a few more pictures of our fun weekend.

we went into denver for lunch since we needed some nourishment before driving to eagle. we ended up on a fun pedestrian street and got some burritos at chipotle. i fed eva some of the burrito then opened up some baby food for her. she took a few bites of baby food, then wouldn't open her mouth for it anymore. however, when i offered her some of my burrito, she eagerly opened her mouth. smart girl.

some cool dancing statues in denver
at the huge mothership of rei stores

liz in front of her cute house

eva loving swinging at the park.

tucker bauer burton (or as alyssa likes to call him "tuckahoe" when he is in trouble)

anna and mikey

alyssa at the loaf 'n' jug getting some yucky hot chocolate

a few miles out of eagle we were stopped on the freeway. there were accidents all over the place on the way back to denver. at least we left a few hours before the huge 70-car pileup that apparently caused the freeway to be shut down for about eight hours.

other highlights from the trip (but i don't have pictures since i didn't do a very good job at documenting everything):

air boxing to "eye of the tiger" on the drive from denver

the welcoming commitee of anna and mikey and their sidewalk chalk arrows leading us to the house

guitar hero

staying up way to late talking

red velvet cupcakes

anna dancing and singing to high school musical

the neighbor kids coming over every ten minutes to play with liz's kids

sunday night "baby got back" dance party

eva's first plane ride. she did great.

thanks liz, anna, mikey and tucker for a fun weekend!

engrish

2008-04-04T14:50:00.004-06:00

jane and stuart brought engrish.com to my attention. i thought this recommended menu was worth a post.

(not-so) bright idea

2008-04-04T14:46:00.002-06:00

whoever came up with the idea of that fake plastic easter grass for easter baskets obviously did not have a 2 year old.

but none for the little boy who lives down the lane

2008-03-19T11:48:00.003-06:00

another funny thing annie does lately is when i ask her a question to which the answer is "yes", such as "do you want something to drink?" she will sometimes reply "yes sir, yes sir, three bags full."

the way

2008-03-14T14:43:00.003-06:00

apparently annie has been learning the song "i am a child of god" in nursery. she loves singing, and lately she has been adapting the song. the other day she was eating some marshmallow maties, and instead of singing "help me find the way..." she was singing "help me find the marshmallows". other adaptations: "help me find the treasure", and "help me find nar" (nar is her cousin xander). if she doen't find "the way", hopefully she'll at least find something else -whatever it may be.

H2

2008-03-07T16:06:00.002-07:00

today as we were driving home i saw one of those hummer h2 monstrosities turning the corner. i glanced to see who would be driving such a car. i expected to see some twenty-something jock or a super soccer mom. i could even imagine a spoiled teenager driving such a car. but no. it was an old grandmotherly lady, probably in her eighties peeking her little grey haired head over the steering wheel. it made me chuckle. i just wish i could have got to my camera in time.

solving the world's problems with a rope

2008-03-06T22:14:00.003-07:00

this morning i was in bed with eva, annie and annie's dolls. annie kept telling me to move over (because she likes to lay horizontally). i told her that i would fall off the bed if i moved over. she then said that she would throw me a rope.

speaking of ropes. that is annie's answer to anything that is out of reach.

she drops her book behind the couch. she needs a rope.

her ball is out of reach behind a snow bank. she needs a rope.

i wonder what she would really do with a rope if i ever found one for her to use?

flight of the conchords

2008-02-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

my brother blair sent me this link. i am now seriously considering getting HBO.

partner yoga

2008-02-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

every year (since last year) around valentines day our recreation center has a partner yoga class. we went last year and my brother stuart and his wifey jane came down too. the sign says that you don't have to have a partner, that they will pair you up in class, but i highly recommend bringing someone that you don't mind getting really close to. last year a guy came by himself, i don't think he was married, and a married girl came by herself so they got paired up. we were right next to them, and i think they felt a little awkward. anywho it is pretty fun, and they even have dessert after. so if anyone is interested in coming down, let me know and i'll sign you up. it is on friday the 15th, and is $10 a couple, or $5 a person.

big brother?

2008-02-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

so last night i was doing some important surfing of the internet, when i got an instant message from matt, one of dan's buddies. matt is currently in iraq, so it was kind of fun to chat with him for a bit. we were asking him how the weather was, what he was doing, where he was and stuff. we decided to look on google earth (one of the greatest inventions by the way) and try to see where he was. he told us the town, and the approximate location, but when we tried to get too detailed, like if he was north or south of the euphrates, all of the sudden we lost our connection with him.

coincidence? i think not.

don't forget...

2008-02-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

go vote today.

today we went to vote. we started out by going to our normal voting location where there was a sign posted that said that this polling location had been moved to another school a few miles away. on a different sign, it said something to the effect of "if you belong [these] voting districts, then go to legacy elementary, and if you belong to [these other ones] go to af high school." it was very misleading because 1)the first sign didn't say anything about the polling location being split between two new locations and 2) even if we were smart enough to figure out that is what the second sign was saying, who really knows their voting district anyway?

anyway, after going to three different locations we ended up at the proper voting location and cast our meaningless votes.

by the way. did you know that if you are registered as unaffiliated, you can vote democrat, but not republican? however, if you are unaffiliated, you can register yourself with a party at the polls and vote for whomever you want. on the other hand, if you are already registered with a party, you cannot change it at the polls.

lesson learned? for the next presidential election, change registration to unaffiliated. then for the primary elections you can vote for the cantidate of your choice regardless of party affiliation.

addendum: after reading this disheartening tale i learned that apparently each state has it's own rules and regulations regarding open or closed primary elections.

the rose garden

2008-01-27T22:21:00.000-07:00

on friday night we had dan's work party. it was way fun. we went to the jazz game where we had dinner first then got to go see the jazz win against the sacramento kings. we took little eva with us and she was scared at first with all the loud noise, but then she got used to it and fell asleep for most of the second half. then, his firm had rented out rooms in the anniversary inn for the employees. they had a lottery at work for the different rooms and we ended up with the rose garden room. it was kind of floofy and had fake roses and lattice and stuff everywhere. it was probably the room i would have chosen least out of all of the rooms there, but hey, it was free for us. i guess dan couldn't get anyone to trade their room for ours. it was fun going with a big group though, because we got to go around and see all of the different themed rooms. luckilly, eva wasn't too loud because we had some neighbors that weren't part of our group, and we didn't want to ruin their romantic escapade. thanks, dan's work for a fun evening. we feel much closer to everyone now because hey nothing bonds a company like, umm, well, "sleeping" next door to your co-workers.

band of horses

2008-01-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

it's a good day when you discover a new band worth listening to. i know band of horses has been around for years, but i just found some of their music and i like it. check them out. you can also check them out here.

just in case

2008-01-09T22:49:00.000-07:00

today we went to apply for eva's passport. we want to be prepared in case we need to flee the country in the near future. you never know. they guy at the post office wasn't sure these pictures i took would pass because of the shadows, but i think they are better than the one the "professional" passport picture taker guy took of annie when she was a baby where my hands are in it.

he he he

2007-12-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1435560337

what are you getting your imaginary kids for christmas?

2007-12-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

Melissa & Doug Hardwood Blocks 60 Pcs SKU: 0035

Great gift for the imaginary child!

Clearance sale! Only 3 left. Order today while they last.
$39.95 MSRP: $49.95 save 20%

i saw this on a website, and thought that christmas is sometimes stressfull enough without having to think of what to get for my imaginary child. so this really was helpful. hope this helps some of you.

oh christmas tree

2007-12-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

here are some pictures of our christmas tree cutting down ceremony. yep that is the little tree/bush thing that is in our front yard. last year we cut down a little tree from the back yard. next year we may have to buy a tree because the apple trees might be a little too big!

in this picture you can see our cat. well, the one that claims us as his/her family. actually, i tried to take it to the shelter today, but as i got it in the car, it hopped out the other side and ran away. i don't mind having it around, but i don't want it in the house, and i don't want to find a dead frozen cat in the springtime. anyway, back to the christmas tree...

ta da!

one stop shopping

2007-12-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

context: annie sitting on me. she said she was driving the car.

me: where are you going?
annie: to the store?
me: what are you going to buy?
annie: milk.
me: what else?
annie: elephants. bananas. snowmen. care bears.

i'm not sure what store she thought she was going to.

sponge bob what pants?

2007-12-07T15:04:00.000-07:00

annie likes to find "microphones" (or "microhones"as she likes to call them) out in the yard. she uses weeds, sticks, branches or whatever and uses them to sing. here she is with her version of sponge bob.

for your shopping umm....pleasure?

2007-12-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

ok so i know you can't read the name of this store i passed in sugarhouse the other day. it is (m)adam and (st)eve's erotic bakery. i guess i am really naive, but i do admit i'm kinda curious. what would be sold in an establishment such as this? and who knew erotic bakeries existed at all?

a kick in the pants

2007-11-30T14:54:00.001-07:00

i saw this on one of alyssa's shared items. it gave me some inspiration too. maybe it will give me a little kick in my mom butt to get to the gym.

mom jeans

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the princess and the pea

2007-11-29T23:31:00.000-07:00

our sleeping arrangements the other night:

eva (the 3 month old) in our bed.
me on the couch.
dan in the guest bed downstairs.

don't ask.

you'll be happy to know

2007-11-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

my dishes are safe to use. or so they tell me. also little people (the toys) tested ok.

i don't like to brag, but...

2007-11-19T23:24:00.000-07:00

Get a Cash Advance

circle the wagons

2007-11-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

dan has been into cooking with dutch ovens. recently we have made apple crisp, cinnamon pull aparts, pizza and more tasty goodies. tonight we made dinner for dan's family. we made moussaka, a meat and potato casserole thing, and another dish with tomatoes and feta cheese. i even made homemade bread. yep in the dutch oven. it turned out great. dan's brother then made a triple chocolate cake that was delicious. mmm. we figure we are preparing for an emergency when we don't have electricity to cook.

anyone want to join our wagon train on the mass exodus walk back to missouri sometime in the near future?

oops

2007-11-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

so i didn't blog yesterday. sorry to all my faithful readers. i had just turned off the computer and got into bed when i remembered. and i wasn't going to get out of bed and turn the computer back on. i guess i'm not as hard core as i thought i was.

healthy eating?

2007-11-15T23:17:00.001-07:00

so i have decided that i need to try to eat healthier. i have been exercising pretty regularly, but haven't really lost any weight. however, it is taking me a lot longer than i planned to start eating healthy. they tell you to clean out your cupboards and fridge of tempting items. i'm working on this, but there is only so much leftover halloween candy, frozen cookie dough, banana bread, caramel apples, ice cream, chocolate chips, goldfish crackers, and cubes of butter i can eat in one day.

bye laurie

2007-11-14T23:19:00.000-07:00

laurie lived across the street growing up. she always carried her shovel and pail, twirling the shovel around her finger. i loved testimony meetings because she always got up and shared her testimony including how much she loved my dad. she was always fun to be around and will be greatly missed.

another long forgotten tag

2007-11-13T22:23:00.000-07:00

1. where did you meet your husband?

we met at liquid joe's at a given concert, i was there with a bunch of boys.

2. what was the first thing you said to him?

"aren't you in my singles ward?" he pretended he knew who i was, even though he had no idea.

3. where was your first date?

gurus

4. where was your first kiss?

in my car in his driveway. i was in the driver seat and he was wedged somehow in between the driver and passenger seat.

5. how long did you date?

about a year

6. did you have a long or short engagement?

short. it was about 1 month

7. where did you get engaged?

on the trampoline at his parents house.

8. where were you married?

jordan river temple

9. where did you honeymoon?

park city for a couple days, then san carlos, mexico. san carlos was part of my mission, and i don't know how but somehow i forgot how unbearably hot it is in august. we had a great time anyway.

employment history

2007-11-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

i'm going to copy emily on this one too:

stamper of boxes of rubber gloves with "for veterinary use only"
food demo girl
medical dictation file girl
lifeguard/swim instructor
swim team coach
ski program supervisor
medical records
esl aide
private swim instructor
lift ticket sales at brighton ski resort
janitor (traded work for the volkswagon van)
graduate instructor at usu
elementary school esl teacher
medical research (selling my body to science)
babysitter

i think that's it. impressive huh?

death by chocolate?

2007-11-11T15:03:00.000-07:00

would it be better to die from a brain hemorrhage or from heart disease? really i just want to know what kind of yogurt to buy. should i get the light variety (containing aspartame) which can cause brain hemorrhages, or the regular kind that has sugar and high-fructose corn syrup and more calories which contribute to my obesity problem leading to heart disease? i guess it doesn't really matter, they both come in plastic containers that cause cancer.

i'm still cool, right?

2007-11-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

you know you're old when you go to a concert, they check your bag, and the only thing questionable you have is a diaper and wipes.

evil

2007-11-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

why is it that i would never eat more than one candy bar a day (the regular sized ones - i rarely eat them anyway), but i think it is ok to eat 50-100 miniature or snack-sized candy bars in one day?

must see t.v.

2007-11-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

globe trekker. tonight at 9:00 p.m. on pbs. this is the one show we (almost) faithfully watch. tonight they go to cyprus and crete. bon voyage.

maybe i'll just stay on the couch

2007-11-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

so last night i started week 4 of the couch to 5k running program. it consisted of 5 min warm up walk, 3 min run, 90 sec walk, 5 min run, 2.5 min walk, then repeat. running for 5 min just about did me in. sad huh. the last time i ran i think i was in high school where they make the girls run the mile. the boys were always playing badminton or something else gay like that. anyway, if i follow this program for 9 weeks i am supposed to be able to run a 5k. yeah right.

tagged

2007-11-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

in april, liz tagged me with writing 5 little known facts about myself, recently i was tagged by alisa with the same thing, but the number has grown to 7. i guess that's what i get for not completing it the first time. bad luck kinda like a broken chain letter. well i guess i better do this one because there is only so much you don't know about me (and most of this you may already know).

i am a true band nerd. i played in jr. high, high school (concert band, pep band, and jazz band), a couple years in college, and i currently play with the wasatch winds (american fork community band) and i love it. so there.

i had a bunion fixed last year in one of those medical studies that you see commercials for on t.v.. i made $700 for selling my body to science.

like alisa, i can pick things up with my toes. dan sometimes throws things and misses the garbage can on purpose just so he can see me pick up stuff with my toes.

the first real concert i went to was sting. and i had no idea who he was at the time, sad huh. i was 16.

in jr. high/high school i played bass guitar in a rock band. we played gigs at the 49th street galleria, state fair, and a church dance.

i feel guilty if i shop at wal-mart so i usually avoid it.

i love hanging out with friends, but hate using the phone. so call me. ok?

in-laws

2007-11-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

this is my father-in-law at lake powell last year. the first time i met him it was at bear lake, we were there for a singles ward trip, and i was standing around with some friends and this weird guy came up to us and told us we should have a contest to run down the beach into the water and see who fell first. i thought he was some kind of perv. i had no idea he was dan's dad. and now he is my father-in-law. and i now know he's not a perv. he's just ummm unique.

job opportunity?

2007-11-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

so as i was thinking about the sign i saw yesterday (see yesterday's post), i thought i could start a business. i would capitalize on the mormons and start a visiting/home teaching company. nobody likes doing it, but everybody wants to get it done, so what if i became a broker for visiting/home teachers. people would pay me and i would pay someone else to do their teaching for them (i wouldn't want to do it myself). it could work right? i mean, i would totally pay someone to do my visiting teaching. i could even run advertisements during conference. maybe i could even figure out how to make it some kind of pyramid scheme. hmm. anyone looking for a job?

as seen in lehi

2007-11-03T17:58:00.000-06:00

as i was driving to a baby shower today in lehi, i saw a sign in front of a store. i assume it was a candy store because the sign advertised "our visiting and home teaching messages are sweet!" yes i live in utah county.

who invented the trunk or treat?

2007-11-02T20:35:00.000-06:00

for halloween we went to the trunk or treat (trick or treating at the cars in the parking lot) for our ward. we met with the other three wards that meet in our building. there were hot dogs, and some silly games for the kids. at 7:oo they started trick or treating, and it was a madhouse. there were kids crowding around the cars to get their candy. it was pretty lame. it seems like the point was to get as much candy with as little effort as possible. when we were kids we had to work for our candy. it was over with by 7:45 or when people started running out of candy. when we got home, dan took annie to some of the houses in our neighborhood to get the real trick or treating experience. we decided that we will probably boycott next year and just do real trick or treating. anyway, annie had a fun time running around with the kids, and getting some candy. the bad part is i had kept some candy at the house for kids to come by later, and we got 5 kids. so now i have a bunch of candy that i will end up eating myself.

here's the cute minnie mouse costume that my mom bought for annie.

she wanted, however, to be spiderman. so this is the final product for halloween. she hung out with all the other little spiderman boys at the party.

eva's first halloween. she didn't seem to care what she dressed up as.

happy halloween!

NaBloPoMo

2007-11-01T17:40:00.000-06:00

i'm in. i'll give it a valiant effort.

getting ready for halloween

2007-10-29T14:30:00.000-06:00

annie watched this probably fifty times the other day. she always laughs when the seeds come out of the mouth.

annie and eva

2007-10-23T14:13:00.000-06:00

funny face lunch

2007-10-23T14:03:00.001-06:00

annie's lunch the other day. sometimes i'm the greatest mom...

yeah, we're white trash

2007-10-18T15:06:00.000-06:00

a couple of photos taken at the logan demolition derby in september. this is the third year in a row we have gone. we have started a tradition of going to the september demolition derby for dan's birthday. part of the tradition includes stopping in brigham city for peaches, and going to paradise to eat prime rib at the ghetto cracker barrel restaurant.

eva's first demolition derby, annie's third.

check out the boots on new sister-in-law kristen!

she's got the hang of it

2007-10-15T14:12:00.000-06:00

today i decided that we'd give potty training a try. this morning annie put on her panties for the first time. about an hour later i asked her to come to the bathroom to go potty. she started to come, but then went back and picked up this newspaper ad to read while she was sitting. she's a quick learner.

ipod shuffle

2007-10-04T13:15:00.000-06:00

everybodys doing it...first 10, no skipping.

i will (no man's land), Radiohead - mellow loveliness.
chicken out, Gomez - gomez puts on a great show. check them out.
donna and blitzen, Badly Drawn Boy - from one of my favorite movies About a Boy
sometimes i make you sad, Supergrass - i should've gone to the concert where they opened for pearl jam in idaho...
american girl, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - dan's favorite band
crush with eyeliner, R.E.M. - i went through a rem phase during early college years. i still like 'em. emily made probably 10 volumes of tapes (yes tapes) of pure rem goodness that i listened to too much.
we haven't turned around (x-ray mix), Gomez - what are the odds? two gomez songs in my 10.
kate, Ben Folds - fun and peppy.
china roses, Enya - this song reminds me of my mission. enya was probably my favorite mission- acceptable music, and i listened to it until we got robbed and my tape player got stolen. (does all this talk of tapes date me?)
full flavor, Unified Theory - i have memories of going to the unified theory concert with trevor, emily and amy at liquid joes. at the t-shirt/cd/goods table they were selling unified theory thongs. yep.

there you have it.

littlest fan

2007-09-29T22:08:00.000-06:00

the other day annie (my 2 year old) and i were listening to the radio. the new eddie vedder song came on. i had never heard it, so i know she hasn't heard it. nevertheless, she said "pearl jam". i was so proud.

the middle-aged square guy

2007-09-19T13:14:00.001-06:00

last week we went to the modest mouse concert...some highlights

rilo kiley opening - with jenny lewis not only singing, but playing the guitar, bass, keyboard, and cowbell (not all at the same time).
dan feeling like the middle-aged square guy amongst the mostly young crowd
seeing people older than me there
hearing the "cool" teenage boys scream like little girls when modest mouse came on stage
watching the little nerdy guy in the green shirt do the "twist" in the middle of a mosh pit
getting a night out away from our 2 (yes 2!) kids - thanks mom
2 drummers in matching stripey tank-tops
sometimes three drummers plus a guy playing marracas
modest mouse putting on a great show

this is a video from a dashboard - one of modest mouse's more recent songs. i thought this video was also appropriate for today (international talk like a pirate day).

29

2007-09-19T12:50:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Dan!

as a birthday tribute, here is a video we made one sunday afternoon when we lived in logan.

i had a good excuse. i promise.

2007-09-06T13:55:00.000-06:00

for my birthday (in june) alyssa sent me a gift certificate for itunes (thanks alyssa). well, i finally got around to setting up an itunes store account and made my first purchase. i somewhat openly admit the first song i bought was "dream weaver" by gary wright. i know that is something that shouldn't me admitted, but i had a good reason i promise. annie calls eva "weva". so that nickname has transformed into "dream weava". dan was trying to play it on the guitar, but since neither of us knew how it went except for the chorus, we decided to download the song. i guess itunes wasn't impressed with our musical taste because when i clicked buy song a pop up appeared that asked "are you sure you want to buy this song?" i must be getting old. even the computer gives me crap about my musical tastes.

baby steps

2007-08-24T14:27:00.000-06:00

eva is 2 weeks old today. today is also the first day annie, eva, and i have all been showered or bathed, and dressed before noon. next we'll work on leaving the house.

eva

2007-08-16T11:14:00.001-06:00

eva luna
august 10, 8:20 p.m.
6 lb 12 oz
19 1/2 inches

some people might drink it...

2007-08-08T21:37:00.001-06:00

i took annie with me to my doctors appointment today. the nurse handed me a cup to fill, and annie wanted to use it to get a drink of water. i told her no, that mommy is going to pee in the cup. after filling the cup, i set it on the counter and annie said "juice".

most recent pregnancy statistics: 75-80% effaced, not dilating. basically the same as last week and the week before. so we probably won't have a new baby by this weekend. sorry andra, probably not for your birthday, but maybe for liz's...

also, we haven't decided on names, so any suggestions are appreciated. boy or girl names since we don't know what we're having yet.

lazy sunday

2007-08-07T15:23:00.000-06:00

i love this.

welcome baby tori

2007-08-07T14:49:00.001-06:00

the newest member of the bolke family. ok, the extended bolke family. this is dan's brother's new baby that they just adopted in june. we went to grand junction a few weeks ago to visit and see the new wee one. her name is victoria andralyn bolke. what a cutie.

as for our baby...it's due this friday, but it will probably come later than that. current stats: 75% and 0. i do have an appointment tomorrow, so hopefully those stats will change. however, i either need to have the baby before the 10th or after the 17th so mickey can be my doula.

potato wave?

2007-06-29T14:46:00.000-06:00

my brother stuart sent me this link. I love pearl jam, however, often i can't understand the lyrics. this video cleared up my questions about yellow ledbetter. check it out. it is pretty funny. i love the "make me fries" line and the part about anna nicole.

pearl jam video

80,000 hippies in one place

2007-06-19T16:18:00.001-06:00

last weekend was bonnaroo, a big music festival in manchester tennnesee. it was so fun last year, and we heard so many great bands. i have been reminiscing about it lately, but unfortunately couldn't go this year. but here are a few pictures from last year.

keep your calanders open for next year if the lineup is good. or alternatively, vegoose in october.

pretty pretty princess

2007-06-19T16:12:00.000-06:00

thought i'd share a few pics from annie's last photo shoot. it was before easter, but i am a slacker.

isn't she cute?

my own hero

2007-06-19T16:02:00.000-06:00

so i have found a way for me to be my own hero. the other day at dan's work they had a video game party and i decided to go to check it out. there weren't very many people there, however i discovered a way for me to become the rock star that i always dreamed i should be. guitar hero. what a great game. it lets an average person like me become a rock star for the evening. the game is kind of like dance dance revolution, but with guitars. i don't like to brag, but i was pretty good (for my first time.) i even won a few rounds. anywho, if you ever get a chance to play, do it. it may change your life.

my hero

2007-05-24T22:41:00.000-06:00

the other weekend we went to the victor wooten show at the depot. amazing. he always inspires me to get out my bass guitar and play. however, due to my laziness, it has yet to happen. hopefully by reminiscing i can be reinspired. i feel a little connected with him because we saw him and his family walking around at bonnaroo last year, and we took annie to meet him and his cute kids. one of these days i'll dust off the bass and start practicing.