Well, Hello!

A late Happy New Year to all.  My, how fast has time traveled as of late.  We are into another year and the first month is already over.  All of our monkeys are in school and that is CRAZY indeed.  It seemed like it was just yesterday that we were scared and deeply concerned about our ability to have a family, but the almighty had to teach us a valuable lesson that His plan takes place according to His time.  

This Crazy Thing Called Life has been full of joy, sorrow, celebrations, vacations, success, growth, learning and growing pains, and more.  But we love it, we welcome it, and are grateful for all of it.  2014 is going to be about the same because we know that that's was life is about, and that's why it is crazy.  PEACE! 

Been too long

It's been a while since our blog has been visited let alone updated.  This crazy thing called life hasn't  been anything else but crazy since our last entry.  Needless to say, the craziness has been a blessing believe it or not.  We sense a wind of change heading our direction and we'll provide details as soon as things happen.  Meanwhile, it is our hope that all is well with you and your loved ones. 

Family Reunion

In July our family went to Lake Tahoe for our family reunion with my Baird/Watson side of the family. We had so much fun with the family and as I stated to my aunt, it was such a great weekend because there was little drama! I loved it. Lake Tahoe is beautiful and I realized I really don't take advantage of living so close to such a beautiful place. I think we are going to make an annual trip each summer from now on.

Here is a short list of some of the memories of the weekend:
Pasta night
Apples to Apples
Hot Tubs
Beach
Fishing Farms
Walks down to the lake
Guitar Hero
Bullet in my toilet seat?
Playing in the sand
Family Pictures in a sweet spot (Thanks Roy!)
Minute to Win it
Watson Men who are still boys
Duck Tours
Family BBQ
Homemade Life's Jam

Mostly I loved it because I don't get to see many people from this side of the family. Out of 60 people in our family there were 44 of us there. Pretty good. However, I am hoping for an even better percentage in 2013!

Kids are so funny

Had to document a funny statement by our crazy 5 year old, in the words of Tata:

While dropping off something at a friend's house, my lovely wife decides to visit for "a few minutes" as the rest of the crew and I sat in the car. Growing a little impatient, our 5 yr old asks, "Is it against the law to leave your wife behind?". I said, "No" and he responds with, "O.K. lets go home then".

Blogs and Flowers

I will admit I am sort of a blogaholic. There are several blogs I have booked marked and check often. OK, 61 in all. One of my favorite blogs to read is Three Men and a Lady.

Michelle and her husband went to the same college as we did. In fact I was in the same ward as Jake when we were single and then once we all got married we found ourselves in the same ward again. They are an amazing couple and I love that I can keep up on their happenings through their blog. I love how creative Michelle is. I am simply in awe of her mad design skills. I seriously can't wait to see what she does in her new home. I even brag that she was on the Nate Berkus show! (Because she was you know!) I secretly wish I could steal her away for a weekend and have her redo a room in my house.

I also love how she is always having giveaways. Seriously, you should check her out. You might even end up with some gorgeous flowers!

Wedding Anyone?

I will admit I got up at 2 am this morning and watched the Royal Wedding. O.K. it was kind of by accident. You see at first I was excited to set my alarm and join in the hype. But after a long week, I just fell asleep with the tellie on and didn't set anything. Surprisingly I woke up at 2 am as the wedding begin and I stayed awake.

Even from all the way over here on this side of the pond it was magical. I love weddings, and this was the wedding of all weddings. I want these two love birds to make it. There's is a beautiful love story and one that will last through the ages.

Besides this beautiful couple I love British weddings for another reason... Their Hats! Tell me you don't secretely wish you could pull off something like this...

or one of these...How they get those beautiful pieces of art to stay in place, I will never understand but I love the tradition.

Broken Bones?

I haven't been in the mood to blog for a long time now. I have started several posts on various subjects, mostly they have centered how our world was turned up side down in 2010, and then right back up. I've wanted to share what little knowledge I've gained going through the past 14 months of unemployment. How my faith has grown, how I feel my husband and I have gotten closer and all the blessings that has come from this trial. I thought about sharing my feelings about my husband going back to school and fulfilling his dream of becoming an attorney. Or maybe my feelings of being a "single mom" during the week as my husband works full time, commutes and has night class. How I am trying to stay positive and doing a lot of positive self talk about our new challenges. But to be honest with you all of that overwhelms me. I don't feel like writing a blog about my feelings, sometimes I am not even sure what they are. I can't try to be witty, funny and find a creative way to express myself. So instead I am just going to tell a funny story of my adorable 5 year old.

I surprised him with a trip to the doctor for his kindergarten exam. After getting 2 shots (also a surprise) we had this conversation:

LG: "Mom, that lady who gave me the shots broke both my bones!"

Me: laughing, "No sweetie, if she broke your bones you wouldn't be able to walk."

LG: "Yes she did break my bones!"

Me: "Honey, I promise you she didn't break you bones, when she gave you the shots."

LG: Realizing he wasn't going to win this argument finally relented and said:" Well then she cracked them."

I couldn't stop laughing at his perception of reality. He really thought she broke his bones. What a cutie!

Walking on the Wild Side

I love these shoes. They make me feel sexy, wild, and a little crazy. I wish I was brave enough to wear them everyday! But sadly I am not.

Are we really that stupid?

I am sure all of you are as sick as I am of politics. I seriously can't wait for November 2nd to be over; which is sad when I think of it because I used to love politics. I majored in Political Science and even worked for a Member of the US House of Representatives. However, as I have gotten older I have become more annoyed with the political process and the "politics" of government.

Maybe I am a cynic now; but sometimes I feel like I am choosing the lesser of two evils. I will be honest, in our last Presidential election I casted my vote as a write in. I wouldn't choose either of the two major candidates. However, I do spend my time researching the candidates and issues on my own. I don't just vote for a person because they happen to belong to my party. I don't just vote for a proposition because that is what my party wants me to do. I don't vote based on those annoying TV commercials or any mailer I receive.

Most people I talk to don't even know the issues, they only know what they see on TV commercials. People generally don't watch debates anymore and I feel that the responsibility to actually vote is taken lightly. It's a big deal in our country to have the right to vote. All of this leads me to the title of my post.

As Americans, I feel we do have a responsibility to vote, and most importantly to vote responsibly. A friend of mine was out campaigning for a candidate and began a discussion with one of her neighbors. The neighbor explained that one day she was riding with her son in his "professional touring car" (what ever that is... I am guessing something that makes the car extra expensive) a campaign sign for a candidate for governor flew from the side of the road and scraped the side of her son's car causing some damage. This woman has been trying to get a hold of this candidate and fully expects to be paid for the damage to the car. She also stated that because the sign was blown by the wind and damaged the car, she was voting for the opponent! Seriously???? That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Putting a person in office just because the opponent's sign scraped the car? I just don't know what else to say other than to wonder if we might actually be that stupid!

The Harvest

This is the first "harvest" from our garden. I claim to be a black thumb and kill everything I try to grow and that remains to be true. The only credit I can take is reminding the kids and Tata that it is time to go and water. All of the other work was done lovingly by my amazing husband and very capable children. I will tell you that it was so good to eat something that grew in your own backyard.

Before and After

We finally caved into all that peer pressure and cut our boys hair. I personally loved their luscious curls. Maybe it is because I will never have any of my own. But at any rate the summer heat was too much for them. So after seeing them sweat from playing outside for just few minutes, we had compassion and decided it was time. For the baby this was his first ever hair cut and the other two were growing out some impressive fros! I was seriously sad to see the hair go.

Before: They have no idea what's coming! Because of his ringlet curls that hang down right at his ears, we nicknamed him "Shalom in the Home." Sadly that name is no more

After: Who took my babies and turned them into men?

We still do it Island Style

Our house has been in a bustle of activity lately but I've noticed that as busy as we are we still resort to our island ways. It just goes to show you.... You can take the boy out of the island but you can't take the island out of the boy. (Or his offspring for that matter.)

No need for a weed whacker, as long as I have my trusty machete!

His first experience with fresh coconut.

Child Labor laws... no need here just a little exercise in scraping the coconut.

How to Eat An Orange

Our recently turned 4 year old comes up with some of the funniest stuff. He has been named the clown of the family Recently he instructed us that this is the only proper way to eat an orange!

Another reason to love TJ's

I just had a sweet experience shopping at one of my favorite stores, Trader Joe's ( or as I like to call them TJ's). One of my favorite products to buy there is their Organic Brown Rice. It comes in three packets, you microwave it for 3 minutes and one packet will feed my family. It tastes delish... in fact I prefer it to regular white rice. Tonight as I was shopping they only had two boxes of this amazing rice left. Both happened to be opened but upon a more detailed inspection I realized that the boxes were just opened and not the individual rice bags. So I put them in my cart.

When I arrived at the check out the clerk thanked me for buying the open boxes of rice. I explained that there wasn't any thing wrong. I figured they got open during shipping or something like that. The clerk went on to explain how so many other people asked for the rice and then refused to buy them because the boxes were open. He then said I should give them to you for free... in fact I will give them to you for free! I was so excited. Free boxes of Organic Brown Rice... Now way!

Many of you know that my amazing husband has been unemployed going on 4 months now. We are doing well but have to be tight with our finances. Even though it was not a major savings I was so happy he gave us the rice for free because you know as they say "every little bit helps."

I told the cashier that he was acting as one of Gods Angels and proceeded to briefly explain our situation. He said that by me simply buying some opened rice boxes I restored his faith in humanity.

This was a difficult week for me and I really struggled with our situation. I was a little depressed and hopeless. However, as I walked out of the store I felt that God was saying.. I haven't forgotten about you. It was a perfect example of the tender mercies of the Lord.

Pretty impressed with myself

It's probably no secret that I love food. I especially love to cook and bake new things. Usually when I cook the food tastes great but the presentation is lacking. I have several friends and family members who are amazing in the kitchen. My brother is in culinary school and his wife... well lets just say she could teach culinary school. My friend Azúcar makes wedding cakes to die for.

In fact cake is probably my most favorite dessert. I love to watch the cake challenges on the Food Network, Ace of Cakes, or any cake show for that matter. However, I seriously lack any sort of skill when it comes to decorating a cake. My biggest accomplishment to date is the old diet soda and cake mix cake that someone told me about in my Weight Watchers meeting. That being said you can imagine my anxiety when I was asked to make a pedestal cake that would be a center piece for our Relief Society Birthday dinner! I didn't even know how to frost a cake let alone decorate one for a centerpiece. I was determined that I would do something presentable. I found a cute idea here and thought I could try that. I found good old Betty Crocker's silver white cake recipe and was determined I would make this cake from scratch and it would be great.
I got the layers pretty good but I had to enlist the help of my dear friend to teach me how to frost. That was the scary part for me. I knew I could bake this cake but how would I frost it to look good enough at the dinner. Well after my lesson the cake was frosted all nice and smooth. I knew it looked a little boring just being all white on the outside but I did that on purpose so the ladies would get a shock when they cut into it. Here are pictures of my work. I must say I'm pretty impressed with my self! It is completely from scratch! What say you Azúcar?

A Good Laugh

O.K. let me just start off by saying I'm Switzerland when it comes to my opinion of her. But this picture made me laugh. I guess I am really out of it when if comes to high fashion. I suppose I need to watch Project Runway or something. Honestly it looks like she is wearing a Sunggie backwards!

Poor Sports!

Dear Evgeni Plushenko:

You deserve to be a poster boy. Your behavior during past and current Olympic games has demonstrated that you should be a poster boy. Yes, you would be the perfect poster boy. The poster boy for poor sportsmanship!

I saw this article where you felt that you were robbed of the gold medal in these Olympic games. So much so that you gave yourself the "Platinum of Vancouver" and then posted it on your website. I guess enough people complained that you had it removed. But still you were able to make your point. You think you are the Golden Boy of Men's Figure Skating. But in my humble opinion you are not!

I have followed your Olympic career for the past three Olympic games. Let's see you pouted in Salt Lake City because Yagudin "stole" your gold. Even though every single judge ranked him first.

In 2006 in Torino, when you actually won your gold medal, you had earned it. That night you were the best skater. I was happy to see you get your gold that you felt eluded you in Salt Lake. But I could have done with out your attitude of entitlement.

Now we are at the present Olympic games. You made it known to the world you came out of retirement to try at one more Gold medal. You wanted to tie Dick Button's record of consecutive Olympic Gold Medals.

However, times have changed in figure skating, especially the scoring system. I am assuming that your coaches would instruct you on how the new scoring system works. Other athletes have studied and adapted their programs to fit the new scoring system so that they can get the maximum points possible. You however did not. I don't know if it is because you are not that strong of an athlete or your attitude of entitlement stopped you.

You did not do a single jump in the last minute and half of your program even though the scoring system states that you get bonus points for every jump landed sometime after the 2 minute mark. Evan Lysacek used the scoring system to his advantage. He jumped through out his entire program. But not only that he is a beautiful skater to watch. His jumps and landings were solid, the transitions and choreography was beautiful. You landed a quad, which isn't even a required element.

One extra rotation in a jump does not a gold medalist make!

CHALLENGES - BELSSING OR CURSE?

It is the beginning of a new year and resolutions and goals are being written and set all round us. As I reflect back on the past 12 months, I see my fair stack of hardships and challenges; and no doubt it has left me wondering how did I manage and what can I do or willing to do to cope with the the ones this new year has in store for me.

So how can challenges mold one's life? I guess it is up to each individual; like the old adage says' "It is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it". For me, I plan on taking it one challenge at a time. But for sure, I am going to prepare myself with bullets of faith, prayer, and hard work. I was challenged in the mission field to "pray like everything depended on God and then go out and work like everything depended on me", and I believe that that would be a good point to start with.

Are challenges blessings or curses? Again it depends on who you ask, one might even say it depends on the day or circumstance. I believe they are blessings for they help me grow in every conceivable way. My lovely wife used to get puzzled up in our first year of marriage when I express gratitude for our trials and challenges during family prayer. I just felt that if I am not thankful for them, then I will be forever complaining about 'em. Do I like them? No. Can I do something about them? Yes, with some of them. So are they blessings or curse? Well, 2010 has just begun and we will see how this year will run. Happy New Year to one and all.

Downsize

Just like everyone else our lives have gotten extremely busy. I don't want to be one of those mothers who is always rushing around, feeding kids in the car as they drive from one thing to the next. I don't want to be too exhausted when I come home that I am annoyed with my kids and won't play with them. I want to be the relaxed fun mother who has it together.

I thought I was on my way with having 99% of my Christmas shopping done before the beginning of December. In fact I was completely done Christmas shopping by December 15th. Pretty good, over a whole week before Christmas. But then we went on vacation at didn't come home until late on the 23rd. So what did I do all Christmas Eve? Wrap presents. My kids were so bored, I kept telling myself they needed a day to just relax and veggie in front of the TV, we ran them everywhere on vacation. But it really was me who needed them to be distracted so I could get my things done. It seems even my greatest plans of being organized, and having it together have a way of sabotaging themselves. Maybe I plan too much... maybe I am not as organized as I have convinced myself.

I am the type of person who likes to set goals for the New Year. I even write them down, because I heard somewhere that "a goal is only a wish until it's written down." So as I ponder what my goals could be for next year, I realize that the biggest thing I need to do my life is downsize! Downsize my daily to-do lists, downsize my anxiety of my sweet husband not having a job ( along with the rest of the country), and downsize my expectations of myself and my kids. I feel like I expect way too much from everyone especially myself. Downsize is my buzz word. So to all my peeps who actually read this... any suggestions for some simple downsize living?

Here he goes again...

I'd like to share yet another conversation with my 3 1/2 year old. After quite a frustrating day, where I had a "to do" list a mile long and only accomplishing a few items I was very agitated. The kids didn't help me much choosing this day as the day to quarrel over every little thing. I mean everything, dirty looks, sitting in the wrong chair, sticking out tongues. This list could go on and on.

Finally I lost it, after hearing for the what seemed like the ten thousandth time from the boy that his older siblings had done something to annoy him this conversation took place.

LG: " Mom... Vai stuck his tongue out at me. " Looking towards Vai he said,"Now you're gonna get it!"
Me: "JUST SHUT UP!!!!"

LG: " Oooohhhhhh, Mom, you said a bad word. Your gonna get in trouble. Heavenly Father doesn't love you anymore!"

At this point this was the thing I needed to just break out in laughter. Leave it to a 3 1/2 year old!