If That Was Dinner, I Guess We've Had It

Christmas 2011

2011-12-17T18:31:00.000-08:00

It's been an exciting and eventful year for the Binghams. I'll only apologize once that we're terrible bloggers. A few highlights of the year:

Jayson is now (unofficially) an Eagle Scout. For his project, he collected and organized all of this:

plus made a bunch of pillowcases, and donated all of it to the pediatrics unit at Utah Valley Hospital.

He passed his board of review in November, so everything is done but the court of honor. Here's the Eagle Scout with his proud parents:

We're hoping to organize that in January, and if you're lucky and special you may receive an invitation.

We had a couple of great vacations to Lake Powell this year: one with our friends the McKees for spring break (cold water, but good times); then in the summer Lynette's brother Craig and his family came with us on a one-week houseboating adventure.

Ask our dear sister in law Patti if it's a good idea to jump off this:

She and her T12 vertebra will tell you it's not.

Amaya is having a great senior year and has found her niche performing in the choir and in musical theater. Here's the SHHS choir performing at the Assembly Hall a couple of weeks ago:

SHHS also did a wonderful production of Fiddler on the Roof this fall and Amaya enjoyed being in the ensemble. She is looking forward to (hopefully) receiving an acceptance letter from BYU soon, and we can't believe it has all gone by so fast.

Kyla is amazing as ever with her ongoing gymnastic accomplishments:

The boys had a great football season and are looking forward to killing time until the next football season.

A few more fun photos to round out the year:

As always, we feel very grateful for all that God has blessed us with and appreciate the chance to reflect on the role of the Savior in our lives this season. We wish all our best to you and yours.

Highlights from New Years Eve

2010-12-31T22:32:00.000-08:00

It's still 30 minutes till the clock strikes, and five of us Binghams (the five who aren't at teenager parties) ended up at home by ourselves this New Year's Eve. As part of the celebration we ended up playing our new game, Quelf, which we got for Christmas. Quelf is a game in which you end up doing many silly, random things. As part of the game, I was required to write a haiku about my armpits. I thought it was good enough to share with our readers:

Armpit Haiku

Hairy, fuzzy pits

Stink when not washed everyday

Love deodorant.

Also in this game, Jayson had to not use his arms for the entire game and Bryce had to act the entire time like "a fiery little gnome who just burnt a batch of cookies." I also produced the following piece of artwork, which started with Kyla drawing some random lines and shapes and then I had to complete a picture and title it. Combined with the haiku, this is probably the pinnacle of Bingham art achievement for 2010 so we will share it with you as well.

"Big-Eared Susie's Nightmare"

Christmas 2010 Highlights

2010-12-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone. This whole month has just flown by. It's hard to believe that the new year is just a few days away. This year for Christmas, we really tried to simplify things and keep our focus where it should be. We didn't have a lot of gifts, or spend a lot of money, but we had fun. We had a lot of fun watching old movies, playing games, doing puzzles and spending time with most of our family. I feel very blessed to have the family I have (our family, my family and Jared's family). They are all wonderful people, who have taught me so much, and I love them all!

Every year, the kids look forward to opening their pajamas on Christmas eve. This year, I sewed pajama pants for all of us. You can see the kids pj's in this picture, but unfortunately, they are covering ours. If you would like to see them, feel free to stop by for your own personal fashion show.

Also, for your enjoyment, I have posted a few random shots from Christmas morning.

Christmas Message 2010

2010-12-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

Well hello again everyone. You can tell I'm not a real blogger, since I haven't blogged anything since Maui. It's my assignment to write the Christmas family update - if you bother to look this up after getting our card, it must mean you really love us.

In the interest of not being boring, I've decided to update you on some things our family hasn't accomplished this year:

Once again, none of us ran a marathon. (Check with my sister Lori's family for that). As far as exercise goes, I think I fouled out of ward basketball a couple times and found out that from our house to Woodland Hills Drive is exactly a 2 mile run).
No one graduated from any universities anywhere with any degrees. (But the older kids are well on their way with their 4.0 GPAs, and Amaya got a more than respectable 25 on her first crack at the ACT).
No one got married or had any babies. (Thankfully! At least 6-8+ years on that please).
There were once again no job changes or moves (again, thankfully. We plan to keep it that way).

And a few things we DID accomplish in 2010:

Over the years there have been a few Mom-Dad only exotic vacation trips. As our kids have gotten older, the guilt trips they have started to throw at us over these getaways without them have become increasingly burdensome. As a result, they got to come along on an exotic vacation to Hawaii. (See earlier blog entries). We had an awesome time and were glad we got to bring the kids. (Note: this story is not meant to imply that whining should get you anywhere. It's just that our kids have gotten old enough that it's actually fun, and not just more work, to bring them along).
2 out of 2 of our sons survived their first tackle football season without major injuries. We feel good about this ratio.
Jared finally fulfilled his lifelong dream of taking his boys along on a deer hunt in which they (at least Bryce) could actually legally hunt. Those familiar with Jared's past hunting success will not be surprised to hear that this hunt lasted approximately 30 minutes and resulted in no deer seen. The first half of the intended hunting day instead became a baby-delivering day. After that, all we had time to do was drive around in a blizzard and try not to get the truck permanently stuck.
A couple of old beat up picnic tables at the Utah State Developmental Center now have nice new roofs and new paint jobs. In related news, Bryce became an Eagle Scout this year.
We had decided previously that in our family, those completing their Eagle Scout and/or Young Women Recognition Award would ~~be rewarded with~~ receive an iPod Nano as a gift. After Bryce completed his Eagle Board of Review and was officially an Eagle Scout, there was discussion as to whether he should get the iPod at that time or wait until his court of honor a month or two later. We decided to give it to him before the court of honor, and learned that a month or two is plenty of time for Bryce to leave an iPod in the pocket of his pants and run it through the laundry at least once. (In case this is unclear to some of you, iPod circuitry does not respond well to total immersion). By the time Bryce actually received his Eagle badge, he was once again Nano-less.
Kyla continued to amaze us, of course, with a lot of triple-back-twist-flip-somervault type things, and just by being a generally awesome kid.
Between the six Binghams we racked up, by my count, about 40 nights of camping, including finally making it to Lake Powell.

In all seriousness, we're grateful for the blessed and eventful year we've had and for the chance to appreciate our Savior more fully this season. We wish you and yours the best of times and hope we can get together soon.

Gold Medal Champion!

2010-06-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today, Kyla finished up her first competitive gymnastics season. The state meet was held at Salt Lake Community College. She had a great meet! In her session and age category, she placed first in the uneven bars, 2nd in beam and floor, and 2nd in the all around category! Congratulations Kyla on a great season!!

Sweet 16!

2010-05-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that 16 years ago I brought this sweet little girl home from the hospital. The years have passed quickly and I feel so very blessed to be her mother. She was such a good baby and has grown to be a wonderful and remarkable young woman! I love her so much and am so proud of all she has accomplished in her 16 years. Happy Birthday Amaya!! Here is a look back at her life with 16 cute pictures of my beautiful daughter!

Thank you for being a wonderful part of our family! We love you!

So Long Maui, Wish We Could Stay Longer

2010-04-09T23:26:00.000-07:00

In case we failed to mention it, we managed to throw together a family trip to Hawaii for spring break. (I know I haven't written a blog in forever, I guess it took a vacation to give me the excuse - didn't feel like complaining about the president and stuff). We've been too tired at the end of the day from playing too hard to think about things like posting pictures on the web, until tonight we saved a little time to chill (or the kids' new word, "chillax.")

Supposedly it's been spring for almost a month at home, but hasn't been acting like it. More snow the night before we left made us even more happy to run away for some actual nice weather, and laugh at you suckers back home.

Our adventure began on Monday, with a super-early flight itinerary that was supposed to get us to Maui by 11:30 AM. We had a tight connection in LAX and barely made it on, then while taxiing, the pilot announced that we were heading back to the gate because of a warning light about a possible hydraulic leak. They left us on the plane for 90 minutes, then sent us off to get some lunch, and finally ended up switching us to a backup aircraft. A 4 hour delay followed by a 6 hour flight makes for a long day, but if the alternative is having flight control failure while 1000 miles from the nearest land, I'll take the delay.

Arriving at the condo 4 hours late, we didn't have time to do much Monday except hang out at the pool and cook some dinner. Tuesday was beach, sun, and snorkeling day (the kids got it started while I attended medical classes till 11AM), and we definitely knew we'd left Utah's spring weather behind.

The highlight of Wednesday was surfing lessons! Here's some shots of our pro surfers, with Maui Waveriders instructor J.P.:

Apparently if you play on a surfboard for 2 hours without long shorts, there can be leg chafing resulting in some grumpiness:

The grumpiness was short-lived, though, and this may have been the biggest hit activity of the week.

For Thursday, I skipped the classes, and we did the all-day drive around the east side (the lush, rainforest-y side) of Maui to the town of Hana and beyond. We were on the road for 13 hours including lots of stops, but were rewarded by some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen:

Today was another beach day and a shorter day, since we have a 6:30 AM flight to Oahu. We'll be staying on the north shore here (I'll be honest, I picked it more for the funny English than anything else) and meeting up with the Baker family, who I'm told have some fun stuff planned for us.

More to come later!

Happenings

2010-02-22T13:23:00.000-08:00

Kyla set a hula hoop record. She hula hooped for over 1 hour non-stop.

Amaya (after waiting for over a month for the new medallions) received her Young Woman's Recognition award on February 7th.

Bryce turned 14 on February 15th, passed off his Deacon's portion of the Duty to God, became a varsity scout, and was ordained to the office of Teacher on February 21st. (The cake tasted a lot better than the picture makes it look...White Chocolate Coconut!)

Bryce and Jayson earn 7 merit badges each and Jayson is awarded his First Class Scout rank. Bryce also earned his "On my Honor" award.

Amaya's club volleyball team also won the tournament that they had this week end. She played very well!

Judges please!

2010-02-20T19:07:00.000-08:00

At Kyla's second meet, she thought she did really well on her floor routine. I thought she did really well, too. Apparently we know crap. The judges gave her a 6.55, which was the lowest of her team. Other girls had some wobbles, some failed tricks, etc. and still scored higher, but even with a pretty good looking routine and completing her tricks, she got the lowest score. She wants to know what she is doing wrong so she can improve, but besides a few minor things, we don't know what she is doing wrong. Any gymnasts or coaches out there who can clue us in?!! Please!!

The weekend

2010-02-07T19:48:00.001-08:00

What a crazy weekend we had. Kyla had her first gymnastics meet on Friday up in Salt Lake and Amaya had her first volleyball tournament (club) up in Ogden, at the same time. That made for a bit of a parent scheduling conflict. Since Amaya's tourny was on Saturday too, she ended up going with a friend and her dad and we stayed with Kyla.

Kyla did really well, especially considering it was her first meet and she didn't quite know what to expect. Here are a few photos and videos for those of you who care.

Well, after 2 weeks of trying to get the other 2 videos to load unsuccessfully, I give up. If you want to see her floor and beam routines, look at my facebook page!

After the meet was another adventure. As we started home (around 9pm) on super snowy, slick roads, I got a HYSTERICAL (screaming and crying) call from Amaya that went something like this:
Amaya: "Mom, WHERE ARE YOU?!!!"
Mom: "What happened"
Amaya: "WHERE ARE YOU?!!!"
Mom: "were you in a wreck?"
Amaya: "YES"
Mom: Were you hurt?"
Amaya: "NO!"
Mom: "Was Jenny hurt?"
Amaya: "NO"
Mom: "Was her dad hurt?"
Amaya: "NO"
Mom: "If everyone is fine, settle down! All that matters is that everyone is okay! Settle down, stop crying!
At that point I pulled of the freeway at the prison and called Jared (we were in 2 cars) and he joined me to wait and try to figure out if one of us was going to have to turn around and go to Ogden to rescue her. Luckily they got ahold of another mom who was at the tournament and she was able to give them a ride home. We both had left around 9pm, and we got home at 11pm and Amaya at 1am. That was a LONG night of worry!

Amaya and I got about 4 hours of sleep before we had to wake up and drive to Park City on snowy, icy roads for the second day of her tournament. She played the whole day, not sitting at all. She did a great job.

Holiday Fun!

2010-01-01T20:09:00.000-08:00

We have had several fun days of tubing/snowboarding with family during the holiday break. The first day was with Jared's sister's family at Fairview. It was a lot of fun. The boys got to try out the snowboards they got for Christmas and we borrowed one for Kyla to try. She actually picked it up quite quickly.

We went out again on Wednesday at Gladstan golf course with my sister-in-law and her kids and had a blast. Of course that day I forgot my camera. Luckily they agreed to go again today with my sister's family (Thanks Steve and Melissa!). We had a lot of fun, as you can see for yourself.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Not because of what we received, but because of our wonderful kids and our family! We are truly blessed! I so grateful for the blessings I receive because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. These are just a few Christmas memories of the ones I love...

Temple experience

2009-12-03T22:21:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been at the temple and laughed so hard you almost peed your pants? I have. We went to the temple last Saturday to see my cute niece sealed to her parents. After, we were outside taking pictures when someone made fun of my husband for wearing a beanie hat. He protested that it was cold when you're bald and everyone needed to give the bald people a break.

Jared's mom agreed that we needed to give the bald people a break (for those of our readers who may not be aware, she is one of the bald people currently, due to chemotherapy), and this somehow led to her suggestion that the bald people switch headgear, and the following occurred:

And then:

Thanks Mom! You are a great sport. I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard.

Senior Moments

2009-10-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I have been having a lot of senior moments lately. I'm blaming it on the kids. The other day, I spent the morning making yummy bread, only to realize after it was all cooked that I had forgot to put the salt in. I never do things like that.

That was bad enough, but today, I got ready and went to the store and then to lunch with Jared. As I was getting ready to head to SEP's with kids, I looked down and this is what I saw...

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!!!!! HELP!!!!

Our Baby Is 9

2009-10-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

Kyla turned 9 today! I was asked to do the birthday party blog, because Lynette has a sore back and is enjoying (hopefully) a nice tub soak right now. In case you were confused by this photo, please note that Kyla actually has a normal 9 year old skin complexion and that this is a "costume" with "makeup."

Oh yes, and she has glasses now, in case we forgot to blog about that.

I wanted to point out for our readers my wife's awesomeness in the field of birthday cake construction. One of her best efforts to date, this Halloween/ Birthday Haunted House Cake may have fetched four figures at the Cub Scout bake sale. Unfortunately, this work of art was cut up and consumed by a ravenous horde of party guests before I could properly preserve it and put it up for auction.

This, that, and the other thing!

2009-10-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

Time flies when your busy! And we have been busy this fall. Here are a few of the things we have been doing.

1. Volleyball. Games every Tuesday and Thursday, practice every day. They have been playing great and have won the majority of their games!

2. Flag Football. Jayson just finished up a winning season. The championship games were Thursday night and they won both games 26-0.

3. Gymnastics. Kyla had an intersquad meet in September and will start competing in December. She practices 3 times a week for almost 3 hours each time. She also practices her routines just about everywhere we go. She can be seen dancing down the mall, at Target, Sam's Club, etc.

4. Scouts. Bryce and Jayson have been working on several meritbadges and finished several up for the court of honor we had a couple of weeks ago. Seventeen merit badges between the two of them. Jayson received is 2nd class scout. Bryce might have decided on a eagle project (if he can get it approved). Keep it up boys!

5. ETC...What can I say?! There has been canning, religion classes, photoshop classes, my calling, and all the normal everyday things for me. Jared has been busy with work, his calling and an occasional fishing trip. Life is just busy. I'm sure it is no different at your house. Anyway, that is a little of what we have been doing this fall.

And they're off!

2009-08-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe, but summer break is officially over! The kids all headed back to school on Wednesday. Luckily, so far, they like their classes and teachers. Already we are full swing into homework and activities. Busy, busy, busy! Here are the traditional first day of school photos.

Amaya, 10th grade

Bryce, 8th grade

Amaya trying to pose and show off her whole outfit.

Jayson, 6th grade

Kyla, 3rd grade

Jayson and Kyla

And now a word from our sponsor...

2009-08-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

Participation fee: $45

Spandex: $15

Knee pads: $15

Sweats: $70

Shoes: $70

Equipment bag: $35

Socks: $10

Game day t-shirt: $15

Practice t-shirt: $15

Numerous camps leading to this point: $$$$$$$

The look on Amaya's face when she found out she made the Sophomore volleyball team: PRICELESS!!!!

(This was not the priceless look, it is just a tired reenactment)

CONGRATULATIONS AMAYA! We love you and are so proud of you!

Oh the shame!

2009-07-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Oh, the shame of it all! Jack was forced to wear the CONE OF SHAME this week, and it was hilarious and sad at the same time.

Back up to about 1 week ago. I was going to bed one night at about midnight. Jared was downstairs doing whatever he does down there until the wee hours of the morning, so I couldn't use him as back up when my non-surround sound hearing heard a cat fight. Usually Jack is in the backyard, so I checked there first. Nothing. Then I check the front. Nothing. Then I went to bed. About 2 days later, we noticed that Jack had a big scab on his nose and a smaller one above his eye. A day later, his nose was swollen some, but we decided to just watch it. Sunday after church, Kyla noticed something purplish dried up by the scab on his nose. I decided it needed to be cleaned with a little hydrogen peroxide, which led to a whole lot of pus draining out. Thus, a trip to the vet for antibiotics... so I thought. I took him in Monday afternoon, thinking we would be able to get the drugs and leave. No such luck. Anesthesia, surgery to drain the abscesses, 2 penrose drains, and a night in the hospital later... THE CONE OF SHAME!!!!
Poor Jack has looked so sad. We feel bad for him, but we just can't help laughing as he walks around bumping his cone into everything. The chairs, table, doors, walls... The funniest thing, however, was when he decided to get a drink... from the toilet. He got stuck. He kept trying to pull his head out, but he was too close to the seat, so he would lift up... bonk... try again... bonk... again... bonk... over and over again until we quit laughing long enough to help him out. We only wish we could have been thinking enough to grab the camera. Here is one more picture of the poor kitty with the drains.

Don't worry. Jack is on the mend. He got his drains out today and no longer has to wear the CONE OF SHAME.

Jayson Hits A Walk-Off

2009-07-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

Jayson had the baseball highlight of his life tonight with a walk-off game winning hit in the city tournament championship game. Here's the pressure situation he found himself in:

Jayson's team, the Marlins, was playing their nemesis the Dodgers (both teams undefeated except against each other) for the championship of the Salem tournament. It was a close game with good pitching and defense, with the Marlins leading 2-1 going into the last inning. The Dodgers, the visiting team, scored one on an error in the top half of the inning to tie the game.

The Marlins were playing one player short and had to take an automatic out each time their 9th slot came up in the order. Jayson, batting in the 8th slot, came up with runners on second and third with two out.

Because of the automatic out, Jayson would be the last Marlins batter of the inning and so it was up to him to get the winning run in. If Jayson got out OR walked, the inning would be over because the spot after him was the automatic third out. (The other team could have intentionally walked him and ended the inning, but decided to be good sports and pitch to him straight up).

The count went to full, so the intensity level was high in the bleachers. Jayson's coach told him he COULD NOT walk, he had to hit the next pitch no matter how good or bad. Under this kind of pressure, Jayson got a difficult low outside pitch and smacked a sharp grounder that made it through between first and second, scoring the winning run.

Jayson got a big cheer from his teammates and everyone said "JAYSON" instead of "CHEESE" as they posed for the photo op with their medals. It was a pretty proud parent moment. We're saving the game ball.

Let's Go!

2009-06-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

Get in, sit down, buckle up and get ready for the ride of your life! Amaya is on the road! I can hardly believe it myself, but it is true... she is old enough and yesterday she passed the test, earning her learner's permit. She is very excited to finally be able to drive like all of her friends have been able to do for a while now. Just watch for more gray hairs to be appearing on my head soon!

16 Years!

2009-05-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Sixteen years ago we were married for time and all eternity in the Manti, Utah temple! The time has really flown by, yet it seems as if we have always been together! It has been a very busy, adventure packed 16 years. We look so young, skinny and hairy in these pictures (okay, the hairy only refers to Jared).
Anyway, I am so thankful for this wonderful husband that my Heavenly Father blessed me with. He is a good father to our 4 beautiful children. He works hard and long hours to provide for us. He is a worthy priesthood holder and blesses our family with that priesthood. He fulfills his calling and loves it (I am occasionally jealous of all the fun things he gets to do). He loves me with my flaws, shortcomings, annoyances and all... and I love him with his! Thank you Jared for all you do for me and our family. I love you very much and look forward to many, many more years of happiness with you!

"I'm 15 for a moment"

2009-05-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

Fifteen years ago today, I became a mother! It is hard to believe she has grown so fast! My petite little 9 lb. 1 oz baby is all grown up! Happy Birthday Amaya! Amaya is a joy to have in our family. She is helpful, responsible, funny, kind, talkative, and just fun to be around! She is a very good student (4.0) and very talented. She is becoming quite the seamstress and is also becoming quite adventurous. She got a wetsuit for her birthday and immediately asked if she gets to take scuba lessons now. I didn't expect that one! Anyway, we love her very much and are very proud of her and all she does! Here are a couple of pictures from the party!
(This was her imitation of Barbie in a wetsuit... notice the new wedge shoes!)

(New bedding... she is doing a bedroom makeover as part of her personal progress!)
Happy Birthday! We love you!!!

Remind Me, Dear, Why Was It Again We Decided To Build A Pond In Our Yard? (With a Poll!)

2009-05-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Like many of you, I find that as we get older and more experienced in life, we learn many things. One of the things I have learned is that I was much dumber in the past than I am now. For example, when we were putting in our yard in about 2001, Lynette and I decided for some reason that it would be a good idea to have a "water feature" in the yard. I guess we wanted to be able to relax in lawn chairs on our deck on a summer evening and hear the peaceful sound of the bubbling waterfall, which would then make us have to go to the bathroom.

Allow me to summarize for you some things I have learned about having "water features" from my own experience:
1. They are always a mess.
2. They are really a lot of work to build.
3. They are even more work after you're done building them.
4. I will never build one again.
5. They are always a mess.

Gaining experience in life is wonderful. My 40 year old self would love to have been able to tell my 30 year old self what an idiot he was for deciding to build a pond.

This brings me to today's experience. The Bingham Pond has been getting a little out of control the past couple summers. The lily pad colonies had grown beyond the combined biomass of an acre of rainforest and this made it impossible to see through the water or keep the algae under control. Lynette told me that if I would remove the lily pad planters from the pond today, she would thin them and replant them.

Naturally, I decided that the easiest way to do this would be to just barefoot wade into the pond and start tossing stuff out. Big mistake.

I waded around in the black mucky water for about ten minutes and managed to toss out most of the excess plant material. Then upon exiting the pond I noticed this (you really need to click to zoom in for the full effect):

That's just one side of one foot, so if you count both feet I'm estimating that is 500+ leeches I picked up in a few minutes. And in case you were curious, no, they did not just rinse off. They were firmly attached with their little suckers or whatever and basically had to be scraped off individually. They did not leave big bloody sores like in the movies, but I think they were working on it. On the bright side, yesterday I was starting to think I was coming down with something, but now I think maybe all of my evil humours have been sucked out and I'm all better.

For some reason, the biggest thing that bothered me about this episode was, how did this thriving colony of thousands of leeches get started? Do leeches just magically appear in any icky, scummy pond? Our pond started out with clean water and we haven't put anything into it except lily pads and chemicals. The nearest standing body of water is Salem Pond, a mile away. Do baby leeches in Salem Pond climb up trees, spin little silken parachutes, and drift away on the wind like in Charlotte's Web? To me this seems like evidence for the theory of spontaneous generation, which I thought had been disproved. We're interested in commentary from our many readers who may be expert leech biologists.

With the new leech infestation, we're trying to decide if having a pond is worth it. Here's what the area looks like after I pumped out most of the water today:

As you can see, the area looks like it has potential, as long as you have a full time crew of ~~Mexicans~~ gardeners, or an extra thirty hours a week, to keep all the weeds down and everything pruned. As it is now, it looks pretty raggedy up close. We'd like your help deciding where we should go from here. Check the poll in the right hand column and cast your vote! We will wait a week until all 2 of our readers have responded, then throw away the information and choose whatever seems like the laziest option. After that, we will wait 10 years, then look back and make fun of how stupid we were when we were only 40.

Spring Break

2009-04-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

For the first time in I don't know how long, we actually did something for spring break. Our nephew, Parker, was getting baptized on Saturday (in Grand Junction), so we decided to make a trip of it and go to Arches National Park on our way there. We spent 2 days hiking around the park and saw some incredible sites! It was BEAUTIFUL! The last time I had been there was when I was 8 and it was in the dead of summer... HOT! This was a much more enjoyable time to go. It was a first for Jared and the kids. Some of Jared's siblings joined us the second day. We had a great time and there was very little complaining.

The baptism was also very nice. Parker looked handsome in his suit and his white jumpsuit. Bryce and Amaya provided the prelude and post-lude as well as the opening and closing songs. They did a very nice job. Apparently, baptisms are very tiring. This was the scene at Lori's house after the baptism.

You made my day!

2009-04-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday I was doing a little blog surfing when I noticed that Designmom.com had a post about Easter eggs. I always enjoy looking at creative ways to do eggs and she always has creative things on her blog, so I clicked on the link. Imagine my surprise when up pops a picture of eggs done just the same way that I do eggs. I thought, "How cool! She does eggs just like we do!" Then I looked at the picture again, a little closer this time, and thought, "Hey, those ARE my eggs!!!" I then clicked on the link and up comes my little, hardly ever read blog. Surprise!! Thanks to design mom and all her readers who have visited and made comments! You made my day!

The other thing that made my day was the Scout/Young Woman fundraising auction that we had last night. I donated 2 items. Item #1 was sewing on scout patches for 1 year. That item went for $70. The second item I donated was this "flirty" apron that I made.

The apron went for $50.

It made me feel good that my items helped donate that much. Thanks!

The Egg

2009-04-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

Easter eggs are a thing of beauty, especially when done the old Swiss way. My mom's side of the family is from Switzerland. Her grandfather came across the plains in a handcart. She grew up coloring her Easter eggs in this way, as have we. Pas is for wimps. This method takes great skill and artistic skills.

Step 1: Gather interesting shaped weeds, plants and flowers. You will want a wide variety. You never know what is going to work the best.

Step 2: Take a raw egg and tie your plants to the egg with thread. Make sure you secure the leaves well.

Step 3: Add as many leaves and flowers as desired, but leave some white parts showing and tie them securely. Wrap all the eggs you want colored and set aside.

Step 4: (you have actually started this step ahead of time) Have a large pot of brown onion skins boiling on the stove until the water is a dark brown. Carefully place your wrapped eggs deep into the pot, covering them with water and skins.

Step 5: Put a lid on the pot and boil the eggs for 30 mins. Then carefully find your eggs and remove them from the pot, to a sink filled with cold water.

Step 6: Carefully unwrap the thread and remove the plants and flowers.

Step 7: Behold your eggs!

One year older

2009-04-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Jayson! Eleven years old! It seems like it was just yesterday that I gave birth to that cute BIG baby (10 lbs 3 oz)! Jayson is so much fun to have around. His smile is contagious and he has a great personality. He is also sensitive and kind. We love you very much Jayson! Hope you have a great day!

Ospreys and a Bonfire

2009-03-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

Our Varsity Scout team had a great activity yesterday working with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. I copied this post over from our Scout team blog in case anyone found it interesting, since I haven't posted anything else lately.

The DWR maintains a 50-acre preserve in the Lake Shore area near Lincoln Beach. Some towers have been put up there for nesting habitat for ospreys. The area used to be farmland, and some plowing work a few years ago inadvertently turned up a large amount of old baling twine. The problem with the twine is that ospreys tend to build it into their nests, and their chicks tend to get tangled in the twine strands which can lead to their death.

So we spent yesterday morning scouring the area and cleaning up all the baling twine. It was a cool morning but everyone worked hard and had a good time. We ended up collecting several giant garbage bags full of twine as well as some large bundles that were too big to bag.

(you can click images for a closer view).

Some of the bundles of twine were too big to haul off, so our wildlife officer gave permission to start the Biggest Scout Fire Ever.

This fire turned out to be too big to roast our hotdogs, but they tasted just as good cooked on the Bingham's grill back home. We had a good crew of workers and it was nice to have them out on a crisp spring morning to accomplish something useful.

The Eyes Have It

2009-03-10T10:36:00.001-07:00

I love eyes, and these are the eyes I love most. Eyes tell you so much about how someone is feeling. Today we have a random sampling of eye-motions!
We have silly eyes:

We have angry/crazy eyes:
We have eyes that are being difficult, but look sleepy at the same time:
We have happy eyes:
We have the mother eye's that see all:
And finally, the loving father eyes:
Beware, we are all watching you!

Getting to Know Amaya!

2009-03-04T19:48:00.000-08:00

Twenty five interesting things about Amaya, written by Amaya:

1. I love American Idol. It is the best show EVER!!
2. I love playing with all my cousins! We have so much fun together! (I see that airplane Julia! :P )
3. I love playing any sport. But my all time favorites are softball and volleyball
4. I was actually intensely watching the Superbowl this year. You should be proud!
5. Since Amaya didn't have a #5 on her list, I will add: She just won the district science fair and will be moving on to regionals at BYU.
6. Taking pictures is one of my all time favorite things to do!
7. I miss playing four-square and dodgeball with all my buddies! Too bad there is no more recess!
8. I really wish my hair was naturally curly. Mine won't curl AT ALL!
9. I write in my journal when I'm bored
10. I really want a job. Weird, I know. I just need to stay busy
11. I'm really OCD about the stupidest things. Like, the table not being set right, or when a strip of grass on our lawn wasn't mowed...
12. My favorite restaurant is Zupas
13. I only enjoy the first snow of the year- after that, it's just annoying.
14. I hate it when I'm lazy. I need to be active!!!
15. I am really aggressive- even in church ball! :)
16. Sometimes I'm really quiet, other times I'm really loud. I don't know why!
17. I really want a puppy!
18. I am a read-aholic. If I can get my hands on a good book, I can't put it down.
19. I love my buddies and hanging out with them is the best!
20. I LOVE making absolutely pointless, and completely cheesy movies.
21. Mickey and Minnie Mouse are my all time favorites
20. Watching movies in Spanish that also have like another language in them drives me nuts. Like Beauty and the Beast for example.... I love that movie, but I couldn't stand watching it in Spanish!
21. I love going to the temple and plan on getting married there someday
22. This entry was outdated, so... she is beautiful inside and out!
23. Coming up with all this stuff is harder than it looks!
24. I look up to each and every one of my friends and family members-I want to be like all of them!
25. I can't wait to go to high school next year! I'll be reunited with all my friends from elementary! YAY!!

Getting to Know Jayson!

2009-02-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

Fifteen amazing, interesting facts about Jayson:

1. Just won the school science fair.
2. Likes participating in sports - basketball, football & baseball.
3. Loves BYU - GO COUGARS!! Writes his name with the BYU "Y" in the middle.
4. Favorite food is "anything mom makes."
5. Likes to boat: tube, ski and kneeboard!
6. Likes to read.
7. Has earned his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts.
8. Likes to watch football, basketball & AFV.
9. Enjoys playing video games when his mom will let him.
10. Mows lawns for money (in the summer,of course).
11. Once when he was 2, he stripped off all his clothes and ran outside to stand in the weeds.
12. Was born 2 weeks early and still weighed 10 lbs. 3 oz.!
13. Likes to play with friends.
14. Most favorite trip... DISNEY WORLD!
15. Can walk his glasses up his nose... Ask for a free demonstration!

And the winners are....

2009-02-20T14:32:00.000-08:00

The Bingham science fair winning streak continues! Amaya and Jayson both won at the school level and will continue on to the district science fair on March 3rd.

Jayson researched the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

Amaya studied different methods of water purification and their effectiveness.

Way to go kids!

Getting to Know Bryce!

2009-02-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

Today is Bryce's 13th birthday. Happy Birthday Bryce! Here are 15 things about Bryce:

1. Excellent piano player, whether he likes to admit it or not.
2. Has earned the rank of LIFE in scouting.
3. Loves to read, was reading by the age of 3.
4. Plays the wii guitar on "expert" and scores high.
5. Likes to play all kinds of games... Killer Bunnies, Settlers, Ticket to Ride, etc.
6. Enjoys playing most sports.
7. Prefers contacts over glasses.
8. Oldest son, 2nd child.
9. He likes cheese.
10. He is a handsome teenager (says his cousin and his mom).
11. Has a secret admirer.
12. He hates flip flops.
13. He got straight A's last semester (all A's and one A- the term before).
14. Recently ran his ipod shuffle through the wash (he was doing his own wash, however!).
15. One foggy day about a week ago he had the following conversation:
Bryce: Look how bright the moon is today!
Dad: That's because it is the sun!

Getting To Know Kyla!

2009-02-11T14:16:00.000-08:00

15 wonderful things about Kyla!

1. She likes to do gymnastics!

2. She just learned how to do her kip on the uneven bars about a month ago.

3. She likes art... painting and drawing.

4. Her favorite color is hot pink.

5. Her favorite treat is cinnamon rolls.

6. Her favorite food is her mom's "Cafe Bingham" salad (like Cafe Rio's pork salad).

7. She loves going to family reunions.

8. She likes to cook.

9. She likes to sew.

10. She likes to play with her friends... especially Amber and Jennie.

11. She likes playing machine pitch softball.

12. She likes swimming.

13. She likes boating.

14. Her favorite place she has been is... DISNEYWORLD!

15. She has cute dimples!

Getting to know me!

2009-02-01T20:09:00.000-08:00

Yes, I got tagged. I don't normally do these kind of things, they take too long and they are too hard. But I did it anyway. So, here are my 25 random things. Did I surprise anyone?

1. Things have never gone in one ear and out the other. It's a dead end road... I only have one ear!
2. I quite possibly have the largest hippo collection you could ever want to see.
3. I graduated from BYU with a bachelors in Nursing. I worked in Oncology for a couple of years and then in the ICU/CCU for another 8 years before retiring.
4. I served a mission for the LDS church in the Spain Bilbao mission.
5. I KNOW the church is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet and translated the Book of Mormon, and that we have a living prophet today!
6. I use to run track and cross country. Now I get tired just thinking about it. I held the Utah HS state record (along with 3 other people) for the mile relay for several years (who knows, I may still hold it... they switched to the 1600m a few years later).
7. My husband and I graduated from school the same year... Jared from High School, me from BYU.
8. I met Jared on a blind date, arranged by his parents and my brother/sister-in-law. We married 7 months later in the Manti Utah temple.
9. I have 4 beautiful, smart, wonderful and talented children who I love very much!
10. I am taking a digital photography class. I have always had a hidden desire to learn more about photography and be able to take some really awesome photos.
11. I love traveling and seeing new places. Warm sunny ones are my favorites!
12. I love GOOD chocolate... I can usually pass on the cheap crap.
13. I like getting together with my friend and making cards.
14. I enjoy doing almost any type of crafts, especially if I am doing them with friends.
15. I enjoy sewing when I have time. Its seems that I have less and less of it lately. The things I have enjoyed sewing the most are my children's blessing outfits, Easter & Christmas outfits, and Halloween costumes.
16. I have recently, in the last few years, rediscovered the joy of reading.
17. I enjoy boating. I finally learned how to slalom ski a couple of summers ago. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?!
18. I love to bake, I just try not to do it too often because I would then try to eat all of it.
19. I love rollercoasters! The bigger, the faster, the scarier, the better!
20. I love all kinds of food. I love trying new foods! And I love going out to eat! Call me anytime!
21. I have recently grown to love playing Rock Band on the wii. I still am not very good, but who cares. I do quite well (on easy) playing bass or doing the vocals.
22. I cannot do DDR for the life of me. No coordination what so ever!
23. I learned how to scuba dive last year and I love it. Just wish I could do it more often.
24. (I'm getting desperate here) I secretly like using the snow blower. It is kind of fun seeing how far you can throw the snow. (Don't tell my husband... I don't want to do it all of the time)
25. I love hanging out with friends... playing games, eating, talking or whatever. I just love being around people and laughing and having fun.
(old dog, new trick)

Oh Noes, Another Political Rant

2009-01-26T20:00:00.000-08:00

Some of the few people who read this blog may remember my first post, in which I offended many with my thoughts following the presidential election. After that post, you moved on and I moved on. My expressions that I hoped the new president would do well were sincere, and my attitude was "the guy won, fair enough, now let's see what he can do."

As it turns out, what he can do is to offend me deeply within just a few days of taking office.

So we're closing the Guantanamo prison camp. What now? What do we do with all the guys there that want to kill us? Where are we going to put new prisoners? (unless you are just telling the army to not accept surrenders any more, that's fine). Are we going to bring them back home and give them lawyers and trials? Set them free on technicalities and let them out to plot how to kill us some more? This one is a victory for the bad guys. And I believe it was President Obama's first official act, first significant one anyway.

Oh wait, that wasn't even the point. The prison closing wasn't even what I was writing about.

What really offended me was that now our chief executive has ordered that my tax dollars must go to pay for abortions. This isn't even here at home. This is "foreign aid" that will go out to third world countries to kill unborn babies there. And I have no say in it. Why does this allocation of funds even fall under exclusive executive authority?

At a time when America can barely afford to help itself, we're going to continue to spend untold millions to help people around the world. In my opinion, this is something that private organizations should be involved in, not the federal government (not that it's anything new). But the new President wants to help them by killing their babies. And there's nothing I can do about it. This is offensive to me on multiple levels.

He said he wanted to unite us. He said he wanted to bring about change for good. He said it's not about politics, it's about doing what's right for America. So he starts off by not even being able to wait a week to make the most extreme liberal policy change possible on one issue, and the most idiotic, short-sighted, endangering-America policy change possible on another issue.

I had an open mind, but I don't know how open I am to four years of this, if this is how it's going to be.

Multiple choice: Whose rights should we value and prioritize more?
(a) Innocent unborn children
(b) Terrorists who want to kill us just for being Americans or non-Muslims

Obama's preference is clear.

Can America change? Can we start right now and open up the floodgates of wrongheaded policy? You know the answer: YES, WE CAN.

Let it snow!

2009-01-26T12:02:00.001-08:00

Well, it snowed again. After all the rain the last few days, it was only fitting that we should be dumped on some more. We woke up to about a foot of snow. I like snow. I really do. But I like it in the mountains and other pretty places, like Salem pond. These are just a couple of pictures at the pond that I snapped today. I love all the snow in the trees!

This is my street... not so pretty! Please let it snow in all the pretty places and not on my street. Thank you!

Beautiful Music

2009-01-25T18:49:00.000-08:00

The big recital day has now come and gone! The kids are glad it is over. They did a great job, even though they think they didn't. I am constantly amazed at their talents. I have seen great improvements over the years. They have surpassed my abilities in fewer years and demonstrate great skill and potential! Now if we could just improve the attitude!
Jayson played "Chromatic Polka." He did a great job even if he forgot a couple of notes!

Bryce played "100 Years." For a minute, we wondered if that was how long it was going to take him to set up his music!
Amaya played "Waterfall." I love this music... it is beautiful!

Keep practicing kids and keep playing beautiful music!

Arrow of LIght

2009-01-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

Last night Jayson and his best friend Kyle were awarded Cub Scouts highest award... the Arrow of Light. They have a wonderful leader who makes cub scouting a lot of fun. Last night's ceremony was no different.

Bro. R. has this magical urn. As he talks to the boys about their accomplishments, he has them put things like "Powdered Bobcat", "Essence of Wolf", "Crushed-up Bear" (all powders) and so forth into the urn. There is no water in this urn, but when they start to stir it, it magically becomes a liquid.

Then they get to "CHUG" it down! They love it!
Congratulations Jayson! We are so proud of you!

New Year's Multiple Choice Quiz

2009-01-11T13:44:00.000-08:00

A prize will be awarded to the first reader who gives a correct answer to how this happened to Bryce.

Here are your possible answers:
A. Got hit in the eye in latest cagefight match (but he won).
B. Was trying to catch a Brett Favre bullet pass.
C.Put his eye too close to the scope on his first time shooting Dad's high powered rifle.
D. A high speed sibling chase through the house caused Mom's potted plant to fall off the archway in the front hall.
E. Got a little crazy with the Wii Remote trying to make the Mario Kart go faster.
F. Mouthed off to Mom, and Dad had to put him in his place.
G. He stole an old lady's shopping cart and she hit him with her purse.
H. Wiped out on a snowboard which then hit him in the face.
I. Was trying to do this trick.
J. Attacked by sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads.
K. Tripped and fell down the stairs while walking around with his shoes untied.
L. Bryce and Jayson both got those big green Hulk fists for Christmas and this is the result.
M. Hit in the eye by a canned ham dropped from the top of a building by David Letterman.
N. Elbowed in the eye by his dad starting a leaf blower (this really happened, but to Jayson not Bryce).
O. It turns out you're not supposed to put marbles in those mouth-powered marshmallow guns (Jayson is now grounded).
P. New model Super Soaker Zero Degree shoots icicles instead of water.
Q. Bowling injury, related to tragically poor bowling skill.
R. Was attacked with a broom by crazy old Mr. Bartleby down the street while collecting fast offerings.
S. It turns out this is the tragic potato gun accident foreseen by Grandpa Bingham.
T. The pool volleyball scene from "Meet the Parents" was accidentally reenacted at this week's Scout activity.

Make your guess and check comments for the correct answer.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

Our New Year's Eve was spent with Jared's family this year. We had a lot of fun, but it was a little crazy for a few hours. We had six kids under the age of 4 running around. We started off with a wonderful dinner of pizza for the kids and sukiyaki for the adults (some of which were not very adventurous and a little negative about the whole thing). We then played some Rock Band and Cookin Mama. About this time, most of the little kids left for the night. The rest of us played games, Wii, and had yummy, chocolate fondue! At midnight, we continued the tradition I began almost 20 years ago on my mission in Spain. The traditional stuffing of grapes!! You stuff one grape in your mouth with each of the twelve strikes of the clock at midnight. If you can accomplish this, you will have a very good and prosperous new year! This year, the only grapes I could find were a little larger than normal. This made it especially challenging... and messy! Amaya and her friends participated prior to the youth new years eve dance. They got them in, but couldn't chew.

Sorry there aren't more pictures of our evening, but everyone knows how bad I am at taking pictures!

Happy 2009 everyone!!!

The day after

2008-12-29T16:25:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning, the kids unwrapped a letter from Jared that told them that the nice "man in brown" would be delivering "Rock Band 2" the next day (Dec. 26th). The kids were thrilled! Later that evening, Jared realized that the shipping address he had entered was at his office, which would be closed. The morning of, he talked to "Brown" and found out that it would be delivered between 1-2:30 pm and left at the appropriate time to sit in his office and wait. Around 4pm, he noticed "Brown" across the street at the bank, aka his former office. He then wonders if he accidently sent it to his old address and goes online to investigate. Sure enough, that is what he did. He runs outside in time to see the truck drive off. He goes across the street...no package delivered to the bank. He jumps in his truck to try and catch "Brown" and gets stuck in a snow bank. By the time he gets out, the truck is gone. But wait... Jared calls "Brown". They get ahold of the driver. He is in Springville. Jared goes to Springville. Jared saves the day. Jared gets home by 5:30pm. Not quite how we imagined the day. Rock Band, however is a huge hit! We played for 5 1/2 hours.
Next time Jared, leave the shopping to the women!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

We would like to wish a very, merry Christmas to all our friends and family (and random people who may be stalking our blog). We are so grateful for our wonderful family and friends and feel truly blessed. We are grateful for our Savior, for his life and his atoning sacrifice in our behalf. What a wonderful time to celebrate!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:

and the government shall be upon his shoulder:

and his name shall be called Wonderful,

Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting

Father, The Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9: 6

"Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who condescended to come into this world of misery, struggle, and pain to touch men's hearts for good, to teach the way of eternal life, and to give Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. How different, how empty our lives would be without Him. How infinite is our opportunity for exaltation made possible through His redeeming love."

President Gordon B. Hinckley

Welcome Home?!

2008-12-19T15:43:00.000-08:00

So, just 2 days ago I am sitting in Florida and the temperature is in the high 70's. We pack our bags and leave our lovely little pre-christmas vacation and come home to THIS!!!

Can I go back now??

Disney, Day 5

2008-12-19T08:21:00.000-08:00

Today's adventures were found at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The Tree of Life was incredible, this photo doesn't do it justice. The whole park was incredibly beautiful. We had a lot of fun seeing all the animals and the wonderful shows.

The highlights of the day included two of our all time favorite rides: Aerosmith's Rockin' Rollercoaster and Everest.

And that concludes our trip to Disney World. Until next time....
***Sorry, Amaya just reminded me that Rockin' Rollercoaster was actually in Hollywood, not Animal Kingdom. It's all such a blur to me now! It really was one of our favorites though. I guess the other ride enjoyed at Animal Kingdom was the "Rapids" (a water ride).

Disney, Day Four

2008-12-15T18:12:00.000-08:00

Today we visited Disney's Hollywood Studios. This was my favorite of the Disney parks so far. There were a few less people (maybe), and the best rides so far: the roller coaster (featuring Aerosmith) is like Space Mountain times five, and the Tower of Terror is the kind of ride I would not normally go on, but Kyla shamed me into it. It was fun but I prefer solid ground under my feet and to generally stay around 1.0 G, so I was ready to check it off on my list after one run. Kyla wanted to go again. Unfortunately, we didn't make it back to that one, but we did do the Aerosmith coaster three times.

Today was also our biggest day of standing in line to get photos taken with a nonverbal person in a plastic costume, which is starting to make the Cheerful Dad feel a little "Disney-ed out." Looking forward to Animal Kingdom and the Everest ride tomorrow, but I'm fine with there not being any more Disney parks to go to after that. Actually, there are. Don't tell our kids.

Not Disney, Day 3

2008-12-14T20:12:00.000-08:00

We took a break from the Disney-ness today and drove out to Kennedy Space Center. Very impressive place if you've never visited.

You can't appreciate the sheer size of a Saturn V rocket without standing in the room with one. It's amazing to me that 3 guys would sit on top of one of these and light the fuse, then rely on 1960s technology to bring them back home. The Space Center is one of those places that make you appreciate being an American. (And I think the kids even liked it).

Tomorrow it's on to Disney Hollywood Studios for some more fake entertainment.

Disney, Day Two

2008-12-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

In case you thought that mid-December would be a non-crowded time to come to Magic Kingdom, I don't think any such time exists. There were certainly plenty of folks there today. Not that I'm complaining. I am the Cheerful Dad, as I keep telling everyone, and we're here to have fun and we will even if it kills us. (And we did).

I felt sorry for all the parents with their strollers, babies, and toddlers, crying, fussing, and falling asleep. We have a fun, peppy bunch of kids and it's nice when even your 8 year old likes the rides that are actually fun. The kids did Big Thunder three times and Space Mountain twice, and those were the favorites.

In contrast, here is a demonstration of what "It's a Small World" can do to your alertness level toward the end of a long day.

Fortunately, my iPod was handy, so I was able to flush the *%$# song out of my brain with the aid of some heavy metal before it became permanently inscribed in my neurons. (For those of you not aware, the song in question loops continuously from when you first get in line until you jump off the little boat and run away screaming 45 minutes later. The Disney staff who work there have to wear special earplugs to avoid seizures. And you know exactly what song I'm talking about. It is starting to stick in your head now. Flee, my friends, before it is too late).

Disney, Day One

2008-12-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

Friday was Epcot Center day. We forgot that it might actually be cold in Orlando, and barely had enough long pants and jackets to go around, but mid-60s and breezy is still a lot nicer than what we left at home. Soarin' Over California was the consensus favorite attraction. If you've been to Epcot Center you know that they have miniature versions of a dozen or so different countries for you to check out. We found that the most fun thing was to visit the gift shops and try on all the hats.

Home late with tired kids and up early tomorrow for Magic Kingdom!

Santa's Early Visit

2008-12-07T20:06:00.000-08:00

Much to everyone's surprise, Santa decided to stop by during church last week. The kids returned home from church to find some new luggage under the tree, and a note from Santa explaning that this year's main present for us was a "Fabulous Florida Vacation!" (you can hear the price is right guy voice, can't you).

That's right, Santa is sending us all to Disney World, December 11-17. The real world excuse is that there's a medical conference to make part of the trip a tax break. And the conference is only till noon on 2 days, so it's mostly play time even for Dad.

I hear it's going to start snowing this week, so while you're out shoveling your driveway you can call us to see how the weather is. I am generally a bit of a Disney scrooge (the kids have been to Disneyland once, too long ago to remember well), but figured if we're doing it, might as well go for it.

The kids are pretty excited, as you can see from this Toyota-inspired snapshot:

Hurrah for volleyball!

2008-11-21T22:24:00.000-08:00

I love volleyball! I am not the best player ever, but I have fun. This year our season was really short. Three games and then the playoffs. Some how our ward team made it to regionals this year. I was proud of our team. We played really well, especially since we are a bunch of middle-aged woman with at least 31 children between us. We went up mostly against all of these young moms who were in their 20's, who all looked like former BYU volleyball players, and we held our own. And most importantly...we had FUN!! Thanks girls!

posted by Lynette (not Jared)

Domestic goddess or just crazy?!

2008-11-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, I decide that my life isn't crazy enough with all that I have going on (3 church callings, volunteering at school, sewing dresses, remodeling the house, church sports, kids sports, etc.) and I decide that I should be a good mormon wife/mother and do a bunch of canning. So, this is what I have done:

TOMATOES (18 pints)

PEACHES (21 quarts)

BLACK RASPBERRY JAM (9 pints)

PASTA (26 cans/approx. 75 lbs)

(I canned the pasta with Jen & Marcie...some of the cans have already been taken home...it was a lot of pasta, baby!)

CHICKEN (14 quarts & 18 pints)

And finally, APPLESAUCE & APPLE PIE FILLING (14 quarts)

I don't know. What do you think...Domestic goddess or just plain CRAZY!!!

First Pheasant

2008-11-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

One bad thing about being born in the 1990s is that you missed growing up in the 1970s, when we had the great fall tradition of hunting pheasants in the fields around Spanish Fork, with Grandpa's black Lab, Bart, leading the way for us, BYU football on somebody's radio as we walked through the cut grain, and hot chili at Grandma's house at the end of the day.

My boys have missed out on this and I've never even taken them bird hunting with me. I've only been able to go a few times since they've been little, and it's mostly been on school days and to pheasant farms where you pay your way.

We actually made an effort this year and Bryce got his hunter education finished in time for the fall hunt. Wildlife Resources sponsors a youth-only pheasant hunt which was held today in Huntington. The weather couldn't have been better and Bryce managed to bag his first bird despite the cub scout flunkout hunting dogs we had with us. (Can't complain since we don't even have a dog). There were several other roosters he had a chance at, but Bryce humanely decided to just "train" the birds for other hunters by giving them the experience of being shot at and missed. I think some of these birds lived for almost five minutes after that. There were a lot of guns around.

So tomorrow night he and I get to share a manly man-snack of grilled pheasant breast. Bryce wouldn't believe me when I told him that on your first bird, you have to rip the heart out and eat it raw. I did that, didn't I, Dad?

Edit: I just looked at the photo. Who the heck wears a "Vote for Pedro" shirt hunting?

A Memorable Weekend

2008-11-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

This last weekend was a very memorable one for me. Halloween is always a lot of fun and this year was no different. Actually, it was a little different...two of Jared's sisters brought their kids over to go trick-or-treating with us. We had a lot of fun! And, incase you were wondering...yes, out of all the pretty places in the yard that we could have chosen to take a picture, we chose to take it in front of our open garage!

The thing that made the weekend the most memorable, however, was that Kyla was baptized. It was such a special day. Amaya and Bryce provided all the piano music for the baptism, Kyla's cousins and brothers sang a nice musical number & the grandmas gave very nice talks. I am so thankful to be married to a worthy priesthood holder, who was able to perform that sacred ordinance for Kyla. Kyla looked so happy and so beautiful! It was a wonderful day!

All 4 of our children are now baptized...one goal down...a million left to go!

Kyla and two of her wonderful friends, Amber and Jennie.

Kyla's cousin Parker came to visit for this special day

Our "new" house

2008-11-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

On the lighter side, I thought I would share with you our "new" house! No, we did not move. We just remodeled. It might have been easier to move.

First we ripped out the "soft" alder floors and replaced them with Andean Pecan "hard"wood floors. They are a little wild, but I love them. They tie all my woods in nicely.

Next, we took out our cracked countertops and replaced them with quartz countertops. Jared's brother, Mike, came down and helped us tile the backsplash. I think it turned out awesome.

Finally, we had to replace all the floor baseboards (ripped out to do the floor). We did this ourselves. Both the ripping and the replacing. Jared's dad did help us paint the baseboards with a sprayer he borrowed from his friend. Damon also helped us out one day. I really like the look of the taller baseboards.

The "new" house! Thanks to everyone who helped!

Soccer

2008-11-04T23:14:00.001-08:00

If I do end up publishing this blog, I hope to heck that none of my posts are as serious as the first one I wrote, the election night one. Here’s a lighthearted look at another polarizing subject: Soccer.

I like to believe that I am in no way a racist, except for one way: (Insert tongue in cheek here) I believe that soccer is a game for the browner people of the world. A game for people who live in places where donkeys or camels are still a valid choice for commuting to work. Just keep on trampling each other when the soccer bleachers collapse.

I don’t like soccer partly because it gets in the way of more important games, like football. Football is the greatest team sport known to man. The thrill of watching it, the depth and strategy are second to none. The down side of football is that you can’t play it when you are a slightly overweight almost 40 year old dad. You can play some pretend versions of it, which are still fun, but it’s hard to find 22 guys and 22 sets of helmets and shoulder pads to throw together a pickup game for old guys. It’s a good thing you can’t, because if you could my knee ligaments would not survive for long. So when you’re a slightly overweight almost 40 year old dad, you have to satisfy yourself by coaching football. You can’t coach real tackle football because you don’t have an extra 40 hours a week (and perhaps also lack actual coaching talent), so you have to be glad your 10 year old wants to play “flag” football.

So you go to the flag football draft and you try to put together a team that will do well and will be fun for the kids. (That means you have to get skilled, fast people so you can win.) Then, various members of your team start not showing up for practices and games because, you guessed it, they also play SOCCER.

I got news for you: If you are on my football team, my football practices are more important than your soccer practices. They are also more important than your soccer games. In flag football we have to figure out things like formations and plays and zone defenses. And we have like 2 hours to figure it all out before our first game. But you’re not here because you are at soccer practice where, as far as I can tell, you just run around and kick stuff.

My children all gave up soccer a year or two ago and I am forever grateful. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved attending all your games. Especially how they would take an entire hour and your team would excitingly score zero points, and have the ball in the other team’s half of the field for up to 5 minutes out of the 60 minutes. The reasons for this, as far as I could tell, could be outlined like this:

Your team: A bunch of white kids
The other team: A bunch of white kids plus one or two youthful soccer gods who were apparently bitten by a radioactive South American.

So dear soccer: Just stay over there across the ocean or south of the border and you and I will get along just fine. Love, Me.

P.S. Don't go calling yourself "football."

Election Night 2008

2008-11-04T23:11:00.000-08:00

I hope I’m wrong.

I write this on Election Night 2008. John McCain just conceded the election.

As a country, we have just taken a step that I fear will come back to haunt us. We have just elected an extreme liberal, arguably a Marxist and socialist, to the nation’s highest office. I am deeply concerned about the consequences that this decision holds for our nation over the next few years.

Mr. Obama certainly looks the part. I will give him that. He looks good in front of a camera and he gives a good speech. It’s what he stands for that I can’t put myself behind.

It’s not that the current administration has done such a bang-up job. I’m actually fairly unimpressed. Perhaps the best that can be said is that they have kept us safe. No terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since 2001. I feel that is a significant accomplishment and speaks to the effectiveness of the Bush foreign policy and aggressive pursuit of radical Islam wherever it may hide. However, the Reagan-era conservative ideals of fiscal responsibility and limited government seem to have been abandoned.

We now turn the page into an unknown future. Here’s some things I feel are likely to happen over the next several years, as a result of America’s decision today. Again, I hope I’m wrong.

• Starting in early 2009 with the next Congress, a more extreme version of the 1994 Clinton assault weapons ban will be passed by Congress and happily signed by President Obama. Just like the 1994 law, this new law will be based not on actual facts, but on propaganda and arbitrary, meaningless distinctions. It will do nothing to reduce violent crime rates, but will serve only to erode the constitutional rights of Americans.

• As a result of President Obama’s passive, pat you on the back foreign policy, our enemies abroad including radical Islam will become more bold and active. There will be at least one deadly terrorist attack within U.S. borders in the next four years.

• The U.S. economy will grow out of the current recession, but such growth will be limited, and be slower than it could have been, as liberal economic policies and redistribution of wealth undermine the American work ethic. Every congressional vote and presidential signature that takes assets from those who have earned it and redistributes to those who have not will contribute to this. Please don’t misunderstand. I believe that part of the role of government should be to provide a safety net for those who are struggling, to help them get back on their feet. But President Obama seems to be about all kinds of entitlements and social programs (“Share the wealth!”) that are beyond the constitutional role of government and will encourage a welfare culture. Economies based on these principles have historically failed.

• Lastly, my personal consumption of aspirin will increase, as government bureaucracy becomes increasingly entrenched in the administration and distribution of health care. If you’re interested, feel free to ask me for examples of how arbitrary and ridiculous policies and rules invented by bureaucrats in government-run health plans consume time and add frustration and stress to my work day, every single day. I’m not looking forward to more of it.

I’ve been frustrated by how so many Americans, including many in my own family, seem to have fallen for Obama’s line. I’ve come to the conclusion that voters from conservative, religious, family values backgrounds who support Obama fall into one of two categories:

(1) You have been taken in by the handsome face and the eloquent speeches, but haven’t looked deeper to see what the man is really about.

(2) You are a lazy person who looks forward to what will land in your pocket for free as a result of the new economic policies.

Sorry, but that’s how it looks from here.

President Obama, I salute you. Your rise from poverty and obscurity to the heights you’ve reached has been singularly impressive. Please, lead us to a better America. Lead us to the change you have promised. Please just allow me to hang on to my God-given and constitutional rights as you do so.

If I’m wrong – in other words, if after the next four or eight years of you in charge, we’re all rich and happy and all our enemies are dead and we still have rights and we still know who God is in America, I will happily admit to everyone what an idiot I am, and I will personally thank you by taking you out to shoot off some assault weapons.

Please prove me wrong.

Introduction

2008-11-04T23:10:00.000-08:00

I did it. I gave in to peer pressure from my creative brother and sisters and started a blog. Mostly just so you could read it, Mom. (“Because you’re such a good writer,” you said the other day. Well, we’ll see).

Some things you readers should know up front:

• I feared starting a blog for a long time because I didn’t want to start it and then not have it be updated for 17 months. I thought when/if I did start the blog, I would need at least a few filler posts to get started in case I didn’t get back to it for a while. So here’s a couple posts for you, and I hope you don’t hate me after reading them. I’ll try to throw something new up at least half as often as Josh or so. We’ll see how it goes.

• I will probably not be as good as all of you at including perfectly cropped, expertly taken photos to illustrate my posts. It’s not that this is hard to do, I do use a Mac after all, but it’s just that I am too lazy to do it.

• Our family is increasingly deficient in adorable small children who do cute and funny things. We have children, and they are adorable and cute and funny, but they’re not so small and that may give us a disadvantage in sources of material, because they don’t do things like sit on cheese naked so much any more. Melissa, I didn’t even know “swass” was a word. I slightly regret my decision to look it up on urbandictionary just now.

• So my commitment to you is to occasionally/rarely provide insightful and/or stupid commentary on some random topic, which you may or may not find entertaining. I also commit to you that Lynette will provide you with cute and inspiring updates on what our kids are up to. Hear me Lynette? That’s YOUR job.

Enjoy.