Skills

The boys begged me to let them set the table for dinner…..

It looks like their table setting skills might need a little work.

Happy Birthday Emily!

This is a picture of my sister-in-law Emily celebrating with my boys on their second birthday. As you can see, this photo is old, but today I’ve discovered that I have a shocking lack of pictures of Emily, a situation that must be remedied right away!

Today is Emily’s birthday. I have no idea how old she is, all I know is that she is way younger than me!

Whenever I think about Emily, I get happy. You can’t think about her,  talk about her, or tell other people about her and not get happy. Emily is a funny human being! She has the best sense of humor, an infectious laugh, and when you’re with her you will be entertained. Even when she is going through very difficult things, she can always find the humor.

When I call Emily on the phone or visit her, we can talk and talk and talk. She always has a lot to say about any subject. She’s interested in everything and everyone.

Emily is most interested in being a good person. She always wants to do the right thing, and will do all she can to find out what the ‘right’ thing is. She’s strives to be a good mother, wife,.sister, daughter, friend, and neighbor, and she succeeds.

I really envy her eyelashes too. Longest ever!

I’m so lucky to have Emily as a sister-in-law. She makes my life brighter. I love you Em. Happy Birthday!

In The Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening….

I just had a very nostalgic evening. Remember months ago, how I decided it was time I introduced my daughter to some good old, classic cinema? Well, I’ve been doing that… little by little. Tonight we watched one that I love….’Here Comes the Groom,’ starring Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman.

When I lived with my Grandma Winnie during college, we would watch this one together often. It was one of her favorites. Mine too. I had forgotten this, but there’s a character in the movie by the name of Winnie, and also a little girl named Suzy, which is the nickname I call my dog Winnie. No wonder I love this movie!

‘Here Comes the Groom’ tells the story of Pete Garvey (Crosby), a quick witted foreign correspondent who adopts two French war orphans and only has five days to win back the heart of his childhood sweetheart (Wyman), who happens to be engaged to a millionaire, before he has to send the children back to France.

The best part of this film, aside from the wonderful performances by the stars, is the catchy song ‘In the Cool, Cool, Cool, of the Evening’ that Bing and Jane sing together at the office of her wealthy fiancée. I can’t stop singing it. That’s okay though because it reminds me of Grandma!

So, if you’re a fan of classic movies, or a fan of Bing or Jane, here’s a little treat for you. Watch only if you want this song stuck in your head for awhile……

Glimpses of Valentine’s Day……

 

…..conversation heart inspired decorations…..

…..MK’s awesome family home evening activity…. each person makes a bag to be filled with love notes……

…..a sampling of those love notes……

…..some homemade love, for those we love……

….sending love to preschool friends….

….valentines from grandparents…. two SUPER excited boys……

….beautiful love from my favorite Valentine… thanks babe……

…..table set for a special Valentine’s Day dinner….no, the Pez was not dinner….

…..this was…..pink heart shaped pancakes….a huge hit…..

…. SO much love for this girl!

Someone shared this quote in church today. I thought it was beautiful, poetic, and perfect for Valentine’s Day…

“Love is the very essence of life. It is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, yet it is more than the end of the rainbow. Love is at the beginning also, and from it springs the beauty that arches across the sky on a stormy day. Love is the security for which children weep, it is the desire of youth, the cement that binds marriage, and the smoothing oil that prevents devastating friction in the home; it is the peace of old age, and the sunlight of hope shining through death. How rich are those who enjoy love in their associations with family, friends, and neighbors.” – Gordon B. Hinckley

For all the love we enjoy in our associations with all of you, thank you.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

15 Years

I wanted to put this post up on February 3rd, but for advertising purposes I left the Food Nanny post up instead. So today I’m posting about the day Mike and I met. It was February 3rd, 1995, 15 years ago….

….my cousin Melissa was dating Tyler who happened to be a high school friend of Mike’s. Tyler was busily organizing a group of friends to attend a dinner-dance at the USU institute. The institute was offering a significant admission price discount for groups of 8 or more. Tyler was a penny pincher. He asked me to come along and he also asked Mike. Little did he know how significant those invitations would be.

When the night of the dance came around, February 3rd, I sat in the corner of my Grandma’s couch crying my eyes out. At that time I was experiencing my first awful round of a mental illness that has plagued my life on and off ever since. I was depressed, anxious, feeling like my life as I knew it, or had dreamed it, was no more. I know that sounds a bit melodramatic, but that’s truly how I felt. I was a mess, so I had decided not to go to the dance. I’d just stay home and feel… sorry for myself.

Luckily, Melissa convinced me to dry my eyes and come along, arguing that perhaps the night out would be a good distraction for me. I reluctantly agreed, and as I climbed into the van packed with college coeds, there, in the seat in front of me was Michael. From my seat I could only see the back of his head, but I could hear his voice clearly. I liked his voice right away. I liked what he was saying too, something really nice about the sadness of leaving Denmark to come home from his mission.

I’ll admit that I was too distracted by my malfunctioning brain to pay much attention to Mike during the dinner, or during the comedy act that was our entertainment for the evening, but I did take notice when he asked me dance towards the end of the evening. I don’t remember the song we danced to or anything like that, but I do remember that right away I felt there was something calming about him. I liked that.

I sat in my same seat in the van on the way home. It was cold out. I was feeling tired and sober. I remember Mike and my good friend Kat laughing and joking. Kat was telling Mike that if he agreed to marry her, he would get the 10% discount at the department store where she worked. She was flirting a little. I thought it was strange that I felt jealous. I don’t know why I should have been, I hardly knew Mike, but I was.

The next night was a Sunday and I remember that Melissa, Tyler, Me, Mike, and my friend Debbie went to the CES fireside together. I remember Mike wrote the word “straalende” on my hand. That’s Danish for “radiant”.

That was many years ago. Here I sit, typing away. Mike’s behind me on the couch. Every now and then he reaches over and rubs my neck or shoulder, pats me on the head. I’m thinking about how much we’ve been through together, how good he’s been to me for so many years. The song, My Life Would Suck Without You just started on my I-pod. What a silly song, but I agree with the words (even if my mom always told me not to use the word suck).  You know what though, it truly would *#^* without him. I love you Michael.

The Big Premiere

Okay everyone, it’s that time we’ve all been waiting for…… the big premiere of our family on the Food Nanny! Our episode was chosen to kick off the whole series! I’ve seen a very rough draft of our episode and I think the production team has done a fabulous job with this show. The whole series will be excellent. The look and style is very chic and modern. Liz is a great host. The show is fast paced and fun to watch, not to mention helpful to families looking for ways to improve family meal times.

I’m not going to lie to you, I do have a few butterflies in my stomach about the whole thing. It’s a little surreal to think of yourself, your home, and your whole family being broadcast on national television, but I’m trying not to feel self conscious about the few times that we look and sound very awkward. And I’m trying not to worry about what people will think about our parenting skills or lack thereof. I’m just going to sit back and enjoy this unique experience.

In all seriousness though, being on this show has had a very profound effect on our family. We’ve truly taken to heart the advice given to us in the show and it has made a huge difference in our home. We have  regular family meals around the dinner table now. Eating together has become a pleasant experience for all of us. We actually look forward to dinner time, place mats and all!  I’ve seen all kinds of immediate positive outcomes from these family meals and I know that there will be long term ones as well.

Just so everyone knows, the boys manners, although not perfect by any means, have improved greatly, but the best part about our family meals is the conversations we are having together. I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned about my kids since we started doing this. Dinner time has provided some prime teaching moments as well as some good laughs. I’ll never go back to the way we used to do things. So a huge thanks to Liz and the whole Food Nanny team! Thanks for giving me that huge kick in the pants that I needed to remind me of things I’ve always been taught were important.  Also, a special thanks to Kendall who produces the show and asked us to participate. I’m so grateful Kendall. You do a good thing!

So…..the show airs several different times on BYU television. For Direct TV people that’s channel 68 here in Utah and 374 nation wide. For Comcast that’s channel 21 here in Utah, check your local listings for other states. If you have Dish Network you’ll have to check your local listings as well. For the rest of you, here is link to the different states and stations that either carry BYU TV or stations who download shows from BYU and broadcast them on your basic cable. Anyone with satellite will of course get the channel.

Our episode airs for the first time on February 4th at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. MST, and then again on Saturday, February 6th at 11:00 a,m. One more time on February 11th at 6:00 p.m. The whole series will be good so I encourage you to set a season pass or plan to watch on Thursday nights at 8:00. Times will vary in different states.

If you don’t have a TV or cable, BYU will stream the show live from this website. If there is anyone who is still living in the dark ages and can’t watch using any of these methods let us know and we’ll send you a DVD. If you want to skip us all together we won’t be offended, but you’ll be missing out!

Here’s some teaser photos. Just a glimpse of what you’ll see on Thursday night……

Spread the word everyone!!!!