Christmas 2008

We drove to Denver for Christmas. We stayed with Grammie & K., who are always gracious hosts. We spend the week visiting friends and family and enjoying a few moments while the kids were at the “babysitter.” (That would be Grammie & K. The kids probably enjoyed this time even more than Brian & I did!) We always love going back to Colorado, but the visits are never long enough.

Thanksgiving

Brendan's class had a cooperative Thanksgiving feast on the last day before the break. There was tons of food for the kids and Brendan was so sweet to share his with Sela.

We went to Glenwood Springs for Thanksgiving. Grammie, K. and their moms met us there for a great weekend. We swam in the hotel pool, we swam in the hot springs pool, we went to a craft show at the Hotel Colorado, we swam some more, we went out to Thanksgiving dinner (which was a terrifically no-stress experience!), we swam even more, and at the end of the weekend we took the gondola to the caves. The water was great, the caves were fascinating, and the company was the best part of it all.

October Recap

Some stuff we did in October:

Crazy hair day at Brendan’s school:

Playing in the leaves:

Cleaning up the leaves:

Green belt testing:

Halloween

Brendan loves space, so we created an astronaut costume for him. Sela loves pink, so we turned her into an alien princess.

Brendan had a costume parade and a party. Sela was absolutely terrified of the hawk mascot who led the parade. For weeks, every time we went to pick up Brendan from school, she would ask where the bird was while looking at the school as if the bird would come running out at any second. Wouldn’t Disneyland be fun right now?!?

For trick-or-treating, my mother invited us to her office. I have never seen an office more decorated for any holiday. Every area, every cubicle was decked out. One team had a whole pirate thing. They had created a ship with cannons and the team members were all dressed as pirates. The kids walked out, after more than an hour of walking around, with two very full buckets of candy. (Note: It lasted beyond Thanksgiving!) It was a ton of fun.

Idaho Falls

In October, Brian had a week long shutdown, which means he is gone for the entire week. At the same time, Brendan had a 5 day weekend. Staying home for 5 days with just the kids isn’t really my idea of a good time, so I took off to Idaho Falls to visit some friends. It was really nice to reconnect with some folks I haven’t seen for more than 10 years. One couple the kids and I visited now have their own kids who are just about Brendan & Sela’s age. My friends took us all to a play place and the kids had a ball. This play place has a tube and slide area and then an area for dressing up. I think there was yet another area with games and such, but our little ones are not quite ready for that. The dress up area was the biggest hit of all.

My other friends are now grandparents, so they took us to a park. The kids loved having such a neat park and grandparent-types to play with.

All four of the people I went to see are wonderful people who mean a great deal to me. I have been in the Salt Lake area for almost 2 years now, and it has taken me this long to drive the 3 ½ hours up to Idaho Falls to see these folks. Sometimes my procrastination gets the best of me, but at least I finally did it! And it was worth it.

(Note: I have refrained from naming these folks for their own privacy. I also didn’t post pics of them or their kids for the same reason.)

Brendan's Makes His First Sandwich

I am trying to give Brendan a little more freedom these days. As such, when he asked to make his own sandwich for lunch yesterday I agreed as long as he let me supervise (or at least just be present in the kitchen). Needless to say he was tickled. You would be so proud of me - I didn't do a thing to interfere with his work, and did I EVER want to!
He started with a slice of bread. Then he added some shredded parmesan cheese. Not the cheap stuff in a can, but honest to goodness hard shredded cheese. Then he pulled out my jar of pre-chopped, raw garlic. I use a lot of garlic, so he sees me adding it to food all the time. He decided it would be good on a sandwich, something I have never added garlic to. I swear it! He spooned a mound on. And then he spooned more. And more. I would swear the mound of raw, chopped garlic was probably 3/4 of an inch thick. Seriously! I LOVE garlic and this made me queasy! But I didn't stop him. He topped this little creation with sour cream and another slice of bread.
You may be thinking we didn't have anything else for sandwiches. We didn't have much - but I DO have peanut butter and jelly! And I promise I have never put garlic and/or sour cream on any sandwich I have fed anyone! The worst part of all of this is that he then proceeded to sit down AND HE ATE ALMOST THE WHOLE THING! While he was doing it he told me “This is tasty!”
I was laughing all the way through this process. I can’t believe he actually ate it. A few hours later I was thinking, man, his breath is HORRIBLE! Then I realized the kid ate enough garlic to fend off an entire army of vampires! Haha! (The pictures are the chronological record of what he accomplished. The picture from the side gives you an idea of just how much garlic he piled on that very normal sized piece of bread. The last picture is all that was left. Oh, my. Click the picture to see them bigger.)

Catching Up

Once again I have been delinquent in posting to the blog. So, I will do a quick update to catch everyone up.
July – Brian had his 20 year high school reunion so we drove back to Colorado for the weekend. The kids got to spend time with Grammie and Kate and other family. Brian reconnected with some friends from way back. I just sat back for the ride.
A few weeks after that, Grammie and Kate came to Utah to hang out with the kids for a weekend. We started by celebrating Brendan’s 5th birthday. It was just family, but tons of fun. Then Brian and I drove to my dad’s house in N. Idaho to get my piano and bring it home. We meandered our way up, visiting Craters of the Moon National Park and the taking the scenic route through southern Idaho. We didn’t get to spend more than 2 nights with my family, so it was much too short a trip.

Sela has been transitioning away from naps. Most days she still takes one. This is what happens when she doesn't:

August – We continued to harvest stuff from the garden and enjoy the last bit of summer. Lots of yummy food - salsas, tomato phyllo pie, pesto. A picture from one of the harvests:

Brendan started soccer this month. I was delinquent in getting him signed up, so in order for him to play Brian had to agree to be the coach. I am still giggling about this.
Brendan attended a “summer camp” which included swimming lessons. He had a ball for these two weeks. The last day of the camp, the kids jumped off the diving board. Brendan overcame his fear and actually jumped in. Good job, Brendan!

September – Brendan started kindergarten. We were supposed to be in the afternoon session, but it turned out we moved to the morning. Getting him up and moving in the mornings is a challenge, but I think it will work out better in the long run. Sela is attending preschool two mornings a week so I can do some school work. This was Brendan's first day of kindergarten (I didn't think I would cry. I was wrong.):

Brian and I made and canned some salsa from the tomatoes from our garden (supplemented with some from one of our dear neighbors – see the pics of what she gave us below). Another friend shared some plums with us, so I made freezer jam with that. And yet another friend shared some Persian cucumbers (I couldn’t tell you what makes them Persian, so don’t ask!), so I made some Russian dill pickles with those. The recipe is one my step-mom used when I was a kid. I remember loving those pickles. Turns out, I still do, and Brendan agrees. We ordered pizza for dinner one night and while we were waiting for it to be delivered, he asked for some pickles – then proceeded to eat half a jar all by himself.

October – The garden has slowed way down. Several things failed, but the tomatoes and strawberries were a huge success. And I loved making the pickles, so we will be rethinking what to plant next year. It is supposed to snow this weekend, so I am guessing the garden is done.
Brendan’s soccer season finished up just before the first snow. Here are a few pictures:

Sela has begun to refer to Brian as her “daddy-friend.” It is about the cutest thing I have ever heard. If only she would hold onto that thought as she grows into a teenager. Sigh. Both Brendan and Sela have put Brian in favor. He is the one they want to put them to bed. I rather enjoy this bond they have growing. We may not totally enjoy Utah, but Brian gets to be home so much more and that means a great deal for the kids.As for Utah, the best part about it is the scenery for sure. The colors of fall are just glorious on the mountains. There is a picture below that just doesn’t do it justice, but if you look closely you can see the blend of fall yellows, evergreens and one of the first dustings of snow on the mountains. I can (mostly) see this from our kitchen window, and more so when we drive through our neighborhood. Lovely.

First Harvest

We had our first harvest! I noticed peas – actual peas! – ready for picking. And then some strawberries, too. Dang. I grew food. Real food!

The sugar snap peas are on the outsides, corn a little closer to the middle. The lone plant in the middle is what is left of my pumpkins after the birds got the sprouts. We finally had to put up a bird net.

The strawberries are tiny, but, OH what a mighty flavor.

Brendan helped pick the peas. Notice his full mouth. Smile. We “fought” over the take after we rinsed off what hadn’t already made it to his mouth.

I wanted to grow a garden to get him (and maybe Sela) interested in veggies. I think this only works because he doesn’t actually realize what he is eating is healthy because it tastes so dang good. Mission accomplished!

Orange Belt Testing

Brendan started taking Tae Kwon Do classes in January or February. (TKD is the Korean martial art, so it is part heritage, part exercise, and part learning things like self-discipline & leadership.) He earned his white belt the first day for “trying his best.” From there on he had to start learning several things before he could test for the next level. At Brendan’s age level the kids have a set of 10 principles to start working on. They include things like “Be loving to your family” and “Be cooperative with others.” Then they learn the first 8 moves or so of the form, the first third of the one-step sparring, and a breaking technique. For testing, the kids must perform each of these things for Grandmaster Kim. For Brendan’s age, the instructors (Master Markman & Master Dutson) both help a great deal, but the kids have to try and put forth the effort. And they must use their breaking technique to actually break a board.

For Brendan’s test for his yellow belt, it just so happened that Brian’s mom & Kate were in town, so they got to see this event with us. It was great. Brendan broke his board the very first try. Additionally, Grandmaster Kim wrote Brendan’s name on his uniform in Korean. We actually had him put Brendan’s Korean name there (Hyo Joon). Wickedly cool.


For Brendan’s test for his orange belt, things didn’t go so well. The difficulty came for the breaking. For this belt, the breaking technique is a front snap kick. You start in a fighting stance and then bring your back leg up, bend then knee and hit the board with the ball of the foot. Not so easy for a little kid with not so great balance. Brendan was the third of 12 kids doing the same break. After they had all completed theirs, he was still working on it with Master Markman. He was making some progress, but still hadn’t broken the board. That is when Grandmaster Kim came out, made one adjustment, and Brendan nailed it. That is why the Grandmaster is the Grandmaster!


We are very proud of Brendan for doing this. Some days he doesn’t want to go, but when he gets there he just loves it. Makes Brian and I want to do it, too!

The Season That Almost Wasn't

We started t-ball for Brendan in April. This spring being what it was, t-ball was almost the season that wasn’t. The first game was snowed out. The second game was rained out. The third game was pictures – and then we canceled due to rain. The next two weeks the weather started out rainy and miserable, but turned out okay. At the end of the season they tacked on two make-up games. Hilarious. Brendan’s friend A. was also on the team, which was pretty neat. They really enjoyed playing – when they finally got the chance. I agree with A’s mom, though, that maybe we will do soccer in the fall because there is much more activity (read: running around like crazy fools!). We’ll see how it goes.