FONDUE-ING

A few weeks back, right after Christmas, my extended family got together for our annual "White Elephant" party. It's always a good time. The idea behind the white elephant is that no money should be spent. It's a chance to 're-gift' those items that you may not want for yourself. Unfortuanately some of those items are not wanted by anyone else and so they often make an appearance the next year, and the next and so on. We laugh a lot. I would have posted about this event except that I was too lazy to take pictures....heck, I was too lazy to even get dressed up for the big event. (I wore my sweats) This year I felt lucky. I got something that I would never buy for myself, but don't mind having in my collection either. It's a FONDUE POT. My brother Zachary and his wife Alana re-gifted it to ME! (I'm hoping their gifter will not happen upon this post or they might be in trouble...) I thought it would be a fun Sabbath activity to do with the kids. Chocolate and the Sabbath - what could be better? :)

Here are the sacrificial reindeer (is that sacrilegious to say?). I got them 75% off at the store the day before. Can we say BARGAIN? We used three of these...

Um...did I mention my husband was in charge of the fondue-ing? I'm SO glad that he made sure the pot was CLEAN before throwing the reindeer in. (sheesh - that's embarrassing)

He did do a fantastic job cutting up the fruit though.

My friend Kathy joined us in our fondue-ing.
Only a few kids got stabbed, especially as we got down to the last couple of strawberries. They were the HOT items of the night.

Mmmmmm...marshmellow and chocolate. Could it be any sweeter? I submit that it CANNOT! Thanks Z and A...it was a hit.

SUCCOR THE WEAK...

Today as I was driving down the road, I passed a young, male hitchhiker. The compassionate side of me wanted to stop and offer this young man a ride. The cautious side of me was prompted to pass him by, and so I did. The temparature was in the single digits. It was COLD outside. I couldn't help but think of this young man, not quite suitably dressed for the outside elements. I wondered what his life must be like. How did he get to this point? I wished that I could've picked him up and taken him to where he needed to be. It brought back one particular memory of my childhood. I was around 10 years old. My mother was raising 7 biological children along with multiple foster children. We were driving home from church one Sunday in a complete blizzard. I remembered being huddled in our big blue cancer van (we called it the cancer van because of the many rust spots that it had) together, all 11 or so of us because there was no heat. We were anxious to get home to warm up in our modestly quaint home. (and by warming up, I mean putting on about 7 more layers) The storm was so intense that you couldn't see more than a couple feet in front of you. My mother was hunched up close to the wheel, squinching (is that even a word?) her eyes in hopes of seeing through the white madness. We were 10 minutes from home when we came upon an elderly man hitchhiking. He was SCARY looking. He had many layers of dirty clothes, an unkempt, discolored beard and a stench that was eye watering. My mother, as was true to her character, couldn't resist pulling over to pick up this man out of the harsh weather. We were APPALLED and totally shocked. (maybe even a little mad) My dad was in some kind of leadership position at church at the time so he wasn't with us. There is NO WAY that dad would have let mom do this had he been there. BUT...that was the type of person my mother was. She brought him home and we fed him a warm, homemade meal. He was SO grateful, perhaps humbled by my mother's generosity. He didn't know how to pay us back for our kindness and so he sang to us. He had a beautiful voice. My mother loved to hear him sing. He came to visit us a few more times after that day until he finally passed away. I will always be grateful for that experience. My heart, at the young age of 10, was changed for good. Here I am, 25 years later. I couldn't help but think back to that time when we picked up that hitchhiker out of the blizzard. I wished I could've followed in my mother's footsteps today. I wish that I felt safe enough to pick up a complete stranger, to take him out of the cold, perhaps give him a warm, homemade meal. Times have changed since that day my mother picked up that man, as well as my heart. She has taught me to "succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees", I just find other ways to do so.

MY REAL LIFE WONDER WOMAN

I love this lady.

She's one of my best friends.

I miss when we don't have our daily talks.

She's my hero - in more than one way.

She's the reason why

I have the gospel in my life.

She paved the way.

For that I will always be eternally grateful.

Thanks for being a stalwart pioneer.

I love you.

Oh...and by the way...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

(should I tell them how old you are? Should I mention the fact that you have NEVER died your hair? I'm crossing my fingers that I have inherited THOSE genes.)

Go ahead, don't be shy.

Wish this Temple Matron a very

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ♥

WE'RE BACK!

It was a great day.

We had the slopes to ourselves.

Here are my skiers and snowboarders...

Just call me WIMPY! I can't ski anymore without my face mask or hand/feet warmers. It's the only way you'll get me up on the mountain.

READY, SET....

SKI!

(or snowboard)

That's right...NO SCHOOL TODAY. It's a perfect day to use THESE. Thanks Make-A-Wish.

KAYLA

It started with a few swollen knuckles on her hand.

Then it progressed to her left ankle.

She limped because it hurt to put weight on it.

The ankle became red and swollen.

Then a few nights later I was awake in bed.

It was midnight.

Kayla was moaning in her sleep.

I asked her what was wrong.

She told me her wrist was really hurting.

I went in to look and saw that it was red and swollen.

I started getting that sinking feeling.

You know...the one you get when you know it's not good?

The next morning it had moved to the right ankle.

Yep...red and swollen.

Painful to walk on.

She went to school and to her basketball practice.

That night she came home complaining of her knee.

By the next morning it was really swollen,

she could hardly walk on it.

I called the doctor.

Blood work was taken.

the results were not good,

she's guessing "Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis".

I suspected this before taking her in.

My heart sank.

She's headed next month to see the specialist.

More Dartmouth appointments.

During the vacation it continued.

She felt it in her neck,

then she developed the rash that goes with JRA.

Yesterday I picked her up from basketball.

Her coach told me Kayla was really quiet during practice.

I went in to see her.

She was so sad.

I asked her what was wrong.

She pulled up both pant legs and I saw.

Her right knee was HUGE.

The joint was so swollen,

and it was painful.

Another medical trial.

I find it interesting that we continue to be dealt these cards.

I'm not bitter,

my heart just hurts.

(here is a great site for JRA if you are interested)

ALUMNI BASKETBALL GAME

Every year my school has an alumni basketball game.

This is my 4th time playing.

Every year, no fail, I am the oldest one that shows up.

They call me the "old lady". :)

(we're talking almost 10 years older)

This is my banner that's hanging up at the school. I happened to be the first male/female to break the previous school record of 934 points, and then went on to be the first to break 1,000 points.

Talking to one of the coaches before the game.

Halftime...

Here are som clips from my game. I'm the one dressed all in black.

RAISING BEN...

One of the most beautiful realizations

is the knowledge that

my child’s spirit is not disabled.

Marleen S. Williams

(I love this quote)

COME WHAT MAY...AND LOVE IT! (part 2)

See this picture?

It's my upstairs bathroom.

It's been like this for almost 3 years now.

Slowly being pieced together.

Did I mention it was SLOW?

Good, cuz I wasn't sure.

Let me paint you a picture of the problem.

You see...almost 3 years ago,

Kaleb put his elbow through the bottom of the tub.

It was the result of me asking him to go brush his teeth.

He's talented that way.

Brushing teeth=hole in tub.

Makes sense, right?
Well, as he was brushing his teeth...

He decided he would twirl in the shower curtain at the same time.

While doing so he lost his balance,

and the edge of the tub caught him behind his knees

causing him to tumble backwards.

He braced his fall with his elbows,

one of them putting a softball size hole in the tub.

We should have just replaced it with a shower insert,

then I wouldn't be telling you this story.

But hey...we like difficult, right?

I decided it would look nice if we tiled the walls instead.

We got a higher walled tub for Ben too.

Why not take the linoleum out why we're at it?
We did.

Thus you see the nicely tiled floor that my husband put in.

Problem?

He's afraid of tiling the walls.

It's like a mental block.
It's taken him almost 3 years of me cheering him on.

(okay, some of it nagging)

This week was the week.

He was going to tackle his fear.

Course it's taken all week to mentally prepare

and yesterday to buy the remaining supplies.

Today was the day.

Until last night came.

That's when the floodgates opened.

(literally)

Steve was gone.

I was upstairs putting Ben to bed.

Stevie needed something from the basement.

She was afraid to go down by herself.

I assured her it was okay.

There was nothing to be afraid of.

Then she heard some noises.

That discouraged her even more.

I got a little impatient and told her to GO!

She headed down the basement stairs...

I hear her yell something about someone taking a shower???
All kids are in bed, Steve is gone...hmmm....

She tiptoes further down and starts screaming,

"There's water mom, COME QUICK!"

I dropped what I was doing and ran.

As I went running down the stairs all I could see was STEAM.

Then I heard the water.

Through the fog I saw the problem.

One of the pipes had broken.

Scalding hot water had been pouring out,

through our insulation,

through the ceiling tiles,

through the sheet rock and paint,

down the window and sill

and all over the couch and rug.

Stevie's still SCREAMING,

I'm running for the phone to call Steve,

trying to calm Stevie,

calling the other kids to come help

and running to the furnace to shut off the water switch.

(all at the same time, I'm a multi-tasker)

Too late, lots of damage was done.

The water was SO hot that it bubbled the paint right off.

Our couch cushions were soaked along with the rug.

4 of our nice ceiling tiles were ruined.

The insulation had to be pulled out and the paint peeled.

GOOD GRIEF!

So much for my bathroom getting tiled.

THIS is what Steve did today.

You can't see both sides of the window walls,

but they both looked like the one to the right.

We probably went through 10 towels trying to soak up all the water. I took this picture after most of the cleanup was done. This picture does not do it justice. The couch is completely dismantled to allow the cushions to dry and all the tile debri is cleaned up.

The good news? I still have a home to shelter my family. Sure we'll have to continue brushing our teeth around all the construction chaos upstairs and maybe we'll have to sit on the floor while watching movies in the basement until the couch dries but HEY! My home is still standing. :)

IT'S ALWAYS FUN...

When Jenny comes,

when Jenny comes...

it's FUN!

(especially when she wears Steve's winter clothing cuz she forgot to bring her own)

Jenny and I took the our girls on a spontaneous sledding adventure today. What happens when you don't have any sleds? It's called improvisation...we're good at that. We blew up a mattress and called it GOOD!

This was Sarah reaching out for help as her 'steerless' sled/mattress took on a life of its own. She was not prepared for the send off...
This is Arnt Becky huffing that seriously buff mattress up the seriously steep mountain.
Oooohhhh....forgot to mention that we did have one 'disc' sled in our possession seen here being delicately balanced on Arnt Jenny's head. She's gooooooood.....
Stevie weaving and bobbing and dodging and screaming down the shoot of a treacherous trail.
Arnt Becky looking mighty stealth...
(that's code for silly)

Abber-dabber coming fast and furious...

This is what we like to call "Mayhem on a Mattress"...

Who's driving this thing?

Huffing and puffing...all the way home.
Thanks Arnt Jenny, come again SOON! :)