The house is decorated, the shopping and wrapping is well underway, the cards have been sent, the baking has begun and my radio station is tuned to Christmas music all month long - but it won't feel like Christmas until this Friday when Cam gets home at 7:40 pm.
I don't even particularly care if I get any presents this year (well, if you already got it don't let that statement stop you from giving it to me). All I care about is that feeling of my family being in-tact - all will be right in my world when he is back under this roof! I will be doing his laundry and cooking his favorite foods and taking care of him in any way he will let me. I will even lose to him in Scrabble just to make him feel good! Friday can't come fast enough!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Orange County
We have been going to visit my brother the last few Thanksgivings - he lives in Tustin, CA. It is kind of central between Seattle where my folks live, and Texas, so we meet there. There is so much to do there, so we usually try and plan something exciting to do while we are there.
We left on Wednesday morning. We (or maybe it was just me) had some anxiety about meeting up with Cam. This was his first time to do everything by himself. He had to catch the shuttle (even made his own reservations) to the SLC airport and fly to meet us on his own for the very first time. We actually bought him a ticket so he didn't fly on Continental (which was also a new experience for him - different terminal and everything!). We didn't want him to get trapped with so little time, flying standby in and out of SLC, which is usually kind of bad. The other bit of anxiety I had was the fact that Cam managed to get his cell phone busted the night before the trip playing Foosball - so we couldn't contact him by phone all day to see how he was doing. We all made it though. We flew into John Wayne Airport and got the car, quickly checked into our hotel (the Hyatt, very nice), then drove up to Longbeach Airport to get Cam. It all flowed pretty smoothly looking back on it now. After we picked up Cam we went over to Allen's and visited for awhile. With the 2 hour time difference it really becomes obvious at night, we are just plain tired before anyone else.
It was so good to see Cam. It felt "normal" - and I haven't felt "normal" since he left! Him being in the car, in restaurants, watching TV, or just near me felt so good. I can't really explain it. On Thursday morning Cory went to run in the annual Dana Point Turkey Trot and I stayed there with Cam sleeping in. When I woke up I just laid there listening to him breathe. No, I'm not a stalker - I just miss everything about him.
When we all got cleaned up and Cory returned from his run - I think he said he was 38seconds slower than what he was aiming for (good for him!), we left to head over to Allen's house. The guys put up the ping pong table - played ping pong - people cooked - we talked - watched football etc. Dinner was very good. Before everything was even cleaned up we took off for the theater to see Harry Potter. Cam and I actually both waited to see it so that we could see it together. It was nice sitting next to him and watching what has been so bonding for us for 10 years now. I don't think there is a parent alive that appreciates Harry Potter like I do. It came out when Cam was 7 - he wore glasses, but Harry did too so glasses became cool (and so did reading!). We read these books aloud together many many times and listened to the tapes and saw all of the movies and loved this story together. Cory even accompanied us and I don't think he hated it like he thought he would. We tried to get to bed early because we had a kayaking adventure planned for the next morning at Balboa Island.
The next morning we dragged Cam out of bed. We (and Allen and Tori) had 8:30 reservations for a 2 1/2 hour kayaking tour around Newport Beach/Balboa Island. While we were driving I listened to a message that the kayaking guy left at 11 pm the night before saying it was too cold to go. Great! so we were there waiting to kayak and we were willing to be cold, but the wimpy California guy wasn't! I tried to contact him but he wasn't around - so we made a new plan. First we went out to breakfast, which was yummy, then we rented some bikes and rode along the beach and around town. We hiked out to the end of the jetty. It turned out to be a gorgeous day and I was sad because kayaking would have been awesome - but we did alright. After this adventure we went to find a phone to replace Cam's broken one. We got him hooked up and returned to Allen's where the boys played more ping pong.
It is always hard saying goodbye, especially when I only see my family once a year. I got to thinking that they probably wouldn't see Cam again until after his mission, which blows my mind. When we took Cam to the airport to leave him for his flight I didn't even cry (I admit, I already cried that morning and the night before) because I kept telling myself that it is only two and a half weeks till he comes home for Christmas!!
We left on Wednesday morning. We (or maybe it was just me) had some anxiety about meeting up with Cam. This was his first time to do everything by himself. He had to catch the shuttle (even made his own reservations) to the SLC airport and fly to meet us on his own for the very first time. We actually bought him a ticket so he didn't fly on Continental (which was also a new experience for him - different terminal and everything!). We didn't want him to get trapped with so little time, flying standby in and out of SLC, which is usually kind of bad. The other bit of anxiety I had was the fact that Cam managed to get his cell phone busted the night before the trip playing Foosball - so we couldn't contact him by phone all day to see how he was doing. We all made it though. We flew into John Wayne Airport and got the car, quickly checked into our hotel (the Hyatt, very nice), then drove up to Longbeach Airport to get Cam. It all flowed pretty smoothly looking back on it now. After we picked up Cam we went over to Allen's and visited for awhile. With the 2 hour time difference it really becomes obvious at night, we are just plain tired before anyone else.
It was so good to see Cam. It felt "normal" - and I haven't felt "normal" since he left! Him being in the car, in restaurants, watching TV, or just near me felt so good. I can't really explain it. On Thursday morning Cory went to run in the annual Dana Point Turkey Trot and I stayed there with Cam sleeping in. When I woke up I just laid there listening to him breathe. No, I'm not a stalker - I just miss everything about him.
When we all got cleaned up and Cory returned from his run - I think he said he was 38seconds slower than what he was aiming for (good for him!), we left to head over to Allen's house. The guys put up the ping pong table - played ping pong - people cooked - we talked - watched football etc. Dinner was very good. Before everything was even cleaned up we took off for the theater to see Harry Potter. Cam and I actually both waited to see it so that we could see it together. It was nice sitting next to him and watching what has been so bonding for us for 10 years now. I don't think there is a parent alive that appreciates Harry Potter like I do. It came out when Cam was 7 - he wore glasses, but Harry did too so glasses became cool (and so did reading!). We read these books aloud together many many times and listened to the tapes and saw all of the movies and loved this story together. Cory even accompanied us and I don't think he hated it like he thought he would. We tried to get to bed early because we had a kayaking adventure planned for the next morning at Balboa Island.
The next morning we dragged Cam out of bed. We (and Allen and Tori) had 8:30 reservations for a 2 1/2 hour kayaking tour around Newport Beach/Balboa Island. While we were driving I listened to a message that the kayaking guy left at 11 pm the night before saying it was too cold to go. Great! so we were there waiting to kayak and we were willing to be cold, but the wimpy California guy wasn't! I tried to contact him but he wasn't around - so we made a new plan. First we went out to breakfast, which was yummy, then we rented some bikes and rode along the beach and around town. We hiked out to the end of the jetty. It turned out to be a gorgeous day and I was sad because kayaking would have been awesome - but we did alright. After this adventure we went to find a phone to replace Cam's broken one. We got him hooked up and returned to Allen's where the boys played more ping pong.
It is always hard saying goodbye, especially when I only see my family once a year. I got to thinking that they probably wouldn't see Cam again until after his mission, which blows my mind. When we took Cam to the airport to leave him for his flight I didn't even cry (I admit, I already cried that morning and the night before) because I kept telling myself that it is only two and a half weeks till he comes home for Christmas!!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
Is it just me - or does it seem that Thanksgiving isn't nearly as good as when we were young? I long for my Grandmother's thanksgiving dinner! The moist yummy turkey, pies, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes and awesome gravy - not to mention the apple butter and homemade jelly that she always had! She had a home that was conducive to entertaining and visiting too. Thanksgivings were just better in those days - elusive nowadays. I'm not saying that I didn't have a good holiday because I did. I just miss the Thanksgivings when I was young. I also miss the family that I knew as a child - the family before divorces and deaths and everyone scattering to the four winds. Does it just seem like things were better then - or were they really better?
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Any Bitter Thing by Monica Wood
I read about this book on one of my book blogs and the title just seemed strange (negative) to me. But I trust this blog and they did not disappoint! The title doesn't really have anything to do with the book (they should have worked harder on the title) and I kept looking for correlations. I guess I finally arrived at the idea that a lot of bad (bitter) things happen to Lizzie - but she perseveres. Is it just me? I think a title should contain something obvious about the book. I mean let's face it any book could have this title - it just isn't specific enough for me. Okay - I have said my peace - the only questionable thing about this book is it's title - the rest is fabulous!
Lizzie was raised by her priest uncle because her parents die when she is an infant (and by the way I love learning about other religions in this context, not in a book about Catholicism but a book about people who happen to be catholic!). She has an idyllic childhood because he is warm and caring and fun. There are misunderstandings which for various reasons can not be cleared up and he is accused of molesting her. She is taken away from him and has to go and live with a yucky aunt, who lies and tells her that her uncle died. When she is thirty she is hit by a car while jogging. While in the hospital she sees her uncle in what she perceives to be a vision at first but then questions whether it might have been real. That is all I want to say because I want it to unfold as beautifully for you as it did for me. It was very clean, thought provoking and emotional, with moral questions and dilemmas. I absolutely loved it!
Lizzie was raised by her priest uncle because her parents die when she is an infant (and by the way I love learning about other religions in this context, not in a book about Catholicism but a book about people who happen to be catholic!). She has an idyllic childhood because he is warm and caring and fun. There are misunderstandings which for various reasons can not be cleared up and he is accused of molesting her. She is taken away from him and has to go and live with a yucky aunt, who lies and tells her that her uncle died. When she is thirty she is hit by a car while jogging. While in the hospital she sees her uncle in what she perceives to be a vision at first but then questions whether it might have been real. That is all I want to say because I want it to unfold as beautifully for you as it did for me. It was very clean, thought provoking and emotional, with moral questions and dilemmas. I absolutely loved it!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
New Recipes for Halloween
A couple of weeks ago I had a little get together here at the house. Of course it was Halloween themed, so I wanted all the food to match. I was going for an all orange and black food list which required some research on my part. I found some interesting new recipes that I thought I would share. Also, Cory showed me how to add a link so I needed to test my new skills.
Golden Wedding Punch - absolutely delicious! I was bloated by the end of the evening because I couldn't leave it alone.
Pumpkin Bars - at the top, Tex Mex Black Bean Dip - which didn't turn out as black as I had hoped. I have made this again just for Cory and I and I doubled the recipe and used one can of regular black beans and one of re-fried black beans and it made it darker. I liked the texture better too because those little black beans are kind of hard to mash like the recipe tells you too. And I left out the corn - I didn't want the yellow. And then Savory Party Bread - which was to die for but doesn't keep well after a few hours. I realize that this did not fit in with the pronounced color scheme - but I wanted something else. I thought about making it with cheddar cheese (for the orange) but didn't think I should veer from the recipe when I hadn't even tried it before.
I served the black bean dip with those dark (blue corn, I think) chips, which were great. I also made just a regular chocolate cookie recipe but added some chopped up orange colored melting chocolate which really looked nice for my color scheme.
Pumpkin Cheese Ball - there is no pumpkin in this, that is the name because of the shape. It was really good and quite simple.
Golden Wedding Punch - absolutely delicious! I was bloated by the end of the evening because I couldn't leave it alone.
Pumpkin Bars - at the top, Tex Mex Black Bean Dip - which didn't turn out as black as I had hoped. I have made this again just for Cory and I and I doubled the recipe and used one can of regular black beans and one of re-fried black beans and it made it darker. I liked the texture better too because those little black beans are kind of hard to mash like the recipe tells you too. And I left out the corn - I didn't want the yellow. And then Savory Party Bread - which was to die for but doesn't keep well after a few hours. I realize that this did not fit in with the pronounced color scheme - but I wanted something else. I thought about making it with cheddar cheese (for the orange) but didn't think I should veer from the recipe when I hadn't even tried it before.
I served the black bean dip with those dark (blue corn, I think) chips, which were great. I also made just a regular chocolate cookie recipe but added some chopped up orange colored melting chocolate which really looked nice for my color scheme.
The night was a success - the food was a success and I was thrilled with these new recipes!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Donut Day
Donut Day fell on Saturday October 16th this year. This is an annual Birt tradition that has been going on since before my time even (22 yrs). It is always a Saturday in October where we spend the entire day making donuts, eating donuts, delivering donuts to friends and family and pretty much exhausting everything "donut". We began very early that day with just Nolan, Diane, Cory and myself preparing the dough. At this stage of the game, Diane is preparing 4 batches of donuts and needs help with the kneading and rolling out of more than 500 donuts and holes too!
Here we are working our respective batches while everyone else in the family is probably sleeping (I know for a fact that Cam was - because he picked up Cory flying in from D.C., and me from Houston from the airport at midnight the night before.)
Of course - this had to turn into some sort of competition to see who's dough would rise the fastest - it ended up being between Nolan's and mine (Diane would say she had a bigger bowl and Cory would say something about the shape of his bowl).
Diane chatting while she works. This is roughly half of one batch. I'm telling you there are LOTS of donuts here!
Some of Larry's kids finally showed up to help. These two lucky devils ate the very first of the donuts this year. Cory working the first shift on the fryer. (All these donuts and we had to wait forever for Angela to arrive with the second fryer.) Production was slow at first.
Cam finally got up to help - well I think I went down to get him up around noon. I wanted to actually spend some time with him while he was "visiting". He ate a few and then took a turn on the fryer. Shaury is trying to pose with her donut and her dipping stick (to glaze the donuts). She was quite the specialist over in that corner.
Isn't he handsome?
Jonah doing his part cutting out.
And Larry finally arrives with the other fryer.
Abby smiling while she works!
Cam still getting it done (actually I don't think he worked longer than anyone else on the fryer I just took more pics of him while he was there) - and another pose from goofball Shaury.
Me, I guess bossing a little. Finally got a shower too. (my chin looks strange in that picture). Pheobe and Will arrive from a soccer game.
Hudson arrives and takes his turn even though he didn't feel all that well. (again Shaury poses)
Cam on his computer getting some input on his winter semester schedule that he will be registering for very soon. So nice to be right next to him!
A wonderful day - warm outside (which isn't always the case) and all the family together working, eating, visiting and being together. One of my very favorite traditions!
Here we are working our respective batches while everyone else in the family is probably sleeping (I know for a fact that Cam was - because he picked up Cory flying in from D.C., and me from Houston from the airport at midnight the night before.)
Of course - this had to turn into some sort of competition to see who's dough would rise the fastest - it ended up being between Nolan's and mine (Diane would say she had a bigger bowl and Cory would say something about the shape of his bowl).
Diane chatting while she works. This is roughly half of one batch. I'm telling you there are LOTS of donuts here!
Some of Larry's kids finally showed up to help. These two lucky devils ate the very first of the donuts this year. Cory working the first shift on the fryer. (All these donuts and we had to wait forever for Angela to arrive with the second fryer.) Production was slow at first. 
Cam finally got up to help - well I think I went down to get him up around noon. I wanted to actually spend some time with him while he was "visiting". He ate a few and then took a turn on the fryer. Shaury is trying to pose with her donut and her dipping stick (to glaze the donuts). She was quite the specialist over in that corner.
Isn't he handsome?
Jonah doing his part cutting out.
And Larry finally arrives with the other fryer.
Abby smiling while she works! 
Cam still getting it done (actually I don't think he worked longer than anyone else on the fryer I just took more pics of him while he was there) - and another pose from goofball Shaury.
Me, I guess bossing a little. Finally got a shower too. (my chin looks strange in that picture). Pheobe and Will arrive from a soccer game.
Hudson arrives and takes his turn even though he didn't feel all that well. (again Shaury poses)
Cam on his computer getting some input on his winter semester schedule that he will be registering for very soon. So nice to be right next to him!
A wonderful day - warm outside (which isn't always the case) and all the family together working, eating, visiting and being together. One of my very favorite traditions!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
A Visit from Becky
I am behind in blogging - I'm having a party tonight and have been busy with preparations and probably shouldn't even be doing this now - but I was thinking I could make it quick before I head out to do the yard. A week or two ago Diane and Becky came down for a visit. I had noticed a while ago that Hairspray was going to be in town, so I immediately thought of Becky (it being her favorite movie and all). So I invited her and Diane to come for a few days to go and see it with me. (It seemed a little too musical for Cory.)
They got here on Thursday night and we went to Sweet Tomatos for dinner (because I love it there and Cory isn't crazy about it). On Friday we went to the temple for a visit.
Then we went to get our nails done. In fact, Becky was the one to get those cute spiders put on her big toes that I copied a week later. Diane always wants to get her nails done when she comes - it is hilarious listening to her conversations with the vietnamese ladies that she can not understand at all! She is a good sport and anything they offer to do to her she usually lets them (nails, toenails, eyebrows, bikini wax (jk on the last one).
After that we went over to Old Town Spring - which is a little section of town (the old part) where it's all renovated little homes which are now quaint little shops. We ate fried twinkies and fried oreos and had quiche on a patio cause the weather was wonderful. I paid $4 for an unmarked white chocolate haystack and then we came home to get ready for the play.
They got here on Thursday night and we went to Sweet Tomatos for dinner (because I love it there and Cory isn't crazy about it). On Friday we went to the temple for a visit.
Then we went to get our nails done. In fact, Becky was the one to get those cute spiders put on her big toes that I copied a week later. Diane always wants to get her nails done when she comes - it is hilarious listening to her conversations with the vietnamese ladies that she can not understand at all! She is a good sport and anything they offer to do to her she usually lets them (nails, toenails, eyebrows, bikini wax (jk on the last one).
After that we went over to Old Town Spring - which is a little section of town (the old part) where it's all renovated little homes which are now quaint little shops. We ate fried twinkies and fried oreos and had quiche on a patio cause the weather was wonderful. I paid $4 for an unmarked white chocolate haystack and then we came home to get ready for the play.
Becky and I waiting for the play to start - we barely made it in time because Cory wasn't there to navigate around downtown and I don't know where I am going. (This is when Diane got in trouble from the usher for using her camera.) The play was good - I had never seen the movie, so I didn't know what it was about or what to expect but I really enjoyed it. Becky could have sung all the songs like the girls behind us tried to but she was much too polite to do that, too bad those girls didn't take a lesson.
After the show waiting for the valet to bring the car around.
On Saturday we went out to some outlet stores that I had heard about but never been to - they turned out to be fabulous and I will definitely return! Becky got something for each of her kids and I got some stuff for Cam. We met up with Cory later in the afternoon for dinner at El Rincon. We ate so much over the course of the weekend that I didn't eat anything till 5pm on Sunday! (I truly wasn't hungry till then.) Becky and Diane left on the morning flight back to Utah. It was a wonderful visit - I don't think Becky has been down here since Cam got baptized in 2000.
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