Sad day for our state

One of the big issues at stake in the vote yesterday was legalizing marijuana. It passed, for now, hopefully it won't stay.
http://www.coloradoan.com/viewart/20121106/NEWS11/121106007/Colorado-voters-pass-pot-legalization-Amendment-64?odyssey=mod|breaking|text|FRONTPAGE

5 Links

Fun for kids:
Don't Eat Pete
A fun game for using up some Halloween candy (M&M's). I would not play this with fewer than 4 people. It worked really well with the 4-10 year old crowd on a day we had friends over.

Recipe:
Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps
This recipe helps achieve two of my food goals:
1) More veggies
2) Less red meat.
(My experience with ground turkey is that it always seems easier to me to try it in something totally new to our family instead of replacing ground beef in a family favorite. And ground turkey without onions is a mistake).
I loved this meal. On a scale of 1 to 5, 1 = eat once a week, 5 = never again in my life, my husband gave it a 2. . . . . but then pointed out that my kids didn't like it very well. Perhaps they just need more exposure.
Changes: Don't love teriyaki or garlic, so I omitted and made up my own sauce. Added ginger & sesame seed oil--But will cut the oil in the next version b/c I don't like the "darkness"of it. Loved the sesame seeds I sprinkled on top. Never thought I would like them, but I'm a big fan.
Very different from our normal, but very satifying.

Pattern we are using for sewing class this week:
Perfect Box pouch
The first time I made this was my first zipper ever. If you want to try a zipper, I would begin here.

Funny Home Evening:
Studio C is a comedy put on by members and former members of Divine Comedy, a BYU performing group. We love it. I think you will, too.

Did you know there's a
Colorado Mormon Chorale ??
We didn't either, but in the beginning of October we heard them sing. They are pretty good and invited a local high school choir to join the performance.

Have a great week--can you believe it's November??

Pajama/pumpkin day

Monday morning started with someone sick at 5:40 am.
Same one sick again at 6:00.

#2 was sick at 6:45 am.
(these numbers are not which child, just the order of the sickness)

I called the lady whose son I was supposed to watch and warned her--can you get someone else?
Nathan left for work.

#3 sick at 7:30.
I called him on his drive, "Guess who else is sick?"

#4 sick at 7:45 am, I called the elementary school to tell them my three daughters would not be coming to school. I laughed because it helped break the tension. Then, I called the middle school as well.
To Nathan, "You're never going to believe this . . . ."

The last one was sick, too, but not the same kind, so he was fed breakfast.

While they watched some morning cartoons with sick tummies and no conversation, I went back to bed.
At least they got it over with, right?
Nearly everyone chose to stay in PJ's for most of the day. By dinner some were even running around.

For FHE, we carved pumpkins. A delightful end to a rough day.
Remember last year, when they didn't get carved?
Pumpkin carving 2012, CHECK.
FHE came through for me again.

Much better today

They were all back to school Tuesday morning and life is back to it's normal fast pace.

(I might be starting to embrace Halloween.? Slowly.
I read this post earlier this month & it really struck a chord.
Finally, a meaningful Halloween decoration.
I love it & will make ours in 2013).

After the pumpkin photos, Diana asked me to take this

General Conference, Fall 2012

 On our 10th anniversary overnight getaway, we hatched a plan to take our children on individual trips to General Conference. We wanted it to coincide with their 12 birthdays, so this fall, Andrew was the first to go. We REALLY tried to get tickets for the Priesthood session, but could not. They went to UT with tickets to the Sunday morning session in hand.

Thankfully, I have a sister who lives in SLC to help make this plan a reality. She let them stay and even wrote them a "thank you for coming" note when they left.

They spent Saturday morning at her home, but made their way to the city center for the afternoon, where they listened to afternoon conference in the tabernacle. Nathan mentioned wondering if Andrew would make it back when he left to find a bathroom in the middle. (Andrew did make it back, but never found the bathrooms--there aren't any public bathrooms in the tabernacle that I know of).

After that session was over, they got in line to wait for Priesthood session in the standby line, since they did not have tickets. A man approached, offered them two tickets and walked away. They got in!!!! Andrew called me from inside the conference center to tell me the great news.

Sunday morning they left my sister's house to go again, and went back in the afternoon to her home to enjoy the rest.

Monday morning they drove home via Provo, where they took a BYU tour. During the trip, Nathan saw one of his favorite mission companions and a handful of other people he knew.

Love this shot! Nice job, Nathan.

I stayed home with everyone else. We listened at home for the most part, but Sunday we went to my mom and dads' and listened with my sister and our cousins. We had 7 children in the room and lots of coloring and resting under blankets. 

I was surprised about the announcement of changing the ages for missionaries. It is inspired and I am excited for it. Bryn said, "Looks like you get to say goodbye to me two years earlier, Mom."

I shed many tears. I loved every message I heard. (I admit to napping on Saturday afternoon).

The following were very close to my heart:

Ann M. Dibb

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Dallin H. Oaks

Russel T. Osguthorpe

It was a great weekend--one of my favorites all year. I will end my re-cap with this whiteboard artwork made on Saturday while she was listening. We had to keep it until they got back from UT so we could photograph it. Lovely colors.

September Highlights

"Super Hunts"

The girls had a superhero themed activity night. They were to wear a modest superhero costume. We don't have any of those, so I bought cheap-ish t-shirts and white paint to make a stencil for the "Super Hunts." Nathan spent hours working on the stencils and the girls got to paint their own shirts. The white paint ended up being "Diamond" which turned out clear with lots of glitter in it. Nathan was a good sport about it, even though I am sure he'd have preferred white.

Churchill spends the day

Diana had her turn to bring Churchill, the kindergarten mascot home for the day. We took him on our morning walk/ride with us. I walk and Diana and Ed ride. Diana is on a bike and Eddie in the stroller.
Churchill got a ride with Diana the whole way, but only wore the sunglasses for this photo.

We taught our UT cousins how to play Hungry, Hungry Hippos. I think they loved it, but may have loved electronic games even more.

Sept. 22

Caitlin was baptized on a lovely afternoon in September. She sang "When I am Baptized" with Bryn as a special musical number. Her friend and her mom were able to come, as well as cousins and aunts from near and far. Both sets of grandparents made it for Caitlin's special day, too. We changed into play clothes when we got home and enjoyed the lovely fall weather outside. It was a great day.

Sept. 22

After the baptism was over, these "twin" cousins were ordained deacons. Both of them helped pass the sacrament the following day. A great day for our family to receive ordinances together. We had 25 family members for dinner that day--good thing we have lots of chairs!

View from our home--Longs Peak in the distance

This view shows one of the reasons we love where we live. That lawn out there is playground central most afternoons at our home. The kids ride scooters, rollerblades, and bikes around and around. They raked cut grass in the summer before the lawn crews could come back for it. This week they took out all the snow-shovels and piled up leaves. That photo does not do justice--my camera can't capture how pretty the view really is.
Life is good.

Artist's rendering of our temple

Public (neighborhood) hearing was last night. We were asked NOT to attend unless we lived in the neighborhoods the city invited. So, we didn't go.
Still some permitting needs to take place.
Groundbreaking is expected in 2013.
The temple will take 2 years to build, so completion is expected for 2015.
More info is here if you are interested.

Best news of the week

This week I renewed my teaching license!!! (HIP, HIP, HOORAY).

It is good for another 3 years.

It cost:
$105 renewal fee
$100 or so for fingerprinting. (This would be cheaper if I lived in the state where I am licensed, but I don't)
$600-ish to attend a professional conference for 2 days in 2010 (my mom stayed with me in a hotel so I could nurse Eddie--thanks MOM)
Swapping babysitting with my friend so I could volunteer at school--thanks FRIEND
$163/credit hour of college classes . . . . this time I took 5 of them
$100-ish in fees at a local testing center to take tests for my classes
 Around $1500 every three years--thanks HUSBAND.