SURE EASE

SLIDESHOW today!

2011-12-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

The 6th Graders in Mrs G's class were treated to a special presentation today from Ashton - It included a a few stories, a black bean snack, a handmade souvenir for each of them, and even a 6 minute slide show! (Compiled VERY late last night by a patient BigBro SeanMarco, complete w/ wonderful Gaby Moreno background music).

Click HERE, then click on the play button : )

(let me know if it works - post a comment or some such thing, k?)

a fast 4...

2011-12-04T22:42:00.000-07:00

THREE

2011-12-03T23:08:00.079-07:00

Hooray! I finally had a chance to find the first photos we took the day we left! (...beginning at the Provo gas station when we happened to see a friend).

I'm pretty sure that for most of us, leaving Provo, getting to the airport, and actually taking flight felt a little like Christmas... that same magic or "pinch me i must be dreaming" kind of a feeling...
And right from the 'get-go', of course MY first big thrill was watching ASHTON admire all aspects of aviation more avidly than ever before, and as a participant this time - for reals!

It was a day full of fantastic firsts for him, even down to dabbling in digital photography!
As soon as we boarded, K & I smiled again as we discovered that his window seat gave him a perfect view of the wing, 'up close and personal'! He asked for my camera right away and proceeded to silently and confidently capture shots of the various positions of the flaps during both our take off in SLC and our landing in Houston...

I know for years to come, whenever i see any of these 1st day photos of him or taken by him, it'll bring back this same fun feeling of satisfaction for me. It's also fun to think about what memories he'll end up having of all these experiences, once he's grown!

As for today, here are only 3 from that bundle of firsts...

MAGICAL.

2 today

2011-12-02T07:34:00.002-07:00

December advent of PHOTOS...

2011-12-01T23:48:00.002-07:00

Like baby birds in the nest... patiently waiting for parents to come right back and drop food in their mouths - or at least point to which restaurant we chose!

For REALS -

2011-11-30T23:18:00.004-07:00

We actually DID IT!

And doing it was even MORE incredible and significant than I had hoped or imagined...

I've been really sick since we've been home, w/ one difficult ailment after another that have drained me from top & bottom :) Yet my heart & mind are still very FULL!

There is SO much I want to share and describe, yet how can I do it justice? Kind of like trying to adequately write about ANY other high level joy experience in this life that exceeds your prior expectations... Right??

However, strange as it may seem, ha ha- i DO have some fun stories, not to mention a few great photos to share! And by a 'few' i mean a combined total of a few THOUSAND!!!!!
(Not counting most of Ben's nor Calvin's that we haven't even seen yet).
Nope, I guess I'll be lucky to show & tell 3!!!
But FIRST, let me just get LESS sick and MORE computer turns...

Now it must be time for that MacBook-of-My-Own Miracle Dream to come true, R I G H T ??

eleven-eleven-eleven

2011-11-11T23:11:00.003-07:00

ELEVEN bits of HEAVEN today:

Woke feeling SO grateful for DAD and every other VETERAN who has served and sacrificed to help preserve our country and families... and SO grateful that we choose to observe a National Holiday in their honor... and SO grateful federal offices are CLOSED today - especially MINE : )
LOVED the priceless photo Olivia sent me via text at 10 this morning - pure JOY!!!
Actually had the RARE pleasure of being home ALONE at 11:11 AM, and even began this POST while running laundry! Total DELIGHT!
So GLAD to find a way to get what cousin Aby mentioned we could bring him - Had K & Cal stop at REI in SLC for cycling pants on drive home from Centerville mid-day. So GLAD I asked Aby to think of something - He won me over right away years ago - he is sharp and thoughtful with a 'heart-of-gold', and he'll be hosting and playing with us next week - bless him and his family!
Helped move last chunk of stuff to CLEAR a spot in garage large enough for a CAR (of all things), and helped CARmen park one in it! CHECK!
Planted an AMAZING old die-hard amaryllis bulb K found in same garage - (its new sprouts are bout 4 inches high).
ATE at J-Dawg's, after dropping J back at BYU - even thought to use StudentSaverCard for FREE AppleBeer! (haven't had either in forever - glad K thought of stopping - they 'hit the spot' YUM!
Had FUN cleaning up neglected stuff on front porch w/ Maya, (got rid of spiders and worked hard while the sun was shining) - then rewarded ourselves w/ a quick trip to Bath & BodyWorks for lotion she's been wanting since her Oct bday! 20 minute lotion FEST - and nice little gifts for other cool Guate relatives ~ CHECK!
ADORED SeanBoy as he prepared for PROPOSAL to happy Hannah this evening… YES, he pulled off his superb SURPRISE with a little help from his friends, family, future in-laws, and Steve Jobs, of course : ) (He gave her a sealed iPhone box that actually contained a ring box inside - MORE fun stories to tell).
RAN to Target w/ J to get bday present for Car (for Sunday) and 11 little foods/drinks to enjoy at 11:11 tonight ~ by all who were home and awake!
Continued celebrating after midnight when the officially engaged ones stopped by so we could gather all around them and hear about their fun evening.

Heavenly 11-11-11

tiny MIRACLES - (part 3, al fin)

2011-11-06T23:41:00.052-07:00

The start of this post has been saved in my 'drafts' since Oct 16th! ...I guess John Lennon was right - Life really IS what happens when we're busy making other plans!

When Calvin returned from London last April, so did my GuateTrip DREAM - but as usual, that's ALL it was.

By MAY, once Knudsen's got here with newborn GRANDson to meet Grumpa and the gang - and complete our long-awaited reunion, I was just grateful and delighted to have ALL my kids together again - ANYWHERE - it didn't matter that we couldn't afford to travel anywhere!

Then soon into June, the first of many little planets came into alignment...

K & I shared a rare GreatDate night - You know, the kind most women love, when 'SignificantOther' happens to unexpectedly take charge with even a simple general plan - but with YOU in mind!... After a casual delicious dinner, he invited me for a walk so we could continue the important conversation we happened to be having. Before we knew it we were seriously exploring WHAT it would take to actually $ave enough over 1 to 2 years for THAT trip... one we both knew i would NEVER let him hear the end of - if we did not take. (10K? - if airfare alone could be 7K?) ...Maybe he lovingly thought I just needed to see for myself how impossible it would be to pull off any time soon. (Backfire alert!) Actually, as we talked, it occurred to me that i could legitimately explain how 5 of 10 plane tickets could be paid for without any debt! (3 from amounts I'd saved over the yrs for youngest 3 + 2 that kids w/ jobs could pay for themselves) I instantly saw the glass half FULL!! - Instead of fighting back tears of bitter pill swallowing, i was full of HOPE! In that moment I really did become 'fixed in my mind with a determined resolution'... And although i knew he didn't completely share my enthusiasm, I knew he could not reasonably shoot me down either - nor ONLY focus on the glass half empty : )
2 days later for FHE we talked with the 6 living at home and told them about our productive discussion. We wrote down amounts we had, clearly went over our current income and expenses, then asked them what they thought about it all. Together we chose to set a goal and make a plan. Together they came up with ideas for spending less and saving more.
During the entire summer and fall they have willingly made numerous sacrifices: No end of summer 'get away' before school, total bare bones birthdays & back-to-school needs, Zero movie theaters, zero nice meals out as a family, zero LazarTag party for Ash, zero drywall repair nor dishwasher repair... to name a few.
NO lie - As soon as I looked up flights and determined a price per person to plan for, I happened to get an unexpected bonus from work during this very tight federal budget year the exact amount I'd need for my own ticket. BAM - SIX of 10 flights accounted for! ... (if we could possibly go before Jan 30, 2012, GRANDson could fly FREE - so 8 kids + 2 parents = 10)
In this unique era of NO yearly raises (a first), continued hiring freezes, and next to NO usual overtime, suddenly my manager called me in at the end of July to tell me of an Agency-wide critical "Special Project" (total first of its kind) that could only be worked on Saturdays - Overtime ($50 hr) right away - for 8 weeks in a row up to 8 hrs each time (instead of long-standing 5 hr max for Sat OT) - For which they needed one consistent leader to organize & oversee the challenging project, and wanted it to be me it if i was interested... And it was a HUGE challenge - Yet a 'Tender Mercy' to the tune of over $3000.
AUG 6th: First of the 8 Saturdays... A random conversation with a coworker while we prepared project packets resulted in a GOOD job offer for same 'Significant Other' by mid Aug... after 18 months of 'Thanks But No Thanks' letters in this tough economy. After passing their numerous levels of security over the past 2+ months, he's finally hopeful that tomorrow's hiring hoop will be one of the last - for real, and that maybe they'll be ready for him to begin as soon as we return! (?)
I'm out of writing time... but must mention the major miracle of final pricing on the flights - thanks to Continental GroupWorks (for 10 or more)... final pmt was due 10/13 - actual rates of taxes came in much lower than original estimate... so: $400 each - not $675 as we were anticipating per quote last August when we began our contract w/ them.

We've also had a hefty share of opposition and set backs over the past 6 months... but they are very minor when compared with ALL we have to be THANKFUL for!! I am continually moved to tears by the beauty of my blessings!

(Now if i could just figure out how to convert this tiff photo to a jpeg - i could insert this classic photo of Oli in Guate in '92 that looks like it's straight off a classic tourism brochure cover - Sean, HELP? :)

*post edit: You're Welcome, Mom —NotSean, but your other tech-savvy child.

Part 2

2011-10-13T23:54:00.006-06:00

'reunited and it feels so good'

Before Part 2, i just want to say:
I am SO so glad we have these family photos! I've been wanting to post this one since Ashley took it... After all, it's the follow up of those ones down at the very bottom of blog from Sept '06 when Olivia left, Sept '07 when Sean left, & Apr '09 when Calvin left...
I wanted to put this one of us w/ willows and mtns background in the header of the blog, but couldn't get it how i wanted - and Sean was gone this eve, or here but preoccupied with getting an iPhone 4s after midnight tonight. Hence, my header redo with Playmobil PERSONIFIED -- (Carmen put those together back when O was expecting Cohen).
OK, so back to my story...
SPRING BREAK 2006: Gracious Tara Kim came to my rescue! She encouraged us to come visit them in Palo Alto - making it possible for us to actually GO somewhere while kids were out of school... Our main MUST DO's were: ( listed by importance : )

IKEA (a yr prior to Draper opening) -bunk bed shopping, & just Swedish on a shoestring fun
Monterrey Bay Aquarium -amazing, unforgettable, all day wonder
A classic day in 'The CITY' -golden gate bridge & park, crab louie's and lobster on the wharf
San Gregorio beach -took my UT-Youngins to the ocean, by golly, even on a windy rainy April day - and i didn't even lose my Robert's of Woodside lunch on that curvy drive to get there!

We had a wonderful week! (except for Winnemucca - it was the worst!) Brig, Tara, & Beckstead's were the BEST! (can't believe i didn't think to call Gret that time - hello! - so so so dumb)

But wait - the REAL meaningful point of my story here is to share something else we did while we were there - one of those 'no brainer' kind of things, yet totally unplanned... very worthy of mentioning here in my late weeknight blog post (for which i will pay dearly tomorrow).
As we were heading into the City we happened to stop for gas right in the heart of my childhood 'stomping grounds' - (the Shell on Sand Hill Rd in Sharon Heights). In that moment, as I was hit over the head by a flood of memories, it finally occurred to me that my kids might want to see where i grew up - duh! (I suddenly remembered how much I LOVED visiting Newport, Oregon the summer after my mission, and seeing my mom's house, etc).
We stuck with our original San Francisco plan for the day, but went back to my neighborhood the following day. We went to the 2 homes i lived in, to my schools and church, to Sharon Heights pond and downtown Menlo Park, etc... They were fascinated; it meant a lot to them!

Since that day I have felt even MORE strongly about the importance of taking them to Guatemala. Before then i always wished we could go again* and thought it would be so fun - but since then it has been an ache inside me... knowing i MUST find a way - even against all odds! But even when we were both working, a trip like this made little sen$e - logically or financially... Especially to 'Mr. Practical' - who has viewed the expense as unwise and irresponsible... How can anyone overcome those valid objections?

However, I've learned over and over in my life that when i set out to do something that i really WANT to do, and KNOW is right & good -- it will HAPPEN -- (in this case, a month from today) -because incredible things come together sometimes, in ways i never could have imagined...

I'll attempt to share a quick bullet list of some of them for Part 3!

* The only other time we've gone was in July 1992 when #4 of 7 (Josie) was 6 months old - Cal was 3, Sean 4.5, & Olivia was 7. We drove down w/ Mama Jose & Papa Moises, stayed 2 weeks, LOVED it, and have dreamed of going back ever since.

Once Upon A Time... (Part 1)

2011-10-11T06:30:00.002-06:00

When the good King of this castle was still a tender young Prince of 11 yrs old, (1971) his entire royal family embarked on a memorable journey. One for which they had prepared, saved, and sacrificed for the previous 4 years. The 10 of them were part of about 5 busloads of families from the San Marcos / Quetzaltenango area to travel together that year, because of their faith - Just as busloads had done each year for a few years before and after.

They traveled 4-5 days each way to the nearest LDS temple at that time - in Mesa, Arizona.

Mama Josefina & Papa Moises were eager to solidify their love & faith and be blessed with added strength and protection for themselves and for their posterity. As soon as they were sealed, their joy continued to expand as their children entered that beautiful room, knelt with them, and formed a complete circle. While grasping each other's hands, a kind man with special permission gave them a blessing, which sealed and bound them together permanently.

I can only imagine the sacred memories those busloads of families still have. I am amazed by everything i've heard through the years about the journey itself, and the organization of equally faithful people that served those busloads along their way each year. They would travel all day and stop each night at an LDS Chapel (In MX and AZ) - where local members would serve them dinner and breakfast the following morning. The travelers slept on cots, etc set up for them in their Cultural Halls.

KoKing remembers finally getting to Mexico City (maybe half way?) and talking with others about how great it would be if there could be a temple in Mexico some day!! - (Then they'd BE there already!)

Back then the Mexican government had ultimate rights to ALL buildings in the country, regardless of private ownership or use. Those Guatemalans knew that a sacred temple up and running in Mexico would require many miracles!

5 years later in April 1976, the Church first announced plans for a temple in Mexico. They broke ground on it the end of '79 and dedicated the Mexico City temple Dec of '83 - the same month the King & I were married/sealed in the Salt Lake temple.

Only a year later the Guatemala City temple was dedicated, about a 5 hour (?) bus ride from San Marcos & 'Xela' (pronounced like "Shay-la") - Hey, somebody should tell President Monson that its common indigenous name is much easier to spell! :)

On 12/16/2006, (our 23rd anniversary), less than 3 months after Olivia left on her mission and more than 3 yrs after Mama Jose passed away, the Church announced the building of the Xela temple!! We were muy amazed, excited, and grateful! Who on those yearly bus trips could have imagined that this could happen in their lifetime??

I immediately began dreaming about how cool it would be for us to go to Guate together when it was finished. Soon the Church News ran a great article about it and the wonderful members in that area of the world. We had it stuck to our fridge for months and months. I kept asking relatives and wondering when it would be ready... and kept hoping it would take long enough for first Sean and then Calvin to return!! ...

Then, not long after Sean returned, (Nov 2009) after 16+ years with the same employer, the State of UT had no more money to renew the yearly grant that funded the King's job... And because he'd been with the state so long, he was the highest paid of the handful of those helping disabled individuals return to the workforce, so HIS position was cut.
Needless-to-say, so was my DREAM of a Xela Temple/Guate Family Reunion Trip ...

...But 'stay tuned for scenes from our next episode' of 'Days of Our Lives'...

Ah... SEPTEMBER in 'PTown'

2011-09-25T23:13:00.001-06:00

Like any other human being that has ever lived in or around Provo in any September of their life,

I LOVE living here this time of year!!

September is just plain wonderful here and all over the 'Wasatch Front. And as usual, these past 4 weeks have flown by way TOO fast! no?

A few of the joys that energize my mood every year are: The great weather, the bold colors on Squaw Peak and in the valley, Allred's peaches & apples, the surge of fun fall bustle, AND the great weather!

Each short-lived fall becomes even more precious after having endured many many January's & February's in PTown... So for now, I'll SAVOR SEPTEMBER for any moment i still can!

This perfect Provo sunset - was captured by cool nephew, in almost Sept - so 'September Eve" 2008 (8-23) at 10:30 PM, on the occasion of Ben & Olivia's wedding celebration at the cherished Knudsen's cherished family home... ahh

"Fill our brains with lots of facts - Our first day of SCHOOL"

2011-08-23T23:30:00.000-06:00

my baby girl's a bulldog!

Hey Skitza, look at the PHS SENIOR!

6th Grade

Mr. Caboose hits the BigTime

A rare PopTart works for fancy celebration, right?

Bring it on - PHS!

Epic

WAIT! Only ONE more week of Summer!? Crazy.

2011-08-14T22:10:00.012-06:00

This past week has been packed with incredible 'writing prompts' for me... yet little time to write about them, of course. But I've even got a good hiking analogy in my head this time - to describe the ongoing personal challenges I've had to work through for many many months prior to the more recent milestone of feeling 'inner peace' in spite of them... then tie all that stuff to the simple rightness of the series of events this past week... I'll write more soon, and in plain talk - pinky promise!

Meanwhile, just zoom in on these faces!! Should I change my header photo to this one?

See what i mean? *PRICELESS PICS* I love looking at their expressions and seeing their genuine fun moment! - This stunt was totally unplanned. They were hanging out on the driveway - just teasing, playing, and contently waiting while Ashley was taking pictures of the King & I & Cohen (Over in our side yard/Ben patio). I'm sure one thing quickly led to another, then Ashley jumped right on it, (she 'carped' her op) and 'caught them' feeling pleased w/ their clever accomplishment!! -

Good Times. Although we all really do enjoy each other most of the time, any one of them will tell you that the level of contention in our household is TOO high TOO often! We go up and down in our determination to remove the continual contention... But I reread 2 of my favorite parenting scriptures today - they always fill me with renewed determination (at least until a fight breaks out).

 ...And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another... But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another and to serve one another.

*FYI*  I'm just referring there to my comment on FB last week about GOOD Photography/ers  

check it out!

2011-08-07T23:14:00.004-06:00

I pretty sure you'll enjoy this!

a glimpse of MY JULY... quick - before it's over

2011-07-26T23:27:00.000-06:00

just a quick slice of 'summer family fun' at a glance:

each picture is worth a thousand word story - but i'll be lucky to even find the time/energy to post pictures

(reverse chronological order - so first photo below was taken at 6:55 this morning as the girls left for camp)...

26 - TUES early morn
off to YW camp for the week

25 - MON eve
(Maya's turn at Oli's 3 ingredient tart)

delish

nuf said

Look Mom, I'm wearing my contacts again!

It worked! - THANKS Brenda : )
delivered w/ love MON

25 - SUN
"That FUN Game"
w/ those FUN Haycock's

...3 days posted - more to come... good night

CALVIN MOISES

2011-06-28T22:19:00.004-06:00

From Sunday June 26, 2011:

22 years ago today our little fam of 4 became a FAB FIVE!

Our Man-on-Man switched to Zone Defense!

Blessedly, the transition was quite smooth for the King & I during those first couple of months. Some significant contributing factors were:

A mellow adorable newborn
A summer break (from BYU) in Logan - with amused abuelos
An excited helpful 4 yr old sis
A tender content 18 mth bro

...Little did we know then that baby Calvin, like his namesake, was just holding on to his BIG guns!! By Christmastime a few months later, he was tearing up the place with his infectious cheer, his unceasing N-R-G, his 'search & destroy' prowess, and his 'cause & effect' curiosity!

Calvin, we adore you, my boy! We admire you - and by 'we' I mean everyone within your circle of influence. We admire your Mega MIND - and your talent for acquiring, retaining, and creatively connecting massive amounts of knowlege! (quickly and seemingly effortlessly)! But 22 years later, Calvin, it is your HUGE heart that I love most about you... You feel and care deeply, and I LOVE that you are both logical AND sentimental!

Just had to post this fun collection of cousins!

Hurray for a day for all MAMAlah's!

2011-05-08T22:24:00.005-06:00

~ By way of background/context, a decade ago in my household (as well as with my hilarious nephews and others), we never tired of watching and laughing at several sketches on the "SNL - Best of Mike Meyers" DVD! We lost track of our copy somehow - but not before incorporating a few of its fun words and phrases into our permanent household humor and vocab...

One of those words that O gleaned way back then, complete w/ its Yiddish tone, was: "Mamalah" - and she & her sibs to follow have used it ever since as a precious term of endearment for yours truly :)
(Hopefully the word LINK below will take you right to the priceless 3 min YouTube MAMAlah clip of 'Coffee Talk' w/ Linda Richmond & her[his] fellow Jewish friend who happened to bring her Mother along w/ [Madonna & Rosanne], it is to die for! and even includes the surprise cameo of Barbara en persona! like a stick of bud-dah!! No lie!).

A few days ago, (cinco de mayo, perhaps?) O sent me a screen shot of the fun verification word she happened to get... so I could see it to believe it!
Well that little gem image was worthy of a post on this rainy Mother's Day in paradise...

~ Never mind the numerous other events i coulda shoulda woulda posted during the past 6 weeks... 'Like such as': #4's magical all cello concert, K's 51st bday miracle morn (off duty) that #2 & I pulled off for him, #3's remarkable return home w/ its subsequent famfuntivities, 7's completed Chi-fu costume for his award-winning acting debut in Mulan, oh and baby C's completed quilt al fin, and H's hilarious Hipster satires (8K FB 'likes' phenomenon), 5's courage in the face of stressful AP exams, and 6's brave courage and high pain threshold in spite of a fluke malfunctioning ear piercing tool yesterday... just to name a few!

>Link to a laugh:

MyOliv

2011-03-25T21:43:00.001-06:00

We've had fun celebrating you this evening, mija... looking back all through your fun life!
~~ Here's just a titch ~~ stay tuned... I'll post more : ) I'm just getting the hang of it.

"Practically Perfect In Every Way"

She's 26 today ~ and going strong!

I was almost 26 when SHE was born

She was almost 26 when Cohen was born

Will he be almost 26 when he becomes a parent?

Will she be almost 52 when she becomes 'Grandma O'?

Will i be there to cheer them on when I'm almost 78?

I hope so.

I hope they live nearby, don't you?

(she put up with our awful singing to her via webcam at the stroke of midnight last night, and also let us get right up in awake Cohen's face and make total fools of ourselves while we adored him)

All during her first 15 years, she eagerly welcomed each of the 6 babies with all her heart, and has never stopped being a great sister to them!

WELL DONE ! ! ! ! !

2011-03-21T19:36:00.001-06:00

My Dearest "T.A.Y.F.O",
(Whomever you are...)

THANK YOU ~ MUCHO!

I am profoundly grateful - more than any words could ever convey - for your creative, amazing
KINDNESS & GENEROSITY...

wow

It was such a totally sweet surprise! I can't stop thinking about it.

I only hope I can anonymously brighten someone else's life at some point the way you've brightened mine today : )

WAY COOL!

Love,
Cherry

PS: For those of you who are not the "whomever" I am addressing, and want to know more details -- CALL ME, 'we'll tu-alk' - You'll LOVE it!

Did I happen to mention?

2011-03-18T21:05:00.000-06:00

... Humor me...

I had a VERY challenging week at work, and also found out that it's going to get even harder very soon... SO,

Seeing this a minute ago just made my M O N T H ! !

Smile for the Camera from Olivia Knudsen on Vimeo.

my HEART DAY sillyness

2011-02-14T11:08:00.008-07:00

more here...

2011-02-03T22:56:00.002-07:00

While O, the new mother, recovers, KIND~KING~KURT (Knudsen) posts pleasing progress reports*...

...giving Great-Grandpa-Bob a great way, (while conveniently clicking his computer clear across country, and without waiting on O's postpartum posting delays), to welcome his handsome greatgrandson to the world! ...(the firstborn of the firstborn of his lastborn! : )

* PS: Promptly posting pictures is just a small part of King & Queen KNUDSEN's HUGE help here in:
COHENHEAVEN

SO FAR, SO GOOD - mejor dicho: SO GREAT!!

2011-02-02T21:45:00.119-07:00

Remember 3 January's ago when 'Hermana O' was serving her heart out down in the DR, and she & I agreed that '2008 was going to be GREAT'? And then it was...

For some of us humans, silly little rhymes dance around in our minds... involuntarily! - Tacky, cheesy, trite, or pun-ny perhaps - but que nos importa - because they still bring us a healthy smile! : ) (Thumbs up! - Cherie and _?_ others LIKE smiles)

On Jan 20th, soon after I got to Knudsen's attic apartment overlooking the pond, I noticed that she had titled her list of goals for the year EXACTLY as I had! - Hers, of course, was graphically stunning - and FRAMED beside Ben's! While mine, not surprisingly, is on a lined 4x6 purple Post-It at my desk at work... but hey - still has me 'feeling 'Olympic' :)

So is the 'no-brainer' title dancing in your head?

Yup, you got it:

2011 IS GONNA BE HEAVEN!

Simple PROOF: C J K

1 day later... *

My GOALS for this week:

Cook one thing that will delight Ben and will not be anything he has already cooked better... I know, right? Forget it! UN-attainable!

OK, so my more realistic GOALS are:

COOK (not thaw/microwave) one decent dinner - by 7pm!
Hold baby-nieto 1 hour or more per day
Continue sampling all things Trader Joe's: Old favorites, 'Gotta try's', but particularly each and every from the 'Drenched in dark chocolate' section.
Take lots and lots of pictures / videos, and webcam lots w/ Provo: Grand-Papa, aunts, & uncles: ..."Quick! He's awake, look at his long, non-Ord-kids' toes! - Wait, did you get that yawn, Ohh cute - Ash wore that, remember?"...
Strap O to her bed! (Ya, like i'm stronger than her, eh?) But I'll just use my 'mom voice' - 'cuz she's got that 'obey in all things' soul
Finally post this! (I keep leaving laptop wanting to help or 'obey' O :)

Rough week, right? - adjusting to Grandparenthood!

*Joyful aunt Jordan came to visit Monday to meet newest nephew and do a fun Photo-Shoot! Hooray for her skills w/ her recent B-day (Jan :) present (new camera)! - and for her love! THANK YOU, Jordan! -
This one above is perfect!! - it's totally my screen-saver already! - (to helpi me get through my adjustment! : )

..."Seriously, SO b l e s s e d!"

2011-01-30T17:23:00.004-07:00

b a b y n i e t o* K n u d s e n i s b o r n

*nieto is just a more fun word for grandson ;)

TODAY

2011-01-16T20:14:00.001-07:00

...we pause our holiday remembering for this commercial break...

(3 minutes of spontaneous song)

i think i just fixed the setting so this will work now... let me know!

Our kind of fun...

2011-01-14T21:21:00.003-07:00

Exploring well-thunk / well-made TOYS is high up on our list of favorite things... We explore, discover, play, connect, pretend, compare, delight, set up, take apart, research, and ENJOY!

We are continually curious and fascinated, and eager to show each other our discoveries and/or creations.

Actually, now that i think about it, I've had this passion (obsession?) for quality play things for as long as I can remember, - and I'm sure the King has too. - We've had this in common since long before we had children; since before our paths ever crossed in Quito! Mama Jose had it too. I remember Aunt Mary telling me how fascinated i was as a toddler with our Band-Aid tin full of buttons of all types and sizes. She said that i especially loved to handle them one at a time and put each one back in the tin. Can you blame me? - Button collections are very cool, and so were those tins.

I LOVE that our kids love this same kind of exploring and playing. I can picture them passing on the passion to their children too.

Here are just a few of the photos we took at Blickenstaff's on Josie's birthday. This cool place opened last May. K & I happened across it a week or 2 later and bought that red E-Z Roller for Ashton's birthday, and an Automoblox to continue our small collection.

He's checking out the 4 X 4 Rubik's that he'd love to send emcj

He loves our "Dangerous Book for Boys" Here he's checking out the one for experiments etc.

If you click on the link to 'Blick''s you'll see the huge piles of retro candy bars, etc. The girls called the place Mr Magorium's Wonderful Emporium...

We finally bought "Bananagrams" that evening - see them hanging there? And Mr Rifleman here found me a tiny glass animal turtle for my collection in the shadow box coffee table : ) 'i like turtles'

Way cool car - made of Bamboo

We first saw Automoblox in a cool store in Monterrey or Carmel while there for our 25th.

Even though the box doesn't say 'Frogger' -- It still reminds me of the old Frogger game.

It was a gorgeous night - oops on the focus - oh well.

I remember riding my bike to Norney's in Stanford Shopping Center. I also remember buying a lime green Matchbox car right after it came out. I remember the tall glass display where one of each kind sat on top of a stack of individual boxes still sealed up from England.

I wonder if O, S, or C remember The Imaginarium in that same shopping center.

But they'll never forget Mimsy & Sharon's Little Dickens - their store became our home away from home, and just a stone's throw from our house.

Can't wait to show Baby K his little surprise from Blickenstaff's...

Remem~Decem

2011-01-13T23:39:00.006-07:00

Speaking of "half a lifetime" ago, these 2 December Dudes first met 12 Decembers ago ('98), only a few days after they turned 11. (Born 2 days apart). Hey, wow - they've officially been buddies for more of their lives than they haven't! ...And remember when they began their boy bonding by teasing and calling each other names like "4 Eyes" and "Yee-oh"? But how fortunate they've been to have a fine FRIEND, only a few houses away! - How cool is that? They've shared it all: StarCraft, Scouting, Farrer, Fast Offerings, PHS Bands, Graduation, BYU, Missions, to name a few - and now they both have girlfriends named HANNAH!

I think I see HALO's on seasoned RM's celebrating 23rds while still 'chillin' with the XBOX!

ALSO: I spy the amaryllis!!

(I haven't been able to access the close-up shots for the past 2 nights, so just a sneak peek for now). But here's more "I SPY" fun from above: 1) Deb's (20 yr old?) embroidery gift. 2) Carmen's personalized Playmobil fam lined up on display. (Remind me to post close-ups of each of us, including Skitza)

Knudsen-Baker STAR for the KING!... as soon as i saw this one, i thought of him - I remembered a nice date night moment (for me, at least) almost a year ago in Pier 1, when he patiently helped me find something to brighten my new corner office spot... as a bonus we got these 3 cool ceramic balls for home. So for the record, 'Grumpy Koki' is really 'Kind KING' inKognito - and now this star hangs in our front window to continually remind me of that!

Remember December ~ Daily Dose?

2011-01-11T23:11:00.066-07:00

...So I said to myself, "Self, how's about a little New Year's Resolution 'like such as' this one?":

Beginning today, 1/11/11, (I just had to type that date again for the last time before midnight, we need to savor any little thrill we come across these days) - I will post at least one 'Remember December 2010' photo per day for the rest of the month of January 2011! ...I think i can i think i can!

HAPPY 27th ANNIVERSARY KOKING !

"El Amor de mi vida ha sido tu, el amor de mi vida sigue siendo tu..."

Although the KING & I were over the top Love-y-Dovey during our l - o - n - g courtship, let's fast forward a half a lifetime - These days our moments are monopolized by managing of the many- minute by minute, especially in December- especially the week before the week leading to Christmas. (Or 'School Concert' week, as it could affectionately be called in my household). But hey, at least this year the schools didn't double book us on Thursday the 16th, so we didn't have to do the usual 'divide and conquer' thing and we actually got to be together, just the 2 of us. During our date, we smoothly stopped by the uncharacteristically uncrowded PHS auditorium and briefly paused our good conversation in time to enjoy amazing music by Carmen's top group, then slipped away again and continued. (We didn't even have to go through the familiar inpatient wait afterward while our young musicians go to packed music rooms to pack instruments before making their way to the car).

But wait, even before all that, here's the really good part:

Out of the blue, the KING totally surprised me this year! He came to the delivery door at my office, and brought me the most beautiful Amaryllis EVER! Seriously, the bulb was done up in a nice basket, and just kept blooming and blooming for over 3 weeks!! - (insert photo HERE). Then he took me out to lunch! (to a place that he knows I like and he usually avoids).

After the concert we went to check out the movies - could NOT believe how many good possibilities to choose from :) We chose one we hadn't even heard of prior to that moment - and had fun with it. PLUS we practically had the place to ourselves!

So #27 in 2010 will not soon be forgotten!

(Even though i did forgot to give him the cool anniversary present I had for him til Christmas Eve! - insert photo HERE - and thanks to Eli's Ashley, for both her patience & artistic abilities)

Ready?... Ahh, look!

December 16, 1983
(White lace and promises, a kiss for luck and we were on our way!)

some December highlights... to keep me warm through this freezing 1/11/11

2011-01-11T00:09:00.001-07:00

Birthday Eve for SMJ - Happy 23rd

Birthday morn for JACJ - Happy 19th on the 23rd

here's one

2010-12-26T22:16:00.005-07:00

not much... as far as photo journaling the day,
but it's a start...

Allow me to continue my tribute to twenty-ten tech:

The photo was taken and emailed with an ipod!
It shows cool 2010 wireless "KEYtar" and cymbal(s).
Although only 3 are pictured here, all 7 of us were actually playing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". The other 4 were: 3-part harmony vocals on separate microphones and one bass guitar.
If you were to use 2010 Tech to easily zoom in on Ashton, you would see that his 2010 Christmas Eve PJ's have Lego Batman printed on red flannel! I KNEW he would LOVE them... I think he said they were "a dream come true". Well, those perfect pj's practically found me! (About a month ago, while sitting comfortably on my bed, clicking around on a friendly laptop, on awesome Amazon, who promptly shipped them to my office address - free!).

"A voice, a chime, a chance sublime of PEACE on EARTH, goodwill toward men"

2010-12-25T22:25:00.001-07:00

For one glorious day -- my rascals pull it together every time and behave in ways that cause me to once again REJOICE and sing their praises!! Even more so this year - so much so, that it has caused my offspring, yea, even my very rascals, to sing harmonious praises of ALL kinds - (Even of the RockBand 3 variety)... and to praise our Father in Heaven for his truly tender mercies, and to give teary thanks for each other, and for the tremendous blessing of current technology!!

...Then peeled the simultaneous sounds of Skype (Provo-UK-NC) more loud and deep ~

"GOD is not dead, nor doth He sleep! The wrong shall fail; the right [and the internet connection] PREVAIL!"

-With peace on earth, goodwill, and video clips/photos to follow...

(IF I can just find my camera, or peel my tecky rascals away from their harmonious praising long enough to upload their photos)

Warm Fuzzy Follow Up

2010-12-06T23:19:00.009-07:00

from Calvin's side today :)

"So here's my new flat address:

Elder C. M. Juárez

18 Tennyson Lodge

Paradise Square

Oxford

OX1 1UD

You all have my permission to send me stacks of little notes and fat letters. :¬) I'll try to reply to them. I shall take some time every PDay for it.

I love you!

Oh!, so I'm glad you got Lynette's email. She's awesome. And she has ADD, like me. I've never met so many people with ADD in England as I did in Basingstoke. I think it's in the water. :¬P No. But yeah, it was a really great time there. Oxford will be likewise!

Y'know, it's weird to be able to talk to people. It's weird to know what I might say, and be okay saying what I want to. It's weird to know (sometimes) what is weird, or socially odd, or whatever. Missionaries are weird.

So, yeah, Olivia and I had a conversation about Oxford a couple weeks ago. I 100% told her that, were I to stay nearby, I'd be in Oxford for PDay. Prophecy: Fulfilled I think it's cool how things work out like that. God sometimes answers even unvoiced prayers.

Do I really only have 4 months? That's only 3 moves. 3 planners. This could be my dying area. W e i r d Gah! [Shakes it off.] It's alright. Gotta work day by day, or I lose it.

Man!, so my new companion is Elder Lam. He's from Hong Kong, China. China! I only ever dreamed of having a native Chinese companion. That's Taiwan and Hong Kong missions stuff. It's awesome.

Elder Lam was trained in Oxford. He came out 3 months ago. His English is great, and so is his Mandarin, even though Cantonese is his first language. I love trying to speak to him in Mandarin. It's about 50% Mandarin at the moment, in normal conversation, when I'm trying. I love it! Today I even read almost all of D&C 88:118 aloud from the traditional Chinese characters! God is good.

Yes, I do miss Basingstoke. I spent 5 months in Southampton last year, actually, so basically a whole year in Hampshire, all together. I will definitely be visiting this area many times. Hopefully when you and Mom are available as well. Heck, maybe Josie could come, too. That'd be cool.

Well, there's the scoop.

I love you.

The church is true.

They rhyme with blue.

Like BYU. (“Gutted” that they lost, eh?)

-ecmj"

Warm Fuzzies in my inbox...

2010-12-05T11:45:00.002-07:00

Just want to share this one i got yesterday...

"Dear Sister,

I am pleased to send you this email with news of your son. He is moving from our ward in Basingstoke to Oxford Ward.

Oxford is a beautiful part of the country and I am sure he will be happy there although i will be sad to see him go.

He really is a wonderful young man with excellent manners. He is a credit to you and to his Heavenly Father. He seems content in himself in a way so many would love, and having spoken to him, seems to have a clear sense of the path he will follow when he comes home. He speaks of you all with obvious love and i wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all the sacrifices and hard work it will have taken to raise him.

My husband is not a member and the missionaries we had here before often didn't turn up for their meal appointments. This lead to my husband banning them from the house for several months - I had to withdraw from helping the missionaries. Although i did not explain this to your son he was a true example of how servants of our Heavenly Father should conduct themselves. He never tried to convert my husband but instead helped him to feel at ease with him. I am so grateful for this, my husband has welcomed my inviting the missionaries into our home. This is due to your son.

I hope this email finds you and your family well

Lynette R------, Basingstoke ward, Hampshire England."

My Reply:

How KIND of you to take the time to write to me!

Thank you!

I just now saw your message and quickly began reading it aloud to my children near me.

As i read, my voice quickly changed from excited to 'choked up', as I read your wonderful words...

My tender emotions for Elder Calvin seem to surface continually since he's been gone - (just as they did for his brother and sister while they were serving missions).

What news could possibly be greater for any parent than to hear that their child seems to know who they are, and to have a clear sense of their own path? (But hearing that he was good to your husband was a close second! :)

I am so glad you sent me this, I've been feeling a bit concerned for him since reading his quick few words yesterday morning, knowing he'd be struggling to meet his moving deadline.

Thanks again, and God bless you and your husband!

Love,

Cherie J----- & family

Elder CAL has been in Basingstoke (or "Amazingstoke" as he called it) for 5 months! Oxford is about an hour north - in the same stake and zone. Both are west of London.

View Larger Map

Mijo's Merengue

2010-11-30T17:41:00.000-07:00

As this 55 second clip begins, our STAR is at the back of the circle with his back to us ~ Enjoy watching him dance his way around to the front!!

(This is last third of the magnificent Latin Medley... It's harder to see him in the Cha Cha and Swing parts).

CHECK HIM OUT!!

2010-11-29T23:10:00.131-07:00

look out John Travolta...

He was AMAZING! -- And only 2.5 months after he took the initiative to begin after school Ballroom with his buddies... He's "getting into the groove" and having a blast!

A total triumph tonight... in spite of the Grumpmeister's grumblings - i must say!

(At first Papa K was supportive of what he thought would be a good basic low-key dance class a few days a week...

Ya, all that changed about as fast as a 'costume change' when the emails of instructions for parents began to come rolling in to his inbox, and we both began sensing a bit of a Ballroom Culture Shock. I've tried to keep an open mind, for MIJO's sake. Papa's wanted him to stop all together - for everyone's sake... ...At some point during the ONE hour between Dress Rehearsal and Call Time today, and while needing to scoop up 4 other family members and gather everyone for dinner, I'm pretty sure we heard the word "CONTEMPT" as Grumpy-K stated ("for the record") what he was feeling towards the entire "over-the-top" performance culture and those in it that "take themselves too seriously."

Which if I recall, sounds a lot like what he's said through the years about intense and demanding marching band / flag flipping leaders or soccer coaches, etc. -- And I'll admit, sometimes he's been a bit right - and other times, like tonight - after I watched 'the boy' dance up a storm... I just think of Mama Jose, and her occasional zero tolerance for his griping. I can CLEARLY hear her stopping him mid-sentence and calmly commanding him:

"Ay, Jorge - calmáte. Ya no digás nada." ** )

PS: We'll be uploading the video clip of this Latin medley for O & B very soon... I'll post a link : ) Very smile-able fun.

** Spanish for: "Calm down and don't say another word"

Cita's Sweet 16th

2010-11-13T23:52:00.003-07:00

Thank you for putting up with our partying... especially that standing up on your chair while we all sing and applaud you in the restaurant thing! And good job putting up with your one moment of clothes shopping in 2010 and quickly choosing some darling basics last week. Thanks for sharing your treasured new "Lost Hero" w/ little bro... And we also applaud you for your grace and good nature last month with the whole beauty queen thing!

YOU never cease to amaze us!

(ps: Yes, you're also a very excellent driver!)

ten ten ten

2010-10-10T22:10:00.011-06:00

Tiny TOP 10 today: (quick random thoughts for this 10:10 moment)

1) Fun family time - (especially planning Fall Break drive to sweet Ashley's big day)

2) Yummyness of Allred's apples, nectarines and peaches

3) Over a decade of amazing Asa & Jen & 5 precious A's right close by! ...but soon no more :'(

4) Carmen's courage last night (photos to phollow soon)

5) Fantastic Fox quotes again tonight... a few minutes of the digital copy on the iMAC

6) 2010 technology - and Sean home! (not only for his serious skills :)

7) FALL in PROVO

8) Perfect Pan Dulce after church... (WHY didn't i buy more from "La Antigua"??)

9) New karate kid kung fu smarts in China!... good actor that little Will.

10) 11/11/11 feels a long way off... (which is just what i said about 10/10/10 on 09/09/09!)

14 and Feelin' Fine!

2010-10-08T23:10:00.105-06:00

Half dozen 8th grade women + One Cabin = Love you mucho Maya! (Thank you Sandy!!)

Perfect Kodak moment.

Yes folks, that really was the temperature. (but the time was an hour later) It only went up 7 degrees from the time we got there to the time we left. They had some nice dog piles to keep 'em warm.

Hey everybody. This is the birthday girl herself. Mom wanted me to post how the night went down.

Mom got home and we left to gather the girls. Once we had all of them, we drove to Heber to pick up the pizza's and then we made our way up to Timberlakes. When we got there we turned on an electric heater, and we snuggled up with blankets. We had sweatshirts (thank goodness) but it was still very cold. Then mom tried to turn on the furnace, and I'm not sure she had much success. We still had fun, even in 55 degree weather. We explored the loft, and the really high area, and loved every minute of it. We ate pizza, and sweet tooth fairy cupcakes, and played SPOONS! The best part of that game, was watching Korynn's face after she realized that she was the one left without one. Hahaha! We also went upstairs and played Psychiatrist. That was LOADS of fun! But the finale was definitely grand. Singing hairspray songs all the way down, especially "The New Girl in Town" which we happened to play just about 50 times all of us singing at the top of our lungs. Great memories.

the only drawback was:
I was only allowed to invite 5 besties, which was very hard for me.

The rest of it was pitch perfect!

thanks mommy and papa for letting me turn 14 with style!

And a special thanks to aunt Sandy who was willing to let me celebrate in a HIP place!

¡INSPIRED!

2010-09-17T05:48:00.002-06:00

First off: ...So much for that "roll" i was on, eh?
Ya, well, random, scattered, & precious ~ that's ME!

K: I must declare bright & early this day that i am MUY grateful for DAILY moments that build my case...
My personal case for the reality of things i cannot SEE, nor EXPLAIN, yet KNOW are real & right!!

If i were better at keeping a regular journal, i could easily write daily only about one such moment from the previous day.
... Oh dear, my head is FULL of such great ideas & good intentions! …Hmmm...
"In a perfect world", "in my next life", "if i were more like _____", "if only _____" ...

Nope, not going there! I banned most of those expressions a decade or so ago...
TODAY – I am quite content with holding on to the joy & triumph of finding a moment to type my thoughts...
(Thank you poor eyesight, for leading me to believe that my clock read 6 this morn, as I popped out of bed, only to conclude a while later that it must have read 5)

So, if i have time to type nothing else, i must at least get in print one beautiful moment from a week ago:

I had been struggling and teary off and on for a couple of days after hearing of some upcoming changes in my daily work at the office. I even struggled with that occasional (ha?) great divide I sometimes have between how i felt in the moment, and how i wanted to be able to feel : )
While working in my comfy corner cubicle (off-the-beaten-path), I instinctively wiped my tear to hide it. As I pushed through my work, suddenly but softly a CRITICAL quote from my P Blessing, (that i hadn't read in way too long), appeared 'out of nowhere', (somewhere actually) ~ and "lit up" my mind! -

LIT, as in: ILUMINATED
UP, as in: ELEVATED

(Yes, Calvin & Josie, words ARE cool!)

Quote:

"Dear Cherie, you should NEVER become DISCOURAGED.

Be humble and prayerful, and HE will hear your prayers, and HE will answer them"...

Yes, that phrase, in and of itself, could be good advice for anyone. However, I have always known why I needed to hear it. Discouragement is a biggy for me sometimes; it pretty much debilitates me!
Yet, right in that moment, I heard! I obeyed! – And I felt completely ENCOURAGED!

…Needless to say, as soon as i got home from work, i greeted the gang, went straight to reading my very own blessing, and sharing it w/ my Peeps.
Gratefully, intently, contently, confidently - I read.

So, right here I could stop and rest my case, at least for this post – yet there is more!...

As we read together informally through dinner, we felt the strong witness of the fulfillment of many of the statements…
However, there is another important blessing detail to factor in here: I was only 10 years old when i received it...
(Ashton's current age!)

HOW could any man, after meeting me, come up with so many me-specific things? - Even if I were an adult at the time?!

...The inspired "messenger" of those words to me was my father's Stake President in Oregon in the '40's.
In '69, when the other kids in my fam were about 17, 16, 14, & 11, my Dad got permission for that same man, then Patriarch Walsh, to give us our blessings all at once – over a 2 day period.
We drove (for spring break?) from the Bay Area to Bountiful, to his home to meet with him.
I remember we all fasted together for 3 blessings the first day and on through the other 2 the next morning.
(At 10, you would remember that part too).
I also remember feeling deeply impressed as i heard the five very separate, personal blessings.
I KNEW then that what I was experiencing was significant, meaningful, and DIVINE!

(Talk about "building a case" for faith and truth early on!! ~ THANK you DAD).

...I'm on a roll...

2010-08-22T20:34:00.000-06:00

Mm-mmm, I want to l i - i n - g e r, mm-mmm, a little l o - o n - g e r, mm-mmm, a little longer with you...

(Think Camp Liahona in the Sierras, and hum along... Yep, on a ROLL!)

...And besides, school starts in 2 days! :( And I'm about to force my focus elsewhere - hence the notebook paper header background)

Been sorting through photos this week, here a little there a little

2010-08-22T19:09:00.001-06:00

...or BUST!

They actually found little live clams

There were at least 3 separate spectacular sunset days.

Ashton loved the shape of this tower... When he first saw me looking at trip photos he was only interested in knowing if we'd taken a picture of it!

RANDOM visual RECAP

2010-08-22T18:51:00.000-06:00

I could post 50 great collages from the collection of photos from four cameras- not including Ben's! (If i had a week of free time and did nothing else) Can't believe how time consuming digital photo fun can be!

THE RECAP:

2010-08-19T23:16:00.001-06:00

This was my email to Calvin last Sunday night... (same day we got home)

We left Sat afternoon (Aug 8) at 2:30 and drove* all night and all day Sunday until about 8 pm.
*(mainly Papa, of course, but Olivia, me, & Josie too, and even Carmen took a tiny turn)
~ Drove through Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa - (just a little corner), Missouri, Illinois, & Indiana...
~ Stayed in great hotel Sun night in New Albany, IN (across river from Louisville, KY)
~ Another 9 hour drive on Mon - through Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, then North Carolina (to O & B's place in "Garner" right by Raleigh).
...Everywhere from Iowa to NC was hot, humid, lush, GREEN, & beautiful! And you said it - lots of big rivers, that are often the borders. I was surprised by HOW many total states were involved in getting there!! (Of course, I hadn't stopped my busy bump & grind to glance at a map beforehand - i also knew Papá was on it). But we'd only decided late Friday afternoon that Ash & I would drive out with them the following day....
Yes! RIGHT choice?... HELLO! ("it's called a lance, HELLO" -- name that movie).

Sean talked us into taking a GPS he just bought while in LA the week before (he stayed home to work and hold down the fort while we were gone)... We LOVED that GPS!! Can't believe how much we used it and were amazed by its wide variety of helpful features/uses!

~ Mon eve: went out for late meal (in Garner?), then left B&O to themselves and stayed in hotel.
~ Tues: unloaded trailer, set up their big flat file thing, and put away boxes, etc). Even made it to a nearby Target for a few essentials, before heading to Jordan's in Durham for dinner! Yes, a total treat - not only a home-cooked meal after being on the road for days, but a Kurt, Becky, & Jordan deliciously perfect meal - - just great to be with them again too.
~ Wed was our wonderful beach day! (via Wilmington). MUY good for my Nor Cal soul, and great fun to see kids loving it as well.
~ Thurs we hung out, played games, went to Home Depot to get them a new fridge (Papá' insisted!) on our way to inspiring art museum - NCMA - We ALL loved it! Had a fabulous casual italian dinner at a place Ben picked from, you guessed it, the GPS list!
~ Fri morn we said our sad goodbyes :'( and headed back to same nice hotel in IN. We swam w/ kids, got Chinese food delivered, and slept very well in 2 adjoining rooms. (Papa & I even had time & space to ourselves!) - It dawned on me what a nice feeling it was, after paying our parenting dues for years... to be able to have the youngest 4 fit comfortably in a room w/ 2 big beds, and be old enough to easily get along w/out us!
~ Saturday the planets kept aligning for us all day long! First in getting up and out early - then in making a 15 min stop at Trader Joe's in St Louis, (almost as essential for my soul as the beach :) and finally in enjoying church history sites: Independence and Liberty Jail. And to make it even more special, there at Liberty Jail Visitors Center Josie got to meet up w/ Lizzy, who moved to Missouri last summer AND we 'happened to' get there just in time to help an excellent Japanese Sister Missionary tour guide by translating her inspiring presentation for a very interested Spanish-speaking family that "happened to" be from Ecuador!! (Same country where we "happened to" have gone on our missions!) - and it was in that small sunk- in jail cell that Joseph Smith 'happened to' receive the revelation that a young woman from Ecuador realized she just 'happened to' need to hear in that moment of her life. (As per her words to me right before we parted, as she hugged me and thanked me for coming in right when she needed my help).
After the jail and a kids-picked Wendy's fest we headed on down the long trail home w/out stopping to sleep - (all through last night) and arrived home at noon today!. 15 mins later most of us were at church having already missed the first half of YW presented Sac mtg. After church we opened your fun package :) told Sean ALL our stories, shared good London & Trader Joe's chocolate, and napped...

We web-cammed with Olive and Ben this evening... I miss them already.

a few faces from our NC Road Trip last week...

2010-08-19T22:45:00.000-06:00

faces, cont

2010-08-19T22:02:00.000-06:00

Another Collection

2010-08-03T10:12:00.002-06:00

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

2010-07-29T14:36:00.002-06:00

...Just a tiny portion of lyrics from a nice Regina Spektor song:

"This is how it works -
You peer inside yourself,
You take the things you like,
and try to love the things you took,
And then you take that love you made,
and put it into someone else's heart..."

How cool would it be to be a songwriter/singer, and create good melodies and string words together in amazingly expressive ways?

I'm very glad so many creative souls work at their dreams and create great MUSIC!
I'm very glad for ears that still mostly work so i can hear good music.
I'm very glad Sean gave me a wonderful ipod Touch for my Mother's Day/B-Day May joys.
I'm very glad Maya, and others (?) loaded music i love onto the ipod i love.
I'm very glad Koki lets me use his noise cancelling headphones at my desk at work.
I'm very glad that music helps me get through some crazy hard hours at work sometimes.

So how's that for randomly jumping back to my lonely blog?

Wait - I've just got one more thing on my mind -
(inspired by a few of the people i helped today that were more "difficult to serve")...

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON!

Thank you Ashley T for my wonderful, fancy sign reminder - placed by my bedroom mirror!
(and thank you Queen Elizabeth :)

PS: You know, I'll bet my family would say that the #1 reason why I've been away from my blog so long is because I've used those potential blogging moments to play Angry Birds on my ipod... To which i would HAVE to respond, "Nuh-uh! -
I've played Frenzic sometimes too!"

MEN FOR ALL SEASONS...

2010-04-06T19:27:00.001-06:00

WELCOME HOME!!

2010-04-06T17:46:00.001-06:00

We love you Mr Guatemalteco!
We missed you 'something fierce.'
We love cousin Debora.
We're glad you & Chino made it to Mario's wedding.

We're glad you took lots of photos.

We're grateful you're home safe.

We LOVE how grateful you feel for US, for Guate childhood, and for USA adulthood!
We MUST ALL go back to Guate SOON...

Encore of OLIVIA

2010-04-03T17:27:00.001-06:00

TWENTY-FIVE OLIVIATIONS!

Right after her first few words, the first song Olivia sang was:

"If You Chance To Meet A Frown, Do Not Let It Stay..."

And she's been smiling our frowns away ever since!

I just can't imagine the past 25 years (half a lifetime for me) without this amazing girl.

Everyone that has ever known her sings her praises, and i join in each of their songs!!

So so sorry for the belated and encore tribute here, hija mia, but SO glad we golden partied with golden style with you and all. Thanks for that bright spot in an otherwise pressure-filled week for everyone!!

F E L I Z ~ F I F T Y

2010-04-01T23:09:00.010-06:00

GUATE style!!!!

(huge thanks to sweet sobrinas)

~ Jorge Moisés Juárez ~

BORN 31 MARCH 1960

we LOVE you ~ we MISS you!!

Here's a link to more Koki in San Marcos photos.

hApPy BdAy BIG brother BRIGHAM

2010-03-11T23:19:00.003-07:00

I wish I could post one of his classic Jr High school pictures here, complete with early '60's Beetles bangs - but this photo happens to be a mano on this laptop tonight -- and I'm already a day late in posting this!

Mr Baby Boomer Brig has been MY buddy since i was born! Then as i grew up i began to realize that everyone who knew him genuinely felt he was THEIR buddy too - and all of us were right!

Our parents had 5 kids in 7 years; he's the oldest - I'm the youngest. So he was my protector, peacemaker, and even patient playmate many times.

OK - so - people may find this HARD to believe- but truly, when I was little, I was pretty much a 'pain in the petutti' to have around!! So when others (understandably) lost their patience with me, HE would calmly interest me and include me in whatever fun he was having. He's always been great about including anyone around him - he & Tara both personify 'abundance mentality'!!

When he and my next older brother, Dan were young, 'grown-ups' often described them as "always on the go" - and they pretty much still are! And, of course, like every little sister, I loved tagging along... They were always going and doing and building (skate boards, skim boards, go-karts, even a dune buggy) and laughing and inventing and wrestling and little league-ing, footballing, boxing, (Wow - i just now thought of a closet they had in their bedroom with a half-sized door FULL of sports equiptment - and smelled of musty leather from baseball mits and boxing gloves!!).

I also remember wrestling matches Sue and I, (the "little girls") would have with them - They began on their knees while we got to stand. I would climb all over them; tugging, pushing, pulling, until I was red in the face and sweaty, and they would still pin me effortlessly. Sandra was the ref! -We had to have a pitcher of lemonade ready for our cool off breaks.

I don't remember how Brig was first exposed to SOCCER... but he took to it like a fish to water! (And YES, he loves fishing as much as Soccer). He was passionate about soccer and highly skilled at it before most of the US had ever played the game, and also before any high school had a team! I remember going with him to the school in our neighborhood before his mission (?) and being facinated as he headed the ball repeatedly as easily as someone else dribbles a basketball!

And I wasn't the only one impressed with his serious skills... But even HE was surprised to see a candid close up photo of himself (heading a ball) on the cover of "Soccer World" magazine. He soon became a star on BYU's team in the early days of their soccer program (pre scholarships, unfortunately). I LOVED reading articles about him in the Daily Universe, especially his final season, fall '77 ~ my freshman year.

I LOVE MY BIG BRO BRIG

One last thing - speaking of the Beatles - The whole world loved watching them not only because of their amazing guitar talent and catchy tunes, but also because it was FUN to sense and see how much fun THEY were having as they performed!

THAT's what it's like being around Brig! -- It's enjoyable because of ALL HE enjoys!

MARCH 10th '52 ~ a day the world became a better place

There is a curious paradox...

2010-03-09T22:49:00.005-07:00

I finally went to see "the Fantasticks" at PHS tonight -
I've always loved that little musical, ever since Sandra took me to see it when i was young - I remember being so excited to go because of what she had told me about it, and because i liked the songs I'd heard from it.

I often forget how much i LOVE going to plays... surprising?, I know - coming from this drama QUEEN, right? However, we must remember that I am also the textbook ADHD queen - ...which translated means:

I LIVE IN THE MOMENT; living ONLY whatever happens to be right in my face at any given time, and not just living it a little bit, but completely! And yes, I know what you're thinking: even many things in my face at once - the same applies. As long as it has found a way to secure a spot in my face, I'm living it fully too.

But wonderful, enriching, worthwhile things like plays, vacations, 'wholesome recreational activities', celebrations, or even just a drive to Magna or Alpine to say, "Hey, i miss you - here's your Christmas present! - let's go get some lunch" - are just NOT on the beaten path of my face, therefore they usually don't stand a chance!...

Unless a caring someone - puts them right in front of my face long enough to secure my attention, or patiently prys me away from several of the things that already have, then diligently helps get my face to whatever i want to live next!

...OUCH! The first word that comes to mind after describing the harsh reality above is: EFFORT. The next words are: GRATITUDE & APPRECIATION - for loved ones and friends that have made that effort on my behalf for over 50 years!! -

And believe me, if anyone knows what you've gone through to help get my face to what we want me to live next, I DO!!...
YES - Because it has not been enough for ME to be challenged in this way in this life, NOPE - the 'kicker sir' (1) is that i have the 'opportunity' of bravely parenting several children who require the same!! - All while attempting to keep our critical concept of SELF WORTH in tact!

But hey -- BRING IT ON -- 'I'm feeling very Olympic' (2) tonight.

WAIT - I digress. (i should have interjected a TANGENT ALERT sign way back there).

'The FANTASTICKS'! Remember? - That's where I was actually going with this.
Refresher: Mostly a comedy - Next door neighbors want their kids to fall in love, so they tell them not to, and build a wall between the 2 homes... Their plan works, the kids marry blissfully, then reality sets in, they find out their fathers were behind it all along, so they split and try to find happiness out in the superficial 'real' world, only to come back around to each other - more wise - more grateful.
But along their journey they come across this trouble maker character, 'El Gallo', several times in several ways. (same character is also the narrator)

I liked hearing El Gallo's little rhyme before the last song, but couldn't remember it right after he said it, let alone after the song... So I 'Googled' it!

"There is a curious paradox
That no one can explain.

Who understands the secret
Of the reaping of the grain?

Who understands why spring is born
Out of winter’s laboring pain?

Or why we all must die a bit
Before we grow again.

I do not know the answer.
I merely know it’s true.

I hurt them for that reason
And myself a little bit too."

A good reminder of the benefits of adversity.

Just that.

1. Anastatia 2. Cool Runnings

~ HOPE ~

2010-03-06T20:38:00.002-07:00

...In spite of adversity!!

...Remember when i said, "So long, Jan & Feb -

and DON'T hurry back!" -- I think maybe they

were offended and bitter, and wanted revenge

Thursday, March 4, 2010 - Provo snow storm

Major set back in the long-awaited wonders of

S P R I N G

Happy Bday John MARK

2010-03-03T23:26:00.004-07:00

FUN AFTER ALMOST FIFTY ~ (at our 30 year reunion)

For me, for decades, March 3 = Mark B!

Both of these wild and crazy guys in this

photo have been my buddies since we were

kids being 'scolded' by our various teachers.

(mostly just for making each other laugh!)

But today's post goes to the the amazing

distinguished gray-haired man in the middle!

Whenever I think of him, or see any photo

of him, I immediately think of his fun laugh!

It's infectious, I can't help smiling even now!

Mark & I go way way back; we were raised

within the same ward family - which in our

Menlo Park neck of the woods would have

been enough to make us close, but beyond

that, we were in the same circle everywhere.

Our paths crossed constantly!

And although we haven't spent much time

together in the past 3 decades, our lives have

STILL always been linked* and we just pick

up right where we left off - we are FAMILY.

Mark was around to tease me and appreciate

me through every phase of our 'coming of age'

Wait - Did I mention his teasing?

But I have to admit, I did a darn good job of

dishing it right back at him! Yes, he gave me

a hard time, but it was different with him,

it was endearing - there wasn't any malice -

When others may have been annoyed - he was

just AMUSED! Don't get me wrong, we were

each capable of feeling annoyed with people,

and policies, etc... but not with each other -

Why bother, when there was always so much

and so many others for us to make fun of?

Even -or especially- at 6:30 am, day in and day

out in 'Early Morning Seminary'! I can just hear

him singing his rendition of: 'L i k e U n t o U s'.

Mark was surprisingly very observant, even

though many people thought he was oblivious.

He was observant of both truth and hypocrisy -

even while appearing to be carefree or just

teenage apathetic. Sarcasm was just his way

of getting through adolescence! (i wonder if

he's had to remind himself of that during the

past decade while parenting HIS teenagers).

We even had fun sharing our observations

of others and what made them 'tick'. He & I

had zero tolerance for FAKE; we saw right

through it - (and still do, but we TRY to be

more kind about it as we get older, -or at

least HE tries, especially as Bishop these days).

¡LOVE YOU MUCHO JUAN MARCO NOW 51!

And if you are still enjoying this tribute... read more below - otherwise,

hasta la vista and thanks for stopping by.

* Yeah - the "always been linked" thing began long

ago... with our common connection to wonder boy

~ Ma r C ~ Who was Mark's constant side kick

from roughly age 12-18 - and had been MY major

crush... from as early as a crush could begin. In

my mind while growing up, marrying MarC was a

'given' - duh!! It was on into high school before i

began to snap out of it - and finally concluded

whole-heartedly (about the time i left for college),

That M.A.S. was NOT my Destiny Man!

This enlightenment, (not to mention moves out of

Sharon Heights) could've potentially resulted in

the weakening of my link w/ Mr J Mark - but NO!

¡Al contrario! Our paths continued to cross at

some fateful moments that fall of freshman year

at "the BYU" in Helamen Halls ('77)... And during

Conference weekend he took my SoCal Pal slash

Dorm Buddy /Natural Beauty /Animated Brainiac

/Incredible SISTER of my sister-in-law: KEVIE

on a drive to SQUAW PEAK!! At which point they

became romantically involved, - (total SHOCKER

for me at the time) and have been ever since!!!

i miss you both... and your perfect children too :)

just some of my peeps

2010-03-02T22:45:00.003-07:00

thanks to ashley thalman, we have this one photo

full of the bride's side: ~ grandparents, aunts,

uncles, parents, siblings, cousins, and offspring

~ precious, priceless. august '08

PS: HOORAY for MARCH!! so long JAN & FEB - and DON'T hurry back

monday's mandarin missionary moment

2010-02-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

Here's what happy Calvin sent today...

"Guess what: This week has been spectacular. Even just since Thursday! This week, we found 15 new people to teach, and included in that are 2 families! To put that into perspective, we usually expect between 5 and 7 new investigators per week. Also, there are usually 1 or 2 people who have set baptismal dates, but we are teaching 4 (Steve Lee from Hong Kong, Patrick Xu from mainland China, GuoLin from mainland China, and NingJing from mainland China)!

God is merciful.

I don't know how to articulate the feeling that I am currently experiencing. There's a lot of gratitude, and a great deal of desire to do more, and a crazy sense of security, and even some love, I'm sure. It's weird.

And this week has also been amazing where my testimony is concerned. I know now more than ever that Joseph Smith saw God, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ; that the Book of Mormon is a record of actual events; and that the gospel as taught by this Church contains all available truth.

I really don't know what happened, or what changed, or whatever. But something did.

It's all real."

Just 4 Josie!

2010-02-17T23:15:00.003-07:00

WOOT! WOOT!

(Go ahead, CLICK! It's great NEWS! - I just posted it over there for 'Silver Cougar' Grandpa's sake)

Previously Promised Pics

2010-02-16T20:42:00.008-07:00

Darn it! You can't read the pocket on his apron...

It says: "I KISS BETTER THAN I COOK"

...But his new found talent for cooking is a close second!

I hearted HEART DAY today

2010-02-14T22:48:00.002-07:00

"Dear Calvin,
On this... HAPPY DAY OF LOVE!! I've been thinking and marveling off and on all day about our Father in heaven's plentiful, perfect, powerful, peaceful, LOVE for me, for YOU, and for each person that has ever or will ever live!! I am continually amazed that even thinking of that LOVE fills me quickly with calm compassion. I am overwhelmingly grateful that I know and feel without doubt that in spite of my imperfections and frustrations, I am HIS treasure & joy. I continually thank HIM for the privilege of being mom to O, B, S, C, J, C, M, A; daughter to B, D, & J; and companion forever to K. And I realize that the incredible LOVE I feel for each of you, and for so many other people with whom I share my packed life and HEART, is why I can even begin to comprehend HIS LOVE!! That LOVE I feel for and from my huge family and so many others is also why I begin to understand the significance of the huge and difficult sacrifice HE made when he had to allow HIS SON to suffer and be killed unfairly in spite of having lived perfectly, so that each of us could learn from and cling to a higher level of love and sacrifice - that makes up for anything we lack after we've given our ALL.

A full-time mission is an amazing chance to practice focusing and feeling that LOVE more than ever before, "i'nit"? It motivates, elevates, enlightens, heals, and comforts us.
I LOVE that the #1 most important thing HE wisely asks of us is to LOVE HIM with all we've got; our HEART, might, mind, and strength... Then that pure LOVE for HIM becomes our reason for doing EVERY worthwhile thing we do!
It really is key, and makes all the difference, doesn't it?

Thank you, Calvin - for ALL that you teach me about LOVE and worthwhile sacrifice.

ALL MY LOVE,
mom"

Sunday nights have become my reflective, 'email Calvin' times...
Monday mornings are my 'can't wait to check my gmail to see his weekly greeting' times... But every 6 weeks when potential changes in assignments or companionships come around, or 'MOVES' day, as they call them in the London South Mish, we don't hear from him until Thursday! ... That will be the case this week... Patience, patience.

It's been so long since we made Jello 'Jigglers' -- that Miss 13 and Mr 9.5 didn't know what they were. With a 15 yr spread from oldest to youngest, sometimes it hits me that the bunch has almost been raised in 2 different households... w/ Josie as liaison for them both.

More fun Valentine pics to post, so check back if you want to see one of Mom & 4 daughters w/ cute el cheepo heart necklaces stumbled upon yesterday to match my old one (Italian Murano glass heart) -- AND one of Koki (current "Mr Mom") getting more in touch with his feminine side...

t w e n t y ~ t e n

2010-01-07T21:53:00.011-07:00

IS THE YEAR TO :

...be more willing to bend,

and to mend

...or to write & send,

notes w/ a cool-korea pen!

...be a much better friend,
and VTcher for precious Jen

...and to graduate! (for Oli & Ben)

...how 'bout getting to know stake YW Pres Gren

...hey maybe - to better understand men?

...or to find, buy, and enjoy tiny Sen-Sen,

and remember childhood all over again

...begin a 6 player Beehive Beetles RB trend

...try to have hope that winter will end

...and of course, freely lend

...ok, now your turn to rhyme - just post below, there's still 'den' or 'wren'

even 'Ken" - so come on then,

give it a go! I'm sure there are others I've forgot-ten,

let's see how quickly the comments total 10!

So then:

2010: is the year I'll remember when,

I said with a smile, "2008 is GREAT & 2009 is DEVINE!"

Thanksgiving 2009 ~ Laughter & Tears

2009-12-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

Hopefully I can get this little video of joy to upload... cross your fingers! :)

Eli's laughter and love helped us through a bit of our sorrow...
the sorrow of losing our own QUEEN of laughter!! :(

But this afternoon and evening we, together with almost the entire Juarez/Siguenza/Lopez family, had the privilege of celebrating Giny's courageous life - in the very ways she had asked us to: Graveside Service, then good Guate food, music & memory sharing, fun stories told by her big brothers - filmed for Peter, Cristina, & Andrei - who were surrounded by love, both given and received.

PS: Elise was one of the few who couldn't come - she was in the process of giving birth for the first time! And thanks to text technology, soon after we returned to Provo tonight, we saw a first photo of her healthy, beautiful boy, just moments after he was born...
So all in all, today has been a 'circle of life' kind of celebration.

I HEART MAYA

2009-10-08T22:08:00.006-06:00

SEAN's SWEET SURPRISE!!

2009-10-05T23:45:00.004-06:00

We walked in from Haycock's and what did we see?
...SEAN at home, unexpectedly!

We all grabbed an armful, and what a treat!
Big bear hugs and laughs so sweet!

He had a careful plan,* and so it came to be -
...Sean's home tonight unexpectedly!

Of course, the BEST part of the entire surprise was that we no longer had to wait until the next day to enjoy having him back home!

* Plan orchestrated and executed by Sean, along with Olivia's complete cooperation and participation; including, but not limited to, tampered mail, PhotoShopped Flight Plans, and a trip to SL airport.

A special thanks to Ben for filming Olivia's tricks, the airport arrival, and our shocked/delighted reactions... Priceless!

HEAR YE, HEAR YE!

2009-10-01T06:05:00.003-06:00

just click here if you haven't already seen my Elder Sean Marco 'Juarez-Ord' is almost home post :)

oh, nein!

2009-09-09T21:09:00.008-06:00

I really wanted to post 9 photos just as soon as we took them... A memory moment worth documenting for sure, because at precisely 9:09 pm there were 9 of us in Rm 9, - having just enjoyed 9 little activities, 9 little treats, and 9 fun facts about #9 and / or 09/09/09 day!! Then as soon as I got home I spent a bit of time with my 9 year old before he gave me 9 goodnight kisses. And by 9:59 pm I was at the Post Office mailing a few notes I'd collected from a few parents that listed "9 Things I Like About You" - (for their daughters) and I wanted to be sure they were postmarked on 09/09/09!

Sadly, once I got home and tried to pull even 9 photos from the camera, I had 9 times more technical difficulties than usual ... (newer HC SD card, etc) - But it was finally worth the effort, as was the activity.

09/09/09

I won't list all 9 activities and facts, because i couldn't even remember them by 9 am the next morning, but here are a few:

We all grabbed "For The Strength of Youth" booklets and quickly found 9 letter words - 9 of them, to be exact! We tried to remember our 9th birthdays, and we listed 9 of our favorite things as well as 9 things we want to do before we die. Of course we also sang a song on a page ending in 09 - we even stood up every 9 beats while singing, just for fun.

Good times, good times... we all got totally into it. In fact, originally there were 4 out of our 5 Beehives there, (hey 4+5=9) 2 leaders, and 1 welcomed Mia Maid. But by 9 pm many others had stopped by for a treat and a laugh as they headed home. Magically, 2 ended up staying w/ us until our 9:09 pm goal - and then one of them said, "Hey there are 9 of us still here!" -- How cool is that?

-OK, so now- does anyone have any ideas for future lower-key Wednesday night activities? Please send them my way! The girls still need to plan Nov and Dec... or in other words, the last 9 weeks of 2009!

PS: BTW, at 10:09, right after the PO, for a split second, the KoKing and I thought we'd head to WalMart to buy this on its opening day of sales, but quickly decided, nein way! That deserves a day and a post of its own, don't you think?

As promised!

2009-08-24T21:17:00.013-06:00

-- good things come to those who wait for me to have a moment to upload and post my photos:

drumroll please...

I opened my laptop, clicked around, and i kid you not, 10 minutes later...

Thank you google's picasa - Don't you just love user friendly, reliable free software? (some year i may even be ready for the big time... you know, photoshop on one of the MAC's around here).

PS: the silly pose with the hand on the chin is mimicking a girl in line right by us at the movies a couple of weeks ago - remind me to post one of KOKI in the same pose!

monday's mandarin missionary memo

2009-08-24T13:15:00.003-06:00

"I want to ask you to pray for me this week as I meet with the Mandarin-speaking potential investigators. Pray specifically that I'll be able to communicate clearly the doctrines, that the Spirit will testify, and that we will understand their concerns and be able to help them resolve them.

Thanks! :¬)
-ecmj"

our first day at school ~ we're eager little learners...

2009-08-20T22:38:00.002-06:00

INSERT the Priceless pictures of my PHS & Dixon Dot's and my Timp Wakko right here...

but not right now, silly... it's a school night, and it's past my bedtime.

Yakko: School!
Dot : School!
Wakko: School!
YW+D : Schoo-oo-oo-oo-ool!

YW+D : Our first day at school

We're eager little learners

So fill our brains with lots of facts

Our first day at school.

Yakko: Teach!
Dot : Teach!
Wakko: Teach!
YW+D : We're ready for our lessons
So teach us Math, Geometry
Don't forget Geography
English Lit. and Chemistry
And please throw in the A-B-C's.
Oh, teacher, teach us nooooow!

as usual, i'm just a wee bit busy these days...

2009-08-17T23:29:00.001-06:00

but it's past time to copy and paste some wee bits from Calvin:

-- first, his comments on the above pictures:

"This is my English badge. I got this on Friday. I’ve been using my Chinese one since ... ever, but no one here can read it. We don’t meet a lot of Chinese people in this part of London. We do meet a lot of Nigerians, though. Yoruba tribe, mostly.

Some of the coinage; values are 1 penny, 2 pence, 10p, 5p, 20p, 50p, £1.oo. They also have a £2.oo coin, but I didn't have one at the time. Also, yes, the 10 and 5 are out of order". - (sent Aug 3 & 10)

from today --

"On London:

Lots of heat waves mean it feels kinda like home.
Lots of water is required.
Busses are awesome.
People are cooler.
Yoruba tribe is one of Nigeria's biggest. They say *hello* like *Ba-wa-nee*.

Awesome folks, them.
We meet in an old office building.
The mission is now fun. :¬)

Have a nice day!

Love you all.
-ecmj"

2 weeks ago (Aug 3rd) Maya asked him to tell her a story and here was his reply:

"Did I ever tell you about my first P-Day out here? I got here on a Thursday, so I had 3 days (Fri., Sat., Sun.) before P-Day. That day, we decided to go buy a basketball and play ("we" is Elder Komulainen and I, as well as Elder Call and Elder Toyn, who live in the same flat). We did. At the end of that, there were some boys--maybe Ashton's age? --who wanted to play football (that's original, not American). We asked if we could play with them a little. They were cool with it, so we picked teams. A minute or so into playing, one of the little kids kicked the ball, and it hit me right in the face. I got the bloodiest nose I've ever had. If I can, I'll try to send you a video Elder Komulainen took of the aftermath. It was a good day. :¬)"

YES, i know - i'm WAY overdue for typing in great stuff from Sean's wonderful letters onto his blog... He'll be home in 7 weeks!!! I better get on it SOON...

Calvin continues...

2009-07-23T22:49:00.000-06:00

For a few weeks in a row he emailed on Mondays between 4 and 5 am our time. (7 hours later London time).

We didn't get one last Monday - darn it! But our family life of Missionary mail experiences/issues the past 34 months (and 21 more to go) has taught us not to worry; that their routines change almost as much as ours! Then later that day we found a short, fun letter from him in our mailbox!

But late this evening I noticed a reply from him in my inbox that he'd sent early this morning...

How are things? Hopefully well.

Sad story: The other day, a couple young girls (maybe 13 or 14) asked us if we had any cigarettes. Everyone starts things younger here, in spite of laws. Lot's of single mothers and things, too.

Less sad: The other day, I made something almost like Arroz con Leche. [Rice Pudding] Elder Call (another elder in the flat) had cooked some rice, but wasn't going to eat it all. I took some, put some milk on it (or, more milk, technically, as he was eating it with milk), put cinnamon and sugar and stirred it up. Arroz con leche obviously is more than that, but it tasted similar. Which brings me to my question: Will you send me the recipe (electronically, or physically) for your Arroz con Leche?

A related question: Will you send me the green recipe box that I bought for my mission? And also the recipes for Spinach Pie, and whatever else was there? And also some Mrs. Dash? If not, that's cool. Thanks! :¬)

Our washer is cool, 'cause it's also a dryer. Not a very good dryer, but it dries (or, it tries.) <= [P0€trY] Papá: What kind of training were you doing in SLC? Have you used the iPod for audio books yet?
Mom: Busy as usual, it seems. How are the vending machines? Is Josie more diligent? When should I expect that questionnaire?
Josie: What's new? Remember when you said you'd write? I do. It was just after I rebuked you all because you never wrote. Wanna know what else? You haven't really written since. You have one week to write something cool, like your favorite scripture, or the party you organized, or the song you learned to play on the guitar. :¬) Mostly I'm joking.
Carmen: Are you still alive? I get emails from your email address, so I assume you are, but you don't tell me what you're doing. You should learn to make cake. Find a Good Eats about Cake on YouTube or something.
Maya: Hi. You should write in your journal. Mom sent me something you wrote about spring break, and it's very good. Just get a pen you like to use and use it. You'll love writing when you get into the habit. It's very fun, and it'll be your favorite if you start now. I promise. And I want to know what happened while I was gone. That's your job, okay? Good.
Ashton: You're a Bear, huh? In c-c-c-c-cub scouts! You did some cooking, init? (Here in England, a lot of people say, "I'nit?". It's short for "Isn't it?", and it means, "Huh?", like "You did some cooking, huh?") You should make Mom teach you how to make Arroz con Leche, too, and tell her to teach you Spinach Pie.

Hey, this thing about sometimes having P-day on Thursday happens every moves (so every 6 weeks); I should email on Thursday or Friday for those weeks (Friday because, if I'm transferred, I'll be moving on Thursday).

Thanks. Love. Bye.

-ecmj

Have i mentioned lately that i LOVE being in YW??

2009-07-20T01:22:00.001-06:00

Young Women

Blessings of Camp

When young women return home from participating in camp, they can have an improved understanding of their identity and of their relationship with Heavenly Father —an understanding similar to Moses’ after his experience on the mountaintop (see Moses 1:1 – 25)

This understanding will lead young women to:

Continue to seek the companionship of the Holy Ghost: “For his Spirit hath not altogether withdrawn from me.” (Moses 1:15)
Resist temptation and make righteous choices: “I can judge between thee [Satan] and God” (v.15)
Pray: “I will not cease to call upon God” (v. 18)
Be worthy of the direction and companionship of the Holy Ghost: “Being filled with the Holy Ghost” (v. 24).
Rely on the Savior’s strengthening power: “Thou shalt be made stronger” (v. 25).

more from Great Britain

2009-07-06T08:19:00.004-06:00

Today (P-day) at 4:30 am Mtn time 11:30 am London time, Calvin wrote:

Okay, for the rest of my trip:
My companion, Elder Komulainen, came with the office elders to the airport. When I met up with them, Elder K snapped a photo. I'll try to get that from him. We got in the van, and went to the mission office, on the grounds of the London Temple. During the drive, I got somewhat startled once when the Elder in the passenger seat (the left front) turned around to talk to me. I was like, "eyes on the road, driver!", but he wasn't driving.
Oh, ~ The letter you got was from President Swinton, right? He left last week, so now we have President Shamo. He's cool, too. I'm glad you got those pictures, though. President Swinton is probably back in Salt Lake looking for clients, now. He's a lawyer.**
Anyway, the day I got there was something called a Temple Conference. They don't happen often, I'm told. It's similar to a Zone Conference, but at the temple. Just recently, the London Temple got a Visitor's Center (the only one in Europe, according to reports), so President Swinton taught us there. Then we did a session, and had lunch at the temple cafeteria (very good food) then President & Sister Swinton taught a good-bye-type lesson. The zone leaders told some "Pres' Dawg" stories about things President Swinton did, and afterwards we went home. I live very near the Thames river. Google my address sometime. Tell Josie to, with the kids, or Carmen or Maya, if Josie's out. Oh, and write a snail mail letter to me, too, if you can. Just one as a family.

To answer your other questions:

Elder Komulainen--to whom I am guessing Papá is referring by "Elder Alvar Aalto"--does not speak Chinese beyond "ni hao" ("hello"). Just Finish and English.
The area I'm in now ("Welling"; Google it, if you like) there are not a ton of Chinese-speakers. There are lots of people from Nigeria and other African countries. Also, Indian, Nepalese, and "Chav"-- (poor white type), very like the low-life white type in Utah ... it's sad. But it's okay. (I meant to send you a picture today of the Book of Mormon shelf we have with tons of languages but I forgot the cord to connect my camera, so I'll send those next week).
There are about 160 missionaries. About 7 Mandarin, as far as I've been told. I've only seen 4, (all at the Temple Conference). ~ There are at least 2 assigned spanish elders. There are elders from Finland, Spain, Denmark, Germany, the U.S., England, and I think I've met one from Poland. One just went home from Romania. There's another from there, too, I think. But as far as assignments go, I've only heard of English, Spanish, and Mandarin (which is pronounced /man-duh-REEN/ out here).

Yeah, have everyone write notes for the medicine box. Have them write them now, so they'll be done when you send the medicine. Mailing a lot of letters would be too expensive, of course, so send all you can in the packages.
I'm sure you've already thought of all that, though, so, whatever.

One min left. Love, ecmj

Oh, p.s. Tell Carmen and Maya to take the time to capitalize when they email the King of Convention, the Grammar Guru, the one and only me. :¬P Thanks. Bye.

** Sure-ease thought: Good thing he left Provo abruptly 2 weeks early ~ Because that put him there in time for the "Changing of the Guards" as far as mission presidents go, as well as that temple conf -which both would be good opening experiences for Calvin.

First word from LONDON!!

2009-06-29T09:00:00.007-06:00

Dear family and friends:
Although Calvin's planned MTC departure date was July 6th or possibly later (based on recent visa delays and experiences of others) - He found out last Tuesday around dinner time, that he was "shipping out" the following morning first thing!! He was allowed a 10 min call to us at 9 pm Tues night. He sounded great - happy, excited, shocked, and a bit nervous about heading to England alone (he'd avoided ever flying before now) - but he sounded full of faith, to be sure... without which, he would've never left home last April.
So for me, (and it's ALL about ME) it was a very LONG 5 + days waiting for confirmation that he'd arrived in England - even with YW's camp to keep my mind off of him. But as usual with that boy, when nudged/compelled into doing something he's resisted and avoided (like an airplane) - once pushed into a pool, he swims to the edge, gets out, drys off, and that's that! (Often later, he doesn't even remember being resistant). ... Unmistakably - Koki's genes.

enjoy

Mucho love and campfire smell to each of you,
Cherry

(FYI ~ reminder for some of you that his London assignment includes learning and preaching in the Mandarin language - hence his mention of those he met that had served in Taiwan.)

From: Koki
To: Calvin
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009
Subject: That's my boy

(Koki -the anti-blogger, wrote 5 GREAT sentences to Calvin that I will not post until i have his consent :D - but he asked Calvin to tell him ALL the details; from the time he hung up with us until the time he woke up his first morning in England. And so, he did! When does THAT ever happen?)

Mon, Jun 29, 2009 5:15 AM (mtn time)

Re: "That's my boy" & "hello out there?"

All the details would be somewhat tough to include in this email. I don't have a lot of time. But here are some good ones: I was up 'til 11:30ish Tues night packing, with the help of two other elders in my district (Elders Gania and Johnson). Then we went to bed. We woke up at 5:30 am, and I got ready, and a few other elders in the zone woke up and said good bye (remind me to tell you more about that sometime), then the same 2 and I went to the bus. I was the only one heading to England. There were other missionaries going to Canada, (English and Korean), I believe. There may have even been some going to Korea. Then we all drove up to Salt Lake airport, and I checked in and whatever, and I went to Gate D2 (I think), and I met some people there, one of whom had gone to Taiwan on his mission. Then I got on a plane to Cincinnati, Ohio. It was not a big plane. Delta. B737. My camera was pretty much out of battery by that time, so I don't have any pictures. Bummer, but whatev'. As we took off, I realized we'd fly over the Mississippi river. I wrote some things down in my reporter's moleskine, like "planes look ricketier up close", which they do. It was fun though. Then I flew. After a while, we did fly over the Mississippi, and other rivers, too. Le'me say, the East may have no clue what mountains are, but they know how to make rivers. I had a 4 1/2 hour layover in Cincinnati, and I met another former Taiwan missionary (both were rather old, by the way; 70ish, by my guess). I also talked to a lady named Megan for a while about missions, and the Book of Mormon. It was cool. Then, we got on the plane to the airport in Gatwick, London, England. I watched the sun "set" ('cause we were flying north/north-eastish over Quebec and such) and saw that "Escape to Witch Mountain" was the movie, though I did not have headphones, nor permission to watch it. I had the dinner (which is actually not as bad as people say; also, I had a Fresca with it) and, after 2ish hours (after the movie had ended, I think), I fell asleep. When we were over England already, I woke up. We couldn't see it, because of clouds. The plane eventually landed, (not too late) and we got off. Then I stood in a huge line for people with not-EU passports. When it was my turn, they weren't sure if I was okay. But after not too long, they figured everything out. So I exchanged the money I had in my pockets ([dollar sign]52.oo) for Pounds (£25.something). Then I got my luggage. At the bagclaim or whateverit'scalled, a family greeted me and asked where I was going. They were members. After a short conversation, they handed me an American bill. I thanked them and then again thanked them, and then I continued on. After a little while, I looked at the bill. Le'me ask you something: Who gives a stranger [dollar]1oo.oo bill in London? Evidently, the answer is charitable LDS.
Then--after a brief walk--I met the missionaries who came to pick me up. I'll pick up from there next week (if you remind me).

Quickly, here are some pictures. One of my "flat" building, another of my trainer (Elder Komulainen from Finland).

Speaking of where I live, here it is:

80 Longacre House
Pettacre Close
Thamesmead
London
SE28-OPB
England

Finally, Mom, I read yours too and enjoyed it very much. I will give you details as to first impressions of England in the next email, I imagine. It's less time covered, but more experiences. It's fun.
Thanks, love, and see you.

ecmj

From: Cherie
To: Calvin
Date: Sunday - 6/28/09 5:30 pm
Subject: Hello Out There?

Hi Calvin mijo,

I've been thinking about you and praying for you all week...
I got back from YW's camp late yesterday - and lived to tell about it :D ... but i still have NO idea if YOU survived flying and lived to tell about it! -
I must resign myself to the "No news is good news", I guess.
We are actually at Omar's right now. -- It was Jacob's day to speak in church!
Basically, everyone has left but us - Melinda & gang are coming back and we're making another meal later-(although we did enjoy filling chuchitos hours ago). We're "chilling" downstairs in the family room. Maya ran with Kristen to go feed her new puppies and get her train game (ticket to ride?) she's been wanting us to play since last Dec - Ashton is happily creating with a bucket of Lego, Papá is snoring on the couch as if HE went to camp, and several others are watching "Nanny McPhee"-(some for the first time). It just happened to start after a championship soccer game - and strangely we had just been reminded of it this morning in church when someone quoted a good line of the nanny's when she asks the children, "Are you willing to accept the consequences of your choices?" (Emma Thompson always rocks).

Mia Shalom was beautiful!! You'd be pleased to know that i took lots of close-up pictures of wildflowers on our long hike - their amazing detail is facinating to me. Oh, yeah - we were w/out a small camera again after you left, so i researched with Csmr Rprts and got a little Cannon, using up a $60 Best Buy in-store credit. (Hooray, i followed through!).

Camp was a huge success from my perspective, because much good took place - the YW showed love, felt love, and included whomever needed it at the moment. They pitched in, worked hard, and participated -- all w/out complaining!! Your 3 sisters were angels - really. Josie, Lizzie, Tori, & Renee did an amazing job of providing leadership, love, and example... and the adult leaders - both stake and ward, did a great job of setting up moments that encouraged the building of faith and testimony!!! (and FUN) Pres Bell was great with them all too. You'd have loved witnessing it all - miracles - many miracles.

I'll sign off - i've more to write but understand your limits on time.
I can't wait to hear about your adventures... and your first impressions of the UK!

Love,
mommy

PS -I want to send photos soon -Maya tells me she took a 17 min video of me -crazy dancing w/ YW, but I'm still denying its existence. We miss your fast AV skills... (We all wanted to view camp pics last night but not ONE of us had enough patience or energy to troubleshoot difficulties w/ the connection between the camera and TV) - I heard Papá tell a relative today that Sean will be home in 99 days - ... so maybe you'll get photos after that!

a day in the life...

2009-04-15T18:48:00.001-06:00

AMPLIFYED ASHTON ACTION

2009-04-15T17:50:00.006-06:00

#1 IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE MIG-17 IS FIXED.

#2 Now, Calvin's gone. & I'm sad. 6 MONTHS WITHOUT BROS. is torture.

#3 Papá has some little WW2 guys that I've made a setup with.

Come check it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BYE!

here we go again... by the willows #4

2009-04-14T06:40:00.002-06:00

We almost forgot the family snapshot yesterday - thanks for your patience, and photo skills karli -

The setting sun was criminal on the eyes, but wonderful for the soul!
The weather forecast shows SNOW for Wednesday - (tax day...and so long farewell, 'our feet are the same", adieu to Calvin day).

Last year on Easter Sunday we posed for one quick shot in this same spot. It was the day Olivia spoke in church after returning from the DR. (i'll try to find and post that one too).

The 2 semi-blurry group shots at the bottom of this blog were taken on the Sundays Olivia & Sean each spoke in church before leaving home to serve. (she in Sep '06 and he exactly 1 year later) These yearly patterns have been totally coincidental.

We knew back in 06 that we could NOT miss the chance for a family picture before O left, and we knew that Sunday would be our chance. We asked O's friend, E, to take several photos of us while we huddled.

What we did not know is how very long it would be before we can ALL be together again in a photo! 9/06 to 4/11 ... potentially over 4 and a half years!

Little did we know as we gathered the kids from around the house and yard 2.5 years ago and briefly paused and smiled for the camera, that our then common COMPLETE circle of loud togetherness would become uncommon from that moment on.

Wow, Ashton was only 6 when Olivia left but will turn 11 right after Calvin returns - Carmen was still in Primary in that first pic but will be well past the driving and dating age by the time we're all home for a dinner and a quick photo again.

Huh? Crazy!

... No wonder parents feel total joy when / if they are finally able to be in a temple with ALL of their children at once.

Our Heavenly parents certainly must long for us ALL to come back home!

~ OK, so Calvin, mijo it's your turn to leave - your chance to help others know of a sure and safe way back home. You'll be reminding them of what they knew before they were born. Most importantly, you'll help them remember their Savior / older brother, who made our heavenly homecoming a possibility.

It makes no sense that a loving Father in heaven would only want or allow a small percentage of His children to benefit from the efforts, sacrifice, light, and example of His son. I'm sure He's anxious for us to spread the word to ALL.

And also Calvin, logic and reason tell me that since you've chosen to leave home and give up your own precious time and hard earned money, it only makes sense to do it well mijo! (You know, like, with all your heart, might, mind, & strength type thing). You must decide to continually OFFER your help to many people and make this time of separation worth it - i know you'll find great ways to share your clear truths.

... Yes, choose to offer / invite many many... not because of numbers on some report your tired Sr comp says the new zone leader is harping on because he wants to impress the mission pres, or "beat" another rival zone, but because everyone deserves the chance to accept or reject your glad message.

Yes, it will be hard when many you meet won't really care to know what you know, - But that's why it's critical to be constantly offering and talking to as many as you can. Many people don't even realize that feeling complete, forgiven, and connected to Deity is a reality - or that it's possible to be certain of the exact way home - complete with how to unlatch any gate, as well as be reunited with loved ones! Instead they've learned to wander around in good neighborhoods until they eventually find a nice house (or religion) that works for them.

Oh, and remember that those reports/statistics also have pure and practical purposes:
- they will help you stay focused.
- the "return and report" principle is of God and promotes growth.
- reports allow leaders to plan and organize their efforts in fulfilling steward ships.

... Thank you Calvin for continually forgiving me.

and thank you for hurrying to earth so soon after Sean - that was genius of you.

yup. you're good at genius.

you are also wise and funny - honest and intense.

you are without guile and anti pretentious.

you are ready to "forget yourself and get to work"

(For cry baby me, the next 6+ months while both Sean & Calvin are gone will be tough - without
being able to hug them, nor lose my cool with either of them, nor have their tech support!

Mom's just can't turn off their kid concern. But I'm glad and grateful they have this time to serve. I want them home - but i know their current choices are worth their sacrifice and mine. ;)

And yet, It must be by 'divine design' that i have Ashton, and now Benjamin! -

They both provide great hugs!

Ben seems tech support capable and

I'll bet Ashton can help me loose my cool every once in awhile so i can keep up my skills ;)

That's all for now.

good times

2009-04-13T07:44:00.000-06:00

PS conference weekend is the BEST

2009-04-06T22:39:00.016-06:00

it's great.

I've always loved it! I don't even mind if the wather is bad. no church clothes. no rush. comfy cosy on the couch. journals, bingos, warm croisants dipped in Pero. even grumpy koki wanting to fast forward the motab claiming their style takes away from the good spirit for him. (fast forward becomes an option once we've occasionally tivo rewound to see a relative singing or hear a good quote again)

and by the way, i posted the cheesecake recipe on the ord blog

the culmination of the march madness birthdays

2009-04-05T20:18:00.006-06:00

'O' made it home from NYC safe and sound with souveniers.

i miraculously woke early early on tuesday the 31st. so early that i was able to fix an elaborate feast for his breakfast, wake all 5 offspring, and sing together to him at 6:15 before jo left for her earlymornseminary. once in a marriage impressive.

'K' usually opts not to eat before leaving each morning at 7:15 - but he LOVED his embelished eggs, sauces, steak, black beans, sauted onions, guacamole, etc etc - but loved the break from his usual chore of waking very deep sleepers even more! After work we decided to not eat out until Friday when o & b could join us. He & I still enjoyed a drive that evening to look at potential rentals for sale near campus, and a stop at office max as well. (it doesn't take much to please us while spending a moment of uninterrupted time together.)

i took the day off friday to join him for his usual free and busy friday.

He waited patiently for his requested 'deluxe baked cheesecake'... a 2-day perfection that simply can not be rushed! I'll post a link to the illustrated recipe soon. we enjoyed it today between sessions.

i even got my wish of giving baskets today instead of next Sunday morn - too many more important things next weekend. hooray for my bunny helpers.

enjoy the photos, because there's no more time to type... #7 is waiting for me to play egg charades!

(thanks for the gentle nudge to post, maya)

photos uploaded in reverse order, oh well.

(thanks j & car)

isn't she lovely...

2009-03-25T05:59:00.007-06:00

..."i can't believe what God has done, through us He's given life to one,

and isn't she lovely ~ made from love"...

Happy 24 Olivia ~ from all of us!

Enjoy your day, and get home safe tonight!

bienvenida

2009-03-15T23:18:00.004-06:00

JOSEFINA ANGELICA CLAIRE

What's not to LOVE about this girl??

Guatemala was heaven for Josie! Having her home has been heaven for us!

While she was there she was showered with love by everyone - but especially by Megan & Elise and their husbands and inlaws, and by Noelia & Chino, and a bit by an otherwise engaged grandfather, but especially by Sarah ~ Megan & Julio's precious 1 year old that you can see if you click above on the photo of Josie -I hear that Melinda & Chino plan to move to San Marcos as soon as their 'babies', Lee & Logan (17 yr olds) are on their own - I think grandparenthood is pretty much their newfound purpose for living!

What's not to LOVE about this country?

Josie arrived home safely Thursday evening after having left Guatemala City on a 6 am flight. She bravely went through customs in Houston, then went on to LA for another couple of hours in the airport before her final flight home. She's a pro traveler now, there'll be no stopping her. Actually she's anxious for us all to return to Guate for a visit SOON.

Her plans for summer are filling up fast, even without any travel plans (other than a bus to girl's camp, or a bus to perform in a parade). She's also submitting her registration for SOAR. She wrote her autobiographical essay while she was in Guate, and included what the time down there has meant to her - I'll tell her to post it to her blog. I can't believe it's been 2 years already since Karli wrote hers, and went... and 3 years for Calvin, 4 for Sean, and 7 for Olivia. Time keeps on slipping slipping slipping into the future.

PS: One month and counting for Calvin and Mandarin heaven.

girls will be girls

2009-03-11T22:26:00.001-06:00

on January 23rd jessica, maya, brenda, kaydee, korynn, marci, erica, cherie, kaylee, and carissa had a fabulous girls night out filled with hair-do's, karaoke, fashion show, and more...

a total 'pink aisle' to the max evening

happy half year

2009-03-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

i like this one, and i love these two

we don't have enough pictures of this wonderful part of their august 5 day. i know we rookie juárez's were wrapped in the moment and even forgot to turn on our camera for sean! (shameful) - but i think friends and other family took several, i just don't remember seeing or storing them. ... yup, we shoulda had amazing ashley there too, huh?

i'm grateful all over again today and every day for the Knudsen's - for their love, wisdom, generosity, humor, sincerity, hospitality, culinary passions, faith, example, acceptance,

and especially for their BENJAMIN CLARK!

FUN QUOTE BY MARK TWAIN:

2009-03-05T08:10:00.000-07:00

.

follow up: i saw this good advice a couple of weeks ago and emailed it to my Inbeteener, but I need to remember it too, especially that 4th line!

DANCE - like nobody's watching

LOVE --- like you've never been hurt

SING --- like nobody's listening

LIVE ---- like it's heaven on earth

-simple enough, huh? i just never would've guessed Mark Twain said it, i don't know, it sounds so "if by chance we meet, it's beautiful" '70's to me! (or maybe a '90's country western song?)

¡Hooray for MARCH!

2009-03-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

March's arrival feels like a huge milestone for me!

As I've already mentioned to some who may read this, December's weather is charming here in the Inter Mountain West - but in my opinion, that's basically where the charm of winter ENDS. And the relentless overcast freeze of Jan and Feb seems to be a bigger struggle for me each year!

I've come home from work these past few weeks feeling worn out and old! I've just wanted to curl up in my comfy covers and sleep until the bulbs bloom!

But somehow even getting enough sleep has been a challenge, yet my never-ending to do list just gets longer...

Dad called last night and mentioned in passing that i had looked tired when he'd seen me earlier in the day. Yup, i felt tired too.

But fortunately, good people and good things FILL my life!

MY CURRENT THOUGHTS:

~ I enjoyed being able to hear Tyler bless his sweet baby Mya yesterday. I loved hearing him bless her with the ability to know her worth and who she is as she grows up! (total paraphrase)

But it also relates to something else I've been thinking about lately...

~ I've now been a parent to six different fifth/sixth graders - I know that parenting experts focus on the importance of the first 5-6 years of life, and I agree - those are critical.

But I think preteenagehood (or "inbeteen", as Deb would say) is equally as critical!

Each of my six has had to endure the challenge of seeing many of their longtime classmates begin to change in 5th and 6th grade: Change their pastime's, their looks, fashions, vocabulary, attitudes, moods, level of self-confidence, (or lack there of), etc.

Soooo many kids at this age sadly get caught up in worrying too much about looking and sounding like they think others think they should look or sound. It becomes hard for many to just be "themselves" - most struggle in knowing who that even is.

Which of course, then makes Jr High even more interesting...

Unless the inbeteener is one of the precious few who are grounded - and i don't mean in the "withholding privileges" sense of the word. (i'm so punny) I mean those who have been blessed or encouraged or are trying to cultivate a strong sense of who they are.

My current 6th grader and I have had a lot of good talks lately...

Talks about feeling amused and compassionate instead of annoyed and mad/sad.

Talks about faith. Talks about how we can know who we are!

And we're celebrating simple things... like cute $3 clearance sweater tops... yummy foods... fun wii fit turns... good blogs and photo albums... lime green rubber bands on braces...

and the fact that in 6 more months 7th grade begins - complete with more wandering fish in a bigger pond. And like the other 5 before her, I imagine she'll find interesting friends with whom she has more in common... friends that are right now having to adjust to the same types of changes in their own pool of 6th graders.

No wonder those amazing Finlayson's chose 5th grade as the year to have each of their 6(?) intelligent, well-adjusted children in turn be away from their wonderful Woodside Elem school. Those wise parents spent precious time with each child at that critical age. What an ideal way to help them secure solid roots prior to the potentially stormy winds of 7-11th grades!

During that year, their child would spend 3 days a week studying and creating with mom and the other 2 going into 'the City' with Dad to a med school class he taught, then out exploring museums, gardens, aquariums, etc together.

Even if my circumstances are far from their ideal, there is still MUCH I can do... even in simple ways - a few minutes here, and other bits there.

just that.

-oh wait, the last thing:

#7 told me the juárez blog had to be red... maybe he's just going to have to start his own after all!

CHERIE in REAL LIFE

2009-02-22T21:33:00.001-07:00

Hang on, are you still with me? i almost forgot. I'm trying, does that count? Oh, get this, i've been meaning to tell you. What? Yes, I can help, i'm almost done. You should hear the boy pray!("please bless the chance thou hast provided us"). No, let's read first! I wanted an even dozen. Yep, she'd always say, "here comes trouble". Guys, how did you know THAT? OK really i can do this. Wait a sec. It's here somewhere. It's a CLASSIC. I JUST had it. Who's at the door? No fair, you beat my high score. Keep singing, that's a great song. Did any of you see my wallet? Thanks, you're my new favorite! Help me finish this then we can play. Tell them i'll need to call them right back. You're STILL my sunshine, my zoobaleezoo. Did it record? Love you Koki, sit here in the sala, no- next to me, help me figure this out, k? Where's the pistola? Just come with us! Did a letter come today? Will you walk on my back a minute? Be excellent to each other. I apologize, really. Nope, staff mtg today but tomorrow i can. It's all good. OK, i'm listening now, go ahead.

I actually followed through

2009-02-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

HELLO BLOG

...testing testing - "one, two, three, four, five, - yuck"

(as stanley williams used to say, over AV systems in MP ward bldg)

WOW! wonder of wonders miracle of miracles...

and did you see the url? get it? huh?

¡HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! ...by the way

more to come - but don't hold me to it.