dddooouuuggghhnnnuuutttsss (doughnuts)

I was feeling ambitious and I made some home-made doughnuts tonight for out "late night" snack. (on friday night the boys get to stay up late and pick a special snack if they earned enough "stars" that week)

and they turned out gooooooood!

YUMMY!

I love our new family pictures! (see side) I love the girl who took them too. Maybe she will be in Utah next summer to take next years?.... :0)

Deer for Dinner

So, someone gave us some deer roasts and we had it for dinner tonight. This was the first time I have ever eaten deer and I didn't know what people refer to as a "gamey" taste. I still don't really. I cooked the meat like I do a beef roast, with a package of onion soup mix. I was hoping it would hide this myterious gamey flavor and make me think I was eating beef. I was partially successful, it really did taste like beef roast. But I couldn't get past the psychology of it. Eating deer. I don't know. Mike loved it and the kids had no idea it was deer until they were done so they ate it fine. So I tried tricking myself into forgetting it was deer and it tasted much better. The flavor was fine, and I cooked it so long it wasn't totally tough (the meat was falling apart but something about was still hard to chew) Not bad at all. Do I want to have it again? Not really, but if I had to I could. My brother says deer in the midwest tastes better. I'll have to try that sometime, maybe.

the chair

My mother brought Claire this darling little chair on her last visit. At first thought, oh so cute. Claire loved it! She used it to get into everything! So, Mike put it up on the ledge. Claire reaches and says "my chair high" with a pouty face. Sorry Claire. Sorry Grandma. We will have to try again when she had grown out of her mischievous phase. (I've told myself it IS a phase and she WILL grow out of it- right guys?)

Halloween

CANDY!!!

Darth Maul

Luke Skywalker and Darth Maul

Claire did not want her picture taken.
This was at the ward party.

We had a great Halloween even though it somehow did not include carving pumpkins and traditional trick-or-treating. We had the ward party with trunk or treat on Thurs. Then on Saturday we did trick or treating on main street. Then we came home for dinner and we were going to go back out but Mike had got them excited about watching Star Wars they said they had enough candy and we stayed home and watched the movie. The day was so busy that we didn't fit in carving pumpkins like we had planned so we just put them on our porch and I baked them for pumpkin treats.
Andrew has also gotten to an age where he wants to be scary for Halloween. Also, I made their cloaks! I know it was a simple sewing project for the expert but for me it was a challenge and a learning experience. The boys were so thrilled with them, they wouldn't take them off for days. That's what it's all about right?

Slime

I had some borax from the laundry detergent recipe and I remembered you could do fun slime recipes with it too. So on the boy's day off from school we made and then played with slime and silly putty. They played with it nearly all day! It was a hit.

self-reliant oh ya

A lady I visit teach told me how to make my own laundry detergent and I did it!!! I know it sounds dorky but I am so excited about it. It's SOOOO cheap. It was easy to make. It made a ton. AND Mike is not allergic to it!


You want to make it too?! Here's the recipe:

1 bar Felz Naptha - Shave/ grate it. Put in a small pot, cover with water and melt over low heat.
Mix it with 4.5 gal of hot water in a 5 gal. bucket.
Add 1 cup Borax and 1 cup Washing Soda (not baking soda but it is made by arm and hammer)
May use immediately.
Note: it's a little more lumpy that commercial detergent. That's ok though it works great!

LOVE IT!

(I got the stuff at Macey's and yes it cleans wonderfully!)

Claire Bear

Claire is changing and growing so much. Her hair has finally grown back out (after the mullet cut) long enough for pig tails! :0)

This is the first time I've curled her hair. She got to play in my jewelry box so I could get the job done. And the curl didn't even stay the five minutes it took to get to church. I love her brown dress. I coveted it from a lady at church and was so happy when I found out she was selling it in a garage sale!





She's becoming more opinionated about what she wears. So far it's only shoes and hair accessories. But I'm sure her opinion about clothes is next. She chose the hat and shoes in this picture. She's sneaking into the boys room while they are away at school. Classic little sis.




She's been using the sit n' spin as a stool to get to whatever she wants. Usually the sink.

She's also talking more and more. She will usually try to repeat what I tell her to. She's very independent and says "I do, I do" followed by "I did it!!!"
We love our little Claire Bear. She's such a stinker sometimes but she is so cute!

My Britney

It's hard for me to talk about things that are personal. Especially things that are painful. Two months ago (on Fathers Day weekend) my best friend Britney got really sick. She had just moved to Arizona and recently had a baby. She has three young children and her husband is in residency for medical school. She got toxic shock syndrome and almost died several times. It is a miracle she is still alive today. She was on ECMO (heart bypass) and a ventilator for a long time. She is breathing on her own now and her heart is beating on its own. However she is still in a coma. She makes little progress each day. Things like: no fevers, opening her eyes, wiggling her toes, swallowing.

My life will never be the same. This has changed me. I morn for the loss (though hopefully temporary) of a friend. I ponder all the ways she has touched my life. Strengthening me at a critical age of youth. Constancy through the years. A listening ear in my times of trial. A wonderful example of faith and love. She is a true friend. And I miss her dearly.
It pains me to think of her lying in that hospital bed.
I feel like I have to learn something from this to give the sorrow some meaning. So, I live my life more grateful. Grateful for every beat of my heart. Grateful for every breath I take. (sometimes I just listen to my heart and feel the air as it moves in and out of my body and just marvel at the gift of life). Grateful for my family-my three beautiful children, my wonderful husband, my parents and brothers. Grateful for the gospel and the knowledge of the plan of salvation. Grateful for my testimony and faith. (I cling to my faith and pray that she will come back to us.) Grateful for her faith. Grateful for my friends. Grateful for memories. Grateful for my learning.
Grateful.

I have felt so many emotions (anger, confusion, guilt, sorrow) but I always come back to peace. and faith. So, I ask you to pray with me for my dear friend. Someone who is only a stranger to you. But who will feel your prayers and be strengthened.

So the day after we got home from our graduation trip we headed out to Denver to see Britney and her family. It was good, and hard to see her. But I wanted her to feel my love, for her and me I guess. (I haven't really put it all together in my mind yet.) But when she wakes up, she will know I came. And that I love her.



While we were there I got to visit with an old friend of ours. Elisa. She is so sweet.

We kept the kids happy by taking them to this wonderful park I went to as a kid. It has a train and a river and an airplane!

We also did a little sight seeing in down town Denver. This is the capital.


It reminded me how much I LOVE Colorado. Maybe we will move back someday.

Thank you for listening to the story. Here is her blog if your interested in updates on her condition. britneywinklerupdates.blogspot.com
and her family blog before she got sick. here

Friends

BFF

Isn't she the cutest little baby! I love her.

I'm so lucky Lindsay is a profesional photographer! She took our family photos while we were there. The last ones were taken right before we left.



While we were in Indiana we got to visit (and I mean spend almost every waking hour with) our good friends the Russells and the Naughtons. They are like family to us. When I was with them I felt so comfortable, like home. We miss them a ton! We're working on getting them out to the west with us. We had so much fun doing all the things we used to do like going to the fountain, hanging out, Tropicanoe Cove water park. Our only complaint is that the trip was too short.

Claire's Second B-day

Claire turned two in the same day of Mike's graduation. She's two! So my friend Lindsay threw a joint b-day party for her son her was born a week after Claire. It was also a congrats Mike party.



Roman helped the little ones get the candles blown out.

Best cup cakes I've ever had! Van agrees.

I miss these guys!

camping

The weekend before graduation Mike wanted to celebrate being done with his dissertation (aka beastertation) so we went camping (obviously his choice). The kids loved it. Their favorite part was chopping wood. They thought fishing was boring and the lake was too cold for swimming. All they wanted to do was go back to the camp and chop some wood. Fortunately nobody got hurt! Claire love playing in the dirt. She refused to wear shoes. (beats me?) Look how dirty her cute little face is.

The morning by the fire.

I did not sleep so well on account of a very determined little critter trying to get in the van where Claire and I were sleeping (or not sleeping). Even after drinving away the critter was still scratching away at the door crack. It finally took hose him down with bug spray (throught the crack) to get him to back off. It was a long night.

Notice how the bear is wearing the shoes, not her.

They did manage to hack their way through several logs. Good thing we saved the money on not buying firewood and spent it on a hatchet. Hours and hours of old fashioned entertainment.

One of the boys

After our visit with cousins in July the boys didn't want to wear their shirts. (Cousin Cash is rarely found with a shirt on- hey at least he wears pants :0) And Claire just wanted to be like her brothers and sported the same look. Don't worry, not in public. And since then, they have gone back to wearing all their clothes.
Notice how they both had to sit by her. I tell you, they just adore her.

GRADUATION!!!!

He did it!!!! Wow, I can't believe it's finally over!! After two years of masters work and five years of PhD we are no longer students. Mike had many LOOOONG nights and worked so hard to get his PhD. We are so all so proud of you. What a great accomplishment.

In the background is the building where Mike had most of his classes.

Mike's Mom was able to come to graduation with us and show her support. Thanks Ann. We're glad you were there.

Mike's mentor

Yeah!!!!! Wahoooooo!!!! We're done. (sigh)