Spontaneity at the Zoo

At 2pm today, Amber called to ask me if I would be able to get the rest of the day off. She and several of the kids have been sick this week and I thought someone else must be throwing up. However, she explained that she had just found out that today was Free Zoo Day at Salt Lake City's Hogle Zoo. Luckily my schedule was open, so I hurried home.

The older kids got home from school about the same time that I returned from work. We quickly had the kids go to the bathroom, and grabbed their jackets. We then headed off to the zoo.

The zoo is only open for about an hour while we were there. So all the kids chose an animal that they wanted to make sure that they got to see during our visit. We made sure to visit each and every one of them. Of course, the most favorite part of the zoo visit was our last stop -- -- the zoo playground.



The kids had a great time, and the spontaneity of it all made it even that much more fun. It is not often that John and Amber pull off a spur of the moment activity in their otherwise planned and regimentally organized days!

Buying Stuff you Can't Afford

Grandma wanted to post this on the Call family blog...

Click the following link:
Skit - don't buy what you can't afford

Home you Enjoy it!

Utter Chaos?

Having five kids cans sometimes be a bit chaotic for two people such as Amber and I. I wonder sometimes if we will ever be able to do as well as our parents have done. Just to provide an example of our chaotic, disarrayed life, let me recount a few events from yesterday...

On Saturday we were heading out for our family activity (Going to the movies). I asked everyone to get in the car. They were in the car for about five minutes before Amber and I had all the things together and were ready to get in the van. As we were heading out to the garage door, Amber turned to me and asked where Jace was. I peeked in the laundry room where we usually keep his carseat - it was there, but it was empty. We looked around for a few seconds before we found where one of the kids had placed him -- propped up on one of the living room chairs. As much as that kid squirms around, it is amazing he said there for those five minutes on his own. (See picture below).



We finally made it to the movie theater with ALL of the kids. We were running late so we hopped out and ran to the ticket office to purchase our passes to get to see the movie. As we sat down in the movie theater, Amber realized that she didn't have her glasses on. Sitting in the third row from the front, I was surprised that she wanted her glasses and was about to protest, but I just kept my mouth shut and let her go get her glasses from the van. When Amber came back she told me that when she had gotten to the van to get her glasses she saw that the kids had left the van door wide open!

The chaos is not just centered around us, however, other people feel it too. After the movie we ran to the library to drop off our nearly overdue books and replenish our stocks with new ones. While we were there, a nearby neighbor saw us and approached us. He was there with his three kids. He had a handful of books and was struggling to keep his three little ones clutching their books and following behind him. He had locked his keys in his car. Sympathizing with his predicament, we piled him and his kids into the van with me and I took them home to get the other set of keys and returned to the library so that he could get his car and I could get my family from the library.

All in a day's work, I guess. The chaos continues, but I know someday, we'll look back on these days with tearful eyes of happy memories.

Where were you when the earth quake hit?

Where were you when the earth quake hit?

I woke up from a dead sleep feeling my bed shaking and the headboard hitting against the wall.
I was so scared.
I'm embarrassed to say that my first thought was "is there an evil spirit in my room" (I have never felt an earthquake of that magnitude before) then I thought "maybe it's a sign that I need to wake up and go check on Lynn, maybe something is wrong with him."
I ran into the kitchen & Lynn was sitting up to the table where he had been reading and he had this funny look on his face. I told him the bed had been shaking & and he calmly said yes, it was an earthquake. I just stood there amazed that I had felt one, and then stupid for the things I had thought.
Oh well. Other than being scared to death, it was neat.
Let's hear from all of you.
WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE EARTH QUAKE HIT, AND WHAT DID YOU FEEL.

The Birthday Boy

The Birthday Boy

I just had to take a picture of the birthday boy yesterday.
And I don't think another year older hurt him any.
He looks pretty good to me.
It must be because of seeing & being with all of his children and grandchildren & getting all of the wonderful birthday wishes that he got. We love you.

I also want to add some pictures of my own of the weekend.

Please bear with me !

WHAT A CUTIE
Aliece's project
Great job.

Go for it Aylee.
Wish I had that much fun on the treadmill.
Way to HOOF IT Johnny.

Oh, the Winter Memories!

As we were driving out of the valley today, we took a quick snapshot of the plowed roads in the south end. The one-lane sections of the road reminded me of 1984 when all the roads up and down the valley seemed to be so narrow with the high banks of plowed show that the car would seem to barely fit as it drove down the road.


These banks were surely taller than the van and it would have been fun to get out and stand next to them to get a full perspective of their height.

Oh, the memories!

Tubing in Arbon

One of the first activities (besides lunch) that we got involved in during our Arbon visit this weekend was tubing down the Rocky Ridge on our CRP ground. Jake and Dad patched up three old tubes for the adventure.

Jake and Joe shuttled everyone up to the mountain from the house and then we began tubing down the hill. We had Jake, Shan, Joe, Nae, Amber, myself, Aylee, Johnathan, Aliece and Alayna all involved in the sport.

The run was nice and long and allowed us to get up some good speed. On the first run, Johnathan got his hand caught underneath the tube and when he extracted it he had a silver dollar sized snow burn that left his wrist bright red and bloody. However, the cold snow numbed it enough that it didn't stop him from tubing the rest of the time.

Jake and Shan had their snowmobiles going. Jake, Joe, and I all took turns taxing the tubers from the bottom of the long hill to the top on the two snowmobiles. We had the system working pretty good.

There were some pretty good crashes that everyone was able to laugh about later that evening. Needless to say, however, by the next day we were all pretty stiff and sore from the speedy topples and flips.

Hmm...Vanilla!

We have been spending part of President's Day Weekend here in Arbon. At the branch today, I had Aliece sitting with me during Sacrament meeting. I think someone in the branch has special dietary needs because there were two types of bread on the tray for the sacrament - a wheat variety and a white variety.

When the tray came to us, Aliece paused for a minute trying to decide which one to take. She grabbed a white piece of bread and popped it into her mouth. I passed the tray on down the row. A moment later, Aliece exclaimed, "Oh! That vanilla one was Delicious!"

A Dinner Creation

Johnathan found a recipe in the January 2008 issue of "The Friend" magazine and asked Amber if he could make it for dinner.

Amber and Johnathan worked together to prepare the creation for our dinner tonight. Not only was it fun for Johnathan to make and exciting for the kids to eat, but it was really pretty darn good. I loved it.

Here is the recipe for those that want to have as much fun as John did:

Cheesy Vegetable Snowman

6 cups cauliflower florets
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup flour
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 small carrot
8 large black olives

1. Fill a saucepan with water and cook the cauliflower florets for about 6 minutes or until slightly tender. Drain and pour the florets into a 2-quart round baking dish.

2. In another saucepan, melt the butter or margarine and stir in the flour with a wire whisk. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until the mixture is smooth. Bring to a low boil, and then remove from heat. Stir in the cheese, salt, garlic salt, and pepper.

3. Pour the cheese mixture over the cauliflower. Bake uncovered at 350ºF (177ºC) for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

4. Cut off the lower half of the carrot and peel it. Place the carrot in the middle of the cauliflower dish to look like a snowman nose. Use olives for the eyes and mouth. Makes 6 servings.

A Chain of my Own

We all know that Amber is the Queen of making chains. Her love for countdown chains has been carried on by all of our children.

With some insistence of the kids, I came home from school last week to a paper chain hanging from the refrigerator. However, instead of counting down until Easter, someone's birthday, or a family vacation, this chain is for me! It is my countdown until I graduate from USU with my MBA.

Each link of this chain represents one weekend of classes. When I come home from my Saturday class, I rip off a link. That link tells me how many more weekends of class are ahead of me. It also has a family activity written on the paper link that we will do for that day to celebrate.

Last Saturday my link said I have 11 more weekends of school left and our family activity was a game of basketball in the driveway.

The kids all helped to write up the family activities, so they are all excited every time I rip off the link and read the activity for the day.

I am eager to watch my chain creep up the refrigerator door as my final day of class approaches in June!

Cause for Divorce

So my mom, Connie, had a very interesting story for me when I went over to work last night after working all day in Surgery then going to dance. She started with "do you think this is good cause for divorce?" Of course I was quickly frightened! She said that she had gone out in the hall about 11pm on Sunday night to see if the water problem upstairs had been resolved yet or not. When she returned home the door was locked, so she knocked, no answer. She went to the front entry way to call in, no answer. So I asked why she didn't call a friend in the apartments, or even me. She said it was too late and too cold out. I felt really bad. So then I kinda giggled and said well then how long before dad finally heard you and you got in? She looked at me and started laughing so hard that she had to hold onto the dresser to stand. I didn't know what to think. She said she didn't get in until 7am the next morning. I guess that dad went to bed early, she said he never goes to bed that early, and for some reason locked the door thinking he was closing up for the night. She called every hour to try to get him to answer. But the most she got out of him was, "Connie the phone is ringing!" He said he would say that then it would stop, he thought she answered it. He said she is usually in and out so much he just thought she was wandering around, Anways, I guess day usually wakes up about 4-5am, but yesterday he didn't get up till 7am. Finally she heard him making breakfast and knocked on the door. He opened it and I guess they just stared at one another for a second, then he asked "well what are you doing out there so early?" I guess they just both busted up laughing. She said everytime she thought about it, she could only laugh. I personally would've been so very mad. I cannot believe she waited all day to tell me. I had to tease dad about it. He said that once he puts his sleep apnea mask on, he cannot hardly hear anything...worse than without it. I guess its a good thing I know he is being good and actually following doctors orders wearing it. But I still think it is funny. Mom says she will never leave the apartment again without a key around her neck. I think she is a very good sport about the whole thing, and I love hearing her laugh when she talks about it!