Katelyn, on Dying

Mommy, are you going to die?

Yes. Everyone dies sometime.

Mommy, how do you die?

Well, usually people die if they get really sick or get hurt really bad. And a lot of times people die because they get too old.

Oh. Mommy I am getting older, aren't I?

Yes, everyone is getting older.

Mommy, will you hold me when I die?

Yes. If I’m there I will hold you.

Mommy, is dying scary?

No. Dying is not scary because when you die you go to be with Jesus.

But Jesus is up in the sky. And I don’t have any wings. How can I die without any wings?

Honey, you don’t need any wings to get to Jesus. When you die your spirit will go wherever he is.

Oh.

And then she went off to finish watching High School Musical 3. Later she came back.

Mommy, make sure you die and make sure you hold me. And make sure Daddy holds Zachy when he dies, too.

Okay, we will.

(Should I be concerned about this?)

Desert Beauty

We are now home from the beautiful deserts of Arizona. Home of Eric and Katie P, Bella Swan, Stephenie Meyer...and millions of cacti. Our knuckles are dry and our lips are chapped. It is good to be back in the coastal humidity!

Here are a few pictures of the beautiful cacti we saw.

Beautiful blossoms contrast threatening spines.

This cactus (on Grandpa's arm) creeped me out! It's called Jumping Cactus. Did you know cactus could jump? Grandpa and Jordan were chasing a lizard and Grandpa brushed up against one. It stuck in his arm! Here he is showing off.

"Does it hurt Grandpa?"

"Yeah, it does."

Becoming one with nature-that's Grandpa for you!

When they tried getting it off it only went in deeper! Katie pulled out the spines with tweezers. Grandpa was very brave. Lets all cross our fingers and hope that it heals up fine. Crazy cactus!!

A Picture Extravaganza

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Megan's baby blessing.

*My boys-Zach sees something interesting*

*My family*

*Cousins**Katelyn*
*Sharing secrets*

*BFF's: Cheese!!* *Always carry a big stick*

*Adam's legs and Zach*

Can you guess where we are yet?

Hint: It's not Cali!

Family

Tonight I am writing from an undisclosed location. We are visiting my sister-in-law, whose beautiful baby girl is being blessed in church this weekend. Tonight I am helping Katie set up her own blog. She probably thinks I am doing this as a favor to her, but I'm really doing it because I want to see more pictures of her adorable children! Especially that beautiful new baby girl of hers. I'm being quite selfish, really.

Savior of the World Ticket Update

So I'm told that all performances truly are sold out, but they have added on an extra performance for Saturday evening, April 4. The tickets are available online starting sometime this morning. Click here to purchase. Good luck!!

Savior of the World

The Holy Family

The performances are underway! Last night was the opening night of Savior of the World: His Birth and Resurrection. It is a musical drama put on by local members of the LDS church. Countless hours of service have gone into this production and the result is inspiringly beautiful. I am privileged to be a member of the 125 voice Angel Choir. I sing praises to my Savior and announce his birth to the shepherds in their fields. I surround the blessed family and sing to the infant Jesus. It is a very sacred experience and dear to my heart!

I hope that everyone who would like to come has an opportunity to do so. All nine performances are rumored to be sold out, but still try to get in. My determined mother-in-law, whose motto is "Never say die," was able to purchase a ticket at the door last night. And President Francis is talking about adding an extra Saturday performance. He wants everyone to have a chance to come.

Here I am adoring the Baby Jesus.

My favorite part of the play is singing to the shepherds: "Glory to God in the Highest." They all look up at us in amazement. I've often wondered what that night was like when the veil between heaven and earth was lifted and the choir of angels sang to the shepherds. I am filled with rapture as I look into their faces, and I now have an idea of the joy and miracles that took place on that sacred night.

Here is one of the shepherds.
Katelyn refers to him as "Boden's Daddy."

Below is my little cousin Bryce. I will never forget the night at rehearsal when I watched tears streaming down his cherubic face as he understood for the first time the reality and cruelty of the Crucifixion. I imagine that angels were with him that night...real ones.

For more information and tickets, click here.

Free Stuff !!

My hubby's blog is hosting a giveaway!! (How cute is that??)

Check it out HERE!

(Mom, you don't qualify. You already get free care!)

I cleaned my room today, but you can't really tell. I think it's time to de-junk.

The Mott's for Tots Scandal

I once heard a statistic that for each child a woman has she loses 9 IQ points. That sounds about right to me. There is also an old saying that mothers want what's best for their children. Recently I discovered first-hand that Mott's (the applesauce company) is exploiting our love for our children and frazzled brain stupor to cheat us out of our hard-earned $$. It's called "Mott's for Tots."

The other day I was at the store, faced with a dilemma: buy the regular apple juice, which is cheaper, or buy the juice that is "40% less sugar"...but also 40% more dinero.

I want my kids to get the healthiest foods and everyone knows that sugar is not healthy...my mom-brain tells me...so I am willing to spend more money for my kids to get the healthier drink. I'm such a good mom!!

What my mommy-brain couldn't see (what with all those missing IQ points and brain cells and such) was that what they really mean by 40% less sugar is that you're actually getting 40% less juice. They simply took the liberty to water your kids' juice down FOR you. That's what you pay extra for...but you probably won't realize that until too late.

How rude!

I say we boycott.

P.S. Here is another 10 month picture of Zach. Couldn't you kiss those adorable cheeks about a thousand times? I know I could!

Double Digitz

Happy 10 Months to my Little "Monster" Zach!!

*My computer jumbled the better picture during the download. Maybe I'll post that one another day, but right now I'm too lazy to reboot and try again. For now, enjoy Zach's impersonation of "Mr. Grumpy Gills".

Katelyn-isms

*Shrek*

Kids say the darndest things. Here are a few that made me laugh yesterday:

*Warning-this one is a little gross*

Katelyn runs in excitedly with something on her finger.

Kate: Mom! Look at this!!

Me: What is it?

Katelyn: Well...It's not a booger.

Me: Then what is it?

Kate: It's NOT a booger.

Sometimes you need to acknowledge what they're saying before they can move on. So...

Me: Okay, it's not a booger. So what is it?

Kate: It came...(dramatic pause)...from my toenails.

That one still makes me chuckle. Here's another:

Sometimes when we say a word we say it twice and that makes it sound cuter. For example, out loud say "What a big bum." Now say "What a big bum-bum." Which sounds cuter? Now imagine Bam from "Viva La Bam". Then imagine Bam-Bam from "The Flintstones". Which is cuter? Get my point?

Also, Katelyn enjoys finding rhyming words, but she's not always perfect at it. For instance: "Hey! It rhymes! Park...Let's go to the park."

And we just bought a new Wii.

Now you'll understand our next conversation a little better.

Me: Let's go play with the Wii Wii.

Katelyn: Hey, it rhymes! Let's go play Wii Wii...Zachy has a wee wee!

And last of all...this one took place after I gave my bedroom a quick "cleaning" by stuffing everything in the closet. Katelyn came along and opened my closet door and...

"HO-ley SHOOOT!!! Mom! Come look at the mess in here!!"

Go Nie!

*This is not me. This is Nie.*

Nie has a new goal. She plans to hike "Y" mountain on Aug 16th, one year from the date of her accident. Adam teases me for caring about this girl I don't even know, but I can't help but love her for all her faith and courage. Here is an excerpt from her blog describing her first attempt at training:

"MY GOAL: To officially hike the "Y" on my accident date, Aug 16th.Working my way one switchback at a time until I am officially ready-hopefully by August.We climbed up the first switchback in good time. My legs barely bent with so much scarring and tissue holding them back. I wanted to break free and begin running up the trail like I used to. This was hard emotionally and physically.My parents and my sweet Mr. Nielson (in his white hat) cheered me on. Finally getting to the first switchback I did it! It was like heaven. Everyone smiling, everyone happy, everyone hugging.We held hands down and the beautiful sun was gone behind the lake. Time to go home and make dinner, kids in tubs, church clothes picked out, house picked up, kisses, stories, and then goodnight. Just like the good old days.Really."

Is it just me or is anyone else tempted to be there on August 16th to cheer her on?

Go Nie!!!

Ode To Baked Salmon

My sister was over the other day. My house smelled fishy because I had left some out earlier. I've never cooked fish in my life. It was just some frozen Gorton's that I had microwaved for lunch. Pretty sad, I know.

Anyway, she thought I had cooked it myself. "Wow," she said, "I've never cooked anything 'fancy' like that before. I have no idea how to make fish."

Well, neither did I. I felt the same inadequacies about preparing fish as she did, but I didn't tell her so. I just let her believe I had the skills. But by taking credit for the Gorton's I had sealed my fishy fate. I knew I would have to make the real thing in order to feel like less of a fraud.

So yesterday I hopped on over to recipezaar.com for a little lesson on baked salmon. Holy cow, was it ever easy! My sister and I had been silly to fear fish. All we needed was a little education.

Here is the Baked Salmon Recipe, which is easy, healthy, and inexpensive. Not to mention, it tasted "fancy" in a good way. Even Katelyn liked it. I have a feeling this will be my new staple dinner recipe. Go Mediterranean!!

Baked Salmon
Serves 2

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons light olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 (6 ounce) salmon fillets

Directions
1. In a medium glass bowl, prepare marinade by mixing garlic, light olive oil, basil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley.
2. Place salmon fillets in a medium glass baking dish, and cover with the marinade.
3. Marinate in the refrigerator about 1 hour, turning occasionally.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
5. Place fillets in aluminum foil, cover with marinade, and seal.
6. Place sealed salmon in the glass dish, and bake 35 to 45 minutes, until easily flaked with a fork.

Spring to Life. Please...

Is it Spring yet? It sure feels like it. And to welcome Mother Spring, Katelyn and I picked up some flower seeds. Nothing fancy. Just a couple short-lived bulbs. Because at this point in my life, watering plants ranks right up there with cleaning the fish tank on my list of things I'd rather not do.

But that's another story.

Katelyn checks on her plants everyday (I really hope they're not duds) while they incubate in a dark cupboard. Please send your good vibes to our flowers. I've heard it makes a difference. And with me as their gardener, these flowers are going to need all the help they can get. Here's what they'd say if they could talk:

Sneaky Sneak

You know that feeling when you suddenly realize that it's been too quiet for too long?

It's always interesting to see what your kid was up to that they had to be so sneaky.

Today we caught Katelyn green-handed.

Front and back.

She looks a little Incredible Hulk-ish.

P.S. Notice her haircut? I think I butchered her bangs. She kept lifting her eyebrows up and down and it threw me off. Oh well, I imagine they'll grow back.

Birds and Bees

Katelyn: Why do boys and girls go to the bathroom in different bathrooms?

Me: Because boys and girls aren't supposed to see each other's private parts...Until they're married.

Kate: Are you married?

Me: Yes.

Kate: To daddy?

Me: Yes.

Kate: So daddy gets to look at your private parts?

(I guess I walked right into that one.)

Godspeed Littleman Zach

I sometimes like to call Zach my Littleman. I give credit for that name to my classy little sister, Maggie. She masterminded the Godspeed Littleman Zach mix, and it is all I listened to for at least a whole month after Zachary was born. Each song was chosen with love and purpose and the result is magical. Here it is:

Godspeed: Dixie Chicks
Going Whichever Way The Wind Blows: Pete Droge
Mother Nature's Son: The Beatles
Lullaby: Jack Johnson
First Day of My Life: the Bright Eyes
The Past and the Pending: The Shins
Forever Young: Youth Group
Something: Jim Sturgess
Each Coming Night: Iron & Wine
Lullaby: Dixie Chicks
Across The Universe: Jim Sturgess
Passenger Seat: Death Cab
Three Little Birds: Bob Marley
Crosses: Jose Gonzalez
Shoot The Moon: Norah Jones
La ou je suis nee - Camille
Boats and Birds - Gregory and the Hawk
Kathy's Song - Simon & Garfunkel
Can't Go Back Now - The Weepies
Forever Young - Bob Dylan


Thanks again Maggie. I love you!

CrossWords

I just finished my first New York Times Crossword puzzle ever. I've started many but never get very far. If you notice any mistakes, I don't want to know about it. I just want to bask in the moment.