Sami's World

There really aren’t too many “adventures” to add. Just a couple of really funny ones, at least I think!!

On Halloween day, I was making some homemade mac and cheese for the homeless shelter lunch. The corrdinator brings the ingredients and receipe over and we just make it and deliver it. This reciepe was a bit involved and was turning into a disaster with 5 kids also wanting my attention. I finally decided to put them to work. I had Jaime stirring stuff in the kitchen and Alix reading to the little ones. I put Afton in the high chair with food. Ok, control. The next thing I know Jaime is making gagging sounds. ‘whats wrong?’ I ask. ‘You are putting tomatoes on that mac and cheese’ she says. ‘Yes I am’. Jaime ends with ‘I sure do feel sorry for those homeless people, having to eat mac and cheese with tomatoes on top!!’. I just couldn’t stop laughing!!

*warning…..long story, but worth it, I think*
On Thursday, November 1, we went to Jaime’s dance class. As soon as it was over we crossed the parking lot to get into the car. Just then a truck pulls into the parking lot followed by a police officer. Of course the truck pulls in one parking stall after me and the cop pulls up behind my car, making a T. Right behind my car, if he wasn’t careful he may have hit my car. **Tangent** There are two kinds of people in this world that scare me to death. Not sure why, but absolutely scare me. Police officers, and black women (perhaps from my Sacramento days). Whatever the reason, I’m scared. **Back to story** The police man and I make eye contact. Ok, he knows I’m there, he sees me with my kids and he sees we are getting in the van. This must be a routine traffic stop, they will be gone in a few minutes. I’ll just let him do his job, I’ll get my kids in the car and all will be fine. So, I rearrange some car seats (we’ve been wanting to do this), took Milo and Niah to the bathroom, put everyone in their car seats and even gave them all snacks. Cop still hasn’t moved, but he’s writting a ticket, this is a good sign. I get in my seat and call Scott. Tell him what’s going on and let him know I might be slightly late to pick him up. He asked ‘why don’t you go and ask him to move?’. The real reason??? I’m petrified that he might arrest me. What I try to convince myself of….I don’t want to obstruct justice. So I sit there a few minutes longer and decide to just go ask him to move. I look out the window and see the officer getting the guy out of his truck. Then I look in my rear view mirror and notice another officer has shown up. Then they start searching the guy and he starts to undress. Ok, this is getting out of hand. Lucky for us there were some cheerleaders practicing and so I instructed my children to watch the cheerleaders, not the cops. I call Scott back, inform him that if I were to ask them to move now, two officers and a half naked guy would have to move. It was too late for me, I was in for the long haul. I devised a plan with the kids that if we went out the one door and headed straight for the cheerleaders, they could play on the grass instead of sit in the car. At this point we were 30 minutes into this ordeal. We made it safely to the grass and the kids started playing like nothing was wrong. I on the other hand kept trying to get the courage up to go ask if they could all move so I could leave. Now they had the passenger guy out of the car and was searching him too, no clothes came off though. A couple of times I started to walk over to the “scene”, would make eye contact with one of the officers and turn around and walk away. I finally thougt of calling my friend who is a police officer and ask them if they would arrest me for asking them to move. As I quickly related the situation she said ‘go tell them to move’. I again explained what that would ential. Again she said ‘go tell them to move! you have children with you and a husband that needs to be picked up, go tell them to move’. With the confidence of a police friend I rounded the corner one last time to ask them to move and saw the two guys get back in their truck and drive away. Whao, all that and they just ended up driving away. I called to the kids and they all ran over to the van. As I started to load the kids I caught one of the officers attention and asked how much longer they would be. They kindly smiled and said they were sorry and they moved right away. Boy, I wish I did not have a fear of police officers. I could have left 45 minutes earlier and would not have made Scott wait in the dark at the shuttle stop. My poor kids didn’t see a very good example either. I’ll do better next time…….

Anyway, also this night I had a “girls night out”. A cute sister in the ward is from Peru. She doesn’t have any family here and is pregnant with number one. Her husband is pretty clueless too, so Jen and I told her that we would take her out and help her register for some essentials and then later this month we are going to have a baby shower for her. Anyway, I was late picking her up too, but in the end we had a great time. It was fun to impart knowledge upon an unknowing soul, but it also helped me to remember how much time you have when it’s your first and all those “nessesary” items you have become less “necessary” the more kids you have. Anyway, we shopped and scanned for over two hours and we were all beat by the time we were done. I’m sure she appreciated it. It was hard to tell because of the lanugage barrier, but we had a good time anyway.

Friday we had an early appointment in Pleasanton and then an Enrichment activity right after and then some friends came over for lunch. So by 1 in the afternoon we were all beat! We just relaxed and played for the rest of the day. It was nice. After Scott got home and we put all the kiddos to bed, he and Jaime went on a daddy daughter date. That was fun for them. I stayed home and watched a movie.

Saturday was spent doing chores. We had quite a few to do since the week had been busy and we had neglected our daily chores. But we got done in enough time for Scott to go to the park with the kids. We had the sister missionaries over for dinner and that was fun too. Then Scott and Milo went to Joey’s house to watch some boxing and eat some good food. Scott didn’t get home till 11. I thought he was crazy! But then he ended up staying up later because he got interested in a book. Crazy man!

Sunday has been nice. Since we got the extra hour, the kids woke up happier and we didn’t have the “rush” out the door like we usually do. We even got there in enough time to set up the chairs in Scott’s classroom. Chruch services went well. Jaime had her final roadshow practice. I stayed with her and Scott took the little ones home. I ended up filling in for someone who could not be there. It was kinda fun. The skit seems to be good and will get lots of laughs, I’m sure. Jaime knows her part very well and will do a great job. We walked home together and we both enjoyed that very much. We had quiet time and then we went on a family walk since the weather is so nice here. We had dinner and then played family games till bed time. There are two kids left who need to go to bed and then I think Scott and I will retire. With such a late night last night, we need to recharge!

We love you all and hope things are well for you.

Well, Halloween is pretty much over for us. We’ve had all the partying we can stand!

Friday October 26, Jaime had an activities day and they were having a Halloween party. She was trying to be a pirate with Katie, but we were having a hard time finding all the stuff for the costume, apparently Katie was too. So her and Katie switched and decided to be queen’s instead. So we went out Friday morning and bought a crown and some gloves. Jaime paid for it with her own money, it was her suggestion. I was very pleased with that. She got all dressed up and looked fabulous. I picked up Scott from the shuttle, dropped him off at the church to decorate for the ward party, dropped Jaime off at her party and then came home and put all the kiddo’s to bed. About 8:30, I went back out, picked up Jaime, ran an errand and was home by 9:15. We had Jaime in bed and we were in bed by 10.

Saturday morning was the usual chore time mingled with getting ready for the party time. We got the house mostly done, all the kids dressed and off to the party by 3:30. I was in charge of dinner and needed to be there early. My friend Jen Lease was my partner in crime and so we spent the next hour getting everything ready. Our menu was; a salad bar (with ALL the fix’ns), soup, chili and nachos. We were ready to serve by 5 pm (the time the party should have started). However, as most parties go, we didn’t officially start till almost 5:30. It was a great party. They had two bounce houses, games, a pinata, a family picture station, dinner, dessert contest, costume contest and, of course, trick or treating. They had a jousting (sp) game. They made a plank and REALLY big weapons out of foam and duck tape. The kids, and adults, had to “fight” till someone fell off the plank. It was very fun. By the time all the festivities ended and we were cleaned up it was 8:30. The kids were in bed by 9. On Thursday we went to Costco to buy the stuff for the Halloween party. While I was there, I noticed that they sell pint sized water bottles. They were the same price as a bag of candy and so I thought ‘who wouldn’t love to have their own water bottle’. So I bought them. When I got home, Scott asked what candy I got to give out at the party, I told him I got water. He made fun of me sooooo bad. I told him to wait and see, it would be the best ever. And boy was it!! I even saw a couple of kids bring their water to church on Sunday. I was glad the waster was a hit, but it was even nicer to hear Scott say I was right.

Sunday was interesting. The kids woke up tired and cranky. We got everyone ready for church and they did pretty well during sacrament. Niah and Afton both lost it when it was time to go to classes. I spent the first hour trying to convince Niah to stay in nursery. I finally just off loaded Afton to the bishop’s wife so I could focus on Niah. The nursery leaders finally suggested that I just leave and they will come get me if things get worse. They said she stayed in the “crying” room for a few more minutes and then came out to join them for singing time. They said that after she came out she walked up to them and said ‘I’m sorry for crying, can you forgive me?’. And then she gave them both a hug. They said I could raise their kids for them, no thanks, I only want to be responsible for screwing up my own kids, no on elses…. But it was a cute story. After church the kids tore into their Halloween loot from the night before. We let them each choose 10 pieces and do with them what they want. Niah’s was gone in less than 15 minutes. Milo savored his till the end of the day. Jaime and Alix still had some left for Monday. I went visiting teaching the first part of the afternoon and Scott went home teaching the last half of the afternoon. We met back for dinner and then bed.

Monday was an at home day. Scott took the car to the shuttle so I was carless. That was fine with me, I needed a day of rest! Scott bought a couple of pumpkins on his way home from work. We carved them as our FHE activity. It was really fun. Afterwards we put candles in the pumpkins and in our halloween lantern and turned out all the lights in the house. The kids then asked Scott to tell spooky ghost stories. Scott did a great job fulfilling the kids’ request without actually scaring them, thank you Scott. It was hard to convince the kids to go to bed but they eventually did, and so did Scott and I.

Tuesday, today, was a fun day. We did chores and school in the morning. Then we got showered and dressed in Halloween fun again. Google was have a Googleween party. It was VERY fun!! Google knows how to party. They set up a trick or treat ally, and in case that wasn’t enough candy, they set up a candy shop with about 10 different kinds of goodies you could fill your bag with. They had a bounce house/slide and other blow up toys to play with and take pictures in. They had clowns making balloon characters, face painting, different bands playing and signing kids music, a place to decorate a halloween bag, a pumpkin patch were each kid could choose a pumpkin and then a place to decorate their pumpkins and a pirate that had parrots that you could hold and enjoy. Plus, all the food and drink you could possibly want. Mostly kid friendly food, but what adult doesn’t enjoy that every once in a while? We got there right when it started. The kids were hungry and why not, I didn’t have to worry about waiting for school to get out. Anyway, a clown found us right away and wanted to make balloon shapes for the kids. Eventually another clown joined us (it takes a while to make balloons for 5 kids). The second clown on the scene made some comment like, ‘sure are a lot of kids’ and the second one says ‘brought you straight from Salt Lake City’. We just busted up laughing. Scott told me later that the clown also asked him if I was his first wife? I told him he should have said that he always brings the principle wife to the Google parties!! Anyway, too funny. Super fun party and very nice people. We laughed and smiled the whole time. Going home wasn’t too fun. Niah didn’t want to go and let us and everyone around us know…. She finally saw it our way when we told her she could stay but we were leaving. She quickly followed. They all fell asleep on the way home and we put them straight to bed. Jaime is at Roadshow practice tonight. The last one. She performs next week. It should be pretty good, at least that is what I hear, I haven’t seen any of it yet.

Here I sit, updating you on our happenings. We are very well and happy here and are glad that things have slowed a bit. Things will pick up during the holidays though, they always do. We love you all and hope Halloween has treated you as well as it has treated us. We will not be celebrating tomorrow, there is no need to. Except for handing out candy at our door, if we get any trick or treaters. Apparently, this street doesn’t get much.

We’ll here we go again. It’s been a while, I hadn’t even realized.

Since General Conference when they talked about trying to simplify life, I have seriously considered simplifying life. So last week was a trial run. Here goes.

Monday October 15, stayed home!!

Tuesday October 16, stayed home!! Jaime did have roadshow practice in the evening.

Wednesday October 17, forced to leave! Milo had a dr appointment in Oakland. I dropped the kids at the babysitters and we got to the appointment early enough to catch about 5 minutes of some cartoon called Backyardigains. Not to offend anyone out there but that has to be the worst cartoon I’ve seen in a long time. After about five minutes Milo turns to me and says ‘Mom, do we HAVE to watch this?’. I told him no and that he should go choose a book and we’ll read it together. I’m so glad we don’t have T.V. His appointment was with his audiologist. He was actually able to be conditioned this time. The first time in 3 years that he has been conditioned! He “played” their games perfectly and was able to show them that his hearing is somewhat muffled. They said he deffinitly has fuild on his ears (perhaps tubes again) and that his right ear is having a hard time hearing low sounds. They said that as soon as the frequency rose to the “talking frequency” he could hear just fine. So his ability to hear words and say them correctly is not being affected, but all the sounds below that he can’t hear (whatever those sounds are!!). We left there with the charge to call the ENT and see what he wants to do about the fluid. Unfortunatly, I haven’t done that yet……

Thursday, was a little busier. My 55 gallon water barrels were in and I needed to go pick them up. Wednesday night my truck and trailer cancelled and so did my babysitter. I was pretty desperate. Fortunatly for me we have some WONDERFUL church members and I was able to get last minute backups. We were able to get 13 in my van and the other 27 between the truck and trailer. It was quite the feat but we did it. Most people have come to pick up their barrels, we only have 8 left. We may have to start dropping off at people’s houses!! Jaime had dance class in the afternoon and I had a meeting to polish off the details for the ward Halloween party in the evening. That went well and I came home feeling that the party will be a success.

Friday, Scott had an appointment in the morning (i’ll let him tell you about that) and we went to the church for an Enrichment activity. Scott picked me up from that and I took him to work. The rest of the afternoon was free. Jaime had an activities day that she absolutely loved.

Saturday October 20 was a good day. We spent the morning just cleaning and doing house stuff. In the afternoon we finished off the preparations for our dinner guests and then at 4 we started cooking. We had invited two families over for dinner, the Bennetts and the Stovalls (one with kids and one without) and accidently I signed up the Sister missionaries too. We were going to have a party! Both families we were having over for dinner are vegetarian, so I planned and prepared an all veggie meal. It turned out quite nice and everyone seemed to enjoy it. After the missionaries left, we played a card game and then the guests left. It was a fun party.

Sunday was very low key. We just rested after church and then made a few barrel deliveries and then went to someone’s house for dinner. They are vegetarian too, but they served meat because we were coming to their house. Too funny. It was fun to visit and get to know them better. They are a fun family and we get along really well.

Monday was our pumpkin patch adventure. Not going into much detail, we were suppose to get this great discount at this great pumpkin patch that has everything a kid could hope for. When we got there though, the coordinator had some communication problems and we were not going to get the wonderful discount. It would have cost my little family about $50. It was NOT worth it. So we enjoyed some of the free stuff and had a picnic and then went home. Gayle’s resturant was on the way home. So we stopped there and all the kids got an ice cream and I got a sandwhich. That made the trip all worth it!

Tuesday was a stay home day.

Wednesday we stayed home in the morning/afternoon, but then I had an Enrichment meeting that night.

Thursday we stayed home in the morning and then went to Costco in the afternoon to get all the stuff for the Halloween party. After picking up Scott, he and Jaime went to Roadshow practice.

Today is Friday. Nothing on the plans for today, yay!!

Jaime is doing well in school. She seems to be progressing in piano but her teacher has been gone for three weeks. We pick it back up next week. Dance is going really well and she is learning fast. She is really good about remembering the dance from week to week, but gets too distracted by the other dancers. If they forget she doens’t quite have the confidence to lead the class. She’s getting better though. Her desire to earn money is back. We pulled out the stove the other day. She swept and scrubbed behind it. It took her over an hour. She earned $3. Scott thought perhaps I was a little stingy on my payment. So the next day she washed the slidding glass doors inside and out. So I paid her a dollar, Scott thought that was too much! :0)

Alix is progressing well in school too. She is catching on really well to the routine of school and seems to enjoy it very much. She loves art and I keep trying to get her signed up for art classes but they keep getting cancelled. Now she has decided she wants to do dance. We shall see how that goes. Especially since that will mean two hours of dance every Thursday, I’m not sure I could handle that, or the younger children!

Milo still insists that I teach him to read. I’m quite hesitant though. His writting is getting really good though. We have a practice book that he gets out everyday when the other kids are doing school. He can make anything into a deadly weapon. He was playing rock, paper, scissors with Jaime the other night. He did scissors and then started shooting everyone with it. It was pretty funny.

Niah is Niah. She is so cute. She just says and does the cutest things. She still thinks she is older than she really is. A 2 year old that acts 10 is a pretty scary thing sometimes!

Afton is progressing nicely. 10 days ago she was only walking 10 percent of the time. Now she doesn’t crawl at all. The other day she was walking in circles, carrying a pretend frying pan and plugging her nose. She was laughing at herself while she was doing it, it was sooooo funny! She says mamma and dadda, uh-oh and so many other words I wish we could understand. She plays peek-a-boo, although most of the time she puts her hands over her mouth instead of her eyes!

Scott and I just do the parenting thing. Not too much to report except that we love being parents and are greatful for our kids and their spirit and love. We are very lucky and blessed to have them as our children. Much love to all.

Friday I stayed home from work. Normally, I wake up feeling awful, but “man up” and go to work anyway, but this past Friday it was just too much. I slept in till 8:30a It was great.

I also made Cinnamon rolls and tea-rings on Friday. Friday night the scouts from three wards where having a pine wood derby and spaghetti feed as a fund raiser. They where also having a dessert auction. We decided to donate three tea-rings to the cause. They sold for about $15 each. It’s always good to see good food appreciated.

For those who read this, who don’t know what a tea-ring is, it’s a big ol’ round cinnamon twist equivalent to about 6-8 good sized cinnamon rolls.

Milo and I didn’t have time to build a car for the Pine wood derby, but another family there asked if Milo would like to join their “team”. He did, and their car won 2nd place over all. It was very exciting. I think I have decided that, at least where pine wood derbies are concerned, I am going to a very competitive Dad.

We had the missionaries over for lunch yesterday. After lunch, we sat down to hear the spiritual thought. The missionaries spoke briefly about the Title of Liberty (http://scriptures.lds.org/alma/46/#12), and then asked if there where modern day titles of liberty. Jaime said the Book of Mormon was one. Alix suggested the Bible. Sami said the Temple was a modern Title of Liberty. Finally, Milo suggested Google as an example. I think a little more teaching is needed there.

Work goes well. I am finally starting to make the transition from Helpdesk to System Administrator. If all goes well, the transition should be complete in January. The plan is to work with the SysAdmin team for three months, then interview for the team.

We had some friends over last night for dinner. I BBQ’d some ribs. I think they came out OK. I try and experiment whenever I grill, and last night I made a baked apple with cinnamon and sugar. It came out pretty good, but cooked just a tad too long. I’ll have to try that again.

Well, I guess that’s it. Thanks for reading.

Tuesday, October 9 was a “fun” day. We had made plans to go to the zoo with some friends. We were suppose to meet them at 10 am but we didn’t even leave the house till almost 11. That was ok though, the way the morning was going, it was better for us to be a little late and have a happy spirit about us, than be late and be frustrated and frazzled. We enjoyed the zoo a ton. We went to the Oakland zoo and I’m pretty sure the last time we were there Milo was VERY little. It has changed so much it was like going to a completely new and different zoo. We got home in enough time to pick up the daycare kids. We did chores and dinner with dad and then off to bed for the little ones. Jaime had roadshow practice and didn’t get home till after 9 pm.

Tuesday evening it rained all night and I was sure that P.E. would be cancelled on Wednesday. But the sun was shinning and so they proceeded as usual. My kids actually did a great job staying clean. The rest of the day was school and chores. Scott was scheduled to work late so I put the kiddo’s to bed on time. As of 7:30 pm that night every child was dreaming happy dreams and I was greatful for peace and quiet for a time.

Thursday was an “easy” day. Mostly school and chores. After the daycare kids left we rushed out to dance class. That was fun. We then picked up Scott, had dinner and got the kiddos off to bed.

Friday was pouring rain. Pretty much all day. Scott had opted to stay home that day. I spent the day trying to motivate kids to do school work and chores when all they wanted to do was play with dad. We managed to get most of the chores and school work done before the daycare kids came. I was a couple of minutes late picking them up, so they were a little wet when we got home. I threw their wet outter clothes in the dryer and they drank hot chocolate and warm cinnamon rolls. They seemed fine after that. As soon as the the kids got picked up we cleaned the house more and got everyone ready for the spaghetti feed. That was really fun and I had a great time meeting some new people in the stake. Seeing a pine wood derby race for the first time was great too. We got home very late but that was ok, we had tons of fun.

Saturday was tightly booked, so waking up late was NOT a good thing. We got up 30 minutes before we were suppose to be at the church to clean. We rushed through breakfast and got down to the church on time. We managed to get everything done and home in two hours. We then did more chores in prepartation for the missionaries to come over for lunch. I realized that since I hadn’t gotten up early, I hadn’t done the grocery shopping for the lunch. So I ran to the store really quick and the missionaries beat me by 15 minutes. We had lunch ready within 5 minutes (we did a “build your own sandwhich” bar). That turned out to be a great lunch and we enjoyed their company. As soon as they left we cleaned up and shooed everyone outside. We have these obnoxious Juniper bushes in the front yard that have been neglected for quite sometime. I had decided to start trimming them. One Saturday, quite a few months ago, I started but never got back to it. So, last Saturday, we all went out there and then again this Saturday we went out there. We work till the green can is filled and then we clean up and wait till the next Saturday. At the rate we are going we have about 4 more Saturday’s worth of work. Then there is just the constant maintenance. I’d love to just remove the dumb things. Perhaps next summer. I’m not sure any of us are physically able right now to remove stump and all. As soon was we were done with that we started to prepare for our next set of guests. We had invited a family from our ward over for dinner. They have four children ages 14-7. They are an amazing family and their kids are just awesome. We were glad to have them over and learned more about them on a more personal basis. It’s amazing how you can be in a ward with someone for 9 years but never really get to know them till you have them for dinner. They left about 8:30. I made mom’s famous potato salad. The 14 year old girl LOVED it. Apparently she’s hard to please when it comes to potato salad. Her mom was amazed at how much she ate of it. Thanks Mom!! We put the kiddos right to bed and I crashed. Scott stayed up a little longer to finish up his Sunday school lesson then he too crashed. It has been a pretty busy day.

Sunday morning came all too soon, but much welcomed. We did our normal Sunday routine. Jaime chose to fast today for the first time. She was a little concerned this morning about what to do when she felt hungry, but seemed to have that pass very quickly and did great the rest of the day. She only fasted one meal and we told her that, for her first time, I’m sure that would be fine. She was very excited to have fasted and felt as though she played a very important part in the health of her uncles that are ill right now. Sunday services were great and we were glad to have been a part. We gave a cute little girl a ride home today. Her mother just had a baby and her father is in the bishopric. I guess the last two Sunday’s she has just waited till her dad was done with meetings. So instead of making this wonderful 9 year old wait a couple of hours, we gave her a ride home. We took full advantage of “quiet time” after church and slept. The kids just quietly played or read books while we napped. It felt good. We had a yummy dinner of left over ribs, potatoes and broccoli. We finished the meal off with some Oreo’s and then the bed time routine. Right now, the kids are all snug in their beds, Scott is helping a family with a computer problem and I am sitting here at the computer wondering what I should do with myself.

For the last week, I’ve “relaxed” by searching the internet for some hard to find vases that Torry wants. I’d spend about 30 minutes each night looking at websites. I finally found them last night. I was so excited, but now I’m wondering how I will “relax” tonight!! Perhaps I will just go to bed! :0)

We love you all and miss you terribly. Much love.

When we went camping earlier this year, we chose Lake Oroville as our camping site because it is famous for it’s fishing. But I forgot my fishing license and was one sad little boy for the whole week we where there. To make up for it, Joey and I planned an overnight fishing trip to San Luis Reservoir on Hwy 152, east of San Jose. The plan was to leave Friday (Oct 5) afternoon, fish all night, and come home on Saturday (Oct. 6). Little did we know the adventures that awaited us.

Friday I left work at 11:30, went home and loaded my gear into the van, triple checked to make sure I had my license and went to Joey’s house. After loading his stuff, and going to the store for a last minute bait run, we headed to Bryon’s (another friend) house. While he was gathering his gear, Joey and I worked on his computer. We where finally on the road around 3:30pm. We stopped at a bait shop in south San Jose to buy minnows, and after fighting road construction and heavy traffic, made it almost to the reservour when it started to rain. Undaunted we pressed on, and had our poles in the water by 6:15pm. The storm blew over, but it was very windy, and by 6:30, our minnow bucket had been blown over and all our minnows escaped.

We finally got a fire going by using the van as a wind break. Spirits where still high as we sheltered against the van, roasted hot links over the fire, and talked about the fish we where going to catch. That was at 7:00pm. By 10:30, the wind was howling and there where white caps on the waves. We finally gave up and crawled into the van were we rocked to sleep by the wind pounding on the van. We got up every couple of hours to check our fishing lines, and generally just tried to keep warm.

Finally around 4:30a, the wind died and we went back to fishing. We fished all morning. I was the only one who had a bite all morning, but my line broke and the fish got away, taking Joey’s favorite top water lure with it. Finally, at 9:30, we gave up, loaded the van and headed out. We where home by 11:30

We had a great time! We are already planning our next trip. But I think we’re going to make it a day trip, and we’ll keep a better eye on our minnows, and I’m sure we’ll check the weather report before we go.

Tuesday Oct 2, was a “normal” day. We just stayed home all day, did school, chores and regular stuff. It was an “easy” low key day.

Wednesday was a little more crazy. I spent the morning making chili for about 70 people. It was our turn to provide lunch at the homeless shelter and I volunteered to make the chili. It was fun and good and the kids were a great help too. As soon as the chili was done and everyone dressed we dashed out the door. I dropped the chili off at a sister’s house who was going to the shelter to help serve. Then I picked up my friend’s son to take him to P.E. We had a lovely time at P.E. and ended up staying about an hour later just playing and having fun. I dropped off the boy at home and ended up talking to his mom for another hour, so by the time we got home it was overload to get the chores done and dinner going. The night ended well and we accomplished all of our usual nightly stuff.

Thursday was another crazy day. Scott had a dentist appointment in the morning. So he walked to that while I finished getting kids ready. I picked him up, took him to the shuttle and then took the girls to piano. We got home, had lunch, did school and then headed to dance class. That went well. We left dance, picked up dad, came home, had a very quick dinner and then I left for a stake meeting. Scott put the kids to bed, except Jaime who was picked up for roadshow practice. She was in bed before I got home though. I ended up talking to one of the sisters at the meeting for quite sometime after the meeting. She homeschools and has for 17 years. Her two oldest sons (16 & 17) go to San Jose State University. The younger is a sophmore and the older is a jounior. It was amazing to hear her story and what she did in life to help her kids get to where they are today. It was such a boost to my continued question of sanity. She is an amazing woman and I would love to drink of her wealth of knowledge again.

Friday was “the day”. We had slacked on school for most of the week and we needed to catch up. Plus, with conference the next day, I didn’t want to leave the Saturday chores for Saturday. The kids performed like champs. We got most of our catch up work done and almost all of our chores. Scott had taken the van to work so that he could go in early and come home early. We got to see him breifly in the afternoon before he left on his trip. I’ll let him tell you about that. After most of the chores were done we sat down to a nice dinner and then I put the 3 littlest ones down. Then Jaime and Alix and I had a “slumber party”. Since dad was gone for the night we popped some popcorn (thanks Steve and Joy) grabbed some treats and headed upstairs. We watched a movie, ate junk and stayed up too late. I let the girls sleep with me. They had a great time and keep asking when we will do it again. I told them we would do it again the next time dad was gone overnight.

Saturday we woke up early, had breakfast, finished the few chores we had left and turned on conference. The kids were awesome and sat quite still and quiet for the first session. Scott came home, we did some yard work, ate lunch and then settled down for second session. The kids had a harder time, but I think they were excited to see their daddy. After the second session was done Scott got ready, walked a bit to a friends house and they went to the Priesthood session together. The kids and I got out the bikes and road to the park. We played for almost two hours. I got them home and in bed just in time for dad to come home. They were all worn out from our bike ride and I think the bed was a welcoming relief.

Sunday we went over to Joey and Gayles for our traditional conference “party”. Basically we spend the day filling our bodies and our spirits with incredible food. We really enjoy Joey and Gayle and appreciate their hospitality so much. Our kids just love them and the feelings are mutual. It’s nice to see their relationship blossom and grow. We got home quite late but the kids just fell into bed so that was easy!

Monday, October 8, was kinda crazy. When we left to take Scott to the shuttle we left a little late. I wasn’t too concerned since we have been fine before. But as I turned on the road that took us to the onramp of the freeway, we saw his shuttle pass by. I was NOT about to take him to work, so I floored it. I was quite impressed at what our big ole’ van can do. We arrived at the shuttle stop exactly in front of the shuttle. It was too close for me. I then picked up a friend of mine who was having some work done on her car. Took the daycare kids to school and then came back home. I watched my friends kids for her while she went to a doctor appointment. About 11 another friend showed up from Brentwood to play for the day. We played for a while, had lunch and then loaded all the kids in the car and went to P.E. We had a great time. Left early to pick up my daycare kids, came home to chaos. We spent another 30 minutes having free play then my brentwood friend left for home and my kids started chores. After picking up Scott and having dinner, we did family night and then sent the kiddo’s off to bed.

Here we are Tuesday morning. Today will prove to be another “crazy” day but should be fun.

I really enjoyed conference. I feel as though my spiritual bucket is overflowing and am excited with the new challenges set before my family and I. I hope and pray we are up to the challenge of following the council we recieved. Much love to all.

I have, on several occasions, extolled the virtues of Jane’s famous Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies. All the Thompson kids (and grandkids) can testify to their awesome goodness. All bakers everywhere are forced to acknowledge the superiority of this particular delight. Joy spring eternal in all those who consume them.

So today I took the recipe and did what any self respecting person ought not to do. I altered it.

First off, I used whole wheat flour. Also, I substituted raisins for chocolate chips. Oh, and I added some cinnamon and a little extra vanilla.

Don’t worry, the world did not end. The strumming of angels harps did not cease. In fact, there was much joy and rejoicing. In fact, there isn’t much left. Of course, considering the base recipe I had to start with, is it any wonder they came out so good? Hmmm. I think I’ll go have another….