Ahoy, Mateys!

Curtis and I wandered back to our bedroom last night at about 10:00 to hit the sack, and the kids were STILL chattering away in their room, long after they should have been asleep. We asked them what they were talking about, and Arden informed me that he didn't think we had enough wood in the basement to make all of his birthday party guests their own pirate ship, and we would need to purchase more. (We are having a pirate themed party for him and a few friends this week.) This is going to one disappointed kid on his birthday. It sounded like he was also planning some sort of elaborate waterfall in the back yard for the pirate ships to go down. Hmmmmm.

Pizza Rebellion

So, I was feeling a little rebellious the other day, and I decided to put TWO stuffed crust Papa Murphey's pizzas in the oven at the SAME TIME, despite being warned on numerous occasions that it wouldn't work. Guess what? It worked just fine! The pizzas were both cooked well, and tasted delicious! I just switched racks halfway through.

Speaking of pizzas, why do people make salads to go with a pizza? No one really wants the salad, if we're being honest. I think salads are made so people don't feel so guilty about indulging in a delicious, fatty, cheesy, pizza. Ironically, one feels guilty anyways, when the salad is ignored and the pizza is indulged in.

Of Delicious Mangoes

Found on the label of a Mango:

 

For our mother's day gift, Arden's kindergarten class put together a cook book for all the mothers. I thought it was absolutely adorable--too cute to keep to myself. Enjoy!

 

A couple of weeks ago, Ben and Kayla suggested we go for a caving adventure, so we grabbed the kids, waterbottles, glow sticks, treats, backpacks, flashlights, extra batteries, extra warm clothes, hats, mittens, extra kids, and various other sundries neccesary for going caving. The cave was interesting, and perfect for a family excursion involving young children. The caves are basically lava tubes. I have heard tell they are called the "civil defense caves" because supposedly back in the day, if there were ever some sort of civil disaster, all of Rexburg was going to go out there and dwell in the caves for a time. One big happy family. Yeah!

 

 

Arden is the smart one of the bunch.

 

Back in April (the 8th, to be precise) we celebrated cousin Greg's birthday, Toshi's birthday, and Kayla's birthday, with a delicious ice cream cake made by yours truly, and several fun games. It is always a delight to get together with our "college group" here.

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple of photos of our beautiful angel, Leila, in her lovely blessing dress.

 

 

 

Leila's cranky time of day is usually in the evenings right when Curtis gets home from work. He was convinced that Leila doesn't like him, and never smiles, so I had to take a few smiley pictures to prove otherwise. Normally she is a very happy and content baby, and if you sit her in front of you, she will coo and smile--she is quite the conversationalist!

 

 

Of Maddening Monopoly

I was reminded once again today why I do not play Monopoly. A sweet, soft-spoken friend of mine had come over for dinner, and had requested that we play monopoly afterwards. I grudgingly agreed, and was sorry I did, because the game ended up with her near tears, and very angry at both Curtis and I (because we played using the "fast dice," which came with the game, mind you, and she had only played Monopoly once before in her life, so apparently, Curtis and I should have known better then to play with that dice and confuse her). Sigh...

Of Buffalo and Cancer

Church today was pretty much wonderful. There were a couple of testimonies that really stood out to me. The first was by the second councillor in our bishopric. He talked about Yellowstone--He just recently took a trip out to enjoy watching the animals. We are only about two hours away from here, so it's relatively close. Apparently, the buffalo have figured out this system of getting their baby buffalo across the high spring rivers. The adult buffalo line up in a line across the river downstream from where the baby buffalo cross. That way, if the baby buffalo hit a spot in the river where their feet don't touch, and they are swept downstream, the adults can "catch" them, so to speak, and nudge them to shore with their shoulders and heads. He likened that to why we need to go to church. Besides just taking the sacrament, we are there to help each other "reach the other side of the shore." When people are struggling, others are right there to help and assist. I thought it was a good analogy.

The other testimony I really enjoyed was from a returned senior missionary. He and his wife actually just got back from their mission in New Jersey a couple weeks ago, and the Elder had come back early because he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer which necessitated a bone marrow transplant, according to the doctor. The doctor recommended he go to the Huntsman institute where they would be closer to family, hence, their early return. Anyway, when he went to his initial appointment at the Huntsman institute, and after he had gotten the results from the tests they ran, it turned out that they could not detect any of the cancer. The doctor was amazed, and said he wanted to write a medical paper about this guy. The elder said that would have been fine, but he would have had to include a section explaining how 150 missionaries from his mission, along with ward and family members had been praying and fasting for him, and how his name had been put in temple prayer rolls all across the country. What a miracle. There is certainly great power in prayer.

How I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, and how grateful I am for it.