Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Capturing Comments...ideas? (Dad)
Has anyone run across a 'reader' which will not only show me when blog articles are posted, but also when comments are added? I'm dying to get something that shows me when another comment has been added to past blogs... ideas?
Merry Christmas...I mean, Happy Halloween! (Janey)
Alright everyone, here is my Christmas list:
Just kidding. I'm not that selfish. :) I know Stef asked this question a month or so ago in one of her blog posts, but we kind of all ignored it. Sorry Stef! I am now raising the question again: Who do we have this year for Christmas?
Are we to the rotational shift of giving to the person just older than us? I know Nick and Stef gave to me last year, and I think I gave to Rosey last year (that shows how exciting my gift was for Rose). Anyway, correct me if I am wrong:
This year:
Blaine and Kristi give to Max
Nick and Stef give to B&K
Janey gives to N&K
Rosey and Jeff give to Janey :)
Max gives to Rosey
I realize that Halloween isn't even over (but for some reason it feels like Halloween should have been over months ago), but, I think it could be fun and helpful to put wish lists on the blog.....so start dreaming!
I think we have done a $30 limit in the past...do we want to keep that?
Hope everyone is doing well!
Janey
Just kidding. I'm not that selfish. :) I know Stef asked this question a month or so ago in one of her blog posts, but we kind of all ignored it. Sorry Stef! I am now raising the question again: Who do we have this year for Christmas?
Are we to the rotational shift of giving to the person just older than us? I know Nick and Stef gave to me last year, and I think I gave to Rosey last year (that shows how exciting my gift was for Rose). Anyway, correct me if I am wrong:
This year:
Blaine and Kristi give to Max
Nick and Stef give to B&K
Janey gives to N&K
Rosey and Jeff give to Janey :)
Max gives to Rosey
I realize that Halloween isn't even over (but for some reason it feels like Halloween should have been over months ago), but, I think it could be fun and helpful to put wish lists on the blog.....so start dreaming!
I think we have done a $30 limit in the past...do we want to keep that?
Hope everyone is doing well!
Janey
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
New Idea (Mom)
Now that we are all so active on the BAWB I just came up with a brilliant idea. Okay, maybe not brilliant, but good. What if, next to our creative titles (or uncreative in my case) we put our names in parenthesis. I think it would really help us right off the bat know whose voice we are listening to. I like to think of our BAWB as sitting around the kitchen counter visiting and I want to know who is talking. What do you think?? (There aren't blogging rules are there? I don't want to be uncool.)
An interesting Sunday for the JN Stake
Hi ya'll - dad here...
So I'm over doing interviews at the stake center...and Don Christensen (HC to the Hispanic Branch) comes back and asks me if I know who came to our Hispanic Branch sacrament meeting today. Dallin H Oaks. He was just driving around the west side looking for a sacrament meeting to attend. He dropped in one of our buildings. The Bishop there told him that Sacrament meetings in that building were complete, but if he went to our Stake Center, he could catch a Sacrament meeting. So he arrived at the SC, and attended our Hispanic Branch. He got a headset and listened to the translation. He watched our Hispanic Branch children's program. And even though the branch president was not present (nor the first counselor) the second counselor (who doesn't speak any english) was there and the HC (who speaks both english and spanish) and they took good care of him. Bro Oliver (2nd C) was so amazed and felt so blessed to have this opportunity to host a prophet he was nearly in tears when I visited with him several hours later.
As I looked back later, I counted my tender mercies... It could have been a real challenging visit.
The past 2 years our Hispanic Branch Children's program was a little 'over the top'. One year they had columns of blue and white balloons that stretched from the front podium to the ceiling which made it look like sacrament meeting was a huge party. Last year their children were all dressed in all white looking like they were all going to be baptized. But this year, all was normal!
Today in the 5th ward a woman gave her talk, and based it on Boyd K Packer's talk...no, not his conference talk, but the controversial testimony/talk that was distributed (and debunked) in email. Had Elder Oaks attended our 5th ward....we'd have had a testimony meltdown... Gratefully last Thursday I had shared w/ the Bishops that the email was not appropriate and that the handbook says that notes taken are for personal use only, and not to be shared or distributed in any format w/o written authorization from the General Authority who spoke.
But as it was it was just a great blessing to all in the branch!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
To make sure Nick sees it
Editor's note: I just typed up this ultra long comment to Nick's great post but then got paranoid that if Nick doesn't even always read all the posts that there's a good chance he may not even skim the comments! :-) To give myself the best chance of being heard by Nick (and by everyone) for the time I put into typing it, I decided to copy it as a real post--enjoy! (P.S. I am just teasing Nick, I tell you that now because I'm about to bring it up again in the comment and I don't want it to seem to harsh...)
Nice post Nick! I echo dad that I loved this from top to bottom and throughout kept thinking--oh I have to respond to that, I have to respond to that. Here goes my best shot...
First of all, you're a brave man to admit to not diligently reading. Shame shame. I can see not reading every thing that's ever posted to every blog of all your friends or everything that is written to the three or four different Bassett lists but not reading every word that is posted by your immediate family to the BAWB (and I would say comments too)? C'mon man, time to repent for that one. I'm glad at least someone in your family seems to keep up and keep you informed... One things for sure, you better at least be reading this as I take 30 minutes to comment to your post! :-)
Good luck on your job choice, as always. It will be so interesting to see where you end up, both in the next year or two and, like Dad points out, how these choices will affect where you end up and what you are doing in the distant future. I do have to say, we would love to get you at TI in Dallas but if you actually move to Texas (which it sounds like you probably won't, but if you do...) and you didn't even try to follow up on my lead that could have helped you land at Dell in Round Rock, I'll be pretty disappointed :-) (But I'll be more happy than disappointed so don't let that sway you...)
I loved your thoughts on choice. So well put and I think so true. It's not just about choosing to obey or disobey what's right and wrong. Heavenly Father needs us to learn to choose between many good things or many bad things. He needs us to learn to research, plan ahead, and live with the consequences of these far-reaching choices. Of course these things will always be a matter of prayer but I think you're right to not expect Heavenly Father to just tell you what to do in these matters. He sure hasn't told me and I've asked for a long time.
Your lesson sounded great (what would have been more great is if it was the best lesson ever and it was because there was a tablecloth and treats at the end... ;-) It's funny, I also had one of the best lessons ever in Priesthood today. This one was from a new guy in our ward who happens to be an author of a NYT bestseller (he didn't mention that in the lesson but I happen to know it) about the power of words. He talked about how words have the power to control the elements, to start and end wars, to create social change, to control governments. They are more powerful than the sword in doing these things. In the scriptures it even says that heaven and earth will pass away before God's word passes away--when he says things, he means them. There were so many cool examples about how powerful words really are and I got to thinking about where words really get their power. It led me back to choice and agency. Our words are an external manifestation of the choices we make with our agency. Words have power because agency is the definition of power. So you can see why Heavenly Father needs us to hone in on that and practice using this awesome power of choice He has given us if we are to someday be like Him.
Finally, I loved your story about Dad and the Legos. It is funny the memories that stand out. Kris and I happened to be talking about this exact subject tonight during scripture study and she was recalling her earliest memories. She only had a small handful of memories before her sister Jen got married, most of which were very abstract and fuzzy. But there was one that stood out most clearly--the only thing she remembers about anyone Jen dated-- she needed a couple of dollars to develop film from this little disposable camera she had. Her mom and dad said no, that she'd have to earn it or wait for her birthday or something. But Wayne, who was dating Jen at the time, pulled her aside and slipped her a few bucks to go get the film developed. She was like 6 but she still remembers it vividly. Cute, huh? Goes to show you it's not enough to just do fatherly things--what are the chances you'll be doing them at the right time?--you have to be a dad. Thanks Dad for setting such a great example. (Oh and to clarify, this story is in no way implying that Wayne is a better dad than Don or anything like that of course, but rather to just demonstrate how random the things kids really remember are...)
Anyway, great post Nick, thanks for getting me started!
Nice post Nick! I echo dad that I loved this from top to bottom and throughout kept thinking--oh I have to respond to that, I have to respond to that. Here goes my best shot...
First of all, you're a brave man to admit to not diligently reading. Shame shame. I can see not reading every thing that's ever posted to every blog of all your friends or everything that is written to the three or four different Bassett lists but not reading every word that is posted by your immediate family to the BAWB (and I would say comments too)? C'mon man, time to repent for that one. I'm glad at least someone in your family seems to keep up and keep you informed... One things for sure, you better at least be reading this as I take 30 minutes to comment to your post! :-)
Good luck on your job choice, as always. It will be so interesting to see where you end up, both in the next year or two and, like Dad points out, how these choices will affect where you end up and what you are doing in the distant future. I do have to say, we would love to get you at TI in Dallas but if you actually move to Texas (which it sounds like you probably won't, but if you do...) and you didn't even try to follow up on my lead that could have helped you land at Dell in Round Rock, I'll be pretty disappointed :-) (But I'll be more happy than disappointed so don't let that sway you...)
I loved your thoughts on choice. So well put and I think so true. It's not just about choosing to obey or disobey what's right and wrong. Heavenly Father needs us to learn to choose between many good things or many bad things. He needs us to learn to research, plan ahead, and live with the consequences of these far-reaching choices. Of course these things will always be a matter of prayer but I think you're right to not expect Heavenly Father to just tell you what to do in these matters. He sure hasn't told me and I've asked for a long time.
Your lesson sounded great (what would have been more great is if it was the best lesson ever and it was because there was a tablecloth and treats at the end... ;-) It's funny, I also had one of the best lessons ever in Priesthood today. This one was from a new guy in our ward who happens to be an author of a NYT bestseller (he didn't mention that in the lesson but I happen to know it) about the power of words. He talked about how words have the power to control the elements, to start and end wars, to create social change, to control governments. They are more powerful than the sword in doing these things. In the scriptures it even says that heaven and earth will pass away before God's word passes away--when he says things, he means them. There were so many cool examples about how powerful words really are and I got to thinking about where words really get their power. It led me back to choice and agency. Our words are an external manifestation of the choices we make with our agency. Words have power because agency is the definition of power. So you can see why Heavenly Father needs us to hone in on that and practice using this awesome power of choice He has given us if we are to someday be like Him.
Finally, I loved your story about Dad and the Legos. It is funny the memories that stand out. Kris and I happened to be talking about this exact subject tonight during scripture study and she was recalling her earliest memories. She only had a small handful of memories before her sister Jen got married, most of which were very abstract and fuzzy. But there was one that stood out most clearly--the only thing she remembers about anyone Jen dated-- she needed a couple of dollars to develop film from this little disposable camera she had. Her mom and dad said no, that she'd have to earn it or wait for her birthday or something. But Wayne, who was dating Jen at the time, pulled her aside and slipped her a few bucks to go get the film developed. She was like 6 but she still remembers it vividly. Cute, huh? Goes to show you it's not enough to just do fatherly things--what are the chances you'll be doing them at the right time?--you have to be a dad. Thanks Dad for setting such a great example. (Oh and to clarify, this story is in no way implying that Wayne is a better dad than Don or anything like that of course, but rather to just demonstrate how random the things kids really remember are...)
Anyway, great post Nick, thanks for getting me started!
Bandwagon
I couldn't miss posting on the biggest day of "the Bawb"s history could I? I don't have too much to say other than....don't you think it is weird how dull life can be most of the time and then all of the sudden you have one week and every important thing collides and you can't make it to 2/3 of the things you want to because everything is happening all at once and chaos reigns supreme? Yeah. That was this week for me.
I was a little stressed out about this week since it was Gwen's big birthday and Sid was coming in to town as well as a great friend from Utah (Shauna, whom I have actually only met once but absolutely adore). And not to mention I was teaching young women's on Sunday. AND I had a focus group to go to on Wednesday afternoon (no complaining here-- $100 to watch fast food commercials? I'll take it any time) and it was my week to volunteer at Gwen's preschool which meant bringing the snack both days and staying at the school for the whole day one of the two days. I was excited for ALL of these things, but having them all at once was crazy.
Then came the complications.... first of all, I started feeling rotten on Wednesday night. I assumed it was because I had just watched two hours of fast food commercials, but as the night wore on I got grumpier and feeling worse. I could hardly stand the thought of going to Gwen's preschool for the day the next day. Let alone staying up late to make cupcakes and decorate and prepare for her big day. Poor Blaine wound up going to Wal-Mart at midnight to pick up some balloons and posterboard to decorate with and some last minute presents for our girl. I went to bed feeling yucky and hoping I would survive the next day.
I woke up a little early the next day to finish the cupcakes and felt disgusting. Then I heard Gwen saying something in her room. I walked in to find out that she had "slobbered" (as she likes to call it), or thrown up (as I like to call it), all over her bed and in her boat (ie our laundry basket) and floor. Part of me was relieved because it meant she couldn't go to preschool, which meant I couldn't go, which meant a much easier day for me since I felt sick. But the other part, the bigger part, just felt so bad that she was going to miss her big day at school where she was going to be able to sit on a special chair and share her special cupcakes and get sung to, etc. She didn't understand why I wouldn't let her go to preschool and kept apologizing and "repenting" for the slobbering, it was so sad and so hard to explain to her that even though she did nothing wrong and though she felt fine now, she still couldn't go. Within an hour or so I had thrown up too and Blaine decided to take a sick day to help with Gwen and Bentley so I could recover and so that Gwen could at least have a little fun for the day.
I kind of went off and on feeling good and lousy. We opened a present every once in a while, which was a lot of fun, and spent a lot of the day shampooing our carpets. My friend had let me borrow her carpet shampooer and then sent an e-mail that day saying she needed it back because her kids were sick too. So we were trying to hurry and finish our carpets and, dang, you never realize how dirty your carpets are till you clean them, do you? It was way gross, but they look so nice now!
Also this day or the day before, can't remember. I found out about the opportunity I would have the upcoming weekend to "host" two potential NI employee wives. I was WAY excited about that opportunity but very stressed that it overlapped with when Sid was coming and when my friend Shauna would be here. It was kind of a big time commitment requiring most of Friday and Saturday, and when was I going to prepare my lesson now??
We were all feeling better on Friday morning and I was excited about my hostessing responsibilities. I took the two candidates wives (one also had a six week old son), and we went to downtown Austin to have lunch at Whole Foods (the biggest and first Whole Foods in the world) and walked around a local book store and drove by Zilker Park (where we took you all). And then drove them back to their hotel and got ready to go to dinner with the boys. It was busy and fun and we missed Sid that day. Luckily I was able to catch up with my friend, Shauna, at Whole Foods, but didn't get to talk to her about the things I would like to have (namely homeschooling and things of that nature--- I mostly didn't want these candidates thinking I was totally insane what with taking them to Whole Foods, listening to classical music in the van (which I finds keeps the kids calm!), and talking homeschool and anti-sugar diets). So that was sad but fun to see a new friend and to tell these girls why I love Austin.
The next day we got to show the candidates around town, it was just the couple with the baby which was fun because we got to bring along our kids and just spend a day out and about.
I eventually snuck some time to prepare my lesson. It went okay. The bummer was after all that stress and preparation I wound up leaving my lesson and papers home on my way to church, awesome. I was able to pull it all together though and the girls seemed interested and like they learned something. One of them even thanked me so that was good. My lesson was on good health habits. I'll have to post my "case study" that I created on here so you can see. I thought it was pretty creative.
Anyway. Just wanted to get in on the Bawb action. This is another action packed week with Halloween. We can't decide if Gwen is going to be a doctor, which was our original plan, or a chef because the dress up Grandma B. got her was so dang cute (love, love, LOVE the hat!).
We have pumpkin patches to go to, chili cookoffs, and all sorts of fun stuff this week.
The end.
I was a little stressed out about this week since it was Gwen's big birthday and Sid was coming in to town as well as a great friend from Utah (Shauna, whom I have actually only met once but absolutely adore). And not to mention I was teaching young women's on Sunday. AND I had a focus group to go to on Wednesday afternoon (no complaining here-- $100 to watch fast food commercials? I'll take it any time) and it was my week to volunteer at Gwen's preschool which meant bringing the snack both days and staying at the school for the whole day one of the two days. I was excited for ALL of these things, but having them all at once was crazy.
Then came the complications.... first of all, I started feeling rotten on Wednesday night. I assumed it was because I had just watched two hours of fast food commercials, but as the night wore on I got grumpier and feeling worse. I could hardly stand the thought of going to Gwen's preschool for the day the next day. Let alone staying up late to make cupcakes and decorate and prepare for her big day. Poor Blaine wound up going to Wal-Mart at midnight to pick up some balloons and posterboard to decorate with and some last minute presents for our girl. I went to bed feeling yucky and hoping I would survive the next day.
I woke up a little early the next day to finish the cupcakes and felt disgusting. Then I heard Gwen saying something in her room. I walked in to find out that she had "slobbered" (as she likes to call it), or thrown up (as I like to call it), all over her bed and in her boat (ie our laundry basket) and floor. Part of me was relieved because it meant she couldn't go to preschool, which meant I couldn't go, which meant a much easier day for me since I felt sick. But the other part, the bigger part, just felt so bad that she was going to miss her big day at school where she was going to be able to sit on a special chair and share her special cupcakes and get sung to, etc. She didn't understand why I wouldn't let her go to preschool and kept apologizing and "repenting" for the slobbering, it was so sad and so hard to explain to her that even though she did nothing wrong and though she felt fine now, she still couldn't go. Within an hour or so I had thrown up too and Blaine decided to take a sick day to help with Gwen and Bentley so I could recover and so that Gwen could at least have a little fun for the day.
I kind of went off and on feeling good and lousy. We opened a present every once in a while, which was a lot of fun, and spent a lot of the day shampooing our carpets. My friend had let me borrow her carpet shampooer and then sent an e-mail that day saying she needed it back because her kids were sick too. So we were trying to hurry and finish our carpets and, dang, you never realize how dirty your carpets are till you clean them, do you? It was way gross, but they look so nice now!
Also this day or the day before, can't remember. I found out about the opportunity I would have the upcoming weekend to "host" two potential NI employee wives. I was WAY excited about that opportunity but very stressed that it overlapped with when Sid was coming and when my friend Shauna would be here. It was kind of a big time commitment requiring most of Friday and Saturday, and when was I going to prepare my lesson now??
We were all feeling better on Friday morning and I was excited about my hostessing responsibilities. I took the two candidates wives (one also had a six week old son), and we went to downtown Austin to have lunch at Whole Foods (the biggest and first Whole Foods in the world) and walked around a local book store and drove by Zilker Park (where we took you all). And then drove them back to their hotel and got ready to go to dinner with the boys. It was busy and fun and we missed Sid that day. Luckily I was able to catch up with my friend, Shauna, at Whole Foods, but didn't get to talk to her about the things I would like to have (namely homeschooling and things of that nature--- I mostly didn't want these candidates thinking I was totally insane what with taking them to Whole Foods, listening to classical music in the van (which I finds keeps the kids calm!), and talking homeschool and anti-sugar diets). So that was sad but fun to see a new friend and to tell these girls why I love Austin.
The next day we got to show the candidates around town, it was just the couple with the baby which was fun because we got to bring along our kids and just spend a day out and about.
I eventually snuck some time to prepare my lesson. It went okay. The bummer was after all that stress and preparation I wound up leaving my lesson and papers home on my way to church, awesome. I was able to pull it all together though and the girls seemed interested and like they learned something. One of them even thanked me so that was good. My lesson was on good health habits. I'll have to post my "case study" that I created on here so you can see. I thought it was pretty creative.
Anyway. Just wanted to get in on the Bawb action. This is another action packed week with Halloween. We can't decide if Gwen is going to be a doctor, which was our original plan, or a chef because the dress up Grandma B. got her was so dang cute (love, love, LOVE the hat!).
We have pumpkin patches to go to, chili cookoffs, and all sorts of fun stuff this week.
The end.
By Way of Explanation. . . .
Mom writing. In response to Stef's post below, Blaine asks the very good question: "What? Nick and Stef got PAID for cleaning the St. George house?" Let me explain.
James and Karen were at the house the entire week, Nancy and Brent arrived Wed., and the rest of us arrived Thursday. We all had to be home by 5:30 pm on Sunday night for a Stake Fireside. Backing up, that meant dad wanted to leave St George by noon or 1 at the latest. Then we learned that Nick and Stef were speaking in their 11 am sacrament meeting and we all wanted to hear them speak. It was Nancy, who on Saturday when I suggested that we start thinking about how to manage our Sunday morning chores (11 people to shower and dress, pack suitcases, eat breakfast, clean the whole house perfectly, pack the car, and leave by 10:40 to drive across town to church) suggested that maybe we could see about Stef be willing to clean the next day after we left. Stef was happy with the idea, and so was I since it seemed like it would benefit everyone. Cleaning with 11 people there (and people who keep thinking they need to eat one more thing) is MADDENING. But I digress. So we decided to pay N&S, keep our Sabbath Day Holy, and keep our sanity. It was wonderful to get up, eat, pack up and leave. I mean we still like did dishes and all that. We just didn't have to do laundry, vacuum, dust, clean all bathrooms, clean kitchen floor, clean the microwave, fridge, stove, clean basement, refill all the soaps, empty all the garbages (oh I did that because I had an extra minute) Anyway, you get the idea.
And the other thing to remember - Nick and Stef didn't say at the house with us. They basically didn't get it dirty. (Except for dishes because they ate with us and Stef did dishes every time!)
So does that make more sense? I really feel like we got the good end of the deal. Nancy was particularly delighted with the whole set up. I just hope we paid them enough.
James and Karen were at the house the entire week, Nancy and Brent arrived Wed., and the rest of us arrived Thursday. We all had to be home by 5:30 pm on Sunday night for a Stake Fireside. Backing up, that meant dad wanted to leave St George by noon or 1 at the latest. Then we learned that Nick and Stef were speaking in their 11 am sacrament meeting and we all wanted to hear them speak. It was Nancy, who on Saturday when I suggested that we start thinking about how to manage our Sunday morning chores (11 people to shower and dress, pack suitcases, eat breakfast, clean the whole house perfectly, pack the car, and leave by 10:40 to drive across town to church) suggested that maybe we could see about Stef be willing to clean the next day after we left. Stef was happy with the idea, and so was I since it seemed like it would benefit everyone. Cleaning with 11 people there (and people who keep thinking they need to eat one more thing) is MADDENING. But I digress. So we decided to pay N&S, keep our Sabbath Day Holy, and keep our sanity. It was wonderful to get up, eat, pack up and leave. I mean we still like did dishes and all that. We just didn't have to do laundry, vacuum, dust, clean all bathrooms, clean kitchen floor, clean the microwave, fridge, stove, clean basement, refill all the soaps, empty all the garbages (oh I did that because I had an extra minute) Anyway, you get the idea.
And the other thing to remember - Nick and Stef didn't say at the house with us. They basically didn't get it dirty. (Except for dishes because they ate with us and Stef did dishes every time!)
So does that make more sense? I really feel like we got the good end of the deal. Nancy was particularly delighted with the whole set up. I just hope we paid them enough.
Welcome to the world of blogging
I have to admit that as much as I thought that I would never join facebook and I would never have a blog, I have really enjoyed both of those things. I have realized I am much more motivated to write in the blog where my handwriting is perfect and I can attach pictures, than I am to write in my journal. I find myself going through the day’s activities putting together a post in my head.
One of those times is as follows.
Bret was sitting on the living room floor cheerfully babbling away like he usually does. All of the sudden he said grandma. It was clear as a bell. I thought wow; he must really miss his grandmas. I also thought, oh this is an answer to prayer; he needs to be by his grandmas. Okay, so he said it in Chinese, but I speak Chinese, so I heard it clear as a bell, he said ah mah. And that is how you say grandma in Chinese.
To make it easy for me, I will respond to your comments and posts in this post! Jane, its totally fine with me that Bret looks like Nick. :) Max, sounds like you are having fun, but don't forget to give mom one of those adoring looks she hopes for :). Rose, how fun, trying on wedding dresses! We won't tell Jeff, but you probably already did...let us know if that sparks any fun conversations. Kris, sorry you and Gwen were sick on her b-day. I remember right after we had Bret, Nick got really sick and was throwing up. He had to stay home from school and rest. I loved it, we just watched movies all day, even though I was recovering from the baby and not 100 percent myself, and he was way sick, we got to spend the whole day together! Glad Blaine had the flexibility to stay home and even shampoo the carpets...wow! Mom and Dad, thanks for everything! It was so fun to see you in St. George. Thanks for dinner at the Texas Roadhouse and all the other things. Dad thanks for understanding when little Bret crashes movies. It was really fun to watch Indiana and Iron Man! Mom, thanks for chippin in with Nance and paying us to clean! We want you to know we did some extras and worked hard for the money :) Make sure and tell Nance too! We sure love you guys!! Hope to see you soon! And...
Just to make it easy for you, we have made more posts on our blog. Check it out www.nickandstef.blogspot.com
Men of God
Dear Family...this is Nick writing
First of all, thank you all for writing. I haven't been as diligent as I ought in reading and responding lately but I am gratefuly to Stef who always keeps me up to date on what is happening on the BAWB. In fact the other day when she picked me up from work I think the first words out of her mouth were "I can't wait to tell you everything that is going on...a lot has happened on the BAWB!" (this was of course the week that Max held a girls hand and Rose wrote something about Jeffer).
Inspite of not diligenty reading, I want to take a few minutes and fill people in on what is happening in my life and some thoughts i've had recently:
The Family in St. George: It was so fun having the Bassetts and Yorgies down in St. George for along weekend last week (we did miss more than half of the Bassett clan but we thought about you regularly). It was seriously so nice to have people to help watch Bret and give Stef and I a chance to relax a bit. I was worried that it would be difficult having people down here because they would all be on vacation and I would still be going to work each day, but somehow I still felt as though I was on vacaction during the week. I loved going to Zion. I can barely rememer the last time that I was there and it was so fun to see it all again. It really is remarkable the huge canyon walls and the beautiful colors. Nice mom and dad bought a years pass to Zions and they let me be the second signer on it so that Stef and I can go while we live down here. We hope to get back out there soon. It is always fun watching movies with the gang. While we were here we watched the new Indiana Jones (cheesy but fun!), and Iron Man (awesome movie!). Also, everyone was so fun to come over and be excited about our place which, while it is nice, does not hold a candle to the Yorgie home. I had some fun conversations with mom and dad about life and jobs etc and we also had a great time watching some BYU football and going out to eat. As usual, everyone was so nice and accomodating in all of our adventures to hold back a bit so we could come along with baby Bret. Special thanks to little Kit Kat Yorgason too who just loves that little baby.
The confusion with work continues, and yet, gets clearer. I have had lots of conversations with mom, dad, Blaine and of coursewith Stef about jobs and work. I am currently faced with some pretty heavy decisions: do we accept a job in Dallas (probably the most financially adventageous), do we accept a job down here (not so financially smart but closer to home) or do we put in the time, effort and sacrifice to seek out a job in Salt Lake with IHC (same as above except less money possibly, right next to home, and I will have to search for a job, not just say "Yes, I accept the job" as is the case with the other two options). I have appreciated your input as we go through this process. We find out more each day that sways me usually one way or the other. Stef and I finally starting keeping a tally of how many days we want the Salt Lake option, the St. George option, or the Dallas option. I have had some conversations lately with my friend from TI, as well as a co-worker at IHC and am starting to feel more like it IHC may be the route we will go. Even if TI offers more money, I think they would work me harder and I would have less job security. Again, our feelings change constantly and if I were to make a post about all of our thoughts it would take days to compose, and hrs to read (so I won't). I will say however that as we have gone through this process I have learned something about the purpose of life and how prayer is associated with that purpose. As we began deciding what we wanted, I thought to myself "Heavenly Father, I want to be humble and submissive, and I will do whatever you want me to do...just let me know...." As I have given it lots of thought and prayer, I have realized that that particular approach is wrong - in some ways that is taking away my wonderful God-given gift of agency...choosing for myself. If I simply expect Father in Heaven to tell me what to do I am removing the responsibility from myself, and removing an opportunity to learn and grow. As I pondered that, it became clear to me that Heavenly Father wants me to learn to CHOOSE. In fact one of the major purposes of this life is to learn to choose...and not just choose anything but to choose righteousness...to choose Him. As I have pondered that I realize that Stef and I need to do all we can to find out the details, make a choice, and then take it to Heavenly Father for his approval. If he approves, he will let us know and we can feel confident we made the right choice through feelings from the Holy Ghost. If he doesn't think that is a good choice, he will let us know through the lack of feelings from the Holy Ghost. I have felt very empowered as I have come to understand this valuable truth that Agency (learning to choose) is one of the great purposes of this life. The final decision is still in the future but Stef and I feel confident we are taking the right approach to it.
Lastly, I want to share an experience from today in Church. I had probably the best preisthood lesson I have ever had. It was not the best because there were treats at the end, or because there were handouts, or flowers on the table. It was not the best because we got let out early, or asked all the right questions. It was the best because it was something that we as priesthood brethren needed to discuss and our Elders Qourum Pres felt impressed (I am sure) to have a lesson on it, and he came well prepared to class. The topic was basically on how to raise our boys to be Men. I interpret that to be "How can we be Men of God". He started out with a great quote reciting what the typical male does in our day and age as he gets older past his teenage years: he lives with his buddies, watches sports and drinks beer, avoids responsibility (marriage, school, job), slides by to get done with school and then he sees his future dream job and wonders how to get from where he is to where that dream will take him. Men don't know how to be Men. We talked a lot about some of the things that we as fathers or future fathers need to do in order to raise boys in this confused world of ours. It was very beneficial and made me grateful for all awesome things I was taught by my father and mother to help get me to where I am today.
The last last thing I want to close with was a fun memory from my youth that I was reminded of this morning. I don't know what reminded me of it, but it's a fun memory. When I was a young kid I was really really into Legos. Not only was I into Legos but I was also into Castles and midieval times. One Christmas (one of my "best" christmases from my youth) mom and dad bought me a big Lego castle called Monarchs Castle. It was such an awesome castle. The set came with step by step specific instructions on how to build the castle. It would take me days and maybe even weeks each time I built this castle. It was always worth it when I was done though because it was a thing of beauty. On the back of the box were a bunch of pictures of alternate ways to make the castle. They too were all very neat but I didn't have the same step by step instructions of how to make them and so I never could. I think I must have asked dad one time if he would help me create one of the castles on the back of the box. He told me he would if I would go to sleep. I earnestly scurried off to bed and was amazed the next morning to come into our kitchen and find the castle all made. To me as a kid it was really like magic. I had no idea how dad did it. I knew he didn't have instructions and yet he would just figure it out and do it all in one night. This became somewhat of a habit. I remember multiple times asking dad to make these castles and without fail, in the morning, the castle was made. Not sure the moral to it yet except that it really is those small things sometimes that are the sweetest childhood memories. And, I guess also that you are amazing dad!
To those who made it to the end of this letter, thanks. To all you others, I love you just the same.
Nick
First of all, thank you all for writing. I haven't been as diligent as I ought in reading and responding lately but I am gratefuly to Stef who always keeps me up to date on what is happening on the BAWB. In fact the other day when she picked me up from work I think the first words out of her mouth were "I can't wait to tell you everything that is going on...a lot has happened on the BAWB!" (this was of course the week that Max held a girls hand and Rose wrote something about Jeffer).
Inspite of not diligenty reading, I want to take a few minutes and fill people in on what is happening in my life and some thoughts i've had recently:
The Family in St. George: It was so fun having the Bassetts and Yorgies down in St. George for along weekend last week (we did miss more than half of the Bassett clan but we thought about you regularly). It was seriously so nice to have people to help watch Bret and give Stef and I a chance to relax a bit. I was worried that it would be difficult having people down here because they would all be on vacation and I would still be going to work each day, but somehow I still felt as though I was on vacaction during the week. I loved going to Zion. I can barely rememer the last time that I was there and it was so fun to see it all again. It really is remarkable the huge canyon walls and the beautiful colors. Nice mom and dad bought a years pass to Zions and they let me be the second signer on it so that Stef and I can go while we live down here. We hope to get back out there soon. It is always fun watching movies with the gang. While we were here we watched the new Indiana Jones (cheesy but fun!), and Iron Man (awesome movie!). Also, everyone was so fun to come over and be excited about our place which, while it is nice, does not hold a candle to the Yorgie home. I had some fun conversations with mom and dad about life and jobs etc and we also had a great time watching some BYU football and going out to eat. As usual, everyone was so nice and accomodating in all of our adventures to hold back a bit so we could come along with baby Bret. Special thanks to little Kit Kat Yorgason too who just loves that little baby.
The confusion with work continues, and yet, gets clearer. I have had lots of conversations with mom, dad, Blaine and of coursewith Stef about jobs and work. I am currently faced with some pretty heavy decisions: do we accept a job in Dallas (probably the most financially adventageous), do we accept a job down here (not so financially smart but closer to home) or do we put in the time, effort and sacrifice to seek out a job in Salt Lake with IHC (same as above except less money possibly, right next to home, and I will have to search for a job, not just say "Yes, I accept the job" as is the case with the other two options). I have appreciated your input as we go through this process. We find out more each day that sways me usually one way or the other. Stef and I finally starting keeping a tally of how many days we want the Salt Lake option, the St. George option, or the Dallas option. I have had some conversations lately with my friend from TI, as well as a co-worker at IHC and am starting to feel more like it IHC may be the route we will go. Even if TI offers more money, I think they would work me harder and I would have less job security. Again, our feelings change constantly and if I were to make a post about all of our thoughts it would take days to compose, and hrs to read (so I won't). I will say however that as we have gone through this process I have learned something about the purpose of life and how prayer is associated with that purpose. As we began deciding what we wanted, I thought to myself "Heavenly Father, I want to be humble and submissive, and I will do whatever you want me to do...just let me know...." As I have given it lots of thought and prayer, I have realized that that particular approach is wrong - in some ways that is taking away my wonderful God-given gift of agency...choosing for myself. If I simply expect Father in Heaven to tell me what to do I am removing the responsibility from myself, and removing an opportunity to learn and grow. As I pondered that, it became clear to me that Heavenly Father wants me to learn to CHOOSE. In fact one of the major purposes of this life is to learn to choose...and not just choose anything but to choose righteousness...to choose Him. As I have pondered that I realize that Stef and I need to do all we can to find out the details, make a choice, and then take it to Heavenly Father for his approval. If he approves, he will let us know and we can feel confident we made the right choice through feelings from the Holy Ghost. If he doesn't think that is a good choice, he will let us know through the lack of feelings from the Holy Ghost. I have felt very empowered as I have come to understand this valuable truth that Agency (learning to choose) is one of the great purposes of this life. The final decision is still in the future but Stef and I feel confident we are taking the right approach to it.
Lastly, I want to share an experience from today in Church. I had probably the best preisthood lesson I have ever had. It was not the best because there were treats at the end, or because there were handouts, or flowers on the table. It was not the best because we got let out early, or asked all the right questions. It was the best because it was something that we as priesthood brethren needed to discuss and our Elders Qourum Pres felt impressed (I am sure) to have a lesson on it, and he came well prepared to class. The topic was basically on how to raise our boys to be Men. I interpret that to be "How can we be Men of God". He started out with a great quote reciting what the typical male does in our day and age as he gets older past his teenage years: he lives with his buddies, watches sports and drinks beer, avoids responsibility (marriage, school, job), slides by to get done with school and then he sees his future dream job and wonders how to get from where he is to where that dream will take him. Men don't know how to be Men. We talked a lot about some of the things that we as fathers or future fathers need to do in order to raise boys in this confused world of ours. It was very beneficial and made me grateful for all awesome things I was taught by my father and mother to help get me to where I am today.
The last last thing I want to close with was a fun memory from my youth that I was reminded of this morning. I don't know what reminded me of it, but it's a fun memory. When I was a young kid I was really really into Legos. Not only was I into Legos but I was also into Castles and midieval times. One Christmas (one of my "best" christmases from my youth) mom and dad bought me a big Lego castle called Monarchs Castle. It was such an awesome castle. The set came with step by step specific instructions on how to build the castle. It would take me days and maybe even weeks each time I built this castle. It was always worth it when I was done though because it was a thing of beauty. On the back of the box were a bunch of pictures of alternate ways to make the castle. They too were all very neat but I didn't have the same step by step instructions of how to make them and so I never could. I think I must have asked dad one time if he would help me create one of the castles on the back of the box. He told me he would if I would go to sleep. I earnestly scurried off to bed and was amazed the next morning to come into our kitchen and find the castle all made. To me as a kid it was really like magic. I had no idea how dad did it. I knew he didn't have instructions and yet he would just figure it out and do it all in one night. This became somewhat of a habit. I remember multiple times asking dad to make these castles and without fail, in the morning, the castle was made. Not sure the moral to it yet except that it really is those small things sometimes that are the sweetest childhood memories. And, I guess also that you are amazing dad!
To those who made it to the end of this letter, thanks. To all you others, I love you just the same.
Nick
The hosts with the most
What a fun thing to do on a Sunday afternoon. I open up the BAWB to find it chock-full of new material from nearly everybody! Way to go, guys! Thanks for keeping the BAWB alive and kicking, it's so great to be a part of, especially way out here. I guess Janey and Rosey were right that it would be easier for them to write when they were no longer living at home. Thanks for sharing everybody!
So this weekend, Kristi and I were hosting candidates that I had helped recruit on my recent trip to Utah. Basically we go out to BYU, interview candidates, select a few of the most promising to be invited for a plant trip, and then set up a time they want to come. The candidates come on a Friday and are invited to bring their spouse or fiance (although BYU guys don't usually bring fiances since we only pay for one hotel room ;-) In this case my candidate was married (first time that has been the case). So that the wives aren't bored in the hotel room, they ask if our wives can befriend them and kind of take them around for the day while their husbands are in interviews. One of the things I love about Kristi is that she doesn't even hesitate to show this kind of hospitality to strangers. She jumped at the chance and actually took not only my candidate's wife but also another candidate's wife (whose host's wife had to work or something.) She called them up beforehand to try to make plans, then she picked them up from the hotel in the van and took them to lunch with some other friends and then drove them around to look at Austin. Kris has, as you know, a way of just putting people at ease so I think this was a really beneficial high point for these couples.
In the meantime, I was taking my candidate around to the various presentations and meals and interviews that were planned for him at NI. It is a grueling process that I remember well. Throughout the day there are three separate hour and fifteen minute long technical interviews, as well as other presentations and information sessions. There are only very short breaks in between these so the host's job is to get the candidate where they need to be on time, but also to try to put them at ease--to be someone they can ask questions to and can be frank and open with. We decided to bring these guys here (as the recruiters) but now we have no more say on whether or not they are hired so they can just be honest with us without having to worry about what we think. Friday night after all this was done we had dinner all together (including the wives) and then Saturday we spent the day with a different couple (the same one who Kristi had been with the day before) since their hosts were busy and our candidates had family in town to visit. We took them out to lunch and brought them by the house. We chatted and I answered questions. We then drove them around to look at neighborhoods and eventually we all had dinner together again (which means Amy got to babysit Gwen two nights in a row, much to Gwen's excitement!), which dinner did not sit will with Kris nor I and which will not be mentioned henceforth...
Anyway, that's basically how we have spent our weekend but I thought I would use this as an excuse to dispense a little advice to my younger siblings (don't roll your eyes too much :) I have come to develop a lot of opinions as I have had this opportunity to recruit and host and I have been disappointed to see that these may not all be as obvious to everyone as they are to me. I won't mention names or anything but between my recruiting trip and this hosting with several different candidates, here are a few tips when looking for a job:
1. Prepare for your interview!!! Don't think that just because you look attractive and have a new shirt and have a great way with people and blah blah blah that you can easily nail every interview. Prepare and make sure you know what you're talking about! I don't know how this applies to some of your majors but with my major there are technical questions. There is specific stuff that we to see that you know. As much as I like your style and confidence and the font on your resume, if you tell me that "sorry, I haven't taken this class for a couple years" that doesn't cut it. Study like you would for a final exam of everything you've ever learned. You don't have to know everything but crack open some of those old textbooks and be refreshed on some of those basic concepts. Taking a few minutes to do this may put you head and shoulders above everyone else we talk to. This is what you've been trying to get to for your whole college career, you owe it to yourself to rock every interview you are lucky enough to get!
2. That's not to say you should ignore appearances though. Here's what I found. I didn't notice what anyone was wearing unless it counted against them. A few people were really casual and that didn't exude that they were very serious about their career. To me it more looked like an act of rebellion--that they thought they were better than all the robots around them who obediently donned their suits and skirts. Unless they could walk up and show me by their resume and personality that they really were out of the ordinary (none did), then standing out in this way did not help them. However, those who walked up in anything from an Armani suit to a nice, colored, short-sleeved shirt with no tie all seemed about the same to me. Same with resumes--as long as the basic info was there, the special paper or formatting didn't jump out at me to anyone's benefit. However, resumes that had obviously xeroxed on cheap copy paper and ill-formatted with the important info hard to find or not on there seemed to subtly say that their owners did not quite "get" what was going on here. So my advice, take time to proofread and format your resume and print with a laser printer, but don't obsess with it much beyond that. Wear something nice that helps you feel good about yourself and confident, but don't bother buying a new outfit for the event (unless, like me, that boosts your confidence...I had a lucky interview shirt that I bought just for interviewing and it always made me feel confident).
3. Be aware of the people around you. Notice that your host is going out of his or her way to help you and give you a good experience. You don't know whether this is being done on a volunteer basis or if it is assigned to them as part of their job; you don't know if they get big bonuses for going to this effort or if they are paying for dinner for you out of their own money. But it doesn't matter. Be sensitive to their needs and be grateful for what they are doing. Same with interviewers, be grateful that they would take time to give you a shot. Maybe it is their job, maybe not, but why not show appreciation for their efforts as a person? I have had candidates that seemed entitled to what I'm doing and others that are very grateful and show that they realize that they are the ones receiving a favor. These candidates thank me for using my Saturday to drive them around. These candidates are flexible with their plans and act like they are happy to do whatever. These candidates drop what they're doing when I call instead of telling me their friend is on the other line and can they call me back. These candidates respond to my emails and voicemails to say that they got them, that they are excited about the company and grateful for me taking time to give them information they need. From the first time I make contact with them, these latter candidates stand out as people I would so much rather work with and, thus, recommend.
I'm pretty sure that you guys know all this stuff already. I feel like I did, which is probably why it bugs me so much when so many people don't. By that same token, maybe these things are just my pet peaves and not what everybody cares about. However, the advice here certainly won't ever hurt you as you do job interviews and try to impress people you don't know. The gist of it is everything you've always heard--be polite, be considerate, be obedient, be grateful, be prepared. Thanks for listening to my rant; it's stuff I've been wanting to get off my chest. Best of luck to everyone in all your endeavors! :)
So this weekend, Kristi and I were hosting candidates that I had helped recruit on my recent trip to Utah. Basically we go out to BYU, interview candidates, select a few of the most promising to be invited for a plant trip, and then set up a time they want to come. The candidates come on a Friday and are invited to bring their spouse or fiance (although BYU guys don't usually bring fiances since we only pay for one hotel room ;-) In this case my candidate was married (first time that has been the case). So that the wives aren't bored in the hotel room, they ask if our wives can befriend them and kind of take them around for the day while their husbands are in interviews. One of the things I love about Kristi is that she doesn't even hesitate to show this kind of hospitality to strangers. She jumped at the chance and actually took not only my candidate's wife but also another candidate's wife (whose host's wife had to work or something.) She called them up beforehand to try to make plans, then she picked them up from the hotel in the van and took them to lunch with some other friends and then drove them around to look at Austin. Kris has, as you know, a way of just putting people at ease so I think this was a really beneficial high point for these couples.
In the meantime, I was taking my candidate around to the various presentations and meals and interviews that were planned for him at NI. It is a grueling process that I remember well. Throughout the day there are three separate hour and fifteen minute long technical interviews, as well as other presentations and information sessions. There are only very short breaks in between these so the host's job is to get the candidate where they need to be on time, but also to try to put them at ease--to be someone they can ask questions to and can be frank and open with. We decided to bring these guys here (as the recruiters) but now we have no more say on whether or not they are hired so they can just be honest with us without having to worry about what we think. Friday night after all this was done we had dinner all together (including the wives) and then Saturday we spent the day with a different couple (the same one who Kristi had been with the day before) since their hosts were busy and our candidates had family in town to visit. We took them out to lunch and brought them by the house. We chatted and I answered questions. We then drove them around to look at neighborhoods and eventually we all had dinner together again (which means Amy got to babysit Gwen two nights in a row, much to Gwen's excitement!), which dinner did not sit will with Kris nor I and which will not be mentioned henceforth...
Anyway, that's basically how we have spent our weekend but I thought I would use this as an excuse to dispense a little advice to my younger siblings (don't roll your eyes too much :) I have come to develop a lot of opinions as I have had this opportunity to recruit and host and I have been disappointed to see that these may not all be as obvious to everyone as they are to me. I won't mention names or anything but between my recruiting trip and this hosting with several different candidates, here are a few tips when looking for a job:
1. Prepare for your interview!!! Don't think that just because you look attractive and have a new shirt and have a great way with people and blah blah blah that you can easily nail every interview. Prepare and make sure you know what you're talking about! I don't know how this applies to some of your majors but with my major there are technical questions. There is specific stuff that we to see that you know. As much as I like your style and confidence and the font on your resume, if you tell me that "sorry, I haven't taken this class for a couple years" that doesn't cut it. Study like you would for a final exam of everything you've ever learned. You don't have to know everything but crack open some of those old textbooks and be refreshed on some of those basic concepts. Taking a few minutes to do this may put you head and shoulders above everyone else we talk to. This is what you've been trying to get to for your whole college career, you owe it to yourself to rock every interview you are lucky enough to get!
2. That's not to say you should ignore appearances though. Here's what I found. I didn't notice what anyone was wearing unless it counted against them. A few people were really casual and that didn't exude that they were very serious about their career. To me it more looked like an act of rebellion--that they thought they were better than all the robots around them who obediently donned their suits and skirts. Unless they could walk up and show me by their resume and personality that they really were out of the ordinary (none did), then standing out in this way did not help them. However, those who walked up in anything from an Armani suit to a nice, colored, short-sleeved shirt with no tie all seemed about the same to me. Same with resumes--as long as the basic info was there, the special paper or formatting didn't jump out at me to anyone's benefit. However, resumes that had obviously xeroxed on cheap copy paper and ill-formatted with the important info hard to find or not on there seemed to subtly say that their owners did not quite "get" what was going on here. So my advice, take time to proofread and format your resume and print with a laser printer, but don't obsess with it much beyond that. Wear something nice that helps you feel good about yourself and confident, but don't bother buying a new outfit for the event (unless, like me, that boosts your confidence...I had a lucky interview shirt that I bought just for interviewing and it always made me feel confident).
3. Be aware of the people around you. Notice that your host is going out of his or her way to help you and give you a good experience. You don't know whether this is being done on a volunteer basis or if it is assigned to them as part of their job; you don't know if they get big bonuses for going to this effort or if they are paying for dinner for you out of their own money. But it doesn't matter. Be sensitive to their needs and be grateful for what they are doing. Same with interviewers, be grateful that they would take time to give you a shot. Maybe it is their job, maybe not, but why not show appreciation for their efforts as a person? I have had candidates that seemed entitled to what I'm doing and others that are very grateful and show that they realize that they are the ones receiving a favor. These candidates thank me for using my Saturday to drive them around. These candidates are flexible with their plans and act like they are happy to do whatever. These candidates drop what they're doing when I call instead of telling me their friend is on the other line and can they call me back. These candidates respond to my emails and voicemails to say that they got them, that they are excited about the company and grateful for me taking time to give them information they need. From the first time I make contact with them, these latter candidates stand out as people I would so much rather work with and, thus, recommend.
I'm pretty sure that you guys know all this stuff already. I feel like I did, which is probably why it bugs me so much when so many people don't. By that same token, maybe these things are just my pet peaves and not what everybody cares about. However, the advice here certainly won't ever hurt you as you do job interviews and try to impress people you don't know. The gist of it is everything you've always heard--be polite, be considerate, be obedient, be grateful, be prepared. Thanks for listening to my rant; it's stuff I've been wanting to get off my chest. Best of luck to everyone in all your endeavors! :)
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Taking Rosey's Place...
This week has been a really great week! Yesterday, on Friday, after school my friends and I went and saw High School Musical 3, which was a really...cheesy/funny movie. I guess I could recommend it, just be prepared to laugh a lot (not so much because it's funny, but because it's extremely cheesy!) But it was fun to go with a couple of friends: Kristen, Nui, Garret, Caroline, and Katherine. All of my other friends were too "cool" to see it. :) After the movie, I came home and walked up to Andrea and Ryan's to babysit while they went to the cousins party.
Then today I woke up at about 7:15 and headed over to the church where we met up with the youth of the ward and then drove up to Temple Square where we did a stake service project. We planted flowers in the big pots and in the garden in front of the Church Office Building. I was thinking of Rosey and how she had to do this every day in the summer. After we finished planting pansies for about a hour or two, we drove back to the stake center and had pizza and played football. At about noon, I came home and watched the BYU game and they won! 42-35 against UNLV!
Anyways, just thought I'd let you know how my weekend was. Thanks, love you all
Max
Then today I woke up at about 7:15 and headed over to the church where we met up with the youth of the ward and then drove up to Temple Square where we did a stake service project. We planted flowers in the big pots and in the garden in front of the Church Office Building. I was thinking of Rosey and how she had to do this every day in the summer. After we finished planting pansies for about a hour or two, we drove back to the stake center and had pizza and played football. At about noon, I came home and watched the BYU game and they won! 42-35 against UNLV!
Anyways, just thought I'd let you know how my weekend was. Thanks, love you all
Max
Life in Provo...feeling good....trying on wedding dresses (read for details:)
Hey Family. This is the letter I wrote to the bark but I thought I would post it here because it has a better chance of being read by all of you in this format! :) I think it is worthy of reading...pretty good adventures in here. Also I just sent it to bassettbark@gmailgroups.com is that all I needed to do Dad? Enjoy...
Hello Everyone...I am sitting here wondering when the last time I wrote to the bark was...I hate to admit it but I think it was like a year ago when I was so immature and stupide and put liquid soap into the dishwasher! I am so much more mature and grown up now, you all might not even recognize it is me writing this bark letter! :) Ok the truth is I really haven't grown up, and you will all be agreeing with me after I tell you my latest adventures.... here goes...
So this past Wednesday night I got a call from Lorie, when I picked up she said, "Hey Rosey I have a big favor to ask you...it has to do with wedding dresses..." at that point I totally flipped out, somewhere I missed the fact that Lorie was getting married, I thought this was like her creative way of telling me, so I told her how excited I was for her and then felt really stupid since she told me that it happened like a week and a half ago...(ok so maybe I read the bark about as often as I write in it...Just kidding Grandma :) Anyways so I thought that was it, but then she told me she really did have a favor to ask, so of course me being the kind, loving, cousin I am willingly agreed...(and I am glad I did) Lorie asked me to go try on some wedding dresses for her because there are no modest ones in Texas and she had found some on craig's list that she really liked...so she gave me the addresses of the two houses to go try on and this was the beginning of my memorable wedding dress journey. Of course the very first thing I did was run out and tell my room mates, my mom, and Janey that I was going to go try on wedding dresses (now I know what you are all thinking....come on this is Rosey why would anyone believe that she was getting married...but for those of you who don't know I am actually dating someone...And NO we are not getting married, nor have we even discussed it....I am jsut saying it is not as far fetched an idea as some of you might expect :) Anyways I really had Janey wondering, and my Mom could tell I was lying out of my teeth, but it was really fun to tell everybody I knew what I was doing that day. Anyways so I went on Thursday to try on the first girls wedding dress, when I walked into her house (with my nice room mate Chelsey who came with me so it wasn't too awkward), I was a little disappointed because the girl was bigger than me. The thought crossed my mind that I really hoped I didn't look as big as her...plus she was short, I was wondering if I was at the right house. Anyways, I tried on the dress and it was big (pheww) but it was so dang pretty, I cannot deny that trying on a wedding dress makes you just want to get married a little bit...anyways it was big but it could definitely be altered to fit Lorie, it was exciting. So the whole experience was just a little weird because the girl was trying to like convince me to buy it...I don't think she understood that I was not the one getting married, she was wasting her breath with me:) Anyways the next dress I tried on is the story worth telling...(I think I will even start a new paragraph for it!)
So I called the girl that owned the dress to find out a good time to come try on her dress, of course she didn't answer her phone like 5 times so I heard her message machine a bunch of times, anyways this girl was clearly a character from the start. In her answering machine message she tells you to PLEASE leave her a message because she gets OH SO LONELY THESE DAYS...Ok I know what you're thinking...weird huh? I mean didn't this girl just barely get married....is she really so desparate as to ask people who call her to PLEASE leave her a message because she gets Oh so lonely...I found that whole concept hilarious and laughed everytime I heard her answering machine. Anyways from the start I knew this girl was a character...and I proved to be right in my belief (Lorie agreed after talking to her) So last night I called her and told her I was coming, I drove to her house knocked on the door and no answer...so I called and asked her if she was home, she said yes and I patiently asked her why she wasn't answering her door....she said she was actually standing on her doorstep... dang it...wrong house! How embarrassing, I was at 100 S. 547 E and she lives at 100 N. 547 E I was just a block away, but still so embarrassing.... (real quick insert, I had a Halloween party directly after I did this and I went and knocked on the wrong door for that too, moral of the story: Make sure you double check that you are at the right address when you go somewhere new, I was just one number off for both times...but one number can make all the difference...it is really embarrassing!) Anyways so I finally make it to her house and she lets me in...as soon as I walk in she explains to me that she is not a shy person and would love to just help me put the dress on....oh my goodness lady...I brought my room mate for a reason, those were the thoughts going through my head...anyways I just decided whatever and stripped off my clothes in front of some stranger named Veronica that is "Oh so lonely these days."..just after getting married! Whatever. So I tried on another really beautiful dress and took pictures (which I am going to try to attatch...it was so fun) and unfortunately this one was a little small for me..my excuse...my rib cage is too wide :) Anyways I again had her trying to sale the dress to me (I don't know why this concept of me not being the bride wasn't registering in these people's heads...I mean isn't it common to have other people try on wedding dresses for you :) Anyways that was the end of my wedding dress adventures...hopefully Lorie can find one she likes...thanks again Lorie, those will be fond memories in my head. I am pumped out of my mind now to try on my own wedding dresses someday...very entertaining :)
Anyhow...sorry this is a long letter I just had to tell you those two fun little experiences because I found them to be very entertaining. Life is so great right now, I think I am busier than I have ever been in my life. I am working 25 hours a week, taking 16 credit hours, dating somebody that doesn't live in Provo (his name is Jeff, he is from Salt Lake, I met him working at temple square...I will give more details later I promise), I am a UV mentor (it is a leadership program to help first year college students adjust..this is a major time consumer...but I love it!), and then I have to have fun with my room mates and do my church calling and everything else. Point being my life is crazy and busy but I love every second of it! I hope you are all doing well, I will try to do better at writing and reading the bark so I don't have another major suprise hit me. I sure love ya'll...have a great week!
Love, Rosey
Hello Everyone...I am sitting here wondering when the last time I wrote to the bark was...I hate to admit it but I think it was like a year ago when I was so immature and stupide and put liquid soap into the dishwasher! I am so much more mature and grown up now, you all might not even recognize it is me writing this bark letter! :) Ok the truth is I really haven't grown up, and you will all be agreeing with me after I tell you my latest adventures.... here goes...
So this past Wednesday night I got a call from Lorie, when I picked up she said, "Hey Rosey I have a big favor to ask you...it has to do with wedding dresses..." at that point I totally flipped out, somewhere I missed the fact that Lorie was getting married, I thought this was like her creative way of telling me, so I told her how excited I was for her and then felt really stupid since she told me that it happened like a week and a half ago...(ok so maybe I read the bark about as often as I write in it...Just kidding Grandma :) Anyways so I thought that was it, but then she told me she really did have a favor to ask, so of course me being the kind, loving, cousin I am willingly agreed...(and I am glad I did) Lorie asked me to go try on some wedding dresses for her because there are no modest ones in Texas and she had found some on craig's list that she really liked...so she gave me the addresses of the two houses to go try on and this was the beginning of my memorable wedding dress journey. Of course the very first thing I did was run out and tell my room mates, my mom, and Janey that I was going to go try on wedding dresses (now I know what you are all thinking....come on this is Rosey why would anyone believe that she was getting married...but for those of you who don't know I am actually dating someone...And NO we are not getting married, nor have we even discussed it....I am jsut saying it is not as far fetched an idea as some of you might expect :) Anyways I really had Janey wondering, and my Mom could tell I was lying out of my teeth, but it was really fun to tell everybody I knew what I was doing that day. Anyways so I went on Thursday to try on the first girls wedding dress, when I walked into her house (with my nice room mate Chelsey who came with me so it wasn't too awkward), I was a little disappointed because the girl was bigger than me. The thought crossed my mind that I really hoped I didn't look as big as her...plus she was short, I was wondering if I was at the right house. Anyways, I tried on the dress and it was big (pheww) but it was so dang pretty, I cannot deny that trying on a wedding dress makes you just want to get married a little bit...anyways it was big but it could definitely be altered to fit Lorie, it was exciting. So the whole experience was just a little weird because the girl was trying to like convince me to buy it...I don't think she understood that I was not the one getting married, she was wasting her breath with me:) Anyways the next dress I tried on is the story worth telling...(I think I will even start a new paragraph for it!)
So I called the girl that owned the dress to find out a good time to come try on her dress, of course she didn't answer her phone like 5 times so I heard her message machine a bunch of times, anyways this girl was clearly a character from the start. In her answering machine message she tells you to PLEASE leave her a message because she gets OH SO LONELY THESE DAYS...Ok I know what you're thinking...weird huh? I mean didn't this girl just barely get married....is she really so desparate as to ask people who call her to PLEASE leave her a message because she gets Oh so lonely...I found that whole concept hilarious and laughed everytime I heard her answering machine. Anyways from the start I knew this girl was a character...and I proved to be right in my belief (Lorie agreed after talking to her) So last night I called her and told her I was coming, I drove to her house knocked on the door and no answer...so I called and asked her if she was home, she said yes and I patiently asked her why she wasn't answering her door....she said she was actually standing on her doorstep... dang it...wrong house! How embarrassing, I was at 100 S. 547 E and she lives at 100 N. 547 E I was just a block away, but still so embarrassing.... (real quick insert, I had a Halloween party directly after I did this and I went and knocked on the wrong door for that too, moral of the story: Make sure you double check that you are at the right address when you go somewhere new, I was just one number off for both times...but one number can make all the difference...it is really embarrassing!) Anyways so I finally make it to her house and she lets me in...as soon as I walk in she explains to me that she is not a shy person and would love to just help me put the dress on....oh my goodness lady...I brought my room mate for a reason, those were the thoughts going through my head...anyways I just decided whatever and stripped off my clothes in front of some stranger named Veronica that is "Oh so lonely these days."..just after getting married! Whatever. So I tried on another really beautiful dress and took pictures (which I am going to try to attatch...it was so fun) and unfortunately this one was a little small for me..my excuse...my rib cage is too wide :) Anyways I again had her trying to sale the dress to me (I don't know why this concept of me not being the bride wasn't registering in these people's heads...I mean isn't it common to have other people try on wedding dresses for you :) Anyways that was the end of my wedding dress adventures...hopefully Lorie can find one she likes...thanks again Lorie, those will be fond memories in my head. I am pumped out of my mind now to try on my own wedding dresses someday...very entertaining :)
Anyhow...sorry this is a long letter I just had to tell you those two fun little experiences because I found them to be very entertaining. Life is so great right now, I think I am busier than I have ever been in my life. I am working 25 hours a week, taking 16 credit hours, dating somebody that doesn't live in Provo (his name is Jeff, he is from Salt Lake, I met him working at temple square...I will give more details later I promise), I am a UV mentor (it is a leadership program to help first year college students adjust..this is a major time consumer...but I love it!), and then I have to have fun with my room mates and do my church calling and everything else. Point being my life is crazy and busy but I love every second of it! I hope you are all doing well, I will try to do better at writing and reading the bark so I don't have another major suprise hit me. I sure love ya'll...have a great week!
Love, Rosey
Single Awareness Week
Have you ever wondered what is sometimes running through my mind? Let me share: "I wish I could just find the guy and get married; life would be soooooo much better. People always say to enjoy single life because you will sometimes wish you could just go back to that time in life. What do they know? They have already found their special someone...I am not going to feel sorry for them one little bit. I am the one to feel sorry for, I am so lonely!"
Well…right now I am so thankful to be single! I better clarify what I am saying before I get a million responses saying "Jane, married life is great...kids are great...get your life together and find the guy."
You might ask, “what has triggered this topic?” Well, I have just gotten through (and am still going through) a week of craziness and it has just made me appreciate the fact that I am single and free as a bird. Here are my reasons of appreciation for singleness.
1) I had THREE tests to take in THREE days. Those of you who have been to college know that this can be pretty crazy and stressful. I was so grateful to be able to stay at school as late as I needed without having anyone at home who needed a little love (or dinner) from me. I was able to get all my tests taken by Wednesday night at 10 pm (which is when I had to have them done because on Thursday I had to go to work.)
2) Work was crazy this week because I had somewhere I HAD to be at a certain time. The thing I have love/hated about my Smart Cookie job is that when I finish what I need to get done, I get to go home. Sometimes (usually) things take longer than I plan, but still, being single and free makes it easier to have a job like this.
However, this week I am babysitting some kids I used to nanny. Their parents left on Thursday afternoon and they wanted me there between 5-6. I didn't get there until 6:30, and I didn't finish everything I needed to at work. Friday I got the kids ready for school and then while they were at school, I was able to go to my class and then work. Before leaving, I first had to drop the youngest little boy off at a neighbor’s house; of course it took us 10 minutes to find his shoes, and then we had to go lock all the thousands of doors in their huge house, and then we had to actually go the neighbors house...all this put me 20 minutes behind, which made me miss half my class. THIS is one reason why I love being single...I know where all my shoes are, and I only have one door to lock behind me as I leave for school.
Then, after school I ran to work at Smart Cookie for a few hours praying that the other baker and I would be able to work at the speed of light to get everything done before I HAD to leave at 3:15 to go be at home when the kids got home from school (I know this would take a miracle, but anything is possible). I got to work only to have my boss call and say that he needed 200 sugar cookies ready by that night. Ummmmm.....the only thing I could do was feel really bad when I left the other baker alone at 3:15 to make those sugars; but, I had those little kids who needed me home. Basically, having a deadline with other people who are counting on you makes life really stressful.
I have learned that having little kids who can't be left alone makes it really hard to run an errand really quick. It makes it hard to run wedding dress shopping with your younger sister when she has to go right during the time when you need to be watching the kids (Rosey, now you have to write and explain yourself!) It makes it hard to get excited to play with little kids on a Friday night when your Winder cousins are all having a fun get together makes it hard to get excited to watch Princess Diaries with a 10 year old, 8 year old, and 5 year old. Going to High School Musical 3 with three kids instead of the BYU football game with your friends makes it hard to not just wish you were free as a bird.
Okay, I am done going off about how much I love being single. It is good for me to have these times every now and again because I know that I will someday miss them. I really am excited to get married and make dinner for someone every night. I am excited to have little kids (they are so funny and provide excellent entertainment everyday!) Today was crazy hair day at school. It was so fun to see how excited Ali got as we spiked her bangs and did a million ponytails all over her head (I have pictures and will post them soon!) It was fun and embarrassing to have a 5 year old beat me big time at checkers. It was fun to make dinner for the kids. It was/is fun (and a huge pain) to negotiate/laugh with a 15 year old who can be so nice one minute and then the biggest teenager ever and drive me crazy the next! It is such a reward to finally get the kids in bed at 9:30 and realize you finally have a little time to yourself. The list could go on and on, but I am excited to someday have a family of my own!
I am having a good time watching these kids. Wil is 5, Ali is 8, Sadie is 10, Sam is 12, and Spencer is 15. The two oldest are on a campout tonight, so that makes it a little bit easier (however, it makes a little bit scary.) This house is huge and I don’t like the thought of it being just me and three little kids. Life is good, but I can’t wait for things to get back to normal next week.
Love you all!
Janey
P.S. I know I complained about this house being too big with too many doors and being too scary...yeah...I didn't really mean all those things. It's great to live in a real home again for a few days. I have my own king size bed with my own huge bathroom. And, a huge countertop to bake culinary masterpeices on...ha, ha, ha.
Well…right now I am so thankful to be single! I better clarify what I am saying before I get a million responses saying "Jane, married life is great...kids are great...get your life together and find the guy."
You might ask, “what has triggered this topic?” Well, I have just gotten through (and am still going through) a week of craziness and it has just made me appreciate the fact that I am single and free as a bird. Here are my reasons of appreciation for singleness.
1) I had THREE tests to take in THREE days. Those of you who have been to college know that this can be pretty crazy and stressful. I was so grateful to be able to stay at school as late as I needed without having anyone at home who needed a little love (or dinner) from me. I was able to get all my tests taken by Wednesday night at 10 pm (which is when I had to have them done because on Thursday I had to go to work.)
2) Work was crazy this week because I had somewhere I HAD to be at a certain time. The thing I have love/hated about my Smart Cookie job is that when I finish what I need to get done, I get to go home. Sometimes (usually) things take longer than I plan, but still, being single and free makes it easier to have a job like this.
However, this week I am babysitting some kids I used to nanny. Their parents left on Thursday afternoon and they wanted me there between 5-6. I didn't get there until 6:30, and I didn't finish everything I needed to at work. Friday I got the kids ready for school and then while they were at school, I was able to go to my class and then work. Before leaving, I first had to drop the youngest little boy off at a neighbor’s house; of course it took us 10 minutes to find his shoes, and then we had to go lock all the thousands of doors in their huge house, and then we had to actually go the neighbors house...all this put me 20 minutes behind, which made me miss half my class. THIS is one reason why I love being single...I know where all my shoes are, and I only have one door to lock behind me as I leave for school.
Then, after school I ran to work at Smart Cookie for a few hours praying that the other baker and I would be able to work at the speed of light to get everything done before I HAD to leave at 3:15 to go be at home when the kids got home from school (I know this would take a miracle, but anything is possible). I got to work only to have my boss call and say that he needed 200 sugar cookies ready by that night. Ummmmm.....the only thing I could do was feel really bad when I left the other baker alone at 3:15 to make those sugars; but, I had those little kids who needed me home. Basically, having a deadline with other people who are counting on you makes life really stressful.
I have learned that having little kids who can't be left alone makes it really hard to run an errand really quick. It makes it hard to run wedding dress shopping with your younger sister when she has to go right during the time when you need to be watching the kids (Rosey, now you have to write and explain yourself!) It makes it hard to get excited to play with little kids on a Friday night when your Winder cousins are all having a fun get together makes it hard to get excited to watch Princess Diaries with a 10 year old, 8 year old, and 5 year old. Going to High School Musical 3 with three kids instead of the BYU football game with your friends makes it hard to not just wish you were free as a bird.
Okay, I am done going off about how much I love being single. It is good for me to have these times every now and again because I know that I will someday miss them. I really am excited to get married and make dinner for someone every night. I am excited to have little kids (they are so funny and provide excellent entertainment everyday!) Today was crazy hair day at school. It was so fun to see how excited Ali got as we spiked her bangs and did a million ponytails all over her head (I have pictures and will post them soon!) It was fun and embarrassing to have a 5 year old beat me big time at checkers. It was fun to make dinner for the kids. It was/is fun (and a huge pain) to negotiate/laugh with a 15 year old who can be so nice one minute and then the biggest teenager ever and drive me crazy the next! It is such a reward to finally get the kids in bed at 9:30 and realize you finally have a little time to yourself. The list could go on and on, but I am excited to someday have a family of my own!
I am having a good time watching these kids. Wil is 5, Ali is 8, Sadie is 10, Sam is 12, and Spencer is 15. The two oldest are on a campout tonight, so that makes it a little bit easier (however, it makes a little bit scary.) This house is huge and I don’t like the thought of it being just me and three little kids. Life is good, but I can’t wait for things to get back to normal next week.
Love you all!
Janey
P.S. I know I complained about this house being too big with too many doors and being too scary...yeah...I didn't really mean all those things. It's great to live in a real home again for a few days. I have my own king size bed with my own huge bathroom. And, a huge countertop to bake culinary masterpeices on...ha, ha, ha.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Tender Mercies
I know I just made a post, but I had to share a tender mercy moment from this crazy week (it has been full of them.) As you just read in my other post, this past week has been crazy. I had to have three tests taken by Wednesday night, work at Smart Cookie Thurday and part of Friday, and then watch the Greer kids from Thursday night until Sunday evening. I was stressed out of my mind. I tried to get ready for my tests last week, but of course I just couldn't get enough in. I was stressed out of my mind, but ready to live my life in the Library to study my brains out. I was a little bit worried about this because I got very little sleep over the weekend and didn't know how much I was going to get throughout the week. This is important because I have learned I am a person who goes into panic mode if I haven’t gotten a good 8 hours of sleep. Well, Monday morning around 5 I randomly woke up vomiting. What?!! I haven't been sick to my stomach and actually thrown up in forever! Why now?
After getting that over with, I went to bed feeling better and thinking it was just a quick little thing and that I would still wake up and carry on with my classes like nothing had happened. Well, I woke up two more times to throw-up within the next two hours and concluded that I was defiantly sick and couldn't go to school. NOT GOOD! But, I slept until 11:00 and woke up feeling much better. I was able to go to my afternoon class and then get some studying done. Although I wasn't feeling perfect and I lacked energy, I was able to get some good studying done because I had gotten a good amount of sleep. I was exhausted by the end of Monday and was ready to go to bed by 10 (your termed a “looser” in college if you go to bed that early, UNLESS you have a good excuse like being sick :)) So, I got plenty of sleep that night and was able to get some good studying in on Tuesday too. The moral of this story is, being sick was gross, but I really think being sick was the only way I was going to force myself to stay in bed until I got the sleep I needed. I did pretty well on my tests and am not so grateful to have the week over with.
Love, Janey
P.S. I love reading everyone’s posts. I am so glad we have the blog!
After getting that over with, I went to bed feeling better and thinking it was just a quick little thing and that I would still wake up and carry on with my classes like nothing had happened. Well, I woke up two more times to throw-up within the next two hours and concluded that I was defiantly sick and couldn't go to school. NOT GOOD! But, I slept until 11:00 and woke up feeling much better. I was able to go to my afternoon class and then get some studying done. Although I wasn't feeling perfect and I lacked energy, I was able to get some good studying done because I had gotten a good amount of sleep. I was exhausted by the end of Monday and was ready to go to bed by 10 (your termed a “looser” in college if you go to bed that early, UNLESS you have a good excuse like being sick :)) So, I got plenty of sleep that night and was able to get some good studying in on Tuesday too. The moral of this story is, being sick was gross, but I really think being sick was the only way I was going to force myself to stay in bed until I got the sleep I needed. I did pretty well on my tests and am not so grateful to have the week over with.
Love, Janey
P.S. I love reading everyone’s posts. I am so glad we have the blog!
If you thought Bret was cute before...
Dear Family,
I just wanted you to know that Bret has, I think, officially started teething. Not only does a bit of water leak from his eye (its getting better, but his duct is still slightly clogged), liquid is coming out of his nose, and a stream like a fire hose comes from his mouth. He basically looks like he has run a 10K by the front of his shirt. It is awesome. I am also very flattered that he loves me so much, be he seems to suffer from a bit of separation anxiety...when I go to the bathroom....into the kitchen to grab something....to the other side of the same room...you get the idea. He, uh, how do I put this, well he is happiest when I am sitting right by him. oh yes, and looking at him. I guess you could call us "bosom buddies" :) Needless to say, I have sort of given up on getting much more accomplished than loving him during the day!
Love,
Stef
I just wanted you to know that Bret has, I think, officially started teething. Not only does a bit of water leak from his eye (its getting better, but his duct is still slightly clogged), liquid is coming out of his nose, and a stream like a fire hose comes from his mouth. He basically looks like he has run a 10K by the front of his shirt. It is awesome. I am also very flattered that he loves me so much, be he seems to suffer from a bit of separation anxiety...when I go to the bathroom....into the kitchen to grab something....to the other side of the same room...you get the idea. He, uh, how do I put this, well he is happiest when I am sitting right by him. oh yes, and looking at him. I guess you could call us "bosom buddies" :) Needless to say, I have sort of given up on getting much more accomplished than loving him during the day!
Love,
Stef
A Fairy Tale that may interest you
Hi guys,
Just made a post on our blog and wanted you all to check it out when you get time. We sure love you and miss having you here. Come back!!! :) www.nickandstef.blogspot.com
loves,
Stef and Prince Bret
Just made a post on our blog and wanted you all to check it out when you get time. We sure love you and miss having you here. Come back!!! :) www.nickandstef.blogspot.com
loves,
Stef and Prince Bret
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
50 is Tough!
Dear Family,
When I turned 50 a few months ago I decided that I would get my yearly physical and also do all the doctor suggested. So I went into see Dr Rada in August and he recommended lots of things - blood work, vacinnations, pap smear, mammogram, bone density test and the most dreaded of them all - a colonoscopy. I learned my blood is pretty good, my bones are dense enough, no lumps in the you-know-what (this is a family blog after all) and no cancer in the you-know-where. But today, this morning was the grand daddy test of them all - the colonscopy!
Probably the trickiest part of all this is the preparation. Only clear liquids all day yesterday. (And nothing with red, orange or purple dye) So I pretty much just had lemon jello juice, 7-up and chicken bouillon all day. I even made dinner and took it to a VT friend who just had a baby, and then watched dad and Max eat it while I sipped on my delicious bouillon! But that isn't the hard part. At 7 pm last night began the "Fleet" portion of the prep. Basically you are cleansing your bowels so need I say more? I actually shared some of this at FHE and dad and Max said "too much information!" So you do this little routine where you drink lots of water and take this discusting Fleet laxative drink and then go to bed. Ha ha. Who can sleep because now your bowels are very busy. Dad did say he enjoyed the company of seeing someone else have to get up at night. Then at 5 am you take Fleet bottle #2 just to make sure that you really are cleaned out - and drink more water and more water. Quite a night! Nice dad took time off work this morning and drove me to my 9 am appt. Nice thing is that they put you out and I don't remember a thing. Not a thing. But I did come home with pictures and boy do I have beautiful and healthy bowels. I'm just relieved it is all over and that they didn't find anything. I hope I have set the example for dad and all of you.
And a big thanks to dad who brought me home, tucked me in, and let me sleep this afternoon. He is so kind to me.
On other news, we had a year-end cleaning party at the pool last night. Then we came home and Max, dad and I pulled up our garden plants. Always so sad to see summer over. It is never long enough.
And I have to add what a nice time we had in St. George over the weekend. That was Stef's first trip to Zion National Park (I did it Nick, I called it Zion with no "s") and it is fun to be with someone who is there for the first time. And then to get to later tend sweet baby Bret and then hear them speak about families in sac mtg. Just a fabulous weekend and we feel very blessed! But we did so miss the rest of you. Janey was so kind to feed us homemade lasagna and tons of breadsticks when we got home on Sunday. I just love you all so much my heart is bursting.
Thanks everyone. Love, Mom
When I turned 50 a few months ago I decided that I would get my yearly physical and also do all the doctor suggested. So I went into see Dr Rada in August and he recommended lots of things - blood work, vacinnations, pap smear, mammogram, bone density test and the most dreaded of them all - a colonoscopy. I learned my blood is pretty good, my bones are dense enough, no lumps in the you-know-what (this is a family blog after all) and no cancer in the you-know-where. But today, this morning was the grand daddy test of them all - the colonscopy!
Probably the trickiest part of all this is the preparation. Only clear liquids all day yesterday. (And nothing with red, orange or purple dye) So I pretty much just had lemon jello juice, 7-up and chicken bouillon all day. I even made dinner and took it to a VT friend who just had a baby, and then watched dad and Max eat it while I sipped on my delicious bouillon! But that isn't the hard part. At 7 pm last night began the "Fleet" portion of the prep. Basically you are cleansing your bowels so need I say more? I actually shared some of this at FHE and dad and Max said "too much information!" So you do this little routine where you drink lots of water and take this discusting Fleet laxative drink and then go to bed. Ha ha. Who can sleep because now your bowels are very busy. Dad did say he enjoyed the company of seeing someone else have to get up at night. Then at 5 am you take Fleet bottle #2 just to make sure that you really are cleaned out - and drink more water and more water. Quite a night! Nice dad took time off work this morning and drove me to my 9 am appt. Nice thing is that they put you out and I don't remember a thing. Not a thing. But I did come home with pictures and boy do I have beautiful and healthy bowels. I'm just relieved it is all over and that they didn't find anything. I hope I have set the example for dad and all of you.
And a big thanks to dad who brought me home, tucked me in, and let me sleep this afternoon. He is so kind to me.
On other news, we had a year-end cleaning party at the pool last night. Then we came home and Max, dad and I pulled up our garden plants. Always so sad to see summer over. It is never long enough.
And I have to add what a nice time we had in St. George over the weekend. That was Stef's first trip to Zion National Park (I did it Nick, I called it Zion with no "s") and it is fun to be with someone who is there for the first time. And then to get to later tend sweet baby Bret and then hear them speak about families in sac mtg. Just a fabulous weekend and we feel very blessed! But we did so miss the rest of you. Janey was so kind to feed us homemade lasagna and tons of breadsticks when we got home on Sunday. I just love you all so much my heart is bursting.
Thanks everyone. Love, Mom
Links?
I just added Nick and Stef's new blog to the BAWB. Are there any other links we need to put on? I heard rumors that Kristi has a facebook site. Can we put that one out as a link?
Monday, October 20, 2008
Check out the photos!
http://picasaweb.google.com/bretbassett/Oct08
Hi gang,
As you review the photos, here's a photo writeup of what we've been doing.
Max started school - he then joined the volleyball team which was a first for him...and he had a great time even if they weren't the best team in the league.
Hikes - Mom went nuts going on hikes this summer/fall. She took a group up Timpanogas. Then she took Max and went on a hike to help them prepare for their big hike later in September. She and Max and Nick hiked the highest peak in Utah - King's peak. Then Janey called her and asked her if she wanted to hike somewhere. Of course Wendy took her up on that one. So they hiked Sunset peak and enjoyed all the fall leaves.
My 50th Birthday - While I don't have any pictures of the fun, still I've got to thank Mom and all who came and enjoyed my Birthday with me. Curt took me to a wonderful UofU football game on Thursday which they squeeked out in the last minute of the game. Then mom had the brothers and families come for some delicious stakes. Later on Saturday we opened presents. Thanks to all those who decided to contribute to 50 year celebration! And for those of my kids who decided to just give it a pass...I've got my eyes on you...:)
Conference - We enjoyed conference! It was great from the opening prayer through the final closing prayer from our own Elder Mark Nash. It was great having Nick/Stef and baby Bret up for conference. Blaine and Kristi listened in on their computer. Rosey went into the Conference center as is her tradition. Nick and Stef spent mornings at her folks. And Janey was cooking at work listening on the radio. But we all enjoyed it together! Max, Nick and I went into the conference center w/ Curt to enjoy Priesthood session. It was great...and then we went to Chinese Gourmet for our traditional post-priesthood meal. Sunday, mom made a great meal and we went to Matt and Aimee's for Winder Family meeting before Nick and Stef had to leave to head back to St George.
Temple - I performed a non-temple wedding late in September (Zak Rolf). And then we went to a temple wedding early in October (John Jolley). Schyler had gotten home from his mission in Portland just the day before. Wow! What a great thing it is to go to the temple and see the power of the spirit that is in those events vs the spirit at the weddings I am able to perform. That morning we had our first snow which stuck on the ground. I got some pictures on our way into the temple. Mom's flowers still look great.
2nd Sunday - We then enjoyed Bruce Dallin, and other October birthday's at the Bassett 2nd Sunday at Mom's. What a blessing it is to have a mom who loves to party! We had some spiritual thoughts from Mom, the regular rendition of 'If' by Rudyard Kipling, and a lot of great dinner and great refreshments. We also went around the room and had some fun talents shared. While all was great, my fav was to hear Richie sing his family songs! What fun songs....It was especially nice to see Tanner. After all his letters in the Bark, it's fun to see the man in the flesh!
UEA - This is the Utah Educators Association meetings. All educators take 2 days and go to meetings, leaving students (and families) to take 2 days of vacation. This year we were invited to join the yorgasons in St. George. It was a fun time with hikes, football and games at the park, Zion National Park, Texas Roadhouse, Church, lots of casual and wonderful meals, and lots of DVDs and even a movie (Eagle Eye - 2ThumbsUp). It's so nice to be able to get away from it all occassionally and we are so fortunate the Yorgasons are so kind to invite us to join in their fun. One of the things that made this trip to St. George so nice, was that Nick and Stef live there, and they happened to be speaking in Sacrament meeting...so we were delighted to be able to go to church with them and hear them speak. Oh the tender mercies we received.
We came home just in time on Sunday to be able to host a fireside with our stake to hear one of the associate historians of the church speak about his project - "The Joseph Smith Papers". (Richard Turley) He told us it will be 30-40 volumes, each volume of which will be 500-700 pages. He also said that the volumes we be of incredible quality and cost about $50 per volume.
Max is still going to rehearsals for the upcoming Stake Play. That will be in November.
We love you all so much!!
Hi gang,
As you review the photos, here's a photo writeup of what we've been doing.
Max started school - he then joined the volleyball team which was a first for him...and he had a great time even if they weren't the best team in the league.
Hikes - Mom went nuts going on hikes this summer/fall. She took a group up Timpanogas. Then she took Max and went on a hike to help them prepare for their big hike later in September. She and Max and Nick hiked the highest peak in Utah - King's peak. Then Janey called her and asked her if she wanted to hike somewhere. Of course Wendy took her up on that one. So they hiked Sunset peak and enjoyed all the fall leaves.
My 50th Birthday - While I don't have any pictures of the fun, still I've got to thank Mom and all who came and enjoyed my Birthday with me. Curt took me to a wonderful UofU football game on Thursday which they squeeked out in the last minute of the game. Then mom had the brothers and families come for some delicious stakes. Later on Saturday we opened presents. Thanks to all those who decided to contribute to 50 year celebration! And for those of my kids who decided to just give it a pass...I've got my eyes on you...:)
Conference - We enjoyed conference! It was great from the opening prayer through the final closing prayer from our own Elder Mark Nash. It was great having Nick/Stef and baby Bret up for conference. Blaine and Kristi listened in on their computer. Rosey went into the Conference center as is her tradition. Nick and Stef spent mornings at her folks. And Janey was cooking at work listening on the radio. But we all enjoyed it together! Max, Nick and I went into the conference center w/ Curt to enjoy Priesthood session. It was great...and then we went to Chinese Gourmet for our traditional post-priesthood meal. Sunday, mom made a great meal and we went to Matt and Aimee's for Winder Family meeting before Nick and Stef had to leave to head back to St George.
Temple - I performed a non-temple wedding late in September (Zak Rolf). And then we went to a temple wedding early in October (John Jolley). Schyler had gotten home from his mission in Portland just the day before. Wow! What a great thing it is to go to the temple and see the power of the spirit that is in those events vs the spirit at the weddings I am able to perform. That morning we had our first snow which stuck on the ground. I got some pictures on our way into the temple. Mom's flowers still look great.
2nd Sunday - We then enjoyed Bruce Dallin, and other October birthday's at the Bassett 2nd Sunday at Mom's. What a blessing it is to have a mom who loves to party! We had some spiritual thoughts from Mom, the regular rendition of 'If' by Rudyard Kipling, and a lot of great dinner and great refreshments. We also went around the room and had some fun talents shared. While all was great, my fav was to hear Richie sing his family songs! What fun songs....It was especially nice to see Tanner. After all his letters in the Bark, it's fun to see the man in the flesh!
UEA - This is the Utah Educators Association meetings. All educators take 2 days and go to meetings, leaving students (and families) to take 2 days of vacation. This year we were invited to join the yorgasons in St. George. It was a fun time with hikes, football and games at the park, Zion National Park, Texas Roadhouse, Church, lots of casual and wonderful meals, and lots of DVDs and even a movie (Eagle Eye - 2ThumbsUp). It's so nice to be able to get away from it all occassionally and we are so fortunate the Yorgasons are so kind to invite us to join in their fun. One of the things that made this trip to St. George so nice, was that Nick and Stef live there, and they happened to be speaking in Sacrament meeting...so we were delighted to be able to go to church with them and hear them speak. Oh the tender mercies we received.
We came home just in time on Sunday to be able to host a fireside with our stake to hear one of the associate historians of the church speak about his project - "The Joseph Smith Papers". (Richard Turley) He told us it will be 30-40 volumes, each volume of which will be 500-700 pages. He also said that the volumes we be of incredible quality and cost about $50 per volume.
Max is still going to rehearsals for the upcoming Stake Play. That will be in November.
We love you all so much!!
I love this family...
I have just been sitting here reading all the posts (and comments-my personal favorite part of blogging) thinking about how grateful I am to be a part of this family that loves each other so much. You all just make my day as I just read and laugh about everything that is going on....Thanks for being so fantastic...especially you Mom and Dad, thanks for all you do! I am so grateful to be a part of such a close knit, strong, loving, fun, hilarious family! I sure love you all....thanks for the laughs on the blog.
Love, Rosey
Kris....we will just have to see about the whole wedding thing:) Wouldn't want to break our pattern of moving slower than molassas..
Ok that just reminded me of a good story, so I made a suprise visit to Jeff last Wednesday (the beginning of Fall Break) anyways he kind of figured out I was coming because I am a horrible liar, but everything went really well....even the whole "ending scene" by my car at 12:30 in the morning. So we are sitting there talking/hugging (just a little..by the way Mom that is where holding hands leads you:) Anyways then our sentences both just kind of stopped and we were just blankly staring at eachother (ok not blankly, but I don't want this to sound mushy because mushy is lame:) Anyways, we both totally wanted to kiss and probably would have but right was we were leaning in for the kill, a car pulls into his circle....it was his older "engaged" sister. So we both just turned our heads and of course let go of eachother and smiled at her...as she got out of the car she was just quickly saying, "I am sorry, I am so sorry"....it was pretty dang funny in my opinion, anyways no exciting news for this week. But life is good. Hope this made sense, sorry if it didn't....loves
Love, Rosey
Kris....we will just have to see about the whole wedding thing:) Wouldn't want to break our pattern of moving slower than molassas..
Ok that just reminded me of a good story, so I made a suprise visit to Jeff last Wednesday (the beginning of Fall Break) anyways he kind of figured out I was coming because I am a horrible liar, but everything went really well....even the whole "ending scene" by my car at 12:30 in the morning. So we are sitting there talking/hugging (just a little..by the way Mom that is where holding hands leads you:) Anyways then our sentences both just kind of stopped and we were just blankly staring at eachother (ok not blankly, but I don't want this to sound mushy because mushy is lame:) Anyways, we both totally wanted to kiss and probably would have but right was we were leaning in for the kill, a car pulls into his circle....it was his older "engaged" sister. So we both just turned our heads and of course let go of eachother and smiled at her...as she got out of the car she was just quickly saying, "I am sorry, I am so sorry"....it was pretty dang funny in my opinion, anyways no exciting news for this week. But life is good. Hope this made sense, sorry if it didn't....loves
Friday, October 17, 2008
Pulling my thoughts out to the surface
Well, reading Kristi's letter made me so happy. I've totally been meaning to write a big post forever and I get so intimidated by writing an actual post that I never feel like I have time to do it. I feel like I contribute at least as much as anyone else to the blog because I read it everyday and I usually write novellas in the comment section of nearly every post. I was about to do the same for Kristi's post but I thought if I'm going to type it anyway, I may as well pull out my thoughts to the surface and create an actual post.
Anyway, the main thing is the van, which Kris described well. It's always scary to make big purchases but I actually feel really good about this one (you can tell that Kris is still working up to this feeling...) Especially ever since I figured out how to get the DVD audio working. Man, that was a lot tougher than I thought. I feel like a smart guy and it seems so obvious now but I really did have a tough time figuring out exactly how the A/V was set up (in my defense it is an aftermarket player with no documentation and all the wires are hidden so I can't even see what's wired to what--thus I was left with nothing but logic: "How would I set this up?") We haven't sold the Yaris yet but we actually did have an offer already for $600 more than we paid for it and we turned it down because we thought we could do better. It goes to show how great of a deal we really got on that little car but I will say that I'm sweating it a little now and we may soon go back and take that offer if it still stands :)
Work has been really weird lately. I don't know a really good word to describe it. It's not really bad. I guess I could call it good a lot of days. But it's so different from other times that I would have called "good". Basically I am in between projects. This means that I'm spending about a quarter to half of my time doing little things to maintain the other two projects I've done, which is pretty easy and fun most of the time, and the other half to 3 quarters of the time "researching". Researching, at least the researching I've been doing, is often not unlike Rosey's description of how she wishes school was. I have loose goals in the back of my mind but I spend hours just kind of meandering and trying to create this picture of how all these things work so that I know what the heck I'm talking about when I have a meeting with management every so often to update them on the "status of the research". It's a lot like walking into a huge, dark gymnasium with a flashlight. You shine the light around and start seeing some interesting things--there are some chairs here, some decorations there, a big--what is this thing--a stage of some sort?, a table here with various things on it...you get the idea. So with this little light, you can only see one small thing at a time which makes it an interesting challenge to see the big picture of whatever is actually set up. So you wander around with your flashlight. Sometimes you spend a while in one spot and learn it really well; other times you try to move across the whole thing and get some kind of feel for what the big picture is. Both ways have value and it is kind of an iterative process. Every time you delve into the details, the big picture makes a little more sense and every time you look at the wide view there are less mysteries. So you go back and forth--zoomed in with good light and zoomed out with washed out light. Hopefully you can kind of follow me. I think it's a really good analogy of learning but I haven't had time to think through it and write it well. Anyway, you get the idea. Research makes for a "weird" time at work because you don't really end up with anything other than you can walk around the dark room easier than anyone else because you know your way a bit better and you have the best chance of actually being able to do something in that room or recreating it somewhere else.
Anyway, wow, I'm really just letting my fingers type with no real filter on so I'll stop here and try to think of something better for next time. But anyway, I posted finally! Thanks to all of you for setting the example--the BAWB has been a real happening place lately which gives me a smile each day. It's so fun to hear about all your lives so thanks for taking the time to write!
Anyway, the main thing is the van, which Kris described well. It's always scary to make big purchases but I actually feel really good about this one (you can tell that Kris is still working up to this feeling...) Especially ever since I figured out how to get the DVD audio working. Man, that was a lot tougher than I thought. I feel like a smart guy and it seems so obvious now but I really did have a tough time figuring out exactly how the A/V was set up (in my defense it is an aftermarket player with no documentation and all the wires are hidden so I can't even see what's wired to what--thus I was left with nothing but logic: "How would I set this up?") We haven't sold the Yaris yet but we actually did have an offer already for $600 more than we paid for it and we turned it down because we thought we could do better. It goes to show how great of a deal we really got on that little car but I will say that I'm sweating it a little now and we may soon go back and take that offer if it still stands :)
Work has been really weird lately. I don't know a really good word to describe it. It's not really bad. I guess I could call it good a lot of days. But it's so different from other times that I would have called "good". Basically I am in between projects. This means that I'm spending about a quarter to half of my time doing little things to maintain the other two projects I've done, which is pretty easy and fun most of the time, and the other half to 3 quarters of the time "researching". Researching, at least the researching I've been doing, is often not unlike Rosey's description of how she wishes school was. I have loose goals in the back of my mind but I spend hours just kind of meandering and trying to create this picture of how all these things work so that I know what the heck I'm talking about when I have a meeting with management every so often to update them on the "status of the research". It's a lot like walking into a huge, dark gymnasium with a flashlight. You shine the light around and start seeing some interesting things--there are some chairs here, some decorations there, a big--what is this thing--a stage of some sort?, a table here with various things on it...you get the idea. So with this little light, you can only see one small thing at a time which makes it an interesting challenge to see the big picture of whatever is actually set up. So you wander around with your flashlight. Sometimes you spend a while in one spot and learn it really well; other times you try to move across the whole thing and get some kind of feel for what the big picture is. Both ways have value and it is kind of an iterative process. Every time you delve into the details, the big picture makes a little more sense and every time you look at the wide view there are less mysteries. So you go back and forth--zoomed in with good light and zoomed out with washed out light. Hopefully you can kind of follow me. I think it's a really good analogy of learning but I haven't had time to think through it and write it well. Anyway, you get the idea. Research makes for a "weird" time at work because you don't really end up with anything other than you can walk around the dark room easier than anyone else because you know your way a bit better and you have the best chance of actually being able to do something in that room or recreating it somewhere else.
Anyway, wow, I'm really just letting my fingers type with no real filter on so I'll stop here and try to think of something better for next time. But anyway, I posted finally! Thanks to all of you for setting the example--the BAWB has been a real happening place lately which gives me a smile each day. It's so fun to hear about all your lives so thanks for taking the time to write!
A new addition...
Well, what a week! We decided since the economy is in turmoil and our savings is dismal that now would be a very opportunistic time to make another addition to our family.....
Meet our new 2004 Toyota Sienna. (I just spent like ten minutes trying to come up with a really witty name to name the van and it wasn't working, I reserve the right to wittily name our van later).
It all started when we realized that the kids wouldn't all fit in the back seat of the Accord and got all starry-eyed about the current promotion being offered on 2008 Odysseys. The deal was amazing, but unfortunately they couldn't take our lease off of our hands.
So we started looking at used mini-vans and about an hour after we started looking at used mini-vans we stopped because we found one that seemed to be a pretty good deal. Plus it had a DVD player, and that is the most important thing.
TA-DA! Most expensive DVD player in the world : )
I've enjoyed driving it but do feel a little gluttonous driving it with just the two kids. Luckily soon there will be three. It seats 8, so four of you can come to visit at a time and we can all drive together in one van. Isn't that nice?
It's been fun but until we can sell the Yaris it kind of just makes me nauseous. If we can sell the Yaris for what we hope to then we won't owe too much more on the van, and then I will be able to sleep peacefully at night once again.
So there is the surprise, we are hoping that this will make it easier for us to get back to Utah once in a while.
In other news.....
What a crazy day. I went VT in the morning and was supposed to go to a friends to have our kids play at 11:30AM. On the way there Bentley was a mess because he hadn't had his morning nap and I got a call that someone who lives an entire neighborhood away had seen our dogs running around over there. So I dropped off Gwen and went on a manhunt for the dogs; which couldn't last too long because I had mooched a trip to Costco off of another friend at 1:00PM. Never did find the dogs, and was sad to miss the play date and all Bentley wanted in the whole world was to come home and go to bad. Poor second kids, they never get their naps and I am pretty sure it only gets worse with three. Or maybe it will get better since I will be homebound : ) Anyway when I got home from Costco the dogs were running around our house so... I guess they either found their own way home or someone dropped them off. Either way, they drive me crazy. Except they do kind of earn their keep by cleaning up all of Bentley's food that he chucks across the room. : )
Other than that....Gwen is loving preschool. She is usually very happy when I pick her up. I miss her while she is gone but really enjoy the time to spend with just Bentley or, more than likely, to sleep. They are teaching her how to write her name and it's really cute. She comes home with hundreds of paintings and drawings and stuff everyday and I usually only keep something sentimental-- like handprints or something she really put her heart into, and then throw the rest away and without fail she will see it in the garbage (even when I go to the trouble of putting it in the outside garbage) and look at me with tears in her eyes and ask why I threw away her preschool stuff. I am beginning to see why mom shave boxes upon boxes of preschool art, it's not necessarily that they wanted to keep everything : )
Bentley is so dang cute. I bought him a little walker at a garage sale (best five dollars I ever spent!) and he just cruises around downstairs like it's nobody's business. He laps around the stairs, chases Gwen, pulls everything off the fridge and even runs to the door when Blaine gets home. It's really cute. And it really hurts when he runs over your toes.
It's starting to cool down finally! And we actually got some rain. It truly NEVER rained this whole summer. Not even once that I can remember, so it was very welcome the last two days when we got some rain. Our lawn greened right up and grew like three inches. The earth here was very thirsty! It is such a different midset here. Yesterday the temperature was between 70-75 all day and truly you would have thought we were anticipating a blizzard. Sweaters and coats abounded. My kids were wearing capris and flip flops because, hello, it's not that cold. Anyway, hopefully Texas won't make pansies out of us. Though I am glad for this time of year when we get the nice weather. This is the season when people can actually go on walks or go to the park during the daytime. It's nice.
I've found my new calling in life and it is in the culinary arts. I love to bake and cook and whip up new things. I used to stick to recipes and now I love to improvise and try my own things and experiment. Our Bosch is so happy that it gets used on a daily basis. Yesterday I made a new thing for dinner (peppered tomato and basil linguine), made bran muffins and gingerbread butterskotch cookies. I love it! I don't love the mess, but I love trying new things. I make our own bread, which is hard because it is so tempting to buy it at the store, but mine is so much better. So sometimes if I haven't made any for a while I have to send Gwen with a really random lunch to preschool....one week she had a weight watchers fiber bar. I really wonder what her teacher thought of me that day! I wish I could bake for y'all. I would love it!
Hmmmm... I got selected to do a focus group next week. It will be an hour and forty five minutes and pays $105, not too bad. I'm excited! Usually Blaine gets to go but this time they choose me : ).
I've gained like a million pounds this pregnancy and my back always, always hurts. I am scared to have three kids, but man I sure don't like being pregnant. I'm excited for the pregnancy to be over and hope to not be pregnant again for a loooong time (can you blame me, I've been pregnant for almost two years straight). We are excited to meet this little girl though. She sure is active! I mean, realllly active. And going solely off how often I have heartburn I think she is going to have lots of hair.
We love our little family. Gwen and Bentley are so fun to watch interact. I take Bentley in when I wake Gwen from her nap and she just gets the biggest smile on her face. And she just cracks him up. I don't even know what she does, but leave those two alone in a room for a minute and laughter immediately follows. People say the oldest is spoiled because he/she gets so much attention from parents, but I have to say, seeing the special relationship B and G have with eachother makes me feel so bad for Gwen that she couldn't have that when she was little. Seriously, I love these kids, SO MUCH. I don't get to gush about them on my blog like I would like to. So sorry to do it here, but they are my whole life and I love them to pieces.
Well, this was kind of long and boring. It's because I am so tired. I'm going to go take a nap before my kids wake up!
Love,
Kris
Meet our new 2004 Toyota Sienna. (I just spent like ten minutes trying to come up with a really witty name to name the van and it wasn't working, I reserve the right to wittily name our van later).
It all started when we realized that the kids wouldn't all fit in the back seat of the Accord and got all starry-eyed about the current promotion being offered on 2008 Odysseys. The deal was amazing, but unfortunately they couldn't take our lease off of our hands.
So we started looking at used mini-vans and about an hour after we started looking at used mini-vans we stopped because we found one that seemed to be a pretty good deal. Plus it had a DVD player, and that is the most important thing.
TA-DA! Most expensive DVD player in the world : )
I've enjoyed driving it but do feel a little gluttonous driving it with just the two kids. Luckily soon there will be three. It seats 8, so four of you can come to visit at a time and we can all drive together in one van. Isn't that nice?
It's been fun but until we can sell the Yaris it kind of just makes me nauseous. If we can sell the Yaris for what we hope to then we won't owe too much more on the van, and then I will be able to sleep peacefully at night once again.
So there is the surprise, we are hoping that this will make it easier for us to get back to Utah once in a while.
In other news.....
What a crazy day. I went VT in the morning and was supposed to go to a friends to have our kids play at 11:30AM. On the way there Bentley was a mess because he hadn't had his morning nap and I got a call that someone who lives an entire neighborhood away had seen our dogs running around over there. So I dropped off Gwen and went on a manhunt for the dogs; which couldn't last too long because I had mooched a trip to Costco off of another friend at 1:00PM. Never did find the dogs, and was sad to miss the play date and all Bentley wanted in the whole world was to come home and go to bad. Poor second kids, they never get their naps and I am pretty sure it only gets worse with three. Or maybe it will get better since I will be homebound : ) Anyway when I got home from Costco the dogs were running around our house so... I guess they either found their own way home or someone dropped them off. Either way, they drive me crazy. Except they do kind of earn their keep by cleaning up all of Bentley's food that he chucks across the room. : )
Other than that....Gwen is loving preschool. She is usually very happy when I pick her up. I miss her while she is gone but really enjoy the time to spend with just Bentley or, more than likely, to sleep. They are teaching her how to write her name and it's really cute. She comes home with hundreds of paintings and drawings and stuff everyday and I usually only keep something sentimental-- like handprints or something she really put her heart into, and then throw the rest away and without fail she will see it in the garbage (even when I go to the trouble of putting it in the outside garbage) and look at me with tears in her eyes and ask why I threw away her preschool stuff. I am beginning to see why mom shave boxes upon boxes of preschool art, it's not necessarily that they wanted to keep everything : )
Bentley is so dang cute. I bought him a little walker at a garage sale (best five dollars I ever spent!) and he just cruises around downstairs like it's nobody's business. He laps around the stairs, chases Gwen, pulls everything off the fridge and even runs to the door when Blaine gets home. It's really cute. And it really hurts when he runs over your toes.
It's starting to cool down finally! And we actually got some rain. It truly NEVER rained this whole summer. Not even once that I can remember, so it was very welcome the last two days when we got some rain. Our lawn greened right up and grew like three inches. The earth here was very thirsty! It is such a different midset here. Yesterday the temperature was between 70-75 all day and truly you would have thought we were anticipating a blizzard. Sweaters and coats abounded. My kids were wearing capris and flip flops because, hello, it's not that cold. Anyway, hopefully Texas won't make pansies out of us. Though I am glad for this time of year when we get the nice weather. This is the season when people can actually go on walks or go to the park during the daytime. It's nice.
I've found my new calling in life and it is in the culinary arts. I love to bake and cook and whip up new things. I used to stick to recipes and now I love to improvise and try my own things and experiment. Our Bosch is so happy that it gets used on a daily basis. Yesterday I made a new thing for dinner (peppered tomato and basil linguine), made bran muffins and gingerbread butterskotch cookies. I love it! I don't love the mess, but I love trying new things. I make our own bread, which is hard because it is so tempting to buy it at the store, but mine is so much better. So sometimes if I haven't made any for a while I have to send Gwen with a really random lunch to preschool....one week she had a weight watchers fiber bar. I really wonder what her teacher thought of me that day! I wish I could bake for y'all. I would love it!
Hmmmm... I got selected to do a focus group next week. It will be an hour and forty five minutes and pays $105, not too bad. I'm excited! Usually Blaine gets to go but this time they choose me : ).
I've gained like a million pounds this pregnancy and my back always, always hurts. I am scared to have three kids, but man I sure don't like being pregnant. I'm excited for the pregnancy to be over and hope to not be pregnant again for a loooong time (can you blame me, I've been pregnant for almost two years straight). We are excited to meet this little girl though. She sure is active! I mean, realllly active. And going solely off how often I have heartburn I think she is going to have lots of hair.
We love our little family. Gwen and Bentley are so fun to watch interact. I take Bentley in when I wake Gwen from her nap and she just gets the biggest smile on her face. And she just cracks him up. I don't even know what she does, but leave those two alone in a room for a minute and laughter immediately follows. People say the oldest is spoiled because he/she gets so much attention from parents, but I have to say, seeing the special relationship B and G have with eachother makes me feel so bad for Gwen that she couldn't have that when she was little. Seriously, I love these kids, SO MUCH. I don't get to gush about them on my blog like I would like to. So sorry to do it here, but they are my whole life and I love them to pieces.
Well, this was kind of long and boring. It's because I am so tired. I'm going to go take a nap before my kids wake up!
Love,
Kris
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Sorry
Dear Family (from mom)
I didn't mean to get everyone/anyone overly excited about anything. If you haven't figured out Blaine and Kristi's surprise lets just say that it is bigger than a bread box and has 4 wheels. I didn't mean to cause a stir, or to pressure them. It was just that when I started writing my last post I was thinking about them but I didn't want to spoil their surprise. Sorry. Love you all!
I didn't mean to get everyone/anyone overly excited about anything. If you haven't figured out Blaine and Kristi's surprise lets just say that it is bigger than a bread box and has 4 wheels. I didn't mean to cause a stir, or to pressure them. It was just that when I started writing my last post I was thinking about them but I didn't want to spoil their surprise. Sorry. Love you all!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Alright, alright I'll say it...
Well...I wasnt sure how much I wanted this to get all over the web. But its a little too late for that, so I'll just say it. I held hands with Kristen on Friday! I got permission from mom and dad on Monday at Family night. Then on Friday night we went over to my friends Zach's house and watched I am Legend. And at the scariest part, BOOM!! I did it. hahaha. Now don't worry Rosey, I am mature enought to know not to be kissing her before I'm 16! I'm sorry I havent called anyone, I didnt know how much you wanted to hear about it. Im sorry I didnt tell anyone. Now you all know though. Love you all,
Max
Max
Whoa Whoa Whoa....
Excuse me...I don't know if it is because I am ugly, scary, or just plain mean....but I would like to know if Max really did hold a girls hand, and if so why I have not heard about it!!! Max you are in BIG TROUBLE...not because you did it (that is another issue) but because you did not tell me. See if I tell you about the first time I kiss Jeff, you'll probably never find out now :) Ok ok...you know I will tell you when it happens because I am so dog gone excited but still I need to know these things!!! And I don't want to start a big deal but is that legal in this family....because I will tell you where holding hands led me and Jeffrey to, Max is a little young for that mature stuff! Ha ha ha...I want full details please and thank you. Love you little brother, no matter what you did or didn't do. :)
Love, Rosey
Love, Rosey
Life is good...
Dear Family, it has been a long time since I have written to the Bawb and I really am going to try and do better at writing in it more. I'm sitting here listening to Ben Folds who is probably now one of my favorite artists. I started listening to him a lot after our big Disneyland trip. :)
Life has been great over here. I'm doing the stake play and thats going...pretty well (some practices are better than others.) It's been fun, there just arent as many people as I was expecting, probably because I was expecting as many people that were in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We're doing a musical review with songs from Hairspray, Mamma Mia, High School Musical, Little Mermaid, Jungle Book (for the kids) and Wicked. I'm probably forgetting one though. I'm in: "Get ya Head in the Game," (High School Musical) "Nicest Kids in Town" (Hairspray) "Mamma Mia", and then the group ones which is like "Dancing Queen" and "I have a dream." (Mamma Mia) We will perform Nov. 19, 20, and 21.
Volleyball season is now over and won one game! I did learn a lot more by losing than if we would've been undefeated. We beat brockbank, the scores were 26, 24 they beat us on that one. The second one was 25, 12 and we won! The third score was 25 20! So I felt really good about that game, especially since that was the only game dad could come to. I wish Blaine could have seen that one instead of the other one he did see against Bennion. The game after that was our last game at Kearns and we lost! I did learn a lot though during the season, especially since I didnt know how to play volleyball when I started and now I know all the rules and stuff.
Overall, life has been pretty great. 9th grade is awesome!! I'm still really liking it! I hang out with my friends almost every weekend. On saturday, we were going to go to a haunted house, but it ended being about 20 dollars per person and Tanner was here and he didnt have that much money. And so we ended up not going to that, but we stayed and invited the kids that went to come and watch "Iron Man" when it was over. It was fun, and I didnt have to spend 20 dollars, so it all worked out. :) But it's been a really great year! I'm greatful for mom and dad and how much they help me at home, and I love all you guys. Thanks so much for always writing and I'm going to try and do better at writing about whats going on.
Thanks,
Max
Life has been great over here. I'm doing the stake play and thats going...pretty well (some practices are better than others.) It's been fun, there just arent as many people as I was expecting, probably because I was expecting as many people that were in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We're doing a musical review with songs from Hairspray, Mamma Mia, High School Musical, Little Mermaid, Jungle Book (for the kids) and Wicked. I'm probably forgetting one though. I'm in: "Get ya Head in the Game," (High School Musical) "Nicest Kids in Town" (Hairspray) "Mamma Mia", and then the group ones which is like "Dancing Queen" and "I have a dream." (Mamma Mia) We will perform Nov. 19, 20, and 21.
Volleyball season is now over and won one game! I did learn a lot more by losing than if we would've been undefeated. We beat brockbank, the scores were 26, 24 they beat us on that one. The second one was 25, 12 and we won! The third score was 25 20! So I felt really good about that game, especially since that was the only game dad could come to. I wish Blaine could have seen that one instead of the other one he did see against Bennion. The game after that was our last game at Kearns and we lost! I did learn a lot though during the season, especially since I didnt know how to play volleyball when I started and now I know all the rules and stuff.
Overall, life has been pretty great. 9th grade is awesome!! I'm still really liking it! I hang out with my friends almost every weekend. On saturday, we were going to go to a haunted house, but it ended being about 20 dollars per person and Tanner was here and he didnt have that much money. And so we ended up not going to that, but we stayed and invited the kids that went to come and watch "Iron Man" when it was over. It was fun, and I didnt have to spend 20 dollars, so it all worked out. :) But it's been a really great year! I'm greatful for mom and dad and how much they help me at home, and I love all you guys. Thanks so much for always writing and I'm going to try and do better at writing about whats going on.
Thanks,
Max
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