Nostalgic

Nostalgic

Pronunciation:
\nä-ˈstal-jə, nə- also nȯ-, nō-; nə-ˈstäl-\
1. a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time: a nostalgia for his college days.
2. something that elicits or displays nostalgia.

Last night we attended a farewell open house for Steve and Marilyn Adams. They are leaving to serve a mission in the Phillipines. Their son Les was one of Adam's best friends in high school and consequetially a good friend of mine as well. I ate lunch with Les almost every day our senior year. During high school and in the years that followed we developed a close relationship with the Adam's family. Many a day was spent at the Adam's house watching movies or just hanging out. There were seven boys in all. As they married we also developed relationships with the wifes. I love this family!

Les and his wife Elise are expecting their third baby. They've moved to Colorado now so we don't see them much but I keep up with their family via their blog. Les was such a great friend and it's so fun watching his family grow. I wish they were just a little closer.

This is Tara and Dianne. I've watched coutless soccer games with these two girls! I haven't seen either of them for years but I felt right at home with them. Dianne gave me the best sisterly advice when I was pregnant with Matthais. We talked about things NOBODY else had told me. I've always looked up to her and her amazing spirit. Tara is the sweetest, most down to earth person. I hope to be able to her her more often now that they are back in Utah.

This is Clay and his wife Natalie and Adam and his wife Cheryl, two of my favorite people from high school. Clay is a riot and always has something funny to say. Adam's wife Cheryl is absolutely darling and I can see why he fell in love with her.

Being here with these people (in the same church Adam and I attended for 7 years BTW) made me very nostalgic. Not because that time in my life was any better than it is now, just different. I miss times spent with dear friends that have made my life better. I miss our friendships. I miss the fun things we did together. I miss the food fights in the lunch room. The great thing is that we can always pick up where we left off. I think that is one of the things that make a true friend. No matter how long it's been since you've seen each other, when you're together it seems like only yesterday. I love you guys!

Exhaustion

Anyone else as tired as me? I feel like I've been going 1000 mph and barely had time to catch my breath. It's always like that when Adam is gone and I'm on my own. How do single moms do it? How do military moms do it? I don't sleep well when he's gone and the stress alone in enough to do me in. I also wanted the house to look good when Adam came home yesterday which was no easy task. Everything falls apart when I'm on my own but I don't want him to know that. I want him to think I'm a strong capable woman who can handle her four kids. I don't want him to worry about me while he's gone. So, I wanted the house clean. Six, yes SIX hours of cleaning and it looked acceptable. By time he got home around 8:00 I wanted to plop into bed. Of course I was excited to see him and wanted to catch up and do a little snuggling but I was exhausted! I think I finally gave into sleep around 10:00 and slept until 7:45! I woke up in a panic realizing how late it was at that Ian's bus would be here in 5 minutes! The whole house was quiet and everyone was still sleeping so I put the "no bus" sign on the door and climbed back in bed. I could have easily fallen back asleep but I knew I needed to start my day so I just lied there. So here I am now....it's after noon and I'm still dragging my feet wishing I could crawl back into bed. But alas, I'm a busy mom and I have a hungry kid. Exhaustion will just have to wait!

Girls night in

I decided that while Adam was out of town I'd need a little social life to keep me sane. I hosted a girls night in last night and we had a lot of fun playing games and eating. There is just something therapeutic sitting with friends, laughing and chatting. I can't wait to do it again! By request here are the recipes...


Fruit Salsa

3 apples ( I like to use 3 varieties)
2 Kiwi
1 pint strawberries
2 T apple jelly
1 T brown sugar
2 T orange juice

I've also made it omitting the apple jelly and brown sugar and I didn't notice a difference.
Peel and chop and mix it all up! Yummy with taco time's cinnamon crustos!

Enchilada dip

2 lbs cooked chicken
10 oz enchilada sauce (I used medium)
2-8oz packages cream cheese
4 cups shredded pepper jack cheese (both times I've made this I opted for the "taco" cheese. It's found already shredded and has taco seasonings in it)

Melt everything together. I threw it all in a crock pot and just let it all melt and then it kept it warm also. Serve with corn chips.

Look what I learned how to do!

I canned my own chicken! I know, I know, it looks kinda weird but I promise it's totally safe. Now I want a pressure cooker of my own to do more!

Saying Good bye

Last night we said good bye to David and Julie and their family. I feel bad because when they're here I realize how much I miss them but once they're gone life just goes back to normal and I don't make an effort to keep in touch with them. I want to do better! Here are some of my favorite pics from our get together

David and Julie

Owen and Macey are 6 weeks apart and they've just discovered each other. As Macey was getting ready to leave she wanted to give Owen a hug. I told Owen that she wanted a hug and he thought that would be ok and they gave each other the cutest little hug. After Macey decided she wanted to give him a kiss. I told Owen that Macey wanted a kiss and he said "NOOOOOO!" She leaned in anyway and gave him a kiss on the cheek. So cute!

The first thing you notice when you walk into the house is all the shoes. There were so many I couldn't even get them all into the picture!

Ian was in rare form last night. He was very playful and lovey with his uncles.

The girls alway flock to uncle John Jay. They love to climb all over him and he is so cute with them.

It's always fun when we get together!

Matthais Macgyver?

What do you get when you give this...

one of these?

Here is the story...So yesterday Matthais found his knife that grandpa gave him. I've had it for "safe keeping" as in keeping Ian and Owen safe from slicing off their fingers. Owen found it last week so I put it on Adam's dresser until I could find another safe place to keep it but Matthais found it before I had a chance. Little did I know he was carrying it around yesterday but as it turns out I'm glad he was.

We left the little kids with my mom while we took Matthais to the Draper temple dedication. After we enjoyed a pizza dinner with my family. We had a lot of fun but we were in a bit of a hurry to head out to Saratoga Springs to say goodbye to David and Julie and to be part of Brayden's ordination. We rounded our little brood up and headed to the van only to discover Adam had locked the keys in the van. It was deja vu because this same thing happened last time my mom watched the kids for me...only this time Ian was not in the van (you can read about that here!! We hauled the kids back inside to figure out what to do next. Should we call the police to have them come unlock the van? I was a little worried they'd recognize the house and van as being a repeat offender and they'd charge me! Adam thought we should just go get the spare key at home so we were making arrangements for my brother and his wife to drive Adam home when Matthais came running in telling us he had unlocked it. Here is the reenactment


He is either Macgyver or a car thief in the making...either way, don't you think it's kinda scary that my locked van can be opened with a pocket knife? I guess I'd better not leave any valuables in it! And hey...who needs a hide-a-key? I'm just gonna start carrying a knife!

My new friend

I'm a big fan of anything that will make my life easier. I am one of those that is completely happy getting a vacuum for my birthday or a waffle iron for Christmas (yes, It has happened and I was thrilled!). After we put in our hardwood floors I was thrilled that I could wipe up the spilled milk with ease but I found out how much I HATE sweeping. Before I was vacuuming up to six times a day but now all of a sudden I was sweeping like every 10 minutes. And lets face it...vacuuming is so much easier! Another problem I discovered was that while I swept the wood floor, I had three rugs that needed to be vacuumed. So, I would haul up the vacuum to vacuum the rugs, then haul it back downstairs where in now lives. Anyway, I've been searching for a better solution. I've looked at the swifter vac, the shark, and other hard floor vacuums. But...I found something even better!

Meet the Hoover floormate
This baby vacuums, washes the floor and then dries it. I sent Adam the link and asked if I could pretty please have one. He wanted to take a look at it first but wouldn't you know it? No one has it in stock. Saddened, I resolved myself to a life of sweeping and carrying a heavy vacuum up and down the stairs daily. (poor me!) Well, Saturday, while we were in a desperate search for a white hankie, we found one at Sears. Adam took a look at it and approved. I'm in love! It vacuumed the floor and the rugs and then it washed it! and it was so easy! It will also clean up those spilled cups of milk! No more stinky rags waiting to be washed! Now if I could only figure out a way for my kids to quit spilling in the first place...