Shake Out!

Yawlin text to Huh:  “Earthquake! I broke my leg.”

Hub text to Huh:  “Earthquake! Me and the dog are fine under my desk. Your mom is upstairs naked and screaming.”

My text to Huh:  “Earthquake! Hub and I are at home.  Hub and Max are both safe under his desk. I stubbed my toe.”

Huh text to me:  “Hub mentioned you were naked mom.”

Huh text to me:  “And screaming.”

My text to Huh:  “Well…ya know…”

Squid text to Huh:  “AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! I got my leg broken by a pissed off 40 pound swan after a fallen tree crushed its crib!!”

Mack text to Huh:  “Earthquake. I’m fine. In an outhouse in the woods.”

Shroom text to Huh: “Earthquake. I’m at school. I tore some ligaments in my shoulder but I can still walk.”

Momo text to Huh: “At school. I’m okay.”

My text to Huh:  “K, what you are supposed to do now is send me a text letting me know the status of everyone you have heard from.”

Huh text to me:  Yawlin and Squid both suffered broken legs. Squid’s leg got broken by a pissed off swan. Shroom has torn ligaments in his shoulder and can still walk (why would an injured shoulder make it so he can’t walk?).  Mack is okay in an outhouse in the woods.”

Hoob text to Huh: “Earthquake.  Actually, I died.”

Huh text to me:  “And Hoob just text me saying, ‘Actually, I died.’ So there you go.  Have not heard from Juju.”

My text to Huh:  “OK.  Maybe we assume Juju died??  Did you hear from Momo?”

Huh text to me:  “Yes. She is at school and okay.”

Juju text to Huh: “Earthquake. I died, but then I got better.”

Hut text to me: “Juju died, but then she got better.”

And so went our very first family emergency drill.  Our state held a statewide “Shake-out” a week and a half ago to see how prepared we all would be if the “big one” hit.  Because I had read that it is good to have a contact person out-of-state to contact in case land lines get tied up in an emergency, we chose Huh to be our contact person since she goes to school out-of-state.  We also chose to text her rather than call her because I also read that sometimes cell towers get jammed with all the emergency calls coming in but that texts sometimes can get through easier.  The shake-out was set for 10:15 a.m. on April 17.  Schools, places of work, churches, emergency services personnel all participated.  We instructed our kids that as soon as the drill started at their school it was time to text Huh.  They could choose to make up an injury if they wanted.  As you can see from the above text exchanges, our family members personalities shone through loud and clear in their texts.

There are two purposes to this post.  The first, and most important one, is to get families thinking about emergency preparedness and perhaps about having a similar drill.  It IS wise to have a contact person out-of-state who can get details from your family members if you all happen to be away from home in various places when a natural disaster hits.

The second purpose is to announce that I have a break from school until June 5 and so I might be able to visit Blogland a few times during my break.

Maybe.

There are carpets to scrub.  And windows to clean.  And baseboards to wipe down.  There is a youth conference to plan for my calling in my church.  There is a girls camp to plan for my calling in my church.  There is laundry to do…daily.  Dishes.  The dreaded grocery shopping.  And the typical mommy and wifey things I do each day.

So, maybe I will be able to post a few times during my break.

Maybe.

I’ve missed Blogland.

 

 

Update

I’m not going to feel guilty.  I’m not!  Blogging has to be put on the back burner.  Graduate school is tough!  It is time consuming.  I want to do my best, and so I let other things go.  Blogging is one of them.  I am not deleting my baby, but I just don’t know how often I will get to post–or visit the blogs of others.  And so, with that said, here is a quick update on our family:

Hub – Will celebrate birthday #48 on Thursday!  He is also enjoying the fruits of his gardening efforts.  Zucchini or spaghetti squash anyone?  He is counting down the days until Squid returns…

Squid – Will return from his two year mission for our church on the 30th of this month!  He has enjoyed his time in Uruguay and will miss the people, but he is looking forward to attending college and enjoying this new phase of his life.

Huh – Spent the summer with us but is now back in school in Arizona.  She recently sent me a text letting me know she had just killed a scorpion in her dorm room.  Oh my!

Juju – Is attending the local community college while living with us.  She works at a Thai restaurant and is looking for an apartment with her cousin.

Mack – Her plans to go to design school in California have been put on hold.  With FIVE of us attending college this school year we thought she would get more student financial aid than she did.  She/we can’t afford the short-fall, so she is working and saving money while taking online courses for her general ed.  She is considering being a nanny in New York for a year to establish residency there and then attending a design school in New York and paying the resident’s tuition instead of the much higher tuition charged to people from out of state.

Shroom – Just celebrated his 18th birthday and is enjoying his senior year of high school.  He has discovered rock climbing and tries to do it every chance he gets.

Hoob – Recently did some house-sitting for the neighbors across the street while they were out of town.  They forgot to get the garage door opener from her when they returned and so Hoob sat at the window of her bedroom and made their garage door open and close while the two teenage daughters were in the front yard.  Freaked them out!  🙂  My daughter is such a prankster!

Yawlin – On his own organized the fellow members of his scout troop to make cookies for their scout leader who had fallen at work and had broken a few ribs.  He makes me proud!

Momo – As the newest “member” of our family, Momo is enjoying all things “American.”  We took her with us on our family vacation and she “got” to try all sorts of roller coasters.  Hoob includes her in activities with her friends and so she has enjoyed some of the high school football games, bowling, the game of  “Spoons,” face-painting, and jumping on the trampoline.

Max – The dog is still fat and lazy.

Maybe one day I will post pictures of some of our summer activities.

One day.

Maybe.

Until I post again…Chau.

 

The “Up House” has landed in Utah!

 

 

 

Just one of those random activities you do when you read about it in the newspaper.

And our family likes random!

 

Momo

I know I said I am taking a break from blogging…and I am, but I wanted to post the latest happenings with our family since that IS what this blog is all about.  We welcomed “Momo” (nickname) to the United States and into our family for the 2011-2012 school year last night.

Yard Greeting

 

Yawlin at the airport with Momo's balloons tied to his ankle (courtesy of Huh)

 

How Momo really saw the yard greeting (we returned from the airport at 11:00 p.m.)

 

We look forward to getting to know Momo over this next year.  We hosted a male foreign exchange student from Vietnam five years ago and had such a great experience we decided to do it again.  We decided to give a female from Japan a chance to study in the U.S. this time.  With the arrival of Momo this month, Huh returning to college out-of-state next month, Squid returning from his mission in September and Mack going to school out-of-state at exactly the same time and my schooling, our household is going to feel like it is in upheaval!  Which, actually, is nothing new for us!

 

Girls Camp

Yesterday I returned from our ward (congregation) Girls Camp.  With my call as Young Women President comes the annual summer girls camp.  Last year it was a stake camp (all wards in our geographic location) and lasted for five days.  This year it was only three days, but I still came home exhausted (and a little stressed about all the school work I haven’t done).  But even with as tired as I feel, the camp was a great success!  The girls and leaders had fun, unity was forged, and many expressed feeling closer to God.

Though I came home with almost 500 pictures I can only share a few here to allow for anonymity.  Our theme was a “Survivor” theme–“Look to Me and ‘Survive.'”  Most of the usual camp activities occurred.  We did a craft, went on a hike, played games, acted silly, enjoyed the scenery and the wildlife, but it did rain both evenings which prevented us from having campfires and roasting marshmallows.  It also made it too wet to go on a snipe hunt, which was a bit of a disappointment to the older girls.  😉

Here are a few pictures that perhaps give a bit of taste of what camp was like…

Inside one of the cabins

One of the girls put my hair up into a "drill team" 'do

Appetizers for dinner

A visitor

Service project

The best part for me was being at camp with my daughter, Hoob.  She really blossomed in a leadership position AND she received the award for being the funniest.  🙂

I will take these experiences any day…whether school work gets done or not.

 

What to Accomplish

We are heading to the cabin for the holiday weekend.  Here is what I hope to accomplish:

*RELAX!

*Games with my family

*Get some great pictures

*Work on the second paper that is due for my Language Acquisitions class

*RELAX!

*Take a walk with my husband, hand in hand

*Ride the atvs

*Enjoy the stars

*Make s’mores

*Make dutch oven peach cobbler

*Roast hot dogs

*Snooze in the hammock

*Introduce my parents to the tv show Psych (we got my dad the first two seasons for Father’s Day)

*Did I mention RELAX?

*Picnic lunch in the woods

*Read (school assignments and for relaxation)

*See the fireworks in Evanston, WY

*Enjoy an ice cream cone while watching the fireworks

*Oh, and I can’t forget–RELAX!

Enjoy your Independence Day!

 

Squeezing a Birthday into the Day

Starting graduate studies has forced me to rearrange my schedule, drop certain activities, and really look at my priorities.  One priority that I insist on making number 1 is my family.  I don’t want my family to ever feel that I put school, or a future job made possible by school, before them.

This week’s dilemma?  Hoob’s 16th birthday.  How do I make it special for her and still meet my school, church, and other family obligations?  Hoob’s birthday is on Friday which also happens to be a full-day youth conference for our stake (group of congregations in our church).  Here are my ideas to make the day as fun as possible for her:

*I had her choose the shoes she wants for her birthday from zappos.com and we ordered them last week.  They should arrive before her birthday.

*Even though we will be visiting four historical sites in SLC during the day with other youth and leaders from our stake which makes it hard to celebrate her birthday, I have arranged with one of the ward (congregation) leaders to buy a birthday cake.  We will keep it secret from Hoob until we break for lunch and then we will pull it out and have the youth and leaders from our ward sing happy birthday to her and then share the cake.

*I will make sure to take pictures of the cake activity.

*Tomorrow afternoon I will put homework on hold and I will take Hoob shopping for new capris and flip-flops–the rest of her birthday presents.

*I always give my kids a chance to go to lunch or breakfast with me on their birthday for some one-on-one time with me.  Because of the youth conference starting early, making it necessary to eat a quick breakfast at home, and then including lunch and dinner as part of youth conference, Hoob and I will, instead, go to see a movie together that night as our one-on-one time.  The movie she has chosen?  “Green Lantern.”  Once again, homework will be put on hold.

*Of course I will wish her a happy birthday on facebook so that others can know it is her birthday.

*Hoob, or course, is anxious to get her driver’s license.  With Friday’s schedule being what it is, we will go Monday afternoon as soon as I am done with class to pick up her license.

I am hoping these ideas will help Hoob to have a special day.  Hoob is so good-natured, I really don’t have anything to worry about, but it really is about…

…making family #1!

*

 

Foil Dinners

It is that time of year that foil dinners are craved at our house.  Because we have a portable fire pit on our patio, we can have this type of dinner often.  Our usual foil dinner consists of stew meat, diced potatoes, carrots, and onions all seasoned with salt and pepper.  Sometimes we will do ground beef instead of stew meat or we will do pieces of chicken.  Last night we tried a new combination of foil dinner ingredients that we all liked and so I share the recipe here.

Cut 18 inch square pieces of foil (one for each family member).  Fold each edge over once.  In the middle of the foil family members place as much of the following ingredients as they want:

Polish kielbasa cut into 4-inch-long pieces and then halved (3 to 4 pieces works best for each serving)

Pearl onions

Sliced crook-neck squash.

Sliced carrots.

Drizzle with the following flavor booster (I double the recipe for our family):

1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 T. lemon juice

3 T. vegetable oil

Sprinkle the sausage and veggies with salt and pepper to taste.  Fold up the foil to make a package that seals in the juices.   Write family member’s names on their packet.  Lay the packets on hot coals or on a lit grill (400 degrees) and cook for about 15 minutes.  Remove from the heat and place on a plate.  Open the foil…and enjoy!

 

 

She Ends One Chapter and is Set to Begin a New

Mack graduated from high school today.  I am proud of myself.  I only teared up three times.  

Checking her reflection to make sure she looks "just right."

 

Figurative: Walking away from mom toward her future

 

Huntsman Center at U of U

 

761 seniors wait to be told they are graduates

 

Yay!

This was #4 in our 6 years of high school graduations in a row.

As usual, it was a bittersweet day for me.

 

Spring Break

Life has been too crazy lately for me to blog about our spring break trip that we took a month and a half ago.  I still don’t have time to do the trip justice.  This short post will have to do.  I polled the family members who went on the trip (Juju didn’t go because she had school and work, and Shroom didn’t go because he opted to go with a friend’s family to Las Vegas) on their top three favorites on the trip.  Here are their results (with a few pics from each top choice carefully chosen to preserve our anonymity):

Hub

1.  Scorpion hunting! (We stayed with my sister who happened to be experiencing a scorpion infestation.  We learned that scorpions glow in the dark when you shine a black light on them.  Hub loved going in the backyard after dark and hunting for the little nasties).

2.  Making Japanese food.  (Hub made some of his yummy Japanese food for all of us one night)

3.  Going to Oreganos for pizzookies.  (Oreganos is an Arizona original with the best dessert in the world–the pizzookie is a partially baked cookie topped with ice cream.  Yum!  I want one right now!)

Actual glowing scorpion

Huh (joined us on some of our activities since she just happened to be attending college in Phoenix at the time).

1.  Visiting the Phoenix Zoo.  Especially feeding the random squirrel on the trail, and going into the monkey enclosure.

2.  Taking pictures.

3.  Playing games with the family

Our squirrel friend

 

Mack:

1.  All day Thursday.  (The day consisted of kayaking at Tempe Town Lake, a picnic, renting tandem bikes and riding trails at Tempe Town lake, and then later that evening seeing the movie “Rio.”

2.  The warm weather.

3.  Phoenix Zoo.

 

 

Hoob:

1.  Feeding sting rays at Phoenix Zoo.

2.  Oreganos

3.  Riding the tandem bikes.

 

 

Yawlin:

1.  The Arizona Science Center.  (My scientific little boy loved all of the interactive exhibits here).

2.  The Tandem bikes.

3.  A tie.  Oreganos and spending time with family.

 

Me combined with Mack

 

Me combined with Hoob.

 

Me combined with Yawlin

 

Yawlin

 

Hoob

 

Mack

 

Me

 

Kweenmama:

1.  Seeing family.  Namely my daughter who had been living away from home at college and seeing my sister and her family.

2.  The tandem bikes.

3.  Relaxing….

My nieces' pet baby turtles

 

Huh showing her siblings around her campus

 

It was a great trip!  I wish I had time to write more about it, but life keeps getting in the way…

…at least we have the memories!