Happy New Year to YOU

and happy 9th anniversary to us!
i'll die if my kids get married at 21. i'm SO glad my parents had complete trust in me and never questioned or doubted my decision (i know some were skeptical since we only dated 6 months before we were married and i became mormon to boot). i couldn't have found a more perfect man had i searched the world over. and how cool is it that i met him when i was 12 and got to watch him live his life for 9 years before i ever dated him. i was well-informed and he's exceeded the potential i saw in him another 9 years later! what a testament to the benefits of living the gospel.

this year i want to exercise regularly even it's only once a week.
i want to focus on the good things in people even if it's just their shoes at the moment.
i want to enjoy each day with my little family even when it's hard.

i'm grateful for where i am at the end of this year and look forward to the growth and experiences the new year will bring.

a great christmas story:

and i just heard this christmas song, children, go where i send thee by mary chapin carpenter on the radio (for what I thought was the first time) and loved it! so we got it on itunes and have enjoyed it so much. in fact, we were listening to it tonight as the boys were going to bed and jaden got up to request we put it on his shuffle for him.

here's the funny part, i was trying to figure out how to post it here so you could hear it and when i searched for it, it came up w/ natalie merchant singing it and i immediately recognized it from her cd--one of my favorites! but it sounds so different i had no idea it was the same song.

check em' out. what do you think?

have you seen this awesome website:

Personalized Christmas Story Books

we made some today and even laminated them.
the boys loved it and were so excited!

Thankfully...

• we got to go to moscow, idaho w/ the other 22 members of my family (more than half were kids) for a thanksgiving gathering. it was cold but we were in the comfort of my sister's beautiful, cozy home and didn't even notice. we had such a great time! the kids played tirelessly in the basement (which is bigger than my house) while we a-dults cooked (or watched others cook), visited, cleaned-up and played games. i talked a group into going to see twilight with me again and i loved it just the same. so did micah and everyone else, especially my 14 year old niece. (everything was so beautiful, i didn't take any pictures. that happens to me a lot. i don't know where to even start so i just don't. i'm sorry. i call it "just enjoying the moment" not "just being a slacker")
  
• (did you remember to insert "thankfully" after each bullet) they didn't lose mine and asher's luggage until the return flight and we'd planned on staying overnight in sac w/ some of our best cousins, who are always SO hospitable and gracious. and our luggage was found in the morning while we attended the davis ward (so.much.fun to see good old friends). and the airline reimbursed us for my cute new church dress, shoes, outfit for asher and toiletries we had to buy!
• when the christmas tree slid off the roof of the car tonight on the freeway at 5 o'clock, instead of tumbling off into oncoming traffic, it dangled perilously on the side of the car hovering too close to the pavement, giving the boys and i a good laugh until i could pull over. and while i awaited the arrival of my knight in shining armor, a nice chp officer showed up, inched his way between the tree and the whizzing cars to hoist it back on top. micah arrived shortly thereafter w/ bungie cords in hand and we made the short jaunt safely back home (when jaden proclaimed, "that's the last time we let some kid tie our christmas tree to the roof of the car." he was at least 18.) amazingly the tree is unscathed standing proudly in the living room as i type!
• jaden informed me tonight, "mom, i'd rather not read my "pretend" reading books from school. i like reading real books like the scriptures where i can get good information."

REVISED

• i didn't get sick on thanksgiving, which has happened to me too many times.
• beckam started puking tonight--not on our trip and not in costco today before the christmas tree incident and it wasn't on jaden's head (you know trundle beds are good for that when you're on top. my sister and i had them. i slept on top and i'm sure janie still remembers the fateful night i got the flu). it was just all over his bed.

things could always be worse, right?!

The Wedding:

The lady scots:

before the party got started:and after:
this was our palace:

chichen itza
AMAZING.

jungle tour and zip-lines:
mike and erin
(on their honeymoon)

cenote:
going down
back up:
minus the 2 run-ins with la policia, this was the perfect vacation. we were innocent both times and were able to avoid much hassle w/ a $75 pay-off. of course the optimist my husband is considers the vacation complete for what kind of adventure would it have been without having to brib the mexican police? honestly, the people were very nice even one set of the cops and the military guys w/ the GIANT machine guns!

IF YOU GET A CHANCE TO GO TO PLAYA DEL CARMEN, DO IT!

First, can I tell you how much I loved Twilight the movie?! It came as a huge surprise to me! I'm (unintentionally) critical of movies and I really didn't have great expectations for it but I was SO pleasantly surprised!! It was such a great excuse for a girls night and I thought the theatre audience was so much fun. I seriously asked Micah if he wanted to go on a date to see it again. I NEVER watch movies twice, especially in the movie theatre but I'm pretty sure we'll go. The sweetest thing is, he'll love it, too. Too bad he hasn't read the book yet because I think that really helps you enjoy the movie more (I'm pretty sure it would seem a little ridiculous otherwise). I thought it was a great companion to the book and would venture to say I liked it as much.

Second, do you know our primary program is tomorrow! We practiced for 2 hours today and the kids were completely AMAZING! I do not know how they sat so patiently for that long and held it together the whole time. I'm just praying it carries over to tomorrow. Some say the worse the practice the better the program. What does that mean for us?

Third, do you know that my husband is in baking peanut butter cookies for our linger longer (potluck for you non-mormons) tomorrow while I'm "working on the finishing touches to the primary program"(shhhhh. So I got a little distracted) and they came out so beautiful and delicious. And I really love that guy!

Fourth, Jaden turned 7 last Sunday! We celebrated all weekend: Bonfire, wiene roast and smore making on the beach, trip to the planetarium to watch an astronaut movie in the dome, an ipod shuffle loaded with "dad's" music (resulting in the most excited Jaden I've ever seen over a gift) and pazooki (giant chocolate chip topped w/ vanilla ice cream, caramel and fudge) with friends:

Now, I'll try to post some Mexico pictures(again).

Oh,one more thing, do you know we have another new pet? He's (she's?) SO cute I have to show you:

"little"/"tiny"/"tortuga" sleeping in my hand.
he was one 1 of 7 babies found in Jenny's front yard after their tortoise "ran away"

this is precisely how i felt when i awoke thurs. morning (we got home in the wee hours):



photos to follow...

we're off....

to mike and erin's weddingand our first extended kidless vacation.
wish the grandparents luck.
and us, too that we won't get too homesick.
and that our kids will want to come back home upon our return.

THIS is ridiculous.
and sad. what a lame and gross exaggeration.
politics are so ugly and divisive.
the depths to which politicians stoop is outrageous and so contrary to the values and morals i'm trying to teach my children about being good and honest citizens.

Until today, I have remained quiet on this issue. Both sides of the argument have some merit (as is the case with almost every issue). The reason for my anchoring on the YES side is because ultimately, this video - as well other issues surrounding the two campaigns - demonstrated that in our society it is becoming unacceptable to be religious. I agree that minority political groups are entitled to equality. But I also firmly believe that everyone, including minority political groups, should permit other people to have differing opinions . . . without being labeled hateful, unfair bigots. I have seen far too much hateful bigotry coming from this campaign. Some from the YES side, but even more from the NO side.

If I refuse you to hold your own belief, I am in the wrong. If you do the same to me, you are in the wrong.

Tolerance goes both ways.

I AM MORMON and i can tell you intolerance and HATRED is not the spirit behind the YES on 8 campaign. of course i can't speak for everyone but the leaders of this church are simply trying to preserve the institution of marriage, which is the cornerstone of civilization. PROP 8 DOES NOT BAN HOMOSEXUALITY, it simply defines "marriage" as the union between a male and female.

if you want to educate yourself about the church's real motives and reasons in supporting Prop 8, go here. they counsel to love and to emulate the teachings of Jesus Christ. i realize that we don't live in a perfect world and that ignorance and intolerance is prevelant but "the church" can't be blamed for that. that's not the message i get from the leaders!

i support Prop 8 because "marriage" carries a religious connotation that exceeds the act of living together, being committed to one another, or even constituting a family. i believe that marriage is ordained of God and that marriage is a traditionally religious arrangement that has been incorporated into our civil legal system. as i will discuss below, i would support a distinction between a legal union and a religious union.

that fact that i support Prop 8 does not mean that i hate gay people (think how ridiculous it would sound for me to hate people who smoke. though i don't want them to smoke in my face, i certainly don't regard them as a person any less. it's the same thing). i respect their lifestyle choices (or lack of choice as the case may be). i have many gay family members and friends whom I love dearly. i do not think that restricting the historical application of marriage as between a man and a woman is discriminatory to them, or to other gay people.

. . . there is a place for appellate courts to overrule laws that discriminate (yes, even without a jury)- but I don't see how having different terms for the union between two consenting adults based on the gender of their partner is discrimination. Not when the rights conferred by both terms are equal. Since there was not inequity in the law, I don't think it was the court's place to find Prop 22 unconstitutional.

in California, domestic partnership law provides "two adults who have chosen to share one another's lives in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring" (i.e. domestic partners) with "the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law, whether they derive from statutes, administrative regulations, court rules, government policies, common law, or any other provisions or sources of law, as are granted to and imposed upon spouses."
(Family Code Section 297 et. seq.)

the legal rights of marriage have already been extended to same-sex couples. the law is also clear that any new law that grants spouses a benefit (or burden) applies to domestic partners as well. prop 8 is not about equality of rights - it is about re-defining the traditional concept of marriage as ordained by God.

it is not legally possible for me to enter into a domestic partnership with someone of the opposite sex (who is under 62 years of age). i could argue that this is discriminatory. on the other hand, i could realize that i already have the same rights of domestic partnership - but because i chose to marry someone of the opposite sex my legal union is called a "marriage" and not a domestic partnership. i can't be "domestic partners" with someone of the opposite sex, and people of the same sex can't "marry." we all share the same legal rights, but the law has created a different term to describe the arrangement. i support this inequity in terms because marriage as a religious term has never been applied to same-sex couples.

but it goes beyond mere semantics. i wouldn't complain if everyone in California were granted a domestic partnership. leave marriage to those religions that choose to designate the union as such. i think a religious marriage can be viewed as a partnership between two spouses and God. take God out of the equation, and you are left with a domestic partnership. as it stands now, however, our nation has deep religious roots and the legal term for the union of "two adults who have chosen to share one another's lives in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring" is "marriage."

to me, a YES vote on Prop 8 permits those with a religious perception of marriage to have that perception remain inviolate, while NOT removing any legal rights from same sex couples.

gay couples already have the same legal rights as straight couples. Prop 8 does not eliminate any of these civil rights. to some, such as myself, marriage is more than a legal arrangement. it is a religious arrangement. Prop 8 reinforces my right to have a religious arrangement. by all means, let the state remove the term marriage from its use of describing legal ties between a couple, but until it does, i shouldn't have to have my personal definition of marriage impinged upon when all it does is confer a title (and not a single right).

halloween 2008

a weak attempt to capture the festivities.

the pumpkin carving:

beckam decided to boycott the costume theme this year (which was initially his idea).
they were going as narnia characters: beckam as aslan (the lion), jaden as prince caspian and asher as a dwarf. we have the cutest lion costume but it didn't cover his face so 30 min. before leaving for the trunk-or-treat, he switched to zorro. he chose batman for his preschool party and zorro again for trick-or treating. beckam is funny. he does not like to look or act silly (unless it's completely his idea). he gets embarrassed so easily and won't put himself out there if there's any risk of embarrassment.
asher looked so cute but you can't really see his costume from these pictures. and jaden chose not to wear the black boot covers.

and did i stress over any of it? nope.
a quick way to get around the block to more good trick-or-treating. don't report us.

lettuce wraps

my cousin carrie shared this recipe with me. we made them tonight and they were soooo good! beckam asked if he could have them in his lunch everyday and polished off two in no time. asher did, too! we are already feeling the appetites of four boys in the house--i can't even imagine what it will be like 10 years down the road. everybody (except jaden) wanted more when they were gone. i'll definitely double the recipe next time.

Lettuce Wraps Brenda Lee

1 lb chopped chicken (i used 12 oz. extra firm tofu instead)

12 lettuce leaf cups (romaine or butter lettuce) Crisp in ice bath 10 min.

2 T sesame seed oil

1 T minced garlic

1 T minced ginger

6 green onions

¼ cup soy sauce

2 T hoisin sauce

1 T rice vinegar

1t cornstarch

¼ cup cold water

Rice or Crispy Rice Noodles

Island Soyaki (sauce from Trader Joes)

Chop and measure all ingredients before starting. Heat oil in skillet over med-hi. Add garlic, ginger, and ¾ of green onions. Stir fry 30 seconds. Add ckn stir fry 3-4 minutes. In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, hoisin, vinegar, cornstarch and water. Add to skillet. When mixture boils reduce heat to low and simmer 1 minute. Spoon mixture into lettuce wraps garnish with green onion, shredded carrots, cucumbers, peanuts, rice, and island soyaki sauce)

ready for a good laugh?

smurfy

i called micah, african american smurf.
he comes from a darker skinned smurf land.
(and is related to the blue man group)

i wanted a yellow wig but micah thought my hair was fine.and check out Sarah and her security officer:

you can see halloween costumes of ours from years past here.
(including tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum mentioned in the comments)

some firsts...

my first garden. and these were the 1st sprouts.




















the boys first time in a british phone booth (in san jose).
we had a free nights stay in a fab hotel in san jose thanks to micah's trial being postponed at the last minute. since they didn't have 24 hrs. notice for cancellation, the firm got charged for the first night and we got a free room. we all enjoyed the jet tub, the boys were thrilled to have their own room and tv (too bad mom spoiled the sponge bob fest) and on saturday we all loved the discovery museum, especially this. it's a must-see if you have kids and are ever in the area.















asher's first steps caught in picture. don't let him fool you though, crawling is still his primary mode of transportation. he's working on another tooth (#5 on the bottom).



















and this is lizzie. she was our 1st pet (besides our sea monkies) for a day. jaden caught her at school, brought her home on the bus (in a critter keeper) and then let her go in our back yard. she's still hanging around, too.

















o fear not, we are not petless. the week following, he brought this guy home. so we hit up craigslist and pieced together a nice little habitat for him at a much better price than the pet store was offering (please tell me you remember to check craigslist before buying new--it hasn't failed us yet).



rock-lemon (on the leaf) and a friend (from the toy box) to keep him company.

Petite Rouge
A Cajun Red Riding Hood

i love reading this book to my kids.
it makes me read with a great cajun accent, which is very fun!
check it out.

here are a few of my favorite lines
(remember to use your best cajun accent):

"I'm countin' to t'ree,
an' if you still dere,
dis pole gonna hit you
where you part you hair."

An' when she say, "One,"
Ol' Claude back out de way.
He know dat de girl
sho' 'nuff mean what she say....

Ol' Claude make a smile,
an' he say, "It's dat flu.
It make me all green wit' dem bomps,
dat's fo' tru'....

"Why don' you come closer,
'cause I wanna see
all dat good food you mama
done cook fo' po' me."...

"You mout' kinda big,
an' you nose kinda long,
an' I got me a feelin'
dat somet'in' bad wrong."...

i really appreciate a good children's book.
because some of them just aren't.

he walks when he feels like it and has two new teeth on the top

yum spaghetti squash

i accidentally bought spaghetti squash at tj's the other day. i thought it was a melon. luckily i saw the sticker before i cut into it. so i started asking around about what to do with it. who knew it was so delish?!! did you? thanks stephanie for the great tips. here's what i did with it tonight:

baked @ 375 for 1 hr. then let sit 20 min. (the skin was like a shell once it was baked and the meat just fell right out)

grilled zucchini and red pepper in olive oil
add squash and marinara sauce
top w/ fresh parmesan and mozzarella cheese

serve w/ toasted sourdough

seriously so good.

i'm always looking for Y-U-M-M-Y healthy recipes so please share if you have one.

hair no more

he looks so different without his shaggy do.

beckam's been wanting to cute his hair short like his cousin evan's (see below) for awhile so we did it (well jessica did).
they're besties!