Halloween 2008

Eight years ago on Halloween Julia was a "50's" girl, proudly sporting her homemade poodle skirt made by her sister Emily. That year, Emily wore a matching poodle skirt she had also made. This year Julia was a "50's" girl again, wearing Emily's original creation.
Where does the time go?




Wasatch's annual Halloween Parade was first thing this morning and I caught pictures of Amy--a very cute pirate.


Eliza looking a lot like Annie (sorry I only got a headshot)!



Ruthie (a cheerleader), sans her ponytails she pulled out, enjoying the parade...


Julia marching along with her third grade class...


And bright and early this morning I caught these pictures of my middle-schoolers.
Hannah dressed up as an Atlanta Braves baseball player AND

Hilary as an Indian.

More pictures to come later!

Jim's 50th Birthday Dinner

Last night, Dan and I had the honor of hosting Jim's 50th Birthday dinner at our house. It was fun to get together with family and friends and enjoy good food and lots of laughs. It was especially nice to have Elisabeth here from Seattle.


Jeanmarie put together a beautiful scrapbook of pictures and thoughts and memories about Jim from family members and friends. Thanks for the fun evening everybody!

Charleston, South Carolina Wrap-Up

My "wrap-up" of our trip is all over the place with pictures but I think you'll get the idea...

Here is the lovely bride, Tiffiny and Bill after their wedding.

We toured Middleton Place Plantation on the one morning we had free and that was without drenching rain. It was cloudy and very soggy, but that's the South for you. I love all the ironwork that is seen everywhere. This is the main gate going into the 65+ acres of gardens.

The flowering grass is what locals use to weave beautiful baskets. Dan and I spent over 3 hours at the plantation, 2 hours which entailed a private tour with a historian of the plantation.

Here are our friends Joselyn and Alan from North Carolina before the wedding. We had fun hanging out with them at the reception which followed the wedding.


Dan and I before the wedding

The main reason Dan and I headed to Charleston last week was for the wedding of Bill and Tiffiny. We've known Bill for many years and our family has loved getting to know him and his amazing family. Our girls fondly refer to Bill as "Uncle Bill" and we were honored to be at his wedding. Tiffiny and Bill were married at the historic French Huguenot Church located appropriately on Church Street in the historic district.

This is a limited view of the church which was originally built in 1687 but damaged during the Civil War and rebuilt after the earthquake of 1886.

The day before the wedding, this is what we woke up to--terrible weather. We had planned to take a boat out to Fort Sumter but by the afternoon the city was literally shut down. Charleston received over 8 inches of rain that day! The streets where flooded and cars stalled everywhere. Gratefully, we were able to make it to the city market first thing in the morning and browse all the local arts and crafts. By lunch time we could barely get through the city and decided to hunker down in the hotel.

A nice surprise was Dan accidently leaving his cell phone in our parked car at the airport. Not too worry though, he made use of mine of few times.

Another wedding picture--the reception was held at The Wickliffe House that was built in 1850. It was beautiful and eptimozied Southern living in everyway. Pictured here is Dan with Bill (the groom) and Alan.

School Days

Today I got to go to Julia's school to hear her read a Halloween story she wrote for the class. I got to the school at the scheduled time but found all the 3rd graders still at recess. This is who I found playing...


Julia and Maude


After an extra long recess (it was a beautiful day), we headed to the classroom where I sat and listened intently with the rest of her class as she read her story. She did a great job and I am so glad I was able to be there.

Homemade Crunchy Granola

Perhaps it was because today was cloudy or maybe it was a craving, whatever the reason I spent the afternoon in the kitchen cooking up some of this. I made some of Mom's homemade granola but with a few twists to adapt it to my family's liking. It turned out really good and now I need to find a recipe without all the nuts so that Hilary can enjoy it. Here's the recipe I used below:

Mix with wooden spoon in large bowl:
4 cups rolled oats
3 cups bran flakes
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup almonds, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup organic milled flaxseed
1/2 cup protein mix
1 teaspoon salt

In a separate bowl mix and then add to dry ingredients:
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Bake in oven at 275 degrees for 2 hours; stir often.

Cool and add:
1 cup raisins (optional)
2 cups favorite whole grain cereal (I used Cheerios this time)

Aunt Carolyn's Bran Muffins

My family loves these muffins and I've adapted them a little from the original recipe in the Meldrum Family Cookbook. I'd like to think they are healthy too. Here's the recipe:

Cream together:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 Tablespoon salt

Add:
2 eggs and beat

Blend in alternately with buttermilk:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups bran flakes
1 cup "All Bran" cereal
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 Tablespoons organic milled flaxseed
2 cups buttermilk

Bake at 410 degrees (if your oven bakes hotter) or 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Yields 2 dozen muffins.

BYU Homecoming Parade

I think one of the best kept secrets in Provo is BYU's Homecoming Parade each fall. It is my kind of parade--the weather is usually nice, you can find a seat when the parade starts (no camping out for a spot), and lots of candy and goodies for the kids. Emily missed out on the tradition this year because of an ACT Prep Class she is taking at BYU on Saturdays. However, the rest of us braved the very cold temperatures and found our regular viewing spot along 9th East by the Creamery. Here are a few pictures we captured...

Crazy Cosmo

The big game is later today...


Hannah and Hilary


Julia

Dan and I along the parade route


These Polynesian dancers had to be freeeeeezing!!!

Final Days of Fall

A huge storm is blowing into Utah tomorrow and I'm afraid the final days of fall are here already. How I wish fall lasted a few more weeks. In Atlanta fall lasted at least four weeks longer than it does in Utah--I really miss that. Julia and Eliza took advantage of the fall weather today and found something exciting in the yard--a preying mantis. They were so proud of their find.

Julia

Julia got back her third grade school pictures a few days ago and I love them! It captures her natural smiling face.


Yesterday she decided to get her long hair chopped off and go with a new style. I think it is adorable and best of all she loves it!

Surprise!

Charleston

Last night Dan asked me if I had checked my email lately. I replied that I hadn't and he said that I probably should check it. Not thinking that anything was out of the ordinary, I checked my messages and saw that I had an email from Delta Airlines. I was puzzled about the email but before I could do anything more Dan spilled the beans and opened the email which revealed the airline tickets he had purchased for us to go to Charleston, South Carolina in a few weeks. To say that I was suprised is an understatement. A good friend of ours from Atlanta is getting married there at the end of the month but we had already determined we couldn't go because of our crazy schedules. Normally I don't like surprises, but this is one I loved! I can't wait!!!

My Little Girl

My little girl loves to dress up. In fact, the last time we were at the drugstore she bought "play" make-up with some of her hard earned money. Well, today she broke it all in with a little help from her sisters.

Conference Weekend

This weekend the Snow and Estes girls got together while all the guys were at the Priesthood session of General Conference. We ate dinner and had a great time catching up on all the happenings. Dan attended Priesthood session in Salt Lake with his dad and brother from Maryland and his three sons, another nephew, a brother-in-law and his three sons. I sent him with a camera to catch a picture of all the guys together and wouldn't you know it didn't have the battery in it! We loved General Conference and all of the inspired messages. The constant rain on Saturday and part of Sunday made it perfect!

The older girls

Ruthie

My Trash Runneth Over...

I got caught yesterday throwing away an aluminium can in the wrong trash can. Admittedly, as I threw the can away the thought occurred to me that I really should recycle this but then I justified my decision to not recycle because my large blue trash can is literally overflowing. Thank you to my one and only "green girl" Hilary for reminding me that recycling is important. When she found the can in the upstairs trash can she just knew I was the culprit--sorry! Hilary then sweetly quoted environmental stats regarding recycling. This is very important to her and thank you, thank you for the reminder!

An Afternoon at the Vetenarian's Office

Oh, the similarities between having a toddler and a puppy. My most recent visit to the Vet today confirmed what I've been observing since we've had Scout--that the caretaker of a puppy and/or a toddler have a lot in common. First, my children all fell into what seems to be a minority of children who wailed when put in their carseats. Putting a fussy baby into a car to lull her to sleep was never a part of our reality. Instead, each and every baby we had hated to ride in the car. So why should I be surprised when after safely putting Scout in her kennel (the puppy car seat if you will) the whining and even barking commenced. Having four children who cried at the sound of the seat buckle clicking into place prepared me for Scout's whining today. I shushed her and cooed at her like any good caretaker, all to no avail.

Not wanting to make the Vet unhappy, I responsibly put Scout on her leash to take her inside. I tugged and pulled and then stopped and watched as Scout lay contentedly on the asphalt looking at me as if we were chilling in the backyard. Immediately, images of Emily's first trip to Disneyland penetrated my thoughts. Many years ago, when Emily was just a toddler, Dan and I took her to Disneyland for the first time. Not wanting to loose my precious child amidst throngs of people, I had prepared in advance. I had bought a leash to keep track of my stroller-hating child. Yes, I am totally embarrassed that I even attempted leashing my daughter to me! Emily let me know in the middle of Main Street USA what she thought about my idea. She melted down very vocally, much to our dismay. I quickly stashed the leash in my purse and dumped it in our Goodwill pile when we got home. To this day, I think I have a hard time leashing anything that doesn't want to be leashed!

Inside the Vet Clinic my sweet little Scout literally started shaking. She quietly sat by my feet and I watched as her ears twitched nervously. She knew what was coming--just like every toddler knows what is coming when they're sitting in the doctor's office and they are not sick. Scout got over her nervousness but the worst was yet to come. We got stuck in the examination room, alone, for nearly 30 minutes! The entire time I kept worrying what if she does her "stuff" right there on the floor before they see her--kind of like when you take the baby's diaper off to weigh them at their doctor's visits and hope they don't catch a wave of cold air that makes them release bodily fluids all over you and the floor. Scout did me proud and didn't have any accidents and entertained herself by walking in circles around the room. This momentary pause allowed me to glance at the posters hanging on the wall. I've decided I have seen it all--the first poster read, "How to Protect Your Cat from Feline AIDS!" My immediate thought was, "What the heck?" I guess I'm glad we have a dog and not a cat. What happened to hanging posters up showing the schedule for vaccines?

The rest of the appointment was quite routine. However, I must say that with all the technological advances in the world, can't Vets find a nicer, less invasive way, to take a puppy's temperature? Please!!! Watching the Vet insert a rectal thermometer is brutal (sorry for the visual). Scout toughed it all out including the 2 shots and deworming treatment she got. At the end of our appointment, with the leash reluctantly attached, we made our way home. I look forward to a repeat appointment in three more weeks.