Overcoming Fears

We were in St. George this past weekend for the wedding of the missionary who baptized me!  How amazingly wonderful and full circle is that?!  It was AWESOME - more on it later.  On Friday afternoon, between the sealing/luncheon and the reception at night, Andy took Jordan to Pioneer Park which is basically a ton of red rocks to climb.  From the photos Andy took (not pictured here), you'd think he had a pretty amazing time.  Photos can be deceptive....

It wasn't until Saturday, after going to a park and asking Jordan repeatedly if he wanted to go back to the red rocks or bridge (to which he said, "no... no red rocks") and basically forcing him to go by asking him again and again until he changed his answer to yes (I hope my kids don't pick up on that trick), that I was informed of Jordan's initial trepidation the day before.  

Andy said, "it's like night and day" over and over again.  He was enjoying the landscape, hopping and running despite us advising him sternly to WALK please!  He began making up songs about hopping and going on bridges as he was pouncing on the rocks and gravel, like he knew the terrain well.  He would ONLY hold my hand if I asked him to because I needed help - not because he needed assistance.  Bubba also seemed to enjoy it (it was his first time - we stayed in so I could do some work) and I of course, enjoyed it for a while and then wondered when we'd be done.  

Don't wear Sperrys to the red rock park... they get stuck in your shoes!

"Tunnel!"  He climbed through many of these.  

Andy was immensely proud of Jordan for overcoming his fears from just the day before.  In fact, he didn't want to leave and asked us again and again when we'd get to go back to the red rocks.  It made me think of all the things I'm fearful of myself and how scary the "first" time doing something intimidating and difficult can be.  Like having your first baby!  Or your first c-section. Or freshman year of college.  Or that first real job in the real world.  It IS scary the first time.  It DOES get better.  And it IS easier with time.  And better I might add.   So whatever might seem hard (for me right now... cleaning house, cooking new recipes and trying to sew) must only be met with endurance!  That might power to persevere will eventually be met with rewards, if not the next day like Jordan than eventually.

On our way out of the park, our St. George hosts, Becky and Jesse, called us with news that Splash had just opened, the new competitors for Swigs, the PLACE to be in St. George.  Apparently they get their cookies from the same exact bakery in Santa Clara - Cravings, so off we went for some buy one get one free cookies and dirty diet coke (not a fan of the latter folks).  Now normally, I am no fan of sugar cookies.  But boy was I in love.  This piece of heaven was absolutely delicious and I cannot wait to try some of the mock recipes I have seen on Pinterest.  

And that was our Saturday leading up to the BYU game which we watched while chowing down on sugar cookies and In N Out burgers in the comfort of our friend's gigantic mansion.

Fall Ball...

Initially, the fresh green hills just east of us looked like they were puking slowly.  Little drops of brown, orange and yellow began sprouting up and my So Cal roots and almost entire life spent there might explain my initial confusion.  What was going on?  

Apparently, it was fall starting.  The colors, the beautiful colors, just looked absolutely dreadful to me.  What happened to the lush green hills I was so acquainted with?  

Once I realized Fall wasn't so bad and actually quite gorgeous everywhere else with red, orange, yellow everywhere and cooler more sustainable outside to play type of weather, it really grew on me.  

We found some time to break away from our normal shenanigans in the play room/office and had some fun in the leaves.  

And then we decided it was time to start prepping for our winter sledding adventures.  

What Is Custard?

This won't make sense to anyone but me... but I've always thought of custard as the yellow stuff that Chinese people have in the form of pudding with shaved ice or in buns that you get from the bakery.  As a frozen delight?  Not so much.  So the whole concept of frozen custard has quite confused this Asian girl from California, specifically Arcadia Arcasia.  My taste buds can't recognize the difference between frozen custard and frozen yogurt, but it doesn't matter because both are good.. and we've found the next best thing... whatever frozen custard is... with italian ice!  Now italian ice also confuses me a bit.  It's sort of like a soft ice, not hard like shaved ice or as soft as snow ice (a Chinese thing from California only so far...), but flavored ice nonetheless and quite good.  Now pair it with frozen custard, and you have Rita's... a winner!  

We made it over to Rita's for family night a few weeks ago.  Apparently, we weren't the only ones with this bright idea on Monday night (the Momo designated family night), but we beat the rush and enjoyed it.  

I usually am never one to judge in terms of clothing.. I myself have been caught in ludicrous outfits quite often in the name of comfort.. but Andy sort of topped it this night.  I sort of just laughed when I realized what he was wearing: scrubs with a BYU long sleeved work out top and .... sperry topsiders?  Really Andy?  It doesn't get any better than this.  

My favorite part are the pink scrub ties.  

I can't wait until Bubba can enjoy this as much as we all do!  He's not pictured because he was just sleeping.  Sorry Bubs!

I Love Sundays

When I first joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, I was befuddled by the fact that I'd be losing a day usually dedicated to working out, brunch, relaxing, and shopping.  The missionaries taught me that Sunday was a time to retreat from work and aimed towards spiritually uplifting our family and self.  It was a rough adjustment at first, but four years later, I sincerely look forward to Sundays which are dedicated solely to uplifting things like family, worship, covenants, and relaxing.  I also can appreciate the challenge to get to Church on time with kids and make it through Sacrament meeting with my sanity.  

Here in Salt Lake, we live a few blocks from Church.  We don't walk regularly, but we always see our neighbors walking and last Sunday, Andy and Jordan decided to walk back while Bubba and I drove home.  The sun was out and made the cold quite pleasant.  Bubba and I got home, unpacked, and then waited for Jordan and Daddy to get back.  

 Jordan was so excited.. he was running back, probably the whole way!

 Our weekly Sunday photo.  An absolutely gorgeous day in Salt Lake!

 Here's Jordan close-up... so excited to run home!

Since being called as a Sunday school teacher recently, Sundays are always a nice retreat from the week's worth of planning for my lessons.  I can take a deep breath and not worry about another lesson until a few weeks later (I rotate with another teacher).  During the week, I don't usually have much time to craft, so I get to do a lot of crafting on the weekends (which for me is nothing serious, mostly things that are cheaper to make yourself considering the time commitment and novice crafting level I'm at).  I also catch up on my writing, organizing, and plan for the week with recipes and going through the week's activities.  We enjoy watching NFL football and sometimes golf at home together (well the boys enjoy it as I do other stuff) and we always have Sunday dinner with our extended family.  It's simple but great and I look forward to it every week.

And now, I'm in the mindset of wondering how stressful it must be to have two days of weekend to plan and figure out.  To me, having just one day to coordinate with my husband (what are we doing with the kids, when are you golfing, when am I doing an exercise class, are we eating out for lunch or dinner, etc.) and knowing exactly what Sunday will bring is comforting and nice.  I love it!

Go Cougars!

One of the perks about living in Utah is that we're only 45 minutes from Andy's alma mater.  We made our way over to a pre-season basketball game last Saturday with just the four of us and gave ourselves plenty of time to spend some money (per Andy, contribute to his school) at the BYU bookstore.  

Bubba sporting his new BYU beenie.  

Andy got this ghetto hat (flat bill) from Ross and I don't like it when he wears it, but hey - it looks pretty good on me, like a trucker hat.  Win win.  

Jordan was sooo hungry that he kept pointing to the popcorn at the concession stands.  We finally acquiesced and here he is, thoroughly enjoying his $4 bag of Y (per Jordan, "ra ra") popcorn.  

If BYU got over 80 points, Yogurtland would give us 3 free oz, so as soon as they did.. we made like a check and bounced.  We beat the BYU Momo crowd and enjoyed our free fro yo!

Jordan had so much fun, he wouldn't stop asking us when we could go back.  

Happy Halloween!

Our tradition broke this year with Jordan wanting to be Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, so we let the boys go together as Jake (a DIY pirate costume) and a parrot (purchased from Old Navy on sale).

Not everyone knows what Jake looks like (if not hooked on Disney Junior shows) and good for you - so I put a comparative below for reference.  Pretty good for DIY eh?  Too bad it was freezing!  Next year, we need to go with something warmer.

This was the first time Jordan truly understood saying "trick or treat" and then receiving candy, thanking someone for it and even saying "Happy Halloween!"  The Disney shows he's been watching have also helped with his enthusiasm for this holiday.  It makes me cringe a bit to think they can have so many shows about Halloween yet shy away from Christmas.  Oh well, such is the world today eh?  

We'll have to ensure Jordan stays away from the candy until it's gone, there's quite a bit - we didn't go to many houses, but most of the homes we went to with people we knew all provided full sized candy bars!  Eek!