Easter

Easter this year was a little strange. Why was it so early? I hate that!! I ended up not getting out my Easter decorations. What was the point of doing it just for a couple of days and then on Easter we were going to be out at the lake anyway.

But without fanfare and decorations the Easter Bunny came:



We also ended up having a wonderful Easter Sacrament meeting. It was one of the best I've had in a long time. Tyler gave a talk. He did a fabulous job. All the speakers and the musical numbers were amazing. We had a fun surprise in that our bishop from our old, old ward (who we LOVE) was there and he ended up speaking as well. He is the neatest guy! We left church on quite a spiritual high.


We had to take our Easter pictures after church as church starts at 9 am and there was no time to do it before!!


Kameron requested an Easter tie this year...so we got him a "real" tie from Nordstrom. He was thrilled. They have the best little boy ties there!!

After church we headed out to the lake. We were not prepared for what we saw. Ten tons of SNOW!! Will it ever go away? No outside egg hunts for us this year...lame. Tyler and John hid the eggs in Lilac Lodge (the cabin). Not quite as much fun.



This was Reilly's last year for hunting Easter Eggs. On Saturday she had her last Primary Easter Egg hunt and next year she will be twelve and wants to help the dads hide the eggs for the family Easter egg hunt. SAD!

Ailey and Dane had a great time this year. They were INTO IT!!

Kameron climbing the stairs up to the spooky "dormitory". Kirk...when are you going to send me those pictures so I can blog about "haunted" Lilac Lodge?? We missed you guys!! (and Jordi and crew too) Yes...there were some "suspicious" pictures...and they were in broad daylight!! Creepy.

We had a fantastic dinner. My mom had everything all decked out and festive.

My Grandma, Uncle John and Aunt Ade, Uncle Steve and Aunt Margaret were all there. It was fun to see everyone. I didn't take any pictures of my Grandma. I couldn't bear to. I cannot believe how much ground she has lost in just 3 weeks. Scary. She has lost so much weight...she hardly looks like herself...she barely talks or eats...just sleeps. It sucks.

River

So...since the weather was nasty...not only was there snow but it was raining/sleeting too...we had to amuse ourselves. My uncles went downstairs to the workshop and were inventing. My mom still isn't allowed to bend after her back surgery and as a result she can't put socks on...or shoes for that matter. She has to wear Uggs or slip-on shoes. My uncles took the challenge and came upstairs with..."sock puller uppers". They were like two dangerous hooked skewers.

Here they are giving them a try. It was hilarious. I took some funny video too. EVERYONE had to give them a try. Unfortunately "sock puller uppers" were an abject failure.

Uncle Steve

Uncle John

Aunt Margaret

Then Stacey brought a bag of cast off stuff to see if Kelley and I wanted anything...clothes, magazines etc. No one was a taker on the yellow tunic...except for Uncle Steve. Scary. We are not a family meant to amuse ourselves indoors.


Very nice...I think he would've taken it home if it weren't for my Aunt Margaret!! ;) He looked VERY comfortable.

We also celebrated Stacey and Kelley's birthdays. Why not pack as many holidays and birthdays into a week as possible.

The Birthday Girls

I couldn't stay out of the picture!!

Happy Easter!! (Or Birthday or St.Patrick's Day)

Book Review #28



I LOVE this book!! It is absolutely amazing. Definitely one of the best I have ever read. If you are looking for a fantastic book...please please please read this one.

The author, Irene Nemirovsky, was a Russian Jew who fled the Bolsheviks in 1919 during the Russian Revolution. Her family emigrated to France when she was a teenager. Irene attended the Sorbonne, became a best-selling author, got married, and had two little girls. Irene, her husband, and children fled Paris during WWII during the German invasion and took refuge in a small village in France. During the occupation by the Nazis life as she knew it ended. Although she had lived in France for over twenty years, her children were French citizens, and the family had converted to Catholicism she was labeled a Jew and was subjected to the all the humiliations and restrictions enforced by the Nazi regime. She no longer had any freedom. She could not publish her writing, nor be paid for any writing she that she had done, she could not travel etc.

This book was written after her family had fled Paris and were living in the country. It was intended to be a five-part novella, constructed like a symphony, and modeled after Beethoven's Fifth. Irene Nemirovsky was only able to complete the first two parts. During the writing of this book she was arrested sent to Auschwitz where she died at the age of thirty-nine. The two parts of this book that were completed where hidden in a suitcase by her ten year-old daughter, Denise. Her daughters kept the manuscript with them as they moved from place to place hiding from the Nazis. They decided to have the manuscript published sixty plus years after their mother's death.

The first part of the book is called "Storm in June" and introduces us to several different characters from all walks of life and tells their stories as they flee Paris during the German invasion. I particularly loved the Pericand Family with their large and boisterous family and the sweet middle-aged couple the Michauds. It was beautifully written with touches of humor and glimpses of humanity and horror as the masses fled Paris with bombs falling all around them.

The second part of the book is called "Dolce" and focuses mainly on one family in a rural village during the occupation. All households had to take in German soldiers and house them during the occupation. I loved the friendship and budding romance between Lucile, whose adulterous husband was a prisoner of war, and Bruno, a German soldier, who ends up living with Lucile and her ornery mother-in-law.

The next three parts of the book were meant to integrate the characters from the first two parts and how their lives intertwined. Sadly...they were never written. In Appendix I are the notes from Irene Nemirovsky's notebook with character and plot sketches and outlines and we are given a glimpse of how she intended the storyline to progress...so you aren't left completely hanging...but what a tragedy.

In Appendix II it shows letter after letter of the correspondence between Irene and her publisher and then heart-wrenchingly after her arrest it is the correspondence of her husband as he frantically writes to influential people trying to find out her location and any information on her. He tirelessly tries to find someone who can intercede on her behalf. At one point he writes to the government officials asking to trade places with her...

But what truly broke my heart were the last two letters from Irene to her family...one quickly written at the police station shortly after her arrest and a final one hastily scribbled at the train station as she was boarding the train headed to the concentration camp. Just a few lines but unbelievably moving.

Also included is a biographical sketch of her life and what happens to her family. Her husband was arrested a few months after she was and sent to the gas chamber. They left behind two daughter ages 5 and 10 who were taken in by a family friend. It amazes me that a ten year-old had the foresight to preserve her mother's manuscript.

This book was absolutely stunning. I marveled that she was writing about history while living it...and yet had such perspective on the events that were unfolding. Amazing. The characters are colorful, vivid, and will stay deeply-etched in my heart. The writing is beautiful, captivating and gripping. I truly couldn't put it down.

I HIGHLY recommend this book. It was beautiful and touching. A MUST read.

I rate it: EXCELLENT!!

St. Patrick's Day

I hope that you all had a fun St. Patrick's Day! It was a festive time around here.



Can I tell you how annoying it is to have St. Patrick's Day and Easter so close together. I am wondering if I should even get all my Easter stuff out...for a week? ugh.

Our kids did try to catch a leprechaun again this year. They had so much fun with it last year that they were excited to try it again. They decided to reuse the "trap" from last year. Reilly thought she could out smart that wily old leprechaun this year. (No...Reilly doesn't really believe in leprechauns. But she set the trap and went along with everything with such gusto that I began to wonder....and then I get the "Ohhh...Pleeezzeee Mom!" from her. But she makes it so fun for the little guys. Unfortunately that lucky Leprechaun got away again.The kids are blaming a design flaw in the trap and are full of plans for next year. That dastardly leprechaun made quite a mess...turning over furniture...leaving shamrocks everywhere...and a snide little note about how they will "never catch him"!!


The idea was for the leprechaun to climb the Lego stairs, greedily grab for the money and fall into the box.


The beguiling note should have worked...right? But um...maybe we should work on spelling. :)

We started the day off with a leprechaun's favorite breakfast...Lucky Charms. I stole Kristi Brooke's idea of the themed lunch. My kids LOVE this. I did it for Valentine's Day (all pink and red food) and they went CRAZY! Not a healthy lunch but a fun one.




For dinner this 95% vegetarian mom made...gasp...I know...Corned Beef and Cabbage!! I dusted off my rarely used roasting pan and made the best darn corned beef you could imagine. Although removing the meat from the package with its gelatinous, pickley blood nearly did me in. After averting my eyes and refusing to answer the kids many inquiries of "What animal IS that?" I was OK. Tradition is tradition...we ALWAYS eat this for St. Patrick's Day. Even Kirk called and wanted the recipe emailed ASAP! We also made Hannah's jello poke cake for dessert with green jello of course!

I must say it was my best corned beef yet! Divine.

In case you would like the recipe to store away for next year...or get hungry for

The Best Darn Corned Beef Ever

Corned Beef
Cabbage
Onions
Red Potatoes
Butter
Salt and Pepper
Malt Vinegar
Horseradish
Sour Cream

Buy whatever sized corned beef you want. Put the corned beef in a stock pot and cover with water...add the seasoning packet that comes with it. Boil for approximately 2 1/2 hours or 1 hour per pound. If most of the water boils out...add more. Keep the corned beef covered with water. After 2 1/2 hours put in a roasting pan and roast it fat side up for about 1/2 an hour at 375 degrees...until the fat crisps up and isn't so gelatinous.

When you put your corned beef in the oven...it's time to do your veggies. Boil some red potatoes in salted water...cut in half before you cook them. After about 20 minutes they should be done...then add to the potatoes...1 to 2 thickly cut onions...and 1 chopped up cabbage. Boil until the onions are tender. Don't over boil. Drain. Serve with lots of butter and salt and pepper. A MUST is malt vinegar. Drizzle it over all the veggies. Now make the horseradish sour cream to go with it. Buy the prepared horseradish in a jar...not the horseradish sauce...add to some sour cream. All of this is d@#$ good mixed in with the veggies and the vinegar. We also made corn bread to go with it.

(No, the kids didn't eat the corned beef...just me and Tyler). But they ate all the veggies and bread etc. Reilly probably had about three plates. She kept exclaiming how much she "loves cabbage". Hilarious.

Erin Go Bragh!!

Lori's Birthday!!!


I've hijacked Kristin's blog to write a birthday post to my sister.

I just wanted to wish my sister a very Happy Birthday. I love looking at these old photos and remembering some of the fun times we had growing up in California and then in Utah.



Here she is taking her little brother out for a walk.


Here we are ready to walk to our neighbors. Lori used to love to take us to our neighbors and ask if they had any kids that could play with us.


I do appreciate that our fashion sense has improved since our mother stopped dressing us.


I will never forget that Easter morning when the Easter bunny showed up on our doorstep. I think you can tell by the befuddled look on my face that I was still unsure of what was going on.
Kristin thinks it looks like the bunny from Donny Darko and it freaks her out.



I love this picture of us.

Happy Birthday Sis!

I love you,
Tyler

The Sewing Chronicles

Sewing 101


Here is a day my mother thought would never come. Has hell frozen over? You might want to check...because yes it is true... I am sewing!! WHO KNEW? I have done it...I have FINALLY made some progress on a goal that has been on my list of goals for years and years and years.

Let me preface this by saying that my mother is a seamstress extraordinaire. She can do amazing things. She even made my wedding dress. She is incredible.



Therefore it has been a MAJOR disappointment to her that none of her four daughters has followed in her sewing footsteps. I know she has dreamed of a day when she and her daughters would go to the fabric store together, look at patterns, and sew together, even (gulp) quilt together. She has been hugely disappointed. We have all HATED anything and everything to do with sewing. I blame her passion for it. She loves it so much that naturally we would all hate it since as teenagers who wanted to do what their mother did for a good time...not us! Plus she scarred us for life by the hours and hours she left us sitting in a station wagon bored out of our minds while she was in the fabric store. Just the word "fabric store" can cause my eyes to glaze over and roll into the back of my head. Then throw in the fact that she was the sewing Nazi when we actually had to sew for home Ec...great artists are probably not the best teachers...and the fact that I have ZERO natural skill (remember...I did get a D in home Ec) didn't help matters.

What has kept me away for years is that sewing requires math...especially fractions...ugh. Darn that Brad Roper for distracting me in 4th grade when we were learning fractions and I never recovered mathematically. Then the fact that it is all basically geometry...double ugh. I only passed high school geometry by my charm and flattery of my very nerdy geometry teacher...I flunked every test and yet got a "C". I can't remember his name but how I still love the man. Then add in that it requires eye/hand coordination and some technical skill and you can see how I would be setting myself up for abject failure.

But I want cute things...in cute fabrics and colors...and I want them for cheap. Ergo I must sew. My mom swore up and down (literally) that one day we would WISH we knew how to sew. We laughed in her face. (We were snotty girls). Then it happened... last Saturday I stepped into "no man's land" the "sewing" side of Joann's Crafts. Clutch the pearls. My eyes glazed and my head spun. So many bobbins, thread, bolts of fabric...I staggered my way over to the pattern books. Again if you knew the amount of mind-numbing time I had spent as a child waiting for my mom while she leisurely flipped through these books you would understand my instant claustrophobia . I decided that my first project must be simple...pillowcases. As I went through one book after another I couldn't find a pattern for pillowcases. There were patterns for all kinds of bedding/bedroom treatments but nothing for plain pillowcases. That meant one thing...I must call my mother.

When I called her...hiding in stacks of fabric...whispering ...to find out where the patterns for pillowcases were...she laughed at me...yes...she mocked me...and said rather haughtily "WELL...I bet you wish you would've paid more attention when you used to come to the fabric store with me!!" FYI: I guess you don't buy pillowcase patterns...you just use a pillowcase and take the measurements. Luckily mom took pity on me and told me what kind of fabric I needed, what measurements to tell the lady that cuts the fabric, and helped me get all that I needed.

Then she spent all Sunday afternoon and evening on the phone talking me through the whole process of sewing the pillowcases. Salvage edge? Right sides together? Huh? I'm sure it was excruciating for her...I could only do baby steps and then would have to call her back for the next step...by 10 pm they were done and I emailed her the proof. (By the way...I had no idea so much ironing was involved. Egads.)



Here I am hard at work. Notice the furrowed brow. My family was forced into exile downstairs as I needed COMPLETE SILENCE to concentrate and work my magic. Only Tyler was allowed to come upstairs and help me thread the machine and wind the bobbin. (Since apparently you need to be a freakin' genius to read and understand the instruction manual...good thing I had a genius on hand...and as it appeared the whole thing was written in every language BUT English!!)

But I persevered...my goal of not swearing sadly took a back seat but I SEWED something...two somethings actually. I made two cute pillowcases for Reilly and Ailey. Behold the finished products:



It is hard to tell from the picture but the pillowcase is pink with white polka dots, and the band (yes...I used two contrasting fabrics...daring huh?) is white with pink polka dots and the ribbon is pink with white polka dots. I was quite ecstatic!! I'm making pillowcases for the whole family now! After that my next project will be...dun dun dun dun...a table runner. For all you girls who sew...Jenny, Kristi...you know who you are. I am in awe!!

And Mom...

YOU WERE RIGHT AND I WAS WRONG!!

Happy Birthday Sissies

Kelley and Stacey in High School

Happy 33rd birthday Stacey and Happy 31st birthday Kelley!! Stacey and Kelley's birthdays are a week apart so I thought I would do a little vintage photo homage to both of them. As I am constantly accused by Kelley that I post "fugly" pictures of her on my blog I have included a few "fugly" pictures of my own for her amusement. Consider it a birthday gift Kelley!! ;) To get some truly "vintage" pictures I really needed to raid my mom's house...next year.

Here we are at our grandparents house in Provo

One of my favorite school pictures of Kelley...she "claims" I have said rude things about all of her school pictures...not true.

Stacey wearing MY Gap sweater...my favorite...I doubt she asked my permission!! ;)

See Kelley...hideous picture of me...nice eyeliner...but Stacey looks cute. Stacey...that is the shirt with the infamous "butter stain".

Stacey, Kristin and Kelley

We have always loved those mall photo booth pictures!!

Stacey's claim to fame...the only cheerleader among us. Big whoop!

Us country dancing...someone short must've taken this picture...our heads are all slightly cut off but we thought we looked HOT!!



The Chambrel Twins...or should I say triplets. We all were waitresses at the same place and no one could ever tell us apart which annoyed us greatly...we did not look alike!!


Another ravishing photo of me...Stacey and Kelley love this picture as they both look very tan and cute...me on the other hand I was in my porker stage and look like I would like to eat both of them for dinner. In my defense Reilly was only a few months old...but still not a good look. Are you happy Kelley? Mom, I'm begging you to put this picture away. It seems weird not to have Jordi in these pictures...but it isn't her birthday so I will save some oldies but goodies for her birthday in August.

This is our theme song...pretty much one or all four of us break into this song whenever we are together. Here are the words in case you want to sing along!!

Sisters
Sisters
There were never such devoted sisters

Never had to have a chaperone "No, sir"
I'm there to keep my eye on her

Caring
Sharing
Every little thing that we are wearing
When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome
She wore the dress and I stayed home

All kinds of weather
We stick together
The same in the rain or sun
Two diff'rent faces
But in tight places
We think and we act as one

Those who've
Seen us
Know that not a thing could come between us
Many men have tried to split us up but no one can
Lord help the mister
Who comes between me and my sister
And Lord help the sister
Who comes between me and my man

Happy Birthday Stacey and Kelley!! I love you guys!!

Things That Make Me Smile

1.) Sawyer from Lost



It is so embarrassing but I cannot help but smile when I see him on Lost. It's not a shy discrete smile either. It's a big loony gooney grin that I can't hide. It never fails either that Tyler always looks over at me as I'm grinning like a fool...he doesn't ever say anything but I can see the mockage in his eyes!!


2.) These pictures:

Kameron being silly

Synchronized sleeping...Tyler went in to check on the girls before we went to bed and found them in this position. Too funny.


3.) Ailey singing




4.) Reilly rapping




5.) The sun...it is actually out today. It has been mentioned in every prayer all day today from everyone in the family. We are apparently REALLY grateful for sunshiney days.


6.) Tyler cooking dinner

Fertility Or The Lack Thereof

So I've been holding off on this post for a few weeks...but I'm feeling better about things now and ready to blog. Miscarriage number 2 occurred about 3 1/2 weeks ago. Seriously depressing. It's scary enough to try again after a miscarriage and then to have it happen again was really difficult.

Luckily this time it was much less traumatic for the whole family...no hemorrhaging, no rushing to the ER, and no emergency surgery. The kids have no idea...that was the worst part last time...telling the kids that there would be no baby. Still...things sucked.

According to my doctor there isn't anything that is a red flag for why this occurred again...just bad luck. He didn't feel the need to do any further testing at this point...apparently three miscarriages is the magic number for serious fertility testing. If I had never had children and had two miscarriages then two is the number before they begin serious fertility testing.

My doctor feels it best if we take a break from trying to get pregnant for 6 months for my body to heal. Two miscarriages and a surgery in less than six months has been hard on my body. I was crushed at first but by the time I got home I felt much better about taking a break and getting some perspective. Six months pushes us back all the way to August...ugh...and the thought of going through all of this again is daunting. I have no idea what we will do in six months...we might decide that we have been blessed with three beautiful children and are done...who knows.

We just want to enjoy the summer and put all of this out of our minds for a few months. Like I said we have been SO BLESSED with our three amazing children!! We have a wonderful family already. It is just disappointing.

I'm doing fine...just wanted to give an update. My heart goes out to all those women who struggle with fertility issues much greater than mine.

I'm going to go kiss my three beautiful children and get some good mail ready to send out.