Transit Tourists

Today our family took advantage of the free light rail during it's first week of operation and headed downtown for a trip to the Heard Museum and lunch at the Spaghetti Factory.

This was a field trip that we had planned to take "sometime" way back in August when we celebrated my birthday and I was glad that it worked out that we could all fit it into our schedules.

The hubby was accommodating enough to even take the day off of work for the outing. Actually he had a day of annual leave he had to use or lose before the end of the year, so it worked out well.

As it turned out we weren't the only family that had the same idea of how to spend part of our holiday break. We had lots of company on the trains and at the restaurant.

These pictures don't make it look nearly as crowded as it was . When it was the most squishy I couldn't lift my arms to take any pictures. Just think friendly and then add about 25 more people.

We visited the museum first. The Heard museum focuses on Native American history, culture and art. We watched some Hopi dancing and viewed lots of exhibits. The youngest daughter and the roommate had lots of fun making all of the craft projects. I felt it was appropriate to snap a photo of the family in front of this exhibit.

My favorite exhibit was about the history of Indian Boarding schools.

It was sad to read some of the quotes and hear some of the memories of the students and parents. Many of the children in the photos were so small and looked so lost. It's interesting how the white man felt it was his responsibility to civilize the savage red man, mainly because it was more cost effective to educate them than to kill them.

We thought this poster encouraging the Indian boys to develop their "manly aggressions" was a little ironic. I wonder if some of today's professional athletes realize they are striving to be "controlled and civilized"?

The hubby's two older sisters were required to attend boarding school but only for high school and I think boarding schools had changed a lot by then. They actually had positive experiences there.

We ended up having to wait quite a while to be seated at the Spaghetti Factory but I believe it was worth it. Other members of the family might not agree.

I thoroughly enjoyed our day even though I was afraid for a few minutes that I might be thrown from a moving train when the woman standing next to me realized that I was a "transit tourist" and not using the light rail "for the purpose for which it was intended." I don't know. I think if the Metro offers free rides for a week they pretty much expect people to just ride the light rail for entertainment and a new experience. I bet that working woman has a seat to sit on now that everyone has to purchase a ticket to ride.

Today I am grateful for

a sense of humor.

time with my family.

progress in the acceptance of cultural diversity.

TP-ed

I went outside this morning
to go to the church and run off the bulletin
and low and behold
there was some extra white here and there in our front yard.
No, it didn't snow
(although it felt like it was cold enough
and I did have to scrape the frost
off the van windows before I could drive it).

Someone had decorated our yard with toilet paper.


Now, I know that people get tp-ed
when someone doesn't like them,
but I also know that people get tp-ed
when someone does like them.
What I don't know is
"How do you tell the difference?"
Like or Dislike?
Do you wrap the toilet paper
clockwise for like
and counter clockwise for don't like?
How about bows?
Do you tie bows in the toilet paper for like
or for don't like?
Perhaps it has to do with
the quality of toilet paper
which is used?
2 ply means like.
Flimsy 1 ply definitely dislike
or perhaps just frugal.
If some paper is
left on the rolls
so it is actually still usable
that probably means really like.
Right?
What does it mean when you add yard trash
to the decorating scheme?
Does this mean you cared enough
to add some special little touches
or does it mean
you really think we have a junky yard
and so it doesn't matter
if you add your trash to ours?


I have thought about this a lot today
trying to figure out if it's like or dislike
and still I'm not absolutely sure.
However I did decide
that anyone who will lovingly wrap
a little car up tight
on a cold, cold night
can't be a bad person,
so it must be like.


Today I am thankful for

my last Sunday afternoon nap for a while.
my grown up Nursery kids who are going to be Sunbeams next week.
baked potatoes.

Check it Out

I have actually finished some blogs that have lived in "draft phase" for a while. Go to the December list on the side and see if there are any you haven't read and Check it Out!

Today I am thankful for

a husband that helps me do laundry.
posted blogs.
ham and cheese omelets (and a husband that makes them).

Christmas Pillows

While my mom was waiting for her radiation and chemotherapy treatments to begin she decided that she needed a project to take her mind off of what was ahead of her. She came up with a plan to make Christmas pillows for all of her children and their families for Christmas. She visited every cloth store in the valley collecting fabric for this major undertaking. Then she cut all the material into little pieces and tried to figure out how to sew the resulting pieces back together into pillows.

My dad always used to give my mom a hard time about this every time she started a project. "Why do you cut it all up and then sew it all back together? Couldn't you just leave it in one piece to start with?" Really. What would be the fun in that?

I arrived at her house 3 weeks into her cancer treatments and toward the tail end of the pillow construction. She and my sister had spent many, many hours sewing and stuffing and stuffing and sewing almost 100 pillows. Some of them had already been delivered and some were waiting in boxes for me to tape and take to the Post Office to be mailed.

I was glad that I could play a small part in this Christmas event and I was able to get all 5 boxes mailed after only one failed attempt. The first time I went to the Post Office was Monday afternoon (December 15th) at about 4:45 PM. There wasn't a single parking spot and the line was weaving out the front door. I decided that one day wouldn't make that big a difference in their delivery time and turned around and went home. When I went back at 10:00 the next morning, I walked right up to the counter. I was glad I had waited and I don't think my mom was too disappointed in me.

Here are some of the pillows that were still around when I arrived.

The woodsman Santas for my sister and her roommate who chose these because they reminded them of their Alaskan cruise that they took this year. I think they shared a few of them with my mom's sister, who has a cabin in the woods that needed some Santas.

The elf set that were made for my family. My sister insisted that mom really needed to use the green pom poms that she found in the sewing closet since they were just the right color and my mom sewed and muttered under her breath to fulfill her wishes. I do think the pom poms are cute. These are the ones that were divided between my girls.

The 3 on the stool were for 3 of the great granddaughters. The bottom one is flannel and oh so soft. It has old fashioned pictures on it that reminded me of the Dick and Jane books that I learned to read out of. The middle one has a really cute snowman on it. We had a hard time coming up with some fabric to go on the edges and back, but it turned out great once we dug deep enough and found the red and black check hiding in the closet. The pillows on the floor are mine. I helped pick out this Mary Englebreit Santa fabric after I arrived, but my mom said she wouldn't be mean and make me stuff my own pillows so she stuffed and sewed them all by herself. I did end up stuffing 13 pillows into the extra suitcase that I brought to Utah to get them home though. I'm sure that counts for something.

I am glad that my mom is willing to deal with life's challenges in a positive and productive way. She isn't going to lay in bed and feel sorry for herself, even though she might have a good excuse to do just that. She is such a good example to her 5 children (and their spouses), 22 grandchildren (and more spouses) and 24 great grandchildren of taking what life gives you and making the best of it. Hopefully we will remember this wonderful attribute she possesses each year when we pull out our Christmas pillows to decorate and brighten our homes. I know I will!

Today I am thankful for

a mom who has always been a good example to me.
a Christmas program at church to remind me why we celebrate Christmas.
a husband who is willing to pick up the slack and fulfill my church callings for me while I am in Utah.

Arizona Driver

I have been pretty lucky while I have been in Utah this week. While it has snowed on several occasions, our daily trips to and from Provo for my mom's treatments have been on dry roads. The weathermen had forecast a storm for this afternoon but as we left Payson and headed north at 2:00 we both commented on how clear the roads were and wondered where the storm was. We reached the medical building and my mom went in for her radiation and I quickly settled in to work on "my" puzzle.
There was a gentleman in the waiting room talking to someone on his cell phone. He was inquiring how much snow there was at this unseen individuals home. After hearing the answer to the question he responded, "Well, I don't think we'll be coming up. Your mom doesn't drive in snow and I don't drive with someone screaming in my car." At that point he looked out the window and said, "We're definitely not coming. It's snowing here." At first I thought perhaps he was telling a fib to make not coming more acceptable until I looked out the window and sure enough the snow was already gathering on the parking lot outside.
My mom finished radiation and we went upstairs to get her chemo pump removed and by then all the nurses were beginning to worry if they were going to be able to get home when they got off work at 5:00. We left the building at about 3:30 and there was probably a good 2 to 3 inches on the parking lot. I told mom to stay right there by the door and I would bring the car around. I got in the car and took a while figuring out how to get the front and rear windshield wipers to work and the defrost to blow. The side windows were covered with snow and I couldn't see a snow brush so I decided to revert to a trick my son and I use when the van windows are all fogged up when I take him to marching band at 6:00 in the morning. You just roll the window down and then roll it back up and all the condensation is gone. It's magic! I rolled the window down and it worked quite well except for the lap full of snow that I ended up with. By the time I got back to my mom I think she was wondering where I had gone.
I drove white knuckled, between 15 and 25 mph, even on the freeway, all the way back to Spanish Fork.


I told my mom that I wished I had an "Arizona Driver" sign to hang on the back of her car so the other drivers would give me a little more room. Most of the cars weren't moving any faster than we were, but every once in a while I'd get someone who wanted to test his snow tires or see how well his insurance paid out claims who'd get right on my tail and want me to go faster.
We stopped at ShopKo in Spanish Fork to pick up a prescription for my mom. I was in the store about 5 minutes and came out to a car covered in snow again. This time when I rolled the window down I stopped before the snow fell in though. I'm a quick learner. However when I turned on the wipers, the snow was frozen to them and nothing I tried, the defrost, window washer fluid, making the wipers go faster seemed to get it to move. Instead of wiping the windshield they pretty much smeared water all over the windshield, especially right where my line of vision was. I switched from sitting up extra tall to slumping way down all the rest of the way home so I could see where I was going. I was very happy when we finally pulled into my mom's garage and wouldn't you know it, I looked out the window when we got inside and it had stopped snowing.

Today I am thankful for

the person who invented windshield wipers.
a warm coat.
a break for my mom from doctor trips, radiation and the chemo pump - at least for 2 days.

Puzzling Trips to the Doctor

My mom doesn't look forward to her daily trips to Provo for her cancer treatments, but I actually have a hard time not getting a little bit excited. The radiation waiting room has a puzzle set up between the rows of chairs and I quite enjoy the time I spend there. The first day was a long visit and I worked for quite a while on a puzzle with lots and lots of snowmen on it. It was close to being finished and all that was left were the harder pieces, but I was able to fill in quite a few holes. The next day I was looking forward to working on it again, but it was gone and a new one was in it's place. This was a Charles Wysocki Winter Scene with houses and people. It was just barely started which made me happy because I knew I would get a chance to work on it for a few days.
I am not much of a border person. I am happy to let someone else work on the border while I focus on the easier parts of the puzzle. I like to work on places where there is a distinct difference in color and the buildings on this puzzle were just up my alley.
I didn't see too many other people who had an interest in the puzzles while I was there. The first day there was a man working on it when I got there. He told me he has to do one piece every time he came and then he could sit down and read his book. He was looking for one specific piece, with a unique shape, and it took him awhile to find it and then he was content to stop. Stop?! I even have a hard time stopping when my mom comes out, ready to leave. One day a lady came in and asked the receptionist at the counter if she could please work on the puzzle. Her husband was waiting for an appointment in a different office, but their office was boring and she'd rather wait in here. We had fun handing each other pieces for the part of the puzzle each of us were working on. Her husband came to look for her at one point and she said "I'll be right here." He asked if she wanted to go into the appointment with him and she said, "No, I'll be fine right here." I don't know if that was the answer that he wanted to hear, but he didn't seem to be too surprised by it.
One day while I was plugging away on the puzzle a woman approached me and asked me if I could do her a favor. They were making a brochure for the medical building and they needed some subjects to be in it. I tore myself away from the puzzle long enough to sign a wavier and get taken on a fun ride in and out and in and out and in and out of the sliding doors to the parking lot in a wheelchair carrying on a pretend conversation with the pretend employee who was pushing me. It was my one moment of fame and I'll never even know if I made the brochure or not. The photographer told me I did such a good job he was going to make a poster and put me smack dab in the middle. I think I'd rather be working on "my" puzzle than plastered on a poster.


It's fun every day to walk up to the puzzle and see what has been accomplished while I was gone. I wonder about those other puzzlers who come each day and put pieces into this community puzzle. Who are they waiting for? What kind of cancer is their family member or friend fighting against? How many puzzles will they work on before they stop coming? I was a little sad as I left the waiting room today. I won't be back to work on the puzzle anymore. I wonder when this one will be finished and what the next one will look like and who will come to take my place?

A Question for my Weatherman

This is something that I have always wondered about -

If the high temperature for the day

never gets above 32 degrees,

then why/how does snow melt on that day?

It seems to me that everything

should just stay frozen.

Now I have heard that heat

escaping from homes through the roof

causes the snow to melt and icicles to form.

Supposedly you can tell

how well insulated your house is

by the number and size of your icicles,

so that is a possible explanation.

I also understand that

where the sun is actually hitting

ie. the driveway, the asphalt,

the mailbox, the roof top, the sidewalk

might be warmer

than the actual recorded high temperature

and that is why the snow melts.

It still seems rather strange to me though,

if water freezes at 32 degrees

if it is below 32 degrees

it should just stay frozen!

That would make sense.

Pond Town Christmas

On the way home from the appointments and shopping today we went through Salem and I drove around the pond to look at the lights. They have signs all over advertising the "Pond Town Christmas". I don't know why, but I think this is a really funny name for some pretty Christmas lights on a pond.

Sandbakels

When I was growing up,
every year at Christmas time
my mom would make Sanbakels.
These are a traditional Norwegian butter cookie
pressed into tins of various designs and baked.


On my holiday visits home,
since I have grown up
and started my own family,
I can always count on a Tupperware bowl
filled with Sanbakels waiting to be enjoyed.


Every year when Christmas rolls around,
and I am far away from my mom,
I get this urge to make my own Sanbakels.
The only problem with this idea
is that I own approximately 3 Sanbakel tins.
At the rate of 3 cookies baked every 15 minutes
it would take me an entire day
to bake a batch of Sanbakels.
I quickly become discouraged
given these statistics.
One year I searched every store
I could think of looking for Sanbakel tins
with no luck at all.
Another year I found them online,
but the shipping time
would have resulted in their arrival in mid January.
I have no desire to make Sanbakels in January.
Now, I know I should have just purchased them
and I would have had them the next year
when I decided I wanted Sanbakels,
but chances are I would have forgotten
where I put them by then.
(Like the package of 10 tins
that I vaguely remember buying
at a thrift store
possibly within the past 3 years.)

This year I decided while I was in Utah
helping my mom get through chemo and radiation
and with all of her Sanbakel tins at my disposal
I was going to bake Sanbakels.
I pulled out the tins


and the recipe
dictated by my mom
from my Grandma Christiansen.

Sanbakels

1 heaping cup of sugar
1 # butter
3 eggs
1 t almond flavoring
flour

That's it.

I had never actually gotten to the recipe part
of baking Sanbakels before.
I've always been stuck on finding the tins.
When I looked at this recipe it raised a few questions.
I do know what heaping means,
but if you can only find a 1/2 cup measuring cup
do you fill it heaping both times??
I was smart enough to figure out
that the # means pound
and I know that 4 sticks of butter make a pound.
(That's a lot of butter).
Anyone who passed home economics
knows that the lower case t stands for teaspoon.
However, the flour was a little trickier.
Flour - that's pretty vague.
My mom seemed to think
that maybe she used about 4 cups.
"You just keep adding flour
until it feels right."
Right.
Then the lack of a temperature
and a cooking time made me a little nervous.
Most things bake at 350 degrees so we'll go with that.
My mom and I did differ a little on the time though.
She kept telling me that my cookies weren't brown enough,
but I don't like my Sanbakels brown.
Sorry hubby, no offense meant, but I made pale Sanbakels.


They taste just like Christmas to me.
All I need now is some of Aunt Rose's Hot Punch
to wash them down.

Today I am thankful for

Childhood memories that make me feel happy.
A reminder of my Grandma Christiansen and my Norwegian ancestors.
Snow outside that makes baking cookies a lot more inviting.

Glittered!

This morning my mom asked me to take something down the street to her visiting teaching companion's house. When I went outside, I was met with a wonderful sight. During the night it had snowed just enough for a fine layer of tiny flakes to cover everything. With the sun shining on the snow, it looked just like someone had taken a giant container of glitter and sprinkled it over the entire neighborhood. It was so sparkly and beautiful! Of course when I tried to take a picture of the shiny effect it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to. You'll just have to take my word for it. It was amazing!

Actually, if you click on the picture and make it big you can almost see it sparkle. I doubt my son-in-law will appreciate this though. For some reason he has a very strong aversion to glitter. Go figure.

Shoveling Snow

I went outside this morning to sweep the snow that had fallen during the night off of my mom's front porch so no unsuspecting visitors would slip on the ice that was hidden beneath it and injure themselves. While I was out there, I noticed that the senior citizens across the street were out shoveling their driveways. I decided if they could be that ambitious I should probably be shoveling too so I got the shovel and went to work. There was probably about 3 or 4 inches of new snow on the driveway and that came off quite easily. The old snow underneath, that cars had driven back and forth on, was a little harder to get up but I got most of it. As I was shoveling I was thinking that I should probably shovel the neighbor's driveway too. The couple that lives there both have had major surgeries recently and probably can't do it themselves. Then I looked down the street and each house I could see is occupied by an older person or couple who probably could use my help. I could shovel all day and still not reach everyone who could use my assistance. I decided my contribution would be to shovel the sidewalk and area around the mailboxes so that all the people could safely collect their mail. I know it wasn't much, but it was something. I was happy for all the neighbors later on in the day when the sun came out and most of the snow melted off of all their driveways. However I was kind of sad that I had worked that hard for nothing. Oh well, I don't get the opportunity to shovel snow that often and it was probably good for me.

Even though I grew up in Utah I don't remember shoveling snow very often. I have 2 older brothers and I think they probably pulled snow shoveling duty a lot, along with my dad. Sometimes it's nice to be a girl.

My most vivid snow shoveling memory occurred after I was married. Our family lived in Orem. My hubby had been unemployed for a few months and was offered a job in Arizona working for his tribe. He went to Arizona to start work the middle of January and I stayed in Utah, with our 3 children, to sell the house. As luck would have it we had some major snowstorms while he was gone (which was about a month, but seemed a lot longer) and I spent quite a bit of time shoveling the driveway so prospective buyers could come and look at our house. We lived on a very busy street, so the kids had to stay in the house while I worked. The girls were 4 and 6 months and my son was not quite 3. I usually waited until the baby was asleep and the other 2 were good to entertain themselves or watch me out the window. One day however after I had been shoveling for a while my daughter opened the front door and yelled for help. I hurried inside to find my son sitting on the floor with a set of keys in his hand, his very black hand. It took me a minute to figure out what had happened but I soon spied the electrical outlet in the nearby wall was also black. The son had stuck the keys in the outlet and received quite the shock apparently. I quickly washed his had off and although it was a tiny bit red he didn't seem to be burned. He was lucky that he wasn't really hurt. He has always remembered this experience and is still cautious around plugs to this day.

Today I am thankful for

a warm house to go into after I have been shoveling snow.
no line at the post office.
arms.

If You're Missing Baby Jesus

Tonight my brother and sister-in-law and 3 of their sons brought dinner to my mom's house and came to share family home evening with us. It never ceases to amaze me how much better food tastes when someone else does the cooking. My sister-in-law made wheat chili which sounds kind of strange but was actually quite good. She told me the recipe, but I can't remember what all was in it. According to her youngest son poison was very likely one of the ingredients and it possibly could have killed me, but I'm still alive so I don't think that was on the list.

The mother of the family had brought a book to read for our lesson. It was called "If You're Missing Baby Jesus" by Jean Gietzen and although apparently all of my extended family are familiar with the story, it was one that I hadn't heard before. It is based on a true experience from the author's childhood. Her mother had purchased a Nativity set that year and when she set it up at home there were 2 baby Jesus figures. The mom and the children really worried about the set that was missing the most important part and the person that purchased it and how sad they would be. Finally the mom went to the store and asked them to post a sign with her phone number to call if anyone was missing baby Jesus. The story tells about what happened when someone finally calls. It was a sweet, touching story and my sister-in-law had to pass the book off to her eldest son when she got a little emotional as she was reading it. He finished off the story and of course I cried and was touched by the message that this book shared. However, as often is the case at our Family Home Evenings, someone had to bring up the fact that this child and her siblings were allowed to ride in the back of a pickup truck in below freezing temperatures and that perhaps the parents should have been charged with child abuse. I guess it is nice to know that my home is not the only one where attempts at feeling the spirit and keeping it around for a while are thwarted by a silly boy. I personally enjoyed the story and got much more out of it than a desire to call CPS. Sometimes I feel like my Christmas Season is missing the most important part of the celebration. It's always good to be reminded of the real spirit of Christmas, which is the spirit of Christ. If you haven't read this book you might want to add it to your Christmas collection. A version of the story is available here.

This story reminded me of a friend's blog that I read today and her nephew's insightful placement of the figures in her Nativity Sets. I too want to be close to Jesus and I am glad that Christmas gives me so many little reminders of Him and His love for me.

We ended our fun evening with chocolate chip bar cookies. Mom even got a candle in hers in honor of her upcoming birthday.


Today I am thankful for

reminders of why I celebrate Christmas.
dinner made by someone else.
opportunities to spend time with family I don't get to see as often as I would like.

Ward Christmas Party

Our Ward Christmas Party was tonight. My 3 boys and I went, as well as the oldest daughter and her hubby. It was a pretty low key event. We started with a dinner of ham, funeral potatoes, fruit salads, and rolls. One of my beach friends even snuck me one of her delicious potato rolls that were hidden in the kitchen for the really nice people. YUM! After dinner the primary kids all went into a room and made Christmas crafts while the adults enjoyed a musical program. I gathered up my nursery kids and together we decorated paper Christmas trees with stickers. The trees were two pieces of paper with slits in them so they could be put together to become 3 dimensional and stand up. We decided they were easier to decorate in two pieces, but most of the kids were convinced that their job was to cover up the slits with stickers to hold it shut. Then to put them together we had to move all the stickers. The oldest daughter used the "I have to go to the bathroom" excuse to sneak out of the program and come in and help. We had fun and they turned out cute.

Some of the stickers ended up on other places than the trees.

Some of the littler kids got bored or lonely for their parents before they got their trees completely decorated. I had a helper who was more than happy to finish up all the trees with me. She was a sticker sticking machine.

To end the evening Santa made his appearance. I had a great time watching all the little kids sitting on his lap. They really know how to get excited! These pictures just don't show it.

Today I am thankful for

Kids that help me to be excited about Christmas.

Someone else making me a delicious dinner and all I had to contribute was a salad.

Young men who earn their Eagle Scout rank and set a good example for my son.

Second Grade Field Trip

Today I got to go on a field trip to the Desert Botanical Garden with my oldest daughter and her Second Grade Class. I thought it was a fun and interesting trip.


This is our group - 10 of her students.


The second grade program that the garden presents is about life cycles so we learned about the life cycle of a Saguaro Cactus.

A seven year old saguaro is only as big as a second grader's thumb. A saguaro gets it's first arm usually when it is about 50 years old. Saguaros can live about 200 years. A saguaro can hold up to 60 bathtubs of water inside during a wet period. Saguaro's are ribbed so they can expand and contract as they gain and lose water.

We also learned about the Yucca plant. Here the students are depicting the Yucca life cycle.

I really like this next picture because it looks like everyone is really involved in learning something.

The Desert Botanical Garden has a Christmas event each year where they light the trails with southwestern luminaries. They have thousands of luminaries and I'm sure it is very beautiful.

I have always wanted to go to it, but I am too cheap to pay the $25.00 that it costs each person to attend. As I walked the trails today I just pretended that the candles were all lit and glowing.

They also have some really unique blown glass decoration "growing" in with the plant life that are quite beautiful even in the daylight.


After our time at the garden we went to Papago Park to eat lunch. The gardens are located in Papago Park so it was a very short bus ride. This is a park with plants and dirt and rocks and picnic tables but no playground. The kids were all very upset. This was a crummy park in their opinion. All there was to do was eat.

This is the daughter's entire Second Grade Class except for one little girl. She is pretty lucky to only have 15 students in her classroom. It may look like there are only 13 kids in the picture - one of the girls is hiding, but you can kind of see her if you look really hard.


Today I am thankful

that I still get to enjoy a bus full of kids every once in a while.
for the opportunity to learn something I didn't know before.
for dinner in the crock pot at the end of a busy day.