raspberries, raspberries, and more raspberries.

My parents have an extensive raspberry patch in the back yard. It extends almost the entire length of the back fence.

Every summer they have almost more raspberries than they know what to do with. It's a happy sort of problem though. Almost every night, my dad can be found out there picking at least one large bowl full of those little red gems.

My dad can have his cereal the way he likes it, with at least half the bowl being raspberries, (not coincidentally, it's the way I like it too) we all snack on them to our heart's content, and so far I have made three pies, and my mom has made 3 batches of jam. Most likely there will be at least one more pie and more jam in the near future.

My family has finally decided they are in love with my raspberry pie. I tried sharing it with them a few years ago, but it was met with a lukewarm response. Now, nearly before the last slice is consumed, they are looking to me to make another. I'm happy to oblige.

Oh, and just cause I thought my kids were being cute when I was out taking pictures of my dad in his raspberry bushes-

Oh and yes, in that top picture that is a raft taking up nearly most of the pool. Don't ask me why, but my kids beg every year to put the raft in the pool. Weird.

By popular demand the raspberry pie recipe is the very first one on my food blog (link to the side) or you can find it right here.

This is the place

Last week we were invited to go with my cousin and her kids to the "This is the Place Monument". I hadn't been there since I was probably younger than Nick. My impression of the place back then was that is was hot, dusty, and boring. We looked at a bunch of old buildings and did a lot of walking. The only real interesting thing of note was that some kid found an "adult" magazine in an old run-down outhouse. (I didn't see it, but I heard a bunch of boys talking about it.)Despite Christopher's penchant for running off at a moment's notice, I had a more enjoyable experience this time around.
After a picnic lunch, the kids did some pioneer chores-

And learned some pioneer games.

They went for rides on horses.

Christopher was more interested in getting trampled by the horses,

but I eventually got him to go for a ride on one while I held him,

While he cried "Ow, ow, ow" the whole time. The kids did some crafts, and learned about different aspects of pioneer life.

They even had a little train which was a big hit with the younger two.

All in all I think all the kids had a great time. And nobody found any questionable material in any of the outhouses. (They were all locked up to keep people from using them.)

cousins

John's sister Corrine, and her daughter Kaeli happened to be in the same state with us at the exact same time which only happens like once every three years- they live in Texas. They were here celebrating Kaeli's 12th birthday. They went to the Jonas Brothers too.
We almost missed them, as luck would have it we happened to be in San Francisco for 75% of their visit.
It was good to see them again- three years is just too long. Kaeli has a couple of brothers that got left home in Texas, so it will be even longer than that before my boys get to see them. We're even discussing some kind of "kid trade" but Corrine is adamant that she gets the girls, (all 2 of them) and we get the boys. (all 5 of them) She still hasn't forgiven us from the time we went to Disneyland together and the girls rode with us (and quietly played Barbies in the back seat) and the boys rode with them (and had sword fights in their car).

Christopher- an update

I don't know what's got into him lately, but that kid is bound and determined to run away. (It's a daily occurrence. We're considering looking into GPS for him. We do our best to keep doors locked, and several eyes on him, but he still manages it at least some time during the day.)

Today when I realized he was missing (cause he silently slinks off) we found him on the next street over taking a little stroll.

He didn't have his shoes on, but at least he remembered his hat.

memory lane

As if that last post wasn't enough- I thought I'd stroll a bit down memory lane-

The other day I was talking to Hannah (12 year old down the street) and I got all sentimental and asked "Are you going to Eisenhower next year? (my jr. high- she lives on the same street I grew up on so I figured she would be)"

I got a funny look, and then she said "Uh, no. Bennion jr. high"

"Well, you went to Plymouth Elementary, right?"

"No." (another weird look) she says, "(insert name of other elementary school I can't remember here)."

I guess they changed the boundaries, which my brother explained is a good thing, cause Eisenhower is "too ghetto". (It totally makes sense though, people always asked why I went to Eisenhower cause Bennion was closer)

Naturally I started to ponder upon what my life would have been like if I hadn't gone to Eisenhower. Who could tell really? But I'm glad I did, and while Eisenhower is now considered "ghetto" I am glad I got the opportunity to go there.

So later that afternoon when Christopher was a little cranky, we went for a drive.

I found myself driving towards Plymouth, and with my trusty camera never too far away, I snapped a picture. I decided that one can never have too many pictures of one's favorite educational institutions, so I made a field trip of it, snapping crappy pictures from behind the wheel of my car. (I wasn't ambitious enough to actually get out of the car.)

My elementary school-

The playground at my elementary school. They got rid of the original awesome play structure. I broke my front teeth on that thing. It was responsible for my very first root canal. They had bars for girls to spin on and flip off of, (I couldn't do it, just those gymnastics-type girls) but I was able to hold my own with the boys playing "dog fight" on the monkey bars. Also there was tons of other stuff to climb on and fall off of. This playground is for pansies.

My Junior High-strangely terrible and wonderful at the same time. I wouldn't go back for all the money in the world, and yet, I had a lot of really great memories at that place.

High School- Ditto. (I didn't get a decent picture of the building-maybe I should have parked the car and gotten out instead of taking a drive-by snap shot)So, I hope anyone still reading this found all this reminiscing just as exciting as Christopher did.

lunch, and dinner.

Wow I have some catching up to do. Going through my pictures I have at least a half a dozen different subjects to talk about. Oldest first-

I went to lunch with a couple of good friends awhile back, and had dinner at some other friends house that night. It was a good day. But as I thought about what I would write (cause some days I start writing in my head even as the event is taking place, or the second a picture is snapped), I had difficulty finding the words to say. (Which I realize is almost crazy given my penchant for rambling.)

So, what was so difficult?

I met some girlfriends for lunch. We laughed and caught up and had a good time. (I did anyway) I LOVED seeing them again. Ali is leaving for Africa and the Peace Corps (actually she's there now) and I won't see her for more than 2 years. Heidi is pregnant with her fourth, and (I'm hoping) she'll have the baby before I leave, then maybe I will get to meet the new little one (and the other 3 for that matter.)

For dinner I drove my kids clear the heck out to Eagle Mountain (never even heard of it, it was so far away) and had dinner at another friend's house. I brought a raspberry pie (but who knew cornstarch goes bad? I ended up using a different glaze and it wasn't as good). Aaron barbecued some chicken, and we had an awesome Cafe Rio style dinner. (so yummy.) He and his wife Tandy are always fun to hang out with, they always make me laugh, and their girls were the cutest. Totally entertained by them all evening. He has a little girl Maddie, who was born within a week of Zach, and twin three year old girls Cami, and Brie, who are exactly a week older than Christopher. We all had fun. Nick would have liked to hang out with the adults more, but ended up getting trampled by the little kids quite a bit. I got hugs and kisses from Cami and Brie when we left.

So again I ask- why is this difficult to write about?

When I arrived at Aaron and Tandy's, I had to go back out to the car and get something out of it, and I walked in on Aaron telling Nick that he met me for the first time when we were Nick's age. (Same happens to be true for Ali and Heidi). It occurred to me that I have known them for 21 years now, (which is longer than I haven't known them) since we all walked into what was most likely English class in the seventh grade. If I had known then that I would be making some friends for life, I would have been more excited and less afraid. (and I was oh-so afraid that day- scared out of my wits)

We were all in an accelerated program called GT (Gifted and Talented) and for the next three years the thirty or so of us had the same three classes (English, Social Studies, and Science) together (and by default, many others). So we got to know each other pretty well.

When I started jr. high, I had no friends. The one friend I did have had pretty much rejected me at the first bell of jr. high because she thought that I was going to pull her down or tarnish her yet to be developed cool reputation or something. (suddenly I wasn't cool enough for her)

It took awhile, (a couple of years) but after having Ali for a science partner, and passing more than a bazillion notes back and forth with Aaron concerning our current crushes (in my case his twin brother, in his case, half my friends)and anything else that wandered past our brains and eventually hanging out with that whole group (including Heidi- who I thought was like the popularest of us GT geeks) I had Friends. Real life, honest to goodness, friends. My mom got concerned when my grades started dropping (cause that's what happens when you spend class time writing and passing notes instead of taking notes, and spending your evening on the phone instead of doing homework, and hanging out all weekend long). Anyway, my mom got concerned because I went from straight A's to mostly B's with a few C's thrown in for fun and threatened to send me to a psychiatrist because she was sure there was something wrong. Of course the only thing wrong was a sense of balance- I went from having no friends and no social life, to letting my social life completely eclipse my school work.

(and who's to say I wouldn't have benefitted from professional help -then or now? just not necessarily for the reasons she thought I needed at that time)

And how do you describe what acceptance feels like?

Anyways...It was just lunch, and dinner. And of course there are many other friends who mean just as much to me (old and new) and these are just three examples, and maybe I am a little too sentimental, or weird, or whatever, but I had a hard time summing up those two meals I spent with these old friends, and writing a couple paragraphs about it, because it was just lunch and dinner, but it was also much more to me. So, two weeks later... here it is in all it's shining glory, cause it two weeks I couldn't come up with anything more to say.

(also, I shy away from public displays of sentimentality, -I'd rather write things that are light or what I think is funny, whether the world thinks I'm a dork or not)

I'd like to apologize for lack of pictures. I had my camera with me at Aaron and Tandy's but forgot to pull it out. If I were back home in Phoenix I might be able to dig up a few gems from my jr. high days, and scan them in, but I'm not. Sorry.

New glasses

With Nick's eye issues he needs glasses. He's still wearing the patch several hours a day, which he doesn't like, but understands why it's important, but I think we are all loving his new glasses. I think they are super cute on him. He likes them too, and was totally amazed at the world he was missing around him.

We attended an open house for the Oquirrh Hills Temple today, and he wanted to stop and stare at every painting on the walls. He said he had never seen such beautiful artwork before. While the paintings were indeed very lovely (as was everything else about the temple) I reminded him he has new eyes now and has probably never really actually seen any paintings before. (At least with any clarity) -FYI Madison was totally taken with the gorgeous chandeliers. She'd love to have one in her bedroom, but a ceiling fan is just more practical in Arizona.

I got new sunglasses too. Our really crappy totally awesome eye insurance allows for one pair of glasses per person per year. My eyes haven't changed much since my I purchased my last pair, so I didn't need any new regular glasses this year. Oh, and we get to have to choose between Sears and Target for all our vision needs. We chose the good folks at Sears.

To tell you the truth, I probably wouldn't have gotten myself any (cause we still had to pay a good chunk of the price) but John was there and was tired of watching me have to choose between squinting in the sun or dealing with blurry vision.

Since John isn't around to see us in person, he wants me to post BOTH our pictures on the blog. Otherwise I would have just posted Nick.