McGhie Meanderings

Don't call it a comeback, we been here for years...

2012-01-03T16:14:00.009-07:00

Shut the front door. We're back.

Let's face it. Our last post (excellent deals at your local Springville Reams) was epic. What a cliff hanger. As we knew it would be years before we could compete with that, we moved on to more modern, spitfire ways of sharing our lives like Facebook and Pintrest to bridge the gap. That being said, with several years behind us, it's go time on a new post. Buh-bam 2012.

So, here we are. I believe the infamous words of LL Cool J's early 90's rap hit "Mama Said Knock You Out" (buy now for just $.99) are in order for this occasion:

Don't call it a comeback
I been here for years
Rockin my peers and puttin suckas in fear
Makin the tears rain down like a MON-soon
Listen to the bass go BOOM
Explosion, overpowerin
Over the competition, I'm towerin
Wreckin shop, when I drop these lyrics that'll make you call the cops
Don't you dare stare, you betta move
Don't ever compare
Me to the rest that'll all get sliced and diced
Competition's payin the price

Now, you may be asking yourself, "Why didn't he just stop quoting that after the second line? Wasn't that excessive?"

I'd like to answer that question with a question of my own, "Is this love, that I'm feeling? Is this the love, that I've been searching for? Is this love, or am I dreaming? This must be love, 'cuz it's really got a hold on me-ee-ee." (buy now for just $.99)

So, now that is out of the way, let's get serious. {pause for effect}

Great. That felt good. Issues are being dealt with. Positive stuff here people.

Sheesh. Now I remember why I stopped writing on this thing. I don't have anything interesting to say. I guess I should at least give a shout out to my buddy Robert Vila. Still funny, after all these years (buy now for just $.99).

Springville Reams Produce Deals through August 15

2009-08-12T21:23:00.004-06:00

Artichokes- $.69/ ea
Cantaloupe- $.24/lb
Local Corn- $.20/ ea
Celery- $.39/lb
Red, Black & Green Seedless Grapes- $.89/lb
Black Plums- $.69/lb
Broccoli- $.59/lb
Iceberg Lettuce- $.69/ea
Green Bell Peppers- $.33/ea
Russet Potatoes- $1.89/10 lbs
Tomatoes- $.69/lb
Fuji, Red, or Granny Apples- $1.50/3 lb Bag
Mini Carrots- $.89/lb
Fresh Express Cole Slaw- $.99/16 oz
Fresh Express Tossed Salad- $.99/12 oz
Medium Yellow Onions- $.39/lb
Weekend Special is 2lbs of fresh blueberries for $1.49 each (I would call and make sure they have these in stock before driving over there. I heard they get some in every morning but they go fairly fast)

Ode to Robert Vila, a funny guy...

2009-06-28T22:21:00.003-06:00

Anyone who knows us, knows we like a good deal. We're drawn to a good deal like a fly is drawn to poop. So, as you could guess, we love garage sales, coupons, and our favorite: Craigslist.

About a month ago, Charlie's therapist came to our house to check out our setup. As we discussed some of our concerns and challenges with Charlie, she made some suggestions for toys/products that could benefit Charlie and help us survive. One thing she suggested is some sort of playset/swingset/tiered structure for him to climb up and down on. So we've been watching KSL and Craigslist, getting frustrated with not finding something that worked for us.

So I decided to take matters into my own hands. I posted a 'wanted ad' on Craigslist that basically said, "If you have a swingset that you'd like to get rid of, I'd be happy to buy it and pick it up from you." I was hoping to get ahead of the game.

I had one response. I thought the response and the chain that followed was worth posting. I hope you'll enjoy it.

ROB'S RESPONSE TO MY CRAIGSLIST POST:

On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 8:55 PM, Robert Vila wrote:

First off, I must say that a swing set is a horrible toy for a child. I had a swing set as a kid, and broke three of my ribs and tore my ACL on it. My career in little league soccer was ruined. I recommend that you get your child a sandbox. I have an old sandbox that I am not using, and would be willing to sell to you for $300. It is an awesome sandbox. It is shaped like a turtle, and the lid is part of the turtle too. It comes with beautiful sand filled from a beach on Utah Lake. Let me know if you are interested.

-Rob

MY RESPONSE:

On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 8:54 AM, Matt McGhie wrote:

Dear Robert,

I appreciate your deep concern for the welfare of my child. I also appreciate your willingness to share what must be deeply repressed experiences from your childhood. I'm truly sorry for the life altering events that took place in your youth. Those days just never come back to us.... I know.

I, as a lad, played soccer as well. I remember with every detail the championship game, the game tied with just moments to go, and me dribbling through defender after defender, breaking into the clear, one on one with the goalie. This was to be my moment in the spotlight. This was to make up for all the times the kids made fun of my holey jeans. As I approached the goal, setting myself up for the game winning shot, I tripped and fell. The kids laughed again, and again, and again. I'm pretty sure the last laugh was because I also peed my pants. Anyways, when I stood up and made my way off the field, the first thing I saw was a turtle sandbox. I'll always remember the disdain on that turtle's face.

So, while I appreciate the very generous offer of your turtle sandbox, I'm going to stick with a less arrogant occupation to engage my child in, like licking rocks... very humbling.

In addition, I'd also like to recommend a therapist that has helped me get past my pain throughout the years, Dr. Jellyfinger.

All the best in your healing,
Matt

ROB'S RESPONSE:

On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 11:09 AM, Robert Vila wrote:

Do you want to buy my sandbox or not? I didnt ask for a play by play of your youth. The swingset I had, had a faulty design and the swing came off while I was in the air, and I was sent flying into oncoming traffic. I am lucky to be alive. If you do not want your son mangled by a Dodge Caravan, then you should buy my sandbox instead. Sandboxes are 100% safe. I think a sandbox is much better than a swing set. Just some friendly advice.

-Robby

MY RESPONSE:

On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 11:39 AM, Matt McGhie wrote:

Robby,

I'm glad you survived. Therapy Robby. Therapy. It'll do wonders.

Also, I hate your turtle sandbox. Don't threaten me with it again. I had a neighbor that was buried alive in a sandbox. Don't try to tell me they are 100% safe. You're wrong.... dead wrong.

mm

ROB'S RESPONSE:

On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 2:25 PM, Robert Vila wrote:

You have to be a total idiot to die in a sandbox. I despise your swingset. Despise is a much stronger word than hate.

Your former friend

-robby

What am I supposed to say to that? Good form Robby. We could be friends. We think you're funny.

Meeting Winston's in-laws at preschool graduation...

2009-05-29T20:56:00.009-06:00

It's official...I don't have to pay any more preschool fees for at least another 5-10 years (if we ever have any more kids)! Yeah! Winston graduated from Smart Stuff Preschool with flying colors last Friday. We also got to meet the parents of the little girl he married on the swings while holding hands. We all got quite a kick out of their little preschool crush on each other. Hadley has been all the talk at our house for the last couple months.

Winston in front of the Smart Stuff school bus. The kids went on many a fun field trip in this adventure machine.

Winston and his first crush. (Hadley) Well, his first crush his own age. ;)

Winston with Hadley and Camille.

Winston with the best teacher ever...Mrs. Tanya

Sporting the grad cap

Two of the preschool classes performing during the preschool program

Winston giving Hadley a farewell hug

Eating a celabratory ice cream cone at the Daley Freeze

Congratulations buddy! We love you!

Too good not to share... (Matt in a dance contest)

2009-05-15T21:47:00.004-06:00

I love you hon... I hope we can still be friends after this. Matt actually won a sweet trophy in this dance contest on our cruise a couple years ago.

(Don't worry folks, this was in his pre-Bishop days) ;)

To my anonymous "friend in the ward"...

2009-05-07T08:44:00.002-06:00

I don't know if you read my blog but I just wanted to say thank you for the note. It really made my day... my whole week, actually. I won't go into details but it was just the thing I needed right now. It was also a great reminder to me to follow through when I have a prompting to do something like that because I know how much of a difference it made to me. Thanks so much! I don't know who you are but I know I think you are GREAT!

FREE KFC!

2009-05-05T12:38:00.003-06:00

Print your coupon here for 2 pieces of their new grilled chicken with two sides and a biscuit. I think they only allow a certain number of coupons to be printed...so hurry fast. ;) Yum yum!

Thanks to our mystery guest(s)

2009-04-16T13:23:00.003-06:00

Someone did something nice for us a couple of nights ago and if you're the one who did it, and you're one of our blog stalkers, then please know we are grateful.

If you're reading this and it wasn't you then you better start figuring out something nice to do for us to make up for it... kidding kidding, of course. Do something nice for someone else near you and it will give you warm fuzzies.

Thanks, Matt & Steff

Yum...

2009-04-08T14:31:00.004-06:00

The other night we were getting grumpy about not getting to go out very often (I know, cry me a river, right??) so we decided to do a couple of 'top of the list' dishes from our favorite restaurants for dinner and man they were good:

Favorite #1: Fried Rice at Tepanyaki's (let's be honest, anything there is good)

Our version -

Tepanyaki Grade - A+++
Matt & Steff's Wannabe - B+ I think we did it justice.

Favorite #2: Lettuce Wraps from PF Changs

Our version -

PF Chang's Grade - A+
Matt & Steff's Take - A-, just because an A would be near sacrilege, but I'm telling you, these things were good.

YUM!

Good Feelings

2009-04-02T21:28:00.007-06:00

I love and miss President and Sister Hinckley. There are so many wonderful quotes that I love from these two but recently I happened upon two that are are some of my favorites. I wanted to share them (even though a lot of you have heard them) and I hope they make you feel as good as they did me.

"Things will work out. Keep trying. Be believing. Be happy. Don't get discouraged. Things will work out." -President Gordon B. Hinckley

I can just imagine his distinct voice saying this as I read it. Doesn't that make you feel better about all the cruddy stuff going on?! :)

“I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk’s lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”
-Marjorie Peay Hinckley

Doesn't that make you feel better about not being one of those seemingly perfectly put together women? Now I don't feel so bad about having sticky handprints all over my clothes all the time and throwing my hair back in a ponytail. I'm never "together" and I'm still a good person! I love her!

We think this is hilarious...

2009-03-22T22:55:00.002-06:00

Keep an eye on the kid on the far right...

Enjoy.

Looking good my man!

2009-03-22T21:50:00.003-06:00

Sorry Matt.

Life is Good--er.

2009-03-16T21:12:00.002-06:00

We thought it would be appropriate to share with our blog stalkers the follow up to this last post.

Since posting, we had many people offer to help in many ways. We have such great friends, neighbors and family.

We want to especially thank Shawn and Lily for their generous 'donation' to our predicament. It will be nice to be able to wash our clothes and pick which temperature we want to use. That will be a new experience for us as a couple. We are so grateful.

Thanks one and all,
-The McGhies

Life is Good

2009-03-11T23:43:00.003-06:00

Sometimes aspects of life suck. For example, tonight, around 9:00pm, while Steff was at the Relief Society B-day dinner, I was putting Winston to bed and opened the closet to our washer and dryer to get out his pajamas and found about a 1/2 inch standing water on the floor. Our washing machine has given up the ghost. Toss that on the pile with everything else I guess. Whatever.

Now, that wasn't totally unexpected, but the timing sucks. Our washer and dryer were purchased from a guy out of the thrifty nickel ads 6 years ago. He was so hungover when he delivered them to us that he barely made it up the three flights of stairs to our Provo apartment. Once there, he laid on the floor for about 30 minutes trying to get his bearings. It was awesome. Anyways, we love our washer and dryer. They're the old school kind that hold a ton of clothes. I'm pretty sure both of them are older than Steff and I, but that's when they used to make them right. We don't mind that there is really only one temperature that the washer works on. We like it. Plus they were only $45 total for both of them.

Now, as I said, this wasn't totally unexpected, though its always shocking to have a swimming pool in your washroom. Our dryer has been showing its age for the last few months. It's developed a really loud squealing/screeching sound that I've just written off to lack of any lubricant being applied over the last 6 years. We've been expecting that one to just seize up any day, but the washer sorta came out of no where. So, that sucks... but that's not the title of the post.

Here's where life is good. We have the best neighbors in the universe. At 9:45pm, I called my neighbor Luke. He's been in the restoration business for years. He's handled about everything you can imagine and high on his list is floods. Within 15 minutes he was over here and was testing for moisture. We pulled some baseboards and found that the water had gotten further than we hoped. We ended up pulling out the vinyl flooring, the middle board stuff (I can't remember what that's called), all the baseboards, and cutting back the carpet about 2 feet and taking out about 8 sq feet of carpet padding that was soaked. 2 hours later he had all the wet stuff ripped out and a fan on the area drying it. Wow. I am so grateful for good people and how willing to give of their time and their talents.

So, as a gesture of thanks, I thought I'd send Luke this card tomorrow:

Just kidding. We're going to try to do something nice for them, but at the end of the day, this was just really a nice thing to do and he was so happy and nice. I look around our neighborhood and it's so nice to think of all the neighbors and to know that if called on, any of them would jump at the chance to help someone out and do anything that was needed.

So, life is good. There are challenges. There will always be challenges, but we are really, truly grateful for wonderful neighbors and family members that are there for us.

One last thing.... anyone know a good carpet guy and/or washing machine repairman? :-)

I feel confused...

2009-03-04T22:05:00.004-07:00

When someone rings my doorbell and I open my door to find this...

I wonder what lucky family has the freezer now?!

My correspondence with my Senator (Madsen) who voted 'No' on Clay's Law

2009-02-23T17:00:00.003-07:00

Hi All,

I've exchanged a few emails with Senator Madsen (local Senator for most of Southern Utah County) and I told him in fairness I'd post his response with my own. He's voted 'No' to Clay's Law on the basis that it hurts local businesses and individuals by increasing healthcare costs. This is true... to a point. It is expected that this law will increase healthcare costs by less than 1% ($40/yr). Big whoop!

Obviously I'm very biased but its frustrating to see that in his mind that the $40/yr is worth more than the possibility of giving kids like Charlie a chance at leading a normal life. He is also shortsighted in that if Charlie gets one year of intensive therapy (25 hours a week) his chances of leading a normal life and being a contributing member of society are 50-70% better. If he doesn't, he will continue on the way he is now, and end up costing the state of Utah between $2.5 - 3.5 million dollars over the course of his life. All that for one tank of gas per year.... Good decision Senator.

Also, if anyone knows how to find out who donated his campaign fund, I'd be really really interested to know that. I'm pretty sure I met a guy last Saturday who's in all their back pockets and I'd like to confirm it...

Anywhoodles, here is our email chain. Its long so you don't have to read it if you don't want to. I've also attached, below our correspondence, a summary of the arguments the insurance lobbyists are raising and my feelings about them. If you've ever wanted to be truly educated on a political issue, here's your chance:

MY FIRST EMAIL TO MADSEN:
Senator Madsen,

I've been told you do not support Clay's law. As a member of your district and as someone who voted for you, I'm frustrated. At http://www.votemadsen.com/principles, you list #4 Governments are established to protect individuals in their rights, not to rule over them.

I wanted to allow you the opportunity to explain to me how voting against Clay's Law adheres to that principle or any others you list, because I feel like it is going directly against this principle, upon which I voted for you.

I don't think I have the right to healthcare that I pay for, but that is being denied me by the Healthcare companies in pursuit of larger bottom lines. I am a 'heart-wrenching story.' My 3 year old boy, who is autistic, is sending us slowly into bankruptcy in the pursuit of allowing him to lead a normal life. We accept that as any parent in that situation should. We are doing all we can to avoid this, but for the 4 hours (20 hours below the recommendations) a week of therapy, we pay nearly 50% of our gross income. My son's story and our progress is documented at fortheloveofcharlie.blogspot.com.

I understand there are arguments against this. I've read Senator Urquhart's position (www.steveu.com) and have given him my feedback. I respect him for that. I have a much greater interest in your position since you are my rep.

So, this is my shot at being fair and open minded about this. I'd love to visit with you, even have you in our home to meet our son and see what sort of effect this has on a family. We live less than a mile away. Even just respond to my email. We have many neighbors and friends in the area that are now watching this vote with great interest. They are looking to us for information/opinions/etc. I'd like to be fair when I post my thoughts to our blogs tomorrow after this vote and so I'd like to hear your side.

Best,
Matt

*****************

HIS RESPONSE

Over the last few days I have spent more time talking to people about
“Clay’s Law” and trying to research and learn more about autism
than I have spent on any other issue this session. I think it is
impossible anymore for someone not to have a friend or family member who
is not directly impacted by autism. The rapidly increasing incidents of
this affliction are disturbing and frustrating. Like treatments for
many conditions, autism treatment seems to be so expensive that it is
beyond the means of the average family, and even if a child receives one
of the treatment protocols that have been developed, a desirable outcome
is far from certain. I cannot begin to understand the frustration,
anxiety and sacrifice that the families of autistic children have to
endure. Nevertheless, my heart goes out to you and your family and I
admire your dedication to your child.

You referenced one of the core principles of good government in which I
believe, “Governments are established to protect people in their
rights, not to rule over them. I strive to make all of my decisions as
an elected official based on the principles in which I believe. If I
abandon my principles then I am simply blowing in the wind, making
decisions based on emotion, personal relationships, lobbying pressure or
what will make me popular with a particular constituency.

Consistent with the principle you referenced, I believe that people who
start and own businesses have the right to create and offer for sale the
products they wish, and that government should not force a business to
create and place on the market a product or products the business does
not wish to produce. Simply because a citizen wishes to purchase a
particular product that is not available in the marketplace, it is not
justification for government to deprive another individual or entity of
its right to produce what it chooses, by forcing them to create and sell
a product against their will.

The solution proposed by “Clay’s Law,” a mandate on insurance
companies to cover autism treatment is certainly an attractive idea, the
emotional part of me yearns to offer relief to your family and others
like yours, some of which are very close to me personally. Based on the
number of emails, calls letters and blue notes I have received, it would
make me very popular if I were to support it. Nevertheless, I have
never voted to support mandates on health insurance companies or to
mandate that any business produce a product against its will. My
position has not always prevailed and health insurance companies already
have thousands of mandated coverages. By the time the autism issue goes
through the legislative process it is likely health insurance companies
will have yet another.

Our healthcare system is in need of great reform. Many if not most of
the problems with our current system are a result of government
regulation. There is not enough time to discuss here all the problems
caused, and costs increased, by government’s meddling in the
healthcare realm. The autism issue could be the impetus for much needed
reform. For example, government removing some of the mandated coverages
and allowing insurance companies and the insured to decide for
themselves the coverages that would be most appropriate on a business by
business, a family by family or an individual by individual basis,
something I would wholeheartedly support and a policy change that would
likely allow you to get the autism coverage you need, and forgo
coverages you don’t want or need. Another proposed reform that would
help you would be to remove the prohibition on purchasing health
insurance policies from out of state providers, since there are other
states where insurance companies offer coverage for autism treatment.

These options would be consistent with the principle discussed above
and all of the other principles I am committed to uphold. I appreciate
your efforts to be “fair and open minded” to those like myself who
have principled reasons we cannot support a government mandate like
“Clays law” as it is currently drafted, and I appreciate your
willingness to include this explanation on your blog. I commend your
civility and the respectful tone of your communication to me.

I fear that if the advocates for autism coverage, the families of
autistic children and those who provide treatment to autistic children,
who have so impressively organized and advocated for their cause, are
successful in obtaining their mandate, they will no longer have the
motivation they currently have to change the system since they will have
gotten what they want. We will have lost a golden opportunity to attain
some real reform and will be left with more of the same. More mandates,
higher costs, fewer employers and individuals who can afford coverage.
That will be the untold tragedy if “Clay’s law” passes.

Respectfully,

Mark Madsen

******************

MY RESPONSE

Senator Madsen,

I appreciate your kindness and consideration in this matter, also your kind words for our situation. I've seen your response trickle through the neighborhood and among other family and friends in your district. I felt like it was necessary for me to respond because there were points you made I disagree whole-heartedly with.

I understand your stance and sounds like you're convinced that it is principle based, even though that principle cuts both ways. I can see that it doesn't make sense for the government to step in and mandate that Glade's start offering fish sticks to every man, woman and child (though I'd be a happy man). However, with healthcare, it seems a bit more complex and should be looked at accordingly. Heathcare is something that moves beyong the free enterprise market because of healthcare costs, etc. It is essentially a 'mandated' product, therefore needs some special handling... which sadly needs to come from someone with more power than these companies. Is it unfortunate the govt has to step in? Yes. Is it necessary? Yes.

You also mentioned in your email "Based on the number of emails, calls letters and blue notes I have received, it would make me very popular if I were to support it." I'm struggling with this comment. Isn't your job, as an elected official, to represent the people in your district and vote as they'd have it? Are you not our voice? In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln said this was a "government of the people, by the people and for the people." Maybe I'm missing something, but isn't being a politician the ultimate popularity contest? Shouldn't representing your constituents be the highest priority? Shouldn't all those contacts have some impression as to what the people want? I can appreciate a stance that you can take to the bank, as you've done in your response, saying, "I've never voted for a mandate in my career." But if you're sacrificing the voice of the people just to be able to say at voting time "I've never voted for a mandate in my career" then it is time to reconsider.

I wish you all the best. You're in a tough spot... I understand that. I just needed to express my opposition one last time.

I'm leaving now to go up and watch the vote. I will post the entirety of our exchanges on our blog as promised, so your voice is respected as we share our experience with our friends and family.

All the best,
Matt McGhie

*****************

THERE HAS BEEN NO RESPONSE TO MY LAST EMAIL

*************************

These are some of the negative arguments against Clay's Law:

1. Several legislators brought up the idea of an insurance rider for autism. There are several reasons why a rider is not an acceptable solution. First off, the rider does not help YOU...families who already have a child with a diagnosis. The rider would have to be purchased before a child is born. How many of you would have opted to pay extra for autism coverage before your child was born, just in case they happened to become diagnosed with autism? I can honestly say that I wouldn't have. Young parents are already faced with so many financial strains of having a new baby. The few that might buy into this plan would probably be those that already have autism in their family. So, we know that MANY children still wouldn't receive coverage for their treatment because their parents didn't buy into the rider. Second, the rider that has been proposed by the insurance companies only allows coverage for children from 2-6 years old. It only allows $25,000 a year for coverage, and there is a daily limit of $100. We know that these severe limits would not provide for quality treatment. There is no way that a full early intensive program could be attained with these limitations. Third, There are not riders for preemies, cancer or diabetes. Why is this medical problem not good enough for full health insurance coverage? Lastly, we in the autism community view the rider as a calculated distraction by the insurance lobby, and vote for the rider is a vote against families and children with autism.

2. Another idea brought up by Senators was a government program to provide treatment to children with autism. There are several reasons why we won't consider this either. First of all, we all know that our state is in a budget shortfall. There is no way that they would be able to find the amount of money needed to provide every child with autism with a full early intensive treatment program. If they were to somehow fund it, we know through other states that the reimbursement rates are so low to treatment providers that the quality of care is horrendous. There would never be enough money to provide all children with care at once, so there will be waiting lists. If a Senator thinks that the price tag of Clay's Law being $1.8 million is too high, then they would never be able to get the price low enough for a government program. Lastly, Autism is a medical problem that needs to be addressed by medical insurance, not the state.

3. This bill will only help 30%, so it's not fair to everyone else. While this legislation will only affect 30%, it's a starting point. We need to start breaking down the barriers somewhere. We can't expect to change the law to cover everyone over night. We know that in other states where similar legislation has passed, some of the larger self insured companies have followed suit to be able to compete with other companies in their states. The fact is, we can't regulate all health insurance at a state level. We are doing what we can. The rest of insurance is governed by federal law. We know that President Obama has drafted legislation that would mandate the rest of the insurance plans. You can see this draft legislation by going to the link on the right hand side of UTautismcoalition.blogspot.com.

4. This bill is a mandate. Some Senators are philosophically against forcing health insurance companies to cover certain things. It's hard to get them to look objectively at Clay's Law if they can't get passed the fact that it is a mandate. Senator Stephenson spoke to this today. He talked about how right now, everyone with health insurance is being mandated. We have no control over what is covered and what isn't. Us young families with children who need help are paying the health insurance premiums that are being spent on the oldest generation. We know that 80% of health care costs go to those who are in the last five years of life. Our health insurance premiums are going towards hip replacements, terminal cancer and life extending treatments. We are paying these premiums, but we can't even get treatment for our children, who have their whole lives ahead of them. The other argument against a mandate is that it raises the cost of health insurance premiums for all, thus making health insurance unreachable for many. Claims are made that employers would have to forego coverage for the cost of this mandate. This is simply untrue. An actuarial report of the fiscal effects of Clay's Law documents the maximum likely cost on the insurance ratepayer is 0.85%. This translates to about the cost of a tank of gas per year for each policy holder. The insurance industry's own association - the Council for Affordable Health Insurance - estimates that mandated autism benefits increase premium costs by LESS than 1%. Despite the doomsday predictions from the insurance lobby, there's been no mass exodus of insurers, no businesses throwing in the towel because of this benefit. Indeed, experience indicates the impact on premiums has been negligible. In Indiana, the Department of Insurance called the financial impact "unmeasurable" even years after the coverage became effective.

5. Treatment isn't proven....Behavioral interventions are based upon decades of scientific investigation with individuals affected by a wide range of behavioral and developmental disorders, including autism. Specifically for children with autism, research demonstrates the efficacy of ABA in teaching complex communication, social, play, and self-help skills, and in reducing disruptive behaviors. Numerous long-term outcome studies (e.g., Lovaas, 1987, McEachin et al, 1993) document that 40-50% of children who receive early intensive ABA treatment achieve: Higher educational placements, Increased IQ levels, Perform successfully in mainstream educational settings, and Become indistinguishable from same-aged peers.

6. There was a request for a "Sunset" to be added to this bill. A sunset would mean that the cost of this bill would be studied at a later time to find out if it lived up it's claims of staying below a 1% increase in cost to policy holders. If the bill were to cost more than 1%, the bill could be taken off the books. We are confident that our numbers will stay this low. There has been much research done on the cost to policy holders in other states with mandated coverage as mentioned in #4. We will likely agree to a sunset to be added to the bill if this is what it takes to get it passed.

Thanks all.

Meet your Representitive - Spanish Fork

2009-02-20T18:08:00.001-07:00

For anyone interested, this is happening tomorrow morning.

***************************

I'd like to invite any who are interested to a Meet your Legislators town
meeting this coming Saturday, February 21 from 7:30-9:00 a.m. We will meet
at the Spanish Fork City Hall - 40 S. Main Street. Joining me will be Sen.
Dave Hinkins and Rep. Francis Gibson.

We look forward to discussing the 2009 General Session and to answering any
questions. See you there.

Rep. Mike Morley

It PASSED the senate...

2009-02-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

We just heard the news. Clay's Law PASSED in the senate with 17 'yes' votes.

It will now go to the House Sub-Committee and then onto the House for its vote. I will let everybody know what our next steps are as soon as I hear.

Thank you all and please thank all of the many many people who sent letters to their senators on our behalf.

Anyone know a senator?

2009-02-13T17:44:00.003-07:00

For anyone who's ever offered to help us out, here's your chance.

If you live in Utah - please help. If you live in Spanish Fork - please, please help.
______________

Clay's Law is moving on to the next steps.

The hearing that it passed on Thursday was the first of seven steps to make it a law. Here's what's still to come:

2. Senate Vote - The whole Senate will be able to vote on Clay's Law. (Wednesday, Feb 18th)
3. House Sub Committee Hearing
4. House Vote - The whole House of Representatives will be able to vote on Clay's Law
5. Appropriations Sub Committee - This sub committee decides if it's worth the money to pass
6. Governor - After passing all of that, Gov. Huntsman can still Veto the Law.
________________

So, we have to make sure it gets through the Senate Vote. Here's what we know and here's how people can help:

The Senate vote is on Wednesday, Feb 18th at 2pm.

We need all the help to call or email the senators in Utah and let them know you expect them to vote yes on Clay's Law. Here's how to do it:

Step 1 - Find the senator for your district. You can get their contact information on this site http://www.le.state.ut.us/maps/amap.html. Just enter your address and it will give you your reps' info.

Step 2 - Contact them via email or phone and ask them to support Clay's Law. This site will help you to know what to say: http://utautismcoalition.blogspot.com/2008/12/call-your-legislator.html.

Step 3 - Comment on this blog and let us know which rep you contacted and if they were responsive.

Now, for all you Spanish Fork-ers, we especially need your help. Here are our reps -

Representative Michael T. 'Mike' Morley - State House District 66 (Republican)
Cell Phone: 801-636-0296 mikemorley@utah.gov

Senator Mark B. Madsen - State Senate District 13 (Republican)
Office (801) 361-4787 mmadsen@utahsenate.org

Most importantly right now is Sen. Mark Madsen. We talked to his aid today who told us Sen. Madsen isn't supportive of Clay's Law. We need to let him know we want him to vote for Clay's Law. Respectfully tell him you'll be watching his vote on Wed.

Lastly, ask him to watch the Clay's Law video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioC44GODlyY&feature=channel_page.

Thank you all for your support and love and prayers. If this law passes it will have a tremendous impact on many families like ours.

Expect more to follow...

PS - I just got a list of the Senators that are either against it or on the fence. If any of these are your senators, please please please contact them:

Liljenquist
Christensen
Jenkins
Dayton
Killpack
Madsen
Waddoups
Romero
Niederhauser
Bramble
Griener
Bell
Hillyard
Stowell
Urghuart

I'm giddy... giddy I tell ya!!!

2009-02-13T14:54:00.004-07:00

Oh happy happy day. Bless the heavens above...

http://www.abc4.com/mostpopular/story/In-n-Out-Burger-restaurant-coming-to-Draper/zuMhbafPikqGA3l85FRrmg.cspx

Quick recommendation -- #3 (the double double) animal style.

Funny Clip...

2009-02-03T21:53:00.002-07:00

So, its been awhile since we posted anything, but tonight a buddy shared an amusing clip and we thought we'd share it with all of you....

Thanks Josh and Staci.

Clay's Law...

2009-01-23T09:03:00.002-07:00

I know this is sort of a Charlie blog thing, but I'm posting it here too.... its worth it.

We wanted to put the word out there... This would be humongous for kids like Charlie. Sad that we can get Viagra covered by insurance, but that these Autistic kids get no help.

************************************

Dear Utah Autism Advocate!

Autism Speaks is pursuing autism insurance reform in over 20 states across the nation including Utah!

Yesterday, an autism insurance reform bill was introduced in the Utah State legislature. Senate Bill 43, "Clay's Law" sponsored by State Senator Howard A. Stephenson (R-11) will require private healthcare policies to provide coverage of the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. Clay's Law will cover early intensive behavioral therapies and other medically necessary, evidence-based treatments prescribed by an insured's treating physician or psychologist.
There are currently eight states that have passed similar bills across the country, including five states during last year's legislative season: Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Illinois. This is a hot topic in states nationwide and Utah should be proud to be a part of such an important movement!

We need your help to get support for Clay's Law from your State Senator...
HOW CAN YOU HELP?

1. SEND AN EMAIL TO YOUR STATE SENATOR! Let them know that you support Clay's Law (SB 43), that you need them to support Clay's Law, and that passage of Clay's Law would mean increased access to critical autism therapies and treatments for thousands of children in Utah. We've already written some of the letter for you. All you need to do is add in your own words (optional) and click send. It's that easy!

2. STAY INFORMED ON CLAY'S LAW! Check out the Autism Votes website and sign up today to receive alerts and information pertaining to the autism insurance reform bills. Stay on top of the latest developments throughout the legislative season and get involved!

3. FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW! We need everyone's help. If you know other people in Utah that would get involved on behalf of your child, forward them this email and ask them to sign up at www.autismvotes.org. This is the perfect answer for anyone who has ever told you, "If there is ever anything I can do to help just ask!" Send to extended family members - aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. Send to coworkers, neighbors, therapists, teachers and friends! We need all hands on deck!
For more information on the autism insurance reform initiative in Utah, visit www.AutismVotes.org/Utah.

*************************

Thanks everyone for your love and support.

Great deal on gifts for your friends or family in the military!

2009-01-16T10:38:00.003-07:00

Hickory Farms is having a 75% off sale on a lot of their yummy gift packages and goodies. The shipping is a little pricey BUT they offer FREE SHIPPING to APO//FPO Military addresses. What a fun little treat to send to someone serving our country to show our support! (Thanks to my sister Lorri for this info!)

http://www.hickoryfarms.com/category~name~Military%20Gifts~c~600.asp
This link will take you to gift packages designed specifically for the military but there are lots of other options at this link http://www.hickoryfarms.com/ Everything from meats, cheeses and crackers to dried fruit to chocolates and treats for super cheap!
Just make sure you check for certain food restrictions in the country you are shipping to before you send something.

Not sure if these codes work but you can try and use them at your own risk...
Possible code:
10% off your order TAKE10
15% off code: 833551

If you don't know any soldiers but still want to support them, you can find some at http://www.anysoldier.com/

Enjoy!!

Donations for the Christensen Family

2009-01-10T16:07:00.002-07:00

All,

Bishop Cope, Bryce's bishop, has set up an account at Zions Bank for any who wish to help with funeral and related expenses for the Christensen family. You may choose to do so in lieu of flowers. Any who are so inclined may donate to the "Bryce Christensen Donation Account" at any branch of Zions Bank.

Best,
Bishop

Our Love and Prayers are with President Christensen and his Family

2009-01-09T10:05:00.002-07:00

I've struggled with whether or not to post this, but feel like it is appropriate to spread the word to members of the ward who may know and love the Christensens, but are not aware of the situation.

Wednesday morning our Stake President's son Bryce, who just got back from his mission a month ago, was killed in a car accident (http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/295350/).

The Stake Executive Secretary has passed along information for the services.

o Viewing, Sunday, January 11, 2009, 6:00-8:00 p.m., Walker Mortuary
o Viewing, Monday, January 12, 2009, 9:45-10:45 a.m., Relief Society Room, Stake Center
o Funeral, Monday, January 12, 2009, 11:00-12:00 noon, Chapel, Stake Center
o Interment, Monday, January 12, 2009, 12:30-1:00 p.m., Spanish Fork Cemetery

We love President Christensen and his wife. They are wonderful examples of Christlike people who serve willingly. I'd invite all to keep them in your prayers.

Best,
Bishop

Seriously, what kind of people....

2008-12-27T20:23:00.003-07:00

... knock on your door and leave you a golden owl with the following message inside a top ramen box?

To those dear neighbors we want you to know we will be bringing our 'A' game and we just wonder, "Can you can deal?!?" or should we say, "Can you Hackett???"

Merry Christmas from the McGhie's

2008-12-18T20:11:00.003-07:00

Hey All,

So I was just sitting here, feeling all proud of us for being ready for Christmas, and realized we'd sent out our cards telling people to come check up on us, but I hadn't written a Christmas greeting.

At this time of year we are reminded of the birth and life of our Savior. We want all to know that we know that He lives and loves each of us individually.

With all the events of 2008, we've become acutely aware of how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends and family. So to all of you whom we trust and love so much, we wish you a very Merry Christmas. We pray that you will be protected and looked after in the coming year.

Love,
The McGhies

The Charlie Blog

2008-12-18T00:57:00.005-07:00

There have been a few people that have requested more frequent updates on Charlie, our autistic and epileptic son.

To address this, we've decided to establish a separate blog where we'll keep tabs on him.

If anyone is interested in following it, you can find it here: http://fortheloveofcharlie.blogspot.com/

We have two posts there now -- one is a 'what this blog is' post and one is a 'tell all' post to bring anyone up to speed who may be interested in the background. From here we'll start to provide regular updates on the happenings.

Please understand that we're not looking for sympathy or donations or anything else. We are just providing a place where our friends and family that don't get regular updates can stay plugged in. We're going to be pretty straight forward with things, so it may not always be the happiest blog, but it will be real.

Need Addresses...HURRY!

2008-12-15T22:15:00.003-07:00

If you haven't already, I need you to email me your address so we can send you a Christmas card. I just sat down to address my cards and realized I don't have many current addresses. So, if you want a card, you better email your address pronto!

steffnb21@yahoo.com

Thanks-
Steff

We love the Holidays!!!

2008-11-21T16:31:00.002-07:00

Let's be honest, we love the holidays. Its busy and crazy and everything, but it is also a lot of fun.

Now, I know that busting out with Christmas things before T-day is technically a party foul, but hey, we couldn't wait to celebrate so we called an old friend, took the kids and went out and had a great time.

There was a guy there with a camera who captured some of the finer moments.

33 days, 13 hours, 23 minutes and counting...

Happy Birthday Steff

2008-11-19T20:53:00.007-07:00

Yesterday it was Steff's b-day. She is a wonderful wife and mother. I just thought I'd publicly wish a big Happy Birthday to the most wonderful, beautiful, caring, patient woman.

Now, that being said, I figured I would be the only one that realized it, but as we were headed out of town for dinner, I was shocked to see some of the public businesses / churches / schools expressing their warmest wishes as well. We snapped a few camera pics to prove it:

Wow Steff. Apparently you amaze more than just me.

Happy Birthday Hon.

Winston has a crush

2008-11-10T09:04:00.003-07:00

Winston's best friend lives across the street from us. They play almost every day and go back and forth to each other's houses throughout the day. Lately, Winston has been talking about his friend's Mom a lot. The other day, he came home and we had the following conversation...

Winston: I told Lynsey (his friend's mom) I liked her door decoration and she said something really nice to me. Then I got shot by an arrow.

Me: Who shot you with an arrow? (thinking one of the kids had some toy arrows or something)

Winston: The little guy with the butterfly wings shot me with an arrow and now I'm in love with Lynsey...but I'll NEVER tell her! (Yes, he was talking about Cupid)

I somehow managed not to laugh in his presence and told him that Lynsey IS a really nice person and I'm glad he likes her. How funny is that? We don't even know how he knows who Cupid is. Where do kids come up with this stuff? I love it!

I'm trying to remember who had dinner with Gary Coleman tonight... oh yeah, WE DID!

2008-11-03T21:26:00.004-07:00

OK, OK. So maybe we didn't totally have dinner with him... maybe we just saw him at the restaurant ordering some take out, but pretty much it's the same thing, right?

Now, in response to all the comments that I know people are going to make, the answer is no, I didn't ask him 'Whatchu talkin' bout Willis?'

Here's the upside of all this: we found a new, local, really good restaurant. The name of the place is Jaxies and it's on Main Street in Spanish Fork. Our neighbors own and operate the joint. We went in to check it out, a little unsure of what we might find. We were delighted with the food.

They primarily serve Paninis, Salads and Wraps. I had a pesto chicken Panini and Steff had a Turkey/Bacon/Avacado panini. Man they were both good.

Anywho, any locals should go check it out and support the neighbors. Plus, we found out Gary Coleman gets food there about once a week, so you just might be as cool as us and get to eat in the presence of movie stars... er...

I tri'd

2008-10-25T20:21:00.005-06:00

Last Tuesday some friends told us about a local triathlon that was a couple of days away. Steff told me about it so I thought I'd give it a shot. It was a 'super sprint' triathlon so it wasn't really too bad.... right? Hey, it shouldn't matter that I haven't swam since June, only run twice in the last year and haven't ridden a road bike for like 8 years... why should that bother me?

Holy crap. I thought I'd just breeze through it and get a feel for how these things worked. Let's just say that it hurt. I could barely drag my keester out of the pool, wrecked on my bike about 200 yards after I got on it, and thought my legs were going to fall off on the run. At the end of the day, I finished and actually achieved my goal of doing it in under one hour (I guess I don't set my sights too high goal-wise). I did it in 54 minutes and took 37th place!!! Yipee!!

Here's the proof:

The Pre-race

Entering the Pool

Riding the bike off

Off on the run

Coming up on the finish line

P.S. Um.... only 40 people participated. I just couldn't lead you on like that....

Trick or Treat on Main Street

2008-10-24T16:51:00.004-06:00

Just wanted to remind all our fellow Spanish Forkians that the Trick or Treat on Main Street is tomorrow...Saturday, October 25 from 1pm-3pm. We've done this the past three years and it has been really fun. Hope to see you all there!

Matt's 6 quirks

2008-10-17T11:22:00.004-06:00

grumble grumble Tagged by Wendi. grumble grumble grumble.

Let's get this over with.

1. I'm pigeon toed. If you google 'pigeon toed', the second link down says "Pigeon Toed is not normal.' Thanks a lot, jerk. I'm thinking of writing the author of the article a letter telling her that her face 'is not normal.'

2. Peanut butter is the nectar of the devil himself. As the holidays approach, please be courteous and keep any PB treats far far away from us. Especially (cardinal sin) don't mix a plate of perfectly good treats in with PB treats. PB pollutes everything. The whole plate becomes worthless.

3. Speaking of treats. I like them. Fact is 6 out of 7 nights a week I end the day with a snack while winding down. Steff makes CC cookies and makes the dough into balls, then freezes them. Each night, I take three or four of them out and cook them. I toss them on the cookie sheet, set it to 350, set the timer for 15 mins (that accounts for the pre-heat, which I just consider defrosting time) and put a glass of milk in the freezer to start chilling. I like my cookies goooey, and my milk almost frozen. Yum.

4. I wish I could have my hair shaggy but apparently that's not 'grown up.' If I had my druthers, I'd have my hair like this:

5. I've met and hung out with a few musicians in the past. My favorites were Sting and Jack Johnson. The lamest, mostly because I expected it would be cool and it wasn't, was Gwen Stefani and No Doubt. They were lame. I don't do autographs, although Jack Johnson gave me a poster that said, "Thanks for helping me get my start in Utah," but that's another story for another time.

6. I'm not sure whether to say I have a high pain threshold or that I'm accident prone. I sorta think one leads to the other. I've had my head sewn shut by a buddy with a needle and thread, I've got screws in various places in my body that hold bones together, and only half my nose works because I've broken it so many times. I've also got a couple random protrusions on my body caused from bones pressing against skin.

That's me. Tag whoever feels so inclined. I'm not one to carry these on endlessly...

The Perfect School Picture...

2008-10-10T21:04:00.004-06:00

Let me preface this post by saying we really don't want to brag or make any of you who may've not got the best picture jealous, but we thought we'd share our story and Charlie's school picture.

Now, I don't know about you guys, but we look forward to getting our kids' school pictures. Now, when we say 'getting' them, we don't necessarily mean taking them, but rather that moment when your kids bring them home from school for you to see. It's exciting. Sorta like a mini, early Christmas.

And why is it that getting the pictures is exciting? It's because you put so much darn effort into getting that kid ready, hoping he doesn't screw it up, expecting a good picture so you don't have to take them to some photo place later in the year. At least that is our take on things.

It was the typical 'first ever school picture' scenario. Total first child antics here (even though Charlie is not the first child, this was our first experience with official school pictures).

It started with the pre-order. The packet came from school full of choices. Did we want the 8 X 10? What about wallets? Would Grandmas and Grandpas want 5 X 7s? All the questions... After significant consideration, we went for the B packet with the 'Amber' background. Pre-order - Check.

Next we needed to find the perfect cute little outfit. Steff wanted something that brought out his eyes, Matt wanted him to look tough. Steff wanted this, Matt wanted that... and on and on it went. Finally we decided to set him up with a striped blue sweater, styled hair, etc. The Look - Check.

Finally picture day came and the morning was spent keeping him from smearing syrup on his clothes, bloodying his lip or anything else that could foil our plans for the perfect picture. As the clock ticked closer to the time when the bus would arrive, final primping and styling took place. At long last the bus came and we sent Chuckles off to school having done all we could to set the stage for the perfect school picture. Execution - Check.

Then we waited. Waited and waited.

This morning we were pleasantly surprised when Charlie's teacher sent the pictures home in his backpack. Finally the time had come. Our mini early Christmas was here.
We opened the pictures and....

-- Wait for it --

-- Suspense building --

-- Now you're starting to know how we felt waiting --

-- Ta Da!!! --

What the? Are you serious? Was Stevie Wonder taking this picture? Good grief people.

Stupid mini early Christmas present....

6 Quirky Things About Me...

2008-10-04T18:22:00.006-06:00

Tagged by Tammy

1. I feel the need to brush my teeth for long periods of time. I usually brush between 10-20 minutes at a time. If I don't, I always think I will get a headache. Matt can't understand why I brush so long and I can't understand how he can brush so fast.

2. I LOVE to eat salt. I add extra salt to everything. When I make things like salsa, I add the normal amount to make everyone else happy and then sprinkle more on each chip dipped in salsa for myself. When I was little, I remember my sister making a mixture of salt, water and flour in her hand and we would hide behind one of the chairs and eat it. I love to suck on rock salt and I love to eat salt on lemons. Matt and I have an ongoing debate about putting salt or powdered sugar (gross!) on your grapefruit. I'm sure you can guess what side I am on. ;)

3. I love the rain. I like the sound of it and I really love to listen to it as I'm drifting off to sleep. It makes me feel cozy and safe in my house. I remember being little and laying in my Mom's bed (we took turns sleeping there when my Dad was on trips...he was a pilot) and watching storms through the sliding glass door. She would always talk about how lucky we were to have a nice, warm house and bed. Now I do that with Winston and I think he loves them too. Plus, you get to cook yummy comfort food on cold, rainy days and it's fun to eat!

4. I have the same two recurring dreams. One is that I discover I can breath under water. I am always in huge, deep, beautiful swimming pool. I am swimming under water and realize that I can breath. In the dream, I am always so excited and feel like I always knew I could do it, I just had to figure out how. Then I swim around for hours and play in the water. Whenever I wake up from that dream, I feel really happy and relaxed. I love it.

The other one is that I am in school and it is near the end of the semester. I suddenly realize I have forgotten to go to one of my classes the whole semester and now I am not going to pass and I will not graduate with all my classmates. Sometimes it's college, sometimes it's High School. Either way, I hate it and I'm always so relieved to wake up. The funniest thing is that Matt has this same dream. What does that say about us?

5. I'm a fidgety person. For some reason, I just can't sit still. There always has to be a foot moving or a toe tapping. I play with my hair and touch my face or wiggle my leg. It's not from nerves or anything, I just have a hard time sitting still. Sometimes I think I got this from my Grandma Smith. We always laughed how she could never hold her feet still while she was sitting. Sometimes, while we are watching tv on the couch, Matt will have to ask me to stop moving my foot against his leg because I am rubbing it raw. I never even realize I am doing it. Oopsie.

6. I love to read. With a lifestyle where there aren't many breaks, it is a way to escape and forget all my worries for a bit. Unfortunately, the only time I have to do it is at night and I end up staying up a bit later than I should sometimes. Fortunately, Matt loves to read just as much as me (we both love Louise L'amour) and we can occasionally take turns watching the kids while the other one reads a book in the bath. It's the best when it's raining or snowing and you can open the bathroom window (but keep the blinds closed!) and let a nice stream of cool air in while you are in the steaming hot bath water. Heaven!

I hope these made sense and fell under the quirky category. It was kind of hard to concentrate while Charlie climbed and jumped repeatedly on me. He actually climbed on the back of the couch and jumped on my head several times. Seriously. I finally (gently) pushed him off the couch and said "go away!" and he laughed and climbed right back on. Why do they always have to be right where I am and in the middle of what I am trying to do?! Grrrrr!

Now I tag Lorri, Wendi, Gayle and Becca. Have tons of fun.

The Spanish Fork Kite Festival... waaay later.

2008-10-03T21:55:00.007-06:00

A few weeks ago we went to the first annual Spanish Fork Kite Festival. The kids had a good time. Spanish Fork is a really cool city. They do some pretty awesome activities. So here was our evening at the kite festival:

They had a bunch of huge kites flying for the kids to watch.

They also had a fun activity where they let the kids decorate their own kites and then they could go and fly them.

Winston thought it was pretty awesome.

His kite actually got up in the air and we flew it for a while.

Even Mom had a grand old time snapping pictures and cheering on Winston. What a trooper. Good old fashion family fun.

We think this commercial is hilarious...

2008-09-29T09:54:00.001-06:00

Don't know if it just caught us at that time of the night when everything is really funny, but we got big laughs out of this one:

Mom's 2 cents

2008-09-19T13:22:00.005-06:00

I just have to add a few fun facts about our little Winston.

-He goes by the nicknames Win, W, Dubbs and the occassional Winnie (which Matt DOES NOT approve of)

-His current favorite song is "Apologize" by One Republic

-Favorite color - Green

-He's very smart and loves to learn. He has been so excited to learn to read this year in preschool.

-He has such a good little heart (most of the time) and really cares about people.

Examples:

*He always pats me when I'm having a hard time with Charlie and tells me "it's okay Mom".

*One time I ended up getting a fat lip in one of my daily struggles to change Charlie's diaper. It hurt really, really bad and I admit I had a few tears. He came up and hugged me and said "Don't worry Mom. When I get big like Dad, I will hold Charlie's legs down for you so you can change his diaper.

*Out of the blue one day he said "when I get big like Dad and you and Dad are gone, I will take care of Charlie and I will make him scones." (Scones are one of Winston's favorites)

*He prays every day that Charlie's seizures will go away and that Steven, Blain and Grandmas and Grandpas will be safe on their missions (I don't think he understands my parents are done with thier mission but it still works)

These are just a few of the sweet things he has said and done

-He loves anything Star Wars

-There is no shortage of "I love you's" or loves and kisses when it comes to Winston. He can be very affectionate.

-He loves little babies and would love nothing more than to have a baby sister.

-We love him to pieces and we're so thankful to have this wonderful little person in our family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!

Winston's B-day

2008-09-17T21:02:00.011-06:00

On Sept. 12 our oldest little turkey turned 5. Oh good grief.

So Steff decorated the bottom of the stairs and laid out the fun. When he woke up, he found a surprise.

Here's the photo reel:

The setup

The wakeup

5 yrs old

Rockin' Jumping Jacks

Opening the gifts - our little Star Wars addict

10am: Wearing the gear

8pm: Still wearing the gear

Guess what he's going to be for Halloween...

Catchup time....

2008-09-17T21:02:00.001-06:00

So we are a bit behind. Hang on to your britches.... here we go.

Is it just me...

2008-08-23T23:24:00.001-06:00

Or are some of these cards REALLY funny?

What's left after Sharkfest... hmmm..... Olympics?

2008-08-18T14:14:00.005-06:00

Hey all, as many of you know, Steff and I recently participated in an challenging swimming event called Sharkfest. We let the news spread far and wide that we were doing that. All went well and we appreciate all your support.

What many of you don't know, is that we've also been training for another event. We weren't sure how things were going to turn out, so we've been keeping it under the radar until we knew more. Well, we recently finished up the event, and we're happy to say that things went fantastically. So now we are proud and happy to share with all of you, our 'special' day at the Olympics....

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

2008-08-12T10:45:00.003-06:00

4th of July

2008-08-11T23:28:00.005-06:00

The fourth of July was perfect this year. We had a nice BBQ with neighbors followed by lighting off fireworks in the street. It was nice, laid back and fun. Here are a few pictures from the fireworks...

Cute little Cassie enjoying the show

Some of the Dads

Matt let Winston light off some of the fireworks this year. Still not sure how I felt about that.

Some of the Dads ended the evening by playing Rockband at our house. It was a happy holiday.

(Hey, if you could just pretend not to notice we still haven't finished painting our back wall, we would really appreciate it. Things have been a little busy...cut us some slack, man!)

Happy Birthday Charlie! (late post)

2008-08-11T22:10:00.007-06:00

I'm trying to catch up on a few posts from the last month or two. We'll see how far I get tonight... :)

On July 2, Charlie turned the big 3 years old. It was fun this year to think back to when this funny little guy came into our lives. We had about a week to spare after moving into our new house before Charlie made his debut. I was so happy to bring him home to a roomy house with a yard (well, dirt) where Winston could play. Charlie was such a fun baby. He smiled all the time and loved to play and snuggle. He has been such a blessing to our family. Even though he can be a little frustrating at times, there isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't make me laugh out loud. He's a very funny kid. He gives fantastic bear hugs and loves to do "steamroller" with Mom, Dad and even Winston. We love you Charlie and we are so glad you are part of our family!

I made him a bunch of cupcakes for his birthday but he still didn't quite grasp the whole birthday thing. He was squirming too much for me to get him right up in front of the cupcakes with the candle. So, this is the best picture we could get. Hey, I tried!

The morning of his birthday, I decorated the downstairs with balloons and a sign that said "Happy Birthday". We put his present a the bottom of the stairs. As you can see from the picture, it was a hit!

He loved it. He didn't even care if it was moving or not. He just loves to sit on it.

He still hasn't figured out how to push down the pedal and turn the handlebar to get it going but Winston is more than happy to help him out. Everybody wins!

Charlie Update

2008-08-09T21:59:00.003-06:00

It's been a while since we've given an update on Charlie. There's been a lot going on with him lately. The long and short of it is that we had Charlie evaluated by a child psychologist and she determined he has autism. Apparently, it is very common for a child with autism to have seizures. It's not news that we wanted but it is good to know what is going on and to have some ideas of the direction we should go with some of his treatments. We are seeing a new pediatrician who deals with a lot of children with autism and we are hoping he will be able to help us. We just keep on trucking with hope and faith that things are going to get better for us and our little boy. Thanks again for all the prayers and support all of you have given us. We couldn't do it without you.

Our Garden

2008-08-05T16:06:00.008-06:00

This is our little corner of country living (please don't look at how yellow the lawn is -- I over-fertilized).

Currently the harvest is good. We're pulling spaghetti squash off the vine in handfuls, the strawberries are so thick we're needing to pull every other plant out of the ground, the corn is on the brink of picking, the tomato plants are heavy with bulbous green melons, and I have no idea how I can possibly eat any more zucchini.

There have also been a few surprises along the way: despite Charlie mangling all our onion plants, they've actually produced quite well. Another addition we found, as we pulled out our pea plants, is that we've got some potato leftovers from last year. Sah-Weet!

Anyways, anyone in the neighborhood who wants tomatoes, give it another week or two and we'll have more than we can handle... Big boys, early girls, cherry and roma varieties.

tomato plants in front, corn behind

onions, spaghetti squash, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, chives, basil, zucchini, oregano

Maple Canyon with the Boys

2008-07-22T09:25:00.011-06:00

This last weekend our awesome friends the Smiths came into town from Phoenix to visit. We used the occasion as an excuse for the guys to get together for some camping, jeeping and climbing -- or as someone I was telling about the trip put it, "A bunch of has-beens trying to go out and re-live their youth." Yeah, that about sums it up.

So Friday afternoon we piled in the jeeps and took off to Maple Canyon, a canyon renowned for its unique rock structures.

The camping was swell, the Jeeping was adventurous, and the climbing was exactly what you'd expect from a bunch of desk jockeys, few of which have even touched the rock in the last 2 years.

Among the much heckling, ribbing and harassment, we managed to even throw a practical joke into the mix. Let me start this by stating a rule that every good scout should know: 'On a campout don't ever be the first to sleep or the last to wake up.'

Now, as a prelude to our story, let me provide some background. A couple years ago in Moab, we had a supposed raccoon sighting from Zane. To this day he swears a raccoon was climbing around in the Jeep while he slept. There wasn't. But, since he was so convinced, and still a bit scared by the incident, we decided to have a little more fun this year. I brought along our stuffed mink (don't ask why we have a stuffed mink) with the intention of messing with Zane a bit. Turns out, Zane stumbled onto the mink in the middle of the night, so we couldn't do much with it, and we missed out on the fun of seeing him run into this thing at 3am, groggy with sleep. That would've been fun.

We were disappointed. Then we noticed there was a late sleeper with us... Mr. Lonnie Corbridge. We delicately placed the mink about an inch from his face and sat back to wait for the fun. We weren't disappointed. When he woke up, he sorta jumped, wriggled and swatted all at the same time. While we were all over by the fire, getting a good laugh at his expense, he was trying to figure out what was going on...

At the end of the day, we all had a great time and got to reconnect with friends.

Looking forward to 2010 guys trip somewhere....

My eye twitch is back

2008-07-13T22:23:00.001-06:00

That's all.

Need some laughs?

2008-07-05T21:54:00.005-06:00

I heard about this really funny blog from my sister-in-law. If you don't mind someone poking fun at Utah/Mormon bloggers, check it out...

http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/

For an even bigger laugh, read some of the comments. :)

Our Sharkfest Swim - Updated with Pics

2008-06-30T22:34:00.004-06:00

The Sharkfest Course

This is the actual picture looking at Alcatrez taken from the spot we finished our event.

So, first things first -- we're done. We finished. Its all over. Humongous sigh of relief.

Now, for those of you who don't care about anything other than did we get eaten or not, this is where you can stop reading. No nips, no bites and no bumps. No sharks. Sorry.

For those of you who want all the gory details, who might possibly swim this some day or whatever, here goes:

The day started early, mostly because none of us could sleep. At 6:15am we left the hotel at Fisherman's Wharf to walk the 6 blocks to the Aquatic Park. We spent the next hour going through registration, getting everything set and ready to roll. All our stomachs were turning over and over. Half were going with the 'don't eat anything so your stomach is empty' tactic, while others were approaching the swim with the 'eat lots so you have energy' mentality. Some were just trying not to yak...

(Pre-race Lineup)

After some time, they blew the horn and all the swimmers left the grandstands and walked about 8 blocks in what they called the 'athlete's parade.' Mostly this was just something they called part of the show, when in reality the boats were down at by Pier 39 and we were clear up the street.

So there we were, at 8am, walking in a procession along the Wharf, and I have to say, it was sorta interesting -- 800 people of all sorts, shapes and sizes in speedos and wetsuits, marching down the main drag at Fisherman's Wharf.

Anyways, soon we boarded the boats and found ourselves sitting on the floor as we trawled out to the island. There were hundreds of people, littering every open spot on the ferry. Some were in the zone, some joking with buddies, and others looked pretty freaked out. I'm pretty sure we fit into the latter-most category.

Soon the boats stopped, the doors opened and the horn blasted. This signaled it was time to jump, and start swimming the 200 yards to the line of kayaks that marked the starting line. So, we did. And holy crap. It was cold and there were bodies everywhere. 51 degree water was what we heard. Let's just say, when you hit that, its like someone punching you in the stomach.

This is where we all lost track of each other.

Neither of us had made it to the starting line before the horn sounded to start the race, so right off the bat we were behind the 8-ball. Grrrr. From there, for about the first half mile of the race we both struggled quite a bit. The water was cold and choppy. It was difficult to get a rhythm.

We both stuck with it and eventually hit our strides... sorta. For both of us, this was a difficult swim. Though we'd trained, open water swimming on the open sea was challenging. One trick we had to figure out was breathing. It seemed like about every fourth breath you would roll over to get a breath and catch a swell square on, filling your mouth with tasty saltwater. We figured, by the end of the race, we'd each sucked down about a gallon of seawater. YUM!

The second challenge was we found ourselves getting turned around, swimming in zig zags, and needing to look up often to orient ourselves to our destination. Landmarks were difficult to pick out and with tides and swells, swimming a straight line proved to be very hard.

Oh, and add getting banged around by the other 798+ bodies in the water to the formula as well. That was messed up.

NOTE: The sky didn't look like this for us. This is a picture from last year. It was about 65 degrees, windy and overcast.

At about the 1.25 mile mark, we hit the rough waters guarding the narrow inlet into the aquatic park. Once we'd made it through that, we had about 500 meters left to go. It was the home stretch. There were crowds cheering, and people lining the beach.

At the :54 minute mark, Steff came out of the water, exhilarated to have finished, unassisted, her first ever open water swimming competition. She promptly ran over to her waiting brothers and gave them all high-fives and exclaimed, "We made it! We did it!" Steff totally tore it up.

A few minutes later, at the 1:02 mark, Matt zig zagged his way to shore. He'd made the swim unassisted as well, but was showing a bit more effect. Upon reaching the sandy beach, he staggered up, quite unaware of what was happening. As he walked down the corridor of people a paramedic caught up to him and walked him down the path, making sure he was OK. Later he was quoted as saying, "It felt like the worst case of light headedness I've ever had."

(Matt just finishing)

Matt sat down on the steps for a few minutes, gradually gained his senses back and went and found the family.

When we finally met back up on the beach, we were giddy. All seven family members made it. We were done.

(Post Race Lineup)

We spent the next hour or so hanging out with all the fellow swimmers. They had free hot chocolate, clam chowder and bagels. It was cold, we were wet and tired, but our spirits were super high. We'd done the big one. We'd conquered Sharkfest... and it feels good.

Oh... there was one injury to report: Steff's wetsuit gave her a few problems. Despite rubbing slippery stuff on her neck to prevent chaffing, she suffered some pretty bad friction burns.

Thanks for everyone's support.

Happy Birthday...Bishop??

2008-06-29T22:53:00.005-06:00

I just wanted to take a minute to wish Matt a Happy Birthday today. I don't know if it was the most relaxing birthday he has ever had but it was probably one of the most eventful. We completed our Sharkfest swim (post below) yesterday. We spent the rest of that day/evening celebrating in San Fran with the family. We woke up early this morning and made it over to the airport only to find our fight delayed several times. We finally made into the SLC airport and drove as fast as we could to pick up our kids at my sister-in-law's house. Then we sped home and got ourselves and the kids ready and ran up to the church for a two ward meeting about a ward split to make three wards. We will be part of the new ward (pieces from each of the original wards) and Matt was put in as the new Bishop. Sooooo, it may not have been the birthday he expected (or wanted...am I allowed to say that?), but it will be one he will probably never forget. We are both feeling a LITTLE tired now and will be hitting the hay shortly. We will be officially celebrating Matt's birthday tomorrow and hopefully it will be a little more relaxing. Happy Birthday hon! We love you!

(Hopefully this post makes some sort of sense. My brain is all over the place tonight. Sorry.)

Our 5 Hour Evening at the ER....

2008-06-24T22:30:00.005-06:00

It all started so innocently.

We'd just finished our evening swim and were headed home from the gym for dinner. Matt had bought some trail mix earlier in the evening and we were sharing it with the kids on the way home. About the time we hit Springville, Steff looked back and saw Charlie sniffing and sneezing. Upon further inspection, we realized he'd stuffed a half a peanut up his schnoz.

Yep. Full on, peanut up his nose.

So we pulled off the freeway and initiated our contingency plans:

Plan A - Our first thought was to grab some tweezers and fish it out. Well, 5 minutes later, with the peanut climbing up higher and higher, we abandoned Plan A. Plan A - FAILURE.

Plan B - Check the clock. It's 7:45pm. We've got 15 minutes until the walk-in clinic closes.... drive very fast. We arrive as they're shutting down their systems, so Matt gets Charlie checked in while Steff takes Charlie back for the Doc to start digging. When Matt and Winston finally get back to Charlie's room, they find Charlie being held down by 3 nurses and 1 Steff... and the doctor is giving up. He's managed to push the peanut up further and make Charlie's nose bleed. (Not his fault... Charlie is being very uncooperative) Plan B - FAILURE.

Plan C - Emergency Room. Boy... I don't even know how to explain this one. First thing: don't go to the ER after 8pm if you can help it. Seriously shady characters there. We had two visits from police men and some weird folks we got to hang out with. Anyways, at around 11:30pm we were finally admitted. The Doc struggled around, trying to get an eye on the peanut. I was frustrated, since not 30 minutes before I'd seen the stupid thing up there, without the use of any fancy equipment. He couldn't see it and advised we started with the 'old fashion way.' Plug the free nostril, put my mouth over his mouth creating a seal, and blow hard. I guess the object is to try to shoot the thing out like a cannonball. Didn't work. So we went with our next option and they sedated the poor little guy. He was basically like a zombie. His eyes were open but he was not there. While sedated, they routed around, looking for the bane of our ER existence, to no avail. The Doc found jack squat. Plan C - FAILURE.

After hanging out to make sure he came out of the sedation OK, we got out of there around 1:15am. We were tired, and as you can expect, the kids were beat. Winston did pretty good, considering all things, but it was a long night. We were all pretty excited for yesterday to end.

End result: 5 wasted hours, unknown costs, and no idea where the freakin' peanut is.

Tick Tock... Tick Tock...

2008-06-23T10:18:00.004-06:00

5 days and counting...

oh good grief.

Our Saturday Swim

2008-06-16T21:52:00.007-06:00

Let me just preface this post by saying 'Holy Crap.'

Earlier last week Steff and I had a great idea. In the interest of training in as close to a real life environment as we could get, we decided to escape up to a nearby reservoir for a quick swim.

So, Saturday afternoon we loaded up the kiddies, took them to play at my sister's house, and we headed up to Tibble Fork Reservoir, at the top of American Fork Canyon.

It was a beautiful day. The lake was surrounded by fishermen, families hiking, horseback riders, and other recreators. We arrived, surveyed the surroundings, and decided our best point of attack would be on the high side, where the river feeds into the lake. We threw on our wetsuits, scurried down the hill, and walked to the bank where we would wade in. And this is where the pain began....

As Steff and I made our way out to the point where it was deep enough to start swimming, really there was only one phrase that was rolling over and over in my mind: "What the crap, what the crap, what the crap."

I decided to be tough and take the plunge. Oh good grief. It was so cold, it felt like I'd just set my face in a pot of boiling water... that was freezing. I mean, I'm talking pain, severe pain. I got out about 100 yards and I was dying. I can't really speak for Steff, but I was having thoughts of my body locking up and sinking like a rock to the bottom of No-nibble-tibble.

In case you're wondering how cold it was, here's a picture of Tibble Fork, as we experienced it on Saturday (it didn't look like this, but it felt like this looks):

So for the next 40 minutes, we slowly made our way from the river to the opposite side of the lake, and then back. After about 15 minutes, everything not under the neoprene, was numb - dead to the world. We completed a lap (about 1/2 mile) and decided we'd had enough. We'd accomplished what we'd set out to do.

As we were driving away, we started looking around and realized there was snow, really close to the lake. I can't imagine that the snow had been gone for too long up there... and that quaint little river bubbling into the lake was most definitely direct glacier runoff.

To sum up: cold. Cold cold cold. Don't swim in mountain lakes early in the season. They are cold. I don't care what anyone says - cold.

Happy Father's Day to the best Dad ever!

2008-06-16T09:30:00.007-06:00

This is a day late but I just wanted to write a little something about one of the greatest Dad's I know. That would be my lovely husband, Matt.

I don't know what we would do without his endless patience, his wonderful sense of humor and all the love, time and attention he gives to us. No matter how busy things get, he always makes sure there is time for me and the kids. When he walks in the door, the kids faces light up and they go running to give him a big hug. They absolutely adore him. He takes time to play catch with Charlie and to teach Winston how to kick his soccer ball. He always has lots of hugs, kisses and snuggles for the boys when they are having a rough day. I'm so thankful they can grow up with him as an example and to have his love and support throughout their lives. I'm also thankful Matt had such wonderful parents that raised him to be such and incredible person. They did an amazing job and I hope I can raise my children half as well as them.

Not only is Matt the best Dad, he is also an amazing husband. We have a pretty dang good marriage and I credit that mostly to him. He puts up with a lot (me) and NEVER complains He's always supportive and helpful and always willing to help with the kids and housework. When I have a bad day, he's a master at calming me down or making me laugh. I can't believe I got lucky enough to find someone like Matt. Before I met him, I wasn't too excited about getting married and figured I was just going to have to do it and make the best of it. When I met Matt, I couldn't believe there was someone I actually wanted and looked forward to spending forever with.

You are the BEST Matt and I hope you had a wonderful Father's Day. Love you!!

Brian Regan Update....

2008-06-10T14:48:00.001-06:00

For all who are disappointed and didn't get tickets, here you go.

New Date added for Brian Regan: Saturday, August 16th
Tickets On Sale Saturday, June 14th at 10:00am

Good luck one and all.

Our Garden... so far.

2008-06-09T22:12:00.007-06:00

The season is upon us and our garden has just started giving back. Last year, you may remember, was our first time with the garden. We had a good time and best of all, we learned a few tricks. This year we scaled back the peppers, threw in some peas, cut out the pumpkins, moved the melons, nixed the cabbage and spread out the tomatoes.

So, at the end of the day, here's a list of what we're looking forward to eating out of our garden this year:

Watermelons
Corn (Peaches and Cream Sweet Corn)
Tomatoes - Big Boy, Early Girl, Cherry, Roma
Broccoli
Strawberries
Snow Peas
Potatoes
Walla Walla Onions
Yellow Onions
Lemon Thyme
Sweet Basil
Oregano
Chives
Cilantro
Zucchini
Spaghetti Squash
Bell Peppers
Jalapeno Peppers

Each of these plants has its own timing, but right now we're raking in the strawberries and we're just starting to get the peas. I've thrown in a few pics to show off what we've got. You'll note in some of them the chicken wire fence around the garden, a new element this year. After watching Charlie play 'Godzilla Takes On Tokyo' through our garden for a few weeks, we decided this was the only way we were going to get it to produce anything... eyesore? Yes. But everything isn't being demolished all the time now so whatever.

Our pea patch

From left to right, Lemon Thyme, Chives & Cilantro (2 plants)

Onions, Basil, Oregano, Bell Peppers & Jalepeno Peppers

Steff picking strawberries

Our first peas

Don't be mad at me!

2008-06-09T11:59:00.003-06:00

I just posted the sale date I read directly off the Brian Regan website for tickets to his show. It said June 28. I know this because Matt mentioned we would be in San Fran swimming Sharkfest. We DID happen to find out they went on presale June 6 and public sale June 7, but we couldn't get the word around fast enough before they sold out. I know some people are blaming us for the misinformation but you should really blame brianregan.com. Come on now, can't we all just get along? We also heard there is a CHANCE that he might do another show August 16. Keep your fingers crossed! :) Can we still be friends?

Sharkfest... Matt's take.

2008-06-05T21:34:00.002-06:00

So, as Steff mentioned, we're 23 days until the big swim. Oh good grief.

We just got back from swimming. I finally swam my first mile. Tonight was my first time hitting that milestone. Impressed? Well, 3 months ago you could've been. 23 days before the swim? I'm probably in trouble.

The event organizers suggest that to be prepared for the event, you should be swimming a mile comfortably in under 40 minutes. My mile was a 48 minute mile. Once again, I'm probably in trouble.

Also, I haven't ever swam in open water. I'm told there's a pretty significant difference between the pool and open water. I guess 50 degree rolling seas, salt water splashing in your mouth for 90 minutes, a cross current methodically pulling you away from your destination, not being able to see past your elbow, and being in the middle of an ocean where you can't stand up and adjust your goggles may be a bit different than the training grounds. I should probably go practice that.

So, wish me luck.

23 Days and Counting...

2008-06-05T11:36:00.004-06:00

until Matt and I swim Sharkfest with my 5 bros and sisters. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's the 1.5 mile swim in the icy cold waters from Alcatrez to the shore in San Fran. Am I ready? I would like to say yes. Unfortunately, we've been having some problems with childcare and Charlie and I haven't been able to get in as much workout time as I hoped. At this point, I am just going to get out there and do my best and hope I don't drown or get eaten by a shark. :) If I do drown, tell my Mom I love her, man!

Memorial Weekend 2008

2008-05-31T22:01:00.008-06:00

We started out the weekend by going to Winston's preschool graduation on Friday night. It was a cute little program with some funny songs and performances by the kids.

This is Winston with his teacher, Ms. Tanya. She has been such a wonderful teacher and Winston sure loves her. Luckily, he will have the opportunity to attend her preschool again next year as he just misses the deadline for Kindergarten. We are glad he will get to participate in another year because Ms. Tanya goes above and beyond with her curriculum, field trips and activities for the kids. You can tell she really loves her job. Winston has learned so much. He is already adding numbers and spelling short words. Ms. Tanya said he did excellent this year, especially for a first year student. We're so proud of our little Winston.

Saturday morning, we went up to Heber Valley and did the "Day Out With Thomas ". It was such a fun morning and we will definitely be "on board" to do this again next year. (sorry for the dumb play on words)

While we waited for the train, there was a little petting zoo for the kids to walk through. Here is Charlie trying to grab the horse's ear. So sweet! :)

Here is W sporting his totally awesome Thomas tattoo. So cool.

Winston, Dad and Charlie in front of another train before it departed.

Once we got on the train, Charlie had a blast looking out the window. Mom and Dad were happy because the two seats faced each other (so we were knee to knee) and it was really easy to trap Charlie in and keep him from running down the aisle.

Mom and Dad were too lazy to stand in the LONG line to meet Sir Topham Hat so we had Winston stand here with STH in the background talking to another lucky kid. Aren't we the best parents?!

This was a beautiful view of a field of wildflowers (dandelions) from the train ride. This was right before the breathtaking river (irrigation ditch) and the cute little sleeping (dead) kitty laying half in/half out of the water. We also saw some really neat backyards, one of which had a guy in sweatpants, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat mowing his lawn. Thanks Heber Valley Railroad for the picturesque scenery.

Winston enjoying the ride

Once again, Mom and Dad were too lazy to stand in line to get a picture sitting on the front of Thomas. We just went to the end of the plastic fencing and took a picture of us with a kid with much nicer parents getting his picture taken right next to Thomas in the background. At least I don't deny we're lazy. Winston looks like he is about to cry, but deep down I think he was really happy he didn't have to stand in that long line.

Saturday night, we got a babysitter and headed to the sweet Spanish Fork Theater to see the new Indiana Jones movie. It was pretty cheesy but we had a fun time gorging ourselves on popcorn, soda and nibs. Yummy.

Monday morning, we visited my Grandma and Grandpa Smith's graves. I was worried nobody was going to put any flowers on them but there were already 11 pots of flowers when we got there. We added three more and I was happy that my grandparents and Aunt Marilyn's graves were so well represented. It was neat to tell Winston about my Grandparents and Aunt and to honor and remember them on this special day.

On the way home, we hit the Memorial day sales and bought a new lawnmower and some patio furniture. Let's just say it was a tight fit in the van. Winston thought it was really fun to ride in the batcave but Charlie was a little distressed about it.

None too pleased about this situation

To finish off the holiday, we had a street BBQ in front of our house. Unfortunately, our camera had a little run in with Charlie and a rain storm so we had to use our video camera all weekend. The pictures aren't the best but at least we have some. I only got one showing a few people that turned out okay from the BBQ. Oh well. It was fun to hang out with the neighbors and eat some good food. It was a great holiday weekend!

For our fellow Brian Regan fans...

2008-05-18T22:57:00.003-06:00

Brian Regan will be coming to the Thanksgiving Point Amphitheater August 15. Tickets go on sale June 28. Yippee!

For our Washington friends/fam, he is coming to the Marymoor Amphitheater in Redmond on June 27. Tickets are on sale NOW!

For our Idaho friends/fam, he is coming to the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts in Boise, Idaho on June 28. The website says tickets are "on sale" but there is no link to buy them. Not sure what that means.

Have fun everyone!

A ray of sunshine...

2008-05-14T20:40:00.004-06:00

We got some great news today. We took Charlie in to a REAL (not homeopathic) allergist today and had him tested for all the food allergies we've been worried about. And the results...drum roll please...NO ALLERGIES! We are thrilled. It was just the boost we needed in the middle of all the other trials he is going through. I'm so relieved we don't have to worry about keeping him on a special diet.

We started him on a new medication today called Keppra. Here is what the pamphlet says about the side effects...

"Drowsiness, dizziness, weakness, tiredness, constipation, and loss of coordination (e.g., difficulty walking and controlling muscles) may occur. These side effects are more common during the first 4 weeks and usually lessen as your body adjusts to the medication. If any of these effects persist or worsen, notify your doctor.
Tell your doctor immediately if any of these unlikely but serious side effects occur: hair loss, neck pain, mental/mood changes, vision changes (e.g., double vision).
This medication rarely may cause mood or behavior changes, such as anxiety, agitation, hostility, pressured/rapid speech, or thoughts of suicide. Tell your doctor immediately if you develop unusual (possibly sudden) mood changes.
Rare but very serious side effects: unusual weakness, easy bleeding/bruising, signs of infection (e.g., fever, persistent sore throat).
A very serious allergic reaction to this drug is unlikely, but seek immediate medical attention if it occurs. Symptoms of a serious allergic reaction may include: rash, itching, swelling, severe dizziness, trouble breathing. "

It also says the anxiety, agitation, aggression and hostility are more likely to happen in children. Charlie cried a lot and did a lot of hitting and attacking to me and Winston today. It's hard to know if it was because of the meds or something else. We'll see how things go. That's this weeks update on our little guy. Thanks again for all the love and support.

Week One - Pterodactyl

2008-05-09T23:49:00.004-06:00

I'm a member of One Viral Word, an experiment in viral marketing. As a participant, I'm spreading the word so this can succeed.

I encourage you to help this experiment out, as I am doing. It only takes a second. Simply copy and paste this post, exactly as is, on your blog and you're officially a member. Each week a new word will be chosen to post.

Stats will be provided each week on how many people linked on the oneviralword.blogspot.com website. Each week, with the new word, the counter will start over. The goal is to see how many weeks it will take to get to one million links in a week, and maybe even more.

The viral word for Week One is Pterodactyl.

I know

2008-05-09T09:51:00.001-06:00

My header looks stretched and wierd. I'm not that good with Photoshop. It will have to do until I can find our family pictures and have Matt help me. I just had to get that clown background off. It was giving me a headache. Sorry.

April Daring Bakers Challenge - Cheesecake Pops

2008-05-02T23:31:00.007-06:00

This month's challenge was hosted Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasms and Deborah from Taste and Tell. The recipe comes from the book Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth by Jill O'Conner. I'm a little late posting for this challenge. I waited until the last week of the month and then things got busy. I finally finished it and I thought they turned out pretty good. Once again, I lay no claim to being a good decorator (or photographer) but I did my best.

I really like the cheesecake recipe that was used to make these pops. I think I will use it again next time I make a cheesecake. The flavor was good and it was relatively easy. I did make the mistake of only cooling the cheesecake to room temperature before trying to form them into balls and rectangles. It was pretty much impossible which explains the unique shapes of my pops. If I were to make these again, I would definitely chill the cheesecake in the fridge overnight before trying to mold the shapes.

Once I sort of got some molded shapes, I stuck cut up wood skewers (I was too lazy to drive to Provo to buy sucker sticks) in them and laid them on a cookies sheet and put them in the freezer. Once they were frozen solid, I dipped them in milk chocolate and topped some with graham cracker crumbs (what's cheesecake without graham crackers?), some with sprinkles and some I just drizzled with white chocolate.

My husband and I each tried one and thought they were pretty darn tasty. I think these would be fun for a cute baby or wedding shower if you are good at decorating and could make them look a lot cuter than mine. :) I'll post the recipe below the next picture if anyone wants to give them a try. Don't forget to check the Daring Baker's Blogroll to see how everyone else's Cheesecake Pops turned out.

Cheesecake Pops

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)
Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature.

Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

(I also forgot to add that I halved this recipe and it worked wonderfully. I knew there was no way Matt and I would eat 30-40 Cheesecake Pops. Yikes! We still won't eat them all but I won't feel so guilty throwing away half as many.)

Another Winstonism

2008-05-02T21:53:00.002-06:00

Mom: What do you want for breakfast?

Winston: I don't know. Do you know what I want?

Mom: German Pancakes?

Winston: (with big eyes) How did you know that? Did the Holy Ghost tell you?

Favorite Friday

2008-05-02T21:37:00.004-06:00

Yes, it's another cleaning product. I love it so much, I had to share. This Friday's favorite is Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface Spray. Why do I love it so much?

-It is gentle enough to use around kids and food
-It kills 99.9% of bacteria: E. coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus (Staph.) and Streptococcus (Strep.)
-It leaves no harmful chemical residue

I'm a big fan of the Clorox wipes and their fresh, clean smell but I don't really want that smell on my countertops where I am putting food. I don't love using them on the tray of the high chair that my baby is eating off of either.

This stuff is wonderful. I like to bake a lot which often requires rolling out dough on my countertop. It kind of freaks me out what might be on the countertop and that it might get into my food. I don't really want to use bleach water (another cleaner I like to use) or the scented Clorox wipes because I don't want the smell or residue in my food. The perfect solution...Clorox Anywhere Spray. I wipe the counter top off really well and then give it a good spray of CAS and wipe it again and wait a minute until it dries. It doesn't smell at all and my counter is clean and ready for me to roll out my dough.

I also love to use it on my kitchen table and I use to use it all the time on Charlie's high chair. I read once that it is safe enough to spray on a baby's binky. I buy bottles of these 4-5 at a time when they go on sale. I think I might be keeping Clorox in business. :)

Funny Little Man

2008-04-29T21:38:00.004-06:00

Winston told me a few jokes in the car on the way to preschool today. I don't think he could quite remember exactly how the punch lines were supposed to go. That made them even funnier. I thought I would share them on here for a little laugh...

Winston: Knock Knock

Mom: Who's there?

Winston: Little Old Lady

Mom: Little Old Lady Who

Winston: I didn't know you could wobble
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Winston: Knock Knock

Mom: Who's there?

Winston: Banana

Mom: Banana who?

Winston: Knock Knock

Mom: Who's there?

Winston: Banana

Mom: Banana who?

Winston: Knock Knock

Mom: Who's there?

Winston: Are you glad I didn't say banana?

Fabulous Four...

2008-04-29T16:28:00.002-06:00

Just had to write a quick post about how great the last four days have been. Charlie has been so happy and pretty well behaved. Saturday, we went to Matt's softball game and C sat nicely on my lap almost the entire time (we were there almost 45 minutes). That is like a MIRACLE. Really. It was so wonderful to just sit there and visit with the other women and watch the game. Then we went to the park and played afterward and he had a ton of fun. Sunday was so smooth! I didn't have to take him out of Sacrament once and he was so happy all day! Yesterday and today have been great too! The biggest difference has been how happy he is. He's been laughing a lot and playing. It's been such a lighthearted four days. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the decent weather and lots of playing outside. Whatever it is, I'm very thankful and happy. Hope you are all having a wonderful week as well!

I have a lot to learn before I have a little girl...

2008-04-26T20:44:00.001-06:00

Hair Today

Favorite Friday

2008-04-25T14:46:00.004-06:00

This product may or may not be exciting to you depending on if you have kids (or spend a lot of time with kids) and what their ages are. We love it at our house.

My kids always want to hold the bottle of bubbles and blow them all by themselves. This pretty much always results in the entire bottle getting spilled all over them and the ground within the first 5 minutes. This results in crying, a mess to clean up and no more bubbles to play with later.

I was first introduced to this wonderful invention at Charlie's playgroup. It's a No-Spill Bubble Tumbler. The little bubble wand fits in a little slot in the top and the container can get turned upside down or dropped and NO SPILLS! It really works! I went and bought a couple of the mini tumblers (perfect size for little hands) for my kids and we are all loving it. Charlie is in heaven since he was never allowed to even attempt to hold the bottle of bubbles by himself. They also have some other varieties besides the regular size tumbler and the mini tumblers (which are only $1.99 at Target). You can click on the link above to get a complete list of all their cool products and the stores closest to you that carry them. I added a couple more pics of products we are going to try out soon below...

Mini Tumblers

No Spills!

Have some friends over to play with the Giant Tumbler with three wands!

What little boy wouldn't like this bubble gun with a holster?! What Mom wouldn't like that it doesn't leak or spill bubble solution all over their clothes?!

Update on Charlie

2008-04-23T19:36:00.007-06:00

A lot of people have been asking about Charlie so I thought I would post what has been going on with him on here.

We've been working with several therapists to improve his speech, behavioral problems and his sensory issues. I don't know how well they are working. I just keep doing it because I don't know what else to do. Every Tue and Thur, we have a group therapy/playgroup with other kids. I feel like he has improved in his group behavior in this particular setting. I don't really see improvement in other group settings but we'll keep trying. I ended up crying during the first playgroup, made it out to the car before crying the second playgroup and I don't even really feel like crying during the playgroup these days so it must be getting better, right? :)

We have gotten some interesting ideas from the Occupational Therapist for his sensory problems. A lot of times, if we spin him around or do something really physical with him before changing his diaper or trying get him dressed, he will put up a lot less of a fight. This is nice to know because Matt, Winston and I have recently finished healing from all the scratches and gouges on our hands, backs, arms and faces from when Charlie gets upset. I think I got a couple more on my face today when he got upset but nothing too bad. There are a number of things like that she gave us to try. Hopefully some of these ideas are going to help make life a little smoother. *crossing fingers*

Charlie was tested for the special education preschool that will begin this Fall. The testing went as expected. The maximum number of days a child can qualify for is 4 days. That would be for a child that really needs help. Charlie qualified for 4 days. I expected it and I'm really grateful he will get so much help. They have in class therapists and the teacher is supposed to be amazing. One of his current therapists said she has seen some fantastic changes in kids that have gone through this preschool program. However, it's hard to think about sending my little Charlie off to school 4 days a week without me. He still seems so little and I want to be there to comfort him and help him. I'm really emotionally torn but I do think the preschool is going to be good for him. The whole thing just sort of feels like someone is twisting and pulling on my heart and it hurts . I try to be optomistic like Matt but I think it is harder when you are the one home with your child 24 hours a day. We'll see what happens.

He's a sweet, sweet little boy but he just has a lot going on in that little body of his. We have decided it will be best to try a new seizure medication starting at the beginning of May. I know it is probably going to turn our lives upside down (even more) with the side effects and trying to find the right meds but we've got to get the seizures under control. We've tried everything else we can think of without success and we are back to the medication route. Several of his therapists think that if we can get the seizures under control, a lot of the other things will improve. They are wreaking havock on his little body. Keep him in your prayers if you can. Thanks to everyone for all the love and support through this.

Favorite Friday

2008-04-18T13:31:00.004-06:00

I'm going to (try to) start sharing one of my favorite things each Friday. Mostly just to make sure I keep up on posting. I don't want our blog to get TOO boring. Today is a great day to start this because I have a very blog worthy product to post about.

My totally awesome neighbor, Sandy, told me about this Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner with Bleach yesterday. She also gave me some to try out. It was perfect timing because I was cleaning all the bathrooms in preparation for my parents to stay here tonight. We have hard water at our house and it leaves some pretty ugly remnants in the toilet sometimes. Mostly in the kid's bathroom that doesn't really get used very often. The lack of flushing creates more hard water stains. I have tried many products and methods to get rid of the stains but was never really impressed...until yesterday! This toilet bowl cleaner rules! I put a generous coat in each of the toilets and left them overnight. When I checked this morning, they were all clean! No scrubbing, no pumice stone, no reaching in the nasty toilet. Just squirt and go to bed. Amazing! That's all I can say.

I really probably shouldn't admit that my toilets get icky stains sometimes but, come on, I have one 1-2 hour break per day to do about 500 things (while Charlie sleeps) and I can't seem to get my toilets scrubbed every day. So, sue me. It's impossible to do it while Charlie is awake, just in case you were wondering. The bathroom is a danger zone when Charlie is there and I can't let him run around the house because he is into anything and everything. So, please don't judge. I just had to share this new product. If you've ever had toilet cleaning issues, I would highly recommend running to the store immediately and getting some!

Goodbye Elder and Sister Butler

2008-04-16T22:04:00.004-06:00

We've been lucky enough to have my parents serve their mission in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It has been so fun to have them so close and to get together so often. They are wrapping up their mission this week and heading back to Washington. We are sad to see them go. Here are a few pictures of our rendezvous...

We got a babysitter and met up at the Cheesecake Factory. To make it even better, we all had gift cards from my sister from Christmas. Free, delicious food...does it get any better? Thanks Lorri!

We were able to go last Saturday and check out the library where they have been serving. It was pretty amazing. The church really has some amazing resources to help people do their family history. It has been fun to hear all the stories and experiences my parents have had while serving there.
Mom, Dad and Winston outside the real pioneer cabin outside the Family History Library

After the library, we ate pizza at my parent's and then went to Memory Grove Park. It was a beautiful park with some really neat memorials. There were a lot of people walking and playing with their dogs. The kids had a great time checking out the dogs and throwing rocks in the water with Dad. He was so nice to take Charlie duty (C just wanted to run away and jump in the pond) and let me visit peacefully with my parents.

We're going to miss you Mom and Dad!

Job Change

2008-04-10T14:01:00.002-06:00

Many of you may know this, but some may not. Matt changed jobs... again. We chuckle as the winds of change push us around. Matt has had a few different jobs in the last 18 months, but, fortunately for us, each has been a step forward in Matt's career (at least we hope so).

Matt is now working for a software company in Springville called Q90 Corporation. He is the sales team there. The company is small (apx 25 people) and very cozy. He works with a great group of guys that share our standards and are family-focused.

As we continue to deal with change and uncertainty in our various situations, we are ever aware of the many blessings we constantly receive and the wonderful friends, family and neighbors that support us.

And so begins another chapter in Matt's book of "What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?"

I think I need a vacation

2008-04-05T18:08:00.004-06:00

Soooo, recently I have developed an eye twitch. It comes and goes several times and day and sometimes it even switches eyes. Of course, I jumped on the internet and searched for some sort of reason for this occurance. Here's what I found...

"For most people eye twitching is not a serious condition and typically results from excessive fatigue or stress."

When I read that, all I could think about was that Disney movie "The Kid" and Bruce Willis' character that had the eye twitch that started when he was young. I think it started when his Dad would yell at him all the time. Then, it would happen throughout his life when things started getting stressful. I think it finally went away when he and his kid self saw their older self and found out they ended up being successful and happy (and that they owned a dog). I just remember Bruce Willis yelling "I AM NOT A LOSER!!"

I guess I just need to figure out how to not be a loser. Then, maybe my eye twitch will go away?

Just to clarify...my eye isn't constantly twitching all the time. It's an occasional twitch that last a few seconds. Hopefully, I don't look to freakish. :)

ROCKBAND!

2008-04-04T12:37:00.007-06:00

We love it...

Easter 2008

2008-04-04T11:18:00.009-06:00

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Winston and Rhoman waiting for the Dads to hide the eggs

Anxiously awaiting the "go" signal

Winston scoring an egg

Charlie's a little upset that Dad is trying to make him find more eggs. He just wants to stop and rip into the one that he found.

Easter Morning

Winston

Charlie checking out the goods

Dad helping W put on is new Spiderman bike helmet and pads

We went up to Kristen's for Easter dinner with the McGhies. It's always nice because they always welcome my parents to come to all their family dinners and my parents enjoy coming. They get along so well. It makes things really easy on us. :) We had a delicious dinner and enjoyed wonderful company.

It was also our last family dinner with Matt's parents before they left for their mission to Nauvoo. They are there now and doing very well. This is a picture of them in their Pioneer clothes they GET to wear. :)
Coloring Eggs

If the date was correct on this post, it would show we did this the day after Easter for FHE. At least we did it at all, right?

W dipping his egg

Mom and W

Some of our masterpieces

The Perfect Party Cake

2008-03-30T18:48:00.006-06:00

I just completed my first month's challenge as a member of the Daring Bakers group. At the beginning of each month, the appointed host assigns a new baking challenge. We have the month to think about it and make it. At the end of the month, we post about our experience with the challenge. This month's host was Morven, and she chose Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake.

I'm not much of a decorator but I had a good time making this cake. The layers didn't rise very well. I think it may be because of the flour I used. I ended up using regular all-purpose flour in place of the cake flour but I forgot to subtract 2 Tbs. per cup before adding it to my batter. I still cut the two layers in half and had four very small layers. I tried to add a lot of filling to make my cake look bigger. I used strawberry preserves and whipped cream for my filling. I was dissapointed with the taste of the preserves. They were much too sweet and I would have much rather had a slightly tart homemade strawberry or raspberry jam as a filling. I think it would have complimented the sweet whipping cream and cake flavors a lot more. I also whipped cream with a little powdered sugar and vanilla to frost the cake. It was yummy. In the cake batter, I did stick with the original recipe including the lemon extract. I really liked having a little taste of lemon as part of the cake. It definitely didn't turn out perfect but it was fun to try. I would love to try making it again and change some things up to make it even better!

If you feel a hankering to do some fun baking, here is the recipe for you...

The Perfect Party Cake

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour (updated 25 March)

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)

4 large egg whites

1 ½ cups sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream

1 cup sugar

4 large egg whites

3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing

2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable

About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.Remove the bowl from the heat.Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake

Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.Spread it with one third of the preserves.Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving

The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing

The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

To see other Daring Baker's Blogs Perfect Party Cakes, click here...

To celebrate our 4000th hit...

2008-03-22T19:49:00.002-06:00

We are going to write 4000 random facts about us.

J/k, I think we learned our lesson with our 111 post. :) We are amazed that 4000 people have looked at our blog. We put the counter on here because we thought it would be funny that it would only show like 8 hits. We didn't realize how many random people blog surf and check out people's blogs that they don't even know. Either way, we feel proud to have made it to the big four oh oh oh. Thanks for looking and helping us get there!

Jack is coming back!

2008-03-22T00:50:00.004-06:00

When Jack Johnson comes to town, we drop everything. He hasn't come to SLC the last two summers (very disappointing) so we were pretty stoked when we found out he was coming this August. Thanks to the Batchelors, we were able to get in on the presale for the tickets and we are looking forward to another chill evening listening to Jack perform.

Before Jack had made it to radio and mainstream music, Matt was introduced to him by his buddy Josh. Impressed and addicted to Jack's music, Matt introduced the music to his friend Kari Bushman who was the music director at 107.5 The End and told her she needed to get this stuff on the radio. She said she'd give it a shot and decided the song that lent itself best to radio was Taylor. His stuff instantly caught on and off it/he went.

As his popularity increased, he started touring. His first time to Utah was a little club, but this was before many people knew him. The second visit he was opening for Ben Harper at Deer Valley. Steff was 8 1/2 months preggo with Winston, and we went to the concert. While there, we met up with another buddy who took us backstage to meet Jack. It was pretty fun to sit and chat with him. He was awesome. We actually told him we would name our baby Jack. Oops.

Anywho, we can hardly wait to see him again this year. We're so glad he's back. If any of y'all are planning to be there, let us know. Jack, if you're reading this, you can pay us back by hooking us up with tickets to one of your Hawaiian shows... and surfing lessons.

Time Out For Women

2008-03-21T23:46:00.012-06:00

I had the opportunity to go to Time Out For Women with my Mom and Sisters in Idaho Falls a couple weeks ago. It all seemed very rushed and we didn't get to spend nearly enough time together but it was great. We had some big laughs and heard some fantastic music and talks. The all star lineup included Sheri Dew, Emily Watts, Chris Stewart, Wendy Watson Nelson, Jason Wright, Sharon G. Larsen, S. Michael Wilcox, Mercy River, Kenneth Cope and Jenny Oaks Baker. We are already planning our next girl's trip...a Time Out For Women Cruise! Hopefully the stars will align and we can make it happen. :)

This is a picture of us in our totally awesome seats. We got in line early and had a game plan to split up and rush the doors when they opened to get the best seats. 8th row...need I say more?

Just hanging out with Kenneth Cope

We were lucky enough to be at the first Time Out For Women that included the new singing group Mercy River. Some of you may recogonize one of the group's members as Spanish Fork's own Whitney Permann. She did awesome and it was really fun to see her perform. How would it be...beautiful, talented and she makes a mean gingerbread house. I was able to snag a Mercy River CD at the TOFW presale and I have to say I love it. Click here and buy yourself a copy today. You won't regret it. :)

The fam with Mercy River

We sort of waited until the last minute (literally) to drop Lorri off at the airport to catch her flight. Nobody was at the ticket counter and the security people said they may or may not come back before the flight was going to leave. This is a picture of Lorri and Wendi running in to catch the flight.

Lorri pacing nervously waiting for the ticket people

They came back in time for her to catch her flight and everything worked out. Phew! One last picture before she hopped the plane back to Washington. Thanks Mom, Lorri and Wendi for making the weekend happen. It was just what the Dr. ordered. :)

Family Fun in Island Park, Idaho

2008-03-21T22:17:00.003-06:00

We had a great time with the Butler side of the family in Idaho last month. Thanks to everyone who made it possible!

Burnout...

2008-03-17T08:30:00.003-06:00

Sorry. We've been on blog-burnout.

That last post was killer.

Here's a nugget from a couple days ago. We were sitting down to eat dinner. Winston was giving us grief about eating something or other, which is a regular occurrence. Tired of the routine, we threatened him with something like 'No Lego Star Wars for a week.'

His reply was simple, "Jesus knows you're lying."

-----------

OK, OK, one more from yesterday. This is the poor-parenting-with-positive-results-tip-o-the-day:

Winston wouldn't eat his corn. He ate everything else well, but didn't want to finish his corn. So Dad took it upon himself to coax him.

The conversation went something like this:

Dad, in his best show of anticipation: "If you eat all your corn, guess what will happen?"

Winston, expecting a surprise: "What?"

Dad, barely containing his excitement: "Tomorrow, when you go poop, all your corn will be in your poop!"

Winston, genuinely excited: "So I'll eat it in here (points to mouth) and then tomorrow it will go all the way through my body and to my bum?"

Dad: "Yup."

Winston: Consumes every last piece of corn in site, whether on his plate, the table, or anywhere.

Dad: Look of total triumph.

Mom, with a shake of her head: "Great. I can't wait for that to come up in Primary."

111 posts = 111 random things

2008-03-03T12:49:00.005-07:00

So we've now posted to this site 111 times in our blogging career. We thought we'd honor such a neat number with an equally neat and random list of likes/dislikes, movie quotes, memories, observations, and about us’s you can get.

111 posts = 111 things.

This made for some good times trying to remember stuff, but it was not easy. We don’t expect anyone to read it all, but did it for the sake of doing it.

We would love to have anyone and everyone comment if so inclined. If you’re commenting on a certain entry, mark the number of the entry by the side of the comment.

And away we go….

1. We love to blog. More so, we love people to comment on our blog. What a weird thing. We write to try to provoke reactions from others. I’m sure there’s some sort of psychoanalysis that says we were starved for attention when we were young.
2. We love our kids, even though they can be a handful at times… but then again, what kid isn’t a handful at times.
3. We really think the name Schneebly is funny. It is from ‘School of Rock.’
4. We named our family Rock Band band ‘The Schneeblies.’
5. We hate confrontation. I think it’s the ‘youngest child’ in us.
6. By the way, we are both youngest children from large-ish families.
7. We like root beer. We’ve actually had ‘taste-offs’ on a couple of occasions where we buy some of every type of root beer we can get and put them in unlabeled cups. They are rated in categories of bite, smoothness, taste and overall rating. You should try it.
8. We were engaged after 3 weeks. Yeah, yeah. Heard it before.
9. We regularly quote the greats of moviedom, like What about Bob?, Better Off Dead, Raising Arizona, etc.
10. Steff likes chocolate or peanut butter in her ice cream. Matt likes fruit.
11. Matt can’t stand peanut butter. Don’t breathe when you’re around him if you’ve eaten it… you’ll be not liked. The most disgusting food ever created.
12. Matt doesn’t kiss Steff after certain ice cream outings (PB again).
13. We love throwing parties. We are always trying to think of new reasons to have a throw down. We’ve had Aebleskiver parties, crepe parties, omelet parties, dessert parties, FHE parties, Guitar Hero parties, pumpkin carving parties, gingerbread house making parties, etc (soon to come Rock Band parties). I guess they usually focus on either eating or something competitive, and the eating usually turns competitive. So, if you like competition, I guess we’re good friends to have.
14. Steff is an awesome swimmer and Matt is not. We’re swimming from Alcatraz to the main island this summer. Should be interesting.
15. “There are two types of people in this world: Those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don't. My ex-wife loves him.” – What about Bob?
16. We have three cars. Steff drives the nicest – Dodge Grand Caravan with 80K+ miles. Matt drives a Honda Civic with 175K+ miles, and we have an old Jeep we drive around town in the summer.
17. We aspired to get a minivan. Steff’s dream car is a Honda Odyssey. Matt’s is a Jeep Rubicon.
18. We read quite a bit. We’ve both read every Louis L’Amour book ever. We actually read good stuff too. J
19. We like baths.
20. Our bathroom mirror is our vision board (always a work in progress).
21. We’ve lived in our house for almost three years and still have unpacked boxes.
22. We are both creatures of habit. At restaurants (or fast food) we pretty much find something we like and order it every time we go.
23. We share meals at restaurants, but try to tip like we ordered two.
24. We like the whole chocolate-caramel combination thing. We’re also into the mint chocolate world.
25. We still own an original Nintendo that works.
26. Schneebly. Still funny.
27. We’re gardeners. We have a garden. We grow stuff. You know what I’m talking about.
28. We watch TV. Actually, we probably watch too much TV. It’s all about the DVR. Continued on #86.
29. We are not musically inclined. At all. Nothing.
30. Steff has a weird thumb knuckle that she pops just by moving it. She unconsciously pops it many times a day. Its one of those little things I know about that makes her mine.
31. "I've been going to this high school for 7 and 1/2 years, I'm no dummy." – Better Off Dead
32. Steff can roll her tongue. Matt cannot, despite all of Steff’s insistence that it is really easy.
33. We have some pretty messed up conversations after midnight. I think the last one included tarantulas doing the robot dance. Hey, we thought it was funny.
34. We were 25 and 26 when we got married.
35. Steff and Matt have stayed in the penthouse suite at the MGM Grand in Vegas.
36. Steff makes some pretty wicked good peach fruit leather.
37. On a ski trip, Matt shattered his ring finger bone. He still had 2 days of skiing to go, so he had the Dr mold the cast around his ski pole so he could finish the week of skiing.
38. We are not very politically active. Aware? Yes. Active? No.
39. In our Provo apartment, we had a mattress in our front room that we rarely took out of there. We’d fall asleep on it 4 nights out of the week.
40. Matt has two companies of which he’s the president and founder. Neither has ever generated a penny of revenue.
41. Our kid’s favorite songs are Popcorn, ABCs, and Sunbeam.
42. The worst toy investment we ever made was this electric keyboard thing. It is so freakin’ loud and the kids love it. Grrrrr.
43. Most people spell Steff’s name wrong. It’s Steffani, not Stephanie. No biggie, just a clarification.
44. Steff can swim the length of a 50-meter pool on one breath. Think that’s easy? Go try it.
45. Matt’s niece got married before he did.
46. We own three iPods. We haven’t paid for a single one of them. And we didn’t steal them.
47. “H.I., you're young and you got your health, what you want with a job?” – Raising Arizona
48. We are both right handed.
49. It took us like 6 months to pick a color for our front room. We found one, put a quick coat of paint, and liked it. It’s been about 3 months and we still haven’t finished.
50. When Steff and Matt were dating, Steff would regularly leave a loaf of warm bread outside his bedroom door for him to find when he woke up.
51. We buy stuff off ebay all the time.
52. Charlie and Winston are 22 month apart, yet weigh the same and wear the same sized clothes.
53. Matt has read all 8 of the books in the Ender Wiggin series.
54. Matt and Steff have driven in a car going 145mph on a freeway.
55. Currently, in our primary email accounts, we have a combined total of 10,516 emails in the Inboxes, 3,146 in our Spam folders, and 2,310 emails in our Sent folders.
56. You’ve got to love the Schneebly Meister.
57. Steff is from Washington state, but has lived in multiple places across the country.
58. Matt lived in Iceland for two years.
59. We plan on owning (if even partially) a cabin by a lake some day.
60. We both prefer cotton.
61. We have tried to plan on numerous occasions, but have not yet been successful, a trip to Havasupai in Az. It is one of our ‘dream’ destinations.
62. Winston was due exactly 9 months after our wedding day.
63. “Bueller? … Bueller? … Bueller?” – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
64. We enjoy the outdoors. We try to have s’mores cookouts in our backyard fire bowl a few times every summer.
65. We’ve been to a Clay Aiken concert.
66. We subscribe to three magazines – the Ensign, the Friend and Family Circle.
67. We disagree on what to top our grapefruits with. Matt tops his gfruits with powdered sugar and Steff with salt. Neither of us is willing to even budge on this one. Matt is afraid the kids are going to learn their mother’s habits on this one and he doesn’t like it one bit. Can we get some input here? Any help is appreciated.
68. On a ski trip, Matt split his head open. He had his buddies put three stitches in his head with a sewing needle and thread.
69. Steff was a flight attendant for Sky West Airlines.
70. Matt’s daily commute is approx 90 miles.
71. We both own what we feel are ‘fat pants.’ When we wear these, we feel fat. Unfortunately, both our wardrobes dictate that we wear these pants more frequently than we’d prefer.
72. If you google “matt and steff”, our blog is the #1 listing. Sweet.
73. Our least favorite (ever) American Idol candidate was Constantine. We call him Constantinople. He was creepy.
74. Matt and Steff hung out with Jack Johnson at Deer Valley. Before Matt knew Steff, he spent time with Sting, Gwen Stefani, and the Samples.
75. We love to BBQ. Salmon, halibut and steak are among the favorites.
76. Steff’s parents are just finishing an LDS mission on temple square. Matt’s parents were just called to serve in Nauvoo.
77. We want to buy a cow, or at least half of one. Haven’t seemed to get our hands on one quite yet, but not for a lack of trying.
78. Matt’s family ranges from Russia to Utah. Steff’s family ranges from Wisconsin to Washington. Family reunions are difficult to arrange on both sides.
79. “Gee, I'm real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky.” - Better Off Dead
80. Our garage looks like a tornado hit it. It’s full of crud that is totally useless.
81. Matt likes to sing along to songs, but unfortunately (for those around mostly) is tone deaf.
82. Steff grinds her own wheat to make bread.
83. Our favorite restaurant is Tepanyaki.
84. Matt was the personal assistant for the Icelandic Winter Olympic team in ’02. He still keeps in touch with some of his contacts there.
85. We went on our first ever cruise in ’07. Matt ate more than is healthy.
86. Our favorite shows are Biggest Loser, The Office, 24, Lost, American Idol, Prison Break and The Apprentice. Steff watches Good Things Utah. That’s all we watch (as if that isn’t a ton already).
87. If we have a girl next, we like the names Louise and Muriel. No, this is not an announcement. Also, these are subject to change.
88. There was a hostage situation with the SWAT team in our first apartment. We moved out shortly after that.
89. Steff mows the lawn more often than Matt does. Is a lawn mower an acceptable Mother’s Day present?
90. Matt snores.
91. Steff kicks him when he snores.
92. Steff tans, Matt burns.
93.We dig Craigslist. We’ve both received and given from the site.
94. Our favorite holiday is Christmas. I think its because of all the traditions.
95. "I pledge allegiance... to the band... of Mr. Schneebly... and will not fight him... for creative control... and will defer to him on all issues related to the musical direction of the band." – School of Rock
96. We were both raised on real butter. One of the reasons we got along so well when dating. We may skimp and save on a lot of things, but selling out for margarine over real butter isn’t one of them. Thank you Moms.
97. Since we’re on the topic, Matt spreads butter over saltine crackers as a snack. It grosses Steff out.
98. We were the 6th house built in our development.
99. Our first Christmas’s budget for buying each other gifts was $20 a piece. Then we lost the family bowling competition and had to buy ice cream for all the siblings and spouses. Let’s just say we got to ponder the true meaning of the holiday’s that year.
100. Matt is perpetually cold and Steff is always hot.
101. T or F – Steff kissed Matt first.
102. Matt is an avid dart player.
103. Our favorite Queen song is Bohemian Rhapsody.
104. Matt loves seafood. Steff doesn’t.
105. We wanted 6 kids, but found out in some cases one kid can count for five.
106. “Just tell them that their wildest dreams will come true if they vote for you.” -Napoleon Dynamite
107. We get our news from CNN.
108. Matt’s bosses told him he could pick his title. All his work emails are labeled with the title, Super-Duper Staffing Consultant. Very few people catch it.
109. The initials of all the companies Matt has worked for since graduating college are CPRGPATAS. That spells PACT GRASP, which probably means something very important. If Matt was smarter he could figure it out.
110. This is hard. We don’t recommend anyone mimicking this post.
111. Just found the meaning of our kid’s names – Winston – joyful stone & Charlie – one who thinks farts are the funniest things ever. I guess we should’ve looked closer before we plunged into that one, eh?

2008-02-26T11:18:00.003-07:00

We spent last weekend with my family and they introduced us to this video...
If it weren't for the accents, it sounds very familiar. :)

Baby Charlie's snicker is the best.

Ladies and Gentleman........My Husband!
2008-02-25T18:08:00.003-07:00
(tagged by Mel)

What is his name? Matthew
How long have you been married? Five years last December
How long did you date? At least 3 weeks before we got engaged!
How old is he? 31

Who eats more? Sometimes Matt and other times we eat about the same
Who said I love you first? Matt...he said he had a funny feeling in his stomach. Then he said he thought it might be the chicken we ate. Real funny!
Who is taller? Matt
Who can sing better? We both suck but that doesn't stop us from belting it out while playing Rockband!

Who is smarter? That would be Matt
Who does the laundry? Usually me but Matt tries to help out when he can.
Who pays the bills? Matt. We've been meaning to have me take over forever but we are king and queen of procrastination.
Who sleeps on the right side? Me
Who mows the lawn? We both do.
Who cooks dinner? Me. Matt is always willing to pick up take out when I've had a super hectic day, though. :)
Who drives? Matt. He's alot better driver and I think we both prefer to have him drive.
Who is more stubborn? That would have to be me. Matt is super easy going and easy to get along with.
Who kissed who first? He definitely kissed me first. It was very unexpected considering we hadn't even been out on a date yet!
Who asked who out first? Matt asked me.
Who proposed? Matt...again, very unexpected. Like I said earlier, 3 weeks of dating.
Who is more sensitive? I think I am. I cry more.
Who has more siblings? Matt with 5 brothers and 2 sisters.
Who wears the pants? I think we are pretty equal.
I tag anyone who wants to do this.

Our dancing classes have paid off

2008-02-21T11:03:00.005-07:00

So, some of you may've seen our dancing skills recently at our Ward activity where we learned to Rumba. Yes, we rocked. But did any of you know that Steff and I have been sneaking in Disco lessons on the side? We were recently invited to participate in a dance-off and we tore the place up... someone actually caught us on a camera phone and forwarded the clip.

Feel free to tell us what you think....

As a sidenote, Matt had a buddy show up so they slipped into some other costumes for an encore...

I thought we were dead sexy, but maybe its just me.

Kitchen table or a Wii.... hmmmm.

2008-02-19T09:04:00.008-07:00

So its no secret that we spent our Christmas bonus money on a Wii. My bosses gave us some money at Christmas so we could get a new kitchen table (since ours is hurting something fierce). As we were sitting down to dinner one night, we watched as Charlie took his fork and repeatedly stabbed the table over and over. While we watched with practiced indifference, it dawned on both of us that if we had that new table, it was going to get the crap kicked out of it.... so we bought a Wii. And Guitar Hero. We are sooo both youngest children.

Anyways, as our first-ever family gaming system, it has been perfect for Winston. He has a great time with it, and it helps him get some of his energy out, plus, it makes for great parties (OK, so we've really only had one). We expect any and all neighbors to feel free to invite themselves over to play whenever they want.

Here are a few pics of our latest exploits:

Here's one of Win and Dad playing Guitar Hero. We've just let him start holding the guitar, but haven't let him start playing. Mostly that is because Dad needs to get good enough so that Winston doesn't beat him at this game like he does at so many others.

Winston and his buddy McKay boxing each other.

Our neighbors Sheldon and Luke beating each other's heads in (virtually of course).

The wives going for Star Power!

Dad and Winston having an evening jam session.

Thanks Uncle Dave

2008-02-15T13:47:00.002-07:00

We decided to try Dave's suggestion of putting leg weights on Charlie to slow him down

Dad putting on the weights...

Charlie immediately ripped them off, so we resorted to taping them on...

Charlie trying to take them off again without success, thanks to the tape!

He resorted to trying to bite them off...

The look of distress when he realized he couldn't get them off...

More distress and big brother trying to come to the rescue...

Not a happy camper.

So, Dave, it was a pretty good idea. He didn't get into anything because he spent all his time trying to get the weights off. (Disclaimer: For any random readers on here, please don't turn us into CPS. We only left the weights on for about 5 minutes and it was all in good fun. No harm was done to the child in the picture.)

Valentine's Day Gone Way Wrong

2008-02-15T08:38:00.010-07:00

Let me take a moment to tell all you blog stalkers (this is what most of you reading this are) a little bit about a well-intentioned but really pretty bad V-day. Now I need to start this blog posting with a disclaimer.

Disclaimer: the only redeeming factors of yesterday's festivities came from my dear wife Steff.

So here's how it went down.

Things started off fine... actually, things started off good. Due to the major snowstorm the night before, my boss gave me a free pass to work from home for the morning. I decided to take advantage of the freedom and make Steff a V-day breakfast (first good intention). I decided to go for crepes... pink crepes. I whipped them up fast, fed the kids and was waiting for my darling to descend from getting ready for the day.

Steff comes down ready to go workout at the gym. Her appointment is in a short 20 minutes so of course she can't load up on crepes before she goes in to work out or she'll yack (good intention #1 goes awry = Strike one).

So as the day progresses, we take care of a number of things that need to get done, Winston goes to pre-school and Charlie goes to Kids Who Count. We find ourselves at dinner time.

Steff has planned out a fabulous dinner which goes off without a hitch. She's got ribeye steaks for us, and adds twice baked potatoes, cabbage crunch salad, fresh rolls, and sparkling apple juice in spiffy goblets. Man, it was good.

Following dinner I'm wobbling around, doing my best to let her rest (good intention), and getting the kids down for the night (which she ends up doing the bulk of anyways). Upon getting the kids down for the night, I flop on the couch for our favorite time of the night...

For my enjoyment, Steff whips out dessert.

Yes! Chocolate dipped strawberries and an individual molton chocolate cake with a bit of ice cream on the side. Good grief it was good.

Now, up to this point, I think I've done OK. Yeah, I blew breakfast, but we've had the chance to be together all day, I've helped out with the kids (changed a stinky diaper), and done a few dishes to boot. Pretty good right?

Now starts the downhill slide...

First let me preface this by saying that we did decide earlier that we 'were not going to get each other gifts this year.' That being said, we always get each other something small. Let's just say my gift was along the lines of edible underwear and she got me the Tiger Woods golf game I've been wanting ever since we got the Wii. Ouch... Strike two.

Undaunted, I quickly plan out my final plan for salvaging my end of V-day. Now, let me just add a quick interjection here for other males out there who may find themselves in this situation in the future: ad hoc, spontanaity and randomness are not good qualities when it comes to planning out their special day. Yes, they may've married you in part becasue they were attracted to these qualities, but I assure you, they are not desirable at this time.

So, onward with my last good intention, and its pretty bad so I'm just going to get it right out there. Steff has been working out quite a bit lately. In my desire to make up ground, I told Steff I'd wrap up the evening by massaging her sore muscles. Here's a short story made shorter... I fell asleep in the middle of the massage. Definitely, definitely, definitely strike three.

So, for the all the blog stalkers to see, I am sorry Steff for not holding up my end of the V-day operation, even though you were more than gracious about it. I'll do what I can to right this ship...

Chopped it...

2008-02-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

We went with the A-line slightly stacked in the back. I think I like it. It will take a little getting used to and my neck is FREEZING but I'm pretty happy with the end result. Thanks Lynsey!

The New First Presidency of the LDS Church

2008-02-04T12:14:00.001-07:00

Charlie counts

2008-02-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

I've been worried about Charlie's speech and comprehension for quite a while. Someone told me to look into a program called "Kids Who Count." It's an early intervention program for all kids under the age of 3 within our school district. They want to make sure kids that need help receive it before they are thrown in the school system. They send several people out to test your child and then do an overall evalution to see if they qualify for the program. I figured it couldn't hurt to have him tested and see what their thoughts were on his development. To qualify for the program, a child must be in the bottom 7% of all the kids in the state. Charlie ended up testing at 2%. It was kind of bittersweet for me. I was glad that we were going to get help but I was also sad that he qualified to get help. So, we will be going to 2 75 minute playgroups a week where they teach the parents to work with the kids and a Speech Pathologist will come out and help me work with him a couple times a month. It will cost a little money but not nearly as much as it would if we were taking him to a Speech Pathologist on our own. Pretty much any amount of money is worth it if it will help little Charlie anyway. I really love all the nurses and the Speech Pathologist that I have worked with so far. They have worked with some other children that have struggled with Epilepsy and developmental delays so hopefully there will be help for us.

My week so far...and it's only Monday

2008-02-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

The first part of this week has been interesting. Since Matt was out of town on Sunday, I went up to go to church with my parents. They are on a mission in Salt Lake. We arrived at the building and walked into their very quiet ward made up entirely of Senior Missionaries. I figured it would be a pretty interesting meeting with my two kids there. We chose the pew with nobody directly behind us and a door nearby. Unfortunately, the chapel's light switches were right there on the wall by us. Before we even had a chance to sit down, Charlie ran over and turned the lights on and off several times. I saw a lot of people look back but, luckily, most of them were smiling. So, we settle in and make it to the point where the Senior Missionary Men are passing the Sacrament without too many mishaps. My Dad was manning one end of the pew and my Mom was on the other side leaving me in the middle to wrestle the kids. Somehow, in the middle of the passing of the Sacrament, Charlie crawled under the bench between my Dad and my legs and made it to the aisle. Before I realized what was happening, he was making a beeline for the stand. He actually made it up on the stand by the Bishopric before I caught him. I grabbed him and walked down the aisle and straight out the door...totally embarrassed. While waiting in the foyer for the Sacrament to end, Charlie grabbed my necklace and ripped it off me sending black beads of all sizes flying everywhere. He found this hilarious. It was no easy task bending down to pick them up in a skirt with C trying to escape out of my arms. I went to retrieve one near a big easel with a big poster advertising some ward event and Charlie stuck out his arm and knocked it over (yes, on purpose). I got that set back up and the Sacrament ended so I decided to make my way back in to try to hear some part of what the speakers had prepared. That lasted about 5 minutes because Charlie started screaming when I wouldn't let him crawl under the bench again. I managed to find a Mother's room that was empty! That never happens at our building. Anyway, he was okay in there for a few minutes but kept trying to escape out the door. I sat on the floor in front of it and let him throw his fit. I guess my Dad must have heard him because he came and knocked on the door and offered to take him on a walk. He had been offering to take him the whole meeting but I never like to have someone else watch C because he can be such a stinker. Anyway, he took him for a walk outside and around the building until the meeting was over. I guess at one point Charlie was running down the hall and my Dad was chasing after him and one of the other Senior Missionaries said "You're going to have run faster than that, Grandpa." Pretty funny.

We made it home after that and I put Charlie down for a nap. A few minutes of peace...Yippee. My Mom and I got dinner ready and we all had just sat down to eat when Charlie saunters out of the room he was in. One of his latest tricks is getting out of his crib. My plan to eat a peaceful dinner was foiled. From there, Charlie just went from one thing to the next tearing my parent's condo apart. I was thinking about spending the night but decided I better just get him home. When he threw up on their carpet, it kind of sealed the deal for me. Anyway, it was funny because my brother was there visiting as well and he was coming up with all these ideas to slow Charlie down. He thinks we should put some of those leg weights on him and maybe he won't run around and get into as much stuff, PLUS his legs will be really strong. :) I got big laughs out of that. I wish I would have been able to visit with my brothers and parents a little more but I'm glad I was able to be there and to see everyone.

I wrote this earlier in the week but I didn't want to post it until Matt was back in town. You can never be too careful. Matt has been gone skiing in Whistler for the entire week. He's going to be home today and it is none too soon. I've had sick kids ALL week and haven't been able to go out and do anything. Not even the gym. I think I'm about to lose my mind. Thank goodness this we survived the week!