Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Well, we all got a good laugh last night - as soon as Cali told me what had happened she said "Don't put it on the blog" As soon as Tessa heard what had happened she said, "You've got to put that on the blog!" Well - with Cali's permission I am putting it on the blog!! Want to hear??

Cali was making a phone call to our neighbor to let her know she wasn't able to babysit. The neighbor wasn't home so Cali was leaving a message. At the end of the message Cali said, "In the name of Jesus Christ...." realizing what she was saying she hurried and said goodbye. Well we all just howled! It was SO funny. Cali was a little embarassed but she laughed too.

After I got to thinking about it I was grateful - I was grateful that those words come so easily to Cali's lips. Each morning as she gets up and each evening as Cali goes to bed if you were to peek into her room, you would see her kneeling (sometimes on top of the bed, sometimes on the floor) saying her prayers.

Two years ago Cali was in an automobile accident and a 40lb. stereo speaker smashed into her head giving her a bad concussion. They say that when someone has a concussion that they will say some pretty wild things (that their true personality comes out) well, on the long ride to the hospital (they were turned away by two different hospitals because they were full , it was Friday the 13th and a full moon) Cali kept saying over and over again - "we need to say a prayer, we need to say a prayer." Her friend who was with her (an LDS girl) would say a prayer with her. As soon as they would finish she would repeat her request - "We need to say a prayer..."

So I am grateful that the words "In the name of Jesus Christ..." come easily to Cali's lips - even at the end of a phone conversation! I love you Cali!!

Oops - Boy Update

Well, I guess I forgot to give you a "Boy Update" so here goes.

Logan - as always he is busy with school and rehearsal. Shayla's mother and sister were in town this weekend to see Shayla's show so Logan spent some time with them, going bowling, was treated to dinner out a few times and went to the show on Saturday with them. His newswriting class keeps him really busy - attending events to write about and then the writing. He had an article on the front page of the Daily Universe this week.

Clark - this was a "no date" weekend. Clark dusted off his Lacrosse stick this week - teaching some Lacrosse skills to some younger boys and playing in the BYU Alumni Lacrosse game on Saturday - the alumni lost :(

Feel free to chime in boys if I forgot something!

Apples, Apples and more Apples!

We had a fun fall weekend - with lots of Apples!!

Portland Nursery was holding it's annual Apple Tasting Festival. So between dance class and rehearsal for La Boutique (the holiday ballet) we grabbed Tessa and headed across town. It was a gorgeous, 65 degree, perfect, fall day. The tree colors are magnificant right now and the sun was shining. We had lots of fun taste testing dozens of different types of apples - who knew there were so many varieties. We also tasted fresh pressed apple cider, apple strudel with ice cream, apples with brie cheese and bread, and caramel apples! We each picked a couple of our favorite apples and bought some to bring home - I think there is an apple pie in our future. One of our favorites was Ambrosia. We concluded our fun fall day when dad treated us to dinner at Helvetia Tavern - out in the beautiful fall countryside! The fall decorations are all up at home too so it really feels like fall inside too.

Cali had a fun weekend - Friday night she and a group of friends went ice blocking. Never heard of ice blocking? Well - you purchase big blocks of ice from the grocery store, cover them with a towel (not your mother's good towels please!) and then sit on them and slide down a hill. (Caution: you will get dirty!) Cali is wondering why her back and legs are sore today!? Cali gave a great talk in Sacrament meeting today on missionary work. She thanked the Bishopric because she is turning 18 next month and this was only the 2nd talk she had given in Sacrament meeting - guess they need a better tracking system!

Our Stake is offering a 10 week Geneology series taught by this awesome teacher so my mom, a friend and I are taking it. This last week was all about the internet and what all is available. The teacher asked if anyone had a blog and I was the only one who raised their hand! Yeah! She recommends using a blog as a means to share geneology information with your family.

We all went to Young Women in Excellence on Wednesday- Cali was one of the speakers (two talks in one week for her) and she spoke on the importance of getting your Personal Progress done early. The parents spoke about the projects their daughters had done - Tessa's was participating in an intensive ballet course this summer (dancing 9 hours a day, 6 days a week) and Cali's was her Faceless Doll project for her Honor's Project. They had made posters to display what they had done. We were in charge of the green dessert - there was a dessert for each of the value colors - we did brownies with mint, green frosting. Easy! The Mia Maids were in charge of the evening and the theme was to "Garnish thy thoughts...." so we had a cooking theme and made each of the girls aprons with their name stamped on the front in the value colors. We had taken cute pictures of the girls wearing a tie dyed chef's hat (the value colors of course) and holding a rolling pin. We used those pictures to decorate the walls of the room.

Tonight after church we had 3 other families from the ward over for a birthday celebration for friend Marsha Jensen. I provided the main dish and side dish and everyone except the birthday girl brought something. Jeannena out did herself with 3 desserts and John made us some of his famous bread - it was baked in a huge flower pot! We all had PLENTY to eat and Jane brought two yummy appetizers and a "make your own" salad bar. We are thankful for such good friends. Good food and good friends - it doesn't get much better!