Month in Review: August 2007

Welcome to Month in Review: August 2007, documenting key events for our family history. This is a great way to catch up with the Clarks. Most of the following events have been covered on the blog (quite a few of them were added just recently), but as always, there are a few new moments and photos.

• The First day of August was Tommy's First day of First Grade. He is enjoying the year so far--he is reading chapter books, excelling at math, and has already taken a field trip (to see "real frogs" at a museum exhibit).
• Chris started off the month with a trip to the ER for some stomach pain, which fortunately was not serious. Little did he know that it would be the first of four ER/Urgent Care visits by our family this month (keep reading...).
• David learned to walk. He still uses crawling to get around, but walks occasionally. Pictures and videos forthcoming
  
• We got a new camera, so we can finally start taking videos!
  
• Tommy and Michael finished up their swimming lessons, which they took at a backyard pool owned by a "friend of a friend," who did a great job!
  
• We attended a Worth Family Reunion in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. This was for my father's siblings and their families. We packed a lot of fun into less than two days.
• After the reunion, my parents and a few of my siblings came down to Salt Lake for a few days. We stayed busy with big meals, birthday celebrations, and lots more.
• David was stung by a bee in his mouth! (Urgent Care Visit #2)
  
• Chris is now the Elders Quorum President at church.
  
• Tommy celebrated his 6th birthday. He is looking forward to a party with his school friends, which will be in the upcoming weeks. There I said it. Now I have to do it.
  
• We went to Boise to attend the wedding of Tim Cannon, one of Chris's childhood friends from New Jersey. We spent the night at Phil and Lisa's--Chris's aunt and uncle--who were nice enough to watch our children and introduce us to a new favorite treat (stay tuned for a future post...)
  
• I am sporting a new short hairstyle with bangs.
  
• Chris and I went to Jordanelle reservoir with some friends. Chris suffered a pretty bad injury when he attempted to jump from a rope swing, got his foot tangled in the rope, couldn't let go, and slammed into a stump back on the shore (more details and a possibly disappointing video here). Neither the X-Ray at the instacare (3rd Visit this month) nor the CT-Scan at the ER (visit #4) revealed any broken bones. He is now doing ok, but still has severe pain in his hip and can't bear weight on his leg. They haven't found anything specific wrong, so hopefully it is just general (but major) soreness, and he will continue to heal well. He has graduated from the crutches:
  and is now using a cane:
• Michael turned 3. He got a tool set, which he is now obsessed with. Here he is in his tool belt (not pictured: the toolbox).
• Chris and I are discussing whether or not I should get a cell phone, and if so what kind of device and plan I should get. At Chris's request, I wrote a list of reasons why I want a Phone/PDA, not knowing he would be publishing it to his blog, and asking his readers to vote. I listed some more reasons here. So far the vote is in my favor :).

All in all, a pretty crazy month. We'll see if we can't calm it down a notch in September...

The Rest of The Worth Visit: Ashby Picnic, David's Emergency, and a few SLC Restaurants

After our Lava Hot Springs Reunion, a few Worth families milled around in Salt Lake City for a few days. It was so nice to have some visitors.

Here are a few of the things that went on:

• We had a special visit from "Karen," which my mom blogged about already.
• Carl introduced us to some fun games with little pyramid pieces, which we found out were even more interesting to play by candle/flash-light, when the power went out for a few days… oops, I mean hours. (Note to self: Time to do all that emergency-preparedness stuff you know you should be figuring out.)
• Since my parents were in town, my mom's siblings (the Ashbys) had a little family picnic. It was pretty fun, aside from the presence of about a million bees. One of them managed to find its way onto David's food and into his mouth where it proceeded to sting his tongue! At least, that is what we think happened. I was holding him when he started crying, and spit some food out, and I just thought he was having a hard time swallowing. It took about a half hour of our sweet little guy (who is "usually so happy!") crying and screaming before we finally could see that his tongue was swollen; we then rushed him to an Instacare facility. Luckily it was very nearby, since by the time we got there, he was having trouble breathing. They quickly gave him a shot, which took effect quite quickly.
  
  Here he is just after arrivingHere he is three minutes later The mystery remained: did he get stung on the mouth, or did he get stung somewhere else and have an allergic reaction? The next day we could see marks on his tongue, so we're pretty sure that's where it happened. Thank goodness everything turned out ok.
• We went with Carl and Stacy, their kids, and our kids to Liberty Park to play in the water. Of course, we had to take them to Cafe Rio first!
• Carl and Chris babysat one night so Stacy and I could go out. We went to Ruth's Diner, up emigration canyon. If you go there, be sure to read the history of the diner on the back of the menu. Also be sure to order the Bacon Bleu Burger. Also plan on craving it every day for the rest of your life.
  
• My Dad very generously took some time to walk around our house with us and teach us how to do some little fix-it jobs (it is becoming painfully obvious that our homeowner's warranty has expired).
  
• My mom, dad, Chris, and I went out to PF Changs. This is one of our favorite restaurants, and we had such a nice visit with them.
• We sadly said goodbye to all our visitors!

Big Meal: Sweet and Sour Chicken AND Coconut Chicken Curry

When we get the chance, Chris and I enjoy cooking together; here are 2 of our all-time favorites. We normally wouldn't make both of these dishes for the same meal, but after our Lava Hot Springs Reunion we had quite a crowd at our house (which luckily meant lots of help in the kitchen). Even with the recipes doubled, we managed to finish almost everything off before going on to have cake and ice cream for our combined birthday celebration.

Sweet & Sour Chicken
(I got this recipe from my Aunt Pat's Peterson Cookbook)

Ingredients

• 4-8 boneless, skinlesss chicken breast, uncooked, cut in bite-sized pieces
• cornstarch
• 1 egg, beaten, oil
• sauce:
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup catsup
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1/2 t garlic powder

Directions

• Dip chicken in egg, then roll in cornstarch (We dip it in egg, then put it in a ziploc bag of cornstarch and shake it up).
  
• In a small amount of oil, fry the chicken until just browned.
  
• Place in a shallow baking pan; pour sauce over it; bake, uncovered at 325 for 1 hour, turning every 15 min

*We usually double the sauce recipe, and reserve 1/4 to 1/2 of it, adding more sauce and stirring at each 15-minute interval

Serve over rice. Goes well with pineapple and steamed broccoli.

Coconut Chicken Curry
source
Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until lightly browned. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sugar and salt. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Remove bay leaf, and stir in lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Simmer 5 more minutes.

*We often cube and boil potatoes, and add them in with the chicken

Serve over rice. We've been wanting to try it with Naan (Indian bread). Anyone have a good recipe?

Lava Hot Springs Reunion: "Worth It"

In Mid-August we attended a Worth Reunion in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. My parents were here, plus Steph's family (minus Steve), Carl's family, and Richard's family. We joined up with aunts, uncles, and cousins from my Dad's side. It was a whirlwind trip, but loaded with fun.

• Friday was a Campfire Night with jump-roping, fun family introductions, singing, and s'mores.
• Our kids loved being out in the "real outdoors." They especially enjoyed wandering through fields and throwing rocks in a little stream.

• Instead of camping overnight, we shared a PINK rental home in town with Stephanie and her kids (how could I forget to get a picture of that!)

• Saturday we were busy with Silly Relay Races, Swimming at the Lava Hot Springs Pools, and a Talent Show.
• The boys got to put their new swimming skills to practice, and Tommy even went down a dark, twisty water slide.
• My brother Richard and I performed our standard, "The King, The Queen, and the Gate."
• Sunday was Church and a visit to Lund Cemetery
• Chris had commitments at Church in Salt Lake City, so we missed this day

Here is a look at some of the Reunion Elements

T-Shirts
Aren't they cool? Each sibling (my Dad's generation) had a specific color for their family.
Missionary Map
Everyone labeled the map with their mission location

Awww.... how sweet.

(Didn't know we met there? Catch up on our story)

Memory Tables
We had display tables showing slideshows and memorabilia of those family members who have passed away.

click to enlarge

NameTags
These name tags made it easy to tell who was who, and connect kids with parents. The stars assigned us to teams for the Relay Races. Also, everyone had a number on the back of their tag. The numbers were called randomly throughout the weekend, then that person had to get up and tell a joke to everyone, then choose a reward: a treat from the candy bag or a trinket from a "mystery grab bag." The kids loved it!

Are you exhausted yet? We were too!

One Fish, Two Fish...

click to enlarge

Tommy and Michael finished their swimming lessons at the beginning of August. They had such a great time, and made amazing progress!

Tommy
Before Lessons: Could go underwater and float on his own
After Lesssons: Can swim on his own, and sometimes can even take a breath on his own
Favorite Part of lessons: Jumping off the diving board

Michael
Before Lessons: Went in water very tentatively, screamed if any part of his face got wet
After Lessons: Will go under water (but only if he has goggles on). Can wiggle-swim underwater
Favorite Part of Lessons: Warming up in the hot tub

David
Before Lessons: Loved going in the water
After Lessons: Wondered why he never got a turn
Favorite Part of Lessons: Playing on the sidelines

We can't wait for next summer!

Say Cheese!

Here's my new camera. I was so excited to finally get it, but then got pretty busy, so it hasn't gotten as much use as I would like. I'm looking forward to playing around with it, and hopefully my photos will start to show some signs of improvement.

I found the task of researching and choosing a camera to be pretty daunting, and for some strange reason, it never occurred to me to pose the question on my blog (doh!). However, I did find a pretty good digital camera review site, which was a big help.

So, I decided on the Canon PowerShot S3 IS. (I noticed when posting the above link, that they have now updated to the next model--the S5 IS. I'm going to pretend I didn't see the list of what improvements they made on my model, and just keep reminding myself that mine was much cheaper).

My old camera is a pocket-sized point and shoot; it has served me well, but I've been wanting something I could play around with a bit more. I was also in desperate need of video capabilities. The old camera takes little videos with no sound, and our video camera has been out of commission for quite a while now (amazingly, we managed to get it working for Michael's first steps--2 years ago, and the moments just after David's birth--1 year ago, but that was it). So, in a nutshell, the new camera takes higher quality photos, will allow me to play around a bit, and is serving as our video camera.

In case you are interested, I bought it at buydig.com, which had a great price, great customer service, and quick shipment.

A Little Too Clean

Dear Grandma Worth,

Thank you for the bubble bath and fun bath toys you sent for my birthday. I love playing with the little fishing pole and fishies. But Grandma, do you think you could send me another bottle of bubble bath? Mine ran out today, and all I got to do was pour it and spread suds all over the living room carpet and couches; David's head, body, and clothes; and my head, body, and clothes. I know I should have let Tommy have a turn, but he was too busy distracting Mommy with his spelling homework (he kept telling her that she was wrong and he was right, but for some reason she didn't believe him--even though she doesn't even go to school!).

Mommy said she wishes she took a picture of David and me before she washed all the suds off, but I guess she was in a hurry, since right in the middle of our fun we suddenly started feeling ouchies in our eyes, and a funny taste in our mouths. We got to have a bath, even though we already had one earlier (but for some reason we didn't get to play with our bathtub toys this time). It was such a fun day. We got to have the TV on full blast while Mommy had the really loud shampoo-vacuum on. I don't know why she had to keep going back and forth on the same spots over and over and over... didn't the bubble bath make it all clean already?

I miss you Grandma, and so does Mommy!
Love, Michael

I Need a Phone: Can the Stubborn Donkey be Convinced?

Top Ten Tuesday

I have wanted a cell phone for a long time, but have gotten used to doing without. However, recently I was on a cell phone plan with Chris's mom; she was stuck paying for her son Daniel's old phone when he moved, and was kind enough to let me use it. Unfortunately, I ended up losing it, presumably by throwing it away on a fast food tray. Of course by then I was accustomed to having a phone, so it has been difficult to go back to doing without. I have been searching for a good phone, a good plan, and a good way to convince Chris.

Of course, geek that I am, I can't just settle for a simple phone; I've had my sights set on a Treo (phone/PDA) for the last 3-4 years. Today, I finally looked into the details of the discount plan Chris has access to through his work, and I found an appealing option. I went to Chris with the details and he seemed hesitant, but at least willing to discuss it. He asked me to write a proposal, detailing the need, the advantages, and the costs. I was a bit annoyed that he wanted me to write this all out, since I could just as easily recite it all to him in about two minutes. However, I was excited that he was actually inviting some dialogue on the subject, so I quickly typed up a bulleted list of reasons for him. I thought about making it fancy or clever, but I didn't think this would be a great use of my time, since the house was a mess and I had tons of laundry to do. Little did I know that my Treo Proposal was being published to his blog, so he could run a poll and let the blogosphere vote on my fate.

I invite you all to visit his blog and vote. Had I known my proposal was being published, it may have looked a little more like this:

Top Ten: Reasons It's Treo Time for Nancy

10. In the past month, I've had to search for, then stop and use a pay phone at least 3 times (usually to get in touch with Chris). Have you seen how expensive those things are these days?--Not to mention the fact that I need a HAZMAT suit before I dare touch the phone and put it to my ear!
9. I am the one in charge of all information coming in and out of the house--mail, bills, school reminders, car registration, taxes, health information, important addresses, lists, gift shopping and shipping, travel arrangements, babysitting schedules, prescriptions, magazine subscriptions...
8. The Post-It Notes just aren't cutting it anymore, especially with 3 little guys who think any piece of paper they find is for paper airplanes or confetti-making.
7. I am in the midst of setting up a Getting Things Done system, which will be greatly enhanced by a method for keeping digital lists and information at my fingertips.
6. I am not a big spender--I don't shop at the mall, I don't buy expensive shoes, I don't even order soda when we go out to eat!
5. I have waited long enough that this is certainly not an impulse purchase.
4. I am in charge of transporting our precious cargo (3 adorable little boys) 90% of the time, and have no way to arrange for roadside assistance in case of an accident or emergency.
3. I am Chris's personal secretary--I set up his doctor's appointments, I proofread everything he writes, I drop off his dry cleaning, I mail his letters to his missionary-brother, I pay his tuition, I even provide a personal reminder service when he has special calls to make or meetings to go to.
2. I am often Chris's chauffeur, and he often requests a phone call reminding him to start packing up his things and meet me outside of his office building.
1. Chris has a cell phone/PDA which he uses constantly and can't be without!

What do you think? Be sure to cast your vote!

Michael is Three!

Saturday was Michael's birthday. He is excited to be 3 now, "just like Henry" (one of the engines from the Thomas the Train set).

As I mentioned before, we had a group party with a group of Worths that was in town a few weeks ago. The highlight of the party (other than under-the-plates, cake, and ice cream) was our "special visitor," which my mom wrote about. We were planning to have a mini-party for Michael on Saturday night, but we ended up being pretty busy with a trip to the E.R. that Chris wrote about.

Fortunately, Michael is pretty easy going (not to mention, pretty young still), so he isn't too upset about the fact that his celebration has been postponed a bit. Here are some things we love about Michael:

• He has a cute dimple under his eye
• He has a sweet soft voice (which mysteriously stays soft when he is trying to talk to us from the back of the van while we are driving on the freeway, but can get real loud during Sacrament Meeting)
• He is very fun-loving and easy going almost all the time, and when he is a bit moody it's usually short-lived and also quite cute. Just picture that cute little face, scowling through his eyebrows, muttering, "I don't like anything."
  
• He loves to pat David and kiss him on his head
• His favorite time of the day is when it's time to pick up his "brother Tommy on the bus."
• He often calls his Mommy and Daddy "Christopher and Nancy." It's too cute to correct.

Happy Birthday Michael!

Bangs and Beauty

Top Ten Tuesday

I got a haircut today. I forgot to ask someone to take a picture for me, so this is the best I could do on my own.
I chopped off quite a few inches, but the major change today was the creation of the bangs (and it happens to be straightened for this shot. I'll try curly tomorrow and see how it goes).

I haven't had real bangs since back in the day when they were curled in a stair-step fashion and ratted. So from those good old days until now, the most I have done is cut a real thin layer of whispy bangs a few times, but nothing substantial. I'm so happy with the new ones. Mostly because now on those days when I want to put my hair up (read: on those days when I never make it into the shower), I can at least do my bangs and pretend to have a hairstyle. Why have I never cut bangs before? Good question. Am I the only one who wishes I had been clued in to a few essential bits of beauty knowledge back in high school? Or even in college? Or maybe last year?

Top-Ten: Beauty Essentials I Wish I had Learned Earlier

1. Eyebrow plucking is not optional for most women.
2. Don't let anyone view your profile on a sunny day without using some good fuzz remover first. Try this one.
3. Keep an extra set of tweezers in your purse or the car for those little discoveries you make while admiring yourself in the rear-view mirror when you're at a stoplight, on your way to somewhere important.
   
4. There are actually some good ways to take care of those heel calluses. (Here is my favorite. You can find it at Wal-Mart.)
5. Even if you don't like to paint your fingernails, at least slap some polish on those toes if you're wearing sandals.
6. Better yet, get a pedicure a couple times in the summer
7. Wear long layering tees. They will slenderize while they help you keep your lower tummy and back covered (Am I the only one who can't figure out why the only choice we have in pants these days is ultra-low-rise, or ultra-ultra-let-the-fat-drip-over-super-duper-low-rise?)
8. Have an electric shaver on hand for those days when you decide to change into capris or shorts at the last minute (right after your speed-shower, when you decided not to shave your legs).
   
9. If you do nothing else, a quick-coat of mascara and lip gloss goes a long way.
10. Last but not least: Pamper yourself! If there is something that makes you feel beautiful, take the time to do it once in a while, no matter how pointless it may seem. Sure, your one-year-0ld won't notice that you took an extra 10 minutes to apply your mud mask last night. But if it helps you to feel great, your happiness will shine through (the best beautifier of all).

What tips do you wish someone had let you in on sooner? Share in the comments.

Tommy Turns Six

Happy Birthday Tommy!

We had a combined party a few days ago for Tommy, Michael, and their cousin Scott. We had a table full of cousins, plus cupcakes, ice cream, and under-the-plates (a Worth Tradition)

note to self: doesn't do a lot of good to have a new camera if you accidentally turn the flash off
For the actual birthday...
Tommy took treats to school. I guess I should say, I rushed out to the store and barely made it in time to drop off treats before school got out. I must say, the treats I chose were a big hit:
Then Tommy got to pick a restaurant for dinner. Of all the dining options in the city, how could he resist the McDonalds Happy Meal and PlayLand?
(and no, I still have not managed to snap a shot with all three kids looking at the same time).
We feel blessed to have such a fun, happy, bright boy in our family. The last 6 years have flown by, and we have loved watching him grow. He certainly keeps us on our toes, but he is a great big brother, and a very special little guy!

A Gap in Time

I was browsing through one of my old journals a few weeks ago, and noticed that on more than one occasion, I had left big white gaps on the pages. Sometimes there would be a date written with a big blank space under it, other times there were up to 3 or 4 empty pages in a row. Undoubtedly, this was my way of saving space to go back and write about an event or time period. I would get behind in writing in my journal, keeping a mental list of everything I wanted to write about. Finally, I would realize that I was just getting more and more behind, so I would just leave a space for the stuff I missed, then start writing about the present time again. Of course I rarely went back and filled in the gaps, and now those blank spaces just fill me with curiosity about what important events I failed to record. Why didn't I just write a bullet-list summary or at least stick a post-it note on that blank page to remind me what it was being saved for? Hopefully by now I have learned my lesson. I've been quite busy with some pretty noteworthy events during the last week or so, and I have been playing with a new camera, so I have huge mental list of events and photos I want to blog about. Hopefully I'll get to most of it during the next few days, but if not, I am determined to not leave a big white space in the middle of my journal:

• New Camera
• Swimming lessons
  
• Worth Reunion (my dad's siblings) in Lava Hot Springs
  
• A full house (and a missionary visit?)
  
• Recipes for sweet and sour chicken & chicken curry
• Birthday celebration with cousins
  
• Ashby Picnic (my mom's siblings)
• David's trip to the E.R.
• A few more outings and restaurant visits
• New He Said, She Said
  

Stay tuned for more details (I hope).

Picture Perfect? Tips for Posting Photos in Blogger

Top Ten Tuesday

My sister-in-law Jolie recently started a blog. At one point, she was back from a long vacation, and I was looking forward to seeing photos on her blog. I suddenly thought back to when I was new to blogging and was posting photos from our cruise. That post took me hours to write, because of various issues I had working with photos in Blogger. I thought I could save Jolie a headache by emailing her some tips on posting photos. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who had these sorts of photo frustrations (which another sister-in-law, Nancy confirmed), so I thought I'd share a few tips here.

Top-Ten: Tips for Posting Photos in Blogger

1. Take a few minutes to choose your photos before you start writing your post. Take note of what folder they are in, or consider copying them to your desktop so they are easy to browse to once you are in blogger.
   
2. Take a few more minutes to edit your photos before posting them. If you don't already have a good program for cropping, removing red eye, and brightening up your pics, download Picasa. It's free and very simple to use.
   
3. When you choose photos to upload, blogger will ask you what size you want them (Small, Medium, Large). This would depend on the specific photo and post. I almost always choose Large, so people can easily browse my post and see the photos without enlarging them.
   
4. It will also ask you to choose the photo's position (Left, Right, Center) before you upload it. Here is my biggest piece of advice: You will save yourself a lot of time and energy by centering your photos. If you choose Left or Right, the text will go next to the photos, but it will be impossible for you to predict what the layout will look like until after you publish it. I used to try putting a photo on the side and writing the description next to it, but it gets really tricky and the text starts affecting the photo placement, overlapping, etc. (example).
   
5. It usually works to use Left or Right justification if you have a small picture, and a large amount of text that can completely surround and engulf it (example).
   
6. You will notice that Blogger will not automatically insert the photos where you want them. When you upload a photo it will always automatically be inserted at the top of your text entry box, regardless of where your cursor was when you inserted it. I sometimes put all my photos in first and then work on the text, or sometimes I put all the text in, and then insert the photos. Of course you could do a little of both. Just be prepared to move photos and text around.
7. The easiest way to move photos around in your post is to select them (click an individual photo, or drag your mouse to select multiple photos) and CUT and PASTE them, instead of sliding them around with your mouse. Dragging to select them is ok, but if you drag them to move them around it often causes layout problems, and breaks the automatic hyperlinks that are usually there to allow your readers to click to enlarge your photos. Cutting and pasting the photos is simpler and will help you maintain your desired layout.
   
8. Sometimes you have two photos and you want to type a line of text in between them, but it looks like there isn't room. Simply select a photo, press the up or down arrow on the keyboard, and start typing (even if you can't get a cursor, your text should appear)
9. Sometimes if you type directly above or below a photo your text will suddenly appear blue and underlined. This is usually an unwanted hyperlink to the photo itself, when all you wanted to do was type a caption. If this happens, just select the underlined text, click the hyperlink icon (it looks like a little globe with a link symbol). It will bring up a box for you to insert a hyperlink. Leave the link field blank and click ok. The hyperlink should be gone now.
10. You can personalize your blog (and your comments on other blogs) when you add your own photo to your Blogger Profile page. Here are the instructions from Blogger.

Any other tips for posting photos?

Checking it Twice

Top Ten Tuesday

I've spent the last couple days going through old emails, piles of paper, folders, and documents, trying to make one huge list of things I want and/or need to do. So far the list isn't sorted at all, it's just a massively massive list reminding me that I really shouldn't have that much free time on any given day.

Top Ten: Things that Have Been on my To-Do List for a Year or More

1. Track down, gather, update, and organize mailing addresses. Enter addresses into the computer from all the old post-it notes and scraps of paper I've collected, plus the Christmas card envelopes, and even our wedding invitation list.
   
2. Fix the baby's crib before it collapses (don't worry, he's sleeping in an alternate crib).
3. Find a good way to backup the computer regularly, so I won't lose my entire life (including my massively massive to-do list) when the computer inevitably crashes one of these days.
4. Get a massage.
5. Identify birthdays of all family members and close friends and put them on my calendar so I can email or call them--or maybe even get a card in the mail!
   
6. Make copies of everything in my wallet in case it gets stolen.
7. Burn a cd for Chris's mom with all the adorable pictures I have taken of her girls over the years--pictures she has likely never seen.
8. Buy a label-maker. (Will it solve all my problems? No. Will it be fun to use? Indeed.)
9. Fix or replace the broken video camera, which was last used to record the first moments after David's birth.
   
10. Figure out a way to get my life in order and reduce the need to periodically rewrite to-do lists with the same items appearing again and again and again.

I may have come across a pretty good solution for #10, but I am in the early stages of my efforts, so I will hold off on divulging all the details until I have something more concrete to report. If I manage to clear these long-time items off my list in the near future (like before next year), I'll know I've found something worth sharing, and you'll hear all about it, I'm sure.

Sizzling

We had some major fondue feasts during the last couple days. Saturday night, Brittany and Ryan joined us for an oil-fry fondue meal and a chocolate fondue dessert.

We ate enough to send Chris to the emergency room with major stomach pain Sunday morning. After ruling out appendix, gall bladder, and liver problems, the doctors determined it was merely his (notoriously sensitive) stomach's reaction to soda and spicy, greasy food. Luckily that wasn't enough to scare Chris, and on Sunday night we had Chris's brother Tom and our friend Becky over to help us eat up the rest of the food. I forgot to get a picture of them, but I did get some shots of the food...

For the Oil-Fry fondue we dipped: Shrimp, Chicken, Zucchini, Carrots, Steak, Mozzarella Cheese, Broccoli

We made a "Fish and Chips" Batter (from a mix you can buy at the grocery store) to coat the food before we fried it in Canola Oil in the fondue pots.

After frying the food, we tried tried all sorts of Dipping Sauces:Ranch Dressing, Cocktail Sauce, Sweet & Sour, Honey Mustard, A-1 Steak Sauce, Bleu Cheese Dressing, BBQ Sauce, Marinara In my gluttonous stupor, I also forgot to take photos of the Chocolate Fondue. We dipped Pretzels, Bananas, Pound Cake, and Strawberries.

All in all, a tasty weekend! (And thank goodness Chris survived.)

First and Last

Today was Tommy's first day of First Grade. He had a great time meeting his new teacher, Ms. Flowers, playing on the "big kids' playground," and taking a 7-minute math test.

Today is also Chris's last day of summer classes. As I type this post, he is holed up in our bedroom, finishing a timed, take-home test. He'll have a few weeks off and then be back in school a few nights a week. He has one year to go on his MBA (at the University of Utah). I will enjoy having him home for dinner and bedtimes for the next few weeks, but try not to get too used to it!