My trip in pictures

Last month, Allison and Ryan graduated from BYU!  Woo Hoo!!  Allison got a Bachelor's in Interdisciplinary Humanities and Ryan in Advertising.  They are still waiting to hear about final offers on jobs and internships, so we are staying tuned for that.    (This is my 2nd time in Utah this month.  The visit I DID NOT trip over my suitcase and get a gnarly black eye!  Doing that once is quite enough, thank you!) This is where I got to go to 2 graduation parties; see my daughters' in-laws; help Ashley and Brandon with a little yard work, and have dinner with John's sisters, Valerie and Joni and Joni's daughter, Kami at Olive Garden.  (No pictures available for any of that fun stuff.) 

Here is a photo journal of the rest of the stuff I captured on my phone...

While I was staying at Alli and Ryan's, we packed up most of her kitchen on Friday morning. Since the kitchen was packed by lunch time, we had to make an alternate plan.  Luckily, Costa Vida isn't far away, and they take orders over the internet, so we were able to go to the front of the very long line and pick up our yummy food!   

Right after graduation, there was a huge rain storm, but we managed to snap a picture or two before the downpour.   I'm so proud of these two for working hard to achieve this goal!  (I know this picture is a little blurry, but it is really good of the 3 of us.  Just overlook the fuzziness)

Since Allison and Ryan are married, they got to walk in the same commencement in the DeJong Concert Hall.  Much smaller than the Marriot Center where Allison was originally going to walk.  The size of the room got the better of us though.  We didn't get there soon enough to get into the actual room, so we had to go to an overflow hall.  We watched graduation on a video screen.  It was all good until right before Allison's name was called.  Carter filled his pants, and needed to be taken out very badly.  While Chelsie was taking care of that, it was Alli's turn.  Just as they called her name and she started across the stage, the woman directly in front of me stood up to leave, totally blocking my view!  I couldn't believe it!!!  I darted back and forth, trying to see, and wasn't very successful.  Luckily, one of their friend's family member caught a good picture of her receiving her diploma!  What luck I seem to have!!  And poor Chelsie missed the whole thing.

On Thursday, Carter and Chelsie picked me up from the airport, and before we headed down to Provo, we hung out in Salt Lake for a few hours until Dallin got off work.  We spent a little of that time at the park around the corner from Chelsie's house.  How cool is it that they have trucks in the sandpit just waiting for little ones to come play with them.  Carter, of course, loves it.

After graduation, we went back to Alli's and met up with the Peay boys.  Ashley and Brandon went to a wedding dinner south of Provo, so instead of putting the boys through the torture of sitting through that, we kept them and fed them dinner and had a movie party.  We watched UP, which had the very same effect on me the 2nd time as the first time I watched it - tears.  Tears for Carl and Ellie and their sweet relationship, and tears for Russell, who just wants to find a place to belong, and someone to belong to.  It is very fun to have all 4 boys together!  They have a good time with each other.  I love Carter's expression in this picture!!  He looks a little bewildered with the whole photo process and the cheesey smiles it brings out in the other boys.  His day will come, to be sure!

It was purely coincidental, but we were the denim girls at graduation.  I'm sure one of us would have changed into something different, but we were both dressing out of our suitcases, and didn't have a lot of choices.

I played a game of basketball with T2 and then T1.  T2 doesn't dribble and wouldn't let me block him.  T1 practices a LOT and also tends to make up a rule or two as the game progresses.  Suffice to say, this grandma didn't have a chance.   I am CC in both pictures, which stands for Cleveland Caveliers.   Just to be sure I knew that, they both were quick to tell me I was not very good at this game! Don't you worry, though,  I got my revenge at Chutes and Ladders.

Between him not feeling well as my black eye on my last visit, this guy didn't have much to do with me.  This trip told a different story, and we were great buds.   But I didn't have to tell you that, you can see it in the picture!  He even called me "grandma"!

It is VERY difficult to get just a regular picture with these boys.  As you can see, they have a few tricks up their sleeves when the camera comes out.

I don't think I got one picture of Ashley last trip, so I warned her that I wanted at least one this time.  We almost didn't get it done, but risked getting in trouble at the airport curb to snap this selfie.  (John asked me if I wore anything else on the trip but my jean jacket and gold sweater.  I assured him I did, despite zero pictures to back up my claim.  I do tend to pack a little lightly most of the time.)


This was a crazy, busy trip, but I loved every minute of it!  I'm so glad I got to be at graduation, despite the malfunction at the ceremony, and love that I got to spend time with all 3 girls and their families.  There is never enough time to get it all done, but I gave it my best shot!  I am not disappointed with the way it turned out!  Can't wait for the next one!!!

December top ten or fifteen or twenty

Christmas came, Christmas went.  Amber, Allison and Ryan came then they went too.

There were MANY things going on during the holidays, and I didn't take time to blog.  I was having too much fun with my family.

Here is a quick rundown in picture form since it will be nigh unto impossible to catch up any other way.  (It is taking me forever to get them in order, so I'm just going with how they are.  Sorry for any confusion that may cause)
So here goes...

The kids in their matching Christmas Eve jammies.  Kristin was good to demonstrate the flap in the back!  :)

Welcom to the world, Carter Joseph Dance.  Born on January 5th.  Here he is the floor model for the the quilt I made him (top) and the one Grandma Sollenbarger made (bottom) Such a cutie!!

Google hangout waiting for Amber to open her mission call.  I love that all the girls, near and far were able to participate!  Technology is wonderful!!!  Couldn't have done it without Ashley.  She knew just how to get it done.  She received her call on January 15th.  Just 11 days after she turned in her papers.

Last year, John and the kids had fun putting together a puzzle.  This was John's Christmas present from Chelsie and Dallin.  A very fun puzzle!!  It went together pretty quickly, so John and a few of the kids went out and bought another one to work on.

Amber's first day home was a SNOW DAY!!  The kids made a VERY tall snowman, Tiki style, you may notice.  So good to have her home.

If you are wondering where Amber is going, here is the answer.  California, Rancho Cucamonga Mission, reporting May 21st.  She will speak English.  She is excited and we are thrilled for her!!  (Here is a funny RC side story...As you may or may not know, Payton Manning calls out "Omaha" many times during a football game.  The other day, John saw an interview with him about that subject.  To paraphrase, Manning alluded to the fact that Omaha is a lot easier to say than Walla Walla or Rancho Cucamonga!  Two cities that are very meaningful to our family!)

I promised Trev I would take him to the walking path today so he could take his bike on the jumps out there.  Kristin came and ran the trail, I walked.  It was good to get out even though it was cold, and as you can see, foggy.  Sadly, Trev's jumping experience was cut short when his rear tire came apart from the frame.  He had to walk his muddy bike all the way back to the car.  :(  A happy thing - as we were walking back, we saw this Christmas ornament hanging on one of the trees with a dedication stone at the base.  It is not very clear on the picture, but there were little bits of ice hanging from the star.  It was COLD!!!

We took a quick trip to Seattle the day after Christmas.  We went to the Seattle Center and spent a long time looking at this train village!  It was very pretty and Trev especially loved it as the train is the same kind as the one Grandpa Rietz handed down to him a few years ago.  

You would not believe how many times I had to re-take this to get everyone jumping at the same time!  I'm sure people walking thought we were a little weird!! I think Alli and Ryan won the highest jump award, and Chelsie gets high marks for effort as she was a day over her due date!!!

We are on the steps of the Experience Music Project.  As I was getting ready to snap this picture, a woman asked me if I wanted to be in the picture, so I jumped at the chance.  John and I get the boring award.  No one told us we were supposed to pose!!!

This is one of my favorite places to take a family shot in Seattle.  I love the water and the island in the background.  A very nice man with an English accent offered to take this for me.  He didn't know how to change the focus on my camera and was pretty much shooting blind. :)

This was Ryan's first trip to Seattle, so of course, we had to take him to Pike's Place Market.  He is clearly amazed by the gum wall!  :)  It was our first experience with the gum wall as well.  Not sure we need to go back!!  Disgusting!!

This has to be a favorite shot of Carter.  He is reminiscent of a sloth, hanging off his dad's arm like he is!  Look at that head of hair!!  I thought that Carter favored Dallin when I first saw him, but that was confirmed to me when Chelsie showed me a picture of Dallin as a baby!  Except for the nose, he is the spitting image of his dad!!!

One evening while I was in Seattle after Carter was born, his other Grandma, Julienne, came to visit.  Chelsie took advantage of a photo-op and snapped a few pictures with both of us, Carter, and the quilts we made for him!  What a great moment!

A quick picture with Carter the day I was going home!  It didn't take long for me to wish I could turn around and head back!!

Their first family picture!  Sadly the quality is not very good.  Totally my fault because I don't know how to use my iPhone camera very well yet!!!

The winners of the New Year's ping pong tournament!  Amber attributed her success to that fuzzy cape!  :)  

Another shot by the water in Seattle.

We loved this building in the Train Village.  Especially appropo with a future dentist in our family!!

Of course, I love this picture because Chelsie and Dallin are in it, but I also love the fishermen on the top of the restaurant.  I find them enchanting, well maybe not enchanting, but fascinating.

It was a busy, fun Christmas break.  Some of the other things we did that aren't represented by a picture were...
-Frozen at the movie theater.  Do you wanna build a snowman?
-Gym time at the church to burn off some extra energy.
-Grandma and Grandpa Rietz visiting right before everyone left.
-Ryan getting to Skype with his missionary brother from Peru on Christmas day.
-Yummy authentic Mexican food made by Allison and Ryan.
-Several family movie nights - Despicable Me 2, Ephraim's Rescue, Man of Steel, The Great Gatsby
-Our now traditional Aloha Chicken Quesadillas while we watched BYU get beat in their bowl game
-Allison and I worked to make a dent in the thank you notes from their wedding.  I think they still have miles to go.

 Of course, we missed our Aussie family a lot and if it weren't for them having some great experiences themselves, we might feel really bad!!  
-Ashley and Brandon spent a few days before Christmas on a holiday a few hours south of Perth.  They had a great time.
-Talmage celebrated his 5th birthday at an animal park in Perth, complete with koalas and all animals Australian.  A more perfect day couldn't have been had for an animal lover like him.
-Ashley and Brandon are wrapping up a weekend in Melbourne after attending the Australian Open.  They were able to watch Serena live!  An opportunity of a lifetime.
We can't begrudge them for not being with us.  

And now everyone is back in school, I am home from Seattle, and we are back to real life. I did have to remind myself of Dr. Suess's quote about smiling because it happened, not crying because its over.  I was pretty sorry to see everyone go back to school.  Carter was a very good distraction!!!
But of course, all in all, Life is good!!!

Post-Thanksgiving round up and a top ten

We are nothing if not predictable around here, so its no surprise that our Thanksgiving menu doesn't change much from year to year.  I did try Kate's Thanksgiving Turkey last year, and it was a keeper.  I think this year's turkey was even better, despite the fact that the Turkey Bags I always have in the pantry have somehow disappeared.  In the end I used Alton Brown's cooking method, and although it put our dinnertime about an hour later than we wanted, it was worth the wait.  So moist, and VERY flavorful.  Brining seems to be the way to go!  And as a former member of the "Buy the biggest turkey in the store" club, I have revoked that membership and joined the "Around 13 pounds is ideal" club.  

The partially carved turkey

Trev has found his Thanksgiving calling as the Dressing chef.  Notice his vigorous form in the picture below.  His dressing smells and tastes just like the dressing I grew up on, and it makes me smile to sniff or eat it.  YUM!!  The combination of onion, celery, basil, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, hamburger and Italian sausage is the perfect thing.  Not that I don't love other types of stuffing/dressing, but this is hands down my favorite.

Trev grinding the meat for the dressing.  The trusty Kitchen Aid is ever at the ready.  How does one pull off Thanksgiving without this most important tool on the counter??  

Mmm..the dressing is ready and waiting to be baked.  Notice the cranberries in the background.  I tried a new recipe with them this year also.  Thanks again, Kate at Our Best Bites.  Really yummy!!  Again, a new variation on an old theme.

 On the subject of cranberries - several years ago, I decided to try fresh cranberry sauce instead of the canned sort from years past.  Most of my immediate family doesn't really eat it, but for me, I will never go back.  We do have guests who are with us some Thanksgivings who like them from a can, so I can't give them the boot every year, but for the most part...fresh baby, all the way!!

We also managed to fit in a temple trip and a visit to Coeur d'Alene to visit with Chelsie and Dallin and the Dance clan.  It was great fun to spend a little time with the soon-to-be-new mom and dad!  Chelsie definitely has a baby bump, but not a very big one...

Here are my top ten photos of the day after Thanksgiving.  We did a little project and also participated in the 2nd annual Post-Thanksgiving Hike.  Good times!!

Here are our finished Symbols of Christmas!  We have a plan for them, but can't divulge it yet.  We all liked the candle best!  Oohh! Sparkly!

The kids can't pass up a chance to be a little weird!

Since we live in the land of Lewis and Clark, we had to have an impersonation.  I don't know who is Lewis or who is Clark, but I do know Trev is Seaman, the big, black Newfie who went on the journey.

It was fun to have our college freshman home for the weekend.  She was full of tales of life at BYU-I!  She spends A LOT of time studying, but still manages to have plenty of fun!!

Poor Trev!  Right in their sites!  Lucky for him, neither of them would know what to do with an actual gun if they had one in their hands.  Looking at Amber, I'd say she thought it was bow hunting season.

Stalking any unwary hikers.  Luckily, none came our way.  (Did I mention my kids like to be weird??)

Notice Amber's hat.  She has learned the importance of keeping her head covered now that she lives in Rexburg!  :)

Our hike took us to the river's edge.  Of course, that led to a rock skipping contest.  No winner was declared.

Amber had to prove she could balance on the rock and not get wet.  Kristin didn't fare so well.  She hiked back with one wet foot.

The happy hikers at the end of the trail.  It was a great hike!!

 One final note from this week.  Kristin missed school Monday because she had a vague unsettled pain in her stomach.  She rallied and went to school on Tuesday, but by that night, she was in pain, and if not for the lack of a fever, I was sure she had appendicitis.  I went to bed Tuesday night determined to call the Dr. the next morning if she was still not feeling well, fever or not!  It was all for naught, as she woke up Wednesday feeling much better, and she hasn't looked back!  Whew!!

Top Ten from Texas

 I am back from my trip to Dallas.  Here are ten favorites (ok, 13) to share.

The purpose for the trip was to help Ashley and Brandon get ready for their big move to Australia.  There was a lot of packing, a lot of cleaning and a lot of baby holding.  All good things.

Amidst all that work, we did take one day to have some fun at the Dallas Zoo.  Ashley planned to take us to the Botanical Gardens where they had a pumpkin village set up and all kinds of beautiful autumn displays made with pumpkins, squash, and gourds, but the weather didn't cooperate and we decided walking around in the rain without much protection didn't sound like fun. The zoo on the other hand, had places we could get out of the rain.

Several weeks ago, I heard there was a male gorilla at the Dallas Zoo that was a chauvinist to the female gorillas.  I have no way of knowing if this gorilla is the culprit, but I'd say chances are pretty good this is him.  That made me laugh.

This is Mapua, one of the baby cheetahs born earlier this summer.  We were at the right place at the right time and got to see him being led around and playing with the Lab puppy, Amani.  

Tanner high atop one of the bronze elephants.

A very nice man offered to snap a picture of all of us while we were waiting for the baby cheetah to come out.

Talmage played chase with a monitor lizard, pacing back and forth.  This particular breed is found in Western Australia.  A fact which is of high interest to this clan.

We ended our rainy day at the zoo with a ride on the carousel.  

Halloween also happened while I was there.  It seems that super heroes were the costume of choice for many Trick-or-Treaters, including this cute little bunch.  If you are wondering how Captain America was able to navigate the streets with his mask halfway covering his eyes, you are not alone!  I for one was amazed he didn't fall once because his mask was truly in the same spot all night long!  :)

 There was also time for Talmage's last T-ball game.  He was Johnny-on-the-spot when he played pitcher, and got the ball to first the majority of the time.  This was great fun to watch...much less painful than when we did it with our own kids.  Maybe there is a Grandparent Spell that makes things like this seem different.  :)

Moving to Australia is not easy.  This is the final Dallas packing of the suitcases that will go on the plane with them.  There were 5 packing boxes shipped earlier that day that should have gotten there at the end of last week.  Each suitcase and box has to be itemized and of course, not weigh too much.

Tanner had to eat his last dinner on a makeshift table.  There was not a stick of furniture to be found on the main floor by Monday night.

My first impulse was to throw this picture out because of the blurry image on the left hand side, which is really the cutest baby around, but it captures him perfectly.  He is forever moving and scanning the premises.  He does not want to miss a thing!!!

 Tuesday morning, we finished the last of the packing and cleaning, and loaded up for the airport.  We flew to Salt Lake and spent the rest of the day at the Clegg's, and then drove down to Mapleton to visit Alli and Ryan.  Time was too short, but we did get to eat yummy Italian food with them, and spend a little time catching up and checking out their apartment.

The next morning, I got up, and headed home to Idaho.  It was a long, but not gruesome trip, and I made it in good time.  I drove John's "new" car, and it was good.  Since it was new to me, I didn't know when to plan my pit stops, and so ended up stopping in Bliss, Idaho.  While the gas was pumping, I had to snap this picture of the Amber Inn.  Here is why...

Every time we drive to Utah, if we go the McCall way, we pass the Ashley Inn and two Amber Inns.  One, as I said, is in Bliss, and the other is in Eden, Idaho.  (By the way, Eden, Idaho is also the home of a crazy place called The Garden of Eden, which is a truck stop Ashley and I stopped at when we were road-tripping from Dallas to Seattle.  Funny, funny place!)

As you can see from my comparison photos, there is quite a difference between the two.  It has been a fun little tradition to make a comment or two about the style of each place of lodging.  You may imagine that Amber would love to have the names of the Inns switched and is so disappointed whenever we drive past the one she shares her name with.  Ahh, memories...

And now I am home, back to my regular life...already missing 3 little boys and their mom and dad, who will be ex-pats in Perth for the next year, at least.  Sigh!!!

And to follow up - I had my interview with the school board tonight.  I can only think of one comment I made that I wished I could retract, but overall, I thought it went pretty well.  I did receive a call a little over an hour after I got home and was informed that another name has been chosen to bring to the board meeting later this month.  Easy come, easy go.  If nothing else, I feel very courageous for even turning in my application.  That was a quick, scary decision, and I really can't believe I actually did it! Yay for me!