Fun with Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandma and Grandpa Channell visited with us last week. Morgan made a list of things for them to do while they were here. They were successful in accomplishing all but a couple of things on the list. We went to the zoo and fed the giraffes and we also visited the botanical gardens. We walked to the park a couple of times and Morgan showed them what a fantastic bicycle rider she is. Morgan and Grandma baked chocolate chip cookies and both girls helped Grandpa squeeze oranges for orange juice. One day Grandma painted kitty faces on herself and the girls and they had strings attached to their pants for tails. Needless to say, the girls kept Grandma and Grandpa busy. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and they girls cannot wait to see them again in July.

We have grass!

Greg spent Saturday putting sod in our backyard. It looks awesome! We are so excited to finally have grass to play on. Of course we have to wait several weeks while the grass establishes, so there is a lovely orange fence around it. The backyard is so close to being done. Thank you Greg!

Saturday I ran 7 miles as I continue to train for my race. It was tough, but I actually feel good. I am not too sore. Next Saturday: 8 miles!

Ditching church and finding coffins!

So we ditched stake conference yesterday and took the kids up to Mt. Lemmon for a picnic and some hiking. We decided it would be better to enjoy our time together as a family out in nature instead of cursing our children for not sitting quietly for 2 hours. I know, I am trying to justify our actions. I still feel guilty, but on the other hand it was a very enjoyable day.

We took our dogs, who have been so neglected ever since we had kids. They had so much fun. I was surprised that they wanted to come back with us. I half expected them to run off into the woods and never return. After lunch we hiked around in an area that had a few cabins. We walked through a dried up creek bed and as we neared an embankment the dogs ran to the other side of it and started sniffing at something. As we walked around the other side we saw them sniffing a small wooden crate. Greg read the faded writing on it and said it was a coffin. Kind of creepy. Then we realized that the size of the coffin must house a small animal because the deceased was 11 years old at time of death. Nevertheless, it is still kind of weird that it is in a creek bottom and not buried underground. That's what we get for ditching church.

funny blog

Greg showed me this hilarious blog called "Stuff white people like". The guy who created it posts something new each day about the things white people like. It is hilarious because he is so right. I highly recommend checking it out. In fact, I will even put a link to it on my blog. Enjoy!

healthy child

Greg showed me a cool website called "Healthy Child Healthy World" at www.healthychild.org
It talks about going green in your home by using natural cleaners and buying sustainable organic food. Several months ago I stopped using harsh chemical cleaners in our home. I now use a homemade cleaning solution of water, borax, vinegar and dish soap. I clean the floors with vinegar and water and I clean the toilets with borax. So far I really like the results. We are no longer exposed to toxic chemical fumes and the homemade cleaners work just as well.

I am still here

I know it seems like I may have abandoned my blog, but I have not. I think about it everyday, but I just have not felt like writing anything. Not much has happened since my last post. On Saturday Greg took Morgan on an impromptu trip to Mt Lemmon to play in the snow. They stopped at Windy Point and ate icicles and Morgan made a very beautiful snow angel. From the pictures you can see that Morgan did not have snow clothes on and she was soaking wet and cold to the bone when she got home. The cold does not bother her that much so she did not seem too upset. She will jump into the freezing cold water in Sabino Canyon without a second thought, so the cold snow does not even faze her.

The U of A lost to Stanford again. The officiating was horrible. I am the first to roll my eyes when spots fans complain that the officiating cost their team the game. I have to say though that the refs made horrible calls in this game that in my opinion cost U of A the game. Greg was so angry that he emailed the Pac10 commissioner about how terrible the Pac10 refs are. He said there were a ton of posts about the terrible officiating for that game, some from people who were not U of A fans. Of course there were other factors in the game such as Budinger's missed free throws and unimaginative offensive plays after timeouts, but the 17 foul calls for the Lopez twins alone has to make you wonder what was going on. I hope we make it into the tournament. We need you Nic Wise.

I got this new cookbook written by Rick Bayless and his daughter and I tried a recipe last night. It was really good! Chicken breasts with mustard sauce over the top. Delicious! It is always a good sign when the first recipe I try from a new cookbook turns out to be good. If it turns out bad, I am usually reluctant to try the cookbook again. For example, my Martha Stewart cookbook. For some reason, whenever I try a recipe from that book, it just does not turn out quite right. I like Martha, so I keep trying recipes from the book. Maybe if I lived on the east coast the recipes would taste better. Oh well, for now I will stick with Rick Bayless.

Messy Party

I know it has been over a week since my last post. I had to drop everything last week, including laundry and home-cooked meals in order to finish my quilts and throw a Birthday Party for the girls. Now that those things are behind me, I can resume my normal routine. I think I made myself physically sick from stressing about all I had to do. The minute we came home from the party on Saturday I started feeling sick and I did not feel better until Monday. Stress wreaks havoc on my body.

The party on Saturday was a lot of messy fun. The kids (at least mine) were speckled with pudding, frosting, cake, chalk, sand and whatever else they got their hands on. Morgan kept telling us how much fun she had. Taylor I'm sure was in heaven because she had Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Karen doting over her the whole time. Thanks to everyone who helped with the party.