I'm Dreaming of a . . .

The temperature was in the seventies and the sun was shining brightly. Obviously it was time to pursue a colder clime, and just in case Salt Lake's freezing snowy weather was not cold enough we decided to go further north to the frozen tundra of southeastern Idaho where the wind chill whipped through the Snake River Valley and drove the temperatures well below zero. Of course it was Christmas time. You would think that after 23 years in Tucson we would have learned to stay south for the winter, but as you all know I am a bit hard headed so lessons are hard learned (or perhaps hardly learned). So off we went to Salt Lake and then Idaho Falls even though Camille and Bryan were in Logan with Bryan's family and Michelle and Josh were in Cancun with Josh's family. Tradition rules. Plus there were great attractions such as Grandma Faux, Grandpa Scott, and Grandma and Grandpa Call. Therefore, we dressed for the occasion.



We booked our flight in advance from home, drove to the airport in our air conditioned car, boarded our air conditioned airplane, complained about the lay-over in the air conditioned Las Vegas airport, and made the grueling 775 mile journey to Salt Lake City in about 5 hours. Although it was cold when we arrived, we had warm clothing and plenty to eat, a nice place to stay and warm beds to sleep in. Obviously we could relate to a journey over 2000 years ago when a young expectant couple traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem on foot and by donkey. Because it was only about 70 miles but probably took at least 3 days, we figured that they also must have had a lay-over.



(Our ward had an activity at which we re-enacted a Bethlehem marketplace. Since we were all dressed up in our traveling clothes we decided to stop in and found that we fit right in with the locals.)

It Doesn't Get Any Better--It's TBTI!

Sages through the ages have wondered what exactly TBTI is all about. Some have supposed that it is a secret chant that has mystical powers, others have just thought it sounded cool. Nevertheless the debate continues:

The philosopher might say it stands for "the beauty that's inside." Dancers take a more practical approach and suggest it means "these black tights itch." Psychiatrists recognize it as a common diagnosis: "Tranquil, but totally insane." And children say it means "this broccoli tastes icky!" Some maintain that it describes their situation "trapped between two idiots." While the dyslexic think it is a reminder to "bring the trashcans in," the hypochondriac sees it as advice: "Tender back? Take ibuprofen." The self conscious yell it out: "take back that insult," and of course the academician contends that "truth brings transformational independence!"



As time passes I am sure that it will take on even more meaning and its realm of influence will increase globally. However, we all know that it describes our family. TBTI!

Thanksgiving in Tucson: Great people. Great food. Great country.

It was such a treat to have everyone home for those days of fun and frivolity: Knockout was a real winner. Badmitton was a hit. Swimming was chilling. Boggle was humbling (especially when playing with Megan and Craig).

We loved it. Just like I said: "Our family is TBTI!"

The Brotherhood of the Box

(Because of the confidential nature of this blog, please whisper.)

It is not often that it becomes possible to join the Brotherhood. In fact there have been but a few who have attempted and even fewer who have succeeded in joining in the last decade. Not just anyone has what it takes–the skill, the intellect and of course the endurance to pain required to achieve such heights. You will not hear much of the Brotherhood. There are no advertisements, no banners, no TV spots. You will not read about it in the news nor see it mentioned in a resume'. Nevertheless it is very real and you never know who might be a member.

When the sun was sinking behind the Tucson Mountains and the shadows were long, the ordeal began around a solid maple table with only one insert in place. Curious implements adorned the table top which was partially covered with a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal to protect it from the harsh process. Wires, transformers, switches, copper foil, alligator clips, a single 1.5 volt C battery and of course the solid black colored box were placed in a random array within easy reach. Craig was not quite sure if he wanted to proceed. He suspected that the introduction to the Brotherhood would be fraught with trials and challenges. Little did he know. . .


The room was silent except for the occasional click of the alligator clips as they clamped their jagged jaws to the transformer connection points and the battery holder leads. He paused.

"You've got to try it to be sure that you know what goes where," I said as he squirmed uncertainly. "The transformer has 5 connection points. What wire do you think goes where?"

Craig examined the markings on the transformer–120 v, 6.3 v.

"What does it mean?" I questioned him.

It was just a small cube shaped contraption which was heavier than it appeared. He had seen my box before and he knew its awesome effect, but he was still not sure if he wanted to proceed.


"Okay, okay. Just give me a second" he said boldly as he held a bare wire in each hand. The wires were connected to the transformer and thence to the 1.5 volt battery. He had handled batteries like this hundreds of times and he had never felt anything alarming before. "Why should this time be any different?" he thought to himself. He held his breath. "Okay."

I touched one wire to the battery. A tiny spark was barely visible and the sound was not much more than a brief whisper, but the sensation was unmistakable. Craig winced as he let go of the wires in a hurry. "Uuh" he muttered as if he had not intended to say anything.

"Well, does it work?" I queried. "Which connection point is best?"

We laughed as we contemplated trying again.

"How could such a little thing do what it did?" Craig wondered. "Yes it works. It works well," he continued out loud.

He knew that he had the right combination of parts and connections. He had to figure out how to make everything fit into that little black box. Carefully he began soldering and assembling the delicate parts. The switch had to be placed just so. Craig was becoming a master at soldering. It only took a fraction of a second to make the connection secure. Only a daub of solder does the trick.

"Okay, let's try again." I pronounced.

"You do it," Craig said.

"It is not my box," I responded. "You will be the owner. You must be the one to verify that it works." I said as I held onto the bare wire contacts and he gave me a charge.


"Uuh, wo!" he said this time half smiling and half grimacing.

He opened the black box carefully, placing the screws together near the cover. I explained that the copper foil needed to be secured to the sides of the box and the tabs needed to be connected to the wires and the switch. We got out the Dremel tool with the fine grinding wheel and marked the best place for the slots. Steadily he guided the grinder as it cut through the black plastic. At last he glued the foil and attached the wires. Everything was ready.

"Uh oh. Time to test it again before screwing the lid on." I said with a grin.

"It works. We have both tried it already," Craig protested.

"But we don't know if there is some glitch or if something short circuited," I commented. "You'll just have to test it again."

"I don't like it," Craig continued. "I shouldn't have to." After collecting his resolve and taking a deep breath again he held the box. Nothing. Then he moved it again slightly. "Wooah. Yup, it works," he pronounced proudly.



Upon inserting the final screw and tightening it just gently, the box was finished. It looked great. It looked so harmless. It looked just right. The ordeal was over. Craig had succeeded more than his wildest imagination. He had weathered the storm. Only those who make one are ever admitted to this elite fraternity. Only those who complete the task are members and now Craig is one of the elite. Congratulations and welcome to the Brotherhood of the Box.

On the other hand, while Craig was jubilant at his success, I suffered one of the most horrendous experiences the box can inflict--it was at Craig's hand and the effects did not pass until late the next day. (Imagine that, my own son.) Yes indeed, I had the worst hair day of my life that night and all the next day. It was devastating!

Master dessert chef strikes again

Craig has become good friends with the missionaries in our ward, Elder Johnson and Elder Brownfield. He loves to join them for zone conferences, sports, and gospel discussions in their apartment on his way home from his Chinese and Old Testament classes.

This is Elder Johnson's last week in the mission field, so today Craig made him a four-layer chocolate cake with chocolate truffle frosting, topped with chocolate curls and special designs that he had created and frozen.



You can tell from the smiles, the elders were thrilled! (Elder Brownfield on the left; Elder Johnson on the right.)


And yes, it did taste as good as it looks.

Tytan's Blessing Day

Tytan David Cook was blessed on Sunday evening following General Conference. Uncle Craig had to leave early and wasn't able to be there for Ty's blessing, but he loves his new nephew!


Bryan gave Tytan a beautiful blessing. Tightly swaddled, Ty slept peacefully in the cultural hall after the big event.


We loved spending time with Ty and his mom and dad later that evening.

Chef Craig

Being the expert chef of such unforgettable and complicated dishes as cheese pieces, cold cereal, orange juice and hot dogs, you can understand my excitement when I came home to find Craig at the stove preparing something in the wok.


The tantalizing aroma filled the house (it is making my mouth water just remembering it!) and my anticipation for dinner had me sneaking an early peak into the wok to see what was creating such an olfactory sensation. Let's see, there was a special kind of rice with ham, scallions, and other vegetables plus a unique sauce. As we eagerly dished out our helpings we knew we were in for a culinary delight. Craig explained that this was a common main course in Taiwan. He wouldn't divulge his recipe even after our pleading (and threatening).


As I sat down to eat I noticed that there were these two sticks where my fork should have been. They were about twelve inches long and one quarter of an inch in diameter at the thickest end tapering down to about one eighth inch. You guessed it--chop sticks. The object is to somehow hold the sticks so that you can also grab and lift the food. It is supposed to arrive at your mouth before it falls back to the plate. (Do you know how small a grain of rice is? Whoever invented this technique for eating probably died of starvation.) Craig was chowing down on the food and seemed to easily handle the sticks. Mary Lee was doing pretty well herself. I was learning first hand why the Chinese are not as tall as Americans: They almost starve to death, and by the time that they finish one meal it is time for the next, but because there is no time to earn a living they have to skimp on either the food or the work. Thus we see that the invention of the fork has enabled Western Civilization to succeed because people can eat in short enough time to have time for work (and play).

Craig is really a good cook. The food was great--one grain at a time.

Dad's peach pie

Dad made a peach pie last night--his favorite!

Now, it's not that I don't ever make dessert. It's just that I make it for special occasions, like birthdays, or holidays, or Father's Day. Most of the time, I think Bryer's and Nonni's biscotti serve the purpose just fine.

In fact, once when someone praised Craig for being such a great dessert maker, I overheard him explain why, "Well, Mary Lee hardly made dessert when we were growing up. She said if I wanted dessert, I'd just have to make it myself. So I did!" Just for the record, I told Craig he could have any dessert he wanted, as long as he made it himself. A great strategy, don't you think? Desserts are now his specialty!

But I guess that while I was gone last week Dad decided to take matters into his own hands. So he bought some Marie Callendar's pie crusts (ooops--was that supposed to be a secret?) and some Utah peaches. After mellowing in the fridge for a week, last night they were finally perfect.

Aaaah. The anticipation of that first bite!


Notice the made-from-scratch glaze...


...and how the sides stay firmly in place after cutting. (Note also the size of the piece.)


"So, how was it?!" I ask, camera in hand.


Okay. I guess we're done documenting for the blog. Still, I think there's a smile in there somewhere. (Any doubt where Kaitlyn gets her "look" from?)

How do I think the pie turned out? Delicious! I think I'll just let Dad make the pies from now on.

Breakfast Tea Party

Ali got up at about 6:30 (I'm guessing--I was still asleep!) and brought up the little table and chairs from downstairs, then set the table with the pink and purple tea set, even though she would have much preferred blue dishes.
Max woke up and we brought him down to join us. Mmmmmm. Hot chocolate and Trix!




Noticing the lack of healthy choices, we quickly pulled out the Teddy Grahams and High School Musical gummy figures. After all, this was Grandma's last day!


Later in the morning Max and I went out to the garden for some truly healthy food. Max loves the cherry tomatoes. He calls them "gahden!"


Kaitlyn said she wanted to show me something. She tipped her glasses and exclaimed, "Ooh la la!"


Max and Kaitlyn loved playing with the neighbor's toys.

"Okay, I'm ready to play ball!"


"I wonder where you put the gas in this thing."


Megan, Nathan, Ali, Kaitlyn and Max, it was so much fun to spend time with you! We're really looking forward to having you and the rest of the family down to Tucson for Thanksgiving.

Max, I miss hearing you say, "Tayko, Fafa!" (I'm not sure how "Grandma" became "Fafa," but Max can tell you. "There you go" and "Thank you" are both "Tayko." That's efficiency for you.)

Kaitlyn's first day of preschool

This morning after our walk Kaitlyn played with Max in his room while I took a very quick shower. She was so sweet with him, even giving him his "paci" and his "buddy" (a stuffed bear that he sleeps with).



Kate was very excited about going back to preschool. I don't know if it was the anticipation of the preschool activities that she remembers from last year or the fact that she can finally wear her new school clothes! She kept asking how many minutes till her carpool would pick her up, beginning with 105 minutes. Finally the time arrived, so I took some pictures of her in her new preschool outfit.



Kait's ride was late and it was getting warm sitting outside waiting on the front steps in the sun. The next thing I knew, Kaitlyn ran inside and got her sun glasses. We found some for Max, too.


Yesterday I posted a picture of Kaitlyn and her best friend, Raeya, and so today I took a picture of Ali and her best friend, Jaden, Raeya's brother. This afternoon after school, Ali and Jaden decided to walk around the neighborhood to look for jobs they could do to earn money. They were careful to reassure me that their moms had let them do this once before, as long as they only knocked on the doors of people they knew. They cleaned the glass doors to the back patio for me for 25 cents each--and they did a great job!


I have really appreciated Ali's help this week. She is always so willing to do what I ask and so kind and helpful to Kaitlyn and Max. Kaitlyn has been a lot of fun and she has generally behaved very well. She is very socially savvy and some of the things she says are hilarious: "FYI, I'm going to do [whatever]." And Max is a charmer! He stands up after being changed so I can put his pants back on and more than once he has surprised me with a big wet kiss or a crazy, raspberry kiss! He has insisted on sitting in a regular chair rather than his booster seat, and has generally done very well at meal times, maybe because his bowl/plate is closer to his mouth :).

This evening after dinner, I rushed to get the kids loaded into the car to take Ali to gymnastics. I had printed out directions and managed to remember to take books for Kaitlyn and books and a bottle of water for Max. The books didn't last long, so we went back outside and sat in the car and Max was entertained for the rest of the 50 minutes pushing every button on the console. He spent a good half hour yesterday at the kitchen sink, turning the faucet on and off over and over, and flipping a wet paper towel around. He is so delighted when he can make something happen. On the rare occasions when he hasn't wanted to do something (like go down for his nap or for the night), I remember that Nathan said his best parenting technique is distraction. I've tried that strategy and it definitely works, but I think Nathan and Megan are a lot better at it than I am!

In fact, I have such an increased appreciation for what Megan goes through every day, especially when Nathan is out of town. As she said the first time when Max got upset shortly after I arrived, "Welcome to my life!" She is amazing and it has been so clear this week how well she and Nathan have done in raising the children. Everyone knew the routine and the rules and they were very good at following them. Bravo!

Ali and Kaitlyn and I talked about having a tea party tonight after we put Max down, but it was too late when we finally got home. (I admit to getting a bit turned around when I tried to read the directions in reverse.) So we decided to have it tomorrow morning at breakfast. When I first mentioned it, Kait was all over it, but Ali said, "No, no!" (not being a girly girl). But she soon warmed up to the idea and now it seems she's looking forward to it.

Ali loses her tooth

This morning Ali and Kaitlyn drove over to the bus stop in the Power Wheels, and I followed with Max in the stroller. After the bus came, Kait drove back and then I put her and Max in the double jogging stroller, which is surprisingly easy to push. We walked for about an hour with Amy Moore and her son Gavin, the back door neighbors. Later in the morning, at Kait's request and Amy's gracious assent, we went over to her house and the kids played for about an hour.

In the afternoon, Kait played with Raeya, her best friend. As soon as they arrived at our house, they decided they wanted popsicles, and of course Max wanted to join them. Having learned from experience, I took his shirt off and sent everyone out on the back patio. He was in heaven and soon very drippy and sticky. I got a "before" shot, but didn't have the energy for an "after"--I was too busy cleaning him up!



Ali's best friend, Jaden, who is Raeya's brother, met her when the bus dropped her off. (Jaden and Raeya are home schooled.) Ali and Jaden spent quite a while deciding what they would like to order from the new Scholastic books catalog. (Craig and Michelle, do you remember those days?! Camille, you probably do too!)

After dinner we walked up to the park, but it began to rain, so we raced home. We decided to watch the DVD of old cartoons that I had given Ali. I'm sure they dated back to when I was their age! We popped some popcorn. After a couple of cartoons, we got everyone bathed and into their PJs. Then we watched another cartoon and it was time for bed.

Ali has been working on her loose tooth for several days. Before leaving, Megan made sure the Tooth Fairy was prepared with a dollar bill. This evening Ali was finally successful in working out the tooth. Hurray! She put it in a snack bag and stuck it deep under her pillow. I adjusted the location before she went to sleep to make sure the Tooth Fairy wouldn't miss it.

Sugar Cookies

This morning shortly before dawn, Ali slipped quietly downstairs and turned on cartoons. I asked her if she wouldn't rather sleep in, and she said, "No, I always get up at this time." So much for sleeping in on a holiday! I decided I might as well get in my workout before the others woke up. So I did 30 minutes of stairs. Megan and Nathan are really set up for stair workouts with four flights of eight stairs each.

Kaitlyn got up at about 7:15 and Max woke up shortly after 8:00 a.m. We had breakfast, then I hopped in the shower, while Ali and Kate watched Max. We played Twister, then I gave them their little gifts (more workbooks), and they worked on them for a while. Ali has really enjoyed the High School Musical "mad libs" book. We have had fun asking each other for parts of speech, then reading the crazy paragraphs we came up with!

Later in the morning we decided to watch the DVD I had brought, "The Velveteen Rabbit." So Ali, Kaitlyn, and Max settled into the oversized leather chair with a comforter and their workbooks, while I popped some popcorn. They said they were allowed to eat it in the living room if they were very careful--which they were, including Max! We all enjoyed the movie.



After the movie, Max decided to give us a little shoe fashion show. He really loves wearing other people's shoes!


I discovered that Ali and I share a love of photography. She showed me the great shots she had taken at the zoo with Nathan's and Megan's "old" camera. She took lots of shots this afternoon. (Note that Kaitlyn has updated her outfit since this morning.)


After we put Max down for his nap, Ali and Kaitlyn and I set about making sugar cookies. They did a great job! They participated at every stage of the process: measuring, dumping, mixing, rolling, pressing out shapes, frosting and decorating. They didn't even snitch without asking. Impressive! We made about five dozen soft, delicious sugar cookies. They reminded me of the ones Camille made once on Valentines Day from Barbara's recipe.





Ali and Kaitlyn took a couple plates of cookies over to the neighbors behind us, then stayed to play for a half hour or so while I cleaned up and then woke up Max (thank goodness for naps). I put him in what looked like a new designer outfit because the Carlsons (the other grandparents) had invited us over for dinner. Big mistakes: Not hiding the cookies before Max came down (they were on the counter top, but he knows how to climb up) and dressing him in that new outfit before giving him a cookie with chocolate frosting. I did have the presence of mind to send everyone outside to eat the cookies, so I preserved the clean floor, but lost out on the shirt. I quickly took it off and rinsed out the chocolate, so there was no permanent damage, but the substitute shirt wasn't nearly as stunning :).

I was very grateful that Grandma and Grandpa Carlson had invited us over for dinner, because I was pretty much done in the kitchen after nearly four hours of sugar cookie making. Dinner was delicious and I enjoyed catching up with Rick and Sheila. Our children all have such great in-laws, which isn't surprising since they chose great spouses!