Monday, February 28, 2011

Hail yes!

You would think my kids were born in Alaska because they're so hot blooded.  They're actually Mesa born and raised but you'd never know it by the way they are always too hot and never cold.  We were getting ready for Church yesterday morning when I looked out my bedroom window and saw hail, lots of it.  Rick & I called the boys out of each of their bathrooms and they played in the hail for a few minutes fresh out of their showers.  Truman stopped long enough to put his bathing suit on.  It's always on standby for an such occasion.
 Truman breezed past Quinn to get on the trampoline.  Check out the pieces of hail on Quinn's head.
 When it hails, one must jump.  It's the law.
 Or skip.  Skipping is good too.
White with hail.  Kind of like the song.
My view out my front door of the Superstitions.  I love that mountain range!  Who says it doesn't get cold here?

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Matsuri anyone?

Today is the annual Japanese Festival (Matsuri) in Phoenix near the Science Center.  We were fully planning on going.  Quinn especially was looking forward to seeing the Shotokan karate, Aikido and the Taiko drums as well as that old man whose there every year making sucker goo into intricate art pieces.  None of that happened.  This happened instead.

Quinn spent the night before at a new friend's house and I have the strange feeling that he didn't get much, if any sleep.  Once home, he fell into such a deep sleep that we couldn't wake him  for 4 1/2 hours.  Mind you, this was during the middle of the day.  Once he woke up, he was upset that we didn't "shake" him, as he put it.  When we did try to wake him up, he screamed, carried on and looked at us through vacant eyes.  It was like 'the lights were on but no one was home' kind of thing.  Strangely scary but slightly amusing at the same time.  Come on, you know we've all laughed/snickered at our kids' misfortunes at one time or another. 
 It's not just me, right?!

By the time Rip Van Winkle fully awoke, it was 5:00 p.m., which is too late for the Matsuri (mot.sue.dee).  Instead, we went to the shoe store and bought Quinn a new pair of Vans and then went on to Pei Wei's where we ate Pad Thai and Lettuce Wraps in the van while watching "Madascar II".  I'd say if you can't got to the Matsuri, create your own.  Not a bad day after all.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Winston is in the house!

Emily and I went to Domestic Bliss yesterday to look for a baby shower gift for her friend.  I came home with this sign.  I just love it!  However, the sign is not all I came home with.  I've got new ideas on super cute signs to make for a tiny price compared to the sticker price of $100-$300!!  I'm going to get on that today.  I couldn't pass up this sign though.  One because I love it and and two because it was not close to the $100 mark.  The other item I came home with was......

Winston.
What a bug!
After Emily and I ate at Sweet Cakes, she found out that her hair appointment scheduled for 3:00 in Scottsdale, doesn't allow little ones.
So, I took Winston home with me.
He is really such a wonderful baby.

His personality is starting to come out and its a lot of fun having him around.

I love his one sided, half faced smiles.

Any resemblance?  The picture on the right is Rick.  He's probably a year or more in this photo but I still think I may see something of a family resemblance.

Such a cute thang.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

You're fired!

The other day a patient's mother fired me from her (adult) daughter's care.  It's the first time in 11 years of labor & delivery that that's ever happened to me.  This patient's mom had a 'tude from the beginning and fired me in the first 3 minutes because I asked the patient to explain to me why she came into triage (instead of the mother explaining) which infuriated her mother.  She told me I was the second nurse in a row who had been rude to her.  I gladly got her a different nurse seeing as though we were not going to get along, but not after asking her, "Do you fire all of your nurses?"

This lead me to write my missionary son, Cole, and let him know that no matter what you do or how good you may be, people may not like you.  It's nothing you've done, it's something they've already shown up with.  It was my "pearl" (of wisdom) for him.  I don't hand out too many pearls, that's why they're called pearls, 'cause it's a rare thing.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

This guy.

This guy, or one of Quinn's many, is always keeping watch over my kitchen island counter.  I can guarantee if you're ever over to my home, either this guy ,or one very similar to him, will be on the lookout.  I've given up trying to return them to their Lego home in a bin underneath Quinn's bed.  Somehow they always end up here.  I think they are real.  I know Quinn does.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

A Valentine's Day Anniversary.

On February 14th, 1987, Rick and I were married in the Arizona Temple.
The hair.  The dress.  The colors.
Thick, black eyebrows anyone?  Pleanty to go around!
My handsome guy.
As long ago as that sounds, time has flown by!
I knew I loved him before I met him because my roommate would talk about him (he was dating her cousin at the time) and I knew he was the kind of guy I wanted.  The deal was sealed when I walked into his kitchen to meet his mom and Gary, Rick's dad, was wearing an apron, fixing dinner.  That was the kind of example I wanted my future husband to have in a father!  Although, Rick got many wonderful skills from his father, I don't think in our 24 years together, I've ever seen him in an apron.  Now I know what he's getting for Father's Day this year.  See how my brain storming works?!

We rarely go out on our actual anniversary because too many people are trying to get out for Valentine's, so we went out on Friday and went to Pei Wei's where I had Pad Thai.  L O V E  that stuff.  Then we went to the movies where we saw the romantic flick, "The Green Hornet."  Really, we're just a couple of uber romantic people.  We don't even have to try.

Friday, February 11, 2011

"Are you her nanny?"

My daughter's blog reminded me of this story.  It's a good one so I thought I'd pass it on.  A couple of days ago Emily and I went to Scottsdale Fashion Square to exchange a black (Japanese Mafia) suit for a different color for Cole, my missionary.  When we arrived, Emily realized her stroller for Winston was in her car, not mine.  Not to worry, she just placed the little nugget in her arms and carried on.

Before we entered H&M, a man stopped us and said, "Is that a real baby?"  To which Emily flashed his face to the stranger.  "Oh my gosh!" he replied, "is she your nanny?"  He directed the question to me.  "'Cause you can't be more than 16 or 17." directed to Emily.

This is sweet on several levels.  Let's explore a couple.  Where else in Arizona, other than Scottsdale would someone mistake a person carrying a baby next to her own mother for her nanny?  Next, he thought that Winston could actually be my own child.  Ah, vanity.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Soap to smell good.

Quinn, my 9 year old, went to Scouts yesterday.  They were instructed to bring their knifes.  I thought he was going to learn knife safety.  Instead, he came home with a Valentine's gift whittled with a knife  for me.  It's soap!  He even etched the word "mom" on it. 

This morning he told me, "You can save the heart part of the soap and use the regular part of the soap so you can smell good."  (The heart only required 1/2 of  a bar.)  Does it get any better?  Man, I love that kid.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Letters from a missionary.

Cole is able to email us on Tuesdays from the MTC.  He's allowed a total of 30 minutes so his letters are mostly answering our questions from previous letters and requesting items needed.  It seems to me that his most requested item is candy, lots of it.  I don't understand this since he really could have cared less about food before he left.  Now, it seems to be a very prominent thought and belly filler! 

I found a bucket of candy in the roof, it was quite spectacular. Missionaries hide things when they leave. This place is very mysterious. My best friend up here is a Canadian.

Gym is fun. I'm a terrible b-baller but I play speed and win sometimes.  If you feel so inclined and find yourself in the neighborhood, please pick up extra H&M slacks. Also, the goodies didn't last long. Those cookies are marvelous. Can Emily dearelder me? That would be fanny.

Love,


Elder Cole Tipton yo boyee!


Daily schedge is different every day, but personal study, breakfast, class, lunch, class, gym, dinner, class, bed.
My comp. is Williams choro and is from Alpine UT. The food is a curse. I weigh 153.8 lbs. (Cole left here at approx. 145 lbs. two weeks ago!)
Both of my suits are black, yes, but I'm the only Fukuokan with a black suit. The rest must've gotten the memo?
I don't want pajamas. They're silly.
The nihonjin came yesterday. They are funny. I forgot how to say anything other than "toire o kitte mo ii desu ka?" or something like that. He said sure.

(Referring to the Orange Juice trials he did to prove there were no laxatives in the OJ by drinking two glasses with each meal.)  OJ is innocent, though we don't know if he just had a really good lawyer. At any rate, although the orange juice has been pronounced safe, I've had enough of it for a while. Choir is today again. My BFF elder is not my comp but is in my district. His name is Elder Roberts. He's tall.
Packages are fun to have a share. Has Kye said anything suggesting cookies soon? I just love to eat. I'll be careful with candy. My companion is having his parents send him an electronic dictionary and translator. We gonna learn real good.

I have 5 minutes left. (On the computer)  It (the timer) flashes intensely. I'm at the edge of my seat.
This place is totally Hogwarts. Except Voldermort can't get in.
Lincoln wrote me a funny poem about who knows what. Mayhaps a girl. I love that guy.
Tell Truman there's no way he scored 250,000,000 (on Donkey Kong). Take off three 0s and I will believe him.

Love you people!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Turning Japanese

On January 26th, Cole left for the MTC.  He was scheduled to leave at 7:10 a.m. but that didn't happen.
We got a computer generated call from Delta Airlines just after 4:00 a.m. letting us know his flight was delayed for 4 hours.
What did we do with our extra time?
Sleep until 7:00 a.m. 
Once we got up, we met Emily and Steven at Crackers for breakfast.  Two of Cole's friends, Lincoln & Travis, who spent the night came along too.

Getting all the Winston he can.

Finally Cole got to the airline counter.

Next he went up the escalator.
Really. 
This is what it looks like when you're sending off your missionary for two years!

Catching more of Winston.

This is what Cole giving me a hug looked like from my perspective.

Cole hugging Em Zoe.

Quinn.

Truman.

Winding his way through security.
Everyone has to walk through the maze even though it was really slow and no one was around.
It's a very funny thing to watch.
Well, not so much fun when it's your own boy leaving.

This is his "Rocky" pose.
Okay, I just made that up.

This is the last known picture of Elder R. Cole Tipton.
See his pensive look?
After he went through security, we found out his flight was delayed another hour, so five hours total.
We understand there were two other missionaries on the flight with him so I'm sure he wasn't alone.
His missed his 1:15 check-in time due to circumstances beyond his control.

Our final entire family picture for the next two years.
Trust me, this one was one of the best.