Skype it to me! Happy Mother's Day.

Each Mother's Day, all of the male figures in the family put on a Mother's Day dinner where the women (18 and older mothers or not) eat in the dining room without the interruption of tiny feet.  This may sound odd since it is motherhood we are celebrating but oh, how we love it!  While we sit in the dining room enjoying each other's company, the boys/men sit and eat with the kids.  Our only interruption comes from our servers whose only wish is to make our meal delightful.  

Each year we pick the menu and so far we haven't deviated.  On hand we had fillet mignon, baked potatoes, a green salad with spinach, goat cheese, toasted almonds, and craisins, topped with a raspberry vinaigrette.  Talk about good stuff!  For dessert we had a build your own ice cream sunday buffet with tons of toppings.  We actually had to get out of our seats to make our own dessert, but it was worth it.  

Twice a year we get to actually speak with our missionaries, Christmas and Mother's Day.  It brings a whole new meaning to Mother's Day!  This is our third actual conversation with Elder Tipton since he's been gone but our first Skype session.  I must say, I much prefer to Skype!  It was amazing and awesome to see him!  A small group of us gathered to see, hear and talk to Elder Tipton.  We were allotted 45 minutes from his mission president and got pretty close....we talked about 50 minutes or so.

 Cole said his cheeks are fuller due to all of the rice he ingests.  You can see the crowd viewing on the bottom right of the television.

 Cole and his companion were using Skype at the church in Hiroshima and during our conversation, a member cam in and spoke to Rick (in Japanese) telling him how wonderful Cole and his companion are and how much they love them and don't want them to leave.  After her conversation Cole agreed that Hiroshima is his favorite place and people so far!

 Here we are talking to Cole on the big screen.

It's the first time that Cole has seen Winston since he was one month old.  We had so much fun I hope we get to do it again at Christmas!

We're all crowding in to get in Cole's view.  I hope he had as much fun as we did!  Having a son happy and on a mission is the best Mother's Day gift ever!

The best obituary, ever.

I read this great obituary yesterday.  I don't typically read obituaries for sport, but sometimes when I'm looking through my Wednesday paper, if I happen to turn to the obits, I'll see if I can find a good one.  Yesterday I found gold.  I found the type of obituary I think anyone, especially me, would want written about them.  Please indulge me.  In part it said:

"....a kind and gracious woman, died.  She was a mother, wife, daughter, sister and aunt.  She had more friends than we knew.  Perhaps in her fondest role, she was a grandmother to 8.  She bought crazy socks at Christmas for her grandchildren, some with bells and individual toes.  She held a Camp Grandma at Mormon Lake every summer.  And she was fun.  She kayaked and zip-lined; at Disneyland she rode the teacups and even roller coasters, though she disliked them. She took the kids to movies and always bought popcorn.  She cheered at their baseball and soccer games, swim meets and ballet recitals.  She would read the same book to a grandchild over and over, for as long as that grandchild deemed necessary.....


And cards.  She was always writing notes and delivering flowers to someone who needed a friend.  She loved meeting new people.  She loved her book club and hosting friends for dinner on her patio.  Her guacamole was legend.  She like traveling, skiing, camping and hiking.  She skied in the Swiss Alps and hiked the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim.  She went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef and walked on a glacier in Alaska.  She saw a bear.....


When her daughters were young, she sewed doll clothes and then matching Christmas dresses, and finally prom dresses.  Later, she sewed Halloween costumes, including a vinyl Evil Knievel suit that is still the talk of at least one neighborhood....Her Easter egg hunts were the best, and the birthday cakes she made were always special.  She kept her Christmas tree up through January.  Every year....


She was a nurse for many years...She loved her job, her patients, who became friends, and her co-workers.  And then she found out she loved retirement even more.  Nobody was surprised.  


She was loved.


Please bring a flower from your yard, or someone else's - she would love it."

See, great obit, right?!  I wish I had known this woman.  I know I would have liked her!  That is what you call living.  Even though she's gone, her family, friends and co-workers will keep her memory living for the rest of their lives.  What lucky grandchildren too.

It all stems back to Weezer. Happy Birthday to Emily Zoe!

Today is Emily Zoe's 23rd birthday.  This isn't her birthday suit.  It's just a little something she wore while at college.  Not everyone dressed like this, just Emily.

It was a great outfit for poses.

She played with Weezer one October, while in college.  Her friend, Steven, drove down from Vegas to see her play.  I knew it was over...her single life, that is.

They got married 5 months after that Weezer concert and now they have this little nugget:

Mr. Winston, the cutest little boy in the world.

Happy Birthday Emily!

May all your birthday wishes come true.

A bicycle built for two.

Last weekend my work had a 10 mile bike ride for the Women's and Infant Services department and their families.  It was a warm morning and hardly anyone showed up but we still had a good time.  Rick and Quinn rode the tandem bike.  I like how Quinn's helmet is hanging from his handlebars, lota good that will do.  For some reason, Rick looks like a German in his helmet.  He's not.

 I dragged everyone in my household to the bike ride and surprisingly, they enjoyed themselves!

We rode all around the San Tan Mall area.

Our team name is Team Push.  Get it, we're labor and delivery nurses....Team Push.

A Moment in Time.

Last week Truman was involved in the Desert Ridge High School Dance Concert.  (I never thought I'd be typing that last sentence.)  He took a pilot class this year called, "Athletic Movement" which was for boys only and the only class of its kind in the United States (so I'm told).  The class was physically demanding and the boys did learn a lot of manly type moves such as parkour (free running), beat boy dancing, etc.

Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the boys got to show their talents in the 2 hour plus dance concert.  On Friday, I was sitting in the audience waiting for the show to begin wondering, "How did I get here?"  I hadn't been to a dance recital since my only daughter, Emily, was in dance and that was a long time ago.  It felt a little odd being there to support my son when there were 480 kids involved and maybe 30 were of the male type.  But, nonetheless.

Truman had lots of friends involved with the concert and many friends who came to support.  Even Bama came.  He was in two dances and one was picked to go perform at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts in May, a big accomplishment since only two dances in the entire program were selected.

 Friends, family and dancers.

So, what do you give your son after all of his hard work?  Flowers?  I opted for chips and homemade salsa.  He was fine with that!  (Sorry for the blurry picture, it's the only one I got.)


Truman told me this morning that he wants to drop dance and take weight lifting for next year.

I'm fine with that.

Love notes.

Does your husband leave you love notes?  Mine does but sometimes they're a little weird.  These eggs are left from Easter.....and this note on the egg carton appeared last week.  

Am I supposed to reply directly on the carton or use a sticky note?  This is uncharted territory. 

German Pancakes

When Emily and Steven were staying with us, she introduced the kids and me to these crazy puffy German Pancakes.  Now Quinn requests them often to which I oblige.  I found a simple and fast recipe on Smitten Kitchen.  Click here for the out of control German Pancakes recipe.  If you're not interested in clicking, then just follow below.

 4 eggs
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup flour, sifted
2/3 cup milk
2 Tbsp soft butter

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Butter two 9-inch cake pans well ( I used spray Pam).  Put eggs in blender container, cover and process at "stir" until light yellow in color.  Push "mix" button, remove cover and add remaining ingredients; process until smooth.  Pour into prepared pans and bake at 20 minutes; then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake 10 minutes.  Slide onto hot plates.  Serve with powdered sugar and fresh strawberries.

Mmm good.