The Gift of a Friend.

In my life, my friends have been a real gift from the Heavens. The blessings I've received from friends are as deep as the rivers and as wide as the oceans (is that a saying? It sounds right, but I've never really known a river to be deep. But my love for my friends is deep.) Anyway, yesterday I never check the mailbox. Finally at 10:30 at night I walked down the street to my mailbox. It was dark and freezing, but there was a key in my box, meaning I had a package.

I wasn't expecting a package.

I walked back home in the dark and freezing, and when I stepped inside I recognized the handwriting. It was from my little friend Liz. She was my college roommate and best friend from BYU.

I opened the box, and look what I beheld at 10:40pm last night?!

And Liz didn't even know that I had taken a vow of celibacy towards treats. I had sworn them off. I was turning a new leaf in life. But what can you do when out of the blue your dearest friend sends you a treat in the mailbox? So I've been enjoying Candy Cane Joe-Joe's all night and all day. Tomorrow I will re-take my vows and be back on the wagon. But how did Liz know that I was ready for a little something sweet?

She's sweet. Thank you Liz. I love them, and I love you! And I love unexpected packages in the mailbox.

Henry.

We are particularly happy with our health club arrangement right now. The boys have reached the age where they are allowed to go and swim under the supervision of the lifeguards, and I am allowed to leave them to go into the cardio room! This is a happy day at our house. Everyone goes to the gym, gets some exercise, has some fun, and mom doesn't have to wear a swimming suit!! Anyway, we were there again on Monday (thanks to the holiday). As the boys were getting out of the car, George asked me, "Mom, when we go to college are we allowed to pack our DS's to bring there with us?" Before I could answer, Henry jumped in and said, "Of course you can. You can pretty much bring anything you want to to college. Except guns and swords." I was surprised to hear the items that would be excluded from their college luggage? I asked Henry, "Did you say swords?". "Yeah, you can't take swords to college, Mom!"

Well, of course I knew that, but I didn't know that he had thought it through so clearly! I guess all the guns and swords will be left at home when the boys go off to college.

Lucky For Me

When I woke up on Sunday morning, I was still married to the Chef. He made me a delicious Clementine Clafoutis. Which is divine. Really. You should call yourself a chef and make one too. Here is how:

Clementine Clafoutis:

1/2 c. flour
3 eggs
1/2 c. granulated sugar, more for dusting pan
Pinch salt
3/4 c. heavy cream
3/4 c. milk
5 to 15 clementines, peeled and sectioned, about 3 cups

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a gratin dish (10-inch round deep dish plate), by smearing it with butter, just a teaspoon or so. Dust with granulated sugar.

2. In large bowl, whisk eggs until frothy. Add granulated sugar and salt and whisk until combined. Add cream and milk and whisk until smooth. Add 1/2 cup flour and stir just to combine (should be lumpy).

3. Layer clementine sections in bottom of dish; they should come just about to the top. Pour batter over fruit to as close to top of dish as you dare; you may have a little batter left over. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until clafoutis is nicely browned on top and a knife inserted comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature. Clafoutis does not keep; serve within a couple of hours of making it.

*Can also be made with berries or pears, or apples. Whatever fruit suits your fancy. We top it with whipped cream. And honestly, I could eat the whole pan. But that wouldn't be very ladylike of me.

Thanks Chef!

How to Have Fun on Saturday.

First a trip to the hill to enjoy the freshly fallen snow, with dad. He makes everything more fun.

Then back home for the requisite cup of hot cocoa.

Later on, once you have warmed up of course, put on summer dresses, accessories and music and pretend to be princesses for the 1000th time that day.

Even later on, once all the children are in bed, pretend to be fancy chefs and cook muscles Provencal and a pizza Margherita...(of course, this part is Darin's idea who after wishing he had been a cabinet maker, tiler layer or plumber, he wishes he had been a professional chef. So, every once in a while I get a beautiful meal prepared for me, by my "should've been" chef husband)

And reminisce about Saturdays gone by when you didn't have to go sledding, or drink hot cocoa or watch princesses dance. And smile and laugh again.

And that's how you have fun on a Saturday.

Jane.

When nobody would help her do the puzzle the "right" way, she did the puzzle her own way. And that's our story about Jane.

Girls and Cleaning

Here is something I'll never see my boys do! Fight over who gets to clean the toilet. What can I say, my girls covet my job?! I should wear my princess dress while cleaning bathrooms more often. Maybe it makes it more fun?

Around the House at 7pm

At 7pm last night it felt like we were coming very close to the finish line in a marathon. I decided to pause and photograph where everyone was.

Henry was the first person finished with all his "jobs". This reflects that he had finished his dinner, his homework, and his practicing, and he had been released to play until one of his parents had enough energy to move onto bedtime.

Darin lost the coin toss and so he was practicing with George. George just started lessons last week. And as with everything in his life, he has a hard time doing it someone else's way. Instead of his own way. I heard Darin saying to him, "George, whoever is helping you practice, they are the boss, and you have to listen to them." That's the way it goes every night when practicing with George. He's eager to do it. It's not a fight at all when you say it's time to practice, but he always thinks he should move on to new songs, each night, new songs.

The girls were in the bath. That was my job.

And here was my other post. I was alternating between the bathtub and the kitchen sink. I think I fell asleep last night at 9:30! Some days are just so long.p.s. It's a snow day today. Good thing I got a good night sleep. You need all your faculties working full force in order to deal with an inch of snow outside

Life and stuff.

I don't know...can you see we have a problem? On the top is George without a tooth problem. On the bottom is this past weekend, when we realized we DID have a tooth problem. Never worry. He will be at the dentist tomorrow morning at 10am. I'm all over this one! Poor guy though. Don't you think?

In other news, Ruby was desperate for a crown all of her own. We've just been fighting over this one that belongs to Jane. So Thursday was the big day when we were at the Target 75% off toy sale, and even though the crown wasn't 75% off, I just felt all sorts of love and let Ruby get it. She wore it all day long. Told me she needed to take a picture to show Grandma Lark. Slept with it. Then it broke the next day. THE. NEXT. DAY. Darn that crown, and the makers of it. Come on, it was a solution to my problem and it was supposed to last longer than one day! Well, good thing we got the picture. And good thing Jane doesn't seem to care about wearing a crown every where she goes as much as Ruby does. Too bad Darin wouldn't let Ruby wear it to church. I told him he had no sense of humor. He didn't think that was funny either.

Additionally, I finished my epic book, "Pillars of the Earth". And it's a darn good thing I did. The Christmas boxes had been sitting in my family room for no less than a solid week. I was doing the bare minimum to get by around the house. My days consisted of waking up, taking care of the children...waiting for it to be 8pm so that my children were back in bed so that I could read again. Of course, taking care of the children is no small task, but when I'm not reading an epic book, I can go above and beyond taking care of the children, and throw in all sorts of diverse activities, like putting boxes away to the garage, laundry, etc, etc. I finally talked Darin into at least reading the first 30 pages of it before he tells me he won't read any book that I suggest he should read. (It's complicated. I think he thinks, if he reads one of my book suggestions, it means that I'm bossing him around. And let's just make it perfectly clear, I don't boss him around. He's his own darn boss. You know, in a good way.) Anyway, I'm trying not to make a big deal out of it, but he's read more than 30 pages.

And then tonight, I went to go see this movie at 9:20pm. I was sitting down in my seat right at 9:20pm, and was the only person in the theater. That's usually how it goes at my movie theater where I go to see all the movies I want to see. But at 9:20pm it was unusual, because I went to turn off my cell phone, (just out of habit I guess, since no one else was there, I could have left it on), but first I saw it said "1 missed call". When I looked to see who called it read, "mom Z cell". And that was weird because "mom Z" lives in Germany and the only time I get a call from that number is when she is in the States. So for a moment I thought she had decided to come to the states. I instantly called the number back to see where she was. But then Christine answered the phone. She lost her phone in Paris (how chic), and so you know, she now has the phone that registers as "mom Z cell". Anyway, for a moment I thought it would be something out of a movie, sitting down to watch a movie only to hear that my mom was close by. Closer than Germany. I got all excited. But it was also fun to talk to Christine. Who then I got to recommend "Pillars of the Earth" to, because she's my only sister who reads books, for fun.

So that's been life and stuff over the past few days. Weird tooth problems, requiring phone calls from the school nurse, and in turn the dentist, who incidentally remembered who I was instantly, I don't think that's a good thing. Target's crazy 75% off sale, and crowns that make little girls so happy, and then so sad all within 24 hours. Reading books, going to movies. And now, it's time to clean the house. Tomorrow. I promise!

This Day.

This day so far has been good. I would like to thank Academy School District 20 for convening school during the regular school hours, despite the three inches of freshly fallen snow. I'm sure it was a tough call to make. They like to give us all snow days. I appreciate the risk of letting the children all go off to school, on the bus no less. (Although we nearly missed the bus, since the doors of the van were frozen shut and we couldn't get George's coat or backpack out. I hope George learned a valuable lesson about not leaving his stuff in the car)

I would like to thank Jane and Ruby for so willingly going off to "Mother's Morning Out" today. It's always a wonder whether when I announce it's time for "school" they will agree with me or not. I was so deeply grateful today that everyone agreed that indeed it was time for school and cooperated as we rushed out the door.

All of this leading up to my gratitude about my standing running appointment on Tuesday mornings at 9 with my girl friends. Again, despite the new three to four inches of powder on the trail, we braved the elements and enjoyed a winter morning run. It was so wonderful. Really. (I need a good morning run to gain the appropriate perspective and be able to be grateful.)

I would like to give a shout out to wool, the material. It's amazing. How can I simply put on a pair of wool socks and sneakers, run in four inches of snow and have toasty warm and dry feet. It's a miracle. I am grateful for sheep today. They must not have such a bad life after all. They must stay toasty and dry all the time. I am grateful to be reminded of other animals today. (I usually don't care much about the animals, but it's good to, every once in a while.)

So in conclusion, it's going to be a good day. Despite the loads of laundry that are sitting in various spots around my house unfolded. Despite going to bed at 2am last night because of a book I cannot put down (Pillars of the Earth). Despite my-not-working-so-well right knee that tried to ruin my run today. Despite the three to four inches of snow. It's going to be a good day today. I must run off and get George now. He hates when I'm late! (I was yesterday, and had to make him hot chocolate with whipped cream before he would forgive me). Now, go enjoy your day....

A Trip To Eugene

Thanks to Lark and Steve and everyone else at the Earnest house, Darin and I got to sneak away for a night and two days to go discover the town of Eugene and check out the campus of University of Oregon. As we anticipate Darin going back to school for a PhD (sponsored by the Air Force Academy) we are trying to figure out where best to do it. U of O is a beautiful campus. Eugene is eclectic. But the two days away were heavenly. Thank you to all! (We had to post this picture as proof to our family that we didn't spend the whole time shopping. We have a bit of a reputation...)

Posing in front of the legendary Hayward Field. It would be fun to live in a town so enthused over track and field. We found a pair of missionaries who took our picture and told us about the church in the area. Very fun trip.

All Dolled Up.

Just wanted to be sure and post a picture of Jane (in the red sweater) and Ruby in their Christmas outfits from Grandma Z. Don't they look adorable, mom? I think cousins Mei Li and June could have been coordinating with them. Very cute. (ps. not thrilled about the shoe choices either of the girls made, but I had to give in a tad, as they were going along with the whole outfit, tights and sweaters included.)

We were on our way to Chris's house (Darin's brother) for Christmas dinner.

Some Christmas Morning Magic...

The whole crew wearing new Christmas PJ's. Ruby told me she hated them. Every year someone hates them. I guess I was just surprised it was her. Oh well, better luck next year. But I think everyone looks pretty darn cute.

Modeling my Nike-Ipod running hat with built in head phones. It seriously is so much fun. I love it. Look at the cute guy sitting next to me.

Ruby (wearing Jane's crown) with blue make-up from her stocking all over her face.

Jane working with Aunt Chelsea to get a Strawberry Shortcake doll unwrapped. It was all so glorious!

We Did It!

We woke up at 4am on Wednesday and drove away from Grandma and Grandpa Earnests house by 4:30am. We ate lunch in Twin Falls, Idaho. We had dinner in Riverdale, Utah and took a walking break through the Super Target there. It was then 6pm. We had still another nine hours ahead of us. But we couldn't stop yet. So we hopped back on the freeway to wind our way through Wyoming. Jane and Ruby each puked somewhere in Wyoming. The boys finally fell asleep. And Darin's supply of (or willingness to drink) "Energy" drinks seemed to carry us all the way through to 3am on Thursday, when we pulled into our driveway.

It's good to be home. I'll continue updating whenever I need a break from unpacking or cleaning, or putting away Christmas. It was such a great trip. Thanks for letting us stay so long Grandma and Grandpa. When at some late hour one night Lark casually asked, "Well when do you think you'll head back?" And Darin replied, "Oh didn't you hear, we're moving in." That was a funny moment. It was all fun and funny. We'll get the pictures uploading soon.

Christmas to go...

We decided to take our Christmas party on the road. We're heading up to Oregon to party it up with the Earnests there. We abruptly left on Wednesday evening to avoid the winter storm that was forecast. George's birthday was a tiny bit over shadowed with our last minute travel plans. I will owe him a birthday post when we return.

We made it to Provo at 3:30am on Thursday morning. We are being graciously hosted by my sister and her family. The kids are having fun with their cousins. And we are all scrambling to do our last minute Christmas shopping. And of course we will make time for a gingerbread-house-making Christmas party tonight.

See you all after the new year!! Merry Christmas.

Advice from one buddy to the other...

Here is George's best friend Jack. Jack is a bit younger than George, but these two love to hang out and spend their afternoons together. We're at our house today. The boys were having lunch together, when I over heard the following advice from George to Jack:

"Jack, if you get married, but you still don't like girls yet, then instead of kissing them on the lips, you bite them on the lips."

Good luck with that advice boys. Let's just hope they like girls before they "have" to get married.

MAJOR accomplishment!

We are very pleased to announce that our very own Captain Earnest will soon be pinning on a flower. I'm just teasing. He hates when I call this symbol the flower. I'll see someone on base, and say, "He had a flower on, what does that mean?" All joking aside, this is great news. Darin will become Major Earnest hopefully sometime before the end of 2008. To quote it says, "In today's competitive, high-quality Air Force, this is a significant feat." Especially considering some guys achieve the rank of Major before they even settle down, or have a kid. We are proud to accompany Darin to this milestone in his life. I was proud to announce it to our sons. Proud to announce it to all our friends and family. Darin is the very best, most competitive (sometimes he forgets we're on the same team), high-quality Air Force officer that I've ever known. We love you Darin. Thanks for shining for us in the work force as well. Wear your flower proudly. Because I couldn't be more proud! Love you.

Watch Out Martha...

...Stewart that is. Our kids are going to give her a run for her money. A little Monday night family fun here at the Earnest house.

Snow Day.

Did you ever wonder as a kid why your mom hated a snow day so much?...I mean really, it sounds swell. Everyone gathered together, housebound. Staying in pajamas until noon. Playing video games. What's so bad about that?

But now I'm the mom, and I know why my mom used to wish we would have just had a two-hour delay! I don't think I will be able to handle this, all day long...

p.s. And if you are about to comment on how every little snow there actually appears to be in my back yard, just spare me! I already realize that there isn't really enough snow to cancel school. As I'm sure every other mother in the district has. It's just we haven't had a snow day yet this year, and the year is almost over. I guess they thought we wanted one, or something.

Thank goodness we started a family tradition this year. George had to do a report this weekend and make a poster about a family tradition he has. I thought he'd pick something about Christmas, but he thought all on his own about our international dinner nights. So that made all the Sundays worthwhile. He was very proud of his poster and amazed that he was able to do it all in one afternoon. Too bad that even with my kids, I have no ability to teach them how to work ahead and get projects done any sooner than at the last minute...

Of course, after school today he was saying to me that his tradition isn't that special. I was all outraged, and said, "What do you mean it's not special? That's a great family tradition that we have." And he said, "Yeah, but other kids were talking about Jesus and stuff." Yeah, that would have been good too, I thought to myself. But I was working so hard to not steer the project at all, and just let it be all his idea. (p.s. Darin helped him make the poster. I had to go do a Primary visit. Lest this is all sounding like I did it. Darin would be offended!)

Also on Sunday (it was Stake Conference), we tried to create a Christmas card photo. Almost my only opinion on Christmas cards is that there should be a photo. So I pleaded with my family to comply. With the help of the self-timer, we spent FOREVER trying to get that one magical shot. I'll hold you in suspense to let you know if we got it....

Anyway, good times had by all. Jane was doing her best to make the Christmas card photo impossible. I think she alone was responsible for some new grey hairs in Darin's head yesterday. Never mind the fact that Darin thinks we should probably get to pass on having a Christmas card photo since we have two 2-year-olds this year. But thanks for letting me try anyway, Darin!