Happy Valentine's Day

Andy climbed out of bed bright and early this morning.  I heard a little commotion but it seems to almost take a natural disaster to get me out of bed one minute earlier than necessary.

During the morning hustle I found a note from Andy.

The note read:  "To find your valentine,  you must follow your instincts, hopefully they are sharp this day, to solve all these clues!!!!  Here is your first clue:  A portal into the past, a reminder of the present."  The family took a break from routine to help me.

Too bad my instincts were anything but sharp.  I looked in the scrapbook sitting next to me.  Nothing.  Andy is smarter than me.  I will admit it any day of the week.  We think on different wave lengths.  His seems to function at a higher, more productive, slow to react, analyze the situation, solve the problem kind of level.

Answer to clue #1:  The kitchen window where I can see the barn but be reminded there are still dishes to be done.  Higher level I tell you.

Clue #2:  "NEWS FLASH, Andy loves Tina"  I once again was stumped.  We only get the newspaper Friday through Sunday and it had been disposed of.  I went in to check my computer, ksl.com, ktvx.com, msn.com and todayshow.com are my links to the world.  Andy shook his head at me and said we needed to watch more television at our house.

Clue #3:  01001001 001000000 0111011111 0111011001100101 0 . . .  the only clue I figured out on my own - the computer.

Clue #4:  "my safety champion"  The only idea that came to my mind was the gate to block the stairs from Aysen.  Taylei figured out the clue immediately but before I had an idea, Andy left for work and the girls headed to school.  Taylei tried to hint as she was walking out the door but no lights came on.  At this point, I quit.  Clueless.  The word describes me in so many ways.  Andy called and said Champion is a brand for this item but ours was a Yukon Gold.  The only thing I could think of now were potatoes.  Andy basically had to spell it out - our gun safe.

Clue #5:  "ready, get set, eat!" lead me to the fridge.  I found a clue carefully taped to the ceiling.  I was so proud of myself until Andy told me I was wrong and had just skipped a bunch of clues.   The real answer: the kitchen table.

Clue #6:  "whirly twirly, you mesmerize me"  By this point Andy decided to just stay on the phone with me and help me through.  Answer:  Our bedroom fan.

Clue #7:  "clothing not recommended"  Not my first guess but the shower was my second.  I found the clue above the shower door, secured in a ziploc bag.  (Maybe Andy presumed it might take me a few days to complete this hunt and he wanted it preserved).

Clue #8:  "ray, ray, where art though?"  The sun!  Which I have missed for the last four months.  The clue was taped to the side of the plant.  I had watered the plant earlier in the morning and didn't even see it.

Clue #9:  "too much black delight will make you sweat"  Once again my instinct was wrong but in honor of the need for heat I found the clue taped to the wood-burning stove.

Clue #10:  "magic light, i only come one when you need to see what you eat"  Luckily I had already found this clue inside the fridge.

Clue #11:  "no leftover keys here"  After looking in our spare key box, Andy reminded me it said "no leftover."  The piano.

Clue #12:  (My favorite clue) "I Love You!"

Taped to each clue was a red puzzle piece.  On the back of the completed puzzle was a love note from my sweetie.  A love note is my favorite kind of present.  I love him!  I will be forever in pursuit of becoming his equal.

Happy Valentine's Day to all!  The day to remind those you love that you love them.  This can never happen to frequently.

Serving Others . . .

Today I was lucky enough to be asked to speak in sacrament meeting with the relief society presidency.  I do use the word lucky in the loosest sense.  We were asked to speak on service . . . I won't add the whole talk but I'll leave a few of the thoughts I shared . . . (thanks to lds.org for making it so easy to research and use the messages given by His apostles).  

JOHN 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Alone in the upper room with the eleven, Jesus uses the last teaching moments of His mortal life to teach this commandment.

Jesus’ unconditional love for us motivated His atoning sacrifice for our sins. Without His love, we would be unable to return to our Heavenly Father. How He lived His life is the example we should follow.  He showed us that we must go about doing good, that the spiritual and physical welfare of our fellowmen is as important as our own, that we should show genuine concern and compassion for all of our Heavenly Father’s children.

Moroni defines Christlike love as charity. “And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.” It’s not enough to say we believe and that we love Him; we must be found possessed with His kind of love for others at that last day.  Like the Savior, we should bless the lives of others by giving of what our life is made up of—our time, our talents, our means, and ourselves.

President Kimball taught that “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another mortal that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom.” 

What are ways we can serve?  Serving our family, Kindness for our Neighbors, Visiting Teaching/Home Teaching, Missionary Work, Senior Missionary Work, Church Callings, Temple Attendance, Serving in the Temple.

When we seek to serve others, we are motivated not by selfishness but by charity. Throughout His life, the Savior must have often felt tired and pressed upon, with scarcely a moment to Himself; yet He always made time for the sick, the sorrowful, and the overlooked.

When we stand before the Lord to be judged, will He look upon the positions we have held in the world or even in the Church?  Do you think He will care how packed our schedule was or how many important meetings we attended? Do you suppose that our success in filling our days with appointments will serve as an excuse for failure to spend time with our family or serving others?

Mosiah 2:17  And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

"We almost lost Keanna"

These are words you hope to never hear.  Before Andy explained further my mind flashed with different scenarios as to what they may have meant.

Andy took the girls to Brighton to spend some time on the slopes.  They had a late start to their day . . . Andy had duties to attend to at the Klondike.  When he made it home I had a migraine hit with a vengeance.  I went to bed for an hour while he fed everyone lunch.  

They couldn't have chosen a prettier day . . . the sun was shining and it was warm . . . too bad there wasn't any fresh powder.  

Andy took pictures from his phone and sent them to me.  They will NOT load into this post.  I've tried and tried and tried and tried.  

The story behind almost losing Keanna goes something like this:  They were going down the slope (Andy and Taylei were both strapped into snowboards and Keanna was on skis) when Keanna noticed a hill she wanted to ski down.  Andy explained to her how this was NOT a good idea.  They were not able to see over the hill and the yellow caution sign was a pretty good indication injury was imminent if you followed this path.  A few runs later they went to the same area.  Keanna got off the lift and pointed.  She did turn a little as she went down the run but was basically trying to gain maximum speed and distance from the voice of her father.  By the time Andy realized her intentions, it was too late.  She was out of the reach of his ability to stop her. 

The people on the lift started to shout at Andy.  There was a cliff on the other side of the hill and Keanna had launched off of it.  The lift riders told Andy where she had landed and if their words were true she caught more air than Andy or any of her uncles have ever mustered.  

Keanna was walking back up the hill unharmed to retrieve her ski's when Andy reached her.  The snow in this area was still powdery since you were NOT suppose to be there.  Keanna was fine.  The age of miracles exists.  We have been blessed with one right after another.  

Keanna is fine.  I'm hoping she has learned to heed the voice of her father and realize yellow caution signs are put in place for our protection.

The rest of the day went without incident, only a few minor crashes which just means you are testing your limits and becoming better.

The Celebration of Love

Little Miss Kaci has a favorite holiday.  The day of love.  She has been asking for a girl party to celebrate and this is how we spent our Friday evening.

The menu of Kaci's choice: Hawaiian Haystacks.  She let everyone know the best possible recipe.  Kaci only likes to top her rice and sauce with peas, cheese and chinese noodles.

Lisa made Oreo balls for dessert.  I believe I will refrain to comment on the number I ate.  I loved them.  I love everything sweet at this moment.  Andy has nicknamed me JFJ at the moment.  Not quite nice but all too true.  I will gain control of this mortal body one of these days.

Taylei and Keanna were the oldest friends invited.

None of us followed Kaci's recipe for the most delicious meal.  We all seemed to have our own ideas for the best blend of foods.

Grandma Lou brought a gift of truffles for the hostess'.  I'm once again going to refrain from comment.  I did eat more than one but less than five.  Who is counting anyways?

While the food and dishes were being taken care of Miss Kaci and friends decided to help Taylei and Keanna get a little more fancy (we came straight from Taylei's basketball practice and didn't have time to accessorize our outfits). 

Kaci chose for us to make crafts instead of play games.  We made the cutest hair bows with the fabric of our choice.  Taylei gave me instructions of what fabrics to cut for her.  True to form, Keanna wasted no time taking care of business herself.  She folded her own fabric, drew her own circles and did her own cutting.  We had a little discussion for next time.  I'm hoping she caught on to maybe cut all of her circles out of one area instead of random holes everywhere.

The evening was super nice.  Lisa and Kaci were awesome hosts.  Dinner was delicious and my girls can't wait to model their new accessories.

Soon He'll Conquer the World

Mr. Aysen has found a new love which surpasses his love of air-hockey, the wii.  My children have been good about letting him join in, sometimes he even has a 'live' remote.  He is great at mimicking their actions and shakes the remote just as they do.

Tonight we were invited to the Durbin's home to celebrate the birth of their two outstanding children, Ty and Olivia.  Aysen didn't seem to even notice the difference in the brand of controllers, he knew just what to do.

He watches the game and with his facial expressions you would think he has full comprehension of the going ons.  I would love to spend a day inside his little (not really so little) head.  Too learn how he thinks, what he really comprehends and maybe to try to convince him to sleep through the night.  

Any time we are with the Durbin's 95% of the conversation is geared towards sports.  Cris and Andy are both obsessed with trying to help their children be their best, especially in the sports arena.  I once again will not complain.  Time spent with a dad is well spent.

And every once in a while these two girls get a break from a ball and have a minute to play a different kind of game . . . Happy Birthday Ty and O.D.

A New Kind of Trophy

Today was the 3rd grade spelling bee and Keanna had practiced her little guts out.  She went and stayed with Aunt Mary Dawn for the weekend and my mom became her spelling coach.  Even though she was right in the middle of reading Harry Potter 4 for the second time she kept the book closed while she learned how to spell words like 'bombastic.'  And out of pure curiosity, when was the last time you used that word in a sentence?  Just in case the answer was never, I spent a little time with the dictionary:  bombast |ˈbämbast|, noun, high-sounding language with little meaning, used to impress people.  DERIVATIVES: bombastic |bämˈbastik| adjective.  Where do words like that come from?


Her class has been having some practice spelling bees the first of which she won.  The next time wasn't as favorable, she came home in tears because she had lost.  She spelled worldwide and forgot to include the 'e' on the end.  She will never forget how to spell that word again.  (I still remember the two words I got out on in spelling bees twenty-five years ago: secretary and colonel).  The six kids left in the competition had gotten out on the same round.  I explained to her she wouldn't have lost, everyone would have gotten to spell again.  She was a finalist in all of the other practices which didn't ever finish because of time running short.  


Last night my mom came to our home at 9:30 p.m. to help her review the words one last time.  They had established a system and had made it to column six of seven.  Many of the words I can't pronounce.  To say Keanna was nervous would be a great understatement.  Her stomach became continuously more upset as she missed words she had never missed before.  Shortly after 10 p.m. my mom declared Keanna was too tired and rest was more important.  I tried to help relieve the pressure and kept telling her if she won or lost I wouldn't love her one ounce more or one ounce less.


The spelling bee ended up going 13 rounds with words on the 8th grade level.  Keanna's list of words included: hitch, makeshift, vision, dignify, abolitionists (this is a word she can't pronounce but spells without hesitation), notorious, salary, fortification, establishment, preliminary, capillary, desolate and engineer.  I believe on round 7 everyone was eliminated except her and another girl who had also spent some time practicing.  Her competition misspelled 'rhombus'.  Keanna's championship word was 'misinterpret'.  She won!  I, along with her cheering section, Grandma and Grandpa Sperry, Aunt Diane, Kyler and Aysen were so excited for her.

Thanks so much for all of your help Grandma.  She couldn't have done it without you.

Egg-fried-ramen topped with cheese . . .

As of late, I've been starving.  I eat a meal and within ten minutes I'm looking for something to supplement it with.  This problem may be linked to the amount of mint flavored goodness that is found around my home this time of year.  Fernwood Mints are still number one on the list but Kara's Mint Truffles and the chocolate mint orange come in a close second.  My supply is now completely dry.  Maybe the urge to eat will slowly die off but doesn't seem likely.

Yesterday Paul and Garrett stopped in.  They were in the process of nursing Diane's car home.  It had overheated on her way to work.  They needed to let it cool off again and came in for a visit.  I was in the middle of cooking the high-class, loved by all, non-nutritious meal of Ramen for Kyler and his friend, Bridger.  Paul told me I needed to make fried-ramen instead.  My interest was peaked and he made a batch for himself, Garrett and I.  I had him add an egg to make it a little more authentic.  One pack of noodles divided into three doesn't go very far.  My palate was wet and I dreamed of having more.  Not quite as tasty as sushi but still on the top end of goodness.

Today I was determined to make it on my own.  To make sure there was plenty I made two packages.  Kyler was quite distraught.  He couldn't understand what I was doing to his noodles.

Food never seems to taste as good the second time I try it.  Lessons were learned though.  1.  Two packages of Ramen is more than enough for two people.  2.  Never look at the nutrition facts while you are eating.  I've always considered Ramen to be a non-food food.  Something your children love and is extremely cheap but lacks nutritional value.  I would have never guessed so many calories were packed into such a small package.

I'm sure I'll eat it again but not for a while and maybe just served as a side dish instead of the entire meal.  I'm still not sure how to curb my love of food.  It seems the more I think about losing my extra 20 and making my husband happy by becoming a little more fit, the further I drift from accomplishing this goal.

I no longer have a burning desire to eat egg-fried ramen.  I've moved on.  I'm ready to dabble in baking a gourmet dessert, something rich in caramel, chocolate, maybe even with a little mint and a crisp texture.  Visions of sugar plums dance in my head . . .