Little Sahara

We took a Saturday drive and ended up at the sand dunes. It was farther away than we remembered, but worth the effort and the "Are we there yet?"s


Uh, O, that's a zoo map. No giraffes here.


My fearless explorers contemplating the trek ahead of them


According to J, "...so much sand it'll freak you out!"

Which I think it did, for H at least

Sorry, can't get this one to turn the right way

H finally got down from J's shoulders...

only to demand to be picked up by me. Not too fond of the sand getting in his sandals

But he adapted

long enough to check out the bug corpse S found

disgusted and fascinated all at the same time!

Still Running

Two weeks ago I ran 10 miles. By ran I mean that I ran about 8.5 miles, stopped and almost puked, walked, tried to run, walked again, stuck my head under somebody's sprinklers, and then ran home (because my neighbor was out in her front yard and I couldn't be seen walking by people I know!) As was to be expected, I was pretty much useless for the rest of the day.

The next week I got back into my schedule of running every other day, so the 11-mile run last Friday wasn't too bad. Tomorrow I have a 12-mile run and I am admittedly a little nervous. I generally eat pretty well, but I'm thinking Chewy Sprees, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, and homemade chocolate ice cream aren't exactly the best fuel for keeping me going on a long run. Weird monthy cravings...

So why am I running so much? My awesome amazing friend and neighbor Crystal is running the St. George Marathon in October and I told her I'd train with her for it, even though I'm not doing it. What was I thinking?!?! I must be crazy, but I feel sane because the jarring of running is killing my brain cells. That must be it.

Actually, I am finally starting to have more energy. I like the way my body looks and the way J looks at my body. Besides the hours of time running still seems to take, the perks are pretty good.

Camping Out

Every year J, S, and O camp out in the backyard. Here they are setting up the tent.


O's cute little smile lately just makes me happy.

The all-essential S'Mores. Notice how the fire reached out of the stone circle and lit our weeds on fire. S and O were freaking out, while I couldn't take a picture because I was laughing so hard.

Being silly by the fire

It's a fun tradition. H and mommy sleep in the house while the older ones and dad get eaten by mosquitoes. In the next year or two, though, we'll all be out there together. Can't wait!

Exterminator

Hornets have built a nest under our front porch. We watch them buzz in and out of a crack between our steps and our house. On the 24th of July J decided to do something about it. I had to run to the grocery store, so he asked me to pick up a can or two of hornet spray. They only had one kind there (and I don't recommend it), so this is J taking care of the hornet nest. Make sure you've gone to the bathroom before you watch it because you may pee in your pants.

Our neighbors to the north noticed his funny little dance and came over to investigate. Spencer said, "You know, it's really important to stay as still as possible because they're attracted to your movement" to which I said, "J can't help it; it's like a compulsion." He really can't seem to help it. His little insect avoidance dances are the funniest things I've ever seen.

This is Spencer. He watched J for a while then went in his house, came out in his beekeeping gear, and took over. He goes into anaphylactic shock when he gets stung by a bee, so you understand my comment to him. Doesn't he look professional? Thanks, Spencer!

Discovery

H, O, and the pet snail

I've Been Domesticated

When J and I first got married, I was no stellar cook. I liked to think that I was a rather inventive cook, but the inventions were just barely edible. I also grew up eating rice and kim chee at least once a day and don't mind the repetition or left-overs. J, on the other hand, likes variety -- and tasty variety at that. He had to have a lot of hope to stick with me through those early years of our marriage when our meals were definitely not "a thing of beauty and a joy forever."

Well, here we are, almost 10 years later. I've added variety, aesthetics, and more vegetables. When I ventured into bread making last Fall, I had prepared myself for lots and lots of practice runs before anything edible came out of the oven. That turned out to be true. I also cycled through many different recipes before I settled on a whole wheat one that I liked. Maybe I should've chronicled my journey, but usually I was too anxious to think about running for the camera. This time, though, well, see for yourself.

And, as an added bonus, it tasted really good too. "Toot! Toot!" (That was my own horn.) Here's the link to the recipe:

http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/2009/06/another-whole-wheat-bread-in-mixer.html

I halve the recipe because my mixer can't handle 4 loaves. Maybe one day in the not-too-distant future when the boys are teenagers and eating me out of house and home I'll spring for a Bosch.

I'm a Spoiled Girl

I'm a sucker for a good graphic t-shirt. I don't need anymore t-shirts, so the ones I like, I keep to myself. I don't tell J, "Hey, I found this awesome t-shirt..." because I know that it will eventually end up in my closet. Well, I slipped a couple weeks ago, made casual mention of one I liked on threadless.com and received it in the mail on Friday. It's called "Let Go." What do you think of it?


This one came too. It's called, "I'm like a bird." I'm fond of it, especially since I've wanted a giraffe for a pet ever since our zoo visit.

Who's Watching Who?

J arrived home from Idaho on Wednesday after a hellish week and a half. Even though he officially did not have Thursday off, we tossed caution to the wind and went to the zoo.

The zoo + the train = pure bliss for the boys

I love O's finger in front of my face. It's how I'll remember my kids -- always curious, always finding interesting things to catch their attention. That's why there are so many pictures of the backs of them. Like these next three.

It took some convincing to get the boys to pose by this awesome elephant as it makes some weird un-elephant-like groaning noises. H would have nothing to do with it.

These were more to their liking.

I love this one

We brought a picnic lunch and sat by the zebras. The monkeys couldn't sit still long enough to get in the picture, but here is J enjoying Goldfish.

O was determined to find the giraffes. On the ride up to the zoo, when we walked in the gate, while we were eating lunch -- giraffes, giraffes, giraffes. He lost patience with us when we stopped to look at some bird and just took off by himself.

Mission accomplished, O!

More backs of the boys

This crocodile enthralled the kids no end.

And of course you can't beat the carousel

Or the giant spider in the playground

The Time Has Come for Us to Part

On Sunday I carefully dressed the Monkeys and we walked 2 blocks to the LDS chapel. The kids were phenomenal during Sacrament Meeting! They've been holding out on me. Now I know for sure that they can sit still for an hour! You can be sure I haven't let them forget it!

S was a little hesitant to go to Primary, but O went calmly and without fear to class with him, so he was ok. When H saw that they had the exact bus in Nursery that they have in Orem, he had no qualms about my leaving him in the care of strangers. Sunday School and Relief Society were so nice. I first started going to the LDS Church in NJ where membership is, to say the least, not as vigorous as in Utah. I'd forgotten what it was like going to church in a smaller ward and how much I love it! Maybe one day...

On Monday we left Gallup at 7:30AM and arrived home at 4:30PM. Mom and Dad Kim came with us as far as Moab. It was such a nice week in New Mexico.

Grandpa Kim and O


Grandpa Kim and H


Grandma Kim teaching S how to play chess (like he needs to be any smarter!)


Grandma Kim and H (trying fruitlessly to get H to fall asleep)

My "befores" and "afters"

..., Part III

We started Friday in Gallup off by making homemade strawberry ice cream. My mom has this beauty:

It's the 1.5-quart model. It is a wonderful thing. When I got back to Orem I bought this:

It's the 2-quart model because, after all, I have a growing family of all boys and you can never have too much ice cream, right? At least that's what I'm telling myself! Homemade ice cream is a part of my childhood. My mom used to make it on our back patio in NJ in one of those wooden bucket ice cream makers. She'd pack it into a big round Tupperware and stick it in the freezer to get nice and hard. I remember the imprint of the circular lid on the ice cream when she took it off. It was almost always strawberry ice cream because my dad loves strawberries. Sometimes vanilla, rarely chocolate. Anyway, back to Gallup...

Ice cream must taste better all over your face. At least H must think so.

While waiting for the ice cream to harden the kids played around on the death trap my dad has in his living room. It's a couple of Little Giant ladders, some rope, pipes, and carabiners all strung together. The Monkeys lived true to their nickname.

We drove to Window Rock, AZ to see the headquarters of the Navajo Nation. In the same area as their government buildings is this:

It is a monument to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped win WWII. It's a solemn and sacred place for the Navajos. The history of the Code Talkers is fascinating.

Also in Window Rock is the

In it are many of the animals found on Navajo lands. Seeing how disappointed O was at not seeing the Albuquerque Zoo the day before, we decided to take a look. It was impressive.

This spotted owl was in an open enclosure. Its wing was injured so it couldn't fly away.

This bobcat was raised as a housecat until it got too wild and was donated to the zoo. Can you imagine the events that made the owners determine it was "too wild"?

On the drive back to Gallup H fell asleep. Here we are lunching at Denny's. Doesn't H look so snuggly?

On Saturday my dad had to work, so Mom, Boys, and I drove to Ramah to the Farmer's Market. It was tiny -- the town and the Farmer's Market. We bought a bag of cookies and some homemade bread. My mom also purchased a drum and some organic skin balm stuff. Then we drove through Ramah looking for the museum which we heard was there. Well, we blinked and were at the other end of town. Tiny tiny town. We did locate the huge LDS Stake Center with its massive satellite dish and then almost missed the museum.

Here is a statue of a Mormon pioneer woman that was in the yard of the museum. I took the opportunity to point out to my boys that the little boy weeding was probably 4 or 5 and that's what he had to do all day -- weed alongside his hard-working pioneer mother. There is then no cause for complaints when I make them weed for 30 minutes every day. All I got in response were blank stares. Then, "But he's a statue, Mom." Oh, my children...

The museum was filled with random pictures and objects donated by people in the town. Ramah was settled by Mormon pioneers so there were a lot of pictures of the Presidents of the Church, pictures of Pioneer Day celebrations (the 24th of July, the day the Latter-Day Saints entered the Salt Lake Valley), some sacrament trays, shoes, stuff like that. My favorite were the ancient canned jam and green beans that some ladies found in their mom's home after she passed away. They were cleaning things out and decided to donate some of their mom's things to the museum. What will I have when I die that my kids will think belongs in a museum?

When we got back to Gallup the boys talked their grandma into getting into the pool with them. Aren't they all so cute (Grandma Kim included)?