Our Favorite Boston Picture!

As we were totally lost in Boston returning from Lexington and Concord on Wednesday, we were driving along the Charles River and came across this idyllic view of the city with the sunset. Surprisingly we were able to find a parking spot in the perfect place, so we could preserve the view in our memories. Our only regret is that we didn't stop one of the passing runners to take a picture. If Glen had been in it, there's a good chance you would see this picture again in your Christmas cards. Oh well!

FYI I think we're finally installing our new computer and upgrading to DSL (can you believe we've had dial-up internet this whole time?). I have no idea how long it will take me to get up and running again, but I may be off-line for a couple of days.

Boston Adventures Part 5: The Way Home

We heard stories about how delicious real Bostonian ice cream was, and being a family full of sweet tooths we decided that before we left we needed to sample some for ourselves. We made it a goal to go to a non-chain ice cream shop, so we could taste the real Bostonian deal. After a consultation with our hotel's concierge, we headed off to a real tasty sounding ice cream shop...JP Licks (doesn't the name sound like it would be a yummy place?).
After a long frustrating ordeal, getting checked out of our hotel and looking for a place to eat lunch first, we finally got to our destination, JP Licks. We excitedly ordered, collapsed into a booth, and began enjoying some delicious, creamy ice cream when we notice on the wall, all of the accolades the restaurant has received...in various cities. Darn it! Definitely a chain. Oh well, so we didn't get true Bostonian ice cream, it was still tasty, and as far as I know not in Virginia.
We had given each of the children an allotment of money to buy their souvenirs with. Adam, in particular, had a hayday with this and cheerfully frittered his allotment on a wide sundry of items to include: a penguin pen holder, a lobster magnet, a squishy Red Sox ball and bat, and a box of Scooby Doo Band-Aids. He carried his items with him everywhere and showed them off to anyone who would pay attention. Of course now that we're home I'd be shocked if he knew where any of them are.

We got out of Boston a little later than we hoped and got caught in the afternoon rush hour leaving Boston. Finally free of Boston we got caught in an awful NYC back-up. What should've been an 8 hour trip became 11 hours...bringing us home at 2am.

The kids all sacked out pretty well, but since Glen was leaving for Asia at 9am that same morning, Glen & I had to unload the car, do laundry, and get him packed, etc. before he left. The math isn't tricky...that didn't leave much time for sleeping for Glen and me.

It really was a wonderful trip and though I felt like we crammed so many fun things into our trip, we already have a long list forming for what we'd like to see and do next time we get to visit again.

Boston Adventures Part 4: Duck Tour--Quack!

On our final day in Boston we decided that we would try one their famous "Duck Tours". These unusual looking vehicles are actual amphibious vehicles from World War 2, and really drive on the streets and then down a ramp into the Charles River where it becomes a boat. People on the streets quack and wave liberally whenever of these "ducks" drives by, and the guides encourage the passengers to respond with our own loud quacks.

Despite our guide's constant jabs at the male gender (or maybe because of them °Ü° ), and frequent insults of people on the street, she really was hilarious and very informative. We saw the entire city in 90 minutes and the best part of all for the kids...

she let them actually drive the boat!

Spence, Cam, and Emma actually had to use their skills and steered...Spence even guided the boat under a bridge between the pilings. Adam & Ellie (our guide kept calling her "Cindy Lou Who") just moved the steering wheel back and forth in the open water and loved every second of it.

PS If you never saw Part 3 of our Boston Adventures, because it got covered up by a little sibling rivalry...just look past all the goofy posts and you'll find it.

Wow you've just witnessed a Blog War!

For all of you who aren't blood relatives you're probably quite confused by this rash of strange (and untrue) postings. Apparently we all know our siblings a bit too well when we know their internet passwords and can post goofy things on their blogs in their behalf.

All in good fun!

Amazing!

Kristina posted a similar one about me, but when I saw it I went and switched it back so the joke was on her.  

My sister's been feeling a little under the weather lately so she decided to go to the doctor this morning. I am still in shock over what the doctor told her. The doctor said she is expecting QUADRUPLETS!

She's never taken fertility drugs or anything! I thought it would take ages for anyone to catch up to me in family size. Seriously I am very excited for her and hope that she will take this opportunity to move closer to family, so we can help.

My Teenage Secret

Most of you don't know what a problem I had with facial hair as a teenager.

Delicious Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe is from my friend, Karen, who is well known in our ward for her superior bread making skills. Not only is she consummate teacher of the bread making class, but she is generous in sharing her delicious creations with those of us lucky enough to serve in Primary with her.

CINNAMON ROLLS

2 1/4 cups hot water + 1/2 cup evaporated milk
OR
3 cups hot water + 1/2 cup powdered milk

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dry potatoes (potato flakes)
2 eggs
2 Tbs. yeast
4 + cups flour

Mix all dry ingredients (except flour and yeast). Then add the water/milk and the eggs. Mix. Then add 1 cup bread flour, then the yeast, and finally the rest of flour. Knead well.

Place dough in greased bowl, covered and let rise for 1 hour (Cami skips this step with seemingly no ill effects).

Roll out dough flat and then brush well with melted butter and then sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture (2 Tbs. cinnamon + 1/2 cup sugar). Roll up and cut into slices. Allow to raise, then bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes. Wait 5 minutes before frosting. Serve warm!

Frosting: 1/2 cup butter
1 lb. powdered sugar (~4 cups)
1 tsp. vanilla
3-4 Tbs. milk

Now you can see why we were so amazed at Cami not only attempting such a feat in the first place, but also succeeding wildly in creating them perfectly soft and delicious!!!

If you want to read about Cami's first experience baking these click here.

Who me?

Do I look like someone who would post old pictures on
my siblings' blogs?

Boston Adventures Part 3: The Freedom Trail

So one of the cool things about Boston is the Freedom Trail, which is essentially a red brick path that winds through the city taking you past most of the popular sites. It's perfect for tourists, because you can't get lost as long as you stay on the path.

One thing that is for certain is that just like a lot of the great historical cities, there sure are a lot of statues in Boston. This donkey was a favorite, because it wasn't of a war hero.

We also enjoyed seeing lots more Paul Revere sites, and hearing all about the historical inaccuracies of the "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere".


















The pictures are :
1--Old North Church where the two lanterns were hung in the belfry chamber to signal the minutemen that the British were coming by sea
2--Paul Revere's home where he lived with his 16 children
3--Paul Revere's grave where he...well you know (if you look really closely you can see the remnants of my Aunt Valerie's knee, who left it there while a missionary a few years ago)

We ended the night at the Union Oyster House, the longest continually running restaurant in America ( the picture turned out too dark, so you'll have to imagine what an old Bostonian restaurant might look like with our family and 2 friends standing in front of it).

We had high hopes when we saw the high prices, but alas when we found the bug struggling for life on Cami's lettuce we got a little nervous. Then when my meal was served about 5 minutes after everyone else was finished with theirs, we were wondering how they had stayed in business so long.

The silver lining to all this and the answer to our question about the longevity of their restaurant, was that they did not charge us for Cami's or my dinners and they bought us all dessert on the house. So we got some official Boston Cream Pie, which was quite tasty and put us in a better frame of mind for tipping.

Happy Birthday Glen!!!

Glen is currently half way around the world,
flying from Hong Kong to Shanghai.
But I wanted to wish him a very happy 36th birthday!

Glen and the girls at the Boston Temple.


We love you Daddy! Happy Birthday!

Boston Adventures Part 2: Listen my children and you shall hear...

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.

For whatever reason, my kids (especially Emma & Adam) LOVE this poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. We have a nice illustrated book version of it and it is chosen several times a week for me to read to them. Cami and Emma have the first three stanzas memorized. Anyway...when they found out we were going to Boston it was just expected that we would see anything and everything related to Paul Revere. This would include a trek to Lexington and Concord where Paul Revere rode to and where the Revolutionary War began the next day after his ride.

So this became our plan for day #2 in Boston which dawned with cloudy skies and the threat of imminent rain. Glen was busy with his work conference and having heard horror stories about driving around in Boston, we hopped onto the Metro and then onto a city bus to Lexington. Since we didn't have a car to get us around to the sites we thought we'd sign up for one of the tour buses that takes you around.

As you can see from the picture our guide was dressed for the part, but unfortunately lacked the liveliness that accompanied his clothing. It was informative, but not interactive and did not allow us to get out and explore any of the sites. So once the tour was done I realized that this trip would not be very exciting for the kids unless we could do some real exploring.

So we called Glen and talked him into joining us in the car. So while we waited for him we found that even the fire hydrants in Lexington were patriotic.


Now we finally got to get out and see everything up close in person. Here is where Paul Revere was captured that night between Lexington and Concord.

This is where the Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775 with the infamous "shot heard round the world".

Wow! This trip reminded me why I love living in the East. In the time it would take to drive from SLC to Denver we passed through Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark, NYC, Stamford, New Haven, Providence, and Boston.
Our kids go on field trips to Jamestown, Yorktown, Richmond, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and of course our own beloved Washington DC...places I only read about in history books. It's amazing the powerful impressions that seeing and experiencing history has made in my own life and in the lives of our children.

Boston Adventures Part 1: Make Way For Ducklings

One of my favorite books when I was a young girl was the classic, "Make Way For Ducklings". When I realized that the book takes place in Boston, I thought it would be fun to bring the book along to share it with the kids.

We had an uneventful drive up to Boston, arriving right around midnight. So first thing on Tuesday morning I was so excited to take them to Boston Commons to read them the book while we were in the actual setting (okay I admit I may be a little funny that this would be the first thing I would choose to see in a city like Boston). °Ü°

Now I figured that there would be some ducks, but I had no idea how many there really would be. There were ducks everywhere (and a couple of swans too) and the kids were enamored.

So right when I was reading them the part about the swan boats (remember...Mrs. Mallard thinks it's a real swan) we look up and right in front of us is a passing swan boat that looks EXACTLY like the swan boats in the illustrations. The kids were completely tickled (especially Ellie, Emma, and Adam).
Of course then we had to take a ride on the swan boats. Surprisingly the rides were not the tourist trap they could've been and only cost $1.25 for the kids to ride and $2.75 for adults. The "driver" actually pedals the boat around, so it is quite a lumbering, peaceful ride. We highly recommend it!

Just when we thought we were all done with the duckling fever and we are walking out of the Public Gardens we find these cute little statues built as a tribute to the author and illustrator, Robert McCloskey.
There's the Mom duck and her eight little ducklings, Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack, which just cried out for my own five little ducklings to go and sit upon them.

All in all--a very fun beginning to our Boston adventures!

Spontaneous trip to Boston...

School let out on Monday and Glen had a work conference up in Boston on Tuesday. Since we'd never been to Boston before we decided to tag along with him and take advantage of a hotel room paid for courtesy of Glen's work.
Boston is a gorgeous city full of fascinating history and we've done our best to see it all. We've logged a lot of miles on our walking shoes and walked through 3 thunderstorms, but we're all still hanging in there!
The only negative is that the kids are completely wired trying to sleep in the hotel room. Ellie goes to bed each night and spends about an hour, no kidding, giggling and trying to initiate conversations with the rest of us. Throwing her pillow and blankie out of her bed are also popular bed time delayers. I don't think anyone's been to bed before 11pm all week. And lucky me --Glen leaves for Asia on Saturday, so I'll get the exhausted kids by myself at home.
Look for pictures and updates sometime this weekend or Monday.

Chunky guys and Father's day tradition

So we have this funny Father's day tradition in our house. Every year we buy an assortment of candy bars and make Glen a message using the names of the candy. The kids love it, Glen tolerates it in good humor, and the results are always entertaining.This year I gave complete free license to the kids to create it (mostly Cami) and here's what they came up with:

Dear Daddy,
We DOVE you MOUNDS and you love BUTTERFINGERS. You are a FAST BREAK and you will SKOR in the BIG CUP over the CHUNKY guys. MR. GOODBAR is an AIRHEAD but you are a NERD. On PAYDAY you will send Mommy on a shopping SPREE.
Love,
Your SWEETTARTS

Glen was grateful that they used the dangerous adjective "CHUNKY" in a nice way!

We love you Daddy! Happy Father's Day!