Impulse Buying

Today I invited Cora and Kal to come run some errands with me and Grandma Sue.  Cora always wants to get out of her house, so she came readily along, and Kal loves me and always wants to be with me, so he was happy to come, too.  We went to IFA to buy some birdfood, a new shovel, and an edger/weed whacker.  While all those are good things to buy, Cora had her eye on this very spiffy riding lawn mower.  "Look Grantie Kake!" she said.  "I driving!"  Who wouldn't want a bright yellow riding lawn mower, whatever the size of your yard?  I certainly did.  And if that price tag that says $299.99 was for the one Cora's sitting on, I would have bought it in a minute.  But it's not.  Sadly, Cora had to be content to NOT buy this cool thing she was driving, and settle for a weed whacker.  She was comforted by the baby chicks we oohed and aahed over, but I didn't get a picture of this sweet girl, or Kal, with the sweet little animals because you weren't supposed to touch any of the animals, and I had to devote all my time to keeping little fingers away from little creatures.  I'm happy to report, I didn't buy any of those, either.

Endgame, Finally

For weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks, Brandt has been desperate to see Endgame.  We have watched the trailers, Brandt has read online theories about what will be in the film, and I, of course, watched Infinity War in preparation.  Brandt watched with me.  Kent, too.  Paul Moreland got advance tickets for the opening night and invited Brandt to go with him, and Brandt was horrified to learn that we were going to be in Idaho on opening night and he wouldn't be able to go.  He begged me to get tickets in Idaho so we could still see it on opening night, but as we didn't really know what was going to be going on, I told him he was going to have to wait.  He'd waited months already, what was a few more days? 

Before going to Idaho, I purchased tickets online for this afternoon, only four days after opening.  We invited Paul who happily joined us for his second viewing, and we went with great expectation.  I will admit that I cried on and off through the movie, from the opening scene to the end, and was only disappointed by one thing.  There were issues that didn't make sense, but we all liked it, and I think Brandt will be able to sleep soundly tonight, having had Endgame resolution.  My favorite parts were the mention of America's a**, fat Thor, "Hail Hydra," Captain America being worthy to wield Mjolnir, and Ironman's last line. Good stuff.  Here's to movies that suck you in and make you want more and more. 

Funny Children

Kent: What's that on your face?

Brandt, without skipping a beat: The blood of my enemies!

Home Again, Home Again

Sunday morning.  We always go to church on Sundays, and today was no different.  We drove home, but we went to church before we started.  The Brunsons' ward starts at noon, but we felt that was a bit late to get on the road when we had six hours of driving ahead of us, so we opted to go to the 10:30 ward.  Before going, Brandt, Blythe, and Sid played a game called Dead of Winter.  It's a zombie game.  Brandt loved it!  He wants one for our very own.  I packed up gear and food and stripped beds and practically used the cattle prod to get everyone moving in the direction of church and the car.  We said our goodbyes to the Brunsons and were all sad to be parting ways.  They were absolutely wonderful and made us feel just like family.  We are family, but as we didn't know them before Thursday, we went into the weekend feeling like we weren't.  It was so nice to discover we have family near Boise we would happily see again and again.

Church was nice.  Big ward.  There were two missionaries who spoke; one going out and the other returning.  The one going out gave the better talk.  He was brief and concise.  The one returning rambled and didn't seem to have a real focus to his comments.  And at 11:35, after changing our clothes, we got on the road.  It was lunchtime and everyone was hungry, but true to form, Kent didn't want to stop and get anything to eat.  We had roadtrip munchies, so he encouraged us to eat those and promised we would stop someplace else later.  When we got to Tremonton, he stopped, but by then we were in Utah and nothing was open on Sunday.  So we just kept driving.  This meant I had to prepare something for us to eat at the end of a long drive, late in the evening, when I had made an effort to clean out the fridge because we were going to be gone for several days.  I need to remember this quirk about Kent and pack sandwiches or something else substantial so we have food on the road. 

In addition to not having real food, we also had nothing to entertain ourselves with.  I hadn't been able to download a book to read aloud, we had read the only one we had, and there is very little to see between Boise and Tremonton, then only the usual boring stuff between Tremonton and home.  The kids got really, really froggy, which is not surprising but was still very irritating.  We needed more to grab their attention or entertain them.  More planning necessary on this entertainment front for the next trip, too.

All in all, it was a great weekend--a true celebration with family we love.  Here's to the next wedding, which will actually be at the beginning of June when Josh marries Makenna.  Bring on the romance and temple weddings!

A Wedding

This morning was Ethan and Callie's wedding, the reason for our trip to Idaho.  The Meridian Temple was only about ten minutes away from the Brunson's house, so our morning prep was low key.  Blythe didn't want to have to come and hang around outside waiting while nothing was happening, Amy had some errands to run, so she agreed to keep Blythe.  What a pal!

Brandt was eager to attend the temple and do baptisms with cousin Micah.  On this Saturday morning, we worried that the baptistry might be really busy, but when we walked in with Brandt, he and Micah were the only patrons.  Micah was able to baptize Brandt, and they did some family names.  How fantastic is that?

The rest of us went upstairs for the sealing.  Ethan and Callie both looked radiantly happy.  Ethan never quit smiling.  But what's not to smile about on your wedding day?  I love being with family in the temple, especially when we are performing ordinances for family members or enjoying a live something.  It was great to be together.  Michelle had flown in from Missouri, Lee and Cammie and David and Sharon had driven up from Utah, so we were a decent showing of Barrus Family supporters.

After the sealing we went to lunch and had a great time continuing to visit.  James and Alisa joined us for a bit and we chatted with them, too.  We don't see them enough; Florida is far away.  We ate well and then went outside for a picture.  We need more group Barrus photos for the family photobook that I put together at Christmas.  We had Brandt take the picture of all the Barri adults who were there, and he took several of himself as well.  He's a teaser teaser.

Selfies taken when he was supposed to be taking the adults' picture.

With the happy couple.

I didn't take another picture the rest of the day.  In between lunch and evening festivities, David and Sharon, Lee and Cammie, and Michelle all visited with the Brunsons.  They came back from their travels and we were able to talk and get to know them better.  Until this afternoon, we hadn't actually seen Richard and Lynn at all.  They are as kind and gracious as Amy has been, and it was fun to chat.  Amy had made homemade bread, so we ate and talked and talked and ate.  Yum!

The wedding reception at the ranch house involved dinner, dancing, and general good feelings.  The Youngs had smoked and grilled tri tip, had baked beans and salad, plus lots of desserts including a chocolate fountain.  It was all delicious!  We did more talking and met a nice woman who lives outside Boise and has worked with the youth for many years.  The children ran around with other children running around, and the casual atmosphere meant we were all comfortable in our jeans.  As we were preparing to go, the wind kicked up and began blowing stuff away, but we leapt in the car and escaped the storm.  I sort of figured that someone would post a picture of the bride and groom at the temple, or at the party, or something, but I haven't seen anything and didn't take a picture myself.  Oh well.  As long as I get one for the family photobook.

We got to take Michelle back to the hotel where she is staying, so we got to talk to her more.  I keep writing about all the talking, but that really was the best part.  We don't see many of these people very often, so to be together and have the chance to really catch up is such a treat.  The kids wanted to get home so they could hang out with Sid and Jake, but we got back late and it was bedtime.  

Idaho, Day 2

After a bit of a lie-in, we joined Amy and the boys for breakfast.  What a hostess.  She made us waffles!  We talked some more, and Amy mentioned that her father-in-law processes skulls for people.  He's got these flesh-eating beetles and the uses to strip a skull, and then he preserves them somehow.  The whole process sounded fascinating, something I had certainly never thought of doing.  Then Amy let drop that she has a whole skull collection.  What?! This was all too intriguing to not see, so she brought up a large box full of skulls.  She showed us all sorts of animals, big and small, and we compared and contrasted.  She had mice and voles, a skunk, a beaver, a bobcat, and several bears.  Some were roadkill, others were from a hunt.  All of them were super interesting and we learned all sorts of things as she shared them with us. We saw the olfactory pockets, the suture lines along the plates, and guessed what the animal might be and if they were herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores. 

These are all bear skulls.

You can tell age not only by size, but by how closed the suture lines between plates are.

We came to Idaho a day earlier than we really needed to because we were certain there would be things to see and do.  We wanted to help with any wedding preparations, too, so we planned the day's activities based on James and Alisa's needs.  We agreed to meet James, Ethan, Murray, and Cory around lunch time to pick up tables and chairs, but that gave us a bit of time in the morning.  Not too far from Eagle where we were staying was the Warhawk Air Museum.  We thought we'd give that a try.

The museum is really interesting.  It began as a place to see old military aircraft, but then people began dropping off WWII memorabilia.  The founders saw a need to preserve history from a personal perspective, and the focus of the museum changed.  Donations from community members are on display with the goal of educating future generations about national and local history.  Families of local veterans and the veterans themselves have donated one-of-a-kind collections of uniforms, photos, medals, gear and written narratives describing battle experiences.  Personal histories are attached to display cases, and the museum invites veterans to come and have their stories recorded and preserved, both at the museum and at the National Library in Washington, DC. 

We saw a wedding dress made from a parachute, read telegrams and letters, and saw lots of uniforms, medals, and military equipment from WWI through the Cold War.  Although not huge, there was an extensive collection of all sorts of fascinating things.  It was definitely worth our time.  The children even liked it.  The museum offered a scavenger hunt throughout, so Brandt and Blythe went searching for certain items and received a small prize when they had found everything. 

I thought his war era song was hilarious.  

The "chicken" mentioned in the title is a girl.

I found the song on youtube and we listened as we stood there and followed along.

I took two pictures of Kent and Brandt standing in front of his large display.

In the first one, Kent's eyes are open, but the picture was blurry.

So this is the one I'll keep for posterity, even though Kent's eyes are closed.

This is Morse Code machine.

Blythe is tapping out her name.

I read a super interesting book called When Books Went to War about small, military editions of books sent overseas to troops to help them fight boredom between sorties.

They had to be small enough to fit in a pocket or backpack, paperback of course, and were about all sorts of different subjects--fiction and non-fiction both.

They were fantastically popular.

I had never seen an actual copy of the books, and was delighted to find several of them throughout the museum.

Blythe and Brandt are trying to put together Legos with rubber gloves on.

This simulates how astronauts must work with small parts in space.

Brandt is kneeling next to this big gun and it looks like he is firing it, 

even though there are numerous signs that say, "Please Do NOT Touch."

He wasn't touching.

He's close, but there is no actual contact.

Just saying.

Brandt Morse Coding.

Fortuitously, we finished at the museum just as James and his boys were headed to lunch rather close to us.  We met up at Wendy's and caught up on everyone's activities.  We then followed them to the table/chair rental place to pick up 20 tables and 120 chairs for the reception tomorrow at Callie's parent's house.  They are ranchers with over a thousand head of cattle, and the festivities were going to be at the ranch house.  We drove a long way out of town into the country to get there, but enjoyed the passing farmland.  While the big boys off-loaded, Brandt and Blythe ran around and I helped cut up fruit.  We visited a bit, then agreed to meet up again for dinner.

The late afternoon was spent with adults talking and the kids all board gaming.  I did join in playing Bears-vs-Babies, a very silly game akin to Exploding Kittens, but mostly the kids played and the adults gabbed.  For dinner, we met up at the house James and Alisa were staying at and had Chinese food with all the Barri and the Fredericksons.  Lots of people all together to celebrate Ethan and Callie.  It's so fun to be family we don't often see, doing things we haven't ever done before.

Roadtrip to Boise, Day 1

A roadtrip!  We almost never go on a road trip.  In fact, the six hours that it takes to get to Boise might be the farthest we've ever gone with the children on a road trip in the car.  We've flown, of course, but not driven.  We have come to Boise and environs for the marriage of nephew/cousin Ethan to the lovely Callie Young from Meridian. 

Six hours is a long way to go, and Kent and I have both been concerned about the drive, though we've had different worries.  Kent has been concerned about our car and taking it so far away (it's leaking something), so he suggested we rent a car.  I agreed.  I've been concerned about keeping the children engaged in something other than mind-numbing screen time, so went to the library to get several books on CD that we could all enjoy.  I also got one book we could read aloud, a book by our favorite young persons author, Kate DiCamillo.  I told the children to put together various things they could do, making them responsible for themselves, and I packed lots and lots of road trip munchies.  

I'm happy to report that the car worked beautifully during the whole trip.  It was practically brand new, had few miles, and was comfortable.  I'm unhappy to report that it did NOT have a CD player because it is practically brand new and cars these days don't have CD players.  There were charging ports and Bluetooth so we could connect the phone to the car and listen to books I'd downloaded, only I hadn't downloaded any books.  While we drove to Boise, we talked and watched the world go by until Tremonton, but past there, between the Utah/Idaho border and Boise, there is very little to see.  So I read the one book I had brought, Louisiana's Way Home.  It was wonderful, we loved it, and I was so happy we had it.  I'm not sure what we'll do on the way home.

I had looked up things to do in Boise because I knew we would arrive Thursday and wedding wasn't until Saturday.  If we had time, I thought we might see something.  I read about the Boise Fry Company, an upscale burger joint where the fries are the stars of the show.  They offer five or six different kinds of potatoes cut in unusual ways, 12 flavored salts, and nearly 20 flavored ketchups and fry sauces.  Sounds delicious, right?  We had to give it a try.   We arrived in Boise close to dinner time and discovered that the Boise Fry Company was very near the Idaho state capitol.  Needing to stretch our legs and go to the bathroom, we wandered into and around the capitol, looking at various exhibits and learning interesting things about Idaho.  Having wandered and peed, we went to eat.  I was a bit underwhelmed by the fries, but the burger was delicious.  We all agreed it was a fine stop for dinner, but not life changing.

My turkey burger (delicious!!) with purple potato fries, and regular slightly boring, slightly undercooked fries.  

The fry sauces were interesting.

I especially liked the blueberry fry sauce.

Last year, at the funeral of his aunt, Kent's cousin Richard Brunson, invited us to come stay with him and his wife in Boise.  We had no real plans to go to Boise, so Kent didn't even mention it to me.  However, when the wedding was going to be in Meridian, Kent said, "Why don't we see if we can stay with cousin Richard for the weekend.  He said he's got a really big house with plenty of room for us."  Not knowing Richard at all, I told Kent I would leave that decision up to him, and sort of secretly hoped it wouldn't work out.  I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of staying with people we didn't know, even if they are family.  But Kent thought it sounded great, it wasn't going to cost us anything (a solid perk), and it turns out, they were ten minutes from the Meridian Temple where the wedding was being held.  So he called Richard who assured us that they would love to have us stay, and then said they wouldn't even be there until Saturday afternoon, so we wouldn't be putting anyone out.  

That all sounded much better than I thought it would be, so we planned on staying.  When Kent spoke to Richard to finalize arrangements, Richard said his daughter, Amy, would let us in.  We should just call her when we were maybe half an hour away, so she knew we were coming.  That gave me the impression that she lived close by and would come open the house for us.  

Turns out, Amy and her husband Phil and their two sons, Sid and Jake, live at the house.  They are in the basement, but they all share a kitchen, and so they are there, all the time.  I called her to tell her we were half an hour away, and she said, "No problem.  I'm home.  We're waiting for you."  That gave me pause because I didn't want to be putting anyone out.  I needn't have worried, however, because Amy was absolutely wonderful.  She and Sid met us upon arrival with warm chocolate chip cookies and friendly smiles.  Sid and Jake are only a year ahead of each of our kids, and while they are both very shy, Sid warmed up quickly to Brandt.  They were delightful and welcoming and made us feel like family, which we are, but we haven't known them at all.  After a tour of the house (it is a big house and there was plenty of room for us) and a bit of settling in, we talked and talked and walked around the big block with the dogs that initially freaked out Blythe until she realized how friendly they were.

We are pleased to be in Idaho to celebrate a marriage, and to see new and interesting things we've never seen before.

In the bedroom where the children are sleeping, 

there is a closet full of dress ups.

Brandt came down and modeled this most exciting ensemble.

He's such a lovely young woman!

A Pout

This morning.

8:39am.

We have dropped Brick off at school and are almost home.

Cora is sitting in the next-door neighbor's driveway.

She doesn't want to go home.

She never wants to go home.

She is having a pout that we have to go in.

This is not an isolated incident.

Auntie Niece-y Date

Mikayla took Blythe out tonight.  I was having dinner with friends, Kent and Brandt had young men, and Blythe was all alone.  I knew Mikayla had some running around to do this evening, so I asked if Blythe could tag along.  Mikayla was good with that, so she and Blythe went to run errands.  But they also stopped at Waffle Love for a tasty treat which made the more mundane part of the evening much more tolerable.  Mikayla reported that Blythe talked and talked, and Blythe reported that the waffle was delicious.  I'm grateful for the positive influence of my sister in my daughter's life.

Scripture Study Buddy

Kal helped Kent with his scripture study this morning.

It's my big boyfriend with my small boyfriend.

Love! Love! Love!

Little People I Love

Today, in my position as a member of the Provo City School District Foundation Board, we made surprise visits to school district employees who have been selected as Outstanding Educators.  I had Cora and Kal along for the ride, giving Mikayla a bit of a break and the kids a bit of an outing.  One of our visits was to Provo Peaks, where Lyla goes to school.  We asked where her class was and if we could say hello to her while we were there.  It was so fun to see her.  Cora was delighted, and Lyla was pleased to see us, too.  My friend and colleague, Carolyn Wright, snapped a couple of pictures of us saying hello, and then sent them to me.  I was delighted with the photos!

Easter

This year, I wanted our Easter to be more focused on the Savior and celebrating his atonement, death, and resurrection.  In the week before Easter, I wanted to read the scriptures that coincided with each day from the triumphal entry through Christ's last teachings to his disciples, his time in the Garden of Gethsemane, his death, and then his joyous resurrection.  It didn't happen quite like I had hoped, but we did read together several days, and we certainly didn't make it only about Easter candy.  Next year, I'm going to start earlier and try to find some more Christ focused activities that will engage the children.

I also wanted to be more vocal in sharing my testimony of Jesus Christ on a social media platform, so I posted the following on both Instagram and Facebook.  I'm wanting to be a voice for Christ and his gospel in a world that is becoming increasingly more secular.

I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives! He lives, he lives who once was dead. He lives to plead for me above. He lives to bless in time of need. He lives to silence all my fears. He lives to calm my troubled heart. He lives, my kind, wise heav'nly Friend. He lives and loves me to the end. He lives, and I shall conquer death. He lives! All glory to his name! He lives, my Savior, still the same. Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: "I know that my Redeemer lives!"

We had a lovely church meeting.  Our speakers were good and the choir sang a beautiful number that really brought the spirit.  I wish we sang more for our Easter meeting, much like we do at Christmas.  There are great Easter songs which we really only sing once a year, and I think we should sing more. 

We did gather with the DeMartinis for dinner and an egg hunt on Sunday afternoon.  I was assigned to bring rolls, but instead, I made braided bread that Heather Helquist had taught the Relief Society how to make at this month's meeting.  I really wanted it to work, and it did!  It was beautiful and delicious and I was delighted with how it turned out.  Not only did I make fantastic bread, I also made pomegranate gelato and roasted asparagus.  I told all the other food preparers that I hoped their contributions measured up to mine because it was all delish!

The egg hunt was exciting and filled the candy quota without a hitch.  Mom had hoped we could share feelings about Christ to add a spiritual dimension to our gathering, and that sort of happened, but only with the adults.  When we are all together, it's hard to corral the children to sit still and participate in a calmer activity.  The adults, however, talked and shared.  It was all a lovely day.

Bread prep and final product.

Beautiful AND delicious! 

At 3:00pm, the heavens opened and poured rain.

Poured!

I wondered if we would be able to do an egg hunt.

But as is normal in Utah, the weather changed quickly and was fine when we got to the egg hunt.

Brandt had neither basket nor bag for his eggs.

He just put them in his hoodie pocket.

Me, in my Easter bonnet, with Thea who quiet enjoyed being outside.

The grandchildren, less Bryan's kids.