Yay!

I finally received our copies of Alvor...

I think my weeding can wait a couple of hours...

Windhaven Fields (aka Woodhaven Creek)...

I have always resented the names of subdivisions. To me they are all totally ridiculous. Who makes them up anyway? Why do they even have to have names?

In Boise, our subdivision was called
"Annett Subdivision."
Now this is a practical name--all of the streets in the sub were off of Annett street. Now this makes sense to me.

Today some guys came and put up new signs outside the entrances to our subdivision. We live in
(drum roll please.......)
Woodhaven Creek Estates!
Now let me tell you a little bit about this place:

1. There is not a tree over 3' tall in the whole neighborhood. NO WOOD!
2. Creek? No, i-r-r-i-g-a-t-i-o-n ditch (not even a pretty irrigation ditch).
3. The word "estate" conjures up images of beautifully manicured lawns. When I look out the window, to the west I see AN ACRE OF DANDELIONS. To the east I see AN ACRE OF DANDELIONS. To the northwest ANOTHER ACRE OF DANDELIONS. There is a little alfalfa mixed in.

So, Taylor and I have come up with a new name for our new neighborhood. It is
WINDHAVEN FIELDS.
Actually, Taylor wants to call it
Windhaven Ditch,
but I prefer Windhaven Fields. It is a little more catchy. And the new name fits in perfectly with some of the other subdivision names in our ward boundaries (Windemere, West Wind). You have probably noticed a "wind" theme by now. Come visit us sometime and find out why first hand!

If you're going to name a place, why not do it right?

All before 7:15am...

Taylor, Bethany and I (Madi says she can't join us because it would be way too easy for her--although she was aching head to toe yesterday from playing ultimate frisbee Saturday) have been trying to get up before school and exercise. We are doing a program Bethany found called "Couch to 5K", which starts out really slow and works you up to 3 miles. If we get up 3 days a week and do it, we reward ourselves with a "healthy" treat (I think we are going for fruit smoothies).
This morning during our workout we went all the way down to the ditch bank at the back of our neighborhood, and what did we find? You guessed it--asparagus!

So I finished my little run with an asparagus torch, just like a real olympian. I even got to the stop sign first. "Couch to 5K with asparagus"--I think it might become the new, popular thing to do...

Happy Late Birthday to my little brother!

Yesterday was my brother Parley's 38th birthday! Since our family was returning from a weekend jaunt in Yellowstone of animal-watching
(I will post a slide show asap),

I didn't get to this until today.

Thirty-eight years ago on Mother's Day, I woke up early in the morning to give my mom the present I had made for her at kindergarten. I wandered through the kitchen to the bathroom where she always did her hair before church. To my surprise, I found my grandma in there instead of my mom.
She told me that my mom was at the hospital and that I had a new baby brother.

She took us (Natalie, Nathan, and me) to her house and we went to her church that day. In my Sunday school class we made cards for our mothers. But I didn't see my mom for a couple more days.Parley--I think about 2 mos. old

My dad brought her and my new brother to come pick us up at Grandma's.
This was the first time I met him. I wanted to post the picture of me holding him on that day, but I guess I don't have a copy of it. I took that picture to school with me for show and tell.

He has always been a pretty cool brother. And now he is a really cool dad. With 5 kids (including 4 year old twins), a new business, and a house that needs siding, he keeps himself plenty busy. But I can call him any time, and he'll help me out best he can. I miss him a lot since we've moved away.
Happy Birthday Parley!
I love you!

Lotz of goingz on...

Today my sister-in-law's new novel, ALVOR, was released. It is available on Amazon.com.

I haven't had the privilege of reading it as of yet, but my daughter, Madison, proofread it here and there along the way, and she thinks it is great! I ordered 2 copies for us so there would be less contention in our household as we all try to read it (and also there is free shipping with Amazon if you order $25 or more of merchandise--another good reason to order our extra copy).

We are impatiently tapping our fingers on the counter,

gazing out the front window,

waiting for them to arrive...

In other news:This last weekend my little clogging team, Yellowstone Stampede, attended Open Nationals at Lagoon. It poured for most of the day, making it not only no fun to go on rides, but literally impossible to practice anything before we got on stage to perform. All of the dancers and their families were huddled together under the pavilions trying to keep somewhat dry, running through the rain from one stage to another, depending on whether they were competing team or individual events.

It's hard to maintain a good attitude after you have to wring out your socks and dry your feet off with paper towels from the restroom.

Freestyle--Taylor and Rylee

Beginning Traditional Solo

But my kids did a great job! They placed first in their team events and did well in their individuals. Although we were soggy, we were still super!

On Sunday afternoon, John and I took a drive together up to Island Park. When we got home we had the cultural experience of trying borscht and perogies (2 traditional dishes from the eastern European/Russian region) for the first time . Borscht is a vegetable soup with a red beet and tomato base, so it is very bright. When you add a dollop of sour cream on top and mix it in, it becomes fuchsia. Perogies are a dumpling stuffed with potato, onions, and cheese.

Both were very good. Our girls prepared dinner for us while we were gone. Here is a cheesy picture of them in their aprons Grandma Sharon made them for Christmas. This is sample of what went on during our absence.

It makes you wonder a little bit...

WEEDS...

Now I remember why I was thankful when the snow came last fall...

I don't know if we can conquer this acre--and voles ate the bark off of the bottom of some of our poplars.

This is what they do for fun all winter.

(what alot of our grass looked like when the snow left)

That's what we get for buying a home built in an alfalfa field.

But who is complaining?

(okay, I guess I am a little)

...and how was your Friday?

I started out my day calling every windshield replacement shop between here and Idaho Falls. After finding the best deal, I made an appointment and struck out on my errand to fix up our "kid car" (Bethany's coming home, Madi's taking driver's ed, etc.). It only took an hour to get the windshield replaced (I hemmed Madi's easter dress while I was waiting) and things were looking pretty rosy. I then preceded on the Sam's club to replace the tires.

At Sam's club the wait was an hour and a half. Not too bad. I had a piece of pizza and a rootbeer, and then wandered around the store, shopping for this weekend (my mom and dad are coming to visit) and putting things into my cart, then changing my mind and putting them back. I managed to take up the whole hour and 1/2 doing this.

I paid for my groceries, and headed to the credit union to deposit checks from clogging classes. On my way home my phone rang--my kids. As I was hearing about what was going on, I preceded through the stop light at the corner of Hitt and Yellowstone. All of a sudden a rock flew up and smacked my new windshield on the driver's side, leaving a nice dime-size rock chip.

.

A rock chip!!!

In my new windshield!!!

I pulled into the corner gas station, exclaiming about what happened to Seth. I said good bye and turned back around, heading back to the Glass Doctor. They said that I set a new record for visits in one day.

sunny weekend...

The sun has been shining for a couple of days here now...Taylor wore shorts to school (It is supposed to be almost 60 here today--yesterday afterschool her friend Sydney thought it might be fun to run through the sprinkler--brrrrr).

Seth asked us to take him to a concert Friday night at the Colonial Theatre in I.F. for his birthday. We went to see Jake Shimabukuro. He plays the ukelele. This is the video he credits for his discovery. Check it out--he is amazing!

On Sunday after conference, John and I went for a drive up to St. Anthony to check out a little park I wanted to visit and to walk along their greenbelt. Here are a few pictures...

These homes are on the other side of the river from the park. Looks like fun, huh?

The park is on an island.

This is a cascade on one side of it.

It's a veteran's memorial park.

The Henry's Fork in St. Anthony

Today I am being very domestic: I have whole wheat bread and honey wheat bagels (w/cranberries and cashews) rising, and I am attempting to make chocolate chip cookies healthier. I am using all whole wheat flour (I ground white wheat this morning), whole oats (I grind them up in my food processor so they are more like flour), and I am substituting mashed white beans for 1/4 of the fat called for. Last time I made them, I did them just the same, but I didn't try to substitute anything for the shortening. Everyone liked them (even Madi). Hopefully they won't be able to detect the difference this time...

...(a couple of hours later) TA DA!

The cookies taste great, but their texture is different. More cake like--like a pumpkin cookie.
My recipe has 1/2 cup margarine/butter and 1/2 cup shortening. I wonder if I substituted for the margarine/butter instead of the shortening if it would make any difference. They didn't spread out well. I guess this is the result of trying to make cookies good for you.

Not too bad, but you can definitely tell--

no trying to be sneaky about it!

Just to clarify...

I sprained my ankle; it's not broken. I am getting around on it now, although somewhat slowly.
As I am speaking snow is pouring down on us. I think it is 4" thick on our stair railing. I think I'm going to take a picture and show you...shall we sing some more Christmas carols? You can see, we still have our lights up on our house
(It is too hazardous to try to take them down as of yet)--
we could turn them on to really get into the holiday spirit!
(Just kidding--John would kill me!
See his drift boat sitting in the driveway;
he wants to use it.)

Yesterday I subbed at the jr. high and the high school for the band/orchestra teacher. I had to wear flip flops because my foot with the aircast on it wouldn't fit into anything else. And yes, it snowed yesterday too.

I'm just going to have to learn more Easter carols and buy pastel-colored snow boots to match the girl's Easter dresses...

Snap...

(this is a picture of my aircast that I was fitted with last year around this time--at least I am getting a little more use out of it)

...that is the sound my ankle made last night as I missed that last step on my way out into the garage. I had my hands full--a bag of garbage in the left, my purse in the right. It was time to pick up Madi from driver's ed.

Then I was going to run into Broulim's and grab some milk and eggs.

Then get John and Madi off to Scouts and Mutual.

Then finish ironing some stuff.

Then start cleaning up the room Bethany is coming to reside in.

Then finish sewing easter dresses.

Then get ready for clogging lessons for Wednesday afternoon...but now...

I'm grounded.

So I have to cancel substituting for tomorrow and Friday (kindergarten--I don't think so), and Madi will teach my classes this afternoon while I supervise.

Nothing like a little injury to slow down life.

I'm spending my day crawling and hopping from one place to another.

It makes one appreciate carpet.

I'm going to find Taylor's volleyball kneepads...