I am officially a mean mom!

I don't buy over-the-top sugary cereals. But I do buy cereal like: Frosted Mini-Wheats, Honey Nut Cheerios and Honey Bunches of Oats. I guess that words like "wheat" and "honey" make me feel like the cereal is at least remotely healthy.

While I am being nominated for mean mom of the year award, Ryan is a finalist for "Brother of the Year"!

Today Evan received a package from his big brother. Can you guess what was inside?
A box of Lucky Charms sent all the way from Rexburg, Idaho.

Ryan, if you're taking orders, Marianne wants Cookie Crisps.

What's Your Favorite Treat?

I had a real treat this weekend.
It was better than chocolate.

I got to spend the whole long weekend alone with my husband!
We took a trip to Portland and had a fabulous time.

We got to the car rental agency about 1:00 AM. They only had 3 cars left: a 15 passenger van, a Hummer and this Chevy Trailblazer. I probably would have picked the Hummer (especially once I saw that it was RED) but I'm sure the Trailblazer was more comfortable. John was so pleased because we got the Trailblazer for the economy car rate of $12 a day. (I must say he finds amazing deals!) In the parking garage it looked black and we were surprised the next day to find that it was actually eggplant colored. I named her "Eggie" and she was a great ride. I won't even mention the flat tire, except to say that it happened right next to a Firestone dealer, and it gave us just enough time to eat lunch at a great little Thai place while they repaired the tire.

Eggie took us to the beautiful Multnomah Falls.

We walked up to the bridge and then continued the hike up the mountain to the top of the falls.

The hike was quite steep, but we had some incredible views of the Columbia River along the way. We were surprised to see so many people brought their dogs along. One man even had his cat on a leash. Those Oregonians love their pets!

After our hike we had lunch at the lodge there. A tour group of senior citizens was having lunch at the same time. They were served a peach cobbler for dessert. It looked yummy so John asked if we could order some. The waitress said it was specially made for the group and there wasn't any available. When we finished eating the waitress came over with two cobblers in her hand and said, "Hey, I have a couple of extras. You can have them if you don't tell anyone."

Next we drove to Mount Hood. It is a volcano and they have year round skiing there because of the glacier. We had done enough hiking, so we didn't head up that mountain! They have an amazing Timberline Lodge which is a National Historic Landmark. It was built during the Great Depression as a Federal Works Project. The craftsmen did a beautiful job and everything was done onsite. The timber and stone is local and even the metal was forged there.

Here's John at Mt. Hood

The next day we went to the Portland Temple. The temple was lovely inside and out.

The flowers were gorgeous and I got a good shot of this bee about to take off!

We had a great time walking around downtown Portland. We loved the wonderful architecture and we saw both extremes in shopping. We went to the Saturday Market which is an outdoor type of bazaar with lots of dreadlocks, loud music and incense. Then we headed over to Nordstrom's where I found this great blouse for only $1395.00. (Yes, I did get the decimal point in the right place.) Oh and we saw people shopping in Nordstrom's with their very large, unleashed dogs.

The Japanese Gardens were so serene and peaceful. And their gift shop was a little more in our price range (as a bonus, there was no incense burning!)

As long as we were in the garden mode, we headed over to the Rose Test Gardens where they have hundreds of varieties of roses. They try them out and decide which ones will be sold to the public. I have never seen so many different colors or smelled so many different fragrances in a garden!

We were also able to visit my Grandpa Jerry and his wife Felicia. Felicia made us a delicious Italian dinner and Grandpa Jerry let us play with his Christmas present--a mini pinscher named Sophie. You can see her below chewing on my foot. And yes, she is a typical Oregonian pet who goes to work with my Grandpa every day.

Thanks to my sweetie for taking me on such a wonderful weekend getaway!

If you made it to the end of this long post, I have a few questions for you:
Have you ever been to Portland? What did you see there?
Which rental car would you have picked?
What is your favorite color rose?
Will you promise not to tell anyone about the peach cobbler?
Have you ever taken your dog shopping?

Happy Constitution Day!

Today is the 221st anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States of America.I am grateful to the founding mothers and fathers of our country. I am grateful to the many people who have sacrificed so that the constitution of our country could be written, ratified and upheld.

Brigham Young wrote,

When the day comes in which the Kingdom of God will bear rule, the flag of the United States will proudly flutter unsullied on the flag staff of liberty and equal rights, without a spot to sully its fair surface; the glorious flag our fathers have bequeathed to us will then be unfurled to the breeze by those who have power to hoist it aloft and defend its sanctity.

How long will it be before the words of the prophet Joseph will be fulfilled? He said if the Constitution of the United States were saved at all it must be done by this people. It will not be many years before these words come to pass.

What are we doing to save and protect the founding document of our country?

Protect Marriage, Protect the Future

Here's the truth: I really don't like talking to "strangers". Maybe my parents trained me really well, or maybe I'm just not very friendly. Either way, I'm not the kind of person who usually starts a conversation with someone in line at the grocery store.

So what am I doing out knocking on doors all over my neighborhood?
I'm trying to be a good citizen, uphold the sanctity of marriage and make a better future for my children and grandchildren.

In the past few weeks while I've been out talking to people about Proposition 8, I've met just a few nasty people and lots of wonderful, friendly folks who may or may not agree with me. I can respect people who say, "I've studied this issue and I believe I need to vote no on prop 8." I completely disagree with them, but I respect them.

The saddest and scariest part has been meeting people who are apathetic or indifferent. I've encountered people who say things like, "Well, I'm not registered to vote. I'm just too lazy" or "I don't care about politics. It doesn't matter to me." Worst of all was a 30 something mom with young children who told me, "Oh, I'm in support of Proposition 8, but I'm not going to vote." When I asked her why, she answered, "It doesn't matter anyway. It won't make any difference. The courts didn't listen to us last time and they won't this time either. " I tried to explain that this time the wording "Only marriage between and man and a woman is valid or recognized in California" will become part of our California state constitution." Because the courts must uphold our state constitution, it isn't something that can be overturned easily. Unfortunately the woman wasn't convinced. "I'm completely disillusioned and I'm not going to vote anymore" she said as she shut her door.

I wish everyone could see that they CAN make a difference. One person can have an impact through her efforts, her example and her vote! I just need to take Thomas Jefferson with me next time I head out to talk to my neighbors.

Here's a great video about protecting our families and the future.

Not a stalker, just quirky!

My friend Shonda tagged me with the "Quirky Things About Me Meme"
I'm not usually into tags, but since I already shared some of my quirkiness in my stalker mom post, I might as well continue the trend. Here are 6 of my unspectacular quirks.

1. I love books and I love getting them for the absolute lowest price possible. I always check several sources (ebay, amazon etc), but paperbackswap is my favorite because I can get books for FREE! I've mailed 211 free books and received 219 free books in the past 2 1/2 years. And remember, that doesn't count any of the the books I actually paid for!

2. My family laughs at me because I often ask "Did we have the prayer?" just a few minutes after we had one. They accuse me of short term memory loss, but I think it's because my kids like to speed through 15 second prayers and it just doesn't stick with me. Of course no one ever forgets my prayers--the kids say they're too long.

3. I often replay conversations in my mind. Unfortunately the facial expressions and hand gestures are not in my mind so I look a little crazy. This is something else my family laughs at.

4. I like to compose emails & pray (not at the same time) while I'm in the shower. And my husband wonders why I take so long in there.

5. I love words and definitions. My 1828 Webster's Dictionary is one of my favorite books. In case you don't have one, here's an online version. As long as we're on the subject: I have no idea why this is called a meme. I'm not even sure how it's pronounced. Is it "meem" (rhymes with dream) or "me me" (like I'm raising my hand)? (Yes, I know I can google it, and I actually did. But I would really like to hear your definition & how you pronounce it. So please leave me a comment!)

6. I like to get my point across and so I end up doing things like using too many exclamation points or repeating myself for emphasis. Then I wish I hadn't because it sounds dumb. In the same vein, I often ask people to repeat things because I'm so focused on something else that I missed what they said.

Bonus quirk:
7. I really like to follow the rules. I don't like to jaywalk and I once refused to watch my brothers' pet bird for the weekend because our apartment didn't allow pets.

So here are the meme rules:
Link back to the person who tagged you.
Shonda listed some great quirks that I think are much more interesting than mine!

List the rules on your blog. Done!

Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of your own. Done!

Tag 6 bloggers to complete the meme.
That seems like a lot! Do you usually have to tag that many people? I guess I'd better follow the rules! I will make this a family tag. I tag Jenny, Heather, LaRae , Dawnae, Janae & Kristin

Just Call Me Stalker Mom

The other day I was checking out the BYUI website and I happened to find some really cool stuff like: details about Ryan's ward and the syllabi for several of his classes.

I thought he'd be excited to learn how talented his mom is online. Our conversation via text message went something like this:


Me: I know what your Bishop looks like
Ryan: That's kinda scary
Me: Just call me stalker mom

Road Trip

After 34 hours in the car over 4 days, we're finally home from our road trip.

The weird part is: Ryan didn't come home with us.
It is a strange thing to take your son a thousand miles away from home and leave him there!
I know it is the right place for him to be, but now it seems like everything is in the past tense.
When Ryan lived at home
He was my first baby
He was homeschooled
We finished raising our son

Thankfully there is so much in the future to look forward to.
When Ryan comes home to visit
He will get his mission call
Life long learning
Temple marriage
Grandchildren
Family Reunions

Boy do I feel old!!

Here we are in front of the Taylor building where Ryan has religion class and attends church.
The BYU Idaho campus is really beautiful. We especially loved the flower gardens.
The buildings are lovely and they are filled with paintings, sculpture and artwork.
We checked out Ryan's classrooms and most of them are very small with state of the art set-ups. There is a lot going on with a remodel on the the student center and a new auditorium under construction.

The Rexburg temple is on the hill above campus and just a couple of blocks from Ryan's apartment. Click HERE to see some gorgeous photos of the temple.

Here's Ryan in his apartment. They even have two refrigerators--a necessity with 6 hungry men. They have two bathrooms plus an extra sink. They were a little scary by Mom standards, but Ryan thought they were great.

It is a very nice complex with a big laundry room, a pool and a hot tub. There are huge "No Girls Allowed" signs around the hot tub. I didn't like those signs when they were on his 10 year old club house, but I really like them now!

One of Ryan's roommates took this picture of us out in front of the apartment. It is only a couple blocks from campus--probably closer than my dorm was to BYU. As a bonus, all the residents get frees haircuts, manicures and pedicures. I'm guessing this is actually a bonus for the beauty school students. They have built-in guinea pigs!

We didn't have too much time to stop and play. We'll have to save the trip to Bear World for another time. Evan still managed to have a great time in the few hours he had with his cousin Josh. They made a bunch of "blubber buddies" which are latex glove water balloons. Then they piled them on top of the car and convinced my brother-in-law to take them for a drive. They were thrilled at the resulting watery mess!

Thanks to John's sister for letting us stay on the way up and back. We weren't very good guests, just stopping long enough to eat and sleep, but at least we didn't overstay our welcome.

With so many hours in the car, we did get some reading done. Evan read all of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and John & I listened to Mornings on Horseback. It is a great biography of Theodore Roosevelt by David McCullough.

The Roosevelts chose to educate their children at home and when Teddy Roosevelt went to Harvard at 17, it was his first time in school. His father gave him some great advice that I'd like to share with Ryan. He counseled his son to focus on and take care of:
First, his morals
Second, his health
Third, his studies

Have a great time at BYU-I Ryan! Your Mom loves you!