Coach Bob
My favorite father-in-law had his own segment on local TV today. Brent posted the video on his blog here.
Add comment August 27th, 2008
He volunteered
Rees gave his first talk today in Primary, on the subject of baptism. The way it is set up in our Primary right now, children are never assigned a talk, scripture, etc unless they specifically volunteer. I’m not sure why - I clearly remember being assigned stuff when I was growing up, regardless of my desire to do it. Anyway, he volunteered, and he did a great job. Bryan helped him write the talk, which was loosely based on a talk Bryan gave at his nephew’s baptism. Rees read it almost entirely by himself. I helped with a few words he struggled with, which must have been nerves because he practiced beforehand. The talk had three parts:
(while holding a picture of Jesus being baptized) “One of the great commandments is to be baptized. Even though Jesus was perfect, he was baptized because he wanted to do everything our Heavenly Father commands.”
(while holding a picture of a boy being baptized in a modern-day font) “When we are baptized, we promise to follow Heavenly Father and keep his commandments. We also promise to stand as a witness of God so that when people see us, they will be reminded of God. After you are baptized, you will be a representative of our Heavenly Father. After being baptized, we start a new life. Baptism is a symbol of rebirth - we go down under the water and leave our old life there. When we come up out of the water, we are reborn.”
(while holding a picture of Jesus raising the dead) “After Jesus was baptized, he began to do all the wonderful things that he did. It marked the beginning of his mission. It should be the same for us - we should be an example to all our friends, neighbors, and those we come in contact with, just as Jesus did. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”
He didn’t seem very nervous and he got a lot of compliments, which made him happy. And Grandpa B made a special trip to watch, too.
We went to my parents’ house in the evening for dinner with everyone (including Great-Grandma Hansen), since Kathi and kids are in town. We ate ham, my twice-baked potatoes, salad, veggies, etc. The kids had so much fun playing. Michael also took a family portrait in the middle of the vegetable garden. Later, when Rees found out that Thomas would be staying with Grandma and Grandpa H tonight, he immediately asked my mom if he could stay over too. Their plan is to sleep outside in a “tent” Bryan made them out of chairs and a tarp. It will be interesting to see how that goes.
1 comment August 10th, 2008
Park Cit-ay
We met up with the Carrs (Jeff, Cashell, and kids) in Park City tonight for the Arts Festival and dinner. The weather was fantastic. We ended up eating at La Casita. My food (shrimp tostadas) was good, but we probably won’t go back. Nobody else seemed to like their food much, the service was poor, and it was pricey. However, we had a lot of fun just hanging out around the fire pit outside the restaurant for a while after dinner.
Add comment August 2nd, 2008
The Pie Hole revisited
At her request, I made pies today with my mom at her house. We made four. She seems to really like them. Great-Grandma Hansen also requested apricots for her apricot jam. So between family and neighbors, we are getting good mileage out of the apricot tree this year.
In the evening we went to a baby shower for my cousin Chanel at Gardner Village. It was fun, with good food and good presents (I brought books, my mom brought a super-cute blanket and musical stuffed toy).
Oh, and Happy Birthday to Thack!
Add comment July 30th, 2008
Apricot jam
Yesterday my mom asked me to bring her a bag of apricots so she could make freezer jam. For some reason that didn’t sound too appetizing to me. Since freezer jam isn’t cooked, I was picturing weird chunks of peel in it. Apricot peels aren’t bad, but I don’t want peely jam. Then my mom reminded me that my Grandma Hansen has been making apricot freezer jam forever. This brought back memories of visiting my Grandma when I was a kid, and her making me a hot breakfast, whatever I requested (usually either pancakes or french toast). So yummy. There was never syrup, just butter and three kinds of freezer jam - light red (strawberry), dark red (raspberry) and orange (apparently this was apricot). She always used berries from Grandpa’s farm or from Bear Lake to make jam.
So anyway, I took the apricots to my mom, and she explained that you blend the apricots to make them smooth. This makes much more sense. Today I made a batch and it is tasty - not peely at all.
1 comment July 29th, 2008
The Pie Hole
Two summers ago, our apricot tree was completely overloaded with fruit, and I had no idea what to do with it all. Maryanne (Bryan’s mom, who is an excellent pie maker) offered to help me make as many pies as we could. We made a deal - she would do the actual pie making (crust, rolling, etc), Bryan would pick the fruit, and I would prepare the filling and try to learn by watching her. For her efforts, she would keep half of the pies. Apricots come on at the hottest part of the summer (mid-late July), and we had a swamp cooler that was not cooling very well. And I was about seven months pregnant. It was hot. I don’t know how many pies we made, but it was close to two dozen. We baked them up four at a time, then when they cooled, we vacuum-sealed (Maryanne has a little trick) them into freezer bags and put them in the freezer. We’ve been enjoying them ever since. When you want to eat one, you just throw it in the oven for an hour and it comes out like fresh-baked.
Our apricot tree is very old and large. It’s the biggest apricot tree I’ve seen. We had it pruned the summer we moved in, and they took off about the top third of the tree. It has definitely rebounded, and because we haven’t had it pruned again, it has gone into bi-annual fruit production. This means that it mostly produces fruit every other year - a little one year, a ton the next. We have to pick up the mess every day or our lawn is completely covered. The raccoons make a big mess, throwing pits everywhere. It’s a big job.
Maryanne is busy right now, so Bryan and I have been making pies. Today we made eight. He does the picking and filling and I do the crust. I am getting pretty good. My recipe is a little different from Maryanne’s, but Bryan still seems to approve. Apricot is fast becoming one of my favorite pies. I like it warm with vanilla ice cream (gotta have the ice cream because it’s a little tart). My favorites pies are still Maryanne’s Fresh Strawberry Pie and my own pumpkin pie.
Oh, and if you’ve never seen Pushing Daisies, you should watch it.
1 comment July 26th, 2008
Where has this been all my life?
I may have found a new hobby.
How to take digital photos ‘Through the Viewfinder’ of an old camera
Examples of photos taken ‘Through the Viewfinder’
1 comment July 25th, 2008
Happy Pioneer Day
After being sick and going overboard on Tuesday, I was down for the count yesterday. After much sleeping, I have recovered nicely. We watched the Days of ‘47 Parade on TV. Camping out to watch a parade in really hot weather in a huge crowd is just not my cup of tea. We had to watch though, because our family helped assemble the Wells Stake float (#90-something) - celebrating the first Boy Scout troop in America (it was our stake!). Rees and I spelled out the names of some people at the First Encampment on some “rocks” on the float. Bryan helped install some coolers under the float to hold drinks for the float operators. Rees was strangely mesmerized by the parade on TV.
We went to my parents’ house tonight for a little fireworks show. We brought KFC for dinner. Michael and Sarah came as well. There is something funny about my dad and fireworks. He seems like about the last guy who would buy his own fireworks to light, but for some reason he does. Maybe because he’s a dude? Anyway, he picked up the classic I remember from childhood - Killer Bees - plus some fireworks that shot out little parachutes (Rees LOVED those) and a giant $20 thing called a Nuclear Bomb (or as Sarah called it, “Stadium of Fire in a Can”). We also brought some sparklers and some of those spinning colored ball fireworks we found in our pantry (probably five years old). Michael commented that “…the Pioneers would be proud!”
Rees and James liked the fireworks but were a little scared. They kept their distance. Allie, on the other hand, probably would have walked over there and picked them up while they were going off. She had no fear. We also had some neighborhood kids come and join - the fireworks do seem to attract them. 
The boys slept over and Bryan and I went home. I’ll pick them up tomorrow.
Add comment July 24th, 2008
Da zoo
I woke up this morning with a sore throat. I was in denial, and soldiered on to the zoo with the kids. It was fun, as usual (we have a membership). James is so cute, and gets so excited about every animal. “LOOK MOM! A (insert whatever animal we’re viewing)! RIGHT THERE!!!!!!”
We rented a wagon for the first time, which was great because the kids could climb in and out easily. It was also a huge workout for me, due to the hilliness of the zoo. I had to make Rees get out and climb the last hill to the exit. I was exhausted by the time we got home.
In the evening the boys went to Mutual with Bryan, where they shot rockets with the YM.
Add comment July 22nd, 2008
The Dark Knight
Today was Rees’ last soccer game. He did great. He really wanted to play and was disappointed when Coach Dad gave him his turns on the bench. Very cute. He got a little MVP trophy that he loves and is carrying around with him everywhere. Bryan was a great coach and all the kids loved him.
We came home to find the Gregory family helping themselves to our apricots. This is perfectly acceptable, since we have way too many to manage by ourselves. Thayne, Jakson, and Kassidy were daredevils, climbing the tree and onto the roof of the garage to get the ripest ones. Camillia was content to watch.
The boys had a sleepover tonight with the Gregorys. We took them over at about 7 and then went up to Market Street Broiler for dinner. We ordered artichoke dip with spinach and crab to start, then shared a dinner of filet mignon and a lobster tail. Yummy. We lucked out - a table on the patio opened up right when we arrived. Very nice dinner.
Then we went to Sandy to see The Dark Knight on IMAX. Unfortunately, I read the theatre map upside down when ordering tickets, so we were on the front row rather than the back! My horror was offset by all the people around us who also did the same thing. We were all able to laugh about it. The couple next to us purchased the very first tickets of the show - on the front row. Honestly, the first three of four rows of that theatre should not even exist. I was having serious flashbacks about my major hotel reservation error on our recent trip to San Diego (always save your original Expedia itinerary if you’re coming back later to buy, friends!).
I was able to mostly forget about that, which is a testament to the movie. It’s been said a million times, but Heath Ledger is off the charts - which is good, since he’s probably in it more than Batman/Bruce Wayne is. I have always liked him. He was excellent in Brokeback Mountain (I practically dragged Bryan to see it, and I think he may have ended up liking it even more than I did). My favorite quote, however, was from Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman):
Let me get this straight: You think that your employer, one of the richest men in the world, is spending his nights running around the city beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands? And your plan is to blackmail him?
Good luck.
Add comment July 19th, 2008