The Nihon Matsuri (Japanese Festival)

On Saturday, the 26th, we went downtown for the 4th annual Japanese Festival.When I think festival I think food. Samuel is eating yakitori, grilled chicken, on a stick. No offense to the food people, but the food was overpriced and gross. Sad. We want to have our own food booth at the next one (at least it was fun talking about it).

They had some cute activities for kids. Samuel started coloring his fish kite and then after a couple minutes threw the market down and said, "This is stupid."
But once we put the kite together he loved it.
Once again, his feet aren't really on the ground. Look how much fun he is having with that thing. It kind of makes you wonder why we buy $30 toys when they have so much fun with free stuff.

Eva seems to have much more patience for the crafty stuff. She has amazing cutting skills.

Eva's finished product.

You know, it is no wonder where my love of food comes from. I am thinking about starting a blog based just on how much I love it. This photo kind of explains where I get it from. Even though we bought a boat load of gross food and had a huge bag left over, my parents decided to give one more booth a try. One of my favorite memories of visiting Japan with my parents is stopping at the little food stands and buying something to eat when we were on the way to eat at restaraunts.

Since I was already so negative about the food I will not write much about all the freaky people there who thought a Japanese Festival was a good place for them to wear their favorite Chinese accessories or to dress up as their favorite anime characters. We really did have a good time.

The Tulip Festival

We went to the Tulip Festival on Friday the 25th.

Samuel is chasing a butterfly through the daffodils. I was so nervous someone was going to get mad at us for smashing the flowers... but not nervous enough to not snap a picture of it.

Notice Samuel's feet are a little off the ground. I am wondering if he spends most of his awake hours with his feet off the ground.

So, Courtney kept saying, do you want me to take a picture of you guys in front of these tulips? And I kept saying, "No, that's okay we have tons of pictures." Now looking through my pictures I realize why... we don't have any pictures of the tulips. So, um, here is a picture of Samuel in front of Noah's Ark at the Tulip Festival.

Hot Hot Hot!

April 19 was Eva's first dance competition. She loved getting dressed up and most of all wearing lipstick... what little princess wouldn't?

They actually did a pretty good job, but here is a sample of what it looks like when 3-5 year olds perform. Yep, they are all doing the same dance.

Unfortunately, she wasn't quite as excited about the next performance. It was early in the morning and she isn't much of a morning person, none of us are. Images of one of those crazed backstage moms that I saw on Dr. Phil (should I admit that I watched that?) kept popping in my head as I was making her wake up so early, but also felt a responsibility to get her there. We (it was a team effort to get the sleepyhead out of bed and then up off the floor where she melted) finally got her up and set up a psuedo throne in the bathroom so she would sit through hair and make up. We drove 20 minutes, rushed in, only to find out we were 3 minutes too late. For some reason it would have felt better if we were 30 minutes too late. Apparently it was a little early for the other girls in her class... only 3 girls performed. When I got home I needed a nap, especially since the morning started so early. While napping I had a dream that my sister was telling me how they always arrive 1 1/2 hours early to dance competitions. What a waste of my precious nap time. Oh, and by early, I mean 7 a.m.. Our household doesn't really function much before 9.

At the beginning of the year I decided for the both of us that we weren't going to do dance this year as to avoid all of this silliness. Eva caught on around November and said, "When am I going to dance?" I said, "You aren't going to dance this year because it got too hard to get you to go last year." She started crying and said, "How am I going to be a ballerina if I don't go to dance?" So, as you can see, we are doing it again.

The tag game, de-mystified...

I am new at the blog thing and wondered how someone can be "it" when it is just a blog. Now I know.

A side note: My posts can be classified long, longer and longest. Just as a warning, this is probably a "longest." I know time is precious so I just thought I should warn.

10 Years Ago
I have repressed a couple of years of my life within the last 10 years, so is that the real 10 or 10 non-repressed years? Assuming it is the real 10...
-April, 1998. Although this is not a repressed year, I am having a hard time remembering...
-Okay, hooray for journals! (I know, I know, that word is so pre-blog). I was in my second area (of three) on my mission in Nagoya, Japan.
-I kept carbon copies (yeah, carbon paper is this stuff that people used to use to make copies) of letters I wrote to family and friends. I wrote so much (some things never change). Okay, this is going to make it long but I just found something that made me laugh. I am quoting one of my letters, "On Monday we had apt. checks~ I didn't clean anything before they came because I didn't want to seem like I was fooling anyone... well, as the President's wife (I had three mission presidents, this was the second set) had me scrubbing the wall she told me it is good practice for me for when I get married because one of the most important things for a woman is a clean kitchen (I might have just found that so funny because I just took off the front of my oven door, which wasn't a simple task, so I could get the drip that had been on the inside of the glass for that last year and a half. I also found a sticker, a chocolate wrapper, a magnet, and a couple other things that fit in the little slots in the front of the door. Hmmm, how did they get there? No matter that the real garbage can was just 4 feet away, right?) I told her I would find a husband that likes to clean (man, I was gutsy not to mention naive). She said there aren't husbands like that- from what she expressed I'm lucky if I find one that will even clean with me (just for the record, Karl did help me get the door off the oven. I know it might have been his desire to not have a broken oven door that he would have to fix, but he did help me in the cleaning process). "
-So, apparently 10 years ago I was planning on finding a husband that cleans.

Things on my to do list Monday -
-I was going to put off doing this but then Monday would pass and then I would have thought up some really fantastic looking "to do's" for next Monday so I just hurried and did it today. Just to keep things real, you know, like in my mission apt. check.
- Clean some more because I didn't end up finding a husband that cleans (Karl, I know you clean but I think 10 years ago I was thinking more along the line of a husband that clean everything. I don't want you to think I am down playing what you clean)- I should vacuum and fold laundry.
-Wash out a strawberry container for Eva to take to pre school for their pretend store day.
-Oh no, I left my planner at my parents house and it had my to do list in it and I seriously can't remember. Well, here is a new one for my list...
-Find planner. Dang it.

What would I do if I suddenly had a billion dollars -
-Buy a new planner in case mine is really really lost. One with a tiny tracking system so I don't have to panic and freeze up everytime I lose mine.
-Buy a house in a neighborhood with sidewalks and other moms that stay at home (we don't have either in my neighborhood and I really wish we did).
-When I bought my new how it would have a big space to store all my stuff. So then I would...
-Buy more stuff- I like kitchen gadgets (like choppers "as seen on TV" that don't really work- but I won't care because I am a billionaire and have room to store it), clothes, shoes, craft stuff.
-Buy a new TV, I hear they came out with these things called flat screens and Tivo. Wow, I would like some of that technology.
-Go on a huge cooking/eating tour of the world and blog the whole thing.
-I would probably want to do something for other people. Really service-y. I would ask Courtney for ideas.
-Buy a new car because mine is dirty.
-For the first years of our marriage we mostly lived on no income or my teacher income. I always thought that once we had "real" income it would feel like so much money. But it doesn't. Should I become a billionaire, would I think, "I used to think that a billion was so much. Now, a kabillion would really be a lot."

-3 of my bad habits - Do I have to tell?
1 - Staying up late and blogging and answering simple questions with really long stories and even quoting my mission letters.
2 - I procrastinate. Some say they work better under pressure. I just work under pressure.
3 - I am indecisive. I had a really hard time deciding on which bad habits to share.

Places I have lived:
SLC, UT
Murray UT
Logan, UT (college)
Moscow, Russia (taught English)
Ghuanzhou, China (taught English again)
Seto, Meito, and Kanazawa, Japan (mission)
Austin, TX (Karl's school)
Berkeley, CA (Karl's internship)
Smithfield, UT (I was roomies with Karl's Grandma Gutke while Karl was in TX for a quarter and I was at USU)
Chicago, IL (more of Karl's school)
Santa Clara, CA (another one of Karl's internships)
and full circle back to SLC!

Jobs I have had:
-A little bit of baby sitting (I sucked, I would never have hired me. I was the youngest of four kids and had no business watching other peoples' kids. Um maybe I should have had someone show me how to change a diaper before the parents left)
-Bussing tables at Italian Village
-Gap kids (Excited about my employee discount, I spent more than I made there)
-Police Cadet
-Running my dad's go-cart track out at Salt Air (but mostly just riding the go-carts around and around and working on my tan- we liked tans back before blogs and SPF).
-Office person at a lame insurance place in TX.
-Bath and Body works and a clothes store in Berkeley (once again, really excited about the employee discount) -Teacher assistant at a Montessori school.
-3 rd grade teacher in Chicago until I was a...
-Mom! (I still am a mom)

5 Things (most)People don't know about me:
1 - Since I feel like I have posted everything about me I am wondering if there is anything left that people don't know about me, hey, I bet you didn't know that.
2 - I like to watch infomercials.
3 - Back before life got hard, I used to think that it was easy.
4 - I love sleep, I love naps, I love dreams, I love watching my kids sleep.
5 - Like Annie, I really like stuff clean and neat, and people probably don't know that about me because I hardly every have my house, car, yard, etc. clean and neat.

So that's all folks. Enough about me - I am tagging you. Michelle F. and Paula.

T-ball! Our first game...

Samuel spent most of the time rolling in the grass and climbing all over Karl.

He did attempt to get the ball a few times. This time two other kids had the same idea.

Look at that sad face... someone else got the ball before Samuel.

First, he hits the ball and just stands there. We get him to run to first with pointing, running, and shouting. When it is time to run to second he just took off.
Here he is pausing to play with his helmet (the field looked like it was full of these little Darth Vaders with those tiny bodies and huge helmets) then he takes off again.

He ran out of our field and I couldn't catch up I was laughing so hard. So, Karl takes off after him. When Samuel saw Karl coming he started booking it across the park.

Karl finally caught him and brought him back to third base.

There are two reasons why Eva is sitting down eating chips during her T-ball game 1)She is sick and needed to rest and stay away from other kids 2)She is my kid and that is usually why I go to any sort of sporting event.

Notice her cute shoes. Karl came home and was so disappointed that they weren't properly geared up. He said, "I thought you were taking care of it." In my mind I did... coordinating Chuck Taylors, jeans and white turtlenecks to look just right under their mammoth t-shirts... tasty treats and 100% fruit juice...Well, apparently they needed sporty pants, mitts, and silly details like that. Whoops!

Still working on that punch pass...

I know ya'll might be tired of hearing about my sick family but I do need to record this insanity somewhere. Eva got a fever last night and it didn't go away. She kept saying, "My brain hurts." So, back to Dr. Witt this morning.

Samuel played with my camera while we waited for the strep test results. He took this great photo of the doctor who was such a great sport and kept posing for him. I just thought you might want to put a partial face to the name since I talk about Dr. Witt so much. By the way, the strep test was positive. So, basically, my whole family has been sick for the last three weeks. Yuck. Now that we know the culprit and are treating it, I am looking forward to some sunshine and recovery.

I love cake stands right now

These are my favorite. They make me happy just to see them.

As you can see I don't use them just for cakes. I got this cookie recipe from my friend Heather and I feel like I am being healthy because they are made with whole wheat and oatmeal. This cake stand makes me happy because Courtney gave it to me after I told her of my love for cake stands. I love it when people listen as much as I love cake stands.

This was my first cake stand. Inside are chocolate mint sandwich cookies. Super easy to make with a cake mix for the cookies and mint chips for the filling.

This isn't a real cake stand but it is holding cupcakes so it makes me happy. I don't really know what it is called but I use it to hold fruit, too. The "frosting" for these is super easy and not like regular frosting... which is good if you are not a frosting fan like me.

Let me know if you want any of these recipes.

TMI?

There are a few questions I have about blogging. I think it is these questions that kept me from getting started. First, how much information is too much information? Like, people don't want to hear about all my dirty laundry right (by the way, I made myself finish the laundry before I could blog tonight. I hate doing laundry. Oh man, see what I mean? People don't really want to know that, right?)? Next, I noticed that different people are taking different measures for security. I see there are passwords, invitations, code names, no listing of last names or home towns, etc. What is the best way to do it? I mean, I am not planning on posting my social security number or bank number or anything like that but how "careful" do I need to be?

Our Ghetto Family Photo

I have been thinking that we need to get a family picture taken...

I remember being a kid at a Chuck E Cheese and putting my token in the skeet ball and like only 3 balls came down. I was really grossed out and unimpressed by that place. Since then everytime I heard about that place, I couldn't figure out what people saw in it. Fast forward twenty something years... Seems like we go there often. The kids love it so much. It is actually quite fun for all of us. Can you believe it? We try to do something family fun-ish on Friday nights and Chuck E Cheese seems to be the place where we go when we can't think of anything else. Seems like it has caught on because there was seriously a half hour wait to get in on Friday. For those of you that know me you know that I love a supposed good deal and I love coupons (so much so that my own mother makes fun of me) Here is a link for some super good coupons for this classy joint: http://www3.zansstuff.com/welcome_coupon_us.pdf

Samuel waiting patiently for his turn on the ride. Notice the baggie in his hand holding his tokens. Doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I kept my money in a plastic baggie.

Eva on a teeter totter ride thing.

P.S. We are not so sick any more. Thank you for all the sympathy. Hope we didn't pick up anything new at Chuck E Cheese. Wouldn't you think this would be the place to catch something? Is that too negative? Here... Hooray for Chuck E Cheese! Hooray for riding tiny rides and playing lots of games that require no skill! Hooray! There, does that balance it out?

At a time when many parents would panic...

...we grab the camera.Being sick (yep, I joined my little sickies. I went in to the doctor, my doctor so no punches on my punch pass, two weeks ago and she tested me for strep. She never called and so I thought I was free. I went in last Friday and it turns out I have had it those whole lame time!) and having a three year old don't work together at all. So, I am napping (I love naps, but not when I am doing it so I don't feel like death. What a waste.) and Karl says, "Chris! Come look at this!" I mumble a, "No, I can't" and hear Karl say quite casually, "Are you trying to get something, Samuel?" Karl took this picture so I could witness it from my nap location. This is the first year that I have been sick like this. I kind of thought I had a free pass (I am really into passes) since I am a mom. How do other parents do it?

Last year I bought Samuel a t-shirt that says, "I DO MY OWN STUNTS." He has outgrown the shirt but apparently not the stunts. (He jumped off the back of my chair 5 times while I wrote the last sentence. I counted. "I am just trying to jump and make me so up high," he says. 6 times, 7 times, 8 times...)

Mission Reunion!

We don't have many mission reunions because President Evans lives in Tokyo so I was really excited. I only recognized a handful of the missionaries. I think it is because a) President Evans went to Japan for the last half of my mission so most of the missionaries there served after I was done or b) because I am getting old. Sister Evans is an amazing person and one of my favorite memories is taking her to the little Japanese grocery store when she first arrived to help her get her groceries. Samuel was at my parents house with a fever, poor guy. It was so weirdly quiet and calm to just have one kid there.

What do Volcano Chocolate Cake, Tech Stain Remover, and a Clove of Garlic All Have in Common?

These are the things I came home with when I went to a cooking class at a Bosch Kitchen inside an Ace Hardware store.

It was a really good class, they had lettuce wraps, roasted tomato basil soup, pear and pecan salad, and of course, chocolate volcano cake. The "cake" recipe seriously used 16 eggs, a pound of butter, a ton of sugar and only 2 T. of flour. So, if one were to rank unhealthy things, this would be at the bottom of the list. The garlic is because the lady wanted us to take one because she had so many left over (even though the lettuce wraps used 1/4 cup!). The Tech is because they gave us a coupon for 10% off a purchase and I was determined to use it before we went home.

I went to this class with a super good friend, Kristi. To let you know how long we have been friends, she was grounded the first time that I met her. We sat down at this class and I said, "I forgot I don't like to listen to the teacher when I am with you." That is because I realized that some of my favorite memories with Kristi are sitting in classes not listening to the teacher. We could even somehow communicate and make eachother laugh when the teacher put us as far away from eachother as she possibly could. How did we do that?

Still Sick...

Samuel hardly ever falls asleep during the day. They were reading books in my bed. Eva was miserable because she was sick. Samuel was exhausted from being sick or running around as a super hero or both.
April Fools?

This felt like it must of been a joke, but it wasn't. Two sick kids that wanted me to lay by them. Samuel had a fever and his tummy hurt so he wanted me to rub it until he fell asleep. Eva had a fever and croup so she couldn't breath. They were both snoring like old men. Eva is doing a combination of hugging and using her arm as a device to make sure that I don't try and get out of the bed. This morning we made yet another trip to the doctor. Sure wish they had those punch cards...

Karl started off the day by telling me he ordered more lights to put in the living room. Those of you that have been around me for the past 2 1/2 years know that remodeling this house has been my second biggest complaint ever (so much so that I wouldn't mind if someone told me that the last 2 1/2 years was one Arpil Fools joke). I started panicking and doing what I always do when Karl announces a new project, listing all the unfinished projects. By the time I had listed about 6 of the projects, and my heart rate was getting really high... he yells, "April Fools!" I was relieved but it was the same kind of feeling as when you wake up grouchy after a bad dream that seemed super realistic (I'm not the only one that does that am I?).

How Does He Come Up With These Things?

As I sit here sit here discovering the amazing world of blogging (you know, that world that many of you have been a part of for a really long time by now) Samuel is busy being Samuel. Sometimes I wonder where he comes up with these things but then I remember who his dad is...