Saturday, October 25, 2008

haven

Friday night I got a call from my friend Stacy inviting us to a friends and family dinner at their new restaurant Haven in St George. IT WAS AMAZING! I'm going to rave - not just because it's Stacy's, but because it was so good and I want everyone to go!

They expected to open Friday and had a bunch of food that needed to be cooked, so they had a small private party. They did a limited menu... we had a spinach salad [jaren said it was the best salad he had ever had] to start, then the choice of salmon, fillet or rib eye [Camille got the fillet, the rest of us had the rib eye] with dutch oven potatoes [not your typical potatoes however]. The steaks were all topped with seasoned sauteed onions, and the meat comes from a butcher in Kanab. It was HONESTLY the first and ONLY time I have ever eaten a steak without A1. The meat they get is delivered daily and is the most aged steak in St George, it was so full of flavor and so tender!
OK let's talk about dessert. We had a made from scratch [EVERYTHING they serve is] chocolate cake with a hint of raspberry - heavenly!
The atmosphere is incredible, really nice, but not uncomfortable, loud but not annoying, cute waiters & waitresses, and a cool pass through window where you can see the cooks working!
The restaurant should open on Monday and is on Blackridge Drive [right by Design Theory]
Seriously... GO!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

thank you


I haven't avoided blogging so long so my friends would continue to leave wonderful comments on Jaren's post (which I didn't know he even knew how to do), but because we haven't had our internet hooked up until today! BUT I'M BACK!
THANK YOU [sincerely] for the kind things you have said, the texts, phone calls, visits, thoughts and prayers.
I feel really good and am continuing to have blood tests weekly to make sure things are clear. The bummer is that I can't try for a baby again for about a year.
We HAVE had an action packed few weeks, which I will blog about shortly, including: moving into the house, an awesome 28th birthday, Jaren's hermaphrodite deer (he gets mad when I call it that, but it's a funny story), and more!
I am also very anxious to see what everyone else had blogged about over the last 3 weeks...

Thursday, October 2, 2008

What A WOMAN!!



I know that many of you know this. I do, but I don't say it near enough. McCall is amazing! Endure for a bit as I brag about her. I love her and am so lucky to have her.

This weekend we moved in to our new house. Yes, the house that McCall designed, helped build, cleaned, general contracted, and now is decorating. It's been a big project and one that wouldn't have happened without her. I work in Milford and so I am gone from sunrise to sundown. She has handled the bidding process, overseen the work, and anything else.

Now that, in and of itself, is a feat for anyone. But she has done this while coaching the Cedar High dance team, the SUU dance team, cut hair one day a week, and taken care of two little boys and a husband. She hasn't just done these things, but she excels at them. She has taken both dance programs to new heights and is an amazing mother.

I'm not done. Monday we found out that McCall wasn't in-fact pregnant with a baby, but had a Molar pregnancy. So, yesterday she went into surgery and had a D @ C performed (if you want more details you can ask McCall or myself). I am so amazed at how she has handled it all. It has taken me 8 years to figure out that she just needs a little praise and someone to listen to her. I'm not as good at these as I should be, but I'm working on it.

Tomorrow is McCall's 28th Birthday. With the new house, surgery, and everything else going on I wanted to thank her. I am very proud of you, McCall!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

let's hear it for the boy


Saturday was opening day of the Antelope Hunt Jaren has been looking forward to. He has been trying to draw out for this hunt for 4 years - and was he ever excited!
He took off Friday night after a day of preparations including: getting his new camper ready, packing, shopping, and crossing off EVERY item from his carefully prepared Excel Spreadsheet! A friend and fellow hunter [who did not draw out this year] went with him.
He had planned to come home Monday night and go back out the next weekend if needed, but I got the call Saturday afternoon while in SG that he got one!!!
He took the shot from 600 yards away and actually hit it twice [that's impressive I'm told] and is very happy with what he got. When he made the shot[s] Brock was a few hundred yards away and saw the whole thing, he was so excited and impressed he came flying toward Jaren on the Mule - Baja style - screaming, "You Rock! No Way!"
Jare came home last night and took the boys and I out for a night in the camper and treated us to another delicious mountain breakfast.
Next feat: the deer hunt!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

a need to be fresh


I've always used Scrubbing Bubbles as my bathroom cleaner - until the last few months when I have been on a hunt for a new one. I think Scrubbing bubbles works really well, but SMELLS LIKE PEE!
I'm mostly looking for a bath/shower cleaner. I like the aerosol spray of Scrubbing Bubbles better than some of the "squirt" sprays I have tried.
Any suggestions?

Sunday, September 7, 2008

watch me fall downg

Nope, note a typo in the title, Porters latest speech impediment [although he talks UNBELIEVABLY well for his age] is to add a "g" sound to the end of his words. Some examples are:
"Turn it DOWNG!"
"This is MINEG, huh mom."
"Is this toy BROKENG?"
"Oops, I dropped my sucker on the GROUNG!"

We love you FRODO
[which is what he called himself when he couldn't say Porter]

Thursday, September 4, 2008

lipstick

"I was just your average hockey mom. I love those hockey moms, you know, they say, what is the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."



After returning home from a barbecue Monday night, I turned on my recording of E! to catch up on what I'd missed over the long weekend, and was surprised by John McCain's choice for VP. While I had hopes of a McCain/Romney ticket, I was grew more and more excited as I googled Sarah Palin. I waited, however, to hear her speech at the Republican Convention last night, and I've grown from excited to ecstatic!
I know politics are a taboo subject, here are some of the reasons I will vote for McCain/Palin...

On Family:

From the inside, no family ever seems typical.

That’s how it is with us.

Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys.

Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.

..........

On Government Spending:

While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor’s office that I didn’t believe our citizens should have to pay for.

That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

I also drive myself to work.

And I thought we could muddle through without the governor’s personal chef - although I’ve got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending - by request if possible and by veto if necessary.

..........

On Barack Obama:


This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word ”victory” except when he’s talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent’s plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world.

..........

On John McCain:

In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.

And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.

To the most powerful office on earth, he would bring the compassion that comes from having once been powerless ... the wisdom that comes even to the captives, by the grace of God ... the special confidence of those who have seen evil, and seen how evil is overcome.

A fellow prisoner of war, a man named Tom Moe of Lancaster, Ohio, recalls looking through a pin-hole in his cell door as Lieutenant Commander John McCain was led down the hallway, by the guards, day after day.

As the story is told, ”When McCain shuffled back from torturous interrogations, he would turn toward Moe’s door and flash a grin and thumbs up” - as if to say, ”We’re going to pull through this.” My fellow Americans, that is the kind of man America needs to see us through these next four years.

For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words.

For a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds.

If character is the measure in this election ... and hope the theme ... and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause.