National Ice Cream Month

 

One of the simple joys in my life is ice cream. Maybe it comes from being a Utahn. I don't know. I've just always loved ice cream, so I am happy to discover that back in the '80s, Ronald Reagan desginated July as National Ice Cream Month with the third Sunday as National Ice Cream Day. We were out of town on Sunday, so we "celebrated" tonight with ice cream served on sugar cones--my favorite.

As a small child, I loved making homemade ice cream with my family. We had a really old ice cream maker that took forever, but it was always worth it. Today, I still love homemade raspberry ice cream--if someone else wants to take the time to make it! When I was twelve, I discovered the all-you-can-eat ice cream sundae bar at JBs Big Boy restaurant. I remember impressing my friends by eating three very large sundaes in one sitting. (Hey, I had to cover all my topping combos.) As I've matured, I've become more of an ice cream snob. My very favorite ice cream was Godiva Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, which, sadly, has been discontinued. I like the new flavors that Hagen-Daaz comes up with. Up until two weeks ago, my favorite flavor was Breyers Black Raspberry Chocolate Chunk ($2.88 at Wal-Mart). My new favorite is Smith's Premium Select Double Chocolate Cookie Crunch. It has two great things going for it: good texture with crunchy cookie swirls, and a rich, dark chocolate flavor. YUM! I'd better go get some right now!

Mr. President

 

Since we are Inside the White House, it is appropriate that we have a president living here. Kent is the new 2008-09 president of the Utah Valley Sunrise Club for Rotary International. For those of you who don't know what Rotary is--including me up until a few months ago--I'll first tell you what it's not. I thought Kent just went to these weekly meetings to hang out with his dad, have a yummy breakfast at the Marriott, do some networking, and listen to guest speakers. But I learned today that I was only partially right or completely wrong on those points. (Kent, feel free to edit, as I still don't have a full grasp on the organization.) Rotary is a service organization. The club meets for some socializing, but the focus is on doing good in the community and worldwide. They organize local service projects, support a youth exchange program (like foreign exchange students), and also donate money and efforts to eradicate polio, supply fresh water, and educate impoverished people around the globe. The members support each other's efforts and have guest speakers educate club members about the service that other citizens in our community do.

I'm glad I could join Kent this morning and see this part of his life. I sometimes think it would be very enlightening for him to switch places with me for a day or two, and realize the demands of motherhood, keeping a house, and working in my callings. But I learned today that I should turn that idea around and look at what his daily life is like. He participates in volunteer work, basically runs A Child's Hope Foundation and keeps the vision alive there while providing an income for our family, maintains strong friendships, and comes home ready to love and play with his family. I could go on and on, but the point is that I'm grateful to have Kent in my life. He is a great man. He balances me well and he is my best friend.

Golden Birthday

At our house, we celebrate golden birthdays when the person turns the age of the numeral they were born on. Blue turned ten today, the tenth, making it her golden birthday. As such, she got to choose how to celebrate, departing from my regimented schedule of certain birthdays are to be celebrated. (Family part, friend party, party at a fun place, etc.) Blue has spent the last two months planning this birthday, which went like this: have her friend, Nicole, over to roast marshmallows and sleep outside; eat breakfast burritos on her birthday; play at the splash pool all day; go out to eat and spend the night with Grammy; go shopping with Grammy the next day; and finally, go hiking with Grammy and sisters to the Y. We also threw in a tiara, some presents, and cupcakes. Sounds golden to me!

With this birthday, Kent and I are also celebrating a decade of parenthood. Being a mom is a much tougher and more interesting job than going to work in an office, and the stakes are very high. But it's fun and we both have progressed and continue to learn how to be better parents. I am grateful for the examples of our own parents and the counsel and direction of the Holy Ghost given when we seek to follow the answers from our Heavenly Father.

God Bless the USA!

I have had a great love for my country ever since I was a child in elementary school. Marrying Kent on July 3 has done that much more to make the beginning of July quite meaningful to me. So here's the blog of this past week. (Did you know you can click on the link of blogged pictures to see them almost full-screen? This really is like sharing my scrapbook with all of you. Maybe the experiment will be a success!)



We started this patriotic week with a great block of Church meetings followed by the patriotic service last Sunday. The music really added to the spirit there; it is always touching to see the past and present servicemen stand when the anthem is played for their branch of the military.

On the morning of Independence Day, we went to Macey's French toast breakfast. (Why have I typed the word "French" twice in my post about the USA USA USA USA USA. There!) The line was long, so we had to eat in the car to make it to our parade bleachers.

After the parade, we met with the White side of the family for a picnic. The rest of the afternoon was filled with DVDs and swimming for the girls, and napping for Green and us parents.

In the evening, we went to our first Stadium of Fire. We really enjoyed the parachuting soldiers, the dancers, Glenn Beck, the Blue Man Group (they were really good), and the fireworks. Miley Cyrus was the big feature, and we didn't enjoy her as much. We spent half of her performance watching her flip her hair around and turn her back to the audience. For her encore, she sang a few songs that the girls knew...and the middle-aged (older than me) woman behind us was singing along too! Scary! So the girls danced to her music a little, except for Purple, who didn't get a nap earlier and she fell asleep. A fun event overall. Thanks Jake and Jenni for taking care of Green.

We wrapped up the weekend by cleaning the garage. (Not exciting enough to take a photo, but Kent is excited to park his car in there again.) And we celebrated our anniversary by going on a date: dinner and a walk around BYU's campus. Again, not super exciting, but it was fun to discover BYU's terraced garden. And it was my first time in the "new" (finished after I graduated 10 1/2 years ago) library. Thanks to Mindy and David for babysitting.

Happy Birthday to the USA and to our family!

A Sick Freak

Some of you may know that I'm a pretty big fan of Glenn Beck. (Glenn has an AM radio talk show, a CNN show, and has written a few books. I agree with most of his opinions about the state of our country and its politicians, I get his sense of humor, and I love his storytelling skills. Check him out at www.GlennBeck.com.) So for me, it was fun to be able to meet and see him a few times this past week in Provo.
 
Last Sunday, Glenn was the keynote speaker at the Freedom Festival's patriotic service in the Marriott center. Because Steve, my father-in-law, is a county commissioner, we were invited to a reception before the service where Kent and I briefly met Glenn and Kent thanked him for the introduction to the band Muse. (I couldn't tell you what any of their songs are. I listen to AM radio, remember.)
 
 
We saw Glenn again as he rode past on parade route on July 4th. Kent got him laughing when he started shouting a fan's praises to the Becks' body guard, Adam.
 
And we saw him a fourth time when he hosted the Stadium of Fire. I love the patriotic spirit he contributed to that event. Thanks Beck!

Boatin' with the Bodens

Last Monday, June 30, we accepted Nate's (my brother-in-law, married to my sister, Christy) invitation to his birthday celebration. If you know Nate, you know that celebration involved boating. We went up to East Canyon Reservoir where the water was glass because there were only two or three other boats there all day. For people who ski or wake board, those were perfect conditions. For me, I just want the water to not be too freezing, because when I am strapped to a wake board, I spend all my time under the water. (See photo five of the slide show.) The weather was perfect, except for a quick rain shower lunch. I must have gotten the kids really worried about lightning because they set up a shelter from the "storm" where they could eat.



At the end of the day, the boat's batteries died and I got a great upper-body workout helping to paddle us back to the marina. That made the adventure all the more memorable! We took the scenic route home through Heber City and topped off a perfect day with dinner and a raspberry milkshake at Granny's Drive Inn. (Not to be passed if you're on that highway.) Thanks Bodens!