Kylie and Garrett

A Joyous Christmas Season

2012-01-15T14:11:00.001-08:00

The Christmas season was pretty eventful for Garrett and I. The first big event occurred on December 16th...

After all--he graduated with his Bachelor degree in Physics!

This is the cutest picture! The big balloons were dropped onto the graduates after they had all walked across the stage. Some of the balloons were bounced into the seating area so the audience could take some. Our nieces and nephews loved the balloons. I don't think very many of them got to go home with them because they took up a lot of room in the cars.

I love my physicist!

Garrett and his mom and dad

Garrett had "cap head" in this picture with my mom

The post-graduation luncheon with family. Garrett is opening his graduation gifts.

My dad and my brother Daniel drove down from Canada and arrived on December 20th. On December 21st we had an early birthday celebration for my dad and went over to Uncle Eric's for dinner. My brother Daniel got his cousins to play "Settlers of Catan" with him.

It's his favorite board game right now.

The cousins and my brother Daniel agreed to pose for a picture

My dad turned 55 on his birthday (December 25th)

We opened Christmas presents with my family on December 22nd since they were leaving for California the next day. In this picture, we're all sporting a least one new Christmas gift item we received. We took this picture with a timer so we could all be in it at once and send a picture of all of us to my brother, Elder Cassinat

My brother Daniel and me

Daniel liked his Angry Birds toque

My mom got me a book called "A Porcupine in a Pine Tree: A Canadian 12 Days of Christmas". Love it!

We spent Christmas in Chino Valley with Garrett's family. They got a horse named Sally.

Here's Sally on her first day with the family. Garrett's mom is helping one of the grandkids feed Sally some carrots.

[Sally only paid attention to me if I had an apple in my hand.

Once she at the apple, the interaction was over as far as Sally was concerned.]

Garrett's mom had to negotiate with Sally to get her bridle on.

Mrs. Claus brought Christmas pajamas for the grandkids to wear to bed on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning! Time to open presents.

So many gifts and treats!

Garrett was very excited to open his presents.

And so ended the year of 2011. It was a good year for Garrett and I and we are looking forward to the new year.

Christmas is Coming!

2011-12-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

Elder Cassinat and his missionary companions have decorated for Christmas.

Elder Cassinat posing in front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building

Elder Cassinat with the Mission President and Mission President's wife

Garrett and I at one of the musical concerts on the Mesa Arizona temple grounds. The lights are beautiful!

I find it very beautiful to see the lights shining off the citrus fruit on the trees at the temple.

The days are going by quickly and I'm enjoying the feeling of the Christmas season. I'm making an effort to remember the "reason for the season"--the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. I am grateful for Him.

Elder Cassinat Update and Halloween Fun

2011-11-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

Here's an update about my brother, Elder Cassinat (Jared) serving in the Winnipeg, Manitoba mission. He is enjoying the work and working hard. The following is an excerpt from his latest Weekly Update letter to go with this picture:

"Tuesday morning we had district meeting. It was about how we can become better teachers and how to do better at our job. After that I went on exchange with Elder S. Smith. He is from Idaho and he is the youngest of 6. We tracted in St. Paul, it was a nicer neighborhood. I think I ran into a Jets player, not 100% sure. We were doing a Bible Survey. There was this one house with a helicopter on the front. It wasn't working. But we were let in by Kristina. She is taking Biblical Studies in college and so we talked about the Book of Mormon and how they connect. Exchanged numbers and left her with a copy of the Lesson 1 pamphlet and Book of Mormon. Went in for dinner. After dinner we ran into Jon. He is a geologist here in Selkirk and he really interesting fellow. Very well educated and knows his stuff. He used to have missionaries come into his home. We asked if he had a copy of the Book of Mormon. He came with the Book of Mormon but also a case. And inside the case was bagpipes! He played Scotland the Brave, the tune for which Praise to the Man was taken from. Amazing grace, Flowers of the Forest, and more Ride and Dangevar. He then let us try it out. Hence the picture. I can't believe the lung capacity and power you need to play that thing. But I guess it is the same as the baritone or trombone, it got easier the more I played it."

Garrett and I also had fun preparing for a Halloween Party that was hosted by one of the young couples in our ward. Garrett made "Witch Finger" cookies. We had to modify the recipe a bit--instead of sticking the almonds onto the cookies with red gel icing we used pumpkin butter. Gave the nail-bed a festering infection sort of look and tasted delicious! Since we only received the invitation the day before Halloween we didn't have time to get a pumpkin until after work on Monday (Halloween Day). Garrett bought one of the last remaining pumpkins. It was rather small, and its skin was VERY thick. Garrett eventually resorted to using his electric drill.

Our "Puking Pumpkin"
I dressed up as a Polar Bear for the Halloween celebration at work. Those grey plastic sheets hanging from the ceiling at work were garbage bags. They were supposed to form a haunted alley around our cubicles but the decorators ran out of garbage bags halfway through the project. We had Jordan over for a small Birthday dinner on Garrett's birthday (and celebrated Jordan's b-day too). Garrett opted to have ice-cream sandwiches for his "cake".

Chloe and the Chickens

2011-10-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

Garrett and I went to Kingman and stayed with his Papa and Maryjane overnight on Friday. We had a wonderful time visiting them. Papa taught Garrett the first steps involved in laying a stone walkway. I got a picture of Garrett working with a pick to level the ground. Maryjane showed us some of the beautiful glass artwork she has done. I got some Christmas shopping done while admiring her handiwork :)

Next we stopped in Chino Valley and toured the property that his parents are going to rent for the next few months. One of the highlights of the tour was the chickens. Chloe (Kristy’s dog) did pretty good with the chickens at first. Check out this video:

Play of the Day

Instant replay:

Slow Motion Instant Replay

Post-game Interview:

Fun in Ft. Worth, TX

2011-09-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

I went to Ft. Worth, TX for a couple of days this past week for the Annual Conference of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. I had a very nice time. I really liked the downtown area of Ft. Worth where the conference was held. It was much safer to walk around and explore compared to downtown Atlanta (where the conference was held last year). I even went to see a play one evening at "Circle Theatre" (a small theater where Texas Christian University puts on performances). The play was called "The Fantasticks". I didn't like the plot but the acting and singing by the actors and actresses was superb! Here are some photos from the trip:

There was a neat little chocolate shop in the "Sundance Square" area (that was the name of the area of shops/restaurants near my hotel in downtown Fort Worth). I usually can't go by a chocolate shop without going in for a closer look and a sample or two.

This was a mural on the wall of one of the buildings in Sundance Square.

An area in the Fort Worth Water Gardens. It was so quiet and peaceful--you had to walk down a narrow staircase to get to it. It was a few feet below ground level. The Forth Worth Water Gardens were right next to the Fort Worth Convention Center (where the AAMFT Conference was held).

This was another one of the water pools in the Fort Worth Water Gardens. You can see someone going down the stairs where you can be among the waterfalls.

A giant star made of...cowboy hats! This was hanging from the ceiling in the convention center.

Finally...testing the nozzle!

2011-08-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

A summer of developing a new design for a specialized nozzle culminated in the testing of the first actual nozzle! Garrett was very excited. I joined him at the lab where he was testing the newly designed nozzle. You will be able to see Garrett, but not the nozzle. The nozzle is very tiny, and best viewed through a microscope. The nozzle is designed to release microscopic water droplets. Each droplet contains a protein molecule that is x-rayed by a specialized laser beam--the LCLS.

Random Pictures from the Last 2 Months

2011-08-14T21:00:00.001-07:00

Me riding a segway for a Team Building Activity at work mid-June. It was pretty fun. I didn't fall off the segway at any time, though my segway crashed when I wasn't on it because I didn't get on it fast enough. It jumped the curb where I had rested it, ran into the wall, and fell over.

My dad and I in front of the "skeleton" of the Calgary Alberta Temple (May 2011). It is scheduled to be completed Spring 2012.

My dad and grandma at my brother Jared's Missionary Open House on June 12th.

My brother Daniel at Jared's Open House on June 12th. I took pictures of Jared too, but he was usually standing with other people and since I don't know the other people very well I didn't think I should put their pictures on my blog.

Garrett and I went on a hike with the Cub Scouts on August 13th (Saturday) to Hieroglyphic Canyon. It's actually a misnomer, because the markings on the rocks are petroglyphs (not hieroglyphics). It's a 3-mile hike round trip. It was very fun!

Scenery as we began the hike.

The petroglyphs.

A very neat lizard that was sunning itself on a rock along the hiking trail. We also saw the tail of a salmon-colored snake. It slithered away into the bushes as our group approached. We weren't close enough to get a picture.

Called to Serve

2011-06-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe my brother Jared is 19 years old and going on a mission, but he is! He reports to the Missionary Training Center in Provo at the end of June. He is called to serve in the Canada-Winnipeg Mission.

http://www.mission.net/canada/winnipeg/missioninfo.php

Apparently: Many are cold, but few are frozen.

He received his endowment in the Cardston, Alberta Temple on Saturday, May 28th (29 years to the day my parents were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple). Here are some pictures from that day.

San Diego!

2011-05-27T11:24:00.001-07:00

Enjoying the beach

That water was COLD if you ask me...but the kids didn't seem to mind

A butterfly at Legoland (I loved its wing pattern...can you see its blue wing tips?)

One of the models at Legoland (the Star Wars display was a highlight)

Another Star Wars lego model

Katie, Parker, and Grandma going down the slides

Enjoying the sights

Garrett--panning for gold at the remodelled Mormon Battalion Museum in San Diego

Garrett was the volunteer in our group to wear the gear the members of the Mormon Battalion wore. He looked pretty cool!

Garrett and I enjoyed a few days in San Diego with the Nelson clan. It was a bit chilly for me (anything below 20 degree Celsius, 70 degrees Fahrenheit is cold for me these days). It felt great to be back there for a visit though. San Diego is where Garrett and I met back on July 1st, 2007, so that city will probably always have a special place in our hearts.

The beach was another highlight--though I didn't dare put on a swimsuit lest I freeze to death. Each time I went to the beach, I had long pants and a jacket on. The kids were much tougher than I was. They not only wore swim gear...they went in the water too!

The whole family went to Legoland one of the days, so I have a couple pictures from that.

Garrett and I also went to the Mormon Battalion Museum, which had been remodelled since I lived in San Diego. I was VERY impressed with the museum! I enjoyed going there so much that we went back two more times before leaving San Diego. I highly recommend a stop at the Mormon Battalion Museum to anyone passing through the San Diego area.

San Francisco!

2011-05-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

Me and the seals at Pier 39

The TransAmerica Building (pyramid shaped)

Famous old carousel at Pier 39

A bunch of trolleys

I didn't show up well in the picture...but the Golden Gate Bridge is off in the distance

I attended the California Association and Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) Conference from May 12th-14th. While I spent the majority of my days at the Northcentral University booth talking about the Marriage and Family Therapy program we offer, I did go into the city of San Francisco on evening. Myself and my colleague from Northcentral rode the "BART" (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and then walked to Pier 39. It was quite a walk from the BART station! We were smarter and took a street car back to the BART. My favorite part was the mini donuts and the delicious salmon and sour dough bread dinner I had. Here are some pictures from that outing.

Long time, no post...

2011-04-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

OK! Lots of catching up to do! I has been quite a few months since our last post. In that time, we actually had a small watermelon grow in our garden, I dressed up as R2D2 for the Halloween potluck at work, and we moved to a different studio apartment. Plus, I got a haircut (the picture of me with the new haircut isn't the best, though...but I really like the haircut!)

To Atlanta and Back Again

2010-10-10T17:13:00.000-07:00

My trip to Atlanta at the end of September was good-not quite as fun as I thought it was going to be, but still a good experience! My primary reason for going was to help run the booth that Northcentral University had set up at the Annual Conference of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). The booth was busy the first evening and part of the next day, but fewer and fewer people came each day as the conference went on.

I was able to attend some of the classes at the conference, including a plenary session where John Gottman spoke (he's done TONS of research on relationships in the "Love" Lab at the University of Washington. He continues to do research on relationships and for parenting at the Relationship Research Institute). He was quite an engaging speaker. I often quoted his findings to couples that I was seeing for therapy, and I still would if I had more clients! Anyway! Here are some pictures:

This is a picture of the INSIDE of my hotel at night. It was a HUGE hotel. I think it had 47 floors. I was on the 8th floor.

This is a picture looking down from the 8th floor of the hotel.

A downtown Atlanta street. I occasionally made it out into the light of day and walked near the hotel.

I could see the Bank of America Plaza building from my hotel window.

A live jazz band playing in the food court of the mall next to the hotel. VERY enjoyable to listen to!

These were three of the many crawfish that Garrett, his dad, and his brothers caught near Pine Top, Arizona. They had "Boys Weekend" the last weekend of September. I was in Atlanta at the time.

This is what the crawfish looked like when they were cooked.

Not So Exciting Happenings

2010-08-07T21:45:00.000-07:00

The gecko or lizard in our room one night.

The view when you walk out the front door of the office where I work in Scottsdale.

The view when you walk out the front door the office where I did my job training in Prescott Valley.

The corn in our garden...2 weeks ago.

Another view of the corn in the garden (2 weeks ago)

The box garden...2 weeks ago

One of the casualties of the box garden (a cucumber that hadn't quite finished ripening).

My dad and my brothers in their Mesa home

I finally realized about a month ago that there was no fruit growing in the box portion of our graden. There were vines galore, but none of them had fruit growing on them (except the cucumber vines). That's when we decided to stop watering the box garden. We kept watering the garden next to the house though, so the corn did well. However, in the last few days, it finished its life cycle and turned brown and crispy. We haven't harvested the ears of corn that grew...so I imagine they won't taste very good at this point. I'm not very good at this summer gardening thing in Arizona! I've learned some valuable lessons though. Number 1: Plant in late February, so the plants can grow and possibly get fruit on them before the hot season starts. Number 2: Once the hot season starts, everything will fry unless watered A LOT more than I am willing to water it!

I started my job as an Academic Advisor at Northcentral University two weeks ago. I really like it so far. I have spent the majority of each week training up at the Prescott Valley headquarters. I must say, I prefer the view from the Prescott Valley office over the view from the office in Scottsdale. I have two more days of training in Prescott Valley, then I will work out of the Scottsdale office. The break room at the Scottsdale office is great-it has two different kinds of slurpees for employees (for free!)

He actually caught one!

2010-06-23T13:53:00.001-07:00

Look at those honeydew vines!!!

The corn is getting tall in one section of the garden.

Can you see the green beans?

The beginning of a honeydew!

A tiny cucumber.

This is the shady spot in the garden. It's taken a long time for the watermelon vine to get going.

This is the catfish Garrett caught!!!

The proud fisherman with his catch.

Yesterday around 8 PM, Garrett and I headed over to an urban fishing pond. He took two poles with him. He prepared one pole and cast out his hook (baited with a worm). He put that pole down, and while he was in the middle of preparing the other pole, the first pole moved slightly. He picked it up and...reeled in a catfish! The catfish was about 14 inches long. We stayed and fished for another hour and a half, but the catfish was the only catch of the day. Still, a pretty good catch if you ask me! We're going to have catfish for dinner tonight.

The garden is also coming along. The cucumbers are doing well. What I'm really hoping will do well are the honeydew vines! I love honeydew!

A Beautiful Day in June

2010-06-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

The temperature was high for most of the week, but it cooled off and became quite pleasant for this weekend. Our garden plants could tell the difference too, and the soil wasn't bone dry by the afternoon either!

I finally realized I made a horticultural error with the cucumber plants in the planter. When I planted the garden, I thought that for each seed I planted, I would get one cucumber. Not so, not so! For each seed I planted, a large vine began to grow. Each vine had numerous, large leaves that began hogging all the sunlight. Thus, we had a garden full of cucumber plants that were preventing the tomatoes and the bell peppers from growing. I like cucumbers, but not that much! Garrett and I experimented with transplanting some of the plants into a garden space we had left in front of our house. The results were sad, as you can tell by the pictures. I ended up cutting most of then away and putting them in the green box. We'll have to see how the tomatoes and bell peppers do now that they have access to some direct sunlight. Garrett and I have also been amazed at how much difference two or three feet can make in the amount of sunlight an area gets, and how much that affects the growth of the garden. From the pictures, you will be able to tell what plants get the right amount of sun, and which plants need a bit more in order to grow faster.

I also included a couple of pictures of the inside of our apartment so that you can see what it looks like without all the moving boxes everywhere (I should have posted pictures of this sooner-the moving boxes have been gone for a long time).

Family Reunion Fun

2010-06-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

Garrett and I went to his hometown last week for his brother Jordan's graduation (congrats Jordan...sorry I didn't get any pictures). From there, we journeyed to a family reunion on Garrett's great uncle's ranch. I'm not sure I will have any luck properly labeling the pictures, but I will try:

The first picture is of Garrett's parents. The second picture is of Garrett's oldest brother and his family. The woman working the kitchen cutting up peppers is Grandma Pitrat. After that is a picture of Garrett and me. Below us is a picture of Uncle Wayne and Aunt Sheri. I didn't get any pictures on my camera of Amber (one of Garrett's older sisters) and her family, nor of Candy and Clint and Darrell and his family. However...I do have some video footage of them on my video camera. The area where the ranch is located is beautiful! The food was delicious-Wayne and Sheri sure know how to feed a crowd! We had bar-b-q chicken and pork, rice, a bell pepper/vegetable medley (grilled), fruit salad, plus roasted green chiles and "cheese crisps" (tortillas filled with cheese, grilled, so that the cheese melts). Aunt Candy brought chili too! The drive to and from the reunion was also fun. We drove on Route 66 and stopped for ice-cream on the way, plus we saw the town where Garrett's mom lived from age 7 to the time she left for college. Reunions are a my favorite way to collect family history!

The Graduation!

2010-05-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my brother Jared's high school graduation. He looked so handsome! The evening was a little long...we arrived at the venue around 3:30 PM, and we didn't leave until almost 10 PM. Though his graduating class was small, the graduation was combined with the end of year awards ceremony for Grade 12. Here are a few pictures.

Greetings from Canada

2010-05-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

I am visiting my home town of Calgary, Alberta for a few days. The official reason for the visit is for me to attend my brother's graduation this week. In the meantime, I've been keeping busy spending time with family and visiting friends. Here are a few of the highlights:

We (my mom, grandma, and I) visited my "Oma" the other day. That's a picture of her waving to us from her balcony. She has known our family for years, so even though she's not technically a blood relation, she'e still a member of the family.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the Calgary, Alberta temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was held on May 15, 2010. Though we didn't get to go to the temple grounds on the day of the ceremony (parking was limited), my parent's ward had a Ward Family Home Evening on the future temple site this evening. Our Bishop borrowed one of the official groundbreaking shovels, and so our family headed up to the temple grounds and a got a picture. There is actually a small picture of the temple engraved onto the shovel.

My grandma and I were excited to see that since my arrival a few days ago, two of the flower bushes in her backyard started to bloom! We got a picture in front of the bushes.

That's it for now. Unfortunately, Garrett was not able to come to Canada with me this time. He's in charge of the garden in Arizona, and has done a lot of work setting up a drip system for it. I can hardly wait to see it when I get back!

Melons and Peppers and Pumpkins, OH MY!

2010-05-02T17:29:00.001-07:00

I finally got our garden re-planted. Having never tried to keep a garden alive in the intense Arizona summer heat, I'm not sure how it will do. I plan to water it a lot. I planted some honeydew, watermelon, pumpkin, corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green onions. A friend at church gave me some bean and squash starts to plant. We'll see how it all goes! Now, perhaps you may be wondering how all of those plants could fit in our box garden. They can't! I am utilizing a narrow space of garden between the apartment and the sidewalk for increased garden space. It was growing a lot of weeds, so I figured I could get rid of the weeds and try to grow something useful in the space. A few sprouts have come up in the box garden (I planted that about a week and a half ago), but no sprouts yet in the other garden (as I just planted it the other day). There are before and after pictures of both the box garden and the garden space alongside the apartment. Unfortunately, they are showing up in the wrong order in the post-the after pictures appear first, while the before pictures appear after. Sigh. Someday I will figure out how to put the pictures in the right order.

Events & Nature Around the Apartment

2010-03-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

The event that is going on near our apartment right now is "Jesus the Christ", the Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant that is sponsored, organized, and presented by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We can hear it every night from our apartment. Tonight, we are going to go an be audience members! I'm excited about that. It's an hour long (from 8 PM to just a little after 9 PM). It tells the story of the Savior's mortal life, including His death and resurrection. I have two pictures of the stage (which they build every year and then take down after the performance). The stage is quite large. I took these pictures just before 5 PM yesterday, and you can see that some people were already camped out saving seats. There are chairs set up in the large grass area in front of the temple visitor's center. One of the pictures is of the visitor center with the temple behind it.

The other pictures are of our garden...which I REALLY need to completely harvest (except for the celery) and replant, because...have you ever seen broccoli plants flower, and lettuce begin to bud??? Well, now you have, because I took some pictures of just that! I also included a picture of the little orange and yellow flowers that grow just outside our door. They're the kind of flowers that when you water them, they look like they're being tickled because they wiggle back and forth as though they really enjoy being watered.

Events of the past few weeks

2010-03-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Here are some pictures of the weddings we attended in the last few weeks, as well as a few pictures of our new little apartment (which is currently filled with boxes of stuff that needs to be organized and put away). I still haven't figured out how put captions on photos, so I hope you will generally recognize the people in the pictures!

Just another garden update!

2010-01-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

If you're thinking: "Is the only exciting thing in Kylie and Garrett's life their garden???" then you would be correct! Just kidding-but sometimes it sure does seem like it! I actually picked these carrots last week. One of the carrots didn't look very "carroty" at all (as you will see from the pictures). In fact, it looked downright strange. I finally got enough courage to eat it, and it didn't even taste very carroty. It didn't taste bad, but just not like a carrot. More like a carrot crossed with a turnip or something like that. The other carrots looked and tasted like carrots though, just in case you were worried.

Right now, it is raining very steadily outside (as it has been all day), and I find myself grateful for the moisture that our corner of the desert has so desperately needed! The little garden out back is definitely getting all the water it needs!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-01-03T15:43:00.000-08:00

After a busy holiday season, things are winding down and I decided to take a few minutes to write an update letter and to write a blog post.

First is an updated picture of our garden. The carrots are almost ready to eat; everyday there are 2 or so pods of peas ready to eat, and we've been snacking on lettuce occasionally (as you know from a previous post). The broccoli and onions still have a few more weeks before they will be ready to eat.

I also thought I would include a picture of our little Christmas tree...complete with Tim Horton's Hot Chocolate underneath it!!! My parents brought the hot chocolate down from Canada with them. I LOVE Tim Horton's Hot Chocolate! If any of the people reading this blog ever go to Canada, take my advice and eat at a Tim Horton's! I really like their donuts (in my opinion, donuts from Tim Horton's taste much better than any of the donuts I have eaten in the U.S.A.) and their hot chocolate.

The bottom picture is of Garrett and I at a church Christmas dance in December for young married couples. It felt nice to get dressed up! It was the first time Garrett and I danced since our wedding reception. Needless to say, we both have to work on our dancing skills. In spite of that, we had a good time.

The Garden is Growing

2009-11-29T21:20:00.000-08:00

Now for another exciting update on our square foot garden!!! It has been growing very well. There are a few pea pods growing, and we had to add to the pea trellis because the peas outgrew the original trellis Garrett constructed for them. We even had a salad tonight made entirely from our garden lettuce, and it was delicious!

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-29T20:46:00.000-08:00

This year, Garrett and I went to my aunt and uncle's house for Thanksgiving. We had a great time. The food was delicious, and the company of my cousins and uncle (who have very witty senses of humor) was lively and pleasant. We arrived around noon to find my uncle putting up the last of the Christmas lights on his house. I was surprised to see that he had a blue print for his house, complete with a guide to where each particular string of Christmas lights would go (labeled A, B, C, D, etc.) I have never seen anyone be so organized about putting up lights!!! He had already picked up the turkey that morning-completely cooked and ready to go whenever the rest of the meal was done. And the turkey tasted fantastic! My uncle was telling me that a local Scout troop does a fundraiser every Thanksgiving that consists of cooking people's turkeys overnight & underground in a sort of "pit roaster". So every year for the past several years, my aunt buys a turkey, and my uncle takes it the night before Thanksgiving to the property where the turkeys are cooked and drops it off, then picks it up the next morning after it's been cooked. The turkey fell off the bones, and was very juicy and moist. But the highlight of the meal was this chocolate cake that my aunt made-Buttermilk Chocolate Cake (nicknamed "Trenchbull Cake" by my cousins--remember the book "Matilda" by Roald Dahl?) It's four layers thick with rich, creamy icing that melts if it isn't kept in the fridge due to its high chocolate content. Oh yes, I've found a new favorite dessert! (You will see me pictured with my aunt beside the famous "Trenchbull Cake" in one of the pictures included with this blog).

Besides participating in the Thanksgiving festivities at my aunt and uncle's house, Garrett and I also enjoyed remembering our blessings and being reminded of the counsel that we are to give thanks in ALL things (even challenges and trials). Garrett showed me this YouTube video produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that helped me get in the true spirit of Thanksgiving. I highly recommend watching it. The video is called: "In the Spirit of Thanksgiving"

http://www.youtube.com/MormonMessages

I know from my own experience that when I am willing to give thanks in all things that I am given strength to endure well whatever trial or trouble I am going through.

Our Friend's Baptism

2009-11-08T17:01:00.001-08:00

Garrett and I had the privilege of attending (and speaking at) the baptism of our friend, Otto. He lives very near to us and we started having him over for Family Home Evening a little over a month ago. He took the missionary discussions in our home to learn about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and committed to be baptized yesterday (Nov. 7th). Our Bishop baptized Otto, and today, Garrett performed the ordinance of confirmation for Otto to be confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and bestowed the gift of the Holy Ghost. It has been a sweet and wonderful experience to be with Otto as he learned the truths of the gospel and gained a testimony for himself that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. We have become very good friends with Otto, he feels like a long lost brother who we finally got to meet! A piece to the puzzle that we didn't even know was missing in our lives! In addition, he knows some delicious Cuban recipes, and he has already cooked a Cuban-style dinner for us.

I also attended my first Scout O Rama activity yesterday. What fun! I wish Garrett could have come with me, because he would have loved all the physics in action! All the troops from the cities in the area had set up booths to make and do different things. Some of the booths could help the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts pass of requirements for badges. Other booths were just for fun. Our troop set up an Obstacle Course booth, for example. Perhaps that could pass of a physical fitness requirement...but overall, it was just meant to be fun. There were rocket making/launching booths, a marshmallow gun making booth, a chess playing booth, a science booth (with dead animals preserved in jars of formaldehyde) to name a few. And my favorite...the FREE ICE CREAM booth! Well, that booth was actually operated by a sponsor of the event (Blue Bell Ice Cream), and not a Scout troop. I really like being a Cub Scout leader and being involved with the Scouting program. It really is a neat program!

News from the Square-foot Garden

2009-10-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

It's Growing! We kid you not! Today when Kylie went out to water the garden, she saw about 8 tiny sprouts. Hooray!

Square Foot Gardens and Nose Picker Pliers

2009-10-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

Garrett and I set a goal a long time ago to establish a square foot garden. We finally accomplished that goal this past week. With help from some birthday money, we purchased the needed supplies. Garrett built the garden box a couple of days later, and then I finally planted the seeds on 10/13/09. Here are some pictures of the building of the square foot garden box. You will notice a picture of me holding a long, black extension cord. It took me about 10 minutes to get it untangled. I tried to be helpful, but honestly, I was mostly underfoot! We planted some carrots, peas, lettuce, scallions, yellow onions, and broccoli. If all goes well, most of the seeds should sprout late next week. A number of families in our ward at church also have gardens, so at their suggestion, I put a nylon bird barrier over the garden so the birds wouldn't try to eat the seeds I had planted. So far, so good.

The second part of this post is based on (you guess it) another experience I had at Cub Scouts. The Assistant Den Leader and myself set out a number of different tools on a table and told the Cubs the name of each tool and what it is used for. Among the tools we told them about was a pair of needle nose pliers. After a while, we covered the tools with a towel and had the Cubs recall as many of the tools as they could. They did very well. They remembered there was a pair of pliers, but none of them could recall the specific type of pliers they were. After a few seconds of hard thinking, one of the boys said, "Nose picker pliers?" (in all seriousness). Needless to say, we all had a good laugh, and I explained that the pliers were known as needle nose pliers. But if a person ever wanted to use a tool to pick his nose, I must say that the needle nose pliers (also known as Nose Picker Pliers by my Wolf Cub den) would probably be the best choice!

Addendum to the Code of Conduct

2009-09-09T20:50:00.001-07:00

I had a Wolf Cub den meeting this evening. By the end of the meeting, we added another rule to the Code of Conduct. I will let you discover the new rule! (Hint: The new rule is written in black ink). The first version of the Code of Conduct is pictured a couple of posts below this post. I'll admit-it seems like a funny rule, but very much needed. For example, we did a First Aid Kit Scavenger Hunt. One of the requirements I wanted them to be able to pass off was to list 4 ways to prevent the spread of a cold. I attached this particular Scavenger Hunt Clue to a roll of toilet paper and hid it for them to find. You may be wondering why I used toilet paper: For one thing, some people use toilet paper instead of Kleenex if they have to sneeze or blow their nose and can't find a Kleenex box. Also, I figured that I didn't want to hide a nice box of Kleenex outside in case an animal decided to get into it or it got dirty (I know, I know...I'm a bit strange). I figured that toilet paper was cheaper, and besides, each roll of Kirkland brand toilet paper comes individually wrapped in plastic! OK-enough explanation! I attached the clue to a roll of toilet paper, and this action proved to be a mind snag for one of the little cubs who couldn't seem to stop bringing up toilet paper in every conversation from that point forward. Hence, the addendum to the Code of Conduct!

Fun in Canada

2009-08-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

Garrett and I flew to Canada on Saturday, August 15th. Garrett flew back to Arizona yesterday. I will leave Canada next Saturday. When we figure out how to do a slideshow of the pictures for our blog, we'll post a few more pictures.

2009-08-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

Now tell me please: Who would not want to take a drink? But my wife advised me to not drink because of "beaver fever".

No Wrestling During the Meeting!

2009-08-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

For the first time this week, I welcomed 5 energetic little 8 year old boys into my home for our first Wolf Cub Scout meeting. My assistant was out of town, and so I (with a little help from my husband) ran the meeting. One of the things I did with the Wolf Cubs was create a Code of Conduct for our den. And let me tell you...I barely got them to sit still long enough to get any comments. My favorite rules were: N0 Wrestling During the Meeting (I came up with that one), and "Don't ignore Akela" (Akela is me...and one of the boys actually came up with that rule after I said aloud that no one was listening to me). After the meeting was over and they all went home, I felt exhausted! They didn't stop moving the entire meeting! Even when they were sitting still, they seemed to be buzzing. They also asked very random, funny questions and said the most interesting things to one another as they talked about things they liked to do (like play video games). There is one very quiet boy though; he mainly listened to the other boys talk. He asked me at one point (as the other boys were excitedly talking about video games and guns) "Why do they like guns so much?" I said, "I don't know, I'll ask them." So, I asked the boys, "Why do you like guns so much?" One of the boys (without hesitation) replied, "They're faster than swords!"And so begins my next great adventure: being a Wolf Cub Scout leader!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T10:33:00.001-07:00

Hello to all the dads out there who are reading this blog! Happy Father's Day! Where would we be without our fathers? I would like to honor my own father in this post. Here are my 5 favorite memories with my dad:

(1) Canoeing on the North Saskatchewan River near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada. We set a record that was only tied but never beaten for the number of times our canoe tipped and we fell into the ice cold, glacier-fed North Saskatchewan River. My dad would always make us an oatmeal cookie bar (he would use an oatmeal chocolate chip recipe and then bake it like a cake in a 9x13 pan, cut it up into squares, wrap each square in aluminum foil, and the bring the ENTIRE thing for us to eat throughout the day as we canoed). It was delicious, and I always had a lot of fun going through the rapids with him.

(2) My dad was the only dad who came out for Parent Night during my Grade 6 Outdoor School at the Silver Creek Ranch campsite (somewhere in Alberta). Upon arriving at the campsite, my dad was informed by the Principal that he needed to pick a wilderness name, like an animal or tree name. My dad picked the name "Owl" because owls are very wise (at least, I think that's the reason he told me he picked the name owl). All the grade 5's and 6's gathered around the campfire and sang a song that would get each teacher (and parent) up and dancing. Sure enough, we sang, "I like the way the Owl does the hula", and down came my dad to dance with the other teachers by the campfire!

(3) I'm not sure that this is a favorite memory, but I think it's my first memory EVER of my dad. We were at West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta. My mom and dad had brought me to Edmonton to visit one of my mom's friends. There is a big indoor water park at West Edmonton Mall, and so the adults and myself had gone to play at the water park. Unfortunately, I was quite small (probably 2 or 3 years old) and couldn't go on most of the slides. So the adults took turns watching me while the others would go down the slides. I can remember my dad took me to the giant wave pool when it was his turn to watch me. He would say, "Watch this, Kylie!" and then duck his head under the water every time a wave came.

(4) Going "Bull Busting" in Wyoming with my dad, his friend Big Joe, and a couple of other cowboys(I can't remember their names). We rode horses all day long, moving 3 or 4 HUGE bulls from one pasture to another (away from the cows, I think). I was probably 10 or 11, maybe 12 (I can't remember exactly). But it was a lot of fun! My dad spent a lot of time on his grandfather's ranch growing up, so I got to see his adventurous cowboy side that day.

(5) Driving with my dad in Australia on the other side of the road. I can still remember pulling out of a parking lot in Cairns...yikes! He went to turn on his turn signal, but ended up turning on the windshield wipers! (Everything was opposite about the vehicles in Australia: the windshield wiper lever was on the side that our turn signal lever is on, etc). Then he pulled out and almost went down the wrong side of the street (an oncoming vehicle honked at us). My dad just said, "Woops!" and chuckled in his calm way.

I certainly love my dad, and I am very grateful for him.

What's Your Favorite Room in the House?

2009-06-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

Do you have a favorite room in your home? I suppose when I was younger I would have said, "My room." Or I may have said, "The TV room." I'm not sure what my favorite room is now. But my husband, Garrett, has a favorite room: the closet in one of the spare bedrooms. I knew he was a bit strange when I married him...but I didn't know he would get stranger with every passing year of marriage! It was on May 30th, our first wedding anniversary, that he suggested he turn the closet into a study area. Now, he spends most of his time sitting in the closet studying. He laminated a white poster board, which he put up on the wall of the closet. He uses it to write equations on and work out calculus problems. Sometimes he studies so hard that he forgets to eat! Just in case you don't believe me, I have posted some pictures on the blog for proof. Whenever I come home and the house is very quiet and there's no sign of Garrett, I think to myself, "I guess he's in the closet again." Yep.

Supply and Demand at 7000 feet

2009-06-07T20:49:00.000-07:00

Kylie and I drove to Flagstaff this weekend to pick up my brother Jordan (pictured) from Boys State -- a sort of mock government convention for juniors in high school. Here's a snippet from the Boys State official website:

"At American Legion Boys State, participants are exposed to the rights and privileges, the duties and the responsibilities of a franchised citizen. The training is objective and practical with city, county and state governments operated by the students elected to the various offices. Activities include legislative sessions, court proceedings, law enforcement presentations, assemblies, bands, chorus and recreational programs."

I didn't intend the photo of Jordan to be some kind of commentary on the economy or student life. I just thought it would be a funny picture to take.

I was impressed with the air in Flagstaff. It was very nice.

2009-01-25T17:56:00.001-08:00

Hello.