Salt

May I just say, salt does amazing things and the lack thereof quite the contrary. I just dumped two salt-less pie crust pies down the garbage disposal. Next Thanksgiving... I'll be remembering salt... but I won't have to remember too hard because Jonathan has already agreed to cook Thanksgiving dinner next year, as long as it is the only dinner he has to cook all year.

G&G's Homestead

The boys with Grandma and Grandpa. The first picture ever taken of them all together.

Matthew fell in love with a little bobtailed farm cat. I have never seen love at first sight like this kid and that cat. It even made it into the pack and play that night... but after a restless few minutes and tearful goodbye Mom shipped the cat back outside where all cats belong.

Dirt. What more can a kid want that good old fashioned dirt... mounds and mounds of it.

Helping Grandpa do chores.

My two boys looking out over the last of the family hogs. Two weeks after our visit, every pig on the place was sold. A legacy my boys will never really understand. Funny, I never thought I'd get teary eyed over bacon, but this one about wrenched my heart out. My Dad said something to me though... "Ams, there comes a time in life, when it is someone else's turn to take care of things. We are only stewards of what the Lord gives us and when our time is done we pass things along." When he said that I realized that when the time comes for my parents to pass from this life, I hope to remember the same thing... their time has come to be cared for by someone else. We all truly belong to the Lord anyway.

Ridd-dit!!

Mom, Dinosuar, and Frog
Froggies best friend... Miss Pansy

I have to throw up a few more pictures of Matthew's costume. I made it and was quite pleased... for the most part. However, this frog doesn't say ribbit. It is a very LOUD emphatic RIDD-DIT!!

Tricky Treats in Idaho

I didn't know if anything was going to be worth the 22 hours in a car with a 1 and 3 year old... but the look on my mother's face made every brutal mile worth it. The week of Halloween this little Iowa clan packed up the VW Passat, Halloween costumes included, and made our way to Idaho. My parents recently returned from their mission on Carry the Kettle Indian reserve and hadn't seen our kids in a good long while. My father had never seen Matthew. We had told them that we weren't going to be able to be there when they returned but had planned to have them come out sometime next year after the weather would cooperate with a trek across the plains. But, I got a little anxious so we went to see them. Jonathan was able to finagle a few more vacation days together in a row and we had 1 week to make our move. We drove straight through to Ogden, Utah our first day and crashed with Jonathan's brother for the night. The plan was to get up early enough the next morning to drive the last 2.5 hours to Jerome and show up in time for church. However, special me thwarted our plans as I decided to hide our car keys under a towel in the bathroom. After unpacking and repacking the car, walking the yard, and grilling our bambinos for the keys, a quick pit stop in the bathroom would reveal my classic blunder. Much later than anticipated we left for Jerome. Thankfully, Sacrament meeting is last and it has just begun when we got to the building. Miraculously the only pew left in the chapel happened to be the one in front of my parents. We walked in the back of the chapel and Mom's face dropped. It was priceless. Dad sported more of a blank stare, but both of them were having quite a time refraining from whispering and exemplifying reverence by any accord. We spent a care-free, farm filled, pumpkin' carving, cousin rousing, great three days with my folks and then moved on to our next attack with Jonathan's folks. Jonathan's parents were equally surprised with our little tricky treat on Halloween. Grandpa Jenson spotted the car before the kids that were planted on the doorstep after we doorbell-ditched them there. The Iowa plates were the ringer. Grandma Jenson on the other hand had a near fatality when we came flying out at her from her own stairwell. Classic zinger. It was marvelous. We did some serious trick-or-treating, went for horse and carriage rides, frolicked through the yard with cousin Hallie and sewed the CV boot back together on the car before leaving to head back home. This time we drove the 22 hours straight through. It was zany... but family is ALWAYS worth it.

This is how I really felt.