DECEMBER

Christmas. . .with some new traditions

Christmas Eve. . .
family in the hot tub
Christmas Day. . .
dogs in the shower

progress

I don't know why the picture is sideways, but here it is. I gained .6 lbs. I have to say that I am toally good with that. I pretty much took the entire weekend (Fri-Sun) off. I enjoyed my anniversary and weekend. Today is a new day though and I am re-committed.

my weight

I'm still not under 200, but I am getting close. I lost 3 lbs this week and have a total weight loss of 11 lbs. I am proud of myself. This last week was much harder than the week before. I missed one workout and ate some chips one night. So, I could have lost more, but sometimes you need a break and sometimes you need chips. Right? This week I have to be really good because our anniversary is Friday and we will be going out and I want to enjoy it. Keep drinking your water, eating fruits and vegetables, and exercise at least 3 times this week. Good luck!

Just thought you could all use a good laugh.

As I put the star on the tree the other night Quinny told me that he'd rather have a SPONGE on top.

Apparently he's not a fan of "PATRICK STAR".

it's working

Last Monday I started the "28 Day Body Shaper". It has not been easy, but it's working. See for yourself. The top picture was taken last Monday and the bottom picture was taken today.

I've lost almost 6 lbs. in one week. Since the begining of this whole internet weight loss thing I have lost about 8 lbs.

Since Emily is always so good about quoting Adam online, I thought I'd follow her lead. (Actually, I'm doing this because I don't want to forget Quinny's quips and I keep forgetting to write them down.) Mind you, my Q has his father's quick wit...maybe not quite up to "par Adam" - but still laughable. Here you go...

A morning last week:
Quinn: I don't feel good.
Davis: Are you as sick as a dog?
Quinn: No, I'm as sick as a person. And not a cat either.

Last week we hired a man (Henry) to help us clean up the yard a bit.
Quinn (after dropping the kids off at school): Where are we going now? (Standard question)
Me: Home.
Quinn: Why?
Me: Henry is going to be doing the burn piles in the yard.
Quinn (with a very quizzical look): But he doesn't have any hands.
Me (laughing super hard at the mental image Quinny must have come up with of our dog Henry throwing sticks in the fire with his mouth): Not Henry the dog. Henry the person.
Quinn: Oh.

Progress and winter

We got a big storm on Saturday. Isabel loved it. It was fun to get some snow. In weight loss news..... here is my weight this morning. So, I've lost 1.5 lbs. It's not much, but it's a start. I've done pretty good on drinking enough water, but I only exercised two times last week. So here are my goals this week:
Nutrition goal: drink 8 glasses of water a day, again AND only one baked treat this week. That's cookies, cake, muffins, etc. I am only allowing myself one this week.
Exercise goal: same as last week, 3 times for 30 minutes.

Here's what the kids do for fun! The young boys will challenge each other by the hour. Hey Davis and Ryan, try this one out. It's amazing how creative you get when there is no "high def". Hey, these people live like "cave men".

Here's a photo of the seminary class in Mwan, Chuuk. They are great kids even though their english skills aren't up to much. The senior mission couple there has learned Chuukese well enough to teach them most of the time.

I was in Chuuk last week with some of the Japanese guys from the Area office in Tokyo. We were invited to a Branch family home evening. The foods main attraction was a 250 lb. sea turtle that was cooked in a "UM" (underground with hot rocks). This was on big turtle! Since the shell is its bone structure, there weren't any bones inside. it was all meat. Boy did we eat turtle! I must have eaten a pound of it. The taste was not like "chicken". It was more like really nice lean beef. I also visited the island of Kosrae where my mechanic brings me Mangrove crab to eat. He brought me three crabs this time that had pincers the size of my hand. It was like a "crabby paddy" in each one. That is really good stuff.

virtual weight loss

My weight might come as a shock to some of you, but I am not ashamed of myself or what I have become. I do, however, want to be healthier and lose my baby weight. My goal weight is 170 lbs. I know to some of you that is still huge, but that is less than what I weighted when I got married (I weighted 172 lbs). I have always had a hard time loosing weight, even though I know how to do it and have done it many times before. So, this time I have decided to do a virtual weight loss and the family can be my personal weight watchers, literally. I am going to be posting my weight every Monday (I know today is Tuesday, but I want to get started today) and letting everyone know my nutrition and exercise goals for the week. If you would like to join me, great! If not, that's fine too. What I don't want is anyone to judge me or comment on how fat I am. If I gain a little weight too, keep your comments to yourself. I need to be accoutable to someone and there is no better person than everyone (because the world can view this blog and it's somewhat embarrasing).
So, my starting weight is 217.0 (I just want to point out that when I got home from my mission and started weight watchers I weighted 231, I was chubby).
My nutrition goal this week: drink 8 glasses of water a day.
My exercise goal this week: 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time
I will be letting you know how my goals go and posting my weight again next Monday............

HALLOWEEN

. . . . rEadY foR hALLoWEen. . . . . . . . . . . . . SiCK of HAllowEeN. . . .

thus far...

DeLong Family Booklist

Hey Fam,

Michelle had a great idea of compiling a list of all the chapter books we own. Then we can swap them back and forth rather than buy duplicates of the same book. I have set up the site; it is a work in progress, but I think it will work for now. Here is the link:

http://delongbooklist.blogspot.com/

Add any chapter books you have and in the genre section list whether it is a children, young adult (teen), or adult chapter book. Let me know if you have any questions.

EDH

YOSEMITE

Today I canned in a real boiling water bath for the first time. I made the yummiest salsa. I hope the cooked stuff is as good as the fresh. Thanks to Lisa for the tips and encouragement.

JENKINS FAMILY UPDATE - end of summer

First Day of School for them...

...Meant first day ALONE in the park with Mom for Quinn.









After enjoying my amazing birthday surprise in Utah
I came home to this awesome surprise!
(Nice undies Quinny)

Finally using the Sacramento Rivercats tickets
we won at the scout auction. Little did I know that we were waiting for the Giants' farm league team
to be in town.
(Don't you wish you were sitting by Lu?
Not so much fun until the snow cones showed up.)

CALLI'S WEDDING

Just call me Snow White.
I'm sure we saw a singing bluebird or two as well.
(This was heading down our driveway Friday morning
as we headed out for Twin Falls)

The little girlies loved following Calli around -
her train never touched the ground!

And no, that's not Michelle in the back right corner.
Just the older, shorter version - you inspired me Shell...bangs and all.

This is how the girls ate
**Salads, rolls, chicken, potatoes, etc...
(McKenzie, Kajsa, Jessica, Hailey, MaryAnna)




This is how the boys ate
**Salads, rolls, prime rib, potatoes, etc...
(Davis, Mitchel, Dallin, Matthew, Ryan)

And this is how these boys ate!
** Pigs in a blanket and macaroni on the wall and ready to run
(Trey, Quinn, Zach)

Dancing Isabel

Here is a sample of our sunsets. Mom keeps her camera right next to the rear window.