Jennifer's party

This was such a fun night. Thanks Roy! We love you Jen!

Just want to get this all to you before I misplace it AGAIN.

YOSEMITE DATES:
Arrive June 20 (Mon) - Leave June 24 (Fri)

CAMPGROUND:
Upper Pines (it's big. . .our noise will dissipate in a crowd)

RESERVATIONS for CAMPGROUND:
MUST be made on Feb 14 at 7 am PST
** There will be more info on this procedure at a later date**

PROPOSED SCHEDULE:
MONDAY- arrive, dinner/campfire together
TUESDAY- Bridal Veil Falls, Lower Yosemite Falls, etc. . .
WED- Sentinel Dome, Half-Domers depart from Glacier Trails
THUR- Half-Domers ascent & descent through Happy Isle; others enjoy exploring
FRIDAY- break camp, leave through Mariposa Grove (?)

COST:
$20/car to enter park (good for 7 days)
$20/night/family for the campground
$5/person for Half-Domers
food/shirts/crafts. . . TBD

OTHER:

• On January 5th I have to get a wilderness permit for our Half Dome group to stay at Little Yosemite Valley Campground. PLEASE let me know if you plan on doing this so that I can include the proper fee.
• Half-Domers - we will be hiking from Glacier Trails to Little Yosemite Valley Campground on Wednesday, summitting early Thursday and returning to the Valley Floor via Happy Isle. IF you would rather hike up and back in one day, plan on Thursday - ALL DAY.
  
• There is a $10 fee to cancel a campsite reservation (this is not per night - it is a flat fee).
• For great info on Yosmite go to: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/index.htm and just start clicking.
• PLEASE let me know what I've missed. I CANNOT WAIT!!!!
  

5th and 6th graders ski deal!

I have a great idea. Mom and Dad are now retired and may sign on to my awesome plan. SkiUtah.com has a 5th grade and a 6th grade ski passport that allows the holder to ski every resort in Utah free. 5th Graders get to ski each 3 times, I think. 6th graders just once each. There is a $25 processing fee. That is amazing! So, if Rebecca, Elisabeth, and Jane all have free ski lift passes, Mom and Dad could have a fun granddaughter ski day or 2 or 14. Or Sam, Michelle and I could take the girls some day. It would be super fun. I don't think Ryan can b/c I think you have to be a resident. Darn. Anyway, what do you think? - Jen

deceptive, maybe...delicious, well that's up for debate!

Hey Fam -

I have this cookbook that I am thinking of getting rid of. I asked for it for Christmas one year and Scott delivered on that wish (so nice of him). Unfortunately I haven't loved it. But I don't really want to give it to DI just yet. I am wondering if one of you want to borrow it and if you love it then you can have it...

Love, EM

Don't Eat Pinenuts from China!

The minute I swallowed my first bite of Cheerios this morning, I knew something was up. All day long I have had a very bitter, metalic-type taste in my mouth, especially when I eat. After hating my delicious left-overs, I looked it up on WebMD. Pine Mouth came up. So I clicked on that. It has an article about people who have an allergic reaction or the like after eating pine nuts a day or so before. I was shocked; I had the same symptoms and I made pesto the day before yesterday, of-course snacking on the pinenuts too. (I froze the pesto for later use, which I don't know what to do with now.) Anyway, it looks like pinenuts from China are the culprit. I do love pinenuts, so I really hope that I can still eat them without this horrible consequence. They say the yucky taste will last about 2 weeks. Oh my. Don't eat Chinese Pinenuts!

CHRISTMAS COUSIN SWAP

Okay, so that I don't lose this again. . .

JENKINS have: Isabel, Sammy, Grace, James, Will

HAMMONDS have: Clara, Elisabeth, Lucy, Adam

CLAYTONS and RASMUSSENS have: Joey, David, Ryan

DELONGS have: Andrew, Katy, Lulu, Davis

HILLS have: Jane, Quinn, Becca, Zachy

RICES have: Jack, Lily

Tom Cruise on Home Teaching

Thought you would like a good laugh! I got one!

Dinner was really good last night. When the kids and all of their friends keep coming back for more, I think it's a keeper.

Mexican Pizza:
Substitute one cup of flour for a cup of corn meal in your pizza dough recipe. Mine calls for 5 cups of flour normally.
1 1/2 cup mild salsa + 1 small can tomato sauce, blended until smooth
shredded jack or cheddar cheese (about 2 cups per pizza)
sliced olives
drained and rinsed pinto beans
left-over taco meat (any Mexican food meat would be good)
cilantro (opt.)
Any other mexican inspired ingredients would be good too.

Bake and serve. I topped mine with lettuce and tomatoes. The kids had it plain. The crust was the best part. Yummy

-Jen

Famliy Night was fun. We did Cupcake Wars. Roy was at work, or we would not have done this. Each kid made a different flavor cupcake that represented a country. Our nice neighbors were our jugdes. With a basic cake recipe split into 4 parts, we ended up with a chocolate stuffed and topped "France" cupcake (Becca with Hannah as 'Su Chef'), a cinnamon churo "Mexican" cupcake (Joey), a maple vanilla creme "Canada" cupcake (Andrew) and a smores "American" cupcake (Will). I took pictures with my phone, but I don't know how to transfer photos to blogs. It was so fun. The smores cupcakes won. They were really good (William had a lot of help from yours truely).

JENKINS UPDATE

Here's a little photo expose' of our life recently. Somehow there are no photos of all the hours we spend at the ball park. I'll have to be more diligent about capturing our real life on film!

So, looks like we have a dog. The boys were out in our front yard on Sunday and a little dog came out of the bushes next door. No tags, no micro-chip, no one claiming him. Mysterious! Andrew's prayers finally paid off. He is the cutest little stinker. He actually does stink, but is an amazingly nice dog. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if someone claims him. As soon as I can, I will post a picture.

I posted my pictures on my facebook page. I could post them here too, but then I would have to use Roy's computer b/c that is where the pictures are. If you want, I will do that.

The real reason I am writing today is I found the best way to keep my house clutter-free. We have been using the system for a week and a half. It is called "the clutter jail". The way it is set up is I go through the house every night and pick up everything that is out of place. I put a small colored sticker corrisponding to the day of the week on each item. They have one week to "post bail" on that item. In order to post bail they have to find something else out of place and swap that for their item OR they can do a chore to get it out. So pretty much after that first night, the kids were cleaning up all the clutter to get their stuff back. I also have let each of them have one thing out of jail freeeeee, if I don't have to pick up anything the night before. It has happened twice. :) I have those rules posted on a large clear container. Right now the clutter jail is way full of mostly Will's stuff. He hasn't quite caught the vision. But it has been a raving success! You wouldn't believe how clean my house is. Well, I guess you would if you've been here after Valeria has been here.

PS I think my awesome paper with all the rules and stuff has been erased. Bummer. It is really clever.

I keep checking to see if Jen has posted pictures of her trip to Japan and Guam and I have to say JEN GET WITH IT AND POST SOME DANG PICTURES!!!! I want to see and hear about your trip. Remember, I have to live vicariously through all of my siblings. If you all don't post things, I can't very well be jealous of all of your fabulous lives!

Don't be jealous

I recently purchased a new mate straw and it is the most amazing thing ever! It has this spring type thing at the bottom. It never gets clogged, I never suck up any yerba, and it's also cool to look at. So, don't be a hater.... I'm just super cool with my new straw!

Aaaahhhhh, Maui
...what more can we say??

New Swear word

The other day Andrew asked me what people in China do to flip someone off. Wierd question. I said, "the same thing they do here." Joey said, "What does that mean?" Andrew explained a little. Joey then asked,"What does it mean when someone does that?" Andrew said it means the same as the "F" word. Joey thought for a few seconds and said "Oh, f......upid." Fubid, yep.

HOUSEKEEPING CAMP

Here is a map of the camp. I know that Michelle is interested in staying away from the river (and bears, if possible). I figured you'd all want to chime in on where we should stay...so here you go.

http://www.yosemite.ca.us/maps/housekeeping_camp.png

Can't wait!!!

Jenkins UPDATE February

Oh Vegas...
everything a little bigger, bolder, and barer.
(This is the indoor waterfall inside the shops between the Venetian and Palazzo.)

100th Day of School Celebration!

This was a great day!!

So, as most of you know I LOVED Yosemite when I went last year and have been dying to go back. Without question, it was better than any vacation I've been on with the kids. However, staying over an hour away was not fun and I decided that next time I go, I'm staying in the park. Here's the problem - I don't love to camp and appreciate a bed and electricity. You know, the little comforts that make life livable!

So, I did some research and there are a number of options inside the park. The Housekeeping camp is what I think to be the best option. They are 3 sided (concrete walls) little cabin-type things, with a covered porch and canvas wall for the fourth wall. They sleep up to 6 people, have the beds (you bring linens), table, chairs, and things like that. Yes, they are common bathrooms, but it's about $80/night and in the park and not a tent. I called Lisa and she said she was in for June 2011, and so I invited everyone, and everyone seems to be good with it. I haven't talked to Renee about it yet - doing that today. So, I think that it would make a good family reunion. Yes, it would be a little more expensive than some of you are comfortable with, but if you think of it like me, as your family vacation for the year (some of us only take one), then it's not too bad really. Emily is in charge of the reunion and thinks that the reunion part should just be 3 or 4 nights. I however, am going to stay from Monday to Friday cause I Love it. Here is a link to read about the lodging http://www.yosemitepark.com/Accommodations_HousekeepingCamp_LodgingDetails.aspx

Check it out and tell me what you think. I'm not going to force anyone to enjoy the most beautiful park in the world, but I do think you would have fun! I need a final count because I can book them for next June on June 1st of this year and they fill up very fast!

-Michelle

Becca is a star!

Rebecca is in a musical theater class. They are putting on a musical that is a mix between Wicked and Wizard of Oz in May. Last night they get there casting assignments. I almost cried when she told me she gets to play Glinda (the good witch). She was thrilled and hung the little star on her door that had her assignment on it. I am so proud of her. There is no one as enthusiasic as she is, so I think she will be perfect.

Freezer Meal Party

We did freezer meals tonight and it was so fun! As you can see from the pictures it was a ton of food. We did 14 meals total and it worked out to be about $5 a meal. Pretty cheap if you ask me. It was a lot of fun. Thanks everyone for your work and energy (I chopped 40 cups of onions).

We found a restaurant with a long outdoor stairway full of life size wooden sculptures. They were amazing. Here Dad is ready to have afternoon tea with Corazon Aquino.
This was a cop getting after a wooden figure of a man urinating against a wall. Too funny!!
Here I am with a group of my new best friends. They didn't have much to say, but they were cute.

Here is a jeepney in the Philippines. We rode in a few of these.
Ran into the missionaries on P day in Baguio, Philippines.
This is called a tricycle in the Philippines. This was in the Church parking lot the Sunday we went to church. Notice the Latter-Day Saints on the bumper.

This is a huge gun at Corregidor in the Philippines.
This is a bombed out movie theater the troops used in Corregidor.
How's that for a bullet?

The only problem with this is that you can't feel the heat of the day!!!
And you wouldn't believe how rough her skin was.

Here are some temples we saw while in Thailand.

Here we are riding an elephant in Thailand in the ancient capital city. There were tons of old ruins. The next two pictures are showing how tame this elephant and all of them were.

SAVE THE DATE...

Jessica's Baptism
Saturday
February 13th
3:00 pm

intentionally planned for a long weekend
so you can ALL come if you'd like...
we'd LOVE it if you could...
but will, of course, love you just the same if you can't...
just know that there will be
lots of food and fun to be had
(sorry, I had to throw in one last enticement)