*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, yesterday my computer was almost completely full and so I got in Picasa to delete a bunch of photos to free up some space and it flashed a window saying I was low on disk space and it was going to free some up.  The next thing I know Picasa is gone!  Just like that!  There was an error signal and I couldn't get it to open any of my pix.  Well, I finally got it to open but everything was gone!  10 years worth of stuff GONE!  

I almost cried. But I really thought Sky would be able to recover it all and save the day like he always does, so I stayed positive but still had that feeling in my gut this was going to be bad.  He told me he was pretty sure he couldn't restore anything this time and it was gone gone gone. He is trying to convert everything over to Amazon Prime photos and I do not want to. I want Picasa. From talking to others I know there is nothing as good as it as far as editing photos, collaging, writing on them, and all the other amazing things it can do. Google no longer supports it and so when this computer is dead, I will have no choice but to find something else but right now I just want it back. I was near tears.  I am so distraught about it all.  I can't even tell you.  I fear I have also lost a ton of photos as well.  I had them so organized in Picasa and there is no way that will happen in a new program without hours and hours of time.  I am so upset about it.  This may seriously be the end of my blog. If I don't have a great program to edit photos in, then there is no way I can keep doing this.  

Sky and crew showed up earlier than I planned today because Carson had to have his Kindergarten shots.  We built his tent and had fun playing in that for awhile and then I called Grammy and told her they were here because she wanted to see Chayden again before he left.  She came up and we went to McDonald's.  

Carson was having a hard time walking because his legs were sore.  He was kind of sad today.  He has been lately.  Not sure why.  He will tell me sometimes he misses his Dad and Grandmas and cousins in California.  Poor little guy.  He has my whole heart.  Or as he tells me, "Jodi I love you with all of my hearts".  Yes, plural.  He is so dang cute.  Grammy came over for a while and hung out a bit. She is a total hoot.  After she left I practiced the harp for a while because Carson was tired and watching a movie.  Later, we did some smoke bombs, snappers and snakes and saw the prettiest deer.

I had to make a fast dinner because Dave took Chayden wave running in Mantua.  Sarah said she thinks he likes having someone who likes him as much as he likes them, meaning Carson loves me the most.  Haha  Probably true.  Carson and I watched The Wizard of Oz.  He calls it The Lizard of Oz.  And the tin man is the metal man and the munchkins are the chipmunks.  Sometimes he calls chipmunks flipmunks.  Too funny. When Dorothy sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow, he cried. He said it was a sad song.  I kept falling asleep but he would wake me up when I did.  He finally fell asleep about 11.   He's going to be beat tomorrow.  Oh, we got Scratchers to come inside the house this morning.  He acted like he lived there but was anxious to get out.  He's so pretty!

Mr. Cat and Scratchers together. Mr. Cat ran him off after a cat fight that I had to break up. Fur was flying everywhere!

dear tuesday, I got out early on my run and was able to get in four miles.  I hurried and showered and got ready so I could take Carson to the Pioneer Day parade in Ogden.  It was his very first parade!  Sky, Sarah, Chayden and Dave were all fishing in Bear River and they took his carseat and so I had to borrow one from Julie.  They are so nice to loan me whatever I need whenever I need. It's so nice to have great neighbors.  We went and got Grammy and then tried to find a good spot but ended up in the sun.  The shady side had NO room.  We were super hot but had an umbrella.  My poor mom actually sat on the curb with us for a bit.  She was unable to get herself up though and so I had to lift her up from behind and I messed up my back again.  Groan. I know better than to do that.  I think it's in a different spot this time because I had pain shooting up my back all day instead of down my leg like normal.  Great. Just great. Carson was so cute though.  He was pretty hot as well, but was able to get some candy and had a lot of fun.  He is the sweetest little thing.  He still had a hard time walking because his shots yesterday made his legs so sore.  Poor little guy.  He wasn't his usual happy self today.

We grabbed some pizza and I had fun entertaining them doing the Magic School Bus.  Grammy is a riot. He giggles and giggles at her. She IS entertaining!  We took Grammy home and Sky was there waiting for us with Chayden and Sarah. Chayden was heading back to California today and so we told him goodbye. He told us all about the four fish he caught this morning with Dave.  It was the first time he has ever caught a fish.  They caught all catfish and came home and Sky fried them up for them and he loved them. It was nice of Dave to take him.  

I ran a couple errands and then headed home and organized my cake decorating drawer.  It has been bugging me for a while. 

AMEN TO THIS!!!

Katelyn brought Foster over in his booties and hat.  Too funny!

dear wednesday, today I worked my shift at the temple.  We were really busy. I feel bad I can't bend or twist, but I can't so I try to be good about it.  It was fun as it always is.  I work with some fun people.  I ran to the grocery store after to get a bunch of veggies to make the cabbage veggie weight loss soup so I can get off about four pounds before the cruise.  My body is doing the dang thing where I can eat nothing all day and I gain weight.  Ugh!  So frustrating. If I'm going to gain weight, I at least deserve to enjoy it and eat crap.  Nope.  It's the hormone thing going on and I am frustrated.  I made the soup and Taylor is a fan. He likes it.  It is pretty tasty.  

My macaron recipe

It was fun having him here all day as I worked on the macarons.  I had on Rain Man the movie (the PG version) and it was nice to have something on while I worked on these cookies.   I was VERY discouraged after my first batch because the feet spread.  I wanted to cry knowing I had to make SO SO many.  I tried again and the second batch was better but not much. I decided I better look up some bakeries and get them on speed dial because I was not going to be able to keep making failed batches.  Instead, I decided to pray.   I told Heavenly Father that I know I am allowed to pray for the help of angels and that I was in a fix and I had given it my best shot and it wasn't coming together and I wasn't doing it for me but for someone who deserved to have perfect cookies for their special day and then I asked for the help of any angels who were skilled in macaron making.☺ I had faith they would help me and the next batch was a success!  I was so thrilled and so grateful! I can't even tell you how much pressure was lifted from my shoulders.  

Smooth bottoms

But, I did mess up the color a bit on the tan ones and so I kept making more and more batches and they kept turning out!  I spent TEN HOURS working on them and I only got half of them done.  These things are the finickiest cookie as well as very difficult to get it all right. I would guess the success rate is around 20% if you want a perfect cookie. Whew, I was so relieved! I thanked those angels who helped me (because I KNOW I had help!) and went to bed exhausted but happy I am halfway done.  

Love the feet!

dear thursday, I got in about 5 miles today but mostly walking.  I hurried home and got busy on the macs.  I was praying that they would work as well as they did yesterday but the first batch wasn't quite up to par and so I asked for my macaron skilled angels to send their amazing help again and viola, the next batches turned out amazing and near perfection.  I was so grateful.  I just didn't have it in me to have to keep having failed batches.  I was already pretty tired of making them after yesterday.  

I put on Mama Mia and watched that and then Footloose. I needed some live, hopping music to keep me alert.  Haha And I did hop and dance.  I got them done earlier than I hoped and so made the filling and got them all filled.  YUM!  That is all!  They are actually heavenly. I filled them with coconut flavored buttercream and orange swirl.  TASTY!  

So happy they are done and that they turned out so cute.  I charged $1 per cookie which is a killer deal really.  You would have a hard time finding them that cheap about anywhere else.  And mine are larger.  I keep reminding myself that when I look at how small they are and feel guilty for charging that.  Anyone who has made them understands that they should be $5 a cookie to even make any money on them (I think the average is $3 each) because honestly, I spent about 20 hours making 10 dozen.  And then the cost of supplies.  I am pretty sure I made about $4.50 an hour if I did the math right.  So, just like wedding cakes, you don't do it for the money.  Whew, I am glad that is done!  And when you consider each cookie has two parts, that is 20 dozen I had to make (before sandwiching them).

I also made dinner for Dave's parents.  I used the cabbage soup and thickened it and put it over steak and viola....Swiss Steak.  It was yummy!  They also got macarons.  Imagine that!  Hah I went to bed and turned on Mama Mia again. Love that music!

There is steak in there underneath.

dear friday, got in almost 5 miles of running today.  I have found that now I really don't want to run. Not good.  So I am forcing myself on my good days when my back feels okay.  My hips have started to ache since I lifted my mom and I'm sure that is just recessed back pain because that is when it started.  Look what I found while running....  I fear he has been abandoned.

I came home and got ready and while I waited for Carson to arrive I cleaned and mopped and got in a lot of cleaning.  When he got here, he was so cute and happy.  He totally has the cutest personality.  He makes me laugh and I make him laugh.  We are kind of made for each other because we click.  Haha  We played "Guess Who" for a while. Taylor helped him out and it was hilarious.   He loves to kiss me.

We then did some craft pictures and then I delivered my macarons to the reception house while Taylor watched him.  The house is so gorgeous.  It's an elderly couple's house that lived in our ward while they built it and it's spectacular, the yard in particular.  

I went and grabbed some Arbies for Taylor and Bryce so they would have food before they left for the 311 concert.  I was so sick of being in the kitchen that I did not want to cook.  They took off and then when Dave got home, we headed to the Sutton/Thorton reception. Before we even got inside I had two people tell me they heard I made the macarons.  Before I left, about 10 different people came up to me and somehow knew I made them.  Cute Megan (the bride) thanked me for them and said they were perfect.  They did look pretty cute on the table.  We talked to several people and then got some treats and enjoyed the glorious yard.  I would love to live there.  It was spectacular.  As we were leaving we ran into Leslie Capener and Nick.  She is as funny as ever.  We had Carson overnight because Sky and Sarah went to a concert.

dear saturday, I got out but only got in about 4 miles because I had to get back to tend Carson since everyone was working today.  He was still asleep when I got home.  He helped me make Amish Bread and then he did some pictures and played doctor. I was his patient. He came with me to run some errands and I bought him a Paw Patrol watch at Shopko. How do you resist those brown eyes?  I got him a Frosty at Wendy's because he has never had one.  He loved it.  We got home and BBQ'd burgers. Sky and Sarah were here and the rest of the boys were home too.  It was another hot day.  Sky had me, Sarah, and Taylor try to figure out these mind games.  We each figured out one.  Then we had Dave try. He ended up getting them all eventually.  

 We made slime!  It was soooo pretty!!

Shenanigans

dear sunday, I made Funfetti cookies for my Primary class.  They were yummy.  Super easy too.  Just add two eggs and 1/3 cup of oil to the Funfetti cake mix.  Doesn't get easier than that.  So we are loaded with sweets right now. Macarons, Amish bread, and cookies. When it rains it pours! I might as well open my own bakery!

Carson made potions and then he rubbed my feet.  Ahh...that's my favorite.  It only lasts for about 5 seconds but I will take what I can get!  We headed to church and we had our class time first.  Molly was substituting for Cheryl.  Sam was getting a bit out of control and so Julie took her for a bit.  She fell asleep on me during sharing time.  That time is so hard for littles.  I talked to Bonnie and Brad for quite a while after church.  When I got home we ate dinner and then played games.  Sarah kicked our trash in one game. She is really smart.  Then we played Quick Wit.  Dave and I used to play that with the Berkheimers in medical school all the time. It was fun to play it again especially with all the boys.  I was in heaven having all the boys here and everyone of them playing. I treasure times like these.  I just love my family.  They are all so much fun to be with.  I know these times won't last because they will all be off on their own soon with their own families, but for now, it's so nice. 

dear random,

This is my ornament for this year.  I loved the quote on the back.

*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, look what arrived?!!!!  So excited!  (sorry if already posted this!)

I also got my Boston Magazine with my name in it as a finisher!!! They don't come at the same time, so it's kind of like a double treat!  It's always so exciting when this arrives!  

Today is Carson's 5th birthday and I didn't even get to see him because they spent the day at Lagoon. I called him though and he was cute.  Sadly, the next day Sarah text me and thanked me for calling him and said I was the only one that did.  I wanted to cry!  So so sad.  Not his dad or even grandmas or anyone from California.  Breaks my heart.  Just not right!  We are having his party on Sunday with Taylor's.  My computer memory is almost completely gone and I need to find a good chunk of time to delete photo duplicates.  It is going to take forever!!!  Groan.

dear tuesday, I got in a six mile mostly run this morning.  It felt good to run.  I knew my physical therapy was going to make me sore anyway, so I figured, what the heck?  

At my appointment I wore some sweats and that was a huge mistake because he had me on the treadmill and I was sweating up a storm.  He had me do the exercises as well and then did some soft tissue massage and ice. I hope it's helping. I have to do the exercises at home of course as well, but it seems like I need to be doing more to get this thing healed. He did tell me I can no longer be bending, twisting and lifting in the laundry at the temple or it will become a chronic thing.  Yikes!  I really don't want that to happen.  I headed to RS as soon as I got home and we had a thing on "Waffling through Life".  

We had yummy waffles and then a discussion on various topics. Audrey and I got one about family scripture study. I said we did waffle a lot on it but had success when we did scriptures on tape and when we did it early in the a.m. and how bribery also worked at times. Haha  There were only a few of us there. I am not sure why the numbers have dropped down so much, but I wonder if it's because the younger sisters don't attend and they are the main bulk of the ward now. 

dear wednesday, my alarm went off at 3:45 a.m. but I was awake at 3:00.  On my way into the temple at 4:45 a.m., I had a feeling I should drive down Main Street to see if they happened to be filming the Hallmark movie and sure enough they were.  They were in front of the courthouse and there were tons and tons of peeps dressed in full winter gear in 80 degrees. I took a video as I drove by.  Now, I wish I would have stopped and turned around and got out of my car to get a better video. It's still cool!  The movie is called, Miracle of Music and I think it airs this Christmas.

We were short handed today but luckily it wasn't crazy busy like last week.  Jean took me up to all the floors and showed me what she does each morning (gather the soiled things and replace packets etc.).  We were on the third floor at 5 a.m. and we were about the only ones there. It was so peaceful and so nice. President Stuart did walk down the hall and greet us.  I loved it. I wish I could do that more often.  But then we headed back into the laundry and got busy doing the laundry. I was good to not lift or bend and twist.  It was fun.  

I went to Ogden later to lunch with the Sistas at the Beez Cafe.  We have been having a hey day with it and both Dawn and I brought them all Bit O Honey's with cute Bee tags.  I couldn't BEElieve we were once again on the same wave length. Lisa Bo BEEsa ended up not making it after we changed the time for her. Oh well.  We face-timed her and had some good laughs about it.  We had fun and Lori brought me the prettiest purple jewelry holder just to be nice.  So sweet.  

 I have some un-BEE-lievable friends

Giving Lisa a hard time.  

 Face-timing Lisa Bo Beesa

The pretty little jewelry box Lori gave me.  She's so sweet. I love it!

I had to get a bunch of birthday and baby gifts and so I headed to do some shopping after.  Hot Hot Hot day. It was 100 degrees!  I was melting all day.  On my way home I stopped in Perry for Crystal's surprise party.  I mainly went to see Carson.  They were already there. The cake her sister made was so cute and had the best frosting.  We chatted with a cute mom and tried some Mochi Balls?  Quite interesting but good. I ate so much junk.  But it was really good food.  

 It was fun.  We haven't really seen much of these guys (Crystal and Jeremy) since we stayed with them and Sky in Hawaii.

Sky and crew came over for a bit after and just hung out for a bit. Dave was at meetings until after 10 and so he missed them.  The Shepherd's made me a mini chocolate cake that was delish!  I bought some cupcakes from them as well.  Mmm.... 

dear thursday, I only got in a short walk this morning.  But, at least I am starting to get used to the heat some. I came home and did my PT and a bunch of other stuff before getting in the shower. I was going to make Amish Bread today as part of Dave's parents dinner but really didn't want to heat the house up and so I made Barf Balls instead.  They sound disgusting, but they are incredibly delicious!  I will add the recipe.  Yum!  My friend Shauna gave me the recipe.  

Barf Balls (aka Special K Bars)

1 cup of butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 cups marshmallows

Bring to boil. Cook for 3 minutes stirring constantly.  Pour over a mixture of:

4 cups Special K cereal

1/2 cups chopped nuts

Sky and crew stopped by on their way to go camping to pick Taylor up.  It's so much work to camp and he did it all by himself.  He cleaned out the Escalade before he left and so I took Carson with me to the Primary party at the church. It was an outdoor water one and he didn't have on his suit, but I let him get wet anyway.  Sky wasn't super thrilled about it, but he is only four...five now...and he wanted to have fun.  They picked him up on their way out and so he got to stay for awhile.  I stayed and helped with the others and my cute little Sunbeams were so adorable.  After, Julie started a water fight with the leaders. She got me good but I got her right back. I was soaked. Haha  

 Carson working on his bravery to do the cold slip and slide. Like me, he is not a fan of cold water.

 Just monkeying around...

Carson on the water while they were camping. 

I worked a bit on editing Taylor's papers for his med school application. Man, that kid amazes me!  I can not believe all the stuff he has done and how much hard stuff he has done as far as volunteering and etc.  Just to name a few, he did a huge research project on siblings, the MDA camp last summer, the food pantry, put together a huge medical fair at USU and was elected to be the entire event organizer, volunteered in the ER, at the elementary school, at the hospital radiology department, job shadowed a physician, started up his own business (White Pine Hammocks) with CJ and they won the competition Startup Challenge, served a two year mission, and it goes on and on and on.  It makes me such a proud mama when I realize how amazing that kid is. After reading all that, I told him I would admit him immediately into med school because it is very very impressive. Just wow.  I had Dave drop off dinner to his parents.

dear friday, I got in almost five miles this morning.  It has been so brutally hot this month!  It's usually mid 80's before I get done.  I am really missing my normal running schedule. 

I saw the mama and baby deer again as well as a guy doing bee stuff.

I wanted to make either cookies or Amish Bread and take some to a cute mom in our ward who just had a baby, but I ran out of time.  I got the present together and went and got my friend Julie to take the gift but when we knocked no one was home. We came back and chatted and she took me on a tour of her basement to show me their new bathroom and her plan for fixing it all up. It's nice.  She has a ton of room.  I came home and did some cleaning and then Taylor and Sky and crew all got back from camping. Carson wanted to play and so I let him open one of his presents.  It was the Melissa and Doug Diner toy.  It is really cute.  We had fun playing with it for a long time and then Chayden joined us for a bit.  They didn't stay super long and I was going to get started on Carson's Spiderman cake but the pan I ordered didn't come yet.  Dang.

dear saturday, I headed out earlier than normal and got in almost five again.  I am having a lot of pain behind my knee...in my hamstring back there. It started when I basically quit running and started walking.  I tell ya, if it's not one thing, it's another.  But, I did hit the jackpot in coins.

I got Taylor's cake made since I was still waiting for Carson's pan to arrive. When I was at Walmart it hit me that they said it was going to be delivered on Friday the 27th and for some reason I was thinking yesterday was the 27th!  Seriously!  Lovely, just lovely.  So I had to scramble and decide how I was going to make his cake without a pan.  I decided to use either my Superman pan or the Handsome Man pan.  I chose the latter.   Taylor's cake worked out spectacularly.  I was so excited because I the last time I did a stacked cake, it bulged.  Not this time. I have never done a drip cake and I really wanted to try it and I was happy I did because it was a success! I was really happy with it.  He wanted a red velvet cake with Funfetti frosting and so I put the Funfetti frosting between the layers and on the top and did the rest with buttercream.  

I started on Carson's cake pretty late.  He wanted a blue velvet cake.  I wasn't confident my artistic skills would pull off a Spiderman since I had nothing to go by other then a man shaped body. When I got it done, I was not happy with it.  I thought it looked like a Chewbacca Spiderman.  I realized I didn't cut the neck in like I needed to and so once I did that, it looked much better.  

I also worked on my lesson and got my Sunbeam picture sticks done.  I can't wait for them to see them tomorrow! Taylor wants meatloaf tomorrow and so I had to ask Dave to make it because I did not have a spare second today.

Mr. Cat loves Chayden

dear happy 25th birthday to taylor!  I can't believe he's 25!  This here is ONE AMAZING KID!!!  I'm so very proud of him!  Here's my posts:

•★ * ░H░A░P░P░Y░ 25th ░B░I░R░T░H░D░A░Y░*★ to this amazing son of mine! We are so grateful to have him as part of our family and to actually have him home this year to celebrate with us. I have never seen anyone more dedicated to accomplishing their goals than this kid. He sets his mind to something and goes for it. He lives his life to the fullest and is always up for any and all adventures. He has had to put that on hold the past year while he finished his degree and studied basically round the clock to prepare for the MCAT. He barely came up for air. The longest I ever saw him go without food was when he was at the library for 7 hours straight. He set a new record! His previous one was one hour and 19 minutes. ;) JK He really is an amazing, talented, hard working and outstanding kid and we couldn't be more proud of him! •★ * Feliz Aniversário!!! •★ * We love you Taylor Wilding!!!

25 pix from this past year for his 25 years!

dear sunday, I got up early and had to fix the Spiderman cake.  I am too much of a perfectionist not to.  Chayden got up right after me and he was a good helper.  He had some good ideas.  I figured out I didn't put the neck in and so I cut off part of it and it helped a lot. Then I had to redo the webbing and wanted it perfect even though it was far from it.  Not sure why I get so nit picky. But I do.  It looked much better though.  Taylor got up and I told Carson to tell him Happy Birthday but he said that it was his birthday and not Taylor's.  I guess it's a little much to ask a five year old to share their birthday.  I feel bad we did that.  We should have had his very own last week, but Sky and Sarah wanted to do it with Taylor's.  

I had to finish my lesson, make Rice Krispy Treat temples, and a million other things.  I know I've said it before but I will say it again, Sunday is NOT a day of rest!  I was a busy bee from the second I got up.  And I still was almost late to church.  The RK treat temples turned out cute.  We headed to church and I was so tired I almost dozed off.  Primary was crazy but fun.  We went on a tour of the church, with Dave as our tour guide.  They were supposed to pretend they were in the temple and had to whisper.  They really get into the pretending thing and it was amazing how quiet they were (even Sam!).  We went in Dave's office, the baptismal font, the gym, the chapel, the Bishop's office, the furnace room, the janitor room, and the kitchen.  They loved it all. It was so cute.  Cheryl sent me a text later that said, "Cute lesson today.  The twins told their mom that got to go on a pretend temple tour and be really quiet."  Haha  When I got home, I hurried and got dinner ready with Dave's help.  My parents didn't show up on time and so I called and my mom said she thought I said 7:00.  I told her the party is at 7:00. They were late but the meatloaf wasn't done yet and do that was good.  While we waited for them, Carson and Taylor opened their presents.  

I also gave my Dad the rest of his Father's Day gift (I never found the purple shirt) and then they also opened the personalized anniversary clock I gave them.

We then rushed to the park for the party.  The Garrett's, and Brian and Becki came along with Dave's parents and of course mine.  We opened presents, sang, and then had cake.  It was a bit windy and so we couldn't do the sparkler candles I bought for Taylor's cake. Oh well.  Picture overload ahead.  I am sorry but I can't choose between all of these cute faces and so I have to post them all!  

Dave and Chayden stayed and played birdie golf but the rest of us came home. I changed my clothes and went back because Carson had gone back as well and I really needed to get out of the hot house and a walk.  When I got there Dave and Chayden were playing but Carson was on the playground thing underneath with three burnout teenagers.  Hmmm... I got him out of there and we walked around the park and then watched the Hendrick's fireworks.  Grant came over and chatted for quite a while.  When Dave and Chayden left we headed to grab a ride. Dave let Carson "drive" home and I ran along the side of them.  Another busy Sunday. I was beat by the time I hit the hay.
What a difference a year makes!  He has changed and grown up so much in just one short year, it makes me sad.

 BIRTHDAY BOYS!