Flashback Friday...Never Forget

I didn't know what to expect this year as we remember 9/11 in another country, while it was still September 10th back in the USA. Usually, beginning with the Today Show, I would watch as many tributes as possible, maybe even attend a remembrance event in person, if possible. Since it wasn't possible, I had to look up my own tributes on the Internet. The first one I found posted to Facebook by a friend. It was produced by the LDS Church and it pierced my heart. This man is such a testament to the choice that each of us has to make, between bitterness and fear...or faith, hope and joy. You can find it here.

Since I didn't have another story to tell, I decided to go back and FINALLY scan and upload the rest of the photos to last year's September 11th post...which you can read again here.

We spent the evening at Troy's football game...and although nothing was formally mentioned, I'm sure I was not the only one feeling a little more somber and grateful as the JROTC paraded the colors and a beautiful student soloist sang the National Anthem.

I will never, ever, ever forget.

God Bless America!

Cross Country Modesty

Patrick's Cross Country uniform came in...



As soon as I saw it, I was prepared to either offer my sympathies, or tell him it really wasn't TOO bad...you know, offer him some sort of consolation...like, "You'll be running so fast, no one will notice" or "At least everyone else has to wear it, too." Turns out, it wasn't needed...



Patrick's face lit up almost as soon as he walked through the door, as he exclaimed, "I...look...sooo...HOT in this!"

*sigh* I don't even know what else to say...

Breaking Bread and Burying the Hatchet

Some of these faces might look familiar, and you might be asking yourself if the Hatfields really invited the McCoys over for dinner? We did...AND Family Home Evening to boot!


With so many between us, the kids' table was pretty crowded. We had to put in both leaves!



And the adults were relegated to the coffee table!



I had them all captivated during my lesson on gratitude.



And the activity? What else? Karaoke...baby!



The Joneses discovered that Elijah really has been listening to what they play in the car...



And Josh and Patrick make for a pretty studly duo.



I can hear the hearts breaking all over the world!



But their air-guitar...



doesn't even come close to Jake's air-guitar!



We had a major Copacabana jam session (is any evening of karaoke complete without it?)



And Josh and Brenda shared "What they like about you".



At 10:30 (on a school night, no less) it was finally time to go...so I decided to send everyone off with Etta James' "At Last"...which turned out to be a serenade to my Cliffie (it just came naturally). I don't remember who, but one of the Joneses scrawled this sign really quick, and they all started swaying back and forth, American Idol style.

Which brings me to my new nickname, of which I am proud...Carrie-Oki.

We had such a blast, we need to make this a regular event. This is even more fun than toilet paper and popcorn put together. With chopsticks on top.

The way to a man's heart?

I know I've mentioned before, how pathetic the food was where Cliff just spent the last 6 months. For whatever reason, this little base was not on the same contract as the rest of the bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nasty doesn't begin to describe what the food was like. One evening on the phone, Cliff said to me, "I knew when I walked into the mess hall and it smelled like vomit, I should have just turned around and walked out." Instead, he paid and got as far as the food line, let the smell of expired fish overwhelm him, THEN walked back out, getting a refund as he left.

This hurt my heart, as food is such a morale issue, and I knew he was doing a very psychologically taxing job, day and night. Every time the topic of food came up, I told Cliff to keep a list of everything he wanted and I'd make it ALL when he returned. This, coupled with needing to take him to all the great restaurants we had found, explains his 7 pound weight gain since he's returned home.

I didn't take a picture of all of them (missed the chicken enchiladas, the chocolate chip cookies and the brownies, maybe more) but here's some of the highlights.


Apple Pie
(notice it's made with love?)



My world-famous pizza, Hawaiian style


(before and after)



Cardiac Arrest Lasagna with 4 cheeses--ricotta, mozzarella, provolone and parmesan--not to mention fresh herbs, sweet sausage and sauce from scratch.


(inside and out)

And we're still working on the list. I haven't made him a cherry cobbler yet...or homemade rolls... or chicken and dumplings...or tenderloin steak...or shredded beef burritos. This is going to take some time!

Flashback Friday...Defensive Line Destiny?

When Troy was a year old, he was the size of a 3 year old. We used to get all kinds of football comments. Once, on vacation, a man (after staring at Troy for a long while) told us we should just start taping up his foot now. (I know nothing about football, so I just politely chuckled.) Cliff is a big football fan (especially the Chargers), but none of his boys inherited that trait...or so we thought?

I had all but forgotten about this picture. It was Troy's Halloween costume in 1996. We weren't big San Francisco fans or anything...this actually centered around needing a picture to go with an awesome Christmas letter my friend (Auntie Janette) wrote for us that year. It was so fabulous, it actually didn't matter that it contained no actual news of our family happenings of the past year. We did get a couple of complaints (along the lines of, "so now are you going to give us a REAL update?") but it was worth it. I don't know if I have a copy of it here, or if it's in storage back in the States, but if I can find it, I'll share it as a flashback.

At any rate, it's kind of hilarious to contrast this picture with Troy in uniform today. Do you believe in destiny?

The Promised Land

OK...maybe not quite...but Yogurtland, Promised Land...close enough!

This fabulous treat just moved into American Village...and we are now looking for excuses to go as often as we can. There are several choices of frozen yogurt...like 10 or so, and then all kinds of wet and dry toppings, and you pay by the weight. It starts out harmless enough...I'll just get a little each of a couple (or 6) flavors and a few (or 10) toppings. Next thing you know, you've got an $8 creation.



Tonight, we celebrate Troy's football game. Notice I didn't say football "win". Anyhoo, win or lose, there will still be dessert. Yogurtland makes it all worthwhile!

What can we think of to celebrate next?

Families Can Be Together Forever

I have a confession to make. I really don't like having to do Sharing Time at Church. It's not that I don't like the "doing" part...I love interacting with the kids, who are usually SO sweet (well...except on "those days" where nothing/no one cooperates)...but it's the figuring out WHAT I'm going to do, how I'm going to do it, and gear it toward a huge range of ages (3 to 11) and tie it in with the weekly theme. That part I don't like. I'm the one who suggested that we, as a presidency, each take a month at a time...because while I don't enjoy having to do it for a whole month, I do LOVE having 2 months off, so it's worth it!

At any rate, I LOVED working on this Sharing Time. the monthly theme was about how Temple work strengthens our families and the weekly theme dealt more specifically with genealogy. I decided to do a picture family tree of my own family, beginning with me (on my first day of Kindergarten). I already had most of the photos I'd need, but I had to solicit a few from family members.

My plan was to share (very briefly) what I loved about each of my parents, grandparents and great grandparents, including some visual aides (dolls, sewing stuff, pancake syrup, a book on submarines, etc.). I knew that the kids in our Primary LOVE real stories...and true to form, they sat captivated for this. They especially loved all the uniforms in the pictures, as most of their dads wear uniforms, too.

The message I left with them was that the more they take an interest in and get to know their ancestors, the more they will love them. I left them with a couple of questions to ask their grandparents or aunts and uncles next time they go to visit them or talk to them on the phone so that they can begin to get to know them better, and I encouraged them to write what they found out in their journals.

Cliff sneaked into the back to listen, and when it was over said, "I know what WE'RE doing for Family Home Evening tomorrow." So since only Jake (and Cliff) had to sit through this the first time, I did the whole thing over again for the rest of the family on Monday. The picture above is of the dining room wall with pictures removed, where I taped up my display, since I had no big, rolling whiteboard with magnets at home.

By the way, for those of you that are enlarging this photo for a better look...the extra picture on the right (of my great grandparents and their two boys) was so that I could talk about my great uncle who died in WWII, and how even amid all the pain, my great-grandma, rather than becoming swallowed up in pity or bitterness, chose instead to spend the rest of her days volunteering at the VA hospital--thousands of hours.

I had SO much fun preparing this Sharing Time. It reminded me of how much I love my family, and how I hope to be with them forever. I loved sharing what I love about them with others, and it was wonderful to ponder on some things that make each of them special.