Utah Trip

We took a trip as a family to Utah over the weekend. What a fun time! First stop: the Finlinsons. I had a sister missionary friend from Brazil whom I haven't seen since I was actually a missionary IN Brazil, and I found out she married an Americano and was living in Sandy. So on our way down to Provo, we stopped at her house and met her family. Our kids instantly felt comfortable around each other and played and played. Thelma made coxinhas, brigadeiros, suco de maracuja', and pudim for us! Talk about heaven. In English, that is coxinhas, little chicken thingies with dough then deep fried in olive oil. Heaven! It was exactly like my memory. So crunchy on the outside and warm on the inside. I think I am going to make some today. Secondly, brigadeiros (or little warriors) are these fudgy chewy little balls of chocolate, about as expected at birthday parties as birthday cake. Definitely a Brazilian traditional favorite. Then the suco de maracuja' or passionfruit juice. No mixture of pineapple and strawberry garbage. Just pure Brazillian passionfruit juice. Que delicia. Pudim is like flan, and super delicious when Brazilian makes it, so so when Kirsten makes it. But even more delicious than all the food, was reacquainting myself with Thelma and her beautiful family. They are so interesting. He furnishes temples for his living. So you can imagine that their home was very tastefully decorated. And it was. The children were lovely, the time spent was one of the highlights of the trip for everybody, and we'll definitely go back. Next stop was visiting the Bickels, some friends of ours that go back to college days, and even further for Dave and Roy Bickel, who were friends in Indiana. We stayed at their lovely home in Orem and woke up to blueberry pancakes. Next, we took a hike up to Bridal Veil falls, a super little easy hike even for the four year olds, and played at the bottom of the falls in the water. The kids hiked up the rocks of the falls a little bit and we had such a great time in the nature. After the hike, our hungry bellies found ourselves at Golden Corral. We were loading up our plates, and I teased Scott to be careful of his food choices (he just got braces) because his Dentist would FIND him. Well how about this? HIS DENTIST AND ORTHODONTIST WERE BOTH THERE IN THE RESTAURANT! How funny is that? We chatted with them to find out they were brothers and they wer.e there for the BYU game. We thought that was funny. After lunch Dave and Roy went to the game (we only went to the tail gating games and the kids all won BYU towels They love them!) and we walked back to the van to go check into the hotel. As Dave was at the game we went swimming and then off to bed. Sunday church was lovely and aside from our ward, they were the sweetest ward I'd ever been to. And I've been to a lot of sweet natured wards. They were exceptionally accepting, and cared for us like we were so valuable to them. It was awesome. After a barbecue at the Bickels, it was then time to come home. Driving on the highway was no big deal, smooth sailing, until the blowout. We were nervous, but were protected from the oncoming traffic. It was dark and all, but prayer definitely kept us safe and then eventually on our way. It was an awesome trip. I loved all of it.

I've hit forty, but not yet over the hill......ha ha

I have hit the forty mark. Forty pounds lost. Yay me! I am not over the hill, though, as I haven't even gotten to the halfway point. But I am in no hurry. Dave is dieting with me and we have found it isn't nearly as hard as we thought. I think a lot of that has to do with my life as it is right now. No sick babies,(that one is for Becca and Emily), no mid night feedings, a lot less intense. Life isn't boring, it is still busy busy busy. Just not intense. I also feel a lot of heaven's help. So, one day at a time and not being in any kind of hurry, it seems to equal success. Plus I have had a lot of inspiration. So, yeah. Forty pounds. What is funny, though, is that my clothes that I was wearing when I was so overweight, are now fitting. Ha! Dang. I am glad I am not there anymore.

I'm surrounded!

In talking with my mom and dad, they shared a little experience with me. They told me of how they took a drive to pine basin and back, hoping to see the fall leaves changing color, and how they decided to come into town to try and catch a sale at Smiths Food King. When they pulled in and parked, a very important part of their axle system fell off the wheel. Thunk. Now the important part of the axle system is important because without it, the wheel will go any direction spontaneously and could, hypothetically, cause one to flip a car going high speeds. Anyway, that is what I would guess it would do. They thought it especially noteworthy that this part would decide to thunk down on the ground when they were safely stopped in the parking lot, as opposed to during their trip, next to steep cliffs and high drop offs. I also thought it interesting. They felt that heavenly helpers had so much to do with this, because the part actually could have fallen off the car at any time. so why the parking lot?
Well I related to their story. I lived it. On my way home from Green Canyon last March I had a similar experience where we blew a tire. it was midnight, in the middle of a snow storm, without my husband, in the middle of nowhere, with five children in the van. Could I be any more blessed? NO. You see, I had just recently taken a trip to Utah, and we traveled at very high speeds. No blow out. Because it was snowy, I was already going slow. And because I was at the ward swimming party, all the priesthood was behind me and took care of us within 15 minutes. Heroes. I completely felt and absolutely know now that I was watched over, and that silly tire blew at the best possible moment. Although midnight, in a snowstorm, in the middle of nowhere, with five kids and no husband doesnt sound like the best scenario, it was. Sometimes it doesn't look like the best scenario. But it is in God's hands. We are best off to trust in Him I think. Also, I have never felt more surrounded by God's angels.
I think we are surrounded by seen and unseen both. My dad reminded me of the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants, which speaks about how He will go on our right hand and on our left. He will go before us. We are so not alone. That scripture is very true.

I like being a mom. I was sitting in the van waiting for a kid to come out of the house so I could chauffeur them to karate, and I watched Skyler ride up the side walk on his tricycle. It was so cute. Those are fun little moments. Another fun little moment was Kara telling me about how in first grade today, they wrote a letter to a real live shark named Red, and they put it in this giant envelope, and she thinks maybe he will write back with a great big teeth mark on the paper.
Those are awesome fun mom moments. I like being a mom. I like my little chickies being little still and at home. I also like taking a nap right in the middle of the day because everybody was at school. Mwahahaha. Life is pretty good.