Jackson

On Tuesday, my little boy who has turned into a big boy, started preschool. He has been so excited to start and the day finally came. His preschool is a co-op with three other kids in our ward. The moms each take a week teaching. I am excited about it because I can do a little teaching again, although I think I will have to change my subject matter a bit. Something tells me that these kids wouldn't be too interested in the  geography of China or the Civil War. Besides that, Jackson has been counting down the days of when he started. When I picked him up from preschool I asked him what his favorite part was. He told me the tree house during play time was. I think he is going to a little disappointed next week when it's at our house and there is no cool tree house. 

Jackson giving his best 1st day of school cheese.

"Pirate" Jackson with his backpack that he keeps telling 

me that it's really heavy. It's empty!!!

Jocelyn thought it was her first day of school too. She kept asking 

where her preschool was. Next year Jocey.

Wanted: One friend for Jackson who will race him at any moment and never wants to take a break. Jackson has developed a real need for speed and wants to race anyone, willing or not. Jackson often tell me, "Mom, you need to get your exercise, let's race". Valid point however we are all getting a little worn out so if there are any avid runners out there and want to race Jackson, he is up to the challenge. 

Fruits of our labors

This year we planted a garden. Some from seed and some from plants I bought. The ones from seed all died but this one little pumpkin plant. It endured a lot but it finally gave forth 3 little pumpkins. Sadly one died  but two survived. So this Halloween we will have our own pumpkins from our garden. The kids were really excited about it. Tonight they said goodnight to their pumpkins. I don't know what they are going to do when they find out we are going to carve them!

Two rug rats I found on the corner to pose with the pumpkins. 

Fun Fall Recipe

About 5 years ago John-David and I attended a conference at the Stein Ericksen Lodge. They had this really fancy dinner one night which included Butternut squash soup. It was so good. It was like Fall in a bowl. Over the past couple of years I have tried to make the soup from recipes I have found online. Last night I made it and I didn't think my kids would even want it but they loved it. Jackson ate a bowl once at dinner and then again when dad got home. I have seen recipes for this that include a green apple which look fun too. Maybe I'll add it next time I make it. Give it this recipe a try...you might really like it. 

Butternut Soup

1 tbsp  butter

1 med. onion, chopped finely (3/4) cup

1 sm. clove of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/8 tsp crushed dried red pepper

2 1/2 lbs butternut squash

3 cans (10 3/4 oz. each) chicken broth, undiluted

1 cup water

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup whipping cream

In 8 inch skillet, heat the butter; gently cook the onions, garlic, curry powder and red pepper until onion is wilted. Pare and seed squash ; cut into 3/4 to 1 inch cubes. There should be about 5  1/2 cups. 

Into a large saucepan turn the squash, broth water and nutmeg; bring to a boil. Add onion mixture and boil gently, covered, until squash is very tender. Remove from heat; stir in Worcestershire and peanut butter. 

In an blender whirl mixture, half at a time and add cream, until smooth. Reheat. Makes almost 2 1/4 quarts. 

Fun FHE

Last night we had an FHE on Samuel the Lamanite. It was the best FHE we had in along time because the kids actually sat and listened!!! It was also pretty fun. We did a flannel board story about Samuel the Lamanite which they really liked. Then we sat our Samuel the Lamanite figurine on our Rice Krispie treat wall and threw our "rocks" or sweet tarts at Samuel. Our figurine participated well because the kids had a hard time aiming at him so he actually "fled" or fell just like in the Book of Mormon. Our kids really liked throwing the rocks at him but their favorite thing was eating the wall. it's a good thing there are creative people out there coming up with these FHE ideas. It makes our Monday nights a little more exciting. 

Our happy FHE participants

Samuel on our Rice Krispie wall.

Our rocks

Enjoying our wall treat. 

Our FHE wanderer

Our Vacation-Part 2

We arrived home from the cabin just in time to hit some Labor Day gatherings. The Black extended family had a gathering on Sunday night where we were able to see family we hadn't seen in awhile. On Labor Day, we hit the Cottonwood Community breakfast that was nice until a monsoon storm came through and about blew everything away. After the breakfast we headed to the Opa and Euni Black's house to meet up with a bunch of the black cousins. From there we went to the ward house for some fun and games. It was pretty entertaining, unfortunately I failed to get my camera out to take and pictures of it. 

The rest of the week was filled with seeing more family and meeting up with some old friends. I was able to see my friend Kathy Bazner who I hadn't visited with in quite awhile which was so fun. I got to see a few of my high school friends which was awesome. I have been blessed with such good people in my life. I finished out the week seeing my good friend Caroline Rather Clark who drove all the way from Provo just to see me. We have been friends since the 1st grade. She is still just as beautiful and funny as ever. Catching up with old friends is so fun. 

While I had fun visiting old friends, my kids had fun meeting new ones themselves, their cousins. Oh how they love their cousins!!! They did not want to leave their cousins. Every time we left one relatives house there was crying involved because they didn't want to leave Sadie or Amelie or Josh or Robbie or Eve or Eliza or Morgan. The list goes on. It's so fun to see my kids play with my siblings kids. Since we don't have that opportunity very often it's fun to see how they interact. Jackson is friends with everyone and plays with anyone who is willing. Jocelyn is very selective and will often shy away when their are unfamiliar playmates. Jocelyn really took to her cousin Sadie and the two would just run off and play. It was such a nice break for me. I wish we lived near more cousins. 

The last week of our trip, illness came to visit and it wasn't fun. It kind of put a damper on the trip and limited where we went. I am glad that we got to go an visit and maybe next time our dad will get to come too. 

Uncle Robbie entertaining the kids.

Taking a dip in Grandpa's "Hot Rod"

Enjoying an ice cream sandwich

Everyone enjoyed this little Angel. 

All eight Meier cousins at the zoo.

We love cousins.

Our Vacation-Part 1

It's been so long since I have last posted that I probably have lost every reader that I ever have. I am finally home from my 3 week long vacation...well no, I take that back. Vacations are relaxing that often time that involve warm sand, little drinks with umbrellas in them and no whiney children. Mine was a trip with no dad which meant a lot of crying and whining and grandparents confused as to why they can't help. The bottom line is I don't like vacationing without dad. 

With that disclaimer aside, I will briefly share what we did. We started out the trip as I mention in a previous post at the cabin. Everyone had a grand time (there was little whining at this point). The weather couldn't have been better. We hiked, went on the four-wheelers and the mule. The kids did not want to leave. It was beautiful. Here are some pictures of the highlights. 

Jackson practicing is 4-wheeler skills. He loved riding them. 

Jackson and Grandpa were fortunate enough to see a black bear. 

Here was one of the signs warning that they were in the area. 

Jackson posing in front of cows grazing in front of Henry's Lake. 

Here is our happy family right before I took the kids on a

 little spin around the area. Everyone enjoyed it. 

Jackson and Grandpa checking out the game camera. 

They got a little obsessed with it. 

A picture of Grandpa, the kids, my sister Melissa and her daughter 

Morgan on the mule. We took many rides in this thing. 

A view of Henry's Lake from the top of a big hill we drove to on the Mule. 

You can't be in the great outdoors without a little smores.

Enjoying the good stuff. 

Catching up!!!

Well it's been awhile since I have last posted so I thought I would bring you up to speed. We are in Utah right now visiting for 3 weeks while John-David is in Iowa for a month on an away rotation in Orthopedics. He seems to be enjoying it immensely and although he is there by himself, he has managed to get a number of dinner invites. My fear of him being lonely and having to resort to talking to the walls to relieved for the time being.

We made it here to Utah in one piece which really is a triumph for a mom traveling with her three kids alone. I feared the worst but things turned out quite well. I met people like Gene for Rhode Island in the Southwest sky cap line that made getting through the security check manageable and being able to use the restroom without the whole crew coming through. Traveling with kids can frazzle you a little bit and make you not pay attention quite as well. When we got to our gate, Jocelyn announced her need to use the restroom. My new friend Gene, who was a seventy plus grandma of 15, watched Kelsey and Jackson while I made my way to the restroom. I saw the restroom sign and walked in the door. I was about to enter the stall when Jocelyn exclaimed with great excitement, "Look mom, they have little potties just my size". Oh but what she was looking at was not a little potty that they have in a Women's restroom. Those would be urinals, something found in the men's room. Apparently I didn't read the sign. My bad. Shortly after our unique bathroom experience, we were able to begin boarding the plane. I parted my ways with Gene and met my new friend Monica who helped me get all the kids on the plane in in their seats. Thank goodness for people out there who look beyond themselves and lend a helping hand. Greatly appreciated. The kids did amazing on the plane and I think was for the many prayers of those who knew I was traveling that day. Thank you. After 6 hours of travel we finally made it to Utah. My kids kept pointing out the mountains to me. They are quite the novelty if you aren't use to them.

The next day we got in the car and drove another 5 hours to my parents cabin. Once again they did great. We spent the next few days hiking, four-wheeling and riding on the Mule(it's a golf cart of steroids). My kids loved it!!! Island Park is so beautiful and the weather was at it's best. I think the highlight or at least for Jackson was seeing a bear. He was on a hike with my dad when they came across a young black bear that was about 40 yards away. When Jackson saw he asked my dad if he still had his knife with him. Once he knew my dad did he wasn't scared. It looked at them, stood on it's back legs and then got down and ran away. It's funny to her him tell the story. Before we went to the cabin he told me that he wanted to find a bear. Well Jackson you got you wish. We came home on Saturday night and on Sunday we spent some time with both families. On Monday we went to a Labor Day breakfast followed by a gathering at Opa and Euni's. We are having a lot of fun and maybe at one point I'll get to posting some pictures.