Another fun surprise in the freezer today. Thank you Mel!
hale family - party of eleven
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
melanie-isms
Melanie eats a lot of fresh fruit. I know this because she puts the stickers from the fruit in a variety of places around our kitchen. I peel them off of our cupboards, handles, light fixtures, hinges, door knobs, soup cans, toaster. . . I'm not sure how or why this started. 
Melanie was sending some Valentine Conversation Hearts to her Tongan friend, but she realized they were in Spanish. However, she didn't know what all of them said and she was too lazy to go look up the phrases, so she started making up the translations for him: "I often like olives". 
"I love my fish tank. I'm kind of jealous of Kimbo's lifestyle." 
I asked Melanie to juice and freeze some lemons we had on the counter. This is what I found in the door of the freezer.
Melanie was sending some Valentine Conversation Hearts to her Tongan friend, but she realized they were in Spanish. However, she didn't know what all of them said and she was too lazy to go look up the phrases, so she started making up the translations for him: "I often like olives". "I love my fish tank. I'm kind of jealous of Kimbo's lifestyle." I asked Melanie to juice and freeze some lemons we had on the counter. This is what I found in the door of the freezer. random stuff around here
Dave's brother and sister in law came to visit last month. We don't see them nearly enough. It's hard to stay close when the distance is from Arizona to Wisconsin. This is a picture of Dave with his brother Gordon and his nephew Adam. Handsome men.
We tried to enjoy the wonderful centennial celebration of the birth of our great state of Arizona. But my niece burst my bubble with this comment: "I hate to trump this, but Columbus turned TWO hundred this week. And Ohio turned 100 like 109 years ago."
I can't seem to get our business taxes and our income taxes done. I'm getting pressure from the girls so they can get their FAFSA forms filled out. They are almost done, but every single day, something more urgent comes up.
I went out to Mesa tonight to see my nephew, Shaw, cross the bridge from Cub Scout to Boy Scout. It was quite a program - dinner, a time machine, fire, bows and arrows (some on fire), Native Americans in full ceremonial headdress, a bear and all kinds of prizes and belt loops and patches and pins and awards. Shaw hit the mother lode of awards.
I'm getting excited about girls camp this summer. But I'm not sure I'm smart enough to get it planned and organized. Obviously I'm not doing it alone and that is the saving grace. But still, it is quite possible that it may be the most unorganized camp in the history of our stake, but I guarantee it will still be the most fun camp in the history of our stake!
Everyone around here wants to eat healthier, but no one will eat the twigs. 
Today, I ran across a piece of paper from a couple months ago. We had been looking for some good recipes for the holidays. Dave loves his Mom's old Country Cookbooks and we have several, but we were laughing at some of the recipe options from a classic 1950's cookbook. We jotted down these delicious, country comfort foods:
Liver Puffs, Corned Beef, Lima Sausage Casserole, Spicy Buttered Beets, Steamed Baked Goose, Parsnip Patties, Tomato Aspic and Turnip Stew.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Happy Birthday !!
Arizona turns 100 years old today. I love living here. I grew up in northern Arizona - I have good memories of Winslow. I've been in Phoenix much much longer than I ever lived in Winslow though. I love this city. I LOVE ARIZONA!!! Happy Birthday!
Monday, February 13, 2012
hiking
I hiked for a couple hours tonight in Dreamy Draw park while the sun was setting -- GORGEOUS !!!
Last Friday, Suzanne planned a hiking day in Aravaipa Canyon. She and I have been there several times before, but not so early in the year. We were a bit worried as we arrived at the canyon before 9 am and the air was a bit cold. This hike requires a lot of walking through the water, the trail criss-crosses the creek as it winds through the canyon. We were worried it would be too cold as we got wet. It was quite cold on our feet on the first pass, and I thought we would need to shorten our planned hike because of the discomfort, but as the day progressed, it warmed up and was quite pleasant. We have seen quite a bit of wildlife on previous hikes and much more greenery. I missed the green in the canyon that is so brilliant later in the spring. We hiked 2 hours in and had a picnic lunch, then hiked 2 hours out. The only problem is that we had a few spills. Suzanne's foot slid out from under her literally 2 steps into our hike. That's a bad omen for the day. Her niece Keegan took a spill in the water that knocked her onto her knees as her foot hit a rock wrong. Sadly, the worst fall was me. I stepped into the water to cross on the rocky creek bed, but my foot hit some slick mud under the water instead of rocks. As my foot was slipping, I tried to steady myself with my other foot which also slipped on the mud and I went completely onto my back into the water. Had it been in May, I would have welcomed the cool water soaking my clothes, but the day's temperatures disagreed with swimming. After I got up, I had to find a spot to get back in the water to wash off the mud.
All in all, it was a fun day. Suzanne and Keegan talked Melanie into playing hooky from school and go with us, Cindi and another friend, Paul came too. It was a pleasant day. It is one of my favorite hikes. I wish it wasn't quite so far away though.
Last Friday, Suzanne planned a hiking day in Aravaipa Canyon. She and I have been there several times before, but not so early in the year. We were a bit worried as we arrived at the canyon before 9 am and the air was a bit cold. This hike requires a lot of walking through the water, the trail criss-crosses the creek as it winds through the canyon. We were worried it would be too cold as we got wet. It was quite cold on our feet on the first pass, and I thought we would need to shorten our planned hike because of the discomfort, but as the day progressed, it warmed up and was quite pleasant. We have seen quite a bit of wildlife on previous hikes and much more greenery. I missed the green in the canyon that is so brilliant later in the spring. We hiked 2 hours in and had a picnic lunch, then hiked 2 hours out. The only problem is that we had a few spills. Suzanne's foot slid out from under her literally 2 steps into our hike. That's a bad omen for the day. Her niece Keegan took a spill in the water that knocked her onto her knees as her foot hit a rock wrong. Sadly, the worst fall was me. I stepped into the water to cross on the rocky creek bed, but my foot hit some slick mud under the water instead of rocks. As my foot was slipping, I tried to steady myself with my other foot which also slipped on the mud and I went completely onto my back into the water. Had it been in May, I would have welcomed the cool water soaking my clothes, but the day's temperatures disagreed with swimming. After I got up, I had to find a spot to get back in the water to wash off the mud.All in all, it was a fun day. Suzanne and Keegan talked Melanie into playing hooky from school and go with us, Cindi and another friend, Paul came too. It was a pleasant day. It is one of my favorite hikes. I wish it wasn't quite so far away though.
Monday, February 6, 2012
color run
Roxanne and one of her room-mates ran in the 5K Color run last weekend. It was held down by Tempe Town Lake. She told me to meet her in the park. She was a little hard to spot. How did we survive in the olden days without cell phones? It took 10 minutes and 4 texts and 1 call until I found them in the masses.
It was fun to see the runners - there were groups with wigs, costumes, tutus and even one gal wearing a wedding dress.
As the run progresses, there are stations of colored chalk tossed at the runners. Here is a before and after picture of the girls:
At the end of the race, every runner was given another bag of chalk. Then they all gathered and tossed the colors at the same time. There were 6000 runners so there was A LOT of color being tossed around. I had places to go after this event. I was afraid I'd have a blob of pink in my hair for the rest of the day. I was kind of amazed that I got out of there with only a spot of color on my elbows as I brushed by people in the crowd, and a dusting of color along the hem of my pants. I'm not sure how these thousands of people got in their cars to go home.
The run was a breeze for Roxanne, but now I think she if a fan of the charitable "fun runs". There were flyers being handed out for mud runs, obstacle runs, night runs etc. Keep running Roxanne - I'll be your #1fan! 
It was fun to see the runners - there were groups with wigs, costumes, tutus and even one gal wearing a wedding dress. As the run progresses, there are stations of colored chalk tossed at the runners. Here is a before and after picture of the girls:At the end of the race, every runner was given another bag of chalk. Then they all gathered and tossed the colors at the same time. There were 6000 runners so there was A LOT of color being tossed around. I had places to go after this event. I was afraid I'd have a blob of pink in my hair for the rest of the day. I was kind of amazed that I got out of there with only a spot of color on my elbows as I brushed by people in the crowd, and a dusting of color along the hem of my pants. I'm not sure how these thousands of people got in their cars to go home.The run was a breeze for Roxanne, but now I think she if a fan of the charitable "fun runs". There were flyers being handed out for mud runs, obstacle runs, night runs etc. Keep running Roxanne - I'll be your #1fan!
Superbowl
We had a little Superbowl Party here yesterday. And by party, I mean that the TV was on, Roxanne, Billy and Jennifer were here, and Dave cooked dinner on the grill. Earlier in the afternoon, Melanie asked me which team I was rooting for. I had to ask her who was playing, and she had to go look it up. Yeah, that's the kind of sports enthusiasts that live here.
Apparently the game (except for the halftime show) didn't hold much interest for the girls. They had their backs to the TV and had their webcam working overtime. It started out with a couple of cute photos, then a little silliness, then things just went downhill from there.
I don't even now how anyone could hear the game with all the laughing going on.
Apparently the game (except for the halftime show) didn't hold much interest for the girls. They had their backs to the TV and had their webcam working overtime. It started out with a couple of cute photos, then a little silliness, then things just went downhill from there.
I don't even now how anyone could hear the game with all the laughing going on.
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