Never Again

Matt and I spent the past week and a good chunk of change on a trip to California. I distinctly remember thinking to myself as I bought the tickets a few weeks prior “oh, I am so spoiled! Getting to go to Vegas and Disneyland and the beaches of San Diego!” But oh boy, did I get that backwards! By the time I got back I was ready to kiss the cow dunged Montana ground!

We started out by landing in Vegas where it was 115 degrees. It felt exactly like walking into an oven. Now, imagine that….and then imagine that almost 7 months pregers. Sooooo ....not.... enjoyable. Every second spent in between air-conditioned buildings was absolute HELL. Literally! If I had to imagine what temperature hell would be, it would be 115 Vegas heat. I don’t know how people work/live there. I guess most of the people might as well get used to it since that whole place is gonna burn come Jesus.

Anyway, once we got in the rental car and got outta there the trip got better. We spent the night in LA gearing up for a full day of Disneyland. Oh and now would be a good time to mention that, as you know, we’ve been endeavoring to sell our house to get into a better neighborhood. HA! Driving down the NICE part of LA made my place look like suburbia heaven! Bars on all the windows, children running amuck taking candy from gagsters parked on porches getting high and yelling in Spanish. Matt kept on almost losing it driving around down there and I had to keep reminding him to stop eye-balling the black people. I try not to be racist but I was literally afraid of getting shot for no good reason.

At one point I told Matt I had to pee and he pulled into a liquor store parking lot that had bars encasing the whole store except the entrance where there was a nice group of thugs hanging out. I looked over and him with a face that said “really?” In his defense, he realized it wasn’t a good idea about the same time I opened my mouth to question his sanity.

Moving on. I’ll skip over Disneyland saying only that it really wasn’t as magical as I remember…or as big. It was hot, long and CROWED. I think the kids had a great time which is what we were aiming for but I’ve never had to see my husband exercise so much self control. He HATES crowds. Great thing we decided to go during peak season when everyone and their Mexican mama would be there!

I will say that things really did get a lot better once we got to San Diego. I really enjoyed being able to spend so much time with family that I hadn’t seen in so long. It honestly made the whole trip worth it. The only thing I love more than hanging with the Zauss/Madsen side is watching my husband and kids enjoying their company just as much as I do. We also 100% loved the beaches. Especially the tide pools over at La Jolla.

Unfortunately we had to leave things on a sour note by spending our last night in Vegas. Bla. Back to Hades in the ghetto Excalibur hotel that we thought would be fun but ended up smelling like cigarettes wherever you went and whose pool closes at 7pm. What kind of hotel closes it’s pool at 7pm???? We ended up drowning our sorrows eating waaaaay too much at the Caesar’s Palace Buffet, the most delicious and most expensive buffet I’ve EVER had. Every glutinous bite was worth it though.

Sooooo, other than those little tid bits and the fact that the water from the tap everywhere we went tasted like it’d been poured though Juan’s dirty field-worked sock first, that was our trip in a nutshell!

I came back more grateful than I’d ever been to live next to the hud in Helena, Mt. At least when I drive down the road I have 100 times more likelihood of seeing this:

Instead of this:

Course, you know that 10 years down the road, I'm going to forget all this and take the exact same trip NOT pregnant and completely enjoy myself.

ps- I know I just cracked a whole bunch on Mexicans just now but I must add that I had the best rolled tacos while I was down there. I'd almost drive through LA again to get more....almost.

What a Great Reminder

After finally consenting that the idea of traveling all the way from montana to california by car was not a good one while 7 months pregnant, I was so sad last night. Sad that I would miss out on the family reunion, sad to miss the beach, sad that my kids would not experience Disneyland ("yet" I said). But I must say that not for one minute did I feel resentful for the reason why. I love this little girl and these other things can wait. I'd rather secure her health and safety first. Disneyland will still be there tomorrow.

I felt even better this morning as I thought about this and saw this new Mormon Message about mothers. Totally cried.

Good Crack

Summer is in full swing, finally, and it only took us one full day in the 80s (after complaining for 3 weeks about the rain) for us to start complaining that it is sooooo hot. I have never been pregnant in the summertime and let me tell you, Matt’s not coming anywhere near me with massage oils and Barry White between the months of November to June ever again! Just kidding, he’s not that cheesy…no massage oils.

We decided recently to put our house on the market, which only adds to my insanity. Matt promised it wouldn’t be that bad (as I look at him with that “you don’t know what your talking about” face). But, I agreed to it after a good round of Garth Brooks who sings incessantly of not taking the easy road. ….That and statutory rape (“That Summer”). Anyway, our awesome realtor also is super flexible and promised to let us out of the whole shebang the moment I start to feel like I can’t take it, or the baby is too close to coming.

Speaking of baby, my poor little feet aren’t used to carrying around so much weight in this blistering heat. My toes look like little sausages. It hasn’t spread to my ankles yet, thankfully. Every night after dinner though I’m just done done done with the day. I turn on the sprinkler for the kids in the backyard and watch them from my bedroom window with the fan on, feet propped up, and ice on top and bottom. Bliss.

It all makes for a very short-tempered mama though. Today I had to literally bite my tongue to keep from telling some fat stranger lady not to lean over my fence to pet my dogs. It really bothers me when people I don’t know try and get friendly with my security system. Course, it doesn’t help that my dogs go from rabid barking to tail wagging poodles in a slit second. Traitors. My tongue still hurts.

There are highlights though like popsicles, cold showers and this picture I snapped of Jake getting out of the back of the bike buggy. Nothing like a little bit of good crack to make you smile.

(Lets not even begin to discuss how the "grass is greener on the other side" phrase rings painfully true in this particular shot. Two dogs make it impossible to have anything nice.)

Only moments before, both boys where squeezed into that tiny space of which I’ve only been able to fit about 3 gallons of milk. Sammy looks like he's been hot boxn' the back of that buggy.

Make Yogurt in a Crockpot!

Not kidding people! I got this idea from my friend Adele's website. Thanks Adele, your cooking site continutes to inspire! However, when I went to find the link again, I couldn't but HERE is one similar, so click on that for the actual instructions. It's a great idea and it tastes oh so good!

Here are some of the pics from my own process to prove that it actually worked!

You can actually eat it the way it come out of the crockpot but it's a bit soupy. Not bad, just a little. But I like my yogurt really thick (like the thick style yoplait) so I used Adelle's suggestion of disposable coffee strainers. They only had small ones available so I had to do about 8 of these cups simultaneously. I used simple paperclips to keep it suspended.

About 5 hours later....

Because I like it so thick, the cost in comparison to store bought was about the same: about 36 ounces for $3. Except for the fact that the homemade kind was smoother and creamier. Better quality all around. But if you like it a little thinner then you could really save some money.

This morning I enjoyed it with fresh strawberries, bananas and a little bit of maple syrup (which gives it that great maple flavor of brown sugar without the graininess). I was totally amazed. The average person can make yogurt!

From the Trenches

A few years ago I started these "memory books" for each of my kids. It's basically just stories about them that I want to have written down so they can look back on them later. On this Memorial Day, I've chosen one out of Jake's memory book to share with you.

"Jake, when you were about 2 ½ you and I took Papa (your dad) to the airport to say goodbye before he left on his first deployment over seas with the military. It was Sunday, September 2^nd , 2005. Sammy was born at the time, but we left him with Grandma Stott cause we wanted to spend special time with just you. Your father asked the lady at the check-in counter if we could come back to the gate with him so that you could see the airplanes and be there to send him off. Back then, you were really into airplanes. You use to LOVE to have Dad pick you up and swing you around in the air with your arms out like YOU were an airplane! Anyway, when we got up to the gate, you went straight over to the big glass windows that overlooked the airfield and there was a huge airliner that was right by the window who had just finished unloading some passengers. You stood there and just look and looked at that plane and were so enthralled!

Eventually it pulled away and a new plane pulled up. It looked just like the first plane but this time, by some miracle, the pilot saw you in the window and started to wave to you! We tried to get you to see him but you were so little and the pilot’s windows were so small and tinted that it was hard for you to see what we were talking about. The pilot, seeing our frustration, then opened up his window, stuck his head and arm out so you could see him plainly and gave you a HUGE wave. You stood there on that airport seat and waved back with the biggest smile on you face! You thought it was the coolest thing ever!

That was a special day to me because it was pretty tough having to say goodbye to your dad. He was leaving for so long and I knew how much you and I were going to miss him. It was just nice to have someone we didn’t even know take time out of his day to do something special for my little boy, especially during such a hard time. That pilot never knew what we were facing that day, but I’m sure the Spirit prompted him to do a little something extra like wave to a little boy in the terminals, not ever knowing the impact it would have on our family. We needed something to cheer us up, and he did that for us. Make sure you always take the time to listen to the Sprit when it tells you to do something. You never know how even the smallest thing might help someone else in need."

Trials of Faith

I had a great time in Gospel Doctrine today (a class offered to adults during the second hour of church). We have a great new teacher, who happens to be one of my greatest friends. She does a wonderful job guiding our discussions. I just love coming to her class.

Anyway, just wanted to share a thought or two I gained from attending today. We were studying the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. Most people will already know this story, but to give some background…. Joshua is basically the next prophet to follow after the great and mighty Moses (almost everyone knows the story of Moses and the wonderful miracles he performed). Needless to say, Joshua was stepping into some pretty big shoes but, whom the Lord calls he qualifies and it was no different for Joshua.

In this one specific part of the story that caught my attention, Joshua tells the Israelites that they have to cross the river Jordan. A very substantial river…..like the kind I’d imagine you’d look at and say “Yeeeah, um Josh, we’re gonna need a boat or something here.”

But as the story goes in verses 15 and 16 of chapter 3 (King James version) it says

“And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.” On dry ground I might add.

….Ummm, sound familiar? Maybe something about a red sea parting? And dry ground? To me, this was basically a demonstration of the Lord that the mantle had been passed. Joshua was now the prophet, directly connected to God and doing His work. No one, not even the rushing waters of Jordan were gonna stop him now!

But the special part in this story that I want to point out is that the people entered the water, BEFORE they knew what for sure was going to happen. What an amazing amount of faith that must have taken. Joshua comes and tells them how this is all going to happen and they believe him and in the Lord because they stepped into the water BEFORE the miracle had begun.

We went on discuss how hard it is for us in our own lives to show such displays of faith. How many of us want to see the end from the beginning? So many times the way our faith increases is by walking as far as the light will shine and then taking a few blind steps into the darkness.

I had such a wonderful time discussing this in class, I didn’t want it to end! So, I would like to hear some stories from you of when you have strived to follow God’s promptings based on faith alone. A time when you couldn’t see the end from the beginning but you followed the Spirit and did it anyway and were blessed. These are always some of the best stories, especially if you may have looked a little crazy doing it. J