burtonsnorth

dead air

2012-02-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

oh man. this poor blog. i have ignored you. jumping back on the horse.

i have discovered instagram. addicted.

facebook is lame. i'm tempted to bail but have made so many connections i'll keep it active just to get a hold of people when needed.

i have also discovered indexing. very addicted.

we have been making selections for our house that is being built.

we sold our van.

eli had half of his internal head gear/braces removed. he is in the home stretch of teeth fixin' upping. he should have it all removed beginning of april.

cj had his gallbladder removed. it went smoothly. he has recovered well. he is glad it is done.

i have to round up photos to add to this post, so i promise i will be back. bigger and better than ever on the blogging front.

its important.

three

2012-01-19T22:36:00.000-08:00

ida turned 3 this week. we had a little family party tonight where we opened gifts, had some cake and danced. kids like to dance, i like to dance. we had a good time. we love ida so much. she is spunky and smart. she is a good girl and has been a pleasure to parent over the last 3 years. our family is pretty complete because of her.

happy day honey.

moroni finds a new home

2012-01-13T20:47:00.000-08:00

yesterday we stood out in the freezing cold for a couple of hours with crowds of others to see the construction workers place moroni on top of the calgary temple. well worth the frozen cheeks, nose and fingers.

part II

2012-01-13T20:39:00.000-08:00

zilch!

ladies?

lake mission viejo

annnnd.... we're back. part I.

2012-01-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

this guy turned 38!

this guy turned 10!

kenny g rocking the float

hey, hey, hey!

do you know how many miles we have driven/flown since november 30? thousands.
do you know how many wonderful experiences we have had since november 30? thousands.
do you know how many freckles are on my face? thousands.

we are finally back. our christmas/new years trip to las vegas/los angeles was fantastic. we mixed in some strep throat and ear infections but all in all - AWESOME.

for now just pics, i have a part II where i will expound, maybe.

thanks to all who put us up, fed us and loved us. we owe you big time and miss you tonnes.

merry christmas!

2011-12-27T09:37:00.001-08:00

i've got everything that i need, right in front of me

2011-12-13T11:44:00.000-08:00

pooped

we have had a few rainy, windy, cold days here in maui. so, we have been toodling around hiking in-between rain showers. super beautiful landscapes. so out of the ordinary. the kids turn into sweat balls in the back seat as we drive. the days are running into each other. i am hoping by the end of the trip {which is in a couple of days} i will be able to pull all my thoughts together into a grand finale of sorts. our favourite spots and experiences. until then, pics will have to do.

road to hana

2011-12-08T23:05:00.001-08:00

we did it. we drove to hana. it took us all day. it was the longest, windiest, nutiest drive.

the payoff was the black sand beach we hit right before hana. BLACK SAND people. it was crazy. the water was not swimmable. huge waves, crashing hard. we sat on the beach and watched people get in and get tossed around. the sand was just incredible, so black.

we found a sea cave that lead out to the water. there were giant holes in the ceiling of the cave that let in amazing natural light. we snapped some shots and got out of there as the waves would come up and in the cave. i am sure it fills as the tide comes in. super cool.

mo'maui

2011-12-08T09:10:00.001-08:00

on an island in the sun.....

2011-12-04T09:16:00.001-08:00

tops of volcanos, shave ice & sandy buns. somehow weezer came up with the perfect song for this trip. the lyrics are spot on.

sun day

2011-11-20T18:08:00.001-08:00

today was super cold. like -20 degrees celsius cold. cold, cold, cold....but sunny. and pretty. and blue, blue skies.

eli has been working away at finishing the doctrine and covenants and pearl of great price {his goal for this year}. last year he finished the book of mormon. we sat at the fireplace after church and read for an hour and half. diligent dude. my inspirational thought for today comes from the doctrine and covenants. it totally stood out to me. i hope i am not that inhabitant....

**d&c 68:31

now, i the lord, am not well pleased with the inhabitants of zion, for there are idlers among them; and their children are also growing up in wickedness; they also seek not earnestly the riches of eternity, but their eyes are full of greediness.

sewing, sewing, sewing

2011-11-17T13:39:00.001-08:00

my halloween quilt is coming along. i have had to fussy cut a lot of the fabric. look at those spinsters knitting, i wonder what they are talking about...

**examine your measuring standards

internal measuring standards -- idiosyncratic to you -- allow you to assess others' behaviour, opinions, values and ideas. however, your standards probably do not measure what is real at all -- they reflect only what you know, what you've experienced, what you're comfortable with. when others don't fit your measurements, as perceived through your unique and imperfect lenses, you may find that you label and judge them as inadequate, bad, sick, or sinful. in fact, you can impair your own judgments by assuming you know why someone behaves in a certain way. this is where you need to pause, stop making assumptions, and ask. the explanation might surprise you. consider dan p. graylings account of a woman who was surprised by the explanation for one young man's seemingly arrogant behaviour as he sat across from her at an airport restaurant table.

the woman, who had just purchased a sack of cookies at the airport, sat reading a newspaper and eating her cookies while waiting for her flight. she became aware of something rustling at her table and looked up to see a neatly dressed young man helping himself to her cookies. reluctant to make a scene, she leaned over and took a cookie herself. the young man in turn took another cookie, until the two had shared all but one cookie. by this time, the woman was fuming. then the young man took the last cookie, broke it in two, pushed half across to the woman, ate the other half, and left. later, still angry with the young man, the woman opened her purse to retrieve her boarding ticket and was confronted by her own bag of cookies. she had been eating his.

negative judgments can be dangerous. most often, they say more about our own deficiencies than those of others. and sometimes we can get into big trouble {complicating our stress} when our judgments come back to haunt us and we have to listen to someone repeat word for word what we shouldn't have said. it appears, as someone once astutely offered, "nothing is opened by mistake more than the mouth."

easy as it goes

2011-11-16T07:04:00.001-08:00

look at these two. living the cushy life getting pushed around costco, enjoying crackers and samples from the old ladies. could life get any better than this? they must be taking my next tidbit to heart...

**go with the flow

to really "go with the flow" requires graceful management of disappointments. disappointment attends the human condition. you hope and dream, but inevitably you can't escape disappointment. within reason, of course, expectations are functional, even vital, providing security and ability to make future plans. but how easily you modify or surrender expectations drastically affects your coping ability. not life, but how much you expect of life is what generates high stress. you may often agitate yourself when expectations don't materialize. as you know, however, the world doesn't turn on your bidding; only by hanging loose can you avoid such upset. make "going with the flow" a lifetime endeavour. relax. spend more time just doing, enjoying, being, and loving and less time evaluating, assessing, analyzing, and interpreting. essentially, at any one moment, you decided whether to enjoy life. you can choose views that are encouraging, energizing, and enhancing or ones that are discouraging, devaluing, and devastating. you can "go with the flow" or not. fortunately, the choice is yours.

sewing

2011-11-14T20:37:00.000-08:00

last night i decided to bust out my sewing machine. we bought a new car the other day, it has a built-in entertainment system. the 2 headphones that came with it were loose in the back seat and bugging me. how am i going to keep these things clean, off the floor and safe? i decided to make a bag for them so they were together and out of the way. i found a easy pattern here and went to town. after making that, i decided to start cutting into the halloween fabric that i had been collecting and hoarding for the last year. what the heck right? get that halloween quilt going! what am i waiting for? i love fabric. i just love it. sewing is such a good hobby. anybody can do it. try it, you'll like it.

reframe your troubles.

cultivate the art of reframing or redefining troubles so they are no longer problematic. simply call your troubles "experiences" and remember that every experience helps you grow. life's lessons are abundant, just waiting to happen, and experience is that wonderful vehicle that provides them. experience is a handy thing, helping you learn how to predict your next mistake. from experience, you can also recognize a mistake every time you repeat it and know when to cringe. and one thing about experience: if you don't have any, you're likely to get a lot. even in the midst of frustrations and disappointments, if you think about experiences and troubles as being really, really, good for you, you can sustain a sense of contentment. life is hard, and you do have to work at it. but if you can face difficulties or trying tasks with peace in your hearts, you can know something of happiness. in this respect, author william lyon phelps taught: "if happiness truly consisted in physical ease and freedom from care, then the happiest individual would be neither a man nor a woman; it would be, i think, an american cow."

howdy

2011-11-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

found her napping the other day...

well, i have been an absent.

halloween has passed. we were simon and garfunkel, eli was scooby doo and ida was a hot pink metallic super girl. they had fun trick or treating. we went to an adult halloween party and everybody's costumes were primo. funny thing, everyone thought cj was gallagher. i guess he scored and did double duty on the halloween costume. he should have had a watermelon and sledge hammer under one arm and his guitar under the other.

life is stressful. the other day, sitting in the bathroom.... i found a goofy looking book stashed under the sink. a frazzled lady with storm clouds above her head, a broken umbrella, groceries falling out of a ripped bag standing in a puddle was on the cover. i'm not going to tell you the title {it was that cheesy} but the subtitle was "Strategies for Simplifying Life". the book was an easy read, written in point form. i feel bad about ignoring the blog over the last month or so. just not sure what to say or how to inspire. so, here you go, i am going to include snippets from the book everyday. it's good info, good to think about, good to implement, good to share. enjoy.

**quit complaining.

little causes people {and their intimates} more stress than indiscriminate complaining about life and its loads. yes, it's all right, though not particularly productive, to complain once in a while about something. in fact, at the one end of the complaint continuum resides the "once-in-a-very-long-time" complaint about a truly annoying problem. at the other end resides the perpetual "sick-and-tired-of-everything-most-of-the-time" complaint establishing that everything is always awful. we all can afford to move further toward the judicious but just occasional complaint -- aiming to make complaining a luxury rather than a lifestyle.

p.s. don't you just love eli's class picture? i got it back the other day. i laugh every time i look at it. what is going on there? just look at that cast of characters. it's still killing me. eli is looking very napoleon dynamite-esque. throw a pair of glasses on that kid...

quick trip

2011-11-09T12:58:00.000-08:00

in october, cj had meetings with his east coast rep and a few clients. i tagged along. we walked our feet to bloody stumps, ate well and did some things that we hadn't experienced last year when we went. some highlights this time was the high line, billy elliot, occupy wall street, ground zero, grand central station, the new york public library, purl soho and more central park. the weather was perfect, just perfect. new york is great. go if you haven't been.

go brother flowers

2011-10-15T00:26:00.001-07:00

home again, home again

2011-10-13T23:54:00.000-07:00

they made it home.

mum and dad walked through the gates yesterday tired and happy. it was so, so good to see them. they had a wonderful experience. as we got home and turned up their street, all the grandkids were standing on the road with welcome home signs. they hopped out the car and walked up to the house with them. what a fitting way to end their trip.

BYU-rific!

2011-10-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

cardston temple!

perfect travellers!

the infamous malad drive-in!

10 drinks for 3.5 people!

grandma!

lecturing!

answering questions!

sister price!

sister kendall!

vince!

jason + sam!

long lost cousin erin!

salt lake temple!

me and megans circus troupe!

megan!

just got back from utah!

c.j. spoke to the photo and fine art students at BYU over a 2 day blab-o-rama. i went to the last lecture. it was packed. there were old missionary companions, friends, family and about 300 students packed into the auditorium ready to listen to c.j. talk about his work, show slides and answer questions. i enjoyed sitting and listening anonymously and seeing how people responded to his work. i have to say, he was very impressive. cool as a cucumber. full of info and inspiration for everyone there. i know he really enjoyed the experience, so nice to interact with other creative types.

the whole night was terrific. i loved reconnecting with so many people that i hadn't seen in years. like 15 years. thanks for the support and making the night great folks.

done

2011-10-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

well, we got the email this morning saying mum and dad had done it. they were finished. they had arrived in santiago do compostela. dad got there, took off his hiking boots and socks and left them for another that might need them. i am not sure what he has on his feet now since they packed light. maybe he is bare foot! who knows. still waiting for a detailed update of their last day. i am sure they are just relaxing and possibly looking for a new pair of shoes.

the other day i was at lunch with nena. i was rummaging through my purse and before i knew it, ida had grabbed a lipstick and was applying it vigorously. i had just bought the lipstick, not realizing it was a "pro long wear type". once on, it was ON. that little lady had bright orange lipstick on all day and into the night. i can now attest to the staying power.

sheesh, it's october...

2011-10-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

sorry. this has been a bit of blogging black hole it seems.

we have been getting into the routine that is "back to school" and "extra-curricular activities".
eli is taking piano again with sister ruggles. he is loving it. he is also taking private swimming lessons. this has been a really good thing for him. he is excelling. it is coming together for him. it is so fun to watch him progress. cubs is back in full swing. his cub shirt is too small, the arms are too short and so is the body. he looks like a big kid in a small dress shirt. i am going to have to cut all the badges off and get a bigger top.

ida is going to kindermusik classes with glenda evans. 6 years ago, i was taking eli to her same class. SHE LOVES IT. the music, the dancing, the instruments. she giggles and smiles and bursts at the seams. i also enrolled her in a gymnastics class in cochrane through the university of calgary. its top notch. she goes crazy for that too. it's a really good fit.

besides that, c.j. was just made the elders quorum president for our ward. what a blessing. i really feel like this will be a good thing for him. you are always happier when you are serving others. getting out of your own head space. stepping out of your box. i am excited for him and the quorum and the things they will do and accomplish.

and on a "camino" note, mum and dad are literally 10 km away from finishing the camino. i facetimed them the other day and they are great! i can't wait to see their final pics. i am sure a big fat cry will be in order. such a journey deserves one. they have been disconnected for over a month from the silly junk of life and have just walked. thought. observed. hurt. pushed. they say it's been an amazing trip.

at the highest point of the trail, there is a tall post. pilgrims for a 1,000 years have placed a stone or memento at this place. the other day they sent pics showing the piece of slate they place there at the very top of the mound. they had etched all the grandkids names on it. i boobed of course. it was touching to me. super proud of them. enjoy the pics.

well this is neat

2011-09-16T00:50:00.000-07:00

coming soon to a theatre near you is a film about the big long walk mum and dad are doing! the trailer looks decent and i recognize some landmarks in the film from pictures mum and dad have sent home to us.

and just incase you haven't looked at their gallery in full, here are a few shots from their journey thus far.

from the notes they have been sending home, i have a feeling this experience will be a life changer for them. a true pilgrimage. they are so awesome.

a real long walk

2011-09-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

last year at this time mum and dad were walking across england. this year, they are tackling something extra special. the camino. this trail is in spain. they just finished half of the journey. i believe the entire trail is about 800 km. it's kind of crazy but very cool.

you can see photos from the journey right here. all the photos are under the "camino" albums.

you can learn more about the journey right here.

tell me you wouldn't want to be in their shoes. truly an experience of a life time.

happy zucchini

2011-09-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

two posts in one day is obnoxious, but i thought what the heck, i haven't posted for a month.

i had to post the beaming back to school eli and the massive zucchini ida and i picked from moms garden this afternoon. i actually picked 3 of these {nena and sandra come and get one please}.

ida carried hers all the way back to the house like a baby. one large, green 13 pound baby that i'm going to make zucchini bread out of...

its a wrap

2011-09-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

rockets in the park

trampoline hair

the day we left for las vegas. a picture with mom before she embarks on her pilgrimage.

CJ summer wig

family!

grandma with eli and mason

ms. chen!

summer is over. phewwwww. we made it right?

i would have to say, summer was pretty much a bust. it was full of a move and hard things and turmoil. but it's over, the dust is settling, things are chilling out. in attempts to try to boost the crappy summer o-meter, we squeezed a quick trip to sweaty las vegas. it was fun and hot and swimmy and hot. eli loved swimming every day, building up his confidence. the last day we were there he shed his "life jacket training wheels" and swam across the pool. it was awesome! the kids had fun playing with cousins nonstop, spending time with grandma and grandpa, eating and shopping. we bought shoes for the kids at our favourite PUMA outlet. eli now wears a mens 8 1/2. thats half a size smaller than CJ's current shoe collection. i guess they can start sharing stuff...

school started today. it was a sunny, crisp morning. eli is back in ms. chens class. he was happy to see his best school buddy max there in his class again. he was so nervous this morning. i think he told me a dozen times how nervous and scared he was. as he was putting on his shoes he said, "i bet there is a lot of crying going on at military school right now. that kind of school never ends". random, but not really because the entire time we were in las vegas he was slowly creeping up the "military ranks" set up my mason as they played games in the pool. i think when we left he was a corporal admiral delta squad 5 star something something.... anyho, all his nervousness dissolved as we walked up to the school and he said hi to friends and saw old teachers.

it's so fun to go back to school?! no? just like it is fun to get back into a schedule and bust out the routine.

routine is GOOD. routine is GOOD.

p.s. right after we left for las vegas, mom and dad embarked on a pilgrimage of sorts across spain. i will be posting pics as soon as we get some. so far all we know is they just hiked over the pyrenees, their packs are too heavy and they are alive. hurray for being ALIVE!

move

2011-08-08T00:29:00.001-07:00

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

apropros

2011-08-06T23:20:00.000-07:00

poor george washington. i had a feeling of sadness when c.j. showed me the image he had produced for TIME for next weeks issue. the crazy thing is, this was produced before the announcement of the S&P downgrade. the issue was actually focusing in and addressing the debt ceiling mess and "resolution". kind of spooky, no? the cover is perfect.

come on america! pull your head out! you are an important player on the team. how about everybody start working together, quit freaking out and start playing ball.

put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty...

2011-08-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

c.j. recently did a job for new jersey monthly. it was about the fate/future of atlantic city. in conjunction with that, c.j. also recently introduced me to a classic by springsteen. the song makes me feel sentimental and reflective and kind of sad inside. but a good sad, like a stirring springsteen song sad.

moveageddon

2011-07-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

disclaimer: i probably should be documenting this as i hope and pray we are never this unhappy/frustrated/tormented ever again.

we have sold our house.

we have decided not to move to the states {!?!?!?!}

why have we made this decision after selling our house/spent thousands of dollars obtaining my green card/living our lives like we are about to move for the last 2 years {!?!?!?!} good question. does it really matter at this point in time?

no.

i know it sounds completely mental. frankly, that is exactly how we both feel right now. mental. and because we feel mental every daily decision is worried over, scrutinized and second guessed. it is just about the worst possible place you can be. MEGA-SELF CONSCIOUS-MENTAL-LIMBO.

that being said {the above was written at least 24 hours ago....},

today we feel great. we have made the decision to stay and we feel like we have a whole new lease on life. new outlook! new zest! a sense and deep appreciation for what we have! we are staying! we are living! we are happy and calm! life is good.

let's start enjoying it.

calgary, alberta, you are a good place. let's be best friends.

the drummer that took my day from a 2 to a 10

2011-07-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

all kinds of packing

2011-07-07T01:28:00.000-07:00

these two are done grade 3 & 4 respectively. took them out to lunch on their last day. growing up.

i have been packing this week. the house looks crazy, but i swear i know what is going on with every random pile and mound. i have 24 boxes packed with precision. eli's room is done. bonus room - done. i'm about 75% done with the kitchen. it is a time consuming and interesting process.

i took a break from the packing process on monday to take ida to the ER at the children's hospital. there, we discovered she had been doing some packing as well. the doctors pulled a black WESTJET foamy earbud cover out of her left nostril. i think it had been up there at least a week and a half. it was one of the grossest things i have had to witness and help her through. the pictures above were taken about 15 minutes after the removal. a hospital popsicle made things all better. we met eli and cj for pizza to celebrate. i guess that was our 4th of july celebration now that i think of it. who says you need fireworks to make the day memorable?

new digs

2011-06-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

U2 @ angel stadium

fathers day with the heymans

in escrow!

stacey came to visit

we are back from our trip.

we saw family, friends and bought a house! things will firm up in the next 10 days or so. we love it. the new homestead provides everything we needed and was looking for. i started packing today, we will head out mid-august. that probably sounds crazy, but it's only 7 saturdays away... the time will fly.

2011-06-25T17:42:00.000-07:00

deadbeat

2011-06-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

i've been a cruddy blogger lately. i know it. i keep wanting to go to my blog and see that it's updated.

come on someone! update it!

this saturday CJ and i are on our way to LA. we are going to land, get our rental, eat a fish taco and then go hang out at angel stadium with U2. no big deal.
after that, i think we will scoot over to ladera ranch for a few days and find a house. also, no big deal.

note: "no big deal" is code for "WAIT, WHAT ARE WE DOING? HOLY CRAP THIS IS AWESOME."

this is the first day of the rest of your life

2011-06-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

i am going to start packing today. that means weeding things out. that also means what i will be selling so that we can fit our entire house in a 26ft uhaul. i just might sell everything. start fresh.

here is the link to the big fat move garage sale. there will be things added to it every couple of days so don't forget to check back often. at some point our 2010 HONDA ODYESSY will end up on the chopping block as well. brand new! just take over the lease! very clean! tell your friends!

just because. {i secretly wish i was there to dance and sing along}

2011-05-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

when there's a burning in your heart...

2011-05-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

pre-show

show

post show

now, go get yourself a copy of the album.

rapture weekend

2011-05-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

smoking deal, 3 balls for 1$

eli is really enjoying that hot dog...

it was the weekend of paper glasses. cj made many pairs for the kids...

ida's easter treat from grandma and grandpa burton, silky princess pj's and wand

eli's easter treat from grandma and grandpa burton, books books books! he was in heaven

we spent may long weekend at the cabin. the weather was amazing. hot and sunny and sun-burny. we ate delicious food, the kids ran around like crazy, we celebrated jeff's 38th birthday with a ice cream cake from DQ that said "happy rapture day, heff", none of us made the rapture {nuts}. we are really going to miss sitting around the cabin with family chattin', fartin', eatin', laughin', cryin', burpin', yellin'.

family times are good times.

puke

2011-05-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

easter morning. the kids had a hearty breakfast of chocolate bunnies and mini eggs.

i heard ida clunking through the house the other day. she had on my jcrew pumps, eli's cub hat and her toy horse.

emily's visit! we went out to the cabin overnight, stopped in banff for supper, went to a movie and relaxed at a pedicure. so fun.

banff!

earls with nena!

we have had some great times over the last month. easter was slightly stressful with the kids sick, but they had fun easter egg hunting around the house. then mothers day came. i got the greatest handwritten scroll from eli. it stated:

THE TOP 10 TOP REASONS WHY I LOVE MY MOM

1. I love my mom because she gives me kisses that warm my heart.

2. I love my mom because she gives me hugs that warm my heart.

3. I love my mom because she is a heart warming mom.

4. I love my mom because she is the best baker in the world.

5. I love my mom because she talks really nice, not really mean.

6. I love my mom because she bakes really good food.

7. I love my mom because she is a really good smiler.

8. I love my mom because she tells me really good jokes that warm my heart.

9. She is the loveliest singer.

10. I love my mom because she is the friendliest in the family.

i got a real good kick out of the reasons. apparently i am "heart-warming" to the max. hilarious.

then last week-ish emily came into town like a vision. we had so much fun and it was seriously the greatest distraction from all of our daily lives. in fact, it was SO much distraction that, the day she left, we pretty much sold our house. HA HA! DID YOU HEAR THAT?!?! yes, the day she left we had a random showing of the house {that we agreed too early in morning, then actually called to cancel because we felt so unprepared and then said, sure whatever when our realtor said that the people were from out of town}. later that night, we got a call from our realtor saying we had an offer. BIZZZZZARRO.

we have to out of the house by august 15th. do you know what that means? we have a whole heck of a lot to do. we have pretty much decided to sell everything we own and move down with the clothes on our backs.... sooo, look for the massive garage sale on kijiji in the next few weeks.

we are scared. we are nervous. we are excited. we are freaked out. we'll get through it.

right now we are at the cabin for may long weekend and jeffs "rapture" birthday celebration. i will get things going on tuesday for this mooooove when we get back. we have had a really great weekend so far. we are certainly going to miss the luxury of the cabin and good old fashioned family party times. tear, tear, tear

awesome.

shout for joy

2011-05-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

i lied, worked on this today and thought i would share.

this little miracle happened last week. if you think i sound like a nut screaming, that's ok. you'd be screaming too. eli's been working on riding his bike.... for a while...

you're awesome e. keep riding.

visitorrrr

2011-05-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

you know what? emily came to my house on friday. she left yesterday. we had lots of fun. perfect friend therapy.

i have a lot to blog. but i need to wait a couple of days. i will blab on friday. i am behind on pics, i am behind on stories, i am behind on things. so i will prep for friday and just puke it up all then. old puke, like, puke from easter puke. it's gunna be awesome puke. look forward to the puke.

lady day

2011-05-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

this is late. better late than never.

happy mothers day sandra! lisa! stacey! emily! patrea! mame! kathy! angie! megan! denise! sam! julie! sherie! bethany! anna! kim! and every other awesome lady i know.

amen.

a bit of sunshine

2011-05-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

this week we finally had some half decent weather. it probably snowed somewhere in there and rained and was windy, BUT the sun "out-shone" the other random weather systems. ida and i actually went to the park in celebration. she marched around the playground and i got a sunburn. {my nose is actively peeling now, next will be my forehead.}

showings on our house have been slow. with the weather warming up the backyard looks terrible. dirt and rocks, uneven and yucky. we have hired someone to get it whipped into shape. at least we will be able to enjoy it during the summer.

eli has been going back to iStar {speech therapy for a stutter that started in kindergarten}. oddly enough, the week i took him back, he began talking smooth as silk {we hadn't been since 2009. i notice he had started bumping again so i thought a refresher would be beneficial}. when we went to our session today miss elizabeth {eli's therapist} asked him to speak with another little boy who was coming in for a session right after us. he was 6 and could hardly talk. she wanted eli to tell him his story and show him that things will work out and he will progress with his speech by learning the skills taught at iStar. it was touching to sit there at the little table and have eli introduce himself, tell him about his stutter and talk to him about how he has overcome this challenge. he was clear and kind. the little boys parents sat in the other room so there wasn't a big overwhelming crowd for this exchange. it was a very intimate moment. when we left, we walked by the room where the parents were and i couldn't help feeling for them. it's hard to see your kid struggle through things.

here is great thing about eli and challenges that he has faced thus far: it never phases him. it's almost like it doesn't occur to him that the situation could make him sad or frustrated or shut him down. he just proceeds forth carefree and happy and willing. it is impressive to watch and experience with him as i am usually his companion at appointments. he lends a hand at speech therapy, thinks physiotherapy is fun and exciting and hasn't batted an eye since we discovered that he seems to be losing the hair on his head?!?! {still figuring that one out, i'm sure he is fine}. he is an inspiration to me. i love him so much.

ok. enough blabbing. the weekend starts.... now.

p.s. click here to see a terrific link to watch a short video about iStar. very inspirational and could benefit anyone with a stutter. it is amazing to see the transformation. either click on the windows or quicktime version and enjoy.

someone more adventurous than i

2011-05-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

thought i would pass this along.

my uncle don and 4 of his 8 kids just hiked to everest base camp. kind of amazing? an understatement.

here is the link to her blog.... enjoy her adventure and some pics!

almost easter

2011-04-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

this is how we read the doctrine and covenants last night...

man, it's almost easter. the kids have been sick allllllll week. eli only went to school one day. when i picked him up after school and asked how his day went he said all his classmates were calling him "a ball of germs". smart kids.

we have been focusing on the savior this month in family home evening. a couple of sundays ago we had a knock at the door. it was our local JW's inviting us to their easter services. i answered the door, the rest of the family was sitting around the kitchen table listening to the conversation. they said, "hi! we just thought we would stop by and invite you to our easter services. come help us celebrate jesus christ's death!" i responded, "well, thank you very much for the invite. we also believe in christ and on easter we will be celebrating jesus christ's ressurection." that was pretty much the end of the conversation. it ended kindly, no hard feelings.

eli was so confused, why they would focus on his death and not his resurrection? oddly enough, it was a good encounter to have that day. we talked about all kinds of things while we finished up our post-church nachos. it was a significant moment to solidify with the kids what the celebration of easter really means.

we celebrate sacrifice, love, jesus christ and the miracle of ressurection. thank you easter.

not much happenin'

2011-04-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

calgary temple without the spire

next day, with the spire!

eli's eco-play at school. he was the dirty, toxic "bus head". heaven forbid...

honestly, nothing much has been going on here at burtonsnorth.

it continues to snow. it's cold and ugly outside annnnnd it's almost easter. you know, the end of april, the time when we should have some spears of green grass poking through the gravel-dusted, frozen dead lawns... no, just snow. we have had no interest or showings on the house for the last 2 weeks, then magically this weekend we had 3. in preparation we did a big clean and now i want to walk away from the place so things stay tidy.

i am in week 2 of an illustrator class online. it is slowly sinking in.
i bought a book on log cabin quilts. i'm all over it.
i'm working out and feeling stronger but not losing. come on.

this week is going to rule. got to think positive.

p.s. as i was typing this i remembered the last batch of cookies i put in the oven 35 minutes ago...... hockey puck anyone?

been working on potty training ida...

2011-04-11T07:21:00.001-07:00

spring break

2011-03-31T00:18:00.000-07:00

good old fashioned spring break in calgary

ivy!

last year for spring break, we spent 3 weeks in oahu. best. trip. ever.

this year, spring break snuck up on us and we found ourselves feeling frantic like we missed the "spring-break-get-the-heck-out-of-the-cold-train". we had no plans, no destination and everything last minute was wicked pricey. what to do? must get out of the snow and cold. . . . .

we decided to head to british columbia to mom and dads cabin for a few days. it would be a good break and different scene/better weather??!!??? pleasssse????? nena and the kids decided to come too. the more the merrier! how has spring break been going? good news, we have pretty much hung out in our pajamas all week. went into town... in pajamas. bowling? pajamas. c.j. and the kids built a makeshift rocket out of a root beer bottle and a bunch of other stuff laying around. let's go shoot it off! sure! in pajamas! who wants pizza? pizza pajama party... in the restaurant. yeah for spring break! it's been relaxing and pajama-ish. can't been that... {except for 3 weeks in oahu}

p.s.
nena's little ivy is having surgery on her eyes on friday. they need to straighten them out {see above}. it's going to be like a whole new world to her when they are all fixed up. will be praying for you little sister. it will all work out.

p.p.s
so bummed. didn't make the project selvage cut. by the looks of it, i wasn't what they were looking for. rats.

vote for burtonsnorth!

2011-03-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

ok folks...

burtonsnorth has designed a fabric!

and when i say "burtonsnorth" i mean jessica {with the fancy fabricy vision/art direction} and c.j. {with the mad computer skills}. a perfect team. this little project is a submission for a fabric design competition through spoonflower.com. i hope i make the first cut of 75 {there are about 780 submissions currently}. the contest closes tomorrow. will let you know if i made the cut on the 31st. and if i do, BELIEVE ME you will know.

i hope you like it, i hope you will support us with a vote.

p.s. the fabrics name is "eli", inspired by our sweet, one and only son.

you can also go here and find us on spoonflower!

oh canada!

2011-03-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

who's a citizen of 2 fancy countries now? this guy.

before the ceremony

after the ceremony, he wore his red shoes just for the occasion.

watching some t.v. together

the "all canadian" party. we had some pretty hi-brow guests...
from left to right front row:
snow boarder, justin bieber, eli with red shirt on, david suzuki, a first nations lady, ida with maple leaf tattoo and balloon.
from left to right back row:
noah sans costume was leif ericson, the queen of england, johnny was prince charles, bret "the hitman" hart, celine dion, a figure skater, CJ the newest Canadian family member, a Canada flag - that was me, jeff was a mountie sans the costume.

it's almost been a week. last friday c.j., ida and i went down to the harry hays building and participated in a Canadian Citizenship Ceremony. yes, cj is now a Canadian and an American. how cool is that? pretty fancy if you ask me. the ceremony was lovely. 75 people from all over the world were there with their families and loved ones to watch them become a Canadian. everyone was excited and happy. i had the most amazing intentions to document it, record it, photograph it, soak it all in. enter ida. unfortunately i spent most of my time scooping her off the floor and containing the howling as i ran out of the room. she even kicked it up a notch when he was called up to get his citizenship certificate, he walked one way and i was running out the other way. it was all very disappointing. ohhhh well. i guess we will always remember the day dad became a canadian... wahhhh, wahhh, wahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

to celebrate cj's happy day, we had a big fat "canadian" party the next night at jeff and nenas. it was fun. we dressed up canadian {the grand prize goes to chuck. canadian AND calgarian with the bret hart get-up}. we ate poutine, Tim Horton doughnuts and danced. good times.

fine art

2011-03-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

ida came to me the other night dressed in ALOT of white, silky material...

turns out she likes to pose for portraits. not unlike the girl with the pearl earring.

street legal

2011-03-02T21:39:00.000-08:00

montreal olympic stadium and tower. world's tallest inclined tower at 574 feet.

view of montreal from the tower at the olympic stadium.

can you see the outline of a house on the side of this building?

old montreal

view from our room

well, we are back from montreal. our flight time going was 3.5 hours, flight time back was 5. the last time i had a 5 hour flight i was heading to hawaii... sounds good right about now, eh calgary???

my green card hoop-la is complete. it was fairly easy. we showed up at the consulate, was man-handled by the power trippin' "security guards", went up the elevator, took a number, paid $404.00, went to window 9, handed in forms, got fingerprinted, sat back down in the waiting room, called to window 11, handed more forms in, back to the waiting room, called to window 7, raised my right arm to the square and swore to tell the truth, explained where i met cj, why were were moving, what i did for a living, then was welcomed back to the united states by a small squirrelly white man sitting behind thick glass - my green card was to be sent in the mail. they didn't care my FBI clearance wasn't with me or completed, didn't take a second look at the ream of paper that we used to copy the last 3 years income tax returns and financial reports and only took 2 out of the 3 required 2 x 2 photos. wow, thanks for being thorough. glad i was so prepared.

all in all, it was a real treat to visit montreal. our hotel was fantastic, would stay there again in a heart beat. the trip was like a little taste of europe, really close to home. can't beat that! thank you montreal!

we are pooped tonight. laying here in bed, i am watching ida on the monitor we have in her bedroom. she has completely undressed herself, diaper and all, 3 times since i put her to bed. scratch that, just looked over, naked, again. make that 4 times. what the heck is going on?! i go in, re-dress her, explain she has to keep her clothes on, leave and in 5 minutes she is naked again.
dude. have fun sleeping in the buff. 3 strikes, you're out.

bonjour!

2011-02-28T22:11:00.000-08:00

hotel gault. our room is the 3rd floor, right there on the corner at the top. we have all 3 windows in our room with amazing views out of each one of them.

maple toffee. pouring the hot toffee on the snow to harden.

then you take a stick and roll it down the hardening toffee to form your tasty treat. yum.

montreal is impressive.

to date we have: walked all over the cobblestone streets of old montreal, devoured crepes and french onion soup, slept in till 11:00 am {it was really only 9:00 am to us... but better than nothing and the usual 7:00 am alarm clock}, watched 3 movies in 1 day {back to back to back in a theatre i might add} and bought a old school SWATCH. we have found all the restaurants we have dined in prefer to play '80's hair bands. it is kind of hilarious. from the quaint cafes to the hi-brow steak houses, they are hair banding it up. maybe its a french canadian thing. who knows? anyone?

old montreal is like a little slice of europe {never been to europe, but this is how i imagine it}. what we are enjoying are tiny streets, amazing old buildings with intricate facades, super clean, very friendly, very quiet, nothing is open on sundays and things {ie. restaurants, shops, galleries} close early {we had a hard time finding a place to eat tonight at 9:30 pm}.

the night we got here i called home and heard that eli's throat was very sore and he was sad. poor dude. murphy's law, eh? then i heard today that one of the brackets on his braces broke off. so today he hit the doctor and the dentist to get fixed up {sorry mom!}. turns out antibiotics and some glue patched things up and every things going to be ok. just hate being so far away. glad mom and dad are there to take good care of the kids.

tomorrow {tuesday} i have my interview at 9:00 am at the united states consulate. am i nervous? no. am i worried? no. am i bummed to have to get up so early? yes.... come on! sleeping in has felt so good...

vancouver

2011-02-20T23:03:00.000-08:00

last tuesday, mum and i flew to vancouver.

i was scheduled for my immigration medical on wednesday morning at 6:30 AM sharp. so i showed up, they x-rayed me, took my blood, weighed, measured, poked and prodded. then mum and i walked all over the city of vancouver. we ate and browsed around granville island. we walked through gastown and yaletown. the next day we went to the capilano suspension bridge which was very, very cool. quite spectacular. hard to translate the height and perspective on film, the bridge and tree-top walk was unique and amazing.

it was a quick trip. cj and dad held down the fort with the kids. good job guys.
thanks for being my travel-mate mum! good times, i love you.

be my valentine?

2011-02-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

over the weekend we were at the Glenbow Museum. at the museum was an interesting dissection of a cell displayed on gels, hanging from the ceiling, lit with black lights. we all walked into the enclosure, the kids thought it was funny that cj's shoelaces and shirt was glowing in the dark. then they looked at me... every freckle since the dawn of time had appeared on my face AND it became very apparent that i am pretty liberal with my lip balm application. you know, lip balm does not belong just on my lips but ringing the entire parameter of my mouth as well. the kids ran out screaming and all cj wanted to do was take a picture.

this is why i know cj loves me. he knows exactly what i look like in different waves of light and he's still sticking around.

happy valentines day!

mike update

2011-02-12T08:14:00.000-08:00

what to say. we received a call last night saying they found mike. information here.

mike

2011-02-10T08:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.fox5vegas.com/local-video/index.html?grabnetworks_video_id=4532573

there are some very sad things going on in las vegas right now. the girl in the news clip is my niece amber. we are praying for some comfort and strength and support for the kids and family down there right now.

please join in.

here is another report from a different news station:

making all his dreams come true...

2011-02-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

eli is always asking why he can't be in any of c.j.'s shoots. the explanation that "the client is not looking for a 9 year old boy" never seems to cut it. until now.

when USA weekend called a few weeks ago and wanted to cast a "9 year old boy" for their bullying story, eli got the gig. it just came out this weekend in USA TODAY.

go get your copy now, i am sure eli will autograph it for you. hee hee

come on in

2011-02-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

the house pics are up and running!

remember to take your shoes off at the front door...

out of elbow grease

2011-01-31T00:08:00.000-08:00

HEY!

this house is shining like the top of the chrysler building.

do you know how much junk/stuff is in your house? do something for me... walk over to the "phone center/area" in your house {ours is in our kitchen} and open the drawer that is probably there. IS IT THE BIGGEST JUNK YARD ON EARTH? or walk into your master bedroom and open the cupboards under your sink. EXPIRED MEDS/CLEANERS/SUNTAN LOTION FROM 2001?!? where does all this crap come from?! holy dina. now go into your closet and look around. is there stuff in there you haven't worn for 6 months? a year? FORGOT YOU EVEN OWNED?

if so GET RID OF IT. like, NOW.

that is what we did all weekend long. 'cause this house is going up for sale, it's ready for the photographer to show up and if it looks clean, it is, because every nook and cranny and cupboard and drawer was cleaned, gone through, wiped down, vacuumed, washed off, organized and dusted. bags and bags of clothes were given away, bags and bags of "stuff" was chucked. IT WAS AWESOME. cj was wondering why we hadn't done this a year ago when we moved in. i don't know. life happens i guess.

i am now sitting in the last room to finish. the den/office. it is pretty much my space. it is always a mess. why, why, why, why. i get it organized and fancy and in a day it is tossed. fabric, mail, paperwork, bills, junk. this room is a magnet for crap. sooooo, i am looking around: i have 3 filing piles, cheques to be processed, invoices to be entered, fabric to hide away. it's 1:03 am.

i better give myself a time limit or i will be in trouble.

oh, by the way, re-reading "Joan of Arc" by Mark Twain. i suggest you read it. i read it while in university and it changed my life.
i hope it is as good as i remember it being or the book club ladies will kill me....

oh and...

2011-01-29T11:50:00.001-08:00

getting rid of newborn baby clothes is really, really hard.

i want you to know...

2011-01-28T19:47:00.000-08:00

i gave away most of my clothes today.

i am trying to weed out, clean out, pair down, simplify.

the house goes up for sale next week.

the weather is getting cold again.

food is my enemy.

all my sewing/quilting is going to have to wait until we move. tear, tear, sniff... sniff...

i am doing a lousy job at food prep in our house.

all my clothes are tight and unsightly.

this is going to be a longggggg weekend.

rice, rice baby

2011-01-22T23:15:00.000-08:00

success! ida's rice intolerance {FPIES} is officially over.

i cooked up some rice {which, at the appointed time of consumption she turned her nose up at} so i pulled out the emergency back up... rice crispy treats.

2 treats and 3 hours later we were discharged from the hematology unit with 2 thumbs up from the doctor.

what a relief. what a day. what a year and a half. what good news.

weekender

2011-01-20T19:12:00.000-08:00

los angeles

officially 2

so. we went to los angeles over the weekend.

it was a quick trip full of looking at houses, eating really good food, hanging out with family, celebrating birthdays with best friends over sushi and a movie and just enjoying the INCREDIBLE weather. believe me, i'm not a weather girl, but the weather was... pretty much perfect.

while we were there ida turned 2. we ended up at the beach for a bit as you can see. the kids had fun out running the waves. they got wet, which means sometimes they didn't outrun the waves.

i didn't really take any pictures this trip. i'm not quite sure why.

i got some shots today. a MMR and a flu shot. i had to get them for the immigration medical that is booked for mid february. monday i have to go get the Tdap. i don't like shots.

c.j. found out his canadian citizenship test is on tuesday. he is going to have to cram this weekend. 'cause if he doesn't know what the provincial flower of nova scotia is or the ethnic diversity of manitoba... he's hooped. {ha ha ha}

ida goes in for her final rice food trial tomorrow morning. 10 am she will be eating 1/3 cup of rice and seeing if it agrees with her. cross your fingers.

snow dance

2011-01-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

coming soon to a theatre near you.

late night shenanigans

2011-01-08T23:26:00.000-08:00

unscheduled food trial...

2011-01-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

about 10 minutes ago as i was floundering around on the living room floor doing pilates, ida walked around the corner with an unidentified object in her hand. her mouth was chocolatey and so were her hands, deduction: she has been holding/eating that for a while... the luna bar i had been eating for breakfast. half gone??!!!! ingredients?!?!
rice flour, brown rice oil, soy rice crisps, blah blah blah. probably every combination of RICE known to mankind.

NOW. you can imagine my horror.

she is actually meeting with the folks at the childrens hospital on the 21st and 24th for such things. like, a medically monitored food trial in case things go down the wrong road.

looks like i have 1:45 minutes to see what happens. i better throw her in the shower so that she is prepared for the ER.

if you have no idea why eating rice is such a big, fat deal, go here and here and here. and then look around some more. there is more, i just don't have time to link it all, i've got to get ready for the ER too.

UPDATE: all is well! no reaction! waited and waited and saw a doctor, gave her history, the doctor said they just had a internal seminar on FPIES and Ida was their case study! hilarious. anyho, it's all good, will still do the official rice trial later this month but i think we have a winner here. ya-hoooo!

MR. SUB to the rescue

2011-01-06T07:20:00.000-08:00

we have survived. eli is back at school, c.j. is no longer bed ridden and i am down 5.4 pounds. half way out of those sweat pants i say! hurrah!

i knew things were taking a turn for the better when we were sitting on the couch late last night and c.j. said, "man, you know what sounds so good right now all of the sudden, MR. SUB". so i called and sure enough, open till 10:00. dude was out the door in a flash. like a large submarine miracle pill, we ate those sandwiches and voila! we were healed. he even brought home a sub bun for eli so that we could make a sandwich for him this morning on a MR. SUB bun. that was a hit.

i thought i would throw the commercial in for good measure.
yes, MR. SUB, you are our hero of the week.

the big bucket

2011-01-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

i think we are dealing with the flu here.

i am sitting on the end of eli's bed. when i left for YW tonight he was complaining of stomach pain and by the time i got home {a few hours later} it was in full swing. no barfing yet, just falling in and out of sleep with stomach cramps. like it comes in waves. oddly enough i have started feeling the same type of thing as well... dun dun dunnnnnnn.

i guess we will see how this night goes. there is a humungous bucket sitting right next to him on his bed. he better not miss it.

in the next room c.j. is working on the cover of TIME. no big deal. we work under pressure around here.

i know the flu has been going around during the holidays and we never did get it so maybe it's our turn.

will update in the morn.

UPDATE: yes, yes, indeed it is the flu. eli and i stayed in the same room last night writhing around with waves of stomach cramps. it wasn't until this morning that i finally gave the old heave ho and used the big bucket and the toilet at the same time. i am feeling marginally better. eli seems pretty good to go. c.j. is now the one rolling around in bed whimpering. i told him just to puke and get it over with.

ida. no signs yet. i am praying to the flu gods that she doesn't get this. 'cause it pretty much sucks.

off to the races

2011-01-03T20:39:00.000-08:00

its the 3rd. hellooooooooo january! most of the items on my "get ready for the new year" list are complete. that is a good thing.

my pants feel tight. maybe it's because i gained 10+ pounds over the holidays. i have vowed to only wear sweat pants until my regular pants feel comfy again OR i have lost the previously mentioned lard that i have gained. i'll let you know when that blessed day happens.

eli starts back to school tomorrow, he gets braces on his bottom teeth on thursday and a new pair of orthotics for his feet on wednesday. man, he is sounding like a nerd, but he is not really {well maybe just a little, but thats ok}. rather a nerd than a jock, bully, emo, goth, etc, etc, etc.

so far so good on keeping some family resolutions. that is a good thing too.

i ran 2 miles today to begin training for this. i registered for it a few years back but broke my foot and had to bag the race and a trip to NY and pretty much everything for about 4 months.

it is redemption time.

organizin'

2010-12-30T13:45:00.000-08:00

down time. yessssssss.

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR. the period of time right between christmas and new years. it is the time to prepare for a whole new year. how great is that? fresh slate! new, new, new!

i have eli in his room right now going through all his clothes, weeding out the "too small" items. then he will begin a resolution list {9 goals, now that he is 9}. i have a list a mile long to complete before january 1st. it will get done. the last few days i have been transferring ALL of my photos onto a hard drive so they are nifty and neat and very accessible. while i have been doing this i found this little gem tucked away in the 2005 photos/vids. i had just flown into LA. emily and doug were living in encino at the time. the boys were 3 or 4ish. cute and chubby. emily and i decided to make a trip to the sherman oaks {?} costco. hot weather + mid afternoon = slobbering in a cart at costco. i love how he was looking for someone to cuddle up with at the end.

hilarious.

now, GET OFF YOUR DUFF AND GET READY FOR 2011!!

birthday/birthday/christmas

2010-12-25T11:11:00.001-08:00

birthday boys

a quilt for c.j.

the party attendees

waiting for the show to start!

ida and a bird from the show

who has arrived???!

making sure the kids are all on the nice list

BELIEVER.

the kids were all stunned and amazed.

eli, thrilled at the combination of lego + sorry. too good to be true. pretty easy to please.

ida's crabby attitude, christmas 2010

the christmas morning puffy, smiley family picture. yes.

this time of year is always so busy. a good kind of busy. a happy kind of busy.

birthdays and christmas and family parties seem to run one into another. this year we celebrated eli and c.j.'s birthday by a lasagna smack down at our house, some presents to open and tickets to Seussical the Musical. we had a great time. the play was fun and colourful, ida sat through the entire thing happy and quiet. GOOD FOR HER.

we were all able to get together last night for christmas eve at mom and dads. we ate, acted out the nativity, had a talent show/sing-a-long and then had a very special visitor drop by. a bonafide santa claus arrived and chatted with the kids for a while. the kids could not believe it. santa claus, here????! HE WAS DELIGHTFUL AND PERFECT.

this morning was christmas. it was an early start. so early, ida and c.j. are both napping right now, it's noon and i am feeling a bit heavy eyed myself. eli was easy to please this year with simple lego, a couple of books and a looney tunes dvd. ida was grumpy, scowled most of the time, didn't want to open any of her gifts and was more interested in elis things which caused some problems. i had a brain wave while i was eating the really dry coffee cake i made for breakfast. next year we will do christmas in shifts. if eli wants up early we can wake, open gifts, whoop it up with him then head back to bed until ida wakes a couple of hours later {naturally}. it just may be a more pleasant way of celebrating christmas until ida can deal with it. they are so far apart in age that the early rising is fun for eli but not for ida. MUST STRATEGIZE NOW FOR NEXT YEAR.

in a couple of hours we will head back out to mom and dads and have a nice christmas day meal. it's going to be awesome. i'm going to eat like there's no tomorrow and then start thinking about tomorrow and the next day and the next... 2011, you will be here before we know it. MUST BE PREPARED.

merry christmas.

merry christmas folks

2010-12-24T20:55:00.001-08:00

i present to you... NYC

2010-12-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

i love new york

2010-12-19T20:57:00.001-08:00

well, we have walked our legs to bloody stumps, our eyes are blurry and tired and our hands/faces are cold and chapped. we punched manhattan in the face and i have about 1,000 pictures to prove it.

will post when i get home tomorrow morning and get my wits about me.

enjoy the above until then...

a great big fat awesome long weekend straight ahead

2010-12-15T21:09:00.000-08:00

doug & emily + new york city = FUN FUN FUN

can't wait

yes, the blue chairs are airplane seats. old school seats with ashtrays in them.

oooooh boy.

we had a hairy hectic day here. cj had a great big shoot. i was getting things ready.

ready for what?

ready to go to manhattan. yes, manhattan. did you hear me?!? HAHA!!! MANHATTAN!

HOLY CROW WE ARE LEAVING THE KIDS TOMORROW AND GOING TO MANHATTAN.

we have only left eli once when he was 3. it was when we met up with doug & emily and hit the sundance film festival. that was 6 years ago. now 3 kids later {between the 2 of us} we are meeting up with doug & emily in manhattan for round 2. why manhattan? doug has been shooting a film there for the last who knows how long, eh em? emily needs a break, we want a holiday, manhattan sounds like a perfectly perfect location {especially this time of year} soooooooo LET'S GO!

so many places to eat and see and go and shop and eat and eat and eat. we have tickets to "a prairie home companion" on friday night at town hall. other things on our list: statue of liberty, central park, the guggenheim, moma, skating in rockefeller, walk the brooklyn bridge, max brenner chocolate, purl soho, see a broadway show, attend the temple and hang out on set with doug. we shall achieve this list and anything else we can do/see squeezed in between.

ohhhhhh, i'm nervous. please fly steady plane, get us there safe. kids have fun with grandma and grandpa. {thanks mom and dad} we'll see you in a few days.

experiencing technical difficulties...

2010-12-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

back of the infamous christmas quilt

front of the christmas quilt

watching the muppets "christmas carol" under the christmas quilt. c.j. was sad and cried at the end. you can tell he is gearing up for it... poor, poor tiny tim.

things in our house are frying. dead. stopped working. gonzo.

the microwave, the phone system {all 4 phones} and now the iMac in our den. it's weird, every button on the microwave works BUT the "start" button, the phones ring BUT are dead when i answer them and the iMac sounds like it is running and the apple tv is functioning BUT all it shows me is a sad black screen... this has all happened in about a 4 day span. they must have all gotten together and decided to crap out as a group. is it a protest?

i finished 2 quilts this week. 2 years ago, sandra and i started sewing a christmas quilt. 2 years ago. sheesh. i decided to finish it up, so i packaged up, sent it to my talented cousin sylvie and within a few days she shipped them back to me quilted. how awesome is that? soooo i bound them and it got put to good use. the other night c.j. and the kids watched the muppet christmas carol {according to the advent calendar schedule} and cozied up with the quilt. yes.

ok, we just had sloppy joes and it's 10:00 pm. what? too late for a sloppy joe? no. way. jose.

advent update

2010-12-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

ida & the sugar cookie

eli & the millenium falcon christmas cookie

hot chocolate by the fireplace @ grandma and grandpas

hey this advent calendar is working! we are having some simple, fun activities that are keeping us in the christmas-y spirit! we made cookies, drank hot chocolate by the fireplace, had treats and came up with our 2011 family motto/theme. for our theme we threw a piece of paper in the middle of the kitchen table and throughout the day, everyone was able to put down thoughts or words or phrases that came to their mind. when we were finished, the page was full of really good things. as i read through it this morning, a thought/scripture immediately came to my mind that sumed up everything we had written down {i love you inspiration, thank you}. i quickly did some searching through the scriptures and this is what i found:

"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires. Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated. And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace."

it is perfect. i read it to c.j., he agreed. so, there it is, our 2011 burton family theme. it feels really good and heaven sent. what will we do with this theme? we will memorize it, review it every family home evening, have it hanging in our home and strive to live it's message. this message is found in the doctrine and covenants which is equally perfect as this is the book of scripture we will be focusing on this year as well. awesome.

back to the advent, here is the list of activities we will be doing for the next week:

dec. 8. make paper snowflakes and hang them on the windows

dec. 9. watch home movies

dec. 10. watch the muppet christmas carol

dec. 11. ichat with grandma and grandpa burton

dec. 12. drive around to see christmas lights

dec. 13. make a christmas craft

tonight we are making egg nog shakes. c.j. will be whipping those up as he is a shake makin' pro.

we just finished up our 2010 christmas card. it is pretty good this year if i do say so myself. look for yours in the mail! {and if you don't think we have your current most accurate address, please send it to me ASAP.... you won't be disappointed!}

coldplay christmas

2010-12-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

let her load and enjoy.

the secrets of the universe + the loch ness monster

2010-12-01T14:26:00.000-08:00

lumpy trees, stars & the loch ness monster

THE purple tree by popular demand

colouring fun!

it is december folks.

i printed, organized and stuffed the advent calendar last night. eli just pulled out the first awesomely exciting suggestion of what to do today. "colour christmas pictures???..."

ooookkkkk.... {he is getting too old for this stuff, plus it didn't help that ida was sacked out on the couch not participating}. colouring is FUN! let's do it!! hurray! it's advent calendar fun!!!

by the way, here is a list by day of our advent calendar activities this week {i know the schedule so i can be prepared, but the kids don't know}.

dec. 1. christmas coloring

dec. 2. decorate sugar cookies {***made the dough last night, cooked them today, see thoughts...}

dec. 3. make hot chocolate and drink by the fireplace

dec. 4. TREAT! {i have placed in some pockets little chocolatey treats}

dec. 5. create a family theme/motto for 2011

dec. 6. make egg nog shakes

dec. 7. TREAT!

***sugar cookies. love to eat them, hate to make them. wow. what difficult finicky little morsels. it's the flour and the rolling and dough sticking to the counter top/the cookie cutter/the rolling pin and my hands. i did get better with each batch that i threw into the oven, perfecting my skills... but those first few... WOW. not good. the cookies we will decorate tomorrow are wonky stars, saggy trees, rocking horses {which look like the loch ness monster} and several star wars characters that i decided to throw in just for the heck of it.

on another note, last night eli found out. on the way to cubs, eli turned to c.j. and said, "dad, a couple of kids in my class told me today that there is no santa claus. is that true?". c.j. said all he could do was smile nervously and look straight ahead at the road. {do i tell him, do i not tell him.....} "yes, eli, there is no santa." then the conversation went something like, it is important to have and enjoy the christmas spirit, remember what we are really celebrating, it is fun for little kids, keep it a secret, etc, etc... it might be a different christmas this year with eli knowing we are sneaking the presents under the tree and ida just old enough to be really excited about "santa claus". two totally opposite ends of the spectrum.

alrightttt! ida just woke up. the coloring-o-rama is in full force. the most wanted "christmas-y" type picture printed out? anything from GREMLINS. no santas or elves, just gremlins.

sure, why not.

more december prep

2010-11-29T20:29:00.000-08:00

sometimes when i read other peoples blogs about fantastic things, fancy finds, dinner parties and people going to live in exotic places, i want IN on that life. it is a bad, bad thing.

i am looking at my dining table piled with todays tasks. file 2010 files away, make new files for 2011, organize patterns, fold/organize fabric, pay bills, print and laminate eli's emergency contact list, order eli's school pictures, gather items for the advent calendar, vacuum the back hall/organize coat room, etc, etc.... i don't mind doing these things. i enjoy it and i imagine that these "fancy blog folks" also do these mundane things as well, but somehow they conjure up the exciting life that goes with it. OR DO THEY? ..... maybe they are run ragged with all the things they are doing. maybe their kids don't get enough of their attention. maybe their house is a mess. you can't do it all, right? something has to give....

SO. i'm feeling good about all these tasks i accomplished today. because i finished them, it will help us finish out december and ring in the new year smoothly, calmly and organized. i won't be madly filing on december 31st or shoving fabric in every nook and cranny for my space to be nice and clean. i have things ready for the advent calendar, BONUS. the gravel bought in from our boots is gone from the back hall and is not being dragged through the house. i won't be pulled in a million directions.

conclusion: i guess there is more to life than someone else's exciting life. i don't need perfect weather, a flat in paris or reservations at the hippest place in town.

i got my things done today and that is good enough for me.

prep work

2010-11-25T07:32:00.000-08:00

santa!

advent calendar

ida and the back of the advent and her new sleepers

soooooooo. we are getting ready for christmas around here. why not, winter has come early and it's as cold as the north pole up here... FOR REAL.

a couple of weeks ago we all happened to be at the mall. SANTA WAS THERE?!?! already? yup, he was there, hanging out on his large throne {why are santas always sitting on a throney type chair??}, checking his iphone for new texts or the hockey game score..... there was no line so we thought, what the heck, get the kids in there. so we did. eli told santa of all the LEGO he wanted, ida squirmed and reached for the miniature candy canes. when told to "smile!", eli gave his overly happy squinty face and ida winked. it was pretty awesome. christmas 2010, you are off to a good start!

then we decided to buy a new christmas tree. c.j. wanted a traditional green tree this year instead of our white one. we ended up leaving with a 8 foot green and a 6 foot purple. that's right purple. i love it.

i decided we needed an advent calendar. i found a pattern on sew mama sew, got all excited about it, stayed up all night cutting out fabric, worked away for the next couple of days and VOILA! we have an advent calendar! IT IS ALIVE. it was fun to do. now i am looking for really good ideas to put in these little pockets. pass along all your good suggestions please and you can be involved in our count down to celebrating Christmas. yes!

today is american thanksgiving. we are doing up another fat meal and thinking about the things we are thankful for. over the last couple of weeks we have had root canals, car accidents and near death experiences. today i am just happy we are safe, healthy and alive.

now, pass me a piece of pumpkin pie.

robert falcon scott

2010-11-19T21:07:00.000-08:00

our kids like to read. A LOT.

tonight i threw ida in her crib with half a dozen books and c.j. laid down with eli to read a chapter out of their "dangerous book for boys". the book is a collection of "boy" stuff: games, biographies of explorers, knots, survival skills. i am sure you have seen this book in stores. i heard c.j. reading about robert scott and his expedition to the antarctic. c.j. finished up and left eli to go to sleep. about 20 minutes later i went to check on the kids. i opened ida's door slightly, she was growling and jabbering while flipping the pages of her chunky animal book. i poked my head into eli's room, he was reading through the pages of the book c.j. was just reading to him. i came into the living room and gave the update to c.j. 10 minutes later, eli came out to go to the bathroom. then he walked into the living room and wanted to talk to me. "that story, about robert scott.... it was so sad. he froze to death. it's just so sad...." that's when he started to cry. crying like someone had died. like he knew robert scott. so tragic.

c.j. and i went back into his room with him. he had re-read the account and was terribly moved by the letters mr. scott had written to his family and friends. his journal entries and thoughts. such a shame he had made it to the south pole and died on the journey home.

an excerpt from the last letter to his wife where he mentioned their only son.

"I had looked forward to helping you to bring him up, but it is a satisfaction to know that he will be safe with you... Make the boy interested in natural history if you can. It is better than games. They encourage it in some schools. I know you will keep him in the open air. Try to make him believe in God, it is comforting... and guard him against indolence. Make him a strenuous man. I had to force myself into being strenuous, as you know--had always an inclination to be idle."

{no wonder he was boobing, i had a hard time getting through that myself...}

to make it all better, we talked about explorers and the risks they take. you win some, you lose some. then c.j. read him the story of the wright brothers. he was asleep within a couple of minutes.

5 chapters left...

2010-11-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

this is what it looked like right before we finished off ether last night

inspecting his progress and feeling pretty good about it i think

eli has 5 chapters left in the book of mormon. when i say he is dedicated/anxious/excited/f o c u s e d/hell-bent on finishing this book before he turns 9 is an understatement. his deadline isn't for a month, so i think he'll make it. he reads late into the night and early in the morning. he reads out loud and silently to himself. every time he finishes a chapter he grabs his little chart that grandpa gave him and colours in another little box. the chart is ragged and worn.

yesterday he got his braces on. after they were glued in place, the orthodontist passed eli a mirror to inspect his mouth. she began to inform him of things he couldn't eat like gum and sticky food. hard things like apples and a reminder to chew his food in the back of his mouth so his brackets wouldn't pop off. he listened quietly and intently, thinking and looking back and forth from his mouth and the doctor. after hearing the instruction and with a concerned look on his face, the only thing he asked was, "can i still read my scriptures with these things on?".

one. track. mind.

we are going to finish this special book tonight. we gave him a set of scriptures for his baptism last year. i wanted to write something personal in the front, something like the note my dad lovingly wrote in my scriptures when they gave them to me {i read it often, thanks dad!}. over this year i kept thinking i need to write something, however, i'm so glad i didn't write anything until now.

way to go, e. thanks for letting me read the scriptures with you this year. special, special times.

things i'm doing

2010-11-14T16:38:00.000-08:00

i'm makin' cookies.

i'm sewing an advent calendar. i cut fabric out last night until 4 am.

we put our christmas trees up this weekend. 2 of them. one purple and one green.

i rescheduled my green card appointment for early 2011.

i've got to stop eating bread. i'm getting f a t.

we are brain-storming christmas card ideas.

ida can say hallelujah.

eli gets braces on monday.

c.j. is getting a root canal this week. his mouth has been throbbing for 3 weeks.

i am planning, planning, planning for december. it's going to be awesome. right new york city and doug and emily?

now i am going to eat a cookie.

trip, trip, trip

2010-11-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

halloween party at cubs with cousins {cole & spencer}

me & dee

halloween trunk or treat catered by "in & out"

cruising claremont

the kids & pumpkin

whaaaaat?

twins

me & em

backyard halloween party

eli & the cousins

the salmon/burton/saunders sandwich
aunt ruth in st. george

SLC temple

eli & i at the spoken word, third row

president monson came to listen too

megan & me & our kids

we're back. the votes are in.

enjoy the pics.

complexities

2010-10-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

do you know how much it is to rent a car one-way from los angeles to salt lake city?

A LOT OF MONEY.

upon doing extensive research, the price was anywhere from $1300-$2400. what???

for heavens sake...

why are we renting a car? rent car + driving city to city = figuring out our lives.

we have to find a place to live. next week we fly into los angeles, cruise to las vegas, jaunt to st. george and roll up to salt lake city. every town will be considered. statistics have been collected and analyzed, school districts have been scoped out, wards have been found. all has been compared. we have many choices before us including calgary, of course. we are down to the wire, my interview date for my green card is december 10th. i still need to go to vancouver for a medical. things have got to get shakin'.

{by the way, we fixed the pricey rental car dilemma. c.j. is driving back to l.a. to catch a flight the day after me and kids fly out of salt lake. it was $69.00 to change his flight and will save us over a $1000.00 bucks. done deal.}

we have all had a chesty cough for the last 3 weeks. three of us started antibiotics on monday, i am the only one still taking them. ida puked the first night and c.j. came down with the flu {which put him in the ER for a couple bags of saline and some anti-nausea drugs} on day 3 of his treatment so he quit too. the kids now have diarrhea as well. the odds have been against us for a few days but it just might be a good thing that we are sickos before our road trip than while we are on it. looking for the silver lining, it's there.

while i was in the hospital with c.j., i started watching "super-size me" on my phone. originally c.j. thought he had food poisoning from a big mac he had at lunch that day. so, with that in mind i started the film. man, have you watched that movie lately? it makes you so disgusted with "fast food". i told eli about the film today as we were eating lunch. i said, "hey, after lunch we are going to watch a movie about a guy who eats mcdonalds every meal for a month." eli looked at me with wide starry eyes, sat back and said "ohhhh, that sounds gooooood." funny thing is, while we were watching the movie, the guy doing the experiment by eating the food mentioned how his adventure was "an 8 year olds dream come true."

sure enough, that statement was confirmed at our house.

lazy afternoon

2010-10-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

how to behave and why

2010-10-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

lately, eli and i have been working on his "faith in god" program. one of the goals was to learn about being polite and having manners and to use them. when eli was a little boy we gave him a book called "how to behave and why". it was written in the 1940's. the instruction and advice is plain and simple. we love this book. it was the perfect re-read for this assignment.

enjoy.

"How to Behave and Why"

This is really a book about how to have the most fun in living, and it doesn't matter whether you are a boy or a girl, a man or a woman --- the rules are all the same.

How old we are isn't what counts. The two biggest questions to ask ourselves in life, at any age, are: Are most of the people I know glad that I am here?

Am I glad that I am here, myself?

Anyone who can honestly answer "YES" to those two questions most of the time has learned to BEHAVE in this world and to live a happy life.

It doesn't matter whether you are a Chinese grandfather, an Eskimo mother or an American boy or girl going to school -- You still have to get along well with other people and have most of them like you, if you want to be happy.

Ever since the days when men stopped living in caves, the good and decent people of the world have found out that there are certain ways we all have to behave if we want to live together pleasantly.

The good ways, or the good rules for behaving, have lasted a long time -- so they must have something.

No matter where you are or who you are, there are four main things that you have to do if you want to make good friends and keep them.

1. You have to be HONEST

2. You have to be FAIR

3. You have to be STRONG

4. You have to be WISE

And there is no good in trying to fool yourself. All that isn't so easy.

HONEST. FAIR. STRONG. WISE. Those are the four things you have to be SO let's take them apart slowly and find out WHY?

HONEST people tell the truth. Other people know that when they say something is so, they can believe it. Now that is very handy, because if you are honest and promise to do something, others will trust you. They will share things with you, tell you secrets, lend you money, and help you do many of the things you want to do -- because they know that what you promise and what you say is true. They can count on it.

Only a dope will tell a lie. One of the quickest ways to lose your friends and to make people dislike you is to lie.

Some people think they can be smart and fool others when they tell a lie -- but sooner or later the truth usually is found out and then the liar is sorry because he knows he won't be trusted or believed the next time.

Nobody knows what to do with a person who doesn't tell the truth. How can you believe a word they say? Even if they do tell the truth part of the time, how can you know which times they mean it and which times they don't? No -- we can't say that just one little lie doesn't count. It counts every time and people can't really know us and like us unless they can believe what we say.

Every time we tell a lie we mix ourselves up more. After a while almost no one will believe us, but worse that that -- We can't believe ourselves or anyone else, because we don't really know what the truth is any more than a penguin and that is a stupid way to live. As anyone can tell you.

Stealing is something honest people don't do. Taking things that don't belong to you is a sure way to get into trouble and be unhappy. Good people can't let bad people take things from others secretly or by force. If they did the world would be a miserable place for everyone. Nothing we own would be safe. Grownups who steal are put in jail in almost every country -- and that is one way a person loses all his friends for a long long time.

There is another way to make people dislike you that is half like lying and half like stealing -- and it's just as bad as either of them. That is CHEATING. In playing games, working at school, trading things or buying and selling the person who cheats will make enemies of those he cheats and other people won't like or trust him. Nothing we get by cheating is worth what we lose with our friends.

We have spelled out HONEST and all we have to do now is to remember that being HONEST is probably the most important rule of living a happy life. In a way everything else we do depends on it. If we aren't honest, we really aren't ourselves to others, and if we aren't ourselves we certainly can't make friends and be happy.

You have to F A I R.

Friendly people find it easy to be FAIR. Being friendly and being fair both come from believe that other people have just as much right to be alive and happy as we have.

The man or woman or boy or girl who goes around gloomy, with a sour face and is afraid that everybody else is going to make him or her unhappy has a very hard time making friends. There are a lot of nice people everywhere and the sooner we meet each other, the better the world will be for all of us.

Anywhere you go with a smile and a wish to like people, you will find someone who will be glad to see you.

From Africa to the Arctic Circle this is so. People everywhere are like yourself in many ways and most of them want to share happiness and the good things of life with others if you will do the same. SO -- Get up in the morning wherever you are and go to school or play or work or parties or new places glad to meet new people and make old friends of them.

In your own home is a good place to begin every day by being fair. Our mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers make wonderful friends, if we treat them fairly and do our share to make home a happy place for everyone there.

Helping to keep it neat and clean. Sharing the work that has to be done. Being quiet when others need peace. And giving others just as much right as you have to enjoy themselves with or without you -- There are all ways of being Fair and ways to make people glad you live with them from the time you wake in the morning until you pleasantly, cheerfully go to bed.

Remember the secret of fairness is sharing. Selfish people who won't share with others find themselves left alone and unhappy no matter what they own that could be fun.

Look out for that person who pretends to be your friend but doesn't want you to like anyone else. That isn't a friend -- it is a selfish person who is trying to own you and hasn't learned to share to be happy. Poor sports who can't lose games without squawking or won't take turns are not FAIR and neither is that lazy lump who never shares the work that has to be done by someone.

We know now what it means to be FAIR and we will learn all through life that the friendly person is a happy person most of the time.

You have to be S T R O N G

Some people think that being strong is just a matter of having muscles like a gorilla. But they are wrong. That alone never made anybody happy. Real strength comes from having a clean, healthy mind and a clean, healthy body. Think it out for yourself. All the power of sixty gorillas won't do you any good if you use it stupidly, and if you don't stay healthy you might as well be a run down mouse.

Any brave man or woman can tell you that having a clean healthy mind comes from taking the time to think what is right and then doing it no matter how scared you are or when it would be easier to do wrong or even if somebody else tries to talk you into it.

Regular habits are the answer to the question: How can we grow from a weak baby to a strong and healthy man or woman?

Eating the right food when we should. Keeping clean. Playing and exercising. Sitting and standing and getting the right amount of sleep and rest are HOW TO GROW WELL AND STRONG.

Of course you can argue with people who know better than you, but it's stupid. Doctors and scientists study and learn what is the best way to keep ourselves healthy. Our fathers and mothers learn from them and they tell us. They know a lot more than we do, and if we are bright, we do what they tell us to.

Now is the best time to start doing what you are told to do for your own good health. You can ask your parents to tell you WHY they want you to obey, BUT don't nag and whine and grumble and cry every time you just don't want to do what is right.

Grown ups aren't some kind of weird monsters that have fun making us do things we don't want to do. They just know a whole lot more than we do because they have been here longer. Listen to what they tell you and you will be surprised how right they usually are.

We all are different in many ways, but we are all alike in many ways too. If we are HONEST and FAIR and STRONG we won't find it hard to be wise.

You have to be W I S E.

We get along with people and we make good friends when we have polite manners like:

*Shaking hands when we meet.

*Smiling and saying "good morning" or "good afternoon".

*Saying "goodbye" when we leave and thanking people when they have been nice to us.

*Saying "please" when we want something and "excuse me" or "i beg your pardon" when we bump into someone, or belch or yawn or cough or sneeze. {And when we yawn or cough we cover our mouths.}

*Waiting for other people to finish talking before we start.

*Letting ladies and girls be "first."

*Helping very old and very young people as much as we can, and being quiet and gentle when we are with them.

*Eating quietly without sprawling and grabbing or quarreling at the table. Asking to be excused when we are finished eating and are ready to leave.

*Being quiet and orderly when we go to places where there are a lot of other people -- like libraries, movies or museums, theatres or classrooms, or in trains, street cars or busses.

*By never acting as though we were the only people in the world who counted, and never acting fresh and showing off to make people believe that we think we are better than they are.

"I can't always be right no matter who I am" is a good thing for all of us to remember.

Other people have ideas and thoughts, ways of doing things, ways to work, ways to play, ways they think of God and their country and their race. Their way can be just as right as your way. Remember that, and be glad you have a change to choose the best of all ways.

Sailing together in a boat is a lot like learning to live with other people and be happy.

We learn to obey and after a while we learn to command and help to make the world a better place for all of us.

End of the book is what this is, and if YOU learned to be HONEST, FAIR, STRONG, WISE, then you have learned to HOW TO BEHAVE -- AND WHY.

magdalena

2010-09-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

p.s. check out this new song by brandon flowers {the killers} off his new album "flamingo". it's catchy, maybe light weight, but i like it. sounds great live. oh, the troubadour... good times at the troub...

weekend update

2010-09-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

eli's halloween sneak peak: werewolf
as forecasted, snow this weekend
they did it!
dipping their feet on the other side

1790 hermit hut carved out of a rock
mum + dad
SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS: size 40, brand spanking new, worn once, maybe

**i am doing some serious closet purging and came across 2 pairs of boots i bought last year. size 40 {10}, i wear a 9/9.5 and these fit nice with the 40. there is a black pair and a chocolate pair. i think i have worn the black pair once. the chocolate pair has never been worn. yours: $40 a pair. they just need a good home. any takers? first come, first serve.**

OK. very serious things went on this weekend. *we had the dusting of snow that was forecasted. still went on my walk. i roll that way. *we collected food for the church's annual "city-wide food drive". i believe it was last year that we set the world record for the most food collected in a single day on a food drive. go calgary. *i found a great halloween costume for eli. it's a bit early but it was the perfect motivation/inspiration for the rest of our costumes. eli will be a werewolf and the rest of us will be other classic halloween characters. *i got the letter. yes, the letter that was sent from the U.S. consulate in montreal stating i could make an appointment/interview for my green card. we have been anticipating this letter for the last couple of months. it got me all freaked out and uptight about the thought of selling a house, packing, moving, house-hunting, new schools, new ward, setting up utilities, banking, finding health care, taxes, blah, blah, blah.... it is now very real and good and bad and happy and sad and exciting and terrifying. i think my interview date will be in the first week of november. c.j. is leaving on tuesday for a music gig in las vegas on the weekend. he is driving to l.a. to scout out homes in claremont again, so his visit is timely as we need "evidence of domicile" documentation by my interview date. i feel like the logistics of all of this will be nutty. i guess we will see how it plays out. *mum and dad finished their long walk across england. from their pictures it looked like a seriously hardcore trek. i am just so proud of them and their accomplishment. just terrific.

walking

2010-09-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

do you see what's going on behind me?? yes, that is yellow on the trees. hello fall.
folks they run into on the trail every day
having the time of their lives
their dogs are barkin'

lots of mini breaks
made it!

soooo, according to dad, the last two days they walked 75 km. 40 one day and 35 the next. now i don't know about you, but i walk daily between 3-7 km {depending on time, route, etc} and i feel like i get a decent workout. if i walked 75 km in 2 days i would have bloody stumps for feet. unreal.

the top picture is me on one of my walks. it has been so cold and rainy and foggy and COLD lately that all the trees are packing it in. they are all changing colors and according to the forecast we may miss any opportunity to enjoy the fallish foliage 'cause it's going to SNOW this weekend. perfect just in time for the food drive/corn bust. yee-haw!

your new favorite song

2010-09-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

bogs + blisters

2010-09-12T11:49:00.000-07:00

after 10 hours 15 minutes, the longest stretch on the trek, they made it
greg christensens bruised, rashed, blistered feet, oh dear
mum + dad
a stop for hot chocolate and sconces {looks good}
another stop, building built 1706
miles and miles and miles of bogs

apparently very cold and windy at these rock cones, but could see as far as the eye could see

a quick update on our crazy bog hoping trekkers. they are doing great! completed the longest portion of the trail a few days ago. they say its like running a marathon every day. very tired and sore at night. are at the half way point. are loving every minute of it. they are blister free and in good spirits.

keep on truckin'!

ms. chen

2010-09-10T13:04:00.001-07:00

this morning we attended a back-to-school breakfast at elis school. it was an opportunity to say hello to his new teacher. i told c.j. eli was as tall as her... do you believe me now? isn't she cute? i love her little yellow boots. yeah for ms. chen!

coast to coast

2010-09-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

tradition: dip your feet in the irish sea before you start
difficult passes
amazing scenery
interesting places to stay at night

hills and vales
lunch along a sleepy river
trying to call home {probably not}

we have been watching and waiting for pics from mum and dad as they are walking across england. the coast to coast walk is 220 miles and begins at st. bees and ends at robin hood's bay. they will get to robin hood's bay on dads 60th birthday. what a great treat on his special day. communication has been limited so their pictures have been very exciting to see. they are following trails and guide books. nothing is clearly marked or obvious. what an adventure. apparently they are having the time of their lives, extremely difficult but very rewarding {dad says}. i just love seeing them out there doing it. it totally puts a smile on my face.

slick sly/i can see into the future

2010-09-09T07:28:00.001-07:00

it's all coming back to me....

last night i had a dream. i was in a strange downtown apartment, c.j. was there. we were waiting to go somewhere and suddenly sylvester stallone showed up. most of the dream was us talking to him in very close proximity {which i thought was really weird}. what was even weirder was he had the smoothest skin. not a wrinkle, anywhere. he looked young and supple. it seemed like i commented on his radiant face the entire dream, "c.j. look at this face! no lines around his eyes! no laughy/frowny creases!". i was blown away with how fantastic he looked.

and that was it. that was my dream. it just went on and on like that.

o.k. who's in for some botox?

p.s. after showering today i sent ida to grab a diaper. i watched her walk over and stand beside my laptop. in my minds eye i watched her pee on my laptop. a few seconds later she actually did. i gotta stay ahead of my premonitions....

portraitville

2010-09-08T15:52:00.001-07:00

ida
noah
brady

during the summer when family was here, c.j. was able to take ida, noah and brady's portrait. mum and dad have similar portraits of all the grandchildren in their house. so they were the next ones to be done. i think they turned out just perfect.

labor/labour day weekend

2010-09-07T19:03:00.000-07:00

calgary
sunday morning snow-topped rockies
"tubby dog"
mine's the middle one. i got about 2 bites in and stopped.
sweet potato tongue {one of jeff's homemade tubby dog fries hanging out of his mouth. c.j. is genuinely surprised!}
skipped supper, decided to nap after church
18 months going on 18 {quit growing so fast, sheesh}
future stampede queen, giddy-up!
picked some bounty from mum's garden today

well, how was your weekend? was is un-laborous? did you have fun? was the weather nice?

we had opportunity to go to kelowna, but decided not to go. sooooooo, we stayed around calgary and just enjoyed ourselves. one of the days we did a "sampler" day. we did pit-stops all around the city and only stayed an hour or so. there was a new exhibit at the glenbow, so we used our family pass and toured the fernando botero installation. it was a hit. on monday we spent some time with nena & family on 17th avenue. one of our stops was "tubby dog". as you can see from the pictures the hot dogs were ridiculous. it was novel. later that day we came home and fed the missionaries. one of the elders in our ward is from edmonton. to put that in perspective, it's like being from l.a. and getting called to barstow. the edge of the calgary mission boundaries is 1.5 hours from home. talking to him about it, he seemed to take it quite well and frankly i thought it was pretty cool. i am sure his mom loves it. he said getting mail/packages is great. there is always someone coming or going to drop something off for him. and you know, it just goes to show you, it doesn't matter where you serve. people get so wrapped up in that aspect of a mission.... every mother would want their kid near and safe and sound and serving the lord if they could.

on a TOTALLY different train of thought, chew on this for awhile:

"just because you can, doesn't always mean you should"

today eli began his 18 month orthodontic mission. 4 spacers where put in his mouth to make room for the expander they are putting in on monday. he is going to look very different in a month. he gagged on the impression tray, but in general took it like a champ.

there is always that thought in the back of your mind when your kids have to do something difficult or uncomfortable, whether it's worth it or they need to do it, etc. it's hard to see them be nervous or scared or unsure. life's not always a bowl of cherries i guess. i just reassure and encourage and support and praise {even if they get through something by the skin of their teeth}. at least he is cooperative and will give it a shot.

sometimes that's all that matters.

grade 3 & such

2010-09-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

us, sept 2010

hangin' in the meat department grocery shopping
first day of grade 3, egg burrito special
excited for school!
bumped into carson and quinn {cousin connection}. carson going into grade 4 and quinn grade 2.
this little lady is hannah, she has been in eli's class since kindergarten, how lucky they get to be together again this year!
the trek: 14 days walking across England {the red line is their route}
ready to go!
see you in 3 weeks!

school has started and eli is loving it. he told me tonight as he was going to bed he that he missed school and was very excited to start french on tuesday. darn that long weekend.

real easy transition going into grade 3. he has no worries, an excellent teacher, a great class. he is very, very happy.

c.j. just finished updating his website/portfolio. it looks terrific. check it out.

tonight we drove mom and dad to the airport. they are walking across england. literally. from coast to coast. on their last day, dad will turn 60 and they will have finished their trek. very cool, very adventurous. the next week they will toodle around scotland. no real plans, just sight see and relax. sounds like a great time. i can't wait to hear all about it.