Home Improvement

The beginning of our latest project:

Check back in (hopefully no more than) a week for the finished product.

Camping

We went camping last night. We pitched our tent, built a fire....

And checked out the local wildlife:

Little Ballerina

Rachel started ballet lessons recently. She loves it! Look at her face in this picture. She looks so focused and pleased with herself.

Her friend Logue attends the class too. They have so much fun. I was surprised at how much Rachel really listens and trys to imitate her instructor. I love to watch her and see her improves each week.

The miracle of the microwave

After my Dad and I had done enough tinkering to realize that the "No user serviceable parts inside" sticker on the back was more than just a suggestion, the microwave officially died Saturday afternoon:

We resigned ourselves to the fact that we'd have to buy a new one and went to RC Willey because a quick internet search revealed that they had the best price. An overly pushy salesperson there informed us that they were out of stock and because I was too impatient to wait 2 days for another to arrive, we headed to Lowe's instead to buy one for $10 more.

Tori wanted to stop at DI on the way and guess what we found waiting for us when we arrived:

A nearly identical microwave in its original protective film wrapping for $35

Donate

As we complain about the financial "sacrifice" that it takes for us to be able to drink organic milk, it is humbling to realize that many people in Haiti eat dirt to survive. That was, of course, before their capital city was completely destroyed in an earthquake, killing thousands and leaving millions of already destitute people homeless and without food or water.

If you're able, consider taking some of the money you might have otherwise spent this month going out to dinner, seeing a movie or buying organic milk and make a donation to a worthy charity that will help the people of Haiti meet their immediate survival needs:

Red Cross

Unicef

LDS Philanthropies

Little Sunbeam

Rachel entered the Sunbeam class (3-4 yr. olds) in Primary at church. The Saturday before she attended her first class, the Primary held a jammy party at the church to play games and meet new teachers. She did have fun.

However, this game was not her favorite. The children dressed in oversized winter clothes to race down to a chair and come back. She thought is was weird and awkward. She didn't really want to participate, but none of the other little would volunteer. She slowly walked down to the chair and back with a "why am I doing this" expression on her face.

Rachel met her Sunbeam teachers Brother and Sister Colledge. They are really great with the kids. I hope they don't get released before the end of the year. Rachel really likes them.This was Sunday morning. She is adamant about taking her Book of Mormon. If she takes it to Primary, she gets to put a chocolate chip into a jar along with the other kids that bring their scriptures. When the jar is full, they get chocolate chip cookies as an award. She will NOT pass up any opportunity for a sweet treat.

IKEA is having a sale.

After about 2 and a half hours this mess turned into a dresser and storage bench for Rachel.
Only 7 unused pieces remained by the time I was finished assembling it all.

Ogden to Salt Lake in 5 minutes....

Needless to say, my commute would be much easier if FrontRunner trains actually ran at 500 mph. Also, around 1:18, you can see our house for about half a millisecond.

2010

We had a very nice Christmas this year. Rachel was very spoiled. For some reason Santa brought her a recorder in her stocking. Very bad idea.

More presents:

She changed into her ballerina outfit from Grandma as soon as she opened it:

I got Tori the "Worldwide Ward Cookbook" in which we found a recipe for borscht by Sis. Cluff from my mission. Since we had beets on hand, I made a batch. Nobody else here likes it, so I've been eating a lot of it this week.

The Christmas tree is now stored back under the bed in a holiday themed body-bag:

Now just a few more days until were back to work/school/reality.
Happy New Year!