November Odds & Ends

How is it possible that Thanksgiving is over and Christmas season is underway?!  Let me cover the odds and ends of November before jumping full-speed into December.

Geoff stepped in and made Whatcha Got soup, and boy was it delicious!  He is an amazingly create (and messy!) cook!  Also, notice the BREATHE sign?  We working as a family at noticing our breathing, and that is one of many reminders around the house to breathe more deeply.

Adele and Ceci made chains for their doorway.  It didn't take long for them to realize why people don't have things hanging in their doorways!  They're gone now.

This was one of about 2,355 photos on my phone of Ceci capturing her crimped hair.

Some moms find little lego pieces all over their house.  I find these little braces bands all over mine.

Ceci was sick twice in November, both times the vomiting variety.  Poor thing.  She missed lots of school.  In her book being sick does have THAT going for it.  Tennie is home today with a vomiting sickness.  Fun fun all around.

After the attacks in France I was touched by Temple Square's French flags at half mast.

Geoff loved the gummy bears he found in New York so much he ordered 5 lbs. of them. He was watching the mail like a kid.

We went to St. George for Thanksgiving.  We stayed with my mom and had our feast with my brother Mitch and his family, and my sister-in-law Joann's parents.  It was nice and mellow.  So mellow I didn't get a lot of photos.

St. George has a yummy smoothie place called Orange Peel.

Geoff, Tennie and Ceci went down by the Virgin River and played around.

Thanksgiving morning a bunch of my extended family got together and went on a little hike. Beautiful weather.

Geoff and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary.  Isn't this engagement photo the best?  Very good memories dating/living in D.C.

It was a season of thanksgiving for the abundance we have in our lives.  Our fruit bowl alone is worthy of serious gratitude!

Iron Chef

The youth in our stake had their first annual Iron Chef competition this week, and I got to be a judge. Each class/quorum made up a team (our numbers are pretty small).  Each team had been told beforehand that they would be given one can of chili, and they were to create a dish around that chili that would be judged in the following three areas:

TASTE (25 pts) - How have you improved upon the taste of the generic canned chili?
CREATIVITY (15 pts) - Have you simply thrown something on top, or transformed the chili into something unexpected & delightful? 
PRESENTATION (10 pts) - You can't eat perfection in a styrofoam bowl...or can you?

They had one hour to whip something together.

Here is the kitchen during preparation time:

Notice Tennie on the right.  She saw me taking a picture and she and her friend were immediately in a pose with the onion in their hand.  She has a really good knack at making me crack up.

Last Sunday when this activity was announced Adele schemed up an idea in her head and rallied her fellow Beehives to action.  This is what they came up with:

It was seriously impressive and creative.

Here is Tennie's team:

Tennie was scrambling around on Facetime with a fellow Miamaid five minutes before leaving for the activity trying to find some ingredients.  For not planning, they earned a high score in creativity with the chili; they added pineapple and elk meat.

Adele's team got the highest score in presentation, but they didn't get high scores in taste or creativity (remember, that is creativity with how you improve upon the chili).  In the end, they got the lowest score, and Adele was really upset with me. That is the disadvantage of being a judge.

The laurels won the competition.

These two gals spiced up some potato wedges and added fresh tomatoes and avocado. Overall, they got the highest score.

Next year I'm sure it will be an all out war.

4-Year-Old Birthday Hoopla

My unbelievably adorable nephew Dooz (that is his nickname) had his 4th birthday close enough that we could celebrate a little with him.  Saturday we met him in Provo at some kind of activity place that was super cool and fun for the kids.

 
There is the birthday boy on the flying trapeze!

I ran into Shad Morris, an old friend of Geoff's and the best man at our wedding.  It was so fun to meet his adorable wife and catch up. (Geoff wasn't feeling well and didn't make the party, so this picture was for him.)

We went to Brick Oven for pizza.

Look at Dooz on the right.  Isn't he irresistible!

A magician came in and did some tricks for us.

The Hulk cake was classic.  I love Ceci in this picture.  Happy Birthday Dooz!  We're so glad you were born!

Vivent Commercial

Adele and Ceci auditioned for a Vivent Solar commercial a month or so ago, and when the Vivent woman came to take one of them back to audition she glanced at both of them and took them back together. The director and others in the casting were friendly and fun, so the girls were comfortable and confident. They loved them and cast them on the spot.  The script was changed to make them twins.  No surprise.  They are mistaken for twins regularly.  Ceci got the lead role; she was the leader of the pack.

Last Tuesday we had a rehearsal, and Thursday and Friday we were on set all day.  The commercial is about a group of neighborhood kids having a meeting in a treehouse.  We moms couldn't go in where they were filming because of the small space, but they set up a screen for us to watch, so some of my pictures are from a screen.  Others the stylist gave me.

Trying on clothes to get the right outfit.

The make-up woman inspired me with her hydration technique and breakfast.

In film there is a LOT of sitting around.

Do you think they look like twins?

The kids got along well.  Here is Ceci goofing around during some of the waiting.

Vivent provided amazingly good food.  One day Zao Cafe catered.  We took a picture for Geoff.  He loves that place.

The stylist lives in LA but offered to do the shoot because she was going to be in Utah visiting family.  Turns out she is a really big deal stylist.  So big she is TAYLOR SWIFT'S STYLIST!  That's right.  She is one of Taylor Swift's stylists.  That little tidbit came out on the last day and I'll tell you what, she was instantly a favorite of all the kids!  (And adults too...)  But we loved her before knowing that.  She is really a cool person.  She said she would get some modeling gigs for the girls in LA.  We'll see if that really happens.  

The director was so good with the kids.

And that's a wrap!

Washington D.C. & New York City

Geoff and Adele had a daddy daughter trip to Washington D.C. and New York last weekend.  Geoff doesn't always have free-time on his work trips, but on this one he did. Lucky lucky Adele!

Flying into Reagan National in D.C.

Seeing the sites.

When Geoff was in meetings Adele stayed in the hotel, sometimes for many hours.  She did school work, read...

And Face-Timed Ceci, who was home sick from school.

They went to the National Mall at night.

Ian, Liz and kids met up with them.

They went to Georgetown, and I'm not sure what this is a picture of, but it is in Georgetown.  I love that little town.

Food was a big part of this trip.  We kept getting reports that they found a delicious gluten-free pizza place, a gluten-free pancake place, gluten-free cookies here and sugar-free gummy bears there. Kids in a candy store, those two.

After a short visit to D.C. they took the train to New York City.

They did baptisms at the temple.

They spent an afternoon at the Met.

They explored the wonders of Zabars.

They soaked up the sights and sounds of Times Square.

And after church last Sunday they searched out Taylor Swift's apartment.  A few guys they met at church drove them there and because of the three guys in suits standing around passerbys asked if Taylor was home, assuming they were bodyguards.  They responded they weren't allowed to say...

They spent Sunday afternoon in Central Park.

And Monday they flew home.  Adele feels like she belongs in New York and is ready to relocate.