Good Times in Missouri

We recently got back from one of the best vacations we've ever taken. Rachel had a somewhat offensive take on the trip that she tells about in her "Hillbilly Holiday" post. It started out with a 76 person family reunion at my grandmother, Sammie's, farm / campground in Missouri.

Katy took the best pictures that I've seen so far - I love the scenery shots. Thanks for letting me steal some.

We had so much fun hanging out at Sugar Creek with our cousins; canoeing, swimming, jumping off the rock at the swimming hole; bathing in the creek to avoid showering in sulfur water; catching tadpoles, minnows, crawdads, and lightning bugs; lighting fireworks with pyro uncle Scott; doubling the size of Sammie's ward; raiding the candy, soda and ice cream in Sammie's camp store; and especially getting to sleep in one of the few cabins with Liz due to pregnancy privilege.

This is a four generation picture of our entire family except for Sammie Lou II who had to stay home because of a severe peanut allergy. This youngest generation makes the 6th generation of our family that has been on the farm.

Steve's favorite part of the trip, aside from the highly enjoyable 20 hour drive, was being able to take his turn on bathroom duty. It was a good time.

After we left the farm, we drove up to St. Louis to visit my oldest friend. I've known Allison since kindergarten. It was so fun to finally meet her kids. One of the funnest parts of our St. Louis visit was showing the kids where I grew up and seeing Allison's mom. Abby, who is my little clone, happened to be the first one to the door. She's the same age I was when I met Allison, and to Allison's mom, it was like opening the front door to a little Susan from 30 years ago.

We spent a day at Grant's Farm where we used to go all the time when I was little. Sarah has heard all about it several times and was so excited to see the Clydesdales.

Grant's Farm was just like I remembered it. We got to feed the goats; we saw an elephant show where Allison's son, Matt, was in a balloon blowing contest with the elephant (he lost); we saw a small animal and bird show where a parrot pretended to be the Anheuser Busch eagle; the kids played in the water to get cooled off; we saw the Clydesdales; and best of all, Steve pushed me in a wheelchair for most of the time - I couldn't have done it otherwise because of my pesky false labor.

The highlight of the day was Ted Drewe's, the world's best frozen custard. This place is so good that some of my family was considering making the 5 hour drive from the farm to St. Louis just for Ted Drewe's. They missed out, but I made sure to call them while we ate so they could enjoy vicariously.

We left St. Louis after a few days and headed up to Nauvoo. On our way, we stopped in Hannibal, Missouri, the home of Samuel Clemens. I was so excited to be able to stop here and see the Mark Twain Cave; all the flooding nearly made this part of the trip impossible.

As you can see from the pictures, the flooding was significant. It was pretty amazing and horrifying to see.

But we lucked out. The road we needed to take to get to the cave was the last possible road to turn on before the flooding made it impossible to go any further.

The cave tour was really fun. Mark Twain used to explore the cave, and parts of his book, Tom Sawyer, are based on actual formations in the cave. It was about a 1/2 mile walk which we took very slowly and there was only one part that I almost couldn't get my belly through. The best part was that it was just over 50 degrees in the cave. I thought if I could stay down there long enough, I might even be able to get my ring off of my swollen finger.

Nauvoo was really fun. Because we stayed for a few days, we were able to do a lot more of the activities than I'd ever done before (in the past, it's been more of a day trip for us). We'd always done the standards like the blacksmith shop and bakery, but this time, we took our time and really enjoyed our stay.

Of course, the blacksmith shop was a highlight. We all got prairie diamond rings, and Sarah and Abby got to keep the little horseshoe that the "blacksmith" made; we rode in a cart pulled by two oxen, Gary and Gabe; we saw a short musical play, and Sam vociferously did not like it; we went to the Nauvoo temple and visited Carthage jail; at sunset, we walked the "Trail of Hope" from downtown old Nauvoo to where the Saints crossed the Mississippi River so many years ago; we operated an old printing press and saw how rifles were made; we visited the old bakery and sampled gingerbread; we saw how bricks and candles were made; and we learned how to weave a rag rug on a loom and how to make a rope.

We stayed in Dave and Mary's house that is on Water Street. With all of the flooding, it very nearly was a water street. See the tops of all the trees that are under water? The water only needed to rise another few feet to affect the house which is right across the street from where Anna was standing by the street sign.

We finished off our trip by trying to flatten Anna with about 270 pounds of children. But she's pretty tough, and wouldn't flatten any more than she was before we started. I'll have to try something else to stop her from growing any more. Aside from the drive to get out there from Utah (which Steve did on his own while I flew with Sam - more pregnancy privilege), this was one of the funnest and most relaxing family trips we've ever taken. Instead of the usual feeling that I need a vacation from my vacation, I actually came home feeling rested. I can't wait to do it again - but next time the whole family flies or we take an RV.

Opposites Attract

Sam was very intrigued when he met our friend, Stephen. He absolutely fell in love with him. This picture cracks me up - the only way they could be more opposite is if Sam were a girl.

Stephen and Karen used to rent our basement apartment when they were newlyweds. They now have one of the prettiest babies I've ever seen. She's going to model some of our gowns for us, and with her beautiful hair and kissy lips, she should sell a bundle.

Sometimes, we're lucky enough to be invited over to their house for dinner. Stephen is from Ghana, and he is a great cook. He always makes enough for an army (which is almost what my family is). I think our favorite is the peanut butter soup and rice balls. Someday, when I feel like cooking again, I'll get him to teach me how to make it and will share the recipe. For now, though, it's good he cooks for an army, because we get to take home leftovers.

All It Takes is the Right Inspiration

Sam has two cousins who are 1 and 2 months older than him (Sammie and Lily). They both talk almost non-stop, and you can even understand what they are saying. Sammie even speaks some Spanish.

I know boys are OFTEN slower than girls with their language, but I couldn't help wishing Sam would speed it up a little. His cousins were leaving him in the dust. Then my good friend, Michele, read him this tractor book. That very day, he started saying:

TA-TOR (TRACTOR)

 

 

 

 

WO-WER (ROLLER)

 

 

 

 

 

BAT-BOE (BACKHOE)

 

 

 

 

 

O-I pronounced with a long o and short i (FORKLIFT)

 

 

 

WODER (LOADER)

He'll even tell you which part of a combination vehicle is the loader and which part is the backhoe.

 

 

We've also introduced him to the words for:

COO-BA pronounced like tuba (SCHOOLBUS)

 

 

 

DUH-TRUCK (DUMP TRUCK)

 

 

 

HIO-TRUCK (FIRETRUCK)

 

 

 

Apparently, all it took was the right inspiration because ever since that day, it's like the language lightbulb has turned on for him. He's so excited to say his new words and that we can understand him. He's constantly trying new words now and will mimic almost anything we say. It's so fun.

The one drawback about his passion for motorized vehicles is that he will no longer sleep in the car - it's just too exciting out there on the road. He spends hours pointing and growling (truck noises) and telling us what all the different vehicles are. He can tell them apart like you can tell apart a giraffe and an elephant. I always thought a tractor is a tractor is a tractor . . . it would appear that there is more to it than that, and Sam has now left me in the dust.

About a Garden

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. ~ W.E. Johns

A few years ago, I got Steve to build some raised bed planter boxes for a garden. I gave him fairly specific instructions which he followed halfway. But instead of putting good soil into them, he found fill dirt from somewhere (it was cheaper). It was typical Utah clay and was full of weed seeds. We planted a garden for three years in a row, but for various reasons, we have had limited success - in part because I got sick of fighting with the weeds that didn't need to be there.

I finally put one of my new favorite books, Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew, on Steve's pillow after I told him that Mel Bartholomew teaches a class at BYU Education Week (that gave him some credibility). He actually read it!!! His conversion was so profound that he even built a few planter boxes for his mom. He put bottoms on the boxes and set them up on saw horses so that his mom can garden without having to stoop over. What a good, kind son. These are our preliminary results.

We now have excellent weed free soil mix that is one part peat moss, one part vermiculite, and one part compost (the compost is a mixture of 5 different types).

All of the kids helped mix soil and load it into our 3 big planter boxes.

Sarah helped the most by keeping Sam out of Steve's car where the Sharpie is and by keeping him from removing every last stitch of clothing (although he got very close).

We were only able to get two of the three planter boxes finished that first evening, so the next day, naked Sam helped Steve finish up. I had less success than Sarah did at keeping Sam dressed that day. But at least if he's naked outside, it doesn't matter so much where he pees.

The next step, planting, will happen on Saturday, more fondly known by me as Slave Labor Day. I'll post more pictures as soon as we see some results.

I'm a Blog Slacker

I have so many things I've wanted to post about, but I haven't been able to muster up the energy or interest in actually writing something.





But this is an easy post. Any guesses on the gender? It's obvious to me, but on number 6, it had better be.

P.S. Now that the nausea seems to be mostly gone, I'll try to be better about posting.

A Rose By Any Other Name . . .

Thanks to my husband's weird naming talent, my family's nicknames are all really strange. He always starts out with a word that sort of makes sense for the person, but over time, the name keeps morphing into something else until we end up with the following:

Susan: I've had some doozies, some of which are Campy, Arrregion, Loosehead, and Holsey Womp. I don't know where some of the names came from, but others, I can't explain because my blog has to maintain a G rating for my kids. While he was calling me these strange names, he would call our dog his little sweetness. When he finally came up with Mamasuisse, I wisely and stubbornly opted to stick with it. He tries different nicknames out on me from time to time, but so far, Mamasuisse is the only one I've let stick.


Anna: Heeniequeen, Heenie, Heenie-hanna or the Heenstress. This one started when Steve saw our friends, the Hannas, name written out on our dry erase board many years ago. It started out as Hanna (pronounced Honna) and took on a life of its own from there.



Matthew: Cheemer, Cheems, Machu or Pichuage. When Matthew was little, he always protested being called by any of these names. They just aren't cool. But Steve is persistent, so he eventually prevailed, and now Matthew will answer to any of the above names, albeit grudgingly.




Sarah: Nokos or Baby Nokes. Matthew, trying to follow in his dad's footsteps, came up with a good one for her, too. He started calling her Sprph because when she was 5, she would write her A's backwards with really long tails so they looked like P's. She would get really mad about being called Sprph but has finally come to accept it as one of her names.


Abby: Originally Jeebs or Jeebikers, but most recently, Steve just calls her Abbikers. My favorite is one that Matthew came up with for her, Abbigator.

Sam: Wiguez - This one started out as Kiki. Kiki sounds like Chi-chi as in Chi Chi Rodriguez, so it became Kiki Rodriguez which eventually got shortened to Wiguez.











Molly: Xango - started out as Maui, then became Maui Xango because Xango comes from the Southeast Asian mangosteen fruit which is almost Hawaiian???









New baby: One can only imagine. It's always fun to witness the creative process in action. The names can't be forced; they have to occur naturally and spontaneously. I can hardly wait to see what he comes up with this time. And if anyone wants to offer suggestions that he can use as a springboard, feel free.


While the kids may have sometimes fought the names at first, they have finally come to accept them as expressions of their father's affection for them. After all, who wants to be called something as overused as Angel or Pumpkin or Sweetheart?

I'm a Great Aunt

My niece, Sheryl, just had her first baby officially making me a great aunt. When she found out I was having a baby of my own just a few months after her, she laughed her head off for a full half hour. Is a great aunt too old to have a baby? Maybe.



Her baby is darling. He was born a little over a week ago and finally has a name, but that's for her to announce. He's got the funniest GIANT hands and feet - like a Great Dane puppy. And he seems to have Sheryl's beautiful mouth. I've seen and held him a few times, but it was just yesterday, when I really snuggled him up and got a whiff of his little baby head, that it finally struck me that I'm really going to have another baby. Wow! My life is already so hectic that it's hard to imagine adding another baby to it, but I'm excited. It's actually going to be fun!

Congratulations Sheryl! Thanks for the desperately needed kick in the pants.

New Car Needed

My poor car is in a coma.

It is not unexpected. After all, the car is approaching 10 years old (that's like 105 in car years, right?). We don't know if it will pull through or not. I'm hoping not - it's had a good life and it's time to move on. Besides, I desperately want a new car. I just need a way to pay for it. Anyone in need of several of my most expensive Christening gowns? I recommend the silk gown with hand embroidery (my personal favorite) or the silk gown with bubble hem if you really want a show stopper.

Too Sick to Post

Too tired and nauseous to think of anything to post. But even feeling as yucky as I do, this video still made me laugh.

****CENSORED****

Enjoy.

Sorry. The video clip had to come off because it raised my rating to PG.

No Candy?

This week, Abby's homework was to make her own flag. Today, her kindergarten class had a special day of crafts and games, and then they had a parade all through the school waving their flags. Abby has been so excited about today all week, especially the parade! This morning, she was even dressed with her coat and backpack on a couple of hours early. And she kept telling me to hurry because she did not want to be late!



But when I picked her up this afternoon, she was so disappointed. She didn't even get any candy. What good is a parade if no one's throwing candy!?