Lindsey's Visit to Utah 1

Billiards (instead of "pool" so as not to be confused with the swimming kind of "pool")

Oooooh, she loves her pop!  

"Me Chubby? No! No chubby!"

~Sisters~

Chalking it up like a pro!

No Like-y Icky Yucky Sushi...Well, Actually...

A friend and I took a sushi class at Mt. Fuji Sushi in SLC last Saturday - partly for fun, partly b/c she's a chef and likes learning new skills, and partly because Groupon had a great deal on the sushi class.

The"Master Sensei", we called him Joe, was the best part of the class, maybe!  His humor, skill, and experience kept us engaged and in stitches.  He made sushi-making seem easy. 

Katie's California Roll

No doubt further practice would benefit those who wanted to share this skill with others.  For my purposes, it turned out good enough to eat and that's what mattered!  Although, I have not eaten that much white rice...in my life, I don't think. 

Sharon's California Roll
[Holy Crab *not my favorite,
Avocado, Cucumber,
Seaweed, White Rice]

For those in Utah, if you are considering this class or one like it, I highly recommend Joe's class at Mt. Fuji Sushi.

Katie's "Creative" Spicy Tuna Roll
[Tuna, Sesame, LOTS of Sriracha,
Other Spices. White Rice, Seaweed]
(Master Joe was so gracious. Instead of saying we did something wrong, he'd say, "Wow! So creative!")

Getting serious with Master Joe's giant sushi knife.

Katie's Nigiri Roll
[Salmon on Rice]

The most important part - I Like-y Nigiri Sushi

Here we are with our very patient Master Joe

1st-2nd Christmas Project #1

I’m not kidding when I say we’re talking the World’s LEAST Artsy/Crafty Teacher.  So, when I look for a craft to do with the kids, it has to be:

❒  SIMPLE

❒  EASY

❒  NOT HARD

❒  RELATIVELY QUICK

❒  UNDEMANDING

❒  STRAIGHTFORWARD

❒  UNCOMPLICATED

❒  NEARLY EFFORTLESS

❒  MINIMAL

❒  TROUBLE-FREE

Do you see a pattern developing here?

Well this craft fit the bill very nicely! 

The idea and instructions came from

Buggy and Buddy: Creativity & Learning for Kids

We used our fingers instead of cotton balls to brush the chalk away from the pattern. 

And white chalk was perfect for drawing the filament section and the wire for the lights.  

Did I say SIMPLE? 

The kids did a great job and I am pleased with how the projects turned out.  

Hopefully the rest of our Christmas projects are as…well, you saw the list above.  

Let’s just say…SUCCESSFUL.

Here are the finished products.

Some of the Close-Ups

Kids' Christmas Party (2014)

This last Saturday was our Christmas Party for the kids in the church.  Thanks to Laura for letting us use her house!  Can you say #BRAVE?

Here we are waiting on the kiddies to show up.

Before the kids showed up, we hid about 50 red bows all over the park area behind Laura's house.  The goal was to find as many of the bows as possible in the allotted time.

In a few minutes, one of the girls comes running up and says, "Miss Katie, I found a red bow, but K---won't help me get it out of the tree."  

K---says, "I didn't get it because it was a red bow attached to a pair of white underwear!"  

WHAAAT?!?!  What are the chances of finding that in a tree! 

The kids cut out & decorated cookies.  Again, #BRAVE.

(Gotta love the Grinch apron!)

You can bet those cookies were masterpieces!

More like, how much frosting & sprinkles will one cookie hold!  

When we said they could go ahead & eat the cookies, 

one boy looked at a particularly saturated cookie & said, 

"I think I'll save that one to give to one of my lucky parents!"  

Toilet Paper Snowmen

(And the mess to follow...)

The kids also made Christmas cards to put in the goody baskets that our church takes to the firemen on Christmas Caroling Night.  They turned out really cute.  

One of the boys thought long & hard of the perfect card to make...of course it has to be "punny."  

It said, "I think your HOT!"  Laura asked, "Why don't you just say, 'I think your AWESOME'?"  But, he didn't think that would be as good of a pun.  Apparently he did not know what "HOT" means to most people.  I think we'll be purging that one out of the bunch before they land in the goody boxes.  

We were whooped by the end of the night, but you can't really complain when all the kids go home to their own houses.  Let their parents deal with the sugar high...  What a great night!  Good times & Lots of Laughs!

The Secret to a Long Life

A tough old cowboy once counseled his grandson that if he wanted to live a long life, the secret was to sprinkle a little gunpowder on his oatmeal every morning.

The grandson did this religiously and he lived to the age of 93.

When he died he left 14 children, 28 grandchildren, 35 great grandchildren, and a fifteen-foot hole in the wall of the crematorium.

[forwarded by Gretchen Patti]

PASS IT ON! 
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it!www.mikeysFunnies.com 

God on the Mountain

A song for the moment...not a hymn really, but it has a few worthy truths, and how appropriate following a week of camp "on the mountain."  

"God on the Mountain"

 Life is easy, when you're on the mountain
And you have peace of mind, like you've never known.
But things change, when you're down in the valley.
Don't lose faith, for you're never alone.

CHORUS
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things seem wrong, He'll make them right.
And the God of the good times is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.

You talk of faith way up on the mountain.
Faith comes easy when life's at its best.
But down in the valleys of trials and temptations
We can see faith really put to the test.

CHORUS

I Corinthians 10:13  "But God is faithful" - Hallelujah!

Still "Running the Lake"

With a little change of scenery...and about 1,400 miles, of course.

Thinking about you, Mrs. Fox.  It's about time to start mowing, right?  Lot's of afternoons out at your place with those blessed mowers & the temperamental trimmer.  Missing Jenny, too.  Went back to read some of Jessica's Jenni-"isms."   Good memories, I'm sure.  Makes me miss Lindsey-bop.  Hope you have a good day!