Favorite Things

Ok, this is for Leca. And whoever else is interested.

These are the most delicious tortillas in the world. They are worth the trouble of cooking. We get ours at Costco, but I've seen smaller packages at the regular grocery store.

Also very yummy. I like the raspberry filled ones best, but I couldn't find them last time I was at the store. So sad.

Same thing as magic eraser, but they have a blue sponge on the back so you can use every bit of that disintegrating eraser sponge. I don't know how any mom ever got along without these. It got permanent marker off our wood floor. Need I say more?

Gardening

Last Monday, the kids and I decided to get some stuff planted in the garden (finally). We were a lot late getting our stuff in the ground, so we bought some plants instead of doing seeds. The kids were excited to try out their new gardening gear.


Here they are with the plants they chose (two tomatoes, watermelon and eggplant). They were really good about pulling out weeds with me and are keeping things watered, too. Hopefully these plants won't mysteriously disappear like most of the seedlings last year (darn birds).

Phoebe's Big Day!

So, with Phoebe officially 8 years old and all of the grandparents in town, Phoebe was baptized on May 31st. Her cousin Ricky from Greg's side of the family was baptized the same day.
Yes, I did make her dress (Greg's mom did the silk flower embroidery). After a few late nights, I kept asking myself "Why am I doing this?" and the only answers I could come up with were "Because I wanted to" and "Phoebe will only fit into a size 6 for so long". But it turned out beautifully and Phoebe loved it. As she put it "I like it because it is so soft. (Unlike her Christmas dress that itched) You should make all my dresses out of this." Yes, every little girl should have an entire wardrobe of 100% silk dresses.
We loved having Dad and Mom and Uncle Thomas here for the baptism. It is always so fun to see them. We just wish we lived a little closer so it could happen more often!
Check out Phoebe and Cader's smiles--Phoebe is trying not to show us her missing front teeth. I'm not sure what Cader is doing.

Preschool Graduation

Megan graduated from preschool on Thursday. She was in a really small class (5 kids), so it was a nice, short program.

Each of the kids chose their favorite preschool song to sing.


I'm still amazed that she will be in Kindergarten in the fall, but I'm getting more used to the idea. She is excited that there will be girls in her class. She was the only one in preschool.


That diploma is good for so many things.

To Heir is Human

Remember that subtitle?!
I went looking for the old Oregon Trail game online last night because something had made me remember playing it. I found this website that had TONS of old computer games. We downloaded some Carmen Sandiego games and (of course) Oregon Trail. And then we found King's quest. It's the same game we played as kids and it's pretty cool. Jared also downloaded Dune and some other games he played growing up. You have to pay 5.95 for unlimited downloads over a 24 hour period, but we got lots of games. The website is http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com

Call for Recipes

Alright, I have been meaning to/trying to create a collection of family recipes for some time now. If any of you recall, I solicited recipes by email a couple of years ago. After a recent Relief Society project where we successfully collected and self-published a cookbook for our ward, I have renewed my determination to do the same for our family. So, in addition to emailing all of you, I am posting this on the family blog to give you all fair warning--the deadline to submit recipes is October 31st, 2008. At that time, I will compile all the recipes I have on my cookbook software, and you will all get one for Christmas. If your branch of the family is not represented, THAT IS YOUR OWN FAULT. I can easily import text into the program from email, word files, or cd-rom format. I will even type them into the program with my own two hands if you are technologically challenged. Just send me your favorites and we can all enjoy them together, no matter how far apart we may live.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

So, I figured it was about time that someone besides Karen posted something on the family blog. Gosh, if she would just quit hogging the whole thing...

Anyway, while I was down in Utah this past week for Women's Conference at BYU, Anna and I decided to go out to a movie. We saw Ben Stein's new documentary titled "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" about the current controversy in the scientific community over the theory of Intelligent Design.

In the film, well-known comedian Ben Stein addresses the debate (or lack thereof) in academia between Darwinism and Intelligent Design, especially as it relates to evolutionary biology, but also other fields of science. He investigates the professional repercussions for scientists of admitting to the use of the theory of Intelligent Design in the research, or for some, even the mention of it in a classroom setting. He also explores the links between Darwinism and atheism and Intelligent Design and belief in God.

At the beginning of the film, I felt that the use of the Berlin Wall as a symbol of the sanctions placed on scientists who believe in Intelligent Design was a little heavy-handed, but as the movie progressed, it seemed more and more appropriate. What I found especially interesting were the attitudes of scientists outside the US on the subject--they seemed much more inclined to endorse the idea of promoting an actual scientific debate on the subject, not a disenfranchisement of those not toeing the "party line". Stein's visits to Hadamar and Dachau, along with his investigations of Hitler's practices regarding the mentally ill and other genetically "undesireable" people, along with American Eugenics in the early 20th century and their links to Darwinism were especially chilling.

Perhaps I was a little sheltered from the force of this debate by attending a religious university, but I believe it was mostly my upbringing by intelligent, well-educated parents (one of whom is a very accomplished scientist) that showed me in a very clear way that a belief in God and the ability to be a good scientist are not mutually exclusive. As disturbing as some of the situations presented in the film were, I really enjoyed watching it and discussing it afterwards with Anna. Sometimes it feels nice to use those brains cells that don't get exercised very often when the majority if your day is spent with the under 10 crowd. It made me appreciate my testimony of the restored gospel and the concept of all truth being linked together. While it is not very action-packed, it will definitely give you plenty to think about.