I have to share this . . .

Jake may not like my doing so, but this is such a classic plea from Jake. Since when is 12 all grown up? And believe me, though I'd like to give in because of this letter, I think Jake's going to have to wait one more year until he's 14 like we discussed before. I know some of you may think I'm mean . . . maybe I am, but I get to be the parent and make those "tough" decisions. Anyway, this letter is hilarious and gives you such insight into my son.

A little background. Pete and I spent the weekend in New York . . . had a fabulous time, but that's another blog post, and came home to this letter.


Why Jacob Peter Fisher, Should be Able to get a Cell-Phone for Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear, mom and dad
This Christmas all I want is a cell-phone. I know you told me I couldn’t have one but while you were in New York, for days and nights I thought long and hard. I am in middle school and there are so many things that could happen. Now get ready for some real action. (I really, really, really love you and I hope you choose the best for me)
Mom, remember that day I had to get you to sign my gym note. Well, that day I had to go to the office to call you. See I was late to gym class and luckily coach and I are way tight so I wasn’t marked tardy. Now if you give me a bad gym I get marked tardy and say goodbye to my No Tardies Award. Although that didn’t happen it could of and that would of stank.
That story was nonfiction and I luckily got through it but, now what if these coming up things happen and I have no cell-phone then, you can think of what will happen.
Let’s say I have to take a test after school, a really long one. When I’m done I can call you and have you come pick me up. Without a cell-phone you’ll get really worried then call the school and then they will start searching for me and it will be a big catastrophe. Also I may start walking home, but I have basketball practice. I would be late, plus I might get hypothermia because I didn’t bring a jacket to school and had to walk in the cold.
Now let’s say after school I don’t have any homework, but I want to hang out with my buddies. I always forget to call you when I get to their house. If I have a cell-phone I call you and you will know where I am and that I will be back at this time and all that good stuff.
These days when I go to parties we usually hang out on the street or outside. If I have to go home, how are you going to get a hold of me? If I have a cell-phone dial it up, tell me, and straight home I will go. Also we usually switch houses now and then and you know that I don’t have the best short-term memory. How are you going to know where I am? With that handy-dandy cell-phone you will always know where I am.
Now that we got this new remodel, everyone will want to come over here. With a cell-phone I can call you and see if it’s okay. Let’s say I don’t have a cell-phone, all my friends and I come over and you’re having one of those hip-hop adult parties and we have to leave.
Now days I’ve been getting really hungry. So I may want to walk up to Mandarin Garden and get some grub. While I’m up there you may need some eggs, milk, syrup, etc. You can call me and tell me to grab it. When I own no cell-phone you’ll have to do it some other time when you don’t feel like it.
Now if you’re not pursued by this incredible novel. I will be very surprised. But if you don’t get me a phone I will not cry and weep for the rest of my life but I will be very sad. Now mom, dad I want you to choose the best for me, but do realize that I will become much more mature with a phone, like Aunt Debbie said, “I’m not a little kid any more, even though you want me to be.” I want you to know that I love you with all my heart. You know dad, when you talk about how Andy doesn’t tease any more. I think that happened when he got a phone because he felt mature so he stopped teasing. I love you and I know you do to me.


Sincerely, Your loving son
Jake

Ya gotta love this kid!!

Gotta love clean teeth!

After another five year interval between teeth cleaning (my last appointment was in Ann Arbor) I am happy to report, no fillings needed. I have learned that my obsessive teeth-brushing, is doing me more harm than good. Yes, my teeth looked good for such a long time, but I've brushed them to the point that I've worn down my gums and have so "receded" gums that are extremely sensitive to cold. Here's a nice quote from my dentist, "You're not scrubbing floors here, you're polishing fine furniture." The hygenist said, "I have a friend who brushed her teeth way too much, like four times a day." I thought to myself, that's nothing . . . once when I wake up, once after breakfast, again if I go somewhere, after lunch again, after dinner and before bed. That's 6 times a day which apparently is not a good idea. But hey, it did save me from cavities.

Other news, the kids are back in school and the house is just about finished. I have really been a slacker in the blogging department. I've taken a bunch of pictures, but haven't posted anything yet.

Some of my favorite moments this fall have been spent in Millcreek Canyon, hiking. I went up there by myself on Wednesday and hiked for about an hour and a half, and then read, with the windows down and the gorgeous fall leaves surrounding me. It was good for the soul. Yesterday, I convinced the family to head up for a picnic and a hike. We hiked 3 miles and roasted hot dogs. Reminds me so much of my own childhood. Made me really grateful to live in such an incredibly beautiful place.

Other news, I'm starting a 30 day cleanse diet. Will be fun to report the results. Post-surgery, I can't lift anything over 15 pounds for the next year and I have to really limit my exericise to low impact. After six weeks of not doing much physical activity, I put on a few of the pounds I've worked so hard to loose this past year. I started feeling a bit depressed, so this diet will hopefully give me a boost in my weight loss. This past year I lost 30 pounds, and I really never want to go back to being that overweight. I'd still like to lose another 25 pounds, but if I could maintain, or slowly lose another 10, at least I'd be working in the right direction. I'll report how that goes.

Long, lonesome days!

So, I'm recovering from another embarrassing surgery due to my baby making parts not holding up properly. Once again, I am very grateful for all the wonderful help from friends and family. Food, kids covered, attentive husband. A friend even hunted down an old movie I wanted to watch. I also have lots of time to sit down and read, since I'm only supposed to rest and take a few short walks each day. I'm currently reading another history by David McCullough about the Panama Canal (refer to booklist for full title). I love his books. He takes what may seem rather boring, and researches all about the people and time period, making the event come alive. He wrote one about the Brooklyn Bridge, "The Great Bridge" I belief, that was fantastic. Its this kind of book that makes me excited to learn about individuals who go beyond the comforts of a good live, stretching their minds and ideas to create impressive monuments to society. I'll admit I'm not quite done--its a long book, 615 pages--but I'm completely fascinated. The book was also a very thoughtful, post-surgery gift from my husband and kids.

One good thing about not being able to do anything is that I've had some fun down time with my kids. Sometimes its nice to justify cuddling and watching a movie in the middle of the day or playing American Girl dolls with my daughter (we did all of their hair and dressed them in party clothes). I also love listening to Mitch and Maddy practice the piano. Sometimes life is so hectic, I tell them to practice, but I don't pay that much attention. Sitting in bed and recognizing that your son or daughter is playing a tune you recognize is pretty fun. The other great thing is eating good dinners without all the prep work. People are so nice!

Anyhow, we're getting closer to being done with our remodel. I haven't posted any new pictures or anything, but I will soon. Other fun family events, we took a family trip to Cape Cod, Boston and New York City in early July and had a fabulous time. Cape Cod was a very relaxing, dream come true for me. I loved the non-crowded beaches (unlike California) and all of the quaint villages and shaker shingle cottages. My favorite day was probably the day we rented bikes and biked the Cape Cod Rail Trail. We biked 21 miles to and from, and stopped to swim in a lake on the way back. I would have loved to do the whole trail, but I am so impressed that my kids did that. What troopers! I could so live there!

We spent a fun, rainy day reminiscing in Boston, where we'd lived and worked for a summer 14 years earlier. We saw our old apartment complex, walked the Freedom Trail, ate lunch at Fanueill Hall at the Durgon Park Restaurant, munched on canoli from Mike's in Little Italy, rode the T over the Charles River to Cambridge, where we stopped and bought books at the Harvard Co-op. Then we hopped back on the T, rode to Boston Common, then to Fenway Park, where we ate a late dinner at UNO Pizzeria. I have such great memories of being newly married, recently graduated, without children, living and exploring in a new place. Boston is such a great city, I definitely need to return soon. Though I do have to say, my kids were funny when we walked the Freedom Trail, they kept asking when we were going to get where we were going. The walking tour thing without a big final destination was apparently a bit confusing.

After a week in New England, we drove back to NYC (where we'd flown in and rented a car), returned the mini van and spent a great couple of days. The great thing about New York is that you can do so many different things, no matter how many times you go. Pete and I have stayed in different parts of the city every time we've gone and its so much fun to get a feel of the different areas. This time we stayed at the Embassy Suites by Ground Zero. For Peter and I, it was humbling to be there, and remember watching the events unfold on the television. Here I was with my family thinking about how it seemed like it happened just yesterday, yet I was 6 months pregnant with Madeline, Mitch was not quite a year old, not even walking yet and Jake was 3 1/2. I remember wondering if I'd be able to fly home to see my family and attend my 10 year reunion in October. I felt fearful of bringing another baby into this scary world. I was also amazed at how sad I could be about 911, and yet, where I lived, it was a beautiful, sunny fall day in Ann Arbor. Neighbors were walking there dogs--it seemed crazy to think how that event would change life. Anyhow, we walked around and saw Trinity Church and then headed back to our hotel. The next morning, we walked the esplanade to Battery Park, to catch the earliest boat to the Statue of Liberty. We weren't able to get passes to the crown, but we did climb all the stairs to the base of the statue. Then we took another ferry to Ellis Island, where we watched a movie about the immigration to the U.S. through Ellis Island. After a great tour (self-guided, thank you very much) we ferried back to Battery Park where the kids played in the fountain and we ate a lunch of side-walk vender hot-dogs and pretzels. We took a little break, and then subwayed to Central Park (Jake's favorite thing about NYC--he's told me many times how he prefers suburbs to cities), then to FAO Schwartz. Back on the subway to Time's Square, then we had dinner at Dave and Buster's, a loud, busy, full of video games type of place. Afterwards we went to the Toy's R Us on time square where my boys were not nearly impressed enough with the big T-rex. Our last morning, we headed to the Empire State Building and took an elevator to the top. I'm glad we did it, but we were pressed for time, so we were up and down as fast as we could so we could make our flight on time. Another great city and we had a fabulous time.

So that's been our summer. Its nice to slow down a bit and enjoy my kids, especially since school starts Aug. 20th for Jake, who officially starts middle school, and Aug. 23 for Mitch and Madeline. Thankfully, Tyler and I have a few more days to relax before his preschool begins in September. Happy back to school to all and to all, a good night!!

Last Day of School!

Happy Day! The kids are finally out of school. I ran into a teacher today that said, "I know we are looking forward to school being out, although you parent's probably are not!" I thought, "No . . . I am happy to be done too. I'm tired of reminding kids to do homework and to go to bed early. I am excited for lazy days at the pool and more leisure to time for my kids. We have our last lacrosse game Saturday, last season baseball game tomorrow and dance recital on June 23rd. Tyler played his last game on Tuesday evening. Mitchell will still have play-off games for baseball, but at least there won't be all of the running around between events. I am also looking forward to nice, warm weather. We've had a cold, rainy spring in Salt Lake this year.

In other news, our home remodel is progressing, slowly, but after today, I think it should go faster. All of the rain really slowed things down. Then my front door took forever to come, but today it came and it looks fabulous! I have been painting swatches of color on my house, trying to decide what color to paint it. Ughh! Its one thing to look at a small dab of color versus painting an entire house. Anyway, its been fun. If you'd like to see pictures, you can click on my other blog, fontainedebienvenu.blogspot.com.

We are also excited for summer vacations this year! We're taking a quick trip to St. George and Springdale, and then Jake and Pete are headed to Coyote Gulch for a Scouting camp. Our big family trip is to Cape Cod and I'm so excited to be there with my kids. I hope they like it as much as I do! I'm also hoping to make it to Colorado this summer to visit my sister Chantel and her family. They moved a year ago and I haven't made it for a visit yet. We were grateful to see them here for Memorial Day weekend!

Other big news . . . my in-laws, Joan and Byron, are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Pete has been scanning pictures and interviewing them for a presentation. We are throwing a big bash at Janae's house Saturday, June 5th. I am in charge of the dance floor, and I'll admit, I am wishing I had just rented one. It might not be too late . . . otherwise we're putting one together on Saturday morning, hoping it'll work. I think I'll make some calls tomorrow.

Sunday I have to teach the Relief Society lesson. I have been able to avoid it since September, but now its only a week away and I'm admittedly nervous. I'm not sure why, my previous profession was teaching, but for some reason, this is much more nerve racking. Oh well . . . wish me luck! As long as we can have a good discussion, I will feel okay about it. I am using Sister Julie B. Beck's conference talk as a reference, lots of great information there, so should be okay.

Well, I think I'll get back to my book . . . The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan . . . its so good!

Freaky Bunny!

I just looked at my blog for the first time in a long time and thought to myself, "Wow, that is one scary looking Easter bunny!" The photo was taken during our spring break trip in Las Vegas and southern Utah. I have lots more photos, but not as much time as I'd like to post them. We did have a great trip--learned that Vegas is a hard place to take kids. We just wanted to be somewhere warm and not too far away. But its hard to avoid sin in the sin city--even the streets are littered with photos you don't want your 12 year old looking at. As we walked down the strip, Pete reminded the boys to keep their eyes up off the road. Mitch said, "its so hard!" Jake was just plain mad at us. I commented that it wasn't like Disneyland and Mitch said, "Its nothing like Disneyland." We did have some great times though. We went to the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay. Jake did all of the scary rides at the top of the Stratosphere, while the rest of us looked on in sheer admiration (also glad that it wasn't us looking so green). We stayed at an amazing Marriott resort--The Grand Chateau, just a block off the strip. We also saw the Cirque de Soleil show called Mystere. Pete's parents were able to come and stay with us, so it was fun for the kids to spend some time with their grandparents. I think the biggest highlight of all was visiting Byron and Joan in Springdale, where the kids got to buy an ostrich egg and then blow the insides out to make scrambled eggs. I couldn't stomach it, but the kids thought they were great! They all took turns taking the ostrich egg and feathers for show-n-tell at school. Pete had to fly home a day early, so I drove back with the kids the next afternoon. On the way home, I stopped to visit my good friend Amy, who recently relocated to Fillmore, Utah. As I was talking to her on my cell phone, getting directions to her farm, I hit a skunk--a rather large, extremely smelly skunk! It is now mid-May, and 10 car washes later, you can still smell a faint whiff of skunk. At least I can laugh at that.

Brief Update

Wow! I just updated my reading list, and so far, in 2010, I've read 13 books. My friend recommended keeping track of the number of pages I've written. Maybe next year I'll add that to my list.

Biggest news. My oldest is getting braces on Monday morning. He has threatened to move out if they're on longer than a year, but he seems to handle it okay once he's in the Dr.'s office. I was thinking I'd let him get clear braces on top to help with his self-consciousness, but several people are telling me that they tend to stain easily. I don't think a 12 year old boy would keep them clear for very long. Anyhow, Monday morning, he'll officially become a metal mouth!

I had one of those days yesterday. I actually had so much on my mind, that after filling up with a Caffeine-free Diet Coke at the gas station, I hopped in my hard with the gas pump still in the gas tank and drove away. Thankfully they have emergency release on the pumps, so it snapped off without causing an explosion. Most pathetic of all, I burst into tears. That may have helped me a little bit--the gas station attendant was very kind. I think I'll avoid that Chevron for awhile . . .

Tonight we have tickets to Our Town at Pioneer Theatre. Tomorrow we are watching BYU beat Kansas State, and skiing with Pete's brother Mike and son, Kyle who are in town visiting from Dallas, Texas. Jake is also going to accompany Pete and I to our personal trainers tomorrow morning. It'll be interesting to see if he likes it or not.

Spring craziness begins next week. Jake with lacrosse, Mitch baseball and piano, Madeline with dance, acting, piano and art, and Tyler with T-ball. It was nice to have a little simpler life through the winter.

Home Remodel Begins and 6th Grade Dance

When Pete and I were in Cancun, Jake had his 6th grade dance during school. Our very talented friend, Katherine Turley, took photos so we were able to see a little bit of what he got to experience. Here are a few pictures. The blond he's dancing with is Brett and Sarah Hopkins daughter, Abby. I think you can tell that Jake isn't shy! We talked to him after the dance and he said, "Mom, I think I inherited your awesome moves!" He's not very humble either.







Tyler and I are beginning to feel better and its a good thing, because after lots of time in the planning phase, we have officially begun an extensive home remodel. I created a blog just to write about my interest in homes and gardening, one that I haven't written about much, but figured would be a great place to document, with photos, our home remodel. The blog address for that site is fontainedebienvenu.blogspot.com. I know its a long name, its my maiden name before it was americanized--Fontaine de Bienvenu, which means fountain of welcome in French. Anyhow, check out that site to see pictures of all of the remodeling we're beginning.

I had a great day with Madeline's school class today. We went on a fieldtrip to see The Tortoise and the Hare performed by the Salt Lake Children's Theatre. The show covered the story of Aesop and his fables, with a cast of 5 actors who had an amazing number of parts to memorize. My favorite actress was a girl named Amanda. Anyhow, I loaded up on cough drops and spent a fun day with my daughter.

Hard Night!

We had a hard night last night. Tyler and I haven't been feeling well with a bad chest cold. Yesterday, Tyler went from bad to worse, he wouldn't even walk, he said his legs were too sore. His cough sounded terrible and by afternoon he was burning up with fever. We took him to After Hours where his oxygen levels were low and his fever high (103.7), so they did chest x-rays, gave him a breathing treatment and steroids and sent us up to Primary Children's Hospital, telling us he had a bacterial pneumonia. Since I haven't been feeling well, Pete thought it was best that he spend the night with Tyler. They waited until almost midnight to see a doctor who then told them that he thought that it wasn't pneumonia, but RSV, a viral infection. In other words, go home and watch. So at midnight, home they came. Granted, Tyler is definitely better than yesterday, the oxygen and steroids definitely helped his breathing, but then, instead of being home in bed earlier, he's up late at the hospital. Our health care system is so flawed. One doc says one thing, then another says another. I know they were trying to be extra careful at after hours since they saw Tyler at his worst, but how can two docs look at x-rays and say two different diagnoses. Anyway, he is still a sick little boy, but seems to be in much better spirits than yesterday.

Tropical Paradise

Peter and I just spent an amazing, relaxing 5 days in Cancun with some of our friends from the ward. We had such a great time. We stayed at a Blue Bay all inclusive resort, which meant that we ate way too much, but it was heaven not having to worry about cooking or finding meals. We spent our days sunning and reading on the beach. Pete had a conference that he attended the first two days of the trip, so I hung out on the beach with my friends. We did yoga on the beach in the morning and that was about it as far as plans were concerned. Pete and I got couples massages at the spa after dinner--it was heaven. The next day, I got a manicure and then caught up on sleep and reading. In the afternoon, we worked out at the gym and hung out in the spa saunas. We attempted to play tennis, but my tennis elbow is still giving me grief, so that didn't go over so well. We spent Valentine's day on excursions to Coba and Tulum to see the Mayan ruins. I loved riding rickety, old bikes through the jungle and stopping to climb the tallest temple in the area. Half way down, we saw a black iguana sunning on the rocks. On the drive out, we got pictures of the crocodiles living in the lagoon. Tulum was an incredibly beautiful ruin, built on the cliffs overlooking the turquoise ocean. We spent about an hour in Playa Del Carmen shopping for the kids, where we spied wild boars behind the shopping center, rooting in garbage. Such a different world. I am always struck by the local houses, so humble, with thatched roofs and small, wooden shacks. I feel a bit guilty living the high life when down the road, poverty is so rampant. As a former sociology teacher, its very interesting to me to think about what life is like for other cultures and how they must think of Americans. I'll save that for another post.

We spent Valentine's evening dining at the French restaurant, dressed up in our finery. Pete was very thoughtful, as always, and had planned to give me little gifts each day of the trip for Valentine's. Have I mentioned that I act like the man in our relationship--the one who forgets anniversaries and all the thoughtful actions? I hate to admit it, but its true. Anyhow, it was fun night, that we spent talking about how each of us had met our spouses. Great stories.

Monday, we did yoga in the rain, and then spent the day lounging in the sun. We took canoes out on the ocean and sailed on a hobbecat. In the evening, we dined at the Italian restaurant, and ate far too much . . . again, but the conversation was great. That evening, we watched a circus show that was very entertaining, sort of Cirque de Soleil on a small scale. Tuesday, Pete snorkeled off the back of the hobbecat, and I tried to go parasailing, but the winds were too strong, so instead, I got to relax before our afternoon flight home.

We were grateful to Erin and Jared for watching our kids while we were gone. Couldn't have done the trip without their willingness to help us out. We were happy to come home to the kids and get back into the swing of things, although I'll admit to missing the solitude and ease of our vacation life!

Winter Heaven

There is no place like the family cabin at Alta during a snow storm. The storm was so bad, it took us 2 hours to drive down the canyon. Had we stayed an extra night, we would have been snowed in for the full next day. Here are some photos from our overnighter up at the cabin.

Important January Birthday's

Madeline and Jake had important birthday's this year. Madeline turned 8 and will be baptized on February 6th. Jake turned 12 and will be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood tomorrow during church. I am proud of my kids for the great people they are now and will become in the future!

Here are a few pictures from Madeline's birthday party. We turned our dining room into "Cafe de Madeline" and Mitch, Jake and Pete were the waiters for the girls. The girls were asked to wear their favorite dress-ups to the party. The menu consisted of Madeline's favorite foods and the girls could order 1 of 3 entres, plus dessert and drinks. They each had enough Monopoly money to cover their meal and a tip. Then we played the "Freeze dance" game and musical chairs. It turned out to be a great party.






Jake didn't have a big party this year, instead, he attended his first Klondike Camp with the Boy Scouts. He also got to spend half a school day skiing with his dad and eating lunch up at Collins Grill at Alta Ski Resort. We also had a family dinner at Outback Steak House.

Snapshots of Christmas

Here are a few pictures from the Holiday's. I have more, but my new photo program is really hard to use, so this is as much as I have time and patience to do now. The photos are of our kids and Pete and I in New York.

That's my Girl!

Peter's family celebrates Santa Lucia because of their Swedish heritage. This was Madeline's first year to dress up and deliver the Christmas sweets. She was so excited. She's growing up too fast--that's my only complaint!