Happy Hollow Zoo

While visiting my friend in Portland she told me about a pass that her family got from the Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose, California. The pass works for her at her local zoo as well as the science center. The best news of all is that it is $55 for the family membership. Then we went to dinner with Stephen's cousin and his wife. Their family has the same pass. When we got back, I did some research and found out there is a reciprocal agreement with the both zoos near us and the amazing science center. The list of zoos and centers is huge so it might be a great option for others as well. The pass from Happy Hollow cost less than any of the family passes that I could get from the individual place while giving us the freedom to visit all three places. It really is a deal in my opinion. I just ordered mine yesterday and can't wait to start having zoo and science adventures. Here is the link in case you are looking for summer activities. Just click on membership and there is a link for the reciprocal zoos. http://www.happyhollowparkandzoo.org
You do need to call the zoos and science centers to make sure they accept the pass. (*The best deal might be for those living near Chicago. Potentially you may have unlimited access to the Lincoln Park Zoo, Museum of Science and Industry, Field Museum, and the Children's Museum of Chicag0, which I think is the wonderful one at Navy Pier. It really is the best we have ever been too.)

My Diamond: a small blessing

On Memorial day at our BBQ, I opened my eyes after the prayer over the food was said with my head still down only to notice that a small diamond was missing from my ring. I gasped and said "my diamond is missing." Everyone else gasped too until I explained that it was one of the small ones from the band. I just counted it out. Dismissed it really. The fact was something that tiny would not be found. I was sure that it was in the grass somewhere from setting up for the BBQ. Then Tuesday rolls around. I was putting Benjamin down for a nap when he insisted on saying a prayer before his nap. I knelt on the floor. As the prayer finished, my eyes opened yet again to notice a piece of glitter by his bed. I reached for it and found that it was a perfect diamond shape. It was the tiny missing diamond.

Usually when something important to me is missing, I pray. This time I never thought to pray. The possibility of finding something that small was just not in the realm of possibility for me. I wasn't really as upset as I thought I should have been for losing it. But after finding something so small it just seemed like there was a lesson for me to learn in finding it. After thinking about it for awhile, it just seems like there are many small blessings I receive daily. Yet over the past months, it has been hard for me to recognize these because I was looking for one blessing in particular. Because I have finally come to peace through an experience in the temple last week, I can see the small blessings again. I think the analogy of opening my eyes both to find something missing and found is also significant. I feel like my eyes are open again to behold the joy in everyday life.

Missing Soldier

UPDATE: They found his body. Our prayers go out to the families.
We got an email from our good friend Tami. Stephen went to high school with her, and her husband also attend graduate school at the same time and place that Stephen did. John Alley is her brother-in-law, and he is missing. She is in Florida right now as a part of the search efforts. Our prayers have been in behalf of a safe return, but we also wanted to just put this out there for others to see. Here is the website for those who would like more information http://helpfindjohn.info

Benjamin's New Trick

We went to Portland for a short family trip. This is a video from the hotel bathroom. Right before getting in pajamas, Benjamin said he had a trick to show me after using the bathroom. I told him to show me. I laughed really hard, and called Stephen in for the second showing. I then ran for the camera. I think it is really funny. When asked where he learned this he says preschool which obviously doesn't make sense because he will be going to preschool in the fall. Later I asked him again where he learned it, and he said "I just maked it up!" It's worth waiting the time to download and sure to bring a smile to your face or even a good laugh.

92 degrees! A New Record High

We are not used to being this hot here in the Northwest. Here are some pictures of what we did to stay cool since we only have one air conditioner to cool the house~ first the beach, followed by a BBQ in the backyard, with the cool finisher of a popsicle. It is suppose to cool off soon. We hope!

Scrapbooking

I have picked up digital scrapbooking again. It is really something that comes and goes with me. I think the trouble is that I have to wait so long to get them printed out that I don't see the fruits of my efforts immediately. The deal is that I make the pages. Then Stephen rasterizes them into a jpeg and puts the in the 12x36 format to be printed at Costco. I like the arrangement because I feel like we are both contributors to the final product. It is also hard because I am dependent on someone else's time, which has been very little for Stephen with his calling. I currently have 110 pages to be printed. That finishes 2007 with a few pages in 2008. I finally rasterized them, but they are still awaiting formatting. At least they are jpeg formatted so I can post a few. Here are some of my favorites in a very random order!

Distasteful Dinner, Delicious Dessert

We had, I think, the worst ever dinner tonight. My car was in the shop and so I was late getting home. I had to pick up Stephen from work and then pick up the car, which they did nothing to by the way. The plan was to do tilapia in parchment paper. It is one of our new favorite dishes. But when we got home so late, neither of us felt like getting dinner together. I suggested pulling out a freezer meal. I thought it was beef stew. Off it went into the microwave for close to 25 minutes. It still was frozen at the bottom so I scooped the top off to reheat in our separate bowls to speed up the process. Upon taking my first bite, I knew this dinner wasn't going to go over well. Benjamin didn't even want to eat any bites at all. Stephen was taking the smallest bites that he has ever taken without saying too much. I just burst out laughing. It was absolutely awful. Pudding like consistency and just not appetizing. We all stomached a few bites, with my bowl the least full. Then it dawned on me that this wasn't beef stew. It was pot roast with gravy that obviously didn't freeze very well. Stephen asked me how I would have reacted if I got this at a restaurant. That made us all laugh again really hard. The only saving grace was that I had stopped by my favorite cupcake bakery before picking Stephen up. The three of us devoured the four cupcakes, red velvet, carrot cake (hands down the favorite), chocolate, and coconut. The family secret is that we now know how to make our favorite cupcakes taste twice as good. Serve an inedible dinner beforehand!

Happy Mother's Day, Rebecca!

I just wanted to tell Rebecca how much I love and appreciate her. She is such a wonderful mother, and I am so blessed to have her in my life!

Catch Up

I have been missing in action for awhile, and I feel the need to play catch up. After some long deliberations, we have decided to not go private. It has been great to hear from those who have found us again through our blog. We'll just keep our tracking devise on and if anything weird happens, then we will go private. (Someone asked me about this in an email. We use sitemeter.com, and it can tell us the location of those who look at our blog.) I have saved everyone's information, and I'll be sure to send you all an invite if we do decide to go private in the future. The one request that we have is if you want to link to our blog from your own blog that you just use our first names only and not our last name. We are trying to make this as secure as we can without actually going private. I am about to play catch up and add a bunch of new posts to try to make up from this large absence. Here's a peak at what we have been up to the last few weeks.

Seasons of Life

I once heard in a lesson, from a counselor in a stake Relief Society in a former ward, an analogy about seasons of life. Seasons to her represented different periods of her life. She likened winter to times of trial, spring to the glorious beauty and rebirth after the trial is over, summer to enjoy the warmth of learning, and fall to view brilliant color changes which reflect growth and also prepares for the next winter. She described how some winters were harsh, cold, and debilitating while others only seemed cloudy. Yet as she learned from these winters, a bright spring always came. Upon hearing this analogy, I latched on to it. After all these years, it still resonates within my heart.

I have been thinking about seasons of life lately. Spring, summer, or fall seem easy and convenient to share with others. Yet during winter, it is easier to retreat because emotionally seeing someone else in a spring, summer, or fall can be difficult. I have had some heartbreaking news in the last few weeks. I won't go into detail; it just suffices to say that a difficult winter turned into a glorious spring only to bring a devastating winter back too quickly. When the winter comes for me, it is a large part of blogging that I find difficult. By only reading about someone else's life on the computer screen it can seem like a perpetual spring or summer. And when the winter comes in my life, it is hard to remember that others have winters too. The learning has come for me by realizing that I must remember whatever season it seems that others are in, I really don't know what winters they have had to face to be glorying in their own spring or summer.

New Tricycle

I have been trying to add more outside toys for Benjamin to play with in our very small yard. So when we found the retro trike on sale a little bit ago, it was the perfect addition to get some energy out of our very active boy. Benjamin loves his new trike and helped Dad put it together. His favorite parts are the streamers and bell on the handle bars!