The more things change

This is a picture of Alaina, in November 1994, when she was three years old. She loved climbing out of bed (when she was supposed to be sleeping) and creating towers. She would take everything out of the pantry and stack canisters and boxes higher than her head. Here she is stacking all the glasses from the dishwasher.

This is a picture of Alaina in November 2008. She is now seventeen years old and is a full fledged teenager. However, apparently she still loves creating towers higher than her head.

Some things never change. These are the boxes that hold the buildings for our Winter Village which sits above the kitchen cabinets. Alaina has been ready to start decorating for Christmas since mid-October and since Thanksgiving is late in the month we decided it was okay to start putting up a few things.

We get to have Karin stay with us for the week. She is teaching way up north in Lincolnshire (and has a HORRIBLE 1 1/2 hour commute -but not as bad as it would be from Champaign). She made us a lovely traditional Sunday dinner today. Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy and Fresh Green Beans.

Thanks for dinner, Karin. It was Yummy!

Back Home

I just spent a wonderful, but quick week in Utah. I carried my camera with me everywhere but didn't take one picture. Oops. Luckily, (Logan) Emily carried her camera with her. I stole this picture right off her Facebook page (but I took the picture so I sort of can claim it anyway, right?)


I visited with my parents, met (Provo) Emily's boyfriend (James Duncan), attended a BYU Singer's rehearsal (DELICIOUS) and got to hear Emily sing in her master class (WONDERFUL), shared a meal with Emily's dinner group, went out to dinner with two of my sisters, saw the Cute Clubhouse and the wonderful work done on the guest room at Laurie & Bryce's home, visited baby Annalisa (and her family), shared a quick trip to Aggie Ice Cream with Grandma & Granddad Hendricks (who graciously agreed to stop whatever it was they were in the middle of to come and meet us), shared a wonderful evening with (Logan) Emily & Natalie Hess, found the scrapbook paper I was looking for, did a little shopping, got stuck in traffic in Provo (because everyone ELSE wanted to go to the basketball game while we were trying to get to the Harris Fine Art Center for the concert), and I met James' parents (I think it means something when the parents meet).

I did not get to visit everyone I wanted or hoped to. I waved at Kaysville, Layton, West Haven and North Logan as I drove north and I waved at Riverton as I drove south. Someday I will actually have time to stop by and visit and hopefully you will have time to let me in.

Now it's back to real life and sorting out what's next. Primary & Scouting, Thanksgiving (I'm going to serve more GF foods this year instead of trying to make two of everything and I have to make sure that we have yummy & healthy vegetarian dishes available too) and then Christmas.

Hooray, Our Kids are coming home for Christmas!

Yes, We Can

The election is over. Barak Obama will be the next President of the United States. The party in Chicago was rocking and rolling all night long. We watched it on tv till the President-Elect finished his acceptance speech, YES, WE CAN, and then went to sleep because Rob had seminary the next morning.

Many, many people here in Chicagoland are excited and thrilled. Partly because of the CHANGE that he promised and, I think, partly because he is a Chicago guy . More women in our ward voted for him than men (at least of those who have been vocal about their decision). Alaina was walking up one of the stairwells at school surrounded by African-American students who were exulting in the victory and suddenly an Asian-American student ran through them shouting, "OBAMA, OBAMA, OBAMA". They were all still for a moment and then burst out laughing and cheering. Let this be a sign of healing that might start spreading throughout this great land of ours, because there are people who are not happy about his victory, even here in Chicagoland.

I liked his acceptance speech. I have always been impressed by his ability to give really great speeches. The man can talk a good talk, now let's hope the country will allow him to walk the walk and that he chooses to walk a Good walk.

I like the quote from President Lincoln that he used. "As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection".

I like that he personifies the American dream, that he believes "that through hard work and sacrifice each of us can pursue our individual dreams, but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams, as well". I hope America doesn't forget about the hard work and sacrifice part.

And mostly, I liked the way he closed his speech. "may God bless the United States of America".

VOTE

Regardless of which candidate you support - or if you think your vote "COUNTS" or not I hope you voted today.

It's exciting to be a part of an election where people care. Rob and I didn't get a sticker because they ran out by 8:30 A.M. We have always voted in the late morning or early afternoon and have always gotten a sticker.

The schools in our district are out today because they are used as polling places so we saw several parents come in with their children. Our polling place had cookies and a coloring station set up to keep the kids happy and occupied. As we were walking out we passed a young boy, maybe 5 or 6 years old, skipping in with his mom. He was very excited to be voting with his mom and we overheard her say, "No, I'm sorry, you don't get to vote today. You have to wait until you are eighteen." That just tickled me. I hope he maintains that interest and enthusiasm for the next dozen years and continues to understand what a blessing and privilege it is to have the freedom to elect our nation's leaders.

However, I'm not nuts enough to go downtown for the Obama Rally, regardless of how monumental or historical an event it promises to be. Call me a suburban weenie if you must. I'm content to stay at home and watch the results online, thank you very much.

My radio station (WGN) has a nice concise way of showing the results. Each state on the map turns red or blue as their results are tallied and the total electoral votes show up at the top. Check it out if you want (www.wgnradio.com) It's very interesting.

Halloween

Well, Alaina's first costume choice was VELMA (from Scooby-Doo) but her friends didn't want to dress up like Shaggy & Scooby and it's no fun to be part of a group costume if you are the only one, so she decided that her second choice costume would be BELLE.

Peasant Belle not Golden Belle.

Alaina even figured out how to put her hair in a ponytail with just the right droop at her face. She did get a couple..."are you Dorothy? No. . .maybe you are Alice in Wonderland?"

Hmm, these must be the same people that look at a baby all dressed in pink and say, "What a cute little boy!"

ALAINA AND CHRISTINE READY FOR HALLOWEEN

After school, Christine came over in Hippie attire and helped Alaina decorate the porch and the basement for their party. Then they passed out candy for about an hour.

Eventually most of the girls invited to Christine's party (being held at our house because her mom and dad left today for Tuscany and needed a good night's sleep) showed up and they headed out to go Trick-or-Treating themselves. The girls had fun dancing in the basement, playing RockBand and just hanging out and texting each other, other friends, and boys!

In the morning, Alaina and Tiffany made everyone crepes with nutella, strawberries and bananas. YUM!We carved our pumpkins Monday night (I smeared vaseline on the cut edges and wrapped it well in plastic wrap and it held up just fine for the week)

Granddad cleaned out my pumpkin and Papaya (our parakeet) helped! She did! Ask Granddad.

Alaina would love to become a professional jack-o-lantern designer.

I think she has some potential.