My Marlboro Man!

In an effort to remain at the top of your "most recently posted" blog lists, I have been trying to post a blog every day! It's also a way to pass the time while I'm busy not cleaning my house, and neglecting my children.

I'm sure many of you are familiar with http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/. I know you are because I see it all over your blogs! On this sight the author of the blog, Ree Drummond, a country mom and housewife, shares her delicious recipes and beautiful photography, along with helpful hints and entertaining stories. It's my new favorite sight to go to. Growing up on a small farm myself, I'm a country girl at heart, and her pictures make me feel at home. She's living my dream life. Anyways, my favorite feature on her sight is "LOVE STORY - Black Heels to Tractor Wheels". Here she shares the story of how she met and fell in love with "Marlboro Man", which is what she calls her husband. It has been so fun to read! She has the funniest personality and has done a great job of writing it. Every couple weeks she'll add a new chapter to the story. I started reading it the other night, and I couldn't stop! I'm all caught up now and can't wait for the next installment! It's worse than waiting for the next Twilight book to come out! I've always had a thing for those cowboys in their Wranglers and boots! Funny how I married a man who wears baggy jeans. I've always wanted to get him in a pair of Wranglers and boots! I think that's what I want for my birthday now! He swears he's not going to sing to me, so maybe I can get him to wear Wranglers and boots! It doesn't matter what he wears though, he's still my Marlboro Man!

If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all!

I recall a phrase that a wise, old mother rabbit once told her young son, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all". I come from a family of name callers! I'm one myself. Whether it be good or bad, we always end our sentences with a name, and not usually the one that belongs to the person we are talking to. Where, to most people a term of endearment might be "sweetheart" or "honey", ours were "poopy head" and "butt hugger". Anyhow, growing up I had some older brothers that liked to tease. I had red hair, crooked teeth, and freckles, so I was a pretty easy target, but for some reason, they always found the ugliest GUYS to name me after. I think I could've handled it a little better if they were at least naming me after ugly girls, which they did too, (a girl in our neighborhood whose last name resembled swine) but these are a couple of the meanest things they called me.

ROCKY, from the movie Mask. I mean come on, I'm sure he has a sweet spirit, but they didn't call the movie Mask for nothing.

MALACHI, from the Children of the Corn movies. One of my brothers would follow me around saying, "They want you too, Malachi." (a line from the movie)

Now days I'm positive that NAPOLEON DYNAMITE would've made the list.

As would CARROT TOP!

I'm sitting here, laughing my head off, but when you're a little, awkward, red-headed girl, it can do some damage. I'm all grown up now, and I understand that when we're younger we do some silly things. The problem is, I still do it!

When Avery's being a stinker, I've been known to bust out NELLY OLSEN.

Aidan has a HUGE head, and when he gets in front of the TV I might say, "Hey, JIMMY NEUTRON, could you move your noggin?"

I'm usually just trying to be funny, which sometimes backfires on me. Children have tender, little feelings, and I know I should be more cautious. Obviously, I'm setting a horrible example for my kids, and in turn they are name-callers themselves. I need to heed the advice of that old, mother rabbit and just KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT!!! It's time to break the cycle! If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all! We know I can't keep my mouth shut, so I'll try to think of something nice to say.

Mammy's Little Baby Loves Shortnin' Bread!

Put on the skillet, put on the lid, Aidan's gonna make a little shortnin' bread!

Aidan found some wheat and decided to make some bread...

He ground the wheat into flour...

(Pay no attention to the Fry's bag on the counter.)

Kneaded it and let it rise...

Formed it into loaves...

And baked it in the oven!

Mmmmm! We love homemade bread!

I remember reading a history of David's grandma, Elsie Burk Chapman, in which it talked about how when she was just eight years old, she would mix homemade bread, twelve loaves at a time, and she had to stand on a crate because she couldn't reach the top of the table. I may be off a little, but it makes for a good story. Anyhow, I figured if she was doing it at eight, it wouldn't hurt to start Aidan at three. We actually inherited Elsie's big, stainless steel mixing bowl. It still has her name on it on a piece of masking tape. It's obviously not the same one she mixed it in when she was eight, but I imagine she's mixed many a loaf of bread in this bad boy.

I decided to let Aidan help me make some bread to keep him from playing on the computer all day, which he would do if I would let him, and believe me, I have. He had fun, and while we were doing it, I was teaching him the song, "Shortnin' Bread". My dad used to sing me that song when I was little, and I can't believe I hadn't taught it to him sooner. It brought back good memories, and we got to eat some yummy, homemade bread in the end.

Show Low High School Football...A Family Affair!

We went up to Show Low this last weekend to visit our family up there, and to watch conference with Ann and Steve. Three of David's sisters and their families live up in the White Mountains now...Ann and Rebecca in Linden, and Kelly in Taylor. On Friday night we went to the Show Low High School varsity football game. Our brother-in-law, Randy Ricedorff, is the head coach, and our other brother-in-law, Brock Bevell is an assistant coach. Our nephew Rathen, who is just a sophomore, is the starting quarterback for the varsity team, and our little niece Gracie got to cheer during 2nd quarter and do a dance during half time with a group of 170 little girls in the "lil' line". Oh yeah, how could I forget Rhett winning the sit-up competition during half-time with 73 sit-ups in 60 seconds?! It was like a mini family reunion!




Tayvin and Beau showed off their SLHS "Bling"!






Catelyn, Elsie, and Darcey cheered from the stands!

Josh got all bundled up to watch the big game!

Gracie was so cute and did such a great job cheering and dancing with the Lil' Line!

We love going up there! I'm a country girl at heart. There's nothing like sitting outside on the porch in the morning, listening to the elk bugling to each other, letting your kids run wild all day, and then later that afternoon, having your neighbor bring you a big bag of freshly-picked produce from his garden. That's how I grew up, minus the elk bugling, and that would be my ideal life ... slower-paced, more simple. We go up there every chance we get, and if we could, we would move there in a heart-beat. Thanks to Ann and Steve for always letting us impose on them and being the BEST HOSTS EVER!!! Ann is quite the domestic goddess! Every meal is a production. Even something as simple as preparing a green salad, which to me means opening a bag and dumping it into a bowl, ends up being a gourmet dish - Spring mixed greens, red onion, apple slices, crumbled blue cheese, and last but not least, candied pecans (which she candied herself) all topped with a strawberry vinaigrette dressing. So good, and no big deal to her, but to someone like me who doesn't cook much, it's PHENOMENAL!!! She also made delicious enchiladas with cilantro-lime rice, a fresh peach pie, homemade bread, a lemon cheesecake, and our favorite thing she makes every time we visit - yummy buttermilk pancakes with buttermilk syrup, just to name a few things. The thing is, I really think she LOVES doing it! It's no wonder they have guests all the time. But it's not just the food. The tone in their home is one of family, love, and happiness. We just love to be around them. Watching conference with them is the best. David came back down to the valley with Steve to attend the priesthood session with Steve's dad, brother, and brother-in-law. They went out for sushi afterward. Not to be left out, Ann and I got take-out sushi that evening. Jolie really liked it, and Avery and Ethan both were "daring" enough to eat a fish egg or two. Anyways, we're back home now - Reality check - back to arguing and fighting over our cold cereal and Top Ramen. Okay, I'm not really that bad. Actually, I've been so inspired by Ann that I've got bread rising in the kitchen, I'm making a peach cobbler for dessert with the beautiful peaches Ann and Steve gave us, I ran three miles this morning, and I'm planning our FHE lesson for tonight! I'm not even kidding! Hanging around with great, positive, productive people tends to rub off on you sometimes, and being fed spiritually by our Prophet and other leaders of our church just makes you want to be a little better. Hopefully I'll keep it up! We love you Ann and Steve! Thanks for making our weekend so great!