Something Cute

I love the way little Quin's mind works!  He says the cutest things sometimes.  Knowing he is my last child makes me extra nostalgic about his little pre-school mind. 

When we were staying at Grandma and Grandpa Gee's house, Quinton loved to stand on their scale. He would get super excited and shout,  "Mom!  Look how many points' I've got!"  I've decided to adopt his philosophy and get excited about the big numbers on the scale! 

He sure has some great vocabulary! He always mixes up her and she, they and them, etc.  I love it!  I'll miss it when he stops saying things like "them is being silly!" Being the youngest child, he's picking up some older-kid vocabulary too. I love to hear phrases like "This is epic!" shouted in a little baby voice.  He also shouts things like "Holy cow!" (which actually sounds like "Ho-Wee Cow!") and "Technically...."  It makes me smile.  I try not to smile when I ask him to do something and he shouts, "Never!!!" in a super-hero voice, but it's so cute I can't help it.

Like most younger siblings, he sometimes has a hard time convincing his older brothers to play with him.  They get busy with other stuff, or start playing a game that's too fast-paced or complicated for him.  One time, I heard him trying to play with Bronson.  He said, "Bronson, can I play with you?" Bronson responded negatively for some reason that I can't remember any more, but cute little Quin said, "Please, Bronson. Just let me be your sidekick."  Awww...  He'd do anything to play with big brother.

Whenever Dad gets home from work, Quinton opens up the lunch box and reports to me what foods Dad didn't eat: "Dad didn't finish his carrots." or "Dad didn't eat his apple."  One evening, Quinton was fed up with it.  He looked in the lunchbox, huffed and said in a rather annoyed tone, "How come Dad never eats his apples? Doesn't he know them is healthy?"  He walked back to Dad's office, apple in hand, and grumbled, "I'll show him how it's done." Which he did.

The other day, we were at the butcher block at the grocery store.  Quinton spotted a beautiful cross rib roast in the case.  You know, the ones with the bones sticking out.  he got super excited and shouted, "Look Mom! Handles!"  Can't you just see him gnawing on a hunk of meat by the "handle"?  I can!

This N' That

Here are a few pictures of some fun times during the early fall months:

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When I wrote about our Eclipse trip, I forgot to mention that we went for a short hike as a family.  We went to Cress Creek.  Grandma and Grandpa Gee and Aunt Linda all came with us. It was great!

L-R: Grandma, Nicole, Me, Alison, Grandpa, Quinton, Josh, and Bronson

The family

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Soccer time. Again.

It seems like we spent a lot of time at soccer fields this year.  Me especially because I went to the boys' practices as well as their games.  We didn't always get to sit together like this, though.  We had to divide and conquer a few times when the boys had games at the same times.  

Bronson is adorable out there!  

Josh is getting pretty good.  This is the first year that they have goalies.  He discovered that he kind of likes playing goalie.  I think that's insane!  

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I am...was...still am...never will again...okay I am...trying to get my health in check.  It's been very hard.  I hate it.  Did I ever mention that in the late summer I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes?  My fault, I know.  It's not bad - barely within the range - but it still scares me.  Anyway....I've been trying to be better about my sugar (and all carbs) intake.  One day, I opened the freezer and found this note on an ice cream container. 

"Don't eat the sugar!"  I'm glad Nicole was looking out for her mom's health.  I learned later that Bronson had been going around church and our neighborhood telling everyone who would listen that his parents are really sick and if they don't stop eating sugar they could die or something.  We had a little chat with him to explain that A) we're not dying any time soon and B) we don't want everyone knowing that we're trying to eat better.

On a related note, I started trying to Crossfit at home.  I became a huge fan of watching the Crossfit Games a year or two ago.  It's my thing!  I seriously love it!  Once I became strong enough and brave/crazy enough, I decided to try their work outs too.  I can't do most of the stuff they do (I "scale it down" to my level) and I don't have some of the equipment, so I improvise.  This is my "medicine ball" made out of bags of rice and beans in a pillowcase.  It works.  I learned the hard way not to use bags of powdered sugar in there.  Messy. 

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Bronson, Joshua and I ran in their school's fun run this year.  Bron and I did the one mile.  Josh went with Walker and his dad on the 5k.  The rest of the family cheered us on.  Alison was a volunteer.  Her job was to clap for people and encourage them to keep going at about the 2 mile mark.  She was awesome at it!  It was fun to watch her high five people and say cute kind things to them.

  

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One evening, the young women did a service project.  They called certain families in our ward (especially the ones with lots of little children) and offered to babysit for the evening. They said, "You go do something fun."  How sweet is that?!?!?  The "something fun" we did was to attend back to school night at the Jr. High, but hey!  We didn't have to bring the boys, hire a babysitter, or have one of us stay home so it was amazing!  The boys, meanwhile had an absolute ball!

Here are some of the kids having a snack.

Bronson and Josh playing Red Light Green Light.

Craft time.

Anything with balloons is fun!

Nicole came a little late because she was at back to school night with us, but she stayed for a while and babysat. 

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David and Alison have discovered a shared love.  Hiking.  I am happy for both of them!  I'm glad they have this time together and I'm glad that it's something healthy.  I'm also glad that it's not me. Hiking has never really been my thing.  I like the theory of hiking.  But when I start actually walking up a mountain, I remember that I hate it.  So I'm glad they have each other as hiking partners.   

They hiked up Mount Ben Lomond this year.  It's quite a hike!  I've never done it.  It's around 16 miles long.  They left early in the morning and got home late in the afternoon.  

It was a beautiful hike, though.  And the views were spectacular.  

Here they are at the peak!  I was super impressed with them for doing it. 

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I won't bore you with too many details about our communities C.E.R.T fair, which involved "the Amazing Race."  But it was a HUGE ordeal!  I was on a competitive team.  We took second place.  Since I busy kicking butt, David had to keep track of all the kids while they ran around.  

But I think they had fun. 

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I probably shouldn't love this picture because its of all three boys zombied-out in front of their tablets in a messy room, but I can't help it.  I think it's pretty cute.  

Second First Day Of School

Can you believe how old these girls are?

Alison is in 9th grade!  That's officially high school, people!  Although she still goes to Fairfield Jr. High.

She was pretty excited to be the top dog on campus. 

Nicole started 7th grade.  Ahh! Both of my girls are in Jr. High!

She wasn't sure how to feel about the whole thing.  She was nervous-cited. 

I just wanted them to stay home with me!  But like it or not, I had to let them go. Ouch!  I guess I'm nervous-cited too.  Nervous about letting my children grow up and leave me more and more, but excited to watch their lives unfold and to gain such great friends in the process.

Total Solar Eclipse

On Monday, August 21st, the Earth experienced a total solar eclipse.  This phenomenon occurs once-or-twice in a lifetime.  Guess where one of the best places to see the eclipse happened to be.  Rexburg, Idaho.  That's where!  We made plans early to visit Grandma and Grandpa Gee in the "path of totality" (Utah would see most of the eclipse, but it would not be total).

The people of southeastern Idaho were warned that their quiet little cities would be bombarded with thousands upon thousands of visitors.  Hotels were sold out at unbelievably high rates, make-shift campgrounds sprang up in every open field and back yard around.  Grocery stores had a difficult time keeping their shelves stocked, special emergency personnel were called in from neighboring states, and every porta-potty in the area was rented out.  It was crazy!  I was a little concerned about going there.  We were told to leave lots of extra time to arrive at our destination, bring lots of food with us, and stop to get gas often in case there was a shortage in Idaho.  But we didn't need to worry.  We left Friday evening and had absolutely no trouble getting to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Traffic wasn't really any worse than usual.

We used our time on Saturday and Sunday visiting with family.  We had a couple of get-togethers.  The girls went to a movie with their cousins.  We saw many extended relatives at church because EVERYONE was there to see the eclipse.

Grandpa bought a new toy, which we loved taking rides in.

Grandma and Grandpa's lovely back patio.

Look at all those cute Gee's! (Anderson's are Gee's too!)

David and I enjoying our time with family.

Hazel and Quinton hangin' out.

Here's a little Idaho eclipse humor from a local paper that I loved!

Ok soooo....for those of you coming to Idaho for the eclipse, and have never been to the state before, here's what you need to know:

1) Butch Otter is our governor. It's the most Idahoan name we could elect.

2) The animals at Bear World and Yellowstone are real. Do not pose next to their horns, or put them in your car or ask for selfies. You will lose that wrestling match or, worse, be mocked on social media.

3) "Traffic" happens on three streets in Idaho Falls: 17th, Hitt and Holmes. Sometimes there are delays of up to 3 minutes at the light. THREE MINUTES PEOPLE! There is absolute panic at the thought of this possibly doubling.

4) Our biggest fear is Californians taking over our way of life. So steer clear of California words like "vegan", "organic", "water rights" and "Where do I plug in my electric car?"

5) "Obama" counts as a swear word, but no one really knows what it means. Other curse words: "gun control", "formal attire" and "we are out of ammo."

6) We are not out of ammo. "No trespassing" means we are not out of ammo.

7) We are not used to crowds or waiting for things. The fact that both of these are possibilities makes us incredibly uncomfortable and we bought out all the groceries yesterday in all the stores to avoid such interactions this weekend. You may want to bring your own food.

8 ) We are one of the most helpful people on the planet. If your car breaks down at the side of the road, we can help you with our own truck. If you need directions, we can take you there and explain who used to live in that house a few decades ago. If you want directions to the local bar...ask someone wearing a tank top. It's a long story, but they know where the beer is.

9) Mormons. They were here before Idaho was even an idea and make up a big percentage of the area. They have one wife, lots of kids, and love sugary sodas mixed with syrup. That's pretty much their bar. Church on Sundays is at 9 and 11. There's one in every town or in larger places, every few blocks. Visitors are welcome. You'll blend in if you bring a ziplock bag of Cheerios.

10) And finally, we love our state! That's why we keep this secret to ourselves. In fact, we have done a very good job of erasing where the state is located in most people's minds as not very many can actually picture where it is in America on a map. It has something to do with what we put in the mashed potatoes, but you won't notice it under the butter, ranch dressing and bacon bits. That's why when people say "Idaho" all most people can think of is "potatoes". And that's just the way we want it. 🙂 🥔🥔🥔

Happy Eclipse! 🌅Jeff Zausch - August 18

There were a million places we could have gone to see the eclipse.  In fact, David, Grandma Gee and I went for a drive in the morning to check out all the viewing parties.  In the end, we felt very blessed to be able to enjoy the whole thing from the comfort of home.  

I had heard about how dangerous sunlight can be for eyes and that the eclipse glasses don't fit very well on small children's heads, (plus kids like to take glasses off and look at things they shouldn't - like the sun!) so I made paper-plate-visors for the little boys.  

David.

Bronson.

Alison.

Grandma and Grandpa Gee

Aunt Linda, Nicole, and Bronson.

Nicole.

Another safe way to view an eclipse is to poke a hole in a plate.  The shadow cast through the hole shows you the eclipse.  Here, Josh is demonstrating.

That is how far the eclipse has come along - the sun is just a sliver...

Next door, David's Aunt, Uncle and cousins were watching too.  They got the bright idea to try a colander.

Look how cool that is!  It's a bunch of little eclipses!

But the coolest thing of all was the shadows cast between the leaves of trees!

Okay - here it comes...

I can't even explain how cool the total eclipse was!  First of all, it was fun to hear people cheering all over the city!  Near and far, we were all cheering. But the eclipse was amazing! I truly can't describe it in words.  You have to experience it.  The temperature drops by several degrees - it's actually chilly.  The crickets start chirping.  There is a 360 degree sunset.  The sun is a beautiful ring of light around the earth's shadow.  It was seriously an almost spiritual experience.  We were so glad that we were there to witness it.  

Quinton, however was less than impressed.  He couldn't care less. He just kept playing some game on his tablet. The little stinker!
  

Once the eclipse ended - and I mean the SECOND the eclipse ended, traffic started getting heavy.  David wanted to wait for a few hours to let the crazy traffic pass.  We ate lunch, took naps, and put off getting on the road. As we looked at the news, we saw nothing that looked promising at all.  Traffic was monstrously bad and showed no signs of letting up.  David had to work in the morning, so we had no choice but to go home. We finally got going around dinner time.  The first half hour or so was great!  We cruised along clear until Idaho Falls. 

And that's where the cruising ended.  

We frequently sat perfectly still.  At other times, we crawled along at speeds of 10-20 miles per hour.  When the kids screamed for a potty break, we couldn't find a gas station that didn't have a line wrapped around the store.  So we pulled over next to an empty field and let the boys pee on the side of the road.  It was a highlight of the trip for the boys and  the most horrifying experience of their lives for the girls.  They refused to even try to pee and insisted on finding a gas station.  We finally found one that only had a half hour wait for a restroom. Thanks to Google Maps, we were able to take a detour or two that saved us some time. Possibly three or four hours.

After seven long hours where we only ate the candy and cookies that we had in our van, we finally pulled into our driveway around 2:00 am.  In hindsight, we should have stayed a day or two afterwards (but our boys were already missing a day of school so maybe not).  Still, even with the long drive home, I would do it again in a heartbeat!  It was totally worth it!