I've Been Tagged....

I have never done one of these before, but my friend Kim tagged me in her blog, so I will give it a try. I love remembering stuff like this.

Lovebird Tag...Hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about Sam and I!

1. Where did you and your husband meet? Believe it or not we met country dancing at Ricks College. Every Wednesday night they would have dancing up on campus.
2. 1st thing said... Wanna dance?
3. 1st date... We doubled with Sam’s cousin Ty and we went up and hiked “R” mountain. Once we were at the top we had lunch and then hiked back down. Pretty fun!
4. 1st kiss... It was lightly snowing and Sam was just dropping me off at my house (my moms) after the Ricks College Christmas dance. We had been dating for a while and thought it was a good idea to wait a while to kiss maybe even till we were engaged and everyone thought that we had kissed already but Sam waited till he had bought my wedding ring. (I had no idea)
5. Long/Short Courtship.... Long compared to most. We met in March but didn’t officially have our first date until May and then we spent the summer apart just writing and then we dated from September till we were engaged the beginning of January and then we were married on May 19, 2001.
6. Where did you get engaged.... In the Salt Lake airport, back before 9-11. I was just getting home from a trip to Mexico, and Sam surprised me by being in the airport. I walked off the plane and my sister was there to pick me up as planned and then she handed me a little rose and then all the sudden all of these people that were standing around waiting for their friends and family to get off the plane starting coming up to me handing me these little different colored roses, which were all made out of colored duct tape, so I have them to this day in a vase in my room. (You know how Sam spent his Christmas break….hee, hee, hee) And after a bunch, seriously like thirty strangers handed me flowers I am thinking Sam has got to be here somewhere. And then I started to think that maybe he wasn’t. And then all of the sudden he came out of his hiding spot and got down on one knee and proposed. (I could show the video sometime….his brother was standing up on a table or a chair or something recording the entire thing.) It was lots of fun and I was completely surprised!!
7. Where were you married?.... Idaho Falls Temple
8. How did the Reception go? Great…..lots of friends, lots of family, good food, good music, we were completely exhausted
9. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We stayed in a cozy cabin on the beautiful Lopez Island, WA
10. Who's turn is it next?........ I would love to hear from Lori (this is one that doesn’t require pictures) and Jessie, and family (mom, Jessica, Amy, etc.) and anyone else reading this right now that would love to give us a little trip down memory lane.

MORE SNOW!!

So lately every morning we wake up and look out
the window and there is more snow. It is such a great
surprise! We are loving it. And one of the best parts
is getting to play in it. This is some pictures of our
fun day in the snow.
All dressed up for the cold.

Making snow angels.

Sledding on our little hill.


And we attempted to make a snowman but the snow
just wasn't sticky, so we just ate the snow instead.
I love these ones.




We will have to try to build one again.
Then Daddy decided to give rides.
The girls loved that.
And then of course, we came in and had hot cocoa
and grilled cheese for lunch. Yum!

Sawdust stove, Makezine style

Hello all, this is more of a "man" post, so sorry to all of you ladies out there...just tolerate this, as you do most of my other "man" things, (this often includes rolling of eyes, a slap on the shoulder, and often just strait up complete disinterest).

So, I have been on a kick about getting our home warm for free, or for very cheap. Also, a way to keep us warm should the power and or gas go out (part of our emergency preparedness). Granted, we all like the convenience of the gas furnace, I just hate paying that bill, with the rising price of gas, as well as all the stuff added on like taxes and fees. The first and obvious option was wood heat. So, this summer we went and got wood, cut it all, and split it, stacked it, and it is ready to go. But, all the while, I am just not so easily entreated, so I continued to search for something out there. Something that requires less work, and would be easier for my family to use.

Granted, I love the whole process of wood heat. Going out and getting the wood, cutting it, appreciating mother nature and the wonders to be seen, heard, and felt. Hauling the wood home, and finishing the cutting. Then the splitting and stacking. It is visibly satisfying, and good exercise, to split, stack, and watch the wood pile grow. I also very much enjoy the fire. The sound and the feel of wood heat is unique. On top of that great feeling, you know you are not paying for that heat. It is just so satisfying, and fun.

As my search continued, I was doing some reading and kept coming across people that use whatever is near and easily claimed to heat their homes. For example, many in the mid-west use kernel corn for heating. Many others in agricultural areas use things such as cherry pits, olive pits, grape waste (after used for juice), and so on. So, I started to think about what is available here in the Inland Northwest. We don't have any big food processing plants in our town, we don't grow corn here in abundance, no wine presses that I know of, etc. I just kept coming back to wood. There are a few saw mills around, but most of their cut offs are already being bought and sold by someone, if not by them.

So, what can I do to use wood, other than in the current way of just burning cord wood? Ah, the search continued...

I have seen wood pellets, and some of those logs that look like giant wood pellets (pressed sawdust) but I didn't want to buy pellets, buy the stove, and then have to tend the pellet stove. I have heard mixed reviews about them, and they require power to operate. One of my main objectives here is to be able to have heat even when the power is down, or the gas lines are all broken. But, the idea of a pressed sawdust "log" was a good one. No special stove needed, no power required, and they are available near here for quite cheap by the ton, if I come and pick them up. So, I went and bought a couple at a nearby store (60 cents each, which is a rip off, but I am just trying this out and only bought a couple). Well, they worked fine. No hassles. Easy to light, good burn time, no smells, no nasty smoke, etc.

So, there are a couple companies near by that I could go and buy this product from, buy the ton, drive it home and be ready to go for the winter.

But you know me, not easily entreated, especially when the solution requires me to buy something.

So, I have come across some info about making your own sawdust logs. As I poured over that info, I become familiar with the term Biomass Briquettes. The idea is to make "briquettes" out of whatever you have available, (here is that theme again). So, not only could I use sawdust, but I could also mix in whatever "bio" product I want, such as paper, grass clippings, straw, weeds, cardboard, leaves, whatever. Many of these things are considered waste, and I could get them for free or very cheap. The process to make them is still under review. Like should I just press them by hand, or perhaps with a modified hydraulic log splitter? The briquette making press and further info will be coming. I have a couple other projects I need to finish first.

Now we are talking free, easy heat...

So, below you will see my first attempt at a sawdust stove. It is a miniature version, but some people have them large enough for heating entire buildings, using large drums instead of soup cans. I could have easily made a meal for two over this stove.

First, gather supplies, all things I had on hand:
Sawdust, empty can, dowel, and something to pack the sawdust with (a large bolt in this case).







Then, make a hole in the bottom of the can for airflow (I just punched thru it with my tin snips, then made it bigger to fit the dowel):

Next, pack in the sawdust. It needs to be bone dry, and nice and tight in there. This took me about 10-15 minutes, since it was my first time, and I paid close attention to getting the sawdust as tight as I could pack it. The dowel is in place to allow for the "chimney" to form as you pack in the sawdust. It is removed carefully before lighting, creating a hollow spot in the middle of the sawdust pack:


Now, put some newspaper in the hole, and light. The sawdust will sort of smolder with a lot of smoke, and then start to glow with not much smoke.

Make sure you have the can up on some spacers (waste wood blocks in my case) for the air to draw in from the bottom, and out through the top.


This is after about 10 minutes burn time:



This is after 1 hour burn time. It was about 27 degrees F. outside, windy, and snowing (you can't see the glow because of the camera flash).


This is after 2 hours burn time. Pretty much done, but the can was still quite warm to the touch. Pretty impressive, since this stove was out in the wind, falling snow, and cold temps, and it did not go out, or stop burning (you can see a 2 or 3 inch zone around the can where the snow is melted):

Conclusions:
This type of stove would be impractical for camping or hiking. It's heavy, and fragile. The sawdust would easily become loose and cave in with only the slightest movement. Also, in order to cook over this stove, some holes would have to be made around the top of the stove, or a wire rack made of some sort, otherwise the pan or pot would smother the flame.

Also, quite obviously, this would not work for whole house heating. You have to wait for the fire to go completely out before adding more fuel. I would have to again get or make a specialized stove, and then the mess of packing in sawdust every time we want heat. Not the answer I want, but quite possibly a good way of cooking if the power was out, and again, the sawdust is free, the can is already bought, and the process is easy and pretty quick.

Sam

Princess Wishes!!

Well, we have two princesses that live at our house and their wish came true the other night when we were able to take them to

"Disney on Ice Princess Wishes." It was the perfect night. We started out at our house getting all dressed up. I found a great deal on two princess dresses at Value Village at Halloween time and couldn't help but get them. I was saving them for Christmas or birthday but they came out for the princess show. They were both so excited, squealing and laughing. We got them dressed up from head to toe and fixed their hair all fancy. We invited Grandma Kathie to come with us too. We jumped in the car and drove downtown. We went extra early because there was supposed to be some fun pre-show stuff. First we got to go into a special room where they had a little display set up for some of the princesses. (A picture of the princess and then a dress and some other little things.) They also had a Prince and Princess dressed up and standing there so they could meet them and get a picture. Then we headed in to find our seats. The girls were so anxious for it to start. They kept asking how much longer. Then about 15 minutes before the show was to start they did a little etiquette thing. They talked to the princesses and princes in the audience about bowing and curtsying. It was so cute. They got them all ready and then Cinderella and her Prince came out in a neat carriage and they had them bow and curtsy and wave to Cinderella and her Prince. And then they declared them officially Princesses and Princes. Kind of fun. Then the real show began and it was amazing. Grandma and I got a little teared up just seeing the girls so excited (we are just so sappy). Ariel is Hailey's favorite, so when she came out she was glued to the ice, clapping and laughing and smiling, just soaking it all up. Cinderella is Ashtyn's favorite and when she came out she said, "I can't believe it, she really is real." Just so adorable. They loved it all. We saw Tinkerbell (who brought magic and scenes to life), Mickey and Minnie Mouse (who introduced the theme and each princesses wish, then we saw, Jasmine, Snow White, Belle, Ariel, Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, as it told just a little bit of their story. The show ended with all of the princesses with her prince and a sparkling carriage and fireworks. It was awesome and the girls loved every second. We can't wait to take them to Disneyland!! Someday.....hopefully. It will definitely be a night we remember for a long time!

The First Snow!!

Yeah we finally had the "First Snow" arrive. Ashtyn and Hailey have been asking me when it would come and now it has. They put on their boots and walked out in it before they went to school. They were pretty excited. When I first showed it to them, they just couldn't stop staring out the window, naming all of the things that the snow was covering. We were excited for the first snow too, not to drive in it, but it just makes winter seems funner to have it all white instead of just blucky brown. Our kids sure make a lot of things funner!!


I thought I would get one in there of us starting to put up our tree. It is truly beginning to look a lot like Christmas with snow and Christmas decorations. We love this time of year. So exciting, such a time of giving and sharing, and making wonderful memories.

OLIVER!!

So this year our Stake had a play again (they do it every other year). And this year it was Oliver. So of course I had to try out again because it was so much fun last time. Well, I did and I am glad I did. It is always so fun. Very time consuming, but worth it in the end. I was chosen to play Mrs. Sowerberry, the undertakers wife.

If you don't know the story line of Oliver Twist, here is a quick summary. In the Nineteenth Century, the orphan Oliver Twist is sent to a workhouse, where the children are barely fed and mistreated. He is sold to a house of an undertaker, after asking for more food at the workhouse. After he realizes he is very unwelcome he runs away to London. He arrives exhausted and starving, and is welcomed by a gang of pickpockets lead by the old crook Fagin. He meets Nancy, a young woman who started out pickpocketing for Fagin at a very young age. When Oliver is mistakenly taken as a thief, the wealthy victim Mr. Brownlow brings Oliver to his home and shelters him. But Fagin and the dangerous Bill Sykes decide to force Nancy to kidnap Oliver back worried that he will tell about them and their little group of pickpockets. Nancy goes to Mr. Brownlow and tries to help him get Oliver back, but Bill Sykes stops them. In the end, Oliver gets to go back with Mr. Brownlow, who ends up being his uncle.

So I played a very fun character. From the first time I enter the stage I am supposed to be feisty.....and rather rude at times to Oliver and my family. In my scenes, my husband Mr. Sowerberry and I are trying to decided if we want to take in this little orphan boy and we decide that he would fit the part and then we sing a song called, "That's Your Funeral."we laugh and act like we are so happy when people die because that is our way of earing a living. Then in the second scene, there is a fight between Oliver and Noah a boy who works for us. Then my daughter Charlotte and I come out and grab Oliver and throw him into a coffin. Then I get water thrown on me and then Oliver gets pulled out and is going to be taken back to the workhouse by Mr. Bumble and then Oliver pushes me into the coffin. Two very fun scenes. Here are some of my (and others in the play) favorite lines: "Henry really, it takes you twice as long to do anything as anyone else." "Bring up some of the cold bits we put out for the dog, it hasn't been in all day so it can go without 'em. I daresay the boy isn't too dainty to eat 'em, are ya boy?" "....you don't mind sleeping among coffins I suppose. But it doesn't matter much whether you do or you don't, 'cuz you can't sleep no where else." "Never in ALLL, MYYY, LIIIFFEE!!" "Well, and what if he did, you little ungrateful wretch. She probably deserved what was said and worse." Aren't those evil sounding......here are some of my favs while we sing from the song: "We're just here to glamorize you for that endless sleep. You might just as well look fetching when you're six feet deep." "We don't harbor thoughts macabre, there's no need to frown. In the end we'll either burn you up or nail you down. We love coughs and wheezes and diseases called incurable. That's your funeral, no one else's funeral, That's yoooouuuuur funeral!!" We are the funny, creepy couple.

I bet it is hard to picture me saying stuff like that but I did and it was soooo fun! I have a few pictures of me and Mr. Sowerberry and of course I got our coffin too. They even had to put makeup on me to make me look older. Just a fun experience. I have never done anything like this before. I did the Joseph Smith play with the stake two years ago but it was nothing like this. Oliver was a full blown play with lots of lines and choreography and music and scenes and props. Lots of work. My girls wanted to be in it too but they just didn't need anyone that young. Maybe next time. They loved watching the show. They both ran around playing on the stage when it was all over and I was showing them props and all the stuff behind the scenes....they were amazed and didn't want to go home. I had a blast and I recommend it to everyone.

MRSA info

Hello All,
Since my new job is MRSA Coordinator, I feel a slight obligation to inform my family about MRSA, and try to get you educated with the facts, not just what the media has to say.

First of all, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been around since the early 1960's. It is a bacteria that is not killed by normal antibiotics. If you would like more general info on bacteria, and MRSA, click here.

The media has grabbed a hold of, dramatized, and glamorized what is going on, like they usually do.

The take home message for all of you is this:

WASH YOUR HANDS.

You know all those time you can hear your mom's voice saying "wash your hands" as you walk out of the bathroom, before you eat, or when you are about to pick your nose? Well, do it.

This country has a big battle to fight with MRSA, and it is not going away quickly, but we can keep ourselves safe and clean. Most of you probably already do it.

And, the great news is, that alcohol gel (Purell, etc) works actually better than warm soap and water. Just make sure it has at least 60% Ethyl Alcohol, or Ethanol.

This is a good link for you all also. It is geared towards the person that has MRSA, but you will find the info helpful, as you are sure to mix with someone that has it (store, school, church, work, etc). The section titled Caring for Yourself is particularly helpful.

I don't think there is any need for us to turn into hermits over this. No need to keep our kids from school, or stop going to the store. There are varying levels of germ freaky-ness we can get to, so find the one that works for you, and do it. Just remember,

WASH YOUR HANDS.

And when I say wash, I mean wash with warm water and soap, or use the gel. (Clean may be a better term). Wash them when you get home, wash them before you eat, wash them before you prepare food, after the bathroom, when you get in the car, before picking your nose (that one is for Carson and me), after touching your keyboard, after using the public phone, before and after visiting the doctor or the hospital, after shaking hands with a bunch of people, before you touch your face, before you play with your kids, before kissing your boyfriend (Jenni and HeberÜ), after sports, after time at the gym, and so forth. You get the idea. Get one of them small gel bottles, put it in your purse/pocket, and use that sucker. The more the merrier.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have about this. I am willing, and would love to give you the facts as well as I can.

Stay healthy,
Sam

Fall fun!

Our family loves fall. We love the smells, the colors, the yummy fall food, the cooler weather that brings out the coats and scarves and mittens and the need for a warm toasty fire. We headed up to Greenbluff a couple of weeks ago with Ashtyn's preschool to enjoy an educational tour. We loved every minute. We got to go on a hayride, listen to bee talk (a little blip about bees and how they help apples grow and then we got to pick an apple to eat), go through a corn maze, pick out a pumpkin, sing the ABC's to a big talking pumpkin named Penelope, and the best part was the snack (donuts and cider). Yum! The girls loved it, unfortunately I forgot my camera so we have no proof of the fun times had.

Another fun part of fall is the leaves that turn colors and fall. The kids have loved going out and crunching and munching the leaves. They love it.

We have also had company come. Of course I know everyone knows that Ty came, but I am just not as fast as Arlene to get pictures on here. We loved seeing Ty and catching up with him. Ashtyn was very nice to share her princess room with Ty. She wanted to paint her room blue just for him and then paint it pink again after he left. Isn't that sweet. This is him showing us pictures of his kids to our kids. We also got him to play the Wii with us. That was fun. That same weekend we also got to a spend a little part of a day with my Aunt Carol that lives in Utah. She came up to visit my mom and so we got to see her. We took her and treated her to Dairy Queen. It was good to have some family come and visit!!

It has also been hunting season. Sam and I both went this year. Yes that's right, I went hunting this year. Can you believe it? Well, I decided I had to see what all this hunting stuff is about. It has been in process for a couple of years because I had to get my hunters ed taken, which I took with a bunch of 12 and 13 year old boys, and thankfully passed the first try. So this season I was finally able to carry a gun and head out into nature to try and find Bambi's mother. How sad is that. I was unsuccessful. After four outings with Sam, I didn't even shoot the gun. We did see some but I just never got a good shot. I was nervous too. Sam was successful this year. He ventured out with his dad and got a nice mule deer. So our family will eat MEAT this winter. Ha, ha, ha!! Sam also was able to spend a couple of nights with his dad down in the Blue Mountains. They camped and hunted and ate good food and traversed in the snow and had a great time. They were there to find Elk and were unsuccessful, but thoroughly enjoyed their time out in nature. They love to be out as much as possible.

We had our Halloween pumpkin fun too. We carved our pumpkin on the family night before Halloween. Grandma Kathie came and helped us.

And of course we had some activities to attend, the ward Halloween activity, including a carnival with some fun games and Trunk or Treat at the end. Hailey walked around with big eyes and hardly said anything. I think she was a little overwhelmed by all the people and what they looked like. The girls favorite part was the cupcake walk, because they got to eat a cupcake. And they loved dumping their candy out at home and looking at all their new treasures! Then on Halloween we went up to Carson's and took the kids trick or treating, which they loved and then we had the most delicious soup and decorated cupcakes and listened to a spooky story. It was great. Again the kids made off with too much junk food, but it is great fun!! This year, our house was full of princesses. Ashtyn had told me that she wanted to be a "Pink Princess" from head to toe. Crown, shoes, dress, and the dress had to go all the way to her feet. Adorable. Hailey at first was thinking about being Ariel from the little mermaid....she loves her......but she decided later that she wanted to be Princess Anastasia. So I found this dress and she loved it!! It is actually a Barbie dress and her favorite part of the whole costume was the little Barbie pin sewed on the front. They loved getting curls and sparkles on their faces too. They are the cutest little princesses that I have ever seen.

Fun Recent Pictures

I just wanted to share some more of our latest pictures. Our most recent family picture, it turned out pretty good. My cute kids giving me loves.

And then I just had to share this little sequence of pictures. We decided one night for family night to take the girls fishing down to the Spokane River, we never go because we would rather take them out in the little fishing boat. Well, this time because of our shortness on time we just ran down to the river, about five minutes away and stuck the poles in the water. Well, Daddy had fun fishing but the girls were only interested in the water. They started out fully clothed just dipping their toes in the water and by the end.......well you can see what happened. Pretty funny!!





I also wanted the girls to be able to show off their sunflowers. This year they planted a patch of sunflowers in our garden and here they are showing them off.

And these last pictures are just some silly ones of my kids showing off their silly, dramatic expressions, that keep us constantly entertained.


We love our little cuties!!