Sarah Saves the Day

When we heard the exciting news that Shawn and Sandra were going to be married in the Mexico City LDS temple we were thrilled. Of course both Keith and I wanted to be there to support them and to visit Mexico. It quickly became clear though that unless someone was found who could take on Charlie's school schedule and PKU diet, I wouldn't be able to go. I racked my mind for the longest time. All of my friends here had kids of their own that needed to get to school as well, none of which went to Charlie's school. Further more I couldn't see asking any of them to take on Charlie's diet. My parents are in Ghana, Liz just had a baby, and Sarah had two small kids of her own. However, she seemed like the best option and I knew I could trust her completely to take on it all especially Charlie's diet.

So I called her fully expecting her to turn me down. Much to my surprise she said a very enthusiastic yes! We planned for some "fun" days before we left for Mexico and had a great time introducing them to some of the main attractions of St. Louis. Those days were also used to prepare her for the task ahead. We meal planned (including Charlie's meals and lunches), went over school schedules and bedtime routines. I explained to Charlie and Jane multiple times that Aunt Sarah would do some things differently while we were gone and prayed that it would all go well. Or at least that Sarah wouldn't have her bags packed and ready to catch the first flight home once we returned. 

The doctor kit is always a hit with these two. They got along splendidly.

The butterfly house!

The Blue Morpho butterfly is Jane's favorite. Usually they are difficult to take a picture of because as soon as they land they close their wings exposing the underside which is mostly brown. This one is the first I have seen that kept it's wings open. They only live for a few weeks so there is a good chance that it was just old and tired.

Across the hall from the large glass butterfly room is a small room where there are various activities for kids to do. They change frequently so we popped in to see what was there. One of the activities was pretending to be an entomologist and sort "chrysalises" by shape.

Night time stories with Aunt Sarah were big hits. For several days after Sarah left, every time I read to Jane she would stop me and ask me to do a certain character's voice "the way Aunt Sarah does."

No visit to St. Louis would be complete without a trip to the zoo...

(Braids courtesy of Aunt Sarah.)

...and the science center! This was the activity Charlie requested we save to do on Saturday when he could come. So even though he evaded the camera, he was there. :)

Sarah the engineer designing a nuclear power plant.

The Discovery room is great. Among other things, it is completely contained. That means that for the hour we are in there I can relax a bit and turn off my high alert mommy mode that is constantly on in crowded places. The kids like it because there is a limit to the number of people in there each hour so they get to play with more things. It is also focused more on little kids so it is Jane's favorite part of the science center.


Grant and Jane quickly went over to the space center. Jane picked up the play astronaut helmet and plopped it on Grant's head.

Jane is very particular about her outfits these days. She wore her butterfly shirt to the butterfly house, her "zebra" shirt to the zoo, so she wanted to wear a "sciencey" shirt to the science center. Her shape shirt fit the bill. Her desire to coordinate clothes with activities rubbed off on Grant so he wore his dinosaur shirt.

Last, but not least, Sarah brought the ties that my mom had picked out in Ghana and shipped to Sarah to distribute to the male members of the family. Keith, Charlie and Grant all wore them for the first time to church on Sunday. Charlie thought it was pretty neat to have a real tie that ties like daddy's, as opposed to a clip on tie. They were a big hit!

And the next day (and all too soon) Keith and I were off to Mexico!

Thanksgiving: Double the Family, Double the Fun

This past Thanksgiving (still playing catch-up here...) we flew out to Utah to visit both the Temus side and the Merrill side for Thanksgiving. It was an extra special Thanksgiving because shortly afterwards my folks would leave for their 18-month self-reliance mission for our church. They were going to Ghana. For that reason the whole Temus clan got together to celebrate Thanksgiving and give big farewell hugs to Papa and Ama. After my Dad retired in June (on my birthday :) ) my parent's rented the house and drove to Alaska for the summer with their 5th-wheel. After that they drove back down to finish the last section of the Continental Divide. (Congrats Dad!!!) They drove around a bit after that and ended up at Sarah's where we all gathered for Thanksgiving. We flew in late Saturday night and church was at 9am the next morning. Needless to say it was a bit crazy but we got there. I thought Charlie was going to talk Ama's ear off on the walk back to Sarah's place after church.

One of the days before Thanksgiving we went to the aquarium in Sandy. It is a really neat place and the kids all seemed to enjoy it. Charlie liked the divers talk as they were in the shark tank and he loved that he got to see his favorite animal; the Pacific Mimic Octopus. Jane and I both had fun watching the penguins shoot through the water and flop on the rocks, though Jane was ready to go see other things before I was.

 There was a two-story room with a variety of creatures from South America. There were a few frogs that the kids were having fun climbing on and I pulled out my camera to get a few pictures. Jane wasn't going to have it. Ben was willing to smile at least.

 Bedtime stories. Poor Grant was super sad when Liz's kids left and he had no cousins to sleep in his room with him.


We had planned on leaving Molly at home with our neighbors. The closer it got to our departure date the harder it got for me to think about leaving her behind. So we paid extra, bought a soft-sided pet carrier and brought her along.

She and Frankie bonded over their shared love of sun spots.

 Hannah is a fan of them as well. (Let's face it, who doesn't love a good sun spot especially on a chilly day?)


 It wouldn't be Thanksgiving in Utah without the Branch's annual gingerbread village! This year's theme was Wonders of the World.

Jane and Charlie stuck with the classics and decorated houses to add to the "village."

 Ben carefully decorated the Great Pyramid for Christmas.

 Keith and I took on the Grand Canyon. Keith had the idea to add the rock strata, I included a side stream, Sarah made rafts, kayaks, and a drunk intertuber, and Liz recreated Lava Falls in incredible detail. Complete with Devil's Anvil above it, Tequila Beach (complete with celebratory gummy bear) below it, and Sarah's drunk intertuber tipped over right in the middle (see the bottom of the life saver?).

 Paul made the Christ statue that stands over Rio, Brazil. Alex and Zach worked on the leaning tower of Piza, complete with gummy bears attempting it pull it back up straight. Joe and Jessica, with technical assistance from Dad, worked on Mt Everest. As always, it was a whole lot of fun.

Thanksgiving day was the one day that we knew that we would all be there so plans had been made to have Sarah's friend take a few pictures of the whole family.

 Next to where we parked in the canyon there were lots of fun boulders to climb.
 
Some of the pictures were taken in a dry river bed that had lots of fun rocks. Charlie was bummed when we told him we couldn't take them home for his rock collection.

Considering the size of Sarah's kitchen, and the size of the group, Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch (except for lighting the marshmallows on fire, again.).

Liz's super cute turkey veggie tray.

 After Thanksgiving dinner we played games, worked on puzzles, and watched movies. Good relaxing family time. The next morning everyone left to various places except for Mom and Dad. They took the kids on a bike ride around the neighborhood while Keith and I finished loading the car (we had borrowed Grandpa Joe's). When they came back we hugged, waved good-bye and wished them all the best on their next grand adventure.

After leaving Sarah's house we drove to Orem to spend a week with Granny B and Grandpa Joe and to have another Thanksgiving on Saturday! Granny B put Charlie and Jane to work making sure there were no bad cranberries. They took their job very seriously.

 Granny B surprised Charlie with a huge jar of green olives. He was so excited! We hardly made a dent in it though so I bet they still have that jar of olives.

 Grandma Lowe came over and had Thanksgiving dinner with us on Saturday. She played several rounds of canasta with her grand sons and seemed to really enjoy herself. It was really great to have her there. Also pictured here is Sandra. At the time she was Shawn's girlfriend but as of New Year's Eve she has become his fiancee! I really had a great time getting to know her for the short time we were there.

I'm so happy for them!

 Charlie and Jane always have fun rediscovering treasures in the Grandma's toy/book/game closet!

 The kids also opened their Christmas presents from Granny B and Grandpa Joe while we were there. One of them was play-doh food set. They kept everyone full with soups, pasta, salads, and more. It was like a play-doh version of Olive Garden!

I couldn't bear the thought of leaving Utah again without getting up to the mountains. All ideas and plans of hiking up in the canyons wouldn't work out for one reason or another so Monday morning we went up to the foothills just near the mouth of Provo Canyon.  

 Granny B took care of the kids so it was just Grandpa Joe, Keith and me. It felt great to be moving outside even if just for a little while and just above the city. Grandpa Joe looked for birds while Keith and I played around with the new camera we had just purchased on a Black Friday deal. It was rejuvenating.

Sadly all good things come to an end and so Wednesday morning we packed up and headed to the airport. But what a wonderful Thanksgiving trip we had and how great it is to have so much family to be thankful for!

Sisters in New Orleans

Way back in April my sisters and I met up for a long anticipated get-away in New Orleans... without the kids. :) Why New Orleans? Well that is a question with a long answer, but basically we all live in different states and wanted to go someplace fun and exciting so New Orleans it was.

It did not disappoint.

All but one of the nights we stayed in this cute little hotel (the red one) right in the French Quarter. That way most of the things we wanted to do/see would be within walking distance. It may not look like much from the street, but the room was full of old New Orleans character and there was a lovely little courtyard in the middle. It was a store/bakery at one point and was a combination of various different buildings so the inside was a bit of a maze of stairways and halls.

Our first morning Sarah really wanted to take a ferry across the Mississippi. So we did. It was short but fun. Seconds after the picture on the left was taken, Sarah's white visor got swept up in the wind and into the muddy Mississippi. We sadly watched it churn around in the water behind the ferry before it went under and began it's trip out to sea.

 Everyone who ever goes to New Orleans absolutely MUST go on a culinary bike tour (in my opinion). It was delicious and so much fun. We followed a true local foodie around town to some of the most unique and best restaurants in town. This guy was legit. It was obvious that the history of New Orleans and it's food was his passion. It was fascinating!


We went to three savory places and one sweet. The sweet place was Loretta's. She makes truly amazing pralines and beignets (among other tasty things). She also makes a beignet filled with melted pralines inside. Those have now been added to my list of foods that I am pretty certain we will eat in heaven. Mmmmm.


Wonderful and unique food was a definitely highlight of the trip (it is New Orleans after all). The muffalatas in New Orleans are crave worthy and I realized that fried green tomatoes can be delicious. I can't remember details about the other delectable things we ate, but Sarah at one point said that every bite in New Orleans should be an experience and that was pretty close to the truth.

Another thing that New Orleans is known for is jazz. Lots of jazz. I am not a jazz buff but listening to old-time jazz at Preservation Hall was fun. The mission of Preservation Hall is to preserve the more original jazz style and experience. We sat in a cozy room on the floor or simple wood benches and the people in the back stood. It was a surprisingly enjoyable experience.

The street bands were a lot of fun too. This gal was belting it out on that sax. You go girl! Also pictured are trees still dripping with Mardi Gras beads and a large street market of sorts that sold quite the assortment of things.

Sarah wasn't able to have much of a birthday celebration earlier that month so Liz told the staff at this fancy restaurant (who's name escapes me) that it was her birthday. There were balloons at the table and at the end of the meal they brought her a dessert with a candle and a birthday hat.

Riding the street car back from lunch and a stroll around the Garden District.

Jasmine was all over and it smelled divine. I had to get an up-close shot of the lovely and unusual petals. I have never seen a flower with petals like that.

Gotta love the fun and beautiful buildings of New Orleans. Another fun thing about the bicycle tour was going to these out of the way restaurants via bike on side streets. I didn't get any pictures of those, but the homes that aren't in touristy areas are fun too.

Another tour we did was a city tour combined with a cemetery tour. Some of the older cemeteries are quite interesting but you are only allowed in if you are with an authorized tour guide.

 At the center of the French Quarter is this pretty square. It is surrounded by identical buildings on either side, a cathedral on one side and the street on the fourth. The square was purchased from the lady who owned/bought the two identical buildings. She was rich and had a very interesting story that I would totally botch if I tried to remember it. I do recall that after her husband died she spent some time as Jefferson's guest in the White House. Hence the statue in the center of the square. My favorite part of the statue was the tiny sparrow perched on the handle of Jefferson's sword just taking in the view.

The crypt on the bottom left is one of the three that is thought to be where the remains of the Voodoo Queen are (woooh...).

There were a few plantations that we would have liked to see but we only had time for one, Oak Alley.

We walked through the recreated slave quarters and toured the large house complete with a balcony with a great view of the oak alley. The oaks were planted more than 100 years before the plantation existed. One of the oaks looked it had been at one point split down the middle and the large crack had been filled with bricks and mortar (lower right picture). I was really confused. I asked an employee about it and it had been hit by lightening and split back when the plantation was still operational. They tried to save the tree by patching it up with bricks and concrete. Of course that doomed the other half so all that is left today is a fraction of the tree attached to a small brick wall. It left me wondering what things we are doing today that will leave people decades in the future wondering what on earth we were thinking.

Another neat factoid about this plantation is that an enslaved gardener here was the first to successfully graft a pecan tree, which in turn, created a new variety of pecan. The Centennial pecan. It had a shell thin enough to allow it to be cracked by hand.

We drove from the plantation to where we had made reservations for a swamp tour. We didn't make it in time for the day-time tour we had planned on, but were able to catch the next one which was a night tour. The gator head with the skin still attached in the picture above sells for about $300. Imagine then how much an entire large alligator would sell for and you will understand why there are very few large alligators left in these swamps. The guide would tap the water with a stick, mimicking something moving in the water, to lure gators close to the boat. He would then put a piece of alligator food on the end of the stick and make them jump for it.

A heron nesting down for the night, a craw-fish, and an abandoned house. For one stretch of the swamp there were several houses on stilts, some abandoned but most inhabited but only reachable by boat. According to the guide, the swells made by Katrina went well over the tops of these homes.

The next day was Saturday and one by one we flew off to our homes. It was such a wonderful time!

Let's do it again soon sisters!

Foot note: At a park on this trip I saw a black-bellied whistling duck. Number 152 on my bird list. It is really pretty so you should look it up. ;)