The Orchard Team Huddle

Russell and I LOVE to go to dinner every Friday night. I especially love it because it means I don't have to cook and it gives me something to look forward to in my otherwise mundane routine. The sad thing is we are a little boring when it comes to our dining out choices. I don't really like Mexican (Cafe Rio doesn't count but I do feel it is more of  a lunch place:)), we don't do Chinese and we certainly don't do Thai. So, due to my lack of adventure, it seems we pick the same two restaurants over and over. It started out that we would go to Texas Roadhouse almost every Friday. The food is great, the prices are great and it is just a fun place to go. I started getting a little bored and we decided to compromise. We would trade off every other week picking which restaurant we would eat at. So, we would go to Roadhouse one Friday and Johnny Carinos the next only to repeat the cycle. I was pretty excited when we were planning to go to dinner with friends and...

At 3:00 Friday afternoon I dropped Douglas off for his scout camp.  Then Stockton ended up at a friend's house which turned into a sleepover.  Strangely, no one called and asked Mason to spend the night so Russell and I (and Mason) went to dinner and Target.  We came home to a very quiet house.  We usually can't find a place to have a conversation.  The TV is usually going or the kids are bustling about.  It was a rather strange feeling.  We put Mason to bed and had the house to ourselves:).  It has been a long time since that has happened.  As we got up this morning there were no cartoons, no video games, no noise.   It was a kind of a nice little break but one that I am not sure I want to get used to.  Besides, I have a feeling in about 15 years we will be thinking the same thing - alone...almost!

Last Friday the lease ended on our beloved Acura .  We have LOVED this car and I would recommend one to anyone.  As I drove it back to the dealer I was a little sentimental thinking about the great memories we made with this car.  The first one that came to mind was when Douglas was at a tournament in St. George while we were on a business trip in San Francisco. We were going nuts not being there.  We got phone updates from his Grandpa each time he got up to bat and the team won all 4 of their pool play games.  They were playing for the championship on Monday.  We arrived home on Sunday, picked Stockton up from his Grandma and headed to St. George.  It was our first road trip in our new car.  We lost the first game we played on Monday (some thought we were bad luck) but we didn't regret the trip one bit.  It is SO hard to be away from Douglas while he is playing ball. This picture was taken just before we hit the road for Steamboat later that same year (2006). This was our second ...

What makes a bunch of people stand around a small pond, elbow to elbow, feet in snow, 8 degree temperature at 8:00 a.m in Soda Springs, Idaho?  Really big fish.  This is the 3rd year Russell and Douglas have gone to a fishing derby with Russell's childhood buddy, Ed, who lives there.  The spawners from the fish hatchery are released into this pond and it is a fisherman's delight from there.  You are pretty much guaranteed a fish on your first cast!  But, you better be able to cast straight or you will undoubtedly tangle up with some not-so-happy person standing right next to you.  Every year a few more of my family members go.  Stockton, Mason and I stay home.  We are more of the warm weather fishers!  When I asked Douglas how many fish he caught he told me he didn't know.  He lost track:).  Fish On!

This morning I had so many things running through my head that I knew I needed to write them down.  This post was originally going to be about how much I hate Thursdays.  We have piano lessons, both of the boys have basketball practices at different times and Douglas also has baseball and YM .  I find myself running from one thing to another with barely time to breathe.  I really despise Thursday's. Then my thoughts moved to the reason why I hate Thursday.  My kids are older now with busy lives.  I was thinking of the good old days when our biggest care with them was if it was bath night or not and if they ate enough dinner to sustain life.  Those were the days!  Then I was thinking about how I am kind of back to those days with Mason and how I plan my days around his nap and I run crazy at night with the older ones.  Life sure is interesting right now!  I would write about having one foot in each phase of childhood. Then I pondered the guilty feelings I was having over my inadequa...

It's not because my mom didn't teach me.  She made so many things when I was a kid.  She sewed lots of our school clothes.  She even made me a bunch of shirts when I was in 8th grade. They were long sleeved so I could roll them, buttoned all the way down the front, were nice and long, one was paint splattered and one was red and black.  I loved them!  She made us giant floor pillow stuffed animals, giant dolls with tons of yarn hair and several of my prom dresses. My own boys now have their own giant stuffed animal floor pillows and you may have seen all of Mason's darling blankets with matching burp cloths.  She even made all of my nursery set complete with curtains.  I just could never get into sewing.  I have made a few things, simple curtains, bean bags, babysitting kits for my Valiant girls( yeah, it has been awhile)!  I don't have a mending pile because I know I will never mend a thing!  So, imagine my horror when my boys started scouts.  From the minute you go an...

Usually when Russell takes time off we travel somewhere to run ourselves ragged having as much fun as possible at the "Happiest Place on Earth" or we sit and spit seeds and cheer our boy on as he plays game after game after game.  This break has been a little different. It started on Christmas Eve and and I am sad to have it come to an end.  We took a vacation at home this year and I have to say it was one of our best vacations ever!  We packed it with just enough fun and just enough great food (okay, way too much great food:)) and just enough rest and relaxation.  All for just the right price.  Here's a recap: *Johnny Carinos for dinner.  My kids were mortified when after I had been told they were out of limes I found the guy at the table next to me with a lime in his beer.  I politely told my waiter that if the guy next to me had limes, they probably had one for me too.  Way to go Tyler, I knew you could find one for me! *Bowling on Christmas Eve.  Way to keep your coo...