DAY 11: Chocolate Orange

This picture reminds me of you because we both LOVE Chocolate Oranges, but we have not been able to find them at all for the past couple of years. I saw this in the grocery store yesterday and knew I had to get one. I promise to bring one home to you...or maybe two.

DAY 10: Rose Garden

This picture reminds me of you because every time I eat lunch on those picnic tables I look at these roses and think about walking with you in the rose gardens at Thanksgiving Point when we were dating. I think some of my greatest memories of us have been talking to you during long walks. When I look at these, I also think of Lily's nickname for you: Rose. In her letters she used to write: "You mustn't let your Rose wilt."

DAY 9: Rain Bath

This picture reminds me of you because I would be dry if you were here. If you were here you would have followed me to the door and made sure I took an umbrella with me this morning. I thought about that every time I stepped in a puddle, every time I hunkered under a tree waiting for the rain to let up, and especially every time I passed a dry person who had an umbrella.

DAY 8: My Side of the Bed

This picture reminds me of you because even though you are 4,780 miles away, I still sleep only on "my side" of the bed.

DAY 7: My Bedside Piles

This picture reminds me of you because your single biggest pet peeve about me is my piles. I tend to stack my to-do lists, receipts, and "3 x 5 cards of good ideas" next to my bed. My argument is that I need them (which I do) and I use them (I always intend to), but you still ask me at least once a day if you or I can throw them out. You proposed a compromise by buying me a "Bedtime Buddy", which is your name for a small notebook for my to-do lists and "good ideas". Unfortunately, I didn't bring either of my "Bedtime Buddies" with me (you're the other one), and you can see the messy (and all too familiar) consequences.

DAY 6: Cadbury Chocolate

This picture reminds me of you, of course, because of your love for chocolate. Since arriving here I've told you a lot of things about Birmingham, but the only thing that has really sparked your interest was the fact that the Cadbury Chocolate Company was started here. This is a typical British advertisement. There's something very strange and different (and creepy?) about the whole thing, but I can't seem to put my finger on it...

DAY 5: British License Plate

This picture reminds me of you because we just finished Skyping, and I was telling you that I am going to bring home a British license plate as a souvenir. You thought that was weird. I found this one on the way to the shop this evening. The first four on the plate clearly describe you and the kids, so I figured the last three must be about the same thing; I'm just not sure what they stand for. Here are some of my ideas: (a) Forget Your Sanity; (b) Frown, Yawn, Smile; (c) Frustrated, Yet Satisfied; (d) Found You Sleeping; (e) Fortunately Young Still; (f) Family's Yielding Slave; (g) Finally...You Sit!

DAY 4: The Clock Tower

This reminds me of you because every time the bell tolls I am fifteen minutes closer to seeing you. This clock tower is in the center of the University of Birmingham campus. It can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. This particular picture is blurry because it was taken in the rain. Noticing a theme here?

DAY 3: Baby Bumblebee

This reminds me of you because your favorite song to sing with the boys is 'I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee'. They sure love their Mom. I must admit, it took me 20 minutes and 14 photos to get this. Apparently bumblebees are camera shy. It didn't help that I was up to my neck in brambles during an afternoon downpour. I considered acting out the second verse: "I'm squishing up the baby bumblebee!" He must have sensed my frustration because he posed at just the right moment.

DAY 2: Lily

This reminds me of you for two reasons. First, you let me make one decision for our wedding: the flowers. I'll never forget how beautiful you looked holding that bouquet of lilies. Second, Lily is Kaitlyn's middle name. When it comes to your best friends in the world, I come first and Kate comes second, but not by much.

DAY 1: Drizzly Urban Grove

This reminds me of you because rain is your favorite weather. I think about you every time I see the rain. You'll be happy to know that this is England's wettest summer in recorded history.

43 Days 

and 

43 Ways

that England reminds me of you

For the next 6 weeks, I will be commandeering Rachelle's blog to show her some of the things I am seeing in England that make me think of her. I wanted so badly for her to be with me here. Her level of support while I make this trip has been tremendous, and I hope this helps her feel like a part of it.

No one in this wide world has a more supportive wife than I. Rachelle knows, by name, every single professor and colleague I have ever worked with. When she asks me about my schedule for the day, I tell her who I plan to meet with and what research I intend to work on. She will then ask me very specific questions about the status of my various ideas, projects, grant proposals, and writing. She knows more about my dissertation research than my committee chair, and he is quite involved. She is an exceptional listener when I talk through my ideas, and she has offered valuable suggestions that have greatly improved my work. I am convinced Rachelle deserves a degree in Applied Linguistics when I graduate. She has created more of my test study flashcards than I have, and she is a better linguist than many I know. 

Rachelle is supporting this trip because we felt that it was right. Just as importantly, she is supporting this trip because she loves me. She is working far harder than I am while I'm away. I don't tell her these things enough, and I want to do better. I just hope that during our lives together I will be presented with opportunities to give her the type of love, encouragement, and support she constantly gives me.

I love you, Rachelle. You have been the one by my side during almost every major decision I have ever made. You have been the one I turn to when everything seems to be falling apart. You are the one who reminds me of how God has watched over our family. You are the one who assures me that he will do it again. And you are always right.

I know our family is on the way to our own promised land. Until then, thanks for traveling the wilderness with me. On second thought, maybe sharing life with my best friend and three wonderful kids is my promised land.

English Toffee

Ingredients:

• 2 Sticks salted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup almonds, chopped
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup almonds, crushed

Melt butter on low heat. Add sugar, water and chopped almonds. Cook on medium high heat, stirring continually until candy turns to the color of a brown paper bag and starts to smoke a little. Pour toffee onto cookie sheet and spread evenly. Sprinkle chocolate chips over hot toffee. Let melt and spread evenly over toffee. Sprinkle crushed almonds over chocolate. Let cool. Break into bite-sized pieces.

German Chocolate Cake

Preheat oven: 350 degrees
Sift together into a large mixing bowl:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup coco
• 2 tsp baking Soda

Add: (NO EGGS)

• 2 cups cold water
• 2Tbsp white vinegar
• 2/3 cup oil

Beat with mixer until smooth. Grease and flour 9x13 pan and bake for 30 minutes.

Note: Jesse and I like to make this a layered cake using 2 "8 round pans. You can also make yummy cupcakes.

German Chocolate Cake Coconut Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup butter
• approximately 1 1/3 cup coconut
• Vanilla

Stir over medium heat milk, sugar, egg yolks and butter until it comes to a boil. Continue stirring until it cooks and thickens, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes. Add and stir in the coconut to give it a thick but not dry consistency. Add vanilla and let cool completely. Spread on cake.

German Chocolate Cake Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.   

May St. George Trip

I feel so tired that I could pass out from exhaustion at any minute. I treasure my naps and early bed time. When Jesse came to me about going on a quick weekend getaway to St. George, I was sad to do it but I just had to say good bye to my bed. Not even my pathetic sleep schedule could keep me from leaving Flagstaff to spend time with family. It's so rare that we see family that we were all so excited to spend a long weekend with Rob, Joclyn, Rylee and Cade.

I was actually looking forward to the drive because I was excited to get a break from my dog and to drive through Colorado City. Colorado City was fascinating. Every house we saw was like a small unfinished hotel. Many of them don't finish building their homes so they don't have to pay taxes on them. Any who....Jocelyn's Grandparents have a 3 bedroom condo that they let their children and grandchildren come and visit. Rob and Jocelyn invited us to come and stay there with them so we could spend time together. Living in Flagstaff, we don't get to see family very often so this was a really great opportunity. We arrived pretty late Thursday night so all we did was go to bed.

Day One:

Landon as always was thoughtful enough to wake everyone up bright and early. You would think I would be used to waking up early but nope, I still hate it every time. Unfortunately Jesse had to take Penny to the dog hotel so I had to crawl out of bed and play with the kiddos. After dropping off Penny, Jesse, Rob and Landon went grocery shopping while Jocelyn and I fed the rest of the kids and put them down for a nap. My Dad was driving through town and stopped by to see my nephew, Josh, and the boys. He couldn't stay very long but somehow managed to still spoil them. It was really nice to see my Dad. Landon was being naughty and wouldn't take a nap after my Dad left so we just took off down to the pool. When we were getting everybody ready to go swimming Rylee kept insisting to wear her swim tube on the walk to the pool. She's so darn cute how could anyone say no to such a simple request. As soon as we arrived to the pool she fell right into the hot tub. We all had one of those dumb pause moments and stared in shock but luckily she was wearing her tube so it wasn't too big of a deal. She looked more confused then scared and after we got her out of the hot tub she got right into the pool and acted like nothing happened. My boys were pretty lame: Landon hated swimming and Travis fell asleep in Cade's over sized pool crab. Poor baby.

Later that evening Jesse and I went on a little date night to the temple grounds I was feeling pretty yucky and I knew if I needed to throw-up, inside the temple would not be the place.  Rob and Jocelyn stayed back and watched the kids and started dinner. We had a yummy BBQ with steak, lemon pepper chicken and baked potatoes. After dinner Rob and Jesse played ping pong at the club house and went out to pick us up some Nielsen's Frozen Custard. We stayed up way too late just to get up way to early thanks to Landon again.

Day Two

Happy Birthday Rob!!!  Looking back at my journal entries I definitely could have been in a better mood to help make Rob's Birthday a more special day. Luckily the entire day was pretty chill so my grumpy attitude wasn't too contagious. We headed to the club house right after breakfast for a long swim. I even decided to put my pregnant body in a swim suite and dive in. I wasn't in for very long because my chunky monkey baby was hungry and wanted to eat.  But we had a lot of fun playing. Jesse and I headed back to the condo and bathed the boys and put them down for a nap. Landon is a lot like me and gets real snippy when he's tired.

There's no better way to spend your evening after a long day at the pool than with Mexican food, so we went out to eat at Don Pedro's for some good eats. After dinner Rob and Jocelyn went on a date night for Rob's 29th Birthday! They were able to go to the temple and spend some time together. I slept the entire time they were gone and then some. Landon is no bed buddy but it did my heart a lot of good snuggling with my crazy 2 year old. It's not fair that I have to wait until my children are sleeping to get the snuggles that I need. When I finally pulled myself out of bed we made homemade ice cream: strawberry and frozen chocolate yogurt.  The strawberry was good, but the chocolate was gross. Overall we had a fun day! 

Day Three

It was Rylee's turn to get everyone up early this time. I was grateful, at least her early is 7:00 am rather the Landon's 6:00 am. We had German pancakes for breakfast then headed to Sacrament meeting. Travis was tired and fussy so I spent the whole time out in the foyer trying to keep him quite. A sweet old man that was leaving the building said that "crying children are music to his ears, treasure their cry's while you still have young children." It was sad because right after he gave me that advice Travis and I went into an empty room and Travis got to cry himself to sleep in my arms. I did try to treasure every minute of it. When we got home Jesse and the kids went right to sleep. While they slept Jocelyn and I mad pie dough and Chicken enchiladas for later that night. That evening we made strawberry rhubarb and lemon meringue pie. We also made a failed attempt at making homemade vanilla ice cream. Being that it was our last night here we just enjoyed everyone's company. Jesse and Rob played ping pong again while Jocelyn and I talked. It was a really fun trip and I am grateful we were able to spend some time with Rob and Jocelyn.