A Bohman Tale

1st hair cut

2012-02-19T00:15:00.002-05:00

I wasn't interested in cutting this boys curly locks off! They were so cute!! It really was a combination of a handful of things that made me do it. Ben has wanted me to cut Liam's hair for months, but once you do that toddlers are pretty much done with looking like a baby. I wanted to do his first hair cut when he was officially 18 months, it seemed somewhat fitting, but it was time now.

Last week we were sitting out on the grass at church during Sacrament meeting because Liam was too loud and a few little girls started to braid his hair. I twitched out of alarm and worry, but I let it slide. As long as Ben didn't find out...

Then yesterday we were playing after our we cleaned up from our adventure and as my boy sat in my lap with his toy pan and cloth pancake I looked at his hair. My little brother and I had curly hair as babies (now we both have wavy hair) but I don't recall any baby pictures of my brother with hair quite this long, just me....

Today at church Liam was particularly sweaty and his hair clung to his neck (it usually springs up by his ears, but he was really sweaty!). One of the missionaries commented to Liam that his hair was long and he was starting to look like a girl. I smiled and thought about a future daughter, but then refocused on my son, a boy. Hmm....

He thinks this is such a funny face and does it often. Kind of like a grossed out "Blue Steel"

Later today we were cleaning up after church because we are always so sweaty (just windows and fans at church in this hot humid weather!) and Liam loves shaking hands with everyone at church and many of the little girls love kissing him on his sweet, soft cheeks. A bath is often in order. As I was rinsing his hair of soap I truly saw how long it was getting. His hair rested on his back. Now I know babies have small necks, but it just looked too long all of the sudden and without any more thought I got him playing with the water faucet like he loves, got out the scissors, trimmed off a lock of curly hair to save and then started hacking of hair. I used my skills Ben taught me when we first got married and did my best to cut Liam's hair into something nice looking. It was a sad time for me to trim away my boy's baby locks, but it is also exciting to see how grown up he looks. He really is becoming a little boy, the baby look is slowly melting away....

At the Rapids

2012-02-18T04:49:00.000-05:00

There are two men who are here on temporary duty at our small embassy and Ben and I think they are really fun, so we took them out to the country side to enjoy one of our favorite places. The river at Crystal Rapids was a lot higher and had a quicker current than last time we were there because of all the rain fall we have had in the past few weeks. On a side note, the bananas here are scarce because so many of them fell during the wind storms! So Liam and I stayed in the shallows and all the men went to see how hard they could swim.
Ben made some amazing beef satay on the grill and we had a beautiful picnic. It was a fun day indeed!

He fits!

2012-02-17T15:16:00.000-05:00

Didn't we all love being able to fit inside little nooks in our homes as kids?! Liam is just now discovering those nooks and getting into them whether they be under the kitchen sink, the book shelf or in his daddy's closet. I love this pose! What flexibility those little ones have!

Papa's Chop Soqui

2012-02-15T23:59:00.000-05:00

I don't think I have told you about the legendary "Chop Soqui" in my family. In my teen years I found out that it was really my dad's take on Chop Suey and it was a confusing mix of emotions to discover this. I don't know where I thought it came from, but in a way recipes we change and make our own are our inventions, yes? So it did come from my dad. :)
When my dad was a fireman in his early years he would buy a package mix of Chop suey and make it up as a quick healthy meal. You must be pretty quick just in case the call to duty comes! Well they stopped stocking the packages at the store so he started to make his own. He took out the seasons and just uses soy sauce because he likes it better that way. (when I make it I put in seasons like garlic, ginger and a touch of sugar, then make a little loose flour and water sauce to soak up the seasons and spread them nicely.) Well the firemen at his station started to call his meal Chop Soqui and the name has stuck in our family ever since. It is my Dad'd favorite meal and so I made it for him for his birthday dinner this week. We also had pineapple upside down cake. I use THIS recipe because it is the best cake recipe in the world. Ben and I and any person who eats it agrees. Someday I'll make it for my dad in person!

My dad is filled with wonderful stories, dreams and determination. He knows a little bit about random interesting things because he has done so much in his life. I love his scuba diving lobster hunting stories, his conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints story, his meeting my mom story, his flying model planes stories, his trail biking stories and his talks on health and wellness. He has had a handful of different jobs in his life and each one has taught him something to enrich who he is. He is a great thinker, listener and problem solver. I like how he problem solves though because he doesn't just try to fix the problem he really listens and thinks and then trouble shoots with me. We really enjoy talking together and he has taught me to be a better listener by his amazing example.
My dad works out every day and beat his type two diabetes by his life style changes in eating, exercise and attitude. I say beat because even though the potential is there he doesn't take medicine for the diabetes. He doesn't have to with the dedicated changes he made. I think that is amazing.

My dad saved every art gift I ever made him and displays it in his office. He loves treats, movies, mexican food, talking in the Donald Duck voice to the grandkids, bikes, GOLF!, and is currently diving in the culinary world and taking on most of the cooking at his house.

I think he is a great dad and I love him very much! Happy Birthday Papa!

Pesto!

2012-02-13T19:03:00.000-05:00

I have made pesto before, but it is never right. I've chopped and I've food processor-ed and it didn't have the right texture and blend of flavors. You may recall that I love Alice Waters, so I decided to see what Alice thought in her book, the Art of Simple Food. A mortar and pestle! It seems so obvious now! It really was lovely to make and quite simple too. I think I'll go for extra basil in the garden than the few extra dollars at the store from now on!
Real chefs can really get into the art of the experience of cooking; I love what Alice says about making pesto!

"Pesto is my favorite sauce to make. I love the sensory experience of pounding it and smelling it and tasting it as I go. Pesto is more than a pasta sauce: it's delicious on sliced tomatoes, as a dipping sauce for vegetables, on a pizza, or as a sauce for grilled chicken and vegetables."

Oh Alice, the things you say.

Cartoon form

2012-02-13T00:08:00.001-05:00

Liam has a game he likes to play where I give him a name of a family member and he points to them in a photo. His favorite person to point out is his daddy. I think that is so cute, especially when he stands next to the wall with the most photos of the Dada with a curled pointed finger and says Dada over and over with a proud smile.

Well this morning as I was using the bathroom Liam saunters in and rips up a few pieces of toilet paper to feed to the toilet, pulls out my hair brush to do his hair and then goes to inspect the trash can. I empty that trash can regularly because of his curiosity, but today there was an item in there. He pulled it out, studied it and then looked at me with a finger pointed at the box and says- Dada! I cracked up big time! A snazzy dressed man with brown hair and a long narrow face was on the box! The nose is a bit long, but it could be the Dada in cartoon form!

Ben laughed pretty hard too when I told him, then he asked if I corrected Liam, and I said I would rather not! Every little kid thinks there dad is the best in the world, might as well add famous model to the list of great things Ben has done too!

Getting educated

2012-02-11T07:54:00.001-05:00

We are doing a lot of day dreaming and planning for China. We are getting basic overview books on China, DVD's on the landscape and a few travel books too to make sure we don't miss out on anything during our time there! We are currently planning on a visit to Shanghai this spring to get a feel for the country and to visit some dear friends of ours. We hope to head up to Beijing on the super high speed train too to see the embassy Ben will work at and maybe even our housing compound! It is going to be eye opening and, I hope, very helpful for us in preparing for our tour there.

A friend sent me THIS article by the NY Times on electronic security in China. I am fascinated by the inter workings of China and a bit scared of them as well. The monitoring of citizens and residents alone is quite impressive. The country is indeed developing and making leaps in the global view, but it is still a communist country and learning what that means is fascinating. I just tell myself that there is far too much amazing stuff to experience in China to be bothered by things I can't control anyway. The article makes things seem like an intense spy movie and I think that is sort of fun. What will my experience be like?

I can't believe we are already on the last leg of our time here. Only 8 months left. What?!! I have so much I still want to do and see here in PNG! Time really moves and before I know it we will be back in the states and then on our way to China!

Roots and Leaves

2012-02-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

I know organization is not a typical trait of a creative type, but who is really a true example of a character profile anyway?! I thrive on organizing. One might say I get my kicks out of it at times! This week was one of going through my art supplies and all the projects I have stacking up. I really try to make sure my days are spent doing things that Liam can do with me because it stinks to not be included when things look fun. He can play on his own for a while, but he naturally gets curious about what I am up to eventually. So lots of creative projects with scissors and paper and paint have to wait for the few hours I have in the evening, and cooking and household and outside adventures take up our days. The tricky part is my days and nights have been so full lately that I haven't had the chance to soak in that creative part of me for a long time. I've missed it. I'm glad I have that time back now!

I loved dreaming up new projects by organizing stuff and figuring out how to get started on older projects I planned. Dreaming is so energizing! So revitalizing! I like the actual follow through too though, it makes the dreams even more satisfying. One dream I love playing with in my head that doesn't require any work is dreaming of my future home after retirement, and mostly just how my kitchen is going to look! I dream about how the house/ cottage will look, my garden, my library and the type of areas I would like to walk around my home. There was this house in Virginia that I loved and took a photo of on my phone (I know you are so glad I am posting a photo of a pretty home than a photo of my organized drawers!). I keep it in my head too and dream about it when I want to feel like I have roots. For now it is nice to be a leaf blowing around every few years, but I like the dream and I like that this photo is now safely organized and filed away here on my blog. :) I'll have to show you my drawings of my kitchen when I finish them someday too!

Pizza Party

2012-02-10T08:05:00.001-05:00

We often say that our kitchen is the best restaurant in Moresby and I stand by that. We are quite fortunate to be able to eat this well. Moresby may not have as much as other cities, but it does have a great expat grocery store that I am eternally grateful for.

We love pizza and I make it a point to have it on our menu twice a month! This week Ben's youngest sister is celebrating her birthday and her favorite food is pizza. She said we could top it with whatever we wanted so we did our favorites- veggie for me and hawaiian for Ben. She had a list of favorite desserts so I made up the one that sounded good to me and ice cream sounded really good. I melted 4 ounces of dark chocolate, roasted some almonds and then threw in coconut for good measure. It was rich and delicious. I put the ice cream in her top two favorite colored bowls, but like me 'H' has a love of color so a rainbow colored bowl might have been better! It really was a great party with traditional American par-tay food.

H is awesome. I could stop there, but I won't. The girl has spunk and zing. I believe those things will serve her well as long as she uses them for good, you know, like Harry Potter uses his skills for good. :) She has a love for eclectic things and finds beauty in simple things. We started a found object, quote, photo, pretty wall in her room a few years ago when Ben and I were there for a few months. When we went to visit in December I found the wall growing toward its true potential. It was magnificent. I think she has an artistic eye and if I had it my way I would force her to go to a school to study interior design or advertising or some other creative outlet. I might be projecting on her a bit, but it is out of love, pure love. I think she is cool and I want to see her do the awesome things she is capable of doing. Oh! she is so capable and she is just starting to dig in!

H is a rad runner. I love that she loves to run because I love to run. Running really is one of those things that people either love or hate. Few are luke warm about it. She has talent and I hope it serves her well. Sometimes talent serves us and sometimes it moves us away from what is really important. I want so much for her and I hope she continues to know where she stands in the world. H is in her second year of high school, she is now 16 and the world is her oyster. We see the true possibilities when we look back and don't really understand them when we are in the middle of that time period. I am so excited for her to discover it all, but I feel so protective of her too. (It is so complicated being a big sister sometimes!) I hope H has a sweet sweet 16 and that it is only the start to the good things in life. I love you so much McNawner! Happy Birthday!

Sweeping!

2012-02-09T00:53:00.000-05:00

I bought a new broom a few weeks ago. My old one was florescent pink and synthetic materials- it was my only option at the time and I needed to clean. I kept an eye out though, the pink disaster was not to be permenant. Oh no. Well I found a new broom and it has life in it, it has capabilities. What was once a pain to do is now quite lovely. I'm sure it could be better, but the current improvement needs recognition. Liam even noticed and tried to sweep with it, but it was too big, so naturally we got him his own online. Now he can pull his own weight. Hahah! Well not yet, but eventually he will use it for other things than dropping it down the stair and patting it on the floor!

Fresh Bread

2012-02-08T00:38:00.000-05:00

I had one bread recipe and it was good. I liked it a lot. I got it from one of my friend's mother and it was a delight. I had one bread book that was good, but it was how to cut corners making bread and I wanted to learn more about traditional techniques and recipes, but I didn't quite know what to search. So I looked online to find recommendations. Soulemama.com is always inspirational to me so I looked at her recommendations and she had Tassajara Bread Book. It looked kinda questionable, like there might be hippie brick bread in there (there is!!hahah!), but I trust Soulemama quite a lot and so I went with it.

So glad I did! I read through all the introductory pages the night before and giggled at the Zen speech, but liked it too. I learned a lot! So when I actually made the bread I knew the universe was with me. :) This rye, rolled oat bread is amazing. Plain and simple. I am sure the recipe from my friend's mother can even be made better by my hands now that I know these basic skills. I am pumped. I am going to try and make one of these recipes each week or so if I can so I can find my favorites. Fresh bread. ahhh. I love you bread!

Family clocks

2012-02-05T17:40:00.001-05:00

My good friend just got her shipment of things after being here more than 7 months! This is quite unusual even for remote posts like ours. The poor thing! Well she had three little clocks that gave the time of her family and her husband's family and where they were currently at. One clock broke, but I had our big one and I like the size contrast. So since she didn't want them anymore, I have them!!! I have been wanting to do something like this for a while, but hadn't gotten around to it. I think it is really neat and like how much extra it makes me think about what my family is up to at this very moment!

Shoes

2012-02-05T17:28:00.003-05:00

Liam is growing so quickly! It seems like every day he is trying on a new word. Sometimes it sounds close, sometimes dead on and sometimes I repeat the word several times to him and it still needs work. :) It is a fun time.
This boy is also trying on his dad's shoes all the time. He doesn't walk around in them even though his walking skills have become pretty good, but I figure that is the next step (pun intended). I think it is pretty cute. Who doesn't love a baby in oversized shoes?!

Islander blanket

2012-02-04T17:33:00.000-05:00

A girl at church got married a few months ago, but we were gone and missed it. I wanted to do something cool and unusual for her, but still useful so I bought some fabric to make this. I just finished it this weekend nearly three months later! I was trying to tell myself to just finish already, but it was already late so I lacked incentive to hurry. I like the blanket and with all things I like that I make I didn't want to give it away. Sneaky dialogues were going through my head, but in the end I gave it to the intended recipient. The photo is mine to keep though!

Annie's Pottery

2012-02-01T05:39:00.000-05:00

When Ben first got here her went to this pottery place and took these photos to show me all about it (I forgot my camera today!)! I thought it was so cool, but then we couldn't figure out how to get back there! Today some friends of mine were getting a group together to go see the place and I went with them. It was the store!! Liam loved watching the potter throw the clay and so did I! We bought one of the lidded bowls and two small bowls in the photo to the right and used it at dinner time. It was magical. I am looking forward to going back some time and picking up a few more things for friends and family!

Gelatine Jam

2012-01-28T06:52:00.000-05:00

When Ben and I got married I got this great cook book from one of my oldest friend's mother. She collected recipes from women in our ward who saw me grow up, new family, old family and friends and then asked them to give marital advice. It is a treasure of mine and I love that I use it daily.

One of the simple recipes in there that I love was from my mother in law. It is a recipe for rhubarb jam made with a gelatin package. Ben loves rhubarb, but I haven't made it yet! I did use the recipe to make mango jam though. Today in fact. Some of the women in our branch her and I chopped up mangoes, added sugar and then put in a gelatin package and jarred up a bunch of freezer jam! It was a good time with delicious results! Thanks to my mother in law for teaching women across the world to make jam!

A January Dude

2012-01-26T05:34:00.002-05:00

My nephew S is the oldest grandson on my side of the family. Liam is the oldest grandson on the Bohman side of the family, so he is very fortunate to have a cool dude like S to look up to. It absolutely blows my mind that S is 9 years old this year! When we saw him during Christmas break he was getting taller and more muscular and more like one of the big kids than a little guy. S is growing up to be such a handsome young man and before we know it he will be going to college, serving a mission and getting married! I have full intentions to be the aunt who sends him crazy packages to entertain and feed him and his roommates on all accounts. :)

Meatball sandwiches!

S said his favorite meal was meatball sandwiches. They were amazingly good. I haven't had a meatball sandwich in a long time. I used THIS recipe, but modified the sauce to have shredded zucchini and bell pepper since we didn't have any mushrooms in the house. :( It was lovely with the modifications and I may be doing it again next time too! S likes yellow cake with chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles, so I found THIS recipe for yellow cake and used M&M's instead of sprinkles because I didn't have sprinkles. I hope he doesn't mind! They were really yummy and Liam spoiled his appetite by eating a whole cupcake himself! I know I shouldn't have let him, but I figure sometimes (as long as it isn't frequent) you just let go and let sugar.
So a bit about S! He is a super star athlete in my mind. All I hear about from my mom is what an amazing soccer player he is and the natural talent he has for sports of all kinds. I hope he continues to enjoy sports and I hope he continues to excel. It will be neat to see what he does in the future with all this natural talent! S has two younger brothers and teaches them all the ways of Nintendo video games. My sister's family has one of the very first Nintendo game machines in their basement. No glitz, no glitter, just honest to goodness games. I am not a fan of video games, but S and the rest of the kids humor me by playing other things with me whenever we get together. I appreciate that very much. S is a great student too! I am very proud of him for how hard he works in school. He is a good guy and a wonderful nephew to play silly games with at the dinner table. His favorite color is green (me too!) and his favorite animal is a panda. See I told you he was a cool dude! Happy Birthday S! We love you!

Talking!

2012-01-25T18:38:00.001-05:00

Liam has started to talk a lot more. They aren't clear and definitive words yet, but they are attempts none the less! He is communicating with more than finger points and grunts! He now has a vocabulary of, book, baby, up, pee pee, poopee, cold, hot (of course!), mama, dada, milk, hello?, Liam, ball, more, please and a few I'm forgetting I'm sure. He understands a lot of other words too and I think it is so cool how all this language stuff all of the sudden comes to children. More to come soon!
UPDATE: As of the last few days he also says, water, apple and bird!

Wood restoration

2012-01-25T18:30:00.000-05:00

My grandmother gave me these wood bowls a few years ago and I have been meaning to sand and oil them to use them for a long time. In the mean time Liam has used them in his play kitchen, but now I use them! They were pretty sad looking before, but now they are beautiful! I love them! I think before and afters are really cool. I love restoration projects! :)

Bay-bah

2012-01-23T07:40:00.002-05:00

Love my lizard boy!

BBQ Master

2012-01-22T05:38:00.000-05:00

Our fancy Sunday table!

Tonight was pork chops and they were great!

Ben is working on getting into BBQ. We go between the hibachi coal grill and the gas one by the pool when the BBQ mood hits as of late. The gas one is a bit quicker though so we tend to use that one a bit more. I got Ben a BBQ book for Christmas and after tonight's dinner I am thinking this may be one of the best gifts I ever got myself, I mean him! We used to do meat only once a week, but we may do twice a week now. We'll see, it could be hype. It is mighty tasty hype though!

LeaLea beach

2012-01-22T05:28:00.001-05:00

Gabi Village

a boy in the mangroves

Raintree grove! It was like Green clouds on the ground!

That was the drive over, then the picnic/ beach site follows!

Pig pen!

This weekend we went to the beach with some friends of ours. It was so much fun to go on an adventure. Weekend adventures are so fun and exciting. Plus I got to use my Christmas present picnic basket again!! I love that! We had a lovely picnic and only 7 dogs sat under our table while we ate. It was ok too because the benches were high up and the dogs were very friendly and relatively clean.

The beach was covered in seashells, I love seashells and the tide was low so we saw lots of crabs, sea stars and even sea urchins- stayed away from those! Ouch! Liam loved making drip sand castles and toppling them over. Funny guy. He thought the puppies were amazing and the sea stars scary and the day wonderful.

Thanksgiving in a Ball

2012-01-19T06:15:00.002-05:00

A funny background story to this meal is when I was collecting the favorites of family members we saw that my brother in law's favorite meal was Turkey balls. I told Ben and he paused and looked at me and said, like testicles? We both laughed because we knew it couldn't be. M is adventurous, but I don't think something like that would be a favorite. I will here forth call them turkey dumplings because I think that is more appropriate. :) I couldn't get turkey here at this time of year and even if I could I would have to roast a whole one just to make this meal, so we used chicken. I figure the cousins aren't so very different and it would have to do this one time. The dumplings were like little Thanksgiving meals all bundled up and ready to feast on, stuffing, gravy and bird- BAM!

We made ice cream because M's favorite dessert is cake batter ice cream (alla Cold Stone I assume) and we try to get as close to the favorite as possible. I made little rhubarb/ peach galettes to go with the ice cream too because I thought that sounded good with a Thanksgiving like meal. I think M would be cool with the addition.
M is my very first in law and only brother in law on my side of the family, M is special on my side of the family because he was the first addition. M met my sister in her second year in college because his sister was my sister's roommate. I was 13 when they got married. I remember asking my sister what she liked so much about him and she told me he was a fantastic kisser. That made my 13 year old self blush a lot. He is playfully competitive in all games and makes the event so silly. I have a very fond memory of playing Killer Bunnies with him, my sister and Ben and seeing him smack talk with my sister the whole game. They made it even more fun than usual. He is hilarious with his kids too and has taught them such phrases and "boo-yah!," "You're going down!," and "What's up now!?"
M was a scholar athlete in track and cross country for BYU while he attended and is a source of pride in our athlete family. As far as I know he still runs and loves all physical activities. I remember when he and my sister were engaged my brothers and I went up for a few day trip to his families house in central CA and I got to go water skiing for my first time. He was so kind and helpful and I was so excited to have another brother after that trip.

M and my sister get to travel around the USA with his work and they have taken a few cruises as well. I love sharing our adventures and love of new places with them. M loves good food and he makes a point to eat well when vacationing and at home. I appreciate that about him very much. I hope he feast his eyes on this meal in his honor and enjoys it as much as one can through picture. Happy Birthday M!!

Liam ate so much rice and chicken while I was making dinner that the only place to put his dinner was in his chair! HA!

Mayo etc.

2012-01-17T08:06:00.001-05:00

When we first moved here I tasted the mayonaise from the grocery store and gagged. It was so yucky. It was tart and didn't even have eggs!!! I decided netgrocer.com was the only solution, I would ship good mayo to myself. In the mean time I found other brands of mayo and most of them were not to my liking either, but one was ok, perhaps because it had eggs in it.

Well with that fiasco I realized this could happen repeatedly with our life abroad and I can't live like that. So I did some research. I had wanted to try Julia Child's recipe for mayo for a long time, but something about the mere name made me feel unworthy! My grandmother even sent me Julia Child's, Mastering the Art of French Cooking for my birthday last year and I marked a few recipes, but hadn't built up enough gumption to do anything. Nothing at all!

During the stay of our friends E and E we have done a lot of cooking and finking around the kitchen and it has been way fun, it just seemed appropriate to finally try the mayo recipe. On closer look Julia Child gives a way out of whisking mayo with a hand whisk and tells how to do it with a food processor. She even says it requires no skill what so ever and I liked that statement a lot. When I added the ingredients I was still in doubt that oil, eggs, salt and lemon could really turn into mayo and when it turned out I was actually shocked! Ben happened to call me from work just as I finished the mayo and I hooted in triumph as he laughed at me. It called for lots of good quality olive oil and so I used it and the mayo had a very fresh olive oil flavor. It was not like store bought mayo in taste and I haven't decided if I like it differently or better than store mayo. When I think of store mayo I think of Hellmans/ Best foods brand, it is the mayo of my childhood and it is on a pedestal. Perhaps someday I will make a mayo that I like even better and will then save wads of money and grocery bag space.

Oh and here are some pretty photos that E took that I love. I did just write and post a photo of mayo, so I figure I have to balance this post with something a bit more jazzy. :)

Rain tree, my favorite tree here

the sunset on my balcony

the rainy season makes this place sing with green and beauty

Crystal rapids

2012-01-14T05:26:00.000-05:00

We have been wanting to go to Crystal Rapids for a long time. Everyone talks about how pretty it is and how it is such a nice park that isn't too far away from Port Moresby, but far enough to be relaxing and a taste of PNG. Since our dear friends E and E are visiting we wanted to take them somewhere fun to make memories and to experience the pretty country we live in. The time had come to go to Crystal Rapids.
We packed up my new picnic basket and some other goodies and had a BBQ with our hibachi grill, they were yummy! The drive out was really fun because E was taking photos like wild to remember it all. I have wanted to take photos of these very things, but normalcy in life here happened and I didn't see the uniqueness anymore. I am so glad she did and has a quick camera finger! We stopped off at a small side of the road market and got some drinking coconuts and bananas and had those during our BBQ as well.
We walked on the rocks in the river, listened to the exotic bird calls, saw a ton of different kinds of butterflies and laughed and talked like always. It was a perfect trip!

Taco time!

2012-01-13T05:08:00.000-05:00

Mango salsa chicken tacos

Peanut butter Ice cream!

Dancing in the kitchen!

My sister in law had a birthday while we were traveling and so it took some time to get a birthday dinner going! Here it is all the same!

Sister, L, loves anything peanut butter (a woman after my own heart!) and so we made peanut butter ice and ate it with homemade chocolate sauce and PNG bananas! I made mango salsa chicken tacos for her for her favorite meal and they were yummy! Our dear, dear friends E wife and E husband are visiting us this week. Wifey and I made flour and corn tortillas that afternoon and had a great time doing so! It was a delicious feast in honor of my first sister in law. :)

So about this sister... She spotted my brother in their first year at college and thought he was a hotty. She even had a code name for him- Blue eyes. (His eyes are actually hazel like mine, but they are light and I guess under the right light they could seem blue...) Being the smart guy he is he thought L was awesome too and thus began the duo. My brother served a mission for our church and then L did too and all the while they wrote each other and continued to care about each other for those many years of separation. L would come visit our family even when my brother wasn't there and I knew she was meant to be family. I have great memories of hanging out with L and my brother in my first year of college when they were finally engaged and later married. They were my escape from the dorms when I needed quiet and calm. We cooked together, watched movies and sat around talking a lot.

L is hip. She is always on top of the latest fashion and trends. Her house is beautiful and she and her children are always dressed to the nines. In another life she was an interior designer and fashionista in Paris with a dog named Fifi. I'm pretty sure of it. She likes the colors pink and orange, she likes a range of cool music and loves going to concerts, she has gorgeous bright green eyes and makes me super happy when she laughs really hard. She is patient, thoughtful and makes amazing creamed corn. I am very grateful for her and I love her a lot. Happy Birthday L!

Our walker

2012-01-12T17:18:00.000-05:00

This boy was doing his first steps a month ago or more, but it was more of a step, step, lunge! It was funny but not practical. When we got to Utah for holidays the first thing he did was 4 steps in a row for all his nana, papa and great grandma to see. We were all surprised and excited for him. That was all he wanted to do just then, prove himself and let us know he could do it, but no more.
Now that we are home he has been pushing himself up to standing from the ground and instead of pulling up on something. He is so proud of himself. Two days ago he started to really get a walking streak going and it was worth filming. So we did. So here is my boy at a 90 degree awkward angle (sorry, didn't think of that while I was filming) WALKING!
Everyone said be grateful they aren't too mobile yet before he walked, but I think the pride in his independence is amazing and gives me the extra work out I need. :) Although, I am so glad we baby proofed most things at the taller level already!

This morning

2012-01-09T18:57:00.001-05:00

We needed to get some things taken care of to get settled into home again. Finish putting away the laundry (I love my make shift clothing line in the basement! No, seriously.), Make some fresh bread and granola, put in some new seeds in the garden (herbs, greens and cherry tomatoes to come!) and eat some garlic. Wait a minute! What?! Yeah, Liam likes garlic apparently. I blame his grandpas. They both like zingy food like that.

Shipment of goodies

2012-01-09T07:13:00.000-05:00

the infamous cheeky "there is a camera out" grin

The Fancy Nancy "Learning Tower". Although, that new water bottle may be Liam's most favorite new item! Let us just say he had his diaper changed extra today!

I now have enough plates to have more than 6 people over at a time! A dozen settings! (I'm missing one color in the photo to hold my cookies as I write)

Nice flatware! It slides off the lips and handles so well! We even got child size flatware (on the left) for Liam and his future siblings

New bedding!

A wonderful keyboard! I am so excited to be able to play again!

Because this posting has its difficulties (for example, shopping for ANYTHING is either sparse or non-existent and what is there is way expensive from import taxes) we get a second shipment half way through our posting here. What a luxury the ended up being!! It takes about 3-4 months to get the shipment so months ago we started planning what food things we wanted sent over that would make things cheaper for us and what household things we wanted (as you may recall we didn't have much because we knew early on in our marriage that we would be moving around a lot) and what things might be nice to get at Christmas time. When we got back to our home here in PNG we had a living room full of boxes waiting for us! Before we showered, ate or unpacked our bags we dove into the boxes of goodies! It seriously was our 4th Christmas!

It was a wonderful time back in the states with family. Being away from family is really hard and is most definitely the part of this lifestyle that I like the least. The time spent with my family and Ben's family was so needed and enjoyed. It is nice to be back in our own routine, in our own beds and enjoying the warm weather again, but I miss my family again. I guess this just makes the next visit another one to look forward to and each phone call and email so much sweeter.

I enjoy cooking

2012-01-05T06:48:00.000-05:00

I really do enjoy cooking. It is fun for me to get to cook for my family and I loved getting to cook for both sides of my family this holiday season as well. My sister in law gave me a great compliment by saying, "Seriously Lauren, I haven't been hungry since you got here!" I laughed and was so flattered!

My mother in law always seems to find cool recipes and shares them with me by either mailing them to me, or if I'm there, coming over and googling at them with me. :) She found a recipe for kale chips that I have wanted to try for a long time. I first saw it on a blog I enjoy, but you can find the recipe HERE too. They turned out nice and crispy. Liam thought they were great and ate a whole bunch! They are not to be mistaken to have the texture or taste of bagged chips, but more the texture of dried herbs with a salty-olive oily flavor. I enjoyed them and ate most of them myself!

My father in law is so funny and one morning made me breakfast himself. He cracks me up. I love that I have a name tag on the cereal! We have a fun time in this house.

Sledding

2012-01-03T20:56:00.000-05:00

It was a wonderful day for sledding. Liam was sleeping and it was perfect timing for a slide down the hill. Eyelashes and hair froze, puppy paws pranced on the snow and even a baby shrew was found! We definitely had a great time.

Surprises

2012-01-02T01:01:00.001-05:00

When I went upstairs this morning I was greeted by birthday wonders from my sister in laws! It was so cool and so thoughtful! Last night we had a fun time playing games, tying pretty strings in our hair, munching on treats and snacks and making homemade pizza. We celebrated with hugs and sparking juice and cheers all around! Liam woke up to celebrate with us too:).

I got a good nap in the afternoon, a nice church service, a great mexican meal (I got to be head chef and direct all how to do some parts! I love relaxed family cooking!), treats and games. It was perfect. We'll got sledding tomorrow to top off the celebration and get my fix for the year.

A winter tromp

2011-12-31T00:54:00.000-05:00

Buddy boy with Auntie E

We got all bundled up for a tromp in the snow to make sure Liam got his snow time in. Buddy boy doesn't care for hats and gloves inside the house and takes them off promptly, but once outside he doesn't fidget with them in the least! It is just too cold for that! Next time we are in Alaska I hope Liam will have some huge boots and snow pants too so we can play in the snow for real!

Puppy Interaction

2011-12-30T00:50:00.000-05:00

The family here in Alaska just got a new puppy! His name is still under debate, but we think it is either Kuzco or Baloo. So many other names have been discussed so I am not going to declare anything! He is a mix, but husky seems most prominent. He came from a small village out in "the bush" and was flown into a small airport near Anchorage for pick up. The puppy and transport were free!! Cool huh! So far he has been adorable and fun just like a puppy always is. The disconcerting part is he is intent to make sure Liam knows that Liam is lower on the pack order than he is. Don't worry though, this mama is intent to teach him that isn't so! We are having fun having a dog around and love his fluffy little self!

Real Winter!

2011-12-29T14:15:00.000-05:00

I brought my sheep skin lined mocassins thinking they would be warm enough for Utah and Alaska, and thought I didn't really need to bring my heavy winter shoes. Oh man, I forgot how cold Alaska is! I guess island life makes one forget. I also some how forgot how extremely gorgeous it is in the winter too! Oh I am so excited we are here again!!

It is amazing slowing down to true winter pace and taking things slow and spending awesome time with family. We are all loving it like crazy!

Family Photos

2011-12-26T00:59:00.000-05:00

Christmas day

2011-12-26T00:56:00.003-05:00

It was such a nice Christmas! We got up and got dressed up to go to church and listened to all the different musical numbers. It was beautiful. When we got home we all took naps and woke up very refreshed. The whole family came over and my mom got out the china, which we never use, so it was awesome. The table looked awesome. Each sibling family made two dishes and so we had a ton of yummy food. Then we started opening up presents (yes at night! We waited all day!!) and Liam had a blast. He may have had a little bit of over stimulation for a while there!
My older brother's family did a music theme and got everyone instruments. Liam was so cool with his cousins and their guitars. We had such a fun time seeing the kids go wild and exchanging gifts. Liam's cousins played with him and walked with him holding his hands up in the air, they played space ship and he got to be R2D2 (hilarious), they played house and he got to be the baby (convenient) and lots of paper was marched on.There was such energy and a spirit of love in the home. It really was a Christmas to remember.

The 'UP' House

2011-12-21T11:46:00.000-05:00

the infamous water hose

I want these turquoise vintage style appliances!! So bad!!!

movie playing repeat in the movie room in the basement

the girls in the secret room behind the bookshelves! So proud!

That is the face most of us would make with paper antlers on our head! haha!

Pixar recruits pretty heavily from BYU's computer animation program because it is awesome. I think that is why the producers of the movie decided to put this awesome house here in Utah. It has been featured in the news quite a few times and my sister and her family went to see it. My nephew wore his bottle cap on a safety pin (it looked exactly like the one in the movie) to my parent's house and I went wild. I had to go see it. So on Wednesday night a nephew had a Christmas music production at the Herriman library and all the cousins went to see him. As you can see he was less than enthusiastic, which cracked me up. After it was over we left the library and went over to the 'Up' house to look at the outside, I figured it was after business hours by then. Miraculously it was open an hour and a half late! Wonder of wonders!! My brother's girls and I ran through the house taking photos and giggling! We too got a free 'Ellie badge'! It was a magical night!

Meeting little L

2011-12-19T18:00:00.000-05:00

brother and sister with their boys :)

two dudes playing with the bouncer

all of us caroling, I love Liam's silly-warm hat

We got to make treats and go caroling with Ben's sister and her cute little family for FHE! It was so much fun to chat and play like we always do! Liam got to meet his cousin L, who was born in August. He thought L was the coolest dude and loved bouncing his little chair. He kept pointing at L's mouth and laughing at me about how cute and small it was. His older cousin M was a bit nervous because Liam kept trying to get her toys and throw them down the stairs (he loves that!). It was so wonderful to be with them all again!

Z money

2011-12-19T05:56:00.000-05:00

My younger brother is pretty clever and funny. One time during a family reunion my oldest nephew was being a squirrel and Z told him that the best way for S to tickle him was to use these massage movements on his back. S then proceeded to massage Z's back and Z laughed out hysterically and shouted out- a bit to the right! The whole family was laughing like crazy, so then the other grandkids got into the action of massage-tickling Z too, which made it even funnier.

I enjoy my brother so much! I love it when we all get together and he makes us all laugh at his witty comments and silly banter. This will likely be the only family birthday that the actual birthday person is present for one of my birthday meals this year! My mom and I worked as a team on this one, but she did most of the heavy lifting! I made the tortillas from scratch and the refried beans too, Dad did the frying and birthday boy made the guacamole (which was phenomenal by the way and I will be making mine this way from now on!). We had Robert Redford for dessert (pudding, cream cheese, cookie crust, and whip cream) and it was good!

The kids all sat together for dinner and Liam felt like such a big boy! He had beans and rice all over his hair and little tummy!

A bit more about Z now... He is close to finishing his undergrad and is the star employee at Nordstrom in his college town. He is getting ready to apply to law schools and is talking about doing a double degree in business. Crazy kid. He is quite ambitious and a good worker. We are very proud of him.

He loves comedy movies, Mexican food, football and his family. He and his wife are expecting their first baby in March 2012. I am so excited. It is a little weird thinking about my baby brother becoming a daddy. He will be so tender with that baby. It will be awesome to see. I am looking forward to it. Happy Birthday baby brother!

Cousins and Piano

2011-12-18T16:13:00.000-05:00

Same month&year cousins

Liam went nuts for this game! He was flapping his arms so wildly in excitement and one 4 year old cousin said, Liam you are hitting! You need to stop! It was so proper of her it made me laugh.

high five dude!

After church on Sunday I went into the storage room to pull out my old piano music. It was so great to play again! I have a keyboard coming in our little shipment to PNG and I am so eager to use it! Liam thought the piano was amazing of course. He loves playing on the electric piano at church. I let him have the high notes and he was set. He was mesmerized by the guitarist/singer at the Mexican restaurant we went to the other day and he danced to all the background music in the movie we watched last night. I think this baby has a serious love of music! When his cousins came over they all played on the piano and had a great time playing trios and quartets! :)

There was so much action going on last night! Blanket forts, blanket human burritos, human castles, tumbling, trains and medical checks. Some of my favorite quotes were when Liam's 3 year old cousin kept saying to him through out the night, "I'm your cousin!!" with a huge smile, or when the same cousin followed me when I went to change Liam's diaper and said, "Hey, V (her brother born the same month as Liam) has a bum bum just like that!", or when I was having my temperature taken with a toy thermometer and 5 year old girl cousin says to 3 year old, "How old is she?" So funny!

Cousins and toy balls!

2011-12-17T16:02:00.000-05:00

This creative cousin play got silly really quickly. Liam was so patient and confused most of the time, but the older cousins left with deep convictions that he was a cool baby because he never cried once. I guess he figures if you have the approval of the older cousins then you are basically set for life. :)

American Holiday!

2011-12-16T10:05:00.000-05:00

We are going home for the holiday! I'll do a few posts so we can share some magical family time, but I don't know how frequently. Our first stop will be Utah and then we will be going to Alaska! The weather is going to be extremely different from here in PNG and we are looking forward to our cold season! Here we go!

Earthquake!

2011-12-14T03:50:00.001-05:00

We made the news today with our 7.1 earthquake here in PNG. The center was up north so we didn't feel it that strongly here. Liam was napping and I was reading beside him upstairs. At first it was unreal with everything that normally stays put swaying a bit, then I waited to see how strong it was going to be and if I needed to grab Liam and find cover. I thought- wow this is lasting a long time and looked at the clock to see how long it would last (about a minute or so), my heart sped up, but I still didn't get up because it wasn't very intense. I had flash backs to the last quake I can remember when I was little and my sister grabbed me out of bed in the middle of the night and carried me to the hallway to safety. That was scary. I think I was in one other quake since then but I don't remember it well because it wasn't very big.

Liam slept right through his first earthquake and when it finished I went back to reading. No big deal to this Southern California girl. I'm glad the quake wasn't very big though, I'm not saying bring it on by any means. You just shouldn't say that to mother nature, it is a bad idea.

Health

2011-12-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

We have a few unconventional health rules we follow here in our home. I thought they were fun so I'm sharing them!

1. We spend 1/3 of our lives in bed, so investing in a nice place to sleep is worthwhile and encouraged
2. We will only own sheets of 400 thread count or more
3. Eat food that will nourish and delight the senses, not just fill the belly
4. No low fat food, food with health claims on the label or packaged food with ingredients that aren't easily pronounced
5. We play and adventure, we don't "work out"
6. If the option to do it manually is reasonable then do so! (popcorn over the stove, mixing with a spoon, hand kneading bread etc.) What else are we saving those energy calories for?!
7. Express concerns in a kind way as soon as possible, don't let bad feelings brew
8. When a friend expresses grief and upset we don't tell them to quiet down and stop it, we don't do that to our babies either. We listen and show compassion and help work out solutions when necessary.
9. We don't have to "do it all" now or today or tomorrow. There will always be much to do, so do what you must and what you like at a pace that will help you to enjoy life. If you must hurry in one aspect, slow down in another.
10. Be brave! Try new things and don't let the possibility of failure deter you!

Catching the sister

2011-12-13T21:00:00.000-05:00

When Ben and I had been dating for about 2 months his brother and sister came to visit him at school. Ben's brother stayed at his place with his roommates, but his sister needed a place. I had heard so many awesome things about her energetic nature, her excitement for those around her, her smile, her pizzazz. So naturally I volunteered the best I could at my apartment, a mattress on the ground between my roommate and me. I still wish I had something better to offer, but true to her awesome self she was so easy going about it and was just grateful to have a place to stay.

C is way fun to hang out with, play with and talk to. And we try to do just that as much as we can. When C was staying with me the first time I said to her, "Your brother is such a catch, and I want to catch that!" She thought that was pretty funny. But to my delight, it was during that stay that I knew I not only wanted to catch the Ben, but I wanted to catch the family too! I am so grateful to have a sister in law that I consider one of my best friends too. Not many can say that. It is so awesome that our children are around the same age, that we enjoy so many of the same things and that we have a support in one another. I have so many stories about C that I cherish, but I'll just list a few.

When C was young she liked to say it was her birthday somewhere in the world at some time and so she would celebrate her birthday for three days! I called her from the future this year just so she would know she was being celebrated indeed!

C has some of the best, saucy dance moves I know of. I would love to put her in a dance off with my friend K, who is currently living in Malaysia, but that will not likely happen. It would be amazing though, just so you know.

Ben has a lot of stories about C too, but they are better when he tells them. So I'll just give a few key phrase so you can chuckle if you are family and die of curiosity if you are friend: "I like PB!" and Jamaican money.

C likes to eat yummy things like enchiladas and chocolate fondue. I was so excited to make this one! It was yummy! I wish C could have been here to eat it with us. Funny enough when I planned the dinner I had pineapple, apples and bananas ready for the fondue dessert. But... we are leaving in a few days so I was cleaning out perishable items in the fridge and trying to save them. So I made a pineapple cake and banana bread muffins and applesauce. Oops. We ended up just dipping the bready items and drank lots of water with it. It was still yummy.

I can't wait to see my sister in law in a few days! Happy Birthday you hot mama you!

PNG Christmas

2011-12-13T19:29:00.000-05:00

Reading the Nativity story in the Bible

Liam helping me :)

A drill sergeant

my Amish picnic basket!

roots and bottles to make rootbeer

Last night we celebrated Christmas for FHE, just the three of us. It doesn't make much sense to tote all our gifts around the world, open them there and then tote them around the world again. So we followed our traditions of reading the Nativity story in the Bible, sang Christmas carols, filled up stockings with gifts to teach and serve, and opened up our 3 gifts each to parallel the three gifts of the wise men. A few gifts are still in shipment that hasn't arrived yet like Liam's rocking horse and Ben's drill set so I wrapped up little trinkets like a drill sergeant and a toy horse so they could still open up those gifts. It was funny indeed. It was a nice evening and we had some good fun. Only a few more days and we get to see our families in America again!!!

Tissues

2011-12-12T18:35:00.000-05:00

All three of us caught a cold this last week. We are on our final stretch now which means everything is coming out the nose. Tissues are close at hand at all times. This morning I brought Liam into bed with us so I could get a some more sleep and I did, but then he woke up for good and wanted to see that box on Dad's nightstand. Ben gave it to him and then went to get in the shower. I kept on snoozing. I came to full consciousness with Liam kicking back, leaning against my belly pulling out tissues and occasionally stuffing a few in my shirt. I laughed and then got the camera.
So, dear ones, if you are wondering, Liam might like a new box of tissue for Christmas. Either that or he is trying to make our bed a winter wonderland and doesn't understand that it must be cold too... He will understand soon enough!

Christmas lights!

2011-12-12T18:22:00.000-05:00

Our Stake here in Port Moresby had the grand opening to their Christmas lighting on Sunday night. They got all the missionaries in PNG in the city for the holidays and they say Christmas hymns and Church hymns celebrating Jesus. It was beautiful. Liam loved the lights and kept pointing to them and saying "OHHHH!" It was really funny. The event will go on for the 13 days until Christmas and every night a different branch, ward, or missionaries will sing. As you can see there was a big turn out and the Christmas spirit was abundant! I hope we can go again before we leave for home!

A blend

2011-12-11T07:55:00.000-05:00

There is a girl at church who is quite westernized, she stands out. She is a student at BYU-Hawaii and she comes from a more "well to do" family here in PNG. I like her a lot, she is the only one at church I feel I culturally relate to, which isn't a necessity to me in a friend, but it is nice.
Ben and I were talking about her tonight and how she is very different from other people at church and even the rest of her family for that matter. We got into several seg-ways like how people who are better off financially and are more educated here travel to Australia and other Pacific Islands and understand what a developed country is like. How some of those people mimic the styles and attempt to adopt the mentalities of foreigners to appear more elite among other PNGers, but often times it looks more like the show it is than a natural inclination. There is nothing wrong with adopting other cultures aspects that one enjoys, but I don't like it when it is done with a puffed up ego to belittle others.
I believe experiencing different countries and cultures unavoidably changes a person to different extents. Some mimic mentalities and fashions, some enjoy the stories of differences and similarities, some will forever try to recreate that meal of local delight. And still for others the experience changes something deeper in ones understanding of the world, human nature, ones own inclinations. One comes to understand things they couldn't without the experience. The girl we know at church seems to be one of those people. Sure, she dresses like an American, she talks like an American when she speaks English, and she even has some mannerisms like an American- but not for show and not to disown her own culture. She is blending the two cultures, trying to make sense of her knew found knowledge.
The interesting thing is she is not apart of either culture anymore. She is a bit of both and doesn't completely belong to either one. I can see this in her perhaps because it is in Ben and myself. We don't feel completely normal in America or anywhere else for that matter, we've become people of the world. We are more comfortable moving to new places than staying in the same place for a life time. Maybe it started with never having a pull to one place (people sure, but not places), or maybe it has something to do with those experiences through living abroad and wanting more of it. We will forever be Americans, but we are also a little bit of this and that from every other place we have lived in- just like the girl at church.

Music lover

2011-12-09T23:56:00.001-05:00

My mother in law sent me a neat story with THIS link to listen to a song called "Where's the Line to See Jesus?" and so we pulled up the link to hear it and see the clip. It has a distinctive American-Christian sound, a nice message, and like all memorable and good songs it had a good feeling to it. Liam was playing in his kitchen when I put it on, and when he heard it he stopped what he was doing and pushed his toy pot over to me and the computer to listen closer. He started to sway and dance like he does and I smiled and giggled. When the song was over he pointed to the computer and gave his noise for 'more'. We did that three times. It is so neat how children are so close to God and recognize his spirit in all things, even a song. What great teachers children are!

Toddler art smock

2011-12-08T18:42:00.000-05:00

check out dude's new skill! Standing alone! He has started to take steps too, but no real walking yet :)

I saw THIS pattern for sale on etsy.com and knew it was the one. I bought it and made a cool dude art smock for Liam so he doesn't get so much flour, carrots, dough and liquids on his clothes while we cook. Eventually it will be a good smock for art projects- in the future we will get an art easel and also have little tables for wet or sandy exploration too! I altered the pattern a bit on the back to suit our needs, but I like the general design a lot. It may even be a good birthday present for friends!

Re-doing the garden

2011-12-05T06:02:00.000-05:00

Some kids have sand boxes, others have soil. I needed the soil loosened for new plants to grow and so, in sync with my love of symbiotic relationships, I let Liam go to town. We are going to plant a bunch of seeds when we get back from our Christmas trip, but for now we are "cleaning" up and having a great time at it.

Benji-diver

2011-12-03T18:35:00.000-05:00

welcome committee

N got a job boxing up soap a few months ago and so we haven't seen much of her except at church. The soap company is waiting for their next shipment to come in (customs and shipping in PNG is less than prompt and organized) and so she doesn't have work for the next month. We asked if she wanted to come with us on a dive trip and watch Liam and she was game. So Ben and I got to be dive partners for the first time! It was different to adjust to each other, but still fun. I got a bunch of neat shots of Ben diving too and so I wanted to share those the most!
Ben is using his Christmas gifts early because I thought it too sad to not let him. He is wearing his titanium dive knife on his leg like a pirate and has a dive flashlight in his pocket to see critters in nooks, cracks and caves. He is also wearing his birthday gloves from my parents. :) (that way you can see them folks!) It was a good time and I look forward to a few more dives in the coming months!

Baby teeth

2011-11-30T05:48:00.001-05:00

This teething chart makes me laugh. My baby had his central and lateral incisors by the time he was 7 months. Yes 8 teeth at 7 months, he started at 4 months. Just during our time in Hawaii (2 weeks mind you) he broke 2 canines and 3 molars. He did it all with a grin and not too much meds too! He is now working on 2 more canines and a molar (crazy town!) and I was hoping he would have them by now so I could say he doubled his teeth in one month, but it looks like he has other things in mind. This boy, he does things when he pleases. He may not be walking yet, but he can gnaw your fingers off!

Fruit Leather

2011-11-30T05:37:00.001-05:00

I have been aching to make this for a while now! Liam loves dried fruit, but isn't very interested in fresh fruit since it is slippery and hard to hold. We had a handful of fruit leathers in Hawaii and he would gobble them up every time. I knew I had THIS recipe so it was just a matter of doing it. I used pears and a few peaches for my leather and it is loverly. Liam approves and ate heaps of it today! No problem either because it is fruit, a dash of lemon and a smidge of sugar- good stuff and no preservatives, colors or enhancers. love it.

That's It!

2011-11-29T01:57:00.000-05:00

Homemade chocolate sauce (link also has great lunch box ideas!) ! Takes 5 minutes! Why do we buy this!?

The brightest rainbow I've ever seen! To celebrate C I'm sure!

The fruit in the background is sugar fruit, it is very similar to passion fruit

Years ago Ben and I were playing with the grandkids in my family and throwing pillows at each other. Little C gets up, deepens his voice and says, "That's It!" and goes into high gear schooling us all! It was a serious crack up that we still talk about today.
When I was back home last year my parents were watching my sister's children and I was sitting with C, who was starting to get restless like kids do at church. I started to play tic tac toe with him to keep him quiet and entertained. I wasn't playing very hard because it is more fun to will than lose and he was enjoying himself. Then the smack talk started. He whispered to me- I'm schooling you! Boo-yah! I had to use of my self control to no laugh out loud in church, so I clenched my stomach, smiled really big and took a very deep inhale!
On the same visit C and his siblings went on a walk with me to the temple. C found some acorns on the ground and proceeded to throw them at imaginary vermin in the bushes and grass. He exclaimed- 10 points! Got the rabbit! I loved it! I hope Liam does cool stuff like C when he is bigger!
This week C is celebrating his birthday and he is turning 7! He likes the color blue, soccer and video games. His favorite meal is spaghetti with meatballs (I used THIS recipe and we love it!!) and his favorite dessert is vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. I love this boy so much and can't wait to see him at Christmas! Happy Birthday dude!

Hiccups

2011-11-28T05:42:00.000-05:00

I get hiccups about as often as the average person does and they annoy me about as much as well. Once when I had hiccups I was sitting with my brother Z and these hiccups were going on and on what felt like forever. Z said to me, " I will give you 20 dollars if you can hiccup again right now!" I thought, easy enough. Then the hiccups stopped. HAHA! Today I had hiccups and I thought of that story and it worked! No more hiccups! I don't get it, but I am grateful it works!

This picture has nothing to do with the funny story above, but it is a funny Ben impersonation by Liam. :)

Christmas Decor- Advent and Angel

2011-11-27T22:51:00.001-05:00

I think I thought this advent up all by myself, maybe not though. Even still I'm pretty jazzed about it.

This is a PNG Meri doll I bought a few months back and turned into a colorful Christmas angel. Every home should have an angel around at Christmas time!

A dive!

2011-11-26T01:15:00.001-05:00

We went diving this morning and I finally got my chance to take the underwater camera down with me. I experience things so much more fully when I have a camera. Every dive is a better experience for me and I enjoy my time more and more. There is such a magic to being in that foreign ecosystem filled with fishy life. Ben and I each take a dive since we don't have any help with Liam right now. The dives were marvelous today! Liam loves the trip too even though he doesn't go under. He enjoys seeing the water splash up and the dolphins jumping out of the water and figure 8-ing that escort us back home in the final stretch. He naps on the boat and eats ramen with us at lunch time with the rest of the divers and crew. He is such a ham and charms all on the boat. We took a family photo that was mediocre of Ben and I (but ruined with a man in the background drinking water), and salvaged with Liam and this cute little smile. He knows what to do when a camera is out! That's my boy!

Christmas Decor- Stockings

2011-11-25T01:09:00.000-05:00

I recycled some stockings for Ben and I out of the stockings my mother made years ago and then lost and then found again years later when she and my dad moved. I liked them enough, but wasn't completely satisfied with them. So I took them apart and re-did them into these! Now our stockings say Mama and Dad too which is neat because when I made the original stockings 5 years ago we were just L and B in buttons and didn't have a child to allow us to have Mama or Dad on a stocking.

I used leftover felt from various projects and made this bunting to hang over my sink so my kitchen could be more festive. I like it heaps. It is like confetti in on a string. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T07:32:00.001-05:00

A little bit of everything

Our yummy spread!

official Ambassador of the USA plates!

The view

We had the privilege of getting to have Thanksgiving at our Ambassador's house this year. Last year I arrived in Moresby on Thanksgiving day and was way too tired to go to the dinner, so I am really grateful we all made it this year. Not every embassy employee gets to have Thanksgiving with an Ambassador at each post. Most of the people in Ben's training class are star struck whenever they even see their Ambassador at work, let alone get to talk to him at dinner. We are really fortunate to be at a small post and this is one of the perks.

Dinner was really good! It was nice to be with our friends from the embassy and to enjoy the view from the Ambassador's home. Liam played with the kundu drum with the only other child at the embassy, (they just moved in about 2 months ago. T is 6) and loved it. He thinks T is so cool. I love the classic photo of kids playing under the table!

It was a Thanksgiving to be grateful indeed. To name a few... I am grateful for my little family. I am grateful for my big family. I am grateful for my growing understanding of how fortunate I am to live the lifestyle I do. I am grateful for my education. I am grateful for my testimony of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for my rights as an American citizen. I am grateful for the simple luxuries I have everyday like ice, fans, a variety of clothes, honest neighbors and a really good job. I am grateful for my knowledge of how to be healthy. I am grateful for access to a variety of foods. I am grateful for hope. I am grateful for a love of those around me. I am grateful.

Christmas Decor- Stars

2011-11-22T16:50:00.001-05:00

I have been working on finding ideas that aren't Santa and reindeer things in my goal to decorate in a way that brings thoughts back to Christ's birth, the reason for the holiday. I have also been looking for things that aren't cold winter stuff (snow flakes, snow men, cold wear clothing) since I live in the tropics and it just hurt my heart thinking about all the great stuff that happens in cold weather. It seemed more masochistic than festive to decorate my home as if it were winter. So I came up with a few things. Stars! Love them and how appropriate! I looked online and found THIS awesome source. The 'how to ' I used was so chic because it was in German!

I wanted to find a way to use my glass bulbs I am not putting on my tree because I don't want them broken by little fingers. This is what I came up with.

Then I made this simple sign to hang over our stairs out of all recycled fabric I had! I love it.

More to come!

I'm a Mormon

2011-11-21T07:23:00.001-05:00

There has been a lot of negative stuff going on in the media about Mormons, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. That is my church. I am a Mormon. With Prop 22, Mit Romney as a potential Republican Presidential candidate and then the Book of Mormon musical the church I belong to has sounded really weird and extremely misrepresented.
The New York times recently published THIS article about the Mormon church's campaign, "I"m a Mormon," to help the general public see that we are not “secretive,” “cultish,” “sexist,” “controlling,” “pushy,” “anti-gay.” We are real people trying to do good and become better people. There are YouTube videos and billboards and great stories on Mormon.org about members of our faith. Real people with normal lives and real testimonies.
I was so glad to see that something was finally done to combat this negative media madness. The campaign is done in a positive, uplifting manner and I am proud to be apart of it. I'm a Mormon.

New Family Photo!

2011-11-20T06:06:00.001-05:00

Our last formal-ish family photo was a year ago. It was time for a new one. Liam was awesome and looked at the camera without prompt! I guess he is just used to how taking pictures works because I am always taking pictures of him! too bad I couldn't get him to smile much with the timer mode... That will have to be or next trick.

Getting Holiday-ed Up

2011-11-18T22:18:00.001-05:00

I spent the afternoon getting our home as decorated as I could. We only have about 4 weeks until we go back home to see our families for Christmas and so I need to get us in the holiday mood quick! So I cut up my PNG pineapple the way I learned in Hawaii (I needed a snack to keep me going), made white chocolate macadamia nut cookies to get the house smelling yummy and got out all our Christmas decorations, which isn't much.

You see, we got my parent's old tree when we were first married and that was awesome. We bought some glass bulbs and tinsel and it was great, but now we see that those things are not baby proof. I talked to my friend L in Hawaii and she told me about how she made an islander tree for their first Christmas in Hawaii, so I am borrowing her idea of using leis for garland and a sea star for the topper. I tied up a bunch of sea shells I have and made them into ornaments, put up the few ornaments I made last year and then got our the box of ornaments Ben's mom put together for him- noodle ornaments, yarn, paper and some purchased ones she collected and put years on for Ben so he could have ornaments when he had a family of his own! Genius! We would be quite minimal without it! I wish I had some of my ornaments from growing up to add to our tree. I wonder if my mom would part with them...

This is more than we had last year when our shipment wasn't here yet, so I can't complain much. I do have my home and means now though, so, like my Halloween decor, I need to make some things to get our home feeling festive. I'll show you when I finish things!

While I was finishing up my cookies, Ben washed the baby. They both thought they were so funny!

Shave Ice!

2011-11-14T00:20:00.000-05:00

Everyone talks about Shave Ice (not shaved, shave) here as one of the most quintessential Hawaiian treats. Our friends said that this one is one of the best, if not the best shave ice places on this island. In my mind that made it a priority to go before we left. The APEC Convention is over and all the leaders of countries have gone home. Ben was now officially exhausted. So Liam and I decided to go on another adventure, we are such a good duo. :) Once we got to Waiola's we were giddy because we were the last customers of the day before they closed! We had to take a short bus trip and a bit of a walk to get there so it made the trip all the sweeter (pun intended).
Once I got our shave ice we sat down and I wanted to get photos of Liam and the treat. He got so excited and 'plop!' there went the top of our shave ice. So that is the picture instead. We went all that way for that ice so we ate it right off the table until it got too close to the table and we worried about germs and stopped. At the bottom of the shave ice is ice cream! It was kind of like ice cream in a root beer float and it added a nice texture and flavor to the treat. They also do red bean paste because that is big in Japan and the Japanese tourists enjoy that. My friends said don't waste your money on it, get the ice cream! I am still curious about that red bean paste, but I'm sure I'll taste it soon enough when we go to China for our next post. All in all I can say the shave ice was worth the across town adventure and I enjoyed it. What a way to finish our little trip!

I want to recreate these placemats. I need to learn how to weave like this....

On our way back to our hotel we saw this place. It was near the Hawaiian restaurant we ate at a few days ago and it looked pretty cool to me, but it was closed. It was a mixture of all sorts of things and fun finds to boot! It made me feel like I was in a Hawaiian grandma's attic who had traveled around the world a bit. I love places like that for their organized chaos, somewhat hippie feel and eclectic gems.

Beach Baby

2011-11-13T23:16:00.001-05:00

We played on the shore of Waikiki Beach this afternoon. The boy was a little nervous about the moving water at first and then he was a fearless adventurer and all over the place! Ben finished with work and joined us for a fun family time!

He just started to do these really cheeky smiles. I think they are a crack up!

Lunch today was amazing pasta with sauce and cucumber salad. Quite possibly Liam's favorite. He was having such a good time munching and playing. I love messy baby photos so of course he is another one for the enjoyment of us all. :)

Eating , Walking

2011-11-12T02:31:00.000-05:00

We met up with L today to go to one of her favorite farmer's markets. L loves to walk like I do so we walked the distance to the market. It was a lovely day and a nice walk. It is actually pretty neat because even though L and I have done so many different things over the years we are interested in so many of the same things as if we had been peddling side by side all a long. Way neat to rediscover. L loves farmer's markets like I do too and loves GOOD food. We ate so many yummy things today on our walk: fresh mozzerella-tomato-pesto BBQ cooked pizza, refreshing ginger coolers and hibiscus tea and mint drinks, and acai bowls with granola and fruit. I loved it! It was so wonderful to catch up with my old friend and do some of my favorite things- eat and walk!!

Hawaiin Quilts

2011-11-11T02:28:00.000-05:00

I was pretty surprised to find that quilting is a fairly big thing here. It doesn't get very cold here, but the quilts are still abundant! The patterns are pretty cool and I want to remember them so someday when I am a better quilter I can replicate them. They are hand sewn and way out of my price range, but someday hopefully I will own these pretty things!

BYU Hawaii and the temple!!

2011-11-10T22:50:00.001-05:00

groovy new Hawaiian shirt!

Today Ben had an official trip with the PNG delegation. We went to BYU Hawaii and were greeted by singers and students from PNG. Among those welcome singer students was none other than my dear R.L. who I used to babysit years ago!!! It was such a great surprise!! I got to talk with her a bunch while the meeting and ceremonies were going on and it was so great! We begged anyone with a car to take us to the temple next door since we couldn't walk there and get back in time before we leave. We found someone to take us and I quickly took some shots, soaked in the great feeling there and we quickly drove back.

The Bohman family with the PNG Prime Minister!!!!

I thought the temple trip was cancelled like the Polynesian Cultural Center was cancelled for the delegation, but it actually wasn't!!! So while everyone was in the visitor center Liam and I walked around the temple grounds. It was so wonderful to be on the temple grounds and so neat to share the gospel with such influential people.

Walking Waikiki

2011-11-09T23:25:00.001-05:00

Our hotel room view! Aloha Honolulu!

I think this is a clever showcasing by Louis Vuitton

this cracks me up!

Us walking around!

Our Hotel!

that bucket set is how I got to update my blog this morning! He loves it!

Years ago my parents went to Hawaii. I stayed home with the rest of the kids and missed out on the romantic get away. I was so bummed my parents were gone, but at least I got to see Grandma and get treats every day! Today I suspect Waikiki looks a bit different so I thought I would take photos to remember it so when my boy goes back someday we have something to compare! A few things I have noticed are, there are more Japanese tourists than any other tourist so everything is in English and Japanese; it is so clean and pretty here; there are welcome signs for APEC delegates everywhere!; the sunsets are all they are cracked up to be. :)

Ono Hawaiian foods

2011-11-08T15:31:00.000-05:00

Ono Hawaii Food is called the best Hawaiian food restaurant in Honolulu. L and B claim it is one of their top 3 favorite restaurants here! So we had to go. It is a very small place, so there is a line outside waiting to get in. We felt like we were waiting to get inside some exclusive club! The turn around is pretty quick though so we didn't wait long. We ordered a Lau Lau (spinach covered pork) and Kalua Pork combo meal so we could try all the goods. We got to try poi too, which is taro root made smooth enough to be pudding, but not sweet. Everything was really tasty and it lived up to the hype for sure! Hooray for Hawaiian food!

Ala Moana Center

2011-11-07T15:26:00.000-05:00

The biggest OUTDOOR shopping center in the world is here in Honolulu. The mall in the city I grew up in is big (one of the biggest in California!), but this one has 4 department stores as well, but then 4 floors too!!! We aren't big shoppers, but we needed to find some things here that we needed for when we go back to PNG, so it was huge welcome! Because Ben is apart of the big convention going on here he got a gift package and in it was a load of coupons at Ala Moana Center. It was great because some of the things we needed to get were all of the sudden discounted! Love that!

Honolulu Stake Center

2011-11-06T15:19:00.000-05:00

photo borrowed from HERE

On Sunday Liam and I went to church at the Honolulu Stake Center. It looked more like a temple grounds than church grounds! It was huge and so so pretty!! It was Stake Conference so we didn't meet many people, but at least we got to see what church is like here!

Little boy

2011-11-06T15:17:00.000-05:00

Liam has been enjoying himself with eating on the ground with mom and dad (no table in our room but there is a fully stocked and functioning kitchen. Go figure!). He loves pasta! He has also gotten a real kick out of putting lids back on bottles. He hasn't figured out how to screw things back on so he uses all his might to try and force them on. He scrunches his shoulders, purses his lips and squeezes really hard. It looks so comical! I think he does it even more because it makes me laugh a lot!

Pineapple

2011-11-05T15:00:00.000-04:00

As we were driving along the north side of the coast we made our way to sunset beach and saw the HIC surf competition along Pipeline! Way cool!

Pineapple fields

pineapple goods for sale

We took a drive along the coast of O'ahu as far as it was paved after lunch and so we came upon the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We saw acres and acres of pineapples and it was awesome. We went into the plantation and saw a how to cut pineapple demo and ate some pineapple ice cream too!

Shrimp and Rice

2011-11-05T14:59:00.000-04:00

While waiting for our food L, Liam and I walked around the market behind Giovanni's and I met a friend's dad! The friend is now a performer on the children's show YO Gabba Gabba and was my brother's college roomate, so it was pretty neat to meet his parents.

Food places run out of trucks and trailers is a big thing here in Honolulu. Some of the best places in local food ratings are in trucks!! L and B took us to this Shrimp and Rice place because it was the first and is declared the best. Liam went nuts for the rice that was covered in butter and garlic! The shrimp are farmed in these little pools right next to Giovanni's so you can see how they raise their food and what you are really eating! Cool! It was delicious!

Kayaking to China Man's Hat

2011-11-05T14:36:00.000-04:00

I have a friend that I have had since I was 2 years old. Parent's have moved houses, we went to different universities, marriages have been had and all the while we have stayed in contact as if we were dear cousins. I don't mean every month we had a great conversation, but I mean she is family to me and I don't worry about losing her friendship. Currently, L lives in Honolulu with her husband and they love it here! So when we found out about this business trip to Hawaii I emailed her right away!

L and her husband B took us on a great local's eye view of O'ahu and we saw and ate a ton of stuff! I'll make it into a few posts just for ease of viewing.

First we went to L and B's friend D's house on a beach. He loves sharing his "backyard" with people and takes serious happiness in doing so. So much so that he bought a few extra kayaks so he could take people out on the water! He invites friends from church to bring their friends to his place for kayaking as much as possible, so that is what L and B did! D even had a baby size life preserver for Liam! So we got in our kayak's, put Liam between my legs and paddled over to to China Man's Hat! We hiked to the top with Liam in the baby carrier once we got there and soaked up the amazing view! I wish I could have brought our camera with us, but we were wet enough once we got there to know that it was good we didn't take the camera! We walked around and played with the anemone on the rocks, splashed in the tiny beach waves and jumped from rock to rock. It was beautiful.

Whole Foods

2011-11-04T14:50:00.000-04:00

The warmth and excitement I feel in my heart when I go to Whole Foods is comparable to many other women going to the mall and having a shopping spree. I love this grocery store. I love how pretty everything is set up, I love how yummy the food tastes, I love the specialty items one can find, I love the 365 Brand things, I love their marketing effort to support local produce and I love their effort to support fewer plastic or paper bags by putting a variety of bags by the check out counters and giving more money back than any other store I know of for using said bags.
We went to Whole Foods on Friday to make out stay easier in the hotel. It is fun to eat out, but if that is all you are doing it gets old fast! Ben and I both stopped in our tracks when we entered and smiled at each other. Then we laughed because we did that. Throughout our shopping trip we repeatedly declared our love for the store and picked up items we know and love so much. I know it may sound a bit silly to love a grocery store, but so is a love for shopping in general or a sport team or a brand or a hobby! So we'll leave it to my quirkiness and smile. :)

Two Thursdays

2011-11-03T14:07:00.000-04:00

On our way back to the states we got to overnight and spend the day in Sydney, Australia. It was a rainy off and on throughout the day so we didn't venture out very far. We checked out of our hotel by 11am so Liam and I napped in the lobby a few times as necessary, we considered it home base. There was a beautiful park by the cathedral and so we spent a good amount of time there watching unusual birds, playing in the jacaranda tree flowered grass and getting to simple WALK!
It was amazing to get our first taste of modern civilization once again. I was so eager to go eat at artistically presented, yummy, fresh food places. It was a great beginning I tell you! There was this upscale food court in the mall and we walked around it all and enjoyed filling our eyes and noses with the food. We settled on something simple because we will had a 9 and half hour flight ahead of us. Even the simple food (yummy sandwiches, fruit and salad) was immensely more impressive than what I had had in PNG the past few months!
We spent the day in Sydney on Thursday and because of the International date line we would get to Hawaii on Thursday morning too!! Thursday in Hawaii consisted of checking into our hotel, eating at the hotel restaurant, sleeping and waking up to a famously huge rainbow, showering and then going to eat at Cheesecake Factory! (my favorite Commercial American restaurant!). Needless to say, we were tired and hungry.

Hawaii

2011-11-01T07:45:00.002-04:00

Ben has a business trip coming up and Liam and I are going with him! It is my first time to Hawaii and I am really looking forward to experiencing it. Top things I want to do: eat Hawaiian BBQ, play on the beach with my baby, kayak, hike, get some baby hawaiian shirts, see my old friend who now lives there and eat fresh tropical fruit!

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-31T08:05:00.000-04:00

Getting treats on our compound from T

The big boys

We didn't do much trick or treating with Liam this year, but we had to do a little! He thought it was interesting that people kept putting crinkly things in his bilum bag and loved pulling them out afterward. There is a compound here that does trick or treating every year and so we made sure to go there to visit our friends and to enjoy all the hype as if we were back in America. We didn't stay long because Liam isn't always a night owl, but we stayed long enough to feel like Halloween really happened. And it did my friends, it really happened!

Glamorous Napkins

2011-10-31T08:04:00.001-04:00

Perhaps you have heard of Pinterest.com? I know I have, and how I love it. I have some of the most creative and inspiring friends whom I love getting together with to bounce ideas with and to share things we love. My really close friends live in Malaysia, Thailand and America, which is not where I am, which is Papua New Guinea. So the need for Pinterest has been for a long time. Now I get to see the things they find inspiring, creative and unique through Pinterest and it makes me ever so happy.

One thing I love that I saw was using "Fat Quarter" quilter's squares as napkins! No cutting involved, just a little sewing on the edges to finish them off! I more than love Anna Maria Horner fabric and so I thought one of her fabric collections would look faboo on my table with all its eclectic-ness, yet coordinating colors. I need to have a dozen guests now so I can have all my napkins on the table at once!

Baby Dinosaur

2011-10-30T08:45:00.001-04:00

monster drinking party, skeleton diver, witch, headless horseman

Fred, Wilma and baby Dinosaur!

My friend, T, and I have been planning this party for a month now! We made and ordered decorations in preparation for this party and got so excited to put it all together! Our neighbor hasn't received his household shipment yet and so he said we could use his house void of personal possessions as the stage! It was a good time and the decor turned out great!
I bought Liam's costume months ago because I really wanted him to be a dinosaur. Hey, you only get a few years until they start dreaming up their own costumes and so I've got to act now! Family costumes are so fun. Last year I wanted to do a family costuming of PB, Jam and a baby loaf of bread, but we were separated by the Pacific so it didn't happen. This year we would not skimp, so Ben was Fred Flintstone and I was Wilma. I think I will push for family costuming as long as the kids will let me, I love it!

New Specs

2011-10-30T08:36:00.003-04:00

They are beautiful and they are mine!!! I ordered these online a few months ago and then tried them on, "yes!" I thought, and so I sent them in to get my prescription put in them. It is so fun to wear colorful glasses, they become quite the fun accessory when they are funky. I got them on THIS website. I got a buy one get one 50% off coupon and so it turned out a heck of a lot cheaper than designer glasses normally are. Doctor's offices never have a selection like this! So excited!

:)

2011-10-27T22:17:00.001-04:00

My beautifully sleeping babe.

Halloween Decor- graveyard apparel

2011-10-27T22:17:00.000-04:00

Ok, so most graveyard stuff doesn't have bunting, but perhaps it should! The tombstones are all the ailments we have or had here on our compound. I wish that crow that bangs on the windows at 5 in the morning was a past tense possession.
Now we are finished with new decor for this year, but I still have some things I won't finish in time for this year that I want to share. I love that next year we will put them out and enjoy them for the first time even though we will likely be recently back in Virginia for training again at the time.

Focus

2011-10-26T22:09:00.000-04:00

When my little guy is focusing really hard on this new skill of a toy his mouth opens wide to help the toy open up to fit, or his tongue comes out like his daddy when he needs to think a bit more. When he gets that trinket on the post he lets out a little "ha!" as if to say- I did it!! Love these little quirks!

Tomato Happiness

2011-10-26T22:07:00.000-04:00

We have success!!! They are so yummy too!

Latest Downloads

2011-10-26T07:23:00.001-04:00

Initializing Happiness program

Download complete

Summer dress

2011-10-23T08:14:00.003-04:00

Why? Because it is always summer here and I have another year of summer ahead of me! I grabbed some x-large cotton knit t-shirts from a second hand shop to chop up and make this number. I think it is so cool to be able to breathe new life into t-shirts that were so sad before! This is a simple sheath dress that I designed using the basis of one of the three patterns from Built By Wendy Dresses. I think that book is so awesome. I have only designed and made one other dress using that book as my guide, but I think it is high time I make some more! I'm already dreaming! This cotton knit dress is so comfy and has a really simple, casual fit to it that I really like. At first I was a bit hesitant at my bold color choices, but as I look at them all together I think to myself- you only live once- and afterall- I am my mother's daughter!

Halloween Decor- Monsters

2011-10-21T08:12:00.001-04:00

plant monster

chair monster

primary colors monsters

Isn't it wonderful that all you have to do is add sinister eyes and you can turn an everyday thing into a monster! Then just for safety sake little colorful monsters decorate corners to make sure we get our monster fill for the year. :)

Halloween Decor- Creepy Crew

2011-10-21T07:52:00.000-04:00

I still need to figure out some yucky bugs of sorts, but I think I'll wait on that one since there are already enough of those in this country! My spider was made out of a T- shirt sleeve I saved after cutting up the shirt for another project soon to come :)- RECYCLE! My bats are made out of flat foam and are hung like tennis shoes over a telephone wire by fishing string so you can't see the string hardly at all! Flying Bats!

And my sugar scull sock skeleton! He is such a gentleman with his bow tie! Things are getting festive around here!

Halloween Decor- pumpkins

2011-10-20T06:05:00.000-04:00

I have been planning and accumulating materials for a while now and the creating has begun! These pumpkins are the first to be finished! They were way easy. I just made "yo-yo's" and stuffed them with bubble wrap (because I have that, but no craft stuffing), which is cool because I recycled materials! Liam loves the noise they make too and bats them around the room. Here is to one project down and many more to go!

Natural Homes

2011-10-19T09:33:00.002-04:00

My friend showed me this newspaper clipping about a family who built this gorgeous home in the countryside in Wales. It is coined "The Hobbit House." So whimsical! You can find the story HERE. I think this is such an interesting thing to do and the mentality behind it is a fascinating concept.

I think minimal, natural housing is really interesting and makes me stretch my imagination in thinking about what I could really do without and what I must have. Especially with how I see people here living in Port Moresby in their shacks with no electricity or running water except outside. I think I could cut down quite a bit, like all could (some much more than others), but I don't know if I could go as far as some by choice.
There is a current ecological movement that supports low toxins, simple settings with minimal stuff. Being a minimalist consumer/ polluter to the extreme in some cases with MINI houses.

The articles are great if you have some time. Think it over, what do you need? What could you cut back on?

Chef Bohman

2011-10-18T09:04:00.000-04:00

Those are my cooking jammies! :)

Liam spends a lot of time with me in the kitchen. Ever since he was a few months old I would put him in his swing and he watched, then he would sit in his boppy chair and watch, then it was his highchair to watch... and now he occasionally stands on this chair and helps me squash vegetables, mix batters and taste test for quality. It is so fun to see him watch everything and start to get into it. They say kids who help cook are much less picky eaters! Sure I have to be more cautious of sharp things, and things take a little longer at times, but we both love it. We have a cool tower coming in a shipment with more guards around him and grips that don't move easily on the legs of the tower. I am really looking forward to that, but for now we make due and enjoy the food making!

Pancakes in PNG

2011-10-15T17:38:00.001-04:00

making coconut milk for the curry!

For our Relief Society activity this month I taught the ladies how to make pancakes. I left out the vanilla and so they could get all the ingredients relatively easily. I talked about how there is not need for an oven, they can be cooked on a open fire (most women cook over and open fire) and they could be sold too! They thought that was pretty great. They each took a turn dropping some batter and flipping pancakes.
There was also a lady who wanted to teach how to make PNG style fish curry. How cool is it that food can be taken to different countries and made into a local version?! We do it all the time in America, but here it is a bigger deal since culinary arts are so so so new. We will make a PNG style pizza sometime next year for a Relief Society activity too and I look forward to that. The fish was particularly cool because some were brightly color reef fish all fried up! I thought- hey I've seen that one diving! :) It was a fun activity as is always the case here and quite the feast afterward!

BBQ and Carrot cake

2011-10-14T08:23:00.001-04:00

When Ben and I were first married he talked about BBQ chicken on rice and how yummy it was. I thought, that sounds different and not that exciting to me. Eventually we got some BBQ sauce and he made it up for dinner one night after we got home from classes. I was excited to finally try it and then it was about as exciting as I thought it would be. Ben admitted it must have been a nostalgic thing rather than a super good thing. We haven't had that dish since.
This week Ben's brother 'A' is turning another year older. When I asked him what his favorite dish was he said, something simple- BBQ chicken on rice! I was slightly bummed, but then I thought- this is my project and I can embellish as much as I want as long as I stick to the main idea and we still honor the birthday person. So we got out our brand new Lodge Hibachi grill and grilled some chicken,instead of pan cooking it in the sauce, and then brushed BBQ sauce on it, we made cilantro rice instead of white rice and I topped the meal off with a jicama-orange salad I have been wanting to try. I hope 'A' doesn't mind that I jazzed things up a bit. We really enjoyed the meal! Birthday boy also likes carrot cake, and my parents recently gave me a recipe from my dad's Hershey's baking book (he asked my mom for the book for his birthday- he has a sweet tooth and I love that he asked for that book!) that they loved. It doesn't have the normal fruit in it that carrot cake has, but it does have peanut butter chips in it! Yum!

Now some about brother 'A.' He is the tallest in Ben's family and has a stark resemblance to 'Where's Waldo' that we love. He is a great conversationalist. He is into the sciences and to my knowledge is still studying science at University of Alaska Fairbanks (wicked cold there!). We had the honor of driving 'A' up to school to attend his first semester last year and really enjoyed the road trip with him. Brother 'A' has a really fun and clever sense of humor that I enjoy. He is often quiet and then he comes out with these charades and bursts of life that give one a peak into his different sides. We rotate who has who for Christmas in the Bohman family and 'A' had us the Christmas we were in Alaska. I was dying to do some sledding and so for our Christmas gift he bought us some sleds, graffiti style painted our names on them and then packed down the snow on the huge hill by the house so we could sled on Christmas day. That is one of my most favorite gifts of all time. Here's hoping for a great birthday to him and to more memories this holiday season!

Baby games

2011-10-14T08:00:00.002-04:00

Liam has really gotten into games. Playing hide and seek, peek a boo, tug a war, chasing me around the room and coaxing me to chase him, batting pillows that I tumble on him and clapping all the while. Ben said today- he is getting to that age that you love isn't he?! Liam is understanding silly dances and songs and baby rough housing and games, so yes. Yes he is.