Silent Night and Alma 34

Alex woke quietly today. I didn't think much of it. Breakfast went by and I even got a few hugs out of him. I started talking to him. Telling him his chores and duties and stuff like that there. Not a word of dissent. What's up? I realized around 10 am that I hadn't heard a single peep. Samuel spilled the beans. Alex had taken a Vow of Silence. (like a monk) Samuel warned him he would have to brake the vow during his writing class today. But after that and by 1 pm he had his mouth taped up. The taping last a few hours, even long enough to make an appearance with the tape during all my tutoring and to do an errand up the street at a neighbors house. We played baseball with 7-8 families at the park. Not a peep!

As a family we read scripture in the evening. Curtis instructed our son that monks chanted and read scripture aloud as part of their dedication. Tonight we read Alma 34 in the Book of Mormon. It is an insightful and long chapter. We split the 41 verses 5 ways. Around 8 verses per person. Alex was third in line. You could here a pin drop when his turn came round. Was he going to read? If you have the book and chapter open you can see as the third reader, Alex was fortunate to get the shortest set of 8 verses. He opened his mouth.

Tonight I heard some of the wisest words ever written from one of the greatest voices of all times. Alma 34:17-24

10 Reasons NOT to Blog

10.  I'm busy making panini (those sandwiches with lines on them)

9.    It's hard to open up the bottle inside

8.   People are looking over my shoulder

7.   My thoughts seem extremely shallow

6.   Have you read the Judge Clarence Thomas biography?

5.    Busy watching FACEBOOK to see if anyones status has changed (refresh, refresh, refresh)

4.   I am getting to0 old to count backward from 10.

2.   It's almost summertime and I've been preoccupied shopping for a bikini that looks nice.

1.   Spending enormous amounts of time deciding if I "Like" each persons FB status or not.

H1N1 Going Green

What is this?  Thought you might want to see a photo of the H1N1 (aka. Swine Flu).

To me it looks like lime belly flops from the Jelly Belly (you know the ones that are misshapen and sugary)  Looks very harmless to me!  

ps.  I heard you can catch it from looking at the picture.

Fake Random Letter Fortunes

OIhnbbewaoaobIZuhn 

The above is just a random hit of the keys.  Now I will look to interpret what was hidden inside the randomness for my future.  OK, looking deep with my extra sensory word and letter powers.

It looks like I want to start a...business uh some sort, wait some kind of pig way outer Hubble space suit. Maybe I am suppose to send the pigs that started this whole flu to outer space.

Feel free to type a short random phrase.  I will interpret the meaning for a small price.   The longer the phrase the higher the price.

Happy Easters

Double Click to see full view on youtube!

Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Come on down to The Woodland Opera House folks! Starring a load of Stapps (Curtis, Julia,  Alex and Samuel).  The show is high energy and you will love it!  To order tickets online--

https://www.etix.com/ticket/servlet/onlineSale?action=selectPerformance&cobrand=wohtheatre&performance_id=919397

PS.  Curtis is crazy onstage.  For all Curtis fans, you will not be disappointed!!  Feel free to leave your review (i.e.:great egyptian arms, lousy drums etc)

Fools Run Red Lights

In true April Fools fashion, I ran a red light on Main street in Woodland today.  Looked around, no cops!  Whew.  I drove up a few blocks, turned right on College and there he was flashing  and riding his cycle, in the rear view.  Turned into the Salvation Army parking area asking sister Rachelle, "how could he have seen me that far away"?  I pulled out my license, took a deep breath, and felt ready (hey this is the forth time I have been stopped in six months*). 

Did you know you have a broken windshield?  Windshield, yes officer, I did know that, my husband did that with a long 2 by 4, is that illegal?  I handed over the license, the State Farm info, then he asked to see my registration.  I fumbled through the paperwork for this and showed him it in its envelope. For some reason I did not hand it to him, I thought a visual was enough. 

Here is when he extended his hand.  I thought how friendly, so I grabbed his hand.  You know, American's do this, shake hands.  It was a nice hand, very warm and a bit pudgy.  I thought, he's letting me go and this is his way of saying so long.  His face dropped here.  I'm not sure if the look was perplextion or embarrassment, but it was unusual under the friendly circumstances. He says here, "I need to have your registration."   I mentioned to the officer that I thought we were done here with the handshake, my face turned hot, it dawned on me that this gesture was not his intention at all.  There was to be no friendly handshake.  He just wanted my paperwork.  

End of story except for one last thing.  After the ticket was issued and he headed toward his bike, I yelled out the window, "Thanks and high five!"  I mean really, we had a certain connection and I was thankful that he did not see my red light infraction! 

*

stopped in Idaho for speeding, got off real easy $20 fine not on record

stopped in Woodland for seat belt infraction, got off because seat belt was on, but top of belt was tucked into armpit of passenger

stopped in Woodland for cutting off officer, got off after pleading blocked visual

true computer confessions

Last night around 11 pm, Curtis turned out the light.  I rolled over, gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "I love my computer". 

Why Am I A Fan of Daniel Hannan?

I like people who make sense and don't skirt this issues, which is extremely rare in our political world. Check him out telling his Prime Minister, Gordon Brown how it is or should be! By the way, this is currently one of hottest YouTubers! Enjoy and become enlightened. One last question--Daniel, can you move to America?



PS. I love how the British say figure!

Cone Update!

For those bloggers who read the below post about the cone zone, I have a little announcement to make.  I now am in possession of my very own cone.  Now this is not your ordinary plastic dirty orange old highway cone.  It is bright orange, but my dear sweet husband surprised me with a sturdy retractable cone.  It was in the driveway when I came home and he ran out to remove it as I came in the drive.  I feel so special (can I use the word special?)!      

Catastrophic Cooking With Caryn

Yesterday I made burritos.  I started with 1/2 lb of ground beef.  I rarely cook with the stuff, and maybe this is why.  After browning, I added what I thought was taco seasoning (Costco size) and to my surprise and utter dismay cinnamon was applied (Costco size). I knew better than to try to wash the ground beef  and reuse, because this is not the first time I have made the mistake and it didn't clean out the taste.  Next I warmed up some green chilies in the microwave.  I would add half the chilies to the black beans and use the rest as garnish.  Taking them out of the microwave, I turned and it just flew out of my...chilies on the cupboards, floor and across my legs.  I almost (should've) gave up, but no.  I started in on the tortillas.  These are special delectable Costco tortillas.  Fortunately, I had a lot of them.  After cooking about 5 of these lovely rounds, I smelled something burning.  Funny??  Nothing seems to be burning.  Except, wait,  I have placed the plate with cooked tortillas on the adjacent, never turned off, burner.  Did you know that a plate, when it gets to a certain degree will explode?  I learned this yesterday cooking burritos.     

Enjoying Life Again

Now that Mom is gone, Dad is renewing his love for exploration of nature and capturing it on his top of the line camera!  Friday we hiked around the Nimbus Dam area.  We climbed to the top of a small, but steep hill, listening to the wild turkeys.   This photo was the view we found there.  Do I really need to travel far and wide to live, learn and grow?  The few hour we spent were filled beauty and wonder.  Dad has a gift of finding what to some may otherwise seem insignificant, but on closer look that there bird's nest is amazing and worth a second visit.  

Sacramento Temple and Skulls

Speaking Plainly, From Just Plain Vanilla

justplainvanilla.blogspot.com/2009/03/bigotry-in-television-target-mormons.html

I Had a Dream

of seeing this beautiful rendition of "How Great Thou Art" performed live.  My dream came true last night.  It was life changing!

Why I would not make a good Fascist Dictator

So I'm kinda new on facebook. But I got this email saying somebody tagged me in a photo. I go to the photo. It is so very horrible, and it is out there. I really don't like to get my picture taken. I prefer to view photos of others. This is what stops me from become a fascist dictator. Have you noticed how they love pictures of themselves? They especially love the statue form of themselves. Their countrymen are forced to display these in their homes, schools and all public areas. Then they destroy the churches, in case anybody thinks of looking at a picture/statue of any other revered being. They don't seem to care about anybody else's facebook photos. Of course, these are not candid shots. They are calculated poses. The figures always look very stern, ready for genocide. A photo like this may be useful for dictatorship purposes, but I don't want people to remember me mad, ugly, in uniform and hanging from the top of a building on a 20 foot pole.