This Week's Happenings

A Teenager's Perspective: "I don't want to waste my time preparing my future!" This was the adamant statement Jaret gave us when we asked him to fill out an application for Freedom Foundation's Valley Forge Trip. We immediately burst into laughter, he realized how silly it sounded, and about half an hour later, he had completed the application and essay (which he had been putting off for 3 weeks).

The Woe's of Health Education: Bryant's health teacher has convinced him that using a towel more than once is not hygienic. He now uses 3 towels a day (one for the morning shower, one for swimming, and one for the evening shower after swimming). I think his health teacher should do the laundry at our house (at least the towel load!).

A Destination Christmas: On one of the episodes from last season's Chuck, after a particularly "interesting" Thanksgiving, Captain Awesome suggested that they consider having a "destination Christmas." Kaysen wanted to know what that was. So after explaining it, he said, "We've had a destination Christmas before. We went to Boise to visit Aunt Kendra." He's always happy with a destination holiday if it includes Aunt Kendra's house!

The Baker, Not a Candy-Maker: I was asked to teach a candy-making class at Relief Society Home Family and Personal Enrichment. I have never considered myself a candy-maker, especially after getting No Fail Fudge stuck in the pan with the spoon (it took days of soaking to get it out!). Thank goodness Mom was willing to come down and teach me how to make Peanut Brittle, Suckers (which couldn't be shared or displayed because Kaysen and the neighbor girls licked them!), Divinity, and Butterscotch Drops (they tasted just like Werther's!). Everyone wanted to know who made the Divinity (it was the best candy in the whole world!). I couldn't take credit, other than I did tell them that I was really good at moving the mixer button to on and off, or higher and lower, as instructed by my mom as she poured the hot syrup over the egg whites! My demonstration included Almond Joy Bars (dipping in chocolate), Cashew Crickle (mom said the reason it got hard so fast was because we didn't heat up the cashews; the recipe didn't say anything about that!), and Pumpkin Roll-ups (one with nuts and one without). Overall, we had a great time, and everyone there seemed to enjoy the treats.

Getting Older?: Jesse has been exercising like crazy trying to get ready for the basketball season. He still likes to play with the "young" guys, even though he is almost 40 (that's still young, isn't it?). The amazing thing is that he can still pretty much keep up with them, and sometimes even out-jump, out-shoot, and out-run them. But he always comes home tired and a little more sore than he used to, especially his knees.