In Honor of the Hagia Sophia

Spencer made a replica of the Hagia Sophia for his History of Creativity class a few years ago. He is SO proud of this thing and has kept it in his parents house for a few years because he just couldn't see it go.

Well, we knew we were moving to Arizona, and it just didn't make sense to me to lug the huge Hagia Sophia all the way down here with us. Although there was some heart ache, he finally let it go. I know... I'm a mean wife.

I just could not have that thing take my place.

You see, he threatened that if I didn't agree with him to take it down to Arizona, he would just put the Hagia Sophia in the front seat of the moving van instead of me.

That would just not do.

He finally agreed to part with it as long as he took some good video coverage. My kind of man. ;) Of course I couldn't get the video to upload today, so some pictures will just have to do although they do not do it justice.

So in honor of Spencer and his long lost history of creativity project, I present to you...

...the Hagia Sophia.

See that little slit in the front? Well when you look through that slit, you will see all the little people that Spencer so meticulously created. He drew them all by hand. I wish I had his artistic abilities sometimes. I'll send our kids to him if they ever need a drawing of a horse or something. Mine would be very scary... and probably wouldn't look at all like a horse.

Which by the way reminds me of a really funny story that is kind of off topic. I'm teaching second grade right now and one of the little girls in my class is obsessed with dragons. Every chance she has free time, you will find her drawing dragons on her whiteboard.

Well one day she just couldn't get the dragon's head right. She tried and tried and was a little frustrated and walked right up to her all-knowing teacher, Mrs. Hill, ;) and asked her to draw the dragon's head. I laughed to myself and told her that her dragon head would probably be more impressive than mine. She refused to do it herself and waited patiently until I finished the head.

It was hideous.

I can't even tell you what it really looked like because it looked as far from a dragon head as you can get.

I showed her the head and her face kind of crinkled up in this "Mrs. Hill, I'm surprised you can't draw at all" kind of way. It was HILARIOUS. As she walked away with her white board, not knowing what to say, she just quickly erased the head that I had drawn and started on her own yet again.

And she has never asked me to draw a dragon head ever again.

Back to the point of this post... the Hagia Sophia. Spencer lit up the inside with Christmas tree lights and had a spread of people that he had drawn and had stood up vertically inside.

See that horse below? Way good. Way good.

Knights at the round table. He put something from every chapter of his textbook inside.

Long story short, he's amazing. And although it is awesome... I'm sure glad that he chose to put me in the front seat of the moving van instead of the Hagia Sophia.

Pictures and video footage will do.

Dental School

This handsome guy started dental school almost a month ago and has been doing so well! Here he is on his first day. :)

Oh I just love him to pieces.

He seriously is doing so well and I am so proud of him!

Mom You Would Be Ashamed....

This was not posed. And yes, there are seven pairs of shoes sitting around our couch. And yes, only two people live in our house.

I couldn't resist.

Cookie Recipe

Due to popular demand... here is the cookie recipe that I talked about a few posts back:

Cake Mix Cookies

1 box betty crocker cake mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

1 egg

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chocolate chips and mix. Sometimes I don't even use the entire cup of chocolate chips, but it is something close to a cup. Roll the new creation into little one inch balls. Cover them in sugar ( I like to put my sugar in a regular sized bowl and just spin those dough balls around ). Place them on a cookie sheet. I can usually fit about 18 on one. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until the cookies begin to crack. Let them sit for about 45 minutes to about an hour so they don't fall apart while you eat them. Last, eat those delicious bundles of joy....... every last one of them!

Just Thinking About....

...these people today.

I often catch myself trying to figure out how I can become a better person than I am. My mind wanders to this picture. I have been so blessed in my life to be able to call these nine wonderful people my siblings.

By your example, I continue to learn:

how to maintain strong relationships, the importance of service, patience, how to treat your companion, how to put the Lord first in all things, how to parent, how to be passionate about what you love to do, how to be strong in difficult times, how to keep an eternal perspective, acceptance, compassion, the importance of an education, how to make good decisions, how to take care of one another, and most importantly, what love truly is.

I miss you all everyday and can't wait for the time when we can all be back together again.

Love you.

Paiute Trail

I have a confession to make.

I am addicted to chocolate cake cookies.

There. I said it.

My fabulous mother-in-law introduced me to these glorious cookies and every time I make a batch, they are gone in one day. No exaggeration people. I guess it probably doesn't help that my husband has the same addiction. It sure makes the cookies go a lot faster when there's two of us going at them like starving ducks fighting after bread crumbs.

I made some tonight to thank some people in our ward that have helped us out so many times since we have moved in. They are probably just going to have to wait until I make another batch... that we will try really hard not to eat.

Moving on to what this post is really supposed to be about: The Paiute Trail. Spencer's parents invited us to tag along with them as they rode the Paiute Trail this summer. We had a blast! It's been a long time since I camped without running water for three whole days. I forgot how much I really enjoy camping though. Call me crazy, but I don't mind sleeping in a tent and there is just something about being in nature that is calming to me.

Without further ado and in no particular order, here are some pics for you to enjoy.

My favorite pic of the whole trip:

He totally looks like the little boy on "Up" doesn't he?!

This kind of reminds me of Jurassic Park :)

My sweet husband decided that it would be only right that he collected a variety of wildflowers as we drove everyday. Here is my bouquet on the second day in particular:

The next picture was taken after we rode through a HUGE puddle. It was actually part of a river. If you look on Spencer's shirt on his collar, you will see a tiny spot that is a lighter gray color. That is the only spot that was left dry. A-mazing.

Last Call!

Ok friends, this is your last call. I'm going PRIVATE this week. If you haven't left your email, please do so now! That is if you want to keep on reading, of course.

More updates... coming soon. :)