"Hoppy" Easter!

Meet "Marshmallow Snowflake," and "Oreo DaVinci." Our most recent additions. Yesterday morning, prior to our departure for a family Easter party, we decided to pick up some bunnies from our neighbor who keeps a rabbit farm. He was kind enough to let us take a couple at last minute's notice. Warning the kids, "we might give them away while we are in Salt Lake City if someone's parents want them," we boxed them up the two bunnies with newspapers, food, and water, and set off on our journey to the Easter party with a surprise. True, one could call them uninvited guests, though we hoped they would be welcomed at the party. Our wishes came true as they were pulled out of their box and put into eager children's arms. They were a hit! Imagine our surprise when Grammi pulled out an old rabbit cage to put them in while we ate lunch! Turns out, the cage was quite a hit too!
After consulting with every parent in attendance, we determined there were no takers for the bunnies, though we did discover that several Moms could have been persuaded to keep the poor creatures. Luckily for them, the Dads swept in with a firm "NO." End of discussion. Truthfully, my littles were not too disappointed, since they wanted to keep the bunnies in the first place. So at the end of the day, we put the tuckered creatures back in their little box (we left Grammi's cage there on account of the cage David built in our yard already) and journeyed home, most of us snoozing all the way. At home, we carried in the sleeping kidlets to their beds, and tucked the little bunnies in a safe place in the garage for the night.
When Rachel awoke this morning, she first inquired about the bunnies. "Where are those bunnies?" she asked, and then raced out to snuggle them. When she brought one in and declared that there was "no comfy place outside to sit with them," I let her know that bringing bunnies inside is not an option--ever! (Thanks to those Dad's examples, I learned how to say "NO" firmly, and with no room for discussion.) It took a bit to pry her away from those bunnies to get her ready for church. Now, after our Stake Conference meetings are over, the weather has suddenly turned warmer. And we are playing with the bunnies outside on the lawn. What a fun way to spend an Easter Sunday afternoon, sitting in the sun, watching kids play with bunnies. :-)

Blast from the Past

Wandering down memory lane (a.k.a. browsing old pictures), I came across this gem and want to record the story behind it.


At the time this was taken, Isaac was 3, Lisa 6, and Brigham 7 years old (ordered left to right.) Grandma and Grandpa Thompson were visiting for a few days and Grandpa wanted to take the kids for a bike ride to release some positive energy. (You know, the kind that can make them--or Mom or Grandma--crawl the walls if left indoors too long.) As you can see, they went prepared with a jug of water, so as to be gone a while. And they brought along some boats (blocks of wood) to float down the ditch. Of course they decided to stop at our neighbors' ditch, where the ditch is lined with concrete and the banks are well manicured. (Just so you know, most ditches do NOT look this nice--we love our neighbors and their talent to maintain their yard so beautifully.) Incidentally, this particular neighbor lives about a mile away, and there are only three houses between us and them. Well, four at present because another was built since this picture was taken. It is great to live in the country!
Anyway, back to the story: Grandpa and the kids were gone for hours--literally! Long enough, in fact, that Grandma and I felt we had best go look for them in case they were in trouble. No worries, they were having a ball. They had found different materials to use as boats and were experimenting to see which floated the best and moved most swiftly. Bark, leaves, and sticks were among the other materials they used to make their boats with. Some floated, some didn't. Can you just picture them running up and down the banks launching and collecting those boats? I imagine Grandpa got out his watch to time each of them between point A and point B to determine accurately which was fastest. (He's a Civil Engineer and very precise.) My kids LOVED the day Grandpa took them to float boats.

Grandpa Thompson is the best adventurer I know. He has a way of finding simple ways to have fun and make the most of mundane moments. I think he enjoys the grandchildren mostly because they allow him to be a kid with them. He has been a great example to me and to my children. I suppose all those years as a Scout Master contributed to his activity ideas and his patience. And raising 7 kids of his own didn't hurt either. I remember as a child hearing him say, "I am a Millionaire! I've got 7 kids, each worth a million bucks!" And he always treated us that way. We knew his family was the most important thing in the world to him, along with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has served faithfully and honorably in all he has been called to do. I will never forget the day my 9th grade seminary teacher found out who my Dad was. They had been roommates in California as young single adults, and my teacher declared, "You have a great Dad. I have never met a more generous, kind person." His comment stunned me, but I believed him, and that gave me reason to trust and follow Dad during my youth.

Dad often took us on great adventures. We went on an annual family campout, usually to places we hadn't been before like Pipe Springs in nowheresville southern Utah, Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies, Waterton and Glacier National Park, Little Sahara--a desert in west Utah, Vail Colorado, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Teton National Parks, and camping on beaches near San Francisco and Los Angeles. Mom and Dad were campers and taught us much of that art. Because of their thrift and frugality, we were able to take adventures for a fraction of the cost others would spend.

The mountains have become a love of mine largely because of my Dad. He and Aunt Tova took me and my siblings skiing every Saturday we could get away during the winter. He offered us an appreciation for nature and God's creations, and we all caught it. He showed us what it means to be honest as he declined an offer to use someone else's discount pass for our ski passes stating, "No thanks. That would be dishonest." No big lecture; just truth through his actions. We knew he wanted to always be honest with himself and with God. He took us kids on many hikes in our youth as well. We summitted Mt. Olympus, King's Peak, Mt. Timpanogus, Twin Peaks, Lone Peak, Bald Mountain, and came within 900 feet of the top of the Grand Teton, hindered only by waning daylight and lack of proper equipment. He and Mom took 6 of us kids, ages 7 to 18 on a backpacking trip to Havasupai Falls in the Grand Canyon. These adventures kept us close to nature and out of trouble. It brought us together and gave us common ground and shared memories. I will always treasure the time my Mom and Dad invested in those adventures.

The adventures continue. Two years ago, Grandpa and Isaac (7 at the time) hiked 13 miles together on the Porcupine Ridge trail, near Moab. (The same trail that dozens of unicycle riders were maneuvering--among them, Brigham--11 1/2 yrs.) And last year, on his 68th birthday, my Dad reached the summit of the Grand Teton with two of his children and a son-in-law! What a guy! Now he is embarking on another adventure with my Mom serving a mission. For now, they are temporarily assigned to help patrons at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, while awaiting their work Visas to serve in Adelaide, Australia.
Thanks, Dad, for your time spent with me and my family, and for your example. I sure do love you and Mom!

Taffy Pulling

"Spring Break" was more of a Winter Break as there was cold wind and snow outside. So we had to come up with some alternate indoor activities for the week while all the kids were home--all day, every day. The weather actually proved to be quite useful in motivating us to clean the house. We got many organizing projects done at the beginning of the week. Then the cousins came to visit the end of the week and on Friday, we made taffy and spent 30 minutes pulling and shaping it. Here is the recipe we used from the Lion House Book:

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup white corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons glycerine
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter
Mix sugar, water, corn syrup, salt, and glycerine in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook to a temperature of 258 degrees F. Remove from heat and let stand for two to three minutes. Then add vanilla and butter and stir vigorously until butter is melted.
Pour into buttered cookie sheet. Cool until lukewarm taffy can be handled comfortably.
Wash and dry your hands thoroughly. Then take a small piece of taffy and stretch and fold, stretch and fold, stretch and fold, until taffy turns white and pliable. Form your initial on a square of wax paper. (Long strips of taffy may also be cut into 1-inch pieces and wrapped in pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap.)
We had a fun time and the candy tasted great, though it was sticky enough to pull one child's filling right out. After that, we decided to just suck on it instead of chewing.