Hundred Acre Wood or Seusical?

We have never experienced Trick-or-Treating on such a blustery night! (Thus the Hundred Acre Wood reference.)

Look closely at the front door behind the kids, it is dripping with rain that was blowing at gale force horizontally.
Emma is cracking up because I stepped off the porch to get her tall self into the frame and the wind about knocked me over. Needless to say, the Cat-in-the-Hat couldn't keep that fabulous striped creation on her head. Lets just say it was a short night.

BYU Parent's Weekend 2010

Friday Jeffery and Della enjoyed a golf-cart campus tour.
When Lauren got out of class she joined them at the Museum of Art, then they took in a panoramic view from the top of the Kimball tower. When I finished my classes, the four of us went on a behind the scenes tour of the Bookstore and went bowling.

Saturday Lauren, mom and dad went to the "tailgate party" before the football game. We had a doughnut and hot chocolate while VocalPoint (a capella group) and the cheerleaders performed.

Cosmo insisted on some Kodak moments (well okay, some Canon moments.)

It was raining, but we were determined to watch the game against Wyoming.
Our tickets were at the tip top of the stadium, but we had a built in back rest.
When the game started, the stadium was pretty empty, but it filled up by the end.
BYU stayed ahead the whole game, but it got a little dicey
during Wyoming's push in the final minutes.

Midterms

Eek! I'm half way through the semester.
I originally hoped to post a blog about every two weeks, but as you may have noticed, that hasn't happened. In my mind I thought I would create a big summary of everything that happened in those two weeks plus photos. My realization today as I sat in Statistics is I should just squeeze in little posts.
So here is my thought today about taking Statistics. I generally follow the theory well enough, it is the application of formulas to word problems that gets a little hairy. Now that I am more aware of the study of statistics, I recognize it everywhere. It seems like the class is moving so fast, could we just slow the pace down a little, please? For heaven's sake, my second exam is next week!
For fun I will share the essay prompt from my History of Creativity class (which fills a Civilizations requirement): "Imagine a society/nation exists that has placed its emphasis on creativity rather than on territorial control and expansion. Write a 1-2 page foundational epic/myth for this society. What factors or event in the mythical origins of this society would lead to and encourage such a strong focus on creativity? Be sure to include these shaping factors in your story." I know you wish you were in my shoes!
Recently a friend asked how my classes were going. My response: I have not fallen asleep yet although I have been sleepy, and I have watched students next to me fall asleep. I like my classes and find them quite invigorating if not a tad overwhelming.
Well, time to get back to studying.

My goal was to post something about every two weeks, but my time is so precious, I hate to sit at the computer fussing with captions. My other problem is debating what is important enough to share that might be remotely interesting to others. Explanation over. Here is a crash course on some of our comings and goings in the last month:
Homecoming Spectacular, Parade and Football game.
Onion Days
Trip to Heber
Visits from Encinitas friends: Mendioroz
kidney stone
Semester almost half over. It's nearly time to register for Winter Semester classes.
Quilt show
Della-isms
Farmers Market/rain

Farmers Market Recipe:
Roasted Butternut and Gala Apple Soup
5 Servings

4 cups butternut squash, chopped
3 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
2 tablespoons apple juice concentrate
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sweet butter
3 shallots, chopped
1/2 cups onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
3 Gala apples, chopped
4 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
salt
freshly ground white pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon clove
2 teaspoon cinnamon

Peel and seed butternut squash and cut into large chunks. Toss in a large bowl. Add orange juice, dark brown sugar. Pour into roasting pan and cover with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 1 hour or until tender.

In a heavy-bottom stock pot place sweet butter; chopped shallots; chopped onions; diced carrots; peeled, cored and chopped apples; and spices. Cook slowly over a medium flame, stirring frequently until very tender. Do not allow to color. Add 4 cups chicken stock or vegetable bouillon. Bring to a low boil. Add squash and juice. Cook for 5 minutes, add the heavy cream and simmer for 5 more minutes. Puree with a hand blender till very smooth. If too thick, adjust consistency with chicken stock; adjust seasoning as needed.

Garnish with sour cream and Asiago cheese if desired.

First Days...

By degrees we are getting into school routines.

Emma has some bus stop buddies.

Lauren moved into her dorm.

Melinda is back from her roadtrip after taking classes and working this summer.
http://theminnakaymonthly.blogspot.com

I bought my books, a planner and a reusable water bottle. Who knows how any of us survived our young adult college years sharing public water fountains? I went to an orientation for "Non-Traditional" older students. Out of 30,000 students on BYU's Provo campus, about 460 are returning"experienced learners". Jeffery enjoyed a good laugh at some of these suggestions:
*Get a rolling backpack
*Get a locker
*Sit up front (to see and hear better)
*Talk to each professor. Break the ice so they aren't intimidated by you.
*Review notes right after class. (Don't wait until bedtime, you will have forgotten!)
*Create a "mobile office" in a pencil pouch or box
*Schedule class time, study time & family time
*Meet for NTS (Non-Traditional Student) Brown Bag Lunches (IE support group)
Much has changed in the twenty-one years we have been away. New building have sprouted where familiar ones used to be, parking for faculty has increased and student parking is shrinking, university business is conducted electronically. For one class, instead of purchasing a textbook, I purchased a code to a website. I also am required to have an I-clicker, a wireless electronic multiple choice device so professors can poll or quiz large auditoriums of students effortlessly. I'm not so old as to be intimidated by the technology, but it is embarrassing to ask your kids to explain things to you.
Despite my jitters, I am excited and feel like this is the right thing to do. Here goes, classes start Monday!

Exploring & Settling In

The boxes are unpacked, but we still haven't hung anything on the walls. We are exploring the community and events here.

The girls were intrigued by Llama Fest and decided to visit the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. One visit to the annual event was enough.

My sister recommended a tour of Kennecott copper mine and Jeffery had been as a youngster, so we dragged the kids along. We found it fascinating! Who knew how much we use copper in our homes and lives? The mine is 2-3/4 miles across at the top and 3/4 of a mile deep. You could stack two Sears Towers (now known as the Willis Building) on top of each other and still not reach the top of the mine. We have a tradition of buying Christmas ornaments from places we visit, and we found one in the gift shop.

My mom hosted a pioneer themed family reunion on July 24th, tying in with the Utah State holiday commemorating the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley. She made aprons for the granddaughters and had bandannas for the grandsons. Everyone pitched in supplying activities, games, a covered wagon, dutch oven dinner, old-fashion candies and a display of family heirlooms.

We learned of a trail system in the local canyons and have been on a couple of mini-hikes. When the weather cools down a bit, we will make the 'moderately difficult' 2.4 mile round-trip gaining 980 feet ascent to the Y. The truth according to Wikipedia is, "The large white Y on the side of the mountain has become the nationally recognized insignia for BYU and the reason why BYU is often called 'the Y'. It is made of concrete and is 380 feet high and 130 feet wide (116 by 40 m). No other college in the United States has a larger symbol, in fact, the Y is even larger than the letters in the 'Hollywood' sign in California."

Della begged to have her training wheels removed and after we did, she has begged to have them put back on. She can balance, but she isn't confident yet.

We Survived Our Move!

Life is planning and then adapting to the surprises that come your way.
Moving was no different. We left Wednesday as planned before the sun came up and within five minutes, the moving truck was dead. Four hours and a coolant repair later, we finally left San Diego. We dragged into Provo around midnight. In the headlights we spotted a pair of pink flamingos in the flower bed! Melinda perpetuated the family joke of fluorescent pink plastic lawn ornaments that began with our move to New Jersey twenty-one years ago.

Early Thursday, strapping young men arrived thanks to the persuasive powers of Melinda and her roommates. They had our truck and trailer unloaded in about an hour. My parents and brother were also on-hand to help us unload and set up beds. My sisters were busy with their young families but found a way to help us by providing lunch and dinner. Our first out-of-town visitors, the Orme's, arrived mid-morning and graciously helped us unload the things we had stored in Jeffery's sister's basement on previous trips. (Three of the four Orme's spent the better part of Tuesday helping us load the truck in CA. Little did they expect to be put to work on their vacation!) Thanks to prayer and Steve and Jeffery's packing skills, all our worldly possessions miraculously fit into a 27 foot truck. Now the challenge of finding places to put it all.




Independence Day.
Our former neighborhood has always had a kid's bike parade and water balloon fight. We were sad to miss it this year. Then we learned our new area was having a bike parade, pot-luck dinner, bounce house, dunking tank, water games and fireworks Friday night. Della said it was the best party ever. Saturday evening we visited the street fair downtown, then watched the stadium fireworks (from a distance) out our back door. This morning we watched Provo's Grand Parade and were pleasantly surprised by the kindness of the strangers around us. First someone gave us a great parking place they had reserved then didn't need. Next some parade viewers let us sit on their blanket and extra chairs. Then when the vendor was sold out of water bottles, these generous folks gave us one of theirs. We rounded out the day by making strawberry sherbet out of a big bowlful of our own sweet berries.