Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Open Letter


Dear Happy Sumo,

Oh what have you done.

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would like sushi, I would have called you crazy. Oh how ignorant and short-sighted I was. And how MUCH I was missing out. It wasn't that I didn't like seafood. Quite the opposite. It started with fish sticks as a kid, worked my way into fried shrimp and then shrimp scampi. I have gone up from there. I would say up until I was introduced to sushi, Lobster was a definite high point. OH! and the BBQ salmon I had in Seattle when we bought a fresh one from Pikes Place and our friend's mom cooked it. Changed my life.

When my roommate first offered me some of her homemade sushi, I hid my gag right before I put it in my mouth (I'm sorry Kamalani, I love you. BTW, I still make your egg rolls as they are divine.) looking back on it, it was actually quite good. It was just the preconceived IDEA of it.

(And Mollie, I'm sorry darlin' that I scoffed when you bought the "How to make your own Sushi" book at the book fair at UVU. The book even came with it's own bamboo mat. If I had known then, what I know now, I would have bought one too.)

But oh, when Brad and Ashley invited us to dine at Riverwoods with you, I was skeptical. However, much to my relief. I was pregnant with Maddi at the time, and couldn't possibly partake of any sushi. And so, I was saved from any awkward questions or situations. So under that guise I safely ordered the Teriyaki Chicken with Tempura vegetables. It was divine. However, my dinner-mates were all drooling and ooohhhing and awwwing. What could possibly be so incredible? Jesse had ordered a fully cooked roll and so I bravely asked if I could see what all the fuss was about. Ohhhhhh man. It was a surf and turf roll. Steak and crab with green onion, cooked in Tempura. It was heaven in my mouth. I felt joyous and empowered. I was no longer scared of this new concept.

After having Maddi, it was my turn to plan Valentines Day. I choose you. I was so confident with my decision. But I had no idea how awesome it would be. We asked for recommendations and we ended up trying the Vegas Roll and the Sunset Roll. Amazing.

When you created the VIP club, we jumped at the chance to join. Little did we know how ominous that decision would be.

Fast forward and here we are. We received your monthly newsletter and VIP club calender. We noticed that Tuesday was Twofer night (two for one or half off). And so, we met up with Brad and Ashley and their young-un Magnum. (completely adorable by the way) . Four adults and five kids. Wow have times changed.

We all loved the Edamame, even the kids. Although Andrew was pretending they were cars and making vroom vroom noises and pushing them around before eating them. The kids loved their Bento Box they shared. They ate ALL the Tempura veggies, Teriyaki chicken, rice and crispy thingeys. And most impressive, they insisted on doing it all with chopsticks. It was amazing. Andrew is only 3, but he was able to eat his dinner, it was messy, but he did it. These are life skills here folks.

Jesse and I went absolutely crazy and decided to try some new rolls while getting some of our favorites. Since we couldn't decide between some, we ended up ordering FIVE rolls. That's right you heard me. No shame here. FIVE rolls. The Vegas, The Jezabelle, The Rockstar, The Panko Popper and The Bacon Crunch. Last time it was Twofer we ordered 4 and we took home left overs. BUT we figured leftovers were fine. However, it was so divine, we (gulp) ATE......THEM................ALLLLLLL!!!!!

However as it turns out Andrew DID help. But STILL!

So here I sit, completely full, and yet, strangely satisfied and not completely disgusted with myself for shamelessly eating so much.

So Happy Sumo, tell me....

HOW DID YOU DO THAT?

Sincerely,

Me.


Jesse's graduation dinner. The WHOLE family fit in the TINY restaurant! 25 people.
See how HAPPY Rebecca looks? It's because she just tasted heaven. And look at Grandma, she LOVES it.

*UPDATE* I just weighed myself this morning and I have lost a pound. What sort of DARK Magic IS this, Happy Sumo?

Monday, January 18, 2010

Carving Pumpkins!!!!

What says Halloween more than carving a freezing cold gourd-like squash (thanks wikipedia) and pulling all it's innards out and then scraping it's insides. It's dirty, slimy, smelly, and we do it every year? Hmmmm interesting...

We didn't know it at the time but Maddi was starting to not feel well at the time and almost didn't go Trick-or-Treating. You can tell just looking at her face, she's not feeling so hot. Two days later, the dr confirmed that she pneumonia. Ahhhh....fun.
Why is it in every photo, it looks like Andrew is taking a mug shot? I swear he DOES smile. A LOT!
I think how we choose to carve our pumpkins says a lot about how we were feeling at that particular moment. This is Jesse's. Hmmmmm....guesses?
Here's mine. Keep in mind the twins were barely a month old. Is it a yawn? A scream? Any guesses?
Madalyn's.

Andrew'sElizabeth's
Emily's
One big Happy Family! uhhhhh.... of Pumpkins!

spoooooookkkkkyyyy!!!!!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Halloween Parade!

This was Maddi as a "pretty witch" for Halloween. We were getting ready to go to the Halloween Parade at the school. If you are a faithful reader, you know my affinity for Halloween parades. And to top it off, I got to GO this year! Huzzah! I have to say it's a lot better in person. It was a lot of fun! It was so cute to see her interact with her friends.

Maddi and her friend Kadence
Andrew in his Buzz Lightyear costume watching the parade
Wasn't sure if this girl was a Bride.. or what???? Hmmm....
My mom taking a picture of her as Maddi is coming!
So fun and I'm so glad that her school does fun things like this!!!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Halloween Cookies!!!

When I was younger, one of my favorite things to do was to make Halloween cookies. There is just something about the decorating, the chocolate chip eyed bats, and the licorice mouthed pumpkins. Fun fun stuff. The babies were a few weeks old and my mom was coming to help one day so I said "Hey, remember making Halloween cookies when I was younger, ya wanna do it again?" So we made the dough and got some candy and we had a LOT of fun. Maddi and Andrew LOVED it.
Andrew with his apron on, getting ready!



Andrew worked on this one cookie for about 45 minutes and then he was done. It had a LOT of candy on it.
Such good sharing!
All our hard work! We took some around to neighbors, but we did eat a bunch ourselves. YUM!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Fundamental Truths....

Nothing says big sister, than a pair of pajamas.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Overheard...

If you've ever spent anytime with my children at all, you know they like to play games. Especially made up ones. They always start with "MOM I have an idea..."
and then they proceed to tell me what they want me to do and then what they're going to do and how long it will take and what the prize will be if you win. And if you don't follow their instructions to the letter, then you have to start over. These are some very complicated games, my friends. My Dad found this out the hard way.

Lisa walks into her parents kitchen and listens to Grandpa, Madalyn, and
Andrew playing in the living room.

Grandpa :"
Wait.....am I the bubblegum? Or the dish?"

Lisa laughing, runs downstairs before she gets recruited.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Thanksgiving

I know, it's pretty weird to think about Thanksgiving. But alas, here it is.

Laura and my cousin Brittany holding the babies
My cute Grandma
It wouldn't be a Bushman gathering without playing Nerts.
Andrew showed everyone how he has to wear his Lightening McQueen PJ shirt under his sleeper.
Maddi came home from school a few weeks before Thanksgiving and asked to go on a acorn hunt. I kept telling her there were no acorns around here and I wasn't sure where we could find some. She mentioned it about 5,000 times to my mom and while we were at my uncles for Thanksgiving, Maddi and my mom went on an acorn hunt and found a TON. She then took them outside at our house and left a few scattered around so she could hunt them again and then buried a few to grow trees. Ahhhh....childhood. Here is her checking out her acorns.