birthdays and other stuff

OK, so this post is only a little overdue. I didn't wait months like last time.

Hannah, Grandma Perazzo, and I all have birthdays in December, so the three of us just all celebrated being able to add another candle to our birthday cakes (only Hannah and I opted to not have cakes this year...perhaps I'm still 55 then).

My birthday was one of the best. It started at 6 am, just before Alex and I left for seminary. They even got Sam and Danny out of bed to see me open my gifts (sorry guys!). One of which was a necklace that's the Chinese symbol for love that Glen got for me. I love it.

Hannah got me what I've always wanted...a clean house. She even filmed me opening her gift (I was unaware of that fact).

So, when I finally unwrapped all the layers, I found a play titled "The Clean House." Pretty funny. They are planning on giving the house a thorough cleaning for me.

Sam, Danny, and I went to the Christmas Tree lighting in downtown Fallon. The lighting of the tree is followed by fireworks.

Wednesday the 20th, besides being our first snow for the season, was my parents' 61st wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! You're amazing.

We also recently got Glen a better car. Our driveway now looks like a used car lot especially since Ryan and Eric are home from college for Christmas break. Glen's been driving a 1996 Saturn for the past year. He now has a 2002 Chevy Cavalier. Then there's Hannah's car, my car, and Glen's truck. We don't plan on keeping the Saturn, however.

So Christmas is upon us...and my Christmas cards, though made, don't have a letter or a photo to go in them yet. I always thought that having kids kept me from doing things on time. Now I know that it's just me. I just can't seem to get motivated enough to be on the ball. But I'm okay with that. We will write a letter and get the photos printed...maybe before the New Year arrives.

Merry Christmas!

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overdue post

First off, we are all fine. I've just been waaaay too lazy to post. Talking to my sister yesterday, she was a bit worried. I told her I'd post...

Anyway, best news, of course, is our new granddaughter, Joy!

Joy is saying "hi!"

 

Joy Elise was born at 6:16 pm on November 15th, weighing in at 8 lbs 14 oz, and was 21" long. Apparently Henry really loves her. :) I'm hoping to go see her soon. Congratulations Andrew, Heather, and Henry! We are so happy for your little family.

Thanksgiving was great. I didn't take a single picture, though. Like always, it was delicious food and plenty of games, friends, and family. Good times.

Tennis is old news, but I haven't posted in so long that I still have some blog-worthy info to write about.

FYI-I doubt it's an official term, but a bagel in tennis is when the final score is 6-0 (or 0-6). So to be bageled means that you didn't even win one game.

When Alex plays his tennis matches, I never hear any of the names of the other teams' players...except for Haas. Haas is the man to beat. Alex played him and the fact that Alex managed to win one game off of him and didn't get totally bageled is a BIG deal.  A fellow teammate even made cookies for Alex in order to celebrate the accomplishment.

Congratulations Alex!

It took almost the entire tennis season before Sam was approved to play, so he was only able to compete once--against the team that later won at State. He managed to win one match. (Alex didn't win any that day; Sam was playing doubles, though, which means Alex and him were not playing the same opponents) Since only a total of 4 matches were won by our team (and the other 3 by the doubles team of Miles and Blake, who then went on to state), that was quite exciting. Congratulations Sam! Sorry you didn't have a chance to play more.

Sam and Alex with their coach at the tennis banquet

Sam, Danny, Ryan, and Alex

Last Sunday seems like such a long time ago!

We invited the family over to meet Sam and Danny and since it was Sam's 17th birthday, we served cake and ice cream, plus everyone had the chance to eat some of the Korean and Thai candy that the boys had brought for us.

Hannah bought the candles that don't blow out...much to Sam's surprise

The boys did not come empty handed

Sam giving Alex a boxing lesson the first week here...this is shortly before Alex gave Sam a bloody nose

Monday was Sam's first day of classes. Danny got his vaccinations on Monday, so Tuesday was his first day. They've both had schedule changes, but I think they are now all settled in that regard. Sam and Alex have US History together. Sam and Danny have 3 classes together: Photography, Video Productions, and English.

It turns out that there are 8 foreign exchange students this year...usually there are about 4. We have 3 from Thailand, and then one each from South Korea, Belgium, Spain, Italy, and Germany. They all have Senior English together, even though they range from 9th-12th grade. The class they are in is small with Mr. Nelson teaching. Should be good.

In other news this week, today at church Ryan was released as the assistant ward clerk and put in as the 1st counselor in the Elders' Quorum Presidency. It'll keep him busier than his previous calling, but I'm sure he'll do great. He started classes this week. He has 4. It sounds like that should work out well as the teachers seemed to pick different days of the week that their assignments are due. Good luck, Ryan.

In tennis, Alex had a hum-dinger of a match on Thursday that we got to see. He finally won in a tie-breaker. Phew.

Alex on the far court

Glen's napping, Danny's doing homework

Hannah capturing the moment (Thomas was on the court next to Alex)

Heather, Danny, and Sam

News from Provo:

This next week, Heather will be in Arizona to present a research paper that she did with a grad student. It is a conservation conference with hundreds of scientists attending. Her presentation deals with a study on how ungulates affect tree growth. In other Heather news, she auditioned and was accepted once again as a member of BYU's Women's Choir. Congratulations on all accounts, Heather! Good luck this week at your conference!

What a fun week for us here in Fallon.

Our 15 year old freshman, Kyung-Dae (aka Danny) arrived Tuesday night from South Korea. Ryan was still in town (he left to go back to BYU-I the next morning), so Ryan, Hannah, and I went to pick him up from the airport. He arrived around 8:15 pm, having been traveling for about 16 hours.

Hannah, Danny, Me, and Ryan

I was subbing the next day, so Hannah was in charge of Danny. She had to wake him up at 12:30 to get him in to his appointment with the school counselor at 2. He told the counselor the kinds of classes he's interested in. The only requirements foreign exchange students have is that they have to take an English class and then either a US History class or a US Government class. Due to incomplete immunizations, it looks like he won't start school until Tuesday. 

Wednesday night Danny, Aom (pronounced "Ohm"), and I met Hannah and Rusty at the airport to greet our 2nd foreign exchange student, Kaweepat (aka Sam). Aom is a foreign exchange student from Thailand staying with a family that Hannah babysits for. Sam, who is an 11th grader who turned 17 today, had 25 hours worth of traveling (3 layovers) to get to us from Thailand. His plane landed at 9 pm. We started to worry because he was the last one from the plane to come to the waiting area...we saw the pilot before we ever saw Sam. But he arrived safe and sound. Sam and Aom spoke Thai the entire way home from the airport. It's a beautiful sounding language.

Danny, Rusty, Sam, Hannah, Me, and Aom

When Danny, Sam, and I got home from the airport, Glen greeted us with some apple cinnamon muffins that he made. We had some, but Alex and Glen were kind of laughing, so I asked what was up. It turns out that this was Glen's 2nd batch. For the first batch, he reached into the cabinet for the cinnamon, but he had taken down the cumin instead. That first batch, of course, was inedible. He threw them out, saving one for us to try if we wanted. We didn't.

The next morning, the boys slept in until about 11:30, when they had to get up because Sam had his appointment with the counselor. He should be starting school on Monday.

Sam, Hannah, Becky, and Danny at Lattin Farms

I was texting Denise Friday morning where Hannah, Sam, Danny, and I had met up with Hannah's friend Becky at a pick-your-own raspberry place (only $3/pound!), and Denise said that I was a great host. I said "ha!" (though I wanted to put "5!"...see the note at the end of the post). I later shared the following story:

Thursday the boys woke up about 11:30 am (remember that Sam had been on planes for 25 hours without any sleep), had breakfast/lunch, got ready, and then we went to the school to have Sam meet with the counselor. We went to Walmart and came home, at which point we made sandwiches. It was about 3-3:30. After that, Hannah had somewhere to go, so Sam, Danny, and I went to meet the cows.

Sam really likes animals

Glen came home at 5 and he was leaving again at 5:30, so he wanted to eat, but the rest of us weren't ready (Alex was at a tennis match in Sparks). So, Glen just made himself a grilled cheese and left.

The boys had been invited to a 3rd and 4th ward YM/YW friendshipping activity at 7. Hannah took them. It was held in the classroom of Lance Lattin at the high school. It was Lance's wife, Laurianne, who had texted asking me if we were interesting in hosting a foreign exchange student this year. Anyway, I think all the foreign exchange students were invited.

When Alex got in from tennis he drove himself (ack! I'm still not used to that) back to school so he could attend, too.

They got home around 8:30, I think. We decided to play a game. We played Apples to Apples Pictures. Sam won. People went to bed, though it took me a while to get there.

Have you seen my fail? I realized at 11 pm THAT I HAD FORGOTTEN TO FEED THEM DINNER!!! It's not that I ate dinner while they were gone. I'm really not an evening eater, so I never noticed we hadn't eaten. I was just done eating for the day and forgot.

When I told Glen this morning, he said, "No wonder they were eating so much popcorn while they were playing the game." Glen had gotten home towards the end of us playing, so he saw that.

Any way, I put a note using my Scrabble letters on the fridge this morning:

MIANHAE AND CHAN KHXTHOS (what the internet tells me is "sorry" in Korean and Thai)

FOR MY PARENTING FAIL

Hannah then added underneath:

MOM STARVED YOU

After they were both up in the morning, I apologized in person. Sam said he noticed and said he just told himself that maybe we don't eat dinner.

Poor Sam. Poor Danny. I told them that if it ever happened again, to speak up, but that it wouldn't happen again. They have already been told that they are allowed to forage for themselves if they get hungry. Sigh.

The boys are so nice. Often asking if I need help. In the grocery store (we've been twice now), they take the cart from me. Then they grab the bags to carry. Wednesday night, before we left to get Sam, I was cooking dinner and Danny offered to help. At first I was going to refuse, but since he really didn't have anything else to do (Alex was at tennis practice), I had him chop up some ham and then stir the white sauce. I later asked if he helped his mom in the kitchen, and he said no. So funny.

Oh, which brings up one more interesting thing. We noticed on Sam's facebook page (he had friended us before he ever even got here) that he and his friends often put a bunch of 5's together...the number of 5s not being constant. I asked him about it today and he said it means laughing...the Thai word for 5 is "ha" so they used it to show they are laughing. I love it.

On Saturday we went to Wild Island, a water park. We had a blast. Besides the water activities (my favorite is the lazy river, but the boys enjoyed the slides), we played mini-golf, we went through a lazer maze, and we bowled. The boys conked out immediately upon getting in the car. They are still adjusting to the time difference between here and their homes. Hopefully they will be okay by the time they start school this week.

Danny, Sam, Alex, and Jayden

reunion, school, foreign exchange students...

The Perazzo Family Reunion was the first weekend of August. AWESOME! We were at a camping grounds in Heber City, Utah. Some family members that we hadn't seen in years were able to be there. Great people. Great times.

Henry playing on our bunk bed

Ben beat me in this "Minute to Win It" contest...emptying a box of kleenex one tissue at a time

Eric and Alicia's Minute to Win It was to empty the ping pong balls from the kleenex boxes

Heather, Brandon (as moderator), Alex, Ryan, and Hannah playing "Family Feud"

Glen's nap is about to end

Henry!

Hannah used her awesome silk screening skills to make "Perazzo Family Reunion" t-shirts

Mom and Dad P answering questions about themselves (in their t-shirts)

Henry and Ryan facing off

Heather and Hannah participating in the talent show

Andrew, Henry, Heather, and Baby Girl Perazzo

Then school started on August 14th.Alex is now a junior and Glen has started his 29th year of teaching. Good luck, boys!

they seem happy enough to be heading back

Seminary started on August 21st. I have 12 freshmen in my class...4 girls and 8 boys...and I'm loving it. They are amazing and I love being with them. We are studying the Book of Mormon this year and it's going to be fantastic.

On Thursday the 24th I got a text asking if we were interested in having a foreign exchange student. Just a few weeks ago the idea had popped into my head that I'd be interested in doing that, but since school was about to start, I figured it was too late for this year. Within 24 hours of the text, our application was in and Hannah and I had chosen 2 boys to be ours.

The application was approved and now we are just waiting for Tuesday the 5th when they should be flying in. Hannah, Alex, and I are so excited. Glen is okay with it, but does not have the level of excitement as the rest of us.

Kyung Dae is a freshman from South Korea. His bio says he likes computers, museums, photography, playing board games (he won us over with that one), traveling, and walking.

"Sam" is from Thailand. His birthday is next Sunday, making him exactly one month older that Alex, so he is an 11th grader. His bio says that he likes basketball, hiking/backpacking, martial arts, music, swimming, and tennis (he won us over with that one).

Can't wait for next Tuesday!

The 29th was Adam's birthday, so I went and visited him this week

Alex, who had his first tennis match on Tuesday (and his second on Thursday), hopes that Sam will be a really good player and be able to help the team out.

In other Alex news--he passed his driver's test on Wednesday and so is now a licensed driver (ack!!!). His first solo drive was to Harmon Junction to get himself a much-deserved ice cream cone, of course. Then this morning he got to drive himself to his new job at Lattin Farms. Our baby is no longer a baby.

and this is just a picture I took on one of my morning walks this week

Lastly, Ryan is coming home this weekend and will be here this evening. He's only staying till Wednesday, but at least he'll get to meet Kyung-Dae and Sam.

It's going to be a crazy week! :)

Oregon, Deni, scouting, the car, and Twin Lakes

We (Glen, Hannah, Alex, and I) spent a week in Oregon visiting my folks. Had a great time. Even got my dad to play a few games with us. Didn't do much but hang out. It was cloudy for the fireworks on the 4th, so we didn't get to see the fireworks as they just seemed to make the clouds glow. Wish they didn't live so far away.

Since I don't have any fireworks pictures, here's a fun youtube clip of some:

Mom showing Hannah some watercoloring techniques

Denise was able to come for a short visit. We played so many games that 2 weeks later my arms are still hurting from spending so much time leaning against the dining room table. Wish she lived closer.

Alex went to scout camp where he had a great time and did some awesome things. He was chosen one night to be the solo camper...he went off into the woods and spent the night alone. The Seneca run is a race where you do things like shoot a black-powder gun at a target, throw so many tomahawks, run carrying a rock.... Alex came in 1st. He also came in 2nd for the camp in archery. One of the amazing feats he managed to do was shoot at a tomahawk and split the bullet on the edge of the hatchet. (I probably have some of those facts confused, but Alex isn't home to double-check anything)

Glen has been very busy helping with 2 different Eagle Scout projects that have been working at fixing the old movie theatre. The first one was our nephew Thomas's project where ancients fabric wall coverings were take down out of the 2 theatres. The second project was Orin's dealing with painting the walls now that the curtains were down. They did a great job and its look has improved so much.

A

Glen painting from the projection booth

Meanwhile Hannah drove up to Rexburg to pick up Eric and Ryan for a visit. They haven't been home since Christmas, so it's been so great to have them here.

One of the projects that has been going on this summer is that Glen took our Camry that had been rear-ended in March and fixed it using the parts from our Camry that died last October, I think it was. Eric and Ryan helped him to finish up.

The guy at the garage said it would cost $2,000 for him to fix it. It cost us $16.00. That's how much the inspection cost needed so we could register it with a salvage title. Glen replaced the muffler, a rod, and the back bumper (using the parts from our other Camry, so they were "free").

We borrowed a friends cabin up at Twin Lakes, California for one night. Hannah couldn't go, so it was just Glen, Eric, Ryan, Alex, and me. The boys went kayaking for a little bit. We played games. Watched The Rockford Files. Bumped into Mont and Elaine who live 2-3 miles from us here but have the cabin next door to the one we borrowed.

It was beautiful, serene, and refreshing. Ahh. And on the way home, we made a quick stop to Fort Churchill. They guys don't think they'd ever been there before.

family get-togethers

Not too much happened this week. My big project was sorting my binders of recipes that I've collected over the years. I managed to condense about 7 binders to 3 due to a lot of purging. Not too exciting, but I'm glad I got it done. I even found a few missing recipes that I thought were long gone. :)

On Wednesday, Mom P, Teresa, Kathy, Jackie, Alicia, Alicia, Hannah, and I went shopping at Meadowood Mall in Reno. Sarah met us there. Mom scored a bunch of nice outfits for church plus some other clothes and things. I got a picture frame from the thrift store. Everyone else seemed to be in-between these 2 extremes. It was a very nice outing.

Saturday was the annual 4th of July get-together at Kathy and Gary's. I believe there were 49 of us there for lunch. We played games all day. Alan recited the old Johnny Cash song about the ragged old flag. Nice day. Good to see some family we don't often see.

Activities included a little volleyball in our yard once it had cooled down a bit

Since I didn't have much to say this week, I thought I'd add the 2 recipes I was happiest to find. I might be the only one in my family who likes the Polenta casserole, but I'm happy to make it just for myself if needed.

Polenta-Tomatillo Casserole (from the Curves magazine)

1  18-24 oz tube prepared polenta (I take 1 cup of ground polenta and cook it up to use)
1  15 oz can pinto or black beans, drained
1  15 oz can corn kernels, drained
1 cup (about 4 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (more is better, though)
1 1/2 cups mild tomatillo green salsa (or green enchilada sauce)
2 T chopped cilantro
1/2 cup half-and-half
I also like to add chopped tomatoes

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Dice polenta into 1/2" cubes. Put them into a 9" x 13" baking dish. Top with bean, corn, and half of the cheese.
3. In a bowl, mix the salsa, cilantro, and half-and-half. Pour the mixture over the ingredients in the baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
4. Bake covered for 25-30 minutes. Let it stand a few minutes before serving.


And this recipe was a favorite treat when Denise and I went to youth activities at church when we were teenagers.

Heavenly Hash Cake

4 eggs (slightly beaten)
2 sticks butter
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t vanilla
2 c. pecans
4 t cocoa

Mix all together. Pour into an ungreased 9 x 13" pan. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cover immediately with a 10 oz bag of mini-marshmallows.

Icing

1 stick butter
1 box confectioners sugar (1 lb?)
4 t cocoa
8 t evaporated milk

Melt butter. Cream with the cocoa. Beat in the sugar and add the milk. Spread on the cake.

Spread icing on warm cake and let cool. Cut into squares.

we're all together again, we're here, we're here!

(singing that song...)

So, yesterday Glen made it back from his 12 day camping absence and Hannah moved most of her stuff from Reno to Fallon. Which means my living room (and front porch) now like this:

Glen had gone from Young Women's Camp at Buck's Lake, California to Camp Fleischmann, which is north of Lake Almanor, California. Last weekend was a scouting "Ordeal" (I still need Glen to explain to me again what that was) which was followed by Woodbadge (a week long camp for training adult scouting leaders). At Woodbadge Glen was the Chaplain and taught a class(es?) on interfaith worship in scouting. He had a great time, but he's glad the stress of teaching at Woodbadge is over.

After he got home last night, he looked around, saw the obvious change from pinkish to green walls in the back entry, but it took him a while to notice that our bedroom and living room were different colors. It was quite funny how he kept wandering around trying to find something that was different.

On Wednesday, I attended the last Financial Peace University class. It was on giving. We can't help others if we ourselves need help. Very inspiring.

Friday was Alex's last Driver's Ed class. Now he just needs some time in the car with Mr. Thomson, then he'll be able to get his license. I've spent some time in Glen's classroom these past 2 weeks waiting for Alex to be done with his class each day. It's a bit weird without the students there.

Friday night was Michael and Alicia's wedding reception here. At their reception in Mexico, they had this big dance to a montage of songs, so they performed for us, too. Quite fun. I had "All the Single Ladies" stuck in my head for the rest of the night. :)