Snow, Snow, Everywhere Snow

Uncle D., BC, and I went to the cabin saturday and set up the heater in the basement. Then we went to the Train and had some chili and stuff. When we returned we had running water and sewer service. I cleared the stairs and the drive approach and now we are set for the New Years Sled thing.

We awoke this morning to a light flurry of snow. By 10 am we were in a moderate snow pattern and now at 11:00 I am awaiting the call from Wally (the home teacher) saying church is cancelled. It is a blizzard. We cannot even see the other side of the freeway.

What fun. Sucks to be you low landers that can't appreciate Utah fine powder. 100% proof. More later.

COOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Phrogbottoms:

We arrived at the cabin yesterday to a frozen furnace, frozen water pipes and potentially frozen sewer pipes. It was cold thru out. Aunt C. thought it was warmer outside. We got the furnace running but decided to come back to the valley for the night and tackle the water pipes in the morning. Soooooo Uncle D. and I will be going to the rental (purchase) department at Home Depot to get one of those "mother of all" long tube blower construction heaters to blast the basement to the highest temperature we can to see if we can get water restored.

It is amazing what wimps we have become. Remember the first year. We would go to the cabin without any insulation with the generator and space heaters and bafracade ouseleves into one of those back bedrooms and bundle up cozy? Not any more. If it isn't (or can't be made) sub-tropical "we ain't goin'".

So it is still unclear if we will be able to do the New Years sleigh and sleep party or not. Hope we can I love the boots, coats, scarves, and gloves of the hordes of Davi' and Reads piled by the front door. Did I mention the laughter? Good times.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

I thought I would be the first to wish all the PHROGBOTTOMS across the country a MERRY CHRISTMAS! I love you all and wish you could be here, but since you aren't I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas without us.

You missed out on an excellent Christmas Eve dinner at Glama's. Thank-you Glama it was perfect!

Below are some highlights of my favorite Christmas's/ traditions.....

My all time favorite Christmas is when we got the sleds and mom and the girls spent Christmas evening sledding on the BIG snow hills in the ward parking lot, oh and don't forget the ward stairs. Ah good times!

Christmas dinners at Aunt Elizabeth's.

Acting out the Nativity scene and the family fighting to be the donkey. Which always worked to my advantage because then I automatically became Mary. Yes, I am the good child. He!He!

Moving into the new house on Christmas Eve day and pulling it all together before mom came home from work! That was a lot of work, but well worth it!

The year we all got Cabbage Patch Kids and Cindy got an Upsie Daisey and we all made fun of her for it.

My all time favorite Christmas present was SPOT. Nerseyfers thanks for sharing her with all of us!

I love you all very much and am glad for the many wonderful Christmas's we have spent together and the many wonderful Christmas' s to come!

Got Your Christmas Shopping Done Bampa?

Christmas Eve can never pass without me thinking of Bampa and how he despises to shop. He is about the only person I know that is actually allergic to the mall. Correct me if I am wrong Bampa, but parking, choosing gifts, standing in lines, and moron shoppers all make you come down with a rash (a rash of bad words, if you know what I am saying). Am I right? Well, for a while I was Bampa's little elf. I remember one year he drove Melanie and me downtown on Christmas Eve. He gave me a fist full of cash, pretty much no instructions and turned us loose in the mall while he circled Salt Lake (one of his favorite pass times). I think we found Glama some perfume and maybe some jewelry but when we saw the sexy Christmas lingerie, we laughed ourselves senseless. The plan was to run through the list of presents we bought for Glama with Bampa, excluding the skimpy panties cleverly concealed in my pocket, and then of course do all of the wrapping. I would then discreetly place the wrapped panties under the tree with a sexy note attached that said something like, "To: Mrs. Claus, From: Santa Claus" and then let the scene unfold before me Christmas morning. I am pretty sure I didn't let anyone else in on my little joke. Christmas morning I watched that package like a hawk. By the time Glama was about to open the gift I was one Nervous Nelly. Of course Glama made a big production of getting a gift. She made sure that all eyes were on her by saying things like, "Whatever could this be?" and, "What a fancy little box!". Bampa had a confident, yet blank look on his face (every once in awhile glancing to me). I was having a tough time maintaining my poker face. After much ceremony Glama tore into her little box, looked inside.... and BLUSHED! She quickly slammed the little box shut. Now we were ALL dying to see what was inside, especially Bampa (he he he)! She eventually HAD to succumb to our appeals, probably because Bampa had to give up the illusion that HE had actually bought the gift. Or maybe I had to give up my little innocent game of shrugging my shoulders and playing dumb. Probably because I was laughing so hard I was crying! Anyway, it goes down as one of my favorite Christmas memories of all time, and I believe it cured Bampa of his, "Mall Fever".

Half Way Finished

I am now officially half way through law school. Piece of cake. Yes I'm aware that's a piece of steak in the picture. The purpose of this post is not so much to inform you all of my accomplishment, but rather, my sorrow in forgetting my steak. You see, we went to dinner to celebrate the end of finals. There was so much food, I couldn't possibly finish it, so I put it in a box excited to eat it for lunch. But alas, my brain has not yet recovered from finals, and I left the take home box with almost an entire steak inside, sitting on the table at the restaurant. I'm just not pleased. Kind of a sad way to finish finals. I'll never get that piece of meat back. I hope the lucky person who found my steak, enjoyed it.

The Wonder of Glamma

After nearly 40 years of sharing my life with Glamma I still learn something new about her every day. We all know her as the "rock" stalwart standard bearer of rightousness, "beacon of truth, justice and the American Way". We have seen the tender, understanding and loving side. Always the forgiving and slow to take offense, she is the best example of goodness we have.

Last night I saw the 17 year old girl.

Through the years whenever we have been at events that included people from her childhood she has said how she was the "shy little fat girl" that was never on the A list in school. She has giggled at my need to stay in touch with friends from so long ago.

Last night the truth was laid before my eyes. Your Mother was on the "A list". She walked into the room and took to her rightful place. She was always surrounded by people wanting to catch up.

After the buffet we moved to the grand piano. The music was incredible, it was like they had been rehearsing for 40 years. All the animation came to Mom's beautiful eyes, her face radiated the 17 year old and when the music shifted from Handle to The Beach Boys you should have seen her rock on. She was every inch the "supreme" if not Diana Ross herself. Of course when she walked into the room she took up a commanding place right in the front row center and the whole house played to her.

You will all find out soon enough that most of those beautiful faces, and bodies you went to school with have been beaten down by gravity and the wear of life. Not your Mom, everyone I spoke with commented on how beautiful, youthful, fun, and "so much like her Mother" she was then and remains today. It was so clear that the warm, caring friend she was in School made her the one everyone sought to be with last night.

You have alot of good things to be proud of in your heritage. The genes and geneology you know. There is a secret hidden deep within each of you. It is the spirit of caring, the richness, spontineity (sp)and true joy in life of that 17 year old girl who last night peeked around the corner of time and captured center stage.

Eat your heart out...

I know that only one of you care about this, but lookie at what BC got. The Alumni Association gave it to me to say thanks...

Look What my Baby Daddy did!

I know I have not posted for months but I have been waiting for Shane to complete the nursery. He spent hours perfecting it. Fist he drew it, which was the easy part for him, then he perfectly painted it which took hours and hours. I would easily say he put in over 80 hrs. of work. He has said he would only do it for his kid maybe only his first because it was sooo labor intensive. You may think a barnyard mural on the wall is cheesy but I love it! Little Davis will probably never really appreciate it because to him it will be what he knows. Shane is so funny to me. He is an over preparer. He wanted to make sure every little detail for the baby is ready. He even bought a car seat last week and installed it into my car! It's kind of funny to me everytime I jump in to see the seat just waiting. Soon baby Davis will be here and all will be well. we would love any visitors that would like to come and see the room and the baby. Well thats all for now. Once the little guy is here I will start a blog, we will be the soggy phrogbottoms.

Hello Its me...

It has been a long time since I posted on the blog. First, I would like to say that I love reading about our ancestors. What a wonderful resource we have. Thanks Mindurs and Bam pa. I have been really busy getting ready for the upcoming Legislative session. We have many issues, both good and bad, that we are monitoring right now. Things seem to be getting more and more complex as we draw near.

I am now done with the MUSS! I turned all of the responsibilities over to the President. It is good to be done, but it was nice to retain that link on campus after I graduated. I had a great time at the U, but now it is time to move on.

Well, that is all I have for now... I will try to be better about posting on this thing.

Golden Phrogs

Phrogs:

It is done. I have posted the first of (hopefully many)biographys on family members. Mindy is my editor and will post the pictures. She wisely is putting one at a time pictures on the site. This way I won't get overwhelmed and quit. I will also edit and provide dates as time goes by and I am near records. Mindy and I have the pedigree charts ready for posting also. We will get them up this week so you will know where these golden phrogs fit in. When Mom's family gets together later this month I will also try and track down her geneology and add those Phrogs (can I say that about the Smiths?) Hopefully Mom will help with the biographys on her folks.

Love,

Old Men Don't Cry

Phrogbottoms:

The two happiest things that have happened to me this week were brought about because of Mindurs. First, She has been there to make the key board sing helping me complete two 14-16 page papers for my historic preservation class, complete with powere point, notes and technical bibliography. Second, Mindy has put that mighty fine picture of my Grandfather Dewar on the Golden Phrog site.

I know we all mightily appreciate how considerate, softhearted and talented our Sister Mindy is when it comes to family. This time she has gone way past the extra mile. Way past helpful, past duty, past love, past the good Samaritan thing, and even beyond self sacrifice. Yes she is in the Celestial Realm of perfection when it comes to "showing up" when it counts most. It makes me proud. Thanks, Mindurs.

Introducing *Golden Phrogs*

Hi Bampa!
I noticed that Mindurs made you a site to write all of those great family stories. I added a link to it under "Phrogbottom Favs" so we all will be checking frequently for family stories. So let that Welch blood of yours course strong and get to work!

Note to MIndurs: Where are you getting your cute templates?

Best Brothers

Only a true Phrogbottom knows the significance of Best brothers!
Superkid wanted to be, "all comfy and snuggly" with Tadpole. Do you dig how Superkid likes to hold Tadpole's little hand? Superkid wants to be part of every activity that Tadpole does. It is a sure fire way to get Superkid to take a bath. I just start singing the bath-time song and stripping down Tadpole and Superkid is at my side begging for a bath. I LOVE my boys!

Abizella's Dream Christmas Tree

Last night we went to the Festival of Trees and enjoyed looking at all of the beutiful trees. Below are the highlights of the festival. Enjoy!


Eat your heart out Abizella - this tree has everything Elmo! So CUTE!


















This is Nate's kind of tree - everything UTE!




















This upside down tree was my favorite. So creative, who thinks to turn a tree upside down and then decorate it. It definately is a Cindy kind of thing to do and I loved it for that reason!

Coach on the verge of crawling?

Coach is now on the verge of crawling, which is bitter-sweet for me. A mobile baby is a happier baby, but on the other hand a mobile baby doesn't like to be held as much. I am going to miss my cuddly baby. Coach by far is way more cuddly than Ashie ever was. My sweet baby is growing up. Any bets as to when Coach will actually crawl? I say the end of December first of January. He will be 8 months old then. Ashie was 10 months old when he crawled. Yikes - they grow-up even faster when they have someone to model behavior after.

Punk Rock Girl

Mistletoe: How do we undo Punk Rock Girl song from your blog. It has survived from the time you entered it on that cute blog about Abizzila to the present day. Through all the blogs since I hear the punk rock theme. Although I can shut it off by going to the original blog and shuting the sound down. Will it ever just end. You know me, anything you do is great with me. But getting me to listen to British Punk Rock is a little out there.

Pictures as promised

Nersey's New Car.

We found out we could grow zucchini as big as buckley.

Jenny had fun visiting the Bennions in Boston.

Matt's New Car.

I tried to grow a goatie - but it wasn't to be.

Friday Evening after Thanksgiving

Well we are 1/2 way through the Thanksgiving Holiday. We have eaten all that food, suffered through the sleepless, bloated night and have been to the stores, raked leaves and watched alot of TV. Yet ahead are 14 pages of text on the preservation of the Baron Woolen Mill in Brigham City, The U victory over the Utah County college, my monthly Priesthood Lesson and yet another Sunday Dinner.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I was invited to Paul Rolley's house to watch the big game but instead we are going to Uncle Dave's to be with the family. So instead of politics with Paul, Randy Horiuchi, an Judge Scott Daniels I will be sucking down treats with the Reads, Schifbauers, Uncle Paul, Nate and Mindy and Mom. This I believe to be the wisest choice for the day.

The tantilizing smell of homemade pizza is wafting through the dining room to the home teachers room to the den. Mindy, Mom and the two Smith cousins from BYU and Texas are making alot of noise and some great smells in the kitchen. Thanksgiving was incredible as always but tonight holds a great deal of promise.

Hope you all made it home safely from wherever you spent the holiday. Love Bampa

Man I bought for that person last year!

If this is what you said while reading this blog - I don't want to hear it. I love you all, but no complaining to Mindurs. Christmas is about the spirit of giving so suck it up and be glad that you have the PRIVELDGE to buy for that sibling two years running.

James is buying for Brian
Rick has Jenny
Charlene has Shane
Missy has Melissa
Brad has Matt
Steve has Missy
Melissa has Rick
Mindy has James
Nate has Charlene
Cindy has Brad
Shane has Nate
Jenny has Steve
Matt has Mindy
and Brian has Cindy

Merry Christmas!

Love, Mindurs

Just as a side note Charlene and James did the drawing so if you must complain, complain to them.

Funny!

Ha!Ha! So True!

BYU sucks - Opinion

Mmm Mmm Mmm Delicious!

I made Missletoe's french bread and it was delicious! The bread was a wonderful compliment to the stuff shell pasta I made for dinner. I recommend that everyone tries making the bread it is easy and good. Yes, it is easy, even I did it and I've never made bread before. For now you will just have to enjoy my pictures.

Supersize Me!

If there is ANYONE who does my name proud, it is Indy Missy. I am so lucky that everything I always wanted to be is embodied in someone who actually has my name (and my maiden name too!). Indy Missy is intelligent, kind, generous, foxy, classy, and all the wonderful traits Mindurs listed too. I was a little weary of another Missy hitting the scene and even suggested at one point that the next Missy to enter the family would have to be called, "Supersize- Missy". The irony is now I want to supersize myself to be just like her! The best thing Steve has ever done for me is to marry Missy so that my name will now have a magnificent legacy! Happy Birthday Indy Missy!

Bon Apetite!

Mindurs was asking for some recipes... so I am making them public. This French bread recipe is now a fav around our house. I have gotten to the point of life where it is actually easier to make French bread from scratch rather than haul 3 kids to the grocery store, and it tastes better too!

French Bread
5 c bread flour (plain white works too...bread flour just makes it lighter)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp instant yeast
2 tsp salt
2 1/4 c warm water

Mix all ingredients together in Kitchen Aid (with dough hook attachment). Mix until smooth and elastic (around 5-8 mins). Transfer to a Pam sprayed bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let raise until doubled. Punch down, divide in half. Roll half out into a large rectangle and roll up into a log. Tuck the end under, set aside and repeat with other half of dough. Place on sprayed cookie sheet, slash the tops of the loaves with shallow cuts a few time, then cover and let rise for 15-20 minutes. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes before cutting and enjoy! If you like it crunchy, put a pan of water in the oven while baking.

This bread is fat free until you spread THIS on top...

Pesto
1 1/3 ups fresh basil leaves
4 garlic cloves
4 TBS pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Put the basil leaves, garlic and pine nuts in a blender or food processor. Add 4 TBS olive oil. Process until finely chopped. Turn off machine and scrape down the side of the bowl. Turn on machine again and slowly pour the remaining oil in the bowl. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and stir in the cheese with a wooden spoon.

Alfredo Sauce (Sometimes I mix the pesto and Alfredo sauce and put over noodles)
1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup parmesan cheese

Melt butter in large sauce pan. Add the cream and bring to boil Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring, then add the parmesan with salt and pepper to taste.

Happy Birthday To You!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Indy Missy, Happy Birthday to you!

Indy Missy you are a wonderful addition to our family! You are by far my favorite sister-in-law! He!He! Easy claim to make since you are the only one. I love how organized and thoughtful you are. You have a wonderful sense of style (which by the way I need some help - having kids threw my style for a loop). And best of all you are beautiful compliment to Steve - you have made him a better person and I know you will continue to do so.

I hope you enjoy your special day!

Mindurs

Oh, so this is where the blog site moved to!

Okay, okay, I know that nersey and I have not written in a long time and that we are pobably on the list of a few of you, especially bampa. However, we have excuses which I will relate to you all now as a way of informing you of what has been going on. First, nersey got a new job at the Huntsman and is enjoying work, it has allowed her to finish up school and focus. In fact, she registered for her final four classes at the U as an undergrad and will be looking for a mid-spring 2008 departure from studentdom. She is loving her new car, it's the 2007 jeep compass; but most of all she is enjoying being buckley's mommy. (even though he runs away - story to come later). As for me I have wowed my new co-workers with my cookie recipes and I am working on the masterpiece of cookies for the christmas season. (Let me say this who likes creamcicles?) I am enjoying my new job as the National Recruiter for Consultnet in South Jordan. We are a Technical recruiting and staffing firm with offices around the country. My job is to find people in the noman's land - in other words I am putting my Anthropology minor to good use and have become a "Head Hunter". Oh, I also got a new car, it's a 2001 audi A6 quattro 2.7 turbo. I am looking to continuing my schooling in early January or May, I will be getting my Masters Degree in Business/Human Resource Managment. All in all things are going well, and nersey and I will try to keep up. We have a ton of pictures from the summer and need to pass the good ones along. Love to all.

Anyone in for 10???

Okay, so I haven't dropped a pound in 6 weeks... so I am pretty sure I have come to the end of my post-partum weight slide. I am pretty sure this is the new me unless I kick it up a notch. Only problem is that even though I have been working out... I am having motivational issues in the food department. Here's the problem, you name the occasion, I can name the best companion treat. Halloween... Candy! Birthday... Cake! Those are the no brainers. Then there are the re-occurring reasons to celebrate...Friday night...TAKE OUT! Saturday night... ICE CREAM! Sunday night... APPLE CRISP! FHE...RICE KRISPIE TREATS! Then there are other "occasions" sunny hot beach day... SLURPEE! Warm summer night... COLD STONE! Cold winter night... COOKIES! Soup for dinner... BROWNIES! Bad day... ALL OF THE ABOVE! And even if I do get control of my own reasons to have treats there are still the obligitory social occasions like how I decided not to have any sweets this week but pumpkin bread smothered in whipped cream was litterally DUMPED in my lap after a church meeting. What's a girl to do? Or how I was asked to bring cookies to Pop's law society social. I can ALWAYS think of a LIGITMATE reason to celebrate with food! The question is, what can I celebrate with if not food? Anybody else up for a little self deprivation?
We could make it a contest
We could swap healthy recipes
We could come up with one healthy strategy to add each week
We could blog about the BIGGEST treat we walked away from
Anyone?...I am open to suggestions! AND SUPPORT!
Let me know if you are in!
I am going to start with 10 (even though the damage is much much more!).


...and yes, I will spare you the picture of flabby buns!

Happy Birthday to Cincha!

Cindurs! This is your LAST birthday before you are a MOM! You are going to be a great Mom. You are the the #1 champion of anything you invest your time in and I have a feeling this kid is going to take your attention. He is a lucky kid to come to such a creative, fun and loving Mommy, it will help compensate for being 3,000 miles from his coolest Auntie. We may be 3,000 miles apart now, but we always have the memory of sharing a room (remember my swim bag with all of the zippers?) and sharing Grandma's house (remember the roaring dishwasher that Char gave to the house?). Consider your time with me as a lesson in patience for when little Jr. is crying all night! Aren't you happy we are sisters? I know I am. I love you! Happy 29!

Ode to the Great Organizer

I can hardly do something thoughtful for the family without first getting marching orders from Mindurs! Thanks for the kick in the butt. I guess having you around is better than my good intentions if I am really going to get something done! Mindurs, what would we do without you? We certainly would have no one to kick around at Christmas time after the gift raffle results in us buying for the same person year after year. Actually there would probably be no gift exchange without you. Not to mention pulling us together for other important events like birthdays, baby births, weddings and anniversaries.Thanks for taking charge and giving us our marching orders.

Mindurs is good for other stuff too. Like hiking, synchronizing prenancies, or just a lunch time chat. How I wish that I live closer to you Mindurs! I hope you hade a FABULOUS birthday! Next year is the big 30! I can't wait to celebrate. I Love you!
(stay tuned for pictures... I need to go dig some up from the computer in the basement!)

I AM PART SMITH AFTER ALL!

I would have guessed I look more like dad. Hmmm I guess I got the Davi bone structure and the Smith cute face and good skin. I am the winner on this one.

I Did it!

It is official the Franci' joined the blogging world - we have our own blog. Check it out at http://utelovinphrogs.blogspot.com/

It is kind of blah right now. I hope to add some bells and whistles to it over time. For now enjoy the pictures and commentary.

Love,

Mindurs

Ode to Mindurs and Cindurs

Since nobody is going to start the ode to Cindurs and Mindurs for our birthday, I figured I would shame you all and write my own.

Being a twin is seriously the best. Heavenly Father sure knew what he was doing when he sent me down to earth with Cindurs. He knew I needed a protector and a best friend to get me through this life on earth. Cindurs has always taken care of me and I appreciate that! Thanks Cindurs! She is also super fun to be around! She is the best tour guide whenever you go to Seattle. And whenever she visits Salt Lake she always brings a little sun shine. Today we romped around with the witches at Gardner Village and had a blast. I also love seeing how Cindurs interacts with her nieces and nephews - she has got the best aunt award in the bag! Coach and Ashie love her! Thanks Cindurs for coming and playing with us! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We Franci love you!

As for ME - Mindurs - I get the best sister award because I blog nice stories about my siblings on their birthday. I also call them on or around their birthday - sorry Steve I was 3 days late on calling you on your last b-day! Next year I will be better I promise! Hmm what else..... oh yeah I am pretty darn cute and I make adorable babies! Go me!

I hope this blog shames you all into writing cute stories about yours truly and Cindurs, after all it is our birthday. You have until the end of the month to write because both Cindurs and I celebrate our birthday all month long! Seriuosly we are CUTE!

Mom and dad also get a little tribute on this the very specialist of days because with out them we would not have been born! Thanks mom and dad for being GREAT parents and bringing us up in the BEST of families. Being a Davi' is something to brag about. I love you guys!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to Cindurs ,Happy Birthday dear us, Happy Birthday to US!

And the Winner is....

MOM!!!! You may think that she has an unfair advantage having spent more time with the little Utes than most... but I say all are welcome to come and play anytime!!! Go Utes!

And as for the Grand Prize...
Nerseyfers and I hit the streets of Boston in our Twinner Utes sweatshirts to find the perfect prize. Incidentally we had several fellow pedestrains shout, "Go Utes!" to cheer us on in our efforts.


First we went to Johnny Cupcakes to get a cool Cup Cake T-shirt for Mom and a Yummy cup cake for me. For those of you that don't know the legendary Boston Johnny Cupcake, you should google this guy's T-shirts. They are slots-o-fun. Although they appeal to a tougher crowd. I laughed to myself to think of Mom wearing one of these tough-guy shirts because it reminded me of the time she brought me back a Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt from D.C. It was a Mega Death shirt. All I remember for sure was at the time I had only ever owned one pair of jeans in my life (Girbaud of course) and so for fun I paired the shirt, picturing death and carnage,with my preppy khaki's and loafers for laughs.

Too bad for Mom, the store was not opening until 8:00 p.m. tonight because of the release of his latest T-shirt. There was a line stretching down the block of pierced-pothead-cupcake-lovin' fans. We only know this because after circling the block a few times waiting for the store to open, Ners finally broke down and approached one of these scary creatures and asked why the store wasn't open and what was going on. These folks had been standing in line since 3:30 a.m. After making best friends with these cupcake-heads we decided it wasn't worth Ners missing her flight and we better execute Plan B.

So off we went to Captain Hooke's! Mom could have been eating LOBSTAH for dinner Sunday.... but Ners wimped out! They live-pack lobsters with seaweed for your plane ride home. I was picking out a couple of cuties when Ners said she couldn't stand the thought of Mom's dinner scratching above her head for 8 hours. Fine. Time for Plan C.


So off to Mike's we went for some DREAMY canoli. I picked out 2 chocolate chip dipped canoli. Congrats Mom!!! I hope Nersey-Express is trustworthy, although I wouldn't blame her if she succombs to the sweet canoli scratching in the carry-on cubby above her head... I'm pretty sure I would!

Phrogbottom's East

I am so glad that Neersy Furs and Mistletoe have had these days together. I really liked the tour of the cemetary and the Thoreau stuff. We desperately need to be together in one place more often. Thanks for being you. Love Bampa

Indianapolis is my kinda town!!!

Steve and Missy:
I can hardly believe we were sitting in the University of Louisville stadium this time last week. What a game and what a long weekend. Sorry I have not sent each of you a thank you note. I had a spectacular time in Indiana. Of course my favorite part was just being with you. It is great to hear how you are viewing life and all the wonderful things that are happening to you. I cannot think of anything that would have made last weekend more special. Oh yea maybe if Mom were with us.

Love Dad

Who's That Ute?

CONTEST TIME!
Name the Utes pictured in the photos below for a GLORIOUS prize!!! Hint... These two pictures are not of the same kid. Be the first to correctly identify the Utes in the comment section of the blog and your prize will be delivered by NERSEY EXPRESS when she goes back to Utah Saturday (unless you live in elsewhere, and then it will come by snail mail).

UTE #1

UTE #2

Well, Bampa and B.C. Have Done It, Where's Everybody Else? Oh, and Go Utes!!

Bampa and B.C. have just boarded their flight back to SLC after spending a great couple of days here in the great state of Indiana. Thanks for coming guys, we had a blast. They got to see some of our sites, like the city circle, and just about all of Carmel, Indiana's many round-abouts. However, the best part was driving down to Louisville (pronounced Louis-ville, yes you pronounce the "S").

The Utah game was phenomenal, we met up with a number of other Ute friends from my school, and headed down to the front row. Typically, you wanna stay off the front row at a football game, but we had a blast down there. The game started at 8:00 PM and it was 85 degrees with 60% humidity so just sitting there after the sun was long gone promoted plenty of perspiration. The good news was, sitting on the front row, and Brian being tight with the cheerleaders allowed us to stay hydrated as they were more than willing to share their water with us.

The even better news is that Utah won. That's right, they took advantage of the fact that Louisville has no defense. I called this win back when Louisville gave up 40+ points to Middle Tennessee State, I figured that no matter how bad Utah might actually be with all their injuries, they could beat this Louisville team.

On Saturday, we took the boys out to the country. They got to see some of our many covered bridges. There are 39 in one county alone, but we only made them look at a couple because if you've seen one, you kinda get the picture. We then went off looking for the Amish. We found them, and their bakery, the verdict is still out on Amish baked goods though.

Anyhoo, if you wanna see some of our many covered bridges, round-abouts, Amish people, corn fields, and the Circle City, let us know when you wanna come out, we'll pick you up.

Report on Mazie Phrog

Good news - Mazie's surgery went well! She is now convalescing at home. If you can call it convalescing when you have a two year old chasing you around. It will be another 2 or 3 weeks until Mazie will have full mobility of her leg. I hope it will be sooner rather than later because she might blow out her other ACL if she over uses that leg. There is only 30% chance that will happen, so hopefully we won't hit those odds.

I thought I would post some pictures so you all could share in Mazie's pain.

Love ya all!

Mindurs

Mazie Dawg

Mazie went into the vets today for her surgery. For those who don't know, Mazie tore her ACL and she has to have an expensive surgery to get it fixed. Well today is the day. It is hard to send any member of your family in for surgery, even the dawg. My heart is with her today. I think I will be calling the vet later today to find out how things went. She can't come home until she puts weight on her leg. Knowing how unstopable Mazie is I don't think that will be a problem. We shall see. I will keep you posted once we know more.

The Luck of the Davi

I love my class! All is well in Zion. Mindurs has taken all the pain out of going back to the U! She is there as my "official" interface with the university administration. She has hand held me through the whole registration and book buying thing and now is guiding me through the reserve desk at the library and the whole "web site" dilema. Incredible changes. Back in the day we did everything "face to face" with the man. The trick then was to beat the system by smiling and making the whole thing easier for the person on the other side of the counter to do it your way than to do it the right (university) way.

I have two (2) incredible papers due. Each 3000 words (11 pages) one on the process of historic preservation and one on a specific project... I met with "Bob the professor" and cut a deal to have the specific project be the nomination to the National Trust For Historic Preservation for designation as a National Historic Place. Sooooo.... I pulled all my files and found a completed nomination form done by Brigham City to place the mill on the registry. This puppy is really complete footnotes and all. It was submitted but denied at the state level because the metal sheds were not 50 years old (the magic age for project placement on the registry). The moral question is "at what point can I alter the application to be original work and not plagarism". The "damn moral sense" as Twain called it , tells me any alteration would trigger the plagarism thing because I would be relying on someone else's research. Ethics really get in the way.... So I move on.

No harm, no foul, I'll just do the registry thing on Pioneer Craft House (PCH). So I go down to the Department of State History at the Rio Grande Depot on 300 South and 400 West. I go in and find a wonderful (complete) file on PCH all kinds of documentation for the application. Then at the bottom of the pile...yep, there it is a complete application from the 1970's. What have I done to be so fortunate yet so unlucky. Damn the moral sense thing. You know it really does get in the way.

Soooo....any ideas on what to use for a project?

Cheese Toast Season!

Okay... so Fall may be the DEATH OF SUMMER but at least I have a garden full of tomatoes to help ease the blow! ...and what more worthy way to use tomatoes than on cheese toast?! ...and of course you have to broil the cheese toast until the cheese is bubbly and crisp.

I remember when I was a kid I used to hide a salt shaker out in the garden. When no one was looking I would sneak out there and hide in the tomatoe patch and gorge myself with warm globes of goodness sprinkled with my cleverly hidden salt shaker. Now that I have my own mater patch I have to believe that I actually was doing Mom a favor. I am personally eating 2 tomaotes a day and not keeping pace with my tiny garden. It may be time to take the shaker out to the garden and start getting serious!

Hey, where is the family?

Dudes and dudettes! What is the story? Have you all forgotten how to write? In the last several weeks the only ones we have heard from are Bampa, Minders and Mistletoe. Get off your rear ends and share the good stuff. Undoubtedly there are funny things going on out there - spill your guts. Bampa (I'm taking names).

Phrogbottom Origins

Mindy makes a very important point about the ancient and mysterious origins of the Celtic term "Phrogbottom". Perhaps the origin comes from the ancient Druid myths of our heritage. Perhaps from the old country -Ireland and the legends of the little people. Or more likely it comes from nights ill spent around the table in the local Welsh/Irish/Scot pubs our ancestors frequented. What ever the ancient and historic origins the term was mystically recalled from the deepest recesses of our past during one of our many journeys to Washington DC when you were all the wee ones 2000 miles away tucked safely in your little beds.

Mother and I would always try to take in Georgetown culture when we were in Washington D.C. On one of our soujourns into the forebodding darkness and misty air of Foggy Bottom we walked to the hotel downtown (by the Smithsonian) from the Kennedy Center. The later it got the scarrier the path became. Across the sloughs and past the dark parks we walked sinking deeper into the evening fog. The roads deserted, the late November wind howling from the North and the shadows arising and falling from infrequent street lights hastened our steps. If it wasn't for the shop that sold orange/cholclate chip ice cream cones we would have been terrified.

We slowly passed by vacant buildings and hollow faced lost souls sleeping by the warm subway grates. Then it happened!!! In that forbodding moment it hit us that collectively the children should be known as Phrogbottoms. Undoubtedly, at this moment of great pause and reflection we were in tune with loving and kind long lost ancestors that used this moment to impart great truth across the ages. Remember this my little ones. There is no power on Earth that can equal the influence of the ancient family on our lives if we show gratitude and welcome them into our hearts.

The dogs are phrogs thing came much later. Probably another ancient gift. So Mindy, you are wrong, again, on all counts. Bampa

Deep Thought

How come dogs are Phrogs and we are only Phrogbottoms?
The things that make you go hmmmmm.
I guess we know who mom and dad love more!

Let's Go Bampa!

Hey Bampa!
Superkid has been telling me all about cruisin' around in your blue sports car (you know, the one where the roof comes off). So I put on my ridin' clothes (yes those are tiny cars on my shirt and shoes), strapped myself into my seat and I am just waiting for you to swing by and pick me up. I'll just take a little nap until you get here.
Come Soon!
Tadpole

Hey What's up???

Phrogbottoms: What is going on? There has not been a new blog on the Phorum since last Saturday!!! I know you are all out there and starved for information. So what's the deal? Glamma and I have been busy. Today we had just left Costco when we got a call to show our homes on 2700 South. The lady is perfect for our homes. We showed her South Gate, Nibley and Meadowbrooke (over by Granite High). Glamma is amazing. She is a real pro. She says all the right things, makes the client confident in the product, and her, and then closes the deal. These people are going to buy. Partly because of the price and quality of the product but also because of what Glamma brings to the deal. I hope you realize the gift of loving people into doing what you want comes from your Mom.

We had a great time with Minders, Naturs, the "boys" and Brian last weekend at the cabin. Uncle D and Aunt C were there also. We have really missed the cabin experience. Life is to busy. You all need to use the Cabin more. Especially the Bean Town, Indy and Seattle Phrogbottoms. I understand Cindy may be in town in October. Good times.

The U is playing Air Force as we speak. So far they are tied 3 all but Uof U Provo is sucking sand against UCLA. Sooo at present God lives and all is right with the world.

We went to the 9th Ward High Priest picnic at the Ball Diamonds last night. Roger Dibb told me Jeff (little Dibb) got his drivers license plates and they are UUMUSS. I don't know who is the most excited Jeff or Roger. By the looks of things Jeff is driving an Olds (much like the one Roger found for James). Glamma and Professor Loutensock are teaching the Chastity lesson in Relief Society and High Priests tomorrow. A bit of a challenge since most of the listeners in the respective rooms are easily over 80! Hope Glamma dosen't say anything too provocative. I hate to think of the consequences. Imagine all the hot love on Westwood.

Finally it has cooled to less than 90 for a high temperature. Makes driving the Mustang alot more fun. We went to the Mill in Brigham City on Thursday in the Lexus, definately not as much fun as crusin' down the Interstate, the top down, with the Beach Boys on the I Pod. Sweet! I am meeting with the architect, contractor and the Utah Heritage Foundation next week to finally "throw my hat over the fence". This Historic Preservation thing is so cool! I am really into my class at the U. I found out that the required classes for the certificate program I am enrolled in are the core classes for the Masters Degree in Architecture - Historic Preservation. I would only have to complete several electives to get the Masters of Architecture. Won't let me be Frank Lloyd Wright but will look cool on the resume! And as the Davi always say "It is all about looking cool".

We received word this week that we will be marketing a CDC project of 50 Condo's for the Salt Lake City RDA at Ninth South and West Temple (on the Trax line). We also are moving ahead on the South Salt Lake - Sugar House Street Car line (the old tracks North of the White House on 300 East). This will open up the property on either side of the trax line to a trail system connecting the Bonneville Shoreline Trail to the Jordan River Parkway. Most exciting we hope to build tons of condo paralell to the rails. We are representing the California developer who we helped buy Burton Lumber, Colonial Mortuary and hopefully Manny's Tavern. They have 700 Condos, office buildings and retail. Up in Sugar House a developer is building 300 condo's and associated retail and office from 1000 East (Granite Furniture) to Highland Drive. Indy Missy we are working with Westminster to provide Street Car access to the campus. Pioneer Craft House purchase with conservation easement should close this month. So all is well.

Well the cars need washing, the lawn needs edging (thanks BC for mowing the lawn), and I need to get the update on the U score.

I love you all,

Bampa

I Love Chicago!

Hi All! Just got back from a work week in Chicago. I have been their a few times and I think I could totally live there. We flew in on Sunday and I was felling good. No more morning sickness. We were staying at a little hotel one train stop away from Wrigley stadium. My friend Jessica (She was my assistant manager at Bellevue, now she runs the Seattle shop) and I quickly found ourselves in a chain sandwich shop called Potbelly's. It was soo good and we ate there often due to the fact they were open to 11pm and usually we were ready for dinner later because we were used to West coast time. So the first night we were there, all 22 of us for the meeting were chilling out in the lobby of the hotel. 2 of the girls went outside and some concert promoters that were walking the street, gave them tickets for all 22 of us to go see the Bravery for free! It was around the corner at a little indie theatre called the Vic. I love the Bravery! What a great way to arrive in Chicago. As we were all walking over there only a few of us even knew who the Bravery were. I was suprised at how few pwople knew who this very familiar band was. The place was empty. Maybe 150-200 people tops in the place, it probably could of had 1000. This answered why we got free tickets. If this show was in Seattle it would have been sold out! It was so culturally different. I liked that it wasn't crowded because we really got to enjoy it. Perhaps my last concert for awhile because I will soon be a busy Mommy. The week had started out right and the rest of the week was great too. We walked allover and took the el, I loved it. I think I was meant to live in a big city where you don't need a car. I really don't like taking cabs, they gross me out and they are always hot and stinky. As we stayed for the week, we ate great food and enjoyed the city whenever we were not in our meetings. The people of Chicago were soo nice and everywhere we went the service was great. They must all love living there to be soo happy. I came home early yesterday morining. I am going up to Vancouver for a meeting on Wednesday and then to San Francisco at the end of the month. Hopefully the San Fran trip will be the last trip I take for work before the baby. Traveling is tough on me. Well thats all I have for now!

I'm so glad when Mommy comes home as glad...

Wow! 10 days is really a long time. All the plants are alive. The lawn is cut (thanks to BC), the inside is impecable (thanks to BC and James). Most importantly Murphy is alive and well. Mom is back in charge and all is right with the world. Bampa

Summer is over!

Hey everyone! Summer is officially over, because yesterday I babysat Ashie & Coach for the last Thursday! It was pretty sad, but I'm glad that I can babysit them on weekends again!

Here are some cute pictures from this summer, they don't really have anything to do with what I'm going to talk about! But I thought I'd share them with you anyway!

I have the cutest stories from this summer. Yesterday I was feeding Coach the rice cereal (since he is such a big boy now!) and Ashie said "Ashie help brother" so I put his hand on mine and he 'helped' feed Coach, then I went to do it again and Ashie pushed me away and said "Ashie help!!" So, Ashie did it all by himself, then I said "High-five Ashie!" and the cute big brother Ashie didn't turn to me, but he turned to Coach and said "High-five brother!"

Ashie LOVES being a big brother!! He always wants to help! I'm going to miss them when I'm in school!

I'm going into the 8th grade, I know, it's scary how old I am! My schedule is:

1. French 1

2. Science

3. Lang. Arts

4. U.S History

5. Theatre 1

6. Fitness/health

7. Algebra

It's a lot like last year, but I didn't take electives, I'll post more when I actually go to school! So I hope to talk to you all soon, love you all!! <3

Pictures from the M-clan

Just learning how to post pictures. Our second day in the Cincinatti Airport.
In Charleston.