Fort Bridger

It's nice to have a brother who's a computer geek. He cured my computer. Just in time, too, because we had a really fun day yesterday and I wanted to tell you about it.

We went to Fort Bridger, Wyoming to the Mountain Man Rendezvous.

The kids got to meet a real mountain man.

They got to pet a real live skunk.

They got to meet the President.

And they got to learn a little history in the process.

Not bad for a Saturday.

It sure beats sitting around watching cartoons!

Out of Comission

Just a quick post to let you know that I won't be able to post for a (hopefully short) while. Our computer has caught a bad virus that won't let us use the computer at all, not even for word processing.
My only access now is from the library, and so my time is limited. As it is right now, I need to be helping Nikita with her homework assignment. Then I have to rush home and finish the dinner that Jim has (hopefully) started so we can eat before Nikita and Max have to be at church.
And even when I do post, I can't post any pictures from here.
What a pain!!!
I really love my computer. I use it every day.
Hopefully it will be better very soon.
Hopefully we won't lose anything important that's stored on it!
Yeah, and hopefully life will be perfect soon!

Back to School/Back to Work

As much as I'm sure you all enjoy looking at Nikita's lovely face, I'm sure you'd like to see something new for a change.
So would I!
So. . . What is new here?
The kids are back at school. Yeahhh!!!
But, unfortunately, my nice summer "break" is over, too. I cut my work down to two days a week during the summer so I could enjoy it with the kids. And now I am going back to full time.
What this means now is that with kids needing homework help, papers signed, dinner made and some sort of schedule kept, that I'll be going back to my old cranky self. The house will fall back into chaos (well, has fallen), and I'll be getting a lot less sleep and exercise. So not only will I be cranky again, I will also be sleepy and chubby!
Oh, and guess what I learned yesterday?
Utah schools provide all the school supplies for children in elementary grades.

Anybody want some binders, pens, pencils, crayons, glue sticks, markers, folders, notebooks and paper with "Andre" or "Ivan" written on them???

No More Braces!

Before:
















After:

Isn't she gorgeous?

More Pictures

A couple of weeks ago we had my good friend from Camas, Karen and her daughter Malia, visit us. These are some pictures from their visit:


This was at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. Even though this shark is not a dinosaur, it was still really cool!

We found a wonderful way to cool off on a hot summer day when walking around downtown Salt Lake City. The cold air blowing up from that vent was amazing! (Malia is on the far left and her mom, Karen is on the right.) And in case you're wondering which twin is in the picture, it is Andre. Apparently Ivan is hiding behind Max.

We spent a lot of time in the visitor's center on Temple Square:

We tossed a lot of pennies into this fountain:

We love to See the Temple!

It was really fun to share Temple Square with friends who have never seen it before!

My friend Simy Gartz and her husband Andy just opened their own restaurant yesterday.

They make an interesting variety of sandwiches, salads and noodle dishes, and also some fantastic chocolate tarts and creme brule - all homemade.

My new favorite dish is their lamb noodle bowl.

Anyone who is within driving distance of Provo (Austin & Tracie), and anyone who may come here in the future, has got to check it out. The food is fantastic. Not like you'd find anywhere else.

We'll be going back again very soon!

Look them up at www.dewprovo.com

Pictures from Manti

Here are a couple of pictures from our trip to Manti.
This was taken at the temple with our friends, the Stanleys.
Nikita, Andre, Ivan & Max are (from the bottom) #2, 4, 6 & 9.
If you click on the picture, you'll get a better view.

Below: Andre & Ivan with their "future wives" who are also twins.

(L-R) Andre, Michelle, Ivan & Elena

Wordle

Look what I learned from Mandy today:

http://wordle.net/.

Jim

Happy Birthday!

Jim is 53 years old today.

His birthday didn't start out very nicely with a broken tooth and $900 worth of dental work.

But it ended with yummy Indian curry and his favorite homemade 3-layer german chocolate cake and birthday love from (most of) his children and from ME!