Photos with the Hone Fam

We had a fun time with the Hones, just hanging out, eating good food and visiting with each other for a few days. We tried to do some family pictures in the back yard. My camera didn't take the clearest shots because of the time of day, but here are some cute ones anyway...

Here's everyone except me and Wade...

Photos of all nine grandkids (sorry so blurry). Left to right: Josh holding Sara (belong to Trent and Melissa), Tristan, Ryan holding Anna (belong to Lance and Jennifer), Brandon holding Samantha, Brittany, and BJ (minus ours, they belong to Blaine and Lisa). This is one of the only shots where Sammie wasn't trying to run away!
Grandma Eva jumped in this one... and Sam jumped out.
Grandpa and Grandma Hone with all the kids.
I took a few cute picts of the little baby kids, just have to share! Here's cutie Anna (6 mos.) with her mom, Jennifer.

Baby Sara (9 mos.), just days before she started crawling.
BJ (his name is Bryan Justice, but he goes by BJ, which I sometimes like to shorten to Beej.) He's 11 1/2 months in this picture. News is that he has now started trying to walk!
Samantha Susan (18 mos)... she just was not in a mood to pose for pictures, but I still think this one is kind of cute.
Joshua, now 2 1/2, can say his ABC's, count to 20 and work miracles!
Tristan (3) and Brittany (3). I tried to get them to pose together, but Brittany kept wanting to stand right in front of Tristan for the picture, so she's pouting that I made her kind of stand by him instead.
Ryan (7) and Brandon (5), best buddies, most of the time.
We took a little picnic in the hills one day, and stopped at one of my favorite spots on the way back. We're standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Blackfoot River. Just five feet from where we are is a huge drop off, with old cars and junk at the bottom. My grandpa and grandma used to let us stop there and throw rocks off the edge and see if we could make it to the river. Grandpa Hone's rocks always made it clear across the river!

Photos from NY

I know everything I write this next while will be a bit outdated. So, I won't write much, but will just say we had a wonderful trip home last month! First, our stop in NY, which consists mainly of picts of me and Sam in Central Park... Most of the picts I got of Sam the first day were just long distance shots of her back as she ran away from me.

She did not like the big Hans Christen Anderson statue (you know he's the fairy tale guy, right?). Other kids were sitting on his lap while he "read" them a story. Sam was horrified that I lifted her so close to him!

More running...
The best "posed" smiling shot I got all day! Sam quacked at the ducks in this little pool, then tried to climb in with them. It was pretty deep and swampy, so I'm glad she didn't make it over the edge.
We got a little drawing of Samantha, just for fun. It doesn't really look too much like her, but it's cute. She didn't like sitting still on my lap for 20 minutes while the guy drew her.
Below is Brian's firm's office tower in NY! It was a massive complex, with several different companies and firms working there. When Sam and I went to visit Brian in his firm's lobby, the front desk security took a photo of me and made a photo ID badge on the spot, just to let me in. (it was not a good photo, as I had no "primping" time!)
Dinner with friends. Brian knows Jamal and his wife, J... I'm not even going to try to spell her name even though I know how to say it. Anyway, these three know each other from when they lived in Egypt. We went to the BEST Middle East restaurant, with delicious hummus and great kebabs!

Sam had her own table, lucky!

Test Positive

Well, even my most faithful blog readers are about to lose hope of ever hearing from me again, I know! So sorry for leaving you all in suspense for so long.

Yes, we're still alive over here.
Yes, we're still taking pictures.
And yes... I'm pregnant!

That probably doesn't surprise most of you, since we've been breaking the news on the phone over the past few weeks. But hopefully it somewhat explains my lack of blogging activity of late. Morning sickness isn't pleasant for me, and isn't just in the mornings, unfortunately. So, instead of blogging, I've been sitting lamely on the couch wondering what I can eat that won't make me sicker. And I've been taking short walks or little planned outings with Sam to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

Expected due date: March 14, 2008. (Happy birthday Mom, and Baby Bishop number 2!)

Home Again, and Happy Birthday to Me

Well, as you can see, I am not very good at blogging while on vacation. Samantha and I just got home from Idaho/Utah yesterday morning and are enjoying the jetlag today as an added birthday bonus. That's right, today is my birthday! It's been a nice, relaxing day of rest and many fun telephone calls from friends and family.

Actually, the day started a little early -- 3:30 a.m. -- when both Sam and I found ourselves wide awake and ready to start partying. Brian joined us at 5 a.m. and we opened presents, ate breakfast and went back to sleep at 6 a.m. Not bad, eh?

Anyway, as a birthday tribute, I thought I'd make a quick list of things I'm grateful for this year...

1. Hands down, family is everything to me. I've loved, loved, loved being at home with my parents, siblings, cousins and in-laws these past few weeks. I've so enjoyed letting them get to know Samantha and rekindling ties by sharing old memories and making new ones. Even more, I LOVED coming home to Brian yesterday. Wherever he is, that's my real home. And Samantha, she's just the icing on the cake! I am richly blessed by my family.

2. I have so many wonderful friends who love me, and who mean so much to me. Each new chapter of life seems to bring me a new set of friends, while the old friends remain just as dear to me. I love thinking back to crazy things I did in high school, then remembering college days, my mission companions, friends from SLC, then from Boston, and now a whole new group of friends here in London. I go through occasional sentimental moments where I almost want to wish back some of those memories that are priceless to me. I love reading back through my journals or old cards and letters I've received, just so I can feel close to people even when our paths may be so divided right now. I try to keep in touch with phone calls, emails and letters, but I never feel it's enough to thank all my friends for the support they give me.

4. Seeing the world is a great blessing in my life right now. I realize our time here in London is limited, and the opportunities I've had to visit so many different countries and places have been amazing. I realize we won't always be hopping around the world (right, Brian?), and I'm very happy to be having such rich travel experiences right now. Each new stamp in the passport is a memory that gives me a different perspective on life. Honorable mention goes to the trip to Egypt this past April... it was a beautiful trip, and I am a different person because of it.

5. Our bed is amazing. I can honestly say it has had a positive impact on me (and the people around me) by giving me good, good sleep so many nights over the past (nearly) three years. When it comes to any material possessions, that bed ranks at the top of my list of happy thoughts. Whenever I've slept somewhere else, even for just one night, I'm am always soooo happy to get back to our bed. (No offence to the many very generous people who let me sleep in beds at their homes recently -- it's just one those "no place like home" things.)

6. I am grateful for my faith and my relationship with God. I recognize how fragile and important this is in maintaining balance and peace in my life. I love the feelings of love, safety, comfort and trust that I receive in answers to my prayers. I've been reading the New Testament again this year, and have enjoyed relearning the experiences that shaped the faith of the 12 Apostles. I've also been teaching the little children in our church, serving as the Primary president. I'm grateful for their faith, and for the opportunity to learn from them, and share with them my faith in God.

7. Living away from friends and family, I am most grateful for the telephone. It keeps me connected. I also rely a lot on the internet and email. But mostly, it's the phone conversations that make me feel like people I love aren't quite so far away. (Special mention to my mom, who is always a wonderful, willing listener.) Isn't technology amazing?

I'll stop there, since 7 is my favorite number, and because I'm sleepy and ready for bed tonight. It has been a happy birthday for me. Hope everyone is doing well. I'll try to get some picts from our trip loaded soon.

In the Big Apple

Sorry, no picts for this post, yet... when I can download from the camera, I'll add some.

That's right, folks! We're livin' large in NYC today! It's been a fun day already, with more to come tonight and tomorrow. We're on our way home for a few weeks to visit family and go to Brian's brother's wedding (yay!!). But Brian has to work for a couple of days here in NY to qualify our visit as "home leave" (which means the firm helps with our tickets). So, Sam and I find ourselves in a posh hotel not far from 5th Avenue and Central Park.

This morning we started the day with a visit to Brian's work, which is a HUGE office complex on Lexington Ave. He says his temporary office is two doors down from the managing partner of the whole firm (who is conveniently out today). Sam loved the elevators and massive hallways, and the echo of her baby voice, as usual.

Then we went for a little walk down Park Avenue (where all the banks are), and Madison Avenue (where lots of clothes shops are). I looked in Talbots, but quickly remembered I don't spend $50 for a necklace or $150 for trousers. Plus, Sam was eager to leave and I think the store clerks were also eager for us to leave. After our "window shopping" we came back to our hotel for a nice nap before lunch. On the counter in the lobby of our hotel they have a pitcher of nice, cold fruit punch that we've been enjoying each time we come in (esp. Sam!).

We met up with Brian for lunch and went to a nice little Bistro place where I got pasta, he got roast beef sandwich, and we shared a cannolli. Sam liked the pasta but not the tomatoes. Sam also liked flirting with the staff at the Bistro -- making them laugh and smile the whole time we were there. Cute.

Back to the hotel, quick, then out for a walk to Central Park. I finally remembered to take our camera -- first time all day. We finally found the perfect place for Samantha to RUN FREE in the city! Central Park IS the place!! Most of the pictures I got are of the back of Samantha's head as she dashed 20 feet ahead of me. She cried when we left, and fought like a mad woman when I put her back in her stroller. We came back to the hotel by way of 5th Avenue, passing Gucci, Prada, Hugo Boss, Abercrombie &Fitch, etc. on our way. Posh enough that I wouldn't dream of going in any of those places. But fun to look and see their display cases.

And now, here we wait for Brian to come back and get us for dinner. We're meeting with his friends from school, a couple who met up with us in London several months ago when they were passing through. It will be good to see them again. Fingers crossed, Sam will be good and happy!

***
So, for those of you in the know, you will remember that I was actually planning to be in Boston rather than New York, right? And did you sit here reading all about our day wondering what happened? Well, here's the not-so-happy part of our story... Yes, I did get reservations on Amtrak for Sam and me to go up to Boston and visit friends, leaving bright early this morning. I figured it would be a fun way to use the time, since Brian is working anyway. And why not, when we're sooo close to lovely, wonderful Boston??!

But, we had a few complications. See, our plane was set to arrive in NY just before 11p.m. last night. We were almost to the airport, dropping altitude and getting ready to surrender our entertainment headphones. All of a sudden the captain got on and told us there was a freak rainstorm in NY. It was bad enough they closed JFK and we were being rerouted to.... BOSTON! So, we turned the plane around, flew back to Boston, and parked on the runway there for a couple of hours. I sat looking out the window at our beloved city, thinking how convenient it would be for me (but not for Brian, sadly) if we just had to stay there instead of going to New York.

It almost looked like that was going to happen, but then they reopened JFK, we refueled, and flew back to NY arriving at 2:30 a.m. By the time we cleared customs, stood in a long line for a cab, and made our way to the hotel, it was after 4 a.m. We didn't get to sleep till nearly 5 a.m., and I just couldn't bear the thought of dragging Sammie awake by 6:30 so we could leave to catch the train just after 7. Anyone blame me? Actually Sam was awake most of our flight over, which made me even more wary of trying to take her and brave the journey. So, we didn't go after all. Disappointing, yes. But as you can see, we're making the most of our time here and trying not to dwell on what we didn't get to do. Oh, and one other good thing, we got a full refund on our train ticket. So, not all was lost, right??

Next stop... Salt Lake City! We fly out from NY tomorrow night and then we're home again home again with family and friends for the next several days. Yay!

Rain, Rain, G O A W A Y!!!

So, in the past month and a half, I'd say it's rained here at least 30 days out of 40, or something like that. I like rain, but c'mon, someone else's parade probably needs some moisture about now, right??! Yes, the rain has put a damper on any of our outings of late, hence the lack of bloggingness from me. (and yes, bloggingness is a new word, I expect it will catch on really soon).
Friday afternoon Sam and I got caught in the rain on the way home from the grocery store. I promise, we went into the store and the sky was blue; we came out ten minutes later and it was all black and foreboding, with raindrops that would fill a tablespoon, no problem. Resourceful me, I put Sam's raincover on the stroller, then I whipped out one of the little baggies from our fresh produce, and put it on my head. I walked home like that, and believe it or not, no one even looked me like "you look like an idiot." No one. Picture for proof that I did indeed look like an idiot (but a dry idiot, alas!), despite the obliviousness of strangers...
In the lack of outings, Sam has been trying to be innovative in playing around the house. She has decided she likes bringing me pairs of shoes to try on -- it gives her a chance to learn "matching", and to destroy my shoe box. (I don't have a picture of that activity, but I'll get one soon and post it when I do.) She also loves her funnel... It's a hat, a horn, a bucket, all in one. In this shot below, she plays with it as she eats breakfast.

Sam has also gotten really excited about brushing her teeth lately. We brush after bath time, which is one of the only ways to get her out of the tub. We just got her a new pink Barbie toothbrush, a big event! Here she walks around with one of the funny little toothbrushes they give us on British Airways for our international flights.
Piano time is a several-times-a-day event right now. Sam's getting quite good at pushing the "rhythm" button that starts the disco beat, then she sits on the bench, bopping her head and shoulders. Aren't her piggy tails cute in this one below? Her first all-the-hair pigtails. They were a little crooked, but pretty cute, I think!
Reading is another favorite thing we do these days. Sam FINALLY brings me books and patiently looks at the pictures and waits to turn the pages (instead of racing through it, turning it over and putting it in her mouth.) She still occasionally tries to ingest her books, but not as often as before. Brian has called her a "libravore" (for those who don't speak Spanish, libra is the word for "book" -- like carnivore).

That's all for now, folks! We'll be coming home to Idaho by this coming weekend... yay!! May the rain not follow us there, we hope!!

Sam at home and with friends

Sam and I have been having some quiet days, though busy and productive. I just haven't had much to report, so I haven't been blogging so much lately. But I've had requests (you know who you are, you requesters) for more pictures of Samantha, so here you go...

Sam's playpen is set up in our office, so she can stay in it while Brian and I workout on the crosstrainer nearby. Well, Samantha's started "asking" to go in the playpen, and has spent long times just playing with her toys in her little pen these past few days. She was in for nearly 1/2 hour yesterday, and I kept checking on her every few minutes. Finally, she'd been so quiet and I hadn't checked for a few minutes... Here she is, with a whole shelf of books in her pen. She was carefully thumbing through them, one at a time, then dumping them. Sam and I made a cake today for a meeting I had tonight. I let Sam help with the frosting, which she really enjoyed. This first picture is a little washed out, and the second one chops off her head a bit, but I think they're both cute.

Sam sneaked a big piece of pita bread off the counter and sat down on the kitchen floor to eat it just before dinner tonight. I love the "caught-in-the-act" look in this picture.
This one below shows Samantha's first little sunburn. I took her to the park with friends the other day for just a little while. She looked fine when we got home, but when she woke up from her nap, she was pink-cheeked! By bed time, it looked pretty bad, but it was fine in the morning. I've decided I need to carry sunscreen just like I carry diapers and wipes, I guess!
Way back after Egypt, I mentioned we were getting rid of Sam's pacifier. Well, it didn't happen. I caved after two days. She just loves, loves, loves it. And it makes it so easy to put her to bed! She usually gets EXCITED about bed, as soon as I mention her pluggie (as we call it). Is it so wrong?
I mean, just look how content and happy she is! Cutie pants. Little pluggie adict.
A few days ago Brian and I were saying morning prayers and Sam decided she wanted to sit in the chair in our bedroom... the chair was holding all the clean laundry, but Samantha didn't care. She just cleaned it off nicely and sat waiting for us to finish our prayers. We opened our eyes and turned around to find this picture...
One of the best things about our new house is that we're so much closer to friends! Even though our kids are different ages, we moms like to get together and hang out, and our kids have an okay time, too. Here's Sam with our friend Lizzy. Sometimes we do babysitting swaps with Lizzy's mom and dad. Sam loves to attack/maul Lizzy.
Here's Sam and our friend, Abby, playing nicely in our back garden. They tend to have a bit of a strained relationship at times, due to the age gap. But they also have their moments where they seem to enjoy each other -- or at least each other's toys! ha!
I watched Abby and little Sam along with our Sam, while their mom went to the doctor the other day. This picture typifies how much of the afternoon was spent... Little Sam watched Abby, Abby watched our Sam, and our Sam wandered around looking for the next toy.
Just had to put up this cutest one of little Sam (we sometimes call her Sam Junior).

no more english

My blogging has just become more complicated. In an attempt to be more user-friendly, it seems blogger is trying to guess where I'm located and give me a language to match my location. All my prompts and links on all my blogger pages are now listed in some kind of Italian or Dutch or something. I can't read what they say, and I have no idea how to get them to change back to English. Anyone else ever had this problem? I think it's because we're in the UK, so our blogger network must be stationed somewhere European, probably. If anyone has any tips on this, I'd love some help!

In the meantime, please be patient with my lapses in blogging...it's not so appealing when I can't understand how to load my docs anymore. Tedious.

Mint Lemonade

When we were in Cairo in April, we found this little restaurant near our hotel that we just loved... Jaffries. It just served regular sandwiches and salads, which was nice in a sea of Egyptian cuisine. We went there again and again to share an amazing chocolate brownie with ice cream and hot fudge on top. One of the last days we were there, I ordered a mint lemonade that was one of the most refreshing drinks I've had in a long time. I've been dreaming of it ever since. So, yesterday I got a bunch of fresh mint and lemons at the grocery store and attempted to re-create this drink. I'm not there yet -- not minty enough. But it was really nice last night to have a fresh lemonade with just that hint of mint. Once I get it right, I might post the recipe, if anyone's interested? (ps. I totally smoked our blender in the process. sad, but worth it if I can get this right in the end, right?)

Lazy Sunday afternoon

It felt quite luxurious this weekend to have Brian at home with us ALL DAY LONG on Sunday! We went to our church meetings (Stake Conference this week), walked in Hyde Park for a bit, took long naps, and played in the back garden. Unfortunately, the camera was only available for the back garden playtime, so you'll have to imagine the rest.
This delicious little red sunsuit is yet another find from the Nearly New sale... I bought it last year and have been WAITING for her to grow into it, finally! She did not do a good job of modelling it in any of these picts. We'll have to try again next time she gets to wear it.
As you can see above, Sam's overcoming her fear of the water hose now. She often wants to "help" water the flowers, which usually entails her sucking the end of the hose. Gross.
When it got a little chilly for the sunsuit, we opted for a change. And yes, Sam knew just how her pants were supposed to go!

It was wonderful to have our little family time, amid the busyness of Brian's work (two more weeks and this worlds-record-worst deal of all deals is OVER!). Below, Sam helps Daddy eat some colored pencils...

Bag o' tricks addendum

So, Sam has found a new place to unload her little bag of tricks...



She's now dropping just about anything down her shirt and onesie... hair barretts, rice cakes, empty wrappers. I never really know what I'll find in her clothes each night before bed!

Sam's little bag o' tricks

From the time Samantha was six months old, she's loved bags of any shape or size. She LOVES my purse, my make-up bag, her diaper bag, Brian's work bag, the backpack, the camera case, even the plastic grocery bags when we first get back from shopping. She zips and pulls until she discovers and removes whatever is inside any bag she can find.

Well, so Sammie now has what we call her own little bag of tricks. It's a clear, heavy plastic bag that came with a little doll inside (thanks, Brielle). Well, the doll is in the toybox, and the bag is the number one hot item these days. Sam walks around the house picking up little trinkets and toys, putting them in her bag. She then unloads the bag onto the table or inside one of her drawers (or into the washer, if permitted). After awhile, she goes to her stash, reloads the bag, and wanders around with it for awhile longer before dumping it again. It's so cute, and such an inventive way to play!

Items in the bag today include:

• toy cell phone
• a toy set of keys
• a tiny bottle of baby lotion (she constantly brings it to me to open and rub some on her face... she LOVES lotion)
• a tiny bottle of conditioner from the Sheraton
• baby shampoo (never know when a bath might be just around the corner!)
• a little jar of Mom's eye shadow
• a itty bitty Spanish dictionary from Dad's bookshelf
• another itty bitty book about Snow White from her own bookshelf area
• a baby medicine syringe (she really, really likes cough syrup -- should I be worried?)
• a little plastic dinosaur (she pulls it out and says "aawwk, awwk" -- her word for duck, clever girl)
• a handful of colored pencils
• an empty tube of chapstick
• a few breadsticks and rice cakes
• her purple camera
• her pink sunglasses

She's all set to go for any occasion!!

p.s. this bag works grrreeeaat for church right now, as long as we remember to take out the noise-makers... cell phone, toy keys, and camera, etc.