Train Ride to the Salt Lake Temple Square

The train ride was a reward for doing chores for many days in a row.
Our favorite place was in the Children's Book of Mormon exhibit. We danced Latina Dances with big screen demos and mirrors.
The agricultural play was a favorite spot too. The girls went through all the motions of getting the vegetables and eggs to the play kitchen and then to the dining table for me to sample--delicious!!

Fishing from Nephi's ship was exciting to watch too because the girls know the story so well that they took turns being Nephi when his brothers tied him up.

We loved the temple grounds too. They kept reminding me to be reverent because a temple is more special and important than even a church.

Adults can pretend too

This morning I played make believe that I'm a runner for my long run (jog) and then drove up to the hills above my parents' house to do some incline and decline sprints. It's my 3rd day of hills in this training for the Halloween Half and my calves were so sore that going down the stairs was painful, but I was stoked!

When I parked the van on the hill and started putting up the girls' tent, I noticed steam coming from the hood and tons of leaking fluid underneath. Last night, I had some overheating trouble and a friend helped me out by adding some water but couldn't see the problem at that time. I had scheduled an appointment at the car shop for this afternoon to find the problem. I shouldn't have been driving it until after the mechanic found the problem, but luckily I did drive it and I found the problem myself. There was a tiny hole in the return hose causing a steady fast stream of a leak.

Mr. Haddad, my parents' Lebonese neighbor, pulled over to assist me. He told me how easy it will be for my father to fix it. Well, dad wasn't home and isn't much of a mechanic, so I asked him to tell me what to do. Remove the clamps, take the hose to the auto supply store, buy a replacement and clamp the new hose into place. Easy!! So I broke into my parents house, borrowed some tools and the keys to my little brother's car and began removing the hose. My dad pulled up with my brother and I told them my plan. As my little brother was driving me to the auto parts store he asked who was going to tow my car. I re-explained that I could fix it. Mr. Haddad told me how to do it. Obviously, my brother has no faith in my pretending to be a mechanic.

I replaced the hose with a total cost of $3.99 and total labor time 15 minutes (because the car was still hot).

Finding the problem.
Removing the old hose by simply squeezing the clamps with pliers to loosen.

Buying the new hose.

Clamping it in place (and feeling pretty tricky for saving money) It looks great doesn't it?





Then I ran my hills and pretended to be a runner! I love make believe.

The girls get to play house in the tent while I play like I can run hills really fast (but in real life I am so slow).

The view from the bottom of hill one.

Saying goodbye to my tent dwellers at the bottom of the hill.

View from the top of hill one.

This last photo is my favorite--getting greeted by my tent dwellers at the bottom of hill #1. They do this outstretched arm run toward me at every lap at the park too--it totally keeps me going!! Love them!!

Antelope Island

My first post on this Back from Malaysia blog began with a visit to Antelope Island. We have returned 10 times since then and last week's camping trip there might be the last of 2011. It's starting to get cold here in Utah.

Preparing him for someone else

I was given excellent advice from Brother VanShaar as I was ending my mission and heading home. He said, "Sister Dunroe as you date and seek out a marriage partner, please choose a priesthood leader not a project." I hurts me that I remember so well the best advice that I didn't take.

I began dating 30 months after my marriage ended, 8 months after the divorce was final. I was an emotional mess and put off dating. Finally, after lots of healing had taken place, I took the plunge. I didn't feel ready or have a huge desire to date, but I had a nagging feeling that it was time to go for it.

In that time, I have been out with 15 guys and dated 6 for an extended period. It seemed like 5 of those were priesthood leaders, but all were ALSO projects. They had really been broken by the previous women in their lives. 5 of them have thanked me repeatedly for boosting their confidence, making them feel attractive and worthy of a fantastic partner. One even called me his hero when I said that I no longer wanted to develop our relationship. It was a little weird, but it has gotten me thinking. At first I was resentful that I had used my precious time to provide free emotional therapy to these men that I would no longer date. I WAS COACHING THEM FOR THEIR FUTURE WIVES ;-)

My attitude and perspective have been changing (thankfully). The last couple of days have been really enlightening.

I started to open my heart to the women who may be investing time in the man I will marry and

I scratched out this letter to those ladies as I sat in the parking lot after a temple session today:

Dear Dating Ladies,

Thank you my sisters for not playing games with him. Thank you for building him up and making him feel proud to be with you. Thank you for being direct with him if he hurts your feelings or lets you down. Pouting is pointless and tantrums are ridiculous. Thank you for making him feel attractive, but not tossing meaningless affection his way. Thank you for listening to him and the details about his family and life. I really appreciate that you do not add stress and drama or prattle on and on about problems in your own life. Mostly, I appreciate that you encourage him to attend the temple often and hold significant family home evenings with his kids. If you are currently studying the scriptures with him--I will love you forever! And have fun!! Laugh lots, but recognize, please, that he won't be yours forever. It's okay to let him go when he meets me.

love,

Your Friend

Trip to Idaho

We headed to Idaho on Thursday afternoon. After filling up at a gas station in Brigham City, I opened the back of the van and started rattling off roadtrip snack options. "Okay girls, this is what we have to eat: kale, red leaf lettuce, carrots, apples, peaches or plums. What do you want?" As they were giving me their requests, a male voice at the car next to me said, "Your kids eat that stuff?" I laughed, looked over and relied, "Oh yeah, they'll eat it all unless I walk in the store and buy cheetos and oreos."

A couple of hours later, Emerson requested cheetos and oreos.

We had a great time in Idaho. It was exciting to see some fabulous people again. Our first stop was outside of Black foot at my cousin's farm. She is so spunky and the girls loved her sweet attention.

Here's a shot of the girls inside one of the spud cellars with Daisy and Duke the lovable farm dogs.

We slept at the farm mansion and then set off for Rexburg the next day. Rexburg has expanded and changed so much since I was a student there in 1996. The highlight for us was the Rexburg temple set up on the hill. My girls love temples.

I didn't take many more pictures. I need to improve at being a photo-snapping mommy (I've been saying this for a full year since starting this blog)

We stopped to see my friend on campus. He met us in the planetarium and treated us to a brilliant star show. Emerson absolutely loved it! Kamryn got a little motion sick. She asked a couple of times if we were falling. As we left, we saw my friend up in an office on a higher floor and waited until he saw us. We blew him kisses and then went on our way. A few minutes later, he appeared behind us on the sidewalk and surprised us with chocolate kisses. He's fun. He walked home and we joined him later after I ran at the park as the girls played. Back in his yard we checked out his awesome play structure and huge pumpkin patch. The girls loved it! While he went back to work, I took the girls bowling. Later we went to my childhood friend's house. She's amazing. Her house is so clean and well put together.


My girls fell in love with her kids and asked if they could come back and play with their "new cousins". She and her family wouldn't return until late, but she arranged to have a babysitter there while I went out with my friend for the evening.

It was a great evening; he's a really kind friend. It started with a Thai Restaurant and ended with a drive and a walk around the temple. In between we enjoyed nature, people watching, conversation and even dancing in the park. I could have danced with him a lot longer, but I hadn't charged my iPhone, so our music ran out. He hasn't been divorced for too long and isn't ready for a relationship yet. You don't need to think I'll be married anytime soon just because we went to the temple grounds.

The next day we woke early, thanked our great hosts and headed to the Rexburg Temple one more time before leaving town. We seem a bit obsessed with the temple, but it's my favorite place to go and I look forward with so much excitement for the day when my kids can enjoy it with me on the inside too.
We met our friends, Miow Lin and her husband at the Eastern Idaho State Fair. My girls loved the Native American dancing and the ponies.

Salad Assembly 101

I eat 2 nice salads each day. I grew butterleaf lettuce this year and picked it fresh each time I wanted a salad. Now, since school is back in session and we're a bit busier with balancing play and homework after a day away from each other, I make a four days' worth of salads at one time. I grab one for lunch as I head out and then I have one when I get home and feel ready to munch at 4:30 or just add it to our dinner. It's been great and my salads have so much more to them when I plan a time to listen to some music and chop with the beat.Zucchini and butternut squash cubes
Collard greens, spinach and carrot coins
Kale and broccoli
Packed and ready to store (after this shot, I remembered to add the garbanzo beans, so I opened them up and added the beans) For the past 6 months, I've been cooking dried beans overnight in the crock pot--this is my favorite. I didn't like using canned beans because of the price and the sodium level, but whenever I tried cooking dried beans on the stove I would mess them up and it seemed to take all day. The crock pot is the perfect way to get the beans just right!

I don't usually add dressing, but I keep a baggie of sunflower seeds and a baggie of almonds in my purse to add before eating.

She's helping me become what I can become

Two months ago I was being challenged repeatedly by my eldest. She was driving me to exhaustion in parenting. She was generally well-behaved but occasionally turned defiant and extremely irritating to her little sister and to me. One Sunday in church she was so naughty during the sacrament that I started to cry. She stared at me and then, get this, laughed at me. That afternoon, the girls took a nap and I turned to read the ancient account of the ressurrected Savior visiting the inhabitants of Ancient America. At this particular part that I felt I needed to re-read, He called the little children to Him. He ministered to them and blessed them one by one. I felt that I needed to read that part to remember how much He loves them and how much I should feel honored to take care of His little ones. (Even when a particular little one nearly drives me crazy once a week)

That night I dreamed that I was in Ancient America, I was dressed like a Nephite Woman

and I was surrounded by a multitude of others excited by Christ’s appearance. He was calling the little ones to Him. I was thrilled. I don’t know where Kamryn was, but I know Emerson was with me, hand in hand, I would not let her go until she was blessed and healed. For some reason at the beginning of this dream I saw Emerson as being broken and needing to be “fixed”. I felt such an urgency to get her to the front of the line, but I was also trying to be patient with all the other good people around me. When it was finally her turn, He smiled at her and helped her sit on a big boulder for her blessing. As soon as she was settled, His eyes locked with mine and He didn’t release His smiling stare until the blessing was over. He blessed Emerson that she would learn how to love others by watching her mother. He blessed her that she would become obedient by watching her mother and that she would learn how to repent and to become what He knew she could become by watching her mother. I choked up and my heart jumped into my throat. I was shocked to realize how much I needed Emerson. I need her not to be fixed, but to help fix me. He knew I could do it. He knows I can love more, obey more and change more. He locked His eyes with mine to give me the hope and love that I need to move forward and parent with courage.

He was calling the Little Ones to Him. He calls us all to Him. We’re still Children.

He knows us. He loves us. We are His Children. He gives us what we need. Often we need our children much more than they need us. Emerson has been continuing to "fix" me and shape me into what I know, and He knows I can become.