Cole's Birthday--He's Five!!

Can't believe Cole's five. He is a pretty great five-year old, we think. Very responsible and self-motivated kid. He's always saying, "Mom, we need to do homework!" Because he knows that if he gets enough "x"s from doing homework he'll earn a new toy. Toys, by the way, are Legos. Last time we visited the store to redeem his prize he bypassed several aisles and said, "Let's get to the REAL toys [the Lego aisle]." But I digress.

We started out Cole's day with breakfast in bed, including 5 pieces of bacon, which were his favorite. Then the present unwrapping. Later he went to pre-school and had another celebration with cupcakes for all his classmates. We finished off the day with a group of friends going to the Birch Aquarium. Then back home for pizza, ice cream cake and MORE presents. Cole says, "You know what Mom? I like my birthdays!" "What do you like best?" "The presents!" Of course. What did I expect from a five-year old? Wishes for world peace?

Clint's Birthday--He's Old

Clint woke up bright and early last Sunday, not because it was his birthday, but because he had to go to work. What a bummer. Write that down as one more reason we're looking forward to our move to Tennessee--no drill weekends. To try to make his morning special we brought him breakfast in bed--waffles with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, bacon and OJ. I was going to take a picture but hesitated. You know how male adults hate having their picture taken. Anyway, he seemed to have a good birthday. After he returned from work his Mom (she and Cap came into town for the occasion) made Clint a lemon meringue pie. I think it speaks very well of Clint that I didn't know this was his favorite dessert. Because, had I known I would have tried to make one and it would certainly not have measured up--not to Clint's standards, but to the reality that Pam's lemon meringue pie is the most amazing creation ever and would put Amelia Bedelia to shame. Delicious. What did Clint get for his birthday? A Leigh FMT Mortise and Tenon Jig, of course, duh! And a Beall Tilt Box from my Mom. Must you ask such obvious questions? This is why Clint pretty much buys his own presents (and uses them the moment they arrive, which was two weeks before the celebratory day. He's also already received and used his Christmas presents). I feel bad about not being able to surprise him with fabulous gifts, but the permagrin he has when he's in the garage tells me he's not complaining.

The End to a 13-year Tradition

In 13 years of marriage, I've never cooked a turkey. There has always been someone else willing to do it. I thought this was a tradition worth carrying on. This year we were planning to have dinner with the Pinsons, (let Leonard cook the turkey) but the flu bug hit and we had to go solo at our house. Now I know why there were always willing volunteers on the turkey. Put it in, wait three hours, take it out. Wow. That wasn't hard. It wasn't bad, either. The boys were really excited about the "feast" and even tried 3 or 4 things!

So here's a shot of our three boys awaiting Thanksgiving Dinner. Incidentally, next year in Memphis that number (boys that is) will be four. Five if you count Clint.

22 Months Later

This is the first piece of furniture to make it into our house since Clint put together his woodshop, but it's quite a lot of furniture! During the 22 month duration of this project, Clint did one three month deployment to Iraq, ran a marathon, and worked an average of 60 hours a week, in addition to the husband and Dad thing. We're really enjoying the upgrade to the living room. Our downstairs is currently clobbered with 20 boxes of books we're sorting through. We'll post another picture once it's filled. Next up is bunk beds for Tal and Cole. He says that project will be done by Christmas. I'm not holding my breath.

Lego Tab

These days, when Cole is not bent over the Lego box creating things, he's surfing the Lego.com web page looking for new toys to buy. We're talking hours a day. I'd removed the Lego icon from our links bar so that he had to ask us to get there. Then I got lazy one day and taught him how to type "lego" into the Internet Explorer address bar. I figured it was a rudimentary spelling lesson. So now he can get on the Lego site anytime he likes, and it's back to archaic parental controls ("Cole, time to get off"). I hope he doesn't learn how to spell 'hot babes' anytime soon.
So, we really shouldn't have been that surprised when Clint went onto the Lego site to order a handful of parts we were missing, and found that there was over $1,600 of merchandise in the shopping cart (and another $2,000 plus on the wish list). We've got to be sure Cole does not figure out what our credit card numbers are.

Lame

I'm going on 2 1/2 weeks of having a broken pinky toe. Could I have have an injury that is more...lame? It's totally put me off running, and that includes running after my 2-year old, which has caused me to sharpen my tactics in traffic areas. I feel like such a poser hobbling around because of a broken baby toe! Has anyone else had such a pathetic, but disabling injury? And the reason why is so mundane--stubbed it on the couch. I wish I had a good "Ouch! That must have hurt! No wonder you're limping!"-story. I remember when my brother Mike broke his toes. We were working on the stake farm hauling hay bales and the tow hitch from the hay trailer fell on his foot--broke several toes. You just said, 'ouch!' didn't you? Not that I envy that injury--it was gruesome. Actually, thinking about it makes me feel better about what I'm dealing with!

Haley's Birthday

Got a wonderful e-mail and pictures from my sister Katie:

"hey sarah, clint, and boys! we took some pics of us celebrating haley's birthday today. we took her some balloons (mom,edith, kate, anderson, and lissa) and then we all ate pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes that mom made and sang happy birthday. malan told me she knew haley was up in heaven. we sure love her and you and hope you had a good day."

Haley would be 9-years old today! It's amazing to think how long we've really been parents. I love to imagine her as a 9-year old girl, but at the same time I know that it wasn't meant to be, yet. The boys still love her as their older sister and look up to her I can tell. I look up to her! And I think on my frazzled days of 3-boyisms that she would want me to find the joy in it all.

It's sad to say that we didn't remember till about dinner time. But that is usually how it is for Clint and I. That's one of the ways the heart copes, I guess. But we watched Haley's video and ate Baskin Robbins birthday ice cream cake. My favorite was watching Haley stick her finger down Brick Ellis' throat then give him a kiss and crawl away. Brick was one person in the video, besides us, that the boys could relate to.

Special Balloons

Tal came back from his best friend Aerica's birthday party on Sunday with these balloons. He spent a good hour hanging them from the second floor railing. He asked me to write the sign for him. He said, "Mom, do you want to know why I did this? To make sure we don't get boring." They make me smile everytime I walk down the stairs.

Walking in Memphis

Top Ten Reasons to visit Memphis:

10) In 2007 Forbes Magazine named it the most sedentary city in the US.

9) In 2005 it rated #4 for crime in cities with more than 500,000. (It has 671,000) Experts attribute the crime to gang activities.

8) It is the birthplace of the Blues and R&B.

7) It is the deathplace of Martin Luther King, the day after he delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. (He is one of my most-admired heroes. I'm looking forward to really celebrating Martin Luther King Day--no more of this watered down human right's day stuff.)

6) It is home of the world's best barbecue (Clint and I tried it in May and I have to say, it is Sooooooo Goooood!)

5) Graceland - home of Elvis!

4) Shelby County Schools are ranked in the top 100 school districts in America, with a 95% or higher in all subjects county-wide as tested by No Child Left Behind testing. The schools have outstanding special education as well (Millington is the world headquarters for the Navy's Exeptional Family Member Program, so the schools there have to be good at special ed.)

3) $180,000 buys you a 3,700 square foot, 5 bedroom, 3 bath house with a 1/2 an acre and a pool.

2) The Memphis Temple is on your "temples we haven't visited yet" list.

1) The Cresaps will be there starting June 2008, and will have plenty of room for visitors!

So, we've accepted orders to Memphis, TN (Millington, to be precise, which is 20 miles north). Sarah sighs a HUGE sigh of relief because the suspense has been killing her. Those itchy military feet. Clint can sigh a huge sigh of relief because Sarah will stop bugging him.

Good Things for Tal

On Monday Tal was honored in his class for having 10 star days. Tal said this took him 87 days! For this accomplishment he got to pick these sunglasses out of the class treasure box. He was pretty much stunned and thrilled about it. We sang "Talleluiah!" And he did a victory dance for about an hour.

Tonight Tal had his second Karate class and got his Gi. This is about the best thing imaginable--pretend fighting for an hour. That's what he does all day anyway--now it just has a lot more structure. And costumes are good too. He demonstrated for Dad: horse stance, the hammer and positions 1-8. Jack wishes there were a 2-year old class. Cole said, "Don't even think about it, Karate Boy!"

Mutant

Pam says that Jack gives a whole new meaning to the word 'mutant.' Why would she say that?

October Catchup--Halloween

Tal-Skeleton Phantom; Cole-Knight Ghoul; Jack-Pilot al Femme (Says Dad. He wasn't a fan of the daisy).

Grammy and Papa Cresap came down for the day. It was a good thing as the last of our Halloween decorations got broken and we had no Halloween spirit at all. Cap was a bear of sorts and most trick-or-treaters thought he was a dummy. So we heard lots of screams throughout the evening.

October Catchup--Miramar Airshow

After eight+ years in San Diego, we finally made it to the airshow! Granted, Clint does get quite enough of the miracle of aviation in his day job and we've had a perfect view of the Blue Angel's show from our balcony. But as it's our last fall in San Diego, we thought it was about time we showed up. It turned out to be a lot less hassle and a lot more fun than we thought. Which just proves my theory--if you have a crappy attitude--you're always pleasantly surprised. :) We visited all the aircraft that Clint has flown--the H46, the jet trainer (don't hold me responsible for all the model names!), and the coast guard's H60 (I don't remember if it was the B, F, H, or S, but Clint's flown them all. You might ask--what happened to the A,C,D,E etc.? Who knows--Navy logic). We also saw the Harrier--which was really wild to watch. And as we walked back to the car, we saw the Golden Knights parachuting to the ground.

October Catchup--Abby's Wedding

The first weekend of October I flew solo (passenger, not pilot) to Rochester, New York for my friend Abby's wedding. Abby and I were reporters at Guam Business magazine and Sondra was our editor. Abby is 38 and Dave is 40--their invitation said something about them being nuptially challenged--so cute. Sondra and I were thrilled with Dave. He is different in Abby in many ways, but identical in the most essential--they love people, they're facsinating to talk to, and they are passionate about making the world a bettter place. They are trying for a honeymoon baby! Have fun trying, Abby and Dave :)!!!

Sondra, Allison (also a Guam Business editor) and Allison's daughter, Alex, and I had a blast. We loved the gorgeous Upper State New York fall scenery. We loved Abby and Dave's families and friends. I especially enjoyed Abby's Grandpa, and Abby's friends Alice and Wendy. We loved the dance which was the best mix of dance music from the 70s and 80s (and a little from the 90s) I'd ever heard. Sad, but I think it's been since college that I danced like that!

Bun in the Oven

Yep, look for another Cresap addition sometime around April 22.

Cole the builder

Maybe this speaks to my creativity/engineering ability, but Cole always blows me away with his creations. This is way beyond anything I would build with Lincoln logs!

Adventure Walk

As part of my campaign against sedentary kids spending too much time indoors, I took the boys and their cousin Anderson on a 2 1/2 hour hike around my parent's property. It's 30-acres that once was a turkey farm, but for the past 34 years has been home to the Hales, or the Kinderfarm (My Mom really likes those German words). I spent most of my kidhood in those wilds and always brought home a hundred sticky burrs and stepped on dozens of rusty nails with my bare feet (I thought this was an exaggerated memory till the day after this hike I took one bare-footed step out the back door and got a rusty nail in it!).

We started at the front creek and played pooh sticks and threw rocks and logs into the water. Then we explored the foundations of the old barns. The boys each found walking sticks/spears to defend themselves from wild creatures. Jack pooped out at this point as the weeds came up to his armpits and he wasn't a fan of that, so I took him back to the house.

I showed the boys sticky burrs and how they worked and how to avoid them. We followed deer trails and found where they liked to bed down. Found lots of poop of all sizes and made guesses as to what kind of animal made them. We climbed the 15-foot mountain that Dad Hale made for us to sled down in the winter.

The boys were really disappointed that the back river was dry as they were hot and tired and had looked forward to getting wet. I was determined to see the full perimeter of the property so we went past the river bed to the back fence and climbed through into a neighboring alfalfa field. It was much easier terrain so we hiked along till we reached the west fence. This is where it got really insane. We had to cross two, five-foot, tightly strung barbed-wire fences. All but Tal got poked on the first limbo through. So the next one Anderson and Cole refused to duck through and I had to lift them up and over. It was amazing that we made it without a literal hang-up.

So by this time the boys were thirsty and hungry and tired and on the verge of crying. I was regretting not bringing water or snacks, but I'd figured--we're just in the backyard! I was thinking these boys are never going to follow me outside again. Luckily we hit kid pay dirt as we were hiking back through the river bed. We found a "Bone Graveyard" where hundreds of bones from all kinds of animals were bleached and strewn between the river rocks. They filled their pockets and were totally stoked. Tal said we had to go to the Ranch, "Now" and put them with the rest of Hanah's bone collection.

A little further up the river bed we rested in the shade and noticed that the constant buzzing we'd been hearing was bees feeding on the six-inch high clover that was growing in the base of the river bed. We had a discussion about how the bees weren't hurting the flowers and the flowers were not going to attack the bees back, but that they were helping each other. Anderson asked, "But how come people steal the honey?" Kids have such a sense for injustice.

We made a bee-line back to the house and they were very relieved that they didn't die of thirst or hunger or exhaustion. And I was pleased that after lunch, they spent the rest of the day, and the majority of the following days, outside!

Hello Haley

The boys and I hung out in Northern Utah Aug. 19-25, while Clint was backpacking in WY with friends (see: http://www.yorkfamily.info/2007/08/backpacking-trip.html). The first thing we did when we arrived in Huntsville was buy balloons to take to Haley. That Hunstville cemetary is one of the holiest spots on earth for us. Whenever we go there whatever is aggravating us or stressing us seems to melt away and it all comes into perspective. Not living nearby we never get to recognize special days like Memorial Day or Haley's birthday, so we try to go whenever we are there. We're so grateful for the many family and friends to do go visit Haley for us on those days. Tal was excited because he felt like he got to introduce Jack to Haley. Tal wanted to say a prayer and he said, "Bless Haley that she will always live. And make it so the next baby we have will be another sister." I guess we'll have to see about that. Jack wanted to pray too, but it wasn't understandable. It's always nice to visit Haley.

Taking away some of the Mystery

So, in trying to find my blog from my sister-in-law's computer I found several definitions of snollygoster. I didn't know it had real definitions:
1) Haughty, disdainful snollygoster a shrewd unprincipled person, esp. a politician.
Not to be confused with, Snallygaster : a mythical monster of Maryland, invented to frighten freed slaves (compare snollygoster)snallygaster.

OR

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source
snol·ly·gos·ter (snŏl'ē-gŏs'tər) Pronunciation Key n. Slang One, especially a politician, who is guided by personal advantage rather than by consistent, respectable principles. [Perhaps alteration of snallygaster, a mythical beast said to prey on poultry and children, perhaps from Pennsylvania Dutch schnelle geeschter : Middle High German snēl, quick (from Old High German) + Middle High German geist, spirit (from Old High German).]

In this process I found a cool site called: "Worthless Word For The Day." It's fun if you like words, like I do.
http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd/Frame1.html

Four--finally

Four Jobs I've had:
1)Taco Time--learned how to skate on floor grease in order to prevent skidding all the way into the freezer. Worked with good Ogden folk.
2) BYU Library--Bindery Prep--3 years? Best library job because it was on the 6th floor and we could talk and listen to the radio. That's where I became converted to country music. Lots fabulous conversations with Thomas from South Africa. Come to think of it...he loved to hash out hypotheticals. He was pretty much a male Jessica. Lots of funny conversations from "magic hands" Dave. He was a sports trainer medicine and did all rub-downs on the football players. His sister married Ty Detmer. He was the most friendly person I've ever met. Our boss, Kathy and Dave and I took a walk to the CougarEat with him and counted 50 people he greeted by name. Kathy and I together--2. Dave was very unlucky in love though, and that was a source of entertainment as he would come and relate his latest failures and then crack a joke and get over it.
3)Guam Cable News TV Reporter. "Reporting from Agana, this is Sarah Cresap, Cable News." Yeah, I was big on Guam (o.k., not so big). Hey, and I even anchored the news on Saipan two nights and who knows how many of the 18,000 residents and 80,000 Chinese sweat shop workers saw those broadcasts.
4) Reporter Guam Business Magazine. Favorite job of all time. Couldn't beleive they paid me to do it. Wait, they hardly did! But I didn't care! Loved the writing. Loved Sondra's AP Style quizzes from a jar. Made friends for life: Virginia, Sondra, Abby. I love you guys!!

Four Movies I can Watch Over and Over:

1) Napoleon Dynamite
2) So I Married an Axe Murderer
3) Just Like Heaven
4) Nacho Libre

Four Places I Have Lived:

1) Huntsville, UT
2) London, England
3) Chillicothe, OH
4) Guam, USA

Four Favorite TV Shows:

1) So you think You Can Dance
2) Lost (though I'm turned off now--the last season finale was too brutal)
3) The Office
4) Gilmore Girls

Four Places I've Been:

1) Jerusalem
2) Shanghai
3) Acapulco
4) Fremantle, Australia

Favorite Foods:

1) Anything with Sun-dried Tomatoes
2) Nectarines
3) Dragon Rolls from Osaka
4) Dark Chocolate

Four Websites I visit Daily:

1) Nelson blogs
2) Yorks blog
3) Ellis blog
4) lds.org--so handy

Four Places I'd Rather Be:

1) Right Here--I'm surrounded by handsome men
2) London
3) A warm beach with no UV rays and someone cornrowing my hair
4) Watching Wicked again

Four People I'd like to tag
1) The Yorks
2) Sondra
3) Abby
4) Jen J.

Gear Check

Yep, Clint's new back pack can hold 40 pounds. He's headed for the Wind River Range this coming weekend.

A Splash of the Past

This week we did Free Tuesday at the Rueben H. Fleet. Summer crowds are brutal. The boys didn't seem to mind but Mom got tired of losing Jack every 5 minutes. Their favorite part hands down: playing in the fountain afterwards. They were thrilled. By the end they were wet up to their necks. They must have said, "That was fun!" 50 times. This from the boys who refused to admit they had fun at Disneyland. They are very much into the cool and unimpressed attitude most of the time.
So here's the question. Was it safe to let them play in the fountain? The bottom was black, but not slimy. It was definitely not culinary water. The safety cult of today would say--maybe not such a good idea. But as girl I remember following the irrigation ditch two-miles into town. We squeezed under cobwebby cement and wooden bridges that had only 8 inches of clearance between the water and them. Today's parents would have freaked. All I know was it was a lot of fun and every icy plunge was a challenge against fear, discomfort and the unknown. "One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go!"

Mission Trails Hike

Last Saturday I was having a super busy day. Clint offered relief by taking the boys on the hike. As they were suiting up, it became clear to Jack that the other brothers had camelbacks and he did not. The lower lip was pathetic, "My backpack?" It reminded me of the time I forgot Jack could eat solid food and I got the older two boys Krispy Kreme donuts and none for him. So sad. So Clint made a detour to REI and got Jack his own camel back and hike hats for all of them. At the store and on the trail everyone who saw the three of them thought it was the cutest thing they'd ever seen. Clint took them on the visitor center loop then up the River Hill--killer full-mile climb (you should remember this by bike Tyler, Ike, Chris, Joey and Katie). This is where they stopped for a snack of Cliff Bars.

Tal Logic

Sometimes we wonder what it would be like to live in the mind of Tal. Here are some interesting glimpses from the past couple of days.

Tal was getting a late night snack and was under a time limit because it was 9 p.m While staring intently at his "yummy-yummy bun" (toasted bun with butter and parm) he says under his breath, "Ignore, ignore, ignore.." Then he puts it into his mouth, "Ow!" I ask, "Tal, what are you doing?" He says, "I want to eat it but it's too hot!"

Tal: Mom, are there mouth boogers?

Tal: Mom, how does a helicopter fly?
Me: By spinning the blades around really fast.
Tal: Oh. So they move a lot faster than I was doing.

Grover with the Hales

I'm so happy that Grover is becoming a habit for the Phil Hale Family. Our boys are rich with cousins their age. It's so great to see another generation enjoying the ranch with their cousins just like I did as a kid.

Usually our group is non-stop: 2 bike rides, 1 hike, 1 trip to the waterfall, and 4 board games a day. This year was more tame and that had a lot to do with Harry Potter: The Ghostly Hallows! Activity and conversation (by decree) were muted the first day as many were curled up around Harry. I finally finished on Tuesday and rejoined the living. Loved that book! Wow, what a ride Rowling has given us for 7 great books!

We had 3 four-wheelers that got a lot of use. Many hiked calf creek and we all did the Waterfall at least once. The Waterfall was like the river in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because of all the rain. But the cliffs had been worn to perfect jumping shape and with the deep warm water--it was a blast!

2-Part Voices Reunion

I was so fortunate in July to have seen all my "Voices" friends! I went to "Wicked" with Michelle and Jen on July 7th. We met in Hollywood at 2 p.m. and chatted and went out to eat at a Wolfgang Puck's restaurant till 7 p.m. when we walked down to the Pantages Theater. It was such a wonderful time! Jen and I hadn't seen Michelle in 6 years!

Two weeks later, in Utah, I went to the Ogden temple with Marisa and Gina. Marisa had 100 names to do initiatory for. We did 49! We didn't get to talk much but it was a wonderful to be there together! I love these girls! And I say 'girls' because we were definitely feeling our age to think of all the time that has gone by since we first became friends.

Utah Trip

We went to Utah for 2 weeks. It was the first time in 2+ years Clint and the older boys have been to Northern Utah.
1st stop was the Nelson's--who "tagged" us to start this blog. So blame them. The Nelsons arranged pizza and a babysitter for all the kids and we went to see the Harry Potter movie. Loved it! My favorite Harry movie, even though it was my least favorite Harry book.

Next stop was Orem/Lehi. Had a great time getting re-acquainted with the Legas clan. Cole really enjoyed playing with Maren's twin 4-year-old boys, Eli and Roddy. They were definitely up for wrestling. We had to laugh though, because we don't think Cole realized there were two of them! This interchange made me realize the wrestling genes come from the Cresap side! The drama comes from the Hale side.

I got to attend a BYU Forum with my sister, Dr. Jenny Pulsipher, speaking on "Indiana Jones and the Adventures of Archival research." It was fantastic. I had to take pictures of one of the dozen or so signs I saw of her posted all over campus. The signs were 10-feet tall and they used her I.D. photo! How rude! And how rude that I'd post it on my blog. The hazards of being famous.

We stayed 2 nights with Cara and Scott. The boys loved playing with Ally in her castle and outside.

We can't go to Lehi and not visit Thanksgiving Point. We love that place. It has the largest dinosaur museum in the world (and cousin Nate Hale painted all the murals).