Mission Accomplished!!!

After 4 long years of studying and countless prayers, Cory is finally done!! He passed the Utah Bar exam and will officially be sworn in as an attorney in late October. Wheeewwwwwwwww! Yes, that is one big, Big, BIG sigh of relief. I am so thankful that he can now spend all of his extra time with us, and not at the library! This year he took ALL 3 WEEKS of his vacation to study for the Bar, and needless to say, that really, really sucked!

We did learn a whole lot about our family through this whole thing, and the best lesson learned was that we could survive! We lived three long years in another state, without help from extended family. Let me tell you, if you haven't done it, that can be very tough, especially at first. No grandmas, or aunts to babysit when you have to take an unexpected trip to the hospital, missing family traditions (unfortunately Michigan does NOT celebrate the 24th of July), family reunions we could not attend, and we missed a wedding and a couple of babies who were born while we were gone. We were able to come home maybe 4 or 5 times, but flights between Utah and Michigan are not cheap so we didn't fly too often! It's a 24 hour drive between the two states, and Cory even drove it once without me and only 3 hours of sleep at a rest stop. I'm glad we won't be doing that again. We even drove home one Christmas just in time to surprise everyone at my sister's house for dinner on Christmas Eve, and then showed up at Cory's mom's house on Christmas Day. Bailee and Morgan love to tell that story, because everyone was sooooo surprised. I will always remember how we made it home in record time with perfect weather in December, only to drive home in the absolute worst blizzard I've ever seen. I think we were one of probably 10 in 100 cars who did not slide off the side of the road. I think it took us 30 something hours to get home. Most of the drive we were going under 20 miles an hour on the freeway, but since we arrived safely we can say it was worth it.

We made a lot of our own Michigan traditions with just the four of us like going to the pumpkin/ apple farms, attending the holiday parade in November in downtown Lansing, and going to Sleeping Bear Dunes. These are things that the four of us can remember and talk about, and it's special because it was just us!

On that note, fall reminds me a lot of Michigan. First off, fall reminds me of school, and the girls had a fantastic elementary school in Michigan. It was far above and beyond what they have had here. I just never realized how much more education our kids could be getting. In Kindergarten Bailee and Morgan came home one day and told me about their art class. They learned about Van Gogh and told me all about him and could name some of his paintings. They would also tell me about how they learned about Bach in music, and they could name pieces that he had composed. In Utah, where there are many more children, and everyone is so focused on kids, we could be doing so much more. I'll stop there, because I could write several pages on why I think Michigan public education is better than Utah's, at least on the elementary level. Needless to say, I miss Pinecrest Elementary!

There were so many historical church sites within a day's drive of Michigan, so we were able to go to Palmyra, Kirtland, and we stopped off at Nauvoo during the move home. It was so incredible to visit these places. When I was younger I always thought that it would be such a testimony builder to see the places where such magnificent church events took place, and it definitely was. There were so many good people that helped fulfill the goals and missions that the early prophets, and especially Joseph Smith, was inspired to fulfill. We went to so many homes and farms and churches, but each one had it's own spirit and I knew that each place was sacred for a different reason, but that it was all done for the same purpose. It was so nice to see Bailee and Morgan react to the different sites, and to see their little testimonies grow.

In Michigan we lived very close to the MSU campus and every Saturday the band would practice at the stadium just a few miles down the road from us. They would start early in the morning and I miss the band waking me up on a sunny Saturday. The drums rattling, and the horns playing. One might think it would make a person upset, but I loved waking to the sounds of the band. I loved the excitement in the air on game day, and the kids would always come home on Thursday after school and tell me that they HAD to wear their MSU shirts on Friday for green day. It was fun to have that college town atmosphere so close.

We also made so many great friends that have become family. We had Thanksgiving & Christmas dinners together, went on camping trips, had date nights together, tons of fun at ward parties, and did so many fun things. We will always have a special bond with all of our Michigan friends. One family is especially important to us, the Liles, because our kids became best friends. They live in Last Vegas, but we spent a few hours with them a few weeks ago when they came for a short visit, and and the kids loved it. They played at the park and then we went to Training Table for lunch, and then to Millcreek Canyon to hang out. They all picked up right where they left off and had a blast. They also have a baby, Crew, who is just a couple of months younger than Taylor so we all had a good time watching the babies play together.

Here are some pics

Crew & Taylor - already buddies!

Morgan & Chase playing in the water at Millcreek

Brett & Bailee getting their feet wet

All the kids had a blast!

Bailee and Morgan absolutely loved their time with Chase and Brett and before they even left the kids were trying to plan another time to meet. Hopefully we can meet up again soon because we always have a good time together. One funny thing I have to mention is that Cory is very, very big on journal writing. Me - not so much (he bought me a journal for Christmas 2 years ago and it's still empty-thus the reason I try to blog). But I LOVE that Cory has so many journals, and he makes the kids write in theirs on Sundays. One funny entry that I read in Bailee's she had written we first moved back from Utah. She wrote that when she turns 16 she is getting a car and she is going to drive down to Las Vegas to see her friend Chase. Someday she'll thank her dad for making her write down these little thoughts!

This was one funny conversation I had with Morgan within the first week of living in Michigan. She was almost 6.

Morgan: "Mom, what is dad going to school for again?"

Me: "To be a lawyer."

Morgan: "Oh . . . I get it - so he can loy?" (pronounced like soy, with an "L").

What exactly does it mean to loy? Well, I think to Morgan it means practicing law.

Here's another little memory just off the top of my head. One Saturday Morgan and I were cleaning our townhouse and I was about 4 months pregnant with Taylor. Well, you know how after you have that first kid you start showing lots earlier with the next ones. She had been watching me for several weeks and every now and I then I'd see her checking out my belly and she'd come touch it just to see what was going on. On this particular Saturday we had been cleaning and I had on a tight undershirt, the kind you don't wear without something over the top, but it was hot and we were cleaning so that's what I had on. Morgan comes around the corner and just stops and looks at me for a minute and I can tell she wants to say something. Then she says "Mom, I hate to tell you this, but you're really starting to get pregnant now." I just laughed. I was starting to show, especially with tight clothes on, but I had been pregnant for several months. I thought it was funny that she would say I was "starting" to get pregnant.

Morgan always has little gems to share. Now that they are older, the funny little remarks are few but I love thinking about the little things they used to say and I'm glad we have to many videos of them. I wish they could go back to being 4!

I have some other funny things, but I'll save those for the girls' birthday post. They'll be 10 in less than 2 weeks! Man, that just makes me feel very old!!!

The Fruits of our Labor Day!

It's that time of year again when I look forward to school starting, new beginnings, leaves falling, football starting, and Cory looks forward to . . . bottling SALSA! He likes making the homemade fresh stuff when tomatoes first sprout, but he really freaks when the end of summer is near and he can spend an entire day bottling salsa. Even he admits to being a little "obsessed" with it.

After 12 years, I am still convinced that the Sumsion family is at least half Mexican. (Sumsion is Spanish, right?) Boy, do they like their salsa. And, Cory once told me that he could eat Tacos every night if I would let him. I love tacos, but not for every meal!

On Labor Day Taylor woke the house up at his usual early time, and Cory hopped out of bed ready to run out and grab tomatoes. He goes to a little vegetable stand because he needs at least a bushel. Next, off to his mom's house to visit for just a bit, grab more extra large bowls and the pots. Not just any pots, but large, large pots. Then off to Walmart to get the peppers, garlic, onions (and whatever else he puts in salsa - I really don't know because it's a secret recipe), along with tortilla chips (of course) jars, lids, etc.

By about 1:00 p.m. he's home and we are in salsa making mode. This was the first of what seemed like 50 pots of tomatoes we blanched.

After blanching and peeling the tomatoes, they go into the blender. This is Taylor's reaction to the blender. . .

Actually, this was his reaction the second time around, because the first time I didn't have the camera in hand, so we did it again - - cruel and unusual punishment, I know! See him grip his high chair. After he calmed down he turned around and tried to exit off the back! None of my children have ever liked the vacuum, but issues with the blender??

Back to salsa. Most of the peppers and onions are blended with the tomatoes, because the girls in this house (me included) hate chunks in our salsa, but we allow dad to put some diced stuff in too mostly because he likes it, but it's really good.

So this is what he does next. . .

Dice, dice and dice! My mom bought him a food processor a while back for Christmas specifically to help with his salsa making efforts, but he says he doesn't "believe" in that. Sorry mom!!! We use the food processor for other stuff.

Next is the phase where we let the salsa "cook down." I have no idea what that actually means, but I think it's a fancy way of saying the salsa thickens and the flavors soak in. Check out these CAULDRONS!

Cory stirs frequently to avoid burning and takes small amounts out of each pot every now and then to cool and taste test. Who knew that you can't test it while it's hot? Oh NO, it has a completely different flavor once it has cooled, so cooling is vital to the taste test. He adds a little of this and a little of that, and otherwise the cauldrons boil for like 3 hours and I don't have to do anything!!! Ha ha! WHATEVER!! This is the time where I start freaking out at what a disaster my kitchen has become despite the wonderful aroma that lingers clear into the garage, and I start to frantically wash, wipe, and mop everything I can get my hands on.

I don't know what time it is when we start bottling, but by around 11:30 p.m., this is what we have . . .

I doesn't look like it, but that is 40 something glorious jars of salsa. We also had two large tupperware bowls, one bowl for work and one for immediate consumption! MMMMM mmmmm :) Is this considered food storage, because Cory could eat nothing but salsa for months if necessary, even for drink - - I think he would chug it like milk if he had to.

People have told him that he should start botting it to sell. He'll challenge anyone, any day to a salsa cookoff. I think I'm going to call the Food Network about having a Showdown with Bobby Flay - (YES, I had to ask Bailee and Morgan exactly what the show was called because I forgot and they are obsessed with the Food Network).

Cory hoards his salsa more than anything, so if he offers to share, consider yourself lucky. If you've ever received a jar, consider yourself family.