Family.Food.Fun.FOURTH!

We were in Kanab, Utah for the annual Jameson Family Reunion. It was a totally different, more enjoyable experience this year since we had our own little Zackary with us.

We did the traditional matching shirts and even the baby had a matching onesie. We entered a float in the parade and rode up one side and down the other. Our float won "Best Family" and was filled with nearly 90 family members and a family of four from Germany whom Jim met, befriended, included and shared the Gospel with. He and Joy always manage to pick up stray people and turn them into friends. I love that about them!

Kanab saw some crazy weather that same afternoon, including pea-sized hail. We were trapped in the car waiting out the storm and the falling hail was so loud that we couldn't hear each other speak. I was worried that our car would be damaged but all was fine and the sun soon returned to dry up the rain.

Robert, Troy, Trisha and I were responsible for the dessert. We did some dutch oven yummies, including peach cobbler, dutch apple crisp and a delicious chocolate lover's cake. They were all a huge hit and I did the same chocolate cake the next day at my parents house when we stopped in for a BBQ.

I love small towns. Kanab is so beautiful and the red mountains surrounding the city are so unique. I love to stop at Denny's Wigwam and buy fudge for my mother. It is made fresh every day. We also stopped by the cemetery to visit Grandpa and Grandma J's grave. The cemetery was so peaceful and I felt that Grandpa and Grandma were pleased to know that their family still gathers and enjoys being together.

Tribute and tears

Robert was recently called to sing in our Stake Center Choir. This is no ordinary stake choir... these guys mean serious business. Not only do they sing well and wear matching outfits like the MoTab, they are also accompanied by the Stake Center Orchestra. When they perform, the first several rows of pews are removed from the chapel to fit the orchestra and the room is decorated to fit the occasion. At first it was a little strange to applaud in the chapel, but the concerts are so uplifting and beautiful, it seems only appropriate. It is probably a little less appropriate for me to have taken these pictures in the chapel, but I was very discreet.

The patriotic concert was held on Friday, July 3. We were a little frustrated at first with the date because our family reunion in Kanab began that day and singing in the concert meant Robert and I would not arrive in Kanab until well after midnight, but I am so glad we made the sacrifice. It was well worth it!

Mom, Pop, Mom, Angie and Brandon came down from St. George. Veterans and their families were asked to sit in a special section. Since Pop served in the Navy, this meant we had excellent seats. At one point in the program, veterans from the different service areas were asked to stand. When I saw my grandfather standing there with others who have served our country in the military, my heart swelled with pride and my eyes filled with tears. What a hero he is to me! What an example! And what a blessing it is for me to live in this country!

The concert was fabulous and will become a famLea tradition, whether or not Robert sings in the choir.

Sometimes it is OK to be a little sad.

Mommy & baby Zackary
June 28, 2009

Pop's Day

Our Father's Day was fairly quiet. I think we have gotten in the habit of keeping those holidays a bit low-key at our home. The Saturday before Father's Day I asked Robert what he wanted to do and he suggested a quick trip to St. George to spend some time with Mom and Pop... a sort of Pop's Day instead of Father's Day. I am so grateful Robert genuinely loves and enjoys spending time with my grandparents. He considers them his own and they adore him in return.

We joined them at their ward BBQ. The highlight of that party was the accordion player who entertained us at the end. The accordion has got to be the most difficult instrument in the world to master... the eye-hand coordination required must be crazy hard. The music sure makes it difficult for two dancers to stay sitting in their seat, but we managed. We don't know enough about the polka anyway. ;)

We ended our evening at Big Scoop/Blue Bunny Cafe, our favorite St. George food stop. Four chocolate sundaes and an hour of fun conversation later and we were back on the road. Boy, I am grateful Mom and Pop made the move from Montana to Southern Utah. It makes the trip so much easier to travel!

Food, glorious food!

Still loving spending time in the kitchen. My new favorite meals include Fusilli Pasta with Pesto and Grilled Garlic Skirt Steak with Bread Salad (both pictured on the far right of the collage).

I look back at our finances and cringe when we were spending $800+ a month on food. Little of that was spent at the grocery store. But with two very busy, working adults, it was very difficult to plan ahead and fix dinners and lunches. We would usually return home late and exhausted from work each night and head out for dinner or have someone pick something up on the way home. I don't miss those days. Well, I miss the money but I don't miss the inconvenience of figuring out what to do with dinner and lunch and the inflated food budget.

I am grateful to Robert's mother for teaching him to eat and enjoy anything. Robert is not a picky eater (I am!) and will pretty much eat anything except flan. So I get a very good response to each meal even when the meat is a little overcooked or the bread is a little too done. I have a lot to learn still.

I have decided to start a little herb garden in the kitchen. I picked up a basil plant from Trader Joe's last week and it is thriving in the warm sunlight. I've also organized the recipes and weekly shopping lists into a little binder. Ahh, sweet organization. How I love even the sound of the word though I have yet to master the concept completely.

On the menu for next week: Disneyland Chicken Cavatappi, Ranch Roast, Pork Skewers with Pineapple Scallion Rice, Ham & Cheese Grilled Calzones, Dutch Oven Cobbler (for the Fourth of July reunion in Kanab). Yummy! If you'd like to join us for dinner, let me know and I'll set an extra place. But I warn you, I am still a clumsy cook and cannot guarantee the food will taste as delicious as it may sound. :)

A letter to Michael Jackson

I feel a little sad today.

I am just one of many millions around the world who is mourning Michael Jackson and pulling out their old MJ tapes and CDs to Remember the Time. I tell myself Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough as I put the CD on repeat and let it run over and over. And if you think that's Bad, I will tell you to Beat It or to just Leave Me Alone.

So I thought that composing this little letter to the King of Pop would help me better cope with the loss.

Dear Michael Jackson:

The Way You Make Me Feel when I listen to your music is Speechless and a bit like a PYT (Pretty Young Thing) because I have so many young memories of your music. Even though some of your behavior was fairly Dangerous, I can't help but want to Jam and Rock with You when you tell me that Billie Jean is not your lover. I Can't Help It. You are such a Thriller.

I hope that as the years go by you will be remembered for your attempts to Heal the World through music instead of for your Smooth Criminal behavior. Describing your personality and behavior is not as simple as Black or White. Because let's face it, though you were a creepy, quirky, potential pedo, you were also a darn good artist and dancer. I have yet to master your moonwalk but I do know all the lyrics to Man in the Mirror so I thank you for that and for all the music you left us with.

Thanks so much, Jaime

The first two

For more than 20 years, these were the most important two men in my life - my father and my only brother. When we spent some time together in St. George this past week, I realized that my circle of most important men has grown by many more - Robert, Zackary, my father-in-law Jim. But these two will always be the first men in my life. I will respect and admire them forever and love them for always.

St. George, Utah LDS Temple
Dad, Jaime Lynne & Brandon
Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Many blessings

It is hard to describe how special this day was for our famLea. Any opportunity to bless and celebrate a new baby is certainly filled with joy, but for us this day was about so many blessings.

Church was often a difficult place to be for us as we struggled to begin our family. The worst days were always fast Sundays because the baby blessings would sometimes be too much for our hearts to handle. Questions about our uncertain family future were even more difficult to ignore as we watched other families celebrate and add to their own joy with the blessing of every new baby in church. I think this is part of the reason that our own special day was one of such happiness for us. Our turn had finally come.

Robert did a beautiful job with the blessing. He talked about kindness, obedience and friendship. I didn't close my eyes during the prayer as I should have. I was too drawn to the sight of my son surrounded by such excellent and worthy examples of priesthood power. Those men will be role models and heroes he will follow throughout his entire life.

While Zackary remained the greatest blessing of the day, the presence of so many family members and friends was an added bonus. I was constantly fighting tears. I'm sure many thought it was because of the emotion from the blessing, but the truth is that it was because of the love and support we felt from these incredible people. We had so many of the people we love the most in the entire world together in one place, including Zackary's great-grandparents, Mom and Pop McCloud. They told us they would be at the blessing with bells on and they weren't kidding. They showed up wearing bells. So sweet and unforgettable.

We all gathered afterward at Jim and Joy's house for a lunch. So many people pitched in by bringing salads and goodies. My sister, Lisa, made a homemade cheesecake and I made fruit pizza and tarts. Big hits!!!

I love this photo of Great-grandpa Lea, Grandpa Jim, Robert and Zackary. Four generations of Leas. Very cool!

Zackary Jameson Lea
Blessing Day - Sunday, June 7, 2009

A visit from Meg (& Chad)

One of my dearest and best friends, Megan, was in town for the past week for the baby blessing and an intense scrap revival. On a friend/scrapbooker scale of one to 10 , I am a four and a half... all that time she and Chad were in town and these are the only two pictures I have. Ridiculous. But isn't she beautiful?

I'll have to use my words to commemorate the week instead.

We spent most of our time at my kitchen table scrapbooking and chatting and reminiscing. Poor Chad was stuck without a playmate because Robert couldn't take any time away from work. Megan and I did leave the house occasionally to stop by the store, see the movie "UP!" (fantastic and amazing, BTW), and attend Cookie Wednesday at Valerie's house (Megan's presence sanctioned the event). We ate an embarrassing amount of no-bake cookies and fruit pizza. We cooked full and delicious meals together each night for the men. We played one too many games of Canasta where we once slaughtered the boys in a record-breaking match. We played too few games of Dr. Mario but I found that my training paid off as I was finally able to keep up with Megan on that game. We watched episode after episode of Mythbusters and several installments of the Bachelorette. We made plans to see each other again soon.

I love this girl! I love Chad! And I love knowing that no matter where life takes us, from the tiniest towns to the biggest, we will always be friends.

Some scrapwork from our week together, though I still have journaling to finish:

Super outdoorsy

We went camping in Lee Canyon this weekend with our friends. We are feeling super outdoorsy since Zackary has been camping twice and he is only six weeks old. To be fair, though, one of those times was an accident. We took our niece, sweet Rachel Marie, with us where she made so many new friends that instead of calling them by name she just called each of them "friend" or "best friend."

It was a bit chilly and I was not entirely prepared for that. I was so cold in my sleeping bag at night that I slipped my legs into the arms of my favorite SUU sweater (stolen from my sister) and wore it like a pair of pants to keep me a little bit warmer. But the chill didn't seem to bother the kids and both Rachel and Zackary slept through the night.

The big group did a hike to Mary Jane Falls on Saturday morning. (I don't care what anybody says... that hike is definitely more than a mile and half. My aching body tells me so. And those same anybodies should also have mentioned those ridiculous switchbacks! :) The falls were more like a leaky faucet, but the kids (and Adam) had fun climbing up the rocks and onto the mound of snow there. We got some great pictures, which made me happy because I went to the effort of hauling my big camera to the top. I shouldn't complain though, because Robert hauled Zackary in the carrier and I'm pretty sure he weighs a little more than the camera.

Little Rachel was a load of fun on the trail. Whenever someone would ask questions like, "When will we be there?" or "Are we almost there?", Rachel would reply with, "We get there when we get there." It really cracked me up. I'm thinking this is something she may have heard a time or two from her mom and dad. We also worked with her on telling her "left" from her "right" during the hike. When other hikers would approach, Rachel would pick a side of the trail for us to move to and she would tell us if it was the left or the right. She didn't always get the right answer. After a while I think she realized that if she picked the same side every time and guessed "right" every time, then she would never get it wrong, proving that you don't have to know your left from your right to be a very smart girl.

Lee Canyon - Mount Charleston, Nevada
June 12-13, 2009