Merry Christmas!

This is as close to a Christmas card in your mailbox as you are going to get from the Franciscos, I'm afraid.

We hope everyone is doing well, we've loved hearing from those of you who have sent cards!  Here is our four-second-update:

Ben is in his sixth month of residency in Orthopedic Surgery.  We stayed here in San Antonio and he works at various hospitals around the city.  He is enjoying it more each day.  When he has time to do anything else besides work and sleep and study, he likes to. . . wait, I don't think that has happened yet.  But he IS planning a fishing trip for this weekend, so life must not be too bad.

Jan is home with the three bedlamites.  It is often the most entertaining job that she has ever had.  And often the most difficult.  Usually those two extremes don't happen at the same time.  She misses all of her friends who moved away, but loves the new friends she has made in the Parkwood ward (and the ones from Leon Valley who hung around).  I don't really know what to say further.  Especially in third person.

Clark (4) is in PreK down the street from our new house.  He loves it.  His teacher is the absolute authority on everything.  When he was expressing his unwavering faith in there being snow on Christmas day, I told him, "it is too hot here to snow--see it is snowing right now because the snow turns into rain when it comes down in San Antonio since it is so warm".  He just said, "I'll ask Mrs. Gershman, she's good at explaining things".  He still loves animals.  You know how some kids turn any toy into a car or a gun?  Clark turns cars and guns into animals.

Eva  (3) is keeping right up with Clark.  She loves to be the boss of everything.  This is what is known as kharma.  Now I get to raise someone just like me.  She also loves animals, loves playing with Clark, loves telling stories about Lamanites and antelopes, and loves doing what she sees me do.  The other day she got everyone's allergy medicine ready and put the toothpaste on their toothbrushes before bed.  Who knows if the dosing was right, but they all slept great that night.

Myra (1) is still a sweetheart.  She walks and runs the opposite direction from me whenever I ask her to come, but she is so cute and coy about it that I can't help but laugh.  Luckily, usually I don't have to move and Clark or Eva will drag her back to me.  She's the most verbal of any of my kids at this age--she already says "Hi" "Mama" "Dada" "Hot" and nods her head with absolute conviction.  If you've ever read the Twilight series, she has the power of Jasper--she can calm a person down just by holding her.  She is very soothing, and she keeps me sane.  It's sort of magic, I guess.

New Baby (7 months) is a girl, and will be here in 7 short weeks.  We're aiming for February 8.  One of the few perks of a planned c-section is choosing their birthday.

We miss you all and love you.  Have a great holiday week!

Gluttony

I just came across this recipe and thought I'd share the caloric love.  I love pumpkin season.

The Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake

4 tbsp butter
¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
½ cup crushed gingersnaps
1 tbsp brown sugar (or your favorite substitute)
1 tspn cinnamon
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
24 oz cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1½ cups mashed pumpkin
¾ tspn ground cinnamon
¾ tspn powdered ginger
1½ tspn ground cloves
¼ cup pecan halves

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

To make the crust: Place the butter in a small saucepan and melt over moderate heat. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, gingersnaps, brown sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and mix together with a fork. Line bottom and side of 10" springform pan with parchment or wax paper. Spray with nonstick pan spray. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom.

For filling: Pour the heavy cream into a medium bowl and beat just until soft peaks form. Refrigerate. Beat the cream cheese (in large bowl) with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add the sugar, beating well.

Add the eggs one at a time, and beat the mixture until it is fluffy and pale. Stir in the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Remove the whipped cream from the refrigerator and whisk lightly to re-blend. Using a spatula or flat spoon, fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese-pumpkin mixture. Pour the mixture into the prepared crustbsp Wrap one continuous sheet of aluminum foil around the springform pan and press firmly. Put wrapped pan in a baking pan and fill with hot water halfway up the spring from pan.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes.

Cool the cheesecake to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours to chill thoroughly.

Remove the sides of the springform pan. Just before serving, place the pecan halves on top of the cheesecake, in a ring around the edges, to garnish.

I wish I had someone to test this out on. . . 

Eva's Birthday Surprise

 We bought a Groupon a while ago to visit the Serengeti Resort in Bergheim, TX.  Besides the resort there, Bergheim also has a gas station and a general store.  I'm surprised you haven't heard of it.  The kids didn't know what we were going to do there, but they were excited to ride in a golf cart.

 They have a handful of african animals that you can get right up next to and feed.

 This was the best part for Eva.  She looooooooves zebras.  She loves them so much sometimes she spells her name with a Z.  Zeva, or Ezva.  Unfortunately, the zebra was one of the animals that we couldn't feed directly out of our hands.  They have biting teeth, apparently.  The ostrich was the other, but there was no love lost between us and the ostriches.  They are freaky.

Creative Calibrations

A while ago I publicized my website, Creative Calibrations, on this blog.  Due to recent austerity measures relating to the Euro, we have decided to not renew the domain or hosting fees for the year.  If you want a recipe or anything, feel free to email me and I'll send you the file.

I'm looking into a free web hosting option, like weebly or something.  Let me know if you have any good leads.

Regretfully,
The Management

Deciding to live in Utah or Texas?

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice. 
 --Robert Frost

Texas Gardening

Last night for Family Home Evening, Ben was teaching about faith.

Ben: "What happens when you put a seed in the ground?"
Eva: " IT DIES!!!!"

Bipedal

One Year Old Girl

Can you believe she is already ONE??

I was putting her to bed last night and I tried to think of any day in the last year where she made me frustrated or upset.  I couldn't think of one.  Well, about 51 weeks ago when it would take her 15 minutes to eat and then 2 HOURS to burp after, I got frustrated.  But otherwise, she has been the most pleasant child I've ever been around.

We love our Myra Jane.

The House

Okay, now I'm ALL caught up.
Attention burglars: We don't have anything to steal, but we do have a gun.  And I know how to use it.

The Kauai part of Hawaii

We left O'ahu on Sunday after church in the historic Honolulu tabernacle.  Seriously an awesome building with an impressive giant tree in the front yard.

The kids were pretty worn out.  This is them when we unloaded them out of the rental car.

And then put them on the shuttle, and got dropped off at the airport.  We had to get them up so we could check their seats.  I think they would have slept through the whole flight.

We stayed in Kauai with cousins and aunts and uncles and Grandma and Grandpa!  It was so fun to have the trip refreshed half way through with other people to talk with.

Monday we went to Waimea Canyon, which is a pretty impressive canyon for a small island.  There, we stopped at some lookouts, and did the #1 muddiest hike of our trip.

Make of this what you will.

Grandpa and Eliza (or, as Eva calls her, Maliza)

Grandma and Maliza.

Aunt Emmy with the grabby-fingered Myra

Ben grew out his beard!  Eva wouldn't kiss him.Myra couldn't let go of it (see above)

Ben took that picture with the girls, and so I saw Clark over playing with his finger animal in the dirt (hold your index finger straight out and point all the other ones downward, its an elephant with his trunk--thanks, Rowans) and I said, "Clark, I need a picture with me and my boy" and he thought for a minute and said, 'Well, just go get Eva." and I said, "But you're my boy!"  "Well Eva's your girl".  So I scooped him up and took a picture.  It's an even cuter story if you can pronounce it like him.  "Wheaw, dust go get Eva" "Wheaw, Eva's your giwl"

There are chickens everywhere in Hawaii.

This is the lookout from the muddy hike, this is the Napali coast (more to come later)

Anna's hair with hydrangea in it. (Anna is Toni's daughter)

Thad and Eva enjoying a moment in the grass.

This was part of our big hike.  It felt like 4 miles, but it was only two.  But I think when you forget water and snacks and it is ankle deep mud, distances should be flexible.  The kids were pooped by half way.  But they perservered. Word to the wise, the first lookout on that hike is the best one.  No need to go to the top.

The next day, I dropped Ben, Emily, Thad and my Dad off at the end of the road on the North Shore, where they embarked on an overnight backpacking trip along the Napali coast.  Unfortunately, they got caught in the rain for most of it and ended up going only 6 miles up and camping, instead of 11.  They had a great time though, and no one slid off the cliff into the ocean.  Success.

On Thursday, my parents were good enough to take the kids so that we could go on a little river kayaking adventure.  All the big kids went, it was fantastic.  Actually, this was my favorite day of Hawaii.

First we paddled up to a swimming hole/rope swing.  Emily and I were the brave ones to try the rope swing first, and we didn't have the strength to hold ourselves up past the low point of the pendulum.  We inhaled a lot of water.  Without any sort of grace . There are no pictures of that.  But then, we started jumping off of this cliff, and that was F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C!

Ben was good at the rope swing though. 

Then we got back in the kayaks and paddled up a different fork in the river to a waterfall hike.  That was super fun too.  This is Emily and I on the trail up to the main waterfall.

Whenever the footing was unsure, Thad would grab someone's hand and say "Lets be a Centaur!" instead of "let's hold each other up".

In the main waterfall. This is by far my favorite series of pictures from the trip. 

Most days found us down at the resort's pools for some period of time.  Eva hated the beach, but she loved the pool.  Here is Grandpa and Myra Jane.

The final day of our trip, we went to the Magical Kipu Falls.  Magical is my adjective, not the proper name.  But I put it in there because it fits.  There was perfect cliff jumping and rope swinging into a super deep pool of water.  You had to climb a rickety 15 foot aluminum ladder that was sort of bolted into the side of the cliff to get back up to the swing or the cliff.  But I figure, if you fall backwards holding on to the ladder, at least you're falling into a pool of water, so no worries.

Grandpa Bus taking on the rope swing.

The next day, Sunday, we got on another series of planes, got to Bridgette's house at midnight, and lazed around all the next day.

Tuesday morning, we left Jordan and Natalie Nelson's house at 6:00 am (thanks, Nelsons!) and drove ALL the way until 1:00 in the morning when we finally got back to our new house.  Dora was the patron saint of that drive.  Dora and Goldfish. Bless them both.

Okay, phew.  Now I have to start going to bed during normal Texas hours and stop staying up all night blogging.

ALOOOOOOOOHA!

That's right!  I said Hello.  And Goodbye.  And I love you.  And Clark has told me several times "You can't say Aloha anymore.  Just say Hi."

Because we aren't in Hawaii anymore.  *shudder into clenched fist*

But we had a great 10 days there.  I think it was 10 days.  It was a 17 day ordeal, driving to and from Phoenix (thanks Bridgette and family for the awesome accommodations!).  Maybe we were in Hawaii for 12 days.  Maybe 13.  Yeah, I think 13.

Anway, here are some highlights:

 Breaking in our condo in Waikiki.  I'm not sure what kind of animal sleeps on bridges, but that is the kind that Clark is.  Probably a beaver.  (For those of you who don't know Clark well, he is always some kind of animal).

 Myra says "hi" now.  Well, right here, she is saying "aloha".

 The first morning we were up and going at 4:45 (Hawaii is 4 hours earlier than Tejas).  We got to this hike at 6:00 in the morning.  The kids were excited to go up the volcano.  We had studied about volcanos in preschool before we came, which was not necessarily a good idea.  Just made them nervous about the possibilities of lava spewing out of the crater (right where we are standing!). 

 At the end of the hike, there is a giant stairwell of 99 steps going to the top.  Eva walked all of the hike except this part.  I was so proud of her.

 MUSCLES!

 Clark found a tail on the way (for those of you who don't know Clark well, he likes to wear a tail all the time as well--in keeping with his animal imitations).  This was a foxtail reed.

 Under the influence of their minimalist-shoe-loving father, they decided to hike down barefoot. 

 These flowers grow everywhere!  They are literally distributed all over the ground when a gust of wind hits the trees.  I think that was one of my favorite things about Hawaii.  The abundance of beautiful, free, flowers.

 Our first day snorkeling spot.  I was terrified.  I was sure that a shark or barracuda was going to come up from the murky depths and bite me on  my totally vulnerable belly.  Later I learned that we didn't have good visibility and that snorkeling is fun.

 I'm not against taking kids to Hawaii, but you might want to screen the potential applicants more closely than we did.  Had we known that Eva hated the beach and ocean, we might have made other arrangements for her.  However, she discovered that she loved napping on the beach.  So did Myra.  So when we would go, she would just say "I'm tired, I need a nap".  Even if we had just woken up a few hours before.  But I'd wrap her in a towel, put her in the shade, and she was good for an hour.

 "Aloha!"

 We got Clark to go out and snorkel in Haunama Bay.  He loved it.  Obviously, there were sea animals involved.

 Eva got an owie.  Strike three for the beach.  She wanted a picture of it.

 Giant Eucalyptus trees on our Manoa Falls hike the second day.  They were gorgeous.

The second muddiest hike of our trip.  In a beautiful rainforest/mosquito farm.  Seems like paradise shouldn't have mosquitoes.

 The third day we went to the North shore and saw some sea turtles and went snorkeling here, Sharks Cove.  You can imagine my dreams the night before after we had planned our day.  Eviscerated.  But this turned out to be my very favorite spot--it was like snorkeling in my dentist's aquarium.  Totally bright and shallow and tons of fish everywhere. 

 Then we made our way to the Polynesian Cultural Center where we frantically tried to see things in 2.5 hours.  We didn't plan that part of our trip very well.  It was nice though, nicely landscaped.

And I threw a spear which completed my dream for Hawaii.  Let me tell you:  When I was a Junior in High School, I was on the track team, nominally, and tried throwing javelin once or twice.  One night in the middle of track season, I had a dream that we all went to Hawaii with the Kellys, our cousins.  And I could throw the javelin sooooooooooooooooooooooo far.  Effortlessly, I could just chuck it and it would sail through the air for miles.  So that rocked.  And I also remember waking up and having a sensory memory of how wonderfully fragrant Hawaii was.  All the flowers filled the air up with scent.  Which is why I adore the plumeria trees everywhere just throwing flowers away like they are going out of style.  But they never will, or Hilo Hatties will go out of business with all of their plumeria-inspired shirts.

 Then Eva caught this fish. 

 And we all got tattoos.  Even Myra.

 

And when we came out (because they closed at 5:00!!!), the kids saw this bench and ran over to it and said, "Take our picture" and smiled like they were little models.  It was so cute.

 

Here we are with more sea turtles hanging out on the beach.

The rest of our time in Oahu was spent snorkeling, hiking and eating Mangoes n' Cream ice cream. We also got to visit my dearly beloved piano teacher, Dan Bradshaw and his awesome family; both he and Emily teach at BYU Hawaii.

Its late though, and everyone else is asleep, so I am going to name this part 1 and get the other half posted later. . . hopefully this month.  Also, the home tour.  I haven't forgotten.