There's an App for that!

I am a beverage ice snob.  I love a good diet Coke, but for it to be really satisfying, it HAS to have the right kind of ice.  And a squeeze from a lime wedge is always nice.  The right kind of ice can be a deal breaker for me.  If I NEED a diet Coke (as opposed to, "eh, sure, why not") than it just has to have the right ice. Otherwise, it's just not worth it. What kind of ice would that be, you ask?  Nugget (or Pellet) Ice.  The little compact pieces of ice that "soak up the beverage."  Ahhhhhhhh!  A Coke and a smile just hit my face.

  I know most of the places around town (and within 5 miles of my home) that have the good kind of ice:  Pace's Dairy Ann, Barbacoa, Costa Vida, Common Cents, FireHouse Car Wash and Detail, Kneaders, Pizza Factory.  I read in the paper today that there are enough of us Nugget Ice fans that there is now an app (luvthenug.com) for your phone that lists all the restaurants that have Nugget Ice.  Cool!  Oh, wait.  I am already the app for that!

(I also noticed that this article mentioned a home ice machine that makes Nugget Ice...up to 80 pounds at a time!  It's only $2,849!)

Cowboy Nic

Little did I know that when I took my nephew, Nicholas, home from preschool I would be spending the afternoon with "Cowboy Nic."  When we walked through the front door of Nicholas's home, he immediately ran upstairs to change.  Meanwhile, I got out all the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies for his borthers (there's nothing better than coming home from school to freshly baked cookies, right?)  I started wondering what was taking Nico so long, so I called up to him to ask if he was still going to help me with the cookies.  He quickly responded that he just had to finish buttoning up his shirt.  A few minutes later, he came clomping down the stairs in full "Cowboy Nic" attire:  plaid button-down shirt, sheriff badge pinned to the chest, leather hat, belt, jeans, and--most importantly-heavy heeled cowboy boots (which where actually a pair of Kim's cast off fashionable low-heeled boots, but that did not bother Nic AT ALL).  He clomped into the kitchen, hopped up on a chair and proceeded to help me make the cookies.  After the dough was mixed up and plopped onto a cookie sheet (and after taste-testing, of course), Nic jumped back off the chair and continued to clomp around the kitchen, outside deck, garage, front side walk, and back in on the kitchen wood floor.  I decided that there must be something very satisfying about the  sound of clomping boots to a 6 year-old boy.  Nic told me all about cowboy boots and why they are so good for walking in dirt and and desert sand.  He then decided he needed to make a cowboy house (which he did on the deck) and then he asked if I would go on a walk with  him.  Heck yes, I would LOVE to walk the neighborhood with Cowboy Nic.  As we headed down the street, we found piles of tree branches and cardboard boxes to clomp and stomp over.

Clomp, clomp, stomp, clomp, clomp.

Into the Sunset.

A Masterpiece

"But trailing clouds of glory we come,

from God, who is our home"

Last March, we commissioned this painting from a very talented artist, Annie Henrie.  I wanted something depicting our daughters, OUR masterpieces, looking down upon the earth from their pre-mortal home, and contemplating the beauties and soon-to-be experiences of their earthly existence.  More importantly, every time they look at this painting I want my daughters to remember that they were sisters then and that they chose to be sisters now. Families ARE forever.  We ARE sons and daughters of loving heavenly parents.  We have a divine nature and we have the inner strength, abilities and capabilities to accomplish great and marvelous things.