Where in the World?

 

So the blog hasn't been updated in 18 months. 

And the cherub-faced baby is now a strong-willed toddler. 

And the missionaries are trying to re-activate our family, because we've only had 1 month of 2012 where we all attended every Sunday (just kidding - about the missionaries - not our attendance).

Well - here’s where we’ve been:

September (2011) - We spent Labor Day weekend at a Twiss family reunion and then a Walker family baby blessing. We came home to a full schedule: Tyler and a friend opened their second dental office the next day, and I kicked off Project PEAK (the school volunteer project that would suck up hundreds/thousands of hours of her life for the rest of the school year). Tyler also rewarded his staff with a quick trip to Hawaii this month. And so it all began!

November (2011) - We closed on our new home 3 days before Thanksgiving. It was a short sale, where nothing was short about it (we started the process in March!). We began re-painting, re-carpeting, re-finishing every square inch of the very neglected, somewhat frat-boy-trashed style house.

December  - Finished round 1 of paint/carpet, etc. and pseudo-moved in (i.e. brought mattresses, clothes, and kitchen supplies over) Dec 10. Left behind furniture and decorations for staging purposes. Got our "old" house up on the market Dec 15. Spent Christmas in California with my family.

January (2012)-  Spent New Year’s with Tyler’s family near St. George, Utah (and at least one of us was throwing up during our whole visit. I'm sure they were so glad we came!).

February – The 5 of us went to San Diego for Tyler’s work conference. The trip happened to overlap with my birthday so it was all the more reason to go together. We hit up the Reuben H. Fleet, the SDSU Aquarium, the Mormon Battalion Visitors center, La Jolla beaches and sea lions, the San Diego temple, the USS Midway, the beaches on Coronado and our favorite DDD recommendation: El Indio. My mom and dad both were able to drive down to spend some time with us – fun!

March – Liza was baptized! My parents, Tyler's parents and his sister Maren and her family came to visit for Liza’s baptism. The cousins all get along so well and we wish they could hang out more often. Since our furniture was still "staging" our old house, we bought a couch on Craig’s list for the company coming, then sold it when we were done. Then Tyler left for Haiti. My mom and grandmother both came during part of his trip to visit and help boost the spirits of all of us missing Tyler.

April – we officially finished moving! Our house sold and we got our furniture back :) Tyler and I got to celebrate when  my parents came out to watch the kids for the weekend and we went to Miami for a wedding. The wedding was quite the event- super fun and probably never to be outdone. We met up with some friends there and it was like a real couples vacation.

May – we welcomed a visitor from the Missoula Children’s Theater when we housed the actress director. Both Liza and Landon were in King Arthur’s Quest. They fell in love with both the play and their directors, saying when they left, “are they never coming back?” We also were lucky to have Sarah's grandmother visit again! We ended the month with a trip to Winter Park for Memorial Day weekend. We rented a cozy little condo through VRBO. We went on hikes, swam, rode horses, and hung out. The kids were thrilled to find an old school Nintendo in their loft – and Landon still asks monthly when we can go back and play Nintendo.

June – Can you believe we stayed home? We were resting up from the crazy full school year and prepping for our one big trip in July.

July – The 5 of us went to Newport Beach. It’s the trip we take every other year with my family – and it’s always fun to have everyone together. We were able to spend the week with my parents, brothers and their families. Every day includes beach time, pool time, and lots of game-playing time. The cousin bonding time is top notch!

August – I made another quick weekend trip to San Diego – this time with just my mom. We did all the things you don’t enjoy quite as much with kids and husbands around: wandered shops, ate whenever/whatever we wanted, watched goofy movies, wandered more shops, and spent time every day hanging out on the beach.

September – Labor Day weekend was another reason for a getaway. This time we went to Glenwood Springs. It’s been a favorite stopping point as we drive I-70, but to spend more than an hour there was wonderful! The hot springs pool was a blast, the hike to Hanging Lake was beautiful, the Mexican food from the truck in the drugstore parking lot was awesome, the cave tours stunning, and the Alpine Slide a big hit. Later that month I also got to spent the weekend in Denver with some friends and attend Time Out for Women – a spiritual feast!

October – Tyler had a work trip to San Diego, and another to Ohio. He got back the day before our next trip – to Hawaii. Do we even need to say more? We went to Oahu and were happy to visit with friends that used to be in our ward here in Colorado. As parents, we felt obligated to make sure the kids could spend as much time as possible on the best beaches around, so naturally we did what we could to help. They also couldn’t visit Hawaii without trying malasadas or shave ice, right? So they tried these yummy treats a few times to make sure their opinions were valid. We also spent a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center and the kids enjoyed learning how to hula and weave lauhala.

November – Tyler and I celebrated 13 years of marriage with a little weekend trip to Denver. It’s always fun when you can spend hours of uninterrupted time together. For Thanksgiving we drove down to Tyler’s parents’ home - and we were all healthy! We were happy to have some down time and family time. Tyler got a few golfing trips in with his brother, the kids played a lot with cousins and the neighbors, and every night the adults spent hours sitting around catching up – lots of things to catch up on!

 December – a week after Thanksgiving, we got back in the car headed to New Mexico. Tyler’s nephew got married in the Albuquerque temple and it was Twiss family time again. Friends from our Colorado ward have since moved to NM so we got to catch up with them, too. The kids had fun dancing and eating at the wedding, Liza was entranced with the bride, and Tyler proved by about mile 2,000 over 2 weeks that his radar detector works.

We will stay home for our 2^nd Christmas out of 7 in Colorado. We hope Santa knows how to find us!

DO feed the animals

At the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (one of the coolest zoos ever) you can feed the giraffes. It's exciting - and worth the drive. But leave it to a visit from my brother to come up with an even more exciting way to feed the giraffes.

The wind-up

and the pitch

it's worth including all frames just to watch Liza's reaction

Believe me when I say it was a highlight of everyone's trip!

Hats off to Abigail for being so brave and so cool about getting covered in giraffe slobber!

Backdating

I do it all the time.
For those who blog - do you?

For instance, here's what I just published about Liza's February birthday party.
And here's Landon's April birthday party.

I know it's July.  (Happy July!)

Festive picture found online while working on Primary visual aids. If it's your picture- lemme know

Backdating is what happens when I've worked on a post for a bit, and by the time I finally hit "Publish Post," it's outdated.  And I don't want the catch-up on Christmas mixed in with the beach trip pictures. I like things in order, even if it takes me until summer to publish Christmas. Plus, if I ever plan to print off my posts in those cute little books I keep hearing about, I want the posts in order - looking like I blogged as orderly I as live in my head.

So, as a tip for those who don't know - and would like to backdate yourself, or as a helpful link to those who only check the homepage of a blog and don't know that there are hidden secrets in older files, here's  

Backdating 101:

(this mini-lesson is for posting on blogger)

1. When you're on this screen, click on "Post Options," found bottom left (above "Publish Post")

2. Change the "Post date and time" from "automatic" to "Scheduled at" 

3. Enter the date that you intended to publish. 

Voila!

Next, you can give me lessons on how to quickly go from picture taking, to posting, to publishing in a reasonable amount of time. Any tips?

Census stats (and biscuits!)

Have you ever heard the saying that goes something like this?
Statistics lie. And liars use statistics.
Have you heard it? I have - but the thing is, I really like numbers. 

90-something percent of dental practices succeed.
20 percent of kindergartners wet the bed.
Colorado has 300+ days of sun a year.

Although it seems that with each number, a question always follows.
What's your definition of success?
How often do they have to wet the bed to be considered bed wetters?
How much sunshine do you need in a day to count it as one of the 300 sunny days?


I recently had an experience with what it's like to try and fit me and my family into numbers. 
Last year, when the census was done, we were contacted with an extra assignment. The census people apparently choose a number of homes to use for additional research. (Which brings up one more question: who are these census people (and I don't mean the census takers. I've met a number of them by now) and how do I properly refer to the powers that be?)

But I digress. Every month for 4 months they contacted us with questions about our employment status, hours worked, time off, living arrangements, and other random questions. It was pretty straightforward. Then they were off for about 8 months, and now they're back. (I've forgotten how many years this goes on - but trust me - they are very diligent about finding you when it's time.)

Anyway, the first round is always in person, and then the follow up months are on the phone. Last year, the interviewer was this sweet Latina who owns her own bakery. The census had sent a letter ahead of time, explaining what was going to be happening. The day she showed up, I was home cooking dinner, very pregnant with Beckham, and the kiddos were playing underfoot. Because she had shown up at dinner-making time, I just invited the interviewer to sit in the kitchen while I cooked (chicken Caesar salad and buttermilk biscuits).

Cooking long ago in our apartment in PA

By the time the interview was over, the table was set, the salad was made, and the biscuits had baked to a beautiful golden color - making the whole kitchen smell delicious. Of course I shared one with her. She said that she's pretty picky about baked goods because of her living, but having watched me make them, she wanted to try them. She was very impressed. And I was pleased to have won over a critic. Her interview came on the perfect day. Tyler was working late, but the kids and I were laid back and doing our thing. I felt like someone caught a glimpse of me in my role - at the right time - and saw firsthand why I would answer "no" to the, "Are you seeking employment?" question. This person also saw firsthand the answer to the unasked question, "Are you happy to be home with your children?" "YES." 

Well, she stayed assigned to us, and each follow up phone call was like a little check on our life. It was fun when she called back in July and we had to add to the number of residents in our house (yeah for new baby Beckham!). Well, the interviews ended - and except for a personal call from her asking for Tyler's office number, I forgot about my date with the census. That is, I forgot until we get home from church a couple months ago to a ding dong at the door.

We had barely dropped our bags and gotten in the door, and someone wanted us. Smelling of cigarettes and laughing nervously every time she got to a question about the number of residents in our home ("yeah, you already have plenty of people." "You have a big family" "oh - your hands are full!"), this new lady asked us the same questions we went through last year. We all sat on top of each other on the couch, still in our Sunday best, wiggling, squirming, and wishing we'd had a few minutes to take a breath before this interview. I couldn't help but remember the nice interview from the year before. Where was bakery lady?

Liza "helping" in the kitchen

Anyway, by now we're just in the system to get monthly phone calls from whomever is working. It's generally pretty easy, but oh so impersonal. I find the questions can have tricky answers when your husband works for himself! How do you answer those straightforward questions? How many hours a week does Tyler work? I have no idea. Because he can put in a day at the office, with patients, staff, and meetings, and still come home and work some more. He's online researching new equipment. Or he's plotting staff appreciation ideas. Or he's in touch with other dentists about their funky cases. Then there are other nuances. What about his other office opening up? Does that count? He's working on it. But he won't be working in it.

Needless to say, for simplicity's sake, I've just counted patient hours. And so the stage is set for how our routine interviews turned into "awkward conversation with the US Census:"

Census: How many hours does Mr. Twiss work each week?
Me: 30
Census: ...And how many hours did Mr. Twiss work last week?
Me: 30.
Census: Does Mr. Twiss want to get more work, so that he can be up to 35 hours and considered full time?
Me: uh - no.
Census: Why not?
Me: ummmmm - because he makes a good living.... (?)


Awkward! And here's the interview repeated - but with the answers in my head:

Census: How many hours does Mr. Twiss work each week?
Me: (in the office? At home on office-related stuff? In meetings with his partner about the new office? How 'bout patient hours?) 30

Census: ...And how many hours did Mr. Twiss work last week?
Me: (Same caveats. Which direction do we head here? The simplest) 30.
Census: Does Mr. Twiss want to get more work, so that he can be up to 35 hours and considered full time?
Me: (What? He's not working full time? huh. I thought 30 was full time. I don't know. He just cut another hour off his schedule. He's cut hours  - never added hours  -for as long as I've known him - ). uh - no.
Census: Why not?
Me: (The voice in my head stops working at the insanity of this question. Why would someone want to work more? What? I'm confused. So,  I talk and think simultaneously - usually not a good thing). ummmmm - because he makes a good living.... (?) (oh yeah, and feel free to hate me and Mr. Twiss for the rest of this interview)

So now the random phone worker at the Census may think I'm a spoiled, spoiled person. And maybe I am. But I tell ya - if she coulda just sat in my kitchen with me, hung out while we lived life, I could bake, the kids could run around, she could see that, really, we're unassuming and hard working. And that statistics really can't describe a family. 





For those captivated by the idea of delicious, homemade, buttermilk biscuits - here is the recipe for what I made (and always make when I want the best biscuits ever)!

Mile High Biscuits

From Cooks’ Illustrated

Why this recipe works:

To create a rustic buttermilk biscuit recipe that would produce extra-fluffy, moist, tender rolls with crisp, golden-brown tops, we tried lard, vegetable shortening, and butter, both separately and in combination. The biscuits made with lard or shortening were bland compared with the richly flavored all-butter biscuits. A few more tests showed that the best way to add the butter to the dough was to combine it—chilled straight from the refrigerator—with the dry ingredients in a food processor. Knowing that steam contributed to the high rise of the biscuits (moisture in the dough converts to steam in the oven, causing the biscuits to swell), we experimented with oven temperature. Five minutes at 500 degrees followed by 15 minutes at 450 degrees maximized the rise from the steam.

To create a rustic buttermilk biscuit recipe that would produce extra-fluffy, moist, tender rolls with crisp, golden-brown tops, we tried lard, vegetable shortening, and butter, both separately and in combination. The biscuits made with lard o...(more)

Makes 12 biscuits

We prefer to use low-fat buttermilk in these biscuits, but nonfat buttermilk will work as well (though the biscuits will be a little lighter in texture and flavor). For the highest rise, use a double-acting baking powder, such as Calumet, Clabber Girl, or Davis. Store leftover biscuits in an airtight zipper-lock bag. Reheat by placing them on a baking sheet in a 475-degree oven for 5 to 7 minutes.

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• Dough:
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk cold, preferably low-fat
• To Form and Finish Biscuits
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (5 ounces), distributed in rimmed baking sheet
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Spray 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. Generously spray inside and outside of 1/4 cup dry measure with nonstick cooking spray.
2. For the dough: In food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda to combine, about six 1-second pulses. Scatter butter cubes evenly over dry ingredients; pulse until mixture resembles pebbly, coarse cornmeal, eight to ten 1-second pulses. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add buttermilk to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated (dough will be very wet and slightly lumpy).
3. To form and bake biscuits: Using 1/4 cup dry measure and working quickly, scoop level amount of dough; drop dough from measuring cup into flour on baking sheet (if dough sticks to cup, use small spoon to pull it free). Repeat with remaining dough, forming 12 evenly sized mounds. Dust tops of each piece of dough with flour from baking sheet. With floured hands, gently pick up piece of dough and coat with flour; gently shape dough into rough ball, shake off excess flour, and place in prepared cake pan. Repeat with remaining dough, arranging 9 rounds around perimeter of cake pan and 3 in center. Brush rounds with hot melted butter, taking care not to flatten them. Bake 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 450 degrees; continue to bake until biscuits are deep golden brown, about 15 minutes longer. Cool in pan 2 minutes, then invert biscuits from pan onto clean kitchen towel; turn biscuits right-side up and break apart. Cool 5 minutes longer and serve.

 

Step-by-Step

Shaping the Biscuits

1. Using greased 1/4-cup measure, scoop 12 level portions of dough onto floured baking sheet. Lightly dust top of each biscuit with flour.

2. With floured hands, gently pick up piece of dough, coating outside with flour, shaping it into ball, and shaking off excess flour.

3. Place 9 biscuits snugly around perimeter of pan, then arrange last 3 in center.

The third child

You know, those poor third children, they're often neglected in the hustle and bustle of kids 1 and 2. I guess when you can tell the family about piano recitals, camping trips, swimming lessons and everything in between, learning to say "babababababaaaaa" just doesn't get the same recognition.
So, without further delay, I give you Beckham's update:

Beckham is 10 months old now (July 24th is his birthday)!

He signs "more" and waves "hi" and "goodbye." He does a lot of "aaahh ba ba ba,"  with (my personal favorite), "mama" thrown in. He's a bit quieter than the other two were at this age, but he's still got plenty to say. If he picks up a book, he starts babbling (cute)!

He'll pull himself up to stand. But his best moves are on his knees. He's crawling like crazy. If there is an open door, he's even faster on the draw. He loves unrolling toilet paper, crawling onto the open door of the dishwasher, and dumping out the contents of the laundry basket.

He's started cracking up at different games. Landon makes him laugh a lot. He also loves the classic peek a boo. Like his sister did and still does, he loves to be surprised.

When we're coming and going to lessons and family outings, he does spend a lot of time in a stroller,  but he can relax and hang out!

And he is very, very generous with his smiles!

Swim. Bike. Run.

 That's what kids do anyway right? When we were at Landon's swimming lesson the other day, a friend mentioned that her little girl would be doing a triathlon. I had heard of this before, and thought it was kinda extreme. But when this friend told me the distances of the tri, and the course that it's on - it just sounded like fun! So, after a phone call to another friend who'd done it, guess whose kids got signed up to try a tri? Yup.

For the 5-8 age group (which luckily included both Liza and Landon), they started with a 25 meter swim (and yes - that's one length of the pool).

Landon waiting for his turn!

Liza's best stroke is backstroke -so that's what she chose to swim. It looked awesome!

We told the kids that they didn't need to race to finish first. We just wanted them to give it a try and have fun. Well, as soon as they got going, their competitive edge came out. They hauled through their swimming. Then they went racing out of the pool and sprinting up the hill to their bikes. Tyler and I couldn't get them dressed quickly enough!

Liza getting going from the parking lot

Landon racing for the sign that says "BIKE START"

They biked .88 miles. They started from the rec center and headed down the hill to the park. It's a park with a huge circle sidewalk around the perimeter. (We always take our bikes when we go to this park, so it was a familiar ride for these guys.) Then they had the tough job of coming back up the hill to finish where they started.

Landon standing for some leverage.

Liza on the uphill.

Poor Liza crashed twice while on her bike (crowded course!). She muscled through until the end, though. You may see some of her battle wounds on her run...

The run, according to Landon, was "the easiest part because it was so short!" It was .25 miles. Compared to the "Fun Run" that we had done the day before with Liza's school, it was short!

This race was legit. What you see on Liza's ankle is her timing chip.

We don't have official results yet -but based on our videotaping start and stop times, they both finished their race in about 20 minutes. A very exciting 20 minutes.

Landon at the finish line

Liza with her medal.

   My biggest surprise was Landon's intensity on the race! He even passed his sister who was crashed on the course. You can see in his running shot that he was having fun all the way through the end. Believe it or not, he came home super hyper -bouncing off the walls for the next few hours. Liza was pretty beat and sore from her crash, but after resting up, decided that her first triathlon was fun.

They were both pleased to win a medal (the medals they give out to all the finishers). "My first GOLD!"  - and I know the popsicles at the finish line helped too :)