Jane's Shower

As soon as we heard Trevor and Jane had set a wedding date, we started planning a 

bridal shower to welcome her into the family.  Jane's life-long friend, Laura Blad, also lives in 

Pocatello so we invited her to join us for lunch.  

 

Jane picked Sumisu, a local sushi restaurant, because Trevor hates sushi and will probably never

 take her there. The rest of us, however, know good food when we see it (and taste it)!  

Becky seems particularly excited about the Fire Dragon Roll, which is served flaming.

 My mom's gifts are always fun and a bit wacky.  She gave Jane an adorable vintage 

swimsuit straight from the 60's!

 Jane loved the Victoria's Secret gift...

 and so did Becky and Laura!

 Jane's fortune cookie was perfect!  It said, "Your life will change for the better."  

I hope she gets another fortune cookie in 60 years that says, "And they lived happily ever after."

It's Complicated

It's funny that it's so hard to send a son on a mission when that has been one of our biggest hopes for our boys for so long.  We've taught them and hoped and prayed that they would go, but that doesn't mean that it's easy to send them off.  We're so excited but also a little sad and nervous.  It's so complicated!

I'll post some MTC drop-off pictures in a day or two.

Thanks a Lot, Joe!

February 15th was our friend Joe Winder's 40th birthday, and Michelle asked a few of us to give her some pictures and memories of Joe to put in a scrapbook for him.  There are so many because they have been close friends for a long time....long enough that they are actually family now.  But as I was thinking and writing, one memory made me smile...and then chuckle....and then laugh out loud, and so I decided to blog it.

My favorite memory of Joe is the time he got me in trouble with my bishop.  Oh wait….. he just nearly got me in trouble with my bishop because my bishop, fortunately for me, has a sense of humor!  It started out as an innocent night with friends, a chick flick, and popcorn and nearly ended up in excommunication! 

Here’s how I remember it:  Michelle and Joe came over one night, and when the guys starting talking about some boring manly stuff (cars, guns, …who knows…it’s all just a boring blur), Michelle and I decided to ditch them and watch a Jane Austen movie.  The kids were downstairs watching TV, so we went into my bedroom and sat on the bed to watch Emma.  After a few minutes Del and Joe began to feel left out (or simply bored into a stupor), so they came in and climbed onto the bed, too, since that’s the only seating in our bedroom.  Anyway, within a matter of minutes Joe was sprawled across my bed sound asleep, forcing Del and me onto the floor, which wouldn’t have been so bad except for the fact that he began to snore and snort!  We laughed and nudged him every now and then, but mostly we just enjoyed the show.  At the end of the movie, with hunky Jeremy Northam’s kiss punctuated by a snort from Joe, Michelle woke him up and he staggered groggily to the car. 

The next day at church I was leaving the Relief Society room and maneuvering through the crowds in the hall next to the bishop’s office, when I saw Joe.  He looked a little sheepish and said (much too loudly), “I’m really sorry about falling asleep on your bed last night.  I guess I was really tired.  I hope I didn’t snore!”  As I looked around me at several very interested faces, including the bishop’s, I must have looked a little stunned.  After a painful pause, I announced to the group at large, “We were just watching a movie in my bedroom!” Then I decided that I hadn’t made it much better, and I just started to laugh and said, “Michelle and Del were there, too!”  It had been a couple of months since the bishop had found time to have a PPI with me (I was Relief Society president at the time), but he quickly made time that day, and we had a good laugh after I explained Joe's blunder!  When I told Michelle what Joe said, we laughed so hard we had tears rolling down our faces, and it has been fun to tease him about it ever since!

Since I never heard any rumors flying around at church, I guess Joe’s cherubic face and spotless reputation were powerful enough to squelch any gossip.   

Thanks for the memories, Joe, but the next time you fall asleep in my bedroom and start snoring, why don’t you just write me a nice quiet note of apology, OK?     
Happy Birthday!

Music To My Ears

Thanks to our good friend, Diana Heder, who offered to teach Maren flute lessons in exchange for babysitting last year, my daughter has developed a talent we had no idea she had!

Maren and Carmen Thiessen, taken by Grandma's cell phone.  Thanks Mom!

We went to Maren's band concert a few weeks ago and had a really great time.  She has been in band all year, but in January she decided to sign up for Jazz Band, too, and they played some really fun pieces.  During the concert we were surprised by the announcement that the band teacher chose Maren as the 8th grade MVP!  Very exciting!  She was also chosen, along with five others in her band, to participate in Honor Band at BYU-Idaho.  She spent the day learning music with kids from schools all over the area and then played in a performance that evening.  Chris and Emma and I traveled to Rexburg that night for the show, and then we all went out to a frozen yogurt place with tons of yummy mix-ins to celebrate.  Poor Del and Devin were in Boise working on a bathroom remodel and missed all the fun!

On a final note of bragging, Maren decided to try out for ISU's Junior Symphony last month, and she made it! It is for students in 8th-12th grade, and she even has a few solo lines in a couple of the pieces. I can't wait for her concert in May.  Thanks for suggesting lessons, Diana, and thanks for encouraging her in the flute!

Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.  ~Ronald Reagan

A Houseful of Well-wishers

houseful

hows-ful--noun

1.  as many as a house will accommodate: a houseful of weekend guests.

Boy did we have a houseful!

 When I was in high school there was an old phone booth near our school, and during Spirit Week a group up students decided to revive the old game of "How many Sammies (sophomores) can you stuff in a phone booth?"  In spite of my claustrophobic tendencies, I nervously allowed myself to be wedged into that box right along with the others.  I can't say for sure how many will fit because it was too long ago for my pea-sized memory, but I had a fun opportunity to recreate the game at my house yesterday.  We called it "How many Symonses can you fit in a medium-sized Symons house?" We added some complications to make it a little more fun, namely plates of food, teary huggers, squirming children, and an escaping dog.  The result?  We found we could fit about 80 and have a little room to spare---my bedroom and the bathrooms were mostly empty!  It was great to be able to see such a large group of people all there to say goodbye to Del's parents and wish them well as they leave on their mission. 

Del, Logan, Sharma, Del Sr., Heidi, Larene, Kelli, Jason

Jim and Carlene Kelley, Karen Epley, and the back of Del's head

Larene with her sisters, Karen and Leora

Chris's sweatshirt offers a nice label for our family.  Unfortunately, we didn't think to take the stuff off of the mantle, so Maren has a cat's tail popping out of her head! 

Jenny, Kaylie, and Logan Symons (and our family smiling over their shoulder)

Schwabs:  Brodie, Misty, Kelly, Dan, Misty's stepdaughter, Jericho, and Sierra

Ryan, Richard, Heidi, and Robert Higashi

My kitchen was packed, but here is a semi-calm picture of a few of us, including my dad looking stern in the back.

Kari, Jake, Maggie, and Jason Symons

Armstrongs, Back Row:  Neveah, Heidi, Hannah, Shiloh, Sharma, Clayton, Carson (Smith),  Front Row: Sadie, Malachai, Nate, Elijah, Lindsey (Smith), and Macee

 I am sure my in-laws will be terrific missionaries, and Ohio is lucky to have them.  They left early this morning, and the first thing Del said when he woke up is "I miss my parents already."  I do, too.

Great Neighbors....Priceless!

When you choose a home, you also choose a set of neighbors.  Many people find the ideal home and move in only to find that they didn't acquire the ideal neighbors!  When we moved into our new home 4 years ago, we really hit the jackpot!  No one could possibly have better neighbors than we do.  We have Bob and Kay Frossard on our left who love to babysit our pets and buy them nice Christmas presents each year.  They bring us beautiful fruits and vegetables every summer from their garden.  In return, if I take them a loaf of bread and jam or a plate of cinnamon rolls they rave about how wonderful it is and how good we are to them!  They are sweet and wonderful and we love them.

Then on the other side we have Gary and Carolyn (Broberg) Farris, who are amazing, too!  They love our kids and are constantly telling us how wonderful we are!  Who could complain about neighbors like that?  For Christmas they gave us a gift certificate to Ruby Tuesday so we could take the kids to dinner.  They are so good to us!

We had lots of fun!  The kids ordered enormous burgers that came with endless fries.  I had to wonder if the restaurant owners understood what "endless" means to teenagers, who are, as any parent knows, bottomless pits!  It doesn't matter if we have 2 pizzas or 20 for our family--the boys will ensure that it is all eaten! 

 

We only go out to dinner as a family a few times a year, so when we do it's a pretty special occasion.  Devin says it's because we are too embarrassed to take our ill-mannered children in public, but of course it is really the price tag.  Our fun night out cost us almost a week's worth of groceries, so we'll just keep it to special occasions!

We love our great neighbors!  They're priceless!

I'm not 41, I'm just 21 with 20 years experience!

Today I found a quote by Andy Rooney that said, "The last birthday that's any good is 23."    He was so wrong!  This was my best birthday every!  I loved every minute of it!  I had most of my family there, and we had fun all day.  We missed you James and Trevor, but we ate extra portions of this fabulous fruit trifle just for you!  I also got to spend it with my nephew, John, who was born on my birthday, which was a very fun way to celebrate 15 years ago, and it just gets better.

My family gave me this great dual crockpot that we used the next day on New Years Eve to make Lil' Smokies and Rhea's cranberry sauerkraut meatballs (a delicious family favorite).  I also went with my family to see the new Narnia movie in 3-D, had dinner with all of the adult family at the Thai restaurant on Main Street in Pocatello, and celebrated with some great friends at lunch the next day.  

I have decided that aging isn't so bad, so I found some great quotes about getting older:
Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.  ~Mark Twain

The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.  ~Doug Larson

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.  ~John Barrymore

Do not regret growing older.  It is a privilege denied to many.  ~Author Unknown

It's sad to grow old, but nice to ripen.  ~Brigitte Bardot

Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

I'm not 40, I'm eighteen with 22 years experience.  ~Author Unknown

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened.  ~Jennifer Yane

I agree with that last quote, though.  I feel like I'm still 21, and I am often surprised to find that I am not that young anymore when I am forced to face facts with a child's birthday.  Surprise!  Whew!  That's rough!