Thank You

Myrna,

Just wanted to drop a note and thank you for the Halloween cards and treat money. The kids always feel so special when there is mail for them, let alone one from their grandparents telling them how much they are loved. And let me tell you, they spent their dollars that evening! We went to Walmart that night to do some Halloween shopping and they each brought their $1 and got themselves a treat (Todd and I too)! Thanks again for being so thoughtful! Happy Halloween!

Love you,
Amy

Hawaii is no longer on my "Don't really care to see it list."

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't like big tourist spots. Disney--you can have it. Although, my family really enjoys the place, so I go, I really would rather be somewhere else like North Dakota, Maine, Oregon, etc. The only reason I wanted to go to Hawaii is because it was one of the places I had to visit on my 50 by 50 goal. So, when the opportunity was there, I had to do it. It was there, or Alaska because I've hit all the others.

On the October 14th, Amy, the kids and I went to Hawaii. We visited the island of Oahu for the seven days we were there and never ran out of things to do. This first picture was our first day there and we are at the world renouned Waikiki beach. It was beautiful and the water was so clear that you could see the bottom in 12 feet of water.


The only real negative item we encountered the whole trip was the jet-lag. These pictures were taken at 3am Hawaii time, with the kids wide awake because body time was 9am. We watched cartoons for 4 hours, until the sun came up (no daylight savings time in Hawaii). Even little Hailey was wide awake. She kept the early-bird thing going all week long. It didn't matter what time we put her to bed, she was up by 5am local time. Normally, since it was Amy's vacation too, that meant that Dad got to get up with her to watch cartoons.

Some of the fun things we did in Hawaii? We swam, we ate, we swam some more, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, BYU Hawaii, the Temple, swam some more, had shaved ice, swam, visted Pearl Harbor, swam, hiked a trail to Manoa Falls, fell down in the mud, swam some more, tried to drive the rental into the ocean, swam some more, snorkeled, visited Lanikai beach, swam some more, climbed a crater, visited some world war two sites and swam some more. It was one of the most fun vacations I have had and I have had some fun ones.

We ate Malasadas. If you don't know what those are, there is a place in Waikiki that is famous for them called Leonard's Bakery. I gained 10 pounds just eating those. You can find their recipe on the foodnetwork.com.

I really enjoyed myself there. I would not want to live in Hawaii, but a prolonged stay would definitely be nice. By the way, we grabbed the phone book to find a church building, almost like being in Idaho, or Colorado, there were four buildings right in Honalulu and 10 Stakes on the island we were visited.

So, would I go back? Yes!

I am a great-aunt again.

I am a great-aunt on the Pitts side of the family! Isn't that good news? Of course, that happened to me earlier when Charlotte and Cydney became grandmothers. But this is the first grandchild for Laurel. They are excited and so are the rest of us.
 

Gus is the proud father, Janessa is the proud mother, and Laurel and Tom are the proud grandparents.

Little Garrett Gus Marinos was born on Dec. 18 at 8:47 p.m. He weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 21 and one-half inches long. Laurel said he has light brown hair, with a touch of red and has his mother's mouth.

I saved the birthday card she sent me to open on my birthday. Inside the card was the good news!

Love, M

Al: I conclude then, that your birthday is December 29 1941

Love you
al

Myrna: You should conclude that my birthday is on December 24, 1940. I tried to see how I had mislead you but failed. Anyway, I am now 68 as of this last birthday. Love, M

You can get knocked out by an apple!

LHT and I were picking apples from the tree by the garden. You know, the BIG one that you all like to climb. Yes, that is the one Maddie fell out of when she broke her arm. LHT had just come down from the tallest ladder to dump his bucket of picked apples into the large container. He finished dumping them and was headed toward the ladder to go back up the tree. Rachel, thankfully, was playing in the now newly plowed garden. I was dumping my bucket of apples into the container. When from the top, about 12-feet in the air, one of the large apples fell and hit me on the top of the head. I looked at the split apple and thought: "Well, now I know my head is harder than an apple." I called out to LHT but, since he did not have his hearing aids in, he did not hear me. I stood there for a second as I started to feel the world go dim. I started to lean over, knowing I was going down. My vision started dimming at the edges and then went black. When I came to, LHT was leaning over me. He said he saw me lying there and said: "What are you doing? Lying down on the job?" I could not get up for a minute. He said that, perhaps, all things considered, I should just lie there for a minute. Meanwhile, Rachel had come over to where I was lying. "Do you want to kiss Grandma to make her better?" LHT asked. "Not while she is down there," Rachel said.

Apples in Nephi

Do you love this beautiful autumn weather as much as I do? We have had cool daytime temperatures but COLD nights. The hope for today is that LHT and I will get all of the apples on our five trees picked before they all end up on the ground--food for worms. Julie and I have bottled juice, I have made apple butter and have dried apples. I like the dried fruit and the apple butter is for me. I have always LOVED it. When I was a little girl, I liked it on my toast and I still do. Now, however, I usually eat it with toasted English muffins.

When we were visiting David, one of the Saturdays we went to a Mountain Man Rendezvous at Bagnell Dam. There was a fellow making apple butter in a big pot over an open fire. My mouth started watering right then but he wasn't selling any. He was just making it for personal use. I decided I would like to make some this year. I chose to make it in a big pot on my electric range in my clean kitchen. The smell was just as good and the taste is wonderful. I have eaten almost a half-pint all by myself in the past two weeks. The only problem is that it has lots of sugar in it. I am still staying at 135 pounds so I think I must not be eating too much.

The recipe calls for two quarts of cooked apple pulp. That was a good thing for me, because I used the remaining apple pulp from making the apple juice. It was just apple pulp because all of the juice was in the bottles of juice.

Here is my recipe. 

2 quarts of cooked apple pulp

4 cups sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp Allspice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground Cloves

Peel and quarter apples. (I didn't peel them and I cannot tell the difference.) Since the apple pulp was the byproduct of the apple juice, I did not have to cook the apples. (Julie and I chose to make apple nectar which means that you cook the quartered apples and then juice them in your juicer.) That meant that I just had to return the apple pulp to the cooking pot, add the other ingredients, and stir with a long-handled wooden spoon until the mixture heated. Then I put it in hot jars, sealed the jars and cooked them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. I was lucky; every jar sealed.

I love the poem by Robert Frost, After Apple Picking. I don't know how to post it here, so you will have to refer to the published family newsletter: "I Heard It Through the Trauntvein."

I had to laugh at the end of the day last Thursday. Julie and I were bottling juice and it was UEA. That meant that all of AnnMarie's family was here. Alyssa helped quarter and seed the apples, Megan helped by baby sitting the younger kids, and Kyle alternated between helping and making a slingshot. Matthew said he wanted to go out and help grandpa. I said OK but I rolled my eyes. I thought, "Wow, I bet he is some help." LHT was trying to build a woodshed and, earlier, he had us out in back lifting a part of the roof in place. Well, come to find out at day's end (sorry, no photos), that he really had been a great help. He held boards, used the drill, held the little washers on for grandpa, who, as you know, shakes because of familial tremor. Wonderment! I never fail to marvel how the younger kids love to help their grandpa.

Jim and LHT have been working to extract the season's honey. Yesterday they were very proud of the work they did. LHT only had three bee-stings on his left hand so he was doing very well.

Eugene-ie weenie, meanie, dreamy, steamy, squeemy, phillipine-y...

...and that's where my rhyming game ends.

So I'm not sure the rules of this whole posting thing for a group blog. And as my family, you already know I'm certifiably crazy and given to crazy rants...so READER BEWARE.

Here I will post about my cute little apartment here in Eugene. So, for your viewing pleasure, I present: The Crossings Number 406.

This is my faux entertainment center. As you can see I am obviously entertained here with the countless games, my computer/internet, television and dvd player.


My cool foldable couch. Now, lest you think I'm more nuts than I really am by just showing your the underside of my awesome couch i would like to note it folds out into a bed, but also provides storage for my ample collection of (6+)blankets.


This is the long shot from the middle of the living room. From left to right you can see my washer/dryer facilities, my kitchen, my diet coke addiction, my movie/bookshelf and my mail basket.


The left side of my kitchenette (complete with artwork by my brother Ben).


The right/main part of the kitchenette. I own the microwave, griddle and toaster. I'm pretty much my very own Williams Sonoma. Haha.


Here is my cute little table. I bought it off Craigslist. Just the right size for guests (or double dates as my old BYU bishop would say).


My bed area of my room. Posters and all. Note I needed more shelf space for my books. Oh and my bed is affectionately dubbed "the pillow fortress" because there are ... count them ...7 pillows on there.


The closet /laundry space of my room. And my 48 gallon tub with all my shoes...which doesn't close. I think I have a problem.

And my cute little vanity. Usually strewn across it are various makeup products, fragrances, hair products or hair apparatuses (i.e. curling irons, flat iron).

There's a quick and delightful look into my apartment here in Oregon. And well, if you visit, it's unlikely to remain this clean all the time. Just be forewarned. I'm a busy working girl. :)

SeaWorld

Our school gets a full week for fall break (jealous? yeah, i know), so we took a family vacation to southern Cali last week. Here is a pic of the fam (minus Jared) at Sea World San Diego in the 80 degree heat with ponchos on so we wouldn't get soaked by Shamu.

Despite Jared's and my love for the "shows" at Sea World, our girls were much more interested in the rides. So we got to see three shows (Shamu, Dolly the dolphin and Amazing Pets) before we encountered the Waite rebellion and succumbed to eating lunch and riding rides and playing in the playground the rest of the time. We still had fun!!! For more pics of our trip and details (like watching Jared bif it over and over again) go to our blog (waitearound.blogspot.com). If you've lost your invite, email me and I'll reinvite you.

The Long Hair is Gone

As of August 25, a Monday, the long hair is gone. I sent off 14-inches to Locks of Love and was happy to finally have it done. I learned, in the process of donating, that only 10-inches is required. Angie Durbin gave me a short, sleek cut. Well, it is as short and sleek as curly hair can be. LHT really likes it. He always did prefer me in short hair. I am still learning to adapt to not having to do more than wash and wear. That is what Eva calls my hair: the wash and wear hair. Several of my friends have given me tips on caring for it such as using a round brush and "product," whatever that is. I just smile and do what I want. I have been receiving lots of compliments that I look 10-years younger. I still look like a 67-year old woman to me.

Jacob 6 months‏

From: Kirsten Waite

Thursday, October 09, 2008 9:48 AM

Maybe it's because it's a little blurry, but this picture of Jake reminds me just a little of a similar photo mom has of Shawn as a baby (only at a professional studio). anyone else? Maybe mom can dig up that photo (I think it's in the white album) and we can compare?

Kimberly Trauntvein wrote:

It's on my wall, very similar. See why I married him?

From: Kirsten

Yep!

From: Shawn Trauntvein

If I weren't a guy, and took notice of such things, I would have to say that Jake is by far more handsome.

 From: Eric

He needs the shirt with the giraffe on it and a little more glistening in the mouth, slobber. I view the pix on the JCPenny site, they are good.  I have always been a fan of black and white pix, of course I was not born in the 30's and the 40's, they were excited to get color pix and flushing toilets.

From: Todd

If he had a shirt with a giraffe on it, he might be traumatized by it.  He might wake up in the middle of the night, years later, after having a horrible nightmare that he giraffes were killing his family and he was trying to defend them with his brand new Barlow pocket knife until the blade snapped and one of the horrible giraffes bit him on the neck!

Um. I mean, yeah, that would be cute.

From: Myrna

Are you telling us something here? Love, M

From: Todd

Therapy works?

 From: Shawn Trauntvein 

I think that he was telling us that someone that would have a dream like that must really care about their family in order to try and defend them at the risk of neck and knife from such ferocity from herbivores. Especially since the risk of neck and knife is a higher and more glorious risk than simply to risk life and limb (but still preserves an alliterative quality in the naming of the risks). It was, after all, a new Barlow knife. You know, if Michael Crichton would have had a dream like that, there would have been a little more terror in Jurassic Park when the Diplodocus appeared.

From: Eric

Maybe it was the Groucho Marks way of looking at everything. I had a dream. Saw a giraffe on my pajamas. You get the picture.

E.

From: Myrna

Now wait a minute. It was IN his pajamas. And it was an ELEPHANT not a giraffe. But, if you want it to be a giraffe on his pajamas--OK. By the way, that little outfit that TODD wore was cute. Grandma Smith gave it to him. M

Todd Trauntvein wrote:

Their excitement over the two events was probably in that order. Everyone likes a little color in their lives, but let’s face it—an in-house is a lot harder to clean than an out-house.

From: Kirsten

Too true, but I'd much rather have the smell of an in-house growing mold than the alternative! think siovhan's roomie's potty. lol :) besides, wasn't toilet paper invented about the same time? idk ;-D

From: Myrna

And people wonder why I am the way I am. Lots of love, M

From Shawn:

We are glad you all had fun in Hawaii.
I do seem to remember that the fuzzy giraffe shirt was around a little longer. Perhaps Eric wore it too.

From: Todd Trauntvein [mailto:ttrauntv@columbus.rr.com]

I hope I wore it out, so not other youngster was traumatized by it.
Hawaii was great. If you have not been, make plans to do it. Just got back an hour ago.Travel to there takes 12 hours of flying from Columbus. Major jet-lag when we got there.
Not so bad, coming back--yet.

From: Myrna

It was gold and it was cute. Besides, at that age, no kid ever wears clothes out--they just grow too fast. It also had sentimental connections for me. Grandma Smith didn't live long enough to give Eric anything. She died July 5 and he was born September 20. She had Shawn's birthday card and gift ready for him and that was the last gift she gave. (Well, while alive, anyway.) Love, M

Look what I found!‏

BYU Mint Brownies

Sugar-n-Spice, Cougareat Food Court
MAKES ONE 9-BY-13 PAN OF BROWNIES.
PREP AND COOK: 90 min. COOL: 1 hr.
1 c. margarine
1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts
12 oz. chocolate icing (Use your own icing recipe or purchase some chocolate frosting. You can also search the Internet for chocolate icing recipes.)

MINT ICING
5 Tbsp. margarine
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

2. Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy.. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.


I received an Alumnus email to vote for Coach Mendenhall, so I went to the BYU website to do so, and when I was done I happened to notice this recipe.  I don't have everyone's email on my work email, so hopefully this gets to all of you.  I am certain that some of you out of state BYU grad's whose hips are surely missing a few of these babies on a plate (and then of course, in the mouth, which is how they get to the hips) will treasure this recipe.  Bon appetite (and then bon jogging).


AnnMarie T. Howard
Chief Deputy Juab County Attorney


Jared Waite wrote:

Kirsten wrote: AWESOME!!!!!! THanks, Ams! That's all my hips need. ;D

Myrna wrote: Thank you, thank you, thank you! These are the brownies I grew up eating on special occasions. Aunt Pearl was the manager of Courgareat for many, may years--30 or so. Whenever we would have something special in the family, she would supply trays of the wonderful brownies. We didn't get the recipe because, at the time, it was the property of BYU. Anyway, we had them for anything that was big--missionary farewells, wedding receptions, family reunions, etc. What good memories and now I have the recipe. Thanks, Ams. I will try to only fix them sometimes so that the hips will not get too wide. Love, M


Kimberly wrote: I remember putting a lot of rose buds on these brownies for 3 years. Kimberly