Toilet Troubles...

Remember this post?
http://ryantaani.blogspot.com/2010/03/why-you-dont-leave-your-cell-phone.html

Or how about this one?
http://buddyharrison.blogspot.com/2010/06/hey-westy-kyle-found-your-moms-phone.html

Well, well, well. He got us too.

I do have to say though, I'm thrilled I didn't have to replace the toilet. I'm equally thrilled my cell phone wasn't involved. Not so thrilled about having the beloved "gangket" anywhere near the retrieval of the toilet toy.

Swim Team!

I fully recognize that I have been very delinquent in my blogging. It has been a long few weeks and I just needed to take a bit of a blogging vacation.

I do miss, however, keeping my family's record up to date. I love going through old posts and seeing how far we have come and how quickly my family is growing and changing. My blog is really for my own family more than it is for anyone else. It really doesn't matter to me if anyone reads (although I love your comments!), but it really is a record of our family's journey at this phase in life. As Tristen says, this is a guilt free blog. No trying to update everything that has happened, but I do want to record a few significant happenings in the last few weeks.

If you were to ask me what we did this summer, my kids would emphatically yell "swim team!!" This was our second year and Hattie actually moved up with the older kiddos. What great swimmers!

For some reason, Hattie refuses to wear her hair back or wear goggles. The coaches kept trying to get her to try goggles, but she just insists that they don't help her!

10 Years Today!

Ten years ago today we were married in Chicago, IL. I can't imagine my life without Taani. We are best friends, partners in crime and more. She is tenacious and can leap tall buildings in a single bound and is a beyond amazing mother. We have laughed often, we have cried deeply and we have always stuck together. I can't wait for the next ten...we have some adventures planned. Continue commencement of the Secrist Master Plan...I'm itching with excitment.

Photos by Matt Clayton (http://www.mattclaytonphotography.com/). Ironically, the pictures were taken in Salt Lake City where we held our reception. Offspring were missing then, of course.

Catching up

Yard Sale Mayhem!

Ryan here. Ok, these pictures need little explanation. Upon arriving home from a Swim Meet (gals did great, video and pics to come) H & N saw that our neighbors were holding a yard sale. They ran inside, grabbed their money and came back less than two minutes later with the following:

1. N purchased a new outfit. SIZE 12 MONTHS - there were tears when she discovered she couldn't wear it. Thank goodness for a flexible return policy.


2. The grand prize of all garage-sale-dandy's goes to H. I don't even need to explain. The look on our faces when she presented us with her treasured prize. She bought it because she loves the Nutcracker Ballet and has wanted a Nutcracker. Ahhh...innocence is great. And yes, it does say "Stainless Steel Thighs."

We have been teaching our kids the value of earning their own money so they can use it however they like...little did we know that would come back to us in such a way as this. We'll be enjoying walnuts for years to come.

Perhaps we can get used to uttering "Please pass me Hillary" as common as "Please pass me the salt and pepper. Ok, maybe not.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Our family's twist on the old wedding saying:

Something OLD:
We have fallen in love with "America, the story of US" on the History channel. If you haven't seen it, check it out!

Something NEW:
L and I decided to try our hand at Latin rythms and went to a ZUMBA class this morning. This was entirely out of my comfort zone and my body was sure not going to move (or look) the way the instructor moved but I giggled the entire time. SO much fun! No, I'm not telling anyone where or what time we went because I certainly don't want anyone I know to see me trying to shake my fanny. (you're welcome)

check it out! http://www.zumba.com/us/



Something BORROWED:
Once again, my favorite recipes are from someone else. L told me this recipe as we were running one morning and I craved it all day. I made it for breakfast, ate it for lunch, and dinner and had a bit of stomach troubles. I DO not recommend eating it for three straight meals. However, if you just eat it for one meal in a 24 hour period, you'll be fine.

Quinoa Corn salad

Quiona Cooked (add as much or as little as you like. I like a lot)
Roasted Corn (canned works fine too)
Grape tomatoes, halved
Fresh avocado cut into small bites
Black beans
Cilantro
A little red onion

Mix together and add cilantro dressing. L has used different things like vinegarettes and ranch and they work well too. ENJOY!!!
(Sorry, the picture below isn't the corn salad but is a black bean salad with quinoa. For those who don't know what quinoa is, see picture below.)


Something BLUE:

I found SMEEKS through http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ and had to make a stop. We went and thoroughly enjoyed all the candy and novelty gifts. Particularly enjoyed looking at the wall of photos from the in store photo booth.

Note: none of these photos are mine. All are photos found online.

A call for help!

Grandpa Peterson gave all of his grandkids (ME!) a set of the state quarters that he collected and carefully assembled. It is really a treasure to me mostly because it is from HIM!

My kids were interested in the quarters so we bought ourselves a coin collection poster from Hobby Lobby and we've been filling out our own state quarter collection. We have been carefully and thoroughly going through every single quarter we could find to fill in our states and we are down to only 5 more!!!! ( I had to cheat and buy the territories and district of columbia quarters..6 quarters for $20 from the US mint, nice.)

I'm begging anyone who reads this blog (all 3 of you) to check your state quarters. We are missing Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Iowa. A total of 5 quarters left! Grandpa P. has told us he has extras of all the state quarters but I am determined not to cheat, yet.

So, take a look through your money jars and see if you have any of the above state quarters. We would be so grateful!!!