Congratulations Val....

.... You have successfully taken the first decent Sandberg Family Picture ever! I have to say, besides Avree, the Sandberg family is the most UN-photogenic family in the world. My mom has tried multiple times to get professional family pictures taken and either someone is closing their eyes half-way looking like a mutant (me, usually), or Blake was making a stupid face on purpose, or whatever (Avree always looked perfect in every single picture)... but these pictures actually look good. In fact, we're a pretty dang good-looking family, don't you think!?




Here's just the Moncur fam. Marin was being such a stinker, I'm surprised we actually got one we are all smiling in. Again, props to Val the photographer!


Marin looks like such an angel in this picture, you would never know the trauma we had trying to get her to hold still and SMILE!


When Marin saw this next picture she said, "Where's Marin?"


And last, this picture is of my dad and Avree's little boy Spencer. I think it is just precious!

Football Night

We had a Sandberg family get-together tonight minus my parents (so sad) and it was way fun. Avree and Matt were returning from a vacation in Yellowstone so Mitch invited them to dinner. I figured I might as well invite Jaren and Blake too (since they're both up here for college now) and we had a fun night. After some Mexican and specialty Aggie ice cream the boys played a little football. Marin was hilarious! She totally thought she was one of the boys. She ran around the whole time with them. Mitch showed her how to lean down and put her hands on her knees waiting for the ball, so after that she had to keep telling them "Do like this!" if they weren't properly leaning down. Marin had quite a blast. If my parents would have been here it would have been a perfect night!

Stephenie Meyer Critique

I know this is a little late, the frenzy happened about a month ago, but it has taken me a little longer to decide what I think. I was a little wary of the whole "Twilight" thing from the beginning, I had a few friends telling me about the books but I didn't think they were for me. I've never been into fantasy-fiction. I once tried reading "Lord of the Rings" and got past about 1 chapter before I thought I'd DIE of boredom. But after every one of my neighbors and friends told me to read the book, and partly so I could keep up on their conversation, I started reading Twilight. Against all components of my personality, I LOVED the series. I devoured all 3 books in like 3 days. Then, I hate to admit this, but I went back and re-read my favorite parts and thought about them all the time for at least a week! I felt like such a little high school girl, almost guilty, for liking these dumb books so much. Then I got my sister to read them (she was a skeptic at first too) and she loved them too! So with much anticipation, I awaited the release of "Breaking Dawn" (on my birthday, no less)! My sister got the book first, then gave it to me and I read the whole thing in 2 days! I will admit, it was entertaining, and with a little skimming over the too mushy parts (I'm very good at this) it was pretty good actually. But I have to agree with many of you out there-- I couldn't help but picture myself reading this at 16 or 17 years old or younger (the age the books were actually intended for) and I was pretty disappointed. I won't be recommending this series to my teenage daughter (in about 11 years). That's enough about that, I'm not going to repeat what everyone has been saying in this regard.

But what this post was really intended for is to say that I was pleasantly surprised by her other book, The Host. I actually didn't read it until last week because everyone I talked to said it was just "so so." My sister-in-law gave me her copy and said it was good so I started reading it, expecting it to drag and be boring. I actually liked it! I thought it was really good actually. I know Stephenie Meyer isn't the greatest, most eloquent writer in the world, but she really knows how to spin a good story! I will be reading the next books in this series. If any of you haven't read it, I encourage you to give it a try. You just might like it!

The Homecoming Trip

My brother Jaren returned home from his mission in Brazil a few weeks ago and it was a great reunion! He has adjusted to civilian life quite well and has already been on a few dates! We are lucky because he and my brother Blake are starting college here in a few weeks. Jaren is staying with me until school starts and is working on getting a job (and meeting cute girls). Here are a few pictures from the trip to St. George.


The Sandberg siblings (and their kids)


Walking in my parents' front door for the first time in 2 years!


Blake took Mitch and Matt skim boarding for the first time. Mitch LOVED it! He enjoys anything that involves a board. We came once and let Marin play in the river (well, mud). She really enjoyed herself, as you can see.


Blake took Mitch and Matt on a few mountain biking trips. Now that Mitch has his sweet new bike rack, he is able to fit a little mountain biking in practically everywhere we go.

More reasons why I am a nerd!

I was looking in my old journal (well, my ONLY journal because I've had the same one since 4th grade) and I found the greatest entry from 7th grade. I was looking for something completely different but this entry stood out because I wrote it in green pen. I believe it was in the year 1995 when I had glasses, was chubby, wore a size 8 1/2 shoe (my same size today), dorky clothes, and was just an all-out, complete nerd. Side note: it's very hard for an oldest child to be very cool. The 4 kids in my family have gotten progressively cooler ending with Blake who is the king of coolness. There were so many things that I just didn't get that everyone around me was talking about. Having an older sibling would have really helped out. Poor Marin.

Anyway, this journal entry is as follows:

"Today was kind of a bad day. I got in trouble, I got a 69/100 on my math test (but I can retake it), and the button fell off my pants in 2nd period. Don't worry I can handle it!"

I wonder how I handled the button falling off my pants with very much grace and dignity. I'm sure I didn't....

Food Storage

Warning: this contains information that jumps me up several notches on the nerdiness scale. I like to be organized about things and I like math. Just thought I would get that out there before you read on.

I was given the coolest little website by the home storage specialist in my ward. It is a pdf workbook (put out by USU Extension) on how to build up your food storage using foods you commonly eat. It has guidelines for 1 year, but I chose to try this for 6 months instead. I have been trying to get all my wheat, etc. for long term storage, all the while wondering how I was ever really going to use it and what the heck we would make it into that resembled anything we commonly eat now. So on top of those longer term food storage items (most of them store for 30 years!) that are important, it is also important to store food your kids will actually eat! Let's face it, I'm not using my hard red wheat unless there is a natural disaster (or Val comes to my house to bake her delicious wheat bread)!

So the gist of this workbook is that you take 10-20 meals that you commonly eat and you assume you are going to eat these meals 80% of the time. I actually did 24 meals and assigned them a number we eat per 6 months, because there are 3 or 4 meals we eat about once every 2 weeks, and some we eat less often but still are favorites. You take the number of days in your time period, in my case 6 months, or 180 days, and get 80% (or 150) and figure out breakfast, lunch, dinner and sides for that amount of days. What is nice about this, is it gives you about once per week to cook whatever you want and try new things. I used to do this way more often, but kids really limit your cooking creativity! Then, I took it a step further and created an 8 week cycling menu (yes, I have actually used one thing from all my food service classes in college!) that uses each of my dinners at least once. The plan is to build up my 6 month supply, then use this menu to grocery shop and continue rotating it. Here is the link. I'll let you know how I progress in this endeavor. Woo hoo!

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/FN_500.pdf

Husband Tag

Okay okay, I'll do this tag because it's fun. Well, mostly because Avree tagged me and not only is she my favorite sister, but she let me borrow a TON of her clothes while she was pregnant-- practically her whole wardrobe. Too bad she's getting skinny so fast and I'll be giving those back shortly!



1. What is his name? Mitchell Rodney Moncur
2. Who eats more? He does definitely. He doesn't eat quite as much as Avree's husband can pack down, but when it comes to random specific foods (such as taco salad and any type of meat) I find myself wondering how he can eat that much and not gain a pound!
3. Who said I love you first? He did.
4. Who is taller? He is. He's 6'1'' and I'm 5'6''.
5. Who is smarter? Me! Not really, but I'm definitely a faster reader and he's definitely better at directions.
6. Who is more sensitive? Definitely me.
7.Who does the laundry? I do. Despite doing his own laundry from age 19 to 25, he won't do laundry now until he runs out of underwear. He has more underwear than me, so you can see how this presents a dilemma for me. Thus, I crack and do laundry first!
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do. I don't know about the rest of you, but Mitch and I have our designated sides that started when we first got married. I feel all weird on Mitch's side of the bed if I ever have to sleep there.
9. Who pays the bills? We both do.
10. Who cooks more? I do. I love to cook. Mitch can actually cook really well, it just takes him twice as long as me to make the same meal. He can even bake bread.
11. What meals do you cook together? Fish tacos. I know this sounds gross, but it's an authentic Mexican dish that is AMAZING. We cook it together because the fish is grilled. Mitch is usually king of the grill, but since about 3 weeks ago when he finally showed me how to turn on our grill, I have been a grilling maniac!
12. Who is more stubborn? It's a toss-up! We're both a little stubborn, and sadly we passed this on to our child.
13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? Me, I'm wrong way more often. As Mitch will say, he's only been wrong once, and that was when he thought he was wrong.
14. Who has more siblings? Mitch, he has 5, I have 3.
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I don't really know. I am pretty bossy by nature, but Mitch doesn't take any crap. I guess we both wear the pants.
16. What do you like to do together? Fly fishing, hiking, playing tennis, going to dinner. We tended to do a lot more exciting things together when I was trying to impress Mitch before we were married. He said I turned into a wuss after we got married... thing is, I always was. I just hid it really well.
17. Who eats more sweets? Oh definitely me.
18. Guilty pleasures? Weird question. I would have to say golfing at least twice a week.
19. How did you meet? (see right side of blog main page)
20. Who asked who out first? He asked me out. He called me on the phone and surprised me by asking me on a real date. I think he even used the word "date" in the conversation. I thought it was going to be a big group date and that he had asked me because he couldn't find anyone else. I was pleasantly surprised when it was just him at my door-- AND he was wearing cologne and a nice sweater.
21. Who kissed who first? He kissed me on my front porch, during which I uttered my SO un-romantic fateful line (that I still get brutally teased about to this day), "Well, if you're going to kiss me you might as well give me some chapstick."
22. Who proposed? Mitch did, while we were fly-fishing up Logan canyon. I have to tell how he did it because it was a bit unique. The day he got my ring we went fly-fishing and he took me to a spot where a huge tree branch hangs over the river. He knew I'd get my fly stuck in it (which of course I did) and when we stopped to untangle it we sat down in this pretty grassy area next to the river and he proposed-- on one knee and everything. Then he busted out some sparkling cider and Subway sandwiches and we ate lunch.
23. His best features? His pretty blue eyes, his red hair, and of course, his manly physique.
24. What is his greatest quality? He is very steady. That sounds weird, but it's so nice to have a husband who never loses his temper, who never gets ornery (well, hardly ever), who is just very calm, works hard, is disciplined, and is very patient.
25. Tag? Nicole, Christine, Ashlee, Melinda, Melissa, and anyone else who would like to do this. I'd love it if all my friends did this tag because I don't know many of your husbands!