LG

How to make the Grand Canyon more grand

As you know my husband’s name is LeGrand.

Many people get confused over the name.

I tell them it’s a French name,

and the best way for them to remember it is to think of it’s meaning.

LeGrand means “The Big.”

In fact, one of my favorite nicknames that LG was given is

The Big and The Mighty.

And you can all decide for yourself if that describes my hubby.

So, what does the name definition have to do with my post?

It was pure coincidence that we visited The Grand Canyon

on LeGrand’s birthday.

In honor of LeGrand visiting The Grand Canyon,

you all should know that our girls have renamed

The Grand Canyon to LeGrand Canyon.

It’s very fitting I think.

Don’t you think LG looks just like this Native American

who claims to be The Grand Canyon?

And, to make the visit even more grand,

we made sure our rental car was a Grand Caravan.

I think the train is due for some updating

along with all the other signage at the Grand Canyon.

It shouldn’t be hard, just add the “Le” at the front.

For me, The Grand Canyon, was just another evidence of God’s majesty!

What is possibly more grand than that?

Except maybe the scriptures.

If you think of The Colorado River as Willy Wonka’s chocolate river,

it’s automatically more grand.

I thought it a grand coincidence that the Arch from the Arches National Park

showed up in clouds right over the Grand Canyon.

I think that maybe God was trying to tell us that he

approved of our name change.

If you decide to hike, make sure that you read the signs so you can get back up.

Stop at the shop and gets some Dreyer’s Grand ice-cream.

Hide from mom in the tower and make her panic for a good twenty minutes

that you may have fallen into the canyon.

That’s always grand fun.

Especially when dad is in on the game.

Doesn’t it look like they are touching a painting?

Nope just pointing out the grandness.

Put yourself into the painting.

Because you are part of God’s grand creations too.

Tease your mom and wife some more by laughing at her

as she hollers for you to step back.

Then laugh some more as she eats crow for freaking out for no reason.

Take time to notice the very few flowers in the area.

Show your children that you are just as grand

as any of those overpriced toys that they want.

Camp…you gotta camp.

Find something very small to remember the grand occasion.

This is our baby owl.

Her name is Paquito.

We let dad name her for his birthday.

Enjoy a grand hike or two or three.

Sit right at the grand edge.

It’s so much fun.

Notice all the grand fossils.

And the grandest layering ever.

Can we call this a grand bee?

And, make sure you visit at the grandest times of the day.

Sunrise and sunset of course.

Take notice of the grand calves. Nothing less would be worthy.

Lean over just once and ponder the

grandness of your own mortality.

The horizon is endless and so is the land.

What’s more grand than that?

Add your own caption here. I can’t think of one.

On your drive home, take a grand minute or two to realize that the

grandness of God and his creations are really never ending.

You just have to keep looking.

Mass Scary

And here’s a mass scary picture of me just for good measure.

On the way to school the other day Abigail asked me how long it took me to learn to put mascara on in the car.

I told her that applying mascara while driving was a fine art that her mother had practiced a lot over the past 17 years.

I then added, to the sure relief of my reading mother in law, that even though the talent was quite handy, it was one that I hoped she would never try to learn.

Abigail said, “Why?”

LG quickly replied from his passenger seat, “Because, it’s scary, that’s why!”

Abigail said, “Oh, o.k. Mom, from now on when you put on mascara in the car, we are going to call it mascary.”

Fair

It was bedtime. We told the girls how much money they would be earning from the last week. We have started giving them a dollar a week and we subtract 5 cents every time they disobey or talk back. This was mostly instituted in response to Abigail never feeling like she has any money (even though she has unlimited offers to do extra chores and earn some) and as a tool to manage our newly created pre-teen daughter.

I informed the girls that they all lost 50 cents for wasting all the body wash in the bathtub. They started going on and on about it not being fair.

LG instantly went into his lecture, “Do you want to talk about fair? Do you really want to go there? It’s not fair that mom does all the dishes, when you all dirty them? It’s not fair that mom has to wash all the clothes, when you guys dirty them. It’s not fair that mom cleaned up that whole playroom the other day when she didn’t make one bit of the mess….” (Man, LG was so convincing that I almost started crying in response to my unfair situation too)

Abigail is always looking for her opportunity to show her intellect: “Actually dad, that is fair, because those are mom’s jobs.”

So I HAD to chime in, “Alright, it’s not fair that that is my job. It’s not fair that you all got to ride your bikes today and dad and I had to walk because we can’t afford to buy ourselves bikes after paying for yours. It’s not fair that …”

LG took back over, “It’s not fair that I went to school for ten years and I still am not making any money, it’s not fair that I went to school for ten years to hate my job…it’s not fair that I am fat.”

So, I HAD to show my intellect: “Actually, honey, that last one is kind of fair.”

Bella had to show off the intellect of the youngest member of the family: “Yeah dad, you are the one that eats all the food that makes you fat.”

LG: “Well, it’s not fair that when you eat food, it makes you fat.”

Why does food have to make us fat? And, yes, there is a theme going on in my mind..it’s called we are all trying to change our lifestyle around here….it’s just not fair that we all have to eat right and exercise, is it?

Last night we went as a family to the Community Walk To Myrtle Beach Kick Off. We are excited to try and walk 360 miles over the next 12 weeks. We had to get our weight and height, BMI and body fat tested…talk about motivation.

Well, at one point this stranger weighed in right next to me. He was a very healthy looking guy and weighed in at 146. I looked over at the scale right at the wrong time and quickly apologized explaining that I wasn’t trying to spy. “But”, I explained, “I want you to know that I would do anything to be at your weight.” All the Health Dept. officials looked at me dumbfounded, so I chimed in with the further explanation they were waiting for, “except eat right and exercise of course.” They all seem to be pleased that their original scowls got the desired answer and gave me their approval with a few big smiles.

And, can I just vent for a second. These officials were trying to change the computer results to make my kids overweight. I was ticked. I had to give them some wisdom, “Just because my husband and I are fat, it doesn’t mean that our children are…..how do you think we got this fat? We’ve been doing everything we can to keep them healthy.” I TOLD THEM. They quickly understood that they were stereotyping. UGH!!!

Goodnight Sweet Pup

My sister Renee had ten puppies while we were out in Utah.
They were a huge hit with all of the kids.

Speaking of puppies, I am calling all animal lovers and big burly man lovers!

This Youtube video is so so sweet.
Thanks to Valerie for the informative e-mail.

Hypocrites

Mom, what is that word that means you tell people to do one thing, but then you don’t do what you say to do?

Hypocrite.

Oh yeah, hypocrite.

So, if you tell us to wear our seat belts and you don’t, then you’re a hypocrite?

I guess you could say that.

Fast forward a week to this morning. (and I apologize to those of you who may not get the referenced Harry Potter magical creature)

Kids, please put your seat belts on.

Mom, you are such a hippogriff, put your seat belt on!

Oh, it was time for a little lesson while I shrugishly pulled on my seat belt.

It’s not nice to call people hypocrites, Abigail, and I am not a hypocrite, I just forget to put my seat belt on sometimes.

And it’s not nice to call people hippogriffs either.

Native American Cuisine

In the West there is something called a Navajo Taco. For lack of a better description, it is kind of a mix between a taco, a Pita sandwich, and a scone. And even though I somehow just managed to make them sound very scary, Navajo Tacos are very good and filling. We are sad that we haven’t eaten one in years. We have only Petro’s in the south. I suppose that is as close as we get to a Native American Cuisine. I guess all the Confederates scared all the Natives away long ago.

Well, as part of our trip out west, it was our goal to eat every Western cuisine that we miss while living in the South. We hadn’t really mentioned a Navajo taco, but whenever we saw a place that offered anything we can only get out West we stopped. We were constantly on the lookout for our favorites. (remembered or not)

After spending a day at The Grand Canyon, we immediately got on the road. We were in a hurry to get to my mom and dads. We had not eaten lunch and were starving, but figured we would see something on the way and would save time by eating in the car. We wrongly suspected we could find food on the road cheaper than we could in the Canyon. We ended up bi passing the only little town that would have anything to eat, and gassed up in the middle of nowhere. The trip turned into hours and we were well into dinner time.

The only thing we passed on the road were these Navajo Shops where the Native American tribe members sell their jewelry, pottery and such. There was a new shop about every 10 miles. They all looked exactly the same and seemed to market and sell the exact same items.

Now I know you all already realize that LG has an MBA and is always looking for good business opportunities. We were all getting hungrier and crankier by the second. Finally LG turned to me and in desperation exclaimed, “You would think that some of these Navajos would start selling some tacos.”

And, that, ladies and gentlemen, gives you the quick wit I live with on a daily basis. LG needs to start his own blog that features his humor. He’s so much funnier than I could ever hope to be. I am so happy to have a husband that has never let me down on his promise to make me laugh every day.

11 photos for 11 years

August 15th 1997
LG and me
We were wed
For eternity
In Salt Lake City

In 1997

There was no looking back, only forward.

In 1998

I bulged around the middle.

In 1999

We added Abigail

In 2000,

You heeded the call very early every morning and tried to stay awake.

In 2001,

Sophia made us 4.

In 2002,

You worked your way to the top.

In 2003, Bella was born.

2004

will always be a little blurry.

In 2005

We ascended every corner.

In 2006,

The picture was brighter than ever.

In 2007,
Your American education was finally complete.

In 2008 The shadows of the past
added to the pureness of the future
make the perfect picture.

Flooding, no problem

“I love water”, she says.

At five, she obviouslly doesn’t understand the negative impact of a flood.

I think that that she thinks that her weather jacket is just a snazzy costume.

Thanks to the WBIR TV and The Weather Channel for this wonderful service provided at our Back to School First Night Celebration (which I can’t find a single thing about online, sorry)

My girls enjoyed the free celebration on the evening of the first day of school. No free food was there, but lots and lots of giveaway and a really retro boy band that I will post about later.

Sophia and Abigail were pooped out from a whole long day at school and they had no desire to pretend work for the weather channel, but prefered to stand in line for the big blow up slide.

It would have been nice to see what the teleprompter actually said, don’t you think?