New Obsession

Let me introduce you to my latest downfall, the out-of-this-world dessert we're calling "Grand Slam-ekins." It's a really good thing we ran out of cookie dough last week after having these seven nights in a row. Do try them. But first, you're going to need . . .

Ramekins! The crème brulée dishes Ben got me ($12.99 for six at Amazon) for Mother's Day. I'm finding many uses for them, but this is definitely the best.

Start with cookie dough. I made a bunch of Dad's chocolate chip recipe (minus the chips) and froze it).

Get a reasonable portion of dough, and spray the ramekins with cooking spray.

We like to do a mix-and-match method for mix-ins. The options here are caramel bits, white chocolate chips, pecans, Reese's Pieces, and butterscotch chips. Really, the possibilities are endless.

Mix 'em in!

Press into ramekins. Add some more mix-ins, purely for identification purposes.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

After cookie cools slightly but is still nice and warm, top with your choice of ice cream and toppings (we did vanilla and melted peanut butter), and prepare to have your socks knocked off.

World's End

This is where we went (World's End in Hingham, MA):

This is what it looked like:

This is what we did:

This is how we felt:

Music Sharing: A Sin?

Once upon a time, someone told me the good news about music sharing: it is absolutely fine to burn a copy of an album that you own and share it with friends, as long as you own the music and you are only sharing it with people you actually know. Obviously, it is not okay to burn copies of a cd and sell them or distribute them to the masses.

I took this news to heart and went ahead and shared thousands of CDs with friends. In return, I have received countless gifts of musical joy from friends as well. Many times this sharing has led me to a newfound love for an artist I would not have purchased without the recommendation and sample. It has led me to buy subsequent albums and even concert tickets. I think the world of sharing the good news of good music is beautiful.

Now, for the first time in 10 years, I am questioning whether or not this practice is legal and/or ethical. I have been led to question it by a passage I read in this fabulous article by David A. Bednar:

"Immoral thoughts, words, and deeds always are immoral, even in cyberspace. Deceitful acts supposedly veiled in secrecy, such as illegally downloading music from the Internet or copying CDs or DVDs for distribution to friends and families, are nonetheless deceitful. We are all accountable to God, and ultimately we will be judged of Him according to our deeds and the desires of our hearts."

I like to take the words of Apostles of God seriously. If I am sinning by sharing music with friends and family, I want to know so I can attempt to fix the damage I have done. What I want to know is, what IS the official law on this matter? I tried to research it and seemed to find two camps of people:

A) the people who, like my previous self, could see nothing wrong with sharing music with friends and family, as long as you are not selling or distributing it. These people seem to be saying that there is no official law against sharing music. They argue that the Recording Industry Association of America campaigns to try to make people believe it's illegal, but technically it isn't.

B) the people who say that it is illegal to make copies of a CD for any person other than the individual who purchased it. Not sure if they are influenced by the RIAA or by the actual law.

I really don't know whom to believe here. Does anybody out there have access to the official law on this matter? Any copyright lawyers out there? Anybody with a strong opinion that they want to share? Please, don't be shy! I need your comments as I try to sort this out. Don't worry about offending me. Be candid. I can take it.

And just to be clear, I don't want to know whether or not you think I will be caught and sent to jail for burning CDs. I want to know, IS IT TECHNICALLY LEGAL, and IS IT MORALLY RIGHT OR WRONG?

Ellis Video Update

In Ellis news, he is finally LOVING books and movies. He didn't used to have any interest in them. I am just SO happy that he will snuggle up with me on the couch and read books. It's my favorite time with him right now! Here is a clip of us reading Ellis' current favorite book, a phonics reader that someone gave us because it is called Let's Read with Jen & Ben. You really should watch this clip just to see how excited Ellis gets about this book. It's hilarious.

Ellis Reads Jen & Ben from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Next, he has finally caught on to the idea of sitting in front of the TV watching Baby Einstein. We try not to abuse this, but it really is nice to be able to take a shower while Ellis is awake!

Baby Einstein - Finally! from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Okay, so maybe we do abuse it. Because the new update with Ellis on the eating front is that he will gladly eat his baby fruits and veggies and Greek yogurt (twice the protein for the kid who doesn't eat meat!), but ONLY if his high chair has been wheeled in front of the computer and he is watching videos of himself. "Ellis Shows!" He will now eat non-graham-cracker-foods under NO other circumstances. But just watch how happy he is, eating his yogurt while watching a clip of himself eating sweet potatoes while Ben sings "Slippery Fish." Kind of mind-boggling. I guess there's no question as to who wears the pants in this family [hint: he also wears the diapers :) ].

Eating with Slippery Fish from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Joy School Graduation

We are so proud of our little Joy School Graduate. It has been a delightful year, watching Henry make friends, gain confidence, and learn and grow SO much. This year he has learned to write his name and many other letters, draw recognizable figures, cut and paste, sing lots of fun songs, and play imaginatively. He has learned the joys of the earth, honesty, sharing, service, curiosity, and so much more. I really attribute much of his recent creativity, imagination, and love for "crafts!" to Joy School. I also think he has grown so much socially and has a really strong sense of who he is as an individual. We love Joy School!

Best friends: Ava, Henry, Doyle, Jonah, Isabelle, and Eva

Throwing the darling graduation caps made by Lizzy.

And here is the movie I put together for graduation. Watch it if you just can't get enough of these adorable kids!

Joy School Graduation Video from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Oh, boy . . . I've got joy!

Pre-K Sports

I'm so proud of Henry the sports man. He has done the Pre-K sports class with our town for four different sessions now, and he's getting pretty good and loving it. They do soccer, kickball, and T-ball. It's fun to have a reason to get outside and play!



Look at that kick!

I love how they all crouch down to field the baseball -- they don't actually play with an outfield, but they're all ready just in case. So cute!

Running the bases!

Ellis cheering Henry on . . . and picking some grass. I can't figure out what my boys love so much about picking grass. Last week the soccer coach had to ask Henry to stop picking grass and focus on kicking the ball THREE times. Probably this distracted attitude toward sports is coming from my genes. Ah, well! It's just a game, right?

Henry and Megan

Henry and Ellis had a great time staying with cousins while Ben and I were in the UK. Katie and Kara were SO amazing to keep the boys for 11 days! We are forever indebted to them.

After we returned to the US, we stayed at Katie's house for a few extra days and relaxed and partied. One of the highlights was seeing a pairing I had never expected: Henry and 8-year-old Megan. I always expect to see Henry playing with the little boys who are closer to his age, but the more we watched him and Megan together, the more we knew that they are kindred spirits. Just look at the "Museum" they created one afternoon:

Museum of Natural History of Utah entrance sign

Here are some of the exhibits - dinosaurs, skeletons, and cars made out of legos. Megan made descriptions of each exhibit on post-it notes.

Here are the two proud curators!

"Empoleys Only!"

I think Henry felt that he had died and gone to Heaven. He always tries to do things like this at home but doesn't quite have the capacity to pull off all the details. Sometimes he can talk me into helping him, but not nearly as often as he would wish (like, every half hour). To his delight, Megan not only agreed to help him achieve his dream, but she did it happily! From what I hear, she comes up with almost as many clever schemes herself, and wouldn't rather do anything than flaunt her creative powers.

Can we have Megan come and live at our house?

Long Layover in Amsterdam

On the way back to the U.S. from Scotland, we had a 5-hour layover in Amsterdam. Five hours seemed like a long time to sit in an airport, so we looked into doing something while we were there. We Googled "long layover in Amsterdam," only to discover that Amsterdam is the perfect city for a long layover. The train station is directly linked to the airport, and it took us only two stops to get to Amsterdam's Centraal Station. From there we walked outside, crossed the street, and found ourselves in one of these.

It was the perfect 1-hour tour of the city! Ben had never been to the Netherlands before, and I was delighted to share a little flavor of it with him. It really is such a lovely place. How can you go wrong with a city where canal boats and bicycles are the main modes of transportation?

We saw sights like this . . .

(Um . . . some people live in these boats. They just have to pay to keep them docked. Wouldn't that rule?)

bikes, bikes, everywhere!

Millions of them! Everywhere!

And most importantly, HUP HOLLAND!!! [When my family stayed in Holland for 6 weeks one summer, the orange flags and "Hup Holland" signs were unavoidable. Obviously, these people are devoted to their soccer team. One time we asked a lady on a train, what exactly does "Hup Holland mean?" She replied, "Well . . . it means . . . it's sort of like . . . GO for it, Holland!"

There you have it!]

We finished our canal cruise and ate some stroop waffels. Then we made it back to the airport with lots of time to spare. Amsterdam was such a fun little unexpected bit of icing on our very indulgent cake of a vacation. Mmmm hmmm.

Whew! And now I can get back to regular blogging. Done with travel mode for a while.

Scotland in 31 pictures

Yes, we tried to pare down our pictures, and we were still left with 31. Everything was just too beautiful and memorable to cut out!

First of all, let's just say that Ben's parents are the best Scotland tour guides ever! They are SO passionate about everything related to Scotland - the history, the people, and the splendor of the landscape. They are so good with the details too. When we arrived, I felt like they had been bottling up a huge world of Scotland wisdom for 6 months, and they just couldn't wait to pour it all out on us. They did, and we enjoyed it completely!

This is a water tower in a park area just down the street from their flat in Edinburgh. We went here the night we got there for a walk. Just begin to take in all the different shades of green. Scotland has more shades than we do, I think.

Dad at his desk in the camera room. They are serving as Church missionaries at the Royal Archives of Scotland. Ben's dad takes digital images of these giant volumes of family history-related text.

And Mom does quality control on her computer here. Kind of monotonous work, but very important. They love the fact that they get to work with other couples to keep them company.

Scott Monument in Edinburgh. We climbed to the top for an amazing view of the city.

Here is the view of Edinburgh castle from the monument.

Ben and his ultimate hero, Adam Smith, the father of economics. Who knew Smith was a Scot?

At Edinburgh castle

The George Heriot School, which is supposedly the school J.K. Rowling patterned Hogwarts after. Did you know that the Harry Potter books were also "born" in Scotland? Rowling wrote the earlier books in the series while sitting in a cafe in Edinburgh.

This is "Scott's View." The Scots have three big heros: Robert the Bruce (a great soldier and king), William Wallace (another warrior, more on him below), and Sir Walter Scott, the author of Ivanhoe and other great novels. This was Sir Walter's favorite view of Scotland, and he stopped to look out on it each time he passed.

Dryburgh Abbey, or the ruins thereof. Aside from the incredible architecture and beautiful setting, Dryburgh is the burial place of Sir Walter Scott. Too bad the English destroyed all of the abbeys in their rush to get rid of the Catholic church...so Henry VIII could marry another wife!

Between Dryburgh and Melrose Abbey, we learned about the monks who lived in them and how they devoted their lives entirely to God.

Melrose Abbey. Here we took a great audio tour and got all geared up for watching Cadfael movies that night, based on the Ellis Peters novels.

Abbotsford. This is Sir Walter Scott's amazing home. We all LOVED this tour and loved learning about the history of this great Scottish author. Not only was the house amazing, but Scott was something of a collector, so in his house are displayed all kinds of amazing artifacts, including a breastplate from the battle of Waterloo, a lock of Mary Queen of Scots' hair, and Napoleon's writing tablet. We wish that everyone could have listened to our tour guide with his Scottish brogue quoting some lines from Sir Walter Scott and telling of his deep love for his country.

These flowers were on the grounds of his home. Ben's mom loves the flowers of Scotland almost as much as she loves the history (okay, so I'm not sure about this fact. It would definitely be a close one).

My favorite picture from our trip. We are standing in front of the lovely River Tweed in a cute little town called Peebles ("Peebles on Tweed," to be precise).

The devoted missionaries (and returned missionary) in front of the beautiful mission home.

Luss. This is the darling town where we went to visit Loch Lomond. A perfect place for a Sunday stroll.

This is Loch Lomond. Don't you dare call it a lake; not in Scotland. And that mountain in the background is Ben Lomond. Just for you, Dad (hail, BLHS).

And there we are at the Loch, in front of some very bonnie banks.

Scone Palace (say "scoon"). This is where all of the Scottish monarchs were crowned up until they merged with England (under James I). Tradition had it that they would sit on the "stone of destiny" or "stone of scone" to be crowned here. Unfortunately, the English stole the stone in 1296 and took it to Westminster Abbey, where the English monarchs would sit on the stone to be crowned. It was finally returned in 1996, and is now at Edinburgh Castle, along with the Scottish Crown Jewels. To our surprise, it's just a plain old stone. But the Scots love it! Anyway, a Duke still lives in this palace, and it was great place to tour.

Ben is just waiting for his turn to be crowned.

More of Scone Palace

Taken from the car window in attempt to document the amazing views as we drove through Scotland. We spent several hours in the car, just relishing the scenery. Too bad this picture doesn't even do it justice. It was SO much greener in real life. I swear, I didn't see ANY dirt while we were in Scotland. Only green, green, green, everywhere.

Stirling Castle.

The Royal Couple, Ben & Jenn. Some people have weddings in the "Great Hall" the castle. That would have been cool . . .

Looking over the walls of the castle. I couldn't take a picture to show how magnificent this castle looks from below.

But this one shows how the castle is built on top of this extremely steep cliff. Makes it pretty hard to attack...

And this is a view from the castle.

And another.

And this is the best picture I could get of Stirling Castle from below. It is quite the sight from miles around. And this picture perfectly shows the cows ("coos") in the fields below!

Ready to fight with William Wallace and the rest of them (of Braveheart fame) at the Wallace Monument. Wallace's greatest victory was defending Stirling Castle and especially Stirling Bridge, which was the only passageway from the lowlands to the highlands. This monument is one hill over from Stirling Castle.

We could have stayed a lot longer in Scotland, but we got a great taste of it while we were there. Thanks Mom and Dad for being great hosts and tour guides!