Family History Bug...

So, I recently got all jazzed about finding out about my ancestors. It all started when I watched a program on the BYU channel called "The Generations Project." It is a reality show about people who find out all these cool things about their grandparents/great grandparents, etc. So, the very first episode featured Blair's cousin Katie and it was SO cool to watch her learn all this amazing stuff about the great grandma she never knew. I turned to Blair and said, "Blair, I don't know hardly anything about my great grandparents. We need to do something like this." So, it just happened that my parents were going to be visiting us in February. I arranged a meeting with my mom's mom and then with my dad's parents the following day. Last week was amazing as we sat down and listened to my grandparents tell stories about their growing up years and got to ask questions about what their parents were like and where they came from etc. I feel like I know a little more about who I am because of all they shared with me. It was fascinating and also fun! I plan to type up a written transcript of the tapes I recorded of our conversations. Who knows, maybe one day I'll have a complete family history book or something!! Here's some pics of our meetings:

Grandma Cora getting ready to show me some pictures of her parents

Grandma, Mom, and Aunt Erma

As part of family history at my dad's parents house, Grandma taught
us how to make homemade Italian ravioli.

We had so much fun cranking the dough through the press and
filling it with meat and cheese. We made a huge mess though!
In all, we probably had somewhere around 300. Grandma's freezer was packed!

The best part was eating the finished product!
Nothing like authentic Italian! Yum.

Will did some bonding of his own with his grandpa.

This is just for future generations...heehee.

Groundhogs, Granola, and Optical Grief

Let me get right to it. I love Groundhog Day. It has been my favorite holiday for a very long time. What other time of the year can you find Americans putting their trust in a small rodent to predict the weather? I think it's wonderful. So, I invited all of my family over for dinner and to watch the movie Groundhog Day. A few of my siblings, who will remain nameless, are known to be extremely health conscious. I wanted to provide some sort of nutritious snack item because I knew that if I called it dessert, no one would eat it. So, I found a recipe for granola bites that had no fat whatsoever. Well, to my horror they tasted like mushy pieces of cardboard. What to do? I ended up trying to give them some kind of flavor by frosting them, thus converting them into a now very unhealthy, high fat snack and so no one ate them anyway. (Except Blair, who will even eat cardboard if it is frosted:)

The optical grief stems from an unfortunate accident Blair had at work. He woke up in the middle of the night about a week ago and his eye was watering profusely. It looked like he had a tiny piece of metal stuck in there. I panicked, and Blair calmly reassured me that it was no big deal, in fact it had happened before and he just needed to go to an eye doctor to get it removed. Well, he goes to the doctor, who by the way does not accept our insurance, and gets 90% removed. He has to put eye drops in and let the metal "work its way to the surface" and get the rest removed two days later. So, for two days he looks like he is constantly emotional and then goes back to the doctor for visit #2. They get the rest of it out, but tell him he has to wear a protective contact for the weekend and come back to make sure they got it all on Monday. Monday comes, Blair goes for visit #3. This time he sees a different doctor who tells him he has developed a "rust ring" in his eye. Perfect. He scrapes as much of it out as possible and tells him he will have to go back in a week to make sure they got it all. So, we'll see what adventures await us in the future. I personally think it is a conspiracy by the doctors to help them meet their monthly quota for patient visits. How lucky for us to be so involved. I have informed Blair that he will be getting some special ski goggles for Valentine's Day which I expect him to wear at work, and just to be safe, everywhere else as well.