Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Eat to Live

We are Eating to Live.
Wayne, Melinda and Landon are ONLY eating fruits and veggies...and beans and nuts....for 6 weeks.  We are all 28 days  into it, and so far so good. Wayne is down 18 lbs. and Landon and I are  down 14.
We are reading the book EAT to LIVE by Joel Fuhrman MD and trying to do what it advocates.
We are trying to have a plant based diet and stay away from animal products  and processed and refined foods. It's been a healthy switch and relatively easy.
 I'm amazed at my lack of cravings....especially for chocolate.
I think this whole past 9 months of having green smoothies, has prepared us for this next step.
This kind of eating really helps Landon.  His migraines are few and far between, and his headaches have lessened.  It stands to reason that food is the culprit to so many of our ills....diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, headaches, asthma, cancer...all are linked to diet.


Friday, January 25, 2013

Friday Flashback

8/22/04
Sunday is here again...yeah...the older I get the more I love Sunday.  It really is a great plan.  We get up in the morning and I say, "It's church day" and Laila says, "I love church!"  She really does.
 She is a handful in sacrament meeting though.  Last Sunday, during the opening prayer she said very loudly, "Addison, close your eyes!"   Benches all around us couldn't stop laughing.  She is like a ricochet rabbit--bing, bing, bing-- in church but she's usually quiet as she does her visiting all around the chapel.  If she is good I tell her she can go and sit on Wayne's lap during the closing song.  She loves to sit on the stand and she is happy about this.

Laila can swim like a fish.   We take her tube off of her and she dives down and picks up rings and swims back to the surface.  It is the greatest thing to watch.  Her eyes are open and she is smiling the whole time.  So now basically, she is really dangerous.  A little skill and no sense...you know the combination.  It is a riot to watch her though.  She is so tiny.  She swallows the water and sometimes lets out huge burps...then she giggles.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

I Have A Dream...by Laila

Laila's tribute to Martin Luther King day....her own version of I have a Dream...

I have a dream that the crude storms and floods of hunger will evaporate and be replaced by a feast of sunlight.
I dream that the battle of depression will be beaten by the sword of happiness and hope.
I have a dream that the terrible hurricane and tsunami of drugs and alcohol will end with a drug-free rainbow that will last for all eternity.
I have an amazing dream that the weeds of hatred and cruelty will be pulled out of the ground and be replaced with  the flowers of forgiveness.
I dream that the books I read are but a drop in the ocean of learning that will take place in my lifetime.
I have a dream that the mountain of life will be cherished and the black hole of abortion will disappear.
I dream that the world will use bat eyes while looking at colors of the skin and will use eagle eyes when looking at the loving heart.
I have a dream that the rains of kindness will flood the dry cracked ground of bullying.
I have a dream that the grain of sand of freedom will join others and become the boulder of justice.
I have a dream that the baseball of theives and liars will be caught by the  mitt of honesty and truth.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Birthday Weekend!

2nd annual Cole Cocoa and Karaoke night....
 We celebrated January birthdays on Sunday at our Karaoke party. ( Laila, Truman, Christine, Wayne, Garret and Ryan)  I love that we get together and sing our brains out, laugh at each other and just have a great time.    Singers included:  Truman, Landon, Laila, Melinda, Marcie, Angela, Adam, Liz, Nelson, Jenna -- many times....she is the Ultimate queen of Karaoke....., Rachel, Becca and Preston....
Alex, Landon, Jenna, Laila...all watching Truman rock Justin Beiber
Christine, Adam and Sheri are amazed.....
 Marcie cranks up  Mama Mia....while the group sips their cocoa....  Another awesome participant with an amazing vibrato is Preston Brown.  He just sings and sings.  I love that.
 Dad is hiding out in the corner...  I think he is trying to find some peace.
 Everyone is enjoying the performances.....even Casey and Nelson...they are sneaking in the NFL playoff game on the ipad.  Laila received many great gifts...$, Kevas, Hair stuff etc...Grandma Sheri and Grandpa Lyle gave Laila art lessons.

Laila had more in store for this birthday weekend.  This really isn't Laila's year to have a party...but with Truman turning 22 and Laila 11-- the year Harry got admitted to Hogwarts-- we knew we had to have a Harry Potter Party extravaganza.   Laila has been helping me with elaborate plans...most of which we couldn't do.  She wanted a real owl to deliver a Hogwarts acceptance letter to her.  She thought a pulley in the ceiling of the living room running to a the family room would help us to have broom races.  She also wanted transformations to happen and real spells.   We settled on a Harry Potter trivia game.  
 Truman and Laila only wanted real Harry Potter enthusiasts to come to their party.   Laila would weed people out by asking them, " What  is Hermoine's patronous?"  If they said, "what's a patronous?", or they didn't know, she would cross them off the list.  We ended up with a few awesome cousins and some of Truman's friends.  
Everyone came in Harry Potter costumes.  They had to enter by running through the brick wall at platform 9 3/4. We had butter beer out of golden deer goblets, golden snitch cupcakes with wings, Bertie Bott's many flavored jelly beans, lemon drops from Honey Dukes and Hagrid's veggies.
We decorated for the Tri Wizard Cup, and had balloon owls filling the ceiling.  We had a competition of the 1st years vs. the Prefects for the trivia game..the 1st years won.  
Truman came as Cedric Diggery in his yellow and gray and Laila was Voldemort....oooo scary!



Raising our golden deer goblets filled with butter beer.
"Tru ...what's the answer...what's the answer....??"
 Truman's group included Cedric,  Fluffy the 3 headed dog, Harry Potter, Hermione, Luna, Cho Change, Belatrix and assundry Hogwarts people.
 Laila's cousin group featured, Moaning Myrtle ( Kylie) , Ron ( Alex) , Trelawny(Savannah), Luna (Hunter), Dobby the house elf (Nash)  and Voldemort of course.
A happy Voldemort.....she got a quill pen and ink set and a wax letter sealer and stamp...and a Hogwarts acceptance letter!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Flashback Friday

8/15/04
Laila is a little jabber girl.  She is so funny.  She has all of her brother's songs memorized and sings them  to the boys while holding and petting their hands.  It is so cute to watch.  She is really into drawing...scribbling...and reading her books.  She can definitely take care of herself.  When anyone gets a hurt she tells you to go see Dr. Eric  (Belnap...a vet)  because "he is nice and he will fix you."

She is a monkey.  We went to the zoo with Christine and the Cole girls and it was fun.  She was fascinated to see the animals and she especially loved the monkeys and the snakes.  When you ask her what a snake says, she sings the song from Jungle Book that the snake sings, "trust in me, trust in me, close your eyes and trust in me."

She likes to clean the windows in our house.  She gets the spray and sprays the windows and wipes it off with napkins.  All of which she gets herself.  So we have really clean windows from two feet down.
Oh...and we now call all of our sandals and flip flops, "Slip clops," and of course lipstick or chapstick is "bips."  She is wonderful.
Laila showing off her bips

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Amazing Snow Storm

W got over 36 inches of snow in one storm!  Wayne and the boys have been non stop shovelers ever since.  They do our home, the grandparents, the widows and the neighbors.   Talk about a work out.  Laila loves to play in the snow...but not for too long.

 Heather Kofford, Savannah Bentley and Laila took about a 1/2 hour to get all bundled up...then were outside in the 14 degree weather for 10 minutes...got all snowy and cold and came back in.
Laila struggling to perform a reverse snow angel. 
I love the snow in January.  It's how it should be.  It's so sparkly and gorgeous and covers up all of the yucky yards.  The christmas lights look fabulous in the snow. (I'm  now calling my Christmas lights, Martin Luther King Jr. Day lights, then they will become Valentine's lights.  )  Wayne says I love the snow because I don't have to shovel it....Tru agrees.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Funny flashback Friday

7/26/04
Laila still demands Macaroni and cheese, cocoa and pop almost every morning.  SHe is a kick. I got her a new,  yellow nightgown at Bear Lake and she insistes on wearing it every night....and sometimes most of the day.  She loves to twirl in it.
She insists on putting on her own shoes.  Big white shoes.  The shoes she wants to wear are always too big for her.  She looks like a clown.   It is very funny.
She gets into these obsessive jags where she will say the same thing over and over, even if you recognize what she said and agree with her.  She just keeps saying it.
She is a terrible two lately.  Having to have her own way or no way.
She has AMAZING bed head in the morning.  Her hair sticks straight up.  She loves her circle hair.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Typical Tru

Tru and his friend Cassie tried and tried to get Justin Beiber tix, (beyond actually buying the tix last year when they went on sale for a 100 bucks+).  They have entered every contest around.  He posted on Facebook that he had two tix to the concert and VIP back stage passes.....but he didn't.  He just wanted to throw it out to the Universe in hopes that it would happen.
  
He is in parts and pieces of old Cole Collection outfits.
Tru and Cassie even talked her dad, who is an over 60 grandpa, into dressing in drag and going to the Valley Fair Mall  for a radio contest.  They went to the mall with 142 crazy dad's and their daughters.    Radio personalities gave Justin Beiber tix to the winner..... they didn’t win. The dad looked scary hilarious.  He truly loves his daughter.  Cassie said that’s all she wanted before she left on her mission in 3 weeks.   

They entered KSL studio 5’s contest and even spent hours at the Home Show hoping their ticket would be drawn and they could go see Justin Beiber.  No luck. Finally they settled for eating Justin’s favorite food—apple pie and photo shopping pics of them as Justin Beiber’s back up dancers….and putting it on Facebook and Instagram.   He got over 100 likes on both sites.     

So many people think this is real, it’s hilarious.  

Saturday, January 5, 2013

One little word for 2013

Have you picked your one word for 2013 yet?  If you haven't Ali Edwards gives you  a great list of words
to help get you inspired.  This is a word that fits all of my resolutions for the year in it. 
I've been pondering for a week now.... I've finally decided upon


I'm  going to Create art, Create better relationships, Create lessons, Create new eating patterns, Create spaces in my home etc...
It's a word that feels empowering to me.  One that puts me in charge.  One I can get excited about.   And isn't  that what resolution making is all about?

Friday, January 4, 2013

Funny Friday Flashback...

I have gotten all of my Christmas down, and I even cleaned and organized a few spaces in my home.  One of these was "the junk hole", aka...the office that is behind our stair case.  It's where all things electronic go to die, and where anything that we don't know what to do with gets placed.  Plus it's where we store our road bikes and biking paraphernalia   We could barely walk into it.   I had Wayne and Laila help me haul everything out, give a lot to the DI, and fill our 3 garbage cans to the brim.  It felt good.  I also gave away 4 boxes of Christmas stuff.

Why am I telling you all this?....oh, yeah... I found some old letters that I had written to my mom and dad when they were on their Scotland Mission in 2004 and letters to Addison on his Louisiana mission in 2005-7.  In these letters are little nuggets of humor, wit and wisdom by our sweet toddler and then little girl Laila.

This year I'm going to do a Flashback Funny Friday and share any of this old stuff that I come upon.  Stories about the boys too...but mostly about this funny, spiritual little girl, Laila.  I used to do this in old scrapbook form for my boys, but now that I do everything digital and my blog is my family scrapbook, I want these sweet memories to be somewhere besides in a mission letter.

Here's the first one:

3/04/04
Laila is so funny.  We are trying to get her to say her full name.  Laila Shanae Welch.  She asks the boys their names  ( all Cole Welch) and so now she wants to be called Laila Cole Welch.  To resolve this all of the boys have changed their names to Shanae Welch.  It is very funny.  Monson Shanae Welch.  Laila laughs when they do this.  "No Nae Delch," she says, "Cole Delch." She is determined.  Once she did say "Laila Nae Cole Delch"....that is progress. It is very funny, especially to hear the boys.