I do love Christmas

I love Christmas. Let's be honest though, most Christmas music isn't very good. I love the religious songs, but 95% of the contemporary songs are absolutely horrible. FM100 should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity for most of the songs they play. I have my own Christmas playlist that I listen to in the car though, so somehow I manage.
This has already been an extremely fun Christmas. Priya is so amazed by everything we do. She met Santa Clause for the first time. We were at a family party, and Mirinda was supposed to go up first, but she is terrified of Santa Clause, so Priya immediately ran up and sat on his lap with no problem. Then she got a present and I think that solidified her relationship with Santa Clause. Mirinda eventually went up, and sat next to him on her Aunt Cami's lap, and gave him a high five. Compared to other years, it's the equivalent of cuddling with him.
Priya also experienced her first snow fall. I was out snowblowing the driveway, and she ran out on the porch in bare feet. It didn't take her long to realize she'd made a huge mistake. She did like looking at the snow though.
I've always been one that's an advocate for toys at Christmas. There's something magical about getting that toy you really wanted. The Christmas of 92 I got a Super Nintendo. I still own that Super Nintendo, and I can still remember how amazing it was, and how that Christmas break was spent playing it. That said, I realized the other day that I haven't done enough to teach my children about the real reason for the season, and about charity and giving. We started to focus on that over the last week. The issue is, how do you do service with a 3 and a 5 year old. I recommend justserve.org. There are a ton of ideas on there. One organization collects diapers for refugees. You can buy them, and drop them off at this woman's house. I look at that and realize that's a service I can do with my young children, and they can understand what it means.
It is fun to do all of these traditions with these two little weirdos. We watched Mickey's Christmas Carol the other day, and I teared up like I do every time. It's Tiny Tim. He always gets me. We watched the Jim Carrey Grinch, which isn't a great movie but I love Jim Carrey in it. I would have them watch Rudolph, but the song Silver and Gold takes 25 minutes to sing, and I don't have that kind of time.
Priya's going to have a ton of tests done this month. We've hit our out of pocket max with her, so whatever we can do we will. The tests aren't too invasive, or we wouldn't do it. When we met with the geneticist he thinks she has two different syndromes, but we're going to test. One syndrome is basically that she couldn't move in the womb very much. This could be due to her mother trying to hide the pregnancy, or malnutrition. I'm inclined to believe the latter. The second one he thinks she has is vacterl something. That one can be a little more serious, and can effect the heart. He wants to do a full body scan on her, and well as an EKG. The good news according to him is there are times when 2 different syndromes are involved that they wipe some of the symptoms out. Based on everything she's had done so far, we've had no indication that anything is wrong with her heart. I honestly think she's OK as far as that goes. We'll continue to get her treatment. Right now we're trying to fix her index finger. She hates it because she has to wear a brace, but she deals with it.
I love watching Mirinda and Priya together. Mirinda is an amazing big sister, and takes really good care of her, and Priya likes to do whatever Mirinda is doing. Their new favorite activity is going to one end of the room, running as fast as they can, and jumping on me while I'm laying down. They find it absolutely hilarious, but I'm pretty sure one of my kidneys ruptured.
Here's my recommendation for the week: Fleming's Steak House. I really do believe it's better than Ruth Chris, and way cheaper. Right now they're having a deal that you get $25 off if you spend $100, but you have to book a reservation online. Then, you can go to Costco and buy $100 gift card for $80, so if you spend $100, you save $45. You're actually losing money on this deal if you don't go. Their filet is amazing. If you're looking for a nice place to eat this Christmas, I highly recommend it.
Thanks for reading! Enjoy the few good Christmas songs that are out there.

I'm getting soft

My Christmas lights are up. That may not seem like a big deal to a lot of people, but I am very much a fan and supporter of Thanksgiving. I get annoyed by people who say that Thanksgiving is all about gluttony and small pox. It's not. Thanksgiving was an idea from Sarah Hale, who was an editor and an author. She wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb". I just learned that today. Interesting.
She was concerned that as a country we were losing our cultural identity in regards to food. This was way back in the 1800's. When you look at other countries, and how much importance is placed on food in their cultures, you can see how it has become less important in our culture. I'm not talking about fast food, or fried butter, or anything like that. I'm talking about understanding how to correctly prepare food, and make it taste good, and then sharing that with others. That's what Thanksgiving is. We often don't have the time or make the time to cook, and as a result our collective palates have been deadened to the point that Olive Garden tastes good to some people.
That is the whole point of Thanksgiving. It's a day to remember our cultural food identity, and be grateful for it, and for all we have. So brine that turkey (please please please don't stuff the bird), and enjoy the day.
Anyway, that was a tangent. My original point was that my Christmas lights are up, which is something I've always been against. But Mirinda and Priya get so excited by Christmas lights I couldn't help myself. They will stand out in front of the house with no coat on freezing just to look at the Christmas lights. We've gone to different stores to see 2 different dancing Santa's, and they bought they're ornaments for the year. (I got a TARDIS, it's pretty awesome). I still plan on enjoying Thanksgiving fully, but these girls are making me soft.
On Monday Priya has an appointment with a geneticist. They're concerned that all of the problems she has point to a genetic disorder. It's a sad and kinda terrifying thought, but we'd rather know if there's a problem, and do what we can to correct it, or to at least help the situation.
As always, thanks for reading! I know this is a shorter post, but I'm trying to get back to posting once a week. Happy Thanksgiving!

Zootah is awesome!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I know it was like 2 weeks ago, but thanks. It was a fun day. For the weekend we decided to go to Logan. Well, initially we were going to Vegas, and then decided it was too far, so we did the exact opposite and went to Logan. I did my freshman year at Utah State, and I've always loved that town. It's a frozen icicle 9 months out of the year, but those 3 months make up for it.
There's a zoo in Logan. A lot of people don't know that. It is seriously the strangest zoo I've ever been too, but there is something so awesome about it. It's in a residential area off of Main Street. It's across the street from a church, and next door to an army depot. It's basically cages that surround a big grass field, but we loved it. You have to go with the right attitude. They had a ton of ducks, a sandhill crane, and a yak for some reason. It's pretty chill too. I think there are two people that work there. The one employee brought out a bird the girls could feed, and a bunny they could pet.
Mirinda and Priya absolutely loved it. They were excited to go on a trip. Mirinda gets funny when we go on a trip because all she wants to do is get to the hotel and go to sleep. It was 5 in the afternoon and she was asking when bedtime was.
Something I realized about going to that zoo. I love to travel. However, most of the time when I think about going on a vacation it's to Vegas (for the food) and Disneyland (for Disneyland). Both of those trips are pretty expensive. I realize Vegas isn't too far of a drive, but with a 3 and a 5 year old it's an eternity. What I realized is there are a lot of places in Utah like Logan. Maybe it's off the beaten path a little bit, or you wouldn't normally think about going there, but there are cool places to be visited, and it's all about the attitude you go with. The attitude should be we're going to explore and go on an adventure, and that's how you create memories. It's a ton cheaper, and doesn't take as long to do, so it's easier to do the trip on a weekend. That's our new goal, to start doing more of these smaller trips, and find new places. Kind of like Star Trek, but in Utah.
The girls loved Halloween. Priya did better than Mirinda did her first year. I took Mirinda to 6 houses, and she decided she was done. Priya lasted about an hour and a half. They got to go out with their friends, and it was a great night.
The girls started gymnastics, and love that too. They both love to tumble, so we figured it would be better for them to learn to do it properly. The coaches have been really good with them. I'm excited for them to learn how to do this stuff, but especially for the confidence it will give them.
I love that I have more time for hobbies, and that Mirinda and Priya can join in those hobbies. I've started doing a lot more baking, and that's something they can do with me. They both have their own apron, and they love to help. It takes more patience to cook and bake with your kids. You have to think about things you can give them to do, but man it's fun.
From what we can tell the procedure that we did for Priya to fix her kidney's has worked. She'll go back again in 3 months to make sure, but it's amazing how resilient that little girl is. She's been perfecting the art of the evil eye, and it would be more effective if it wasn't so cute. Mirinda loves to watch over her. I was telling Priya not to do something the other day, and Mirinda told me to leave her alone. It made me happy she sticks up for her, but we had a talk about dad being in charge.
For my birthday I received a book called the Unofficial Hobbit Handbook. I'm a huge Lord of the Rings geek, and it was surprising when I saw the book because I had never heard about it before. The whole first part has to do with food, and I was hooked. As I've read more of it I realized it's a social commentary on how we live our lives today, and how hobbits lived their lives (my wife pointed out that hobbits are not real). The point it makes about food and enjoying guests has really made me think about how I do things. To a hobbit food, friends, and simple pleasures mean everything. When you're a guest in a hobbits home, you are the center of attention, and they take great effort to make sure you feel that way. It's very much a focus on serving others, and in that you get a tremendous amount of satisfaction.
That got me thinking about social media, which I despise. There's a trend lately to post things that say: "I know no one will read this" or "No one reads my wall" or "I bet not one of my friends will share this". It's incredibly frustrating to me. Can we please stop with the self pitying behavior?
Here's the thing, we all have struggles, and I realized many people struggle with depression and with social anxiety. It's hard to pinpoint exactly where it comes from, as it really is different with each person. It is sometimes a chemical imbalance, sometimes something learned from childhood, or sometimes it is brought on by spending too much time with technology. There are so many more reasons as well.
The issue I think we're running into is it is starting to be romanticized a little bit. That somehow if you have these issues you're unique. Ask anyone who has dealt with these types of issues for several years, it is not fun. It is not easy. So, get some help. Whatever that means for you, get some help.
Also, realize that just because you're having some down time doesn't necessarily mean you have depression or anxiety. I had a psychologist explain it to me this way, that we aren't looking for happiness, but a healthy range of emotions. If it's a summer morning, and you're going on vacation, you're going to be happy. That's a natural reaction to that situation. But if it's a dreary day in January, and it's a Monday, and you're driving to work in a snow storm, you're not going to be happy. (I have sisters that would disagree with me on that point). All of that is OK. You'll have good days and bad days. You'll have neutral days. All these things are OK. It's a natural part of life. Now, if you're having nothing but bad days for more than 2 weeks, you probably need to go talk to someone and get some help.
This brings me back to my point with the hobbit handbook. If you are feeling lonely or alone, I've got something for you to try. I'm not saying it will fix all your problems, but it may start you on a helpful plan.
Pick someone or some people that you want to get to know better, and have a party. It doesn't need to be an elaborate party, it could be just a small gathering, but do something. Plan it out, and invite them. Pick an obscure holiday and celebrate it. Find out what food they like, and what they like to do, and make them the center of attention. (Please don't go to pinterest for ideas. It's the devils website)
Honestly I'm suggesting you act like a hobbit. Put some effort into making them feel like they are the most important person that day. What you'll find is they will notice it, and a friendship will start to improve. We all need that. We need friends and family around us that love us and want to be around us, but if we're spending so much time being afraid, or spending so much time on our phones, we can't build relationships. The other day we had a party with a lot of different groups of friends that didn't know each other. That's always stressful, because you don't know if they're going to mesh. We had an absolutely amazing time. We had activities planned, but we didn't do any of the activities because the kids wanted to play, and the adults wanted to talk. I was completely OK with that, because the activities were the back up plan. At the end of the night, I realized how lucky I was to have so many good friends, and it brought me a lot of joy.
Now, the idea of planning a party may be too much for you. I get that. So, simply start with one person you would like to get to know better, and invite them for lunch. Pick your favorite place, or their favorite place, or a new place you haven't tried before (I've given many suggestions) and get to know them.
It's about getting out of your comfort zone a little bit. Please understand that I'm not trying to minimize the difficulty that those with depression and anxiety face. What I am saying is there is help, and sometimes it's good for us to push ourselves a little bit. Start small, and do what you feel comfortable with.
My recommendation for this week is to do a dry brine on your turkey this year. I've done a wet brine for years, but stopped when I discovered the dry brine. Trust me. Google Alton Brown Butterflied Turkey for the recipe.
I know this was a long post, but it's been something I've been thinking about for a while, and needed to get it off my chest. Thanks for reading!

I think it's going to be a long, long time

Just realized it's been a while since I've posted anything. Part of that is we're in renewal season for insurance, and it's absolutely insane. BTW if you don't have health insurance, you should really look into it. You'd be surprised if you qualify for a subsidy. If you don't qualify for a subsidy, you'll burst into tears.
I'm really, really digging not being a bishop any more. Don't get me wrong, I loved my time as bishop (most of it) and love the people I was able to work with, but man I dig spending time with my family. One of the biggest issues now is I can't remember what day it is each week. I used to divide my weeks by what meetings I had on any particular night, and now I don't have meetings. I grew a beard, too, which I'm pretty proud of. I keep it pretty trim, and it's not a neck beard. It will never be a neck beard.
Mirinda and Priya are enjoying me not being a bishop any more either. It's really helped my relationship with Priya. She comes to me more now, and we've had some really good bonding moments. I've also been able to take up cooking and baking again, which I love doing.
Now that Priya's English is getting better, I've been showing both of them movies I loved when I was a kid. Last night we watched An American Tail. I forgot how good that movie is. I seriously got teary about yes. Yes, I'm man enough to admit I got teary eyed over a mouse. I think it was more the nostalgia factor of it. We also watched Alvin and the Chipmunks meet the Wolfman. I got teary over that too, but for different reasons.
My ongoing desire for the girls to understand and appreciate music is going well. Mirinda's new favorite song is Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver. For family night we sung it 25 times in a row. She would have kept going, but I explained to her it was midnight, and I had to work in the morning. She reluctantly agreed and we went to bed.
The good news with Priya is it looked like the dye thing worked, and her kidneys should be improving. Hopefully she won't have the reflux anymore, and we can take her off the antibiotic. Next thing to work on is the tendons in her finger. They're going to have to do a cast that she can remove. The idea behind it is to get her finger to straighten out, and then to strengthen the muscle in the finger so it will do what it needs to do. I'm looking forward to that, mostly so she'll stop flipping me the finger.
I'm turning 39 on Friday. That's weird. My last year in my 30's. It's been a pretty sobering decade, but a tremendous amount of good has come out of it. I never thought when I turned 30 that by the end of it we'd have these two little wackos running our lives. It was definitely worth everything it took to get here.
Apparently there's a place in West Jordan that sells both BYU Creamery Ice Cream, and Aggie Ice Cream. I'm pretty excited to go there, because Aggie Ice Cream is by far the superior ice cream, but I know a few strange people who disagree. It's a good place to settle that old argument.
Speaking of food, here's my recommendation for this week: Even Stevens. If you haven't been there, you seriously need to go. They donate sandwiches to non-profits for every sandwich bought. That's cool enough, but every sandwich I've had there is amazing. The Pot Roast Dip is probably my favorite, though the Turkey Day is great, Mihami Vice is fantastic, and The Reuben is amazing too. There's one in Draper, and a couple in Salt Lake. I highly recommend it. The sides are great too.
As always, thanks for reading! I won't take so long to write again. Also, Venom was meh.

One Proud, Proud Father

Last week I wrote about the girls wanting to be Minnie Mouse and Daisy for Halloween. I wasn't super happy about it, but the girls would look cute in anything, so I felt like a could deal with it. There was some talk about me dressing as Mickey, but that wasn't going to happen. So, we went to the Halloween store to look for costumes, and I told the girls we'd try on a lot of different costumes, and they could decide what they wanted to be.
Last year I totally talked Mirinda into being Super Girl, and felt a little bad about it. This year I decided I would be completely neutral with them, and help them pick a lot of costumes they could try on. Mirinda chose a Captain America dress, and Priya chose a Spider Girl dress. All of this without any coaching from Dad. I was so proud! I can't tell you how happy it made me. They're really cute dresses, and they come with masks that are really just big glasses, so you don't worry about them not being able to see. We bought a sparkly shield for Mirinda's, and a wand for Priya's, because apparently Spider Girl has a wand, or they wanted to squeeze five more dollars from us. We were trying to get Priya to say Spider Girl, but she ended up saying Spider Priya. So she's Spider Priya for Halloween.
For a little while I thought they were both going to be Peppa Pig, which I was OK with cause that cartoon isn't one that makes me want to gouge my eyes out, but the head on the costume was so ridiculously big I was surprised they weren't falling over. I was just imagining a emergency room trip on Halloween because of loss of blood from the amount of times they fell over because of this freaking huge head. Like seriously it would be less invasive for me to butcher a pig and have them wear that on their head. That's something to think about just before you go to sleep tonight. No Peppa this year.
Priya is doing really, really well. Her body has healed up, and she's back to her old feisty self. The next thing up is to work on her finger that is bent. They'll need to do a brace for it, and slowly try to get it to straighten and strengthen the muscles. It's all about avoiding surgery, which I dig. She'll have plenty of surgeries down the road.
I'm at a cross roads in my life right now because for the first time since adopting I won't be a bishop any longer. I'm being released on Sunday, and I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it. Part of me is really excited, mostly to spend more time with my family. Part of me is sad because I've enjoyed the interaction with people and being able to help. Part of me is indifferent because I still don't believe it's going to happen. We'll see how things go next week when I don't have anyone calling or texting me.
The girls are excited I won't have to leave as often to go to the church.
OK, here's my rant for the week. When you are driving, one of the purposes of that driving is not to impede traffic in any way. You should focus on merging smoothly into the flow of traffic, and getting out of the way of traffic when you need to go on a different road. So, if you need to turn left, please get into the left lane and then slow down. It drives me absolutely insane when someone starts slamming on their brakes, making the rest of us slam on our brakes, and then move over. Get out of the way and let traffic continue to move normally. Now, there are sometimes when that isn't possible, and I get that. But seriously, every action you take in the car you should be thinking how does this effect the flow of traffic. Get out of the freaking way. End of rant.
Here's my recommendation for the week:
Remember how cool Halloween was when you were a kid? You literally got to pretend to be someone else for a day, and get candy. It has always been my favorite holiday, and probably always will be. Nothing against Christmas, I do love Christmas, but I've always loved that I could dress up as a super hero and no one could hassle me. So, get a costume this year. You don't have to go all out. The easy costumes are a big thing now. I saw some on Thinkgeek.com today. Get a costume, go to a halloween party, take the kids out trick or treating, decorate your house. Just enjoy doing something that you wouldn't normally do. Be a kid again, even if it's just for a day.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to share pictures of your costume or how you decorated your house!

Best Sandwich I've Ever Had, and No Death!

I hope you went to the State Fair. We went twice. It was magical. Not really magical, but it was fun. Watched a kid throw up something bright green. It was like a fire hose. The girls loved it though. We had some pretty good food. The first night we had some Jamaican goat curry, and a pickle corn dog. The goat curry was OK, but the pickle corn dog was so not OK. It's a foot long corn dog. On a stick they put a pickle, and then they put a hot dog, then batter it and overcook it. It was strange. The second trip, however, we had some excellent food. We got some poutine, which if you've never had I highly recommend. It's fries with cheese curds and gravy all over it. It was fantastic. Then I got an oyster po'boy, which is a sandwich with fried oysters on it. I stood in front of the booth that was selling it, and had an internal struggle. On the one hand, I thought, I might die from this. On the other hand, I thought, it does sounds pretty good and I'll I've got in me right now is a half pound of fries, cheese, and gravy, so obviously I need to top that off with possibly deadly fried oysters. Oh boy, did I make the right decision though. It was seriously such a good sandwich, and I didn't die. Win win.
We went the second time for Mirinda's birthday. It's hard to believe she's 5. She got a guitar for her birthday, and loves it. She got to ride some rides, and pop bubbles, and dance to a crappy cover band
Priya's surgery went really well. It's amazing that she had this huge lump on her side, and now it's gone. She rested Friday, but halfway through the day Saturday she was done resting. It's amazing how quickly she has recovered. She was such a trooper. So it was divide and conquer for this weekend. Mirinda loves to be motherly, but she's kind of like a really aggressive mother with a fifth of jack in her. She means well, it's just her mothering is painful. It was my job to keep her occupied. I took her to IKEA, mostly for the meatballs. Then took her to see Incredibles 2. Meh. Really, really meh. Took her shopping, and took her to Lagoon. It was actually a lot of fun to spend some one on one time with her. Priya was sad she couldn't go, but now that she's on the mend we'll go out and do fun stuff.
Priya's new favorite thing is a little mini cooper that runs on batteries. My mom bought it for Mirinda when we first brought her home, but Mirinda has always been terrified of it. Priya, however, loves it and spends hours driving around in a circle. I'm thinking about getting her a shriners hat. I do believe she's trying to kill me though, because each time I'm in the street with her (we live at a dead end) she tries to hit me. She might be going for the life insurance money. Jokes on her though, I don't have any money.
I've always felt like Mirinda is about a year behind developmentally. She hit the terrible two's the week of her third birthday, and now that she's five I think she's hit the frustrated fours. She's got a lot of ideas, but most of them aren't reasonable, or just dangerous, so she's frustrated we won't let her do them. That's one thing I'm realizing about parenting. They change the rules constantly. You have it figured out, then they move into a new phase and the rules change.
Halloween is coming up. Mirinda wants to be Daisy, and Priya wants to be Minnie Mouse. I maintain that they haven't seen the other costumes, and once they do they'll want to be Wonder Woman and Spider Girl. I may end up buying both sets of costumes. Halloween is my favorite holiday after all.
Here's my recommendation for this week. I talked about the peaches a few weeks ago. Produce right now is local, it's cheap, and it's delicious. Go out and buy a bunch of it, and preserve it. Soon enough it will be January and all we'll have is root vegetables. I don't have anything against root vegetables, but it gets old. Yes, you can get fruit in the grocery store, but it's awful. Get out and preserve stuff. You'll be glad you did in February, because winter and misery is coming.
Thanks for reading! My buddy Jim Bob and I are going to be starting a food blog soon, so if you have any place you'd like us to review, let us know and we'll put it on the list! If you say Applebee's or Chili's I'm going to mock you relentlessly.

A Bounce House, a TV, and the State Fair

We moved. It wasn't too bad. I had a lot of people angry with me that we didn't tell them what day we were moving as they would have come to help, which I appreciate. The movers did a fantastic job. I don't think I'll ever move myself again. We hired Helping Hands. They were efficient and did a great job. Mirinda and Priya sat on chairs in the doorway as the movers took stuff downstairs and cheered for them.
Moving is just the worst though. I mean it's still a first world problem, but trying to figure out where to put everything is a pain. We're almost all the way in. The girls have surprisingly adjusted very well. I've been really proud of them. They're playing together a lot now. It's great for both of them to have each other. Mirinda can be pretty high maintenance as she needs constant attention, but she's learning how to be more independent, which is fantastic and horrible at the same time. Fantastic cause she needs to learn that, horrible cause I don't want her to grow up. I want her to be my little girl. Priya is used to being more independent, but she's getting better at learning there are rules in the house. She can't just do whatever she wants to.
Priya's surgery is next week for her hernia and to hopefully fix the issues with her kidneys. The kidney issue is that her urine cycles twice through her kidneys, which causes infections. They have a dye procedure that is 60% effective. I'm hoping that 60% of the time it works every time. This will be the first of many surgeries for this little girl. Hopefully this one is easy on her.
Both Mirinda and Priya started school this week. They both go to an early initiative school. They rode the bus (it's a special one for the kids in this program. We didn't put them on the UTA or anything like that). They both loved it, and Priya didn't cry at all. Mirinda was such a good big sister. They came home and said they learned about trees. Money well spent.
The girls are very happy because on Labor Day I bought a TV. The last time I bought a TV was 2005. I had no idea they sold color TV's now, so I was happy to get one. I was actually hoping the TV I had would get damaged in the move so I had an excuse to buy a new one, and it kind of happened that way. There's a line down the old TV now. That was good enough for me. I went to RC Willey, and they had a deal you could buy a bounce house for $25 if you spent enough. The girls love that thing, though the first time they used it I had to sit by the door to the bounce house because all they wanted to do was get in and get out. Priya isn't big enough to climb in by herself, so I had to lift her in each time so she could immediately slide out. It is a pretty cool bounce house. If I had one as a kid, I would have lived in it.
I had no idea the love for The Good Earth. What did people love about it? The fact that it was incredibly boring? Or had not point?
The whole point of moving into Amy's parents house was so they could go on a mission and we could get out of debt with adoption and medical expenses for Priya. It's a win win. But seriously, we need more roads, and more importantly we need more freeways. It is ridiculous to get around on the west side of the valley. The annoying thing is we keep acting like Salt Lake is a small town still, and that no one comes here. A ton of people come here and will keep coming here, so let's quit talking about the great surplus of budget we have, and start building some freaking roads. At least they're doing the overpass things on Bangerter. They should have done that in the first place. I'm convinced that UDOT is a 6th grade class project, and they're getting a D on it. Only 6th graders would come up with the mess that was on 5400 south and bangerter, which they're now taking out. Actually that's an insult to 6th graders. Quit doing these highways and put in another freaking belt loop. It would improve things so much. End of rant.
Here's my recommendation for this week: Go to the State Fair. It started yesterday. We're going tonight, cause that's the trick to going to the State Fair. If you go next weekend, you're likely to be trampled to death by the amount of people there. If you go the first weekend, it's really pleasant, and the likelihood of being trampled to death decreases quite a bit. Get out there. You can buy a discount on Groupon or at Smith's so you don't have to wait in line. Go and buy something ridiculous at the fair. There are plenty of ridiculous things to buy. Also, if you eat there, please don't get something you can get anywhere else. It drives me insane when I see people getting a hamburger or mexican food at the fair. You can get those things anywhere. Try something new. Be a little more brave. There's one booth that sells frog legs. They're fantastic! Just try something you've never had before, or that you can't get anywhere else.
I appreciate the comments on the blog, fell free to continue to comment. There was a rebuttal on my last entry, but the person didn't put their name on it. The point of reading or listening to a book is to gather the information from the book into your brain in order to understand and comprehend it, so whether you read it or listen to it is irrelevant. If you enjoy reading go for it. If you enjoy listening go for it.
And yes, Ravenclaw is a good house, but Ravenclaw also produced Cho Chang so...
I actually love how JK Rowling took 4 houses and turned it into what she has. I just got done listening to Harry Potter again and she seriously created a masterpiece. It's not without flaws, but those books have had a positive influence on our culture. They got people reading again, which I'm tremendous fan of. Even the house rivalries are good-natured. If you don't know what house you're in, go to Pottermore.com and take the quiz. It's actually pretty fun. Then a wand is selected for you. Mine is a rare one, but I think everyone's wand is a rare one, and you'll know what your patronus is, which is dumb. I think mine was a diseased lemur.
Yes, I'm a geek. Thanks for reading!

Winter Is Coming

I have mixed feelings this time of year. I love football, I love Halloween, I love the State Fair (mostly cause I feel better about myself after going), but man I hate knowing that summer is coming to an end. I don't like back to school time either. My daughters are super excited to be going to preschool again, and all I can think is "You'll learn soon enough". It's not that I don't like learning. I love to learn. I dig finding out about new things. I just don't give a crap about algebra. I've been out of high school for 20 years, and never once have I thought "Man, I just wish I knew how to figure out what A is".
There were also a lot of books we had to read that were classics, but really weren't. The Good Earth is an example. What a waste of a book. I love to read books, I read most days (I listen to them on Audible. Yes, that counts as reading). It's not that I hated school. OK, I hated middle school. I went to Union Middle and I shudder each time I see it. I loved high school though. I went to Hillcrest. I loved it mostly because I was really involved in a lot of things, and I tolerated the actual school work I had to do.
I do like the fall, I just wish winter didn't come after it. If we could skip fall straight to spring, I'd probably really dig it. I just really don't like winter. That's what this rant is all about. Salt Lake in January is a horrible place. This year we will be in Disneyland at the end of January, so I'm pretty stoked about that. It will be Mirinda's second time and Priya's first time. We've been watching walking tours of Disneyland on youtube. That sounds weird, but there is something so soothing about watching someone walk through the park and hearing the music, and pointing out to my girls the different places in the park. I'm not a huge fan of Disney movies, but I do love Disneyland. The girls are way excited to go. We're also going to Universal, mostly for me. I may or may not buy the girls quidditch robes. And of course everything needs to be Gryffindor, because we're a Gryffindor family.
I'm glad my girls are excited to go back to school, and I really try to not take away from their excitement. They should be excited to go and learn things, and I really do want them to learn as much as they can. I think I just dig being out of school because now I can learn about things I want to learn about, not things that I have to learn about.
We've started the moving process. It's not too bad. We had to downsize a lot to move into the apartment. On Monday we started to pack, and I could tell Priya was having a difficult time with it. She was really clingy, and wanted to be held. I couldn't figure out why she was acting that way, until I put myself in her shoes. Many times with adopted kids there's a fear that their caregiver is going to go away, because it happens so often. Mirinda had some major separation anxiety, and still does at times. I picked Priya up, and explained to her that Mommy, Daddy, Mirinda, and Priya were all going to move to a new place, and we'd all be there together. I asked her if she wanted to see her new room, and she was excited about it. It did help the situation. Both of these girls just amaze me. They have had such a hard start to their lives, but you'd never know it. They're happy to be here, and love being with each other.
I get the statement a lot that we're strong to have adopted them or whatever. It is truly the opposite. The choice of adopting these two was a purely selfish decision. We wanted children so badly, tried to have one and lost him, and then decided to adopt. These two girls have brought so much joy to our life I can't quite comprehend it. I guess in the end it was the good kind of selfish decision, but we're the ones that are blessed to have them, not the other way around.
Some of you were curious, we are moving to South Jordan. Amy's parents are going on a mission and we're moving into their basement. It's hard to leave the area we currently live in. We've lived here for nearly 13 years. We love the area, we love the ward, and we love the friends we've made here, but it's a new adventure. Incidentally, we have a leather love seat, tan. If you want it, come and get it. Just don't break in please.
My recommendation for this week is Brigham City peaches. If you've never gone up there to buy peaches, you should. It's an hour drive, and you can go to Maddox while you're up there. Go to Paul's Patch, and get some Elberta peaches. They're absolutely amazing. Buy a box of them, and freeze or can them. This time of year is amazing for local produce. Don't miss out, cause soon enough it will be cold and all that's available are root vegetables.
As always, thanks for reading! And let me know if you want the love seat!

Lost another battle

I really don't like the idea that my little girls are growing up. I'm going to have to reconcile myself on that fact at some point, but not today. That being said, I lost the battle for Priya getting her ears pierced. We went to the Piercing Pagoda in Southtowne mall. Anytime you're going to pay a place to shove sharp metal things into your body, make sure Pagoda is in their name. Those are words to live by. Priya handled it really well. After the first one she knew she didn't want the second one, but she eventually calmed down and the 2nd one went in. The adorable thing was we walked around the mall for a little while, and about every two minutes she stop and point to her ears and say "Daddy, earrings". So despite my protests she was incredibly happy with them.
She really doesn't like to be left out of anything, and I'm really happy she has that kind of attitude. She got mad at me the other day because I lifted her up to put her in bed. She wanted to climb in herself. I think it's the reason why I really don't think of her as disabled in any way. She doesn't let things stop her, and I'm really happy about that.
It has been an incredibly busy week. On Thursday I was at girls camp in Spanish Fork canyon, about 10 miles from the huge wildfire. You can imagine what the air was like. The young women had an amazing time. However, about 6:30 one of the fathers who had come up left to go home, and then came back to tell us that Highway 6 was closed and we were in the pre-evacuation area. I then told them all we were leaving that night, and that was the fastest cleanup I've ever seen. We got done in a half hour. So I learned a valuable lesson that threatening the youth with fire will help them clean up faster. It's almost a week later, and the fire never got to the area we were in, but I could just imagine my picture up on the news as the Bishop that let his young women get caught in a wildfire. We got back to the church about 10 that night. It was quite the adventure.
On Friday we went to the Jordan River Temple to have Mirinda and Priya sealed to us. It was a truly amazing experience. We also sealed my grandma and grandpa Grant to each other, and then my dad and Uncle Craig to grandma and grandpa. The whole experience was amazing.
On Saturday I took Mirinda to Lagoon because Priya wasn't feeling well. Mirinda is a social girl, and needs to have someone ride things with her. I think it's the reason that Mirinda and Priya love each other so much. Mirinda likes to be the leader, and Priya likes to do whatever Mirinda is doing. I realized how much we go to Lagoon, because as we were waiting in line for the swings there was an announcement, and at the end of the announcement it says to have a great day here at Lagoon. Mirinda repeated that part along with the announcer. I keep waiting for them to get sick of going, but I don't think they ever will.
My recommendation for the week is Tony Burger. I'm not sure if I've recommended it before, but if you haven't gone you really need to go. The fries are amazing, the burgers are fantastic, and they honestly have the best raspberry shake in Utah. Yes, it's better than Bear Lake. I like to get the southwest tony and fries with a raspberry shake. Yes, it's a little pricier, but at least you're not eating at Wendy's.
We're moving to South Jordan in a few weeks. We've lived in this same area since 2006, and gone to this ward since 2006, so it's going to be hard to leave. The girls are excited because they're going to sleep in a bunk bed, but I'd wager dollars to donuts that they'll just end up back in our bed. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for reading!

Arguing with a Four Year Old for Fun and Profit

I've decided that trying to convince Mirinda of something she's already decided against is adorable. We were at Lagoon on Pioneer Day, and it was very hot. We'd been there for quite a while, and were ready to go. Mirinda wanted ice cream, but it was all the way back in Pioneer Village. So I explained to her that we would get a treat at the candy store (they have chocolate bars that Mirinda and Priya like to inhale in one bite), and then we'd go home and have ice cream. She insisted that wouldn't work, and that we get ice cream at Lagoon. I spent the next ten minutes explaining to her that she could have 2 treats if we left right now, but only 1 treat if we went to get ice cream. No amount of reasoned argument would dissuade her. We did end up doing what I wanted her to do, and she did get two treats. Seriously though, these girls are adorable even when they're looking at you like you're an idiot.
There have been two different Indian festivals over the past few weeks. One was downtown, and one was at Daybreak. At the downtown one there were like 10 Indians, and the rest were hippies. It was annoying. At the Daybreak there were a lot more Indians, and the rest were yuppies. The food and entertainment was better at the one at Daybreak at least. All the girls want to do is dance. They literally danced for an hour and a half straight at the downtown festival. It meant that mom kept an eye on them, dad went to get food for them, and they danced. There's probably a country song somewhere in there, but I sure don't want to hear it.
Mirinda gave a talk yesterday in primary and she did fantastic. I was so proud of her. The first time she got up to give a talk I was next to her, and I couldn't get her to say anything. She's come so far. I was holding Priya during Mirinda's talk, and she was mesmerized that Mirinda was up there speaking. So when it got done, Priya started walking to the front of the primary room to take her turn speaking. She was fairly upset with us when we told her she couldn't have a turn. Mirinda is definitely the cautious one, and Priya is definitely the daredevil. Mirinda finally is able to jump in the pool on her own, and Priya decided to dive in head first the other day. Luckily we were right there.
Priya is growing so much. She's already grown a few inches. We're trying to get her to 36 inches and Mirinda to 40 inches, so they can both ride more rides at Lagoon. I tried tying them to some neighborhood cats, hoping to get them to stretch, but the cats weren't having it. Maybe I'll try dogs next.
Priya is going to have the hernia and urology surgery in September, so that will be fun. It's definitely time to do it. She's so much healthier than she was, and is starting to put sentences together. It's really fun to see.
Both Mirinda and Priya will be going back to preschool. It's an early initiative school that has helped Mirinda so much. They both needed a backpack, so Mirinda chose Minions, and Priya chose Moana. The only problem is Priya's backpack is about an inch shorter than she is, so I'm not sure if we can put anything in it. She loves that thing though. Both she and Mirinda wore it all day when we bought them, and kept telling us goodbye because they were going to school. They've come together a lot more as sisters, and really enjoy spending time together. Part of it is that Priya will retaliate on Mirinda when Mirinda is being too aggressive. Mirinda isn't used to it. Bit of a wake up call for her, and it means there's less fighting.
I get asked a lot where I go for Indian food. Most people tell me how much they like the Bombay House, and I usually shake my head. There's a few places I go. My recommendation for this week is Pastries and Chaat in Draper. It's on 280 E 12300 S, and I highly recommend it. I judge most Indian places by their biriyani, and  they have the best in the state. They have excellent egg puffs, and a fantastic mango lassi. If you don't know what any of those things are, message me and we'll go. My family is always up for Indian.
Sorry it's been a while since I posted, but thank you for reading! 

Seriously, go to Sweeto Burrito

Alright, I'm putting out a plea for the Sweeto Burrito in Taylorsville. I was there yesterday and I had the Sweeto Burrito, which is their sweet pork burrito. It is seriously so good. The manager came out to ask me how everything was, and I told him it was great. He told me they are struggling at that location. I'm not sure why. There are some good things in that parking lot, like Leatherby's, Penny Ann's and Five Guys, but then there are crappy places like Zaxby's and Cubby's. Make it a goal this week to go to Sweeto Burrito in Taylorsville. You will not be sorry. Seriously. Every burrito I've had is incredible. The other locations are doing fine, and there is no reason that this location shouldn't be doing well too. The service is great, the food is always great! Here's what I recommend: the Sweeto Burrito, the Carne Assassin, the Carnivore, and the Sweet Chili Momma. All are excellent. Not going there would make Santa Clause himself vomit with rage. Not really, but I'm pretty passionate about this place, so please go this week, and go to that location. You won't be sorry!

My little Indian/Scottish Princesses

We went to the Highland Games in Payson this last weekend, and had a really great time. I was happy about the haggis (Priya liked it) and both of them loved the corned beef and cabbage (which is an American dish, but....). Their favorite part of the whole thing was the dancing, and both of them went up on stage to learn how to do an Irish dance, but it was really an opportunity for them to hop around on stage. It was adorable. Then we watched the dance competition, and Mirinda figured this was her chance to get on stage again. Luckily I could stop her before she made it up there. We Scots are an unforgiving lot, and I shudder to think what would have happened. There was a tent that sold some really cute copyrighted material, which I'm pretty sure is illegal. Mirinda wanted a Brave headband, but then I had her convinced to get a Nintendo headband instead. That idea was quickly shot down, and we got the Brave headband. At least we got a Star Wars headband for Priya.
I'm convinced that both of these girls constantly have a concert going on in their heads. They never stop dancing. Mirinda is always singing a song, and it usually turns into a medley of primary songs she knows. Priya doesn't love to sing as much, but she loves to dance.
After leaving there we stopped at the Lehi Country Bakery. If you've never been there, I recommend it. They have square glazed donuts, and I'd venture to say that is the best donut in Utah. While there I had a "I'm a horrible dad" moment. They had both been given a balloon at the Highland games, and wanted to take them home. So I put them in the very back. When we stopped at the bakery I needed to get something out of the back and completely forgot about the balloons, and they took off. Mirinda handled it OK, but wow I never thought I'd feel that guilty about 2 cents worth of balloon.
We're dealing with separation anxiety right now with Priya. She's really attached to mom, and should be. She's getting more attached to me, but even with that she doesn't like to be away from mom for very long. Mirinda was the same way, and still is at times. What I've found that helps is making a list of things we're going to do with them. On Thursday Amy had a Relief Society activity, so I had the girls with me. Priya started bawling when I took her, which is normal. You learn not to let it hurt your feelings. When we got down to the car, Priya was still crying, so I told her about what we were going to do that night. Once she realized we're going to do A, B and C, and then come back and be all together again, she calmed down. I think we forget to do that with kids sometimes. We get so focused on the things that need to be done, that we don't realize they may not understand the plan. If we'll stop and explain what needs to be done, and what we're going to do afterwards, I really do believe it helps. As Dumbledore said, "Youth cannot know how age things and feels, but old men are guilty if they forget what it is to be young". Not that I'm old, but you get what I'm saying.
For my recommendation this week, apart from Lehi Bakery, I want to recommend Dhanya Spices and Groceries. It's at 1098 South Jordan Parkway #109 in South Jordan. It's an Indian grocery store that's next to a sandwich shop. The two guys that run this place are so kind. I try to make Indian food once a week, so I'm in there quite a bit to buy ingredients. They love that Mirinda and Priya are adopted from India, and most of the time when we go in they will give Mirinda and Priya a treat for free. I really want them to succeed, so I recommend stopping by there. The grocery store has a lot of Indian snacks and foods, as well as some fantastic mango juice, and the sandwich shop next door makes an amazing egg puff. An egg puff is half a hard boiled egg, wrapped in a puff pastry with Indian spices mixed in it, and it's probably my favorite snack of all time. I highly recommend both these places. The Saffron Valley a few suites down is a pretty good Indian place too. I recommend the masala dosa, which is kind of like a pancake but savory, and it has potato curry in the middle.
As always, thanks for reading. I'll make sure I update the blog more!

Limited success with the wetsuits

For the last week I've been off to have some family fun time, and it definitely was. We started off going to the Conestoga Ranch in Garden City. I wrote about it last week. It really is a fantastic place. We decided to drive up through Evanston to check out fireworks. A little tip on buying fireworks. When you go into the big firework stores don't tell them you have a budget of $30 or $40 because they'll sneer at you and then go in the back to laugh at you. You'll walk out of there with such low self esteem, you'll need to go to the state fair to make yourself feel better. Or Walmart at 1 am. I'm not going to spend $150 on fire though. I say fire because that's what you're buying. Fire. Colored fire. It's fun, but not $150 fun. I say that knowing full well I've spent $150 on a sword before, but I believe it makes me cooler. Sword beats colored fire.
We got to the camp at about 5:30, and Mirinda was so excited to be in the big tent she felt it was time to put on pajamas and turn in the for the night. I explained to her that we were going to have fun first, and she wasn't interested in fun. Just wanted to be in the tent. I finally convinced her to eat something before she turned in, and we enjoyed a LaBeau's feast. If you haven't been there I highly recommend it, though the best raspberry shakes are at Hometown Drive-in next door. LaBeau's has the better burger though. After dinner we played on the grounds for a while, and then they lit our campfire so we could make smores. After 2 minutes of that, Mirinda had enough and felt the need to go in the tent. She was really fascinated with the idea of sleeping in canvas.
The whole reason we went up there was to celebrate Amy's birthday, and we had a great day. We went to the Pepperidge Farm factory, the cheese factory, and Maddox. Priya was really digging all of it. It made me reflect on the idea that really she's only been here about 3 months. 3 months ago her life was 4 small rooms. Now she's seen all these beautiful things. It makes me remember how extremely blessed we are to live where we live. Both of our daughters are such happy girls, and I'm honestly not sure why we got them. They are two amazing children, and it's so cool to see their personalities grow and interact with each other.
We got back Saturday night, slept at home, and then Sunday morning got up to drive to Loa for Amy's family reunion. Where is Loa? Drive to the end of the earth, and just keep going. You'll find it. It was a good weekend down there though, despite the wildfires. The girls loved playing with their cousins. Mirinda loves to dance, and Priya is discovering that she likes to dance as well. The funny thing is that each time she dances she does the exact same dance. I realized the other day that it was the Fairy Dance from Mirinda's dance recital, as they both watch the video from that 30 times a day. She does 2nd and 3rd position, without even knowing what those are. She is a smart little cookie.
Priya enjoyed her first 4th of July as an American citizen. The look of joy on her face the first time she saw fireworks is something I'll never forget. She loved everything about the holiday.
Update on the wetsuits: The wetsuits came, and we tried them out in the pool at the apartment, which is heated. It meant the girls could swim for about 2 hours, which was really great. We invited some friends to come over (they have 3 boys, and Mirinda really likes that) and had a great time. So with a successful trial run we tried the wetsuits out on the frigid waters of Lagoon-A-Beach. It kind of worked. After 45 minutes Mirinda said she was cold, but I think she was more bored than cold. Priya loved it, but all she wanted to do it stick her face in the foot deep water. We may just stick to splash pads in the future. Less drowning that way. But even after an hour she had enough, so we did rides instead.
The only issue with taking time off is you have to go back to work eventually, and Priya was not at all happy with me yesterday. She wouldn't even look at me until Thursday night. I understand why. Mirinda and I had a date last night. We went to Costco for pizza, the mall for ice cream, miniature golfing, and Smith's. That's a pretty comprehensive list of the things Mirinda loves to do, so it was good to have some one on one time with her.
Recommendation for the week: The Baked Bear. It's in Fashion Place Mall. They do homemade cookies, and make their own ice cream, so they'll make you a ice cream sandwich with your choice of home made cookies. They also do an ice cream sandwich with donuts. The cookies are great, and the ice cream is fantastic. My favorite is the bear bowl, which is a little pie tin with either a brownie or chocolate chip cookie in the bottom, warmed up, and then ice cream on top. Their salted caramel fudge is absolutely incredible. They also sell their day old cookies for $5 a dozen. I highly recommend it!
As always, thanks for reading, and for the comments. If you like this blog, please share it with your friends!

I've become that guy

Yep, I've done it. I've become that guy. I bought my 3 year old and 4 year old wet-suits. What finally made me break down was the other day we were in the pool at the apartment, and the heater must have been broken cause the water was cold (1st world problem). The issue was the girls only lasted about 10 minutes before they were shivering too much to stay in the water. I felt fine (go figure), but I realized that I have two girls without an ounce of body fat, and I wanted them to have fun in the water.
We went to Scheels, and found a kids wet-suit for $75. I didn't buy it, cause I'm that guy, but I'm not really that guy. The benefit to that was Mirinda was able to try it on so we could check sizes. Priya wasn't interested in trying one on, but she will be. She will be.
There's a huge fish tank at Scheels, so Priya started kissing the glass to give the fish a kiss, and Mirinda was terrified that a fish was looking at her.
I've decided it's time for some music education for my daughters, cause I need to fortify and warn them against things like Frozen (let it go). The other day I showed them the video for "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", and though the horror of that video will forever be burned into my mind, it's still a great song and the girls loved it. Mirinda loves to sing it with me. Priya's initial reaction to music is to tell me no. I think it's mostly because she's learned that word and likes the power that it has.
Last night we moved on to Rainbow Connection. We watched it on YouTube, so it became Mirinda cuddling with Mom and singing the song, and Priya doing an interpretive dance. Kermit would be proud. We then moved on to some BNL (Lookin Up and One Week), and they both danced to that. Once they saw how good music could be, I felt they were ready. I had them watch Weird Al's "Tacky", and it was a proud father moment when Priya started to imitate the people on the screen. It was a proud moment until the woman on screen grabbed her chest and Priya did the same thing. I may have to screen those a little more closely, but seriously it was Weird Al.
I'm a huge Weird Al fan, though. I have been since the 80's, and it will never go away. If you ever get the chance to see him in concert, it's well worth it. He puts on an amazing show.
This weekend will be Priya's first time camping. Actually it's pronounced glamping (glamorous camping). It's at Conestoga Ranch in Bear Lake. If you've never been there, it's extremely cool. They have covered wagons and tents, but inside the covered wagon is a king size bed and 2 bunk beds, and inside the tent is a king size bed and two twin beds. The covered wagon is novel, but a pain to walk around in (again, 1st world problem), and the tent is huge. There is a place to rent bikes, they have pavilions, and plenty of stuff to do. There are bathroom and showers, and they're all individual ones. There is a huge tent that has a bathroom attached. It sleeps like 16 people, but it's like $450 a night. It's a cool place for a family reunion, cause each family can rent a covered wagon, and they'll circle the wagons for you. They've got an open air restaurant that is actually really fantastic. We've started doing it for Amy's birthday each year, and it's a lot of fun. So Priya's first attempt at camping is going to be in a king size bed. I figure she had a tough enough start to life, I won't make her rough it.
For my recommendation this week, I'm not going to do a food one, though if you haven't gone to get an I Love Lucy at Fizz what's wrong with you? Instead, my recommendation is a website. It's ThinkGeek.com. If you're into geeky stuff at all, this is the place for you. There's a lot of unique stuff from a ton of different geek genres. They've got it all covered from Harry Potter to Star Wars to Doctor Who and on and on. There clearance section is always worth taking a look at. I got a Death Star and Millennium Falcon kite from there and I love them. It's a really great website if you're looking for a white elephant gift at Christmas time, because of the unique stuff you can get. I definitely recommend taking a look at it.
I'll give everyone an update on how things went camping when we get back. Thanks for reading!

The guilt never really ends

Last week I went to young men's camp in the thriving metropolis of Orderville, Utah. It was actually a really great time, and it's a really pretty area. There's a German bakery there that wasn't bad, though admittedly I don't know a lot about German bakers. I hate German chocolate cake, but that's about it. Had the opportunity to drive through Zions Canyon which I haven't done in a long time, and went to see Solo in Hurricane (we weren't in a hurricane watching Solo, we watched Solo in Hurricane). Also found a Fizz in Hurricane, so I count that as a good day. Update: Jim Bob and I were in charge of the shuttle, so the boys and leaders hiked, and we had 8 hours to kill until they were done with the hike, so went to see Solo. It was ok.
The issue is how upset it made my daughters that I was leaving. Literally I was gone for 1 full day, but it felt like I was getting on the last plane out of Vietnam the way my girls were acting. And I fully understand. I love that they love to be around me, but I don't think I was prepared for the level of guilt that I would feel as a parent when you have to leave your kids for a period of time. Priya burst into tears at the mere mention of me leaving, and any time I talked to her she would start crying. It's hard trying to explain to a three year old that I needed to go, but in the end I came back home. As I drove up to my apartment, I realized that they were out on the deck watching for me as I hear squeals of delight and Mirinda singing "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home" at the top of her lungs. You need to remember times like that when they're throwing an hour long tantrum, or when they're teenagers telling you how horrible you are.
I did bring them a present from my travels, however. They got rocks. Yes, I spent $10 on rocks, but they were cool rocks, and those two love rocks. I probably could have picked up some rocks in the parking lot, but I can just see them sitting in a therapists office years down the line wondering why their dad brought them parking lot rocks as a present from his trip. I felt $10 now was better than thousands of dollars down the road.
After I got home it was a Father's Day celebration which started off by a trip to the carwash. That's the best $7 I've ever spent for their entertainment. It was one of those self service places, and they were giggling the entire time watching me wash the car.
Next we ate our own weight in meat at Tucanos. Priya has really come a long way with what she will and won't eat. When we first got home we were really concerned because she wouldn't eat much, and she definitely wouldn't eat meat. Now she's realized the wonders of meat, though we always have a fruit and veggie to go with it, and she's starting to gain a little bit. I tried to get Mirinda to eat a chicken heart, but she wasn't going for it. Next time, next time.
We had a great Sunday for Father's day. Amy and the girls made me breakfast and they gave me a shirt and a present they made.
Father's day is a good and a bad day for me. I miss my dad a lot. We went to his grave and left flowers, but it does make me sad that he isn't able to spend time with Mirinda and Priya in this life, cause he would have got such a kick out of those two. They would have loved him too. I always like to tell stories to them about Grandpa Bob. He was an incredible man, and he was my best friend.
It's been really nice to have a break in doctor's appointments for Priya. We did that on purpose. Not only did we need a break, but she needed a break, and needed a chance to have fun in the summertime. She absolutely loves the splash pad a Lagoon. She'll put her face right over it, and then laugh as it sprays her in the face. Mirinda tolerates the splash pad, and is more concerned about getting on a ride. If you're at Lagoon on a Saturday, know that we'll probably be there at some point.
My recommendation for the week is Fizz. I absolutely love that place, and that's my treat every Saturday for surviving another week. There are a lot of drink places, but Fizz really is the best because they do mostly real fruit puree's in their drinks. Swig drives me insane because every freaking drink has coconut in it. Coconut doesn't go in every freaking drink. Stop putting the coconut in every freaking drink. That's another reason to like Fizz. They do have coconut in some drinks, but not every freaking drink. If you haven't tried, I definitely recommend it. Here are some of my favorites: If you're a coke or diet coke fan, get an I Love Lucy or and I Love Leia. It's rasperry, cranberry, and cream. (I love Leia adds lime). It is seriously the best tasting drink. If you're a Mountain Dew fan, I recommend Timber, Jar Jar Drinks, or Spider Monkey. All of those are actually good with Diet Mountain Dew, and it works out nicely cause it covers up the taste of Diet Mountain Dew.
Thanks for reading! As always feel free to comment or share this with anyone who might be interested!

My Little Assassins

Thanks for all the feedback on the UTI issue for Priya. I didn't realize it was an issue for a lot of kids. Probably because it's not a fun subject to talk about. We've got her on the antibiotic now, and they're going to try the dye solution first. It sounds like a whole lot of soft science to me, but what do I know. I think comic books have ruined me for a procedure like that. I just keep thinking about the Hulk, which makes me think of Bill Bixby walking away slowly, which makes me sad.
The orphanage was very good at giving Priya the vaccinations she needed, but unfortunately only one of them actually worked, so we're in the process of slowing giving her those vaccinations again. She had two yesterday, but did pretty well with them. She went to the eye doctor, and there's nothing wrong with her eyes, so we're chalking that up as a victory. She's realized that she can make her eyes cross, and she thinks it's hilarious, but it's freaky to be talking to her and suddenly her eyes cross.
Most of our summer activities revolve around water in some way. We have a pool at the apartment we live in, and it's heated, so we love it. Neither of these girls have an ounce of body fat, so if the water is cold at all they freeze. We try to go to Lagoon-a-Beach, but it's about 30 degrees in the water until August 15, and then it's 35 degrees. We actually do love Lagoon-a-Beach, but we have to wait until July. I'm seriously considering buying wet suits for the two of them, but then I'd be the guy that bought wet suits for his 3 and 4 year old. I don't want to be that guy.
One of Mirinda and Priya's favorite things to do in the pool is to have Dad go under the water. Neither of them have figured out how to hold their breath yet, but they're happy to have Dad do it. Last night they found it was even more fun to have Dad go under water, and then to hold his head under the water, and laugh hysterically. I tried to explain the Judaeo/Christian ethic of Thou Shalt Not Kill, but that made them laugh even more. It looks like I'm going to have to start sleeping with one eye open from now on. Mirinda's toenails could gut a fish, despite our best efforts to keep them trim.
One of the things I like to do is buy cereal that I loved from my childhood and let my daughters try them. We're really into Capn Crunch with Crunch Berries (for the vitamins) and Oops All Berries right now. It's fun to see what they like and what they don't like. However, this has made me try cereal I thought was good as a child, and it's really, really not good. Honeycomb is one example. I loved that as a child, but I'd rather eat Styrofoam peanuts. I'd get more fiber from them anyway. It's way, way, way not good. I still have 3/4 of a box in the cupboard. If you want it let me know.
Another one that is so not good is Golden Grahams. It's got a really weird after taste. It tastes like mom burnt the toast, and then accidentally dropped it on the ground, but then gave it to you anyway and told you to eat it. There are others however that I've fallen in love with again. Cocoa Pebbles is an example of that. It's the best chocolate cereal on the market, even better than Cocoa Puffs, though I do love those. Amy likes to buy the no-name brand of cereal sometimes. I can't do it. I work to hard to buy no-name cereal in a bag. We'll go for name brand cereal only. I always remember that day at school when you'd get the packet of free samples, and there was always the malt-o-meal hot cereal packet in there, and you'd think it was so cool cause you'd bring home a free sample, and then you'd eat it and realize why it was free.
That actually brings me to my recommendation for the week. It's not food this week, it's a podcast. It's called Baconsale. You can listen to it on podbash.com or baconsale.com. They have a new episode every Monday, and I wait for it all week. It's 3 guys that are all from Utah. One is a movie critic, one performs at Quick Wits, and the other is the moderator. It's all about pop culture, and there are some extremely random episodes, but they have an amazing chemistry with each other. They've done an episode where they ate everything on the menu at McDonald's (they were so wrong on the Big Mac), everything on the menu at Taco Bell, they've done shows on sound tracks, etiquette, video games, movies, Dr. Who, Mystery Science Theatre 3000, and a ton more. Even if none of those subjects interest you, go check it out because you'll probably find something that does. One of the reasons for going back to childhood cereals is they did a whole show on ranking sugary cereals, and it's one of my favorite episodes. Go to baconsale.com and search for cereal and it will come up. Listen to that one episode and you'll be hooked. As a bonus, I saw Jacob (the moderator) at Sweeto Burrito, and Kent at Lagoon, so they have good taste.
Thanks for the feedback and for the views. If you like what I have to say, please tell your friends about my blog. Also, it's interesting how often I get questions on adoption when we're in public and people see two extremely white people with two Indian girls. If you have any questions about adoption, or know anyone who does, feel free to send them my way. We're extremely passionate about adoption, and how wonderful a process it is, so I'm always happy to talk to anyone who is interested.

Being Cursed at in Marathi

It's been a little while since I wrote anything. I'm not entirely sure I was prepared for having 2 girls, despite a lifetime of being surrounded by women. Yesterday we went to Lagoon with some close friends. We had a wonderful time. They have 3 cute little boys (and a little girl on the way). Mirinda became obsessed with their oldest boy Charlie. Normally when we go to Lagoon she wants to ride every ride with daddy, but not yesterday. Every ride had to be sitting next to Charlie. It was cute and terrifying all at the same time. Now she keeps asking for the boys to come over and go swimming. As things go, Charlie is a good kid and he's got some excellent parents, so it could be worse.

Priya, on the other hand, is cursing at me in Marathi. I'm convinced of it. Her English is really improving, and she's putting more sentences together, but sometimes she'll just start to say a lot of things that no one understands, and I think it's that she's cursing at me. If I can find a way to prove it, there will be no college for her. Unless she teaches me how to curse in Marathi as well.

Priya met with a Urologist a few days ago. She's got a condition where her urine is basically cycling through her system twice. Because of this, she'll get kidney and bladder infections quite often. They're putting her on a low dose of antibiotic to help treat any infections, and we're looking at the different options available. One is this dye that's about 65% effective, and another is surgery that's 95% effective. Her poor little body has gone through so much it's hard to want to put her through more, but it has to be fixed.

The day of the urologist was interesting, because she had like 5 doctor appointments that day. Mirinda stayed with my in-laws all day for obvious reasons, but all day long Priya kept asking where Mirinda was. They really are starting to enjoy being together, and developing a strong sister relationship. It's fantastic to watch. I'm sure they'll try to kill each other at several points in their lives, but for right now they think each other is really cool, and I'll take it.

Priya went on the tilt-a-whirl at Lagoon for the first time yesterday and absolutely loved it! It was me, Priya, Mirinda, and of course Charlie. If there was an Olympic sport for seeing how fast a tilt-a-whirl could go, I would have the gold medal. I would wear that gold medal proudly as I finished off a box of donuts. I finally had to hold on to Priya because she's so tiny and I was afraid she was going to whip out of there. Centrifugal force is a cruel mistress.

For my recommendation this week, I recommend Fat Jack's burgers. It's on 200 S. and West Temple, and it's absolutely amazing. I had the peanut butter and jelly burger (just try it). The fries were amazing. They have a Mormon burger that has funeral potatoes on it. Everything was really fantastic.

If you have any feedback, or any questions, feel free to comment. Thanks for reading!

Woohoo Four Day Weekend!

I took a couple of days off for the Memorial Day weekend, and spent it mainly with my family, which I enjoyed tremendously.
It's amazing to me to see what children are fascinated in. Every time I get a haircut my daughter Mirinda is so interested in where my hair went. She's not making a bald joke. On Friday I needed to get my haircut, so I took her with me and she stood by me the whole time watching them cut my hair with a look of fascination on her face. She's asked me a few times since then where my hair went, but now I can remind her that she saw it being cut off, which is a must easier explanation then they through my hair in the garbage.
I really do dig having kids. I'd love to get back to the point where the smallest thing can make me happy. On Saturday, for instance, we woke up in the morning, ate some Captain Crunch with Crunchberries, went to a birthday party, went swimming, then went to Lagoon. It was an incredibly full day of fun. However, for Mirinda and Priya their favorite part of the day was after Lagoon when we went to the Smith's that has the "baby car carts", which are mini shopping carts that they can push around. Both of them made it very clear that walking around a store pushing a shopping cart was the best thing that possibly could have happened to them that day. Frustrating and adorable at the same time. Which pretty much sums up parenthood.
We made an executive decision on Saturday about Priya's hand. We got a lot of tips about the DryPro cast thing (not a sponsor) and we bought one. It would have worked perfectly except most sandwich bags are longer than Priya's arm, so she could have used this as a sleeping bag. We tried wrapping her arm up in a bag with some medical tape, and it didn't work. Priya had already removed the cast a few times that day, and now it was wet. We decided to take it off and wait until the fall to fix her finger. With all the different appointments she has still to go through, we figured we were OK to wait a few months. Her finger isn't broken or anything like that, we're just trying to straighten it out. Most of our activities in the summer time revolve around the water. I think we made the right decision. There are so many doctor appointments coming up for this kid. She's meeting with a geneticist soon, an eye doctor, and I think there's an appointment with a witch doctor at some point. 
Priya is starting to put sentences together. Yesterday we were at City Creek and she saw the fish swimming and said "Look there's fish". Considering 2 months ago she had only spoken Murathi this is a huge accomplishment. She also discovered that she really likes it when I toss her in the air. My arms aren't very happy with me.
Anyone who know me knows that I'm passionate about food, so here is my restaurant recommendation for the week: Sweeto Burrito. I've been preaching the good word about this place, and will continue to do so. I've had almost everything on the menu over the last few months, and it is all amazing. It is better than ANYTHING at Cafe Rio. I know it's heresy to say that in Utah, but trust me, it is really that good. If nothing else, just try their sweet pork burrito, called the Sweeto Burrito. You'll be hooked. They have street tacos and salads as well. The kids menu has everything at $2.
If anyone has any questions about adoption, or really anything related to what I write about, feel free to message me. I'm always happy to answer questions. Thanks for reading!

Seriously, you're doing a blog?

Most people that no me would never think that I'd do a blog. Honestly, I think as a people we've become extremely self involved, and social media has a tremendous amount to do with it. With that attitude, why would I start a blog?
A few months ago I spent some time in India taking care of the endless red tape so we could adopt our 2nd daughter, Priya. While there, I wrote to my family and to a closed Facebook page about the experience. Each day I would write about what had been done that day, and I found that I really enjoyed the creative outlet it gave me, whether anyone read what I wrote or not. So, that's why I'm doing this. I'm hoping this will make people laugh, and have a different perspective on life, but if it doesn't at least I'll amuse myself. (Which is self involved, I realize that. But it's a humorous self involvement, so I beg you to forgive me.)
Why did I choose surrounded by many, many women as a title? Because that's been the theme for my life. I have 5 sisters and a mom, and for a time in my life my dad wasn't living in the home with us. I love my mom and my sisters, but we're all actors, and hence a lot of my childhood and teen years were spent trying to figure out who was crying and why. It's nothing against actors, but yes, they tend to be on the dramatic side. Now I've got a wife and 2 daughters. My daughters have wonderfully strong personalities which makes things a lot of fun, but as you may have guessed, I spend a lot of my time figuring out who is crying and why.
I hope to update this blog most days, and write about the things I'm passionate about. Adoption, my family, cooking, food, and I'll try to slip in lore of The Lord of the Rings as often as I can. If you ever want to spend the best 12 hours of your life, come and watch The Lord of the Rings extended editions with me. Just understand that it takes 12 hours to watch them, but about 4 more hours are added with my commentary, which I find fascinating and my wife has learned to tolerate. But don't ask me to watch The Hobbit trilogy cause it's garbage.
I'm also hoping to start a segment with my best friend Jim Bob (yes, that's his name). We want to visit all the burger places in Utah that we can and give them our review. Local places only, no chains. Unless the McRib comes back to Utah, and then that's all I'll eat for a month.
Some people may not know much about me. My wife and I have been married for a little more than 15 years. We had a son about 5 years ago, but he was stillborn. After a year of grieving we decided to adopt, and about a year later we adopted Mirinda from Mumbai (Bombay), India. We named her Mirinda after the greatest orange soda in the world named Mirinda. I hope she's ok with this knowledge as she gets older. I really thought about naming her Fanta, but didn't want to pay the therapy bills. That kid is the light of my life, and I can't imagine things without her. After a few years we realized that she needed a sister of the same race, and a few months ago we adopted Priya from Nagpur, India. It's amazing how quickly she has integrated into our family, and how much of a fighter that kid is.
We chose to adopt from India because I served my LDS mission in the India Bangalore Mission. I fell in love with the country and the people, so really it was not a hard decision to adopt from there when we decided to adopt.
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. I'll keep it up.