So Jealous of Jess

Jess, there is a Melting Pot in Portland and I have wanted to go there for nigh on nine years now. It all stems back to this birthday party I went to at the Hackings (many of you know the infamous Ricky Hacking). Well they knew how to throw great parties and this was the the highlight. The entire dining room table was laden with fruits and breads and meats and angel food cake and all manner of wonderful things to eat. We each had our own skewer and there were cheese sauces and chocolate sauces and we fried and dipped and gorged ourselves for the entire night. It was in high school and I can't even imagine what it must have cost to feed twenty some odd teenage kids, especially including me, but oh how that memory has stuck with me. In fact it's probably a little bit disturbing to think of how often I think of that food. Well anyway, before Mike left we did two all day dates. On one of them we went hiking and then we were going into Portland for dinner. We contemplated the Melting Pot but we didn't know anyone that had been and we were ravished and we didn't want to risk the disappointment so alas, we did not go. Macaroni Grill did not disappoint, it was wonderful, but now I just can't help wondering and you've made it worse. I might just have to go there by myself one night. I'm not afraid. Plus, it's all the more for me.

Just to update you on our little family BOM reading. Mike is in Mosiah, probably Helaman by now and I am struggling through 2Nephi. Man, I will be happy to be done with 2Nephi. So will Ellyn and Sadie and Jane for that matter. I felt so guilty on Sunday because the talk that Meagan and Cory didn't get to hear was on keeping your covenants with an emphasis on the promise Pres. Hinkley made if we read the BOM by the end of the year. Pres. Erickson (yes, Darling Darla, your uncle) was telling us not just to trudge through them but to study and ponder and enjoy and I was picturing in my head all of us laying in bed, me reading over the top of Sadie's running commentary, telling Jane I had as little idea of what they were talking about in 2Nephi as she did, moving the book up and down and sideways while Ellyn tries to grab at the pages, until I get so frustrated I say "Okay, we're done for the night. Go to sleep." and turning off the light within five seconds. That is not every night mind you, some nights they are all asleep and I read aloud to their sleeping angelic faces. Those nights are really spiritual.

Okay, that's enough for me now. Chels, I know it is too late to even make it worth a hill of beans but wish Court a late happy birthday for me. I don't have my own calendar up in the kitchen anymore and now I'm slacking. Alicia, just to be on the safe side I am going to wish you a Happy Birthday now and hopefully again on your birthday. I love you all. In fact the love I feel for you positively bloggles the mind! I've been wanting to use that phrase all week!