Congratulations!

Congrats to the newest daddy in the family and his lovely wife!  I can't believe our little Danny is all grown up... *sniff sniff*

So... when are you posting pictures???

When I'm An Old Lady And Live With My Kids

Several years ago, Mom sent out an email with this poem:


WHEN I'M AN OLD LADY AND LIVE WITH MY KIDS

(workin' my way back to you dear)

When I'm an old lady, I'll live with each kid,

And bring so much happiness... just as they did.

I want to pay back all the joy they've provided,

Returning each deed. Oh, they'll be so excited!

(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

I'll write on the wall with reds, whites and blues,

And bounce on the furniture wearing my shoes.

I'll drink from the carton and then leave it out.

I'll stuff all the toilets and oh, how they'll shout!

(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

When they're on the phone and just out of reach,

I'll get into things like sugar and bleach,

Oh, they'll snap their fingers and then shake their head,

And when that is done I'll hide under the bed!

(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

When they cook dinner and call me to eat,

I'll not eat my green beans or salad or meat.

I'll gag on my okra, spill milk on the table,

And when they get angry I'll run... if I'm able!

(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

I'll sit close to the TV, through the channels I'll click,

I'll cross both my eyes just to see if they stick.

I'll take off my socks and throw one away,

And play in the mud 'til the end of the day!

(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

And later in bed, I'll lay back and sigh,

I'll thank God in prayer and then close my eyes.

My kids will look down with a smile slowly creeping,

And say with a groan. "She's so sweet .... when she's sleeping!"

(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

And now, the response I sent her back:


WHEN MY MOM'S AN OLD LADY AND LIVES WITH ME

By The Old Lady's Daughter (Anita Ervin)

When my mom's an old lady and lives with me,

I'll be sure to ground her and hide the TV,

I'll take away the phone and wonder why

She's sneaking up late to talk to some guy.

(When my mom's an old lady and lives with me.)

I'll make her do dishes every night - just for fun.

I'll make up a chore chart and give her each one.

I'll wait up late until she comes in,

And sleep while she's telling me where she's been.

(When my mom's an old lady and lives with me.)

I'll make her hang fly-paper and laugh when it sticks

To her nose, her hair, and even her lips.

And when she's asleep and the day's almost through,

I'll smile and I'll say, "I owed it to you."

(When my mom's an old lady and lives with me.)

Beautiful Mom

This was taken back in February.

Niel & Julie's Visit

As some of you know, Niel and Julie (with their dog and kids) came up last weekend to help us get our main bathroom renovated. It's been hanging around unfinished since we moved in and has been a great source of stress for me, personally. By extension, that means the whole family has suffered (if mom's not happy, no one's happy, right??)

We are so grateful for their help, and thoroughly enjoyed the visit! Here's a few pictures from our weekend:

The older kids all crashed in one room. This one is of Olivia and Nan, with Wesley in the background.

And Kelsey and Wesley. The girls' beds aren't up yet because we're going to paint them first.

Connor was cute all weekend, as usual. And this is the only picture I have with Mallie in it. And she's blurry. How did that happen??

Uncle Niel took some pictures of the kids posing with Flat Stanley.

And Julie did some great texture on our bathroom walls to help cover up my poor job stripping the wallpaper. In my defense, I was taking some guy's advice that had worked at Lowes. I should know better than to listen to them any more!

Julie was a mad woman with her Drimmel tool. Sparks were flying! This picture is from about 2 am Monday, I think.

And Connor kept getting stuck on the step ladder. Sad, but funny!

Maybe next time we'll actually get to take more pictures!

Happy Conference!

Just wanted to say, "HAPPY CONFERENCE WEEKEND" to all of you! Hope you're having a good one!

Becky's Baby Boy

Hey, all! I just wanted to let you know that my old friend Becky has had her baby! She had him Monday, Sept. 28th at 10:30 p.m. His name is Lucas James, and mom and baby are all doing well.

Dorothy's Business Venture

Dorothy called me the other night very excited about a new opportunity that is coming her way! I'm hoping she'll be able to get online to blog about it herself, but she gave me permission to post about it so that anyone she hasn't talked to yet can get the low-down.

Dorothy has been in contact with a couple of local business owners, and it sounds like they may have hired her to paint some murals in their businesses. One is a pizza place in Laurens and the other is the local (and only) skating rink. This is a huge opportunity for her, and I'm so excited!! At the skating rink would be during a huge mural in the birthday party area, and that one in particular would get her a LOT of exposure. Let's pray that it works out for her! She's so talented, I know we'd all love to be able to see her be able to use her artistic abilities like this.

Shower for Savannah

Last Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, we had a baby shower for Savannah. It was put on by her grandmother Sharon Teem and Darryl's wife Dawn, and was held at Savannah's home in South Congaree. For those who might not know, Savannah, her boyfriend Travis, and Bobbi live there together. There were several guests, mostly family, beautiful decorations, delicious foods, and lots of gifts. Bobbi came late from work, and it was great to see her, too. Savannah will be having a boy in October.
Mom

Surprise!

Well, well, well... I didn't know anyone was still checking this thing!

I have a funny story to tell.

Did you know that oil-based primers and paints do NOT wash out of your hair?? And it's not recommended that you pour paint thinner on your hair, so at the moment I've got some very dark brown hair with white tips where my head hit the wet wall I was priming.

Hi

Hi. I'm hoping to break this long silence. Someone tell me a funny story!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Crews women out there!!

Manama Bahrain Stake

As you know, I believe that in 1971 your dad and I were the first baptisms on Bahrain Island during this dispensation. Now there is a Stake there. According to the March 7 Church News, "What may arguably be one of the most unique stakes in the Church recently completed an equally unique series of stake conference meetings . . . The Manama Bahrain Stake was organized in 1983 by Elder Boyd K. Packer . . In the first official visit to the stake by an apostle (since then), Elder Jeffrey R. Holland recently presided at Manama Bahrain Stake meetings conducted daily in different cities and countries over a 10-day period. . . The stake covers several of the Arabian Gulf States and includes 16 units from the region such as those in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain. (Combining all sessions,) the total attendance was 1,500 for a stake of 1,950 members." This is truly amazing to me!

Crews Fitness Challenge Update

Just so you know, for the last two month's Julie's miles should have counted double!

Where are you guys?!

Well, no one has posted here in a while, so I guess it's my turn. If you are reading this, leave a comment so I know you've been here!

I'm very excited for the reunion this summer! We haven't all been together since Niel came home from his mission, and several of our kids and spouses weren't in the picture yet. We'll either love it and drive each other so crazy we can't stand it any more - I'm voting for the "loving it" part. Three nights together should be just long enough.

Anyone have any exciting things they're planning for us to do together? I'd like to have dinner together every night, and maybe some family fun on Sunday afternoon, but other than that...

3/1/09 Update

Alright, Ladies & Gents - it's time for another update on the Crews Fitness Challenge! I think we can safely assume that no one is going to come close to 800 miles, but that's no reason to stop trying. We'll have to come up with awards of a different sort.


So far, the Tristianators are still in the lead with a whopping 90.0 miles! And Dorothy told me today that she has officially lost her first 10 pounds. See what happens when you exercise like a madwoman?

In second place and close on their heels comes the Swervin' Ervins with 82.7 miles. Not too shabby, and Ben has lost his first 5 pounds. Way to go, sugarlips!

In third place and on a stretch by themselves comes Danny, Jessica & Richard, who really need to get a cool-sounding team name. They went a fabulous 12.5 miles this week, to bring them up to a grand total of 64.5 miles! Not bad for a group that didn't start their trek until less than 3 weeks ago... Way to go, guys.

In 4th place comes another team that needs a snappy name - Mom, Beth, & Gwen. They have inducted a new team member this week - everyone, let's welcome Austin to our challenge! They're going to start stacking up the miles with a 4th person on board, so we'd all better watch out. At the moment they are sitting on top of a fabulous 44.0 miles!

And finally, in 5th and last place comes Crews Control with 33.0 miles. Niel works out every day in the morning, and often rides his bike to and from school, so I think they're not giving themselves enough credit overall. This past week alone they went 12.0 miles - way to go!


You guys are doing a fantastic job! No matter how many miles you've gone so far, I can tell that you are all working hard to incorporate a little more physical activity into your lives, which is the point of all of this in the first place. The weather's been cold and it's hard to get out with our families, but remember that this will only get easier the closer we get to the reunion. Try to set goals for yourselves - we'll have prizes going to things like "most miles achieved in a week" and stuff like that, so don't limit yourself - get moving!

Crews Fitness Challenge Update!

Good evening, all! I thought it would be helpful to everyone to see how our "teams" are doing for the Fitness Challenge counting down to this summer's family reunion. I've gotten information from all the teams except one, and they'll get it to me in the next couple of days. Then we'll post that information, too. Here's the status:

The Tristianators (Dorothy & Tristian) - 72.0 miles

Crews Control (Niel & Julie) - 21.0 miles

The Swervin' Ervins - 65.9 miles

Mom, Gwen & Beth - PENDING

Danny, Jessica & Rich - 52.0 miles


That means that The Tristianators are in the lead with the Swervin' Ervins coming in close!! Crews Control better get their act together...

look what i did!

So today i worked on something in Photoshop. Danny had put Photoshop on my computer when i first got it last year...but i know nothing about it so i never touch it. well today that all changed! we bought some Photoshop tutorials a long time ago so that i could teach myself and today i decided to give one a try, this is how it came out.

Pretty sweet huh??? never thought you would see a square apple did you???
i did this all on my own with help from the tutorial. i am so proud of myself and i wanted to share. now i am off to do some cooking! catch ya'll later:)

Forget Workout Updates

Here I am, finally, to remind you of how Danny Crews diets. Welcome to Delicious! This article is a repost of that on my blog, but was necessary to share with the family. You'll notice my awesome antics listed here throughout.

Tonight, for our Anniversary, my wife and I went to Dinner. There is a restaurant down in Provo called Spark. I've been there several times, but tonight was different. You have to call for reservations for this:

We walked in and stated our reservation. He sat us down, asking simply, "You're here for 'The Tasting', right?"

So began the most magical hour and a half of my day (at least so far). It is my Anniversary, so it's gonna get better. :)

Ok. Let's get down to the Nitty Gritty.

Beverage is very important. Jessica first got the Shirley Temple (sadly not pictured), then switched to the Apple Martini pictured here. (Spark does not sell alcohol)

I opted for a more manly drink, in title and mixture. The Ox Blood

After we got settled, I simply heard from the kitchen, "They're here, and they're ready when you are," at which point the amazement starts.

Pictured here is the Potato Leek Soup. It was a most fantastic soup, with sliced mushrooms and a something-butter (dark splotch, bottom right).

Then came the Shaved Asparagus Salad. We both didn't think we liked asparagus, but the waiter let us know afterwards that the fresh asparagus tastes so much different from what most people have had. What you'll also see there are fried parmesan balls and shaved parmesan on top. This was one of Jessica's favorites!

After this, he took our silverware and brought more.

With the new silver came Fried Crab Cakes. I've never had crab cakes before, and I've got to say, they're pretty tasty. They were laid on a bed of Jicama (hee-kah-mah - Spanish for gross),
with a slice of peeled orange underneath. On top, was a fantastic wasabi sauce. It wasn't spicy, but it was delicious!

Don't eat the jicama, and you'll come away thrilled with this one.

Bye, bye silverware. And hello more silverware.

Ooooooooh! My favorite!!! This is Tataki Beef with Ponzu sauce atop, and a spicy thai sauce above. If you don't know what Tataki is, it is seared briefly, briefly marinated in vinegar, and seasoned with ginger. This one was spicy (thai sauce), but most heavenly. See below.

Sayanara to the silverware yet again.

This one got a bite out of it before I could take a picture. This is the most amazing seafood I have ever eaten! I'm not one for seafood, but this, this was so much more. This, my friends, was Pan-seared Marlin... you know, sailfish? Oh my heavens, this was delicious! No idea what the sauce was, but wow. The Bok Choy to the left was the least exciting, but still tasty, if you really want to eat it. The neat little pillars on the right is Potato Galette. It tastes like mashed potato wrapped in a slightly crispy shell. Eat them whole, rather than trying to cut them. The potato will just squeeze out.

Then, it was time for the intermezzo. We had a Green Apple Sorbet with some sort of red salt with fried, candied lemon zest on top. Even for a palette cleanser, it was yummy. Not very flavorful, obviously, but still good.

As you can see, it came with a baby spoon.

OK, so we had been counting. That's six. After this, should come the dessert, right? It's a seven-course meal. 1 - soup, 2 - salad, 3 - crab cakes, 4 - Tataki Beef, 5 - Marlin, 6 - Sorbet. 7, obviously, would be dessert.

Apparently, the Intermezzo doesn't really count as a course. Just when we were getting full and thinking that we already got our money's worth...

On the bottom, a layer of thinly sliced, fried potatoes. On top of this, Oyster Mushrooms (never had those... TASTY). On this bed of deliciousness, was laid a most wonderful Flat-Iron Steak. Oh my! Surrounding the ensemble, was a red wine demiglaze. SUPER TASTY!!! We loved this one. We were getting so full, however, that we couldn't finish both of ours.

But we came close, but we just had to save room for whatever was coming last....

Goodbye to fork and knife for good. Hello mini spoons!

Crème Brûlée, French for Burnt Cream. This one was pretty good. Top top of these is always a little too "burnt sugar" tasting, but this one was better. The custard below was sort of lemon-vanilla, and was quite good... for Crème brûlée.

At the top, you'll see sliced Passion Fruit, atop an almond cookie. Reminded me of those cookies we used to get for christmas. I don't really like cookies, but this was tasty when mixed altogether. Below, and with it, was a pineapple sorbet on a bed of something cookie-like. It kind of had a graham cracker consistency. This side of the dessert plate tasted best all mixed together on one fork.

And last but not least, the dessert Pièce de résistance

This one gets the biggest picture of all. First of all, anything with a skidmark of chocolate on the bottom has got to be delicious. Then, there was a slightly orange-flavored ice cream. Next to this, two of what I can only describe as fried chocolate cubes. They had a crisp outside, with an ooey, gooey inside. You stab it, it bleeds deep, delicious chocolate. On top (this one is for Cronkhite), a flaky chocolate crisp with candied bacon. I've never even considered candied bacon, but wow.

All in all, I was most impressed. Let's see what Jessica had to say:

Success!!!

Exercise Update

Well, it's good to know we're not in last place! We have only gotten in 2 days of the past 4 with our excercise, but in our defense we've had a winter storm and cancelled school...

Dorothy called me tonight and asked me to let you know that she and Tristian have chosen a name for their team:

THE TRISTIANATORS (Kind of like the "terminators" but cooler)

Also, as of earlier this evening they had gone 16.5 miles, but Dorothy hadn't gotten on the treadmill yet.


As for me and Ben, we now have to come up with a cool team name, but we've gone 12 miles so far. Only 788 left to go!

done for now

well, we finished up our last temple prep class on Tuesday! We are so excited to be getting ready to go to the temple really soon. We are excited to see Mom and Niel and Julie. Mostly I am excited to go get sealed in my dream castle.
We have not really gotten a chance to start up on our exercising challenge yet, but we are excited to see that everyone is working hard, and also excited to start ourselves. we have been so busy with classes and interviews and work and everything else we haven't started yet. don't worry, though, we will get there.
anyways, sorry this post is so short, but we are busy bees and we have to get to an interview with our bishop. we love you and miss all of you!

Exercise Challenge Kick-off!

This is our first annual Walk To South Carolina! Just to recap, here's what we're doing:

Each team will "walk" a total of 800 miles before our reunion this summer. A mile can be earned in a number of ways:

• 1 mile walking or running
• 2 miles biking
• 20 minutes of moderate exercise
• 15 minutes of intense exercise

Does else anyone want to come up with team names? I think it'd be fun! The teams are:

Ben & Anita; Dorothy & Tristian; Mom, Beth & Gwen; Niel & Julie; Danny, Jessica & Rich

Happy exercising! And don't forget to post your progress!!

Winter Weather - South Carolina styel

We have no school today because it is snowing this morning. We are only getting a dusting, but I understand Camden may get 1-3", and Rock Hill 4-6". Downtown Columbia may be getting an inch or so. City offices are closed, USC started 2 hours late, and all schools are closed. Of course the biggest problem is the not snow, it is the icy roads in the country that the school buses have to drive. The TV says with freezing temperatures tonight, we may get "black ice," so, who knows? We might have late start tomorrow. By the way, our temperatures ranged from 20 something last night to 36 today . .

Also, it was 7 degrees Friday night, and the church left the sprinklers on. So when I went to clean the building Saturday morning, I could not resist breaking off an icycle or two and sucking on them . .

Mom

Marriage Counsel

Hello, my dear family. Ben and I are taking the marriage and family relations class at church in our ward. They are offering it on Sunday nights once a month, and this past Sunday was our first! There was some doctrine taught that was new to me, so I wanted to share it with you all. It's from the book, "Strengthening Our Families: An In-Depth Look at the Proclamation on the Family" pages 65-66. Here's the quote:

Family stewardships should be understood in terms of their responsibilities - obligations to one's spouse, not power over one's spouse. Moreover, contrary to scripture and the teachings of latter-day prophets, some have interpreted presiding to mean that after equal counsel, equal consent is not necessary because the presider (or husband) has the right of final say. A noted LDS marriage and family therapist, Carlfred Broderick, reports that he received pointed instruction from President Boyd K. Packer on this matter when he (Broderick) was sustained as a stake president: "When there is a [family] decision to be made that affects everyone, you and your wife will together seek whatever counsel you might need, and together you will prayerfully come to a unified decision. If you ever pull priesthood rank on her you will have failed." On a later occasion, President Packer explained: "In the church there is a distinct line of authority. We serve where called by those who preside over us. In the home it is a partnership with husband and wife equally yoked together, sharing in decisions, always working together."

The stewardship of priesthood does not superimpose a hierarchical relationship over the God-ordained equality between husband and wife. President James E. Faust taught that "every father is to his family a patriarch and every mother a matriarch as coequals in their distinctive parental roles." We emphasize that the patriarchal priesthood is not so called to imply a hierarchy between men and women. Instead, as President Ezra Taft Benson taught, it is called patriarchal because in ancient days it was handed down from faithful father to faithful son, and today frequently still is. President Benson also taught that the patriarchal order is the family order of government, presided over by mothers and fathers. One of the most revolutionary aspects of the restored gospel is its ability to help us envision difference without hierarchy, distinctiveness without inequality. This is what the Proclamation calls upon us to hold as the ideal relationship between husbands and wives.

The instructors for the class further went on to discuss the way the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve reach decisions concerning changes in church policy. I always figured that the Apostles and First Presidency could give recommendations, but that the President of the Church had the final say. Not so. They counsel together until a consensus is reached. They often start out with very different opinions, and things may not be resolved in one meeting, but before it is resolved upon, every member of that body has received confirmation from the Spirit that the action to be taken is what the Lord has determined they should do.


I guess this means I'll have to stop bossing Ben around! (Just kidding!!)

Uncle Tom's Address

Here's the address for Uncle Tom:

Tom & Kanya Crews
1511 Apple Drive
Concord, CA 94518

Also, if you want it, here's Ann's:

Ann Briggs
4535 Manacor Drive
Sacramento, CA 95823


Also, Ann called again last week to tell me that Tim was doing better, and was going home.

A Kelsey Funny

OK, this one is just too good not to share. Yesterday in church while we were singing the sacrament song, Ben nudged me and pointed to Kelsey. She was sitting Indian-style on the pew with her arms out to either side. Her palms were turned up and her fingers pinched together. She was going "ummmm..." Well, if there was ever a good time to meditate...

News from California Crews'

Hey, all! I just wanted to let you know that I got a call from cousin Ann this morning in California. (Note to in-laws: Ann is the daughter of Tom and Kanya Crews in CA). She called to tell me that our cousin, Timothy, is in the hospital with broken ribs and a punctured lung. He apparently got jumped last night on his way to a friends house. He'd doing alright, but we need to remember him and his family in our prayers!

78 degrees and daffodils

Guess how hot it was today and what kind of flower I saw a yard full of on my to church today? Can anyone say JANUARY?

Mom's Visit

Hey, folks! I just wanted to post a few pics of mom's visit. We had such a good time, and miss her already. I told mom today that she has bragging rights - Ben boasts to our friends that he would love to have his mother-in-law live with him and the only way we'd even know she was here was that our laundry would be folded! We love you, Mom!

We went to the OKC zoo on Monday (free admission!) and took the following:

Mom, Olivia, and Kelsey celebrate the Year Of The Frog!
(Note: Kelsey is covering her eyes because "the sun's too bright!")

Olivia was stylin' on some statues of the lions

Kelsey was chillin' on a statue of a gorilla


Then on Mom's last day here, we went outside to get some pictures of Kelsey and Olivia on their scooters. Here's some I took of Mom with the grandkids:

Grandma snuggling with Connor

Grandma with Connor, the girls, and their scooters

Temple Square

I don't have a lot of Christmas pictures to post yet, however I do have some of temple square for now. The pictures from Christmas are on our camera and I am at work, so that makes things a little difficult!

Me and Danny went to Temple Square a few weeks ago, and it was pretty much amazing! we got some pretty good photos with our new camera (most of them Danny took, so all the credit goes to him).

I really am impressed with how the first one came out...although I think that might be my head in the bottom left corner:) ha

The thrid picture is of Me and Danny in front of the giant Christmas tree inside the Joseph Smith Building, and the last one is of Me, Brian, and Addision outside the Conference center.

It was pretty cold outside that day at Temple Square, and somehow I magically got the hiccups and we ended up spending the rest of our time there hunting for a water fountain so I could get a drink of water. When i finally got a drink of water, it did not make my hiccups go away:( !!

Anyways, I wanted to share some photos of us, since I'm like the only one who hasn't posted any pictures yet:)