Top 10's from Missionary Cody

A big highlight on Christmas Day was receiving a Skype-without-picture call from our missionary in Costa Rica. His emails have been about two sentences long (one sentence of which usually a movie quote), so we learned some things about his life these days:
1. He's doing ok! (Translation: He still knows how to laugh! He can still do "Edna Mode" from The Incredibles!)
2. He's walking lots of miles (has seen sloths and toucans) in and around in a small northern village called Pital, near Nicaragua, with many pineapple fields (so the workers carry machetes, and the local pineapple and juices are delicious).
3. In his lxuury two-person apartment, there is running water. However, it often stops, so they keep numerous bottles of water filled . There is no hot water and not much need for it (did someone mention heat and humidity?)
4. Forty people come to church, meeting in one-half of a house. No piano or organ, just a cappella singing ("I fit right in. They're all as tone deaf as I am!")
5. A ward member does their laundry. So spoiled, but it does take five days (the lady has a washing machine but then hangs things to dry, and since it rains just about every day, the "drying" is long and perhaps a bit exaggerated).
6. Ward members are very nice and cook for them. Also, when people have them over for a lesson, they often serve food. Rice and beans are served at every meal.
7. They are teaching many lessons. New to Spanish at full speed, Cody says starts with explaining he doesn't understand much. Usually speakers slow down for a few words and then quickly speed up again, so he feels lost.
8. He likes his companion, Elder Pons from Uruguay who joined our church with some of his family members seven years ago, who speaks little English and teaches Cody not to use "Mexican Spanish."
9. He receives mail only when he goes to San Jose for monthly conferences, a four-hour bus ride away (last time they went, they saw a diesel overturned on the "luxury" highway).
10. In San Jose, he saw "things like McDonald's and Burger King," and "bought a big jar of peanut butter."
(So far he had only received three Christmas cards, so I was glad I sent packages to Provo which he carried with him. He should have a bunch of helpful Christmas messages waiting for his next trip to the big city. Thanks to all his supporters!)

Top 10 Annoyances of Christmas

In keeping with the spirit of Scrooge, not everything about the month of December is easy breezy . . .
1. Cold
2. The whole-season-rushed feeling (simultaneously trying to fit in house cleaning, laundry, bills, kids activities and so on)
3. Forgetting someone or something! Arggh!
4. Made-for-tv holiday movies. (Did Dave wake from his coma in  time to propose marriage at exactly midnight on Christmas Eve?)
5. The results of eating all the Christmas treats.
6. Crowds and long lines.
7. How fast the present frenzy goes by on Christmas morning. It's fun but puts a month or so of work away in less than an hour.
8. This year, having two children away on Christmas :(
9. Full parking lots (in the cold :)
10. $$$

Top 10 Bests of Christmas

Well, it's that time again, and this year these are my favorites:
1. Celebrating the birth (and life, and atonement) of the Lord Jesus Christ. Taking time to stop and think about the miracles is truly the joy of Christmas. Seeing "The Forgotten Carols" and going to the temple provided these best celebration moments this season.
2. Spending time with family and friends. At our neighborhood parties we actually see the people we live near :) On Christmas Eve, we read (and act out: the kids all vying for the parts of the animals) the Christmas story from Luke and sing "The 12 Days of Christmas" with Parry actions.
3. Helping Santa Claus. His elves have all the fun.
4. Driving around and seeing beautiful lights and decorations.
5. Listening to Christmas music, even schmaltzy tunes up to a point (and then I turn the radio station).
6. Watching Christmas favorites like "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "A Christmas Story"
7. Eating Christmas treats. It never stops! Nielsons' Danish cakes, Arnolds' cake balls and chocolate-covered popcorn, Hunts' seven-layer bars, cupcakes from our neighborhood "Elf," sugar cookies we decorate, and white chocolate peppermint m&ms . . .
8. Eating a traditional Christmas turkey dinner with all the trimmings. We always skip this one on Thanksgiving, so we get it in on Christmas Eve.
9. Receiving Christmas cards and decorating our fridge with family and friends.
10. Watching kids on Christmas morning (they wake us up at 6 am, line up smallest to tallest, then charge to the tree and an unwrapping frenzy).

Top 10 Firsts of 2012

Firsts big and small in 2012 :)

1. Visiting the Holy Land. From olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane (above) to Galilee, Bethlehem, Golgotha, Temple Hill and the Wailing Wall, the BYU Jerusalem Center, the Dead Sea, Masada, and working archaelogical sites.  An amazing trip to change your perspective.

2. Visiting the Pyramids of Egypt (even the lit-up night show)! Cool! But I never want to drive in Cairo (buses, cars, trucks, donkeys making a three-land highway into seven lanes).

3. Seeing Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew in the reconstructed Globe Theater on the Thames. Awesome for an old English major (and my husband even laughed).

4. Sending off our oldest son on a two-year church mission (that one is full of emotion).

5. Becoming a yogi (not really, but attending yoga class semi-regularly).

6. Memorizing The Living Christ in French (though I'm not sure why, maybe just to see if I remember any of the plus belle langue du monde).

7. Watching two kids play college sports (BYU-Hawaii softball and UVU Rugby).

8. Watching all four sons play together in a year-end rugby game.

9. Making the St. George Marathon 10-year club.

10. In Crossfit, lots of firsts . . . bar muscle ups, 99 double unders, and other painful activities.

Top 10 Christmas Songs

'Tis the Season, and the radio is blaring, so here's a list of MY favorite Christmas songs:
1. "O Holy Night" (so beautiful)
2. "Silent Night" (so reverent)
3. "The Christmas Song" (young and old)
4. "Home for the Holidays" (The Carpenters, baby)
5. (For my husband): "The 12 Days of Christmas" (I do like the multi-musical stylings of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir version. However, I also like "The 12 Days After Christmas" and "The 12 Pains of Christmas.")
6. "Joy to the World" (nice and loud)
7. "Do You Hear What I Hear" (symbolic)
8. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (nostalgic)
9. (tie) "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and Madonna's "Santa Baby"
10. "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (which we sang every Christmas Eve at our neighborhood caroling party, right down to the never-tried "figgy pudding").
Have a musical Season!

Top 10 Reasons to Run Disney

My sister Jody and I had a great time going "Goofy" (running both the Disney World Half Marathon and Marathon) in 2011, and we decided to return for more fun this January (though my husband calls this idea "punishing yourself in the 'Happiest Place on Earth'"). This year I am running only the Half Marathon, but even that requires a bit of motivation, so . . .
1. You get a trip to Disney World during non-peak traffic. No long lines!
2. Disney organizes like only Disney can. 29,000 runners ride the Monorail to a smooth start and receive great support throughout.
3. Fireworks open the run (never happens to me on training runs).
4. Running Disney makes you feel like a kid. Seriously, there were so many runners as Disney Princesses, Mickeys and Minnies, Peter Pans and Tinkerbells, and even Mr. Incredibles that Jody was prompted to say: "I never knew there were so many Disney fans [crazy people]!"
4. Blaring trumpets welcome you to and through Cinderella's Castle.
5. Candy at water stops. Sweet!
6. You can take photographs with your favorite characters right in the race. Pull out your camera, get in line, and pretend that you aren't resting. (By the way, I'm sure Captain Jack Sparrow was cheering especially for ME).
7. You get cheers and waves from Disney Cast Members, who are even enthused at 6 a.m.
8. A gospel choir in flowing robes pushes you to the finish with some loud "Allelujahs!" Amen!
9. The finish line committee includes Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy.
10. You get cool Disney medals and then get to enjoy the rest of your vacation.

Top 10--Thanksgiving in Kauai

It's a hard job to narrow down the best things about Thanksgiving in Hawaii, but I'll do my best . . .
1. Unrestricted fun time with an awesome family. Big waves! Few fights! (though I missed missionary Cody)
2. The pool area at the Grand Hyatt. Heaven = palm trees, gorgeous flowers, waterfalls, a lagoon pool and a regular pool, a book, a hammock, and a smoothie :)
3. Yummy Thanksgiving dinner without three days of cooking (not that I would anyway, but still)
4. Hula pie at Keoki's or ice cream at Merriman's. Ok, both.
5. The start of winter season with 80 degree temperatures and light trade winds
6. The first hour of paddle boarding (until we went against the seemingly light trade winds)
7. Watching my kids and nieces on the water slides
8. Schooling everyone at pool volleyball (all 4'11" of me; luckily I played by my 6'5" son-in-law)
9. Sunsets a la hot tubs and soft sand beaches
10. This one is definitely behind the other activities: The "Get Dirty on Kauai" ATV Tour. Do people actually like mud spraying all over them? Do most drivers see over the steering wheel? Does it help to brake with both feet? (Don't worry; there is an unattached emergency brake.) Is this inland spot good for whale watching? Did a frog just jump on Ashley's leg?
Hope everyone had such a memorable Thanksgiving 2012 as we enjoyed :)

Top 10 Islands

It's cold, cloudy, and rainy here today, which makes it a nice time to think about island vacations. This is a tough category and demands MUCH more research, but we've been blessed to stay and play on many wonderful islands. My work-in-progress favs:
1. Bora Bora, Tahiti (most beautiful, most you-name-it)
2. Kauai, Hawaii (small town feel)
3. Santorini, Greece (the view!)
4. (doing a tie)The Big Island, Maui, and Oahu, Hawaii (different highlights of each, and still in the U.S.)
5. Castaway Cay, Bahamas (done up Disney style)
7. St. Barth's, French West Indies
8. Malolo, Fiji
9. Moorea, Tahiti
10. (ummm, hard to choose, so cheating with the numbers) Capri, Italy; Mykonos, Greece; and lots of small Caribbean ones like St. Johns, U.S.V.I.; Paradise Island, Bahamas; Grand Cayman, and Aruba.
Happy Islanding :)

Top 10s--Autumn

1. This autumn: our daughter Ashley was accepted to P.A. school today! Wa hoo! She and her husband will be moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico in January (and that's just a fun city to spell)! Congrats Ashley! Awesome news!
2. The St. George Marathon, the first Saturday in October
3. General Conference (a feast of gospel learning right in our home--pajama Sunday!)
4. Cool temperatures (St. George has some wicked summer temperatures, sometimes a fun 110 or 115 degrees)
5. Bright blue sky and yellow leaves
6. Thanksgiving (best when we skip town and avoid cooking--ok, practically every year)
7. Watching four boys play football. They're small but fierce :)
8. Turning on the fireplace and wrapping up in soft blankets
9. Big movie releases around Thanksgiving
10. Seeing kids dressed up on Halloween (when my kids were small the costumes could last for all of November . . . or even all year a la Connor as Steve Young and Wyatt as the Red Power Ranger )

Top 10 Sports Movies

Ok, most sports movies are cheesy, but they are still motivating and fun to watch. I biked through Remember the Titans in the cardio cinema at Gold's Gym today, so I got to thinking. Note that I include NONE with animals playing human sports like Air Bud and its countless sequels (which my animal-obsessed children insisted on watching hundreds of times):
1. Chariots of Fire
2. Run, Fatboy, Run (ah, the British humor)
3. Field of Dreams (nods also to Bull Durham, Fever Pitch, and A League of Their Own)
4. Miracle (the outfits, the haircuts, the accents, the gold medals!)
5. The Blind Side
6. Secretariat (I like Seabiscuit too)
7. The Sandlot
8. Rocky
9. (tie) Invincible, Remember the Titans
10. Stick It (super cheesy, but the gymnastic workout scenes rock).

Top 10 Desserts

After years of exhaustive research (I often skip the entree in a restaurant to get right to the good stuff), I'm choosing some of my favorite desserts. Although I have eaten in some super fancy restaurants in Monaco and France (gourmet three-hour dinners which cost the equivalent of a mortgage payment), those desserts don't stand out in my mind like their much-larger, much-more fattening, good old American counterparts. . . .
1. Chilis Molten Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream
2. Winger's Asphalt Pie
3. Hot chocolate chip cookie sundaes
4. Iceberg's "Mini" Shakes (nothing mini about them), especially Oreo
5. Chocolate croissants from Grandma Tobler's (a local) Bakery (hands-down winners over Parisian ones with only a miniscule piping of chocolate inside)
6. Chocolate mousse pie
7. Baked Alaska
8. Italian gelato (yes, it's European, and yes, it's wonderful)
9. Christmastime sugar cookies, and, most memorable,
10. Cookies from my own grandma, homemade and handmade every Wednesday, especially snickerdoodles and and soft chocolate chip :)

Top 10s of My Mom

In honor of my mom's birthday, I decided to list some of her bests:
1. She is always the fun mom (now fun grandma).  I actually came home sometimes and my high school friends would be visiting my mom (treats, ping pong, singing and dancing late at night . . .)
2. She is the best supporter of all our activities. She has sat through countless gymnastic meets, hiked up snowy mountains to watch ten seconds of ski races, and cheered on our kids in rainy/windy/snowy/110 degree sunny football, rugby, baseball, soccer, and softball games. And she's still going strong!
3. She finds good in people right when it would be easy to say something critical about them.
4. She took care of us kids while my dad served in Vietnam and through his long medical training (including TWO residency programs).
5. She took us on great trips: Lake Powell, Laguna Beach, DisneyWorld, and Hawaii to name a few. I'm not including pine nut hunting and geode hunting though (trips when I was banned from reading in the camper to "go out and have fun!")
6. She and my dad drove across the country quite a few times helping us move, helping us with new babies, even helping potty train :)
7. She shares her Utah Jazz season tickets!!! (But we don't want her U of U football tickets. Go BYU!)
8. She organized awesome birthday parties, Christmas Eve neighborhood caroling parties, New Years Eve parties, wedding showers, and Halloween haunted houses, to  name a few. She did make me wear a parka underneath an ant costume once though, and to be an "authentic" scarecrow I had a yardstick through my arms and itchy straw everywhere . . .
9. She and my grandma hiked up a ski hill and prepared Thanksgiving Dinner at the Brighton Cabin every year while the rest of us just skied and then ate, and
10. She lives the two great commandments. Just ask her neighbors.

Top 10 Embarrassing Church Moments

Today  is Sunday, and recently our family has only provided me with slightly embarrassing moments at church, like looking over to see four sleeping boys, changing seats to get myself in between fighting boys, or hearing stories of brothers farting in Cody's mission farewell address.  But when the children were small (and my husband was often gone because of medical school, residency, and being on call) we had a host of embarrassments during church meetings. I thought I'd record some (though hopefully the actual worst moments are blocked from my memory):
1.  During the quiet sacrament service, Wyatt yelling out, "I HATE JOSEPH SMITH!"
2.  Connor, noticing we were sitting in the back underneath a basketball hoop, tried to shoot a basket with a bag full of  Cheerios, which caused a beautiful rainfall of "O"s over several families,
3.  Ashley, noticing that her mom's eyes were closed during a prayer, ran full speed trying to get to the pulpit (then mom chasing after her).
4.  Ditto for Cody, but he outran his mom and ended up sitting on the Bishop's lap during the sacrament service. Mom learned not to close her eyes again for a few years.
5.  Again during the sacrament, Wyatt donning a ski mask, putting out three fingers a la Spiderman, and yelling, "Go Web, Go!"
6.  Dylan making his way to the light switch and expertly causing instant darkness,
7.  During a late entrance one week, mom turning around to see Connor marching in wearing a swim mask and snorkel, but hopefully not fins,
8.  Cody hitting mom on the head with a Tonka Truck,
9.  Lots of good ones during the Primary Sacrament Meetings . . . most recently watching dad and three older brothers making faces at lone-Primary-age Wyatt on the stand, and am amusing one of
10. Three-year-old Ashley making her way directly in front of the microphone to belt out in an unintended solo the entire song of the Books of the Old Testament :)

Top 10s, Crossfit

Years ago, my husband and I were driving to see his family in Florida. He mentioned some color, and I mentioned that one was my fifth least favorite. He said, "No one has a fifth least favorite color!" Well, he is obviously not list-obsessed like any normal OCD person who memorized The Book of Lists in fifth grade. So, in keeping with my reactions, ("Of course everyone has a fifth least favorite color/book/restaurant/city/movie/ _____!") I decided to go with my own Top 10 Lists for Life. Today I went to Crossfit Dixie and then to a spin class at Gold's (non-running things I can do while rehabbing an injured left Achilles tendon), so I thought of Top 10 Reasons I do Crossfit:

1. The workouts are so varied that every day is a bit of a surprise.
2. Beginning at Crossfit reminded me of gymnastic workouts from eons ago, except that
3. At Crossfit swinging pullups are allowed! (In gymnastics those were cheating!) Ha!
4. The workouts are intense. In 20 minutes (sometimes 10) I can be flat-out exhausted.
5. The trainers and other Crossfitters are fun, enthused, and encouraging.
6. It's a place where strong is a good thing ("Strong is the new Skinny" on a Crossfit t-shirt :).
7. There are mini-goals and new skills or levels of skills to work on every day.
8. The Crossfit mindset is that "quitting is not an option."
9. We do "team" workouts most Saturdays (built-in cheering, and built-in rests), and
10. The stiffness goes away (eventually).

November 2012

2:00 am and can't sleep, so I'm checking out the computer . . .
We've been busy and are moving on day by day. October 3rd we took our son Cody to the Missionary Training Center to send him on an L.D.S. (church)  mission Costa Rica. Well, that was an emotional time. He'll be gone for two years. No cell phones even! Sometimes it's hard to enjoy the stages of small kids with tantrums, diapers, and so on, but it turns out the "old moms" were right. They do grow up too fast! Two of our kids are already grown and gone. Amazing.
Well, Cody was supposed to be "set apart" (begin his mission) the evening of October 2, but his dad sent a message from the operating room that he'd be working late (got home after midnight), so our Stake President graciously offered to set Cody apart early the next morning. That meant Cody and his brothers got in one final Star Wars viewing, and Cody and I got in one more run together, quoting Run Fatboy Run most of the way :). The setting apart was spiritual and insightful, with President Frei promising Cody he'll be a successful missionary if he loves the people and is obedient.
We drove 300 miles to Provo (during which everyone slept except the driver, moi), ate lunch, and experienced a much-too-quick good-bye. The mission will be a great serving and learning experience, but it was an isolating feeling. At least Connor, Dylan, and Wyatt got to enjoy choosing prizes at the BYU Bookstore and then watched movies during the drive back home.
October 6th, my sister Jody, son Wyatt (12), and I ran the St. George Marathon. Worries this year were 1. Wyatt's only "long run" training was running the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon, 2. My achilles tendonitis (have been mostly water running this past month), 3. Jody's bursitis, pain radiating down the leg. Yeah baby! We were totally ready! Well, it turned out a good day; we all finished and were happy. We had a bit of tail wind, the temperature was about 10 degrees cooler than the past two HOT years, and the pain wasn't so bad. We stayed together for about 17 miles. Wyatt wowed us all with an extraordinary finishing kick (turned around about mile 20, saw his very old mother, determined there was no way she would beat him, and finished at a 7 minute mile pace)! Apparently his 12-year-old legs didn't need long runs! He finished in 4:12 and placed 3rd in 14 and under. His talk went from "just one time," and "I'm only doing this to check it off my lifetime bucket list," to (one day later), "Next year I'll train!" and "I'm going to do an Ironman!" I made the Ten Year Club (a t-shirt and an annual spaghetti dinner, totally worth it! :). The tendonitis has been really bad since, though, and I'm wearing a lovely ankle brace and trying the Celebrex/ibuprofen approach to life.
Other October highlights were getting tickets to see General Conference from about the 8th row in the Conference Center (we especially enjoyed Elder Holland's talk on the Apostles, "Feed My Sheep"), and Ashley coming to babysit her brothers while Scott and I enjoyed a trip to Europe. If we can't see Cody, we might as well not see him from thousands of miles away . . . Our first trip to London, so I made my own London Top 10 List:
1.  Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" in the reconstructed Globe Theater (shocking pre-show and costuming),
2. "Chariots of Fire" at the Sir John Gielgud Theater (nice staging, track, Olympic theme for London's 2012 Olympic year)
3.  The amazing relics and art of The British Museum
4. Windsor Castle
5. The Tower of London (creepy)
6. Westminster Abbey (cool but also creepy? So many gravestones there seemed hardly any room left for God)
7. The London Eye
8. Big Ben/Parliament
9. The Red Bus Tour and Red Phone Booths
10. The Chunnel Train to Paris :)
(Least favorites: bone-in fish and chips, cold, rain, fog, no empty taxis).
We also enjoyed Paris and Zurich, and Scott observed some hip and knee replacement surgeries. Then we finished in gorgeous St. Moritz, good except for a spooked horse and a now-recovering husband.

The Scott and Robyn Parry Family

 Okay, so my awesome daughter Ashley set up a blog for me on Mother's Day, and now it's August, and, well . . . I'm getting around to joining the 21st century with an actual post.  So here's the Parry clan--Connor, Robyn, Cody, Dylan in the "O" (it was part of a "Livestrong" campaign), Wyatt, Scott and Ashley Parry. Ashley is now married to Lyndon Hansen, but we love when she comes home to visit.

The Scott and Robyn Parry Family

We're a crazy and fun bunch, mostly sports-oriented,  for which my husband's occupation as an Orthopaedic Surgeon comes in handy. We all enjoy skiing, waterskiing, hiking, and so on.  This past year we had two college athletes, Ashley in softball and Cody in rugby, with the younger boys in rugby, football, and basketball.  I grew up competing in gymnastics and now enjoy Crossfit and running.  I've finished 10 marathons and with  my sister became "Certifiably Goofy," which means we ran the Walt Disney World Half-Marathon and full Marathon in consecutive days. Goofy, yes, but kind of cool too.

We love the sunny days and red rock scenery in St. George, Utah, but we also love to travel.  Favorite trips of all time include ones to Africa, Europe, and islands just about anywhere. Occasionally we also get our school and home work done, which reminds me of my other favorite activity, reading. I earned two degrees in English at Brigham Young University and taught English for nine years, but have somehow ended up with a math and science family . . . who knew?



Scott and Robyn in Jerusalem at the Garden of Gethsemane

We'll try to add posts about our big family events and keep in touch with family and friends. Bye for now--

Happy Mother's Day!

Dear Mom,

Happy Mother's Day! :) I love you meine mutti! This is now set up for the best mom in the entire world! Thank you for everything you have done for me throughout my entire life! You are my best friend and I love spending lots of time with you! I'm excited to see you in a few weeks and to travel the world with you!

Thank you for being so supportive and helping me get through life! And always making me laugh, quote movies, and even teaching me word games! I enjoyed the mornings when you would sit and do the crossword puzzle and I did my sudoku. Good times!

I hope this blog is something that you will enjoy and can always write down your thoughts and adventures of your life! It will be fun to have! I'll try to help you figure it all out! I'm still trying to get it down myself!

Again, I love you and hope you have a fantastic Mother's Day!!

Love,
favorite daughter in the world
Ashley