So cool!

I got a phone call tonight. It was 7 year old Tori. She's been working super hard in 2nd grade on her reading. Well when she called she had BIG news. This is how it played out:

T: Hi Aunt Brooke
B: What's up Tori?!
T: So I have news for you.
B: Oh, that's exciting. Let me have it . . .
T: I went up another reading level today.
B: HOLY COW, SERIOUSLY? ( this response due to the fact that she has been going up, and up, and up)
T: Yep. I don't know how I did it but I did.

So the big news is that Tori is at a 30 reading level. It might not seem like that big of a deal but to a 2nd grader who is now on a 3rd grade reading level, it is HUGE!!!! Way to go sis, we're proud of you! Keep reading!!

Yum!

Okay, so it's always been known that both Katie and Maryn got the cooking genes in the family. I (Brooke) didn't need to learn because being right smack-dab in the middle of them I had no need. They cooked, I enjoyed, and then I usually ended up having to clean up. I must have done something right because in college I had roommates who also liked to cook so I NEVER cooked. Thus, I NEVER learned how to. The past few years I have become more accustomed to the kitchen and actually follow recipes now! Yeah, I'm pretty proud. Tonight was my latest creation. It is a broccoli cheese soup recipe I got from Laura that is DElish. SO YUMMY! Dump it in some bread bowls and wa la . . . dinner is served. The recipe is so good and SO BIG I now have lunch and dinner for the next few days. And they said it couldn't be done . . .

A little Dwight

Last weekend I had the chance to go home and visit mom and dad. One day me and dad were driving in Orem and we stopped at a red light. I happened to look over and I couldn't believe what I saw. Someone had drawn Dwight on the utility box!!! For those who don't know, Dwight Schrute is a main character in the NBC hit TV show THE OFFICE! It is so funny and films like a documentary. The show is made up of about ten unique characters to form a dynamic group of coworkers who experience every day occurrences in an office. Here are only a few quotes by Mr. Dwight himself. They should ring a bell for those weekly viewers . I promise you'll laugh. If you don't, there is something seriously wrong with you!!

*He put my stapler in Jell-O again!

*In the wild, there is no health care. In the wild, health care is, 'Ow, I hurt my leg. I can't run. A lion eats me. I'm dead.' Well, I'm not dead. I'm the lion. You're dead.

*Dwight Schrute: Someone forged medical information, and that's a felony.
Jim Halpert: OK, Whoa, alright 'cause that's a pretty intense accusation. How do you know that they're fake?
Dwight Schrute: [reading from a sheet] Uh, Leprosy, Flesh Eating Bacteria, Hot Dog Fingers, Government Created Killer Nano Robot Infection.

*Dwight Schrute: FIRE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!
Phyllis: You say that every week.
Dwight Schrute: DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!
Oscar: Relax.
Dwight Schrute: HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A BURN VICTIM!?

* [indicating his purple belt] This is not a toy, this is a message to the entire office so that everyone can see I can physically dominate them.

*I come from a long line of fighters. My maternal grandfather was the toughest guy I ever knew. World War Two veteran killed twenty men and spent the rest of the war in an Allied prison camp. My father battled blood pressure and obesity all his life. Different kind of fight.

*Yes I have acted before. I was in a production of "Oklahoma!" in the 7th grade. I played the part of Mutey the Mailman. They had too many kids so they made up roles like that. I was good.

* I think one of the greatest things about modern America is the computerization of medical records. As a volunteer sheriff I can look up anyone's psychiatric records or surgical histories. Yeast infections...there are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from that old bread factory...

*There are several ways to tell if a perp is lying...
The liar will avoid direct eye contact. The liar will cover part of his or her face with his hand, especially the mouth. The liar will perspire. Unfortunately I spoke to Oscar on the phone so none of this is useful.

*As a volunteer Sheriff's Deputy I've been doing surveillance for years. One time I suspected an ex-girlfriend of mine of cheating on me, so I tailed her for six nights straight. Turns out.. she was. With a couple of guys, actually... so. Mystery solved.

*Pam: Sometimes the gift is really about the gesture, you know, like, what it means, instead of what it is.
Dwight Schrute: You mean ... like a ham?
Pam: No. Not like a ham.

*(After he didn't tip the sub man) Why tip someone for a job I'm capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones.

*Dwight Schrute: OK. I'm going to have to search your car. Give me your keys.
Ryan Howard: I am not giving you my keys.
Dwight Schrute: Don't make me do this the hard way.
Ryan Howard: What's the hard way?
Dwight Schrute: I go down to the police station, on my lunch break. I tell a police officer (I know several) what I suspect you may have in your car. He requests a hearing from a judge and obtains a search warrant. Once he has said warrant, he will drive over here and make you give him the keys to your car, and you will have to obey him.
Ryan Howard: Yeah, let's do it that way.

*I like the people that I work with, generally. With four exceptions.

*Dwight Schrute: Do you know what this is?
[slides a picture of marijuana on the table]
Phyllis: Yes. It's marijuana.
Dwight Schrute: [raising voice] How do you know that?
Phyllis: It's labelled.
Dwight Schrute: [whispering] Damn it.

*Security in this office park is a joke. Last year I came to work with my spud-gun in a duffle bag. I sat at my desk all day with a rifle that shoots potatoes at 60 pounds per square inch. Can you imagine if I was deranged?

*[Dwight is wearing a tuxedo]
Pam: It's a nice tux.
Dwight Schrute: I know. It belonged to my grandfather. He was buried in it, so... family heirloom.

*Pam: If you wanna do something for the funeral...
Dwight Schrute: Yes, please.
Pam: Maybe you could play a song on your recorder.
Dwight Schrute: Excellent.
Pam: Do you have it with you?
Dwight Schrute: Always.

*[bringing in a dead goose] I accidentally ran over it. It's a Christmas miracle!

*Michael Scott: I have a special assignment for you.
Dwight Schrute: Who's the target?
Michael Scott: A sensitive e-mail has been released to the office. It contains a file, a picture, the filename is jamaica-jan-sun-princess.
Dwight Schrute: What's it of?
Michael Scott: Not important.
Dwight Schrute: I'm not sure, you need to tell me everything or I cannot accept this assignment.
Michael Scott: Ok. Forget it.
Dwight Schrute: Ok, I accept it.

* Learn your rules... You better Learn your rules... If you don't you'll be eaten in your sleep, ARRCK!

Here's to Dwight - Mr. Bobblehead himself!!
Thanks for making us laugh each and every week!

Power outage

This past Monday night St. George had a little power outage. Okay, so I'd like to say it lasted hours and I was able to kick it into "family preparedness" mode but it was only like 40 minutes. And I was not prepared. I had just gotten home from dinner and it was pretty much dark outside. As we drove down Bluff Street there was a sudden blackout. It was crazy!! The power quickly came back on but by the time I made it back to my apartment (a whole mile away) the whole town of St. George was out. I guess a power line caught fire and knocked out everyone's power for awhile. In the meantime every resident in Dixie scrambled to find alternatives for illumination. Candles? Nope, got none. Lanterns, nada. Fireplace, on this salary, zilch. Flashlight? Flashlight you say? WE DO HAVE ONE!! Ooops, the batteries are dead. There goes that idea. There McKenna and I were having to come up with something to do to entertain ourselves. We relied on the meager amount of light our cellphones produced but that light show quickly became old and we were back to square one. So there we were . . .in the pitch dark . . .no cell phone service . . . no tv (thank goodness it wasn't Tuesday night - American Idol was starting!) . . . no light. And then the brillant idea came to me!!! Although my phone didn't have service, it DID still record videos! So as we sat there, wondering when our pioneer days would be over, I just pushed record and let the good times roll. Here are only a few samples of our (un)eventful Monday night. As you can see . . . wait, it was dark! As you can hear, we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves. However, nothing brought us more joy when we heard the clicking noises indicating the power was back on! On one last note, Brookenna feels an Oscar coming with these two productions! Enjoy!!!

For those of you who are movie-challenged just push the side ways triangle to listen! You're welcome, mom!

Joined at the hip

Ally and Tori
are only seven months apart in age and when they're together it is impossible to separate them! While we were in California Tori got to visit her grandma on Adam's side for a few days and Ally always looked forward to her return.

On Christmas eve, while all the adults were talking to Jeff on the phone, the girls stayed busy doing "makeovers" and giggling in the bathroom.

They also stayed busy transforming Ally's room into a movie theater. They let their "guests" (aka Ethan, Nathan, and Chloe) come and watch the movie and even served popcorn. They even made a sign and hung it on the door. It listed all the show times!!

These two are such fun girls! Ally is a tender-hearted 3rd grader who can play a mean game of soccer. BE AGGRESSIVE, BE BE AGGRESSIVE!!! Tori is a quick-witted 2nd grader who loves to dress as a cheer leader! GO TEAM GO!! Together they are quite the pair, and we love their stinkin' guts!!!!

Merry Christmas from the Porters

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Porter Family!
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and were able to spend some time with the people who annoy you the most, yet you somehow love the most too! If you're looking at this you probably know just how many there are of us crazy Porters. That is, unless you're a blog stalker and to all of you we say, welcome!
This Christmas marks the one year anniversary of Maryn's husband, Joey's passing. It was such a sudden thing for all of us and we have spent the last year grieving, depending and surviving on the love and support of one another. We have all been impressed with the immense amount of strength Maryn has displayed throughout this and although there are some days that are crappier than others she always seems to keep her chin up and put one foot in front of the other. Like she says, two steps forward then one step back. Day by day little sis. You are such an example to ALL of us and we feel blessed to call you family. I think this time of year will always be hard for Maryn and because of that we decided to hit the road and change locations for Christmas. The whiners of Utah County were grateful to leave their snow bound homes and enjoy the warmer weather of southern California. Like the entry before this one said, we all arrived one by one. By Christmas Eve we had all assembled in Craig's house. We missed having Jeff and his family with us but each of us were able to talk to him for a few minutes as we passed the phone around. Mom said it felt like the many times before we had made those special phone calls on Christmas Eve to talk to our missionaries. It was great to talk to him and we were VERY impressed with the behavior of all the little kids. They played quietly while we all talked, knowing that as soon as we got off the phone we would be opening our presents under the tree, a German tradition that our family has used since our parents marriage.

Once we got off the phone we headed upstairs and started the mayhem. Like usual, we passed out the presents and started from youngest to oldest. Before that Craig talked about the true meaning of Christmas and why we really were all there, together at this time of year. Nathan, being the honest 5 year old that he is responded with, "we're here to open presents!" Gotta love the kid! Presents were open and tears were shed on gifts given and those few empty seats we all seemed to be aware of. But like Porter tradition, we sure did have a lot of laughter! Craig got the coveted Santa suspenders and trophy for doing something either FANTASTIC or LAMETASTIC throughout the year. Luckily, his was good. Mom presented him with the "Best Director" award for his promotion this year. He thanked all the little people and mentioned that he couldn't have done it without all their support. Ahh, good times! Mom gave GG a book with pictures of all her kids, grandkids, and even great grandkids! GG LOVED it and looked at it multiple times. It was great having her there with us!

AND THEN THERE WAS CHRISTMAS MORNING. . . . Santa had come and surprisingly, most of the kids weren't even up until 8:00am. Justin was the only one who was up by 5am and even snuck down by the tree. Sure, leave it to the 14 year old to be naughty!!!!! Here are just a few highlights of that morning. Katie and Adam were back up in Orange County opening presents with Adam's mom. Everyone else was at Craig's house. Well, almost everyone. Holly, Brooke, and Maryn were snoozing away that morning. As they saw it, they would get a FULL report of what Santa brought so why did they need to be up at the crack of dawn?!?!?!?!

Christmas day was just a random day and we LOVED it! We just layed around and did nothing but hang out. I think Craig spent the first 5 hours of his day downloading itunes onto Madi and Ally's ipods and switching over Justin's new cellphone. What a good dad! He did all that while Laura, Brooke, and Maryn layed in Laura's big bed and played with her new camera and had the kids wait on us. Dude, she's got a good thing going for her. She has 4 sets of hands and legs who are all capable of running downstairs and getting things, putting in the movie, getting the phone, etc. etc. etc. From the pictures below you can tell we all had WAY too much time on our hands but who cares? What else could we do? Everything is closed (except the 7-11) so we figured we should just make the most of it!!!

So there you have it, a little glimpse at the madness we like to call our lives! We all had a great time and NO ONE wanted to go home. We all had a fabulous time and nothing too bad happened. Oh, except that one time Brooke "rolled" through a red light while turning right and something flashed at her. Oops, I didn't mean to do it officer! Hey, it was Christmas morning for crying-out-loud. I was just doing the traditional "California Stop" since I was in the state it was named after! Who knows what will happen with that one. Hopefully nothing. But if I end up getting a letter in the mail with a picture of me running a red light and a $300 ticket attached to it, I will be asking for donations. Consider it an early birthday and Christmas present! And they expect us to be of good cheer . . .

A BIG THANK YOU TO CRAIG AND LAURA WHO LET US ALL CRASH AT THEIR CASA!!