Multi-Family Yard Sale!!!

Today (Sat. 18th) from 10am-3pm we'll be having a multi-family yard sale.  There is a lot for sale; come check us out!  230 East 500 North Provo, UT (just south of BYU campus).

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  The video won't load, so click here.

"Knowing their feet had come to the end of the world."

THE PARABLE OF THE OLD MAN AND THE YOUNG

Wilfred Owen (1893-1918), WWI Poet and Victim

Published 1920

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,

And took the fire with him, and a knife.

And as they sojourned both of them together,

Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,

Behold the preparations, fire and iron,

But where the lamb, for this burnt-offering?

Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,

And builded parapets and trenches there

And stretchéd forth the knife to slay his son.

When lo! an Angel called him out of heaven,

Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,

Neither do anything to him. Behold,

A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;

Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.

But the old man would not so, but slew his son,

And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

I read this poem in a World Lit. class recently and it made quite an impression on me. Owen's sentiments regarding war are apparent here, yet, after leaving the front on medical leave, he chose to return, not because he supported the war, but because he felt compelled to return to his men. He was killed days before the war ended. Fascinating. For a page with information on the author and more of his poetry, see http://www.rjgeib.com/heroes/owen/owen.html or

http://users.fulladsl.be/spb1667/cultural/owen.html

Pic-O-The Week: (Two) True Women

This is one of my favorite and most treasured pictures of all time. One of my favorite days (my wedding day) with two of my favorite women (my paternal grandmother Margaret Mikkelsen on the left, my maternal grandmother Edna Norlund on the right). I don't know why, but I've been thinking a lot about my grandmothers recently. Maybe it's because I am insanely jealous of my mother and sisters who will head to Davis shortly to visit G-ma Mikkelsen. Maybe it's the prospect of moving to the other side of the country and possibly not seeing her for a long time. I have been particularly missing Grandma Norlund. Perhaps it's because her birthday is coming up, or because my cousins Stephen and Brandon have visited us several times recently and we have spent a lot of time playing '10,000' and reminiscing about her. Sometimes I am reminded of something she told me once or of some funny incident, and I find myself in a fit of spontaneous laughter, usually followed by a tear or two. I miss her raisin bread and cucumber salad, playing with her rubber finger puppets and dancing to her Harry Belefonte records ("Shake, Shake, Shake Sonora" was always my favorite! And you'll find "Jamaican Farewell" on my playlist.) My favorite memory of her is probably the fateful day when, during a family gathering, her hair caught fire after a magical flame shot from Pietr's fingertip. I also love that, upon hearing what my new last name was to be, she purportedly said, "'Wilcoxson'?! What a horrible name to pin on somebody!" To commemorate her upcoming birthday, feel free to share (fond memories, quotes, etc.) I'd love to hear what you remember!

And He's Off!

A couple of weeks ago, my brother Adam and I got to take our brother Pietr into the MTC, where he reported for two years of missionary service for our church in the Taipei Taiwan Mission! He looked so handsome and confident. He was certainly well-prepared to begin this great adventure.It was fun for Boosey to get a little taste of what he'll be doing in a few months, as he will be reporting in May and serving in the KaoHsiung Taiwan mission, just south of Pietr.

Pietr was so excited/impatient to get going that it was a struggle just to get him to stop for the must-have picture in front of the MTC sign. But we prevailed upon him and even snuck a couple more inside...Towering over two other elders reporting, cool, calm and collected... He will be speaking Mandarin.

Before we said our goodbyes, there was a little meeting in which we watched a tear-jerking missionary video and sang "Called to Serve" and then heard from a member of the MTC presidency and his wife. He said some interesting things that I thought I'd pass on. He mentioned the fact that in the Old Testament, it was the designated prophet who was responsible for preaching the gospel. Then in the New Testament it was Christ, followed by His ordained apostles. Then when the church was restored in this dispensation, it was the apostles and the 70s who were called to preach. And now it's all of our young men. They are in good company. Then he listed some of the things that these new missionaries were going to be asking of the people they would teach. They will ask the people to pray, to study the scriptures daily, to gain and strengthen their testimonies, to have family home evening, family prayer and scripture study, to give up anything in their lives that will offend the Spirit, etc. Then he charged all of us present to do these things, the things that our missionaries are asking the people of the world to do. And in doing these things, we will share this experience with them. We, like them, will have two of the best years of our lives, full of joy and peace and the blessings of the gospel. It reminded me of what David told me when I talked to him about my hesitation to marry Chace and give up the chance to serve a mission. He gave me the exact same counsel. How quick I was to forget! So my goal is to follow that charge better than I have been. I think that Pietr will.

25 Miscellaneous Facts

This is a little exercise which I, like Liz, Anna and Mimi, was invited to complete on Facebook for the purpose of sharing various commonly or little-known facts with eachother and learning more about your friends. And as I know that some interested parties do not have access to it there, I have been requested by a few to post it here:

1. I have always thought that German was the most unattractive language spoken by man. However I'm now in a choir which is performing a breathtaking German piece and I'm beginning to appreciate the beautiful hideousness of Deutsch. Ja!

2. I am a girl of many nicknames. Here are just a few:
~Riva (used by my brother David)
~Rico (brother Adam),
~Kiki ( a variation of "kinkachu', a carnivorous mammal belonging to the raccoon family to which I apparently bore resemblance, everyone when I was little),
~Kiko, Kiik, Kika, Kikaputch, Kikaputchinid (variations of 'Kiki'-family),
~Keiko (as in, the whale--various rude people!)~Dirty Bird, Fatso (Dad),
~Jake, Jakey, Stinky (sisters Miriam and Beppy) ~Mamee (sister Miriam),
~Reefer (my druggie friends in high school--I only just learned what a reefer was!)
~Rivkins (said, Reefkins, an old friend)

3.I may have multiple personality disorder--perhaps stemming from the multiplicity of different names I have been called growing up! Chace said once, after a loooong car ride with me, "Ya know what? You should narrate children's audio books." Compliment? Not sure. Among my current alter-egos are, to name just a few:
~a hearty and 60ish Irish lass with a forceful, gravelly voice
~a Japanese Geisha (Chace's favorite!)
~a middle aged British man with a cockney accent who spits when he talks (Chace's least favorite)

4. I love old music and old movies. In fact, I'm starting an old movie night group at the Utah State Mental Hospital. That should be fun. (Any suggestions for catchy group names (e.g. 'Blast from the Past', etc.) or ideas as to how to make it more interesting for the patients? I'm thinking of making some sort of little trivia quiz for them at the beginning with questions about the cast or story line or… something. And popcorn of course.)

5. Speaking of crazies, the craziest thing I've probably ever done: spend the night on the roof of Ackerman Middle School, dodging the eyes of the flighty graveyard janitors who would call the cops at the least provocation--believe me, I know! The second craziest thing I've ever done was to get married at 19. It also happens to be the smartest thing I've ever done!

6. I never really liked my nose until I married my husband, who has now convinced me that it is beautiful--in a Roman sort of way

7. Speaking of noses: Coming home after a lobely evening with an old beau, I leaned over to kiss him goodnight, when after a moment he said, "Why are you all wet?" "What are you talking about?" I said. Then I felt it. Blood was gushing from my nose and down my face (and his!) he almost threw up and I almost died of humiliation. Some things you just don't forget.

8. I feel prettiest when I'm wearing my pearls, either the simple studs Chace gave me as a wedding gift to be married in, or the fancy ones my sister Kathryn gave me for the reception.

9. I regret giving up French. And Italian, for that matter. But hopefully I'll get to live in France and Italy someday and can then learn the languages properly.

10. I have too many scars to count. I have a very high pain threshold and don't even remember how I got most of them. I was always getting scraped up when I was little and doing dangerous things. I don't know how any of us Mikkelsen children survived to maturity.

11. I think I had the happiest, most ideal childhood imaginable. As a child I could often be found outdoors wandering around our property, gardens, orchards or pastures, or in the goat pen, or up in a tree singing, inevitably barefoot, sometimes alone, sometimes with my brother Pietr or my sister Liz. I distinctly remember one sunny afternoon when we played in the hayloft of the red barn, then wandered out to the swing in the cow pasture and Liz and I took turns pushing eachother while singing, "Think of Me" from Phantom, taking turns singing the parts of Christine and Raoul! She was my best friend for much of my life. Sad I don't sing as much anymore, even in the shower.

12. I like old people.

13. I often wonder if I was born in the wrong century. I ungratefully long for the days of balls and gowns and carriages and parasols. But then I realize that the Sonicare Elite (my lectric toothbrush) wasn't invented until a few years ago, and I am content.

14. I love BYU. I'm sitting here in the Talmage (math) building overhearing a conversation about mathematical proofs and the gospel! I can only hear snippets, but it's something about Lehi's proof of contradiction (whatever that means!) One of them is laughingly saying, "How can you feel the spirit when you say that?!" Now one of them is leaving, saying, "It's getting too nerdy in here!" Ahh, it's a beautiful campus full of beautiful people where so many different kinds of truth are taught. As I write a girl leans over and asks me how long I'll be here. "Oh, another half hour or so. Why? Do you need something?" "Well, I wonder if I can leave my stuff here while I go in for an interview. Could you watch it for me?" So here I sit next to this stranger's things: a new laptop, a stack of expensive looking text books, a cell phone, a backpack, probably a wallet if I had rummaged. Trust and honor are not dead!

15. I love a breakfast of hot cereal with nuts, blueberries and honey and a tall green smoothy (made green by spinach mostly, though I may venture to add chard or kale one day.)

16. When I want to procrastinate, I cook. One has to eat! Right? Today I should be studying for Abnormal Psych or reading Virginia Woolf. But I'm making Fumi Salad. Yum!

17. One of my favorite days was, oddly, when I was sick. So was Chace actually. After a whirlwind 2 weeks of top-to-bottom Italy, we detoxed in the loft of a friend's beach house in Sicily. We had it all to ourselves for a week. We ate pasta and pesto when we were hungry, and made lemon granita from the massive lemons off of the lemon tree in the garden. We laughed and cried as I read aloud Dickens' Tale of Two Cities all day long. And when my voice got tired we mozied out to the patio or down to the shore to dip our feet in, or hopped on some bikes and rode into town.

18. I love to ride bikes. I also love to open doors for people. For some reason, I just feel so good about myself when I do!

19. Once, at a time in my life when I was too blonde, too tan and too skinny

I was accused of being a dead ringer for Paris Hilton. Insult or compliment? I'm not sure, but my goal is never to resemble her again in any way. (Thank goodness we are less frequently bombarded with her face in the checkout lines these days!)

20. Another goal is to remember and implement this quote in my day-to-day life: "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations–these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit–immortal horrors or everlasting splendours." (C. S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory")

21. I'm jealous of those people who look exquisite when they cry. I look hideous.

22. When I was a very little girl I sometimes napped on the back of our old horse Aplomado while he grazed. He was the sweetest, most gentle creature. We all learned to ride on him. Oh the things we put him through! Braiding his mane and tale like a Barbie doll, setting up saw horses and fallen trees as jumps for him in the pasture and pretending we were riding the steeple chase, racing him against the other horses, playing horse-back tag on the logging trails, eating all the corn kernels out of his grain before feeding it to him! Every child should grow up with a horse like Plommy. I have a feeling I'll meet him again in heaven. And my dog Zara.

23. I must be getting old because I'm beginning to acquire all those 'adult-acquired' tastes, like asparagus, plain yogurt, herbal tea and butter pecan ice cream.

24. Playing in a park one night with my friends, laughing and singing and joking, we suddenly found ourselves being closed in upon from every direction by about four flashlight-wielding police officers, telling us tersely to give them our beer and our pot. "What?" we said. "Officers, we're not drunk! And we're not high! We're just playing in the park!" They were dubious at first, but upon staying a while and ascertaining that we were, in fact, not doing anything illegal or immoral, they laughed and left, congratulating us on our ability to have such a good time without the use of booze or crack! Boy did we ever!

25. My parents are some of the most beautiful and amazing people I know, followed by my brothers and sisters. It is from them that I have learned everything I know about being good. I hope I make them proud of me.

White Christmas: Part II

On past drives home from school for Christmas, it has been easy to tell when I was getting close to home because the snow disappears. However, this Christmas for the first time in my recollection, I came home to more snow than I had left in Utah! Though it was rather a nuisance, it was also very beautiful. The whole city was shut down due to the highly irregular weather. So, happily, we were stranded at home! We ventured twice to my sister Miriam's house (only a few miles away), always prepared to walk should the car get stuck in the snow.

"Will we make it up this hill?"

A focused Kate.

A nervous Chace.

A great 'do! But I knew better than to let her do my hair! Instead I distracted her with the camera! "Can you take a picture of me? Can I see?!"

An intense political debate...

...turns deadly.

Otherwise we were content to spend our mornings sleeping in or jumping into bed with mom and dad (and their chinchilla), and our days playing in the snow, tending the chickens, and riding horses.

Before we knew it Christmas Day was upon us! But where was the turkey? Throughout the week Mom kept referring to "Isfahan" in reference to Christmas dinner, in response to which my sisters would shudder and say something like, "Mom, that's so morbid. Why do you call them by their Christian names? It's just creepy." Come to find out "Isfahan" was the name of the turkey she had been raising to feed the family that night. So on Christmas morning at about 11, Isfahan was still clucking contentedly out in the woods! Chace was recruited to help Dad "dress" her for dinner.

They disappeared out into the forest and I didn't see them again until Chace walked into the kitchen a couple hours later, bird in hand, face speckled with a suspicious red-brown substance. I laughingly said, "Wow, look at you! Well, do you feel manly?" He, looking somewhat dazed, said solemnly, "Not really."

Then I recalled a time he had told me about when a young Chace and his cousins had been out shooting BB guns. His cousins were shooting at birds. Chace didn't feel particularly comfortable with this, but so as not to look like a sissy, he shot at them too. Unfortunately he proved to be a better shot than he thought and he killed one. His show of masculinity hadn't lasted long. He burst into tears.

Of the slaughter of Isfahan though, Chace did say it was a positive experience overall. He loves to eat meat and he said that after actually participating in its preparation, he gained a new appreciation and respect for meat, as well as a renewed realization that it comes from living breathing creatures--sometimes with Christian names! I still don't think, however, that he will be volunteering for the job next Christmas.

The fabulous Christmas feast was followed by some fabulous gifts and entertainment. We sang carols and then had musical numbers from several nieces and nephews.

Then the party really started--the dance party! Want proof? Check out Captain Jack's dance moves?

Max tried to dance too, but kept tripping over whomever's shoes he was wearing at the moment.

We also celebrated Gracie's birthday. She was the best Chritsmas present anyone ever had!

I love this picture of her.

The award-winning gift, if you ask the boys, was a game, the object of which is to hold a metal hand-piece and push a button at the appropriate nanosecond so as to avoid electrocution, whereupon all other participants will be shocked instead. Definitely a game to appeal to the thrill-seeking XY chromo (I'm reminded of a little trick my sister Miriam taught me for remembering which gender has an X and a Y chromosome: "'Y' is for "Why are they so dumb?") The night ended as people trickled out back to their own homes, but not before a Monopoly Marathon. Again, XY. Enough said.

But Christmas wasn't over! The next evening we reunited at Miriam's to have Christmas with the Allens. I was in heaven. All I need to be happy is to be surrounded by these amazing people forever. It doesn't get any better than this.

Uncle Jay reading to the kids.

William enjoying his new book from Grandma.

Mom is so predictable. You always know where to find her.

The girls congregate to laugh and reminisce about UGs.

Now enjoy some other choice and favorite pictures from the week. And don't forget!

I met my new niece Esme (not after the Twilight vampire) for the first time!

Why do we all love Uncle Nick so? Because he can throw us so far!

Wacko Jacko.

Such a funny picture of a stunned Scarlett.

That's more like it.

James Grey...

practicing his skills.

Uncle Chace at the bottom of a dogpile.

Pretty Lizzy, I couldn't resist. I think it's actually kinda cool.

Very characteristic expressions for my twisted sisters.

Laney, getting the wickedness shaken out of her.