MV - Jordan Basketball 12/15/10

We lost to Jordan in double overtime 71-75.

Alex remained benched the whole game

MV - Bear River Basketball 12/14/10

Alex steals the ball and SCORES!

Congrats Alex! Go Bruins!

We beat Bear River 49-34

Alex's team also had another Sophomore game right after this one and they won that game 54-45.

Christmas is Finally Up

Call us slackers or lazy but we finally got Christmas up at our house. I realize we are a couple of weeks behind with our Christmas decorating, but it is up as of Saturday. Hurray! Now the baking madness can start.


Our front door


Christmas tree.

As many of you know, when we travel, we always buy a Christmas tree ornament from that particular place that we visit. We got some fun ones this year from New York, London, Finland and St. Thomas. Thanks to Greg and Kristine, they brought us an ornament from Butchard Gardens in Victoria, BC. It is fun to remember our trips when we hang our ornaments on the tree.

MV - Maple Mountain Basketball 12/10/10

Mountain View finally won a game on Friday night against Maple Mountain. The final score was 48-35. Alex played at each period and did really well.

Way to go Bruins! Keep it up.

No More Rye Bread from Finland

My mom has been shipping me rye bread for the last, oh 24 years, from Finland because I can't get it here. If you, Americans, think that pumpernickel or local "rye bread" is rye bread, you are sadly mistaken. You must have the real thing. Thanks to my mom and other relatives and friends who come to visit, they always bring me a loaf or two or three or...

Then I started noticing that my Floridian friend Paivi advertised on Facebook that she was putting her bread order in. What bread? What? So I asked her what bread was she talking about. So she told me, and today I received a package of 5 bags of rye bread. I can't wait to taste it and eat it and savor it and smell it (well, my whole office smells like rye). I should go buy butter so I could eat it now.

Paivi also told me about another bakery in New York that also bakes rye bread. A Finn, of course, who owns the "Nordic Breads" company. I will place my next order with him and then I can compare.

But it looks like right now that I will no longer need any of my mom's or friend's or relatives' services. No more lugging bread to me from Finland. The bread era is over at the Larsen household.

www.skabakery.com

www.nordicbreads.com

The Office Rebel

Yes, it is me, the office rebel. Taking scissors to this package could be a mistake. I might regret this for the rest of my life. The package might have balloons in it or maybe a blowfish. Who knows. It could explode when I poke it with my scissors.

Sadly, nothing exciting. Just 3 pencil cups made of PLASTIC! How dangerous indeed.

Well, what else am I going to do with my ample time in the office than play these dangerous games with the scissors. Quiver!

MV - PG Basketball Game 12/8/10

Mountain View played against Pleasant Grove yesterday and came out with another loss. MV was down by 2 points at the half but lost to PG by 19 at the end. Alex played the last 5 minutes and got a 3 pointer in. Alex played really well.

MV 43 - PG 62

MV - AF Basketball game 12/7/10

Mountain View lost to American Fork 52-63. It was a slaughter.

MV team listening to the coach's advice how to possibly win the game. Advice didn't work, obviously. Sophomore, JV and V all lost their games. AF is a tough school to beat.

Fish Eyes, Fish Brains, Blood Pancakes, and now...

Dried Salty Guppies from Japan.

If you know me, I grew up sucking on fish eyes and eating fish brains. I couldn't eat blood pancakes fast enough to satisfy my appetite, although liver casserole was never my favorite (my sister ate and still eats raw liver and loves it). Since living in the U.S. I haven't had any of my old favorites as my entrees, which makes me quite sad. Of course there is always pickled herring that I can purchase from IKEA, but how much can one eat and not get sick of them. I need variety, people, variety!

Everything changed yesterday when Rod came home from his trip to the Philippines and Japan.

He brought me, among other things, a bag of dried salty guppies. Guppies, as you can see from the picture, are tiny silver fish that have been dried and salted.

Today is going to be a great and yummy snack day for me. I think my co-workers are going to barf if they walk into my office.

Thanks Rod, you are the greatest!

Click on the picture so you can take in all of the deliciousness!

High School Basketball season has begun

Mountain View High School had a home opener last week on Thursday with Sophomores leading the way. Alex's team beat Salem Hills 48-35. Alex got to play about 5 minutes during the 3rd period and he played really well. Junior Varsity won also but Varsity team took a last minute loss.

GO BRUINS!


Alex is # 3