Som Tum

Not sure if that's how you spell it, but we made it. This is my husband's favorite Thai dish and he decided to make it. He bought all the ingredients and special tools. It is a spicy shredded papaya salad. He made it with only 5 peppers instead of the 8 it called for. He claims it was too mild, but I thought it was plenty hot. Had to capture my hubby and daughter in the kitchen, cooking together. Here are some pictures.

Matt checks out the papaya to make sure it is good. We discovered we need the green unripe papayas instead of the huge pink ones.














Ginny took this picture of the garlic and peppers being smashed together. I wish you could smell it. Yum!


















Ginny helps shred the papaya.






M and G add the finishing touches to the salad.

I was on the news!!

I got a call from my brother-in-law Aaron on Sunday night. He said he got a call from a local news channel wanting to interview me as Utah Young Mother of the Year. I contacted Channel 4 news, and they sent a reporter and camera man to Provo. Luckily I was at my sister-in-law, Keli's, house, so they filmed me and Ginny and a niece and nephew in her beautiful backyard. I was impressed that they finished interviewing me at about 8:30, then turned around and had a piece ready for the 10:00 news that night. I'm excited that they focused on the adoption angle. Maybe this will help us find our next child!

Newspaper Article

There was an article in the Daily Herald newspaper about me and my family on Mother's Day. Here's a copy of the text. They sent a photographer over who took lots of pictures. I am trying to get my scanner to work so I can post the pictures that were in the paper. This article is about Karmel Larsen, the President of our American Mothers Chapter, who was just crowned Mrs. Utah and Dixie Clifford, the Utah Mother of the Year. Here's the part about me:

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Danielle Kennington -- Utah Young Mother of the Year

Age: 37

Lives in: Provo

Married to: Matthew

Hobbies: Singing, reading, teaching, volunteer storyteller at Orem Public Library

Recently read: "My Antonia" by Willa Cather

Don't get your mother a box of chocolates or an heirloom sewing table for Mother's Day. Not that those are bad gifts. Danielle Kennington, a mother of one child (4-year-old Ginny), just thinks that there are more meaningful ways to let Mom know that you care about her. "I don't think you need to buy fancy presents," she said. "Mothers just want you to spend time with them."

Kennington, who has degrees from Brigham Young University (in education) and Utah State University (special needs education), suggested a letter or phone call if your mother lives too far away to be visited. And you should feel free to share the love.

Kennington, who was born in Massachusetts, said that you can also use Mother's Day to recognize women who have had a "good mothering influence on you" -- on a recent Mother's Day, she did that herself, writing letters to two of the mother figures in her life.

Kennington's parents divorced when she was young, and she said that she mostly learned about mothering from the example of her stepmother. "I think she taught me that being a mother is enjoyable," Kennington said. "To enjoy the little moments and different stages of your child's life."

Since becoming a mother herself through adoption, Kennington said, the hardest thing about motherhood has been learning how to manage her time. "You have to give up your time and give up some of the things that you want to do right now to take care of your children," she said. "I love to read to my daughter, but sometimes I just want to read my novels. I've had to learn that during the day is her reading time."

Kennington said she thinks a mother's most important role is to teach her children, including being aware of what your children are picking up from your example. "It's just amazing to me," she said, "how much my daughter is always asking questions and remembering what I say."

One of her favorite Mother's Day experiences is something she wishes she could share with other young mothers. Being the Utah Young Mother of the Year, she said, has made her whole life feel like Mother's Day for a couple of months now. "I wish every mother could have that kind of affirmation," she said.

American Mothers National Conference

I got back from Disneyland in time to wash a few clothes, pack my bags, and head to Portland, OR for the National Conference of American Mothers. I went representing Utah as the Young Mother of the Year. I had so much fun!! Every mother should have the chance to go on a forced vacation for 4 days. We stayed at a really nice hotel and ate a lot of delicious food. I gave my speech "I am my Mother's
Garden" that I posted on this blog in February. It went well, I think. I liked listening to all the other speeches. Even though we all had the same topic, it was interesting that each talk was diverse and unique. I attended some amazing workshops that helped me learn better parenting skills. I ate some more. I went to training classes on the different parts of American Mothers. It really is an amazing organization. The more I learn about it, the more I want to be involved in it. I love that it is an interfaith, Christian organization. The motto is "Strengthening the moral and spiritual values of the family".
Thankfully, I am not the National Young Mother of the Year for this year. Her name is Kimberly Wright, from Nevada. She will do a great job. I don't know how she will travel around the country this year since she has 4 children. But she has a great husband and supportive family, so I am sure she will do great.
My favorite part was getting to know so many amazing women. I arrived there Wednesday night knowing two people there. I left on Saturday with 14 very close friends (the other Young Mothers from the other states) and many close acquaintances. Now I have friends all over the country. It's great.
I really didn't take pictures until Friday night and Saturday. I was too busy the other days. Lots of people took pictures throughout the week, so I am hoping to get copies. Here are some pictures of Portland. We went to the Rhodedundrum Gardens in Portland which were beautiful. We also got to go to the SAturday market and China town.

Disneyland

We just got back from Disneyland. We got to go as chaperones with Matt's school's choir students who performed at Disneyland on Wednesday. The students did a great job and were so well behaved. We had lots of instant babysitters who all wanted to play with Ginny. One student in particular, Lizzy, was so nice to hang out with all day and go on all the little kids rides with us. Ginny loved Disneyland and loved having so much attention. It was a nice time for our family to be together. Ginny got to be in one of the parades that go down Main Street. We were waiting for the parade to come by, when someone came up and asked how many were in our party. She then took us to front row seats right by the street. During the show, Ginny was able to go out and dance with the dancers. It pays to have a cute daughter. Here is a collage of our Disneyland days. We had two-day park-hopper passes. See if you can recognize some of the locations at Disneyland.Ginny's favorite rides were Dumbo, The Teacups, and Peter Pan.

Huntington Beach

We got to spend a day at beautiful Huntington Beach. It was a bit cold and windy, but that didn't stop us from running in the waves and building sand castles.

Free Math, Science and Reading Classes

I am the Director of a free Learning Center in Provo. If you have a 4-6 year old, and want to know more about these free classes, see my blog at www.watearlylearningcenter.wordpress.com. There is a link there on how to sign up. I am currently enrolling people for the waiting list for the fall. Hope to see you there!