The Connors

Welcome Home Sailor

2012-01-26T10:02:00.000-08:00

After eight grueling months of separation Phil is back from Afghanistan. He came home on the 24th of January. It is such a joy to have him back and interestingly enough, it feels almost as if he never left. That must been a brain defense mechanism or something. Here is a breakdown of our reunion.
We were told that the buses carrying our people would be arriving between 4:15 and 4:30 p.m. The kids got home from school at 3:10 and we were out the door by 3:40 (thanks to all the last minute running around). We got to the base at 3:50 and when we pulled up to the Training Hall I almost freaked out because I saw some white buses and a lot of guys in the Desert uniform. For one brief, but terrifying second I thought they had arrived early and I had missed it. I knew that wasn't the case because I had been calling the number given to us all day to check the time and nobody was hugging and freaking out. I mentally gave myself a slap "snap out of it!" and got the kids out of the car.
We ended up waiting for an hour because they had gotten the time wrong. Finally someone announced that the buses were on their way and that they needed all the new mothers to go over to the right front corner of the grassy area (they put all the new fathers on the first bus). I grabbed the kids and we went and waited some more. Finally we saw the buses coming down the main road.

Here we are waiting for the first bus to come to a stop. When all the buses arrived the troops began to disembark. I scanned all the faces I could see trying to locate Phil, but did not see him. As the buses emptied and I still saw no sign of him, The kids and I spread out to try to find him. I was following Caleb when I saw him start running. He had spotted his Daddy!

Chase was right behind him. They were so excited and happy.

Then it was my turn. We hugged each other so tight (trying not to squish the baby, which was tricky) and it felt so good to be with him again. Then I got to introduce him to our newest little family member.

Phil, meet Dallin. Dallin, this is your Daddy.

Then Nathan and Jocelyn found us . . .

. . .and there was a Connor pile on Dad.

Together at last! Just the way it was meant to be.

Dallin Charles Connor

2011-12-13T20:09:00.000-08:00

My newest miracle came into the world on Thursday, December 8th. The good folks at Keesler Medical Center induced my labor so that my sister Joanna could be with me for the birth of my sweet little son. To my delight, I was also able to have my wonderful husband Philip with me via Skype. What a huge blessing that was! It was so great to have him there with me.
I arrived at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. and was given a large, beautiful room. The night nurses inserted an IV and filled out paperwork so that I would be ready for the doctor when he arrived. For some bizarre reason, the nurse put the IV in a vein on the side of my arm. It was a very awkward place to have an IV, but I wasn't about to let them poke me again, so we made do.
My labor and delivery nurse arrived shortly after 6:30. Her name was Laurie and she was fabulous! I was so grateful to have such a wonderful competent person taking care of me and my child. Any time things got dicey (Dallin's heart rate kept dropping) she would say "I got this." and would move me or change the medication and everything was always OK. They started pitocin at about 7:30 which made the contractions that I was already having get stronger and more consistent, but it was slow going.

Lady in waiting

At noon, the doctor broke my water and that really got things going. I got the epidural about an hour later and that made things a lot more comfortable. Phil and I passed the time playing frozen bubble online (he beat me soundly) and reading together from a book that we have been enjoying. I lost him for about two minutes at one point, but the connection was quickly reestablished.
At a little after four, I was ready to push so the staff got everything ready and Joanna helped find a good spot where Phil could see the baby as he came into the world. After a couple of good pushes, Dallin's head was out, and we discovered that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, hence the problems we were having with the dropping heart rate. That was a scary thing to hear, but the doctor and nurse were so calm, that it made me feel better. Dr. Kim was able to get the cord over his head and I pushed him out. His eyes were open and as the doctor held him up I saw him blink. Then they suctioned out his nose and mouth and he let out a beautiful cry. He pinked right up and the doctor gave him to me right away so that I could hold him. I couldn't believe how much hair he had! Such a beautiful little man.

The pediatric nurses whisked him away to the other side of the room to check him and weigh him etc. He weighed in at 7 lbs and 11 oz and was 22 inches long.

I had a small tear, so I got stitched and then they cleaned up and got me all settled back in the bed so I could wait for them to bring Dallin over to me.

Because of the time difference between here and Afghanistan, Phil had been up all night and was drooping. He didn't want to go, we were both mesmerized by the gorgeousness of our son, but I finally persuaded him to go to bed. I was so grateful that I had the Internet in my room and was able to talk to Phil several other times during my stay at the hospital. Thank you to my wonderful sister Joanna for coming all the way to Mississippi to be with me and help me with the kids. Thanks to all the doctors and nurses at Keesler who were so wonderful.

Welcome to the world little Dallin. We love you!

Harry Potter!

2011-10-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I last blogged that I am not even going to try to catch up, I am just going to go with "the now". Actually it's more like "the last month". In September, my lovely sister Heather and my lovely niece Kirsten flew out to Mississippi from Utah and we took a road trip to Orlando. One of the "milestones" we scheduled during Phil's deployment was a trip to Harry Potter World and it was so much fun!
We left on Tuesday the 6th and arrived after driving all day. We stayed at a wonderful three bedroom condo that was perfect for us because we could put the kids to bed in their own rooms and still stay up ourselves, if the mood struck. Much better than a hotel room!
The next day we woke up and drove to Universal Studios. We had a three day park hopper pass and were excited to use it! We headed to Hogsmead and here are some of the things we saw:

Here we are in front of the Hogwarts Express!

We went to Zonko's Joke Shop

We went to Honeydukes (more on that later)

We had some butterbeer (it was delicious)

We went to the castle.

We even talked to the Sorting Hat (I'm pretty sure we would have all been in Gryffindor)

As you can tell from the change of clothes, we went back to the Wizarding World on Friday (which also happened to be my birthday). We ate lunch at the Tree Broomsticks and I got the kids some Honeydukes candy and some wands. For some unknown reason, I don't have a picture of the kids with their wands. Maybe Heather will take pity on me and send me one that she took. IN the mean time, here are a few more pics.

The Three Broomsticks (don't ask me what is on Jocelyn's head)

Buying sweets at Honeydukes

Yummy!

Four kids in a hammock

2011-05-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

Before he left for Afghanistan, Phil set up the hammock for me on the back porch. It was actually part of my Mother's Day gift, along with an electronic reader. He thought that it would be an enjoyable spot for me to be able to read and unwind. He was right, it is fabulous. Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so . . .

Caleb's 4th Birthday

2011-04-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

I am behind, but that is nothing new. Caleb turned four last month. He had two parties. One he had with his classmates during joy school. It was a fortuitous coincidence that I happened to be teaching his classes the week of his birthday, so on Thursday, after our projects were done we got cupcakes and ice cream. It was messy, but fun. One the day of his actual birthday, we did our family activities. He was so much fun, because he is finally at the age where he understands that this is his special day and he was super cute about it. He especially loved the part where he got to choose his meals. He had pancakes for breakfast, a chicken nugget lunchable for lunch, and pizza for dinner. We ended the day with a lemon fish cake, which was delicious, and presents. It was a great day for a great little boy.

Blowing out candles on his cupcake at school.

The fishy cake, and no that does not refer to the taste. ;)

More candles.

Opening presents . . .

YES!

The boys wearing their new birthday finery from Grandma.

My Little Two Year Old

2011-02-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

On Monday, my little Chase turned two. It is hard to believe that so much time has past since his birth. Time is just flying past and I can't seem to get it to slow down. He is such a smart little guy. He is happy and just a joy to be around. He is such a little love and enjoys "kiss mommy cheek." I love him so much and cannot imagine our family without his wonderful presence. He runs, he jumps, he jabbers, and he loves us all so well. Happy Birthday sweet boy. Thank you for coming to our family.

This was my lame attempt at making a robot cake. It looks silly, but it was yummy so I guess that is all that matters.

Chase is checking out the contents of his first gift bag. Hmmm, I wonder what it could be.

Fun stuff.

Blowing out the candles.

Blue and Gold

2011-02-03T13:25:00.000-08:00

Last night we took the whole family to the church for Nathan's Blue and Gold Banquet. We took a fruit salad and got to eat some really delicious pizza, along with some other yummy things that other families brought (can I just say, hello good peanut butter cookies?!). I was happy not to have to cook dinner. The boys played some getting to know you bingo and a balloon relay race. Then they handed out badges. This is Nathan's first year doing scouts. He didn't do it in Hawaii because he was involved in First Tee and that was the same day as the scout meetings. Anyway, he got his Bobcat Badge yesterday. I almost missed it because I got called out of the cultural hall into the RS room to look at some stuff for our February RS activity. I came back to the banquet and Nathan was at the front and they were looking for his mom, so he could give me a bobcat pin. I went up and he pinned it onto my shirt, and that was the end, so we helped clean up and went home.

Nathan playing the balloon relay game. You had to hit it with your head, keeping it up in the air, until you reached the other side.

Me getting pinned. They said "You can poke her, just don't draw blood." and I laughed.

As I was getting pinned, suddenly I was attacked by not one, but two little people both demanding "hugs"!

Chase was "helping" Phil vacuum the floor after the party. I think Phil felt that he needed to be the one to do the vacuuming since our kids made most of the messes on the floor.

The Pictures That Heather Took

2011-01-30T19:12:00.000-08:00

While Heather was here over Thanksgiving, she was good enough to take some pictures of our family. I wanted to take them by this fabulous oak tree that, to me, symbolizes the South. Unfortunately, it was very rainy the day we went to take the pictures, so we ended up going over to the Seabee Lake and shooting under the cover of a picnic pavilion. Here are a few.

Chase

Caleb

Jocelyn

Nathan

Phil and I

The boys

The girls

The Family (I just Had to throw this one into the mix because Caleb makes me laugh. What a goofball!)

New chairs, well sort of . . .

2011-01-08T10:50:00.000-08:00

Recently, Phil and I reupholstered our dining room chairs. We bought our chairs years ago, and they were looking, frankly, pretty terrible. When you have four kids, they tend to spill things a lot. Our cushions needed some new life. When my mom was here back in October, we went to look at fabric, and I found some that I really liked. Later, when it was on sale, I went back and bought it. It sat around for a month or so, before I finally got my act together enough to actually do it, but one night, Phil and I sat down and knocked it out while watching a football game. It looks fabulous! We also got some clear vinyl and placed it on top of the fabric, so that spills would be easier to clean and the new fabric would stay looking good for a longer period of time.

After and Before

The Big Easy

2010-11-23T08:34:00.000-08:00

Heather is here for a visit. It is always fun to have her come to stay for a few days. We went down to New Orleans yesterday to check out the historic city. It was the first time there for both of us and we were excited to see some of the famous sites. Our first stop was to Cafe de Monde to get a beignet. Cafe de Monde has been around since 1862 and was the original French Market coffee stand. It is a New Orleans landmark, and offers the original beignet, which is the state doughnut of Louisiana. You can watch them make them at the side window. They roll out the dough, cut them into squares, toss them into hot oil until golden brown and then put them into a bag full of powdered sugar. Yummy!

Jocelyn and her beignet.

Caleb, taking a big bite.

While the rest of us scarfed ours, Chase took his time and savored every tasty bit.

Heather enjoying her treat.

They even sell a box mix so you can make them at home. I bought some to make on Christmas morning. I thought that would be fun.

Other highlights of the day included our carriage ride,

the trolley ride,

and seeing some of the colorful buildings in the French Quarter.

Jackson square and the St Louis Cathedral

Some street preformers. We heard a lot of great music. There were so many talented musicians playing on the streets there.

There was so much to see and it was a lot bigger than we expected. We didn't even get a chance to tour any of the famous cemeteries, so next time we go, we will be a little more prepared with a more definite itinerary so that we can see more stuff, but it was a lot of fun and one more thing checked off my list of places I've always wanted to go.

Grandma and Grandpa come for Halloween

2010-11-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

My parents came down to visit us for a few weeks and it was wonderful to have them here. With Phil gone, I have been on my own and it was so nice to have some help and some adult conversation. We didn't really do anything while they were here except for a nice trip to the temple. We just hung out around the house and it was so great. The kids loved having their grandparents at their beck and call and I appreciated the break. Mom and Dad planned their visit so that they would be here for Halloween. This year it was on a Sunday, so on Saturday I dressed the kids in their costumes and they went to a Fall Festival at the church followed by trick or treating around to the different classrooms. Then we headed to the mall and went trick or treating to all of the stores there. The kids had a lot of fun and I was glad to have Mom and Dad their to help me herd them along.

Dad and Chase sitting together on the couch. They were so cute together and would sit like this and converse. Chase would babble and Dad would reply and then they would laugh together. It was so funny.

Jocelyn as Ariel. She looked so cute. I found some of that red hair spray and sprayed her like crazy. I think it turned out really well.

Ariel and Yoda.

Chase was a skeleton. I love it when I can reuse a costume. In this picture, he has his candy bag on his head. He obviously hasn't got the hang of this yet. :)

Sunday after church we carved our pumpkins and handed out candy. Jocelyn designed the tall pumpkin and I did the scary one. The kids were really good about not going out with all the other kids. Jocelyn handed out the candy and exclaimed over all of the costumes, and Caleb loved to open the door and yell "trick or treat" before the kids waiting outside could do it. Next year I have promised them that they can trick or treat the whole base if they want to. :)

Independence Rock

2010-09-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

While we were on our way home from our vacation to Utah this summer, we had the opportunity to stop in Wyoming and visit my lovely sister Sandra and her adorable family. One of the activities we did was to go and visit Independence Rock. I have always enjoyed going to Independence Rock. I am a huge lover of history and Independence Rock is one of the great pioneer historical sites in Wyoming. The rock was an important landmark for the pioneers coming West as it lies directly along the route of the pioneer trails and that emigrant wagon parties bound for Utah, Oregon or California, which usually left the Missouri River in the early spring, attempted to reach the rock by July 4, in order to reach their destinations before the first mountain snowfalls. During the period of westward emigration on the trail (from 1843 to 1869), it was common for emigrants to carve their names in the granite rock, especially near the summit. Other emigrants left behind messages, sometimes for parties behind them on the trail, in axle grease. You can still see many of the names carved in the rock, in fact the kids made a game of trying to find the oldest name. I think that the oldest one we saw was carved in July of 1850.

Here is an example of one of the names carved in the rock. It was fun to see the kids running around looking at the names and getting excited about the different dates.

Sandra with all the kids, taking a break in the shade.

Me and Phil with our little family. We were all about the dum dum suckers on this trip. We had a huge bag of the little beauties in the car and we used them as bribes, silencers, and treats.

Who can resist jumping from rock to rock? Apparently, no one. Jocelyn, Caleb, and Phil all got in touch with their inner jumping bean.

Even Mckenna was getting in on the act.

Such a great day!

State to State

2010-08-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

We recently went on a trip to Utah to attend my best friend's sealing and to visit family. It is a long drive from here to there, so we tried to plan fun things to do along the way there and back again . . . hmm that sounds familiar. Anyway, we passed through a bunch of states on the trip and thought it would be fun to take pictures at each of the state signs. The only one we missed was Louisiana. Probably because it was the first, and we hadn't cemented the plan in our heads yet. That one I added through an internet pic.

Louisiana was the 18th state admitted to the Union. Louisiana's motto is "Union, Justice and Confidence" and it is known as the Bayou State. The coolest thing about driving through Louisiana is that some of the freeways are built right on top of rivers or bayous. We tried to get a good picture, but there was no place to pull off and we were going too fast so again I turned to the net and found this.

Next we went through Texas. We were going to Grandmother Barksdale's house. We stayed there for a couple of days and then traveled onward.

Texas' official motto is "Friendship" and it is the Lone Star State. I guess that means that "Don't mess with Texas" is their unofficial motto? Texas was the 28th state.

After Texas we came to New Mexico. This was the first time I had been to New Mexico, that I recall. Phil and I both found it to be beautiful and we greatly enjoyed the scenery. Phil and I have been a lot of places and we always speculate about where we'll settle when we get out of the Navy. New Mexico is now high on our list.

New Mexico's motto is "It Grows as It Goes", whatever that means. It is the Land of Enchantment and is the 47th state.

Colorado was next. I have always liked Colorado and find it very beautiful. We stopped at Mesa Verde, which I have always wanted to revisit, ever since I went there as a child. It was as cool as I remembered. I will blog about that later. . . in the meantime,

Colorado is the Centennial State and its motto is "Nothing without Providence" or "Nothing without the deity". It was the 38th state.

Finally we arrived in Utah.

Surprise, surprise, the motto of Utah is "Industry" and it is the Beehive State. Utah was the 45th state.

On our way home, we went through Wyoming so that we could stop at my sister's house. I used to think that the center of Wyoming was boring, but I now think that it has it's own stark beauty. I enjoyed driving through the state where I was raised.

Wyoming's motto is "Equal Rights". It was the first state to allow women to vote. It is known as the Equality State officially and the Cowboy State, unofficially. It was the 44th state in the Union.

After we left Sandra's house, we traveled into Nebraska. It is very flat there, but every once and a while you drive past a beautiful gorge or plateau. Lots of corn and lots of farms.

"Equality Before the Law" is the motto of Nebraska. It is the Cornhusker State and was admitted as the 37th state.

Next we went through Missouri. We stopped at a few church historical sites. Hopefully there will be a blog about those later. Missouri is very green and beautiful. It see easy to see why the early church members settled there and called it Zion.

Interestingly enough, the motto of Missouri is "The Welfare of the People Shall Be the Supreme Law" Wordy. Their nickname is the "Show-me State". It was the 24th state.

After we left Missouri, we were on the home stretch. We drove the rest of the way home and passed through:

Arkansas-"The People Rule", The Natural State, #25

Tennessee-"Agriculture and Commerce", The Volunteer State, #16

and finally . . .

Mississippi! Yahoo! It felt good to be in our own home again. Mississippi is called The Magnolia State or The Hospitality State. The motto is "By Valor and Arms". It was the 20th state admitted into the United States.

Mississippi

2010-08-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

Months have passed, and so much has happened, and I am lazy and am not going to go into it all. It sufficeth me to say that the Connor family has left Hawaii and have moved to the South. The South you say? Yes, the deep, deep South, Mississippi to be exact. We are right here on the Gulf Coast. The land of oil spills and hurricanes. We have really stepped in it this time haven't we? It is hot here, and humid, but despite it all, we have found enjoyment in our surroundings and are having a great time. When you are a military family, moving is part of the whole package. We have moved and moved often in our ten years of Navy life. The trick is to determine before hand that you are going to like . . . where ever it is that they send you. You really don't have much of a choice in the matter to be honest. You need to be able to find positive and fun things to do in all places, because there really are great things everywhere.

We are living on base at the Construction Battalion Command in Gulfport, Mississippi. We are in a brand new, four bedroom, one level home. The best thing about it is the free AC, the worst would probably have to be the flooring. Most of the house is covered by light colored tile, which is murder on your feet and does not stay clean. The bedrooms are carpet, it is the church style Berber carpet with absolutely no padding of which to speak. Besides that I will only say that despite a few manufacturing flaws, it is pleasant and we have enjoyed living here so far. We live right across from the park and have a lot of great neighbors. Hopefully this trend will continue because there are still a lot of empty homes (it is a new subdivision) and we don't yet have anybody in the other half of our duplex.

The tilt really isn't that noticeable once you're used to it :)

Our stuff has arrived, finally, it was a long trip from Hawaii, but we are happily unpacking and finding places for all of our stuff. There are so many kids on our street. Our children are thrilled because there are so many friends here. The kids have also started school. Nathan is in the fourth grade and Joslyn is in the first. Caleb is going to be attending a joy school that I found through a lady in the ward. There are eight kids in the group and each of the moms will take turns teaching the kids twice a week. I wish that I had never mentioned it to him, because now he asks me every day if he is going to school. Cute and annoying at the same time.

Our ward is nice. We meet in the stake center and we are the only ward there, so that means no time changes. We don't have callings yet, but that is coming. The Bishop met both Phil and I for "get to know you" interviews and he had a gleam in his eye when we left, so we'll see what happens. It is fun to get to know new people and we are figuring out what there is to do in the area. We have already found the library and Nathan has started scouts. More news to come . . .

Para-sailing

2010-05-29T20:59:00.001-07:00

One of the fun things Phil and I did on our anniversary trip was to go para-sailing. It was so much fun! We went early in the morning and even saw a whale while we were out on the water. It was a definite highlight on a vacation of highs. It is so nice to be married to my best friend. We have such a great time together!

On the boat

Buckling the harness

Hooked up and ready to go

Take off!

Up in the sky. So much fun. The view was fantastic!

Taking a dunk.

Coming down

Landing

Two thumbs way up!

Rewinding back to March

2010-05-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from our anniversary week. Phil's parents came out to Hawaii to visit and watch our kiddos for us while we spent a few days down on Waikiki Beach. We had such a fantastic time! One of the great things we were able to do with Phil's parents was to rent a boat at the Marine Corps Base and take them out into Kaneohe Bay. There is a sandbar out there in the middle of the bay and you can anchor your boat to it and walk around. It is very cool.

The kids on the boat all ready to set sail...or whatever

Oh captain, my captain!

Phil and Squishy on the sandbar

Joslyn had fun swimming with the aid of her life jacket.

Grandmother, Granddad and Nathan hunting for coral

Cool cat

My turn to snuggle the Squishy Friend

Nathan was feeling cold on the way back, so he made like a turtle and tried to crawl into his life jacket.

Joslyn fell asleep on the way back to the marina using the boat rail as a pillow.

Chase also fell asleep on the way back, but he looks more comfortable snuggled in his grandmother's arms.

Ten Years

2010-04-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

Recently, Phil and I celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary. Big, huh? It has been a pretty fantastic ten years. We have had some tough separations thanks to the Navy, but we have gotten through it and come out better on the other side. Here are some of the highlights of the past ten years:

March 24, 2000- The beginning

July 26, 2001- Nathan

December 15, 2003- Joslyn

March 15, 2007- Caleb

February 21, 2009- Chase

Thanks to the Navy, we get to move around the country quite a bit. It has been very enjoyable to live in different places and meeting different people.

We started our married life in Charleston, South Carolina (no that wasn't our house). Phil was there going to school for the Navy. We lived there for two and a half years and really enjoyed it!

Next we moved to Salt Lake City, Utah so that Phil could attend the University of Utah. We lived there for three years and loved being close to family.

Then we moved back to South Carolina. We bought our first house. It was fun to go back there for a year and was hard to leave again.

After three long months in Connecticut, staying in a hotel, we moved to Kittery Point, Maine. I really loved the Northeast and we lived in a beautiful house in a beautiful area right on the water. We lived there for a year.

We had to leave the beautiful house in Maine for an apartment in Massachusetts. We lived there for almost a year while waiting for the boat to be done so we could move to our next duty station which turned out to be. . .

1`

Hawaii! It is lovely here and very pleasant. Where will we go next? Only time will tell.

We have also had a lot of fun in our ten years together. Here are some of our most memorable trips.

Memorial Day in Washington DC.

Moab, Utah

Zion's National Park

Lone Peak, on one of our favorite backpacking trips.

Five year anniversary in Cancun.

North Carolina

Disney World

DC with the Nelsons

Kauai, Hawaii

Here are some of the fun things that we like to do together.

Snowboarding

Rock climbing

Sledding

Camping

Playing at the beach]

Hiking

Well, sorry this post is so long. Once I got started, it was hard to stop. Here's to our first ten years, may the next ten and the ten after that and after that etc. be as wonderful.

Birthday Boys (part two)

2010-04-14T00:43:00.000-07:00

Caleb's birthday was on March fifteenth. Caleb had been telling me for months that he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheeses for his birthday, so since we let our kids pick what they want to eat on their birthdays, we packed up the car and off we went. We had a great time. I'm not terribly fond of their pizza, but the kids like it and they love the games and mini rides. Caleb had an absolute ball. He ran around from game to game, getting tickets and laughing all the way. We brought his presents with us so he got to open them after we ate. Thanks to the Grandparents and Heather for gifts they sent. Then we went home and had some chocolate cake (I must have something for chocolate cakes, yummy!)

Opening Presents

Mmmmmmm, chocolate cake!

Birthday Boys (part one)

2010-04-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

In February, Chase turned one year old. Can you believe it? He is such a big boy. He is wonderful and sweet and squishy and snuggly. He is the perfect addition to our little family and we have all been enriched by his presence in our home. Here are some of the highlights from his party.

Opening presents

blowing out the candles

Yummy cake!

Tour Eiffel

2010-03-09T14:26:00.000-08:00

The Eiffel Tower is an amazing structure. It was an awesome sight to behold and we were so excited to see it. We fought our way through the throngs of people trying to sell us stuff, made it into the inner courtyard (which seemed to be off limits to the hawkers) and went to stand in line for our tickets. We were going to the top to see the city. While in line we saw so many couples. Lots of kissing and snuggling going on. It made me miss my honey. In the mean time, Chase charmed anyone who happened to glance his way. He was being cooed at in so many different languages I lost track. We got our tickets and got in another line. There are two levels to the tower. We got off on the first one and looked around for a bit, then got into a bigger line for the elevator to the top. The view was great, but it was cold. In truth I though the view was better from Sacre Coeur, but don't tell anyone. I fed Chase and then we made our way down to the first level and the gift shop. After we shopped, we went down to the bottom. As we arrived, they turned on the lights and it was incredible. So very cool.

A few facts about the Eiffel Tower:

The Eiffel Tower is a 19th century iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris that has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.

The Eiffel Tower, which is the tallest building in Paris, is the single most visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year.

Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World's Fair,the Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution.

The tower stands at 324 m (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-story building. It was the tallest structure in the world from its completion until 1930, when it was eclipsed by the Chrysler Building in New York City.

Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years, meaning it would have had to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily demolished) but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiration of the permit. The military used it to dispatch Parisian taxis to the front line during the First Battle of the Marne, and it therefore became a victory statue of that battle.

Notre Dame

2010-01-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

Our second stop on our busy day was the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was an amazing sight. Construction on this cathedral began in 1163 and it was not completed until 1345. We spent some time taking pictures in front, and then went into the cathedral.

Chase and I posing in front.

The carvings and statues around the doors are incredible in their detail and workmanship.

Gargoyles

The inside of the Cathedral was beautiful. So many colorful stained glass windows. These pictures do not do them justice! The colors were so much more brilliant and vivid. My camera was not the best, especially in low light.

I needed to change Chase so I was looking for a bathroom. I couldn't find one, so I had to improvise by finding a quiet corner with a bench (which happened to be in a nook where there was shrine to Joan of Arc) where I could lay down a blanket and change my baby. It was quickly accomplished and we continued our tour of the cathedral.

The famous rose window

Unfortunately, we were there when they were tuning the organ. The discordant notes drove me out of the building much sooner than I would have liked. It was just too much to take!

A side view of the cathedral.

Once we got out, we decided to go have some lunch before walking around to the back. Across the street on the side of the church there were some little cafes. We picked one and went inside. Chase and I shared a ham and cheese sandwich with French fries (he mostly chowed down on the fries) and a cup of hot chocolate (which I didn't share). It was delicious. The French version of a ham and cheese sandwich has the cheese melted on the top.

Yummy!

After we ate, we walked around to the back. Can you see the flying buttresses? Notre Dame was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress. The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave. After the construction began and the thinner walls grew higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. The second picture gives a closer look at the supports.

Next we walked along the river side of the cathedral. There was a little playground there, so I let Chase play for a bit. Then we saw a guy feeding the birds (tuppence a bag).

Here is a Picture of the Seine River. The barges along the bank made me and Heather start singing "The Highlander" song. "I am immortal, I have inside me blood of kings. . ."

A good view of the river side of Notre Dame. Then it was off to the Eiffel Tower. Stay tuned.

Montmartre and Sacre Coeur

2010-01-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

Friday in Paris was to be our busiest day. We were going to hit all the major Parisian attractions, so we got going early. Our house happened to be not far from Montmartre, which is the name of a hill in Paris and also the name of the surrounding area. Back in the day, it was a place where many artists had studios or worked around the community. You may recognise some of their names: Salvador Dalí, Modigliani, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh. Today there are still many artists who set up their easels in the area, try to capture the essence of Paris and sell their work to the tourists who pass there heading for the basilica of the Sacred Heart or Sacre Coeur. That was our first destination. We left the house and started to walk. After awhile, we became uncertain about which way to go, so Dad and his trusty French came to the rescue, as they had so many times during our trip. He asked this cute French woman to point the way. She did better than that, she offered to take us where we wanted to go as it was on her way. She led us up the hill, along curving streets and through picturesque parks until we entered the Place du Tertre. There were artists everywhere, painting and selling their wares. Above the rooftops, we could see the gleaming white dome of the basilica. We said "Au revoir" and "merci" to our wonderful guide and fanned out into the plaza to look at the paintings.

Here is one of the curving streets we took on our way up to Montmartre

Here is the plaza with all of the artists.

In these two pictures, you can see the white basilica in the background. After admiring the handiwork of the artists in the area, we headed for the Church of the Sacred Heart.

The basilica is located at the summit of the Montmartre, which is the highest point in the city. The cornerstone of the basilica was laid in 1875, but the building was not completed until 1914. We went in and walked around the inside of the church, and then Heather, Joanna, Sandra, Dad and I decided to climb to the top and check out the view. I left Chase with Mom and Aunt Laraine and we paid our fee and headed up the stairs.

In the stairwell.

The view from the top was spectacular! We were lucky that it was such a clear day. Sandra got her first good look at the Eiffel Tower and we were all in agreement that it had been well worth the climb.

Catch up time!

2010-01-06T21:59:00.000-08:00

I was just looking through all of the pictures we took last year and as I got closer to the end of the year I noticed that there were a bunch of pictures that I had intended to put on the blog that never made it, so I'm having a "do over" moment for November and December

Pies aplenty, pies galore

First I have to post a picture of all of the fabulous, yummy pies that I made for Thanksgiving dinner. They turned out so delicious that I have to brag a bit. I made eight (I think) and I had so much fun it occurred to me that I should take orders next year.

The closest two are the cherry and apple. They were my favorites.

"And you're just a good citizen helping out."

Also in November, Joslyn got awarded the "Good Citizen" award at school. She was very happy and Phil and I were able to go to the little ceremony held on the front lawn. Yeah Joslyn!

Six years old!

Next I want jump into December and put up some pictures of Joslyn's birthday party. I asked her what she wanted to do for her party this year and she said that she wanted a sleepover. I told her that if she wanted to do that she could only invite three girls, because that was all I could handle. We did a "Fancy Nancy" party and all the girls dressed up. We ate pizza and had cake and ice cream. The girls slept down stairs and stayed up very late. The next morning we ate waffles and opened presents. Joslyn had a great time and was very happy, which made all the screaming worth it . . . well almost.

This is what happens when there are four little girls in the house!

cake . . .

and presents!

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree . . .

Chase was fascinated by the Christmas tree. He loved touching the lights and pulling on all the shiny things that were hung with such care. Too much temptation for the little guy!

Destructo Boy and the dastardly sticky hand!

Last but not least, I had to share the latest in the Destructo Boy saga. This Christmas, Destructo Boy discovered the joy of candy canes. He loved them so very much and didn't care that they would leave his hands and fingers covered with their sticky deliciousness. I found more of these than I care to remember.

You could say that I caught the boy red handed.

Here comes Santa Claus.

2010-01-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the kids with Santa at the ward Christmas party. Caleb was afraid of him, so I figured that the best way to get a good picture was to stick the kids all together so that the little ones would feel reassured by the presence of the bigger ones. Worked pretty well, didn't it?

Ah, Paris!

2010-01-05T22:43:00.000-08:00

We left our beautiful chateau on Thursday morning and headed for Paris. After a quick stop at a bakery for some delicious breakfast pastries (including some chocolate eclairs) we were on our way. Jo and I sat in the front with Dad. We were charged with guiding the van through the city to the house where we were staying. Jo and I plotted a course using our map and we felt pretty good about our game plan. Unfortunately, our map was not that great and after spending two hours attempting to navigate the city (blast those rond points!), Dad was about to come unglued and the rest of us were at our wits end. Dad was ready to pull over and ditch the car when we finally found the road that we had been seeking. Using this street as a starting point, we were able to successfully navigate our way to our house. Whew!
We unloaded all our junk and then Dad, Mom, Laraine and Jo turned the van into the rental company and came back to the house using the trusty subway system. While they were gone, Heather, Sandra, Chase, and I went to the market and picked up some groceries. When the rest of the group came home, we ate some dinner and then hit the streets of Paris for some site seeing. Here is what we saw.

Here we are at the Arc de Triomphe. Despite the chill in the air, it felt amazing to be walking the streets of Paris and seeing fantastic historic sites. Next we took a stroll down the Champs-Elysees. It was incredible. Dad showed us a movie theater where he had gone to see a movie while on his mission (before that kind of thing was against the rules). We also passed some very posh stores. I took a picture of the Louis Vuitton store for Brittney. I knew she would appreciate it.

We walked all the way to the Luxor Obelisk and then caught the train back to our house so we could get some sleep to be ready for our first full day in Paris. So much fun!

Four Course Meal

2009-12-18T00:33:00.000-08:00

While we stayed at the Chateau de Brou we had the chance to eat a very fancy four course meal. We all dressed in our fancy clothes and wore our fancy shoes and ate in the very fancy dining room. Here is a picture of the dining area, we were in our own alcove off the main room.

The room where you wait for your table to be ready.

Dining Room

The fireplace. Note the M on the top. We are sure it stands for Metcalfe.

This was our table in the room just off the main dining area.

They probably put us there because they wanted to separate the rambunctious Americans from the rest of the diners, but we were happy and it was great. Here are some pictures of our delicious dinner. Not only was the dinner well prepared, but it was also well presented. I missed getting a picture of the little (and I mean tiny) bowl of delightful cold tomato soup they served us to whet our appetites, but here are the rest. I had to get out my thesaurus to find different synonyms for delicious or you would be hearing it over and over again and repetition in writing is never a good thing. Enjoy! It's making me hungry just writing about it!

The salad. It was mouthwatering.

Joanna was brave and got the goose liver pate. I tried some and it was very yummy.

The fish course. I believe this is cod. Very flaky and savory.

My main dish. I got the beef with white beans and a rich gravy. They also had duck and a few others, but I didn't get pictures of those.

The cheese course. This is actually goat cheese on some sweet toasted bread triangles with some greens on the side. Very tasteful. Even Jo was able to get over her aversion to non melted cheese and eat it.

Dessert! This was my apricot crumble. So sweet with just the right amount of fruity tartness!

This was the chocolate cake. I got a taste. It was delectable.

This was the rhubarb flambe. It was heavenly, but we were sad that they didn't bring it out and let us see them light it on fire.

It took us about two and a half hours to eat our meal. There were about fifteen minutes between each course. The portions were small, but perfect because there were so many courses. That, plus the crunchy, divine bread rolls (sorry no picture) were more than enough to fill us. It was a wonderful experience.

Nine months old

2009-12-18T00:22:00.000-08:00

My little Chase is nine months and then some. I have been slow getting this post out and soon with have to post a new one with a 10 instead of a 9. He is the sweetest little guy! So pleasant and sweet and just a love. I am honored to be his mother and he has taught me so much. I'm am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for sending him to my family!

Birthday wishes

2009-12-15T21:44:00.000-08:00

My little baby girl turns six today! I can't believe so much time has passed. It seems like she should still be as little as Chase, and yet, here she is six years old and such a big girl. SIGH! Joslyn, there are so many things I wish for you on this day. I wish for your continued health and happiness. I wish for you to always know that your family loves you, not just your family here on earth, but your heavenly family as well. I wish for you to always have a love of learning and to keep being as creative as you are now. So many other good things I wish for you and I hope that you will always stay close to our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. Happy Birthday Joslyn! We love you!

Chateau de Brou

2009-12-08T23:34:00.000-08:00

It was about 5:00 when we arrived at the Chateau. The car stopped and we all jumped out exclaiming excitedly to each other and telling our parents that they rocked big time. We went into the Chateau and Dad checked us in and got our keys. We followed him from room to room, marveling at the beautiful rooms and the fantastic bathrooms. The tubs were so deep and we couldn't wait for a chance to take a soak. We all chose our rooms and then settled down for awhile before dinner. More on that later . . .

A closer view of the front of the Chateau

The entry

The stairs to our rooms.

Aunt Laraine's room

Heather and Sandra's room

Dad and Mom's room

Jo, Chase and my room (we were in the Joan of Arc room)

This was Chase's side of the room.

My awesome deep tub. I have got to get me one of these!

On our way to Paris we stopped WHERE?!

2009-12-01T15:31:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, we left Angouleme for good. We had been going back to there every night after our sight seeing and staying at the house where Mom and Dad had been living. It was really great because it saved us tons of money on hotel bills. We already had a house that we had rented for our days in Paris, but when I asked Dad where we were staying on Wednesday night while we were in route to Paris, he was very vague saying only "we've got it worked out." Very mysterious. Anyway, our plan for the day was to see some Chateaus on the way to Oradour Sur Glane. I covered that in the last post so now on to the Chateaus! The first place we stopped was Chateau de la Rochefoucauld and it was beautiful. We could not go inside, but we walked around the grounds and took pictures. Here are a few of the best ones.

Me and Chase and the back view of the Chateau

Here is a view of the front of the Chateau

Here we are in front of the doors, ready to move in.

According to legend, the castle is haunted by the spirit of Melusine, who was thrown from the top of the tower, or the souls of the founding family of La Rochefoucauld. Personally, I didn't see or hear any ghosts, but I also didn't actually go in, so . . .

After we went to Oradour we stopped at another Chateau in a very cute small town. It was called Chateau de Langeais and was built sometime in the 10th century. Under the Plantagenet kings, the chateau was fortified and expanded by Richard I of England (King Richard the Lionhearted). However, King Philippe II of France recaptured the château in 1206. Eventually though, during the Hundred Years' War, the English almost totally destroyed it. The chateau was rebuilt about 1465 during the reign of King Louis XI.

The great hall of the château was the scene of the marriage of Anne of Brittany to King Charles VIII on December 6, 1491 that made the permanent union of Brittany and France. However, the fifteen-year-old Duchesse Anne, not happy with the politically arranged marriage, arrived for her wedding with her entourage carrying two beds.

The outside walls

Sandra and Chase in the courtyard

We then started heading toward our final destination of the night. Everyone in the car was very curious and Mom and Dad were keeping mum about the whole thing, so we stayed quiet and enjoyed our drive through the French countryside.

At about 5:00 we arrived at a gate and Dad spoke through a little intercom. The gates opened and we drove through and into a forest. By now we knew that this was where we were staying for the night, but we didn't know what it was. We rounded the corner and this is what we saw.

Needless to say, pandemonium broke out in the car as we all exclaimed in delight over the chance to actually sleep in a chateau. More on that later. . . :)

New Teeth and No Teeth

2009-11-23T10:31:00.000-08:00

I need to take a quick break from my France posts to mark a momentous occasion. Well, two actually. Chase got one of his two front teeth while we were in France. Then the tooth next to it came in, I mean the one on the side, not the other front one. He has been lopsided ever since and the other front one just wouldn't come up although it was right beneath the surface. Joslyn, on the other hand, lost her front tooth and then the one one the side, so she had a gap, a tooth, and then another gap. She looked like a red neck. Anyway, yesterday Joslyn finally lost her other front tooth, and Chase finally gained his. All is right with the world.

Chase's new teeth

Joslyn's big gap

Oradour sur Glane

2009-11-19T19:09:00.000-08:00

I was going to make this post include other activities that we did on Wednesday, but as I was writing I really felt that Oradour sur Glane should stand alone and have its own post, so here goes.

We left Angouleme and headed for Paris. One of our stops was the town of Oradour Sur Glane. Here is a little history lesson to explain the importance of this place. On the 10th of June 1944, a group of soldiers from the Der Führer regiment of the 2nd SS-Panzer Division Das Reich entered and then surrounded the small town of Oradour-sur-Glane, near to the city of Limoges.

At first, they told the Mayor, Jean Desourteaux, that there was to be an identity check and that everyone must go to the Champ de Foire (fairground) while this took place. After rounding up all the inhabitants that they could find, the SS then changed their story from that of an identity check, to one of searching for hidden arms and explosives. The soldiers then said that while they searched for the arms, the women and children must wait in the church and the men in nearby barns.

The women and children were marched off to the church, the children being encouraged by the soldiers to sing as they went. After they had left, the men were divided into six groups and led off to different barns in the town under armed guard. When the townspeople were all safely shut away the SS began to kill them all.

A large gas bomb, seemingly made out of smoke-screen grenades and intended to asphyxiate the occupants, was placed in the church, but it did not work properly when it went off and so the SS had to use machine guns and hand grenades to disable and kill the women and children. After they had subdued all the occupants of the church, the soldiers piled wood on the bodies, many of whom were still alive and set it on fire.

Only one person managed to escape alive from the church and that was Madame Rouffanche. She saw her younger daughter who was sitting next to her killed by a bullet as they attempted to find shelter in the vestry. Madame Rouffanche then ran to the altar end of the church where she found a stepladder used to light the candles. Placing the ladder behind the altar she climbed up and threw herself through a window and out onto the ground some 10 feet below. As she picked herself up, a woman holding her baby tried to follow, but they were seen by the soldiers and both woman and child were killed. In spite of being shot and wounded five times, Madame Rouffanche escaped round the back of the church and dug herself into the earth between some rows of peas, where she remained hidden until late the next day.

At the same time that the gas bomb exploded in the church, the SS fired their machine guns into the men crowded in the barns. They deliberately fired low, so that many of the men were badly wounded but not killed. The soldiers then piled wood and straw on the bodies and set it alight, many of the men thus burned to death, unable to move because of their injuries. Six men did manage to escape from Madame Laudy's barn, but one of them was seen and shot dead, the other 5 all wounded, got away under cover of darkness.

While these killings were taking place, the soldiers searched the town for any people who had evaded the initial roundup and killed them where they found them. One old invalid man was burned to death in his bed and a baby was baked to death in the local bakery ovens, other people were killed and their bodies thrown down a well. People who attempted to enter the town to see what was going on were shot dead. A local tram which arrived during the killings was emptied of passengers, who after several terrifying minutes were let go in peace.

After killing all the townspeople that they could find, the soldiers set the whole town on fire and early the next day, laden with booty stolen from the houses, they left.

The town was rebuilt nearby, but they left the ruins as a memorial to all those who had died there. Before the soldiers left, they buried most of the bodies in mass graves so it was very difficult in the aftermath to identify the victims. Many of the families were never able to have the closure they needed because they were not able to identify and bury the remains of their loved ones.

One of the streets in the ruins.

The church

This plaque on the side of the church asks for silence and prayers from believers for the souls of those who died within the church walls.

I held my baby close and fought back tears as I looked at these wheels from a baby stroller and tried not to imagine the horror those mothers must have felt as they sat there with their children, unable to protect them.

The only survivor from the church escaped from one of these windows.

Looking at the town from the steps of the church.

The fairgrounds where the villagers were assembled.

These were the most sobering moments of the trip, but I think that it was well worth the stop because it is an important bit of history and we need to remember the past so that we can do better in the future. It was sad to see such stark evidence of the wrongs that men can perpetrate against one another, but we were all comforted by the fact that our Heavenly Father is good and just and has a plan for us all.

Rocamadour

2009-11-16T22:23:00.000-08:00

November 3rd

On Tuesday we got up early and went out into the French countryside. Our ultimate destination was Rocamadour, which is a Chateau and a church built on top of and into a cliff. On our way, we had a few stops at different Chateaus. The first one was not actually a planned stop. Dad had planned to drive past and point it out to us, but Chase had other plans. He got hungry so we pulled over so I could feed him. It ended up being such a cool place so it was great that we were able to have a chance to see it. It was one of the Chateaus that was sacked during the French Revolution, so it is still in ruins right now, although it is being rebuilt by a French couple. The chateau was actually closed that day, but when they heard that we were visiting from the States, they let us in and showed us two rooms that were still intact. One room was the chapel. It was a room where Charlemagne and Louis III (I think) had attended services. The other room was a dining hall. The stone of the floor was actually worn down in many places. The woman told us that the room dated back to the fifteenth century. Very cool.

Me and Chase in front of the Chateau

The entrance to the chapel

Joanna and Sandra posing on the side of the Chateau

After we left, we drove through a town (unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it) and there was another large Castle there. It was very cool, although we didn't go in. Dad was freaked out that we were taking too long to get to Rocamadour and we would loose our light, so we were hurrying. On a side note, we were driving on country roads that were wet and curvy. Sometimes driving was a little scary, especially when the roads were narrow and there were cars coming the other way.

We got to Rocamadour in the early afternoon. The first glimpse was incredible! We stopped at a vantage point and took these pictures.

Dad let us off at the top of the mountain not far from the Chateau. It was one of the privately owned castles so we couldn't tour the inside. There was a huge elevator there and we took a ride through the mountain to the level where the church was built. There are several churches there, but the biggest church is the pilgrimage church of Notre Dame (rebuilt in 1479). Some of the famous pilgrims to the church include Roland, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II of England, Blanche of Castille, Louis IV, Charles IV, Louis VI, and Jacques Cartier.

We walked down through the village on the way back to the car, and it was very cut and quaint. The only traffic allowed into the village was local traffic because of the small streets. On our way home we stopped at another small city and got out and wandered around. I stopped at a perfume shop and bought some delicious smelling French perfume. Ooo la la!

France (Part 2)

2009-11-12T22:27:00.000-08:00

November 2nd

On Monday, we slept in. Chase and I woke up at 10:30 and felt well rested. We came down stairs and Mom was making crepes for breakfast. YUMMY! They were tasty and I tried mine with apricot jam and marzipan. I need Mom to give me that recipe! After breakfast we drove to the bank to
get some money. While we were waiting for Dad to come back to the car we saw this old man standing at a bus stop with a baguette in his hand. It fit so well with our idea of a Frenchman, that we just had to take his picture. He probably thought we were crazy, because we were snapping pictures of him and laughing like loons.

Next, we drove to a vantage point where we could see the old city of Angouleme. It is actually a very old city which dates back to at least 507 A.D. There are old walls and old churches and lots of history. It was beautiful.

We drove up into the city and Mom and Dad took us to take pictures of these wall paintings that are all around town. They are all cartoons painted on different buildings. Some are small, just one or two cartoon characters, while others cover one entire side of the building. Here are just a few examples.

We also went to a cathedral dedicated to the virgin Mary. It had fantastic stained glass windows and beautiful sculptures and friezes.

We walked around a little and looked at the buildings around town. There were so many houses with character. Not like the tract housing that you see here all too often.

It was a little cold and rained off and on, but it was a great day. We went to an outdoor mall and went shopping. We ate a chocolate pastry and went to a hat store and got hats. I love, love, love mine! It is brown and so cute!

Then we went shopping for clothes and it was so much fun to be with Mom and the sisters and try on all those cute clothes. I got a few cute shirts and a very cute vest which I had to don immediately. I felt very stylish walking around in my hat and vest! Dad took us out for kabobs, which were so very tasty. Then it was home and bed to be ready for the next adventure.

France (Part 1 of many)

2009-11-10T10:54:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that the trip to France has come and gone. I had been looking forward to it for so long and it seemed that it would never get here. Then all of a sudden, it was here and I was leaving, and now it is gone and I am back home and mostly recovered from some serious jet lag! I have so many things to blog about, that it will take several posts, so here it goes.

October 29-October 31

Phil and the kids drove Chase and me to the airport. Our flight was supposed to leave at 10:00 p.m to Portland. Then from Portland, we were flying to Amsterdam, and then to Bordeaux, where my parents were going to meet us. When I got to the airport, they told me that the Portland flight had been cancelled. They rerouted me to Denver instead. When I arrived in Denver I was supposed to fly to Minneapolis, then to Amsterdam and then to Bordeaux, but the Minneapolis flight had been delayed to the point that I would miss my connector, so they told me I might have to wait until tomorrow. I said forget it, find me something! It took the nice lady at the counter some time, but eventually we ended up going to Cincinnati and then to Paris and finally to Bordeaux. SIGH! It seemed to take forever for us to get there, but we made it. Chase was the best little traveler. I felt so blessed and really learned from his example how to be good natured even in the face of obstacles. The French were, for the most part, very solicitous towards me because of the baby and helped me with my bag and let me go to the front of every line and that was very helpful.
I had told Phil to try to contact my parents with my change of flight plans, but wasn't sure if he had been able to get a hold of them, so it was with some trepidation that I stepped off the plane in Bordeaux and found no one there to greet me. A very helpful young man who was moving his family to France so he could teach, helped me locate the area where international flights were met, luckily it was just on the other side of the building as the Bordeaux Airport is rather small, and there were my parents sitting on a bench waiting for my original flight which was due in about a half an hour. Needless to say, they were very surprised to see me since my plane was not there yet, but we had a wonderful reunion and I was so happy to introduce them to Chase.

Grandma had a great time getting to know Chase, who was in his pumpkin jacket in honor of Halloween.
We stayed at the airport until we collected everyone (Jo, Sandra and Heather flew in together from Salt Lake and Aunt Laraine flew in From Denver via London) and then we hopped into the mini bus that Dad had rented and drove back to Angouleme. We arrived at the house where Mom and Dad had been living and had some dinner. We got dressed and then were able to go to the baptism of a young lady that Mom and Dad had taught and worked with a lot. She had asked Dad to do the baptism and we had a wonderful time meeting all of the members of the Branch. Then it was home and to bed!

November 1

Our first full day in France was a Sunday and we were able to go to church with Mom and Dad. It was fast Sunday and although we didn't understand much of what was being said, the Spirit was very strong and we felt the love of our Father in Heaven through those wonderful Saints in Angouleme. After church, everybody lined up outside for pictures and hugs. Many tears were shed and we felt almost guilty for taking our parents away from them.

We went back to the house and had dinner with the Elders, then went to visit one of the members, a 99 year old lady, who is confined to her house. Dad came to give her the sacrament and we visited for awhile. It was a chance for us to see some of the countryside because she lives outside of the city and there were several interesting Chateaus on the way there. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera, so I will have to get those pictures from someone else. It was fun, but by the end of the night, I was exhausted and happy to get back to the house and get some sleep.

Vicarious Halloween

2009-10-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

Jaime is away in France during her most anticipated holiday of the year and I am posting this for her benefit.

Joslyn left her wig and hat to her costume at school, which is an improvement over last year wherein she left her entire costume at school, and we had to improvise on game day. That stunt earned for her the hot displeasure of her mother and the curse that she would "just have to wear the same costume next year". That is a punishment, I learned, which is akin to wearing the same dress to consecutive school dances (This is also a punishment rather than the apparent blessing of not having to shop for another dress, incur additional expense or experience the dissatisfaction of changing dress sizes. Its a rather impractical mindset I know, but ask your wife she'll confirm it). Perhaps Mom's ire will be tempered by Dad's indifference through whom she will be made aware of the grievous infraction. She compensated for her forgetfulness by coloring her hair haphazardly, or least deliberately non-uniformly, at her friend Madilyn's home. Her recently lost front teeth were a wonderful addition to her appearance.

Caleb fought to not have to dress as "Buzz Light" but, having apprehended that candy was to be had only in character, became readily compliant. No sooner had he completed his transformation than the forces of good and evil gave forum to settle the age old question: who really would win in a battle between Buzz Lightyear and Megatron. In the end a truce was called as both parties realized that their energies were better spent accumulating energy units. They joined forces and embarked on a daring journey through the neighborhood seeking their plunder, which promised to be so rich that the mere anticipation of it brought peels of laughter to their throats and a glint to their eyes.

The kids were well behaved and enjoyed the experience as well as the bounty, and at the end of the night after all of them returned I took them up the street to the Winsteads home. I was happy to both be able to distribute candy to trick-or-treaters and follow the kids to a couple of doors. They were so well behaved that perhaps a reward would be appropriate, but how does one compete with Halloween? Beside my reward may be the same as Jaime's punishment and lead to all sorts of Halloween confusion.

Spooky Stories at the Beach

2009-10-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

While Phil was away, we were invited to a beach party out in Haleiwa by some members of our ward. We went and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We made smores and told spooky stories around the campfire (although we had to tone them down due to all the kids who were there). It was a lot of fun. The kids played in the water, hunted for crabs, and generally had a blast with their friends. I was happy to get out of the house, have an easy dinner, and visit with adults. Thanks Devon and Shirlyn for the invite.

Roasting the perfect marshmallow in honor of Phil.

Eating said marshmallow

Joslyn and Brooklyn

Looking for crabs

Listening to the scary stories. BOO!

Gap Toothed Grins

2009-10-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

Joslyn has been busy loosing all of her teeth. She lost one of the front teeth last week. Here she is in her Halloween costume on her way to a party.

A few days later, she lost another of her front teeth, only not the one next to the gap. So now she has a gap, then a tooth, then another gap. I guess it will make her Halloween getup even more authentic. Don't witches have gap toothed smiles? Anyway, the good news is that the tooth in the middle is also loose and will hopefully fall out any day now. Just in time for Christmas!:)

8 Months Old

2009-10-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

My baby is now eight months old. It has flown by so fast. He is crawling all over the place now and has started pulling himself up so he can stand. The other day he used the bathroom cabinets to help himself stand, and then let go for a second to get a better grip. At this rate, he will be walking by the time we get back from France!

His big cheeser says "I'm standing by myself, Mom!"

Look out world, he's mobile!

2009-10-10T23:55:00.000-07:00

Chase started crawling this week. Actual legitimate crawls, not the half army crawl half scooting thing he had been using to get around. He loves to be able to move about by himself and investigate all the neat things out there. Good motivation for me to keep up on the cleaning of the floors!

He sees his target.

He turns himself around so that he is facing the right way.

Up he gets . . .

Here he comes!

Gotcha!

The Honolulu Zoo

2009-10-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

This week we are on Fall Break and the kids are out of school for a week and two days. In an attempt to keep kids occupied and mothers sane, the ward Mother's Group planned a trip to the zoo on Tuesday. I thought it would be a fun activity for the kids, especially Caleb, since it had been over a year since the last time we were there. The kids were able to see the animals and their friends at the same time and I was able to visit with some of the ladies. Caleb loved all of the animals, especially the monkeys and the turtles and I only lost him once at the beginning when I was feeding the parking meter and he tried to go ahead without me. Luckily a nice person corralled him for me and we were able to go the rest of the day without another incident.

Here are some of the kids in front of the elephant enclosure. We got to see one of the elephants take a dip in the water. He played there for about 10 minutes, splashing and making elephant sounds that delighted Caleb to no end.

Here are Joslyn, Madison and Kellen in front of the giraffe, zebra, and rhino area.

Chase spent most of the day in the stroller playing with his toes. He is such a great baby!

The Honolulu Zoo is great because it is big enough to have all your major animals, elephants, tigers, giraffes, zebras, rhinos, monkey of all varieties, cheetahs, crocodiles, hippos, lions (although the lions they had died of old age and the new ones had not arrived yet), a reptile house, a bird house and a few other odds and ends. It also has a petting zoo and a playground. However, it is also small enough that it does not take you forever to get through, so we were home around three and had the rest of the afternoon to do other things. It was a hot day, but we had a great time.

Seven Months Old

2009-10-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

Now I know that Chase has been seven months old for a couple of weeks now, but I'm a little behind, so here goes. He is getting so big isn't he? I think he is just about the best baby in the world and he is so fun and sweet. The other kids just love him and he loves it when they talk to him and play with him. He is sitting up now and after weeks of scooting backwards, has finally perfected the forward army crawl. He scoots himself all over the place and loves being mobile, although he will still sit in his high chair and on my lap for long periods of time, which I hope lasts until after we get home from Paris. He is a little love!

Bouncing! Bouncing, bouncing, morning, noon, and noony night.

I guess dinner wasn't all that interesting.

I So Rock!

2009-09-08T19:31:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I ran my first half marathon. I knew I was going to be slow, but my goal was to run the whole thing and I did it and it was very cool and fulfilling to make a big goal like that and then accomplish it. Here is a breakdown of the race including some highlights and some lowlights.
9:30 pm Saturday I went to bed, but was unfortunately kept up for half the night dealing with little people issues, courtesy of Joslyn and Caleb. Not necessarily the auspicious beginning for which I had hoped.
4:30 am Sunday I woke up to my alarm and stumbled out of bed. I have never claimed to be a morning person, but thought I was pretty lucid considering. I had a bowl of frosted mini wheats, got dressed and most importantly fed Chase! Phil got me out the door at about 10 minutes past five and I took off.

5:10-5:55 am was spent driving. I knew the way, I had been sure to drive there on Friday. I didn't have any trouble until I got close and they started closing roads due to the race. Time was ticking. I needed to be there at 6:00, and I was lost. I finally ended up on one of said closed roads and I drove along until I got flagged down by a woman who said "What are you doing? This road is closed. Don't you know there is a race that is starting in five minutes?" to which I replied, "YES! That is where I'm trying to go!" So she said to park on the side of the road and walk up to the starting line, which was, mercifully close. I had just enough time to find a spot, do some quick stretches and ask a nice lady for help affixing my timing chip to my shoe lace and then we were off.
6:00 am the race began. It was still dark when we started running and along the road they had tiki torches and men dressed in traditional Hawaiian garb blowing on conch shells. Very cool. I won't bore you with all the hairy details, but I will touch on some interesting points of the race.
At about mile 3 it started to rain. At first it was just a light drizzle and was no big deal. Then the rain began in earnest. I seriously felt like I was running in the shower. The down side was that it was hard to see with all the water in my eyes, the up side was that we were in Hawaii, so the rain was warm. I was completely soaked within minutes and my shoes were squishing. Some people pulled over to hide beneath trees, but most of us kept on going. After a couple of miles the rain stopped and it was really beautiful with the moon still out and all the lush greenery all around.
At about mile 6 we ran through the famous tree tunnel. I didn't have my camera on me, but I found this picture on the internet.

At about mile eight I got my biggest laugh of the marathon when I saw a sign posted on one of the cones that separated the race route from the one way traffic. It said CAUTION Chickens Ahead.
On one of the few downhill slopes, I was passed by a guy with shorts that said "I So Rock". At each of the water stations along the route, they had hula dancers and at one point on the road there was a group of drummers beating out a great running cadence.
At about mile 10 I got my legs sprayed with some stuff that cooled my skin and invigorated my muscles. It was very helpful. At mile 11 they were handing out sponges soaked in freezing cold water. By this time, the sun had come out and I was feeling rather warm, so I took a sponge, squeezed it on the back of my neck, yelped loudly, and kept going.
This is what I saw as I approached the end of the race:

At about mile 12 I started to speed up because I could see the finish line. The closer I got, the faster I went. Then I saw Phil run out with the camera and start taking pictures. He was yelling and urging me forward. I felt so overwhelmed at having met my goal. I couldn't believe that I had made it. That coupled with the fact that Phil was there with me almost brought me to tears. It was so wonderful to have him there and then I passed my kids cheering from the sidelines and I felt like I was flying! I was running all alone at the time and the announcer blared out my name and everybody was cheering. It was very cool and I couldn't stop grinning. I got a metal, which impressed my children to no end, and then got to go and eat some of the yummy fruit and things they had for us. I finished 748th out of 994, and did it in 2 hours and 50 minutes. I feel happy that I was able to actually run the whole way. It was a lot of fun and I had a great time. I am glad that I did it and am now ready to take on the Honolulu Marathon in December. Want to come watch?

Kauai

2009-09-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend our family flew over to the neighboring island of Kauai so that I could run the half marathon there. The flight was great and took us only about 25 minutes from takeoff to landing. Caleb was so excited to go "bye bye na airpane" and was so cute with his little backpack and blanket.

We flew out of Honolulu on Thursday evening and arrived in Kauai at about 6:30. We picked up our cars, yes you read that right, cars as in two of them. It turns out that it is cheaper to rent two economy cars than it is to rent one mini van. By about half. Go figure. Anyway, we picked up our cars and drove to the hotel where we received our first unpleasant surprise. You see when I booked the hotel, they gave me the impression that it was in the same town as the marathon, but it wasn't. Hmmm, you'll hear more about the race later, as it will receive it's very own post. The second of our nasty surprises came when I was checking in and asked for a playpen for Chase. They said " sure, that will be $20 a night extra." What?! I could have brought my own for $10 on the airplane. Grrrrr! I have never been charged extra for a playpen at a hotel, and I have stayed in a lot of them. OK, deep breath! Don't let them break you. Moving on. The hotel room was not stellar, but it was the cheapest I could find. At least it was clean and although the beds were uncomfortable, there was a pool and we were on the beach (although in Kauai, almost everything is on the beach).

Three kids in the bed.

On Friday we drove down to the marathon headquarters so that I could get my packet. It was a beautiful day and a lovely drive, although it took us longer to get there then I had hoped. After that was done, we decided to go and see the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" and do some hiking. It was so beautiful and we had such a great time. The only bad thing about it was that my camera battery died half way through the hike so I don't have any pictures of the waterfall and pool were we played for awhile before heading back to the car.

Smelling the flowers along the way.

On Saturday we drove up to the North Shore and went on one of the most beautiful hikes EVER! It is called the Kalalau Trail. It takes you right along the coast and it was breathtaking. Unfortunately we did not even come close to hiking the whole thing. For one, my race was the next day and we didn't want to exhaust my legs. For another, we didn't want to miss the BYU game, so we hiked part of the trail and then hiked back to the car, but we had a great time and got lots of great pictures. We hope that some day we will be able to come back and backpack the entire length of the trail. Then we went back to the hotel, watched BYU pull off a shocking win, went swimming with the kids and had some yummy pizza, the dinner of champions.

On Sunday, I got up bright and early (4:30 am) to go and run my race. That blog is coming next so keep checking back. Anyway, after the race I got back to the hotel and we were able to attend a local ward that started at one in the afternoon. We spent the rest of the day hanging at the hotel with the kids and went to bed early because I was exhausted!

Monday we checked out of our hotel and drove around the island checking out some of the waterfalls. We almost went for another hike, but we didn't want to be rushing around trying to catch our flight later so we decided not to do it. We had a lot of fun and were able to make our flight with plenty of time to spare. All in all, a great mini vacation for our family.

This was the water fall on Jurassic Park

Geocaching

2009-09-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Phil has discovered a new fun thing to do with our kids. Since we love to go out hiking he thought this might be something to motivate the kids to keep going when they get tired. It is called geocaching. It is kind of like a treasure hunt because you go out with coordinates, and then using your GPS system, you find a cache. It is usually a box of some kind with different objects in it. Once you find the box, you take something out, and leave something behind for the next person. There is a web site that tells you all the different coordinates and they can be out in the wilderness, or even just around town. Phil, Joslyn, and Caleb went on a trial run to a cache close to our house, and then we decided to go on a hike to find a cache by a waterfall here on the island. The kids were super excited and were such troopers. Unfortunately, while we were hiking, Phil was still trying to figure out all the settings on his GPS and he messed up the coordinates so we didn't know where to go, but we had a lot of fun and plan to do it again in the future. Hopefully next time we will have more success. :)

Darn it! Where are we again?

Cutest passport picture ever!!

2009-08-26T13:35:00.001-07:00

Most of us hate our passport pictures, and our driver's license pictures, and . . . well, you know. This boy, however, has nothing of which to be ashamed because, let's face it people, he is too darn cute!

Dinner Time fun

2009-08-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

I have been feeding Chase real food these days, as the boy is now six months old. He couldn't figure it our at first and everything I put in his mouth ended up on his shirt. Now, however he has finally got the hang of it. He loves rice cereal and hates cream of wheat. Bananas went over well as did apple sauce. It is fun start introducing him to new foods and seeing the reactions on his expressive little face. Here we are at dinner the other night. We were eating spaghetti and Chase was enjoying some rice cereal. This was the first night that he was actually able to eat most of his food instead of spitting it back at me.

In the big boy chair

Here comes the airplane

Joslyn likes to help

Caleb already has this eatig thing down . . . well, mostly

Six Months old!

2009-08-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

It is that time again. Time to post a picture of my sweet baby and wonder why the time seems to be flying by! Six months, WOW!

A day in the life of Caleb

2009-08-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I followed Caleb around and recorded (via the camera) some of his daily activities. I thought it was pretty funny, so I'll share with the rest of you.

Put Vaseline in cup? Check!

Throw stuff on the stairs? Check!

Cars on fridge? Check!

Line cars up on couch? Check!

Help Joslyn pick up game? Check!

Hide car under bush outside? Check!

Whew, what a busy day, and that wasn't even the half of it!

First Day of School

2009-08-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that time of year again. The time that kids dread and parents rejoice. School time! This year Nathan is in third grade, while Joslyn gets to go through kindergarten. She wanted to move on to first grade since she did the pre-K program last year and it was offered to us, but Phil and I decided that since she is so young and all the kids her age on the mainland are just now starting kindergarten, we would keep her with her age group. She seems OK with that now that school has started and she is making new friends and likes her new teacher. Nathan got lucky and has a lot of his friends from 2nd grade in his class this year. His teacher seems nice but firm, so that is good. He is excited to learn to write in cursive this year. They are both taking the bus again and we have made a deal that they can eat school lunch once a week, so that makes them happy to get a change every once and a while. I am happy because I get to have a little peace during the day, especially at nap time. School is cool.

Nathan's Baptism

2009-08-04T18:11:00.001-07:00

Nathan got baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on August 1, 2009. The baptism was preformed by his father and was held in the Mililani Hawaii Stake Center. It was so wonderful to see how excited Nathan was for his baptism and we were so pleased with his decision to follow the example of Jesus Christ. The program was a bit long, but the Spirit was there and we got through it with only a few escape attempts by Caleb and a few complaints of "Are they done yet?" from Joslyn. The Stake asks that you not make a big to do afterward so that the focus can be on the kids and the ordinance and not the party after, so we told Nathan that we would take him out to eat wherever he wanted. Yep, we went to Chucky Cheese. That was OK though because the kids got to play and relieve some of the pent up energy that sitting for an hour and a half had stored up in their little bodies. It was a great day and one of many such milestones to be enjoyed.

All dressed in white

Mother and Son

Happy Birthdy Nathan!

2009-08-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

Nathan had his eighth birthday a couple of weeks ago. We had a little party for him with cake and ice cream and a few friends. Then we went to go see "Up" at the theater down at Pearl Harbor. It was a fun day and he was so excited to be turning eight.

5 Months old

2009-07-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Here it is. Yet another post about my growing little Chase. He is getting so big! He is trying to sit up and I tried to give him cereal the other day, but he just spit it back at me, so I guess we're not ready for that yet. Still, he is so sweet and fun and we really love having him in our family.

Destructo Boy and the tale of the Raspberry Lemonade

2009-07-23T18:34:00.000-07:00

Destructo Boy had finally escaped the confines of the his alter ego Caleb Connor. He had spent the last several weeks laying low in order to lull them into a false sense of security, and now was the time to strike. He surveyed the kitchen looking for the perfect weapon with which to enact his revenge. His nemesis, the Mom Lady, was upstairs occupied by the Little Squishy Thing and the Dad Man. No one would notice his return until it was too late. He surveyed the counters, then suddenly, he saw it. The Mom Lady had been careless and had left the powder to make the raspberry lemonade too close to the edge of the counter. He reached up and grabbed it. SUCCESS! The lid was on, but not tight. Destructo Boy laughed at the ease with which he was able to open the container. He dipped in a finger and brought it to his lips, YUMMY! He looked around and plotted how best to spread the powder over the largest square footage possible. Hmmm, lets see, some in the kitchen, some on the stairs, oh, and some in the computer room! Perfect! Now to get it wet and sticky and to smear it all over the floor, my shirt, my face and my hair. HA HA HA HA HA! The Mom Lady won't know what hit her.

Somewhere over the rainbow

2009-07-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

They don't call Hawaii the rainbow state for nothing. We see rainbows all the time, but this one happened to be right behind our house and was so bright and beautiful I just had to snap a picture.

LUKE . . . I am your brother

2009-07-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

One of the joys that you receive as a mother is seeing your children play well together. Nathan is five years older than Caleb, but as they are both boys, they have many things in common and Caleb tends to like the things that Nathan likes because he sees him playing with them and wants to do it too. A couple of weeks ago, Nathan put on his old Halloween costume and was playing outside with his red light sabre. Caleb saw what he was doing and ran upstairs to get the blue one so that he could play too. What followed was a very lively light sabre battle out on the back porch.

The force is strong with you, but you are not a Jedi yet.

Give yourself to the dark side!

I am your brother. No!

4th of July

2009-07-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

We had a great fourth of July this year. Steve and Cathy are here with us and we decided to take a trip to see the Memorials. In the morning we headed down to Pearl Harbor and went to the Arizona Memorial. It was very cool and really touched me to see first hand the sacrifices of all those brave men who died and are still entombed in their ship. After that Phil took us to a spot on Ford Island where you can see holes made in the concrete by the machine guns on the Japanese planes. We sat and had a picnic and then went to the Utah Memorial. I think that these two ships really affected me because my husband is in the Navy and I have had to consider what I would do if he died at sea. Very sad stuff.
After we had visited all the memorials, we went to the Pearl Harbor Base and hung out at the big block party. They had all kinds of games and bounce houses as well as a live band and treats galore. The kids got to go play on the bounce houses and then played frisbee and football with Phil and Steve. Steve and Cathy earned the eternal devotion of my children by purchasing them some cotton candy. Caleb liked it so much that after he was done with his, he went up to some random person, said "hi", grabbed some of their cotton candy and ran. Funny. Anyway, the fireworks were great and we were pleasantly surprised because last year the show up at Schofield was not very good. Caleb fell asleep and missed the fireworks, but he didn't know what he had missed so it was all good. We got stuck in traffic, but still made it home at a decent hour, so it was, all in all, a fabulous day.

At the controls

Looking in the periscope

Phil and Chase

Nathan and Caleb

Climbing trees

Posing by the guns

Wearing Dad's hat

Arizona Memorial

USS Arizona

Ole Glory

Caleb in the bounce house

Yummy cotton candy

Down to the last drop

Four Months Old

2009-06-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

Holy cow, another month has gone zooming past and every day my baby gets bigger and does more stuff. He is not my little lump anymore. He smiles and giggles and scoots himself around and yesterday he even rolled over! Phil and I marvel all the time at his sweet disposition and his calm demeanor. He is truly a joy to be around and brings such a sweetness into our home.

The messy boy saga continues

2009-06-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted a new chapter in the messy boy saga. Not because there have been no new incidences, just that there were no cameras handy during said incidences. Not true in the following story. I went out to dinner with some friends leaving Phil in charge of not only our children, but four kids belonging to one of the ladies with whom I was having dinner. Eight kids is a handful, so it is not terribly surprising that one of them got away from him and trashed my bathroom. Which one you say? Do you even have to guess? No I didn't think so, of course it was Caleb. He dumped out about a half a bottle of Ajax as well as an almost brand new bottle of my Clinique clarifying lotion. Add the fact that he just eaten a couple of chocolate chip cookies and you get this.

I shall call you squishy and you shall be mine, and you shall be my squishy.

2009-06-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

Caleb has been watching "Finding Nemo" a lot these days. It has entered into the family psyche and led us to start calling Chase squishy. He is so little and chubby and yes squishy that it fits him rather well. Here are some pictures to illustrate my point. . .

Lieutenant Phil

2009-06-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

Phil got promoted to lieutenant a couple of weeks ago. It was very cool because I got to go down to his new command and attend the pinning ceremony. I also got to participate and pin the lieutenant bars on the right side of his uniform while the CO pinned the left side. I am very proud of Phil and the work that he does to keep us all fed and clothed and to allow me to stay at home with the kids. Congratulations honey! I love you!

Out of the mouths of babes

2009-05-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

I saw this survey on a friend's blog and I thought that it was super cute and fun so I copied it and asked Nathan and Joslyn these questions. Here are their answers.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
N: Make good decisions.
J: Clean my room.

2. What makes mom happy?
N: When I do the right thing.
J: cleaning? (she said it like a question)

3. What makes mom sad?
N: Making bad decisions and not obeying. (he knows me so well.)
J: Throwing a fit. (so does she)

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
N: When she tells me jokes or tickles me.
J: tickling

5. What was mommy like as a little girl?
N: Cute (good one)
J: being kind

6. How old is your mom?
N: 32
J: 50 (?!!!)

7. How tall is your mom?
N: 96 inches tall
J: 27

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
N: Have fun with me.
J: hiking

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
N: Plays with Caleb and Chase.
J: cleans (again with the cleaning)

10. If your mom becomes famous, it will be for what?
N: Being a good sport. (we certainly need more of those!)
J: 'cause your a mom.

11. What is your mom really good at?
N: Loving your children.
J: cooking

12. What is your mom not very good at?
N: playing with four children. (apparently I need to work on that!)
J: climbing trees (that must be daddy's job)

13. What does your mom do for a job?
N: Being a mom and taking care of us.
J: taking care of her children

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
N: The casserole I don't like. (Uncle Erve's casserole)
J: umm...salad? tater-tot casserole?

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
N: When you are always there for me.
J: cooking dinner

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
N: Queen Amidala (high praise indeed)
J: The main character (nice)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
N: have fun
J: cook dinner together

18. How are you and your mom the same?
N: We are always looking out for each other.
J: Our toenails are both painted the same color. (that would be chocolate brown)

19. How are you and your mom different?
N: I am a boy and you are a girl. (duh!)
J: Our hair is long.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
N: Because she gives me hugs and kisses and tells me so.
J: She helps me do my homework.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
N: Because he is handsome like me.
J: He brings flowers.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
N: To the boat to eat dinner with dad.
J: To the boat to see daddy.

And this little piggy went...into the mouth

2009-05-26T00:04:00.000-07:00

Some people give their babies binkies. They say that binkies are better because you can take them away. I have personally never been a fan of the bink. I'm not sure why, maybe because I saw a lot of eight and nine year old binky suckers in Brazil. Also, when I was pregnant with my first child I read that you should not give a newborn a binky because it can cause nipple confusion. NIPPLE CONFUSION? That sounded bad to me so when they asked me in the hospital if I wanted Nathan to have a binky, I said no. After a couple of months, each one of my children has found the thumb, and it has been glorious! They all started sleeping through the night, at three months old and, in the case of my boys, stopped sucking the thumb voluntarily at about ten months. Joslyn has been my one hold out. She is five and still sucks her thumb at night, but we are working on that and all in all I am a fan of the thumb. Chase found his thumb a couple of weeks ago and started sleeping through the night at just over two months old. This is so nice because I do not function well when sleep deprived. If his thumb falls out of his mouth, he knows exactly where it is and doesn't have to make me search around in his crib for a missing bink. I say, hurray for the thumb!

Nathan

Joslyn

Caleb

Chase

Three Months Old

2009-05-21T23:49:00.000-07:00

Oh how the time flies! My baby boy is three months old already! He is really such a sweet little thing. He is sleeping through the night, rarely fusses and has a great smile. He melts my heart when he looks at me with such love, trust and joy. He has really added something special to our family dynamic and I know that he and Caleb are going to be great friends.

Little Bedfellows

2009-05-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

It seems that there is nothing that Caleb enjoys doing more in the mornings than snuggling with Chase. They are so cute. This morning Chase was in my bed and Caleb ran in and climbed up to lay down next to him. He announced that he needed to give Chase a "mmma" which is Caleb's way of saying kiss, and a hug. Chase is very patient with his older brother. Even though he is often squished by Caleb's attentions, Chase takes it all in stride and endures it with stoicism and sometimes a smile. I really enjoy hanging out with my little friends and feel it an honor to be their mother.

Sunset hike

2009-05-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Last week we wanted to go for a hike, but it was getting late. We decided that we would drive out to Waialua and hike around a little and watch the sun set over the water. We drove out there and then started walking around. There are a lot of off roading trails out for people with trucks and jeeps, etc. We hiked around for a while and when the sun started to go down we found a big rock by the water's edge and sat to watch the spectacle. Well, Phil and I sat and watched while the kids played and ended up getting wet. I suppose that is to be expected. We had a lot of fun and are really starting to enjoy all the great things Hawaii has to offer, especially now that Phil has more time to spend with us.

Last minute adjustments

Climbing around

Checking out the water

Sweet little one. I love the way he looks at me, like I am the most amazing person in the world.

We all live in a yellow submarine . . .

2009-05-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

Well, actually, it was blue and we don't live there, I couldn't even go because Chase was too little so Phil took the kids and I went to go see "The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" (which was OK and had some funny moments). Anyway, I digress. Phil took the kids on the Atlantis Submarine Adventure. It is a submarine that goes along the bottom of the ocean floor. They get to see some sunken boats and some airplanes that are under water, as well as sea life such as sea turtles and a wide variety of fish. Nathan actually saw a toilet on one of the wrecked ships. They had a lot of fun and Phil realized that it would be his last underway on a submarine since he has been removed from sub duty due to medical reasons. He said that he was actually a little nostalgic when they signal for dive.

On the boat going to meet the submarine.

Looking out the windows.

Coming back to port.

Motherhood is Not for Sissies

2009-05-11T00:42:00.000-07:00

Motherhood is not for women with weak stomachs, strict routines, or white wall-to-wall carpeting.

Motherhood is not for women unable to juggle three things at once, read between the lines, or face fear on a regular basis.

Motherhood is not for women who can't answer the same knock-knock joke "umpteen" times a day, the endless "whys?" of childhood, or hear the unspoken feelings of a child's heart.

Motherhood is for women who can taste the tea in an empty cup, see the smiles behind the peanut butter, and the genius in tiny scribbles.

Motherhood is for the caring and courageous women who make a difference in the lives they touch- women just like you.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women in my life who make me a better mother through their example!

Attack of the Vaseline monster

2009-05-01T01:43:00.000-07:00

I always get nervous when things are too quiet at my house. Even if Caleb is playing "quietly" there is some noise or banging toys or something. The other day I went upstairs to check and see why it was so quiet. Chase was supposed to be asleep, but when I opened the door to my room, I beheld quite a sight. At first I didn't know if I should freak out or laugh, but when I realized that no harm had been done, I decided to laugh, probably a little hysterically, . . . oh, and blog about it.

The victim. "What the heck happened to me!?"

The culprit. "Yeah I did it, what are you going to do about it?"

Sometimes I honestly don't know what that boy is thinking!

I will say one thing about it though. For the rest of that day, the skin on Chase's face was very moist and soft.

Two months old

2009-04-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it, but my little Chase is now two months old. He is such a cute little guy and has a very pleasant disposition. He is smiling and cooing now and we often have private conversations where he tries to tell me all sorts of fascinating things. I wish I could really understand what he is trying to tell me. I bet they would great and marvelous things.

Ouch!

2009-04-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

Today Caleb and I were walking to the park. We had moved off the sidewalk to let another stroller pass ours and Caleb was walking on the outside when I noticed a car coming up behind us. I tried to move Caleb so that I would be between him and the street, but as he was moving to the side he tripped and fell and hit his chin on the curb. He started to cry and was bleeding and we sat on the curb for some minutes while he calmed down. When he had stopped crying I asked him if he wanted to go home or wanted to go play. He smiled and said "Play!", so we went to the park and played.

My tough little man.

I am not a soccer mom!

2009-04-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

Today both Nathan and Joslyn had soccer games. I had to bring snacks for Joslyn's team, take Joslyn to her game, drop her off and run Nathan over to his game (they both started at 10:00), watch the first half of Nathan's game, and then run over and watch the last half of Joslyn's. Throw having to chase Caleb around while holding the baby in the front pack, and you will have a pretty good idea of my morning. One of my friends made a comment to me the other day calling me the "ultimate soccer mom". I smiled at her, but inside I had had to disagree. I admit that the term "soccer mom" has been ruined for me by Hilary Clinton. She used that term a lot in her speeches and campaigns, and I am not a fan, so the word has been tainted. I didn't even like it when Sarah Palin overused the term "hockey mom" when she was running for Vice President. To me, terms such as these pigeon hole us. I am not a "soccer mom". I am more! I am a gourmet chef, a healer, a spiritual advisor, a chauffeur, a housekeeper, an artist, a partner, a sex kitten and so many more things. I am a woman.

Bowling

2009-04-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

Last night Phil and I took the kids bowling. It was a lot of fun except the part where Caleb didn't get a good nap yesterday and whined almost the entire time (except when it was his turn). The kids had so much fun and it was really nice to get to go out and do something as a family.

Phil has on his game face.

Nathan scores a spare!

Caleb's ball gets a little help from Phil.

That ball is bigger than her head!

Yes, that is me bowling with Chase in the front pack, I'm a supermom!

It's true, comb overs never work.

2009-04-18T15:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I tried to preserve Caleb's wonderful red locks, but it was just no good. There were just too many bald spots to cover, so I had to chop his hair. It made me a little sad and I couldn't bring myself to shave it completely to get rid of all the damage (she cut it down to the scalp), but it is much less noticeable now, and I suppose that it is a good "summer" cut. After all, it is only hair and it will grow back.

Isn't he a little young for a bald spot?

2009-04-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

Beware the wrath of a sister! Apparently, the other night Caleb got a hold of a pair of scissors and cut a lock of Joslyn's hair. Not a huge piece, just a little bit, you can't even tell, but she got mad. She took the scissors away from him and retaliated the only way that made sense to her. She cut off a lock of his hair, only she went a little overboard in my opinion.

I'm not exactly sure what to do with him. I certainly don't want to shave his hair because I love it and I think it would look bad. I guess I'll try a comb over and see how that goes. It is a good thing that he is only two and doesn't care what he looks like.

Brotherly love

2009-04-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

This morning, Caleb wanted to hold Chase so I put them both on my bed. The fellowing ensued.

Easter disaster averted

2009-04-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

I didn't do anything big for Easter this year. What with Phil gone and all, I just didn't have it in me, but I did get some Easter candy and was all ready to put it in baskets for the little ones. Saturday night, way after the kids had finally fallen asleep, I went out to the garage to pull down my holiday bin and get out the small baskets I had purchased several years ago. Down came the bin, out came the stuff and (gasp) no baskets! Then I remembered that when we had moved here, Phil had "accidentally" thrown away one of my holiday bins, and along with all my fabulous Halloween stuff, the baskets must also have been in there. Crap! Now what was I going to do? Then I remembered an e-mail that I had received from babycenter.com that had some easy Easter crafts in it. I found the e-mail and saw that they had an easy homemade Easter basket made with an egg carton, some pipe cleaner and some crepe paper streamers. I emptied all the eggs out of my egg carton, ran upstairs and got the bundle of pipe cleaner I had used a while ago for Primary, and checked the garage to see if there were any more streamers left over from Joslyn's birthday party. Luckily there were. I got my hot glue gun and went to work. When I was finished I had three simple baskets full of Easter candy. Whew! That was a close one!

Post Script

2009-04-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

I forgot that I was going to post a picture of a pineapple plant for those of you who have never seen one, so here it is. I thought that they were pretty darn cool.

The Pineapple Express

2009-04-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

I finally took the kids to the Dole Plantation. It has been something I have been meaning to do for some time now and it is just down the road, but somehow we never made the time to go. It was a lot of fun. We went on the train and fed the huge fish and had some delicious pineapple ice cream. The kids chase the peahen and Caleb ran around like a crazy boy with Nathan dogging his every step trying to keep him in line for me. He is such a good helper. Nathan wanted to do the maze, but Caleb was sleepy and Joslyn was complaining that she was cold (turns out that she had a fever), so we went home instead, but we had a fun time and will go back to do the other stuff some other day.

Two Boys in a Bed

2009-04-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

One thing that I love about Caleb is that he is such a sweet boy. He loves his baby brother so much and always wants to hold him and give kisses. He hasn't quite figured out what it means to be "gentle", but he tries to love Chase as best he can. This morning I woke up to calls of "MOM! OUT!" so I dragged my sorry self out of bed and went into Caleb's room and got him out of the crib. Then I went back into my room and flopped on the bed, not quite ready to face the day. I had my eyes closed, but I heard Caleb come in and start to talk to Chase, who was also awake and lying in his bassinet. Then I heard Caleb start to make kissing noises. It is not unusual for Caleb to blow kisses at Chase so I didn't look at first until Chase started making little grunts that coincided with the kisses. I sat up and I saw that Caleb had climbed into the bassinet with the baby and was giving him loves.

What a great Daddy!

2009-03-30T00:47:00.001-07:00

Any of you who know Phil know that he hates feet. He thinks they are yucky and that they should always be hidden by shoes. So, when his little daughter came up to him today and asked him if he would paint her toenails I was interested to see what he would do. He looked at her for a minute and then asked if she was sure she wanted him to be the one to do it. She said that she was sure and assured him that he would do a great job, so he sucked it up and sat down to paint her nails. Good job Phil! You made your little girl's day and you paint a mean toenail if I do say so myself.

Randon pics

2009-03-30T00:36:00.000-07:00

Caleb is such a cheeser. If he sees a camera anywhere in his vicinity, he immediately smiles and says "Cheese!" Last week I took the kids to my favorite Mexican restaurant on my anniversary. It is fairly close to home and is so yummy. While we were waiting for our food, Caleb noticed that the people at the next table had a camera and so he smiled and kept saying cheese over and over. It was very funny. These are some pictures I took the other day because he kept posing and I couldn't resist that face. He would wait until the picture had been taken, run over and ask to see it on the viewer, and then run back and pose again.

One Month Old

2009-03-29T23:47:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my little Chase is a month old already! He is such a sweetie and has us all wrapped around his adorable little fingers. Caleb calls him Ticka and is always blowing kisses to him and trying to snuggle him. The older kids like to hold him and sometimes argue about who gets to hold him first. Phil loves to kiss his sweet baby cheeks, especially when he is hungry because he does a great impression of a baby bird. I think he just loves to tease his kids no matter what their age. As for me, I love that he is only waking up one to two times a night and is not a fussy baby. He is my little snuggle bug. He is already trying to lift up his head and look around. His eyes are very blue and he tries to see what is going on around him, he is very alert. He is the perfect addition to our little family.

Birthday Boy

2009-03-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

Caleb's birthday was on March 15. We actually celebrated a day early on Saturday because Phil had duty on Sunday. We had a little party, just for our family and Caleb got to have his favorite dinner, pizza (Yeah Pizza!), some presents and some chocolate cupcakes. It was fun to see him open his gifts with such enthusiasm this year. Last year he didn't really understand the whole birthday thing, but this time around he loved it. He had picked out his gifts at Target so they were a big hit. He got some shirts, a bumper battle transformer, and the Sheriff from Cars. His Sheriff car is one of those shake and go cars and he loves to put it on the table and watch it fall off. He also got some fun stuff from his grandparents and some cards from various aunts and uncles. Thanks everybody for thinking of him and making his day special. I can't believe he is two already!

Chase's blessing

2009-03-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we blessed our sweet new baby. Heather was there and she and I, along with two nice ladies in the ward, wrote what we could and were able to piece it together after church. Thank you to Sister Winstead and Sister Kennington for your help. Also, thanks to Heather for typing it out for me. I am also so grateful to my sweet husband, who honors his priesthood and is able to give our children blessings.

Father in Heaven,

In the name of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood which we hold, we take this infant in our arms to give him a name and a blessing. The name we have chosen is Chase Maxwell Connor.

Chase, we take this time to give you a blessing. With this blessing, I bless you with a body that is strong. A body that will have the strength and vigor to do the things that our Father in Heaven wants you to do. I bless you with health to carry out our Heavenly Father's will.
You have been to be born into a family who loves the gospel and who will teach you the principles of the gospel throughout your life. You have the gift of faith and a tenderness of spirit and the ability to recognize the Holy Ghost. Give heed to his promptings and this will bring you joy.

I bless you to feel compassion for your fellow man. I bless you with a desire to strengthen those around you and as you do this, it will be another source of joy.

You have been given a keen intellect and I bless you that you will know and recognize truth, that you will be able to separate it from philosophy and other teachings, that while good, will not lead you to our Father in Heaven

These blessings we give to you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Diamond Head Crater

2009-03-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to have my sister Heather come and stay with us for a few days after Chase was born. For the most part, we took it easy and she did all my laundry, but we were able to do a few fun things. On Saturday, we went to the Diamond Head Crater and climbed all the way to the top. The views were fantastic and it was nice to be out and about. After we climbed to the top we came back down and had a picnic on the grass. The kids had a great time and we all got some great pictures. Thanks for coming to see us Heather, and for all your help and love and support!

Caleb wanted to help carry something
Up on the trail.
Chase's first hike
On top of the world.

Ungrateful wretch that I am

2009-03-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

I am feeling very humbled right now. I logged on to the computer to check the blogs and saw that Julie had posted something new. I read her blog and then checked out Gracie's blog and read about a family who have a baby with a heart defect. They are taking her off life support today and letting her little body go so that her spirit can return to Heavenly Father and her suffering can finally be over. As I was reading through all their posts, I realized what a giant boob I had been on the days leading up to Chase's birth. I moaned and groaned about still being pregnant, when I hadn't even gone over my due date yet. I did not show the proper gratitude to my Father in Heaven for giving me a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby boy, all I could think about was how miserable I still was and how much I wanted my baby to be born. It was a very selfish moment for me and one of which I am not proud. As I read through the posts on Gracie's blog and saw all the pain that family has had and how humble and grateful they are I held my sweet, healthy baby close and cried for their pain. Then I cried some more when I remembered my impatience and ingratitude and vowed to do better at expressing my love and thanks to my Heavenly Father for my four healthy children and for the chance to repent and do better and be better. I was also incredibly touched by two quotes they had listed and thought I would post them as well.

"It is so hard when sincere prayer about something we desire very much is not answered the way we want. It is especially difficult when the Lord answers no to that which is worthy and would give us great joy and happiness. Whether it be overcoming illness or loneliness, recovery of a wayward child, coping with a handicap, or seeking continuing life for a dear one who is slipping away, it seems so reasonable and so consistent with our happiness to have a favorable answer. It is hard to understand why our exercise of deep and sincere faith from an obedient life does not bring the desired result."No one wants adversity. Trials, disappointments, sadness, and heartache come to us from two basically different sources. Those who transgress the laws of God will always have those challenges. The other reason for adversity is to accomplish the Lord's own purposes in our life that we may receive the refinement that comes from testing. It is vitally important for each of us to identify from which of these two sources come our trials and challenges, for the corrective action is very different."
Richard G. Scott, "Trust in the Lord," Ensign, Nov. 1995,

Lessons Learned From Liberty Jail

I cut out this article a few months ago from the September 8th issue of the Church News. It was a talk that Jeffrey R. Holland gave to the young adults at a Church Educational System Fireside. I love Elder Holland's talks and thought this was a really good one. It was titled "Lessons learned from Liberty Jail" I will obviously not include the whole article but did want to pass on a few main points that he made.

He talked about Joseph Smith's experience in Liberty Jail.

He stated "Everyone of us, in one way or another, great or small, dramatic or incidental, are going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail--spiritually speaking." Blessings that came from Liberty Jail include the revelations received by Joseph Smith that are now Doctrine and Covenants 121-123.

He discussed three lessons from Liberty Jail:

1. The first, he said, "is that everyone, including (and perhaps especially) the righteous, will be called upon to face trying times." Elder Holland said: "Whenever these moments of our extremity come, we must not succumb to the fear that God has abandoned us.....We must continue to believe, continue to have faith, continue to pray and plead with heaven even if we feel for a time our prayers are not heard and that God has somehow gone away. He is there. Our prayers are heard, and when we weep, He and the angels of heaven weep with us.......

"When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God than we have ever been in our entire lives. That knowledge can turn every such situation into a would-be temple.

2. The second lesson, according to Elder Holland, is that we are not alone in going through trials. "We need to realize that just because difficult things happen--sometimes unfair and seemingly unjustified things--it does not mean that we are unrighteous or that we are unworthy of blessings or that God is disappointed with us," Elder Holland said. "Of course sinfulness does bring suffering and the only answer to that behavior is repentance. But sometimes suffering comes to the righteous, too."

Through the Atonement, the Savior "experienced all of the heartache and sorrow, all of the disappointments and injustices that the entire family of man has experienced from Adam and Eve to the end of the world in order that we would not have to face them so severely or so deeply," Elder Holland said.

3. The third lesson of Liberty Jail, he said, is that in times of difficult feelings, "the Lord reminds us from the Liberty Jail prison-temple that 'the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only (or "except") upon the principles of righteousness." (D&C 121:36)

We learn from the Savior and His prophets, Elder Holland said, "that the real test of our faith and our Christian discipleship is when things are not going smoothly. That is when we get to see what we are made of and how strong our commitment to the gospel really is."

Counseling further, Elder Holland referred to D&C 123:17, written during cold, lonely hours in jail, and then stated, "Joseph says, let us do all we can do and do it cheerfully. Then we can justifiably turn to the Lord, wait upon His mercy, and see His arm revealed in our behalf. What a magnificent attitude to maintain in good times or bad, in sorrow or joy."

After leaving a blessing on the congregation, Elder Holland concluded saying, "I testify that bad days come to an end, that faith always triumphs and that heavenly promises are always kept."

More Pics of the little man

2009-03-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

Chase has been here for a whole week now and we have been having so much fun. He is so sweet and is such a good baby. He has really added something special to our family. Here are some more pictures so you can enjoy him too.

Chase Maxwell Connor

2009-02-22T18:49:00.000-08:00

It has finally happened. I am no longer pregnant, and even better than that is that I have a gorgeous new little man at my house. Chase Maxwell Connor was born at 10:30 on February 21, 2009. He weighed in at 7 lbs and 2 oz and is 19 inches long. I started having contractions on Friday and by four they were getting pretty strong, so I called Phil and told him to come home and take me to the hospital. All the kids wanted to be together so we called some friends and they took them for us. When we got to the hospital, they put me on the monitor and our little guy was having some problems. His heart rate would drop during some of the contractions so they admitted me and broke my water to hurry things along. We had one close call in the middle of the night when his heart rate fell and changing sides was not helping. They called for the doctor and all of a sudden the room was full of people! They had me get on my hands and knees to see if that would help and told me that if it didn't bring up the heart rate they were going to rush me into do an emergency c-section. Luckily, it did work and although I had to spend the rest of the night on my right side because any other position was not working for the baby we were able to avoid a c-section. At about ten the next morning, we were finally ready to push and I was able to get him out with about four good contractions and some strong pushes. He is absolutely beautiful and is such a good baby. They let me go today and it is nice to be home with my family again. Chase is busy being adored by everyone and is finally getting the hang of the whole breastfeeding thing. A big thank you to every one who helped and to all of you who were pulling for us. We are so grateful!

What is it about boys and cars?

2009-02-16T10:41:00.000-08:00

When Nathan was almost two years old, he became very interested in cars. He loved them and was always playing with his "beeps". A couple of months ago, I noticed a similar phenomenon with Caleb. One day he had no particular interest in cars, and the next he was carrying "beeps" with him everywhere he went. With Nathan, he was satisfied by having a car in each hand. Caleb, however, loads his little arms with as many cars as he can carry. It must be a boy thing.

This is Nathan at his second birthday party. With all the toys and all the activity going on around him, all he wanted to do was play with his new cars.
Here are a couple of pictures of Caleb playing with his cars (notice the number of cars in front of him) at the table.

Another chapter in the messy boy saga

2009-02-09T12:26:00.000-08:00

Well, the other day, Caleb brought me a package of sugar free instant chocolate pudding and said "please". He had just had lunch and was obviously trying to get me to make some desert, and since he asked so nicely, I acquiesced. I whipped up the pudding in no time flat and sat him at the table with a bowl full of yumminess. I then went back to folding laundry on the couch. A few minutes later I looked behind me to see what he was doing and this is what I saw.
I was shocked at first and then I couldn't help but start to chuckle, which turned into a full blown laugh fest as I watched my little mess maker eat his pudding with abandon and enjoy every minute of it. I ran and got the camera so I could document the moment for posterity.
After he had finished his pudding (meaning the stuff still in his bowl), I whisked him upstairs and into the bathroom pleading with the whole time to "please don't touch anything". I ran him a tub and cleaned him and washed his hair. The water turned an unappetizing brown color, but he was clean and happy so that was fine with me. He certainly keeps life interesting.

Still Pregnant

2009-02-09T11:51:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I am having a bad attitude right now about being pregnant. Even though I'm not quite 38 weeks, I really want THIS BABY TO COME OUT! So, in the hope of reminding myself to be patient and to relish the fact that I am pregnant with a healthy baby boy, which is something that some women don't get to experience, I thought I would take to the blog and make a list of things that are good about pregnancy to help me to remember not to be bitter about the fact that I am sore and tired and getting new stretch marks. First of all, after all is said and done, the most important thing I get out of it is a beautiful baby boy! How cool is that? It is such a privilege to play host to and help to build a body for one of Heavenly Father's precious children. Second, my kids have had such a great time anticipating the arrival of their new sibling. Here are some pictures of Caleb kissing and tickling my tummy or "the baby". It will be fun to see him with his new younger sibling.

And the third I get to be all glowing and maternal. Somebody at church told me yesterday that I look fantastic and clear skinned, and radiant, and tell me honestly, is there a woman in the world who doesn't like to hear those kinds of compliments? Anyway, despite the pain, and the contractions that don't do anything, and the waiting and hoping that it will happen soon, and the frustration that it hasn't happened yet, I am grateful. I am grateful for the fact that I am pregnant and that he is healthy and that I am healthy, and that my family is excited to have a new addition, and that my husband is employed and that we are able to squeeze in another child and all that goes with it. In other words, I'm feeling very blessed.

The Park

2009-02-06T16:51:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, while Phil was busy studying I took the kids to the park. We had a great time and the weather was so nice. It is nice to get out and it is such a fun little park, just down from our house. We took water bottles and Joslyn rode her bike, parked it outside the gate and ran back to escort Caleb. It was nice to sit there and watch the kids run around chasing each other and going down the slide. We saw a huge snail climbing up the wall of the fence. The shell was easily three inches long and if I had been French, I probably would have taken it home for dinner.
I admit that I have not been outside much just for the fun of it lately. Mostly my ventures to the great outdoors have to do with running errands and it was nice to change that. What with the perfect weather and the slight breeze blowing in to cool us it was just about as good as it gets. The only thing that would have made it better is if Phil could have been there with us instead of studying, but I guess you can't have everything. It was so nice being outside and just relaxing. What a great day!

Little monkey

Back Together

2009-01-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

Well, Phil is home again from another underway. It is so nice to have him here, especially since I am due next month and after not having him home for Caleb's birth, it is especially important to me that he be here for this one. The kids are ecstatic that he is with us again, and I am no less enthusiastic than they. All day yesterday Caleb chanted "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy", which made Phil happy, because he is never sure whether or not Caleb will really remember him after being gone for almost a month. We are just glad to be back together for the time being and will certainly strive to make the most of it, because unfortunately, it will happen again and again. Welcome home, sweetheart, we love you!

Caleb's bath

2009-01-02T22:57:00.000-08:00

Today Caleb decided to take a bath. He didn't tell anyone or ask permission, he just decided that it would be a good thing to do. He climbed into the tub and turned on the water, the only thing he forgot to do was to get undressed.

The funniest thing about the whole thing is that for me and Phil it was a case of deja vu. When Nathan was little he did a similar thing. I was going to give him a bath, but I was taking too long in his opinion to get him in the water, so he took matters into his own hands and climbed in all by himself clothes and all. I guess history really does repeat itself.