Snow in Brigham City

Note: This is Travis' introductory post. Since Kristin is now studying all the time, he's taking his turn updating the family blog.

We have had a lot of snow this year. A couple good storms that came through even had the "old timers" in town saying they were the biggest they could remember. It wouldn't be so bad, except that it hasn't really melted. Every few weeks when we get more of that white stuff from the sky, it only adds to what's already there.

Travis and Kristin aren't too excited about it; we're awfully wimpy about the cold. It's pretty, but that's where the kind adjectives stop. E, however, does seem to love it. He runs to the windows, points and says, "So!" We even pulled a "Christmas Story" and wrapped him up after the first mild storm and he loved tromping through the powder.



















(Thanks to Aunt D for the wonderful, warm coat and Aunt M for the hand-made mittens!)

Merry Indeed - A Slightly Retarded Post

This is it the post I've been meaning to publish for over a week now but haven't because it's slightly retarded. You see, we've switched to using an open-source operating software and we're still working out quite a few kinks. Or I should say, T is working out a few kinks. I like it, but I don't have the time to figure everything out right now. Why does all this matter? Only because I can't get my pictures to be aligned properly (As you see below) They are on my desktop, but then blogger just doesn't accept it and I can't figure out my smugmug download either. Grrr... But Christmas seems like it was so far away so, in spite of the pictures, I present to you our Christmas.

We drove to California to spend Christmas at T's parents' house and I was particularly excited to visit the happiest place on earth; Trader Joe's. I explained to E about the marvels he was about to incur and told him he could pick one treat to mark this special occasion. Then we went inside and because it was Christmas Eve they were sampling just about everything in the store. E alone at 3 chocolates and I revoked my treat deal. Needless to say, we brought home much bounty.


These are the matching pajamas that I made for T and E as their "something to wear" gift. They looked so dapper together and many thanks to my m-i-l for helping me get them finished on time.

Here are E's monkey slippers that Daddy bought for him. They jingle when he walks and are so cute.


All the opening of packages overwhelmed E and he was content to sit in his box and watch what was going on.


After we left California, we went to my mom's house to celebrate Christmas with her. This time E had warmed up to the concept of everyone opening gifts and he got excited about it. (Here he is opening a gift with Nana)


"What was the gift?" you ask. A wonderful wooden train set from Uncle Scott and Aunt Anne and E had quite a blast playing with it. I love this picture of him enjoying himself. We bought a storage container for the trains and put it in E's closet and now every morning when he wakes up the following occurs:

K: Good morning E, did you have sweet dreams?
E: Daddy?
K: Daddy's at work today.
E: Oh. (Sadness in his eyes that he's hanging out with me and not dad)
K: Would you like to get up?
E: Yeah. Trains?
K: Yes, we can play with the trains today, but let's get your milk first.
E: Trains! Trains! Trains! Trains! Choo-choo! Choo-choo! Choo-choo!
K: We love our trains, don't we?
E: Yeah! I you. (I love you, though he's really saying, "I love you, trains!")

As you can tell the little prince is getting older and older. I can't believe how much he's grown. It seems not that long ago that he was as little and helpless as Scanne's new baby.

In other news, Travis has officially passed his last class and graduated and I have until the end of March to finish my schooling. I'm feeling a little pressured by the schedule I need to keep in order to finish school, but overall I'm very excited! Till then, I'll try to update the blog more regularly, or at least get T to write a post once and work out the kinks.

The Dawning Of A Brighter Day

Today is the beginning of a new week. Deep thought, I know. But perhaps I should say, today is the beginning of a week that I haven't seen in two and a half years. You see, this week Travis has no homework. Not because he's shirking his duties to have fun or go on vacation, but because he's done with school. HALLELUJAH! Last night we were filling out our weekly family calendar and I realized that he didn't need any study time. I about fell over. I'd like to lie and say that we'll spend every minute of the week together, playing as a family, but the truth is that I'm so behind in school right now that we'll probably pull a role reversal and have me at the library nearly every night this week. Whoever planned finals around Christmas should be punished.

In any case, we're all healthy and happy and the little prince keeps growing leaps and bounds. He's recently taken to telling me whenever he goes "pee pee" or "poo poo" and I realized that I'm strangely excited by it. I'm genuinely thrilled that he's figuring out what's going on because it puts us one day closer to the end of diapers.

In awkward news, E is accidentally saying a disturbing new word. On Friday we went to a new Asian market that opened in Ogden and they had live, blue-shell crabs. We bought three of them and put them in the sink when we got home to show E. Now, for some odd reason, when E saw them and we told him, "E, see the crabs!" He excitedly yelled, "frog, frog" only something has gone terribly awry with his "frog" and the "r" is now silent while the "g" is suddenly a "k". That's right, he's dropping the f-bomb. No matter how emphatically I stressed, "No, these aren't frogs, they're crabs." He insisted that they were f#%@s and has loved saying the word ever since. Now, I'm not dumb enough to react at all when he says it, he just really likes saying it. Help. If it ever happens in public, I'll blame it on tourrets.

In funny news, E has also taken to referring to Travis and I as "honey". It's perhaps the cutest thing he's done to date. Last night he was eating some pasta at the table with Daddy and I was putting some squash in the oven. Concerned that I wasn't eating with him, he called over to me, "Honey. Gib soo ba peeze." I love it! He does it sporadically throughout the day and it just perks me right up.

I had to post a picture of T that I took this weekend. You'll see his "I'm so happy, I'm done with school" look has emerged. I'm so proud of him; his dedication, intelligence and perseverance. I love you "honey"!


P.S. In case you're wondering who the little girl is, she's E's friend K and she became a big sister this weekend so we had her over at our house. The munchkins had so much fun together and we got a kick out of telling people at church that she was my daughter from my first marriage. Quite a few people didn't know how to respond until we said, "We're just kidding." Priceless.

It's December Already?!

Okay faithful readers, I need you all to breathe a gigantic sigh of relief with me. "Why?", you ask. Because Travis is done with school, as in graduating, in 9 days! I'm so excited, but he's truly burnt out. He is in need of some serious motivation to study for his final and so I stand on the sideline cheering him on, baking him cookies, and praying for him. Please keep him in your thoughts!

In other news, E and I got in a car accident the day before Thanksgiving. It honestly wasn't serious, which is a miracle because we were rear ended... on the freeway... by a semi. My friend V and I were driving to Layton with E and her daughter K when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a truck grill and only a truck grill. The truck driver was attempting to merge into our lane and apparently suffered some depth perception problems. I heard and felt the crunch and pulled off the freeway. I looked in the back seat, saw both the kids okay, saw that V was okay (she's 8 months pregnant), and said a prayer of gratitude. I was so happy that everyone was alright. Long story short: Said truck driver never checked to see if we were okay which was the most annoying part, only my left rear lights were busted out, the bumper has a minor tear in it, the insurance company and trucking company are being tremendously cooperative, and everyone is still okay.

My homework awaits, but I have to post this wonderful picture of E on Thanksgiving. We gave him a piece of pie with real whipped cream and he was as happy as a clam. (How happy are clams, I wonder?) He kept politely, albeit, neurotically asking, "Peesh, peesh, peesh, peesh." begging for more whipping cream. Look at his eyes; Lexie has taught him how to beg with his eyes. Now if only she'll teach him to roll over...

What I'm Thankfor For

Seeing that Thanksgiving is a short four days away, I've been ruminating, as I assume most people do, on the many blessings I enjoy. When I stop and think, I truly realize how many things I have to be happy for. I mean I have a husband who loves me, a darling and healthy son who loves me, and I naughty, but generally well-intentioned puppy who loves me. I find myself constantly distracted from my studies and tasks by the mental lists I make of dreams that have come true. After all, not too long ago, I was a single, college student trying to hone in on my pursuits. I'd filled out my mission papers and was getting ready to meet with my bishop when I received a random acceptance letter to BYU Provo. (By random I mean that I hadn't even applied.) I prayed about it and felt it was right, had a wonderful job fall into my lap, and then two weeks before my first semester started I met Travis. Fast forward two and half years and here I am. Without further ado, my reasons for thanks.

A beautiful, expressive son who gives me looks like this all day, every day.

Realizing the wonders of the world through E's eyes. He found this pinecone on the ground during our walk and it was his new best friend for the next couple days. He would turn it over in his hands and say, "Wow!" or "Cool!".

I'm grateful that Lexie and E are friends. Honestly, he came running up to her kennel, poked and giggled at her until she left and then crawled in and made himself at home. I've never worried about Lexie around E and she's always been patient with him. That's a lifesaver.

A child that inherited some of my neuroses.
When T saw this picture the following conversation ensued:

T: What's he doing?
K: Oh, it was so cute! After lunch I gave him a couple pretzels and he started placing the peas inside the pretzels.
T: Wow. (Said in a slightly creeped out manner.) That's how we know he's a Bean.

A daddy that loves to help, even if it means that occasionally E's onesies are buttoned outside his pants.

An exploratory child. I introduced E to play-doh this week and he had an absolute blast. At first he cautiously rolled it around in his fingers, tasted a little, spat it out, but then he played non-stop for about 30 minutes.

Good friends. Our friend B came over to play with us a few days this week while her parents were out of town. E loves other kids and it's always fun to see the way "older" children love him.

Once again, a daddy that's involved. This Saturday T asked if he could take E for an outing and give me some homework time. I agreed and he took him to the Bear River Bird Refuge. There E learned all about various bird habitats and even got to chase ducks around the wetlands. (Below)

Other recent developments of E that I'm enjoying:

• He's now counting to 5 although it frequently goes, "two, two, tee, foh, fie!"
• Singing the first 5 letters of the alphabet song, as long as I don't ask him to. He'll sing to himself while he's playing, but if I ask, no way. His lips are sealed.
  
• Blowing raspberries on our tummies. (This includes Lexie's tummy)
  
• Saying some of his favorite words from his books like: funny, silly, shine, and fluffy.
• Engaging in conversations with me where his vocal inflections mimic mine.
• Playing "Kiss and Go Seek" where he'll hide somewhere and start making kissing noises because he knows I'll run to find him and give him a kiss.
• Helping me cook. Particularly kneading and eating dough.
• Using manners by saying "pleezh" "q-you" and "sah-ee"
• Saying "Buh-bye" when I lay him down for naps or bedtime and then blowing kisses "mmmm-uh" as I leave.
  

Recent developments of E I'm not enjoying as much:

• Climbing. Onto everything.
  
• Learning he can push an object he can climb onto in order to scale an object that was originally out of his reach. (ie: using the kitchen chairs to access the table or the top of the piano)
• Refusing to look me in the eyes when I'm talking to him about something he did. I'll say, "No, Ethan we don't tug Lexie's tail. We love Lexie." and E is looking all around the room, but not at me. So I'll hold his hands and then he'll stare up at the ceiling. So then I gently put my hand on the back of his head and try to get him to look at me and he arches his back. Not so much fun.

In any case, I hope the holiday helps all of you count your blessings as well and realize all the beauties of this life.