Goodbye to a Prophet

One of my heroes passed away this last weekend. President Gordon B. Hinckley has been the prophet of the Church since I was ten years old. I know he will always hold a special place in my heart, as I received much guidance and inspiration from his messages as I went through my teen years and made many important life decisions. Upon hearing the news from my husband, I couldn't help but feel more grateful and happy for our prophet than anything else. Yes, I will miss his sense of humor and optimism, but I am glad that he has been reunited with his wife after their four year separation. And he did seem very tired towards the end of his life, didn't he. After accomplishing so much throughout his time as president of the Church, I would think that he had good reason to be tired and very much deserves to finally rest.

Here is a link to my favorite tribute to President Hinckley that I have seen so far. It is addressed to BYU students, but I think everyone can get something out of it.

Outtakes

People always ask us how we can possibly have such a cute baby. Well... maybe they don't always ask, but as her proud parents, we can see it in their eyes. Genetically speaking, one needs only to look at Amanda and it's clear that we can expect her to only get cuter. However, she did get some silly genes from her father. Here are a few of our outtakes.

First Tooth

Today we took Emily to the doctor, since she's been sick for two months now, and they found her first tooth! It's totally already poking out - I don't know how I missed it. It's nice that her development's on track, but kind of sad that my little girl is growing up. She's already almost triple her birth weight. Just watch. Today it's her first tooth, but before you know it, it'll be her first date!

Joseph the Flasher

Yesterday Joseph had a really bad experience waiting for his bus because it was so cold. Today it was pretty cold too, so he wanted to wear a bigger coat than normal. He put on his long overcoat but then was reluctant to go out. I nagged and pushed, but he just kept looking so worried! He really looked kind of distressed and uncomfortable about going to school in his big coat (that he loves). Finally, he confessed that he was worried that he looked like a flasher in it. Ha ha! My cute, silly husband! I'm sure all the kids ran when they saw him coming!

Two important events

I interviewed for a job a couple of weeks ago and recently found out that I got it! I'll be working as the unit secretary in Labor and Delivery at a nearby hospital. I'm pretty excited because it's a job I wanted and because I love labor and delivery! It'll be three nights a week, so shouldn't interfere with my taking care of Emily. Today I went in to have my picture taken for my badge. I came home afterwards and experimented with the camera. My badge picture will probably end up looking something like this picture on the right.

After my experiment with the camera I found Joseph and Emily having a tongue-sticking-out competition. Here are a few shots of that:

Kind of disgusting, huh. Emily's showing some real talent in the art though. Joseph doesn't have a lingual frenulum, so is able to pull some awful faces.

Keepin' on keepin' on

Not a lot of news for this week. I cleverly neglected to pay my tuition by the deadline (only mostly my fault) and consequently had all my classes dropped. I have to go through a rather painful process to correct the problem. I don't think it's the best system for handling delinquents like myself, but it's definitely inconvenient enough that I'm motivated to not let it happen again.

We had the chance to babysit for some friends of ours this week. Both parents were in a play and needed someone to care for their three-year-old and ten-month-old. We brought our own six-month-old along. It was bonkers, but I think we'll be able to handle it when we have our own set. Handling both babies was a bit of trick. I think we'll do our best to avoid having children 4 months apart. Paul and I built a delicious cake together. That's green marker on his chin, not frosting.
Emily has gotten over two colds. She seems to be starting into a third. Still, she's super peppy and cheerful despite the runny nose. She's taken to plotting ways to tease us. Here she's in the middle of hatching a new scheme.

one bad thing

One thing that I hate about living far away from all of our family:
Everyone opens the birthday and Christmas presents we send before they're supposed to!
I will not name names. You know who you are.

The latest on Emily

She loves to sit up! Ever since she figured out she could do it she has taken full advantage of it.
She especially likes to sit up when she shouldn't - like in her bouncer and carseat.
Emily's method of sitting up is somewhat more difficult than most people's. She has taken an interest in defining her abs earlier than many others, and attempts to do a full sit-up every time. This results in a lot of grunting and arm swinging. It is quite the ordeal.

Homemade Bread

Joseph bought me a couple of bread pans for Christmas, so I have been putting them to use. I've been experimenting with different bread recipes to find one that I like. Yesterday I made "Amish White Bread" and I loved it! It had the homemade bread taste but it was soft and fluffy like the store-bought kind. It might be the recipe I stick with.
PS - Jared and Suzie, Emily LOVES your gifts. Here she is simultaneously cradling her basketball and playing her piano with her foot.

Christmas still going strong

We received our presents from the Bartletts in Utah today! It had kind of a hard time getting here, but we're so glad it made it! Emily loved the paper, as usual, but did get a very cute denim dress in addition to that.
Here's a picture of Emily wearing my present, a pair of goose down booties.
They fit me better. I thought they were weird when I unwrapped them - they kind of look like nursing home slippers. But they're so comfortable and warm that I changed my mind. Now I feel very fashionable wearing them around the house.
Joseph got some Australian socks which he's too bashful to model for y'all. Hooray for Christmas lasting sixteen days!

Too much partying

After all of this vacation, we need a break. We've all been taking our turn being sick. Emily seems to deal with it the best. Amanda and I get grumpy when we're feeling bad, but Emily is content to play and laugh between coughing fits. She thinks nose bubbles are really cool.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008! Time for resolutions, more school for Joseph, and more adventures in Texas! We had a pretty uneventful New Year's Eve, but we've never been huge party animals. :)
Here's a picture of Emily welcoming the new year.