Birthday Boys!

Happy birthday, Joseph and Caleb!!

Birthday Breakfast

We live in Texas, so we should be able to dress as cowboys, right?
Every year at the beginning of March our apartment complex holds a "Cowboy Breakfast." When we first moved in, this breakfast was held at the park right next to our building so we saw the crowds and heard the music but didn't really know what was going on. Joseph just kept calling it his "birthday party" because it happened to be on his birthday. Since then we have called the Cowboy Breakfast Joseph's Party. I guess now it is Joseph and Caleb's party since they have the same birthday.
So yesterday we pulled out some hats and headed over to the breakfast. It was a beautiful day, perfect for playing outside.

There were pony rides, which Emily was so excited for. She ran over to wait in line, watched while all of her friends rode on ponies, and then kind of freaked out when I tried to put her on one. This is what happened last year too.

After ponies we ate breakfast and then waited for 15 minutes in a line for a blow up jumping castle. Emily was so excited as she watched all the other kids having so much fun, then promptly wanted out as soon as I stuck her in through the door. Just like the ponies, that's exactly what happened last year too. Maybe next year! If nothing else, having Caleb to show up will be motivation to conquer her fears!

After that disappointment Emily had an accident (the first one in at least a month) while she was playing on the playground and we had to leave early.

What can I say? The kid likes to keep us on our toes!

Snow Day!

I was listening to the radio yesterday and heard that there was snow in the forecast, but didn't believe it for a second. Well, they sure showed me, didn't they.
It was fun, but I'm kind of sad we're not having nicer weather. When we went to Utah last month I was really sad that we were missing the beautiful 70-degree weather in Austin for the freezing, snowy Utah weather. It snowed a foot our first night there! Here in Texas we can't really play outside during the summer because it's so hot, so right now is when we should be playing on the playground, enjoying blue-skied, 70-degree days.











Here is Emily with some of the neighborhood kids. Emily lasted about 5 seconds in this snow, even after I switched her coat for a waterproof, hooded one. The other kids had fun though!

Sleeping

I have been working on thinning out the pictures we have saved to our computer. There are just too many and most of them are of Emily or Caleb (or both) sitting there doing nothing. I have been very surprised by how many sleeping pictures I have found. Particularly sleeping pictures of me that I didn't know were taken. Lots of sleeping pictures. Like twenty. Joseph says he was testing a new setting on the camera...














A little bit creepy, no? I have to admit I have taken a few of Joseph and I can't really remember why I took them. I know one was because he was wearing jeans for almost the first time in our marriage.

Much cuter are these pictures of our babies. Here is Emily at around 8 months sleeping with her pink jingle bear.
And here is one of Caleb at around 11 months sleeping with his blue jingle bear.
And here is one of Emily about to tackle Caleb who has stolen her pink jingle bear. This was at the hotel on the way back from Utah. It was like 11:00 at night and we were waiting for a crib to be delivered to our room for Caleb.
And another one of Emily just because she was a first child and had many many more pictures taken of her doing nothing than Caleb has.
And there are tons more. I do often feel more overwhelmed with love for my babies when they are sweetly sleeping than when they are wreaking havoc in our home. Maybe that is why I felt driven to take these sneaky pictures.

We will compare the word to a seed

Hey kids! It's time for family home evening.
Hooray! I love family home evening!
Hooray. I love family home evening.
This is Nephi. He had faith to build a boat and cross the ocean even though he had never built a boat before.
Uh oh. The boat crossing the water has awakened Kayzilla from his slumber!

It's okay. No monster of the sea can break them because they're tight like a dish.

No. I think that was someone else. Let's move on to planting seeds.
It needs dirt.
No matter how much water you pour on the table, it doesn't grow. We have to put the leaf in by hand. It's a different kind of leaf from what we were talking about.

Okay, Caleb. What did you learn from today's lesson? Will you arise, take up your bed, and come to Daddy?

Happy Valentine's Day

Joseph is so good at making holidays special.I hope you all had a fantastic Valentine's Day!

To Turn Things Around

We had a rough start to our day today.
I had four errands that absolutely had to be taken care of, so we left the apartment around 7:40 am, 20 minutes later than I had planned. No one got breakfast, it was pouring rain, and traffic was awful. When we got home around 10, I was hurrying to make breakfast while both kids were crying. Emily was cuddled on the couch with her favorite blankets and toys, Caleb was hanging onto my legs making it difficult for me to walk.
Suddenly Emily held up a sign language "I love you" toward me and Caleb and said, "I love you guys!"
Instantly my attitude changed and the whole morning was different. I was able to get breakfast on the table quickly, I was much more patient with Emily and Caleb, and we were actually able to enjoy our time together. I sure love the innocence and spontaneity of my two-year-old girl.

I love you (or Go Longhorns)

Grandma Christmas's House

While we were in Utah the kids got to spend some time at their grandparents' houses. My parents and Joseph's parents live just a couple of miles apart so we went back and forth between the two houses a lot, but we slept at my parents' house because it was less crowded. Emily ended up calling my dad "New Grandpa" because she remembered Grandpa Cooper and was a little confused when we called my dad Grandpa as well. She heard me calling Crystal (my step-mother) by her first name so started calling Crystal the closest approximation to Grandma Crystal that she could come up with, which was "Grandma Christmas." Pretty cute.
My parents have an under-the-sea themed basement activity room, which is where Emily spent a lot of time playing. This scary pirate shipwreck (that my dad painted!) houses every little girl's dream - a little play house complete with kitchen, ironing board, table to set, vacuum cleaner, etc. Emily loved it.














She would often call me in to the little house saying, "Time for lunch, Mommy! We have to say a prayer!" She kept feeding me pretzel goldfish long after I thought we were all out. I found her stash on our last day there. One of those pots on the stove was absolutely crammed full of them.
I was amazed at her setup here; I hope I am not her model. How did she even balance all that stuff up there? I like to think that my meal preparation is a little less cluttered.
Here she is being the dutiful little housewife that she is (or poses as). Getting the ironing done. I know she didn't learn that from me, since I probably only iron once a month or less. I love that Caleb is peaking in from the outside. He's such a cute little monkey.
And finally, relaxing after a long day in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove. I had to stand pretty close watch. Little Miss Emily here is not above pushing baby brother around when he gets in her way! :)
Staying at my parents house is always nice. They give us a lot of space in the basement, there are plenty of toys to keep the kids entertained, and a Wii set up with Rockband to keep me and Joseph entertained.

This video is of Emily at Grandma Cooper's house trying her hand at percussion. I think she has some of Joseph's talent!

Whence no traveler can return

Our trip to Utah came rather suddenly, but not unexpectedly. Dad and I told each other, "See you later" several months ago while we were visiting for a wedding. Dad could feel himself fading and we didn't expect to see each other in mortality again. I cried quite a bit with him then.

When my mother called with the news that he had passed away, it was sad, but also a relief. His suffering had been wearing on him and my family (my mother in particular) for quite a while and it was a blessing for him to finally be free. We grabbed some plane tickets and headed to Utah. It ended up being a longer trip than we planned.
Our flight out included a 4 hour layover in Phoenix during which time we switched airlines. Switching airlines meant switching terminals which meant going through security all over again. With the two kids and accompanying carry-on baggage, that's not the most fun thing we could think of. To make things better, when our plane arrived, they announced that there seemed to be a problem with the de-icing system; so we were delayed while they investigated. While they were still investigating, they announced that with high-speed winds approaching, the airport was probably going to close soon. Fortunately, the de-icing system checked out and we were able to get on our way after only a little more than an hour's extra wait-time.
What a relief to finally be at Grandma's house.
The funeral was nice. Dad loves music; so we sang several songs. Now his body can rest by that of his youngest daughter while the two of them finally get acquainted since Janelle only stuck around long enough to get a body and be officially part of the family.
I thought it was neat how they cleared away the snow to make a convenient path to the grave. I wasn't looking forward to tromping around with ice in my shoes.
While Grandma had a little time off and her grandkids close by, it was a perfect opportunity to head to Chuck-e-cheese. The pizza's not very good and the games/rides are terribly overpriced, but it was a lot of fun. I was surprised. Kids bring so much magic into our lives.
On the evening of my father's funeral, my mom tried to call her father and couldn't reach him. She finally got a hold of someone and found that my grandpa had gone in for emergency abdominal surgery. Things weren't looking too good; so Mom jumped in a car with my sister and headed up to Rexburg. Mom and her brother were able to say a final goodbye. They called most of the grandkids and we said goodbye too. Grandpa signed his own papers stating that he didn't want to be artificially sustained. He had lived a full life and was ready to move on.
We went up for the funeral. It was chilly. Grandpa served in World War II and the Korean war; so he was honored with a 3-volley salute and other military rites.
Amanda's father generously gave us a minivan that they weren't using much anymore. So we finally headed home. At one point, we made a wrong turn and drove west for an hour. That was annoying because it meant that we arrived home around 1 am instead of 11 pm. Besides that, however, the trip went pretty well. Amanda read to me to keep me awake and we had a good time.

The Hiatus Explained

As some of you probably know, we have been out of town for a couple of weeks. Joseph's dad passed away on January 19th so we traveled to Utah to be there for the funeral the following Saturday.
Joseph and his father have a lot in common and would often spend hours talking about their nerdy interests. We will miss Grandpa.

photo by Leenie.

Our visit was extended when Joseph's grandfather passed away on the 24th of January.


Overall, it was a sad occasion, but so good to spend some time with family.