Talent show

Last night was our ward talent show that I was in charge of. I had been planning it for months, and am relieved it is finally over. But  I am happy to report, it was a huge success. We had lots of talents being displayed visually. We had rocket scientist stuff, photography, lots of cooking and baking, quildting, sewing, videography, leather work, temples made out of legos

Exclusive video and pics, as promised

If you have met my husband and I, you know that our humor, as well as the way in which we relate to the world in general, is based largely on movie quotes (or TV). No matter what the situation, we usually have a quote to go with it. See if you can recognize which movies/shows some of our top quoted lines come from:

"Yeah, Rita. They're Hicks!"
"Serenity Now!"

"Good work. Sleep Well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning."

(looking at an empty pudding cup) "I'm sad again."

"Baby steps, Bob. Baby steps."

I'll let you figure out the first four. Leave me a comment if you want help with any of those. But I'll give you the last one. It's What About Bob? - a great classic my husband introduced me to. And an apt quote to lead into what I'm sure will be another classic movie in the Hemsath household - Evan taking his first steps! I promised you faithful blog readers, all 28 of you, some exclusive photos not on facebook. I hope this video will suffice instead.

OK- I'm laughing to myself right now, because as I'm finding the right video clip to post, and watching some of the earlier clips where Evan wasn't walking for the camera (child actors are impossible to work with!), I heard us referencing a movie quote in the background "That's not walking. It's falling, with style!" We really do need to get a life. Or at least a vocabulary not originated on the silver screen. But enough about us. Pop some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy this quality performance.

Stars, sabres, and silliness

I thought you might enjoy being a fly on the wall, or at least, on the stroller, and spending a few candid moments with the Hemsath family. So here's a little peek into what life is like with Jason, my brilliant, sweet, frustratingly silly little jokester.

On a walk tonight with my boys, I had Jason turn off his light sabre, (yes, I said light sabre) to show him all the stars that were so clear in the sky. Crouching down next to him, I pointed up and in awe said, “Look at all the stars Jason. How many do you think there are?”

He studied them thoughtfully, and then replied, “Five. There are five stars Mom. See?” He pointed up and counted out five. I chuckled, and let him know there were much more than five.

“If we were to stand here all night counting as high as we could, we still wouldn’t be able to count all the stars. That’s how many there are. And do you know who made all these stars?”

“Jesus.”

“That’s right. Heavenly Father and Jesus made all the stars. And do you think they love everyone who lives on any of their stars?”

Jason nodded emphatically. “Yeah. And the butterflies too.”

His randomness baffles me. “Yes, I’m sure there are butterflies and Jesus loves all the butterflies too. And do you think Jesus loves you too?”

“Yeah. Hey look, Mom! That one’s not a star. That’s an airplane.” I followed his finger to the moving lights and confirmed his declaration. Marveling at the sight of humans flying through the atmosphere and the wonder of technology, I asked him, “Do you think you’ll ever go to the stars?”

Without a moment’s hesitation he replied, “Sure. When I pretend to be a butterfly.” He extended his arm and wiggled his fingers. “But I can’t right now. I don’t got no more wings.” That’s when I realized the moment, whatever it had been, was gone. So we walked home.

Awesome Recipes and a Giveaway!

I know, I know. it's been over 3 months since I posted anything on here. and I owe you tons of stories and photos and videos. And I will do that. I promise. I'll even post pictures on here that AREN'T on facebook. That's right, hemsath blog EXCLUSIVE photos. This week. Until then, you'll have to make do with a link to an amazing recipe blog my friend Megan does. Dinner rolls with winter squash baked into the dough, Ethiopian Lentils, home made marshmallows, Snickers caramel Pop corn, you name it, she's got it. Yummy recipes, awesome photos, and if you check it out today or tomorrow, you can even participate in her giveaway for some adorable boutique measuring spoons. Here's the link: http://www.pickleboatrecipes.com/2012/01/100th-post-giveaway.html

Enjoy, and stay tuned for Exclusive stories and videos.

He's not heavy, he's my brother

So I know it's been a while since I've posted. I'm going to have to do a big photo dump one of these days. But until then, here are two little video that captures Jason and Evan's personalities pretty well. Jason is a silly fun-loving boy. He throws tantrums as only a 2 year old can, and usually the tantrums come when it's time to stop doing whatever fun activity he has been enjoying (drinking juice, watching TV, playing at a friends house, etc). But aside from the tantrums, he is a joy to be around. Very talkative, and says the funniest things. Has a crazy imagination, and just LOVES his baby brother.

Evan is a big source of joy as well. Emphasis on the big. At his 6 month appointment he was 20.5 pounds, which put him in the 80th percentile. His height was 29", which puts him off the charts. And that was a month ago. He is now 7 months, and I'm not sure how big he is, only that he keeps growing and growing. He still sleeps through the night, which I have to keep in mind since he doesn't nap very well during the day. He will nap if I'm holding or nursing him, but if I try to transfer him to a swing or crib, he wakes up crying. So I don't get much done each day, but I sleep at night, so I guess I am getting the better end of that stick and won't complain. Evan is sitting up now and LOVES getting to sit up in the bath with Jason and splash the water. He is a water baby for sure. He is eating solids, and teething like crazy, but no teeth coming through yet. He smiles when given the least bit of attention, and you can't remember what ails you in life when that little cherub is grinning at you. His giggle is infectious, and while he is content to observe the world quietly for the most part, he is squealing and shrieking more and more, with the phrase "mamamama" being heard over and over. And as always, his little legs are always kicking, whether he's sitting, laying on his back, stomach, standing, etc. He knows how to get up on his hands and knees, but isn't crawling yet.

Jason can't wait for Evan to grow up and play with him. Here are two videos that show you just how much Jason loves playing with Evan already. One is from a visit to my parents house this last weekend. The other is from dinner a few weeks back. We had played the game Pig Mania a few days earlier, and if roll the pig dice a certain way, it's called Pig Out and your turn is over. Jason thought that phrase was pretty funny and randomly calls "Pig Out!" during the day now. Jason isn't the only one who thought it was funny. Enjoy the videos!

Articles of Faith from the not so camera shy

Each month, as a family, we've been working on memorizing one of the "Articles of Faith" together. The Articles of Faith are 13 short statements that summarize some of our key doctrinal beliefs as Mormons. I was bragging to my sister-in-law, who lives in Utah, that Jason has gotten the first two down very well and is making good progress on the third. She lamented not being closer to see it in person, and I promised to make her a video. So here is our video.

jason is getting very bossy in his late "two's" as you can see from the end of that clip. But no sooner did I turn it off, then he insisted on watching it on playback, and recording another one. Here's the second article of Faith, along with my favorite part - his blowing a kiss at the end.

And here's the third installment...

but wait, there's more! He also wanted to sing his version of the ABC's. So for your viewing pleasure, I give you Jason the entertainer.

Summer Getaway

So we recently stole away to California for a few days to visit with family and friends. Here are some pictures from our adventures.

We left early in the morning and drove to the other side of the valley before stopping for breakfast. We avoided all the rush hour traffic that way and started our trip off right - with pancakes at IHOP! I got some strawberry cheesecake pancakes, Dustin got some Cinnabun French toast, and Jason chose a chocolate chip funny face pancake. He sure was excited to eat it!
Then we drove into Orange County, and the boys did great on the car ride, even with a hour traffic delay on the I-10 due to a big rig accident. We enjoyed dinner with the Clarke family and then headed to the Haddocks (Dustin's cousins) where we would be staying for the week. The next morning, the Haddocks watched Evan for us while we took Jason to go see Cars 2. It wasn't as good as the other Pixar movies, but we still laughed and Jason loved it, which is all that really mattered. That evening, we went and enjoyed dinner with our friends the Liu's and the Neilsens. I forgot to get any pictures of that; I was too busy chatting and basking in the glow of friendship that never dims no matter how long its been since you've seen each other.

The next day we met up with Dustin's sister Holly Gooch and her family. We started at the OC Swapmeet where Dustin got a new hat, I got some black hair flowers, and Jason got yet another red toy car. Jason loved holding hands with his cousins Spencer and Isabelle and it was sweet to see them so happy to be together.

After the swapmeet, we traveled down to Balboa pier to spend some time on the beach. Big Mistake. seeing as how it was a Saturday afternoon, Fourth of July weekend, the beach was ridiculously crowded. So much so, that after 30 minutes of driving around looking for a parking spot (the Gooches found one after 15-20 minutes), Dustin finally dropped me off with boys and said he'd keep looking for one by himself. An hour and a half later, he finally found one. It was 25 minutes walking distance away, and the whole situation had left us all a little frustrated and put a damper on our beach excursion. But he did finally get to come join us. As first, Jason didn't want to step foot onto the beach because he got sand in his sandal. He hates having sand on him. yet he was the one asking to go visit the beach. But he eventually toughened up and even started playing in the sand with his cousin Gavin.

Evan just slept in his car seat most of the time. I couldn't believe how long he slept!

When Dustin finally was able to join us, he took Jason into the water. Jason was nervous about the waves and didn't want to stand in them, but he enjoyed Daddy holding him while the waves hit, and occasionally dipping him down into the water to get splashed.

Evan eventually woke up and we all enjoyed some time fun in the sun. Here are a few more picture from that afternoon.

Later that night, we enjoyed dinner and hanging out with our friends the Sepulvedas. Again, I was too busy visiting, I didn't get any pictures taken. Sunday morning, we visited our old ward to see lots of friends we used to go to church with. After church, we popped in for a surprise visit to the Flores family. Guillermina Flores used to watch Jason every day when I had to go back to work. They couldn't believe how big he was!

After the Flores family, we headed off to dinner with the Cox family, and were excited to see that the Neilsens were there to join us. Emily Cox, Noah Neilsen, and Jason had a lot of fun on the tire swing together.

The next day, we started celebrated our independence by visiting the Spectrum. We had fun riding the Ferris Wheel as a family (Evan did well sitting up on his own). We rode the train (Jason made sure to inform me he was riding in a "freight car") and the Neilsens even stopped by to ride the carousel with us, enjoy some ice cream and visit some shops. We sure had a blast that morning!

After the Spectrum, we went back to the Haddocks for a family Fourth shindig. I'm not sure which we enjoyed more, the hot dog bar with all the fix-ins, or the plethora of cousins and second cousins that seemed to be running around everywhere. We even got to see little Jameson Hemsath (Dustin's brother's little baby) and he is just the cutest little guy.

Here Holly and Belle get some quality Evan lovin'.

Kanan and brother Jameson pose next to their cousins Jason and Evan.

All the little cousins and second cousins together for a big photo. It was hard to squeeze them all into the same shot, but we did it, sort of.

The next morning, we packed up, went to Tustin where I got to teach my student Amanda in person (I usually just teach her piano over Skype), and then headed back to AZ. We stopped at Claim Jumper for dinner and made it back just as the giant haboob (dust storm) was hitting our area. We hit it just outside our neighborhood, so we're grateful we only had to drive in it for 5 minutes and didn't get caught on the freeways with zero visibility. Here's a video to show you just how massive the haboob was, and a picture taken inside our garage when we got home to show you just how dirty it made my car in 5 minutes!

All in all, it was a fun trip and we're glad we made it back safe. Hope you enjoy the pictures.