Beginning of March 2012

It feels good to be back in the pattern of posting our video montages--our months without a camera was depressing.

The video pretty much explains all of it...


Wait, Laura actually already wrote a post for this and I missed it before, so I'll just insert it here...

"So this month actually came in like a lion, an then turned into a lamb, and back into a lion and back and forth and back and forth.  We got to play in the snow, and then just a few days later, the weather was so nice and warm I refused to eat dinner inside.  So we went to a nearby park and had a barbecue.  It was awesome -weather, food, you name it! Ambitious? Yes, but what the heck. (If you were wondering about the fork, that was Gabe's experiment with barbecuing.  No one was hurt).  However, the very next day we woke up to snow again.  The squirrels weren't so happy either.  So we've come up with a lot of indoor activities to chase away the cabin fever that happens around this time of year.  This year it was pvc zip lines, and pirates and what have you.  Of course, within a few days, it warmed up again, and it was so nice we just had to enjoy our lunch al fresco.  The poor dog next door sat and whined through the fence though because he wanted some.  I admit, he may have gotten a chicken nugget that had been dropped on the ground, but don't tell my neighbor.   Anyway, I also used the short-sleeve weather to dress up my boys for a photo shoot.  Aren't they so cute?

I'm still getting the hang of this camera, and I think it's going to take some practice.  The best pics still turned out fuzzy, argh. Of course, it was pretty dark in my living room, and I don't think my other camera would have worked at all.  By the way, the other one was found, in an obscure part of my sister-in-law's house, I think in the bedding we had used or something.  Anyway, Richard is excited to have his own camera that he can take to work with him this Summer in Jackson --yes we'll be going back. So you can look forward to documentation of all the amazing places and animals he gets to see during what will hopefully be our last summer there (crossing fingers).

Other notable things:

-That train track was Richard's handiwork if you couldn't tell.  He's not only an expert tower builder, but does amazing things with train tracks as well. Gabe's picture there looks funny to me, maybe it's because his hair made his head look a different shape or something.  The mischievous grin is familiar though.

-Yes we made a purple fort, it's girly I know, but that's all I had that wasn't too heavy, and the boys figure I made it that way because according to them, purple is my favorite color.

-The moon shots were impressive weren't they?  If only we had this camera when we went out to see the lunar eclipse (I still have yet to document that, we took some pictures with an old manual 35mm camera that had a zoom lens and we need to develop the film.  Develop!  Who does that anymore? What a pain.  So yeah, when I remember to do that, we'll get that posted).

So there you have it, the last few weeks: enjoy!"  -Laura

Now let me (Richard) give a few non-video updates, share a few cute quotes from the kids, and clarify a few things about the video.

Firstly, we've heard back about two of the four PhD applications, and, sadly, neither of them good news. Both Miami and U of U said no, but that leaves WSU and Arizona University (our first and last choices) to respond. I'm hoping that the long time it's taken them to respond means that I've made the first cut and they're waiting to hear from the other applicants. So here's hoping that those people say no.

Laura was in charge of a Relief Society Birthday Party this last week for our ward. She's been spending a lot of time and effort preparing for it (and thinking about it). From what I hear it went really well--of course Laura mentioned what could be better, but just judging from what she was planning I'm sure it was stellar.

Here are some cute things the boys have said recently:

Ethan: (while playing a game where they pretended to die) "I was dead, but then I came back to life. Because I have the holy ghost in me. and he made me do that."

(After finding out that I'm 28, Laura asks Ethan how old she is...)

Ethan: "26"

Laura: "I'm older than daddy."

E: "29?"

L: "I'm two years older than daddy."

E: "I don't believe it."

Ethan: "Daddy, why did you come home?"

Richard: "What do you mean? Because this is my home."

Ethan: "But it's not even dark!"

Richard: "What do you want to play, Gabe?"

Gabe: "Hide and go fish!"

In the video, the songs are "Sesenta y Cuatro El Camino" by Bob Minner, then "Brasileirinho" by Yo-yo Ma.

The zip-line wasn't as dangerous as you might think. We made it secure and it wasn't tight enough that they went all the way into the wall.

The barbecue in the park was just on a whim. That was Gabe that burned the fork--he decided he wanted to do a little barbecuing of his own. We didn't have a backup fork either.

Enjoy!

End of February

Finally!  A post since we got our new camera.  We pretty much just missed a month of our children's lives, except for what we could take with Richard's camera phone.  One such outing didn't manage to make it onto the montage, but you can find pics here.

It is saddest when I consider Logan's life and all the changes that happen in 1 month.  He's 7 months now, he's been introduced to the Johnny Jump-up, which he loves, and has acquired some new skills such as sitting and rolling around --not quite crawling but rocking on his hands and knees, and I know that soon the inevitable will happen and nothing  in this house will be safe.  Why can't babies just remain immobile until they get a little common sense (and stop sticking everything in their mouths)? I'll definitely have to up my standards of cleanliness, and maybe invest in a baby gate.  Ugh.  But for now, he's so cute and mostly stays put.  :) 

Ethan and Gabe are the best big brothers, and they are so funny together.  I love watching them play and giggle together.  They get along really well for the most part (they aren't perfect, but are pretty quick to forgive). It is just as I hoped it would be when I gave birth to them so close together (22 months).  They are best buds and they keep each other entertained.  However, speaking of altercations, the other day they got angry with one another and Ethan threw the most hurtful words he could think of at Gabe saying, "I'm so mad at you, I'm not your big brother anymore!"  Gabe was visibly stricken, and lashed back by saying the same thing to anyone who crossed him, including me as I tried to referee the situation, and I'm afraid I had to laugh when he told me that he wasn't my big brother anymore either. Of course, as usual, the contention was short lived and they were out the door on some adventure together soon after. 

The pictures at the end of the barns were from a date Richard and I went on to test out our new camera. In case you were wondering, it's a Lumix FZ150, fixed lens superzoom camera.  It's got so many bells and whistles that it's going to take a while before we really figure it out, but even without much experience we were able to take some pretty good shots.  Every time we passed this barn we wanted to take pictures because of how it defied gravity with its saggy roof.  Don't worry, we didn't go inside.  We did peek in there though, and it was super creepy.  I didn't want to include some of those pictures in the montage because they're kinda gross, but Richard said we needed to include the whole experience. You can find even more pics here. It really makes me wonder what the story is behind this place.  Everything was completely abandoned as far as we could tell, and for a long time.  There was also evidence of recent inhabitants of the homeless nature, and probably many of the 4 legged variety as well.  Really spooky, but a fun adventure.

Anyway, enjoy the montage.