The Calls

new state, new blog

2010-07-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

Time to start a new blog!

As much as I have enjoyed my random fortunes

from some random Asian readers,

I'm going to try the private blog thing this time.

You know the drill.

Email me or leave a comment with your email

so you can keep reading my oh-so-very-exciting blog.

POST EDIT 7/22:
The first round of invites have gone out,
if you haven't gotten one it's because I don't know you want one!
email me or leave a comment for an invite, thanks!

The Young Married Couples

2010-07-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

Before we left VA all the young married couples in our ward got together for lunch at the park to say goodbye. I love these people. I would have never survived without them. They didn't have kids yet, but they were awesome with Kaci. She'd ask to hang out with John and Laura or Billy and Laura or go to Emmy and Shaun's house all the time. I wonder if I'll ever meet such awesome couples again. I miss them all already. It's bizarre to go to church and not see them. Church is never going to be the same without them. I'm looking forward to seeing them again when Brad graduates next summer. I may not have had a ton of friends in VA, but the ones I had were pretty amazing.

People Pictures

2010-07-18T16:52:00.000-07:00

Some people I will never forget, but I wish I had pictures of them. You know, people that change you forever because of who they are and what they make you wish you could be. I don't have pictures of some of those people, like Nanako from BYU-H or Mr. Trew my 5th grade teacher. I made sure not to make that mistake when I left VA.

This is Bonnie Leavitt. She's amazing. I absolutely adore her. She's the Gospel Doctrine teacher for H'burg 2nd ward. She opens the gospel up and helps you live it, helps you see how you are the same and different from people in the scriptures, helps you "enlarge your memory" and heighten your awareness of how Christian you really are. I miss her terribly and I think I always will. She doesn't teach you the gospel, she teaches you to see how you can and do live it each day. She teaches you so you do more than learn, you do! She also knows gospel doctrine flawlessly. She's a convert who dedicated her life to studying the gospel. She can quote a prophet (ancient or modern) in casual conversation. Her comments in Relief Society were often direct quotes from the scriptures or conference. She can even tell you what side of the page to look on or which column a verse is in while you look something up. She knows her stuff, and she lives it. She's also incredible interesting. I invited her to lunch once just to be able to talk to her because you never get to really talk to someone at church. Like I said, she's amazing and I'm glad I have a picture of her.

Diane Hebdon. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have Christ walk into the room and sit next to you? I have. And that is why I got to meet Diane Hebdon. She radiates the love you read about in the scriptures. The love the apostles witnessed Christ demonstrate. When she walks in the room you feel different because she is there. When she smiles at you it is sincere. When she talks to you, you feel loved and heard. It's not something special she does for you, she does it for everyone. Everyone feels loved by her because she honestly loves everyone. She has mastered the art of seeing people and treating people like the Savior would. I'm sure she's not perfect, but she's perfecting the pure love of Christ the best of anyone I've ever met.

These two women have changed me in a very real way. I'm so grateful I got real life, tangible people to help me become a better Christian. The scriptures are a real and powerful tool, and these two women helped me see that using the scriptures as a tool to become like Christ does work, it is possible to be more like Him. Living proof is always encouraging.

Utah Trip

2010-07-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's always crazy fun to be with ALL of Brad's family. The kids are starting to take over. Soon enough they'll outnumber us and we will be in BIG trouble. A few key ingredients to CALL FAMILY fun: 1)Always homemade food, taco soup and sandwhiches are standards. 2)Completely organized chaos, with that many people (15) it doesn't really matter how well you plan, it gets crazy. 3)Exteme exhaustion from excessive fun. 4)Use the camera as a torturing device because you don't know for sure when we'll all get together again (which this was like one of two times I've spent time with my brother-in-law/doctor, so it's understandable, though I don't think he's in any of my pictures... shucks).

A few pictures of the greatness planned and executed by Bryan and Lynda:
Canoeing at the lake by the cabin we stayed at up in Oakley. Crazy windy that day, but that didn't stop us.
Fireworks and water balloons in the backyard on the 4th of July. Why are those snacks so fun to watch? The kids loved them. They also got to do sparklers and a couple of those fountains. FUN!
ALL the grand kids in one place at the same time. Impressive!
Pre-picture picture chaos. Notice their matchy lake outfits complete with water shoes.

Oakley Rodeo. It was fun to go to a small town Rodeo, so different from one's I'd been to in AZ. They had fireworks at the end and Kaci still talks about the horses that ran so fast and the bucking bulls!

Wedding Memories part3

2010-07-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, my sister got married and had a beautiful wedding reception and I have ZERO pictures of it. I was busy in the kitchen during her reception and my camera got left in a car after the temple. So someday I'll get my hands on some of her wedding pictures to post, but at least I took a few pictures of her in her wedding stuff before her wedding.

Post-wedding "fun" was a trip to Sedona. It was Brad's first time. We went to Slide Rock. It was a beautiful sunny day with a 20% chance of rain. We get to slide rock and while we're walking in people are running out. We forge on only to hear thunder, see lightning, and watch dark clouds roll in. The place cleared out in minutes. We were left all alone, huddled under a rock outcropping. The rain was cold and it lasted longer than the usual 10 minutes. Everyone was soaked. The kids made a little fort out of towels and put on their happy faces while the adults laughed. We all got wet, just not the way we intended.
After the storm mostly cleared everyone decided to slide on the rocks anyway and had a great time.

Wedding Memories part2

2010-07-13T20:11:00.001-07:00

Family Time! Kaci now fully comprehends that she has cousins. She got along great with my sister's kids and she misses them desperately now. I also got to see my cousins. My cousin Misty is pregnant with a little girl, and I got to PHX just in time for her shower. She is adorable pregnant... skinny people always are!

We went to the circus for a little pre-wedding fun. Kaci loved all the tricks she saw people doing. My dad got all the kids these super fun hats. Hats are essential to fun in Hebner Family tradition.

Wedding Memories part1

2010-07-10T06:09:00.001-07:00

Kaci and I got to spend TONS of time with Krystal and Bruce (whether they liked it or not). We were lovin' it. I always had the inside scoop on the latest wedding news.

Wedding Pictures at the Temple (the Monday before)

The big picture day was memorable. My two favorite memories from that day were:

1. Kaci got to get her nails done at a Salon with the Bride-to-Be. We had lined up a babysitter, but the babysitter's kid got strep the night before. So, our only choice was to take Kaci with us to the Salon. Kaci was in heaven. She has been obsessed with painting her nails recently. I forgot my camera (major bummer) but I'm sure you can all imagine a little girl beaming with joy with her hands and toes carefully placed so she won't smudge them. She even got the toe separator thing. She got her nails painted purple which was an excellent choice because Krystal's wedding colors were orange, yellow, and green.

2. While Krystal was getting ready, Bruce stopped by to pick up his suit. When he asked Kaci where Krystal was, Kaci said "Krystal's getting her hair cut... and it looks crazy!" Krystal was mid curls, twists, tucks, and pony tails and that is what Kaci calls crazy. Thankfully Krystal laughed, but warned "Kaci! If you weren't two, I'd be mad at you!" Pretty funny, by far the funniest thing Kaci did the whole trip! Krystal looked stunning for her pictures despite her "crazy" hair.

big surprise

2010-07-10T05:47:00.000-07:00

A ruff and tuff new year made Brad and I decide to just wait and surprise our families when we saw them this summer...

A baby boy is on its way at the end of September!

As exciting as this is for everyone, it'll be the highlight of the Fall because the highlight of the Summer was that Krystal got married and there are plenty of fun stories and pictures to come!

(No, I didn't go to Hawaii this summer, this pix is actually of me and Kaci. I'm still loving these pictures Jessie! Thanks again for capturing my first pregnancy!)

but mommy...

2010-06-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

Our summer is going to be one wild adventure and Kaci is all about it,

thanks to DORA and DIEGO her new favorite movies.

Dora follows a map on all of her adventures, so naturally Kaci does too.

When we packed up and left Virginia on our way to Arizona, Kaci only had one concern:

"But mommy? how we gunna get there?"

As long as I pulled out her "map" from her "backpack",

she was happy to continue the adventure.
We drove over a mountain, rode in 4 airplanes, and made it to Krystal's house!

As DORA would say with a crescendo of music

{duh duh dundun dun duh dun}

" WE DID IT!"

Lake Moomaw Goodbye Party!

2010-06-07T15:25:00.001-07:00

My mommy friends Suzy and Alison wanted to have a goodbye party for us.

We decided it would be fun to get the families together and go CAMPING!

Three small families + a boat + great weather + tons of delicious food= FUN FUN FUN!

We tested the elements by going camping even though the weather people called for thunderstorms and rain all night. We never saw any of it.

(kaci loved the boat... can ya tell?)

What a fun way to say goodbye to good friends...

and Virginia's weather.

good times

2010-05-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

We had a killer weekend!

Friday was spent prepping for my spontaneous moving sale on Saturday. On Saturday, we woke up early and moved nearly everything outside hoping people would buy it. They did! I'm a rich woman with $60 of spending money now!
Our pool also opened up, so we spent 3 solid hours swimming. Kaci swam at least a mile's worth. She also scraped her knees for the first time ever. She refused to walk the rest of the night and finally called it quits at 4:30pm. She slept til 7am Sunday.
Seminary Graduation! Brad and I celebrated by cashing in on some free babysitting and a gift card from some good friends. We bolted after the closing prayer to eat some steak at a local restaurant we've never been too. **"Mormon Prom"** was still going on when we finished our meal so we did what any seminary teacher should do, crashed it! The kids were thrilled to see us and we even got to take another cheese-y formal dance picture!
Another "cheese-y formal dance picture" you wonder? Feast your eyes on this beauty:

That's right, me, Brad, Nate, and Kim decked out for a TVA Valentine's Day Ball (TVA is the married student housing complex at BYU-Hawaii, they do all sorts of events, usually monthly!).

PLEASE take a minute to notice: we all have little orange wrist bands, the gag fest of a background, the amazing pose, and the totally morphed dimensions. I'm pretty positive none of you have seen such a horrific picture in all your life. And no, I didn't alter it at all, this is what we got back from the "professionals" that took it! I'm pretty sure the picture we took last night at the Mormon Prom will not even come close to comparing with this beauty, but we did our best. Thanks for posing with us Laura!

** Mormon Prom Explanation**

The youth program for our church does dances regularly, in May they do a formal dance and all the kids call it Mormon Prom. They wear their formals and go all out decorating for it. It's THE social event of the year for the teenagers. I think it's kind of cool to have an alternative or an additional dance to wear your Prom get-up to. The graduation and the dance were on the same night this year, so I had to make an appearance! I was also so curious to see what all the fuss was about. It did look like fun.

every-day-kind-of-stuff

2010-05-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

Some things are unique no matter how ordinary they are to you.

every-day-kind-of-stuff

is worth capturing!

Here's our pictures to remember the every-day-kind-of-stuff for Virginia...

cows grazing on rolling hills

and an almost three year old thrilled to see it!

carnival

2010-05-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

Seminary is wrapping up. Brad convinced me to wrap it up with style,

so I threw my kids a

carnival!

Admission?

scripture mastery quiz

Attractions?

corn hole, pitch-a-fit, caricatures*, arm wrestling*,

kissing booth*, guessing games, and a concession stand*

Prizes?

balloons, lollipops, ring pops, and a gold fish

Carnies?

j&l, kaci, brad, and me

My kids rock! I got their usual shock and awe at doing something so elaborate at 6am. They had a lot of fun, were super grateful for my efforts, and let me take pictures. I just might miss teaching seminary after all.

******okay a little explanation for those of you who care!******

Kissing booth? Kaci was the carnie. She had a bowl full of chocolate kisses and when someone asked her for a kiss she'd day "it's chocolate!".

Arm Wrestling? L. was the carnie. She's might be more petitie than most of my students. But, she had an amazing fake tattoo that would scare anybody senseless. Thanks for dressing the part!

Caricatures? J. drew quick pictures of the kids on the spot. They loved it. He's super talented.

Concession stand? I thought I was hilarious. I did breakfast-on-a-stick. I used some skewers and stuck a whole apple or orange and a muffin on it. I wish I would have taped the juice box or chocolate milk on it too, but they were already so heavy. If I had had those cool steel ones I would have for sure.

OH! and since I was using my precious seminary budget for this, I have to mention that I did everything but the food for $20. Well worth it if you ask me.

he's crazy

2010-05-17T02:31:00.000-07:00

Brad woke up to go pee.

Kaci woke up and came to find me.

I'm pretending to be asleep.

I hear a loud harsh whisper, "Kaci, NO?" As she goes running past the bathroom, "Don't get mommy. Come back!"

pit-pat-pit-pat...

Kaci dives onto Brad's pillow and snuggles up to me. I hear the toilet flush and then Brad swoops Kaci off the bed and carries her back to her room.

10 minutes later...

"WHOA!!!" Brad screams! Kaci starts whimpering. And then silence.

An hour later Brad comes back to bed. I'm still awake, never fell back asleep. "Brad, why did you scream like that. You scared me."

"Oh, I thought Kaci was a cat."

What the?!?! I've been awake since 2 am because in Brad's sleepy stupor he mistook Kaci for a cat? It's going to be a long day. A very long day. I hate it when I can't fall back asleep. This happened to me when we were newly weds too. Remember that? That time Brad woke up screaming because a dog was about to get him in his dream? That time, a big frame crashed to the floor right afterwards. Shattering glass is not a fun sound at 3am. I didn't fall back asleep that time either.

I'm off to seminary. Just 4 days left!!

it's the truth

2010-05-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

At 7 o'clock on a Wednesday night.

At noon on a Saturday.

At 2pm on a Monday.

Unexpected visitors please be advised:

3 times within two weeks I had unexpected visitors pop in. They didn't stand at my doorway. They didn't even want to just sit on the couch. They wanted to see the WHOLE apartment. Toys everywhere, boxes stacked and half full, dishes half done, laundry fresh out of the dryer on the couch (and it would be the load of unmentionables too), a toilet just peed in by my two year old who still has her pants down, a carpet with sticks, rocks, and leaves that the two year old just dragged in, a bowl of uneaten snack on the table... need I go on?

First, a lady who heard I was moving just wanted to see how much smaller my medium two bedroom was to her large two bedroom.

Second, a man Brad was doing census training with. They had some time to kill and decided to do it in my apartment. Hello? I'm pretty sure that's what parks are for!

Third, my landlord wanted to show a woman the exact apartment she could rent in hopes it would make her decision easier.

Hello!?!

I'm moving.

I have a two year old.

My husband is super busy right now.

Don't come knocking on my door unless you've given at least a half hour notice.

THANKS!

you ready for this?

2010-05-11T14:24:00.001-07:00

I married into a family that is OBSESSED with the movie What About Bob? This past weekend we took a special trip to Smith Mountain Lake to see the "what about bob house". Brad decided to re-enact several scenes from the movie since we were practically on the old set. He acted out the scenes and then dubbed the audio from the movie. Kaci had to be any extras since I was the camera man. We were rather impressed with her acting skillz! Enjoy the movie, Brad style!

Thanks again Bowman's for letting us stay at your amazing house for this trip, for feeding us, for helping us film and re-enact some of the scenes, for making Brad knock on the door of the house (so we could take all those fun pictures!). In reality we spent more time at the Bowman's than at the "house". They have an amazing set up and are so fun to spend time with!

We hiked in their own personal woods on trails they blazed themselves, ate a fresh salad from their garden, went kayaking, slept on a water bed (!), spent endless time out on their deck, played with their puppy Nitro, and laughed and laughed and laughed. {for those of you who have read Anne of Green Gables, they are "kindred spirits"} We wish we could go back to their house every weekend. On the way home we kept saying that this trip was a great last "Virginia adventure", hoorah! [tomorrow will be one month mark til I leave!!]

i joined the ranks...

2010-05-09T04:33:00.000-07:00

As we rounded the bend in the road just before Hau'ula, a paralyzing fear crept over me.

Faintly, I could hear three other conversations going on. Brad, my mom, and my sister were all calling people telling them I was going into labor. I turned to look at Brad and said, "I'm on my way to the hospital to experience the worst physical pain human kind is acquainted with. What are you all so happy about?" Stunned, Brad hung up his phone and tried to say something nice. I'm pretty sure I rolled my eyes at him and didn't talk to anyone again for a long time.

Nine hours later I had my fists up in the air, and I was chanting "I did it! I did it!". The labor and delivery wasn't near as bad as the fear of the unknown that preceded it. I'm glad I didn't even think about it all until I was on my way to the hospital.

The night after I gave birth, the nurses wheeled Kaci in to sleep next to me. After a long day of attempting to nurse Kaci unsuccessfully, I fell asleep staring at her. A few hours later, I woke to the tiny cry of an infant. I laid there and smiled, relishing in the sound of my daughter. I sat up, no one else got up to bring her to me. No one else heard her. No one else was awake.

I made a few painful attempts to roll out of bed before I finally scooted off the edge and waddled over to my baby. I gently picked her up and started to soothe her. We were alone, just me and my baby. At that moment, I felt different. I thought differently. I saw differently. In that moment, I became a mother.

sing yourself silly

2010-05-04T16:26:00.001-07:00

today i got an email that made me remember how opinionated i am.

i feel like ranting about anything and everything in that email...

instead, i'll just sing myself silly... or watch kaci do it!

(she always says over in her songs, she also always sings the same lifeless tune)

(oh a translation: blah blah blah, Alaska-over, in summer i'm going to be 3-over)

Baby T.

2010-05-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

Kaci and I got to spend a few Tuesdays with this little one. She was highly entertaining. She learned to sit up by the time our Tuesdays of babysitting came to an end, which was fun because Kaci really wanted to teach her how to build a tower.

I think she got the hang of it by the end. Kaci is an excellent teacher! We'll miss you baby T.

background music

2010-04-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

I like Michael Buble's music, I like this song among others:

The song is really just background music for this post, but I do have to say that I've always thought music videos were cheesey, this one is no exception. But, if you're going to watch the cheese-fest, at least enjoy the fact that it's in a grocery store.

On to the post!

This awesome lady I know (N. M.) keeps talking about a fun, quick, easy, and beautiful hike nearby.

It took 17 minutes to get to the look out!
It was the windiest day ever, but it was stunning up there!

You've got to love those endless rolling hills. I'm glad Kaci likes hiking, that Brad will pack her when she's tired, and that I've got the coolest little family ever who goes hiking early Saturday morning with me.

It snowed!

2010-04-26T04:52:00.000-07:00

Kaci looked outside yesterday and came running to me and said "it snowed!"

My heart stopped, then I looked outside and saw that it had "snowed".... FLOWERS!

Kaci loves the flowers everywhere. Her latest favorite thing is to wear a flower in her hair.

The dandelion is her flower of choice.

Doesn't she look beautiful!

We've also had flower fights.

When dandelions turn to that puff ball state, they are super fun to throw at people.

They poof on contact and you walk away covered in the poof.

Kaci thinks it's hilarious!

Go out and try it!

...

Happy Spring!

الجلماوي

2010-04-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

"You are... American? I move here from Jordan to come to America and now I have Arabic neighbors. I think to myself this is not good. I am happy to meet you."

Yeah Me!

This happens on a regular basis at the playground at my apartment complex. Most conversations last at least a half hour because they are so excited to hear and speak English with a native speaker. I'm pretty much a celebrity around here because I'm "American" and speak "English". Yes, my apartment complex is that international. I think I am one of less than 10 "American, native English speaking" families in the complex. I LOVE it!

Please enjoy this very entertaining Arabic music video in honor of the birthday party we attended tonight.

My new Arabic speaking friends invited us over to celebrate a 3 year old. We went and Brad dazzled them all with his very impressive two word vocabulary in Arabic. He learned two more words tonight, yes and no. The group would have an entire conversation in Arabic and then Brad would chime in at the very end, "yes" (in Arabic which sounds like "e" or "nam"). Everyone would laugh and we walked away with a whole new appreciation for what these poor (in spirit) refugee families experience every waking moment in America (we also walked away waddling from eating so much food, man do they like to make you eat).

I wish I would have brought my camera to document Kaci's white hair amongst dark hair and dark complexion kids. She stands out to say the very least. They all adore her for it. She thinks she's the center of attention because, well, she is. I also would have had a really cool picture of me being buddy-buddy with 3 Iraqi women and one Jordanian woman.

Needless to say, I feel like my world is so small when it needs to be so so so so big to encompass more people, more languages, more cultures, more religions, more everything. I thought I was so culturally minded after BYU-H, but I don't recall meeting too many Muslims at BYU-H. I guess that's why I get to meet them now!

p.s. any "Americans" in the area want to makes some new friends, I know a couple families who are desperate to make more "American" friends.

Remember when...

2010-04-20T04:50:00.000-07:00

Remember when I wanted to learn to play the piano?

So I found a free 100 year old one on Craigslist and we squeezed it into our apartment with the help of a zillion strong men?

And then I made Brad refinish it to be a shiny black because it was so ugly?

We sold it, about a month or two ago.

FYI: Squeezing it out was more effort than squeezing it in.
We got $150 for it!

Brad earned like a dollar an hour refinishing it for me.

So it's only fair that he got to get a toy with the money.

The big decision was a used projector or an iPod touch.

With the upcoming move, the iPod touch won.

Kaci can play games and watch movies on it

(cue the Hallelujah chorus the second I walk onto that plane in June),

I can access the internet nearly anywhere

(email me this summer since I won't have my house phone anymore), &

Brad gets a toy

(goggle maps anytime anywhere, every church resource at the touch of a button).

Now I just need to figure out if I can blog on it.

Look forward to a post with the little

"from my iPod"

at the bottom of it.

very scientific of me

2010-04-15T04:19:00.000-07:00

After Christmas, something attacked the skin under Brad's eye.

The doctor looked at it and said "I don't know?"

Antibiotics didn't work, a cream or a pill.

(I won't rant about the Dr. giving Brad antibiotics unnecessarily)

(Nor will I rant about my lecture I gave Brad to NOT take the unnecessary medicine)

I will say, yet again, that Tea Tree Oil saved the day!

After two weeks, significant improvement.

His eye is healing quite nicely now doing tea tree oil and a moisturizing cream.

The difference between Brad and I when it comes to medical attention:

I'll do anything to avoid a trip to the doctor and more medicine.

Though being asthmatic, I am medicated daily and see a doctor regularly.

Brad willingly goes to the doctor and takes medicine.

He's usually quite healthy, minus those dang headaches and dizzy spells.

p.s.

Brad says, as he reads this over my shoulder:
"That picture is a little dramatic, don't you think?"

"You didn't mention that the tea tree oil makes me feel like I lit my eye on fire!"

"It's getting better, but it's not completely healed yet!"

a first

2010-04-12T10:54:00.001-07:00

We love popsicles! We've been getting the good popsicles with the jokes on them. The jokes are never as good as the popsicles, but Brad and I always give a courtesy laugh.

One night I read my joke aloud:

What is a bunny rabbit's favorite music?

-Hip Hop

Kaci joined in the courtesy laugh...

then she looked at her stick and "read" her joke to us:

What is a doggy's music?

-Roof! Roof!

We all got a real laugh out of that one.

And there you have it, Kaci's FIRST joke!

just couldn't wait

2010-04-07T12:01:00.001-07:00

There is a lot to look forward to this summer and Kaci knows it!

Visit Arizona and Krystal gets married!
Visit Utah and see family
Move to Alaska
Kaci turns 3
Kaci gets a bike

... well Kaci was getting pretty anxious for summertime to say the least. Everything we are looking forward to happens this summer. She was getting a little too anxious about getting a bike. She knew that was the last thing we were going to do. She started petitioning to go to Alaska without Brad during the day or to buy a bike now and just take it with us. I started to feel like schmuck. You're only 2 1/2 once, right? Kaci won me over, and I started asking if we could please buy her a bike now too. I had almost convinced Brad when I found this little beauty at a local thrift store for $3!

Now the only problem is that the only flat place to ride it is in our little kitchen. Back and forth all day. It's always in there (AHHH!). One day I took her outside to a seemingly flat area only to learn she can't pedal uphill to save her life. So, she'd ride down the decline, and I'd walk it back up, over and over and over again. After that I decided I didn't mind it in the kitchen so much after-all. Please tell me Alaska is flatter than Virginia...please!!!

Summer time is getting so close... I love summer time, now that I've experienced all seasons, I know without a doubt that summer is my favorite and always will be. Bring on the BBQ's, the tan lines, the swimsuits all day long, playing in the water, the cool evenings that last forever, and the lack of clothes in general (compared to winter). Not to mention little things like fire flies, gardens, melting popsicles, vacations stories... NO SEMINARY, watermelon, sunflowers.... Spring is here and summer is on its way. Oh sweet summer. I'll love it even more this year than last. I have all of that plus the stuff I mentioned above, this summer has the potential to be the happiest season of my life!

Boom!

2010-04-06T04:45:00.000-07:00

Spring is back!

Wahoo! I hate all the pollen and yucky smelling tree flowers that are gorgeous,

but I LOVE the sun!

Doesn't it look like the the sun is illuminating Kaci's hair in the picture to look like a halo. She may be a good little girl, but does not deserve a halo, no way! Not after her leap frog extravaganza during conference.

Conference weekend. We tried going to the church to watch the broadcast, Kaci did leap frog on the back row of the overflow. We came home where she could run wild and what does she do? Sit on me. Ugh!

You may see two articles of clothing laying on the kitchen floor. NOPE! Those are Kaci's dog's, "Taya and Taylor" You want to pet them? Too bad, their sleeping. Shhhhh.

We found a snake at the foot of our stairs to our building. Cool huh! I love seeing snakes. I'm always looking for them but rarely see them.

(looking b/c I have an irrational fear that one will chase me and eat me alive, I have no idea where the fear came from? so when I see one and it doesn't I'm always pretty chipper about it)

An Easter Pinata. Oh what joy! I saw one at the store and was too cheap to buy it. So I made my own. Confession: I'm a pinata mooch. I've never made my own start to finish. I think I always just mooched off of everyone else's. Who in AZ hasn't made at least a zillion pinatas? Me! I always just ate the candy out of everyone else's. Go figure.

Kaci had fun hitting it. Bam! Bam! BAM!

"Miss Hollywood" (as everyone calls her) on her very own egg hunt. We hid 36 eggs

(they were rejects from a church activity a long time ago, I found them last summer and saved them for Kaci). She had a blast finding them all.

Fools in DC

2010-04-01T06:10:00.000-07:00

This morning I put red food coloring under Kaci's cereal so that her milk would turn pink when I poured it on. She thought it was hilarious! Happy April Fools Day!

Yesterday should have been April Fools because we felt like fools. I went with the W. Family to DC to go to the Zoo. We drove their big new Gus Bus (Suburban). H. W. had a dream once that she had to drive a submarine because they didn't make a car big enough for 5 kids. Well, her dream came true yesterday. We felt like we were driving a submarine in China Town with the crowds of people there. The Zoo and surrounding 3 miles were packed solid with cars and people, we couldn't find a parking spot or even a big enough area to do a U turn. So we drove to DC to see the Cherry Blossoms. After 5 hours in the Gus Bus (it only takes 2 hrs to get to DC), we found some parking. All in all it was a fun trip, how could going to DC with 6 kids (ages 1-13) not be FUN? We rode the metro, played on the National Mall, and got completely worn out. We hoped to be home by 5, we got home at 9:30! What a day!

Kaci and Z. on the blue "train" to the national mall. Aren't these two adorable together. They can't get enough of each other!

Z. and Kaci like to play chase and tackle. These two are such a site together. A red head and toe head, people made comments all day!

Check out that cart wheel. A full leg extension on it now! She's really getting the hang of it! Z. is rolling down the hill in the background. What a joy. I hope she remembers doing cartwheels on the National Mall.

Reading

2010-03-25T05:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, one more lame post. I'm chuck full of them lately. Sorry. I do have one good post, but I haven't taken a picture yet. So, a good post is lurking in the future, promise!

...til then, on to my boring post!

I'm reading the Anne of Green Gables Series. I know, most girls read/watched them when they were still, girls, ya know in elementary school. Someone recommended the first book, and I LOVED it! I'm glad I waited til I lived out in the country to read a book (and entire series) about a girl who lives in the country.

My only regret is that I'm borrowing them from the library. I wish I had my own copy to highlight all my favorite quotes. I haven't seen the movies, but I likely will, probably during those dark cold months in Alaska. This may be the first series ever that I read more than once, someday I'll buy my own copy of the series (I heard you can get the whole series in one big book). I'll read it with a highlighter in hand and bask in the glory of Anne's thoughts and words.

5 AM

2010-03-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

Brad accidentally woke me up at 5 AM today. Saturday is MY day to sleep in. It's what gets me through Thursday and Friday. I was so furious I couldn't speak, and I worked myself up so much that I had a minor asthma attack and had to take an inhaler. Thankfully, the inhaler made me sleepy, and I was able to fall back asleep. I think that inhaler saved our relationship. I haven't been that furious in quite sometime.

I have the coolest re-occuring dream that my sisters and my mom and I all secretly know how to fly, using a stick of some sort.

This early morning, in my dream, I was in a pinch cooking dinner and needed to jet. Daringly I used the shortest stick I've ever tried, my spatula in hand. I couldn't fly as high or as fast, but since I am excellent (better than anyone else) at speedy take offs I could do it, my sisters couldn't (as we found out later when I told them about my spatula flight and they tried it). My mom warned me to use longer sticks in the future, she told me not to mess with a good thing. Got it Mom, in future dreams I will try to locate a broom or something when I'm in haste.

Do you know I don't own a full length broom here, just the hand held one. I keep meaning to get one, but now I know I won't. It'll be high on the list of things to buy in Alaska. Getting on my hands and knees to sweep my kitchen and bathroom isn't very fun.

Then End.

p.s. I did sleep until 8:15, so I confessed to Brad my angry spell at 5AM. He laughed and forgave me, and I feel very refreshed! I'm ready for a wonderful SPRING day!

this is real

2010-03-19T05:15:00.001-07:00

not pictured: ethnic cowboy completely decked out in cowboy attire, hat, spurs and all.

(I've been trying to take a picture of this geo for some time now, but the cowboy was always too close by, I'm terrified of him. This is the first time in months he wasn't with his geo... whew!)

pictures taken in the local Wal Mart parking lot by yours truly

I have no words to adequately express my thoughts.

randomness

2010-03-18T05:01:00.001-07:00

Kaci adds one of two words to the end of nearly ever sentence lately. Maybe and Either. I'm not sure she knows the meaning of the words, but she uses them confidently.

Do you see that little belly button... all her shirts are too small for her now, but I refuse to get more long sleeve shirts for just one more month of chilly weather. Her pants are high waters too, but in one more month she can wear her shorts and skirts again.

The name tag? Bible Club, she always gets a name tag and refuses to take it off. She sometimes transfers it to her shirt the next day to wear to places like the library, the grocery store, the post office. What's that song with the lyrics... " I wanna be where every body knows my name..."

Kaci has been telling us a lot of her memories lately. Most of them are from at least 6 months ago. and spurred by something she sees. Back in October-ish we went to Hone Quarry and roasted pizza pockets (without the friends who were suppose to meet us) and ate grapes. It was a little fire and we didn't stay long. But Kaci remembered it when I bought pizza pockets last week for Brad's snack food. I was shocked she remembered doing that! Maybe she'll remember some of Virginia after all. She has been wanting to make a fire out there since. On the rainest day last week, Brad finished his school work and we ventured out to make another itty bitty fire in the chimney they have. It was fun, but cold.

We were ready to leave once the puny fire went out, but Kaci decided to start up a game of hide and seek. She's getting better at this game. It was fun to play it out in the woods with her, especially with her in that yellow rain coat. Pretty funny stuff. I'm glad a little rain and cold weather doesn't stop her from having fun.

We bought a couple new duffel bag type suit cases for the move in June. We like these kind of suitcases the best. They hardly weigh anything and you can fit A LOT in them. We got 'em at Finders Keepers for $20.
Kaci fits inside them... too bad we can't ship her that way, it would be so much cheaper. I think we'll let her sit on the plane with us like all the other humans. She has enjoyed rides around the house in it though. She may be bigger than she used to be, but she's still pretty little in reality. Things like this make me want time to inch by... starting once we get to Arizona in June.

Bible Club

2010-03-15T05:44:00.000-07:00

Isn't it great when your kid is the only white kid in the group?

Isn't it even better when your kid is the only one in the group who speaks English?

Isn't it even more better when your the only parent that can claim to be an American citizen?

Gosh, I love America!

Kaci goes to a lil Bible club next door on Wednesdays. Kids from Kenya, Iraq, Russia, Mexico, etc all go to this Bible Club and not one of them speaks English. Kaci loves it. I don't know if it's because she's guaranteed play dough time, songs, crafts, and a snack... or if it's because a bunch of adults try to run a complete circus every week and Kaci is in it?

She recently got a prize for such excellent attendance. I do feel a little bit bad that all their missionary efforts are being wasted on our family. We're never going to join their church. At least we're both Christian, right? Mission already accomplished, what's better than a bunch of Christians hanging out singing, playing, crafting, and sharing all for Christ's sake?

Breakdancing

2010-03-06T05:14:00.000-08:00

Breakdancing from Brad Call on Vimeo.

kaci's uncle von

2010-03-02T12:07:00.000-08:00

"Are you meeting somewhere here?"

"Uh....ummm.... ye-s?"

"He just called and said he's stuck in traffic."

"Bummer! Let's eat!"

Chow Mein and Orange Chicken were within reach, I was hungry, and I had been wanting some Panda since my last taste of it over Christmas.

An hour later, Devon (!) arrived! I'm so glad the people knew we were waiting for someone or they would have wondered, "who are the weirdo's who split an entree and have been hanging out in the lobby all night?"

I'm glad I didn't wait for him to eat, and I'm glad we still got to savor hours with a dear friend. After 2 hours at Panda, we weren't done talking, but needed some pie. What would a reunion with a Hawaii friend be without pie or ice cream?

My favorite moment of the night was when we were sitting around a blazing hot fire at Cracker Barrel, coats hanging on our chairs, talking about patching surf boards and killer surf sessions. I can only imagine what small town Virginians in the seemingly crowded restaurant were thinking as they overheard our conversations.

It was a lil bizarre to entertain my lil one, eat an apple dumpling, and have on something besides a swimsuit and shorts while we chatted it up with Devon, but I loved every single minute. Oh the joys in life.

Devon is a long lost (but not forgotten) friend from my semesters (from h-e-double hockey sticks) at BYU-Hawaii. He was Brad's room mate too, so we were both incredibly excited to catch up with him while he was on a business trip in DC. So many great memories flooded my mind while I listened to old surf stories and entertained Kaci.

Life is good when you've got both a family and amazing friends to share it with. It's was great catching up Devon. Let's do it again soon!!!

p.s. for all you non-kama'aina, kaci calls Devon "uncle von" because that's what all kids do in Hawaii. If someone is older than you, you call them auntie or uncle. Oh, and Devon shortened his name to Von that semester.

a bed, a slide, whatever!

2010-02-27T17:56:00.000-08:00

A little free entertainment for the little one. She LOVES slides!

And I LOVE that I can lay on the floor and just watch her go up and down for hours at a time!

The kids are back to school, so I'm back to Seminary. I'm so-so-so-so tired.

Let me out!

2010-02-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

I haven't left the 'Burg in far too long. Last Saturday I nearly suffocated. So, I did what I always do when I just need a change of pace. I packed us up (this time I had some fun money to spend, far less packing when you don't have to pack a meal, just snacks) and went to Staunton to feed the ducks.

I know, a 40 minute drive to feed some ducks?

First off the drive on the 11 is enchanting, rolling country side, cows galore, and small towns no one cares about. I also love that duck pond. The duck food is only a nickel and it's technically the closest "established duck pond" to us. Kaci also loves the "just for tots" play ground.

(this little guys is the prettiest duck I have EVER seen! Can you see those colors? wow! wow, wow, wow!)

We also walked the down town until I felt weak and sick (still recovering from the last Saturday when my body turned on me). They have an awesome down town. Pufferbellies toy store makes me wish no one else was allowed to sell toys but those ladies. Those girls know toys like I know technique for lifting weights. I'm telling you they are amazing. They know a bulk of their customers by name and they have real wood toys, an entire section of amazing books, and it's all kid friendly. They will let you demo just about anything. This is where we go after the ducks to play with all the cool toys, get a sticker, and jet. Love that place!

Then we stopped by this store called "Worthington Hardware Co.", but really it's just this giant antique store. It was crazy! They had all sorts of stuff that was totally unorganized and you could just use it. Like swords, an old phone booth, a stop light, a library of old books, coke bottles, old sleds, old wagons, an old plow, old fashioned sewing machines, tons of old tools, etc... Basically if you could think "My grandpa had a ______" then they had it. It had that real old stuff smell to it too. We had a lot of fun just exploring the place!

But before coming home this time, I splurged on some Mexican food. Mexican food is by far my favorite meal to go out for. Ya just never know what the salsa will taste like or if the rice and beans will be any good. The anticipation makes it so fun for me. I got a taco and a tostada (my favorites). We ate at the Baja Bean. It made me desperate for Arizona. The salsa barely had any taste, but at least it was chuck full of fresh tomatoes. The beans were good, but the rice was bland (that always blows my mind, how can Spanish rice be bland? Seems like ya really have to screw up to achieve that).

I came home content to spend another week or two in the often boring 'Burg. And Brad got a tummy ache like he has every single time we've gone out for Mexican food together. I have no idea how that happens or why. He obviously wasn't raised on the stuff!

The Giant Bubble

2010-02-23T17:24:00.000-08:00

Not that going swimming is blog worthy. But the giant bubble we went swimming in is!

For the record, I loathe going swimming in the winter: coats, pants, socks, shoes, hats, gloves, sunglasses IN ADDITION to the towels, swimsuits, pool toys, and snacks. What a hassle, but it is fun so we do it anyway.

How cool is the giant bubble? I'm so impressed by it!

Latest from the Greatest

2010-02-22T16:31:00.000-08:00

The things she says and how she says them:

"Yes! I did!"

With a big lip sticking out and her hands on her hips. I have no idea where the facial expression came from, but she is totally serious.

"I left it in Utah."

Where's her baby? Go get your boots! Can you find your bible? Always the same answer with her little finger on her chin or lip.

"Thas nice. I like it. Whatch you think?"

(again with the lip, but this time she shrugs her shoulders)

Kaci likes to tell us that just about anybody (babies, missionaries, elmo, a friend at church)

"is going to be really happy to see me"

"I LOVE going fast! WEEEE!"

as Brad drives 35 mph, she only says it when Brad drives

"I want go to waska!"

any day, any time, she's pumped. today she tried to convince me to go without Brad. she even packed up her toys in preparation for the trip.

"Daddy took my car keys?!?!"

any time Brad is gone with the car or upon him arriving home with the car, she always seems very annoyed

"Still six, not time wake up yet....Seven clock, time wake up! YEAH!!!"

she has her own alarm clock now and will knock on our door (which stays locked until 7 am) to tell us the time. She nearly always wakes up at 6, hence the seven o'clock rule. Thanks for the idea Calls (in MD)!

"I want to talk to everybody"

hence the random phone calls, she also tells us to push numbers on the phone. Aunt Krystal and Uncle Bruce (as she has started using Krystal as a pawn to get to Bruce) is number 5 for some reason. Grandma Lynda is number 2. I think Brad tried to teach her speed dial on his cell phone at one point, bad idea.

"Eleven-teen"

Kaci can count to 14 regularly, after that she says numbers like eleven teen.

"Polar Bears"

In an attempt to pacify her insistence on going to "waska" everyday I told her about polar bears. Teddy Grahams are now polar bears. People probably think I'm a nut case when I call them polar bears.

Oh and she's obsessed with her new friend Colin and Lyla (sp?) A week later she'll say things like:

"My toe hurts. Colin made my toe hurt. "

"Lyla make me laugh. She silly at her house."

"No, not 'oars' Mommy."

I love that she pronounces yours like oars. I smile every time.

Whole Wheat Lovin'

2010-02-18T08:25:00.000-08:00

When I was newly married and still in College, Jesse (culinary genius) made a loaf of whole wheat bread. It turned out rock solid. Very dense, but I loved it. She was disappointed. She couldn't figure out what went wrong. Since that experience I have been mortified at the thought of using whole wheat flour because if Jesse couldn't figure it out, I was a lost cause.

Then, I moved to Virginia. Home of the Mennonites. And not just Mennonites, "conservative" Mennonites, ya know, "old order", wearing bonnets and dresses and driving carriages. I over hear girls younger than me raving about their canned salsa, their home made bread, their made from scratch something or other. It's inspiring.

Then I visited a lady in my ward (sister h-). She's pretty much an exact replica of my own mother. Down to the hair. She got on a whole wheat kick in attempt to make her diet more "healthy". She's been substituting whole wheat flour straight into all her regular white all purpose flour recipes. I drilled her on how in the world she does it. She said, " I measures it out like I always do." She raved about how her kids loved it. And what finally convinced me I needed to make the switch was when she said "my kids prefer the wheat flour, they think stuff tastes way to sweet if I use white."

I always say stuff is too rich or too sweet for my liking. Could I start savoring chocolate cakes and cookies by making them less sweet by using whole wheat flour? I had to try it! With my inspiring Mennonite influence and Sister H-'s easy-smeasy attitude I had a little too much confidence. I started substituting like crazy. The texture was crazy. It's a big difference. So, I stepped back and decided to do half and half. Again I went over board and bought a bag of white and a bag of wheat and combined them (less hassle).

Enter Brad. Boy was he disappointed when I said I combined both bags in their entirety. He tried to be patient with me and told me next time not to combine all of it. But, in the mean while we've got 10 pounds of combined flour to use.

Cream Puff recipe I've been dying to try? Whole Wheat Lovin'

Cookies for our new Iraqi Refugee family that moved in? Whole Wheat Lovin'

Another one of Kaci's birthday cakes because someone somewhere surely had a b-day today and needs a cake to celebrate? Whole Wheat Lovin'

Honestly, they all turned out fine! People even said they liked the stuff, they wanted to know the secret. There ya have it. Jesse's dense bread was a fluke. Even culinary geniuses make a mistake sometimes. I'm lovin' the combined flour. I'm going to try the new white whole wheat flour next. Maybe someday I'll be using whole wheat flour straight too, ya never know!

Tuesdays vs Sundays

2010-02-14T10:33:00.000-08:00

Tuesday is in contention with Sunday for being Kaci's favorite day of the week.

Sunday used to win hands down because of nursery.

That was before Kaci started eating lunch with Daddy on Tuesdays.

On Tuesday Kaci gets to:

make a lunch just like Daddy (they have matching tupperware)

go to "school" (see Daddy's friends)

spend an entire 50 minutes with Brad without me
and the best part of all...
I get to work out at a GYM for that oh-so-glorious 50 minutes.

My biceps and triceps are making a come back. My abs are emerging from that layer of flab. And, my thunder thighs have some definition again. Oh sweet Tuesday, you may become my favorite day of the week too. Thanks for giving up your lunch time Brad. You've made two girls oh-so-very-happy!

Snow Mania

2010-02-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

It just keeps snowing and WE love it! It's so much better than freezing rain because you can play in it.

Our car was packed in a giant snow hill. It was fun to see our neighbors out shoveling each others cars out. Such kindness and service among a bunch of people who rarely speak the same language. A nice Russian fella helped Brad get our car out later that day so it didn't freeze like that. Since we had no intention of driving and we had a whole day to kill since church was cancelled the second week in a row, we went for a walk...

The second day of snow fall made fluffy snow, powder. It was knee deep on Sunday. We accidentally discovered a new fun snow game, snow tackling. Kaci laughs hysterically when we tackle her, each other, or ourselves. It's so fun to fall into the snow and watch it poof around you.

Kaci also enjoyed the classics, like snow angels and snow fights.

We may be the only ones actually enjoying all the snow. Everyone else seems to be quite sour faced about it all. I got a little bummed at the grocery store on Tuesday when there was no milk or flamming hot cheetos because of the storm, but I got over it. I don't really care for milk anyway, and I found some cheetos at Target later that night :)

snow day birthday

2010-02-06T04:25:00.000-08:00

Brad got the greatest birthday present E-V-E-R

SNOW!!

We're talking two feet of the "good snow"

(I think it's also referred to as packing snow)

JMU shut down so he even got the day off to play instead of doing homework.

He played in the snow ALL DAY LONG.

snow biking

snow man making

sledding

26 may be the greatest birthday ever

I blame Hayley

2010-02-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

Canned Artichoke Hearts

they're slimy and smell funny

Cooked Spinach

gag fest

Cream Cheese

I've been it's biggest adversary forever

Combine these things with Parmesan Cheese, a little Garlic and a pinch of Salt

I've always loved Parmesan cheese

HEAVEN

I kid you not, delicious! It's Nancy's recipe, but Hayley made me try it. Now, I'm addicted. Every few months I just know it's time to whip up a batch. I seldom make it because it's kinda pricey to buy all that stuff and it's a DIP for goodness sake.

Well, until I turned it into a dinner.

I watered about a quarter of the dip down with some milk, making it more saucey. Poured it over Kaci's favorite noodles and made a chicken breast for Brad (he requires there be meat at dinner). Now I can eat it by the fork full!

I blame Hayley for the weight I gain from consuming so many calories. I blame Hayley for convincing me to eat three things on my "do-not-eat-list". And I blame Hayley for the precious joy this lil bit of heaven brings to my life.

I miss you Hayley. I hope we get to see you this summer. I know I don't write. I suck at that. What are you suppose to say to a missionary? I'm fighting my homesickness for you by packing on the cream cheese pounds.

xoxo

Fun in the Sun

2010-01-31T17:23:00.000-08:00

"Month of Love" preparations for Seminary turned into this

magnificent window display

... am I the only one who does window displays for my home?

My goal, aside from creative outlet, is to bring a tiny bit of festive joy to all the cars I watch drive past my window each day.

The best part is the shadows it makes when it's sunny (which is rare lately).

... or maybe the best part is playing in the shadows it makes

with a darling two (and a half) year old...

who needs sunglasses...

...because this is how you sun bathe in February.

Sledding

2010-01-31T17:20:00.000-08:00

Kaci tell Papa Call about sledding!

kaci: "we go sledding. WEEEEE! BOOM!"

translation: We went sledding, in 16 degree weather with a wind chill of 5 degrees (according to those "weather people"), Kaci is shaking and near hypothermia but tells us that she wants to go "one more time". Some bystanders who had noticed our sweet "calendar sleds" (really just laminated posters from the dollar store) offered to let us use one of their toboggans. We gladly accepted and all piled in for a good "family run".

As we took off down the hill we all started screaming our heads off because the toboggan went like 2o times faster than our "sleds".

In between our screaming we hear a fading voice yell, "WATCH Out for the juuuummmm..."

Then, as Kaci puts it, "BOOM!"

Next thing I know, I'm a good two feet off the ground. I look up and see Kaci flying, powder flying, and Brad reaching out to catch her. We manage to slide to a stop and realize we have just white washed a two year old. She was not happy. From the top of the hill we hear a bunch of voices "SORRY!"

All in a day of fun folks.... all in a day of fun. No big deal. She's raving about it now!

5:45AM for nothin'

2010-01-26T03:32:00.000-08:00

Do you live in the city or the county?

me: um, both?

(In AZ, I lived in Glendale, Maricopa County. In HI, I lived in Laie, Honolulu County)

No, the ci-ty or the coun-ty?

me: I really have no idea.

Okay, we'll just say city.

me: um, o-kay

And that's how you know you're in a strange new land. When people start differentiating between city and county.

In VA, I live in the ci-ty of H'burg, and "technically" the coun-ty of Rockingham, but I never (no NEVER) say I live in Rockingham County, because I live in the city. Some people live in the city of Bridgewater (3 miles south), but they are to claim living in the county.

Make any sense? Yeah, ridiculous.

You see H'burg is the BIG city out here folks. We're talking 50,000 people! Wowsers!?! So, if you live in this BIG city you get to claim the city (which always gets me discounts).

Why am I telling you this?

Because seminary is cancelled automatically AGAIN today (we've only had 9 classes ALL of January) because the County school was delayed or cancelled due to weather (that's a whole new post). I have to wake up to check the closings and delays and naturally can not fall back asleep after starring into the light of a computer screen. Yup, 5:45 for nothin' TWICE this week already....grrrr!

Because when I first got to VA it really was a whole new ball game. I'm fully adjusted now, (I confidently say CITY when they ask where I live!) but last night... I BOUGHT MY TICKET OUT OF HERE!

137 days til I see my soon-to-be-married sister and lots of family

137 days til I leave this BIG city in the dust and fly to one of the biggest cities in the US.

137 days of fretting over packing, moving, a new city, and finishing the BoM w/ my kids.

137 days til I no longer live on the East Coast.

Am I ever sad when I get to relocate? I guess someday I'll miss VA too, like I sometimes miss HI, but that's just really hard to imagine.

You've got a friend in me

2010-01-23T08:20:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just gotta say "goodbye"

The Flip

2010-01-20T07:14:00.000-08:00

Kaci has mastered the flip! She's been trying for so long. On Saturday she finally mastered it!

She's really into gymnastics right now. We went to one of my seminary kid's gymnastic meet and Kaci has been doing spin jumps, walking on her hands (with help), flips, and kicks ever since. She really liked the floor routines and balance beam routines. So, I put some masking tape on the floor so she could practice her balance beam routines. She really likes it. She does slides, flips, kicks, jumps, spins... she loves it!

If ya need something to do, buy a big roll of masking tape. We've made a hopscotch and played mummy too. It's loads of fun and pretty cheap! The possibilities are endless!

Rupert

2010-01-14T11:42:00.000-08:00

It's been below freezing since... before Christmas.

Rupert has been lovin' it!

Today it's in the 40's!

Rupert isn't lovin' it. I wonder how long Brad's snow monster will last...

You Do It!

2010-01-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

Brad listens to talk radio.

I listen to John Tesh, Intelligence for Your Life.

This morning John said "stop planning, start doing."

I wanted to scream!

I don't know how many of you have ever lived with someone who is getting the chance to fulfill a

life dream...

but I live with Brad who is getting exactly that chance.

ALASKA

is all Brad thinks about, talks about, researches...

if our computer were a human it'd burn out with Alaska searches.

We've thought about setting a time limit every day for it, but why set yourself up to fail?

There's nothing but planning to do right now.

Nothing to actually DO about it all yet.

Nevermind what we can't do, let's focus on what we can do.

Kaci just learned (thx for teaching her laura h.) to do this:

And then she says, "YOU DO IT!"

... I know Nancy, you can't. I'm not trying to rub it in your face, Kaci is :)

Daddy Time

2010-01-11T04:32:00.000-08:00

All you moms and dads out there are remembering very similar nights. All you single and not-yet-parents are highly worried about the effects of running around the house with a piece of bologna in your mouth.

Eternal Perspective part 2

2010-01-08T06:52:00.000-08:00

"Life is difficult... Once we truly know that life is difficult--once we truly understand and accept it--then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters." --M. Scott Peck, in The Road Less Traveled

When I read that quote I understood it as follows:

"The atonement is all encompassing... once we truly know that the atonement is all encompassing, then life and death is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life and death are difficult no longer matters."

Christ gives us reason to have hope and have a measure of joy even when the love, the time, the memories you no longer get to experience in the mortal present or future is gone until eternities become your present.

I guess we live for that eternity. We live because of Christ.

One time...

2010-01-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

**update**

Gavin did not survive despite the many prayers offered in his behalf.

We'll continue to pray for the family he left behind.

************

One time I went to a baby shower at the Norton's Ohana. I knew her from, well, living in the same 3 square miles, but I hadn't ever actually met Natalie til I was sitting on her couch. She was fun and inspiring. She talked about her pictures like I'd talk about folding my laundry. She's an artist.

What I remember most about her is how she taught her kids to eat healthy. She said she explained to her kids that junk food doesn't make you strong like superman. She told the following story: one night at a church party, it was time for dessert. Someone offered her son (the oldest one I think) some cookies. Her sun replied, "no thank you, that won't make me strong... I want to be strong!" Not to say her kids don't enjoy some treats, but that in general they honestly believe that junk food won't make them strong and they avoid it, because what little boy doesn't want to be strong?

I saw her again almost two years later at a reception in Utah (she lives in Laie) and she remembered me. In between shooting her fabulous pictures, we chatted a bit. She needed chap stick, so did I. Dang dry climate, ya don't use chap stick when you live by an ocean. We were both too far from our Laie home.

That's who Natalie is. I keep tabs on her, ya know check her blog and always mention her to people who seek a super kind and talented photographer. I'm telling you about her because she needs some prayers. For her and her new baby, Gavin.

For Gavin's story, go to her blog www.natalienortonphoto.blogspot.com.

Once you've read his story, you'll want to see a funny picture that only a mother could capture and then share it with the world. (I've linked this before, but I think it's hilarious and it totally relates right now) click here.

Pray!

pray that little Gavin can be like his big brother

Be strong and pee, pee, pee!

GranMa Lynda

2010-01-03T13:42:00.000-08:00

Who makes a chocolate fountain for a snack and lets the grand kids go at it?

GranMa Lynda

Who plays pretend with the kids in the playroom all day long?

GranMa Lynda

Who lets you jump rope in her living room?

GranMa Lynda

Who volunteers to change a poopy diaper?

GranMa Lynda

Who do you go to when you need a

real vacation/break

from being a full time mom?

GranMa Lynda

Dating in Utah...

2010-01-03T13:41:00.000-08:00

Snow Day Fun

2010-01-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

A little factoid for ya...

2010-01-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

Here we are seeing the temple lights this year with all the family. So fun to ooh and aahh at them. I especially liked the red tree by the temple. A little fun fact for ya: Brad's cousin told me that his Grandma donated that tree to the temple grounds when it was just a seedling, it's a Cedar of Lebanon. When they re-did the landscaping at the temple, some people wanted to cut down the tree, but the head gardener said they couldn't, so they did the landscaping around the tree. So there ya have it. That beautiful tree that has red leaves in the fall and red lights in the winter has history and I'm very distantly related to it, kinda, in a way, ok not really, but kinda :)

CALL it Tradition!

2010-01-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

Happiest of Holidays

2009-12-31T16:35:00.001-08:00

We have had the happiest* of Holidays.

We hope you have too!

*a barrage of pictures and stories are soon to come*

Winter Time

2009-12-14T05:07:00.001-08:00

Recipe:

evaporated milk

sugar

vanilla

cocoa

Just eye ball it, everything is to taste. But with the cocoa, less is more!
Kaci enjoyed setting up the Christmas Tree this year, she also has enjoyed destroying it. I made stars out of twigs for ornaments this year. Lots of fun. We had one strand of colored lights that Kaci adores. We put them on the very bottom and she is sure to ooooh and aahhh over them when I turn the lights on. My little family, dressed warm, sipping hot chocolate and eating cookies by the Christmas Tree. I love the holidays!

photos doctored up at the cool website I recently learned about picnik.com. Everything is done in the browser, no downloading and such. Nothing fancy, just a couple of things to spice up my photos for ya!

Macy's Day Parade!

2009-12-09T05:24:00.000-08:00

1. The Rockettes aren't actually in the parade (bunch a sissy's!)
2. The Parade is only an hour and a half, not three.
3. We never saw any performances. Except the amazing jump ropers!

With that said, here's my better-than-NBC footage of the parade!

Pictures for posterity purposes:

We got to our spot by 6:30am. By 7 am there were 3 rows behind us, by 9am there were 7 or more rows behind us. This a picture of a super nice and fun family from Michigan we sat by.

Antonio Banderas. Yup, that's him. There were paparazzi's taking pictures like crazy. The locals we were surrounded by kept yelling Hi to him. It was pretty funny.The beginning of the parade. Kaci loved all the balloons. The first giant balloon was Spiderman. She was really excited to point it out to us. She still talks about driving to see the big balloons.
The confetti was so fun. All the clowns (there was a constant flow of clowns) threw confetti at us. I'm still finding it in our coats. Kaci loved it. I loved seeing it everyone's hair that was in front of us. So fun!

Just believe! I saw it all in person. Something I always watched on TV and never thought I'd ever actually see in person. Thanks to everyone who made it all possible. Especially Brad (he kept encouraging me, Liam who made me believe I was going to get enough no matter what, both sets of parents for contributing to my fund, Kaci for going along with it despite being sick, and Macy's for putting it all on for my personal enjoyment!!)

Camo Time of the Year

2009-12-08T08:38:00.000-08:00

It's hunting season... head to toe camo is everywhere, grocery store, post office, DMV, you name it!
A local general store advertised pictures with a Santa in Camo. I just happened to drive by the store the day Camo Santa was there... I just had to see it for myself. The first thing I saw when I stepped in the door was an infant girl with a camo hat on. I then saw a couple of moms with arms full of camo for all their kids. I couldn'
t help but think of my dad.
Then we wandered around and to my great surprise it wasn't just Santa, but the wifey too in head to toe camo!

I didn't have my camera...bummer. But I wonder after finding this picture on the internet... why doesn't Santa always wear camo? It would make a lot more sense.

What did Kaci think? In her words upon seeing Santa in camo, "Man. Costume. Ice cream face!" She thought his beard was ice cream... wouldn't that make him even more magical? She's already figured out he's a hoax, and she was a lil disappointed when we explained his beard wasn't ice cream.

Deciding to move to Alaska

2009-12-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

If anyone was wondering how the conversation went when Brad first proposed going to Alaska, it was something like this.

I'm going to go take a hot bath! I'm getting too cold just thinkin about all that ice!

Times Square

2009-12-03T10:38:00.000-08:00

We stayed in Queens. We loved walking through the neighborhood to get to the subway.

Our Ergo backpack saved the day again. She got her sleep and we didn't miss a beat...

Okay, that was a lame intro to our first street performers.

I was so excited! Brad kept telling me that street performers were one of his favorite things about New York... I agree, so cool.

It's like daylight out there, crazy.

Once we were there and done being in shock... we didn't really know what to look at or what to really do. Well, I had one idea. Those big red glowing steps were calling to me.

I just had to do a jig, it's not every day you get the opportunity to do a jig on big red glowing stairs! After my big debut we just walked and walked looking at everyone and everything!

Then we found M&M World!

Kaci loves M&M's! It's how we potty trained her. We went a lil crazy (13 bucks a pound) and let her fill up a bag or two. She loved picking out the colors she wanted. Not even out of the store before she starts eating them.

That's when Brad and I realized we were starving... We decided to be a little crazy (again) and went to Hard Rock to eat.

I'm never disappointed with Hard Rock's food. Yum! Our visit to Times Square was a lot of fun. It was so crazy to be there after living in such small towns for the past few years. So much advertising, so many people, so many name brand stores... crazy.

Our new playground!

2009-12-02T17:18:00.000-08:00

And the winners of the guessing game contest are... Papa Call and Nancy Kirk!

Brad has accepted an internship position with the Anchorage School District, which starts mid-August 2010. He has also verbally agreed to work for them the year following his internship as well, so we are planning on being in Alaska for at least two years. Which means.... Ya'll are welcome to come visit!

Yes, we are aware that it gets cold in Anchorage (but actually not as cold as many other states like Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota... the ocean helps mediate the weather... so we're looking at winter time high's of 20 rather than -20). And yes we are aware that in the winter time there is not a lot of sunlight (about 5-6 hours, rather than the 8 to 9 that most states will be getting).

On the other hand there are many positive things that we are looking forward to as we prepare for our next great adventure!

Getting there is half the journey

2009-12-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

The drive was just as much apart of the trip as Times Square (that post is coming soon). It deserves some lime light. It left a lasting impression on Kaci. At the local grocery store this week, we got one of those fancy carts with a car attached to it. When Kaci climbed inside and asked me to start pushing, I had the following conversation with her:

Me: Kaci, are you driving?

Kaci: Beep! Beep! Silly car!

Me: Where are you driving, Kaci?

Kaci: Drivin' New York!

Me: You're drivin' to New York?!?

Kaci: New YoooOOOOrrRRkk!!

I made the video this time (I know you always wonder who creates these things, usually Brad, this time, me). Enjoy. The pictures below are mostly for the blog book we'll make this summer of our Virginia adventures. Sorry for the redundancy!

Kaci with a taxi, I got one of everyone with a taxi... except me, I tried, but would always just barely miss it...shucks. One reason to go back I guess!!
Brad with a taxi. Brad hates driving in big cities, makes him have to pee. I usually do all the city driving. But, Kaci was sick so I was tending to her. He was hilarious. He said some pretty funny stuff. Like "when the cars honk at you, it just means they like you!" I love the way he thinks when he's in a stressful situation. He did an awesome job navigating the city, Kaci helped by holding a map and repeating all the numbers we said. Brad would say, "look for exit 36" and Kaci would respond, "dirty-six!"
Ok, here's my Statue of Liberty picture. I've always wondered what it was like for all those immigrants whose first glimpse of New York (America) was the Statue of Liberty. Now I know! Seeing her through the mists like that seemed so magical to me. It was a perfect moment for me. Call me silly, but that's all I wanted. To catch a glimpse of such a symbolic statue, as I made my way to New York to fulfill silly childhood dream... my excitement (as great as it was) was little compared to those who saw her with much greater hopes and dreams. Picture perfect! (in my mind, obviously since ya can't actually see her in the pix above)
Nothing says New York quite like big buildings, huh? Do you see that mist of darkness, that awful fog that plagued us the entire drive? This pix was taken at about 2pm, that's mid day folks, not a sliver of sunshine... not a sliver. This my friends is why the East Coast is the East Coast, I have never experienced anything close to this on the West Coast (but I've also never lived in Washington, yikes!)

My angle baby. She was such a good sport the whole way, just singing songs and wanting hugs to snuggle away feeling sick. She's such a little gem in our lives. I can't tell you how blessed we feel to have her "along for the ride".

It's Tradition

2009-11-29T14:13:00.000-08:00

Some traditions just aren't worth keeping. Like getting sick for the Holidays. Someone please explain that to Kaci who got sick (sore throat, headaches, runny nose etc) two days before we left and succeeded in passing said sickness on to her loving parents. Since I can barely keep my eyes open and my nose is raw and my throat is burning with every breath... Here's a sneak peek at our amazing New York trip sickness and all!! Lots of videos (like me doing a jig at Times Square) and pictures to come!!

Streets of New York

2009-11-24T08:09:00.000-08:00

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving!

1. Blogs
2. It's NOVEMBER, my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving is coming!!
3. I slept in til 8 am!! No seminary!
4. Brad!!
5. Daylight savings.. it's light outside at 6am now!!
6. I'm not in high school anymore, one hour a day with teenagers makes me OH SO VERY GRATEFUL!!!
7. My mom
8. Sundays... and nursery!
9. A knowledge of God
10. Playing games in any form!
11. two new mommy friends
12. kaci's giant floor piano
13. Brad wakes me up for seminary... three times if necessary... I was really into my dream this morning (even though I don't remember it).
14. a whole day with just Brad!
15. 12 hours of sleep or pretended sleep at least
16. the scarfs my mom made me, I feel so fancy in them!
17. tea tree oil
18. my excitement for the MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE is oozing out of my ears now!!! I love it!
19. the sunshine days that follow the rainy ones... when the sun shines through the windows again and I can't get enough if it.
20. my nutty seminary kids
21. zachary from church, kaci's only real friend
22. visit teaching Sister Halling for the past year, love that lady, she reminds me of my mom
23. fun, simple, easy, creative art projects--like the kind you do when your in grade school
24. my sister married a great guy and created the cutest kids ever

Guessing Game Giveaway!

2009-11-20T04:33:00.001-08:00

hope=expect with confidence

(see post here from N. Norton's blog)

That definition suits us perfectly right now because even though Brad doesn't even interview til December 1st (woohoo) we have been making detailed plans on moving there for the past few weeks.

Anyone want to play a game?

Leave a comment with your best guess of where we are planning to move for Brad's internship.

When I disclose where we are going, I will also announce the winner and their prize.

(we figure we'll know before Christmas)

A prize will be one of the following:

1) something we own that we can't take with us

2) one of my many magical paintings

3) a shrine of you on our sidebar til we move.

So, in your comment leave your guess and your prize of choice!

Happy guessing!

Parade Update

2009-11-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

I know the weather could change by next Thursday, but right now the prediction is a 30% chance of rain... which on the East Coast that means it's going to rain.

I've heard that this could be a good thing. Less people come because of the rain, like all the locals. And usually the rain makes it a tiny bit warmer and that means it won't be below freezing which I was worried about. I'll pack my rain boots and the umbrellas.

Let's hope it's a drizzle and not a down pour!!

Late Breaking News

2009-11-17T04:36:00.000-08:00

The oh-so-very generous and loving Papa Call bought tickets for us to join them for Christmas. My eyes bugged out of my head when he seriously wanted to spend that kind of money just to have us around for a couple weeks. I know they mostly just want to love on Kaci, but I'm happy to mooch off Kaci's glorious-ness if it means decorating gingerbread houses, seeing the SLC temple lights, yummy food that I don't have to fret about planning and making, and lots of family time. I get to see my not-so-new-anymore nephew too. I'm pretty excited. Everyone start praying now that we aren't sick and afflicted over Christmas like we have been the past three years!! We'll be in Utah from Dec 17th through Dec 29th.

the usual spread for decorating gingerbread houses... this is one of the craziest things to be apart of. candy land heaven for sure to decorate with and to eat!

A Christmas celebration two years ago... Hawaii style... see how tiny Kaci is...

Temple Date

2009-11-15T06:10:00.000-08:00

A lady in my ward with 5 kids offered to babysit Kaci so Brad and I could go to them temple together. She's one of those amazing moms who is a complete whiz at everything she does. I hesitated to accept her offer (because she already has 5 kids), but she insisted. So, I dropped Kaci off at her house at 8am and didn't return until after 6pm (the temple is 2 hours away) Is your jaw dropping yet? When we picked Kaci up, she not only kept all 5 kids alive, fed, and happy. She also canned apple pie filling, made muffins, lunch and dinner, and pulled out a hot apple cobbler from the oven. I'm telling you she's amazing. Oh, and one of my favorite things about her is that she and her kids make leaves and hang them from the ceiling for fall. There are like 100 leaves hanging by fish line from her ceiling. There are also lots of hand drawn pictures taped to the walls and furniture. She lets her kids decorate too. I love this lady. Kaci had the time of her life yesterday...

And so did I. I got to spend that entire day with Brad. No entertaining Kaci, nothing to worry about at all. We talked non-stop the entire time we drove there and back. Apparently we had some catching up to do. This is the busiest time of year for Brad, so naturally I am exhausted too because he is gone more. A whole day to just be together was very much needed and appreciated. I can't tell you how in love with that man I really am. Going to the temple reminds how deep and lasting our love is already and that it has yet to get even more amazing as we stay married to each other.

tip of my tongue

2009-11-13T04:40:00.001-08:00

I have got big news... on the tip of my tongue. Brad and I have made a pack not to disclose our new big adventure until it is final. What is it... moving of course... but WHERE we move is the adventure.

A few weeks ago, I went for a walk with Kaci. As I was walking a little voice in my head starting convincing me that we would LOVE living in this one particular place. I argued with it for a couple blocks, but by the time we got back to our apartment I was giddy with excitement to move there.

When I told Brad, he was giddy too. The giddy-ness lasted for a long time, but then on Monday, I thought about all the arguments I originally had against the idea and I got really sad about it. It's not good to get sad about something so BIG! Especially when it's that little voice that convinced you it was such a good thing in the first place.

After talking a lot about my feelings with Brad, I am back on the giddy feeling. I may have reservations about it, but I like the happiness and giddy-ness I felt when I trusted that little voice that we would LOVE it there.

So, don't make me lie to you anymore. We do have a set place in mind, we are doing what we can to go there, but we are also doing the necessary yet terribly un-necessary and applying to variety of other places too. We still just don't know for sure on paper yet, just in our hearts. Hopefully we'll know for sure on paper sooner than later.. a lot sooner. (We're hoping to know by February at the very latest instead of May or June)

You may think I'm silly for thinking so much about all this because it's so far away still, not moving til June at the earliest. But moving is a big big deal and it will impact every aspect of our lives. Including trying to get pregnant again. Once we KNOW ON PAPER where we are going, we can start planning a little one again. So much to think about. So much to plan. So I think about it, and I plan.

baking with Kaci

2009-11-10T05:19:00.000-08:00

It's getting colder and colder outside which means it's time to turn on the oven and get out the yeast!

I checked out an amazing book from Mr. Lib (that's what our library is called, massanutten regional library is abbreviated to mrlib... love it!) King Arthurs Baking Companion. Over 600 pages of detailed how to whip, fold, cream, etc recipes. They explain why you have to whip butter for 5 minutes before adding the sugar and then one egg at a time to a cake recipe. I love it. It's got some pretty hilarious commentary as well. I've had it over a month... I HAVE to give it back in a week to let someone else have a chance to read it... I think that person will be BRAD!

Kaci is my helper. She scoops the flour, cracks my eggs, spills the sugar, and taste tests everything. Here are a few of our creations that would certainly turn out better if I could manage to actually measure the flour that Kaci dumps in.

We've made: hot buttered pretzels, lots of bread sticks, whole wheat pizza, whole wheat fry bread, devils food cake with caramel icing, brownies, pumpkin cookies, and apple dumplings to name the most recent.
\

Oh bother

2009-11-09T04:41:00.000-08:00

Brad is busy busy busy. I am tired tired tired. Kaci is happy, running, dancing, and now singing.

If I had family or friends around this would be the day I'd take advantage of them.

Watch out people who volunteered to substitute for seminary. I'm giving you each a call today!

Happy to You!

2009-11-08T08:31:00.000-08:00

November is the month of birthdays on my side of the family. Mom, Marsha, Garrett, Nate, and now Bruce too (maybe forgetting someone... am I?). Kaci learned the Happy Birthday Song to sing to Mom, unfortunately, she didn't answer the phone in time to hear it. But, later I got it on video. Happy Birthday Mom! And Happy Birthday to everyone else this month too.

Happy Birthday from Kaci!

offended?

2009-11-06T04:52:00.000-08:00

Should I be offended that Brad gets all the cool nick-names from Kaci? She never calls me anything but Mom.

Kaci now affectionately calls Brad Daddy-Boy! That's right. Daddy-Boy!
Guess what Brad was for Halloween... it's a lifelong dream of his to have a Charlie Brown shirt... he may or may not wear this to school now, with flip flops, in 30 degree weather.

Oh, I guess she has figured out that everyone else calls me Kerri, so sometimes she yells "HEY! Kay-EE!" She's also caught on that Daddy-Boy also responds to Brad.

Kaci is talking so much now, catches onto everything anyone says. Her vocabulary and pronunciation is pretty amazing to us. She's constantly asking us to "Watch ME! Watch ME!" Her favorite thing to perform for us lately is to "ula-oop" with beads. She also tells us to "TRY!" when we say we can't do something, like hula hoop with the beads.

Spoooooky

2009-10-31T04:58:00.001-07:00

Halloween Festivities are in full swing... here we are carving our pumpkin.

We started the trick-or-treating festivities on Wednesday. Bridgewater College opens up their dorms and the college kids decorate and pass out TONS of candy. They also do a little carnival. Kaci was scared out of her mind, until she saw a little baby dressed up like a duck. Here is Kaci's FIRST costume... a haunted homemaker aka a witch.

Her loot. She could have had double this but she would always only take one piece of candy when the they told her to take 3 or 4. One time a guy was about to give her like 10 snickers, but she took just ONE again. Bummer, I'm still sad about that.

On Thursday we went to the mall for their Monster Mash. The advertisement said there would be trick-or-treating, costume judging, and a dance party. Boy was there ever a Dance Party. I didn't bring my camera which is the greatest let down of the century because the Dance Party was solely kids ages 18 months to 6 shakin' it with the Dukettes (a dance team from JMU). It was AMAZING.
Kaci wanted to be Rela (Cinderella) this time after seeing other kids dressed up like Cinderella. She's obsessed with Cinderella right now, she trys to sing like her which is so cute! And she's always uber excited when it's time for Cinderella to dance with her prince. She runs around the house yelling "rela DANCE prince!!" My mom had sewn her some dress up clothes which I decided to turn into a Cinderella costume. Kaci loved it!

Yes! It was only Thursday and she already had tons of candy. Little did she know that today, the day of Halloween, she'll go trick-or-treating THREE more times.

The funny part about all this madness is that I don't really like all the candy, Kaci licks it and throws most of it away, and Brad eats all the peanut butter stuff, but that's it. Honestly, I just figure that it's something to do for free and I am all about that! Trick-or-treating HERE WE COME!!

time is ticking

2009-10-28T04:55:00.000-07:00

Some memories with true friends are so real that on a dreary day in Virginia...

I wish I had two dollars in change and a couple hours to stand at a bus stop.
I long to wade out and flail around in the water like a seal, dolphin, whale. Relish in the joys of emerging and splashing in the water.
I can almost taste Acai, feel the rocks from the Island Shack under my feet, smell the salty Hawaiian air, and see her reading "Free Surf" with more intensity than an Olympic weightlifter.
I can hear her singing "HIKI MAI E NA PUA I KA LA’IE" over the waves and taste the salty water as it splashes on our faces paddling on our surfboards.
I can feel the wind blowing in our faces and the sweat glistening on our foreheads and we pedal to campus.
I can hear the pounding of our feet on the pavement as we run around Laie and feel the shortness of breath from laughing and talking as we run.

As the day of birthing draws nearer... I'm thinking about you, praying for you, and longing to be there to hold that precious little girl who gets to call YOU her mother. I'm hoping she's an exact replica of you, the world needs more people just like you.

1st Ward Groupie 5K

2009-10-27T05:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so there are two wards in the Burg. Basically, they are "separate but equal." I'm the 1st Ward groupie (I'm the in the 2nd Ward). I crash a lot of their stuff because ALL the young moms are in that ward (seriously, there are like 10 moms with kids Kaci's age). Honestly I get the best of both wards because my ward has all the moms with 5 kids who basically have it all figured out, know all the trips and tricks, and I crash the other ward to hang out with Moms my own age who are still experimenting like I am.

On Saturday, some of the 1st ward people were running a 5K. I got an honorary invite to join them. So I did. I haven't run more than 2 miles since I've been in VA for a lot of reasons: 1) There are hills EVERYWHERE 2) I have to push Kaci UP said hills if I want to go running and keep up with the stroller as we zoom DOWN them 3) Kaci has a limited attention span 4) In Hawaii I ran 8 miles once and that pretty much cured me of any desire to run long distances.

I feel like a 10 minute mile is do-able for an average joe like me who is active enough to claim that I "work out regularly". Since learning to run more than a sprint I've been able to hack a 10 minute mile... on flat ground in Arizona, on sand in Hawaii... my results for a not-so-flat ground in Virginia... drum roll please....

Kerri Call 33:21.0 10:45/Mile

close, oh so close...

it's official

2009-10-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

After hours and hours of researching anguish and a very insightful email from Cass

I booked our hotel

for the night before the parade, just 5 miles from the parade route. It's official, we're really going to go. I'm SO excited!!

Seriously, anyone going to come? Once in a lifetime for sure, well, for me at least... unless it is so mind blowing amazing (like it's going to be) and I do this every year for the rest of my life... fundraisers here I come... joking... kinda

Just about a zillion other things to plan in the next few weeks, like more fundraisers, what else can I possibly sell?

QUESTION: anyone use those heat warmers that are disposable, ya know they start heating up once they are out of their air tight package and last for hours? would they keep Kaci warm if I pinned a couple hundred of them to the inside of her coat?

takin' a break

2009-10-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a break from my Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade planning (by the way, does anybody want to come with us?) to tell you about this amazing trail mix I made. I bet a lot of Mom's already do this, but I recently discovered it for myself. I made a trail mix with different cereals and stuff that we like. I made a big tin of it and Kaci loves it (so do my seminary kids). She never gets bored with it, it's an awesome snack, and it is mostly "good for you" stuff.

I combined:
cashews (soft nut Kaci can eat, and they are yummy)
pumpkin seeds
honey nut chex
kix
gold fish pretzels
marshmallows (these got old and dried out fast, but I like 'em better that way)
raisins (won't do these again, they don't vacuum well and I scrumpa* them anyway)
teddy grahams (chocolate kind)

We are lovin' it! It's fun to make too. We've had it for two weeks, stored in a tin and everything is still fresh. Way cool. If you have any yummy combos you've been holding out on, please share. Our tin is almost gone!

*home-made word for when you don't dislike something, but you don't necessarily like it either.

It begins...

2009-10-20T05:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, when Kaci said her prayer (we started a few months ago with something really simple... it normally goes something like this "Dear God, thank you for mommy, daddy, kaci, food, friends... in Jesus name-Amen... one syllable words) yesterday she added Christ to it. I didn't catch it at first because she didn't pair it with Jesus, she just said Christ amongst the other things she gives thanks for.

Later that day I was doing laundry and Kaci was running around with the hamper on her head. I was busy and not really listening to her mumbo jumbo as she ran around until I heard her say "Kaci- Jesus Christ!" She kept saying it over and over and over all day.

During the FHE lesson, Kaci picked a picture of Christ (like she always does) (thanks again Lynda for that book of gospel art, we love it). She then told me about what she learned in Nursery... she said "Kaci, church, friends, two boys, one girl, girl lap. Kaci, pray, Jesus Christ." Translation: At church with my friends, two boys and one girl, I sat on my teacher's lap and she taught me to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. So, she learned something at church this week, she learned that Jesus is Christ and that we pray in His name. She may have even learned that we are suppose to be like Him. I wonder if her teacher knows that Kaci was listening and learning during that 5 minute lesson she so faithfully does with those toddlers each week. I'll be sure to tell her.

Just another testimony that teaching a child the ways of the Lord can and should start at a very young age... no one is too little or not smart enough to learn of Him. Everyone is capable of coming to Christ... everyone.

October-fest

2009-10-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

This October has been pretty much identical to last October...

I made dinner in a pumpkin! again and it was so good. I will always be grateful that Liam&Jessie shared this tradition with us. It's so fun to make and to eat!

Kaci got in on the jack-o-lantern this year. She drew that face all by herself. We were very impressed. She said she was drawing eyes, a nose, and a happy face, but we didn't expect it to look like a face when she was done, boy were we wrong.

Very imnpressive. Last year we tried to carve the face of the pumpkin to look like Kaci. Kaci says her face is a "daddy face".

And I painted our window. Our window is HUGE which is fun. Kaci is obsessed with drawing houses right now. I tried to paint a haunted house. She loves it! Kaci painted next to me with some white (just in case she missed the window) and then asked for some brown to finish her "horse". We have a horse and a house, very creative don't ya think?!?

dah-yur

2009-10-14T08:28:00.000-07:00

Cho you are missed! Kaci asks where you are and wonders if "Cho work?" or "Cho sleep" or "Cho Happy?". She also keeps asking for a "dah-yur" translation dollar. We hope you are happy and that you have lots of "dah-yurs" (dollars!)!

(the sign says: 1 million dollars in 10 dollar notes. pix taken by me at the National Bureau of Engraving and Printing aka National Bureau of Blah Blah- if you ever visit DC don't waste your time on the tour at this place... talk about dull and boring! this pix was the best part!)

We miss you Garrett!!

p.s. remember the number 8... 3,4,8!!

A good time was had by all!

2009-10-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was so intense. We woke up and went to Dayton Days to buy an apple dumpling from the scouts. Then we came home to watch Conference. Brad recently taught Kaci how to slow dance to quiet-er music, so when the MoTab started singing, Kaci jumped up, found her baby, and started slow dancing. By the end of Conference she had convinced Brad to slow dance with me too. I wish I would have recorded her, it was so cute. She calls it a "hug dance". After that session we jetted over to the "Mile Challenge" where Brad joined the bike race against the mayor driving a car. They had bicycle churned ice cream for everyone afterwards. We joined the cause for walking or biking within a mile of our house. Then we went to Hillandale for the Time Trial. A group of people were doing a time trial to ride all the mountain biking trails. Brad was so excited to participate. He bikes there all the time. We stayed to cheer him on. He completed it in 19 minutes. He wrecked a couple times, a little black and blue the next day but loved it. He also got a free membership to the rec center which I cashed in on so I can lift weights again! After the time trial we rushed home to watch another session of conference.
The next day we went to the church to watch conference since our internet connection was being slow. Good thing we did too, the Walton's were there (they have a little boy Kaci's age and they are BFF) and they invited us to stay for fondue between sessions. I had no idea fondue was so amazing. It was so yummy and Kaci got to play all day with her best bud. We watched the last session, came home, ate chocolate cake for dinner with the Hendricks and called it good. I believe this action packed weekend deserves the ending: "a good time was had by all"

Disc Golfers Unite

2009-10-08T17:18:00.000-07:00

Westover Park has Disc Golf. A friend of ours taught us how to play a while back and we liked it, but didn't have discs. Then Brad found out that the rec center loans discs out for free with an ID. So we go all the time now. We taught Garret how to play. It's a lot of fun.

Kaci likes it too. She can run around in the woods and play with all the sticks she wants. She's even picked up on how to throw the disc and the general idea of the game-keep throwing the disc until you make it in the basket! She tries really hard to throw the disc and when it falls a foot in front of her she'll say "oh-miss!" So funny.

Sometimes Kaci gets tired (there are 18 holes and the course is lots of hills) so she gets a ride from one of us. Brad is the best at throwing discs, so Garret and I were hoping that Kaci would handicap him... Brad did better with Kaci on his shoulders... go figure. I guess keeping your shoulders square and motionless is what you are suppose to do. So I tried it too and it made my discs go way further and I had more accuracy. Who knew?!?

International Festival

2009-10-07T17:06:00.001-07:00

We really talk up what we're going to do on the weekends. Two weeks ago it rained all day long. So our Saturday excitement was a little cold and rainy.

Didn't stop us! We still went to the International Festival held at Hillandale park. We were excited to go because we could get free helmets. Basically a $90 value. They had one for Kaci which is fabulous and it will grow with her for the next year or two. We are excited!

Kaci also got a really cool light to put on her stroller. The booth that gives away all this cool stuff promotes pedestrian and cyclist safety in the 'Burg.

Kaci combining her cool new helmet with one of her favorite past-times... reading with Daddy.

Christmas?

2009-10-02T04:47:00.000-07:00

For the past two mornings I have woken up with the very real feeling that it's Christmas. The first morning, I nearly ran into the front room to see the Christmas tree all lit up. Sadly I was disappointed to find a dark room with no festive decorations. This morning I remembered last morning, but I still had to see the dark room to fully believe that it really wasn't Christmas. I don't know why I keep thinking it's Christmas, maybe it's the chill in the air or the fact that I'm sick. As much as I have disliked being sick on Christmas the past few years... I feel like Christmas helped me not feel so bad when I was sick, ya know?

I guess I should finish the Christmas presents for my nieces and nephews I've been working on all year so they'll be ready when it really is Christmas... (yes all year, I have 7 nieces and nephews and two of my sisters had babies this year adding two more to the list... though the two new ones are probably just out of luck this year, they'll appreciate it more next year anyway)

252 posts and counting...

2009-09-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

In the midst of my feverish condition yesterday, I was sensible enough to cancel seminary and watch Mary Poppins (oh how I wish they still made movies of that caliber).

When I woke up with extreme abdominal pain last night, I started to regret eating the entire pan of homemade cinnamon rolls yesterday. An hour later I started to question that chocolate cookies and cream ice cream cone. An hour after that when I woke Brad up to hold me, I started to wonder if I should have eaten 4 greasy fish tacos stuffed with spicy salsa and guacamole. Where were the calming effects of the chicken noodle soup I had for breakfast? I finally fell back to sleep, but I woke up with what feels like bricks on my chest, a blimp for a head, sore abs, aching limbs, pounding headache and a wild two year old...

Naturally, I wandered into my kitchen stacked high with dirty dishes, ate my chicken noodle soup for breakfast, and topped it off with a chocolate cookies and cream ice cream cone. Now that I think about it, maybe I shouldn't have given one to Kaci... she's wild enough as it is.

p.s. it's 46 degrees outside... 70 degrees inside... I feel like I'm in a sauna!

Kaci's Dance Moves

2009-09-27T08:00:00.001-07:00

Here's the progression of Kaci's dance moves, starting about 1 year ago. This girl has got some rhythm.

Seminary- Historical Account

2009-09-27T05:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've done my fair share of "murmuring" so far with this whole experience. Brad keeps telling me it's just the learning curve, it has be hard so it can get better! I thought I should share some pictures of some of our more memorable days so far.

They're all wearing our "family lenses". We are focusing on how important the family was, is, and will always be this year. We use these glasses to read some scripture stories when I really want something to stick or I need to loosen them up.

I'm bummed that I don't have a picture of our heritage day. I wrote a family tree starting at Adam on the chalk board one day. The kids loved it. The whole thing was full of names. The point was that human testimony that God is real can only survive if we pass it on to our kids.

This is our fort. How many prophets "dwelt in a tent"? So we built a fort to have our lesson in to make that more real. We were a lil squished, but some kids said it helped them pay attention better.

Our first morning-side with John Hendricks. He told a cool story about his mission and his hand drum. He had a lot of cool messages, but my favorite thing he said was "You're important to God so things that are important to you are important to Him" (in talking about miracles). One girl told me "Sister Call, that was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced at 6am!" Lovin' that!!

So, I am making the most of my longer days. The kids respond well to my craziness!

Brad's Dreams

2009-09-24T16:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, Brad pretty much gave me the schmuck of the year award by telling the world that I loathe listening to his dreams. There are reasons for this loathing:

1)What he dreamed about last night is the first thing he talks about in the morning. Whether I'm awake yet or not, he's awake and he's ready to tell me all about his dreams.
2)I don't like talking or listening until I've fully woken up, eaten breakfast, brushed my teeth, taken my medicines, and have put my hair in a pony tail. (translation about an hour after I am actually out of bed I am willing to communicate)I'm not a morning person at all, never have been. Brad knows this!
3)When we were first married almost all he ever dreamed about was going back on his mission (I'm not exaggerating bytheway, I should have kept track, it really was almost nightly). He would wake up totally bummed to find that he didn't preach the gospel in his dream because he was married. (not what a new bride wants to hear every single morning, rm's talk about their missions being the best two years enough as it is, the dreams put it over the top for me)
4)If you think that it takes 10 minutes or less to listen to his dreams, you have obviously never listened to Brad tell his dreams. He has been known to still be telling me his dreams over LUNCH and occasionally over dinner. Seriously, seriously. And when he forgets one of his dreams and remembers it days later, he still tells them to me on top of the dreams from the last sleep... doesn't always have to be night time to dream mind you. Afternoon siestas pack a lot of dreams too, believe me, I've heard all about them.
5)He also tells me every-single-dream-he-can-remember! Even if they aren't interesting at all. Somethings just aren't noteworthy in my opinion. It's hard to be a captivated audience to a boring dream when I, myself, am half asleep still.

Now, I may still be a schmuck, but I'm a schmuck for good reasons. With his new blog, Liam can interpret his dreams again on a regular basis and vice versa... I guess that's a soul mate thing.

New Baby Tasha

2009-09-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

We went to see baby Tasha on Sunday. Our friends the Darowski's had their baby and we celebrated by bringing a home made chocolate haupia cream pie. They loved it. Pudding pies happen to be their favorite dessert. Kaci loved the baby, she even got to hold it.

This is a picture moment for sure... her dad's first diaper!

Shoe Shopping

2009-09-22T04:44:00.000-07:00

We went shoe shopping for Kaci. Her feet are huge. She's already growing out of her size 6 shoes. I wondered how big her feet were, just a half size bigger. But with winter I might buy her 7's so she can wear double socks on super cold days. I let her try on any shoes she wanted. And she tried on a lot of shoes. We didn't buy any yet. She never found a pair she just had to have!

Cho Happy

2009-09-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

Garret is here. I really enjoy having him around. He's always willing to go places with me and is awesome with Kaci. She finally calls him by name, Cho! He wanted her to call him Nacho... Kaci decided Cho would do. This is a picture of our hike to Dark Hollows. I thought the sign was funny.

Still Cool

2009-09-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

A newly wed couple thought we weren't cool anymore because we've been married for a while and have a kid. Thankfully the person they said it to defended us... but it left a scar for Brad. That weekend he said he'd show everyone just how cool he still is!

Don't Sass Me

2009-09-16T04:58:00.001-07:00

I woke up at midnight to scratch the heck out of my foot.
I woke up at 2:50 to take Kaci to the potty.
I woke up at 4:44 to get ready for seminary.
I said a fervent prayer at 5:59 that I could forget my awful night mare, focus on Christ, and give the inspiring 30 minute lesson I spent 4 plus hours studying for and preparing...

At 6:50 one of my seminary students got impatient.
At 6:59 another girl gave me a dirty look (which I half joking gave back).
At 7:03 another lovely girl sassed me.

I didn't lash out at her, or the others. I finished explaining the amazing morning-side I've been planning for the past two weeks, dismissed them ON TIME, cleaned up the mess they left, and came home to an emotional two year old.

It's going to be one of those days.

Churches!

2009-09-13T05:14:00.000-07:00

At the grocery store... gotta love ultra super conservative Harrisonburg.

I went to the Mennonite Church yesterday for their summer's end festival. I enjoyed having church outside for a change. The service was really modern, lots of singing and clapping. I also went to their Sunday School. They had some interesting points of view, some I agreed with, some I didn't. But I think everyone in the room felt the same way by the conversation. So interesting. I made some friends, so did Kaci. The lunch afterwards was amazing, pulled pork sandwiches, watermelon, beans, chips, applesauce, and coleslaw. Yum! In all we attending 5 hours of church yesterday. A Sabbath day well spent!

I realized I haven't ever been to a Methodist Church. There is a HUGE beautiful one on Main Street. That may need to be the next church I visit. Here's a list of churches I've been to: Episcopalian, Baptist, Catholic, Mormon (of course), Mennonite, and Presbyterian. Like I said, I need to add Methodist to the list :) Just for the experience, each one is just a little different than the other. I find it so interesting!