obama's to lose...

this may come as a shock for some, but as of now my vote belongs to barack obama.

this change has come over many months...and culminated in listening to his audiobook, 'audacity of hope' and watching john mccain in recent weeks.

specific reasons?

obama has thrown himself into the primary campaign and the forging of his policy positions with gusto. he has an over-arching vision for america. he is able to articulate that view to americans and the world in a palatable--even inspiring way. this ability is very important. the president of the united states has the biggest bully pulpit in the world. the ability to sway others is invaluable.

in comparison, john mccain has run a reactionary campaign. he was broke 8 months or so in the run-up to the republican primary. it's as if he was too lazy to work at it. he beat romney by partnering with a slick and bigotted huckabee and with reactionary digs. mccain has yet to come up with an overarching vision for america--aside from 'let's win in iraq'.

this 'vision' of his is most disturbing to me. mccain feels that vietnam could have been won if we would have tweaked our strategy and stuck it out. he said in a primary debate that he wants to stay in iraq 'so our boys can say they've won'. who the hell cares if our boys can 'say they won'. 'our boys' should be there only if necessary and saving face is not a reason to risk american lives.

mccain's other downsides include his temper and age. his reactionary tactics as a candidate--coupled with his temper and desire to stay in iraq until we've 'won' is a frankly scary combination.

this isn't to say that obama is all roses. his recent equating of russia's actions in georgia to america's actions in iraq was asinine and naive. his protectionist stances are worrisome for economic revival. while i am in favor of health care coverage for all--i worry he will err too far on the side of big government and a single party payor.

that being said, obama is correct on guantanamo, a loose time-table for iraq, enhanced diplomacy abroad, aiding the middle class in making a 'living wage' in the face of huge spikes in CEO and wealthy class largesse over the last 10 years, health care coverage for all, strong on civil, women's and privacy rights among others.

there are those who argue that obama is too soft on terrorism and in this time of crisis we need a strong man at the helm. this war on terrorism is subtle and nuanced. we need an intelligent man at the helm--not a strong bellicose man.

all this being said. obama's negatives lie close to the surface for me. if he flys poor colors in the debates and a romney/mccain ticket come together with a likely mccain death in his first term..? who knows...

as of now. my vote belongs to barack hussein obama.

Ella's First Disneyland Trip...

Just wanted to document a big first in the life of our California-born Ella... the first trip to Disneyland.


Last Thursday we cured our cravings to make another Disney run. Our year pass is blocked out for most of the summer... so this week was the first week we could go since Ella has been born. We arrived just in time for the evening parade... which she was wide awake for as you can see in the picture.

After that, she got the Baby Bjorn treatment until she feel asleep on our first ride... the jungle cruise. Then she slept and slept and slept as she saved places with me for Fantasmic while dad and the other kiddos went on rides. She continued to sleep and sleep and sleep through Fantasmic and the fireworks... ate in the car, and slept all the way home. A success!

It really is a wonderful place, isn't it Ella?? Just wait until you stay awake to see it all!

Which reminds me of something really cute Michael said. During Fantasmic, the narrator said something about Disneyland being the "Happiest Place on Earth." Michael looked up and said "This isn't the happiest place on earth... our home is the happiest place on earth."


I agree, little buddy. Totally agree.

Michael's First Day...

Michael started the kindergarten program at Redlands Playschool yesterday. What? Going to Playschool?? With a name like that... who wouldn't want to go?


With a July birthday, we've been faced with the dilemma of whether to have him go to kindergarten now and be the youngest in his class, or wait a year and be a little older. Lots of prayer and fasting has gone into a decision, and I'm so thankful for the promptings that have come to us. We've decided to have him go to this program and probably do a public kindergarten next year when we've moved. That's what has felt right, anyway... but we'll see.

It is 1/2 day and has a class size of 12 kiddos, and a teacher with an incredible reputation--Mrs. Noble. His class is accredited as a kindergarten, so we could still start him in first grade with the move to Utah. Their methods will give loads of learning through play, but seem like they will also give the "academic" challenge we want for Michael, instead of just having another year of preschool. We're hoping it is the perfect atmosphere for now.

He was pretty excited for his first day. No nervousness--just excitement. He barely sat still for a blessing from his dad in the morning. And he's been excited ever since.


It really seems like a good fit. He's offered lots of details about his first days of school, and remembers almost all of his classmates' names. That's a good sign.




Paul picked him up and got the first report. The only disappointment was that they ran out of time for their second play time outside.



I must say that I'm glad I've had a little bit of weaning up to this point. Michael did a preschool last year 2 days a week, and we did a "friend school" with other moms teaching another 2 days of the week. It has been a nice, gradual shift. I saw a lot of weepy moms... but wasn't one of them. Just a bit teary, that's all.

Abby and Bekah ask about him during the day, but have each other to play with. They are always happy to have him return home. Michael has asked about Ella both days and how she was when he was gone. Cute.

So good luck with school this year, Michael. You become more of a little man every day.

30 Hours of Fun...

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the San Diego area to hang out with two of our favorite families. A short but sweet trip that definitely deserves documenting.

Sunday night, we drove to see the Petersons--my cousin and his fam... and my aunt and uncle.
Jan and Christine were moving back to Rexburg, so we wanted to see them before they left.
We crashed their going away party, and met a lot of Eric's family which was nice.

That night we stayed at Eric and Sarah's house where Michael enjoyed a late night sleepover with Kaile, Garrett, and Claire. They talked and watched movies while the adults talked and laughed and discussed education and health care while eating brownies and ice cream. We love spending time with them.


Monday we went to the Wild Animal Park with Christine and the kids. It was really a lot of fun.

Here is Michael with Garrett. When they are together, they are like two peas in a pod. Seriously... they are really so similar in their likes and mannerisms it is cute.


Different from the zoo, the Wild Animal Park focuses on keeping the animals in wider, more natural spaces and allows for more observation of natural behaviors. There is a lot of walking. And fun places to stop here and there...


Paul was amazing at chasing/herding/corralling the kids, and Ella was a trooper. And cute pregnant Christine was an even bigger trooper as she walked and walked and WALKED! We didn't see even 1/2 of the park, but felt fulfilled in what we saw. Some highlights:


Feeding the Lorikeet birds. You can buy a small cup of serum that the colorful lorikeet birds love. (At first, Michael thought it was for him and drank it all! The worker laughed and laughed, and filled his cup again.) They come right up to you, giving you an up-close-and-personal experience with the birds.




Michael's experience was especially fun. He had a lorikeet perch on his head... twice! Was it the shampoo we used?? Who knows. He thought it was pretty cool.




Petting the deer. At first, Bekah and Abby were wary about getting close enough to pet the deer. In fact, Bekah didn't even want to get close at all. But after some encouragement from Paul, Michael, and Garrett... they did get around to petting them.







The biggest hit was probably a little water-park area... great for cooling off. No surprise--Bekah and Abby stripped down first thing. I was lucky to talk them into keeping their little diaper covers on. Michael whipped off his shirt, and begun running imagined Olympic races down a hill and around the park.





Claire and Abby splashing away:





Thanks to Christine for sacrificing a valuable packing day to hang out with us. Thanks again for making us a part of your busy, busy week!



That evening, we drove down to downtown San Diego to meet Jared and Allison (and cute little Aiden) Harwood.


Jared is a friend of ours from the BYU days. He had many pre-med classes with Paul, and we saw him through many dating experiences before he found Allison in DC. He is serving as a navy flight surgeon traveling on aircraft carriers. They were porting in San Diego for a week, so they made a family trip out of it.


We were so happy to meet them for dinner, and afterward Jared took us down to the base and drove us right up to see the carrier. It was bigger than I could have imagined... quite a sight to behold. Michael was enthralled, and we all came away with a bigger respect for the service the military provides for us.

But the fun didn't stop there! The girls made their own fun in the dark by making up songs while we made the late-night drive home:






All in all, a marathon of fun with family and friends!

obama, byu and the times...

i checked out the nytimes front page to learn more about the obama/biden theatrics today and was pleasantly surprised to find mormons in the mix on the front page of the times.

on that note. i made the switch to direct tv in an effort to stick it to the man and put my money where my allegiances lie.

the first game on august 30th should be a great chance to see the boys in action. don't miss the first quarter as they will probably have 21 points before it ends...

80 miles to heaven and back...

on saturday, joseph lee and i rode along a slice of heaven in a culmination of 2 1/2 months of training, and in preparation for another 1 1/2 months of training for a 72 mile race around lake tahoe.

the destination was a stretch of the pacific coast highway south of big sur and north of san simeon. the road is very remote--full of twists and turns, ups and downs, grand vistas, quaint bridges and bordered by mile upon mile of rocky shoreline.

some of the more effulgent magazine and newspaper articles of bike-trekking this portion of the pch talk of it being the most picturesque road-ride in the country. i have certainly seen vistas in the fall canyons of utah that rival it's beauty, but the longer i pedaled and suffered along this stretch of the pch--the more it felt like a must-ride in the western united states.

joseph and i met late friday night at san simeon campsite near hearst castle. we talked long into the night and enjoyed catching up.

that morning we were packed up by 8:30 and headed to gorda, ca. this gas station--set on a cliff in gorda, with gas for $8/gallon--was our launch point.

after donning our matching pink jerseys and haggling over what to carry--two or three tubes? how many water bottles? extra co2 cartridges? mini-hand pump? whose digital camera? fat free fig newtons? dried mangoes? arm warmers, jacket or both? head gear? sunglasses in the fog? gps? etc. etc.---we set our clocks to 'go' at 10am.

the fog never completely lifted from the coast. the only fog-free portion of the ride was when we climbed away from the coast and descended into big sur 40 miles later. however, the fog on the coastline did slowly lift throughout the day--allowing for better and better views of the coast. the photo below gives a sense of the chilly, mysterious views that greeted us through the early haze.

here you see the beauty of our matching jerseys is eclipsed by the rock-strewn costal waters.

the shoulders of the pch went from non-existent to barely ample. in all my reading about this route, no one ever mentioned this small bit of information. the picture below shows a spooky stretch of shoulder. despite the narrow shoulders, this stretch of the pch is remote and supports the migration 1000's of bikers per year. we saw all sorts from homeless walkers, to college sophomores with saddle bags on summer break--camping and riding away their summer days. joseph and i were passed by at least 100 cars during our ride and all but 2 or 3 didn't yell at us, make hand-gestures, spit or curse. after a mile or so i stopped worrying that i had brought joseph to die on the shoulder of the pch, and realized that i felt safer on this quaint winding highway than i do on redlands blvd back home.

before our ride, i hadn't realized joe's love for bridges. we did not pass a bridge in the first fifteen miles where we didn't stop, take a picture, re-tread our route or coast slowly while gazing over the edge. gratefully, his love of bridges gave us some great photos of the stunning landscapes. (an apology to stevie as all my photos include our ugly mugs--nothing particularly artistic brother...sorry:)

in the articles i read about this trek...most authors spoke of an epiphany--large or small--that occurred on the ride. with the hurried nature of our trip (less than 24 total hours on the pch itself) i was not able to settle in on some remote shore and ponder life's mysteries. any epiphanies i experienced were related to my willingness to endure pain on the bike, hazard mechanical issues and find new points of view through discussions with joe while riding.

this isn't to say i was unmoved by the vistas, but they played a complementary role to the overall experience.

below is a photo taken by a french couple in julia pfeiffer burns state park (in the news recently for the fire whose charred remains we could see on the roadside.) having our picture taken by europeans was common on this trip. an italian took the 'matching-jersey' photo above. he is a big supporter of carlos sastre (winner of the tour de france). the french were impressed with our knowledge of the tour and we bonded.

a shot here to show the diverse terrain we encountered with redwoods sprouting up the further north we rode.

the halfway-point was big sur (the elevation profile at the start of this post was created from my gps data points of our specific ride.) after summiting the highest point in our climb and dropping into big sur the climate became dramatically different. the sun was gone, the sky was blue and i felt like i was back in the dry climes of the inland empire. after purchasing gatorade at a ma and pa grocery store for the ride back, we attacked a 900 foot, 2 mile climb at a 7-8% grade. as to be expected, joseph attacked with gusto and we were able to summit together (at a pace faster than i thought we had in us:)

all in all, joseph and i rode well together. our climbing styles are similar and our conditioning was comparable.

our good fortune hit a snag 30 miles from the finish line when a rear spoke of mine snapped. my bike sounded like it was going to fall apart. while i perseverated about the potential costs of repairs and the possibility of walking while joseph went for a car, joe kept his eye on the target, pulled the spoke out of the hub, put the wheel back on and loosened my brake. i shook off my slight gloom, hopped on the bike and tested my slightly wobbly wheel. it held fairly true and aside from a rub on the brake during steep climbs--it became little more than a psychological barrier to finishing the ride.

since joseph's invitation in may to compete with him in tahoe, i have ridden nearly 1000 miles and 115,000 vertical feet. however, i had not ridden longer than 50 continuous miles this summer. it started to show in my back, neck, joints and legs that last 5 miles. the final two climbs felt brutal with a head wind and a never appearing gas station waiting for our return.

when the gas station appeared through the mist on its perch above the pacific relief and accomplishment flooded though me. we had ridden 80 miles and climbed 1 vertical mile. it felt so great that i decided i could not finish the ride without a tribute to my boy who has come to relish the celebrations to be found with each stage win of the tour de france.

so michael, this video is for you as i celebrated the finish of a ride through a bit of heaven and back.

8 Years of Happiest Moments...

There have been moments in my life where I couldn't imagine being any happier.

Mr. Paul has been proving me wrong for the past 8 years.

How did we make such a great decision?? We were so young...

So much we couldn't have possibly known or foreseen (like, uh,... twins!).


And I'm so grateful that a great decision was made even better by the blessings of marrying in the temple.


The covenants we have made and knowing we are sealed for eternity gives our marriage a peaceful solidarity, and a meaningful loyalty that I appreciate so much. It makes me want to make God and the commandments a bigger part of myself, my marriage, and my family. It helps me work to be a better wife and mother... to reach goals that make life better in so many ways.


So with happy memories of our day at the Manti Temple... happy anniversary to us!


And here's to many more happiest moments.

A Michael By Any Other Name...

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics has been a BIG hit at our house. Track and field, swimming, gymnastics, diving, volleyball... even fencing and (of coarse) cycling.

Not surprisingly, Michael has really gotten into it all. He asks about the rules of scoring, fastest times, and recognizes country flags. He loves cheering for the USA, and notices intricacies of their uniforms. He has transformed his cars into swimmers, and our circular floor plan has become a track for running 100 meter dashes and hurdle races. The front room is a perfect lap pool, and the couch is a diving board.

When he found out about Michael Phelps during the trials last month, he became an instant fan. "He has my same name AND he's a SWIMMER TOO!"


So he has been cheering on Phelps' quest for 8 gold medals in this Olympics.


In fact, he holds his own medals ceremonies... (This one occurred after swimming yesterday evening.)

He's transformed the medal from his YMCA "Little Rookies" Combo class (soccer, basketball, and baseball) into Olympic Gold.


We have a CD with the Star Spangled Banner on it. He starts the music and takes his place.


Wait, wait... something's missing...

Oh, that's better.

Michael, Michael... you are golden to me.

Potty Training: Attempt #1...

I've been terrified about potty training the girls ever since... well... we learned we were having twins. Compacting my original fears is having a nursing baby, decreasing the "readiness" I have to run to the potty to give assistance at any given moment. So we've been waiting for a time in Paul's schedule where he is home during the day for a few consistent days.

So today marked Attempt #1.

Potty(s)??


Check!



Pretty Princess Panties??

Check!



The results??


0 for 4

After enough puddles and wet Pretty Princess Panties... we decided to try again another time. Abby and Bekah are both extremely good at telling us AFTER they tinkle. Perhaps we can help them be a bit more aware of the BEFORE sensations of this marvel of a bodily function.

We'll be consulting Paul's schedule again soon.

Michael's Nosebleed...

It's no secret that Michael picks his nose. We've told him all the drawbacks of this little habit... including the occasional nosebleed, which has happened a time or two.

Sunday night he had one in the car when we were in Fallbrook visiting the Petersons (my cousin and his fam, and aunt and uncle). When Kaile (their oldest daughter) saw the blood on his face and hands.

Kaile: "Whoa, what happened Michael?"

Michael: "I pick my nose too much."

And there you have it.

Ella's First Smiles...

Last week, Ella began showing us her first real smiles. They are magical to me.

They are hard to capture on camera... and I usually just get them all to myself during quiet times in the morning and afternoon.

I love the feeling of real connection I get with her when she studies my face, really looks at me, then--her cheek move out, her lips turn up, and--a smile is suddenly spread across her face.

During the first months, few things are more enjoyable and memorable as these first smiles. I know from experience that I'll see thousands of smiles in the coming months, and that she'll eventually do things that are much more interesting and entertaining.

(sorry I'm having a hard one getting this one to flip for some reason...)

But right now, this small movement on her face is magical to me.