yes we can...

why i'm loving obama and happy to see bush go...

"Free" Photo Book from Shutterfly...

My friend, Missy, let me know about this great deal from Shutterfly... a free 8x8 photo book. "Free," of course, does mean that you pay shipping, which turns out to be around $8.


I did one of these deals from Snapfish around Christmastime and loved it... turned out to be pretty good. I even ended up doing one for full-price for my friend Mary Ann after the offer expired (guess they got me to pay for one after all...).

My plan is to sign up for one in all my (and Paul's) email accounts (don't worry family members... I won't drag your email addresses into it this time...) and make them for different years of the kiddos' lives so far. I did one of Michael's first year for Christmas, and he LOVES it. The girls do to, so they deserve one of their own! Don't think I'll get all the way caught up, but it will be a fun thing to give them...

Anyway, thought I'd pass along this great deal.

Here are the details I know...

Shutterfly is offering a FREE 20 page 8x8 Creating Keepsakes photo book.
Click HERE to get started!
Offer expires February 28, 2009
promo code: CK47-5UXB-GGWH-B2YXWS

The tricky thing is that you don't enter the code in until the end of checkout... so there are no indicators before you put in the work that you are getting this "free" book. But a friend of my friend said she checked out with it and it worked.

(The fine print:*Offer expires February 28, 2009. Free 8x8 photo book includes initial set of 20 pages. Offer good on all Shutterfly 8x8 photo books with photo cover. All incremental pages will be charged on a per page rate. Premium licensed photo books (including Martha Stewart Photo Books & Adventure Photo Books), as well as leather and padded photo books are not included in this offer. Taxes, shipping and handling charges will apply.)

**I heard that it might be on JUST Creating Keepsakes template books, but not sure about that. I'll post an update in the comments if I find out anything else.

Dining With the Princesses...

My heart aches right now each time I think of Disneyland, as I am just not getting used to the idea that we don't have our passes anymore. boo hoo hoo.

So it is with fondest memories and deep longing that I document our last trip to Disneyland...



It was short but sweet, as we were squeezing it in between Paul's shifts to get one more fix before our passes expired.

We've heard about the Disney Princess dining at Ariel's Grotto (in California Adventure), but knew it was really pricey, too. Then I found out that kids under 3 aren't charged. And as I have two 2-year-old princess-adoring daughters, I thought it sounded like quite a deal. So I wanted to take the two of them to create a memory.

I SOMEhow talked friend Missy into coming too. She thought it would be fun... so she brought Rachael (Mimi).


As Paul and I worked out the details, we thought it would be good for me to take Ella while he took Michael and his friends, Caleb and Emily and Jane, on the big kid rides.

The good news is that the big kids had a BLAST together. And the little girls did love seeing the princesses.




However, sitting and having a nice, relaxing gourmet lunch was far past the bounds of reality in this situation. It was really quite an active lunchon for these two moms... we were lucky read the menu to order...



And for some reason, Ella got super-squirmy... who was not happy with me for making her stay in a booth. She kinda held a grudge for the afternoon...


The girls all loved seeing each princess as they were called out by the royal announcer every 5-ish minutes. The princesses would each float her way through the tables to meet and talk with adoring fans.




The girls... were interested but not enthralled, and still had just enough stranger anxiety to not really get into talking with them. Bekah did, however, love showing them the pretty picture she had been coloring.


But we have the pictures to prove that we did it. And we have the bill to prove it too!

Dance Parties...

If you had come to our home any evening this past week, this is what you would have seen...

Cushionless couches. They are all on the floor in a big pile with kiddos on the top!


Michael, Abby, and Bekah doing their random sweet moves in a dance party, High School Musical style ya'll...



Yup... that's pretty much what happens here before dinner time every day. You can count on it.

I still can't believe Paul dragged our family into the High School Musical scene. I think he knows all the words to all the songs. But wait... I think I do, too!


Perhaps I can drag us back out before our girls become obsessed teeny-boppers. Until then, I rather enjoy our evening dance parties.

Pretty good entertainment. And it keeps the kiddos entertained while I make dinner!

"I Have Arrived..."

The other morning at 5am, Paul crawled into bed next to me after his shift with the words: "I have arrived."

After 2 1/2 years of residency there has been one procedure Paul has wanted to do but hadn't had the chance yet... cracking a chest to revive a patient.

As he's explained it to me, it is where a patient is pretty much gone... and as a final measure they can cut open the chest, use an instrument to crack open the ribs, and reach in to manually pump the heart with your hands.

Wow. Just like the movies. ha ha.


But really, I am amazed with the intensity and stress he is able to work with, and the skills he has learned. Through hard work and dedication, he has developed skills that really help people. And he loves it!

I just want to take this chance to say how happy I am that Paul is so happy with the work he has chosen. It is so nice to know that, with all the hard studying and years of learning, he loves what he does. The pace and the nature of the job fits his personality and interests... and I am so proud of all his hard work. It amazes me that, in addition to all of this, is is also an amazing husband and father. Whataguy.


I'm so happy you're so happy.

Thanks for all your hard work, Paul! And thanks for making the rest of us so happy, too.

Outfitted for Obama...

Now, I'm still not telling for whom I voted... but I will be supporting our new President in his best efforts and add my hope to his for positive, substantial change as he begins his time in office.

And today our kids are showing support, too. With these super-cool Obama shirts from Uncle Stephen.


Thanks to Stevie who was thoughtful enough to plaster his political obsession on our children for Christmas. It was so sweet of you.


And thanks to Barak Obama for infusing the nation with hope for change and new beginnings. You deserve high expectations and our best support.

(Just keep home prices low for another six months, will ya??)

Post-Christmas Time With Family...

The day after Christmas, we left for a post-Christmas trip to visit our families.

The first few days were spent in Utah where we were busy with 2 baby blessings, family dinners, wedding festivities, present opening, a birthday celebration, family pictures, a bit of snowmobiling, a movie, a bridal shower, late night talking... and we squeezed in a bit of house hunting between things. Whew!

Only a few pictures exist (on our camera, at least). Shameful.

Here, Bekah and Abby are opening presents from Hannah. We rotate names in Paul's family for gift-giving, and this year Hannah was so thoughtful in her gifts to us.


In addition to the super-cute wall plaque she hand-made for our home, she completely outfitted the kiddos in official BYU attire. They are probably the best-used presents from Christmas. Michael didn't take his off most of the rest of the trip, and Abby and Bekah give them equal time with their princess dresses (which is a LOT of wearing...).


Because she knows some of the basketball players, she even took Michael's jersey and got two of them to sign it. Wow! She sure knows how to make him feel special! Thanks again, Hannah!!

Paul's dad took the time to rev up the ol' snowmobile in the back field for a little adventure for the grandkids. Thanks again, Grandpappy!





After a few Frandsen days, we headed for Oregon for some much-awaited Risenmay time.

Adventure followed us a little too closely, and somewhere between Abby's throwing up and Ella's dirty diapers, a piece of metal found its way into our back tire somewhere in the middle of nowhere in 20 degree weather. Paul renewed his Hero status for another decade by changing the tire while I entertained kids, nursed Ella, held the barf bowl for Abby 4+ times, changed a diaper, and spent some useless phone time with AAA trying to find a place to fix the tire. Our 6-hour trip turned into an overnight stay in Burley Idaho, and we were on the road again once the tire was fixed in the morning.

Sweet kiddos...

Michael, the good sport, as we had to squeeze the luggage around him to make room for the tire...



Our conquering hero...


Our overnight adventure was actually pretty enjoyable, but we were glad to get the tire fixed early the next morning. We hit the road again and arrived safely in Oregon and the kiddos were off and running with their cousins, Brinlee and Max. Oh, the Uncles and Paul off and ran for some b-ball and there was a hunting expidition or two. There was movie-watching, present opening, a New Year's celebration (with a home-made balloon drop), our traditional New Year's Cafe Rio feast, and of course... The Great Dalmuti.

But somehow, the only thing I got pictures of was our afternoon in the snow. Don't scoff at our California kiddos and their scrounged-up "snow-gear." Thanks, Angela, for lending us some of your left-overs. Something tells me we'll have to budget for some warmer clothes next winter.


But these kiddos sure enjoyed some time in the snow. Our biggest snow-lover was Bekah. She stayed out the whole time, mostly playing with Max.


They ate snow for the longest time, and would exclaim "EEW!" and do it again and again.




There were cute snow angels...


... and lots of snowballs.


Matt and Marc spearheaded the building of a snowman with the kiddos...


It turned out to be pretty cute. And Bekah soon discovered that he was edible, too!




Then all the boys joined their efforts to make a snow... creature. Here is the base...


It was taller than them all...


...very wide-mouthed,


and a little... disturbing. (Notice he even has a uvula... such attention to detail...)


They ended up giving him a beard, and Brinlee thought it was supposed to be AJ. No offense to AJ was meant, I'm sure.

Thanks, mom and dad, for a wonderful few days!

But time went by too fast, and we were on the road once again. A quick night's stop at Paul's family's house got us rested up and fully packed for our trip home.

Now we are left with renewed family bonds, wonderful memories, and some great presents as we start off a new year. We were so happy to spend at least a little bit of time with our parents and each of our brothers and sisters. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful families. We only wish the gap between you and California wasn't as big.

Thanks, everyone, for a great trip!

Ella's Christmas Laughter...

I forgot to include this video in my post about Christmas Day. Ella was so happy all day... but was happiest (as usual) when Michael came over to play with her.



Cute Ella.

lance touring once again...

you have probably heard that lance armstrong is returning to cycling. i found this video while searching lance news in the run up to the tour down under that starts jan 20th. watching it brought back the memories of watching him win stage after stage and tour after tour. i got choked up thinking of all the memories i made with amy and michael (michael's first month of life was spent lying on my chest while i awoke at 5-6 am every morning to watch the tour live on OLN (now versus).

but more stirring than my own memories is the idea of this cancer survivor that moved into remission and rode his bike more disciplined and with more determination than any person in world history. lance is a force. finding cures for the myriad types of cancer will take miraculous forces, but if any one person can make a dent in the cause...it's lance.

Our Merry Little Christmas...

Christmas 2008 was the first Christmas we have been in our home with our own family. Paul was scheduled to work the 6a to 4p (...more like 6p...) shift on Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day (and the 4 days preceeding Christmas)... so we had to get a little fancy with our scheduling to make sure we got in all our traditions and celebrations.

We did our Christmas Eve on two nights... the first night was devoted to Christ. We played out the Nativity and talked about Heavenly Father's gift to us. It was sweet and memorable.

Here is the cast:

Bekah as the Angel: Most remembered for her exclamation of "Mary! You're going to have a baby!" and her graceful flying motions.


Paul as a Wise Man: Most remembered for his deep wisdom and ability to control the mayhem.


Michael as another Angel: Most remembered for his whiteness and proclamations of glad tidings of great joy.


Abby as baby Jesus: Most remembered for her small, sweet babblings and insistence on being swaddled and carried everywhere for the remainder of the night.


Amy as Mary: Most remembered for being motherly.


Ella was the silent and sweet sleeping audience.

I loved having the night strictly devoted to celebrating the birth of Christ. We might consider keeping it on a separate night???

On Christmas Eve proper, we had our Christmas feast. Once again, Ella was sleeping already.

Here we are in front of the tree:

The kiddos got to open two presents: Pajamas and a book.

Bekah was so funny. She was meticulous about getting the tags off and opening her presents very carefully. We had to teach her about ripping presents open (so it wouldn't drag on and on the next morning...)

I love how much my kids love books.



On Christmas Eve, our kids were asleep before 8pm. We knew Paul would need to leave at 5:30 in the morning for work, but still wanted to have a good Christmas morning with him there. So our plan was to wake the kiddos a little after 4am to start our Christmas morning.

What parents wake their children on Christmas morning??

Here are the children all nestled, snug in their beds...



Ella was with the waking party...


Here's what they found when they came downstairs...




It was so fun! The time went by too quickly, and we tore through the presents and savored a bit of play time before daddy went to work.





The day was relaxed and fun, with a huge late morning nap for everyone.


And, of course, a huge package from Mary Ann.


We missed Paul during the day, but the playing was still going strong by the time he got home. There was still plenty of energy for a few air hockey games before we turned our attentions to packing for our trip to see our families. We did, after all, need to leave the next day.

All in all, a wonderful Christmas. Quiet and simple and wonderful. I loved the focus I was able to give my children. I loved the spirit of giving that was in our home. I loved feeling the effects of meaningful traditions as they were carried out in our own home. I love Christmas.

We missed being around family this year, but I will always remember Christmas 2008... our quiet, simple California Christmas... hopefully the earliest Christmas morning our family ever has to have!