HAPPY BIRTHDAY... Part II

After the song was sung and the Dadda and brother Michael helped blow out the candles, the sisters experienced the first taste of birthday cake. (To get the video to play, click the "Google video" button on the lower right side, then the "go to google video" button that comes up.)



Abby busily worked on creating a large hole in the middle of her cake...




... while Bekah was mostly content to smear and taste the frosting....



...and then she took a taste of Abby's.



The "after" shot (with pieces cut out for Michael):



They both decided they like birthday cake... and so did Michael.



Presents were fun, too!



Here's to the beginning of a new year of life! You know, almost everyone who has given me advice about mothering twins has said: "Just work on surviving the first year." Now what???

February 6th

One year ago they shared a womb that morning...



and a bassinet that night.



Two beautiful, healthy babies.



Now they share food...



playtime...



bathtime...



and so much more.

Happy Birthday to Abby and Bekah! Stay tuned for pictures from the actual birthday celebration--to be had on Paul's upcoming post-call day.

life changes...

i've been thinking lately about change. people go through awful and wonderful things everyday and often these events cause change. others only change incrementally for years, even decades of their lives. our lives are a sea of interactions and we drift and bump about in that sea--drawing closer and further from those around us. this drifting can be pleasant, nauseating, dull, exhilirating and gut wrenching. i feel the voyage is worth it. change happens and is the stuff life is made of.

Michael: Our Protector...

For our Family Home Evening on Monday night, we talked to Michael about what it means to be a protector (mainly as a bit of an intervention for his "play" tactics with the sisters). We talked about firefighters, police officers, and how Jesus protected and healed people. That was all cool and everything... but the point has been driven home this week in the form of SUPERHEROES--mainly Superman.



Some of you may have seen the cape he got for Christmas: Superman on one side and Batman on the other. It has kind of been in the corner until Paul and I rented "Superman Returns" this week. Paul decided to show Michael some of the scenes where Superman saves people: from falling cars, planes, and a huge globe; from sinking ships, explosions, and huge pieces of alien rock. Michael LOVED it, and recovered his cape from the corner of the playroom right away. Now he can be found flying from room to room, humming the Superman theme song in perfect time. And you guessed it... he prefers to be called by his super name: Superman.



No feat is too small for this superhero. He proclaims his identity as a protector as he keeps Abby from unrolling the toilet paper, blocks Bekah from crawling outside, and rescues toys and papers from the mouths of the babies. He wears his cape to the park, to Costco, to the grocery store... and we're going to have to let him down easy about it NOT coming to church.



His favorite thing is playing Superman with daddy, because Paul holds him in the flying position and takes him soaring from room to room and goes "super fast!" He flies past all the obstacles... past the lamps, over the couches, and around the table--all the while singing the Superman theme song.



The Superman phase seems to be a rite of passage for all little boys... it is just fun to see it happening to Michael.

What about you? Did you have a Superman phase? Supergirl? Whom did you idolize? Spiderman, Batman, the Spice Girls? I remember AJ's 10-year Batman fanaticism (did it ever really end??)... those were good times.

The Primary Prayer...

I know you all thought several times to yourself today... "I wonder how Michael did with his first primary prayer?" Well, here is a mother's report:

The anticipation was at its peak this morning as he dressed in his shirt and tie. We reminded him that today was the big day, and his eyes lit up. "And I will say it loud and clear so everyone can hear."

We had practiced each night, and he had thought of very good things to pray about at primary: gratitude for his teachers, friends, and for Jesus. Blessings for the teachers, and their singing time. He knew he didn't need any help, and that he would be a big primary kid and do it all by himself.

We walked into the primary room and he went to his seat with the rest of his class... but his teacher helped him find the special "PRAYER" seat in the front of the room. He sat in solemnity, and checked the letters on the seat several times to make sure they still said "PRAYER." Paul and I sat with anticipation in the back of the room as they sang the opening song.

After the song, his teacher alerted him that it was time for him to pray. He snapped his head to the podium, then edged off the PRAYER seat, and disappeared behind the podium until his little feet found the step-stool.

His eyes formed into half-squints and he resolutely folded his arms. The room was silent, and he began: “Dear Heavenly Father.” He began to be grateful, then paused for a few seconds. Just then, a presidency member jumped to the podium to help, and the remainder of Michael’s prayer was a soft-spoken repetition of the whisperings in his ear.

I’m not quite sure what she had him say, but I know it was a lot longer that what Michael had practiced—and talked a lot about “Primary…”

I’m only sad that Michael’s thoughtful plans were not put to use as we all intended. Those few seconds of hesitation must have been seen as a “freeze” that needed rescuing. But I am sure his practiced words would have followed with a little more time. Perhaps we should have let them know he was prepared to say it by himself?

All in all, it was a good experience for Michael. He told us later… “Yeah, and I said it loud and clear so everyone could hear… and it was a really long one.”

That’s what we get for encouraging a recited prayer.

how do we spend our time...?

with all of the football madness enveloping our home over the last several months it has been nice to see michael widen his 'fields' of interest. his favorite thing to do in the evenings now is 'play primary'. he was in the moonbeam class for the final 6 months of last year and when he left church on december 31st he said, "i get to go to primary next year!"

we are grateful to primary. our evenings have transitioned from a play by play of the tcu game to a play by play of sharing time. michael will be giving the opening prayer on sunday at the podium (the same podium where he invited john beck to speak a few months back). so along with practicing his opening prayer, we having been practicing 'saying the gospel' and reciting his memorized scripture.

here is a sample below:



also involved in playing primary is singing time. his primary has cards on a board in the front of the class from which primary members choose a song. michael was enthralled with this and after not being invited to choose a song in primary, he has asked every night to choose a pretend card. we have been singing the articles of faith, treetops, snowman, popcorn etc... michael's favorite right now is scripture power.

speaking of scripture power, this week marked a milestone as we went to the local lds book store and purchased his first scripture case (his two best friends got them for christmas). he calls it his book of mormon case.

lastly is the activity. some weeks we have been out of the house for activity, but this week we played songs from michael's christmas book, 'mike and the bike'. the book has a bunch of songs in the addition to the narration by phil ligget. michael loves it.

here is a sample:



and while the sisters are usually in bed when we play primary in the evenings, they were certainly dressed for the occasion on sunday:


so how do you spend your time? what does it say about your loves, your personality and what you value? we have probably spent too much time on football the last few months (mostly just byu football) and this post is partly to assure my mother that her grandson will be well rounded (ie. amy and michael listen to classical music and michael and i listen to jet).

and while we certainly make our own decisions about how to spend our time. many of you have shaped how we live. stevie keeps us ahead of the culture curve. matt and angela have been brave enough to let there kids be around ours. jonny and melinda keep us inspired with their hard work. petey informs our movie sense (no we didn't see it). jill and steven are the proud parents of michael's only 'utah cousins'. lafey is perpetually playing basketball. dad sends us his weekly letter and while not linkable, it is the framework for my family's interactions as we are spread out across the country. amy's family inspires as well and life would certainly not be good without them.

and if i left you out of the 'people who influence our time' paragraph, it's not because you don't, but that you don't have blog to which i can link--so why not start one?

jack attack...

Following the tradition of seasons past, it is time for this years '24' predictions (on fox, monday nights)...

1. Jack will mess up only once more in the field (ie. dropping an interrogation because 'he could tell' the guy wasn't going to talk?).

2. Chloe will die tonight (if she does, i may stop watching).

3. Tom Lennox is colluding with Abu Fayed to secure oil riches in the middle east (it is too walt cumminsesque, but it will happen again).

4. No one but Amy and I will attend our 24 parties. All are invited.

5. Jack will not use teeth to pierce any more arteries this season.

6. Audrey, while I like her, will flake out again. Poor Jack.

7. Kim should not be allowed on the set.

8. More Americans will die in this episode than ever before.

9. This season will not last beyond 6 am.

10. Jack will not die this season.

11. Samwise Gamgee is unfortunately dead. But if you want to see vintage samwise then watch '50 first dates' again...

12. Jack will meet Audrey again in episode 6 at 11:23 pm.

13. '24' will be the show to finally knock 'american idol' out of the number 1 spot (if only for one week).

14. Fox will dedicate each episode to different servicemen?

15. Stevie and Petey will see every season 6 episode before I do.

16. Sean Hannity will be in one of the background news casts.

17. Nadia Yassir is complicit. Chloe will take her position before the season is over (if she is not killed tonight--see #2).

Well, that about does it. I'll add more when I think of them. What are your predictions? Are you watching as the season goes along? WARNING: The comments in this thread will give away plot points for the first 4 episodes.

California SNOW!!!!

This post is by Amy...

This morning found us celebrating winter with our very own snowstorm!!!



Michael was SO excited... "It snowed, like at Lafey's house!" "Let's make a snowman!" He wanted to get jackets on and throw snowballs at each other's jackets... "right away!" So we bundled up in flip-flops and fleeces for the occasion.



He wasn't even disappointed when the slush we rummaged for was only enough to make one handfull of really cold water. So who says it doesn't snow here? Hasn't this snowy cold weather been just awful, though? I mean, it's been so cold for so long I can hardly stand it!! (tee-hee)

Everyone also needed to see the darling University of Kentucky Mary Ann (the Kentucky grandma!) sent for the girls. I figured this freezing weather warranted fitting fleecy attire for them.



Keep warm, everyone! It's a cold one out there! I think I'll wear socks today.

down in the doldrums...

we haven't posted any pictures of when my family was here because we were set at camera ease with gabrielle and stevie snapping all those photos. in short, we forgot to take any pictures.

we are sadly coming to grips with life without our families here. nothing can express better how we feel than amy's expression below. this was taken on our trip to california adventure with an abby who probably got a bit sicker because we pushed a bit too hard in the hot hot sun.



we thought of libby (and the deej) as we watched the high school musical cast members do their thing...

we thought of stevie as we watched jared zabransky pull off the statue of liberty on the last play of overtime against oklahoma...

we thought of lafey as a boy heelied his way into disneyland next to us...

we thought of hannah as our phone doesn't text anymore because the three and the seven don't work...

we thought of jonny (and mewinda) as michael was sounding out words and he read J.O.N. as 'jonny'...

we thought of grandpatty as we had the last of the french toast sauce on our sweet, sweet grandma sycamore's bread...

we thought of grandpappy as i continue to live as a resident in california (namely night shifts all this week)...

we think of you often and hope all pull out of the new year doldrums without consequence...!

michael's utah players...

the spoon is the football..?