oh the weather outside is frightful...

maybe i'm just nostalgic as i sit here alone at home listening to music i just legally downloaded from russia...but stevie stole my heart with these black and white photos he took of family.










michael's emotion below mirrors what i felt being with all the frandsen's for the first time in a year or so...


the nyc hipsters were out in force and my abby and bekah enjoyed their company...i will miss stevie.


thank you peter for moderation of our 'lively' political rants...


michael continues to enjoy the company of his cousins as we speak...



abby swung the water spout over the tiles and turned on the faucet thinking she could be the sorcerer's apprentice...


thanks to grandpappy, michael was able to get his taste for snowmobiling on the same snowmobile the elves brought that beautiful christmas years ago...


thanks to grandpappy for making it happen this and all the years in between...















ahhh, the golden butt nugget...these are the tame photos before the rascals arrived to crash the party...


yes, that slide goes through a shark tank...pure sweetness only to be found in vegas. rumor has it that there is potential for a gasket to blow on the slide if used inappropriately. my first time through the slide caused a slight panic as i headed into this dark shark abyss...



christmas vacation has been non-stop family goodness...i will accost your senses with a barrage of photos and let you bask in the goodness of these great days.

i guess this post will continue to evolve as i find more things to say.

Our First Earthquake...

So before we moved to California, one question I asked of some of the spouses of residents was whether they had experienced an earthquake. Some said... "Well, I think I've felt a couple, but I'm not sure." Some said they definitely had. So I've been anticipating my own earthquake experience. Might sound weird, but I have to say I have been a little disappointed that we haven't felt one yet. Morbid, huh? So you might think I am a little weird for being pretty excited to feel one last night!



See that big blue square?? It happened just after 4am this morning... and surprisingly enough... Paul and I were both up for it! I had crashed after getting the kiddos to bed, slept until about midnight, then got up for a few hours to get things done and wait up for Paul to get home from work.

I had just checked on the kiddos and we were just settling down to sleep when things began to shake and clatter. It only lasted about... 10 seconds?? And I was almost giddy! Looks like it measured to be a magnitude 4 earthquake... and I can check "earthquake" off of my list of California experiences to be had.

Now I just need to see a movie star...

Christmas preparations...

Christmastime has been so fun this year. Michael is really into it, and there are so many fun things to do with the kiddos. So I'm going to throw up some pictures here... I'm just tired of looking at cheesy political cartoons...

Girls in front of the Christmas tree...

Some Christmas window shopping...


Michael decided he would have pretend races in the grassy square, Bekah climbed everything, and Abby decided she would try jumping. It was a simple, fun night.



We made snowmen brownies to take to Michael's Christmas party. He ended up being pretty proud of his creations.


And his preschool Christmas program was on Saturday.


Each class prepared a song, and Michael had been singing it around the house all week. I had it in my mind a certain way, and was kind of surprised to hear it all jazzed up with barnyard sounds in the actual performance! I guess I'm just used to hearing the primary-style songs. (sorry the video is so shaky...)



All we need is a little snow to make it really feel like Christmastime... and I think we might just need to do a little traveling for that one!

We leave for Utah for our Christmas vacation Thursday morning at 2am, as soon as Paul is home from work (or such is the plan...). Paul actually has 5 days of... in a row... and will be able to stay with us until Christmas night (25th). He'll be traveling home by himself to start work again the day after Christmas, and I'll be staying until the first week of the New Year.

Setting everything in order to leave for so long takes some planning and extra time. Except my extra time has been EATEN ALIVE this week, as the girls have both learned to climb out of their cribs. (Notice how Bekah has unloaded the contents of the shelves into Abby's bed.)



First it was just Bekah, but Abby learns fast! YIKES... this changes my life way too much... and so much of my "working" time has been taken up by their sleeping shenanigans! Today, I finally invested in a knob-cover for the inside of their door, emptied the room of everything but their beds, gutted the drawers, and jammed the closet door. A boring room without an exit induces sleep, right??

I heard them playing for a while, then they cried for a bit, but when the noise subsided they were each in their own beds and asleep at last. Aaaahhh... in a few days we get to take this show on the road and see how they do on vacation... oh, boy!

Grandmas and Grandpas... are you sure you are ready for us to come visit???

Better get back to those Christmas preparations... you'll all be lucky to get our Christmas card this year.

huckabee, nausea and christmas...

*****it's been fun to see italy show up in recent visitors--hi stevie*****


mike huckabee's jab at mormon's will have a net negative affect on his campaign. his remark was puerile and points to dis ingenuousness. having spoken a rally to save mormons in 1998 in SLC where anti-mormon literature was tracted to homes in the area, huckabee is either lying about his 'innocent' question to the new york times reporter ("don't mormon's believe jesus and satan are brothers"), or he is stupid and doesn't pay attention to his surroundings. both qualities would be concerning in a president. he won't go farther than iowa, and i think he collapses in iowa within two weeks--this gaffe pushes him closer to that end. (the article can be found here...the question comes at the top of page 2.)

if romney wins the primary, he will beat hillary clinton (have i mentioned that before..?) and everyone saw that national review's editors have endorsed our mormon friend?

why does john edward's fake southern accent make me nauseated..?

the democratic debate came off as a lot of reactionary politics with the main emphasis on drawing distinctions with president bush, a lot of cliche and little that was inspirational.

other thoughts...

amy and i recently embarked on a 21 month-long spending freeze. it has cost more than we thought it would to live in californa in relation to our salary. it has been painful at times, but overall a good experience. both of us have had instances where we walk through a store and see an item that we would previously have purchased because we 'needed' it or because we 'could afford it'. during the last few holidays i have been struck by the commercial nature of our existence. america's add agencies are so good at convincing us that a good christmas is an expensive one.

this isn't to say that i don't enjoy an excuse to spend money on sweet stuff as much as the next guy. it is to say that i've enjoyed just saying no and feeling better for it afterwards.

also, thrift and financial prudence are not valid reasons for the not making a holiday a special time. maybe the inability to use money to make the event special allow for a deeper spirit of cheer to be found if one puts in the time...

christmas cheer...

after that last thread you would think we didn't know how to get into the christmas spirit around here. here is evidence to the contrary...



other highlights this month included picking out our tree in the 'rugged' tree lot next to target...



michael felt he needed to place the star on the christmas tree with as little help as possible (he is standing on a table and two stacked stools...)



michael's first love knows no bounds as joseph dons his helmut...



a great addition to our holiday celebration has been michael's decision to wear this hat nearly everywhere (ward party, joyschool, shopping etc). he is an unabashed santa fan and he politely thanks anyone who compliments him on his christmas hat while beaming beneath it...

nice work this morning mitt...

not to turn this into some political 'go romney' blog, but mitt's talk was well delivered this morning. i was thinking it would happen later in the day with the ability to listen to all or part of it live, but it didn't.

the audio and an npr critique can be found here.

it was nice to be moved by what he had to say in several spots. i agree with his assessment of secular 'religion' and the need to allow all faiths to express themselves in the public arena.

judging from vehement expressions of hate towards mormon's beliefs that i have seen on blogs across the internet, i can see why mitt would choose not to step into that pile of uneducated and uninformed discourse. he clearly stated that his decisions would be his own.

did anyone else hear or see the speech? any thoughts?

Friday's Rainfall...

Please continue on with the important political discussion... in the meantime there are fun things happening with the kiddos I've been wanting to post.

For now, I'll just post these pictures from Friday, when it rained and rained and rained... all day long.


I remember one night after we had lived in California for a good 4 months. Paul and I were sitting in our living room and I said, "What's that sound?" We couldn't figure it out for a while... "It kind of sounds like rain..." We looked outside and saw... rain! Go figure. I can count on my fingers the number of times it has rained since we moved here 1.5 years ago. So to have it simply pour rain all day long was quite a novelty.



So when the girls went down for their naps, Michael and I got our gear on to go puddle jumping. Lots of fun!



We're just not used to having anything but sunny skies! It helped turn an otherwise dreary day into an adventure.



Except, one does have to remember the danger of teaching such novel joys to a four-year-old. I had to steer him away from many a muddle puddle at the Christmas Parade the next night (pictures to come...).

So while many of you are having winter snow adventures, we were just glad for some kind of "weather." Save some snow for us, Utah... we're coming soon, and Michael has sweet memories of snowboarding and snowmen in the backyard bowl!

mitt's missteps...

i'm sure you all watched the republican you-tube debate on cnn. it was enlightening for me in several uncomfortable ways. i am still fiscally in favor of republican ideals of limiting beauracratic waste, but they are wrong on key issues.

the biggest disappointment of the night was mitt romney. his waffling and weak answers on torture and national security were unfortunate. his silly pandering to republicans about immigration is sad to see.

the star of this debate for me was john mccain. i have always liked the way he is willing to go against the republican party when he thinks it's the right thing to do. if the republicans nominate guliani or huckabee i'm not sure what i would do.

the two issues that continue to rise to the forefront for me are international policy plans, health care policy and fiscal responsibility...

oh, and ron paul came off unfortunately shrill and out-of-touch...not that some his thoughts aren't intriguing.

hunter was far too much a good 'ole boy up there as he waxed red-neck about his guns.

tancredo is a nut-job...

and fred thompson is a joke.

Number Four...

So I think our big news deserves its own post...


We're expecting our fourth baby! We are about 10 weeks into this now, and our due date is June 23rd. And yes, Dad Risenmay, we meant to...

I have to document our little "scare." Not that it wouldn't have been great... but I was convinced we were having twins again. I've already popped out a bit, and have felt a lot more tired/nauseated than ever before. After feeling my stomach, Paul thought I was feeling a little big too. But my OB took an ultrasound just to be sure... and there is only one heartbeat there. (I'm pretty upset that I can't find the ultrasound to scan right now...) Like I said... not that it wouldn't have been great, but we were trying to figure out how in the world it would work if we had twins again!

But for now, we are just hoping that the age of 2 1/2 will find Abby and Bekah more independent and willing to have a baby around. Michael knows the baby will come right before he turns five, and has been the spreader of good news to many family and friends! He pipes right up to say, "Well, did you know my mom's pregnant?!?" When asked if he thinks it is a boy or a girl, he proclaims that "If it is a boy, he will be like me, and if it is a girl, she will be sweet like mom." It's enough to make this pregnant lady tear up! I know he will be a welcoming brother.

So ready or not... number four, here we come! I'm just glad we a few more months to prepare!

Our Thanksgiving Visitors...

The house is too quiet, Bekah keeps saying "maaa-ma," Michael is playing football with extra toothbrushes left behind, and we are missing our Thanksgiving visitors: (in order of appearance) Lafe, Hannah, Grandpatty, El Steve-o, Grandpappy, and a guest appearance from Di.

Some of my favorite moments: watching the kiddos play with their uncles and aunt and grandparents, cooking with mom Frandsen, Pit, sharing a sweet BYU victory, our first Thanksgiving turkey and a wonderful Thanksgiving feast, the Bee movie, watching Stevie suffer through Hairspray, seeing Abby completely enjoy our company, and sharing big news over breakfast feasts.

Our pictures from the week are quite disappointing (as usual... why can't I just remember to take more pictures??!!?? Argh...). But all two of them and a video capture other favorite moments.

Stephen's gourmet stuffed French toast (still making my mouth water...).



Dad Frandsen's fix-it endurance. He switched the handles/hinges from one side to the other so I can have the dishwasher and fridge open at the same time in our narrow little kitchen. Thanks again... here are the boys--all smiles!



Big River Jiggin'. Michael was so excited to share Big River songs... he had planned which dances to do to which songs. In the process of sharing his skills, he learned a few from the masters...




Thank you, Thanksgiving visitors, for making the trip and enjoying some kick-back time with us. A special thanks to mom and dad Frandsen for all the help/cooking/cleaning/grocery runs and all around fun times. We missed those who were in other places eating other meals with other family... soon we will get to see all of our immediate family during the Christmas break. More fun times to look forward to... and hopefully I'll take more pictures!