What we've been up to lately...

So you deserve some updates and kiddo pictures. Here's a little of what we've been up to lately...

After Christmas we renewed our Disneyland passes! (!!!) Exciting for us, because we've really, really missed our spontaneous trips to Disneyland over the past few months. Mom Frandsen was here and went with us... which was a special treat.


The submarine ride has been converted into a Nemo adventure... which was our first stop...


Disney still had all the Christmas stuff up and running, which made for a truly magical time. Seriously... the Christmas atmosphere was everywhere. Small World was super fun, the castle was amazingly done up in white lights, and the fireworks were fantastic! We highly recommend seeing Disney for the holidays.


I'll never forget the end of the fireworks... after a great finale the air was suddenly filled with white "snow" as "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" played.


We didn't get a good picture, but it really was a sight. It was one of those moments for me as I sat back watching Paul, Michael, and Mom F frolic in the "snow," Bekah had conked out in the stroller and Abby was in my lap... all just seemed so peacefully right in life. Just one of those moments, you know?? What a fun day.

Since then, it has been back to the exciting routine of life! But here are a few "extras" that have made the days so fun...

To me, it seems that Michael, Abby, and Bekah have all grown up quite a bit over the last month. The girls are saying new words each day, communicating so much more. They love, love, love singing--especially Abby who seems to be humming or jabbering a song all day long. Her favorite is probably the ABCs right now...



Of course, there has been a lot of dancing...



Between Steven's gift to our of the Star Wars trilogy (to which Paul and Michael have been bonding...) and Mom F's "reward" Star Wars figures, there has been a lot of Jedi talk and play in our home. It all makes Paul feel like a great dad (which, of course, he is...).


There have been many spontaneous baseball games since Michael observed Lafe's baseball skills on the Wii...



And the couch cushions have been transformed into forts, star fighter jets, mountains and caves on an almost daily basis (there was a way cuter video that I couldn't get to download... oh, well.)...



Michael had a "Drive In Movie Night" at preschool where could make their own car to sit in during the movie.




Paul took him as a "boys night out" complete with Frosties afterward. They had a blast together... and check out the sweet ride!



We went bowling on Saturday. It was a fun night, and although we were not able to get a lane with bumpers, Michael used a ramp that made it fun and productive for him...



It took a whole 2 rounds before the girls were relegated to their stroller to observe instead of terrorize the bowling alley...


The weather has been a bit cold and really rainy (which means Californians basically shut down). But today we went to California Adventure, and enjoyed almost no lines and a really relaxed atmosphere!


We didn't even get rained on, but Paul did have an unfortunate mishap...


It happened first thing, and we have no idea how. But oh, we had a good laugh, and it was pretty necessary for Paul to get some new pants. After that, it was another fun and magical day...



So now that we are fully equipped with our Disney passes once again... do come visit, will you? It's a guaranteed magical time...

***********
this is paul shamelessly adding to amy's post. while i was waiting for her and michael to come out of soarin' over california i thought i saw peter and stephen. i took a picture of them to bring a bit of the nyc hipster sunshine to the blog.

girl power...

amy arrived home from christmas break to a surprise. i had created a new itunes playlist and i suspect it has caused her some disconcertion. not the music, per se, but that i had collected this particular group of songs into one location and was listening to them in my spare time.

you may be the judge. let me know what you think. are there songs in the genre that i've left off and are crying to be let in?

this is not the high-brow fare my brother offered a few weeks back, but i think this playlist adds a little funk to a very vanilla flavored life...

Happy New Year...

Sorry to all for our scrappy blogging presence... we've been working out some computer problems--Paul had to partition and reformat one of our hard drives... whatever...
Back to our documentation of the Christmas break.

A few days after Christmas, we said goodbye to Paul and I packed up the car again for a trip to Oregon with my family! It was so nice to caravan with Matt and Angela and their kiddos... the kids traveled wonderfully, and I loved talking to Angela during the trip. We braved some snowy weather and were glad to walk into warm, comfortable, and familiar surroundings.

There were several sad things about not having Paul along for this part of the trip. First of all, of course, is that we all missed him and his antics. Secondly, I was suddenly in over my head without his help and support. I sorely missed my husband and father to the kiddos! Thirdly,--and directly related to this here post--without Paul I was not as mindful (or just didn't have enough free hands) to get enough pictures. Paul really is the one who takes most of our pictures when we are on vacations. I wish, of course, I had taken more...

There were presents waiting under the tree for the kiddos when we arrived. We waited to have another "Christmas morning" the next day. It was so fun to have the kids together with their cousins. The girls got along so well with Max, and there were so many cute moments with them playing together...



Michael and Brinlee were back to their old, enjoyable games and antics. This time they took most readily to the piano and playing house/football players in the basement. This video shows them also enjoying uncle AJ as he sings along with them...



The girls really enjoyed the piano, too. Here they are one morning, bed-hair and all...



One of the biggest delights of this trip for me was spending time with Grandma Risenmay. I hadn't seen her since Grandpa's funeral last October, and really enjoyed our time together. I think my favorite time was playing Canasta with her and Angela and Farcles and Matt-hew... good times.

We did, of course, play lots of other games... not the least of which was the Great Dalmuti... a Risenmay staple.



Here is the Great Farcles laying down the laws of his newly-formed kingdom. He and AJ gave us the most "colorful" experiences as their subjects...

[Sorry... I haven't been able to get this video to work, but I'll try again later...]

Here is Matt succumbing to one of the ridiculous rulings by doing Jazz hands each time he had to pass...



Another great time was our New Years gift exchange. The biggest hit of the night was Angela's gifts to Marc. I'm sure the shocking ink pen will be used well, and here are the boys trying out his new game. It is a reaction game--you watch the red light blink in random patterns (as some incredibly annoying/suspenseful music plays)--then when it turns green, the last person to push their reaction button gets a SHOCK. Or something like that.



Not surprisingly, I didn't try it. And not surprisingly, it was a hit with my brothers.

In the rare moments I wasn't chasing/feeding/bedding, etc, etc, etc the kiddos, I enjoyed some good talks with my family. It had been so anxious to see all of them for quite a while, and I really enjoyed spending time with everyone again. I love having my kids around their grandparents, uncles, Aunt Angela, and cousins. I especially enjoy watching my brothers in their uncle-mode. They really are great with the kiddos. Here is Marc/Farcles with baby Will...



I was honored to make a New Years Cafe Rio feast... which is always so fun to do for my family because with all those growing boys, good food is appreciated soooooo much! Thanks for being so fun to cook for, guys! I also really enjoyed seeing my mom's shop that she opened up downtown. It is a lovely place, and she's done a cute job with it.

Thanks for a great holiday, you guys! We'll depend on Matt for more pictures and "interesting" videos...

happy mitt day...!

so, i definitely should have written about this days ago...but i was busy work and then at home with fever and chills. maybe i'll be more empathic at my next urgent care shift when i see over half of my 50 patients with fever and chills...? (oh, and our computer was down with me having wipe the hard-drive out and kiss brad maccasson's feet for having helped me partition my drive before moving to california)

coming back to the point. the mainstream media had coronated mccain and huckabigot for their two iowa and new hampshire, ignored the wyoming win for romney and insinuated that it was very likely that mccain would go on to win in michigan because he beat bush there in 2000. the first poll that came out after the new hampshire win showed mccain over romney by 8 percentage points (beyond the margin of error). the spin masters of msnbc and cnn work hard to have people believing that mitt was down and out.

well, he and the michigonians showed them otherwise. i don't think this win can be understated in importance for him. there was talk of his big backers (meg whitman of ebay among others) pulling out to have more sway over the eventual winner (read: beat huckabee whatever the cost).

is it irony that msnbc had a democratic debate the night of the michigan primary and equated that debate in importance with the michigan primary? is it a surprise that the media and all the republican candidates are chalking up romney's win not to his qualifications in voters minds, but to the simple fact that he lived there for a couple years and his father served as its governor?

regardless, romney has received the most votes of any (republican) candidate, has the most delegates of any candidate, and has won the most outright primaries of any candidate. all in all, it was a good tuesday in january for my boy mitt.

Christmas Day!!!

After a somewhat late Christmas Eve night, the kiddos slept in really well. As Christmas morning got later, Libby came up to see if they were awake and made us promise we would tell everyone when they were ready. Soon after, Michael woke up with excitement and full of wonder at what would be awaiting him downstairs.

I knew he would be excited... regardless of our minimalist, spending-freeze budget.

This is what he found...


He found these football player figures in a magazine early in November, and fell in love right away. With the suggestion of Christmas being around the corner, he talked about little else.

Until that one night we happened upon Santa Claus as we were wondering neighborhoods looking for Christmas lights. Santa asked him what he would like for Christmas. I was shocked when I heard him say "toy elves and pretend candy canes." I recalled scenes from a Christmas book we had recently read and smiled. He assured me that he made that request because he wasn't sitting on Santa's lap, and that when he sat on Santa's lap he was planning to ask for the football players. Luckily, Santa remembered both visits.

This is what Abby found...


This is what Bekah found...



The girls loved their new dollies...



Michael wasted no time in putting his football players to good use...



Bekah found Santa's leftovers...


Abby found lots of chocolate...



Aunts and uncles and grandparents were so cute about being patient while the kiddos (and their parents) savored the excitement of Christmas morning. Christmas morning with young kids really is magical. Stevie took lots of pictures....


After enjoying Santa's generosities, we gathered for a great Christmas breakfast, complete with Dad Frandsen's traditional gift of SUGAR CEREALS to all of us.


Then to the living room to enjoy the generosities of one another. Thanks for being so thoughtful of our family!!

The rest of the day was spent playing with the loot...




Their was always at least one stroller rolling around the floors.



Mom Frandsen learned how to play Guitar Hero.


Stevie took lots more pictures...


Dad Frandsen took Michael out again on the snowmobile...


Paul had to leave that evening. So we got him all packed and ready to go. The kids and I said a sad goodbye as we left to see "Enchanted" with the whole family. After the first 15 minutes of the movie, we were all pleasantly surprised to see Paul stroll into our isle and sit down to enjoy the movie with us. He got a last-minute response from a fellow resident who said she would cover his shift for him. Merry Christmas!!!

But the Christmas surprises weren't over. The next day as we were going about more festivities and preparing to see Great Grandma and Grandpa Frandsen, Paul got another call from another fellow resident wanting to switch is next day's shift... another day of vacation with the fam!!! What pleasant surprises!! So although Paul and I didn't get presents for each other this Christmas, we both feel like we were given so much.

It really was a wonderful Christmas. Thanks to everyone for being there!

Frandsen Christmas Traditions...

One of the things I love about the Frandsen family is its dedication to traditions. When I was telling Michael about our Christmas break and what we would be doing, I simply knew that:

On the 23rd, we would go to the extended Frandsen family party where there would be a talent show...


This year we even made our own contribution by singing "Christmas Star."


The NYHipsters corralling the girls before the infamous "great debate."


On Christmas Eve, people would be going to and fro doing the last-minute (procrastinated) shopping.

Dad Frandsen would plan a surprise activity... and there would surely be some caroling (or singing... whatever you want to call it). I'm sad we don't have some kind of recording of the service "singing" we did for our activity. Visiting widows and widowers--especially the widower who had lost his beloved wife that very morning--touched my heart and will always be a tender Christmas memory for me. And music is such a unique and personal gift when given from the heart.

Mom Frandsen would create a wonderful atmosphere and clam chowder dinner. Mmmm... love that stuff...
The girls occupied themselves in the following ways while preparations were wrapping up...

Abby was attached to this snowball for a good 20 minutes... red fingers and all.


Bekah and Abby loved the dog Hobbes. Here they are caught in the middle of one of their many attempts to climb the gate to his "room." Many attempts were successful...


This blur is Abby jumping off the coffee table into the arms of a loving uncle. The scene was replayed countless times as both Abby and Bekah charmed their way into having people catch them each time (uh, almost each time...) they jumped.


After a delicious dinner, we would gather in the living room to open two presents...

Who would have guessed they would be a book...


... and pajamas?? The "Club Frandsen" shirts were such a cute idea. A shout-out to the latest member: The Deej. (Although I guess Bruiser made the shirt as well! I was just relieved Hobbes didn't occupy one of the precious spots...)


We needed a picture, of course.


Then we would recreate the nativity story, trying not to be too irreverent.


Paul and I were sheep with the girls.

DJ was such a cute angel with Michael.


The astonished couple. (Perhaps this is how their faces looked when they found out they were accepted to the U of Utah's School of Medicine! Congrats again!)


And of course, we needed another picture.


We constructed a snack for Santa and hung the stockings with care...


Then off to bed for kiddos.


It is so fun to create memories together. What a fun Christmas Eve.

We'll Begin With... The Las Vegas Bowl!!!

So the kiddos and I arrived safely last night with Mom Frandsen helping us travelers to survive the long drive without Paul. And survive we did... the kids have been great travelers through all our driving these past weeks. The only scary part about our trip home was the torrential downpour we hit coming into California--the worst rain/wind/fog combination I've ever seen (and I grew up experiencing a LOT of rain...). We were glad to be home safe.

So anyway... there is lots to post, share, and remember with all of you. I think I'll do it slowly instead of trying to tackle it all at once. So first up... THE LAS VEGAS BOWL!!!



Paul has been planning on his Cougars going to this bowl game all season long... until the end when there was a glimmer of hope at the possibility of a BCS bowl (I wasn't holding my breath...). So were the rest of the Frandsen men, as well as my Risenmay crew. We were happy that so many of us got to be there together.

So we drove to Spanish Fork on Thursday night and had a few adventures on Friday before we left for Vegas...

Michael was soooooo excited at the first sight of snow on our drive, and talked about it all the way until we got to Spanish Fork. He was out in it that night (no coat, bare feet, and all) and couldn't wait to get out in it the next day.



He got to go snowmobiling with his daddy and beloved Uncle Lafe on the old snowmobile Grandpappy fixed up just for the occasion (thanks again!)...



And the girls flooded Grandpatty and Grandpappy's bathroom floor with a good 1/4 inch of water (I think the floorboards in the closet have recovered???)...



First of all I must say thanks to Mom Frandsen for watching the kiddos so that we could go down w/o the elaborate planning it would take to bring kids to such an adventure. But she did have a few adventures of her own.

Paul and I went down with Jonny and Mel on Friday night and stayed at the famed Golden Nugget. We wandered around the strip for a while before the pregnant girls turned in, leaving Paul and Jonny to their own devices. Let's just say our breakfasts were two-for-one because of their genius use of the vouchers the hotel provided.

The next morning we got to sleep in (!!!), enjoy breakfast with Jonny and Mel, and then make use of the much-awaited (and never-to-be-the-same) shark reef pool/slide. I won't pretend to know all of what happened once my brothers got there, but here is a video showing the layout of the place...



Jonny and Paul enjoying a relaxing dip, and the calm before the storm (by storm I mean, of course, my brothers)...


Be very glad I left at this point and wasn't there to get pictures/video. But perhaps the Nugget security cams can provide some for you...

Then off to grab some M&Ms and squeeze 5 people into the backseat of a Malibu on the way to our VIP tailgate party.







We enjoyed(?) some brats and ale (ginger, that is...), good company, and the menfolk threw around the pigskin...





The game was cold and but enjoyable.


We enjoyed some Frandsen time, then scandalously sneaked down to some closer seats with my brothers. All that really matters is that the last field goal attempt was blocked, and the Cougars came out on top, causing a mad rush from dedicated fans... of which we were a part.



I am proud to say I told (screamed) Max Hall "Good Job" while personally assaulting his shoulder pads. We were right up close to the podium to see the awards ceremony. I must say I was touched to see the emotion on Bronco's face. What a guy. What a game. What a great day. See here for the Risenmay Recap.

The roads were snowy on the way home, but home we went with enough time to get a *few* hours before church the next day. The house was still standing, and the girls only flooded the bathroom another two times!

Stay tuned for more holiday happenings...