Sam and Carmin

Storytime and Ukeleles

2012-01-23T17:51:00.000-09:00

One of the best indoor winter activities for preschoolers in this town is storytime at the library. Books, songs, rhythms, clapping, and stomping--it really is tops in David's book.

The story time got even more exciting when the lady in charge changed to a younger gal who also happens to play the ukelele. And she brings shaker eggs for even more audience participation.

This boy is all smiles when we go to the library!

Speaking of ukeleles--we have some great Elders serving in our ward. We have the assistants to the president, which means two things--they may or may not have a predictable enough schedule to know for sure if they're coming to dinner when you sign up to feed them and they are always fantastic missionaries. We have really enjoyed having the last several sets of missionaries in our ward and in our home.

You can only imagine how quickly Elders Yang and Calk became David's favorites when they introduced him to the ukelele--and let him strum it! Wow, this kid was in pure musical bliss.

When He Wakes Up

2012-01-23T17:34:00.000-09:00

Recently David has had a very vivid imagination. It's wonderful!

He's been waking up from his naps with his dreams still on his mind, and he'll walk downstairs telling me about them. It's as if his imagination picks up where his dreams left off. It has been very entertaining to get a glimpse of what this little boy dreams about.

On this particular day, he must have been dreaming about

Winnie the Pooh figures. He woke up saying,

Look Mom! I'm jumping like Tigger!

And he proceeded to jump as high as he could for the next 15 minutes or so.

It was standard post-nap fare: bed head, a missing sock, and a boy that carries his dreams into real life.

Happy 6 Years

2011-12-31T17:18:00.000-09:00

While I'm not crazy about this picture, I'm still crazy about him.

Happy Anniversary, honey!

Snow Day

2011-12-30T15:11:00.000-09:00

The day after Christmas, we had to give David's new sled a try.

So we grabbed some friends and went to our neighborhood school playground with the perfectly sized hill.

Initially we were pulling David back up the hill with the "baby sled" we used last year for him. It didn't take long for that to get old, so we wanted to see if he could hike up the hill by himself.

Success!! It was more fun for him to climb the hill, and easier on us--so that was nice.

Sledding with a child that knows how to climb the hill by himself is a completely different experience than having to do that work yourself.

David loved the speed of his new sled.

And it was super fun for his friend to join him on the sled. Jonathan didn't like to do the big sled by himself, but he was more than willing to go down as a pair.

Sam introduced David to snow angels.

Which is one of the best parts of having powdery snow.

David really really really likes to lick snow. It grosses me out, but he won't believe me when I tell him it's yucky or germy or any other adjective I can hope to discourage the behavior. I guess if it's freshly fallen snow, it can't be too bad, right?

Being with friends probably kept us out having fun for a longer period than if we had been just by ourselves. The temperature was 10 degrees when we got out of the car, and we didn't get back in for a full hour!

When we arrived home, I introduced David to the magic of warming up to nice, warm, cocoa with marshmallows on top.

It was a wonderful snowy day!

Piano Man

2011-12-29T23:06:00.000-09:00

We paused for revelry and the reverence of the season. The celebration and the sublime. Christmas this year was so rewarding, with such dear memories and traditions. Key to our season was the fact that 90% of the shopping was done before December 1. I've highlighted some of our activities throughout the month--add to that reading Christmas stories at bedtime, driving around town to find the lighted houses, Christmas crafts during the day with David and Mommy, making and delivering lots of cookies, singing carols as we drove around town (since the Christmas radio station didn't play a single carol I recognized--what is a carol if it isn't traditional?).

And this was another key part of our holiday celebration:

A real, live piano. An upright baby grand piano.

Our dear friend insisted that it had served its purpose in her now empty-nest home. And it was time for the piano to bring music and joy to a family in a new home. Even if I don't know how to fully thank Karen for it, I at least know that we can properly cherish it.

It gave us a place to gather and sing all the holiday tunes, just the three of us.

And it gave David a chance to perform for his imaginary audience. He sang made-up songs at the top of his lungs while he appropriately played the keys.

Our rule for the piano is that only clean fingers get to touch it.

For the most part, David respects this rule very well. He knows that the piano is a privilege.

It's fun to have the piano in our home where David can finally get his fill. He and I go to about half a dozen homes each week as I teach piano lessons. He loves the piano--and now he can play one whenever he pleases, as long as he respects it. I've always mentioned that David has an ear for music. He can match his voice to the piano's pitch as he plays around with the notes. And one day he climbed an eight-note scale, then went back down perfectly. I was trying to convince myself that it was on accident, but he immediately repeated it for me. He knows the sound of a scale because he hears my students warm up with their scales at every lesson I teach.

Play me a song, buddy!
You're the piano man.

On Christmas Day in the Morning

2011-12-28T10:38:00.000-09:00

The tree and breakfast. I'm still working on finding just the right protein to prepare for Christmas breakfast as well--I'll find it one of these years. Maybe this year I should try different recipes throughout the year so I can feel like I'm presenting the best one on Christmas morning. I think every year I chicken out of trying out a new recipe at the last minute.

Before David noticed anything else, he noticed the sled. He clearly doesn't remember last Christmas, because after he sat in the sled, we had to show him his stocking then reassure him it was okay to unwrap gifts under the tree.

Once he got the hang of it, there was no stopping him.

I don't think we'll have to reintroduce him to the idea of Christmas morning next year.

And I think he'll be a lot more curious about the gifts under the tree. This year he completely ignored the gifts, and spent the season rearranging the ornaments on the tree.

Tucked into his new Woody and Buzz pajamas, David still wants to hang on to his new sunglasses.

Merry Christmas!

Candy Land

2011-12-28T10:15:00.000-09:00

In the lineup of festivities, we took an evening to make candy trains. Keith and Cathie and their kids were such a fun addition to our evening. It's fun to join forces with friends in carrying out traditions, since family feels far away at this time of year, especially.

We came home just a few minutes before our friends were expected to show up, and David truly thought he had died and gone to heaven. All of this candy, in his house, and within his reach was almost more than he could handle. I strategically planned my day so I laid out the loot while David was napping, then when he woke up we left right away to run other errands before we picked up Daddy from work. So the shock of walking in to this table of sweets was absolutely exhilerating. He was bouncing off the walls. I told him we had to wait for our friends to come before we could eat the candy.

We heard them pull up in our driveway, and were greeting them at the door while they took off boots and coats. I don't think the parents had even made it up to the house yet, when I turned around and found David with a plate, sitting at the table, piled high with candy. It was arranged like he completely intended to eat an entire plate of candy, as if it was being served for dinner. Oh, David. You work so hard to be obedient--you didn't touch the table at all until our friends came, just like I asked. And once they came, it was most definitely a free-for-all on the sugar.

Here is the loot. I started with Halloween clearance candy, and slowly built a supply of candy specifically for candy trains. I had no idea how much I had stockpiled until I laid it out, and it filled the whole table. This was what was left after everyone had a plate full and cups full of the sugar, already working on their trains.

Emi is an especially good artist--so I was excited to watch these creations happen. I learned that everyone--even the small hands--like to have their own bag of icing, and it helps if you don't fill it more than about 1/2 cup at a time. Making royal icing has become a cinch for me since taking cake decorating classes a few years ago. My secret? Use powder egg whites.

Good times, sugar high. What else can we ask for?

And the final product--of the one that got any of the candy glued down before it was eaten. The other attempt stayed just as you see it above--2 red track lines without anything else.

All I can say is that I love traditions! They really help the holiday spirit of joy and love permeate the season.

Coal

2011-12-26T10:23:00.000-09:00

Let's just say that on this particular day, we had had a day. David dumped out 3 bottles of shampoo during his bath, and during mine he found the circuit breaker box, a laundry basket to reach it, and flipped more than half of the switches before my lights went out in the bathroom. (The instant the lights went off, I knew exactly what caused it. It was one of those intuitive mother moments. I tried playing out other scenarios in my mind, like power failure due to high winds. But I instinctively knew that it was David's curiosity that left me in the soapy dark.)

Then he decided to do a few things he learned from reading the children's books by David Shannon--like empty a whole roll of TP, empty all of his drawers, climb to the highest point in the kitchen to look for cookies, etc. (These books are about a little boy that gets in a lot of trouble. I thought they would be good conversation pieces for my son, so he could see someone else getting in trouble, and he could be the one to remind the little boy to make good choices. It totally backfired. The books just gave him more ideas. It probably doesn't help that the little boy's name in the book was David.)

Being just a few days before Christmas, I started thinking about the song "I'm getting nothing for Christmas." NOT because David is so awfully naughty, but just because I began to wonder if the mother of a very curious and somewhat mischievous boy wasn't the one to write the lyrics.

I also start wondering if we shouldn't have emphasized the whole thing with Santa "who sees you when you're sleeping" a little more. And that whole thing about naughty and nice, presents versus coal.

Then the doorbell rang. It was our postal carrier. He had a delivery of seven huge, heavy boxes for us. I was caught off guard, because I wasn't expecting any more shipments--we had received Christmas boxes from both sides of the family, and I couldn't imagine what this delivery was all about. But being around Christmas, I accepted the boxes. It took only a few minutes to dawn on me that the order I had placed with the post office for 7 flat rate boxes to be delivered (placed in November, so long forgotten) had somehow turned in to 7 cases of flat rate boxes. I was looking for a particular size--their largest--and every post office lobby we stopped at were out of them. So I used their online services and ordered the empty boxes for delivery. Instead of boxes, we received boxes of boxes. Boxes of empty boxes to be exact.

In light of the morning we had already had, I wondered if maybe boxes of empty boxes is the modern day version of "coal"?

It made me chuckle.

In pure David style, he took the would-be-coal and made it fun. Until we summoned the mailman back to pick up the cases of boxes, David had fun with slides, forts, stacking, and declaring "I'm a strong boy, mom!"

Yes, David,

A strong boy.

And a strong spirit.

Nativity

2011-12-26T10:05:00.000-09:00

The Sunday evening before Christmas, we had a few families from our ward join us to enact the nativity scene. Each of us only had one or two kids, so by joining forces, we thought maybe we could make the scene more complete.

Baby Elli was perfect for acting as Baby Jesus. She just sat in her "manger" carseat and watched all the other actors around her. Their average age was two and a half. One of them decided Baby Elli had nice swaddling clothes, or maybe they were confused why the clothes didn't fully cover her--but they started pulling the clothes up to wrap around her face. Poor girl! We (the adults) were all laughing so hard, and I'm afraid that brought an abrupt end to the program. Good thing Luke 2 is short and sweet. I don't think the toddler crew or adult crowd could have been reverent longer than the 4 1/2 minute skit. Here are 4 of the 6 players:

David was a sheep. Can you see cute little Jonathan shepherd watching the sheep? He didn't really know what to do himself, so he just followed David's example.

If you can't lead them, join them--so Jonathan was the shepherd acting like the sheep, and the whole procession was very entertaining.

By the way--David had a great sheep sound. It must have been from seeing them at the fair, because I don't know where else he could have come up with such an authentic baaa.

Festive

2011-12-18T22:23:00.000-09:00

The magic is upon us, and we are having a wonderfully festive December.

Last Sunday evening we braved 100 mph wind gusts and made our way to an Assisted Living Facility to carol with other families from our ward. (As we drove, street lights were going out right behind us and some of the light poles were bending down far enough that they looked like they could come down on us! We have had crazy winter weather so far, but that's another post.)

There's nothing quite like ringing in the holidays and getting into the spirit of Christmas with songs about our Savior's birth. The kids were all quite small, so on our way out the door we grabbed a few jingles and shakers for them to hold. It was just the thing to keep them occupied while the adults sang.

David is interacting with one of the residents. Of course they loved the small children! Someone noted that we better count heads as we leave. We're glad everyone was so friendly with each other.

What a wonderful way to spend a Sabbath evening in December! The residents clearly loved it. Almost as much as we did.

We've had many baking days. David's favorite was making gingerbread Davids. We bought a set of gingerbread people, and I showed him the Mommy, Daddy, little boy, and little girl shapes. He quickly took to the little boy, and no one else was allowed to use it. It was officially his gingerbread David.

You want to know a trick I tried out? Roll your cookies in sugar (sprinkled on the table instead of flour) and they won't get tough. You can re-roll them as many times as you need. Tough cookies come from adding flour with each new roll-out. It was something I experimented with, and it worked like a charm as long as you keep enough sugar on the surface to see and feel it. If it works into the dough, the dough turns stickier. (and if you see this idea showing up on a cooking blog any time soon, just know that you heard of it here first. j/k)

Yesterday we made a special visit to a huge furniture store in town. Not necessarily because we were looking for new furniture. We were really after him:

And David had a very serious conversation with the red man from the north.

According to this conversation with Santa, David wants an airplane. The kind that you park at the airport. When someone else asked him earlier this week what toy Santa should bring him, David's response was, "I have lots of toys. I don't need any more toys." So instead of toys, he'll just take an airplane, thanks. A big one.

David got to talk to Santa as long as he wanted, because he was the only child in the store. It's Bailey's annual visit from Santa, and apparently the word doesn't really get out. Of course the fact that we were in and out in about 15 minutes without any lines was one of my favorite parts.

And he discovered for about the 12th time this month that he doesn't like peppermint. Of course all of the candy canes look pretty and enticing--but each time David has to try it out for himself before he admits he doesn't like the peppermint candies.

After our chat with Santa, we headed out to the parking lot and got to go on a sleigh ride. The reindeer were busy, so we settled for a horse. A really really big horse.

The best part of it all is that we still have some very fun activities ahead of us this week.

What a blessing it is to make so many memories together, and to truly pause and feel the joy this season brings to us and the whole world!

Merry Christmas, everybody!

This Little Boy

2011-12-11T08:30:00.000-09:00

This little boy

Who prefers a shower over a bath then sings in the shower at the top of his lungs, "The farmer and the tail, the farmer and the tail . . ."

The one who gives us hugs and kisses with every parting and reuniting.

Who knows how to zip his own coat, recite our home phone number and can identify half of the alphabet, all before he turns 3.

Who made a trail of straight pins across the entire living room, then defended it by explaining that they were his "train tracks."

The one that can only stand 20 minutes of a movie, then be perfectly behaved for 70 minutes of a musical concert.

Who can go from fighting mad with a fiery temper to sweet and docile, even charming, just because a new face walked into the room.

The one who decided it wasn't enough to pour milk down our forced air vents--so he moved on to the entire jar of black pepper (which subsequently caused much sneezing, sniffling, burning and wheezing).

Who knows his feelings well enough to say I am happy, sad, excited, disappointed, peaceful, scared, sleepy or frustrated.

The one who thinks there are four food groups: cheese, cheese sticks, mac and cheese, and ice cream.

This little boy is the apple of our eye. The center of our world. The delight of our hearts.

At the end of the day, when we put him to bed, we love to look at that sleeping little face, and try to convince ourselves that it's really not as exhausting as we think to keep up with such a peaceful looking child.

Then we wake up the next morning, do it all again, and remember:

It really is that exhausting.

And it's really that wonderful, too.

We love you, David.

Photo credits and compliments to the lovely Meggan Catanzaro.

Celebrations

2011-12-07T14:09:00.001-09:00

We are busy ringing in the Christmas Season at our house. Special thanks to my dear sil Cami who made this for our family, since they had us for Christmas this year:

Isn't it beautiful! Everything is hand-stitched and she made up all of her own patterns, too. I think I'm the luckiest gal in the world to have someone else make me such a beautiful advent calendar!

Each pocket is filled with an activity that we will do. Some of them are simple crafts or outings we do during daytime hours. A few of them are planned events with friends. Others are family outings. All of them help us celebrate the birth of Our Savior.

Of course we decorated the tree and pulled out our nativities. David has his own Fisher Price nativity set for him to play with, and I found a cute bucket at WalMart with the nativity scene printed on the outside. It was full of cookies, and while the cookies are nothing to speak of, I am so glad I got the bucket so he can carry around his nativity set.

David had fun decorating the tree. Sixty percent of all the ornaments he hung ended up on these two branches:

Please note that when he ran out of ornaments, he started to hang up tags that came from the new ornaments. David thought that everything looked festive enough for the tree!

But one particular ornament got its very own space--it is the spotlight of the tree, as far as David is concerned. He was such a good sport as I shopped some Black Friday sales. When he saw these ornaments, he cocked his head, put his index finger up, and sweetly said, "Mom, can I just have my D for David that's hanging up right there?" He was too sweet for me to say no, so this has a special place on our tree:

Last night was another highlight. We attended the Sounds of the Season Christmas Concert put on by the Air Force Band of the Pacific. Such a festive evening! David was absolutely riveted by the performance. He was taken in by all the flashing lights, spotlights, and large speakers as the program began. Pre-show, David showed us that the spring in his theater chair was stronger than he was, so every time he sat back, he got folded in half. Well, when the emcee invited us to "sit back, relax, and enjoy the show" David quickly scooted back. If they were going to ask him to sit back, by golly, he was going to do just that! Most of the rest of the show was spent on Daddy's lap, and David loved it. I was thoroughly entertained--by David. Here was our little boy who couldn't sit through Toy Story or Cars II for more than 20 minutes, and he was totally engrossed in the performance. He was perfectly behaved--sat still, asked a few questions, and wildly applauded at the end of every song.

At the end (actually, at half way--we left at intermission while we were still ahead, but please don't tell David that!) the emcee invited all of the children to join him on the stage while he read a story to them, then Santa came out onto stage at the end. David managed to make his way to the very front of the group--none too gracefully, but he did it. He sided up to the man reading the story, and turned into a real ham. He kept making his way back and forth, from the man's rocking chair (stage right) to the guy playing Silent Night on the trombone (stage left). His path was filled with lots of other boys and girls quietly sitting on the stage, but that didn't stop him. I just want to say one thing: If your child was on stage with David, and he/she was stepped on or kicked with those blue moon boots, please accept my apologies. He was really just trying to get where he could see better. And he couldn't make up his mind exactly where that was.

About 50-75 children sat still while John Tracy, the emcee read the story. But not our David. Oh no. He was absolutely determined to see it all. And I'm pretty sure he did.

As a side note, here's a funny conversation on our way:
Me: David, we're going to a concert tonight. Are you excited?
David: Yes! We're going to a conference.
Me: No, not a conference. It's a concert. Can you say concert?
David: Concert. Like stake conference?

I kept working to straighten out the difference between concert and conference. He still doesn't get it. Today he told a friend that last night we went to a stake concert, where the man played loud music.
Won't he be surprised the next time we go to stake conference!?! The two events are nothing alike.
(Stake conference is a church worship service that we have twice a year--it's nothing like the concert we were at last night!)

Our New Blog

2011-12-05T21:49:00.001-09:00

It's official.

This blog is going private at the end of the month.

The public view of our lives will be through our new adoption blog:

samandcarminadoptionblog.blogspot.com

We will continue to keep up with our personal lives on this blog, and will regularly post stories, pictures, and happenings in our life.

Our new adoption blog is for the purpose of communicating with potential birth parents, in hopes of bringing another child into our family through adoption.

If you take the time to peruse our new blog, you will find that the focus is much more adoption-oriented than this one, which will remain our family blog.

If you have a site feed to announce posts on our blog, you can use our public blog (samandcarminadoptionblog.blogspot.com) for this purpose. For the time being, I will be announcing each post of our private blog on our public blog. If that's too confusing, just wait and see. Hopefully I'll give you enough information so you can determine if you want to read the post or not.

This has been a long time in the coming. I hope I don't lose a lot of readers over this. If you'd like to receive an invitation to continue to read this, our personal blog, please leave a comment with your information and I will invite you. I made an announcement about a year ago that we were going private, so if you responded at that time, I still have your information. If you're unsure, just leave your email address this time around.

So in a nutshell--I'll be keeping two blogs. The family one will be private. The adoption one will be public.

I hope we can still be blogging friends.

Drains

2011-12-04T21:35:00.001-09:00

David has a mind that likes to know how things work. He's had a fascination with electricity since birth, and he also keeps us on our toes with questions around plumbing. Where does the water go? used to be a common question at the end of his bath. Sam and I have each had turns explaining the path from pipes in the wall and down to the sewer. When Daddy and David took walks over the summer, David wanted to know about the drains they would pass in the curb and sidewalk. He just likes to know.

So naturally when David discovered heater vents in our house several months ago, he wanted to know all about them. We explained that they blow air, and helped him put his hand over the forced air.

We discovered a few months ago that the little dixie cup of water we left next to David's bed every night would occasionally be poured down the air vent. Ummm. Not a good idea. So we went over it again, showed him how the vents blow air, and clarified again to him that these are air vents.

He seemed to ignore us. He kept pouring water down the air vent. Of course, we no longer put dixie cups of water in his bedroom, but he would find occasion to dump some water every now and then.

About a month ago, we were clearing the table after dinner, and all three of us were in the small dining room area. David was very nonchalant as he walked over to the air vent and poured his milk down it. Like it was the most normal thing in the world. He was so deliberate about it, and Sam and I were both right there. We were about to blow our lid over what felt like defiant behavior from our toddler. He knew it was an air vent. We had told him many times that we don't pour things down the air vent. I was so puzzled, and nearly beside myself as I sat there astounded that he would be so naughty with both of his parents standing right there.

Then a glimmer of inspiration came to me.

Me: David, do you know that an air vent is not a drain?

David: Oh. It isn't?

Me: No. It's an air vent.

David: Oh. Okay.

And he hasn't poured anything down an air vent since.

I always knew I would have to teach my children about what things are.

It didn't dawn on me that I'd have to teach them about what they aren't.

Now I know.

Truly Alaskan

2011-11-27T21:33:00.000-09:00

We had a warm October. I was even beginning to think that Halloween would be warm--not white--this year. But the day before Halloween, the snow started dumping. And it didn't let up for a long time. We got hit with four big storms in a row, and as of November 21, our snow pack was 28 inches. Now the snow has stopped, but the temps have dropped and it's freezing. Like constantly at zero or below. I have a feeling that we're in for a long, cold winter.

On one particular day, we took Daddy to work, and I packed our snow gear in the car, planning to shovel the driveway before we parked the car on it again. I got David in his snow gear, and placed him at the top of the driveway with a shovel while I tied up my boots and pulled on my mittens. The car was parked across the street, so I went back to the opened rear driver's side door, to prop my foot on the frame and tie my boots up. Just as I was about to finish, I hear "Come here, little guy." I was startled. I didn't know anyone was outside with me--so I looked up, expecting to see someone walking their dog.

What I saw shocked me. It was a moose. A big bull moose. My neighbor later told me that he walked outside, and saw the moose heading straight for David. He was trying to get to David before the moose did (the moose wasn't charging, it was just looking at David and walking towards him) which is why he said "Come here, little guy." That's when I turned around. It was within 5 feet of me when I saw it, and I screamed (the bull was slowly turning around after he heard my neighbor's voice, and his hind quarters were towards me when I saw it). My scream sent it trotting back down the street, where he came from.

How was it possible for a 1500 pound animal to be in my personal space, and I didn't even know it? How was he able to head towards my little boy, and I was clueless? I always look up and down the street for the neighborhood moose when I'm outside, but this guy came out of nowhere. I feel grateful that Heavenly Father was watching out for David and that my neighbor walked outside at just the moment he needed to scare the moose off of our driveway. I still shiver to think that a moose was between me and my baby. It would have been bull moose against mama bear if I hadn't had my neighbor's help.

If you ask David about it, he'll tell you that he saw a moose that was scary to Mommy, David, and the neighbor. He'll tell you it was a big one, too.

Oh, after I got the driveway cleared off, my nerves calmed down, and I was plenty cold, I managed to get the car stuck in a snow bank. I dug around the tires as well as I could, until finally another driver stopped to help push me out after about 35 minutes of spinning and digging. By the time I went inside, I was ready to stay in and enjoy the snowfall from the window view.

Feeling Thankful

2011-11-27T21:04:00.001-09:00

Our Thanksgiving day dawned, and immediately David and I set out to finish making pies. David was happy to have his fingers in the greasy dough. Originally I thought we could turn his ball of dough into "pie dough cookies"--pie crust with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top. But by the time he was done with the dough, I was more than happy to just throw it away.

Here are the results--for the first time in my life, I made a pie in a pretty pie plate. I actually received the blue pie plate for my wedding from Sam's Aunt Lisa. The pie in front, on the right, is her famous peanut butter pie. She gave me the recipe with the pretty Longerberger pie plate for our wedding--"cornflower blue." Aunt Lisa is married to Uncle Richard, and he is a really funny guy. Six months after I was married, I was visiting Sam's family in Ohio. Uncle Richard and Aunt Lisa came over, and I was thanking Aunt Lisa for her peanut butter pie recipe. I told her, "I knew that I was part of the family when I got that recipe!" Uncle Richard apparently overheard me say this, and he spun around from his conversation, pointed his finger at me and said, "Hey, listen. You're not part of the family until I say you're part of the family!" It made me laugh especially hard because I have lots of memories of my uncles giving new in-laws or potential in-laws the same kind of grief about joining the family. So Uncle Richard, I'm dying to know. It's been nearly 6 years. Am I part of the family yet?

The chocolate cream pie has a story too. When I was about 12, we were at Grandma Ray's house for Thanksgiving as it was our annual tradition. When it came time to serve pie, a certain chocolate cream pie turned up missing. Uncle John had drooled over his wife's, Aunt Lana's, chocolate cream pie all morning and he wasn't going to put up with it going missing. He lined up all the teenage boys on a bench, and declared that none of them would get any pie until one of them confessed to taking his chocolate cream pie. The poor fellas just sat there, none of them fessing up. Finally, word came from a back bedroom that all of the teenage girls were hiding away with the chocolate cream pie, just eating it straight from the pan. They didn't even pause to cut it up or put it on plates--they just dug right in. By the time it was retrieved, there was nothing left but the crust. Poor, poor Uncle John. The next year Aunt Lana brought two chocolate cream pies, and so did each mother of those teenage girls. Aunt Lana started a great tradition, because now a chocolate cream pie will always be in the Thanksgiving spread.

David was at one of the kids' table. He tended to sit in the middle of the bench, and the other little girl had to sit on the very end. I tried to get him to scoot over, but that didn't really work out. The kids were done with their feasting right as the adults sat down. So they ran inside and played while we ate. It was a great arrangement! Note to self: Small children don't know how to overstuff themselves at a single meal, so they will always need dinner, in spite of how full I might feel from the previous meal.

We joined the Keith and Cathie Coombs family for the Thanksgiving Day feast. It was a whole lotta people, just like I remember at Grandma's house growing up. The only difference was that it was a gathering of friends, in lieu of family. There are lots of young families up here in Anchorage without any family closer than 3000-5000 miles away. So gathering together on holidays with friends is especially meaningful.

Cute Cathie had placecards for each of us, and we had a feather to write what we were grateful for. David is showing off his feather. He chose to write down "Daddy".

Cathie's kids attend the spanish immersion school, so by homework assignment they made a pinata. It was such a fun after-dinner activity to break open a pinata. One of the dads was holding the other end of the pole, so for most everyone, we didn't use anything harder than a tennis racket (apparently David used a light saber). Not much progress with that. Finally, someone picked up a metal bat, and the thing busted open. I had to turn my head--the bat was scary with so many heads in an enclosed space. I'm glad that the only thing that went flying was the candy.

Of course the kids loved the fun of it!

And David was pleased as punch with his loot.

I finally put up a thankful tree this year. Michael's made it easy on me by selling buckets of pre-cut foam leaves that were self-adhesive. I'm glad we paused on our feelings of gratitude.

It was also my first year of telling the story of the pilgrims and indians to David during family night. Instilling a love in my family for the sacrifices made by pilgrims and our forefathers to establish this country under divine guidance has always been a dream for me. I feel really good that this year, I gathered all of the materials, cut out paper dolls on a borrowed Cricut, and first researched, then re-told the story of the pilgrims and indians. I want my children to have lots of memories of their mother teaching them about the freedoms we enjoy. This was the beginning.

In David's words

2011-11-06T20:02:00.001-09:00

Tonight Daddy pulled out some Halloween candy to share with David before he went to bed. David's eyes got big and he exclaimed, "Thanks, Dad! You're my favorite!"
Sam asked David what letter was on his M&M. David excitedly responded, "It's a D for Mommy!!!"
We were watching the priesthood holders pass the sacrament at church when David grabbed both of my cheeks, and turned my face so we were nose to nose. In his loud voice he said, "Say it Mama!" I was confused, so I didn't say anything, particularly because it was in the middle of the sacrament. Then David continued, "Say that someday I get to do that too!" Oh yes, buddy. Someday you get to pass the sacrament too.
David is learning his letters with a little toy that sings a song. "A says aa, A says aa, every letter makes a sound, and A says aa." David can change the letter out and the song changes according to the letter. When David sings along, it goes like this. "A says cuh. A says cuh. Every letter makes a sound and A says cuh." The the next letter, "J says cuh. J says cuh. Every letter makes a sound and J says cuh." The only exception is this: "D says David. D says David. Every letter makes a sound and D says David."
One of the victories we have felt in parenting is introducing David to the music truck. It passed our home multiple times in a night sometimes during the summer months, and each time we celebrated! We ran to the window to watch it go past our house, we danced to the music--it was a real celebration! David would even call out, "Thank you music truck for sharing your music with us!" Just in case you've never seen a music truck, maybe you'll recognize a picture of it:

Not E

2011-11-02T22:45:00.001-08:00

We have a resident artist in our home. He takes the liberty to paint abstractly.

(Can you see that he knows he's in trouble.)

So, he's for hire if anyone needs a mural on their wall. We can provide the paint, painter, and sugar overload. All you have to do is provide the canvas!

In reality, when David gets tired, he gets mischievous. Not grumpy. Just naughty. So here he is, ready for church the day after the Halloween carnival. We had a big weekend, and undoubtedly he was running high on sugar and low on his need for sleep. So I put him down for a quick nap before church, then hopped in the shower to get myself ready. When I got out, I heard him downstairs. Which surprised me, since we have child locks on his bedroom door (for this very reason, I might add). I called downstairs to him:

Me: David, what are you doing? Are you being good?

David: Yeah, mom. I'm bein' good. I'm just paintin'.

Me (thinking): Hmm. I don't think we have any paint downstairs. It must be imaginary play--which has really exploded for him in the last 2 weeks.

Ten minutes later, I meander downstairs and see the artist and his canvas. And the floor. And the 5 gallon bucket of sugar that was open with paint inside. I was shocked. I wasn't even angry. Just shocked. He opened a usually locked closet and found the last small container of touch-up paint for our bedroom. I just sat down on the step and looked at him, hardly saying anything at all.

I didn't know what to say or do in this situation--so I grabbed the camera while I thought things over. At this point, David was giggling a little bit. He was as confused as I was at how to react to his paint job. I love that kid all the same!

So I have to count my blessings--

We were planning to replace the carpet anyway, so no biggie there.
And we can easily paint over that wall, so no biggie there either.
He completely missed the couches. Soo soo grateful for that!
He tracked the paint into the kitchen, but no paint on our newly refinished kitchen cabinets. Really glad about that.
It was the morning after our ward's halloween carnival. I was feeling on sugar overload anyway, so couldn't get myself to regret the 20 lbs of sugar we lost. (Check back when I'm doing holiday baking.)
I was wondering how to best decorate for our Halloween dinner on Monday night, so the ghoulish green took care of that.
We lost a whole set of church clothes, it is true. But he didn't have his church shoes on, and that is the most expensive part. I'm glad he wasn't wearing his shoes yet.
My mischievous little boy is still wonderful to me!

Woody the Cowboy

2011-11-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

Here's the cutest member of our family after the ward Halloween carnival:

(You'll notice by the end of the carnival, he lost his boots and a sock to a blister, but not his smile. Oh no. Not his smile. This little cowboy was in pure sugar heaven.)

We found a Buzz Light Year in our friend Ruston.

These two are pals, so it was fun to have them together in their costumes.

The carnival was full of good ideas. We hosted a cake walk with some friends, so much of David's time was spent wandering around our circle of numbers with the music. He didn't know when his number was being called, so they just drew another one. He thought the cake walk was just a fun reason to march around a circle with all those other nice people marching with him.

There was this small classroom, filled with balloons to run in. Fun for the 3 and under crowd.

David got to do another person's cake walk (we split up the church building with 2 other wards, then didn't coordinate activities, so there were a couple of doubles on the activities). In that cake walk, everyone got a treat. David skipped out of that place with a king size butterfinger like it was the best day of his life. He kept going back to the hostess to tell her thank you, so that did my heart good.

Oddly enough, the most often requested activity was to go to the drinking fountain. After so many trips, surely he wasn't still thirsty--why is this so fun for little kids? Maybe next year I should consider including the drinking fountain in the booth we plan.

If you were lucky, you could get David to say "There's a snake in my boot!" But no one could get him to say he was Woody the cowboy. When people asked him if he was Woody, he responded very seriously, "No, I'm just David."

He also learned the art of trick or treating. At one scary booth, a big kid jumped out and scared David right as he was accepting his candy. I wasn't happy about it; I didn't think it was fair to do to a 2-year old. David first was terrified, then he stared the kid down, then finally looked up at me with a half smile and said, "Mom, that boy scared me." It's like he knew it was supposed to be fun, but wasn't convinced yet that he felt that way.

Another booth was much nicer to my trick or treater. After we walked away, David looked up at me and said, "Can I go back to that man and tell him trick or treat again?" Apparently things really worked out well the first time.

Here we are all together. Sam is in his annual Star Trek costume, David is Woody the Cowboy and I am dressed as a costume maker. I bit the bullet and actually made David's costume this year--everything except the jeans. I just couldn't stomach paying money for one of those flimsy things I kept seeing on store shelves. It was actually quite fun to figure out the details, even without a pattern. I think I'll do it again next year.

Page 105

2011-11-02T21:36:00.001-08:00

Just in case you were wondering if David and I really attended General Conference in Salt Lake City, you can now find proof in your November issue of the Ensign. (If you don't have your hard copy of the Ensign yet, just go to Elder Quentin Cook's talk, download the pdf version, and we are on the second page.)

The back story is simple. We were exhausted. We didn't get much sleep the night before. So we found a quiet place and took a nap. We awoke to the clicking of the camera, and that was that.

So just in case you were wondering--yes, we are now famous for sleeping through general conference. It keeps tickling my funny bone, so I hope the irony of it can tickle yours, too.

Catching Up

2011-11-02T21:27:00.000-08:00

We've been busy, and I've had a hard time keeping up with the blog. I'll continue to post all the fun we had on our trip, but I have to also start posting the most recently exciting things. Like Halloween. We had such a cute boy all dressed up, I can't very well wait to post pics of all that! So prepare for a scramble of blog posts--some with, some without pictures. Enjoy!

On Our Way to Grammy's House

2011-10-30T22:08:00.002-08:00

After much anticipation, we were headed to the airport to fly on an airplane. David was excited for several days to fly, and I dare say that the whole experience did not disappoint! David and I flew to Seattle, then on to Boise. He was a good little traveler, and for the most part stayed entertained by the excitement of being on a plane.

And just for the record, these sugar dots were great entertainment on the plane. Not a ton of sugar, but still fun and they took some time to eat!

David fell asleep for the last 25 minutes before we landed in Seattle.

We had a long layover in Seattle, and a real treat waiting for us.

Our birth mother's parents took half a day off of work and drove a couple of hours to come see us. We went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, and had such a great visit! (AP, our birthmother, recently moved across the country with her new husband. We missed seeing her, but so glad to see her parents!)

J was good at keeping David entertained with spinning quarters and ice cubes. T pulled out her camera and caught David buttering his own bread with his knife. I loved being with you, J and T! So did David! Thank you for making the effort and all the arrangements to give us a break from the airport scene. We love you!

Once we finally landed in Boise, we rented a car and made our way over to a cousin's home in Eagle, ID. Shera perfectly pleased my little boy that had to keep still for so many hours in airplanes and airports. As soon as we arrived at her home (at 10 pm) she asked David if he wanted to jump on the trampoline in the dark. Oh boy, did he ever! His excitement lit up the sky as he went back and forth between chasing the cat and jumping. After I finally got David settled in to bed, Shera and I stayed up chatting like we were school girls. It was 3:15 before we broke up the party--although I could have pulled an all-nighter without regret if I didn't have to drive by myself the next day. Oh, Shera Mae! All of that catching up was sugar to my soul!

Grandma and Grandpa the Great

2011-10-23T21:17:00.000-08:00

We recently traveled to Utah and Idaho to visit family--I'll do several detailed posts with all the fun we had there. But first I want to highlight the reason we all came together--it's because of these wonderful people:

He is 91. She is 90. They have been married 67 years. They have 12 childlren, 88 grandchildren, 187 great grands. They know each of us by name, they love our children and spouses, they know where we live, and they keep up with our lives. We love them dearly.

Grandpa the Great is still strong enough to offer horsey rides to the youngest crowd. David loved it as much as I remember loving it when I was small.

Every year Grandma and Grandpa hold a family gathering around BYU Homecoming. The schedule is always the same--Pizza and chatting on Friday night, Saturday morning devotional, field games up the canyon, then everyone goes to the BYU Homecoming football game. All of the college age grandchildren are invited with their spouses. This year there were over 100 of us gathered.

The Arizona blood runs deep in their veins--thinly, but deep. So any time they are in temps that dip below about 60 degrees, you will find them bundled up like it is the dead of the winter. (It's taken me years to thicken my blood for colder climates--because these are my roots!)

We love you, Grandma and Grandpa the Great! Thank you for the heritage and all the fun memories you bless us with.

Sunday Evenings

2011-10-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

Daddy and David have started a new tradition--making cookies together on Sunday evenings.

This is David's favorite part--

when the dough is just too tempting to resist taking a nibble.

After several nibbles, Daddy is trying to keep his composure and let David know he's not supposed to eat all the cookies before they ever reach the cookie sheet. So he tells David to put his hands on his head to take a break. Sam was hoping to get some good non-David cookies on the tray while David did this.

Here are the cookies David helped put on the cookie sheet:

Even when his hands were supposed to be behind his back or on his head, the temptation was just too great. He had to lean over and sneak another little nibble.

This is the fun cookie making time that they can't help but repeat almost every week.

Cabin Camping 2011

2011-10-23T20:02:00.001-08:00

We went on our annual cabin camping trip with our friends, the Larsens, in the middle of September. It was a wonderful trip--some definite highlights and firsts! Of course we heard the song of the loons on the lake, which has become a favorite when we go on these trips. We also saw a flock of migrating cranes--Courtney and Jessica helped identify the flock by their distinct calls.

The best thing about this trip was that we got to see the Northern Lights for the first time. They were beautiful and awe inspiring. Here is someone else's photo of the beauties:

While we were enjoying the lake, I heard a loud and distinct sound in the serenity of our beautiful surroundings--I half expected to look up and see a fisherman using a horn of some sort. I was thrilled when instead I saw this--a pair of trumpeter swans in flight, trumpeting! It was beautiful!

Our men went ahead of us to begin taking gear over to the cabin. This year the cabin was accessible only by boat--so we rented a canoe to haul our gear and ourselves back and forth across the lake. (In years past, we have had the option of hiking or using the canoe--but this year we only had access by lake.)

This pile of dirt provided lots of entertainment for two little boys waiting for the boat.

We hadn't even reached the cabin yet, and the fun in the dirt had begun with climbing and sliding.

David and Daddy arrive dry at the cabin--with the last of our gear in tow.

Later on they went for a leisurely ride in the canoe together. It was truly little boy paradise.

David was a hard one to keep seated while we were in the canoe. He of course wanted to lean over the side to touch the water, stand up and wave his arms, sit on the seat instead of the bottom of the canoe--everything a curious toddler could want to do in that canoe. Luckily, he learned the lesson of a tippy canoe when we were on dry ground instead of in the middle of the lake.

On the return trip, we were much better balanced in our weight distribution with all three of us and our gear. We are learning some of the strategies of a canoe to make it a little smoother of a ride.

Just as we were about to climb in the car to head home, we turned around to see David trying to sneak back to the cabin in the canoe.

We finally coaxed David to come home with us, but he really wanted to go back to the cabin!

Every time we have another experience like this one, I wonder if this will be David's first memory.

Pappy's visit

2011-10-23T17:24:00.000-08:00

In the middle of September, we had a 24-hour visit from Sam's dad so he could ordain Sam as a High Priest. It was such a treat to have our quick visitor--David especially loved having the time with Pappy.

When Pappy flew in during the middle of the night, David got to get up to greet him. In the hour long visit at the midnight hour, Pappy managed to fit in: reading a story with David, a sucker or two for little buddy, lots of cuddles, and even a few tickles.

On Sunday, we were at the church for Sam's ordination. Here is the Sponseller family's line of oldest sons in the lineup--Nick, Sam, David.

Pappy had to travel for a day, he was with us for a day, then had to travel back for a day--no doubt it was an exhausting trip! We feel so grateful that you made such an effort to come for this special day, Pappy!

Working Buddy

2011-10-23T17:06:00.002-08:00

The Daddy and David duo make a great team!

We love to encourage David's willingness to do chores right now--he feels big about helping around the house.

Some of his "chores" are:

Clear his dishes after he eats a meal. He sorts out the trash from the silverware, scrapes out the food from his bowl, and loads his dishes into the dishwasher.
Help set the table--he loves to get out the silverware by himself, then make the place settings for everyone at the table. It's the perfect distraction to perk up the hungry-around-dinner-time blues.
Put his pajamas away from the clean laundry pile while I am folding and putting away the rest of his laundry. The pj's are only folded in half, then put in their own separate bin. David gets good sorting practice in, and we both finish our part about the same time!
Sort out the lids and put them away while I unload the dishwasher. He also likes to put the silverware away.
He loves to be part of putting the laundry in the washing machine or dryer. An extra set of hands slows us down a little bit, but I 'spose it's not always a race.
If the vaccuum is out, David insists on helping us wind up the cord, and even running the vaccuum over the floor. It tips back too far, so it's technically not sucking anything up while he's at the helm--but don't tell our little worker that! He is pleased as punch when he gets a turn with the vaccuum.

Alaska State Fair 2011

2011-09-24T22:25:00.000-08:00

At the fair this year we saw:

1200 lb pumpkin

128 lb cabbage

2 heifers ready to birth

Lots of frisky animals looking for food at the petting zoo

One happy boy on fair rides

Pig races

Corn dogs with sweet potato fries (yum!)

Our first (and last) funnel cake

First things first--we made our way to the petting zoo so we could get there while the animals were still hungry enough to eat out of David's hand. Last year they were all asleep by the time we showed up. This year they wanted to feast! David had an absolute ball petting, chasing, and feeding the animals.

He kept saying that they were biting his hand, and that it tickled.

Only half of that was true--they weren't biting, they were licking his hands.

This guy needed a haircut--but he had a lot of personality.

Love that little laugh whenever David is trying something new.

David's delight for life is one of the reason we love to expose him to new experiences.

We chose a couple of rides for David to go on, and he had a blast!

He was on top of the world while he was driving this little postal truck.

Oh, and it had a horn. The teenager running the ride was cute to make sure all the kids knew how to make the sound buttons work on their vehicle before the ride began.

This little boy is more interested in pushing the stroller than riding in it. We still bring it along, because his legs are a bit slow for our pace sometimes. And putting him in the stroller keeps us focused on getting to the next place. Sometimes we take it at David's pace, and sometimes we take it at our pace.

Next up was the zoo train. David chose the lion car.

Love that excitement!

We stuck around to see the pig races while we ate our corn dogs.

It was a slapstick show that was kind of silly--but hey, we tried.

This is what David looked like by the time we pulled out of the fair parking lot.

Dear Nana,

2011-09-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

Just in case you wanted to see David's animation while he tells you stories over the phone.

These are a little blurry indeed, but they really capture the essence of his expressions.

Unless, of course, he knows he's on camera.

Sunny Summer Days in the yard

2011-09-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

At Christmas time, David received a remote control car from his Pappy. It is a bulky one, perfect for toddler hands, and when it hits a barrier, it flips over and reverses the other direction. With all of these tricks, it has a tendency to leave marks on the wall, so we pulled it out when we could finally use it on our lawn. The grass was a little too long for the car to consistently go, so David discovered that the bare garden plot made a good race track.

David was a big fan of the strawberry plants, and so was I. But alas, they turned into a racetrack--so while the plants made it through the play days, the berry harvest came to an abrupt stop. For the sake of letting my little boy maximize his sunny outdoor play time, I turned my head to the strawberry plants and let the good times roll!

The sparse greenery on the "bare" side is actually our attempt at cilantro. Because of the remote control car's four-wheeling abilities, they never got very tall--but apparently it tasted good. David often came in with his breath smelling like cilantro. In fact, I bought some in the store last night and David immediately recognized it, "Mommy, are we going to put this in the garden?" Poor boy is a little confused about how we plant seeds and harvest plants, not reverse.

We've had hours of play come out of this little car! I love to see David independently playing in the carefree days of sunshine.

Father and Son Outing

2011-09-11T15:32:00.000-08:00

I know they don't call it that any more, but David got to go with Daddy to the ward priesthood campout. An hour before Daddy got home from work, David was packed and ready to go. We put his backpack on him, he took one step forward, then fell backwards. I tried to help him up, but he said, "I'll sit here, Mommy, then Daddy can pick me up when he comes home." Apparently he didn't want to remove the backpack, even if it was too big for him to move around.

Sam wanted to make the camping experience as simple of an experience as possible. He wanted just a sleeping bag and tent for the two of them, then planned to eat dinner before he left and the ward was providing breakfast. In the end, we talked him in to taking some food for the Daddy David duo--simply because if other people were eating around the campfire, David doesn't quite have the social skills to leave them alone while they eat and he doesn't. Thankfully, Sam conceded to take enough food, and neither of them were too hungry by the time they returned at 2:30 on Saturday. Many kudos to Daddy for taking a 2-year old camping!

I heard glowing reports of the campout--apparently David slept soundly through the night, and didn't stir until a decent morning hour. Another brother told me that David woke up refreshed, and had the world on a string.

Family Night Acrobatics

2011-09-11T15:11:00.000-08:00

For special talent at a recent family night, David showed off his somersault.

He can work on his tuck and roll form, but he had great balance---keeping his center point aligned through the roll.

Each of us got a turn to try out a somersault--and it was all smiles for David to see his parents repeat his tricks. (thankfully, no pictures of Sam and I)

From there we moved on to wheel barrow races.

Oh, how we love family night! We love the opportunity to turn off electronics, ignore the phone, and be just our little family together. If you ever call on Monday night, you can feel better knowing that we don't have caller ID--all of our calls are being screened, because we just might be indisposed and in the middle of wheel barrow races or somersaults.

U-pick farmer

2011-08-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

We grabbed a friend and headed back up to the U-pick farm this summer.

Of course this little guy loved the wide open spaces to run around.

David helped find the cauliflower and dig up some potatoes. He was happy to help carry the bags back to the wagon, too.

I thought this guy was a hoot! An Alaskan version of a scarecrow is a stuffed wolf.

Apparently he's deterred a few moose from munching on the greens, but not quite all of them.

Can you see his permagrin? A little eery to look at closely, but I got a good laugh out of this!

Here we are together with the wagon that helped haul around our produce and boys.

David walked through the fields a lot more than he rode in the wagon this year. His brown puddle splashers were a life saver in those muddy fields! We were happy to have this outing on a truly sunny day in August.

We found a u-pick raspberry farm on our way back from Pyrah's u-pick farm and stopped to get some plump berries. The rows were so long and the patch was so big that David ran ahead of me in the rows, and it took 10 minutes for me to find him again. At first it was a game of chase through the bushes, as he would run ahead to the next bush for a hiding spot. Before long, I started getting worried. It was scary to not know where he was for that long! I kept asking other people (there were only a handful of people picking while we were there) and saying prayers to find him, and eventually I found him at the end of a row struggling to use a rake through the brush. I don't know where he picked up the rake, but he was playing with it like he didn't have a care in the world! Oh, what a tricky balance it is to give David a little more independence without creating a dangerous or scary situation for me. He loves a game of chase--and that's all it was to him. I learned from that experience that I have to trust that he'll come back when I call him before it can be a game.

Yesterday I was at the Farmer's Market, and the Emcee over the loud speaker thanked everyone for joining them on "this brisk fall day." It felt cool and damp, but I'm not willing to admit that the end of August is fall time. I consider it to be the end of the summer!

Teamwork

2011-08-14T16:57:00.000-08:00

We have had a rainy August, which made our grass plenty long.

As soon as we had a dry evening, Daddy and David went right to work on the lawn.

David was more than happy to be Daddy's helper in pushing that machine around.

Truthfully, it went much more quickly once David decided he had had enough with the lawn mower. But it was more fun when both of them were working on it.

Morning Routine

2011-08-14T16:46:00.000-08:00

Getting baby-soft cheeks every morning is serious business at our house.

Almost as serious as it is silly.

David shaved a small spot off the back of his head before Daddy convinced him that putting the electric razor on his hair is "owie." The razor only comes out during Daddy's morning routine, so David makes sure he gets a turn before it is put away.

Ward Campout 2011--LaDaSa

2011-07-31T21:00:00.000-08:00

We left town last week to enjoy the church-owned camp with ward members for a night.

It was a good time--and warm weather was a plus!

After dinner, there was a dutch oven cobbler bake off I participated in. My creation didn't win, but it was fun to make! The dutch oven I used was borrowed, so now I want to get one to experiment with it a little more.

This picture was taken precisely at midnight--which also happened to be at dusk. The ward talent show had just ended, and our little guy was enjoying the homemade ice cream--it went perfectly with the piping hot cobbler being served up at the same time. David went to bed right after this picture, and he woke up with the sun at 5 am. We begged him to go back to sleep, and he finally drifted back to dreamland at 6:30. We didn't stir again until 8:50. These Alaska nights that stay light are killers on the bedtime--for big and little kids alike. At home, we manage to keep a routine that gets us to bed. When we are cabin camping, we just have to go by the sun.

David had a good time like usual. Apparently I didn't get any pictures of him running around the field or getting rides in the wheel barrow. But we had our camera down at the lake. We weren't expecting to go down to the lake, so we weren't entirely prepared for it. The score was shovel, pail and sandals--3; life vest--0.

Daddy helped David take a little "dip."

While I grew up swimming in lakes in Arizona, the lakes of Alaska never appeal to me. Maybe it's the leeches? Or the water temperature? Whatever it is, I definitely prefer a canoe to enjoy a lake instead of taking a swim.

This is the third year we have done this campout at LaDaSa as a ward. We love the tradition! Each year has been very unique in ways, but a few things remain the same--beautiful country, late nights, boards for beds in the cabin, and a yummy camping breakfast to wake us up in the morning. I'm sure we'll be back again next year.

Park Play

2011-07-24T17:26:00.000-08:00

It was a sunny day when we visited the park this week.

I had heard about this park--it's 45 minutes away, and moms rave about how it's worth the drive.

It was oh, so fun. Look at this life size set of chimes:

I took pictures of the inner workings of it so someday I can hopefully put one in my yard. It's only a bunch of nuts, washers, and bolts.

He found the sand pile and all the diggers and dumpers (trucks) in it just as we were leaving. David could have stayed at this park for hours. We'll have to go back another day.

Library Champ

2011-07-24T16:53:00.000-08:00

David took part in the local library's reading program this summer. He is very proud of his sign.

The sign means that he's read 1000 minutes (with Mom and Dad's help) in the last 2 months. Way to go, buddy! David is growing more keen on books lately--he'll often sit down with a pile of them and flip through them on his own. He'll tell the story if he knows it, or just look at the pictures if he doesn't.

Here is the Daddy and David duo enjoying a book together after Daddy got home from work one evening:

On another note, David has picked up on the meaning of stop signs. He'll call me out if he sees a stop sign and I didn't stop. I don't have a tendency to run stop signs, so I have to explain to him that the stop sign was for another direction of traffic or for bikes and pedestrians (a small one on a trail next to a road, for instance). David has also picked up on the "triangle stop signs." The rest of us call those yield signs.

Watering the Garden

2011-07-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

David has been taking good care of our strawberry plants this summer.

He likes to water the garden, and stop for a red ripe strawberry snack while he plays in the back yard.

I laugh at his progression in using the hose. This is true David curiosity--he'll begin by using something properly, but by the time he finishes, he'll find something new and exciting about it. As he was splashing the water, he said, "Look, mom. A sprinkler!"

David soon found out that "watering David" was almost as much fun as watering the garden.

And watering Daddy was fun, too.

Fair is fair, so David volunteers to give the hose to Daddy so he can return the favor and "water David."

As you can see, this is the best part of the game.

David loves himself some good clean fun.

And where was I through all of this wet fun with freezing cold water?

Well, my camera and I were playing as "base" or "safety."

Now on warm evenings, David asks, "Daddy, can I water you?"

Yes, little gardener. And while you're at it, see if you can keep the hose on the garden long enough to give the strawberry plants a drink, too.

Our Fourth

2011-07-17T21:01:00.000-08:00

July started with a bang as we celebrated Independence Day. We braved the crowds and the threatening rain clouds to go watch the parade.

This kid knows a good show when he sees one.

And he knows a good seat when he has one.

See those blue skies in the picture above? The next picture was taken 20 minutes later. That's Anchorage weather for you. After the parade we wandered around an outdoor carnival they had downtown. We listened to the Air Force Band of the Pacific play some of the rousing patriotic songs.

Then wandered around while we munched on a bag of kettle corn to see the different games and booths. This ride was noteworthy: a bucking salmon.

In all honesty, the parade was nothing spectacular--90% of it was politicians and beauty queens. Lovely people, all of them--but I would really prefer to hear a band or two, or see some floats, or most importantly, let David dive for some candy that they are throwing out. None of that was part of this parade.
And as another gee whiz fact about our town, we didn't have fireworks to watch on the fourth of July. It is simply too light to make the show's expense worth it. (The neighbors kept theirs cracking all night, so we still felt festive.) Fireworks in Anchorage are reserved for New Year's Eve. Next year we've made a mental note to gather sparklers, poppers and a few flags to wave.

Sunny Days

2011-07-10T20:41:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a bike ride recently along the coastal trail. We took a walk on this trail in March, and it was laden with snow and ice. June is a different kind of beautiful.

Clearly David enjoyed his joyride.

And we really enjoyed the evening as a family!

Our motto this summer is to "drop it and play." That's what we're supposed to do when the sun is shining, like it is on this particular night. We have set aside most of our home improvement projects, and Sam will pick up studying for his certification again in the fall--this summer, we want to play together as a family. So far this summer, we have been blessed with some wonderfully sunny weekends and evenings!

Solstice 2011

2011-07-10T19:58:00.002-08:00

We went to the summer solstice festival to celebrate our longest day of the year. We had fun wandering around downtown for an afternoon, but only a few pictures of it.

Everything in Alaska is bigger--the length of our summer days, rocking chairs. . .

. . . even radio flyer wagons are bigger!

Have you seen this masterpiece? It made national news--this is a car built by an Alaskan retired couple (the man is standing behind, wearing red), to exact proportions of a red wagon. Yes, they drive this around town for their fun "cruising" vehicle.

It's pretty amazing to see the details! Do you see the red knobs on the wheels? Those are detergent caps. They really put a lot of work into designing this wagon, and it perfectly holds 2 people.

And while we are talking about the big-ness of our state, here are a few gee whiz facts.

Alaska is the largest state in the country. Texas is the second largest. If Alaska were cut in half, Texas would be the third largest. If it is low tide and Alaska is cut into thirds, then Texas is the fourth largest state.
Alaska is the state that spans the farthest north, the farthest west . . . and get this . . . the farthest east. The chain of Aleutian Islands (Alaska's tail) crosses the international date line, so we have the eastern most point of land in the United States.

Happy Solstice!

Back to the Grind

2011-07-04T19:20:00.000-08:00

We came home to Alaska, and our first orders of business were to dig out from our back to back trips and get David healthy from another flu bug he picked up. Once he was up and at it again, there was lots of sunshine to enjoy! When I bought the shorts he is wearing, I really wondered if we would be able to use them this summer. Every time it gets warm enough to put David in shorts, I feel glad for the heat.

This summer David has all the confidence in the world to figure out the playground equipment on his own. He does everything by himself except for the swings.

What is it with little boys and rocks? David is learning that rocks are for dropping, not throwing. It gets a little hard to remember that when he has endless handfuls of rocks just waiting to be held.

Oh, the carefree days of sunshine!

The Oregon Coast

2011-07-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

Of course we enjoyed time on the coast, as well. It was too chilly to have the typical beach experience, but we still had our fun.

The first time David went to the beach, he fell over in the water and must have felt threatened by the sea--because when we went back, he was more than a little afraid of those waves. I wanted to encourage him to get back on the horse, so to speak, so we slowly worked him back into walking in the water.

At first it took both of my hands holding his to coax David towards the water.

He finally got close enough to let the water get his feet wet.

Eventually he was comfortable with me holding just one hand.

After a while, Daddy joined the fun--and eventually we were running out to the waves to meet them.

As we walked along, we found a number of starfish that had washed ashore.

Most of the starfish were this deep purple color. We brought one back to the house for a souvenier, and the locals taught us to boil it in salt water for 15 minutes to keep it from stinking while it dried out. After it was boiled, the starfish turned a bright orange--which is probably why all the dried out starfish for decoration are orange, not purple.

The treasures were definitely exciting to find.

We also got to go to some tide pools while we were along the coast. I have always wanted to see tide pools--so this outing was a real treat! The tide pools are the little pockets of water between the rocks that stay with a little water while the ocean tide recedes. At high tide, they are completely covered with sea water and at low tide, we could see some of the secrets of the sea.

Dear Moc, the picture below is a colony of star fish. Sorry for the glare, but we were on slippery rocks covered in seaweed and I didn't want to take my life into my hands by getting in a different position to get rid of that glare. Love, Min.

Can you see the purple sea anenomes?

And here is a colony of mussels that are stuck to a rock.

We went to the lighthouse--twice--to tour it.

The first time it was closed and the second time we learned that no one under 42 inches could tour it.

David was quite broken hearted! He was really looking forward to going inside the light house.

Since that day, David has mentioned a few times the day when he'll be "bigger" or "big to go inside the lighthouse." That boy has a memory!

Oh, how we loved our trip to Oregon! We're glad that Aaron and Kristina got married, and that they got married in such a lovely place to visit.

More Oregon Fun

2011-07-03T16:06:00.000-08:00

After the wedding festivities, things settled down a little bit and we were able to enjoy the Oregon coast. We were staying in Newport, which is 3 hours south of Portland, in a large home that accommodated all of us under one roof. It was the perfect arrangement!

Before the newlyweds left on their honeymoon, Uncle Aaron took a swing at a pinata

. . . and successfully smashed it to smitherines.

Much to the sugary delight of all the kids--big and little--candy was everywhere!

One of the highlights of our stay in Oregon was a visit to none other than . . .

a cheese factory!

This little guy was in absolute heaven.

Once he knew what was upstairs, there was no holding him back.

Look at that delight at all of those blocks of cheese! We were at the Tillamook cheese factory in Tillamook, Oregon. I have a new appreciation now for all of the Tillamook dairy products we see in the grocery store.

After we finished watching the assembly line, Nana quickly made a buddy out of our cheese-loving boy. David went through the sample line at least three times with different adults. He was in pure heaven. And just for the record, my favorite cheese was Black Pepper in smoked cheddar. We bought the "end cuts" in the retail store, and we wish we had brought back a whole stash and not just a small little package.

We couldn't get enough of this place. We also enjoyed their ice cream while we were there--yummy!

While we were in Oregon, we also celebrated a birthday.

Here is the birthday boy and the birthday boy wannabe. I'll let you guess who is who.

I forgot to take candles for the cake, so the birthday cake experience seemed a little dull until someone suggested that Sam take a bite out of it.

Monkey see, monkey do.

This looks like David is stuffing cake in his Daddy's face, but really he is wiping it off with a napkin.
He kept saying, "Hold still. I'm wiping your face."

Portland--Wedding

2011-06-26T20:02:00.002-08:00

One beautiful June day in Portland we were at the temple for Sam's youngest brother, Aaron, to attend the marriage to his darling bride, Kristina. It was a beautiful day and a very special occasion!

And some of this from the newlyweds:

But David didn't let them have all the fun--he got in on some of it, too.

Keeping track of David on the temple grounds was a little like tacking jello to a tree.

We bribed him with cheese sticks.

And took him on walks.

This boy was in motion for the entire day.

And he was absolutely thrilled about it.

Occasionally we caught up with him, but it took the entire family to keep track of the little guy--including Uncle Hanson, Maggie, Pappy, Nana, and well, just about everyone else, too.

After the ceremony and pictures, we left the temple grounds to attend a dinner in honor of the new Mr. and Mrs. A formal dinner, of course, required more holding still. Every 15 minutes or so, David and I would walk around the hotel lobby and ride the elevator to mix things up a little. The ride was especially fun in this glass elevator.

A week prior to his wedding, Aaron graduated from the US Naval Academy--so at his wedding dinner, they were greeted with military honors.

Kevin and Carie weren't letting them pass until they were satisfied with the couple's kiss.

Speaking of Kevin and Carie--they were wonderful! They helped chase David around, and I'm not sure that David ever found out that they are actually family friends (he referred to them as Aunt and Uncle, along with the other family members he met while we were at the wedding.) As far as David was concerned, they were as good as gold.

The brothers took their last chance to impart words of wisdom to Aaron.

And one last picture of the siblings.

It was a beautiful occasion, and we were so happy to be part of it!

Congratulations, Aaron and Kristina.

Camping in Denali National Park

2011-06-26T18:10:00.001-08:00

Leading in to Memorial Day Weekend, my parents came to Alaska to tour the state and visit us. We only had five days with them before we flew out to Oregon for a family wedding, but that's how the deals and tickets rolled on this trip.

David was absolutely thrilled for this "vacation" as he kept calling it.

He was especially excited about riding in the RV.

And he was elated to have Daddy's (mostly) undivided attention. (We're still trying to readjust to Daddy's work schedule returning since we've come home.)

We headed up to Denali National Park and found a gorgeous campsite with just enough roaming space for a little boy in brown boots. By "camping" I mean sharing and RV with our little family, my parents, and my 16-year old sister. It was camping in style--and sure beat going up to Denali in the Corolla.

Of course we had to have a campfire for an evening. Here is Grandma helping David stay a safe distance from the fire. Throwing pine cones into the fire was a much better alternative than the rocks that he originally wanted to add to the fire ring.

Daddy taught David how to roast a marshmallow.

As it turns out, teaching a 2-year old to safely poke a stick into a fire is a lot more stressful than you'd think.

But in the end, David was happy with the result. The funny thing was that he carried the s'more around and didn't hardly even nibble at it. Apparently the fun is in making it, and our little guy thinks eating it is overrated.

We were in Denali National Park for some of the most gorgeous days we've had all summer.
Which is one of the reasons why we had such a fantastic time on our whitewater ride down the Nenana River.

Dad has taken my siblings and I on several whitewater rides over the years. This was Sam's first time, and based on his love for roller coasters I should have guessed that he would love it. I've been on river runs like this probably four different times now--and this was the first time I wasn't a teensy bit afraid to get into the boat!

On Memorial Day, we rode the bus into the park. The entire road wasn't ready yet, it wouldn't be opened for summer traffic until a week after we left, but we got to go half way. We saw lots of wildlife and gorgeous scenery on our 6 hour bus ride. Unfortunately, we did not actually see Denali while we were driving. We'll have to go back sometime when the road all the way to Wonder Lake is open. David was an absolute champ on the long bus ride. And at the few rest stops we were able to take, he did a little exploring, too.

Here he is with Caribou antlers.

On the ride we saw a brown bear, dall sheep, snowshoe hare, a ptarmigan, caribou, moose, and an eagle. And while the close-up view was of low-brush tundra and taiga (so it was a little plain) the long distance view was of braided rivers against stunning mountain ranges.

We saw a whole flock of the dall sheep, but this guy posed for us right outside our bus window.

This mama moose and her two calves were wandering around our campsite. They were right next to the road one evening while we were trying to leave. After we waited for them to move and they didn't, we finally just slowly drove the RV past them. This is (hopefully) the closest we will ever be to a cow and her spring calves. No zoom on this picture--they were just a few feet from the window where I was with my camera.

Denali is truly an impressive sight! It has an ascension of 18,000 feet--because the base begins at 2,000 feet above sea level and the peak is just over 20,000 feet. However, you really have to catch it on a clear day to see the full magnificence of it. Clouds were obscuring most of the mountain, but we often saw the peak above the clouds.

And this is for anyone who wants to know what mountain man Sam looks like.
I'm not a fan of facial hair on my man--and lucky for me, he's not either. But we both conceded for 6 days while we were camping--here's proof.

While We Were Away

2011-06-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

We saw this:

With them:

And did some of this:

Then we rode this:

To go here:

And see these lovebirds:

And enjoy this:

And this:

Now we are home and I am sorting out the 500+ pictures we captured. Please pardon the delay--we'll be back to blogland soon!

A Little Sick

2011-05-22T17:34:00.001-08:00

Poor fella. In the two weeks before we left for our trips, David caught a bug that quickly turned to pneumonia. The doctor and call-in nurse gave us a stern warning about taking him back in if it got any worse, so we passed on trying any of our tricks when he woke up with wheazy breathing and a chest that was moving really fast. We headed to the ER, and by the time we got there the cold air had opened his lungs up again. When we left our house, David was a very sick little boy. By the time we got checked in to the ER, David was a playful kid who was happy to be at a party (the hospital) in the middle of the night. The docs cleared him to go home after a couple of hours. As we left, the ER staff thanked us for bringing in their most entertaining patient all week.

When David is sick, he is pretty much his good-natured-self until his fever really spikes. He turns into a cuddler, too. I hate to say it, but David's sick days are some of my favorite since he's calm, happy and cuddles all day with his Mama. I don't get anything else done, but the cuddles make up for that. A couple of times, I caught David lying on the floor like this picture or holding onto his head like it was about to fall off.

As soon as we came back from our trip, David came down with another respiratory bug. Now we're through that, and I am trying to become an expert on how to strengthen my toddler's immune system.

Swimming

2011-05-15T17:33:00.000-08:00

All through the winter months, David and I have enjoyed twice weekly outings to the local water park.

I go there to do some water jogging (they open up the lazy river--9 laps is a mile) and David comes along for the ride. He has charmed the other swimmers, most of them older ladies. He has tried to charm the grumpy life guards, but I don't think they are morning people. We're still working on that one--I'm sure he can wear them down eventually. The older ladies that fall for his charm like to surprise David with small gifts. One of them gave him the duck he is holding--it has a football helmet and it squirts water out the beak. Another lady occasionally brings David a plate of cookies to take home. All of the swimmers know our names as David and David's mom.

I sure love this little boy and all the fun outings we get to enjoy every week!

Yard Pass

2011-05-08T15:54:00.002-08:00

Family Night on Monday was spent raking the grass in hopes of hurrying the green along. Our yard looks a little more perky now and our garden soil is ready to be planted.

David was thrilled to use the rake.

Through the course of the rest of the week, David went out to the backyard as often as he could. I love having a fenced in yard where he can play to his heart's content! On this particular day, David came in and asked for a "picnic."

Strawberries and soup filled his tummy.

All of it together made for a very happy little boy.

Dear Nana,

2011-05-01T23:29:00.000-08:00

David absolutely positively loves his new blanket.

It fits perfectly on his new bed.

Now he requests to be wrapped up in his new blanket.

He can feel the love you sent along with it.

Neighborly

2011-05-01T22:00:00.001-08:00

David likes to poke his finger through the fence and say hi to the doggie next door.

On this particular day, he had the last of his Easter candy outside with him.

You can see how he felt about the pup taking him up on his neighborly offering of his very last jelly bean.

I have a feeling that those two are going to be good playmates this summer.

Another good friend featured in this picture is that pair of rubber boots. Now that we have transitioned out of snow boots, these puddle splashers go everywhere with us. The good news is that they keep his feet dry. Now if I could just find my own pair of rubber boots to wear when I'm holding hands with my puddle jumper, perhaps my feet and pants would stay as dry as his.

Clue

2011-04-24T23:29:00.001-08:00

It was David.

At the bathroom door.

With a paint can opener.

I admit it. We have an extremely capable two-year old. Not a lot of capacity to make wise choices--but he can do anything he sets his mind to. In this instance, he wanted to be on the other side of the bathroom door where Daddy was showering. Can you believe that he grabbed a tool and figured out how to unlock the door?!? This is only the beginning. Very few things are out of David's reach any more. He can get anywhere his little mind decides he wants to go.

In hopes that he would stop his front yard escapades that he tried as soon as I stepped into the shower--we decided to put one of these on the front door:

It lasted for 8.5 hours.

And the only reason it lasted that long was because David was asleep for the first 8 hours.

For my shower time, I have finally given in to belting David in to his high chair (the last remaining restraint that works on him) and putting on Mr. Rogers. The doc was so impressed at his 2-yr appointment when I checked the box that said David watches "0" hours of TV every week. He took his glasses off and told me how great that was. *Sigh* No longer. This took a lot out of me--to put my little guy in front of pbskids.org for 30 minutes every morning. But alas, if I didn't entertain him while he sat in his high chair then he would have that seat belt figured out by now. And every day we can avoid that is a victory in my book.

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T20:44:00.009-08:00

To kick off our Easter festivities, we had to buy a token box of Peeps.

What a spring sensation those things are!

As Sam pointed out, "They taste . . . yellow."

And we had a good time dying just a few eggs.

David was pleased as punch when he figured out how to use the little tool.

On Saturday morning, we hosted an Easter Egg Hunt and Potluck brunch with friends.

It's a tradition we had growing up with Grandparents and cousins; I simply realized that if I wanted to carry on the tradition, I would have to expand my definition of family. We met at a local park and 47 friends joined us. It seemed like a warm enough morning at 47 degrees, but when you stand in it for 2 hours it gets a lot colder than if you are simply running errands in that same temperature. So many of our guests froze--but most stayed to the bitter end, so I guess the cold was worth the fun. I really enjoyed the gathering of so many dear friends! I really wish I had a photo of the crowd.

It took David a while to figure out the "hunt."

He wanted to open, examine, and eat the contents of each egg.

We finally convinced him to just open the eggs and dump the contents out.

By this time, David had the hang of things and he couldn't be bothered with looking at the camera. He kept looking for more eggs. Notice those cheeks full of candy.

Finally a (forced, cheesy) smile for the camera.

David's face was covered in cheetoh dust by the time we left, his hands and feet were wet and cold, he was on a sugar high and he still hadn't had enough of the playground. All of that made for a very fun picnic.

Of course we celebrated the true meaning of Easter as well. But the camera doesn't really have a place when you are telling your 2-year old about Jesus praying in the garden and being resurrected. I loved my sister in law's idea of making a garden tomb diorama out of salt playdough--I know just the tradition that is in order for next year at Easter.

How grateful we feel that the tomb was empty on that third day, and that Christ triumphed over all!

Sleep Equation

2011-04-17T23:01:00.003-08:00

Add all of this up:

A new bed PLUS a little sickness PLUS a spring on his bottom after figuring out that his new bed was very easy to get out of PLUS a lot more daylight PLUS darkening shades in his room MINUS too dark when he stirred in the night PLUS a nightlight EQUALS not enough sleep happening around our house for a whole month.

Which is equal to a cranky toddler and greater than a very tired mother.

Our non-sleeper-who-started-keeping-a-newborn-schedule-by-waking-me-up-on-the-hour-every-night started finding all kinds of new antics when he was supposed to be sleeping.

Like creative ways to attach puzzle pieces to his leg.

Or learning to undress himself.

The problem was that he couldn't get the puzzle piece off or the clothes back on--so he came out of his room long after naptime had begun to beg for help.

Closer to spring

2011-04-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

Compared to last month's stroll, we're getting a little closer to beautiful outdoors.

We will welcome the greenery and new life when it finally settles in our town.

A few favorites

2011-04-10T19:25:00.000-08:00

"Upsies"--instead of "oops" or "oopsies."

Do by sewf--usually said with all caps, but I will spare my computer screen the yelling effect. He likes to walk in and out of the house, climb into the car, get dressed, wipe up spills (yeah!), put his dishes in the sink (double yeah!), get in and out of the tub . . . you name it, Mr. Independent likes to do it by himsewf. I've only drawn the line on one thing--mama gets to be the one to take the diaper on and off.

David: I WANT WATER!!!!
Mom: Can you find a nicer way to say that?
David: (candy-sweet, sing-songy, high pitched voice) Please mama, wat-uh please.
We love the double please. Sometimes it's funny to hear how he rephrases things. For example, today during church.
David: I WANT DADDY!!!
Mom: Say that nicely, please. (Didn't get a chance to mention quietly while I was at it.)
David: (In his high-pitched voice that is far from a whisper) Please, Mama. No more mama's arms please.

"right now"--I can't quite do this one justice, but this is his term when he is drawing an absolute for us. Like if he's saying he doesn't want something "No kisses right now!" or if he is demanding something "I need cheese right now!"

Sometimes David is Mr. Manners. There was a time that he said "excuse me" every time he made a noise. Or when he heard an out of place noise.
David burps. "Excuse me."
The house creaks. "Excuse me."
A rock hits the windshield. "Excuse me."
Another rock hits the windshield a minute later. "Excuse me."

He has a few unpleasantries as well. "Stop it!" "NO!" "Ahhhhhhh!" and "MINE" to name a few. What can I say? He's a well-rounded kid.

Just for good measure, here's our silly boy.

Big Boy Bed

2011-04-03T19:16:00.001-08:00

When we brought the bed into our house, David had a lot to say about the prospect of sleeping in a new bed. Unfortunately, we couldn't quite understand his words--but the sobbing made it clear that he didn't want anything to do with his new bed. He especially let us know of his dislike for it when Daddy tried to take it upstairs to his room. So we left the new piece of furniture in our living room for a few days while he had a chance to climb on it and see what it was all about.

After 3 days, Daddy got David to "help" him move it upstairs to his room--and this time he was ready. We got the mattress and bedding on, but it took a few more nights before David fell asleep in his big boy bed. Three more nights, and he would lay down in his new bed, but then climb back to the crib when he was ready to fall asleep.

On the 7th night, I climbed into his new bed with him and we cuddled, read stories, and sang songs together for 45 minutes. That was just the connection he needed. He slept in his bed that night, and he helped me put away the "baby bed" the very next day.

Encore! Encore!

2011-04-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

Enjoy our little performer!

Brisk

2011-03-27T17:04:00.038-08:00

Images of spring popping up around the rest of the country make me wish for the same here. We are in the middle of breakup--which means there are plenty of snowmelt mud puddles for toddler size 6 boots to find. The puddles and roads freeze over at night then by mid-day they begin to melt and drain away. On a clear day, the air feels nearly springy and even a little warm (high 30's).

With all of this, we decided to take a brisk stroll along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. It was colder than we planned--but we really enjoyed it just the same.

At the beginning of the trail, we found this furry friend eating that tree. (When homeowners plant new trees, they put up circular fences around their baby foliage until the bottom branches reach 8-10 feet--just high enough to be out of reach for the moose.) Baby moose wasn't moving--until the Alaska Railroad cars passed by us. Then he sauntered over to Mama Moose who was laying in the brush about 100 yards away. We were glad for the train horn.

Here are Daddy and David in front of West Chester Lagoon, with the Chugach Mountains in the background. We love the views!

The winter time downtown city scape:

As we left the parking lot, Mama Moose gave us another close-up view. I can never quite get over how large these animals are!

Gymnastics

2011-03-20T14:16:00.001-08:00

One of our frequent play places around town is at gymnastics. We started attending this gymnasium about a year ago--and now it is one of David's favorite places.

He looks annoyed at the camera because--well, he was. Who has time to stop for pictures when your'e hard at work playing!?! I especially like this outing because it gives David a chance to run and expend all the energy packed into his pint-size.

Showcasing our 2-year old

2011-03-06T22:28:00.000-09:00

Tonight we had the Elders to dinner. David turned up the energy level before, during and after their visit. He wanted to drum while we were chatting, he ran around purposely running into walls to hear himself create a loud bang, and we had a hard time convincing him to eat his dinner. He wanted to stay where the action was--with our guests--so of course he didn't want to go over and play nicely while the adults talked. When he grew bored (read: saw the attention had turned away from him) while eating dinner, he kept putting his feet on top of the table. Sooooo not okay with this mama. The crowning moment was when he slowly raised his foot above the table to show all of us that he was succesfully holding his fork with his toes. It was such a "Ta-dah!" moment for him. For me, I still giggle at the memory. I hope he didn't see us laughing so that trick won't appear again at our table. As the Elders left, one of them said, "Sleep well, David. Your parents are going to be happy when you go to bed." I had to laugh--mostly because it was true. I was worn out.

On Wednesday night we had a missionary couple in to our home to complete our adoption home study for our ongoing adoption paperwork. Before they came, I talked to David about taking turns in talking at the dinner table, and that we need to respect our guests. Part of the couples' job was to see us as parents--so our parenting felt like it was on parade a little bit.

David read the memo. He was absolutely charming. He finished his dinner without incident, and he let the adults talk without trying to interrupt. As we finished dinner, Daddy asked David in a very excited voice, "David, do you want to go to bed!?!" To which David replied with an emphatic "Yes!!!" It was so unexpected and it brought the rest of us to doubling over in laughter. He stayed in his bed the first time we put him down, and that was the last we saw of him for the evening.

Thank you, little buddy for making it all look fun and easy on the night it counted.

Running with the Reindeer

2011-03-06T21:44:00.002-09:00

About 76 years ago, a festival began in Anchorage where people would come to town to unload their furs. It turned into a town celebration, and in the past two weeks we have had a chance to participate in just a few of the dozens of activities around Fur Rondy.

Last weekend we saw an ice skating show that had local skaters, youngest being 18 months old and a few professionals they brought in as well. It was a fun evening!

David especially liked the music, the lights flashing across the ice arena and the zamboni. He also liked it when all the smallest kids came out dressed as animals.

I liked the skating and the fact that the crowd was much more tame than the hockey crowds we have seen in town.

Even more exciting was this weekend, when Sam was signed up to run with the reindeer. It's true. The fourth annual "Running with the Reindeer" in Anchorage, AK and Sam took part. David and I watched.

There were more than a thousand runners signed up, and they looked like a crowd out of a "Where's Waldo" book. They were a little bit of everyone in town.

I mean everyone.

The good news is that we found Waldo. All of them, in fact.

The "race" went like this. They had five heats. The announcer called the heat participants up to the center of an intersection, and told everyone in the heat to start running. Then they would unleash about eight reindeer to run with the crowd. The reindeer are no bigger than shetland ponies, and they were plenty anxious to get out of that crowd. So they ran. And the people ran with them--for about four blocks. Then the reindeer were gathered again and marched back to the starting line for the next heat.

I'm glad they came parading back like this, because we couldn't see them when the crowds were running with them. And we had a little boy that was trying to be as patient as he could be to see reindeer.

The timing went something like this: Wait for 10 minutes while the people in the heat gathered; 90 seconds of excitement while they ran, then wait another 15 minutes while they brought the reindeer back to start over. So there was a lot of waiting.

We found a perfect patch of snow for David to play in while we waited. He was happy as a clam. His whole game was trying to stand up in spite of the stiffness of his snow gear. The crowds were so loud, I couldn't hear him. He looked stuck, like he needed help. I bent over to ask him, "David, are you happy or sad?" He replied in his cheery voice each time, so I guess it was his fun to be stuck in the snow like that. He even gathered a crowd of about 8 people that started cheering on his efforts to stand up in the snow.

The only red nose we found was on this guy:

Today when David mentions the reindeer he saw, he quickly adds that they were too loud. We went past the announcer's truck with loud speakers--and yes that was too loud for our ears.

We didn't see Sam in the actual run--we just met back at the car. But he says that he touched the reindeer and that two of them clipped their heels right in front of him.

Clearly David loved the reindeer antlers Daddy brought home for him.

Iditarod 39

2011-03-06T20:49:00.000-09:00

We went to see the dog mushers begin their race again this year.

Of course David loved watching the dogs run past in teams.

He helped cheer on the mushers, dogs and Idita-riders. (The people that get to ride in the sled through town for the ceremonial start.)

Here is a truck that hauls the dogs around when they are not on the trails.

We really like being around this culture. Sam's Great-uncle Charlie ran the Iditarod in its early days!

Snow Play

2011-02-27T23:58:00.000-09:00

Fun in the white stuff--I'm grateful for a backyard where David can go outside for 10-15 minutes of play and I don't have to be out in the cold with him.

This boy was built for the arctic climate. No matter how cold it is out there, he never wants to come in and get warm.

Brawl Baby

2011-02-27T22:55:00.000-09:00

I'm going to make a confession. Our little guy isn't perfect. And here's how I know.

At the very end of nursery today he started pulling on another little boy's coat--he even went so far as to unzip it for him and try to take it off of him. Poor little friend--he was very confused why he was getting all of this abuse when all he was doing was standing there, ready to go home from church. From across the room I saw the problem and ran over to intervene. By the time I reached him, David was in tears--heartbroken and even angry. I started to explain to David that this little boy had a coat just like David's--and that David's coat was still hanging up in the coat closet in another part of the church building. David wasn't consoled until he was snuggled into his own identical coat as the one he tried to rip off of his little friend.

Coats are serious business in Alaska. You can't just passively watch someone else leave the building wearing your coat when the wind chill factor is lingering around 0*. Since coming home from church, David has grasped that this little boy has the same coat as he does--because several times he has said his little friend's name in a sweet voice, and babbled on about his coat. So I think now he likes the idea that they share that in common.

But this wasn't David's first time in a tussle today. While he was in nursery, I stepped in to deliver the copies for the wee ones to color after their lesson. David didn't know I was in the room, and I heard, "David don't push C" I looked over, and sure enough a little boy was sitting on the ground and David was standing over him with a guilty complex. I chose to watch for a second. David let the little boy get up, then he looked him squarely in the eyes and said, "Sorry" in the most sincere voice. Then he hugged him.

I was so glad that I hadn't intervened--because I got to see what my boy is made of. All those times of taking David through the motions of feeling remorse somehow paid off when I watched him do it by himself. He did his best to make things right.

And I was so very proud.

I take that back. My little guy is perfect.

In David's defense, he generally is not a hitter or pusher. I dont' know what provoked the pushing incident today--it is completely uncharacteristic of our tender hearted boy. Having said that, I cannot think that my little guy is never at fault for the typical pushing and shoving that happens at this age. David felt challenged twice today, and he responded accordingly both times.

Heart Day

2011-02-15T23:23:00.001-09:00

I waffle back and forth on whether or not Valentine's Day means anything to me. When I was growing up, my dad would leave a card on the hearth for mom--with a sticky note inside that said "Happy Valentine's Day 1994." Then he would take the note off and reuse the same card the next year. Of course all of this was in jest for a holiday called a "Hallmark holiday" at our house.

The other side of me says, "Hey, if it's a day to share love and feel loved, then I'm on board." So I think I'll eventually establish all kinds of fun traditions with our family. Our first year married, I prepared a heart-shaped pizza picnic on the floor of our college apartment. So I can make it fun if I plan something.

This year we ended Valentine's Day with a family night around decorating cookies.

David seemed to like it.

Next year I'll ramp it up a bit and serve red food or heart shaped pancakes to my family.

Music Time at the Zoo

2011-02-13T22:09:00.003-09:00

Anchorage is a town that knows how to entertain residents. I have never lived in a community with so many opportunities to get out and do things. We have outings every day, since David is a little live wire right now. Often we'll run into the same group of moms and tots at the gymnastics arena and the zoo, or at the library and the pool. It makes it easy to entertain our little guy.

Sometimes we'll walk through the zoo to the greenhouse, where they host a half hour of music time for toddlers and preschoolers. You can see the lady in the background who leads the singing--she has a bucket full of small musical instruments for the kids to participate and she takes requests from the crowd. After she leads singing for a half our, she has an "open mic" session where any aspiring starlet can perform.

At first David wasn't too sure about the singing time--he held onto a "clapper" and seriously looked around at everyone else singing along, dancing, and making noise with the instruments.

During "open mic" he loosened up a bit to experiment with more of the instruments.

Music time at the zoo is a winning combination. David loves visiting the polar bears, wolverine, moose, musk oxen, eagles and alpaca on our way to the green house. The Alaska Zoo has cold-climate animals so they are especially active during the winter months.

Music is really David's thing. He has his own set of musical instruments at home, and he likes to dance to music. Our no-fail trick to get David to be patient in the car for a few more minutes of driving is to offer to sing another song. He has learned his ABC's--because it is a song. (Well, mostly. He skips LMNOP, but he has the rest in perfect order.) If you ask David what song he wants you to sing, he will reply, "Ummm, a Jesus song." So those primary songs are well loved in our repertoire.

At the end of every piano lesson I teach (I go to my students' homes) David takes a turn on the keyboard. He has down the "one note, one finger" mantra so it sounds a little better than just banging on the keys.

I love our little musician.

"Do Bow-ing"

2011-02-09T23:02:00.000-09:00

One particular date night turned family night was a real hit with David. He loved the lights, the ball, the fact that we "take turns," the special shoes--he's been begging for more since we introduced him to "bow-ing."

A few times we have improvised by setting up plastic containers in our family room and using a big soft ball to knock them over. It holds the little guy over, but David is very excited for the next time we head into a bowling alley.

Family Night

2011-02-06T21:42:00.000-09:00

Family Night is something that we have consistently done every Monday--a tradition we started when we were first married. Of course since David has been in our family, he has been part of this night. And he loves it.

Here's the order of a typical family night:

Daddy welcomes us, we have opening song and opening prayer. (1-2 minutes)
We have a lesson. (2 minutes, now that David is 2)
We have a special talent. David counts to 10, identifies colors, "jumps too high" or says his ABC's--anything to get another round of rousing cheers from Mom and Dad. (3 minutes)
Sing primary songs. (3-4 minutes)
We have a closing prayer. (1 minute)
Then . . . and this is our favorite part . . . we play games. Rousing games like ring around the rosies, wash the dishes dry the dishes throw the dishes away, tickle fights and a game that David invented called "stand up sit down." (This is when David leads us in standing up or sitting down, each in our respective chair. He loves having command of whether his parents are standing or sitting.) The games portion of family night lasts as long as everything else we do, combined. So it's about 10 minutes of sitting still and 10 minutes of playing games.

Recently David has been asking for "family night" every night right as we finish eating dinner. And we are more than happy to oblige.

Number 2

2011-01-30T22:05:00.001-09:00

Someone had a birthday this week.

To kick off the celebration we brought home a balloon late Saturday night. Almost as quickly as David could get his hands on it, the balloon went straight to the highest point of our house.

Hero Daddy saved the day.

The retrieval was so fun that somehow the balloon has found its way back to that corner several times this week. In fact, it's up there now, as I write this.

These little guys showed up in the mail from cute Aunt Tanya and Cousin Cayson. David says thank you from the bottom of his red-footed pajamas.

David was absolutely thrilled with his celebration friends (and all of their darling little party hats).

The morning of his birthday, I put streamers dangling from David's door for him to run through when he came out of his room. I left to go to my usual early morning gym time, and by the time I came back the streamers were down. Apparently they were a real hit--I'll take Sam's word for it. I meant to repeat the fun for naptime, but I didn't get around to it. Next year I'll have to hang around to watch my son's glee.

Last year David's birthday was so hectic. I remember having a special dinner and cake--but by the time we finished with all of that in one evening, David was overwhelmed and tired, and it was way past his bedtime. We didn't open presents until the following night because the day proved to be a little too much excitement.

So this year I was ready. And we celebrated this little guy's birthday all week long. The night before his birthday we pulled out the ice cream--because he kept asking for some. We stuck a candle in his bowl, and he had so much fun blowing it out that we lit it several times.

So on his birthday the dinner menu was pigs in a blanket (with lil' smokies) and a fruit salad with lots of whip cream and pudding mixed in. David liked the fruit salad and he kept calling it ice cream. At the end of the day when we had already eaten plenty of sugar we skipped the real ice cream. The birthday boy didn't know--he was happy to have that creamy salad. We now call that salad "ice cream salad" at our house.

We have a weekly playgroup we get together with--it's a group of moms with all of our babies within six months of each other. It just so happened that I hosted the playgroup on David's special day--so I made a banana cake (not frosted--just like banana bread) and prepared goody bags to hand out to the other little friends. I kept insisting that I wasn't going to throw a "friend party" for my 2-year old--I'm going to wait until he's older and it matters to him--but Sam thinks our playgroup was an all-out party. We definitely had fun together, David felt special and he loved having his friends over. But I didn't have to send out invitiations, do decorations, or host games--so I think I got by without actually throwing a party. I loved watching David willingly hand out the party bags as people were leaving. His friends had brought him gifts, and his tender heart was more than happy to share something special in return.

To end, here is the birthday boy blowing out (more) candles.

Step 1: Take a deep breath.

Step 2: Give them a good blow.

Step 3: Request "ooooooooooone mo' mime" while you wag that little finger in the air for emphasis.

Step 4: Repeat as necessary.

And we did. After all, we had a whole box of matches.

And one very excited birthday boy.

I couldn't think of any other way I would rather spend my evening than to watch David blow out candle after candle after candle.

Oh, and the mint brownies were good too--when we finally got around to it. Sam and I enjoyed them, but David skipped the dessert. His fun was blowing out so many candles.

Taking Turns

2011-01-25T22:09:00.001-09:00

I couldn't see David while he was playing alone the other day, but this is what I kept on hearing:

David: Counting to 10.
David: "David's turn!"
David: "Yeah David!!" and clapping.
Near-silence for a minute or so.
Then repeat the sequence, beginning with 1 . 2 . 3 . . .

After this went on for several minutes I peeked around the corner.

David had the cushions off and he was jumping on the bare couch. I was thrilled to realize that he was practicing taking turns for the trampoline at the gymnastics arena we frequently visit.

Or maybe he was basking in the fun of every turn being David's turn. No waiting on someone else to finish jumping.

We have daily outings these days for David to expend this kind of energy. In one big surge, he seems to be more of a rough-housing, jumping, bouncing, all-boy-kind-of-boy. My friend told me it was normal, that 2 years is a time when testosterone surges in a little boy's body, and that's where his little boy-ness is accentuated.

Yup. We're right there at that surge. I can't wait for warm weather to hit so we can give this boy some good backyard playtime.

The Negotiator

2011-01-18T21:21:00.000-09:00

Sam and I were both engaged in our own activities in the living room when we paused to hear the expression our little boy had been saying for the last 5 to 7 minutes. This is what we heard and saw:

While shaking his index finger, he said "Ooooone mo' mime."

Translation: Oooooone more time.

Then he climbed up the back of the couch and came tumbling over it.

. . . landing in some funny contortion, pleased as punch with his acrobatics.

Then that little finger would go in the air as he excitedly negotiated--

"Ooooone mo' mime"

And the fun began again.

We laughed so hard when we clued in to David's fun.

And in case you are wondering--yes, this went on all evening.

Yes, Please

2011-01-12T23:17:00.000-09:00

The twos are upon us. Terrible or terrific? I will tend to the "terrific" term, although I can see the challenges that bring about the "terrible" reputation of this age. We are in the middle of the most oft repeated phrase at our house, "NO MAMA!" or "NO DADDY!" (caps intended for accuracy).

Before he decided to be so contrary, he was a sweet little guy with manners. In those days, David's most used phrase was "Yes, please."

David, do you want some cheese? "Yes please."
David, should we go buh-bye? "Yes please."
David, can I have a hug? "Yes please."
David, do you want to be tickled? "Yes please."

Sweetest thing in the world to hear our little toddler voice respond so frequently with a "Yes please." Then he learned to say NO. And everything changed.

But this past week he seemed to remember how nice it was to say "yes please" to everything. I was so glad to see it come back! For a whole week we had a refreshing oasis of "yes, please."

But alas. He's back to the negatory.

Thank you, kind little sir, for your good manners. Is there anything we can do to coax them to stick around?

The Sleep Chronicles

2011-01-10T15:08:00.000-09:00

In December, David suddenly stopped being the excellent sleeper he has always been. He would cry and cry when we put him down, and if he awoke in the middle of the night it was very hard for him to go back to sleep. Add the factor of the flu in the middle of the month, and it was very hard for me to know when he was crying with a need and when he just needed to go back to sleep. Of course that falling back to sleep part was a struggle, even when he was exhausted in the middle of the night.

I was clueless as to why the sleep pattern had changed.

Then it dawned on me. At the beginning of December, we had a fast cold spell. We had a balmy November, which immediately changed to an extremely cold December. The fast change gave all of us chapped hands. David's hands got chapped too--including his beloved thumb. His thumb developed sores between the cold weather, dry air and his sucking on it. Because of the pain, David dropped his thumb sucking habit. All on his own; just like that.

Enter his ability to soothe himself to sleep. I finally put it together that with David's dropped thumb sucking, he also lost his way to put himself to sleep. Or to calm himself back to sleep when he stirred in the night.

I am happy to report that after a month of trying everything we knew, we finally have a boy that goes to sleep well. And the thumb sucking looks like it is gone for good.

Good riddance to that thumb! Welcome back, good sleeper.

Colors

2011-01-07T16:48:00.000-09:00

Cold weather outside means more activities inside.

Our budding artist makes sure he's had the full experience before he's done.

I'm pretty sure that means he experiences it with all five senses.

Keeping it Real--Our December

2011-01-03T21:59:00.000-09:00

December began with Sam taking a test for his Certified Internal Auditor License. When Sam studies for a test, it is an intense juggling act with all of his responsibilities, late nights, early mornings, and overall exhausting. He passed! We feel blessed. One down, three to go.

Then I agreed to do a last-minute wedding cake for a friend. I realized how much I love the creative outlet of decorating cakes. It's my "craft" to share with others I love, and my friends don't feel obligated to hang it on a wall or wear it when I see them next.

After the wedding cake was delivered, a flu bug hit. Then it just wanted to hang around, even bouncing back and forth between members of our little family. I cuddled David and laid on the couch while I stared at the unopened boxes of Christmas decor that I still intended to put up.

We put up the tree and decorated the house this year on December 20. Next year I'm going to start the tradition of doing the tree on Thanksgiving morning.

Then we had more recovery time, laying low, and regaining strength from other health challenges that suddenly arose. It's a new year, and things are looking up now.

By the time Christmas came around, I felt that we had done so very little to get into the festive spirit of the season. Due to illness, I missed the ward Christmas party and the ward Christmas Sacrament meeting--and I truly missed them. This was a holiday season that I didn't have energy to orchestrate the normal festivities. So I prayed to find meaning in the season anyway.

I was reminded that the Lord answers prayers. He blessed me with friends that included our family in their festivities. More friends that stopped in for a holiday visit, made timely phone calls, and brought hot meals to our family. They didn't know how much we needed their kindness. But Father in Heaven heard my prayers and my needs. And my friends heard Him.

I learned that we celebrate so much more than the birth in Bethlehem. We celebrate the Living Christ, and His power to heal, to love, to lift, and to offer peace. Our home has received all of that during the month of December. So in that sense, our hearts truly rejoiced in our Savior's birth. We equally celebrated His life, His atoning sacrifice and His resurrection. We love Him.

(Stay tuned for lots of "ketchup" posting--I'll get November and December posts up as quickly as I can.)

Sledding Party

2010-12-27T16:05:00.000-09:00

Where: The neighborhood schoolyard

Date and Time: December 27 at 3 pm (see that gorgeous sunset!)

Who: Just our family

What: Free sled rides--unlimited for the 14 minutes we could stand to be outside in 12*

Apparently David was dressed more warmly than his parents--he was all smiles the whole time and cried only when we hinted at going back to the car.

Don't worry, little buddy--we'll go sledding again. When it warms up to a balmy 20*.

When we moved to Anchorage someone told us that cross country skiing is the perfect winter activity "when it warms up to 20*." Gasp. "Warms up to 20!?!" Now I can say that my blood has thickened to these Alaskan winters. I understand! Twenty degrees is glorious weather for outdoor winter fun. If I'm just running in and out of stores, I don't think of buttoning my coat unless it lingers around 0* F.

We held on for all of December to find a day when it reached 20* so we could take David sledding. Granted, even if it had reached warmer temps, we couldn't have gone before we did--so maybe it was good that December was so cold. On the 27th, we finally gave in and took him in spite of the 12*. It was short and sweet. And cold.

The Boy and His Puppy

2010-12-27T07:00:00.001-09:00

On Christmas morning the second gift out of the wrapping was a little puppy that wagged, barked, and walked.

We had to beg David to open more gifts after this because he thought he had the world by the tail with his new furry friend.

In a sense, he did. Sometimes the puppy wagged his tail while David cuddled it. Other times David held onto the tail and let the whole body wag.

A friend in the ward offered to trade us for a day--her little yapping dog for David's Christmas dog. I'm sure that offer would have tempted David, but it didn't tempt me. I'm glad David is so content with his new little pet. And I'm happy that it doesn't need to be fed or cleaned up after. It's a win-win for this house!

Drummer Boys

2010-12-26T09:50:00.000-09:00

During the Christmas Season, I would occasionally sing the carol to David about the Little Drummer Boy. He fell in love with that one particularly. It became his most requested carol for the season--at naptime, especially. On Christmas morning, David was more than thrilled to find his very own drum under the tree.

Priceless.

This one is with Sam smiling too--maybe because David is the third generation of males in our family to take up drumming.

David was so excited to bang on that drum that he hit the drumstick right out of Daddy's hand! (Can you see it in mid-air?)

So here is our in-house drum corps. Sam has resurrected his old drumsticks, and the two make a great pair of percussionists. The animal puppets on Daddy's knee were placed there strategically by David. I tried to move them before I took the picture, but David insisted that his audience stay close.

Merry Christmas, Little Drummer Boy. We love you.

Celebrating Christmas

2010-12-25T21:01:00.001-09:00

Our Christmas was blessed this year by the kindness of friends inviting us to join their families in celebration.

On Christmas Eve we went to Jake and Amy Malouf's home for a mideastern feast, a musical recital by the children in the four families participating, and a reenactment of the nativity. We enjoyed our time with Jake and Amy, Matt and Erica, Jake's parents visiting from Utah, and the Engebretsens. I was especially pleased to watch the recital because two of my piano students were performing--Emma Engebretsen and Abi Malouf. The Maloufs were so gracious to invite us to join them, and they really made us feel comfortable while we were in their home. Christmas week was a big week for our family, and I was especially longing for family. Their hospitality was just what I needed.

As for the nativity--I was a photographer, and Sam and David were sheep.

Here is David with his pal, Barrett. Barret's parents, Matt & Erica, were our good friends in our Pocatello ward before we moved to Anchorage. We were thrilled when they moved their family to Anchorage just in time for Barrett to be born eight days before David. (Not a great picture--but the boys sure are cute!)

On Christmas morning we began the day with our traditional homemade orange rolls. Absolutely melt in your mouth declicious, if I do say so myself. We opened gifts, talked to both sides of our family, tried out our new toys, and enjoyed a quiet afternoon. Dinner was prime rib with twice baked potatoes--and it was wonderfully delicious.

Christmas night we went to our friends' home for crepes and good company. Keith and Cathie Coombs moved to the outskirts of town and have a beautiful home, where they hosted about 20 of us. We enjoyed crepes, then gathered for a sweet Christmas devotional that Cathie had prepared. We topped the evening off with a rousing game of "The Candy Bar Game"--which is a Coombs family special when they host parties!

We truly felt blessed to be surrounded by good friends.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Gingerbread Houses

2010-12-22T22:47:00.001-09:00

Our friends Mark and Lauren Hamm invited us over to make gingerbread houses for family night. Lauren proved she is the "hostess with the mostess" by offering to bake the gingerbread. I told her my secret of glue gunning the house for structural support, just in case she got in a pinch in trying to build them. You just cover the glue with candy and frosting. It's a great little secret--no one ever knows.

David's sweet tooth is emerging a little more lately--but he still put more candy on the house than he put into his mouth.

Daddy and David worked on the house while I worked on a candy train.

This is the final display that graced our home--the gingerbread smelled wonderful, and the candy inspired David to be more of a climber. We combined my candy train with the house that Daddy and David decorated onto the same board, and it complimented each other very nicely.

This is one of my favorite traditions from when I was young, so I was more than excited to accept the Hamms' invitation! It's a tradition that I hadn't started yet in our own little family--but now it is here to stay!

Wedding Cake

2010-12-16T07:45:00.000-09:00

My former boss asked me to make her daughter's wedding cake. She lives in a beautiful home on the hillside--and I meant to stop and take some pictures of the view of Cook Inlet from her backyard. But the thermometer was lingering at 3* and by the time I finished with the cake it was too dark. So I just grabbed a few pictures of the cake on display inside of her house.

After the cake was fully assembled, the bride decided she wanted it moved from the table with the other refreshments. I quietly gulped as I asked where she wanted to move it to. Of course it was my responsibility to safely move it to its final display, but it was a little scary. And very heavy. I was grateful that everything worked out.

Abbe's husband, Willie, is Native Alaskan. He wrote a memoir about his experiences growing up with his Inupiat family near Kotzebue. It was one of the most moving books I read in 2010--and would highly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn more about life as an "eskimo." I mention this because when I went to deliver the cake I met their friend Oscar. He was a visiting guest, quietly taking in the hustle bustle of wedding preparation. I learned that he is a whaling captain from Barrow, and I was honored to meet him because he is among a small handful of "whaling captains" in the state and even in the world. I probably haven't mentioned it before, but I really enjoy rubbing shoulders with the Native Alaskan culture.

I realized a few things in making this particular wedding cake--

I really like to do wedding cakes, even though they are stressful. I like the creative outlet.
Twelve hours before delivery, the wedding cake always looks like a flop. Somehow it never begins to look beautiful until the last hour or two before I deliver it to the blushing bride.
As long as I have a toddler under foot, the last day of making a wedding cake must include a sitter for my little person. A dear friend came over and had a playdate at my house with our boys. Everything else I was able to plan out and do in the week prior while David was sleeping.
Because I didn't want the cake to get in the way of caring for David, I made a detailed schedule of what to do each day during his naptime. Scheduling the minutae is the only way to go for wedding cakes.
The whole project was more fun than I've ever had simply because I took the time to plan and had the time to redo when it was necessary.
Did I mention that I like this as a creative outlet. The bride and her mother really seemed to like the final masterpiece, so I was happy.

Stretching

2010-12-10T23:16:00.001-09:00

More pictures of monkey see, monkey do.

I'm glad it's his Daddy that he tries so hard to mimic.

Brilliance

2010-11-28T17:59:00.001-09:00

Just a peek into what David is learning these days:

He can count to 10 by himself. Sometimes he gets stuck on four or six, but for the most part he sails through. And he knows how to count objects, too. Sometimes kids learn to count as a rhythmic pattern, but David has taken it a step further and he can count objects.
My favorite phrase from David is "piddy ride bat"--translation: "piggy back ride." With such a cute way of asking, he gets one every time.
David knows his left from his right. He consistently gets it correct--and tonight when we quizzed him, he was sitting on his left leg. We asked him where his left foot was, and he had to pull it out from underneath himself to shake it at us while he said, "weft poot" followed by "wight poot."
David has finally found his love--even an excitement--for reading. He brings us books to read ("ead boot") until we have made it through a considerable stack.
David can label many of his body parts--including hard ones like his elbow ("belbow"), chin and cheek. The other day I asked him where his thumb was. He opened his mouth and pointed inside. Hmmmm. Maybe that's the root of his thumb sucking--he thinks his thumb belongs inside of his mouth.

We, in our very un-biased way, happen to think our son is brilliant.

Purple

2010-11-18T11:30:00.000-09:00

Thank you, Great Gramma Allen for "Purple."

David loves his colorful, cuddly friend!

Apprenticeship

2010-11-14T15:34:00.000-09:00

After 15 months with a broken dishwasher, we finally replaced the vintage appliance. David was very excited to help Daddy.

Do you see that sweet affection--David leaning his head against Daddy's arm? David absolutely adores his Daddy. And Daddy lets him show it, even when he's trying to install a new stubborn dishwasher.

In the end, the project was all-hands-on-deck. The pipes had been left unused for so long that we found ourselves running to Home Depot to replace parts of the plumbing. We started installing it one evening, thinking it would be done in a few hours. It took 3 days of running back to the store, calling the manufacturer, and doing research to figure out how to make it work. Of course I was expecting it to work any minute during those 3 days, so I didn't stand there and do too many dishes in that time. By the time we had a working dishwasher, we had 3 full loads to run. We finally found the clogged part, and our new dishwasher is whisper quiet.

Ward Halloween Carnival

2010-11-06T16:39:00.000-08:00

We took David to our Ward's Halloween Carnival on the Saturday before Halloween. We enjoyed hot dogs, a cake walk (David didn't quite know how to choose just one number when the music stopped) and watching everyone else trick or treat. This year I didn't give David a trick or treat bag--simply because he seems more than a little indifferent to candy and I didn't want it around our house. It's true, we were the ones to take pretzels for our "treat." I know some people would want me strung up for such an idea--but hey, it worked out! At one point, someone gave David a dum dum sucker. That lasted about 12 seconds, then he wanted to find the "trash" to throw it away. I'm not going to push a sweet tooth on my son, so we obliged, and that was the end of the candy for the night.

In fact, on our way home we went to the store to pick up a few things to make milkshakes with friends the next night. As I sat in the candy aisle choosing a candy bar to mix in, I saw the irony, "Who does this? Who leaves a Halloween Party and goes straight to the store to buy candy?" It seems that we were very successful in meeting my goal to not bring home extra sugar on Halloween.

Apparently we wore our monkey out by the end of the night, because as soon as we stopped to chat with frends, he found Brother Nye to cuddle up to. I think they both enjoyed it.

This skeleton went from scary

. . . to curious

. . . to downright silly in the end.

And just for the record, David loved his monkey suit long after the festivities were over.

Here's what I found one morning after I came home from my early morning workout:

That's our monkey!

Halloween Festivities

2010-11-03T15:42:00.000-08:00

This year we celebrated Halloween on the Saturday before, because of the 31st landing on Sunday.

David and I began our day by making cupcakes for the cake walk at the Halloween Carnival that night.

I really didn't think David would be interested in licking the beaters because he doesn't seem to have much of a sweet tooth. Clearly I was mistaken--and David definitely approved of the chocolate batter.

After we were done with our own baking, I took our little monkey to Great Harvest Bread for their annual Halloween Fest. Each child was given the opportunity to decorate a cookie or make a bug bread--and then (and this is the best part)--each child was given a coupon to come back and get a free loaf of bread.

Here is David's finished product (with a little help from Mom).

He really liked his "bud."

And here is the setup at Great Harvest--they turned their usual baking kitchen into workspace for hundreds of children in a 2-hour period.

Smurfette is our friend Kirsten, and her husband was dressed as Papa Smurf. (She works at Great Harvest Bread here in town.) Jessica is on the right, and her entire family of eight was dressed as characters from Harry Potter--with amazing handmade costumes that she created! She inspires me to want to create family themes around costumes in the future.

Our Monkey

2010-10-28T16:23:00.001-08:00

David, Is Daddy a monkey?

(With scrunched nose, cocked head, and a nod) "Noooooo."

Is Mommy a monkey?

"Noooooo."

Is David a monkey?

"Noooooo."

Who's a monkey?

"I am!!!"

David liked the ears, the tail, and the soft fur on his monkey suit.

His favorite part, though, was having four thumbs.

Because if two thumbs are good for sucking, then four thumbs are great!

Kenai River--Drifter's Lodge and Upper Kenai Trail

2010-10-25T13:02:00.000-08:00

The Kenai River is known for its salmon fishing. The largest salmon ever recorded came from the Kenai River in 1985--at 97 pounds! The first time I saw this gorgeous river, I decided instantly it is one of the most beautiful spots on Earth. Carving its way through firs and birch, teeming with wildlife, and the most crystal blue water I have ever seen in a river.

We went down on Friday night to Cooper Landing, the first little community along the Kenai River. We were able to stay in cabins--with real beds, shower and a bathroom, and a kitchenette--at the Kenai River Drifter's Lodge. It was a very different experience to stay in comfort--we loved it! On Saturday morning we packed up and left for a hike.

This was the first time we put these "L-Bow" gloves on David. They have a sleeve attached that reaches clear up to his shoulder--they go underneath his coat. I love these gloves! They actually stay on toddler hands. David tried pretty hard to get them off--but he was only successful once or twice in two hours.

We hiked along the "Upper Kenai River" trail and it was gorgeous.

I love this picture:

We were hiking with our friends, the Larsens, and they had two little boys in tow with them as well. So the hike was pretty simple. We really enjoyed the crisp autumn air, the views, the eagle and birds we saw and the hike itself wasn't as cold as it could have been for October!

We stopped on the banks of the river for a lunch break.

David had fun playing in the leaves.

This was our last big hoorah before the winter set in--so here's to waiting for next summer for more fun adventures.

Dear Pappy,

2010-10-22T23:40:00.000-08:00

We took a little monkey to a Halloween party today.

He tried his hand at becoming a cookie artist.

Monkey David was in love with the sprinkles you sent from Amish Country.

It takes concentration to pour them back and forth between container and lid.

Some landed on the table, some on the floor, a few in his mouth . . .

but most of them landed on his plate. A few of those even stuck to the frosted cookies.

No doubt that our little monkey will be ready for more Halloween

sprinkles by the time next year's party rolls around.

"Hewp Daddy Dishes"

2010-10-20T15:14:00.001-08:00

We have been without a working dishwasher for more than a year now. Quite frankly, I am tired of washing the dishes. I am tired of having counters with drying dishes, sinks full of dirty dishes, and the time it takes every day to stand at the sink and keep up with the dirty dishes. In recent weeks, Sam has stepped in a little more to help with the dish load at our house. After I make a meal, I am just too tired to tackle all of the dishes by myself.

A couple of times, Sam took over the sink and invited David to help him. David thought it was the best thing EVER! At least the best thing since sliced cheese. So on the way home from picking up Daddy from work, David would start making his demands known from the back seat: "Hewp Daddy Disses." Who am I to get in the way of such a request? David was hooked, Daddy was roped in, and I, well I was off the hook.

See that eager face? (David's, not Daddy's. About this time, Daddy was wondering why he ever invited David to the splash . . . I mean the dishes party.)

Gotta keep the water stirred up. It's all part of the fun.

See the suds on his head? That about sums up the whole experience.

It's a party that David didn't want to miss.

Yowie Owie

2010-10-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

David has the cutest way telling us about when he is hurt. In true David fashion of repeating words back to back, he has labeled his "owies" to be "yowie-owie." He will say it over and over, using a near-tearful voice and offering us the offended part of his body so we can kiss it better. The first few times he stuck his foot up to my mouth, I was a little confused. But now it's a normal ritual. We kiss it better and move on.

The other day he lost his balance and had a hard sit-down. I was down on the floor with him, so he started backing up to me with his bum in the air, saying "yowie owie, yowie owie". (Picture a backwards crab walk on hands and feet.) Once I cued in, I had to laugh. "Sorry buddy, I'm not kissing that yowie-owie."

We compromised with a kiss or two on the forehead instead.

Bean Blanket

2010-10-14T14:50:00.001-08:00

Now that cooler weather is upon us, we are busy with lots of things that don't necessarily involve being outside. We will go outside occasionally, but the daily ventures outdoors have slowed down. This prompted me to pull out a few activity ideas that I have squirreled away for the change in season.

David loves his bean blanket! He buries treasure, measures and dumps, runs his hands through it--and when a few come off the blanket, we pause for "meen-uh" (cleanup).

We received old beans from someone else's food storage. I labeled them and put them in my food storage, but when I received them they were still in the burlap sack with an unkown purchase date. It was from an older couple (in their 90's) that was moving out of state--so truly, these beans could have been several years old. I decided they would serve us better as an activity than as a food source.

David approves.

Tay-tyou Mom-mom

2010-10-10T23:11:00.001-08:00

This is an experience that happened just tonight. Two of my favorite things about David is how frequently he says thank you (Tay-tyou) and how he currently says my name.

The thank you is to die for--it melts my heart every time. At diaper changes, when I get him out of his carseat, every new bit of food, when we put shoes on, when I open the door to go outside. . . everything is greeted with a sweet little "Tay-tyou".

David's names for Sam and I have morphed a bit over the last several months. At first it was Dada. Then it was Dada and Mama. A few months ago it changed to Daddy and Mommy. Now he is back to Dada and I am his Mom-mom. I love it to pieces. And I love him to pieces.

Picture me in the kitchen tonight, trying to prepare a meal to break our fast. David is at my legs. Sam is gone to church meetings, late getting home. David is tired, clingy, and hungry. I am tired and hungry, just trying to get the enchiladas in to the oven. I turn my back away from the enchilada pan to shred more chicken. Then I hear this in the sweetest voice:
D: Tay-tyou Mom-mom.
Me: (Without turning around, still shredding the chicken.) You're welcome, sweetheart. What are you thanking me for?
D: Mmmmm. Tay-tyou Mom-mom.

At this, I turn around. David has succesfully reached in to a pan of enchiladas and pulled one out for himself. He is covered in beans, chicken, cheese and sauce, just licking the last of it from the tortilla. The kitchen cupboards and floor have evidence that a person smaller than 3 feet helped himself to the enchiladas. Yes, he was standing on the floor when he reached inside that casserole dish. Sometimes I think he has go-go-gadget arms.

He was too darling, telling me thank you with enchilada covering him head to toe.

Thank you, sweet boy, for the memory. I will smile at it for a long time to come. (And next time, please don't reach that far without asking for help. You could have burnt yourself if they had already been in the oven.)