TO CHRISTMAS, AND BEYOND!

WE SURVIVED! Christmas is over and no offense, but it is good to get back to normal. It is good to get some sleep again. It is good to...have the kids sleep again. Ahhh sleep, how I missed you.

Christmas was very good to us this year. Our families spoiled us rotten. We did have one reoccuring theme of the season though. It was "warmth" Each of us got at least 2 new coats from different family members. Erin gave me a new leather coat (black friday sale) and Erin's mom gave me a new coat. Erin's mom also gave Erin a new coat (hooded pee coat, yes there were jokes) and the kids got 2 new coats from her as well. My mom gave each of the kids new snow suits. So we are very warm!

Christmas Eve was a lot of fun. We usually spend Christmas Eve with Erin's family in Midway. We sing songs, have a talent show, and open presents. It is always a good time. Emma sang Jingle Bells by her self. She was so cute. It was really good to see the family again as well.

So, our kids are really young still so we were expecting to sleep early and late that night. The kids actually cooperated. The only problem that we had was Erin. She took some alergy medication right before bed and couldn't sleep all night. That is what she said, I really think that she was excited for Christmas. So we were up most of the night trying to get to sleep. We were actually up making breakfast before the kids woke up.

The morning was great! Emma really got into the spirit of opening presents. She was so excited for all the things that she opened. She couldn't wait to see what the next one was. She was even excited for the clothes. It was really cute. Matthew on the other hand couldn't have cared less. He got a fisher price race track thing and he played with it all morning. He is still playing with it. The sad part is that it was the first thing that he opened and he lost interest in everything else. Emma was more then happy to help out her brother.

Christmas day found us at my parents house for ham with the rest of my family. There were kids everywhere. It was sad though because my sister and her family are in Texas. They were missed. It was a fun time though. We later went to Erin's family's waffle party that night. They traditionally cook waffles for dinner on Christmas. They get the good bacon and the pure maple syrup. It was really good. So with all this excitement you'd think we would sleep soundly. We would have if Emma wasn't so excited that she stayed up until 10:00. Grrr... It was another late night

We did the traditional after Christmas thing and visited JC Penny and Wal-mart for their sales. We got a lot of gift cards this year so we were able to get new pots and pans. Emma was still excited that night and still didn't go to sleep until 10:00. so we stayed up again. This was a problem for Sunday when we were all sleep deprived and sick. We missed church and took turns sleeping and watching the kids. We feel great now, but it took Sunday and Monday to get this way.

So all in all, a good Christmas! Everything went according to plan, no one was injured to badly, and I don't think that we offended anyone in our families. Wow, it was great!

Pics as promised

Christmas?

School is over!!! Well, for the moment. Final grades are not yet out, but it looks like I passed every class this semester. I am actually surprised. It was looking pretty scary there for a moment or two. Erin's school is also out. She is scared that she won't get straight A's again. I'm torn between being jealous and congratulating her. Well, I guess I'll just fold her laundry the wrong way. That'll show her.

I have been spending my break cleaning, playing, shopping, hanging out with friends, and fixing computers. My in-laws were nice enough to save their computer issues until after the semester ended. So when school got out I was given a list of 5 computers and a network that needed to be addressed. Lucky me. I was able to take a day to complete them. My list is now open again. Hmm... maybe I shouldn't have said that.

Emma has really been getting into the Christmas spirit. Every day she wakes up and tells us that it is Christmas and we should open presents. We decided that we wouldn't be able to buy a large tree this year so we tried to make do with our 2 foot artificial. It was nice, but it's small. Erin's Mom took Emma to see Santa at the mall and told us later that the only thing that she asked Santa for was a tree. We felt so bad that we scraped up some money to buy a larger artificial tree that was on the "We got to get this crap out of here" sale. Yes, only half the tree is decorated due to Matthew. The ornaments keep getting higher and higher as we replace the ones that he has ripped off.

We were planning on having a poor Christmas this year. We're both students and I only make part time wages. The miracle of Christmas hit us hard though. The Lord decided that we needed help. We were given enough money to buy the kids presents and some for us as well. We still don't know who did it, but it sure helped.

The other blessing that happened is that our Car broke down. The clutch died in my little Mazda. We review the list of repairs and found that it was just too large. So, we did some praying and searched online for another car. Little did we know that in Kaysville there was an older couple praying to find someone to take their little Civic that would need it. We found each other and bought a 97 civic for a great deal. So great that we were able to get the loan for a little more to help with some extra things we have been needing. We hate going into debt again for a car since we just payed off the others, but we plan to pay off this one with our tax return. It was a great car for a great price. So we were blessed in many ways already this Christmas.

We will be spending our first Christmas morning as a family. We traditionally go to Midway to spend the morning opening present with Erin's parents, but we decided to make our own traditions this year. So we plan to make an excellent breakfast, sing some Christmas Carols (maybe), and do anything we can think of to delay opening the presents. We think that the kids would like that the most. Maybe not though. We'll see what happens.

We have some excellent pictures of the kids I will be putting up later today. I just need to get time to do it.

WE ARE POTTY TRAINED!!(for the moment)

Yes, I am happy to admit that I can now use the bathroom like a normal person. Ok fine, Emma has been without diapers for over a week now. She has been without them during the day, but now she doesn't even use them at night! She has been doing so well. She is also getting over her fear of public toilets. That has been a problem especially when she needs to use the bathroom at school and wont. Needless to say that we are proud and happy parents and she was well rewarded with an ice cream cone and some bubble tape. We didn't want all the success to go to her head, so we tried to keep it low key.

Erin finished her communications course already. Yes, I am jealous. She just has to wait for her grade to come in. She only has 2 more classes to go before the end of the semester. She'll make it I'm sure. I'm also sure she will pull another 4.0. She is amazing that way. She is also loving her calling as the Relief Society secretary. We have been in primary for so long that this is a welcomed calling for her. She can associate with other women and help them as she can. It's a great calling.

Matthew is talking now. He says Juice, Milk, Down, Up, Thanks, Binky, Mine, Mom, Dad, Hi, Bye and I thought there was another one. I will have to update this if I can ever remember it. We are almost ready to move him to a real bed. We are still working out how that will work since Emma and Matthew share the same room. I'm worried it will turn into a big party.

I am about to dive into one of the longest weeks of my life. I have 4 tests next week, one 6 page book report, a long project for chemistry, and I have to build a wind tunnel out of plexiglass. I also get to see the Doctor again about my broken hand. It has been 8 weeks since I broke it and it still hurts. I saw a regular doctor this week and he said that the x-rays looked like there was still an issue there. I now get to see a specialist. I'm worried that it means they will have to slice it open and pin it together. It should be interesting at least. In other news I am officially at 186 lbs. I have lost almost 30 lbs by just not eating sugar. I was in high school when I weighed this little. I have also found that I have some stupid intolerance to the stuff. When I eat it, it makes me angry. So I have been able to stay off of it for a while. I didn't get a call back for any internships for the summer. I am worried about what happens when I graduate. It is nice to know all that I know, but I would love to put it to some use other then figuring out the thermal dynamic properties of a hamburger patty while I make food at Mc Donalds.

Thanksgiving will find us full this year. We spend the time with my family first. We have Thanksgiving lunch and then we have to go to Erin's family's house for dinner. She has family from out of town that only visit every other year. Since my family gets together every other year also we have to go to both if we want to see everyone. I will take pictures and let you know how it goes.

Halloween

I'm sure everyone has been dying to hear how our Halloween went. Well..actually no one asked, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I started my Halloween at work. It wasn't very much fun. I was then needed to work with a study group at school. This was more fun. We built a wind tunnel using a small CPU fan and a bunch of plastic garbage cans that we found lying around campus. This is just a prototype for our final one that is to be made out of plexiglass. I'm sure you don't want to know about all that. I'll get to the kids because they seem to be the popular ones in this whole holiday thing. Emma was Snow White, and Matthew was a fire fighter. We bought both online and improved them. Erin took the Snow White costume and added a collar and cape. It looked really good!
We took the kids upto Midway to show them off first. After the grandparents took their pictures we visited more family in the area. We ended our trick or treating by visting some houses in our complex in Provo. All in all it was an enjoyable time. Emma loves to Trick or Treat! She has been looking forward to this for the past month. She still talks about having a Halloween party. Matthew couldn't understand why people were giving him food that Mom and Dad wouldn't let him eat.
That night Erin and I put the kids to bed and did homework. Not a terribly exciting evening for us, but we're parents and it's not all about fun and games for us.
I know that you are not interested in my babble. I know your here for the pictures. So I'll stop and you can view them at your leasure. Until next time.

Just the pics

Here are some new family pictures that we took. I hope you like them! There will be more on Halloween!

Back up to date!!

It looks like it is my turn again to write in here. The pattern usually goes that Erin will write once for every 9 of my posts. So I will try to keep up the pace again.

Let me start back in my story about to the point where we moved. As you know our moving was a great surprise to everyone including me. We didn't even know that we were going to move until 3 days before we did. I didn't even see the place until we moved in. Moving went well actually. We only have a couple more boxes to sort out, then we will be moved in.

Provo has been very good to us so far. Compared to Midway, Provo seems like Bath in England during the Jane Austine era. There always are people around, there is always some social event to attend, we always have visitors. It isn't a complaint by any means though. We have enjoyed the attention. Thank you to all of our friends that have made our transition easier.

In the midst of all the fun, this moment in time carries a lot of pressure on our family. We are trying to figure out our new ward, school is harder then it has ever been, and our kids find it fun to scream all the time. It was during one of the most stressful moments that I did something blindingly stupid. I decided to take my frustration out on our bookcase. It is the first and last time I will ever try that because it left me with a memento for the past 3 weeks. In the process of hitting the shelf, I broke the bone in my hand that is directly below the pinkie finger. I wore a cast for the last 3 weeks, and now I am wearing a brace. Every time I look at my hand I am reminded of the incident and vow to take a more relaxed approach to solving issues. So far it has worked perfectly.

School has been a mix of good an bad. I took 3 tests over the past 2 weeks. The first two tests were great! I have never tested so high at BYU. I actually got an A on one! I was excited until I had to take a test in Fluid Mechanics. I pretty much failed that one. It was really sad. The entire class had a hard time with it so I hope that I did better then some of them. We will see when I get my grade back on Monday.

Erin has been doing awesome at her school. She is doing three online classes and she is ahead in all of them. She is also one of the top in her classes. I'm not really sure how she does it. She is really gifted at remembering things. She was having a hard time being alone with the kids though. In Midway we had others to help watch them. In Provo, she is home alone with them until I get home. We have been having to work creatively in finding ways to keep the kids busy. There are no uncles and aunts close by to keep them occupied. We had a shopping spree at Wal-Mart for the kids. We bought new toys and art supplies. They love them.

Emma is talking more and more. She is becoming clearer in what she is saying. She is more and more independent as well. She is in preschool in Provo and she is doing very well. We are impressed with the school and her progress. The nice thing is that they had a lesson on brushing your teeth. She is obsessed with it and we are happy to let her be that way. She brushes like 3-4 times a day.

Matthew is just a cute little kid. He has been having a hard time because we decided to get him off of the binky. We only give it to him at night when he goes to bed. Soon, he won't even get it then. Instead of him being happy with the plug in his mouth he wonders around screaming or crying. This last week has seen quite a bit of improvement though. He is happier. He is also getting his 2 year molars in, so that might also add to his frustration.

As always thank you for listening to my ramblings. Oh, before I forget, Matthew will be a fireman for Halloween, and Emma will be a Snow White. We look forward to pictures!!

Adjusting to Provo

I figured it's been a long time since I bothered to write anything, so I'll give Mike a break and do a post. I usually have so much to say that people start tuning me out after a minute or so, but school is stealing all my excess blab, so I forget to talk sometimes. It makes for strange social situations. :D

Provo has been nice actually, but I miss Midway. That is strange because I didn't miss it the first time I moved out. Moving out the 2nd time (that is so weird) I have actually missed my hometown, and feel homesick. I am adjusting though, and I have to admit it has been awesome to have my own kitchen again!

When we started unpacking, we found all our stuff that we hadn't seen in a year and a half. Mike pulled out his basting brush, patted it lovingly and said, "I've missed you...". It was funny, but exactly how we felt after pulling out our own dishes and cooking utinsels.

The kids are doing a lot better than the first week we moved. They are now having an argument at the table, (Emma nods)"Uh huh!", (Matthew shakes his head)"Mm mmm!", and on and on it goes. Giggle, scream, repeat. I'm glad to see them happy.

School is going a lot smoother than either Mike or I expected. We're both keeping up. Mike has a great study group who is helping him learn everything he needs to know, and he can come home for food and to see the kids whenever he gets time. It's been nice. Nathan has been coming over a lot too and that has been awesome.

Emma takes the bus to school now. I guess all the kids at her school do, even if they live really close like we do. When she found out I was picking her up, she threw a monumental tantrum and bit my arm. I had a bruise for a week! That was probably the worst moment of moving adjustment we've had. I told her she had to earn a sticker every day for no tantruming. She did it for a week, so I signed the bus papers. It's been really nice, I don't have to worry about waking Matthew up to go get her from school.

Matthew got burned as well, which was our second meltdown. He wanted the mac and cheese I was cooking before I was ready to give it to him, and when I turned to dump in the cheese packet, he pulled bowl down. It was so so sad. It wasn't a bad burn, however. He was lucky and it has healed nicely.

More about our crazy life later. Hopefully the adjustment period will pass and life will go on.

Moving and so on

WOW what a busy week! This whole mess started on Thursday. Erin and I had been batting around the idea of moving out of the in-laws house. We even went to look at a couple places on Wednesday. We saw a couple things that we were ok with, but nothing that we liked. There was a cute little house really close to campus that was within our range and we talked to the land lord about the lease. We were going to look at one more place before we decided though. Thursday started my HAZWOPER training so I wasn't able to join Erin on the house hunt. I got a message on my cell phone that pretty much said "HI Honey, I found this really cute place and I know that your going to LOVE it! It's perfect! So I put down the deposit and signed the lease agreement. We move in on Saturday. Love you BYE!". The first time I saw the place was when we moved in. It was a little quick, but it turned out well. I did love the place! Erin was right. It is a little 2 story condo unit with 2 rooms and a 2.5 bath. It has a nice kitchen and is very clean. The kids love it. Emma kept wanting to go to the "new house". We now are part of Provo, very close to BYU. No more canyon driving for me.

Emma seemed to handle it ok, but then things got weird. She wouldn't follow any directions. Well, I should say that when we asked her to do something she almost started doing it then stopped and wouldn't move. She started throwing huge temper tantrums, and she wouldn't sleep at night. It is a big change for her though. She has a new school, and no Grandma and Grandpa to play with. We spent a lot of time unpacking her toys last night with her in an effort to show her that things are ok and somethings didn't change. Her room is completely unpacked. She went to bed normally last night and hasn't given us a lot of grief since. It has been nice today.

Matthew...well...he doesn't seem to care as long as we have an endless supply of binkey's. He is cool with it all.

Erin started school last week and is pushing her way though it again. She hopes to be on the Deans list this next semester. I'm not sure I know what to think about that myself. I need to get some bumper sticker that says "My wife is an honor student at UVU" or something.

I am now HAZWOPER certified! HAZWOPER is Hazardous Material Emergency Response training. I hope I never have to use it. Chemical spills can be very crazy. I also started school this week. It is crazy. I still don't know what homework is due when. All the classes are based around chemistry and math. So the teaching overlaps. That is nice, but I can't remember what I learned in what class. It's crazy.

That is all for this post. I hope it was long enough. I should start charging a dollar for each person to read these posts. Then I would have......two dollars. I could then buy a couple jr whoppers! DATE NIGHT! YEAH!

Timpanogos Hike

Saturday marked our 2nd adventure before school starts again. It is a long standing tradition in Erin's family to hike Timpanogos once a year. We haven't been able to because of the kids. It had been 5 years since we hiked it last with Erin's family.
We started the hike at 4:45 in the morning. Erin's brothers and my friend Shawn came in addition to Erin and I. We took the Aspen Grove trail, the one by Sundance. The hike is supposed to be 8 miles to the top of Timpanogos. so we wanted to get an early start before the sun came up. We met a lot of hikers on the way up that were coming down. I guess a common thing is to start the hike at midnight and watch the sun rise. Those coming down couldn't make it up for one reason or another.
The start of the hike was...well....dark. we couldn't see much since we only had one flash light to split between the five of us. When the sun came up we were exposed to a brilliant view of the mountain side! It is a pretty hike for those willing to do it.
About 7 o'clock found us pretty far up the trail when we noticed that clouds started forming up all around us. Our view was taken and replaced with gray. It was so intense that we couldn't see much more then ten feet in front of us. Yes we knew about the storm that was supposed to come yesterday, but we pressed on.
We took some breaks and filled up our water bottles at the spring. We had a lot of good snacks and a ton of water. It was actually relaxing. Yes I huffed and puffed my up, but it wasn't all bad. The wild flowers were everywhere adding a blanket of color to almost everything we saw.
We made it to the lake at 9:15 ish when we decided to have "lunch". There is a glacier of snow that the wind comes right off of at the lake. We FROZE! We made a quick decision that the top wouldn't be a possibility due to the cold and the fact that we couldn't see anything anyway. So we started down.
No more then 10 min passed when it started to hail and snow. Yes, August 15 and it was snowing. We kept up a good pace and about 10:45 the snow started to melt and turn into rain. The trail turned into mud. We turned into wet messes, but we weren't cold.
We made it down the mountain and to the car by 12:00. We hiked about 14 miles yesterday. I couldn't walk for the rest of the day yesterday. I jarred my legs pretty bad on the way down. Erin was fine. She was saying how energetic she felt and how she was so excited that we still had the whole day left! We all did better then we thought we would. I didn't stop at all coming down and didn't stop a lot going up. Well, I stopped more my first time 5 years ago.
So, I recommend this hike, but watch the weather!

Thanksgiving Point

We started our two weeks of freedom with a trip to Thanksgiving Point. Erin and I decided that our kids needed a little culture regarding farm animals. So instead of taking them to any of the 100 farms in Midway, we took them somewhere that has never really been a farm and were we had to pay. Sounds logical enough.

For those who have never visited Thanksgiving point for this purpose, I really recommend it. The farm was like a zoo for farm animals. It didn't really feel like a zoo because all the animals were very well taken care of. You can tell because they all ran up to the fence looking for hand outs and were very friendly. They would even run up to to the kids. It gave Matthew a laugh every time he got to touch a goat nose.

There were a bunch of little baby animals also. This made Erin happy. The thing that made me happy was that it only cost 3.50 a person and it included a pony ride!

The pony ride was awesome. Emma was scared and had to have Erin hold onto her the entire time. Matthew took to the saddle like a duck to water. It was interesting to watch him. He slid right in, grabbed the saddle horn with one hand and petted the pony's mane with the other. Then sat back and waited. He was almost in tune with the pony with he started move. Bobbing up and down at the right moments. He looked really natural!

We went during the farmers market on Friday. Erin wanted to make sure that she was able to get some cucumbers for pickling. Not only did she find them at a great deal, we got peaches and blackberries. It feels good to help the local growers. The produce tasted great!

Finals week FINALLY!!

Finals couldn't have come any sooner. Good GRIEF I thought this semester would never end. I have my test tomorrow, then I'm not expected to show my face around campus for 2 weeks. No, I will not just go there for fun so don't even ask.

It appears that I need to be playing a little bit of catch up. A lot has happened since July 4th. Most of the happening were with Emma and Erin.

Emma now uses the potty for number 1 AND 2. The 2 took some persuasion. She was really scared of it for a long time. She usually finds her pull-ups and puts them on when she needs to go number 2. So one day she asked me for one. I was about to give in when I said, "I don't think I will give you a pull-up. Lets go to the potty!" So we did. I sat here down, and she cried and cried. Then I remembered that we had some chocolate near by. So I gave her a piece. She calmed down a little and asked for another. I said that she would have to try to use the potty before I would give her more. So, she did! After about 4 pieces of chocolate, she overcame her resistance and used the potty! This solidifies the fact that if you want a woman to do something for you, it's best to give her loads of chocolate first.

Emma is now holding conversations also. We were really worried about her speech lately. She isn't too clear. It seems like the very next day, she opened up and started talking and asking for things and being clear enough for others to understand her. We are very excited for her.

Erin has been taking classes at UVU this summer. She has had 3 classes so far. The stupid part is that she has scored A's for all of them. JERK. She still has one final to take on Thursday. It's not looking like a problem for her though. She has started running again at night and is loving it. I'm not, because it is a huge safety issue. She can't seem to find anyone to go with though. So if you are in Midway, please run with her so I don't worry.

Matthew is growing again. His word list entails: Binkie, Down, Mommy, Daddy, Emma, Balloon, and versions of Grandma and Grandpa. He is very confident in what he can do. The cool thing is that when he gets hurt, he doesn't shy away from the thing that hurt him. He jumps right back into it.

We had a family get together on Sunday. My brother David and his Wife have a little one name Hyrum that is a couple months younger then Matthew. Hyrum has just decided to be one of the cousins and is now running around with them. Emma runs around with Jessica's daughter, and Matthew runs around with Hyrum. It reminds me of when I was little.

That is as far as I will type today. I have a final to study for and those derivatives will not integrate on their own! Good night!

Independence Day!!

Yeah for America!! I do consider myself a patriot. I would be waving a flag right now, but I can't actually afford one. Sorry, my kids need to eat. I love our country and I would fight for it if I was called upon to do so. Because of my major, I would probably be called to make bombs or something. We have a great country. I really thought about it when we were watching fireworks in Midway. Isn't it great that we have the freedoms that we do. It is also nice to celebrate America with a Chinese tradition. So, enough rambling.

Our fourth was a little different this year. Not much actually happened that we planned. We were going to visit my parents in Salt Lake, but a blown starter on our Passat soon took care of that idea. We have another on it's way from Connecticut. For those keeping track on our Passat issues let me catch you up to date: one rebuilt engine, two cataletic converters, O2 sensors, two brake jobs, one ABS control module (still needs to be replaced), one starter, two tie rods, 4 control arms, one clutch plate, three front axles, and the usual tires/oil changes. We just need to replace the exhaust, transmission, and the alternator in order for us to have an almost new car!

Midway decided to do something a little different this year. They were holding what they called "The small town fourth". They had music, food, stuff...I'm actually not sure of what they had. Once we found that we were surrounded by music we didn't like and couldn't get away from, we got in my clunker car and limped to Park City to visit Wal-Mart to wait it out.

We ate really good yesterday. We had homemade donuts, root beer, and a BBQ. The root beer was awesome. We usually buy the McCormick brand extract and it does a decent job, but the store started selling Hires Big H brand. We thought we would give that a try. It was worth it! We are still drinking it. Yum. I'm kind of a root beer sob.

Midway always does a great job with their fireworks. There is an oddly placed hill in Midway call Memorial Hill. It is where the tributes to our war heroes are. They launch the fireworks right off of this hill so the entire town can see it. Erin's Parent's house is about a block away from the hill so we had great seating. The kids loved it. I think that they just loved staying up that late. Matthew didn't really like the fireworks at first. We had to warm him up to them. All in all, a good day was had by all.

A great poem

I heard this in a talk from John Bytheway and though a lot about it. I hope that you enjoy it.

If you can smile when things go wrong and say it doesn't matter,

If you can laugh off cares and woe and trouble makes you fatter,

If you can keep a cheerful face when all around are blue,

Then have your head examined, bud, there's something wrong with you.

For one thing I've arrived at: there are no ands and buts,

A guy that's grinning all the time must be completely nuts.

From a talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland

BYU has been getting increasing difficult for me. I can't keep up with the young whipersnappers around me. It has been hard to say the least. It is nice to know that I am not alone and others have trials too.

Heber Valley Handspringers Day 1

Today Emma had her first lesson with the Heber Valley Handspringers. We were very impressed with the class structure and the teacher. She really knew how to keep the kids' attention. Emma did really well for her first time. I was impressed with how she could follow instructions. She wasn't perfect, but she had never done anything like this before. The important part was that she was having fun. She will be doing this all summer, so we will see how she progresses.

This is Emma's first time on the bars.

This is Emma learning the back Somersault.

The obstacle course

This is Emma on the Tramp. She is supposed to be jumping and clapping.

The audacity of it all!

I can't believe it! Really! It was just to much to think about. If you are as outraged by this next story please join with me in writing to......I don't know......our local congressmen? I don't think that would do anything, but here is the story anyway.

I built a computer for a family member and was rewarded with just enough to take my family to a movie! Yeah, PLAY MONEY! So we go to the store and grab some snacks making sure to keep just enough to see the movie. We wanted to see "UP", because we had heard good things about it. After the store we took the 40 min drive to civilization (Provo) to see the movie. We got to the theater and they charged us the regular fee of $5.75 for a matinee. This was no surprise. The surprise was that they were showing up in 3-D and they would charge an extra $2.50 a ticket! This was actually over budget. The problem is that we couldn't just drive home, we really went out of our way to come to this. So we scrounged up more money and payed for the tickets. For those that don't know, (because I didn't) you pay $2.50 for some cheap pair of glass that you just give back in the end. I'm sure the 3-D movies cost more to show, but $2.50 more? CRAZINESS! I am just appalled.

As far as updates go, Matthew is a full time walker. He has been walking for 3 weeks now. It is fun to see him toddle around. His face is always bruised because he falls, or walks into something. It's sad to see. I am happy to say that I am the preferred parent! Anytime he is upset he goes straight to daddy! Ha! But anytime we put Emma to bed she always wants mommy. Maybe if I bribe her with some candy. 

Emma is doing great. She starts tumbling on Tuesday. We we really excited to put her in this class. She already does so much jumping and rolling around that focusing it on tumbling should be easy! Just like sleeping through the night and potty training should have been easy.....yeah.......... . .  . . anyway, she finished preschool a couple weeks ago. It has been sad for her. She loved school and the teachers. They were really good to her. She gets to go back to the same school with the same teachers in fall.

Erin is doing great in school She had a hard start because she didn't like learning some of the material in psychology. Now she is learning about behaviors and development and she is loving it. She scores really high on her tests and she always comes to me with a "HEY mike, did you know...." statement. I always answer "yes" with a shrug. I can't let on that I don't know everything. That would ruin my status as the "THE DAD". 

There is a BYU club call the "Jane Austin Regency Club". They are putting on a dance in the fall. You are supposed to dress in period clothes and learn how to period dance. Needless to say, were going! I can't pass up the chance to get really decked out and where 20lbs of extra clothing! I just need some smashing sideburns. Erin is currently looking at dress patterns and period dress making tips. She is going to design her own dress. It will be a fun time all around, I hope.

As for me, school is going ok. Linear Algebra is something that really should be studied....well...by someone else. But I'm ok at it. In about a month I start into Multi variable Calculus and then it is the fall semester where I magically get trapped in the library for months on end studying. I'm not excited. I'm excited to end, but getting there is hard. Yes, I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's hard to see it sometimes where you can only see a foot in front of your face. My tunnel is foggy. I'll inch my way through though. WE WILL SURVIVE! 

We are looking for ways to move out of Erin's parent's house. It has been nice, but living 45 min away from school is getting increasingly difficult. The problem is since I only work part time, we can't afford much of anything. So if anyway knows of a nice cardboard box that we could rent in the BYU area, let us know! 

Well, until next update. Be nice, be good, and watch out for swine flu! It's the scarest thing that we will ever face, well, until they find something else for us to panic about. I think the next big panic will be that our supply of hair gel will get depleated due to the war on forign shores. So stock up now! You've been warned!

P.S. "Up" was awesome! We loved it!

Just a quick movie update. I was having some fun with Matthew.

A new post

Now that finals are over, and my brain has relaxed a little, it is time to post. A lot has been happening in our little corner of the world in the past month. The biggest thing is that Erin's brother Nathan returned home from the Korea Seoul West mission on the 3rd. We spent a lot of time cleaning and fixing the house up for him. He looked just as I remembered feeling when I got off the plane from Japan. Tired, but happy.

I feel really bad for Nathan. It is hard switching from a very organized lifestyle to chaos. On a mission you do missionary work. Your choices are: meet people on street, knock on doors, hand out fliers, talk to members, do some service, make some calls, visit less active members, or do nothing at all. There are other things to do, but this is the most common list. The nice thing about this is the MTC and the mission provide you with this list of things to do. You do parts of this list or the whole list everyday. If you ask a missionary what he will be doing next week, or even a month from now, then the answer will probably be something on that list.

The stupid thing is when you come home, there is no one to provide you with a list of things to do. You are now on your own. You know the basic goals, get a job, get a wife, get to school, and those such things. The issue is that no one tells you how to do it. You don't know where to get a job or where to go to school. Girls are a matter that are completely confusing!

So in short......poor Nathan. Now, moving on.

My finals went decently I suppose. I didn't get excellent grades on them, but I did my best. To bad there isn't a box on your report card that says "Did his best!" with a big check mark in it. Although with the direction that public schools are taking, it might not be long before all of our grades are replaced with these check boxes.

Emma's speech is really clearing up. She has been going to preschool since she turned three. The teachers are focusing on it specifically. It is nice to have the extra help and we can see the improvement. She gave me a lecture on how falling off the couch will break your head. I'm not sure where she heard that, but I'm on the look out. She also has figured out how to play the wii. Poor soul. She spends time on the Mii channel clicking on people. She has the glazed gamer look down. We are going to get her a bag of Doritos to complete the picture.

Erin has decided that her life isn't hectic enough. She is heading back to school to become a tharapist. I say, good for her! She starts this summer at UVU. She has spent a lot of time going over math concepts so she can take the placement test and do well. Nathan has been going through the practices with her. I hold the honor of having the most math training in the house, so I get to tutor them. I think it's fun! Erin is really excited about having another purpose in life.

Spring semester starts..well...today for us at BYU. I had a total of 4 days off from school. I don't think that I am ready to go back yet. I am only taking Linear Algebra. They say that our Junior year is the hardest at BYU. so..yeah, I'm scared. We will see what happens.

That is all you get for now. Maybe you might get a picture later if we take one. We have a Zoo visit on Thursday, so I might get some there. BYE

A quick thought

Here is something that I have been thinking about today. I said this to a friend and I am wondering how true it is. It seems true to me. Feedback is welcome.

"Real manhood is measured by the happiness of those he's responsible for. If a man doesn't have any responsibility, then he doesn't know what it is to be a real man."

Seems logical to me. How would you measure the success of a man?

Sorry, it's early my mind is wandering.

New Quote

This was found and shared with me today. I love it!

I urge you to not take counsel of your fears. I hope you will not say, “I’m not smart enough to study chemical engineering; hence, I’ll study something less strenuous.” “I can’t apply myself sufficiently well to study this difficult subject or in this comprehensive field; hence, I’ll choose the easier way.” I plead with you to choose the hard way and tax your talents. Our Heavenly Father will make you equal to your tasks. If one should stumble, if one should take a course and get less than the “A” grade desired, I hope such a one will not let it become a discouraging thing to him. I hope that he will rise and try again.

 

Thomas S. Monson 1979

The monthly post

That title sounds more like a newspaper then it does a blog post. Anyway, due to the state of the economy we have had to cut back on our blog posts......I have yet to find any correlation between the two, but I'll leave that to you. It's amazing what you can blame on the economy these days. I didn't shower because of the economy, I didn't study because of the economy, I dropped my cell phone into a can of paint because of the economy. It's great! Well......on to the update.

We shall start with Erin since I always try to put her first. Except when it comes to picking teams for badminton. But that is another story. Erin is looking to start a dress alteration business. She would like to attend classes, but doesn't know who teaches. She was given a sleeveless prom dress last Saturday that she put sleeves on. She made it look really elegant. Her friend was happy with the outcome. Erin has also lost 3 dress sizes on her diet. She is stuck eating about the same food day in and day out. She is so bored, but her success is pushing her on.

Emma now uses the potty consistently. We have a problem with the "number 2" portion of that. Every time she needs to poo she puts on a diaper and does it that way. Weird. She has taken to remembering the things that Erin laughs at and she says them over and over. We talked about having a pet skunk named Coco. For some weird reason Erin really thought the phrase "Come here Coco" was really funny. Well, Emma says it all the time! It is really cute. She has taken her mom's habit of "reading" to herself before bed. She has her little light that she keeps on while she looks at her picture books. Part of me wants to be the "GET TO BED" kind of dad, but the other part says that her relationship with books is a good thing. She also loves to color more. She is trying to be more precise with her crayons. It isn't a jumbled mess anymore.

Matthew just gets cuter everyday. He is starting to say Go, Dad, and Mom. He is now cleared for stair climbing as well. He hasn't gotten used to the size of his head though. It's not big, but he hits it on everything. He doesn't remember that the top of his head isn't at eye level. He is getting bruised, but something inside me says that this is a good thing.

That leaves me. Well......I have to say.......and it gives me no pleasure.....but we bought the Twilight movie and I actually didn't mind it. I was really looking forward to making fun of it for the next 3 months, but I can't. As far as films go, it was decent. Please don't judge me to harshly. Erin said that the Edward in the movie seems more like a caveman rather then an intelligent being. I think that his longest line was 10 words? I have lost 20 lbs total since Christmas on the no sugar diet. That is my big news. It wasn't fun, but I like the results. I saw picture of me that made me look like some wife beater wearing thug. I didn't like it. Now I look better.

Erin's brother Nathan is returning home April 3rd. Most of our time has been spent getting ready for him. His room has been painted, his carpet is new, his colleges are applied for, and we already have some food in the freezer for him. We are all excited to see him soon. Leaving your mission is not an easy task, and we hope to help him out as much as we can.

Well, that is my post. I hope that you have a good evening. Always remember to.....um.......eat pork? My sense of humor has been killed by engineering. I apologize.

Matthew's First Birthday

Wow I can't believe he's a year old! I know everyone says that, but it's always true. The past year has just gone by so fast.






We had a great time yesterday, watching Matthew open presents, and visiting with family, but I think the best part was watching him eat his cake. He was so cute about it!

Once he was done, we knew it!

Get me out of here!

And this is what Matthew looked like after his first sugar rush!

All Clean!!!

He is such a sweet boy, and always happy. We have loved every moment of this last year, even if we were sleep-deprived for most of it. He has been a true gift to our little family. We love you Matthew!

My little "Flour"

So this morning I was baking Matthew's birthday cake for his party tomorrow. I greased the pan, floured it, poured in the batter and put it in the oven. After setting the timer, I went to check my email.

At odd intervals, I kept hearing shrieking giggling, always a bad sign. Not wanting to be distracted from what I was doing (I always regret giving in to that feeling later...) I went into the kitchen and this is what I saw:

I kind of sat there in shock for a second, watching Emma fling a handful at a time down on to the floor. Then before anything else could happen, I grabbed the camera and said smile! It was another moment before I realized she was wearing her new shirt from her Grandma Woods. It says, "GROUNDED FOREVER". So of course I had to have a close up of that too!

Two dustpan-fuls of flour later, Emma had her time-out while I tried to get little flour footprints out of the carpet. I must be a strange mother for looking forward to these moments. Instead of feeling angry, I feel like this is what makes my life fun and interesting. Of course no one knows that but me, and now you. Shh! Don't tell Emma!!