The Monk

This is the giant monk at Half Moon Bay! Just for you, Dad! We had a fun time being tourists at the rest area where it is located!

Today we also went to the U.S. National Cemetary in San Francisco. What an amazing and beautiful tribute to those who fought and died in defense of our country!

He Did It...

Barry Bonds passed Babe Ruth with homerun #715 today.

Too bad it wasn't YESTERDAY!! Since that's when we went to the Giants game!
Lame! We had fun anyway, though. We were sitting on pins and needles the entire game, not only in anticipation of a mammoth homerun, but because we were WAAAAYYYY up on the third deck and knew it was only a matter of time before Willie went plummetting to his death!

Seriously, though, we made it through the game without incident. Except the time that Bonds was about to come up to bat and EmJ said, "I have to go potty!", and the time that Willie licked the child sitting in front of us. Yes, licked. You didn't misread that. Thank goodness he was only seven years old and thought it was funny! My moocher children also conned two different people out of their kettle corn (as the second picture attests)! Unreal!

It's been a while since I posted, but nothing much is going on here. The school year is over for Luke, which means he gets to be home a little more. We plan on going to a BBQ tomorrow and then heading up to Sacramento for the rest of the week to visit Grandma.

I haven't yet been officially released from my calling, but it's only a matter of time. I wonder what I get to do next?!

Emmeline is done with soccer. She did well the last couple weeks of the "season"--actually kicking the ball in the last game!

Joshua just learned how to climb the ladder to the top bunk. You can imagine the problems that entails! We learned this morning, though, that he can hang by one hand from the railing for a good long time before he falls.

Benjamin is doing fantastic. He's learning how to use his hands--mostly to "punch" EmJ in the face--and how to scoot around on his stomach. (I didn't know about the latter, which is why he fell off our bed the other day! Yikes!) He caught a cold last week and gave us quite a scare. The cold turned quickly into bronchiolitis. The doctor thinks that he has developed asthma and will be more susceptible to these kinds of respiratory infections. He also got an ear infection. So between prescriptions, doctor visits, and nebulizers, we've had quite a week! He goes back to the doctor in a week for a follow-up and his four month checkup. The little porker wore an outfit to church today that I bought AFTER we moved to San Jose. That means Benjamin is as big as Joshua was at about nine months!

I think that's it from us! Happy Memorial Day!

Murderer!

I killed a lizard today. Holy gross. The disgusting reptile must have tried to run in the house as I either opened or shut the door, for he was beheaded between the door and the doorframe. Luke is posting the pictures for me because I have to go throw up and then take a shower.

It all started with...

Willie throwing a book out the window of our moving car, across three lanes of traffic! Now our "Just a Baseball Game" by Mercer Mayer has "Just a Tire Tread" by a Semi Truck.

You wouldn't believe the rest of our family home evening if I told you!

In other news, our flowers are growing!!! We planted seeds last Monday for FHE, and we have three itsy bitsy teeny weeny miniscule sprouts. By now, I'm sure the kids have forgotten all about our faith-seed comparison, but I'm still excited that the object lesson seems to be successful.

5 Years!!!

May 12, 2006 marks five years of marriage for Luke and I. I can't believe I've been married for a fifth of my life, and yet, these past five years have gone by in a flash. We were able to spend the day yesterday at the Oakland Temple. We started in Woodland, visiting Grandma and Aunt Traci and her classroom full of animals (Emmeline held a snake!). Leaving Sac'to we drove to Oakland where Luke and I alternated attending the temple and watching the kids. We hung out in Oakland for a while...at the park, shopping, etc...then returned that evening to the Visitors' Center to watch the new Joseph Smith movie. (Amazing)! We ate a drive thru dinner, since the kids fell asleep on the way home. It was not what you'd call romantic, but at least it was quiet! We had a good laugh later as we went over the goals we had made at the start of our marriage. Some we had achieved..."start a family"...and others we, well...didn't! I can't wait to see what the ten year goal session reveals! As an anniversary gift, we bought a framed drawing of the Oakland Temple. We figured it'd be a momento of this "California Adventure!" So that's it! Happy Anniversary to us! Thank you for your well wishes!

Here's Emmeline giving blondes their stereotype--As she got ready to say prayers the other night, I told her to remember to pray for this and thank Heavenly Father for that, etc. She replied, "I don't think that hard!"

Happy Mother's day to our moms and grandmas! We love you very much!

Willie is Two!!

I know I'm a few days late, but I just wanted to report that Joshua had a fabulous second birthday! (He still isists that he's "four", though!) We went out shopping in the morning to get his birthday gift--a lifejacket. You may be wondering why a two year-old would get excited about such a gift, but Willie is far from you're typical two-year old boy, remember? (See head-banging post below! 4-11-06)

Anyway, after shopping we enjoyed lunch and opening a present from Puppy Grandma (and fam)...some books, a car, and a new CAR QUILT! (She's amazing)! Willie now has four blankets that he has to sleep with every night. (I can't wait to travel this summer and carry all of them with us, oh brother!)

Then, Joshua, Emmeline, the new life jacket, and I went swimming. Joshua took only one look back at me as he took a flying leap into the water. I think he was suprised that I didn't stop him, since usually our pool outings consist of "Willie, NOOOOO!", "Get away from the edge!", and "Please come play on the steps!" We've been swimming three times now with the new life jacket and he's quite the pro. He jumps in, dunks his head, treads water (to keep his balance), and swims wherever his little heart desires. If only he'd stop drinking the pool water--Sick!

After a loooooong nap, we headed out to Chuck-e-Cheese for the FHE birthday celebration. The kids had a great time. So, that's it. The birthday. Happy Birthday to dad, too! I think it's so cool that they share a birthday and a name.

In other news, EmJ, the amazing non-complainer, burned her elbow on a sizzling frying pan the other day. It's nastier looking than the pile of hair picture that I posted a few days ago, but she hasn't said a word about it. The only thing that she was concerned about as we were fussing over her was that her toast was getting cold. (She burned her elbow because she was standing on a stool at the counter making her own toast, a new skill that she's very proud of!)

Well, Benjamin is finally starting to fuss, so it's time to put him in bed and tackle my Relief Society To-Do list. I'm up to my ears right now in Enrichment *stuff*, and I get to teach on Sunday, and play for the Spanish branch, etc, etc. I love being busy, and I adore my calling, but what is the deal with everything happening in the same week?! And speaking of adoring my calling--our Relief Society President is moving. So I'll probably be released in the next couple of weeks. *Sigh* (That was a sad sigh, not a relieved sigh...okay maybe a little relieved, but mostly sad.) (I work in the most amazing presidency--truly a lesson in how presidencies should operate.)

FYI--Luke was called last week to be a Sunday School teacher for the 14-18 year olds. I think it's the perfect calling for him!

Man, sorry for rambling for so long, but thanks for reading! Good-night all!