Flippin' flip!

(Now that we are in Utah, I thought it best to use the appropriate slang)

We arrived here on Wednesday and had a very fun picnic with Brad's family at Becky's adorable new house. The kids had a great time sailing boats down the stream in Becky's backyard (her downstream neighbors are going to find quite a collection of watermelon-rind boats, etc. for the next couple of days) and just generally renewing friendships with their cousins. Here is a picture of Luke swinging with Hannah in Becky's backyard. These two really hit it off - it was funny to see the two of them having a "conversation" that the rest of us didn't really get.


We also got to meet Kate's dreamy Cameron. We are looking forward to getting to know him better, but we like him so far - he makes a very good first impression!

We are now staying at my parent's house. Last night, Jayce showed Adam how to do a front flip on the trampoline and after much practice, Adam showed me his new skill this morning. He was most anxious that his dad see what he can do, so Brad, this video is for you:


Not bad, eh?

Luke face time

I was going through my blog and it occurred to me that I haven't given Luke much face time on the site (which is weird, because he clearly runs our house!). So, here are a few pictures of Luker to hopefully make up for the previous lack of coverage.





Such a sweetheart! I can't believe he is almost 2!

Bye-bye Beemer

Well, this last week Brad said good-bye to his sweet, sweet car that he loved. His company announced that they will provide company cars for employees at his level, so Brad sold his BMW to his brother John. Brad has loved this car since he first test-drove it 2 years ago, and I think he feels like he just sold one of his children. At least it is staying in the family and we know that it is going to a nice Mormon home with John and Lili...

Prima Ballerina

Last Saturday was Jessica's first dance recital, and we are so proud of her! She has always been interested in horses and anything animal-related, but this year she stepped out of her comfort zone and tried a ballet class. It turned out to be a new love for her, and she has done great! Jess was in a class with girls who have been taking ballet for years, and she held her own, especially considering this is her first class at age 11. The studio she goes to offers many other styles of dance, and she says she wants to continue with ballet next year and maybe try a little tap.

Here is a video of Jessica's ballet number - the lighting was very bright, so it might be hard to tell which one she is. She is the thin, willowy, white blob on the far right that the camara tries follow throughout. (you may need to pause the playlist at the bottom of the blog so you can hear the music she is dancing to)

Go Jess!

Butch has arrived!

Yesterday morning when we checked on our nest, we saw that one of the eggs had hatched. This first picture is of the little bird's bum. Jess and I were just blown away with how tiny and delicate the little bird was - it was a little freaky - and we decided to name him Butch, in the spirit of optimism that he would bulk up a bit. We couldn't wait around for a better shot of its face because the mama bird was yelling at us. Yelling as best she could, anyway; it really just sounded like "TWEEEEET, TWEEEEET!" It must be hard to sound threatening when you are just a bird, but she sure was trying. We were convinced that she was a Good Mother, and tried to be respectful of her protective instints by keeping the photography session short. However, later that day, we made a discovery that has made us suspicious...


This next picture was taken later that afternoon. The discerning eye will see that there are not two baby birds present, and in fact the other egg is missing altogether. This has led Jess and I to believe that there may have been some foul play (fowl play?) on the part of the mother bird, or Big Mamma as we prefer to call her. We don't know if the baby bird we saw in the morning is the same baby bird we saw squawking lustily later that day, or if the first baby somehow died and the bird remaining is the one that was still in the egg in the morning. What we do know is that there were clearly two eggs in the morning, and only one baby bird in the afternoon.

All evidence of any egg shells is also noticably absent, so either Big Mamma has destroyed the evidence of her crime, or she is an impeccable housekeeper. It is so hard to know the motives of birds, especially when they fly away whenever you get within 10 feet of them. We are trying to give Big Mamma the benefit of the doubt, and she does seem to be a diligent mother in that she spends a lot of time hanging around the nest with Butch. However, we will be keeping an eye on her and Butch, in case DCFS needs to get involved...

Poor Irises

Every June, I love the purple irises that bloom on my front corner. I wish I could take credit for them, but the previous homeowners are the ones who planted them. They are in full bloom for about a week or two at the most, so they are always short-lived, but really beautiful while they are here.

Last Saturday, I decided to take some pictures of them in full bloom because they are my favorite part of the front garden and they don't last long. (Just before I took this picture, some people stopped in their car and asked me about the irises. All those purple blooms make quite a show on my front corner.)

Well, I am glad I have some photos to remember them by, because the poor irises were destroyed by a horrific wind storm the next day. On Sunday, the kids and I huddled in the basement while tornado sirens went off. We were sure it was a tornado because of the force of the winds, but the radio people tell us it was just a bad wind storm. Bad, yes - after the storm we went driving around to see the damage and there was a lot to see. Many, many trees - BIG trees - were ripped out of the ground, their roots exposed. Power lines were tangled in the trees, and many of the power poles were lying on the ground, too. We saw one house that was cut in half by a big tree falling on its roof, and the whole house was sitting about 6 inches off its foundation.

Luckily, the worst damage we had was the loss of my pretty, purple irises (you can see all the sad, bald stems). We did go without power for about 24 hours, and the kids' school was cancelled on Monday, but other than that we weren't affected by the storm. I know of one family that is now living in a camper while they figure out how to rebuild their house.

I guess all those times we've prayed that "no harmer accident would befall us" really worked!

Last week of school

Because Brad is taking Adam and Pepper on a fishing trip next week in Minnesota with Uncle John, this is the boys' last week of school (the rest of the kids have to stay in school until June 13). We went to their end-of-the-year Learning Fair on Wednesday night to watch their chorus concert/see examples of their school work/say good-bye to teachers.

This is Adam singing with all the first graders. The little girl in pink didn't move a muscle during the whole concert - don't tell Adam, but I got as big a kick out of watching her as I did watching him!

Adam with his teacher, Mrs. Hamzey. This woman is a saint - she put up with a lot from our little Drama King this year!

Here is Pepper singing with all the third graders. I don't know what he was thinking in this picture, but he seems pretty amused by the girl on his right!

This is Pepper's third grade teacher, Mrs. Barnes. Thanks to her, Pepper improved his reading by nearly 2 grade levels this year. Yay Pep! (and yay Mrs. Barnes!).

Brad and I believe that the schools are one of the reasons we are meant to be here. We have been so impressed with all the teachers our kids have had, and we truly believe that Pepper especially has benefitted so much from the school system here. He has a whole team of professionals that have known him since kindergarten and are pulling for him to succeed at each grade level. The educational foundation he is getting right now is a blessing we can't measure. So, even though we miss our families in Utah, we feel so blessed to be here!

New Tenants

Our household size will soon increase by two! About a week ago, I noticed this nest built on the wreath on my front door. After I got over the initial freak-out (you know, wild-life at a very close proximity), the kids and I climbed on a kitchen chair so we could see what was in the nest...

...well, as you see, there are a couple of little speckled eggs nestled all cozy ready to hatch. We are not experienced bird-watchers, so we don't know what kind of birds these will be. Sometimes we see the silhouette of the mother bird through the door window, but of course she flies away as soon as we open the door to look at her. We are hoping the opening and shutting of the front door won't be too hard on the eggs and that they will safely hatch soon (we have been very careful not to touch the eggs or the nest). Hopefully, we will have some births/hatchings to announce soon!

Brace Faces

Last week, Jess and Pep got their braces (well, Pep got his top braces on a month ago, but now he has them on the bottom, too).

Jess was dying to get her braces on because she'd had an expander in that had spread all her top teeth way far apart, and she did look a little goofy. Even after a few days, the braces have made a big improvement. She got the pink thingees that go around the brackets, so she looks very sweet!

Like I said, Pepper has had his top braces for a while. He is such a tough little bird, and really never complained that the braces hurt, so I was surprised when Jessica was nearly incapacitated by hers. Now Pepper has a whole mouth full of metal; besides the top and bottom braces, he also has a device to stop his tongue from pushing his teeth forward. I am amazed that he has been such a good sport through all this mouth work.