The Graduate

Here we are at David's High School Graduation. Despite the length of the ceremony, the boys did pretty well. And, they cheered for every "David" in the entire graduating class. In this picture Ethan is distracted by the candy lei and Luke is most concerned about every balloon that escaped in the sky, but at least we got one all together. Starting in the Fall my parents are officially empty nesters.
They only jumped off these cement stadium steps a couple of times during the ceremony, but unfortunately the lady in front of us got quite a few discarded toys thrown at her. I'm holding an umbrella because we sat on the sunny (aka: sweltering) side of the stadium to get the best view of Dave's procession.
Congrats Dave! Good luck at BYU!

You Never Forget

Back in the day of my childhood summers I loved to ride bikes. I had a purple 10-speed decorated with black splatter paint (because it was the 80's and everything was splatter-painted) and my favorite biking partner was Katie. The highlight of our collective short lives was when Katie received the Fischer-Price headset walkie talkies: now we could communicate while biking about such important things as what teenage boys might be playing basketball down the street, or if one of us should happen to find a suitable new spot to build a fort, or which drugstore perfume we hoped to purchase while biking to Rite Aid. Then Junior High hit and the bikes and headsets were quickly discarded as no longer cool. The next time I considered riding a bike I was fifteen and in the midst of a combined church youth activity which involved an elaborate obstacle course. I was the last leg of my team and my simple task was to circle the church parking lot on a bicycle. Feeling the pressure of my cheering teammates, I attempted to swing one leg over the bike and completely froze. No matter how I tried, I could not coordinate my body to make the thing move. I swayed from side to side and completely toppled over at one point--I had completely forgotten how to ride a bike! The one skill that I had always been told no one ever forgets, I had forgotten. At fifteen, when so much as sneezing in public is considered embarrassing, I was mortified. I swore off bikes forever. Even a few brief spinning classes (where the bike is bolted to the ground!) made me nervous. But, tonight Will felt good enough to get some exercise and suggested we ALL go for a bike ride. The boys were strapped into the bike trailer and I, armed with my brother-in-law Charlie's bike, set off for a relaxed ride down the Irvine greenbelt. Yes, I was shaky at the start, and yes, there was one minor collision into a fence post, but overall I have to say that it was the funnest thing I've done on a weeknight night in awhile. And so worth it to see Ethan & Luke smiling and waving to me. So, to all of you that I've adamantly insisted that I've forgotten how to ride a bike, it has somehow resurfaced from my subconscious. Now if only I had a relay race to redeem myself in . . .

Will Updates

Isn't it weird how life can take a few unexpected turns in a matter of two weeks?

Last weekend Will started complaining of some stomach pain. By Wednesday it was excruciating enough for him to go into the Dr. thinking he must have a kidney stone or severe food poisoning. Our Dr. suspected appendicitis and that started Will's 6 hour adventure in the Emergency Room. Bloodwork indicated an infection, but a CT scan ruled out appendicitis and instead revealed inflammation of his colon. He was also running a 101 degree fever--ouch! They pumped him full of morphine and antibiotics and put Will on a two day liquid diet. Yesterday we met with a GI specialist, who will need to run more tests to make a conclusive diagnosis--but, Will cannot have those tests until the infection heals--so the waiting game begins. There are a number of GI diseases within Will's family history, so we are trying to learn as much as we can about them. For now he is trying to rest and gradually re-introduce easy to digest foods--white bread and processed macaroni and cheese have returned to our kitchen shelves!

And, in the midst of all this, we have another piece of news: Will is starting a new job next month with the law firm of Sheppard Mullin in Costa Mesa. An unexpected opportunity presented itself and we felt that it would be an ideal fit for Will at this point in his career. His focus will shift from Business Litigation to Transactional work. Although I'm a little nervous about the hours this job will involve, I am thrilled for Will and for the opportunity to stay in Irvine.

So much for 2007 being our year of no big changes!

Who Needs A Pet??

Will has been telling me that the kids would enjoy having a pet.
My argument is that we already have one. I make my case:

1) Yesterday in the midst of a busy family party at Aunt Wendy's, Luke was found eating dog food. It must have been good, because I had to claw it out of his sweaty little fist.

2) Luke laps water off of the ground.
3) Luke makes various and distinct growling noises, often when he is happy or saying hello to people, but also when he is mad or feels threatened.

4) Sometimes I think Luke's facial features look like a cuddly koala bear (now that would be an exotic pet!).
5) Sometimes I think Luke's hair looks like a cuddly brown bear cub. He also loves a friendly wrestling match and he and Ethan remind me of two little cubs rolling around on the ground together. Here he is taking on my Dad, loving every minute of it.
6) Luke has fangs--his incisor teeth, and a couple others, came in perfectly pointed and they are vicious when he sinks them into things. He has been known to bite into his food and then rip it away from his teeth while swinging his head around, often accompanied by the growling noise.

7) Luke is currently refusing to let me clip his fingernails (and believe me, I've tried), so he has claws too.

8) Luke thoroughly enjoys rolling around in dirt, mud, bark, sand--you name it and he'll roll in it.

9) If given the chance with his diaper off, he will wet on the carpet IMMEDIATELY. Also, when you take Luke's shirt off his first reaction is to pound his chest or tummy, Tarzan-style.

10) He communicates with the animals. This picture is of Luke at the petting Zoo copying every movement of a bleating goat's mouth.
11) Luke thinks he is caged. If someone should happen to come to our front door, he bolts out like he's never seen the light of day and then throws an enormous tantrum when I have to haul him back in the house. He also shakes the slats of this crib and sits by the back door in the mornings crying to "Go Away!" or "Get in Car!"

12) Luke loves to run and retrieve a ball. Over and over again.

13) Luke is very loyal. He will follow me or Ethan anywhere, as long as we're offering food, that is.

Maybe when our own household is a little less animal-like I'll consider a pet.
But for now I have my hands full.

Dad's 'R Rad

On the Saturday before Father's Day our ward holds the annual "Dad's 'R Rad" Miniature Golf Activity. While it wasn't exactly a rad experience for Will and I to construct our tropical-themed golf hole together (zero engineering or artistic talent here), it was a good time to watch the kid's have fun with it. Ethan exclaimed, "I love the golf!" and asked, "Where my Golf-Bat, Mama?" We will have to add the word putter to his vocabulary.


Our boy's LOVED the golf hole in the tent!
















And here's Luke at the popular Pirate Ship golf ball drop (very creative Kelly & Roger--you overachievers!)










And, last but not least, we want to honor our own wonderful Dad's. We could not ask for better Parents and Grandparents. Thank you for the supportive and loving presence you both are in our lives.

Busy Bee

Last week was super busy! Here's the highlights:

On Tuesday I hosted my monthly book club at our house. We discussed The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas, a light-hearted novel about a group of women who band together during the Depression to quilt and cope. There are some late breaking surprises in the book and a final twist at the end regarding a secret the group has been keeping. A huge thank you to the Book Club crew, who always surprise me with their thoughtful insights. This book in particular reminded me how important it can be to take some time out for some purely female bonding. Who doesn't need a good excuse to clean their whole house, rewarded by a relaxing night chatting with friends?

On Thursday I taught a Nutrition Class as part of our Ward's Enrichment night (I know, I know . . . you can stop laughing now). This was interesting because anyone who has eaten my food (dinner group ladies?!) knows that I'm no health nut. But, in the end I think it might have been a good thing because I was able to give some practical tips of how people can make realistic changes in their diets to be more healthy. Surprisingly, out of the three food items I made for people to sample, the roasted vegetables got the most feedback. Here's the super SIMPLE recipe:

Roasted Veggies

equal amounts of:
zucchini
yellow crookneck squash
red bell pepper
asparagus

extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
ground black pepper

Chop veggies into similar-sized pieces and place on a foil lined jelly roll pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Toss veggies with hands to coat and spread in a single layer. Set oven to the broiler setting and roast vegetables approx. 11 minutes (time will vary depending on your oven), or until tender and just starting to brown.

On Friday we went with some friends to the Dodger Game in LA. We had AMAZING seats--literally 15 feet from the first base umpire in the front row. It was fun to be close enough to see the player's facial expressions as they either made it safely to 1st or were tagged out. Disappointingly, we were also close enough to here an LDS player drop an F-bomb during a play--uh, oh!

The rest of my weekend was consumed with reading Khaled Hosseini's follow-up novel to his debut, The Kite Runner. To put it simply, he did not disappoint. Like the Kite Runner, this book is haunting and utterly heart-breaking, but also an amazing testament to the human spirit and its ability to endure and love. I cried several times throughout it and will be thinking about this book for some time to come.

Kids Are Fun

5:15 am: For some completely unknown reason Luke decides his day has started. I offer him juice and tell him to go back to bed. He ignores me and plays/moans in his crib until 6:00 am.

6:10 am: Luke wakes Ethan up and they both decide they NEED to start watching Finding Nemo NOW.

7:00 am: I take this picture of the two of them back sound asleep together on the couch.7:15 am: I head a loud "bonk" noise, followed by screaming. Luke has rolled off the couch and knocked his head on the hardwood floor. He watches the rest of Nemo in my arms while Ethan sleeps on until 7:45.

And, on other RANDOM Ethan & Luke updates:
Luke has decided he loves to wear my headbands. He say, "Oh, pretty" when he puts them on, but then turns around and ferouciously kicks his soccer ball down the hall.
Ethan has decided that he wants us to pray with our hands in the position above rather than folded across our chests. When we start to say the prayer over our food he interrupts halfway through and yells, "No, this one, this one!" and will not be satisfied until we're all piously clasping our hand together.

Ruby's on the Pier

Tonight we spent some time at the beach, where I hope to spend a lot of Summer evenings this year. As usual for So. CA, there was a little bit of "June gloom" so we didn't exactly get the perfect sunset, but I still just love that salt-water smell and the sound of the waves breaking. The kids got a kick out of all the people fishing off the side of Balboa pier (Ethan even got tangled in one guy's line when he reeled it in a little wildly!). I think think my new favorite picture of Luke is this one where he's looking out at the water--it captures his marshmallow-like cheeks and his constant curiosity. We ate dinner at Ruby's and then spent some time at the little playground in the sand. Luke & Ethan are obsessed with swings, so it's only fitting that our family photo of the night be there, where they like to spend most of their time.