And a happy new year!

We enjoyed a very merry Christmas this year! We missed being with out extended family and wonderful friends, but we loved the peace and quiet of a small family Christmas. The kids were delighted with the magic all around them, and they were thrilled with each little thing that happened.


Christmas Eve was a grand day, full of cookie baking, stocking stuffing, and general merriment. Jonathan was too excited for his nap, though as you can see he fell asleep on my lap for the first time since he was a tiny baby. Charming! We acted out the Nativity multiple times, as we do every year, and Clara continues to take her responsibilities as Mary very seriously. Jonathan is a little less solemn about being Joseph, which led to some definite sparks flying between our Mary and Joseph. The kids put their stockings out (I made this last month when I realized we hadn't brought our Christmas stockings, thinking we'd be in Utah for the holidays). Then after a reading of The Night Before Christmas, we nestled the children in their beds.


On Christmas morning, Jeremy and I woke up every 30 minutes or so starting at about 4:00 a.m., but the kids actually had a bit of a lie-in and didn't wake up until 7:00. A Christmas miracle! They were truly excited to go downstairs and see the gifts from Santa. And once we'd settled in around the tree, they were most definitely at their leisure. They played contentedly with each present for 20-30 minutes, and when Clara got two sets of undersea life bath toys from Jeremy's sister, they immediately stripped down for a leisurely bath. When we were finally done opening presents, nearly four hours had passed--and they didn't even have that many gifts! It was really a calm, fun morning.


We had a delicious Christmas dinner, and I'm glad I remembered to take pictures so we can always remember out "Tupperware Christmas"--the year we had no nice china or serving dishes and served everything out of pots and plastic containers. Here's the thing, though: it still tasted wonderful! I won't mind having my nice things back for next year, though. :)


All told, it was a magical weekend. How could it not be, when we got to take this to church with us on Sunday:


Merry Christmas!

Clara's Debut

A few weeks ago, Clara and I were asked to sing "He Sent His Son" at the ward Christmas party. Really, they just wanted her to sing it, so I stayed back from the microphone. I don't think she could hear the piano or me very well, but she just sang with vigor! We were really proud of her. As we were waiting to go up to sing, she was sitting on Jeremy's lap saying, "I don't have stage fright at all. I don't have stage fright." Then when she finished, she went back over to Jeremy and said, "I did it, Dad!" What a sweet girl.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Several weeks ago, I left my kids with a friend for a couple of hours and treated myself to two hours at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This museum is incredible. It’s immense, the collections are beautiful, and, astoundingly, it’s absolutely free. It’s not even fake free, like the zoo. No collection boxes, no guilt. You just walk in and enjoy. And I did. I hardly saw any of it, even in two hours. I saw nothing of the modern art wing, and really very little of any of the other collections. But I did spend about 20 minutes admiring this:



I knew they had this bust—“Veiled Lady,” sculpted in marble by Raffaelo Monti. It was truly amazing. I don’t know how such delicacy can emerge from stone. Some of the places were so thin that the light shone through. I loved it.

I wish I knew more about art in general. I took Humanities 101 at BYU, which would’ve (and probably did) given a nice overview, but there’s an inherent problem in that course. My section met at an unfortunate post-Morris-Center-lunch 1:00. It was held in an anonymous auditorium in the JKHB, full of soft chairs. The lights were always turned down low (the better to view art and listen to music), and the professor had a low, droning voice. All the pieces were in place for me to take a healthy afternoon nap three days a week. I probably wasn’t asleep as much as I remember, but I think it’s telling that when I was studying for the final exam, I fell asleep on my book. It’s the only book I sold back to the bookstore with my dried drool holding the center pages together.

It’s also possible that I remember so little about Humanities 101 since I took that class TWELVE years ago, if that number is even possible. Twelve. Regardless, I like going to art museums. Now when I get tired, I can just go home.

Our house is a very, very, very just fine house.

Now that we have less time remaining in St. Paul than we’ve already spent here, I thought I’d finally post some pictures of our apartment, so my mom can picture us in our home—at least for the next eight weeks or so.

The apartment is basically a split-level townhouse. You enter on the landing of the staircase, then you go down for the kitchen and living room and up for the bathroom and bedrooms. This is the first time the kids have had to share a room, and it’s a questionable practice at best. They did well for awhile, until Jonathan started to crawl out of his pack-n-play and then started to sleep on a little air mattress like Clara. Then most evenings were spent slamming doors and yelling, and the kids also caused a ruckus. Our “compromise” has been to have Jonathan take his nap on our bed and also to fall asleep in our bed at night. Now we have basically no conflict at night. The kids just fall asleep after reading, etc., then we move Jonathan to his bed before we go to sleep. Everyone wins. Except for maybe Jonathan, but he doesn’t seem to notice he has the shorter end of the stick.



The downstairs is basically L-shaped, with the kitchen, dining area, and living room flowing into one another (how’s that for the ever-coveted “open floorplan”!). As you can see, there’s lots of natural light from the abundant window, and the backdoor opens onto a soccer pitch and a nearby playground, which is, in a word, awesome. We’ve been really blessed with an extended pleasant fall, and I’m happy we’ve been able to spend so much time outside.



The kitchen might be the world’s smallest. It boasts about one square foot of usable counter space, which isn’t ideal, but whatever. It also has a quaint “fisher price” stove/oven, which—word to the wise—is not big enough to fit a Costco take-n-bake pizza. (Also, if you cut said pizza in half, you should be aware that it will ooze and drip copious amounts of cheese onto the bottom of the oven, which will then burn. Just saying.)



The bathroom is about what you would expect in 60 year old family housing, in that it is not super spacious, particularly for four people sharing a bathroom—even if two of those people are pint sized. I’m proud to report that only once in the last 10 weeks have I knocked Jeremy’s toothbrush into the toilet.



Our bedroom is just the right size for a queen size mattress on the floor and a small bookcase. I could stand to have a bit more space, but really it’s perfectly serviceable (I’ve never understood the need for an opulent master bedroom, since I primarily use a bedroom for sleeping, but to each his own). The kids’ bedroom is actually bigger than ours, but they spend more time playing and making messes there, so they might as well have the bigger room. Also, their room has this fab raised closet that they dubbed the “kids’ clubhouse.” It’s a good time.



After living in a basically amenity-less apartment for the last few months, I’ve decided that the only thing I really miss is a garbage disposal. The sooner I can stop fishing smooshy grains of rice out of the drain strainer, the better. I do miss having laundry in the house, although our laundry room is quite close, the weather has been fine, and there’s something to be said for having access to basically as many washers and dryers as I want. But the biggest thing I miss is not being able to control my own heater. We have radiators that basically run on each side of the apartment, all the way down our entire building. It was turned on, against our will, on October 1, when the outside temperatures were in the mid 70s. The maintenance staff claims to try to keep the heat at 70 to 72, which sounds fine in theory, but rarely does the temperature drop below 75. When I wrote this, for example, it was a pleasant 58 degrees outside and a whopping 77 degrees inside. Seventy-seven. Let’s just say I wear a lot of short sleeve shirts. Word.

What will we see at the zoo?

One of the things I was most excited about in anticipation for our move to the Twin Cities was our proximity to the Como Zoo. It’s just about two miles away from where we live, and it’s free. Well, it’s free with a suggested donation, but the suggested donation ($2 for adults and $1 for children) is so nominal that it’s got to be among the best deals in town. We’ve been several times, and although it’s a small zoo, it’s really pretty fantastic.

About a month ago, we happened to be visiting the polar bears during feeding time. The zoo recently required two twin male polar bears of a fairly advanced age (in polar bear years). We sat for probably 45 minutes watching this bear fish yams out of his pool and eat them. I was amazed by how dexterous he was, seeing as he could probably crush my head between his jaws with minimal effort.



We also spent probably half an hour sitting in front of this pool watching turtles and waiting for the occasional pass of a stingray.

One of the most wonderful things about the Como Zoo is the attached conservatory. Amazing. I’ve decided that all wintry places should have extensive conservatories. We loved being there in the early fall; I can only imagine what a haven it must be in the middle of a subzero winter.

Sneak Peek!

Happy Birthday, Rockin' Boy!

Jonathan turned TWO last month. What a joyous occasion! He was blissfully unaware of when his birthday was, or even what a birthday was, even though Clara made a point of reminding him about his special day for more than a week.

Jonathan woke up to the traditional birthday “tunnel,” although this year’s was a bit skimpy since I ran out of crepe paper. He didn’t seem to mind. We went downstairs for breakfast and found a room full of balloons, which thrilled Jonathan. We then had “Bug’s favorite birthday breakfast,” as chosen by Clara: Lucky Charms. This was actually a funny story: when I asked Clara what she thought Jonathan wanted for his birthday breakfast, she immediately said, “Oh, his favorite thing is the thing we had on Sam’s birthday. You know. The thing with the little shapes.” It took me a full five minutes of questioning to land on Lucky Charms. I hadn’t even remembered I bought that on Sam’s birthday (confession: it’s my favorite sugar cereal). Leave it to Clara…


After breakfast, we gave Jonathan his first present: a t-shirt with a motorcycle on it. So happy, he was! Then we drove to Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis, which is a great park. We splurged for Jonner and rented a family bike. Jeremy and I huffed and puffed for an hour, much to the pleasure of our children, who nevertheless never seemed to think we were going fast enough up the rolling hills.


When we got home from our bike ride, Jonathan took a luxurious afternoon nap, after which he got his present from us: a sit and spin (courtesy of Goodwill! In times like these, you know…). He was so groggy with sleep that it took him awhile to figure out how to spin, but he seemed to like it pretty well.


Following a dinner of Dad’s Special Cheesy Noodles, Jonathan opened his last gift: an awesome toy motorcycle. I don’t know where this love for motorcycles comes from, but it’s definitely a hot hit. He carries it with him everywhere, including to bed. I find it very pleasant to tote around with me when he’s tired of carrying it with him.

Goodness. Happy Birthday to the sweetest little boy I can imagine. We love you, Buggy!

Life in Olympic Village

About a week and a half ago, we loaded up the Golf with everything we could possibly fit into the world’s smallest car. Jeremy worked some pretty miraculous feats of packing, and I was stunned by everything we were able to cram in. We spent three days driving across the country surrounded by the detritus of our life. The kids were great sports, though, and the highlight of the journey for them was the hotel swimming pool in Ames, Iowa.

Now we are all settled in our new home in St. Paul. The complex we live in is full of university students, most of whom have families, and most of whom are international students. The buildings are fairly dated; our apartment was built in the 1950s, and the “new” buildings were built in the 1970s. It’s a cross between Hooverville and an international housing project. After batting around several possible names for our new place (we always like to name our homes, sometimes more creatively than others), we settled on “Olympic Village.” It’s a great place. We have really embraced the lifestyle of our new international digs, including hanging our laundry out on the line with our Chinese neighbors. The only thing I don’t like is that I’m pretty sure they’re all better cooks than I am. Every evening when we’re fixing dinner, the scents of curries and sundry Chinese food waft through our open windows. Jeremy usually wanders wistfully to the window and says, “Wow. Doesn’t that smell good?” The truth is, it really does. Maybe I’ll have to figure out their culinary secrets in the short time we’re here.

The apartment itself is fairly basic, but in excellent repair. The paint is fresh (though we do wonder how many hundreds of layers of paint have been applied to this one apartment in the last 60 years) and the upstairs carpet is new. The kitchen, though small, is pleasant. We even have what I like to call a “Fisher Price” stove—a tiny apartment stove that looks too small to be real. But it works well and still has four burners. What more does one family need? We have no dishwasher and no garbage disposal, no internet, no microwave, no apartment laundry, (though there is a communal laundry at the end of the building), and no air conditioning. Believe it or not, none of these have been problematic other than the air conditioning. The weather hasn’t been horrible, but today, for example, the temperature is in the 90s and the low tonight will only be 75. Then tomorrow it’ll be in the 90s again. That makes for some hot times inside.

Other than the periodic heat, I can’t say enough good about the Twin Cities. Other than the odd bridge falling into the Mississippi River, this seems to be an ideal place. Yes, I know I haven’t hit winter yet, but of all the wintry places I’ve lived in (and you may know that’s been quite a few), this is the only place that actually seems prepared for a long winter in terms of having lots of fun indoor things to do. There are indoor conservatories and museums, lots of great libraries, and of course the Mall of America. And both downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis have extensive skyway systems, so you can enjoy a winter day downtown with minimal exposure to the elements. Genius!

As is our tradition, on our second day here we went to the library to get everyone library cards. Our closest library is small, but it’s in this beautiful old brick building, and the children’s section is in a circular room. You’d have to have known me for pretty long to know how excessively fond I am of round rooms. We’ve also visited the Como Park Zoo, which is free (with a nominal requested donation), Ikea, and the Mall of America. And we’ve gone to several fun parks. All of this in less than a week, and there’s still so much to see and do! We haven’t even been to Minneapolis yet! We look forward to upcoming visits to the Children’s Museum, and, of course, the State Fair. Some of my alert readers will know that we live within a very near proximity to the State Fair. Even though we haven’t gone yet, we have enjoyed several concerts and fireworks show from our bedroom. And by “enjoy” I mean “stay awake until 11:00 p.m. listening to Big Head Todd and the Monsters and waiting for the fireworks so we can go to bed.” Last night we were favored by a concert from Tim McGraw and Julianne Hough. We’re super pumped about some of next week’s offerings: Weird Al Yankovich and Kiss. Goodness. We actually are excited about Prairie Home Companion and are more or less indifferent to tonight’s guest: Carrie Underwood.

Sorry there aren't more pictures (Mom)! I'll get some good ones posted soon...

On the road again

When people start asking me when I'm going to update my blog, it makes me feel like perhaps too much time has passed since my last entry. So thanks, Julia, for a motivational (if virtual!) kick in the pants. Here's what we've been up to lately:

On July 29th, we loaded our earthly possessions into a trusty 16-foot Budget truck and drove from lovely Coeur d'Alene, ID to lovely Utah. As is always the case when we move, we were sad to say goodbye to the wonderful friends we made during our two years in Coeur d'Alene. I've long wished that I could just pack my friends up in a suitcase and take them with me from place to place, but since that's not possible I am just grateful for the people whose paths we are able to cross. We've truly been blessed with wonderful friends.

Contrary to what you might be thinking at this point, we are not actually moving to Utah. At present, we are on a little vacation, visiting family and preparing for another big move--this time to Minneapolis. Jeremy has a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota this fall, which we are super excited about. Since the fellowship is only four months, though, we decided to put our stuff into storage and travel dustbowl refugee-style to Minnesota, taking only what we can fit into our compact car. It's going to be a good time.

We're quite enjoying our time in Utah. We've been able to visit with a lot of family and see our favorite Utah sites. For example, today we drove to Provo for our traditional BYU campus visit (Go, Cougars!). Clara and Jonathan had a great time running around, visiting old friends (of mine), and eating ice cream in the Cougareat.

When we finished at BYU, we drove to the cemetery to visit Sam's grave. I think it might have been Jonathan's first visit, and though Clara has been there before she seemed to understand more where we were and why we were there. We decorated his grave with pine cones and sticks we collected, then we knelt for a family prayer at his graveside. It was a tender, peaceful, memorable experience.

It's an interesting thing to teach our children about their brother. I want them to know about Sam without worrying them needlessly about death. Today when we were driving home from the cemetery, Clara said, "Why did Sam die?" I said, "I don't know, exactly. He was very sick." She replied, "Why was he very sick?" I said, "Well, he got very, very, very sick in Mommy's tummy, and then he was born and he was still very sick, and then he went back to live with Heavenly Father. We were so sad for him to die, but we're glad that we can remember him and that we can see him again someday." She didn't say much after that, but I hope I said the right things. I'm grateful for Clara and Jonathan, and for Jeremy. Even when our lives are in upheaval, like they are during a move, I always feel safe and at home with my family around me. And it was nice to feel like all five of us were together today, even for just a moment.

Sing a song of summer!

Summer is here, at long last. After such a long, wet spring, I feel like it's gotten hot rather quickly (and of course by "hot" I mean anywhere with five degrees of 80, which can start to feel a bit warm in a house with no air conditioning. It can! Don't judge me.).

We've made the transition quickly, I think, and have spent many recent days exhausting ourselves and our children with fun warm weather activities. I've even been riding my birthday bike (thanks, Jeremy!) to and from work!

We started our adventures a few weeks ago with a random, impromptu trip to Moscow, ID and Pullman, WA. You probably know we are "university tourists," so we ended up at both the University of Idaho and Washington State University. Both are quite nice campuses, although I will admit to being more enamored with WSU. I can't help it. It's very, very nice. Jonathan and Clara liked UofI better, probably because we bought them each a push pop. (A side note: you'll notice we only brought our single stroller--very short-sighted--but it turned out all right; we just started calling them Lewis and Clark.)



Downtown Moscow was really fun. We were there during a downtown art festival with live music and chalk drawing. There's also a fun playground right in the middle of downtown. The kids loved it, as you might imagine, although it was hard to tell that amidst the incessant wailing that accompanied us on our 90 minute drive home.



Two weeks ago we hiked Tubb's Hill, which is a lovely mountain in downtown Coeur d'Alene. Jonathan was a sport in the hiking backpack, and Clara was an even bigger sport by hiking almost the entire length of the two-mile hike. The biggest sport of all? It's got to be a toss-up between me and Jeremy, since Jeremy toted Jonathan the whole way and I carried a heavy, squirmy, crazy-haired Clara for the last 1/4 mile. Downhill. Jeremy and I brought along some interpretive trail literature (don't mock) so we could identify the trees and shrubs and the "fool's gold" minerals in the rocks (it's mica!). Clara enjoyed sitting down on the trail near each numbered sign and listening, although after about 5 mini-lessons she said, "Mom, let's just sit down without the paper this time." I was about to write that she has no zest for knowledge, but that's clearly not the case. In fact, she remembers more about the trail than I do, since she was annoyed with me just today when I told her a stick without leaves was called a stick and she said it was called a "snag." For the record, we're both right, since technically a snag is a full dead tree, not just a stick. Word.




And to fill up the rest of our time, we've enjoyed the beach, playing outside, going to storytime, and eating free lunch at the elementary school. I do have to give a lot of credit to Jeremy for making the summer special for the kids. I teach Monday through Thursday from 8:00 to noon, and Jeremy has filled up the mornings will all manner of awesome fun. His drive and organization have not disappeared since he graduated, and their "fun" is carefully scripted each day, but Jonathan and Clara don't know that. All they know is that they get to have great outings to the park, to the free summer movies, to the beach, and to school lunch. Fantastic.