The Reason For The Season

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Jennifer

Life really can get away from us sometimes. Eric and I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately. I think it all happened about a month ago when we took Jennifer to the DMV to get her learners permit for driving. I had mixed emotions about the whole thing--freedom, she can now take herself to school activities that are 22 miles away and oh my, my baby is driving! I have to admit she is doing very well in her driving but wow where did all the time go.

We live in a tiny town in southern Utah that is perfect for young teens who are learning to drive. Main street runs the length of the town and is about a 1 1/2 miles long it is great for the hand full of 15-year-old kids who are practicing to get their drivers licence. The towns people are all pretty patient when they figure out it's one the the towns student drivers, I do love living in a small town. :) Eric had her drive home from wal-mart the other day (13 miles, they took the back roads and avoided the freeway). Her experience with that wasn't as wonderful. People didn't like having to go 30 mph, oops. She was pretty nervous but she did it!

We put Jennifer in High School and one of the classes she is taking is art. The students semester project was to draw a large picture for an in-school art show, Jennifer drew a wolf. Eric and I were amazed as we watched her drawing come together. When all the students drawings were finished her teacher framed them and had them placed around the school for the art show. Jennifer's drawing won the student choice award, She is pretty excited about it.

She also is taking a physics class where the students built mouse trap cars and then raced them. She had so much fun building it. On the day they raced them Jennifer's car won the Longest distance award. She worked so hard on it and had great ideas!

I wish I had pictures of her drawing and her mouse trap car but they are still on display at her school so I will post them when we get them back.

Chicken

Some of Jacob's favorite words to say are hi, bye, and chicken (he loves fried chicken.) He has been talking up a storm lately and is having so much fun putting words together to make phrases. Well, lately he's been putting his three favorite words together so he will say "hi chicken" or "bye chicken" and wave at us adorably. I know he has no idea what this phrase means in our culture, to him he is just putting two of his favorite words together to make a 'fantastic' phrase.

For Thanksgiving we are going up to Northern Utah. I am so nervous he will see our loved ones and say "hi chicken". I can imagine the puzzled looks on their faces as we work hard to explain his exploration of phrases.

Toddlers really make me laugh!

Wonderful Weekend

Eric and I had a fantastic weekend! A couple weeks ago we got a call from one of Eric's closest friends wife.

Scott was going to be turning 40 and his wife Sarah wanted to throw him a surprise birthday party. We of course had to go. Scott Shupe's family took Eric in to their home to live with them in the mid 80's. Eric left for his mission from there, came home, met me, and only left their home when we got married in 1992. He has so many wonderful memories with the Shupe family and they hold a very special place in my heart as well.

Eric and I decided to go up to Ogden for the party alone, no children. My mother in-law very lovingly offered to check in with the children and take them to church on Sunday. So Saturday early afternoon we packed our little beat up Geo Metro and made the 4 1/2 hour journey up to Ogden. It was a wonderfully quiet trip and Eric and I had a great time talking and actually finishing conversations, oh it was great.

Scott's surprise party was at the Timbermine restaurant in Ogden. Eric and I hadn't been there in almost a decade but it was just as fun as we remembered. Scott was very surprised to be led back to a place where he was greeted by many old friends and all his close family. It was so fun to see everyone and catch up on what Eric's old friends were doing now.

On Sunday morning we knew we had to get home but Eric and I had to stop by Temple square before we left. We were really hoping to be able to make the broadcast of music and the spoken word. We were so excited, we made it a half hour early so we were able to hear the choir practice. The program was absolutely amazing. I have always loved the Mormon Tabernacle Choir but I have never heard them live. It was so moving to hear them sing praises to the Lord. :)

After the broadcast we walked around Temple Square, ran into many wonderful missionaries, oh how I love the Lord's missionaries, and watched a film about forever families. We left there feeling so up lifted, revitalized, and ready to get back to our children.

The ride home was not as smooth as the ride there. The weather got pretty bad and being in a tiny, light geo metro did not make things any easier. We hit strips of freeway where we were right next to enormous semi's and the hail and wind blew so heavy we could not see at all. EEK!!! We were so thankful for the clear skies of southern Utah.

Our trip really was wonderful though. We were able to reconnect with good friends, spend some great time together as a couple, and be reminded of Gods plan for us and how our family can be together forever.

Joseph's Birthday

Joseph turned 4 and he was so excited his birthday finally came. He had such a hard time as everyone else had their birthdays with presents and cake. He always said his birthday was never going to come. He was so overjoyed when we told him his day was finally here.

He said he wanted a car cake so I decorated a cake to look like a road and grass and then put an orange match box car on top (he loves cars and the color orange).

Joseph was also really excited to know his Grandma Pat and Grandpa Reed were coming over to wish him happy birthday and share his birthday cake with him. Since Joseph was only 10 days old when we moved away he has never had extended family over for his birthday so this was an extra special day for him.

We had taken lots of pictures but since we are still unpacking I can't find the cord to attach the camera to the computer so I will put pictures on later.

All Moved In

It feels so good to be in back in Southern Utah. There were times along the way I really wondered if we would ever make it back. We were almost a month later than we had planned and our things made it a couple weeks after that. Life sometimes gets really complicated!

We used a navigator on our cell phone to make the trip. We thought it would be wonderful except we didn't get any paper maps and the navigator cut out a few times along the way (after the second cut out we stopped off and picked up a map). It was pretty scary to be in the middle of the US and not sure which way to go.

The navigator took us up to St Louis instead of along the coast so our plans changed and we made a stop at Nauvoo and spend a couple days there. That was our first time visiting Nauvoo we had a great time! I loved the Nauvoo temple, I ended up walking around the grounds quite a bit. It was wonderful to see where so much of our church history happened. We also stopped by Carthage and took the tour of the Carthage jail. It was very humbling to be in the stuffy cell where they put Joseph and to see the room where Joseph fell from the window and the bullet hole in the door where his brother died.

Along our way we unfortunately saw many houses that were flooded by the Mississippi River and then a couple days later when we were watching the news one of the towns we had stayed in had been badly flooded. It was really strange to know we had just been driving through there a couple days before. We were lucky to not have troubles like that.

We also stopped off in Northern Utah because Eric's brother Charles was very sick. We are relieved to know he is doing much better now. I was also able to to visit with my family and spend Father's Day with my Dad. It was so awesome to see my parents, sisters, brother, nieces and nephew and talk with my grandparents. For me it felt like a wonderful family reunion. There truly is nothing better than a loving family.

Now we are earnestly unpacking and enjoying talking with people we knew from before and getting to know many new people. It does feel wonderful to be back. :)

Ode to Florida

A lot has happened in the last last six weeks. Rachel turned six. We had a little family party for her where everything was pink, Rachel loves pink! Jennifer is our cake decorator so she made a beautiful cake for her. Rachel loved opening presents and was so excited to see the new dresses her Grandma Pat sent to her.

Eric finished his LLM program in real property law from the University of Miami. We are all so excited for him! Our four year law school adventure is finally coming to a close and we are ready to get back to real life. May 31st we pack up our moving van and make our trek from Miami to Southern Utah. I am so excited to be back around friends and family and the wide open space of the west. I love the desert!

Here are a some of the things I am really looking forward to:

1st, a very hot shower! Here in Miami because it is such a huge city the power company regulates the amount of power that goes to your large appliances so our water heater only turns on briefly to conserve energy. Unfortunately I have only found two times during the day I can take a warm 15 minutes shower before the hot water is all gone. GRRR! No wonder every one is so grumpy here they all need a nice relaxing hot shower. :)

2nd, a good hair cut! I have had my hair cut four times since we moved here and every time I come away sad, crooked, and with a different hair style than I asked for. I think part of the problem is most people here only speak Spanish and all I can say is, no hoblo espanol. I really should have learned Spanish when I was young! I really am looking forward to my old hair stylist in Leeds, she was great!

The third thing is a big plate of wings at Wingers. Now Miami can't be blamed for this. Wingers is only found in the western states. We have enjoyed the tropical and Cuban cuisine here. I think it is always fun to try new things but I love the sweet and tangy taste of wingers wings, mm mm good.

And last, a lot less traffic and less people cutting me off and running me off the road. Oh how I love smaller cities. Living in Miami has taught me that I am not an Urbanite but instead a person who likes smaller cities with friendly people. :)

Now, Miami hasn't been all bad. We love the beaches, I was only able to see them a few times but they are amazing. I also loved the Florida keys, they really are incredible. We also loved the Everglades. Seeing a real alligator up close, without a fence, is a pretty cool experience. The kids got pretty excited and the little ones got a bit nervous about seeing the gators. There are so many wonderful things to see here. I do look forward to coming back on vacation . . . just not to live.

We have also met some wonderful people and enjoyed our ward very much. We learned a lot about the Cuban culture and that helped us to understand why things are the way they are here. Although I can't deny my excitement to leave I do have some wonderful memories to hold on to.

Wonderful Visual ASL Site

As a family we have been working to learn ASL to help Jacob better communicate with us. I bought 'Baby Signing Times' a while ago, it's a DVD that teaches simple signs for your baby. We really have loved it but we wanted to learn more signs to teach Jacob.

I was searching the Internet today for an ASL site and came across this one that's put together by Michigan State University. It is wonderful because it has a video for each sign so I know I am doing it correctly, pretty cool stuff!!
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/Sites/aslweb/browser.htm

Easter

This is our last major holiday away from family. We are getting excited for all our future family filled holidays. We had a very relaxing day with church in the morning and then an English style roast beef dinner in the afternoon. The kids ran around and played with each other and Eric and I just sat back and soaked it in. It was nice to have a quiet Easter at home to reflect on the gift my Savior gave to me with His Resurrection.

Relaxation

One thing I really enjoy and find very relaxing is working with glass beads. My favorite thing to make with them are ornamental bookmarks.

For Easter I wanted to make something nice for Eric and the older kids and since they all enjoy reading I thought a bookmark would be good.

Hide and Seek

We had been searching for Jacob all over the house, we looked under beds, in closets, and in most of the other rooms in the house just to find him playing under the sink in our master bathroom. He was so happy playing with the package of toilet paper and the box that holds our hair trimmers. He thought this new place to play was the greatest! We of course have learned to tie off many of the lower cupboards to keep him away from all the dangerous cleaning supplies.

The latest place we found him was all nestled in the bottom bookshelf in our front room. He was having a great time just laying there resting. When he caught us watching him he had to show us, over and over again, how he could get in and out of this tiny spot. :)

Say What!?

We took this picture in the Florida Keys.

I enjoy the occasional drive-thru hamburger, french fries, soda, and milk shake. But drive-thru liquor?

Lawn Care Southern Florida Style

I woke up this morning to the buzzing sound of my lawn being trimmed. One might think that is a strange way to put it, your lawn being trimmed? But here in Southern Florida that is exactly what they do, they don't mow your lawn, they trim it with a weed-eater.

Everyone here hires out their lawn care needs to these little lawn care companies who come to your home with their weed-eaters and leaf blowers in tow. It really is amazing to watch these men speed through my property, grass flying in every direction as they perfectly trim my lawn using their weed-eaters then with their leaf blowers they remove all the trimmings off my fence, car, house, driveway etc. and quickly speed off to the next house.

Jacob's First Sign :)

We started teaching Jacob a few ASL signs to help him communicate with us until he can speak. Yesterday he came to me a little fussy, I went to pick him up and he was doing the sign for milk--with both hands--so I asked him if he wanted milk and I did the the sign back. He started giggling and repeated the sign. He did it again for Jennifer this morning, it is so exciting! The kids and I are all energized to teach him even more signs so he can communicate with us. It is amazing how keen their little minds are. I am sure this will help lessen the out-bursts of frustration he sometimes has. YAHOO, happy day!!! :)

Jacob's 1st Birthday

Jacob turned one last week and he really wasn’t sure what to think about the whole birthday thing. He preferred throwing the presents that resembled balls (he loves balls) or just holding the brightly wrapped ones. The older kids worked hard to try to teach him how to rip open the gifts they had bought for him but Jacob was content watching while they opened his gifts and then he played with them. We are learning Jacob is pretty cautious with new things.


When we sang happy birthday, Jacob just looked at us like “what are you people doing” and when it was time for the chocolate cake he wasn’t too sure about putting his fingers in it. He was fine with the white frosting but the chocolate cake took some warming up to, he makes me laugh.
Jacob did have fun once all the birthday formalities were over. His favorite part of the day was just playing with his brothers and sisters.

You can see more video of Jacob's birthday on our family web site. http://adayearly.googlepages.com/earleymovies

mm, mm, good

I finally did it, I made homemade bread! I really feel great about finally getting over my fear of making bread and the best part is it was easy and my family loved it.

When I first got married I tried to make bread but it never worked out it always came out more like a rock than fluffy bread. With some help and lots of practice I learned how to make rolls. After a few years of being married, Eric was so happy when I finally learned how to make the rolls he had as a young boy. After basking in the praise of finally making something tender and yummy I didn’t want to even experiment with making bread again so for over a decade our family has enjoyed homemade rolls but never bread.

Eric and I have been talking about cutting our budget and stretching our money. One of the things we decided to cut was bread. It really is amazing how much bread five kids eat. So, I turned to my favorite internet cooking site http://www.allrecipes.com/ to find an EASY bread recipe. It took me a while to get up the nerve to experiment but I found the perfect recipe, Amish white bread.

I am so excited because it really is easy to make. I think there are 4 ingredients and I used my kitchen aid mixer so I didn’t have to get tired while kneading. The only problem is by the end of the night there were only two pieces left. :) Pretty good stuff!!!

A light at the end of the tunnel :)

I am starting to do a big happy dance because our four year law school adventure is coming to a close. We are so excited for Eric to graduate on May 18th with an L.L.M. in Real Estate Law. It is amazing how fast the last four years have gone and how much has happened while we were away. This really has been a great experience, we have met wonderful people and done things that we never would have been able to do if we wouldn't have taken the the leap faith.

With that being said, it is going to be great to get back into 'real life' (meaning life not as students) and have Eric doing something he really has a passion for.

Real life here we come!

Wow, Jacob is Walking!

I really didn't think Jacob would start walking this early. All the other kids, except for Jennifer, started walking at 14 months. Jennifer walked at 9 months, it was so cute seeing her walk because she was so tiny.

Jacob had taken a step here and there but no real walking. Then the other day he stood up --on his own-- and walked to Jennifer. Wow, we were all shocked and excited. We all applauded him like crazy, He thought that was so great so he kept walking back and forth and all over the room. :) Eric was at school so he missed it. :( But Jacob was so happy to show his dad he could walk as soon as he got home.

I am sad and happy. Sad because his baby time is fading fast and happy because he is growing and progressing. It is so fun to see him learn new things. It is also exciting to watch him pass through the new phases of his life. I never get tired of seeing the first crawl, word, and step. :)

My Kids Make Me Laugh.

We were sitting at the kitchen table for dinner one night and Eric started talking about how one of his associates at school had been talking his ear off. Rachel sits right by her dad at dinner and Rachel's eyes get real big as she stared at her dads face so I asked her what was wrong and she said, “ dad you shouldn’t let people talk your ear off because you need them to hear,” Hee, hee, hee.

Here's another one;

Eric and I were talking the other day about feeling a little baby hungry and Rachel had over heard us and blurted out very adamantly, “mom and dad that is so rude we don’t eat babies,” hee, hee, hee. Jennifer had said a similar thing when she was Rachel’s age.

My kids keep me in stitches!!! :)

Peek-A-Boo

We have french doors that seperate the living area from the bedrooms and Joseph and Jacob love to play peek-a-boo there. Joseph will get Jacob laughing so hard . . . it is really funny!!! :)