How does one get to Heaven?

If you ask Brock, he'll tell you that all you have to do is jump really high on the trampoline.



What a nut! I love that kid!

Ultimate Sadness

Our precious baby girl, Amelia Jayne See, was born this morning at 6:56 a.m., stillborn.

"Luke The Skywalker"

At only three years of age, Brock has already adopted his daddy's enthusiasm for "the force." He calls himself: Luke The Skywalker, Jedi Master or The Master (for short). Thanks to his new hoodie jacket and dino jammies from nanay and lightsaber, courtesy of grandpa, Brock is now fully outfitted to battle fierce plastic dinosaurs and conquer mountains of couch cushions. I never again have to worry about the fast approaching (and oddly invisible to the adult eye) tyranas (tyranasaurus rexs) just outside our window or monsters lurking about dark hallways because my hooded warrior and his glowing sword are prepared to protect.

The Oscars

Just another excuse for the Hollywood

look-at-me

worship-me

covet me

love-me

listen-to-me

obsess-about-me

wish-you-were-me

glorify-me

idolize-me

follow-me

admire-me

put-me-on-a-pedestal

fantasize-about-me

put-me-above-your-god

pamper-me

look-at-me

look-at-me

look-at-me

look-at-me

me

me

me

celebritards to celebrate themselves.

Two for Today...

Scrub-a-dub-dub. Fun in the tub!

Squirt tap dances!

We've nicknamed our baby "squirt" since only a squirt would keep their gender a secret during an ultrasound. Last week I began feeling definite movement and its strange and wonderful all at the same time. It feels like a giant fish in a tiny fishbowl--you can feel the baby rolling and moving, but the movements are slow and deliberate--like a giant fish trapped in a small fish bowl. Those first movements are always special for the mom-to-be because only she can feel them. Last night as we settled down to watch our favorite shows (House, 24, & Medium), squirt woke up and began to move. Immediately, I called out to Clarke and told him where to place his hand on my belly...and *tap.* He felt it! He felt squirt! Its such a joy to share those early movements with Clarke and one day soon Brock will be able to feel those kicks too. This is the fun part of pregnancy.

*Soapbox Moment*

Does your debt own you? Apparently your government does.

Like any other average American family, we have months that are financially tighter than others. When that happens, we adjust our spending and change our habits to fit our budget. Its called living within our means and this simple and effective concept has been time tested and passed down from generation to generation. Our grandparents taught our parents. Our parents, in turn, taught their children. We will pass along this gem to our kids and so on.
If living within your means is a guaranteed success, why is our government telling us that in order to move beyond our country's current financial "crisis" we must spend beyond our means?? Since when did monumental, decades-deep debt ever help anyone overcome financial obstacles??? The truth is that trillion-dollar debt will not create jobs and stimulate the economy--it will create a larger government and whenever government grows, your individual liberties and choices diminish.

So while we're struggling to instill the principles of living with your means in our families and in our children so that we don't become slaves to our debt, our government is abusing their power and our trust by building up a national debt so colossal that we will be slaves to our government for decades. I can't answer for anyone else, but this is not what I voted for.

We DON'T work for government!

Government works for US!

Heaven tastes like...

For Valentine's Day, Clarke took me out to dinner at Tucanos. It may be Boise's newest (and swankiest) place to eat, but we're no strangers to this particular restaurant as it has long been a family favorite. We were first introduced to Tucanos during one of our visits to Provo, Utah, while visiting family. Holy yumminess. Fresh food, dozens of grilled meats, and all-you can eat menu tantalizes the taste buds and makes dieting a particular difficulty as your waistline is guaranteed to expand during your meal. Don't be surprised to see people exiting the restaurant with their pants unbuttoned and groaning in gluttonous delight.
We were tipped off early last week that if we had not already made reservations that we were out of luck for the month of February as the new Boise Tucanos was booked solid. Needless to say, I was bummed. Then in a valiant effort to keep a secret, Clarke let it slip that he had made reservations............for Valentine's Day. Are you envisioning a prince in shining armor? I love my husband!
When we arrived, the place was packed, with hungry, near ravenous, crowds spilling out of the building. After we elbowed our way through the crowd to claim our reservation, we heard the hostesses telling the poor shmoes who had failed to make reservations that the wait would be....................THREE AND A HALF HOURS!!!!! Our old "favorite" restaurant, Texas Roadhouse, used to have a 90 minute wait--but three and a half hours????
Tucanos did not disappoint. Absolutely divine and euphoric. It was long after our stomachs signaled the end of the meal did our appetites catch up and by then the misery began to set in. Miserable to be sitting or standing due to the discomfort of extreme fullness. Were we gluttonous? You bet! We were even greedy enough to order a dessert that we DID NOT have room enough to eat and if that wasn't bad enough, my birthday yielded a surprise Oreo sundae to top off what had already been a meal for a family of six, for an entire week, devoured by two people in one sitting! I was so grateful for maternity pants last night as I suddenly looked nine months pregnant by the time we were done eating. The thought of stuffing our over-stuffed selves into the car was agonizing. Instead we crossed the street to Lowe's to walk off dinner--a feat that would have realistically taken several days crammed into 45 minutes.
Will we eat at Tucano's again? Absolutely! Will we eat anything one week prior to eating at Tucanos? Not a morsel! Should you arrange to have someone roll you out of the restaurant following your meal? Highly recommended!

In the course of just one day...

Brock can be dog, Luke Skywalker, a tyranosaurus (or Tyrana as he calls himself), a monster, an paleontologist, a race car, a superhero, a construction worker, and just about any other wonder of a three year old's imagination, and all in the course of just one day. His new fascination is dressing up.

This day he was a dinosaur hunter. "Look mom, there's a Tyrana in the backyard. Quick, run, he's gonna get us!"


Not an hour later, he went from a dinosaur hunter enthusiast to Bob the Builder. His T-Shirt says it all: Will work for cookies. Anyone who has met Brock knows that cookies are a particular vice for my busy little boy.

The Money Shot

Is it possible to be too modest???

We were hoping to get a "money shot" during the ultrasound at yesterday's obgyn appointment. With Brock, we found out he was a "he" at my 17 week ultrasound so it seemed like a realistic expectation that we'd find out what color to paint the nursery during yesterday's ultrasound.
Turns out, we're having a.....
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.........stinker! In spite of great effort on the part of Dr. Z, our little one was determined to keep his/her identity a secret...for now.

So, Clarke thinks we're having a boy.
I think we're having a girl.
Brock thinks we're having a "grill."



If you haven't taken our "guess the gender" poll on the right side of your screen, please venture a guess. We have another four weeks of wondering and waiting...

Stimulus?

Doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that YOUR kids and YOUR grandkids will be shouldering the debt of this trillion dollar socialist agenda packaged in lies and secrecy as a stimulus plan? Its always been my undertanding that under the constitution of the United States, the government WORKS FOR US. Not the other way around. My mistake???

Spring Fever

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I don't know about you, but when December 26th rolls around, I'm ready for spring. That's right, five days of winter with its snowstorms, inversions, icicles, mud, slush, and frigid temperatures are more than adquate to satisfy my taste for this most dreary of all seasons.

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Today was a treat. At 51 degrees, Mother Nature is most definitely teasing those of us enduring winter with a taste of glorious spring. But its only a taste. I'm not about to pack away the mittens and scarves just yet.

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With the groundhog's annual promise of an additional 6 weeks of winter, we're surely guaranteed a few more snowstorms and days so cold that even getting out of a warm and cozy bed is a crime against common sense.

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This is why the rare, sunny and semi-warm, *almost spring-like* days are such a reward. It means that we can play outside without the irritating burden of multiple layers of clothing, coats, scarves, hats, gloves, and whatever else we pile onto our bodies to keep us from freezing to death outside. Today was jacket weather and Brock could not have been happier.

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We went digging for dinosaur bones. Naturally. Wouldn't you?

Brock's dinosaur dig yielded....

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....nothing.........
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...........but mud, unfortunately.

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The opportunity to play under the shy winter sunshine was well worth the mud and disappointment because it was a promise of springtime to come.

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Not to mention our goldens were thrilled to have someone to play with.

The backyard is a very dead and desolate place from November to March, save for two shaggy dogs doing their best to keep warm.

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Cousins

Logan, Utah is not the ideal destination of choice in January in which one is guaranteed plenty of snow and plenty of cold. We were fortunate during our journey last week to have met with dry roads and sunny skies on the day of my grandfather's funeral and burial. The funeral itself was a fitting and bittersweet tribute to the man who so many of us called "grandpa." In fact, the entire service was performed by the grandkids (i.e. my cousins): prayers, conducting, talks, and testimonies. Its been many, many years since I had seen my cousins and while we all wish that we had been meeting under different circumstances, it was, nonetheless, sweet to reunion with them and meet their families.

Many of my happiest and most treasured childhood memories are the times that I spent with my cousins. Its so important to us that Brock develop those precious relationships with his cousins and it is through Jamin, my brother's little boy, that Brock has found not only a favorite cousin, but a best buddy. They both knew grandpa-or "grandpapa" as they called him-and shared this opportunity to say goodbye to him. It was at the burial, in cold and snowy Logan, that they boys were able to play wildly in the snow, throwing snowballs and making tracks. In other words, they played, as cousins do, creating memories and turning a serious event into playtime, lifting the spirits of all those who watched them play. I'm sure if "grandpapa" was watching, he was smiling.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!" Brock believes he is half dinosaur and spent much of the day roaring at everyone, particularly people he had never met. He also threw in dinosaur stomping to enhance his performance. It garnered plenty of chuckles and endeared him to his great aunt Julie.

You can see the mountains blanketed in snow and can imagine that even with a clear, blue sky and sunshine, it was still quite chilly outside. When you're a kid, however, a chill in the air has nothing on wide expanses of snow and a three year old's imagination.