Road Trippin'

Well, we had a great vacation. It was almost a month long and we were able to see beautiful places and spend time with wonderful people that we love. I feel blessed to have been able to take a vacation that long, and see as many people as I did. It never seems like enough though. It was over too soon! But I will start at the beginning. Feel free to just read the Reader's Digest version on these (I would) as it is lengthy.

Part 1: San Antonio
Reader's Digest version: Andrew falls off the porch the first day there and gets a goose egg the size of my fist; we played at the park and pool; Aubrey rides rides at Sea World, enjoys the wave pool and water slides; Andrew doesn't care for the water; we eat at Incredible Pizza and Aubrey wins a Care Bear and buys a ball for Andrew; My parents meet us in San Antonio; We leave to meet with Chad in Amarillo.

I have to say, it was just the right time for us to get away. I needed a vacation, a change of scenery. I guess I get that way from time to time and usually, a jaunt over to San Antonio or Dallas is enough to do it for me. But I was anticipating a longer one this time, that would include seeing my parents while they had returned from India, and also seeing my sisters and their husbands and families, all of whom I love dearly. Add in my cousins and uncle and aunt from Dallas and it was going to be a crazy great time! Chad was leaving for a week for High Adventure with the scouts, and so the day before he left, I packed up with the kids and went to stay with my sister Lindsay in San Antonio. We had a lot of fun there, we played at the park, and ran through the sprinklers and picked vegetables from her garden. Andrew fell off the porch the first day we got there and got a huge goose egg on his forehead that didn't go away for several days, and also got us looks from strangers at the supermarket. We hired a babysitter one day and Lindsay and I went shopping for swimsuits, which was fun and successful. Aubrey's favorite parts were going to Sea World, and also Incredible Pizza, both of which were really fun. At Sea World, we went on all the rides at Shamu's Happy Harbor, something we've not done before.





I love in these pictures how the first one she's got her hands up and then after they drop us, she braces herself against the safety bar with her elbows.

Since we have season passes, and we've already seen the shows, we are a little more choosy about what we do when we go. Then we spent the rest of the time at the water park inside Sea World. Aubrey loved the lazy river, the wave pool, where she went as deep into the pool as she could go, which was 10 ft. (she had a life vest) to ride over the waves. She also surprised me by wanting to go down a water slide there all by herself. And she did, twice. It was fun to watch... the first time she slipped and went down backwards head first, which probably surprised her but, undaunted, she went again, and stayed upright this time. Andrew amused himself, not on the lazy river which he hated, but in the huge swimming pool that had large faux hippos and lily pads anchored to the bottom he could climb on (with help of course). I also held him one time down the same water slide Aubrey did, and he didn't hate it. I'm not certain he loved it but he didn't cry and scream the whole time like on the lazy river. Incredible Pizza was fun too. Having never gone, we had no idea what it was like on the inside but it was like a higher quality Cici's pizza with a potato bar, soft serve ice cream, and slushies. And several rooms where you could eat, each of them were themed. We sat in the Drive In Movie room, where they were showing Parent Trap, a movie my sister and I had just talked about wanting to watch. After eating, we went to the games, where Aubrey had a blast on the bumper cars, won first place in the Go Kart race (and the ribbon she won is hanging proudly in her room now),



and chased her ball around mini golf. Andrew didn't participate in any of those except mini golf, where he grabbed everyone's balls and took off with them, and also lost his shoe. The fun didn't end there because there were all kinds of Chuck E. Cheese type games there and thanks in part to Uncle Ritchie who tore it up at Skee Ball, Aubrey had enough tickets to trade them in for a little Care Bear. I was impressed also because she had enough tickets after the Care Bear to buy Andrew a ball, which made my heart happy to see. Another heart happy moment in San Antonio was the day my parents joined us there. My mom and dad pulled up in their car and Aubrey and I were inside, but she saw them from the window and she raced out, with her arms outstretched and yelled, "Grandpa!!!" and flung herself into his arms. It was a happy reunion for all of us but especially for this little girl who loves her grandparents she doesn't see as much of. Anyway, after a week in San Antonio, we got on the road, headed for Amarillo where we would meet up with Chad on his way back from High Adventure.

Part 2: The Drive and the Grand Canyon
Reader's Digest version: I drive me and the kids to Amarillo (with my mom riding shotgun-- not by myself, are you crazy?); Aubrey learns the plural of everything is "cacti"; stayed at Yavapai Lodge in Grand Canyon; went on a hike, tried not the fall over the edge; met up with the rest of the fam in Page, AZ.

If anyone wants to know what High Adventure was like, you can visit http://troop1491.blogspot.com. In short, they went white water rafting down the Arkansas River in Colorado. Chad will never look at water the same. Anyway, for me, after the nearly 12 hour drive, with one, sometimes two kids crying the backseat, I was glad to meet up with Chad. Incidentally, we drove through that city in Central Texas where they raided the polygamist compound, along the way, but I was disappointed not to see any polygamists or their temple. So the next day, we braved another long car ride with our children all the way to the Grand Canyon. The kids actually did awesome the whole way, as good as I could expect them to do. And Aubrey rode with my parents most of the time, so she was quite occupied and probably talked their ears off. At one point in the drive, my dad was quizzing her with trivia, and he asked, "what's the plural of cactus?" And Aubrey didn't know, so he supplied the answer, cacti. Apparently, something clicked wrong in Aubrey's head (or else she was just being silly), because after that, anytime they asked her what the plural of anything was, she would say, "cacti!" She did a lot of laughing on the trip, and when Aubrey laughs you can't help but laugh along too. My dad says Aubrey's laugh makes the world go 'round, and I think I probably agree. It is one of the sweetest sounds I know. So, we made it to the Grand Canyon, and we our accomodations were actually inside the National Park, in this place called the Yavapai Lodge. The place we stayed was pretty small but we were in the middle of the forest, and we had our windows open and the breeze blew in and it was nice. We visited the edge and looked over the cliffs, and the worrier that I am, stayed very much in the clear with my kids. They probably heard "don't get near the edge!" a million times, but hey, you can never be too careful. It is a really amazing site though, that's for sure. we took a little hike and enjoyed the scenery too. We saw lots of deer and a rabbit and several other things. We've been there before but didn't stay as long and Aubrey was too little to enjoy it.



Cheesiest picture EVER of Aubrey at the GC but it's the only one I took with my camera. There's one of us near the edge, but someone else took it, I'm sorry to say...

So, aside from worrying one of us was going over the edge, that part of our road trip was really really enjoyable. That night, we made it to Page, Arizona, where we met up with the rest of my siblings and cousins and those who were joining us on the houseboat on Lake Powell.

Part 3: Lake Powell
Reader's Digest version: huge fancy houseboat; Aubrey plays in the hot tub most of the time, Andrew only touches the water once; Kristin learns to wakeboard; Chad takes wild tube ride; Aubrey submarines during her tube ride and is slightly traumatized; we do boating, jet skiing, relaxing, eating, playing games, cliff jumping; celebrate Aubrey's brithday and the Fourth of July; Kristin wins Chubby Bunny



My dad pretty much thinks Lake Powell is heaven on earth. And I have to say, it is pretty nice. It maybe wasn't the most restful vacation I've ever been on, since neither on my children can swim alone and we were on a houseboat in the middle of a lake with 30 other people who might leave a door open, but overall, everyone did their part, I think, to make it as safe as possible. And we had a great time! This houseboat was huge! It had five rooms and two bathrooms, three TVs, a fireplace!, a hot tub and partial second kitchen on top, as well as a slide going off the back. It was amazing. We got a room based on the fast that we had children, so we lucked out. Even though it was hotter than blazes at night. And we DID have a few issues with the carbon monoxide detector going off. I'm happy to report however, we didn't die. Sleeping on the top of the boat wasn't all that bad for the others, I don't think, though it might have been crowded. Chad and I would have done it, as we have before, but again, it's just safer with kids to be inside. I don't really remember day to day what we did, but it was mainly relaxing, eating all kinds of unhealthy delicious food, riding in one of the two boats or riding one of the two jet skis, playing card games (and we got some ginormous games of Nertz going on), etc. etc. etc.





Aubrey was a little nervous of the open water and spent most of her time with her cousin Heidi in the hot tub (that we never heated up) upstairs. Though she did make several swimming trips to this little place we dubbed "The Magic Island" in the middle of the cove we were staying in. One really great thing about this trip is that Aubrey and her cousin Heidi, who is three, actually got along and played with each other and were mutually sad to leave each other when it was over. Lisa and I commented in the end that they are finally becoming the friends we always hoped they would be.

So that makes me glad.

Andrew didn't like the water really either and spent most of his time running up and down the hall of the houseboat with a swim ring around his waist, or kicking it along with his feet. Or eating. I'm happy to report he did a lot of eating. As far as water sports go, Chad did some tubing while we were there, with our brother in law Ritchie, and they had a really great time trying to hold on while the boat driver tried really hard to buck them off. That's always fun to watch. Chad never fell off and so when they were done, Ritchie had to ride along so he could prove he could hang on. And hang on he did, most of the time, even when the tube jumped the waves several feet into the air. But then again, he did have several fun faceplants where he actually skipped across the water like a flat stone.





Aubrey took a couple tube rides as well, one with Heidi and my sister Lisa, and one with my mom and Heidi. She's done tubing before and had a great time, and the first ride was great, they laughed and waved and wanted to go faster. The second time, they were hanging on the to tube too close to the front so when the boat started going, the tube submarined into the water and so did the little girls and my mom. Everyone watching from the boat was kind of scared for a second, (even though they were wearing life jackets, it's just that they weren't expecting to go diving headfirst into the water, and we were scared for them) and everyone was ready to jump in a save them, but ehy popped right out of the water. Both little girls wanted to be done after that, but they were brave, and went back out and finished. I was proud of Aubs for being so brave, when she had been scared and visibly shaken by the event. The picture above is right before their tube went under. I never did the tube, not liking water sports really, due to a scary experience when I was younger, but decided to give the Wakeboard a try. It took some effort and several tries on different days, but I am happy to say that I now feel somewhat proficient at the Wakeboard. I can get up and ride for quite a ways before I biff it and even started gaining a little more control over steering it the last day I was on it. So that was really really fun.


A really lovely picture of yours truly on the wakeboard. Just don't magnify it.

I guess I surprised everyone that I did it, because they all know I don't do things like that, so it was also fun to just add in when we got back the first day I got it, "and oh yeah, I did the wakeboard." Because then it was rumbling through the houseboat, "you did the wakeboard?" "Hey, Kristin did the wakeboard!" "she did the wakeboard???" So aside from my success on the wakeboard, we also did a little cliff jumping, which is sort of a tradition. There was a little cliff in the cove, that looked really low from the water, but of course once I got up there, it seemed way higher. It was probably only like 30 or 40 ft. And we wore life jackets and jumped in feet first, so it was pretty safe. And it's always a thrill, even though it's scary. We were there for Aubrey's birthday, and I wanted to make it special even though we were away from home so I had brought decorations and decorated the houseboat with streamers and balloons and so when she woke up on the 3rd, she was excited.



She had so many presents to open, she kept asking if she could open another one and another one so by the time it was evening, all her presents had been opened and played with. I had spent the day with my sister Lisa making her cake and cupcakes (since there were 35 people to feed) and decorating them while Aubrey played in the hot tub with Heidi and also watched Nick Jr., which is a treat for her since we don't have that channel. The cupcakes turned out cute, we made them in ice cream cones and frosted them, then used our imaginations for what to put on the tops.







We did have can of icing for writing, but for whatever reason, it was having serious issues, so on her cake, we ended up cutting the letters out of fruit rollup. We thought we were pretty smart. She had a great day and kept saying things like, "this is the best day of my life!" and things like that, so that was good.



She liked the cake better before it was lit... the candles were those sparking kind, so she was kind of freaked out, as was Heidi.



The fourth of July we had a patriotic parade on the top of the boat, as well as an (Unbreakable) pinata and fireworks, brought in by my dad, who put on a fabulous fireworks show, complete with a soundtrack or patriotic music. My sister Allison walked right past a baby rattlesnake that night in the sand, which was a little scary, but no one was hurt and we never saw another one, so that was good. The last thing I might add about Lake Powell is that I am proud to announce that I was crowned the Chubby Bunny Champion the last day there. I got ten marshmallows in my mouth, and it was really disgusting, and I will not be eating another marshmallow for quite some time, but, I won! I know I have brought my family honor, it's true. But all too soon, it was time to leave! We had so much fun though, it was great. And the good thing was that we knew our vacation wasn't over yet!

Part 4: Utah
Reader's Digest version: Visiting with G&G, including eating jam and bread and peaches; trip to cabin; trip to Aunt Heidi's; lunch at Cafe Rio with friends the Funks; visit with Jason and Becky and family in beautiful Henefer- Aubrey and Rachel play all day long every day; Andrew plays with the cat.

That Sunday, we drove up to Sandy, Utah and stayed with my grandparents, who, as a sidenote, truly are the finest people I know. I always have hoped I can be like them, and I love them so much! I love the Salt Lake Valley and no matter how long I've been gone, whenver I return, it feels like coming home. I love that feeling, and I loved this part of the trip. We went to my grandma and grandpa's cabin for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, (after filling up on Monday on peaches and homemade bread and jam at their house... we just forgot to bring some home! How could we have forgotten something so important!) My aunts and uncles and cousins came too, and it was great to see them, some I haven't seen in forever, or who are back from missions. And we did all the things we love to do there: visit the creek, take naps, swing on the swings, visit, etc. The great thing is that Aubrey was too young to remember the last time she was there and so she had a great time, and I enjoyed seeing her experience for the first time (in her memory) this quiet, little cabin that I love.







The picture above is Aubrey thinking to herself, "so that's what snowmelt feels like!" It was really pretty cold.




Wednesday we also met out friends the Funks who live in Stansbury Park, for lunch at Cafe Rio in Salt Lake. It was SO fun to see them and chat, even though it was not for as long as we would have liked. We're trying to get them to come visit so hopefully, they will be able to make a trip here in the future. Wednesday also took us to Nielsen's Frozen Custard, where my cousin Tyler works. We spent the night with my Aunt Heidi and Uncle Mark in Bountiful, which was so fun. I feel especially close to my Aunt Heidi and when we were younger, my sisters and I always spent the night at their house and I was happy for the chance to have a sleepover while we were there. We all spent the night awake downstairs in their fabulous newly finished basement where we played Rock Band (kind of like Guitar Hero but with drums and a mic) on Tyler's Xbox. That was great for laughs. We had a lot of fun, and I was especially glad to see that Aubrey remembered my aunt from the last time we were there, and also that she loved playing with her. But who doesn't love Aunt Heidi. So, Thursday we headed up north of Park City to a town called Henefer, where Chad's brother lives with his family, one of which Rachel, who is just two weeks older than Aubrey. Aubrey and Rachel hugged as we came through the door and after that we didn't see much of either of them for the four days we were there. They had a blast just playing polly pockets, Barbies, jumping on the trampoline, playing in the blow up pool, playing with the cat, going four wheeling.



They were happy to be together and were pretty much inseparable.



Andrew tagged along with them and they actually let him play a lot of the time, or he found playmates in his two boy cousins, who are 4 and 3, but played with him really really well. Andrew also enjoyed playing with their new kitty, and would search her out to give her a toy or something. That was funny and cute to watch.








It was great to make a visit to their house because we've never specifically visited them before, and so it was so much fun. And then, on the following Monday, it was time to go home.

Part 5: The Drive Home
Reader's Digest version: Visited Black Canyon; saw the river and rapids Chad rode down; visited Capulin volcano in New Mexico; drove to Dallas to be with cousins; came home

The drive home wasn't nearly as fun as the drive there, which it never is, but the kids still did pretty good in the car. We almost hit a deer that jumped over the embankment at one point, but we managed to avoid it. We drove down through COlorado because Chad wanted to show me where we had gone river rafting, and I wanted to see it. On the way, we drove right through Montrose, the hometown of my good friend Tori. (I said hello for you, Tori, and by the way, what a nice little town that was!) And we stopped for a few hours at the Black Canyon National Park... like the Grand Canyon, not as wide, but WAAAAAYYY steeper. Like sheer cliffs.

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If I was scared at the Grand Canyon, I was near paranoia about falling at the Black Canyon. It was really stunning and I have to wonder what the first people to discover it thought when they were riding their horses up the mountain, and then all of a sudden, the mountain stops and drops off twice the height of the Empire State Building. It was neat to see, something I've never seen before, but glad we did. Aubrey did a little program there to become a Junior Ranger and that was exciting for her to take the Junior Ranger pledge and get the badge. Then we continued on and wound up and down through the moutnains of Colorado, which was an absolutely beautiful drive. And I got to see where Chad went rafting, which was exciting. I was impressed at his bravery and skills once I saw the rapids up close. The next day we stopped at an extinct volcano...



in New Mexico before driving through the ugliest parts of America and finishing up in Dallas at Chad's brother Mike's house. Aubrey and Andrew got to play with the cousins that night and the next day before we finally left around noon and got back right before dinnertime. Andrew was so thrilled to see our house again, he being the one who had the hardest time in the car. He got in the house and just went from one toy to the next pushing the buttons and enjoying everyone, one at a time. It was like Christmas for him, so funny to watch. Chad's mom brought over a pizza right after we got home and we were so grateful to have food to eat.

I'm glad to be back home-- it's always nice to sleep in your own bed, you know, but there's something so great about vacations... you just leave all your responsibilities behind for a while, and that's what we did. We had a great time and enjoyed ourselves and seeing the people we love, even though it's never enough time, and we would have loved more time with my grandparents, our aunts and uncles and sisters. But we take what we can get and enjoy the memories we have. We've hit the ground running though, Chad's setting up his new office and getting oriented at his new job, and sliding back into his duties as Elder's Quorum president. Many new adventures lie ahead and we're excited to share!

I'm Back!

We had a fabulous vacation! It will be a while before I can blog it all, so in the meantime, you can see some pictures of where we were and what we did. Enjoy.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Short haired girls

Aubs and I got our hair cut today. Short. Aubrey has had it with tangles in her hair, and frankly, so have I. So we cut it short together.
It's not too much shorter on her really, but it will cut down on the tangles a lot.
Aubrey took this picture. This is shorter than I've had it in a long time. I'm hoping I don't look like a man and also hoping I don't too closely resemble my kindergarten or sixth grade pictures.
You be the judge.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good: Chad got the Assistant Principal job at Doerre Intermediate School in Klein we have been hoping for!

The Bad: This means we cannot go on our previously planned cruise, as the dates no longer work. Oh well, Chad said maybe we can go to New York and see his cousin in Phantom of the Opera. I've never been so that would be fun too.

The Ugly: Germs are quite possibly the ugliest thing I've ever (not) seen. Our whole family has been sick since pretty much Monday. I have strep, Chad has a mysterious illness which runs the gamut of sicknesses (use your imagination if you dare), and Aubrey's been coughing/sneezing/wiping her nose, and Andrew spiked a fever of 102.2 this afternoon. Now that I am taking medicine for strep, my body feels better, but my throat is still killing me! No matter what I try, anything that I swallow, hot or cold, burns like acid in my throat, all the while I am gagging on my own uvula (that's the hangy ball thing in the back of your throat) because everything is still so swollen. If that's not an ugly image, I don't know what is.

Now that I've shared some fabulous news, and also grossed you all out and warned you we're all in quarantine, I hope you all have a nice day.

All Things...

I am so excited that our crape myrtle is blooming! We planted it in our backyard shortly after Caitlyn passed away. We wanted to have a reminder of her, something that was beautiful, vibrant, and growing. Like the rest of us, the tree has grown a lot since October, and it is now just starting to bloom. Soon the tree will explode with pretty pink flowers like these that have already appeared. I especially like that they are pink. We purposely put it almost squarely in the middle of our backyard, so we can see it even from the front of the house if we look out the window. Yay for pretty flowers!In other news, it was Aubrey's field day last week. I wanted to include this next picture, not because it looks like Andrew fell seconds after this picture was taken, but because it shows Aubrey's two best friends at school, Eisha (on the right) and Leila, (in the middle). These three girls have quite the adventures at school, judging by what Aubrey tells me. Aubrey is going to have a hard time this summer without these two girls attached at the hip. I ask Aubrey from time to time if she ever wants to have them over, and she says, "no," like it doesn't occur to her that friends from school would ever come to our house. Maybe we'll get their phone numbers, who knows. But it was fun to see these girls interact at field day. I don't know who the boys are in the picture, but Aubs doesn't care much for boys these days.
Aubrey was supposed to bring a towel, but oops, I forgot, but it's okay, Eisha shared her little hand towel with Aubrey and Leila. What a nice friend. This was some kind of weird four way tug-o-war, where they pulled and whoever touched the cone behind them first, won. I don't know what it is about kindergarteners yanking on a rope, but it was sure funny to watch. The teachers kind of got into competition with each other, and so Mrs. McCauley was really coaching her students to win. "If you fall down, don't let go of the rope! Keep pulling!" They had several rounds with Mrs. McCauley chanting "Pull! Pull! Pull!" Aubrey's class won once, and that was especially funny to see them all jumping up and down. They were excited. Aubrey is getting so long and leggy I don't think she knows what to do with herself sometimes, and she was having a hard time pulling on the rope and getting any leverage. Once in the clip, you can see, she looks behind her like, "how close are we, anyway?"


I also appreciated when all the children were running back to the hill and the coach (this is the one I held hands with at Rodeo Day) reminds a little too late, "remember, don't drop the rope!" And Aubrey looks down to where it is laying by her feet. I guess you can't expect celebrating Kindergarteners to remember every single detail.


Speaking of celebrating, last weekend, we took a trip to San Antonio, because my cousin Tyler was coming down from Utah to visit my sister and I. We were very excited because although we spent a lot of growing up time together and saw him a ton when we lived in Provo, we haven't seen him as much as we would like since we moved back to Texas. He is graduating from high school and decided to take a little trip to Texas to visit us. (which by the way is so weird that he is graduating because I distinctly remember being in Utah and holding him shortly after he came home from the hospital as a tiny newborn. I guess that means I'm getting old.) So anyway, we went to the Alamo...
... And the Riverwalk. I regret to say I never was in any pictures with Tyler. Oh well, next time... And Aubrey wasn't in any pictures with Tyler either, but she didn't want to be in pictures at all. This was her in protest. Just imagine her little voice, "I am NOT going to smile!" I actually love these pictures because it is Aubrey is a nutshell.
Sassy....


And sweet... Oh man, I love that girl.

We also stopped by this place in San Antonio... We had to have a Custard Smackdown, because Tyler works at Nielsen's Custard in Bountiful, which sells delicious concretes of all flavors. So we wanted to see how Freddy's stacked up. Freddy's used the same machine and same method as Nielsen's, and even called their creations Conretes like Nielsen's, but you can tell by Tyler's face that he didn't think Freddy's tasted the same as Nielsen's. I'm always up for ice cream though, and not too particular either. In fact, I ate most of mine, and then most of Aubrey's cone after she enjoyed about two licks. All in all, the whole weekend was fun. We're so glad you came, Tyler!!!

Now we're looking forward to the end of the school year. Chad will be done next week and Aubrey the week after. We have fun summertime plans ahead including another trip to San Antonio, and a trip to Lake Powell. I am so excited for summer and for the departure from the school year routine. Hopefully there will be lots of swimming and fun times ahead. I feel like I got a sneak preview of summer over the weekend and I am excited for more to come.

That's Master Chad to you

Today, we are exclaiming joyful hallelujahs in exultant happiness because today, our two years of sacrifice, dedication, and hard work paid off as Chad graduated from Prairie View A&M with his Masters Degree in Education Administration. He accomplished this amazing goal while juggling, first and foremost, his role as a husband and father, but also in his demanding career as a coach and teacher, and his calling in the Young Mens organization in the church. Futhermore, he did not just graduate, he graduated with flying colors, having earned a perfect 4.0. I'm nearly bursting my buttons with pride for my hard working, hero of a husband. I'm so lucky.

Here's Mr. 4.0 himself: I think he looks so handsome in his higher degree duds, especially with the scarf thingy, which I found out is called a hood, and is blue to symbolize his department of learning (Education), and on the inside is purple and gold, the colors of PV A&M.

So anyway, it was the first time I've actually set foot on his campus, I've been in the parking lot before, but never in the stadium where this took place. There were over 500 students graduating today but we needn't have feared we'd miss Chad in the crowd, he was one of only about five white faces. And it was easy for him to find us in the crowd of family members, for the same reason. And I don't mean that to be racist or prejudiced or anything like that, it's just the truth, and it was a benefit. I love the different cultural aspect it brought to the event. All throughout the commencement speaker's speech, and particularly during a quotation by Booker T. Washington, we heard those around us murmuring, "Mmm Hmm," and "that's right," like we were in a church service. I really enjoyed it. One thing we couldn't figure out however, was the name for where we were sitting:


If anyone could shed some light on that one, I would be grateful.

Being that the commencement was at 1:00, Andrew is normally asleep by then, and so he spent most of the 3 hour commencement exercise resembling various stages of the picture below, which actually caught him at a milder moment. Poor little guy.


I can't actually blame him. 3 hours on hard bleachers with no back rest is enough to make anyone cry. Aubrey at least enterntained herself by counting the number of times she heard the name Eisha, (at least 4 by her count), the name of a friend at her school. Thankfully, Chad's parents attended the commencement also and we took turns holding Andrew outside vomitory 7. At the heart of the whole thing, however, was Master Chad Stolle. And so for that reason, it was all worth it.
Another piece of good news we found out this week was that Chad passed his Principalship exam, the comprehensive exam that's kind of like a CPA or Bar Exam but for would-be administrators.

Congratulations Chad on your successes! You are a champion! And no, now is not the time to start talking about a PhD. I love you anyway.

This I Know

There are very few things I know for sure. In fact, the older I get, the more I realize how little I really do know. But there is one thing that is certain for me, and that is, that I know God has a hand in my life. I have known, from an early age, that God is aware of me. I knew He hears my prayers and answers them. I have always known that I am one of His children. I have been blessed with that awareness, that has ebbed and flowed, through the years leading up to the present time. I have felt closer to Him at some points than others, and I have come to understand that when I have felt distanced from heaven, that it is through my own doing. And that when I do what I am supposed to be doing, that distance narrows. I know that God is waiting for me to ask for the blessings I need, because He so wants to give them to me, and He will and He does. I am beginning to understand the meaning of praying earnestly and with real intent.

I have been so richly blessed. Most recently, my experience with Caitlyn has taught me a great deal-- but the overarching truth has always been that Heavenly Father loves me so much. I know that He does. And maybe more special than knowing he takes care of us in the "big" trials, is knowing that he is with us even in our day to day struggles. It's amazing really. He who created this vast universe we are only just beginning to explore and understand, created us as His crowning creation and knows each one of us, who has ever or will ever live. He knows when we struggle with the daily effort of being good moms and wives. He understands the pressure we feel to do everything right.

I appreciate more and more the Savior's sacrifice on my behalf. I know the atonement was a personal, that He suffered not only for the many wrong choices I make and sins I have committed, but he also felt every sorrow I have ever felt, all the grief that I have ever experienced, and all the pain that has been a burden I have carried. And we can turn our sorrows and our grief and our pain to Him, and he will take our burdens away. The atonement is a healing power. The Savior can heal us, if we let him. He loves us so much that he voluntarily gave his life for me and for you.

I am in awe of my children and their ability to teach me important gospel truths. Recently, we finished reading our Book of Mormon Stories book, and at the end, it tells of Moroni's promise to know that it is true, by aaking in faith. Well, determined as I was to facilitate spiritual experiences with Aubrey, that I decided that we would do as the scripture directs and ask in faith to know if the Book of Mormon was true. We did so. Aubrey seemed uncomfortable, and she conveyed the message that, why wouldn't it be true? And asking to know if something is true when you already know doesn't make any sense.

My Awesome Wife, Kristin

Hi, this is Chad (a.k.a. Dad, Had, Had the Dad, etc.) Ok, first let me start off by saying this is my first blog ever. I actually had to hack into my wife's blog account in order to be able to post this secretly. I figure it's o.k., since she set up a "secret" email account recently in order to hide a secret from me! :)

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=astrosstaffevents&gallery_id=1061550&image_id=20

(***I'm not smart enough in the blogging world to make a cool hyperlink for a website, but I did make one, it just doesn't look very cool. You can click on the box up above and see a picture we took while we waited in line for our free Astros' Jersey.)

Anyhow, I just wanted to let every blog-reader out there know how GREAT Kristin is! Not that y'all don't already know this to be true, but I want you to know that I KNOW she is GREAT!

Here is why: she does everything just right...just the way I like it. My birthday, for example, couldn't have been more perfect. She knew exactly what I wanted, which is generally practical stuff I really need. This birthday, yes the big 3-0, it was a combination of stuff I needed and wanted. As always, she did everything exactly how I wanted it to be. She just knows what I want. I don't even have to tell her, she just knows. She's a great listener and thoughtfully plans in advance when she hears me mention something casually to her. If I say something three months before any given holiday, she'll remember.

The problem is I end up ruining everything she plans. I start giving hints the weeks leading up to my birthday and since she is so "on the ball" with what I want she has already gotten the item, or planned for what I want to happen by the time I hint to her what I want. This year, being a big birthday, she planned a great weekend of events for me. The best part is that she didn't even mind it so much that I ruined 4 of the 5 surprises she had in store for me (The 5th one totally took my by surprise...I was off of my game a little, I guess). Well, it bugged her that I started hinting for things that were already in the works (case in point - Crawford Boxes - see her Blog below). But, since she already knew exactly what I wanted, it's tough to keep it a secret and tough make it a surprise.

So basically, I love Kristin. She is great. I hope all of you readers out there are lucky enough to feel the same way about your significant other. It's so great to be able to come home everyday to my best friend, who loves baseball (as a spectator mainly), puts up with my M*A*S*H watching habits, has joined forces with me in the world of South Beach, is letting me plan a cruise that will hopefully happen in the near future, is the best wife and mother a husband could possible hope for, and in short, just does everything right.

Kristin, I love you. (To you readers out there, thanks for letting me "vent" my happiness!)

Yours Truly,

Had the Dad

Our Night in the Crawford Boxes

Let me begin by saying, Happy Birthday Chad! It was Chad's 30th birthday on Sunday and we celebrated the whole weekend long. It has long been a dream of Chad's to sit in the Crawford boxes at an Astros Game. I don't know which is better: the view.....


or the balls that we might potentially get. So I had a brilliant idea of getting tickets to the Friday night game for Chad for his birthday. The morning I was getting on the computer to buy them, he calls from work and says, "Hey, can we get tickets in the Crawford boxes on Friday for my birthday? I found some really great seats and tickets!" I was enthusiastic about it, since I have always wanted to sit in the Crawford boxes too, so, frankly I didn't really care that much that he spoiled his surprise. Add to that the excitement of having the promotional item be a red Astros jersey, and we were pumped for the game. Luckily, it did not disappoint.



We got there in time for batting practice, and Chad, with glove in hand, kept his eyes on the balls that came flying in our direction. There were a couple that came really close to us and that he almost caught. I, on the other hand, did not bring a glove and started having flashbacks of my softball days when my nine year old, athletically challenged self was more inclined to run and duck from incoming balls than run at them. It was exciting to say the least. Once the actual game started, our excitement lagged because the opposing team had two home runs and so we were behind 2-0, and there were hardly any hits from the Astros that made it to the outfield, let alone the Crawford boxes. We were however entertained at that time by Drunken Man in Front Row giving an inspiring monologue about how "One Man Can Make a Difference." (It went something like this, add in slurring as desired: "If you think, one man can make a difference, then I want you all to get up right now, and yell, GO ASTROS). And then, (cue the music), Hunter Pence came up to bat. I could blog a whole lot more about Hunter Pence alone. But let's just say he's my favorite player and I always enjoy when he's up to bat. Or in the field. Or in the dugout. And as he always does, Hunter Pence came through. He hit a home run, and started some momentum with the bats that eventually led to 4 more home runs, one more which came from him, and 5 (including one of the Brewers) of those coming into the Crawford boxes. Wow, one man really can make a difference, we marvelled (excepting that Drunken Man was referring to himself at the time). So Chad was grabbing at balls left and right, and I was trying to shield myself with his body (not as easy anymore, with 22 lbs less Chad to hide behind). When the 'Stros pulled ahead and stayed ahead for the victory, Chad and I were slapping high fives all around. It was all very fun and we enjoyed every minute. And the food... as we contemplated on the way to the game how much we should derail from the South Beach lifestyle, Chad reminded me very solemnly, "we came here for a reason..." and so with that in mind, Chad had chicken strips and french fries, I had a hot dog, and then we shared some Supreme Nachos. Yes, in the picture, if you notice my stomach pooching out a bit (or a lot) it is because we took that picture after the food was consumed. And it was worth every bite. I love stadium food. We were tempted by the cotton candy that came down our row by Retired Televangelist Turned Cotton Candy Hawker: "COT-ton CAN-dy, Cotton CanDAY" (in his best Hallelujah voice). Luckily for our waistlines, we turned down the spun pure sugar. And they even had fireworks that night, like they do every Friday Night, and so that was even another added bonus. All in all, even though we didn't catch a ball, we came really close and now we know where to sit and what to do next time we sit in the Crawford boxes, which, I hope is sooner than later.

You spell Andrew like this: A-n-x-i-e-t-y

I think the boogie man has come in the night and taken away our sweet, mellow, low-key little boy and replaced him with the one we have now-- the clingy, crying, needy, high strung version. And I want the old model back. I think it's a combo of Stranger Anxiety, Attachment, and entering the Terrible Twos. He only likes to be held, pretty much at all times, and when you put him down, he cries and cries and clings to your pant legs, rendering you unable to walk away without knocking him down and then you do, and he throws himself to the floor, crying like it's the end of the world. Repeat this scenario what seems like 50 times, and there you have my day. Actually, it's not complete without several diaper changes, all of which are poopy, and require two people, because he fights this battle like a pro, squirming and twisting to get away. And also eating. Eating is another battle, because he is learning to talk and sign but a lot of signs look the same and so he may look like he is signing "milk" but what he really wants is "washcloth." And he insists upon feeding himself, which inevitably makes a gigantic mess, and sometimes breaks even the plastic bowls we have (had). He used to be pretty open to eating anything but is getting pickier and so we have a lot of food being dropped over the edge of the high chair. Oh my goodness, I just want him to be happy, but I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. Which is okay. It's all a part of growing up I guess. For both of us.

It's times like this I want to (and do) give Andrew a big hug and say, "Dude, I love you, but you're driving me crazy!" And I wonder, if he could talk, if he would say the same thing. :)

You've been holding out on me!

Well, Andrew made his foray into Nursery this past week. I'd like to go on about how bittersweet it was, but let's be honest... nothing could be farther from the truth. I was glad to be able to sit through a full hour of church, two even, without so much as as sippy cup or cup of cheerios to hinder my attention to the lesson. I admit I was a little antsy because through these past 18 months I have gotten well adjusted to leaving in the middle of something and not having to draw out my attention span. But hey, I didn't miss the announcements in Relief Society, and I could actually open my scriptures during the lesson, without fear of having the pages ripped out by curious grabby hands in the process. I could even hold another person's baby to help out. It was nice. And Andrew didn't do half bad either. I actually had taken him in a week early, just for him to have a try-out at nursery, and his reaction was priceless. I took him in the room full of wiggly little children playing with toys and reading books and generally causing mayhem, and he got this huge grin on his face which seemed to translate into "I knew there was a place like this in this buiding somewhere! You guys have been holding out on me!" Toys, kids, snacks, what more could he ask for? He was pretty much in heaven. Then came last Sunday when I had to ditch out on him. Judging by the look on his face then, you would have thought he was in the other place. But the good news is, he never was bad enough that they brought him to me. That counts as success to me. So you better believe he's going back in next week. YES!!

Time to Homeschool

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I'm actually pretty content knowing it didn't happen until now. Or maybe it did and I just didn't know.


We have heard all sorts of potty words come out of Aubrey's mouth since she started kindergarten. Most of them we just laugh for a minute and then get serious and say, "we don't say that." Now, this time, I am starting to wonder.... We were jumping on the trampoline having a great time when I saw dozens of lovebugs stuck in the net of the tramp. So I went over and starting flicking them off with my fingers. Horrified, Aubrey yells to me, "Mom stop!" And I was confused because Aubrey is not a friend to bugs and I didn't know why she would object. I said, thinking she didn't understand, "Aubs, they're BUGS!" And she said, as if I didn't know, "mom, they're making a BABY!" (and she was clearly horrified, as I said, that I was disturbing them in that job.) I was sort of flabbergasted and speechless for a second, knowing that surely I had not told her that. But who did and what exactly did they say? Aubrey answered my question really before I could ask, she must have known she was talking about something she didn't really understand, and she simply said "Jacob in my class told me." Well, Jacob, whoever you are, what you said was quite enough, thankyouverymuch. I know they're called lovebugs, and essentially, that was a good simple explanation, but it was just sort of disturbing to hear that from my daughter. We really haven't had The Talk, we've sort of just talked about things as we go. But it's times like this I remember she is going to school with kids of all different backgrounds, with parents that sometimes have different values, and a lot of them have older siblings that they learn about things from. It's so important to teach Aubrey right and wrong now, so she knows ahead of time, and I need to try to be the kind of parent Aubrey feels comfortable asking questions to, so she doesn't have to find out from her friends or the internet or somewhere else. It kind of freaks me out. I feel like I was sheltered growing up and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I would like Aubrey to be the same way. So, how do I do that and still send Aubrey to public schools? It's not like this was an earth-shattering experience or anything, but it just got me thinking...

Just in case you were wondering...

1. I have not yet eaten my beloved PB&J
2. I have lost 9 lbs.
3. I have really enjoyed eating grapes the past several days
4. I have discovered a newfound appreciation for beans over the past two weeks
5. The chocolate bean brownie recipe, however, made with black beans, is not good, and don't try it at home.

Baby Name Tag

I got this from my friend Mylee, explaining how you chose your kids' names:

Aubrey Claire... we had a really hard time deciding on a girl's first name, we threw around a ton of ideas. Chad worked for Freshman Academy at BYU at the time and they were sending out mailers to the incoming Freshman and so he browsed the envelopes, and one name he found that we liked was Aubrey. We also considered Emma, but didn't want to choose something really trendy or common. (And we thought Aubrey was unique at the time, but apparently, it wasn't, as there are two other Aubreys just in our ward alone). Then the day before I went in to get induced, we had it narrowed down to Aubrey and Jenna, and I just told Chad he could pick the one he liked the best because years down the road I thought it would be fun if our daughter knew her dad had picked out her name. So he picked Aubrey. I think we still could have changed it when she came out, but she was an Aubrey for sure. Claire was pretty easy because that is my middle name and we thought it would be fun if our first daughter had my middle name. I've worried it's a vain thing to do, but I was named after my sweet grandma and so in essence, it's just continuing to pass that name down.

Andrew William... yet again, we thew around a lot of names and then one night I was at my parents' house and my sisters were rattling off names of people they knew on Facebook, and Andrew was suggested, and I liked it and then Aubrey starting calling my tummy Andrew and it sort of stuck after that, and we didn't want to change it. After he came out I wondered if he was an Andrew or not and it was really weird calling him that, and now, mostly, we call him Brother, for some reason. Before I had any babies, I thought Garrett was a nice boy's name, but I'm not a fan of it now. Since we named our first daughter with my middle name, we named our first son with Chad's middle name. I don't know what we're going to do now if we have any more kids, they're going to feel gyped.

Caitlyn Anne... my sweet little Cait... This is an interesting story, so don't be sad. This past time around, I knew without a doubt I was having a baby, pretty much right away, even though we weren't even trying, and I knew I was having a girl. I had never been so sure and certain as I was with this pregnancy, and I had this urgency in my heart to give her a name, so early, earlier on than with any of my other kids. (Remember, we picked Aubrey's name out the day before). But this time, I wasn't even 20 weeks along, when I started feeling like she had to have a name. So we made a lot of suggestions and finally, settled on Caitlyn, because it was a name I really liked, and had for a while. Then we just found a pretty name that worked well with Caitlyn for her middle name. I felt so reassured when we had decided for sure what we were going to name her, and that was just a few weeks before we found out we lost her. So I was really glad we had chosen her name beforehand, and I felt like my whole pregnancy, the naming thing included and especially, was this huge blessing from Heavenly Father that allowed me to bond with and love my little baby girl for as long as I possibly could have.

So there you have it, the names of the kids in my fam... and now I tag anyone interested in sharing their stories... you all have really interesting stories, I know...

Goodbye, my love

This delicious sandwich, a PB&J, is my lunchtime love. I don't know how I have such a great fondness for a childhood favorite, but it truly says to me, the Ultimate Comfort Food. I could eat one every day. Unfortunately, I have had to bid a farewell to this tasty triple threat of bread, peanut butter, and jelly, as Chad and I have begun The South Beach diet.


May I introduce you to the brains behind this operation... Please say hello to our new friend, Dr. Agatston, cardiologist and creator of the South Beach diet...

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to get serious about our health, for a number of reasons. I've never considered myself a "dieter" per se, but let's be real... I know there's a little more of me than there should be, at least in my opinion... at least more of me than before I started having babies. Chad was the one who suggested doing this South Beach diet, because his brother had done it with a good deal of success. Chad was going to go ahead with the South Beach diet, and I decided it would be easier to make food for the whole family than just for him. And since the first words out of Aubrey's mouth lately every time we sit down for dinner is, "YUCK! What is this?" I figured we didn't have anything to lose... except the pounds that is...

So basically, here's how it works (skip this part if you don't care): The diet is divided into Three Phases. Phase One lasts two weeks and during that time, you cut out all Bad carbs and bad fats... that means no bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, baked goods, fruits, and a few vegetables (carrots, corn, and beets). Those get gradually added back in subsequent phases. We can eat all the good fats (like what's found in nuts and that kind of thing) and all the good carbs (like in veggies, lean meats, and eggs) that we want. But the premise behind cutting the bad things out is that your body's blood sugar level will not swing up and down so much and you won't physically crave them and eat more than necessary. It makes so much sense to me... how many times, when your blood sugar was low, (say, like on fast Sunday) did you ever want a piece of bread or something like that, like crazy? And then when you eat it (and unbeknownst to you, your blood sugar goes sky high and then drops again), you need another one and another one? You're just grabbing for the first thing that makes your blood sugar go up and make you feel better the fastest, and that's the refined sugar, the bad carbs. And then it drops to a low level and you just eat another piece. It's, (I love this term), a vicious cycle. So anyway, after you cut them out, your body gets rid of all the excess weight you've been packing around. In the first phase, you're supposed to lose between 8-13 pounds. After Phase 1, you reintroduce fruit and grains, little by little, (only as much as will not hinder you continue in reaching your goal weight) and then Phase 3 is maintenance, where pretty much everything is allowed, (except Potatoes, he has a thing against those yummy little guys), in controlled portions. You can read more about the whole diet here.

So, after reading the book, Chad and I were kind of skeptical... you always hear about the super great success stories, "yeah I lost 13 pounds in two weeks," kind of thing. But there were so many of these success stories, so we were also kind of hopeful. At first, we were like, "well, what can we eat?" Especially because Chad is not a huge veggie eater, and this is a heavy-on-the-veggies diet. But I have really wanted to eat healthy, and wanted to eat a lot of fresh veggies, (that's why we have a small garden growing) and this was a great way to do it. We also have wanted to try some new recipes, because I have been in a serious recipe slump. The South Beach diet has several recipe books, and they are filled with gourmet recipes that are delish. I especially like the Quick and Easy cookbook. So, we started eating more veggies and trying new foods, and we are eating really well, and also improving our culinary skills. (Like, I have never used a broiler pan and the broiler in our oven before in my life... never used freshly ground black pepper, never knew what spices work well for what flavors.) We're learning a lot... I was amazed the first time I ever made a lettuce wrap and ate it (that was last week)... it was as great and as satisfying, without the bread. I think I actually prefer not having bread. I was amazed to find out with this diet, it's not that bad. Sugar free jello tastes about the same as regular... so does Fat Free Cool Whip. Being on this diet, is, dare I say, kind of fun, especially that we're working on it together. Sure, the first couple days were hard... I'm a big fan of ice cream, and not having some every night, was hard... but by now, gasp, I really don't feel like I need it, like I used to. Admittedly, recent days have been hard in their own way... I have been feeling like I really really REALLY want one of those cookies on the counter, but I have gotten much better at self control now also, a BIG vice of mine, and it's easier to say no. Chad is even better at it than I am.

So, now, you might be wondering how well we're losing on the diet. I am happy to report that we are in day 10 of Phase 1, and Chad and I have lost a combined total of 17 pounds! I'm not kidding, and I'm so proud of us for doing so well, especially Chad. I have high hopes that we will continue to lose weight and feel really good. I feel like we can do it. I'm not sorry to have given up these foods. So far, it has been worth it. But, with all of that said, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be happy when I can again have my beloved PB&J, come Wednesday morning, when the two weeks are up. :) I'll just have half of one, instead of a whole, on whole grain bread. :) I can't wait.