Brenna's oohhh sooooo late Birthday party

I do get the worst mom award ever, but, at least, most people would agree: "Better late than never." Let me tell you that it is a story longer than it is worth repeating to tell you why Brenna's b-day party was so late. But I can promise you, it won't be that late again. I just need to be able to explain in November that time has really flown, and how fast a year can be when her friends come to celebrate again!! Here are some pics. She loved it and I think her friends loved it!!!

I have to say that it wouldn't have gone nearly as smoothly, if my niece Ali and her friend Emily hadn't come to help. They were excellent at entertaining the girls. And the little girls thought the big girls were completely cool!! Thanks Ali and Emily.

Thanks for the stroll

Wanting Tobin to think about BYU as a viable college choice, Andy and I talk about how fun our college days were and how we both loved BYU. So, we have recently had one of those days where dinner conversation revolved around our BYU experiences. Amazing, how they don't revolve around the academics of BYU, but rather it's all about being social. Later, I was talking with my twin and she thought I should blog about some of them. So, here they are, and in no order.

This story needs a little prefacing. My sophomore year at BYU, I had 5 other girl roommates. We were very good friends with a group of guys who were roommates in the same apartment complex. We ended up hanging out with them a lot. One night, in the middle of the night, we all woke up to this piercing sound. It sounded like an alarm clock, but none of ours were malfunctioning. So, it took us awhile in our sleepiness to realize that there were alarm clocks in the heating ducts!! A practical joke from our friends! So, we found the two clocks going off and happily headed back to bed. And then an hour later one more clock went off. They had indeed planned well.

Another time, those same friends "kidnapped" one of our roommates, tied her up (not tight), and taped a message to her forehead declaring "war." They walked her up to our door, knocked and ran leaving my roommate standing there. Thus began a long, fun week of espionage where we were trying to "kill" them and they were trying to "kill" us. There was so much laughter and running away from the guys that week. Campus became the place not to be, as they laid in ambush to get us. In the end, we put up a pretty good fight, but still lost.

My freshmen year was one of the best of my life. I loved college, loved being away from home, and I know a lot had to do with the fact that I was at BYU. One experience that characterizes that for me is the following: One day I was talking to my twin sister (she was at ECU along with my triplet brother) about the international flair of my mailbox as I had letters from missionaries in Ecuador, France, Belgium and Mexico. My sister started to cry and said that the only thing she had in her mailbox was a flier to stay away from a part of campus that was fast becoming known as "rape hill." I always felt safe at BYU. I loved BYU.

Another funny, embarassing freshmen story is this: I was in the beginning stages of dating a guy, J, that I liked, but was also being chased by another guy, Boan, who was really nice. One afternoon, I was with the really nice guy; he was helping me study. So, after studying spanish as we walked back to the dorm, he asked me to go out to eat with him and a bunch of friends. I told him I had other work I needed to do (which I did), but I didn't tell him that I had plans first to go running with someone else. So J and I met up and we ended up staying out pretty late. The next day at dinner, I was sitting with J's roommate, Paul, when Boan came up and asked if he could sit with us. "Sure."
So, right after that with incredible timing, Paul picked that moment to say, "You sure kept my roommate out late last night." I remember how red my face turned (which is probably why I remember this story; you don't easliy forget embarassing moments). I looked at Boan and saw the wheels in his head turning as it all sunk in, and he finally asked, "Who is your rommmate?" Darn the luck!!

Here is one of Andy's stories. This also needs some prefacing. BYU has very strict standards for its students and every student is asked to sign an agreement that they will abide by those standards. One of those standards is that girls won't go to the guys dorms and vice versa.
One night, Andy's lady interest invited him up to watch Saturday Night Fever in her room. So, along with the help of several other girls, he snuck up. And they had a great, big powwow in the room watching and laughing along with SNL. Well, someone on the floor found out and told on them. So, Andy tried to hide under her desk, underneath clothes. He almost got away with it, until some clothes fell off of him and gave him away. The police officer closest to him, said, "Why don't you come on out son?" They both got sent to the standards office and they both had to plead their cases. Andy only got a verbal warning, but his friend had to complete x number of hours of community service in the laundry department. Andy turned on the charm and it worked!! So typical (I mean that in a good way honey), Andy gets off and the girl gets caught.

I have to go and I'm afraid this won't be saved, so my next post will be about some of mine and Andy's crazy moments together at BYU, a continuation of the fun times at BYU.

Family Ties

I hope Brenna and Noah remember this night for a long time. We have just come from the hospital seeing Gram, who is in the hospital to get a pacemaker. When we got to the hospital I was vascillating between having the kids bring in books and nintendo ds' to keep them entertained or leaving them in the car where they belonged. But Noah, my sweet bear, got out and said, "Mom, we should focus on Gram. We shouldn't bring those in." Ok, decision made.
The kids were so well behaved and so interested in Gram that I was happy they came along. Brenna, early in the visit, sat on Gram's bed and proceeded to ask her about all of the wires coming from underneath Gram's robe. So, Gram told her about her heart and the procedure she was going to have done tomorrow. The connection between them was visible and we were all caught up in the moment of listening to Gram speak. Brenna continued to ask Gram about the polio that had struck her as a young child. And again, Gram answered and told the story of how the doctors told her she would never walk again. And contrary to that thought, her dad, Daddy Al, knew that she would indeed walk again. For the next two years he dedicated his energy to helping her walk again. She spoke of how she would sit and try to push a spoon with her leg. She spoke of Daddy Al carrying her outside in the spring breeze; she spoke of her friends, later, pulling her along behind them on roller skates, and she spoke of building her strength and how finally at the age of 13 she was dancing in roller skates. We were all so mesmerized. Noah was quiet and enjoyed the camaraderie among everybody.
What was so cute about Noah was that about halfway through the visit, the son of the women in the bed next to Gram, asked if we could help him move his mother up on her bed. Without hesitation, Noah jumped up and said, "Sure." It doesn't get any better than that.
I walked out of the room extremely proud of my children. In the car, the floating continued as I heard Brenna say, "I learned something tonight from Gram. I learned that if you have something, a problem, that if you really believe in yourself, you can do it. If you believe in yourself you can make it happen." Some things just need to be learned from grandparents. I am so decidedly grateful that my children have two wonderfully strong, and yet completely different, grandmothers who love them fiercely. I am grateful for visits that my children get with their grandfathers as well. Good luck tomorrow Gram; we will be thinking of you, blowing hugs and kisses your way.

Valentine's activities

Election Day--thanks for a day off of school!!!

Five minutes flat!! I couldn't believe it! Five minutes! That is all it takes five children to decorate 40 cookies. I thought it would be fun to have a small number (very small number) of Noah and Brenna's friends over to decorate Valentine's cookies. They danced with anticipation as I set out the candy sprinkles and the icing. They each knew which seat was theirs and which set of candy was theirs long before I finally had them sit down.

I cannot explain the enthusiasm of these young children attacking the task at hand. They each had their own artistic style of decorating. Some piled the icing onto their cookies knowing that that was their sweet interest in the whole activity. Some skimped on the icing, opting instead to pile the sprinkles as high as possible, thinking that was the best part. And some seemed to change their tactics with each new cookie. Noah did not want me to get any pictures, so I had to be smart about my photo ops.

Valentine's day was a family affair. We decided to go to dinner and a movie together as a family. Andy and I know that our time is limited with the kids. We want to cherish every bit of it as we can.

In fact, this very fact was hit home to us this weekend. Tobin had a valentine's dance after school on Friday. He texted us to say that a group of he and his friends were planning to go to the movies afterwards and could he go. "Oh, and by the way", he said, "I will also need you to pick us up after the movie." So, Tobin and his friend came home and orchestrated the whole event of who was going, to which movie they were going, and when it was playing. Andy and I realized that there were also girls going. So, Andy and I had "the talk" with Tobin. Remember who you are, remember to follow the rules for good behavior we have taught you, and remember that the other people are there to watch the movie as well, and stay together as a group. Did we cover all of our bases? Andy and I talked about having one of us go incognito, but decided we needed to trust that T could handle the situation. Plus, I also had to take Noah and Brenna to their school valentine's dance from 7-9 (sounds kinda late for an elementary dance, if you ask me.).

So, while Noah and Brenna literally danced for two hours, T was taking a big step towards growing up; a step I, actually, wasn't ready for him to take. But he came through with flying colors. So, another phase is upon us. The phase where we, as the parents, do the drop off and/or pick up. Am I ready for this? Does it matter if I'm not?

The next morning I had an epiphany. Tobin came down stairs to thank me for letting him go the previous night. I realized he wasn't just thanking me for the transportation, but he was thanking me for the moment. I think he was thanking me for being his mom. It was a wonderful realization and made all the growing up he had done the previous night so worth it! I hope everyone had a happy valentine's day.

For you, Sis and Happy Birthday Jake

In addition to Noah's baptism to look forward to we also had a new nephew born this past week! My brother and his wife had their fourth child, their third son on Thursday, February 7. He is beautiful and looks like his big brother Drew. Since Tierc couldn't be here, I took some pics. for her. I love you Tierc, and here is your beautiful nephew, baby Jake!

Noah's baptism

Noah's baptism has created a wonderful memory for us as a family. Noah was thoroughly excited for his big moment. We had so much support from our friends and family that it was hard not to be emotional as we were surrounded by love. Noah's Uncle Chris and Gram said the opening and closing prayers. Tobin and I gave talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. His cousin Ali sang and his friend Eli played the violin while they were changing back into the church clothes after the actual baptism took place.

And the beauty of it is that Noah never realized that he almost was going to have to be baptized in cold water. For some reason as they were filling up the font, it was cold. There was no hot water, not even warm water coming through the pipes. With a prayer in my heart that it would be fixed we called in a member of the bishopric and the building coordinator, the Primary presidents (both current and past) and anybody else that we could think of to help. And help they did. It was fixed!! So, the water which is usually very warm was lukewarm. And Noah was as happy as could be!!

So many of Noah's friends from school came which overjoyed Noah. One of his friends was conflicted about coming because there was a probowl on tv and he didn't want to miss it. So they tivo'd it and came to the baptism. At the end of the service, he looked at his dad and said, "this was better than watching the probowl." That was really neat to hear. So, to comemorate this show of support, I took a picture of Noah with his friends and that is what we will put on his dresser to help Noah remember this day and the example he has set. We are so proud of our Noah and he is everything we wished for him to be the day he was born.

Our Weekend

Tobin was thrown the ball from out of bounds. He then went on to try for a basket. In picture below, Tobin is sitting on the ball.

We had a fantastic time this weekend. On Friday night, I took Tobin and several of his friends swimming (along with Brenna and her friend) to an indoor pool. Another mom met me there so I had a friend to chat with. It was so much fun watching Tobin and his friends have a good time. Tobin was timid about jumping off of the high dive, but he managed it several times throughout the night. Brenna--well, she had no problem jumping off the high dive. She did fabulous. What was funny to me was watching the other moms around me. I heard an audible gasp from several moms as Brenna jumped off the high dive. I'm sure these moms (not realizing I was right there watching Brenna) were wondering where was this girl's mother? Was she going to sink or swim? Didn't anyone care about this girl? I could only think You don't know Brenna. Some of you may be reminded of the time she was 18 months old and jumped right into the deep end of the pool with such confidence that all would be well. Remember the smile she had on her face as she came up out of the water? So, I knew she would me fine; no, I knew she would be escatic!!

Tobin and his friends jumped around all night long from pool to pool. At first the girl's followed them, but then they found their own fun in the slides around the pool deck. But the most curious thing happened. Towards the end of the night, Tobin and his friends started playing with Brenna and her little friend. It was so fun to see this happening. If we had gone to the movies there would have been little talking and they wouldn't have interacted with each other the way they did. The girls felt like princesses,and it made their night completely special.

The playful racing that took place between the boys was probably the most fun to watch. At first they did traditional races of freestyle, back and breaststroke. Then they grew creative and had spiral races (they would alternate between one freestyle and one backstroke so that they were basically rolling over in the water), then they did one where they had to carry someone piggy back. It was more laughter than swimming, but that was the point of the night, right?

On a side note: bedtime was a breeze even with sleepovers. Brenna and her little friend made a tent to sleep in.

On Saturday morning, we woke to our usual flurry of activity to prepare for the basketball games that fill our day. I took pictures and video of Brenna's game. I will only post the highlights. It is so much fun to watch. With Brenna, it just is so cute to have these little girls with the cutest ponytails taking the ball down the pint sized court and trying to make the baskets. Most of them throw the ball straight up so that it comes right back down. One little girl on Brenna's team was thrown the ball and instead of catching it, ran away from it. It simply touches your heart. And on another level, you see Noah's team passing and throwing more to each other. They have the logistics of the game down and can work together for the good of the team. Noah still has fun and loves making his layups which is what makes my heart melt. And then on the next level, you have Tobin's team which is trying to run sophisticated plays and execute both man-to-man and zone defenses. You love when Tobin gets the ball and you see the determination in his face as he throws the ball towards the basket. In my mind, I see behind the basket to all of the extra practices he has put in to make the very basket he has just thown the ball towards. When he makes it, your heart melts and your joy knows no ends. When he doesn't make it, your heart breaks, especially when you see him beating himself up. You want to hug him and make it all go away. But as a mother to a tweener (not a kid, not yet a teenager), you just have to telepathically communicate your love and acceptance, and persistance to him, as hugging him would only make it worse. And then afterwards, Andy and I come home exhausted, feeling like we have ridden a roller coaster.

Even after our roller coaster ride we still went on a date; we went to the movies!! Twice!! Instead of dinner and a movie, we opted for two movies. Who does this? And yet, I must mention that I ran into a retired teacher from my school who was doing the very same thing. We wanted light and fun (so the natural choice was 27 Dresses) and our next bet was for something with Oscar attached to it so we could, at the very least, be in the know about one movie. So, the movie time dictated that we see Juno (loving Jennifer Garner, I was not heartbroken about this). Both movies were great! Ellen Page was something else! Her performance was phenomenal.