Clark and Natalie

Photographer: David Hebble

2012-01-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday we were driving by the beach. We spotted a guy holding an enormous gray camera. The lense was resting on his SUV and he was photographing/filming someone in the water surfing. I commented "Wow, that is a HUGE camera!!" So Clark pulled off at Cardiff Reef where the guy was, parked right next to him, then started asking him questions. One thing that Clark doesn't have a problem with is meeting new people. I wish I was more like him. It is effortless. If he wants to meet someone, there isn't a shy bone in his body. He will just go right up to the person and strike up a conversation. Thank goodness one of us is that way.

Clark started by saying "Your camera looks really nice!" The guy replied, gesturing to me and the kids "I think what you have right there looks nice too." (Clark told me about that later.) They talked while I chased the kids around the beach for a bit. Then Clark came up to me and said "David would like to take a few photos for us with his camera."

David Hebble was the nicest guy. He just seemed so happy to take photos, so happy to be living in California. A total optimist. I wanted to share the photos he took. He is mainly a water photographer, or that seems to be what he enjoys doing from his business card. He has laminated business cards that he keeps in a pocket on his wetsuit to hand out to people in the water. But he does all kinds of photography.

Here's his web: http://www.davidhebble.com/

Bamba's 2

2011-12-11T23:25:00.000-08:00

Amber turned two today. We love her so much. She is loving, kind-hearted, determined, and intense.

We spent the day at the Crosby's house. Here are a couple of videos of Amber with her birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Biri!

Thanksgiving in Hawaii! Rumsey Reunion 2011

2011-12-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful time visiting family in Hawaii. Clark's parents are serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints. We spent time near BYU Hawaii and the Polynesian Culture on the North Shore.

The cousins loved being together. I feel so grateful they love and respect each other. They are lucky children.

Top highlights of the trip were: Attending the Laie, Hawaii temple, the beach, the swap meet, visiting Pearl Harbor, and the Polynesian Cultural Center. I particularly loved the "Ha! Breathe of Life" show. I did Polynesian dance from the time I was 5 until I was 17, so I really appreciated the talent that went into the show. It was stunning, amazing, and very touching.

I loved learning about how much of Oahu was developed by the church as an aid to the Polynesian people. The church set up a way for them to be educated and earn money to pay for their education. It was also interesting to learn that the Laie, Hawaii temple was built right after the Salt Lake City temple was. The people there must have been very willing to hear the gospel.

We took pictures outside of the temple so when I get those I will post them. The trip was a sweet time for the Rumsey family as a whole.

We met up with the Thunell family at the LAX airport and sat next to each other on the plane ride. A few of the children slept a little bit.

Watching the boat dance shows at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

After the show "Ha! Breathe of Life" at the PCC. Taken with the show's lead performer.

My sweet mother-in-law, Merle, preparing food for the Rumsey clan and some of the students they have befriended during their mission.

Shark's cove snorkeling.

Amber loves her cousin Erika...

Post swap meet :)

Pearl Harbor.

Mathis Halloween Party

2011-10-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

Brock, Michelle, Shay, Delia, & Lexi Mathis.

Each year our friends the Mathis' throw a Halloween costume party. They really go all-out. Brock & Michelle Mathis make an extremely talented couple. Michelle is crafty, an excellent planner, and very organized. Oh, and they live in a super cool house that Brock built.

They have carnival games, spooky decor, pumpin' music, and lots of yummy treats that the guests bring.

There were a ton of cute families that had adorable costumes. Lots of creativity and fun.

Our family was a little mismatched with 3 of us being characters from Snow White and little Ethan being Spiderman. But since Ethan took off to enjoy games, treats, and other children, we never really saw much of him during the party anyways...

Michelle Mathis with Lexi, Merrily Roberts with Manny, Me with Amber, & Kim Pierce with Gunner.

Snow White & her tasty apple.

Merrily & Kyle Roberts.

Me & Clark before....

and after... Bwahaha!

What Clark & Amber transformed into by the end of the night.

THANK YOU MATHIS' for having this each year and for doing a dang good job!

Picnic at J-Street Viewpoint

2011-10-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

We love picnics. Especially Sunday picnics. It's fun to be outside with good food to eat. Last Sunday we invited our friends the Roberts family to join us. It made the experience even better. The children played together and allowed us to all visit. The evening was complete with children-tossing and a beautiful sunset.

Good Ole' Saturday Night live

2011-09-17T22:33:00.001-07:00

My computer keyboard isn't working too great so I may have some weird grammar here. . . . Nat and I watched some old Saturday Night live skits last night. . . this was probably the best one. Sad that snl isn't the way it used to be.

Straight Talk - Stock Market by senatork

Spiderboy Turns 4!

2011-09-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

(Click on spider-men photo to view the album.)

At the start of the summer we asked Ethan what he wanted for his birthday. He said, Spiderman costume and LegoLand. When September came near, I began to realize that we didn't have the money to all go to LegoLand. As I thought about it, his cousins kept coming into my mind. I asked him if he wanted to see his cousins for his birthday. He jumped up and said "Yes!"

Just to make sure he didn't think I was gypping him, I asked him, "Ethan, would you rather have a birthday party here with your friends? Or drive up to see your cousins, Joseph & Austin?"

His reply came quick, "Joseph and Austin."

"Would you rather go to LegoLand? Or see your cousins Joseph & Austin?"

This time he paused to think, then answered quite satisfied, "Joseph and Austin."

So, we brought the Spiderboy to Somis once more to visit some of the people he loves the most in this world. We had a wonderful time and I am glad that we decided to do it. We're grateful for the Thunells hospitality. Conveniently, his birthday happened to be during a 3-day weekend. I guess his birthday will always be on or around Labor Day since I had him on Labor Day. Lucky boy!

Here are some photos. On the day of his birthday we went swimming, had pizza & cake, and celebrated spiders :) Afterwards, Ethan kept telling me over and over again "Mommy, I had a happy birthday. I love you."

Here's a video of him blowing out the candles.

https://picasaweb.google.com/114724869698935930118/SpiderboyTurns4?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLDq75GV84K9DQ&feat=directlink

Old Town with Davis & Shannan

2011-08-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

From Old Town with Davis & Shannan

In Clark's family there are 6 children. From oldest to youngest: Davis, Alexis, Lauren, Clark, Adrienne, & Ford. His brother Davis and family flew in from Texas to spend a week at Disneyland. Before they started their week, they drove down to San Diego and we were able to spend a little time with them. We visited the Mormon Batallion (which has been remodeled and is awesome now!), went on a baby hike, frolicked at a look-out point, visited the temple grounds, and had dinner at Souplantation. It was wonderful visiting with them and sad to see them go.

(Click on photo to view photos from that day. There is one photo I photoshopped of Clark and Amber frolicking in the lawn.)

Somis: So Close, but yet, So Far

2011-08-05T00:14:00.000-07:00

Clark's sister Alexis Thunell and her family live in a very beautiful home in a city called Somis, near Santa Barbara, CA. It is about a 3 hour drive. Clark's mother, Merle, was up there to help Alexis because she was about to have her baby. Because she is on a mission in Hawaii for our church, we don't get to see her that often. The Thunells were so kind for allowing us to come up when they were just about to have a baby. In fact, the day we left was the same day the baby was born, July 25th. We saw pictures of little Benjamin Rumsey Thunell and he is perfectly beautiful. So excited to have another cousin - and that makes 7 children in the Thunell clan.

The pictures sort of describe what it felt like to be there. The first photo is of Amber sitting in a swing by the pool eating an orange picked off one of their many fruit trees. We went swimming, ate delicious food, relaxed in the hammock, and enjoyed one another's company.

I kept thinking how wonderful it was that I could completely trust Amber and Ethan with their cousins. Actually, to be perfectly honest, once we entered their home, I barely ever saw Ethan. I would usually find him during meal-time when I had to convince him to eat. He wasn't really a fan.

I only wish we lived closer, but 3 hours isn't really that far away right?

Here is the album if you want to see the rest of the photos:

Benjamin's Arrival

What's the Story on Dixie?

2011-08-04T23:09:00.000-07:00

When my parents first moved to Cardiff by-the-Sea in 1988, they moved away from my dad's family in LA. This turned out to be one of the best moves they could have made. Although we were further away from my own grandparents, we were adopted by Gary and Dixie Crosby. It is not abnormal for the Crosbys to adopt individuals, even families into their lives. Their hearts know no bounds. They just give and give and love without end.

Dixie was a fun and wonderful Primary President. She would lead us out of the Primary classroom, through the halls and then back in when we sang "Follow the Prophet." I am sure she did tons of other fun things because I remember just loving her.

I felt it important to document this since we have been visiting with them most weeks when they don't have company in town. We usually go over there and eat fruit and other snacks at her bar, then we go upstairs and allow the children to play with toys while we talk or nap. I am so grateful my children are able to get to know them. In a lot of ways I feel much closer to them, especially to Dixie, than I do to a lot of people that are in my extended family.

Buelita's Visit

2011-08-04T22:49:00.000-07:00

My mom, aka "Buelita" came into town for a few weeks during July. The children were so happy to see her. While she was here, Amber took her first steps and learned how to dance when we start singing to her. At the end of her stay Ethan was so sad. He kept asking where she was over and over again. He didn't ever cry, but I could tell he was sad because the next day when I was wearing one of her shirts he looked at it and asked "Is that Bita's shirt?" I answered, "Yeah, she's letting me wear it." "Oh, it's beautiful, can I smell it?" I answered, "Sure Ethan." Then he walked up to me and took a deep breath of my shirt then hugged me quietly for a long time.

Ethan's First Taste of Sports

2011-08-04T21:48:00.001-07:00

I am really wanting to catch up with our blog before I get too much further behind. Ethan started the YMCA's Pee Wee World of Sports. I wanted for him to just do the Y's soccer, but as luck would have it, Soccer was full by the time I started looking into it. I am actually glad that happened. As a result, he has been exposed to a variety of sports and has had so much fun.

Amber and Ethan are pretty inseparable. Wherever Ethan is, whatever he is doing, Amber usually seems to want in on the action. Trying to keep her off the soccer field during Ethan's games was impossible.

Afterwards we usually head on over to the Cardiff by-the-Sea library. They have something cool going every Saturday.

From Intro to Sports

Please click on the photo if you would like to see more photos from Ethan's first day of Soccer.

The Steens

2011-07-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

Today we spent the day at the beach with our friends the Steens. Clark and I have known them our entire married life, minus a few months. We became good friends when we were living in the same ward in Provo and have tried to keep in touch since.

I remember when after Ethan was born prematurely, Clark and I were starving for some homemade food. We were camped out in the American Fork hospital parking lot for 10 days because they had no boarding. Matt and Robyn made us some calzones that are, still to this day, the best-tasting calzones I have ever had. I miss living near them and having dinners together and hanging out. They're pretty much the most accepting and wonderful friends anyone could ask for.

We love you Steeners!

Chickens

2011-06-02T20:33:00.000-07:00

Being in a chicken coop with our pre-school group this morning was actually quite funny. There is something about clucking chickens that always makes me chuckle... One of the moms' parents in law live in a beautiful home in Fairbanks Ranch. They have a great backyard with fruit trees and a berry bushes. The kids had so much fun feeding the chickens strawberry tops and picking boysenberries. "Grandpa" made everyone berry lemonade with all home-grown ingredients (except for the sugar.)

The day with the chickens came to an end with everyone receiving a half-carton of chicken eggs and a lemon. Ethan was so excited about his little carton of eggs that he took an egg out while I wasn't looking and crushed it with his hand. Overall, a great adventure!

We Have Pictures!

2011-05-16T22:56:00.001-07:00

We had been wanting to get our photos professionally taken at some point but didn't know who to use. I remembered seeing on facebook that my friend Elise (Adams) Simpson from High School was a photographer and that she took great pictures. I asked her if she would be willing to take ours and she agreed.

For one reason or another it seemed difficult for us to get together and take the photos! Our kids were sick, or it may rain, or some obligation popped up. When the day finally came for us to take the pictures, I don't think anything could have stopped us from having our picture taken. We wanted to hurry up and get it done!

As we dressed Amber, Clark jokingly told her to make sure she didn't have a major blow out or anything in the pretty yellow dress that we had her in. As we were driving along on the freeway, I noticed that Amber didn't look so hot. There was stop and go traffic from rush hour. Then suddenly she began vomiting. Over and over. The dress, her hair, totally unrepairable. However, we decided this picture was going to happen. We stopped off at Carter's baby clothing store and found one of the only non-pajama dresses they had there. While Clark was purchasing it, I was washing Amber's hair with water from a water bottle and wiping her down using about 40 baby wipes.

Now, so that you don't think we're selfish crazy parents, I need to explain that Amber was in high-spirits and was better than ever after her little episode. We really couldn't let the puke get in the way of us having our pictures taken!

When we arrived we met my friend Elise and her friend Brooke. The explained to us that they enjoy doing photo sessions together. After just a couple of minutes I could see why. Their personalities complimented one another and it added a really fun and light feel to the whole experience.

Ethan was very non-compliant with all of the photo taking, but somehow, probably sheer magic, they were able to get a few really awesome photos of our wild boy. Amber on the other had was a different story. As soon as she saw the camera she would smile sweetly. We think that after her feeling sick earlier, all of the intensity she usually has got killed off.

The best part of the whole session was when they took photos of just me and Clark. Being that it was just a few days before our 5-year anniversary, it felt so sweet to have our photos taken together. I've realized that as wonderful all of the photos of my children are, our marriage is also something that needs to be documented on occasion :)

If you're interested in having some beautiful photos taken of your family or of anything, I highly recommend Brooke & Elise. Here are their websites:

http://www.brookealiceon.com/

http://elisedanielleblog.com/

Beginning of Beach Days 2011

2011-04-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

I have a feeling we'll be at the beach quite a bit this summer. However, I've decided that it's not a good idea for us to stay longer than 2 hours or be at the beach between noon & 2:00. Everyone seemed to be melting down towards the end and I was totally sapped of the energy needed to hike the hill to my car.

I am no pioneer mama. I admire mothers who are. Top pioneer Moms I can think of are: Merle Rumsey, Alexis Thunell, Lauren Hausman, Liseja Gurr, & Kim Pierce.

Kim has 4 young children very close together in age. She was at the beach today with all of us for four hours and by the end of it she was perfectly perky. While we were walking back, she was carrying tons of beach gear, food, and a very large baby. I asked her what her secret was and she answered "I don't dare think about it. If I do, I know I would just melt."

The Beginning of Beach Days, 2011

Upstairs

2011-04-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

For the last two weeks Amber has been crying and crying, screaming, and more crying. I just recently realized that she is getting four teeth in all at once - poor baby. Here is a cutie-bootie video of her crawling up the stairs. She is a pro. One time I decided to crawl down the staircase with her. I was totally shown up. She slithered down that thing so fast I couldn't keep up! She has this certain technique where she puts one of her arms up and straigtens out one of her legs and then just slides down the steps like a slide. I almost hurt myself trying to figure out how she does it...

Here is a photo I took of Amber and Ethan last night before bed. I still can't get over how little they look alike.

PS: The last post on dead bodies was by Clark.

NY Forensic Pathologist: This happens - you're looking for a missing body, and ya find another.

2011-04-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

I got a kick out of this video. Granted, it's a super sad story - This pathologist is talking about the human remains of women in the Long Island area. Sad story. He talks about how they found the remains of an infant body as well. . . “Clearly, this is quite unrelated case and situation. . . Ya know, this happens sometimes…you’re looking for a missing body and you find another.” Obviously, this guy works in NY area often. http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/happening-now/index.html#/v/4640278/hunt-for-a-serial-killer/?playlist_id=86919

Hello! . . . hello ....hello .....(echo) ...

2011-04-04T21:56:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, Just seeing if anyone is out there reading this or if I'm just practicing my typing skills (it's me, Clark). Either way, I guess I should actually post something that isn't work related (lame, I know). General Conference ROCKED!!! We went over to the Crosby's (our newly adopted grandparents) home and watched conference there. They're the neatest people! Gary, eventhough he was in the hospital for health problems is actually healthier than when he went into the hospital (he's a Timex watch - he gets roughed up and he's still ticking away!). I've been thinking about that one song by John Lennon ("Beautiful Boy") where it says, "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans..." - great song by the way. It's so true. Tonight, I was so anxious to get the kids in bed and go downstairs and get busy doing something. But, unusually, Amber cried for me when I left, so I rocked her for a while (eventually, I had to just put her in the crib because she wasn't falling asleep). It was just a simple moment, but I'm grateful for it. I'm grateful for those times that may seem to inconvenience us, but allow us to stop and spend time with loved ones. Those are the times that we'll remember when we're old and pruny. San Diego weather has been amazing lately. . . . been a bit warmer at nights than usual which is actually a great change. Anyways, hope all is well with everyone!

Old-Fashioned Play Time

2011-03-10T23:07:00.000-08:00

Back before TVs and computers were invented, kids would get outside and play. I mean really play. I don't mean going to a park and climbing up and down plastic and metal.

Today we had a taste of what playing should be like. For preschool, we met up at one of the mom's houses and did a nature walk down to a beautiful canyon area where the children fed goats and played on a tire swing. I wasn't sure if I should be nervous or not about allowing Ethan to go on the swing, but he seemed so confident that I could not help but feel confident that he would be just fine.

The children found sticks, dug holes, climbed trees, threw mud rocks... it was the way it should be. When we got home, while I was getting something from upstairs, Ethan had passed out on the couch covered in cereal. He was hungry and tired from a long morning of play.

Wild Animal Park Excursion

2011-03-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the zoo with Dixie and Gary. Dixie had given us free passes that we knew we were never going to end up using, so I just asked if she wanted to come with us. We had so much fun. Ethan and Amber loved the little water stop they had for the kids. We saw lots of different types of birds, African animals, and ate a super yummy lunch prepared by Dixie. Overall a really great time today!

Towards the end though, I started to feel the day setting in. I am not sure I have the endurance most people have when it comes to theme parks and zoos. I just get so exhausted and all I want to do is sleep. I think Ethan and Amber felt pretty similarly. They went to bed a couple of hours earlier than usual. Dixie and Gary still seemed to be going pretty strong by the end of the day.

From Wild Animal Park

San Diego Botanic Garden

2011-03-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Ethan's preschool group went on a field trip to the San Diego Botanic Garden. This is where Clark and I took our engagement photo, so it brought back some memories for me.

We had a fun time. Ethan kept finding sticks to use as pretend guns and "shoot" people. Still something we're trying to work on with him.

The Garden had a couple of areas that were specifically designated for children. There was this cool playground where the children could climb through a hollow tree (man-made) and an area where they could make music using natural percussion instruments.

By the end of the day everyone was shot, but that's how we know they had fun.

San Diego Botanic Garden March 2011

At Home

2011-02-24T23:46:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went to book club. I promised Clark that I would come home early. I lost track of time and wound up staying much later than I wanted to. I had so much fun chatting with women. Some with children, some without, some members of the church, some not. Just getting deep and looking at different perspectives. I just loved it.

Upon returning, here is what I found.

I love going and doing something totally different from the regular mommy stuff once in a while. Each time I do, I just feel so grateful for what I have at home.

Hidden Dragon

2011-02-22T21:06:00.000-08:00

Amber is a funny little girl. She doesn't do certain things that most babies do, and then suddenly one day she just starts attacking that certain thing she wasn't doing before. Does that even make sense? For instance, I never worried about the staircase in our home because she would always just sit at the bottom of it. Then all of the sudden one day I was sitting at my desk and I hear her breathing really fast at the bottom of the staircase. She was race-crawling up the staircase with this intense look and a little bit of a smile. I didn't want to make her fall so I just watched patiently. She reached the top perfectly. I am still very nervous when I see her going down the staircase. She does this sort of slide thing that looks really scary... Here is a photo of her and Ethan "sliding" down the stairs with their babies.

HP Stuff Again

2011-02-15T10:07:00.001-08:00

Hey All,

(This is Clark). I have to give a plug for something HP just came out with. I don't get paid for this. In fact, I have nothing to do with this other than the fact that I work at HP. . . . so, with that disclosure behind me ;), this is definitely a very cool Microsoft-LESS HP product. This product is run on WebOS, an extremely nice operating system that's regarded highly by even some who are loyal "Apple-ists." It's worth checking out. If you have the phone and touch pad, you can seamlessly transfer data in between them (pictures, web links) by just touching them together. In fact, when you update anything like contacts, songs, etc. in one device, the other is automatically updated (no matter where they are) with that data so that both devices (tablet and phone) are exactly up to speed. Also, you can charge the tablet by just resting it on this pad ("TouchStone"). You don't have to plug it in, etc.
Also, it isn't run on Microsoft - so none of the same glitches as Microsoft. Also, you can run several applications at one time.

Valentines Pre-School Party

2011-02-11T16:53:00.000-08:00

Valentines Party

Today we had our little Valentines party for Pre-school. It was super cute to see all of the little handmade Valentines and the adorable store-bought ones too. We had six out of seven children attend. We made heart-shaped whole wheat cookies (olive oil, honey, whole wheat, baking powder, vanilla extract) with homemade chocolate on top and a heart pizza. My friend Merrily brought over a super yummy chocolate cake too. The only thing I was kind of bummed about was the fact that I didn't have pink lemonade.

We talked about Valentines day, decorated Valentines boxes, had play time, sang, danced, read "love" stories, and passed out Valentines.

There were moments I wondered if our little condo was big enough for 6 kids plus a baby, but I actually thought it worked out pretty good. I was able to keep track of everyone really well and clean up took no time at all! Here are some photos of the prep, decor, and actual party:)

Clark's Crazy Trip

2011-01-13T14:28:00.000-08:00

Clark and Ethan driving the U-haul up and down our street for fun.

Clark decided to take advantage of his little vacation break to go and get some of the things that we left in a storage unit in Utah 3 years ago.

My brother was traveling back to Idaho to finish his last semester of college so Clark hopped a ride with him at around 4AM. When Clark arrived to Utah, he rented a U-Haul truck, packed it up by himself and stayed the night in a hotel. He did all of that through a blizzard. He got up early the next morning and got on the road before the "real" blizzard hit. Regardless, he still had to travel through some pretty thick weather.

He had a nutso trip - will spare the details. He arrived home safely, which is what counts. Here is a photo of Ethan in the truck. We missed Clark so much those two days. Ethan was really excited to see Daddy the next morning and to drive the truck up and down the street.

PS: We're all sick and staying home right now, hence the catch up posting :)

Our First Home

2011-01-13T14:09:00.001-08:00

A photo of us on the day we got the keys.

We closed on our first home December 29th, 2010, only a couple of days before the new year. Back in August we started to feel like we needed to have a place to call our own.

We'll be moving in little by little within the next month. We have the advantage of not having to be in a rush to be moved out. I'm not sure how we would be able to do it any other way.

Here's to a new year!

Christmas 2010 (3 weeks late)

2011-01-13T12:52:00.000-08:00

Click on the slideshow if you'd like to see the photos larger.

We had a fun time having two babies to share Christmas day with. Amber's favorite gift was her twin babies. She gets such a kick when I put them next to her and say "mama, mama..."

Merlsie sent some nice gifts. I especially like the "necklace of the summer of 2010" that she sent. She bought one for all of her daughters. I can't want to find an opportunity to wear it :) I haven't been wearing much jewelry lately. Who knew that I would have such a hard time remembering to put earrings on! I've always been so into jewelry. I guess that's just natural when you become a mom.

After breakfast and the present opening, we lounged around the house for a couple of hours. Later on we went over to the Crosby's home and had a most wonderful dinner with them. They have always been like my second set of grandparents. Now that all of my grandparents have died, they are my only set of grandparents and I love them so much for it. Sister's Crosby's tradition is to make chicken bundles. They were delicious! We had a perfect Christmas day.

Fancy a What?

2011-01-07T15:07:00.000-08:00

I am not a reader. I mean, I have always read only for purpose and not for pleasure. When my friend Merrily told me she was starting a book club, I was wasn't entirely sure I really wanted to join. However, I did see it as a great opportunity to get to know other women my age, have a fun evening to myself once a month, and support my buddy Merrily.

The idea that I would be reading a book for leisure was not at all a part of my thought process :)

I saw an update on her blog, we are supposed to read Jane Austen's Emma this month. I thought, ok, I actually have to read this book - when??? I found an electronic copy online and started reading. Bored to tears, I found myself asking these questions, "What exactly do I need to know about all of this? Where are the facts I need to make a point to remember? When is this thing going to get to a point?" I stopped myself and realized that I wasn't going to be graded, this is just for fun!!!

I told Merrily what a hard time I was having. She told me to buy a hard copy or listen to the book on tape. Being an "anti-extra "stuff" cheapskate," I decided to just listen to it. What a difference! Instead of feeling like I am wasting time, I get more of the monotonous chores around the house done. I can get lost in this book while accomplishing the things that I need to do.

Other side benefits that I have also noted are quite interesting and different. I have been finding that I've had an increase in patience and been generally more happy. I've also been more in the mood to teach. This morning I was giving Ethan music lessons (singing and a little tiny bit of piano,) taught him about the solar system during Amber's nap, taught him to watercolor, played with a puzzle, and read books to him. Very unexpected results. I feel sad that I don't normally fill his day that way. Usually I really struggle to find ways I can teach him things while he is at home.

This morning he was begging me to put the TV on for him and I refused. Over and over and over again he would ask me and I would refuse. Finally I sat down with him. I took out a paper and pen and drew a little boy with two arrows diverging from one another. I told him if the boy went up one of the arrows, he was learning and growing. I showed the little boy playing the piano, dancing, jumping, reading a book, singing, and having fun. Then I went back to the original boy and had him go down the other arrow. I drew a TV and the boy very mellow-looking. Ethan exclaimed, I want to go with that boy (pointing to the one that was active.) I said, "Good! That's exactly why we can't have you watch any TV today." He didn't ask me to turn the tube again. Hopefully we can get him to be excited about other things which are much more brain-stimulating.

The boy has seemed pretty happy today. It would be very interesting to see if there's been a study on this sort of thing "Reading Mothers are Better Teachers..." or something like that :)

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-01-03T00:47:00.000-08:00

With all that we've had going on, we weren't sure when we should decorate for Christmas. Finally we decided that we needed to hurry up and do it before it was too late.

We went to a tree lot the Monday before Christmas and asked them what we could get for $15.00. Here is the cute tree we were able to buy.

I think we have a photo of Ethan doing something similar to this last year:

Christmas Eve

2011-01-03T00:19:00.000-08:00

For the last 3 Christmas Eves, we've watched "It's a Wonderful Life." Such an awesome movie. However, after watching it for about 30 minutes, we decided we would just skip through parts of it. Instead of watching the the whole thing, we decided to drive down to La Jolla and visit the temple. We were hoping to make our Christmas Eve a little more meaningful that way.

I know that Heavenly Father blessed us because as we opened the car door, there was beautiful and peaceful Christmas music playing on the temple grounds, creating a sort of surreal feel. I could tell Ethan was amazed. I immediately felt the spirit come over me like a warm blanket.

Ethan looked up at the temple and said "woww...." If there was anything that I could give my children, it would be to have them have a strong testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. This is the only thing that really matters to me when it comes down to what I want for them. I know that if they have this, their entire life will have purpose and they will always be able to make good choices, not that they always will, but that they will always be able to know how and where to find answers.

We bumped into a friend from college while we were there. As we visited, Ethan wandered off and spent around 15 minutes with the different statues that were part of the Nativity scene. Kissing them, hugging them, talking to them. When we met up with him, he introduced me to them as if they were his friends.

My heart just melted when I saw Ethan so excited to be at the temple, giving so much attention to the fact that we were there for Jesus Christ.

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that he loves each of us. I cannot comprehend how he can have so much love for us, but I am beginning to understand more and more what real love is as Clark and I raise our little family together. I am excited for the day that we will be able to meet him. Such a warm and wonderful man. I am so grateful to know of Him and learn from His examples in the scriptures.

Put a Candle on Her Birthday Cake

2011-01-02T23:31:00.000-08:00

Bamba turned one. Here is the little invitation I made up for her and some photos of the actual party.

The week before I was sick, so her birthday was postponed until the following weekend. When your birthday is as close to Christmas as Amber's is, moving the party a week later is not such a good idea.

However, we were pleased with the turnout. Our friends the Stevens came, Ethan is friends with their sons Jackson and Dominik and their daughter Stella is only a few months younger than Amber. Becca Harris and her two babies came and so did our friend Merrily with her two children.

I had been feeling pretty inadequate about the whole thing the week prior. I felt like I was being a bad mom for not having a birthday party for Amber. It seems like lots of moms are able to pull something nice together for their baby's first birthday. I was talking to my mom in law and she told me some wise words. She said that when you start out having everything and more, nothing seems like it is ever enough. Those words have kept coming back to me over and over again this past month.

So, with that perspective in place, here is to Amber's humble birthday party. We had some dang good homemade tortilla soup, quesadillas and taquitos for the kids, with cupcakes and hot cocoa. We ended up pulling the whole thing inside the house instead of at the park. Too wet and rainy. The kids had fun getting soaked from the puddles in the backyard. Simple entertainment. Fun to be with friends and a nice memory.

In the end, I realized that Amber really did get what she wanted on her actual birthday. The same thing every baby ever wants, just to be with mama.

From Amber's Birthday Party

Pre-School Christmas Program

2011-01-02T22:55:00.000-08:00

One of the moms organized for our pre-school group to perform the Nativity at a retirement home down the street from us. Ethan was a wise man and I think he felt really important when it was his turn to give baby Jesus a gift.

Although Ethan is one of the younger children in his class, I know that he is getting so much out of being with children his age in a classroom environment a couple times a week.

Choking Experience

2011-01-02T21:59:00.000-08:00

I guess I never realized the importance of allowing a healthy amount of paranoia to have its way. Last month I heard Ethan let out a little yelp from the other room. He rarely cries so I knew something was up. I ran in and he was

choking on something. I thought a cracker, a pretzel, food... I tried doing the Heimlich on him with no success. His little eyes looked watery, face turning colors -he was definitely suffocating. I screamed for Clark but he could hear me. He happened to be working from home, but was listening to some music and was tuned into finance... I left Ethan and shook Clark to come help.

Clark picked Ethan up and did the Heimlich on him really hard. I was definitely not doing it anywhere nearly as hard as it needed to be done. Something shot out from Ethan's mouth and I heard a clang on the ground. I thought maybe something knocked off the table when we realized that he had actually swallowed a large piece of metal.

It scraped his insides up and all he wanted to do was sleep for a couple of hours after it came out. We got in touch with a nurse and she said to just watch him closely, but that he didn't need to go to the hospital.

Very scary. I am so grateful that Clark was home. The funny thing is that Clark usually drives to Rancho Bernardo to work, but it just so happened that he stayed home that day. Now I know why.

I love little Ethan. I can't think of a child with a bigger heart. I'll just have to keep praying that losing him won't be something I'll ever have to face.

Happy Birthday Amber Baby!

2010-12-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Amber's birthday. I have had laryngitis this week and Amber came down with a cold on Friday, so we didn't do anything. I couldn't even sing to her!

We plan to do something for her next weekend and invite some of her baby friends.

One thing I did do was give Amber a long bath and paint her little toenails bright pink. A pamper party... I think she enjoyed it because the bathroom was nice and warm and she loves baths.

I can't help but feel so grateful for my little girl. I love that she is so feminine. I love that she crawls all over the house and explores everything (but doesn't destroy anything.) I love the way she blows her little lips together when she's irritated. She has the most curious sense of humor that I am still trying to figure out. I can't make her laugh, but when she does laugh, it's usually about something that I would have never thought she would find funny.

Happy birthday baby girl!

Thanksgiving & More

2010-12-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

I have seriously been neglecting this blog. It's already December, almost Christmas time, and I am posting photos from Thanksgiving.

We drove up to Oxnard and spent Thanksgiving with Adam & Alexis. It was great to see them and catch up a little with them. So kind of them to invite us and allow us to stay with them. We love those Thunells!

HP's CEO, Leo Apotheker, spoke at the San Diego office yesterday. Clark sat 3

rows from

the front. They had placed prizes under some of the chair seats but Clark didn't get any. He was

disappointed because he wished he could have won one of those fancy new laptops for me. Cool they gave anything away at all! Clark said that the CEO seemed like a very kind man. He thinks that he may be a little more pro-employee. Who knows though. As long as he isn't as slimy as Mark Hurd, we should be good :)

Clark said that it was exciting to bump into the entire executive board as they were meeting in a cubicle just a little ways down from where he works each day. The fact that they were just meeting at an ordinary cube is an example to me of how successful businesses don't waste money on flamboyance. I'm sure the cool technology that Clark saw them being shown is confidential, but it's really cool to think that we are really reaching points where just about anything you can think of doing with technology is starting to be done already!

Last weekend we attended my cousin Noemi's quinceanera. We weren't really expecting such an elegant party, I had never been to a quince before. I thought some of the traditions were cute like the father changing the daughter's tennis shoes and putting heels on her. She choreographed a couple of dances which was fun to see. I didn't know that she liked dancing. She had some princess modeling photos done for a magazine called "Mis Quinces" or something like that. You can view some photos from that without having to have a facebook account by clicking this link: My Cousin Noemi's Quince.

Amber's been crawling all over the house. She has 5 teeth. Ethan is beginning to talk a little clearer now. He comes up with cute things that I don't think I would have ever thought of. The biggest thing he does lately is say "Mama, it's ok... it's ok!" whenever I start feeling upset. Funny how much that usually helps me. I'm not even sure if he quite knows what he's saying, but the way he says it makes me calm down.

Tiger Princess

2010-10-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

Amber has been teething a lot lately. Her top two teeth are popping through. I sometimes refer to this time as Amber's "baby puberty." She doesn't cry anymore, she roars. Whether you pick her up, feed her, leave her alone, she shouts and arches and doesn't seem to know what she wants.

She has started crawling backwards, which adds quite a bit to her frustration. When she sees me she gets excited so she starts to crawl backwards, the harder she tries to come towards me, the further away she gets from me. This usually results in even louder, higher-intensity screeching.

I never thought of my little baby dolly this way before. She has always been so mellow. I guess she really doesn't have a choice. With Ethan as her role-model (and me as her mama,) she was bound to become a tiger.

This is a photo of Ethan's pirate hat on Amber and half a sword. Ethan will typically try to sword fight with Amber, but Amber usually isn't too into it.

Most mornings Clark does a little workout video from home because it's so convenient. Ethan usually joins in. It's so fun to see Ethan copying Clark and then acting like he's a tough big boy.

When is Age Going to Start Making Us Wiser? Or is This What it is All About?

2010-07-21T23:46:00.000-07:00

The biggest thing we did in June was drive up to Utah to attend a wedding reception for one of Clark's dear friends Nolan. Clark had been trying all afternoon/evening long to get on a flight to SLC without luck. We didn't realize how difficult it is for him to fly standby now. When he realized he wouldn't be getting on the flight, we started trying to figure out how he could get up there. None of our cars were ready to be driven across the desert heat for 13 hours, so he had to rent a car.

If he was going to rent a car, we thought, we should all just go with him! So that's what we did. We had to stop a lot because of the children, but we made it. It was so great to see all of Clark's close friends at Nolan's reception. We were so happy for Nolan & Jocelyn. Couldn't be more perfect.

I think Heavenly Father knew our hearts and how much we wanted to be there for our friend. We found miracle after miracle along with many set-backs throughout our journey. It all worked out fine and we are so glad we went.

June 2010

Clark Rumsey Drum Lessons

2010-07-19T14:58:00.001-07:00

We've been playing with the idea of Clark working small jobs on the side to earn some extra money. One of the things we think he can do (and do well) is drum lessons. I've made up a site for him:

http://rumseymusic.webs.com/

Hopefully we'll get some response. I don't really know anything at all about webbing on the internet, but I just thought it would be nice for him to have somewhere to put all of the drum lessons information. I've posted it on craigslist. Does anyone have any other ideas about how to make it so that your site pops up easier on the search engines etc... Without paying tons of money?

Happenings in May

2010-06-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post family pictures from May. I think I'll bullet some of the highlights:

- Ward beach cleanup BBQ for the Helping Hands project.
- Mother's day made special with a delicious and tropical breakfast made by my wonderful husband Clark.
- Ethan's taking "getting into everything" to a whole new level.
- Date to Old Town to eat at Berta's Latin American food restaurant and listen to a Mexican harpist play the most amazing music. Wish we could have hired him for our wedding.

- Finding out that our neighbors are going to be moving to Holland. Now we're dealing with the fact that Ethan and their daughter, Janne, his bosom friend, will be separated forever.

- Amber starting to lighten up quite a bit (smiles wise.)

- Lots of backyard grilling and sunny weather.

- Absolutely perfect Memorial day ward party.

- Many days of Janne coming over to play with Ethan.

Hope that made sense. I know, blogging is not my strength :)

May 2010

Sleepy Boy

2010-05-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

Funny video of Ethan:

Grandma's Camp 2010

2010-05-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

Last month we went to Grandma's Camp in Spring, TX. It really is the highlight of the year for all of the Grandchildren. They get to see their Grandparents, catch up with their cousins, eat yummy food, and do all kinds of fun things. If you want to read more, read Alexis' blog, she did a great job describing Merlsie's camp.

Here are the pictures:

Grandma's Camp Photos

4 Wonderful Years

2010-05-01T23:02:00.000-07:00

Clark and I celebrated our 4-year anniversary today. We went and listened to this woman speak at the Encinitas library. We had her read Clark's face. It was absolutely incredible how she began listing very specific things about Clark that are very unique to him. She was able to list things off about Clark that I only found out after I really got to know him. It was very shocking. Here's her website: http://facereading1.com/ . It is tempting to start trying to learn a lot more about reading faces so that it will be easier to figure people out, but I think I would rather not put that stress on myself.

Afterwards we went to, our favorite, Swami's Cafe. We had an acai bowl (fruit, granola, coconut, bee pollen, different kinds of seeds, amazing) and then tofu stir fry. For dessert we were going to try to go to Bubby's for Gelatos, but then noticed this little pastry shop. Clark said it reminded him of this pastry shop he used to love to get treats from in Santa Barbara while he was living with Adam & Alexis in high school. We had a chocolate éclair and some other delicious flaky pastry. The weather was sunny and beautiful and we really had a fun time.

Afterwards we were driving home and stopped off at the side of the road to record the day with a photo. I sure am grateful to have such a sweet and loving husband who goes along with my crazy Californian ways... Thank you for marrying me Clark, I love you.

My Honey is 29 & Family Pictures

2010-03-16T22:19:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd update with new pictures - there are many. Please excuse the typos in this post and on the picture comments. I should probably be in bed right now.

Last Sunday was Clark's birthday. We celebrated on Saturday and ate at KI's, played at the beach, picked up cookies at VG's and drove through inland California. Pretty mellow. I made breakfast on Sunday morning with eggs and pancakes. We totally missed the time change memo and strolled into church an hour (and a few minutes on top of that) late...

Amber and Ethan are getting very big. Ethan continues to have a very soft heart towards Amber and likes stroke her head softly with his hand and face. Amber's baby acne has finally started clearing up.

Things are good. No word back yet concerning Guadalajara. We're still just in limbo land.

March 2010

When Queens Ride By

2010-02-15T17:44:00.001-08:00

Merle sent this to me and I think it's amazing.

When Queens Ride By

by Agnes Slight Turnbull, 1888

Jennie Musgrave woke at the shrill rasp of the alarm clock as she always woke—with the shuddering start and a heavy realization that the brief respite of the night's oblivion was over. She had only time to glance through the dull light at the cluttered, dusty room, before John's voice was saying sleepily as he said every morning, "All right, let's go. It doesn't seem as if we'd been in bed at all!"
Jennie dressed quickly in the clothes, none too clean, that, exhausted, she had flung from her the night before. She hurried down the back stairs, her coarse shoes clattering thickly upon the bare boards. She kindled the fire in the range and then made a hasty pretense at washing in the basin in the sink.
John strode through the kitchen and on out to the barn. There were six cows to be milked and the great cans of milk to be taken to the station for the morning train.
Jennie put coffee and bacon on the stove, and then, catching up a pail from the porch, went after John. A golden red disk broke the misty blue of the morning above the cow pasture. A sweet, fragrant breath blew from the orchard. But Jennie neither saw nor felt the beauty about her.
She glanced at the sun and thought, It's going to be a hot day. She glanced at the orchard, and her brows knit. There it hung. All that fruit. Bushels of it going to waste. Maybe she could get time that day to make some more apple butter. But the tomatoes wouldn't wait. She must pick them and get them to town today, or that would be a dead loss. After all her work, well, it would only be in a piece with everything else if it did happen so. She and John had bad luck, and they might as well make up their minds to it.
She finished her part of the milking and hurried back again to the overcooked bacon and strong coffee. The children were down, clamorous, dirty, always underfoot. Jim, the eldest, was in his first term of school. She glanced at his spotted waist. He should have a clean one. But she couldn't help it. She couldn't get the washing done last week, and when she was to get a day for it this week she didn't know, with all the picking and the trips to town to make!
Breakfast was hurried and unpalatable, a sort of grudging concession to the demands of the body. Then John left in the milk wagon for the station, and Jennie packed little Jim's lunch basket with bread and apple butter and pie, left the two little children to their own devices in the backyard, and started toward the barn. There was no time to do anything in the house. The chickens and turkeys had to be attended to, and then she must get to the tomato patch before the sun got too hot. Behind her was the orchard with its rows and rows of laden apple tree. Maybe this afternoon—maybe tomorrow morning. There were the potatoes, too, to be lifted. Too hard work for a woman. But what were you going to do? Starve? John worked till dark in the fields.
She pushed her hair back with a quick, boyish sweep of her arm and went on scattering the grain to the fowls. She remembered their eager plans when they were married, when they took over the old farm—laden with its heavy mortgage—that had been John's father's. John had been so straight of back then and so jolly. Only seven years, yet now he was stooped a little, and his brows were always drawn, as though to hide a look of ashamed failure. They had planned to have a model farm someday: blooded stock, a tractor, a new barn. And then such a home they were to make of the old stone house! Jennie's hopes had flared higher even than John's. A rug for the parlor, an overstuffed set like the one in the mail—order catalogue, linoleum for the kitchen, electric lights!
They were young and, oh, so strong! There was nothing they could not do if they only worked hard enough.
But that great faith had dwindled as the first year passed. John worked later and later in the evenings. Jennie took more and more of the heavy tasks upon her own shoulders. She often thought with some pride that no woman in the countryside ever helped her husband as she did. Even with the haying and riding the reaper. Hard, coarsening work, but she was glad to do it for John's sake.
The sad riddle of it all was that at the end of each year they were no further on. The only difference from the year before was another window shutter hanging from one hinge and another crippled wagon in the barnyard which John never had time to mend. They puzzled over it in a vague distress. And meanwhile life degenerated into a straining, hopeless struggle. Sometimes lately John had seemed a little listless, as though nothing mattered. A little bitter when he spoke of Henry Davis.
Henry held the mortgage and had expected a payment on the principle this year. He had come once and looked about with something very like a sneer on his face. If he should decide someday to foreclose—that would be the final blow. They never would get up after that. If John couldn't hold the old farm, he could never try to buy a new one. It would mean being renters all their lives. Poor renters at that!
She went to the tomato field. It had been her own idea to do some tracking along with the regular farm crops. But, like everything else, it had failed of her expectations. As she put the scarlet tomatoes, just a little overripe, into the basket, she glanced with a hard tightening of her lips toward a break in the trees a half mile away where a dark, listening bit of road caught the sun. Across its polished surface twinkled an endless procession of shining, swift—moving objects. The State Highway.
Jennie hated it. In the first place, it was so tauntingly near and yet so hopelessly far from them. If it only ran by their door, as it did past henry Davis's for instance, it would solve the whole problem of marketing the fruits and vegetables. Then they could set the baskets on the lawn, and people could stop for them. But as it was, nobody all summer long had paid the least attention to the sign John had put up at the end of the lane. And no wonder. Why should travelers drive their cars over the stony country byway, when a little farther along they would find the same fruit spread temptingly for them at the very roadside?
But there was another reason she hated that bit of sleek road showing between the trees. She hated it because it hurt her with its suggestions of all that passed her by in that endless procession twinkling in the sunshine. There they kept going, day after day, those happy, carefree women, riding in handsome limousines or in gay little roadsters. Some in plainer cars, too, but even those were, like the others, women who could have rest, pleasure, comfort for the asking. They were whirled along hour by hour to new pleasures, while she was weighted to the drudgery of the farm like one of the great rocks in the pasture field.
And—most bitter thought of all—they had pretty homes to go back to when the happy journey was over. That seemed to be the strange and cruel law about homes. The finer they were, the easier it was to leave them. Now with her—if she had the rug for the parlor and the stuffed furniture and linoleum for the kitchen, she shouldn't mind anything so much then; she had nothing, nothing but hard slaving and bad luck. And the highway taunted her with it. Flung its impossible pleasures mockingly in her face as she bent over the vines or dragged the heavy baskets along the rows.
The sun grew hotter. Jennie put more strength into her task. She knew, at last, by the scorching heat overhead that is was nearing noon. She must have a bit of lunch ready for John when he came in. There wasn't time to prepare much. Just reheat the coffee and set down some bread and pie.
She started towards the house, giving a long yodeling call for the children as she went. They appeared from the orchard, tumbled and torn from experiments with the wire fence. Her heart smothered her at the sight of them. Among the other dreams that the years had crushed out were those of little rosy boys and girls in clean suits and fresh ruffled dresses. As it was, the children had just grown like farm weeds.
This was the part of all the drudgery that hurt most. That she had not time to care for her children, sew for them, teach them things that other children knew. Sometimes it seemed as if she had no real love for them at all. She was too terribly tired as a rule to have any feeling. The only times she used energy to talk to them was when she had to reprove them for some dangerous misdeed. That was all wrong. It seemed wicked; but how could she help it? With the work draining the very life out of her, strong as she was.
John came in heavily, and they ate in silence except for the children's chatter. John hardly looked up form his plate. He gulped down great drafts of the warmed-over coffee and then pushed his chair back hurriedly.
"I'm goin' to try to finish the harrowin' in the south field," he said.
"I'm at the tomatoes," Jennie answered. "I've got them' most all picked and ready for takin'."
That was all. Work was again upon them.
It was two o'clock by the sun, and Jennie had loaded the last heavy basket of tomatoes on the milk wagon in which she must drive to town, when she heard shrill voices sounding along the path. The children were flying in excitement toward her.
"Mum! Mum! Mum!" they called as they came panting up to her with big, surprised eyes.
"Mum, there's a lady up there. At the kitchen door. All dressed up. A pretty lady. She wants to see you."
Jennie gazed down at them disbelievingly. A lady, a pretty lady at her kitchen door? All dressed up! What that could mean! Was it possible someone had at last braved the stony lane to buy fruit? Maybe bushels of it!
"Did she come in a car?" Jennie asked quickly.
"No, she just walked in. She's awful pretty. She smiled at us."
Jennie's hopes dropped. Of course. She might have known. Some agent likely, selling books. She followed the children wearily back along the path and in at the rear door of the kitchen. Across from it another door opened into the side yard. Here stood the stranger.
The two women looked at each other across the kitchen, across the table with the remains of two meals upon it, the strewn chairs, the littered stove—across the whole scene of unlovely disorder. They looked at each other in startled surprise, as inhabitants of Earth and Mars might look if they were suddenly brought face-to-face.
Jennie saw a woman in a gray tweed coat that seemed to be part of her straight, slim body. A small gray hat with a rose quill was drawn low over the brownish hair. Her blue eyes were clear and smiling. She was beautiful! And yet she was not young. She was in her forties, surely. But an aura of eager youth clung to her, a clean and exquisite freshness.
The stranger in her turn looked across at a young woman, haggard and weary. Her yellowish hair hung in straggling wisps. Her eyes looked hard and hunted. Her cheeks were thin and sallow. Her calico dress was shapeless and begrimed from her work.
So they looked at each other for one long, appraising second. Then the woman in gray smiled.
"How do you do? " she began. "We ran our car into the shade of your lane to have our lunch and rest for a while. And I walked on up to buy a few apples, if you have them."
Jennie stood staring at the stranger. There was an unconscious hostility in her eyes. This was one of the women from the highway. One of those envied ones who passed twinkling through the summer sunshine from pleasure to pleasure while Jennie slaved on.
But the pretty lady's smile was disarming. Jennie started toward a chair and pulled off the old coat and apron that lay on it.
"Won't you sit down?" she said politely. "I'll go and get the apples. I'll have to pick them off the tree. Would you prefer rambos?"
"I don't know what they are, but they sound delicious. You must choose them for me. But mayn't I come with you? I should love to help pick them."
Jennie considered. She felt baffled by the friendliness of the other woman's face and utterly unable to meet it. But she did not know how to refuse.
"Why I s'pose so. If you can get through the dirt."
She led the way over the back porch with its crowded baskets and pails and coal buckets, along the unkept path toward the orchard. She had never been so acutely conscious of the disorder about her. Now a hot shame brought a lump to her throat. In her preoccupied haste before, she had actually not noticed that tub of overturned milk cans and rubbish heap! She saw it all now swiftly through the other woman's eyes. And then that new perspective was checked by a bitter defiance. Why should she care how things looked to this woman? She would be gone, speeding down the highway in a few minutes as though she had never been there.
She reached the orchard and began to drag a long ladder from the fence to the rambo tree.
The other woman cried out in distress. "Oh, but you can't do that! You mustn't. It's too heavy for you, or even for both of us. Please just let me pick a few from the ground."
Jennie looked in amazement at the stranger's concern. It was so long since she had seen anything like it.
"Heavy?" she repeated. "This ladder? I wish I didn't ever lift anything heavier than this. After hoistin' bushel baskets of tomatoes onto a wagon, this feels light to me."
The stranger caught her arm. "But—but do you think it's right? Why, that's a man's work."
Jennie's eyes blazed. Something furious and long-pent broke out from within her. "Right! Who are you to be askin' me whether I'm right or not?" What would have become of us if I didn't do a man's work? It takes us both, slaving away, an' then we get nowhere. A person like you don't know what work is! You don't know—"
Jennie's voice was the high shrill of hysteria; but the stranger's low tones somehow broke through. "Listen," she said soothingly. "Please listen to me. I'm sorry I annoyed you by saying that, but now, since we are talking, why can't we sit down here and rest a minute? It's so cool and lovely here under the trees, and if you were to tell me all about it—because I'm only a stranger—perhaps it would help. It does sometimes, you know. A little rest would—"
"Rest! Me sit down to rest, an' the wagon loaded to go to town? It'll hurry me now to get back before dark."
And then something strange happened. The other women put her cool, soft hand on Jennie's grimy arm. There was a compelling tenderness in her eyes. "Just take the time you would have spent picking apples. I would so much rather. And perhaps somehow I could help you. I wish I could. Won't you tell me why you have to work so hard?"
Jennie sank down on the smooth green grass. Her hunted, unwilling eyes had yielded to some power in the clear, serene eyes of the stranger. A sort of exhaustion came over her. A trembling reaction from the straining effort of weeks.
"There ain't much to tell," she said half sullenly, "only that we ain't gettin' ahead. We're clean discouraged, both off us. Henry Davis is talking about foreclosin' on us if we don't pay some principle. The time of the mortgage is out this year, an' mebbe he won't renew it. He's got plenty himself, but them's the hardest kind." She paused; then her eyes flared. "An' it ain't that I haven't done my part. Look at me. I'm barely thirty, an' I might be fifty. I'm so weather-beaten. That's the way I've worked!"
"And you think that has helped your husband?"
"Helped him?" Jennie's voice was sharp. "Why shouldn't it help him?"
The stranger was looking away through the green stretches of orchard. She laced her slim hands together about her knees. She spoke slowly. "Men are such queer things, husbands especially. Sometimes we blunder when we are trying hardest to serve them. For instance, they want us to be economical, and yet they want us in pretty clothes. They need our work, and yet they want us to keep our youth and our beauty. And sometimes they don't know themselves which they really want most. So we have to choose. That's what makes it so hard".
She paused. Jennie was watching her with dull curiosity as though she were speaking a foreign tongue. Then the stranger went on:
I had to choose once, long ago; just after we were married, my husband decided to have his own business, so he started a very tiny one. He couldn't afford a helper, and he wanted me to stay in the office while he did the outside selling. And I refused, even though it hurt him. Oh, it was hard! But I knew how it would be if I did as he wished. We would both have come back each night. Tired out, to a dark, cheerless house and a picked-up dinner. And a year if that might have taken something away from us—something precious. I couldn't risk it, so I refused and stuck to it.
"And then how I worked in my house—a flat it was then. I had so little outside of our wedding gifts; but at least I could make it a clean, shining, happy place. I tried to give our little dinners the grace of a feast. And as the months went on, I knew I had done right. My husband would come home dead-tired and discouraged, ready to give up the whole thing. But after he had eaten and sat down in our bright little living room, and I had read to him or told him all the funny things I could invent about my day, I could see him change. By bedtime he had his courage back, and by morning he was at last ready to go out and fight again. And at last he won, and he won his success alone, as a man loves to do.
Still Jennie did not speak. She only regarded her guest with a half-resentful understanding.
The woman in gray looked off again between the trees. Her voice was very sweet. A humorous little smile played about her lips.
"There was a queen once," she went on, "who reigned in troublous days. And every time the country was on the brink of war and the people ready to fly into a panic, she would put on her showiest dress and take her court with her and go hunting. And when the people would see her riding by, apparently so gay and happy, they were sure all was well with the Government. So she tided over many a danger. And I've tried to be like her.
"Whenever a big crisis comes in my husband's business—and we've had several—or when he's discouraged, I put on my prettiest dress and get the best dinner I know how or give a party! And somehow it seems to work. That's the woman's part, you know. To play the queen—"
A faint honk-honk came from the lane. The stranger started to her feet. "That's my husband. I must go. Please don't bother about the apples. I'll just take these from under the tree. We only wanted two or three, really. And give these to the children." She slipped two coins into Jennie's hand.
Jennie had risen, too, and was trying from a confusion of startled thoughts to select one for speech. Instead she only answered the other woman's bright good-bye with a stammering repetition and a broken apology about the apples.
She watched the stranger's erect, lithe figure hurrying away across the path that led directly to the lane. Then she turned her back to the house, wondering dazedly if she had only dreamed that the other woman had been there. But no, there were emotions rising hotly within her that were new. They had had no place an hour before. They had risen at the words of the stranger and at the sight of her smooth, soft hair, the fresh color in her cheeks, the happy shine of her eyes.
A great wave of longing swept over Jennie, a desire that was lost in choking despair. It was as thought she had heard a strain of music for which she had waited all her life and then felt it swept away into silence before she had grasped its beauty. For a few brief minutes she, Jennie Musgrave, had sat beside one of the women of the highway and caught a breath of her life—that life which forever twinkled in the past in bright procession, like the happenings of a fairy tale. Then she was gone, and Jennie was left as she had been, bound to the soil like one of the rocks of the field.
The bitterness that stormed her heart now was different from the old dull disheartenment. For it was coupled with new knowledge. The words of the stranger seemed more vivid to her than when she had sat listening in the orchard. But they came back to her with the pain of agony.
"All very well for her to talk so smooth to me about man's work and woman's work! An' what she did for her husband's big success. Easy enough for her to sit talking about queens! What would she do if she was here on this farm like me? What would a woman like her do?"
Jennie had reached the kitchen door and stood there looking at the hopeless melee about her. Her words sounded strange and hollow in the silence of the house. "Easy for her!" she burst out. She never had the work pilin' up over her like I have. She never felt it at her throat like a wolf, the same as John an' me does. Talk about choosin'! I haven't got no choice. I just got to keep goin'—just keep goin', like I always have—"
She stopped suddenly. There in the middle of the kitchen floor, where the other woman had passed over, lay a tiny square of white. Jennie crossed to it quickly and picked it up. A faint delicious fragrance like the dream of a flower came from it. Jennie inhaled it eagerly. It was not like any odor she had ever known. It made her think of sweet, strange things. Things she had never thought about before. Of gardens in the early summer dusk, of wide fair rooms with the moonlight shining in them. It made her somehow think with vague wistfulness of all that.
She looked carefully at the tiny square. The handkerchief was of fine, fairylike smoothness. In the corner a dainty blue butterfly spread his wings. Jennie drew in another long breath. The fragrance filled her senses again. Her first greedy draft had not exhausted it. It would stay for a while, at least.
She laid the bit of white down cautiously on the edge of the table and went to the sink, where she washed her hands carefully. The she returned and picked up the handkerchief again with something like reverence. She sat down, still holding it, staring at it. This bit of linen was to her an articulated voice. She understood its language. It spoke to her of white, freshly washed clothes blowing in the sunshine, of an iron moving smoothly, leisurely, to the accompaniment of a song over snowy folds; it spoke to her of quiet, orderly rooms and ticking clocks and a mending basket under the evening lamp; it spoke to her of all the peaceful routine of a well managed household, the kind she had once dreamed of having.
But more than this, the exquisite daintiness of it, the sweet, alluring perfume spoke to her of something else which her heart understood, even though her speech could have found no words for it. She could feel gropingly the delicacy, the grace, the beauty that made up the other woman's life in all its relations.
She, Jennie, had none of that. Everything about their lives, hers and John's, was coarsened, soiled somehow by the dragging, endless labor or the days.
Jennie leaned forward, her arms stretched tautly before her upon her knees, her hands clasped tightly over the fragrant bit of white. Suppose she were to try doing as the stranger had said. Suppose that she spent her time on the house and let the outside work go. What then? What would John say? Would they be much farther behind than they were now? Could they be? And suppose, by some strange chance, the other woman had been right! That a man could be helped more by doing of these other things she had neglected?
She sat very still, distressed, uncertain. Out in the barnyard waited the wagon of tomatoes, overripe now for market. No, she could do nothing today, at least, but go on as usual.
Then her hands opened a little; the perfume within them came up to her, bringing again that thrill of sweet, indescribable things.
She started up, half-terrified at her own resolve. "I'm goin' to try it now. Mebbe I'm crazy, but I'm goin' to do it anyhow!"
It was a long time since Jennie had performed such a meticulous toilet. It was years since she had brushed her hair. A hasty combing had been its best treatment. She put on her one clean dress, the dark voile reserved for trips to town. She even changed from her shapeless, heavy shoes to her best ones. Then, as she looked at herself in the dusty mirror, she saw that she was changed. Something, at least, of the hard haggardness was gone from her face, and her hair framed it with smooth softness. Tomorrow she would wash it. It used to be almost yellow.
She went to the kitchen. With something of the burning zeal of a fanatic, she attacked the confusion before her. By half past four the room was clean: the floor swept, the stove shining, dishes and pans washed and put in their places. From the tumbled depths of a drawer Jennie had extracted a white tablecloth that had been bought in the early days, for company only. With a spirit of daring recklessness she spread it on the table. She polished the chimney of the big oil lamp and then set the fixture, clean and shining, in the center of the white cloth.
Now the supper! And she must hurry. She planned to have it at six o' clock and ring the big bell for John fifteen minutes before, as she used to just after they were married.
She decided upon fried ham and browned potatoes and applesauce with hot biscuits. She hadn't made them for so long, but her fingers fell into their old deftness. Why, cooking was just play if you had time to do it right! Then she thought of the tomatoes and gave a little shudder. She thought of the long hours of backbreaking work she had put into them and called herself a little fool to have been swayed by the words of a strange and the scent of a handkerchief, to neglect her rightful work and bring more loss upon John and herself. But she went on, making the biscuits, turning the ham, setting the table.
It was half past five; the first pan of flaky brown mounds had been withdrawn from the oven, the children's faces and hands had been washed and their excited questions satisfied, when the sound of a car came from the bend. Jennie knew that car. It belonged to Henry Davis. He could be coming for only one thing.
The blow they had dreaded, fending off by blind disbelief in the ultimate disaster, was about to fall. Henry was coming to tell them he was going to foreclose. It would almost kill John. This was his father's old farm. John had taken it over, mortgage and all, so hopefully, so sure he could succeed where his father had failed. If he had to leave now there would be a double disgrace to bear. And where could they go? Farms weren't so plentiful.
Henry had driven up to the side gate. He fumbled with some papers in his inner pocket as he started up the walk. A wild terror filled Jennie's heart. She wanted desperately to avoid meeting Henry Davis's keen, hard face, to flee somewhere, anywhere before she heard the words hat doomed them.
Then as she stood shaken, wondering how she could live through what the next hours would bring, she saw in a flash the beautiful stranger as she had sat in the orchard, looking off between the trees and smiling to herself. "There was once a queen."
Jennie heard the words again distinctly just as Henry Davis's steps sounded sharply nearer on the walk outside. There was only a confused picture of a queen wearing the stranger's lovely, highbred face, riding gaily to the hunt through forests and towns while her kingdom was tottering. Riding gallantly on, in spite of her fears.
Jennie's heart was pounding and her hands were suddenly cold. But something unreal and yet irresistible was sweeping her with it. "There was once a queen."
She opened the screen door before Henry Davis had time to knock. She extended her hand cordially. She was smiling. "Well, how d' you do, Mr. Davis. Come right in. I'm real glad to see you. Been quite a while since you was over."
Henry looked surprised and very much embarrassed. "Why, no, now, I won't go in. I just stopped to see John on a little matter of business. I'll just—"
"You'll just come right in. John will be in from milkin' in a few minutes an' you can talk while you eat, both of you. I've supper just ready. Now step right in, Mr. Davis!"
As Jennie moved aside, a warm, fragrant breath of fried ham and biscuits seemed to waft itself to Henry Davis's nostrils. There was a visible softening of his features. "Why, no, I didn't reckon on anything like this. I 'lowed I'd just speak to John and then be gettin' on."
"They'll see you at home when you get there," Jennie put in quickly. "You never tasted my hot biscuits with butter an' quince honey, or you wouldn't take so much coachin'!"
Henry Davis came in and sat in the big, clean, warm kitchen. His eyes took in every detail of the orderly room: the clean cloth, the shining lamp, the neat sink, the glowing stove. Jennie saw him relax comfortably in his chair. Then above the aromas of the food about her, she detected the strange sweetness of the bit of white linen she had tucked away in the bosom of her dress. It rose to her as a haunting sense of her power as a woman.
She smiled at Henry Davis. Smiled as she would never have thought of doing a day ago. Then she would have spoken to him with a drawn face full of subservient fear. Now, though the fear clutched her heart, her lips smiled sweetly, moved by that unreality that seemed to possess her. "There was once a queen."
"An' how are things goin' with you, Mr. Davis?" she asked with a blithe upward reflection.
Henry Davis was very human. He had never noticed before that Jennie's hair was so thick and pretty and that she had such pleasant ways. Neither had he dreamed that she was such a good cook as the sight and smell of the supper things would indicate. He was very comfortable there in the big sweet-smelling kitchen.
He smiled back. It was an interesting experiment on Henry's part, for his smiles were rare. "Oh, so-so. How are they with you?"
Jennie had been taught to speak the truth; but at this moment there dawned in her mind a vague understanding that the high loyalties of life are, after all, relative and not absolute.
She smiled again as she skillfully flipped a great slice of golden brown ham over in the frying pan. "Why, just fine, Mr. Davis. We're gettin' on just fine, John an' me. It's been hard sleddin' but I sort of think the worst is over. I think we're goin' to come out way ahead now. We'll just be proud to pay off that mortgage so fast, come another year, that you'll be surprised!"
It was said. Jennie marveled that the words had not choked her, had not somehow smitten her dead as she spoke them. But their effect on Henry Davis was amazingly good.
"That so?" he asked in surprise. "Well now, that's fine. I always wanted to see John make a success of the old place, but somehow—well, you know it didn't look as if—that is, there's been some talk around that maybe John wasn't just gettin' along any too—you know. A man has to sort of watch his investments. Well, now, I'm glad things are pickin' up a little."
Jennie felt as though a tight hand at her throat had relaxed. She spoke brightly of the fall weather and the crops as she finished setting the dishes on the table and rang the big bell for John. There was delicate work yet to be done when he came in.
Little Jim had to be sent to hasten him before he finally appeared. He was a big man, John Musgrave, big and slow moving and serious. He had known nothing all his life but hard physical toil. Hedaviess had pitted his great body against all the adverse forces of nature. There was a time when he had felt that strength such as his was all any man needed to bring him fortune. Now he was not so sure. The brightness of that faith was dimmed by experience.
John came to the kitchen door with his eyebrows drawn. Little Jim had told Jim that Henry Davis was there. He came into the room as an accused man faces the jury of his peers, faces the men who, though the same flesh and blood as he, are yet somehow curiously in a position to save or to destroy him.
John came in, and then he stopped, staring blankly at the scene before him. At Jennie moving about the bright table, chatting happily with Henry Davis! At Henry himself, his sharp features softened by an air of great satisfaction. At the sixth plate on the white cloth. Henry staying for supper!
But the silent deeps of John's nature served him well. He made no comment. Merely shook hands with Henry Davis and then washed his face at the sink.
Jennie arranged the savory dishes, and they sat down to supper. It was an entirely new experience to John to sit at the head of his own table and serve a generously heaped plate to Henry Davis. It sent through him a sharp thrill of sufficiency, of equality. He realized that before he had been cringing in his soul at the very sight of this man.
Henry consumed eight biscuits richly covered with quince honey, along with the heavier part of his dinner. Jennie counted them. She recalled hearing that the Davises did not set a very bountiful table; it was common talk that Mrs. Davis was even more "miserly" than her husband. But, however that was, Henry now seemed to grow more and more genial and expansive as he ate. So did John. By the time the pie was set before them, they were laughing over a joke Henry had heard at Grange meeting.
Jennie was bright, watchful, careful. If the talk lagged, she made a quick remark. She moved softly between table and stove, refilling the dishes. She saw to it that a hot biscuit was at Henry Davis's elbow just when he was ready for it. All the while there was rising within her a strong zest for life that she would have deemed impossible only that morning. This meal, at least, was a perfect success, and achievements of any sort whatever had been few.
Henry Davis left soon after supper. He brought the conversation around awkwardly to his errand as they rose from the table. Jennie was ready.
"I told him, John, that the worst was over now, an' we're getting' on fine!" She laughed." I told him we'd be swampin' him pretty soon with our payments. Ain't that right John?"
John's mind was not analytical. At that moment he was comfortable. He has been host at a delicious supper with his ancient adversary, whose sharp face marvelously softened. Jennie's eyes were shining with a new and amazing confidence. It was a natural moment for unreasoning optimism.
"Why that's right, Mr. Davis. I believe we can start clearin' this off now pretty soon. If you could just see your way clear to renew the note mebbe. . . ."
It was done. The papers were back in Davis's pocket. They had bid him a cordial good-bye from the door.
"Next time you come, I will have biscuits for you Mr. Davis." Jennie had called daringly after him.
"Now you don't forget that Mrs. Musgrave! They certainly ain't hard to eat."
He was gone. Jennie cleared the table and set the shining lamp in the center of the oilcloth covering. She began to wash the dishes. John was fumbling through the papers on a hanging shelf. He finally sat down with and old tablet and pencil. He spoke meditatively. "I believe I'll do a little figurin' since I've got time tonight. It just struck me that mebbe if I used my head a little more I'd get on faster."
"Well now, you might," said Jennie. It would not be John's way to comment just yet on their sudden deliverance. She polished two big Rambo apples and placed them on a saucer beside him.
He looked pleased. "Now that's what I like." He grinned. Then making a clumsy clutch at her arm, he added, "Say, you look sort of pretty tonight."
Jennie made a brisk coquettish business of freeing herself. "Go along with you!" she returned, smiling and started in again upon the dishes. But a hot wave of color had swept up in her shallow cheeks.
John had looked more grateful over her setting those two apples beside him now, than he had the day last fall when she lifted all the potatoes herself! Men were strange, as the woman in gray had said. Maybe even John had been needing something else more than he needed the hard, backbreaking work she had been doing.
She tidied up the kitchen and put the children to bed. It seemed strange to be through now, ready to sit down. All summer they had worked outdoors till bedtime. Last night she had been slaving over apple butter until she stopped, exhausted, and John had been working in the barn with the lantern. Tonight seemed so peaceful, so quiet. John still sat at the table, figuring while he munched his apples. His brows were not drawn now. There was a new, purposeful light upon his face.
Jennie walked to the doorway and stood looking off through the darkness and through the break in the trees at the end of the lane. Bright and golden lights kept glittering across it, breaking dimly through the woods, flashing out strongly for a moment, then disappearing behind the hill. Those were the lights of the happy cars that never stopped in their swift search for far and magic places. Those were the lights of the highway which she had hated. But she did not hate it now. For today it had come to her at last and left with her some of its mysterious pleasure.
Jennie wished, as she stood there, that she could somehow tell the beautiful stranger in the gray coat that her words had been true, that she, Jennie, insofar as she was able, was to be like her and fulfill her woman's part.
For while she was not figuring as John was doing, yet her mind had been planning, sketching in details, strengthening itself against the chains of old habits, resolving on new ones; seeing with sudden clearness where they had been blundered, where they had made mistakes that farsighted, orderly management could have avoided. But how could John have sat down to figure in comfort before, in the kind of kitchen she had been keeping?
Jennie bit her lip. Even if some of the tomatoes spoiled, if all of them spoiled, there would be a snowy washing on her line tomorrow; there would be ironing the next day in her clean kitchen. She could sing as she worked. She used to when she was a girl. Even if the apples rotted on the trees, there were certain things she knew now that she must do, regardless of what John might say. It would pay better in the end, for she had read the real needs of his soul from his eyes that evening. Yes, wives had to choose for their husbands sometimes.
A thin haunting breath of sweetness rose from the bosom of her dress where the scrap of white linen lay. Jennie smiled into the dark. And tomorrow she would take time to wash her hair. It used to be yellow—and she wished she could see the stranger once more, just long enough to tell her she understood.
As matter of fact, at that very moment, many miles along the sleek highway, a woman in a gray coat, with a soft gray hat and a rose quill, leaned suddenly close to her husband as he shot the high-powered car through the night. Suddenly he glanced down at her and slackened the speed.
"Tired?" he asked. "You haven't spoken for miles. Shall we stop at this next town?"
The woman shook her head. "I'm all right, and I love to drive at night. It's only—you know—that poor woman at the farm. I can't get over her wretched face and house and everything. It—it was hopeless!"
The man smiled down at her tenderly. "Well, I'm sorry, too, if it was all as bad as your description; but you mustn't worry. Good gracious, darling, you're not weeping over it, I hope!""No, truly, just a few little tears. I know it's silly, but I did so want to help her, and I know now that what I said must have sounded perfectly insane. She wouldn't know what I was talking about. She just looked up with that blank, tired face. And it all seemed so impossible. No, I'm not going to cry. Of course I'm not—but—lend me your handkerchief, will you dear? I've lost mine somehow!"

Amber's Baby Blessing

2010-02-08T08:22:00.000-08:00

Amber's Baby Blessing

Amber was blessed in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints yesterday. She wore a beautiful long dress that Abuelita got for her in Panama and her grandparents Jefe and Merlsie flew in from Texas for it. The Thunells also drove down from Oxnard.

We all had a wonderful time visiting before and after the blessing.

Afterwards, Abuelita made a taco feast with spanish rice and refried beans. Merlsie bought 2 DELICIOUS cakes from VG's doughnuts that we also had. The same place Clark and I had our wedding cake made. One was coconut, the other chocolate.

Our neighbors from Holland came over and played, then had everyone over at their house and we played there too. Adam and Alexis had to leave for the airport and the Thunell children and Merlsie went back up to Oxnard. Adam and Alexis were going on some sort of a retreat for Adam's work. I kind of wish that we owned another house right next door so that all of them could have stayed longer...

Economics 101

2010-01-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

Got this as a chain e-mail:

"You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." Adrian Rogers
This man is a genius!

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before,
but had once failed an entire class.
That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked & that no one would be poor & no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".
All grades would be averaged & everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail & no one would receive an A...
After the first test, the grades were averaged & everyone got a B.
The students who studied hard were upset & the students who studied little were happy.
As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less & the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D!
No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame & name-calling all resulted in hard feelings & no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, & the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Amber Nicole Rumsey

2009-12-15T17:00:00.001-08:00

Our baby girl was born last Friday night, December 11th, at 9:01PM right on her due date. She was 7lbs 4 oz. My water started leaking that morning, but the nurses weren't convinced that it actually did break because I wasn't going into labor - I'm not sure what they thought the "gush of fluid" was. They were about to send me home when my doctor came and said that it really did seem like it did rupture, but she was going to break the sac all the way so that it would speed things up a bit. I think that was around 6 or 6:30PM...

I had been having contractions, but they were coming pretty sporadically. I asked the nurses to hook me up with an epidural right after she broke it. I started having intense contractions every 2 minutes and kept sending Clarkie out to harass the nurses about my epidural. Each time Clark came back, he would report that the anesthesiologist was either at an emergency C-section somewhere in labor & delivery or in the emergency room... I laid there, curled up in a little ball, totally out of it, only thinking about the pain until about 8:30/45ish.

Suddenly I felt the baby totally pushing her way out of my body, or my body pushing the baby out. I could not really tell what was happening. I called the nurse because I was confused. (I had an epidural with Ethan.) After the nurse came in and checked me she started moving very quickly and called the pediatrics nurse and my doctor. My doctor lives in Cardiff so she was able

to be at the hospital in 10 minutes. The nurse kept telling me to breathe, and fight the urge to push, but I couldn't help it, the only thing that made

sense was to push!!!

After the doctor came, I was allowed to push and out she came :)

WOW - I still can't believe that is the way ALL women have been having children for thousands of years!!!

After they got Amber all cleaned up, we went to the labor recovery room. We were pretty much on our own for the rest of the night. I think I remember one nurse come in and check my blood pressure. No one checked up on Amber until the morning. Since they had 9 other deliveries that night, I had to share the recovery room with another family. The girl next to me had a C-section, and so it kept me pretty grateful. Nevertheless, when morning came, Amber and I were ready to get OUT! Clark slept at home because there was no room on our half of the room for another

person.

The nurses were really awesome about getting all the tests and screenings done quickly. We were checked out of the hospital at around 4PM on Saturday, Dec. 12th.

Ethan caught something from nursery last week, so he and I have both been having a cold. I just keep praying little Amber won't catch it. Ethan had a fever and everything. BUT, the good news is he hasn't wheezed at all this cold. I took him to the doctor's anyway and explained Ethan's history with wheezing. He thought that Ethan probably had contracted RSV when he was an infant and that's where all the wheezing was coming from. I think I remember that the RSV is common among preemies. Anyhow, he said that Ethan has probably out-grown it. HALLELUJAH!!! If you can, please pray that Amber won't catch any colds at least until she gets a little older.

Amber seems to be very healthy. She caught on to breastfeeding very easily from the start. She is a healthy pink color and she sleeps a lot. Ethan has matured very quickly over these past few days. At first he started crying when he saw Amber. Then he started wanting to pick her up. Now when he sees her he wants to kiss her and rub his face against her soft baby hair. We give him a baby doll whenever he wants to hold her and it seems to calm him down a little bit.

We are so grateful that both Amber and I are doing well and that we haven't had any complications. Clark has tomorrow off and then a couple weeks off for Christmas break, so we're really looking forward to that. Now we can talk Guadalajara...

Dorothy

2009-10-31T23:04:00.000-07:00

Great Grandma Dorothy passed away last Monday. Clark flew out for her funeral. I am so grateful I got to know her while living in Houston. She was an amazing lady. We would always feel better after visiting with her because her happiness was contagious.

Alexis has a couple of posts about Dorothy on her blog that are really great.

You can also read her obituary:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=135149096

Such a special lady.

Love you Dorothy!

Trick?

2009-10-31T22:41:00.000-07:00

We carved a pumpkin, set it in the window, bought candy and waited. Once again, our little street was avoided by trick-or-treaters all together.

I did have fun carving the pumpkin by myself and then watching Ethan's reaction to the "pumpkin... hot!"

I shot some photos of him, but one photo in particular caught my attention. Clark and I have talked about how it sometimes feels like Ethan looks more like a mix of our parents than he does of us. Check out the resemblance between my dad when he was 2 years old and Ethan:

All I have to say is THOSE EYEBROWS!

Moving Moving Moving....

2009-10-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have moved again. This time we're back in Cardiff by-the-Sea. Clark's parents are finishing up their mission and my parents needed for someone to take care of their house, so here we are. HP has agreed to allow Clark to work remotely from San Diego. Although things have been a bit hectic, it is evident that the Lord has been blessing us through it all.

I can't help but feel a little strange and excited about the fact that I will be having baby Amber at the same Scripps Hospital that I grew up a half-mile down the road from. I remember always hearing ambulances go by, but I had never actually been inside the hospital other than last October when Clarkie had to go into the ER for his little surfing incident...

Well, we're going to miss living in the casa grande. We had some sweet memories there. Here's a picture of Clark and Ethan I took during the last week we were there:

WE DID IT -- The Couch is Finished!!

2009-10-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

After many many weeks of picking out staples, pricking our fingers, and sweating in the garage, we have finally finished recovering the lovely sofa bed that we picked up from our neighbor's (Smythes) driveway.

We learned a lot from the experience. In the beginning I supposed that since I was the one that really wanted to do this project, I would be the one doing the whole thing by myself. That turned out to be untrue. Some of the most difficult tasks like taking the actual bed frame out of the sofa, making sure the creases on the arm rests were just right, and using tacking strips were done by my wonderful husband Clarkie.

Here are a couple of videos of Clark showing how to put the couch back together after we had already pulled the whole thing apart and taken all the staples out:

Here is a slideshow of the project:

http://picasaweb.google.com/natalierumsey/Upholstery?authkey=Gv1sRgCJmC7vyysr7ylAE&feat=directlink

We didn't take many pictures, but lots of mini-videos of us explaining to ourselves how we were taking it apart and where things needed to go when we put it back together.

Hallelujah! It's done!!!

Ethan's Birthday Party

2009-09-07T11:50:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday we had a birthday party for Ethan. We invited some friends from church and any family members that lived nearby. Ethan's grandparents Dave and Merle actually happened to be in town because Dorothy, Merle's mother, has been sick in the hospital. Actually, she had a stroke and is completely different. I am just so grateful that we were able to visit her so much before the stroke happened so that we could have some sweet memories with her.

Ethan's birthday party went really well. I made twice-baked potatoes that we topped with a BBQ sauce that had chunks of brisket, fruit salad, rolls, lemonade, homemade cake, and bluebell ice cream. Miraculously there were no disasters, but I have TONS of leftover potatoes because I overdid it and made too many.

I took pictures with my better camera but forgot that Ethan had gotten his little hands on it and the lens was filthy. So, the photos aren't the sharpest, but you get the picture :)

September 2009

The highlight of the party for me was when he was supposed to blow his candles out and instead just kept saying "hot, hot..." and making all these funny faces. I wish I would have taken a video of it...

Happy Birthday Ethan! You're 2 Years Old Today!!!

2009-09-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

I'm so grateful for my little baby boy. So far he has been everything I could have ever wanted in a son.

Happy birthday my angel baby!

From September 2009

Hats

2009-08-25T04:58:00.000-07:00

This month Ethan has had a very curious fascination with hats. He loves turning any and everything into a hat and wearing it and then making you wear it... Whenever I am taking his little shirt off he tells me "haa, haa..." because he wants to remind me to tie his shirt around his head.

Here's a video of Ethan having a serious "talk" with his daddy.

We've been slowly getting back into the swing of things since we haven't had to go anywhere this last month. I've been working on miscellaneous projects and Clark set a date to take the GMAT. We're really hoping that I can keep this baby inside of me until after Clark is done with the GMAT.

A couple of weeks ago Dorothy didn't want to eat and just wanted to sleep all day. It turned out that she was just dehydrated. We visited her a few times to help her not want to just sleep all day. Here are some pictures from August:

August 2009

What Should I Do?

2009-08-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

Babies and toddlers catch colds easily and then they get better. This is a known fact that I would probably be fine with if Ethan's colds would not turn into a major ordeal. The doctor I take Ethan to is just awful. Each time he gives me the same prescription and avoids telling me why Ethan's colds turn into wheezing and death for all. He just says that he is a "wheezer." What is that supposed to mean? Duh he wheezes, anyone can hear that! Aghh....

Anyways, the only time Ethan ever gets sick is when he is around other little kids that are sick. It costs us $85.00 worth of prescription drugs each time he gets sick. I have stopped taking him to toddler time at the library for this reason, but what should I do about nursery each Sunday?

This woman wrote an article that makes me feel like Ethan has cold-triggered asthma. My mom and sister had asthma so it makes me wonder if it is possible that he might have this type of asthma problem. He never wheezes unless he is sick, he eats really well, drinks lots of water, and gets plenty of sleep.

Does anyone have any tips?

Deal Day

2009-07-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun finding deals today! First we went to the farmers market and bought 2 boxes of mangos for $12.00, a huge 27-pound box of tomatoes for $15.00, red peppers, blueberries, a basil plant, strawberries, and freestone peaches. AH! I love being able to have a place like that to go to over here!

After the market we went downtown to a couple of fabric stores. We first stopped at a store called High Fashion Fabrics. We felt as if we had walked into a catalog of Design Within Reach or an Architectural Digest magazine. Although they had 3 stories of fabric, it was WAY too expensive. The cheapest fabric they had for upholstery was $13.00 per yard.

So, we went to this other store called Glick Textiles. There, we found fabric on sale for $3.99 per yard. I needed 20 yards to recover this couch that we got (the one that the neighbor was getting rid of.) Clark kept going to the more expensive fabrics, but I stuck to my guns and said that we aren't paying more than $5.00 per yard. I was willing to sacrifice aesthetic quality.

Just when we felt it was hopeless we found the perfect fabric for $3.99. WHAT A BLESSING! It seems to be good quality too. Ethan was having so much fun running up and down the aisles at the fabric store. The store was not fancy, very warehouse-looking, but it was fun for him to just run around and touch all of the fabrics. He didn't cry at all even though we took a long time to pick the fabric.

He fell asleep as soon as we started driving home. I gave him some strawberries before we left so he had dried strawberries on his face while he was napping. It was so cute. Here is a picture of him in the car from today.

By the end of the day Clark and I couldn't help feeling like we are just too perfect for eachother because we had so much fun working together.

It's a GIRL!

2009-07-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

We went in for the ultrasound today and found out that Ethan's going to have a little baby sister. I'm due December 11th. We are really excited...

Here's a scary-looking ultrasound picture of her:

Grandma's Camp 2009: Salt Lake City, UT

2009-07-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

As you can tell I am definitely playing catch up with the blog. Clark, Ethan, and I all flew in to Salt Lake City from San Diego and Houston on Friday, July 3rd. The next day Merle drove us down to our storage unit in Payson, UT. Clark and I felt like we were in candy land. Many of the unused gifts people gave us for our wedding were in there that we had forgotten about. We're excited to have our things this fall when we move to the next apartment/house. Not decided yet.

That evening the Thunells, Hausmans, and we met up at a local baseball game to celebrate the 4th of July. The game went so long I'm not even sure they set off fireworks at the end. Clark and I decided to leave early and watch the works from our hotel window. Merle put us up on the 12th floor of a very comfortable hotel, which allowed us to locate several firework shows going off all over the Salt Lake area.

On Monday we watched the Hausman children so that Lauren could visit with some friends in Ogden. We visited temple square and took a tour of the visitor's center. Ethan was in awe of the Christ statue. He kept running back to the room it was in and saying "D-sus, D-sus... wow...." it was so sweet. There can be such an amazing spirit about temple square.

I can’t remember what I did on Tuesday that week. Wednesday was Grandma’s birthday and also the first day of Grandma’s camp. That night we ate at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building’s Garden Room and had birthday pie in a park next to the JSMB building.

Thursday morning we went to the Oquirreh Mountain temple open house. I forgot my camera, but you’ll probably see some of the pics on someone else’s blog. That afternoon we were supposed to go to the copper mine but we were all pretty burned out. Most of us either went swimming or took naps. We met up at a park that is next to Grandma and Grandpa Rumsey’s apartment and ate KFC. It was Alexis’ birthday so we had this delicious chocolate cake from the Lion House.

Friday morning we went out to a pioneer village which is located right next to the “This is the Place” monument. That monument coincidentally is where Clark proposed to me. After I accepted, we went out the JSMB’s “The Roof” restaurant to celebrate. So many memories…

Back to the pioneer village. It rugged and hot, but there were so many interesting places to see. They had all kinds of craft tables, a petting zoo, horse riding, the original ZCMI store, live entertainment, monuments, and other really neat things. They had a school house where they sat the children down and treated them the way children were treated a long time ago – they didn’t whip anyone but I heard that the teacher hit the table really hard with the whip. We were able to walk through Brigham Young’s home and a remake Heber C. Kimball’s. We took a train that took us through the village and we wished we would had done it at the beginning rather than at the end so that we would have had a better idea of the village’s layout.

Friday evening we met at the same park near the Rumsey’s apartment and had Grandma’s Jambalaya. For dessert she had these all-natural fig-swirl cookies that everyone loved.

Saturday morning Grandma was sick so Grandpa Rumsey led Grandma’s camp on a hike up to Ensign Peak. I think Ethan’s going to be into hiking when he gets older because he kept saying “Let’s go, let’s go…” Here’s a short video of that.

The rest of the day we all sort of relaxed because many of the camp members were either sick or trying not to get sick. The next morning Clark flew home to Houston and I was picked up by my sister Emily and stayed with her in Provo on Sunday and Monday. I was able to attend the singles ward that Emily goes to each Sunday. That evening we visited my cousin Ray and his beautiful family. Here are pictures of that:

(click on photo to view the entire album)

Overall the last month has been very eventful and memorable. However, I am so glad to be home :)

More Pics of Time with Thunells

2009-07-15T15:22:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of our time with the Thunell clan:

California Trip

2009-07-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

Clark and I were trying to do some planning when we realized that if we wanted any of the things that we left in San Diego we were going to have to get them during the month of June. We planned then executed the journey all within a few days. The first day's drive took us to the half-way point of El Paso, TX. The second day's drive was definitely the hottest, ugliest, and most wearing. I think Clark mentioned it was rated the ugliest drive in the United States. However, by the time you hit the San Diego area, you feel like you've finally encountered paradise. There was actually a point where when we looked back we saw desolation and when we looked forward we saw lush vegetation.

Ethan actually did pretty well on the journey. I think there were only a couple of times where he started getting a little crazy from being inside. We would stop and let him run around, but I think it was still pretty hard. The thing that definitely saved us was being able to turn "Black Beauty" on using Clark's laptop. Genius Clark hooked the laptop up to the car speakers so it worked out really well.

Initially we had planned to only stay in California for 1 week. We were going to turn around and go home the next weekend. Because of the fact that Clark's bosses are amazingly cool and he is allowed to work wherever he is, the trip home kept got pushed back a week.

Ethan and I caught a horrible cold and decided that rather than travel across the wearing desert back to Houston then fly to SLC, we'd fly directly into SLC for Grandma's camp.

My wonderful, self-sacrificing husband made the journey home alone. I know it must have been hard, but he is such a thinker that I actually think it was easier for him than it is for most people to do.

The trip made me long to live in California again. I guess I just can’t deny my homeland. Clark has decided that it is not a good idea for anyone to be raised there because then they won’t enjoy living anywhere else in the world. There might be a bit of truth in that…

We have both come to the conclusion that right now being in Texas is the best idea because you pretty much have to be filthy rich to be able to live like a normal human being in CA.

San Diego Zoo

2009-06-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

We were visiting Adam and Alexis last Sunday and at the last minute when we were leaving decided that we would bring home two of their children, Kate (6) and Austin(2). We had made a tentative plan to go to the zoo later on in the week, but this solidified it. So, Alexis drove 3 hours down from Oxnard on Tuesday and we went to the zoo on Wednesday and Thursday. We had a BLAST!

The zoo is actually quite a workout, especially if you accidentally tackle the entire thing in one day like we did :)

I have more pics that I'll have to add some other time.

I feel like this picture is so cute it deserves its own space.

Panama 2009

2009-04-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in Panama. It was fun to be with family, surf, and for Clark to experience Panama. He liked Panama City for some reason. We are so opposite. I've always hated the city and loved to be in the country. Towards the end we all caught colds, but we're getting better now. Here are some pictures from our trip.

View Album

Get your own

CREATE

2009-04-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

This is an awesome video. It's so uplifting and inspiring. . . It's VERY well done. Take a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k&feature=player_embedded

SOUL-Hair

2009-04-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

So Nat has been very frustrated with her hair lately. Summer is coming and she's been craving a shorter hair style. She went to a nearby cheap hair salon called TGF hair salon to get it cut. A black lady cut her hair and let's just say she put some "Soul" into Nat's hair - it's cut just like a black's woman's hair cut. Nat looks great when she lets it stay curly; however, when she straigtens her hair, you can see that the lady put "layers" into the hair cut and it poofs up in the back and layers just like a black woman's. Pictures are on the way so you can see what I'm talking about. I'll call her LaFonda whenever I get the chance. Nat keeps a good sense of humor about it. She's awesome. :)

TIPS ABOUT HAIRCUTS: Don't EVER get chinsey and go to a cheap salon whenever you want to do a complete overhaul of your hairstyle - only for trim-ups. (We probably should've forced ourselves to pay out an extra $10-$20 for a haircut at Visible Changes or something).

Bluebonnets, Clark's 28th Birthday, & Emily's Visit

2009-03-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Merle was in town so we all went to Chappell Hill to see the Bluebonnets. They were thick and beautiful and smelled so fresh!

(Click on picture to see the entire album)

We ate hamburgers at the Chappell Hill Meat Market. The burgers were so delicious I think we all over-ate a little bit. We had a great time with Merle while she was here.

Emily left early Saturday morning. This last weekend was a double hit for us. Having Emily & Merle leave left our house feeling a little deserted. I asked Ethan where "tia" was and he ran into her room and said "hi" to her bed. He looked very confused when he didn't see her roll over from underneath the covers. I am so grateful that at least I don't have to say goodbye to Ethan or Clark :)

Clark turned 28 a couple of weeks ago. Excuse me for not posting it right away. His birthday was pretty low-key. We tried to go to the temple but it was closed for cleaning so Clark and I ate delicious fajitas at Pappasito's Mexican food restaurant. When we got home we sang happy birthday to Clark and ate Cheesecake factory cake. mmmmmm...

Ethan is growing up very quickly. Here's a picture of his first day in nursery a couple of weeks ago. He absolutely loves nursery and has only been excited to go each time - hopefully this attitude does not change.

Ford Rumsey as Indiana Jones!

2009-03-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

Most of you all probably know my brother Ford. He's a ham. He got an Indiana Jones hat from Disneyland several years ago and he loves it. Someone my parents (on a mission in SLC, UT) know produced a video that had special needs people starring in it and Ford (has downs-syndrome) was Indiana Jones! Here's the video. If you know Ford, this will make you crack up!

Indiana Jones: the Mirror of Destiny from Matt Black on Vimeo.

Dorothy & Texas Eating

2009-03-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

My sister took a detour when she was going back home from Panama and is going to visit with us for the next couple of weeks. Having her here has been such a treat!

We try to visit Dorothy each week. Sometimes our lack of organization or illness gets in the way, but we try to remember to do it. She really doesn’t have anyone that visits her right now and she is SO much fun to be around. I think it's mainly because she is so grateful. I know that when we leave her apartment we certainly do think “There’s no place like home except Dorothy’s.”

We had arrived at 5:00PM and dinner was over at her assisted living place so we were starved when we left her apartment. We decided to grab a “snack” at Pappas BBQ pit. For those unfamiliar with Texas, Pappas BBQ should certainly be at the top of one’s list for restaurants. Any of the Pappas restaurants are SO good.

On the way home we talked about all of the places that we have GOT to see while Emily is in Texas. Emily brought up a good point about making sure that you really enjoy wherever you are and experience all that there is to experience in the area you are in.

pappas dorothy

What we'll do to save a buck or two...

2009-02-28T10:41:00.000-08:00

Since the Rumsey’s mission in Salt Lake City is ending soon, I’ve been thinking about where we should live and what we’re going to need to have. On the list of things we’ll need is a sofa. I really wanted to get one that can convert into a bed so that we’ll have an extra bed for visitors.

I looked into what a sleeper sofa would cost and the price wasn’t pretty. I sort of gave up for a couple of months until I saw that a neighbor had one in their driveway that said “FREE sleeper sofa.” The neighbor told us that we could come get it at another time when we had more helpers if we wanted to because it was very heavy. We tried to pick it up together and she was right, we needed at least one more person.

After a few days of wondering who would help us and not being able to get a hold of anyone, we used some of our brain power and came up with the idea to use a hydraulic press as our third person. That worked perfectly and we were on our way.

Well, not quite. The battery in Clark’s truck is dead and it needs to be jumped started each time we need to use it. Out of habit, Clark turned his car off when we pulled into their driveway to get the couch. When our portable battery charger didn’t work, we decided to give it the old push.

With Ethan strapped down in the middle seat of Clark’s cab, me behind the steering wheel, and Clark pushing behind the car, we coasted down their driveway and partially down the street without much of a problem. While all of this was happening, Clark said “You know we’re still newly weds when we’re pushing a car that won’t start with the neighbor’s old couch in it.”

I eventually needed to help push too when there began to be an incline. So Clark steered and pushed while I pushed so hard from the back that I felt like I was almost lying on the street. We made it all the way to the front of the driveway. We jumpstarted the car (which we could have probably done from the very beginning but were too prideful to do so in the neighbor’s driveway) using our other car.

Clark hopped in and drove forward so quickly that the couch slid out the back. BOOM.

The hydraulic press was still in the neighbor’s driveway and we didn’t want to leave the couch in the middle of the street. So, Clark stood the couch up, then I backed the truck towards it, then he pushed it over into the back of the truck and we took the one end together and slid the rest of it in. We moved it into the shed and then went back to the neighbor’s for our next task.

A tarp which was being held down by some paint buckets had been covering the couch. We didn’t realize it, but one of the buckets didn’t have a lid. While we were taking the tarp off, the bucket of white paint oozed out and all over the tarp. When we put the tarp down, the paint got onto the driveway so we had to hose it down, scrub it off and clean the tarp. Clark and I didn't go to bed until 1AM.

Oh man, what we’ll do to save a buck or two.

February Photos

2009-02-23T18:06:00.000-08:00

This is basically just a post for those who like seeing pictures of Ethan.

Lately Ethan has really been into singing. I will sing a note and he will try to copy it. At church when he heard people singing in a classroom he sang "ahhhh." He loves music. Last Sunday during sacrament meeting he started dancing when the closing hymn came on.

Today's letter was O, but Ethan says "ooooo" when I tell him to say O. He doesn't quite have all the letters down, but it's still fun trying to teach him anyway.

Here's the album and also a slideshow of that same album:

Feb 15th - February 23, 2009

Love, Learning, Family

2009-02-15T06:16:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Clark and I went on our first "big" date in a long time. We left little Ethan with the babysitter for 5 hours! We watched Guys & Dolls at Klein High School and had dinner at this place called Hasta la Pasta. I really like the name of that restaurant and the food was good too.

Clark and I have had a hard time feeling like we can just leave little Ethan with anyone and I only wanted to have family members babysit. That goal quickly turned impossible when we moved far away from my family and Clark's parents are serving a mission.

For a long time we would just bring Ethan along on our dates. Those dates turned out to be not so date-like.

So, we've just found ourselves an AMAZING babysitter. Her name is Pamela Tamayo and she's agreed to only speak to Ethan in Spanish so he can get his practicing in. I'm so excited. She has so many good characteristics but I think the thing I like most of all is that the excitement she has for Ethan is very similar to that of my sister Emily's.

Something Ethan and I have been doing lately is we've been having letter-of-the-day time. We lay out a blanket and bring out the crayons and papers and focus 10 minutes on a certain letter that day. We're on the letter "I" now. The letter he has learned the best would definitely have to be "D" - he says "d, d" with a kind of sing song all of the time now. Throughout the day when I catch myself using a word with the letter of the day, I’ll stop and say the word again and make the sound for the letter a few times. He will usually try to imitate me.

In order to kind of remind of him of all the letters each day, I have taped the letters we learn onto the ceiling of his room where he has his diaper changed. I'll say, "Where's D" and he'll look up and point to D. Then I'll sing him the ABC's.

Clark had the flu this last week so I wasn't sure how our V-day was going to be, but it turned out GREAT! First we stopped into the Volvo dealership and sat in a bunch of different brand new Volvos. That was fun. We imagined why we would need to buy each type of Volvo and at what point in our lives we intend to purchase them (love to dream). Then we went to The Cheescake Factory where we quickly left when we saw the wait line going out the door. We wandered around the Woodlands mall until we eventually decided on Panera. We found a cute little table by the window and ate soup and talked in the warm restaurant while it was raining outside.

For dessert we ran back to The Cheescake Factory and got a slice of cheesecake. We ran because we didn’t have umbrellas. The mall was decorated with white lights everywhere and it had a very romantic feel to it. Definitely a date I’ll always remember.

Flashbacks: President Hinckley's very clear stance in support of Prop 8 (actually Prop 22 - same exact thing)

2009-02-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about this yesterday and about how forthright President Hinckley was.

So, back in 1999, President Hinckley gave a talk during the priesthood session about same-sex marriage in which he said that it's not our right to redefine what marriage is and that those who do will be answerable to God. Pretty clear. This was in reference to Proposition 22 (The ballot measure was an initiated statute that changed the California Family Code - it passed back then; however, 4 out of seven San Francisco-based judges overturned that prop in 2008; So, it was put back on the ballot in the form of Prop 8 which had the exact same wording only this time, it would be an amendment to the state constitution making it so that state judges can't do the same thing again)

"We have worked with Jewish groups, Catholics, Muslims, Protestants, and those of no particular religious affiliation, in coalitions formed to advocate positions on vital moral issues. Such is currently the case in California, where Latter-day Saints are working as part of a coalition to safeguard traditional marriage from forces in our society which are attempting to redefine that sacred institution. God-sanctioned marriage between a man and a woman has been the basis of civilization for thousands of years. There is no justification to redefine what marriage is. Such is not our right, and those who try will find themselves answerable to God."

Some portray legalization of so-called same-sex marriage as a civil right. This is not a matter of civil rights; it is a matter of morality. Others question our constitutional right as a church to raise our voice on an issue that is of critical importance to the future of the family. We believe that defending this sacred institution by working to preserve traditional marriage lies clearly within our religious and constitutional prerogatives. Indeed, we are compelled by our doctrine to speak out.

Nevertheless, and I emphasize this, I wish to say that our opposition to attempts to legalize same-sex marriage should never be interpreted as justification for hatred, intolerance, or abuse of those who profess homosexual tendencies, either individually or as a group. As I said from this pulpit one year ago, our hearts reach out to those who refer to themselves as gays and lesbians. We love and honor them as sons and daughters of God. They are welcome in the Church. It is expected, however, that they follow the same God-given rules of conduct that apply to everyone else, whether single or married."

(President Hinckley, October 1999, Priesthood Session, "Why We Do Some of the Things We Do.")

Ethan's White Elephant Guitar Hero Cheerio Box Dancing

2009-02-04T11:31:00.000-08:00

Each evening after dinner, scripture study, and bathtime, I give Ethan a toy to play with while I get his pajamas on and brush his hair. The other night we let him play with the guitar hero toy that Clark won at a White Elephant exchange last Christmas. Watch the video to see what his reaction was.

More Learning to Walk Footage & Some Pictures

2009-01-29T09:08:00.000-08:00

My Friend was on Jay Leno

2009-01-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

So, my friend Matt came into town on Tuesday and ate dinner with us because he was in Houston for business. It was really fun to see him.

From January 2009

Then on Wednesday night, he IM-ed me and told me that Jay Leno's people told him that they would be using his YouTube video on Jay Leno's show when Jay spotlighted "Internet Successes and Failures." Nat and I watched it and Matt's video was one of the successes! Here's his video that Jay spotlighted.

Here's the segment on Leno:

http://www.nbc.com/The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno/video/episodes/#vid=937041

(Click on the Wed January 15 show. . . then click on the "Chapter 2" segment to see "Internet Successes and Failures")

First Steps & Some Pictures

2009-01-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

Here is an album for the last part of December & beginning of January. We had Dorothy over for Christmas day and it was SO fun.

Ethan had his first steps on December 27th, but last night was the first time he made more then 3 steps:

Here is another video of what Ethan typically likes to do right before his night-time bath. Lot's of energy!!!

Wheatgrass Accident

2009-01-04T22:33:00.000-08:00

I really like to eat cracked wheat in the mornings. But, I looked in my jar of wheat one day and saw a fly in the closed jar. I realized that the wheat was no longer good. So, I took the "uncracked" wheat grains and I went out into a side flower bed (with really nothing growing in it) and I just threw (literally) the wheat grains away not thinking twice about it... just thought I was disposing of them (don't ask why I didn't just throw them away in the garbage). Anyways, I came back a few weeks later and this is what I saw. . . it was unbelievable. . . I had thick bushes of wheatgrass growing. I made several berry/banana smoothies with wheatgrass added. I really enjoyed them and the placebo effect made it seem as though I was adding several years onto my life. . . Ahhh wonderful! (Honestly, I've actually read that there are some great health benefits to wheatgrass - so I'm excited) Anyways, take a look!

PS - the green that actually looks like grass (scattered sort of randomly) is the wheatgrass

Christmas Preparation

2008-12-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

We put our lights up last Saturday and took some pictures for our Christmas card:

For our FHE activity we drove down the Prestonwood neighborhood to look at the lights. A lot of people didn't have their lights on for some reason, but we could generally see how much effort that neighborhood puts into decorating for Christmas. Blocks would have certain themes and the houses would have lights from the front of their lawn to the edge of their roofs. They even have block contests. So fun!

For our spiritual message we watched the Joy to the World that the church produced. That movie is so beautiful. How would it have felt to be Mary and look down at your child and know that he was to be the Savior of the world? I also loved the transition the movie makes into how the inhabitants in the Book of Mormon were waiting for the sign of his birth and how they were to be killed if the sign didn't come!

I am not sure if I just wasn't paying attention or if our world is just suddenly becoming more wicked, but I feel like there are beginning to be very clear parallels between things occurring today and things that happened in the scriptures.

I am so grateful Heavenly Father loved us so much he allowed His Son to be sacrificed for our sins. I'm so grateful Christ is our Savior. What a wonderful time of the year.

Back to normal?

2008-12-02T10:03:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from October:

Finally! I don't think we'll be going anywhere for a while. I've missed my calling in YW and the calmness having a routine brings.

Last Wednesday we flew up to Salt Lake to visit Dave, Merle, & Ford. I wish I would have shot more pictures, but I think Merle took a few so you can look at her blog for those when she posts them. While there, we were able to briefly visit temple square, walk through the canyon next to the capitol, meet some great people, eat turkey, and chillax around the Rumsey apartment. We had a wonderful time.

Clark's work is going well. They've recently paid for him to take a class on Visual Basic, a program Clark has been meaning to learn for a while now. I usually drive him to and from work each day since it is so close and we're saving money on only having to pay for having 1 car. We love our little station wagon because it gets great gas mileage.

Ethan's mind seems to pick things up very quickly. Teaching him 1 syllable words is especially easy. I am trying to remember to teach him one word each day. Today's word was car. First I would say "Ethan, where's the car?" Then he would look around the room not knowing what I was talking about, then I'd pick up the car and say "car." A few minutes later I asked him again and he crawled over to the toy car and said "car?" It is so fun!

Last Sunday we hung out with the Johnson family because Clay was in town and invited us to come over. They are a fun group of people. It was pretty much a party. We had so much fun and Ethan became best friends with Zane, Clay's younger brother.

Grandpa Sam's Funeral & Glen's Homecoming

2008-11-06T17:04:00.000-08:00

My Grandpa Sam died at 89 years old. He was a nice Grandpa. I'm glad that he was able to meet Ethan and even play with him! The funeral was very nice and many of my relatives from all across the United States flew or drove in to be there.

I decided to link the pictures to my facebook album so that I wouldn't have to double upload Saves time...

On a happier note, my brother Glen is home from his mission. What a wonderful opportunity he had. His Spanish is so pro! I'm so proud of him. This Sunday he will be giving his homecoming talk in church. I'm excited to hear what he has to say.

Clark, Ethan, Emily & I were able to go to the temple and take some pictures on the temple grounds. Emily is an excellent photographer. Here are some of those photos:

Although we are having a wonderful time, we miss our callings and the people we have become friends with in Texas. Clark will be flying home on Monday, Nov. 10th, but I will probably need to stay until the 18th because Continental increased the change fee to $150.

Ethan's Birthday Party

2008-09-13T23:37:00.000-07:00

Ethan's first birthday party was last Saturday and it was SO FUN! We had some Mexican friends cater and the food was delicious. Ethan ate way too much cake and was up most of the night. Check out the pictures.

We are still in San Diego. I'm going to see if I can push my flight off with Continental and fly standby on the way home with Clark. He flew standby over here and I don't want to be without him in Houston since the flights are packed due to hurricane Ike.

Clark re-dislocated his shoulder last Thursday while we were surfing. We had to take him to the emergency room and they were able to get it back into place. He's wearing a sling now.

This evening we attended a Mexican fiesta for Mexico's independence day. The music was loud, the people were hyped up, and the food was yummy. There was entertainment provided by the branch members and lots of dancing and singing.

Right back where we started from!

2008-08-28T18:38:00.000-07:00

Clark, Ethan, and I get to visit my homeland, California. We leave the day after tomorrow. All three of us are very excited to skip some of the Texas heat and enjoy beautiful San Diego. Clark's boss is allowing him to work remotely or go into the HP in San Diego. They are so nice to Clark at HP...

My mom is having a big birthday bash for little Ethan. I know she's going to go all out for this. She is an amazing chef and a party isn't a party without food for her. I'm so blessed to have such a sweet mom that loves her grandbaby.

Grandma Merlsie and "El Jefe" sent Ethan a nice birthday present, but misses him since they're on their mission right now.

Here's a copy of the invitation I mailed out.

Enrichment Night

2008-08-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

This post was made for the Champion's Ward Relief Society enrichment night. To view the blog basics slides, please click on the link below:

Hope that was helpful!

-Natalie

The Mischief Begins!

2008-08-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I left Ethan to play on a blanket in the living room while I was cooking. After about five minutes, I looked up, and this is what he was doing:

A couple of weeks ago he grabbed onto the side of the bathtub and stood up. He just looked at me like "what?" Whenever he has the opportunity he tries to stand up. My little surfer boy!

Clark absolutely loves working at HP. The campus is very beautiful and the people that work there all seem to be very kind. I really like the way they have all these indoor walkways throughout the campus. It almost feels like an airport, but then there are these tall trees everywhere which makes a nice contrast between tech and organic.

Since I haven't posted much, here are some of the last few months worth of pictures.

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

Texas Family Reunion

2008-06-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

We went to Barbara and Dale's family reunion in Wimberly, TX last Saturday. Clark was right, it was a cultural experience indeed! We had fun. Ethan ate barbeque and we washed him naked in the river. There was so much food and their property was gorgeous!

We brought Dorothy, Clark's 93-year old grandma. She is so fun to be around. She is very real, but she is never whiny and she enjoys pointing out the positive. Ethan loves to be with her.

Here are some pictures of our time over there. The first few pictures are of us with Ethan next to the river. The picture of the kitchen has Barbara in it laughing. Dorothy is the happy grandma holding Ethan and there's a picture of these horses that were standing next to their property (or on their property? not sure...)

Barbara & Dale's Family Reunion

Changing topics, Ethan discovered himself in the mirror last night. I mean, he had seen his reflection before, but he usually ignored it, or paid brief attention to it. I thought it was funny. Check it out:

Texas

2008-06-12T12:43:00.001-07:00

Texas is a very different place. The weather will be sunny without a cloud in the sky one moment, then suddenly it will start pouring rain. Texans are pretty nice people, but the car insurance rate is really high. After driving around for a couple of weeks, I can see why!

This weekend we are going to be going to a family reunion in some part of Texas that starts with a W. Clark says that it will be a cultural experience similar in magnitude to the in laws experience in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" so I am very excited.

Ethan isn't crawling yet and he still doesn't have any teeth. He sits up very well and can roll around as many times as he pleases. He likes to eat whatever I am eating and he is on a very nice sleeping schedule now. When he is mad he says "mamamamamaa"

Clark's parents have left for their mission. They are still adjusting to all of it. I've heard that the first couple of weeks when you're on a mission are some of the hardest. But on the upside, the were able to find a place for Ford to serve and keep busy.

Great Ethan Pictures

2008-05-10T22:02:00.001-07:00

I couldn't resist posting these pics of Ethan. He's growing up so fast!

Clark's Mitt Romney Party

2008-05-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I got to go to a Mitt Romney reunion in downtown Houston last night. It was one of the best parties I've ever been to. There was tons of awesome food, the Beach Boys performed and I got to meet Mitt and talk to his wife for a little bit. I also got to meet Meg Whitman (the recent CEO of eBay).

I've been curious about how Mitt has so much energy (I read that he was a health and exercise fanatic) so I started talking to Ann (Mitt's wife) and mentioned how I had heard about her granola and she started laughing. Then I asked her about what types of food Mitt eats and avoids and she said that they generally try to eat healthy. Then, I asked her what types of food they try to eat during the meals of the day and she gave me this look like, "Oh my gosh, he's serious." Then she got a bit more serious and was like, "Well, we typically try to eat granola and fruit in the mornings, turkey sandwiches for lunch or something like that and then, like, salmon and broccoli for dinner." She told me that his energy is really more genetic than anything and that he has more energy than anyone she's ever met in her entire life. She said that George, Mitt's dad, had enormous amounts of energy and would just "go, go, go." Well, I wish had some of those genes. It wasn't awkward at all talking to her. I think she was just surprised that someone paid attention to that part of what Mitt does (not the typical business or politics questions).

Anyways, here are some photos of the evening.

2-Year Anniversary

2008-04-29T21:56:00.000-07:00

Today Clark and I have been married for two years. We are still crazy in love and are blessed to have each other. Little Ethan has started eating yogurt, dried mango, bananas, pears, avocados, chicken bone & dried banana. He loves to eat, probably why his first word was "teta." Ethan sits up really steady now and rolls over super easily. When he rolls, he looks like he is performing some type of wrestling move & afterward he looks at me like "haha, you can't keep me on my tummy any more."

Grandma's Camp

2008-04-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

Each year Grandma Merlsie has a week where she flies all of her children and grandchildren in for Grandma's camp. During G-week we have tea parties, get dirty, see the blue bonnets, eat Bluebell icecream, hang out at grandma's house, and eat lots of really yummy food like Pappa's bbq.

Everyone had a lot of fun. I really can't wait until Ethan can play with his 3 other boy cousins that are all within 2 years of his age: Joseph, Jonathon, & Austin.

Check out some of the pictures from that week:

Mitt Romney Moment

2008-03-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

This is a bit late but, before Mitt Romney quit running for president we saw him campaigning in San Diego and we got this great picture of him looking at Ethan. Right before this picture was taken, Mitt gave Ethan a little kiss. It was great. I love that guy. (Posted by Clark)

Clark's Birthday

2008-03-17T17:09:00.000-07:00

Clark's birthday was on March 14th. We had a small birthday party for Clark in the backyard. My mom made these delicious turkey burgers and we ate Baskin Robbin's ice cream cake. We had fun.

Bunny

2008-03-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

March 2008

My brother Glen had this stuffed bunny that he always liked to sleep with and carry around. Now that he's on his mission, Ethan has been playing with it for Glen. The pictures were taken in front of my parent's home...

Clark found a job, and now we're looking for an apartment. It has been nice being able to stay with my parents while things were up in the air.

Gypsy Feast

2008-03-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

We randomly decided to wear something ethnic to dinner. We had grilled chicken and vegetables with salad and purple potatoes. It was fun.

Limbo

2008-01-10T09:53:00.001-08:00

Although we are certainly excited to be graduated from BYU, we don't really like this transitional stage in trying to find Clark a job. Ethan continues to be as adorable as ever...

Feliz Navidad!

2007-11-24T20:34:00.001-08:00

We went to Milwaukee for Thanksgiving and visited the Milwaukee Art Museum designed by Santiago Calatrava. It was a BEAUTIFUL building. We might end up using this picture for our Christmas card if none of the other pictures we took work out.We had a really fun time in Milwaukee. I will post more about it later.

Welcome Home Daddy

2007-11-13T23:21:00.000-08:00

The first thing Clark did when he got back from Charlotte today (after hugging me) was cuddle on the bed with Ethan. I thought this was a cute picture of my boys.

One of a Kind

2007-11-13T23:16:00.000-08:00

For those of you who know about Clark's unique sleeping positions.

Ethan's Voice

2007-11-12T15:38:00.000-08:00

We love it when Ethan coos.