Happy Halloween!

New pictures and videos from Jared-land. FYI.

I'm here!

I'm now at Trina's house, safe and sound. I woke up this morning at 5AM, to catch my flight around 7:30. I got to the airport only an hour before my flight, and airport security was a little longer than expected. I made it to my gate though, and got directly in line, and was on the plane in less than 10 minutes. We made a stopover in SLC, which wasn't all that exciting, but we got some new passengers, and the ladies I ended up next to were much more talkative and entertaining. I even ended up drawing one of them while she napped (with her permission), and she was thrilled to keep the drawing. The plane arrived in Baltimore 15 minutes early, and we were to the apartment within an hour. I'm rather tired and headachey, but the girls are great. Rosemary is so TINY! but beautiful all the same. And Summer giggles and dances and runs around and talks to herself constantly. She's fun, but I can already see that I will definitely be a help. It'll be a big change of pace from helping customers to playing dutiful aunt and baby-sitter.

Christmas List

So, I just put all my Christmas music onto my computer and so I am creating a "Christmas" playlist of all of my favorite Christmas music. Anyway, that got me in a Christmasy mood, so I typed up my Christmas list and put it on my blog for people to refer back to. I just wanted to make one disclaimer, I do not expect to get anything on my list. It is a wish list pure and simple, if you want to get me something on that list, great! If not, great! I know that this is a tight year for everyone for one reason or another... I expect that most money will be going to the grand-babies anyway. So there is my disclaimer.

-Tawnia

Happy Halloween!!!

Joshua went to his first Halloween party last night. He wants to wish everyone a happy and safe Halloween. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0lsnJyuqIw

Also, last night, I noticed a little white line on Joshua's bottom gum and when I finaly got my finger in there to check it out, it felt like a tooth. Amanda checked also and agrees that it is a tooth. Our little guy is growing up so fast.

Nathan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRINA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Well Trina, I talked to you this morning, but I just wanted to publicly say (sniff sniff) how grateful I am to have such an awesome big sister. Congratulations once again on the birth of little Rosemary. Don't worry, it gets better. Have a great birthday and enjoy your girls. I can't wait until Stevie and Allie get to play with them (whenever that might be).

Happy Birthday Trina!!!

Hey Trina. I hope that you have a happy birthday with your growing family. When Emily is over don't let her near any windows.

Nathan

New video (again)

Hello,

Here is another video of Joshua.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOgtFqoT2gQ

Enjoy,

Nathan, Amanda and Joshua

Fire Update

Okay, I just talked with Aunt Debbie. They got back from New Hampshire last night. Everyone is safe. James lives further North than I thought. Jake and Laura are at Speedy's since they got evacuated. (I think they're living with her parents.) So everyone is safe and sound and not in any immediate danger. Keep us all in your prayers (along with the firefighters, etc.)

Broken window

You know something interesting? If you hit a window and it breaks, your hand will not be hurt. You might nick your arm, but your hand will be just fine. I discovered this at about two this morning while trying to quiet my upstairs neighbors and their friends while they were engaged in rioting (at least that's what it sounded like) and loud laughter on the front porch. I have a migraine, and migraines make one extremely sensitive to noise. And my roommate and I needed to get up early for a test. I got two, maybe three hours of sleep last night. I did call my landlady around sunup to apologize for the broken window. She will be talking with the upstairs neighbors.

Wildfires

Hi all,

Just thought I'd post a quick note from fire-ravaged Southern California. We could see the Santiago Canyon fire from the freeway as we drove home from Rachel's last night. There was also a fire right in Irvine, not far from where I am right now. I've heard that these fires are pretty well contained though. We're safe. I came into work; Laurel is home with the kids. The smoke is giving us all runny noses and watery eyes.

The worst is in San Diego County. It's spreading from quite a ways inland. One of my co-workers is in Oceanside, and is IMing with me now. They've been asked to stay off the freeways to make room for evacuations. The city of Ramona was evacuated, and now I'm hearing rumors about Escondido and Fallbrook. Oh, she just typed "They're evacuating everyone between the 56 and Del Dios hwy, from the 15 to the 5." That's a huge area just South of Escondido and San Marcos. I'll keep you posted. I think Uncle Speedy and Aunt Debbie are still in New Hampshire, but I'm not sure. I know that James lives in that general area, and I'm not sure about Jake. I'll let you know when I hear anything.

New video

Hello

Here is a link to a new video of Joshua. Amanda really likes it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu7infUXnz4

Nathan

mixed bag

Okay, first of all, anyone who hasn't checked out the sisters' blog needs to go look at the pictures of Clarissa there with her hair straightened. You'll barely recognize her. I like it a lot. And Clarissa - have you lost weight or something? Your face looks thinner and more oval than I remember from the last time seeing you.

Mom, hold off on printing an 8x10 of Rosemary just yet. You know I'm going to do Christmas dress pictures when we get the dresses that you're making (I take it that the dresses are their Christmas gifts from you), and I'm also going to do 8x10 prints of both girls in their blessing dresses for our wall. I'll email both shots of Rosemary so you can choose which one you want. I'm glad your Christmas bag from last year is still holding up - I didn't think it would get that banged up in just 1 year. But, well, it did only cost 3 bucks so I guess we can't expect too much from it. I'll think about a Christmas list for Adam and me ... not sure about that yet. I still have to come up with a list for Adam of ideas of things to get for me.

I thought about the conversion process question, but that story would be rather lengthy to tell. It was a series of things that all happened the summer that I was 15 - I prayed about the Book of Mormon, I had a sort of lightning bolt experience at Girls Camp about Joseph Smith, I received my patriarchal blessing, and there were a couple of other things. The sum total of the answers I got was "You already know it's true."

And for Aunt Tawnia from Summer and Rosemary ...

Dear Aunt Tawnia - Yes, I love my new little sister. I try very hard to give her nice hugs and kisses, but Mom and Dad get all paranoid every time I go near her. They keep telling me that I can play with her, but when will she be big enough? At least Daddy still plays with me a lot, even if Mom is always holding Rosemary. Love, Summer.

Dear Aunt Tawnia - Earth life is all right so far. Eating is good, and I like snuggling with Mom. Daddy is a good snuggler too. Summer keeps trying to take my blanket but she's good. The jaundice is going away, so hopefully I don't have to go back to the dumb doctor anymore. Every time we go, they jab me in the heel to draw blood and wake me up. I don't like that. When are you coming to visit? Love, Rosemary.

A new question

I had to answer the last question before I could put up a new one. Sorry it took me so long. I need to get some pictures scanned so I can add them. You'll see it under my question page. So, with Clarissa waiting for her mission call, I felt this was a rather appropriate question: What was your conversion to the gospel like? I know you were all raised in the church, but there had to be some time in your life when you discovered for yourself that the church is true and didn't just rely on others testimonies. Describe that process.

In other news, I know I've mentioned to some of you but not all yet that I'm having surgery on my eyelids in January. They are drooping over my eyes and blocking part of my vision and also causing my eyelashes to go into my eye and scratch the cornea. At the same time the doctor will lift my eyebrows so they don't sit right on top of my eyes and make me look really wierd. The eyebrow part is considered cometic so the insurance won't cover that. That $5,000 comes out of our pocket so I'll probably need to work another year instead of retiring at the end of this one. Oh well, it's worth it.

I know it's a bit early, but with all the travelling this year - I need to know everyone's Christmas wish list. I'm working on some projects for the grandchildren but I'm not sure I'll get all of them done. (Stevie and Allison may get those stockings next year.) So let me know what else they want just in case.

Thanks for the pictures of the kids you've posted. They are so adoable. Please send me some large ones. I need to get new 8x10s for the living room. I still don't have one up of Allison or Rosemary. I also need to get new prints for my Primary Bag. That's the bag my grandchildren sent me for Christmas last year. It's still hanging in there.

Love always,
MOM

To Tawnia (and everybody else)

Clarissa- Where do YOU think you'll go on your mission? What are you doing to prepare? Have you read "Preach My Gospel"?

I think I'll go to Scotland, British Sign Language Mission. I don't know if there is that or not but that is my guess.

What am I doing to prepare? What am I not doing? I working on getting up early. 7:30 feels like I'm sleeping in. I read my scriptures. I read past Ensigns; thank you Trina for that subscription. And yes, I have a "Preach my Gospel" and I read it a lot. And not just read but study. And I'm excitedly getting ready to go to the temple.

In answer to Tawnia's questions

My roommates are Rebecca and Rachel; they're sisters. Rebecca's been my roommate for over a year now. We also have a pseudo roommate, Krista, who is over at our house about every other day.

On Saturday, we did do something fun. There was the annual "business stroll." We walked through the downtown area, and we could go into the different shops. There were usually special discounts or free samples or snacks. A piece of paper was stamped, and these were later entered into a drawing. Rachel actually won a DVD -- "Night at the Museum," I think. There was a concert and pizza. So that was pretty fun.

It was also my first chance to have a real weekend since school started. No work, no homework.

I told the people at work they have to cut back on my hours. I can't work fifteen or sixteen hours a week. I've got a mountain of books to read, papers to write, and so on.

Questions

Mom- Any new questions for us? How's work?
Dad- How's work? Any tidbits of useless information?
Trina- How's Rosemary doing? How much has she grown?
Adam- How're your girls doing? How's law school?
Summer- Do you love your new little sister?
Rosemary- Do you like life on Earth so far?
Eric- Any good youtube recommendations? Will I ever get a copy of Pure Chaos?
Laurel- Do you still take time to do art? Do I get to babysit your children one night so you and Eric can go on a date?
Stevie - How do you like having a little sister? Watched any good shows lately?
Allie- Is Stevie a good big brother? Have you learned any new things lately?
Jared - How is work? Did they move you to a new machine? (I know you said they were talking about that awhile ago.)
Michelle - How is the house cleaning going? What other exciting things are keeping you busy?
Brooke- How is second grade? What is the best book you have read? What do you want to be when you grow up?
Bryan - How is kindergarten? What is the best thing you have done at school this year? Do you like your teacher? What do you want to be when you grow up?
Emily- Have you been working on any of your own creative writing, amidst the school work? (I know easier said then done.) Who are your roommates? Do you like your roommates? What fun things have you done with your roommates lately?
Nathan- Have you written any more poems? I was reading the ones you have on your page to my roommate the other night and we quite enjoyed them.
Amanda- When are we going to get new pictures of Joshua? October is half over and there are NO pictures for all of this month!
Joshua- Have you learned anything new lately? Spit up on anyone? or anything important?
Mindy- How is your ballet class? What are the best shoes you have seen and want to buy?
Clarissa- Where do YOU think you'll go on your mission? What are you doing to prepare? Have you read "Preach My Gospel"?

And I just wanted to let you ALL know that I LOVE YOU, TODAY! (And everyday!)
-Tawnia

Finally....

Now my papers are in. In two to four weeks we will know where I am going.

introducing Rosemary ...

All hail Photomaster Mindy ... Rosemary's first pictures are now up on our page. All is pretty quiet around here. Rosemary seems to be catching on to nursing, which was a bit of a concern for me at first so I'm glad she's done better the last couple of times. She sleeps ALL the time, unless she's eating and even then she tries to sleep through that. She squeaks when she cries, and doesn't like having the hiccups.

Summer is generally good about her so far. She wants to climb on our lap when we're holding Rosemary, so we're learning quickly to have both of them at the same time. She gives the baby kisses which is cute, but we have to watch so she doesn't poke her in the face when pointing at the baby's nose or ear or whatever. (We're learning body parts right now, particularly the nose.) The perspective on her size has been startling. Last week, she was still our tiny light-weight compared to the other kids in her playgroup. In the last 5 days, she seems to have gotten REALLY heavy and a lot more solid and become a big kid, especially compared to how tiny Rosemary is. And when we think about how Summer wasn't too much bigger than Rosemary to begin with, the major growth she's had in 17 months is mind-boggling.

Christmas shoes

I have a quick question for all the parents (but not grandparents) out there: what shoe sizes do your kids wear? Why, do you ask? Well, because I work at a shoe store, it isn't really surprising that I'm going to get them shoes for Christmas. So really, what shoe size will they be needing around Christmas time? What style of shoes? Does Brooke like Bratz or Tinkerbell or Hannah Montana? Does Bryan like Cars, Spiderman or Power Rangers? Any other suggestions towards shoes would be helpful. Oh, and you don't have to tell the KIDS that this is what they're getting, but I'd rather get around the right size, and have you exchange them if needed, than get them completely wrong and definitely need to exchange them.

In other news, I purchased my plane ticket for Christmas this evening. I'm flying into LAX on December 20th, and staying until the first of the new year. It was that adorable video of Stevie that Eric posted this morning (and Tawnia's begging and pleading) that pushed me over the edge. I'm excited.

Yet another guessing game...

And now for more fun news.....

My Mission Papers are in! (kinda, sorta, I think and hope so)

I had my stake interview the Sunday before Conference.

So, make your random off-the-wall guesses.

That is all. Back to your regular scheduled blogging. Thank you.

((Sorry if the font size is all messed up... I can't fix it))

Not to steal any headlines from the real news: BABY ROSEMARY! ... but I just posted a couple of movies to my YouTube page, which you can access through my insanityinc page. The Allie one was shot a week ago, and the Stevie one is from tonight. Congrats Adam, Trina, and Big Sister Summer. What a fun time you have in store! And Allie has another cousin her age (and a girl to boot!) We love you guys! We're here for long distance moral support as needed.

we're home

Everyone's home. Baby 1 (Summer) and Baby 2 (Rosemary) are both great. Trina's also feeling well. Pictures later this week.

Baby Update

I think that we can stop playing telephone (literally & figuratively) and post the details since we've called everyone. We went to the OB yesterday morning (regular appointment) & told them that Trina had been having the "total tummy" contractions since 10:45 Sunday morning. They put Trina on a monitor for 45 or so. A few minutes in, Trina starting having regular contractions of 30 seconds every 2 minutes. The OB checked and said that Trina was 3 cm. dilated & 100% effaced. The OB told us to get to the hospital w/in an hour or so. We got there and the hospital OB more or less asked why we had come. He measured Trina at 3 cm. & 80% effaced. (Apparently Trina's OB has a history of sending in patients early.) But the hospital OB told us to start walking, which we did off and on for about 6 hours. I'm guessing that we walked 2-3 miles around the hospital. It was very boring. The OB almost sent us home twice, but Trina finally got 4 cm. & 100%, so we stayed. However, there was a shift change and the new OB said that Trina was 3 cm. & 80% again (how that works, I'm not sure.) But since Trina was getting really tired (6pm or so), the OB agreed to put her on pitocin (artificial oxitocin, the hormone that makes contractions happen). After working up to bigger dosages, Trina started pretty substantial labor around 10ish. She got an epidural at 11:15 and promptly went from 5 cm. dilated to 9 cm. in about 20 minutes. The OB barely had time to get set up (Trina was trying hard not to push) before Trina finally couldn't help it an pushed twice. The first time the bag popped and the second time
Rosemary Grace came out entirely at 11:52. She's 5 lbs. 15 ounces and 19 inches. Tall and skinny, like her date. She has blond hair fuzz and blue eyes. Summer came to visit this afternoon & gave Rosemary lots of kisses. I'm spending the night at home with Summer & will pick up Trina in the morning from the hospital. We'll post pictures later this week.

official Rosemary update

So Dad just called me, and told me that Adam just called him and asked that I post on the blog to let everyone know what is going on with the baby. Trina is in labor, and went to the hospital this morning. We're hoping that the baby show up sometime this evening, but as of yet, she isn't here. Trina and Adam do request that we be praying for Trina, so this baby can come along quickly and smoothly, and that everyone is strong and healthy in the end. (I think that's everything.) So yes, no baby yet, but pray she comes soon, for Trina's sake.

Conference

I absolutely loved Conference!! It was fabulous this year. I had a lot of different impressions of things to work on, that's always good. I enjoyed going to the conference center Saturday Afternoon. I was all the way against the left hand wall so I had a great side view of the 2-inch tall speakers, but that doesn't matter. It was being there. I cried through all of Wirthlin's talk. The spirit during it was awesome. But I really enjoyed all of the talks Saturday afternoon. In my head the overall theme for that session was dealing with non-members... from those who are curious about the gospel to those that are hostile. All of the talks covered some aspect of that. There were also a TON of talks in all the sessions about families. (So... do you think families are important?)

One thing that I think we should start doing comes from a comment President Hinckley made in his last talk. (At least I'm pretty sure it was him and that talk.) He said that we should use the conference talks as FHE lesson material. I think that it would be cool if we chose a conference talk to discuss on the blog each week, kind of as our FHE. I know we've done something like this before, but this one is being recommended by the prophet, so it would be cool to do it. Anyway, just a suggestion.

I'm glad to hear that Brooke and Bryan are doing so well in school. I am expecting a phone call from Trina and Adam about Rosemary soon. I'll be excited to announce the birth of another niece. Eric- thanks for the cute video of Stevie.

In other news, I had a loss in my life. My pet mouse, Ginger, who I've had for two years, died sometime Saturday night or early Sunday morning. I didn't cry, but it is sad. Every time I walk into my room I would look in at her first to see what she was doing, now I just look at an empty cage. Sad.

That's the news from my place. I didn't do any homework all weekend, so now I have to make up for it and do a whole ton today!

-Tawnia

Michelle's post

Hi family. I wanted to answer Trina's question about books for Brooke and Bryan. Brooke reading skill are really advanced. She definately reads about a 2nd grade level. Chapter books are great. She is telling me that she likes scary books, too. Really any books geared toward 8-10 year old will be good. Bryan is beginning to read. Beginner reader books are wonderful. He also likes story books for us to read to him. Really they just like books. It is probably best to stear clear of board books. They consider them for babies.

The kids are doing great. This week, I went to parent-teacher conference for both of them. Brooke's teacher really had praise for Brooke. She said Brooke was really sweet, excited about every thing they do, and a hard work. Her behavior is excellent. She is nice to every one and is very friendly. Grade? All As! Bryan is also doing well. He is reading, loves math, and is a very fast learner. She said that he is always smiling. She did say that he is very young and is having a little trouble with focus and concentation. I am very proud of my children.

I'm doing great. Still keeping busy. Just now, I actually can clean the house and go to the store without the kids. This is much more effecient. Having school age children is great. I'm loving life.

Hope of of you are doing great!

engaging baby 2

We've begun the dialing sequence for the Dew of the Sea Given by God. Chevron 1 is locked and chevron 2 is spinning. We'll keep you updated as further chevrons are locked with chevron 7 to be locked within the next 120 hours.

For those of you who haven't watched Stargate, Rosemary is currently being pushed into position by low-grade, steady contractions of Trina's tummy. It's not timeable yet, but she'll be here by Friday, we think. Trina has an 8:30 doctor's appointment tomorrow and we'll be updating you afterwards.

Conference

Hi everyone. I'm listening to President Hinckley's talk, Sunday morning. I put up a little movie of what Stevie was doing during conference (at least some of it). It's on my page, or right here.

I've been inspired and motivated by conference so far. It's great. I'm looking forward to hearing what I missed Saturday morning, especially since Pres. Packer is one of my favorite speakers.

One of the thoughts that came to my mind yesterday (and I don't know whose talk or what combination of talks triggered this)was always being available to serve my family. It may have also been inspired by being with my family all day yesterday. Another thought was that I should read the Book of Mormon every day. I've been reading the Bible these days, but I need to keep going back to the Book of Mormon, and getting everything brought into focus.

more GC impressions

Wasn't Tawnia supposed to be in the Conference Center for the afternoon session today? What was the perspective of actually being there with what happened with Elder Wirthlin?

Here, we were watching on the internet at home and were of course concerned when he started shaking. Adam said, "Where's Elder Nelson?" and within 5 seconds, there he was behind him. (And holy cow - the height difference! I met Elder Wirthlin on my mission so I knew he is short, but I never knew Elder Nelson is so TALL!) I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying anymore as much as noticing that he was trying to speak a little faster to get through it, and hoping that he would be able to finish his talk. I hope that there's some kind of announcement at tomorrow morning's session or on lds.org or something to let us know if he's all right.

2 things stood out to me in the morning session:
1. Eternal progression is a family project, and no calling in the world means a darn thing if your family is not your top priority.
2. The Lord is waiting to give you whatever blessing/answer you need, but are YOU doing what it takes to receive it, are you doing what He already told you to do to get it?

I didn't have any strong impressions either way during the afternoon session - the talks on missionary work were good, and Elder Holland really laid down the smack about the doctrine of the Godhead. Summer was a bit more restless during the afternoon session and I wasn't able to listen as closely.

P.S. Mom's prediction on when the baby comes - GONE. 2 down. Next up - Dad on Monday.

General Conference

I didn't get to see the last half of the Saturday afternoon session, but I saw all of Saturday morning, and the first three talks of the afternoon. I won't be able to see any of it tomorrow, but I'm going to try to get the broadcast over the internet afterwards. (Hope this works.)

My favorite talk so far was Elder Uchtdorf, when he talked about enduring joyfully to the end. I needed to hear that. Being a college student gives a whole new meaning to the term endure to the end. And I was weeping during the hymn sung right after that: "Where Can I Turn for Peace?"

And then there was Elder Wirthlin's talk about charity. How many of you SAW what happened? He was in the middle of his talk, and he started shaking and was short of breath, and then Elder Nelson came and stood behind him and held him while he finished his talk. I could hardly understand his words, but I just looked and thought, that is the meaning of charity.

I hope you have a good weekend, and I hope I'll be able to hear the conference talks before too long.

6 Months

Well Joshua turned 6 months at the end of last month and went in for his well baby visit yesterday. He got weighed and measured and three shots and one oral vaccination. He weighed 21 pounds 1 ounce and was 26 and 3/4 inches long. When do you start calling babies tall instead of long? I think maybe when they can stand up. Joshua is doing well and is keeping us busy - especially Amanda. He is going to bed earlier and sleeping better through the night . . . sometimes.

This morning Eric called because he couldn't get General Conference via the internet and he wanted to hear who the new member of the First Presidency is and who the new Apostle is so he put his phone on speaker and I did the same with mine and held it in front of the television so he could hear. When one technology doesn't work there is always another one.

In response to the gift query - I don't give many gifts so every gift that I give is the best one. Unless the person receiving it didn't like it. But they probably don't like it because they have a bad attitude. I am not sure what the best gift I have been given is but I really liked that Christmas a few years back when we all wrote good memories about each other, or something like that. It's nice to see how other people look at me, and I am glad that they were supposed to be good memories and not just memories.

I hope you are all doing well and look forward to when we can all be together again.

Nathan

Gifts and so forth

Best gift I've given -- that would have to be the digital camera I got for Mom. But I couldn't wait until her birthday. Heck, I couldn't even wait until we got out of the store before I told her. That was when I actually had the money to do something like that.

And yes, Tawnia, receiving the plane tickets to go home for Thanksgiving was a great gift. I was so surprised, and I'd never been on a plane before. (I tackled her; I swear we both hit the floor.)

And my last birthday was one of my best birthdays ever. I received my endowments.

Yesterday I went to the temple (doing homework on the bus along the way). I went through a session, and I spent some time in the Celestial Room. It's so pretty in D. C. Then we got some lunch and then headed back. And I did more homework. Now I must go to work before I come back and do . . . MORE homework.

Must find primary sources. Must find primary sources.

Conference

Hey everyone,

So I've been looking forward to General Conference for a few weeks but now I'm REALLY looking forward to it. Yesterday I was talking to Eileen when she mentioned that she had been talking to Terry and Terry mentioned that she had two extra tickets to conference. (Got all that?) I said, "Really!? I want them!" So yesterday afternoon I called Terry and found out they are for Saturday afternoon. So, make sure you're watching when they film the audience Saturday afternoon! I'll be on the terrace level. I invited Shawna Webb to go with me. I'll go and park at her place and then ride the TRAX downtown. We haven't spent time together in months, so that will be exciting.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys conference this weekend.
Love,
Tawnia

Best Presents

Hi everybody!

I'm actually on the computer at night, which is a rarity. We put the kids down pretty early tonight. It's nice. Not that I don't love Stevie and Allie, but it is nice.

The best presents question is a tough one. Like the Palestinian question. But not as violent or protracted. It's tough because I can never remember presents I received for more than a brief 24-48 hour window afterwards. I think I've always had it or that I bought it myself or that it belongs to someone else. I think this might be the sign of a serious mental condition, now that I think about it.

It's also tough because I have received so many wonderful presents over the years (or so I've been told, and documentary evidence seems to confirm): green army men, Fisher-Price people, Nerf ping pong... but also more serious presents, like lawn darts, which were later taken off the market for obvious reasons. I loved each present in turn, but I think the best present was when Dad wrote off several hundred dollars of debt from my "account." That was pretty cool. Or maybe it was the time that I found out a few weeks before Christmas last year that we were going to have another baby. That was even cooler.

The best present I've given? I don't know that I give such great presents. I try. Sometimes I try harder than other times. I did like giving Dad the Star Wars radio play on tape, because it reminded me of the times we listened to it on Saturday mornings when I was a small lad. I also liked giving everyone presents when I came home from Hong Kong. Dad saw to it that Mom got the most expensive one, so in a way the fan was Dad's present. Just so you know.

Anyhow, I think gift-giving is important. When I complain about it, it just shows how stingy I am. Reading the Old Testament and the Odyssey lately has made me think about how hospitality played a huge role in ancient moral teaching. I think we are sometimes too stingy in our modern world, and a time like Christmas can help us put things in perspective. Also, when people stay with you, you should be welcoming, take care of them, let them stay over, and feed them well, without being stingy about it. Like Odysseus's servant was when Odysseus came disguised as a beggar.

one down

Since October 3 ends in 90 minutes and the baby hasn't quite dropped yet ... Emily's guess has come and gone. She called this morning to let me know she was at the temple and Adam thought she was calling to ask if the baby was here. I said, "Not unless I can get it at Costco." I did a number of errands today that will hopefully fill any gaps until after the baby comes. If I've figured this correctly, the only things we'll need from a store over the next 2 or 3 weeks will be regular groceries like milk and produce.

I was thinking a little about Mom's question and Tawnia's response to it. If we're talking non-tangible gifts, we could go for days. Mom and Dad have given us the gifts of life, raising us in the gospel, trust, love, etc. As siblings, there's trust, friendship, and moral support. Those of us with spouses give each other our whole selves, and we've given Mom and Dad grandchildren.

As far as actual objects ... I think the best gift that I gave was when I got Mom and Dad symphony tickets to see Victor Borge. Everyone was excited about that one - Tawnia came to me a few days before Christmas and said that she sneaked them out of the gift bag under the tree "just to hold them" but no one had seen and then she put them back. And Mom TOTALLY shrieked when she realized what they were for - not just the symphony, but Victor Borge. No one has ever reacted to anything like that from me, before or since.

The best gift I've been given was from Adam on my first birthday that we celebrated together - he got me a keyboard as our "filler" piano until we can get a real one. I've always really appreciated the thought that went into that.

Gifts

So I was thinking about how to answers Mom's question for the week. (And I do think there should be one weekly... that way we'll at least all post once a week, in theory anyway.)

The best gift I've been given, other than Mindy giving me "Wicked" even though she absolutely can't stand hearing it, is the gift given to me on March 25, 1978... you know, my life. Thanks Mom!

The best gift I've given would probably be the plane ticket I bought for Emily in 1999 when she was at Ricks and I sent her home for Thanksgiving.

In other news, I got 85% on my hard test that I took last Friday... I hear that this is the hardest test that he gives, so hopefully I'll do better on the others and still get an A in the class. The perfectionist side of me isn't very happy with the score, but the reality is, I can't do anything to change it, so I need to learn from it and do better on the rest of the tests. That's the point of tests anyway!

I hope everyone else is enjoying the beautiful autumn we're having. The weather here has significantly cooled off since fall began. It's really nice actually. I love the fall.

Love,
Tawnia

time to make your predictions

The doctor this morning said that she expects the baby to come early - certainly well before the 27th, and possibly in the next week or 2. I checked my journal for my dilated/effaced status with Summer, and I'm about at the same point now that I was 2 weeks before Summer was born. That's not to say that this will take 2 weeks, because I'm on my feet a lot more now instead of sitting at a desk all day at work. Or it could take 3 weeks - I'm still technically 4 weeks out from the due date. Don't know ... But since the doctor is saying "early," it's apparently time to make any predictions on date and size. Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure for more accurate guessing, the doctor says that the baby will likely be in the 6 pound range - on the small side. Summer was 6-9.