Missing Her Already

Yesterday I took Graci and Cali to get their passports so they can come on our trip to China this spring.  Graci's passport expired in January.  Cali has never had a US passport.  Taylor and Parker are going as well, but their passports are still current.  

But there was a big, empty hole in my heart as I prepared the paperwork for the two girls.  Jessica isn't coming with us.  The last three times we've gone to China, Jessica has been a perfect part of the trip.  She is a wonderful little traveler.  It's been a time to bond with her.  In fact, China just won't be the same without her.  I called Christi in.  "Are you sure Jessica can't come with us?"

"Well, it's pretty expensive."

"I know, but I'm not sure I can survive without her there."  Tears started to well up in my eyes.  I love that little girl so much.

My sensitive (and wise) wife said, "Well, we could go ask Jesi how she feels."

"OK."

We went into Jesi's room and called her name.  A little face popped out of the window in her princess tower.  "What?"

Christi asked her how she felt about staying with Grandma while we were in China.  She's so excited.  She loves her grandparents and wants to be with them.  I asked her if she did have a choice to go to China or stay with Grandma what she would choose.  She couldn't decide.  When I asked her why, one of the things she brought up was that it wouldn't be fair if she went because she's been so many times.  What a sweetheart.

And so I left for the passport application office with bittersweet emotions.  So glad my sweet older girls are coming.  So glad my two wonderful older boys will be with me.  But still unable to wrap my head around this trip without my perfect little Jessica.

I love her so!

-Jer

2009:

2010:

2012:

2013:

Happy Valentine's Day!

My gift to Christi this year?  Sending her off with two handsome young men for a ski trip!  Christi went down to tuck Taylor and Parker into bed last night.  She told them that I had given her a really big Valentine's Day present.  The boys' faces were less than enthusiastic.  "A bed and breakfast?"

"No," she responded.  "Just a hotel.  But it's for two nights."

The boys tried to mask their disappointment.  (Believe it or not, our kids don't like it when we go out of town.)  They were very sweet and expressed happiness for Christi and me.  Then Christi told them that she was taking the two of them for a ski trip.  I was upstairs at the time, but it was not hard to determine just when the big reveal took place.  Parker let out a holler that could be heard two streets down and then came pounding up the stairs to give me a big hug and a thank you.

Anyway, they're out on the town tonight and going skiing tomorrow.  Have fun, y'all!  I love you:)

-Jer

Grace of God

It's almost impossible to remember a time when our sweet Graci wasn't part of our family.  Six years is a long time.  I'm sitting next our wonderful girl as she is waking up from anesthesia.  She just had her wisdom teeth removed.

A few days ago Christi and I were talking about how grateful we are to have our Grace.  She has developed into such an amazing young woman.  She is a good girl.  She is a respectful and loving daughter.  She is a doting big sister.  She lives righteously and is always striving to choose the right.  She is thoughtful of others.  It is a privelege to listen to her when she offers a family prayer.  She obviously has a beautiful relationship with her Father in Heaven.  She continues to do well in school, often making the honor roll.  She is a talented girl, particularly with the crafts she loves to make.  She does origami, emroidery, cross stitch and other crafty things.

We love you, Grace!  You are truly a gift from God!

-Dad

Chicken or Turkey?

Christi took the boys to the regional science fair after school today.  Both boys made it through the individual school round and had the chance to present their projects at Utah Valley University.  Good job, guys!  Christi volunteered as one of the judges for the fair.  Just before they left, a good friend called and offered her free tickets to the BYU game.  Since they were already going to be in the area, they snapped them right up.  So here it is, 11:32 pm.  I had the rest of the kids all evening by myself.  I am bleary eyed and exhausted and wondering how in the world Christi did this the entire week of my national meeting in January!

I got ambitious and made turkey barley soup and cornbread (mix with water variety) for dinner.  And when we make soup around here, we don't go little.  I started out with 32 cups of water and went from there!  Now this is a favorite recipe from my childhood.  My mom would always make it with the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.  I loved it.  When I made it last Thanksgiving, our kids loved it, too:).  Then I got to thinking, "Why not make it more than once a year?"  We don't very often have leftover Turkey, but we often have leftover chicken.  So I decided to make turkey barley soup with chicken.  Christi mocks me for this.  Not for making it, but for continuing to call it turkey barley soup.  She insists I should call it chicken barley soup.  Or chicken soup.  Or barley soup.  But not turkey barley soup.  OK, so she obviously has a point.  But how much difference is there between turkey meat and chicken meat anyway?  Especially when you put it in a soup?!?  Plus, no matter which meat you use, you season it with chicken bouillon!  So should it really be called turkey barley chicken soup?  Anyway, regardless of what meat is used, the flavor of this particular soup is what I remember and love.  So when I make it, it's still turkey barley soup.  If Christi wants to make it, she can call it whatever she wants:)

Tonight Graci came in as I was cutting up the vegetables.  "What are you making?" she asked.

"Turkey barley soup," I replied.  Her eyes lit up!  (Everyone in the family likes it.)  Then her face clouded over as she thought about what leftovers we likely had in the fridge. 

"Are you using chicken?" 

"Yes." 

"Oh." now with a semi-miserable look on her face. 

"Don't you like it with chicken?"  I asked. 

"No." 

"But you love chicken!" 

"I know.  But sometimes  you like things one way but not another."

I live with seven females and I do not understand a single one of them!

-Jer

Talent Show

You missed out on Monday night.  We had family home evening in our basement and Jessica MC'd an impromptu talent show.  Each family member had to stand up in front and do something.  (Let's just say I'm glad there was not a video camera running when it was my turn!)  I didn't get enough pics, but there were a couple of cute ones:

My favorite part was Jesi's introductions of each performer.  As an example (and I wrote these words down immediately so as not to forget!):  "Introducing the unextroardible, inexstatible………..Miss Lexi!!!"

Love you so much, dear Jessica!

-Dad

Cute Soph!

Doing physical therapy exercises with dad:

iPatience

Christi got an iPad for Christmas in 2012.  She uses it.  The kids use it.  It had some normal wear and tear.  A few minor scratches on the glass.  Some dings.  No big deal  Then a couple of weeks ago Sophi was carrying it (as she often does) with her chin.  CRASH!  It fell to the ground.  The screen cracked badly.  Yikes!  But not a huge deal, right.  I call a repair shop and get a quote.  $100 to repair.  We think the iPad has a lot of life still in it and decide to get the screen fixed.  Friday I brought the repaired iPad home.  It looked beautiful!  A shiny new screen with nary a scratch to be seen.  It looked like a crystal clear lake on a perfectly still morning.  I moved my head back and forth while gazing at the light reflecting in the limpid pool that was its surface.  My soul was moved by the brilliance of….  Sorry, got a little carried away.  Suffice it to saw the new glass was beautiful and I was pleased.

I brought it home and Christi and I had a talk with Sophi.  We gently but firmly impressed upon her the importance of never carrying the iPad.  She could play it if we let her, but under no circumstances was she to carry it.  Never.  Ever.  This morning she was playing with it in our bedroom.  I left the room and Soph, true to her can't-be-out-of-eyesight-of-a-parent-for-two-seconds mentality started to freak out.  She wanted to follow me into the living room, but she also wanted to play that iPad.  I was proud of her!  She asked me if I would carry it in for her.  She remembered!!!  Way to go, Soph.  You bet I'll move it for you.

Soon after I left for work.  Finally arriving home around 6:30 pm after a long day, I walked into my office.  I glanced at the bookshelf.  Laying there was an iPad.  But surely not CHRISTI'S iPad.  Christi's iPad looked almost new.  This other iPad was scratched all over the front and back.  Cracks laced the glass.  Surely this wasn't my limpid pool glaring back at me!  I picked it up.  I pushed the button.  I entered Christi's passcode.  AGONY!!!  PAIN!!!  The iPad unlocked.  It was indeed my sweet Christi's device:

What could have possibly happened to this poor electronic device to wreak such havoc on it's being?  I picked it up and, humming a funeral dirge, carried it solemnly into Christi.  Sophi was in her lap.  My haunted eyes asked the question for me.  Christi explained.  "I found it on the floor earlier today.  I asked Sophi, 'Did you drop this?'  Sophi replied, 'Nope!  I didn't carry it like you told me.  I just pushed it all over the (tile) floor to get it where I wanted it!'"

Still sitting in Christi's lap, Sophi said,  "Sorry, mom," followed by a very sincere belly laugh.  It's a shame kids don't come with some kind of warranty protection for all of the things they'll destroy before they're eight years old!  But when it comes down to it, how could you get mad at her:

-Jer

Awesome Dad!

After I tucked Sophi and Lexi into bed tonight, Lexi asked, "Dad can you tell me a story?"  I often do tell them a bedtime story. I just finished reading Voyage of the Dawn Treader to those two plus Jesi and Xander. But tonight it was kind of late.    Nevertheless, I couldn't let such a plea from my daughter go unheard, so I responded, "Yes. I'll tell you a story!"  Here's what they got....

Once upon a time there was a girl name Lexi and she had a sister named Sophi and they were the two most beautiful girls ever.   And their dad was AWESOME! The end.  

Both girls responded with, "No!  That's not the end."  But given how exhausted I felt, it surely was! :-)

Jeremy

PS.  Christi is finding great humor in the fact that I was too tired to tell them a story but not to tired to blog the story. ..

Manly Men

Disney clearly has a smash hit on its hands with the movie Frozen.  True, it has done extremely well at the box office, but that is not the most powerful indicator that this movie has broken barriers and stereotypes.  Tonight I was driving Taylor, Parker and one of their teammates home from the their basketball game.  These are big, strong young men.  Star players.  Hoping to embarrass Taylor and Parker a bit, I said: "I'm going to play my current favorite song.  I started blasting "Let It Go" through my car's speaker system.  They weren't phased at all.  Taylor said, "This is EVERYONE'S favorite song right now!"  Then all three boys started singing along.  I must say I was a bit surprised.  :)

-Jer

(We won't go into what it means that this song is at the top of my most listened to playlist… ;)

Games Boys Play

I think my favorite thing about this video from last summer is that Parker's voice still hadn't changed:)

Trafalga Fun Center

We usually get an annual "Pass of all Passes" to the Seven Peaks park system.  If you watch for the right ads, you can sometimes get them for as little as $10.00 per person.  There are several places you can go with them, including two large water parks which the kids love in the summer.  They are also a couple of smaller-scale venues with mini-golf, go-karts, rock climbing, laser tag, etc.  A few weeks ago, my brother Tyler invited us to come and play laser tag with him and his family.  He is married to Laura and they have one son, Ben.  I loaded Lexi, Sophi, Taylor, Parker, Xander, Jesi and Jessica's friend Maddie into the van and off we went.  It was the last Saturday of Christmas break, and when we arrived, it was completely packed.  I was honestly tempted to just go back home.  But Tyler was there and the younger kids were excited in spite of the crowd.  Fortunately, it turned out to be a lot of fun.

I think my favorite part of the experience was playing laser tag with Lexi and Sophi.  Sophi wore the vest, Lexi held the gun and I guided them through the maze-like halls of the arena.  It was hilarious how into it they got.  I told Lex to just keep pulling the trigger and I pointed the gun.  We scored hits on several people.  They had a blast:)

They also had fun with mini golf.  I helped Lex with each hit and she could hear the sound when the ball fell in the hole.  I would help Sophi with the first stroke of each hole.  Then she would keep kicking the ball until she got it into the hole.  Pretty cute!

The "Frog Hopper" is one of those rides where the seats are raised 20 feet in the air and then you have a small free fall, stop, another small free fall, stop and a final small free fall.  This sequence repeats two or three times.  All of our kids love this ride except for Soph.  When we've tried it in the past, she has screamed inconsolably through the entire ride.  When we first arrived at Trafalga, I asked her if she wanted to ride it.  With a very concerned look on her face she gave an adamant "No!"  But after watching the other kids ride it, she changed her mind.  She wanted to ride, too.  I confirmed this with her several times.  "Are you SURE you want to ride the frog hopper?"  "Yes!"  OK.  Let's go.  In case she freaked out, I rode next to her.  Here we are ready to go:  Sophi's a bit nervous.  Lexi's giddy with excitement, and Ben (Sophi's cousin sitting right next to her) looks like everything's cool!

You can get an idea of just how well it went from these pics of Sophi after we got off the ride:

Yep, she screamed through the entire ride once again.  Well, there's always next time!

I love these pics of Lexi holding Sophi.  Those two are so cute and so close to each other.

We finished up on the rock-climbing wall.  Even Lexi wanted to try.  I was very impressed with her efforts!

As you can from the video:  Taylor and Parker are pretty evenly matched rock climbers, Lexi is a brave little soul, Ben was much happier with the Frog Hopper than Sophi, and Sophi does have a smile in there somewhere:)

-Jeremy

Tucker the Therapy Dog

Over Christmas break I took some of the kids to the rec center.  It was a fun evening of swimming.  Sophi, Lexi, Xander, Taylor and Parker all went.  I think the two oldest boys went as much to be sweet as because they wanted to.  They were so good with the younger kids, spending time with each one of them.  (At least as much as the kids would let them.  Sophi is pretty particular about who can hold her in the pool.  Only mom or dad!  AND SHE'LL TELL YOU THIS AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS IF SOMEONE ELSE TRIES TO TAKE HER!!!)

On our way out of the rec center we came across a lady with a therapy dog.  A dog trained to love kids and others with special needs.  Talk about hitting the jackpot!  Our group couldn't get enough of Tucker.  The lady was so sweet.  She let us dote on and hug and pet (with both hands and feet) and hug some more her wonderful dog.  And Tucker was so patient.  

It was a fun experience for the kids and almost made me think a pet could be a good idea for our family….  Almost!

-Jer

Master Magician

A couple of weeks ago we had our weekly Family Home Evening.  For our activity, Xander shared a few magic tricks that he had learned at his most recent Cub Scout Pack Meeting.  There were actually pretty good.  He's an excellent little showman.  While Xander was educating us, Parker had a great idea.  He asked my permission to do the "egg trick" with one of the kids.  I weighed the pros and cons, and being a tad bit immature myself I figured the entertainment value was well worth the frustration of the poor victim:)  "You bet!" I said.

So Parker prepared.  He slipped into the other room, poked a pinhole into both sides of a raw egg and blew out the entire contents of the egg into the sink.  He now had in his possession a hollow egg which looked like any normal egg except for two almost unnoticeable pinholes.  The plan was for him to stand in front of the family with two eggs on the table, pick up the hollow egg, say a few magic words and then smash it on his head with no adverse repercussions.  He would then ask for a volunteer, coach them through picking up the other (normal) egg, help them say the magic words and then watch in amusement while the poor volunteer cracked a very real, very messy egg on their own head.  Brothers are so kind and thoughtful, no?

He called the family over to the kitchen table.  Both eggs were sitting next to him.  He covered them with a dish towel, mysteriously waved his hand over them while spewing forth some gibberish mumbo jumbo and then whipped the towel away with a flourish.  At this point I was beginning to wonder how he knew which egg was which.  He quickly picked one up and…smashed the very real, very messy egg right on his own head.  His expression in the moment was priceless.  I about suffocated I was laughing so hard.  It was actually the perfect ending to the trick.  The rest of us were even more entertained than if he had done the trick correctly, and the only victim was the little scoundrel who was trying to give someone else an egg shampoo!  Justice was indeed served.

As Parker was talking about it later, he said everything went too quickly.  "I thought it felt a bit heavy as it got close to my hair, but it was too late by then…."  I know this much:  if Parker ever wants a volunteer for the old "saw the assistant in half" trick, I am NOT raising my hand!

-Jer