September 25th

Hi Everyone

We have had a lovely week, the highlight of which was having Boyd and Betty come visit us.
They got in on Friday and stayed until Monday. Jens was so excited for them to come and loved playing with them and seeing them. He was sad when they had to go home! We, of course, went to Apple Hill on Saturday and enjoyed a beautiful day visiting three farms,
eating treats and lunch, picking apples,
petting and feeding the animals, and enjoying the scenery. Notice in this picture that Jens is winking, one of his favorite new tricks. We even watched the Gator game while Jens helped Grandma knit.
Mike and I especially enjoyed the fact that Jens went straight to Grandma and Grandpa's room each morning and we got to sleep in for a few extra minutes.

Sunday was our primary program. It was really early this year, and I have to admit that it is nice to be done with it. The kids did a great job and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Our friend Cassie was the sunbeam star of the show--she knew almost all of the words and sang loud and proud! It is crazy to think that next year Jens will be up on the stand misbehaving through the program. How can he be that big already?!?

Monday Mike, Boyd, and Betty went to Jens's school and observed circle time at the beginning of the day. I am a little jealous because I still haven't been. I did do story time last Friday, which was fun, and I am doing it again this Friday. If anyone has some fun children's books to recommend, I am all ears.

Tuesday a bunch of ladies from our ward met at the park to play and go to storytime. We had a good laugh when we realized that all five of us are pregnant! I am sure we are quite a sight to behold. Jens was so cute during storytime--it is interesting to see how school is helping him with attentiveness and confidence. He really is learning to sit and listen and answer questions. The story lady asked what sound a pig makes and he immediately let rip with a huge snort that cracked up everyone in the room. I am noticing, though, that he doesn't really like to be laughed at and it makes him feel a little self conscious and shy. It is a little hard because he does so many things that are funny and cute, sometimes it is hard not to laugh at him a little bit, but I am trying hard to take him seriously. Here he is winking. You try not to laugh.

In house news, I planted a few things and cut the top off of a little tree that was growing right against the house. Sadly, I realized after cutting down the tree that the previous owners didn't bother to paint the trim behind the tree, which is a dark gray, adding to the motley collection of colors we have going on outside. I need to win the lottery so we can paint the outside and have a bulldozer come and scrape off the top layer of our front yard.

Last night was a baby shower for Sophia. It was a beautiful night and we sat outside on a patio with a fire in one of those little portable fireplaces like we got for Mom and Dad a few Christmases ago. It was very pleasant. I wish we had a place for a little fire pit. I was especially glad not to be home with Jens, who was reportedly very cranky and tantrum prone.

Today we played at the park with our friend Harrison and met two other little 3 year old boys and their moms who just happened to be there at the same time. Jens had a ball and wore himself out. I have been trying to wake him up from rest time for the past 40 minutes!

September 18th

Hi Everyone.

We have been busy at our house! We are very grateful that we have electricity and hot water and hope that you Ohioans without will soon enjoy the modern conveniences.

Jens continues to thrive at school. I have seen a subtle and welcome change in him as he has become calmer and better at following directions. He seems to be developing a better sense of appropriate behavior and is not quite so violent as he has been in the past. I think the extra outlet and stimulation at school is really good for him, and he is always excited when it is a school day. Tomorrow is picture day and I am volunteering at school doing a story time for the kids for a half hour. It will be fun to be in his classroom, although I am a little nervous about having a half hour's worth of material and keeping their attention. We went to open house at his school Tuesday night and were impressed with the amount of material they are covering and working on with the kids. They are doing one on one work with the kids now, which means with a class of 15 that one teacher is working with one student while the other teacher supervises the other students who are working independently on "jobs." That is pretty impressive to me, that the other kids can be so on task. Jens is working on phonics and as practicing "a" and "f". I am so happy that he is in school and doing so well.

This weekend we FINALLY had Jens's birthday train ride, which he has been waiting for very patiently.
He enjoyed every second and was so excited to ride the train. I was glad to be there with him and see his happiness.
We played at the park for a while and enjoyed some nice family time and beautiful weather. I also did some yard work and had some excitement. We have some beautiful fake rocks at this house, and I finally picked up the one in front to throw it away. When I turned it over I laughed because inside the rock was a shiny plastic Halloween spider. I showed it to Jens, thinking that someone had put it there to scare people away from their fake rock. Then the spider moved and I realized I was looking at a real live black widow. EWW! I screamed and dropped the rock feeling very ill. The red hour glass was plain as day, and Jens was fascinated by it for the rest of the weekend. Mike was on a bike ride, so we waited for him to come home and see it. He killed it with a lot of bug spray and some fire. Sometimes I wonder if he is still 12. Jens was a big helper in the front yard. I wanted to line my flower bed with some bricks we had in the back yard, and Jens hauled them to the front, two by two, in his big Tonka truck. I showed him how to do it once and he kept on until he'd brought every single brick. I think he spent a half hour hauling bricks. This is Jens making a "plane" on Saturday morning. He is very dirty and happy. Jens and Mike doing some stretches.


I bought more plants for the front yard and have been gradually putting them into the ground. One is the most beautiful hydrangea--I hope I have enough sun to keep it happy. I have been searching high and low for some hostas but haven't found any, but hopefully one of the big nurseries will have some. We also had JP and Natalie for dinner on Sunday. It seems like we hadn't seen them in ages, so it was nice to have them over.

Monday I did a lot of yard work for what seemed to be very little gain. Unlike my little flower bed next to the house, the rest of the yard is like sedimentary rock--lots of layers pressed together. Mulch on top, 2-3 inches of roots, weed barrier cloth, thin layer of dirt, 2-3 inch rocks, and hard clay soil, all interspersed with huge redwood roots, some 3 to 4 inches thick. I worked for 5 hours in the front and managed to plant 3 azaleas and some liriope and run a drip line. I have since managed to get a few more things in, but I can tell the front yard is going to be a killer. I have such lovely plans for it--I wish it would cooperate with me a little more.

Tuesday I was so tired from gardening that we just had a play date in the morning and took naps in the afternoon.

Mike was in Santa Clara from Wednesday morning until tonight--we missed him while he was gone! He doesn't leave us overnight very often and the house seemed large and quiet without him. Today Jens and I had a fun day--pest control came this morning, which was very exciting. We have seen a lot of scary bugs around in the past week and decided we were overdue for a pest control visit. The guy basically hosed down the entire outside of our house, literally using a hose with a spray nozle on it. I am a little afraid to go outside and touch anything and now I am thinking maybe a few bugs isn't so bad. We went to the park as soon as he was done because I didn't want to breathe the air, and then got Jens some new shoes. He feels that they make him run faster and jump higher and insisted on wearing them out of the store. They have velcro straps, so he can put them on himself which makes him feel very big. Tonight the missionaries came for dinner, which Jens always loves. He thinks they are the coolest, and they are so nice to him.

We are excited to have Boyd and Betty coming tomorrow for the weekend--Jens has been talking about taking Grandma and Grandpa to apple hill all week.

This is not a very interesting e-mail, I am sorry to see. Mostly I talk about the yard. I will try to pep up the end for some excitement. Jens showed the missionaries his "sparkle" (freckle) which entails pulling down his pants and underwear. He also had a huge wipe out on Saturday and got some serious road rash on his elbow. He has been showing it to everyone all week. Jens has been talking about how big and strong he is. Someone at school seems to be pumping up his ego, and he often wants to pick up large and heavy things to prove himself. I am concerned he is going to hurt himself one of these times . . .

September 11th

Hi Everyone.

I made it safely home from Florida, and all of my flights were prompt and uneventful, which was nice. I did not get food on these flights, though. Continental seems to be the only airline left that offers lunch!

I had such a fun time in Florida--it was great to be there to celebrate Dad's birthday and relax. We enjoyed Mellow Mushroom pizza Friday night, the Itchitucknee on Saturday, and a really nice dinner out Saturday night. Sunday we went to church and saw Dad being bishop once more--the ward seems very energetic and excited about all the changes going on, and we went to Mom's new missionary class. Sunday night, a delicious dinner and cheesecake with Mumbi, and Monday we checked out Peter's new school (funky, but he seems glad to be there). I also took a swim in the pool and ate lots of ice cream from Graeter's. Thank you Jessie for bringing it, and Dad for sharing!

I got in late Monday night and Mike and Jens picked me up. Jens just laughed and laughed when I got in the car. It was very cute. He also asked if he could sit with me, but since we were driving I had to say no. Then he fell asleep. Mike warned me numerous times that the house was a mess, but I wasn't sure what to expect. It was definitely a mess. I think Mike had a rough weekend being a full time dad and working full time, too, but Jens was happy and Mike survived, so the state of the house didn't matter too much. I spent Tuesday putting things back together and buying groceries. I made a nice dinner to make up for all of the pizza, hot dogs, and tacos that I know they ate, and I made green beans. Jens scarfed them down and kept asking for more, so I have a feeling he didn't eat too many green foods while I was gone!

In funny Jens news, he has a new entourage of imaginary friends--Shawn Johnson and the "Chinese girls" (that would be the Chinese Women's Gymnastic Team). He talks to them and shows them tricks frequently, and they always seem impressed with his "gymnastics". He has also been very excited about helping me with yard work the past few days. He uses his little rake and shovel to help me rake up pine needles and cleam up the yard. I think there are several years worth of pine needle accumulation--Jens and I have filled up four big garbage cans already, and there is still a lot more.

Yesterday Jens had school, which he continues to love. He sings little songs and talks about the kids in his class quite often, and I am impressed by the things he has learned in so short a time. I also love school. Yesterday while he was gone I went to the doctor's office. I am feeling huge and told the doctor so, but she said I look great and I am measuring just right. The baby's heart is starting to sound less swishy and more like a real heartbeat, and she is moving around ALL of the time. I told Mike I was feeling really big already and he said "Do you remember how big you got with Jens?" I think he was implying that I am going to get much MUCH bigger. I had to do my glucose lab yesterday, which is always gross, and I hate having blood drawn. I kind of forgot and didn't drink enough water beforehand, so the blood came out way too slowly.

Mike has been very busy with work, trying to catch up from playing Mister Mom, preparing for a presentation on Friday, and flying to Santa Clara numerous times in the next little while. He enjoys the challenge of being busy at work, but I sure miss him when he has to work a little later than the normal!

We are looking forward to a brief visit from Mike's brother Charles tonight. He is out west for business and was nice enough to drive out of his way a little to see us. We haven't seen him since last summer, so that will be fun.

September 5th

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I am excited to be reporting from Florida this week, where Jessie, Loren, and I flew in to surprise Dad for his 60th birthday. Unfortunately, Dad is a wiley old guy, and he somehow figured out that we were coming, so he wasn't quite as surprised as we hoped. In fact, Peter wasn't surprised, either. We suspect that there might have been an information leak somewhere, but I am not naming any names.

We had a fun Labor Day weekend. Saturday we did yard work and sadly, the yard looks worse now than it did before, but all of the sprinklers to water the grass work, and we pulled all of the ugly ivy off of the retaining wall in the back, and got rid of a very large ant nest. Yuck.

Monday we had a cookout with friends, which was relaxing and fun. The weather was perfect and the kids had a ball playing in their slip and slide. We went to apple hill Monday morning, our first trip of the fall, and bought apples for a delicious apple crisp dessert. Yum.

Wednesday was Jens's official first day of school with all of the kids. When Mike dropped him off, his "inside shoes" (Lightning McQueen clogs) were missing from his cubby. Strangely enough, Mike saw some just like them on another little boy's feet. He tried to ask the mom about them, but her kid was in full tantrum mode and she was fleeing the scene, so Jens had to spend the day sans shoes. When I picked him up he said "Sammy is wearing my shoes so I can't find them!" Then his lunch got lost, so he had no lunch. In spite of those two things, he was happy as could be when I picked him up, although he was starving. I found his lunch and helped him open it as soon as we got in the car and he started eating quite desperately. I had to stop at Walmart to pick something up, and when I went to get him out of his car seat, he looked up from his sandwich and said. "No Mom, I'll wait here. You just go really quick." He didn't want to leave his lunch to go in. We brought his lunch inside so he could keep eating.

Yesterday Mike and Jens took me to the airport and spent the afternoon together. When I called them it sounded like they were having a very good time playing hide and seek. Mike also took Jens in to work where, for once, he didn't turn into a strange robot, but instead commented happily on all of the Olympics pictures, said hi to everyone, and even went with Mike's colleague, Jaya, to the Intel store to buy a treat. Apparently while he was with her he said hi to everyone, introduced himself without shyness, and gave "fives" to anyone who asked. If only he would act that way when we are around!

My flight went smoothly--it was strange to fly and only be worried about myself. Jess picked me up at the airport and we spent the night in Jacksonville, then picked Loren up Friday morning and drove to Gainesville. We "surprised" Dad at work and had a really nice lunch that Mom made followed by Graeter's ice cream, hand delivered with care by Jessie. We are all relaxing and enjoying fine company.