Merry Christmas!

YAY! Santa came early just for Marie! We'll be at Grandpa Millburns for Christmas morning, so Marie's big ticket items needed to be unloaded before then.

Here she is with her new best friend. Watching her put the frog in her chair is so awesome. Being a parent and having no Santa is actually very rewarding- I would have never guessed.

Here she is on the Christmas Eve we slapped together. I have no idea how I did all the shopping, cleaning, went to a baptism, a birthday party, made a salad for a funeral and worked out all in the same day. I figure that will never happen again so it's blog worthy. Efficiency was my Christmas gift.

Now that you are officially asleep, I will report our first Christmas eve as a family:

We read from the pop-up Christmas Story and sang Christmas music that Grandma Cathy spoiled us with. That was another thing, I had no idea what to do on Christmas eve with a one-year old but we just happened to have the book and music, and bam there's your Christmas eve.

Brett and i made it to bed, blinked, and then dragged ourselves out of bed to make crepes before Marie awoke. Here is the recipe if your feeling saucy, it's the best I've ever tried:

Crepes

3eggs

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. water

3 T butter melted

1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

Blend all ingredients in a blender. We use a small 6'' cast iron pan to make ours, but I'm sure you could make it in any size skillet.

If you're me you will use bananas, nutella, and whipped cream. If your brett you'll use butter and syrup. If your Marie you'll skip the crepes and guzzle the syrup from the bottle.

And to top it all off we actually made it to church on time. I know. Slap me, I must have been dreaming...

We'll see if I can't type a few keystrokes here. Over Thanksgiving we decided to take advantage a few things and slip down to San Diego. We had an awesome time. It started off a little sad, with Rachel smashing her water bottle. It was her faithful companion for almost a week.

We got through that tragedy together, and nothing else got smashed the rest of the trip. Marie likes to push everything, from shopping carts to moms...
And then we made it to Sea World...

And Marie was still able to push things...

But she wasn't sure about this Shamu character...

And then Marie dressed in a bee outfit and looked in the mirror...

And it was a happy Thanksgiving for everyone.

Still In Shock

It's true. Or as they would say in Japan: " it' 本当s"

We're still in shock, needless to say. But I will try to give you the best update I can.

We are moving to Japan this summer.

We will live there for 2 years.

To a place called Misawa.

It's a 3 hour train ride to Tokyo, or a 10 hour car ride.

We are 16 hours ahead of Mountain time. We will try to blog everyday to let you know if it's going to be a bad day or a good day.

I don't have to worry about fitting in. They look sufficiently Westernized.

Here is a photo from Misawa. This is were Brett and I will re-enact Twilight. Marie will film and direct.

I will find this and report to you what they are. Or just pretend I'm at Disneyland.

We will also take lots of colorful, yet blurry pictures that will assure you we are having a fast-paced, culturally diverse time.

Well that is all. Charles wins. But with an asterisk, because he named 3 places. To redeem himself he will have to come visit. As will you all. Again, I'm not joking and I know where you all live.

I know, I know- you were probably expecting me to lay on the Asian jokes, but seeing as they will be my neighbors I will abstain. Seriously though, we are glad and thankful.

Where in the the World Will We Go?

I AM SO NERVOUS!!!! Brett thinks we will find out where we will live next this week! AHH!!!

He keeps saying it's going to be a "less desirable location" so I have no clue where that could be.

Here is our request list, in no particular order:

Utah- of course!

Idaho- Absolutely!

Hawaii- Hello Magnum P.I.!!!

L.A. Cali- Marie and I have always wanted to join a gang!

Denver- Not sure how I feel about this place. Seems like North Cali but with snow?

Alaska- I could finally meet Sarah Palin! Maybe we'll do lunch and talk about our conservative values! And then I'll get eaten by a bear.

Florida- Eglin (near the top of Florida) Gulf Shores, Anyone?

Florida- Tampa- Micky Mouse here we come!

Florida- Cape Canaveral- obsessed much? Naturally we want this because that's where the Detroit Tigers have Spring training

Lets talk about this for a second. If you're wondering what directs our selection process, it's sports. What cities can we live in that will give us the most direct route to a baseball game? And when I say "we" I mean Brett.

Also, just so you know, when you "Google" "funny Detroit tigers pics" this will come up:

Japan- near Okinawa- yummy yummy sashimi!

Japan- the base near the capital! dōmo arigatō misutā Roboto! ... this calls for a music video!

2 England requests- I hate fish and chips, but how dumb would it be to not ask?

Italy- like that's gonna happen!

Boston- because Augustana had an awesome song about it



Ohio- again, something sports related... agh, don't get me started...

Texas- San Antonio... hmmm should be fun?.... right..?

Colorado Springs- i know a few nice people from there.... but not much else

South Carolina- it's supposed to be gorgeous, and they have cute accents ( I know, that was slightly anti-climactic)

My bet is that we go Midwest... somewhere not listed here, like Missouri or the Dakotas. Somewhere I would have a hard time finding on a map.

Where do you think we'll go? The winner(s) get a prize!

Pagan Cuteness

Vacaville Halloween Walk 2009

Marie borrows a costume- the bow is made by my talented friend!

Marie is so lucky to have two close friends that she gets to see all the time, Preston & Sadie.

The Three Musketeers: Preston, Marie & Sadie

Brett couldn't make it to the Vacaville Halloween walk on Friday, but Marie and I had a great time with Sadie, Allison, & Sam. This town is so much fun!

Choosing a pumpkin!

Offically trick or treating for the first time with her puppy friend, Preston!

Marie got the hang of trick-or-treating quick. She would slowly walk up to the door, allow the person to ooh and awe over her costume (and her size), hold out her bucket, and make a determined u-turn to the next house to find the next house who was foolishly giving away all their candy.

Preston and Marie hang out twice a day usually! She just lights up when she sees him!

This sucker did not leave her mouth until it was pulverized.

again, with the sucker....

We had a fantastic halloween. It was probably the most fun halloween I've had since I was 11 years old. Being single halloweens were pretty boring. If I went to a party I had to compete with the scandily clad, but I don't mind competing Marie at all.

Now I have a huge bucket of left over candy, so this is a call for everyone who wants it to come get it!

No Subject

I woke up this morning at 7:45am. I got myself a bowl of Cap'n Crunch. As I was crunching I thought I heard a noise from Marie's room. I stopped crunching and listened...nothing. I took another bite and thought I heard more noise. So I stopped crunching...nothing. I knew what was going on. I did a fake bite, and this time I heard a little noise from Marie's room. I crept in and found Marie sitting in her crib, with her glow worm in her lap, and they were rocking back and forth, singing. It was pretty awesome.

We then went to church. Rachel's primary kid tried to sit with her during sacrament meeting, but it was blowing all of his siblings minds, so he went back to his family. All of her 7-8 year old boys worship her. Maybe I like her so much because I'm really just an 8 year old. Marie ran around and only pooped once. The thing to do was to twirl in circles. The only time she cried was when I had to stand in the circle to help ordain the new Teacher. She cried and had to be escorted out of the room.

Rachel made some Tapioca, and we went on a few walks. Sometimes when we are walking Marie will stop and look around. To get her to start moving I'll do the usual things. Things you do for pets. Shake keys, weird voice, slap hand on leg, whistle, etc. One time I tried to get her going by moving my feet. Walking in place. This didn't work at all. She would just copy me, and walk in place. Eventually I found the best way to get her to get a move on it is to stand in front of her and look through my legs at her. Then she will run through my legs. Then we repeat.

A Lot of Pictures, and a Little Bit of Showboating

I hate to muddle this post up with words but alas, I must. Very much to blog about.

The world needs to know Marie's first words in order.

1. Ball (obviously)

2. Duck

3. Cat - also pointed to a cat when she said it

4. Mom- it was cute, but she said it a very low tone voice, like a smoking waitress. I loved it.

5. Book- said while she was holding a book!
Said these all in the last 2 weeks.

What a hoot. Also would like to report that she has (I think) put on some good weight. I got her to drink shakes with pediasure! Ice cream makes everything good.

Also, she eats more that she has meals at the table with Brett and I. Who knew? Here she is with her first table dinner while the missionaries were over. She's a great conversationalist.

Love those matching shoes.

Random showboating of a cake I made last month.

She's a carnivore! Which is fitting because she loves to "roar" at people.

Toddlers in Tiaras? I think so!

So grateful for this Goose! She makes life great. We are doing so well and just wanted to thank everyone for their thoughtful words. 7 weeks isn't that far along, but no one treated it that way. But I'm totally OK and for now I'll cherish me, Marie, and daddy time.

Don't Be Mad- This Blog is Sacred

Don't be mad for what I am about to post. Just because I didn't tell you in person doesn't mean that this is casual news. But some things I just don't want to talk about. But I do want to blog about.
I had my second miscarriage last weekend. It was a long one. I won't go into the details, but I will say there are GOOD, heaven-sent nurses, and then there are nurses who aren't at their best on Friday afternoons. But I was "only" seven and a half weeks along. And really, the whole time, I just kind of new that this wouldn't go through, that I shouldn't get too excited. Of course at the same time I felt really guilty for those feelings, but I'm glad I had a warning.
When I was younger I just thought you "got married and then the babies just came." Not as easy as I once thought, but at the same time I'm glad that I have to "work for it." I was so much more ready and thankful for Marie because I really had to ask for her. And I'll be thankful for the next baby to.
I'm thankful for God's timing. Our family will move so much in our lives that planning a pregnancy can be really stressful. We will most likely move next summer (we will find out in November where) and it's hard to say when we should have the baby, but at the same time we hate delaying Marie having a buddy. I'm just so glad I could put the timing in His hands and I know the next baby will come at EXACTLY the right time and not a second sooner.
But anyways, don't be mad that you learned about it from "blog." There really aren't that many people that read this blog- I mean who REALLY read this blog, and i know who my readers are, so yes you are special. And though this blog is just a crudely complied collection of thoughts, it's really my journal/scrapbook/photoalbum so it's actually pretty sacred.


A Few Thoughts on Babies

Ever since I student-taught 9th grade Child Development I've been pretty obsessed with babies. Especially babies who aren't born yet. One day I was making my students put together a puzzle timeline of what parts of the baby are formed in what order. I was working with one student in particular, showing him what parts get formed first, and I told him the heart is beating as early as a few weeks. Then I distinctly remember the feeling that overwhelmed me; a baby with a heartbeat is special, is a human being, equal to an adult in worth.
I am so grateful for my college major. I'm grateful the Lord helped me pick it and took the most important things from it, like the worth of a child.

Ever since then I have been very pro-life. It was the most important issue to me in last years election and I hope it will always be my #1. There are many things I would like to change about the pro-life movement though. I would hope instead of bombing Planned Parenthoods, more pro-lifers would help with things like Care Net, faith based groups that embrace and help girls understand and who are supported through and after their pregnancies. Instead I feel there is this evil overshadowing the pro-life movement which makes people approach the issue with anger and hate against girls who had abortions, who in reality, didn't know what they were doing or had a second party making their decisions.

If you are interested in doing something quick and easy to support a worthy cause just remember your voice, your dollar, and your vote are all equally important.

But I don't want this post to be completely about that. I just wanted to blog about it.

Lastly I want to say I think there was a sweet spirit with me, waiting anxiously for a body, to be able to come to earth and have a family. I don't know the details of then the body gets a spirit or other such things, but I know that body inside me was-is important. And that I have a little angel I really want to meet someday.

The injustice of it all

Marie and her snot nose are sleeping peacefully. Before 7:00? It'll be a record if she stays down.

I just want to say that Rachel is chatting on the phone AND she still will not turn over the remote control to me. It's ridiculous. She's not even looking at the TV but her vampire senses still enable her to find the Twilight spotlight.

Umm...baby awake. It was worth a shot.

This Kid Makes Me Smile- also a discussion on orbs

Baby Beth looking sweet in pink

(also note: she had a fight with a fireplace mantel and lost, but she wins the "cute contest" any day)

Last (Labor Day) weekend we strapped Marie in the car and drove her a grueling 10 hours to Utah. My cousin got married. Very casual wedding, very fun. There was lots of meat involved and the cake was made up of dutch ovens. It was a great weekend to get back in touch with everyone and prove we are still alive. It would be pretty easy to fake our deaths living so far away, especially at the rate we keep up this blog. However we love any opportunity to visit the family.

Also I would like to take a moment and talk about "orbs." Orbs are usually found in pictures because of dust particles in the air (so I hear). Alot of people believe that they are spirits. I think both explanations are true. I think even though spirits are not made of physical matter, that maybe, just maybe, they have the ability to attract matter around them, like dust. Hence they are collected in nice little light "orbs." Maybe a spirit can be made up of several orbs, or just one.
I don't know, just a thought.

Well its to the point where I am bored with my own blogging. This probably means I should stop. I'm very torn on this blog thing. I feel like I need to make it into a journal. I'm not really doing anything for Marie, so this would be a good place to start something. So I almost want to apologize that I'm just gonna blog about Mommy stuff. But at the same time that's my favorite stuff, so I totally understand that it's not mind blowing. Maybe I am having blog insecurities. Is there blog therapy out there? Is there an all knowing blog spot creator to tell me that my blog is funny and super cool. Maybe I'll google that.

Idaho: Best State Ever

We love when family comes to visit.

When Grandma's around I get a break.

And somebody gets spoiled...

all week long.

But we really like going to Idaho

We love the scenic drives.

Especially when the passengers are in a good mood.



And how could she not be with all this attention?

But Idaho is just the best state. A little because of stuff like this.

But what I really love most....

is a visit with my brothers.

Call me biased but I love their music.

Help yourself to a sampling. This is "Shape of a Ghost."

Note: when they make it big, I am guessing I won't be their camera person.