GO UTES!!!

Well, tomorrow is the big smack down. The blood runs deeply RED around here. For all you Felts up there lucky enough to go to the game. Cheer your heads off for us!! I don't know if we'll be able to find any way to watch the game down here, but we'll be wearing red and checking the live scores on the net. GO DOWN COUGARS!!! I am a Utah man, sir....

Heidi Strikes Again!

Heidi did our family photos last weekend. I just thought I'd put some on the blog. It kind of spoils the Christmas Card, but oh well! Josh doesn't look like a guy with pneumonia, does he? We've all had a nasty cold that we've had a hard time shaking, but Josh just kept getting worse and worse. He went to the doctor on Wednesday and was sent home at once to take some nuclear anti-biotics and get some rest. We'll hope that takes care of it.

Alex was worried when I told him that his dad had pneumonia. I told him that his Dad was young and strong and should be all right with some rest and medicine. He must not have been convinced because he jumped into Karissa's car Thursday after school and said, "My Dad has pneumonia. It can kill you." We're sure glad that Doctor Bapa is on his way down for Thanksgiving (after running his eighth marathon of the year in Vegas). I'm pretty sure that no one will die on his watch!

"Goodnight sweet prince..."

Today should be Luke's second birthday. Happy Birthday my boy!

Not in this world to see his face
Sounds long, until I read the place
Where this is said to be
But just the primer to a life
Unopened, rare, upon the shelf,
Clasped yet to him and me.

--Emily Dickinson

Undecided?

Well, for all you undecided voters out there, I have finally found the information you will need to make your decision. Follow the link below to the best youtube video I've seen in a while!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzyT9-9lUyE

Halloween

Jillian the Ballerina (many thanks to Chira!)...

Rhino as Obi Wan Kenobi (surprise, surprise--I think that kid lives and breathes Star Wars)...

And Alex, as Peter from the Chronicles of Narnia (his school requires the kids to dress as literary characters)...

Well, here are the obligatory Halloween photos. We had a really nice time with good weather, good food, and good friends. The corner by the Atkins, Christiansens and Householders was blocked off and the kids were able to play. Everybody brought yummy food for our potluck and Josh and I made doughnuts again. Believe it or not, I was actually able to offer a cop a doughnut and not get arrested. A couple of Pinal county sheriff's deputies stopped by to make sure we weren't making a lot of trouble. I walked up with a plate of fresh doughnuts and asked, "Is it really wrong to offer a cop a doughnut?" No takers. As soon as they saw the casseroles and that there was no beer, they let us be.

I thought Ryan's white vampire pumkin was pretty good, but I think it is eclipsed by my brother Greg's pumpkin "Ralph." Kudos to Greg for the best Jack since Doug's Bill Cllinton pumpkin a few years ago.

Happy Halloween!

Bob the Builder and Life with Boys

Well, Josh has been at it again. He got tired of having laundry baskets full of towels around (clean and folded, but still homeless), so he ripped out my linen cabinet and built me a new one that holds about three times as much as the old cabinet. He grabbed a cabinet catalogue from Home Depot, asked me which door style I liked and then disappeared into the garage. This was the end result. The picture hardly does it justice. It makes me wonder what else he could do if not for that pesky, full-time job that pays our mortgage.

The little boys have been on a roll lately. Every day they say something that just cracks me up. While we were on our trip, Josh's mom overheard this conversation when the boys were supposed to be sleeping. (Keep in mind we had been to the dinosaur museum that day):

Alex: Hey Ryan, do you think dinosaurs ever puked? (giggle, giggle)

Ryan: Yeah, and then you could fill a whole BUCKET full of puke and dump it over their heads! (peals of hysterical laughter)

They announced to me last night in the car that we needed a pet. I proceeded to tell them that their Daddy is allergic to a lot of animals, but maybe if they came up with a good idea we could discuss it. After deciding that fish and frogs sounded totally dull, each boy came up with his ideal pet. Alex wants a cheetah and Ryan wants a were-rabbit. (Yes, a were-rabbit all you Wallace and Gromit fans out there.)

So all in all, life with boys may be tiring, but it is at least entertaining, as long as you think puke and belching the ABC's qualify as entertainment.

I came, I saw, I (eventually) conquered...

I have finally finished it! Josh gave me this book for Christmas two years ago and between life with three kids and several shorter intervening books, it has taken me this long to finish it, but finish it I did! It was excellent. Much to the chagrin of my Grandfather, "Give 'em hell Harry" has always been one of my favorite presidents. So for any of you biography readers out there, this one is well worth the time investment (the book is nearly 1,000 pages, hence it is truly an investment).

Just a funny side note: When Gordon B. Hinckley, at age 97, met David McCullough he told him that he had read all of his books with great relish, except this one. President Hinckley said, "A man of my age doesn't begin a book that large."