the bad, the beth, and the beyond

Sophie got her wings!

2009-05-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, super quick blog to get us back in the habit of blogging (one of the new seven habits of highly effective people Bro. Covey?) -but not really about our trip, we'll report on that later...
anyway, as I was being detained in Houston (I'm potentially a terrorist, apparently) Beth and Sophie had to wait around for a long time but the flight agent, besides telling us that Sophie MUST get some ear-bling and to pierce her ears this week, gave Sophie some flight wings to distract her a bit. Sophia LOVED the wings, and kept pointing them out to pilots and flight attendants that we passed when we were going to the gait.
Very proud of them indeed!

Maybe she'll be a pilot like her uncle Kev, or a Top Gun pilot, although these dreams may be dashed as she may have poor eyesight (I got the glasses at DI, and Soph LOVES them!)

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers that would read this, that means you mom! We love you!

Run Chris Run!!!

2009-04-11T23:12:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Chris for, once again, finishing the Moab Half Marathon!!!

As Sophia and I walked up to the finish line to cheer him on I witnessed a few people crying and one throwing up as soon as they crossed the line. It made me once again think "why do people do this to themselves." Fortunately, Chris and Tiff both finished in good spirits. They are definitely an inspiration.

The other awesome part about hanging out in Moab was that Sophia got to see her cousins from Colorado. Here is one of the few photos where they are getting along (at least long enough for me to take the picture.)

We are looking forward to seeing them all again in Costa Rica this week!!

Look Who's Talking Now (sans Kirstie Allie and Vinny Barbarino)

2009-03-04T21:33:00.000-08:00

So we have not posted for a while. But in our defense, not much has occurred since last time. It's not like new nephews, Halloween, a presidential election, several birthdays, Thanksgiving down in AZ, Christmas, New Year, MLK Day, President's Day, Valentine's Day, several more birthdays, benchmark events of our daughter's formative years have happened or anything. Oh yeah, Sophie talks, this is a quick recitation of her first favorite words. This was about a month ago, now she likes to tease, and taunt as much as she can, while broadening her vocabulary. I don't think this clip has any voice-overs from Kirstie Allie, Roseanne Barr, or John Travolta. Just the Soph and Beth.

You down with OCD? (Yeah, you know me).

2008-10-12T23:12:00.000-07:00

During the past year or so of project family blog, several of my siblings have confessed/professed their OCD-ish tendencies. Although I wanted desperately to fit in with my super neat and over-accomplishing family, I thought to myself; I am much to lazy and surly/disgusting to be OCD. I can't keep my house clean, my cars and motorcycles have never been clean, and I regularly show up for court with refried beans on my suits. Maybe it's my slovenliness coupled with my ADHD that lock into mutual combat with the OCD to create a stalemate situation, a Mexican standoff of sorts-because I assume this OCD thing would run in the family along with bed-wetting and Costco love.

Anyway, I thought I was free of this constructive vexation until some good friends of ours gave Sophie some wood blocks and oversized Legos that their kids had outgrown. They gave them to us in a big shopping bag that made a wonderful and tremendous noise when dumping it out into a caucophony of color, shapes, and material.

Before I could figure out why I was bugged at Sophie for taking the last yellow one and mixing it with another, I found I had made these and was protecting them from Sophie's less-discriminating tastes. Am I down with OCD? How can I explain it? I'll take you frame by frame it...

Our little girl is one year old!

2008-09-03T14:23:00.001-07:00

Sophia turned one on Saturday August 23rd! I think that Chris and I are still recouping from the stress of throwing a kids party. Who knew it could be that exhausting!

Sophia showed her usual excitement for all of the festivities. She mainly walked around the house staring at everyone with a balloon as comfort.

I actually have a video recording of the happy birthday moment but after we blew out the candle, Sophia grabbed the still hot and smoking candle. Nice way to welcome in your first b-day and I'm pretty she now has a warped association of pain with cupcakes. Anyway, the video should probably be destroyed unless Chris and I want to be hauled away by the CPS.

I think fun was had by all (despite the moment described above) and Sophia hit Mia in the head repeatedly to prove it!

Happy polka dot party to our little girl!

The Stash Continues...

2008-08-31T20:50:00.000-07:00

I need to post about Sophia's first birthday, but then I came across these photos recently taken...

I sometimes have a hard time believing Chris when he says he is stressed over work.

Anyway, soak in these suckers and I'll get a cute one year old story going soon!

The Sweet Stash Returns!!

2008-07-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

So a couple of times each year Chris shaves off his beard but leaves one sweet mustache. Usually he only keeps it for an afternoon or evening - just long enough for me to protest, dry heave, and protest some more. This last week, when it appeared in all its burnt umber glory, it lasted a whole four days!! Yes, that means he went to work, court, and several other public places sporting the stash. People at his work would not even make direct eye contact. This unfortunately only makes him keep it longer. Notice as well that it is not even a hipsters attempt at a mustache. It is a plain ol' 80's cop style.

So I ask you - who would you rather plant a kiss on??

A)

or

B)

ps - it's not chocolate on her face, it's black beans.

Walking Queen!

2008-07-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

Summer Cinematic Sizzler

2008-06-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

Check out these clips for new summer blockbusters. Looks exciting, relevant, and current. Can't wait to see when it comes out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSXlraw1bqY

This second one is more a music video for the upcoming release.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyDobcn1TDs

By the way, in talking to another connessieur of this genre at my work, I decided that "The Phonecall" was the inspiration for Napoleon Dynamite.
Discuss...

Lion in Zion

2008-06-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

Nope, not a reggae song- (although a cool refreshing rydem would be good for this daunting summer heat), but a blog of bravery.

Sophie turned ten months old today! For her 'birthday' celebration, she had a 3 person dance party and had us watch "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price". This young lady is fearless! She wrestles dogs that weigh 4 times as much as she does with 10 times more teeth! Her exploratory crawling expeditions have never been cut short out of fear. She has been deemed (despite her giraffe-like proportions) 'Sophie the Lion-Hearted'.
In the same vein, today Sophia also took her first hands-free steps (5+) with walking !!!!!!!!!! (she has been practicing for some time). She mentioned that although they were small steps for a kid, her steps toward turning on the movie were large steps toward caring for people, and helping (or at least not contributing to hurt) where she can. She has recommended watching this movie to celebrate her perfect 10 months.

Similarly, the SL Tribune yesterday featured another lion-hearted person; Jensie Anderson. (http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_9669968). She is the Founder/Director/Primary Attorney for the Rocky Mountain Innocence Project, a (my former) law professor, and the organizer/driving force of the Homeless Outreach Project in which I've paricipated the last few years. The article focused on the latter; weekly legal resources for the homeless population. As I may have detailed in the past, these stories and experiences can be really intense sometimes, and being there every week is difficult, especially when the weather gets really cold. But Jensie has persisted for the last 16 years!

I am awed, humbled and dwarfed by the courage of these people! To tenaciously, selflessly, and diligently advocate for those less fortunate is both courageous and Christ-like ("Blessed are the poor...") and behavior to emulated and lionized, so for Sophie and Jensie -"JA be praised!"

(JA standing for Jensie Anderson, or alternatively, Jones Advocates).
JA be praised!

Soft Shoe Sophia

2008-05-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

Legal fates and heart shapes

2008-05-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

So I started work at LDA this week (for the record, my dream job-and Sophia and Beth are happy for me too).

I will be one of the misdemeanor attorneys there. I am super excited and have already seen several clients that I see at the Hobo Clinic under the viaduct. It occurred to me that as a result of being a "#*!@!ing trial attorney"
(to quote vice-prez Cheney) for indigent clients, some may want to label me as a 'bleeding heart'.
I have been ascribed this moniker in the past. Frequently, this was used to punctuate a debate (term used loosely-mostly we just insulted each other while trying to sound intelligent) with a classmate during a school discussion, where s/he'd exasperatedly throw the label at me, and as an insult, so I'm used to it. But I don't think it's an insult now-as I don't see hobo as one either.

We have a little planter (whiskey barrel) in the front that we plant a bunch of annuals in spring through fall, and apparently I planted a perennial called a 'bleeding heart'. I forgot about it, and over winter, water from the rain gutter spout would collect in the barrel and we had nearly a permanent ice lid on top of the barrel about 6 inches thick. This spring it thawed, and although nothing else survived, I saw a little sprout of something coming up once we had a little warmth. It turned into this; a regal, tough bleeding heart plant that has filled the entire planter with no care whatsoever.

Bleeding hearts rule! And are the toughest perennial I've seen, even after persistent snow and ice. I am proud to be called a bleeding heart at this point; tough, resilient, and happy- and I am proud to be an LDA (public defender) attorney. Plus, I will have entertaining stories to tell you all at any point you like.
Yay!

PS-If you thought I was a handful, Sophie's now giving us a run for our money, and she'll likel be on the track and field team of the blogging bleeding hearts too.

M.A.U.I.I.I.

2008-05-04T20:57:00.000-07:00

M.A.U.I.I.I. Nope, not the peaceful American island retreat, but the acronym for Sophie's status:
Mobile Awesome Unit Iye Iye Iye!!!

So Sophie crawls. Fast. In the time it took me to type this sentence, she just crawled down to Provo. Oops, she made a mess on BYU, but what I've heard of their coeds, it may keep the flies off them for a moment. (Sorry Natalie).

Sophie's been getting bigger by the minute. First a tooth finally broke through. During this, Sophie coped by starting to do the centipede last week ('the worm' in Utah break-dancing dialect) then she decided it would be fun to stand up by herself (over 3 minutes while multi-tasking; chewing on my phone to cause only 1/3 the buttons to work now)

and climbing up in her crib and toys and legs, and then tried to stand up from all fours like trying to surf.

Now she crawls and is really proud of herself as a result.

Sophie the Mobile Awesome Unit- Iye Iye Iye!

Not really peaceful for the dogs, not relaxing for us, but really quite awesome.

itod

2008-04-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

In my ever-more-desperate attempt to create something marketable, and “then sell it” (homage to Mary Flatly and Ben Skinner) I thought I came up with a novel idea for an itod.

Ours does not have that many programmable functions besides ‘playback’ and some indecipherable program that I don’t quite get yet called “Ball.”

Although I just considered that to market these, I'd need to go into mass production of our itod, and there are some drawbacks in the prototypes production capabilities and my production plan.

A: it is quite possible that one of the reason that the itod is obsessed with balls, is because of his lack thereof. I'm no scientist, but the biologists back at the lab, and Grandpa Huber explained this to me when putting together tent poles, and say that my feasibility assessment may be off by a couple.
B: there was a reason I didn't get either the Rabbit Raising, or Animal Husbandry merit badges, although I looked into both sets of req's. Yucky.
C: even if we could breach the seemingly insurmountable, what if there is no demand for the itod, then I would have 101 damnations running around, where 1 keeps me busy enough.So maybe not as marketable as initially assessed.

But we found that we really rely on our itod when last week he was broken. Because I didn’t run for 3 weeks after the half (knee repair and left foot peroneal tendonitis-I’m sure Jacob can explain) I did not run my itod either. So finally when we were utilizing the ball function he was jumping too high in the air so as to release the pent up energy, and must have pinched a nerve in his back and couldn’t walk for the next 2 days.

I have got to say, there is nothing more sad than a broken itod. Again, that is his primary function, similar to me, it’s playback, with little to no processing whatsoever. Luckily our itod is apparently under warrantly, because he was fixed after 2 (heartbreaking) days.

Good thing too, since sometimes the only way to get Sophie in a good mood after a bad nap, or hurty teeth is to bring in the dogs, and have her watch them run around (she also shrieks with joy when she gets to pet them/pull their hair out).
Maybe I'll start to market the itod-dler instead.
Super cute, fun, and initial production is pretty neat too.

Run, Chris, Run!!!

2008-03-27T11:35:00.001-07:00

Oh, if I only had a fraction of the energy that my husband has! I keep saying it's just my way of balancing out our marriage but I have to admit that that's a lazy person's excuse for being, well....

Anyhoo, after Chris studied like crazy for the bar, we headed down to Moab for the half marathon. Chris rocked said race even with a knee injury. He finished just a bit over 2 hours. I would include a picture of him finishing the race but it was just a blur of fastness, so I had to use an after-race photo.

After the race it was off to Arches National Park and all it's beauty. We decided we would be those parents that take their kids to really cool places when they're young and will never remember being there. You can thank us later Sophia!

Sophia was dying of thirst after all the hiking we did. A fun time was had by all. Good job Chris!!!

Take a leap (day) all over last month! Close, but...

2008-03-05T08:14:00.000-08:00

With Leap Year we took a leap all over February. That’s because we get so close to success, and right at the end, we hit a little hiccup, a speed bump, a hold-up. Case in point, I have been looking forward to, and training for the Moab half marathon this Saturday, for at least a couple months. Everything has been going well, and last week I ran a bunch before the bar exam days to clear my mind and relieve stress, and to train for the half marathon. Last Monday I ran a little over 9 miles and felt pretty good as I ran up a city creek canyon, and was really careful with ice as I came down the canyon, remembering last bar exam experience, no slips. Took a few days off after the test, and today (Monday) went running, got up the hill behind the Capital about 3 miles, and lo and behold, behind my kneecap, started killing me! Little internet search, figured out I have runners knee. 5 days before the 1/2 marathon that I’ve trained for 3 months for, that we are driving 200 plus miles for, and that we’ve reserved a hotel room for 2 nights for (along with registration fees, etc.). This is strangely reminiscent of, I don’t know… always! This may be the essence of Jones luck; close but no guitar.
Take for instance, after a wonderful trip to Arizona, in which we were very careful to drive correctly, what with the precious cargo and all, and did not want to risk a ticket, receiving a nice memento in the mail. I assumed it was just a picture of us on the rollercoaster when we went to Golfland (you know Bill and Ted’s was filmed there right?) turns out a photo speeding ticket of me looking pensive b/c I needed to pee so bad, and mom and dad’s bathroom was just 30 miles away. Meaning we had completed 24/25ths of our trip, and had only a few minutes to go, and most states find these impersonal and uber-technical speeding tickets illegal and unconstitutional…but alas, no sitar.
Finally, we went to the zoo the other day only to try to accept the challenge of not letting Sophie see any animals, even though at our zoo they are stuffed into the smallest pens up close and personal. It’s great, they can’t even turn around, and their scales/fur/feathers/stick through the chain link so you can grab what you want and move on as they inhale! She didn’t see the elephant, or the tiger, not even the turtle (nature’s D student), but finally at the very end, she saw the giraffes. Maybe because they are so similar; tall, (97th percentile) skinny (47th percentile), with long eyelashes… close, but no keytar.
Anyhoo, is this just mean Jones luck, or nature’s way of showing the irony of substantial performance? (a defense theory for contract formation where much of the contract is performed but payment is not required, and a remedy may be recovered in equity court, but not specific performance of the initial agreed upon terms, so close, but no cougar.

2008-02-08T23:56:00.000-08:00

As it stands, I do not have a great track record with luck. Call it 'Jones Luck' or call it 'Invited Error' (as is deemed in appellate courts as an excuse for not granting my appeals), but, whatever it is, when something good happens (granted, an occurrence that I choose to recognize, as 'good') invariably something bad happens (same qualifier). For instance, when I received some debilitating news last October I thought nothing worse could occur (before the trifecta punch of my birthday-woe is I) but then got a random letter in the mail telling me that I was awarded a little scholarship based on my performance in a clinic. Yeah! Little stipend, bit of cash, see, things are okay-ish...2 days later, big rainstorm comes through and takes out a tree in our backyard. Worst part is, it smashes through our fence and demolishes our neighbors deck taking out all utility lines in the process, and our insurance won't cover it! (I hate insurance-it is a sin worse than gambling to even exist). there goes the little stipend, still haven't fixed the fence, etc.
So, now I have a new 'fool-proof' plan: a business venture. I figure with all the things that can go wrong with a business venture, the tempting of fate is neutralized if it involves our absolutely pure good luck of Sophia.

Awwwwww...see?
She's angelic!
This is what she's like all day long.
Just ask Beth.

So without further ado, I present to you-

Snugggies!!! (patent pending)
'for the baby that is called just that, not referring to infancy'

-(still working out the kinks with the mock- up and the prototype-so far, absorption isn't spectacular).

What about 'the extra 'g' goes in between' or 'the name isn't the only thing with a g-string' or maybe scrap the snuggggggies and call them 'wee thing thilly thongs' for the discerning future Bratz (tm) customer. SNL thought it up, but we're actualizing it.

That's right, baby got back!

Whadya think? We may have to use you as a focus group, so let us know...

also, you say the word and we may be able to get you in on the ground level of this Wunderkind! Utah is known for it's Ponzi (re: pyramid) schemes, let's make Utah proud! You see, it's multi-level marketing, what we need to do...

Get Your Food On!!

2008-01-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

So, as many of you know, I don't have the strongest of stomachs. This has improved over time by being married to Chris and having dogs. I think Sophia is here to take me into the final frontier.

We started her on rice cereal today! Food all over kids faces is not my favorite but it's time to get over it. Since our little gal has decided to eat every two hours at night, we decided maybe more food was needed in the mix. I also decided that I like sleep a lot more than I care about being grossed out.

So, I think she's into it...
Also, I have to add this picture because check out the lil Chris smile on this kid. Chris also added the oranges for "staging".

Off to Grandma and Grandpa Jones'

2008-01-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know I'm the weakest family link when it comes to blogging.

But, I did want to say in print - thank you all for a wonderful Christmas!!!

As you all know, it was Sophia's first Christmas and it was quite the busy one. We headed down to Arizona for the Holidays - I should say we slowly headed down to Arizona. Now that we're a family unit - driving is even slower than it use to be. Now we are not only stopping every few minutes for Chris to pee but we also need to stop for Sophia to freak out about something. Fortunately, she likes staying in hotels.

It was so nice to introduce her to the Jones family. Hopefully she made a good impression!

It was also nice for us to see everyone and quite impressive that we were all in Arizona at the same time.

I hope everyone's New Year is a great one. Happy 2008!!! Hopefully we will see you all soon.

PS - Happy pre-birthday Kevin!! Where ever you may be.

Bemusing B-List Museum Musings (BMx2)

2007-12-08T22:19:00.001-08:00

We love this time of year where we can get together as a family, intertwine our different strands and stories, and recognize our hairitage, even if a little knotty...

That's right! We went to the Daughters of the Mormon Pioneers Musuem (the DOMP'M is 2 blocks up from our house and a perfect holiday Saturday activity). It inspired us to create our own family wreath as well. It was easy once we washed the dogs and got everything from the drain-although the wreath is a little more black short hairs than we initially thought, and smells more like gerbils than we thought-yet another Christmas miracle! Yaaaaaayyyy!

Sophia loved it, she was a doll the whole time!
I think what she really liked was the museum 'guide' who menacingly followed us around on his Rascal and sounded like Darth Vader with his oxygen tank-which is what she sounds like when she has a stuffy nose at night.

She was especially intrigued with the collection of parental disciplinary tools that were used. We thought it would be good if she 'knuckled' down on her study of early Utah tools and implementations especially since grounding her- even for 2 weeks, doesn't work when she gets 'brassy'.

I too got excited, and showed my appreciation to one of the guides (even though she was somewhat diminutive) and kinda got carried away. I guess not kinda, I literally got carried away, they asked us to leave, I said no way, and under my breath said that I loved the museum more than my family and home, a mere 2 blocks away, and D. Vader, strapped me to his Rascal, and carried me to the outside and front steps of the museum, and locked the door behind me.

I guess I should have been more brash about my sudden change in allegiance, and not been so bashful in my fibbing, in short, I should not have been so... you know...

...sheepishly two-faced.

3 new things at 3 months from our 3rd

2007-12-02T09:40:00.000-08:00

Sophia is now over 3 months old! For the occasion, she decided to bulk up, (almost 14 lbs.) stretch out, (like 6 meters-maybe a furlong) and learn some new tricks! First, she loves to sit up and hang out (sadly it is often to watch TV) but is often content to look around everywhere and help us catalog the new home improvement projects we need to do.

Secondly, she has decided that it is really fun to roll over when she is put down on her back. At first it took her several minutes, now its instantaneous! Never content to just go with the standard trick, she now likes to pull her blanket over with her, making her own burrito baby.

Thirdly, she is a bjorn-again Chris Chin! (Sounds like something else right?) She has now decided to let her parents go hands-free (not blue tooth, but blue sophie) and hang out and emulate one of my chins. We were really excited to get a baby-bjorn (not Uncle Wayne's soccer-playing, Journey-loving Danish friend [okay, let's be honest- everybody's friend]) and be able to multi-task more effectively. To our chagrin, (especially since it was expensive) Sophia hated it! But luckily, due to me hating to waste stuff, we tried again since she is a highly mature 3 month old, and she seemed to really like it!
Even when I went jogging and on a motorcycle ride (kinda kidding on the second one), and so we are back in business, as multi-tasking, well-groomed (I have employed her as my full-time personal groomer) child-raisers!!! Yeah for 3's and 3 months, and 3 chins (my double plus the new Sophia)! She is very very very excited to see everyone when she's 4 months old, and so are we! Yay for all being together!

Happy Halloween times 333!

2007-11-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

Little Late, but always late. Oh, wait. No, that's right.
So Utah still recognizes Haloween. Which is nice. We had a very scary Halloween, due to the fact that we had what was called a triple 3 Halloween, otherwise known as Hall o' a ween. No the scary jack-a-o' lanterns are not just our address, but also a member. WOOOOOOOWWW! Super spooky! Today I turned 33, but also today is the first H.O.W. that we have 3 people in our creepy little family, so 33, and 3 so you know, scary. Boo! This is like moster chiller scary (refer to Ed Grimley's Count Floyd like 65 years ago). Super-quadruple scary times 333!!!
So to ward off the monster creepy day I enlisted a ninja who cleverly controlled her body to make herself a smaller target to ghouls, monsters and apple razor blades. Well done little ninja, well done!
Unfortunately, the ninja wasn't trained in the martial arts of traffic cops, and cancerous junk. Today, on the way to work, I got my first speeding ticket in like forever (at least 5 years). I told the officer it was my birthday, he told me he didn't really care. I told him at least I didn't speed my age over the limit, he said I was dangerous enough. Touche', motorcycle cop that was just unhappy since he didn't look like Paunch from C.H.I.P.S., but had a paunch instead, touche'. Also, that day my doctor called and said I had a cancerous Halloweener. Sweet! Happy Birthday to me! So anyway, when trick or treaters came by , I feel I was justified in making them actually say 'trick-or-treat', and just standing there staring, and asking; "What?" til they did. So fun was had by all! Although Melissa says she does not like Halloween, I think shes just jealous that she was not born 19 days earlier (plus 10 years). But luckily she cans still get speeding tickets, ninjas and cancerous stuff! Best things come in 3's. Like the only three pumpkins that grew in our garden this year. Perfect threes.
Hence, Happy Halloween!!!

Idahos

2007-10-31T22:14:00.001-07:00

So we went up to Jake's old stomping, or dare I say, tracting grounds this last weekend for a late anniversary/early birthday/first full family outing. It was pretty, fun and educational! Like did you know that Idaho has what is touted as the Niagra Falls of the West? Yes they do, it is called Shoshone Falls, and it was...magical! Apparently 50 something feet taller than Niagra Falls, which (although I'm not a professional mathematician) is like 6 million meters higher in metric. Which is why even though Canada has much of Niagra Falls on its side, they adopted the metric system in real life instead of just on paper like America did, and so why USA gets the credit for having 2 Niagra Fall's (including the Shoshone Falls; NF of the West). Yes!!!

USA USA USA!

We liked being shown the shoshone as it shone in the afternoon, as can be shown by our teeth and/or closed eyesand also liked Buhl, Idaho,where we got to feed 'lil Sopapilla (new nick-name, whadya think?).

and then made our way to Boise. Sophia enjoyed the luxurious king size bed, Regardless, we decided we were the the biggest Idahos around, besides these guys...the ho'niest guys around (but not in Idaho).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET CHRIS!!!!!!!!

2007-10-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

It's Chris' Birthday week!!! I know Chris hates his birthday, but I love it! I can't wait to celebrate the day my wonderful husband came into this world (thank you Mel and Elise!)

This particular birthday year has brought many many changes, but my favorite is the birth of our little girl Sophia and watching Chris become a father. Chris is so cute with his daughter and I swear she keeps her biggest smiles for him. I count myself lucky to have such a sweet guy in my life.

Happy Happy 33rd Birthday Chris! Here's to a great year with your family of 3.

We love you!!!
b
lil miss aka party keg
fat wee
the todd

Check out those neck muscles!!!

2007-10-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

Sophia is now two months old and she's ready to go! She is incredibly alert - regardless of how much her parents want to sleep. Fortunately she's cute!

Also, much like Sara, our camera broke - in under a year! So we've been taking pictures with our phones, hence the sweet photo quality.

Camera, better pictures, and more to come soon.

Tod-ah!!!(close up shop)

2007-09-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

Meet Tod. Tod runs. Tod also jumps. Mostly that's it. Oh yeah, he catches stuff too.
So today, we took a lovely little family walk through memory grove and city creek canyon. We decided to walk from our house with the dogs and the stroller for little Sopapilla, walked behind conference center, past McHugn Mansion, and showed Sophie my old apt. (she seemed impressed-that is if she shows she's impressed by sleeping with a cold nose, then stretching). Trekked up the trail, dogs had fun, lost Todd's ball, and when we were coming back, Beth was on the other side (with the leashes in the stroller) the dogs and I were running and kept running as we spilled out into the park meadow (where many people are taking their pictures) usually we put the leashes on so that Todd doesn't go up to a soon-to-be bride getting wedding pictures taken and show her his muddy ball all over her wedding dress. But today, I didnt have the leashes , but Todd didnt have a ball (lost it, refer to above)... so we run out and I cut across the bridge to meet Beth and our little S on the other side, Todd kept running to jump in the pond and didn't notice the family cutely posing for a picture laying on bank, until almost too late when ....he Evil Knevilled it over the full five bodies and still stopped in time before he ran into the creek part! the family just were able to emit an "WHAAOOOAAAHHH!" all at the same time. Todd came trotting back to me after I yelled TOD! while the chubby photgrapher (think Deb from Napolean when she's not in the young adult ward anymore) gave him dirty looks. I got a picture of them taking pictures, trippy right? Anyways, It was AWESOME! Tod had his tongue hanging out panting with a huge smile I think he said "Tod-ah", while all I could say was "close up shop".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA ELISE!!!

2007-09-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Mom,
I never put it together to ask, but do you even like chocolate? I remember our standard gift to you, (if I saved enough money after squandering the rest at 7-11, or on M&M Big Guys', Ross' Dress for Less or Marshall's -I had to look good for the females at Teen-Elect and Stake Dances- right ladies?) was either several Baby Ruth candy bars, or I'd ride my bike to the Sees Candies by Fiesta Mall and get the nuts n' chews sampler but was likely squished and melted if I rode back with it tucked in my shirt and pants to carry it. So hopefully you like chocolate, and are not allergic -I never noticed you with your neck swelled up and puffy gurgling "My face is itchy", but then again, I never thought to check. I hope you enjoyed them then , and I hope you still enjoy your birthday now. After all, you are too good, wonderful and sweet of a mom and person to not have a horde of well-wishers- so you don't want to let us all down. Happy Birthday Mom!!! We love you!!!

Ask Sophia: Advice Column

2007-09-22T02:50:00.001-07:00

As you can see, I am both pensive and astute. I will thoughtfully consider all your queries, and give you honest and candid advice. You've got questions, I've got a cheek I can rest my fist against to look like I care about your questions. It's like a match made in heaven, well not like a match that you strike to start a fire, but like a coupling. But not like a coupling like a pipe fitting, or like the verb you nasty-os, sheesh, never mind. If you want my advice, get your mind out of the gutter.

Blog Me? No, Blog you. I mean me...I dont think I understood the assignment.

2007-09-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

Wow. This is a brave new world of technology, but as per usual, I have come to this ill-prepared and ill-informed. Although the icons show this blogging to be relatively straight forward, I still cannot figure it out. So bear with me as I continue to climb this little learning curve and address my technophobia as well. Between poorly performing digital cameras, coupled with photo programs I dont understand yet, this has not worked out so far. But as our little family of bad guy, beth and little miss beyond can tell you, we're in this to learn, an learn as we go. Patience is not just a creek/dry wash near Laverkin, Ut.