The Baker Bloggers

Happy Easter! 2011

2011-04-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

Not your average book report about Brigham Young

2011-03-07T10:14:00.001-08:00

I chose Brigham Young for my book report because I thought he must be pretty cool if he got such an awesome school named after him. So in my book report I've got three main topics, which I would like to share with you. Those topics are: facts about his family, why he is famous, I think he's awesome because... So sit back, relax, and enjoy my boring book report.
As stated above, my first reason is facts about his family. So here is a couple weird and wacky reasons about his family. First of all he was the ninth child. It probably wasn't unnatural back then but now it sure is. But if want to hear an even crazier thing about his family, stick around. Second of all, he was pretty much raised by his older 14 year old sister. If his parents weren't so busy he'd probably have been raised by them. Last but not least, he had 27 wives throughout his life. But in the meantime he had 57 kids! No, the last two sentences weren't typos. Can't say I didn't warn you!
My second topic isn't so wacked. All I'm going to write in this paragraph is why he's famous. He is famous because he is the second LDS prophet. Oh, by the way, I'm mormon. So he's kind of a big deal to me. But probably the biggest reason is because he led the Mormons west. Soooo... onto paragraph number four.
For my last topic I'm supposed to write if I like him, so I'm going to tell you why I like Brigham Young. My first reason is probably really obvious (if you know me well :)). It's because of BYU. My all-time favorite school, ever. My last reason is because Brigham Young sets a great example for the rest of us. He kept on trying to get the Mormons to a safe place while being chased by mobs, he got really sick, and just still kept trying.
Sweet, I'm nearly done. So far this ultra boring book report about Brigham Young turned out to be pretty boring, right? So, for you late-comers I'm going to skim over what I wrote. OK? Good. So I wrote some facts about his family, why he's famous and why I think he's awesome. So, peace out, scouts. Baker. Over and out.

Who's Teaching Whom?

2011-03-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Being a mom is a daunting job. I am responsible for the physical, emotional and spiritual raising of my kids. No pressure.

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with the physical caretaking part of my job, but the spiritual part; oh man, that's quite the task. I want all my kids to have a firm testimony of the gospel, to know Jesus loves them, and to learn to do what's right. Daunting to say the least.

Sometimes they surprise me. Sometimes my kids teach me.

About a week ago my kids arrived at the bus stop to find a boy crying. Isaac went over and put his arm around the boy and asked what was wrong. He told him he was freezing and only had a thin jacket. Without a second thought, Isaac shed his coat and put it on his friend. "I have a hoodie on" he told him. "This will keep you warm".

Yesterday, same Isaac, new story.
Background: Isaac has a kid in his class who is different. And by different I mean weird. Says and does things that are strange and not age appropriate. Emotional outbursts, dramatic accusations of things that didn't happen, just weird behavior. Let's call him Mike.

"Mom, I'm starting to like playing soccer and basketball. I play them at recess with Mike"
"Isaac, isn't he a little... different?"
"So, I like him"

Who's the teacher here anyway?

Diggers!! State Champs 2010

2010-12-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

Yep. Epic Blog Fail.

So here is a little something that has been on my mind for some time.

Football.

Alex wrapped up his season with a banquet the other day and it was quite a finish. Alex's team shut out at every single team in his conference at one time or another. They soundly beat every team and when the smoke cleared, Alex's team was awarded the state championship, going 12-0.

Team sports. I am a big fan.

What did Alex learn that he would absolutely not learn in any other way, or at least not as effectively?

He learned that people depend on him and he needs to do his best so he won't let others down.
He learned to do his best so he wouldn't let himself down.
He learned how to get along with others.
He learned that performance is determined by practice.
He learned it isn't just about being strong but it is also about being a student of the game. Often, playing smarter, not stronger, equated to playing better.
He learned how to do things he didn't want to do.
He learned how to be humble, victory after victory.
He learned how to do his best and forget the rest.
He learned how to focus.
He learned how to perform well under pressure.
He learned to be grateful to Heavenly Father for the ability and opportunity to play (they prayed before and sometimes after every game).
He learned what it meant to be a part of a brotherhood.
He learned to pay attention or there would be hell to pay.
He learned what it means to fight through blood, sweat, and tears to become a champion.
Along with much, much more...

Go Diggers!
State Champs, 2010

2010-07-31T07:33:00.000-07:00

Playground story told by Isaac:

"Mom, a while ago I was playing at Bear Park and there was this bully and his goons over by the spider. So I went over to swing because they looked mean. I was just swinging and the bully and his goons came over behind me but I didn't see them. Then the bully pushed me off the swing. So I said "do you want to swing" to him and let him have my swing. Then I thought about the Golden Rule and so I snuck up behind him and pushed him off the swing.

There you go. New Golden Rule: Do unto others as they have done to you. Maybe not quite as effective..

New Family Pics!

2010-05-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks RLTPHOTOGRAPHY!

My Babies

2010-02-21T16:04:00.001-08:00

These are my babies: Elsie & Daxton

Yes. They are twins.

No. They are not identical.

Yes. I do have my hands full.

My babies are so funny. I know they're not supposed to "play together" yet according to the child development books, but play they do. I never have to look for both of them, only one. This is because they are always together. Always.
Where one goes, the other is close behind. What one is playing with, the other is suddenly completely focused on (especially Elsie, she's a taker).
They cry together too. Often enough, if one is sad, the other is too. I don't love that.
Daxton tends to be the more adventurous one. He'll venture out away from Elsie to check things out, but she's close behind. And if she doesn't follow, then he goes back to find her. Then the fun begins. Or mischief, rather. These two can empty a drawer, a cabinet, a toilet paper roll, or toy box faster than I can clean it up. Oh my!Their latest trick is trying to kiss each other. Remember one-year-old kisses? Open mouth and slobbery. It's something to behold. I know this next picture isn't great quality, but I LOVE it!

This summer should be really fun. They'll FINALLY be able to go outside and play together; oh happy day. I'm interested to see what kind of "fun" they'll get into.

Resolutions

2010-01-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

I'm not really one for making New Year's resolutions, but if I did I suppose they would fall into the usual categories: excercise, eat better, get organized, read my scriptures more regularly... something like that. But they all take so much time and energy, so in my rut I stay. Until today.

Alex was running out the door this morning to catch the bus and then he stopped, came back, and said "I love you Mom". Then he asked, "Mom, did you notice I'm saying "I love you" more? It's my New Year's resolution".

I have noticed actually. It's been really nice.

I wonder what would happen if we all made the same resolution. It's so simple yet what a difference it would make. Thanks for teaching me Alex. Maybe I need to start making New Years resolutions after all.

What Dads Miss

2009-10-18T08:20:00.001-07:00

So, what is the number one thing that prevents men from being really great dads?

The answer may surprise you...

Moms.

Now, all of you put down your rocks, there will be no stoning today. Allow me to explain.

Moms and dads have different roles. In many homes, dads are the primary breadwinners in that they leave the home during the day due to some kind of external employment. Moms stay home and run things on the domestic front, caring for young ones and tending to their every need. Both different responsibilities, but both absolutely necessary for a functioning household.

But staying home does have it's advantages in the relationship field.

Jenny is an incredible mother. She spends more time caring for our little ones than anyone I know. She feeds, changes, and nurtures our children so they are healthy and happy. She provides quality time and experiences with the kids so that, in turn, they adore her.

What do dads do?

Well, in many cases, dads come home from work and, if they are good fathers, they will play with the kids for an hour or so, then it is time for dinner and bed. Children know and like their dads, but not like they love and adore their moms. They just haven't invested the time like moms. Sure, dads may pitch in with the care-giving every now and then in that they give a bottle before bedtime or perhaps change a diaper or two, but it is nothing compared to moms.

Not to mention we are built differently. Moms come with the "Equipment" to feed the babies, and really, this act of service from mothers provides a bond that will remain unshaken during the infant years. Dudes can't touch this.

When my first tow boys were little, I thought they were great, but I couldn't wait for them to get older. I wanted to throw a football with them. I wanted to "play" with them. I didn't want to just sit there and hold them. Boring. To be honest, I didn't' even really like them when they were little. Jenny would sit and swoon over them. I would happily hand the baby over, of course only to help realize her desire ;)

When Alex got older to where he could actually do stuff, I started becoming interested. We played sports together. We have season sports tickets together. We would read books together. He became one of my best friends. So when Isaac was little, I would always take the older Alex so Jenny could focus her attention on baby Isaac. In reflection, I didn't have much to do with Isaac when he was little because I had Alex and Jenny did everything for the littlest one.

Moms raise babies in such a way that they don't really need dads. When babies cry, they want mom. When they need comfort.... mom. Hungry.... mom. Dads can provide some relief to moms every now and then, but the need is nothing compared to the mother. As a consequence, dads are forced to play catch up in the relationship game later in life or they always remain the distant parent.

If moms allowed/forced dads to do more in the earlier stages of a babies life, then relationships between babies and fathers would be stronger and they would be closer in later years.

Enter Daxton and Elsie.

About 8 months ago, we had twins and everything changed.

The major difference between having one baby and two is that DADS ARE MOMS as well! Mom can't care for two babies all the time so dads are forced to step up their game in the mom category. I rock a baby to sleep every night. I feed a baby at every meal. It seems like I don't ever stop changing diapers. I get a baby dressed in the morning. Wherever we go, I am carrying a baby. I am always responsible for one of them. There is no hand off. There is no break. There aren't many dads who can say this.

Every day.

I am mom.

As a result of my invested time, I adore these babies. I don't want them to ever grow up. I can't wait to see them, to play with them, to hold them. And in return, I think they adore me to! When they cry, they want me. When they are hungry, they want me. When I walk in the room, they climb up on my leg. A smile always breaks across their face when I look into their eyes.

And this is the greatest reward.

I'm sure mom still has me beat, but at least I come in as a close second.

And that is fine with me!

Some Fall Family Pics

2009-10-08T23:26:00.001-07:00

Something Special

2009-10-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. But this year, I love it for some different reasons.

I love Fall because it is the season of college football, and if you know me and my family, we LOVE the Cougars. But Cougar football is not what this post is about.

Fall is also the season for two of my sons PLAYING football. I can't think of anything I enjoy more than going to games and practices and watching my boys put on the pads/flags and get out there and have fun!

I have even subjected myself to being the coach of said teams. Last year, I was the head coach and offensive coordinator for Alex (10) and this year I am the offensive coordinator of Isaac's (6) team.

On Thursday at Isaac's game, things went really well for our team. We jumped off to a quick lead and we were totally owning our opponents. I felt like we could do anything against these guys. We put different kids in different positions. We ran crazy plays. Everything we attempted ended up in a touchdown.

The other team: nothing. Our defense continued to shut them down, play after play. In seeing the discouragement on the other teams' coaches and players faces, I determined that this was nothing new for them. It was obvious they hadn't seen much success throughout the season. It was tough to see other 6 year olds feeling a little discouraged.

So, towards the end of the game, I met with our team's other coach, and we decided we were going to help the other team out. We met in the huddle with our boys and asked if they were having fun! "YES" came the unanimous yell. We then discussed that we didn't think the other team was having as much fun because they hadn't scored (we learned later they hadn't scored all season). We asked the boys how they would feel if we helped them score a touchdown. EVERY boy shook his head in agreement that this is an idea they could support. They didn't care about the score. They were having fun and they wanted the other boys to have fun as well.

Operation "Don't pull the flag" was about to begin.

I walked over to the coach of the other team and I whispered to him, "Just run the ball."

I turned to Jenny. "Watch this."

The ball was snapped. The clumsy 6 year old handed the ball off to the closest guy. He started to run towards the outside. Our defense swarmed him like they had done all day, but then, something special happened. One boy dove purposefully towards the runner but obviously missed. The rest of our team collapsed on the runner, but instead of pulling the flag, they surrounded him and, not knowing what else to do, ran WITH HIM down the field. Our defense was the running back's own personal escort.

To the 15, the 10, the 5, touchdown!

The sidelines erupted.

The parents of the other team jumped to their feet cheering hysterically! Then our parents started to understand what had happened and they joined in the cheering. The other coaches ran to their players and embraced all of them. And then the players.... they celebrated like they just got every Christmas present they ever put on their wish list.

And our players just sat and watched. And smiled.

I glanced over at Jenny who understood what just happened. She had tears in her eyes.

I never thought one of the best moments as a coach would be watching another team score on our defense.

It was definitely something special.

100

2009-08-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

100th cache!

Holy cow it has been a long time since we blogged. Sincerest apologies. This is what summer does to us in this house. Fortunately, things are settling down a bit and you will hear from us more often.

Last week, Happily Ever After Video and two weddings at the Logan temple on one day. Neither had receptions attached, so we decided to load the whole family up and spend the night in Cache Valley. Well, with a name like that (Cache Valley), we decided it was an omen to discover our 100th cache here.

For those you who don't know about what I speak, here is a short explanation. My family is totally addicted to geocaching. Geocaching is a high tech form of treasure hunting utilizing GPS navigation, hints, maps, recent logs, etc. all to find hidden treasure planted by fellow cachers all over the globe. It is a super fun activity that every member of the family can enjoy.

So, below is a tribute of some of our favorite caching adventures!

Our first cache placement.
First Geocoin!

Here is to many logged caching hours and many more to come! You should come with us some time. You would be amazed at how much fun it is!

Your Grave

2009-07-19T01:37:00.000-07:00

So do you know where you want to be buried?

I do.

Morbid? Maybe...

Every family has their favorite vacation spot...

Ever since I was a little boy, my family has annually visited Island Park, Idaho. It started out just taking trips to Yellowstone to see the animals and geysers. But over the years, our travels to this part of the world have become a tradition and a staple which I hope are never exhausted.

In the beginning, we would simply overnight it in a local West Yellowstone hotel. Today, our family (mom and dad) own four, wonderful condos at the Island Park Village Resort where we experience every luxury. The resort has a pool, tennis courts, golf course, a variety of rental programs, racquetball, and even ping pong. My kids also engage in the weekly craft gatherings to the playing of every board (bored) game under the sun.

Island Park is a heavily wooded, mountainous area which experiences perfect 70 degree temperatures in the summer. Here, streams around every bend meander their way through one pristine meadow after another. Animals such as moose, deer, elk, and even bear wander freely and uninhibited. Fishing is ideal. ATV'ers are spoiled with trails that lead everywhere and nowhere. The air is crisp and fresh, which, when accompanied with the surreal Island Park surroundings, rejuvenate the soul.

One could simply sit on the porch and watch the sun set and feel.... overwhelmingly.... satisfied.

Complete.

I love it here. I want to grow old in this place. And yes, I want Island Park to house my final resting spot as well!

This last week we finished up another successful vacation as a family at Island Park and like all our vacations, the days went by too fast. I need this place to be a little more permanent!

I guess it's back to counting down the days till our return next year.

Thanks mom and dad, for introducing me and my family to this part of the world and enabling our frequent return. Island Park is a legacy you have fostered which I intend to share with my family and we will always be grateful to you for the many wonderful experiences you have facilitated.

You will always be remembered for your loving generosity. We love you!

"Mein Kampf"

2009-06-26T21:22:00.002-07:00

(Matt here)

Adolf Hitler was kind of a trouble maker.

In 1923, Hitler attempted his first overthrowing of the German government. He was unsuccessful and his attempt landed him in jail for "political crimes". While imprisoned, he decided he would document his struggles in an autobiographical book titled "Mein Kampf", which is German for "My Struggle". Simply put, it is in this book that he laid out his agenda for all that he deemed good, how to realize such euphoric goodness in his surrounding environment, and finally, how to terminate that which didn't quite fit into his Utopian game plan.

His Struggle.

He wrote a book on it.

So what is your struggle? Could you write a book about it?

Hey! One big whine session! Fantastic...

So, this post today is entitled "Mein Kampf" because I am going to let you all in on a little piece of my psyche.

I had a friend a long time ago. A dear, dear friend. I haven't seen this friend now for quite some time. This friend was special because he always made me feel so good about myself. I wanted to spend all day with this friend, once I really got to know said friend. It wasn't easy at first, but after a while, this friend and I REALLY hit it off. If I went one day without seeing this friend, the day was just all the harder and I couldn't wait to see said friend as soon as possible.

Don't you wish you had such a friend?

Well, so do I. Again, I haven't seen this friend for ages and I desperately miss this friends company.

So, who is this friend you ask?

Said friend's name is: (drum roll.........)

Exercise.

There was a time about a year ago, I was running everyday. I never felt better! I lost a lot of weight and things were going my way. I ran a 10k. I was actually fitting into my pants and even having to go buy skinnier ones. I cared about what I ate and meals didn't simply consist of everything. I had time to go to the gym.

The hard work was really quite blissful and I have never felt better.

I guess thats what feeling healthy does to you. I hardly remember. It has been too long...

So what is your "Mein Kampf"? Well, mine is exercise. I need to get back on the horse. I need to rededicate myself. I need to make it happen and become reacquainted with my long lost friend that could prolong my life so I can spend more years with my grandbabies. I mean, seriously, is there anything more important that that?

So, I am not sure where this post is going from here, but I will say that I am going to call my old friend this week and see if said friend wants to get together sometime....

I'll tell said friend you said hi, that is, if this friend will take me back.

The Ten Commandments of Facebook (by Jenny)

2009-06-19T16:01:00.001-07:00

I am addicted to facebook. I admit it. I check my phone for updates all the time. I love seeing what other people are doing and I enjoy all the sarcasm and humor.

However.

Some people don't get it. They don't understand what facebook is. Or what the purpose is. It is where we publish superficial tidbits about our lives for those around us. That's it. Girls night out is a better place to discuss the disfunctionalities of our lives. Not the world wide web. I sometimes wonder if some people realize anyone could be reading their comments...

So I wrote a list to help. Here it is. Take it or leave it.

1. Thou shalt not whine.
OK. We all have bad days. Crappy things happen. Fine, tell us. We're your friends and we want to know. This is for those people who continually post their woe-is-me status updates day after day after day... you know the type.
2. Thou shalt not publish thy dirty laundry.
Facebook is not the place to tell the world about the fight you're having with your husband. Period. Call your therapist.
3. Thou shalt not call names.
Are we really in Junior High again? C'mon. (Of course, name calling in jest or when funny is acceptable, but if you're not sure, don't do it)
4. Thou shalt not publish your bedroom escapades.
Need I go into this one?
5. Thou shalt attempt humor once in a while.
Now I am neither funny nor witty, but I try. In this arena, go for it. The standard "I went to the park. I love chocolate. I am a mom. I work at Zions Bank.." Boring. Jazz it up a little. Give it a whirl. With practice, you may become that funny person you always wanted to be.
6. Thou shalt publish a variety of topics.
At the risk of offending someone, I have some friends who post about the same thing every day. I don't even read their posts anymore. Move along. Next subject.
7. Thou shalt comment on other statuses.
You don't have to comment on everyone. But some statuses sometimes. We all like to be acknowledged. It only takes a minute so just do it.
8. Thou shalt use caution in publishing personal information.
This is the world wide web. Be smart. No phone number or address listings.
9. Thou shalt have a facebook account if your kids do.
Now this is mainly for parents of teenagers. Just another way to spy on your kids. Don't act like you don't want to.
10. Thou shalt not accept all friend requests.
This is more of a rule than a commandment. It's OK to say no. You don't know the person? You don't like them? Say no. It's all right.

So there it is. I got that off my chest. Whew. I feel better now.

Perspective

2009-06-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

My cell phone rang. My friend, Kelly, was on the other line. "Clark's house is on fire."

Clark is the owner and primary photographer of Swensen Photography. I have worked with him for over a decade and he is truly a wonderful guy. He is genuinely funny and his photography is exceptional. He has been very successful in marketing his artistic ability and I enjoy every opportunity I get to work with him on a wedding.

"Clark's house is on fire."

When I heard this devastating news, I rushed to his home, I wasn't sure why, but I went anyway. Outside his residence, I found hundreds of Clark's friends and family all trying to give him comfort and show support, but failing in the ability to formulate such emotions. There just weren't words.

I was standing next to Clark when the fire chief approached him and declared, "There isn't a lot of time, but if you want to try to get something out of the house, now is your chance." He and Clark scurried towards the house and a few minutes later, out he came with two soaking wet computers and 8 TB of storage. In four hands rested years of his work. Hundreds of shoots. Thousands of images. All threatened by the flames that had destroyed Clark's home and the world wide headquarters of Swensen Photography. Clark handed them to me and a few others and pleaded "See what you can do." Back Clark went to do whatever one does when one's house is burning and we went to work, happy that we finally had something to do.

Long story short. The pictures were salvaged.

But Clark's images aren't what this post is about. Not really anyway.

When I first arrived on the scene and saw Clark. I didn't know what to say. I simply walked up to him and gave him a hug. As I searched for words of comfort that would mean anything at this terrible hour, Clark, in his happy-go-lucky way, asked, "So, how are the twins?"

You're kidding me.

"WHO CARES!" I wanted to yell at him! My twins? Who cares about my twins!? Your house is on fire. Everything you own is burning to the ground. Everything. 100% loss. And you are wondering how my twins are? Hello!?

But then I thought, how amazing is Clark for thinking that. When all was lost, he inquired about me and that which was important in my life.

There is more.

As I watched Clark for the next few hours on that night he consistently remained upbeat. He smiled at family and friends. When new people arrived, he was genuinely happy to see them. I stood and watched in awe as Clark hugged and greeted everyone around in the foreground of utter devestation. It was truly amazing.

How would I respond? How would I react. When the fire chief approached me, what would I say or grab? What do I consider my most priceless possessions? Clark grabbed images. Not just his own, but all his clients, who, in a way, had become part of the Swensen Photography family. For Clark, nothing was really THAT important. He knew his family was safe, and it was this knowledge that was the glue that, I believe, kept Clark from falling apart on that night. We can lose everything, but when we have family, we can overcome anything. Clark showed me this on that night.

It has been a week and I had the opportunity to shoot with Clark again today. His happy-go-lucky self emanated through every action and word. The fire hadn't phased him a bit. Of course, it had caused a few speed bumps in the life of Clark, but when asked how he was doing...
his response FLOORED me....

"It has been the best thing that has ever happened to us."

I was stunned.

He went on to say, (paraphrasing) "There have been so many miracles that my family has witnessed. We have had so many family and friends offer their love and support, it has just been an amazing experience to be the recipients of everyone's acts of love and kindness. My family and I will never be the same."

... in a good way.

I guess life entails happiness, but then we will all face difficulty and even tragedy. I have learned something invaluable from Clark today. Regardless of what happens to us or how difficult things can sometimes get, it is important to keep one thing in mind...

Perspective.

Look How We've Grown...

2009-05-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

One Year Later....

May 26, 2009

AKA: Frax

2009-05-27T13:50:00.001-07:00

I don't know why I call him "Frax". Maybe just the rhyme. Probably the rhyme.

Of the two, Dax is the youngest. Elsie made her way quickly and effeciently into this world after three or so good pushes. She cried for a minute. Then she pretty much just chilled thereafter.

Dax was different.

Many have read the story from this previous post but to sum things up, Dax had a pretty rude introduction to this world. After being literally yanked out of his peaceful home, nearly breaking arms and legs (he was delivered breech), and then not being able to breathe for a good couple of minutes after extraction, Daxton's welcome was much less inviting than that of his sister's.

It has been four months now I am amazed at how much they have grown.

So how would I describe Dax a' Frax today?

Well, first. He is all boy.

Daxton has an insatiable appetite, but maybe that is just a Baker attribute. One thing is for sure, he has definately acquired the Baker belch. Alex and Isaac like to be in the room whenever Dax is nursing because like the consistency of Old Faithful, there is always a wall-rumbling belch of satisfaction after every feeding!

Another Daxism is although his intake is great, it seems his output is even greater! Daxton is a leaky, leaky faucet. Drool of all sorts is constantly seeping from his mouth which causes multiple daily outfit changes accompanied with constant carpet scrubbing. I am stunned at how he can spit up all that he has eaten and then immediately produce the cutest, big-eyed smile which instantly enables the holder to see past what has just occured, and reflect a heart-felt greeting in return.

Elsie likes to smile but one has to work for it. Daxton doesn't seem to stop smiling. His bald head and toothless grin is the perfect recipe for parental joy and is the antidote for any bad day. Frax's grunt laugh can brighten any room and it's contageousness is overwhelming.

Among so many other things, perhaps my favorite Frax attribute is his snuggleability. When the day is done and Frax is bathed and fed, I love to take him in my arms as he snuggles his head into my elbow pit, shielding his eyes from any sliver of light. He often falls asleep quickly and during those quiet few moments, I acknowledge how lucky I am to have such a joy in my life as Dax a' Frax.

Even if I have to change my shirt from his drool after I am done.

Green Side of the Grass

2009-05-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me, you know that I loathe getting my haircut.

Don't get me wrong, I love having a fresh do and enjoy the ability of hearing because my hair is no longer lopping over my ears. I simply hate the process, not the end result.

Allow me to explain.

Normally I walk into a salon and am greeted by this:

Next, he/she (whatever that is above) takes me back to a chair which belongs to Tenequa, The Hair Goddess (at least she thinks she is). This is Tenequa.

I tell her what I want, but I don't think she is really listening. She is completely engaged in a conversation with Opal (the stylist next to her) speaking in a language I don't understand. Not that I could understand anything because the music is so loud I can't hear the whining clippers assaulting my scalp... When they do try to talk to me and make polite conversation, I cringe and pray to find just the right answer that will disengage any need for further dialogue... She can just keep talking to Opal about who is pregnant now...

...just cut my hair.

She completes my "style", I drop a $20 on the counter, and I thank goodness I don't have to do that for another two months (or hopefully longer)!!

Well, today, something different happened.

I took the boys to school, and on the way home I noticed a shop called "Our Barber Shop". It is located on 10907 South and State in Sandy. The Phone is 801-576-5651. My wool had grown quite long and uncomfortable so I decided to give it a try.

The first thing I noticed was how busy it was. Lots of old, old men. The youngest patron was in his 70s. Instead of Tenequa, I was greeted by Harold. He must have been 75. His partner in crime, Raymond, had plenty of life experience as well. There was old fashioned music playing and everything seemed to move just a little slower. It was a breath of fresh air.

I sat down in a super comfy, black chair. Harold inquired how I liked my hair and I told him "just make it look nice" and off he went. It was wonderful! He told me about how things used to be. That you could eat at Chuck-a-Rama for $2.50. He told me about his military days. We discussed interesting things. It was like talking to my grandpa whom I miss dearly.

I knew I had arrived when every new/old comer entered the clingy door with the same greeting from my barber... "How you doin', Harold?" His response, "Still on the green side of the grass!"

And then the haircut... He cut all the normal things when I get my haircut, but then the real fun began. He heated up some shaving cream and began applying it to all those annoying places like my neck and around my ears. With quick, professional precision, he whipped out the biggest razor I had ever seen, and commenced his slaughter of all my pesky, unwanted follicles. At first, my heart began to beat a little faster, after all, he is a little advanced in age and one slip meant my jugular, but after a few minutes I just sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the shear and shave.

And then came the old-man trim. He razored my burns, neck, plucked my ear hair, trimmed my bushy eyebrows, yanked out my nose hair, and he even took care of those filler hairs attempting to bridge the gap between my eyebrows creating my ominous unibrow. Well, not not today...

...not under Harold's watch.

After a final dash of aftershave, I was done.

I felt like giving Harold a hug.

Today, I am definitely happy I am "on the green side of the grass!"

PS... All for $10!

Proud

2009-05-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

Last game of the season...

Thirty seconds to go with the score 7-6. We just scored a touchdown, and the coach decides to go for two.

We want the win.

3 months ago, Alex swaggered onto the football field where he knew no one. His coach, Tito, welcomed Alex to the team with his big bear voice. We later learned this team had played together during tackle season for Hilcrest and Alex was not only the newcomer, but the only stranger on the team.

Practices went well and the coach discovered that Alex was a good student of the game and had a pretty good arm. Alex started taking snaps and overnight replaced the former quarterback which so happened to be the coach's son. Alex embraced the QB1 position and became a rallying leader on the fledgling team.

From the sidelines, I watched in awe as Alex did things I never dreamed possible. He took snaps, negotiated runs, drilled passes, and led his team to a 6-2 winning season. From completing deep bomb passes to 50 yard rushing scrambles, Alex did it all.

I know this sounds like a parent dotting over his son and could one be more tainted? Well, if you don't like it, go read seriouslysoblessed or something...

Anyway.

3o seconds to go till the end of the season and our team is going for two and the victory.

It's either euphoria or devastation, well, at least until Alex's TV time when either feeling will be forgotten.

30 seconds...

The play is given to Alex and it is a fake handoff bootleg pass/run, whichever is available.

Alex takes the snap.

Fakes to Jordan for the run. He bootlegs right (ladies this means he runs right).
Both receivers have double coverage and Alex is facing up to the linebacker. I look in Alex's eyes and they glow with intensity and determination. Alex bears down, tucks the ball and with all his strength and the weight of the teams hopes and success on those little nine-year old shoulders, he rushes for the end zone.
The linebacker closes in. Alex lunges and....

SCORES!

Victory.

Perhaps the best thirty seconds of my life.

After the celebration from the kids and parents on the sideline, the coach gathered the players around him and started handing out trophies and pictures while the kids displayed as much excitement about their Oreos as their tremendous victory. The coach recognized the players for their accomplishments but then I noticed he had four game balls, which he personally purchased (what a stud), laying at his feet.

The first player received a ball for his defensive abilities. The second player as well. The third for being one of the best rushers in the league. And then finally, my heart stopped. He brought Alex to the front. The coach, again in his big, bear voice yet smoothed with compassion said, "When I saw Alex's name on the roster, I wasn't sure what we were going to get. I hope he's good!" He lauged. "But a team is only as good as it's QB, and I believe we have the best QB in the league. Alex, this game ball is for you and it has been a joy to have you on our team!"

The players and parents erupted with applause.

I passed out.

Proud.

Everything I needed to know I learned from my Mom

2009-05-10T20:49:00.001-07:00

Go to bed after the news (sometimes six o' clock). Bear your testimony. Hug your children. School projects sometimes last until the early morning hours. Strawberries are yummy. Sunday dinner includes rolls. Get up with the sun. Do your visiting teaching barefoot. Always have cookies on hand. Call your mom. Plant a garden. Go for a walk. Pee before you jump on the trampoline. Don't waste. It's ok to read to your high school Senior. Singing is a form of worship. Don't leave anyone out. Play board games. Visit your parents. Scripture study before sunrise. The car is a good place to talk to your children. Listen to music. Attend as many of your childrens' activities and sporting events as possible. Elvis is still the King. Keep your Mothers Day cards. Feed the ducks (unless the sign says not to). Eat fruit whenever available. Get a job as soon as you are old enough. Go to college. Pray. Plant flowers. Hold your babies. Accept church callings and do your very best. Be positive. Serve others. Be kind to your mother-in-law. Take pictures. Love your husband. Eat leftovers. Shoes are only for winter. You can't take peanut butter on an airplane. Treats keep your kids and their friends at your house where you can watch them. Watch musicals. Keep the laundry going. Live on a budget. Smile often. Wash the dishes. Cold food is nasty. Don't swear. Enjoy the moment. Do your family history. Don't forget your reading glasses. Canning in the fall. Play. Family comes first. Your momma is your momma and you love her no matter what.

Thanks for all you've taught me mom. I love you. Happy Mothers Day!

Pink

2009-05-09T21:11:00.000-07:00

3 boys.

Every dad's dream come true. Alex is nine. He loves sports and action. Isaac is six. He loves to wrestle and play video games. Dax is four months and I am sure it will be more of the same.

Pink.

I never thought there would be any pink in my house. I was pretty happy about that. No girly stuff. Only macho, tough stuff. Jenny was a lone woman in our house. For those of you know her, she isn't much of a pink gal.

No dolls. No dresses. No princess outfits. No dance recitals.

All fine with me...

Pink...

Tonight I shot a reception with a wonderful bride and groom. We had a great time at the temple and the party that evening was a hit as well. When the time came for the daddy/daughter dance, the dad walked across the floor, offered his hand to the cutest bride ever, and escorted her to the floor. And they danced....

Now, I am a wedding videographer and I see this all the time, more than 1000 times. But tonight was different. They played a new song that I hadn't heard before and you should all go listen to it. It is called Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman. As the dad took his little girl in his arms, I began listening to the music. I watched the dad closely as a tear fell down his cheek. As they rotated, I saw the bride crying as well.

Then suddenly.... I couldn't see.

Yep. I started bawling too! I tried to keep my composure, but holy crap I couldn't see the dance and my eyes were leaking! A couple of the bridesmaids noticed and they started to snicker and I couldn't believe what was happening.

I was imagining that dance with my little Princess, Elsie.

What will she look like on her wedding day. Which song will she choose for our dance? Will I be able to keep my composure? Probably not since I am bawling at a strangers wedding. How will I EVER be able to give her away? How could I ever expect or hope that another man will ever be able to take care of her or love her like I do? What will our dance be like?

So I pulled myself together, finished the reception, rushed home, and crept into Elsie's room where she lay sleeping peacefully. I reached into her crib and took her little hand in mine...

I reflected again on the song lyrics: Have a read...

She spins and she sways to whatever song plays,
Without a care in the world.
And I'm sittin' here wearin' the weight of the world on my shoulders.
It's been a long day and there's still work to do,
She's pulling at me saying "Dad I need you!
There's a ball at the castle and I've been invited and I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy, please!"

So I'll dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I'll dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone

She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress
She says "Dad, the prom is just one week away,
And I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy, please!"

So I'll dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I'll dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
She will be gone.

Well, she came home today
With a ring on her hand
Just glowin' and tellin' us all they had planned
She says "Dad, the wedding's still six months away
but I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy please!"

So I'll dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I'll dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
(even one song)
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone"

Pink.

Not too fast, Baby Elsie... Your daddy is suddenly a big softie and he needs some time to build up to this... so please, for my sake...

Take your time.

Click HERE to listen to the song. Better grab a Kleenex...

Lessons in Life

2009-05-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

Nine years, 7 months, and 17 days ago I became capable of murder.

This is the day my Alex was born.

I looked into his eyes and I knew I would never be the same. I vowed then and there no one would ever hurt my boy. Ever.

Fast forward nine years.

Today I came into the kitchen and saw Alex sobbing. He told me some older neighborhood kids were bossing him around and hurting him. They'd make him fetch the ball when they kicked it. Then they'd wrestle. One would hold him while the other kicked his legs out from underneath him.

I saw red. I mean blood red. The boys are nowhere to be found. Figures. I'd run if I knew I was coming too.

I want to cradle my Alex's almost five foot body into my arms and make all the hurt go away. I want to promise him it will never happen again. I want to find those boys and... well, I won't go into that.

Herein lies the problem: it will happen again. Someone else will be mean. Someone else will hurt his feelings. His heart will probably get broken. What can I do? No one told me being a mom means sometimes you can't fix it. No one told me my insides would feel like they've been run over by a cement truck when I see my child hurting.

Now how do I teach my son to stand up for himself? How do I teach him to sometimes walk away? How do I tell him it's going to be ok? There is so much to teach him, but so many of life's lessons have to be learned by experience. I want to protect him from all of it but I can't. He has to learn the same way we all did.

So for today I hold my boy. I tell him it's all going to be ok. I tell him he did the right thing by leaving when the situation got out of hand. And I tell him those boys should be afraid. Very afraid.

I'll deal with them tomorrow.

Happily Ever After Video Made The DNEWS! Wahoo!

2009-04-25T23:52:00.000-07:00

Check it out!

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705299733/Video-biz-is-dream-come-true.html?pg=1

This just happened...

2009-04-24T20:24:00.001-07:00

It's Friday night.

I just finished a reception and was feeling pretty good about a long day at work.

I enter the house through the garage door and this is the story conveyed to me:

Jenny leaves the boys in the nursery with crying babies and is in the kitchen frantically trying to put together a bottle as she listens to the babies screaming. After what seems like ages to the boys, she finally accomplishes this task and rushes down the hall. She opens the door to the nursery and this is what she sees:

Alex is on the chair, desperately trying to comfort a wailing Elsie. She has been sick for the past two days and is quite miserable. He's holding her tight. He's covering her eyes (she actually likes this). He's rubbing her head. Nothing is working. Unable to calm his little sister he bursts into tears crying, "she hates me!" Jenny then turns to Isaac and sees him hovering over a shrieking Daxton, doing everything to comfort him, also to no avail. Isaac then loses it because, well, everyone else is crying. He doesn't know what to do.

That's right people, this is the wailing room. Don't enter unless your packing Kleenex.

After a quick assessment, Jenny swoops in as "SUPERMOM" and snatches both babies up, comforts both, holds Isaac as well and talks down Alex, assuring him that he won't lose his status as awesome big brother.

After a few minutes, I enter a peaceful and quiet house.

I just missed the storm.

Funny. I didn't see the "Supermom" symbol in the sky. You know, like the one in "Batman". I guess we don't really need one...

She just lives at my house.

Logic???

2009-04-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

Isaac says to me, "mom, I wish we could have another baby."

I asked him "why?"

His reply, "so we could play our Nintendo DSs all night while you were having the baby again"

This is why six year olds are NOT in charge of family planning.

Update...

2009-04-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while (because I've been soooo tired I can't see straight) so here goes:

These past two months since the babies were born have been amazing. It's really been a family effort to raise them. I can't do it all myself this time so everyone been pitching in. There is always someone to hold, someone to burp, someone to change... And it seems as though one of them is always awake. I don't get a thing done. But, oh well. I've learned from the boys that Elsie and Daxton will be big kids before I know it.
My boys love the babies! We've had to limit Isaac to only a couple of kisses an hour for the babies. And Alex is great. He can do anything from changing a diaper to getting someone dressed to rocking a baby to sleep.
Elsie has been such a joy. It's fun to have a girl around the house, especially when it comes to dressing her and to accessorizing. Alex is quite interested in what she wears and lets me know if he doesn't approve of her outfit. She is smiling and cooing and loves bathtime! Alex said to me the other day after Elsie cooed "mom, that is my favorite sound in the whole world".
Daxton is also a good baby. His rubbery bald head is now sprouting some soft fuzz. It's a good thing. We were worried he didn't have any hair follicles. He is so smiley. Anyone who looks at him gets a big open mouthed grin from our Dax. Dax also has an insatiable appetite. The boy's mouth is always open! Matt has started calling him Dax-a-Frax for some reason or another.
All in all, things are going well here on the home front. The babies just slept for 7 consecutive hours at the same time last night and we're hoping for more of that. Any kind of a schedule would be better than the helter-skelter flying by the seat of our pants routine we've been rolling with lately.
I think the best part of our new lives is how in love Matt is with the babies. When the boys were babies I just did it all and he didn't have to do much with them. Not so this time around. It's been so great to watch him love our babies and dote over them. He can't seem to get enough. He blessed them last Sunday and it was so special. The Spirit was very strong in the room and I could feel the intense love he feels for these two precious babies we waited so long for. But it's not just all about the babies. Matt also takes time to be with Alex and Isaac. He's currently reading the Lord of the Rings series to them (complete with voices) and they're all loving it. How blessed I am to be married to such a great man.So I know this blog has been all over the place without rhyme or reason but that's kind of how our lives are right now so it fits.

No Sleep For You!

2009-03-04T08:46:00.000-08:00

So much for going back to bed!

Remember...

2009-02-27T21:24:00.000-08:00

When Alex and Isaac were little, they would often take forever to calm down in order to go to sleep. They would fight and fuss until finally, after total exhaustion of exuding every possible effort to maintain consciousness, they would collapse into a deep slumber. But often it would take a minute... ok more like an hour.

So at night, there wasn't much I could do. I didn't have the magic juice that Jenny possessed which acted like a sleep drug for the babies. So, I would just sit there and hold them while they fought, squirmed, and cried.

One night, long ago, as I was trying to get Isaac to calm down, I decided to sing "I am a Child of God". I sang it quietly where he could barely hear it. But something happened. Isaac stopped squirming. He stopped crying. He just lied there... motionless. Like he was listening. I am not sure Isaac understood what was going on or maybe he thought I had a goofy voice... but I had stumbled onto something that enabled me to calm a crying baby, and I was very relieved... I sang that song often to him, almost nightly.

When Isaac grew older and just started going to bed, I didn't sing to him anymore. He just didn't need it, right? I doubt he even remembered that I used to perform this task to induce his sleep when he was a baby...

... until today.

I was in the bedroom and I heard Elsie start to fuss. As I approached the bedroom, Isaac had beat me to her. I rounded the corner and the sound coming from the room stopped me in my tracks. A moment later, Jenny approached from the hall where she stopped as she heard the sound as well. Isaac was singing, ever so softly. He normally 'sings' "Enter Sandman" or something from Rush, but today, his song selection was a melody that melted both Jenny's and my heart. He was singing "I am a Child of God." He sang softly. He sang lovingly. And Elsie not only stopped fussing but she drifted off to sleep. Jenny and I stole a quick nod and loving glance at each other, and then we went on doing whatever it was that was occupying our time before this little moment where time stood still.

Maybe they do remember...

Venus VS. Mars

2009-02-22T14:05:00.000-08:00

So, new Blog template... new look. Hope you like it!

Since the babies were born, I have been noticing that Jenny and I are communicating much more effectively as of late. Fewer brawls... I know this is a strange thing to proclaim to the wide world of web, but it is true nonetheless. I like Jenny more lately. Maybe it is because she just gave me two beautiful children, or maybe because she looks smoking hot after three weeks, or maybe she is making all my favorite dishes which I immensely enjoy. It could be a combination of all those things, but the more I really think about it, it comes down to one thing...

Communication.

I think after 11 years she might actually be getting it. Or maybe something popped in her brain while pushing out those kids... I don't know.

I think she is finally realizing I am a dude and I don't think like her.

Example #1-- When we were in the hospital, I told her over and over that she needed to tell me "EXACTLY" what she wanted. Don't beat around the bush. Don't make me guess. Just tell me how it is, with no pork attached. If she needed water, she would say "I need water", and I happily retrieved a cup of the most delicious water I could find. She didn't smack her lips like she was parched hoping I would figure out how she was feeling about being dehydrated and then get her water. I would fail every one of those tests. She is just telling me exactly what she wants/needs. Our communication is continuing along this path and I think we are both happier.

Example #2-- She doesn't get mad or her feelings hurt when I do the same as she in #1. As a guy, I sometimes blurt out what I am thinking without much thought of repercussion. Many tell me that I am pretty bad at this and she is a saint for putting up with me. But I think she is really figuring it out! When I say things in guy language, she is able to un-emotionally decipher what it is I am communicating, still realizing I love her, and then we get stuff done! It is awesome and, trust me, it hasn't always been this way.

So how did we get to this state of communication bliss?

Who knows... We just say it how it is. We don't play emotional guessing games hoping the other spouse can solve the riddle. We just communicate.

Or maybe she blew an emotional gasket during labor...

I....Can't....Breathe....!!!

2009-02-15T00:26:00.000-08:00

Holidays are fantastic! We love them all at our house. In fact, we take full advantage of celebrating anything and everything. If there is even the slightest reason to get a cake for anything, we go for it. It would come as no surprise if we were to purchase a cake for the sole reason of not having had a cake to celebrate for a while. We would go buy a cake and the inscription thereon would read "Happy Haven't Had A Cake In A Week Day". That's how we roll.

But it's not just that...

Holidays are about the green light, the kitchen pass, the gluttonous approach to overeating. And today was one of those days... All we need is the smallest excuse to throw all healthy eating out the window and become sugar, bad food junkies.

Also, it doesn't help the situation when every holiday has a treat to which I am totally addicted. Thanksgiving... those creamy orange pumpkins. Easter... really good jelly beans and those jelly rabbits. Valentines day... the candy hearts (Only from Wal-Mart. They have to be the soft kind that stay soft.) And then there is Christmas where everything tastes good. Doomed...

So Valentines Day for us was having some pizza early afternoon and then going to a late lunch at The Training Table where we feasted on some delicious cheese fries. Then we came home and Jenny cooked up some Cheese Chips, mixed with a side of Rittersport chocolate (btw German comps... I found where one can purchase Erdbeer and Orange Joghurt Rittersports... yep the real deals) and bubble gum fudge. And then we topped the evening off with my wife's famous caramel popcorn.

We ate so much... so gluttonous... we can't breathe AND we feel terrible...

Happy Valentines Day!

Bring on Easter!

Jenny, baby... I want you to know... there isn't anyone with whom I would rather get sick!

Alex is an amazing helper

2009-02-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

And here's my side of the Story: Jenny's Version

2009-01-31T16:36:00.000-08:00

Well Matt told his side of the story just hours after the babies were born. I however, haven't been quite up to it. One week later, and before I forget, here's what I remember:

Friday, January 23rd Matt was over at his parent's house sleeping (he's been working a night shift at ARUP for a couple of months for their fabulous insurance) and I was just hanging out at home. I couldn't seem to make myself do anything due to the HUGE belly and aching everything. Not sure if I've mentioned it, but being 37 1/2 weeks pregnant with twins is awful. I mean it. Just plain awful.

OK, so as I was saying, I basically sat around all day watching movies with my kids and feeling sorry for myself. I had been having random contractions for a month or two but seemed to be having more than usual that day and they were slightly more intense. By 3 or 4 in the afternoon I started thinking I was definitely having more contractions than usual, but I got started with Alex and Isaac so I wasn't sure what going into labor on my own felt like. So I did what any modern mom does when she has a question: I googled it. Google said false labor would go away with excercise and real labor would get worse. So I had the boys put on their coats and we went for a walk (waddle) around the block. I ended up having to stop for every contraction because I just couldn't walk through them and this is when I really started getting my hopes up. So when we got home I got out a paper and started writing down when and how long my contractions were while I read to the boys. To my surprise they were about every five minutes and 30 to 40 seconds long, so I called the hospital. I told the nurse about my contractions and asked how bad they were supposed to hurt. She said that was irrelevant and to come in so they could check me to see if I was dialating. Irrelevant? OK, the U of U hospital is not right around the corner, but maybe they'd say I was in labor and keep me... maybe.

Then I got to do what I'd never done before and had always wanted to do, the whole "it's time, let's go the hospital". So I went next door where Matt was sound asleep and opened the door. I said "Matt, wake up. You need to take me to the hospital". He jumped out of bed and started freaking out. Not the most serene wake up call.

So all Matt wanted was to get pulled over and have a police escort to the hospital but the poor guy didn't get his wish. He was speeding down the freeway wondering what the fastest way to go would be. When we got off the freeway Foothill was foggy and jam-packed for what we assumed was a basketball game but really turned out to be a gymnastics meet. So all the way Matt is cursing the U basketball team to lose because of the traffic. Suddenly he decides to cut through the neighborhood and starts taking corners on two wheels (now this part may be a little exaggerated, but that's how it felt to me being in labor and all).

We finally did arrive at the hospital at about 7:00 and Matt wheeled me up to Labor and Delivery. They started by monitoring my contractions and the babies heartbeats for a while and I'm thinking "Could you please check me and see if I'm in labor? Please don't send me home. I will seriously cry my eyes out if you send me home." When the nurse came in to check me I told her Wednesday I had been dialated to a 3 and about 80% effaced and please, please don't send me home. She checked and said "Well, you are now dialated to a 6 and 100% effaced you're not going anywhere". I started to cry then. I was so relieved.
Matt documented the rest pretty well. The epidural only worked on half of my body so my right side wasn't happy, but the doctor did get it working OK right before the actual delivery so that was good.

At about 1:00 AM on January 24th we were told we were heading into the OR for delivery (standard procedure with twins "just in case"). So all 15 or so of us crammed in there and once I started pushing Elsie made her entrance into the world not much longer at 1:25 AM. Now I didn't know how they were getting Daxton out until that night. All along I had been assuming they would turn him but my doctor assured me it would go faster to just deliver him breech. What he didn't mention was that pulling him out was going to make me wish for death. Oh my word, having someone reach up inside me and pull my baby out is the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life. I was literally screaming in pain and the whole 3 minutes lasted for about 3 eternities. It was awful. I guess the one good thing about it was I had no idea Daxton was having any problems until Matt told me later. I don't think I could have handled it. So then the doctors took care of me and Matt went with the babies to the nursery where they continued to work on Daxton until he was breathing well. That was the night. It was one crazy ride.

One funny thing one of the doctors/med students/whoever said to me the next day was that the thing he remembered most from my delivery was as soon as I was done delivering the babies I asked for a sandwich, right there in the delivery room. I guess from his view it was funny, but I thought that was a legitimate request. I mean, I didn't have dinner and they don't let you eat at the hospital, who wouldn't be hungry after all that?

Now here we are, one week later. I already love my two precious babies so much and can't imagine our family without them. They are really good babies: eat, sleep, poop, repeat. And my boys have been great little helpers and love their brother and sister. All in all, life is perfect.

One Last Pic....

2009-01-27T03:55:00.000-08:00

Many have asked what in the world all that stuff coming out of Elsie's head is??? Well, when Jenny was in labor, she developed a slight fever. The staff was concerned that this infection could be transmitted to the babies. After birth, the babies received a periodic IV for 48 hours. Due to the tininess of Elsie's hands and lack of vein protrusion, the nurses elected to place the IV directly into Elsie's head. Thus, the unicorn.

After the allotted time and proper anti-biotic application, the IV needle was removed and I was able to get one more pic off before we went home. This is my favorite pic of the two of them.

Day One Pics

2009-01-25T03:56:00.000-08:00

First of all, we want to thank all of you for the kind, kind words of love and encouragement. Some of your comments brought tears to our eyes and we are so grateful for wonderful friends like you. Thank you so very much.

Here are a few pics from day one!

Matt's Take: The Arrival of Daxton and Elsie

2009-01-24T03:38:00.000-08:00

Stats: Daxton (Left: 7lbs 2 ounces), and Elsie (Right: 6lbs 3 ounces). That's right people, she was carrying 13lbs and 5 ounces of babies and only gained 38lbs during the entire pregnancy. How awesome is Jenny!?

The Story...

So, I am sound asleep. It is 6:20PM, Friday January 23rd. For those of you who don't know, I am working graves to have really good insurance in case needed for when these babies arrive. Anyway, it's 6:20 and the middle of the night from me. The door crashes open, the lights flip on. In a gasping voice, Jenny rumbles "We're going to the hospital... get up." She waddles out of the room. The realization, although slow at first, begins to escalate and suddenly I fly out of bed as if stung by one hundred bees. Jenny's contractions were intense and about four minutes apart. She had called the nurse and was told to come in right away.

"Really!!? For real?!! Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" Both Isaac and Alex were induced so Jenny and I were able to take our sweet time getting to the hospital. I'm not going to lie. I have always wanted to speed down a road, swerving through traffic, and if anyone dared say anything I wanted to yell "She's having a baby!" You can't really do that when induced. So, in all honesty, my first thought was "Sweet! I get to go really, really fast!" So we flew to the University of Utah Hospital and arrived in record time, no thanks to the womens gymnastic team who had a well-attended meet that night!

Upon arrival, we went to the check in station where Jenny received an answer to prayers in that she was dilated to a 6 and 100% effaced. Jenny started to cry when the realization struck that these babies were coming in a few short hours and her difficult journey was rapidly coming to a close. There was a light at the end of the tunnel (no pun intended!).

After some intense contractions, Jenny was given an epidural which is highly, highly encouraged with twins, especially when one is breach (feet down for the dudes). After reception, only the left side of her body went numb. Like a trooper, Jenny suffered through intense contractions for nearly 5 hours. Half her body was fine... the other half was becoming more excruciating with each intensifying contraction. Finally, the anesthesiologist came back in, readjusted some things, and 20 minutes later, Jenny was able to attain some much needed rest for the big event after 5 hours of basically no epidural.

About an hour later, (12:30am or so) Jenny was checked again and the attending gave things a green light. Nurse after nurse began filtering into our room until 12 people, dressed in full OR garb, wheeled my ailing Jenny to the OR room.

From there on, things went very quickly and everything was quite a blur so I will attempt to piece it all together. Elsie was head down and blazing the trail. After three HUGE pushes, Elsie made her way gloriously into the world. The nurses whisked her away and the doctors attention turned quickly to Daxton who was breach and already making things difficult for his parents.

This is what I recall. When I glanced over, I saw the doctor with his entire arm inside my wife going after Dax's feet. He finally got hold of him and began pulling him out. When babies are breach, arms and head can become obstructed during the exit and Dax fell prone to this scenario and became stuck with just his legs protruding from my wife. Acting quickly, the Doc used forceps and skill to tuck arms and head in and after one long minute of struggling, Dax made his entrance as well.

But all was not well. At first light, Elsie yelled out a shout of something, but Daxton wasn't making a sound. He wasn't breathing. The nurses quickly went to work applying compressions and oxygen. At one point, I saw a nurse shake her head. My heart nearly exploded. Then after a full minute or two of excoriating anticipation, Daxton erupted with a cry and I nearly fell to the floor. Jenny had no idea any of this was happening... and it was a good thing.

And now a little about Jenny... I can't believe what she had to go through. Elsie was an incredibly smooth experience that was similar to the births of our other children. 3 hard pushes and Elsie had arrived. Dax was excruciating for my poor Jenny. To see those doctors have to reach, pull, twist, rip, stretch my sweet wife to extract Dax was an incomprehensible experience for me. I can't believe she survived. There was no leading up to it. The doctor rigorously pulled Dax out in three minutes which, Jenny will confirm, were the three longest minutes of her life. No human should be capable of enduring that pain. This, for me, was much different than just a normal child birth (not taking anything away from that). Simply put, to see a breach baby get stuck, and then survive a vaginal birth was a very sacred, hallowing experience. Words simply fail...

So there it is in a nutshell. I guess it is a pretty big nutshell. So now it is 6:05AM, almost 24 hours later and our lives have changed forever. The babies and my wife are beautiful and are receiving some much needed rest. I feel very blessed that things went so well and I'm excited to complete one chapter and begin another in the lives of the Baker Family!

The Countdown

2009-01-19T11:46:00.000-08:00

Matt here.

So.... I was thinking last night...

Here I sit in a quiet house. It was just after midnight. Alex and Isaac had gone to bed because we simply told them to. They sleep through the night (except for the rare nightmare that might disrupt Isaac's unconscious slumber). They wake in the morning and get themselves dressed. They can even make themselves breakfast, clean their own rooms, etc. In fact, Alex made a Key Lime Pie last night that was to die for... Smooth sailing...

But the reality of it all is much different.

The final countdown has begun.

On Sunday, we walked to church (about a mile) trying to induce Jenny. At the very latest she will have these babies next Tuesday, but they could come any time now. So what will it be like when they arrive? Isaac is six! He is a little guy now. Alex is all grown up as well! Will we remember how to do it all? One baby is tough enough, but two? What will it be like?

When contemplating the whole scenario it is really quite daunting. Our kids are older and we could be on the home stretch. But in a few short hours, this will all change. No more sleeping through the night. Can I really change a diaper again? How will we juggle four schedules? How will we take care of two babies at the same time? And that says nothing of breast-feeding! (I will try and sneak some pics of that sight)

Anyway... I am not sure what this post is really about... except to say that the twins are coming. One week of sanity (if you can call it that) is all we have left. Are we nervous? Of course! Are we prepared? No way! Will our marriage survive and our family stay in tact? Hope so. Are we ready.....?

Bring it on.

Warning! May not be suitable for wimps!

2009-01-11T15:56:00.000-08:00

Things I have overheard or that have been said to me lately (all, by the way, from perfect strangers):

"When are you due?"
"4 1/2 weeks"
"No honey, they miscalculated. You're overdue."

At Carls Jr. waiting to order there were about 4 or 5 workers talking in Spanish and one says to me "are you having a girl or a boy?"
I said "both"
They all started clapping and one guy says "I told you" to the others.
Later I get up to get a straw and the same guy says to me "Don't you get up to get anything. If you need something you yell for Miguel!"

"Are you due yesterday?"

"How many babies do you have in there?"

Overheard.
"Look at that poor thing."
"Oh my, she can't have much longer."

"When is your due date?"
"February 10th"
"Are you serious? You are huge!"

"Can you breathe?"

I get gawked at everywhere I go and hear these kinds of things. It's funny to me because you know, I am huge and I paid a lot of money to be huge. So bring it on. At least it's not a fast food gut.

In case anyone is wondering, I am currently measuring 46 cm for my uterus (six weeks overdue for one baby), and I have a 50 inch waist around. I have also gained a whopping 37 pounds. My next pictures should be much cuter than these as they will hopefully be of two sweet little babies. That is, if they ever decide to come out...

Isaac's Sixth Birthday

2009-01-10T19:59:00.000-08:00

Family Visit

2009-01-05T16:21:00.001-08:00

So Christmas has come and gone and no one got hurt. Which is, in my opinion, the most accurate assessment of a successful gathering these days.

It was fun having family come in from Minnesota. It is a rare treat to have the whole family together as my brother and family live quite a ways away. We only get together once a year (if that) and our time together is filled with boundless enjoyment... There were only a few near disasters coupled with a couple of misses in the communication field, but overall I think it was a success.

But this isn't what I REALLY want to blog about.

Check out this family picture. Do you see the hottie on the far left? No, not me (I know that was what you are all thinking), but the smoking hot babe in the black? So Jenny is 100 weeks pregnant and I am amazed at how amazing she looks. When she is walking away from me, I still think "dang" and it is only when she turns and knocks over the glasses on the table with her ginormous belly do I even realize she is pregnant! She is truly a beautiful, pregnant woman and I can't believe how lucky I am to have her forever. She is very aware of her "robustness", but as everyone can see in this picture, she is, simply put, a smoking hot babe!

Big truly is beautiful! (I have been trying to tell people that regarding my size FOREVER!)

Thanks for being mine, baby, and thanks for suffering through this difficult pregnancy for our family.

Prison

2009-01-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

Isaac: "Mom, where is the jail?"

Mom: "It's at the point of the mountain on the way to Thanksgiving Point"

Isaac: "Can we go there?"

Mom: "Why?"

Isaac: "I just want to see what a real live bad guy looks like!"

Mom: "It's not like a zoo where you go and look at all the bad guys in cages."

Isaac: "I thought they were all locked up".

Mom: "They are."

Isaac: "So can we go and look at them?"

Why one shouldn't run on ice...

2008-12-15T11:14:00.000-08:00

More Belly Shots

2008-12-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

OK, here's the latest profile.
To the left is my latest and to the right is one month ago. I am now 7 months pregnant. My waist is 45 inches around at the biggest point! Wow, now that's something to be proud of! (I guess)
Matt has informed me I breathe rather loudly now and I suppose that might be because I have two babies taking up all the room where my lungs (and stomach and intestines) used to reside.
Another photo next month!

Note** I know my face looks quite red in the first pic but that would be due to Matt taking the photo from a laying down position. He had decided it would be fun to take some pics from underneath my belly looking up. No one will EVER see those ones, seriously, it's wrong...

It's a Tradition

2008-12-03T19:06:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas tree will never be in a Parade of Homes. It will never win any contests. It will never be the awe-inspiring tree "the whole neighborhood talks about", but it is MY favorite and here's why.
When Alex was a baby I took him to get his picture taken (about every week or so- hey he was my first), and they gave me an ornament to put his picture in. So I did and I put in on our tree.
The next year we went to Germany and I bought an ornament there and put in on our tree. The next year I had Alex at the store and we were looking at Christmas decorations. This year he was totally into Tigger so I bought him a Tigger ornament for the tree. That's when the inspiration finally hit: I was going to buy my kids their own ornament each year that they picked out. Something they were into or liked. I thought it would be a fun tradition, but I had no idea how much my kids would love it.
Every year they start thinking about their ornament early. It has to be perfect. It has to be exactly what they're looking for. Then when it's time to decorate the tree they each get out their ornaments and line them up to look at. Each is labeled with Isaac 2004, Alex 2001.... They get such a kick out of looking back and remembering how much they loved that ornmaent that year and how much they've changed in the recent years. We also have to tell the stories that go with the ornaments. Like the time we had the people in the condo under us complain about Alex jumping around like Tigger all the time when we were in Hawaii or the way Isaac decided he loved Boba Fett before he'd seen any of the Star Wars movies.
Then it's a continual hanging and rehanging of the ornaments to make sure each is in the perfect spot for their viewing pleasure. And there will be no moving of said ornaments, this would constitute the gravest of sins.
So there you have it. Not a huge tradition, but one we love nonetheless. My kids are growing up but we still have little reminders of the past to decorate our tree and remind us of all the fun memories we've made so far.Here is random Boba Fett. We still have no idea where this Isaac fetish came from. Isaac 2005.

Though he is way too grownup for superheroes now, there was a time Alex was rarely seen not in costume. He loved Batman the most, but since he already had a Batman ornament, this was the year of Spidey. Alex 2004.
You have no idea how hard it is to find a shark ornament unless you've tried. We almost had to talk Isaac into something else when I randomly found this bad boy on Ebay. Isaac 2006.
This is a representation of how Isaac's Halloween fetish was born. Two years ago we went to Disneyland and they had the Haunted Mansion all "Nightmare before Christmas". A year later, he wanted a spooky ornament. I want you to know I had to buy a whole package of toys and make this one into an ornament because there wasn't an already made one to be found anywhere. Isaac 2007.
Alex's current (and 3 years running thus far) BYU obsession. I wouldn't call it brainwashing. Really. Alex 2006.This is Alex's ornament for this year. He chose the colors because... I forget. The football guy is him. This was his first year playing tackle football. He loved it.
Here is Isaac's ornament for this year. As mentioned before, my son LOVES Halloween. We found this in October and snatched it up so we wouldn't be scrambling to find something spooky in December.

BYU/Utah Game Report

2008-11-23T07:41:00.001-08:00

Congratulations Utah on a perfect season. You owned the Cougars. You are the superior team. Period.

I am also pleased to announce my experience as a BYU fan visiting Rice Eccles was also better then anticipated.

This is my report:

--Of the 8 Utah fans in my immediate vicinity, only 2 were TOTALLY wasted.

--I only heard the "F" Bomb sixteen times.

--I only heard "F" BYU twice.

--Only four times was the "F" Bomb directed at me personally.

--I only saw the whole west stadium give Austin Collie "The Bird" six times (who, btw, is unstoppable--the only highlight of the game).

--I was only hit in the head with a blunt object four times.

--I was only threatened with physical violence twice.

--I only felt high from the pot smoking once (that one was worth it).

--I only saw two ladies get hit by their drunk husbands, after which the men received several pats on the back from other men saying "Way to keep her in her place."

--Several times I heard Utah woman fans singing "Utah man am I" Someone please explain that one too me.

--I heard NO ONE sing the whole Yewt Fight Song from start to finish.

--Only one rabid Utah fan put his cigarette out on my arm. It will heal, I am confident.

Totally a place I would like to bring me kids. You should be proud, Yewts!

So, with all that being said, congrats Yewts on being a terrific football team far superior to my Cougs this year and I hope you take the BCS!

Fans... You still blow!

See you next year! Do you Yewts have ANYONE coming back? Because we have EVERYONE coming back...

This is my report!

Bell Canyon Hike

2008-11-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

Matt here.

I am not one for a simple "This is what I did today" post. Sometimes my posts turn out that way, but I am not a big fan. I wish I could convey something insightful or inspiring with every post, but most of the time, I fail in this endeavor (thus the lack of posts). I like substance and ideas. Not simply 'this is what I ordered off the menu...'

My father is awesome at writing with a message. He maintains a daily journal that is always fascinating to read. Nothing can happen during a day but in his writings such events are always interesting and captivating.

Last week, we hiked a vigorous trail up Bell's Canyon. This is my father's account:

"Oh I hurt! I get up, I hurt! I walk, I hurt! From the waist down I just hurt!

Matt was set on a hike yesterday and pressed me into service. 8:30AM he, Alex, Isaac and I found the Little Cottonwood Trailhead to Bells Canyon, and with sticks to steady, we started up. Above the first switchbacks vistas open and we spot five deer, at least one with a large rack. We pause only momentarily at the reservoir, then I detour us on to the "romantic" route around the lake and up to the water diversion facility. The trail is far to the north but we stay south on the stream, flounder and explore until just below the upper bridge where we get back on the trail.

Ever upward over the bolder strewn route, frequent pauses, "how much further?" --this is a climb, not a hike! Steeper, longer, aches, rests... Alex never tires, Matt leads, Grampa uses Isaac as excuse to slow, wait, try again. We should be there! Isaac can't go further... streetches out, determined to wait our return. Matt goes ahead to explore -- 300, 500 yards, calls me twice on the cell-- to return? --push on? Then he finds the falls! Eureka! He yells encouragement down the canyon. Isaac hears his dad! ...draws new life, strength, determination... and leaves Grampa struggling in the rear.

The reward is breathtaking! We descend to the bottom of three sets of cascading falls --100 feet of plunging splendor! A thrilling reward! We pause and snack. The weather has been awesome-- cool and blue skies. We have phone signals and I report to Karen, but we still have a long way back-- a steep, rugged, bolder strewn retreat. I need sticks in both hands to steady my lunging steps. Knees, calves, thighs -- all hurt and ache, but we keep moving.

Alex is in total control and could have gone farther. Matt is strong and stable, but feeling his limits. Isaac is awesome! He pushed to the top, pranced back down, and all were waiting with the engine running when Grampa slithered out the bottom. We were all ready for the hot tub. I was still slow getting in and last out, but happy for the entire ordeal."

Baring it all

2008-11-02T20:54:00.000-08:00

OK. So here they are. These are not my favorite photos. I do not love posting them, yet I am going to anyway. For those of you wondering if a twin pregnancy is different than a singleton- IT IS!

The picture on the left is the day I went in to have Isaac. Why the goofy look on my face? Not sure. I was about to have a baby, so I'll go with that as a reason.

Picture on the right is of me today. I am six months pregnant with twins. So far the vote in my family is I am officially bigger at six months than I was at nine with Isaac. Scary eh?

If any of you have a morbid curiosity of what the human body can do you should google photos of twin pregnant bellies. Whoa! There are some real crazy looking bellies out there. I think I will probably continue to take pictures just because of how frightening it really is (And so I can show my babies what they did to my body). I mean, there are two, count them, two humans growing in my body right now. Each of them is just over one pound. So when they get to say, five pounds....

Like I said morbid curiosity.

Anyway, totally random post, yet somewhat interesting. At least to me.

**Note** My stomach has been photoshopped to remove stretch marks, but the actual size is real.

**Note to self** I should put make-up on the next time I decide to take a picture of myself I plan to post on my blog.

My Halloween Business Card!

2008-11-01T08:08:00.001-07:00

Vote Republican!

2008-10-29T21:31:00.001-07:00

The Cougar Classic

2008-10-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

This is a sport post so if you don't care... move along...

Tonight we had the opportunity to attend the Cougar Classic! This is where the BYU basketball squad split into two teams and plays each other. It was wonderful to see some of our old favorites back again. I don't know if they will be able to defend their back-to-back conference championships, but we shall see. We have Lee Cummard, Jimmer Fredette, and Jonathan Tavanari so I guess anything is possible! We shall see!
This is Alex with MWC player of the year, Lee Cummard! Archie Rose is to his left.Jimmer Fredette...Jackson Emery and Matt Pinegar---New guys but had a great game tonight!A crowd favorite, Michael Lloyd Jr.Of course, Jonathan Tavanari. He is so good to the fans!I hunted down this plain-clothes Cougar. That's right, folks, Alex with Harvey Unga! Can't wait for the season to start! We may not do it in football, but we OWN in basketball!

Yes on Prop 8

2008-10-28T22:45:00.001-07:00

My friend Jim sent this Email. I don't know the creator.

An Epic Journey...

2008-10-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

4224.

This is the number of pages I have read to my sons over the last year or so.

Today we read the last 120 pages in just under three hours.

So, we finished the Harry Potter series. All seven books. Out loud. Voices included! I do a mean Hagrid by the way. Voldemort's voice was a challenge. I don't know if I ever wrapped my voice around the high pitched whisper he exuded!

And what a blast it has been...

It is a bitter/sweet feeling, seeing it all come to a close. It has been riotous watching the boys laugh, jump, sit at rapturous attention, and to see it all come together in book seven was quite magnificent! I would never have read these books if it hadn't been for my boys, but to experience Harry with them has been an unforgettable journey.

It was good to have Alex along to explain what was happening every now and then and even Isaac added terrific commentary as well.

As the book came to a close, tears were shed, everyone hugged each other a little closer, and together, we turned the last page. Thanks Harry, for the great childrens' read and we look forward now to moving onto the Rings.

GOOOOoooooooooooooo Frodo!

2008-10-24T17:27:00.001-07:00

How Church Should Be...

2008-10-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

Today at Church we were blessed to hear from all the children in our ward for this year's Primary Program. First of all, we have the best Primary Leaders in the entire church because the program ran smoothly, the kids talks were polished, the music was exceptional, and the message was enlightening. So, to all the Primary workers I say "Well done!"

There is a lot we could all learn from the Primary Sacrament Meeting. In other words one might say, "Everything I learned about running a Sacrament Meeting I learned from the Primary Program!"

Point 1- Talks were short and concise.
Point 2- The children focused on Gospel Principles. The testimonies were NOT "Thankamonies", "Travelmonies", or any other "-mony." The kids didn't blabber. They delivered their poignant message and then SAT DOWN.
Point 3- There were wonderful musical numbers that were more uplifting than any talk delivered over the pulpit.
Point 4- Messages were spread around a variety of different speakers and those delivering talks stayed within the time frames allotted. They did not run over so there was the perfect amount of time for all. I daresay that if a child started going long, they would have been yanked down into their seat. I think we should implement this practice in our regular meetings as well.
Point 5- We finished our meeting seven minutes early. Glorious.

I didn't even have to get out my iPhone to help pass the time...

And there it is. The perfect Sacrament Meeting.

Thanks Primary kids for once again teaching us adults more than we could ever teach you!

It's A Crime...not to buy something!

2008-10-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying Alex has been wanting to have a lemonade stand sort of thing forever. So when the first REAL soccer game opened at the new stadium last week and hundreds of people were walking down our street we decided we would have one.
Yesterday we went to Costco and bought our supplies, today we made posters, and about 2 hours before the game started the boys were set up and ready to go. They had candy, soda, cookies and apples (Isaac insisted we needed to have a healthy snack to offer).
Matt and I sat a way off to observe and just let the boys do their thing. They were great. Yelling out "cold soda, one dollar! lots of candy too! And healthy, healthy, healthy apples (Isaac again)" to all the people walking by. Some stopped and some didn't, but that's part of how it goes when you're running a business.
The thing Matt and I found interesting was which people stopped and which ones didn't. We would guess when we saw them coming down the street if they would stop or not. The thing is, we expected the moms and dads with kids to stop. After all, they have kids and don't their kids set up lemonade stands from time to time?
Well, some of them did. But mostly they passed right on by. Our kids' #1 customers were the young couples out on dates. The guy wanting to impress his date by buying some candy from little kids. Very interesting people study.
So why weren't the families stopping? How, being a mom or dad, do you look at two little kids selling stuff in their front yard and not pull a dollar out of your pocket. I mean, it's easy to ignore the Singular cell phone guy or the green tea girl at the mall, but a five and nine year old that have a sign saying "earning money for Disneyland", come on people. You don't have to buy them out, just one dollar would make their whole day! I really wanted to ask some of them what their reasons for not stopping were, but that may have been a little rude. So I simply sat in my lawn chair quietly judging them instead.
OK, I will now get off my soapbox.
The REAL fans were great. Alex and Isaac had a super fun time together yelling to the people passing by and selling their candy. They had contests trying to convince people what to buy (candy vs. apples), what kinds of accents they could talk in, who could yell the loudest, and who could sneak the most treats into their mouths when mom and dad weren't looking. Then bonus, they made quite a bit of money in the process (as long as I don't collect everything I spent buying their wares).

President Obama: My Honest Take on the Debate

2008-10-16T08:27:00.001-07:00

Well, last night's debate solidified the next President of the United States: President Obama.

Get used to it.

McCain just couldn't hang. Obama was smooth, polite, professional, and impenetrable to McCain's weak attacks. Obama held his composure while McCain's impersonation of a rabid dog nipping at the heals of America's next boss, was less than convincing. Any other candidate could have done a better job than McCain. His little smirks, goofy smile, and stuttering comebacks were distracting and disheartening. Obama owned McCain, now he owns the presidency.

Also, the same is true with the VP pics. Beiden is a professional politician while Palin is a fresh, but unfortunately shallow, showcase. If asked honestly who I would want to become president if something were to happen to POTUS in an assault on America, whom would I choose? Well, Beiden would be my answer. That really hurts to say. The same argument could be made about the VP debates as well. Being a politician for SO long, Beiden knows what to say and how to act to be liked by the American people. I think Beiden owned Palin due to his slickness and better political composure.

The Democratic candidates are better. Period.

But the messages that define them definitely are not.

I have a list of things that disturb me greatly about the Democratic platform (like every MORAL issue on the table) that I have mentioned on this blog in the past, so I won't delve too deeply in this post, but something was made very clear to me last night by McCain: Obama fosters mediocrity. He wants to give something for nothing. He wants to simply 'redistribute wealth'. He wants give money to many for not earning it. He wants to create more of a socialistic society by taking over health care and taxing more big business and just giving it to those 'less fortunate.'

Now before you go crazy in talking about the poor and billion dollar surpluses for big business, it is the ideology about which I am concerned.

America is built upon capitalism. It is this concept that has made us successful. Capitalism, through business, fosters growth, success, jobs, AND taxes that pay 98% of our bills. When a President wishes to stunt our economical growth by punishing the entities that are moving this country forward, then our growth suffers and our economy becomes stagnant.

Obama's 'spread the wealth' approach encourages laziness, stunts economic growth, is the first step towards Socialism and even further down the road, Communism. Let's get government out of our pockets and let Capitalism work.

I'm afraid we're going to have to wait 8 years before we can clean up the mess.

Proud

2008-10-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

Obama who?

2008-10-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Jim wrote the following post and I loved it. Thought I would share...

http://thebloggeries.blogspot.com/2008/10/what-mccain-must-do-and-say-this.html

Ramblings...

2008-10-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

Matt here.

So, Alex is nine. Isaac is 5. Both are now in school. Both feed themselves, don't need help going to the bathroom, and can clean their room plus put away their own clothes. They have jobs around the house to help lighten the load. They clear the table after dinner. We can have meaningful conversations with them. They can make me laugh. They watch sports with me and understand the games. They can both play catch. We like the same things and I can only imagine it getting better.

Many would say that we have arrived. The hard days are over. They are now contributing members of our family and not just requiring constant care. We can now start living it up!

Twins?

Of course the twins are an answer to our prayers, but are we really ready for this? Jenny and I have been having a fantastic time with the kids, and for those of you who don't know what it is like to say "Go to bed!" and the kids listen, trust me, you have NO IDEA how good it can be! But the idea of starting over scares me to death! Sleepless nights, crying, and non-stop care-giving, TIMES TWO? Heaven help us...

But in those quiet moments... when my mind calms and my heart stops racing with anxiety, I think of Daxton and Elsie. I think of the road ahead. I think of sports and games, dance recitals, and Family Home Evenings... I think of still having kids that want to snuggle when the others are too old. I think of still having buddies in the house when Alex is off to BYU and Isaac is on a mission...

Maybe I am grateful that our empty nest just got extended for another 18 years...

Maybe twins this late isn't so bad :)

Good Book

2008-10-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

So it's finally getting a little crisp outside. I think fall might be getting here. Time for jackets, soups, and hot chocolate at night. And time for curling up with a good book. Problem. I don't have one and I desperately need one. So any of you out there reading this... Help! Suggestions? (Oh, and by the way, this is Jenny. Not Matt. Please keep that in mind. I don't need to read the biography of Clay Aiken)

How we spent Sunday night!

2008-09-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

Tongue

2008-09-26T22:06:00.001-07:00

Anyone notice Obama's forked tongue tonight?

Sent from my iPhone

2008-09-26T17:01:00.000-07:00

New Feature

2008-09-26T15:08:00.001-07:00

So if this worked, I just figured out how to post directly from my
phone. Technology is cool.

Sent from my iPhone

BYU Mania!

2008-09-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

Raise them right!

For Alex's birthday, he wanted one thing from family members: Gift Cards.

"To what?" you might ask. Well, I as was happy to hear him say "... to the BYU bookstore!"

atta boy...

So tonight, we ventured down south to Happy Valley and Alex (9) went on a $100 shopping spree at the bookstore. Below is the loot!

No fan is complete without this years "The Quest" for perfection shirt.

My favorite: "Friends don't let friends go the U of U." How true.

He also got a BYU Under Armour shirt for his football jersey.

What fan doesn't have his/her 3X5 foot banner flag?

And lastly, some BYU basketball warm-up pants to go with everything else.

Proud...

Happy Birthday

2008-09-21T12:26:00.001-07:00

Today Alex is 9 years old! Instead of showing photos of his birthday party and opening presents I decided to take a look back at the past 9 years. I know how cheesey it is to say it goes by fast, but it's true!

At nine years old Alex loves: BYU, reading (especially Harry Potter), roller coasters, Arby's, river rafting, football, rockband, cinnamon rolls, basketball, and playing with his friends.

Alex does NOT love: shopping, sandwiches, going back to school after being off track, homework, dancing, cleaning, or the University of Utah.

For his birthday dinner he has requested ribs, garlic mashed potatoes, homemade rolls and pears.

We love you Alex!

The Rest of the Family

2008-09-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the big day. The day we've been waiting for since we found out we were pregnant: The ultrasound. Luckily, I had a good tech who realized that although we are concerned parents who want to make sure our babies are growing and blah, blah, blah, we REALLY wanted to know what we were having.

The vote was split down the middle, Matt and Alex were voting for two more boys and Isaac and I were voting for a boy and a girl.

So she put the goop on my belly and we started looking.

Baby A looked good and was....
A Boy!
Matt breathed a sigh of relief because he definitely didn't want two girls.
He had the hiccups so that was pretty interesting to watch. Measured right on for 19 weeks and 2 days. Perfect.

Next we had Baby B.

This baby was not cooperating and didn't want us to look but we were finally able to get a peek and
yes! A Girl!
I am getting a daughter! Matt just sees $$$$ flashing before his eyes, but I see bows and dresses and getting to shop in the cute girl section that has always eluded me.
Don't get me wrong. I am thrilled the other one is a boy. I want a daughter, but that's it- one daughter. I'm not sure how to do girls yet and I am a pro on boys.

So there you have it. One boy, one girl, two hearts beating wildly... (a country song, if you don't recognize it). The funny part for my family is I would always pretend I had a girl/boy twin when I was growing up. I thought that would be awesome, and here, twenty something years later I got it. I had no idea I would have two other great boys before to help me out though. I feel truly blessed.

Now for those of you who aren't radiologists or ultrasound techs, this pic may be a little hard to decipher so I'll try to help. I asked the tech to try to get a picture with both babies in it and this is it. If you look at the blob on the left side that is one baby's head and his body is stretched across the top. The girl is under him facing down with her head going off the right side of the screen. Anyway, they're kind of big now so it's hard to get them both but here it is nonetheless.

Oh, side note. For any of you who read the previous post about one sibling hitting the other one, I'm pretty sure it was my daughter (that sounds weird) hitting her brother in the head. With all brothers, she's going to need to learn to hold her own and I think she instinctively knows that. You go girl!

Ode to Saturdays!

2008-09-07T11:32:00.001-07:00

Out of roughly 52 Saturdays in a year, I would think that we work about 48 of them shooting weddings. Yesterday, I didn't have a wedding. Jenny shot a reception, but my wedding cancelled and I had nothing all day except to hang with the kids...

Is this really what Saturdays are like? I don't remember. It was fantastic! All you who don't work jobs on Saturday should consider yourselves uberblessed.

The following is what I did on the first Saturday I can remember having off:

I am the offensive coordinator for Alex's football team so the day started with the game. Our boys did great and we had our first victory 26-0. Alex caught amazing passes and even scored as well. Words can't express how I felt out there on that field. We practice 6 hours a week plus games and it was nice to see things finally paying off. My 'Digger Gremlins are awesome!

Next we joined family for lunch at TGIF's after which I watched more football as BYU won a close one in Washington. Go Cougs!

Then I cut the lawn and spent the afternoon on the yard which I thoroughly enjoyed and then we wrapped up the evening getting sno cones and reading Harry Potter.

I apologize for the travel log, but this kind of a day NEVER happens for me. I work. All the time. It is rare that I take an entire day to do what I want. And for yesterday, I am truly grateful!

So for all of you that have ENTIRE days to just do house/yard work and play with the kids, consider yourselves VERY blessed!

Stay in School

2008-09-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

Isaac started Kindergarten this year. We knew it would be different, I mean, he is NOT Alex. I was ready. I told the teacher to let me know if there were any "problems" and we would work on them. I meant it, I do want to know. I just didn't know it would be this soon.

I went to pick Isaac up this week (mind you, second week of school) and his teacher comes out to my car and says "why don't you get him loaded in the car so I can talk to you for a minute?"
Really?
Already?
OK.

So she tells me he's really cute and has some great friends (here it comes)... BUT, he is also easily distracted, likes to talk and doesn't pay attention very well. Yeah, I could have told you that.

So we're working on it. We bought some spooky pajamas for a prize if his teacher says he's doing well,
we're role-playing, we're discussing how to be a good student.... it's fabulous. Aaah, parenting.

So then, yesterday Isaac and I stopped at the downtown McDonalds for some lunch. As we were walking in, Isaac very indiscreetly stared at this homeless guy hanging out next to the building and wanted to know why he was there. When we got inside I tried to explain that he didn't have a home and such. I don't think he really understood, but when we left McDonalds Isaac stared again at this poor guy and he yells to Isaac "stay in school".

Thank you homeless man. Thank you for teaching my five-year-old in a way I never could WHY we have to sit in our seats and listen to teacher. We need to stay in school!

How was your day?

2008-09-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Matt: So, Isaac, how was your day.
Isaac: Good, I got some chocolate ice cream at the mall.
Matt: And how was it!
Isaac: Soooo good. It was more chocolater. You know, dad, if it is browner, it is more chocolater. I like browner...

So there you have it. More browner=more chocolater.

I enjoy being a girl?

2008-08-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

Girlhood and womanhood. I have had my fair share of embarrassing and humiliating experiences. I guess it just comes with the territory. Like when I came home from school one day to find my mom had decided it was time for me to get a bra so she had gone and bought one- with my grandpa! Or when I started my period during science class. Or when I went in for my first girly doctor's appointment... The list goes on and on.
Today I had another one. One I've had before, yet it continues to embarrass me every time!
So I'm pregnant. I've had two kids already. This does all kinds of things to your body. Things that just aren't right. Today I had just finished shooting a wedding and was in my car when a sneezing attack hit right then and there. I'm talking 20 sneezes at least. I crossed my legs. I tried to keep it in- to no avail. I peed. Then I had to drive the whole way home before I could change.
Those of you who have never had this experience may find this funny (i.e. my sweet husband Matt who couldn't stop laughing). Not funny. Annoying. Nobody warned me about this part of "growing up". I wish I could say this was the first time. I wish even more I could say this will be the last. But no. So to all of you women all over the world trying your best to laugh, cough and sneeze without needing Depends, good luck!

Aaah... fresh air...

2008-08-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

For those of you not living in the Salt Lake Valley, we have had a fire raging up in the mountains by Draper all day. The air quality hasn't been too bad... until tonight. We were up at Bear Park for Alex's football practice when it drifted in. It smelled like we were all in the middle of a campfire. As we were leaving practice Isaac took a big breath and said "Mom, I love the smell out here, it smells like hotdogs!"

So, for those of you who are bothered by the smell outdoors, just pretend you're camping and take time to "smell the hotdogs".

The Tao of a Haircut: Matt's Day at the Salon

2008-08-21T23:04:00.001-07:00

I love and hate getting my hair cut.

When I venture through the doors of a hair salon, usually I stand at the brink of insanity. My hair has become so long that either it has to go or my life must end. Therefore, when I feel the locks falling to the ground around me, I want to cry out for joy that I am finally relieved of the nappy, woolly burden. So, in this way, I am overjoyed when I get my haircut.

There is something I hate, though, as well.

Small talk.

Why do all the stylists think that I need to have a long conversation? They don't really care about me or what I do or how many kids I have! Then I am obligated to ask them the same questions, and believe me, I don't care what their life-long goals are, either. A lady who sat down next to me, after two minutes of hair sheering, was getting into some pretty intimate life struggles with her hair person, and I am sure they just barely met! How awkward is that!? Is it something to do with the chair or dead brain cells being lopped off to make one think they can just open up and let all the feelings and emotions run rampant? Well, not this paying customer. I'll keep my feelings (whatever those are) to myself...

Enter Kate.

My stylist today was perfect. She invited me to her space and asked me to have a seat. She was older and I could tell had sheared many a head. She worked fast and furious and the only questions she asked me were "How would you like your hair?" and "How does it look?" She gave me a great cut minus all the uncomfortable, superficial conversation.

As I sat in the "therapists chair," I listened to the gaggle of women carrying on horribly annoying conversations around me and I was grateful that Kate was just there to cut my hair. So bottom line: Today, I found a new hair stylist. And she got a good tip, too!

Our New Family Portrait

2008-08-20T16:12:00.001-07:00

Alex brought this drawing home from school and I love it! I want these babies to know that they have been Fred and George to their brothers since the beginning. (If you don't understand the name choices, read Harry Potter, you will). I told the boys the only way we are naming them Fred and George is IF they are both boys and IF they come out with red hair. So for now I'm going to assume I am safe.

And so it begins...

2008-08-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today Matt and I went in to the OB's for my monthly appointment. I like for him to see the babies growing inside me so he realizes I AM doing something on the couch. I am gestating.

Anyway, one bonus of having twins is an ultrasound at every visit so in we went to see our little angels. The first one was waving its arms and legs and had a heartbeat so we moved on to baby 2. From the angle we were at we could see baby 2's profile and the top of baby 1's head. Then Baby 2 started waving it's little arm and we could very clearly see a hand with all five fingers. It was darling! We were both so excited and enthralled watching it wave it's perfect little hand around. Then, I kid you not, Baby 2 reached up and punched its sibling in the head! I looked at the doctor and said "did my kid just hit the other one?" He confirmed that was what he saw.

So here we are. My babies are what, 4 inches long and like 1 ounce each and already bugging each other. I can hear it now "mom, he's hitting me", "mom, she's sitting on my head".

So sweet, so precious.

Michelle Obama and Preserving Marriage

2008-08-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

I know we were done with this topic, but my friend Jim sent me this link. Watch this video. She spends a lot of time thanking people at the beginning but then she starts saying some interesting things. Start watching around 8:00 minutes. What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Kxi8eeo3U

A Dream Realized

2008-08-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

So why have I always wanted boys?

One Word:

Coaching.

Today, I ran my first, full tackle football practice. It was glorious.

Due to my crazy schedule, I am never the head coach, but I always try to be an assistant coach so I can do a lot of yelling without getting into trouble.

When Alex played his first two years of flag football, he was on a team where he was, seriously, the only white boy. The rest of the team was all a big, Polynesian family. They were awesome! The boys played well, worked hard, and won a lot of games. This year, Alex started tackle and had to go through a 'draft' system where the first week was running drills and the coaches could look at all the kids and then, at the end of the week, select teams by choosing one kid at a time.

Well, Coach David (I can't even begin to pronounce his last name) approached me, said he wanted Alex on the team but the only way that could FOR SURE happen is if I were an assistant coach. So, I signed on, Alex resides on the team of his choice with all his friends, and tonight, I ran practice. I had arrived as a dad. I don't know if I have ever been happier or had more fun.

At the conclusion of practice, Alex approached me with a smile on his face, which surprised me because we conditioned all day, and said, "I didn't like you at all today!" I hope that makes my first day of football coaching a success!

The debate continues on...

2008-07-31T00:08:00.001-07:00

If you like politics, be sure to check out the comment field of the previous post or just click HERE.

Warning: Mixing Church and State below! Read at your own risk!

2008-07-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

If you don't like politics, please skip this post!

This is my own opinion and in no way do I speak in behalf of anyone else or the LDS church. It's funny I felt prodded to write such a thing in the first place.

OK. Climb aboard Matt's Politics Express. I will attempt to tread lightly.

So I have a fantastic friend (his word, not mine) Jim, who, a few years back, moved to Burbank, California to work in the TV industry. He called me today with some pretty incredible news.

Most of you who read this know that I am a practicing Mormon and Jim is as well. Jim's news had to do with his new calling (church service assignment) in his California ward. This assignment is to contact every ward member in his stake and ask them personally to work/vote against the gay marriage ruling that was recently passed in May and to donate $200 per family to the cause. He is basically an LDS lobbyist!

So why blog about this? Well, I find this fascinating and exciting as well. Here's why:

I am sometimes frustrated that my church doesn't give more direction to it's members on how to vote regarding MAJOR IMPORTANT political issues. Should we all be Republicans or Democrats? Should we be for or against the war? ETC. Wouldn't it be easier if the Prophet just told us all how to vote and create more of a unified front? (Don't EVEN bring up Lucifer's plan, I am just throwing this out there...) We could be major movers and shakers if we would all get on common ground! But alas, the LDS leadership encourages us to make our own decisions and form our own opinions after studying the issues (which most of us DON'T do). Unfortunately, our limited understand and abilities sometimes lead us down wrong roads (see Harry Reid).

Well, finally, there is one issue the church has found it necessary, nay imperative, to take a hard line stance and get TOTALLY involved politically. In LDS church buildings across the nation a few weeks back, a letter was read how we should all come together and fight FOR the protection and sanctity of marriage and family and against gay marriage. This letter was VERY bold and left no gray area.

Well, Jim's calling is taking that support one step further. Jim is reminding members of the covenants they have made which urge its members to support causes deemed appropriate by the church both laboriously and financially with all possible means necessary. In other words, Jim is telling members to step it up!

The L.A. Times writes about this particular judgement:
"In a 4-3 decision, the justices rule that people have a fundamental 'right to marry' the person of their choice and that gender restrictions violate the state Constitution's equal protection guarantee."

The last paragraph from the LDS Proclamation of the Family:
"The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ... Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets."

So there it is. The raging war that is happening right under our noses which most of us don't even know is going on. The battle that the LDS church has chosen to fight on the front lines, where they have remained uncommitted and neutral in what could be interpreted as less important issues facing the church (i.e. Iraq war, economy issues, health care, social reform, budget deficit, etc.).

So, what do I learn from this?

Taking my personal faith into consideration, I feel I should choose a candidate/political party, that, first and foremost, aligns itself with with the one headline issue that my religion is fighting so fervently against: Gay marriage and for preserving the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.

I should start there regarding my personal political selection.

This is what I found regarding John McCain: (This quote comes straight from his website)

"The family represents the foundation of Western Civilization and civil society and John McCain believes the institution of marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It is only this definition that sufficiently recognizes the vital and unique role played by mothers and fathers in the raising of children, and the role of the family in shaping, stabilizing, and strengthening communities and our nation."

What/whom does your political affiliation support?

10 Things I have done today that no one will notice...

2008-07-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

1. Cleaned out the fridge
2. Washed the sheets
3. Scrubbed down the counters- 3 separate times
4. Put 8 different pairs of shoes away
5. Wiped pee off the toilet seat
6. Loaded and then unloaded the dishwasher
7. Windexed the glass on one of the framed pictures on my wall
8. Found library books to return and renewed ones I couldn't find
9. Wiped up random sticky spot on the kitchen floor
10. Weeded one flower bed

Sometimes a mom's life is filled with repetitive, thankless tasks. So here's to all of you moms out there who keep doing it day after day after day after day....
Kudos to you!

Life on the Farm...

2008-07-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

I live in what we affectionately call "downtown Sandy". Salt Lake holds very little that we don't have right here. We have the Jordan Commons, South Towne Mall, The Real Soccer Stadium, South Towne Expo Center... However, I also live on the remnants of an old farm. The old Benson Farm to be exact. Two houses away from ours you can find Grandpa Gib's old house.

From the minute I met Matt, I was constantly hearing about "Grandpa Gib". He was Matt's biggest fan and his best friend growing up. He never missed a game or show Matt happened to be in. And because he was retired by the time Matt came along, he was always there; right next door. In fact, we even named Isaac Andrew Baker after his great-grandpa Gilbert Andrew (though from most accounts Isaac is nothing like his namesake who was quiet and reserved).

So the other day I was walking around the property looking at all the old stuff and trying to envision what this place looked like "back in the day". No tall buildings blocking your view...no buildings at all. Just farmlands as far as the eye could see.

Gib owned the whole block once upon a time. Behind his house you can still find an old chicken coop and horse corrals, and next to that an old barn.

As I was walking around I started looking for hidden treasures. What was life like back then? I found a few interesting remnants of yesterday...

Look at all this chicken wire! Mending fences to keep all the livestock where they're supposed to be. Out in the hot sun or freezing snow...

Now this looks like fun! Can you even buy these anymore? At least you had some control over the snow with this sled.

I think I'll take my stove thank you very much.

Some type of old record player. I just imagine sitting as a family around the fireplace listening to some old jazz music or something. Warm and cozy, tired from a hard days work out on the farm.
Matt claims this one is an old butter churner. I have no idea how this bad boy would work, but I think I prefer Wal-Mart to deliver my butter to my cart.
There are 3 saddles in this part of the barn. Riding horses around sounds fun, using them to till my farm, not so much. After churning my butter and cooking in my way-too-hot oven and hoeing my huge garden, feeding and caring for the horses just sounds like one more chore. Did the list of things to do ever end for farmers?

Anyway, it was pretty interesting for me to look at all this stuff, being the city girl that I am and try to envision what life was like back then. It made me so grateful to this man I never met. Grandpa Gib gave Matt's parents their lot to build a house on, who in turn gave us ours. And now Matt's sister Paula is living is Gib's old house. Did he have any idea all those years ago how many of his family would benefit from what he worked so hard for? What would he think if he could see his Matt now- proud dad of two awesome boys with two more on the way? Well, I think he knows. And I think he's proud his legacy is living on.

Rafaels and Rock!

2008-07-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

About six or so months ago, one of our staple restaurants (you know, those 3 or 4 restaurants that you always frequent) closed down to reopen by the new WalMart in Sandy. Better location facilitated the move. Well, after much anxious anticipation, Rafaels reopened today and the Baker family is very happy. The wait was extraordinary, but the food was delectable! Seriously, if you want the best refried beans in the world, this is the place.

So, we are sitting around the table, and Isaac was singing one of his favorite rock songs, Tom Sawyer, at the table, and my mom commented, "You are going to be another David Archuletta!" Without hesitation, Isaac retorted "David Archuletta sings nice songs, I only sing MAD songs!" So there you have it. Isaac is a MAD singer, in every sense of the word!

The Long Road

2008-07-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

This blog is probably going to be longer and more detailed than many of you would care to read. Please don't worry about that, skip to the end and you'll get the general idea. This blog is more for me. I want to remember how this started and how it came to an end.

I would have to say our journey began about 3 1/2 years ago. Isaac had just turned two and Matt and I had decided to get going on baby #3. Now for most couples this is a relatively easy process as old as Adam and Eve. We had run into a few challenges along the way to getting our boys, but thought we had the problem solved: Take Chlomid, get pregnant, check.

First we decided to buy some Chlomid in Mexico. It was cheaper, and probably the same stuff, right? Well, a few months of that didn't work so I went into my OB and got a prescription for the real FDA approved full-price stuff. Still, no luck. So we added ultrasounds to watch how all of my innards were responding and all looked well. Nothing.

Next step, perganol. Now this lovely drug is substantially more expensive than Chlomid and must be injected into deep tissue (i.e. my glutteous maximus). Worth it, anything for that next baby I just knew was on it's way. These daily shots, injected by my stalwart partner and husband Matt, were not my favorite, but only lasted 10-12 days. I also went in for ultrasounds every other day to check the progress of all the developing follicles (small sacs in which eggs grow) and when they were large enough I was given another shot to make the eggs release.
Add sperm, make baby. Or so I thought. We tried this method for a few months with no results and became thoroughly disheartened with the entire process. It was painful, time-consuming, expensive, and worst of all, I was emotionally done.

So we decided to take a break. Don't worry about it. Let nature take it's course. "You'll get pregnant as soon as you stop trying". Many well-meaning friends tried to console me with stories of other friends who had miraculously gotten pregnant on their own as soon as they stopped trying. Word to the wise, no one trying to get pregnant wants to hear these stories unless they happen to be one of those few who this works for.

Meanwhile, the inevitable questions started coming. "When are you going to have another one?", "you guys make such cute kids, you should have more", "your boys would be such cute big brothers", and the like. Well-meaning people said many hurtful things not realizing how hard we were trying. No one (except Matt) knew how I cried every month and how hard it was for me to watch everyone else try, conceive, grow and deliver while I continued to wait. I did have my boys, and for that I was immeasurably grateful, but the ache was still there.

I wondered why. Was I not doing enough? Was I not reading my scriptures enough or praying enough? Was there a reason Heavenly Father didn't want me to have any more children? I knew it was a righteous desire and I just couldn't understand why teenagers around me could get pregnant and I couldn't. It didn't seem fair.

Next we turned to adoption. We had prayed about this option and felt really good. We paid our down payment, had the home visit, did our couple and separate interviews, went to the classes, all of it. Finally, after 4 or 5 long months we were done with the process and our file was out there for all of the birth moms to see. Surely someone would look at our sweet family and decide their baby was meant to join us... We waited and we waited. I thought about all of the sweet couples we had met during our classes. Many of them had been married for as long or longer than Matt and I had. They could have the babies, we could wait.

This was a good period for me. I felt at peace and knew we were doing all we could. If it was the Lord's will we have more children, we would. If not, well, I had the two best boys in the entire world and a husband who had loved me through all the crazy emotional roller coaster of getting them and trying for this elusive baby #3.

But alas, my peace did not last. I grew antsy again and was no longer satisfied to simply sit and wait. I went back to me OB and got my Chlomid prescription filled- again. Months went by. Nothing. I went up to U to their reproductive clinic and had a few tests done. They suggested artificial insemination (we had tried this before), and we decided to try it again. Still no luck. Frustrated by the lack of continuity and the endless bills from the U, I again returned to my OB to try my luck at the perganol again. A few months of this and I was an emotional wreck again. I didn't know what to do.

One night I was surfing the internet looking up infertility and reading everything I could find. (I sometimes did this to make me feel like I was doing more) I came across another infertility clinic here in Sandy and decided to make an appointment to talk to one of the doctors there. Just getting in the door for a consult was a $200 fee but I was desperate and Matt was willing, so in we went.

The day was March 3 and my first contact with one of the doctors was at 8 o'clock that morning though my appointment wasn't until 11. I got a phone call saying he was overscheduled and could we meet later in the day? Now this was new for me. At the U, at my OB, I rarely saw or spoke to an actual doctor, only the nurses. And here was this doctor, calling me himself to reschedule. I was impressed.

So later Matt and I went in and met with Dr. Blauer. He seemed really nice and looked through my entire record (which, believe me, was quite large by this time) and talked to us for an entire hour. He just answered questions and gave us his best advice, which was this: He said we could continue with the perganol and artificial insemination but he gave us about a 6% chance of getting pregnant each month with that route. It could work, but more than likely it wouldn't. He basically told us our only real hope at this point was in vitro.

I was devastated. I knew, of course, what in vitro was. I also knew how much it cost. $9000 for one try and only 50% chance it would work. The other option was called a shared risk program where you pay $21,000 and you get to try in vitro 4 times. If you get pregnant, fabulous. If not, you get your money back. Matt would never go for it. Let me say this about Matt. He was happy with our boys. He would have been good to just have them. But he loves me. He saw how much the desire for another child was eating at me and bless him, he loved me through it all. But. Matt can also be the cheapest man alive. There was NO WAY he would consent to that much money. Not a chance. He loves me yes, but enough was enough.

Or so I thought.

My dear sweet husband asked me what I thought of the whole visit. I told him I was upset. I wanted another child, I felt our family wasn't complete. We had done everything we could have possibly done with the exception of in vitro. Then my Matt said to me, "well, I don't want to gamble. If we're going to do this, let's do the 4 times or you get your money back option". If we're going to do this? Was he serious? I cried and hugged him. All for me. All to make me happy. That, my friends is love. We prayed about it and felt good about our decision. This was it. If it didn't work we could truly say we had done everything we could do and feel that was our answer.

First came all the testing. Apparently they need to make sure you're not on drugs or riddled with disease before they let you get pregnant. Fine. Then came the pill. This part was strange to me. I don't get pregnant, that's why we were trying in vitro, but first I have to go on the pill to "rest" my ovaries for a month. So in April we rested.

Then came my goodie box in the mail. Boy did that look fun.

All full of shots and drugs... for me.

I learned a lot about myself and my tolerance for needles during this point.

I was able to do the small needle ones that just went into the fat (stomach or back of the arm), but Matt had to do the deep tissue ones later on.

I had a whole bunch of drugs I had to mix all together and that was actually fairly interesting. 10 units of this, 5 of that...
Every night I made up my cocktail and injected it. I had heard the side effects were pretty bad, but I didn't really feel much. It could be the fact that I had already been on so many infertility drugs previously, I don't know. But it was a blessing.

Every other day I was going in to get my blood drawn and have an ultrasound to check the progress of everything. Then on Monday, May 19 the nurse told me to take the HCG shot to release the eggs and come in on Wednesday for the retrieval.

Here is a super flattering picture of them explaining all the ins and outs of the retrieval. They sedated me and off we went. I was pretty groggy the rest of the day and didn't feel very good, but at least that part was over and we could wait for the phone call to tell us how many they got and how many fertilized.

The next day the doctor's office called. They were able to retrieve 24 eggs from me but only 10 of them fertilized. I didn't know if this was good or not, they assured me it was fine and they would watch them grow and let me know.

Saturday we had a tentative appointment for implantation but the office called again and said enough of the embryos were growing they were going to wait until Monday and watch them some more.
Monday we had 2 grade A excellent blastocysts to implant and we were ready to go.

Not much to tell about this part. They took our 2 awesome little embryos and put them in my uterus (where they're supposed to be) and we went home.

We did however, get this lovely photo of our two little buddies. I know all of you are jealous, but you have to pay top dollar to get these kind of photos. Aren't they darling?

Nothing more to do than wait. And wait. Two weeks can seriously be forever. They told me not to take an at-home pregnancy test because they can be wrong and make women who are already emotional basket-cases worse. So I didn't.

Then, a week later I randomly met this girl out to dinner who was pregnant with triplets from in vitro. I told her I had just done it and waiting to find out. She told me to go ahead with a home pregnancy test just to see. She said it might be negative and I could still be pregnant, but if it was positive, I definitely was. I wasn't sure whether or not to believe her, but I was having an extremely hard time waiting. So I did it.
The first one I took had a second line. It was faint, but it was definitely there. Two days later I took another one and two days later another one. Each time the line got darker and I got more and more hopeful. A couple of days before my doctor's appointment the nurse called to confirm and I confessed what I had done.
She said congratulations!

Matt still refused to get excited until we got the blood results from the doctor. So we waited.

Finally we went in and had my blood drawn. It took them FOREVER to call us back and I was worried. Finally, the nurse called. She told us they were looking for a hormone level of 100 and mine was 1200! So there it was, I was finally pregnant. After years and years, it was finally real!

Two weeks later we went into the doctor's office for our first look at our little "bean". We brought the boys with so they could see it too. The whole journey had been a family affair and we wanted them to be in on it. So Matt and I went back into the ultrasound room and left the boys in the waiting room "just in case".

Right away the doctor found our little miracle and started measuring it and it's heartbeat. Matt and I were thrilled! There it was. Tiny, yes, but it was there. Matt asked the doctor if there was only one (high chance of twins with in vitro) and he said he wasn't sure yet, but at first glance, yes, there was just the one.

So Matt went out to get the boys.

While he was gone the doctor finished measuring the baby and said "oh, there's another one".

Another what? Another baby! Matt came in with the boys and I said "Matt, they found another one". He asked Alex to get out of the chair so he could sit down. He was shocked. He took my hand and smiled at me. I cried. I couldn't believe it. And yet I could. When we talked about it later, both of us admitted we knew it was twins, but didn't want to think about it quite yet.

So the doctor measured the other one and checked it's heartbeat too. Both seemed to be doing well and to be about the right size.

Isaac had been hoping for twins all along and was so happy his "wish had come true". Alex was quiet, but very happy too. It was a great day!

Here is the ultrasound photo of our two little miracles. I had another ultrasound this last week and they're still growing.

I am officially way sicker than with the boys and more tired too. But I guess that's to be expected when you've got two little people growing inside you.

I think I'm over the initial shock, but I still love to look at my already expanding stomach and think of the two little lives taking form in there. We prayed and we waited. We learned patience, love, understanding, and many more lessons from this experience. It wasn't easy and and it's not a lesson I would wish on anyone. But looking back now, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's helped me and Matt to grow as a couple and it's given me empathy for all the thousands and hundreds of thousands of couples who struggle with infertility.

I have some new challenges coming up with a twin pregnancy and balancing two boys who still need me. Then we'll have two new babies. It will be an adventure, but we're up for it.

In six more months, I'll have my big boys and my babies. It's perfect. It's exactly how it's supposed to be. Heavenly Father knew what He was doing as usual. Hindsight is so much easier than faith in what's to come. I knew this of course while I was going through it, but that didn't make it any easier. But here, once again, I know my Father in Heaven has a plan for me and for my family. He wants what is best for us which doesn't necessarily coincide with what we want. I seem to have to learn this concept over and over again. And I'm sure we're not done. Learning to have faith is one thing we won't ever get a break from. I just hope I'm getting better at it.

This is the end of one road for us, but just the beginning of a new one for our family.

Gems...

2008-07-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

So, on the way home from church yesterday, we were discussing how I am going with a friend to see the new Batman movie. Alex, of course, wants to see this film, but he pretty much has to be 20 before he is allowed. In attempt to console Alex, Jenny said "The movie is soooo scary, I'm not even going to go see it." Isaac quickly retorted, "Yeah, it would scare the twins and Dad doesn't have babies in his tummy... But he does have stretch marks!"

Thanks, Isaac...

And it begins...

2008-07-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

Today, Alex become a little bit older, and tougher.

He loves playing football, and today he finally, after much anticipation, got his pads.

He is very excited. I was also pretty excited, until he laid his first hit on me with pads. I am starting to feel a bit sorry for the kids on the bad end of his tackles!

As in the picture, Isaac isn't far behind!

New Sweet Rafting Pics!

2008-07-11T09:56:00.001-07:00

Check out my Chaco shoe going into the water!

New PICS added!

CLICK HERE FOR THE SNAKE RIVER PICTURE/VIDEO SWAP!

Snake River Picture/Video Swap

2008-07-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

(There are 8 Pics that I downloaded off the net that are low res. They are labeled "Picture" 1-8 or something. All the rest are higher res where one can make prints.)

CLICK HERE FOR THE SNAKE RIVER PICTURE/VIDEO SWAP!

Directions:

We all took pictures and we all want each others pictures. SO, follow the link above and upload your high resolution pictures to the site and download the pictures you want! Please do this so that we can all have everybody's best shots, especially of the river hits! I am talking especially to Liz, Kate, Paul (vide0), Lee, Brooks, and anyone else who has some good stuff.

Leave a comment here if you have any questions.

Trip 10 Cleanse

2008-07-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

Because all of us were in the water after the flip, many "survivors" :) mentioned that they would like somewhere to post their story while floating down the river after the Lunch Counter Cleanse (read previous post). Or even if you were in the other boat, tell us your story from your point of view! It all happened so fast, we aren't sure what took place!

So, share your story here by adding your comment below.

Snake River 2008--Summary

2008-07-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

WOW!
Where to begin...

If you were there, you know EXACTLY what I am talking about.

OK, let's start here...

62 People. Jenny and I counted on the way home and we came up with 62 people coming from places as far away as Canada, San Diego, Indiana, Colorado, and Utah. 62 friends and family all joining up again for the 10th(?) annual Snake River Extravaganza.

Here is a full, Lunch Counter sequence from start to finish. Photos taken by the magnificent Jenny. (Click on any picture to enlarge.)

Freaking huge!
That is my 70 year old dad on the hound! GO DAD!This is called submarining. Our entire boat is under water on the 3 rapid.There were some major changes this year. It started that our normal campsite was already taken! We had claimed that spot year after year, but this year it was gone early. No problem, though, we found a place that many liked better. What did you think if you were there? Did you like our new spot better? Anyway...

Another change was the river. It was Angry, Huge, Ferocious, Cold (52 Degrees), and Amazing! We usually run the Snake and 4000 CFS (cubic feet per second) and when we arrived, it was raging at 21,300. The trip usually takes us about 21/2 to 3 hours. This year, 70 minutes. Our normal Big Kahuna hit was a mere ripple, but Lunch Counter was 6 Kahunas, mixed with swelling, sucking and gaping currents ever ready to devour the next boat. Lunch Counter was not the only body claiming section on the river! We had swimmers almost on every turn. There was not a single trip where someone didn't go out.

We ran a total of 10 trips all of which told their own stories and adventures, not to mention several close calls. For example, when Liz got slammed by a wave in Lunch Counter and was submerged underwater for several seconds,
Can you see Liz?
or when Jim, while swimming the ropes, got tied up in an eddie and felt the constant pull of an underwater current trying to take him down. Or when Scott was engulfed by a lurching wave which dragged him down to the depths of the deepest part of the Snake in Champagne where he stayed under water for a good 45-60 seconds... Needless to say, he was seeing stars. Good thing all are strong swimmers!

Last but not least, though, was the Lunch Counter cleanse.

The last trip was definitely the most interesting run for me. The entire Edginton clan (Jenny's family) was in my boat, including some younger folks like Alex. Well, we ran the rapids dead center and did fine until the fifth rapid when we just ran out of steam, spun sideways, and an enormous wave/hydrolic devoured our boat sending the entire boat crew everywhere. These are the pics I have so far and I am sure more are to come.

Nice Rick! (Jenny's dad... 50 something)
The FlipThe Spread.

Everyone survived (barely!) and lived to see another day! The rescue will be on another post.

Campsite Directions

2008-06-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

Click HERE for directions to Etna/Greys River Road.

Once you get to Greys River Road, turn right at the Supermarket and head up the canyon. Go the speed limit, there are a lot of police patrolling this road. Our camp is about 4 miles up the canyon.

At the entrance to the canyon, you will go over one bridge which crosses the river and there will be a campground on your right. Pass this campground and continue up the canyon. On your right (a few miles beyond the first bridge) you will see another bridge which crosses the river again on your right. Turn right off the main road, cross this bridge, take your first left which is another dirt road so drive slowly. Our compound is at the end of this road. We will try to put plates up or something... See you there!

Grand Slammin'!

2008-06-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

The Ortons are some of our family's best friends and one of the original river-running families to join us on the Snake. This is the following conversation I had with Tracy Orton today:

Tracy: I just talked to one of my friends who just got back from running the Snake last week.

Matt: And? How was it?

Tracy: He said it was HUGE. When they got there, there were loads of people walking with their life jackets up the road next to the river. We couldn't figure out why they were doing this until the next day when we ran it. We went barreling through Lunch Counter, grand-slammed (this is a rafting term where the boat stands straight up due to a huge hit and flips), and we lost our boat. Next thing we know, we are walking the road with our life jackets.

Get ready people...

Sunday Traditions

2008-06-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

When I was young, we would go over to my Grandparents house for Sunday dinner every week. My grandma was famous for her Roast Beef and Mashed Potatoes. We wouldn't ever have anything different, nothing new, just that delicious meal that only my grandma could duplicate. Other Sunday traditions included going for drives all over creation, hitting buckets of baseballs with my dad, and watching the Sunday night, made for TV movie with my mom.

Today, I am not sure if we have any traditions. Maybe a couple. Jenny makes a delicious meal that is always something special and she always includes her homemade rolls which are straight from heaven. We get in the pool. Play some Rock Band. Read some Harry Potter. But for the most part we just enjoy being together and being lazy!

So what will my kids remember?

One thing happened today that I will NEVER forget.

Those of you who aren't family don't realize how HUGE of a accomplishment this is! Yes, due to constant prodding, begging, and pleading from the grandkids, grandma got into the swimming pool today. Siblings, this is picture proof that it really did happen!

So maybe my kids won't remember that one thing that we did every Sunday, but they will remember that Sundays were definitely special days, which is exactly what they should be!

Yo, Dad!

2008-06-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

Alex always intrigues me. He is becoming a looking glass into what the 'popular' is. He likes to test the waters with his surroundings. Regardless of how much we try to shelter him from the outside world, it always seems to sneak in through the cracks.

Alex is going to be 9 this summer (holy cow). I watch him as he watches the world and as he tries to decide what is the good, bad, and the ugly. Most of the time, he chooses wisely, but sometimes he, like all kids, enjoys frittering around with the bad and ugly. Fortunately for us, most of the time he chooses the good.

Yesterday, I had a shoot and in between the ceremony and reception, I met the family at a local burger joint. While hanging with everyone, I glanced over at Alex and he caught me by surprise. He had turned his BYU hat sideways on his head and he had his arms diagonally folded like a rapper would do. Lately, every time he sees me, he greets me with a "yo, dad." I looked at him peculiarly, and he sheepishly turned his hat back to normal. I didn't mean to squelch his new identity, but I'll admit I wasn't thrilled about it.

I guess if he is going to be a rapper, he should get rid of the BYU hat first. Doesn't quite fit.

BLOOD EVERYWHERE!

2008-06-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

Get your attention with that title? Good. This is dang funny.

As many of you know, our kids get one hour of TV time a day and during that hour, Jenny edits. Well, the boys agreed on half of a Star Wars movie and everything was going fine, until we heard a blood curdling scream! Alex burst through the door yelling Isaac is bleeding everywhere. Jenny ran to Isaac and found his nose gushing blood and Isaac hysterical. After many minutes, Dr. Jenny finally got the bleeding to stop.

So this is what happened.

During a particular scene in Star Wars, Annakin and Padme are laying in a grassy field beginning to fall in love. Anakin puts the moves on Padme and goes in for a kiss. Well, my boys HATE kissing (BOYS RULE) and so Isaac, in order to avoid the awful display of affection, dove under his pillow, but instead of making it under the pillow, he plowed nose first into his own knee!

Needless to say, he missed the kiss, bled a lot, but according to him, the bleeding was worth it!

BIG...

2008-06-23T20:11:00.001-07:00

So, when we run the Snake, the water levels range between 3500 and 5000 CFS (cubic feet per second). I checked the .gov waterflow website today, and it was a roaring 20,700 CFS! It is going to be a wild ride next week! We can't wait!
These are pics from a local photo company (www.snakeriverphotos.com) of rafters who were running the river today just to give you a sense of the fun we are going to have! There are about 50-60 coming this year so we are really excited! See you there!

Lazy Morning

2008-06-21T08:11:00.001-07:00

I finished cleaning up breakfast this morning and went to look for my boys. This is what I found:

Aaaaaah..... summer. Does it get any better than this?

Just Believe...

2008-06-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

That's it.

We have had enough.

We are MAKING it Summer, whether nature agrees or not. We are tired of the cold. Tired of the rain. If we believe that it is warm, it will become so.

On that leap of faith, we put up the pool!

The kids, whether rain or shine, get in everyday. Even grandpa braved the 60 degree pool temperature today!

We can't wait until we can actually get into the pool without it hurting and we can truly enjoy it. We will keep you posted...

Vocals...

2008-06-11T06:50:00.001-07:00

We recently added a microphone stand to our Rock Band experience which has been great fun because now we can play and sing all at the same time. This addition has added a new dimension to Rock Band and we are loving playing the game again.

Alex is a seasoned veteran of the game, rarely making mistakes. Isaac, however, is the new kid on the block and is just now starting to get the hang of it. Isaac is also immensely enjoying the mic stand. He can sing "Enter Sandman" without flaw.

Which leads me to the real reason for this post.

During the last few days, Isaac has been carrying around a vacuum attachment pretending that it is a portable microphone. We listen to a lot of Rock and Roll in our house, so throughout the day I hear him singing into the vacuum anything from STYX to Bon Jovi. Well, yesterday I heard him sing this:

"Whoa, we're halfway way the---re, Who-oh living on a Prai--rie."

Only Chocolate...

2008-06-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

It has been brought to my attention that the majority of my posts are on food. Well, ok. Here is one on dessert!

Depending on what mood I'm in, I like a variety of desserts. My favorite? I love cake with butter cream frosting. In fact, I used to ask Santa every year for a wedding cake at Christmas. I never got one until I married, and the cake was the ONLY THING about which I showed any interest regarding wedding day planning. We had an Albertsons cake, just the way I like it... loaded with frosting with a raspberry center... mmm.

Today, besides cake, I like other desserts as well. Sometimes I like Evil (thanks Tori), other times cookies and other pastries, and on and on. Jenny is an amazing cook and can make anything. But never the same dessert twice.

Enter Isaac.

We made a startling discovery today. Jenny, in our attempt to not have large children, only allows the boys one unhealthy snack a day. The boys know this, and they choose their snacks wisely. Alex, like me, likes different snacks on different days. For Isaac, only one thing can tame his insatiable dessert appetite: chocolate ice cream. He never wants nor does he like any other dessert.

Well, we have an outdoor freezer where the chocolate ice cream is housed. Today, he asked for his unhealthy snack and we said go grab the ice cream. He delivered the ice cream with a guilty expression on his face. He had left his spoon in the ice cream and it had frozen into the chocolate not to be removed. Apparently, he had been sneaking bites during the days and just leaving his spoon in the box for easy and quick access.

The true irony is rather than realize the spoon was stuck and pretend he knew nothing about it to avoid trouble, he brought it to us knowing he would be busted, but his longing for chocolate overrode his fear for punishment.

Hussein Obama

2008-05-30T18:36:00.000-07:00

This pretty much sums up my feelings about the upcoming election!

Click HERE!