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...

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.

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!

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."

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.