Wagstaff Family!

I was featured in a Ron Paul press release!

2012-02-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

For Immediate Release: February 13, 2012
Contact: Gary Howard, 855-886-9779

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Ron Paul Washington Team
Names New ‘LDS for Ron Paul’
Nationwide Coalition Members

Latter-day Saints faithful who support Dr. Paul
hail from King, Spokane and Whitman counties

BELLEVUE, Washington – The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign announced today new members of its active “Latter-day Saints for Ron Paul” nationwide coalition.

Today’s additions hail from King, Spokane, Whitman counties, all Washington. All pledge to spread the word about Dr. Paul among their respective communities, stakes, and wards.

Former Obama supporter, seven-year Navy veteran, and LDS church member Dewain Clark came out in support of Ron Paul. Mr. Clark was baptized during his time in the military and served on the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Mr. Clark said, “I participated in the Democratic caucus last election cycle and supported Barack Obama. I am disappointed with his failure to change anything. I have since learned of Ron Paul, and I loved his policies. The countless wars that America is involved in are shameful, and must be ended by goodhearted people represented by an ethical leader, and Ron Paul is the only decent man ready for the job.”

Stephen Baer, another LDS member from Spokane Valley, also announced his support for Dr. Paul. He said, “As a devout Mormon, I have been taught my whole life that the Constitution is a Divinely inspired document brought forth through inspired Founders by the hand of God. Joseph Smith prayed, ‘Have mercy, O Lord...have mercy upon the rulers of our land; may those principles, which were so honorably and nobly defended, namely, the Constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever.’ (D&C 109:54) Latter-day prophets since then have reinforced this teaching, which is why I support a non-Mormon, Ron Paul, for president in 2012.”

“As Latter-day Saints, we understand the inspiration that resulted in the United States Constitution. If we want
our Heavenly Father to continue to bless this nation and sustain us, the preferred option is Dr. Paul. He is the
only candidate determined to uphold the Constitution. Beyond the basics of constitutional integrity, Ron Paul
also exercises common sense. He wants fiscal responsibility, individual liberty, and personal responsibility. I
only wish we had started listening to him 30 years ago,” said Sara Wagstaff, an LDS mother from Pullman.

Concerning the active “Latter-day Saints for Ron Paul” coalition, this announcement follows the high-profile endorsements of Overstock.com President Jonathan Johnson, prominent author and chair of the Utah Tenth Amendment Center Connor Boyack, and that of Utah Republican Liberty Caucus Chair Darcy Van Orden.

All such announcements help present Ron Paul as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney and demonstrate that no presidential candidate has a monopoly on this crucial western states voter segment.

As a function of this announcement, the above-mentioned persons are all members of the “Latter-day Saints for Ron Paul” nationwide coalition, in particular its Washington steering committee.

As a first basic step, those wanting to join the “Latter-day Saints for Ron Paul” nationwide coalition should visit the official page by clicking here. Prospective members should also send an email to wacoalitions@ronpaul2012.com, writing the coalition name in the subject line.

Still a fun family

2012-02-12T20:23:00.000-08:00

The boys love putting clothes that don't belong to them on, in addition to other silly things. Here are some pictures of that:

Also last week we had two women from China and Taiwan over to eat, it is part of a program we signed up for to help expose the exchange students to a bit of whitey culture. they took a lot of pictures, we took one as well. They enjoyed some Wagstaff vegetarian pizza, they got to watch our children get punished at least once, and then we played an old Burt classic with them: "Don't eat Pete!" And whenever its Moroni's turn he reminds us not to yell at him.

The peace sign, the only option if you are Chinese and posing for a picture,
At the end of his mission Ross also had peace fingers in all of his photos.

Moroni with Elvis hair

Does this look fishy to you?

2012-02-06T20:35:00.000-08:00

Ron Paul had huge support in Nevada, about 20,000 people. Hopefully this all gets worked out.

January - Ron Paul not included

2012-02-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

Well, this post is for mom. A whole bunch of adorable pictures of the family from last month.

This is of the ferry boat ride home. The boys loved the ferry

The kids like to wear extra clothes and say that they are dressing up as astronauts. Very cute.

This is the day we put the coffee table up on the couch and used to as a slide.
Of course we had to put on slidey pants to make it extra fun!

These guys just love dressing up. The costumes were a good investment.
Mommy and Mary time.

This is a picture of bath time. I let them take big soup pans and spoons in with them.

Of all my kids, Joseph makes the funniest faces

Moroni made an airplane out of blocks and we just had to take pictures

Being goofy
What do you think of Moroni's hair being combed?

This picture is my favorite. Sleeping children - no matter how naughty they were all day- is a beautiful thing to behold. The boys of course still sleep together despite it getting tight. I love how they are resting their arms on each other. Just like the womb.

Ron Paul predicted ALL the major events before they happened

2012-01-09T20:20:00.000-08:00

Not because he is a prophet, no. But there is something to this man. And if you are among the many who think he is too much on the "fringe", or has a dangerous foreign policy, or economic policy. Think again, I beg of you. What he is proposing now used to be common sense. If you are also among the many who are sincerely worried for this country and its future, consider this man.
If you have no idea of what I am talking about, you don't care for politics, and your just glad to be living in this country, you might want to pay attention too.

First of all the foreign policy of Ron Paul is this: If we have an enemy waging war on us, let the U.S. Congress make a declaration of War and we will fight it, and we will win it. He has repeated this over and over again to the media, yet doing things the way the constitution has outlined somehow is perceived as "dangerous". The only reason he is against all of our troops in so many countries is because it is unconstitutional, we don't have the authority to just send our military out without the approval of the people via congress. Just think of how many in our military have died, just think.

Economic Policy: Now, I am no expert but basically Ron Paul is planning on taking our debt and runaway spending by the neck and getting it under control. And his plan is to return the economy back to the private sector. And make REAL cuts. All these proposed cuts by the current administration aren't really cuts at all they are just a reduction of the proposed increases. And Ron Paul is the only one calling them out on that.

There is so much more, but basically if none of this interests you thanks for reading anyway. As for me it seems I am getting more passionate each day. Who wouldn't want a president with such consistency, foresight, and lives the principles he preaches?

This movie is worth your time I think.

So what can you do? Don't wait until the general elections in November to vote for president. Vote at your state primaries, or caucuses. Find out when and where they are. In fact maybe this will help:
Republican primaries and caucuses calendar

January 2012 (4)

February 2012 (6)

March 2012 (22)

April 2012 (9)

May 2012 (7)

June 2012 (6)

Find out the date and the location and GO!

Two parties . . . No options.

2012-01-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

Vacation time

2012-01-02T11:36:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely Christmas, although it wasn't the happy bliss I imagined it was going to be given the frenzy of present unwrapping and chaos. But I guess I can't expect Christmas as an adult to be the same as when I was younger.
We had a great experience going to my parents house and each day was well spent. Ross did some maintenance in on the car and spent time making my present (a spice rack to mount on our wall). And thanks to David and Kristi we even got to go on a Ross and Sara get-away. They watched our three little kids plus their own making six, for a day and a half. We went to a bed and breakfast in Seattle, visited pike place market and saw a play the first day. The second day we walked through a park, visited the botanical garden there, went to the temple, and visited a good friend. It was great.
We also got to visit a nearby beach as a family, walk the docks and find crabs. Good, good, fun I say.

These are pictures from the car ride over,
also taken at a rest stop.

The boys were excited to be at grandmas house from the get-go.
Here they are the first night in their pj's by the tree. As happy as can be.

A whole mess of grandchildren Christmas Eve.

We also went to a nursing home with the boys on Christmas Eve to sing and talk, play some violin, then sing some more. The residents absolutely loved it. We did too. This is a family tradition, our third Christmas doing it with many to follow. I highly recommend it. Old people in wheelchairs are becoming less and less intimidating.

Here is Mary with her sweet cousin, Kaitlyn

Though not a good picture, a good bowl of Jambalaya.

This picture was taken at Felafel King, outside Pike Place market

After the play we returned to the b&b, Mozart's Guesthouse, and we sat down to talk to the owner and her friends and ended up talking for an hour. They are all originally from Russia and are world travelers, it was really nice making their acquaintance.

Pictures from the botanical garden

a view towards the city from the park

Making our way up a staircase that spiraled around a water tower in the park

The beach at Indianola

hermit crabs still in their shells

First day as Sunbeams at church

unsure about ron paul's foreign policy?

2011-12-30T12:38:00.000-08:00

This sums it up pretty well.

Let's not fear the constitution.

New Camera and Family news

2011-12-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

Decorating pine cones

Playing with the camera

family picture

So we got a new camera that takes fancy pictures. Our old one was bought used and was at least 10 years old. Remember when digital camera's were really clunky? That was ours. Well this one is actually quite clunky too but it can do cool stuff.

We've had incredible frost and thick fog for the last few days that left Pullman looking like a winter wonderland. It's been an unusually dry Fall this year with low snow/rain fall. I got some pictures of the hoar frost with the new camera.
We got our Christmas tree at the Hope thrift shop this year, same as two years ago. They go up into the mountains and cut down trees for folks and only ask for a donation of your choice. So we bought ours for 6 and a half dollars. Ross says we should have paid more. We also bought some badly needed tires there that had hardly any wear on them at all. We paid 80.00 for the tires and saved at least 200.00. I mean, they still and the little rubber pokey things on them, Ros thinks they couldn't have been driven more than 20 miles before they were donated. It was a huge blessing.
We had some friends over to our house to help decorate the tree. We strung popcorn, made paper chains, drank hot chocolate and listen to Christmas music. It was nice having our friends Grace and Wei over, they are Chinese and we were lucky enough to give them their first taste of Christmas tradition.
Later in the week the boys helped to paint pine cones which we strung up on the tree as well. I love our tree and how simply, homemade, and beautiful it is. The boys loved the act of placing decorations on the tree and had lots of fun. And for a second there while I was watching them laugh and play with its branches, I felt like the tree loved it as well. What a way to fill the measure of its creation.

Frosted tree lit up by apartment side lighting at night

Frosted Conifer

Even the hawk is frosted

Beautiful!

Lets get the word out folks

2011-12-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

Just give me three minutes of your time

2011-11-30T21:13:00.000-08:00

Pictures of Playing dress-up a Grandma's house in Boise

2011-11-26T14:10:00.000-08:00

Moroni fell asleep in his chicken suit

Joseph and Moroni looking super adorable

Hope you enjoy the randomness

2011-11-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

J

Well, we've been having lots of fun lately. So much fun that blogging lost it's appeal. Plus the fact that we have lost a TON of pictures and video lately due to broken hard drives and messed up cameras. So I would give you pictures of our cute kids on Halloween ready for trick or treating but they are gone now. But just for your information Joseph was a firefighter, Moroni was a Monster, Mary was a puppy. I have put up some pics from this week because its all I've got. So Ross and I are going to buy an external hard drive soon. Also we are buying a new camera, and we would like to get a video camera as well. We thought it would be great if we could buy a combination of the two (camera/video camera) Something that takes quality pictures AND home videos. Does anyone know of something like that? Please leave a comment with any useful advise.

Members of my family have been doing and saying the funniest things. Now the trick is if I can remember it all now that I am actually ready to record.

First, we were doing the dishes the other day and Ross said "I should be a professional eater . . ." I didn't really feel like contributing to his thoughts or adding to the conversion but I smiled, he continued, "I'm serious. I would have to build up certain muscle groups first. Have I ever showed you how I can swallow peaches whole? Of course it wouldn't be easy to have to consume that many calories in one day." There was no hint of sarcasm. I finally asked if there was such a thing. He said there was. For example eating contests at fairs, and those hot dog eating competitions they do around the world. But we decided it probably wouldn't be worth pursuing since even the best in the world probably still didn't make enough money. Plus it would take a toll on the body.

By the way, the reason the movie is so jostled is because I am having to army crawl most of the time and hold a camera in one hand, and hold a flashlight in the other.

For mothers of toddler girls: Is this sudden surge of emotions and entitlement and constant disappointment from my 21 month old normal? It's like it came out of nowhere.

New random topic: One of my kids favorite activities is picking from the activity card deck. They love it because it is almost always something they enjoy and usual it involves me spending focused time with them. I made a deck of cards with about 30 activities and we pick one or two card a day. I made sure that all the activities have something we could do at anytime and in any weather. They can last for 10 minutes to an hour. Some of them are even useful like vacuum the house or empty the dishwasher. Others are random and new like make washcloth soup, or do indoor soccer.

Today I realized that the boys are exactly twice as old as Mary. This only happens once with. They are 42 months, she is 21.

Lastly, does anyone know if I can take all the videos from my blog and put them back on my computer with good quality still? The blog have most of the videos and pictures we have lost. What can I do?

I can't think of a good title that might lure people in.

2011-11-09T13:29:00.000-08:00

I made some beans the other day and made a lot so I wouldn't have to cook more later (they were dried beans). So a few days ago I did not have time to make what was on the menu so I grabbed the left over beans and added some barbeque sauce, dry mustard, sugar, and some vinegar. And of course as I added the vinegar I thought to myself how Ross was going to like the zesty addition, given that he drinks vinegar straight.
Anywho, there wasn't much to eat at dinner time, but there were enough beans for everyone to have two bowls if they wanted. I saw that Ross wasn't dishing up more beans so I said, "there's more beans if your still hungry." Displacing my motherly mannerisms toward my husband - as usual. And he said he actually didn't like the beans very much, that they tasted kind of weird. [for the reader who is offended by his honesty, it's okay, this is a typical exchange between the two of us]
Anyway the days passed and the leftovers sat in the fridge. I had a meal of them for a snack and tried to figure out what was so bad about them. I reminded him about the beans once when he was preparing his lunch and he reminded me he didn't like them, they tasted weird. I pressed. "They taste kind of alkaliney." I am not even sure what alkaloids taste like but that was his opinion.
So this post isn't really leading up to some big event or anything really. Just that I grabbed the beans to serve for lunch today and said to myself, "if these aren't bad, we're finishing them off." And lucky for me they were still good. I gave each child one serving and myself two. The beans were served along with some tostadas topped with sour cream, cheese and olives. Yum!

But wait, nobody is eating my beans.
Well, they can't have anymore tostadas until they finish the beans!

Moroni said "No, these beans are gross."
And Joseph really played it up: "I feel sick"
He asked if he could tell Jesus and Heavenly Father about how he was sick, in hopes that they might take pity on him and heal him.
I tasted Moroni's beans and they weren't gross, I ate my entire bowl and didn't get sick. Oh well.

The face of Moroni's inward struggle

Joseph, wishing more people felt sorry for him.

I'm so sick I have lost ALL upper body strength!

Go Ron!

2011-11-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

So, some folks know that I am rooting for Ron Paul to be the next GOP candidate in the 2012 Presidential Election. This video sums up where he stands and why I like him. (Mom, make Dad watch this since I had been talking to him about this when we visited).

Grandmas house and more

2011-10-17T14:20:00.001-07:00

A week and a half ago the kids and I went and visited Grandma and Grandpa Burt while Ross was attending a Crop and Soils conference in San Antonio, TX. They enjoyed playing with the firefighter costumes my mom gave them, picking apples off the tree, playing with their cousin, Abby; they pretty much enjoyed everything and didn't want to leave. I misplaced some of the pictures that my mom gave me but here are a few from visiting the beach and finding crabs.

Also my mom taught me how to make pastry pies and I made a berry pie right before I left. Unfortunately I was in a hurry to get the kids in the car and head home so the pie was a little runny, but good.

Then last Saturday I made a pie again, all by myself this time. I used half lard and half butter. I have had the lard sitting in my freezer for over a year so I thought it was about time it got used. When I snuck a taste of the dough before it was rolled out I tasted a hint of bacon fat. The pie turned out good though. All the kids really enjoyed picking apples from the apple tree across the street that just goes unattended/unpruned/unsprayed. But surprisingly about half the apples we picked were worm free. Lucky!

Finally he are the kids just having fun. They love Daddy

Miniature Ross

2011-09-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

Ross drank vinegar when he was a kid and still does. Now the boys drink it too. In fact once they found a spray bottle of water/vinegar that I was using for cleaning and they were taking turns sucking out of the spout and calling it "juice".

The tomatoes in the movie are from our garden. Sooo gooood.

Goofy Fashion

2011-09-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

It's always fun to see what the boys come up with while I am trying to take a nap on the couch.

Or even better what they do when they are asleep! They prefer sleeping in a crowded crib over the separate beds we have provided.

I have been trying to prepare single plates of food for lunch and not have seconds just for kicks, this has forced me to thoughtfully prepare my lunch instead of just grabbing whatever is available over the course of one or two hours. This plate I was especially impressed with. Good job Me!

Our first tomato of the summer - one month later our plants are covered in red.

We went camping in a nearby national forest last weekend. The boys had fun exploring with daddy. They did not have fun getting stung by wasps while picking wild huckleberries (no photo for that one). And nobody liked how mommy did not pack enough extra clothes when it froze that night and somebody wet the bed. Yet I still managed to get pictures of smiling faces.

Mary, all ready for bed was put in charge of holding the hose last night. She is so cute.

Finally, here is Mary in the new outfit from Grandma Burt. Thank you mom, Love ya.

Sleepy Eater

2011-08-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

Camping and cuteness

2011-08-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

A picture from the family reunion on the 4th weekend in July. Joseph sat on his Grandpa's lap in the boat while his cousins were being towed for over two hours and loved it. Moroni was passed out - unable to return for some time. Group photo, just having fun.Moroni enjoying a delicious pop sickle on a hot Sunday afternoon

Joseph. He is good at making fun pictures

Just the girls. Oh how I love Mary's smile.

Ross was trying to take a nap in this first video while Joseph was trying to talk to him.

The next movie gets better near the end, Mary helps me to sing.

Birthday and visit from parents

2011-07-20T10:30:00.001-07:00

I had the best birthday I have had in years. It was spent with those I love and was low key. My parents arrived that afternoon and we were able to just enjoy one another's company. They just finished a 23 month mission for the church in Rome, Italy. For my birthday they bought us some grocery's and other household supplies that we just haven't gotten around to buying. Ross baked a cake for me and bought me some really nice hiking boots and an ice ax which I will be using next week when we climb mount Adams. On Wednesday the four of us went to the temple, and then that evening we listening to live music at the park. It was all so lovely. Here are some pics.

My mom and the boys
Sweet Mary
The boys chillin' on the counter
Wearing our fancy Italian scarfs.

Vacation

2011-06-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

We have had a lovely time in Idaho so far. While Ross was at a crop science conference presenting his research, we stayed at Allie and Nate's house in Rexburg. We got to visit with old friends, Grandparents, and do some fun stuff. I took the boys to the splash park. They weren't really into it, mostly scared of the crowd. They ended up sitting down in the grass with their backs to splash park and were staring at the carousel. So I got some cash and they went for a ride. No pictures of that, sorry.

We left Thursday morning for Boise and we stopped at Craters of the Moon and Shoshone Falls. It was great, but wore the kids and me out.

We are in Boise now and we just got back from an awesome visit to the fire station! The boys got to hold the hose and spray water, sit behind the wheel, slide down the pole, and look at axes. It was pretty cool

These pictures start with the most recent.

Joseph with a firefighter jacket

Moroni

Joseph

Moroni as happy as can be holding his pretend hose

Shoshone falls

All the kids did the same pose in defiance to us telling them to smile!

post 100. Featuring: yours truly

2011-06-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Because I know you are all dying to see me play, I'll give in just this once.

Another post! ta da!

2011-06-14T12:26:00.001-07:00

Look at me, 3 times this week. Mom, are you proud? I mostly just like to post the videos I've taken but I do have one thing to report. The boys are cute. They are still working on developing good comprehension and language, but they are getting there.

"ladybugs, candy, motorcycles, a triangle." This was their answer to my question, "What do you want to get when we are at Walmart today?"

Ross and I are the tightest tight wads you have ever known perhaps. Also we are good with our money and frugal. It is almost like a game for us to see how much money we can save. So why do we do it? I'll tell you. So we can afford to spend 20 bucks (round trip) on gas and pay 30 dollars for admission, and then another 2 dollars to pull the money out of the cash machine and then another 8 dollars on expensive snow cones - which, by the way I waited in line for 25 minutes in the desert heat for, while holding a child in my arms . What is the event you wonder? The once in a lifetime opportunity to to see a combine demolition derby, of course! This video is actually a grain truck race, but the event is a combine demolition derby. And for those of you who might be wondering what a combine is, it is a huge farm machine that harvests wheat.

This image also came up when I google-searched "combine." Weird. And freaky looking.

And now for some cuteness.

pictures and videos

2011-06-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Sleeping in stroller

juvenille robin that I caught and wanted to make friends with
Sleeping in highchair

underwear on over his shorts
I had been singing a song out loud and then stopped when Moroni asked me to keep making music. So I went ahead and played the actual song on the CD player. The reason he is spacing out in this video is because he is actually listening intently to the song. Sorry the footage is so jiggly.

Would anybody in Rexburg, whom I KNOW like to watch my three kids for three days? I know that its weird for me to ask this question on my blog, but its a shot in the dark. Ross and I will be in the area and we want to do a getaway.

Camping

2011-06-05T16:56:00.001-07:00

We have been camping twice this week. The first time was for memorial day and we went 3 hours South to Riggings, a small tourist town. We met Ross's parents there and put our tent next to their little camper. It was fun but it rained half the time and we had to relieve ourselves in a bucket. I guess my old age is turning me into a camping sissy. The boys are wearing headlamps in the pictures.

For our next trip we went down to granite dam and they closed the bridge across the river 10 minutes before we arrived and so we had to pay 15 dollars to camp at the park. humf. BUT, it was quite lovely and we had all the necessary facilities. This is a view from our campsite

This is Joseph in time out
These are the kids on our way there in the car

Birthday

2011-05-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

The boys had a lovely birthday. Saturday morning we came into their room and told them that they were big boys now and they could wear underwear and go to the bathroom on the toilet now. They were excited since we had been talking about it for the last six months or so and they had already had experience going on the toilet. The biggest problem was that they had inexperienced teachers. For example, Joseph said he needed to go pee so we told him to go on the toilet. He came back from the bathroom very excited that he had gone on the toilet with his underwear soaked. We never thought to tell him to pull down his underwear first. So for the first couple of hours we were just learning how to potty train. We actually went three different places that day without any accidents, it was great.

Then that evening we had friends over for cake and ice cream. It was a long, fun, and exciting day.

My boys

2011-05-05T11:19:00.001-07:00

Seeing this picture makes me very happy about my current weight.
Joseph and Moroni are going to be turning 3 on Saturday. Anyone who has large wads of cash, wanting to contribute to their college fund, can just go ahead and send it in the mail (c/o Sara Wagstaff). We accept checks as well.

Their top ten favorite activities during the day

1. Running outside with as much skin showing as possible

2. playing with a borrowed "leapfrog" toy that plays songs

3. Pretending to be firefighters - or anybody else that wears a helmet

4. Packing pretend bags to go to school/work/or to the party.

5. punishing their toys

6. eating candy/pretending to eat candy

7. helping mommy cook

8. running around naked

9. looking at family pictures

10. going on walks

Before they were born I felt that Moroni (baby "A" and the first one "presenting") was going to be strong willed. Actually "spirited" would be a better description of what I was thinking. The name Joseph had a very peaceful sound to me and I felt like "baby B" was going to be a gentle peacekeeping type.

Anyway for the first two years, much to my surprise it seemed almost the opposite, or at times none of the above. Joseph was consistently the trouble maker and was active and Moroni was just soooo sensitive, very sweet, and would fall to pieces if his feelings were even grazed.

Well, now that they are almost three their personalities are becoming more apparent and I feel like my mothers intuition has been validated. Joseph is very kind, will take Mary by the hand and mother her. Loves to help/share/please or what have you. Moroni is always yelling or screaming at Mary, if he is forced to do anything he will remember it for the rest of his life, and will not share unless he gets to choose how much will be shared. For example if we are eating a treat and we ask Moroni to share with someone else in the family he will pinch a particle off of his dessert and then if you can see it with your natural eyes you take it from off his fingers and put it in your mouth, placing it on one of your taste-buds. But they are both soooo sweet and fun, and have beautiful smiles. I love them!

goings on

2011-04-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

Well, not having a camera (it was left in Boise) has kept me from being motivated to update the blog but I'll try anyway. But first, this funny commercial:

I always wanted Ross to see if our babies would latch on to him but he refused so this

commercial satisfies my curiosity. Ha!

Okay, I have this mary kay moisturizing cream that my mother in law gave me that I use on Mary's exima sometimes. I went to get some this morning but I found that the entire container was empty. Wiped dry.

Where did it go?

I don't know but I can guess who does

Aren't they cute? They are.

The boys vocabulary is starting to have a noticable change from one week to the next and that is pretty fun. What I didn't expect is for Mary to start talking. She can say mommy, daddy, baby, ball, uh-oh, sorry, thank you, yay. But they all require an interpreter of course.

Well, I am not sure what else to say, so I guess thats it for this week.

Poor, poor Moroni

2011-04-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

All week – mid March Moroni gets a cold along with a fever and is almost incapable of sleeping through the night.

The following days – Moroni is all better yet wakes up several times a night crying and screaming with ridiculous demands such as “may I have the brown blanket” which is covering him.

Thursday night - March 24 Moroni is being ridiculously whiney all night long we try to let him cry it out and he screams for an hour.

Friday - March 25 We take Moroni to the Doctor for unusual behavior and vomiting and find out he has an ear infection.

The next few days it seems like things are clearing up but then as the week continues he complains more and more about his ear hurting, starts acting sick, and has a rattley nose when he breathes.

At this point I think his ear infection is worstening and the rattle inside his nose is from drainage in his ears.

Thursday - March 31 we take Moroni to the doctor for an ear infection that isn’t getting better. The doctor looks in his ear and sees only minor evidence of an infection, and looks up his nose and finds nothing that would make it rattle. She gives us a stronger prescription which we wait to have filled.

While at the doctors appointment Ross notices a developing rash on Moroni’s tummy which I dismiss as unimportant.

Friday Morning - Moroni is covered in spots and we hurry him to the doctor for assumed chicken pox. The doctor says it’s not chicken pox because he isn’t itching. It isn’t an allergic reaction. It is just a rash due to a viral infection- nothing to worry about really.

Friday Night – I come home from an event at 10pm to find Moroni being rocked in Rosses arms. He is sick and covered from head to toe with the rash, and feverish. He is up half the night crying. His chief complaint: the rattle in his nose.

Saturday morning - at the doctors, Moroni is having an allergic reaction to amoxicillin, we can give him steroids to help him feel better but it won’t change what his body is doing. We opt out of any more meds for now. His tonsils are swollen which probably means so are his androids. THAT’S the rattle.

Saturday all day long – his rash had melded together and turned his skin completely red and he is getting a purple rash on top of his red rash. He eye lids, cheeks, and ears are swollen. He is sick as a dog and held for most of the day; almost inconsolable.

Sunday April 3 – Moroni only woke up once during the night and played for half the time and was sick the other half.

Today April 4 – Moroni had a tough night but is doing a lot better, the rattle in his nose is almost gone, and he is currently playing with his brother. Just one thing, the bottoms of his feet itch.

This was the sickest Moroni has been since he was a premie in the hospital. At one point he was losing weight and only weighed 22 lbs. He is back up to a healthy 24 now. (2 pound weight gain is significant when you are as small as Moroni). In order to keep him emotionally stable - because Moroni is VERY sensitive anyway - we have been pandering him and rushing to the smallest of requests. Ross said he is worst that living with a child emperor which made me laugh because it is so true. He'll be getting a rude awakening when he is healthy again, but until then he gets what he wants.

AH!!!!!!!

2011-03-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

There's a mouse in my house.

No, seriously theres a mouse in my house!!! Thats why the title is "ah!!!!!!!"

When we first discovered the little fella we didn't mind so much but knew we needed to do something about it. It would come out every evening and scurry around. Sometimes it would scurry right up to us and then dart away. "He's actually kind of cute." we thought to ourselves. We were trying to decide if there was a humane way to get rid of him. Well, we took too long to decide and now it has overrun the whole apartment. I CAN NOT believe how many places he has been, and how much he has pooped in each place! I can't believe it! I spent almost four hours today, neglecting my children so I could clean this place up. There was poop in our blinds, there was poop in the toys, there was poop on the couch, in our pots and pans, and get this: on top of the fridge! So, yeah, AH!!!!!!!!! "He needs to die tonight!" I told Ross. I can't believe I let my love for animals get in the way. Never again.

No pictures or video for a while because I left the camera in Boise.

Boise

2011-03-13T13:06:00.001-07:00

We are in Boise right now visiting family the boys are having a lot of fun and spend all day playing. Ross stayed home because he is too busy with school to take time off. Before we left for Boise I built the boys a slide out of things we've found by the dumpster: A large piece of wood and cardboard. I think I'm awesome.

Mary doesn't waste any time finding the cookie stash
The boys in their after-church clothes. I kept Josephs tie on because I wanted him to look like a WSU professor.

3 kids getting ready to be pulled by grandma in the wagon
Warm enough in Boise to have a picnic!

Snow Day

2011-03-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

We have gotten a lot of snow recently, it has been a ton of fun because it is very packable. Ross and I spent an hour and a half yesterday playing in it after the kids went to bed. We built a fort with big snow balls. Then today I built a slide out of snow with help from my friend Chelsea.

There are some side note pictures as well:

This first picture was taken right after she peed on me. At least she waited until I pulled her out of the tub and put a towel on her bottom

Mary's B-day and more

2011-02-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

If anybody follows this blog you know I am mostly about posting videos and not giving much commentary. I think it is a good way to give Mom and Dad in Rome a glimpse into our lives.

Love you mom and dad, here you go:

In case it's not obvious, the boys like to get into my things. Moroni said he was "feeding the teddy"

Ross doesn't always look scrubby. He can be quite handsome at times

Mary Sandwich

2011-02-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

So the reason there is no Mary Birthday post is because she was sick on her birthday so we cancelled the celebration and have postponed it until next week.

Ross got me potted tulips for V day and took me out to get a sandwich, then we walked around town as well and looked at books in the library - it was exactly what I wanted.

I love the way the flowers lean into the sunlight when it comes through the window each day.

Okay, I need to get something straight. The videos that I post on this blog are not a representation of what always goes on in my home, if that was the case it would be sort of a drag. So you can't let the mischievousness - that seems to be a constant movie theme- define us.

Poor Mary, she'll grow up tough.

Violence

2011-02-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

While little girls seem to instinctively nurture their toys and dollies, my boys seem to instinctively try to rip their limbs off, bite their face, slam them against the furnishings and yell at them. Their very favorite activity these past weeks have been to punish their toys. At this very moment they are taking turns hitting their stuffed animals with butter knives . . . and then saying sorry.

We have tried taking away their toys away when it turns too violent or mean, but the problem its they think we are playing along. You see, when we take something away from them we tell them it has to go into time out. This makes the punishment less intense. For example, if Moroni starts playing with his food at the table we will take away his plate and tell him that his food is in "time out" because it was supposed to go in his mouth.

Well, we have taken away their toys and said "your teddy bear is in time out because you are not being nice to him." And they are pleased that their toys got the ultimate punishment and will proceed to try and get the rest of their toys put in time out as well.

Three kids playing

2011-02-13T21:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lighting in this video

Kittens inspired by kittens

2011-02-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

I think this is so funny!

2011-02-09T10:18:00.000-08:00

So here is the poster I am going to use. For those of you who don't know, a friend of mine and I have started a support group for women preparing to give birth called "happybirth day". Our next meeting will be at Neill public library Feb 16 at 6pm

I loved this post

2011-02-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

This is a post from my friends blog that I copy and pasted. I like it because it puts things into perspective. If childbirth is already inherently dangerous, than why pile on more risks?

Enjoy:

Me and the Epidural

I haven't really had the chance to sit down and write about natural childbirth. Now that I'm up for round two it has been on my mind a lot. Especially because I'm frequently asked if I'm going to go natural again with this baby.

I'd like to say that I gave birth without medication because I wanted to experience the power of my body and what birth was actually all about.

Don't get me wrong, that was an amazing (yet horribly painful) part of having my baby without medication, but I'm going to tell you the real reason I did it.

I'm a chicken!

I know this seems ironic, but really I did it without medication because the word "epidural" kind of makes me shudder. There is something whole and satisfying about letting your body do the thing it was made to do. There is something unnatural and freaky about a long skinny needle inserted into your spinal fluid.

But still I am open to the idea of an epidural because I do remember the pain of natural childbirth. My labor was roughly 12 hours. The first 8 hours were totally manageable. I wasn't even making much noise with those contractions. I did laundry, made Sunday dinner, took a shower, etc. It just felt like bad cramps which were no big deal.

The last four hours were harsh. Real harsh. These were the "scream contractions". Yet I knew that it wouldn't last forever. And it didn't. And I only threw-up once. Not bad.

And so I was going back and forth on the decision with this baby. Part of me feels like I can handle those rough four hours again. Part of me gets exhausted at the thought of doing it the same way again. But am I frightened of natural childbirth? Not really. The epidural is what gets me.

Let's cut to the chase. I'll tell you why I'm posting about this. The other night Brian and I had dinner with a couple in our ward that is about our age. We have a lot in common because they went to BYU-Idaho for their undergrad degrees and now they moved here for a grad program. My friend's husband is finishing his schooling to be a anesthesiologist. In fact he is so far along in his degree that now he is an intern and is basically getting real life experience incubating and epiduraling people up. So I took the opportunity to talk his ear off about the epidural.

Me: "So what exactly happens when you give an epidural?"

Him: "Well you inject a small (but long) needle into the dura mater that is under the epidermis in the lower back to insert anesthesia in to the spinal fluid."
Me: "So my sister got a bad headache after getting an epidural and she had to lay flat on her back. What is that all about?"
Him: "Well the headache is fairly common. Hardly a complication. It just means that part of the spinal fluid leaked out. This caused the fluid that holds her brain in place to lessen so her brain shifted. If that happens you just takes some blood from the arm and inject it into the spine. The blood will help clot wherever the spinal fluid is leaking."
Me: "Oh"
Him: "The needle has a bit of air in it and when you inject the needle you have to wait for a small pop feeling before you know it is in the right place. If the needle is inserted too far than there can be complications. If you get a good anesthesiologist you shouldn't have any spinal fluid leak out."
Me: "What is the biggest reason you wouldn't give a patient an epidural?"
Him: "Patient consent." (I guess the real bad stuff happens when the patient is freaked out and won't hold still)
Me: "What is the worst case scenario?"
Him: "Paralysis."
Me: "Okay, so if you were a woman and were experiencing labor, would you get the epidural."
Him: (After a surprisingly long pause) "To me paralysis is worse than death so I guess I wouldn't risk it even if the chances are small."

Seriously? The anesthesiologist wouldn't get the epidural? That sort of sealed the deal for me. If the smaller side effect is headache, and the worse side effect is paralysis, I think I'll opt out. I know that not everyone experiences a side effect either. I also know that if I need an emergency C-section I'll be sorry I didn't get the epidural because it makes it a lot easier. But the headache and paralysis are only part of a list of other negatives. A catheter to urinate? Dizziness? Prolonged labor? Infection?

Yeah, I'll stick to those horrible four hours of pain. Even if the chances of side effects are small, I'm not going to risk it. I'm with the anesthesiologist.

My Little Cry Baby

2011-02-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

Lunatics in our house

2011-01-30T19:44:00.000-08:00

2011-01-22T20:24:00.000-08:00

I went running this morning and slipped on some ice that was slick and did a 180 in the air. I took a picture of the wound I got because I want everyone to know how tough I am.

These next two pictures I took just because a three of them were side by side. Mary sure loves playing with her big brothers. She will follow them wherever they go despite the fact they are kind of mean and are constantly telling her "No Meee!"

Duck Shooting, ever been?

2011-01-15T21:01:00.000-08:00

We went duck shooting yesterday with our friends Brodie and Ashley. I think it was good to get out and do something random with family and friends, we usually just eat dinner and go to bed every evening. It was fun to fit all 7 of us into the station wagon too.

The other day I decided to live a little and build a snow man. Then I decided to try and sculpt myself instead.

Snow-mommy with Ross and the boys. Ross is responsible for the nose. I am responsible for the well endowed front.

Pictures

2011-01-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

This post is just because i am tired of looking at that belt. Here are some pictures and video.

p.s. Mary took her first step on Jan 1

Point Defiance Zoo:

Christmas at David and Kristi's:

Burt/Wagstaff Nativity:

Homemade Christmas

2010-12-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

This year Ross and I are making each other gifts instead of buying them. Here is what I made Ross:

He broke his work belt about two years ago and has been using his dress belt for everything he does now. It will be interesting seeing him with his favorite and only belt buckle again - a dragon! So don't be scared when you see it, its just a buckle.

And now for some recent video:

I almost forgot, I went to the doctor because I was sure I had strep throat and had been sick with flu-like symptoms for over a week and a half. It turns out I have Mono! Ugh.

I guess I get to feel achy and tired and lug around the huge tonsils inside my mouth for another week or so.

Please, resist the temptation to kiss me when you see me next.

Oh, and one more thing. Ross doesn't know what to make me, and I don't know what to ask for so if you have any ideas - and I am totally serious, please email them to him. Thanks

his e-mail: rosskennington@yahoo.com

Merry Christmas

2010-12-18T20:24:00.000-08:00

Facial hair

2010-12-14T13:09:00.001-08:00

Ross hadn't shaved for almost two months because I was curious what he would look like with a beard. We were going to wait till Christmas to cut it off but didn't see the point since neither of us really like it that much.

Ross has always wanted to grow mutton chops. We finally got to see his muttons.

We decided he looks a little like a civil war officer, and a little like a criminal.

We had a lot of fun.

December update

2010-12-13T11:36:00.000-08:00

The kids are growing up fast. The Boys are starting to say whole sentences on their own. One of their favorite things to say is, "Not take diaper off, cold shower." We need to work on their grammar. The interpretation is, "Dont take your diaper off, you'll get a cold shower." And its true. Sometimes Joseph will tell Moroni, "Don't cry, Nunu."

Nunu , pernounced new new, is how he say's Moroni's name.

Moroni says Juju, for Joseph.

And mary is meemee.

I sewed clothes for the boys! My mother-in-law, Jenny showed me how to sew the hats and then I actually made the pattern for their vests on my own, and then I just did it. I am very impressed and you should be too.

And here is cure Mary who was awake for much of last night due to a cold and stuffy nose.

The boys love pretending they are firefighters. Here is Moroni in his firefighter suit, taking a ride in his firetruck.

Isn't imagination great? Its less expensive, yet more fun.

Joseph has learned to put on his own pants and taking pants on and off is one of his favorite new activities. Here he is in a picture I just took, in Mary's pants.

Crazy Wind

2010-11-18T08:46:00.000-08:00

All three fell asleep during their walk. Mary opened her eyes right before I took this picture.

Three nights ago there was a storm like I've never been in. I was awakened to lighting, thunder, sheets of rain against the window, and crazy wind. It turns out it was record breaking wind speeds for Pullman. Here is what happened to the playground:

This picture doesn't really do it justice. I think it is amusing that they wrapped it with caution tape. I think it is safer to play on now than it ever was before, it was always quite obvious to me that it wasn't very sturdy.

It snowed for the first time this winter and we have been enjoying it.

It is getting harder and harder to get outside for some exercise. I don't want to get couch potatoy, but it is getting harder to exercise and I like food. I told Ross yesterday that eating candy is like receiving a mental massage, especially when there is chocolate involved. What to do?

Hard times. Then good times again.

2010-11-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago was rough. Ross's back started hurting and he ended up being almost immobile for two days during which time our "new" stationwagon broke down and we had to get it towed back home by our home teachers from church. Then we started driving the mazda again which caused the bad head gasket to get even worse. Now the mazda is good only for parts or to be sold to a junk yard. Now neither of the cars can be driven. Then on Wednesday night Joseph and myself were throwing up because we had an awful stomach flu. The first time I threw up that night was just horrible and my throat burned for the next 20 minutes. I had to chew up some tums and gargle them in my throat to ease the burning. The next day Joseph and i threw up a little but mostly just felt sick. Moroni had gotten the flu two days earlier but it hardly phased him. Then Mary acted sick the next day but didn't start throwing up until Saturday. Now it is Thursday and we all feel great. We know what parts need to be replaced on the wagon and already have one of them and the other is on its way.

Okay now that I've got that out of the way I need more feedback. Here are some different tire pics. They are smiling in them this time. I can't remember why I didn't like them originally, maybe because they are a little out of focus. Which ones would you choose?

my kids

2010-10-30T15:22:00.000-07:00

Can I get feed back on which set of pictures is better? Inside floor pics, or the tires.

2010-10-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

I like Ross

2010-10-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I came home from some back to back meetings and found Ross taking a candle lit bath. He had cleaned the house and put the boys to bed while I was gone. It made me smile.

Ross was doing some work on the car (wagon) on Saturday and he came inside to report that a hose was cracked and leaking but that he could fix it. He said first he would glue it, then he would wrap duct tape around it, and THEN . . . tie it off with zip ties. I asked him if he was going to put a dead bolt on it too. He said yes. Then we decided it should be guarded - probably by a rabid monkey.

Ross will be 31 on Friday. I sure love Him.

2010-10-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well, the head gasket on our trusty old mazda is going out. or at least that is what we think. so here are some images of our "new" car. It is an '89 oldsmobile wagon. It's not a pretty sight but I think it was a good decision. This beaut' seats 8 people!Thats as much as a mini van but it was cheaper and it gets better gas mileage. The boys think it is a lot of fun. I love how roomy it is.

camping pics

2010-10-09T17:58:00.000-07:00

This picture isn't from camping but it's cute

I am pooped. No more camping this year.

It would be nice if I could say that about cleaning, cooking, and everything else that is wearing me to the bones.

update

2010-10-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Boise cousins in August

Mary sept 2010

Moroni and Joseph Oct 2010

Me and Mary Sept 2010 - I had Ross take this picture so I could show my Mom that I did my own hair (for the first time) the way I always had her do it when I was in high school

Ross and Mary on their way home from a Washington State football game. The cougs won!

We have the internet again!

We have been having a lot of fun theses past few weeks. Mary is crawling everywhere, the boys are talking more and more, Ross is doing good in school, and I am actually enjoying life and not stressed out or anxious. Its great.

We went camping friday night and saturday morning and it was really fun despite the fact that it was thrown together at the last minute and we got off so late that it was already turning dark by the time we left. Then we had a hard time finding the park in the dark. We finally got there at 8:30 and the boys were already asleep for the night. But we made up for it by having lots of fun the next morning. The boys played on the rocks, helped gather firewood, and looked at the hot fire. we went on a nature walk and discovered bugs, mushrooms, leaves and trees. I had a lot of fun. Ross liked the bugs more than the boys for sure.

2010-09-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

Joseph got thrown into a cold shower this morning for taking off his poopy diaper and making a mess of it. It was tough for him but he got a warm bath afterwards. Mary is starting to crawl and people are always telling me, "She is the happiest baby I have ever seen." She is pretty happy, and cute too.

It was cold in pullman for about a week but it has warmed up again. So Ross and I are thinking about going camping one more time before fall really hits. We might go tonight even though it is a week day just because the weather is nice.

Update

2010-08-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

Quick update: Was sick for four weeks and then diagnosed with giardia, traveled to Boise, Rexburg, and Utah. And now that I am finally not sick anymore my body wants to eat a lot of food! For example, three nights ago I was awake in bed and all I could think about was everything I wanted to eat and for some reason the thing that stuck out most was shrimp gumbo. Two hours ago I finally satisfied that craving. Crazy yeah? Anyway, here is a video of the fam. I needed to hide the fact I was recording us because the boys always want to look into the screen of the camera when they see I have it.

Water park and more

2010-07-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

I think they look like twins

Here is Mary waking up from a nap at the water park

Here is a picture of Ross and his rippling muscles

Yummy PP&J.

We visited boise for the 4th of July. Here are the boys with their grandma Hallenberger. They actually fell asleep right there a couple minutes after I took the picture.

Mary at grandmas house looking so cute

Two weeks ago we went to the Moscow farmers market and then the water park. It was a lot of fun. The boys are still very timid though. Probably after about an hour of working with Moroni we were able to get him to stand out in the water alone. Then it was time for lunch anyway.

The last three days Mary has been getting into the crawl position but not really crawling. Thats crazy. She laughs five times as often for children than she does for her own momma, and I have the footage to prove it but for some reason I couldn't get the video up.

Summertime

2010-06-30T15:39:00.000-07:00

I have decided to run a half marathon in October. I have been doing some jogging lately anyway, and pushing three children in the stroller at the same time, so I think it shouldn’t be that big of a deal when it is time to train. I think it will be a good way to keep me in the habit of working out. Mary is just growing and growing. I get a lot of comments from people about how interactive and smiley she is. She is just so much fun. The boys are on a learning craze. They love to say what things are all the time – and at the same time. So it wasn’t too surprising when they both started saying “poopy” in unison during church because they saw me checking Mary’s diaper. When they say something they continue to say it until you validate them. So Ross and I needed to say, “Yes! Poopy.” two or three times before they would stop saying it.

On Sunday we had some friends, Brody and Ashley, over for dinner. And Brody started talking about how he used wear his pajamas to school and how his mom didn’t realize for the longest time that he would change into a clean pair each morning before leaving. At this point Ross piped in and said, “That’s okay, in high school I would go for days without changing my underwear. I would go to wrestling practice and they would get all sweaty and gross. It was disgusting.”

I am still speechless. Not shocked mind you, but speechless. I always knew that Ross shares facts about himself without much concern for what others will think. But it even raised my eyebrows a bit to hear him share such a thing over dinner with friends. On the eyebrow raising scale it was only “a bit” but it’s been a while since he’s gotten me to raise my eyebrows at all.

We watched a documentary called Food Inc. last week. Watch it, at least so you are a little more informed. Anyway we decided to try and buy more food locally and to try to buy food when it is in season. The only problem is that food at the co-op is more than twice the price as food at Winco. So we have given up our internet service to be able to afford local food along with all the other needed expenses that seem to have come out of the woodwork – like health insurance, holy moly.

What we've been up to.

2010-06-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

A week ago we went to some friends of our neighbors house to celebrate a graduation. We stuffed ourselves with Ethiopian food, while being surrounded by good hospitality and many nationalities. I got a chance to practice my spanish which was really nice. On saturday we watched a bit of the world cup with our neighbors (England v USA) amazingly it was a tie 1-1. Then we played outside while the weather was good and were joined again by the neighbors. We played the mandolin and our violins with their girls and they all loved playing with Joseph and Moroni

Ross fixing the bike

Moroni playing with water

Joseph playing with water

adorable little girl

Good hygiene, almost everyday

looking at truck outside

all three

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

David and Kristi Burt came to visit us in Pullman this weekend. It was a lot of fun. We got to go swimming at their hotel pool, we went on a walk and saw the grizzly bears and big horned sheep that are kept at the university, we went to the county park, and we had a fun BBQ.

Primary medoly

2010-05-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

I like this arrangement and so I decided to video myself playing it. The boys had just gotten out of the tub and I was hoping to record it and have it done before they came into the kitchen. You can see how well that worked. I am trying to get myself back into music more so maybe there will be more silly videos of my music in the future.

Sunday Pics

2010-05-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

This post is just so people don't have to look at pictures of Ross's bloody finger. Hopefully this is more pleasant. None of them are picture perfect, especially since the boys are holding apple peels and trying to feed them to Mary, but I will take what I can get, especially since these are our first family pictures since Mary was born.

Another Bloody Mess

2010-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last week Ross was riding his bike to class and as he sped through a back way and around a blind corner he ran into a car that was driving through a loading dock. His hand went through the drivers side window and the glass cut up his finger pretty bad.

He called me from the student health center and said, "I cut my finger again." Last year Ross cut into his index finger with a plainer tool while he was making a Pine wood derby car. He was taken to an urgent care center by our neighbor and two hours later he was all stitched up.

A couple of months ago he was playing basket ball and his teeth collided with another guys forehead. Well that caused him to bite through his lower lip and so he needed stitches for that too. When I got the phone call I wasn't really phased. Mostly we were just annoyed because the accident was going to eat up all his study time and finals were drawing near.

Later he called to ask me to take him to the hospital because the folks at the student health center thought the damage was bad enough that it needed a more specialized doctor. So I got a baby sitter and went down to campus and took him to the ER. It was going to be a long wait so I just left him there and went back home.

Then he called again to let me know they were going to have to do surgery and that they would be done around 6 or 6:30. Since I had a while until then I decided to take all the kids on a walk. As I was walking home around 5:30, pushing a double stroller, an infant slung to my chest, I got a phone call from the surgical nurse. "Your husband is out of surgery and you need to come pick him up." "Well," I said, "I am on a walk with my children right now but when I get home I will head right over there." The nurse seemed a bit perturbed. "Well, we are closing!" I didn't know that hospitals had closing hours but I decided not to debate that question. So I said, "He can start walking if he wants." Now, Ross isn't a wimpy guy. The last thing he wants is to feel like a convalescent - so I knew he would be fine walking. "He JUST got out SURGERY." She said, emphasizing those words. I was confused. "Well it was just minor surgery on his finger." I said. She wasn't pleased. "We need to discharge him into your care and give you instructions on how to take care of him." At about this time images start coming into my mind of Ross lying down motionless on a stretcher, barely conscience, recovering. She pressed me on how much longer I would be. I told her it was going to be a least 30 minutes. "Can I talk to my husband?" Ross had only heard her side of the conversation and was asking to talk to me too. From the responses of the nurse he thought that I was just being stubborn and didn't feel like driving down there just yet.

"Hey Ross." I said. "Hi Sara, what's the problem." There were no groans coming from the ear piece of the phone, just a normal Ross voice. I explained to him I was on a walk, which I thought would be fine to take since I was told he wouldn't be out until 6 or 6:30. Well, apparently I needed to book it because the nurse was getting impatient.

I was able to take Mary off me and put her in the stroller next to Moroni. When I got to the apartment I dropped the boys off at a neighbors and panted for air while I briefly explained my situation to her. As I drove to the hospital I was preparing myself for the confrontation. I was going to explain to her the pains I had to endure as I ran up a hills while pushing three children in a stroller - not an easy feat.

Well she had either cooled down by the time I got there or I just mis-interpreted her tone. Ross said she was just a woman who was frank. Ross was sitting up wearing only his hospital gown, looking a bit pitiful it's true, but he was just fine. The discharge instructions where typical: Keep elevated for 48 hours, ice it, don't let the bandage get wet, and so on. The surgeon came and explained the damage that was done and how he repaired it. Finally it was time to get home, but not before Ross was given no option but to allow the nurse to dress him, tuck in his shirt, and tie his shoes. If any of you know Ross you know that this was probably more painful to him than the surgery - which he refused general anesthesia for. "I could have started walking" He said later as we were talking about it.

He chipped off a piece of his knuckle and severed a tendon.
It wasn't pretty as you can see. It might take a year before he heals all the way and he might need hand therapy

Cute kids

2010-04-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

I don't really want to put thought into the post so I will just post more videos.

2010-04-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

It is so much fun having Mary in our family. She is a very social little girl and lights up whenever she is talked to. Here is some fun footage with us and mary.

2010-04-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

We took some pictures yesterday of Mary and her cuteness. She is almost 2 months old. She is sleeping really well at night and only wakes up once to eat. The only problem is that she likes sleeping on her tummy best which poses a greater risk for SIDS.

Hats

2010-03-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

I tried cloth diapers for four days. Now that I've reduced the size of my carbon footprint I'm done. They work better as hats anyway.

More Pictures

2010-03-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

First Bath

Feb 25

Feb 25

Mary gets a name and a blessing

Feb 28

First time going to church

Joseph and Moroni "washing" the dishes

Yummy Food

2010-02-26T17:37:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the incredible dinner that our neighbor Erin made for us. The right variety of color, taste; a beautiful presentation! I hope one day I will be able to say I give more than just canned soup.

Here's an update on Mary. We took her in to the pediatrician for her first check-up. She's healthy and gaining weight like a monster. She now weighs 8 lbs 4 oz. That means she gained a pound in just 10 days. Way to go Mary!

2010-02-25T10:46:00.000-08:00

okay here we go, a lot of pictures and not a lot of anything else.

First picture of Mary Ileen Wagstaff

Tired Mommy and Mary

Mary and the Boys, one day old

The whole family on the 17th

Mary, Feb 17th

Mary and Boys Feb 17th

One week old!

One week and one day old!

Well everybody, Mary is here. As some of you know we decided to do a home birth. It was a wonderful experience and hard work too! I would recommend it to anybody who digs that kind of thing. Mary was born at 1:05 in the afternoon on the 16th after 10 hours of real labor. (I had been in fake labor for 2 days). Nancy my midwife was fit for the job, highly skilled and just a wonderful woman. Mary was 7 lbs 4 oz. At her week visit she had already gained a half pound! She is very pleasant and a good eater, pooper, sleeper. We just feel so blessed to have her in our family. I think she will definately help round out our sharp edges and maybe even bring out my feminine side.

Ross playing with the boys

2010-01-21T16:36:00.000-08:00

I am so grateful for Ross. Here are some clips of him with the boys.

Into my ninth month

2010-01-16T16:03:00.000-08:00

We are back in Pullman now and Ross has started his second semester in Grad school. He is taking interesting classes that I couldn't really tell you about. Something about plants.
I am very proud of him for sticking through the toughest classes he has ever taken: I can't remember the name. Something about Chemestry. He got all A's! (stop and clap for him). I may be a little spacy when it comes to knowing what it is he actually does but I support him completely!
I am getting a little more tired lately when it comes to taking care of the boys and Ross has had to help a lot more with things that I thought were basic. I guess it is the pregnancy. It is making me a lot more emotional than I am used to. I even cry sometimes . . . I guess thats all.

2009-12-30T12:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from this morning. We are in Boise with family right now and it snowed last night. Its a beautiful winter wonderland.

We had a very nice Christmas and are excited for the upcoming year.

2009-12-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have just been posting picture and videos. I am just not sure what to write as an update.

2009-12-08T17:11:00.000-08:00

Here are Joseph and Moroni getting a chance to play in the snow for the first time.

The boys made this tower by themselves!

I still haven't taken a video that does Moroni justice when he show his muscles but this one is still cute.

2009-11-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

The weather is getting colder in Pullman and now that October has come and gone I am ready to start playing my Christmas music. I can no longer go walking outside with the neighborhood ladies but instead we walk at the school collosium. For Halloween we dressed the boys up as hunters. Ross and I don't really give a hoot about Halloween but I like candy, so I needed to dress the boys up as something in order to go to the church party so that I could get my loot.

Scavengers

2009-09-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

We didn't have to worry about feeding the boys right after their nap today. They discovered a box that our neighbor gave to us and started trying a bite of each of them.

Moroni, walking in secret

2009-09-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

After Joseph took his first steps we were constantly encouraging him and pushing him to repeat it. He eventually caught on and with us praising him was eager to try and try again. Well Moroni is a very special boy, he took his first step about two weeks ago and at first he enjoyed the praise. But that didn't last long and he didn't like us being pushy. With Moroni you can't force him to do anything, and when we tried to help him walk he would immediately put his bum to the ground. Well this week I turned around a corner and came upon Moroni, and he was walking! I freaked out. I started praising him and encouraging him to keep going but he didn't even seem to be aware that he was doing anything special. It has been that way ever since, he just walks when he feels like it and doesn't even think twice about it.

2009-09-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

These pictures are of the boys playing outside our pullman apartment, Ross reading to the (he is the best book reader), and Ross graduating from BYU-Idaho

Well we are here in Pullman. Joseph and Moroni are growing like weeds. Joseph is walking now and Moroni has taken his first step. Every morning I start the day with a three mile walk with ladies from church. There are a lot of members in my apartment complex, its almost like we never left Rexburg. Sorry that this has taken so long. We dont have the internet and we dont plan on getting it. On the other hand I have decided to start working on my family geneology, so we might need the internet for that. I have really started. I already have Grandpa Burt and Marie Birtch sending me information and I will be calling my great aunt Elizabeth as soon as I get her number along with my great aunts Celia and Darthel from the Bybee line. Pretty exciting.

2009-07-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

They look sweet and innocent but don't be fooled. Given their mischievious age, they are getting into anything that is organized and disorganizing it.

2009-07-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

We took Joseph and Moroni to the splash park in Rexburg a couple of weeks ago. We put them in matching shorts, smothered them with sunscreen, and then spent about 3 minutes with each baby in the water, and then left. The boys were not happy with cold water getting splashed in their faces and the unfamiliar environment was kind of scary for them. For my birthday Ross and I went and climbed table rock in the Tetons. 19 years earlier for my 7th birthday I did the same hike with my family. I hated hiking back then but have since changed. The view from the top was beatiful.

2009-06-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

Joseph has been acting more and more grown-up lately. Moroni is still pretty sweet and baby-like but Joseph is looking and acting more like a toddler each day. He is all over the place too. Here is some video footage to prove it.

DO SOMETHING!

2009-06-18T09:36:00.001-07:00

Thanks Melissa Wheeler for being such a good example of getting involved and being a voice.
She posted the following on her blog:
"This morning I read that PBS will begin phasing out religious programming. . . So I decided to write them an email, expressing my disappointment and asking them to reconsider. If you would also like to express disappointment, you may contact the Ombudsman at http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/feedback.html "

I decided to follow suit, here is what I wrote:
Dear PBS,
Your decision to phase out religious programs has changed the way I view this sation. I do not understand why anyone who places any value on the their public audience would be motivated to do such a thing. I believe that any reasonable person whether religious or not, would see the benfit of religion in that it teaches us basic virtues that help society as a whole. Please reconsider your decision and do not contribute to the rapidly deteriorating media standards.

But before you get too upset, consider reading this news article: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/16/pbs-begin-phasing-religious-programming-airwaves/
The decision is not as strict as it seems at face value, for example KBYU, a PBS station in Utah, can continue broadcasting is devotionals and other religious material. There is good and bad in the decision.

Joseph's first word and bath time

2009-06-16T20:27:00.000-07:00