Torture!

Forget the surf-torture.

Forget the water-boarding.

Her drunken slurs say enough.

Obv. I was nowhere near.

Or I would have stopped his hilariously evil ways.

:)

Note: He ended up driving around the neighborhood to get more footage

and she noticed he passed the "turn-off"

M&Ms and Patience

So if you haven't heard or read the talk,

"Continue in Patience"

by Dieter F. Uchtdorf

you should :)

It's here

But this is the part that gave Luke inspiration for the video below.

It's an interesting study:

In the 1960s, a professor at Stanford University began a modest experiment testing the willpower of four-year-old children. He placed before them a large marshmallow and then told them they could eat it right away or, if they waited for 15 minutes, they could have two marshmallows.

He then left the children alone and watched what happened behind a two-way mirror. Some of the children ate the marshmallow immediately; some could wait only a few minutes before giving in to temptation. Only 30 percent were able to wait.

It was a mildly interesting experiment, and the professor moved on to other areas of research, for, in his own words, “there are only so many things you can do with kids trying not to eat marshmallows.” But as time went on, he kept track of the children and began to notice an interesting correlation: the children who could not wait struggled later in life and had more behavioral problems, while those who waited tended to be more positive and better motivated, have higher grades and incomes, and have healthier relationships.

What started as a simple experiment with children and marshmallows became a landmark study suggesting that the ability to wait—to be patient—was a key character trait that might predict later success in life.

And here is Luke making his own study:

Baby It's Cold Outside

...or was.

I'm just late in posting.

So what does uber-coldness look like?

This is underneath the snow...

And since our little snow-removing nugget had the day off,

this is who we put to work.

It may not be the fastest snow-removal service, but it's free :)

Brotherly Love

They are in-LOVE!

She moved her chair as close as possible, picked out her favorite book and started reading to him.

He's just as gentle as they come.

Everett's a lucky little dude.

I mean, what's NOT to love about this little squinty-eyed minion?!

And today,

we'll leave you with this picture.

This was their idea after their bath.

He said "the diaper keeps my head warm and the socks keep my hands warm."

Hmm. How 'bout a hat and gloves?

...

Nah.

I like this better too.

A Superbowl Sunday Welcome!

2 weeks early,

At 6:04p.m. we welcomed our 2nd baby boy,

Everett Hayden.

Contractions started mid-morning Sunday.

The first sunny day we had had in a quite some time.

And anyone that knows me, knows how AWESOME that is for me!

(it's that seasonal affect disorder thing that I'm sure that I have)

Luke took the kids to church while I did some last preparations.

I started planning earlier this time around so I wouldn't have another

"almost had the baby in the car" experience.

I mean, we all know I love adrenaline-producing moments,

but no thanks on the whole

"trying to walk up to L & D with a baby's head between my legs" thing.

I was so thankful it was sunny

and so thankful the kiddos would get to play outside over the long weekend

(no school or work Monday)

with their best buds and not even notice our absence.

Thank you to our dear friends Audrey, Courtney, and Laura!

Pit-stop #1 = Getting kids dropped off

Pit-stop #2 = getting Luke some lunch, in preparation for his pushing efforts....bwahaha...

Pit-stop #3 = getting our workout on.

(Nevermind that I think the hubs was using the wide-hippo-angle lense.)

Pit-stop #4 = Hospital.

We arrived around 2p.m. where the doctor told me I was only at 2cm.

What!?!

I told the doctor she had fat fingers.

She said "go take a hike."

Um....no.

This baby was coming the way I had planned the entire 9 months goshdernit...

Quickly, or we were gonna name him Gertrood :)

We took the hike, and I was at 8cm when we returned at 5:15 p.m.

Hallelujah.

I had just finished telling Luke that

if I wasn't at an 8 with the contractions I was having,

I wasn't sure if I could make it without drugs this time.

Our mid-wife then told us she was moving us into a delivery room.

YAY!

I love that moment! 'Cause you know when they are making the preparations for the baby, it's close...

it meant I could almost see the light at the end of the painful tunnel.

I held out as long as I could without pushing(without drugs it's easier that way)

and then hopped up on the bed 10mn before his arrival.

I pushed maybe 4 or 5 times, as opposed to

Afton's push #1 = head; push #2 = whole baby.

And you'd better believe I would have popped Everett out in one shot too,

but the mid-wife was holding me back.

It was def more painful this way,

but the recovery was a bajillion times better because of it!

So thank you mid-wife Melanie!

Stats: 7lbs 14oz and just shy of 21 inches.

About to go home after 72 hrs!

He is such a cuddler. I love it!

Porter, Luke, and Everett...

weighing in at 8.9, 12.9, and 7.14lbs, respectively.

...

...

And we'll leave you on this note :)

Yes, those are her legs.

And yes, we are aware that she shows some resemblance to her Chinese Acrobat uncle.

Recipe for a Relationship Cake

Okay people,
here's how to make a fantastic relationship cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 365 Farenheit or 24/7 Celsius.
2. Take a big bunch of sticky-bun dough (made of 100% double-sided effort and love)
3. Sprinkle in a little sugary forgiveness.

4. Add a dash of powdered humility.
5. This might seem contrary to most recipes you've used, but do NOT add any peppered gossip.
6. And be sure to totally omit the smelly judgements.

Bake year-round.

ENJOY!

Now srsly.

We live across the world from most of you. It's not like we are sitting here all day twiddling our thumbs. In fact, the stress, work, tasks, callings, and time Luke spends away from the family have only increased. Calling works both ways. Most everyone has caught on to this revelation. However, there are still some of you (that probably aren't going to read this) that complain and whine to others how much we don't call and how annoying it is to you.

(btw, you might wanna stop the smack-talk because, unfortunately, it always gets back to us)

Well, you have a phone, don't you? Pick it up.

Check out this website:

And call us.
If you insist that it's up to us to do all the calling, think about how many others it's also up to us to call. We'd be on the phone all day, every day.

Not gonna happen.

And hearing smack about us not calling doesn't make us all warm and fuzzy to call you :)

After 30 years of life, and 7 years together, we've finally realized that's impossible to please everyone. Yay us. It's liberating :)

So, happy calling to us all and to all a good...er...cake?

I dunno

Did You Receive One?

If not, it's not your fault.

It's mine.

I didn't get on the cards until the 15th of this month.

So...

here's the online version:

Classic Red Square Christmas Card

Shutterfly has classic, elegant Christmas invitations for your party.

View the entire collection of cards.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dirty Diaper?

I was having a meeting in the hall during 2nd hour at church.

When from around the corner comes Afton walking hand in hand with one of the nursery leaders.

Luke was on the opposite side of the hall from me and the nursery leader spotted him first.

Afton had a look of a little mischief and one where she looked like she was in trouble.

Um...

I looked over to Luke for an explaination and all he could give me was a red face with tears streaming down his face.

(couldn't speak he was laughing so hard)

He walks an embarrassed Afton over to where I am and says

apparently, "she has a DIRTY diaper"

...

Um...

Afton's been out of diapers for a YEAR.

She gets the gassiness that smells like a dirty diaper from her dad.

:)

Happy Sunday

Stop #5: Volterra

Yup, she's got her shades on for the Tuscan sun :)

This archway or entrance into the city was constructed by the Etruscans during the 4th century B.C. ! There's a cool story about how the Nazis, during WW II, took the city and were going to blow the archway to make it harder for enemy to pass. But the citizens quickly took stones from the road and filled it in to make a solid wall. The Nazis left it alone, thank goodness, and after the war, each stone was removed and put back in the road.

Cool!

Are you kidding me!?! I could NEVER live here...or at least drive here! They are crazy.

Most of the outer-city was constructed between Etruscan and Roman times.

Are you kidding me?

It was crazy walking around on the grounds that were so old.

This Roman theater was built during the 1st century B.C.

I can't get over it!

Part of the city overlooking the Roman theater.

A lot of the inner-city was constructed during the Middle Ages. Though the first duomo of the city was built during the 5th century A.D.

Looking out over Tuscany in Winter.

More Middle Ages...

Original outerwall.

The Selci gate and Fortress which is now a prison. Crazy cool. We went up to it, thinking we could take a tour of the old fortress, but instead we found warning signs and barbed wire with mounted cameras. Um...no thank you.

The Roman theater at night.

Arrivederci!

Vacation Stop #4: Livorno

We took a rest day and stayed at "home base."

Nothing like some good ol' reading and toilet time to recharge the batteries :)

Vacation Stop #3: Florence

First stop:

The David, by Michelangelo.

SO incredible and far exceeded my expectations!

It stands in a museum now, in perfect condition still. Created between 1501 and 1504 it stands at 17 feet tall! My favorite part were his hands and arms. A-mazing! They were SO true to life they reminded me of Luke's. Every muscle, vein, and tendon in proportion and accurately sculpted on marble! I can't get over Michelangelo's genius.

We weren't allowed to take pictures so I got this from the internet :)

Then to the Duomo of Florenze






And inside.


The flash totally ruined the kiddos but I liked their sweet impromptu pose.

The Baptistry

Outside after some gelato.

Yum.

And again, the Duomo.


Capelle Medicee





San Marco

And a chupa chups lollipop for trecking around like such a trooper. We didn't see "it all" but we were thankful we saw what we did with our little ankle munchkins! We've gotta be proud of the little things. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!