Jane Austen quiz

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

My friend had this on her blog, so I took the quiz. I don't know how well it describes me, but I really like Elinor, so I'm happy with it.

Paying Respects to Pres. Hinckley

Spontaneously, my brother Warren and I decided to take the kids up to Salt Lake to attend the viewing of President Hinckley. I thought the whole process might take a couple of hours because people on Thursday were walking right in. We came completely unprepared, sans diapers, food, or toys. It took us two hours to get into the Conference Center, and the kids braved the cold fairly well.

When we got in, they seated us in orderly fashion and we were told it would be another two hours at least. They were playing the tribute to him on his 95th birthday, and we had to come up with all sorts of ways to keep Ryan occupied: going through wallets to look at pictures and cards, drawing with pen on old receipts and hands/arms, singing along to some of the music, learning to take pictures with camera phones, dropping things behind chairs to let him go after them, flipping him upside down, and playing peek-a-boo. Ryan never got upset, but after about three hours, he did start telling us that he was done. Instead of food, I only had a couple of mini Reese's cups in my pocket, so I gave him one each hour we were in the Conference Center.

When we finally were able to walk past the casket, we were only there for twenty or thirty seconds. I decided that it wasn't so much actually seeing President Hinckley--it is just a body and they never look the same. But we were able to pay our respects and someday I'll be able to tell the kids that I took them there.

With that, I'd like to say how much I loved him. He was in the First Presidency from the time I was four, and I really felt like he was my prophet. I loved his optimism, his sense of humor, his love for other people, his intelligence, and his vision. I will miss him.

My cute kids!

I am not generally an outdoor-winter person, but some women from the ward were taking there kids sledding and Ryan has so desperately been wanting to go play in the snow that I decided to bundle the kids up and go. (Note to self: we really need some snowproof clothes!) There was a brisk wind blowing, and Sofia cried almost the entire time we were there, but Ryan had fun (until we got in the car and he realized just how cold and wet he was, so he cried all the way home).

The hill surrounds the track/football field at Mountain View High School. It was so steep I tried to get to the top twice, but I couldn't without feeling like I was going to put Sofia, strapped to my front, in danger.



You can see how cold Ryan's face was, but he was a trooper and ended up going down the hill several times.



Since I was trying to comfort Sofia, my friend Amanda took really good care of Ryan and even sledded down with him a couple of times!


I'm going to have to look into boots, snow pants, a sled . . . I never spent much time in the snow as a kid, so I feel totally unprepared as a parent of a kid who has no fear or no problem getting cold and wet. But I'm sure I'll learn!

I had to also include this picture of Sofia. I took it a couple of weeks ago. She was smiling at our cat Othello, and I thought it was too cute not to share. :D

New Year's Resolutions

I actually started my resolutions at Thanksgiving, so I wouldn't procrastinate and could work on being less stressed during the holidays. I chose three; I figured if I kept them simple, I might have a better chance or working on them all year. :D

1. Be less stressed. I've been wound up so much of my life, which affects my health and happiness (not to mention my family's happiness). I've already been doing better; I have my lapses, but I've been trying to be more flexible in my plans, more pleased with my best efforts (instead of tearing all the efforts apart), and trying not to take on too much.

2. Improve my posture. My lower back hurts a lot because I slouch, so I'm trying to correct that and working out to strengthen my core muscles.

3. Do things that scare me or that are difficult for me. This list could be ridiculously long if I wanted it to be, but the main goal here is to get more comfortable with taking risks and learning that failure is not the worst thing in the world (of course, if I can actually learn to do some of these things, so much the better). High on my list are baking bread, playing the guitar, visiting teaching, and using the phone (I'm terrified of it, but I'm starting to get a little better).

I figure the more places I write this, the more accountability I'll have!

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

So I realize that I'm way behind on blogging, but I wanted to celebrate Ryan turning 2, even if this post is almost a month late. We had a great time--it was a potluck dinner, so I didn't have to worry about much (thank goodness; Sofia was really jaundiced, so I was busy worrying about that).

Ryan loved his cake (thanks, Mom!). He's been playing with the figures that were on top all month.


He loved opening gifts (who doesn't), which largely featured Pooh and Curious George, two of his very favorite characters.
But his very favorite part of his birthday was playing with his cousins and uncles. Dogpile!!

I can't believe how much Ryan has grown in the last two years. We are so glad to have him in our family to enjoy his energy and enthusiasm!!

Happy Halloween!

This year Ryan went as Pooh and Sofia was Eeyore.




Ryan certainly got the hang of trick-or-treating early. We originally planned on only going to our cul-de-sac and then a couple of other homes in the ward before visiting our family, but he learned that houses that had lights on were giving out candy, so we made a lot more stops than we were planning on. :D He was having such a great time! (The only problem has been since then--candy makes for some severe temper tantrums!!)

Here's a picture of the whole family. Originally, I was hoping to put together a Tigger costume for Nate and a Piglet one for me, but Sofia came along and costumes went way down the list on things to do. So I put on some PJs and grabbed my stuffed tiger, and Nate put together a baseball outfit.

Welcome, Sofia!!

So, on October 1, we welcomed the newest member of our family! This C-section went infinitely better than with Ryan: I was well-rested and prepared for it, and the nurses and doctors all listened to my concerns. Sofia is healthy; she sleeps well, eats well, and is cute as a button! I just thought I'd share some pictures from the hospital. :D

After the procedure:
Bright-eyed and alert little girl:

Ryan adores his little sister!
Sleeping peacefully:



Going home from the hospital: