bye,bye

this past week we gave mugsy away to our neighbors down the street who've been our dog-sitters during our trips here and there. we had been debating whether or not we should give him away, and in the end, we felt it best. the family was sobbing with joy, literally sobbing. merry christmas. and you know, that's when we knew we did the right thing. we just aren't INDOOR dog people, you know? i can't waste my time pampering a snobby pug who refuses to take a potty break in the cold snow, while my children run around the house being neglected....isaiah isn't even potty-trained for crying out loud. i wasn't about to do double duty, no thank you. so, sam and thought we'd be more heartbroken than we are, which is not at all. ha! i know! its almost sad that i'm not tearing up writing this crazy blog. he was a fun dog to have for a while, but it was time, and besides, we still have visitation rights. works for me. and now i can finally breathe...without the smell of wet dog lingering in the air. he's in a better place.

ho,ho...HEY!

just as we were about to eat tonight, the doorbell rang. hmm, that's unusual. it was pretty late in the evening and if anyone was going to make an appearance around dinner time it would be the boys...uncle darrell or uncle nathan-but rarely do they ever knock or ring the doorbell. before i even had a second to think of who it could be, isaiah raced to the front and swung the door wide open. i didn't recognize the man standing on our front step, but isaiah couldn't care less....all he heard was, "are you isaiah?" yep. "guess who's here to see you!" isaiah peered further outside and saw santa clause hitching a ride in the back of a van covered with christmas lights. before i knew it, my barefoot son had run off, too ecstatic to think about the cold beneath his feet. agh! what the...?! come back! you don't have shoes on, let alone socks....and what if this santa is a phony? what if they're just luring my unsuspecting son to their treat filled van and hokey santa, only to take him away?! i wasn't crazy about this whole santa business to say the least. like any other overprotective mama bear, i ran right behind isaiah (without my shoes too, brr!), ready to beat down santa if i had to, and kept close watch on isaiah as he engaged in short, but thrilled, conversation with mr.clause. he was given a bag of christmas treats and thankfully handed back to me. but my thrilled little boy couldn't contain the excitement of the surprise visit and as we walked back in he yelled out for everyone in a 2 mile radius to hear, "THANK YOU SANTA! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU TOO SANTA! WE HAVE YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE IN OUR HOUSE SANTA! BYE SANTA! i have to say, once the relief that this was a legit santa, and the fact that isaiah was safe back in my arms had set in, i thought - isaiah is one cute kid! i loved seeing the delight in his eyes. its tempting to keep the lie of santa clause going...especially when you need some bargaining room. ;)

old st. nick and late, late, nights!

what a wild weekend! it all began on friday when i went out with my friend, amanda, for lunch. she stole a minute away from her son (who was playing with isaiah once again - double bonus for him!) and we had some time to enjoy in real grown-up conversation. little did we know, our kids were having a wild time back at my place. sam had offered to take care of the kids while we went out (i know, he's the best hubby!)....and when lunch was over, i called home just to check up on things, ya know? anyway, i could barely hear sam over the techno music blaring in the background, "sorry honey, can't hear you, we're having a rave!" i laughed out loud and thought, i am so glad we have differing styles when it comes to parenting. yeah, sometimes sam makes me nervous with some of the crazy things he does...but at this moment, the boys and makayah were jumping and dancing around the house to techno music, having the time of their lives! i love the way we compliment each other. anyway, too bad i missed their rave! lucky for me, the fun didn't end that friday afternoon. the next day (saturday), we had our ward christmas party. this time, there was plenty of food and...taadaa! Santa Claus! of course, out of the 70 children present at this christmas feast, MY son is the first on his lap. before poor old st. nick even had a chance to sit down, isaiah had bulldozed into his legs and somehow tackled him into his seat, with isaiah landing in his lap. i wish i hadn't forgotten the camera at home! i honestly don't know where all his excitement for santa claus came from...??? after isaiah's run-in with santa, he began asking all sorts of questions, "where does santa live? does he live in canada?" anyway, sam had offered once again to take care of the kids while i had a night out with the girls. it was already pretty late and i was debating on whether or not the 10pm movie was worth missing my bedtime. ;) so i took the risk and then some. we ended up going to village inn afterwards...laughing 'till we cried and reminiscing on our wild college memories. we had such a great time, it was just like the good ol' days! i had gotten so caught up in the hysterical laughing and the nostalgia of it all i had completely lost track of time. it took a while to actually tear ourselves away from the table and leave. but by the time i had broken into my own home through the kitchen window and crawled into bed it was 4 IN THE MORNING! i can't remember the last time i had stayed up that late! what was i thinking?! the next morning i had a primary program to attend to. it all worked out and somehow i was able to keep my eyelids from crashing down...but i managed. the rest is all a blur...so i'll get back to ya'll later.

sorry, gotta take this one...

the play date may have just ended, but it was just the beginning for pookie monster. it might have been the sugar cookie she snatched away from her big brother....but for the rest of the day she was so revved up! here she is on the phone...it happened to be an important phone call, i'm assuming, since she insisted i be quiet. sam had gone on a quick run to home depot...makayah picked up the phone and was trying to get though to him "dada? da?" she never dialed the right numbers (obviously!) but the phone did ring a couple times, and i had to do some mad dashing to stop her calls to china...or who knows where! and here she is again...her favorite thing, emptying drawers and whatever else she can get her hands into. if you listen closely...she says "mess" just after i say it. what a smart cookie! at the end of the day, even her uncle darrell was worn out!

my sugar cookies...

we had quite the day today. isaiah has been begging for a playdate and one of my good friends needed a break....so despite some runny noses...on with the show! last year about this time i was 9 months prego with makayah and i just couldn't host anything fun, like decorating christmas cookies. so, this year i made sure i did. i watched as isaiah and his best friend, seka, slopped the colored frosting and tiny candies onto their sugar cookies - however, i'm sure their tongues received more frosting than their cookies! they laughed and had a grand ol' time being silly with each other and i loved every minute of it. really, i'm happy when my kids are happy, and i just can't tell you how happy it makes me to know that isaiah has a best friend...someone who is excited to be with him, someone who he can laugh with and say silly boy words with like, "puke" or "worms." i can sit back and enjoy the giggles, breathe a huge sigh of relief, and know that my son is happy and having fun. seka's

little sister, tava, was here too. she and makayah would exchange sweet smiles, wave their hands and continue on with their parallel play. but someday, i know they are going to be the best of friends. when they left, tava came up to makayah, said, "bye, baby!" and waved her hand "goodbye." makayah screeched back in reply and waved her whole body...in the efforts to wave her hand, of course.

someone's got the sniffles

poor, poor, isaiah. i was racking my brain and trying to figure out where he could've caught the bug...and i just can't figure it out. we really haven't been around other people. maybe its just the sudden chill in the air, the sudden change in temperature. in any case, i was wanting to make it all better for him by giving him warm soup and vitamin c. daddy just happened to be sitting on the couch with a "holiday" coke (the only time he says he'll indulge), when he offered isaiah a sip. isaiah held the can in his hands for a second, looked down at the fizzy drink, looked back up at his daddy and said, "no daddy, that's not good for my body!" haha! i have to tell you, i got such a kick out of that! so, he DOES listen to me every once in a while. sam and i both gave a chuckle, and i felt like i had just climbed mount everest. today was victorious. however, with isaiah's nose leaking like a faucet, i guess the battle is only half won.

i'm caught up!

just a note...i've made quite a bit of entries today...playing catch-up. they are all under the dates i should've written them...oh well. thats just how things get done around here. priorities first. the kids DO have to be fed and cared for! ;)

Isaiah-isms and pookie happenings

as my son grows older, its seems his vocabulary expands at a rate his body is trying to keep up with. sometimes i see him and think he is older than he really is. and somedays, i wonder, WHERE DID HE GET THAT FROM? "besides mom, i don't like it!" "because, makayah did it." okay, so it never makes sense all of the time, but that's what makes it all so hilarious. but really, when did my son start knowing how to use the word, "besides" and "because"? he is one mouthy kid. just the other day i was getting after isaiah for getting into mischief....i sent him to time out until he was ready to be nice. after a minute he came out and said, "mom, i'm ready to be a good kid. by the way mom, i like your new hair, its beautiful." and he ran his fingers threw my hair on his way to sit down. it took me completely by surprise and i had to ask him to repeat himself. my baby boy is beginning to reason with me and he knows how to sweet-talk his way out of trouble. and i think, i'm in for it. but my favorite is when he gets caught doing something he shouldn't and just as i am about to get after him he cries out in his defense, "but mom! i'm just a little kid!" even now, it makes me laugh. that could be his excuse for anything and everything if i let it. he learns so many new things each day and he just seems so grown up to me. he is such a little man, raking leaves with daddy, getting himself dressed in the morning, and reading his library books after lunch time. as for makayah, she is just as lively as ever. now that she knows she can "walk" she is practicing her newfound talent all the time. she'll stand up and try to chase mugsy and isaiah around the house. she is too cute! she is always on the go and always has something to say...or scream.

Winter Wonderland

i have to say, i absolutely love this time of year. the smell of pumpkin pies, the twinkling christmas lights, the white blankets of snow, and the sugar-high kids racing around the house - are they every going to get tired? the problem i'm now faced with is, how am i going to keep the christmas tree from being mauled by isaiah, makayah, and mugsy? i couldn't put any candy canes on this year, otherwise, my sneaky 3 yr. old would be wound up for good. and now i can't take my eyes off my recently walking pookie monster who is incredibly fascinated by the "tasty" look of the christmas tree decorations...not to mention those twinkling lights. and i'm not even going to get started on mugsy. lets just say, he's been trying to mark his territory...lucky for us, he's not had any sort of victory. however challenging its been to keep the holiday trimmings in place, i've had more fun than i've ever had watching my children become mesmerized by this magical time of year. this past weekend, the snow kept falling, and falling. the next morning we had a good foot and a half of snow. isaiah couldn't wait to get out to make a snowman...and i was especially excited to take makayah out in the snow. auntie renee helped isaiah with the snowman, and i helped renee out with the partial igloo. man, that was a lot of work! i'm so glad it snowed though. it makes listening to christmas music so much more fun. i'm trying to teach isaiah the more Christ-centered songs...i'd rather not get too wrapped up in the whole santa claus thing. so here we are on a monday morning, dragging makayah away from the christmas tree, keeping isaiah away from the sugar bowl, and trying to get renee's school day started. we're out!

a little wobbly

makayah took her first steps today! we went to church and makayah's friend, charly, had started walking and was showing off her stuff. she's a week younger than makayah. so when we got back from church, makayah wanted to test her skills and see if she could do the same as her little friend. sam, isaiah, and i sat in a small circle so she could walk to each of us. and when she took a couple wobbly steps and fell, she was ecstatic! she smiled her cheesy smile and clapped her chubby hands...and we all joined in. it was so exciting and fun to watch her take her first steps. i hear people say, "things aren't as exciting after the first child." but i have to say, we've taken just as many pictures, if not more, and have been just as thrilled and interested in all of makayah's "firsts." it's a wonderful moment to re-live. all of the firsts makayah experiences reminds me of all of isaiah's firsts, and its all so fun. i love seeing the world for the first time through my children's eyes. i can't wait for all the many more "firsts" to come. this video was taken just after her very first steps video...but this is a little better at showing her cute wobbly self.

playing catch-up

its that time again to catch up on all the things i've forgotten to write or haven't had time to record until now. i really have to keep up or i'm going to forget all the things i want to remember. you know how your kids do something cute or funny or just completely off the wall, and then the next day or week, you can't quite remember how the whole thing went, or what was said exactly? yep, that's me. so, i'll start where i left off...thanksgiving break. my little family headed down to window rock, arizona the day before thanksgiving in our tiny honda. sadly, our much roomier suv was stuck in the shop. so, poor mugsy had to stay home and miss out on all the fun back on the rez. needless to say, we stuffed ourselves silly with all the celebrating. we had thanksgiving dinner, then on saturday we had a double birthday for isaiah and makayah. of course, the little kiddies were in heaven with all the sugar coming their way. and then they opened their gifts. makayah got a hungry hippo walker and she absolutely LOVED it. it was so funny to watch her zooming around the house with her hippo. and isaiah got a video game player....which he is still learning how to use. we had a great time at nanna's and umpa's house. i was busy having fun with my mom and sisters....swimming and sewing...even sam completed his first sewing project. the time flew by and now we're home in provo once again, getting back into the swing of things and preparing for winter and all the wonderful christmas-y things. we did have some extra baggage coming back from arizona, though. my sister has come to live with us for several months so i can home-school her. it should be fun. i remember when we were all younger, i'd always be playing school with her. so, we'll see how this turns out.

Isaiah's 3rd Birthday

i scarcely believe it myself. my baby boy is three years old! he had a jammin' party, everyone was dancing to elmo's greatest hits, making pizzas (or if you were makayah, you were just smearing it across your face), and stuffing themselves with spiderman cake.

it was quite the crack up. i wish every one of his birthdays to come could be like this one. if all i ever had to do was make a spiderman cake to be the world's greatest mom...;)

Aunt Liz's Funeral

i just wanted to post some pictures, thought some of you might want to see since you couldn't make it. it was a sad (only because everyone is going to miss her) but it was also a happy celebration of aunt liz's brilliant life. she truly was a magnificent woman and we'll definitely miss her sweet spirit and the laughter that escaped whenever she was around. some of the things sam and i remember about her: we had just started dating and we had gone to daniel's wedding. sam introduced me and she gave me a huge bear hug and said, "i'm so glad you came into sam's life, he needs a good kick in the pants to straiten him out!" and she gave us both a wink and laughed her contagious laugh. a year later, just after we had been married we stopped by uncle herb and aunt liz's house. daniel's wife came in and we oohed and ahhed over her new baby. she asked us if we were trying (mind you, it had only been at least two months since we had tied the knot!), sam and i both ready to answer, but beaten to it by aunt liz's quick tongue...she replied for us, "nope, but they're practicing!" sam and i were red in the face and i think that made aunt liz laugh even more. almost a year after we were married,we had our first baby, isaiah. aunt liz was so sweet and never seemed to forget about us. i had a pretty exhausting delivery and she made sure to come and see me in the hospital. she came and cuddled our new little bundle. and right in the middle of all the cuddling, isaiah began to cry. aunt liz gave a jump and said, "oh my! i think my milk just came in!" and she quickly gave him back to me...just in case. ;) just before she passed away, we had gone to visit her. and as i hugged her, she told me how much being a mother had meant to her. how much she had loved her children, and how their love had kept her going. she treasured her calling as a mother and told me to do the same, "motherhood brought my life so much meaning and worth." true, i didn't know her for very long in this earth life, but she always made me feel so special and so loved. she was great at doing that. while at the funeral services, i explained to isaiah about aunt liz and how she had died and now she is in heaven and can see Jesus. he smiled and said, "really, she can see Jesus? and she is in heaven, huh mom!" makayah also made her rounds and found her way to aunt carol who she clung to (she was just too sparkley to resist!) until she got caught on one of her earrings. so she was passed on to uncle heber. he looked at her and said, "you're a cutie aren't you!" and right then, makayah dove in and gave him a big smack on the lips. she was also busy trying to cheer up aunt marge, aunt elaine, and aunt carol who were sitting right behind us in the services. they all said she did a good job of it too. the talks from all the christensen children were so beautiful and i especially liked uncle herb's talk. he said he better get up there quick before someone tries to steal her away from him! "then i'll just be outta luck!" but like i said, here are some pictures.

This darn liahona is broken

What the heck???? I am doing all that I am supposed to be doing and yet I am having an extremely hard time finding a job that I can put on my resume and increase my attractiveness to law school. We have moved out of our house, and then back in in under a month as well as traveled to Canada for Monika's "root-canal". Now we are back in Utah and I am unable to find a job, I am even considering looking other places such as out of state and what not. The funny thing is that I feel as though we are "supposed" to stay here in Utah and yet there are no jobs making themselves known to me. So what do I do? I am considering joining the Navy or the Army...how about both, how about Army&Navy? (the store, get it?)

captain hook and tinkerbell

here they are...i was frantically trying to finish sewing their costumes (we had driven back from canada and arrived early that morning...4am to be exact). isaiah was really looking forward to being a pirate so i just couldn't let him down. and what would captain hook do without a little tinkerbell to pester him?

"root canal"

we are so behind, but i am attempting to make it up. so here goes. like we told most of you, we'd gone to canada to visit grandma and grandpa crowfoot...plus, we all needed to see uncle deb, or so we thought. turns out, i didn't really need a root canal and deb said my teeth were perfectly fine. sam didn't have any problems either. the only person who needed a filling that day was poor isaiah. luckily, uncled deb had told isaiah that he had awesome 'batman teeth' and that he wanted to see them more closely. thankfully, isaiah's cavity was very superficial and he didn't even need anesthetic. whew! it was over before he knew it! the rest of our trip was wonderful and full of laughter. we spent most of our nights chit-chatting and busting the seams of our pants with giggly madness. i even teared up, i laughed so hard! sadly we don't have any pictures of our little escapade up north...but the hendy's do....so you can just follow the link to their page and see our wild indians with their newest (and only, so far) cousin, tahlitah. such a sweet, sweet baby! well, i really do have to make this short. i might elaborate a little more later on. but for now, goodnite!

who's the boss?

i really do love all the stages my children have gone through...but i think the age when they begin to talk is truly the funniest. my son says the most random things at the most random times. a week ago he taps me on my leg and says, "mom, i'm incredible!" "you are?" "yep, i'm incredible!" i can't wait to hear all the crazy thing my daughter will soon be saying. the two of them together have created a wild tag-team duo. they both love to tackle me and wrestle me down to the ground...only so makayah can plant slobber kisses all over my face. but i think, they secretly love to drive me crazy. and they are so good at it. however, with all their silly antics, my son is such an amazing big brother. when makayah makes a break for the dog food, isaiah scrambles up behind her, grabbing her chubby legs and dragging her on the kitchen floor out of mugsy's bowl. he also keeps an eye on her so she doesn't tumble down the stairs. she, of course, despises the restrictions, and howls every time her ankles are taken hold of. despite her screams, i'm so glad that isaiah cares enough to take care of his little sister. he'll be turning three next month, and it blows my mind. i wish i could just keep him small enough to fit inside my arms forever. i love reading bedtime stories, singing bedtime songs, and holding him before he drifts off to sleep...and i have to keep reminding myself that one day, things will change with every year gone by. but thats the way things are, and i suppose i just have to revel in the time we have now; in the time he is small enough to hold in my lap, small enough to snuggle up to...the times he will let me and calls out, "mommy, hold me!" it is quite funny to think that one day, I will be the one small enough to fit in his arms. that will be strange. so for now, i'm incredibly lucky to have two snuggle bugs curling up in my arms. makayah, deceitfully cuddly, i only say that because of her sometimes prickly personality...will smile, let out a burst of giggles, curl her head towards her shoulder, and then bury her head in my neck. i love it. oh my baby girl! she is so sweet and spicy! just today she wanted to play with my laptop. i told her she couldn't touch. she pointed her finger at me and let out an angry yelp. what the?! my little girl is already talking back? the whole thing just took me by surprise, i laughed...and i'm sure that just egged her on. i'm so bad at doing that. i would be consistent in my discipline...if only it weren't for the laughter. kinda sends the wrong message to them. oh well. so, isaiah jumps in and says, "mom. don't get mad at makayah." ????what's going on here? i'm being double teamed! (see, they look sweet and innocent...) the odds were not in my favor today. anyway, it turned into another wrestling match, and i think i lost. hmm, i'm gonna have to rethink my strategy...especially with my little diva. she's throwing me for a loop here. oh yeah, speaking of rascals, my pug snuck out of the house this morning and was unfortunately returned by the cops...agh! somedays, i seriously contemplate selling the mangy thing. BUT, he's my son's dog..."mom, don't be mad at mugsy." why? "because, he's my dog." oh, well, in that case... anyway, it was another fun, but very exhausting day. i don't think it would've been that exhausting had i not have had to unpack and organize the office area. yes, we are back in our house in provo. relieved, is definately the word for it. isaiah missed his jungle room and kept asking when we were going home. no place felt like home compared to this one. and i am glad we are back.

mommy time...

i figured its been a couple months...our little family is doing well. and i've let up on the computer a ton. i don't know what you would call it. i suppose i am trying to feel like i have some control in my life since i feel so completely out of control of the entire moving situation. it seems everything in utah is for sale...and we just aren't looking to buy, which makes it quite difficult to find a place we like, and would like to live in temporarily. currently, we are still looking and we just might have to stay put in our house in provo, which i'm actually hoping for. so, who knows? but like i was saying earlier...i've definitely forfeited alot of mommy time to the computer and realized how selfish that is. to correct the situation, i thought i could really put my ece degree to good use. my son is now at an age where we can do more activities together and he's so eager to learn. my daughter is at the stage of exploring and crawling about, which makes things fun. so, i might've gone overboard, but i've designed our day similar to any typical preschool day. and i've mapped out the entire week...our new routine according to the likes of my children. i've scheduled walk times, playground/park times, bath times, story times, etc. and each day is its own theme day. for instance. monday: family day; tuesday: arts and crafts day; wednesday: movie day (to limit the amount of tv time); thursday: make-believe day; friday: sport day/picnic at the park day; and saturday is devoted to college football - works out for the entire family since isaiah is so football crazy. :) and last but not least, sunday: church day, of course. it might seem overboard, but after a couple weeks of putting this schedule to practice, we've really enjoyed our time together and i really, really enjoy being a stay at home mommy. i wanted to be more involved in my children's lives, playing a more active role, whether its dressing up as a princess to play "kingdom" or making pumpkin cookies with my son for movie day. but the best day is picnicking in the park. it gives us all a good dose of exercise! except makayah really doesn't like the swings. and isaiah is getting really good at riding his bike all by himself! i have to admit, its really made our up-in-the-air situation more easier to bear, and i love spending my days with my children and i feel better about myself knowing that i'm here for them. yeah, i might be sacrificing time for the things i'd like to do...but honestly....what's a few minutes on the computer compared to a few minutes cuddling with my babies, reading stories? my children are sooooo worth the time. :)

A video for my son

I want my son and I to be close, to like and do the same things. One area for sure that I know that this will be so is sports, Isaiah loves them, all of them. One of his first words was "football" and he knows the BYU fight song by heart, he is such a cool kid. I want him to play all kinds of sports when he gets older and so I am posting a video that he and I can watch together sometime.

hurricanes and firecrackers

let me just jump right into it... isaiah usually comes crawling into our bed around 6:30am. i heard his little wake-up yawns and his feet pitter-patter down the hallway, peek his little head into the doorway of our bedroom and whisper, "mommy?" i opened up the covers and motioned for him to come in. he tip-toed over and began singing softly to me, "get up, stand up! stand up for your rights..." what the? my little baby boy singing bob marley lyrics? he is too much. after a few minutes, he became restless and wanted out! "lemme out!" so i let him out and he said, "mommy, can i see pah-kyah?" yep. he heads over to her bedroom, crawls into her crib and its music to my ears. isaiah would make makayah laugh, then makayah would do something silly and make isaiah laugh. it was a fit of giggles the entire morning. i love mornings like this. it makes me so happy that i'm a mama. i am just so grateful that they get along so well. i had a dream when i was 12 years old of a boy and a girl. at the time i thought they were twins, my twins. and the memory of that dream came back to me today and i wondered, if isaiah and makayah were the two that i had dreamed of (i truly hope so...i don't think i'd want to try to handle twins!). they are so alike and so in tune with the other. whenever makayah is sad, isaiah will call out to me, "mom! pick her up! pick her up!" and whenever isaiah is sad, makayah begins to whimper in sympathy until isaiah is happy again. they seriously light up when they are together. it is so awesome. speaking of my little firecracker....makayah just learned to crawl this past thursday. she still prefers to be carried around like the queen of sheba, but she will crawl every now and again. thank goodness! my arms desperately need a rest. she's become a nine-month-old chunk with an ever-growing head of hair. strangers come up to us and ask if they can touch her hair, no joke. i suppose they are wondering if she's wearing a wig or not. ??? :) oh, and just a side note, today after church, isaiah asked me, "mom, where is my brother? is he at home waiting for us?" hmm, not yet son, not yet. so, all in all, this past week was a good one, busy, but good. after a week of house and job hunting, we decided not to rush any decisions and to live with sam's uncle troy for a couple months, until sam finds a job and THEN we'll know better where to search for a place to live. i'm actually really glad the way things are working out. i'm relieved to know we are staying in provo a while longer, near our friends and ward family. so many things are going on here and i really wanted to be a part of them all...and now i can. well, my hurricane isaiah is down for the night as well as my firecracker makayah. it is so interesting to see their personalities emerge more and more as they grow and "mature." isaiah has become a little gentleman, jabbering on - a smooth talker like his daddy. but he is so full of fun energy, it amazes me. thankfully, he does like to slow down from time to time to cuddle with me. makayah on the other hand...wow! at first sight, she looks the cuddly type, you just want to squeeze her and pinch her and hold on. and then she screams - "you're in my space!!!" at the same time, she is such a dainty little girl, eating with her pinkies poised like she's sipping tea. but don't let that fool you. she is one feisty little thing! so demanding and extremely vocal. she can't talk just yet, but you know exactly what she is saying. i can almost hear my mother's voice, "i can't wait until you have kids of your own..." you know, the mother's curse. ;) secretly though, i'm so glad she is just like me. it may make her daddy nervous - "watch out for those navajo women, they're feisty!" but at least i know she'll be able to hold her own. and now i'm rambling. i guess, i just want to capture every delicious moment, every word, every shriek of laughter, every touch of their velvety baby skin, before they outgrow my lap and suddenly are too heavy for me to balance on my hip. i'm beginning to realize how unfair it is that i can't keep them wrapped up in my arms, protecting them from the world, because unfortunately, they are just growing up too darned fast. the funny thing is, as forgetful as i may be (sam's sometime nickname for me is 'forgetful jones' from sesame street), the first time i saw their lovely and angelic faces will always be vividly imprinted in my mind forever. love at first sight. i just didn't expect the years to escape me this quickly. i guess its true what they say, time flies when you're having fun.

a wrinkle in time

we made our way to window rock, arizona on tuesday to visit with my family. by wednesday, i was extremely antsy. and thursday just couldn't come fast enough. we drove to albuquerque, nm airport on thursday evening, awaiting the arrival of my brother, darrell, who was serving his mission in spain for the last two years. after hours of waiting (his flight had been delayed by a massive thunderstorm), we saw him! the wait was worth it and we all cried our eyes out as we each took our turn to hug our beloved missionary. he's home! isaiah kept yelling out, "uncle darrell! uncle darrell!" we all went out to eat (there were 12 of us) afterwards telling stories and filling the quiet restaurant with our thunderous laughter. that's just what happens when you get a group of crazy indians together! darrell's homecoming dinner was on saturday evening and then bore his testimony today in church. its been so fun having him back. the crazy thing is, its like he never left. like it was all just a dream, no time passing. it makes me excited for christopher's homecoming. and i wonder, will it be the same when i see aaron again? no time passing....just stories to tell and laughter to share. everything so surreal and dream-like...someday i'll find out. but at the present moment, our little family is forced to find work and a place to live...immediately. sam decided not to take the job in ottawa in order to finish his LSAT prep course and to take (and pass) his LSAT exam in december, which i completely support. the good thing is that we'll be able to hang out with darrell and nathan longer. the only problem is...what to do? where to live? not an easy task when you have to move two kids. lucky for me, i have great parents who are helping us with the move and allowing us to store most of our junk in their basement. whew! so, once again, it'll be a roll of the dice. where to next? i'm actually thinking that i may want to teach in some foreign land come january. sam can take a "break" and play mister mom. china, australia, switzerland....here we come, i hope. i'm ready for a new adventure.

Earned my feather

That is right ladies and gentleman, I did it. It took me a little while longer than expected, but I did it. Now my sights are set on law school. As I contemplate this next goal a lyric from a song goes through my mind. "Lord you do not have to move my mountain, just give me the strength to climb."

no more good-byes

this weekend was packed full of exciting events for our little family...but the important stuff (like sam's graduation) i will leave for him to tell. the grandparents have gone and the house is empty. the only noise in the entire place is that of mugsy our pug, snorrrring. i must say, it feels rather lonely. everything was going so quick, running here, running there....doing this, doing that. and now, time has seemed to stop. what should i do now? anyway, earlier today we had the opportunity to visit sam's great aunt liz. she has been diagnosed with cancer in her brain. we wanted to go and see her today, so we packed up and headed to her home just 15 minutes away. all i can say is, she is one of the most sweetest, funniest people i have ever known. she really is a jewel. it was the first time she had seen makayah and she couldn't stop nibbling on her toes and on her chubby cheeks (i couldn't blame her...makayah is a rather juicy little thing). aunt liz held her close as makayah cooed and talked her baby talk...aunt liz said, "i can feel the joy and happiness coming back to me through her...she is giving me strength, i can feel it!" makayah beamed at aunt liz, smiling and giggling the entire time we were there. it was such a precious moment. we all talked and told stories. aunt liz and uncle herb relayed some of their adventures while serving on their mission in armenia, as well as the nightmare when they found they had to return immediately back home to utah to begin treatment for aunt liz. as we left, we all gave aunt liz a hug and a kiss (even makayah and isaiah- though rather slobbery). when i hugged and kissed her, she pulled me close and said, "i am so glad sam married you! we are so blessed to have you in our family, you are a rare jewel. sam did good to marry you. i want you to know, that you are a great mother and that your children are special, they are so full of life and they are gonna be somebody someday - i just know it! when i got back from armenia, i thought, 'i'm worthless now!' but then i saw my children and their families...and i thought, 'no, i'm not worthless! my children have brought meaning to my life and they have made my life worth living.' monika, always remember your worth. it is your great blessing to be a mother to these children. i love you so much!" i balled my eyes out the entire time. i can't put into words the great love and admiration i have for her...and how special she made me feel. and i just can't imagine that this could be good-bye. i didn't want to think about it. so i wiped my tears and mascara off my cheeks, blew my nose said 'i love you' and hugged her as long as i could. the rest of the day was quite uneventful until my good and very dear friend marshelda called and reminded me that it was 'ladies night' tonight. so, sam and i took the kids, went to costco, and then to hollywood video to get some movies for sam to watch while i was out. but as we spilled out of our monster car....we had discovered that makayah had an explosion in her pants. agh! times like these, i'm glad that sam is around...thank goodness for teamwork! so we somehow, breezed through the stinky mess, stripped our baby girl, rented our movies, and went on our merry way back home...except for me. i was dropped off at "the pizza factory" where me and my homegirls were gonna have dinner. the 'clucking' (as sam likes to call it) and disruptive laughter was just what i needed. then we all came back to my place after stuffing ourselves silly...only to begin playing with mary kay makeup and skin products. marshelda and marilee did such a wonderful job of decreasing my inventory (sam says i have to sell it all before we move...IF we move). and after they left, and the house was silent once again...i felt sad about the thought of moving. marshelda has been my friend for 8 long years, ever since my freshman year at byu. our close mutual friends, candi and revina, have moved away. one by one, our crazy group has grown smaller, and smaller. the picture attached to this blog, is one of my friends and i. now we're down to two...me and mars. i almost don't want to move now. in fact, i will almost be relieved if we don't have to move out of provo. i guess we'll see. i'm beginning to really hate 'goodbyes.' on the brighter side of things...i am looking forward to a long-awaited "hello!" to my incredible brother, darrell, who is returning from his LDS mission in spain. he has yet to meet his niece, makayah...and i just can't wait! i am counting down the days.

Helpless to the moment

My son, my son, my son. Could he have any more personality? His latest thing is learning parts of the body, ALL parts of the body and lately he has noticed that he and his sister are not built the same. This revelation came when my wife was changing my daughter and he peeked over her shoulder and asked. "Where is her...(you know)?" Although a bit shocked at this question my wife replied, "she does not have one, she is a girl. She has lady parts." Without missing a beat my son then asked, "Did hers fall off?" My wife kindly explained a little bit more and that was that, no harm no foul just a warning that he is picking up on EVERYTHING that is going on around him. So the other day my son and I are on our way out for a boys night out. I was getting him ready to leave and asked, "Are you ready?" He replied, "Yup. Got my shoes and I got my..." Catching me off guard, I said, "Oh good, I'm glad." He then asked, "Daddy do you got yours?" Reflexively I replied, "Yes I do son." He just looked up at me and smiled his cheesy grin (see picture) and we got in the car and left. It took sometime to adjust to that experience. I could not believe it. It was one of those rare moments as a father where you know that eventually sometime subjects like these are going to come up and you try to prepare for them the best you can, however no matter how hard you try, when they arise you find yourself helpless to the moment. This was one of those times. I was helpless to the moment.

frogs and snails...sugar and spice

i have to write this down before i forget. a couple days ago, i was downstairs with the kids, just hanging out, the three of us. isaiah happened upon a box of paper towel rags and decided to wrap himself up in the stuff. he turned to me and said, 'mom, i'm going to the temple. i'm going to find umpa.' "you're going to find umpa?" "yep! umpa and nana are at the temple. i have to go find them." a little while later he came to me and said, "mom, i want to be like umpa and go to the temple." "well, maybe when you're older, umpa can take you to the temple with him." "okay, mom." i should've taken a picture. but by the time i actually got my camera ready, he had shed himself of the ragg-ed robe. -------------------------- this past sunday, i talked with isaiah's nursery teacher and he told me that isaiah is one of the liveliest in the class. "when he's good, he's really good. but there are times when he gets mischievous and likes to stir the crowd up." i laughed, and nodded my head. that's my boy. he is such a sweetheart. he can be rascally and rambunctious, but he is a really good son, and the sweetest big brother. i just can't imagine my life without him. we also saw our aunt deanna this past sunday, whom we haven't seen for the longest time. sam and i actually share this same aunt...but that is another story entirely! so, like i was saying...aunt deanna came to our ward this past sunday and in the middle of sacrament asked to hold makayah. after the meeting, she and sam chitchatted a bit and she said, "makayah is gorgeous. she looks just like monika when she was a baby, so much hair!" it made my heart feel all warm and fuzzy. :) especially since, i really don't have a close relationship with her. she moved away when i was about 5 or 6. so it was nice to hear. it's always fun to hear about when you were a baby, right? well, i better stop procrastinating and start packing up this house. goodnite!

My crazy freaking kids

Un-balanced

I was sitting back the other day listening to the Cd by Tha Tribe (pow wow music) and the opening track on it was talking about balancing the old traditional ways with the new. I got to thinking that I am mostly new, nothing about me is traditional or old. I do not speak the language, I do not sing, dance, or hunt...I feel like a city Indian. I am a city Indian. My wife at least understands her language, and even speaks it to a degree, she makes frybread and knows how to weave. So she is okay in this department. I on the other hand know absolutely nothing. I want that to change. I want to be able to teach my kids "the ways." So keeping this in mind, I bought a rifle, I am going to teach myself how to hunt, track and skin an animal and then eventually going to take my son and daughter and teach them. That is the first step, the next step will be to learn how to sing. I will get a drum(s), learn some songs and teach my kids how to sing. I just got to thinking, I am two days away from graduating with my BA. but I have yet to start my other education. One that is just as important. So I am making plans on doing so, starting this week. I hope it goes well, and for those of you who are reading this (probably my mom and Romero) I will let you know how things work out. Till next time.

A highlight of my life

There are few things outside of family and church that have made my highlight reel of life. I mean being married, having kids, coming home from a mission are all top highlights for me in life, but there are other events that top the list in a different category, the "worldly" category. On July 22nd, I experienced one such event. While we were in Las Vegas for my brother's tournament, we happen to get tickets to see Team USA play basketball. This was just as good as an All-Star game, I was able to see Lebron, Kobe, Stoudemire, Billups, Durant, DWade, Marion, Kidd, Heinrich, Tayshaun and others play in a real live competitive game. The reason why this has been such a treat for me is because I grew up in rural, Indian reservation Alberta Canada. We only had 3 TV channels growing up and while I was able to see plenty of Hockey, we were not able to see any NBA games or any other pro sports via television. I have been to only a handful of pro games and for me to see the latest and greatest NBA stars all play on one court in my town (where I served my mission) was a dream come true. So I had to share a picture from that day with you. It is of Lebron and Kobe guarding against each other. As much as I hate to say it, Kobe is the best player in the game right now talent and skill wise. He won the game with his last minute shot and I was lucky enough to be only 13 rows or so from the game floor. It was definitely a highlight of my life in the "other" category. Oh yeah we also sat next to Lil Romeo and Master P ("Make em say unghh!!!!") Till next time

Is my Liahona Working?

What's up people, As most of you know graduation is upon us and we are headed to .... That is the thing, we really have no idea where we are headed. I have applied for jobs in Ottawa, Tucson, and other places, but the thing is that no place "feels good" like Ottawa, Canada. We both have a feeling that this is where we need to be, I dunno, it feels right but it really is not about what we want, instead it is about what HE wants (Jacob 4:10). That being said I wonder if my Liahona is working properly, maybe I should give it a good shake like the magic 8-ball or something but I am pretty sure that won't work. I am graduating from Brigham Young University with a degree in Political Science and while it has been a very hard and long journey, it (the degree) by itself will not prove as useful as would say a degree in Finance. The long term plan is to attend law school (this is where the degree counts) but for now having solely a Poli Sci degree means that available entry-level jobs are extremely limited. This being the case we are really hoping that I get a job with the Assembly of First Nations (www.afn.ca), (these people specifically asked for a poli-sci major) a Native American Rights group working in their languages and cultural preservation department. The current status for that job as of now is that they are checking my references...that sounds good right? They would not be checking my references unless they were considering hiring me huh? But as I am sure you all know, nothing is for sure until it is for sure...and even then. If it falls through, all is not lost, I have a few more jobs on the line but I cannot seem to get this one out of my mind. Maybe that means something... Regardless, we are moving and leaving Utah County for awhile. We hopefully will return for law school in the not too distant future. So that is what is new with us from Sam's point of view,