THE TRIPLE A'S

Luke's 1st Grade Picture

2011-02-23T15:04:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that my little boys are going to be 7 this year! And I really love this picture of Luke because it shows off one of the passages of childhood- losing those front teeth! Luke lost one of his teeth in line at school. His teacher very kindly taped it to a piece of paper and sent it home for the tooth fairy to pay up. Lucky for Luke, the tooth fairy decided that losing your tooth in line at school was so awesome that she paid up and left the tooth for safe keeping. Luke was a bit disappointed that the tooth fairy did not leave him his expected $20. I think Luke needs to get a fair market appraisal on what an individual tooth is really valued at. Cause I have it from a very reliable source that the tooth fairy's fair market estimate is substantially lower than that!

My Say

2011-01-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

One of the purposes of my blog has been to post items about my kids and try and keep everyone up to date on the happenings of our family. And for all intents and purposes, I am well aware that for the most part, this blog is really mine and my kids journal.

This post is going to be a little bit different. I feel the need for myself to put into writing some of the thoughts I have about the past few years and the effect it has had on me and my children. Never in my wildest dreams did I think fifteen years ago when I married my husband in the San Diego temple, that I would be faced with one of life's biggest challenges- to accept and move on after your supposed eternal companion lies, cheats and ultimately betrays all promises made.

But even more so than that challenge has been to feel the betrayal and the hurt that comes with it from friends and family who you thought would be supportive and sensitive to a situation which they would never want to find themselves in. Would you like your husband of fifteen years to cheat on you with someone that you have grown up with and loved like family? That betrayal is hard to deal with. But even worse is to read comments and congratulations to the recently engaged happy couple. What is there really to celebrate about a relationship that is based on destroying a family. That had it's beginnings in betrayal, deception, secrecy and lies. I find it hard to see where the happiness is for two children who have to deal with a broken family. Have we really departed so far from the path of right that as long as people "get married" and make it legal, then everything is okay?

I would love to believe in the cliche that cheaters never prosper or that somehow kharma etc. will come back to balance out the wrongs. But I am also a realist and accept the fact that people do not always get justice or fairness in a situation. That often times, people who do the wrong thing never really have to suffer the consequences for their actions. I get it. But I do hope at the very least that a guilty conscience will sometimes niggle at both of them for what they have done. Maybe, maybe not.

Life goes on and I have had my say. But I know that I cannot offer up my congratulations to them or any wishes for future happiness. Just can't.

Holidays Are The Time For Family

2010-12-16T14:22:00.000-08:00

No matter where I have been in the world, I have always looked on Thanksgiving and Christmas as a time to be with family. Sometime it is family you are directly related to, sometimes it is family you married in to and sometimes it is with people who connect with you in such a way that they become family.

Thanksgiving this year was held at my sister Kari's house. The following day, my sister Jenny and her family came down to Bakersfield from Sacramento. We try and take a picture each year of my dad with all of the grandchildren.

Another tradition which I try and keep going is honoring and remembering family who are not able to be with us during this holiday season. And may I record for those in the know..... it just would not be Christmas without walking up and down the rows of graves at Greenlawn cemetary with my Dad looking for his parents graves. After 40 minutes of looking, I now have the official map from Greenlawn in my possession. Next year is going to be a little different, I hope!

Merry Christmas Mom!

Adam 1st Grade Picture

2010-11-30T15:32:00.000-08:00

Adam- Age 6. 1st Grade Picture. Little Red School House. I am not sure if this kid has ever taken a bad picture. He is cuteness inside and out.

My Luke

2010-10-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

Why do I love this picture of Luke? Well, perhaps it is because it captures in a moment what Luke is somewhat about. He is a very conservative, careful child. He observes life and then decides if he will participate in it. He is reserved with new people in his life. I tell people to not get offended when he gives you the stink eye because that is just his way of assessing your importance to him. He is highly intelligent and his constant questions about who, what and why tax my ability to endure to the end. Sometimes at the end of a long day I put a temporary restraining order on question time until the following day.

You have to love a kid though who comes up with classic lines such as "Mom, when you have no birthdays, you are dead."

The Boys and Soccer

2010-10-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

This year, Adam and Luke were adamant that they wanted to play soccer; okay so Adam was adamant, Luke is just along for the ride.

I made sure that they both got on the same team; they are the mighty Blue Sharks. Their coach is fantastic. His name is Bernardo and his wife Katie is the team mom. The team consists of eight little boys with Adam and Luke being the youngest two; the oldest boys are seven and in 2nd grade. The team puts in a great effort but have not been very successful on the "win" side. Adam and Luke are a bit tenative in going after the ball. Adam has turned out to be a great goal keeper. He is willing to sacrifice himself by placing his body in the way of an incoming kick. One ball connected with his upper body and I think people from two fields over heard the sound. Credit to Adam though, he did not have to come off the field for cry/breather. Luke loves to play the game but really does not see the value in practices. You can usually find him in the pack somewhere around the ball. He is a bit afraid of dribbling past defenders but is not afraid to give the ball a mighty wack to the sidelines. Luke requires a fair amount of "resting" during the game. I did catch Adam on the field during a recent game pulling the drawstring out of his shorts and trying to loop it over his head whilst still wearing the shorts. He almost got the job done because he does have a lot of string to play with as his shorts could probably fit both he and Luke in them. Needless to say, I did have to tell him that was not a good look for the game and might just hinder some play action. I don't think anyone plays well with their shorts up around their neck, do you?

So here are some pics of my soccer boys. Note Adam and his shirt 1/2 in and 1/2 out. It is supposed to be tucked in all the way!

1ST Day of 1ST Grade

2010-09-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

Two posts in a row. See if I can keep this winning streak going. My little boys in 1st grade. Before I know it, I will be sitting at High School graduation and saying what all parents before me have said.... where has the time gone? I am trying my best to document the big moments; I often don't hit 100% but I try. I am trying my very best to just enjoy the little moments and the time together. Moments such as when Luke tells me yesterday, "Mom, when you don't have anymore birthdays, you are dead!" Profound thoughts coming from that little head. But Adam, not to be outdone, interjects this wisdom, "yeah, and when you are dead, you lay flat on your back and don't blink your eyes."

Luke's teacher this year is Mrs.Smith; and 7 days into the new school year and Luke is already seeing and testing what her boundaries are. This usually lasts the first month at school after which Luke becomes a model student.

Adam continues to have Mrs.Billiard as his teacher. At first (second and maybe even third, let's go there) his teacher seems to be a bit past the teaching thing; She can't be younger than about 75. But Adam loves her and is doing well in school. In fact, Adam is a constant surprise in terms of his academic level of achievement. Not that I thought he was remedial but I just had observed in the past his lack of attention to what was going on in the classroom. But osmosis seems to have won out in his case because apparently it is all getting through.

PS. Luke refused to stand in the grass in front of the school sign because there was a bit of dew left on it and he did not want it dripping on his foot. He continues his reign of high maintenance! Also note, no smile at his desk. He was not sure he was liking 1st grade. Mostly because he was not allowed to play his DS Nintendo there. The sacrifices that must be made for an education!

Adam Graduates from Kindergarten

2010-08-31T14:20:00.000-07:00

I am always a little late in posting significant events. So here is Adam's kindergarten graduation picture. He was very excited to be graduating and moving on to first grade. Only Adam's school did a big graduation ceremony. They even had the kids dressed in cap and gown. The 1st grade class at Adam's school "hosted" the ceremonies. The 1st graders did the entertainment part of the program. So this year, Adam will be hosting the ceremonies and his cousin Bella will be graduating. Should be an interesting combination to witness!!

BTW. Mom thinks Adam is a little cutie. :)

Clifford's Sleepover

2009-12-16T14:47:00.000-08:00

Luke's Kindergarten teacher has so many great ideas for motivating her students to read. At the beginning of the year, she allowed students to take home Clifford, The Big Red Dog, for a sleepover. Clifford comes to your house prepared. Mrs.Schafer has made him his own sleepover backpack made with Clifford material which comes complete with a Clifford book to read, Clifford's own blanket and pillow for bedtime and Clifford's journal of his many sleepover adventures. Each child adds to the journal and writes about what they did with Clifford at their home. We also added some pictures to our journal page which are posted here. You can see that both Luke and Adam welcomed Clifford into their nighttime routine. Clifford watched tv in the morning with the boys while they ate their cereal, he slept with Luke is his bed and Adam shared his gumballs with Clifford.

The boys were very sad when Clifford had to go to back to school for the next sleepover. But it was a very fun time while he was with us. :))))

Adam Hits The Front Page

2009-10-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Adam taken by Mr.Osvog, Norris Elementary School Principal. The school used this photo for the September 7th weekly Newsletter. Mr.Osvog said he chose this picture because Adam was working away and then looked up and gave him the perfect smile. I can't think when Adam has taken a bad picture! Adam was very proud that his picture was in the school newsletter. Considering that there are over 800 kids attending the elementary school, I would say he has reason to be proud!

Big School- The Boys Go to Kindergarten

2009-10-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

August 24th, 2009 was a big day for Adam and Luke. The previous week, Adam, Luke and Mom attended Norris Elementary kindergarten orientation. The boys were very excited to meet their teachers, see the classroom they would be in and tour the elementary school campus.

Luke's teacher this year is Mrs.Schafer. She is the perfect teacher for Luke. She is very organized, has many years of experience as a mother, grandmother and kindie teacher. She is helping Luke to use words to express his emotions; something that Luke does not do very well. She is also helping him to be more socially interactive with his peers. Luke tends to try and direct people. To date, Luke is thriving in school. He loves to bring books home to read. Luke does not like eating in the cafeteria much; in fact he tells me in detail every night what he expects to see in his lunch bag the next day. I think that Luke's one unfullfilled desire about school is the fact that he does not get to ride the bus home. For some reason he thinks that riding the school bus is the pinnacle of the school day. I never hear the end of his requests to be in the school bus group. Sadly for him, this request will probably go unfullfilled this year.

Adam's teacher this year is Mrs. Ramey. She is the perfect teacher for Adam. She is young, pretty and very sweet. Adam fell in love with her the first day of school. He composed a love note for her his first week. Adam struggled a little bit the first couple of weeks in that he needed to figure out when he could be funny and silly and when he could not. Once he got that worked out and his teacher figured out how many times during the day he needs to go to the bathroom- then it was all good. Adam tells me he already has a girlfriend in his class. He is such a happy go lucky child it is no wonder that everyone loves him. Adam loves to eat in the cafeteria. He was also delighted to find out that you could buy extra milk. I am certain that he is helping other kids around him to eat their lunch as well :)))

There will be more on this chapter to come. For sure.

Luke and Merry-Go-Rounds

2009-07-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here is a little blurb about my Mr.Conservative. Luke took all of the DNA related to personal safety and left Adam with very little or none at all depending on the situation. So when it comes to being on a moving object with both feet off the ground, Luke is not a very happy boy. The first time I attempted to "have fun" with him on Merry-Go-Round was in San Francisco. He cried the entire time, no make that screamed the entire time. The next try was in Sacramento where he refused to get on the horses at all (refer back to previous experience SF) and cried the entire time we were seated on the seats. So here we are, 2009, Disneyland and I thought let's try this one more time. It helped that his friend Madison and brother were both keen to go.

The first picture I took was just after I strapped him to the horse; he is checking everything to make sure it is firmly attached.

The next picture shows his facial expression regarding the upcoming experience. Note, we are not screaming or crying but not really that ecstatic either!

Third picture, the ride starts, the world does not end and dare I say it I think I see the start of a smile!

Final picture, yes miracles do occur in this modern day, Luke actually smiled at the end and told me how much fun that was. I really don't think Luke is going to be one of those people who jump out of planes or free jump off high rocks, just because they are there. Now Adam on the other hand is a different story. Yet another installment of the ying and yang of the twins.

Disneyland Part II

2009-06-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

Second installment in the Disneyland story 2009.

As mentioned previously, our friends the Preston family met us at Disneyland. We had not seen them in over two years, so it was really fun being able to catch up at the happiest place on Earth! (apparently). (Note Luke sneaking into their family pic!)

Madison, their oldest daughter is about 4-5 months older than the boys but at the moment she is much taller than even Adam! She is a very sweet quiet girl. She and the boys got along really well and had a great time together over the two days. I even managed to get some great pics of them together. The Prestons also have a set of twins who are two years old-Jacob and Emily. The little twins really liked the Small World ride. Both Madison and the boys were not so sure about the 3D Bugs adventure. In fact at different parts of the show, the boys and Madison took off their 3D glasses. Adam was not game to go on the roller coasters with me this time around (last year at age 4 both Luke and Adam rode Space Mountain and the Runaway Railroad ride; this year they were more aware and not having any part of it!) Adam did go with me on the Indiana Jones ride and absolutely loved it. In fact he jumped out of the car and yelled to everyone at the end- That was Awesome! Yeah! And punched his hands in the air. It was very amusing for people waiting in line to see a five year old, who was barely tall enough to ride, so enthusiastic. I am sure as the years progress, Adam will be my roller coaster adventure partner. And probably by that time, I will be too old to want to go on the roller coasters!

Disneyland Part I

2009-06-25T15:13:00.001-07:00

Okay, so here is my first installment of our recent trip to Disneyland. We stayed at the Fairfield Marriott which is right outside the main gate of Disneyland. Best place I have stayed to date in my journeys to Disneyland. Noting the close proximity to Disneyland and also that there is a McDonalds in front of the hotel, a Pizza Hut/snack bar inside the hotel , leads me to my four star recommendation. I am also a little particular about how clean the rooms are and what the bathrooms are like- once again passed the test.

So our first day, we hit McDonalds for breakfast. While there, I placed a call to my Australian friends, the Preston family, who had flown in from Brisbane Australia the day before and were staying at another hotel further away. They had flown nonstop 13 hours with 4 adults and three kids, a six year and two year old twins. They had told me the evening before that they were heading to bed at about 5pm, so I am thinking that my call at 7:30 am would be appropriate given that we were to meet at the Disneyland gates at 8am. Come to find out, everyone was still asleep and we rescheduled the meetup for 10am(and who could blame them for being a little tired!). So that left myself and the boys free for a couple of hours to enjoy some rides together. I decided to hit Finding Nemo first as it can be a lengthy wait later in the day. This picture of Luke and Adam are of us waiting in that line. It was overcast and very cool (lucky I brought jackets even though it was June!) but the wait was only about 30 minutes. Luke was scared and would not look out the window for the first few minutes. After Nemo, we headed off to drive the cars. I was not sure if I would be able to get us all in one car but it turned out great. The boys took turns driving and loved it!! I was in charge of the gas pedal. Then we headed back to the main gate to meet up with the Prestons. More on our time with them in my next Disneyland installment

Luke + Pictures

2009-06-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

Is like oil and water. They just do not seem to mix well together. For some reason Luke finds it difficult to look natural in pictures. That is just him. So when I do get a great smile out of him and he looks great in a picture, of course it is in front of a sign advertising for Margaritas! Sometimes you just can't win in life. But he does look great in this picture. We were eating dinner at Chili's in Valencia on our way to meet our Australian friends at Disneyland. Of course the boys were very excited and just had to have some pictures taken at the restaurant. I think they ordered corn dogs, with apple slices and root beer. The picture of Adam (who by the way is very photogenic and almost never takes a bad picture) is us waiting in line to get into Disneyland. He took along some drinks from breakfast just in case he got hungry between McDonalds and Disneyland(note, this was all of a five minute walk, but it always pays to be prepared just in case you get hungry or thirsty!!) Also note Luke in the bottom of the pic doing one of his normal picture poses.

Parents With Daughters, You Have Been Notified!

2009-06-24T13:01:00.001-07:00

Kodak Moment Captured

2009-06-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

The boys love to pretend that they are superheros. This picture is the result of them "getting into costume" and pretending to be various superheros. Luke is Batman and Adam is The Incredible Hulk. After posing for this picture, they then proceeded to engage in a superhero wrestling match. Luke being at an obvious disadvantage decided to switch superheros and become the Incredible Hulk as well. This switch then enabled the boys to pound on each other at will. Pretty much any excuse to punch and wrestle with your twin brother will do. I just sometimes wish that I could confine those "wrestling, kicking, punching" moments to appropriate venues. Unfortunately those tendencies tend to come out at church, school and public areas. We are working on that but I really think it is a boy thing in talking to other parents. I feel successful when the boys limit their wrestling moves to one another and don't try it out on anyone else not related to them! We will see how that goes anyways.

Little Red School House 2008/09

2009-06-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

This is Adam and Luke's school picture for the 2008/09 year at Little Red School House. Both boys absolutely love going to preschool, albeit for different reasons. Adam is all about recess and Luke is all about what happens in the classroom. Adam also loves popcorn day, ice-cream day, baking day.... I think the picture is clear in what those days have in common. Luke is currently working hard on trying to complete ten book reports by July. He is doing fairly well on reading and writing. Adam can also write his name. Both boys love to practice writing, so I have bought numerous little notebooks for them this year. Both Adam and Luke are VERY excited about going to kindergarten. They ask daily when they will be going to big school.

I asked Adam the other day if it would be okay for him to stay my sweet little boy. He told me no that he needed to grow big and strong like the Incredible Hulk. So I guess that means I can't make him stay little and cute forever. Oh well, I tried.

Just a few more snow pics

2009-05-04T15:24:00.001-07:00

A couple more pics from the snow that I could not add to the last post!

Trying to be Good!!

2009-05-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

Me that is... I am trying to be good and post regularly to this site. If only so that I can remember all the funny things that the boys do!

So from basketball to the snow. This year myself and the boys went with my sister Kari and her family to the snow. We stayed in Sacramento and met up with my sister Jenny's family as well. The plan was to drive to a snow park about 40 minutes out of Sacramento and go sledding and tubing. the park had a tubing hill which you could pay admission to get in and use their escalator to avoid having to drag the tubes up the hill; That was worth the price of admission! The drive to the park turned out to be almost a bigger adventure than the actual park. The weather on the day we went to the park was very snowy. In fact at one point, we were stopped by CalTrans and told to put on snow chains. Peter, Kari's husband, is a fix-it guy and was able to put them on relatively quickly. The unfortunate part is that because it does not snow very much in Bakersfield, Peter and Kari did not know that the chains were supposed to go in the back, not the front. Needless to say, about five-10 miles into the journey, the chains had to be removed because of the damage they were doing to the car. Miraculously we made it to the park even though we had no chains. I like to think of it as destiny.

Once we got to the park, it was evident that the driving conditions deterred many from getting there as we almost had the place to ourselves on a Saturday! The downside to having a snowy snow park day was that the snow was very soft and almost up to my waist in parts. So walking to the sledding area was really difficult. Here is where the twins personality really shone through.

On the tubing hill. Luke went down once with me and then absolutely refused to go again. He stayed in the lodge with his Aunt Kari and Cousin Hayley. Adam loved the tubing so much that he cried when we left. Walking to the sledding area, Luke whined pretty much the whole way. When we got there, I was so over his whining that I almost turned around and went back. Adam meanwhile was having a ball and only got upset when he got buried almost up to his neck in a snowbank. The boys tried to sled but because the snow was so soft, the sled really did not go that fast.

I took a few pics of the day to remind me of all these details. In summary it was a fun trip and hopefully we can make it an annual event!

Me Bad....

2009-04-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

I looked at the last post date and thought yikes! Where have the last six odd months gone??? To summarize, it has been a very busy six months for me and the blogging just got pushed to the bottom of the list. But I have emerged from the ashes and march forward to blog.

I thought I would start off by adding some recent pics. Adam and Luke played their first season of basketball this year. I was hoping that some natural genetic talent might shine through for them.... not! But they did have a good time running as fast as they could into the padded wall at the end of the court. I think Luke and Adam both managed to make one basket each for the season during a game. Adam had a funny moment during the last game of the season. Jada was one of a few girls on the team. She is pictured three from the right in the team pic. Jada was more worried about who was looking at her than about the game; and rightly so because the ball was almost as big as she was! Anyways, Jada kind of lost track of where she was supposed to be. So Adam decided that he needed to help her out. As soon as Adam's team turned around to head down court, Adam would look for Jada, grab her hand and run up the court with her hand in hand. It was too cute.

The Next Chapter in the Adventures of Adam

2008-09-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been awhile since my last post. But then I was never really that good at the journal thing. I thought that new technology would inspire me to be better and it has... to a point!

Anyways, I have to record Adam's most recent adventure as Superman (or so he thinks). So it is Sunday afternoon and I am trying to cook and get organized for the coming week. I hear the boys playing in the background so I am thinking... no fighting, playing nicely, things are good. Next thing I know, I hear Adam crying. I knew something was wrong because this cry was the pain cry different from the "my brother pinched me or talked to me wrong" cry. So I rush over to where the noise is coming from and find Adam and Luke at the bottom of the stairs. I could kind of figure out what was wrong because the boys had dragged all their pillows and blankets from their beds down the stairs and had made a little landing nest. So I ask Luke what happened and he told me that Adam jumped off the stairs. Come to find out he did not just jump, he did a runup to jump a little higher. So apparently on the way down (because you know that no matter how much you might wish that you were Superman, unfortunately the reality of gravity eventually catches up to you!) he did not quite clear the stair handrail and hit that with the heel of his foot. That was a lucky break for Mom as this meant that although the pain felt was quite high, the aftermath (ie broken bones or sprain) was relatively minor. As I was feeling around for broken bones or trying to see if he had sprained his ankle, I was thinking what fun we would have at the ER on a Sunday afternoon because with everyone else in the household away, that would mean not just one but two little boys to entertain. Not a problem right, because of course everyone knows how quickly you get seen at the Kern River Valley Hospital on a weekend!

All's well that end's well. But I am sure there will be more chapters to add to Adam's Adventures.

The Things Kids Say!

2008-08-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

So the purpose of this blog for the most part is to document those cute things that your kids do and say so that in the future you can remember it or shame your teenage children with the evidence.

So here are some funny things that have the twins have said recently:

Adam: Harley was making some homemade rum ice cream. He of course was using pure rum to add to the mix- for those who are thinking it, YES! Anyways, Adam comes over and wants to smell the rum. So Harley lets him take a whiff and Adam says, "That is the sweetest smell I ever smelled".

Adam: At the moment, the boys have an absolute obsession with the Justice League. For those of you out there who are my peers, you may remember this cartoon from your Saturday mornings. The Justice League consists of such great characters as Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin, The Wonder Twins, Fire Storm etc. The arch nemesis of The Justice League is Dark Side. He talks in a kind of raspy whisper and his super power is xray beams that shoot from his eyes- kind of an interesting character. Anyways, Adam has apparently taken a bit of a shine to Dark Side because he really wants to shoot xray laser beams from his eyes. So he told me in the car the other day that he has a new father. I kind of looked at him like what? And he said, "yeah, my new father is Dark Side and then he will give me his xray superpower so I can shoot things with my eyes". I of course had Adam repeat that to Harley.

Luke: He pretended to be Dark Side all weekend. Complete with raspy voice and added a scrunchy nose so that he could add a bit of a snarl to the whole thing. He would not come when called unless we addressed him as Dark Side.

Luke: Per my post about the Beach house experience at Oceanside. As you can imagine, by the end of the day, the boys were very tired and cranky. One evening, Adam had a bit of a meltdown over some thing that I cannot now recall. I had them in the bedroom and Adam was crying and generally not coping. And I was saying to Adam, stop crying, you are tired, you need to go to sleep etc.. Luke is standing on the bed and turns his head toward me and says to me very seriously, "Mommy, leave Adam alone, he is having a Moment."

BFF's + Beach House + Beach= 100% Fun

2008-08-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

I believe that you can never have too many BFF's (Best Friends Forever). You know the kind that you can not see or talk to for days, months, years and whenever you do get together or talk again, it seems like you have never been apart. Well I am fortunate enough to have friends like that in both the USA and Australia (you know who you are!) And last week, myself and Adam and Luke were able to meet up with the Larsen family at Oceanside. Now myself and the Larsen family go way way back. Okay, we won't count the years but it is more than 10! Here is the story

There once were three girls living together at BYU- Michele, Michelle and Julianne. They were fun loving gals and the two Michellllle's shared both a name and clothes (because they were the same height- what were the odds of that happening!). These three girls graduated, married and had some kids; okay Michelle and Julianne outdid Michele by about a ratio of 2:1 but hey, I had the twins! We have also moved, lost touch, found each other, called, emailed and just generally kept up with each other over the years. Oh yeah, and I did introduce Michelle to this really great guy I met on a leaf raking service project at BYU. 5 kids, 10+years and a few more assets to the balance sheet and this guy is still great- good catch Michelle! Anyways, it is also good to keep in touch with people that work hard and get lucky enough to own a beach house in Southern CA about a block from the beach. Add to the fact that Michelle and Dave also happened to have two boys about the same age as the twins and well you have all the makings of a pretty fab holiday. Which it was. I would have uploaded more pics except I kept forgetting to take the camera with me.

We were also lucky enough to connect at the same time with some other BYU friends (Hi Stowell family!) and have a mini-reunion on Friday at the beach. We kept the party rocking with 10 kids(the Larsen 5, Stowell 3 and Alfred 2) and some awesome burritos from To's. I mean how could you not be happy with enough food to feed 15 people all for $30. To finish off the night, we watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games and managed to outlast five of the kids and one of the adults. All in all, a great trip. One for the memory books.

Taylor (My Niece) Gets Baptized

2008-08-03T19:57:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, the 2nd August, the Alfred family traveled to Bakersfield to see my niece Taylor get baptized. The baptism itself was not scheduled until later in the day. But the event proved to be a great reason to stage a mini Luke/Merta family reunion. My Luke cousins, some whom I have not seen for many years, just all happened to be in LA for the summer. So my Aunt Joan pitched the idea that we should all gather for Taylor's baptism and also spend the day together at Kari's place. It was so nice to see my Aunt's, Uncle and cousins again. Their kids are great. For the most part, I have not been able to meet any of their children. So it was a great day to see how everyone has grown up. I have really missed being apart from all of these family things. Taylor's baptism was really good too. The boys of course were completely wired up from the days activities. And probably also from eating too many brownies and cookies. That did not help. So we get to the chapel for the baptism. I helped my sister out by looking after Bella. She can be a little bit BAD at these types of events so I thought that I would do my best to keep her and the boys quiet. As a side note, my boys have taken to hero worshipping the Bushling boys so it was perhaps too much to ask of them to sit quietly when both the Bushling boys and their cousin Austin were sitting behind them! Needless to say, I don't think they would have received any points for reverence. But the funny thing that Luke kept asking was when Jesus was going to come into the chapel. Probably gleaned that concept from my answer to his question, "Is this Jesus' house (meaning the church building) to which I replied, yes it is." So he was getting a bit disappointed that Jesus had not put in an appearance. Lucky for me, the video shown after the baptisms was the first vision. Which of course has Jesus in it. Luke was very happy to see him as was his cousin Bella who kept pointing to the screen and saying, "There is Jesus". Luke's comment was that Jesus flopped his hand (when he pointed to Joseph Smith). He is observant! Bella's crowning achievement at the baptism was when all the kids were invited to come closer to the font to witness the baptism. Bella races up to the front and then turns around to her mother and raised her dress up and says, "Mama, my diaper come off ", as she is taking off one of the tabs on her diaper. My sister moved pretty quick to head off that disaster I must say. The boys fell asleep on the way home. Adam was so tired that when I took him upstairs and changed him for bed he lifted his arms and legs but never opened his eyes. A good day is had by all when the boys conk out in the car!

Adam Wants to Work for the Postal Service

2008-07-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

As one of the purposes of this blog is to document the cute things that the twins do, I just had to share a snippet from the other night. I was downstairs watching tv, thinking that the boys were finally asleep. I heard the sound of a door slamming upstairs and thought that I had forgotten to close one and that the wind had slammed it shut. Then a couple of minutes later, I heard another door slam shut. Okay, this means that there are twins on the loose. So I head upstairs to find out who the culprit is. I open the first bedroom door and there is Adam, awake and staring at me. He immediately asks me, "Mommy what is Luke's middle name? I say David. He then asks me, no what is is whole name, and I say Luke David Alfred. He says, Good that is what I wrote on his letter. To which I said, what letter. Adam replied, the letter I just delivered to him." So I go to the other room and look in and see Luke, sound asleep, with a piece of paper with scribbles on it (Adam's letter) across his chest. So it all comes together for me. Adam has been busy writing and delivering letters to his brother when he should have been asleep. I had to laugh but also told Adam that the postal service does not operate at bedtime.

A couple of days earlier Adam had also delivered a letter to the neighbours next door. He ran out one morning, said I have to deliver this letter to Funny Guy (our friend next door). So he runs up their driveway and sticks the letter under the morning paper. Later, my husband was next door and saw Adam's letter sitting on the counter. He let them in on their secret pen pal.

Too funny. He and Luke are still checking the post box at least six times per day. What is it about letters lately??

Pictures of Summer Fun

2008-07-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

I could not let the summer go by without documenting how much fun and enjoyment the boys have swimming in the pool. Everyday I pick them up from preschool, the boys ask if they can go swimming. Of course the answer is always yes, unless it is raining.... We bought them flotation swimsuits because that way they could swim without us having to hold them. Also, Adam loves to jump off the diving board by himself- he thinks he is pretty big stuff. Lukie had to warm up to the idea, but now also jumps off the diving board as well. Their younger cousin Isabella has taken swimming lessons this summer and has started to swim without her flotation suit. Aunt Kari and Uncle Peter tried to convince the boys to swim without their suits- that was not well received. But I kept working on the boys and finally convinced Adam last Saturday to ditch the flotation suit. And of course HE LOVED IT. He pretty much started to swim straight away. And now wants to go without the suit on a regular basis. In fact, he told me that he is ready to go off the diving board without his suit. Adam is also tall enough now to touch the bottom of the pool in the shallow part of the pool. So he likes to jump off the side and then push off the bottom to get a breath. I then point him towards the side and he kind of does a funny arm, leg swim crawl. I think after one day, that he has done pretty well. So that will be a project to work on for the next month. I think Luke will take longer to get used to the idea. He does not like the feeling of the water coming over his head. I would love to capture the look on his face when this occurs; however, I am usually the one who is "saving him" so probably won't get that money shot. But trust me, it is pretty funny. Luke is my cautious, safe boy. Adam is Mr. Adventure. I just have to keep a very close eye on Adam so that he will make it to adulthood! Anways, thought I would also include a few swimming pics! Summertime is definately for swimming!

From the Mouth of Children

2008-07-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, some things are just too funny not to share. Part of the night time routine is to pray with each boy before they go to sleep. The boys decide which parent they want to pray with them. Anyways, it was my night to be in favor with Luke. As I am leaning over to give him a good night kiss, he puts his hands on my cheeks and says in an earnest voice" Mommy, Jesus Christ is a superhero", to which I replied yes, he is a hero. Mommy, Jesus Christ does not fly because he does not have any wings or a cape. He floats down and then goes and gets all the bad guys." To which I said, yes, that is right he helps us fight the bad guys." What else can you say?

Another funny moment occurred in the car. A little girl from Luke's class at preschool went to Denver Colorado and brought some special chocolates back for her classmates. The chocolates were covered in paper printed with a picture of the Denver capital building. Luke held up the chocolate in the car and said "Mommy look, look, it's Jesus' house (meaning he thought it was a temple) to which I replied yes, Jesus' house is the temple but that is not a temple. Adam then pipes in and says yeah, that is Jesus' work." Which in an odd kind of way makes sense because the temple is where Jesus' work gets done. So they must be getting some concepts into their four year old heads.

Out of the mouth of babes.

Floods, Fire and Friends

2008-07-15T10:20:00.000-07:00

My second post. One giant step for me. I am trying to make this a habit. Don't you have to do something at least seven times to make it a habit, or was that the title of a book that I am just incorporating into something? Anyways, here is what has been happening since my last post.

The Piute fire, which has been burning in the Lake Isabella mountains since June 28th is finally looking like it is almost finished. Thanks to some rain and lots of firefighters, the end is in sight. But the rain also brought flash flooding to the Lake Isabella area. Only certain parts of Lake Isabella were affected. My family has been fortunate to stay out of the path of both the fire and the floods. As most know, I commute each day to Bakersfield. This drive takes me through the canyon where the Kern River flows from the Lake. On Monday, the flash floods from the weekend had washed a lot of mud and ash from the fires into the river. The river was a dark brown color and the foam from some of the rapids was also brown in color. Luke and Adam were most interested in the change to the river. Adam told me in a surprised voice that "someone had done a pooh in the river", to which I took a teaching moment by the neck and said to him" that is right Adam, see what happens when we pooh in the river- yuck!" Both boys agreed and so hopefully I have done my part for nature! Only the future will tell.

Luke also told me last night when I was sitting on his bed after praying with him that Jesus is a superhero (they are kind of in to superheros) but he does not wear a cape, floats down and gets all the bad guys. And that he was Luke's friend. I told him that yes, Jesus is the very best hero and that he really is Luke's friend. To which Luke replied yes, okay Mommy that is enough discussion for tonight. Guess that ended the little spiritual moment!

And an unexpected bonus to my new blog- reconnection with friends(after only one post)! I suppose that is what this is all about anyway, staying in touch.

So there ends my tale of floods, fires and friends. Until next time.

Michele Alfred Enters the 21st Century!

2008-07-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true. I have finally succumbed to that age old motivator-GUILT! I know that for many of you, my efforts to "keep in touch" have been feeble at best. And for those who I am getting to know for the first time or again, time always seems to be a mitigating factor. But no more! I have seen the light and am now going to attempt to be a regular blogger. I hope to keep everyone on both sides of the Pacific Ocean up to date with everything that is happening in our family. Adam and Luke have so many cute things that they say each day that I also wanted to be sure to capture that somewhere for future use.

Currently the Alfred family is residing in Lake Isabella CA. The weather this past week has been in one word- HOT! Today it has cooled down to the low 90's(or about 33C for those of you in Australia!) I think someone told me that it got to about 113F(45C) in Bakersfield on Tues or Wed.

Adam and Luke are really enjoying summer as it means that they can go swimming everyday after school. They are also enjoying their preschool- Little Red School House. It is amazing the amount of things they learn there. Luke is attempting to read. He takes a book to bed every night and I can hear him sounding out words, sometimes singing them, before he finally drops off to sleep. Adam enjoys eating- I believe he things about food 24/7. As soon as he wakes in the morning, he immediately tells us he is starving and wants his breakfast. His favourite food for breakfast is wait for it- porridge. Yes that is right. He loves a big bowl of porridge with a little milk. He will usually consume that and then maybe take a snack for the ride to Bakersfield. I also have to have snacks in the car for the afternoon- I have made the mistake of not having any and he will cry and tell me that he is starving. I am not really sure where he puts it all because he has not an ounce of fat on his body but I am sure he is storing it all up for a massive growth spurt!

As for myself, I am enjoying my job as Senior Accountant at Norris School District. The commute is a killer- but on the whole, I can't complain. I have been able to go on some nice little mini vacations- (1) to Disneyland for the boys 4th birthday and (2) to Santa Cruz with my sister and her family and another family. Of course the Santa Cruz trip also involved a stop at some great outlet stores. For those who know me, that probably rates higher on my scale of personal happiness that most anything else. There is nothing like a bargain! And this outlet center had a Childrens Place outlet- nirvana!

Lake Isabella area is also in the midst of a large forest fire. Fortunately for us the fire is still relatively distant. But the boys absolutely love the helicopters that fly over the house at regular intervals- they are convinced that they are transformer helicopters and that when they go behind the mountain, they transform into a robot. They also have a little cottontail bunny that likes to sit on the lawn and nibble the grass. Most often, the bunny will be there in the morning and the boys will watch it through the front window. They also love to go out and check the mailbox. That is the first thought on their mind in the morning and the last task before bedtime. They probably check that mailbox at least 6-12 times a day. It's a big deal and they don't seem to mind that for the most part there is nothing there- but when there is, the excitement more than makes up for past disappointment! I am not a postal career is in the future but certainly, I never need to remember whether anyone has collected the mail for the day- just one less thing to worry about!.

Baptisms, births and birthdays will be included in my future blogs- of which I promise there will be many and be regularly updated! My mid years resolution. That's all for now!