Ellie came running up to me holding her raisin box. "Look, Mommy! I made a mouse!"

Yesterday, driving home from pre-school, we passed the clean-up of a traffic accident. Along with a tow-truck, there were six police and emergency vehicles on the side of the road, all with red and white lights flashing. As we drove by, Ellie started to shout excitedly, "Mommmy, Mommy, look! CHRISTMAS CARS!!"

I thought Chloe must've eaten something bad because her hurl-fest was on Monday. We laid low for a few days and figured, yep, bad food. Phew. Then, on Thursday, while winding our way through the canyon in a mini-van (I'm sure that helped matters) Ellie began making some strange regurgitory noises. It quickly became clear, especially since she sits directly behind me, that the vomiting had re-visited our family. Ellie really had me scared, throwing up twenty-something times before she finally fell asleep for the night (on a little pad we set up next to our bed.) But she was fine in the morning. Yesterday was my turn. As if being seven months pregnant weren't punishment enough. And Mike made a mad dash out of work around two o'clock. I thought he was going to lose it right into the phone as I was talking with him. Today, so far so good. We think. And we did manage to share our upchuckiness with a few of our favorite family members and friends. Merry Christmas.

Thursday night, when we finally climbed into bed, I was telling Mike how that was my first barf-in-the car experience. He kindly reminded me of when Chloe was an infant and spewed pretty much every time we drove anywhere. Oh my gosh! How could I forget!? We had stains in that old green Taurus that we were never able to get out. Repression is a beautiful thing. (Which I'm sure you'll want to employ having read this.)

In the spirit of the holidays (cheery as this post is) may the winter flu pass you by, and if not, that it will pass quickly and that your selective memory will speedily lull you back into warm Christmasy forgetfulness.

* No glass bulbs on the lower branches.

* Make sure the trunk isn't cut at an angle.

*Get a stronger Christmas tree stand.

So we've been watching John Adams, the long, HBO special thingadoowop. We've only seen two of the 7 segments so far - and I'm excited to see the rest. The second segment ended with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The film does a great job de-simplifying and un-romanticizing the events that we learned so hastily in High School - which surprisingly adds to the incredible wonder of it.

It's really amazing that we declared independence to begin with. Then won the war. And have managed to grow and stay together. That, today, we fight fiercely for our political candidates, and when the election is done, like it or not, we accept the outcome without violence.

I haven't been able to survive singing the Star-Spangled Banner without tears ever since visiting Mali for a mere eleven days. And I'll never forget the way many people I met in Lithuania spoke when they said, "You're from America? What's it like to live in America?" It is good to live in America. It is good.

Ode to my Stuff

A Pagan Poem by Victoria

(Upon the recovery of 10 years of stuff on my hard-drive)

Oh moth-eaten possessions,

I know I should forget you,

Disconnect my heart

And cleave only unto

Unrusted, Uncorrupted,

Eternal things.

(Which I love, too.

I really do.)

But you, too, are nice.

And, after all,

You help me with all that,

Right?

Without music, emotions remain dormant,

Without words, memories lie fading,

Without photographs, past remains

Black and white.

Your lovely grey filling

Helps me define me

Here, where I live

Now.

Oh, Stuff.

I’m home again.

I wrap myself up in you,

Soft blanket,

Sweet security.

Maybe death scares people

Because they lose their collections.

I carefully collected you,

Choosing what is me in you.

My stuff, my identity.

At least for now.

I was lost when you were.

Glad to have you back.

I saw my niece singing "Twinkle, Twinkle" loudly and proudly on my sister's blog and I remembered I also had a version of Ellie singing it. So to add to the collection of twinklers, heeeerre's Ellie!

One of Mike's favorite books when he was growing up was "Christina Katerina and the Box," about a little girl who creates one thing after another out of a cardboard box, only to have her "sometimes friend" Fats Watson come along and wreck it. Well, Mike was pretty excited to get his hands on this great big cardboard box for the girls.



Wouldn't you know, as soon as their boy cousin came over he started hitting it with a bat and jumped on top of it, smooshing the sides. What is it with boys?? (And am I ready for one?)

The abundance of home-grown fruit and vegetables on our counter tops is enjoyed by more than just our family. Yesterday, Chloe announced, "Mom, I'm sharing my apple with a fruit-fly!"

Our little family spent a wonderful, quiet weekend at Bear Lake last weekend, just chillin' and catching up on conference. (Thank you, Tivo. We missed it when we were in China.) The girls had fun talking to us over the walkie-talkies. At one point, we heard some hunters talking on our channel. They were whispering back and forth, telling where the deer were, stalking them stealthily. After listening to some of this conversation, Chloe got on the walkie-talkie and yelled,

China was AWESOME!! We were encouraged to stop being our stay-at-home selves by my brother and his wife (Hi Joey and Katie!) and to join them on a 12-day trip to China to visit another brother, Michael, and his family living in Beijing. We procrastinated and ended up paying a few extra rush fees for passports, etc. - but we finally made it! And so, yes, during America's Stay-at-Home-Week, we went to China.

The best things about the trip as a whole were:

1) Being with Mike 24 hours a day, for 12 days straight. I never get tired of him. He says he likes me, too. (And sorry for the occasional PDA, J&K.)

2) Being with family we don't see very often. J&K and baby Luke live far East of us, and Michael and Lisa and family live waaaay far East of us. It was so great hanging out, making the down time just as much fun as the runnin' around time.

3) And of course - Runnin' around in China! It was educational and vacation-al. Just really, really great.

And here are some pics:

THE GREAT WALL!
We hiked the Great Wall at Simatai. The day was gorgeous, clear and blue-skied. Climbing was a lot harder than I thought it would be, especially hiking for two. The steps are totally random heights and widths. But the company was great and the view amazing. We all laughed at our shaking legs on the way down. We took a zip line and a boat back to where we started.

THE HUTONG BIKE TOUR

Michael led us on a bike tour around the "Hutong" which I guess means neighborhood - surrounding the Forbidden City. It had all these great little alleys, with fancy and dilapidated old doorways for military and scholars, with their rankings denoted by "stars" on posts above the doors. People are still living there, the very wealthy next to the very poor. I was once again glad that Michael was leading us as I'm extremely directionally impaired and could have circled the same route endlessly without finding my way out. Some of the locals weren't helpful either, laughing at us, and trying to send us back into the maze. We stopped for dumplings at lunchtime.



YUNGANG GROTTOS

There are over 50,000 Buddhas carved in these 20 plus caves over 1500 years ago. Mike and I think that the contestants on Amazing Race should have to come here and count the tiny Buddhas on one of the walls.



THE HANGING MONASTERY

We got here at dusk, and were the last ones to go through. Actually, I didn't realize at first that we would actually go into the monastery, but just look at it. Let me tell you, that monastery is hanging! Or rather, clinging to the cliff face. And it's kind of supported by some big wooden beams, that to be honest, do not inspire confidence. They actually had us pay a little extra for insurance at the ticket booth - insurance for injury -but I'm sure any injury would also mean you were very dead. This would make a great haunted house.




So if we haven't impressed upon you the craziness of this place yet, see this video.

The votes are in and have been counted. Who knew democracy worked for this sort of thing? And, all along, as we mentioned, Chloe has been sure to tell people, "Our baby is a boy. Baby Cracker." Yep - we are having a boy! We had the ultrasound today. So glad to see his cute littleness. Looked like he was chewing on his hands again, and nearly kicked himself in the head a couple of times. ("What am I doing?!") I guess it is a little crowded in there. Well, when he arrives, he'll have three loving mommies (and one great dad) to take good care of him. So here comes a new adventure!

We're home, safe and sound. So glad finishing our wills was not needed. So we left Beijing Sunday at noon, and arrived in Salt Lake Sunday at 3:30 PM. I really wish it were only a three and a half hour journey! We were super bummed that there was someone sharing our 3-seat row during the 11 hour leg. He was probably really bummed that we kept waking him up to get past him and walk. Sorry, doctor's orders!

Anyway, Monday I felt great, and was so proud of myself for being so impervious to the time change. (Which is pretty much opposite of what it is here, they're 14 hours ahead.) Well, today, I'm feeling it. But, it was all worth it, and I'll detail it all for you here shortly, right after my nap.

'Tis the season for politics and casting votes! Who's it gonna be? We've got a nice little poll for you on the right. What's nice about this vote is you can talk about it at dinner, with whomever, and not ruffle any feathers. The forecast is good for whichever you choose. And you don't have to feel bad if your candidate gets fewer votes - because your candidate may prevail anyway! We find out officially - please, baby, no modesty - on October 15th. Polls close on the 14th. I welcome any and all comments regarding why you support your candidate.

So, our 5 year old (75 in computer years) laptop was working really slowly a while ago, so we decided to once again reformat it and start anew. We have to do this about twice a year. We backed up all of our new stuff onto our trusty external hard drive which holds all things digitally dear to us. Then reformatted the laptop - and - forgot to unplug the external drive - and - it got reformatted (read: erased), too. It's been a few weeks now, our wonderful computer geek friend is working on it. (We did the same thing, at the same time, to our mother-in-law's computer, and he was able to restore everything.) Ours has proved to be a little more stubborn, but there is a glimmer of hope. I am clinging to that glimmer, as that drive has - shall I repeat - ALL digital things that are dear to us. All of our pictures, music, letters, journal entries, notes, spreadsheets, and so on. Waahhh!

Here's hoping. So remember to back up - and unplug. And always have a good geek on hand.

More posts with pics later, when all is healed.

In other, more exciting news - We're going to China! Tomorrow!! So excited, so excited. We'll fill you in when we get back!

Sam, the American Eagle. Chloe started asking if we could go ride the carousel. But she endured to the end, and when I asked her how she liked the show, she mustered an unconvincing grin and said, "Great."

Finally! The Carousel!Watching the ElephantsRiding the ElephantRiding the Train. Just before it started going, (and though we've ridden it many times before,) Chloe said, "Oh - this is going to be so awesome!"She wanted to play in the playground. (But it was naptime! Yes, I'm a nap-nazi.)New Birthday Tinkerbell Hat

(which she chose herself)Helping mom wash-up after making cupcakes

(which she chose herself)Finally! The Playground!

Their Joy is Complete!

Testing her 4-year old lung strengthShe did it!

I need to get myself one of those.New Dora PJs

(Yes, she chose them herself. Shopping for her birthday was really easy this year.)

Chloe kept saying, "I just love my birthday!" and "This is the best birthday I've ever had!" (Here comes the pressure for the next birthdays! It's easy when she's only had four, and can only remember two of them.) It was a fun day for all. Happy Birthday, Sweet Chloe!

Long break from the blog! I guess I was all blogged out there for a while. I even have intentionally not brought my camera with me places because I didn't want to feel like I was doing it for the blog. Oh, and I have lots of excuses, too. Like, we're almost getting ready to move - and just thinking about moving makes me too exhausted to blog. And, I have two kids. I know, you have five. But I'm way less organized than you! I'm sure there are more and better excuses I could list, but I'm just too lazy to come up with them now. I love summer, but maybe it's bad for me. So anyway, here we go again!

Chloe getting a great swing ride courtesy of her cousin

Ellie set up this tea party, and is waiting for a guest.

Pea-picking at G-ma's and G-pa's

Chloe's ready for the BBQ

We caught the whole valley's fireworks from G-ma's deck that night. It was a nice, mellow 4th. Happy Birth of America!

Chloe came in wearing Mike's T-shirt and had this tiny little broom tucked under her legs. She asked, "Mom, can you pick me up by the tummy so I can fly down the stairs?"


I didn't grant her request, as the last time I tried to carry her down the stairs, I slipped down them. Chloe landed on me. (soft landing.) My landing wasn't so soft. But she was content to pose for the picture, instead.

My good friend and college roommate was in town with her family the other day - and we all went to the This is the Place Monument Remembrance Park thingy. I've never been before, or at least can't remember it. It is pretty cool. And ten minutes from where I'm living right now. My girls enjoyed the various classic pioneer activities: riding ponies, hand-washing clothes and eating ice cream in the saloon. (We had to duck for cover from the sun -- my Arizona friends were doing juusst fine.) It was a good, hot and sunny historical romp.

The second great family wedding was for Mike's brother, Matt. Matt married Erin Earnshaw on June 21st in the Bountful Temple. We think they make a fabulous couple. Congrats!

Here is Eveline, with her cousins, Jane and Meredith being darling at Katie's reception.

Where do I start? We've been busy, busy. Two of the best parts of our busy-ness, however, were family weddings. The first was the wedding of my niece Katie. We're so happy for her!

Katie's reception was at the Garden Park Ward in Salt Lake on June 19th.



Katie married Jeff Brown on June 20th, in the Salt Lake Temple.

Ellie has taken the layering fad to a whole new level. We took ten shirts off her after one of her sprees.

The zoo, our favorite haunt, has a cool new carousel. Mike especially liked it.

My sis Kate tagged me on this one. So here's how things are at my house, unrehearsed, right now (or when I took these pics a week ago, anyway):

1) Laundry Room. The piles of clean, still not put-away clothes are in my bedroom. 2) Favorite Place. Where the piano is. It's also generally a peaceful, clean room.

3. What the kids are doing now. Both still in jammies with their towel bibs on. This is our usual attire. Except I don't wear a towel bib. Ellie is playing soccer in the front room. Chloe is getting ready to wrestle you.

4. Favorite shoes. My flip-flops. Well-loved. Well-worn.

5. Toilet. Yep, it's a toilet.

6. Kitchen sink. Pretty bad, huh? I'd like to say it's because I was sick. I was. But it looks like this a lot of the time.

7. Fridge. Lots of overlapping stuff here.

8. Self-photo. Lovely. Note the jaundice from my recent illness. (I can hear that violin.)

9. Closet. This is Mike's. My pic wouldn't upload. Really. I can tell you that mine looks worse.

10. Dream Vacation. Something like this would be nice. But with no kids as I'd be afraid of them drowning every moment. Or I would like anyplace new, different and far away.

So there you have it. I'm sooo glad I didn't have to take a pic of my desk. I tag Bethany and Bethany. And anyone else who wants to be tagged!