And they're back!!

P.S. to my last post:
I have to hand it to Dan--I went to pick the kids up off the bus hoping to get a "better" picture, and when I went to snap it, wouldn't you know, the SD card was still in my computer. Boy was I feeling sheepish....

When I asked the kids how school was, all Emily could talk about was lunch. How she needed to eat faster so she wouldn't miss recess tomorrow. How I packed her too much food. How she didn't even have time to finish what I packed her. How I made the sandwich wrong (tell me, how do you mess up a PBJ?!). I was actually starting to feel pretty awesome that my thrown together lunch was so satisfying. Meanwhile, I was carrying on a conversation with BJ at the same time, listening to her with my left ear. Moms are good at multi-tasking like that. When we get home about 10 minutes later, Em is still talking about how she was stuffed from lunch and her game plan for snarfing her lunch tomorrow so she'll have more time to play. Then she mentions how good the chicken nuggets were, so she ate those first. Huh? I didn't pack those. The cat was out of the bag. Yes, my little Emmers ate two lunches at school today, both hot and cold. I called her crazy, BJ just called her lucky. Note to self: be more specific with lunch directions to a first grader.

And they're off!!

No tears cried here this morning. Nope, we were ALL excited that this blessed day has finally arrived! Their bags were packed with clothes laid out before dinner last night. Family night was especially memorable with Father's blessings all the way around, making me grateful for Dan and all his fatherly qualities. It also reminded me those warm steady hands on my head every year--thanks Dad, for some of my most cherished memories. (Right up there with "school shopping" from mom's fabric cupboards and pattern bins.) Anyways--here's the kiddos out front. (To all you who know BJ, note that this is the first time he's worn jeans since he was size 2T! A breakthrough!) Dan begged me to be the one to take them to the bus (read between the lines: I drug him out of bed with one eye open, shoved the camera in his hand and told him to get a good picture of them getting on the bus or forget about a nice hot breakfast.) Here's the shot he got: I'll let you be the judge of whether or not he got a hot breakfast.

Lukas just couldn't be left out. Poor guy has to stay home with mommy playing with toys, watching movies, and making cookies for awholenuther year.

P.S. Cold cereal with powdered milk was on the menu. Better luck next year, babe.

Life's Hard Questions

Em: Mom, is everything in this world made in China?
Me: Well, not everything....
Em: And if it's made there, how do they even know how to spell "made in china?"

Farewell, oh blessed olympic games!!!

Now that the Olympics are over, I feel like I can get my life back. Thank you, world for giving me a proxy workout. It was a rush. I loved it all and can't wait to see who comes back to the stage in 4 years. My only regret was not being there to compete myself....I know now that 32 is not too old, but I'm afraid 36 may be--for this mama, anyway! (Can you believe a 33 yr old gymnast from Germany actually took bronze in the vault? Not to mention the 38 yr old marathon winner and Dara Torres the swimmer who is an astounding 41, still at the top of her game.) I also learned that even though you may be a MaryLou fan, it's not cheating to switch sports so you can make it to the Olympics and receive big payoffs (just like the American who won the gold in women's discus). A big hurrah from my heart to yours, Phelpsie. You totally rock and actually got my butt off the couch a few times while I was watching you compete. (but I'm really bummed you're not accepting any new friends on facebook.) And to the men's volleyball team--you did what they said you wouldn't ever be able to do: here's to the underdogs who triumphed amidst tragedy. And to my little golden girls Nastia and Shawn--every time you took the stage you made me smile. I learned that happiness is all about expectations when I saw the men's gymnastics team utterly thrilled with a bronze and the womens team devastated with silver. Let's not forget May and Walsh. Winning gold in the rain? You're amazing! I thought it was so sweet when Walsh said she wanted a baby more than anything right after she won gold--even though I can't exactly picture an ounce of fat on her body....I cried with you, Lolo, when you hit the 9th hurdle and lost your dream of gold, and I sat in disbelief when I saw first the men and then the women drop the batons. (how does that happen at the olympic level?!) And I'm not even mentioning you, Usain, since I think you've made it clear how great you think you are already. Three times. I cheered for our local fan, Kristen Armstrong and made mental plans on how I can purchase a road bike as soon as possible. But mostly I saw athleticism at it's best, which is truly an inspiring thing. Yes, they delivered. And yes, it will be nice to sleep again.

Lukases and Emilies

Pluralizing names can get a little dicey....This weekend we were favored with a visit from some very old friends (well, they're not old, but our friendship is!) from the college days. Lukas Benjamin Kramer was a roommate of Dan's at BYU who made such an impression on him that our child is named after him! (as a side note, when BJ was born and Dan called Lukas to tell him the news, Dan said, "yeah, we almost named him Lukas, but we decided to go with Benjamin instead." Little did we know, that was his middle name!) "Little Lukas" takes after his namesake wholeheartedly by being the craziest kid we know. Although we've seen the Kramers off an on throughout the years at Dan's roommate get-togethers, this is the first official meeting of the "Lukases."
But the story doesn't end there....Lukas Kramer ended up marrying an Emily (a name I had picked out ever since I was a little girl)--how crazy is that? It was so good to see them and meet their adorable daughter, Audrey. Hopefully next time they can stay longer!

Oddly enough, the story doesn't even end THERE. Here is a list of Dan's old roomies and their kids' names (well, the ones I can remember, anyway). Notice the ironic overlappage....

Dan and Sarah: Benjamin, Emily, Lukas, Sam

Eric and Valora: Spencer, Annie, Audrey + more

Lukas and Emily: Audrey

Spencer and Kim: Rachel, Daniel, Sarah, Eric, + more

Dave and Annie: I'm having a serious brain cloud...

"I Love to See the Temple"

And we went inside today! The Twin Falls temple is the most amazing beautiful place. (Next to the Rexburg temple...it even has part of the Rexburg temple in it--a mural they cut out for a door in Rexburg has been framed and hung in Twin Falls. Ever practical, the Church is.) We were some of over 150,000 of the visitors that went through over the past 6 weeks. BJ is excitedly awaiting the dedication next week. I still remember missing the Boise dedication, being 1 week shy of 8 years old, so I'm thrilled he gets to participate in something this special and memorable. I told him to really think about how he felt inside and try to feel the Spirit. He never says much when it comes to things like this, but I know something touched his heart because when we got out and were waiting to gather people for pictures, he asked me for a tissue. I asked if he needed to blow his nose and he said, no, there's a piece of gum in the flower bed. He took the tissue and got it and threw it away. It made me proud to see him show some respect for the grounds of the Lord's house. (If only he'd show more "respect" for his bedroom.)We were lucky enough to go with some good friends, James and Jowita Kaufusi and their cute girl Zosia. This was their first time inside, but hopefully not the last! It was neat to share this experience with such great people. The only person missing was Dan...poor guy had volleyball tryouts today and couldn't be there with his best friend from highschool.The kids were mesmerized by the fountain and pool at the end of the tour--probably because it was so durn hot they would have jumped in, Sunday clothes and all, had they thought I wasn't paying attention!Benjamin and Emmers managed to find some respite from the sun, and I couldn't help but snapping this shot....I feel so blessed to live so close to the temple, and I felt a stronger resolve to return there often to feel the peace that comes from being there.

Forever Sisters, Forever Friends

Don't you just love cross-stitch sayings?

Since my kids are happily eating cold cereal for dinner, I guess I can do just one last post and be done with it all....Must...keep...blogging...

Mary is my little red-headed hero. She's an awesome mom, crafter, home-decorator, unashamed public tooter, wanna-be model, and friend. And I'm sure I left something out. When we get together, my sides are always aching afterward from laughing so hard. Nineteen years ago, we had this picture taken. (sorry you're not in it, Nancy, you were just a wee tot.)

We tried to duplicate it on our family reunion. We tried. I guess we should have asked Dad to take if for us like he did the first time to get it perfect. Maybe not, though, because we might still be there waiting for him to focus! (just kidding, Dad!)Sure love ya, Mary! Let's make sure we get another one of these in 19 years. When we're Grandmas. (It's scary to think that that could be in less than 19 years!)