Lucky Number 7

Seven years ago today, I gave birth to the most beautiful baby I had ever laid my eyes upon.

I'm so proud to be her mother. The last seven years have been full of adventure.

She was sealed to us when she was eight weeks old. We became an eternal family.

 We got to live with her favorite Auntie Hannah for a while on Maui.

Moses was born when we lived at Grandpa Fred's house back in Utah.

She discovered her passion for painting and drawing.

We went to Disneyland and got to meet Minnie and many other characters.

She was so cute in her dance class.

After we moved to California, she became a big sister a second time when Asher was born.

 She started kindergarten.

We've gone on lots of fun adventures in the Bay Area.

She keeps growing more and more beautiful, inside and out.

Happy 7th Birthday Akiko!!

We are so proud of you!

Old Made New

The slipcover is done!! Take that pessimistic Kristen. (I'm kidding, Kristen. I love you!)

This is huge. The biggest, most intimidating project I have ever taken on. I'm not much of a sewer. Is that spelled correctly? Or is "sewer" one of those words where it has two very different definitions and pronunciations? Maybe I'll use the words seamstress or tailor instead.

Anyway, I learned the basics from my mom when I was in junior high and high school. We made my first prom dress when I was sixteen. She did most of the work, but I learned a lot.

Not the best picture of the dress, but it still fit me for Halloween 2009, about 12 years after we made it. And yes, I also made the kids' extremely last minute costumes.

Most of my sewing skills come in the form of repairing rips and tears. I'm always grateful when they're simply a seam that has come apart. I'm really good at sewing straight stitches and the like. I'm not sure if I've ever actually finished a project that required a pattern. In fact, I can think of one sitting in my craft closet right now, sadly waiting on the day when I may get around to finishing it.

Well, the slipcover and the cushion covers were not only a very large project, but a much more complicated undertaking than anything I had ever taken on before. I did it though and I did a pretty good job on it. Would you finally like to see pictures?

I'm still kind of in shock that it turned out so well. And even more in shock that it actually fits on the couch. And even more pleased that it looks so good. And even more pleased that I was able to do it so inexpensively (a lot less, in fact, than my original estimate).

The couch project is not done. I've got new pillows for it that I need to find fabric for and get covers made for those, so my couch is still mismatched since we're still using the flopsy, dirty, original pillows. Those shouldn't take long, though, once I make a fabric decision.

My confidence as a seamstress has skyrocketed. I've done a lot of things on this project that I've never done before. I was really overwhelmed and intimidated at first and kept procrastinating getting it started, even researching upholstery fabrics and prices to see if it was even worth my time and money.

The biggest thing I've learned, especially about myself, is that you can't look at something new and intimidating and say to yourself, "That looks way too hard. I'm not even going to try." If you want to do something, learn something new, you just have to go do it. Learn how to do it. Study. Take the time. Try it out. You may find that it's not the thing for you, or else you'll find out that you had a hidden talent. This applies to any aspect of life: arts and crafts, parenthood, relationships, public speaking, flying a plane, science, etc.

I have a lot of failed craft projects in my closet that are sitting unfinished for one reason or another. I also have a lot of projects that were finished and didn't turn out how I wanted. As time has gone by and as I've kept practicing and learning new techniques and finding out what works and what doesn't I've gotten better. I mean, how many light bulb prototypes did Edison go through before he found the one that worked? Thank heavens he never gave up, right?

I don't feel like I can take on the world or anything now. But I do know that if I want to do something, accomplish something new and overwhelming, if you will, the only thing I can do is try. Probably fail a few times along the way, but eventually come out on top and succeed.

I really hope that I can take this lesson that I've learned about myself and instill it deeply into my children as well. It's frustrating for me when they're learning something new and they can get so hard on themselves when it doesn't work out. I keep having to tell them that new things take a lot of hard work and practice before you get the hang of it. Someday they'll get it.

"Just keep swimming."

Garth Algar and the Suck and Cut

Wayne's World is one of my favorite movies. There are so many great gems of funny quotes and antics in there. But this post isn't about the movie.

Earlier in the week, I had a ton of stuff to do. Mostly cleaning. Nothing gets you motivated to clean your house like when you're expecting a guest. My mom came out for a day to spend time with Akiko for her birthday, which is next week.

Anyway, usually once we get Akiko off to school, I plop down and check my email and Blogger and Facebook. Can I tell you what a bad idea that is? I even did it again this very morning. Baaaad Mama (<-- to be said in a llama voice).

Well, like I said, with all the stuff I felt I needed to do and get done, I did the unthinkable... for me. I turned off my computer. Not only did I turn it off, though, I unplugged it completely, wrapped the cord around it, and set it on a high shelf.

It was an action that was completely impulsive. Not planned at all. I just really felt, in that singular moment, that I really needed to do that. Acting immediately on a spiritual prompting, if you will.

I'll be the first to admit: I'm a Facebook junkie. I will check that stinkin' site several times a day. It bugs me that I do that. There's hardly anything of worth that gets posted on there on a regular basis. A lot of stuff that my "friends" post is re-posted fodder. Some of it can be quite offensive. I try to ignore and delete those posts.

What I do like about Facebook is that I can keep up with family and friends that actually have something valuable to share, like pregnancy, birth, engagement, wedding, etc. announcements. This is especially useful for keeping track of Joseph's ginormous extended family. I also find it useful as a forum when you need the advice from your friends or need someone to commiserate with you when you're, say, potty training your child, for example.

On the other hand, a good 75-80% of the crap that people post on there is junk. And if I were a sports fan, like, if I were really into the Super Bowl, for instance, I would have to avoid Facebook like the plague.

I checked in after the General Conference sessions last week and was really surprised by how many people were posting and tweeting during the sessions. I sort of get it, but at the same time I was like, Why would you do that? I know that these social media sites can be used as a way to spread the Gospel, but to me it's like sitting in sacrament meeting or stake conference and texting or tweeting about what that speaker is talking about. Can't it wait for just a little while?

I better stop ranting and get to the point. That day I turned off my computer and put it away was one of the most productive, good mood days I've had in a really long time. I got so much stuff done. I spent time and played with my boys when I needed a break from all the cleaning and organizing. It was a great day.

There was a really great article in the Ensign last February (<-- please take the time to read it) about limiting the use of our computers and smart phones. At first when I read it, it just made me feel guilty and I got a little upset when Joseph was like, "Hey, did you see this article? It really applies to you." But, I kept coming back to it and thinking about applying those changes in my life.

I have this really cute friend from high school named Lynette. She's an extremely busy homeschooling mom to five darling children. She was also an admitted Facebook addict. She was one of the few people whose statuses I looked forward to reading because they often involved the hilarious antics of her household. She posted things several times a day.

One day, a few weeks ago, she announced that she was quitting Facebook, as in deleting her account entirely. It was a huge shock. She blogged about her reasons why, and they were entirely sound. I'm really proud of her. I wish I had that kind of willpower. That's a hard thing to do because I knew how she felt.

I can't quite bring myself to outright delete my account. I haven't even gotten around to deleting my MySpace account, you know, the one that I haven't logged into for, um... it's been a long, long, long time. I don't even remember the last time I did.

On the other hand, as suggested in that great Ensign article, I pledge to have a few days every week where I'm simply going to put my computer away. I still get email and I can still IM with Joseph on my phone, so I won't be completely unplugged, but this computer is just too much of a distraction.

So, what does this post have to do with Garth Algar and the Suck and Cut?

"Turn it off, Man! Turn it off! It's sucking my will to live!!"

The Need to Write Something

What to write? What to write? It's been a while since I blogged, and I've been meaning to for the last little while, but there have been other things higher on my priority list. So, now that I'm here, I've drawn a blank. Figures, right?

So, what has been going on? Nesting is still in full force and I've been able to tackle a few projects that have been bugging me for a while. I've been organizing and cleaning and planning things out, but there's still a lot to do before the baby comes (5 weeks!).

I'm still working on the couch. Both the seat cushions are done and the slipcover is 90% finished. I just need to put on the skirt ruffles on the bottom. That won't take long and I'm thinking of taking care of that later this afternoon. Still trying to find fabric for the new pillows, but I'm narrowing down my options. Turns out Ikea sells some really cute, durable, washable fabrics that are really inexpensive, so I think I'll be going back there for the pillow fabric.

I did the math yesterday on the couch project. It surprised me. My total came to less than $200. That's for all the fabric (12 yds. for the couch and 4 yds. for the pillow covers), 5 pillows, 5 zippers, and 3 spools of upholstery thread. The slipcover was surprisingly easy to put together and it looks really good. I totally surprised and impressed myself. I'll post pictures, sans new pillows, once I get the skirt done.

I keep saying I'll talk about the diabetes, but I haven't, so now I will. Here's what I learned that I hadn't been able to find out from online research. For a person to develop Type 2 diabetes, there has to both be genetic and environmental factors involved. It's on both sides of my family (though, oddly, not through a direct relative like a parent or sibling), so I'm already inclined to develop it. For gestational to manifest, it's just genetic and just chance. I might be able to prevent it with my next pregnancy, but the chances are slim.

I can still prevent developing Type 2 later in life so long as I take care of myself, i.e. exercise and eat right. There's a chance that I just happened to develop Type 2 during the pregnancy and it won't go away after I give birth, but statistically, that doesn't happen very often (I do personally know someone this happened to though).

So basically, what's going on is my body is not producing enough insulin to digest the sugars that I ingest. The extra sugar goes straight to the baby, who produces his own insulin. Of course, if I ingest too much sugar for myself and the baby to handle, all the extra sugar that the baby's insulin doesn't take care of gets stored in his body as fat. That's how GD babies can get so large. Wanna see a really scary picture?

The baby on the left is a normal 6.5 lbs and the baby on the right was a whopping 19 lbs.!! Yikes!! These babies are a day old and were born on the same day. They remind me of a newborn Moses (on the left) and the giant baby from Spirited Away (on the right).

So, how do I manage? Well, I have to count carbs. The nutritionist gave me a chart that tells me how big a serving of something is and how many carbs are in that serving. I have to eat every 2-4 hours, three meals and three small snacks, per day. I have a carb limit for each meal and snack (30 carbs per snack and breakfast, 45 per lunch and dinner). I have to do a finger prick first thing in the morning and after every meal (4 times a day) to monitor my blood sugar levels. If the sugar levels are below a certain number, it doesn't affect the baby.

Some days are great and all my numbers are low. Some days are not so great. Sometimes, it's just me overestimating and it's my fault my levels are high. Sometimes, I try really hard and thought I did well and my numbers are still high. Those numbers can get me down and I can get hard on myself.

So far, my nutritionist feels that there is no need to put me on insulin (another needle, *shudder*). I'm having trouble keeping my fasting levels under the recommended number (which is not something I can really control, unlike the meal levels, which I can). There's still a chance I'll have to go on insulin, which could lead to an early induction, but only time will tell on that one.

The nice thing about having to diet like this is that so far I've only gained 27 lbs. this pregnancy. I'd gained between 47 and 49 lbs. with the other three kids. I should only gain a total of 35 lbs. max at the end of this one. That's nice to hear. I'm still afraid that the baby will get too big and we'll have to do a c-section, but I'm hoping the baby will be a normal enough size that we won't have to resort to that. C-sections scare me.

I'm carrying this baby really small, like I carried Akiko. People don't believe me when I say I'm nearly 8 months pregnant. Especially when I'm standing next to someone who is due the same time as me, like one of Akiko's friend's mom. I'm kind of hoping that the fact that I'm carrying small means the baby isn't ginormous.

I just want this labor to go smoothly. Labor was a breeze with Akiko and Moses. Asher's was harder, longer, and at the end, much scarier. His heart rate dropped drastically right at the end, the doctor called in the NICU nurse and came thisclose to doing an emergency c-section. I was able to push him out finally, at the last moment. His cord had wrapped around his neck really tight, which doesn't surprise me because he was the most active baby I'd carried in utero. Boy, that kid was a close call. We waited a long time and went through a lot of heart break before bringing him into the world.

I have no idea what to expect this time around. All the pregnancies have been so different. So were the deliveries. The kids themselves are all so unique, in both personality and looks. What does this little guy have in store for us? And what will the next one be like?

For the record, I only want to try one more time to have another girl. Unless Heavenly Father has other plans for us, of course. Pregnancy really takes its toll on a girl, especially the older she gets. I do love my kids though. They're a huge blessing in my life and I don't know what I'd do without them.

Yarn Works

When Joseph and I finally get the kids down for the night, we veg out and watch shows on Netflix together for an hour or two, and sometimes late late into the night if we're watching a particularly riveting drama like Veronica Mars, before we head off to bed.

I'm not the kind of person who can just sit there and watch tv and do nothing else. I have to be doing something else with my hands. It often involves a late night snack like ice cream or candy or something else equally loaded with sugar, but since I've been on a stricter diabetic diet (more on that in another post), I can't mindlessly eat whatever whenever I watch tv. Fortunately, I have another habit that keeps my hands occupied while I watch tv: knitting and crocheting.

In the last two nights, I have finished two projects. One I've been working on for a couple weeks. The other was a spur of the moment project that only took a couple nights.

So, I've got this sweater that I made about four years ago when I was pregnant with Moses.

It's a lovely sweater. I love the color. I love the style. It's so cozy to wear on cool to cold evenings. I even embellished the original pattern a little bit to fit me. The sleeves were a little short, so I added cuffs that I can roll up. I also added belt loops and a belt (not pictured) so I could tie it closed when I needed to.

I get compliments all the time on it and people, unless they're also knitters, are flabbergasted when I tell them I made it. I'm really proud of it. It's one of my favorite articles of clothing.

However, after four years, it's getting a bit tattered. The left arm is snagged from where my purse had caught it:

It's also pilling like crazy:

I'm sure I could take a lint shaver to the pills, but that wouldn't take care of the snags at all. The yarn has also lost its sheen, so the sweater has become more dull over time.

While I didn't want to retire the sweater, I decided it was certainly time for a new one, so I started searching for patterns online. There are tons of free knit and crochet patterns online.

I found a pattern I liked, got my yarn, and got crackin'. It took me a few weeks to get this project done, but I'm really pleased with the result. Of course, I'm not very pleased that I got it done just as the weather is really warming up, but hopefully we'll have a few more cool days where I can wear it. It's supposed to rain next week.

I picked a neutral gray color this time, because the red didn't always go with what I was wearing underneath. This sweater was super easy. You basically knit a long rectangle, sew up the sleeves, pick up stitches around the opening with a circular needle, and knit a tube for about a foot and a half. This is opposed to regular patterns where you knit each piece and sew them together like you would with a sewing pattern.

It looks cute on me, too, but I can't take a non-tacky self portrait of myself. I'm sure you're all dying for belly shots, too, but we're all just going to have to wait till Joseph can take pictures of me on a day when I actually do my hair and makeup.

This jacket has no closures, so I'm thinking of crocheting a flower and sticking it on a pin so I can either close the jacket around my mid-section, or else leave the jacket open and pin it on the lapel.

The next project that I finished is for the kids.

Way back when I started blogging, one of my first posts was about a sandwich puppet I crocheted named Mokiko. Lately, Joseph has been adding a girl character into the Mokiko bedtime stories that Mokiko has a crush on. Joseph asked me to make a puppet of her, too.

I'd like to introduce you to Polly:

She is a neapolitan ice cream sandwich. Like Mokiko, she is improvised. Only my second improvised project ever (Mokiko being the first). She was much less complicated to put together than Mokiko, perhaps with the exception of the eyelids. I had no idea how I was going to do those, but I got them to work out just fine. I'm really pleased with how Polly turned out. She only took a few hours to put together.

I couldn't figure out how to do the eyelashes at first, but then it dawned on me, Duh! Just go get some falsies. I think I'm going to replace them with a thicker, longer, more robust pair than what she's got now, though.

As my knit and crochet skills increase, I feel more confident in my abilities to make up my own patterns. It's about time, right? I mean, I learned how to knit when I was 11 and how to crochet when I was 19. Dang! I've been knitting for 20 years? Okay, there was a long time between the ages of 11 and 19 when I didn't pick up a pair of needles, but still...

Those hats and blankets I made a couple months back for my nephews and friends get compliments all the time. Everyone is telling me I should sell them. I can't, though, because they are not my patterns. I can make as many as I want and give them as gifts, but I'm not legally allowed to sell them because I don't own the copyright.

I had an epiphany one night a few weeks ago while I lay in bed with insomnia. All these super cute ideas for baby hats came flooding into my mind. I'd really like to see if I can get them woven into something tangible. I mean, I've already got an Etsy shop set up. (I can't stand how you have to create one in order to buy anything on there.) Joseph's mom has been hounding me to make more Mokikos to sell.

Of course, I won't be able to do that for a while. I'll be really busy getting things ready for the new baby and then I'll be really busy with the new baby, and the other three kids, of course. My ideas will have to wait for now. But it is something that I'm excited to see if I can 1) actually create these patterns I've got floating around in my head and 2) sell them, either the pattern and/or the finished project.

Only time will tell...

Nesting

I've got about 8 weeks till this baby is due. Nesting is kicking in. One of my projects is kind of a big undertaking.

We've got this couch. It's a really nice couch. Joseph's former business partner simply gave it to him because he didn't need/want it anymore. That was a little over 9 years ago. It's starting to look a little trashed, especially with three energetic little ones jumping, flopping, and spilling on it.

The pillows have lost their fluff and become slouchy:

Both seat cushions have worn through, but at least only on one side each:

The piping has become exposed and there are stains that sometimes wash out and sometimes don't.:

The frame of the couch itself is still in great condition. The great thing about this couch is that all the upholstery can be taken off and thrown in the wash (kind of like an Ikea couch, but this is nicer and more expensive brand of furniture).

Joseph and I have been debating whether or not to replace the couch. Neither of us really want to. It holds a lot of sentimental value to us. We fell in love with each other on this couch. I slept on this couch for three days when I got a really bad case of the flu and Joseph took care of me, despite having the flu himself. This couch is like part of the family.

I'd been looking at furniture on craigslist and window shopping around, but was not finding anything I really liked nor did I really want to spend that kind of cash when there are other needs to be taken care of.

I decided that we're going to keep the couch and that I was going to make a new slipcover for it. I started shopping around for upholstery fabric.

Unfortunately, upholstery fabric does not come cheap and there are literally thousands of types and patterns to choose from. I was getting a little overwhelmed. However, a few stores were having sales on fabric and, browsing online, I was able to find a couple that seemed like reasonable choices for about $30/yd. I was going to need about 9 yds. of fabric.

Still, a pricey undertaking, especially after you consider the time it would take to finish the project. This is not including replacing the pillows. This is just for the seat cushions and slipcover.

I needed to check out the fabrics and literally get a feel for them. Akiko had the day off school, so I ended up taking all three kids around that day. Fun times, I tell you. Fun times.

I wasn't able to find in store the same fabrics I found online, but I was able to get a few ideas. Then I stumbled on a bolt of fabric that was pretty much the exact same fabric that currently covered our couch. It was beige, rather than the mossy green that currently covers it. I was kind of hoping to find a dark gray or a nice blue, but beige I could definitely work with. Beige means I can have more fun with the fabric choices for the pillows.

The best part: this bolt of fabric was going for a mere $3/yd. $27 for fabric rather than $270? I'll take it!! The reason it was so cheap, was because it was the end of the bolt and was already cut up into a few pieces. We barely got 9 yds., but the pieces are still large enough to take care of my needs.

So, yesterday afternoon, I got the seam ripper out and took apart one of the seat cushions. I used the old fabric to make a new pattern and salvaged the zipper and piping. It came along more quickly than I thought and, from the time I took off the old seat cushion to slipping the new one on, I finished one cushion cover in one afternoon and evening.

Moses couldn't help posing for me on the new cushion.

So, now I've got one cushion replaced and now our couch is a little mismatched...

... but once this project is done, it's going to make a world of difference.

Moses was so excited about me "making a new couch" and kept pestering me to work on it some more today. I have a lot of other things to take care of, so I took a break today. I'll do the other cushion tomorrow. I had the smarts to cut out the pieces for both cushions at the same time, so it should take only a couple hours to rip out the zipper and piping and put it all together.

The slipcover is going to be a harder project, but I'm excited. I hope to have it done before the baby comes.

Things I've done so far on this project that are new to me:

- I've never sewn a zipper in place. It was way easier than I thought.
- I've never sewn piping in place. It was way easier than I thought, too. The curves were a little tricky, but I got them looking pretty good for a novice.
- I've never used the zipper foot, or even changed the foot on my sewing machine, ever. I'm glad I have one though. It made sewing the piping in a breeze.
- I've never changed the thread tension on my machine before. I had to, though, because I was using a heavier upholstery thread. I mean, I want these covers to last for at least ten more years.

I'll do another post once the project is done. I'm really pumped now that I've got the one cover done.

A Much Better Week: Pt. 3 - Thu., Fri. & Sat.

Well, I think I blogged too much in February, so I took a break. Then when I was just getting the itch to write again, I came down with a nasty cold that I've been fighting for about 10 days now. I'm finally starting to feel more like myself, but my brain was unable to get anything coherent written down.

I'll try to make this short and sweet. We all know that's not going to happen, but I'll still try.

When last I wrote, I had dropped off Akiko and Moses to spend the night at their Auntie Megan's house. Getting only Asher to bed was a breeze and I had a pretty good night of sleep.

The next morning, I drove over to pick up the older kids so we could head up the canyon to go snowboarding. I was excited. I love snowboarding. I've been doing it since I was 13 or 14. I wanted to share that experience with my kids. I got the kids pumped to go, too.

Having so many great places to go boarding within a half hour drive is one thing I miss terribly about living in Utah. Tahoe is the closest place to the Bay area and it's a five hour drive, so it makes it way more expensive to go when you include gas and accommodations.

It was bright and sunny in the Salt Lake valley. The snow that had fallen earlier in the week had long since melted. It looked like a perfect day to hit the slopes.

Right as I got to the mouth of the canyon, my mom called. Since I wasn't in CA, I answered my phone while I drove. She informed me that about halfway up the canyon it had started snowing, the roads got really bad, and that a lot of cars were slipping and sliding and pulling off to the side. She had made it all the way up, but she had 4wd on her SUV. I was in a little Honda Civic.

Hmmm, I thought, I don't think this car can make it. On the other hand, I had made it all the way up the canyon in similar circumstances in a crappy Ford Aspire (think Geo Metro, for comparison) when I was in high school. I told her I was going to try anyway and see what would happen.

Sure enough, it started snowing pretty heavily about halfway up and the roads got too slippery with the new slush. I had to pull over. I wasn't sure what to do. After a few minutes and consulting with both my husband and my mom, I decided to give up on my attempt and head back down the canyon.

I got the car turned around and waited for my mom to come down. We decided that, while snowboarding was a bust, we'd still pull over further down the canyon where it wasn't so bad and let the kids play in the snow. That's all they really wanted from the whole trip anyway, besides seeing all their relatives.

Akiko was thrilled to be able to play in the snow.

Asher is a California baby and didn't care for it at all.

I had to hold him the entire time. Akiko and Moses had tons of fun in the snow.

Climb up. Slide down. Climb up. Slide down.

I think Moses was most interested in eating the snow. As long as it was clean, I didn't mind.

I stayed with Asher in the car most of the time, so my mom played out in the snow with the kids. She and Akiko had a snowball fight. I'm not sure who won. I wasn't keeping score.

Moses joined Asher and me in the car after a while. Akiko would have stayed out there all day if I'd let her, but it was getting to lunch time, so we had to load up and head back to the valley after a while. Akiko had so much fun playing in the snow with her grandma. Akiko told my mom that she played "just like a little kid."

Later that evening, we went out to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. I invited the whole Utah family to join us and almost everyone was able to show up.

I'm not the biggest fan of CEC, but here's why we went: Way back when we were potty training Akiko, when she'd fill out a chart, she'd get a bigger prize than the piece of candy that she got for every success. One time it was a trip to a McD's with a playplace. Another time, she got a Cinderella dress. When we knew she was on her final chart, because she'd been doing so well, we told her, "When you're done with this chart, we get to go to, um, uh, Chuck E. Cheese!!" It was the first place that popped into our heads for the ultimate prize.

So when Moses began potty training, Akiko, remembering her experience, psyched him up by telling him that that's where we get to go when he's fully trained. Joseph and I shrugged our shoulders, looked at each other and said, "I guess that's our tradition now."

Now, Moses was hard to train and I was getting frustrated. Back in early fall, I decided to take a break for a couple weeks. About a week into the break, one weekend Joseph showed Moses how to stand and aim. That's all it took. He was magically trained overnight. I had one of those throw-your-hands-up-and-roll-your-eyes-and-declare-defeat moments.

Moses, however, insisted on finishing filling out his potty chart and getting his other prizes before he'd let us take him to CEC. When he finally got his chart done, it was just about time to go to Utah, so I decided we might as well make it a party with the family.

I didn't get a lot of pictures because I was busy with Asher, but how many pictures of your kids playing at CEC does one really need?

Cousin Savannah invited Asher to join him on a car ride.

Clearly, he was not thrilled to be in it.

My dad took the older kids around to spend their tokens on games so they could win tickets.

This one was their favorite, as it gave them the biggest payout for their skills.

As much as I'm not that thrilled to go to CEC, I will admit that they've got pretty good pizza. Anyway, the kids had fun and Moses was so excited to have such a huge party for finishing his potty training. We were pooped when we finally got home.

Friday, we spent all day with my dad. We lived with him for about a year when we moved back from Maui. My dad and Akiko formed a really tight relationship with each other. My dad is responsible for Akiko's love of books and reading. Moses was born while we lived there, too, so my kids have a special bond with their grandpa Fred.

First, we just hung out at his house.

Grandpa Fred and Akiko enjoying their favorite pastime together. This time, however, Akiko was the one reading the books to Grandpa. Rainbow the Unicorn also joined in the fun.

This one is for you, Papa.

My dad coached the kids in a rousing game of checkers. As you can see, Kristen also joined us for most of the day.

Moses makes his move, hoping that he made the right choice.

Moses contemplates his next move.

By the time the game was over, lunchtime had rolled around, so we headed out and my dad treated us to lunch. We ate lunch at Trolley Square, and decided to pay Sam Weller's a visit. The store had moved recently from their old Main Street location. My dad, Kristen, and my brother Mike had all worked there. I almost got a job there, too, but had a scheduling conflict with school.

I wasn't planning on buying anything there, but while I was browsing the LDS section, I found a book that I was missing. My grandma had given my kids a set of the Illustrated Book of Mormon, but it was an incomplete set. We were missing books 1 and 2, which are very rare and hard to come by. Book 1 was just sitting there on the shelf. I snagged it. I was pretty pleased. I was even given the employee discount, since I was with my dad when I bought it. Awesome!

We took the book to church the next Sunday, to keep Moses occupied during sacrament meeting. Joseph discovered that the book was not only super rare, which we knew, but that it was a first edition, first printing copy signed by the author with a personal message in it to then Elder Howard W. Hunter, who would later become President of the LDS church in the mid-nineties. What!?! We are now the proud owners of a book that once belonged in the personal library of a prophet. And it's in pristine condition.

Rare book find. Employee discount. Signed by author. Formerly belonged to a prophet. Quadruple score!!

After we were done shopping at Sam Weller's, we all headed to the downtown library.

When we lived in SLC, I would take Akiko and Moses there every other week. It was our big adventure. I had a free bus pass through the U of U, and since I usually didn't have the car with me, I'd load up the kids and all our books and videos and we'd catch the bus to the train station and ride the train into downtown.

This may not make any sense to a lot of people in our old neighborhood because we had a library across the street from us, but like I said, it was an adventure and the kids loved it and looked forward to it. Besides, the downtown library has a super awesome kids' section.

They've got a couple of really neat reading rooms: the crystal palace, a.k.a. the Fortress of Solitude, and the attic. We'd get our books and play and read in those rooms for hours. Then, when we'd had our fill, we'd head over to Joseph's office a couple blocks away and ride home with him.

In the Fortress of Solitude.

Posing with Grandpa Fred.

My favorite room was the attic.

Asher, Kristen, Moses, and Akiko peek out through the slats.

For Kristen and Papa.

After a while, Kristen had to leave us to go to work. My dad and I loaded up the kids and rode the train from the library to Temple Square. Love that downtown free fare zone!

I love to see the temple. I particularly love this temple.

It was cold outside by the time we got there, so we spent most of our time in the visitor's centers.

Grandpa shows Akiko all the neat rooms inside the temple.

Akiko and Asher continue to explore the temple.

It's scary how well my 19 month-old could navigate the touch screen on his own.

No trip to the north visitor's center is complete without posing in front of the statue of Christ.

We had a really fun time spending the day with Grandpa Fred. The kids really miss him.

Saturday morning, the kids and I headed to the airport to fly back home. The availability wasn't looking that great, but like the week before, I felt like we ought to try anyway. The nice thing about SLC being a Delta hub, is that they have monitors at the gates where you can check your standby status. We watched as our names moved slowly up the list, then stalled once they got to the top and there were no seats left.

Oh well, I thought, we tried. But we still needed to stick around, just in case. The gate agent kept calling about four names of people who had checked in, but hadn't boarded the plane yet. So at the very last minute, they gave those seats to us and we ran to get on the plane.

Everyone was helping us get boarded and seated so the plane could leave on time: my mom and the gate agent ran with us down the jetway, the flight attendant took our bags and found spots for them in the bins, a passenger jumped up from his seat and helped me with my other bags to get to the back of the plane where our seats were and helped get Akiko and Moses buckled, and a couple guys traded seats across the aisle with me and the lady sitting next to me because infants in arms can't sit on the left side of the plane. It was so awesome how everyone just jumped in and helped us. I was so grateful.

The plane ride home was more or less uneventful. Akiko and Moses had a couple spats and Moses spilled his water. Asher was a bit restless because he was tired and couldn't get comfortable. Otherwise, the ride home was good. One of the two guys that traded seats with me gave my kids gum to pop their ears when the cabin pressure started changing. It was super cool of him.

While our trip was fun, it was so nice to get back home and get back to Joseph. I could see him waiting for us on the other side of security. I pointed him out to the kids and they ran. I even unbuckled Asher from the stroller and he ran as fast as he could, dodging people and their suitcases, to get to him. I wish I could have seen his face. He would not let go of Joseph the rest of the day.

It was great to be home. I went home and slept.