Most of our pictures hang on the wall! They might even stay there for a while! We finally have the internet! Much to my relief. Only by miracle did I catch up on the hefty assignments from my students, some almost three weeks old. They were calling the office and complaining; goodness! Usually I turn over their work in less than 48 hours. Granted, there were some crises in their situations. In short: phew! We’re settling in happily.

We live not far from the hospital (hurrah for living close to stuff!). This means that we hear ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars at least once a day and the boys dash to the window or the door with an urgent expression, “Fire truck!” Levi informs me that he’ll be a fireman when he grows up as well as a garbage man (both the man who drives and the man who dumps the can into the truck, depending on the day). Lincoln prefers the fire trucks and front loaders, particularly when there’s a dump truck nearby. They both excel at organizing and making piles.

Yesterday the stake hosted a service project around Lake Pflugerville (the “p” is silent). Wesley joined one of the crews of 30 people down in the muck pulling out cattails and lake weeds. His white socks still look dingy black. I tell him we can let them go, he thinks they’re probably still useable. The boys and I tried to be useful without getting in the way. This can be a slightly difficult task eight months pregnant, age three, and age nineteen months surrounded by busy, hard workers. We did our best. For a while we gathered some of the smaller weeds and cattails and threw them in the pile. They loved it and stayed pretty close to me. Both watched the others fascinated. “Wet! Swimming pool!” said Lincoln. “He has a red shirt on too!” said Levi. (Our bishop requested our ward members wear a little red so we could identify each other). Eventually, though, the boys and I vacated the excitement in search of the trash crew, but they’d already finished. We walked half-way around the lake and back searching so hard we missed the closing prayer. At least we had the chance to talk about why we serve, how Jesus served, and how Heavenly Father loves us and His creations. Good stuff.

We celebrated Labor Day by working on our compost piles, preparing our garden (planted Wednesday. Will our broccoli survive?), and cleaning up the yard in general. What a party! We’re covered in bug bites and extremely happy. We love our yard. The boys ran in the sprinklers, played in the mud, planted flowers, rode the little bike, and threw everything they could find. So fun.

I met with Dr. Loar on Thursday. Oh, I’m glad to come back to her! I’m glad she’ll be delivering this baby. She’s so unflustered, unhurried, and kind—and she’s always pulling out information from recent articles which comforts me. I like that she’s on top of stuff. She looked over my records of the last three months and said that there is nothing to worry about as far as size or anything else goes. Joule’s a little on the small side, but he’s been progressing consistently and we’re not really big people. Every baby is different. If there are issues to address, we’ll do it—but no need to panic. I love this approach. As far as contractions go, I’m almost in the safety zone (another week or so and we’ll be just fine). This is nice to know since my body is gearing up for delivery. In two weeks I go back for an ultrasound to check his progress and position. He dropped last Sunday; not even my pregnancy pants will fit anymore! For being a “small” baby, I don’t know where we’ll put the rest of him. There is no more room! He’s everywhere. I’m almost surprised he doesn’t figure out how to swim all the way around my back. At the library story time he moved enough that Lincoln on my “lap” bounced up and down and all around. Both thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Also at story time we learned about dinosaurs and received dinosaur stamps, which delighted both boys. Even Levi who generally takes issue with a pen mark on his hand for longer than a few seconds. We returned loaded with dinosaur and fire truck books along with some Caldecott. We love libraries!

Levi determines to help, we stand back in awe. This week he actually helped Wes dig out the AC filter and replace it, put the crib and swing together, and screw in child protection locks “For to keep us safe from dangerous.” Lincoln surprised us by counting to six (today he counted to ten with Levi’s help). He surprised himself by climbing on the top of the piano—but thankfully not up to the mantle!—then getting mad because he couldn’t figure out how to get down. For personal study, Wesley showed them pictures and scriptures of Christ coming to the Nephites. We’ve heard a lot about “Jesus holes.” Levi told us that Jesus should come to our house instead of us going to His. When Wesley asked what Jesus would do at our house: “probably talk to Mom and Dad.” We’re looking forward to that conversation.

Wesley jumped back into the flurry of academic life. He doesn’t have any classes this semester. Amazing what one can do with a whole day of dedicated research time! This month and semester are full of presentations and other good stuff. He busily prepares for those, comes home with ideas and plans, and then restarts the next day. For the class he TAs, he’s reading The Quest by a Pulitzer Prize winning author. He recommends it thus far.

Happy week!

From last week...

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Dear Family,

Happy Birthday to Chad! We are grateful for your consistent goodness and steadiness. We’ve loved hearing about the preparation for the temple rededication. The fact that you’re working on this shows that the Lord knows His servants and all that they can do. It’s also another wonderful blessing for us to learn about your service. Wesley has been quizzing me on movies that I (still) need to see and our favorite experiences have always been watching them with you (even “The Stupids”); maybe it’s your sense of humor and the way laughter just erupts. You’re just fun to be around. We love you!

Well, we’re back: “Deep in the Heart of Texas!” My parents have teased me that soon I’ll be one of those people with the bumper sticker that says, “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could!” The reality is that I’ve learned that we can love any place, but it really helps to be familiar with it. Cockroaches? We can handle that now (two years ago was another story). Heat? We know it’ll temper down by October. Clay? We can compost and figure out the dirt then garden all year! Except August. We missed that month, though. We feel overwhelmed by our blessings both here and in Colorado. Our time in both areas has seemed like a spiritual tutorial. We’re grateful to learn and grow. Thinking about all we’re given makes me a little emotional. Things I took for granted glisten a little more moving back: beds!, couches, books, bookshelves, pictures, food storage—little things that don’t really matter, yet give finishing touches to a home. I’m glad to settle and wash floorboards and light fixtures even if it takes me a while. The house is just abundant. It even has pecan trees! The boys love the sunroom/now playroom. They love the (fenced) yard and deck. The neighborhood thus far has been diverse, friendly, and quiet. We started preparing our garden spot yesterday. Most of the boxes pile disassembled, waiting for reorganization, in the attached garage (wow, an attached garage. A garage!). I walk around wondering how we have so much. So many closets and shelves, so much space, a shower that Wes calls a carwash because of its many nozzles and sheer size, so many windows we almost struggled figuring out where to put our tons and tons of furniture. All of this is just stuff. It reminds me how much we need to give to others, how abundantly blessed we are.

Christine said that we ride the “Blessing Train” and it’s true. The night before we left people picked up both of our tables. Someone bought Wesley’s bike. A need came up for Levi’s little temporary mattress. My friend surprised me Friday afternoon by showing up and staying until I’d finished packing up and loading out. The boys travelled here with song and crackers and trucks quite pleasantly. As we drove, Lincoln pulled off socks and shoes, stuck apples in his toes and ate them. Then he played “This Little Piggie” with a long “WEEEEEEEEE!” at the end. Wesley found a 28 book set of World War II encyclopedias basically untouched at the library in Miriam which now holds a prominent position with the rest of the war bookshelf.

On Monday, our long 9 ½ hour stretch, we only stopped once because they did so well. Wesley swerved to avoid some chairs in the middle of the freeway. He pulled off, traffic miraculously cleared, and he removed the chairs from the road. Levi shouted, “Dad a hero!” True statement in many ways. Christine saved us with her driving; since I could shift around my contractions and next day recovery basically didn’t exist. Christine just saved us. She washed all the windows. She played with boys. She pampered us. She told us about her callings and her thoughts, which are always uplifting and inspiring to hear. Those blessed, blessed women in her stake! We loved watching her talk with Creed and Renel and their tender relationship. We loved staying with Creed and Renel in general; what a great spirit about them. She hauled our stuff in and out of cars and into rooms. She kept peace and kept me sane (even as she wondered why in the world scrubbing mostly clean walls was necessary at early hours in the morning—she went along with my craziness!). The boys want to know when Grandma will come back.

Seeing the Longmores and Wilsons definitely enhanced our trip. Kelley and Diana hauled most of our stuff from the Golden apartment down three floors and into our van. What a gift! Kelley impressed us with his sweetness with the boys, musical abilities, and the fact that he always seemed to be doing something useful without letting anyone know. Good catch, Diana! I wish we could have had more time with everyone—so come visit! Maybe I’ll find my brain. If not, maybe Rosey will find it tucked away under her piano with our extra socks and whatever else we probably left there!

Levi has been telling me that he’ll be five soon like “Lanny and Spence.” And suddenly he’s a “super hero!” which he must have gleaned from them. He picked up some great older brothering tips that we’re still seeing. Hurrah for cousins! Throwing five boys in a tub may not be the best way to get clean, but it was sure cute! Lincoln rediscovered his love for lawnmowers; this may be something he and Chad talked about in the premortal realm as they both stare at them and play with them with deep reverence. When I picked up Lincoln from nursery, he and Chad sat on a leader’s lap holding hands. Darling. While Rosey hosted a party of the ages seamlessly and graciously and cheerfully (all of which left me in complete awe), Lincoln discovered a hidden tub of Vaseline and smeared it everywhere. I guess he needed moisturizing more than I realized! It took a few days of scraping to work it out of his hair. The only part that bothered him was the thick goop covering his vision. Goofball.

Before we left Colorado, the boys and I visited the Museum of Science and Natural History on their free day. They liked the bean bags the best, then the dinosaur bones. Better luck in a few years. We celebrated our fifth anniversary by going to the temple and performing sealings. What a glorious five years! And we have eternity! One of our older neighbors in the complex stopped to talk to me and the boys the day before we left (we were out playing with rocks). He told me that he and his wife had been watching me and Wes with the boys and that they admire our investment in our children and the time we spend “where it counts.” He told me that as long as we do our best, our boys will learn to be accountable for their choices. I kind of felt like an angel had come down and hugged me. It’s great to share the team jersey with Wesley and my boys. They are the best. Wesley works and works and works and then he asks what else he can do. He started school again on Thursday, happy to return to his research and his projects as he sets out his plan for the next two years. His ability to focus and accomplish one thing at a time without distraction just floors me. Then he comes home and melts my little edgy, impatient heart.  

And there is more, so much more. Unfortunately, my brain has hiccupped in the midst of wonder and exhaustion. The abridged version will have to do for all of us. Even my prayers have been something of a “whaaaaaahaaaawow!” Let that be our record.

We love you. Thank you for all of your help and prayers!

 Levi's first tree climbing experience before leaving CO.

 Happy 5 Years to Us!

 Grandma Cole: our angel!

 Eating apples from his toes!

 Of course they needed to dress up to arrive at the new house...Lincoln's idea this time!

A semi-okay picture at the natural history museum.

 On our "hike"

 Cheesing it and climbing

 At the "amusement" park

Pretending to be a train. Lincoln is the caboose he tells us. 

Happy 11 years Holly and Preston! I’ve enjoyed your marriage and I’m not even involved!

Good luck on your test this week Lance! We’re praying for you and we know you’ll do great!

Wesley and I watched “Pride and Prejudice” over the last couple of weeks (his idea—really!). He has been pretending to be like Mr. Darcy. Instead of stuttering breathless and romantically on words like “I love-love-love you,” he says things like “Yes-yes-yes let’s have dinner!” My favorite, though, is that he “loves me most fluorescently” or that he’s “fluorescently happy” (as opposed to “incandescently happy”). I love him like a LED. We think we’re funny; I guess that’s why we chose each other!

The library reading program gave free rides at an amusement park for some of the prizes. Since this is not something we would ever be inclined to do and our kids may not get this chance in the future—we decided to check it out. The establishment probably offered a lot of excitement about forty years ago, but now it hangs together primarily on duct tape. Most of the games and rides had broken parts and the workers wore expressions of enduring to the end. Themed as an old Western town, a few shops and buildings scattered around with peeling paint and nervous rabbits dashing around: they were used to the ghost-town feel. We laughed at the emptiness (did we hear echoes?) and the boys loved it. They rode the creaky, sticky carousel twice. “Horse! Horse! NEIGH!” roared Lincoln. “I want come back here again!” shouted Levi. Thank you public library.

A few weeks ago we sat behind a man with a nice voice in church. Wesley looked over at me, “Darin is in Denver!” It took us three months to remember that his freshman roommate has been living here for a year (he’s the one who sang with Wesley at his mission farwell). We did something we rarely do—we looked them up on Facebook and it served us well. We went to their house this week (bless them, they invited us over when they have a two week old baby!); our boys partied together. They moved water from bowls to plastic vases with measuring cups. It’s all fun and games until the brothers dump the all the water on their host…poor kid! Wesley and Darrin enjoyed catching up. His wife and I found oodles to talk about. We wish we had remembered our closeness in proximity earlier. What good people. This is a testament that we need to keep in touch with people better. It’s not that we don’t care!

Yesterday we “hiked” the meadow trail at Lookout Mountain. Levi walked over a mile, scuffing dirt happily, noting the shade, and fully rejoicing in the two doe, a fawn, and four buck we saw. “We scare them! We scare them! Have them come back!” Lincoln rode Wesley’s shoulders most of the way, grabbing evergreens as we went along. We love the mountains. We love that we can be over seven thousand feet high in less than ten minutes. August here is the wind-down of summer. It’s cooling off (I’ve already worn two long-sleeved shirts this week!). This is such a beautiful place. We highly recommend it to anyone, even for passing through.

In our attempts to prepare Lincoln for Joule, we’ve read a ton of waiting-for-baby-type books. Levi loves them. Lincoln pointed to my tummy this week, saying “BABY!” then kissed him. Then: “KICK KICK!” It finally dawned on me that Lincoln has heard me talk about Joule kicking—duh! He doesn’t want to kick the baby, the baby kicks! Levi has started nursing Peter again, this time covering up with his blanket and sitting in a particular position in the chair. I tried to convince him that Peter is too old now. “Peter my baby!” Oh dear. Their good friend is almost a year old; they both affectionately call him “Baby.” Both want to keep him in their sight. At church today, Levi called out “Ezra!” then described his outfit. Lincoln yelled “Zra! Zra!” at random. Ezra responds enthusiastically. It feels good to be loved.

We spent the majority of sacrament meeting with excavators carrying scraps of the program to dump trucks. Perhaps not the most focused activity, but a reverent one.

Lincoln basks in teasing. He puts something in his mouth, then runs to show it to me. He knows how to control his bowels enough to use the potty effectively whenever we sit him there. This also means that he stands in the tub calling “PEEEEE!” and pushing until he streams. We(s) cleaned the tub four times yesterday. Lincoln thinks it’s hilarious. He also knows which toys Levi clings to the most—so he runs directly for those, saying “Vi truck!” or “Vi backpack!” or “Vi --!” He loves riding things and people. Wes acts as a motorcycle occasionally—which they love. He tried to ride Ezra as motorcycle, too. Not as successful a venture. This might have been encouraged by the time we spent watching skid loaders and rollers work on the road. He hugged Levi from behind saying, “RIDE! Ride Vi! Cow! MOOOO!” Everyone cracked up.  Animals and motors really excite him. He found a random picture of a penguin and stared at it all last week. So we found penguin books at the library to his joy this week. We’re learning all sorts of interesting stuff.

Levi will probably marry a Repunzel. He likes me to come close to him at night not for hugs or kisses, but so he can touch my hair. “I like Mom’s hair soo much!” Goofball. He saw Wesley squeeze a zit early in the week. At dinner, he picked up one of his beloved peas, squashed it precisely and announced, “I popping peas like zits!” Hahaha! He also acted out the day in the life of two motorcycle men (named, appropriately, “Levi” and “Lincoln”). They woke up, got ready for school and work, rode to their building (Lincoln holding tightly to Levi’s shoulders from the back), entered the doors with a badge just like Daddy, then sat next to each other and worked on computers. They came home for lunch and a nap. Then they carefully buckled back onto the motorcycle and drove slowly because we left their helmets in Texas, then worked until Dad was done and they all came home together. What a story! I’m impressed.

We leave our cool and colorful Colorado abode on Friday (with Christine and the Wilsons—yay!), we’ll be in Kansas Saturday, stay in Joplin on Sunday, and yes enter our new home on Monday! We’re all excited to begin real life again, but we loved our summer. Aside from wonderful friends and family experiences that we’ve detailed before, Wesley’s professional opportunities have expanded in the connections and collaborations that have started, the skills he’s learned, and the way his mind has stretched. We just feel so grateful that we could be here at this time. Our blessings astound us.

We’re driving home from Buena Vista (pronounced by the locals Buna rhymes with Kuna Vi-sta like mista). It’s a gorgeous mountain town about 2 ½ hours southwest of Golden (120 miles, Wes informs me). The branch is in our stake. It’s so small that other wards provide speakers for sacrament meeting. Wes volunteered. We exemplified reverence until he started talking. He spoke on the light of Christ, 3 Nephi 18:24. Christ instructs the Nephites that He is the light of the world. We should hold up that light and do as He did. Wes outlined some of what Christ had done previously, such as allowing each person to touch Him, teaching the doctrine of baptism, teaching the Sermon on the Mount and from Isaiah, and showing love and compassion, healing everyone in a very personal way. Great talk—and I missed half of it! Ask him more about what he learned. The boys loved nursery. They chortled the entire way through the mountains this morning and now—mercifully!—sleep.

I’ve had an emotional week. Seriously, who cries over a hot dog? I do. In public! Yesterday food just didn’t work for me so we went to find something the boys would like. Friends recommended a local hot dog shop: the place loads the hot dog with a ton of toppings of your choice. They have everything from Thai toppings to sauerkraut to the traditional chili dog. I’m not a hot dog person, but since nothing worked anyway we tried to venture into a new realm. Good grief. The thing came out and I almost died; add to that body odors coming in and out and my general sense issues these days—and we’ll all be grateful for good-humored Wesley who cared for the boys, ate both hot dogs, and thoroughly enjoyed himself.  Levi loved the sweet potato fries. Afterwards Wes insisted on buying me a burrito, which Joule appreciated very much. Poor kid. No wonder he’s small.

Yesterday morning we drove to Boulder for our long-anticipated campus tour. We scheduled ahead and everything, but the tour left without us. Alas. We caught up with them, then realized that we needed to adjust our expectations. Wes showed us the engineering complex and the surrounding buildings. We gathered a few rocks. Then the boys let us know that we needed to leave. So we did. Beautiful place and good time regardless of the change in plans. We like Colorado. Since both boys adamantly skipped naps, Wes took them to the mall to look at carousels, trains, toy stores, and people. What a good man. They came home full of stories and excitement.

A few other funny moments occurred this week. The boys, including Wes, battle a slight cold. We took our van in for an oil change and the shop discovered the rack and pinion needed work. In an uncharacteristic move (due to a fuzzy mind), Wes told them to fix it without much of a second opinion. Let’s just say we’ve now started much larger investments in this van. He regretted the decision by the time he came home—but at least we’ll be that much safer now! We’re doing check-ups on both vehicles before we go to Texas. I hope nothing else is wrong!

I cut everyone’s hair on Monday. No one really expects much from toddler haircuts and Wesley’s curly hair forgives practically every mistake. Note for the future: when you cannot think, walk, or draw in a straight line, why would you cut your own bangs? A few weeks ago Levi pulled a chunk of hair out of my head and I’ve had strands growing with gusto in weird directions. Still. Looking in the mirror has given me another reason to chuckle.

Have you ever heard of a Splash Pad? I hadn’t, but oh how I love them. The city revamped an old pool area into a flat run-around space with buckets filling with water (like mini-kitchen sinks), various sprinkler and spray things, covered picnic area, decent bathrooms, and only $1 admission all day. The boys blasted each other with water and splashed with delight. So fun.

Wesley’s UT professor visited this week. He was on vacation, so he took some time to see Wesley’s work. They met up with a guy who is connected to Pecan Street and NREL stuff. Now everyone is buzzed about future collaboration. The next morning, Dr. Edgar met Wes in Boulder to meet with Dr. Henze to talk more about Wesley’s research, buildings, energy, and ideas. Wesley returned bright eyed and eager to press forward. He works with wonderful and intelligent people.

A woman saw the boys in the grocery store and commented on how sweet they are. I said, “I think so.” This is the point she notices Joule. “Wow! You must!” Haha! I love gathering these quotes. She covered her embarrassment by saying that her baby is 41 this week. Kind lady. This was before Lincoln decided to express his teething tendencies on Levi’s sunburned shoulder and Levi screamed in understandable pain. They are sweet boys.

Despite teething, Lincoln gives tons and tons of real kisses. He especially likes to kiss Levi’s back. He reaches to touch people. He grins and says, “HeLlo!” and “Bye-bye!” to everything from people in the store to flushing potties. He knows what he shouldn’t do—like sitting on the table—does it, then waits patiently for removal and/or reprimand, when he shakes his head and finger and says, “No, no, no!” cheerfully. He says “Vi!” excitedly and wishes he was “Vi,” too. Levi receives a constant onrush of deliveries from his brother: toys, shirts, cups, pats on the back, rocks (the ultimate gift). Levi’s figuring this out. By the end of the week he was making requests like, “I want the fire truck and the dump truck, Linc. Go get it.” And off little obedient brother tromps. We’re working on expressing gratitude rather than orders. Lincoln’s greatest love, next to Dad and Levi, is rocks. Almost any issue can be solved by talking about rocks; all problems can be solved by touching them. He fills his pockets. He crams his shoes. He carries as many as he can at one time. He couldn’t find his pocket at the park and I found his diaper stuffed with rocks! My goodness. Interests to encourage, I guess. 

Levi’s new schedule includes waking up before five. I hear him start moaning about 4:30. I told him a few times that the sun was still sleeping and he needed to as well. He stayed patiently in bed until 5:45. “The sun awake now, Mom.” And he’s right. Plus, when I’m already up doing stuff, neither of us can invent a very good argument for him to go back to bed and wait. He is becoming a yoga masta himself since I haven’t had as much gym time. He’ll tell you that “it’s kind of tricky.”  We do our best for a successful rest time to morph into a nap, but usually we just try to maintain emotional control. Such a good boy. He’s a trooper. And he walks up and down steep paths like an apprentice backpacker. In fact, he dances up and down the hills singing. “Come on, Mom! No go slow now!” His pretend play has expanded. He’s been a “little boy dog” quite often this week, which cracks me up. Panting, trying to eat without hands, barking. All the good stuff. He also pinches tiny pieces of paper and tape into balls, then loads his dump trucks with the backhoe. Or the garbage man goes around the house collecting his precise trash. Last night he surprised us by saying, “I want to go to Coldstone!” Well. What a good idea. Maybe this week.

 At the Splash Pad!

 After a big walk and a park with an excavator toy...

 Squinty pictures at Buena Vista. Such a darling church! Check out the mountains. We're already 10 thousand feet high! There are over 50 mountains over 14 thousand feet in Colorado!

Just a quick update on our Texas status. It looks as if we’ll be renting a house outside of town from a couple who just build a new house, but have lived in this house for 25 years. They are in the ward of some of the other ChemE students. It sounds like much more than we need—4 bedrooms, a sunroom, a fenced yard, all sorts of dreamy things—and the people are very nice. It’s closer to everything with a good bus. Hopefully it works. We’ll be with the Longmores two weeks from today!

 Swimming!

 Walking around the mall with fire truck toys we don't actually use...

 My favorite statue of a pioneer mother and baby, with Lincoln cheesing it for scaling purposes.

 I always wanted to be a Native American.

From Wesley: Happy birthday to Cam Krack. What a special person! So kind, so full of love. It was wonderful to have a grandma who lived close to us. Thanks for treating all of us kids as you would your own grandkids. We love you!

Now back to Cassie: Happy anniversaries to Kathy and Geran, Rosey and Lance, and Megan and Drew! What a wonderful week to celebrate marriage! We hope you had ice cream or something equally as great in your eyes.

This week, Levi and I went through Wesley’s box of childhood treasures: artwork, report cards, baptismal program, a ton of papers on war and warfare and strategy (some complete with drawings) and a book about his family and friends that began with a drawing of Christine, “I like my mom.” The next page was a close up drawing of Chad, “I LOVE DAD!!!” This sounds familiar. I’m grateful that our boys have such a good daddy. I love him, too. I felt a little melty about it all. I even found Wesley’s first limited-use temple recommend, signed by my dad. Perhaps it’s a little silly, but I saved that out for our family history folders. Who would have thought that Pop Corrie was signing his future son-in-law’s temple recommend when he looked across at that darling 12-year-old boy, so eager about the Priesthood and willing to do the right thing? And he’s only improved! WOW! This week he learned how to solve an issue at work. The boys and I prayed for him. What a great thing that we can pray for each other specifically at any time and know that Heavenly Father hears and helps.

This week I finished editing Grandma Wright’s 1978 journal. I’m a month behind my schedule with that because I’ve had a surprisingly constant flow of students in a hurry in addition to rewriting my class on a deadline. Oh, I love her, though. Reading her thoughts has been a blessing. This week must be the turning point in my pregnancy—it happened with the others—when my rumbly contractions start. I’ve thought about her and her children and her patience when they had needs and she had pain. She just went forward. So I’m doing my best. I can handle the discomfort and inconvenience okay. It’s my brain I struggle with (shocking!). With Joule, my contractions start in earnest when I sit down. I choose not to think too much about the actual drive to Texas, especially as Levi excitedly says, “Baby Joule be born in Colorado!” Oh, no, he’ll arrive in Texas. Thankfully, I know that as long as he continues to follow suit his brothers, we’re fine and I am still safe for my last three months. Phew!

Yesterday Wesley and the boys endured going to the Denver Art Museum (cutely abbreviated the DAM with big backpack buttons). Admission is generally around $15/person, but every first Saturday is free. Hurrah! We walked around an exhibit on airports with models, videos, interviews, paintings, photographs, and all sorts of coolness. The boys asked interesting questions about modern art. We all enjoyed the Western art featuring “the making” of the West. They’re good sports; once was enough for them.

Usually (99.8% of the time) it’s me who makes the uncomfortable comments; it’s a gift. You may feel that way about this paragraph—so proceed at your own volition. We bought a furniture dolly on sale at Harbor Freight and the cashier said, “Whoa! Two already and another one on the way!” Wes responded, “Yep. We’re having a party!” innocently enough. The woman looked at Wes. She looked at me. She scrunched up her face like that was a lot more than she ever wanted to know. “Sure looks like it!” Once we got to the parking lot, I clarified what she was thinking for Wesley. We laughed and laughed. The boys joined in with their hearty fake laughs just for fun. This moment was almost as good as a few weeks ago when a woman approached me at a store with “You are so fertile!” Um. Thank you? I know I’m really blessed. (In most cases I do respond smoothly and try to use this as a way to testify of family, but I just laughed at that one!) Really, though. Even on rough days, we know we’re living the best dream ever.

On Monday we started a daily chart for Levi as an experiment. A sad face happens when he kicks, hits, licks, spits, or will not listen (within reason). Three sad faces are free. The fourth means no treat with dad. The fifth means no favorite jammies. Man, does he know when his three strikes are up. We also add happy faces about the good he does so we can talk about the consequences of both good and poor decisions. It’s worth trying another week. For the majority of the week he proudly reported “No more sad faces!” to Wes. Some days are more difficult. Life.

Levi is a communicative crack-up. We bought new underpants. He likes to wrap his blanket-cape at his shoulders just before bath time and run around in underpants yelling, “I a hero!” I don’t know where that came from, still hilarious. I’ve been wearing my retainer during the day. I walked in to him putting something in his mouth and asked about it. “Mom! It my retainer!” Oh. Of course.

Since moving here, he’s been extremely interested in what day and what time it is. He knows that Wesley stays home on Saturday and Sunday—so those are the important reference points. He knows Wesley comes home around dinner time. “When is dinner time?” One day as soon as Wesley walked in the door, Levi told him “I’ve been waiting for you for a long long long long time! All day!” He has wanted to know when we’ll return to Texas. We told him “August.” So August 1 rolls in, he asks what day it is, and then exclaims: “It August! We move today!” This led into months and weeks. He’s been telling me that we move in August, soon, and “our bums probably hurt” since we’ll be driving so long. Ha! He’s right.

Lincoln cheerfully wanders the house pushing “dozers” and “loaders” and “backhoes” and asking for “watermelon.” He’ll take a playmate if one’s available. When I try to play with him, he looks at me like, “Mom, I love you, I do, but I need some space. VRRROOOMMM!” then away he goes through all of the rooms, circling, loading, dumping. Stances that I stretch toward in yoga naturally settle in Lincoln. He squats, parallel feet flat on the floor, playing. He poses the down-dog with joy over his blanket. I called him a yoga master; this hit the funny bone of both boys. Levi’s still laughing and calling Lincoln “Yoga Masta!” We welcomed a hail storm. Although it woke Lincoln up from his nap two hours early, he loved it! He especially enjoyed holding the hail in his hand to watch it melt. Lincoln continues teething. Ten teeth now! He gnaws and chomps and drools. Ugh. For everyone. His nose runs. He wakes up. And cuddles. I’ll take that.

On one of my monster days, we ventured to the pool and played on the stairs, kicked until our hands and feet turned raisiny, splashed and squealed. We dried off in the sun, shivering. On another day, Lincoln woke from a nap, kissed me soundly, then went to find Levi. They rubbed noses and kissed cheeks for a good five minutes. Sweet little goofballs. It’s good to be brothers. Both have been kissing my burgeoning belly, “Hi Baby Joule!” He kicks back (without receiving a sad face. This is because he lives in a swimming pool. Ask Levi).

Welcome August!

 Teething--but check out the plants behind him!

 Floating bamboo sculptures on a lily/lotus pond.

One of the many potty breaks. Note the matching outfits in almost all our pictures, as chosen by Levi.

Congratulations to my parents who sold their Boise house on Friday! What miraculous timing! No storage needed and everyone moved in to new houses by the end of August! Hurrah! If you’re in Idaho, say hello to the new neighbors from Oklahoma who now have custody of those gorgeous trees.

I’ve been studying the references from the conference talks—which is amazing, but you can call me about it when you have lots of time (ha!)—and I found this beautiful promise from Marion G. Romney, as quoted by President Benson as quoted by Elder Cook:

                        I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon                                          prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of                        that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The                        spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other                         will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children                         in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to                          the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and                            

                        charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in                         their wake peace, joy, and happiness. (Ensign, May 1980, p. 67)

We booked every evening this week. We thoroughly enjoy our slow-paced summer, but we also appreciated remembering productive busy-ness. For FHE Monday, Levi chose to go swimming for the activity. They love the pool. They’re both mastering how to kick; every time Lincoln sees so much as a puddle he says, “POOL! Kick!” and then he starts scooping his arms, too.

In addition to Pioneer Day, Tuesday was our stake temple day. The stake presidency challenged everyone to do two ordinances that day if possible—if not, they invited all to do at least two during the month. We took the whole family on Tuesday, ate dinner at a park (Wes and I alternating with boys and temple), and soaked in the Spirit there. We don’t know many people still, but it was fun to recognize faces and hear about how packed the sessions had been all day. Obedience is a blessing in itself. The boys love the temple. Even Lincoln shouts out, “MORONI!” now. They wanted to touch the temple and dashed up close to the entry doors. Levi wanted to go all the way in (but stayed back because he was wearing his play clothes rather than his church clothes—a very distressing issue). The temple workers came to the door and waved. Bless them.

NREL celebrates 35 years of research this year. In commemoration, they sponsored a family afternoon/evening at the main campus complete with catered barbeque, free water bottles, speakers, and even (yes!) a professional balloonist (or whatever we should call people who tie balloons). He made a Thomas the Train with smoke for Levi and a dog for Lincoln. Lincoln untied his before we stacked back in the car, yet he loved every second of its existence. Levi cherished his until it shrank the next afternoon: then both of them jumped on it until it exploded. We finally saw where Wes works with tons of windows for natural lighting, recycled wood and pipes, and all sorts of energy saving construction stuff. Their main purpose focuses on energy usage (lots and lots of natural lighting in these buildings), yet they’re quite aesthetically pleasing as well. At least, in a functional, engineering, natural way.

We saw Joule in ultrasound again on Thursday. Last time he was about two and a half weeks behind his due date in measurements. Now he’s only a week and five days. The doctors wonder if the original due date might be a bit off since his development appears to progress normally (PHEW!). His head is about four days larger than his belly, but that’s within genetic reason—and these boys must have room for their dad’s intelligence! He’s moving all the time, quite aggressively, and weighs a little over two pounds. Chances are we won’t see him until the end of October or beginning of November. We’ll find out! It’s weird to think that we only have one more doctor’s appointment here before going back to Austin.

The boys and I went to the Denver Botanic Gardens with some friends Thursday afternoon since it was one of their annual “free days.” Usually, admission is around $15 a person. Levi walked four blocks uphill there, all around the gardens, and four blocks back to the van. What a trooper! He clutched his new NREL water bottle. There is only one building with public restrooms. We visited it three times in two hours, plus he used the potty just before we left and just after we returned. We didn’t see much, yet what we saw inspired us. Huge lemons. A tropical conservatory with plants that looked like fuzzy magenta feather boas. A little garden with plants from scripture: fig, apricot, Cyprus, etc. They’re currently showcasing bamboo sculptures which totally blew my mind. We loved it! My friend is a horticulturalist—so it made it even better. While I was driving (exceptionally well) in downtown Denver through one-way streets, Levi piped up from the back seat: “How are we ever going to get out of here?!?”

We adventured out to eastern Colorado for our friends’ baby shower on Friday. We know these friends from Texas, but their families live in/around a tiny, prairie-like, farming community called Idalia. The entire shower was John Deere themed and held in a gathering area in a church over 100 years old. The three hours there and then three hours back was worth it. Plus! Levi took a nap! We’ll do whatever we can do to encourage that. The baby is darling; we were so glad to see our friends. On the way home, we read some of Wesley’s mission journals and marveled at the miracles and the things that he forgot, the things he remembered in addition, and how his experiences continue to teach us. Such a priceless record.

We fed the missionaries last night. Lincoln loves them, high-fiving, throwing, and squealing. Levi doesn’t want to shake their hands, but he wants to sit next to them and talk to them.

In other important boy news, Levi aimed and sprayed all over Wes during bath time. This inspired Lincoln who did his best (quite substantial despite urinating before bath time). To balance out my disgust, Levi told me to wake him up with “lots of kisses and no tickles” and then demonstrated. We asked him where Uncle Royal is going on his mission and without hesitation he stated, “Ukraine.”

            “Where are you going Levi? Are you going to Ukraine?”

            “Noooo. I going to Japan!”

We’re not sure where that idea came from! Perhaps setting up “Axis and Allies” with Wes? Perhaps inspiration? He also went with Daddy to Ace Hardware where they have “little boy carts” and Levi would go anywhere and do anything happily pushing it along.

            Lincoln sings and sings and sings. He can say almost all the words articulately to “I Am a Child of God.” We often hear, “LMNOOOOO! PEEEEEEE!” Last night after his personal prayer he said, “MORE MORE!” and so he repeated word for word Levi’s prayer. Two new teeth popped out this week, too, which means we’re all sporting some bite marks.

Trains and dogs!

 We went for an afternoon walk today and ended up in the mountains!