San Diego Spectacle

We're back from a week long get-away to sunny San Diego, California and we had such a great time! Now, I should clarify upfront that this was NOT a vacation (at least not for Spencer and me)...this was definitely a trip. Those who are confused about the difference between those two things obviously don't have children! :) ha ha But either way, it was so fun being together and the kids had the time of their young lives on the beach, boardwalk, pier and back every day. As much fun as it was to leave town and have Spencer with us from sun up to sun down for seven glorious days in a row, it is amazing to me how wonderful it always is to come home. We are happy to be back in our own beds and are ready to launch back into the regular routine first thing tomorrow morning. But first, a few photos of the trip:

The title of this blog includes the word "spectacle" because that is the only word I can think of to describe us as we were out and about this trip. I swear, we were turning heads everywhere we went. My mom complained that we could never really get anywhere on our nightly walks on the boardwalk because we got stopped every 3 feet by someone googling over the babies (Spencer is still half convinced it was actually him there were googling over) and then gasping as they realized that all of the little people trailing us belonged to our family. It was hilarious. Here's a shot of us on one of those BEAUTIFUL boardwalk strolls....

And the BEACH!! Here are just a few shots of the fun the kiddos had playing in the sand and water...I swear, little kids are born for this kind of thing! They jumped over waves, chased and fed the birds endlessly, buried Cort in the sand, built all kinds of sand castles, and Cort and Caleb even boogie boarded on Spencer's back. How any of them dared get in the water without wetsuits is still a mystery to me. Brrrr!! What a great week!

What's on my mind...

Things I love...
1. The way Jake and Emmy hold hands while they are nursing. Sure, it's just because babies grab onto anything and everything when they are small and they just happen to be in very close proximity to each other while dining. But still, it is absolutely adorable and they've done it since the day they were born. Ohhhh...I just LOVE it.

2. That Caleb (who just turned 2 in July) is doing AWESOME on his potty training. Okay, better said, he is potty trained! On just the second day of training he did his "little pushes" (#1, for those of you who are unfamiliar with our potty training lingo!) every time all day and his "big pushes" (a.k.a. #2) once on the potty. No accidents. Since then he has had a handful of accidents but hasn't been in diapers at all (except for at night) and has even told me he needed to go and used the potty while we were out running errands. Way to go Caleb! Yahoo! Now...down to just TWO in diapers. Beats THREE!

Things I don't like...
1. When Spencer is moonlighting and doesn't get home until late (2-3 nights a week), I obviously run around like a crazy person trying to put the kiddos to bed alone. Once I get everyone bathed and brushed and in jammies, I usually send Macy to wait for me in her bed while I tuck Cort and Caleb in in the basement. Inevitably, no matter how quickly I try to go, she falls asleep before I can get there. It breaks my heart every time and I wish I could kiss her and say prayers together and tell her how much I love her and what a wonderful daugther and friend and helper she is to me. I miss those chances to sit on the edge of her bed and talk, just the two of us, for a moment. Sometimes I am spread too thin and miss important things. It makes me sad just writing about it....

2. The way I often have to expect/demand Cort, my oldest who's five, to act twice his age just because having one more person demanding my constant attention would put me under. Sorry Cort. Thanks for so being patient with me and such a mature little guy. You're an amazing big brother to all the little people who follow you in our family. We and they are lucky to have you and I definitely am NOT trying to make you grow up any faster. I'll always want you to be my little guy.

August photo moments...

Macy took this picture of me while she was photographing everything in our home with the digital camera. I wasn't exactly thrilled about having my picture taken, sitting on the floor, mid-day, spit up on each shoulder, wrestling babies and trying to keep Caleb happy. But hey, it's the first picture of me AND my babies in a while and maybe I'll be glad someday to have captured this "real life" moment with the twins.



Macy, Caleb and the twins watching "Wonder Pets" on Saturday morning. The best thing about twins is you never have to share the baby!



Me and Cort outside our home on his first day of kindergarten. What a handsome little man!



This is a shot of Jake rolling for the first time earlier this month. Emmy couldn't be shown up by her big brother and also rolled over for the first time later that same day. One of their first "firsts" and they did it together! So cute!




I don't know who is happier about Cort riding the bus to AND from school this year...me or him? Tough call.

Video proof that babies are easier than toddlers...

Caleb got soooooo mad every time I tried to take his picture on this trip. I don't know why, but the devilish side of me couldn't resist chasing him around the boat teasing: "Say cheese Caleb! Say cheese!" . Hence the above video clip.... He was NOT amused.

We took the twins with us to the Richards cabin up near Oakley for the first time over Labor Day. We only ended up staying overnight because Cort was sicker than a dog and we had to get back to do some home improvement projects, but we had a pretty good time. The mountains are so gorgeous in September. We've got to get back up there soon...

From Spencer

Hey all. I've just read Molly's latest post (yes, a few days late, but better late than never). It's a great post. I've actually been thinking of writing about the same topic for a while now because, like Molly, I also get asked all the time how I do it (refering to raising five kids and juggling our lives) . . . Oh wait, come to think of it, I never get asked that. Now I'm starting to wonder why not. Is it because even though I think I'm doing it, I'm really not, and you folks don't want to point that out by asking how I do it? Is it because you all already know the answer ("you're married to Molly and she's got you on her back my friend")?

Regardless, Molly's answers to this burning question are pretty much what I'd say, except she missed the one about doing it to please your spouse and perhaps score some favors (a little golf time, one night a week out playing hoops, quality spousal recommitment, renewal and refill the tank time, etc). For the most part though, it's because we love what we do. We love our kids so much. Molly has been known to say how much she loves motherhood, and I couldn't be more grateful for that. I love fatherhood. I love nothing more than being with my family, playing with my kids, holding our babies. I am incredible blessed with a wonderful family, and fortunately, one that takes a lot of work and responsibility and effort and time and sweat and tears and pain and struggle because those things make me appreciate and love my family even more. One of my favorite things to do each night is to go into the kids' rooms after they're asleep and lay my head on their pillow, feel their soft cheeks on mine, and tell them I love them. I get tingles on my arms every time I do that. They are so special!

Our lives our never dull. This week has been as crazy as ever. Yesterday our neighbor's house got hit by lightening and suffered major fire damage. We grieved for them and their loss, and we were reminded how fragile and freakish life can be. We are grateful for our home, even though I've seen more of it lately than I'd care with painting pretty much the whole upstairs and now finishing a basement room (anyone want to help me tape and putty dry wall this weekend?). Cort was sick over the weekend and now Caleb has croup. I've spent a little more than my fair share of time dropping the kids off at the pool. For those of you who took that last sentence literally, let's just say I have become well acquainted with King John; I now have white porcelain tattoos on my backside; I've been doing a little plumbing lately; I . . . am probably going to get in trouble for these references by my significant other so I'll stop there. And in case there are any readers who still don't know what I'm talking about, give up.

The highlight of our weekend was the BYU game. Well, it was one of the highlights. We also spent a really nice evening at our family's cabin. The mountains were so beautiful and the clean, crisp evening air really made me excited for fall. We're looking forward to our first real family vacation in quite a while in a few weeks when we head down to San Diego. Right about now I could stand to sit on the beach and veg. Or, more accurately stated, I could stand to run along the beach and into the water chasing kids and trying to prevent drowning and digging myself out from under the bury-Dad-in-the-sand hill.

Well, I've got to run. I have now fulfilled Molly's request to update the blog, and in reference to an above comment, hopefully this kind act on my part will translate into some special favors later on.