Christmas Bells

The boys wowed the audience at our church Christmas party by performing a violin duet of Christmas Bells are Ringing. Fortunately, Santa was on hand to watch their performance and listen to their Christmas desires.

Bryn wouldn't touch Santa with a 10 foot pole.

My Family is Forever

Concertmasters in Training

We finally got the video of the boys' violin playing compiled with footage from their first lessons through their first recital.

So, have we heard enough Twinkle Little Star around our house to last us for many years? Yes. Yes we have.

The Black Blue Show

For our recent family reunion (more on that to come) we had a video night with little videos from each family. This was our entry.

Life's a Beach

After our thrilling look at the trains you might think we couldn't have any more fun. Wrong. Fortunately, this visit to the beach was much better than our last visit. Oh, the boys still got plenty wet and cold, as the video plainly shows, but they mostly ignored their rapidly numbing toes and just had fun. Naturally, the first thing you need on a beach is a stick. Of course it's also nice to have friends...
... and family, even if you do have to threaten some members of the family to get them to stand still for 3 seconds to get a photo. Of course, the real attraction of a beach is the water. Sure it's cold and windy but as long as a boy has his stick he can't go wrong. Or maybe he can. So be careful. Moving surf can cause dizziness. With predictable results. Grant avoided the water like the Wicked Witch after this little tumble. Keep your eye open for wildlife. Sometimes fish are easy to catch. Especially when they're dead. Remember that sometimes the warmest thing you are wearing is a smile.

Choo! Chooo!

Here to announce today's topic... Yes, it's trains! Our best friends Camille and Adrienne came to visit so we took them to the coast on Saturday. While driving through the town of Garibaldi, Oregon we saw two steam engines so we stopped to take a closer look. Here we all are posing with ol' number 90. Actually, Camille stayed in the car because Bryn was sleeping and the rule in our family is "Let sleeping dogs and babies lie." The rest of us examined the trains up close. One of them was in an obvious non-functioning state but the other was wonderfully and noisily functional. It obliged us by going back and forth several times while we gawked in obvious amazement.

Pedal Pushers

After months of Fred Flintstonesque bike riding, the boys have been working hard to master the pedals. If you thought their car driving was crazy, just wait until they zip past you on their new Thomas the Tank Engine bike. At least they steer pretty well... ...sometimes.

Our Easter Egg-straveganza!

What an amazing concept: colorful plastic eggs full of candy (most of them, anyway). What boy wouldn't have his best smile ready for the occasion? We also decorated eggs with the boys. Naturally, it quickly devolved into an egg mashing party. My favorite moment of the night was when Grant asked me where the Silly Putty was. Sorry, wrong type of egg.

Bryn & Grandpa

Speaking of Bryn, here's a little video from our trip to Idaho last month. I think they speak the same language.

Crunching Picasso

For the boys' birthday this week, one of the gifts they received was a watercolor paint set. They sat down the night they received it and made their first efforts at painting. I was gratified at how thoughtful they both were about it. At first we had to help them understand the order of things: water, paint, paper, repeat. After that they made the painting their own and each had a distinct style. Cole's effort is a picture of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friend James. You can clearly see Thomas' blue wheels and blue smile and James' red wheels. We are titling it "Thomas and James with Flowers". Grant had a very definite repeating style where he would dab the brush in each color in order before applying it to the page. It made a pretty consistent gray-green color which he methodically covered most of the page with. This one we are calling "2:00AM - View from the top bunk" Here's a video with Grant explaining about other uses for paint brushes and demonstrating how he achieved that color.

Just for Giggles

Family Fun Night

I know everyone out there wants to come on one of the (soon to be) famed Simper Family Fun Nights. (FFNs) But - sorry, it's just the family. We'll let you all in on one, though. They are incredible adventures, and only happen a few times a month - RANDOMLY - whenever someone belts out "Family Fun Night." So far, this spontaneous method of fun has never been thwarted, because no catastrophes can happen that fast, so we've never been disappointed. The only rule to FFN is that, at some point in the night, ice cream must be consumed.

ENJOY!

Sleigh Ride

Well, inflatable kayak ride, anyway. With temperatures well above freezing and rain falling we know the snow won't last long. But there's time enough for a few more runs down the hill in our backyard. Cooperation makes that hike back to the top easier. The trip down is pure joy. Just be sure to hold on to your mitten.

High Speed Holiday

Christmas at 16x normal speed:

And at 0x speed: Later we built a snowman. It was perfect Christmas weather with a foot of snow on the ground, more falling and a warm fire inside. And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!

The Plumber

...or, How I Saved $300 in Less Than 3 Hours. ...and got a 26¢ tip for my efforts.

Love at First Breath

One of the things I LOVE about Evan is that he is a free spirit; not afraid to take chances, he does not fear being reprimanded, and ultimately we end up with the fruit of his labors. Even though we had heard that recording or taking pics of a c-section might not be allowed, he decided to go ahead unless someone told him to stop. (And it also helps that he's tall enough to reach over the huge drape they put up to prevent viewing.) But they were all too busy to notice, so here you go! We think it's fascinating to watch our little Bryn take her first breath. This is not for the faint of heart, but we've had several friends and family express an interest in seeing it, and this is the best way to publish it.

Anatomy

Due to some skepticism expressed by a commenter on our pronunciation guide we have answered Miss Banana's request for an example use of the word "sock-o-wiss". Now, I don't know what they're teaching kids at BYU these days but I'm sure basic anatomy still holds a place in the curriculum. Please report to the Widtsoe building or the Bean Museum if you doubt Grant's grasp of the subject. He can also discourse at length about the difference between a lemur and a dung beetle.

Baby's Big Day

7:01 AM: Our day began rather earlier than baby's. We paused on the way out the door for one last belly shot. 7:20 AM: Of course, there's always time for more belly shots at the hospital. 8:05 AM: Now we're all prepped and ready for the real work to begin. Prepping for daddies involves dressing like the Sta-Puft marshmallow man. 8:27 AM: Baby's first photo. Clean up in OR-3! Who has the squeegee and the shop-vac? 8:31 AM: That's a little better. 8:33 AM: Her first picture with Mom and Dad. At this point, Ma's innards were still strewn across the table on the other side of that tent. 8:36 AM: The big weigh in. A petite 7 pounds 10 ounces. 8:45 AM: In which she learns that the world is not only cold and bright, sometimes it jabs needles into your leg. 9:04 AM: Safely in the recovery room we pause for another photo. 9:08 AM: Now add Dad to the scene. 10:57 AM: Grandma shows up just in time. 12:13 PM: The first photo with the brand new big brothers. 12:14 PM: A kiss from Cole. What more could a girl want? 12:20 PM: Bryn and her adoring fans. 1:32 PM: Alex and Carol are her first official non-family visitors. 2:55 PM: Dale and Ramona round out our visitors. 7:11 PM: The boys are taking their jobs as big brothers very seriously. Here Grant begins to teach her how to count to 10. 7:15 PM: Speaking of 10, Cole inspects her "toesies". 11:50 PM: Overall it was a magical day. Everything went so smoothly and our baby girl is just perfect. She's nursing very well, she's opinionated and cuddly, the boys find her fascinating. Welcome to the family little crunchette!