Signs of Things to Come

I guess we should have taken baby Henry's first actions as Signs of Things to Come. As soon as he was born--he could not have been more than 5 minutes old--he wet all over my arm as I was holding him. He was so new born that they hadn't cleaned him off or put on a diaper yet.

Yesterday I started to change his diaper and he began to wet. My reactions are pretty quick, but he managed to spray my blouse, my skirt, the bathroom floor, and the bathroom counter (where he was). I yelled and Kirk came running upstairs to help. As I cleaned up, I noticed that he had started to do a little bit of No. 2, which I quickly tried to wipe up. Suddenly there was a massive explosion and he sprayed his yellow liquidy BM all across the counter, though most of it got in the sink. Good aim! said Kirk. I was laughing so hard I had to leave the room. Kirk got to clean up most of the mess. We've never had that much of a mess from a baby before.

Andrew now has the runner up on the messy baby category for his diaper that leaked all over me while I was sitting in a government office building in Caracas. I got to try and clean him and me, then travel back across the city on the metro to our apartment.

Henry is a very cute baby.
He was blessed on the first Sunday in December.
We all love him (though Lucy gets tired of him sometimes and tells me to "stop feeding him").
Edward also had his birthday last week with a volcano cake and M&M lava bombs.

Guess who?

Henry Brazee Hawkins
Born: 16 November 2010, 8 p.m.
Weight: 7 lbs. 13 oz.
Length: 20 inches

So which baby is Henry?
The giveaway is Lucy since she has a pink blanket next to her. The babies are in order: Andrew, Edward, Lucy, and Henry.

Allison Bowers

Last week was very sad. Here is the first draft of the obituary my sister and brother-in-law very kindly let me write:

Allison Ann Bowers
(1999-2010)

Beloved daughter and sister Allison Ann Bowers (age 11) passed away in a tragic bicycle accident on October 26, 2010. She was born in Provo, Utah, on January 21, 1999, to her loving parents, Robert and Melinda Bowers.

Allison, a very spiritual, teachable girl who had read the entire Book of Mormon by herself, was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was in the 6th grade at Hale Elementary School in Mesa.

Those around her knew her creative and artistic talents; she loved to write, read, garden, and cook. She liked to eat homemade rolls, tamales, and guacamole. She was a peacemaker in her family and would take care of her younger sisters and brother.

Allison was also full of energy and enjoyed climbing, hiking, running, biking, swimming, kite flying, and playing tag. She especially loved playing with her cousins, and they have many fond memories of fun times spent with her.

She loved her parents and family and was loved by them in return. Allison always wanted to go explore new things with her father and she described her mother as her hero in a school assignment, citing the times they spent together reading, cooking, and painting. A younger sister said Allison was always there when she needed her.

Her immediate and extended family all loved her beautiful smile and her amazing spirit.

Allison is survived by her parents, Robert and Melinda Bowers; older brother, Robbie; three younger siblings, Johanna, Dallin, and Emily; grandparents Robert and Pat Bowers and James and Ann Tanner; and an extended family of 15 aunts and uncles and 25 cousins. She will be deeply missed by all of them. She was preceded in death by her grandmother, Delight J. Bowers, in 2003.

Funeral services will be Tuesday, Nov. 2, at 10 a.m. in the Mesa 24th Street LDS Chapel (1911 North 24th St., Mesa, AZ 85213). Relatives and friends may call at the Bunker Mortuary (33 N. Centennial Way, Mesa, AZ 85201) on Monday, Nov. 1, from 6-8 p.m., and at the 24th Street Chapel from 9-9:45 a.m. prior to the service. Interment will be in the Mesa City Cemetery (1212 N. Center Street, Mesa, AZ 85201).

For those wishing to honor Allison Bowers, her family has suggested that in memoriam donations can be made to the Neonatal Resuscitation Program of Latter-day Saint Charities or to the school library at Hale Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona. Allison loved both children and reading, and either program would be a fitting memorial. The family sincerely thanks you for your love and support during this difficult time.

To donate to the Neonatal Resuscitation Program, follow the instructions under In Memoriam giving at the LDS Charities website or go directly to give.lds.org/neo-natal.

To donate books for the school library at Hale Elementary School you can bring in a new book to the library and specify that it is in memory of Allison, or you can send a check that will be used to buy books for the school library. Checks should be made out to Hale Elementary School, contain the name “Allison Bowers” in the memo line, and can be brought to the school’s main office or mailed to Hale Elementary School at 1425 North 23rd Street, Mesa, AZ 85213. The books donated or bought will be marked that they are in memoriam of Allison Bowers.

In Survival Mode

I just realized that it has been months since I last wrote anything here. We are in survival mode. The closer it comes to the baby's arrival, the more incapacitated I seem to be. Since we are supposed to find "nobility in motherhood" or something like that, probably the less I say, the better.

In September, Andrew started first grade. He loves school, but hasn't learned anything. I have him doing all the book reading challenges at school (the ones where the students get all year to read some "extra" books, but Andrew finishes the required number of pages in about two weeks--we'll see how many he will do by the end of the year since you can "repeat" the challenges and get an award after each time). At the end of September, Kirk went to Venezuela to see the elections, then to DC to tell the government about the elections. The first week in October he went to Toronto for an academic conference. He is now trying to catch up with everything. Edward and Lucy are very patient considering their main activities are "playing" and "quiet time."

We--well, an aborist--chopped down about 12 very large trees (40-50 feet high?) and about that many smaller (only 15-foot high?) volunteer trees on our property. We still have left 6 huge trees, a few small fruit trees, and lots of overgrown miscellaneous plants. Considering we live on less than a 1/4 acre, you can get an idea of how overgrown our lot was, and still, is. We paid a landscaper to come and do a new design for the yard. If we generally follow the plan, our yard should look great in about 10 years when we "finish" it.

At some point we may emerge from survival mode.

The past two months

Here is a photo summary of our past two months with some captions. We took a trip to Washington state, stopping by Multnomah Falls on the way.
The falls were impressive from the bottom, and from the top.
We enjoyed Mt. St. Helens National Monument. We actually had a clear sky and could see the mountain.
We traveled to the Olympic National Park and spent some time in the rain in the rainforest at Sol Duc falls.
Our favorite tide pools are located at Salt Creek on the Olympic Penisula.
One day we went to Seattle and visited Pike's Place Market, which isn't a nice place for children.
The Pacific Science Center was better for children, but still not as good as the promotional materials made it sound. All of us, except Lucy, got a butterfly to land on us.
We had fun at the Point Defiance Aquarium and Zoo in Tacoma. This is the closest you ever want to be to a polar bear.
Lucy loved the meerkats, but unfortunately we didn't get a good photo of her and them.
Of course, we spent lots of time with family in Washington.
Then, once back home, we celebrated Kirk's birthday.
We went on a camping trip to Southern Utah. This is the favorite part of camping for the children: watching the adults take care of the fire.
It was very hot at Zion National Park, so we all enjoyed wading in the Virgin River near the Narrows.
The Japanese tourists liked taking photos of our children and their cousins.
We managed to hold on to the children long enough for a photo at Weeping Rock.
The next holiday was the Fourth of July, which we celebrated on the 3rd.
Andrew, Edward, and Lucy were thrilled when Grandpa Tanner built a large boat for them.
We had a great family reunion--with 28 children ages 14 and younger.
We played games.
Some people took naps.
And we even had some time for the adults and older children to enjoy a campfire.
It was an eventful two months. The best part was seeing so much of our family.

Happy mid-July

It has been two months since I last posted anything here. Obviously, posting to a blog is very low down on my to-do list. Getting food on the table is a higher priority. We have also been traveling or having family reunions since the first week in June (more about that later).

Andrew finished kindergarten and was thrilled with the whole experience. Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. Porter.
He also participated in the school's end-of-the-year dance festival. All the kindergarten students did a "Jell-O dance."

This week he gave a talk in Primary. Here it is:

Elijah the prophet went to a mountain to talk to Jesus and stayed in a cave. He was sad because the people were bad. A big wind happened, but the Lord was not in the wind. Then there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, Elijah heard “a still small voice” and went out of the cave to talk to Jesus. This scripture story teaches us that the Lord and the Holy Ghost talk to us with a still small voice. (1 Kings 19:12)

I am going to share three experiences about the Holy Ghost from our family.

1. Last week my cousin Carina got baptized. After she got baptized she got the gift of the Holy Ghost. This made me feel happy to watch her. The Holy Ghost can help her all the time now. I am thankful that my cousin Carina got baptized so that I can have a cousin that is 8.

2. Once when my Mommy was teaching in Chile, a long time after my Mommy’s mission, she was prompted by the Holy Ghost to go back to school in Wisconsin and not stay in Chile for another year. She then met my Daddy, Kirk, and the Holy Ghost prompted her to marry him.

3. When my Mommy and aunt Becky were younger and picking prickly pear fruit in the desert to make jelly, the Holy Ghost told my aunt Becky not to put her foot down. She looked down and there was a huge rattlesnake. She told my Mommy there was a snake. They both jumped in the air and ran away.

I know that the Holy Ghost is true and that we can get prompted by him so that we know what to do. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Even more good news...

For those of you who haven't already heard, we are expecting another baby due about Thanksgiving. (And you thought we wouldn't be able to beat our previous weeks of good news items!)

Lucy's Second Birthday

Lucy turned 2 this week. We celebrated with a butterfly cake and a few gifts--books, plastic necklace from her brothers, and a doll dress for her doll.
She liked the cake, especially the jellybeans. Everyone like the cake since it was carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.
She is such a happy, cute girl. She is saying new words every day. Her longest sentence so far is, "Mama, my car is stuck" (a toy car got stuck in a crack). She also likes to "tell on" her brothers by coming to me and saying something that sounds like "Edward blah-blah blah." To which I say, "Edward, what did you do to Lucy?" He replies, "I didn't do it. It was Andrew!"
But, the next day, she also demonstrated that she really is 2 by having a major screaming fit in the middle of the public library when she didn't get her way. Just to make sure we understood this new step in her development, she repeated the act in the beginning of Sacrament Meeting.

Great news!

Today Kirk received his official letter saying that he has been granted tenure (or "continuing status" as it is called here) and advanced to the rank of Associate Professor. We are all very happy.

April showers...

We are hoping all the April snow showers here will bring May flowers. But the forecast says there is more rain and snow coming this week. We have all been busy with various things.
Andrew had some soccer games. We took this picture on the one time it wasn't raining or snowing on us. Well, maybe there were two good game days this past month. He enjoyed himself. They don't keep score for the kindergarten soccer games--they just let them run back and forth after the ball.
After almost six years, we got up to 50,000 miles on our wonderful Subaru. I kept the camera in the car so I could record the moment. I know most people average 14,000 miles a year, but we are closer to 8,500 a year, even including trips to Arizona and Washington. That's the benefit of living close to work and Kirk riding his bike to the office almost all the time. This week I was offering to give Kirk a ride to work since it was snowing, which would mean getting all the kids out of bed, putting them in the car in their pajamas, and then coming home and getting them ready so we could get Andrew to school on time. However, Andrew peeked out the window and said, "There's no snow on the sidewalks. He can walk." Andrew didn't want to get out of bed and his father wasn't getting any sympathy from him. Kirk decided to walk.
On the one nice day this past week we went for a hike up Rock Canyon. We saw the remains of a large rock slide. Andrew is standing in front of some of the boulders and broken trees from the slide.
We made it up to the third bridge and got to see the water in the creek. You have to get a lot more runoff before the water gets anywhere close to the mouth of the canyon. It is a very beautiful hike, and only a few minutes away from the house.
The big news for the week is that we bought a new car--a 2010 Honda Odyssey. The children just weren't getting any smaller and we needed more room. It is a very nice car, even though we weren't initially thrilled with the idea of a minivan. I might finish reading the instruction manual this week and figure out more things about the car.

Kirk's book

The good news this week is that Kirk's book, Venezuela's Chavismo and Populism in Comparative Perspective, is finally published. We are looking forward to seeing a few copies when they arrive from the publisher in the next week or so.

Trip to Arches

A week ago, we took a trip to Arches National Park. We only camped overnight on Friday, seeing the park on Friday afternoon and Saturday most of the day. However, that turned out to be enough for all of us.
Dinosaur Tracks
On the way there, we stopped to see some dinosaur tracks. These are nine miles south of I-70 on Highway 191. You turn east on a graded road and follow the signs for about two miles. Then you have a short walk to the top of a hill (Copper Ridge). No wonder these weren't found until 1989. The children are each sitting in giant sauropod tracks, maybe made by a Camarasaurus.
Kirk has his hand inside a theropod track, possibly an Allosaurus. It was fun to actually see dinosaur things outside of a museum.
Arches National Park
Our first stop on Friday afternoon was the Windows Arches section of the park.
As we were walking up to see the arches, a German tourist stopped us and asked if he could take a picture of our family. He said he wanted it "to show his brother-in-law." So among his pictures of amazing rock formations, he now has a photo of a Mormon family from Utah.
The sky really was brilliant blue and the rocks really red. But this is what the boys wanted to do:
They just wanted to play in what Edward called "cinnamon sand." They are playing with their little trucks.
The next day we hiked out to Landscape Arch, stopping to see Tunnel Arch and Pine Arch on the way.
Edward was not happy with this 1.9 mile hike. The next week, though, he did 1 mile in 20 minutes around the BYU running track.
We got to Landscape Arch and promptly turned around and went back to the car to eat lunch. It was getting hot (close to 70 degrees), which made us happy we were there in April and not the summer time.
We ended our trip with a visit to the best arch of all, Sand Dune Arch.
It is a tiny, child-sized arch on top of a sand dune, shaded by huge sandstone fins. It is like a huge sandbox.
All the children loved playing in the sand.
Lucy even rolled around in it, just like all the other children were doing. We enjoyed sitting on the cool sand and watching them play. Finally, we had to drag them away and go home, completely covered in sand.

Once a month post (just about)

We enjoyed Andrew's birthday and Easter a few weeks ago.
Andrew wanted a jungle birthday cake like his cousin Spencer's cake. It wasn't as nice as Spencer's cake, but it worked. Andrew's favorite thing to say to me the past few weeks is, "Mom, I'm smarter than you." About once a month, he'll say something nice as well, like today he said, "Mom, you are the prettiest woman in the world."
The children enjoyed watching General Conference on Easter Sunday. We kept the Easter basket stuff very simple--I didn't even put any of their few treats in a basket this year.
Lucy is wearing her new Easter dress I sewed for her. It is a bit long, since I didn't try it on her before I finished it. Since I can only sew when she was asleep, I didn't think about trying it on her until it was too late.