Emma Signing Video

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Hey! I am experimenting with a new way to upload videos. I found a site called VideoEgg.com which allows me to post video directly onto my blog, instead of having it hosted by another site. It may be easier to view video if it is directly on the site, instead of having to go through another link and then wait forever to for it to download. So, let me know what you think. I've also provided a link to the video on the sidebar under "Home Videos" so it can viewed quickly later on down the road. (Because I just know you'll want to watch it many times over in all your spare time).

Oh, and about the video... There's a part in it where I ask Emma is she wants to play with her toys. She responds by shaking her hands. At the time I thought this was her way of showing she was frustrated, but later realized that she was signing "play". This sign is actually done by shaking two "y's" (thumb and pinky extended), but Emma adapted it into something she could actually do at this point. What a smart baby I have! (says the biased mother)

And wait.. there's more! Back by popular demand (and with the handy help of VideoEgg), the clip of Ben aboard the Sky Diver has returned! Scroll down to the post entitled "Late Night Partying" or locate the post listed on the sidebar to see Ben almost plummet to his untimely death! dun, Dun, DUN! This video can also be viewed through the link provided under "Home Videos". Boy, I am just making this so convenient for you!

Roses in December

So, I just received a CD full of old pictures from my family. I spent quite some time yesterday looking through them all. There is something about looking through family photos. They can be so meaningful and quickly bring back a tide of memories and feelings as well. In fact, I was just reading in the Ensign last night and President Monson quoted the poet, James Barrie, who said, "God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December." What a wonderful truth! So in honor of my fond memories, I thought I might post some of my favorite of the photos I was sifting through. It's not like these are really ancient. They were taken within the last few years, but some of them really make me giggle.

Here's me and the dad at BYU graduation. I remember recently watching a video where dad asked Sarah what she thought of the ceremony. Sarah replied, "boring", which I am sure it was. Nonetheless, it was a great milestone, and it was nice to have an event to tie it to.


Oh, the glorious Mit! For those of you who are not aware, Aaron worked at Arby's before leaving for his mission. This is him dressed up as the Arby's Mit. He was so animated in that costume, running around next to the busy street, jumping up and down. He drew quite a bit of attention that day. Here is Mom with the Mit.


These pictures were both taken near St. George. I believe we took this trip around March or April of 2004, a few months before Aaron left. The one to the left depicts Ben saving Dad from an imminent death. There are a many other things I remember from this trip...one of which being mom's "Indian marbles". Also while on this trip, the boys went golfing while the girls shopped around through the St. George Outlets. And if my memory serves me correctly, dad could often be found playing the "shark" in the hotel pool.





This next picture is of the family at Niagara Falls on the Maid of the Mist. We got rather wet on this adventure. I remember we were trying to take pictures and video while on the boat... we tried keeping our cameras covered with our rain slickers while recording. It was rather tricky.


These last two pictures are of Emma while much smaller in size. The one on the left is Emma at about 3 months. The one below is of a practically bald Emma at 8 months sitting in Grandma Szymanski's backyard, playing with some lovely fall leaves.



I hope you've enjoyed this walk through the past with me. You may also click on any of the pictures to view them larger, just in case you would like to see our lovely faces even more clearly. :) Have a lovely day!

Plyatise

Ooooo! I just love 24! Last night's episode was so great! Only 5 episodes to go... it will be interesting to see how it all pans out. Emma and I had a typical day. We didn't do anything particularly interesting, not to deter you from reading further. Maybe I can make my day sound more intriguing than it really was.... let's see...


.... it started out as any other day... Emma awoke a little after 6. I stirred to hear Emma whimpers ("Mommy, come get me... I'm hungry... I want breakfast... NOW!). So, I arose from my bed chambers, and entered Emma's abode. She reached out her arms and signed food and drink (in case her sympathetic whimpering hadn't already let me know). She then gave out a big grin as I brought her to the kitchen. However, when she smiled so big I was shocked to discover that ALL her teeth had come in during the night! "Wo Emma", I said... "That's a lot of teeth growing you have done there!" She winked and then responded, "Soy un bebe maravillosa!" ... What did you say?! "You can speak Spanish too?!" I replied in amazement. How did this happen?! Where did this child come from?! "It's okay mom; I am from the Plutonian planet, Plyatise." "What!" I said, "I didn't just ask that question out loud, did I? You are from another planet and you can read minds?! This is incredible!".....


Hmmm... well, that didn't really happen, but that would have been quite the interesting story to post about my day, eh!? In real life, Emma and I ate breakfast, did chores, napped, went to the grocery store, ate lunch, napped, went to the park, ate dinner, took a bath, and went to bed. Amid all those mundane activities, Emma had a messy yogurt snack (which is depicted below... and looking disturbingly similar to one of Plyatise's swamp creatures).

A Pleasant Sunday

Happy Sunday! Sunday is usually such a pleasant day. Church is a nice change of pace from the rest of the week, and coming home to a good nap is always welcome as well. So, as with most Sunday's, we had a good day today. Church went smoothly. Emma made it through church without getting too out of control. Ben and I both had teaching responsibilities today. When that happens I usually have someone in the primary presidency keep an eye on her in the hall, but she was actually quite good in my primary class this time. The kids especially enjoy her company. It can be distracting, but it wasn't too bad. She even colored a little on a CTR shield with the rest of the kids. After church, we ate a late lunch (since we have the 11-2 schedule), and Emma and I both took naps, while Ben continued studying for his physiology test in the morning. Earlier this evening, I took Emma over to our nearby playground to help her get her wiggles out. She sure has a lot of energy to expend each day! No wonder she sleeps so hard. Speaking of sleeping, it is now 6:12 pm, and Emma is in bed. I sure do love her early bedtime! I now have the evening to do my own things... blog, for example. I also plan on writing to Aaron (my missionary brother!) and watching a movie or something. How pleasant, eh? The picture below (and above) were taken on our outing to the playground today. This one was taken mid-sprint!

Emma, the Fish

I hope you are all having a splendid day! Today's weather for beautiful Phoenix is sunny with a high of 87. Emma and I went to the zoo yesterday morning with Emily and Adam. It was a lovely day, but bombarded by school groups, so it was quite crowded and rather rowdy. They have a fun water feature that the kiddies can play in. They turn it on when the summer weather is approaching. We lathered the kids up in sunblock and watched them get all wet. Emma enjoyed the water, but kept trying to run away (to find some animals, I suspect). She required constant supervision and redirection to keep her within the designated play area. But it was a fun time and Emily and Adam are especially fun company.
Later that evening, Ben, Emma, and I went to a surprise birthday party for Aubree and Jenny (wives of other medical students). Emma had an especially great time in the water... not to make anyone nervous, but she even fell in once with her clothes all on (don't worry momma, I was right there, and grabbed her out by the arm right away). When she emerged from the water, she even clapped and giggled. She is a fish, not a human baby.
No big plans for today. I need to plan a primary lesson (way to wait till the last minute! gosh!), and clean the house some. That doesn't sound like a fun day. I'll have to find something exciting to do, and I'll be sure to inform you all if I succeed.

Birthday Boy!

Ben turned the big 2-6 yesterday. He had a very busy day. Much busier than usual - and on his birthday, poor thing. He had class from 8-12 and 1:30-5 and then 5:30-9:00. He didn't even get home till after 9:30. My, my... they sure keep medical students busy. The crazy thing is, he is doing all this work, and we are paying THEM! Goodness sakes. Anyway, I tried to make the day pleasant enough, despite him being absent much of the day. Emma and I made him a birthday poster to hang up. It said "Happy Birthday Daddy!". Emma also helped me put confetti inside several balloons. Those turned into more of a toy for Emma the past couple days, than anything that Ben was really able to enjoy. It has also resulted in confetti all over the carpet, and I kept catching Emma trying to eat it (which is funny in and of itself, because she soon realizes that it is not food and then tries to get it out of her mouth while pulling faces and getting rather frustrated... and yet, she did it over and over again). I vacuumed the carpet today to avoid anymore such occurances. Anyway, Ben received an electric razor for his birthday present. It seems to be working well, and I am blessed with a well-shaven Ben. While Ben was away at his evening meeting (and after Emma went to bed) I made a lemon meringue pie. This may help you understand the picture I have posted with this article.... you know, one of Strawberry Shortcake's friends, Lemon Meringue.... such nostalgia. However, as seems to happen often when I try to make something for a special occasion, I ran into a few problems. While I was cooking the lemon filling, it started to burn so I removed it from the heat before it actually started to boil, so after refrigerating it for a couple hours, it still wasn't firming up. I ended up letting it chill overnight, but it was still runny. This morning, I decided to just cook the filling again till it thickened up some more... that solved the issue and we ended up having pie this morning... nothing like lemon meringue pie in the morning!
So, Ben's birthday was nothing wild and crazy, but nonetheless, it is fun doing even small things for someone you love. Now, just in case you weren't having a pleasant day already, here is a nice Emma smile to cheer you up!

"Late Night" Partying

Since Ben and I had The Emma, our lives have changed greatly. The thing that seems to have changed the most is our ability to go out in the evening. We used to go out several times each week to a movie or out to eat or just out shopping. Nowadays, Emma is usually pooped out and ready for bed at 6:00, meaning we're in for the night as well. Occasionally, however, this trend is broken with a special outing that is oh so welcome. Last night Ben's school was hosting a students night at Castles and Coasters - the lone, rather small amusement park in the Phoenix area. We decided to be "fun" and go... so, we got Emma up after having gone to bed for an hour. We met up with some friends, who also have kiddies, and we traded off babysitting while the rest went on a roller coaster, or log ride, or other cheap, but entertaining amusement. It was quite a fun evening! Ben went on the "Sky Diver" several times. I refused to ride myself... I've never really enjoyed the rides that just make you ill. I love a good roller coaster, but not something like this.
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Well, I hope you all have a splendid day. Don't forget, tomorrow is Ben's birthday! He is turning 26! Hooray for Ben! Growing old, and wiser too!

Tasty Peeps

I hope you all have had a great Easter. It was fun to watch Emma collect Easter bunny treats. Emma especially enjoyed the marshmallowey, sugary goodness of several Peeps. At last year's Easter, she was still such a lump. But I do remember that she smiled for the first time on Easter Sunday. It was so darling... she was lying on a blanket on the floor and turned her head to see the sunshine out the window. She smiled at the sun, and we all praised her good work. It's amazing how much she has grown in just one year. Be sure to view the new Easter videos I've posted links for on the side. Then you can see for yourselves how big she is really getting. As you can see, this site is turning more and more into an "Ode to Emma". Ben is currently finishing up some studying for his neuroscience test tomorrow morning. He is such a hard worker. Emma is lucky to have such a responsible, dedicated daddy. And we are even more lucky to have an Emma.

Easter!

Happy Easter weekend! Easter is such a lovely time of the year. I love the holiday colors, family get-togethers, eggs, dresses, and of course... the chocolate! I just love chocolate, however, it can vary widely in flavor and texture. Some chocolate is just superb, and other chocolate is not even edible. Why is that? Those companies that make such horrible tasting chocolate - what are they forgetting to put in it, or what are they adding to it that makes it taste so bad? And how can they live with themselves, knowing that their product isn't even what it claims to be, for bad chocolate shouldn't even be called chocolate, but by some other name....

Thanks to Sarah, here is a site on "how to recognize fine chocolate":
www.intemperantia.com

I trust that all of you will be having a great Easter weekend. I hope it includes a glazed ham, and plenty of great tasting chocolate on the side. I leave you with an Easter greeting in the form of an Emma.

My new blog!

Hey friends and family! This is so fun having a blog! It will be nice to keep in touch with you all. Maybe some of you non-bloggers will change your ways, eh? I hope to post many pictures and spout off nonsense whenever possible. Have a great day! Oh, and as always, Emma wishes she were giving all of you a hug and kiss right now.