Merry Christmas

I know of at least 5 people who will croak when they see that we have updated our blog.



Just remember that we are WAY busier than you are.




Since it is impossible to recap the last 3-4 months in one blog entry - just a couple of highlights. First, Kimball & Koria both decided within a week of each other that it is cool to throw up. In September, we got in the truck and drove up the mountain to enjoy the fall colors. 20 minutes into the trip, we were faced with our first case of toddler vomiting - all over the car.

Sure enough, within a week, Kimball had to have his turn on the way to Cedar City.


Since that time, we have had numerous other cleanups - because it is obviously "the" thing for 2 year olds to be doing right now. We have experienced washing off clothes and car seat upholstery in everything from lakes to rest stops. In fact, the next time you go to a rest stop, try washing vomit off of multiple items of clothing and blankets with the faucet that you have to push down every 5 seconds in order for water to come. And try doing that while people are come in and out, wondering what you could possibly be doing. It's pretty awesome.

As a sidenote, we love Chuck the TV show. Give it a try.

Back to stories. Halloween was a hit with the Kids. Kendra caused quite the stir at our ward trunk-or-treat with her costume. Kimball & Koria loved being Robin Hood & Maid Marian.

Finally, we were thrilled to go look for Christmas trees this year. Where we live, most people hunt year-round. And in case you didn't know, yes, there are hunts at all times of the year. It's not just the deer hunt, ok? Well, we don't hunt, so hunting for a tree is as close as we get. Thus, Kendra was extremely excited when we bagged this trophy tree.

Merry Christmas!

Go ahead and comment...

Article from the 1955 Housekeeping Monthly (Seriously)

** Disclaimer ** I know that Kendra will want me to say that she does not endorse this post. This is only to show how times have changed. Enjoy!!

GUIDELINES FOR HOUSEWIVES:

Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs.

Prepare yourself. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

Be a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and it is one of your duties to provide.

Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.

Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash their hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimise all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum.

Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure. Don’t complain even if he stays out all night.

Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house. You have no right to question him. A good wife always knows her place.

Thrill of the Ride

Our annual Black Family Day At Lagoon this year didn't start off as smoothly as we had hoped, but it sure ended well. Kimball decided to smear mud all over my khaki capris at 6:30 a.m., just as we were headed out for a week-long Fourth of July trip to Idaho, started off by events at the amusement park. He had broken away from Jared and I as we were trying to get loaded into the car and I ended up tackling him on the newly planted grass (a.k.a. mud hole) in the back yard. Believe me, it WAS the only way to stop him. With mud-caked sandles, I threw the punk over my shoulder and headed for the car. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the mud-stains until two hours into the trip. Uh, ... dark brown marks and khakis all day at Lagoon ... I don't think so. We took a quick detour to see Catherine the Queen and buy some new carpis (I wasn't complaining about the fact that I HAD to buy new clothes -- you do what you have to as a mom), followed by a quick stop at Artic circle for lunch. The corndogs were not a hit. Neither was the sunscreen that found its way into Kimball's eyes. He was so badly effected by it that his face broke out in hives, his eyes swelled up past the point of recognition, and his cries of despair turned into wails of agony. No, I'm not exaggerating. It was that bad.

By mid-afternoon, some of the wails had turned into moans, thanks to a few hundred runs in the waterslides at Lagoon-A-Beach. I even made a classic Kendra run on the one of the kid slides, causing a few raised eyebrows from the teenage lifeguards on duty. Can't adults scream as loud as the kids on the kiddie slides too? Anyway, the water did us a great service and took away the sting of the sunscreen from the few hours previous and the afternoon that followed was nothing short of "magical" for the kids ... and their parents.

There must be some sort of craziness that comes with red hair, because Koria was nothing short of insane on the rides. Jared taught her the art of the arms-in-the-air-scream which she mastered by her second roller-coaster ride. Kimball couldn't wipe the grin from his face, and neither could we.

With one final trip to Rattle Snake Rapids, we came out looking like one sunburned, exhausted, very wet family. Next year, we're not using sunscreen. At least not before noon.

Dough vs. Doneness

There's been a long-contested battle in the family as to which is better -- cookie dough strait from the mixing bowl, or fresh-out-of-the-oven, oozing with newly-melted chocolate cookies. Koria and Kimball set out to discover the truth for themselves. Since both versions contain extreme amounts of sugar and butter, obvious problems arose with scoring. We may never know the answer.

Shock Factor

Since we know how excited you all must be about the upcoming Democratic and Republican National Coventions (listed alphabetically in order to not be discriminatory), we decided to add some real shock to the world by updating our blog.

We also wanted to announce that Koria has officially embraced the hard-rock culture of the early to mid 1980's. You never know what is truly going through your 2 year old's mind until you discover too late that they have discovered mom's makeup bag while you weren't looking.

Also, since school has started back up, we want to say that it has been an awesome summer and thanks to all of you who made it such. We love summer. We will miss summer.

Top This..

Just to let you know about the housing opportunities in our area....

Kendra's Marathon Pics

As requested, here are the pics of me after the marathon. Sorry that there are no pics available from the triathalon and the heptathalon, but I was just too exhausted. I'm thinking about swimming the English Channel next.

Time Outs

So I'm a fan of "time outs" when Koria and Kimball are acting up, but some times, they are more effective than others. Yesterday they both landed themselves in trouble at the same time. They decided it would be fun to spit milk all over their toys, trampoline, books, ... and each other. Sounds like fun, egh? Effective or not, at least the milk spitting stopped and dry ground could again be found. The plastic shovels in Kimball's hands are his "swords." Those, and any other instrument with handles.

What happened to April and May?

Alright, alright. I get the hint. Everyone's let me know that I haven't posted on our bog for . . . a while now, so I am going to attempt to catch you up on a few of the highlights from April to June. Here we go:

1) We bought a truck, to which one of our neighbors responded by saying "Now you really belong in Emery County!" A slight gag-reflex followed (from me). Jared once pulled out of the Stake Center here in Huntington and saw a huge monster-truck type vehicle turning into the parking lot. He said that he was surprised to see a 90lb, 80 year-old, gray-haired woman in the driver's seat, all ready for church. Guess it's just a way a life in these here parts ... yes sir, I'ma thinkin' we done got ourselves a keeper! Funny thing is, I like it, and I like driving it even more. Maybe I'll be the little old lady in the driver's seat someday.

2) Jared was able to go with the Spanish Group on their first ever Temple Trip in April. In case you are trying the find him in this picture, he was the one taking it. Sorry.

3) Becky , a.k.a. "Aunt Amazing", came to stay with us for a week and help us out! We went "treasure hunting" for a few days (geocaching), explored the desert, hit the park, created a patio for the backyard, played some new games, watched some reruns, played in corrals with sticks and mud, and had one of the funnest weeks we have had since the last time she was around! The kids are still asking me if we can go find "treasure" every time we get in the car and pretend to call Aunt Becky on their play phones every two minutes. Gotta love her!

4) Kimball decided to come down with a nasty case of sinus infection, which led to asthma attacks, which led to a two-day trip to the hospital, which led to a bizarre case of Roseola and more meds than we care to remember! Kimball actually started to like the hospital when he realized he could watch cartoons all day and eat an endless supply of popsicles. The nurses gave him a stuffed toy doggie that sings "Honey, You are my Shining Star" and lights up when you push his paw. Since our return home, K&K get a kick out of playing it every night for hours on end when they are supposed to be going to bed. Jared and I can hear that song from the other side of the house, followed by lots of laughter. Whatever makes you happy. We are happy to say he's doing much better, the rash has cleared up, the nebulizer meds that make him wired have worn off, and he's back to attacking Koria and running around like a mad man. Koria's happy to have him back too ... at least we think. We KNOW she's happy to be bossing him around again.

5) We planted grass in the backyard and are hoping the patches turn into a lush tropical oasis in the desert. Picture is pending tropical oasis success.

6) Jared had his 27th birthday ... again! I made sure he had enough candles to blow out. Golfing, a movie, a night out, cake, icecream, a good day.

7) I ran a marathon, followed by a triathalon, followed by a heptathalon. I'll try to find a picture that makes this seem legit. Until then, you will just have to trust me.

Well, that's only a taste of the last couple months. The hightlight are better than lowlights (speaking of which, I had some bad lowlights put into my hair last spring immediately following a freakishly bad highlighting job --I don't recommend it) so we'll keep it to this. Life is good. Maybe I'll just try to keep up over the next few months to avoid another mega post. How's that sound?

At What Age do you Allow Children to Pick Their Clothes?

Easter Celebrations

We decided to celebrate Easter before we left on our trip since we would be gone for the holiday, so we had an Eater Egg hunt and dyed eggs for FHE the Monday before leaving. Koria was a lot like me (Kendra) when I was her age -- she hunted as hard and as fast as she could and destroyed the competition. Her basket was so full of eggs that after about three minutes of searching, I had to get her another bowl and empty out the original basket for a third round. Kimball figured out on his second plastic egg that there was candy inside, so he just picked one up at a time, eating as he went, until all the contents were gone. We don't know how much sugar was consumed that night, but the dentist will be loving the Black family for years to come.

Nauvoo: 3/22/08

Nauvoo: 3/21/08

Nauvoo Trip: Day 1

Highlights: Getting to fly!! (picture of Kendra in the airplane). Also, we HIGHLY recommend booking the emergency exit aisle as we had at least 3 times the legroom of everybody else on the plane.


After landing in St. Louis, we got our "Black" family rental car:

Less than an hour after landing in St. Louis, we had made it to the Temple, which is just off the Freeway - very cool!!

Below is the picture that the very nice Temple grounds worker took of Kendra and I in front of the temple. (yes, we were also surprised that we are not in the picture).

Also, we were the VERY FIRST people in the history of the Church to get to try out the new Nature Trail on the Temple grounds!!

This morning, we're up early & off to see Nauvoo. More pictures to come.

Snow White & the Seven Little WHAT'S???

It's been a really great winter here in Huntington, with snowstorm after snowstorm. We're definitely ready for Spring now, but the snow was pretty awesome. At one point, we had well over a foot of snow on the ground, with drifts and snowbanks that were several feet high. The snow is beautiful not only in that it is nice and white, but also in that it hides all of the ugly things underneath it.

The snow has now melted, and as the dirt in our backyard started to show again, we noticed that there were some unsightly things in our backyard. At first, I thought they might be really big mushrooms, but Kendra immediately recognized them for what they were.

The most amazing thing is that they're almost perfectly spaced. It's as if seven cows stood right next to each other and pooped.

That, friends, is life in Huntington!!

NO!!

To celebrate their birthday today, apparently Kimball & Koria decided to all-of-the-sudden get extremely cranky. Kendra and I thought this was going to be a fun weekend with lots of exciting birthday things going on. Instead, it's been one crying toddler after another.

To top things off, Koria has developed a very frustrating new favorite word, which is NO!!

I capitalize it and put exclamation points to emphasize the fact that she does not just say no. She says NO!! with attitude, emphasis, and authority. And she says it over and over and over and over. She has probably been in time out more than she hasn't the last day or two. And in Sacrament Meeting, naturally, she was at her best. Even her nursery leaders admitted to us that she says it alot.

Just for fun, I'm attaching a picture from today, when she was in a NO!! mood.

So how exactly do you teach a barely-two-year-old that she does not run around telling everybody in her path NO!! Well, apparently you don't. Grrrrr

Is a Vacation Really a Vacation?

As we prepare to leave this Thursday for our 5 day trip to Nauvoo & Independence, I keep asking myself if it is really worth it. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to go--it's just that I have to put myself in double-time mode just to get everything done so that I can leave (and I still won't get it all done, or even close). And there's always that thought in the back of my mind that leaving for 5 days just means that I'll have 5 days of extra stuff to get done when we get back. Nevertheless, it will be fun!!

KENDRA AND I DO PLAN ON UPDATING OUR BLOG AS TIME ALLOWS WHILE WE ARE ON VACATION, SO CHECK BACK FOR NIGHTLY UPDATES ON MARCH 20-24!!

Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence

In talking with a close friend recently, I was reminded of a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles given in 1999. It helped me out at a time when I was making some life-changing decisions, and still helps me to this day. I think of it often and thought I'd share the link with any of you who might be interested. Dano da vi pomognish! Here's the link:
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=9da4196b5a1eb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Welcome to the Gun Show

Thanks to everyone who cast their votes on the Hellga vs. Aunt Kendra contest. I (Kendra) have to agree with the overwhelmingly high numbers of voters who voiced their opinions and said that I look much, much tougher than Hellga. Must have been these guns I've been packing around since the twins were born. I'm on my way to the dentist this afternoon for who knows what kind of procedures. Maybe I will opt for no shots to numb my mouth, no anesthesia, no medicane of any kind. After all, the polls don't lie. This body can handle anything!
And Lance, you're comment about how I would be snapped in two like a little twig by Hellga was funny. Very funny.

Watching Scooby-Doo

It's an Aquired Taste

So every now and then, I decide to get a bit adventurous in what I feed the kids for lunch. Maybe "desperate" is a better description. I was searching the pantry yesterday for something to give the kids to eat when I came across a can of split pea and ham soup that looked like it had been there since the 60's (no offense Mom and Dad), so I decided to give it a shot. Kimball will usually eat just about anything with a high consentration of preservatives in it, so I wasn't that surprised when he liked it. Koria . . . well . . . I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

In case you don't know, red hair equals attitude. No myth about it. It's not an urban legend. It's fact. Proven fact. I can't blame her reaction on the hair alone though. The soup had a striking resemblence to some other substances she's familiar with . . . need I say more? And just so that you don't assume that the title of this post refers to my cooking in general, Kimball told me last week that the chicken I had made for dinner was "delicioso." You can learn a lot from Dora.

The Week That Was

First off, we definitely need to talk about Hellga. This would be Hellga who stars on the new American Gladiators show that has been on TV lately. Lest you think otherwise, Kendra and I want to be clear that we have NOT been watching this show. But apparently there are others who have. One of these individuals is our super-awesome niece Taeya, who we think might be named "athlete of the year" at her school. She's pretty good at stuff like that. Let's rewind to a week or two ago and recap a telephone conversation that I (Jared) had with Taeya:

Jared: "Hi Taeya, how's it going?"

Taeya: "Good"

Jared: "So what are you doing right now?"

Taeya: "I'm watching American Gladiators"

Jared: "Cool"

Taeya: "Yeah"

Jared: "So do you wish that you could be on American Gladiators?"

Taeya: "I don't think I'm old enough"

Jared: "I hear that you've been tearing it up at Basketball"

Taeya: "Yeah, I'm pretty good. But mostly at dribbling and playing defense. I still need to work at shooting"

Jared: "That's okay. Did you know that Aunt Kendra like to play basketball?"

Taeya: "Really?"

Jared: "Yeah, and she is good at defense too because she is like a tall, tough girl"

Taeya: "Yeah - she's like Helga"

Jared: "Who is Helga?"

Taeya: "She's the really tall strong lady on American Gladiators"

So there you have it. Naturally, Kendra and I had to look up a picture of Helga (which we found out is actually spelled "Hellga" - to make it scarier apparently). And I can see why Taeya would compare the two. What do you think about the resemblance? Please cast your vote on the right hand side of the page.






























Okay - on to other things. For those of you who are Harry Potter fans, there is such a thing as the "Howler". If you've seen the movies, a howler is an envelope carrying a message from another person. The howler delivers this message by flying in, SCREAMING the message to the recipient - causing all sorts of commotion and embarrassment - and then self-destructing.

I mention this because we had an incident at church last Sunday that reminded me of the embarrassment Ron faced in Harry Potter when he got a howler from his mom while all of the kids at Hogwarts were eating lunch in the Great Hall. So substitue the chapel for the Great Hall, and our Ward Members for the students at Hogwarts, and hear me out.

So Kendra had been asked to give the closing prayer, which under normal circumstances should not have been a problem. Well, as she got up to leave, I put both of the twins on my knees so that I could hold them and help them be reverent during the prayer.

Kimball seems to be going through some separation anxiety right now, and apparently it hit him at maximum force when Kendra left to give the prayer. He started screaming and screaming - at the absolute top of his capacity - for his mom. So naturally, Koria started to scream too. By the time Kendra got to the pulpit and started the prayer, they were so loud, I could not hear anything Kendra was saying. So the thoughts going through my mind are, "I wonder if anyone is being bothered by this?", "How embarrassing", "I wonder if Kendra is noticing this?", etc, etc.

Kendra keeps giving the prayer, and - even though I didn't think it possible - they just get louder and louder by the second. But you know - it's the middle of the prayer, she should be done in just a few seconds - so I didn't think I should get up and take them out - because that would be more of a distraction. I wish this were captured on video camera because it's just hard to understand the whole scene if you weren't present.

Anyway, at one point in the prayer (Kendra told me this afterward), she actually fake coughed because it was the only way for her to keep from laughing. Meanwhile, I'm desperately trying to "shhh" the twins - but ofcourse they can't hear me over themselves, so that did no good. So I'm getting more embarrassed by the second, quickly realizing that within the confined space, everybody had to be noticing. I mean, a chapel isn't that big - and it kind of echoes.

Well, by the end of the prayer, I had mind-talked myself into believing that nobody had even noticed - you know, that it wasn't as bad as I was imagining. Wrong. The second Kendra said "Amen", the ENTIRE ward started busting up in laughter. It was that bad. And of course, every set of eyes went directly to me. I looked up, and the Bishopric was looking right at me, totally laughing. Everybody else was staring. I myself was laughing so much from the embarrassment and surrealism of the moment that I started laugh-crying because I guess I just didn't know how else to react. It was just an unbelievable moment in time that we will never forget. Not to mention, it was the talk of the ward for the rest of the day. Thanks twins!! - especially Kimball!!

Other noteworthy events of the last week or two:

1) Koria got her first curlers (we know our grandmothers will be so proud!)



2) The twins enjoyed playing outside in our PLENTIFUL snow





















3) Kendra was awesome - she finally broke up the two-feet thick ice chunks that have been building up on our back sidewalk.

4) We went to Richfield to spend time with Grandma & Grandpa & watch some basketball.

Black Familia Slideshow