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

Clothing is Optional

So up until a couple weeks ago, I (Kendra) didn't know that Jared had even started a blog for the fam, and after reading some of the entries, I thought I better let my side of the story be heard and put some Kendra into this site.

I'll make this first entry short -- I hear mass destruction going on in the playroom. About a week ago, I found K&K in the back entryway, standing on top of a drawer that they managed to pull apart, partially naked. Koria had ripped her jacket and shirt open and pulled her diaper down as far as it could go. Kimball had ditched his pants and was working on his diaper by the time I found them. Later on that afternoon, I went to get them up from their nap and they were working on the same look. Life as a one-year-old is good.

Wait . . . I'm not hearing anything coming from the playroom now. That's worse than mass destruction . . . better run.

New First Presidency

We're happy to sustain the new First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. President Thomas Monson, 1st Counselor Henry Eyring, and 2nd Counselor Dieter Uchtdorf. Great men and prophets.

Baby Steps

I think that the interesting thing about raising your own kids for the first time is you keep thinking that once they get past "this stage" that it will somehow get easier. We've finally figured out that with each new thing that the twins learn, one responsibility comes, and another one goes away. For example: we decided at the start of the new year to put the twins in beds. Kimball was at the point where he could climb out of his crib anyway, so it was probably time. So, we've spent lots of time helping them learn to go to sleep in beds - which Koria does well, and Kimball not so much (he's always getting out and wanting to play). Well, they're doing better now - and Kendra and I had been thinking "wow - our kids actually sleep in beds now - we just put them in bed and they've got it down." So, you know, we were kind of proud of ourselves for having passed that hurdle.

Well, about a week ago, they discovered how to open and close doors. And any parent knows that any time your child(ren) gains further abililty to access areas of your house, it can be an interesting time. So we promply responded by putting the plastic doorknob covers on all of the doors that we don't want them opening--INCLUDING AND ESPECIALLY their bedroom door (from the inside). You know--we didn't want them wandering the house in the middle of the night. So, we thought we had that problem solved. Wrong.


Yesterday morning, at precisely 5:55 am, Kendra and I woke up to our precious children opening our bedroom door. Both of us later admitted that our first thought was "how did they get out of their bedroom?" The answer? They ripped the plastic doorknob-thingy right off. Simple as that.


On another note, Kimball has his first crush - Dora the Explorer. He can't take his eyes off. And Koria is pretty much the same with Diego.


On a second other note, Kendra had our family home evening lesson tonight. We've decided to start teaching lessons about the basics of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Tonight's was on Heavenly Father. May I just say that Kendra's sense of humor can be summed up in her first teaching moment for the lesson. She showed a paper to the twins that said, "Who's Your Daddy?" I'm glad the lightning rods didn't strike immediately, and I'm glad that Heavenly Father apparently has a sense of humor too!!


That is all for tonight. Thanks for reading.

Thanks President Hinckley

We were surprised and saddened this week at the passing of our Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley. We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and have tremendous respect and love for President Hinckley. He is a man who lived the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the fullest, and who was the ultimate example to all. Thank you for a lifetime of service to others. We love you President Hinckley, and we will miss your wisdom. This world is now without one of the all-time greats.

We'll Try

As an attempt to communicate better with our family and friends, we promise to post a weekly message!!! That is, until we get too busy and forget to do it. Seriously, we'll try.

With the average temperatures hovering around 10 degrees, we've had plenty of opportunity this winter to discover that Kimball and Koria LOVE being outside in the cold and snow. Not that they would get cold, considering they get bundled up in 10-20 layers of clothing :)

Life Changing Events

Some things change your life for a day, week, month, or even a year. Having twins changes your life forever!! Kendra and I are very exhausted but also very happy to have Kimball and Koria in our family. Born in March, they are now almost 6 months old and seem to grow about an inch a day (they were 20" when born, and are now both over 28"). We're afraid that we've got a couple of giants for kids!

Obviously, it has taken me a long time to update my blog. One of the biggest changes from having twins is that I no longer have any time! But, I have to admit that it is a lot of fun to come home and play with the kids every day (especially now that they actually smile and acknowledge my presence once in awhile).

As for other, more minor changes, I started a new job working for the State of Utah as a Human Resource Analyst back in January. I'm now 7 months into it, and I still love going to work every day. That's always a good sign. Kendra and I moved into our new house in June. This is the first time we have purchased a home, so it was a little scary, especially after signing my name and writing my initals for the 1,000th time on the loan papers (no, we weren't quite able to pay cash for the house). The only television shows Kendra and I watch anymore are the home decorating shows on HGTV and TLC. If we had any spare money, maybe we could actually do some decorating to our home, but in the meantime it is fun to see what other people do. We did paint our living room a sage green, but other than that, everything is still white and plain. And I might add that painting a room is quite challenging when you have to stop every 10-15 minutes to take care of your babies.

All of this has made for a very exciting 2006!

My First Ever Blog.............

It's hard for me to decide what to write about in my first ever blog. I'm not the type of person that will update this every day, so I think it's okay for me to re-cap Christmas. For the first time in a long time, my entire family was in Panguitch for Christmas. This is for a few reasons. Of course, Kendra and I rotate our Christmas visits between Sugar City and Panguitch, so it had been two years since we had gone to Panguitch. Also, my brothers have been gone on missions for two years. Mike got back from Brasil in November and Matt returned from Portugal in early December. It had been 3 years since they had been home for a Christmas. Anyway, with everybody home, it was nice - but very busy!

We did a few fun things over the holiday. I played a lot of Star Wars: Battlefront II with Matt and Mike. The big video game of the holiday though, was Mario Kart: Double Dash on the Gamecube. Trevin, Abby and Taeya all played it alot, along with us "adults." A few of us also played a game of Carcasonne. We watched a few movies, including a surprisingly good Serenity (I want to watch the Firefly series now). Regrettably, we were never able to go see King Kong or Narnia at the theater, nor were we able to play our traditional game of Clue: Master Detective. I think Jana was a little disappointed, so we'll have to make it a sure thing in two years.

There was absolutely zero snow in Panguitch or the surrounding mountains, so we didn't get to go sledding or tubing. The temperatures had to be in the 40's or 50's most of the time - so it was nice to go outside - it just wasn't very wintery. Instead of tubing, we went to the Panguitch Park and played on the new equipment there. Close by was the Panguitch River, where we had fun breaking ice and throwing rocks in. We all had a great time at the park.

Christmas morning was a mad-house. With presents for 17 people in one room, the paper and ribbon was about 3 feet high when we got done. I think my nephew Jaden was completely lost under it all. Being Sunday, we all went to church at 11. Most of Panguitch was there.

That is all for now. Until the next........