Halloween has already come and gone in Utah!

Kris just wrote to us and said, "We were in the other room talking when we heard this "auction" kind of talk going on. Here is what we found..." 

Look at those intense little faces.  Such serious stuff.




Little Rachel, taken just a few hours ago.

For the Rich and Lonely

Apparently this is true.
Mrs. Sun told us all about this in our retirement class last night. I had never heard of such a thing and it sounds so sad to me.


For people who live alone, particularly elderly people I suppose, they can sign up to have a TELE CAREGIVER for about $600-1000. a month.  This is where a person is always watching them, whenever they want, through SKYPE.  So apparently the lonely person carries their laptop room to room, having this companion all day or night. There are centers all throughout the world so there is always a live person to talk to. (As Mrs. Sun mentioned, Australia is having daytime when we are asleep, so perhaps during the night you would have an Australian friend. )


These lonely people actually bring their little laptop to the table when they are eating, so this live person on SKYPE is always there, ready to talk to them. I realize this is a way to provide companionship to those who have none, and can afford this....however, it sounds like such a fake companionship.


How sad to think there are elderly people, living all alone, who spend their last years on earth with their laptop "friend."


I wish I knew someone who lives this way. I'd be their friend. Not on SKYPE though.

Message from my son Brock

 And some pictures at the end :)
 
Written by Brock: 
 
"Since it's a question on so many of your minds and some of you have even been 
bold enough to ask, I'll just go ahead and say it: as far as we know, the new 
baby is Normal. 

The word "normal" is a funny thing. Some people really get offended by it, as 
though there never could be any such thing and any suggestion otherwise is to 
set up unjustified, unfair classes of people--have and havenots of the worst 
possible kind. But, as any parent of a special needs kid who has sat down with 
countless doctors, therapists and teachers to review skills progress can tell 
you, there most definitely is a Normal. There are even charts breaking down 
child development into the most minute of detail. Ask Erin at exactly which 
month a child should be able to scoop food with a spoon and I'll bet she could 
tell you off the top of her head. Bear in mind, this is not knowledge she 
actually wants. It's a consequence of having a special needs child. One of many.

Another consequence of having a child like Campbell is that you do not enter 
into the journey to the birth of your next child lightly. There's a reason Cami 
will be nearly six-years-old when Violet Nicole Heasley is born. (Yes, we're 
having another girl and that's her name. Don't steal it.) It takes a long time 
for special needs parents to process the new paradigm of their lives and weigh 
the risk of the new child not being Normal against the blessing of having her. 

Or, maybe it just took us a long time to figure this out. Either way, here we 
are, now, at this time. After lots of tears and struggle. 

None of this is to say that we are not grateful for Cami and what she has 
brought into our lives. Here's the thing about Cami: she's better than you. Cami 
doesn't sin. Cami is obedient. Cami is always happy, always has a smile  and 
loves everyone. If you smell bad, Cami will hug you. If you yell at her, she 
will forgive you. Instantly. Cami is perfect.

And there's something wrong with Cami. She's not Normal. 

Erin and I are Normal (possibly I less so), but we are not perfect. The first 
three years of Cami's life were some of the worst times we have ever 
experienced. The uncertainty, the worry, the disappointments when Cami did not 
meet her goals were, at times, more than we thought we could bear. We never had 
a diagnosis; never knew what was wrong with her. We desperately wanted to do 
everything we could to "make her right," but were always halted by the fact that 
we didn't really know what was wrong. We still don't. Erin and I are as strong a 
team as any I've ever seen, but the divorce rate among special needs parents is 
much, much higher than the average. And I absolutely know why.

The change that occurred in our lives after those first three years was slow and 
gradual. It started with backing off from the idea that God would make it all 
better right now. Instead, we started to accept what was happening and not think 
about the future. At all. We also started loving Cami for exactly who she is, 
and, save for those few inevitable reminders when someone says something 
thoughtlessly or a child we guess to be about the same age as Cami comes 
bounding by calling out for "Mommy," we don't think of her as anything but 
normal. Normal and perfect.

Everyone wants to know, but hardly anyone actually asks, "Are you afraid the 
next one will be like Cami?" Well, heck yes we are. As big a blessing as Cami is 
in our lives, we sure don't want to go through all this again. Maybe that's 
selfish. I know of parents out there who purposefully adopt children with 
special needs. Kudos to them, but we don't have that in us. This life Erin and I 
and Elora and Cami have together is tough stuff. Rewarding, but tough. 

Ask Erin and she'll tell you there's a lot about Cami's first year that she 
can't remember. That was the hardest year. We hold the experiences of that 
beginning time very close to us, something only to be talked about in the most 
reverent and safe of moments. It is not fodder for hallway discussion and the 
satisfying of curiosity. When people ask us about our next child and whether 
there is anything wrong with her, that gets right to the heart of our deepest 
fears and takes us right back to our most difficult times. A time that is so 
intensely personal and private. It's a mystery to us why anyone would think we'd 
want to be reminded about it in passing. 

I think people, even our friends and family, are well-intentioned but often 
bolder than they should be when it comes to a situation like ours. There are 
times and seasons when it is wholly appropriate to speak of our most sacred and 
special times, those times when the Lord has tested us and blessed us. And then 
there are other times when celebration is in order, when all is hope and 
excitement. That's the time we're in right now. Whatever else happens after 
February 18th, this is our time to be joyful with an eye toward the great 
blessing that a third child will bring into our lives. 

We hope that you can all join with us in that. Thank your for all of your 
support and well-wishes." 
 
 
Last week Den and I took Cami to the pumpkin patch. 
Just Den and I, and our little Cam Cam.  
 
We barely made it back in time before her school started.
 
All morning we had been peering into her mouth to see her first missing tooth. 
She would not let us take a look. 
So as I told her teacher my disappointment, she said, 
"Just tell her you want to see her missing tooth and she will show you." 
Why didn't we think of that? 
So I said, "Cami can I see your missing tooth?" 
She very proudly opened her mouth!

Did anyone see them?

 Let me just say that Dennis was a very restless sleeper last night. He was just so excited about seeing his baby girls on National TV. So was I. We loved every minute of it. And what you saw was not acting. Those 2 girls are always THAT animated and THAT much fun. 

Studio 5 in Utah, did a phone interview with Kim and Kris, live on their show today...before the Nate Berkus show aired.
Just get past this 15 second commercial.






Don't forget The Nate Show on Wednesday!

 Dennis' twin daughters will be on The Nate Berkus show this Wednesday.

 See them on the advertisement HERE!



While I'm at it, here's the update of Robbie's broken leg. 
(Robbie is Kim's youngest son, in case you are new here.)
Looks like his cousins are taking good care of him!

 And a few more New York pictures.

If you don't know what time The Nate Show is on in your area GO HERE.


The video below tells a little about them, plus I really really like the 30 second craft at the end.

Oh what to name the baby!

 I found the following article very interesting from The Wall Street Journal.

 

Baby Names Q&A: Why Jayden Rules the Crib


Getty Images
New York City revealed the most popular baby names for 2009 earlier this week: Jayden remained king among boys for the second year, and Isabella rose to the top after a second place finish in 2008. That made us wonder what’s in a baby name. How has Jayden reached this level of popularity? Why is Isabella on the rise?

We posed our questions to expert Laura Wattenberg, author of “The Baby Name Wizard” and creator of the popular website with the same title. It turns out we have Britney Spears to thank for the triumph of Jayden, and Utah could teach New York City a thing or two about creative names.

Metropolis: Give me a sense, nationally, of the baby naming scene. What are the trends?

Wattenberg: It’s easy to look at a list of the top baby names and find familiar names, like Matthew, and say: “Oh, names are traditional.” The names that ruled English baby naming for centuries are disappearing. Mary and John are the obvious examples. William, James, George and Henry were dominant names.
Even in last 30 or 40 years the percentage of babies getting a name in top 10 or 20 has plummeted. Individuality has become a prized virtue and there’s a kind of competitive landscape — a baby name arms race — where parents are determined to make their child stand out.
And we all think it’s a personal quirk of ours that I happen to like unusual names. But, in fact, that’s the trend for the whole country.

Metropolis: Does New York lead the nation in creative names?

Wattenberg: New York does not have a particularly creative baby naming culture. Utah is the creative baby naming capital.

Metropolis: When we look at the list of girls — Isabella, Sophia, Mia, Emily, Madison, Olivia — they are romantic names or soft names. What is behind that?

Wattenberg: You are sensing something about names. The most powerful trend in baby names is something individual parents are almost never aware of: we don’t like consonants anymore. Every parent will say I like old-fashioned names, quirky, I’m looking for something really powerful and creative. What they don’t say is, I’m really looking for a name with no two consecutive voiced consonants. That is really what America wants.

Metropolis: Let’s talk about Jayden.

Wattenberg: Oh, that’s an interesting name. A boy’s name usually, but not always. Some will tell you they chose it as a Biblical name (Jadon). Jayden started taking off after Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith named their son Jaden. That was perfect timing for an explosion of every name rhyming with Aiden: Jayden, Brayden, Caden, Zayden, Haden.
There were all different spellings of Jayden and all equally popular. Then Britney Spears named a son Jayden and she established the standard spelling. Jayden is at the top of the list because parents have agreed on one spelling.

Metropolis: Selfishly, I have to ask: Melanie is a rising name for baby girls born to Latina mothers. Is there a sudden resurgence in popularity for “Gone with the Wind?”

Wattenberg: Speaking of “Gone with the Wind,” you’ll note that Ashley is still a top ten name in New York and not at all in the rest of the country. And that’s because it’s increasingly a black and Latino name. New York is such a diverse city that a name can’t climb to the top of those lists without appealing to a broad cross section of races and cultures.

Metropolis: What about baby girl middle names, any standouts?

Wattenberg: Grace is the hottest middle name. Grace and Rose. The United States keeps no statistics on middle names, but Grace and Rose dominate as middle names much more than any first name dominates. It’s overwhelming.


So I ask:
Does anyone know what a name with "two consecutive voiced consonants" would be? Can you give me an example of what they are talking about here. I didn't get that part. 


And I wish Dennis would let me call him George, but he won't. I've always loved that name! His mother obviously liked it too.

Spring and Peck

Retirement Class #6

This was the best one yet. Our teacher, Spring Sun, had her husband, Dr. Peck Ung came talk to us about all the ailments we can possibly expect to come down with as we age. Well that was not exactly relaxing, but I did really enjoy learning about some of the new case studies.



Like this one that came out just last week.
They put 10 people on the same diet to lose weight. Only thing they varied was their sleep. Half slept 5 hours
a night, the other half a full 8 hours a night. Both groups lost the same amount of weight. However, the ones who only slept 5 hours a night lost muscle mass. Very interesting that lack of sleep can do this to a person.

Oh, and check out this one on being criticized:
They put people in 3 groups: friends, friendenemies, and enemies. (friendenemies are 'friends' who criticize us.) She said they are more harmful to us than we think we are.
So several people were monitored (heart monitors, etc) while talking on the phone to those 3 different kinds of people in their lives. They reacted most poorly (stress-wise) when they were talking not to their enemies, but to their friendenemies.



Or maybe we just need to follow Téa's example, and be excited about the little things in life.

Update on climbing on the table

We found something that really works! 
I hesitate showing this video because I sound like an old whiny woman. So turn down your volume.  
But I just had to share our solution.
It works like a charm! (My mom use to say that.)

Oh, and when the babies come over I usually have music on for them to help make them feel more at home.

Mourn with Those Who Mourn

 In case you missed this from my niece Carly's blog last week,
She wrote:


"This is the greatest lesson I learned this summer-

When your preschooler drops her ice-cream cone on the pavement after you've just told her to be careful and taught her the proper method of licking you should A) NOT say I told you so and B) hold her for a minute while she quietly sobs into your shoulder."

Love it!


This gives me an excuse to share a few pictures I took recently of Carly and Enoch's adorable children.  These were taken 2 months ago when Carly's brother Jake, married Katie Cleveland. 
Carly's oldest, Rivka.



Carly and Jude


And to get you all in the mood for Halloween next week...
Has it really been a YEAR AGO?!


Kim and Kris on National TV

The cat is out of the bag!



On October 27th Kim and Kris will be on the Nate Berkus Show!

If you ever watched Oprah, you will remember he was a regular on her show, 
until just last month when he got his own syndicated program!




Waiting to go on...

Jessica (Kris' daughter) having too much fun in the green room



Here in Fresno, Nate Berkus is on every weekday morning at 10am on FOX, or channel 26.
To find where he is shown in your area, GO HERE



Quite the adventure taking their girls with them last week for the taping.
What a view from their hotel!


Don't miss Den's girls on the 27th!

One of our churches burned down early this morning

It happened in Mukilteo, Washington, near Seattle. 
Some friends of Dennis attend church in that building.  
When they lived in Corona, Kim and Kris use to babysit their children.

About 800 people attended this church building every Sunday.


 From the news report:

"A two-alarm fire destroyed a church on Harbour Pointe Boulevard early Saturday.

Mukilteo fire crews were called to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around 3 a.m. They arrived soon after to see flames through the windows in the center of the church. Soon after, the fire shot through the roof and started spreading to the rest of the building. Five minutes later, the call for a second alarm was sent out.

Crews from Everett, Lynnwood and Snohomish County Fire District #1 came to help fight the fire. They quickly went into a defensive stance because of the intensity of the fire. The flames consumed the entire church, and eventually the building collapsed.

There was no one inside the church when the fire broke out, Mukilteo Assistant Fire Chief Brian McMahan said. No firefighters were injured while fighting the fire.

Crews will be at the site throughout the day to put out hot spots. The building is considered a total loss. Two wards, Harbour Pointe and Beverly Park, called the building home.

McMahan said that the fire was aided by the fact that there were no sprinklers in the building, as it was built before city codes required them. Investigators are at the scene trying to find a cause for the fire."




Our buildings are sacred to us, and it's just very sad to see these pictures.

Very thankfully no one was hurt. 

This would be such a loss to so many families and to their community. I am quite attached to our ward building...I have 20 years of good memories there. I would hate to lose it.

I just read that fire authorities say that it appears it was deliberately set.

Am I the only other person who stil does this??

 I would have never known I had this problem had I not read the paragraph (below) in a blog this week:


"Apparently, I am behind the times. I was taught to, and have till this moment, always follow periods and colons with a double space. I was just researching this online, however, and have found that it is now proper and acceptable to have only one space after any kind of punctuation mark, that to do anything else is old fashioned. I'm going to have a hard time putting this into practice as I've spent years typing and have always pushed the space bar twice after a period!"

So I promptly emailed my darling daughter in law Karen, who Dennis endearingly calls "the editing nazi" (she has a degree in this sort of thing) and asked her if this were true. Here's some excerpts from what she wrote back:


"Yep. This is accurate!.... From what I understand, the double spacing is left over from the days of the typewriter (and possibly early days of the computer). In fact, I only remember being taught maybe once in elementary to do double spaces, but by the time I was in middle school, no one was teaching that anymore.... I was surprised by the number of essays I would edit electronically that still had double spaces after periods. ..... I'm not sure how it all works, but what I do know is that double spacing, especially in scholastic and magazine writing really dates you."

So then I broke the news to my dear Dennis, who spends his work days approving reports for the medical board. He said,   
"No that's wrong.  I tell my investigators that I want 2 spaces after every period."  

So I said,  "Den we have been doing it wrong for years. You are telling them wrong. It's all changed. Honey, we are outdated."  


He then said he thought this generation was just lazy, squishing all their sentences close together. But he still loves Karen.


So my question to you is this:
Is this news to you,or not? 
Did you already know this?  


I'm going to try to change, but I can't promise. 
I may just settle on old fashioned.


When my sons looked like this....

I would often wonder who they would marry.
I prayed often for their wives, even way back when they looked that small.  




My prayers were answered.
Aren't they beautiful?
But far more important than that...they are sweet and bright and good. 
The list goes on and on.
I love them.


***Side note:  Of all the pictures I have of my sons, the one here is my favorite.  I took it when Tyler was just a week old.  The boys wanted to play detective with "newborn baby" as they called him.  Brock and Logan put their Dad's jammies over their own (I guess to seem more grown up being they were detectives and all).   I remember the pure joy I felt that day watching my 4 sons together.
I don't think we ever got dressed that day.
 

Our Valentine will be here in February!


Guess who is having a Baby!!!!!!!!!!

And it's a PINK one.


Look who will soon be big sisters!


YES, come February, this family of 4, will be a family of FIVE.

We just never know what blessings each year will bring...

I tear up just thinking about it.

Highlights of our weekend

This display at Trader Joes just made me happy

And who should we run into just as we were leaving?  
Once again, my brother Scott and his wife Kim!

Our granddaughter Jessica sent us this picture from her phone.  
She was in NYC!


Den and I sat through this movie on Furlough Friday.
I know it is getting good reviews, but to us, the acting was flat, the story line flat.  
We also did not like the subtle implications of the shallow role of being a wife and mother.
But it is very clean, and many love it, so don't listen to us.

Elora turned EIGHT!

Farmers Market! Love it.

Went to Penneys to buy 2 birthday gifts.
I always think of Vice President Spiro Agnew when I shop at this one.
Back in 1973, I learned of his resignation while working the evening shift.


 Elora was baptized by her Dad


 Cami, Elora and my niece Carly's little girls, Rivka and Hosanna.



My Dad with his great granddaughter right after the baptism.
(Susan was in Chico for her grandchild's baptism the same day!)

And then the grand finale for me....Sunday dinner with some of the cousins at Grandma Honeys.

At the end of this clip, you will see that Grandpa Dennis has had enough. 
He is telling everyone the party is over...he didn't know Brock was filming!

Courageous Parenting

I never felt right about sleepovers when my sons were growing up.  I just didn't.  But it was such a common thing to do, part of a "normal" childhood, right?

I was accused often of being overprotective.  Because of this,  I feared that my sons might "turn out" like the 2 'boys' down the street from us.  They never ventured out on their own, and still shared a wagon wheeled bedroom set, when they were in their 40s. If one of them came to see us, 5 houses down, their Mom would often call them within 15 minutes to make sure they were okay.

So no, I did not want my boys to be like them. 

I wanted them to be men, and move out, and have families of their own, and be happy.

So I suffered through the many sleepovers.  As the years went on, and the world got crazier, I started deleting more of their friend-sleepover ideas.  But I often felt like a Mom all on her own....no other Mothers I knew seemed to have a problem with it.

So can you imagine how happy I was last Sunday afternoon when Elder Larry Lawrence said this in his talk:

"May I express my personal warning about a practice that is common in many cultures?  I am referring to sleepovers, or spending the night at the home of a friend.  As a Bishop I discovered that too many youth violated the Word of Wisdom or the law of chastity for the first time as part of the sleep over.  Too often their first exposure to pornography, and even their first encounter with the police, occurred when they were spending the night away from home.  Peer pressure becomes more powerful when our children are away from our influence, and our defenses are weakened late at night...Always be prayerful when it comes to protecting your precious children."


I am so thankful for General Conference, and the guidance we get to receive.

I'm also thankful my sons all enjoy watching it, too.  Even when they live in Provo, and their Uncle Richard so kindly has them all over.  It's a great time to be with extended family. 

I heard that for some reason Sunday morning the water in the Mcs apartment wouldn't turn on.  
So they couldn't shower.  
Just as they were leaving to go to Richard's, the water came back on, so all they had time for was to brush their teeth! 
 
I heard that Richard made them all "delicious omelets."  
And cousin Lindsay made "Wendy's Cowboy Caviar."
And then later she made "delicious choc chip oatmeal cookies."  

Oh, and between conference sessions they all played an intense game of UNO. 

My SIL, Wendy, was here in Clovis for the weekend!
And of course Dennis was in Utah.
We are all back in our own homes now.

Thank you Karen for taking the pictures!!

My niece's cooking blog

My niece Julie...
has started a cooking blog! 
Check it out here.

Our DIY DISH girls



Den was so excited to see his baby girls film a DIY DISH episode, that I just had to include this.
The clip is only seconds long.  He had my old camera with him so it's not the best quality. 




We hope to let the cat out of the bag soon.

(This expression is from my Mom's day, so I'm not sure the younger generation knows what this means....or do they?)

Kris' Black Bean Burgers

While in Utah, Den got to watch his daughter Kris make Black Bean Burgers, or maybe she calls them Veggie Burgers. Whatever. 
But she is so cute, I like watching her make anything.

So she took a pause from DIY filming, to make these:



One more little clip of her:
I have not tried these but Dennis says they are very good.
I think it's time for me to get out my grill!


And her recipe, in case you are interested:

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...