conversation in the car

As we left the library today, Emmy overheard the man on the radio say the word "swooping". 

E: "What does 'swooping' mean Mom?

I am the absolute worse with definitions. I prefer to describe.

T: "Swooping can mean to drop down really fast, like when a bird is flying (motioning with my hand), it will swoop down to catch a worm."

E: "Drop down?"

T: "Yeah, like this (motioning with my hand again)."

E: pausing to think about it.... "So, who drops the bird? Does the monkey drop the bird or does the giraffe drop the bird?"

....

You got me there, Emmy. 

These 3 year old questions are hard. 

easter weekend

We missed spending Easter with family and friends this year, but there were some advantages to spending the holiday with just the four of us. Our schedule was really flexible, for one. Also, planning was kept to a minimum and expectations were low. It was a very easy going and enjoyable weekend.
Saturday we dyed eggs, had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard, had a surprise visit from Bryant's cousins, Grant and Taylor, and bought items to beautify our yard.

 Getting ready to head out back to hunt for eggs.

 Peter had no interest in hunting for eggs. Once he found two, he was perfectly content walking around the yard with a firm grip on his found treasure.

 Besides showing off her very adorable, new poses for pictures, Emmy was all over this year's egg hunt. I went a little overboard and hid 60 eggs. Emmy found 58 of them.

Our Easter Sunday was beautiful. The weather, our church meetings, dressing up in our Easter best. I loved making matching bow ties for Bryant and Peter. They looked so handsome!

 Doesn't Peter look so much older here?!

Earlier in the week on Monday night we talked about the reason for celebrating Easter. It was a special moment teaching Emmy and Peter about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We first explained what death was. Then we went on to explain a hypothetical situation:

If Mommy died, Daddy, Emmy and Peter would all be really sad because you wouldn't be able to be with me every day. You would really miss Mom, and that's okay. But you don't have to be sad forever. You can be happy knowing and remembering that you will see Mommy again! Because Jesus Christ resurrected, so will Mommy. My body and my spirit will come back together and I'll be able to be with you and hug you and kiss you again! 

I couldn't help but feel so grateful as I imagined that possibility and the reality of being separated one day from my sweet children, husband and others I love. I am so grateful for the hope, the joy, the peace and the purpose that Christ's Atonement provides. I'm grateful to be celebrating a miraculous occurrence that will one day be experienced by all.

Happy Easter!

peter is 18 months

I just got back from our girl's weekend in AZ with my sisters and mom. It was such a blast! Thank you, Bryant, for staying home with the kids.

But onto our Peter --

-- he's 18 months! And it has taken that many months to finally start sleeping through the night. We're not all the way there yet, but we're close!
Some other points of interest:
*his best friend is Emmy
*he can't spend enough time outside
*he still has his chubs and we love it!
*he officially likes Dora and Beauty and the Beast. I imagine his desire to wear princess dresses will follow soon. Just one of the many benefits of being a younger brother to a sister.
*he's in the testing stage of hitting. His preferred targets are Emmy's baby dolls. Except when he gets hurt. Then Mom is the preferred target.
*he's got a major sweet tooth
*he loves to eat rice, crackers, string cheese, beans, pears, cereal and smoothies
*he enjoys on reading books, but just needs to learn to do it without tearing the pages.
*he's old enough for nursery at church now, but prefers to stay with Mom/Dad
*how he says 'thank you': a very throaty "Guh!" (No idea of the link there)

We love this handsome boy!!!

bullet points

Sometimes the only way to catch up on our lives is through bullet points (or asterisks in this case):

* Bryant and I went on 3 dates in February -- three! That dashes our last record of 2 in six months. We may not be able to keep up 3 per month, but just knowing that we'll likely be beating our previous record regularly keeps us both happy.
* Peter has learned to give the SWEETEST hugs ever! They melt my heart every time. He runs at you with his arms outstretched and hugs you tightly around your neck/head. It's pure heaven.
* Emmy goes to dance class once a week and absolutely adores it. She would live in her dance clothes if I let her. She's a good little dancer and eager to follow her dance teacher's instructions as long as she doesn't get distracted by her reflection in the mirror. I don't know if I should be amused at her love of her reflection or worried. For now I choose to be amused. Very amused.
* Since our move, Peter has decided that his weekends are dedicated to his dad. He wants nothing to do with his mom. I love that he shows preference for Bryant, especially since Bryant revels in it so much, but sometimes I think, is a smile at your mom too much to ask? On Sunday, apparently it is. At least the rest of the week he loves me.
* We recently got news that Bryant was awarded one of the research grants that he applied for!
* Bryant has been traveling some these last few weeks so I thought it would be fun to surprise him by painting our bedroom -- the ugliest room in our house. It was truly hideous. Whenever the kids would go down for naps and bedtime, I would paint. I ended up making myself sick, but the room looks a lot better.
* Just this past Friday, a man who I met on my mission in Brazil surprised me with a visit. I met Francisco in my second area, Asa Sul. He was one of the members of the church there and was so wonderfully kind to the missionaries. For some reason, in that area, not everyone was. That was also the area where I got pneumonia and spent 2 weeks in the hospital and another 4 weeks on bed rest, living with a family there. Francisco was so kind and compassionate during that difficult time for me.
I was disappointed that my Portuguese was so rusty and that I kept slipping up, even using Spanish words. It was so wonderful just to hear Portuguese again. That visit brought back so many wonderful memories of that special time in Brazil, over 5 years ago!

* Peter has been increasing his vocabulary. He now says: hi, bye, mama, dada, emmy, peter, ball. A lot of them sound alike, which warms our hearts even more.
* Emmy has really taken to the whole Princess thing lately. She constantly wants to be in her princess dresses and watch Beauty and the Beast. I think she would watch it 5 times a day, every day if I let her. She loves to run around the house singing, "No sir, not me, I guarantee it. I want much more than this provincial LOVE (we can't convince her that it says life, not love)."
* Saturday we devoted our entire day to play -- no work. It was such a nice change for us that I'm planning on implementing this rule at least once a month.

we moved... again

Do you ever get tired of hearing about the Jensens moving? Take comfort in knowing that this may be our last move for awhile. That's our hope anyway. If things work out, we'll eventually buy the house that we're in now. I've accepted the fact that we'll be in Utah for awhile. And I'm not even devastated by saying that. I've actually really been enjoying it here.

Our last home was a beauty. The first word that comes to mind to describe it is elegant. The inside was beautiful.

The problem with it was the location -- a very busy intersection. Every time we went outside to play in the yard, Peter would bolt for the street, mesmerized by the fast cars. Neither the front nor the back yard were fenced in so it was a constant worry. The landlord wanted to sell to us, but in the end, we didn't feel it was right. We've come to understand that the older homes in downtown Provo that we're fans of tend to be sold by word of mouth rather than through realtors. So you need to be in the know. Thankfully, being a professor at BYU gets you into a great little niche automatically. After just a few short months, a friend of a friend let us know that a house would likely be going for sale at the beginning of the year. After looking into many different houses to buy and not being especially impressed with any of them, I fell absolutely in love with "The Ivy House" as the former tenants called it. It's still in downtown Provo which we're so excited about. It's a 1930s cottage-type home with a huge, fenced backyard, large windows, character, etc. It felt right. Sadly, the owner decided he wasn't ready to sell, but we thought we'd better act anyway. We sold the remainder of our year contract and moved into our current home on Jan. 12 -- a very cold, snowy day. The men from our previous ward who helped us were saints.

So we've been living here for 1 month now and we love it. There have been a couple of warm, sunny days that we've been able to enjoy in the backyard. It makes me so excited for the spring/summer! Our kids are going to love it! As will I. Our entire backyard is visible through the large window of our family room/kitchen area.

the passing of a friend

Friday afternoon, Bryant and I received word that a friend of ours, a man a few years younger than Bryant, passed away suddenly and very unexpectedly. Just 3 days after Christmas, he left his beautiful wife and 3 young boys without a husband and father. We have been heartbroken ever since. Thankfully we had changed our plans from leaving AZ Friday to leaving Monday. We took a short detour on Monday to make it to the memorial service in Yuma where Damond was from.
Damond and Adriana were friends with Bryant back in his student ward at church before Bryant and I met. We hung out together with them a handful of times before we moved to California and they moved to Indiana to start medical school. We kept in touch here and there through our blogs and facebook and finally were planning on getting together over this Christmas break, while they were in AZ visiting family and Damond was interviewing for residency (he was finishing up his last semester of medical school). That never happened.
When we saw Adriana at the service, the first thing she said to us was, "We weren't supposed to see each other like this! We were supposed to get together at a park...." I couldn't hold back my tears. Neither could Bryant. I felt like Adriana was comforting us, rather than the other way around. As we struggled to share our feelings through our tears, Adriana continued to lift our spirits through her sweet, kind words. She really is an unbelievable individual. She and Damond are so kind-hearted, selfless, humble, patient, etc. They exude love. It breaks my heart to think of Adriana having to be without her husband and their boys without their father.
She wrote the sweetest letter to her husband on the day of his funeral. Please keep this sweet family in your prayers. Even with our belief that we will see our loved ones again, the pain can be unbearable.

christmas 2012

We almost didn't make the trip to Arizona this year for Christmas, but we're so glad that we decided to do it. Christmas just wouldn't be the same without all of our family. 

As usual, we had Christmas with both families -- the Platts before Christmas and the Jensens after. I love that not only are we able to get together with both sides of our families, but that we also get to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with our own little family. It's perfect! 

Highlights from our Christmas 2012:

The birth of our newest niece: Gwenyth Elle Morgan
Taryn winning a Dyson vacuum at the Platt gift exchange! 

Staying up late visiting with Papa Platt

Watching Brave and It's A Wonderful Life with Grandma Jensen

Emmy singing "Away in a Manger" for the whole family at the Jensen Christmas party

The Nativity story acted out by all the grandchildren at both the Platt and Jensen gatherings

Emmy and Peter's Christmas morning. Christmas morning with kids is the best!

Visiting Great Grandma and Great Grandad Day

Church with Grandma and Papa Platt
Dinner with Papa Jensen
and any and every get together we had with family!