1,000 words

I was tidying up in our bedroom the other day and the scene on my husband's bedside table made me smile. It always looks like this, nothing was different from usual. But I was struck by how much this picture tells about Cori.

• He is very neat. His side of the closet is always tidy. His office space is highly organized. He never leaves dirty laundry out and rarely leaves the toilet seat up. Though he likes having his works in progress in eyesight, he keeps them in clean piles usually arranged in 90* angles to each other. 
• He reads his scriptures everyday. I can't recall a day he has missed in the 9 years I have lived with him. He is just as diligent with his prayers. Cori has been a steady example to me in this way. He usually reads at night, and he will often crack his Book of Mormon open for a verse or two after he says his morning prayer. 
• He loves missionary work. He loved being a full-time missionary and still works hard to share the gospel wherever he can.
• He is always in the middle of at least 5 books. He actually finishes them regularly too. The books he reads are almost exclusively non-fiction. This is because
• He loves (for the most part) the work he does. He has a natural inclination to assess a situation and try to improve it. Cori is a leader - whether he wants to be or not. And he thrives off interacting with others and being able to help and influence them. These things combined drew him to the OB/HR (Organizational Behavior, Human Resources) program when he got his MBA. He wasn't super interested in HR so much as the OB side of things. He has been reading books like the ones stacked on his table since before his MBA program and continues to read them in a steady stream. He loves to talk about the projects he has worked on throughout his career, not because of any success he has found but because the work has been fulfilling to him. He loves people and wants to be a good leader.
• He loved, loved, LOVED the BYU MBA program. The stack of books mentioned above is a tribute to how much he loved learning in that environment. He is still in regular contact with most of the members of his OB/HR tract. He is happily planning a conference/reunion for them that is coming up later in the fall. 
• He works hard in his calling. The blue binder nearest the bed is his Church folder. He is in his third year of being our ward's Elder's Quorum president. Though he would certainly be happy for a new assignment, Cori hasn't let himself burnout. He continues to push onward, to hope, to ask, to followup, to try again. (Home teaching in a ward with 198 families - yikes!) His calling is always at the front of his mind.
• He loves to journal. He will be the first to say that he hasn't journaled nearly as much since we have been married. I hope I don't have too much to do with that... But we have a bookshelf full of the journals he has kept over the years. He always keeps his current journal out as a reminder to keep it up. 

Well, not quite 1,000 words, but this is a lot of info at the ready every time I make our bed. Oh, how I love this guy.

back to school

Somehow, we managed to get ready for school to start. For Grant, this entailed having a little procedure. He was born with a mild umbilical hernia. It hasn't given him any trouble, but his pediatricians told us over the years that we would need to have it operated on if it didn't go away on its own by the time he started school. We had actually met with the pediatric surgeon and scheduled a surgery last year, but then opted to wait until this year when we knew we would be hitting our deductible max anyway. Anyhoo, the day arrived and Grant was pretty nervous. He got a blessing from his dad and he and I headed to the Children's Hospital. His surgery got pushed back nearly 3 hours - poor kid ended up fasting the whole day. But everything went well and his super-outy belly button is now a regular looking inny belly button that won't give him any trouble should he play sports later on. He was a pretty tough little soldier about it.

For Grace's part, she was sure to have gifts in tow. She made her new teacher a pot holder on her loom and started counting down the days. Grace is continuing in the APEX program. At meet-the-teacher, we were warned by more than one parent about her new teacher. We were told that Mrs. B is very strict and not very warm with children. One parent was scrambling to get her child transferred out of the APEX class. This was a bit concerning. But we are into the third week of school and Grace is very happy with her teacher. She told me yesterday that Mrs. B is strict but that it is always for a good reason. The homework level hasn't been alarming either so I think we are good. At this school, students start their Latin curriculum in the 2nd grade. This has been an exciting development for Grace (aka Gracias, as she likes to sign her Latin assignments and try to work into casual conversation... "Quis es? Gracias sum! Mom, I can speak a dead language!").

The first day came early in August. Grace and Grant were excited to coordinate their outfits as they were laying them out the night before. We thought this was so cute. We got a few pictures before Cori loaded them up for drop offs. I'd also like to point out that Grant is nearly as tall as Grace. We told her she didn't have long...

Grace and Grant received priesthood blessings from Cori the night before school started. Of course, Grace is a seasoned pro where school is concerned. Our Grantigus is still working things out. We are not worried about his academics. He was reading fluently and doing addition and subtraction up to 10 by the end of the summer. His struggle this year will be different. It is not easy or natural for him to speak up - this has proven to be the biggest challenge for him to overcome. Everyday seems to get a little better, and we are working hard to give him extra tlc at home.

Speaking of extra attention at home, Eden has been a pretty happy camper since school started. She is a good little buddy to me and loves to help keep JJ happy. She is fully obsessed with puzzles, jumps at every chance to play on the "iPuter" (computer), and still takes a luxurious 3 hour nap everyday. We are joining up with a little mommy-run preschool co-op that begins in September. Eden has been begging to go to school. Her backpack is her favorite accessory. We will see how it goes. 

And then this delicious little guy - the commencement of school has brought some good structure into our days. He has been in a good sleep/eat/awake routine since the beginning, but we are getting that routine settled into a more predictable schedule which is super great for me. Although, with the extra curricular schedule around here, there is no one schedule that will work every day. So far, he hasn't had any trouble with the flexibility that has been required of him. I'm hoping that will stick around!

Grandmother Irene

We had a very special experience with this very special lady this summer. Grandmother Irene is the mother of Cori's step-dad, Ray. She spent some time living with her daughters in Cottonwood, just under two hours north of Phoenix. The weekend before JJ's birth, Ray came to AZ to visit her. Ray's sisters graciously welcomed our family up for a visit while he was here. 

Cori and I had spent a little time with Grandmother Irene back when Grace was a baby. And before we moved from California, we got to take a tour of Ray's childhood home (in Sun City, I think?) and learned a bit more about her and her husband, Jack. It is this the Jack for whom our Jeffery Jack is named. 

The evening we were there, we got to look at some of her rock collection. She was an avid rock collector, and Susan and Mindy (Ray's sisters) sweetly sent some of the collection home with us. They also entertained our children while we visited with Ray and Irene. Then Ray and Cori gave her a special priesthood blessing and we listened to a very sweet prayer from Irene. After this, she was quite tired and ready for bed. The children went to say good bye to her. I had not gotten the camera out yet, and wasn't going to as I knew she was anxious to get on with her evening routine. But I figured I'd just get a couple pictures of their good bye hugs. As soon as she heard the shutter, she spun the children around and put on her famous smile. 

The week after this visit, JJ was in our arms. The week after JJ was born, Grandmother Irene went to the arms of her Heavenly Father and her very own Jack. We were ever so much more grateful that we were able to be with her that night. She was a cheerful, energetic, giving and classy lady. We look forward to knowing her better when we are all together again.

summer gems

I did a quick comb through the last couple months of pictures. All in all, our summer was pretty laid back - just enough for the kids to be good and ready for school to start. Following is a dump of some photos of note taken throughout the summer holiday. 

Cori and I went to dinner with a group from his work. The place we went is a Spanish restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale with excellent tapas, paella, live music, and flamenco dancers. One of the dancers is Cori's coworker. He and another co-worker got called up on stage. He was a good sport (and a great dancer!). 

 Just a few days before Jeffery was born, Gracie and I spent an afternoon out. We got milkshakes and fries from In n Out and then got pedicures. Grace went for a dark metallic blue with white and gold flowers. Go Cougars!

We spent a lot of time taking turns holding our new babe.

Cori continued attending his early morning bootcamp most weekdays and then was off to work, dear man.

Towards the end of the summer, the big kids finally figured out how to sleep in.

And if they didn't sleep in, they were instructed to play quietly or read books until breakfast time.

Grace was really good about all this and kept Eden busy too.

(Sleeping in has NEVER been a problem for Grant)

As a newborn's schedule starts fairly early, I got to spend several mornings snuggling JJ and watching his little face change. 

Throughout the last couple of months, JJ and I passed those early morning hours cozy in bed waiting for everyone else to wake up. I read half a dozen books and also watched many episodes of Battlestar Gallactica and Dr. Who on my phone. (Amazon Instant Video App + my love for SciFi = trouble :) )

Ah, morning smiles!

Snuggling with JJ in bed is really one of the best things - everyone thinks so.

We had other normal summer routine stuff. Grace and Grant had to get neat and ready for the day, make their beds, do two workbook pages and some reading before they could play. Grant was highly motivated (he had used his allowance moneys to buy a couple of new Wii games and couldn't wait to play everyday) and would often have his morning chores done before I came down to make breakfast.  

More than a few projects were completed while the littles were napping.

 There was lots of swimming, as usual, and the kids spent most days in their swimmies. 

Except baby J, of course. I was busy keeping him covered up so that the A/C could blast on the rest of us.

 JJ cried once in a while.

Eden developed a penchant for shadow boxing.

 I got stung by one of these. 

Four times. 

The stuff of nightmares.

 It was after we had come home from camping and had unloaded all our things. We think it hitched a ride up to our room with the stuff we were putting away. In any case, it decided to hide in our bed, on my side, between the flat and fitted sheets.We had just prayed and were snuggling down into the covers. It got me on both thighs and one  finger before I could get out of its way. The pain wasn't nearly as bad I expected- good thing I keep that protective layer of fat on my thighs, you know, just in case... The stings left large burning, tingling, achey patches on my legs and even after the pain was gone, my finger was numb for nearly a solid week. But the venom didn't spread the way we have heard of it doing in other people. Sheesh. For as awful as this was, we were so incredibly grateful the foul insect was found and that it didn't sting one of the kids (especially the baby, for crying out loud!)

We were up until 2AM that night combing the house with a black light. And every night for the weeks that followed, we checked our bedding and the kids' bedding layer by layer. The paranoia is slowly fading.

A few nights after this had happened, Cori stepped on a bee out by the pool and declared that he was officially over living in Phoenix. Ha!

In the few final days before school started, I cut Grace and Grant a lot of slack. Grant got to binge on Super Mario Smashbrothers and I said yes to all of Gracie's schemes. That girl always has some big plan cooking in her head. In one sweaty afternoon, this pile of boxes was transformed into half a dozen things, but in the end was a demolition site for kids on their razor scooters. 

swim team

A nearby country club hosts a recreational summer swim team. Several families in our ward participate, and Grace wanted in. Really badly. As in, she cried for an hour when I told her I didn't think it would work out this summer. Grant wasn't ready for swim team and needed to take swim lessons elsewhere, and the swim team season straddled the date of Jeffery's c-section. Practices were every morning, Monday through Friday with multiple meets on week nights. I was so worried about over-scheduling our family. But then, a sweet friend offered to drive Grace whenever I needed. And even then, when I was still on the fence, she said it would be doing her a favor to take Grace- something about her kids being better about getting out the door in the morning because they would be picking up Grace- and then threatened to pay for Grace to do swim team... I was clearly out numbered, and good thing. It was a good experience for our girl and everything worked out really well.

Swim practice did not end up being the big social event Gracie was expecting. The kids swam laps. Lots and lots of laps. At the beginning of the season, Grace was routinely the last one in. This was very discouraging to her. We talked a lot with her about how we were doing swim team to help her become a better swimmer and to have fun with her friends. She only needed to be competing with herself and she didn't need to worry with comparing herself to anyone else... 

We were glad she stuck with it. This is probably the first thing she has tried where she hasn't risen without much effort to the top of the pack. It was a great learning experience for her in this way. And, her swimming really improved! 

The swim meets were chaotic to say the least. But we got the hang of it. The facility is outdoors and temperatures still hover in the 100's in the evenings which is no problem for the swimmers. The rest of us, however... And I was so enormously pregnant that I actually had people (as in, multiple, unsolicited people) approach me to tell me that I shouldn't be there. So, Cori took her to a few meets and our friends took her to others. I was able to go to her last meet. It was days after JJ's birth and my mom was still with us. So I gingerly made my way around the crowd to get some pictures and cheer as well as I could.

She started out the season coming in last in all her races. But by the end of the season she was moving up the ranks and even got a 3rd place ribbon in breast stroke. We kept all her times and helped her see how the seconds were falling off her laps at every meet.

Grace and Kolby - the friends who would do swim team together, no matter what. 

the visit

A few days after we had left them in the wilderness, Damien, Danielle, and crew arrived at our home. The G's were beyond happy to be with their cousins again, as they had been counting down the minutes to their arrival all week. We spent the few days they were here hanging out, mostly. The kids swam for hours every day. And there was a lot of Pretty, Pretty, Princess that got played.  Oh, and we busted out Just Dance... a lot.

We wanted to find out what would happen if we put a bunch of ice blocks into the pool. It was as hot as ever outside, and the 98* water in the pool was not offering the desired amount of refreshment. Well, we learned that if you dump upwards of 10 ice blocks into a 13,500 gallon pool the temperature of the water will change not a bit. The ice blocks lasted about 3 minutes before melting away. In retrospect, we should have anticipated that...

We all missed them terribly the second they left. Grant went through all the stages of grieving. He began by asking us why they couldn't stay.

Me: Well, they have been away from home for a while on their trip. They are ready to go back now.
Grant: They have their stuff with them. Why can't they just stay?
Me: You mean, like, live here?
Grant: Yeah. Why can't they live here?
Me: They have school starting soon, and Uncle Damien has his job to get back to, and they have their friends there...
Grant: Why can't we move to Utah then?

Denial gave way to anger. And then he finally accepted their departure and had a good cry about it. We all understood the sentiment! It was a fun finale to our summer break!

Jacob Lake and the North Rim

On our visit to Cedar for Kourtni's baptism, we learned that Damien and his family were taking a little camping trip to Jacob Lake and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. As this is a location not too far from Phoenix, we invited ourselves along. 

One of the first things we did was hike to the 'lake'. Ends up, the lake is pretty much a pasture that keeps a couple of horses happy. It was still beautiful, though dry.

My husband is very, very smart and did not expect me to camp it out with a newborn. There is a hotel across the street from the campground where JJ and I bunked in the evenings while Cori slept with the our other littles in the tent. It worked out really well. Everyone got showers, and Mason and Danielle slept over one night too. 

Uncle Damien's hammock was a popular activity. The campsite had a large stretch of trees behind it which was also great for baseball and soccer. Our children were in heaven having best buddies to play with all day long.

Grant took the camera around one morning. Great selfie, dude!

We spent our last full day driving most of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We were interested to see the park from the North side as we drove just the South rim on our last visit. It was just as breathtaking. And we definitely want to make another visit up to that lodge!

When we had had our fill of little hikes and gorgeous lookouts we headed back to camp. The clouds that had given us dramatic skies all day long finally let go and it rained. It was a lot of driving that day, but no one seemed to mind. Jacob rode with us and the boys watched a lot of Star Wars. Grace got to ride with her cousins and could have driven for another week in their company.

We had to head back for Cori to get to work. Saying good-bye wasn't as sad as it might have been because Damien and Danielle brought the kids down to our house a few days later to spend the weekend.