Two Stories About Abigail

Hi All,

Emily and I had two funny experiences talking with Abigail recently. We figured we would share them with you all.

1. Abigail opened up a door that was locked a couple weeks ago which has convinced her that she has magical fairy powers. Today Abigail showed Emily a box that held her invisible magic and Emily said in reply, "When I was a little girl I would imagine that I was a fairy and that I could fly." Abby treated Emily's words with contempt and said, "Mom, I AM a fairy, but I'm the walking kind.

2. I went to eat lunch with Abigail today at school and we got to eat at a special table where we get to sit alone and talk. However, half way through lunch, the "special table" becomes the table where a 3rd grade class starts eating. I asked some of these kids what they liked about 3rd grade compared to kindergarten which got them talking to Abby and I a lot. They told us about the pros and cons of not having nap time, the excitement of studying crayfish, the problems with cold pizza, and we even settled a question about whether milk has a flavor empirically. About halfway through the conversation Abigail whispered in my ear, "Dad, I didn't know that 3rd graders could be so nice!" I'm glad she got to talk with the nice ones!

Abby and Benson doing their tricks

Daddy Daughter Date

In the last 24 hours Emily found out she had strep throat and Benson has an ear infection. They are both really sick so I decided to come home a little early from work and take Abigail on an extended daddy/daughter date to give Emily as much peace and quiet as possible. We drove around for a while trying to decide on what restaurant to go to and Abigail convinced me that Wendy's chicken nuggets would be the "perfect meal." Most of the conversation centered around kindergarten politics and the use of frostys as an alternative to ketchup for dipping french fries.

After dinner we went to the mall to see Santa Claus and look for gift ideas for Benson and Emily. It was awesome. I just let Abigail go wherever she wanted (except for when she wanted to go into Victoria's Secret), and I let her spend as much time as she wanted pondering over different items. We spent about an hour in Claire's where she picked out many potential gifts for Emily. If Emily were a five year old girl Abigail would have picked out a veritable gold mine of Christmas gifts for her. We also went to a kid's clothing store and a toy store to think about what we could get Benson. Once again, if Benson were a five year old girl Abigail would have found some really good items! Needless to say, our trip to the mall was far more revealing about what Abigail wanted than what Emily or Benson would have wanted, but it sure was fun listening to her sincerity about how much Emily and Benson would love the items she found.

We spent about two hours walking around different stores in the mall and near the very end as we were finally making it to where Santa was Abigail said, "Do you ever feel like your legs are going to break?" ...Now before you feel bad for Abby, please understand that she said this to me while she was skipping backwards with a very big smile on her face! In response to her question I chuckled and said, "Yes. Yes I do!" She then proceeded to run ahead of me to spend more little more time looking at a water fountain while I caught up. She is a hard working little shopper!

After the visit with Santa we went home and Abigail stayed as quiet as she could while getting ready for bed so she wouldn't wake Emily or Benson up. Recently she has wanted me to sing her songs from the Hymn book as part of her bedtime routine. It has created many moments for me to teach her about the content of the songs. She fell asleep very quickly, which is pretty rare. It was a good sign that the daddy daughter date was a success!

With my first year here at UNI and my calling at church and Abigail now being in school it has been harder to find the same amount of time I used to spend with my daughter. It's hard say just how much I enjoyed being able to spend the time with her tonight.

By the way, Emily was able to take advantage of the time we were gone. She dropped everything and went straight to bed with Benson as soon as we left. Both are on antibiotics and will be hopefully feeling better soon.

A Couple Funny Stories

The pain medicine I'm taking for my neck has been pretty mild, but it has made me a little over- emotional and confused at times. For example last night I went to bed very early at 7:30. I woke up several hours later extremely confused about where I was, how late it was, and what was happening. Right before going to bed I watched a half hour of the show Chuck. I'd never seen it before and I suppose coming into it without 4 seasons of context set me back a bit. I was very worked up being disoriented and Emily tells me that at one point I yelled out, "I watched 30 minutes of Chuck and it has RUINED MY LIFE!" Somewhere along the same rant I also yelled out, "WYDONA!" I don't know if that is a name, place or expression, but Emily says it was pretty funny.

Today Emily volunteered to watch a couple neighborhood kids while their parents went to a funeral. They were curious about my neck brace so Abbey explained my surgery to them. I told them that if I took the brace off my head would fall off. They got very wide eyed, but then moved on to go play. Later on they were eating some popcorn and as I walked through the room one of the boys said, "I want to see you take your head off!" I said, "Okay!" and started to unstrap the neck brace. The boy stiffened up and said as firmly and directly as possible, "Do NOT undo that!" I guess he didn't really want to see my head come off! It's had me chuckling all day.

Post Operation

Well, I am back from the hospital with a thus far successfully fused C5,6 joint in my neck. It hurts to swallow and there is a lot of general pain in my neck region and down into my back. I'm tired and sore, but as far as I can tell I don't have any more numbness and pain down into my fingers! The doctor said that the disc looked like it had been damaged for years, which is a nice confirmation considering that I've had pain for years. He also said I seem to have responded very well to the operation. I'll have to wear a neck collar for the next 6 weeks, and the fusion process lasts a full six months or even more. No Thanksgiving football this year! I don't need to go back to work until next Tuesday so right now I'm just trying to lay low and get healed.


My department sent me some get well flowers and Emily and Abby got me a gigantic bear (which I think Abby has claimed for herself now). I've had students and neighbors and ward members check in on me. Thank you for all the prayers on my behalf and for my family.


Emily told me that while I was in the hospital, they went to an all you can eat restaurant and Abigail was so excited. She went over and over again for olives, shredded cheese, cucumbers, noodle salad and purple jello. She said to Emily, "This place has all my favorite things . How did they know? They must have seen me coming!"

Belated Update on the Summer of a Thousand Milestones

Hello all,

Emily and I would like to apologize for not blogging for SO long, but we have some really good excuses! In the last four and a half months we've accomplished quite a lot. You would have gotten a lot more detail if we had kept up, but here are the highlights in more or less chronological order back to July:

1. Abby had a great birthday party. She had lots of friends over and one of the highlights was to throw water balloons at her dad.


2. July was spent looking for a house, going on a mini vacation to Lake Michigan, packing the apartment, finishing the dissertation...

3. In August Benjamin turned 30 and successfully defended his dissertation (Emily got to watch it on Skype). We also moved to Iowa, closed on our first house, sent Abigail off to kindergarten (she loves it, of course), started the job as an assistant professor and had friends from Michigan and family from Utah come to visit. It was a very good month!


4. September was all about settling into our new place. We got a new freezer and all got sick. Here are some random pictures of our place, inside and out. The last one is of Emily paying the Wii fit in the basement...


5. This October (and up to the present) Benjamin got called as the Elder's Quorum President (again) and Emily is the Primary Chorister. Benson just started crawling right at 6 months and he is just beginning to experiment with solid foods. Benjamin's Parents came to visit just before leaving on their mission to Russia and in two days Benjamin will get surgery for the herniated disk in his neck.





Well, sorry it had to be such a quick update. Hopefully we'll be a little more diligent in the coming months!

Chubby Cheeks!

At 6 weeks Benson weighed 11lb 14oz. When he was born he was 6lb 11oz that put him at the 10%. He has now jumped up to the 75%. Way to go buddy! He is a very pleasant baby and smiles a lot. Abby definitely gets the most smiles out of him.

Brief look Cedar Falls and our NEW HOUSE!

Benjamin did a quick trip to Cedar Falls and took some pictures for us. We are really excited about our new job and house. We move the beginning of August.

These are pictures from Benjamin's office at UNI. He is excited to start his job as a professor. He is still diligently working on his dissertation.

Abby is going to be starting Kindergarten in August. This is a picture of her school.

This is a brief video of the front room and kitchen in our new home to be! We are so excited to have a house, yard, basement and nice neighborhood. We have been greatly blessed and helped in getting this house and we are so grateful! Cedar Falls, here we come!

At home with Benson

After a month Benson was over 10 1/2lbs. We were happy with that because he was 6lbs 11oz when he was born. We love chubby babies!

Benson constantly gives us these little smiles. Jamie said she has never seen a baby that smiles so much. We love it. He is also grunts like a dinosaur all the time. It is adorable. We call him our Bensonsaurus.

Grandpa Jamie was here for almost a month. She did laundry, dishes, shopping, cooking, organizing, de-junking, swimming with Abigail and comforting Benson when he had gas. Jamie makes everything fun and always kept us laughing. We got rid of 3 car loads of stuff. We went through lots of stuff and did things to prepare for the move. Benjamin has been super busy with her dissertation and so it was extra helpful to have her around. She is fun to talk with and has a good attitude about everything. She made us yummy food and was just fun to have around. We love you Jamie!

Abigail has been a great big sister. She helps me a lot. She will grab things like diapers, pacifiers and burp cloths. She will sing and play with him and give him lots of hugs and kisses. He is a lucky little boy to have her as a sister.

Benjamin took his mom out for a Mommy-Son date. They had a great time at a place called English Inn.