Amen!

Thank you Nicki, for your post on California's Proposition 8. It really is time to stand up for what we believe; I believe that "marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children."

"It is un-American and certainly un-Christian to say that because the ideal is not always possible, that we should stop striving for it all together." -Nicki Preece

Visit www.protectmarriage.com for more information on the proposition.

Will Man's 2 Yr Old Stats

Will is 36 in. tall (85%), 25.7 lbs (20%), and his head circumference is in the 60%. At the age of 2 he is able to count to 10 (with only forgetting about 1 number on occasion). Will knows all of his colors- even gold, orange, pink, and purple (thanks to his array of motorcycles). He uses 3-4 word sentences frequently and can understand 2 step commands (ie, go and get your motorcycle and put it in the toy box). He jabbers all day long with many other words that we don't understand. His favorite friends are James his cousin and James his uncle (thanks to his race car), Ty, and McKenzie Harvey. Will likes all kinds of foods; he has even been known to beg for beans! He doesn't like cake, but he does like pop and ice cream. His favorite shows are Curious George, Cars, Little Einsteins (which he calls Rocket), and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He also loves to watch motorcoss and off-road movies, or motorcycle videos on You Tube. He gives his Mommy and Daddy kisses frequently, but they don't come free to anyone else. He is good at saying "please" and "thank you" as well as "your welcome". He's even better at saying NO. He is pretty stubborn, and if he doesn't want to do something, then he won't. He gets hyper at night before bed and always makes us laugh. He usually sleeps through the night; he goes to bed at 9PM and wakes up around 6:45AM. He still takes one nap in the afternoon for about 1.5-3 hours (which I love!). He is our little man, always keeping us on our toes. We love him so much and are so glad he's ours.

Anne Pearson Photography

My sweet friend and old neighbor, Anne Pearson, took Will's 2 year pictures last week. He was such a good boy during the shoot (thanks to the motorcycles that I was driving on Anne's head). I can't believe how big he is. He'll still be my baby until he is replaced by another one some day, but he is definitely a little boy now. If anyone needs some pictures done, she is doing some specials. (You will probably have to wait about a month; she was due to have a baby last Friday.) She is so fun to work with, and does a great job. Thanks again Anne, we love them!

I Love School

School is cause for many fun times. I am taking a Shakespeare class as part of my class load this semester. Professor Fulmer at UVU has a great way of making the class very entertaining, and pointing out little "Shakespeare Facts" along the way. Did you know that William Shakespeare helped translate the King James version of the Bible? The Bard was a humorous man, and he left his signature in the Bible. No lie. Psalms 46. It was Shakespeare's 46th birthday when we was doing this, so he changed a small word to leave his mark. If you go to Psalms 46 and count 46 words from the top you will find the word shake. This word was not used in this connotation at the time; you would have instead found the word quake or tremble. Then if you count 46 words from the bottom of Psalm 46 you will find the word spear. Coincidence? I think not. In class one of the students had a different version of the Bible, and in place of shake was quake, and it wasn't exactly 46 words. I checked in my Bible, and it is shake, and it is 46 words down. Very interesting; what a clever little man.

Plus, by going to school, you also get conversations like this:

Me: I'm going to my friend Katie's house tonight for a make-over.

Grandma K: When Dallas gets back from school he'll have to comment on how beautiful you look.

Dallas: And when I get back from my Math class you will have to comment on how big my brain is.

Joy, Fear, Goal, Obsessions, Random

I've been tagged on this specific survey deal about five times already, but since life has slowed down, I am finally getting around to completing it. Thanks Lindsey for giving me the last tag: Here goes a bunch of predictable and already known facts about me.... or maybe you'll be surprised.

How To Play This Game of Tag: 1. Post these rules on your blog. 2. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. 3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

JoYs
1. Chocolate chip cookies and milk. One of the major perks to moving in with Grandma is the endless supply of these bad boys. And they're good. She may be 70, but she hasn't lost that magic touch! (And I'll hope she never does).
2. High school kids. Seriously. My sweet Andra lets me play with her students every year for the Shakespeare festival, and it has become my favorite time of year. The kids are so cute, so funny, and so eager (most of them anyway) to learn about the Bard. I love to experience their discoveries, risks, and accomplishments with them.
3. Fall. No offense to all of the other seasons, but this one is by far the best. The weather is perfect, the canyons are stunning, and I get to celebrate my little man's birthday. Also, the sweaters get to come out of the box, and I love that too.

FeArS
1. Cancer. Who isn't afraid of it? Since my Grandpa Loder was diagnosed with more than one type, I have been paranoid from a very young age. Finding lumps and bumps has led me to the doctor a few times, thank goodness it has never led to this great fear.
2. Autism. (See a pattern here?) I want my children to be perfect, just like they should be.
3. Earthquakes. When I first walk into a new building (be it a house, office, even center) I immediately start to think about where I would run for cover if there were an earthquake. I like to think I'm being prepared and not paranoid.

GoAlS
1. Live within my means. I really feel this is why our economy is in such shambles right now. In America if we want something, we get it. Never mind if we can really afford it. I don't want to be like that. Ever.
2. Serve someone every day. I make this goal each night before I go to bed. I try to think of something specific. I'm better about thinking about it than actually doing it, unfortunately.
3. Graduate from college. So, so important to me. More important than I ever thought.

ObSeSsIoNs
1. A Lazy Read. I'm obsessed with this book club! I haven't successfully read one of our selections yet, but I will. Maybe I should put that in one of my goals?
2. Babies. I'm completely and utterly obsessed with all things baby. It doesn't even need to be my own- although I do like mine the best. Sorry.
3. Buying Will toys. Sheesh. I really need to stop that. He has more motorcycles, cars and four-wheeler toys than I know what to do with.

RaNdOm
1. The diamond in my wedding ring wasn't actually a "diamond"... until now! Dallas and I couldn't afford it when we first got married. I refused to go into debt. So, cubic zirconium became my friend. Only a few people knew this. For our 5th anniversary I got a real diamond put into my ring. It's gorgeous. I love it. I'm so glad I waited to do it.
2. I love to sing in the car. Even if there are people in there with me, I don't care. It's the only place I sound good. (Probably because I turn the stereo up so loud that I drown myself out).
3. I am constantly talking to my self in my brain. Scheming, planning, entertaining, calming. I think it's a coping mechanism.

I tag... Sterling Mumford, Nicole Booth, Angie Draper, Bunko friend Amanda, and Whit.

To Marciea-

You aren't the only dork out there! This is just a picture of my peaches. Together my Mom and I canned 110 quarts this fall. Love you Mom!

Little Birthday Boy

William is TWO!!! I simply can't believe it. Time is passing by so quickly. Being Will's parents has been the most incredible experience we could have ever asked for.. To see him grow from just being able to eat and sleep to saying full sentences has been an adventure. (Just now he came up to me and said "Amy, go play race cars?" And, yes, he calls me Amy about 90% of the time. This is to the dismay of his mother and the joy of everyone else, apparently). We had a "little" family birthday party for him on Saturday. Considering the size of Dallas' family (and mine), family birthday parties are never small. We were so blessed to have so much family come from hours away (the majority were at least 2 hours away) just to celebrate our little guy's day with us. Our favorite moments include:
-Jenn, Brad and the kids surprising us! We didn't think they could come, and we were so happy to have James there. James is Will's favorite little buddy. From the moment Will saw James he just started giggling, and he didn't stop until they left.
-Will opening his first present from Uncle James and Aunt Kaydee. It was a pack of race cars and Will that it was the coolest thing ever... until he opened his big black motorcycle from Uncle Jake and Aunt Misty. (Thank you to everyone for the presents! He is such a spoiled boy).
-Will refusing to eat any of his cake AGAIN this year. Next year he's getting a Pepsi with a candle in it.
-Will saying everyone's names. He even said "TeAnna" after James and Kaydee left.
-Will's new bike. I ran over his red trike by accident a few months ago (this is the trike Grandma Kristie gave him for his 1st birthday). She obliged and got him the same one again this year. He loves it as much as ever.
Thank you again to everyone who made the effort to be with us. To those who couldn't come, we sure missed you!
We love you William. Happy Birthday little man.

This seems like just yesterday...

Uncanny Resemblance

I believe that watching all of this political coverage may be making us see things; or does this tractor have an uncanny resemblance to John McCain? You decide 2008.

Closed

After a few weeks of waiting, some angry thoughts (and words), many prayers, many tears, and many, many phone calls to our real estate agent (THANK YOU LANDON!), we have finally closed on our house. We closed last Friday, September 12th. We are so glad it is over. Now we have become house stalkers... It is really weird to see someone else enjoying our house. It makes me even more glad that we are eventually moving out of the valley.

During these "fun filled" weeks, we did manage to make some good memories. In no particular order:

Baby TeAnna was blessed, and Uncle James gave Will a ride in his race car (a Subaru STI- it really is a race car).
Will discovered corn on the cob. I discovered how scary those diapers are.
Erin Pulley came to rescue me from a frightful week. I don't know what I would have done without her that week! (I love you Erin!!!)

We went to the dinosaur museum in Price, UT with Shanna, Aaron, Liesel, Jordan and Grandma and Grandpa K. That mammoth is incredible! Will loved to dig for the bones (but he didn't love that more than his yellow motorcycle).

September 2nd update

Hi all! I just wanted to let everyone know that we are still alive. We have settled in what we affectionately call "the basement" at Grandma K's house. It's surprisingly wonderful. I like not grocery shopping or coming up with what to fix for dinner every night. When we get the internet on the 9th I'll post some pictures of our new "digs". (Wow. I'm so not cool).