Go Rangers!

In honor of our beloved (to certain members of the family) Rangers playing in the World Series RIGHT NOW, here's a couple of pictures we took at a Rangers game in 2005.  We had just moved to Texas a couple months before.  Emma was 2, Scott was 4, and Gracie was a newborn, though I don't have a picture of her.  We were able to go when most of Ben's family came into town.  As it turns out, it was a rare rain-out!  But we were way up at the top, so we were covered by the roof.  They never got the game started that day, unfortunately, but it was still fun to go there (and use the tickets later for dryer days).

The ballpark is beautiful--I don't usually say that about sports venues, but this one really is.  (It's the one in the movie The Rookie.)  We've gone back several times through the years, because the cheap seats really are--only $5.  Except this week, they've gone up to over $400, so we're passing for now. 

(I just heard one of my children randomly cheer, "LET'S go RANgers!"  Their daddy's enthusiasm is contagious!)

Five Facts

Here are some interesting facts about Guatemala, thanks in large part to National Geographic Kids...

1. Guatemala is only slightly larger than the state of Tennessee.  A third of the population live in the cool mountainous highlands.  The coastal lowlands are hot and humid.  Three of the thirty volcanoes in the country are active.

2. The quetzal bird, believed by ancient Mayans to be the living form of the god Quetzalcoatl, lives in the cloud forests high in the mountains.  Both male and female have red, white, and green feathers, and the male has a tail that can measure three feet long.  The currency of the country is the quetzal.

3. The cloud forest mist provides water for an air plant called bromelids, which cling to the trunks of trees.

4. The name of the country may come from the Mayan word Guhatezmalh, which means "Mountain That Vomits Water," because of the volcano near the old capital of Antiqua.

5. My parents are now there, serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

My little brother determined that since they wrote to him weekly while on his mission (and they did it for me, too), he would write a letter for them every week.  I have decided to follow his example and declare that I will TRY to post on this blog at least weekly for the 18 months that my parents are in Guatemala.  There--it's public.  Now I will be accountable!  (I just need this nausea to calm down a bit.  I am hoping for very soon.)

A tiny little announcement

So...remember the time you had your fifth child, and everyone you met would say, "Wow.  Five kids.  Are you...done?" and you looked around at your life with that newborn, and your 2, 4, 6, and 8 year olds, and you realized that your life was about at the top of the limit of what you can handle, and you would say, "Yes, yes we are...unless there's some major divine intervention!  Ha, ha!"  and your spouse was totally on board with that, and all was well because life was busy, and even complete, and things went on like this for two years or so, and then, as you say that yes, you're done, you start to get a little bit...uncomfortable...but you push it away, because, after all, you've already told everyone, and your family is good as it is, and you realize that this is the longest you've not been pregnant or nursing, and it feels really great because you finally have some energy to start doing other things that you've been too wiped out to do for the last nine years, but that little nagging feeling still won't go away, and you decide to bring it up with your spouse, expecting a lot of resistance, but instead he surprises you by saying that he's also not quite sure you were done, and if you're going to have another one, you might as well do it soon, but you thought you'd  have more time trying to convince him, and you're not quite convinced yourself you want to or that you're ready, so you both pray about it, and you realize that the nagging feeling was the divine intervention that you've been joking about all along, so you decide to go ahead and then...all of a sudden you wonder what in the world you were thinking, because you remember full well what it's like to be pregnant and to have a newborn...and a two-year old...and you were thinking for so long that you wouldn't have another and how nice it was to be done with those stages, but you can't deny that you already got an answer to your prayer, and then you get hit by a wave of nausea and fatigue (and grouchiness) that is so familiar that you don't even need to take a test, because you know exactly what it's from?

You know?

Yeah, I've been going through that, too.

And then, do you remember the time that you went to the doctor for your first appointment, and you had an ultrasound, and heard the heart beat, and then you realized that everything will work out?

Me too.

Let me introduce Little Miss or Mister Divine Intervention:


Ignore the fact that it is rather alien-like--this fetus is ready for Halloween already.  We expect to see what he or she really looks like in April.

Some New Beginnings

1) School started!  These kiddos were so, so excited to get back to school.  Gracie is now in 1st grade, and after an eventful trip to the eye doctor over the summer (yes, there was throw-up involved...), she is added to the list our kids with vision correction.  Emma is in 3rd grade, and was so happy to get the teacher she had been hoping for all summer.

2) Scott started 5th grade, which means he entered what our school district calls "intermediate school" (5th and 6th grades), and it also means that he started switching classes and wearing the required uniform.   His school starts later than the girls' so he gets his piano practicing done before he leaves.  Nice.

 3) Caytie started preschool!  She was not so, so excited about the whole deal, but has a good friend in the class, and now really likes going to her 3 hour twice a week class.

 4) We stocked up on school supplies, since they were at such great prices.  Don't worry, we're putting the markers to good use:

 This (surprisingly pretty) butterfly on Caytie was compliments of Gracie.  Caytie shared the fun with Tessa.  Thank goodness for washable markers.

 5) Grandma and Grandpa came to visit on their round-about-way to the Missionary Training Center.  They were here for only one night, but we sure were happy to have them here before they leave for their adventure in Guatemala for 18 months.

 (We had to get in a cookie-making session before they left the next day.)

 6) Emma and Caytie (front row) and Gracie (back corner) started a ballet/tap combo class.  Emma and Gracie enjoy it; Caytie does not.  We'll see how long she lasts.

7) There is another one, but I think I'll save it for its own post. :)