Over the past six years I’ve been impressed at times and extremely frustrated at times at Emma’s ability to never give up. If she wants something, she puts up a pretty good fight until she gets it or until she poops out, which can take quite a while. I’ll never forget dragging my stubborn two year old out of the Children’s Museum in New Orleans while trying to push Cooper out in the stroller. Emma was screaming “Never!” and kicking the whole way. And man is she strong! She apparently didn’t want to leave. Luckily I had friends with me to help me and to laugh at my crazy child (although at the time it wasn’t funny to me).
A couple of days ago I was proud of my little girl’s determination and perseverance. She got a new mountain bike for Christmas. Red and silver with gears, shocks, the works. It is quite a bit bigger than her old Princess bike and causes her to lean forward a lot more. Brig took her out for a test ride on Christmas afternoon. They only lasted a couple of minutes due to the cold weather and Brig had to run along side her to help her start and stop. We just kind of thought it would be a bike she would have to grow into. Well, a couple of days later I took the kids and their bikes to the Parkade playground where there is plenty of space to ride. I tried to help Emma master her new bike. She could ride fine, but again, the starting and stopping needed help. She got so frustrated and upset when she couldn’t do it right off the bat. As the parent who so intimately understands her struggle, it is still a bit frustrating trying to calmly teach her. “Emma, you’ll get it. It just takes practice.” She continues to yell, scream, cry. But does she give up, throw in the towel? Never! She keeps going until she gets it. She mastered her new mountain bike within the hour. Impressive for my little six year old. Wait until I grow into it? Ha!
Now the question is, how do I teach her how and when to use this strong characteristic she possess? Is there a way or does she just have to figure it out on her own? There are many times when I want to say, “Emma, just give up! It’s not going to happen. Stop fighting it and give in!” I don’t want to break her spirit, just harness it a bit.
Oh, but she will do great things someday I’m sure!

Categories: Family
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So Cooper and Kyla are best friends. They are actually planning on getting married. They are pretty cute together. Cooper has asked questions like, “when Kyla has our baby, will I be at the hospital?” Yesterday when we were talking about our potential move he said, “Will Kyla and I be married when we move?” When I told him no, he said, “Ahhh man! Then we’re never gonna get married.” Jenny told us of a time that Kyla was throwing a fit while Cooper was over at their house. She asked him if he wanted to go home. He said, “no, I’ll just wait. She’ll settle down.”

Yesterday they were having some fun with the karaoke machine. Kristin got this nice duet from High School Musical on film. We thought it was pretty funny and cute. The best part is the ending pose. Enjoy.

Categories: Family, video
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Well Christmas has come and gone. The tree is down, the decorations are in the attic and we are exhausted.

I remember as a child being so excited for Santa to come that I couldn’t fall asleep on Christmas Eve. I would lay in my bed trying and trying, but the excitement was too much. What was Santa going to bring? Would I get what I wanted? Why isn’t it morning yet? Well, I got to taste a little of that again. However, it wasn’t my excitement, but Emma’s. She was so excited for Santa to come that she awakened at 4:00 AM. She came into our room only after waking Cooper up as well so she wouldn’t be alone. I went in and laid in her bed for 1.5 hours. Every few minutes she would ask, “is it time yet?” When they came into our room again after I left, I almost lost it. I was ready for the Grinch to come and take everything, right down to the tree. Fortunately Kristin intervened and got them back into bed where they slept until 7:30.

So Santa came as you can see. He brought a bike, a castle and art supplies. He ate oreos and his reindeer had their reindeer licks (thanks Becky). Everything seemed perfect. He apparently had noticed some disobedience, however. He left the following note for the kids.

Emma, Cooper, and Meg-

Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I wanted to write a little note to tell you that you were very close to getting coal this year. If you guys don’t start obeying, you will get coal next year. Remember my elves and I are watching.

Love-

Santa

We’ll see if it helps in the coming year. No luck so far.

Categories: Family
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I am just getting back to Missouri and normal life. Let’s look at the numbers (inspired by Amy’s post).

24 – Days gone from home
37 – Family members visited
9 – Beds slept in
6 – Southwest flights
5 – Interviews for Sports Medicine Fellowships
4 – States visited (Utah, Idaho, Nevada, California)
4 – Dollars gambled away at the Luxor in Las Vegas
16 – Inches of snow that fell in Columbia while we were gone.
70 – Temperature in San Diego the day I was there
10 – PM the time Alph and I went to Fenton’s for ice cream and it was packed.
2 – Number of times Aaron dropped stuff on his big toe ultimately requiring a trip to Kaiser.
1 – mostly dead Christmas tree I got at Lowe’s for $17 after I got home.

We had a great trip, but we are definitely happy to be home. Kristin is happy to have me here since she had a week with 2 sick kids and very little sleep. We are very appreciative to our gracious hosts. We had a great time! You can see some of the pictures from the trip here.

I don’t know when we will have such a busy few weeks again, but it doesn’t need to happen any time soon. I am happy to be sleeping in my own bed. Now if I could just get the kids to sleep in their own bed.

Categories: Family
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For those of you that missed it, the BYU vs Utah game was unbelievable. It was great to see BYU finally win a close one. Watch the incredible final play below.

Categories: Random, video
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Cooper and Emma saw Nacho Libre the other day, and they have fallen in love with it. Cooper says it is his favorite movie. They enjoyed it so much that they went outside on the tramp to do some acting. Notice that Cooper has a cape on and no shirt. As he says, “Nacho doesn’t wear a shirt.” It didn’t matter that it was 40 degrees outside, you have to be committed to the role. I didn’t edit this at all, I figured it was just as good for you to watch just as it transpired. Enjoy!

Categories: Family, video
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Here is video footage of Meg’s joke.

Categories: Family, video
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I figured it was time to update on Meg’s situation. She is doing much better. Since going to the doctor she has improved. She was started on antibiotics that initially were nearly impossible to give to her. She would clench her jaw really tight, and then once you got it in, spit it out or just let it sit in her mouth for ever and then let it dribble out.  We would have to put her in timeout, and then she would cooperate.  After a few days she got better at it.  She now exclaims as loud as she can, “I did it!”  We are pleased with her cooperation since she is still on the antibiotics.  Her face has returned to normal.  She has a small nodule under her chin, but it continues to improve.  She sees the doc one more time on Wednesday and hopefully that will be the end of the antibiotics.

Categories: Family
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We want to wish Sophie Lou a very happy 7th birthday. We miss having you so close, but look forward to seeing you soon. Emma is happy you can be around for her birthday.

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