falling in love again

This past week Christian and I have spend very little quality time together, or any time together. He has single-parented, done all the house work, and tried to motivate me in this very stressful week as I finish my project proposal. At times like these I feel like there is an unspoken understanding that even though we are stressed, we know that it will pass and we will be o.k. Today I worked all day and at 8:30pm we went out to dance. I thought I would of been done but wasn't and almost gave up on our date. However, the babysitter came and off we went. We hadn't been dancing together for a long time. I forgot how much I enjoy dancing with Christian. I forgot how much Christian enjoys dancing. Its one of the reasons I fell for him. We did meet at a church dance, after all. During our date I got butterflies in my stomach from dancing with him. I felt like we were dating again and that I was falling in love. Then we came home and Christian opened up the computer and edited my entire project proposal. It's 3:10 am, finally done. He just went off to get some sleep before he goes dawn patrol with David Baucher, a commitment he had already made before he knew he would be up so late.

I like the butterflies in the stomach feeling but not even close to as much as I love the peaceful comfort of our marriage. The often taken for granted feeling that I can count on him to bear the brunt of the parenting and house work and still stay up till 3:00am with me to edit my paper and tell me that he thinks I'm smart and amazing even though I've been feeling very incompetent and stupid. This is why I love Christian. Not just because he rocks my world out on the dance floor.

Ninja

We love you Andy and Charlene

Here's a link to the news report I read and saw about Andy and Charlene's house. I'm so sorry. What do they need? What can we do? We love you.

So Tute!

First and foremost, let me just say one thing: being a parent is NOT easy! Oh my goodness! I give MAD PROPS to all of you guys who are parents. You guys do such an amazing job and I do not know how you guys do it! Here are some pictures to show you how tired all of us are minus the kids who are ALWAYS full of energy!

I am looking pretty hashed! Chloe likes being on my shoulders. This way our walk goes faster because she always pick flowers, and we don't have to wait while she plays with all of the twigs on the ground!

Tey-Tey is the MAN, he's my newest addition in the boyfriend department and I could ALWAYS put him to sleep. I'm in love! G & Z, WATCH OUT!

Chloe would say this picture of her is "so tute!" She can't pronounce her c's sometimes, but I think it's a lot tuter!

I have had such an awesome time here. I have been tired and grumpy, but they put up with me because they love me! It has been such a good experience. I have met so many new kids and made new friends, it's great! Chloe is SUPER popular and random moms will come up to Ali and be like, "Hi Chloe!"; sort of strange but nice nonetheless.
We have gone to get pedicures, our eyebrows waxed, we have gone shopping at the mall, taken walks around the complex, gone to the parks, sightsee, and there is still so much left to do!

Ali has gotten the OK to start doing stuff since her 4 LAYERS OF STITCHES ON HER BELLY are healing correctly! Yesterday we went to Mount Vernon and it was gorgeous! We forgot the camera so no pictures! I'm thinking about applying for some internships here, and if I get them that would be awesome!

It's been really humbling to see all the things that parents have to go through with kids: no sleeping, looking like a zombie, not eating, not showering. When I was complaining to Ali asking her how the h she does it, she told me: "You have to be submissive. You are on the kid's schedule. Don't try to fight them, just go along with them."

And I must admit, that attempting to follow her advice has produced pretty good results. I love the kids and A & L even though I don't always show it. We all miss you guys and I can't wait to see you this summer!

Thanks for being such good examples to me. I told Ben that once we have kids I'm going to have an advantage over him because I am always surrounded by them. His response, "Who said we were going to have kids?"

MEN!

Danny/Daddy update

I know these are over exposed, but you haven't seen Danny in a while. The significance of the post title is that Gio calls Danny daddy half the time and Danny the other half. They sound the same. Danny is doing good in school. It's pretty much just like a job at this point. He's not in class this quarter so he goes in to lab at 8 or 9, works (runs gels, reads, freeze dries things, etc) and comes home at 5 or 6. Right now he is researching about the iridescence in squid skin. In learning about the chemistry of how the squid do what they do he aims to mimic their skillz and produce some type of optical device that will save the world. I totally read (and edited) his research proposal, but my recap is evidence of the fact that while everyday he goes to school and gets smarter and smarter, I stay home and listen to my brain atrophy through my ears. (I'm retarded.) Everyday at lunch time I load the boys and leftovers into the bike trailer and ride the 2 miles to his lab while listening to This American Life (thank you Da) or Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (thank you Bekah) on my purple iPod shuffle. The boys inevitably fall asleep and Danny and I have a nice grown up picnic lunch together. We talk (election) politics or watch the non existent waves or I bumblingly recite all of my newly gained knowledge about testosterone (This American Life) and speculate about my own current testosterone levels and their many varying implications. Danny seems happy in school although when I say things like he's getting smarter and I'm getting dumber he says he feels like he's getting dumber. I guess the more you learn about one specific thing the more of your useful broad knowledge you lose. Or something like that.

Sumo

We had fun at sumo, though Mim said that she would have rather gone to school. You can check out my post about the day here. We took a break in the middle of the day and went to the Tokyo Edo Museum. Here's a picture of the girls in a palanquin.

We had lunch at one of their restaurants on the seventh floor. The view was impressive. The food was really good. I love the teishoku because you get a little bit of everything. And it's so pretty. (I can't get it to rotate, so you can tilt your head, sorry)

gone

Our next door neighbors are moving back to Minnesota on Wednesday. We are SO sad. Enzo and Avry are super good buddies, Ben (the dad) and Christian mountain bike together, Shannon and I like to gossip about our neighbors...what will we do without them? One thing I know I won't do without them is get a hair cut, at least not for a long time. Shannon is an Aveda hair dresser who has given me 4 haircuts since I've moved here. Last week I got one more trim and today Enzo got his. There's nothing easier than taking your kid to the neighbor's house, putting him in front of the TV, giving him some snacks, and coming out with a great hair cut. We will miss them. I'm also already missing Enzo's curls but he seems to enjoy it.

Martha Stewart Living

Look, who's in this month's issue. It's our very own.

The other Lorenzo

The only other Lorenzo we know around here is the San Lorenzo river. It's a beautiful river that cuts through Santa Cruz. It's been HOT for the last couple days, like in the 90s and we are lovin' it to no end. Yesterday we enjoyed the river by going to a swimming hole and then to the River Arts Festival.

We went hiking with some friends to the river so we could try out the rope swing. Enzo and I hung out watching the boys do their crazy rope swing moves.


Then I got brave and did it. The scary part was the cold water but hanging outside was just too hot and Enzo totaly pressured me to do it. It was funny. He kept on telling me to go jump. Christian was loving it. He appreciates not having to be the one pressuring me anymore to do these things.


We pressured Christian to do a double back flip. It turned out to not be such a great idea.


Then we went to the River Arts Festival. It was amazing. Lots of god music, installation art, food, and of course awesome things that you just drool over and wish you were a millionaire so you could buy it all.







My favorite vendors were there. Their stuff is beyond drooling. There was seriously a line so you could get to their booth. One woman that was there told me that Musi's jewelry is her addiction.



I am addicted! I bought these earings and ring made by Vanessa. My birthday coupon has been redeemed.

Splash Mountain

On our way to the Winnie the Pooh ride Gio and I remembered how fun it was to watch the logs drop on Splash Mountain. We made Danny go. The first ride of the day. There was NO LINE. It was amazing. Would he have gone if he knew that the ride had been renovated to get you extra wet? He was soaked and turns out there was no line because it was freezing. He never complained though. He did try to convince me to go on in next though.

Happy Birthday Giovanni

We had a small backyard birthday BBQ for Gio on Monday (his real birthday) and then 0n Tuesday (Doyle's birthday) we went to Disneyland! It was really fun to have Danny there with us. Gio and his friends had a lot of fun running around the backyard and in and out of his bedroom. They are pretty easily entertained. He got a two wheeler for his present. I'll post a picture someday.

Happy BIrthday Zeke

We had a super fun backyard BBQ for Zeke's first birthay. Danny's parents and Natalie and Ellie and Brittnat came. Lots of our neighbors and some friends from church and Danny's entire lab including his advisor, also some friends from frisbee. It was a huge success. Zeke cried when we sang Happy Birthday because it was so loud, but he still enjoyed his cake and ate an enitre piece.

Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu!

We hope you had a great Japanese birthday. In our side of the world your birthday has just begun and we are thinking of you and wishing you a happy day.

I used to think that Bekah and I had nothing in common. But the fact that we married twins who look alike might say something. I'm glad we were able to spend time together this summer. It really made me appreciate Bekah, especially because I always felt frazzled and she pretty much had it together. It made a huge difference when we were getting ready to move.

Out of the top of my head here are some things I admire about her.

1. If it wasn't for her blog this blog and so many other blogs wouldn't exist. She started the whole blogging trend for the Palmers and friends and her blog continues to be the best (in my opinion)
2. When I went on my honeymoon I would call and check up on Iris. Every single time, without fail, Iris would tell that she was fine and that Bekah had done something for her. It usually involved good food. Thank you for that, by the way.
3. On that same note, this summer Bekah took Iris to see Jack Johnson at the BYUH pool. Iris adores her because of it.
4. Last year's Christmas break Bekah and I went shopping at old Navy and she was stoked about this cute shirt she got. During the summer Miriam wanted to wear this same shirt to go to sleep. I thought for sure Bekah wouldn't let her. She did let her and totally didn't care. I realized that she cares about the things that matter and that's what makes her such a good mom.
   
5. Bekah is raising two of the most fascinating and fun little people I know.
6. SUPER generous. I can not handle stingy people, especially with food. Bekah is not stingy at all. Whenever we went to Ted's bakery she would always buy my something without even asking. Oh and she gave us her car... generous!
   
7. She is thrifty. This seems to be a pre-requresite to marry into the Palmer family. Bekah not only does a good job at this but she also shares her thriftness with others. For example, she found me a used breast pump which I used the whole first year of Enzo's life. and am saving for future breast feeding years.
   
8. She makes yummy things. The first gigerbread house I ever had was Bekah's creation. The first monkey bread I ever had was also Bekah's creation and now I am obsessed with it.
9. She is the queen of the bookworms. This is obvious to anyone who has spend more than an hour with Bekah. However, I thought I'd mention it since she is the only mother I know who can still read and watch her kids. She'll probably say that she doesn't do a good job of watching kids while she reads but given that G and M are alive and well I think her system is working.
10. Even though we had some falling out before my wedding she was still nice enough to make Christian and I a beautiful quilt for our wedding present that I love and cherish.
11. She made Enzo a quilt that he loves and cherishes.
12. She loves and cherishes Enzo.
    
13. She is always wearing something cool on her feet. I am totally jelouse of her shoe collection.
14. She is efficient when it comes to shopping. Even for shoes. I've seen her do it at Ross.
15. She is a total hands on kind of person. This is evident when she's helping others and things need to get done.
16. She makes the most beautiful flower arrangements I have ever seen. We were lucky to have her arrangements with Pammy's tropical flowers during Christmas break.
17. I haven't seen her garden but I've heard good things from Sienna and I pretty much appreciate anyone who takes the time to garden.
18. She believes in social justice and is aware of what is going on in the world.
19. She's the only other person that I've met that is not super neat but that loves a clean bathroom.
    
20. She speaks Portuguese. We haven't spoken much in Portuguse since Brazilian and Portugal Portuguese is different but let me say that having another person sing happy brithday in Portuguese is really nice. It takes the presure off Christian and I who sing terribly.
21. Not only does she sing Parabens pra voce beautifully, she also sings everything beautifully.
22. She plays the piano. Total useful talent.
23. I convinced her to take on this teaching job with me during the summer. Our boss was crazy. The job was crazy. She never blamed me for getting her involved and even watched Enzo for me the second week I did it alone.
24. I really appreciated our one on one conversations, mostly during our drive to the crazy job.
25. I think from all the Palmers she's the one who has lived the most internationally.
    
26. If I had lived in as many countries as Bekah has I would brag. She doesn't brag. I appreciate not bragging.
27. I really admire how she handles teasing from Jesse's brothers. I handle it terribly, that's why I admire it. Bekah, you're gonna have to give me some tips on this one.
28. Bekah was the first family member to ever contact me when Christian announced that we were dating.
    
29. Bekah doesn't pretend that her life is Christmas letter perfect. It's evident in her blog and in conversations. This takes guts and maturity.
    
30. She seems to make the most of life's circumstances also evident in her blog and conversations. It really takes guts to do all she's doing in Tokyo, like taking her kids to fun places even though she can't even read street signs. I come from a big city I know how intimidating it can be. Also the fact that she had G in Taiwan and is now doing fertility treatment in Japan really exemplifies this.
31. Bekah can go from looking normal to looking amazing in 5 minutes flat. I've seen her come in and out of the bathroom wearing makeup and something awesome in a very short amount of time and looking totally good. It takes most of us a lot longer and with a lot more gadgets.
    
32. Most people who wear red look terrible and I resent it. Bekah looks amazing in red. I think the above picture speaks for itself.

Happy 32nd Birthday Bekah!

Logan & Brodie

How beautiful are these pictures?!? Liz sent me these. She's been experimenting with her camera and I guess Charlie's been giving her some tips with photoshop. Now, all of her girlfrieds are asking her to take pictures of their kids.

Castle Rock State Park

Our car finally got fixed so I decided to celebrate and go exploring the Santa Cruz Mountains with Enzo. I've been wanting to go up here and check out the climbing since we moved here but haven't really had the time or willingness to drive the 50 minutes. With the swells decreasing in size and frequency I decided to go out there. Plus I'm thinking about taking the scouts climbing up there in a few weeks and wanted to make sure I knew what I was talking about. Enzo loves climbing on things and walking around. He had a good time and got super dusty. It was a perfect day to be outside.