A Lawyer, Two Toddlers, & A Drama Queen

Jinn

2011-11-18T17:20:00.001-07:00

Hey all... just wanted to write a quick post and direct you all to check out a review I wrote for Utah Theater Bloggers. The show was really interesting and honestly, if you don't have plans and you're in SLC, you should check it out. Very unique and thought-provoking show...

Here's the link! http://utahtheaterbloggers.com/7596/a-puzzle-worth-watching-jinn-other-myths-at-the-off-broadway-theater/

November Already?!?

2011-11-17T13:12:00.000-07:00

Wow. So it really has been more than 10 MONTHS since I've last posted. That is just insanity. I guess Facebook took over. And life. I know... excuses, excuses... but at least I'm posting now!

Our family was the Mario Brothers for Halloween... Big Mario and Big Luigi and Baby Mario and Baby Luigi. Yes, we are dorky. But we love us some Mario Kart!!! :)

The kids are both older (birthdays are in February) as are Robert and I (birthdays in August)... Peter is 4 and loving his three-day-a-week preschool; Jeremy is 2 and insanely active all the time; Robert is 28 and still living up the attorney life, gaming or watching movies with me at night; and I am also 28 (3 days older than Robert) and trying to enjoy the everyday moments (not usually succeeding, it seems)...

I have recently discovered Pinterest and I am totally addicted but loving it! I've decided to implement the awesome ideas I "Pin" there by doing one pin a week. There are so many cute and easy crafts and activities on there to do with kids... also great home ideas, etc... so I'm going to do one thing a week and then post it here. Hopefully I'll be better at keeping this up!

We Are Alive!

2011-01-25T20:41:00.001-07:00

Yes. This is Jeremy wearing a batman mask. He LOVES it. Should I be concerned?!?

Hello Everyone...

We have been lame at blogging. And I take the blame, since Robert does work full-time and Peter and Jeremy don't know how to read and write yet.

Here's a G Family Update:

Robert is happily back to being obsessed with the Jazz now that we're in Utah again. He has always been a fan, but now he devotedly watches every Jazz game and EVEN watches his "worst (NBA) enemies" to cheer AGAINST them (sorry, Lakers fans!). Robert's firm has season tickets to the Jazz... so we've been able to go to a game so far (against the Magic) which was AWESOME!!!

Peter is potty-trained (WOOHOO) and keeps his pants dry, provided we bribe him with DS/Gamecube privileges. Yes, he's three. I know. It's kind of scary he already loves video games. And I AM contemplating banning them from the house... but for now, they're helping motivate him, so they're doing some good. He also loves his preschool and is our silly big boy, always.

Jeremy is a spazz. A TOTAL spazz. He TODAY discovered how to climb out of his crib, which I am not happy about. Needless to say, after putting him back into his crib 20 times (yes, this kid is stubborn)... I gave up and he didn't nap today. Here's hoping naps aren't gone forever!!!

I am generally happy and crazy... somewhere in the middle of the two, I guess. My house is currently a disaster area... but I tend to be an all-or-nothing cleaner unfortunately. Hopefully I'll find my mojo and finish cleaning up tomorrow. Sorry, Mom and Megan! You really did teach me better... I have become a gym rat, though, and luckily, my kids love the "Kid Zone" there, too... woohoo!!!

Sorry this is short and choppy but I wanted to get it out there! Hope all is well with you and yours!

Jeremy Sticks a Bowl on His Head, Peter Acts Like He's Really Cool, and Other Adventures

2010-11-23T10:23:00.006-07:00

The Gibbons family has not posted any pics in a while. Here's a few good ones, starting with Jeremy learning how to lounge:

Here's the part where Jeremy sticks a bowl on his head. He really likes wearing hats and bowls, apparently He's also been known to stack sticky suckers on his head:

Here's the lucky parents of the young gentlemen, at a release party for Brandon Sanderson's / Robert Jordan's new book The Towers of Midnight. Both of us won prizes at the event.

Here's Peter, just after launch on a dinosaur slide at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden.

And here is Peter's best GQ pose at the same park:

There was one scary episode that day at the park. We were with friends digging for dinosaur bones when we noticed that Jeremy had vanished. We found him a short distance away staring at the ducks:

He must be thinking really deep thoughts.

Stay cool, kids.

Hooray for Daddy!

2010-10-13T17:19:00.000-06:00

First off... isn't the pic above to-die-for cute?!? Peter and Ethan are close cousins and are quickly becoming BFFs. Peter even asked me to call Ethan on the phone yesterday. The conversation was pretty funny (given that they are both 3-year-olds):

PETER (with my prompting): Hi-- is Ethan there? This is Peter.
(after chatting a bit with Aunt Rachel G.)...
ETHAN: Hi Peter! Do you want to play?
(as reported to me by Rachel G.)
PETER: Hi Ethan! Uh hum... [Awkward silence from Peter's end]

He just kind of sat there. But it was thrilling to see that he wanted to reach out and connect with his buddy. Seriously, so cute. We'll keep practicing phone conversations. :)

As for the HEADING of this lovely blog... HOORAY FOR DADDY... Robert was sworn into the Utah Bar today and so is officially a full-abled practicing lawyer!! WAHOO! He came home with his new awesome business cards yesterday (a day early I guess, before they were "official")-- "Robert.... Attorney-at-Law." Congrats, honey! This has been many years in-the-making and I am proud to be a part of it all.

The Miracle of Forgiveness

2010-09-24T09:16:00.004-06:00

Just a warning... this is going to be one of those introspective posts, because I've been thinking about this topic a lot lately. I will put in some cute pictures of my kids to add some excitement. :)

Forgiveness... I have unwittingly considered myself a forgiving person before. I am naturally forgetful about most things, so it fits in that I forgive easily, right? I also try to forgive when I feel offended or hurt...

...but (hate that word in this scenario!)... through many heartfelt discussions with my husband, I have realized that I am the type that forgives 98% and holds onto that 2% of hurt to protect myself against being hurt again. Two percent isn't such a big deal, except for when you start adding it all up... the English teacher in jr. high who made me cry regularly, my terrible wedding DJ (isn't it so funny that I actually still feel resentment for this?!? I mean really, how immature can I be?!?), "friends" who hurt me, rejections and failures I hold onto too tight (aka, not fully forgiving MYSELF).

Does anyone else feel this way? Like forgiveness really is a Divine gift -- so against our "protect myself and survive" nature?

The thing is, when I think of myself and all of the dumb things I've done and said... I sincerely hope people forgive me for those mistakes. I want people to know that despite my "bad" moments, I am not a bad person (I hope). I want people to give ME the benefit of the doubt and see me as a person... not label or define me by one poor decision.

As our Savior said:

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
“But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

“And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

“And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

“Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matt. 5:38–44, emphasis added).

Pretty powerful. And pretty clear. It gets down to trusting the Lord: If I trust the Lord's promises, I will give Him my heart. Part of that gift is giving up and letting go of the protective resentments I hold, with trust that the Lord's miracles will outweigh my own capacity to "protect" myself.

For even more motivation, in order for me to be forgiven fully, the Lord taught, I must first forgive fully:

“Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.

“I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (D&C 64:9–10, emphasis added).

President Gordon B. Hinckley said it best in his epic October 2005 Conference talk, "Forgiveness":

"I know this is a delicate and sensitive thing of which I am speaking. There are hardened criminals who may have to be locked up. There are unspeakable crimes, such as deliberate murder and rape, that justify harsh penalties. But there are some who could be saved from long, stultifying years in prison because of an unthoughtful, foolish act. Somehow forgiveness, with love and tolerance, accomplishes miracles that can happen in no other way.

"The great Atonement was the supreme act of forgiveness. The magnitude of that Atonement is beyond our ability to completely understand. I know only that it happened, and that it was for me and for you. The suffering was so great, the agony so intense, that none of us can comprehend it when the Savior offered Himself as a ransom for the sins of all mankind.

"It is through Him that we gain forgiveness. It is through Him that there comes the certain promise that all mankind will be granted the blessings of salvation, with resurrection from the dead. It is through Him and His great overarching sacrifice that we are offered the opportunity through obedience of exaltation and eternal life" (emphasis added).

I pray that I can finally learn to forgive and let go of all the little things I harbor... and that we all can learn to have more love and trust and less resentment.

AND I ask any of you whom I might have offended to forgive me. I will sincerely try to do the same, forgiving completely and in a way that only comes through the Atonement of the Savior.

I know that Jesus is the Christ and that His way is the way of love and forgiveness. I know that as we follow Him-- even when we can't comprehend "why" or even "how"-- He will bless us.

Great News!

2010-09-18T22:52:00.000-06:00

... Robert PASSED THE UTAH BAR!!! He got the news in the mail today and we are ecstatic!

Yay Daddy! ...now back to our show...

I love you, Robert!

Congratulations, honey! I knew you could do it! WOOHOO!!!!

1st Day of Official Preschool

2010-09-10T13:44:00.002-06:00

Here's a little photo montage to prove that we are, in fact, still alive AND that Peter is getting so big! AHH! He just started preschool this last Thursday and LOVED it. BEYOND loved it. He went straight for the puzzles (the "gathering" activity in class) and didn't look back. I was the one snuggling him for hugs (while he was trying to work on the puzzle) and kissing him and telling him it would be fun/okay... I guess I was reassuring myself?

Anyway, he loves Miss Allie, his teacher, and his class and I am SO happy for him to have this new independence. He so needed a chance to get out, be challenged, and shine. Now I just need to cope with the fact that my little buddy is getting so big... bah! (THOUGH it IS nice to have him at preschool twice a week-- some Jer-bonding time for me... aka, running errands-time!!)

In Robert news, we are WAITING... anxiously, anxiously waiting... for the bar results. They should be coming anytime now (predicted to arrive in the next two weeks). I still think he rocked it. But we shall see! Either way, I know everything will be okay and Robert will thrive as a lawyer.

Peter BEYOND EXCITED to get going to preschool! He couldn't stop talking about it all morning and was even super antsy and excited when I put him to bed the night before.

Showing off his awesome Buzz Lightyear backpack. (D.I. find. Yes, I DO love D.I. No, I am not ashamed.)

Oh the cousin love... (And yes, finally a genuine, non-cheesy smile from Peter!)

... And I think this has to be one of my favorite pictures. EVER. JackJack and Peter are so funny... a true "love/hate" relationship... but gearing more toward "love" (aka SILLINESS!) now that they don't live together. :)

Big River

2010-08-10T13:02:00.006-06:00

Thanks a lot, Jocelyn, for promising that I would be blogging soon about Big River. Now I'm obligated to fulfill your promise.

No, really, I did want to blog about this, so the pressure doesn't sting. Here goes:

When I was just a lad, I would occasionally spend a week or two during the summer with my sister Debbie and her family in Ogden, UT. One of the things I enjoyed most during those trips was listening to her CDs and following along with the handbook of lyrics while rocking in a chair.
The most memorable of all CDs was Big River--the soundtrack to the 1985 Broadway hit based on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I loved the music and the story, and this was before I ever even read Tom Sawyer or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Despite the many plays and musicals I have seen since that time, Big River has remained my favorite. And I never even got to see it performed until last Saturday. Jocelyn bought us tickets to go see the Sundance summer theater production of it. Getting there was an adventure all by itself. It involved driving 30 minutes up Provo Canyon and into Sundance, taking a shuttle to the base of the ski mountain, then riding in a big tractor wagon the rest of the way to the amphitheater.

I was afraid the live performance wouldn't live up to my expectations, and perhaps it didn't quite, but it came so surprisingly close that it still remains my favorite musical.

Highlights:

Nick Whitaker (who portrayed the 14-year-old Joseph Smith in the recent "Prophet of the Restoration" movie and also had a minor role in the High School Musical movies) was hilarious as Tom Sawyer.

Nathan Waite, as Huck Finn, is one of the best actors/singers I've seen on stage. And he just barely graduated from high school in May.

The songs that Jim and Huck sing together are some of the most moving / memorable songs out there that deal with slavery and racial issues.

If you're in Utah, and you have a spare night between now and August 20, consider seeing this show. That is all.

Still Alive ;)

2010-08-09T14:34:00.002-06:00

This post is going to be short and sweet... but we are alive and in our new Utah apartment, which I love. Robert survived the Bar and we think passed (we find out at the end of September), the kids are healthy and spazzy as "normal," and we are all keeping pretty busy! Robert will be updating the blog soon about our pre-birthday celebration a la "Big River" at Sundance (SEE IT!!!)... and we'll get some kid pics up then, too.

I am still working with Just Eyewear, an online glasses company started by a good friend of ours, doing writing, marketing, and a little of this and that. I helped put together (the text part) of this awesome new graphic... feel free to use it and pass it along. I think it turned out really nice (though my blog seems to cut it off, bleh):

Via: Just Eyewear

No, I'm Not Dead :)

2010-06-14T13:50:00.000-06:00

Teaching in the Home Is Paramount Today
Posted: 14 Jun 2010 12:00 AM PDT
"Teaching in the home is becoming increasingly important in today's world, where the influence of the adversary is so widespread and he is attacking, attempting to erode and destroy the very foundation of our society, even the family. Parents must resolve that teaching in the home is a most sacred and important responsibility." L. Tom Perry, "Mothers Teaching Children in the Home," Ensign, May 2010, 30
Topics: Parenthood

Awesome and inspiring quote, huh? I at least loved it (and always need such reminders!)...

So a LOT has happened since the last post. We are in Utah, have been here for over a month, and we are "settled" in to my sister's house (thank you SO MUCH Meg and John!!) where we're staying all summer. Robert is gone all the time, except Sundays and some rare Saturday "moments"... at work and at class and studying. He is so diligent and hardworking. I am grateful I married such a smart AND hardworking man... though it is hard sometimes when I want to selfishly hang out with him, while he's selflessly giving his all for our family. Thanks for all you do, Honey!

Speaking of Robert... he is now officially an attorney, woo hoo... and I have some pics to prove it. Here are some shots from our OH-SO-FUN, kidless, anniversary/graduation trip to NYC (thanks Brecken and Justin!), New Jersey (Six Flags, woohoo), and then DC (thanks Jenn and John!)... We had a BLAST and it was the first real vacation (more than one night) we have taken since our HONEYMOON. It was needed and I hope to make it a yearly treat. :)

First Lady Michelle Obama spoke at the Commencement (which was held at the National Mall, right behind the Capital Building)... it was pretty amazing. She is an impressive woman. And she only agreed to speak at GW if GW completed 100,000 hours of service in this last school year... which they did (and exceeded). It was quite inspiring. Jenn and John Z., our good friends and the best hosts ever, let us stay at their house in DC and accompanied us to all of the graduation ceremonies. Since no family could be there, it was really nice to have their support (especially so I wasn't sitting alone the whole time-- thanks guys!)... they are awesome friends and we MISS THEM.

(Post-graduation PARTY... involving Phase 10 and chocolate, as I recall.)

A Family Adventure: DC to UT

2010-05-03T12:17:00.001-06:00

Eternal Family Unions Bring the Greatest Happiness
Posted: 03 May 2010 12:00 AM PDT
"Brethren and sisters, material possessions and honors of the world do not endure. But your union as wife, husband, and family can. The only duration of family life that satisfies the loftiest longings of the human soul is forever. No sacrifice is too great to have the blessings of an eternal marriage. To qualify, one needs only to deny oneself of ungodliness and honor the ordinances of the temple. By making and keeping sacred temple covenants, we evidence our love for God, for our companion, and our real regard for our posterity—even those yet unborn. Our family is the focus of our greatest work and joy in this life." Russell M. Nelson, "Set in Order Thy House," Ensign, Nov. 2001, 71

I thought this quote was an appropriate opening for the family roadtrip blog. Yes, I am STILL grateful-- even after the road trip-- that we are sealed as a family forever. :) The kids really were great and I loved all the time with Robert, who will be MIA this summer as he studies for the Bar AND works. Anyway, here we go with the pictures....

All of our life's possessions, packed in THIS ONE CUBE (the rest had to fit in our car... crazy!)

Robert and Peter riding the train at Tyson's Corner. Once we'd left our apartment, we decided to have some fun for the boys (well, for Peter... I think Jer was grumpy the whole time). He LOVED it as you can see.

Carthage Jail -- We taught Peter all about Joseph Smith on our trip and he was especially excited that Joseph Smith had his big brother Hyrum Smith by his side, just like Jeremy has his big brother Peter by him.

I was amazed at the spirit of hope I felt at Carthage. The focus was on Joseph Smith's life-- what made his death so significant. It was a very neat experience to be there. (Note: we are standing as a family in the room where Joseph and Hyrum were martyred. The window behind us is the window Joseph Smith fell out of.)

Nauvoo -- The BEAUTIFUL temple and the blacksmith shop (Jeremy was asleep in his stroller at that point!). We also walked down Parley Street, drove around to see all the houses and buildings from the car, and visited the graves of Joseph and Hyrum Smith (and Emma's and much of the Smith family's).

We stayed in a lot of hotels (three to be exact) but the boys did awesome at sleeping... and they still LOVED bath time, as you can see!

Adam-ondi-Ahman -- My personal favorite part of our whole adventures. I really felt the Spirit here and know the Savior will come again and will appear specifically here, as has been prophesied. This really was a sacred place-- I could definitely feel it.

Far West, Missouri Temple Site

Liberty Jail -- What an amazing place. Once again, the Spirit was so strong here. This really was a hallowed ground, where the Prophet Joseph Smith was tested, tried, and found worthy. The revelations he received here are some of my favorites and have given me comfort and strength in my trials. The tour here really was spectacularly done.

Independence, Missouri -- First, as we were driving around the future temple spot (and marveling at all of the break-off LDS churches!), we stumbled upon President Truman's boyhood home. Crazy! Then we went to our church's Visitor Center there and learned about the Mormon History of Missouri. We also got to play at the indoor play place... pretending to be pioneers. :)

Our final picture (our memory card was full, but our adventures were almost over anyway!)... this one is at the Denver, Colorado Temple, where we took a pit stop. It was of course beautiful.

We then drove onto Utah, stopped at an awesome "good old boy" cafe called "The Outlaw Cafe" in Price, Utah (SOOO yummy if you're ever in the area!) then onto Springville. We surived a snowstorm in Spanish Fork Canyon, which was somewhat scary, and woke up the next morning (at Josh and Kim's house in Springville) to SNOW all over outside, too. Crazy Utah! Doesn't it know that it is SPRING?!?

Since then we've had a blast seeing family, playing games, and just hanging out. Next week Robert and I go back to DC for his graduation, then it's BAR time... meaning BYE-BYE Robert!

Thanks for all the prayers and support. We'll keep you updated and I will for sure post about our anniversary/graduation trip. Have a great day!

We Have Arrived!

2010-04-29T08:58:00.000-06:00

After a pleasant four-day journey, we have arrived in Utah, safe and sound. The boys are happy to finally not be stuck in a car all day, and we are happy to be here, though we are ALL shocked at the SNOW!!!

I'll post some pics from our adventures later-- we drove through 12 states and visited Nauvoo, Carthage Jail, Liberty Jail, Adam-ondi-Ahman, Far West, and Independence. It was a pretty incredible few days and the kids actually held up brilliantly.

Law School: CHECK!

2010-04-22T15:51:00.001-06:00

He... is... DONE!!!

Robert completed his FINAL final yesterday at 5 pm. He is DONE with law school.

Now onto moving cross country and taking the Bar. :)

Congrats, honey! You have rocked this law school experience! We have grown so much as a family during the last 3 years (not to mention adding a cute little family member-- we love you Jer!). I wouldn't trade this experience for ANYTHING and I am going to miss Virginia, but definitely NOT miss law school! I know Robert feels the same way!

I love you, Robert! Congrats!

Moms & Dads

2010-04-19T07:33:00.000-06:00

I love this quote! It is so true that the influence of BOTH parents is so essential. I see that with my boys. They love me of course :) but they have a special love and relationship with their Daddy. I am so grateful to have grown up in a family where I had loving parents and am happy to give my children the same! :) Working on the "loving" part at times... haha...

Both Parents Are Righteous Influences for Their Children

Posted: 19 Apr 2010 12:00 AM PDT

"It is useless to debate which parent is most important. No one would doubt that a mother's influence is paramount with newborns and in the first years of a child's life. The father's influence increases as the child grows older. However, each parent is necessary at various times in a child's development. Both fathers and mothers do many intrinsically different things for their children." James E. Faust, "Fathers, Mothers, Marriage," Ensign, Aug. 2004, 3–4
Topics: Parenthood

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

2010-04-18T06:02:00.001-06:00

I LOVE this talk. It is true! Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Emily (My Friend/Lifesaver and in this instance PHOTOGRAPHER) Did AWESOME!

2010-04-13T18:29:00.002-06:00

Emily totally outdid herself and took some beautiful pics of our family... what do you guys think? I'm definitely going to blow up and frame some of them. Which are your favs? I can't decide!!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH EMILY!!!
:)

She is one of the "things" I am going to miss most about DC. :(

Love you! Jocelyn

For Sale to DC Area-ites

2010-04-13T06:28:00.001-06:00

We'll Have to Watch Out for This On Our Way Out West

2010-04-08T11:40:00.004-06:00

I read the following today in a story called "7 Worst Roads in America:"

4. I-79/I-70 interchange in Pennsylvania
“If you’re going north on 79 and you need to go west on 70, the ramp is U-shaped. You’ve got to slow down to 25 to get around this crazy U. There is a wall around it that is just beat to pieces where people have banged into it.” - Trucker Clarence Jenkins, Charleston, West Virginia

We'll hit this road at like hour 8 of our journey.

17 Days

2010-04-07T08:29:00.003-06:00

...until we move to Utah! It's becoming real that we're moving, since I'm packing everything we can do without for now and we've sold a big chunk of our furniture... meaning we no longer have a couch, a dining room table, any of our patio furniture, and I just sold our bedroom set today. (Supposedly people are buying our chairs and our coffee table but they haven't gotten back to me yet.) It's crazy.

I'm sad to leave DC, but I'm getting more and more excited to be in Utah. My only remaining (prejudicial) fear is to be in an area that is SO "right" politically... whereas we're kind of in the middle. (I voted for Obama and I support the health care bill... for a ton of mostly personal reasons... maybe I'll blog about it sometime.) Anyway, it's easy to look at an area like Utah that tends toward staunch Republican and feel like an outsider (and be afraid I'm going to be ostracized) when you don't fully agree with what seems to be the majority (and the media definitely supports it). Anyway, it's my one lingering concern. But I know we will be okay.

And as Robert often reminds me: Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. So if I see some things differently, I can try to understand someone else's perspective respectively and hope they'll do the same for me. :)

Anyway, my kids are rampaging through the house with me blogging so I've got to go. But seriously. 17 Days. Keep Robert in your prayers because he's gearing up for finals on top of EVERYTHING else.

And to our Utah friends and family: we love you and are excited to see you soon! We look forward to many hours of playing games, hanging out, getting our kids together, and generally having a good time.

The Power of Quelf

2010-04-02T22:51:00.002-06:00

Here is evidence of some of the randomness that happens when you play the game of Quelf. That's a drawing of a bandaid taped to my head.

Dad, Father, Friend

2010-03-12T18:48:00.004-07:00

Happy Birthday to a man I admire more than words can express. My father exemplifies righteous living better than any man I know. Thanks to him, I am constantly striving to be better. Thanks, Dad. We love you.

Jeremy's 1 & Yes, We're Moving to Utah

2010-03-11T14:39:00.003-07:00

In true parent-toward-a-second-child fashion, I totally forgot to blog about Jeremy's very important 1st birthday!!! He turned 1 on February 16, and we celebrated by waking him up from bed (he was really grumpy and went to bed at like 5 pm) to have cupcakes (yes, he got his own!) with our neighbors and family. It was VERY exciting. He was pretty much out-of-it for the first half hour... just kind of stared at us all. I started physically putting cake into his mouth and he finally got it and enjoyed his bday treat.

So Jer, here's to you. Jeremy is a lot of things... even in just 1 year of life he has a HUGE personality and we love him sooo much (even though he can be sooo naughty already!!)... here are a few things about Jeremy:

Jeremy favorite person: His Dada; closely followed by his Mama and Peter
Jeremy's favorite toy: anything Peter is playing with already :) oh joy!! though he does have a special obsession with blue plastic kid knives... he goes through the dishwashers, finds the blue kid knife, and will hold it and crawl all around with it for hours... oh and he also LOVES the TV and VCR remotes (and the batteries, which he CAN get out... yikes)... AND the outlet covers (which he can already remove... how can you kid-proof kid-proofing?!?!)... and of course, the piano and anything else that makes "music" (metal bowl and spoon; shakers; etc.)
Jeremy's favorite foods: chicken nuggets, pb&j sandwiches, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, BABA (aka milk... preferably warm)
Jeremy's favorite words: Dada; Baba; NoNo JerJer; Hi; (notice MAMA is missing from this list!!!)
Jeremy's favorite places: Dada's arms; Mama's arms; on the couch (which he can now climb on himself); the coffee table (which he can also now climb on and sit on); the dishwasher (yes, he climbs there, too); the toilet (EWWW); wherever Peter is
Jeremy's best moments: whenever he's happy... he is THE CUTEST KID EVER!!! Seriously. He is the biggest charmer with a huge, gorgeous smile, beautiful big green eyes, and just perfect little chubby cheeks... aww... and he loves to talk and coo and get people's attention. He is so cute when he gives big slobbery kisses (more like a "sucker" fish attacking your face but it's cute)... and when he gives snuggle hugs (rests his head on your shoulder)... and when he's so excited he coos and giggles...
Jeremy's worst moments: anytime he doesn't get his way!! This little man is SOOO full of personality and is already so opinionated!!! He wants things the way he wants them WHEN he wants them or he will SCREAM. There is no-inbetween for him, hence why we call him our Manic Baby... he is either SUPER cute and happy... or he is SUPER grumpy and screaming his little head off.
Jeremy's talents: determination (haha :); making people laugh (he loves to make silly faces and sounds to make others laugh); being a people-person (it's obvious already he's going to always love to be social and in the limelight!); MUSIC (he already "sings" songs with us, he is SO drawn to playing the piano, and he loves anything music); clapping; waving; being silly; throwing tantrums impressive for one who still only walks with furniture; drooling :)
Jeremy's nicknames: Jer; JerJer; JerBug; JerBear; Bubba; Naughty; Stinky

Jeremy, WE LOVE YOU and are so happy you are in our family! You add so much energy and life to our family... and you bring soo soo much joy. And I have a feeling all that personality is going to turn into one fun kid who is going to grow up to achieve great things. After all, stubborness is determination misapplied! So we'll try to help you apply all that "determination" toward good. :)

Love you Jer!

AND yes, Robert's clever post was to announce that we ARE officially moving to Utah... and we should GET there April 30. We are planning on moving away from the DC area on or about April 27, which is after Robert's finals and before he walks. We'll be car-tripping our family all the way to Utah (wish us luck, haha), with Church history and fun stops on the way... then Robert and I will fly back to DC for his graduation and our anniversary (while someone watches our kids in Utah... volunteers? :). Our anniversary (5 YEARS!) is May 14 and Robert walks on May 16. Woohoo!!!

We have LOVED DC, but we are really excited about this new chapter of our lives. AND YES, our prayers have been ANSWERED! He has a part-time job that has opened up to him at the firm he hopes to work at full-time after the bar. So while he's studying like crazy, he can work some and get to know the firm while they get to know him. I know they'll love him.

We're going to stay with Robert's wonderful, generous, loving parents for a little while as Robert studies for the bar and we get a solid idea of exactly where we'll end up permanently (don't want to sign any contracts until we know where we'll be!)... and we are SO EXCITED to hang out with and see our family and friends in Utah.

UTAH here we COME!!!

---
OH and I forgot to mention another Jeremy-ism, courtesy of his DADDY... HEAD BANGING!!! He loves banging his head on all chairs, couches, crib rails, whatever. It makes me kind of sad. Oh well, I guess it didn't damage Robert's brain, so hopefully Jer will survive the head-banging, too!!

Utah or Bustah, April 30

2010-03-09T11:03:00.003-07:00

By train or by air

We'll make it there.

My Testimony

2010-03-03T13:07:00.008-07:00

Miracles do happen! I just read an amazing first-hand account of a survivor of the earthquake in Chile. It is truly a testament of God's tender mercies, even in times of great trial. Sister Lisa Laycock and her husband, Mission President Larry Laycock, are over the Santiago Chile East Mission. The Lord prepared them for the terrible earthquake, allowed them to prepare their missionaries, and thus allowed the missionaries to serve in a time of great tragedy and need. Read her account here.

Robert and I have been asked to talk in church in two weeks on Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk, "Safety for the Soul." We are SOOOO excited, to be honest with you. When Elder Holland gave this talk, I had two very restless children, and I couldn't really focus on much of it. I remember thinking, "Wow, this sounds incredible... I really will need to study this later..." but life got in the way and I have only skimmed it until this past week, when we got our speaking assignments.

The power of Elder Holland's testimony is absolutely astounding. He is not afraid to in straightforward, direct language, and with all of his heart, give witness to the truth of the miraculous work that is the Book of Mormon and thus also The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I also want to testify to the world of what I know-- absolutely know -- to be true. This blog seems to be my best format.

I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that He is Heavenly Father's son, that He came to earth born as a baby of Mary in Bethlehem, that He truly lived and then gave Himself as a sacrifice in His suffering the Atonement and His death on the cross. I know that three days after His death, He arose again. He is Resurrected. He lives today.

I know Jesus Christ speaks today through a living prophet-- President Thomas S. Monson. President Monson is just a mortal man and I do not worship him. But I revere him as the Lord's chosen mouthpiece on the earth. As such, I strive to follow President Monson, because I have the firm testimony that when I follow what the prophet, President Monson, says, I am really following the Savior, because President Monson speaks for the Lord today.

I know that Joseph Smith, as a young 14-year-old boy, prayed in a quiet grove of trees and beheld the magnificent, true vision of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Joseph was a prophet and he did restore the fulness of the Savior's gospel on the earth.

I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is factual. It is in fact an ancient manuscript, written long ago by inhabitants from the American continent. And Joseph Smith was, in fact, led to the Book of Mormon's manuscript by an angel, even the angel Moroni, the last editor and compiler of this sacred set of scripture. I know that Joseph Smith translated this ancient record by the gift and power of God. And I know that not only is the Book of Mormon actually derived from an ancient manuscript, as Joseph said, but it is in fact inspired of God and truly is the most correct of any book on earth. There is incredible power in the Book of Mormon. I can testify of that power because it has in reality blessed my life as I have read from its pages and applied its teachings.

I know that the Bible is also the word of God, so long as it is translated correctly. I am grateful for the accounts of so many righteous disciples, from Adam to Moses to Isaiah. And then for the New Testament's account of the Savior's ministry. The Bible is true, and I know that with the Book of Mormon as its companion, the fullness of God's purpose and plan for His children is truly revealed.

I know that God is my Heavenly Father. He has a physical body and is a separate and distinct personage from His Literal Son, Jesus Christ. I know that I am Heavenly Father's daughter and I am here on this earth to become like Him, through trial, suffering, and learning to rely on my Savior Jesus Christ while pressing forward with all of my own heart, might, mind, and strength. Truly, we are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ--after all we can do. I know as I give my all, the Lord takes my weaknesses and turns them into strengths.

Truly, I feel so weak in writing when I try to express my knowledge that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only full and true church on the earth today. It is the Savior's church and He is the head of it. I know it is true. I absolutely know it is true. And though I am not perfect at following my Savior, and I am far from being able to understand all of His ways, I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true and I cannot deny it.

Miracles do happen. God lives. He loves His children. Of this I truly testify! I pray the Lord will continue to grant me forums and opportunities to share my witness of His work, and that I will have the faith and courage to open my mouth and say the words He would have me say. We are all God's children and He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, so we all could have the opportunity to return to Him--but we must follow His ways.

I hope my words have touched someone, anyone out there. If they have, please do take this invitation to read the Book of Mormon for yourself. It is free. And it is honestly the most precious, true book ever written. If you read it with real intent, with your heart open and with prayers asking God if it is true, you too will know, as I do, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and it is a blessing and a strength to those who follow its teachings. Just go to www.mormon.org to learn more about God, His eternal plan, and to request a copy of this true and inspired work.

You can even request a visit from the missionaries at this site (all over the world!). Missionaries are members of our faith who volunteer 18 months to 2 years of their lives to the single purpose of teaching others about Jesus Christ and His gospel, without any form of payment for so doing except for the joy of bringing souls unto Christ. Accept them. This decision will impact you for good for all eternity!

Thank you for letting me express the innermost, most sacred feelings of my heart. I know it is true. I know it. And I hope if anything, you got THAT out of this post-- Jocelyn Gibbons KNOWS The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often referred to as the "Mormon" church) and the Book of Mormon ARE TRUE! (-Jocelyn)

Birthday

2010-02-24T09:38:00.005-07:00

This month has been full of birthdays. First Peter, then Jeremy, and today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, mom! Here are some of my favorite quotes on motherhood, all of which I feel apply to my very dear mother:

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother."
-- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

"By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class."
-- Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom."
-- Henry Ward Beecher

"What the mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin."
-- Henry Ward Beecher

"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness."
-- Honore' de Balzac

"Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not."
-- James Joyce

"The phrase "working mother" is redundant."
-- Jane Sellman

"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers."
-- Jewish proverb

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."
-- Theodore Hesburgh (This one applies to my dad, but is still true.)

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us when adversity takes the place of prosperity when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts."
--Washington Irving (This quote recalls to mind one specific instance in which I came home from school feeling very discouraged and disheartened by something that had happened. My mother's empathy for me at that time is one of my most cherised memories).

"Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children."
--William Makepeace Thackeray

"The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."
-- William Ross Wallace

And my personal favorite:

"The only thing a lawyer won't question is the legitimacy of his mother."
-- W. C. Fields

Thanks for all you've done for us mom! May your birthday be the best yet.

Hogi Yogi, BYU Football, and Swing Dancing in SLC

2010-02-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

Robert and I have been talking a lot lately about moving to Utah, since that is almost certainly what we are doing (unless some drastic changes happen in the next few weeks!). I posted a bit ago about my Utah anxieties... and since then, I've been making the effort to think about the move more realistically... to not just see the negatives of leaving the DC metro area... but to see the POSITIVES of moving to Utah (because there are MANY)...

What I Will LOVE About Living in Utah:

Family -- being able to rely on family the way we've relied on friends here and be able to solidify and strengthen family relationships, particularly with siblings
BYU and Jazz games -- seriously, I soooo look forward to seeing BYU play again; Robert dreams of watching the Jazz (when they win, hopefully!)
Hogi Yogi -- small chocolate non-fat yogurt with raspberries, please... yummmmmm
Swing and Ballroom Dancing -- sooo available in SLC with swing and ballroom dances going on tons... very clean, usually alcohol-free... what a fun date for us!
Friends -- we feel so blessed that in all of our "homes" past and present, we have made some true, lasting friends. We love you and miss you and are excited to hang out, play games, and generally have fun with you again on a regular basis!
Temples -- we live 45 mins. from the DC Temple, so we definitely are close to a temple now; but we look forward to being in Utah where we can go to different temples and see the new temples being built.
Temple Square, Conference, Proximity to Church Headquarters -- what a blessing to be near to the Prophet again and be able to attend Sunday Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcasts, special events, even Conference.
Beautiful, Livable Seasons -- fall and spring in DC is beautiful, but winter is drab (and when it snows, the whole city shuts down--check out our latest storm!!!) and summer is UNBEARABLE (soooooo sooooo hot and humid, with little to no relief in the shade or at night). I love winter as long as it's livable, so I look forward to that aspect of Utah; and summers in Utah are dry, not humid, so it's bearable, at least for me (with lots of lotion, of course)...
Distribution Centers and Deseret Book -- you have no idea how wonderful it will be to go to a Deseret Book or a Distribution Center in mere minutes and be able to find resources for callings or for our family
Skiing, Sledding, and Ice Skating -- winter sports in general... I love skiing and would love to do it again, in the greatest snow on Earth... woohoo...
Family-Friendly Everything -- TONS of kid-friendly restaurants, activities, everything... most places are family-friendly and accomodating to such things as multiple kids (carts that have two kid spots, for example) and strollers...
Dollar Theaters -- WE LOVE movies, so it is extremely exciting to live where there are dollar theaters... so we can see movies in the theater for cheap... woohoo!
High-Quality Community Theater -- for us to see AND perform in... family-friendly usually again...
Christmas Lights -- Christmas lights are somewhat skimpy around here... I look forward to lots of Christmas lights in neighborhoods around and the beautiful Temple Square lights (DC Temple lights ARE beautiful, though)
Cheaper Almost Everything -- we pay (in a government-subsidized apartment complex) the same or more right now than some of our friends and family pay on their MORTGAGES in Utah... CRAZY!!... in DC, groceries are insanely expensive... movies are insanely expensive... EVERYTHING is insanely expensive... I look forward to Utah's DI (high-quality thrift!!!), great, cheap grocery stores... woohoo...
SUPER Wal-Mart and SUPER Target -- no, we don't have these here... and I MISS THEM. I love being able to do my shopping all in one place... so I look forward to once again having the "Supers"
Mountains -- I do miss my Utah mountains... I will miss DC TREES and greenery, but I will enjoy seeing the beautiful mountains again...

I could go on and on... but I'll stop there. Basically, I'm starting to feel more and more peace about moving to Utah, and we're getting ourselves excited by focusing on the pros (instead of the cons). I will miss our DC friends... my primary kids (AHH!!)... the city... but we look forward to this new adventure.

FIRST THINGS FIRST -- graduation, finding a job, moving... please do keep Robert and our family in your prayers! The next few months are CRAZY!

Love to you all! (-Jocelyn)

My Baby is THREE Today!

2010-02-09T19:36:00.001-07:00

Here's a little ode in words then pictures to my oldest boy... from the start, to the present.

Peter, I love you. You are my first born and will always mean sooo sooo much to me, your Mommy. I will always remember the peaceful feeling I felt when the dr. told me you were going to be delivered by emergency c-section. Your father gave me a blessing earlier, and promised that I would be okay, that you would be okay, and that the Savior would be with me. He was. I felt His peace that day, and though the nurses and doctors scurried around me, I knew it would be alright. The only thing that made me nervous was waiting for your Daddy to be beside me. Once he was, I was fine.

Since then, you have been such a joy and a blessing. As a baby, you were adorable. Even when you weren't getting enough to eat (we found out too late that my breastmilk wasn't nourishing you)... you would be happy, smiling. And the Lord blessed you, that you grew and developed normally, even though you had a hard few months, and even though your mom was severely depressed when you were a baby. I was so worried, once I realized how depressed I had been, that you would be affected. But the Lord came through again. He always does and He always will.

And then you grew and grew... you learned to crawl, to scream (with happiness!), to talk, to walk, to laugh, to joke, to love, to cuddle, to whine, to be a big brother, to torture (lovingly?) a little brother, to obsess over cars, to obsess over Thomas the Train, to want to be just like your Daddy...

I love you so much, Peter. You look like your Daddy. Always have. That was one of my first thoughts when the nurse presented you to me-- you looked JUST like a Gibbons, just like your Dad. And except for your brown eyes (MINE!!!) and your floppy ears (sorry about that gene :)... you do. You are sooo sooo handsome. You are also so curious and smart and loving. You have such a capacity to serve others. You are also so sensitive. You know when I'm having a bad day, and ask me, "How you feeling, Mommy?" You know just when I need a hug. And you know how to be silly, which I love.

I love you and can't wait for the years to come! Know that I'm always here for you, that I know you are a good boy, no matter your choices, and that I know you can always turn to me, to your Dad, and to your Heavenly Father.

Happy 3rd Birthday Bubba/Buppy/Peter/Buddy!!! :)

Love,
Mommy

Wimpy Me

2010-02-07T13:41:00.003-07:00

Warning: This is going to be a "gush" post. Feel free to skip. It may get nauseatingly self-analytical.

As Robert's graduation from law school approaches (AWESOME), I have been thinking more and more about moving... specifically, to Utah. We are, at this point, 98% sure we are going to Utah... unless something else pans out in the next few weeks... since Robert's bar application is due in March, and it is state-specific. (So he's applying to Utah.)

Robert is beyond thrilled to be moving back near all our friends and family; it has always been his desire to go back to Utah after our "venture" to DC, and he can't stop talking about how fun it will be for our kids especially to be near cousins and such.

I LOVE my family and friends in Utah, and miss them, but I must admit, I am a wimp! I am scared! Due to severe depression (intensified post-partum), I do not have happy memories when I think of my day-to-day life in Utah right before law school. Most days, I didn't leave my house at all, or call anyone, or do anything. And I do NOT want to be in that "place" psychologically/physically/emotionally/spiritually EVER again if I can avoid it.

I recognize that I was severely depressed, so everything then was distorted by my perceptions, but I have this lingering fear that if I move back to Utah, it will be the same. I will be in my hole, unable to reach out for help.

In our home now, I have an amazing support group, created from friends who are like family. They have got me through rougher times than they even know... times in my life when I was forced to seek help from others, to ask for people to watch my kids or talk to me or whatever. (Something I never before did; I before did not like to be the helped, only the helper... oh how THAT has changed!!!)

Example: my house has been cleaned for me by friends here five times. FIVE TIMES. Seriously. One time, my visiting teachers cleaned my entire house as a Christmas present when I was in Utah. Three other times, friends were babysitting at my place and cleaned up (totally unexpected, but LOVED)... and the other time, a dear friend worked beside me to get everything in place (a week ago, haha). Okay, there's probably more than five times now that I think of it. How crazy is that?!? Organization is SO not my strong point, and it is the first thing to go when I am attacked by stress (1. organization; 2. my mind, hahaha)...

I'm afraid if I go to Utah, I won't find that. (By "that" I don't mean kindly people who will clean my house, necessarily :)... I mean the general bond and spirit of charity and service I have felt here.) Wow, this sounds selfish. I hope I've been able to serve my friends here as much as they've served me, because I really have been soooooo blessed by them. And I hope to BE as good of a friend to friends and family we already have in Utah (assuming we're moving there) and friends we are yet to meet... but I guess it's hard to think of starting over, when this area, the DC area, really feels more like home than anywhere else. I really feel like I have grown so much here; I have learned so much; and my family has certainly been solidified through being here.

Daaah! If you have made it to this point, I am sorry for the schpeal. It feels good to get it off my chest.

If you are family and friends in Utah... please don't take offense! I LOVE YOU and am excited to be near you. But I admit, I am also scared of a repeat experience, and of feeling alone (even though I know I certainly WON'T be; and I wasn't before either... but I shut MYSELF off, so no one could or even knew to help me).

Enough of that!

Back to playing games with my husband... (Oh THAT is something I dearly miss... playing games regularly with a group...)

He Sure Loves His Daddy

2010-02-06T17:33:00.002-07:00

“There is no other relationship quite like that which can and should exist between a boy and his dad. It can be one of the most nurturing, joyful relationships in life, one that can have a profound impact on who boys become and also on who dads become.” - M. Russell Ballard, “Fathers and Sons: A Remarkable Relationship,” Ensign, Nov. 2009, 47

Daddies and sons are just the cutest combos ever. Seriously. I LOVE watching my boys with their Dada... and it's especially fun to see Peter, who can talk and really interact, with his Dad. He loves him and looks up to him sooo much...

Potty training is still going (slow). But at least it's going. Sometime before this kid graduates high school, he WILL be potty trained.

It snowed an insane amount in DC starting yesterday. Our car is buried--literally buried--in snow right now. Robert and Peter went on a daddy-son outing in the snow, to take out the garbage (Robert had a bag and Peter had a bag), get the mail, and of course, PLAY in the snow! One of the cutest things about Robert and Peter is that Peter looks like a small version of Robert--he looks soooo much like his dad, lucky guy! It makes the daddy-toddler outings just that much more adorable.

Robert caught some cute pictures (and proof of the snowstorm). Church is canceled tomorrow (second week in a row!), so we are just hanging out at home, feeling grateful our power hasn't gone out (unlike some of our friends in the area).

Love to all!

Loving = Serving

2010-02-05T08:43:00.003-07:00

Husbands and Wives, Pray for Each Other
"I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion." Henry B. Eyring, “Our Perfect Example,” Ensign, Nov. 2009, 71
Topics: Marriage

I get the LDS Family "Gems" in my e-mail and this one came my way today. What a wonderful quote. I truly believe its message... as I also believe that we need God's love to be planted in our hearts, so we can love in a way that is beyond human... a way that "makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small," as it says. I am working on it and am not there yet :) but I guess learning to have God's love always is one of life's struggles; something you have to be changed by God in order to do.

BTW, in case you think I'm a slacker on the Parenting Challenge, it has been postponed until next week because of a Blog Conference called Blissdom that Resourceful Mommy is attending. So we will resume the challenge on Monday.

For today, I am going to keep striving to do the first two challenges... say "no" as infrequently as possible and don't bicker with your spouse. I actually will have my family around me quite a bit this weekend, because we are all expecting to essentially be snowed in starting this afternoon... so it should be a real challenge this time.

The key to both challenges (the key to LIFE I think): service!

Love to all, again. :)

Day 2: Don't Bicker

2010-02-03T12:24:00.004-07:00

Peter and Jer with his black eye (thanks to falling in the tub, poor guy)

I just head over to Resourceful Mommy and got Day 2's parenting assignment: Do not bicker with your spouse/partner about anything in front of the kids...no matter what.

I really appreciate this one, as Robert and I have it as a goal to not bicker in front of the kids (and it doesn't always happen). So "no matter what"... even if I really AM right (haha, don't I ALWAYS think I'm right?!? Hence the BICKERING?!?)... I will no bicker.

This is one I want to stick from here on out.

By the way, my report on yesterday is that it was pretty darn easy... since my friend Melissa had the kids all day while I worked. :) I did make a few efforts to not say "no" right away, and I was inspired by another friend's positive response to the challenge, especially in putting her children first. I agree with her completely--whenever I give my kids dedicated time, even if it's just 15 minutes of reading time or puzzles, they are happy and satisfied for a long time thereafter and are transformed!

My sister-in-law Debbie gave me a great acronym for when you are at the END of your rope/feel frustrated/want to run away and not look back!!!: DEAD: Drop Everything And Read. I have tried this when I have felt really frustrated or whatever and it really works. The kids calm down, I calm down, and we end up feeling loving, happy feelings.

Oh. I just realized that this challenge is going to be extraordinarily simple, too, since Robert has to study late at school tonight. Haha. I guess I'm off easy? Well, I talk to him about 20 times a day on the phone, so I'll be sure to be extra nice.

Love to y'all!

Parenting Challenge A LA Resourceful Mommy

2010-02-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

I am doing the Parenting Challenge... thanks for the kick in the parenthood behind, Resourceful Mommy.

Tomorrow's challenge: say "no" to your kids as INFREQUENTLY as possible. Ha. Should be interesting... :)

Chugga Chugga... Poo Poo?!? (EWE!)

2010-02-01T12:55:00.003-07:00

Be afraid. Be very afraid. This post is about none other than the POTTY TRAIN!!!

Well, we've been flitting around it for more than a year (Peter first showed interest in the potty at about 18 months; he turns 3 in two weeks)... and today, finally, I am officially potty training Peter. Basically, he's running around half-naked all day, so if you were planning on visiting me, you may want to wait. :)

He's done superbly so far... and after his nap, he'll be wearing his Thomas the Tank Engine underwear and hopefully keep them dry. (If he doesn't, it's back to nakey-time, bwahahaha.)

Potty Training a la Jocelyn (casually for the last 1.5 years; seriously for the past 6 hours):

Perspective: For us, poopy diapers weren’t half as stinky as all the potty-training drama (hence why we waited until Peter—and Mommy, haha—were both FULLY ready to train… because of several previous major dramatic meltdowns. I decided I’d rather be SANE than have Peter diaper-free for a while.)
Optimism: I accomplish a lot every day, considering I congratulate Peter for going on the potty with extreme enthusiasm... I should be cheering myself on more! I go to the potty, I wash my hands, I even put on my own shoes, make my own food, change diapers, and take care of all the little (and sometimes big) people around me. (Ok, I DO deserve some props!)
Treats: Thomas the Tank Engine stickers and butterscotch chips can get a 3-year-old boy to do almost anything.
Tunes: Elmo’s Potty Time video rocks. Accidents do indeed, happen. And everyone DOES learn to use the potty! Oh those profound songs... (which get stuck in my head all day; mixed in there with all the Thomas the Tank Engine songs... ahh!)
Yaw: Even little boys do the potty dance (which I thought was just for mommies?) when they’re not wearing a pull-up, AKA safety net.

So today is going to be pretty, umm, "exciting." Wish us ALL luck!

Jocelyn Speaks: A Child's Right to Life

2010-01-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

I usually leave the political and "hot topic" posts to Robert (because I'm a wimp), but I was inspired by a great post by an old friend (whose political views, I'll admit, I don't always agree with; but he has a good heart).

You can find my response to the crazy comments (most of which I read, some of which I skimmed) as comment #33.

To simplify, I'll even just post it here for you. I thought this out and wrote it carefully and (tried to write it) from the heart. Robert helped me make sure I said everything I wanted to say in the way I wanted to say it, so thanks to him for that. (BTW, check out Robert's exceptionally thought-out posts on abortion morally and legally... politically is still-to-come.)

My Two Cents:

My view is simple but firm. I am not a philosopher so I won’t go there. I’m almost not a political expert or even near it… so I won’t try that one, either.

I do however have my faith– my belief in God and my will to follow Him. I know, because of my life and my experiences, which no one can disprove, that God lives. I know that He is my Father, that He created all things. And I know that life is sacred.

A fetus is part of creation. It is a baby waiting to be born. As a mother of two, I have felt life form inside of me– and it is nothing short of a miracle. It is something to be awed, to be reverenced, and to be respected.

I believe creation is sacred and sexual intimacy is a power intended by God to be used between a husband and wife to strengthen marriage and, of course, create life.

At-will abortion IS wrong. It is wrong to kill an unborn child except in extreme, carefully weighed cases (rape, incest, risk of health to the mother). The killing of an unborn child just because it is “convenient” is akin to murder.

I don’t think women who have abortions are bad people. I do, however, think they are misguided and making a tragic mistake, one that they will have to face up to before God. Abortion hurts the unborn child, true. But it also hurts the woman who has the abortion.

God has laws. His creations, nature all around us, revolve around laws. There are things that are right and things that are wrong. At-will abortion is wrong.

I know my belief cannot PROVE to anyone to side with me, but I guess that wasn’t my point. I just wanted to get it out there that I believe in life because of my faith– because God is God; His laws are eternal; and He respects life.

For the best article I think has ever been written about abortion, read this.

I really do believe all that I wrote, and I hope for morality... I hope for intimacy between a man and a woman to be regarded as it was intended, as sacred, meant for a husband and wife. The distortion of intimacy is the obvious root of the abortion problem... and I hope more young men and women awake to the reality that they are children of God and that their bodies are creations of God and are sacred. (-Jocelyn)

Resolutions

2010-01-21T10:00:00.002-07:00

Yes, FEAR the heading! Not ANOTHER blogger talking about RESOLUTIONS!!! Sorry... but it's what's on my mind.

My resolutions this year were simple. I originally had two. After a profound and touching talk with my husband last night, I now have three.

Drum roll please...

(Dumbest and simplest): Deactivate My Facebook Account

I was addicted to games and wasting time on there. Now I'm going to be addicted to Twitter and my blog... I mean... uhh... (j/k) One day I hope to return to Facebook, but for this year, I am MIA.
(Cheesiest): Choose to Have Joy

I have discovered that though I am a mostly happy person, when I am down I am REALLY down... and I get sucked into this black hole of self-pity. I know now (thanks to therapy and antidepressants, which took me wayyyyy too long to finally take) that I have control over ME. Even though I can't control my circumstances, I CAN choose my REACTION and how I feel. I am still working on this one. Hence the New Year's Resolution.
(Newbie, Life-Changing, Embarrassing but True): Give My All

My entire life, I've been an all-or-nothing type of gal. (You should see my house... it's typically either impeccable or a total disaster. I'm getting better at that, though!) One more of those "thinking traps" of perfectionism... but I've realized thanks to my Honey that with a dash of talent and a lot of commitment and persistence, anyone really can achieve whatever they set out to achieve. I need to really work on the "commitment and persistence" part of that... which is hard to admit, but true. My goal this year is to give it my all. I won't get everything "perfect" and I WILL make mistakes, but I'm going to give it everything I've got.

And now, to tie it all together... a part of this quote is on my sidebar as well, but I love Love LOVE it, and it is EXACTLY the quote I needed last night (THANKS AGAIN to my amazing husband):

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

-Marianne Williamson

Enough about me... what are YOUR resolutions?

Go Diego Go!

2010-01-19T08:47:00.002-07:00

Gotta love a show that gets my kid so excited he growls and yells random words in Spanish...

Thanks Diego!

Now... before my mouse is destroyed by the 11-month slobber monster, I must depart. :)

Call For Advice 2: Printers & Coupons

2010-01-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

I have become exceedingly aware of the world of couponing in the last few months, and I think it is meant-to-be... since I am not the best with finances, and despite multiple attempts at establishing a family budget, we still have not found a system that we stuck with.

My sis Rachel and several of my friends have gotten into couponing and started bragging (deservedly!) about their incredible savings... 50%, 60%, even 70% or more off their bill. My friend Melissa recently posted her self-called "geek" post where she showed her loot... which she bought for $30, saving over $90!!! That is INSANE!!! Awesome!!!

So... I'm basically sending out this post as a call for advice. Again. :) Me and my calls for advice!

PRINTER:
Our printer died this December (really, really died)... so we are on the lookout for a new one. I would prefer a color printer (that is not insanely expensive to refill) that could stand up to my calling (Primary Music Director... I have to print LOTS of visuals; probably what killed our last printer).

We also obviously want to get the cheapest (yet highest quality for the $) printer we can get. Any recommendations? I'm going to scour the web, but I love to operate on recommendations...
COUPONING:
This goes along with getting a printer, since I need a printer to REALLY get into the couponing. I have had recommended to me a few websites to get me started, but I would love to hear your systems of organization. What works for you? I think I may go with the couponmom.com approach, but it's still a bit over my head... tips?

Thanks for reading... and I'm looking forward to your input!

Oh and all of you who responded to my e-mail about motherhood and balancing life, etc., I still am planning on compiling the advice in an anonymous format... and posting it here (if that's okay with y'all!). I really was so inspired by everyone's input. You all amaze me and I am grateful to glean from your wisdom!

...SO give me some more of that wisdom and comment!!!

Grateful Sunday: Miracles

2010-01-17T08:19:00.001-07:00

I'm not making any promises... like saying I'm always going to publish on Sunday. But when I do, I'm going to stick with the good old Gratitude blog, to remember my many blessings.

I've been reflecting lately on how easy it really is to FORGET your blessings. The scriptures again and again tell us to "remember" all the Lord has done. And it is easy for me at least to judge the people in the scriptures who seem (honestly) stupid for so quickly forgetting incredible miracles.

Yet I have seen miracles in my life. And I forget. So here's hoping this gratitude post will aid me to remember...

Since I talked about miracles, I'm going to go ahead and go with that theme.

Miracles I Am Grateful For:

I suffered no injuries when I was 2 years old and fell out of a second-story window of our house (my sis was babysitting and I was apparently a good climber... while she wasn't looking I climbed out the window of our second story house... and fell). I honestly believe a guardian angel attended me that day. It is am absolute miracle that I survived unscathed (though I'm sure a little shocked/traumatized).
Countless times, I have lost something (it is unfortunately a weakness). And countless times, I have prayed to find the lost thing and had a thought come to me of an often weird place to look... and it's there. I know it's a small thing to find something that's lost, but to me it's a miracle and a testament that God answers prayers. (And it REALLY matters when you have a screaming baby that needs his binky... or you're locked out of your apartment--with 2 kids--in winter weather and think you dropped your keys SOMEWHERE outside.)
I consider loving my husband and being loved by him a miracle. It is miraculous to me when two people fall in and continue choosing to love one another, even through hard times. (And just the fact that when I loved him, he loved me... that still amazes me. I'm glad it happened, but it seems like the odds are low that you both love each other... yet it happens all the time! That's a miracle in this cynical world.)
Personal experiences that have confirmed the reality of a loving Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ are miracles. I have felt the Savior's grace and the peace, serenity, and pure bliss that comes from repentance. I have also felt the Savior's strength when I felt like I couldn't forgive, couldn't go on, or even just couldn't deal with screaming kids anymore! Heavenly Father is my Father... I am a daughter of God... and Jesus Christ is my Savior. They are aware of me and love me enough to help me everyday. And that is a miracle!
The beautiful world around me is a miracle. I love nature... I really do. And I consider every sunrise, every creature, every blossoming tree in spring or snowfall in winter, to be a miracle. There is so much beauty... and I really do know that all things denote that there is a God. Nature really does seem to "speak" to my heart over and over again and confirm to me that God lives and is the loving Creator.
Even though unfair things happen, bad people seem to "win" sometimes, and evil is rampant... people remain faithful and committed to Jesus Christ. The light that can shine in the darkness--someone's faith--is a miracle. No matter the seeming depth of any darkness, the smallest light dispels it. It is a miracle to me that no matter how bad things seem, faith and hope (and charity, we'll throw that in there) move on.
Life is a miracle. Breathing in and out... having my heart beat... and watching these two little boys grow... are all once again evidences to me of the reality of a loving God.

I could go on and on... but I bear my witness that God lives, that Jesus Christ is His Son, and that they love each one of us. I have felt God's love and am a witness to His grace. Miracles do happen... and I am grateful I have been able to reflect and remember some of the mighty miracles in my life.

Love to you all!

YOU ARE STILL MY FRIEND! :)

2010-01-16T07:07:00.004-07:00

Hello All!

Yes, we are alive. Though busy. AND NO, I did NOT de-friend you on Facebook if we were friends. I deactivated my account... as a New Year's Resolution to not be so addicted to Restaurant City (sad!) and Facebook generally. I LOVE Facebook, but I just need some time away... :) So you'll just have to comment, call, or e-mail (or Tweet me on Twitter).

Anyway, Robert just showed me this hilarious video that seriously made me snort because I was laughing so hard... it's a "literal" version of the most crazy music video EVER... "Total Eclipse of the Heart." Seriously. SO FUNNY. Thanks Danny (since he was the one that shared it originally).

The beginning I was kind of just like "okay, this is weird," but by the end I was snort-laughing. So funny....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA

Well, I love you all and hope things are going well. I'll get on and post pics soon... and try to update this at least weekly with a portion of the time I used to dedicate to Facebook. :) Happy laughing! -Jocelyn

Help Us Find Susan Powell

2010-01-06T12:03:00.003-07:00

Hello Everyone! Sorry for the downer blog post, but I need your help!

My dear friend and former roommate, Angie, asked me to spread the word about her dear friend, Susan Powell. Please... help us find Susan.

Here is their media blurb, with ways you can help. Please take a minute and do what you can.

Love,
Jocelyn :)

-------------------------

Susan Powell, a beautiful 28 year old Utah mother, sister, daughter, wife and friend has been missing since December 7th, 2009. We’re asking you to help us find her.

From 8 AM Monday, January 4, 2010 to 8 AM Thursday, January 7, 2010, we’re asking all our friends, family and supporters to join us in the Find Susan Social Media Blitz.

Do you want to help? Here’s what you can do:

* If you have a twitter account, follow @FindSusan
(http://twitter.com/FindSusan) and then tweet about her with a link to
the YouTube channel below, using the hashtag of #findsusan – please
also ask your followers to retweet your message.

* At 8 AM, Mountain Standard Time on Monday, January 4, we will
have a new video slideshow with new pictures of Susan. Please go to
our Facebook page to get the direct link to the video. If you follow
us on Twitter (@FindSusan), we’ll also be tweeting the link throughout
the Blitz. The official YouTube channel for this video and other videos about Susan is: http://www.youtube.com/susanpowellsearch

* Here is the link to Susan’s missing poster: http://bit.ly/4ppWVz
- just scroll down to her posters. Again, please memorize Susan’s
face and look around right where you are. If you see her, please note her location and condition and call 9-1-1 immediately. There is a
$10,000 reward for finding her. Please also consider printing out a
few and posting them at your local supermarket and other places
nearby.

* Ask your friends to email findsusanpowell@gmail.com with “I want to help” in the subject line. If there’s a specific service you can
provide for us, if and when the time comes that we can use that help,
we’ll email you and let you know.

* Email 5 of your email contacts with the contents of this message and “Find Susan Powell – Please forward to 5 people” in the subject
line. We’re not asking you to spam your friends, family and
co-workers. Just email 5 people and if you choose to add more than 5,
that’s great.

* Blog about Susan and our efforts to find her. Include the links
in this email to help spread the word.

* Join us on the Friends and Family of Susan Powell Facebook Page here: http://bit.ly/findsusan

* Before, during and after the Find Susan Social Media Blitz,
remember to tie a ribbon or wear a purple ribbon for "Susan's Purple Ribbon Campaign". This will increase the awareness and support for
finding Susan and help give hope and support to Susan's family and
friends!

* You can also pray for Susan and her friends and family.

Thank you for anything you can do. We appreciate you!

Sincerely,

James Hofheins

Social Media Coordinator

The Friends and Family of Susan Powell

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T12:29:00.002-07:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Christmas in the Capital, 2009

Robert: Dutifully made his way through two more hard semesters of George Washington Law School while working part-time at the law firm Koonz McKenney Johnson DePaolis and Lightfoot. He is currently looking for employment, mostly in Utah, to follow his expected graduation in May 2009.

Jocelyn: Gave birth to a beautiful baby boy in February, ran a RAGNAR in September (a crazy relay race for insane people that lasts a day and a half), and started working part-time from home as a freelance marketer/writer for justeyewear.com.

Peter: Joined a ward kiddie preschool, memorized lots of songs (like "Silent Night," "I Am a Child of God," and ALL songs related to Thomas the Tank Engine), learned to count to 20 and spell his name, and conquered sleeping in a big boy bed (shaped like a car). Also, he's *this close* to being fully potty-trained.

Jeremy: Arrived on Feb. 16, 2009 (Presidents' Day). He has been a wonderful addition to our family. Jeremy (AKA "Jer-Jer" or "Jer-Bug") loves crawling toward places he's not supposed to go, eating things he's not supposed to eat, screaming, and generally trying to annoy Peter. But he also loves laughing, making others laugh, and taking baths, and he's learning to stand up on his own using walls and chairs for support.

We hope this update finds you and yours happy, healthy, and ready for another glorious year! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Glasses for the Masses

2009-12-21T13:21:00.005-07:00

Here's a shoutout to my wife, Jocelyn, who writes and does marketing for a new company called justeyewear.com. Her claim to fame is that she does all the writing (and some marketing and linking). And some excellent writing it is. (Click here to see her piece discussing Avatar to the 3d glasses craze).My claim to fame is that I was the first customer.

So check out justeyewear.com the next time you need some glasses. They've got good service, fantastic prices, and a gorgeous writer/marketer:

Jeremy Makes a Name for Himself

2009-11-09T22:13:00.009-07:00

Hey world! It's me, Jeremy, here to brighten your day with my fantastic smile. Now, go and let me eat in peace.

Oh. You again. Okay, whatever. Take the picture and be gone.

Okay, this is just embarrassing. You're following me around like a poodle. Great, you've seen my family in all sorts of poses. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get my jumping exercises in for the day. I've got to work out for the ladies I'll be meeting next decade.

Seriously? Seriously? Are you trying to make me angry? Don't make me sic my Dad and older brother on you!

Peter? Dad? You awake?

Sigh. I can't get no respect around here.

Deep Thoughts

2009-10-22T19:31:00.004-06:00

Here's what each member of the family is thinking in the picture above:

Daddy: Let's get this over with so I can play video games with my brothers.
Mommy: I just felt something warm trickle onto my right hand . . . ew.
Jeremy (the little one): Can I go listen to that Beyonce "single ladies" song again? That song rules!
Peter: Am I the only genius who knows where the camera is?

(-Bob)

What to Do When Corporate Comes to do Layoffs [in Russian]

2009-09-05T19:52:00.001-06:00

I AM ALIVE and WELL, though camera-less

2009-09-04T15:04:00.007-06:00

Here's a blast from the past... Peter 2 years ago (at Jeremy's exact age now; I really need to get pics of Jer!)

So... the REAL reason I have been blog lazy is because I don't have a digital camera anymore! AS IN, when we came back from our trip to Utah, the camera somehow did not make the trip with us. We have since moved to a new apartment... a TEDIOUS process in which I went through everything... still no camera. I think we may have (sadly) left it on the plane, because I'm pretty sure I packed it, and we probably used it as a distraction method for Peter or Jeremy during the 6 or so hours of flying. Sad!!

And I am ALL about writing posts BECAUSE of a picture. Thus... no posts lately. Alas. Maybe we will find it? (I don't think so, either.)

On a happier note, things are going great in our new place. We're in the same area... same ward and everything (since we love our ward!)... but now our rent is cheaper AND we live in the same building as friends! What!?!!? How AWESOME is that? I'll tell you... VERY awesome. So awesome, in fact, that my nearly stalked (by me) new BFF who lives two mere floors below me takes Peter for me on a regular basis... and I return the favor with her little one. AND we get together for spur-of-the-moment playground trips and walks. It is like a dream come true for me... as I am all about spur-of-the-moment get-togethers (and hyphens, apparently) and I need social interaction far more than I usually admit (yes, I finally realize that I AM my mother's daughter!).

LAST but certainly not LEAST... Robert may be going to...

That's right, DEUTSCHLAND! AKA, Germany!!! It's for a law school competition and it looks like he's in... fully paid by the school. If ONLY they paid for spouses (and kids) to come, too. I will miss him AND be super jealous that he gets to go to Europe! But I'm not-so-secretly hoping that maybe this Germany experience will open up international opportunities... so we can LIVE abroad... definitely a life-long dream of mine.

Well, folks. This post is wordy. And filled with ellipses. Gotta dig those three little dots... ahh. (-Jocelyn)

Images from Phone

2009-08-06T08:45:00.007-06:00

We're all moved in! We are loving our new place. This morning, I left home to make the oh-so-short walk (10 to 12 minutes) to the Metro, when a courtesy shuttle honked, pulled up, and took me there in even less time. I didn't even know our apartment complex had a courtesy shuttle!

Our camera is currently MIA (probably permanently since the moving and organizing hasn't produced it), but here are some good photos that were taken with my cell phone.

Jocelyn with the baby.

Peter the master pianist and his friend Emily, the page-turner.

More piano playing.

Peter standing on the beach at Bear Lake, Utah.

Peter and his cousin on the beach.

The newest LDS temple (Oquirrh Mountain) that we toured while in Utah.

Peter trying to be a good big brother (and struggling).

Best Friends.

Moving

2009-07-29T13:45:00.002-06:00

This week has been full of packing and carrying (Jocelyn does the packing, I do the heavy lifting up and down stairs from one apartment to the other) as we are in the process of moving to a new apartment.

We will stay in the same ward, but the new place is cheaper and closer to the metro (so I no longer have to take a bus, I can just walk), we have friends who live in the same complex (more babysitting favors, right?) and we still have the same square footage.

Jocelyn's favorite feature? For the first time in our married life, we will have a kitchen with a pantry.

-Bob

I couldn't find this story online, so I decided to post it on my blog.

2009-07-10T10:13:00.006-06:00

Here's a humorous story about what happened to a guy who "should have known better."

RESULTS OF SABBATH-BREAKING

Solomon F. Kimball

The worst sin conceived in my heart while I was growing up was Sabbath-breaking. When I first commenced to violate the fourth commandment, the bitter was given to me in a mild form, such as slight injuries, tumbling into creeks, tearing my clothing, and getting a well-deserved spanking at times.

As I grew older, the penalty became more severe, such as being thrown from horses, kicked by mules, hooked by cows, bitten by dogs, and many other experiences of a similar nature. While these bitter pills were being administered to me with clockwork regularity, I was doing all in my power to make myself believe that Sabbath-breaking had nothing to do with it, but found it very difficult.

In 1869, a small company of us boys settled in the Bear Lake country and commenced to build homes. This was the first time that we had everything our own way, and a jollier lot of Sabbath-breakers probably never lived. All days were the same to us, and especially Sunday; for that was the day of all other days that we turned ourselves loose in the full meaning of the word. It was Sunday when we took possession. It was Sunday when we surveyed our land. It was Sunday when we laid out our town. It was Sunday when my brother, David P., and I drove home from the canyon so rapidly that I was thrown from my wagon and nearly killed. We lightly laid it to carelessness, but it was weeks before I was able to go to work.

David and I each had a load of logs in the canyon ready to haul and, as soon as I was well enough, we went after them. As I was loading my wagon, my fingers were caught between two logs and I was unable to extricate them. I yelled for help, but received no answer. While suffering with my three mashed fingers, I was forcibly reminded that it was just five weeks to a day since I was thrown from my wagon, and now I was again in a worse predicament than ever. As soon as David had loaded his wagon, he came strolling up the canyon to find me in this pitiable plight. He pried my fingers loose, and I was soon on my way home with the words, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” everlastingly ringing in my ears. A month passed before I could use my hand.

I was so far behind with my work by this time that I hardly knew which way to turn. My barn was up to the square, and I was very anxious to get it under cover before winter; hence, I thoughtlessly went to work on it one Sunday morning. As I was hewing a log above my head, my ax glanced and came down on my right foot, cutting its way through the main joint of my big toe. I feared I might bleed to death, for there was not a doctor within fifty miles to the place. I was disable for weeks, and it seemed to me a miracle that I lived.

For a long time after that, I moved about with considerable care on Sundays, for I was convinced that the Lord was terribly in earnest when he thundered the fourth commandment into the ears of the children of Israel. These incidents worked a reformation throughout the whole camp, but, boylike, we soon again forgot.

Two years later, Manasseh Williams and I went to Salt Lake City after supplies. We loaded our wagon on Saturday night and started for home Sunday morning. As I was driving over a bad place, I lost my balance and fell to the ground. Two wheels passed over my lower limbs, and I was again disabled for a month.

The next Sunday, in company with several companions, I visited Edington’s brewery. While we were having the time of our lives, a crazy man entered the place, carefully scanned the crowd, singled me out, of course, stepped within a few feet of where I stood, drew from his belt a big gun, and without batting any eye, banged away at my breast. My left hand happened to be in front of me when he shot. As quick as thought I threw it up and caught the ball in my hand, where it remained for several hundred Sundays.

I never could quite understand how it was that the evil one always picked on me, unless it was on account of my parents(Heber C. and Vilate Kimball) being so much opposed to Sabbath-breaking. I finally became a close observer of the Sabbath day, and, considering my restless disposition, my conduct became quite praiseworthy.

(Solomon F. Kimball, Life of David P. Kimball (Salt Lake City, Deseret News Press, 1918), pp. 107-1)

(Found in When Faith Writes The Story, compiled by Margie Calhoun Jensen, pp. 190-192)

MUST See

2009-06-06T12:04:00.004-06:00

So I feel kind of guilty admitting it, but I have been a bad "blog wife" and have not been checking Robert's new blog. I finally just got up-to-date and was laughing SO HARD. It is hilarious, enlightening, and easy-to-read. Do check it out. Do comment. DO bookmark it and send it to all your friends. Robert is really proud of it (as he should be) and he was EVEN recently called "delightfully witty" by mormontimes.com. GO HONEY! You deserve the props.

So before you waste another moment... CHECK OUT THE BLOG!!! You won't regret it. :)

Quit Peeking!

2009-06-02T09:41:00.003-06:00

There's only one thing I'm sure I learned from the last science class I took at BYU (I don't even remember the title of the class; it wasn't Physics or Biology). That one thing was: Light behaves as a particle when it's observed, and as waves when it is not observed. I tried to observe if anyone else in class was as incredulous as I was when our teacher tried to explain this. They weren't, but I think that's because most of them were sleeping.

Anyway, I've always been curious to know more about this, and then I came across this video today. It doesn't really shine any new light on the subject, but it's very entertaining and serves as a reminder of how small and pathetic we are with our limited understanding of quantum physics.

Final Thought: Take a look at this Mormon blogger's theory for a discussion on how this relates to the mind-blowing doctrine that there never was a time in the past when nothing existed. And especially read the end where he brings The Light of Christ into all of this.

The Mormons Are Coming!

2009-05-26T10:58:00.004-06:00

In Logansport, Indiana, one of the areas I lived in during my 2-year mission, we were nearly run over by the Stake President, who shouted (jokingly) out the window of his car at us: "Lock up your women and your horses! The Mormons are coming!" Good ol' President Tincher.

On that note, I decided to start a new blog (like any of you need another blog to read, I know) over at http://themormonsarecoming.blogspot.com/. While there are already many blogs/news sites which incorporate Mormon news stories, I wanted a blog which focuses more narrowly on current Mormon news without editorials or personal philosophies. Feel free to check it out.

Car Bed (or "why Peter rightly thinks we are the best EVER")

2009-05-15T11:14:00.008-06:00

Watch the full video for the complete effect. And then view the first-night bed pics from last Saturday night. (He has since slept in the bed every night very successfully... only fell out once. We heard him fall and went to his room to comfort/help him and he had already crawled back into the car bed and was on his way back to sleep. He LOVES this bed!!! THANK YOU Craigslist!)

4 Years Ago Today...

2009-05-14T14:45:00.008-06:00

For Robert, My Love, On Our Fourth Anniversary

4 Years Later--
more than 7 if you count dating--
still it's hard for me to pinpoint
what my love for you is.

I used to think love was that gut-tickle,
light-headed, giddy feeling--
the one I had the first time you held my hand
(Elder Eyring's talk, Saturday Afternoon, April 2002 Conference)
or the first time I read you loved me
(May 15, 2002-- my Mom's birthday).

Then love turned into a consciousness
and an ache.
I longed for your kiss, your hug,
even just your voice or e-mails.
In London, you were with me, in
my thoughts, in my hands.
I was bruised inside waiting for
(usually on Tuesdays)
or rereading your letters for the
20th time-- listening to
that piano song from Nicholas Nicholby,
sometimes crying softly, holding your picture.

During our engagement and early marriage,
love was a rickety old rollercoaster
and a torrent sea.
My coldest day was when I gave you my ring.
You gave it back in the morning.

Love then was an addiction;
more than just in me--a dangerous need,
driven by passions and rage.
We survived,
steadied only by the quiet,
often forgotten surety that
I was yours, completely.

Now our love is Four--
words and people
(February 9 our great start in parenthood; February 16 our new addition).
A little of all it's been--the feeling, the consciousness, the addiction--
but mostly
love is you.
Simply--
love is who I am, how my heart beats,
the steadiness of breathing.
Love is kissing you goodnight
("I love you; goodnight.")
Love is you holding my hair and cleaning up
after many of the 45 Peter pregnancy throw-ups.
Love is seeing you in our sons' features day in and out--
knowing they are lucky to be so handsome.
Love is a peace in my life;
calling you and knowing you'll be there;
the realization that without you,
I am hollow, in-
complete, disjointed.
Love is us. Forever.

--Jocelyn S. Gibbons

For Jocelyn, Mother of Two

2009-05-04T09:47:00.002-06:00

Glimpsing Eternity

Wishing that we had gone to bed sooner,

The cry of the newborn (our second) startled me awake

We had barely gone to sleep

She recovering from sleep deprivation

And major open-stomach surgery,

Me with the strain of school and work and family

Feeling all lumped together like a load of lead

Upon my back

As I lay in the bed, contemplating whether to ignore the cry,

Pretending to sleep

Hoping that my wife would take the initiative,

Feed the hungry mouth and calm the child’s wail

Relieve me of the burden . . .

And then I no longer needed to pretend

I awoke again to something beautiful

A melody as pure as glass

And enriched by the glory of a mother’s love

She had made no complaint or appeal to her weakened state

Nothing could separate her

From the overflowing of joy

The happiness of life

As she rocked the baby, and sang

And spoke to him of why he meant so much

To us.

--Robert Gibbons

2009-04-25T13:16:00.001-06:00

Robert and I have become addicted to Lost. It is freakin' awesome! If you are a fan (or even if you aren't) check out this clip. It is SOOOO funny.

Susan Boyle vs. This Kid

2009-04-20T08:59:00.003-06:00

Susan Boyle wasn't bad. But this kid is amazing. And I don't think these singers are masterminded by Simon Cowell. The fact that both of these clips are almost too sweet and movie-like to be believable is just a result of good editing, in my opinion.

Love For Daddy

2009-04-17T12:14:00.003-06:00

My boys love their DaDa. Here's a cute video as proof. :)

Buppy and Jer-Jer

2009-04-14T19:46:00.006-06:00

Hello all! I have the computer for a minute (don't have one during the day usually...) so I am posting!!! Do read Robert's blogs below. Love them, Honey! Thanks for keeping the blog alive and sharing your insights.

Anyway, my family have been bugging me for more pics of Jeremy (who, thanks to our distance from family, has only been able to meet my mom so far... so the fam has to see him via the blog)... I WILL now deliver. I'll post some adorable video clips of my Peter later (when I want to wait forever for them to load, ha). He is such a sweet boy and I LOVE HIM so much!

Thanks and have fun viewing! Try not to hurt yourself looking at SO MUCH DANG CUTENESS. (-Jocelyn)

Footnotes and General Conference

2009-04-14T12:28:00.005-06:00

I have been perusing the text of the talks from the latest General Conference and made what I consider to be a nifty discovery. The footnotes of many of the talks don't just contain citations; many of them actually contain valuable substantive comments from the speakers. This means that following the counsel to read and study the talks will do more than simply help us remember what we've already heard; it will also provide us with access to additional insights and ideas from the speakers themselves.

I noticed also, by comparing the footnotes of the most recent General Conference with last October's General Conference, that there are a great deal more footnote comments in the newest Conference. I would deign to say that speakers are increasingly utilizing footnotes to express ideas that didn't quite fit into the verbal form of their speeches.

Here are some of the gems I discovered (and one puzzle I encountered) as I perused the footnotes of this April 2009's General Conference:

Elder D. Todd Christofferson provided the most substantive footnotes of all in his talk The Power of Covenants. Take, for example, this profound, citation-free insight in Footnote 2: "Some see only sacrifice and limitations in obedience to the commandments of the new and everlasting covenant, but those who live the experience—who give themselves freely and unreservedly to the covenant life—find greater liberty and fulfillment. When we truly understand, we seek more commandments, not fewer. Each new law or commandment we learn and live is like one more rung or step on a ladder that enables us to climb higher and higher. Truly, the gospel life is the good life."
In his talk on temple attendance, Elder Scott encouraged listeners to "Understand the doctrine related to temple ordinances, especially the significance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ." But only if you look at the footnote will you see what he thinks you should read to begin to gain such understanding.
Elder Nelson, in his talk on prayer, offers a particular source of articles in his first footnote and asserts: "The sincere student of prayer will gain much from a study of those articles." I checked them out and they do teach some powerful lessons on prayer.
My wife and I debated whether Elder Stevenson was being literal or figurative when he talked about young children being encouraged to touch the temple in his talk Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples. A footnote contains a story about a man encouraging his granddaughter to actually place her hand on the temple wall and door, remarking, "Remember that this day you touched the temple. One day you will enter this door."
Some talks have only scripture references for footnotes and others have scripture citations inserted directly into the body of the text and so require no footnotes at all. I don't know if this is the choice of the speakers or the editors; if it's the editors, why is it not consistent throughout all talks?

On a related note, take a look at this Times and Seasons blog post that speculates on what it means when a book is mentioned in General Conference. It refers in particular to Elder Eyring's mention of the story popularized in the movie "Black Hawk Down."

Abortion: The Legal View (Part 2 of 3)

2009-04-13T05:29:00.005-06:00

This is the second part of a three-part series on abortion. The order of angles in which I address this topic are The Moral View, The Legal View, and the Political View. There will be some overlap. Click here for Part I.

The Legal View

As a housekeeping matter, I said in Part I that Elder Nelson was not calling for activism by members who seek to overturn the law. Following conversations with others, I realize I may have overstated that claim by implying that the church as a whole would not be in favor of de-legalizing abortion. The church has taken a public stand on many moral issues and there's certainly the possibility that the church would feel the need in the future to advocate laws regulating abortion consistent with the church's moral position.

That said, this post will focus on the legal aspects of abortion. Specifically, I will address several Supreme Court cases that have dealt with the legalization and regulation of abortion, starting with Roe v. Wade. Most of my comments/insights are the result of class discussion and thought. Some details were extracted from Wikipedia.

Roe v. Wade, 1973
Some people mistakenly think that abortion was illegal prior to 1973. In actuality, it was restricted in many states, but not universally illegal. Texas was one of the states where abortion was restricted. It was in that state that Roe v. Wade was born.

The Roe v. Wade case revolved around a Texas law that criminalized all abortion except where necessary to protect the life of the mother. The plaintiff filed suit under the name of Jane Roe (a pseudonym to protect her identity), claiming that she had been raped and should be able to have an abortion. The defendant was Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade, representing the State of Texas.

When the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices first considered whether the Texas law infringed upon a Constitutional right. While acknowledging that the Constitution did not explicitly mention a “right to privacy,” the Court held, as it had in previous cases, that the Constitution implicitly guaranteed a right to privacy. They further held that such right of privacy was “broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.”

How, according to the Court, does denying a woman the right to an abortion violate her privacy? The court says it’s all about the right to make personal decisions, harking back to a Supreme Court decision from seven years earlier in which the court held that whether or not to use birth control was a private decision.

Concluding that the plaintiff had a constitutional right to an abortion did not end the analysis, however, because a law that infringes upon a Constitutional right can still be valid if the State has a compelling justification for the law. In this case, Texas argued that it viewed life as beginning at conception, and it had a compelling interest in protecting life from the moment of conception onward. To a lesser extent, the State also argued that abortions endangered the health of the mother, and they had a compelling interest in protecting the health of the mother as well.

In response to Texas’s arguments, the Supreme Court said that the State’s interest in protecting life only became compelling at the point of viability (i.e. the point at which the fetus could survive outside of the womb, which the court said fell at the beginning of the third trimester). The Court agreed hypothetically that if meaningful human life really did begin at conception, that would be compelling enough to uphold the Texas law; but noting the varying opinions between doctors, scholars, and religious leaders, the Court said it could not decide when life really begins and therefore had to address the question objectively, by looking at viability. (Some argue that even though the Court stated that it did not want to decide when life begins, it essentially did decide it by focusing on the time of viability).

With regard to the life of the mother, the Court said that the State could not regulate abortion to protect the health of the mother until after the first trimester, because at that point the risk to the woman of having an abortion would be greater than the risk of childbirth (based on available medical evidence).

In other words, after Roe, no state had a right to regulate abortion during the first trimester, and only had the right to regulate it in the second trimester, pre-viability, to protect the health of the mother.

It’s interesting to note that since this case has been decided, medical science has challenged the original notion of when viability begins, as premature babies are surviving outside of the womb at ever-earlier stages.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 1992
After Roe, abortion became an enormous political issue. The Roe v. Wade decision itself was heavily criticized, the plaintiff in Roe later regretted her fight for abortion rights and became a huge pro-life advocate who still rallies with pro-lifers today, and making abortion illegal became a fundamental plank of the Republican party in every post-Roe Pesidential election.

Every Republican president thereafter made opposition to Roe a staple of his campaign, and each Republican president vowed to nominate Supreme Court Justices who would be in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade. Between 1973 and 1992, there was only one Democratic President—Jimmy Carter—and he didn’t get to choose any Justices. As more and more of the old Roe majority died out, and as Republican presidents replaced them with seemingly pro-life Justices, it began to seem apparent that the Republican party would eventually prevail in overturning Roe v. Wade.

Thus the stage was set for Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992. This case evolved out of a Pennsylvania law which placed a series of restrictions on women who wanted to have abortions. The law provided, except in cases of medical emergency, that no physician could perform an abortion on a married woman without receiving a signed statement from the woman that she had notified her spouse of her decision. Similarly, the Pennsylvania law provided that women under 18 could not receive abortions without parental consent. And women had to wait 24 hours after an initial consultation with a doctor before receiving the abortion. The law also required abortion facilities to file certain reports regarding every abortion that it carried out. The laws were challenged as being unconstitutional, relying on the Court’s reasoning in Roe v. Wade.

By the time this case reached the Supreme Court, there were a whopping eight Repulican-nominated Supreme Court Justices on the court. Everyone knew that Roe was about to be overturned and that states would soon be free to regulate abortion to whatever extent they felt was proper. However, after the arguments had been heard and a vote was taken by the Justices, it appeared that only five Justices were in favor of overturning Roe. These justices were Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Byron White, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas; they all favored upholding all the abortion restrictions of the Pennsylvania law and in effect reducing Roe to dead letter.

Though there were only five of nine Justices who were in favor of overturning Roe, it was still a majority. So Chief Justice Rehnquist began writing his opinion, explaining the legal reasoning for overturning Roe and placing the issue of abortion rights within control of the states, just as it had been before Roe.

And then Justice Kennedy changed his mind.

Justice Blackmun, who was in favor of upholding Roe, was up late one night writing his planned dissent to Rehnquist’s majority opinion when he received a note from Justice Kennedy. Justice Kennedy wrote that he had been persuaded by fellow Reagan-Bush justices Sandra Day O’Connor and David Souter to join in a secret opinion that reaffirmed Roe. Justice Blackmun's would-be-dissenting opinion then became a concurrence in line with the new majority. When Chief Justice Rehnquist found out what had happened, he wasn’t pleased, but he couldn’t prevent the result. His majority opinion became the dissent.

The new principal opinion (the one written by Justice O'Connor and joined by Kennedy and Souter) relied heavily on the precedent of Roe v. Wade. It has been speculated that since many people pessimistically viewed the Court as making decisions based on personal opinions rather than the authority of the Constitution, several Republican Justices took this opportunity to demonstrate that though they were personally pro-life, they felt it was necessary to honor past decisions when such decisions were based on sound legal judgment (even though the Court has often overturned its own decisions both before and after this case).

In what turned out to be a complex intersection of concurrences and dissents, the ultimate law that came out of Planned Parenthood v. Casey discarded the trimester framework analysis from Roe in favor of a new undue burden test shaped by Justice O’Connor. The ruling of Roe was upheld in most other respects. From Wikipedia: “Applying this new standard to the Pennsylvania Act under challenge, the plurality struck down the spousal notification requirement, stating that it gave too much power to husbands over their wives and would worsen situations of spousal abuse. The plurality upheld the State's 24 hour waiting period, informed consent, and parental consent requirements, holding that none constituted an undue burden.”

When the decision was announced, the pro-choice crowd had to scrap the protest speeches they had prepared. But when the dust settled, even they were dissatisfied with the decision because it lightened (albeit only slightly) the restrictions that had been placed on states by Roe.

Gonzales v. Carhart, 2007
This case was about a Congressional law which banned a certain type of partial-birth (aka late term) abortion. The details of the procedure are quite gruesome and I don’t want to explain them here, but it is important to note that the law at issue did not ban all types of partial-birth abortion—only one specific type that Congress felt was particularly inhumane. Congress had chosen not to ban other types of late term abortions because such procedures were sometimes necessary to save the life of a mother.

The Supreme Court upheld the law, and several Republican justices took the opportunity to reiterate that they were still in favor of overturning Roe and leaving the legislation and regulation of abortion to the states.

Modern Trends
There are currently four Justices on the Supreme Court who are in favor of overturning Roe, just as was the case in 1992. These four Justices are not going anywhere anytime soon as far as we know, but it’s unlikely they will gain a fifth vote in the near future, which means that those in favor of overturning Roe are and will likely be in the minority for some time.

Today, some state legislatures are trying to get around the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade while still eliminating unnecessary abortions. The North Dakota House approved a bill that defines life as beginning at conception, thus ensuring that a state has a compelling enough interest to regulate abortion from Day 1. (That bill is not yet a law and might not stand a good chance of becoming one.) North Dakota has also taken other interesting steps in the legislature to help encourage life over abortion.

Jazz Stink

2009-04-10T23:09:00.003-06:00

I removed the Jazz widget from the top of this page because I'm sick of being reminded how bad the Jazz have been doing lately. Maybe I'll put it up again if they manage to make it through the first round of the playoffs, though I'm not hopeful. Yes, I am a fair weather fan. What of it?

Pictures!!!

2009-03-27T06:20:00.014-06:00

Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top check out Robert's mad theory blog below (and comment!). I don't want to eclipse his blog, but it's high time I post the bazillion pictures we have.

Brace yourself for cuteness.

First Bath Trauma:

Peter the Drooling Sleeper:

Peter and BFF Maama (we miss you!!):

The Big Bro Torture Has Begun:

One of My Favs:

Peter the Stud All Ready for Church:

Jeremy's Many Expressions...

"I'm confused"

"Another picture?? Don't you have anything better to do???"

"Ooooh..." (he's either very interested or very ninja-esque)

"Enough already! FEED me!!"

Aren't my boys the cutest ever? I agree. :) (-Jocelyn)

Meta Cars

2009-03-26T15:13:00.003-06:00

Peter is watching Cars right now. He loves that show. My favorite part is when Lightning McQueen is paving the road and is muttering to himself, "Turn right to go left. Guess what? I tried it! And this crazy thing happened. I went right!" Then the old lady car, watching from her porch, says "If you keep talkin' to yourself, people are going to think you're crazy!" Lightning retorts "Thanks for the tip!" "What?" she replies. "I wasn't talkin' to you!"

Anyway, the real reason I'm writing is because after seeing the end credits of this movie for the gazillionth time, I came to the realization that this movie is a movie within a movie. You see, once the credits finish, it shows the crazy tourist couple from the beginning of the movie still wandering around in the desert, lost. Then a car bug flies by and bumps into the camera, leaving a blue smudge on the screen. Also, my wife discovered that in another scene toward the middle of the movie, a bug lands on the screen and leaves a trail across part of the camera.

Remember that during the credits, you see the car characters from the movie watching other Pixar movies with car characters, including A Bug's Life (A Car's Life?) and Toy Story (Car Story?) I remembered the brilliant fake outtakes from A Bug's Life, where you learned that all the animated insects were meant to be actor insects. If the car version of A Bug's Life were watched until the end, you would eventually see the characters in A Car's Life revealed to be actors (during the outtakes). And if my theory about Cars being a subtle movie within a movie is true, and if you were able to see the outtakes of A Car's Life, what you would actually be witnessing is a movie about cars making a movie about cars who later watch a movie about cars making a movie about cars.

Jazz Widget

2009-03-09T14:39:00.005-06:00

I love the expression on Okur's face (background) in this photo, from their recent game against the Raptors.

Check out the new Utah Jazz Widget at the top of the page. The Jazz have been red hot since the beginning of February, and now that Carlos Boozer appears to be back for good (assuming his new ankle injury was a one-game glitch), I am foolishly optimistic about their odds of winning a ton of games from here until the playoffs. Go Jazz!

Abortion: The Moral View (Part 1 of 3)

2009-03-04T12:48:00.004-07:00

This is the first of a three-part series on abortion. The order of angles in which this topic will be addressed are The Moral View, The Legal View, and the Political View. There will be some overlap.

The Moral View

Introduction

I decided to write these blogs after discussing Roe v. Wade and subsequent abortion-related cases in my Constitutional Law class. Of all the things I have studied in law school so far, this topic has stirred the most passion in me. I recognize that there are many who know a lot more about this topic than I do and probably have good insights. Please share them if you care to.

I also realize that since it is not even possible for me to bear children, I cannot fully appreciate many emotional, physical, or psychological aspects of this discussion. I can say that I feel I have empathy toward women who become pregnant and are overwhelmed by the prospect of having a baby or become severely depressed. To say that women bear a much heavier burden than men (literally and figuratively, of course) in bringing children into the world would be a pathetic understatement. Even so, I feel I have gained enough perspective on this issue to at least warrant an expression of my thoughts.

The Wrongful Taking of Unborn Life

Many people who talk about abortion are forced to spend their time and focus their attention on whether abortion is generally okay or generally not okay. For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the question of whether abortion in general is wrong has been answered by prophets speaking in our day, which provides us with a huge advantage in talking about this important and delicate subject.

Elder Russell M. Nelson, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wrote an excellent article last October called Abortion: An Assault on the Defenseless. The conclusion of that article is that abortion is almost never justified and is "consummately wrong." I agree 100% with the content of this article, in large part because I believe Elder Nelson is an apostle of Jesus Christ, and also because his arguments make sense to me logically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Elder Nelson points out that the Church has four exceptions in which it is sometimes okay to have an abortion: rape, incest, to protect the mother’s health (when it would be in “serious jeopardy”), and in cases where the baby cannot live beyond birth. As the following chart shows, these four categories combined represent only a fraction of all abortions. The great majority of abortions are performed for (at least it seems to me) shockingly mundane reasons.

In order to distinguish justifiable abortion from unjustifiable abortion, there are several terms we could use for the latter: “abortion on demand” or “the wrongful taking of unborn life.” Because justifiable abortion is so rare, however, I will talk about abortion in general terms while recognizing that the exceptions exist and are not applicable to this discussion.

I hesitate, as does Elder Nelson, to say that someone who has an abortion for the wrong reason is a bad person. In fact, I know that there are people who have had abortions who are good people, and Elder Nelson reassures us in his article that people who have had abortions for the wrong reason can be forgiven.

Still, it’s useful, I think, to compare the sin of abortion to other sins. I believe abortion, as a whole, is a despicable crime, akin in many respects to murder (perhaps even worse according to John Calvin).

Should Abortion be Illegal?

The question, and the point of this discussion, is whether making abortion illegal in the United States would solve the abortion problem.

I read an article the other day by a pro-choicer who made the claim that if abortion became illegal, the number of abortions would not decrease. From everything I can find, there is no real way to substantiate this claim, but there’s also no real way to discount it completely either. (If any of you find reliable data on this, I’d love to see it. I have seen reports that suggest that in places where safe or legal abortion is not available, the number of abortions per capita does not significantly decrease, but I can’t verify the accuracy of such information.) Regardless, the reasoning behind such an argument is that a wealthy woman who wants an abortion will fly out of the country to have the abortion; a poor woman will find an illegal and often dangerous way to have the abortion, possibly endangering her own life in the process.

If it’s true that the number of abortions does not decrease when abortion is illegal, I think pro-choicers have a very strong position. After all, if making abortion illegal would not save babies and would also lead to the deaths of more women, then abortion should remain legal because more lives will be spared that way. Common sense, however, tells me that this claim cannot be true, at least within the United States. The reason I say this is that many women who go to clinics to have an abortion do so because (1) they know it’s safe, (2) they know it’s legal, (3) they know there are people and organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, who support their decision, (4) for young women, they are not required to tell their parents, (5) for married women, they are not required to tell their spouses, and (6) it is easy. If abortion were illegal, except for cases in which it is necessary to protect the life of the mother (which is where I believe the law would eventually settle if we started to go down this road), many or all of these advantages to abortion would disappear.

What I hope would happen at that point is that more women would educate themselves after getting pregnant to see what their options are. I think more women would confide in people they trust; more women would reach out to adoption agencies; more women would find a way to prevent unwanted pregnancy in the first place; and more women would listen to and be persuaded by the gentle and kind reasoning of good pro-life agencies.

On that note, is there evidence that a woman whose first inclination is to have an abortion may be helped to understand the value of the life inside of her? Yes, absolutely, and there are many help centers that have helped many women choose life instead of abortion through such education. See this Time article for a few inspiring examples.

But though I think legislation making abortion illegal would have a great chance of decreasing the number of abortions, and while I would support such legislation, I doubt abortion will ever be made illegal again in the U.S. Why do I doubt this? I will talk about it more in my “Legal View” blog (Part II of this series), forthcoming, but the short answer is that ever since Roe v. Wade, every Republican president has vowed to nominate Supreme Court justices who would help to overturn Roe v. Wade. Over the course of twenty some-odd years, presidents filled vacancies in the court with six or seven pro-life, Republican Justices. Everyone expected Roe v. Wade to be overturned in 1993 in a perfect test case. It wasn’t. Many of the new Republican/conservative Justices went turncoat. Actually, what they did was affirm that they were personally pro-life but felt that they had to respect the law, including the precedent of Roe v. Wade, and they decided against overturning Roe v. Wade.

Still, it’s possible that abortion might be made illegal again one day. I’m not saying it can’t happen. I’m just saying I doubt it. How could it happen, though, hypothetically? Well, right now there are four justices on the court who swear that if they could they would overturn Roe v. Wade; they believe it was wrongly decided. Scenario 1: A Republican president is nominated again who is able to nominate a justice or two who actually follows through on a commitment to overturn Roe v. Wade. Scenario 2: Obama or another Democratic president nominates a Supreme Court justice that seems liberal but ends up siding with the conservative justices on this issue. (Supreme Court justices can be surprisingly unpredictable.)

One might ask (as have I) why God doesn’t pull a few strings to help fill the Supreme Court with enough Justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. God did seem to have a hand in at last one major Supreme Court decision of the past: the Brown v. Board decision. In that case, the issue was desegregation of public schools. Four justices were in favor of it, four were leaning away from it but were persuadable, and one was staunchly opposed to it. The one who was staunchly opposed to it died a sudden death and was replaced by another justice who was in favor of desegregation. That new justice rallied everyone else to make sure that the landmark decision, Brown v. Board of Education, was unanimous.

Was God really involved in that? I personally don’t have a problem with believing He had a hand in it. But if He would do it for segregation, why not abortion? Does this issue fall into the category of “bad things happening to good people?” If so, we know that God allows opposition in all things. Or is it more complicated than that? After all, these babies aren’t good people. They’re perfect people. They have no sin whatsoever. And while the Scriptures are silent on how God feels about unborn children, we know how God feels about little children. He loves them passionately. The scriptures use very strong language in condemning anyone who offends “these little ones.” If God says someone who believes in infant baptism must go to hell (since such a doctrine is void of faith, hope, or charity), how must He feel about someone who voluntarily ends the life of a soon-to-be-born child?

Who knows? Maybe God knows abortions wouldn’t decrease if abortions were made illegal; or perhaps He allows abortion to stay legal so that “His judgments will be just;” or maybe He allows it to remain legal because this is one of those key places where agency comes into play and he wants people to be able to choose. (I do not mean this in the sense that they have the right to "choose" whether to have a baby; Elder Nelson clearly dismisses this school of thought as flawed. I speak more in the sense of whether they have the right to choose good or evil, which they do. Elder Nelson focuses on the political meaning of the word choice, but it remains a fact that God allows humans to choose whether to commit sin or not; because there is opposition in all things, perhaps God allows the temptation to have easy abortions remain on the Earth so that His children can be tested in all things.)

Which brings us to a key doctrinal point. As Church members, we believe that abortion on demand is wrong. But we also believe that agency is an important part of who we are. By making abortion illegal, would we be getting one step closer to Lucifer’s plan, which was to force everyone to make the "right choice?" (Granted, just because abortion is illegal, doesn’t mean people don’t still have the ability to choose it or not; see the paragraph that starts with “I read an article the other day.”) Is it fair to think of lawmaking in such terms? It probably isn't fair to compare the spiritual principle of agency with the legal principle of agency. The two are really on different planes of thought. After all, obeying man’s laws is often necessary (since being a law-abiding citizen is a commandment), but never sufficient to ensure salvation. Perhaps God is not so concerned whether man’s laws change or not, because all men and women have the light of Christ, and with that light of Christ, we should be able to determine for ourselves whether abortion is okay or not.

For example, let’s imagine a hypothetical country where murdering a neighbor for revenge is legal. An act of murder purely for revenge’s sake would be okay legally, but would not be okay in God’s eyes. And God would likely hold such a man accountable if indeed he had enough of the light of Christ to prick his conscience into knowing that such an act of murder was wrong. God can never look upon sin with the least degree of allowance, even if the laws of a nation vary from God's laws.

Who does abortion harm?

Many people argue about when the spirit enters the body, and whether life begins at conception. While there is no doctrine I can find on when the Spirit enters the body, there is no doubt that life, scientifically defined, begins at the moment of conception. (See Elder Nelson's reasoning.)

Now, we don’t know whether aborted fetuses count as having their chance on Earth. If entering the womb is enough to satisfy the Earth-life requirement, then such individuals are much happier returning to heaven so quickly. If entering the womb is not enough to satisfy the requirement, then they will get another chance.

In either case, it seems the biggest harm remains with those of us here on Earth who have to grieve the loss and/or face the consequences of sin. With murder, it is the same, right? The victim, if it was a righteous person, goes to a place where he or she can “rest from all their troubles, and from all care, and sorrows.” But with murder, it is possible to take a person from the Earth before he or she has had the chance to fully repent (see 1 Nephi 15:32-33, 2 Nephi 9:38, Mosiah 15:26, and Moroni 10:26 for why this is significant). Abortion has only physical consequences to the victim, not eternal spiritual consequences. The most worrisome aspects of abortion, in my opinion, are the spiritual consequences to the perpetrator as well as perhaps the disregard for life that begins to affect the general populace as more abortions are performed over time.

Conclusion

Elder Nelson’s abortion article is not about politics, which is significant. Elder Nelson seems to be teaching doctrine, rather than advocating legislative action. His speech could have the most effect on people who are on the fence about abortion, or perhaps people who can make a difference by educating other people. For that reason, I believe we need to focus on helping individuals turn away from selfish abortion, and I believe that focusing solely on making abortion illegal will not lead to understanding; it will lead to anger. If making abortions illegal will help, that’s great; but it shouldn’t be the end goal. If we’re going to be proactive on this issue, let’s be proactive by spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because, as has been said eloquently by another apostle, “the study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than talking about behavior will improve behavior.” I believe this to be true in the context of abortion as well.

ZombieMom Update

2009-03-01T13:32:00.007-07:00

Hello everyone and welcome back! I'm typing this while nursing my almost-two-week-old (TOMORROW!)... talent, eh? It's not that impressive when you consider that I have a very helpful nursing pillow AND I have been nursing every 2-3 hours round the clock for the past almost two weeks. Haha...ha... hence the ZOMBIEMOM-ness of it all.

Jeremy seems to be doing really well, though. He has this funny habit of generally squeaking, hence "squeaker" from the last post. But when he gets mad, he goes from whisper-squeak to FULL-throttle SCREAMING in milliseconds. Seriously. There is NO middle ground with this kid. Hopefully this isn't an indication of what toddlerdom will be like with him, because our actual toddler, Peter, is...

going crazy! He was always a pretty mellow kid. Peter is generally happy and helpful, with his "moments" thrown in. Since Jeremy came home, Peter has been on a rollercoaster ride of tantrum upon tantrum... mainly directed at yours truly... so I've had my fun share of being hit (he used to never hit!), having things thrown at me, and general crankiness. I understand and feel for Peter, because it must be hard having your world turned completely upside down... as in, 24/7 there-for-Peter Mama is now holding baby Jeremy 95% of the time... and it's hard for him to understand... but it's still frustrating! Luckily, my mom is here so she has been distracting him and Robert focuses on him when he's home. The past couple of days have been better... I'm hoping this means he's finally getting used to the new addition.

Robert went back to the full swing of work and school last week and survived... and we are both, I think, adjusting to nighttime feeding schedule (though I try to let Robert sleep if I don't need his help). I'm actually feeling awake during the day (given that I sleep in -- thanks Mom! -- until 9:30 and take 2 or so long naps every day) and I'm healing faster than I did with the first C-section. I'm still far from better, but I'll give it the 6 weeks. I think I'm doing great, then I get into the "real" world for a minute (like a quick trip to the grocery store or Ikea) and realize I still walk like a shuffling old lady... and can only walk painlessly for a few minutes. After that, my body reminds me it is still in need of repair!!!

Well, here are some pics to entertain y'all. Some newbies. Forgive my grunginess; it's my usual outfit nowadays!!! Love to all... -Jocelyn

More Pics of Squeaker

2009-02-22T13:12:00.007-07:00

Jeremy's first sleep in his bassinet.

Peter holding Jeremy for the first time! (He looks SO excited, huh?)

Excuse the chocolateness of Peter's mouth (and the sad bruise on his eye; I'll let Robert tell you that story)... but here's the big bro, little bro line-up.

We didn't give Jeremy any pacifiers in the hospital to help get nursing off to a good start, but after getting home and finding myself to be a human pacifier :) we cracked... and we already have a little addict. Peter never liked the binky, but Jeremy sure does! I found him like this, with his arm holding his binky into place. So funny.

My Mom (AKA the magic fairy who cleans and cooks and cuddles babies and calms toddlers and does all sorts of other things that start with C) and Jeremy last night, cuddling during a movie.

We love and appreciate all of you for your love and support! Yay for new babies! :) (-Jocelyn)

President's Day Baby

2009-02-16T19:18:00.006-07:00

Jocelyn was experiencing contractions yesterday during church. She was leading the primary children in songs like "How Firm a Foundation" and finally had to let the other primary leaders take over because of the pain. The contractions got closer and closer together after church, so we dropped off Peter at a friend's house and zoomed on down to the hospital.

Astoundingly, when they measured Jocelyn upon arrival, they told her she was dilated to a zero, which made us all very unhappy. We were afraid they were going to send us home, but because her contractions were coming so close together, they admitted us.

Jocelyn labored hard until 3 a.m., at which time she was given an epidural. She was dilated to a 1 at that time. Then we slept for a few hours. At dawn she was approaching a 5 and her water broke.

At 12:15, right when Jocelyn hit a 9, the baby's heart rate plummeted and they did an Emergency C. (Same thing that happened with Peter.)

Mommy and baby are doing fine. The baby's name is Jeremy Ted Gibbons.

Pictures follow.

8 lbs, 11 oz., 20 3/4 in.

-Bob

The Heavens Are Hung in Black

2009-02-11T08:39:00.005-07:00

Above is a photo from the new play at Ford's Theater: "The Heavens Are Hung in Black." Ford's Theater, you will remember, is the place where Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

Jocelyn and I went and saw this play last Thursday for the sweet price of 10$ a ticket (the special first-week price for people under 35). Actually, the 10$ advertised price is a lie because I ended up paying $12 in fees for a grand total of $33. So each ticket really cost around $16.50. Still, it was a great show.

The play is a world premiere, and it covers the time between the death of Lincoln's son Willy and the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. During this time, the play depicts Lincoln's contradictary stance on African Americans. While he was a champion of their liberty from slavery, he had a difficult time recognizing them as equals. The play, by acknowledging some of Lincoln's weaknesses, portrays him as a true giant of a man. Lincoln was inspired by God to promote civil liberties and did so despite the problems that beset him.

After the play, we took a picture of the Presidential Box where Lincoln was shot.

Back Home

2008-12-28T14:10:00.003-07:00

Christmas Eve in our new PJs (the only usable pic uploaded so far!)

Hello All,

We're back home from Utah. It was sad to say goodbye... or I should say, it was sad for ROBERT and I to say goodbye. Peter was ecstatic to get back to his very own home, crib, toys, even car. I think he had had enough of the nomadic holiday lifestyle.
-

Last night we got to our apartment after midnight from the airport and found a very clean apartment thanks to my angel/magical fairy visiting teachers!!! Isn't that the best gift ever? They asked me for my apartment key before I left (they wanted it to be a surprise, but they couldn't exactly break in, you know), so I suspected something would be coming. What I found... all the dishes done (there were a LOT), floors all vacuumed, kitchen and bathroom mopped (cleaner than they've ever been), bathroom cleaned, front room completely organized (my bookshelf, random papers, food), and Peter's room cleaned and organized. We are SOOOO grateful and I cannot even begin to express how happy it made me.

When we went to Peter's very clean room to put him in his crib, he almost jumped out of Robert's arms for joy. We set him down for sleep and he was giggling and smiling... then went to sleep right away. Oh the simple joy of being in one's one bed. :)

Sadly, today I skipped out on church because I ended up with the stomach flu this morning. I hate being sick on any day, but I guess Sundays are better than weekdays, because Robert took Peter away giving me an actual chance to rest (whereas on weekdays I just have to suck it up and take care of Peter while feeling terrible).

Well this blog is rambly... and I don't have any pictures from our trip loaded yet (I didn't take many... I forgot!)... so I'll end it now. Our trip was wonderful and our Christmas was divine. We thank all our friends and family for their love and support! We are sooooo blessed! (-Jocelyn)

Snow!

2008-12-19T19:29:00.003-07:00

We are in Utah, and as we happily anticipated -- we are surrounded by SNOW! Driving in it is always a pain, but still I LOVE snow and am so happy that this will be a "white" Christmas unless the weather REALLY heats up. Too bad I can't currently PLAY in the snow other than waddling from here to there. No skiing for me this year... oh well!

So far this trip has been very relaxing. We are mainly lounging around and making ourselves comfortable in my sister's home, with an occasional outing here and there. I think it's what we need (especially Robert after finals). And it's certainly nice on our already drained wallets (ahh, the joys of law school).

Sorry, don't have anything else to say really. We're loving Utah and are SO HAPPY to have a whole week (and a day) left. Yay! (-Jocelyn)

Utah Here We Come!

2008-12-16T08:09:00.003-07:00

Only 6 more hours until we're on our way to UTAH!!! We are SO beyond excited to be with our families (and to see lots of our friends)... and I am SO beyond excited to have Robert finals- and work-free!

Now.. back to frantically getting ready to leave. Wish us luck! Hahaha...

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

2008-11-29T11:32:00.006-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving (heading out the door on our way to Thanksgiving dinner)!

Hello Everybody! And HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Ours was a super yummy one, thanks to our great cousins Cori and Jace and extended fam (and to John's stuffing... which I actually made and brought; turned out GREAT).

Seriously... I think I am in denial about how soon this baby is coming! I had a wake-up call the other day as I went to the doctor's office and had a VBAC consult. After all the warnings which he's required to run down with me, I had to sign a form saying I'm doing it anyway... so the doctor asks me which hospital I'm delivering at. Simple question, supposedly. Yeah, right! I hadn't even THOUGHT about it. How ridiculous is that? I had the hospital picked and was all registered by like 2 months with Peter... not so much now.

So now I'm realizing... oh, I should probably register for the hospital and start getting a place ready for the baby (still need to get a bassinet and a double stroller and maybe a few other perks, but mostly, this kid is getting hand-me-down-heaven). Less than three months now until the due date (February 26) so I guess I really need to start pulling it together!

Speaking of efficiency... I FINALLY uploaded pics from Halloween, visits to the local pumpkin patch, and a token shot from Thanskgiving... so I will share. Yay for all of you!

Well, wish me luck attempting to get my baby prep together (starting with my house, haha; oh how I am SO JEALOUS of those of you who seem to so seemlessly and naturally keep an organized home; you know who you are). Have a great weekend! (-Jocelyn)

Peter (Superman) and his friend Emily (fairy). So cute!

Robert (Clark Kent) and his "other side" Superman.

Jocelyn (Lois Lane), Clark Kent, and Superman.

Christian Society

2008-11-13T20:33:00.006-07:00

I recently started reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis and have found it intellectualy satisfying and spiritually uplifting. Today I came across a great quote that applies to the events that have followed the passing of Prop 8 in California, including the surfacing of fresh anti-Mormon sentiment. C.S. Lewis, theorizing about a true Christian society (not just a society where everyone is Christian, but a society where everyone actually does what they should), says that if we were to visit such a society, we might come away with the impression that its economic life was very socialistic and in that sense, advanced, but that its family life and code of manners were rather old-fashioned.

He goes on to say, "Each of us would like some bits of it, but I am afraid very few of us would like the whole thing."

Delve deeper into what he is saying here. A true Christian society would, in part, look like a system built on both Republican and Democratic principles.

I feel our church is like that. From a protestant standpoint, we are very liberal in that we accept scripture and revelation beyond the Bible. From, say, an atheistic standpoint, we are very conservative because of our focus on family values and traditional marriage. What makes the recent Prop 8 protests at Mormon temples so interesting to me is that they are coming from the left side of the spectrum, and I feel that we are are more often targeted by the rightwing Evangelical churches (like at the Conference Center during General Conference).

One of the charges I have heard levied by Prop 8 opponents in the past week is that our church, by supporting Prop 8, is not being Christian. Other churches, who stood with us in support of Prop 8, have also said in the past that we are not Christian. But both sides are really saying different things. Evangelicals hate our church because it is too liberal. Prop 8 opponents hate our church because it is too conservative.

One other C.S. Lewis quote is telling on this subject. He says in his book, "Most of us are not really approaching the subject [of Christianity] in order to find out what Christianity says: we are approaching it in the hope of finding support from Christianity for the views of our own party." Well said, and a good thought for all of us to remember when we try to claim that our personal political viewpoints are more in line with Christ's teachings than our neighbor's viewpoints.

And now here's Peter being a spaz.

-Bob

CARS

2008-11-05T18:50:00.003-07:00

Finally a few teaser pictures. The first two are from our trip to Indiana (we're at the Indianapolis Speedway Museum in both of these)... the third is more evidence of Peter's true love.

And the baby is...

2008-10-14T07:48:00.002-06:00

a BOY!!!

Yep, we're going to add another little boy to our family. We're excited Peter will have a playmate (that he won't torment TOO much, we hope). Yay!!!

Baby looks good... everything is as it should be according to the doctor. So now we just have to keep waiting... 4 months...

The Bump, The Trip, and The Terror (who's not quite 2)

2008-10-09T18:02:00.004-06:00

Hello world. How are you? Little Suck (#2) says "hi" via kicks...

Speaking of the belly bump, it's getting BIG. At least, it feels big (and looks big) to me. I think this baby is going to be a fatty. And he/she (we find out the gender on MONDAY!!!) already has discovered two loves: jumping on my bladder (or doing successive round-house kicks; same effect for me) and lodging his/her body into my right rib cage (the same rib cage, interestingly enough, that Peter loved to inhabit... despite my prods). So basically, I'm only half-way through (20 weeks today!) and already this kid is trying to make me pee my pants (and is getting close... TMI, eh?) and is stubbornly insisting on sticking his/her little body in my rib cage (despite my urging pokes... and the fact that it HURTS). Ahhh!!!

And I was hoping for a calm baby... to balance the craziness of our toddler. Oh well! At least I know he/she is healthy in there.

Robert's computer has all the pics, so I'll post some later. And he can write all about Indiana (our last-minute trip this week... thanks to his job, actually, who paid for us to go!). He did his work assignment, and then we got to hang out! It was a whole lot of fun, especially since I got to see a lot of his mission areas (he served in Indiana). Plus getting away from the day-to-day is always nice.

Peter is a spazz and a half. He loves running around, screaming like a banshee, making crazy demands (cookies for lunch? no thank you) and then sticking to them with shrieking/whining (no, I don't give in; call me mean or call me persistent), standing and jumping on the table (despite my valiant efforts to explain "no," do time outs, take away his car, etc.)... he's just basically a toddler. A naughty toddler. Luckily, he's still my sweet boy a lot of the time, so he brings me stories and snuggles on my lap, loves watching tv (which I DO limit... but oh man it is a nice break), gives kisses and hugs (the cutest!), and is just adorable...

It's a good thing Heavenly Father created toddlers to be so darn cute. The little laughs, smiles, hugs, and kisses thrown-in between the tantrums and CRAZINESS keep me from losing it completely.

Pics to come! Have a great day, etc, etc, etc. (-Jocelyn)

HAPPY Shout-Out on a Sad Day

2008-09-11T18:20:00.006-06:00

We all remember where we were when the Two Towers were hit. I was in my dorm room. My roommate, Ashley, woke me up, frantic. Her mom had called and told her to watch the news. The first tower had been hit at that point. I was watching when the second was hit. It was an absolutely out-of-body, crazy, "this isn't happening in America" kind of day. And so I stayed in the dorm lobby, staring at the news reports, instead of going to my 10 a.m. tap class. Of all lame things, BYU counted missed classes that morning as absences. As if anyone could really concentrate in class anyway (even if it was just tap).

The night of September 11th, my family met in downtown Salt Lake to celebrate and forget the day's events a little. It just so happens, 9/11 is my Dad's birthday. We had planned a surprise party at the deli in his building. Pretty sure we didn't do the surprise, but we did gather. I was so grateful for that party. It was a way to escape into something normal... yummy deli food... singing "Happy Birthday"... watching my dad open presents... eating cake... I know I needed it. I think everyone else did, too.

So my unlucky dad (who was born a few years before the terrorist attacks) now shares his birthday with the most infamous date in current American history.

Now we get to the HAPPY shout-out. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dad!!!! He is an amazing man. He has the best sense of humor; he loves each of his children individually (and proved it over and over as we were kids, taking us out to special one-on-one Daddy Dates often... which ALWAYS involved him writing our current goals on napkins); he loves the gospel, loves the Lord, honorably holds the Priesthood (such a blessing growing up), and always follows the Spirit the first time (what an example!); he is quick to forgive and forget; he is silly (Peter LOVES him)...

...but also one of the sharpest business and creative minds EVER; he is generous and friendly; he's somewhat of a hermit (as stated in my last post), but he still reaches out despite his love of being alone; he adores my mother and treats her like his equal in every respect... they are truly best friends and eternal companions... I can't imagine them apart; he loves making deals, writing and accomplishing goals, and being optimistic; he is an impressive writer and eloquent speaker; he plays the guitar, the piano, and sings a great bass; and he is the best cheerleader, support, and financial backer (thanks for my wedding and my ENTIRE LIFE growing up!) a daughter could ask for.

I love you, Dad. Not a day goes by that I don't think of you and smile. I hope to adopt more of your optimism, faith, and humor... among your many other good qualities. Hope it's a good one! (Love, Jocelyn)

Generally Bored and Definitely Broke

2008-09-10T11:11:00.007-06:00

Yeah, yeah. I still haven't found the camera cord. Here's an oldie... back from our engagement pictures of all things... to keep you reading. I'll post some more random pictures along the way. It'll be fun!

So, as the title suggests, I am indeed bored and broke. It's funny, because I just don't get me. Do you ever feel that way? Like you are your own biggest mystery? I'm totally a hermit who hates being a hermit but can't seem to break out of it. I think I'm a combo act of my parents: I want to be like my mom (social butterfly and friend to all she comes in contact with), but I am inclined to be like my dad (prefers being alone in his room over mingling at a party... growing up, whenever we'd have a party of sorts, about halfway through I'd notice Dad was nowhere to be found; he'd always be up in his bedroom, hanging out with himself). The question is, how can I reconcile these two sides?

Sorry, this is getting psychological. I just feel bored and sooooo tired of my current hardly-ever-go-out-unless-I'm-picking-up-Robert-from-the-Metro lifestyle!! I guess it's part of the Mom life to often be stuck at home. And I guess since I have a(n almost) phobia of phones and thus outreaching (it takes a lot to get me to call most people, so if I've called you, pat yourself on the back)... it makes it even HARDER to get out.

AND THEN you add the "definitely broke" to it all. If you don't have someone you can hang out with (which you can't have every day anyway, even without the pseudo-phobias)... the next option is to go someplace. The thing is, most "someplaces" require money. I'm lucky to live in the DC area so the majority of museums are free... but I can only handle so many alone-with-Peter museum trips (we've done that one a lot) and zoo trips (fun, but always exhausting). So it leaves... a walk outside (one more reason I'm happy FALL is almost here; I can bear to be outside again!!!)... or the library.

But honestly... how many times can you go to the library in a week?!!??!?!

Okay. Enough whining. I'll sign off now. Post some ideas if you have any. Or just give yourself a mighty high-five for surviving this post!!! (-Jocelyn)

UPDATE sans pics (sorry)

2008-09-09T12:07:00.004-06:00

Hello all. No, I'm not dead. Yes, I've been sicky and pregnant... not as bad as with Peter though by a LONG shot. Just mostly tired and generally nauseous. HAPPILY the nausea is all but gone (I'm 15.5 weeks now) and I still just have to grapple with wanting 10 naps a day! Haha...

My (already born) kid is super cute and I could prove it... if I could find my camera cord. One other excuse why I haven't blogged.

I am SOOO ready for fall. The past couple of weeks a day like today comes and teases me into thinking the crazy heat and humidity is finally going to subside! It's rainy today, overcast, and beautiful. I can't WAIT for the leaves to fully change (they're just starting to on our "backyard" trees... they'll be beautiful when they're all done)... I am LOVING wearing long sleeves (okay 3/4 today, can't quite justify long)... can't wait to wear sweaters... and I am currently eating homemade as of an hour ago pumpkin chocolate chip bread. PLEASE come fall and PLEASE stay for a while. Last year's fall was hardly here at all. Seriously. I need it.

Man a lot has happened. Here are a few highlights so I don't bore you with 12 pages:

I look fat... I mean PREGNANT... hoping I look PREGNANT and not fat...
Robert's and my birthdays passed a week ago so we are now officially a quarter of a century... yay 25.
Robert's interviewing for second summer associate positions and we're praying he gets "call backs" (second interviews)... but we feel grateful he already has an awesome job (the firm he's currently at) which is definitely an option for next summer... we'll see...
Peter is learning too fast to describe... he loves cars (I think "love" is too weak a word; is OBSESSED)... he learns about 3 new words a day it seems... and he is so adorably cute and lovable and cuddle-able, although he is definitely a toddler!!! (VERY curious and often very naughty...)
We took a very fun long weekend trip to NYC to visit our good friends (as very briefly described below). I think the highlight for me was seeing "Mary Poppins" on Broadway. SUCH a fun show!
My parents are coming for Thanksgiving and we can't WAIT!!!

Umm... I think that pretty much covers the big things. Life is going good, totally better today because of the rain and the pumpkin bread. Hope you forgive me for not blogging (and not reading blogs, oops)... and have a great day! :) (-Jocelyn)

NY Blog from August!!!

2008-08-11T08:15:00.004-06:00

I wrote this blog in early August and never got around to publishing it. It's random. Enjoy!:

Okay, so I said I would tell y'all about yourselves if you commented on my blog and I totally didn't deliver. Now's not the time, but I thought I'd at least admit my guilt. One day...

I am right now in NEW YORK CITY with our amazing friends Brecken and Justin (and their lil' bit, Reuben). Justin is currently a film grad student at Columbia (yes, he is very, very talented) so they are living in that area and experience the full swing of city life. New York is so much fun and I love visiting... but I think I would have to be a lot more hardy to live here. I'm fine with a smaller apartment and I actually really like the busyness, but the subways kill the deal! Almost NONE of the stations have elevators (or even escalators)... meaning you have to HAUL your kid, stroller, etc., up usually two flights of stairs for every subway. Brecken is a pro at this and I am seriously impressed. But I am a wimp...

(PS - Blogger LIES! This post was sooo written by Jocelyn and NOT by Robert.)

I Wish Desert Had Another "S"

2008-07-24T09:42:00.003-06:00

We are in Utah!!! This Friday is Robert's brother's wedding (yay Stephen!). If you live in Utah and you didn't know we are here, don't be offended, please! We decided this was a family-first trip, so we have seen hardly any friends. We would love to see friends who want to drop by or have us over for a quick visit sometime, but otherwise, we're trying to devote our time to BOTH of our (large) families.

I've got to say, the desert air is not liking my lungs (or Peter's from the sounds of it). The first night I was here, my throat was already hurting and it continues to feel sooooo dry. I guess I really am used to living in humid D.C. I love Utah, though, mainly because our families are here in large part and I love our families. Yay!

Well, this post is kind of lame, so check out a post that isn't; my testimony of the Savior. I really do know it to be true. Read on.

Love to y'all. (-Jocelyn)

I'm So Vain & CHECKMATE

2008-07-16T09:53:00.003-06:00

Dude, I love hearing about... me. Sorry, I really am "so vain." Feel free to write a song about me and then try to deny it.

SOOO... play the game below! AND check out the awesome pictures above, evidence of my victory over Robert.

As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Let me know you check my blog!

Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.