Photo Fun and the Incredible Resurrecting Plant

I've always been fascinated with clouds so I like to walk out into the cul-de-sac and shoot pictures of the changing clouds during the sunset. I'm sure people think I'm weird while standing in the middle of the street for 15 minutes at a time but I hate to miss a good photo. Here are some of the latest.
Also, we received this hanging plant from Tom and Jaime when Aani was born. We forgot to water it for a bit and it died. Or so we thought. We watered it anyway and it sprang back to life in less than an hour. It happened again recently so I thought I'd photograph the event. Amazing what 44 minutes and water will do for this little guy.

He a WHAT?

Whilst perusing the frozen food aisle at Wal-Mart this evening, we had a shockingly hilarious experience. There was a man and a woman with a whole bunch of kids. They looked a little...I'm choosing my words carefully here...a little redneckish. After the mom got done screaming at one of her kids, she noticed Aani. Here is what followed: (Please read the following with your best Southern drawl...minus what Nils and I say. Or include us in it...whatever.)

Lady: Oh, how old?
Me: A month.
Lady: Oh, so she still keepin' you up at night.
Me: Yeah, a little.
Lady: (Pointing out her infant son) Yeah well, he six months old, so he sleep 8 hours.
Me and Nils: (Acting impressed, nodding, obligatory wows, etc.)
Man: Yeah, but he a butt hole.
Me: What?
Man: He a butt hole!
Lady: Yeah, he a butt hole. He have to have a bottle right when he wakes up!
Me: (Stunned silence)
Nils: Heh-heh, yeeeaaah.

They walked away, and I was POSITIVE I had heard them wrong. I mean, who calls their baby a butt hole? I asked Nils, "Did he just say 'He's a butt hole?'"
Nils replied, "No, he said 'he a butt hole.' I don't think they're from around here."

I have been laughing for about 3 1/2 hours. I love America.

Eating Korn for 30 Seconds in my Chevelle

Chevelle just rocks. In case you didn't know, I'm a hard rock/metal junkie. From their new album Vena Sera, Antisaint is an awesome song that just rocks. Despite the title, it's actually making of fun of the "poor little antisaint". This song just gets me pumped. Turn it up.

Another favorite group is 30 Seconds to Mars, who, like Chevelle, rocks hard with a gritty alternative sound. Their acoustic stuff is killer. The singer is extremely talented, despite his typical mascara laden alternative goth appearance. So here's "Was It a Dream" acoustic.

I've always been a Korn fan but I haven't gotten any new music from them in a while so when I heard about their acoustic session I was very interested. I heard it tonight and I love just about every song, especially this cover of the classic Radiohead song 'Creep'. I saw Korn and Metallica in concert a long time ago and it was an incredible concert. So without further ado, here are three of Nils' current favorites:

Korn: Creep (Radiohead cover, acoustic)
30 Seconds to Mars: Was It a Dream (acoustic)
Chevelle: Antisaint

Sorry, Josh. I know they're not nearly as eclectic as yours. I'm currently stuck in my ways.

More Friendly Photos of our 8 Eyed Friend

I think you're right, Melinda. It looks like a wolf spider. This guy surprised me by how lackadaisical he was. He just sat there and barely moved. Perhaps he enjoyed being photographed. Even with some poking and prodding he only moved as much as necessary. I was going to 'dispose of him' after taking some pictures because for some reason Katrina didn't like the idea of him hanging around our house. Then our neighbor Scott came and saw and felt that wolfbutt should be released in the brush outside the neighborhood so he took care of that. I couldn't help but shoot some pictures, though. He was a very cooperative subject. Much like toddlers and houseflies. Or not. So here he is in all his mega-fang eight-eyed glory. So long wolfbutt!

Gym=Happiness

I went to the gym today. I took the kids, Aani included, and it was fabulous. I called last night to see how early they'll take newborns, and they said whatever you're comfortable with. So, it's been 4 weeks. I figure we can initiate Aani a little early, right? Anders and Addie were so excited to go back. They've been going nuts being cooped up with me.
As I was running, I felt so happy! I thought, "Wow, I think I might have a gym addiction. I feel so happy right now!" 13 minutes later when everything below my bellybutton started to go numb, I started to wonder if numbness is a fair trade for happiness. I guess I'll save the running for later. It felt so good to exercise and break a sweat again, though. That's my big accomplishment #2.


Nils was cleaning out the window wells last night and found this friendly little fella. Oh, my gosh. I hate spiders so much. The picture doesn't really do it justice- it was quite enormous. I thought I was going to throw up.

History of Aani

In case you were wondering, this is how Aani's name came to be. The main reason I'm writing this is most people are obviously confused when we tell them her name. And, the spelling really seals the deal since it's Hindu or something. But that's okay, we'll just tattoo a little red dot on her forehead. That should really clear up any confusion.
Nils and I have major issues when it comes to naming children- particularly girls. We generally don't have the same taste in names. I like names that people have heard of before, and Nils is a big fan of very unusual ones. In order for our marriage to continue and for our children to be named, we have to compromise. So that's what we're up against.
We each compiled a list of names, but I hated Nils' list and he hated mine. We stopped talking about names for a few months. Well, Nils stopped talking about names. I pestered him constantly about it. It was great.
A couple of months before Aani was born we both sort of liked the name Annika, but Nils couldn't shake the fact that it rhymes with Hanukka. I suggested we pronounce it with a flat "A", (anne-ika), but he said, "Isn't that the kid on Star Wars that becomes Darth Vader?" Now that you know what big Star Wars fanatics we are, you can see how that wasn't an option either.
My mom gave me a book to read called The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. Just as I was about to start reading it, Nils broke his silence and suggested we discuss names. I had a feeling to open the book and read it. The main character's nickname is Ani. I said, "what about Ani?" Nils said, "I like it. I think we've found the name." (As for the spelling, look up A-N-I in a medical journal, and you'll see why we changed it. For this we sincerely thank the Mehl's. Seriously- thanks.)
Anyway, that was the first name that really seemed to fit. We didn't have any trouble calling the baby Aani, and when she was born, it was obvious that it's the right name.
As for the "A" thing: it just happened. We weren't trying to be cute, but now we have to stick with it. If we have one more kid and don't do an "A" name, won't he or she feel like the red-headed step child?

My Big Accomplishment

I've been scared to go grocery shopping with all three kids unless Nils is with me, but today I conquered my fear. Granted, this was no Wal-Mart excursion and only a few items were purchased, but I'm still pleased. We went down the road to Smith's. There was only one melt-down from Addie. Anders asked for about 20 different things, and when I said no, he said, "No, I mean can we get it some other time!" Aani slept the whole time, but I was armed with a bottle, binky, blanket, and my new sling should an emergency arise.

I just have to give a shout out (as the kids say) to Melinda- she drove from Springville to Saratoga Springs yesterday to pick up Anders and Addie and took them to the dinosaur museum. Not only did it give me some time to accomplish a few things, but it more importantly gave Anders the outing he requires every day. Anders had a major wipe-out on his big wheel on Monday, so he's pretty banged up. He has band-aids on most of his joints, his head, and one particularly bloody elbow. Between his injuries and Aislin's forehead, we thought Melinda would get DCFS called on her. That was the risk I was willing to take, though. Tee-hee! So thanks, Melinda. You know you're frickin' awesome.

God Bless America

The 4th of July is a grand holiday. So many fun things to do, such a feeling of community. It's grand, indeed. I look forward to going to the parade every year. My brother Kevin and I love to yell at the participants of the parade. ESPECIALLY the politicians. Oh, what fun!

This is Kevin after yelling at Governor Huntsman. "Jooooooooon! Jooooooooooooooooooon!" Gov. Huntsman ran over and said, "Hey! How's it goin'?" kind of confused-like, like only someone who knew him would do that- but he doesn't know this obnoxious insane person, so he does his political duty, shakes hands, and runs away. You should know that Kevin is an attorney; he just never acts like it. We also yelled at Mark Shurtleff (the attorney general) and Gary Herbert (the Lt. Gov.). It's funny to yell at them by their first names. They actually turn around and give such a confused thumbs up. So political. Such a mockery. Mysteriously absent from this year's parade were Orrin Hatch, Bob Bennett, Chris Cannon, and other local congressional representatives. What, are they too good for Provo's Freedom Festival? Sheesh.

The real story of this year's parade, however, was the Pre-Parade Parade. This is the parade before the parade, just in case you missed it. It was hilarious.
DISCLAIMER: Please don't read this if you love Star Wars enough to dress up in costume and walk in the Pre-Parade Parade. You'll be offended, and the last thing I want to do is alienate anyone. Honestly.Certainly this gentleman, or should I say Looooooord Vader, knew it was going to be a thousand degrees, right? I hope his life support system includes air conditioning.

This storm trooper was my favorite. He had a really impressive strut, but by far the crappiest costume of the lot. I wonder how many hours it took him to sew it. Wait, is that a KKK mask? Doesn't the Star Wars club have costume quality standards?

This is the most controversial pick; he was Nils' fave. He says this guy was a special case. I thought we should only post pictures of those wearing masks, so as to protect their anonymity. Nils strongly disagreed. I worried that this guy might be someone's cousin or brother. He just didn't care. So, to this picture I have no comment. Just that I love the Jedi tail.
Who's this freak show? Patriotic, that's who!

Yes, I know I'm going to hell. That was established long ago.

You Must

You must let Liz take your kids' pictures. No matter who you are or where you live. Any questions?