Stanford 36, Oregon State 28

The boys got to experience their first college football game last night, and they must have brought some first timer's luck with them, because Stanford actually won! Exciting stuff. We had great seats--thanks to staff appreciation day--and great company with Agnes, Jen, Haley and Ashley who willingly entertained Eli and his 4th quarter wiggles.

Eli's Stanford football favorites: The band, the train whistle that goes off after Stanford touchdowns, the standing up and clapping and screaming, the "Nice catch!" and "Ohhhh nooooo!" he heard and repeated all night long, the food (especially mooching ice cream off the twins), the fireworks show after the game, the drummers, playing "future Olympic gymnast" on the seats, kicking the people in front of us, flirting with the women behind us

Bennett's Stanford football favorites: Yelling "Defense!" and "Stop 'em!" as loud as he could, giving me or Stephen big hugs every time Stanford scored, hot dogs and 7up, the train whistle, the kick-offs ("Wow, he can kick it really far, Mommy!"), the stadium, the fact that he got to stay up waaaaay past his bedtime

Grateful

I'm not sure where I'd be without:

1. A LOVING GOD who knows me better than anyone, who loves me despite my flaws, who patiently waits for me to figure things out, who watches over me and my family

2. A RIGHTEOUS HUSBAND who loves God and makes good choices, who lives worthy of his priesthood, who works hard, who loves our children, who never complains about anything, who loves me way more than I deserve

3. PRAYER that saves me from myself in any given moment of the day, that brings instant peace in the midst of frustration and/or sadness, that reminds me how just how many blessings I have, that helps me be a better mom, that blesses the lives of family and friends, both near and far

4. THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST that allows me to daily repent of my frequent mistakes, that teaches me the Lord loves me enough to take my sins upon Him, that provides the most lasting hope and peace I've found in this life, that makes taking the sacrament every Sunday the pinnacle of my week because I get to leave church spiritually clean and renewed

Died and gone to halibut heaven

I realize these aren't pictures of halibut. This is what came after we grilled and ate the most deliciously perfect halibut I have ever tasted in my fish-eating life. Stephen's parents have a neighbor who generously passed along some fish he recently caught in Alaska, so they came over this past weekend to generously share some with us. Stephen put on a simple marinade of fresh basil, garlic, and butter a few hours before, nothing too fancy, but we all experienced the same nirvana at the dinner table. That filet was so tender and so fresh, I couldn't believe it. Melt-in-your-mouth good. Way better than any fish I've ever eaten in any restaurant.

The five star halibut was followed by good times with "Ga-ma" and "Ba-pa" as Eli calls them, and some quality slam dunks and soccer with Aunt Kymber. We watched bits and pieces of the women's Olympic marathon (rock on for the 38 yr old mom who won) while playing good ole Phase Ten and Rummikub. Kymber is always up for a good game and always willing to help me try and beat down Stephen's inflated board game ego, two things I totally dig about her.

Oh, did I mention that we topped off dinner with a tasty dessert? Darn, I really wish I had taken a picture of this one because it was so pretty to look at, thanks to Stephen's mom who reminded me to invert the pan. I think I'm always too hungry to remember to take pictures of food. Anyway, I tried a plum upside-down cake with some red plums we needed to use, and it turned out pretty darn tasty for being so simple a recipe. I'll try and remember to post the recipe on the side in case anyone's interested in trying it.

Olympics Hangover

Does anyone else share my addiction? Staying up way too late every night to watch the "good parts" of the Olympics, only to wake up the next day and pay the price with all-day exhaustion and regret? I am a walking zombie these days. I've watched more than one friend double-take at my eyes; these red, puffy slits have dark bags that are getting more than a little scary and Cullen-esque. And let's face it, any semblance of morning routine has all but fallen to the wayside. Adios to exercise and peaceful scripture study and pleasant interaction with my spouse and children. They've been replaced by pillow-over-the-head attempts at sleep, silent curses for Eli's early-morning exuberance, and grouchy commands from bed.

The first night or two, we tried taping the "live" coverage--I'm still bitter about the lies that Matt Lauer and Bob Costas have been feeding me--only to have all results and scores smack us right in the face the next morning. All suspense completely shot. Not only that, but how were we ever going to find the time to catch up on all that we hadn't watched yet when there's always more on to watch the next night? Dilemmas. So we, more accurately I, succumbed and started staying up until 1:30 am to watch the climactic moments of tense competition.

Love, love, love watching it all. Hate, hate, hate myself the next day.

"Oooo Oooo!"

It's not even eight in the morning, and Eli is chugging along with his "-rain" and "-rain -racks" as he so t-lessly yet lovingly calls them. This kid is big into trains these days. Having a father who rides one to work every day doesn't seem to help matters, either. We had just returned from dropping off Stephen at the train station this day (thus the sweatshirt over the pajamas), where Eli had hollered, "Daaaaaaaaaddy!! Raaaaaaaaaaaain!!" at Stephen's surely-mortified back as he and all the other commuters' early morning, newspaper-reading platform peace was shattered by our son's realization that he would not be riding the train or even getting out of the car. Thankfully his play trains are there for him when the real ones, and his cruel parents, let him down.



Water bottles aren't so bad, either, although he sure does gross us out my friends when he visibly backwashes into my water bottle at the park. He's lucky they still share their pretzels and goldfish with him, not that he bothers to ask them or anything. I'm sure people wonder if I feed either of my children, the way they shamelessly mooch off of everyone else's food at the park. The snacks I bring never seem to stack up to what their friends are eating, and I guess Depeche Mode said it right: "Grabbing hands grab all they can."

What Broken Collarbone?

So much for four weeks of wearing a sling. Bennett was using his arm and shoulder within about ten days of the original break. I felt a little guilty for not making him wear it-- doctor's instructions, after all-- but since he didn't seem to really need it. . . well, I just stopped fighting him on it. I also had some concerns about the big bump that had formed on his collarbone, right above the break; paranoid mother that I am, I jumped to the conclusion that it hadn't healed properly and that the doctor would tell us he'd have to re-break the bone OR Benito would have to do physical therapy for years OR it would just be deformed. So much for college, career, and family; my child would be ringing bells at Notre Dame for the rest of his life. Ridiculous and completely irrational, I know.

Needless to say, I'm an idiot and none of that happened. The bone healed perfectly and Bennett has the green light for swimming, soccer, extreme scootering, and all his other favorite activities. The doctor said the bump is perfectly normal and will eventually go away. I can't remember what it's called, something that starts with cal-, so I'm going to assume it's the calcium build-up my brother Justin was telling me happened with his broken foot.

Oddly enough, Bennett loved the x-rays. If I were a three yr old kid walking into a dark room with a moving table and some huge, evasive camera moving around my body, I don't think excitement would be my first reaction. Who am I to think I understand my kid, though? B. smiled and laughed, comfortable as could be, and even obediently held still when asked. Hilarious. And exactly what I needed at that moment, since I was still fuming from having to wait an hour for what was supposed to take five minutes.

Rollercoaster Road Trip

The Ups:

• Getting to gab with Alisa and Laura on the drive there and back- and everywhere in between
  
• Alisa's willingness to let us drive her van, even though her three boys stayed home (she also had to find sitters for the days we were gone)
  
• Laura's amazing parents who graciously housed and fed us all; they even babysat the kids while we went to the concert Thursday night
  
• Eli and Bennett's sleeping thirteen hours at night--Why is it that they seem to sleep longer away from home this summer? (Eli was the last one up when we camped in Jackson Hole)
• Listening to Stephenie Meyer answer everyone's burning questions about her books and most especially Breaking Dawn--I loved learning about her writing process for the books
  
• Hearing how her characters and books relate to Blue October's music, and then having their lead singer play/sing them for us
• Getting our books signed and Alisa's getting to ask her about the vampire-celestial body connection
  

The Downs:

• Forgetting the concert tickets about a hundred miles into the drive and having to turn around and go back to get them
• Forgetting my purse (with phone, wallet, camera...) when we went back for the tickets
• Eli's restlessness in the van, exemplified by his obsession with kicking the DVD player cords and therefore turning off the movie that Bennett and Jordyn were watching in the back-- "Hey! What happened to the movie?!"
• Trying to keep four strapped-in kids under the age of 4 happy for way too many hours
  
• Laura's feeling sick and crummy for almost the whole trip, peaking the night of the concert when she could barely stand let alone wait in line to have her book signed
• Alisa's feeling exhausted and sick for some of the trip
  
• All that screaming! Somehow we thought it would be a more subdued concert crowd
  
• L.A. freeways
• Desert Hot Springs' heat, although Laura says it was actually pretty mild for August

Royce Hall on UCLA campus, where the concert/signing was held

The beautiful interior ceiling of Royce Hall

Stephenie Meyer dishing on Breaking Dawn and the Twilight saga

Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October jamming acoustic style

Breaking Dawn book-signing; she's utterly cool and normal, considering all the hype

Here we are in the midst of 1800 screaming fans (my eyes are lookin' a little freaky)

Signed books

Bennett curled up in bed the first night of our trip