Annie and Brynlee

In October, my sister Tami gave birth to her 4th girl, Brynlee. She is adorable. At Thanksgiving everyone had a good time passing her around. It's hard to know if Brynlee enjoyed it though.

Papa and the Turkey Dance

This Thanksgiving Nana, Papa, Aunt Tami, and Uncle BJ and their 4 beautiful girls came down to Albuquerque. Our three bedroom house was bursting at the seams but oh was it a blast to have everyone (except Scotty) here! Papa was a great entertainer for the girls as he showed the how a turkey does the moonwalk. You should see what he can do at a pig roast!

Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas!

Why History?

The Church recently carried an article on its Newsroom about a new history of the "mountain meadows massacre", arguably the worst event in Mormon history. The Church gave the three LDS authors unprecedented access to Church archives--archives that other scholars believed would implicate Brigham Young. In the end they found no evidence to support the prophet's involvment. The research for this book is impressive. It took them about 7 years to complete it. Just to give you an idea, the reasearch and writing process for my dissertation will take about 3-4 years. But I'm only one person, this project involved three experienced historians.

In a video interview the three authors spoke about why they decided to write the book. Richard E. Turley, Jr (the Assistant Church Historian) said that the driving purspose for writing the book had to do with healing: "Only by facing this head-on, directly, could we finally expect to get to a point where real healing could take place." This is important. Since the Massacre, many Mormons have tried to forget about it, push it aside and try not to confront it. Yet it has always been the proverbial elephant in the room (among other elephants). As an historian, I think there is a great lesson in Bro. Turley's comments. It is just as dammaging to cover up our past as a people as it is to cover up our individual pasts from the Lord. Individually, we must all confront the scars of our past lest they continue to haunt us in the present.

Here's a link if you want more info.: http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/book-provides-an-unflinching-look-at-mountain-meadows-massacre

Restaurants with the Austins

After a fun Saturday afternoon at the pool we decided to go to Panda Express for dinner. Just as with other trips to restaurants, we made quite a mess. This mess, however, was particularly bad. Emboldened by her growing table manners and our insisting that she was a “big girl”, Annie decided to handle her ice-cold water with one hand. After we stripped her of her soaked clothes, and failed to find any dry replacements in the car we resumed our beef broccoli and kung pow with Annie in nothing but her princess undies. Meanwhile, Ethan was struggling to get his fried rice and chow mein from his plate to his mouth. My rough estimate is that around 42% made it. The rest ended up in his high chair and on the floor. The area around our table promptly began to attract flies. Soon a diligent employee made his way to our table. Without a word, he revealed a large, orange CAUTION cone and placed it directly in front of our table. After returning with a mop and cleaning supplies, he proceeded to clean up the mess. One glance at each other and Cami and I burst out into exuberant laughter, solidifying the other patrons’ beliefs that we were white trash. In my best Alabama, accent I boasted to the employee, “At the last place we went, they’s had tuh put yella tape ‘round our table.”

Pagosa Springs Trip.

In June we met up with the rest of the family for a little camping trip. The kids were adorable and had the time of their lives. Each day we made little trips to fish or hike. Treasure falls is featured here. It was a perfect hike for the kids: not to long, but long enough. The mist off the waterfall was refreshing. It was great for all of us to be together on a vacation since Scotty will be heading off on his mission in October to Tijuana, Mexico! Felicidades Elder Austin!

"Ready, set, GO!"

Ethan loves things that "GO!": cars, trucks, balls, and Ethan.

"I'm so glad when Daddy comes home"

Annie often sings this to me when I get home from school...it melts my heart. This summer I'm selling pest control door to door and get home after the kids are in bed so Cami recorded this for me; she's a sweetheart.

Taking Care of Babbies

Recently, Annie has been fascinated with caring for baby dolls. She changes diapers, sings lullabies, and even pretends to nurse her babies. As always, Ethan follows her lead albeit with less grace. His nurturing skills are not yet as refined as Annie's.

Nature Walk

Down by the ol' Rio Grande there's a nature reserve we visited. Not much to say except that it was hot.

Best Friends

These two look more like twins everyday.

Dancing Queen

It has become almost a daily ritual for us to put on some Tchaikovsky (Nutcracker) or Dvorjak and watch Annie transport herself into another world. She really enjoys dancing and pretending she's a princess. At times she can be very graceful and sensative to the music. Ethan on the other hand, runs around as if he's a linebacker in a bowl game, all the while donning a tiara.

Water Babbies

Summer fun! Notice barrel chested Ethan! He'll be benching more than his Dad in less than 5 years. Although the pool is not olympic size, we've had fun with it. The kids like to take a running leap into the pool and make a big splash. Though when Ethan does it, he becomes high-ended over the edge of the pool and almost drowns himself...good thing Dad was a lifeguard.

Recent comments by my big sister about a grown man enjoying himself in a blue kiddy pool has prompted me to add the following disclaimer: I seldom swim alone. Moreover, Cami frequents the pool by herself but would not allow me to document her.

Bike Ride

Before is on the right, after is on the left

Easter Sunday

Here are Annie and Ethan in their new Easter outifts (thanks G. Chris and G. Bob!).

Yard AFTER

Here's a shot after we got all the rocks and sod in. Thanks Papa Austin for helping set-up the sprinkler system.

Yard BEFORE

This spring we've worked really hard on getting the backyard (well at least half the yard) spruced up. We started with bare dirt and a really ugly tree. It turned out to be a bigger project than we thought.

Oreos- Sept '07

Laughing

Ethan Clapping