Dastrup Christmas Party

Last night was the Dastrup Family Christmas Party.  We were having a great time enjoying each other's talents,

catching up with faraway family,

 

acting out the Nativity,

and eating good food,

when what to our wondering eyes should appear but the man from his sleigh... but where were the reindeer??

 

That is what Ty really wanted to know.  After getting his present from Santa ("Have you been good?" Ty: "Yes-- well... I've been trying!"), he ran out into the music room.  I followed to see what was going on and found him looking out the window.  He said, "I want to see the reindeer!"  When it was time for Santa to go, Ty followed and would have gone out with him if we hadn't intervened.  He ran back to the window and seemed appalled as he announced, "Santa's walking!"

 

 

Aside from the lack of reindeer sightings, the party was a big success!  Thanks to all for making a great party!





Christmas Joy

This year we found out that Jacob loves our Christmas tree.  I had no idea until one morning he woke up before Ty did (Ty usually turns the tree lights on when he wakes up), and after our usual morning cuddle, he led me straight to the Christmas tree.  When I just stood there he pushed me down to where the button is to turn on the lights.  Only after I turned on the lights did he proceed with the morning routine.  He has since repeated this scenario every morning that he gets up before Ty.  In the evenings once it starts to get dark (usually after dinner), he once again goes over to the tree and tries to turn on the lights (something I am usually alerted to by the sound of falling ornaments).  It warms my heart to see him sticking out his foot to try to push the button the way he has seen me do!  (We've since moved the button out to make it more easily accessible to him.)  It is such a thrill to have proof that he enjoys our holiday traditions, whether he says so or not!

Leaf Races

Here is just a little memory that I don't want to forget:

About a week ago (the day before our snowstorm), I took Ty on a run with me.  It was a blustery fall day, and all of the leaves were blowing off the trees and swirling around us.  Ty stretched out his hands and tried to catch the blowing leaves and even succeeded in catching one of them.  About halfway into the run I pointed out to Ty that all the leaves blowing down the road looked like they were running a race.  He thought that was the greatest thing ever and shrieked and cackled with delight for the rest of the run, commenting on all of the different "races" he saw.  I couldn't stop smiling and laughing at his darling display of joy.  Childhood is so precious!

The Chess Master

 

Benjamin participated in his first chess tournament yesterday.  The tournament was open to anyone in the south Salt Lake area, so kids from about 15 schools participated.  (Some of them were really intense:  There was one team that had team shirts and did a chess cheer before each round.  They had several chess boards in an area they'd staked out in the waiting room where they would play between rounds and white board type thing that they used to analyze strategy.  Whoa!  I was totally intimidated.)  All the kids played 5 games, and they got paired with other kids depending on how they did in each round.  Benjamin's chess club leader told us that it's a really good first tournament if you win one game, so that was the goal.

In Benjamin's first game he was paired up with one of the kids from the crazy T-shirt-wearing-chess-nerd school.  I was frightened.  He was one of the last kids to finish his game, and Brigham and I were pacing the floor waiting for him to come down (parents are not allowed to watch the games so that they can't help the kids).  He finally emerged with a big smile on his face and announced that he'd won!  We were amazed and thrilled!

The second round he was pitted against a kid with a ranking in the 700s.  We were really nervous about how that would go since the ranking was higher.  But in a short amount of time he returned again proclaiming victory!  Brigham had had to leave for work, but demanded texts with every new development.  We were both surprised and so happy!

In the third round he was put up against the 4th highest rated kid in his division-- a girl rated 923.  I was sure this round would be when he would fall, so Benjamin almost floored me when he came back and announced yet another win!  At this point we were pretty giddy.  There were trophies for the top 5 kids from each grade, and suddenly we realized that he actually had a chance of winning one!

For the fourth round he was pitted against the top-ranked 4th grade chess player in the state-- a boy he knew from Peruvian Park.  I knew he would probably lose, but at that point I couldn't help wondering.  He came back announcing his first loss, but we shrugged it off pretty easily.  We realized that if he won his last game, he'd probably get a trophy of some kind, but if he lost he probably wouldn't.  Although he didn't say anything, I could tell that Benjamin desperately wanted one of those trophies.

Benjamin's last round was against a boy rated about 750.  I knew he had a decent shot since he'd already beaten 2 kids with that rating or better.  I was so nervous that I couldn't even read my book. His game took forever. Soon most of the kids in his division were back down, and I sneaked upstairs to take a peek in case I'd missed him somehow.  He and his opponant were one of only 2 couples left in the room.  They were obviously locked in an epic battle.  I returned downstairs and paced while I waited.  After forever he finally came down, and I could tell by his crushed expression that he hadn't won.

Even though he was disappointed with the outcome, Benjamin really did an amazing job!  We were so proud of him!  After only his first tournament, he is the 13th highest rated 4th grader in Utah (out of about 200)!  He's got his sights set on his next tournament on Novemeber 30th and is going for the gold!

Halloween 2012

Halloween is always such a fun holiday, and this year was no exception.  Here are a few snapshots from our fun day!

Jacob and Teacher Glenda in Jordan Valley's Halloween Parade.  When Jacob saw me he took a break from the parade and sat with me for awhile before resuming his route.  A short time later a lunch lady approached me and asked if I was Jacob's mom.  When I told her I was, she told me (with tears running down her face), "I just love him!  He lights up my life!  He has a special place in my heart."  Apparently he makes a special trip to see her every day after lunch.  That's my sweet boy!

 

This year we had to divide and conquer since they boys' schools are so far apart now.  Brigham went to Benjamin's parade and said that Benjamin was surrounded by a harem of ladies who were all trying to talk to him.  That's our handsome kid!

Ty was very excited about carving pumpkins this year.  I helped him draw the face onto the pumpkin, but he did at least half of the carving!

 No surprises here.  This boy's blood runs blue.

 

 Brigham does a masterpiece pumpkin every year.  This is how it turned out:

 

Wicked, huh?

 

 We tried really hard to get a cute group shot, but it just didn't work out.

 

Commando Jacob reporting for duty.

 Sir Ty Runs-a-lot

 

 Benjamin Potter

 

 Ty lead the charge for candy-- unless any ferocious (or completely docile) canine presented itself, and then he ran for cover behind the nearest bush or vehicle.

 

 Grandma and Gramps joined us for trick-or-treating, so it was extra fun!

 

Jacob stole away many hearts by signing "thank you" repeatedly after getting candy at each house.  He also surprised a little girl who was passing out candy by poking her in the eye (his way of saying "I love you").

 

 After coming home, the boys had just as much fun passing out candy to trick-or-treaters as they did getting it themselves!

 

Ty and his preschool class sang Halloween songs for the parents.  Or at least they were supposed to sing.  Most forgot that part when faced with a sea of eager parents.

Fast Sunday Funny

Today was fast Sunday in our ward since next week we have Stake Conference.  During the sharing of testimonies, one young lady became emotional, and Ty became concerned about her.  He said, "She's sad!"  I told him she was okay, and he asked, " Is she not feeling good?"  I whispered to him that she was fine and that she was just crying because she loves Heavenly Father so much.  He continued to watch her with concern and then asked, "Did Heavenly Father die?"

You've got to love three-year-olds!

Camping with Gramps

If how long your three-year-old prays expressing gratitude for a recent camping trip and asking to do it again indicates how successful your camping trip was, then our recent camping trip with Gramps was a huge success!  Ty continues to talk about it in every prayer every day.

 We spent our UEA break camping with Gramps in Canyonlands National Park and having a wonderful time.  Actually, to be honest, we only camped in Canyonlands for about 45 minutes because immediately after we got our camp all set up we realized that the campsite-- the last empty one in the campground-- was already taken.  Oops.  But after the warm-up at campsite 1, our set-up time at campsite 2 (just outside the park on BLM land) had to be some kind of record.

 We had a fantastic time all around!  The boys loved climbing the rocks, chasing lizards, and throwing balls around the campground.  Gramps was the perfect tour guide, enthralling us all with stories from southern Utah history. (Benjamin once stated in awe, "Wow.  Gramps has infinite stories!")

 

 

  We went on some really fun little hikes as well as a killer 10 mile hike through sand to see Paul Bunyan's Potty and some cool Indian ruins.  The boys enjoyed finding animal tracks which Gramps collected for "deer track soup".

 Ty and Benjamin became junior rangers, and Ty took his duties very seriously-- pointing out every cactus plant on the trail and telling us gravely every time, "Watch out! Be careful! Doooooooon't touch it!"

 After enjoying two days and nights of sleeping in tents, eating tinfoil dinners, chili, and s'mores, hearing Gramps' crazy stories, hiking and enjoying the natural beauty of Canyonlands, it was time to go home.  On the way, Gramps took us to see the dinosaur footprints just outside of Moab.  Ty got very excited and said, "Okay, let's follow them!  Let's go find them!"  Despite our best efforts, he refused to believe that dinosaurs are extinct when there was such undeniable proof of their existence right in front of his eyes.  He kept begging to go find the dinosaurs and cried when we dragged him back to Gramps' truck and for a good while afterwards. 

Thank you to Gramps for going with us and making our trip more fun and an even bigger thank you to Grandma for watching Jacob so that we could do it!  It was a wonderful trip!

Moving On

Umm... yeah... it's been a long time.  We've moved!  We now live in Draper in a home, yard, and neighborhood that make us very happy.  We definitely feel like we made the right choice.

I was nervous that Jacob would struggle with the move, but other than some trouble adjusting to his new primary class, Jacob has really made himself right at home here in our new pad.  He LOVES the trampoline and jumps for a long time every day.  He's also been proactive about meeting the neighbors. 

Yesterday Brigham and Benjamin had quite the sports-fest planned between an Orioles baseball game and BYU football game.  Brigham, being the sweet and sensitive husband that he is, suggested that I take a little time before all the testosterone started flowing to lay down and read my book for awhile.  I took him up on his offer, but about a half an hour later I heard someone calling my name into our house.  Surprised and a little confused, I came out to find our front door standing wide open and our next-door neighbor and Jacob on the porch.  She told me that she found him in her basement.  *Cringe*  She told me that she was in her basement and heard noises upstairs but assumed that it was just one of her kids.  It wasn't until awhile later when Jacob came wandering downstairs that she realized that actually it was one of OUR kids.  Apparently he checked out all of their DVDs to see if they had any good ones we could borrow.  She said that the strangest thing and the reason why she assumed it was one of her kids upstairs when she knew that they'd gone out was because her dog didn't bark at him at all.  She said that he barks at EVERYONE-- even people passing by outside, but he just sat there and hung out with Jacob while he checked out their house.

Jacob Dax-- dog whisperer.

It was apparent to me that we needed to have the "YOU HAVE TO KEEP THE DOORS LOCKED AT ALL TIMES!!!" talk with Benjamin again.  And that the neighbors need a new watchdog.

Catchin' Up

I feel that blogs have had their day in the sun and are now going the way of floppy disks and parachute pants.  Between Facebook and Google Plus I now get all the life-updates that I ever need on most people, and I'll bet that many others feel the same way.  But since this blog has always been my sorry excuse for a family journal, I must press on-- even if it feels like I'm being redundant.

As you can see, I did find the camera after Bear Lake!  That's the good news.  The bad news is that the pictures are awful-- most look like they are shrouded in mist.   I'm hoping it was just something on the lens.  Anyhow, here are some highlights from June and the first part of July.

 We went on a little family hike up Bell Canyon.  The trail was quite steep, and we were nervous about how Jacob would do, but he actually did awesome!  And our pathetic camera does not do it justice-- the reservoir at the end was stunning.  We all had a great time!

Benjamin and I ran the Cedar Hills 5k on June 9th.  Part of it runs along the trail behind the Gramps' house, so he and Grandma and the little boys sat back there and cheered as we ran by.  Benjamin and I both took third place in our age divisions, but Benjamin's victory was much more impressive than mine since he was racing against kids up to 14 years old.  He was really fast and it was really fun to do it with him!

 Here are some of the pictures of the Dastrup family reunion at Bear Lake (described in a previous post).  What a good time!

Brigham turned 33 at the end of June.  He started his day golfing with his parents and brother, and then we had brunch and went to see "Brave."  After that Brigham and I went to see "Crazy For You" at Hale Center Theater in Orem and to La Caille for dinner (where Brigham tried escargot and I did not).  What a handsome guy, huh?

 The Fourth of July was a really fun day.  Benjamin and I started out by racing the Sandy Classic 5k again.  Brigham had to sleep in this year to prepare for an evening shift at work, so we were sad that he couldn't join us.  I took 3rd place again, but Benjamin didn't have a very good race.  He was really bummed about it, but it made a lot more sense when later we realized he was coming down with a nasty sickness.  He had a fierce headache most of the day, and by the next morning he was running a fever and nauseous.  Poor kid! 

 After Brigham woke up we went back to City Hall and let the kids enjoy the bouncy houses and games there.  They all had a good time, but especially Jacob.  I love finding activities that they can all enjoy!

That evening after Brigham left for work, I took the boys to the Sandy parade.  I'm dying because I actually remembered to take the camera, but it ended up being out of batteries.  I would have LOVED to get pictures of our boys sitting on the curb completely absorbed in the parade!  It was hands-down the best parade experience that we've had since I was pregnant with Jacob.  Jacob has always had a hard time with parades.  We've had to bail on parades after not very long for the past several years, but this year he liked it!  He still shook every time there were loud noises from sirens or bands, but he didn't cry once, and he was totally enthralled by the experience!  He couldn't take his eyes off the parade.  Ty and Benjamin really enjoyed it too.  Ty occasionally got up and danced around in the street with excitement.  It was so cute!  Curse that wretched camera!  What a great day!

Precious Moments

Here are some of the reasons why I love being a mom:

Brigham and I went on a date this week and left the kids with my sister for the evening.  After coming home, I checked on all of the kids.  Ty was sound asleep in his room, and I sat watching him sleep for a minute.  I whispered, "I love you, Ty."  To my surprise, he whispered back, "I missed you, Mommy!"

I got my first cold sore this week, and I've been trying not to kiss the kids so that I don't expose them.  Two days ago, Ty hurt himself and came to me crying.  I hugged him and said consoling things, but after about 30 seconds he said impatiently, "Kiss me, Mommy!"

Jacob has started giving me "kisses".  He leans in and puts his head on mine and makes the "mmmm" sound that I always make when I give the kids kisses.


On a not-so-sublime note, Jacob's new thing is to try to stick my hair up his nose or in his ears.  Really. 

Bear Lake-- Without Pictures

Summer time is upon us!  After watching my kids (including if not especially Jacob) have a fantastic time at the Dastrup family reunion at Bear Lake this week, this is where I would post pictures if I could only find the camera which was clipped to the beach bag which nobody remembers unloading from the van.  *Sigh*

Until the camera can be found, you are going to have to use a little imagination.  Imagine here a picture of Brigham and Jacob waist-deep in the freezing cold lake playing with Jacob's cousin's remote controlled boat.  I really didn't think that Jacob would want to go into the water because it was so cold, but that little water-boy didn't even hesitate as he plunged in.  He had a heyday chasing down the boat, picking it up and counting to three (by vocalizing three times), and throwing it back it back into the water so he could chase it again.  He and his heroic, stoic father stayed int the lake FOREVER-- long after everyone else decided it was too cold.

Imagine a picture of Benjamin and his cousin Michael with their heads together and their arms around each other-- thick as thieves for the whole 3 days that we were there. 

Imagine  a picture of Ty digging in the sand on the beach with his cousins and dropping his drawers and "wooing" on the ground in front of Brigham's entire extended family during dinner shortly after our arrival since he didn't know where a potty was.  (Okay-- I didn't actually get a picture of that-- I was too busy rushing to intervene to even think about a camera.)

We had a wonderful time and are grateful for such a neat family!

How to Win Any Argument

Today  right before church Benjamin and Ty were having a little spat over something while Benjamin was sitting on the stairs putting on his shoes. Benjamin was getting the upper hand in the argument, so Ty just went up a couple of stairs behind him, pulled down his pants, and peed on him. 

Unfortunately, I am not joking. 

Beyond a full-body straight jacket, I have no idea what to do with that boy!

IQ Testing

Today Ty had his IQ tested.  I guess that kids with PKU and hyperphe get tested every couple of years to make sure that their protein levels are not damaging their brains.  Anyhow, Ty had his first one today, and the test administrator started with easy questions and puzzles that got harder and harder.  My favorite moment was when she asked him, "What do you take outside to keep from getting wet when it rains?"  Without hesitation, Ty's response was, "Paper towels."

In case you were wondering, his IQ is in the high average range... go stock up on your paper towels.

Ping Pongs

Last week while dropping Benjamin off at school, Ty suddenly got all excited and shouted, "Look!  Ping pongs!  Ping pongs on the tree!"  I had no idea what he was talking about, but the same thing happened the next day.  I asked him where the "ping pongs" were, and he said, "On the sharp tree!  Ping pongs on the sharp tree!"  Finally I got it-- pine cones!  All during our camping trip to Bryce Canyon he continued to call them ping pongs despite our modeling of the correct terms (though I have to admit that I didn't try too hard since I think it is so cute to hear pine cones called ping pongs!).

Pants are for Girls

Overall Ty is doing really well with his potty training.  He pees in the potty independently about 98% of the time now, which we are very happy about.  It's #2 (aka "woo" at our house) that is really keeping him from claiming the "potty trained" title.  For some reason, he is afraid to do it in the potty.  He will go off by himself when the time comes, do the deed in his pants, and then take the messy pants off wherever he is.

Yesterday after dinner Ty was outside playing in the backyard while I helped Jacob work out some kinks with his electronics.  After I was done, I looked outside and saw Ty-- naked from the waist down-- standing at our back fence and chatting with our neighbor who was weeding nearby.  Mortified, I called him in, cleaned him up, and got some pants back on him.  Shortly thereafter it was time for me to put him to bed.  As I was getting him ready for bed, I heard the back door open and shut.  After Ty was finally in bed, I went to find Jacob.  He was in the back yard-- completely naked-- getting a kick out of watching his shadow jump up and down when he did... and our neighbor was still out weeding.  I don't even want to know what he and his wife think about our crazy family!

Snapshot of Our Kids

Benjamin-- still enamored with basketball, though with some leaning towards soccer now that the soccer season has resumed.  Chess is also high on his list of favorite things to do, and he is becoming quite the player.  He defeats me almost every time now and has beaten his dad a few times as well.  He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his ex-BYU-chess-club-president-current-Harvard-Law-student uncle in a couple of weeks and hoping to learn some killer chess techniques.  He considers himself the most picked-on kid in the world because he is the "ONLY" kid he knows who has chores, has to practice every day, and has a bed time.

Jacob-- still enamored of his iPad (which DID make a miraculous recovery after its bath!).  With the warm weather, he has decided that he likes going outside to watch people play basketball or to swing with his iPad.  He also discovered Gramps and Grandma Groneman's trampoline and fell in love!  He wants others to jump with him and will drag people to the tramp if no one else is jumping.

Ty-- still our charming trouble-maker.  He loves digging for worms, catching bugs, using his tools (thanks, Auntie Buffalo!), coloring, reading books, playing with Legos, playing with trucks and tractors, and playing with friends and cousins.  We learned that his sporadic overly-aggressive behavior with other kids could be due (at least in part) to his hyperphenylalaninemia.  High levels of phenylalanine apparently lead to aggression and behavior problems.  We are in the process of working with a doctor and dietitian in the metabolic clinic to see how we can best cut back on his protein intake to try to keep his levels in the proper range.  I'm crossing my fingers that his aggression will be cut back, too!  He is doing really well with peeing in the potty, but we have yet to get a #2 in there.  He hides to do his business and then once it is done immediately drops his drawers (no matter where he is) and continues playing.  We are still working on it...

 

A Close Call-- Vegas Style

Brigham had an oral boards review course in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, and I decided to go with him to turn it into a mini-vacation of sorts.  We were excited to see a show, and a friend told us about these kiosks where you can buy discount tickets.  As soon as we arrived in Vegas-- before going to our hotel or anything else-- Brigham dropped me off at one such kiosk to scope out the tickets left for that evening.  We'd seen a Cirque du Soleil show in Baltimore and really enjoyed it, and we were hoping to see a different one in Vegas.  As I checked the board displaying which discount tickets were still available, I was relieved to see that one of the four Cirque du Soleil shows still had tickets-- a show called Zumanity.  I asked one of the employees about the tickets, and he told me that they only had a few tickets left for that evening-- and all were in the "audience participation section."  I imagined us being called up to help the performers with their acrobatics and wasn't particularly excited by the image.  Brigham arrived shortly thereafter, and I explained the situation.  He said, "What?  Are you afraid of being called out of the audience to participate?"  I said, "Well, yes!"  He said, "I'm not!  I think it would be awesome!"  The employee was listening to our conversation and stepped in to offer a solution by saying, "Well, we have tickets to other shows like Zumanity if you don't want to participate."  He handed Brigham a pamphlet for some kind of "peep show", and we were both  horrified.  I said, "Oh!  We don't want to see THAT!" and he said, "Well, it's the same kind of show as Zumanity!"  Brigham has always teased me a little for my naivete, but not even he saw that one coming!  Talk about a close call!  Without the "audience participation section"(I don't even want to know!) clause tacked on to the Zumanity tickets, we probably would have innocently bought the $100 non-refundable tickets and only realized our mistake once seated in the show!  We had no idea that Cirque du Soleil did anything but clean acrobatic shows!  After driving around in Vegas for awhile we saw enough Zumanity billboards to KNOW that we didn't want to see it!

We ended up seeing  Cirque du Soleil "Viva Elvis".  It wasn't our first choice, but it was a really fun show and a lot more up our alley!

Keeping it Clean

Yesterday I was doing my hair when Benjamin came in and informed me, "Mom, Jacob is putting his iPad under the water in the bathroom!" (It is amazing just how much trouble can be gotten into in the time it takes me to do my hair!)  I went running to the bathroom and found Jacob just as excited as can be to be watching his show in the sink with water streaming across it.  I quickly snatched it and hurried to dry it off, but alas-- the damage had been done and it wouldn't turn back on.  I'd heard about the uncooked rice trick, so we quickly put it in a bag of rice, crossed our fingers, and said our prayers.  Today we took it out, and much to our joy, it turned on!  It still has some quirks (brain damage from being underwater too long?), but we are thrilled to have it working at all.  Perhaps Jacob was just trying to give us a nice Easter allegory... if so, it was pretty effective!

Speaking of Easter, the boys have had some great times the last couple of days.  Yesterday morning they had an egg hunt in our house, enjoyed a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Dastrup, and later in the afternoon they had a treasure hunt that led them to some soccer goals for the back yard.  Today we had Easter dinner at Grandma and Gramps' house, another Easter egg hunt with cousins, and dyed eggs.  We love Easter and all that it stands for!