Steven and Kristel's Wedding

Last weekend I got to fly out to Utah with Baby Thomas to attend Steven's wedding! It was fun to bring just one baby with me on an airplane. Thomas was cute and happy, flashing his dimpled smile at the flight attendants and nearby passengers.

Whenever I fly to Utah, I'm amazed at how many people are flying there for reasons other than my own (to visit family). On this flight I spoke with a couple who was going to a wedding in Las Vegas. I also met a pair of medical innovators who were guest speakers at a conference in Salt Lake City. The woman was friendly, and after she told me about her research, I told her about the upcoming wedding and invited her to check out Temple Square if she had time. I could tell she was somewhat curious about this "Mormon Church," and I hope she came away feeling like, despite being Mormon, I was a nice, normal person. :)

At 11:00, Lori and Matt picked me up from the airport. I used to begrudge the 40-minute drive from the Salt Lake Airport to our house in Provo, but now I appreciate the time it gives me to talk to whomever is picking me up. Matt, Lori, and I talked a lot about their moving plans this spring... they're moving to Batavia, IL. That's just a 2.5 hour drive away from us! Matt got a great economics job with AgCo, a big company that manufactures and distributes agricultural supplies (the "tractor company," as Jared calls it). Needless to say, I'm thrilled with Matt's choice of careers. It's going to be a fun summer with them nearby!

Once we made it to Provo, I introduced Thomas to everyone. I also got to jump on the neighbors' trampoline with Amy, chat with my parents, play soccer with Amy and Nathan, and talk with my brother on his last day of singlehood. I told him that his life was just about to get much happier. ;) He met Kristel at the Alta BYU ward (where I met Adam and Lori met Matt), and she is a great catch. She's kind, wise, considerate of others, and enjoys having fun. She is working now as an elementary school teacher, and, from what I hear, her students and colleagues love her.

Friday was the big morning. The Dicksons all drove in the big white van to Salt Lake City. My cousin AmberLee took care of Thomas while we all went inside the Temple. It was such a beautiful sealing ceremony. What a wonderful eternal perspective I always come away with after being in the temple, especially after seeing a live sealing.

As we were gathering for pictures outside the temple steps, A tall, professionally-dressed woman approached Steven and Kristel. I immediately recognized her face--the news reporter for Channel 5 (the one who always does the Church-in-the-news reports inbetween sessions of Conference). She spoke with them for a minute, then ushered them off to the southeast corner of the temple where she proceeded to interview them about getting married on the same day as the royal wedding. Steven's sound bite must have been good, because they made it on the evening news...

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=15339630 (at the end of the video)

And on the front page of the Deseret News...

Deseret News: Local couples stage their own 'royal weddings'

The wedding lunch was at the Lion House, and the reception that night was at a nice reception center in Lindon. It was fun to see old neighbors, friends, and extended family.

The next morning we woke up to snow! I almost expected to see gifts and a lit Christmas tree in the front room as I descended the stairs for breakfast. We all went to watch Sarah perform her trumpet solo at the state competition at Lone Peak High School. She played a beautiful piece. After lunch it was time to say goodbye. That is always the hard part. As I buckled Thomas's car seat into Matt and Lori's car, I wondered how old he will be the next time we see my parents. I've come out to Provo four times in the last year (three weddings and a funeral), which has been a great blessing. We're not sure when we'll have another opportunity to bring the whole family out. That probably depends on where we move next year. But it's always nice to get together with family, especially to celebrate a wedding.

*Note: thanks to all the families who helped watch Jared and Allison while I was away! We really appreciated it.

Three kids, a bob, and a minivan

In the last three months I've reached three landmarks in my life as a mother.

In January I had my third child...

...in March I bobbed my hair (what Adam terms a "mom haircut"),

...and last weekend we purchased our first minivan (2003 Toyota Sienna Symphony).

There's no going back!
I guess we're a bunch of Swagger Wagoners now.

(Adam introduced me to the SW video the other day. It's worth the watch. Here's the link in case you're like I was and haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-N3F1FhW4)

Happy Birthday, Allison!

Allison turned two on Thursday. It's hard to believe she's two--it seems like just the other day we were celebrating Jared's second birthday. She is a sweet and spunky little girl, and we're very glad to have her in our family.

On Tuesday she had a little party with her two other "birthday buddies"--neighbor children who were born within a day or two of each other. Cupcakes + balloons + a bunch of two-year-olds = lots of fun! (and lots of crumbs, but we swept those up)

Thursday morning--her real birthday--we had brown-n-serve sausages with breakfast (one of her FAVORITE foods). While Jared was at preschool, we went shopping together at the dollar store (she brought her purse with her and kept it slung over her arm the whole time), picked out a birthday balloon, and played at the public library.

Snack time brought strawberries--another favorite--and then a trip to their friend Emmalyn's house. When Daddy came home we ate pizza and a Minnie Mouse cake and opened presents. Allison loved us singing the birthday song to her and blowing out the candles. Happy birthday, Allison!

Milk Police

3-12-2011

Every great once in a while during my day as a Mother something will remind me of my days as a college student. This happened again about a week ago, and it was Jared who triggered it. Lately he has gotten into the habit of finishing a meal and then carrying over the unfinished portion of his drink to the fridge to "save for later." Sometimes it's water, sometimes it's milk, and other times he doesn't do it at all. Cute, I thought. And so conscientious.

But it soon became not so cute the other day after lunch when he asked for "LOTS of milk, please." His food was already eaten, and I didn't think he could drink any more. Nevertheless, I naively I poured him "lots of milk" only to later discover the entire cup of milk sitting in the fridge. He hadn't consumed a drop of it. Light bulb moment! We have a rule at our house that the kids can have milk at breakfast and lunch, but dinner is water only. (I think it was born partially as an attempt to curb our household's milk consumption rate--currently two gallons a week, and counting--and partially because we don't want our kids to grow up unwilling to drink plain water.) But Jared and Allison LOVE milk and wish they could drink it at every meal. Can you see where this is going? Yes, Jared was smuggling milk. At the age of three. Right under my nose. He was stalking up at lunchtime and saving it for dinnertime when milk would not otherwise be available. Enterprising? Perhaps. Acceptable? Certainly not!

As I stared in disbelief at that green plastic cup full of saved milk, another image came to mind. A memory from long ago and far away... a memory from my days at BYU. The summer before I started college, I got a part-time job working as cashier at the Cannon Center. In addition to greeting hungry students, swiping hundreds of meal cards, and ensuring that everyone we served was following the dress code, I was also the food police. Since the Cannon Center served an all-you-can-eat buffet, no patron was allowed to take food outside the dining area. Looking back, I can see why they were tempted. There was a main menu line with two choices of entrées and sides; a full-size salad & fruit bar; a pasta bar; a waffle bar; a sandwich bar; a dessert bar; and a soft-serve ice cream bar. Thus the infamous "freshman fifteen" that Cannon Center eaters are purported to gain during their first year at the dorms (and this was in the days of the "old Cannon Center." I call the new one the Eateria Extravaganza, and if you've ever been inside, you'll probably agree that fifteen has increased to twenty--at least).

And so I stood at my secretarial podium and smiled and greeted and swiped and secretly watched for bagels behind books and bananas stuffed in water bottle backpack pockets. "Please keep the food in the dining area," I would recite as a new freshman stepped over the threshold with an apple in his hand and unwittingly committed his first crime on BYU campus. Even half-eaten items weren't allowed outside the doors. My manager was a friendly woman the age of my grandmother and with eyesight five times as good. She could spot a brownie on the run from yards away, and she would swoop down and, before the student knew what was happening, she would have her arm around him, guiding him back inside and explaining the rules to him in a way that made him feel like he had just been caught with his hand in HER cookie jar. I didn't have the grandmotherly advantage, but I still did my best to keep the Cannon Center from failing financially from the accumulation of a summer's worth of smuggled food.

Clearly, Jared has a ways to go before he will be ready to dine appropriately at a BYU cafeteria. In the meantime, I will work on teaching him an essential Washburn dining rule, inspired by my experience as food police at the Cannon Center: Chew it or Lose it!

Welcome, Baby Thomas!

Thomas Hal Washburn made his appearance in the world on Thursday, January 6, at 11:35pm. It was an exciting trip to the hospital--we made it there just half an hour before he was born! Thomas was 8 lbs 1 oz and 19 inches long, and is happy and healthy.

The kids and Thomas are getting along very well (with only a *few* minor incidents). They like holding him, patting him, and talking to him when he is awake. It's hard to believe that it's been two years since we welcomed Allison into our family... and three and a half years since Jared was born!

Allison is a great big sister. She is gentle and affectionate toward Thomas. She loves trailing behind Mommy as she feeds and takes care of Thomas. The baby's arrival has brought forth an inner interest in baby dolls, and Allison is always carting two of them around in her toy stroller, "burping" them on her shoulder, and rocking them to sleep. To our chagrin, she also likes to tease us by finding Thomas's pacifier and popping it in her own mouth. It's then we remember that Allison is practically still a baby herself. But she's learning some good big sister skills... under our close supervision.

Ever since we told Jared we were having another baby, he was convinced that it would be a "baby brother." He talked about his brother all the time, and when we told him that it might very well be a girl, he would declare that no, that was impossible. "It's just a boy." Well, lucky for Jared, it was! And now Jared talks about all the things he and Thomas will do when Thomas gets big enough--like driving toy cars together. Jared also enjoys holding and watching Thomas, and he always lets me know when Thomas is starting to cry and needs Mommy.

I love these three kids!

Christmas 2010 Update

Washburn Family, 2010

"The Eyebrow"

It's been a couple months since I've posted, and what better way to get back to blogging than to tell the tale of our disintegrating bath tub.

Jared has always loved to take baths, and we nearly always give him (and Allison) one every night. We figure it's a good wind-down routine, and it gets all the day's food, dirt, etc. out of their hair.

Unfortunately, our bath tub is wearing thin on the bottom--something we discovered one day when Jared was two years old and taking his usual evening bath. He pointed to a quarter-inch rust spot forming on the bottom and exclaimed, "It's an eyebrow!" Apparently he grew quite attached to this tub blemish, because the next week after maintenance had come and sealed off the rust spot, Jared said sadly, "Oh, I miss the eyebrow."

Lucky for Jared, the eyebrow reappeared just weeks later, when the sealant came off. It has maintained a proud presence at bathtime ever since, and was slightly augmented this week when we bleached the tub mat overnight.

Someday--probably when we move--our tub will get replaced. But until then, we will continue to enjoy the "eyebrow"as it gazes up at us every night through sudsy water.