Groundhog's Day

For those of you who can't get enough of silly Bill Murray movies we found your new favorite spot. Groundhog's Day was filmed in Woodstock, IL (about 10 minutes from here) so we went to check it out last weekend. This town really gets into it! They even have a Woodstock Willie instead of Punx. Phil. Not only does the town have permanent plaques like "Ned's Corner" and "Bill Murray stepped here" (for stepping in the puddle), during Groundhog Days they place markers all over showing where things happened in the movie and blast polka music from the town gazebo! Too bad the groundhog saw it's shadow and there will be six more weeks of winter.

On that note, we hear from people around here that this has been a really, really bad winter...worse than many can remember. We are encouraged by that since we didn't know what to expect and feel like we've done okay so far. We're about half-way done with the winter so we'll see how it goes. Angie thought it was cold when she came to visit (on a -15 or so wind chill day)...all schools in the area were cancelled a couple weeks ago for two days for -30 to -40 wind chill with highs at -1 to -5. I guess the news said at that time it was colder here than at the north pole!

If there are misspellings in my post, forgive me. James has started waking in the middle of the night again so lack of sleep is affecting me once again. We trying to get him to eat more solid foods during the day so we can get back to sleeping through the night. He started eating Cheerios last night and ate applesauce (his first fruit) two days ago. He likes his vegetables and rice/oat cereals, too. Hopefully this will help him gain weight since a week and a half ago at his 6-month check up (can you believe it?) he hadn't grown any longer since his 4-month check and was only 12 lbs 15 ounces. At this rate he could be rear-facing in his car seat for a LONG time. He's fallen below 0% on the weight chart so we're supposed to supplement with bottles, but he doesn't like them or the formula. At least he's usually a happy baby (except when feeling pain from growing teeth...he has two!) and doing very well on rolling over and saying "da, da, da" and "ba, ba, ba". Here is a recent picture. He is such a joy!

We love you all!

Fire Blowing

Finally, I have some pictures of recent good times. My ward holds what we call "Big Kid Mutual" every Wednesday. A couple of weeks ago we had "Y Chromosome Appreciation Night" and for one the activities we blew fire! It was really cool and fun. The process is as follows: Fill your mouth with cornstarch. DON'T INHALE (or get it in your eye, since any place that holds any moisture the cornstarch will absorb and clump up in a split second). Light a match. Blow. So, the first image is of me blowing fire (it once was a video but I don't know how to get it) and then the other is a group shot, obviously. Good times...

Update

We haven't done much posting lately, so I thought I'd just give a brief update on life in Delaware.

RUSS is still working diligently on his research and will be taking his final class Spring term (which begins next week). He's not overly excited about doing student work again (i.e. homework, tests, etc.) He was excited last weekend, however, when the winter campout he was supposed to be a part of was canceled. In January he saw a doctor about an unusual lump in his abdomen, which was diagnosed as a hernia. So, he will be having surgery on the 13th of this month.

ANNE is already busy making summer plans for the family. We will definitely be in Utah the latter part of June for a Walton family reunion, and may spend some time in Oregon (if Mom and Dad are still there) before that. Yesterday Anne was able to reserve a room at the Palmyra Inn for July 15th, which means we'll be heading up to New York for the Hill Cumorah Pageant this summer!

KAYLEE was just registered for preschool next fall. The school is associated with a nearby Catholic church and was highly recommended by some ward friends. She can't believe she still has to wait such a long time before school begins. In other news, the princess revolution is in full swing. Nearly every day Kaylee asks to wear a dress so she can be a princess. She has also developed an affinity for Barbie after watching one movie from the library (Barbie has been added to the top of her 2009 Christmas list). Kaylee loves being a Sunbeam at church and tells us her favorite thing about being in primary is playing with Play-doh. :) (She also just informed me that she likes having cake and ice cream at her birthday.)

ASHLYN is finally beginning to add some real words to her vocabulary. Her most recent addition was "wawa" (water). She also loves nursery, and cries when we pick her up, rather than when we drop her off. As with Kaylee, Ashlyn is already showing a love of music. Her favorite song right now is "Popcorn Popping"; she can expertly (and adorably) execute each action.

We are thankful for a happy and healthy little family!

Emily and I are happy to announce that yesterday we submitted the last of our seven grad school applications. The little video clip here is a montage of photos of the portfolio package I took just with my cell phone. Each application package took about 3 hours just to put all together, not to mention the time it took to write the essays and get the kind help from Emily and Mom and Dad to revise them. I got to know the employees at Kinkos pretty well. They all celebrated as I sent out my last application.

It has been quite the burden to know that every spare minute we have had for the last six months could be spent improving my portfolio. But now, we have done all that we can and we get to anxiously await letters in our mailbox. We'll find out in about two weeks whether or not we made it into the second round of at Yale (which is incredibly unlikely!). A few other schools will be calling over the next month for phone interviews. The final answers will arrive for all the schools between the first week of March and the middle of April. We are hoping to be in the predicament of having to choose between many schools but basically, we are feeling right now if Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, RI) offers, we will accept. After that, it's probably Virginia Commonwealth (Richmond, VA). We have faith that we can make it, BUT IF NOT, we'll just party for another year before trying again!

Thank you again Mom and Dad for all the reviewing and for your eagle eyes!

We love you all!

Emily and Doug

And the beat goes on . . .

We had a fabulous time when Mom and Dad stayed with us earlier this month. There was, of course, lots of dancing. Watching the video below reminded me of all of the dancing around the house in Oregon last Christmas.

Food for Thought

Here is a bit of commentary on receiving service and human nature. In thinking on this for the past few months, I have gained understanding and a new perspective on myself, on pride, human nature, serving others and feel I can better understand the reactions of others while being served. Enjoy!

The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis pp.132

"Suppose yourself a man struck down shortly after marriage by an incurable disease which may not kill you for many years; useless, impotent, hideous, disgusting; dependent on your wife's earnings, impoverishing where you hoped to enrich; impaired even in intellect and shaken by gusts of uncontrollable temper, full of unavoidable demands. And suppose your wife's care and pity to be inexhaustible. The man who can take this sweetly, who can receive all and give nothing without resentment, who can abstain even from those tiresome self-deprecations which are really only a demand for petting and reassurance, is doing something which Need-love [one of the four loves which exist] in its merely natural condition could not attain. (No doubt such a wife will also be doing something beyond the reach of a natural Gift-love, but that is not the point at present.) In such a case to receive is harder and perhaps more blessed than to give."

Bagels anyone?

Just thought I would share that Emily learned how to make bagels this week. They are quite delicious. These ones are cinnamon raisin. I guess the trick is to boil them first and then cook them.

The other day she also made whole wheat lasagna using our new pasta machine!

Oh and this week we decided to try Rainbow Chard. It's kinda like romaine but it has a stalk that is bright red and orange, kinda like liquorish and at least just as good!

Sorry if it seems dumb to talk about our recent meals but we are having fun :)