Not Cool, but Cute Nonetheless!

It's nice to not be sick anymore! We're all feeling pretty good around here, after Pmc and Cpc had the flu. Gratefully Pmc took drastic measures to make sure I didn't catch it.

We have chosen a name for little boy #2...Cdc! (Call us if you want to know it!) If you need the number call someone who has it. We're really helpful huh?

Cpc is definitely becoming a talker. He is learning new words and signs almost daily, and enjoys his ability to communicate every desire of his heart! Unfortunately he still doesn't know quite enough to be able to prevent tantrums altogether, but we think he's doing marvelous! The hardest thing is when he has clearly communicated his wants, and we clearly understand, but the answer is "no." When we tell him "no," he thinks we just don't understand what he wants, so he tells us again more emphatically. Not cool, but cute nonetheless. Cpc has also discovered his freedom, especially the part where he can choose to pretend he doesn't hear our communications to him. Again, not cool, but cute nonetheless!

What is cool is Cpc's sense of humor. He totally understands teasing, and does so throughout the day....mostly to Pmc. Example: Cpc looks forward to goodnight kisses from mom and dad. After he lays down, we customarily take our turns leaning down for a kiss and saying goodnight. Sometimes cpc teases daddy by puckering and leaning up for the kiss, then turning away and giggling! He also enjoys giving mommy "long" kisses to make daddy tell him "that's MY job!"

I'm not sure if we've recorded this yet, but as soon as we moved into our house here, we decided to give the toddler bed a try (convertible cribs are AWESOME, we even bought a second one to match our first). Cpc has loved being able to climb in bed on his own, and surprisingly it is rare for him to get out on his own. Wish that would last!

Potty-training is also going surprisingly well, especially considering we didn't really initiate it. We simply started keeping a little potty in the bathroom and letting him sit on it every time one of us uses the bathroom. After a while we decided to let him try it without his diaper on....and he's a total natural! We'll see how it continues, for now he still can't tell us when he needs to go. So potty time is by invitation only, but we're working on the sign for potty. It sure would be nice to only have one kid in diapers at a time!

We really like our ward. We're grateful to have some other student/young families to co-congregate with (that would be the church version of co-habitation - one big ward family! Actually, I think co-congregate is redundant - right?). There haven't been many ward activities yet, but we have one coming this week...so we're excited! We especially like the opportunity to have the missionaries over for dinner. We have both Elders and Sisters in our ward, so we alternate weeks. We are grateful for the spirit they bring into our home, and the added motivation to share our testimonies with our brothers and sisters! We even got to have an investigator over for a lesson last night. We enjoyed having the opportunity to testify that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored.

Cpc and I had an opportunity to go up to Lake Ontario for a few minutes. He really enjoyed watching the waves with me. It was SO COLD, but once he gave those waves a funny look he decided it wasn't too different from Bear Lake.

We enjoyed Halloween this time around! We watched "It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" via YouTube, made sugar cookies to share with neighbors, carved a cute pumpkin, ate pumpkin pie and had a great Eeyore join us for all of it!

We enjoy being near where Joseph Smith grew up. We're grateful to be able to attend the Palmyra temple, and go to the Sacred Grove often. It is a special place, and even when we just stop by, it brings the spirit. Today we went there to gather some autumn leaves for a friend in SLC, and take Cpc for his first time. We really got the chance to ponder the REALITY of Joseph's life...the sunset we watched from the farm was the same setting sun that he saw night after night.

As we took in this scene, it was easy to imagine the Prophet standing there gazing at the same scene 200 years ago.

We thought a good family picture there at the Sacred Grove would be nice....and now you can all see how nicely my belly is growing! I sure am feeling great this pregnancy!

We have a great story to share about the scene here. This is a picture looking from the Sacred Grove towards the Palmyra temple. Notice how there is a small patch there where there aren't many trees, so that you can actually see the temple from the grove, and vice versa. Well, there hasn't always been a clearing there. When the temple was built, President Hinckley did a couple of special things to make this temple special. First, he wanted it to have a clear window that looks directly out over the sacred grove. Temples typically don't have clear windows, or if they do they are covered with curtains or something. Well, this one is so nice because you can see the grove from inside the temple, and it feels pretty special. Well, the only problem with this was that there were trees in that field, blocking the view. So he requested that they be removed. I don't know how the logistics work here on this story. All we know about this story is that the environmentalists put up a stink about the removal of those trees, and somehow were able to prevent it by law. I don't know if it was protected land or what. Anyway, shortly after the final decision that prevented the church from clearing those trees, there was a lightning storm that took out precisely that patch of trees! Notice how the trees on either side are still full and healthy. It's amazing to think that such a simple thing was important enough to Heavenly Father to take care of it. Clearly this place is truly sacred.