Dastrups Happily Ever Aftering

Halloween Party Extraordinaire

2010-10-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

My parents hosted a Halloween party this week, and we all had a "spook-tacular" time! The food was fun and creepy (some food items-- like Dad's "witch fingers"-- were so disgusting-looking that most of us couldn't bring ourselves to eat them) and almost everyone was sporting a costume of some kind.

Brigham borrowed a big pink bunny costume that most found very becoming but that Ty found terrifying. Ty was a little disconcerted by all of the costumes, but that bunny costume pushed him over the edge. He got hysterical if we even went near Brigham. I struggled not to laugh as I comforted the poor little kid. Due to the bunny trauma, Ty refused to don his pumpkin costume. I guess that's something we should probably work on in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully post-traumatic shock wears off quickly in one-year-olds.

There were many fun games and activities including "Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin", "Musical Electric Chairs", a balloon stomp, a ping-pong ball blowing war, and various races. Benjamin also favored us by reading an original Halloween composition complete with illustrations. The evening ended with a pumpkin carving contest and cookie decorating. Living near family again is a lot of fun!

Family Fun

2010-10-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

We are always looking for fun and inexpensive things to do as a family. A few weeks ago I suggested that we go to Kennecott mine, and boy was that a hit! With all of the tractors and dumptrucks, it was a little boy's personal paradise. I felt like a hero for suggesting it. This week's suggestion did not go over as well.

I saw an add for a witch display at Gardner Villiage, and I thought like it sounded like a fun and festive thing to go see, so we invited Brigham's parents, and off we went. Personally, I thought it was very cute and fun, but I practically had to drag my boys around from witch to witch, and only threats of dire punishments could cajole them into posing for pictures. And that only worked part of the time. Afterwards Brigham pointed out that the only other males there were under the age of two. Strangely, I think that's true. I certainly didn't get any hero's status this week, but I did get a few cute pictures.

Spotlight on Benjamin

2010-09-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

Since I use this blog as a family journal of sorts, I thought I'd take a minute and spotlight each one of our kids (since I've stopped writing in their individual journals-- Ty was the death of the whole journaling thing). They are each so fun that I want to be able to remember their cute little antics at these stages forever.

Benjamin just turned seven at the beginning of the month, but he's been wearing size seven clothes for a long time now-- in fact, he's starting to grow out of them! It works out nicely though because although he is the youngest kid in his class, he's still one of the tallest.

Benjamin never ceases to amaze me. Since he was tiny, he's always been fully committed to the things he was interested in-- to the point of total obsession. Fortunately, now that he is older, he is able to be interested in more things at a time. The following are some of the things that float Benjamin's boat at the moment:

1. Sports. It doesn't seem to matter what the sport is, he wants to do it. And he's pretty good at them, too. Just yesterday his soccer coach suggested that we put him in a more competitive soccer league because he is clearly his team's superstar. He is also amazing when it comes to hitting baseballs. He can stand up by our house and hit balls clear across our yard and over the top of our neighbors' playhouse which is built on about 6 foot stilts. He certainly didn't get it from me!

2. Word games. Bookworm is still his favorite, and the kid has UNBELIEVABLE word skills. He can find long words while I'm still staring at the grid trying to get my bearings. He also likes to play Boggle with us and is pretty good.

3. Reading. Benjamin is a great reader and powered through probably close to one hundred books this summer. We just finished reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban together, and he loved it. I'm sure he'd already be done with the whole Harry Potter series by now if we let him have his way, but we only let him read one HP book with us each year.

4. Pets. Benjamin was infatuated with all of his friends' dogs and BEGGED to get one for his birthday, but thanks to a tip from my visiting teacher, he got a hamster instead. He is totally smitten with Chip (his hamster) and is trying to train him to come when called.

Benjamin is a wonderful kid who seems to be able to succeed at whatever he puts his mind to. We love him a lot and feel lucky to have him in our family!

Catch Up

2010-09-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

This month has been a crazy one, and as soon as things get busy, the poor blog gets neglected. So this post is an attempt to record our exciting August events.

We finally got our group of high school friends together and had a wonderful evening with them. Two things amazed me: First-- everyone looks exactly the same as they did in high school (why am I the only one aging here?), and second-- it's amazing how many kids we have as a group! It was really fun to watch our kids playing with our friends' kids-- "The Gang Part II."

All summer I've been wanting to take our kids tent camping since I have so many fun camping memories, but with Jacob hating the great outdoors the way he does, I was nervous about it. We decided just to go up Little Cottonwood Canyon and give it a shot since it is so close to our house and would be easy to bail if we needed to. I spent all day packing up (I can NOT believe how much stuff is required for a simple overnight camping trip! It's no wonder we don't do it that often!), and when Brigham woke up we took off. Unfortunately, we missed the last camping site by about 20 minutes. After all the preparation the last thing I wanted to do was go home, so we decided to be brave and drive 1 1/2 hours to camp with my family at their mountain property. Jacob mostly wanted to hang out in Grandpa's Jeep or in the trailer, but it actually went surprisingly well! It was Ty's first camping trip (sad to say), and he had a great time. He LOVED Grandpa's "tractors" (ATVs).

Jacob's fifth birthday was a major August event as well. I still can't believe that my boy is 5! Jacob's birthay was one of those days when everything that can go wrong does. We were seven minutes late for our appointment to meet his teacher, so we had to reschedule. The balloons I bought for Jacob were not tied tightly enough to their holder, and they ended up on Walmart's ceiling. Brigham took Jacob to the raceway in West Valley to see some real race cars, and they finished practicing about 2 mintues after they arrived. We went to go swimming (one of his very favorite activities this summer!), but found that all the pools were closed. Jacob was a very good sport about everything and seemed to enjoy his day despite all that went wrong. Like always, he LOVED opening his presents (even more than the presents themselves), and we let him eat about four pieces of his Bookworm cake (he would have kept going, but I knew that we were nearing the point when we'd see all that cake once more). Aunt Cambrie arrived from CA with her girls that afternoon, so it was fun to have cousins for a birthday party!

After a summer that didn't feel nearly as eternal as the last one did (thanks to having family close by), Benjamin and Jacob headed off to school. Benjamin started second grade on the 23rd, and was happy not to have to go with a full set of baby teeth once again, having lost his first tooth about 5 days before. In ABQ he was one of only 4 boys in his class of 17, and now he is enjoying being one of 21 boys in a class of 26. He actually has 2 teachers who each teach for half of the week.

Jacob started school on the 30th. He is in a developmental kindergarten class that only has 6 kids with a teacher and 2 aides. So far it seems like he is enjoying it quite a bit!

Although we don't have pictures (I have a hard time managing a camera when my boys require full-time supervision), we also spent a weekend up at Bear Lake with the Dastrups. Unfortunately we arrived in unison with a storm/cold front, but we still had fun swimming in the heated pool, playing on the beach, and playing some tennis. Jacob started having asthma trouble which ended up cutting our trip a little short, but with the help of some breathing treatments and steroids, Jacob is doing much better.

Whew. We finally made it to September. It is only the 5th, but those few days have been eventful. Brigham's sister got married on Benjamin's birthday (much to his dismay since wearing dress clothes is just about the worst thing you could make him do), and she had her reception the night before ("I can't believe that I have to wear church clothes for three days in a row!" said Benjamin after church today.) Not only were Aunt Liz's wedding and luncheon on his birthday (both wonderful events), but the first BYU game of the season was, too! Benjamin was happy that the team gave him a victory for his birthay. He received many wonderful presents, but his favorite was the hamster that we gave him (instead of the dog he's been begging for). He named it Chip (short for Chipmunk since he thinks it looks like one), and he adores that little animal! Ty does, too. We all get a kick out of watching it roll around the house in its ball.

Here is Benjamin's football field cake which Jacob got to before he even saw it. Benjamin was shockingly good about it. He just laughed and said, "Jacob, you're a pest!" I learned that Jacob's wingspan is far more than I gave him credit for.

So that's about it! For any of you still reading, here are a couple of random cute pictures from August:

Ty figured out how to ride a scooter at 18 months old. The kid never stops going!

...except when he's sleeping. He loves chewing on Bear's tail and often falls asleep while doing it. Maybe that's why Bear went missing for a weekend this month... it was a long weekend!

Canyoneering Adventurers!

2010-08-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

Four beginners. Seven beautiful, fast-flowing waterfalls. One crazy idea to rappel down them, and a guide loopy enough to take on the task. Add it all up and you get a day never to forget!

We went with my brother and his wife, and between the four of us we could still count all of the times we'd been rappelling on one hand. The canyoneering trip that we chose was for experienced rappellers (as we found out when we arrived), but our guide assured us that he could get us through in one piece if we still wanted to go. Of course we did!

Anyone watching a video of our experience might think that they were watching clips from "America's Funniest Videos": there was plenty of slipping on slimy rocks, crashing into the side of the canyon, going under the waterfalls, and general spasticity. Put that together with our ultra-attractive canyoneering attire (rain jackets over helmets and wet suits), and my guess is that we would have sent anyone with the slightest degree of experience into hysterics. Luckily we were the only ones in the whole canyon. Our guide might have been laughing, but the roaring of the waterfall drowned it out (he said the water was at the highest level he'd ever seen it thanks to the rain for several days beforehand-- it was also colder than normal. BRRRRRRRR!).

Despite our complete lack of canyoneering skills, it was an amazing experience! Our rappels took us through this beautiful slot canyon that would have been a pleasure just to see. Add the thrill of rappelling down gorgeous waterfalls, and it was an experience like no other!

The rest of our trip was spent hiking around in Arches National Park and enjoying the amazing beauty there. We went on a 7 mile hike on primitive trails that was fantastic. It felt so good to be back out in nature again! Our goal is to somehow convince Jacob that nature is way better than electronics. Wish us luck!

Good-Bye Smokey

2010-07-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

Today we mourn the loss of one we count as a member of our family-- our dear Smokey. Smokey has been with us since the very foundation of our family, being the car that I purchased in college. It was my first car, and in the last 12 years we have formed a very special bond.

Smokey may have had a salvage title from being in a flood in St. George, but he always got us from point A to point B-- with only a few repairs being needed between the two. It was Smokey who wisked us away from our wedding reception and off into the sunset, and it was Smokey that Brigham drove into a cement barrier the day after. (I will miss seeing that dent every day.) It was Smokey who brought our first baby home from the hospital. It was Smokey who took Brigham to his first and last day of medical school, and his first and last day of residency. Although the Kelley Blue Book may have said (and I quote) "this car has no value", it's easy to see why to us, he was worth every repair.

Smokey was a very loyal car. Being the amazing machine that he was (a 1994 Ford Escort but with a Japanese engine as we found out during the excrutiating safety inspection in Maryland), he was stolen within a month of our move to Baltimore. We deeply mourned his loss even then, but only a week later, Smokey found his way home-- scarred and smelling like an ashtray.

Smokey has traversed the country a couple of times in his long life. He has sported Utah, Maryland, New Mexico, and Utah plates once again. We can take some measure of comfort in knowing that he expired in his home state.

Thank you, Smokey, for sharing our lives and being there most of the time when we needed you. You will be sorely missed.

Oh, Glorious Day!

2010-07-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

Ty turned 18 months old yesterday-- a huge milestone in every LDS family. No longer am I condemned to walk the halls every Sunday with a restless toddler who can think of nothing greater in life than pushing the button on the water fountain and trying to slurp water off of the drain (I know-- so gross!).

As suspected, Ty had no problem with going to nursery. The minute he saw the cars and trucks he raced away without a backward glance. Brigham sat next to a man who'd spent the first hour in nursery, and after mentioning that our son was there, the man said, "Is your last name Dastrup? Oh, yes! Your son seems to know how cute he is and that he can get away with just about anything! He's a troublemaker!" Hmmm...

Dastrup Family Reunion

2010-07-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

The first annual Max and Claudia Dastrup Family Reunion was a rockin' party. There were some nail-biting soccer games...

some wicked noodle ball...

wild water events...

the Family Olympic Games...

heavenly music, and many other awesome activities not pictured here
such as a hike to Stewart Falls (which we are proud to claim as our first full successful hike as a family, although Jacob did require a shoulder ride from Brigham nearly the entire 2 miles back and my shoulders were about to fall off from carrying Ty in our Kelty).

Ty survived being pushed into our 6-foot window well and then hosed down by a well-meaning cousin ("I was just trying to help him get down!") with only minor scrapes and bruises, so all in all, the reunion was a huge success!

Fourth Festivities

2010-07-11T20:24:00.001-07:00

It's nice to live in a place where the Fourth of July is celebrated as it should be again. (I was always bummed that there was not a parade to be found in Albuquerque except on Cinco de Mayo-- causing Brigham to exclaim, "What country is this, anyways?") We had a couple of days of celebration, thanks to the holiday falling on a Sunday. On the third we got to enjoy Sandy city's celebration-- bouncy castles, police K-9 demonstrations, booths, etc. with Grandma and Grandpa Dastrup and cousins, and that evening we attended the Sandy parade. It was really fun to watch our boys during the whole thing. For Jacob it was definitely a love/hate relationship. All of the firetrucks and vehicles were fascinating, but the loud sirens were just too much. Both he and Ty felt like they needed my lap to be secure, causing somewhat of a commotion since I only have one lap. Monday was Provo's celebration, and we enjoyed the parade with the Dastrups (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa who went at 5:30 am to save us a good spot!) and then a BBQ, kiddie pool, and fireworks with the Gronemans. How fun to be able to celebrate with family once again! Happy birthday, America!

Settling In

2010-07-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

I have been chastised for not blogging much in the last couple of months. There just always seems to be something more pressing to do-- laundry(currently there are 4 clean batches getting wrinkled up in the laundry basket), weeds to pull, bathrooms to clean (FOUR of them!), etc. This new home is wonderful, but it does require a lot more work, so the blog falls by the wayside. Here is a quick recap of what's been going on.

First of all, we've been loving having family around and have been doing many fun things with both sides. There have been cousin parties, a trip to the zoo with Uncle Brett and Aunt Katie, Thanksgiving Point farm, Wheeler Farm, the highland splash park, and many other get-togethers with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. It's been awesome.

Benjamin loves playing with his cousins as often as possible, and he has made a couple of friends in the neighborhood, though he is still too shy to go ask if they can play. He has been reading up a storm and will be starting swimming lessons on Tuesday (wish him luck-- he's been nervous around water all of his life!).

Jacob has started his summer school program and seems to enjoy it from what we can tell. He's started becoming more vocal in the last couple of weeks and is experimenting with sounds such as "na na na". It's very exciting for me to hear his voice, even if he isn't saying words. I pray that maybe this will encourage him to become more verbal!

Ty is still a crazy kid who has no sense of his own mortality. He's almost constantly putting himself in danger-- running down slides, dancing on the table or his high chair, running in front of swings, etc. He's started becoming more verbal, too. He loves calling to me, "Mama!" and when I answer he says "Okay." Then we repeat that exchange about 50 times in a row. He also asks, "Where is it?" and "-K go? (Where did my milk go?)" He LOVES to draw and will tell on himself for drawing somewhere he shouldn't by saying, "Uh-oh!" when he does it. He never walks anywhere-- his little legs always move as fast as they can. He's completely adorable!

Brigham and I went down to Albuquerque one last time last weekend for Brigham's graduation and his last shift as a resident. His graduation was a very kicked-back affair, but it was good to be there and say goodbye to our friends and Brigham's collegues. Brigham has worked several shifts at his new job and was pleased to find that his fear of not having as many patients couldn't be less founded. His shifts are crazy busy, but he is learning the ropes and figuring the new system out.

Although we are not completely unpacked yet, this beautiful house is starting to feel like home to me. Life is good!

Crazy I Guess

2010-06-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the Wasatch Back Relay-- a 188 mile (although it ended up being almost 190 miles due to a surprise detour) race up and down the mountains from Logan to Park City. Brigham and I ran this crazy race with six of our best friends from Baltimore, and despite only 2 hours of sleep in the almost 28 hours it took us to finish the race, it was awesome! It was definitely hard-- we started at 1:30 pm and ran in the heat, ran all night long in the pitch dark with only little headlamps, up steep mountains and down steep roads. Each runner had at least one leg that made everyone else glad that they were not running it. But unlike most teams who had 12 runners to spread the joy around to, we only had 8. That meant we each had to pick up some extra legs. But it was a surprisingly good time! Cheering for the other runners on our team (the Fantastic Four Couples) and supporting them through difficult sections of their runs was really cool. Each of our team members did an awesome job-- even though it was a tough run and we had to pick up extra legs. Brigham ran like an animal (his second leg was uphill on an unpaved road in the heat of the day, smothering in all of the dust from the support vehicles) but unfortunately on second to last run, something tore in his leg. He managed to limp/run to the exchange point, but after that we all knew he was done. I picked up his last leg for him, which fortunately was only a flat 3-miler. The run that earned my place on the team was an 8 mile run up a mountain at 2 am about 35 minutes after my previous 4 mile leg. Our team finished in just under 28 hours, and we took 38th place in our division of about 656 teams-- which put us in the top 5% of teams. We are quite proud of that-- especially since the other teams had 12 people instead of 8! It was a great memory-making experience and a wonderful way to strengthen our bond with our friends. Even though I was dreading it for over a year, I'm glad that we did it!

Utahans Once Again

2010-06-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

After seven years, the prodigals have returned to Utah! Those were seven very challenging years, but they were also wonderful. I loved meeting such amazing people and exploring the different cultures. We've picked up things in both Baltimore and Albuquerque that are now a part our daily lives (Old Bay seasoning and green chilies for example). We've made lifelong friends and seen a lot of neat places. But we are glad to be home. How great it is to have family around! I want to thank everyone who helped us with our move, but I especially want to give a shout out to my parents and brothers Chad and Brett who all took almost a whole week off of work to come down and help us move out of ABQ and move into our new house. They were awesome and amazing. I shudder to think of how long it would have taken us to do all of that by ourselves!

Brigham is back in New Mexico finishing up his residency, but the boys and I are official Utahans. The work around here never ends, but it is so awesome to live in such a beautiful house in such a great area! And I've never felt so welcomed to a new place! We've already met all of our surrounding neighbors, and they are all SO nice. Benjamin has made friends with a couple of the neighborhood kids but is too shy to go over to ask if they can play, so he waits for them to come out. It also turns out that this is "the place" to be for special needs programs-- that people move here just to get the programs. Everything has fallen into place so beautifully, and we just couldn't be happier unless Brigham were here. For so many years I've wondered if it could all be worth it, and I'm pleased to say that the answer is YES!

Jacob's Talent Show

2010-05-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

This week Jacob's school put on a talent show, and Jacob's class was in it. They have what they call their "Fourth Grade Buddies"-- a class of 4th graders who comes into their class once every couple of weeks or so to play with them, and they helped Jacob and his class do the show. Brigham and I cried through it (I know, I know-- I've been bawling a lot lately), though neither one of us can tell you exactly why. For me it was mostly two things: 1. There was my Jacob up on the stage like any other kid! 2. There was a fourth grader kneeling behind him, helping him to do the actions, and losing her moment in the sun to give him one. I think Jacob's teacher has been so inspired on so many occasions. How brilliant to give these preschoolers with difficulties fourth grade buddies to look out for them at school! Anyway, we loved the show and hope you will too.(I had to let it buffer a lot to get it to play.) Click here to see Jacob in "The World's Greatest"

Home Owners for the First Time!

2010-05-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

It's official! That beautiful home that I've been dreaming about for the last two months is now ours! We couldn't be more excited to move in and start our new life.

We want to thank everyone who has helped us throughout this whole process. A BIG thank you goes to Dad Dastrup who has had to put up with a lot from us as his pickiest and most opinionated clients ever. Thank you so much for helping us make this dream a reality! We also want to thank Mom Dastrup for all of her help in the home search as well. We know you put in long hours on our behalf too-- THANK YOU! A huge thanks goes out to Mom and Dad Groneman as well for babysitting for days on end while we searched for the perfect home and for doing our walk through.

There are others who have helped us with a down payment. You know who you are. THANK YOU. You've made our dream come true!

Now let the happily ever after begin!

First Tooth Lost!

2010-05-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

No, it wasn't Benjamin-- it was Jacob! When he was coming off the bus today, he had blood running down his chin. I thought he'd bitten his lip and was going in for a closer look when he reached up and pulled a tooth out of his mouth! Benjamin is NOT going to be happy about this. Apparently he is the only kid in his class who hasn't lost a tooth yet, and he's been imagining wiggly teeth for months. This is going to be some serious salt in his already tender wound.

Blessings-- Some in Disguise

2010-05-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

Lately I can't help but see all of the ways in which we are blessed-- there are so many!

Jacob had his very first playdate this week. Some of you already know the story, but a couple of months ago I was out to dinner with Brigham, and I asked Brigham if he thought that Jacob would ever have a real friend. He said he didn't know. About a week and a half later, a girl I didn't know ran up to me in church asking, "Are you Jacob's mom?" I said I was, and she told me, "My son, Jack, is in Jacob's class, and I just had to tell you that Jack LOVES Jacob! He tells me all the time that Jacob is his best friend, and he wants to know when he can have a playdate with him." Of course I cried.

My second blessing this week came in disguise. Brigham and I finally got to go to the temple on Friday, and I was really looking forward to it. We were almost there when I realized that in the rush to get Ty to the babysitter, I'd forgotten my temple recommend. I was so bitterly disappointed! I dropped Brigham off at the temple and then rushed home to get my recommend, hoping to get back in time to be able to do SOMETHING. I'll admit that I cried again-- this time in sheer frustration. It's not easy to line up a babysitter for 3 hours.

When I got back to the temple, I asked if I could do some initiatory, but the lady said they were full for the next 20 minutes or so (that never happens here, but it was a stake temple day), so I could wait in the lobby. I went and sat in the lobby-- disappointed, but trying to get my feelings under control. You can hardly imagine my surprise when a minute later my mission president came walking into the room! I gave him a hug, and he asked if I could wait for him a minute. A minute later he came back and invited me into his office. I was so confused and asked what he was doing there. It turns out that he is our new temple president! I'd heard that we had a new temple president named Shumway, but I had no idea that it was THE President Shumway! I had a wonderful visit with him and his wife, and the next day when I took Jacob and Benjamin to their temple tour, I was able to introduce them to President and Sister Shumway. We plan on having dinner together sometime soon. So all is well after all!

Highlights of the Day

2010-04-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

1. Watching Ty open up Brigham's deodorant and then take a big ol' bite. Had I realized that he was going to eat it, I definitely would have intervened, but usually he just likes putting lids/caps on and taking them off. His face was hilarious, though.

2. Watching Jacob get a handful of sand out of the sandbox, walk over to Ty, and deliberately dump it on his head. Ty bullies Jacob a lot, so I'd have to say that justice was served. It was just surprising since Jacob pretty much ignores Ty unless an interesting toy is in question.

3. Watching our next-door neighbor come into our backyard and take the broken pool that we've been trying to figure out how to get rid of. He didn't ask-- he's a very shy man-- but he must have seen us trying to fit it in our garbage can and known that we don't have a truck to put it in. So he got rid of it for us. What a wonderful act of service! Had I not seen him in our yard out the window, I never would have known what happened to it.

Nothin' Much

2010-04-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

We don't have much to report around here these days. We are almost completely absorbed by our upcoming move and are putting most of our energies into move-related activities. We've finally emerged from underneath the mountain of paperwork related to our mortgage (apparently recent events have made what used to be a simple process a nightmare, but I guess it's all for the best) and are now packing and trying to sell off our particleboard furniture and other junky items. What is married life without particleboard? I'm excited to find out.

Benjamin finished off his Albuquerque soccer season on Saturday with a good game. He really has come a long way with his sports skills! Yesterday he beat his dad and the missionaries we had over for dinner at a game of Around the World on our little basketball hoop-- and Brigham wasn't trying to let him win!

Jacob is really into turning on lights and closing doors these days. I feel bad for Benjamin because every morning when Jacob gets up, first he turns on their light and then he slams the door shut-- usually multiple times for good measure. He's also very into getting into the fridge these days. He usually just likes to drink any milk in sippies and then play with the drawers and such, but Ty thinks it's awesome--he'll unload it while the door's open. This morning I got out of the shower and walked out of my room to find the open mustard bottle lying on the carpet-- the dynamic duo in action once again.

Ty has got to be the cutest little boy on the planet right now. He is just bursting with personality. He likes my ring tone and dances every time it rings. He also adores his big brothers. Even though Jacob shuts him in the door or shuts him in a room on a fairly regular basis, Ty still gets geeked out of his mind every afternoon when he sees Jacob getting off the bus. Ty positively adores Benjamin. He loves to try to play ball and wrestle with him. In fact, Benjamin's name is one of Ty's few recognizable words. It's adorable to see the big brother worship in action already.

How fun it is to be a family! It's not always fun or easy, but it's awesome!

From Cute kids

Albuquerque Half Marathon

2010-04-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Brigham and I ran the Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Half Marathon-- our first and last race in Albuquerque. It rained all night before the race, but like in Camelot, it cleared up with the dawn. We were grateful for that because the forecast called for rain.

The race itself was interesting. As we all lined up at the start, the first words out of the race official's mouth were, "This course is well marked." I think most of the runners would disagree because about 200 yards into the race the leading pack (including Brigham) took a wrong turn and ran the wrong way for about a tenth of a mile before figuring it out. They came thundering back just in time for us all to get bottle-necked at a 2 person bridge that went over a little stream. We literally had to stop and wait in line to cross the bridge! On the other side of the bridge was what should have been a beautiful walking path, but thanks to the rain the night before was a muddy wallow. The next two miles of the course we were running through the mud. It was pretty awesome. Mud was flying everywhere, people were sliding into each other, and each foot felt like it carried two pounds of mud on it. The mudslide ended with a steep little hill onto the blessed pavement where I very nearly ended up on my backside-- eliciting sympathetic remarks from the runners behind me (who carefully avoided following in my footsteps, I'm sure). The rest of the course was actually quite nice. I did well until right as I was passing mile marker 5 when my right knee suddenly seized up. It was very painful and I felt like I couldn't straighten it out. I didn't know what to do. With a big relay race coming up in June should I pull out to avoid further injury? I limped along for about 3/4 of a mile and then it finally started to relax again. It still hurt, but at least I didn't feel like like I was dragging my leg along anymore. I started to get back into a groove around mile 9, but was seized by a murderous side-ache around mile 11. I continued to propel my sorry self forward, and when I got to mile 12 I saw that my goal (finishing under 2 hours) was still attainable if I pushed myself. So I pushed and crossed the finish line at 1:59:34. Brigham on the other hand, had the race of his life-- in spite of running the wrong way, getting stopped at the bridge, and running through the mud. He kept surprising himself by running faster than his goal mile splits. He kept waiting to burn out, but he never did. He took third place in his age division with a 1:36:49! It's been all he can do to escape the media, choose from potential sponsors, and decline speaking engagements. He actually did have someone offer him a coaching position at a junior high! Watch out Boston, here comes Brigham!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

Between General Conference and Easter, it was a great weekend around here. Jacob and Ty didn't really catch the vision of gathering Easter eggs, much to Benjamin's benefit. Ty did discover that the foil-wrapped carmel eggs were tasty however, which was a huge oversight on the Easter Bunny's part as they were definitely a choking hazard when stuffed into his mouth whole. Although he wasn't interested in gathering eggs, he was VERY good at finding the chocolate eggs and popping them in his mouth on the sly.

Home Tour

2010-03-22T18:00:00.001-07:00

So today the home tour for our home listing was finished, and the seller's agent sent it to us for fun. We thought you might like to see it.

Check it out!

Brigham spent the day sending them more and more paperwork that they requested, so we are still not officially under contract, but we still expect to be-- hopefully tomorrow if all goes well.

Mission Accomplished!

2010-03-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

After almost nine years of marriage, Brigham and I are finally about to join the home-owners club! We spent the last week in Utah and looked at EVERY house on the market that fit our criteria. I'm sure that we saw more than 50 homes. At the end of 3 days, we had 4 that met most of our criteria (though not all), and we knew that it was time to make an offer. I was disappointed that there hadn't been a single home that had made my heart sing, but time was running out. The home we liked the best was overpriced (as determined by comparables sold in the neighborhood) by about $100,000, but we decided to make an offer to see if the owners would see the light. They didn't. I really struggled with the idea of making an offer on our 2nd choice for some reason, so I asked to see it one more time. When our realtor (Brigham's dad-- he was extremely patient with us-- thanks, Dad!) tried to make an appointment, he was told that there were already 3 offers on the house and that one had been accepted. The other two homes that we had at the top of our list were good homes, but we just didn't feel like we should spend that much money on a home that was missing several key elements that we wanted. We were discouraged and started talking about the possiblity of renting when we moved and continuing the hunt then, but the thought of pulling our kids out of their schools again after who knows how long made me miserable. As I looked back on events, I felt strongly that we were being guided to somewhere-- I just had no idea where. When we got back to where our kids were, I felt strongly that I didn't want to give up, but the only thing I knew I could do was look at the new listings from the previous 2 days that we hadn't checked. We literally had seen everything else. So I jumped on the computer and looked, and lo and behold-- there was a new listing that met our criteria. It had been listed only 2 days earlier, and it looked great from the 5 pictures they had posted. I immediately shouted to Brigham, "I've found our home! We need to go see it now!" His dad got on the phone right then and set up the appointment, and away we went. To make a long story short, we saw it a couple of hours later, and it was love at first sight. It had everything that we wanted and more. It was located in northern Sandy-- almost exactly half way between the two hospitals where Brigham will work, had a big back yard with a basketball court, a great play structure, and plenty of grass for a soccer game. It has a beautiful kitchen and a large family room in the basement. We could hardly contain ourselves as we walked through it-- we knew it was our house. We also knew that it wouldn't last, so we stayed up to midnight filling out all the paperwork to make an offer. First thing the next morning we sent it off, and it is a good thing because the next morning it had two more showings-- one of which was a second showing for someone who intended to put in an offer afterwards. Fortunately, ours was already in and had been accepted (verbally)! It really was a blessing that it all worked out the way it did. It was such a great house in such a good location for a good price that our broker said that there's no way it would have lasted through the weekend. Had it been listed before we arrived or even a few days later, we would have missed it. Had I not seen it right when I did, we may not have gotten our offer in first, and we might have lost it. We are verbally under contract until tomorrow when it should become official, and we have been giddy with excitement ever since Friday when we got word that our offer had been accepted. How grateful we are for the many blessings that have been poured out on us!

A Prayer Answered

2010-03-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

Ty came down with croup last Saturday and has been a pretty miserable baby until today when he seems to finally be feeling a little better. I mentioned previously that Ty has his bear, whom he loves fiercely. Well, the day before yesterday, Bear disappeared mysteriously. We usually try to keep him in the crib, but we were being more relaxed about it because Ty was so miserable. I searched high and low for Bear and even offered to pay Benjamin a dollar if he could find him, but with no luck. Finally, I said a prayer in my heart to ask Heavenly Father to help us find Bear because I thought it might help cheer Ty up. Not long afterwards, I had the feeling that I should check in the garbage. I brushed it off, but awhile later I had the same thought come into my mind that I should check the garbage. I reluctantly went over to the garbage and opened the lid. It was almost completely full, and pretty gross. I poked around in it for a minute, but I didn't see Bear, so I let it go. But I kept having the same feeling, "What if Bear is in the garbage?" So when the time came to take the garbage out to the dumpster, I poked around more thoroughly, and low and behold-- there was Bear! Bear had a bath, and then he and Ty had a happy reunion. I don't always get answers to my prayers so quickly and so obviously, but it was very touching to me to know that the Master of the Universe loves Ty enough and me enough to help us find a silly stuffed animal that would have been lost forever without some intervention. How humbled and grateful I feel!

Benjamin-- MVP

2010-03-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

As dictated by Benjamin: I had a soccer game yesterday. I scored 5 goals! My previous record was two. My team had got 12 goals all together. The other team only got one. I had a really good game. I had about six steals. Isn't that amazing?

He's not exaggerating-- he was on FIRE! It was really fun to watch. The weather was perfect (low 60's), so it made for a great day. If only Ty had been well, it would have been the perfect afternoon! Benjamin looks forward to playing for his adoring fans in Utah soon!

So Precious

2010-02-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

Our little Tiger is one busy baby. The kid never stops! He loves adventure and danger and certainly NEVER takes the course of least resistance. The more challenging something is, the more he wants to do it. He plays hard and then he sleeps hard. I can never resist peeking in at least once per nap to see my sleeping baby-- maybe because it's the only time that he holds still long enough to get a good look! He LOVES his bear, and he always cuddles with it when he sleeps, which I think is adorable.

From Ty Sleeping

PS--Ty makes a "raaah!" sound whenever he sees a bear or a lion-- so cute! Today he started roaring in the foyer at church, and I didn't get it until I followed his gaze to a picture of a lion and a lamb!

Crazy Days

2010-02-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

We are now only weeks away from house hunting in Utah, and I am so excited that I can hardly stand it! Brigham and I spend most of our free moments looking at homes online, reading "Home Buying for Dummies", and doing everything we can to try to find the perfect home for our little family. There are so many things to factor into the decision-- it's just crazy! We welcome all tips from those of you home-owning veterans out there.

Our kiddos are as cute as ever. Benjamin's soccer starts back up this week, so that is exciting. Jacob is showing more interest in writing, and his teacher called me yesterday to say that he can write his own name with just a little support under his hand!! She's been trying to email me a video clip of it, but has been having trouble with her email account, so as soon as I get it, I'll have to share. I've seen him write what looks like a "J", but then it turns into scribbles-- probably because I don't support his hand. I'm excited to learn to do it right. Ty spends his days unloading cupboards and drawers and strewing the items all over the house. Our house is far from a model of cleanliness. Good thing we don't have to worry about trying to sell it-- I think I'd go crazy trying to keep it clean all the time!

Partners in Crime

2010-02-10T13:59:00.000-08:00

Ty and Jacob are quite the dynamic duo. In some ways they couldn't be more different (Ty is a total outdoors boy and Jacob prefers being inside), but when it comes to making messes, they really make quite the team. Ty pulls everything out of cupboards and drawers, and Jacob chews on it. Both boys currently have an obsession with flushing the toilet. Thankfully, Ty is still too short to get into the bathroom without help, but Jacob is a big boy now and can do it himself. Once he's in, his little side-kick is not far behind. Ty likes to splash in the water and drop things in, and Jacob LOVES to watch things go down, so teaming up is really a win-win situation for them. On many occasions I've found the two of them having a ball in the bathroom: Jacob's put one end of the toilet paper in the toilet and they are having a great time watching in go down and splashing. I console myself by thinking of all of the brotherly bonding going on as they work their mischief together.

Benjamin, thankfully, has moved beyond flushing the toilet. He is so preoccupied with sports these days (especially BYU basketball) that it's amazing he can function in any way that isn't sports-related. Many of you probably remember his obsession with dinosaurs when he was three. Well, the same passion and fervor that he had for dinosaurs back then is what he feels for basketball and football now. Every spare moment of his life is spent throwing a ball of some sort right now. He bombards me with all kinds of detailed sports questions throughout the day, no matter how many times he hears the same answer: "I have no idea. Ask your dad!" I have a feeling that all of my knowledge about Pretty Ponies, Jane Austen novels, and ballroom dancing is not going to be appreciated much in this house.

Ty Turns One!

2010-01-24T18:54:00.000-08:00

Wow--it's official: my baby is one! Where has the time gone? Ty is such a bundle of joy that it has gone entirely too quickly! He is my fearless, adventurous, outdoorsy, fun-loving baby...er, toddler.

We just had a little family party for him after church today. He didn't get the joy of opening presents, but that is just as well, because I doubt that we could have contained Jacob anyway. So Jacob opened the gifts, and Ty loved and enjoyed all of them-- even the box of Life (Ty's favorite cereal) that Benjamin gave to him. He carried that box around for a long time, shaking it and bringing it to me to get some. We couldn't get him to be interested in anything else for a long time! One year olds are just great! I took a lot of video and some pictures with Brigham's iPhone, but since he isn't here right now, I'll just post what I took with our camera and add some more later.

Happy birthday, Ty! We love you!

Fun at the Zoo

2010-01-20T18:36:00.000-08:00

The boys only have a half day of school on Wednesdays, and since Brigham had the day off, we decided to make the most of it and go to the zoo! It was a little chilly, but we had the place all to ourselves, which was a ton of fun. The play structure there is usually crawling with children, making it hard for Jacob and Ty to be able to play, but today we had a blast doing whatever we wanted. Ty, our crazy little nut-job who knows no fear, LOVED going down the slides head-first. Thanks to Brigham's iPhone (which I have become converted to, by the way), you can experience the wonder of the zoo with us!

Big Day

2010-01-17T19:41:00.000-08:00

Today was a big day for the Dastrups at church. The biggest news is that after 3 years of nursery, Jacob finally became a Sunbeam and went to primary like a big boy! He was a little disoriented and concerned when I dropped him off with his new teachers and class, but his teachers are really sweet and wonderful, and they said that he did really well! They told me that his laugh is infectious and that he had the whole class laughing with him. We're so happy to feel like he is in a good situation.

Benjamin's big change today is that he moved from Junior Primary to Senior Primary. The presidency felt like Benjamin and his classmates were so smart that they should be in sr. primary even though they are only six. Just kidding. Actually, the truth is that our ward has too many jr. primary kids to fit in one room, so they had to advance a few classes to sr. primary early to make room for the younger ones. Benjamin said that he likes his new class and the change.

The other big news of the day is that Benjamin is going to be doing a piano solo in sharing time sometime soon. Yes, that's right-- a piano solo. He informed us on the way home from church that he signed up to do one in primary. We were a little concerned since he doesn't know how to play the piano, but he just informed us that he wasn't worried-- he just planned to get up there and play something. We tried to explain that you can't just sit down and play a song on an instrument that you've never learned to play, but he's pretty convinced that we are wrong-- how hard can it be?? I think I'd better make some phone calls...

Cuddles

2010-01-13T09:15:00.001-08:00

The other day I was shocked and delighted to see Ty cuddling into Jacob while they watched Baby Bumblebee together (Yes, I DO let my children watch TV sometimes. Call me a bad parent if you want to, but all I can say is come walk a mile in my shoes.). I was shocked because Jacob usually pulls Ty's hair if he's close enough to touch, and Ty rarely holds still long enough for anyone to hug him. But there they were-- cuddled together with Jacob occasionally stroking Ty's hair. It was a precious moment that warmed my heart clear through! Of course, once I pulled out the camera, Benjamin wanted to be part of the action, too.

Speaking of Benjamin, why is it that when he has a whole closet full of cute clothing, he always wears the two ugly shirts that I keep around for messy activities?

Great Guide for Resolutions!

2010-01-06T18:12:00.001-08:00

I'm sure that most of you already have your New Year's resolutions made, but I came across this talk a few days ago that I thought was great. We all want to be better people, and this talk outlines some areas we should set some goals in. It's definitely worth your time to read. Click here to read it!

A Glimpse

2010-01-05T15:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took the two little boys with me to the grocery store. Benjamin was playing at a friend's house, so I mercifully only had to take the little two. About a half mile down the road, I realized that I'd forgotten Jacob's shoes. You may wonder why he didn't have them on before getting in the car, and the answer is that he just takes them off once in the car and chews on his socks. I thought about going back for them, but I decided against it since last week at the store he just took both them and his socks off and threw them out of the cart (I probably wouldn't have even noticed if the wheel hadn't gotten stuck on one of the shoes. Luckily, both shoes were recovered, but the socks were a loss). Anyway, the rest of the way to the store I pondered how I was going to get my shoeless Jacob and Ty both into the store. I realized that I had two options. #1-- Find a car cart (you know, the big ones with a little car on the front for kids to "drive"-- it's my only option when I have both Jacob and Ty with me) in the parking lot and park close to it so I could put Jacob right in. #2-- Carry my 40 lb. Jacob and 20 lb. Ty both into the store at the same time. I'm not extactly Hercules, so let's just say that all the way to the store I was praying that we'd find a car cart in the parking lot. The last cart corral I checked in the parking lot had a car cart in it, so I sent a quick "thank you" heaven-ward and triumphantly loaded Jacob into it. My triumph didn't last long, though, because soon I saw that all the infant seat belts had been cut out. I looked around for another car cart, but there were none to be found, so I girded up my loins and set out to get the groceries.

Ty only made it to the second isle before he decided that sitting tamely is for wimps and that he prefers going surfer-style. I stopped to try to reason with him, but neither snacks nor toys could persuade him to stay sitting down. Jacob started to get mad because his car wasn't going, so I handed him a book, put Ty on my hip, and tried to navigate our bus of a cart with only one hand. Then Jacob decided he was tired of his book, so he threw it out.

What seemed like ages later, we finally had all necessary groceries in the cart, and I pulled into the line for the cashier. Jacob was within arm's reach of all the candy (why do they have to put it there anyway???), so I was nervous, but fortunately the plastic coily thing that they use to rope off isles was also hanging there at his eye-level, and he attacked it instead. With Jacob chewing happily on the store's plastic coil, I breathed a sigh of relief and tried to put Ty back into the cart. No go-- surfer boy was still firmly entrenched in his desires. I put him in the back of the cart with the groceries which he promptly started climbing to try to get out. It was a race between us to see if I could get all of the groceries out of the cart before he used them as steps to get out. The lady in line in front of us was staring, but I deliberately avoided eye contact.

Finally the circus came to an end, and when the bagger asked if I wanted some help getting out, for a half of a second I thought about saying yes and handing Ty to him, but I took a deep breath and said, "No thanks. I can manage." For I am Supermom!

Christmas in the "Q"

2009-12-27T18:25:00.000-08:00

What a great day! We missed being around family, but knowing that this was our last Christmas without our other loved ones made it all okay. Our dear friends invited us over for Christmas dinner, and we had a great time complete with the Nativity and violin performances by both Brigham and Benjamin. On Christmas Eve I slept on an air mattress at the end of the hall to prevent any little Christmas creepers from getting into the presents before we were all awake. I woke up at 5:45 to Benjamin saying, "Wake up, Mom! It's Christmas!" I made him wait a whole 10 minutes until his other brothers woke up, and then the magic began! All I can say is that Christmas is so much more fun when you have little kids! For all the trouble that Jacob gets into, he makes up for it (well, almost all of it) on Christmas morning. He was SO excited to open presents that he was actually shaking as he opened his first few! It was so cute! And he was so excited about his presents. Santa brought him some CARS pillow books (made of cloth-- maybe these will last a little longer), and he sat and looked at them for probably 20 minutes before he was ready for his next gift. Benjamin was excited and running around and was so cute and so good. Not once did we hear, "Hey, that's not fair!" Little Ty was just content to push one of Jacob's boxes around the room. After opening all of our wonderful gifts, we had a turkey dinner and spent the afternoon playing some of the games that we got. In the evening we watched The First Christmas and reflected on what the day is all about. It was a terrific day!

Jacob-- Master of the House

2009-12-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

It has been only minutes since I regained possesion of our house and Jacob Dax. Today is garbage day, so after getting Benjamin out the door for school, I took Ty and pushed the garbage can to the street. Thirty seconds later when we got back to the house, we found the door locked and Jacob twisting the knob from the inside. I called to him to unlock the door, but surprisingly (ha, ha), he didn't. I checked all the other doors-- all locked. Trying not to panic, I went to my neighbor's house to get our spare key I'd left with her, only to find her father-in-law there watching the kids since they'd left for AZ this morning. We called her, but she couldn't remember where she'd put the key. Eventually, my neighbor's father-in-law pulled the screen out of one of our windows and broke in. Jacob was sitting there listening to music-- content in his new-found freedom and power. Little stinker. I think he's got some coal coming his way.

In other Dastrup news, Benjamin made his teacher a Christmas card yesterday.It read, "Merry Christmas Ms. Zuni. You are the beast teacher ever! From Benjamin" It was awesome. I wanted to leave it, but Brigham thought it best to correct his spelling.

For those of you who just can't get enough of our cute children, here's a little video clip for your viewing pleasure:

Not Wanting to Be Outdone By a Girl...

2009-12-16T18:26:00.000-08:00

Ty's cousin Emmy (who is about 7 weeks older than Ty) just started walking about a week and a half ago, and apparently, Ty couldn't take being outdone by a girl. Today, right in the middle of Jacob's parent-teacher conference, he just decided that he could walk. Talk about a distraction! Jacob's teacher was in the middle of a sentence when all of the sudden Ty started walking around. I felt a little bad because she completely lost all of our focus, but what can you do when your baby starts walking for the first time? Personally, I think he's been capable of walking for awhile but just waited until he had a good audience. I'll admit that I felt a twinge of jealousy (okay, a flood is more like it) that I was not the object of his first pedestrian experience. No, it was a cell phone that inspired him to go biped. What do you suppose that means???

Thanksgiving Fun

2009-12-03T10:50:00.000-08:00

This year we were happy to have many of our Dastrup family members come to join us for Thanksgiving. We all had a wonderful time together. Thanksgiving day started off with a 5k Turkey Trot that Brigham designed for us. We didn't think that Benjamin would be able to run the whole thing, but we assigned him to stay with his aunt and do as much as he could. We were shocked when he was keeping up with us until we forbid him to continue because he was leaving his aunt in the dust. He surprised us not only by running the whole thing, but by finishing off with an 8:00 mile when Brigham went back for him after he was done! We wonder what he could have done if he had been allowed to run as fast as he wanted to the whole time! As it was, he finished the 3.1 miles in 33 minutes and took 3rd place in the race! We were very proud of him! After a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and eggs, we headed out for the Dastrup family football game. Benjamin was a lot better this year, and both teams wanted him, so he took turns playing on both. It was a great game and a lot of fun. The feast that afternoon was delicious, and the company was better. We had a great day. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Dastrup, Aunt Lizzie, Aunt Annie and Uncle Tyson and baby April for making the trip and for all your help in making it a Thanksigiving to remember!

Announcement

2009-11-19T19:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, in case you haven't heard already, we have an announcement to make. I realize that it has only been just shy of ten months since we had our last addition to the family, but I guess when it's time, it's time. The latest addition to the Dastrup family arrived today at 11:23 am by FedEx. Weighing in at less than a pound, Brigham's new iPhone 3GS has made it's debut! Poor Brigham was not here for the happy event since he is still doing his rotation in Gallup, but he was giddy with joy just talking about the pending arrival. He claims that his giddiness is due to the financial responsibility that comes along with our new arrival (which is nothing since his department bought it for him and is paying for the increase on our monthly bill with "educational money" until we move to Utah and St. Marks kindly takes over the payments), but I suspect the true joy comes from the anticipation of hours of one-on-one time with his new baby and helping it to acquire new tricks. I'll try to post some pictures after this weekend when we can finally spend time together as an entire family unit!

Swined

2009-11-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

As much as we love having visitors, I recommend that everyone stay as far away from our place as possible for awhile. Although Benjamin had a day when he felt better, he is very sick again. Yesterday I spent from 3:30-7:30 pm at the pediatric clinic (with all 3 little boys-- can I just say how excited I am that we are moving to Utah so I never have to have such harrowing experiences as that ever again??) while they did chest x-rays on Benjamin and gave him IV fluids. I was sick myself, but fortunately I didn't start vomiting until after we got home. Then I called Brigham in Gallup and asked if he could please come home. Fortunately, he is able to switch his Saturday shift to next week and is here taking care of all of us. Ty woke up with a fever this morning (which could just be a reaction to the 2 flu shots he got yesterday), but poor Benjamin is the one we are still very concerned about. He threw up all night long and still can't drink. Brigham's currently gone to get him an anti-nausea prescription, but unless that works, he'll be back in the hospital by later today. As my sister Cambrie put it when she had her bout with this nastiness, "H1N1 NE1?"

Dastrup Daily

2009-11-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

Benjamin and I are reading the second Harry Potter book together, and I've decided that it is a great idea. Benjamin got over his crush on me awhile ago, and while I realize that this is a good thing, I have to admit that I miss his expressions of undying love and even his marriage proposals. The last few days, however, Benjamin has said to me on several occasions, "Mom, you are the greatest mom in the whole world. I'm so glad that you are my mom. Thank you for not being like Harry's Aunt and Uncle... Thanks for being nice to me and not locking me up." Voila! Once again I am the worlds greatest mom! Thank you, J.K.!

For those of you wondering how Jacob's potty training is going, the answer is very slowly. He did go potty in the toilet once yesterday and once again today, but it certainly wasn't voluntary. I can tell that he hasn't made the connection in his mind yet that excreting in the toilet is the reason I'm making him sit there. I know he'll get it, but I do think it will be a LONG project! Last night as I listened to Ty crying for about an hour in the middle of the night, I decided that I must like to torture myself-- potty training Jacob and sleep training a teething Ty at the same time-- while Brigham is gone to Gallup four days a week. Tonight I've decided to pull out my leg hairs with tweezers just to keep it real around here.

Breaking News Flash...

2009-11-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

Ty's first upper tooth was spotted peeking out of his gums just moments ago! My baby is growing up so fast, and there's nothing I can do about it!

Super Ty

2009-11-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

Scales slides with ease...

Potty Training: Day 1

2009-11-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

Success! Jacob goes #1 in the potty twice and #2 once at school!!! (Large amounts of juice + no escape from the potty = success.) A huge accomplishment! Mom, however, is unable to recreate the success due to her need to take care of other children instead of hanging out in the bathroom endlessly. Attempted to potty several times without luck for about 20 minutes each time. Jacob had two accidents before Mom abandoned the effort during the dinner/get kids ready for bed hour. Effort would be easier and quite possibly more successful if husband were not in Gallup until Sunday. Currently seeking guidance from teacher as to how to proceed.

Walk Like a Man

2009-11-04T07:53:00.000-08:00

For any of you who missed it on Facebook, here is Ty with his new push toy:

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T18:38:00.001-08:00

Benjamin was a little bummed that his school didn't have a Halloween party this year (they had a pajama party instead), but as it turns out, it was probably a blessing. After the last two nights, we have WAY TOO MUCH CANDY!!

Friday night was the ward Trunk-or-Treat, and although Jacob was afraid of the costumed treat-givers at first, after chewing through a Twix wrapper and thus disposing of its contents, he decided that maybe they weren't so bad. Both boys got quite enough that night, but the suggestion that we call it good was not received very well. Halloween day we were lucky enough to have Uncle Travis come into town for a job interview, so we had fun sharing our festivities with him. Benjamin had his last soccer game of the fall season, and he helped end it with a bang by scoring a goal!

Halloween night we took all three boys around for about a half an hour, and then Daddy and Uncle Travis took the little boys home, and I accompanied Benjamin on his continued quest for candy. After awhile it got cold and Benjamin was starting to complain about the weight of his treat bag, so I suggested that we call it a night. We were trick-or-treating with Benjamin's friend and his mom (our next-door neighbors), and they were aghast that I would consider calling it a night so early. They offered to take my poor, maltreated child along with them for some more candy hunting, and I gave in. Benjamin came home to unload some of his haul and get a jacket, and then went back out to pound the pavement. When he finally came home, he had an OUTRAGEOUS amount of candy-- it was literally brimming over in his big candy bag! Back in MY day, (when we had to walk to school in two feet of snow uphill both ways, I realize) we came home with a bag with a quarter of the candy he got (if we were lucky!), and most of the goods consisted of Dum-dums, Smarties, Sweet-Tarts, and those disgusting Mary Janes that no one would ever trade with you. A fun-sized candy bar was the best! (And while I'm on the topic of fun-sized candy bars, did anyone else notice that the Mars ones are smaller this year? Not length-wise, but height-wise. They are shorter! Penny pinchers...) As much as Benjamin got this year, I did notice that people actually scaled back from last year. Last year he got a decent number of goody bags given to him on the doorstep-- this year he only came home with one. But I'm worried that we've created a monster here. What if from now on he's disappointed with his haul if the bag isn't full? We are moving back to the land of Dum-Dums and Mary Janes, after all...

After making a respectable dent in the boys' candy after dinner today, we decided maybe we should go for a walk. We went to the Bosque-- the trees near the Rio Grande, and it was a gorgeous fall day! Our caloric intake was in no way neutralized by our sauntering pace, but we enjoyed ourselves very much. We'll be going back again soon.

Sharing

2009-10-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

Behold Jacob's "chewy". It clips onto his shirt so that he has something to chew on all the time, which has decreased the overall destruction in our home significantly. Ty's been eyeing it for a few days now, wondering why it was so great that Jacob never goes anywhere without it. Today he decided to find out. And Jacob being the loving big brother that he is, decided to share the joy. I found them sitting together chewing away contentedly.

New Tricks

2009-10-28T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well, dear blog readers, now that we are employed, I'm afraid that our news just isn't going to have the same level of excitement for you. No more interviews or speculation about where we'll end up...

To try to make you feel better, I'll start by sharing one of the precious moments of my day. I heard Benjamin yelling from the bathroom, "Mom! I'm going potty and Ty's in here splashing in the water!" I ran in to find Benjamin holding up the toilet seat watching Ty splash happily in the pretty yellow water. Ty's other trick that he started today made me a lot happier: He started waving! Brigham walked into the room, and Ty waved at him! I thought it might be a fluke, but Brigham walked out of the room and then walked back in, and it happened again! Sometimes it's hard for me not to think that he is the most amazing kid in the whole world since he follows Jacob who meets milestones a lot later-- Jacob only mastered waving about a month ago! (I have to confess that even though Ty's milestone achievements amaze me, Jacob's THRILL me.)

Jacob's also learned some new tricks. He learned how to turn the light on a couple of weeks ago, and today he learned how to turn on the CD player. So tonight a few minutes after I put him to bed I was surprised to see the light shining under the door and hear "Old MacDonald" pumping as well. I went in and found Jacob bouncing on Benjamin's bed and partying it up. I had to turn the CD player all the way off and tape the light switch to keep him from pulling an all-nighter. What a kid! He's decided that he REALLY doesn't like to wear diapers, and I am forced to put overalls that are criss-crossed in the front on top of his school clothes to keep him from taking off his pants and diaper every two minutes. Potty training will probably begin next week, and while I am sure that it will be a very LONG and PAINFUL process, I'm ready to just do it!

Benjamin's new favorite past time is playing football with the neighbor boys, and he's taken a new interest in BYU football, which couldn't make his dad happier. He's counting down the days until Halloween and prays in every prayer that the days until then will be filled with fun things so that it will feel like they go faster.

I love a quote that my dear friend passed along to me, "The days are long, but the years are short." It's so true! What a time-intensive, wonderful, fun family I have!

Employed!!!

2009-10-24T17:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true: After six and a half years of post-graduate training, we finally have a "real" job! And where are we going?? Salt Lake City, Utah! It's true! The prodigals are finally returning home, so get those fatted calves ready because we are going to party!

We knew that the St. Marks group was meeting last Wednesday to make their decision, but we didn't expect to hear from them the same day. Just as Brigham was walking into his interview with the second group in Las Vegas, he saw an 801 number calling his phone, but he didn't get it since he was just about to go in. He listened to the message though, and was surprised to hear that it was from the director of the St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake. So all during his interview, he had to sit and wonder if they were calling to offer him a job. After the interview was over, he saw that the director had called again. He called him back, and the director told him that the group had unanimously picked Brigham as their first choice for the job! Brigham asked for 24 hours to talk it over with me, and you can imagine my surprise when Brigham came back to the condo and told me that he was offered the job at St. Marks when I was expecting a report on his Vegas interview. That night the Vegas group took us out for a very nice dinner, and they seemed like great people making a LOT of money (they talked casually about their fancy cars, cabins, and exotic vacations). It was a little painful to say good-bye to the possibilty of making so much money, honestly, but taking the job at St. Marks just felt right. We didn't post something sooner because we wanted to wait until Brigham actually signed the contract just in case, but the deed is now done! So at long last, the Dastrups are homeward bound!

Vegas Part II

2009-10-21T14:10:00.001-07:00

What a great vacation this is! It's been the perfect combination between fun and relaxing. Yesterday we spent the morning driving around Vegas with a realtor to get a feel for the city and where we might like to live if we end up here. The truth is that I've been very pleasantly surprised by the city. It's actually quite pretty. It's got a lot of the xeriscaping of Albuquerque, but it also has a lot of palm trees-- making it look greener overall. All of the mountains around it make the landscape more interesting, too. I think that if we end up here, we could be quite happy.

We spent yesterday afternoon on the strip watching the Bellagio's dancing fountain, checking out their indoor fall-themed garden, and just taking in the sights. Then we had dinner at a wonderful Chinese restaurant (which had a bathroom attendant-- talk about awkward! In Vanna-style she showed me the soap dispenser and then hovered over my shoulder with a paper towel for me. The counter was strewn with candy dishes, lotions, perfumes, etc. but I didn't dare check any of them out with Vanna standing there. Then I noticed a tip jar for Ms. Paper Towel, so I got out of there as fast as I could!) and went to see the Blue Man Group perform. What a fun show! I didn't realize that it would be more than percussion-- it had some fun tricks and a lot of comedy involved, too. Brett wanted to know if it was worth the price, and even though it was great, I'd have to say no. It would be worth $20-$40 a ticket I think, but if you have to choose between that and a Broadway show, I'd say go with the show for sure.

This morning we headed into Vegas's red rock mountain area and went for a run there. It was beautiful. We stopped in the middle and did some climbing on the rocks (as opposed to "rock climbing" which actually takes some degree of skill and expertise). Benjamin would have loved it!

Right now Brigham is gone to his fourth and final interview that we have lined up so far. It will be good to get this last piece of the puzzle put into place so that we can see the whole picture!

Viva Las Vegas!

2009-10-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

Talk about luxury: I just woke up at 8:45 and crawled out of bed after a night of eating at a delicious buffet (of course I gorged myself mostly on crab and shrimp, but I also enjoyed many tasty things such as seaweed salad, sushi, squid salad, exotic olives, smoked salmon, smoked trout, and finished it off with some amazing desserts!) and seeing the Lion King, which was amazing! And after sleeping in, I just came over and turned on the computer-- no changing diapers, getting Jacob's meds, getting breakfast for hungry boys, getting ready for buses, etc, etc, etc! My dear in-laws are doing all of that while I lounge on the couch here waiting for Brigham to wake up. And while I really do miss my chiquitos, I must say that I am thoroughly enjoying myself! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mom and Dad Dastrup!

Brigham also had his first Vegas interview yesterday. It went well and we are finding it hard to make decisions between so many good options! Obviously, we may not have the choice of choosing between all of them since we may not be offered a job everywhere, so maybe that will make it easier for us. Both Utah jobs said that we should probably know by the end of the month, and this job said by the first week of November, so maybe we won't have to be in suspense that much longer. What did we used to talk about before the job search began??

Angel Hair

2009-10-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

From Angel Hair

I just have to share these pictures of my darling baby! He is such a sweet boy, and it pains me and excites me to see him growing so fast. He's babbling up a storm now (to my great relief) and has started standing independently for short periods of time. He LOVES going outside more than anything. This his love of the great outdoors almost gave me a heart attack this morning, actually. I took the boys for a run, and when we got home, we were in a rush to get Benjamin off to school. After that I changed Jacob's diaper and made Ty's bottle. Towards the latter end of the change, I started getting nervous because I couldn't hear Ty. (All moms know that is usually a bad sign.) I thought he was probably unrolling the toilet paper roll in the bathroom (another favorite), and when I took his bottle to find him, I was horrified to see the front door standing open. Apparently, Benjamin hadn't closed it all the way. I threw the bottle and went sprinting out with my heart in my throat, but fortunately, my little escaped Tiger is a curious fellow and had probably stopped to taste every rock and bug he encountered. I recaptured him at the turn in our sidewalk, but it took a good while for my heart rate to return to normal.

Other of Ty's passions include getting into the dishwasher and the refridgerator.

From Angel Hair

One Down...

2009-10-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

Brigham had his first job interview today! Obviously, I wasn't there, but it sounds like it went well. It also sounds like there were many applicants for the position. We won't know whether they will offer him the job until the end of the month most likely. Exciting times!

A First!

2009-10-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

How many parents cry when their kid brings home a birthday party invitation from school? I realize that I may be in the minority, but I just couldn't help it! Jacob got invited to his first birthday party ever by one of the kids in his class. I've always been worried that Jacob would go through his entire childhood without ever being invited to a birthday party, so it was such a sweet thing for me to find that invitation in his backpack! The sad thing is that the party will be at this place that has a ton of blow-up bouncy-castle things in it, and Jacob is mortally afraid of them at this stage of his life. He falls apart if we even start going near one! So he won't be attending the party, but I will sleep easier just knowing that he was invited!

Meaningful Moment for Mom

2009-10-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

Benjamin shared his testimony in church for the first time today. Frankly, I was quite surprised! He's always been a little shy, so to see him step up in front of the whole congregation and say that he knows that Jesus suffered for all of our sins so we can go back to Him someday was a really neat moment for us. What a great kid!

Balloon Fiesta 2009

2009-10-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of the things that we will miss the most about Albuquerque. It is just so awesome to be able to be right there among hundreds of huge balloons! Mom Groneman joined us this year, and we were glad to be able to share one of our favorite Albuquerque events with her. Cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate helped to make it an even more choice experience. Long live the Balloon Fiesta!

Benjamin's Metamorphosis

2009-10-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

Since he was a baby, Benjamin has always been our "safety kid." I blame myself, really. As my first baby, I was always hovering behind him, waiting to catch him whenever he fell down. I can't complain too much, however, since his cautiousness has always made my job easier. I never had to worry about him trying out dangerous playground equipment or climbing on things. Learning to ride a bike without training wheels was a long ordeal, due to a couple of minor tumbles. After a couple of weeks of white-knuckled, half-hearted trys, Benjamin announced to me, "I've decided that I don't want to ride a bike anymore. You just need to buy me a scooter." Being out of ideas, I resorted to bribery and told him that once he could ride his bike without training wheels we'd get him a scooter. After a few more weeks, it finally clicked. Since then he's been showing me all of his bike "tricks", such as standing up on the pedals, holding on with only one hand, etc. So you can imagine my surprise when he called me out to see his new trick and I saw him doing this:

Fortunately I was able to restrain the "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?? GET DOWN FROM THERE BEFORE YOU BREAK YOUR SKULL!" that immediately surged to my lips.

You just don't expect Barney to turn into Evil Knievel.

Better and Better

2009-10-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

I just have to take a minute to share our happiness in seeing Jacob's progress. He is doing so well! While there are things that he still can't do or doesn't tolerate, the list is a good bit shorter than it was. Only last year he couldn't handle big crowds or new places. Now they don't seem to phase him a bit. Last year when we took him to Disneyland, I prayed for weeks beforehand and experienced a good bit of anxiety about how he would take it. (My prayers were answered, actually-- the morning of Disneyland he got sick and was sick enough to just sit in his stroller the whole day-- poor little guy.) Now I think that he would LOVE Disneyland. He used to cry all durning sacrament meeting because he wanted to go to nursery, but now as long as he has things to do, he'll be happy. He used to refuse to go down the slide at the playground, but now he'll tackle the big slides all by himself. He sleeps in a toddler bed (or Benjamin's bed if it isn't occupied), feeds himself with a spoon, rides the bus without crying, waves "hi" and "good-bye", and even raises his hand at school when the teacher asks who wants to do the calendar (he likes to hold the pointer stick they use for it)!

We are so proud of our litte Jacob and have great hope that his list of "can't dos" will get shorter and shorter as time goes on!

Newest Development

2009-09-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

For all of you who are waiting on the edge of your seats with baited breath to see how the job-search drama unfolds, here's the latest scoop: The other group in Vegas that Brigham sent his CV to has offered him an interview... as well as round-trip flights for the both of us, a rental car, hotel accomodations for 3 days, and dinner! From a friend that used to live in Vegas, this group is over the "swanky" private practice hospital. We don't know any information about the job itself yet, but so far I think they're off to a pretty good start. I'm counting down the days until our Vegas vacation!

Growing Up!

2009-09-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

Goodness! It seems like every time I turn around, another week has past! Yesterday my baby turned 8 months old, and I can barely believe it! I couldn't make his first three months go fast enough, but now I'd give almost anything to get my hands on some of that "stop grow" that my parents used to talk about, although theirs obviously didn't work so well.

I took all three boys in for well child check-ups on Wednesday (let's just say that "circus" doesn't do it justice-- I was sweating by the time we were finally finished with the ordeal!), and all of them are doing so well! Benjamin is tall for his age, Jacob is short, and Ty is skinny, but all within normal ranges. How blessed I am to have such healthy and active children!

Job Search Continues

2009-09-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

The roller coaster ride is starting to pick up speed! Yesterday Brigham was asked to interview at a hospital in Las Vegas. We decided that if we can't live in Utah, Vegas is probably our next choice, so Brigham did a little investigating and sent his CV to a couple of hospitals there. The response was almost immediate, and unlike with the Utah hospitals, he actually felt like he was being recruited, which was a nice change. He got a call from one of the hospitals that has left us pretty excited. As far as the job goes, it is EXACTLY what Brigham wants. It is a private group of doctors at a Level I trauma center (that means it's as big as hospitals get) that is affiliated with a residency program, which means he would be able to teach residents while he is working (which he loves) without all the downfalls that come with a true academic job (pay cut, pressure to publish, lectures, etc.). The compensation is really good and there are a lot of benefits and bonuses that come along with it as well. Very exciting! The second hospital is supposed to be calling him this afternoon, so we'll see what that holds, but this first job would be hard to beat. Brigham will be interviewing there the third week of next month, and I think that my wonderful in-laws are going to make it possible for me to go with him and turn it into a little vaction! Wahoo!

On the Utah front, yesterday we heard rumors that IHC actually is hiring and that it is a "sweet job"-- whatever that means. It's all rumor at this point, but some phone calls have been made on Brigham's behalf, so we'll see if anything comes of it. Even if there is a job at IHC, I imagine that the competition for it would be pretty intense. But for now, at least it's looking like there are some good alternatives!

Ty On Top of the Food Chain

2009-09-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

I spend a surprising chunk of my day cleaning up after Jacob (who chews almost everything to bits and leaves little pieces of plastic, paper, wood, or whatever material his latest object of mastication might be everywhere) to try to keep Ty (who has shown interest in becoming a vaccuum cleaner when he grows up) from choking to death. A couple of days ago I noticed our little Tiger doing some hunting under the table, and I quickly ran over to see if it was a surveillance mission only or if there was actually something edible under there. I didn't see any food on the ground, but what I did see was a trail of ants leading both to and from... nothing. Being the great detective that I am, I quickly put two and two together and did a finger-sweep of Ty's mouth. I found there exactly what I was afraid of-- a dried-out piece of bread covered in dead ants. Ty Dastrup-- asserting his dominance at the top of the food chain.

Jacob and the Cheeseburger Song

2009-09-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

So It Begins...

2009-09-08T20:56:00.001-07:00

Brigham received his first official interview offer from a hospital in Draper, UT today. We don't know much about the job, so we don't know how interested we are, but it's exciting all the same. It reminds me of a thousand years ago when we received our first interview offer from a medical school-- it didn't matter what school it was, we were just excited to have an interview. Perhaps (even hopefully) in a month or two we will look back on this offer and laugh that we were ever excited about this, but for now it's a start.

Submitting a rank list for the residency match was really stressful, but in the end it was almost a relief to know that we didn't have to choose-- that the decision would be made for us. Now our decision is not only for the next three years, but for who knows how long. For a very long time, I hope. And there are so many things to factor in-- not just salary (which can be very tricky if not impossible to figure out due to the way some groups do it) and location, but we also need to factor in if the city is big enough to provide adequate services for Jacob, if the hospital is big enough for Brigham to continue to learn, etc., etc. We are also trying to determine if we should take a substantial pay cut to live near family or to go for the money somewhere to pay off our debts a lot more quickly. Right now I feel like we're on a roller coaster and headed up the biggest hill of the whole ride. You know what I'm talking about-- the slow clickty, clacking as you stare up that steep incline knowing that in just a few moments you will loose your stomach to the rafters and go screaming out of control. That anticipation is exciting but gives you nervous butterflies. That's where we're at-- just before the crest of that big hill, and I can't wait to see where we end up!

Benjamin's Birthday

2009-09-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Benjamin's 6th birthday. Where has the time gone? Has it truly been six years since that moment when I saw him for the first time-- the moment that changed my life forever? I remember just being in awe at how tiny and perfectly beautiful he was. I also remember being scared to death of him. I remember falling to pieces and having my Mom do his first diaper change at home because he was crying and I couldn't bear to see his little circumcision. We've both come a long way since then!

Benjamin is my smart little sweetheart. He skipped kindergarten this year and is still in the top reading group of his class. He is tender-hearted and looks out for his little brothers. He does like to test his limits from time to time, but overall nobody could ask for a better kid. We love our Benjamin!

On a lighter note, after getting kiddos out the door when the party was over, I came back in to find a big chunk of Benjamin's cake missing and a tell-tale trail of crumbs and frosting leading to a greasy, chocolatey handprint on the couch, and then continuing to the Love Sac where I found a grinning Jacob bouncing and licking the bigger crumbs off his hand. We don't call him the Master of Disaster for nothing!

Cute Little Boys

2009-09-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

The big news of the day is that I saw a tooth starting to cut through in Ty's little mouth! That explains a lot. I really can't complain though. Ty is the most fun, adorable baby I have ever seen in my life. He is happy almost all of the time, so I figured that he was probably teething since he's been cranky for the last week or so.

Ty has added a new skill to his growing list (which includes crawling all over and pulling up to standing on almost everything). I call it the "flip and twist". He employs it several times per diaper change, making what used to be a simple proceedure more of an olympic event. The name pretty much says it all. As soon as the diaper is off, Ty does this amazing flip over onto his stomach-- even if I'm holding onto his feet-- and he's halfway across the room before I have time to react if I don't have ahold of him. If I do then it's a wrestling match to get him back over and the diaper on before he does it again. Benjamin told me that he thinks Ty will be in the Olympics some day, and at the rate he's going, I'm inclined to agree with his assessment.

Jacob continues to terrorize our unattended electronics and eat his books. He's enjoying being back in his special preschool program and riding the bus. He's decided that he's a big boy now and that Benjamin's car seat at the back of the van is THE cool place to be. Every time he gets in the car he makes a beeline to Benjamin's seat, sits down, and trys to put the seatbelt on. The first time I decided to let him sit there and helped him put the seatbelt on, he shrieked with joy. The same goes for Benajmin's bed. Every night when Benjamin goes to bed we find Jacob asleep in his place. It's so fun to see Jaoob idolizing his big brother like every other little brother does.

Benjamin is counting down until his 6th birthday (only 2 more days!) and can talk of little else. He is excited for a friend party and being able to stay up as late as he wants!

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

2009-08-26T20:14:00.001-07:00

Today I would like to pay tribute to my middle boy-- the one and only Jacob Dax. He turned four today, and I've been reflecting back on his birth and feeling so grateful for how far he's come. I remember the second time that he was admitted to the hospital when he was around 7 months old, standing and talking with our pediatrician who said, "I hate to say this to you, but maybe you should prepare yourself for the fact that Jacob's chromosomal abnormality may not be compatible with a long life. We just don't have enough information to know." With the little girl in the only case study of Jacob's same abnormality dying at age 3, I was terrified that he might be right. And yet, here is Jacob: four years old, walking, running in his own funny way, loving like no one else can, making us laugh every day, terrorizing our electronics, outsmarting our childproofing efforts, and enthusiastically enjoying life. How blessed are we!

Yielding to Peer Pressure

2009-08-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

After years of resisting the growing trend to have a family blog, I have finally caved in. Here's the thing: What if I can't think of anything interesting to put on it? The pressure to be intelligent and witty on a blog is almost smothering! I'm going to be up-front from the beginning: if you are looking for a great blog, I can recommend a few. This one is won't be cutesy and I can't promise it will even be all that interesting, but if you've been invited to see it, then hopefully you care about us enough to look past all that. And if you have a blog of your own that you don't see on our list, let us know so that we can add you to it now that we finally have a place to keep track of them all!