Christmas Lights at Temple Square

We went to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square last night with Grandma McAdams, Jeremy and Rachel and the Packs. Good times.

Live Nativity in the Bonneville Glen

We attended the annual live nativity in the Bonneville Glen tonight with Grandma & Grandpa Judd. Four local churches join efforts to organize the event each year. James and Kate loved the choir singing in Bethlehem; Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus; and the goats, sheep, and donkeys. They asked for "more sheep" most of the walk home.

Ben's career change!

He finally did it. We all knew it was coming. Ben gave notice at his law firm yesterday. Why? He's accepted a position in the new mayor's office. As of January 7, 2008, Ben will be the Senior Advisor for Intergovernmental Affairs in Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker's administration. Congratulations Ben! You were a great lawyer, but it's time to combine your passion for politics with your paying day job. Check out the news announcement here.

Happy Birthday Daddy

In our normal fashion, we celebrated Ben's birthday yesterday with a cake, a song, and too little fanfare. Thanks to James for shaking things up a bit by taking an early tasting of the cake he and Kate put the sprinkles on. Happy Birthday Daddy!

First big snow fall

Here are our cute little snow bunnies out to discover snow for the first time -- first time as far as their memories are concerned. There were quite taken with the whole production of getting bundled up and then with exploring the softness of the snow and shoveling the driveway. We tried to build a snowman, but the snow was far too powdery to even make a snowball. We'll try that again next time. Welcome winter!

Cocoa Puffs

For dinner tonight, I introduced James and Kate to one my favorite guilty pleasures in life. Well, I'll be honest, tonight wasn't an introduction. We've had this nutritious "meal" before.

Day Trading

After a semester of teaching Securities Regulation at the UofU law school, Ben has tried to emphasize to the students the concept of "market efficiency", which, more or less means that stock prices are as accurate as the information (including gossip) that is out there in the financial world and, without inside information, it is not really possible to beat the general market return. Acceptance of this idea normally results in people purchasing index funds composed of a diverse group of stocks -- as opposed to purchasing a single stock because you think it's going to beat the general market return.

So, what does my intelligent, securities reg-teaching husband do? He puts $10,000 of MY rollover IRA into E*Trade stock earlier this week. Why? He hears that they might be bought out. Other possible outcomes include unremarkable minor fluctuation OR bankruptcy resulting from other Internet stock trading companies slowly absorbing defecting E*Trade customers.

Here's to (i) winning the lottery and (ii) an E*Trade buyout.

Visit from friends

We were lucky enough to spend an evening catching up with friends from New York last night. Even with three kids running circles around us, we managed to have some real adult conversations. What wasn't so easy, though, was getting the three kids to stay in one place long enough to get a picture of them all together. Oh well.

Thanks for visiting!

Utah Jazz

I don't know the final score, or even the team the Jazz played on Monday night (Ben just told me it was the Sacramento Kings -- one of us managed to watch some of the game amidst the kid control). But, I do know that James and Kate now know that the train takes them at least one place other than the circus. They seemed to like the game -- although we left just after half-time. And, much to her parents' disliking, Kate paid the most attention to the gummy fish Grandpa bought her and the Jazz Dancers. She's been rolling on the floor and kicking her leg in the air ever since.

Back Online

After three weeks without the Internet, we are finally back online. Yea! Our modem broke and after several unsuccessfully resolved calls with India, we canceled our Earthlink account and became Qwest customers. We hope this relationship works out better.

The Cat In The Hat for Halloween

Then he got up on top with a tip of his hat.
"I call this game FUN-IN-A-BOX," said the cat.
"In this box are two things I will show to you now.
You will like these two things," said the cat with a bow.
"I will pick up the hook. You will see something new.
Two things. And I call them Thing One and Thing Two."


"These Things will not bite you. They want to have fun."
Then, out of box came Thing Two and Thing One!
And they ran to us fast. They said, "How do you do?
Would you like to shake hands with Think One and Thing Two?"

Then those Things ran about with big bumps, jumps and kicks.
And with hops and big thumps and all kinds of bad tricks.
And I said, "I do not like the way that they play!
If Mother could see this, oh, what would she say!"

Potted Plants

Hide and seek, which up until now meant putting a blanket over your head, has reached a new level at our house. I was playing with Kate and James in the front yard and watched Kate wander to the back. When I went back to check on her, I couldn't see her. I called her name and she peeked her head up out of one of these planters and said "peek-a-boo." I thought it was clever. She thought it was hilarious. Afterwards, James joined in on the fun.
And, take note, James is not wearing his "go Utah shirt." He will also, occasionally, wear one of two other shirts -- the "flag shirt" and this one, the "tiger shirt."

Somersault

Looks like we have gymnasts on our hands.
In case you missed it, James said, "Kate, somersault do." Translation: Kate, do a somersault. James is inventing his own grammar rules and verbs generally come last. Kate loves jumping on anything including our bed, her bed, and the hard floor.

Morning play

"No" to breakfast, "No" to getting dressed, "No" to combing hair. "Yes" to playing first thing in the morning. Ah, to be a kid again . . .

Dad's on duty

Ben put the kids down for naps yesterday afternoon. Looks like he was successful.
When I got in the shower this morning, James was asleep in our bed. When I came back from the shower, here's what I found:

C'mon bird!

We went to the U of U football game this afternoon. James sat with Grandpa, Grandma, Nathan and Jake on the front row. Kate sat in the nose-bleeds with Mom and Dad. Turns out Kate wasn't slighted in the least. Swoop (that's the name of the mascot) was visiting near our section and Kate called "C'mon bird!" and beckoned "come" with her little hand so well that she got two visits from the hawk. The picture above is from the second round. Oh, and the Utes won the game, so James was pleased as well.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Kate and James turned two on Sunday. When asked how old they are, James says "Two," but holds up four fingers; Kate says "Happy Birthday" and holds up four fingers.

We had family come over to celebrate. It was a fun day and James and Kate certainly enjoyed being the stars. It's amazing to think about how they have changed since their first birthday when they didn't understand or really care about what was going on at the party. This year, they pointed anxiously at the presents in the living room all morning, knew what to do when it was time to open them, blew out the candles, and ate cake by themselves and with a fork.

Below are a few pictures (and a video) of our two-year-olds on their birthday. Part of being two-years-old includes asserting your own independence -- which explains why they are wearing their "Go Utah shirt" instead of something mom would have picked for them knowing that many pictures would be taken.

California Outings

My sister and her husband have a tradition of going to dinner with my Great Aunt Jeanie on Monday nights. Because Aunt Jeanie is one of my favorite relatives, I've always been jealous of the Monday night tradition. While I was visiting my sister and her new baby, I got to tag along to Monday night dinner. Here's a picture of my Aunt Jeanie and me at Ruby's Diner.

My friends Sara and Carter had a baby (Kaia) three months ago. They are living in Southern California and I got to go to lunch with Sara and Kaia while I was there. Kaia was kind enough to act out a bit during lunch so that I could play with her.

My sister and I married polar opposites -- at least where politics is considered. The lighting in the picture is terrible, so I'll tell you what you're looking at. My brother-in-law's Porsche sports a personalized license plate that says "Mr GOP" mounted with a plate holder that says "If you make fun of my elephant, I'll kick your a**." I admit to enjoying a short ride, but I don't suppose Ben ever will.
And, finally, a picture of Daniel -- the reason for my visit. He's smiling at me.

Disneyland

I came to California on Friday to "help" my sister with her new baby Daniel (born September 1). On Friday afternoon we did a little shopping and then went out to dinner. On Saturday we went to Disneyland. That's right, we took a one-month-old baby to Disneyland.

Some of the pictures from the day are below. I haven't been to Disneyland since 1993! While it was fun to see some of the new things, it was nostalgic to check out the classics. "It's a small world" was my favorite. Do you remember that there are flying fish and mermaids in there? Where in our world do they live? And, I think I prefer the paper mache creations to the film/special effects of the newly refurbished submarine ride turned Finding Nemo spectacular. Of course, my preference may also have something to do with the fact that I waited in the Finding Nemo line for an hour and only 5 minutes for a tour around the world listening to the unforgettable and incredibly circular "It's a small world after all."

There's another cool thing at Disneyland that you can only find this time of year. Not only is the place all decked out with pumpkins and other Halloween garb, but the Haunted Mansion is transformed into a set inspired from "The Nightmare Before Christmas." I didn't take any pictures, but it was quite a highlight.

I took a picture of the tea cups in memory of a horrible childhood experience. Yup, I lost it on on of those swirling saucers many, many years ago.

I nearly lost it again yesterday. Space Mountain is the lamest ride I've ever been on. Whose idea was it to make an indoor roller coaster? I'm guessing the thought process went something like this, "I know, we can save some money if we build a roller coaster two feet off the ground. No one will know because we'll turn off all the lights, add a multitude of stars, and tell everyone to pretend they are in outer space." I bet there's so much throw-up on the floor in that room. How could you not get sick when you have no clue if the next jerk will be to the right or to the left or if you're going to need to brace your stomach for a vertical lurch higher or lower? Dumb, dumb, dumb. And, no, it's not just that I'm bitter because the digital image of my ride at the "Document Control Center" showed all the people in my group laughing with their hands in the air and me holding my head tightly in my lap.

The Circus

We went to the circus Thursday night. We rode TRAX (SLC's mass transit system) to the circus. Whenever a train goes by our car, James and Kate yell, "train, train!" so we decided to avoid parking issues downtown and let them have a ride. (Sad that they spent the first year of their lives riding Subway trains and have absolutely no recollection -- at least sad for me.)

They both loved the circus. James loved the animals, the sparks that provided dramatic effect to some of the events ("firework!"), and clapping to show his approval. Kate loved the trapeze show, the Jumbotron, and signing "more" after almost every event.

Why we transitioned to toddler beds

Jen, you suggested that we could help our kids sleep longer (or at least ignore their wake-up cries longer) if we had kept them in cribs. Here's why we thought it best to transition them to beds:

And, look how cute and big they look in their Elmo beds!

6:04 A.M. (WHY!?!?)

I have friends whose kids sleep past 8:00 a.m. Not mine. At 6:04 Ben and I heard James and Kate get up and gather all their sleeping essentials (three blankets, sippy cup, binky, and dog) and walk into our room. Ben got kicked out of the bed, but nobody got any more sleep.

We passed!!!

Ben and I both learned yesterday that we passed the Utah Bar Exam! The exam was in July and we've been quite nervous awaiting the results -- which actually arrived earlier than anticipated. We also learned earlier in the week and we passed the ethics portion (administered separately) as well. This means that we've done everything (some minor paperwork aside) to be admitted to the Utah State Bar in October. Yea for us!

Utah 44; UCLA 6

We enjoyed a fabulous game this afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Judd and Uncle Nathan and Cousin Jake. It was a first for James and Kate and they got to sit on the VERY FONT ROW!!! (Thanks Grandpa and Uncle Nathan.)



This is James at the end of the game giving a victory shout, "Go Utah!"

"Bubbles"

James and Kate know that drinks that come in cans (which they call "bubbles," I guess that's their interpretation of carbonation) are not for them. Despite the rule, they took advantage of the abandoned root beer sitting on the table. When Ben caught them, he opted for the camera in stead of a reprimand. (Excuse the background noise. I was vacuuming until I figured out what was going on behind me.)

James can dribble!

Julie, Kate and James went to watch Cousin Sydney's soccer game yesterday evening. She was fantastic! James watched for a few minutes and then decided to try some moves of his own. Check out the video below to see how he did.

Utah State Fair

We went to the Utah State Fair last night. James and Kate loved looking at all of the animals. They also loved the pony ride and the other rides -- including a giant slide with over a hundred stairs that James walked up all by himself, twice ("My do it!"). We also bought, tasted, and then discarded a deep fried Snickers bar and a deep fried Coke.

Our first post and a quick update

This is our most recent favorite picture of James and Kate, who will be 2(!!!) on October 7th.

We've been in Utah for 8 months now. The time since we left New York has gone by so quickly! We miss New York and our friends there, but are settling into life around family. James and Kate love spending time with their grandparents and their cousins that live in Utah and those that come often to visit.

We bought a small home in Salt Lake City, near the University of Utah. As is our tradition, we bought a home that needed some work. Ben was very busy in anticipation of moving into the new place. He added lots of lighting, retiled the kitchen, and undertook many other cosmetic improvements. Since moving in, all projects have been put on hold -- in whatever state the were when we moved in. Who needs two functioning bathrooms anyway?

Seriously, though, we are very busy. We have two busy toddlers that we love to spend time with. Ben works many hours at Dorsey & Whitney (law firm), teaches Securities Regulation at the University of Utah law school, and keeps involved in the Utah (Democrat) political scene -- a long-time passion. Julie works full-time as a law clerk for Chief Justice Christine Durham at the Utah Supreme Court and teaches Lawyering Skills at the University of Utah law school.

James and Kate are busy expanding their vocabulary; going to bed late; waking up early; begging, mostly unsuccessfully but with impressive passion, to watch Elmo DVDs; playing in the neighbor's sprinklers; taking off their shoes; buckling their own car seats; making Ben and Julie laugh; and proclaiming, "MY DO IT! NO MOMMY!"