2 MONTHS!!!

My last post simply said Static is wonderful...I left it up for two months so that that profound statement would sink in. Now I'd like to say how wonderful family is. Over the Holidays we got to see a lot of our relatives and friends, and its awesome that our girls get to be surrounded frequently by so many people that care for them.

After Thanksgiving we had a visit from Branner (Brock's brother) and Eva. We had to introduce them to extraordinary desserts for Eva's birthday.

We spent Christmas up with the Solanos in Bakersfield, and as always came home with fond memories and lots of good loot. Ryker was there and Shannon came down with her two boys, Aldi and Rei.

Then Claire got to meet her Plumb Grandparents for the first time. They left their mission in England for a week to come to my brother Riley's wedding.

We are happy that Riley found Kristen Barlow and convinced her to join the family. She is awesome.

Ashlyn and Claire love their cousins and aunts and uncles...

Aunt Becca moved out:(

Brock didn't have classes for a whole month, so we also got to spend a lot of time playing. We went to listen to an interfaith choir that gave a Christmas concert at the temple, we decorated a tree, etc.

Our last adventure was spending a week-end with all of Brock's siblings up in Bakersfield to pull a "while-you-were-out" for Brock's Mom's birthday. We set up an office for her, and though Ashlyn was prepared to join in the fight, we couldn;t have gotten it done without the help of the Kontzs and Davis family who took care of Claire and Ashlyn for us. We were so happy Cordel and Katie were in town with their daughter Eve, and, as expected, Ashlyn and Eve were fast friends.

Static is a wonderful thing.

Halloween Costumes

This picture says it all...Halloween was too much fun. Dressing up like Dory from finding Nemo, people giving away candy and Grandma Solano's package. If Ashlyn could do it all over again, she would. One triumphant moment was the king sized snickers that a neighbor was giving out. For my own health and waistline, I need to get rid of the candy loot soon.

We went to a trunk or treat at our church building on Saturday night (since the BYU vs SDSU football game was postponed until Dec. 2nd), and Brock was a good sport and sweated it out in a full body wet suit in order to match Ashlyn and her friend Lizzy who were Nemo and Dory. Later that evening Brock and I went to one of his co-workers party, but nobody really got the Office reference. He went around conversing with it all evening forgeting that I was even there. I had to keep saying "Quiet YOU!" I can't believe there was a whole party of peers that were not office fans. Give me a break, Give me a break, Break me off a piece of that____ ____ ___

On Tuesday while Brock took a mid-term that had been postponed due to the fires I went to to another trunk-or-treat so Ashlyn could hang out with her cousins. She had a hard time taking her mind off the candy, but interacted a little and got the trick or treat, hold out bag, and thank you routine down really well. When Daniel had his batman mask down Ashlyn did not want to go near him. On Wednesday I went to a BBQ where Becca works and Brock did an internship over the summer. A Pirate Chicken kept trying to scare Claire, but it didn't even phase her. She is so easy going. Her bottom tooth is already coming in on her left side and now she decided to go out of order and grow a top tooth on her left side. She grinds the two teeth together and it is painful to listen to. When it comes in longer she'll look a little lopsided, but still too cute.

For those who were concerned, we are doing fine so far. The radio stations are referring to the San Diego Fires as FIRE STORM 2007. Between all the local reports the guy who does the voice overs for movie trailers comes on and says, "FIRE STORM 2007!" I don't know if they'll try to capitalize on this by selling T-shirts, but I wouldn't be surprised. The fires were a little too close for comfort. We got directions to evacuate at 3 am Monday morning from one of our church leaders. It was a little bit before the official police ordered evacuation for our area. We were able to beat the rush and get our cars filled up with gas before long lines formed and pack stuff up. I went to my Grandmothers with the girls and my sister while Brock went to the church to help with other evacuees who did not have family locally. We spent the day watching the news and received a reverse-911 call asking us to leave the area. We retreated farther north and stayed with some family friends the rest of Monday, all of Tuesday and came home today. There is ash everywhere and the air quality is awful. they have asked us to stay indoors for health reasons and also to make sure the roads remain uncongested for the fire fighters. We know a lot of people who have lost their homes, and this has been a tragedy and an eye opening experience. I realized a few more things I need to do to prepare emergency supplies to make sure that if this happens again and our apartment is not spared we would be able to survive. Thank you to all those who offered their homes and services. We've appreciated the love and concern.

Extraordinary Things

FIRST: Extraordinary Desserts

Brock and I are so glad that we were introduced to this wonderful oasis with windows full of cakes, streusal, cobbler, tortes, and tartes. Its amazing, and when Rebecca moved in with us we made a deal that when she got a job we would take her out to dinner, and after she got her first paycheck she would buy us dessert. We decided to cash in on dessert on Saturday after our day full of General Conference. We got them to go since we had sleeping babies in the car, and so you don't get to see them in their full spendor because they always present them so nicely at the restaurant, but they were extraordinary.

TWO: Claire's new sound

Maybe Claire has a future as a beatboxer like that girl who was one of the ten finalists on America's got Talent. She may win us a million dollars one day. She does this from time to time. I don't know how it started, but it makes feeding her rice cereal really tricky when she is in a beatboxing mood during dinner. The video is a little long, but brock is doing back-up so...enjoy!

THREE: Ashlyn

She is growing up so fast; it's amazing to me. She has such a fun personality. I love it when she wakes up from her naps and informs me that she had sweet dreams, or when she tells me that she is proud of me and that she knew I could do it after I use the potty. Brock got a sticker after he went the other day...she likes him better.

I think younger siblings naturally fall into two different rolls. Some become tattletales such as myself, who was no match for my two older brothers so I resorted to bratty tactics in order to get mom on my side and make sure I could always watch the movie Annie whenever I wanted. Other kids become sidekicks/cohorts in crime. I don't think Claire will become a tattletale. In fact the way she studies everything Ashlyn does and laughs and doesn't complain when Ashlyn pulls her around I'm convinced they will be quite the dynamic duo someday and will really give Brock a run for his money. Future boyfriends beware.

I heard Ashlyn say this morning, "Hey Claire! Let me borrow some sweats!" Then she went and did a nice pile drive to the bean bag. (refer to Nacho Libre if you wonder what I am talking about.) It is amazing to think that Ashlyn used to wear this little outfit when she was 3 months; she is getting so tall. I don't know if I should be overly concerned with her new desire to wear Claire's clothes or sit in claires little car seat, swing, or bath tub. Claire gets a kick out of Ashlyn running and dancing around, and just giggles and laughs. I think Ashlyn is just asking for more attention. I'll have Brock do a complete psycological analysis and I will get back to you.

Claire on the other hand has discovered her tongue. Her aunt Becca taught her how to blow raspberries with her tongue and now she can't seem to keep it in her mouth. She is always blowing spit and cooing. She is so proud of herself. Very cute, but very wet.

Who's tired?

This is what happens when we skip nap time. This happened back in July. Are we cruel parents?

The words that preceded this picture were, “I want to hold it.” Ashlyn is a very good big sister. I'm so glad to have two little girls, it's so fun to have a sister. They can play together and share clothes. Just the other day Ashlyn found one of Claire's onsies and wanted to put it on. She didn't have a purple shirt to wear. Claire consented as long as she put it back in her drawer. My little sister Becca just moved in with us until she finds a job down here. It's been a lot of fun and the girls love having their aunt to play with.

Here are some photos to sum up the last part of our summer...

Ashlyn is gaining more confidence in the pool, so hopefully we will learn to swim next summer.

Claire discovered that she can get her toes in her mouth... very satisfying.

We blessed Claire on August 5th. Here she is with great Grandmother Plumb. She just woke up from her nap in the other room...she knew I was talking about her. So I'll need to end this quick.

Brock just started classes again last week, and he is working at two different internships...definately keeping busy. And I'm busy with the girls. We are in the world of potty training and playing. So fun.