Rachel's Music Video - "Stand By Me"

My sister Kristen and I worked on this video when she was here 2 months ago - I finally finished the editing today!

Three videos

Christmas Idea for your kids: a spinning chair! Appeals to all age groups!




Anna's new skill: Riding a Bike
She can go much faster than this, but was going slow for the camera I think.









Rachel's new skill: Walking!

Санкт-Петербург

So Dan and I recently had a heated dispute regarding our various abilities to beat the other at Saint Petersburg (a board game) which resulted in a bet that I would be able to win at least 7 of our next 20 games. I would just like to keep everyone updated on the results so far:

Wins:

1. Oct 19 Dan won by 3
2. Oct 29 Michelle won by 12
3. Oct 30 Michelle won by 42
4. Nov 1 Michelle won by 9
5. Nov 1 Michelle won by 7
6. Nov 4 Michelle won by 20
7. Nov 4 Dan won by 3
8. Nov 5 Dan won by 27
9. Nov 5 Michelle won by 27
10. Nov 7 Dan won by 20
11. Nov 8 Dan won by 10
12. Nov 8 Michelle won by 6

total: Michelle 7 Dan 5
Yay! I'll be collecting my 10 cents now ...

Dan is a glutton for punishment. We made the same bet again. Here we go:
1. Nov 9 Michelle won by 4
2. Nov 15 Dan won by 3
3. Nov 16 Dan won by 2
4. Nov 19 Dan won by 18
5. Nov 28 Dan won by 32
6. Dec 1 Michelle won by 43
7. Dec 3 Michelle won by 1. Whew!
8. Dec 5 Michelle won by 5
9. Dec 6 Michelle won by 11
10. Dec 7 Dan won by 18
11. Dec 12 Dan won by 3
12. Dec 13 Michelle won by 29
13. Dec 14 Michelle won by 37

Final Results: Dan: 6 Michelle: 7

Yay!

Quiz

What do the letters T, Y, K, L, and V have in common? If you know the answer, what other letter belongs in this group?

Note: the answer varies according to font. One of the letters above should not actually be included according to the letters as printed on my keyboard, but two others should. That should be a big hint.

11/26 - Update:
Well, looks like y'all need some help. As printed on my keyboard, K should not be included. The reason is that the four lines that make up K don't actually all meet together. The other letter that should belong in the group of letters above is X. When looking at these letters, though, don't include any serifs (the little dashes at the ends of the lines that make up the letter). For this reason, "I" should not be included, unless it is in a font where it is just a line and has no serifs.

W would never be included. See if you can figure out what would make W not included, but does make V included.

Good luck!

The American Dream

Once upon a time there was a house. We first saw this house in August and decided to put an offer on it. Our real estate agent checked and found out no offers would be accepted until the following week. Alas, after only a few days had passed she found out that not only were they accepting offers on the house already, the house had in fact already sold, before it was even supposed to be open to offers. Oh well, we figured. We'll find another house someday.

Our agent suggested that we put our offer on it anyway, just in case. So we did, without much expectation of getting it. On September 17th we found out that we got the house! We started packing and looking for a loan. We found a loan, but then with the financial crisis and lending crunch, our loan officer said we no longer qualified. We could have gotten a different loan, but the cost would have been a lot more. There were also some repairs we weren't so excited about paying for. So we backed out of the contract on October 1st and decided to just wait a while before looking again. Oh well, we figured. We'll find another house someday.

Well, since I'm addicted to ziprealty.com I couldn't help but looking at properties online every once in a while and on October 30th I noticed that our house was back on the market at a drastically reduced price. I called Dan and we put another offer on it within a few hours. But a week later we found out that the bank took another offer instead. Oh well, we figured. We'll find another house someday.

But then November 12th we got a call from our agent again - the other offer fell through. Did we still want the property? Sure! We put our offer back on and just found out today that we got it.

Yay! Hopefully this time it actually works :)

Rachel plays Peek-a-Boo

Misunderstood

Yesterday Anna said to me "Mommy, what happens if you don't have ears?"
"Then you can't hear anything."
"No, Mommy, what happens if you don't have ears?!"
"If you don't have ears, then you can't hear anything."
"NO, WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON'T HAVE EARS?"
pause.
"Oh, then _I_ can't hear anything."
Sigh. "That's right."

Side by Side

A side by side comparison of Anna and Rachel on their 1st birthdays. I don't think they look alike, but it could be because I'm their mother.

Rachel vs the Birthday Cake

Rachel's Birthday

click on the picture to view our slideshow


Rachel's birthday was yesterday. We had a family party with Emily and Matt on Wednesday and a neighborhood party yesterday. Rachel is walking now - up to 10 or 15 steps at a time. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives.

Aftermath

I was happy to find this morning the following article against the Mormon backlash. It is written by someone who was opposed to Prop 8 and is not written by a Mormon, for those of you who require that in order to believe it's not a biased article.

Here is part of the article, click here to read in full.

Also, the No-On-8s outrage over the $1 million single donor is as cynical and phony as it gets. When talking ballot props, it is absurd to single out one donor or a group of “followers of the Mormon Church” as possibly “exerting too much influence on the state’s political process.” A single donor giving $1 million? Hundreds or even thousands of Mormons giving 40% to the campaign? That’s nothing. Almost every measure on the ballot is significantly funded by a single individual or well-funded organization:

• The Humane Society gave $1.5 million for Prop. 2 (20% of total)
• San Diego-based publisher James Hollman gave $1.5 million for Prop. 4 (20% of total)
  
• Billionaire activist and philanthropist George Soros and lobbyist Bob Wilson each gave $1.4 million for Prop. 5 (40% of total)
• Billionaire tech mogul and accused drug trafficker spent $1 million on Prop 6 and $4.8 million on Prop. 9. (62% of Prop. 6 total and almost 100% of Prop. 9 total)
• Arizona billionaire Peter Sperling spent $9 million on Prop. 7 (almost 90% of total).

• T. Boone Pickens Clean Energy Sales Corp, who stands to profit from Prop. 10 spent $15 million on the measure. (88% of total).

If 40% of Californians are concerned about Mormons “exerting control over our political process,”, they should be completely freaked out by the Humane Society, the eccentric billionaires with axes to grind, and the natural gas tycoon whose ballot measure is motivated entirely by self-interest.

The problem here isn’t who gave what to which measure. The problem here is with the entire ballot proposition system, which instead of preventing “special interest” influence in the legislature by taking the matter directly to voters, allows for billionaires and well-funded organizations to completely dominate the process, no matter what the issue.

I completely agree with the last paragraph. I think there should definitely be a limit per person/organization like there is for elected officials.

Here is my brother-in-law's blog about this issue.

Girl, Uninterrupted

Anna is obsessed with Santa Claus. Here is some of her running commentary on the matter:

"Santa Claus is my best friend. Does he know I love him? When he comes to California he will come to my house and we will drive together in Daddy's little white car to the mall and then we will be there together ... Why does he have to be only at the mall? ... Why can't he come to my house? ... Can we drive to the North Pole? Where is the North Pole? ... Why can't we go there? Is it Christmas yet? I just love Santa Claus sooooo much! Does he know what I look like? Did he get my letter yet? Did the mailman take it to him? When we are at the mall we should get in the elevator and and then the elevator will take us to Santa Claus and then I will tell him what I want and then you tell him what you want, OK Mommy?"

She has also been watching this video on youtube quite a bit.

Anna's artwork

Anna likes to draw herself over and over again. Here is today's rendition.

A Lightning McQueen Halloween

Dan is Mater, Michelle is the Cozy Cone Motel, Anna is Lightning McQueen and Rachel is a cactus. If you haven't seen the movie Cars, this won't make much sense to you. Mater the tow truck has a rope connected to a hook. Anna loved having Dan tow her around all evening.




Rachel actually took a few steps while I was shooting pictures - she'll be walking soon!




Cutie Cactus - thanks again Kristen for doing all the yarn work!



Anna with her loot

Vistors, Visits and Pumpkins

My sister Kristen visited last week - here she is with the girls at the Jungle. Rachel loved this ball pit once she got used to it. Kristen and I took turns taking Anna up in the tunnel play structure. The morning Kristen left Anna starting crying because she was so sad, yet when I went to Utah for 3 days she didn't mind at all. Hmm. I guess not everyone is as cool as Aunt Dee-Dee!





This past weekend I went to visit my friend Carrie in SLC. Her gorgeous condo is just a block from Temple Square. Here we are at the top of the tram ride at Snowbird Ski Resort. By the way, this is the resort where we had the groom's dinner the night before our wedding.



We carved pumpkins tonight. Anna insisted on doing the carving herself which is why her pumpkin design consists of several small pokes which don't show up in the picture (I think she was trying to make an elephant) and one large hole I made for her so she could see her candle inside. Mine is the cat and Dan's is the bat.

Rachel and Anna in the Pumpkin Patch

We went to nearby Mangini Farms on Saturday to get our pumpkins. Anna is very excited about Halloween and panics every few days because she is sure we have already missed Halloween.

Who Does it Hurt?

Most opponents of Prop 8 claim that homosexual marriage doesn't hurt anyone. Here is an argument I found which spells out how homosexual marriage can and already is limiting free speech and religious freedom. The whole article can be found here, which lays out the LDS church's stance on Prop 8.

From the LDS newsroom:

Legalizing same-sex marriage will affect a wide spectrum of government activities and policies. Once a state government declares that same-sex unions are a civil right, those governments almost certainly will enforce a wide variety of other policies intended to ensure that there is no discrimination against same-sex couples. This may well place “church and state on a collision course.” ^[16]

The prospect of same-sex marriage has already spawned legal collisions with the rights of free speech and of action based on religious beliefs. For example, advocates and government officials in certain states already are challenging the long-held right of religious adoption agencies to follow their religious beliefs and only place children in homes with both a mother and a father. As a result, Catholic Charities in Boston has stopped offering adoption services.

Other advocates of same-sex marriage are suggesting that tax exemptions and benefits be withdrawn from any religious organization that does not embrace same-sex unions. ^[17] Public accommodation laws are already being used as leverage in an attempt to force religious organizations to allow marriage celebrations or receptions in religious facilities that are otherwise open to the public. Accrediting organizations in some instances are asserting pressure on religious schools and universities to provide married housing for same-sex couples. Student religious organizations are being told by some universities that they may lose their campus recognition and benefits if they exclude same-sex couples from club membership. ^[18]

Many of these examples have already become the legal reality in several nations of the European Union, and the European Parliament has recommended that laws guaranteeing and protecting the rights of same-sex couples be made uniform across the EU. ^[19] Thus, if same-sex marriage becomes a recognized civil right, there will be substantial conflicts with religious freedom. And in some important areas, religious freedom may be diminished.

80 pounds far

Lately Anna is very interested in measurements. A few days ago she was in the bathtub, and she wanted to know how much water there was. When she was not satisfied with "A lot" and "A whole bunch" I finally told her "51", which she accepted without further questions. Many of her questions (I should post a collection of all the questions she asks in a day - she's at that age) deal with "how much" "how big" "how many" and she is only satisfied if there is a number in there. No approximations for this child. Sometimes she adds on random units to make it sound better, like "last year I went potty" when really it happened 20 minutes ago or "last night I was a baby" or "My feet are 20 size!"

Tonight we were returning home and she wanted to know how long it would take. I told her my guess was that we would return at 8:04pm (I was off by two minutes because of a wrong turn) and I asked her what she guessed. She thought for a minute and replied, "I think our house is 80 pounds far".

She probably gets this number obsession from Dan. Recently, Gail told me that when Dan was in elementary school and learning how to write stories she told him that the details make the story and he should add in more details. So his next story was: "The boy walked five steps to the diving board. He climbed the ladder which had 10 rungs. That took 12 seconds. Then he took seven steps on the board and jumped three times. He jumped 2 feet in the air. Then he jumped off and it took 3 seconds to hit the water..."

Zoos, Shaving Cream and Chocolate

When my Dad was here recently, we went to the zoo. Here is "Opa" with the girls on the train.






At Joy School this week, we finger and toe painted with shaving cream. Lots of fun!




Rachel in the backyard. She loves my sunglasses. It is her favorite toy. Amazingly, she hasn't broken them yet.





Last night we had chocolate ice cream for dessert. Anna usually just takes a few licks and is done, but this time she went all out.

The American Dream ... TBA

So, we're not buying that house in the previous post after all. We feel a little foolish now, for having told everyone we're moving and now we're not, but we figured that preventing embarrassment is not the best reason for buying a house that we decided we didn't want. Maybe next time we'll announce after the inspection. Anyway, the search goes on!

Planned Unparenthood

At first I thought this was just some spoofy joke, and in rather poor taste. But then I read it more carefully and realized what it was really about.

http://www.jefflindsay.com/pup.shtml

Enjoy!

Bless the Declining California Real Estate Market!

So, it appears we bought a house. It will take a little while to make it final, but in the meantime, yay!

For the record, Dan is most excited about the central air, Michelle the storage space in our two car garage, and Anna is most excited about the sink. Yes, the sink. Go figure.

Cutie Pies

I'm really supposed to be packing right now since we're leaving tomorrow on a train, but I was finishing up my wedding collation CD for my family before I left and I just love this picture of cutie pies Em and Rich (Emily is my sister) that I just had to share it with the world at large. Now back to packing.

PS Emily and Rich, I hope you don't mind that I called you cutie pies. I also hope no one stalks you because I shared this photo.

Nostalgia

Here is a picture my sister Jenny just sent me. I'm the one that looks like Anna, Kevin is the little blondie and Jenny the babe in arms. Probably Carma and Eric, the older kids, are taking the picture. It was taken at Steven's Lake in Columbia, Missouri, where I grew up. This is where I learned to swim, summer after summer, graduating slowly from the more shallow swimming enclosures to the deeper ones until I could swim all the way to the slimy green dock. I remember well the feel of that black non-skid strip on bare feet, the smell of plastic floatie devices and my dad's china shirt. Whenever I hear the words "maternal instinct" I remember the time Jenny fell off the dock into the lake (she was about 2) and my mom jumped in after her and ruined her watch. There was a wonderful tall swing set and huge green lawns. We would have summer birthday parties here wtih watermelon and cake and lemonade from the old cooler and not go home until dark.

Photos of the Johnston Girls

Ode to a Leaf Blower

O Leaf Blower, thou cacophonic beast of the morn, whose growl interrupts every thought and whose dissonance penetrates every home; ye who spews forth ugly pollutants into my morning air; ye whose belly feeds on the black gold of our land: Desist! Halt! Return from the dusty shed from whence thou came. Sink in oblivion to be remembered no more by the man with stopped ears outside my door. Persist not in thy crimes. Disturb the slumber of my babe no more.

Anna vs The Bug House

We got a membership to the Oakland Zoo a few months ago. The first time we went, Anna asked the whole time if we could see a caterpillar. None of the large mammals that you would associate with a zoo (elephants, tigers, chimpanzees) could interest her as much as the prospect of seeing a small insect that she could find in our backyard. Obligingly, we tromped over to the Bug House and Anna refused to go in. The Bug House has a set of double doors, and something about that setup really scared Anna. After trying for several minutes to change her mind, we gave up and moved onto other things. As soon as we were in the car going home, Anna started talking about how she would go in the Bug House the next time we went to the zoo.

A few weeks later we went back. Anna was very excited to go in the Bug House until we got there, and once again would not go in. The third time, she finally went in and was (understandably) very proud of herself. The funny thing was that I went in with her and I was the one that got scared. Those millipedes are freaky!

We went to the zoo today again and Anna went in with no problem.

Anna is requesting to tell the story in her own words (Anna loves little else in the world more than typing on the computer):

HWEEEY3YE4332WQWSGWRFIRFXDCEDERGR55U6DDGRR5TRYRHERYRRJTIGIRTORTFOTGT[Y[TY

Addendum: The other funny thing about the zoo is that Anna always thinks it's necessary to bring the zoo a present. Today she brought a birthday candle carefully wrapped in wrapping paper. Luckily there are many large green bins around the zoo where people can deposit such presents. We worry that one of these days Anna will figure out that the green bins are trash cans.

TRFYT5TTJREURFTRETERTURTIYTITREETTGJYHTYHHUIIRY;TGTRFJRUTRTYGYHUUYUHUUHYYUH

The Flight of the Rachel-Bee

Rachel has been on the brink of crawling for many weeks. Here is a documentation of her attempts. Credits to the Canadian Brass for "The Flight of the Tuba-Bee."

Mini-vacation to Half Moon Bay

These are pictures of our trip to Half Moon Bay last weekend. We went to see tide pools, played on the beach (Dan took off his shirt, so Anna followed suit), stayed at a nice hotel and went to the Tech museum in San Jose

Rachel the Dog

Lately Rachel thinks she's a dog and likes to carry things (in particular, this ring) around in her mouth.

Don't Tell Smokey Bear

A couple Anna stories:

Anna and I were reading the new National Geographic together yesterday. There was an article about wildfires in Southern California, with closeups of flames devouring trees and houses. Not wanting Anna to be alarmed (and to teach a little ecology) , I explained that fires are actually good for forests because it helps them to get clean so new things can grow. Anna thought about this then asked very seriously, "Can we make the trees in our yard on fire? It's good for them?" I tried very hard not to laugh and then to convince her that we might not want to have a big fire close to our apartment. She didn't seem convinced. So, if our apartment building burns down soon, I guess we'll know who the culprit is.

Anna's favorite part of Joy School (I think it was all the kids' favorite part) was "free play time." A few weeks ago we had the Relief Society recipe exchange at our house. Six or seven women were sitting around sampling the recipes and talking. Anna watched this for a minute and then said "Oh mommy, are you going to have free play time?" I guess she thought we were having school and she felt sorry for me because it looked boring. In actuality, I think that was my free play time that day.

A Day in the Life of an Organist

I am one eighth of a ward organist (there are eight of us, so I only play every eight weeks.) Here are some instructions in case you haven't done this before:

8:09 Congratulate yourself that you are leaving the house a minute earlier than intended. Ignore the fact that you didn't really brush your three year old's hair or put on makeup. Sniff the baby as you descend the stairs and realize that it's more that a little apparent she hasn't had a bath in a while (milk in the neck creases apparently turning into stinky cheese.)

8:14 Arrive at church parking lot. As previously arranged with husband, jump out of car, hymn book in hand while he carries thirty pounds of baby and gear into the church.

8:16 Jump in with gusto to practicing the closing hymn in the guise of prelude music. Since no one is in the chapel yet, play it over and over again to calm the before-performance jitters.

8:21 As some people trickle into their seats, practice the other two hymns as prelude and other various hymns you know by flipping through the hymn book.

8:27 Since church will start in three minutes, begin in on real prelude: two hymns that go well together facing each other in the hymn book which you can actually play.

8:28 Make promises to yourself that next time you play the organ you will practice a lot more. Try not to envision self running out of the chapel screaming when hymns turn out too difficult to play and ward membes stand up, point and laugh.

8: 32 Start to get sick of playing the same two songs over and over. Why isn't the bishopric standing up yet?

8:34 Start to worry that people in the congregation are actually listening to the prelude this time and are getting as sick of the same two hymns as you are and are organizing some sort of strike. Changing stops and keys can only get you so far. Calculate if the time it will take to flip through the hymn book to find another prelude song will cause the "oh I thought we were starting since the prelude stopped but we're not and now let's all stare at the organist flipping through her book" silence to ensue.

8:36 Decide the conducting member of the bishopric will never stand up and you will be playing prelude for at least another half hour. Quickly flip through book and land on a hymn you don't know very well. Start playing it anyway, trying to mask many mistakes.

8:36:30 First counselor stands up.

8:40 Between the opening and sacrament hymn, realize that your legs are half asleep and from reaching forward to change the volume. Start waving your legs around trying to get some feeling back into them and try to keep from laughing as you feel pins and needles.

8:45 During sacrament hymn, start to feel confident enough in your playing to sing along, immediately lose your place and trust your fingers to play the right notes in the very long three seconds it takes to find your place again. Your fingers don't let you down.

8:46 At end of sacrament hymn, flip through book to closing hymn and change stops as quickly as possibly (as all planned out in your head during the last verse of the sacrament hymn) before the sacrament prayer starts.

8:47 Actually concentrate on the sacrament since you don't have a baby (or three year old) to shush, coddle, and entertain.

8:50 Luckily your legs aren't asleep anymore, so you make it back to your pew without falling over.

9:19 Realize the three year old needs a diaper change before nursery and sneak her out the back.

9:19:30 Realize the diaper in question is dirty, not just wet, and wipes are still in the chapel.

9:20-9:25 Change diaper anyway and run (er, walk quickly and reverently) back to the chapel, hoping the closing speaker is still in fact speaking.

9:31 Waiting outside in the foyer for the speaker to finish, concentrate on trying to remember the name of the other ward member in the foyer with you.

9:31:15 Suddenly realize there is silence in the chapel.

9:31:20 Pull open the doors as you hear "We would like to thank", push your three year old toward the right pew and continue walking up the aisle, "We will now close with ..."

9:34 During the last verse of the closing hymn start to feel a bit celebratory since you won't have to play again for eight weeks. Start imagining trills and embellishments in the last line, miss a note, add it a split second later as some unintended syncopation and finish the hymn.

9:36 Feel so good about getting through the meeting, start playing hymns you've never played before as postlude, since the general roar in the chapel will drown it out anyway.

9:37 Decide to stick to the prelude hymns you actually know after all.

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