Budding Artist

Recently someone gave us a cheap set of art supplies. Cheap meaning its one of those sets that you give kids; I used to get them for Christmas all the time. It contains limited amounts of pencils, crayons, oil pastels, watercolors, and markers. But they aren't high quality.The markers will probably run out the third time they're used, the colored pencils won't draw dark no matter how hard you push, the crayons are way too waxy, etc.
Anyway.....
The point is, I have many other art supplies that are of great professional quality. Watercolor, oil paints, pastels, pencils, you name it. But in the almost year and a half since Elora has been born, I haven't done any real artwork. More specifically, I've not done any drawings of my daughter!
I often feel guilty for this, especially since her appearance changes so quickly.
I think the problem is that I never feel like I can draw people I know. Then I feel intimidated by the preparation time, because I feel like if its my own family, the pic should be from a really great photo, or be painted in some innovative style or something. Then,I always think I have to find the perfect paper, do all these rough drafts, etc.
But today, Elora and I decided to spend the morning drawing with our cheap art supplies. Because I wasn't planning on anything, we had fun messing around and I did a few sketches of my daughter. Suddenly I realized, "hey, this one looks kind of like her! This one isn't too bad either!"
And before I knew it, I had added other colors and details. Voila, I had my first real sketches of Elora. Yay!
Granted, one of them looks more like me than her, but I'm just glad I did anything. Maybe this will give me the inspiration to do a real finished painting sometime. Like those nice ones Arlene Braithwaite always does of her kids.
Elora was very impressed. Who knows, maybe she'll be inspired to be an artist herself?

So here are the drawings Elora and I did today.

Elora portrait #1



Elora portrait #2



Elora Portrait #3







Elora's masterpiece

I think the third portrait looks the most like her, while the first is the one that looks more like me, maybe.
I think Elora's piece is a portrait she did of me. Do you see the resemblance?

Thain's story

I recently made a little story for my brother Thain's birthday. He is on a mission in Slovenia, and will be coming home in May. It probably won't be that funny to people who don't know him, but I thought it might make a good blog. Have fun!

"Thain's birthday dream"

Elder Thain was excited. Today was his 21^st birthday! Not only was he officially a big boy, but in a few months, he would be going home to see his family again. He loved his mission in Europe, but sure missed everyone back in Utah.

He couldn’t wait to get back to the sunny southern Utah summer, to visit all of his favorite national parks.

“I better remember to wear a hat this time!” He reminded himself. But then, he started to wonder….. what if things had changed?

After all, dad DID say Cedar City was going to be an ice burg when he got home. What if it was true?!
“Oh, that’s silly,” Thain told himself. “The snow should be gone by May.” But what if something else were to happen? Like….a horrible lightning storm surrounding his plane on the way home!

Elder Thain shook his head. He knew that wouldn’t happen to a missionary…sheesh! But, what if it wasn’t time for him to be going home? What if his plane crash landed somewhere new, and they made him serve a mission there too? “Hmmm,” thought Thain. “That might not be too bad. There are some interesting places I might end up! Like, Egypt!”

Maybe I could convert a few wise men while I’m there. Or hey, what about Spain? I bet there are some golden opportunities in Barcelona! And I’d probably get a sweet apartment!

“I could end up in some exotic location I’ve never even heard of before!”

Now this was starting to sound exciting to the young Elder. This might be a great opportunity!

“Hey, I could even go to Japan. Maybe my brother Jimmy will be there! Or maybe not.” Thain suddenly remembered his family again.

“I forgot! I have to get home so I can see my nieces!

Sheesh, they’re both so big now, and they don’t even know me yet! And what about my new nephew that is coming?” Thain thought. “If I don’t get home, I won’t get to go visit him and teach him how to be a good missionary. What the heck am I doing! I’m still on my mission!” Thain looked around.

“Oh yeah, I still have work to do!”

And with that, he smiled happily and went about his missionary duties.

Whats in a name?

I had so many good ideas for girl names. Eowyn, Leah, Naussica. Hava was my top pick. But now that we know a little bit more about our baby, boy names are on the agenda. So I thought I’d share a few of our ideas and see what everyone thinks.

I am a fan of unique names, but I’ve heard a considerable amount of research saying that boys with odd names tend to not fare as well in the business and social world as do those with ‘strong’ names like Michael, John, or James. So it is all a balancing act between tastefully normal, but not too common.

We’ll ignore the fact that my dad suggested I name the baby after the demon, Cthulhu. (Any H.P. Lovecraft fans out there?) I think he was kidding, but you never know.

In no particular order, here are some of the names up for consideration.

Elijah

In Hebrew, Elijah means “My God is the Lord”. Joseph likes Hebrew names because he has Jewish ancestry. I think they’re pretty cool too, even though most of the common names in America are Biblical and generally of Hebrew origin.

We like this one because it sounds really good with Elora, don’t you think? Its becoming more popular unfortunately, and I’ve met a few kids with this name. In fact, some of our friends just named their new baby Elijah. Its not completely off of our list, but it feels like its already been taken.

Eli

Again, this would sound good with Elora. A shorter version of Elijah, basically, meaning “my God”. Joseph also likes ‘Eloi’ but no one would ever say it right I’m sure.

Simeon

At first, I thought this would be a cool name. It’s a character in a book we read together, and its somewhat unique. In Hebrew, it means "Listening". But then I thought about the other meaning of ‘simian’… you know, monkey-like? I don’t think that would go down well when he’s older. Especially if he was a scientist or something, right? So that name is probably out of the picture.

Yehuda

Joseph likes this name, but I have a feeling its presence on our list will be short-lived. Its unique, yes, but maybe a little too different. Also from a book we were reading. It means "Praise" in Hebrew. I was grading papers from an elementary school for my job today and one kid's name was 'Huda.' I wonder if it was the short version of this name?

Egan

Meaning “Ardent, little fire”. I like this one because it is the name of one of my ancestors, and its Gaelic. But with a meaning like that, would you be predisposing him to have a fiery temper? Or maybe just red hair. That would be okay. Joseph isn’t so fond of this name, but I still like it.

Rowan

Yes, I was thinking of Rowan Atkinson, the British actor who plays Mr Bean, Black Adder, and others. I like the name because its more unique and also Gaelic. It means, “Little red one.” But I don’t know if I like feeling like I’m naming the baby after an actor, especially because you never know what that actor is going to do to make their name infamous in the future. Joseph thinks this name isn't masculine enough. Whatever.

Noah

I was very excited about this name for a little while. Its one of those names becoming more popular so that it’s no longer considered odd, but its still a little different. I was thinking it would be cool because the baby will be born somewhere where it rains a lot, and we could tell him that is why we gave him that name. I could totally picture him as some sort of bohemian artist or a business man with this name. But just when it was climbing to the top of my list, my new visiting teaching partner told me her son’s name is Noah. And her sister-in-law had stolen three baby names from them. I couldn’t do that to her too, could I?

Joshua

Out of all of the names on our list, this one is probably the most popular (in the top 10) and most common of all. Yet somehow I keep coming back to it. What do you think, “Joshua Joseph”? No way would we call him JJ though. And I don’t like it shortened to Josh even though I know people will do it anyway. It means “God is help” and I’m sure most of you readers are aware that its another version of the name Jesus.

We’ll see how it goes.

Anyway, here are some other names that have been on our list at one point or another:

Isaiah, Logan (obviously this wouldn’t work anymore when we move), Everett, Atreju (Joseph said no way, but I still think its kind of cool), Jacob (Joseph still likes it, but I have a cousin with this name.)

Does anyone have anymore suggestions?

Do you think the color of the names would influence your choice?

http://www.wesclark.com/ubn/

http://www.babycenter.com/babyname

http://www.babynamesworld.com

http://www.thinkbabynames.com

Random Stuff in My Life

Recently my friend S.O. commented on how our group of friends rarely update our blogs. Being away from home, she looks at everyones blogs much more often to keep up to date. I know exactly how she feels, as I am also living a distance away from everyone else we know.
So I figured I would write a quick blurb about stuff going on with my life, even though its nothing especially exciting. Just to keep up to date, you know.

stripper baby

First, there is Elora and her new fascinating pastime. Elora has decided undressing is the funnest thing ever. We've taken to putting her in dresses during the week because she is less adept at removing this than she is her pants and shirt. This is one of the less explicit pictures I have, which I chose to protect innocent eyes!
The babysitter said she took her to a playgroup with other kids in our ward this week. While they were there, Elora took her pants off then put her hand in her diaper and said, "Poops?" But she wasn't really dirty. Silly girl. Good thing she doesn't do that when we're in nursery at church, or we'd have a room full of twenty little naked two-year-olds!

baby#2 this is his face and some fingers I think. Also one of the less 'explicit' pictures!

Most readers are aware of another focus in our lives right now. Last week we found out that we will be expecting a little boy in June. They also said the date is a week and a half earlier than was first predicted. So it will be here around June....15th maybe? Joseph's graduation is the eighth, my birthday is the 21st (the original due date) and we are scheduled to be moving a month later with my parents' help. That baby better come when it is supposed to, we are on a tight schedule!
I am somehow more nervous about this birth than the first one. I'm not sure if its all the stress with everything else going on, or the thought of unexpected circumstances, like the c-section last time!
Oh, and my dad wants me to name the baby after a demon (Cthulhu) instead of a bible name, because "bible names are stupid." This statement includes everything from Matthew, Jacob, and Timothy to Noah and Mark. My dad is extremely obnoxious....this is just a warning for anyone who ever meets him!

As I mentioned before, we are planning on moving in July. Joseph will be finishing his degree, and we've been deliberating for some time on where to go. Most of the Universities really close to us don't offer bachelors degrees in teaching. Well, the college he's been at does have an extension program through WWU, but we've already discovered theres no way we can afford to live here another year. Prices keep going up on everything, and our rent is going to be rediculously high next year!

Strangely enough, Joseph is the one who keeps suggesting church schools or Utah schools. I have been dead-set on staying in Washington for a while. We had finally settled on WSU, a school in Pullman, WA on the border with Idaho. Logically, it would be a great choice with its world-class programs and great scholarship opportunities.

WSU campus

Unfortunately, the logical choice isn't always the best choice in the long run. I was grateful that Joseph had eliminated BYUI and BYU out of his cache of choices, ( I just really didn't want to live there) but he still had Utah on his mind. In the end, after much deliberation and changing of both of our minds, we have settled on Utah State University in Logan.
I know, weird.
Everyone in his family is going to blame me for taking him away from them, but really it WAS his idea!
There are many reasons for this choice and it was very complicated, but in the end we both agreed this was the best. Now that we've pretty much settled on it (by 95% at least) I am feeling more excited all the time.
I've only been to Logan once to visit a friend, but I really did like it. Its close to Salt Lake, but not a part of the long chain of suburbia. Its also in a mountain valley and somewhat isolated. It reminds me of Cedar City where I grew up, but its bigger. Also, I almost chose to go to school there myself!

Logan, Utah

True, its not as green as Washington. But theres a lot less crime, the school is good, and its about six hours from my family instead of twenty-two. Still far enough away, but not so far we can't visit for Thanksgiving. We'll just have to get snow tires, right? Plus, everyone else can visit me much more easily....if they don't mind screaming babies and everyone taking a nap in the afternoon (including me!)

Anyway, this is just a window into what we are doing right now in our little family. I hope everyone enjoyed the tour.