Abundant Recompense Copy

Nate here. Michelle had the great idea of recording a couple thoughts about the last three years of my master's program at the University of Utah. So I'll start with one low and one high. The worst part of the whole experience was trying to squeeze classes and homework into a schedule already full to overflowing with a full-time job (and sometimes overtime), family responsibilities, commuting from home two counties away, church obligations, a yard that will never be under control, etc. Because I ride the train into Salt Lake I don't have a car at work, so I was stuck on the bus or light rail to get to the university and back downtown to work. I always, always, ALWAYS tried every scheme imaginable to cut down on commuting time. The worst was when I had a late-night class and had to catch the 9:00 train or have to wait until 10:00 for the next one. It stressed me out to no end. I tried biking, I tried bus-hopping to save time, and I sometimes asked classmates I barely knew to...

Last week at church, Bryn was workin' it. See for yourself. (Don't mind the poor little nose. It had a run-in with some concrete when Addison accidentally ran into her with the stroller on our driveway. Ouch.) Anyway, she was an adorable little girl in her new dress. In the middle of the meeting, Nate happened to glance down at her only to discover that her diaper was completely off and she was sitting on the pew commando! I laughed my head off as silently as possible while he fumbled around, quite flustered, trying to get it back on. The incident was soon forgotten as we dropped her off at nursery. At the end of church I headed in to pick her up and was met by a relieved " There she is!" from her teachers. Never a good sign. Bryn had yet again lost her diaper. From what I was able to gather from the panicked teachers, she must have undone it most of the way and then later as she was walking around it fell off right onto the floor. And there she was beaming up at me...

Hate to shatter everyone’s hopes and dreams, but the competition for best graduation gift ever given is finished. Game over. You can go home now. Michelle won. Friday night after my folks took us out to eat, we got home and Michelle told me that Gerald, an elderly man in our neighborhood, wanted to congratulate me on finishing my master’s. So we headed over there, and we talked for awhile about the latest news, and I was thinking, “Wait, you invited us over to chat about Osama bin Laden?” When we got up to leave he handed me an envelope. I opened it and was confused because I thought it was empty, but then I saw that there was a slip of paper inside with four lines of poetry on it. And now I was thinking, “An 80-year-old is writing me poetry?” FINALLY I caught on that Michelle had master-minded an elaborate treasure hunt with clues slipped into envelopes. So we proceeded to traipse around the neighborhood, walking into people’s backyards, poking around their shrubs, and generally putti...

Other than moments of cuteness here and there, I have never before wanted to stop the clock on my kids growing up. The time until the next milestone generally seems endless. But I'm calling it on Addison right now. He is very convinced of his big boy status and is offended if anyone says otherwise. Several things have happened of late that really have made me feel like he's growing up way too fast. #1 Haircut: Addison has desperately needed a haircut for several weeks now. I finally bit the bullet this weekend and got the clippers out. Things were insane at the time as I tried to wrestle Bryn into the tub and get Addison to hold still and stop touching everything in sight. Long story short, I used the one I meant for the sides on the top. Result: big boy ready for summer. #2 Naptime: Addison very rarely naps these days. But he does have an hour of quiet time every day where he plays by himself in his room and gives Mommy a breather. He likes to be carried to his room for quiet ...