The Rad Rollins

Funny Or Sad?

2012-02-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago we were saying prayer before dinner and Greta just stopped near the table and folded her arms. Typically she doesn't close her eyes but I noticed that this time she was trying to keep her eyes shut. Right as the prayer was ending she fell forward and slapped the floor with her body. It seems standing, folding arms, closing eyes, and balancing is still pretty tricky!

It was dang funny although she was sad and crying. That'll teach her to pray, right?

Maui

2012-02-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

Our parents are awesome!! Last week I actually had to paint my toes because they were going to be exposed for the first time since September. All the grown-up Rollins went to Maui for a week and it was fabulous! Thank you Mom and Dad Dutson for staying with our kids and thank you Mom and Dad Rollins for taking us on such a memorable trip!

Took a drive to Hana. Above is Hamoa beach just passed Hana.

Swam in the 1 of the 7 sacred pools on the road to Hana.

Did some early morning kayaking in the ocean with the whales. One swam right under us and then came up to breath a few feet away. Yes, totally awesome!

Luau at the Grand Wailea.

Biking down the volcanco.

Above the clouds on the way down the volcano.

Snorkeling.

The last beautiful morning before taking the last waterfall hike.

Not the typical relaxing, sun-bathing Hawaii trip. In fact I think I was more tired and exhausted when I got home than before we left, but also one of the most fun and exciting trips we've taken in a long time. It was really nice to just be outside for so much of the day and without our kids fighting, yelling or needing something! Not once for a whole week did I say, "stop touching your sister," "finish your dinner," "don't spit on your brother," or "turn off that DS off before I throw it out the window." It was wonderful and I want to go back soon!

A few more Hawaii pics

2012-02-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

Forgot a few things...took a whale watching boat tour and saw 2 full whale breaches (where they come fully out of the water). I missed the closest, coolest breach because a big, fat guy was standing right in front of me with his camera. I heard all the 'ohhs' and 'ahhs' but all I saw was a giant man with big splashes on each side of him. Bummer.

Hanging from the Banyan tree in Lahaina where we did some eating and shopping.

Stand-up paddling or SUPing with Nathan's high school friend who lives on the island and took us on a awesome hike the last day which included necessary swimming in a freezing pond in order to continue on the hike. I screamed the entire swim. Cold is not me thing, but the hike was super fun. Just my level of treachery.

I never did catch a wave, but I got up without falling.

Ben did catch some waves, but he also fell onto a sea urchin.

It seems some are venomous and others are not. Luckily this one was not. Left a few little barbs in his fingers which are still working their way out.

Our wonderful family minus Tammy and Dan. Tammy had a baby days before we left! We missed them!

Luke is 8!

2012-02-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

In January Luke turned 8 and had a bunch of parties. First, with cousins at Grandma Rollins house.

Second, at Jack & Jill Lanes with friends. They played Laser Tag, ran, screamed, and tackled each other in the party room. It was fun to see Luke with his friends. Usually they play outside or at school so I don't see how he interacts with kids other than Caleb and Greta. He's quite crazy.

Lastly, a small party after he was baptized this past Saturday. It was a great and memorable day!

December

2012-01-04T14:57:00.000-08:00

IN DECEMBER 2011...

Greta turned 2 and we went to Chick Fil A!

Ben turned 33 and we went to Ventanas.

Ben went on a snow hike...

...and got wet.

Church Christmas Party

Christmas Eve with Dutsons included entertainment by Caleb and his Kindergarten Elf song.

Also, the annual treasure hunt. That's Greta jumping out of Grandma's arms. Grandpa is holding Brad and Karlee's baby, Perry.

Christmas Eve with Rollins included cousin group hug...

and wrapping paper wrestling.

Christmas Day included a miserable attempt of getting a picture of my kids and the Christmas tree (Greta insisted on the chocolate pudding and the Dora chair, otherwise it would have been a picture of the boys and screaming Greta), but also tons of presents, family, love, food, and fun!

Happy 2012!

Kids Look Like This Now

2011-11-30T12:52:00.000-08:00

Some pictures.

Before church. Really, it's quite impossible to get a good picture of multiple children without serious photo shop.

Philip's Wedding at the Oakland Temple

BYU Football

Greta's perfect face is now permantly blemished since September. She ran her lip into a metal table while trying to climb on the metal bench. The stitch was debatable, only 1 stitch. Grandpa happened to be working a shift so I took her in. He said because it's only one stitch, one needle poke, she didn't need to be numbed. Either one poke to numb and then another to stitch, or just one poke to stitch. The worst part was the burrito bind they put her in to keep her still. I couldn't stay in the room. She was fine as soon as they let her out of the burrito and fortunately for Grandpa she forgot or didn't care that he inflicted so much torture. Went right to him the next day. Even with the stitch it's pretty scared. Hopefully she won't ever care. Fingers Crossed.

Bed Please

2011-11-18T18:33:00.000-08:00

She ignored all my whiny signals.

So I suppose I'll crash here.

BOO!

2011-11-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

I should have pulled a scarier face, but o-well. This was taken at the 3rd Annual Rollins Family Halloween party! Thanks momma Rollins for all her hard work preppin' her house and making an enormous amount of chili!

Miss Lady Bug

Sunday afternoon activity

The pre-trick-or-treating posing.

The cutest Lady Bug with pig tails tails I think I've ever seen.

Waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to bring their pizza dinner.

Greta preferred her lolli-pop and didn't even try to catch up with her brothers. Later that night Ben took her home to hand out candy. He says she insisted that he open each lolli-pop. She would take a lick or 2, put the sticky mess on the table and then tell him to open the next one, take a couple of licks, on the table and then on to the next one until all lolli-pops (about 5) were tasted and tested.

It was a fun and busy Halloween. Lots of activities. Ben loves the dressing up part of Halloween and is already plotting our next costume. If only our costume budget was endless. Then he could really have some fun!

Other Party Pics

2011-11-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

Melanie and Spencer

Bo Peep and her Lost Sheep

Cousins, Ammon (age 5) and Caleb (age 5) --NINJAS!!!

Brad and Karlee. Holy Toledo!! Brad actually agreed to not only attend the party, but dress up, play a stupid party game, and what!?! Maybe enjoy himself!?!

The toilet paper mummy game

John, Amy and Family

Rapunzel, Flynn and her royal parents

Eric and Meleana

Devil's Advocate and Witch

Jenny, Ryan and family

Dan, Kristie and family

Bob

The Luchador,

and costume winner

Beeson family

Grapes

*Yes, there is a child in that little cluster and she's adorable!

Sorry other friends and families that came. I wasn't so good at getting a picture of everyone. I blame Ben. I'll do better next year! Gotta document.

For Grandma

2011-10-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Some pictures for Grandma Carol since she just learned how to find our blogs and use email!

This is Greta a few weeks ago when visiting Gardner Village. We went here last year, Grandma, when you were visiting in October. All the cute shops and witches...

This is Caleb playing soccer a few Saturdays ago. He likes it. Kinda.

This is us last month in Vegas at a botanical garden. We stopped here overnight on our way to San Diego to accompany Ben on a business trip and also go to SeaWorld, Legoland, and the beach.

The boys at the beach in Oceanside. They loved it all. The waves, the sand, the sun. They were filthy, tired boys by the end of the day.

Greta did not like the beach. She refused to even touch the sand and when we forced it for pictures sake she screamed like this.

She did like sitting on the blanket and eating PBJ. Shortly after this she took a nap in her stroller under the umbrella.

This is Luke back in July. He busted his wrist when running through the yard and tripping. We drove up to Layton and Dr Grandpa wrapped it up!

This is 'May Ma' (what Greta is currently calling Grandma) at Farmington Festival Parade back in July.

This was taken on the Salt Flats on our way to San Jose back in July. Ben had another business trip so we went to visit with friends!

There's a quick update of the last few months. I'll try to be better!!!!

Once Caleb said...

2011-04-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

while hiking, "We sure are fast-pokes!"
while driving and shielding his eyes and mad at me for driving that particular direction, "Mahhhm, I can't look frontwards because the sun's in my eyes!"
when getting dressed, "Mom, should I put the unsleeved shirt on first?" (meaning t-shirt)

Logical, right?

Manners

2011-03-21T12:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, dinner-time went a little like this...

Caleb: giant belch
Ben: (sternly) Caleb, if you do that again I'm taking you to your room. Do you ever hear Mom or Dad...
Greta: (interrupting) giant fart; Bursts of laughter from all 3 children
Luke: (immediately following fart, while laughing) No, but Greta does!

Oiy. I predict this scene has happened millions of times, but there's no denying it's hilarious when viewed personally.

Awesome.

2011-02-28T16:13:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's my girl playing next to the chemicals. The child lock only works on one side. It's funny that, in my opinion, first time parents are so careful to baby proof the house and really it's not as necessary as it is for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th. It's easy to keep an eye on 1 kid, not so easy to watch 3. I'm not so panicked as more kids come but maybe I should be as she is in far more danger than Luke ever was what with mommy so preoccupied and all.

Don't trust me with your kids.

Lesson Learned

2011-02-23T16:25:00.000-08:00

I often tell the boys to hurry and put your seatbelt on because if the police officer sees you without a belt then he'll be upset with me. Today when I reminded Caleb of this he said, "that would be sad if they took you away. Because, did you know that police officers always take away the beautiful girls and moms and the handsome boys and dads?" "Are the police officers going to take me away?" "No."

Never fish for a compliment from your 4-year-old.

Bleaaaaack. (me after being sick)

2011-01-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

Me at a YW overnight retreat with the stomach flu.

Ben drove up to Heber Valley to pick me up early.

Enough said to employ your sympathies.

Also, my new calling...YW Girls Camp Director

Go ahead, laugh, Ben did.

Come Snuggle Me

2011-01-27T21:41:00.000-08:00

1st - SICK! (said with gagging disgust not just a statement of her condition) I've said it before and this just reconfirms that slimy snot triggers my gag reflex way easier than a poopy diaper. WAAAAY easier! Really, I can hardly stand to look at the picture.

2nd - How she managed to not smear that across her face like most babies do escapes me.

And 3rd - Imagine her crib sheet tomorrow morning.

Humidity Pleeeeaaase!

2011-01-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

My naturally dry skin, combined with a hard water system, combined with Utah's terribly dry atmosphere, combined with having turned 30, is doing a number on my skin and it is NOT pretty. I'm telling you I could put straight Crisco on my skin and not break out. Do the ashy appearance, flaky elbows, magnified fine lines (Do you like that description? I'm not calling them wrinkles quite yet. Maybe when I reach 35, but for now they are just fine lines. Got it?), the itchy, enhanced eczema bother me?? Yes. That is, everywhere except my hands, which are possibly more dry and aged than anything else on my body. Why, do you ask, am I not bothered by my 'oh, not so pretty' hands? Because like my mother and my grandmother we have hands that mature faster than our age. And so, when I look at my hands I'm reminded of them and where I have come from and it makes me smile.

Also...

2011-01-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

My babies are dang cute!!! And Paul takes great pictures!

The Rick and Kari grand-babies.

Luke (6), Perry (2 mo), Henry (1), Greta (1), and Caleb (4)

The Rick and Kari Family (December 2010)

10 happy and very eventful years! Still love him lots!

10 Years!!

2011-01-01T12:55:00.000-08:00

Sweet Mexico! Why can't you be more safe so that all would take advantage of your beauty and culture?? Unlike some, Ben and I throw caution to the wind, pack up and head south to the drug-lord driven country when the opportunity presents. For our 10th anniversary we took a 'Mom and Dad Only' trip to Cancun. Turns out we picked a very safe week to go with the United Nations Global Warming Conference going on. Lots of extra machine gun toting military roaming the streets, which doesn't really make me feel more safe given our experience with Mexican cops in Monterey, but the locals all assured us it's "very safe right now." Maybe.

A day at the Mayan ruins, Chichen Itza. Perfect weather for a beautiful place.

An afternoon boating in the Lagoon and snorkeling off the shore near the reef.

An hour of swimming with dolphins and then we played at Wet N Wild for awhile which is like a Raging Waters. No pictures of us with the dolphins as cameras were not allowed and it was $70 for a picture they took and provided. 70 bucks!!! Ben talked them down to $30 for a single picture - we haven't scanned it in.

We spent time on the beach but not as much as I would have liked. First, Ben gets bored after too long and second, it was a little colder than I would have liked. If the clouds covered the sun and a breeze picked up I was cold. I swam in the ocean only because we were at the beach and it was pretty not because I needed refreshing from the heat.

It was a wonderful trip and I'm very glad we were able to arrange it. Huge thanks to Tammy, Grandma Rollins, and Grandma Dutson for watching, feeding, changing, and entertaining our kids.

Little Jerk!

2010-12-24T20:47:00.000-08:00

I said, "Caleb, get down here now or you're gonna be on the naughty list."

Caleb said, "Well M-ahhhhh-m, Luke and me are already on the naughty list so..." (I'll come down when I want to come down.)

Little jerk!

Blue Cheese

2010-12-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

At the grocery store the other day I said to Caleb, "We just need to get some blue cheese and then we're done." In shock and with huge eyes he says, "There's BLUE cheese in the this REAL LIVE WORLD?!" Which reminds me...when we were moving so often during grad school Luke used to ask, "What's THIS world called?" Referring to Pennsylvania, or Utah, or Mexico. I guess Mexico does seem like a different world.

Miss What?

2010-12-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

I've been calling Greta 'Miss' or 'Missy' or 'Little Miss' recently. The boys have added to this endearment in a strange way and I've heard them say, "There's the little Miss Piss" or "Hi, Missy Pissy." It's weird...and funny!

Pictures of Our Girl

2010-11-21T17:06:00.000-08:00

Here's Greta at 8 months (August)

9 months (September)

10 months (October)

and 11 months (November)

She's going to be 1 in about 10 days and like all parents, I can't believe it!

A Story for the Wedding

2010-11-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

I've been teaching a few kids how to play the piano and the boys know that when I'm with a student they can play outside or watch TV upstairs. That's the rule. Luke usually comes home in the middle of a lesson so he comes in, drops his stuff, goes potty, and then runs outside.

One particular day Caleb and his friend forgot the rule (or ignored it) and kept coming in and out and ringing the door bell. To keep them out I finally locked the doors. About 5-10 minutes before my lesson was finished I began to hear Luke banging on the garage door and yelling, "M-ahhhhhh-m!" I ignored it until the lesson was done and then went to the back door. I opened it and found Luke with his pants and underwear to his ankles. He says, "I had to go to the bathroom." "Didn't you just go?" "Yea, but I had to poop and now I need some tissue." "You pooped? Where?" He then points with one hand out the garage and then quickly with the other hand toward the other side of the house while looking a little suspicious. He went in to clean up while I did a little poop search. The location...the bed of Grandpa's truck which we had borrowed for the week. He said no one would see him in there. Yea, sure. If you know the layout of our cul-de-sac and driveway this logic is even funnier.

So it seems he thought through what location would provide the most privacy (failed), but didn't quite run through what he'd do to clean himself up (double fail). Assuming no one saw him he wasn't at all embarrassed just sort of 'Gotta do what you gotta do.'

Ben made him hose out the back of the truck when he got home which, for Luke, turned out to be fun, hilarious, and not an effective punishment.

To Post or Not to Post

2010-11-17T07:38:00.000-08:00

Our blog is not private so sometimes I worry about the thoughts of people who don't know us and our values. But whatever! Here's the story.

When we moved in I hung some curtains in the kitchen to cover the sliding glass door. I was worried the boys would get chasing each other around the table (or whatever riotous behavior) and yank the curtain rod out of the wall. Ben told them that if they touched the curtain he would cut their finger off. Then he showed them the detached thumb trick (ya know the one?) and told them when he was little he pulled on Grandma Rollins curtains.

Now every time they swish past the curtain they begin to whimper in a sort of "I don't think mom or dad would do that...or would they?" Yea, they're adequately confused and we're bad parents.

Luke the Determined

2010-11-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

Luke came home from school the other day and told me he played a sixth grader at tetherball and lost. This amuses me for a couple of reasons. First, I laugh as I imagine the big kid challenging Luke to a match and Luke actually thinking, "yea, I could take him." Second, I giggle as I imagine this sixth grader whacking the ball with every turn and Luke helplessly jumping and swinging at air. Thirdly, I smile because he was absolutely not bothered that he got totally smoked only encouraged to practice more.

His request from Santa...a tetherball set. It's already on the way.

Finally a Quick Update

2010-11-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

So we finally moved out of our parents home. Why we left we’re not so sure – giant theater room, granite counter tops, mom’s cooking - but we loved staying with the parents and appreciate their kindness. Our boys miss sharing their wisdom with our parents: one morning Caleb walked upstairs and found Grandpa working on the computer. Caleb said, “Grandpa, do you know why cats have tails? It is to keep their bums warm.” Another day Luke was eating a sandwich for lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Rollins. Luke said, “Grandpa, do you know why we call salami, salami?”. “No I don’t,” said Grandpa. Luke continued, “It’s because it tastes like salami!” Yes, geniuses in the making.

So we moved back into the home we bought 3 years ago in Lehi and had been renting while going to school and living with Ben’s parents. Here is the low down:

Ben – Merged off his eye bandage company into another company and received some compensation for his work for the past year. Hoping that it pays off bigger in a few more years. Decided to take a job at the University of Utah to help find and turn technologies into viable businesses which will make biiiilllliiooons - maybe. Just called to be Sunday School President.

Nicole - Works daily to keep house in order (really it's useless). Volunteers weekly at Luke's school. Teaches a few neighborhood kids how to play the piano. Plays the piano for primary (beautiful music but can become a little mind numbing).

Luke - 6 years old, first grader, member of the "Pilgrims Landing 4-7 year old boy gang" currently boasting about 10 members. Recent havoc includes writing all over the driveway of a neighbor with crab apple berries (does not wash off with water only a bleach solution applied with elbow grease), busting the porch bench of same neighbor, throwing tomatoes onto a tramp and then proceeding to jump and squash them into sauce, and taking a baseball bat to our tree leaving it naked with its branches strung across the yard. After being publicly grounded for the last incident his friends assured him, "it's okay Luke, we've got recess."

Caleb - 4 years old, also a member of above mentioned boy gang. Also took part in all gang related activity. Begins a gymnastics class this week. Does not attend preschool, instead runs errands with me and plots with all gang members currently too young to attend school. Not afraid to speak his mind: While at Grandmas, Peter broke Caleb’s sword so Caleb hit Peter. Aunt Melanie looked at Caleb and told him not to hit. Caleb stood there for a second looking at Melanie and then said, “You don’t live hear you know.”

Greta - 11 months old, not quite a walker, the best eater in the house and very regularly out eats both her brothers. Is not shy, regularly screams a high-pitch scream during sacrament, in the car, or while shopping.

Those are the high-lights. This update in no way preludes more regular posting. I make no promises. I will, although, post some more pictures this week - probably.

Love,

The "Awesomist Forever Family in the World" (Caleb's words)

The Passionate One

2010-05-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Caleb now sings...

"All the single ladies, all the single ladies,

All the single ladies, all the single ladies"

It's quite funny! If only we could get him to do the Beyonce rump shake!

Caleb is so far my most passionate child, giving me spontaeous hugs and kisses while telling me how much he loves me and then hours later yelling, "I hate you!" because I told him he couldn't have a third donut.

Now...how do I channel that passion toward the right things???

Greta Girl

2010-04-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

She's growin'. This is Greta on her 4 month birthday. She's even bigger now. She'll be 5 months on Saturday. In this picture you can really see her baby blues.

My mom made these pants thanks to Alissa's posted pattern. Alissa, the women in my mom's knitting group are now circling the pattern and my sister has sent in measurements to have mom get on making a pair for her boy.

If you look carefully you'll notice that she has already had her first pedicure...and she didn't even know it. My mom painted her toes while she slept.

Being this adorable just wipes a girl out!

My Blue Eyed Babies

2010-04-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

Home Alone

2010-04-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, at church, as we were all getting to Sacrament I was realizing that Luke was no where to be found. Ben took a few laps through the building and still we couldn't find him. Finally, he says to his dad, "Did you take Luke to church?" "No. Didn't you?" See, he took Caleb and so we assumed that he took Luke too.

The kicker...we have Sacrament last.

Yea, for 2 hours Luke was at home alone. Ben ran home to get him and I paced the building with Greta. 2 hours is a long time and I worried he might have felt abandoned. When I saw him coming up to the doors he was almost giddy with what he got away with. It seems he watched TV, ate candy and even changed his clothes because heck, why did he need to wear those anymore?

Sewing

2010-03-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

My mother is an excellent seamstress. I've never sewn anything more than a pillow case and an elastic waist skirt. I decided to give it a try and with my moms help I've created these adorable ensembles.

Amy gave me these super cute booties. I picked this fabric specifically to match the booties.

If you can't tell these pants have a linen feel to them. They are my favorite. All I need now is for her to grow another inch, gain a couple more pounds and have the sun warm up UT.

Went to a Funeral

2010-03-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

Gramma's funeral was last week. It was so unexpected which made it so much harder. Everyone is in agreement that Papa should be with her soon. He hasn't been the same Pop for years, he isn't aware of much, he forgets a lot. When Gramma was here she hadn't been able to enjoy the man that he really is for years. And so, when he passes not only will he be thrilled to see her and be rid of his breaking body but she will be reunited with the mentally alert Ray she married. I suspect his funeral will feel much different.

Perspective

2010-03-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

I got my hair cut a few days ago. I've been excited and I'm trying to get used to it. I've felt and messed with it a lot. I've looked in the mirror a lot to try and remember how I look now. And then I learned that my Gramma Janice died suddenly and unexpectedly yesterday and I don't care about my hair anymore.

I just want to hug my Gramma and tell her how amazing I think she is and that I love her.

82 gallons

2010-02-22T19:36:00.000-08:00

The other day I was sitting in a yarn shop waiting for my mom and I needed to feed Greta. So I got her out and was nursing her when a lady who worked at the shop started chit chatting with me. She said there is a girl who comes into the shop who had triplets recently. She's been pumping in order to feed them and has needed to keep track of how much went to each boy. She's kept up a nice log and calculated that she had pumped over 82 gallons of milk.

Yeah.

I don't know how old her boys are, but even if they are 1 that is some serious lactating.

This got me thinking, "I wonder how much milk my body has produced?" So with a little guessing and a little calculating it seems I've given about 9 to 10 gallons of milk to Greta who is only 13 weeks old. This just blows me away and kinda grosses me out.

What the Heck Ben is Doing and other stuff

2010-02-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

Ben is still working away with his partner on their medical device company. Here is a link to what his company is all about - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdBhOOSGNBU

He heads to 3 more competitions in March to bring in some more money. With a potential deal for the eye bandage looming in the air, Ben and Brian (his partner in the lab) will begin to move their product to skin.

Luke turned 6 last month with a celebration at Chuck E Cheeses...always the best in fun and pizza...well, at least fun.

For a family party I made a Poke Ball cake. I was almost done frosting the cake when Caleb told me it was an upside down cake. I guess red is suppose to be on top. Whoops!

Greta turned 2 months old the beginning of Feb and smiles all the time. She's sleeping better and better usually giving me a good 6 to 7 hours.

Caleb got his hair cut and was pretty upset about it for a couple hours.

For those who liked the long hair, it will be back by summer. I didn't realize how much I liked it until I was looking through pictures from this last summer. It was so wavy and BLOND! I can't believe how much blonder it was.

Does this make anyone else as anxious for summer as me?? Watermelon at the park? I'm so ready!

As for me, I feel good and am settling into 'mother of 3.' And I feel the best about the settling when the kids look like this...

...sleeping, or seconds away from it!

2 months in a flash

2010-01-21T20:05:00.000-08:00

Who is that boy?? The hair is gone and I hardly recognize him.

Greta grew into and out of her first pair of shoes (made by Grandma Dutson). Super cute, eh?

Greta at 1 week old.

Greta at 2 weeks old.

Wrapping paper swimming after Christmas morning at G & G Rollins.

Grandpa Rollins 90th Birthday at Turf Paradise Race Track in Phoenix.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Visiting Grandpa's Ranch and the race horses.

Cousins Greta (6 wks) and Henry (14 wks).

To remind you that Luke looks like this now.

And He Said...

2010-01-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Caleb was given a CTR (Choose The Right) ring in church. He came out of his class and told Ben, "today we got rings but we didn't get married."

I'm glad to hear primary teachers aren't betrothing sunbeams to each other.

She's Here!

2009-12-07T18:04:00.002-08:00

Greta Catherine was born Tuesday, December 1st at 5:02am.
7 lbs 4 oz
20 inches

Check out all the hair!!

Birth story in a nut shell...I was scheduled to be induced on Tuesday morning at 6:00am. Throughout this pregnancy my platelets dropped really low and the doctors were unable to get them high enough to make everyone comfortable, including me. They planned to transfuse me with platelets the morning of the induction so that I would have less risk of bleeding out and also so that I could get an epidural.

Instead of following the nice plan set up by the OB and Hematologist I woke up at 3:00am with pretty intense contractions. We arrived at the hospital at 3:45am and our baby came at 5:02am.

She's perfect and I'm immensly grateful to not be pregnant any more.

In other news, Luke lost his first tooth!

Grandpa's Garden

2009-10-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Rollins grew a surplus of all kinds of vegtables this year. We've enjoyed tomato soup and yummy salsas from home grown tomatoes. Squash soup from home grown squash. And my very favorite was the carrot ginger soup from garden grown carrots the boys helped pull up.

The boys have tried all sorts of vegtables from the garden. Luke has liked most of them including beets and green beans. Caleb has hated most of them. Both have loved the cantalope and watermelon.

Luke and Caleb have enjoyed working in the garden with Grandpa Rollins this year. I hoped they're developing a green thumb of their own!

Pumpkins

2009-10-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

We picked out pumpkins yesterady to carve up in celebration of my Dad's 52nd birthday. It was a perfect day for pumpkin picking! I don't think the beauty of harvest time will ever compare to upstate NY's, but yesterday came pretty close.

Also, here's what 7 months looks like. Still coming along and getting more and more crowded.

Newest Nephew

2009-10-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

Kami had her son on Tuesday, October 6th. They named him Henry Paul. They are doing great and we can't wait to meet him.

Dang you, Caleb!

2009-10-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

Recently, Caleb has had a poop problem. He's had a little rash (what the pediatrician diagnosed yesterday as a strep A infection) around his bum hole which makes pooping pretty painful and bloody. (sorry) And so, he will hold his poop for as long as it will hold and then unload in his pants, and sometimes in the potty. (Sorry again, I have to set up the story.) Although I feel bad it hurts him to poop it's got to come out one way or another so can he please put it in the potty!?!

A week or so ago I was at lunch with my grandma who was visiting, my aunt, my mom, her friend, and Caleb. Before getting there my grandma had bought Caleb some little figure guys and he took them into the restaurant to play with. At the end of the meal Caleb began doing his poop dance which I've come to recognize and loathe. I took him to the potty where he peed and then refused to poop saying, "see mom, there's no poop." He was even holding his little legs together in order to keep his cheeks together and keep the poop in. I told him that I was going to have to take his new toys until he could put his poop in the potty. The stink said while sitting on the potty and squeezing, "I want you to. I want you to take my toys!" Fine.

We went back to the table where he immediately took his toys and threw them across the table at me. He didn't poop until later that day.

Last week on an especially frustrating day on and off the potty. He says to me from the couch, "the quickest way to stop poop is to sit on a pillow." What?? He sits on a pillow and sort of bounces up and down until the 'pains' stop and then he'll go play again until finally...the poop has no choice but to...

We finally got some medicated cream and an antibiotic to clear all this up and hopefully resume a normal bowel movement. Geez, I thought I was done cleaning up his rear.

New babies are coming!!

2009-09-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

This picture is a few months old and, really, not the best of either of us, but for history's sake...here is is. Kami is about 7 months and I'm 5. I'm now about 6 and a half and Kami is almost delivered. Any day now! Lucky her.

Also, for those wondering what the heck I'm wearing, this was at the the end of the day when I reached the "I've got to get these pants off and get into something that facilitates bending and breathing." And so, the sweatpant.

Kindergarten

2009-09-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

Before having Luke I taught school for about 6 months, and on the first day of school I stood with the other teachers watching the Kindergartener's come in and we said, "look how cute and little they are." And they were...little bodies with backpacks twice the size of their backs, super little compared with the big kids.

This year I sent Luke to Kindergarten and said, "Holy Cow!! Look how huge he is!! Big enough to be a Kindergartner." He's such a big boy now and loves taking the bus.

As is typical I was freaked out he would get off the wrong bus stop and be standing on the side of the road some where wondering where I was. I told him many, many times, "do not get off the bus unless you see mom." When the bus pulled up he was standing in his row scanning the road to find me. He did.

It 's been a few weeks. His transition to "school-boy" has been flawless. I still love watching him run across the road to the bus with hair and backpack bouncing.

So What Are You Guys Doing Now??

2009-09-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

Graduation was in May and since then the question of "what's next for the Rollins?" has perplexed us and others. We've determined another 6 month plan, which seem to work best for us, and it all happened a little like this...

Ben abandoned finding a traditional job in February due to the worst economy since the great depression, a lack of interest in big corporations, and most of all the entrepreneurship bug that has got the best of him in the past and has now bit him again with a new Cornell technology. This is Ben's latest corporation and he's partnered with a Cornell PhD candidate who is working furiously in the labs on a medical device - Ben calls it a "Super" Band Aid for the eye, Star Wars type stuff. While we were in Mexico Ben spent many hours writing up a business plan to submit to several business plan competitions. When we got back to the states they won 1st place at Cornell's competition, and took 8th of 340 applicants in the biggest competition in the nation, Rice. They expect to go back to Rice this spring and take the grand prize of $100k cash, plus prizes. They have also been selected as a finalist in the Purdue competition, which is held this coming November with a prize pot of $30k. Here are a few links about the company.

CNN Forbes

Johnson School
And so, what does this mean for our family life? Well although the National Eye Institute has awarded nearly a million dollars in government grants to continue research, it doesn't pay a salary to Ben or Brian (his partner). The business has a bank account but its been used to pay for paperclips, printer ink, and business travel to Boston, Omaha, and Ithaca. This means we will stretch our left-over savings/student loans as far as it can stretch (I'm talking serious stretching like I've never stretched before) while living in the Rollins' basement at least through Christmas. Yes, I will be bringing our new baby home to our parents house - at least there is a sweet theater room, basement kitchen, and a yard large enough for Croquet.

While Brian continues working in the labs in NYC, Ben works in my parents basement writing grants, talking to the FDA, and other stuff. We (our parents included) all hope that come January we'll be able to pull some salary and finally begin to live like a real grown-up American family in a space of our own.

So there it is. Wish us luck!

My poor travelin' boy

2009-08-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we drove from Ben's family reunion in Aspen Grove back to Farmington, UT which is only about an hour drive. We packed up the car, got in, and Luke says, "How many days is it gonna take?" The poor kid. Since January we've driven once from Mexico to NY - about 5 days, from NY to UT - about 4 days, and then a couple weeks ago from UT to Yellowstone - about 4 hours. So of course he can't contemplate a trip with luggage to take less than a day.

Gender Confirmed

2009-08-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

It IS a girl. Last week Ben's dad (who is an ER doc) took me down to the hospital and snuck me into ultrasound. It took about 2 minutes total. They put the little do-hicky on, squished it around a couple times and there it was...a little bum with open legs and a couple little lines, which aparently is what girls look like in ultrasound, black and white, fuzziness. There happened to be 2 women in the little room and both said, "yep, that's a pretty clear girl."

We are excited and my mother and grandmother have almost outfitted this child completely. Not quite, but they're getting there.

Also, if wondering - we don't know what we're gonna call her.

Bring on the Pink!! maybe...

2009-07-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

For those unaware, we will be having another baby in December. I had the ultrasound this last Thursday and the doctor really wasn't confident in his gender guess. He says, "I'd guess a girl, but I'd stick with yellow." How's that!?

Our baby did not cooperate with the probing and the best shot he got was looking up - like sitting under and looking up at the bum and legs...it was pretty vague. He says, "I don't see anything that looks like a boy, but there could easily be something stuck up in there." Nice, heh?

We're headed to Utah next week and they tell me that you can have an ultrasound to determine gender at any mall, at any time. I might have to find one of those places just to confirm the guess. Best news is that all those little developing body parts appeared perfect. Phew!

Happy 29th Birthday to Nicole / Eye-Catching Wife / Patient Mommy / "Mad Woman"

2009-06-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Happy 29th Birthday Nicole - If weren't poor students we would get you a new couch or full day treatment at the spa, but this year you'll have to settle for a blog post, cheerios breakfast, candles left over from Caleb's birthday, and some kisses from your boys.

Love - Ben, Luke, and Caleb
PS - "Mad Woman" comes from Luke - see the posting below. I actually disagree with Luke on this one.

Just to funny not to post

2009-05-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

A lot of quotes recently, but recently our house has been dang funny. After asking Luke to stop eating chips, put them back on the counter, and then vacuum up because he'd made a huge mess he says...

Luke: (with a mouth full of chips) Stop being mad woman!

Me: What?!? (partially shocked, mostly laughing)

Caleb Quotes of the week

2009-05-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

While holding a Newberry Award Winning library book, you know, the ones with the gold sticker on them...

Caleb: Mom, can you get this chocwit penny out for me?

Church Nursery Leader: What's your name?
Caleb: Caweb

A little later...

Church Nursery Leader: What's your name again?
Caleb: Caweb

A little later...

Church Nursery Leader: What's your name again?
Caleb: (yelling & irritated) Caweb! James! Wowins!!!

Thanks to the Nursery Leader for telling me that one.

Muffins

2009-05-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

Me: Luke, what do you want for breakfast?

Luke: Can I have an English muffin?

Me: We don't have any more. You ate the last one yesterday, remember?

Luke: Then can I have a Spanish muffin?

Me: Huh?

Johnson School Follies 09

2009-05-09T09:32:00.001-07:00

You may remember Ben's OGK (Old Guys with Kids) video I posted last year - job interviews of kids. This year we were in Mexico when OGK made it's video so Ben produced his own MBA Luche video. It was definitely one of the favorites and I can say this positively because it had the most views on YouTube (well before he deleted and reposted a better edited version) and those around us kept slurring with drunkedness, "this one's totally the best so far." Anyhow, here is the link...

I'm sure it's funnier (I just can't say 'more funny' even though I know it's more correct) if you know the stars, but I still thought it was pretty good.

The latest insult

2009-05-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

goes a little something like this...

Luke: "Caleb you don't know the gospel."

Caleb (screaming): "YES MY DO!! YOU DON"T KNOW THE GOSPO!"

Luke: "No, you don't. You're to little."

Caleb (screaming): "YES MY DO!! YOU DON"T KNOW THE GOSPO YUUUUUUKE!" - imagine the angry eyes

The screaming and insulting nature of the conversation goes to show neither know the spirit of the gospel. But it's still funny.

Also, the kids with eyes almost closed speaking Spanish are the Asian kids that live near us. Korean, Spanish, they're similar, right?

On the Way Home

2009-04-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

No kidding - after packing up our car all morning we had finally taken off. We were driving through Monterrey towards the border and we were pulled over for the 5th!! time. Like I've mentioned, the cops are just looking for some money and when they realize we won't hand it over they have let us go. This cop was a little more haughty and when Ben said he couldn't leave any money with him he gave Ben a ticket. "Who cares," you may say. "You're leaving the country!" Problem is that it is legal for the cop to take your licence to gaurantee you pay the fine.

So like we've been counseled we offered to follow the cop to the station in order to pay the fine immediately so that Ben could get his licence back and we could be on our way. Turns out it was a Mexican holiday and the office was closed until Monday - this was Thursday. Yea, I was almost in tears. The jerky cop took his licence. What else could we do? When the cop was saying good-bye he put his hand in the window in order to shake hands with Ben. I was outraged and as he's doing it I say to Ben in English, "Ew, don't shake his hand. It deserves to be spit in." Yea, I was mad.

To make it an even better story (this is not a joke), not 5 minutes later we were pulled over for a 6th time! Seriously, on the same road, a few lights up. Ben told him his amigo just gave him a ticket. We showed him the ticket and he laughed and let us go. I told Ben it's a bummer because all warm and fuzzies I was feeling about our time in Mexico were trampled in the last hour we were there. So mad!

Also, on a lighter and funnier note, last week after being here a few days Luke says, "Mom, did you know that there are lots of kids here with their eyes almost shut who speak Spanish?" Do you know what he's talking about??

Stolen!!!

2009-04-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

One Nintendo DS!!!

Yes, it's true and I hesitate and embarrassingly post about it because I feel incredibly angry and partially at fault. It happened last weekend when we took a little trip down south to visit El Cielo, a national park in the state of Tamaulipas.

It was outrageously hot and we had just pulled into the little town of Gomez Faris. Windows had been down, not all the way, not even half way, but enough for a hand to fit through (this is where our major fault lies). We would have rolled them up without a second thought if they had been automatic, but we had a rental with manual roller-uppers and it was hot, we had been in the car for 5 hours, and we were all hungry and crabby. Those are the lame excuses.

Ben asked Luke to pass him the DVD player to lock in the trunk. And so, I'm angry at Ben for not seeing the DS and locking that up to, I'm mad at Luke for not putting his DS safely back in his backpack which would have been to big to get through the window, and I'm mad at me for not double checking the back seat to make sure everything was out of site and not insisting we roll up the dang windows. The only one blameless is Caleb. And I'm sure if I seethe long enough I can come up with a way to blame him too!

Luke cried and cried. I become nauseated every time I come across DS paraphernalia. Sorry Mom, for being stupid and losing your fun and expensive gift after 3 months. Ahhhh!! At least it was just a game and not a kid, eh? I've been so sick about this I even had a dream the other night that when we cleaned out the car before returning it to the rental place we miraculously found it in some obscure cubby in the trunk. Wouldn't that be nice.

Jardin de Ninos Valle

2009-04-03T11:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was the boys last day of school in Mexico. When I told Luke he only had a few more days of school left he said, "but I don't know Spanish yet." He does know a lot. He can count to 30 in Spanish, he knows most of the colors. He always tells me, "salud" when I sneeze. Sometimes when he's with his friends I hear him say, "que?" The kid will say it again and he'll say, "okay." He also tells Caleb, "Mira Caleb!" Or, "Caleb, mira" while pointing to something. The picture is of Luke and his teacher, Miss Adriana. The other is Luke in his classroom.

This is Caleb with his teacher, Miss Ivon. Caleb's name is kinda hard for the Mexicans. They don't really get it until we say Cahleb, with a long ahhh sound. His teachers first started calling him Claben. They figured it out after a week or 2.

The boys loved their school which included a playing yard with a real live race track for bikes. It is sort of cement curbing, the 'road' is indented and is about 3 feet wide. It twists and turns in a big oval...does that make sense?? I should have taken a picture because I'm sure you'd never see anything like it in an American school. After one kid crashed and sliced something open the track would be replaced with foam. I heard almost everyday whether or not Luke was able to get a bike. We've had a fun time and I wonder if Luke will remember any of it?

"You took our boats!"

2009-04-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

There's this faucet right outside our front door. When we first got here and before the boys started school we filled up a bucket with water and made little boats out of tin foil in order to occupy them. It worked, it kept them busy.

Every few days a hired man (who's like 70) walks the apartment grounds, sweeps, and picks up trash. Do you see where I'm going with this?? The boys happened to leave their foil boats outside that night (which was back in Jan) and the next day the trash man happened to pick them up and trash them. Caleb is still very upset.

Since then, every time (and I mean every time) the trash man comes walking with his broom and trash collector Caleb says with angry eyes and a lot of authority, "you took our boats!" Or, "there's the guy who took our boats," if the guy is to far away for Caleb to accuse personally. The trash man doesn't speak a lick of English so fortunately he doesn't know what Caleb's screaming about, but I'm sure he can read Caleb's angry face and knows he isn't liked.

Today as I over heard Caleb accuse him again of taking his boat I heard the trash man chuckle and say, "No hablo Ingles. No entiendo nada." To which Luke said, "Hola!"

Q & A with Luke

2009-03-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

This Sunday Luke gave a little talk in Primary and the theme was Family Members Have Important Responsibilities. I asked Luke what the jobs were for each of the people in our family and this is what he said. The bullet points are quoted answers.

What is Daddy's job in our family? What does Daddy do?

work
get a new job
goes to school
drives

What does Mommy do?

knows the rules (someone has to!!)
they love to hear favorite songs
meet with friends
play with kids

What do you have to do?

to be good (yes!)
listen to Mommy (and heck, yes!!)
play with Dad and get rides on his shoulders
follow the rules (at least he knows it even if he doesn't always do it - that's a start, right?)
eat and grow big

What does Caleb have to do?

not cry
play with toys
get better at playing

I used some of these answers to come up with a talk. It's always fun to ask my boys questions interview style. Luke drew a picture of his happy family that he held while giving his talk. He did a good job!

Ben’s Been Busy

2009-03-25T12:21:00.001-07:00

Hiya! Is he about to do what you think he's gonna do???

TRES, DOS, UNO!!!

AHHHHHH!!

If you are wondering if I jumped too you must be out of your mind, and don't know me to well!!

Also, how could we leave Mexico without going to Luche Libre??

Ben went with some guys from school, but we hope to go back with the boys before we leave. Ben said that between matches all the kids get to go up and mess around. Luke will love it!

Ben with Christopher (from Holland) and Mark (a native). They actually had to give a little presentation on the Luche event.

Just a cool picture.

Sleep Training

2009-03-22T17:52:00.000-07:00

A lot of you know that we've never owned an actual crib because we've moved so often and we've lived in such small places. We bought a Pac n Play when Luke grew out of his cradle and it's been used everyday since for nighttime sleeping as well as day time naps for 5 years. It has finally seen it's last day.

The other day I could hear the boys sort of jump-rolling from Luke's bed into the Pac n Play and then the sound of fabric ripping and then 'uh-oh.' They ripped through the side netting. That night I turned the Pac n Play around so that the ripped side was up against Luke's bed. The next day (after having had a serious talking to about not doing gymnastics into Caleb's bed) they ripped through the other side doing the same thing. Imagine my horrified disappointment. Caleb is to big for the Pac n Play anyway, I'm not going to buy another one, but he has to sleep somewhere these next 2 weeks, and I don't want him in my bed. With no other option I put Caleb in his bed and about an hour later found him like this.

He's managed to stay in his bed since that first night, thank goodness. I figure it's good training for when he finally has a big-boy bed of his own.

Little Caleb

2009-03-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

So last week, Caleb woke up with a red eye. I thought maybe he had pink eye, but there wasn't any goop in it and the whites of his eye were still white and not irritated. We called Doc Grandpa and he said without the goop or redness in the eye it was more likely a bug bite or an allergy. Either way, for about 3 days Caleb's eye was swollen to almost closed. Into the 3rd day he tripped at the church and wacked his cheek bone which slightly bruised, and bonked his lip which bled and swelled up. Poor thing looked like he had been mugged. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture. All I have is this adorable one which resembles what he looks like post injuries! Aren't those cheeks the most pinchable?

New Baby!!!!

2009-03-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

Not me. My sister. Due in October! Yea!!!!

It's happened

2009-03-07T16:42:00.000-08:00

Last week a moment I've been dreading happened when we walked past a gaming store and Luke turned total zombie. He stopped at the entrance, turned to see the massive wall of games and promptly began drooling. We called his name numerous times, clapped our hands as if trying to get the attention of a wayward puppy and still no response, only continued drooling.

My mom bought Ben a DS for Christmas this last year and it quickly turned into Luke's. We've found that he could spend many brain numbing hours with his Lighten' McQueen racing game. If only it could teach him to read...

Now begins my years of birthday and Christmas shopping at these deplorable, stinky, boy-smelling game stores. At least the machine carries huge leverage in encouraging positive behavior. He does anything for more playing time.

American Roads, I Miss You!

2009-03-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

O, American roads I miss you terribly!!

Your clearly painted lines that indicate whether 2 or 3 lanes of traffic should take up the space.

Your exits placed regularly on the right side of the road rather then left, then right, then right again, then left, then right again causing you to almost crash 2 times, get honked at 1 time and barely make the exit you swore was on the left side, but no, it was on the right.

Your English written roads signs that give reasonable time to merge through 3 lanes of traffic.

Your police officers who roam the roads and sometimes have pity on a confused driver. Sometimes they even offer advice or give directions rather than ask for discreetly handed mula. 3 times people - 3 times in 2 months! Usually I play dumb (which isn't really 'playing') and Ben uses really broken Spanish. They get frustrated because we aren't 'getting it' and let us go. Usually we have made a violation because their roads are crazy, but they don't give us a ticket. I don't get it. I'm convinced our US plates make us stick out and the policia are just waiting and watching for the dumb Americanas with their Americana dollars to make a mistake. Curse our US plates!

Your drivers who know how and when to use a blinker.

Your 4-way STOPs where drivers stop and politely take turns instead of 5 and 6-way STOPs where the first one to go is the driver with the most guts.

Your street parking where all the cars are lined up nicely in the same direction giving drivers a clue as to whether the street is one-way. I never knew how beneficial this parking law was. Would appreciate it here.

Your smoothness from regular pavings rather than polka-dotted with pot holes so big you swear you just blew a tire.

And lastly, your speed bump warning signs in order to keep your car from teeter tottering up and then down, scraping both the front and back end of the underside of your car on the gravel.

5 more weeks! 5 more weeks and I will most enthusiastically drive your roads and not have to silently cuss each time I drive by a cop! O, did I mention this...

Really, it was bound to happen. I've never seen more bumper to bumper accidents pulled to the side of the roads as I have in this country. Thankfully there is a GM dealer down the road and we opted to pay for all the extra out-of-country insurance available. Our poor car!

Cuatro Cienegas y Monclova

2009-02-24T18:03:00.001-08:00

Check out this beauty! Valentine’s weekend we went up to this cool place in the city of Cuatro Cienegas (The 4 Marshes). What makes this place so dang amazing is that it’s in the middle of a UT-like desert.

Even in this picture you can’t see how really cool and bizarre it is. The water is a crystal clear turquoise. We were all bummed that we couldn’t swim in it.

We could, however, swim in the rivers that connect all the little pools, which we did. This is me checking out the view.

See what I mean about the UT like desert?? So strange. There weren’t any park rangers around to ask how this happened. Even if there were, I wouldn’t have understood.

It was a perfect day and the water was warm. This is Ben checking out his feet.

On Sunday we had dinner with a family in Monclova, the Gonzales’. This is a family that Ben taught and baptized way back when. This is Ben 10 years ago…

…and this is Ben 10 years later with 2 missionaries, 2 temple marriages, and 2 – almost 3 – grandchildren. It was very cool to say the least.

Everyone is still doing great. Luke tells me he understands what the teachers say sometimes and that he doesn’t talk a lot. His friends at school, so he tells me, are Diego and Patricio. I have no idea if they talk to each other or just use signals. Either way, he doesn’t seem to be bothered.

Luke went to the Bishop’s son’s birthday party last week. The Bishop and his wife speak really good English and their kids can speak, but don’t usually choose to. Anyhow, the Bishop said that all the boys went downstairs to play the Wii and Luke finally got his turn to use one of the controllers. He said after that he kind of owned that controller because none of the other kids would ask “the American boy” for a turn. They just took turns with the 2nd controller. The Bishop said that even though most of them can speak English they are usually to intimidated to talk. I guess Luke took the opportunity to play dumb and keep the controller. Nice.

I'm stupid!

2009-02-20T12:38:00.000-08:00

You know those moments you have when you leave a situation and think, "dangit, I should have said...." All those times at the mechanic's shop when you think you are being taken advantage of, or at the doctor's office when you think you are being treated like an unintelligent, overprotective mother. You just can't think of the right thing to say. Or even, those times when in a social setting your mouth gets blabbing and when you leave you think, "I sure hope they didn't think this, when I said that that because what I was really trying to say was this. What I should have said was..."

I have this regretful feeling very regularly here and for yet another reason. After having a...well, lets call it an interaction because it's definitely not a conversation...in Spanish where I disjointingly throw some words together with terrible pronunciation and lots of pointing I often walk away thinking, "you idiot, you totally know how to say what you meant with much more clarity" and then I say what I should have said in my head.

For instance, this morning Caleb was suppose to bring a change of clothes to school because they were going to be playing with water. As the teachers were getting the boys out of the car I said to Caleb, "here are your clothes" and the teacher looked up and said, "Perdon?" I just smiled and sort of ignored the question although I know exactly what perdon means. I was just caught off guard. As I was driving home, I had the aforementioned head conversation. I should have said something like, "la ropa de Caleb para jugar con agua." This, I'm sure isn't the way a native would explain the clothes but she would have gotten the picture. My brain just cannot translate fast enough particularly when being stared at by someone with perfect understanding.

Aye carrumba!! There's nothing like a foreign language to make you feel stupid, all the time!

Exploring Mexico's 3rd Largest City

2009-02-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

Here are a few places we've visited.

Grutas de Garcia...or the Garcia Caves. You take a tram up to a massive cave – there is even a chapel inside dedicated to La Virgen de Gaudalupe.

This is in the village of Villa de Garcia where Ben spent a couple months as a missionary. Its an old Colonial town with a cute little city center.

…Yellow shirt, yellow wall, yellow ice-cream. Happy Boy

This is Cola de Cabello...or Horsetail falls. We plan on going back here when my parents come because the drive up to the falls is really fun, the little tourist area around the trail is really cute, and because Ben didn't get to bungee jump (120 feet drop for $30). It closed by the time we got over there.

La Parque Estanzuela - Its a little walk in the woods that costs 5 pesos. A fun little building is there that teaches kids about the environment – it also made for a cool picture.

…make sure to bring a stroller on long walks.

Monterrey’s MacroPlaza. The building is now a museum – which are very hard to do with children.

The entire family loved this plaza because the boys could run around and the place was so big that they never ran into a single person.

Mexican Food Rocks!

2009-02-11T18:23:00.000-08:00

Some of the things I'm loving include this,

and this,

and definitely this. My body is loving all this great food, but I may not be loving my body so much in another month or so without the Y here to counter balance.

Also, at home we ate beans, rice and Mission tortillas rather regularly but they will never satisfy again after having beans, rice and fresh tortillas here. Remeber the picture I posted of Ben cooking the tortilla on the iron?? Those tortillas are the best. Way better than anything I've bought in the states. Wegman's has got to get on providing them to their customers.

Did you know??

2009-02-04T11:21:00.000-08:00

Did you know that you can go to the grocery store and not speak a single word?? Yep, it's true. This, however, does not help me learn Spanish and I know it. Shame on me.

Also, did you know that I am terribly allergic to Mexico?? No lie! I would have posted a picture of my red nose and eyes that have been rubbed raw, but I figured I'd save myself the embarrassment. I'm beginning to count myself lucky when I don't have to take Benadryl until the afternoon or evening. Claritin doesn't work dangit. I keep thinking it will pass. I'm still hopeful!

Christmas and Feliz Año

2009-01-26T13:20:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Utah and a Feliz Año in Mexico...

This is the Dutson Family on Christmas Eve at The Roof in Salt Lake City. My parents reserved a private room in the back which was great for the boys. I didn't have to worry about them bothering anyone or acting up. Luke, however, still managed to display an awful bit of ill-manners by letting a huge and long burp escape on our way to the buffet. It was charming!

This is Christmas day at the Dutson's. Caleb loved his Curious George, Luke LOVES the DS that his dad got, and they both love the Woody Cowboy doll (or as Uncle Brad calls it, the "Woody Action Figure, right Luke??") that Santa brought.

Nothing like the post gift opening, candy for breakfast tradition.

This is Christmas day at the Rollins'. Ben put together a little 'kit' of musical instruments and sheet music for his parents and everyone jammed after the present opening. I made the comment that they were the "HO, HO, HO band" and thought to myself, "that comment made at my parents house would have led onto a different comical path." Ha, ha!

In celebration of Ben's 30 years on Earth, Mom & Dad Rollins rented snowmobiles again this year. We have a similar picture of Caleb last year hating the helmet. He did, although, enjoy the ride.

Some one brought those super yummy, but what have to be the messiest sugar cookies, up to the cabin when we went snowmobiling and Grandma asked all the kids to eat them outside. I'm glad to see that Luke listened...sort of.

Also, while in Utah we visited with the Robertsons. It was so fun to see old friends. Luke was a little apprehensive at first, but quickly reacquainted himself with Anna and enjoyed the visit. I loved that we could pick right up where we left! Love it!!

Some of you may know that the boys and I stayed in Utah until Ben got down to Mexico and found some housing. We hadn't scheduled any flights because Ben had yet to call and confirm that he had a place for us. He finally called on a Friday night to tell us that we should come Sunday (like as in less than 48 hours) and if we couldn't, to get flights for Thursday.

I really didn't think that we would be able to pack (after being in UT for a month) or find reasonable flights with such short notice. Apparently we can! Previously, on this same Friday night Ben's mom and I talked about doing a little birthday party for Luke before we left-maybe Sunday or Monday night. After Ben and I talked I went to bed thinking we'd stay until Thursday and Ben got on the computer and booked us flights for Sunday morning. Saturday was a crazy day full of laundry, packing suitcases and boxes (for things we couldn't take) and throwing together a small get together for Luke's birthday.

All of his cousins and a lot of the aunts & uncles met at McDonalds for dinner and cupcakes. Luke loved it, which is what matters most!

And that brings us to Mexico...we've spent most of our time here getting organized and oriented, but last Friday we finally took some time to visit Parque Fundidora.

Beautiful, huh? We took the boat ride down the river and got off to tour the old, historic building (that's as much as I know about it - hard to learn anything on a tour that's in Spanish with 2 boys wanting to touch everything. Afterwords, we walked up the river and had dinner at this cute little restaurant.

The boats go back and forth every 20 minutes and we were able to ride back in the dark which was just as beautiful. The water features with the lighting they installed is amazing. Caleb enjoyed the boat ride.

Also, we've figured out how to bathe the boys. This is the bucket that housed their toys on the way down from NY. They love it!

And finally, a big birthday shout-out to my 5 year-old boy whose actual birthday is today!! We ate Mac N Cheese for lunch on Lighten' McQueen plates we bought at WalMart. When I asked Luke what he'd like for his birthday lunch he said very slyly, "cake & presents???" He's had enough presents. Today he got sung a birthday song and lots of hugs & kisses!!

The Good and the Bad of our 'Departamento'

2009-01-19T13:22:00.000-08:00

So, here's the place. Not to shabby, heh? We like it, but like all places it has good and not so great features.

Here is one (yep 1 of 2) of our bathrooms. I no longer have to share a bathroom with my kids. However...there is no bath tub. We're still trying to figure out how to shower the boys. It's been a little tricky.

And now, most gloriously...a dishwasher and a washer & dryer!! I've used the washer & dryer at least 5 times already and even though it takes 2 cycles to dry each load I don't even care!! I don't have to haul my laundry anywhere but back and forth between rooms!! YEA!!!

And finally, some pictures of the outside. I told some of you that we quite literally live in a hole. Apparently, the complex couldn't rent these out because no one wanted to live in the hole long term so this is why these are furnished and available on a month to month basis. They've made an effort to make it a little better than the cement wall that it is and when the pots bloom it should be pretty, but it's still a hole. I'm sure they've broken like 20 US fire and safety codes, but hey...it's Mexico.

And this is just stitches waiting to happen.

A Few Other Tid-Bits...

What's he doing you may ask???

This is Tuesday night and previously this day we bought some groceries including uncooked, doughy tortillas because we thought we would be moving into our place. We decided not to take the place (it's a longer story) and we checked into a hotel across the street from Ben's school. After Ben's class he came back and wanted to make some dinner. Talk about thinking outside the box, right?? He even melted a little cheese on top. The boys thought it was great.

So the next time you're in a hotel you'll have to wonder how many people with bed bugs have slept in your bed, how clean the shower really is, AND about what was ironed before you iron your husband's shirt for church.

Also,we went to the grocery store again on Saturday and the boys each had thier heads rubbed by 5 different ladies. They're loved by Mexican Chicas!! By the way...I hate grocery shopping with Ben and I hope to only have to do it a few more times. He takes FOREVER!!! Granted, he enjoys looking at all the yummy Mexican foods he hasn't seen in 10 years, but the longer we're in the store the more battles I have to intervene between brothers, the more explanations I have to come up with as to why we aren't buying more junk, and the faster I lose patience.

All and all, there have been more good than not so great things about being here and we are enjoying ourselves. I think it's going to take us another week or so to figure a schedule and a rhythm that works for us and then we'll start to site-see. By the way, it's 75 degrees here!! That is the last I'll mention of the weather, I promise!

Fly, Drive Across the Border, and Get Pulled Over by Mexican Police

2009-01-17T09:33:00.000-08:00

We're all together now. The boys and I flew into San Antonio (because there were no scheduled flights to the closer border towns) on Sunday and Ben came up to meet us. We drove down to Laredo and stayed the night. Monday morning we crossed the border and then about 10 minutes later we got pulled over by the Mexican police. Turns out we were randomly selected for a more thorough search and we didn't realize. Apparently a light flashed at us at one of the checkpoints and we were supposed to know that we should pull over. We didn't and they sent a car after us. It was fine, they were nice, and we kept going.

It took a few more days for us to find housing that would work for us. We moved into our apartment on Wednesday and have spent the last few days visiting Wal-Mart, a pre-school, and searching for unsecured wireless. We finally got ours connected yesterday.

Ben only has classes Mon, Tues, and Wed nights which is great. He's able to be with us during the day in order to drive us around and do the communicating. I've already given at least 5 dumb smiles with the shoulders shrugged and pointed to Ben. The first few days were tough for a number of reasons and I wasn't at all interested in trying any Spanish. I've gotten better (not at Spanish, but at trying what Spanish I do know) the last few days.

I'll post some pictures when I can find the cord to import them. Also, on the drive down a funny confrontation in the back seat went like this...

Luke: You're a wiener, Caleb!

Caleb: (yelling) My not wiener! You a wiener Yuuuuuuke!

Caleb has no idea what a wiener is, but definitely knows that it's not a compliment.

3 days drive to Mexico

2009-01-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

Ben finished a 3 day drive last week and is safely in Monterrey. Big thanks to the Hartung's in Kentucky, the Reber's in Texas, and the Pratt's in Monterrey for giving Ben a place to sleep. We really appreciate it!! Ben began orientation on the 7th and his classes begin on the 12th. The boys and I hope to fly in around the 13th...it's still yet to be determined. Ben has got to find us some housing and we're hoping that it doesn't take to much longer.

Stay tuned for more updates and Christmas pictures!

Short Hair

2008-12-26T15:52:00.000-08:00

Ta Daaaaaa, here it is...

I wasn't sure which picture I liked better. I like and dislike both for different reasons...hence, 2 pictures! You tell me.

MBA Mariachi

2008-12-22T20:24:00.000-08:00

Before coming to UT Ben organized a talent show for Cornell's Business School...The Johnson Jollies. He also performed. And so, in preparation to head to Mexico...Enjoy the MBA Mariachi!

And Finally...The Macy's Day Parade

2008-12-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

We spent this passed Thanksgiving in NYC. Because of the crappy economy we were able to score a great priced hotel on Priceline right in the city. Ben's brother, Nate, works and lives right in Manhattan. His office is right in Times Square and we were able to watch the parade from inside with bathrooms in close proximity, a catered breakfast, and heat. It was the best way to watch the parade!

Here are some of the views.

For Thanksgiving dinner we went to Virgil's BBQ in Times Square (pause for giggles) with Ben's brother, Nate and the Waltman's. Amy and Nate ordered the 'Thanksgiving meal' which they say was great. The rest of us got something BBQ. Mine was fantastic!

The day after Thanksgiving we went to a matinee performance of Mary Poppins. We all loved it and Luke didn't look away once. Caleb slept through the first half and yes, we had to buy him a ticket. He took a very expensive nap! At the end of the show Mary Poppins flies over the audience and I said to Luke, "Wow, Luke! She's flying!" He said to me with a tone that was completely exasperated, "She's just on ropes, Mom." He was not impressed!

Sorry again with the month long delay. And finally, Yes, I did cut my hair off. Pictures will follow shortly. It is the shortest my hair has ever been and I'm liking it. I have had no regretful days. Phew!

And Finally...the Halloween Pictures

2008-12-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

Here is my costume winner. Caleb took 2nd place in the Johnson school costume contest and won us gift certificates to Purity Ice Cream. Notice the smeared eye make-up...it took much bribbing to let me paint his face, but so worth it! Is he not the cutest?? The cutest part, really, was his legs. The costume's pants are rather tight fitting, and we don't own any little boy clothes that are tight fitting. It was so cute to watch his little chicken legs and dippered butt run around.

Ben was highly disappointed in Luke's uncreative choice of SpiderMan. He told Luke, "1 in 4 boys is SpiderMan, don't you want to be something different?" To which Luke told him AGAIN that he wants to be SpiderMan.

Here is Luke's progression of head wear throughout the Halloween week. At the first party, Ben's school party for families, he wore the costume mask.

To the next party, the church trunk or treat, he asks me if I can paint his face like SpiderMan. It didn't take long for him to realize those masks are ridiculously uncomfortable. Here is how it looked by the end of the night.

Finally, on the day of Halloween he decides that "sometimes SpiderMan wears a headband." He wasn't willing to sit for the 15 minutes it took me to paint his face or wear the suffocating mask and so here he is as SpiderMan/Rambo.

Also this year Ben and I made a costumed appearance...we were able to con friends into watching our boys after trick or treating so that we could go to the Johnson School party. It was fun! Ben's pirate hat didn't fit his big head so without me standing beside him Ben got mistaken for a rocker because Yes, that is eyeliner around his eyes.

Ey, Mady!! Sorry about the throw back to October, but better late than never!

Proud Mommy Moment

2008-12-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

Luke has taken a gymnastics class for the past year and a half and we will be missing the last few weeks of this session because we're leaving to UT next week. He has been making them up this week and has attended 3 classes, 2 of which were with a different teacher. Today after one of his make-up classes the teacher came up to me and said that she really enjoyed having Luke in her class the last few times because he was such a good listener, so well behaved, not to mention adorable. Although Luke was within listening distance she was talking to me for my benefit...not to me in order for the child to over hear and feel proud. Do you know what I'm talking about? I was surprised with myself when I suddenly felt my throat go tight with pride, I can only imagine the crying boob I'll turn into when someone might tell me he is such a good missionary, or an honorable date for their daughter.

Luke really is a great boy (definitely adorable) and I've seen him listen and use kind words, so why is it he so easily tunes my voice out???

Lastly, tonight as we were getting ready for bed I was singing 'Once There Was a Snowman' to Caleb while I was brushing his teeth. I overheard Luke singing along and these were the words...

In the sunny mountain, mountain, mountain
In the sunny mountain, small, small, small

I said "no, Luke, it's in the sun he melted, melted...you know like snow melts to water." And he says with total exasperation, "no Mom, in the sunny mountain!!" He totally thought I was pulling his chain like I do when I sing the Thomas song starting with...

They're 12, they're 2, they're 6, they're 10
Shunting sticks and hauling clothes

They think I'm hilarious because they know these aren't the words to the song. Now when I'm really trying to tell them the correct words they still think I'm teasing. Whoops!

Edward Cullen

2008-11-29T08:13:00.000-08:00

So last year upon finishing Eclipse I was flipping through a JC Penny's magazine that came in the mail and as I scanned over this picture I froze and said to myself, "there's Edward!" This is the Edward image of my imagination! Puts poor Pattinson to shame. Yes, he's a bit older than 17, but so am I!! Use your imagination and take a few years off.

I did see the movie and I did like the movie. I was seriously worried when watching the classroom scene when Edward was introduced, but he grew on me. He did a respectable job and I look forward to the next one. Please, oh please, let them cast a better Jacob!!!! He's my favorite.

And yes, I tore this photo out of my Penny's advertisement and kept it. I meant to post it last year...never got around to it and it has since sat in my "to do" folder next to my computer.

Also, Ben came downstairs a minute ago as I was standing on a chair trying to get the scanner to work and he says, "what are you doing?" I told him I was scanning in Edward. He said, "I'm surprised you weren't embarrassed to tell me." No, I am not ashamed.

Happy Anniversary to Us

2008-11-25T10:33:00.000-08:00

8 years ago today

Yep, still love him!

Crack me up Caleb

2008-11-24T16:18:00.001-08:00

Luke tells me all the time, when he doesn't want to eat what I'm making that "his body doesn't want chicken, or carrots, or whatever." Or, if he does want something that "his body is hungry for..."

Today, we were on our way to Target and the boys started whining for all the toys they want. I told them that in a few days we would go visit Santa and that they could tell him what toys they would like for Christmas. Caleb says, "but my body wants light sabers and Woody right now."

I'm sure it does.

If I had girl

2008-11-01T18:25:00.001-07:00

If I had a girl she would probably look like this... Picture him in a pink sweater, and wa-la...a female Rollins. Maybe it's time to cut his hair!

We just wouldn't be the Rollins' if...

2008-10-31T07:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think to myself, "wouldn't it be nice if I were more motivated like some of my friends and got my lazy tush to the gym early in the morning and then I could be ready for the rest of the day all exercised and fresh, instead of waiting until I was more awake to get to the Y and then looking like garbage until I finally shower at noon." Or, "wouldn't it be nice if Ben shaved everyday and refrained from dressing like a mountain man on his "off" days." Or, "wouldn't it be nice if I were motivated to style my hair everyday." Or, "wouldn't it be nice if Ben and I talked more genteel and gave up the slang."

And today I thought to myself that although all of those things are worthy of working towards Ben just wouldn't be Ben without 2, or 3, or 5 days (after an extra long weekend) of facial growth and a "freakin' a!" every now and then. And Niki just wouldn't be Niki without days (sometimes many in a row) of jeans, tennis shoes, zip-up hoodies, and a pony tail, or a stop at the grocery store after working out. If I see you before you see me, I will run!

Here is my mountain man in Alaska rolling boulders down the mountain with his friends. What's more cave man than that, AND more worthy of mountaineering attire and facial scruff? Could also be asked as, "What's more Ben-like than that?"

So, as much as I'd like to imagine us a sophisticated, manicured, tea-sipping type people, I've come to accept (at least for today) that we aren't and we just wouldn't be the Rollins' you all know if we were!

Good Bye Fall and a Grudgingly Hello to Winter

2008-10-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

It is raining today and at times the rain is turning to snow. I hate it. These pictures are from the last couple weeks and they are how I always want to remember Ithaca.

Yellow, Lime Green & Orange leaves!! I took this picture laying on a bed of leaves beneath these trees.

Ben had a few days off last week (the fall break) and we took a day trip up to Canandaigua, NY. We stopped at the Whitmer Farm which is on the way and then visited the Sonnenberg gardens and mansion in Canandaigua. I was a little disappointed at first because I was comparing Thanksgiving Points perfectly manicured gardens to the government owned Sonnenberg gardens. There were many weeds and it seemed a little rustic, but the trees were amazing.

The mansion was really fun to walk through! Again, a little neglected, but it was like being in a movie. The dining room had a beautiful banquet table with a massive fireplace. A small breakfast/tea table was at the other end and huge glass doors on hinges allowed the entire wall to be removed and open onto a patio with a charming water feature. Just like in the movies or in my imagination when reading books from this period. I could tell of many more mansion-like features that I loved, but I'm sure are boring to readers.

The following day we went to a pumpkin patch and farm not far from here. We pet the goats, drank apple cider, and took a hay ride. It was very season appropriate!

Yea, we didn't get a great picture of either of the boys in the pumpkins.

Check out those hills! It's what we're surrounded by everywhere and it's great. Not much longer and they will be grey sticks. They are beautiful covered with snow, but you've got to take the impossible temperature with them.

And this is my cheesy boy!

White Trash??

2008-10-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

So, apparently I must have some serious white trash blood running through me because I'm still totally loving Kid Rock's new song. If I were more computer savvy like many of you I would post a cool little link to the song, but alas, I suck. Some may find the song a little "unworthy"...sipping whisky out the bottle, making love out by the lake...but I can't help myself! Love it every time I hear it!!

Also, who doesn't love Sawyer??? Come on, now!

My art collecting, country clubbing parents are so ashamed!!

Prom Night

2008-10-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

Prom Video - Oct 4, 2008

11 yrs later...Ben & Niki at Cornell's "free prom" (Oct 2008)...
HOLY COW!!

Every few years Ben plans a "surprise" date. I am given directions on what to wear and that's it. Ben even figures out babysitting, which is fabulous! Back in '06 he got us tickets to the So You Think You Can Dance tour and it was super, super fun. This year he conned a few other husbands into taking their wives to the "free prom." It was at the Cornell Museum and mostly for the freshman. We made the tissue paper flowers we're sporting and took these highly professional photos down in the museum basement, and then busted a move for awhile before leaving. You should have seen these white boys dance!! It was a fun night. Good job Ben!

These are our friends, the Hayter's (left) and the Lucas' (middle).

Let me tell you a little about our flower making. I was putting together a surprisingly decent pink rose with some dark green leaves while Ben put together the beauty pictured above. I went to tuck it in his lapel and he says, "No, you have to change the leaves to this green paper. It doesn't look right." Heaven forbid the paper flower look wrong! Yea, he made me change the leaves. His "artsiness" still surprises me sometimes.

Ben was just reading over my shoulder and says, "you're making it look like I only take you on 1 date a year." Disclaimer...we do go out more than that, the "surprise" dates are only every few years.

Tagged - The Ben & Niki Super Story

2008-10-04T18:24:00.000-07:00

Ben & Niki at Viewmont High School's Christmas Dance (Dec 1997)
In order to save face you can see Ben's rebuttal in blue italics.

I may have been tagged before, but have ignored it only because unless I know your husband, child, dog, whoever you are writing about I find it (sorry) boring. So, I am responding to the following tag by my long-time friend Ambyr because I simply have nothing else to blog about right now, no new pictures because Ben busted our camera and I haven't figured out the new one yet, and maybe some of you (who know Ben) might find these facts amusing or at the least interesting (I find them super interesting). And so...

Where did you meet???

As a sixteen year old having moved to UT a year earlier I was cruising State Street (yep, SLC State Street) with friends and we met Zack Treasure. Zack was abandoned by his friends (not including Ben) and my friend offered him a ride home. I was dropped off before he was and my friends gave him my phone number when they dropped him off. Two weeks later a boy named Ben called telling me he was Zack's, the boy you met on State Street's, friend. I said, "oh, yeah" and that weekend we went out for pizza. Good thing we had such inspired friends to do the number exchanging for us. I imagine a lot of guys were also praying for inspiration to meet a beautiful blond girl from California - I guess my prayer requests were at the top of the list.

How long did you date before getting married?

We dated (non-committed, teenage dating, he was not my boyfriend, I was not his girlfriend, dated other people to prove it while hurting each others feelings because of it) from Feb 1997, when I met him, until Dec 1997, when he left on his mission. After the mission we continued the "non-committed dating" for a few months (Jan 2000-March 2000), became a committed couple around April, engaged in October, married in November 2000.

How long have you been married?

Almost 8 years. It will make 8 years on November 25th. The best 8 years of my life.

What does he do that surprises you?

Picks his freakin' nose in front of me!!! However, I have never, in all the 7 years of marriage heard or smelled him pass gas. Ever!!! The man is just not gassy. I count myself lucky. Scratch, not pick - there is no penetration.

What is your favorite feature about him?

His big, currently in the process of being whitened for all the upcoming job interviews, toothy grin. Special thanks to Dad Rollins for the braces.

What's your favorite quality about him?

Most definitely, my favorite quality about him is also one of the most irksome. Ben does not wait around for fun to happen to him, he makes it happen. Why is this irksome you may say? Because sometimes I just want to stay home, or sometimes I don't want to whirlwind clean my house because he just invited 4 people to come over for ice cream in 10 minutes, or sometimes the boys shouldn't stay up until 10pm for the 3rd night in a row because we took them to a movie, a concert in the park, a birthday party for the neighbor. See what I'm saying? However, I also love that he makes the fun for us. We do a lot of fun things because Ben makes it happen! "You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays." -The Music Man

Does he have a nickname for you?

How do I answer this?? For those of you who know me as Nicole, I would tell you my nickname is Niki. When we move to new wards I find that many of the men start to call me Niki because that's what Ben says when he refers to me in conversation, until their wives say, "No, no, no, that's what Ben calls her. It's Nicole." I usually introduce myself as Nicole...it's more formal, more grown-up and so the women and then eventually the men end up calling me Nicole. Really, I don't care what I'm called as long as it's one of the two. But, coming out of Ben's mouth I don't see "Niki" as a nickname. It's what I was when I met him, it's what he's always known me as. When he calls me Nicole it doesn't sound right. He also calls me "Babe." That's about it. "Super Model Mom." Quick story - Nicole is in charge of the Moms group at business school. She sent out emails to all the new students spouses before they arrived in Ithaca. When one student spouse saw Nicole for the first time she told Nicole, "I didn't expect the leader of the Moms group to look like you!"

She also has a sweet spirit...

What's his favorite color?

Blue, I think. BYU Cougar Blue

What's his favorite sport?

He is a die-hard BYU football and Utah Jazz fan. But I couldn't tell you which sport he enjoys playing the most. Since being at Cornell he has taken full advantage (well, as much as I let him) to participate in every sport he can squeeze in his schedule. Last semester he took a kayaking class, this semester he's in a sailing class. He's gone rock climbing several times. In fact he's got a camping trip planned in a few weekends at some state park that's got amazing rocks. He's President of the Business School Football Club and Vice President of the Outdoors club. Anyone surprised?? I would also add the sport of "avoiding the diaper change".

Who said "I love you" first?

Ben made it very clear before leaving on his mission that he would be the first to say this by first, asking me if I'd ever told a boy that I loved him. While watching a movie and really not paying attention to what he was getting at I said, "Uh, I told my dad." He went on to tell me that he was never going to tell a girl he loved her until he was sure he was going to marry her. Ah-ha, I get it...this was his way of keeping me from ever saying it first, not having to "go there" before his mission and also telling me that if I danced with any thoughts about marrying him that I should not be telling this to any other boy while he was gone...which I didn't. I also knew that this statement would be a proposal and my responding the same would be the answer...which it was. Although Ben didn't present a ring and ask me to marry him until October of 2000 I knew we were gonna get married in August which is when these words were exchanged. I married a smart one.

When and where was your first kiss?

I was convinced that Ben was a Mormon, UT, player boy and so I held out for quite awhile. I thought for sure he was just looking to make out and move on. I held out so long that he actually had conversations with his friends about the possibility of me having been assaulted somehow which made me super uncomfortable kissing boys. I know...stupid boy. We finally smooched in the driveway of Zack's house. Not too romantic, but I thought it was a great night. I can only imagine the hoots and hollers his friends gave him when he went back into the house (I went home, I had my car) having finally broke me. I was a very nice boy looking for a very nice girl.

What's your favorite thing to do as a couple?

Really...I don't know. We do still like each other, but I could really care less to scale a rock wall and he would rather stub his toe multiple times than watch a romantic comedy. To this day we have never seen a romantic comedy together in the theater. We've watched them together at home, or rather, I've watched and he sat next to me and checked his email, surfed the net. So let me think...we do enjoy having friends over, and we do this a lot since we don't live near family. romantic kisses

How old is he?

29, for 3 more months!!! Prime-time.

What's his favorite type of music?

Good old rock n roll. Anything fun.

What do you most admire about him?

His undying optimism. Really though, this is one of those love it/hate it characteristics because sometimes I just want to yell, "just give it up already!!!" But again, we've done some really fun things because he's managed to fit it in AND convince me it's a good idea, which is usually harder than fitting it in. I'm optimistic that we can have 12 kids - but I might lose that battle!

What's his favorite past time?

I often hear him talk of the great trips he took with his high school hommies to St George in the "Magic Van" over spring break. Sounds shady, doesn't it? The Magic Van was before my time so I can't tell you what went on in there. I like to think that they called it magic because it had a way of not breaking down, or maybe an ability to find the most groovin' party. Really, Ben was a good boy and I have no idea why they called it that. Obviously they knew it insinuated so much. Stupid boys! It was a dark day when the Magic Van was sold.

Do you think he's going to read this?

Not for many weeks from now when we're watching a romantic comedy and he's run out of emails to check and sport articles to read.

And that's it! I must admit, I found this more fun then I thought it would be and I've killed an entire evening. I would love to post more pictures of us back in the day, but it was just that...back in the day before digital and we have not scanned in many of our old photos. In fact, the one at the top is the only one. And so, for those who made it through this congrats and consider yourself more Rollins educated! I feel much more informed, thank you!

Lion Head

2008-08-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

Caleb's mane of hair, intensity, and stubbornness has earned him the name "Lion Head" in our house.

In PA we only had 3 binkis, so imagine Caleb's excitement when he came home to NY and found 10!!! It was simple when we decided to snatch Luke's binki. We were moving (surprise, surprise) and we told him they were all packed up in the boxes. He said, "Oh." And that was it.

Things will not go so smoothly when we finally decide to take Caleb's. He is absolutely more stubborn than Luke. Caleb pulls the baby BS tantrum...let me explain.

Luke seems to understand logic, or at least accept it (even when he was younger). He asks for a drink in the car, we tell him we don't have one and that we'll get one when we stop. He might whine for a minute, but then says "okay." Caleb will ask for a drink, we tell him the same thing, and he screams as if you'd just told him there was no water left on the planet. As if to say, "that's a bunch of bs and I know there is a sippy cup in your bag that you're to lazy to search for and pass back to a thirsty boy."

Also, we've always been able to get Luke to eat things that are good for him by promising him treats afterwards. Caleb will pitch a screaming fit and then, after determining I'm serious about not giving him the treats without bites of healthy food (sometimes up to 30 minutes later), he will simply walk away from all of it. Treats and all. Little stinker!! This would explain his slender frame. I swear we feed him, or at least provide food...

Lastly, so that you can all have a vivid picture of this determined little boy, one funny story. When my parents were visiting we toured an old mansion with actual artifacts that shouldn't be touched. Torture to any 2 year old. I was holding him because he was getting a little too friendly with some of the artifacts and he wasn't happy. He wanted "DOWN." I finally let him down because I was exhausted from carrying a struggling boy and as he was walking away from me he turned around and sort of squatted. He extended one arm with a fist at me and with a mean face he gave a big throaty growl. This happened a few more times just to make sure I really knew he was ticked with me. So funny, only because he's still 2!

The kid has spunk!! That's a good thing, right??

No More Monuments

2008-08-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

Phew!!! I'm exhausted from touring. I've loved all of it, but I don't want to hold one more bored, tired boy through one more monument tour for a long time. We've made it back to Ithaca, but true to our style, we jammed as much seeing and doing into the days before Ben actually starts school as we could fit.

My parents came to visit us and we did all the things we did with Ben's parents, plus some (they were with us for 7 days). We added a day in NYC, a day in Doylestown, PA, a day at Sesame Street Place and we had an unfortunate day including a vomiting Luke. At least it was in the rental car! Caleb followed up a few nights later in the hotel restaurant, also not in my car or at my house.

This is Luke standing on the pier at Battery Park. Every time a wave would swoop up under the pier a burst of air would shoot up the vent. This kept him busy for at least 20 minutes.

Before packing up to come back to NY we took a mini trip down to DC and the Maryland beach.

Washing Monument

This is Luke at Arlington Cemetery.

Lincoln Monument

It was all super fun, but I'm so glad to be back in quiet, slow, Ithaca. I'm really looking forward to these next couple of months in the most perfect NY weather with all the great autumn holidays! I'm also glad we'll be heading to sunny Mexico before the weather turns devilish. For those who haven't heard, Ben is doing his last semester in Monterrey, Mexico. It's time to refresh my Spanish...my high school Spanish. I know, I think I'm in trouble.

I'm No Chef

2008-08-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

My mother is admittedly a terrible cook - maybe not...she just loathes cooking, baking, and the like so no one really knows if she's any good. Anyhow, as a result I have no cooking abilities myself. Over the passed 7 years of marriage I've managed to go from terrible to bad with the help of Ben's annoying help and critique.

Usually I stick with the regulars...tacos, spaghetti, frozen lasagne's dressed up with salad from a bag and store bought garlic bread. I have ventured to experiment with new recipes, but 9 of 10 typically end up going down the garbage disposal.

Amazingly, just last week I had new 2 hits! Even Ben and Caleb liked them and they are the pickiest of the crew. The first was a Chicken Sausage Rigatoni Pasta dish. Found it on foodnetwork.com - it's from Rachel Ray. It was super yummy, definitely worthy of a dinner party, and I don't usually have success with her stuff.

The second was a Cheeseburger Meatloaf from Paula Deen, also found on foodnetwork.com. We don't usually like meatloafs at our house. I cook about 1 a year and it's always tolerated not enjoyed. This one was actually enjoyed and I'm sure it's due to the bag of cheese and 10 strips of bacon added to the heart clogging hamburger. Do not feed this to any husbands with a family history of heart disease. It's pretty bad, but good. I only put in half a bag of cheese and 8 strips of bacon and it was still great.

I would wager to say that these are pretty fool proof if I was able to figure them out. Give 'em a shot and let me know what you think!

Gettysburg

2008-07-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we drove down to Gettysburg, PA with some friends for some US history appreciation. We rented the Gettysburg movie Friday night - Ben got through it, I fell asleep after Part I. It's a long movie, but was helpful to review before getting there!

We bought the "self auto tour" CD's at the book shop in the visitor's center. You just slip them in, follow the signs, stop when they tell you, and listen. The narrator tells you what you're looking at along with all sorts of extra facts. We really enjoyed them and loved that we could go at our own pace.

I do hope that the soldiers didn't look as happy as Luke does holding their guns!

We drove down with our friends, the Crutchfields. Those are their kids, Ivy & Lane with Luke & Caleb at the pizzeria we stopped at for dinner.

This wild flower field wasn't part of the tour or any specific battle site, but we thought it was absolutely amazing so we stopped to take pictures. Unfortunately we did not do it justice.

This photo is on Little Round Top where one of the most inspiring battles occurred. Ben is purposely not smiling in this photo because he thought it to strange to be smiling where so many men died.

We're really glad we made this trip. We talked briefly about finding a hotel and staying a night, but thought, "how much could there possibly be to see?" We definitely could have stayed another day. The little town is so pleasant and was particularly charming as the sun was setting and families were together outside ice cream shops. I look forward to taking my boys back when they're older.

Fun Filled Family Weekend

2008-07-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

2 weekends ago (the weekend of the unfortunate hole in the head accident) G & G Rollins came to visit us and I think we set a record for the maximum amount of attractions seen in 3 and a half days. Here's a run down...

We started Friday morning in the Constitution Center and then grabbed a Philly Cheese Steak before picking up Nathan at the train station. Next we stopped by Costco (yes, I know, very tourist worthy) so that Nathan could birthday shop and we could grab some snacks. Next we picked up Ben and made it back to downtown for the Duck Boat Tour Ride. Luke especially enjoyed the quackers...all weekend long. We ate at The Tavern, which is a tavern turned restaurant that dates back to the 1700s. Ben Franklin actually met John Adams at this historic tavern. Lastly we took the Lights of Liberty tour which is a night-time walking tour around historic Philly. You wear headphones for the narration and music and they light up certain buildings with pictures. It's pretty cool!

These pictures were taken at the Constitution Center. Luke is signing the declaration of independence.

Saturday was Nate's birthday and he requested a day at Hershey Park - the amusement park. It was super hot, super crowded, but still lots of fun. Fortunately they have a lot of water attractions so mid day we all changed into our suits and tried to stay wet.

One of the most fun things for me was seeing Caleb ride the baby rides all by himself. He's getting so big!

Sunday morning we went to church and then visited Valley Forge National Park. We took a bus around the park and learned (or re-learned) lots of revolutionary history. Afterwards we drove over to a big Amish settlement in Lancaster. We took a tour through an Amish house and had an amazing "family style" dinner. It was super, super good. Better than the meal at The Tavern and only a third the price!

Monday morning Ben went back to work and the boys and I met G & G downtown for a few more hours before they headed to the airport. We visited the Liberty Bell, took a carriage ride (another high light for Luke), watched a short video in the visitors center and then took the tour through Independence Hall.

After the tour, which we left early so that G & G would make it to the airport on time, Luke crashed and burned! No wonder the kid couldn't walk straight with all the things we drug him around to do!

Luke's 2nd set of stitches

2008-07-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, not really, but according to Doctor Grandpa who happened to be with us when the unfortunate accident happened, it was definitely stitch worthy. Instead of 2 or 3 stitches Luke sports 2 studly butterfly band aids!

It all happened on a pleasant day at the US Independence Hall building in downtown Philly. We met up with G & G Rollins before they were off to the airport for a couple last stops around historic Philadelphia. We were on the way out and Luke tripped on one of the bricks that made up the old roads. His hands weren't fast enough to catch his head so his head rammed into another old road brick. Of course we were asked to sign waivers before leaving the historic, federal property. He came up with a hole the width of a pencil right in the middle of his forehead.

Grandpa didn't have time before his flight to take Luke to a clinic where he would have been able to borrow some DermaBond (aka super glue for humans) and fix it up himself. Instead he instructed me on how to apply the butterfly.

So now we're counting on Luke to split open the other eyebrow next month so that he'll have a nice even, triangular look!

Grandma What?? - (Edited due to issues)

2008-07-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

I never hated my maiden name (Dutson), but I definitely think I upgraded with Rollins. I did not "upgrade" family heritage, simply the phonetic sound of a name. I would wager that most married women prefer the sound of their name with either their maiden or married name. Does that mean they favor that part of their family over the other? I think not! Okay, maybe some do, but I DON'T!

Nicole Rollins seems to have a much more sophisticated sound and much less, sort of dumpy sound than Niki Dutson. It sounds, people, sounds, not is-having nothing to do with the Dutson people being or not being dumpy. I mean, come on, they almost rhyme - Dutson/dumpy.

Recently Luke has given the Dutson name a whole new look by affectionately referring to my mom as "Grandma Nutson." Gotta love that! (The entire reason for this post.)

PS This post is not meant to be disrespectful to all the wonderful Dutson family who embrace and love their name. I love my Dutson heritage! I have never felt any embarrassment about my name and would gladly take it back, not that I gave it up, but you know what I mean...or do you??? (that is said with humor, sarcasm and love, I promise!)

The Jersey Shore

2008-07-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

Ben had Thursday off so we drove over to Ocean City, NJ (about an hour and half from us) to play at the beach and on the boardwalk. It was super fun and I think we'll do it again before we leave again.

Caleb wasn't feeling to good and like the responsible parents we are, we packed him up and took him to play in the hot sun and gritty sand! He actually did really well - considering...he took a nap in a make shift tent Ben built with towels and lawn chairs and played in the sand. We joked that Caleb being sick may have made the trip easier (and therefore more enjoyable) for us because he stayed close rather than running off and stressing us out with strangers, waves and all.

Clearly, Luke loved it!

We don't have any pictures from our 4th of July celebration in Philadelphia because we decided not to take our big camera, instead we took our smaller one which had dead batteries. When we got there I resolved to find a 7-Eleven and buy some because I thought it would be so picturesque. Fireworks at the Philadelphia Art Museum above the George Washington statue...

After getting some dinner we ran out of time before the parade started. Yea, out here they do their parades in the evening which I thought was great. Parade at 6, concert in the park at 8 and then fireworks at 9. Sounds great, doesn't it?? Not so great...I think Philly's parade was the slowest parade I've ever watched...THE SLOWEST!! Each group actually stopped for like 4 minutes, sometimes longer, and just stood there until someone cued them to move along again. Very weird. Not only was it slow, it started to rain. Unfortunately I was in the worst of spirits after the parade and could really care less about finding batteries.

Round 2 (the concert and fireworks) didn't do much to lift my dipping spirits. John Legend performed a bunch of songs I didn't know, it continued to rain, and the fireworks didn't even start until 10:30. After whining throughout most of the concert for fireworks Luke feel asleep in the middle of the firework show. We stayed only so we could say we spent a 4th of July in Philly - that's it! I was really surprised Philadelphia couldn't pull it together.

We did enjoy a few things. When we got there we totally lucked out and as we were driving right next to the museum a van pulled out giving us a perfect (and free) parking spot. The dinner we got on the street, BBQ pulled pork sandwich, BBQ ribs & chicken, corn on the cob & carmel kettle popcorn, was all excellent! It's actually making my mouth water to remember it! Also, the fireworks were good too. They didn't skimp on that, but anything at 10:30 with tired kids in the rain isn't as good as it could be.

My Motivating Mirror

2008-06-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

You know those mirrors you walk past and think, "please don't let that be the way people see me!?" The ones in all the dressing rooms you visit on the most unproductive shopping trips? I've got one of those. I now refer to it grudgingly as my motivating mirror. Since living here I have recommitted myself to more vigorous workouts.

Yep, I'm pooped and my entire lower half screams at me with every move! So far, so good!

Proof of our visit to Hershey, PA. It was lots of fun!

Proof of my 28th Birthday! Ahhhh, 28!!!

Why I love our summer in PA

2008-06-12T07:39:00.000-07:00

I will always think fondly of Ithaca, NY. I love that it's quiet and beautiful, and I absolutely adore our ward. We've met some great people that I will miss not living so closely to when our time in school is done. BUT...there are some pretty important things I will enthusiastically enjoy here in Philly that we can't enjoy in Ithaca.

#1 Ben is making $$$$

Yea, for 10 wonderful weeks Ben will bring home a paycheck! 10 weeks that we don't have to enter deeper into the big black hole of student loan debt - and hopefully a few more weeks after that depending on how well we stretch it!

#2 We have more than 2 radio stations that play modern music

Up in the boonies known as the finger lakes region of NY we really only have 1 station that plays modern country music and another that plays top 40 stuff. That's it! The other 4 buttons in my car are programmed to who knows what! I never push them! While we're here I will enjoy 6 car radio buttons with 6 stations that play songs that I know and like.

#3 Air Conditioning!!!

We are only 4 hours south of Ithaca so the climate is not that different. I remember miserable 90 degree days in NY last August, but for some reason people in Ithaca have a strange "air conditioner's aren't necessary" viewpoint. I wonder if it has to do with the save the earth, vegan, air conditioner's aren't worth the energy they use mentality. People will say, "yea, we have some hot days, but then the rain comes and cools things off and it's really not that bad." It's true that just before you think you're gonna die from heat exhaustion, and you and your children are on your last nerve reserved for hot days that the storm will come and blow some cool air down, but I say, "Why do we have to suffer!!!!" So, why we're in Philly I will gratefully thank Sherry Lake apartments for installing central air in all their buildings.

Freakin' HOT!!!!

2008-06-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

So we made it to Philadelphia, actually Conshohocken (yea, say that 10 times fast) a Philly suburb, right in time for their record breaking heat. It's been 98 degrees with intense humidity since we got here last Friday. Two nights ago a big storm moved in, thundered and rained on us, and now it's much more pleasant.

We went to a strawberry festival on Saturday at a 300 year old Quaker church. It was adorable, but crazy hot! Notice the wet hair and red faces.

We are liking our place despite the lack of furniture. Our search for summer housing is a novel itself so I'll spare you! We are living in a 2 bedroom apartment in a complex that offered short term leases (we're only here for 10 weeks). Luke sleeps on the floor, we sleep on a foam pad on the floor, we eat, play, read, and blog on the floor. AND, there's lots of floor space since there's no lousy furniture in the way! I should develop some tight quads with all the squatting I'll be doing this summer!

The luxurious master bedroom... Sleeping on the foam pad really isn't bad, it's the getting up that's miserable. You can't just roll off and find your way to the bathroom. You have to have muscles and use balance. Not fun at 7am, and definitely not fun in the middle of the night!

We look forward to visiting all the fun places in the Philly area over the next weeks. This Saturday we're going to head over to Hershey, PA for some chocolaty heaven. It is my birthday and all!!