The Sinden Kids

Originally Jonathan was going to speak at a conference in Japan at the beginning of October.  We invited Brian to come out for a visit, and to help me with the kids during the week Jonathan would be gone.  Brian, being the great brother that he is, agreed.  Chris discovered he would have leave during the same time, so at the last minute he decided to fly out too and stay with Andrea.

Somehow during the move to Austin Jonathan's passport got misplaced or lost.  It's hard to say what happened, but he searched the box he thought it was in- and it wasn't!  Unfortunately he didn't discover this until Friday night and his flight was Sunday evening.  Instead of flying to Japan he arranged to give it over Skype with a Japanese interpreter at around 3 AM Austin time. It all worked out, and without the jet lag. 

It was SO much fun to have my brothers here.  Between Chris and Brian's missions, it's been years since the four of us have all been together, so we played, ate delicious things, and had fun.   

Due to the abundance of limestone, Texas is home to many really cool caverns.  While Brian and Chris were here we decided to pay a visit to Longhorn Caverns.  It's about an hour northwest of Austin.  It's unique since it is one of only a hand full of caves in the United States formed primarily by an underground river rather than acidic erosion.  Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is another famous river formed cave.  The cave is carved smooth and you don't see many stalactites or stalagmites.   Still it is beautiful in place, the crystal sections are incredible, and the history is quite colorful.

FDR's Civilian Conservation Corp cleared out the debris in the caves and discovered evidence of a Confederate stronghold.  Inside they found dynamite, weapons, and two uniformed soldiers' remains, likely from an unfortunate gunpowder accident.  Outlaw Sam Bass is rumored to have stashed his loot in the caverns, and legend has it that the Texas Rangers rescued a kidnapped woman from Indians in the caverns.  During Prohibition, the caverns served up bootleg whiskey.  Free drinks to the local sheriffs ensured the law turned a blind eye, and on Sundays the caverns hosted a church.  Patrons who passed out on the floors from the night before would awake to the service and join the congregation!  There is a long wide passageway know as the subterranean ballroom, and yes they did have a dance hall with wooden floors.

The caves are still used for entertainment.  Willie Nelson occasionally performs in the caverns, choirs come to sing, and every December they hold caroling.

Isaac with Uncle Brian.

Unfortunately he wasn't as entertained by the caves, the ipod, or being carried in the backpack as I thought he would be...  Still he made it, and mostly unscathed- just two skinned knees from tripping.  Er, Isaac that is.  Brian did fine.

 

Passageway dubbed "short man's revenge"  It is about 4 to 4.5 feet high and 7 wide.  Duck!

Smooth formations made by the quick-moving underground ancient river. 

Not a very good picture of them, but there were two passageways filled with enormous crystals.  Even Isaac was impressed.

The watch dog.  This is perhaps the most famous formation/sculpture in the caverns.  No tool marks have been found.

The four Sinden kids + 2 babies (and our tour guide) after the tour.  Isaac (not pictured) was DONE and climbing the stairs. 

On Friday night Andrea and Jeremy played host to an elaborate murder mystery dinner.  They even used the fine china!  Andrea set up Brian and Chris each with a date for the dinner and the eight of us busied ourselves in the sordid business of fame, love, Hollywood, and murder.  Watch your back, folks, because it turns out you don't want to double cross me.  Not that I'm confessing to anything...

Jonathan likes it when we have out of town guests, because it provides the perfect excuse to take them out to taste the local cuisine.  We took Brian to try some authentic Chinese, a Brazilian steakhouse, and good 'ol Texan barbeque, plus the world famous Round Rock doughnuts.  Yum!

Brian and Chris also watched the kids for us so we could go out on the town.  Come again anytime guys!  Or as they say here, "Y'all come back now!"  The kids LOVED having so much attention from their uncles.  Uncles are pretty awesome. So are brothers.

9 on the 9th!

Matthew is growing is so many ways.  He has an insatiable curiosity about the world and many, many questions.  Many more questions than his parents have answers, in fact.  I've given him a blank notebook to write down his musings, so he can look up the answers himself and write them down.  Google is a great tool.

Matthew loves to create things with his hands.  He likes to fold origami, sew, build projects with wood and nails, make lego creations, and draw cartoons.

He is a kind big brother and looks out for his younger siblings.  If he gets a treat, he instinctively shares with his littler siblings.  Just today at the book fair he bought a book for himself, and one that he thought his sister would like.  He also delights in to teasing her though!  Matthew wrestles and tickles Isaac and puts up with a lot of the mischief Isaac causes with his stuff.  To be fair, Isaac would try the very patience of Job, and sometimes Matthew does get frustrated with him.  Matthew also dotes on his baby sister and loves to hold her.  He can't bear to hear her cry and if I don't get there first, he will pick her up and try to soothe her.  He is an gentle soul. 

Matthew is getting more independent and takes pride in doing things all by himself.  He rides his bike to and from the school which is about a mile away and he rides to his friends' houses.  He also likes to go into the store by himself and pay for things using his own money that he's earned. 

To our delight, our son is an avid reader and enjoys a broad selection of books ranging from mystery, science fiction, fantasy, science nonfiction, and general fiction.  Once he latches onto a good book, he will take and read it everywhere.  I've drawn the line at reading on the porcelain throne, however.  

Matthew is a good helper around the house and with his younger brother and sisters.  He can be a huge help and when things get crazy around the house, I know I can count on him.

It is hard to believe that nine years have passed since he made his debut.  It really doesn't seem very long ago!

This year Matthew celebrated his ninth birthday with lots of uncles. He had a blast playing with his Uncle Jeremy of course, and Uncles Chris and Brian who flew in town for the week to play with us. 

We celebrated Jonathan and Matthew's birthdays on Saturday.  We took family pictures in the park in the morning, and had world famous Round Rock donuts.  Later, Jonathan, the uncles, Matthew, and Melissa all went indoor rock wall climbing. 

While the guys + Melissa were out, Isaac, Corinna, and I stayed home to make the cake and decorate the house.  Isaac found a carton of strawberries and decided they looked tasty.  He took one or two bites out of every strawberry.  

 Fortunately Aunt Andrea and Uncle Jeremy saved the day and brought another carton of strawberries.  Thanks guys! 

The heavens opened up and it poured on that Saturday.  No one minded though, since it's been many months since this parched Texas ground had seen any rain.  In fact, I think the kids were initially puzzled by the wet stuff falling from the sky.  Not for long though.  Isaac wanted to go outside to play and Melissa changed to her swimsuit to frolic in it. 

 A nice picture...

...and a goofy picture.  Matthew kept acting silly in the pictures so I promised a goofy group shot if he'd just behave for one picture.  Matthew and Jonathan voted to have Five Guys burgers for dinner, so we did!

Matthew opening his loot.  He loved the origami calendar, hex bugs, magic kit, lego set, chemistry set, radio controlled car, air force hat, and airplane he received.  I say he did quite well!

Grandma sent Melissa some hair clips from her great Aunt Stephanie.  She immediately had to try them out- all of them! 

This year Matthew requested cheesecake.  Jonathan asked for banana cream pie on his birthday, so I didn't make any traditional birthday cakes this year. 

Hope your wishes come true, Matthew.  I am sure proud of you, my son, and look forward to many wonderful birthdays to come.

Corinna's baby blessing

Sunday July 24th was Corinna's baby blessing.  As soon as Jonathan started the blessing she yelled.  She continued to express herself loudly the entire time.

After the blessing, the bishop got up and said it brought back memories of when his oldest daughter just howled during her blessing over 30 years ago.  We all know Larke, his daughter, so the congregation chuckled at his remarks.  (Later the bishop's wife told me he got a bit choked up thinking about it.)

The first speaker got up and said that he was speaking in slot usually reserved for the youth speaker, but we already heard from her today.  The congregation had a good laugh at that!

Here are some pictures Christine and I snapped after church.

Sisters

Two generations of sisters

The girls

The guys

 

The whole crew

All dressed up in her finery

Aunt Christine

 Cousins!

Cute baby Gwendolyn exploring

Updates

Easter

Easter was lovely this year. The kids were up well before the crack of dawn (how do they do it?) and were dancing all over the house. Melissa and Matthew raided their Easter baskets while waiting for Isaac and Daddy to get up, but I made them eat bananas and boiled eggs before candy. Isaac got the first shot at the egg hunt with Matthew and Melissa pointing the eggs out for him. It didn't last long. Once Isaac realized that there was candy in the eggs he plopped himself down and started shoveling candy in his mouth. At that point we set Matthew and Melissa loose to find their own eggs and approximately 1.5 minutes later they'd found all 50. As usual, the Easter bunny left a new tooth brush in each basket. Smart bunny.

We took them to the church to hear Conference hoping that the atmosphere would inspire them to listen to at least part of it. Isaac was ready for a nap though, and bored so either Jon or I spent the majority of the time in the hall entertaining him. Matthew was asked later by Grandma Linda if he heard the Conference address. "Yes, my mom made me." Sigh. Perhaps all they'll learn right now is that it is important to their parents. Hopefully the rest will come later. The afternoon session we just listened to over the internet while the children played and were able to hear much more of it.

For dinner we had our traditional "Easter rolls." I made up some dough and placed a large marshmallow in the center. When cooked the rolls are hollow and sweet inside. Jonathan was explaining to the kids that the rolls are like the empty tomb- Jesus was no longer in the tomb because he'd been resurrected. Melissa took a bite of her roll and exclaimed, "There's no Jesus in my roll either!" Theology is a bit lost on 4 year old thinking. :)

9 Years and Counting

Jonathan and I just celebrated our ninth anniversary on April 6th. Aunt Andrea and Uncle Jeremy watched the kids for us so we could go out to celebrate. Thanks guys! Here's to many more great years together!

Working from home

As Jonathan posted earlier, he's working from home. The older kids mostly leave him alone when he's working, but if Jonathan or I ever leave our bedroom door open, Isaac makes a beeline for the office/closet. He bangs on the office door and hoots in babyese, "Play with me Daddy, play with me!"

Another trip to the ER

I was making dinner and left Isaac watching cartoons with Matthew and Melissa. I poked my head in a few minutes later and he wasn't in the living room. I hunted through the house and found him in our bedroom with a bottle of ibuprofen and pills and pieces of pills scattered around him. Oh no! It was just the perfect storm. #1 the bedroom door is usually kept closed. #2 the pill bottle is ordinarily kept up high in the medicine cabinet. #3 the bottle was supposed to be childproof. Upon calling poison control they advised a trip to the ER since we couldn't tell for certain how much he'd eaten. Jonathan was in the middle of a conference call but I interrupted him to say we needed to take a kid to the hospital. He promptly packed Isaac up with some toys and off they went! (Isaac is fine by the way). I'll let Jon tell the tale of their hospital adventures.

Hi Andrea!

Watched the General Relief Society Conference tonight, and who did I see but my beautiful sister singing in the choir!

I couldn't help myself; I waved to the screen.

Miss you, Andrea.

Trip to Washington- flight out

(Last weekend Isaac and I flew up to Washington for a wedding, retirement, and short visit with my sister-in-law. It was quite the quick trip. I'll break the tale up into several smaller posts.)

I found a flight that had a three hour layover in SLC. Sweet! I'll have dinner with my sister before flying on to WA. San Antonio has a tiny airport, and there are no direct flights to virtually anywhere. Thursday morning I took the kids swimming and in the early afternoon Isaac and I waited for our plane which was about a half hour delayed. The flight was pretty uneventful until it was time to land. Winds were gusting at about 40+ mph and several wildfires burned around Salt Lake City giving the air an orange haze. The plane jumped up and down in the turbulence. Within the plane, people were getting sick and I confess to feeling more than a little queasy myself. It's the first time I've ever felt airsick before, and it was by far the roughest landing I've experienced. Fortunately it didn't get beyond feeling sick for me, because I had enough to do Isaac wrangling. Isaac seemed to be fine despite the turbulence.

Andrea graciously picked us up from the airport and took us to dinner. There's this nice little Italian sandwich cafe/fine chocolate shop downtown. I'll ask Andrea for the name of it, I highly recommend it to those in Utah. Regrettably, I was still feeling very green around the gills and couldn't fully appreciate the sandwich or my first taste of an Italian soda. Jeremy works a few blocks away at the KSL building and met us there. He bought me a fantastic chocolate bar which I am savoring as I type. Mmm!

We arrived back at the airport, and saw that the plane was scheduled to be a half hour delayed. Okay, no sweat, this will give Isaac some more time to burn off energy before boarding. The plane finally arrived an hour late, but by then the wildfires had picked up, assisted by the fierce winds no doubt. All of the ramps were closed save one, and the planes in the air had to land before any aircraft could take off. So we waited, and waited. Isaac pushed the stroller and crawled around on the floor. Gross! I know, but what else can you do with a squirmy, gotta move baby? While Isaac scooted all over finding things to amuse him, several flights were diverted to other airports to refuel before attempting to land again in SLC. About three hours into our adventure we could finally board. Isaac was getting quite tired at this point, being well past his bedtime. We get settled and discovered there were 25 jets ahead of us to takeoff. Sigh. Isaac entertained himself at the window for a while and I bribed him with M&Ms when he got bored.


Fortunately he conked out right after takeoff and slept the entire flight. Bliss. It was a nice break from inventing ways to amuse him for the entire flight.

I got him, his carseat, his stroller, the backpack and the suitcase to the curb where we met grandma and grandpa well after 11 PM; much later than the initial 8:40 planned arrival. But we made it!

[I've come to the conclusion that traveling with 1 one year old by himself is nearly as challenging as traveling with 1 one year old and Matthew and Melissa. Matthew and Melissa are pretty good travelers now and really don't add much to the logistical work.]

Wedding Pictures

Pictures as promised:


Aren't they a gorgeous couple?

Melissa generously shared her tic tacs with everyone. Good thing too, because there was some smooching going on! Imagine that!


I just love this shot I took of Andrea when she was leaning over to chat with Melissa. What a beautiful bride!

Here's a shot of Mom holding up the train. The dress was a BEAST to bustle. There were six hidden loops to attached to 6 hidden buttons. Mom and I helped dress Andrea. I accidentally pulled one of the loops a little too hard and we had to do some quick stitching on the loop. Thank goodness the dress was fine, just the ribboned loop broke. I'm glad I was able to "help" with the dressing, even though I was more hindrance than help. It was so neat to be there for my sister.


Matthew played the part of photographer as well. He was quite insistent on poses. The older kids humored him though.

Melissa had fun climbing on the statues. The day couldn't have been better for pictures. It was just a bit overcast so no one was squinting, no wind, and the rain didn't start until that evening. Then it rained for the rest of our stay in Washington. Naturally.
Andrea had "something old and something new, something borrowed and something blue," of course. She wore our great-grandma Hume's crocheted shawl for old. I think the shoes counted as new? The something blue was the beautiful aquamarine (her birthstone) promise ring that Jeremy gave her until he could get the engagement ring. For borrowed she used my wedding veil! I'm quite pleased about that. I designed that veil myself and am so glad that it was used once again. Unlike many veils, it's one continuous oval piece with a simple lace trim. Unfortunately I don't have a very good picture of it, but here's another great one of Andrea.

Speaking of traditions I taped a penny to her shoe for good luck and fortune. Silly me. Still, may they be happy and prosperous!

With that I think I'll end our 1,000 SP post. Can't think of a better post for that milestone.