Video Time!

Welcome to Julie's Kingdom. Enter to obey; go forth to proclaim her majesty.

"Quote of the Week"

Julie informed me this week that, "French people kiss with their tongues." What a great thing to know! I told her that she should never do that. Then I amended and said she could when she was married. Maybe I should have stuck with never. . . .

The Perfect Big Brother

Joshua loves his baby brother! He was reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear to James until James took the book to eat it.

Video Time!

Whose is always the first name a baby can say? Click play to find out.

Happy Weekend

We listened to the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints this weekend. Julie was inspired to draw a picture of President Gordon B. Hinckley. She gave the spelling her best shot without asking for help. Jesse says that she asked him if she had written her d's correctly, then laughed that she had written "presibent." The talks were, as always, exactly what I needed to hear. I have committed myself to acheiving four goals by the next conference in April 2008. I have already started by typing up a list of things to do daily to help me accomplish two of the goals. I know that by doing the daily things -- praying, reading scriptures, singing uplifting music -- I will be a better mother, teacher of my children and Young Women leader to accomplish the other two goals.

Jesse substituted for early morning seminary, a religion class held at the church building for LDS high school students. He taught the chapters about Abraham from the book of Genesis. I enjoyed talking to Jesse about the potential applications of Abraham's experiences. Jesse really enjoyed the opportunity to teach, although getting up at 5:00am was quite challenging.

All in all the week was a reminder to be a little better this week than I was last week. I have decided to become addicted to exercise. I have put on around thirty pounds since David was born. That doesn't sound like much, but when I consider the history of adult-onset diabetes in my family, I realize that I must do something to take control of my health before it takes control of me.

Rat 3, Engineer 0

On a lighter note, we have acquired a pet mouse or whatever it is that is hiding in our garage walls. Jesse, the resident engineer, has designed a trap, but there are some kinks that have allowed the rodent to steal the bait. Essentially, we are feeding the darn thing premium cheddar cheese instead of trapping it! Jesse says he knows the problem, though, so hopefully we'll catch it in the next few days.

The kids loved the idea of hunting the rodent. They dressed in long sleeves and long pants and wore gloves so that it wouldn't bite them if they found it. Suddenly, there were "rats" all over the house and outside in the yard. They said that the rat had yellow eyes with a black middle. I had to show Julie the Wikipedia entry on rats to convince her that only cartoon rats have yellow eyes. Ironically, we saw Ratatoullie this weekend. Jesse jokes that after we trap it, we should put it in the kitchen so we can have our own "Little Chef." Yeah, right!!!