In the life of a three year old

As we have moved here we have quickly learned of all the outdoor activities one can do around our place. Austin is over an Aquifer, Edward Aquifer to be exact. Not too far from our apartment is a man made pool that is fed by this water. We were couped up, because Taeya had to study, and I had take care of Aliza. So I promised Amelia if she could just wait we would walk to the pool. "Okay daddy, I patient". We finally walked over to find that the shallow pool was closed. We'll how do I say that she was um, bummed would be a good word. I was pretty bummed too.

So, one more promise as we so casually do. "Next week" I said, "okay daddy". Then she proceeded to tell me on the walk home that she wants to ride the train at Zilker Park . As you can guess, one more promise. This one was awesome. "Okay Amelia, but it is nap time so we will go home and take a nap first". Sure, that went down like a lead balloon. Finally She took a cat nap, and wanted to go. Now Taeya wanted to go, so we waited again. Sometimes our small apartment seems a WHOLE lot smaller when there is an anxious three year old. Aliza woke up, Shoes went on, we all piled into the car and drove a short little distance to the park. We could have walked to the park, but the air conditioning seemed really awesome.

Excited to the nth degree. Running to buy tickets, telling us were it was to buy tickets. Well, what a day. The Train was not running today. It was broke or something, it did not matter. There was one mad little girl. There was nothing to be said to console her. I walked over to another building to make sure that it was really closed. In the meantime Amelia had attached herself to the fence near the ticket office. Kids came and went with there parents, the kids slightly bummed. So the parents with little prodding"hey what about the large happy park". "Yea" and ran off. Not ours, I do love Amelia for her passion, but sometimes it drives me crazy.

She never really got crazy at the park. Dabbled a little, but mostly stayed by the tracks just to see if maybe we were messing with her and the train would come if she waited long enough. Wandering slowly on the tracks in a sad little way. There is a tunnel that the train has to go through. She thought that it was in the tunnel.
The wandering continued, and slowly, she gave up. It was very cute.
By the time She got around to playing at the park, we had already been there half an hour. Mom was hungry, need I say more. It was time to leave, a fit ensued, the mind blistering scream came out, and boom no more park privileges. Oh the life of a cute little girl. Love you Amelia.

First Day of School

The first day of class has come and gone. I spent about 12 hours reading the articles assigned for the class. Yes, you read that correctly...12 hours. But, the reading was fairly interesting, and there was only one article I did not understand...aptly named the Garbage Can Theory. I was not quite sure what to expect the first day, given my last experience with school.

For those of you who did not have the "pleasure" of attending Law School, let me paint a picture for you. You spend a week learning how to prepare for the first day of class, and no, I am not exagerating. For each class, the professor picks one student to torture, I mean question, using the socratic method. As defined by Wikipedia,
"The Socratic Method (or Method of Elenchus or Socratic Debate), named after the Classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate rational thinking and to illuminate ideas.[1] It is a dialectical method, often involving an oppositional discussion in which the defense of one point of view is pitted against the defense of another; one participant may lead another to contradict himself in some way, strengthening the inquirer's own point."
As used by some law professors, the Socratic method is meant to strike fear in to the heart of every student so that every student has read and re-read and outlined each case to be discussed in class. Being called in in class is not a pleasurable experience, and I don't really remember ever volunteering any information in class.

So, with that background, I headed to class this morning. Half of my grade in this particular seminar is based on class participation, so I needed to say at least one thing during the class to show that I had completed the readings. My goal of saying at least one thing was accomplished, but I am not sure whether it was an intelligent something. The entire experience was rather "enjoyable", actually. Now, I just have to figure how to read more quickly!

memory lane

Since this is a family blog I thought I would throw in a few thoughts. A couple of thing I missed from my mission in Dallas is the sunsets and rain storms, which we had both of today. Just out the door of our apartment there are superior trails, and paths. It made me reflect on the the hot muggy nights of my mission and the smells of Texas. They are very unique, it feels like you are being bathed with the smells around you. The trails are endless here which to me is one of the best things to do here. I have always enjoyed a good ride.



Another good memory is my desire to spread the gospel. It has been very easy for me to extend my hand in friendship to others. Although we are struggling to see were we fit in, in our ward. the ward seems very hands off. Oh well I've never fit in any way, I always say something brash that has set me apart anyway. Life is good.

First Message

I have been thinking about doing a blog for months, but now the day has finally come. The momentous day will be next week when I update!

After living in beautiful Sandpoint for more than 6 years, we packed up our house, with the help of friends and family...left our fabulous friends..

and our devoted dog, Ella...and moved to Austin, Texas. We are in the upper left apartment.

First off, it is really hot here in Texas. I think that we are up to 61 days of triple digit temperatures for the year. We are very, very grateful for the air conditioning in our apartment. We are also grateful for the location. We are close to the Colorado River, the great walking/biking trails, and downtown. Our apartment is small...

But we have unpacked all of the boxes, save one. The box of pictures. We are still trying to figure out how to hang things on brick and cinder block. Now that I was actually going to hang things on the wall (I never hung anything at our house, even after four years), and finally finished my wall plaques, I have no where to hang them.

And, after over four years of togetherness, I said goodbye to The Box.

Anyone who visited our house in Sandpoint has seen this box. We used it to store things in and to set pictures on. I thought it was a great way to decorate. But, alas, the box had to go. There is no room in our apartment for our real furniture, let alone this box.

We have rearranged all the furniture in our apartment at least three times. Even though we did not think that we had much stuff, moving from a four bedroom house to a two bedroom apartment is a really tough exercise in organization.

All in all, we are happy to be here in Texas. I am excited to get started at school, although apprehensive. Amelia already calls our apartment home, and Aliza seems to be adjusting. Jason is glad to be here as well, but has decided that Tillamook icecream beats the Texas famous Blue Bell ice cream hands down.

We will try to update weekly! Thanks for checking in on us.