Trip to Pocatello

We took a little trip up to Pocatello's for Staci's niece's blessing. Here is some video of the kids. I didn't get much, but some is better than none, right grandparents?


Since we haven't updated in a while, Tenzing learned how to crawl down stairs when we opened the door one day on our back porch, and he took off. No fear on the concrete steps; he just wanted to be outside!

Photoshopping photos...on the cheap.

One of my favorite photo effects is something I don't even know the word for, but I still love it when photos are black and white, except for certain parts that still colored. I got an app for my iPhone called Colorize. It is free right now and it is exactly what I want. All you do is load a picture, then color in with your finger different colors. Since I like the black and white with splashes of color, that is what I use. But, you could just as easily change any colors in the picture to other colors by painting over them with your selected color. This app is perfect because I choose exactly what part of the picture is what color. I don't have to rely on an algorithm or color-matching software to color things the right color. It makes it as easy as coloring a picture, without being an artist. The pics below are my favorites so far. 

 

This is one of my favorite pictures of Cali, and she loves this shirt. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of Katya; though I should left the blanket on the couch in black and white. And the purple carpet that took away from this picture, now looks fine.

Ah, yes, the AC/DC picture of Tenzing. It really pops now, and when I printed it out on paper, it looked even cooler. 

Our Christmas Tree in our living room. I thought about painting the bear in the foreground, but decided to leave it black and white. 

Our fireplace. This one is mostly black and white already, but it looks much better like this, as the colors above the half-way point don't clutter it. I like how the elf is red, too. 

So, it isn't really photoshop, but I had to ask someone to use photoshop to do this for me a couple years ago, but it is really nice that I can do it myself, now, and this app was free. 

Yee-Haw

Cali has been saying this around the house for a couple weeks. We don't have a rocking horse, so we have never been able to capture the full effect. Luckily, she spent the night at Rebekah's a couple weeks ago, and now we can really enjoy it. Thanks Rebekah for capturing it on film.

Cali Speaking

Today, I came home from work and asked Cali, "Were you nice to mommy today?"

Cali calmly replied, "Yeah, I just yell at her."

Tenzing's Laugh

Tonight while I was changing Tenzing's diaper, Cali hit the side of the changing table, and Tenzing just loved it. Usually, we try to keep our kids from hitting things close to one another, but Tenzing would have none of those silly rules.

People say Tenzing looks like me, but I see Cali in him if he is not smiling. When he laughs and smiles, though, he is like a second Katya.

And here is Katya getting in on the fun:

"I'm Cute!"

Staci made a wall-hanging jewelry storage area, and some of the necklaces fell off onto the ground this morning. Cali was very quiet in the back room (which usually means she is getting into something she shouldn't be). So, after a few minutes, she came out and declared, "I'm cute!"

Yes, Cali, you are cute.

New videos on the YouTube

I recently uploaded a bunch of videos to YouTube. You can watch them there, or you can pass, since some of them can only be loved by their parents and grandparents.

Here is a sampling that more of you might like:

Tenzing's First Day Part 2

The girls were overjoyed to have a new brother.

The girls were so excited to see their mommy and new brother. As I said in the last post, Cali was a little nervous about this new "living doll" and took her time. I think Katya kissed him four times before Cali got up the nerve. You can tell in the pictures that she wants to, but just isn't sure yet.

Cali finally allowed herself to give Tenzing a kiss

Tenzing's First Day

Oh, cute.

We are really excited to have this cute little guy as part of our family. He is just adorable. And the best news is that he is actually nursing, which both girls were unable to do. And so begins his fascination with breasts. What? Awkward...

Staci is being a trooper as they cut her open.

Anyway, the birth went pretty smooth until they tried to get him out. He was stuck, and they tried suctioning him four or five times, and got two pairs of forceps to finally get him out. Eventually, he came out and let out a few little cries.

The first bath.

Tenzing has spent the day with us and in the nursery. We wanted him and Staci to be able to get some rest so he spent about an hour in the nursery while Staci and I tried pitifully to get some sleep. He came down for his first bath, and then I left to get the girls.

Katya was very excited to see her brother.

Katya was all smiles the whole time, and Cali smiled a lot, too, but was more reticent, like she didn't want us to know how she felt about this little guy yet. I love the picture above because you can see how excited and happy Katya is to have Tenzing as a brother.

Katya was not afraid of smothering Tenzing in Kisses

Katya was so excited to see her little brother. She had no problem kissing him and holding him. It is so cute to see her and Cali be big sisters.

Cali talking

I know this is only interesting to the grandparents, so I won't feel bad if you don't watch it.

Cali

Cali and Katya both really like to pray, sometimes. For some reason this morning, Cali wanted to pray while leaning up against the wall and putting her left leg behind her right leg, angled, and resting on just her toes.

She also likes to hold her hands in an interlocking way that is super-cute, especially when she doesn't get just one finger in between the other two fingers. I'll get a picture someday.

This is NOT an Announcement!

I repeat, THIS IS NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT!

Everyone who knows me knows that I love kids and want a lot of them. So, I am constantly asking the girls if they are ready to have a little brother or sister (mostly it is just to bug Staci). So, here I am asking the girls if they want a sibling:



Katya's Answer



Cali's Answer

Cali has a little monkey backpack, and so she really likes monkeys these days.

Happy Birthday to Staci!

Last Friday was Staci's birthday. She really is a great woman, a good mother, and fantastic wife. So, I thought I would spoil her a little bit. I found a sweet deal on a Nikon D60 camera on Craigslist (my first purchase from that site, by the way). The camera was in nearly new condition, came with an extra battery, and a case. A sweet deal to say the least. Staci is happy with her new camera and has taken pictures every day since then. I like it too. I took some pretty cool photos of the girls the day after I bought it, before Staci saw it, and some neat open-aperture photos last night. It is fun to play with the cool stuff you can do with it.

So, here are some photos.

My favorite picture from the new camera so far.

Cali just loves playing in the water

The many faces of Katya

Today's Destruction

Roomba cleaning with shutter open for 5 seconds

The fire at the church next door. Not really, but it looks like it could be, right? Shutter was open for about 5 seconds

The waterbaby

About 10 seconds with the shutter open, 2 cell phones

"What's goin' on over there?"

"Now this is a french fry!"

How Do You Know it was a Good Night in the Garden?

When it was good enough you could taste it!




I enjoy working in the garden much more this year than I did last year. It was very stressful last year because of all the classes that I was taking, work, and my calling. This year, I only have my job and my calling, and it is much better without school. The girls love working out there with us. The picture never do it justice, but the girls were covered in dirt, and enjoyed eating it, too.

Holding Hands

The weather was so nice on Tuesday, that we went out and played in the yard for a while. The girls loved it, and they held hands as they walked. It was very cute.



In this video, Katya is in rare form for the camera. She usually stops doing anything we thought was cute, and starts laughing at the camera and saying cheese. This time, however, she was more than happy to play along and continue being cute. I love Katya's laugh in this video.



Cali has recently started shrugging when she doesn't know where something is. We ask her to find Lamby, and she'll shrug, then crouch a little and race around the house trying to find him. So cute.

Your Backyard Friends...

Katya and Cali love "The Backyardigans" and they watch it a lot. I think it is actually a pretty cute show, and we haven't gotten annoyed with the songs, yet, and Katya gets mad if we aren't playing them when we drive around. This shot below is one of our favorite episodes, and Katya likes to dance to it, and try to dance the way that the characters do on screen. You can't see the screen very clearly on here, but if you watch it in high quality, then it works out a little better.



Oh, yeah, don't forget to make my life less stressful for voting like crazy for #9 Staci.

A Bunch of Videos

Even though I have been working, we have still taken some videos.

The first video is Cali getting ready for her bottle. She always lies down when it is time for her bottle. No matter where she is, she lies down. If she is in her high chair and we say bottle, she lays her head on the tray. She makes us laugh every time she does it.



In this second video, Cali got stuck in a bucket that we keep their living room books in.



This last video is of Katya at her preschool. She is so cute when she interacts with other kids and adults when she is not around us. She pushes in her chair at one point here, and she has been doing that with her chair at home, too.

One More Video

You know, it sure has been nice not being at work every day and spending so much time with my girls. I should just not work anymore. That would be sweet! Except for not having a paycheck, and not being able to support my family, and being bored, and playing games on my iPod all day, and starving. That would stink. OK, I guess I will go to work tomorrow.

Sadly, with me going to work, the frequency of videos here will likely diminish. (Not because Staci won't do it, but because I will probably take my Christmas gift with me everywhere!) Anyway, one thing that will encourage me greatly is if people keep voting every day for my video in the contest I am trying to win. Click here, and signup if you haven't, and then vote every day.

Here is the video of Cali walking down a very long hallway. DO NOT WATCH IT IN FULLSCREEN. It will probably make you throw up. I set it to music, and sped it up. I slowed it down when Cali screamed, because it is so cute.

Enjoy.

Good Gifts

Staci was right on the money when she suggested that we get the girls a table and chairs. The girls absolutely love them. Last night was a pretty rough one with sick babies and sick me. Katya woke up a bunch, and couldn't sleep. Staci was up in the middle of the night, and held Katya so she would sleep. I got up about 6 with the worst headache I have ever had. Anyway, it was really cute to have Katya sleep on me until about 8:30. Then, when Cali got up at 9:30, they were both very cute, and the read books at their table for an hour after breakfast. Katya didn't want to eat without Cali, so she kept saying she was done even though she was still hungry.

Here is a little video of them being happy and reading their books at their table.

The Girls Love Grandma

Diana and Ralph are here tonight and the girls just love playing with them. They are never so happy as when they are with their grandparents. Diana kept singing a song and bouncing the girls and they were loving it. It is so cute.

Here are two videos. Enjoy.