February Catch up

 Our ward family heart attacked us while we were gone at Grandma's funeral. We felt very loved.

 Kade and Kellen would catch lizards at church using long blades of grass, then let Briggs and Ty hold them.

 On the bus ride up to Hearst Castle

Ty manning the camera.

Moom

Brian and I kind of played a mean trick on Ashlynn.

And we've been doing it for years.

The fact is, we weren't trying to be mean. We were actually being a little selfish.

You see, for years now, Ashlynn has thought the word "Baptize" is pronounced "Bathtize". Years and years. It makes sense, right? The act is performed in a giant bathtub, so it is easy to see where the confusion originated. Brian and I always thought it was cute, so we never corrected her.

Mean?

We figured when she got a little older she would figure out her mistake.

Not the case.

When she started reading, we told ourselves, "Now she'll figure it out." She didn't. And I don't really blame her. Anyone who is at all familiar with the English language and lovely words like "receipt" or "colonel" can understand.

Then when she turned eight and was going to get baptized, we considered correcting her, but by that point it was just too cute (and perhaps a little too late...)

Today at church she came to me nearly in tears. "Mom! I'm going to kill Dad. He just told me the other day that the correct word is 'bathtize' and my teachers were laughing at me because I kept saying 'bathtize'!" (for the record, she doesn't have mean teachers, she has mean parents. Her teachers have known her all her life and love her like she is part of their family. Thank you Steele family!)

So maybe that is where we messed up. We tried to milk the cute factor too much.

As we were discussing it after church, there were all sorts of dramatic "How Could You!" accusation flying around. We explained that we thought it was sweet and cute. She came back with, "Mom! I'm almost ten years old! I should know the correct pronunciation of the word 'baptize! Next time you should correct me!!!"

We said fair enough.

Then I added, "Since we are on the subject, it is pronounced 'Moom' not 'Mom'".

Even though her back was turned to us, I could see she was smiling!

Ty's Tour of the House

Big B and Little T during a tour of Hearst Castle this weekend

We are putting our house on the market this week.

So Ty has heard a lot of real estate talk. When he had a little friend over for the first time this past week, I suggested he give his friend a tour of the house. After what I heard, maybe we should use Ty as our listing agent.

It was obvious which parts of the house were most important to him:

"Here's our pantry... here's where we keep our paints. . . Here's our bathroom. . . Oh! Just a second. I have to go potty. . ."

"This is our guest room. When my Nana and Papa or Auntie or Grandma and Grandpa come, they sleep in here and put their suitcases here. My Grandma died, though. This sickness came for her, so she couldn't breathe so she had breathing machines."

"Your tour is going upstairs. No touching the exhibits. . . Just kidding. I don't have any exhibits." (all said in a very serious tone.)

"Here's our other bathroom. I need to go poo poo. I have Superman underwear."

How do you think potential buyers would respond to a tour like that?!

Fire In My Bones!

Ty just informed me that the reason her beat me to the mail box was because he had "fire in his bones that gave him power".

I would like some of that fire in my bones right now.

Today marks week two of having Brian working out of town and me playing single mother. Last week went alright. The kids really stepped up and I didn't go bananas. But I think that was partially because it was still a novelty. I was really excited when Brian finally came home, though.

The excitement didn't last long, however. On Friday night the FDIC came in and took over the bank. San Luis Trust Bank no longer exist. It has fallen victim to the "awesomeness" that is our economy and those fabulously fair and consistent federal examiners.

(Insert sarcasm sign here...)

Yes, Brian has a new job, but he has been with Trust bank since before they opened their doors 12 years ago, so the hostile and surreal takeover that happened this weekend was quite an emotional blow. The FDIC asked him to come in and work over the weekend to help them balance the books for the new bank that is taking over. At first I think Brian needed to be apart of what was going on. By Sunday afternoon, he grew tired of the intense and interrogative environment and told them he was done.

D.o.n.e.

You will have to ask him about the whole situation because nothing I write would do it justice. Suffice it to say, it was dramatic.

We just hope most of the remaining employees will be able to find employment, whether at the new bank or elsewhere. This kind of closure can be devastating to a community.

Onward and upward! There is nothing like the loss of a loved one, a job loss and telling your kids they are moving happening all in one month to build some character!

Brian's Side of the Bed

In Brian's absence, it looks like a new (little) man has moved in...

"The Winds of Change" Finally Revealed

A random shot my SIL shot at Thanksgiving of the cousins. I love it!

So many changes have been happening in our lives that I have found it difficult to keep up with my blogging. The things we have been dealing with have left me overwhelmed, and to be honest, made blogging seem very low on the priority list. Brian's mom's illness and passing were so emotionally charged and all encompassing that it was hard to put all of that feeling into a trivial blog post.
But the loss of Grandma Caroline hasn't been the only major life changing event we have been having to deal with. Brian has worked at San Luis Trust Bank since the day they opened their doors 11 years ago. He spent so much time there I would have to correct my children, when we would drive by and they would say, "That's where Daddy lives!"

Friday was his last day at San Luis Trust Bank as the controller.

Today, Brian started a new job at the Bank of Rio Vista.

What does this mean? It means Brian will be gone four days of the week while I am here alone with the kids. It means that me and the kids will remain here in SLO to finish school and hopefully sell our house (any takers?). It means we will be closer to my family when we move to Sacramento! It means we have to change our entire lifestyle by leaving a place we have lived longer than any other in our lives - where all of our children were born- and that has been recently celebrated as the "Happiest Town in America" to start a new life.

Cool and scary.

It means that maybe my blog posts will be more frequent and filled with mundane happenings of the day in order to fill my husband in on what he is missing!

Bitter Sweet Loss

I've been wanting to post a nice tribute to Brian's mom concerning her passing for a long time now. But it has taken me a while to get the nerve up. Talking about this is very hard and personal for us, and yet I want to pay tribute to her. I'm also a perfectionist who tends towards procrastination when I'm afraid things aren't going to be "perfect".

You can't really pay decent tribute to your mom in a blog post. Just know that the loss of our mom and grandma is a bitter one, but the knowledge the gospel brings of where she is and who she is surrounded by is sweet.

Here is the tribute that Lisa and Mark, Brian's brother and sister, put on her ALS blog.

"Our sweet Caroline peacefully departed from this world last night, February 1st at 10:56 pm. She was surrounded by her loving caregiver and husband, Larry; all three of her children- Brian, Lisa, and Mark; Mark's wife Lisa; her sister Pam and her niece Kelly. We will have more information regarding funeral arrangements later today. In the following week I will share more of the experience of her peaceful passing.

A few weeks ago we found an audio recording of her tender voice so we set it to music and some of our favorite memories of her below:"

Gone home.... from The Robers on Vimeo.

We should get Direct TV

There are about 50 more important things that I should be blogging about. But before I forget what just happened tonight, I needed to share a play the kids put on for us.

Scene:
(Ashlynn and Ty are pretending to watch TV)

Ashlynn: What do you want to watch? Hmmm. How about the Olympics?
Ty: o.k.

(Briggs enters dressed like Shaun White. Briggs pretends to snowboard...)


*yada, yada, we get what's going on here. Ash and Ty choose a channel, Briggs acts it out as silly as he can...*

Ashlynn: I don't want to watch the Olympics any more. Lets watch the National Geographic channel.

*here's the part where Brian and I die of laughter*

(Briggs proceeds to pull his boxer shorts down...)

*What!!! Is this kid imitating a naked native?!?*

Ty: Oh, look. It's a show about penguins!

*Whew! He's just imitating a penguin!*

Ashlynn: Let's watch the Oprah show.

Briggs: Hello, and welcome to the Oprah show. Today we are going to make fun of Ellen!

Ashlynn: No, never mind, lets watch the Ellen show.

Briggs: Hello, and welcome to the Ellen show. Today we are going to make fun of Oprah.


aaaaaand, Scene!