Today I feel stuck...

I can't decide if the people who never try to improve are the laziest, most detestable kind of people... or if they're genius. After all, trying is wasted effort in many situations. And it makes other people look bad, which only causes problems for you. Better to get the "years of experience" you need at a slow, steady, peaceful peace, than to actually get good at what you do and make a difference.

So this guy gave me a flower...

"Yeah, we profile here. You look..." (tilts head sideways as he looks me over) "easy." He turns, selects a white and red flower, hands it to me, then leads me outside.


Needless to say, I left the flower on my dashboard to rapidly wilt in the blazing Arizona sun.


That's the last time I wear a t-shirt, basketball shorts, sneakers, and my hair in a bun when I go to get my oil changed... or maybe it's just the last time I go to that place for an oil change.

I've never been more grateful for underwear.

Ok, that was a weird and possibly inappropriate way to begin this post...

I went through the temple for the first time on Saturday. It was pretty much exactly like they tell you it'll be... overwhelming, but in the end really great. I didn't have much time to stop and think about things after we got out of the session since we picked up the kids and went to a late dinner. But I did have time to reflect on the drive home from Albuquerque (I know, I know... who wants Albuquerque on their permanent record??) and over the last few days. I decided that I love my new garments.

I love them because they remind me of the safety and peace and spirit I felt in the temple.
I love them because they remind me of the beautiful covenants I made and the amazing blessings I have been promised if I am true to those covenants.
I love them because they will always be there to remind me of my infinite worth, to comfort me when I am feeling worthless, and to protect me during the times I need protection most. 
I love them because they are a gift given by a loving Heavenly Father.
And let's be real... I love them because they fit like an extension of my skin. Hasta la vista, VPL!

In summary, the Church is true.

sometimes you do awesome things...

...like get hired as a small company's electrician, then get called in to change a light, take over an hour to do so, then gleefully let out a "Yeah-heah!" when you flip the light switch to see you've succeeded at your task. Well done, old, stinky, weird electrician guy.

And sometimes you do awesome-er things like get paid to use a Chewy granola bar as a spoon for eating your pudding while waiting for a large file to save. Well played, Geeki. Well played.

I'm going back to school.

I know. Crazy. Everyone's been telling me to go back to school lately, and I keep shunning. WHY would I voluntarily go back to school when I worked so hard to get out? Sure, my major turned out to be a bit of a joke for me, and I actually like learning and would appreciate a sense of direction career-wise... but c'mon. The homework and debt counteracts all that pretty quickly. Why do you think I majored in art at BYU?

Anyway. You're probably wondering who or what got through to me. Well, let me tell you. It was the City of Mesa and the threat of a $220 fine.

Traffic school, here I come.

We stash.

We just do. All the way down to my youngest cousins. I mean, they stash random, useless things, but they still have stashes. They know they need to practice for when they're older. Here are some of my favorite stashes by the more experienced stashers:

Leftover Barro's
Baggies of pizza have been hidden in all sorts of secret places in our fridge, including the vegetable drawer (no one ever thinks to look there), under the condiments in the door, and mixed deep inside the many bags of assorted cheeses.

Cookies
Crystal stashed some chocolate chip cookies (fairly recently, I might add) in the Tupperware cupboard "so Mom couldn't reach them."

Mozzarella Sticks
Mom was collecting chicken from the freezer for dinner one night when she discovered a rolled up bag of cheese sticks mixed in with the chicken breasts.

Holiday Candy
Every holiday Dad stores his leftover candy on the top shelf in his closet (probably so Mom can't reach it). Everyone knows it's there, but no one wants to risk trying to eat any... you can never be sure how many years old it is.

Drogas
A stash of Percocet was recently recovered from the battery compartment of a Game Boy Color.

Assorted Sweets
No one ever thinks to look in the cookie jar since it's almost always empty, so it's the perfect place to stash goods short-term.

Sausage
No one will ever forget the time Mom whipped out some raw sausage from the snack stash in her purse during a movie at AMC.

Puggies
Coda began stashing pacifiers in the van door as soon as she was old enough to throw.

Socks
Every size, color, and scent of sock has been stashed under our computers at some point.

Gum and Tic-Tacs
Were uncovered on the shelf above the kitchen window during spring cleaning one year.

Random hiding spots
Behind kitchen decor
Behind books on the bookshelf
Inside statues
On top of Mom's keepsake display case
Under beds
Under couches
Under mattresses

Security.

Security-- what a great feeling. I don't get a lot of it these days, though. Most of the insecurity I feel deals with intangible things, like finances, my physical appearance, my emotions, etc.

But I will say that today I've reached a new level of security in the house I'm living in. I can tell you first hand that's it's pretty easy to get out of our house through my window... but it's somewhat difficult to get back in. Difficult enough that I was stuck in my backyard for a little while. Which, really, is great news. Because if I can't get out of my own backyard, I'm betting that not many people are capable of getting into it. And if they can't get into the backyard, they can't make it to my window to attack me. And even if they could get into the backyard, they'd hafta be able to get in through my window before they could actually attack me. Security.

By the way, what landlord padlocks the gate from the front yard to the backyard? So much for sneaking out at night.

yet another job I am unqualified for...

No one seems to understand why I'm having such a hard time finding a job that I'm qualified for. But see how picky they've gotten these days?? I sincerely believe job hunting is harder now than it used to be.

Predispositionally Fat Babies

Yeah. Apparently babies can be born with a predisposition to be fat. It's the mother's fault, because she's fat. And that fat baby? It's going to have fat babies, too. Then the whole world is going to be born fat (or born to be fat) and we'll all die at younger and younger ages until we're extinct.

Or something like that.

I'm only half-listening to the medical show thing one of my new roommates is watching on her laptop. I'm in the same room, drinking a Coke Zero, blogging about her documentary on obesity, and pretending that the smiles, giggles and stiffled laughs are in response to texts or what I'm typing, and not the fact that I'm a fatty and she listening to some documentary that's explaining why I'm fat.While I'm in the room. It's just really funny to me for some reason. Almost like she saw me sit down and thought "I want to understand her." So she turned on An Analysis of Fatties.

"If that person takes up two seats instead of one, who cares?... How about 653% decrease in productivity due to obesity?... Obesity [is] a threat to National Security... Yes. Your obesity affects me."

Eeek... I hope she still likes me after this.

And now they're slamming on "discretionary calories" and soda. As I drink my Coke Zero. They want to ban soda from schools or put a tax on soda. "What's more important? The rights of the individual or the rights of society?" Also, they want to get rid of juice. And they want parents to refuse their child food if they say they're hungry. And now I'm done gracing this ridiculous documentary with any acknowledgement of its existence.

today was awesome...

1. I found shriveled-up apples and cheese cubes as hard as rocks in my old roommates' room.

2. Grandma helped Edyn pee in the street at the neighborhood park. Grandma's idea.

3. I was holding Coda on the couch after the other kids were in bed. She leans across me... not to try to escape or roll over, but to put her sippy cup in the couch's cup holder. They're still semi-new couches and she's 16 months.

Awesome.

Failed Efforts

Yeesh. I keep failing lately. I'd count the ways, but I try not to count above what I'm able to in Espanish. Which is considerably high, considering.

But here's the latest.

I send out mass, personalized texts informing members of my LDS YSA ward about upcoming activities. No one asks me to. It's not my calling. I do it because I have the ability to, and because there is a great need in the ward for people to get involved. Sometimes these texts DO improve turnout rates at activities... And sometimes these texts backfire.

"Tonight's the night, %F*! MUD FOOTBALL/VOLLEYBALL! Bring extra clothes, pizza $, friends and your game face! [address, censored for privacy] at 6! It's ON."

*this is where my phone so sneakily inserts the first name of each person the mass text is sent to... in case you were wondering.

Fun, right? How nice, and personalized and informative and... wrong, apparently. Within a couple minutes I received five frantic texts from five different people informing me that the event was postponed. None of these texts came from the people actually hosting the event, and the three people that mentioned their sources all had different informants. They'd been informed by call, text, and word-of-mouth.

Despite the fact that everyone in the ward is on my texting list, I am apparently on no list of anyone's.

Psh. Who needs friends, anyway?

I just wanted to fit in...

  I was so nervous on my way over. It was already 7:02, and the meeting was supposed to start at 7. I know there's "Mormon standard time" and all that, but would it apply to a meeting with the Stake President for Bishops and Relief Society Presidents? (Before you worry-- don't. I'm only a counselor, and was filling in for our President who's home for summer. Phew!) I feel that of all people in the Church, leaders are the busiest, but still most likely to show up to a meeting on time. But I could be wrong.
  It wouldn't have been that big of a deal to be late, except that I was representing my ward and the YSA of the stake! Shouldn't I represent them the way I would like to be represented? Actually, it would have been a more truthful representation of my ward if I had purposely shown up halfway through the meeting instead... or not at all. But if the door was closed and the meeting started I'm not sure I would have had the courage to walk into the room... I'd look and feel like a tubby 12 year-old walking into a hang-out of undergraduates, graduates and doctorates.
  But Uncle Bryce would be there. That was reassuring, right? Even if he's been suffering the consequences of my recently ended nannying, combined with the release of school and the onset of summer boredom and mischief adopted by all school-aged children... four of which are his. Plus the one year-old who's recently acquired the ability to get into whatever she wants, whenever she wants. He may or may not be less a fan of me for ditching him and Camille at such an inconvenient time. No, what was I thinking? They're far too gracious for that. I caught my reflection in the glass door of the church as I walked in and remembered how homely I looked at the moment.
 
[You see, I recently acquired another freelance graphic design job. Taking Mormon standard time to a whole new level, a few people from the stake I'd worked with before met with me on a Wednesday and asked me to create for them (from scratch): a logo, with two variations; business cards; 3 maps, each one showcasing one of their locations; and a large leave-behind poster for the offices they visited in an attempt to encourage referrals in the future. They wanted it done in a week, but I got him to push it to a week from that Friday. For a 50% rush fee, of course. "But a week and two days-- that's not so bad. Why've you gotta charge such a big rush fee?" you might think. But then I'd tell you that the "week from Friday" I spoke of is today. And I'd tell you how, since last Thursday I have spent over 20 hours filling Church-related obligations (not including Sunday). And how I don't do work on Sunday. And how I spent 10 hours doing work for Allen Theatres. And how I had been working on a painting for Tiffani's wedding and had to stop (I hate spreading projects out over time). And how I've also been trying to balance all that with obtaining another freelance commission that came my way in the midst of all that chaos. And how I've already put around 50 hours into this commission. (We're nearly done, but not quite yet.) That's over 80 hours of work in 7.5 days, with one Sunday of break in the middle. On top of trying to sleep and eat and shower and live. That's why I charged an extra 50%. They're getting some awesome work, though, and some valuable extras they weren't expecting to top it off. I take care of my customers.]

I heard voices as I entered the building, and was relieved to find the door to the High Council room open with people chatting casually inside. I entered the room and sat down between Bryce and my bishop. I watched people as they filed in. President Robb began the meeting, and as I looked around I felt overwhelming unqualified to be there. The other women there... they were all "Relief Society." The kind of women a Hengen would see in the room and point out to another Hengen saying only "Relief Society!" or "she is the face of Relief Society." I wanted nothing more than to prove myself to these women. Prove that I was 24 years dedicated to Relief Society. How, you ask? By bursting out of my chair, climbing on top of the High Council table, ripping the sleeves off my shirt, wiggling my arms and crying "Relief Societyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!" Apparently the tubby 12 year-old inside me, yearning to prove herself, will never really leave. For the moment I can control her, but we should all fear the day I snap and fail to do so.
  

For the Coombs families... to alleviate your anxieties.

Contrary to popular belief and the unaltering testimonies of your extended family residing in Lost Causes, New Mexico (The Land of Entrapment) there ARE fun things to do here! After all, 87.3% of the fun comes from the company you're in, right??

But let me qualm your fears with some more specific insights and examples. You'll notice as we go along that New Mexico is really only famous for what God gave it and what the aliens brought. Since we're not visiting Area 51 or Roswell, our fun will come primarily from the natural, God-given beauty of New Mexico. That means you should be sure to pack sunscreen, good hiking shoes and clothes, and your happy camper smile. :)

1. Carlsbad Caverns
Full day trip.
3.5-4 hours driving each way at normal speeds
Rating: super freaking awesome and totally worth it

 

I, personally, have been to Carlsbad Caverns only twice.  I loved it as much the second time as I did the first-- and neither time did I see the bat show! Bryce has seen it, and he says it's not really that great. "It just looks like a bunch of birds flying out of a cave." Indeed the real appeal of Carlsbad Caverns is in the caverns themselves.

There are 83 separate caves, including the nation's deepest (and third longest) limestone cave. I'm pretty sure it's working in a record for the biggest pile of bat poop, too. The hike down into and around the cave is pretty easy, and it's cooler than above ground in the desert sun. There are tons of cool things to see, and if you're an academic there's a lot to learn. For those of us who crave even more excitement, they offer a sweet variety of guided tours. One of my friends went on one of the lantern tours and said it was totally worth it.

 So far, the only Hengens that have gone are me and Steven, but the Heiners (and I believe G&G) and I are all willing to go again!

2. White Sand Dunes
Half day trip.
45 min-1 hour driving each way
Rating: a failsafe-- fun every time!

If you're frowning because you were hoping to work on your tan, never fear! There's always the White Sand Dunes! The sun reflecting off the dunes and onto your equally pasty-white body is sure to whip you into New Mexican shape in no time! 

The favorite thing to do at the sand dunes is wax up a sled and race down the dunes! Head first, feet first, alternating because you're spinning wildly out of control--- anything goes! When your burning quads need a break from a rewarding workout that makes a StepMaster look like child's play, you can hang out at the bottom of the dune we choose to camp at, where there will most definitely be cold beverages and a variety of snacks.

If you find yourself tired of sledding and snacking, never fear! The sand dunes have all the fun of beach sand... just without the water and mud. We usually bring shovels (real ones and play ones) and a variety of buckets and other sand toys. One trip we dug a hole deep enough that Steven stood in it and we buried him up to his neck! You can also explore the dunes or practice your picture-taking skills.

 During the summer, the park celebrates full moon nights by staying open extra late. There are no lights to see by except the occasional headlights and the glow of the moon, but you can see everything! The white sand is bathed in a reddish yellow glow that adds an extra something special to an already cool experience. There's a full moon night on Wednesday, July 3rd this year. I hear you guys prolly won't be getting here in time to go to that, but I'm going! But if you find yourselves able to go, keep in mind it's worth it.

3. Gila Cliff Dwellings
Full day trip.
3-3.5 hours driving each way
Rating: Bryce approves

Bryce is the only one of us so far that has been to the Gila Cliff Dwelling, but he has planned on organizing a trip up there for some time. I think only the top and bottom pictures below are actually from the Gila Cliff Dwellings, but it gives you an idea of what they are.

The entire Gila area is beautiful, and there are tons of places in that area where we could go picnic, hike around and just enjoy the quiet serenity that nature provides. In fact, ever since the last time I went I've hoped to get some plein air painting done in the area. Perhaps Rich and Rob and anyone else who wants to will join me in painting up there! Zane painted with me on one of our day trips last summer and he had a blast! I was going to post a picture of it, but I'm not sure where it ended up. In some gallery, no doubt.

4. City of Rocks
Half day trip, or full day trip when combined with Gila Cliff Dwellings and/or Whitewater Canyon.
1.75-2 hours driving each way 
Rating: Heiner-kid approved as being a slice of Heaven in the middle of the wilderness 

 City of Rocks is essentially a playground of giant rocks. Over 30 million years erosion has sculpted what resembles a real city of rocks-- with buildings and avenues of sorts. There are no formal trails, and you can climb and jump and throw tiny rocks to your under-aged heart's content without fear of punishment. With a little imagination, you can find all sorts of shapes the rocks make-- jackrabbits, pelicans, monsters, flowers?, Dora?... the possibilities are only as limited as the scope of your imagination.

5. Whitewater Canyon
Half day trip, or full day trip when combined with Gila Cliff Dwellings and/or City of Rocks
2.75-3 hours driving each way
Rating: Google says some pretty good things, and I believe him

Whitewater Canyon was apparently the hiding place of Geronimo and his warriors when they fled a death warrant issued for every male Apache in New Mexico that was put out by the U.S. Army many, many moons ago. Like, the 1880's. Later miners found lodes of gold and silver high in the canyon, so with a bit of luck you could find a nugget. Or maybe just some Heiner/Coombs nuggets. ;)

Above is a picture of the catwalk that loops 2 miles around the canyon, and Catwalk National Recreation Trail has rated it one of the most scenic trails in the West. There's even a part where "the creek cascades over a boulder waterfall and creates a popular swimming hole." I can hear Coda now... "Skinny dipping, anyone?"

6. 4th of July Electric Light Parade
...is, ironically, on July 3rd. It's free, and a live performance follows the parade. I'm not sure who's performing yet. It doesn't start until 9pm, so if you find yourself coming into town too late to make it to the sand dunes with me that night you could at least hit this up! Unless you're dying from the drive and don't want to do anything. But it seems like it might be kinda cool...

I'm not sure what our exact plans are for the 4th, but there is also the 4th of July Celebration and Spectacular Fireworks Display. Which is actually on the 4th. Fireworks, food, live entertainment. It will be... spectacular?? But nothing in comparison to my birthday hoobilation that Friday...

7. Hot Springs

New Mexico is apparently known for it's great hot springs... who knew? If anyone is interested I can do more research, but for now know that most the hot springs have been turned into spas. The ones that are still free and "wild" are the more remote or inconsistent ones. There are some hot springs near the Gila Cliff Dwellings, one a spa and one a "primitive campground with three mud pools ranging in temperature between 105-110 F. Clothing optional." My bad-- THIS is where the skinny dipping comes into play. Other springs require hikes and river crossings to get to. Some are moderate, and others are strenuous. Oh and this one was so hot I had to put it:

 

Turkey Creek Hot Springs, north of the town of Gila. Several rock pools along the edge of Turkey Creek. Tough four wheel drive road with five river crossings, then a difficult three mile hike. Water temperature adjustable according to how much cold water one allows to mix with the 160 F hot water that seeps out of rocks at the creek edge. Make sure to get very good directions from the locals. Clothing optional.

Then there are the more civilized ones you pay for:

8. ATVing

Grandpa and Grandma have two ATVs just aching for some extra loving! If you're thinking "yeah, but we'd have to organize a trip far away, into the wilderness, so that I could take even a five minute drive..." THINK AGAIN! New Mexico is, in essentially every way, ALL WILDERNESS! That means you can ride just about anywhere.

In fact, you can drive straight out of Grandpa's garage to the wilderness. There are miles and miles of easily accessible trails, several small mountains and a couple larger mountain ranges very close by that you can explore. ATVing is so popular here that there are tons of areas people have turned into ATV and dirt bike playgrounds-- there are bumps to ride over, bowls to ride around in, and flats to practice your circles and skidding. Cruces is so wildernessy, in fact, that you can ride the ATVs from Grandma and Grandpa's to Cheryl and Steve's and back! It only takes about 15 minutes one way, and there are a couple different trails you can take. You could probably ride from either house to Camille and Bryce's, too, but I don't know that anyone has tried it. 
So don't think that ATV fun will be limited to our nature trips that approve ATV use. ATVing can be an every day activity!

9. Guns

There are several guns in the family, and plenty of wide-open space to practice in. If you're lucky, and probably 18 or older, Bryce might even let you shoot his bear-huntin' shotgun! If you get feeling pretty confident in your shooting skills, you might give the clay disk shooter a try. Moving targets aren't so easy! And if you're worried about running into wildlife-- that only adds to the fun! It's legal to shoot coyotes and rabbits and leave them there.
 

10. Water Fun

A. There are a few public pools in town, but the Las Cruces Regional Aquatic Center is indoors and I believe the only one any of us have gone to. It has a current pool, slide, warm pool, lap pool, and lots of things that squirt/shoot water at you. There are "sessions" every day during the summer that are three hours long, and that people apparently wait in line for since they only let in a certain number of people. There are slightly less busy days and times, and we can find those out.

B. The hikes at Dripping Springs and Soledad Canyon (which are both ridiculously close to the Heiner house) lead to waterfalls. More on those hikes later.

C. There is a pretty huge lake in Truth or Consequences (I know, right? Whoever came up with that name was surely executed by the locals) called Elephant Butte Lake (someone must've heard about the other guy, had a death wish and demanded he be the one to name the lake), but since we don't have boats, water skiis or anything like that I'm only going to mention the lake and that it's an hour away and has swimming, fishing, camping, hiking and bird watching among other things not involving boats.

D. I'm also only going to mention that a smaller lake, called Caballo Lake, is slightly closer and has swimming and fishing as well. The "lake and river provide anglers with the opportunity to catch a variety of fish including catfish, largemouth bass, walleye, white bass, crappie, bluegill, northern pike and sunfish."

E. Edyn has some water toys in the backyard. And we could buy a slip-n-slide or blow up pool. We could also organize a water balloon/water gun war. Better yet, we could line up the kids and just hose them down.

11. Hiking

There are a bajillion places to hike around here. Since Bryce and Camille live right under the Organ Mountains there are hikes it takes only ten minutes to drive to. Such hikes include King's Peak, hiking The Needle, Soledad Canyon, Dripping Springs, A Mountain, and others most of us haven't tried yet. They vary in difficulty, but any hike you go on with Uncle Bryce is sure to be a blast! There are also beautiful places to hike and camp at that are further away. Bryce is the expert on those, so anyone interested in a certain type or length of hike can talk with him. I'm running out of steam with this long post, otherwise I'd start putting specs up of the different hikes I know about.

12. Parks

Nanny Nikki can testify that in New Mexico, trips to the park in the early, cool hours of the morning are your friend. There's no need to let the kids build up excess energy that will only find release in the form of tantrums or brutal beatings of stuffed animals. The local wood park is a favorite, but there are also many parks with basketball courts, wide open fields, various playground apparatus, and there's even a large park that has a lake. With ducks. And fish that you can fish. Woot.

13. Lazier Activities

All the other activities listed so far require a pretty fair amount of effort. There are things to do here that don't require excess effort, sacrifice of air conditioning or layers of sunscreen. For examply, you should:

Visit the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, which is huge and actually really cool. And conveniently located five minutes from the Heiner House.

Go to other, lesser Museums or Galleries. After the small amount of exposure I've had with New Mexican art, I'm not sure galleries are much of a destination.

Eat out at our exotic favorites like ChaChi's, Empire Buffet, Caliche's, Dion's and more.

See a movie at one of the two (count 'em... TWO!) movie theaters in town (or the not-so-only-a-dollar theater). I'm the graphic designer for the company that owns all three theaters in town, so you can see some of my work! Like the popcorn bags, and hopefully by then the cups.

Risk your life at the only bowling alley in town-- home of the bowling alley where, in 1990, two local-men-gone-psycho-killer mowed down four innocent bowlers and injured two. Afterward (after, not before, unless you want to be scared) you can watch the documentary "Bowling Alley Massacre" that was made for the 20 year anniversary of the incident.

Spend some time getting to know your future in-law, Hide. He likes cotton, science, soccer, Empire Buffet, Tiffani and other stuff. Speak with Tiffani for more details.

There will, of course, be the standard hanging out and gorging. Wii, X-box, movies, Nertz and other games will complement idle chatter, uncontrollable laughter and much bonding. Be excited. :)



Anyway. There's even more stuff to do, I'm sure, but I'm dying after this long of a post and simply must take a break. So... adios.

mmm...

 Chhhh.....

.....eeeeeth!

It's a pun... get it?? She's eating string cheese and has Dorito cheese EVERYWHERE and a cheesy grin on her face... Anyway. We're thtill working on the occathional lithp problem, but theethe come a long way.

something about "struggle bus"

Camille's words, not mine.

I do want to throw out there that although it was ridiculously easy to find struggle bus pictures of Edyn, most of the pictures I have of her are "Awwwwww" worthy. And there are also many other struggle bus pictures... featuring other bus riders. We all have our moments. Some more than others.

Sneaky Neeki's mentoring pays off

I went with Edyn, Coda and Camille to the St. Patrick's day lunch at Alta's school. There was corn-beef and cabbage, vegetable trays and other nasty foods scattered between food that the kids would actually eat. But the prized food items were, of course, the desserts. The Heiners provided the cupcakes that stole the show, hands down. After licking some ham here, nibbling on a roll there, and much impatient waiting it was finally time for the girls to get dessert. Edyn picked a white cupcake to eat, and Alta picked a green one. Camille and I were a little distracted by Coda-- we were feeding her bits of corn and rolls and ham and giggling with her as she did funny things-- but it did not escape our notice that Edyn was snarfing down her cupcake, licking up every last crumb. It was not totally unusual behavior, only a bit more ravenous than on an average day, so we thought nothing of it. A little while later, in my peripheral vision, I see something drop off the table across from me, and Alta goes "Oh no! My cupcake!" I'm immediately thinking about the two inches of soft frosting Sam's Club slops onto their cupcakes and the mess that it would make on the floor, so I lean over to get a look at the damage. Alta is as surprised as I am to find only her cupcake wrapper and a couple tiny crumbs. "Hey! Where's my cupcake?" Camille, Alta and I look around the table and floor for a few seconds, trying to locate the missing cupcake, when our eyes all land on Edyn. She has nearly an entire hand shoved in her mouth... and there's slobbery green frosting everywhere.

Wait a second... EDYN?! Nice work. I didn't know she had it in her. And I've gotta say... the kid's got stealth.

Nuggets 'n' Eggs

I imagined it being a lot... harder. But there were no major spills. No breakdowns. Only one case of dye-tasting. Overall, a very successful session of Easter egg painting. :) Grandma and Grandpa Coombs were there too, but I didn't get any good shots of them. :/

Bryce was happy to help Edyn...

But she did surprisingly well on her own, too.

Alta was very careful not to crack any eggs. She did get a little carried away towards the end... all the other kids were done but Crystal. Alta decided she wanted to keep going, so she commenced re-dipping most her eggs. At least her brown eggs will be easy to tell apart from the others.

Brighton had some interesting background stories for his eggs... haha.

Zane's steady hand applied some pretty cool designs to his set.

Crystal kind of did her own thing in the corner.

This was Hide's first time painting Easter eggs. He did a pretty good job.

Coda got a hold of Crystal's polka dot egg. It just looked so delicious!

Stay tuned... we should have some --official-- good news in the near future...

The Lego Cake Mistake

To the casual eye, they appeared to be nothing more than spinach-and-carrot balls covered in a layer of melted down velveeta.

To the Coda-eye, they were a delicious discovery that needed to be devoured.

They're mine!

Delicious!

Another? Don't mind if I do.

Mmm...

Wait... these have WHAT inside them?

Oh whale! Bottoms up!

They're really not that bad.

Big B's Birthday

Big B turned 8! Yeah, this happened almost two weeks ago, but better late than never.

He got lots of awesome stuff, but I think he was especially excited about his new Star Wars Lego set.

You can't tell in this picture so much, but then the Heiner kids have always been a little on the stoic side.

Camille made an awesome Lego cake! It took some trial and error, but the mishaps get their own post once I'm done with this one.

Make a wish!


The Big B Fan Clubs approve.

The Sunday after B's birthday we got to get together as family and some friends and watch him get baptized. It was short and sweet, and the treats after were even sweeter.