I'll take two

Big Ben (I'll try a few nicknames and judge what we use by the reader response but some of them are intentionally lame and I'll ignore any further recommendations you make) got out of the hospital yesterday. He and Tamara are at her aunt and uncle's in Pleasant Grove. Tamara's also update the link with the pictures at least every other day so feel free to check out the new pics. She said li'l bizzle now gets annoyed when he sees the camera, not just when the flash comes on, so I asked her to tone it down a little bit for his long term health. Apparently aversion to taking inordinate amounts of pictures are genetic.
Many of you will be familiar with the We Ain't Scared Tour 2003 featuring D'nasty, Pound Fi'ty, and Wolverine. There were several themes and phrases that really made the tour epic. One of those was, I'll take two. Perhaps you need an example. While drooling over the McLaren F1 and finding out the price tag was only $1MM, you would here "I'll take two!" When being offered a small dessert by a foodserer disgusted by the amount of food you've eaten at their all you can eat buffet you might here "I'll take two," over and over and over again. Another one of the phrases was I ain't scared. When jumping off perilous cliffs where a few feet in either direction would mean broken bones the proper response is "I ain't scared." If you arrive in a town at midnight looking for a place and someone offers you one and leads you down an alley to her house you reply "I ain't scared." I think you get the idea. When the opportunity came up to adopt Benno, these were the two lines that popped into my head. Probably because, just like the tour, we had no idea what we were getting in to. So far, Bennoi has been a trooper and really responded to us. After the papers were signed and we were visiting with B-jammin alone for the first time after two days, the nurses told us Benno hadn't been eating and if he didn't start they'd have to insert a feeding tube. After hanging out for half an hour we gave him a blessing and five minutes later he took down half a bottle and continues to eat like champion. Beno responded way more to Tamara than any of the nurses and they made comments on how quickly he knew who his mom was. Benny and mom should be home in about a week which means I have a lot of work to get the room ready for Jam. Anyway, take care and if you have any recommendations for nicknames for Benjo let me know.

Benjamin Ellis Hall

Friday morning we headed to the hospital as the mother was being induced. Tamara was in the room with her and I went in for a little bit while all the meds were kicking in. The mother says, I think he's crowning but I'm only four centimeters dilated. Then she had a big contraction and started making some labor pains/noises so I was out. She didn't want me in there for the birth and I didn't particularly want to be there. As I was told by Tamara, the nurse came in and said you're not having the baby yet. She decides she wants to take a nap but the doctor came in and said, "You're having this baby." So, one push later, the baby was out. It was about half an hour after I left the room. This is her third child and she told us with the second child she did one push, the doctor told her to hold on for a sec, she sneezed and the baby came out. Apparently labors aren't terribly difficult for her.
Benjamin Ellis Hall was five pounds five ounces and 18 inches long. He's healthy and happy. He grabbed my finger at one point and wouldn't let go. I didn't think he was awake so it was pretty cool. Here are a link to the pics. We'll have more posted on Sunday night.
We're really happy and feel very blessed.

Quick Update

This will be quick and sans picture for now. A few days ago we received a call from one of the agencies we were working with about a mother who was due next week on Saturday. Wednesday afternoon we found out she would be induced on Friday, as in today. So I'm sitting in the waiting room while Tamara is in the delivery room. The mother, Heather, was induced around 7:30 so we should have updates later today. We met the parents last night for the first time after quickly arranging a trip to Utah. In case you're wondering, I-15 is still under construction in the exact same spots as when I left over five years ago. Anyway, more updates to follow.

End of Summer

This summer is wrapping up. I finished up my internship last week and school starts this next week. It's sad to see the summer come to an end but there's lots of good stuff in store. Stay tuned in a couple months from now.

Last Friday we went to the LA County fair to celebrate America. If deep fried avocadoes dipped in chocolate are wrong, I don't want to be right. I'm not sure if I should write about what we did or ate - it's all pretty exciting. I'll hit the highlights of each. We had a sausage that was over a foot long and an inch and a half wide drowning in grilled onions in peppers.

Mom and Steven's still working on the looking at the camera thing.

Tamara got some sort of electronic cleanse through their feet. I challenged what exactly was being cleansed and I got vague and non committal answers. Tamara bought a bunch of massage stuff and she swears she'll give one. Adam bought some landscaping tools so he can start his own business. We got our teeth whitened. Then we capped the day off with the best strawberry shakes we've ever had. I'm not sure how they do it, but the strawberry flavor is flowing and it doesn't taste sugary at all. Absolutely amazing. Needless to say, it was a sweet day.

The end of the day. Who doesn't love the fair?

While we were there my dad called and asked if we wanted to see flogging molly the next day. I had heard a few of their songs and enjoyed them. We were excited but not exactly sure what to expect. Cutting to the chase, they rocked. They brought a ton of energy, played really hard, and were obviously having a good time themselves. It was pretty infections and we ended up having a great time. We totally recommend them.

Speaking of rocking, here's my dad killing it on Guitar Hero:

For various reasons Tamara was heading to Utah/Idaho and my dad and I ended up going as well to see my grandfather ordained a patriarch. It was a special event and all of my dad's sibling made the trip. We also spent time with Angie and Eric while in Idaho Falls. If you called us over that weekend and didn't get a response, it's probably because cell reception was pretty spotty. I've been informed this lack of technology is particular to the eastern side of Idaho while the western side is up to date.
The end of the summer is always sad but there's good news coming to compensate.

The Hollywood Bowl

Because Doug has such great patience he was able to land a sweet internship this summer. I am so proud that he stuck it out and did not settle for a job that he did not want just to receive a paycheck this summer. With the help of our friends (thanks Covey's) he has really enjoyed working this summer. He is going to have to explain what he really does because I have to admit that I kind of tune out when he starts talking shop.

The owner of the company gave us box seats to the Hollywood Bowl last night where we saw Tovey Conducts Bernstein with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It was truly amazing, a night to remember. Next time we will know to bring table clothes with center pieces but we enjoyed our yummy sandwiches and sparkling cider. We invited the Lattin's because we really like them and they hooked us up with some cheese and crackers that were delish as well.

We always love to take advantage of where we live. We look forward to seeing and doing as much as we can because who knows when and where we will move to next. And I just enjoy having incredible dates with my hubby. Chalk this up to another great night in LA!!

Saint Forgiving

When I was on my mission, at one point we did a district meeting in English as opposed to Spanish. If you said a word of Spanish, you had to start over. It was much tougher than it sounds after a year of trying to speak Spanish and translating certain missionary words I had never used in English. We also translated the names of towns. San Francisco-Saint Frank, San Isidro-Saint Izzy/Ozzy, Zapote-Sapote (it's a fruit). A couple weeks ago we spent some time in Saint Forgiving, or San Clemente for those of you that hablar.
My mom's family has been going to San Clemente since she was a little girl. I won't reveal her age, but let's say it's been a while. Every year we go to the San Clemente Inn for a week. It's a pretty complex ritual. You wake up, saunter down to the beach, and stay until you want to go home. At the beach you can go in the water, take a nap, or hang out. It's a very taxing day. Usually for lunch you either get pizza or go to Pedro's Tacos. Pedro's Tacos is to fish tacos what MJ is to basketball. Everybody wants to be like Mike, but there's only one. After your rough day at the beach, each family cooks one night and they you hang out at the pool or hang out until the older generation kicks you out so they can play their card game. It's kind of like sitting at the adult's table at Thanksgiving. I still sit at the kid's table. But we have way more fun.
Anyway, that's a typical day at in San Clemente. Every now and then we mix it up by going to the pool before the beach, play shuffleboard before dinner, or hang out in the morning and don't go to the beach until the afternoon. I think you get the idea.
This year we went for the first weekend and then went back Thursday night through Saturday. I'll run through some of the highlights of this year. One night we went night swimming and out of nowhere this dude attacked us. We were standing there minding our own business, and he just jumps at us, casually mentions what he would like to do to us, and swings. My cousin Matt ran off like a little school girl. My other cousin Richard took him down and the rest of us were about to open up a can on him before his friends ran over and stopped us because he was drunk. Like that was an excuse to act like a moron. If you attack a group of seven duded (well, six because Matt ran off) you deserve what you have coming. That was exciting. Matt, after recovering his dignity, also got his mission call to the Brazil Florianopolis. Apparently the surfing and beaches are awesome. Other than that we had some huge waves on the last couple of days due to some storm way off the coast.

Here's Matt (in the front) acting tough. Too bad we know better. The real men are in the back.

Tamara with Jane making her cameo in the hundreds of pictures she takes.

The little kids table.
If Pedro's Taco is closed, there's always an Eric sandwich!
Here's Grandi. This whole event is thanks to her.

Baking Withdrawls

I have been trying to lose some weight so I have stopped my love of baking for about two months now but I just could not take it anymore. Doug planned an evening of Halo with the guys so I planned an evening of baking. I could not decide between something sweet and tangy or something chocolate so I went with both. Thanks to Martha Stewart, I made chocolate cookies with marshmallows in the middle covered with chocolate frosting, always a favorite in my world. Doug's favorite dessert is anything with lemon and raspberry so I dreamed up this recipe that I must say turned out to be the bomb!! I made lemon pudding by scratch whipped it with heavy cream then layered with ginger snaps and raspberries and let it set. I could not get a great picture, but it is amazing. We have a lot of extra so if you are reading this and want some, come on over!! After tonight I am going to have to work out double but so worth it.

Huey Lewis and the News

Thanks again to the wonderful Halls, we got the hook up for great seats at a concert. This time it was Huey Lewis and the News, where it is not hip to be square. Once again when the lights came up we realized that we were the youngest people there, but it was a great night. The concert was at the OC Fair so of course we ate lots of fattening foods and oh yes it does exists......Chocolate Covered Bacon. I never thought that I would see the day!!!

Shocking

Last night was the exciting end of the Bachelorette. Tamara has been waiting for this for months. I think this show is pretty lame. Reality TV? Where they end up in a fantasy suite? Wait, what? I was making fun of the show relentlessly so I did a bit of research to get data to support my stance since that's what I do. I was shocked, SHOCKED, to learn that of the 13

seasons of the Bachelor not one has gotten married. On the last season the dude picked one girl, then dropped her for the second one. Apparently they're still together. But she was the second choice. That's real love. Of the five seasons of the Bachelorette one has gotten married and the one that just ended which Tamara says has a real chance of lasting. So in 18 seasons why have one success with one more possible. That's a terrible track record. Tamara has a

better record of setting people up one on one. Imagine if she got twenty five chances with each person.

I'm not going to go into the reality complaints about being spending a week in spain, then hawaii, and then who knows where else. Fantasy suites, rose ceremonies-it all sounds very reality based. But I think there's one lesson to learn from these shows. The batting average for the bachelorette, 1-3 out of five depending on the accounting, is clearly way better than the bachelor, 0-13 no discussion. It's possible that the bachelorette is on the same PEDs Manny and Papi were on in 2003 and those numbers are inflated, but those results won't be leaked for some time. Anyway, what we see is that women chasing men never goes anywhere. Who though that sending 25 women to fight over a dude and throw themselves at his feet would result in him being committed to any of them? The only effort he put in was in sorting through the psychos. The bachelorette has enjoyed some success because it forces the dudes to work for the girl, which is how it's supposed to be. When one finally gets her, he'll value her more because he's put so much into it as opposed to the bachelor who thinks women are easy (which judging by the 13 seasons-there are lots of them out there). Though the show has virtually no redeeming qualities, there is something to be learned from this.

UPDATE: Anderson Cooper was also shocked

Little David's Sports Birthday

Many of you have heard me talk about little David. He is our neighbors kid and he just love this little bundle energy. Today was his 3rd birthday so we had to celebrate with a sports theme. David already knows all about his sports and is dang good. Cassie (David's mom) asked me to help with cupcakes and I knew just what I wanted to do....sports cupcakes and of course my favorite chocolate footballs (I also made those for our Super Bowl party). So Cassie made the cupcakes and we decorated them like basketballs and baseballs. I think that they turned out adorable don't you?