kith and kin

Still no pictures . . . with any luck, within the next week or so we won't be quite so technologically challenged.

This past week has been a good week (barring a lingering homesickness for Pennsylvania and an even greater sense of missing Dan . . .). We've been busy trying to unpack our boxes (Andrew insists on "helping") and I'm trying to finish up a big project for my advisor. In the meantime, we've still found lots of time to play with family and reconnect with some old friends.

This week was even more momentous for Dan. The week started out with a rousing (i.e. LONG) group meeting Monday night, as his advisor returned to the States from Sweden for a few brief days. On Thursday, Dan defended (successfully!!) his dissertation. After feeling like his presentation and defense had been less persuasive than he would have liked (apparently a common feeling at defenses), his committee dismissed him from the room to let him sweat for a while. They finally recalled him to tell him that he had, in fact, passed. So now only a few revisions stand between Dan and the actual completion of his degree. After six years, this moment seems a long time in coming--but hopefully worth all the work and effort. (Since Dan isn't here to look over my shoulder and edit potentially embarassing comments, I can add that we are quite proud of him and his hard work). Dan celebrated by going to see Transformers with a friend from church Thursday evening and then, on Friday, he "got" to take his lab out for dinner.

On Tuesday, Jeni and I took the four of our combined offspring to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. In retrospect, I'm not sure about the wisdom of being outnumbered by four children under age four. We started out our visit with a thrilling ride on a little train that pulls us through the pens of the more mild critters (goats, etc.)--although I was quite surprised to ride within a few feet of some placidly chewing bison. I went with the three oldest children (Andrew, Emi, and Jacob), while Jeni stayed behind with her baby, Enoch. The four of us crammed in one seat, and the most "exciting" part of the ride was trying to keep Andrew in his seat. It's a good thing he was squashed between Jacob and I--if he hadn't been, I'm not sure he wouldn't have tried to get off the train while it was moving.

After the rousing train ride, we proceeded to visit the resident fauna. We started with the monkeys and gorillas, which were pretty thrilling to the kids, especially Andrew. He rode in the double stroller with Enoch, and Emi and Jacob rode in our double wagon (we decided that it was better to put Andrew somewhere that he could be strapped in). The seating arrangements worked out okay until we got by the giraffes, where Emi began to complain that Jacob was taking up her legroom and she wanted to ride in the stroller. Well, Andrew stayed in the wagon for approximately two minutes before trying to climb out of the wagon. After that, there was literally no holding him. He scampered happily down the path, Jacob in pursuit (we had to convince Jacob not to laugh hysterically at him, as that only encouraged Andrew to think Jacob was chasing him, and to run off even faster). One of the funniest scenes occurred just outside the zebra pen--there was a ditch just outside the fence, and Jacob persisted in running back and forth by the fence, shrieking happily at the zebras and trying to stampede them (all two of them) into the ditch. Andrew giggled and ran after his older cousin. I overheard a couple of other bystanders comment indulgently, "look at those little boys! They're trying to make the zebras run . . ." Not that their tactics worked all that well, but it kept them amused. We had a little trouble after this getting Andrew to go in the same direction as the rest of us without getting distracted (there was a particular lion shaped drinking fountain that Andrew seemed to think repeatedly needed his personal attention).

On our way back to the entrance, Jeni decided she probably should feed the baby--so that left me with Jacob, Emi, and Andrew. We bought each of them a creamie, in the hopes that icecream would soothe the savage child within. Jacob and Emi were both delighted with this (if the amount of melted chocolate that ended up on their clothes was any indication), but Andrew quickly lost interest and emphatically did not want to stay put. I finally had to strap him into the stroller (which he hated). At this point, Jacob announced that he needed to go to the bathroom. This meant that I had to get the two smaller children into the stroller (I made the mistake of trying to move Andrew to the back of the stroller and he refused to cooperate), after first getting Emi cleaned up a bit. I ended up pushing the stroller with one hand and carrying Andrew on the other hip, while Jacob danced around us. The only bathroom I knew about (Jacob having just thrown away our only map of the park) was near the entrance, which was some distance away. When we finally got there, I still had to get Emi out of the stroller and put shoes on Andrew. I was afraid we wouldn't actually all make it into the bathroom before it was too late for Jacob--luckily, just then his mother came out and was able to make everything okay.

On Wednesday, an old friend of mine, Karin Bean, came down to visit. Appropriately enough, her husband has also just finished graduate school at Kansas State (she finished her PA some time ago), and they've moved back to Utah County--to live in her parents' basement! So at least we're not alone in this! She brought her two-year-old son with her, and he and Andrew had a wonderful time together--that is, when they weren't fighting over toys. Karin and I have been friends since junior high--it was a little bizarre to be hanging out, watching our kids, and talking about such grown-up topics as insurance and diaper brands, rather than the boys that used to dominate our conversations in high school.

Thursday night, I went to the baby shower of another friend from high school and was able to reconnect with a couple of other friends whom I haven't seen for a while. It's nice to be reminded that I'm not completely rootless here--even if I do still miss my place in PA.

This weekend was also a bit of a whirlwind for Andrew and me. Friday morning, Trisha (Dan's mother) called to tell me they were having a bit of an impromptu family get together and it would be so nice if we could make it. So, we rented a car and drove down to Cedar City for the weekend. Andrew had a wonderful time running around with another set of cousins and swimming in the pool and out-eating his cousins. As always, a weekend at the Eves revolved around food: grilled hotdogs and vegetable skewers Friday evening, with a healthy side of macaroni and cheese (which Andrew downed with enthusiasm). Saturday morning, we went early to a local restaurant (and for the life of me I can't remember what it was called), where we enjoyed pancakes, omeletes, and other delicacies. Poppy was quite pleased with Andrew's healthy appetite. (Although in general none of the grown-ups were quite as happy with Andrew's tendency to throw his food off his tray when he was done eating). Later that morning, Trisha, Sarah and I drove around to some of the local yard sales--they weren't nearly as good as some in Pennsylvania, but we had a lot of fun and we found some good children's books. Sarah and her brood had to leave early Saturday afternoon, but Andrew and I stayed another night to hang out with his Eves grandparents. I think he enjoyed the attention, but I know he was fairly exhausting at church this morning--wiggly and over energetic and refusing to be constrained by anything so meager as a chair and his tired mother. The lights switches for the chapel were conveniently located low enough on the wall that Andrew could reach them on tiptoes--he tried to get to them at least five times, and once even managed to turn off the lights over part of the chapel before I could stop him. Although I think it's important to go to church with children to help them learn about the importance of church attendance, I was nonetheless exceedingly grateful when the meeting was over! (To make matters worse, we had attended a student ward with Robert, who is in the stake presidency, so Andrew was the only person in attendance whose age figures in single digits).

All in all, a good week for this branch of the Eves clan.