Languages

In the time that we've been here, I haven't learned as much Hebrew as I was hoping I would.  I know enough to get by, but I rely on Tom a lot to help with the language barrier.

Since Joni has been learning a lot of Hebrew in school, she seems to feel quite superior to me when it comes to languages.  I can tell that in her mind I know nothing in this area.

Case in point, here is a conversation I had with her yesterday....

Joni:  Mom, does Jesus know Hebrew?

Me:  Yes, he knows all languages.

Joni:  Does he know Arabic?

Me:  Yes, he knows all the languages in all the world.

Joni:  Well, I know he knows English, but what about Spanish?  Does he even know Spanish?

Me:  Yes, honey, he knows ALL languages.

Joni:  Mom, I just don't think you have any idea what you're talking about.

Special day

For those of us who are of the LDS variety, we believe that the true birth date of Jesus Christ was today, April 6th.  

We were invited by some friends to go spend the day in Bethlehem, so Joni and I jumped at the chance to see the town where Jesus was born on the very day it happened.  We had a great day filled with amazing memories.  

First we walked around some shepherd fields near Bethlehem and checked out the olive trees....

We found a place overlooking Bethlehem to sit and read Luke 2 and sing Christmas songs.....

Then we were off to Manger Square where our friend from Bethlehem (Sahar, pictured above) was even able to get us in a back door to bypass the long lines to see the spot where it is believed that Christ was born.....

The air had a different feel to it today.  It was easy to imagine Joseph and Mary with their brand new baby, the Savior of the world.  Bethlehem has always had a unique beauty, but today it was especially beautiful.

Out of touch with the world - help!

I am officially a technology dummy.  

My MP3 player disappeared a few weeks ago (how can I do any housecleaning without music?), so I have been looking around online.  What the heck people?  Since when does an MP3 player take pictures/videos, double as a flash storage device, and can be used as a webcam, all for 40 bucks?  I am amazed.  

Reminds me of when my sister came home from an LDS mission and I had to explain to her what the internet was.  I don't know how it works, it just does!

Okay, in her defense, I was FLOORED when I got home from my mission and everyone had switched to DVDs instead of VHS.  All I could think was, "What is everyone going to do with their videos?"  I was horrified.

So help me out.  What should I get???  Is there a certain brand that is best?

I don't need all the bells and whistles, I just need something that will play me some music while I clean every day.  Cheap is good, too, since you know, we don't have an income.  And if it could last me the next 5 years or so, that would be awesome, too. ;)

He Is Risen

Happy Easter

Sad state of affairs

Our futon bed completely fell to pieces a week ago. 

We had it folded up as a couch and the whole family was snuggled up watching something on the internet when it suddenly felt like the earth was moving out from underneath us.  

Joni and I couldn't stop laughing, but Tom was furious it didn't last 3 more months.  We carried the frame out to the dumpster (hopefully not offending observant Jews on Shabbat) and are now sleeping on the futon pad on the floor.  Which is pretty much all we had when we first got married.  Tom says we have regressed 7 years.

Awesome.

I don't even know what to call this post

I've been thinking lately about having the puberty talk with Joni.  She always has a million questions about this or that, but I often turn out to be one of those lame scardy-cat mommas who diverts the conversation to something else.  I mostly do this because Joni is such a talker that I'm worried if I say too much, she's going to go blurt out something about my period or my boobs to a stranger at the park.  We also have never been one of those families who refers to body parts by their official name.  This wasn't thought out or on purpose - it just happened.  So we use phrases like, The Girls, Peeps, Junk, Buns, and the like.  This is evident by a conversation I overheard Joni having with Tom the other day.

Apparently they were wrestling and Joni took a hard, swift kick to Tom's *ahem* "goods".  Tom calmly told Joni he wasn't very happy with her and asked her to leave the room.  When she came back in Tom still had his hands over the "family jewels", and the following conversation ensued....

Joni:  What's the matter, dad?

Tom:  You kicked me so hard I think you bruised my penis (why he suddenly chose to use the proper word, I don't know).

Joni:  Haha!  Peanuts!  Why do you call it peanuts?  Is it like nuts that have pee coming out of them?

Tom:  Ummm, yeah, sort of.

*sigh*

Random Happenings

• I hate (I know it's a strong word but it's true) heat and humidity.  I am DREADING the hot weather that I know is coming.  I think about it every single day and am trying to thoroughly enjoy the currently mild weather while it lasts.

• The above statement is a bad thing considering we think we're moving to Texas this fall for Tom to start his PhD program.  But mark my words, our next apartment WILL have air conditioning.  For every other reason besides the heat, we are out of this world excited to go there.

• Joni is out of school for 2-1/2 weeks for Passover and I might go a little crazy.  I love that girl to death, but she never, and I mean never, stops talking.  I would say she got that from me, but prefer to put the blame on my mother.

• I look wretched these days.  I feel like I wear the same clothes every day and I've only had my hair cut once since getting here (I think I've mentioned this before, so maybe "these days" isn't quite accurate - maybe "still" would be better).  When I think of the perfect prissiness of Utah I tremble in fear.

• I think there is such a thing as defective beans.  I briefly boiled some white beans yesterday, soaked them all night, and I have now been boiling them for 7-1/2 hours.  They are just barely starting to soften.  The internet says to boil white beans for 2-3 hours, and if the internet says it, by gosh it should true.

• I cannot wait to go to Cafe Rio.  Or the chiropractor.  Or the salon.  Or Target!  Ohhhh, Target.

• My kids had the F-word screamed at them today for no apparent reason.  If there wasn't a fence in the way, I fear Tom would have caused permanent damage to their faces.

• Jackson thinks he's Superman.  We can't find him a cape here, so he's currently using bibs put on backwards.