Wedding Announcement

(Jenn) I spent about an hour trying to convince Shug to send out wedding announcements, but to no avail. So here's my virtual announcement for those of you who know her!

Griff, Ben, and Henderson are pleased to announce

the marriage of

Shug

to Paul Rigg!

They are getting married today,

Wednesday, June eleventh,

in the Anchorage Alaska temple.

They are beautifully in love

and are the perfect couple.

If you want to send them a gift, I have their mailing address . . . and they are registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Try not to be offended that you didn't get a real announcement -- they are just a wee bit stubborn about not wanting their picture on somebody's fridge for all sorts of strangers to see. Yeah, I don't understand it either. But I'm happy for them!

200 Haves & Have Nots

We just read this on Becca's blog, and thought it would be a fun thing to do together before we crash for the night. This is a list of 200 things that we have or have not done. If you want to copy and do this yourself, you can just bold the items you have done. Since there are two of us, we're color-coding. Here's the key:

Blue -- Ben has done it
Red -- Jenn has done it
Purple -- We have both done it
Black -- Neither of us have done it

Here goes:
200 Haves and Have Nots!
1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby’s diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said “I love you” and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game (go BoSox!)
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (in a Temple Sealing Session! It was Ben's fault, probably :)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (define "truly"...)
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain (first kiss for both of us was in the rain...together of course!)
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don’t
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie (as long as you count Sensitive Naked Man)
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school (in 3 weeks, anyway)
89. Changed your name (well, just my last name!)
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird (slingshot--yeah!)
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a Neighbor Jane Payne newsletter

What are you most surprised at? Good night!

Picture Update

(Jenn)
Here's a brief summary of what we've been up to lately, in pictures.



We finally got Henry's "big boy bed" all put together. Ben painted the bed (we got it for free from someone in our branch). The quilt is Henry's baby quilt, made by Grandma Lori. I can take credit for buying the pillows! Looks pretty good, eh?









And here's the big boy himself (he's very happy about the car pillows -- toys and decorations in one!)











Don't be deceived. The not-so-big boy is still VERY dependant on his binkie and blankie. This is the day he made his bed ALL BY HIMSELF.











Meanwhile, between the three of us, we spent pretty much the entire week last week keeping Kimberly-Clark in business.







I'm becoming a believer in the Neti Pot. Pour warm salt water into one nostril and it comes out the other! It's the "natural" way to clear your nasal passages and fight colds and allergies. I wouldn't be caught dead using one of these if only I were allowed to take more serious medication for my many symptoms. What pregnancy will do to you! But it's working, and for now I'm recommending the method! BTW, I also wouldn't be caught dead letting someone take a picture of me with that glorified gravy boat up my nose -- it's not very flattering. I can't believe how many people have posted videos of themselves using it on YouTube (check it out!)




Henry wearing Ben's new backpack: one of his many great birthday presents. It has a padded laptop sleeve and will help improve Ben's not-so-nerdiness at PhD school.












Yes, he also got the GPS. I told you he would! I must admit it has already saved me once from dying in the middle of Newark.











And here's the birthday boy with his cake. He's finally caught up with me and the other cool 26-ers! We celebrated with a quiet night at home (Ben's request).










And last, but not least, we joined the Minivan Club. Yep, it happened on Saturday night. As if our gas bill wasn't already astronomical enough!Here's Happy Henry with our 2004 Nissan Quest. Pretty snazzy, right?

How the Iversons Make Decisions

(Jenn)

How do the Iversons go about making a major life decision (in this case, which of 14 apartments should we choose to live in for the next 5 years)? Well, it depends which Iverson you're talking about . . .

Ben:

1. Narrow the 14 apartments down to the 6 best.

2. Make a list of all the features we find important in a home (location, commute time, space, bathrooms, yard, etc.).

3. Rank each of the top 6 options according to each feature, giving the best apartment for each category a score of 6 and the worst a score of 1.

4. Put each feature into a category, and weight each category according to how important it is to us.

5. Plug everything into an Excel document and see which apartment wins!

6. Make a bar graph to show Jenn (not so much a number person) the winner.

7. Pray to confirm that the decision is correct.

Jenn:

1. Narrow the 14 apartments down to the 6 best.

2. Look at the pictures on the camera of each apartment. Look at them again, and again, and again. Repeat until the camera dies.

3. Imagine our family living in each apartment, one at a time. Ask questions like, "Where would we put the toys? How am I going to do the laundry? What furniture will go where? Could I really stand having pink cabinets/only one bathroom/no backyard/an ugly exterior for 5 years? Which one will feel the most comfortable? Which will feel the most beautiful?"

4. When none of them seem to be the perfect match, rework everything again. Rearrange the furniture in your mind. Change the bedrooms around. Draw pictures if necessary.

5. When one of them seems like it would absolutely work, tell Ben that you've decided. Tell him that you hope he agrees, because it's now impossible in your mind to imagine living in any other place.

6. Pray to confirm that the feeling is right.

Miraculously, the two of us came to the same conclusion on this one. Isn't it amazing? Mostly I just think it's funny how differently our minds work, and I love that Ben creates an Excel file for everything (yes, there was a giant Excel document for deciding where to go to grad school, and there's even a little one for GPS systems). I have to give Ben credit though. If he were 100% logical, we would never get along. He even had a category in his Apartment equation entitled "aura." That's pretty good. And he gave it the same weight as "price." I guess we balance each other out. :)

Memorial Day Checklist

1. Ate Lehi Roller Mills Country Raspberry Muffins for breakfast . . . a perfect start to the day.

2. Got the A/C units put in the windows. Hallelujah!

3. Fed Jenn's latest obsession by going to Ikea "just to look." Came out only $3 poorer, partly because we had to bribe Henry to stay in the cart with Swedish Fish. Still not sure if the trip hurt or helped my intense and greedy desire for MORE AND MORE STUFF to fill our beautiful new house (it will be hard to live there with our old furniture after seeing it so nicely furnished by the previous tenants). Still, even after all the amazingly good deals we found, it doesn't mean we have any money . . . nor will we likely get any money over the next 5 years. Oh, the injustice of it all!

4. Fed Ben's latest obsession by going to Best Buy "just to look." Ben has slightly more self-control than me, although I still give myself credit for only spending $3. We didn't buy anything, but we played with GPS systems for about 30 minutes. Ben has been spending nearly every minute of his free time trying to decide which system is the best. Just as soon as he thinks he comes to a conclusion, someone throws another factor into the equation, and he starts all over again. And why would we have money for a GPS system and no money for a new sofa? Probably because Ben never wants anything, and I always want something. So it will probably end up that he gets the thing he wants this time, since he wants it so badly. We're still waiting eagerly for that stimulus, by the way.

5. Afternoon: went hiking at Mills Reservation. Much more satisfying, relaxing, and fulfilling than how we chose to spend our morning. So in this part of New Jersey you have to search for them, but when you find these little pockets of preserved nature, they are amazing. We kept reveling in the stark contrast between what Northern New Jersey is (way too many people, buildings, houses, and businesses crammed together) and what it once was (endless forests of tall, thin deciduous trees -- basically a canopy of green). And to reinforce that contrast, at the peak of the hike (which isn't much of a peak at all), you can see a beautiful view of the NYC skyline. You might have to squint to see the skyline in my photo.

6. Henry learned to answer nature's call "nature's way." A big step for him -- his first successful standing up endeavor. This is big, as we're trying really hard to move away from having to take his potty seat with us everywhere we go.

7. Birthday dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, topped off with our White Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Cheesecake a few hours later at home. Ben's birthday is Wednesday, but since I have Mutual on Wednesday night and he has a meeting Thursday night, his Birthday Observed will be Friday night. And apparently his other Birthday Observed was yesterday. That lucky duck.

New House!

(Jenn) So I returned from my trip to Utah and was hit head-on with the realization that we are MOVING and there is SO MUCH to do!  Can you believe it?  We're planning to move by July 1st, which is 5 1/2 weeks from today.  Aah!  Needless to say, my life has been swirling around me the past few weeks, and blogging has pretty much dropped off the map.  My apologies to all of you.

Fortunately, things have been feeling a little more calm since we found a new apartment!  We couldn't be more excited about our find.  We will be living on the 1st and 2nd floors of this two-family home in Watertown, Massachusetts.  The house is 10 minutes from the Boston temple and a 15-minute bus ride from Harvard.  It was a little smaller than some of our other options, but I'm feeling better the more I've thought about how we'll use our space.  We have plans to make a playroom/guest room out of the bedroom on the main floor (which will most likely be Henry's bedroom), so those of you who come to visit us over the next five years (hopefully all of you!) will be comfortable.  Start making your plans!  

At one point in Anne's House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery, Gilbert is telling Anne all about the new house they'll be moving to.  He goes on and on about the details of the furnishings, rooms, etc.  Anne interrupts her husband by saying, "But Gilbert, man cannot live on furniture alone!  Are there TREES about this house?"  When I read this, I completely related to Anne and have always agreed that the trees are a very important part of a "house of dreams."  So as you can see from the pictures, the trees at our new house are amazing, and I have a feeling I'm going to love living there.  The yard is BIG and breathtaking; I can't wait to see it in the fall!  Just look at how many trees you can see out the windows!   It will be perfect for our boys.

Below is a slideshow showing the inside of the house.  I have more pictures on our home computer that I may add later.  For now, this is all you get:

Bachelorhood!

(Ben) I've been on my own for the past 6 days while Jenn and Henry have been in Utah. I dropped them off at the airport early on Monday morning, and they won't be back until late Monday night, so I've still got a couple of days left of solitude. Jenn wanted to go so that she could see Shug, who is getting married in June and happened to be in Utah, attend Women's Conference with her mom, and then join my sisters, Autmn, and Grandma Whitesides for a surprise birthday weekend with my mom (who's turning 60 on Tuesday!). Those are all very good reasons to go, but I don't think either of us realized how long 8 days is!!! I'm definitely ready for her and Henry to come home.

In the meantime, I've been keeping pretty busy. I've worked late most nights in an effort to get a few projects wrapped up before I quit in less than two months (yikes!). In the evenings I've had plenty of church meetings to keep me busy, and I've gone out with the missionaries a couple of times as well. Also, I've been watching the BBC nature documentary Planet Earth on DVD (through Netflix). I heard about Planet Earth from a coworker of mine who raved about it for a couple of weeks. Since I was interested, and Jenn wasn't so much, I thought this week would be a good time to check it out. Wow. The footage they have on there is absolutely incredible. Apparently the BBC had a $25 million budget to make this series, and they spent about 5 years traveling the world filming. It's all in HD (which makes absolutely no difference to me since our TV was made in 1977, literally), and they did some incredible things to get the footage that they have. For example, they sent a camera crew up to the Himalya's for 2 years in an attempt to get the first footage of the rare snow leopards. Of course, they were successful. I've only watched the first 3 episodes (I think there's a total of 15), but I've got the next DVD here and I'm going to watch a couple more tonight probably. Anyway, check it out if you get a chance and you like that sort of thing!

Lastly, I've been painting a toddler bed that was given to us for Henry. I'll post a picture of it when Jenn gets back with the camera. It's going to be navy blue, and Henry's really excited to have a real bed.

I do have to say that I'm extremely grateful to Jenn, who definitely didn't leave me with an empty fridge like in the picture!! :) I've been feasting well on great leftovers and I'll have just enough to get me through until she returns. Thanks, Jenn, for always taking care of me!!

DVD Pick: Dan in Real Life

(Jenn)

It's saying something when I stay awake through an entire movie these days. It's really saying something when I choose to keep a movie for an extra couple of days just so I can watch it again. I think it's been a LONG time since I've done this! That's why I feel it's worth mentioning Dan in Real Life. I'd call it a romantic comedy, and the best one I've seen in a long time. A beautiful, funny, artistically done, and refreshingly clean film (although not spotless -- it is PG-13, albeit a mild one). The soundtrack is also amazing. Many thanks to Melanie for the recommendation. I'm just passing the word along!

In other news, I finally have Henry calling our baby "Frankie" about 50% of the time. It was the only boy name he agreed to try (the name of our neighbor's dog). And he'll only do it if he can point out that the baby in his own belly is Nina and the baby in Mommy's belly is Frankie. The other half of the time, it's back to Nina for both of our babies. With Ben and I pretty much in agreement on all of our baby names, I never really thought I would run into arguments on this topic! Who would have thought Henry would have such an opinion?

Nina is a . . .

BOY!

It turns out that everyone was wrong in their guesses, and Henry's going to have a brother! We're excited for Henry to have a little buddy, and we're also excited about not having to buy a bunch of new pink stuff (not that it wouldn't be fun, but we don't have all sorts of money floating around right now, so it's more practical). And best of all, we won't have to worry about this child being traumatized by always being forced to play with cars and trucks. Henry has already made a habit of remembering to give "Nina" a car to play with (he just sets the cars on my belly).

Our current dilemma: how to get Henry to stop calling this boy Nina! He refuses to use any masculine names -- not even Nino. Lately, he has really taken to adding Nina to every part of our family life and regular conversation ("Nina wants a fruit snack?" "Nina's hungry?" "Here's one for Mommy, one for Daddy, and one for Nina"). Just on the way home from the ultrasound appointment -- in the last 40 minutes -- he has talked about Nina at least 8 times! Should we let him continue until the baby is born? Any thoughts?

Potty, etc.

(Jenn)
Ben says it's too cruel to post this video, but I can't help it! This is what happened the first day I tried implementing a sticker chart to help motivate Henry to go potty. The idea was that if he filled up the chart with stickers, we would get to visit the Children's Museum in New York City (he absolutely LOVED the Children's Museum in Boston and has been talking about it nonstop since we went). The museum was a good motivation for Henry, although at first it was a little too good. He got so frustrated every time nothing would come out because he NEEDED those stickers! You really should watch this:


Sad Potty Day from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

That was about a month ago. After the initial anxiety wore off, I think Henry's potty skills improved quite a bit. He finished the chart on Monday, so yesterday he and I headed off to the Children's Museum!

We had a fun day together. We rode the train into the city (this was half the fun), and then had a great time at the museum. Henry especially enjoyed driving all sorts of different cars, trucks, and busses! He also spend a good long time playing in the "market" where he got to buy and prepare all sorts of food. After the museum, we had a picnic lunch in Central Park and then got to visit Daddy at work before heading home. It was a fun and exhausting day -- we both fell asleep on the train ride home!

So today we are diving into full-fledged potty training! Henry has been talking about wanting to wear underwear like some of his friends, so we went out last week and picked out a few pairs. He has been anxious for Potty Day ever since! I really had to block out a whole day on the calendar where we wouldn't go ANYWHERE, because I feel like I'm probably the one holding Henry back the most on potty training because I'm always rushing him everywhere. So today we're home all day -- reading books, playing with Play-Doh (for Henry's first time because I am such a lazy mom), and mostly going potty (he wants to go about every ten minutes). So far, it's going okay. We've been through 4 pairs of underwear in a little over 4 hours. Apparently I should have bought more than 6 pairs! Still, we've had several successful moments this morning, and I'm still hopeful. I'm optimistic because I'm thinking of how nice it would be to have Henry all trained before our big move and new baby. I won't be surprised if something backfires either. We'll see! Wish us luck -- we need it!

Harvard it shall be

(Jenn)

We made the final decision about Harvard over a week and a half ago. It has felt so good to finally know where we're going to be living for the next 5 years! It was such a dramatic decision at the time we made it, but still we have hardly done anything about it. Ben finally made his official acceptance last night (after a severe scolding from me: "You haven't accepted yet? What were you thinking?"). As he was licking the envelope to seal the deal last night, he commented that Harvard's envelopes even taste better than the other schools' envelopes! He wasn't kidding in the least about the envelopes, and then proceeded to tell me all of the reasons why Harvard is superior: they printed their admit letter on thick bond paper; they included a self-addressed STAMPED envelope for his response; and don't forget how many fireplaces grace the business school's campus (perfect for cozying up with a good econometrics book). Clearly folks, we have made the right decision!

Seriously though, I don't know which of the three of us is most excited. Boston is definitely my dream! I have spent way too many hours of the last week surfing around housing sites. I'm determined to find the perfect place, preferably with a guest room of sorts so you can all start planning your trips to visit us! Henry and I have been reading a bunch of Boston books, and he definitely has Boston on his mind. You'll have to watch these two clips (the first one for sure) to see why Henry is so excited about our next adventure:

Talking about Boston from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Playing with cars from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Evan Whitesides 1923-2008

(Ben) Many of you already know that my grandfather, Evan Whitesides, passed away a week ago Tuesday, on March 25th. His health had been deteriorating for several years as he battled Parkinson's disease, and in many ways his passing was a blessing and we are glad that he is finally resting.

I was able to fly home to attend his funeral last Saturday, and I really don't think I've been to a funeral as inspiring as his was, except maybe President Hinckley's. Grandpa was an incredible man with so many qualities that I admire, and I think that all of us who attended were left feeling like we have a long way to go.

There were two things in particular that I've really been thinking about since his passing. First, I can think of no better example than Grandpa. None of my siblings can really remember him ever giving a lecture or even verbally teaching a lesson. What we can remember is that Grandpa was always in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. When he was needed at a church meeting, he was there. When we needed him to harvest the raspberries or weed the corn, he was there. Not only that, but he was there on time, and with a smile on his face. Grandpa reached out to people unlike anyone else I know. I've been told that he (and Grandma) knew the names of all the primary kids in their home ward. I can't even name all the primary kids in our little branch! Grandpa cared about people enough to be there for them.

The second lesson that I learned from Grandpa is to "hoe to the end of the row." Thanks to my mom I'll never forget that phrase, but whenever I think of it I'll always think of my grandfather. Grandpa always finished the jobs that he started, and the job wasn't done until it was done well. What's more, Grandpa loved to do the work. Once I was out with him in the garden in the spring, and we were just planting seeds for a new season. I asked him what he enjoyed the most in gardening: planting, growing, or harvesting. Now, my answer to that question would definitely be harvesting because it means that the job is done and you get to literally enjoy the fruits of your labors. Not Grandpa. His favorite part was the planting, the anticipation of a summer of hard work. I think that's very characteristic of Grandpa. And you can be sure that once he planted the seeds, he would be there (at 6:00am!) to plow, weed, irrigate, prune, and pick until the job was done.

Needless to say, we all loved grandpa, and we will miss him dearly. My faith in the resurrection, however, has tempered my sadness and helped me to be able to celebrate a life well lived.

The Jelly Bean Showdown

(Jenn) As some of you may know, I really go crazy about holiday candy. I'm never the one to complain that a store already has their Valentine's candy out the day after Christmas. It just means I get to eat those cinnamon hearts six weeks early! I think I really get sucked into the candy companies' schemes too, because I get this conception that I need to buy (and eat!) lots and lots of the candy before the holiday season is over. It just kills me that there will be a certain type of candy that I may crave at a different time during the year, but I won't be able to get it!

Such was my mentality when I was in Target's Easter candy aisle a couple of weeks ago. I was overwhelmed with SO MANY different, new, exclusive types of jelly beans! I simply couldn't decide on which ones to get. So I settled on just six. Yes, I bought six bags of jelly beans at once! And of course, I threw in some Reese's Pieces Pastel Eggs (probably the one thing about Easter I look forward to most) and a Limited Edition of Lemon Crème Hershey's kisses. Do I feel any guilt? NO!!! Because almost three weeks later, I still have about half of the spoils stashed away for Easter baskets (a miracle, really). And what's better, I now get to provide all of you with my Jelly Bean Review so you will have an easier time when deciding on Easter candy. If you haven't bought any yet, you'd better hurry out! I'm hoping for a big price cut in the Easter aisle next week so I can put some of these treasures in "food storage."

Here are the results. I realise that a lot of you may not have the same ideas as me concerning what makes a perfect jelly bean. Luckily, Ben and I agree pretty consistently. Still, I've broken down the ratings so if you're not a texture person like me, you can still find what you like in your jelly beans. Enjoy!

SweetTarts Jelly Beans

Award: Most Irresistable

Texture: 10/10 The texture was our favorite thing about the SweetTart jelly beans. It has this amazing outer shell that somehow magically crumbles when you bite into it. Then the inside, is of course, chewy.

Flavor: 8/10 The flavor is great -- similar to SweetTarts candy, although a little more tame, which I liked. The different colors don't offer much flavor variety, though. They pretty much all taste the same!

Irresistability: 10/10 This was the bag that was hardest for us to stop eating! It may be because it was the first one we opened, but I can honestly say this is the variety I'll be looking for first when going back for the after-Easter sales (food storage necessity).

Average Rating: 9.3/10

Starburst Tropical jellybeans
Award: Most consistently amazing
Texture: 10/10 Starbust brand gets the award for consistently providing the best jelly beans. I think a lot of what makes them so amazing is their texture. The outer shell is firm and "crackly," which makes these JB's fun to bite into, but it doesn't stop there. Sugary goodness fills the beans! A texture-lover's dream!
Flavor: 9/10 Another amazing aspect of Starburst JB's is the unique, juicy flavors. Each color offers a different flavor that will take you to the moon. We bought "tropical" this time because it looked like something we couldn't get as easily off season. I actually think the perfect flavor mix would be some combination of the tropical and original packages. I should also note that they do have a "Red Fruits" variety out right now, which is absolutely incredible. It has only three flavors, and they're all red or pink, which are everybody's favorites anyway. Try them!
Irresistability: 9/10 We had eaten half the bag before we even noticed we were eating them! As soon as we noticed, we had to put them away quickly!
Average Rating: 9.3/10

Nerds Bumpy Jelly Beans

Award: Most unique (in a very good way)
Texture: 10/10 Yow! These JB's are, as the title suggests, very bumpy! I loved the texture. The outer coating is thicker than any other JB I've tried, and basically has the same flavor and texture of Nerds candy. Biting into one feels and tastes like biting into a handful of Nerds! Then somehow you get to the middle, and it's not Nerds; it's a jelly bean! This may not be for everyone, but we loved them (Henry especially!).
Flavor: 7/10 Again, not much variety between colors. They all just taste like Nerds. After about two handfuls (which is probably when I should have stopped anyway), they got a little too sweet. Still, quite yummy!
Irresistability: 8/10 I ate a bunch of these while Ben was gone at work. They're easier than some to stop eating because they can get to be a little much. Still, Henry couldn't get enough of them (he named them "Froggy Berries").
Average Rating: 8.3/10

Mike and Ike Tangy Twister Jelly Beans
Award: Most tangy
Texture: 5/10 Nothing special about the texture. Nothing off-putting either. I guess the shape, which is a little more square than the other JB's, was kind of fun to bite into.
Flavor: 7/10 Great flavor variety. A lot of the flavors reminded me of some exotic juices. Just keep in mind that they are "tangy," I thought sometimes a little too tangy.

Irresistability: 6/10 After a handful or two, I didn't need too many more.
Average Rating: 6/10

Lifesaver Jellybeans PASTELS

Award: Better than Jolly Rancher Fruit Smoothie, by a little

Texture: 6/10 About what you would expect the texture of an average JB to be

Flavor: 5/10 I love the flavors of Lifesaver original jellybeans. Unfortunately, this Pastel variety leaves a lot to be desired. Overall, they are much too sweet. Their is a fair amount of variation in the flavors, but the flavors aren't great. The pink ones are cotton candy flavor, which should have been a red flag to me before I bought them. All of the flavors sort of have that artificial, cotton candyish taste to them. The kiwi- strawberry one tastes like cucumbers.
Irresistability: 5/10 Not too hard to stop eating these. Still, here I am putting JB #20 into my mouth, just trying to figure out exactly what it is that makes me not love these.

Average Rating: 5.3/10

Jolly Rancher Bold Fruit Smoothie Jelly Beans
Award: Most disappointing
Texture: 5/10 About what you would expect the texture of an average JB to be
Flavor: 2/10 Many of these flavors were off-putting. Ben commented that they tasted more like flowery perfume than candy. Really, we thought they were awful. Maybe if you hadn't had any candy in like a year, they might be good. I should add a note that Jolly Rancher Original flavor jelly beans are one of my favorites. They just missed the boat with these smoothie ones!

Irresistability: 2/10 I ended up giving the rest of the bag to Henry as potty treats (he didn't complain!).
Average Rating: 3/10

Lemon Crème Kisses

These aren't in the Jelly Bean Showdown, but I thought they deserved an honorable mention. I just barely opened the package and ate 3 of them. They taste like lemon meringue pie. Probably couldn't eat more than a few without getting sick of them, but worth trying!

Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Pastel Eggs

If you have not tried these, you are missing out on arguably the best part about Easter! Somehow though, it seems like a lot of people don't know about them. I usually have to buy several bags every time I see them, because they're hard to find, but they go quickly once people discover them. Of course, you have to be a peanut butter person. These contain no chocolate. Imagine this: just a Reese's Pieces shell about the size of a Whopper, and beyond the shell, nothing but peanut butter goodness. Sheer genius, if you ask me. If you can't find them in the bag, this year they also come in little mini milk cartons!

Henry's Quotes of the Month

First, our conversation today:

H: I pinched me! (While pinching my arm)

M: Why did you pinch me? It's not Saint Patrick's Day anymore.

H: Today is the Indian one!

(maybe St. Patrick's Day was the Leprechaun one? I really don't know)

A few other great ones from the past month:

* (Referring to picture at left) "I made a snow plow!"

* (Referring to his fortune cookie) "It's a funny Sacred Grove one! It's Joseph Christ!"

* "I'm a junk food addict."

* "I like the scriptures, and wicked people."

* "Mommy's having a baby about Nina."

* (While sitting in his high chair) "I wanna get down, gentlemen!"

* "I hear the key chains!" (He says this almost every day when he hears our neighbor's wind chimes)

* (Referring to my fabulous new earrings) "It's a . . . manhole cover one!"

So these are my new manhole cover earrings:

The whole jewelry thing is going especially well, by the way. It really helps with that whole pregnancy-chubbiness-depression thing.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

(Jenn) He wouldn't even touch the green eggs (we need to check out that Dr. Seuss book!). I'm not sure why I even try to feed this kid. This is pretty much the face I get from Henry at every meal. :) Miraculously though, he really went for the key lime yogurt! At least that's something -- it made me feel like I was doing my job as Mom to be festive. Hope you all have a lucky St. Paddy's Day!

7 of the smallest hotels and hotel rooms in the world

(Ben) Every now and then I like to post things like this that I find fascinating. The "Capsule Hotel" is the most interesting one, I think. Enjoy.

Grandpa Dave

(Jenn) We all had a great week with Grandpa Dave staying at our house! It was a special treat for Henry especially. My dad's work sent him to New York for a 5-day training, so he just stayed with us. It was great! He arrived Sunday night, and we put him straight to work. Ben and I ate a quick dinner and headed out the door to Boston for Harvard's admit day, and so Grandpa Dave was in charge of Henry for the next 26 hours. He did a great job with the bedtime routine and dropped Henry off at Becca's house (thanks Becca!) before catching his train into the city for a big day of work! I was impressed and so grateful that my dad was willing to do all of this for us.

We spent the rest of the week just relaxing and enjoying our evenings together. It was such a relaxing visit -- I didn't even worry about keeping the house clean or cooking anything too extravagant (probably because I knew I could talk Dad into going out to eat!). It was just like Dad lived in the next town over and dropped in for a visit every night! I loved it, and Henry had a ball playing cars and reading books with Grandpa. We're hoping the next place we live will offer training classes that my dad needs to go to! This was his 2nd one in NYC, and it has been so great. It's fun to have an excuse to be together :)

Our New Dishwasher

(Jenn) I'm saving this video for when Henry is a teenager and refuses to help with the dishes. Here is my proof that he wants to do the dishes every day! I'm not going to stop him . . .

Untitled from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

World Icons, Henry Style

(Ben) Henry has somehow become obsessed with world icons such as the Space Needle in Seattle, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and especially the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. So, last week while Jenn was at the temple with the youth in our district, Henry and I got out the Mag-neatos that he got from my mom for Christmas (thanks, Mom!) and built and Eiffel Tower. This was the first time that I've actually been able to build something with Henry without him tearing it down, and I think it turned out pretty well (see the model we were working off of in the foreground):

Of course, you can't have an Eiffel Tower without a Statue of Liberty, so Henry decided to be the Statue of Liberty. He looks pretty good, eh?

Henry's Suggestions for Baby Name

(Jenn) Henry is being very careful to take care of the babies in both of our bellies. Here he is checking on his baby with a meat thermometer, just in case. For my baby, he is helping by coming up with ideas for the name! He came up with these all on his own, with no help from either of us. What do you think of the following names?

Henry
Baby Zion
Baby Seth
Baby Jesus
Nina
Baby Daddy
Baby Mommy
Baby Jenny
Baby Car
Baby Dumptruck
Chintz
Jung
Jack
Baby Ma/Mom
Zach
Jove
Scope
Cheeks
Gaks
Nephi
Lamoni
Girls' Camp
Trunk
Tron-Junk
Trashcan (pronounced like Treshawn)

Henry offered all of those names as options at first, but in recent weeks he has pretty much settled on Nina. I have NO IDEA where he got that name from, since he has never met anyone named Nina! For that reason, I'm pretty sure he's inspired. :) Nina is Henry's choice for the name whether it's a girl or a boy. But to keep things simple (and avoid calling our baby "It"), we're now referring to the baby as "her/she" and "Nina." It's just so much easier when the child has a name! FYI: Henry's prenatal name was Lou.