Texas Trip

Spent the weekend with Matt, Michelle, and Howie in TEXAS! So hot, but had a fantastic time! Photos of the San Antonio Zoo, Botanical Gardens, and Greenbelt in Austin.

Kendalls first Shopping Trip

The Morning started off great, seeing as Kendall slept in until 8am.

Our first night as new parents here at home went by rather smoothly.

Our first errand was off to the court house for renewall of Daddy's Tags

on his car.

Next we drove to the Air Force base and got Kendall squared

away with Uncle Sam. It seemed everywhere we went, old ladies (forties and fifties)

were showering us with comments and advice and offering to take her home

with them. It was a very productive day indeed.

It just seems so easy being a parent, that I hope I'm not experiencing the easy parts

first.

However, Kendall is a very well mannered

young girl and is very content in everything she does. (sleep and eat)

She is deffinetly the funnest when she's awake with her eye's open.

Naomi eats a bar of soap

Naomi came out of our bathroom (which is off limits for kids) with a bar of soap in her hand. Nothing seemed odd about it until she starting to scream and spit. That's when I saw teeth marks embedded in the bar of soap and realized that she was eating it! She just drooled, spit, and screamed her way back to the bathroom as we laughed at her misfortune. I love when nature teaches my children and all I have to do is sit back, observe, and enjoy the ride.

Katie pooping on the neighbors lawn

We were inside our room this afternoon spending a quiet moment together when our neighbor showed up at our door to let us know that Katie was going to the bathroom outside! Oh Great! I went out to get her and upon bringing her into the house I asked her what she was doing. She said she was going poop. She says, "I couldn't know why I did." I was speechless. Am I supposed to get a doggy bag and clean up after my daughter poops on the grass? What is the protocol for such an event?
It was efficient to go out and get Katie because we found Naomi out on her sisters bike by the parking lot pulling flowers out of a flower pot. I guess we'll have to wait another year before we can hope for that prestigious Parent of the Year Award.

This Week in Review

This week has been filled with preparations for Isabella. Jessica has been nesting like crazy, cleaning and reorganizing everything. Grandpa Spaulding came over and steam cleaned the carpets. Its amazing how many stains we can get in just a few months of living in this apartment! Richard has been swimming every day this week, even during the all the rainstorms we had. Andrew has been real busy this week working on his solar radiation study. He has to get up every morning by 4:00, before the sun, and set the experiment up for the day. It's even more difficult when the kids want to play all night long too. Kathryn has been entertaining her friends this week, inviting them over for hot chocolate, popcorn, and chicken nuggets, all of which she prepares by herself. Our butter dish was the only casualty this week, part of which Katie found in her foot the following morning. Naomi spent most of her time this week helping her mother around the house, cleaning up after her messes, taking naps, and playing quietly on the floor. The family spent all day Saturday out at the pool, swimming, playing, and sun burning. Naomi finally feels safe enough to wade in the hot tub alone. It took a few hours at a time, coaxing her with toys in the water before she would even put her toes in. Her favorite spot to sit over the 5 foot mark, dangling her feet in the water. It was probably the most dangerous spot in the whole pool but that's where she felt safest. It took an entire week to get her comfortable enough to leave her 'safe' spot and walk around in the hot tub by herself (with supervision). She's joining the ranks of Hobson swimmers, just like we began back in California, playing in swimming pools all summer long. As part of Jessica's slumber party as part of her 13 going on 30 birthday celebration, Richard is planning a Summer Survival Camp since all the men are banned from her party. To prepare, he did a photo shoot for some flyers he created, and then delivered them to all his friends. Even if the only people that go are he and Andrew, it will have been a great experience and lots of fun. Gardening has not been one of our family's strong traits, as we've been born with more of a brown thumb, or weedy thumb, but nothing close to green. As an attempt to shed our destiny, Andrew and Jessica rented a garden plot for the summer. Andrew bought squash, zucchini, pumpkin, and artichoke seeds. Jessica bought tomatoes, green peppers, and magnolias. This was a month ago. Jessica's plants are still out on our front porch. Priding himself with a sense of duty, Andrew planted all his seeds, but didn't return to water the garden for the whole month. Andrew visited the garden this morning and is happy to report the morning glory is flourishing! It is everywhere, choking the life out of the few remaining survivors of the month long drought. If any vegetables make it to our table, it will be no small miracle.

Summer Survival Camp

Richard is making his final preparations for his summer survival camp to be held July 10. He is planning it to coincide with Jessica's 13 going on 30 slumber party as Jessica turns the big 3 0 on July 9th. For the survival camp, he's posed for a photo shoot and helped make the flyers used to advertise his event. Richard is very excited and spent most of the car ride home from Salt Lake brianstorming ideas. Andrew's best defense against Richad's constant brainstorming is by asking him to "write his ideas down on paper" that way we can remember what he is thinking.

The Hobson's Week in Review

We made our first trip to the Salt Lake Temple this week.  Boy what a day!  So much family was able to make it to our sealing.  Mark, Shannah and their kids, Father Tanner and Rachel, Farren, Tracy and Gma Spaulding, as well as many other friends came to support us.  Andrew couldn't stop crying during the whole ceremony.  Jessica couldn't stop talking about food, Isabella was kicking her stomach the whole time.  Richard was able to witness the sealing and looked so proud as he watched over the family.  Kathryn was outside the sealing room singing "I am a Child of God" and Naomi didn't spend one second away from her blankie.  We took pictures outside the temple after the sealing and then went to Chuckarama for some well earned food. 

All the cousins sat at the same table and made sure they didn't share any gluten although Kathryn complained about feeling sick since her cousins touched her with their food. 

On the car ride home, Jessica and Andrew let Richard and Kathryn work out their own shouting match, both crying and screaming at each other.  It was a great first day as an eternal family.

Katie gave us some good news tonight of her new arrival, Bella.  I asked her when her due date was.  Her reply was, "She kicks!"  Whether she's singing her favorite Primary song, dancing like a ballerina, or running around with her friends, Katie keeps us on our toes.  The latest commodity we've had to say goodbye to due to a tight budget is our cell phones.  Although the termination fee is $125, our monthly bill of $119 will not be missed.  It has been nice to have the phones over the past year but with an average monthly income of less than $700, they just don't fit in our budget.  So we say farewell, good riddens, and to all the family members inconvenienced by our decision, we will be still be receiving snail mail for the moment.  During the midwife appointment this week, all the children had the chance to listen to Isabella's heart beat.  Each of the kids are so eager to have our latest addition here.  Naomi is pushing everything she can find in strollers, Richard is playing Dad to his sisters, and Katie is the first one to give Bella her kiss each morning, via Jessica's belly!

Hello World

From the depths of Logan, UT emerges the 1st Hobson Family Blog as the winds of the East proclaim....Hello World.