Smile!

When we ask Will to smile now, this is what he does. Clasps his hands, squints his eyes...it's hilarious. 

will asleep

How does somebody fall or stay asleep in this position? I think only babies can do it. 

i have a request....

What is the quote from neverending story that is always said(i might be exagerating) that the turtle says to the boy? I guess while i'm on here i might as well say a little more. Some of you already know, but i have indeed recieved my license!!!! Very exciting. Now all i need for a perfect life is a job! i'm sorry i don't have any cute pictures of kids to post for i don't have any and posting pictures of myself is way too expected of me. Mom and I just went and got some village inn pie and rented a movie. We are bonding, george. We are watching Rope, a classic alfred hitchcock but i haven't seen it yet. i'll let you know if it's a good one. I think dad might even join us. oh boy wha a bwas! I love you all like a fat kid loves cake!!!!!!!--------------------------- Farethee well, amber michelle

Tallons Birthday

Well, lets just say it was an interesting day. We gave him his presents in the morning and he had the gimmy-gimmys (spelling?) the rest of the day. Can you see the joy in his face in the pictures? He didn't really understand the concept of a birthday and he kept saying "Happy Birthday Daddy" because it was Arics birthday the week before. We're hoping next year will be a happier day and we will definately be giving him his presents at night!

If there is one thing that Tallon does love its Desiree. I was worried that he would resent her but I was so wrong. He smothers her all day long, he even calls her sweetie and says "she's so CUTE" in the highest voice he can pull off. We'll see how long it lasts.

Can we own Andrew and Jessica and Jency?

Eleanor today out of the blue came up and asked me if we could own Andrew and Jessica and Jency and their family. I said what are you talking about. After a few more confusing statements and questions I think I finally got what she was asking. She wants to own them so that we can live in the same house and she can always have them around to play with. You have been reduced to just another toy or she just really misses you.
Amy

Tokyo

So here we are in tokyo. I can't believe I am so far away from everybody! It is 16 hours ahead of the time in Arizona, 15 hours ahead from Utah. William is really struggling with the jet lag. I can usally get him through the morning pretty well, but after he's taken a 3 hour afternoon nap and I try to wake him up so he'll sleep at night, he hates it. He fights waking up so bad, and then he is just a terrorl until I put him to bed at 8 or 9, then he wakes up at 2 and wants to be up for a couple of hours. Fun times. I can't wait until he gets adjusted.

The picture is from a little trip William and I took to the Meiji Shrine yesterday. Meiji was a beloved emperor in the 30's I guess. It was a pretty cool place and they were having this ceremony when I got there. You can buy these prayer poems, or get this wood thing that you can write a prayer on and hang it around this tree. People still go and bow and clap and pray in remembrance of this emperor. On the way back down the path, this huge group of people came by and all of them started talking to and waving at William. this one lady picked him up and all these other ladies crowded around touching his face and talking to him. People love seeing William. Everyone always smiles and waves at him and get a kick of him waving back at them. I hear this is how the Japanese are with children. I don't know if it is all children, or American white children or what, but he has never received this much attention in his life. It is funny.

Food is outrageusly expensive here. I went to the store the other day and apples were 2 dollars a piece! This teeny box of cereal was about 5 dollars. I spent 80 dollars the first time I went to the store, and all I bought was some sandwich makings that would make maybe 5 sandwiches, some fruit, some milk, some frozen garlic bread, a bar of soap and some shampoo. I think that is it. Anyway, I was shocked at how expensive it was. I found a more American store today where I actually recognized some of the food and was able to buy chicken and hamburger and pasta and sauce, even mac and cheese. That was nice. Another weird thing with the food is that it is all in such small packages. A pint of milk is the biggest milk I have seen anywhere. The biggest package of lunch meat I found has 12 pieces. The biggest loaf of bread has 8 slices. Strange.

We ate at an incredible restaurant the other night. Don had been there last week with a guy from work. This restaurant would do so well in the US. It is actually a Korean restaurant, called a Korean barbeque. You order cuts of meat, we got beef and pork, and they heat up this little grill that is right in the middle of the table. Then they leave you to yourself. You grill the cup up meat one at a time and they have 4 different sauces you can dip the meat in. Oh my gosh, I couldn't believe how good it was. You guys would love it. And I actually ate the whole meal with chopsticks. I have never been able to eat with chopsticks in all the times I have tried...it must be something in the water here that makes me able, I don't know.

Well, we are having a great time so far. Most everyone speaks some English so it isn't hard to get around. I hope everyone is doing well and that your kids are enjoying the new school year. Love you all.

Amy 

Happy Birthday Aric!

It's easy to remember Aric's birthday, cause it's exactly 2 weeks after mine. I just wanted to wish Aric a Happy Birthday and tell him I love him. Here's some fun memories of Aric:

--All the time, I would walk in a room and just find Aric sitting there on the couch or something, doing nothing, staring straight ahead. I'd ask him what he was doing and he'd just say "thinking." Aric "thought" alot more than most high school kids, and it looks like it has done him good, seeing that he is now in one of the top dental schools in the country!

--I remember this face Aric would always make where it seemed like he was trying not to smile. I would always call him on it. You probably remember that Aric. It brings a smile to my face just remembering it.

--Aric is always fun on family vacations. He loves to laugh, and so is constantly finding things to laugh at. He is positive-minded and fun to have around.

--One day when we were really little, we both had the flu and Mom had to go somewhere, so we stayed at a neighbors house together and she gave us 7-up. We thought it was pretty cool.

--Working at Skymall together...aah those were the days. Remember "I am Skymall"?

--going to Aric's band concerts, watching him get into it on the drums. It was fun to see how much he loved it and how good he was at it.

--Whenever I would ask Aric his opinion on something to wear, he would just say yes no matter what I asked. When I asked why he wouldn't give me a real opinion he said it was because no matter what he said, I would just wear what was best in my own opinion anyway. I had to laugh, because it probably was true. Not that I didn't trust his opinion....

--the jaw-dropped, shocked look Aric often puts on

--Aric and I were the youngest two for a long time and so we did alot together. Watching my wedding video after it was all done I realized that about half of my kid pictures are pictures of just Aric and I doing stuff together--playing Lincoln Logs, fishing. He was a fun play buddy.

Thanks for being a great younger brother Aric. Happy Birthday!

Konichiwa

Hajimemashte. Watashiwa Bennion Amy tomoishimas.

This is the first phrase of Japanese I learned today. I am not sure on spelling cause I just listened to the CD, but it should say, Pleased to meet you. I am Amy Bennion. Swift, eh?

Yes, Don and Will and I are going to Japan for a month. Don is actually on his way there right now, and Will and I will go join him on Saturday, after our passports come back. The nice thing is, they are flying Don back to meet me in San Francisco so I don't have to do a 10 hour flight by myself with William. We'll get to see Aric and Jessica for a while during the layover, too, so that will be very fun. I do feel a bad that Don will practically be flying for 20 hours straight, but not bad enough to want to fly alone with William! :)

We'll try to post some fun pictures. I'd love to hear any advice before I travel out of the country for the first time in my life! I am nervous, but really excited. I mean, I've never even imagined going to Japan of all places!

One fun story I thought you all would like. I've already told some of you, but this is from a little boy in our Primary class, 5 years old, and he reminds me of Mark a little. We were singing Popcorn popping on the Apricot tree a couple of weeks ago. He turns to Don and me and said "I feel deep inside of me that this song is millions and millions of years old." We can't stop laughing about it. This is the cutest little kid, really smart. We have a blast in our calling.

Well, love you all. Talk to you soon. Sayonara (I think that means goodbye in Japanese?!)
Amy

Happy Days

We have had a few very happy days lately. The latest of which was today when Luke turned the official "18 months" old and was finally able to stop terrorizing the adults and go play in the nursery. He loved every minute of it. No seperation anxiety at all for this kid. They give you snacks in there!

A few other days were of course the first days of school. The boys love being back in school and Eleanor just adores preschool. Mom of course is happy to have them back learning and making new friends and having some quiet around the house is kind of nice too.

The picture of Luke with his mouth wide open is something we had to capture. Any time he really wants a bite of something he opens his mouth as wide as he can and stares at you until you give him a bite. He loves to eat more than anything in the world. Most of his day is spent contriving ways to get at food.

We are already getting very excited to come home for Christmas. The kids talk about it on a daily basis. We can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa at Mark's baptism.
Love ya,
Amy and family

Old Fulton Street

Jessica asked for some pictures from New York. I didn't take alot, I was planning on getting pictures from everyone else, but here's a good sampling. I wish everyone else could have been there--the sisters and our husbands, and Dad. Think how much fun we would have all had there together. I can't wait for another Petersen vacation sometime!
The first night we were there, we tried to find a supposedly incredible pizza shop called Grimaldi's. We knew it was under the Brooklyn Bridge. So we took the subway to the Brooklyn Bridge and proceeded to walk around for about an hour looking for the restaurant. And, mind you, this was the day we all wore flip flops and our feet were killing us. And it was late, so it was dark out. We finally decided we'd rather pay a taxi to take us there than to walk any further. Plus, we found out that Grimaldi's was actually on the other end of the bridge, so we were really far away still. We stopped four or five cabs...when they heard where we wanted to go, they all drove away and refused to take us. So we had to walk all the way back to the subway station, another half hour walk probably. But we did find the restaurant on our last night there, and it was Yummy! Grimaldi's was on Old Fulton Street, and this picture was obviously taken in the triumph we felt when we finally saw this street sign.

Candy Shop

There was a really cool candy shop where Amy and Angela got some treats for their kids. It was two levels, and the stairs, as you can see, had all sorts of different candies in them. It was a fun place, but expensive.

famous NYC hot dogs

Angela and I tried the hot dogs from a vendor on the street. They were two bucks a piece, and nothing great. Actually, they weren't really even that good. Can you see how small they are? But it was still fun to eat them, and have that New York experience. 

Finding our way around the subway system!

It took some time, but eventually we figured out which subways to take where and it worked well once we figured it out! This was the first day...you can see we were all wearing flip flops. Our feet KILLED after that day, and we all wore more practical shoes after that! Sorry the picture is a bit blurry. 

deet deet

Well well, I was riding in my car today and they said today was August 24th. I then realized that yesterday was August 23rd. Happy Birthday Amy. The title, for those of you who do not know, refers to a game Andrew and I played with Amy's pony tails. We would maker her give us rides on her back, and we would hold the pony tails as reins. Sometimes we would just pull on them twice while saying "deet deet". Anyway, I remember Amy as pretty much an easy going little sister. I recall her running down the street in nothing but skin carrying her swimsuit with her to the White's house. I told her not to go. I love you Amy
Later, Alan

Very yellow

I thought I would add this picture so you can see how very yellow she is. She matches Arics shirt! She is doing really well, back up to her birth weight (5lbs) and bilirubin level is going down. She'll be out of the hospital Thursday or Friday! Yeah!

As you all have probably heard by now, Desiree Kya Petersen was born at 9:08pm on Wednesday Aug 9. She was born six weeks early so she is still in the hospital in the intensive care nursery. She is healthy and doing great. We're not sure when she will be released, but if she continues to do this good, she may only be there a week. We'll have more pictures and info soon.