Chapman

Caci is preparing to chronicle the past couple of weeks. Until that is ready, let me recommend viewing the documentary “Zeitgeist.” For many, I recommend the whole movie–however, because the first section (one of three) may confuse/offend some, I am posting a link to sections two and three only. I highly recommend viewing this docufilm. I am not into conspiracy theories… this short, however, overcomes much of the “hysteria” and “hype” that usually proceeds those accompanying Zeitgeist in its genre. In fact, a BYU physics professor is highlighted often in the film. Again, we highly recommend viewing this film. View parts two and three here…

WOW! We haven’t blogged in FOREVER! A ton has happened in this long absence and I will not be able to remember even 70% of it, but I will do my best! Trevor’s family has been wanting to move down to the lower 48 ever since Jace was born and Brooke moved away to college so they have been looking at job offers to see where they would like to go. They found a really great job working at Lake Meade Tours in Nevada so they flew down to see if it was the job for them. While they were down, they drove to California to see us and it was so fun! They were only down for a weekend retreat, but we packed as much as we could into those few days! We shopped, played games, and stayed up way late every night. The highlight was going to Six Flags where I was AMAZED that Dad Chapman was able to go on EVERY ride that Brooke and I went on!!! He was incredible! He scoffed at Goliath and Batman, but when he got on the “X” he said he was going to be sick. We thought he was going to have a heart attack and were very worried about him but after about a five minute breather he was ready for more! Nothing for the rest of the day fazed him, not even Superman or the newest roller-coaster, Tatsu.

It was way fun to have Mom Chapman there because she took care of Jace the whole time and I didn’t have to worry a thing about him. Usually we have to devise a strategic rotation system where we drag him in his stroller up all the winding stairs and then pass him over the rails between the two groups and synchronize who will go and how they will get back to grab him before the next group of people rides. It was such a treat to have Mom Chapman there! He had a great time with Grandma playing in the water misters, drinking from his water bottle, and watching people. Mom Chapman hasn’t been able to go on rides ever since she hit her head and was life lighted to Seattle last winter so she didn’t get to go on the rides; total bummer.

A huge thing for me while they were here was my jaunt into the world of electrocution. When Trevor, Davy, Mikey, and I went to Santee Alley last summer in LA Trevor bought all these little toy gags that give you a volt of electricity if a button is pushed (like a toy gun or bottle of perfume). We gave Dad the bottle of perfume and told him to smell it. He pushed it and received quite a shock. We had already shocked mom and Trevor had shocked himself over a hundred times, so everyone decided it was my turn to enter the club. I was TERRIFIED out of my MIND but finally did it. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be and I even shocked myself four times that night just for good measure. We tried various ways of shocking ourselves and each other like by holding hands in a circle and then completing the circuit. If you want a Russian Roulette sort of rush, try that! It is so nerve wracking! Trevor kept running around chasing Brooke trying to shock her and she about had a fatal heart attack from fear.

That next weekend Davy came out because he was competing in the National FCCLA competition. He won for Utah and had the opportunity to compete with kids from all over America and even some from abroad. He won with his “For the Mother’s” project where he has been working in my Dad’s granite business to make money which he gives to single mothers to help them pay for their child care. It is a fantastic program and he WON! He won the NATIONAL competition!! Goooooo DAVY! Anyway, we had a great time while he was with us. The first night a bunch of the guys came over and they had an all night long Halo competition. They got there at midnight and did not sleep (or even take bathroom breaks) until they left at 3:00pm the next day. Those boys sure can play! I dragged Davy away at around noon so we could go shopping. If Davy plays Halo as well as he can shop, that boy has got skills! We returned home 4 hours later with a wardrobe fit for the best dressed boy in school.

The next weekend the rest of my family came down to go to the beach and visit. It just happened that their visit coincided with another big Halo party Trevor was having so we played all day at the beach and then crashed at the hotel while the boys crashed at our apartment. We went down to Santa Monica beach in LA and mom had the time of her LIFE! She was boogie boarding the WHOLE time and didn’t even come in for drinks! She was the only mom out there riding the waves and she was so cute! My dad also got his fill of boogie boarding and probably was only out boarded by my mom. He paid for his playing, though, because his belly was BURNED to a CRISP the next day. It looked SOOOOOOO painful!!! I can not believe we didn’t have a camera at the beach—no pictures, sorry! That night we went to this authentic Mexican restaurant that my dad found (it was SOOOOOOOOO good!) and then played games at the hotel and watched Man vs. Wild. The next day the family went to church with us and my mom left with a Relief Society room full of new friends. That girl is such a social butterfly!

The next day we all went down to Long Beach to the Aquarium of the Pacific where, again, my mom had the time of her life petting the sharks, sting rays, and all sorts of other sea life. Gabe was a lifesaver and packed Jace around the entire time so I could enjoy it. He is such a sweet and thoughtful boy! We then looked for a “dive” to eat at and my dad once again found a great little restaurant on the outskirts of Long Beach where I had the best pastrami sandwich of my life. They left that night to return to an electricity-less St. George. There have been major fires in Southern Utah and they burned through the power lines and rendered the entire valley powerless for many hours. They thought the city was going to be shut down for at least two days but they were able to get everything under control again after 5 or 6 hours. That is really good because there are SO many old people there that could have died from heat exhaustion without their air conditioning i

n the 110 degree weather.

The next Wednesday was the 4th of July so Trevor and I had a barbecue with just the three of us. Trevor made his world famous stakes and I made a flag cake and other barbecue essentials. We had our feast at the barbecue by the pool and we were pleased to see some of our friends from the ward celebrating there, too. Keanu, a little black boy in our ward, loved Jace and the cake. It was cute to see him play with Jace and try to carry him. We then drove to the Rose Bowl and watched the largest fireworks display in all of Southern California; it was gorgeous.

That Friday the boys came back for yet another Halo party and then Saturday Trevor and I went to Hungry Valley which is this huge off-roading vehicle national park. We took the doors off the Jeep and had the time of our lives going over death defying obstacles. There were tons of other jeeps, 4-wheelers, dune buggies, and dirt bikes there and some of those dirt bikers are CRAZY! It was really really sweet because Trevor was going over some crazy stuff but I took off my seat belt and stood up through the roof so it was like I was on a roller coaster and Jace about lost it. He started screaming and crying and looking at me frantic because he knew I wasn’t being safe. It was SO sweet! He was worried about me! He knew I was in danger and he didn’t want me to do it! So, finally, I sat down and Jace stopped crying; it was very sweet.

I know I forgot a lot, but that is the bulk of it! Oh, yeah, Jace got his shots a couple days ago so he had measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, and one other disease and he was miserable. His temperature rose to 104 degrees and we were really worried, but I just kept giving him Tylenol and just held him for 3 days straight and so now he is fine. He was really brave and only cried on the third shot; he is such a man!

Now, for Jace’s tricks. He is so cute when he sleeps now because he is like a little puppy. He will crawl around in circles until he breaks in the spot on the bed he wants to sleep on and then finally plop down on his belly and conks out. He has discovered the toilet and if anyone ever leaves the bathroom door open, he will immediately sense it, bee line to the toilet, pull his little body up over the toilet rim, and splash as much and as fast as he can before I come running in to douse him with antibacterial soap. He also LOVES showers now. If anyone takes a shower, he will come crawling in and bang on the glass until you open it and, preferably, let him in. Today he learned how to open the glass door himself, so I guess that is the end of private showers.

He really really wants to stand so for the past week or so he has been practicing. We have to watch him 100 percent of the time because he will all of a sudden let go of whatever he is holding onto and free-fall flat on his face trying to keep his balance. Whenever I go to pick him up, he just grabs my fingers and starts trying to walk with his Hitler Army walk. He puts his legs directly out and plops it down with these gigantic steps. It is so funny to see his fat little legs being so precise. He has also figured out how to bang spoons against cake pans and will just sit in the kitchen for 20 minutes banging away. It is really interesting when I make the bed in the morning because he thinks it is HILARIOUS! As soon as I begin pulling the sheets up, he will start giggling and by the time I am tucking the comforter in, he is crawling around the bed as fast as he can, laughing in hysterics. I don’t get it, but I laugh my head off the whole time, too, because he is so funny! He also thinks it is hilarious when I sort the laundry and he will just giggle like crazy every time I put the article of clothing in its respective pile. He is so sweet because he will just crawl around after me all day as I do my chores. He doesn’t cry when I leave a room, he just drops whatever he is doing, follows me out, and then starts playing with something new in the place I am currently in. He especially loves it when I am putting the dishes in the dishwasher because he will pull his chubby little body up on the lowered door and bang around with spoons on the plates and other utensils. His greatest tool of communication is laughter and he will just giggle to get our attention and then laugh at whatever we are doing. He also loves to dance. Whenever music will come on, he will start rocking back and forth and head banging. He usually will fall down at that point and will rock on his diaper, bop his head to the music and just beam and look around to see if we are dancing, too. If he doesn’t notice the music, we will just start dancing like he does, and then we will join in, and dance, too. He is so cute!!

“Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.” - Plato