Kris + Babies = ♥ Melt

Kris loves babies!

He has helped us welcome 3 new little ones into the family in the last 2 years:

 

Jill Paige

May 2011

 

 

Avery Joy

July 2011 

 

 

William Davis

June 2013

 

 

 

He also likes to hang out with his older great-nieces and nephews.

 

Especially if it involves ice cream!

 

Of course I was pretty excited to tell him that TWO more babies are on the way!

His reaction was not at all what I expected:

 

Kris (looking very serious and rubbing his chin): What do you think about that?

 

Me: It's wonderful news!

 

Kris: What does your husband think about that?

 

Me: He's excited too. What do you think about it?

 

Kris: Well, my dad would be madder than hops. And my mom too.

 

I know it's serious when he brings both dad and mom into the conversation.

 

Me: Why do you think they would be mad? I'm pretty sure they're happy too!

 

Kris: My dad, he thinks that's too many.

 

Aha, a clue! It hasn't been very long since we were all together in Utah with the usual mayhem and chaos. My guess is that's what he's thinking about, but I'm pretty sure when he meets the new little ones he will be just as tender and loving as always.

 

We'll just make sure we have an extra ice cream run or two with the entire motley crew.

 

Bonus Picture:

♥ Melt

One Giant Leap

I remember Mom telling me that about every 2 years or so Kris would make some major progress in an area of maturation. When he moved here he stepped up to all the changes in his life and made the transition much more easily that I had anticipated. I was so proud of him!

We have a routine on Thursdays:
          1. After breakfast we change the sheets on his bed and he takes all his laundry downstairs.
          2. He showers and shaves, and then I wash and dry his hair and trim his nails.
          3. He puts all (1,956) of his books and magazines in nice piles on his bed, takes out his trash and shakes his rug, so that Bertha can come in his room and clean.
          4. Most Thursdays he will run errands and grocery shop with me, and we almost always make a stop for his choice of fast food.

The first few months he put up a bit of a fuss about numbers 1-3, but since it was going to happen anyway I think he just gave up and decided to humor me.

Today, for the 3rd week in a row, when I arrived home from Seminary he had already changed the sheets on his bed and taken his shower, and was waiting with the shampoo and blow dryer for me to shampoo his hair! It made me supremely happy that he was taking on some of the responsibility for himself.

Last night he was watching Keven put polish on his shoes and started talking about how he had polished shoes for Mr. Jim at the barber shop in Gresham. And about all the money he made - hundreds and thousands of dollars! Keven invited his help, and after only a moment of hesitation Kris jumped in and buffed the shoes so well that Keven was happy to give him a five dollar bill. Which of course meant that first thing this morning Kris booked it down to Circle K for some Dr Pepper and a sandwich. He was a supremely happy young man. So was Keven - this was the first time Kris responded so willingly and quickly to something Keven has asked of him, and it meant a lot.

Hat Trick

I love these pictures of Kris in the cool hat he picked out when we visited Heritage Park last week. It provided some protection from the blazing sun. He wore it again on Friday when we went to the Hogle Zoo, another Texas-hot day in SLC.

 

Somewhere between the Orangutans and the Merry-Go-Round he lost the hat. I found him sitting at a table rubbing his eyes and very sad because it was gone.  Happily, Heritage Park is across the street from the zoo so we went right back to the gift shop and picked up another one. Smiles!

 

The next morning we had one last hurrah with everyone at the Black Bear Diner for breakfast before heading home to El Paso. Kris was wearing his hat when we went into the restaurant and then set it on the table beside him while eating. As we were leaving Brei reminded him to get his hat. He stared at it and said, "I've never seen that before."

 

Ah, Kris!

Easter

Kris was thrilled to find an Easter basket with his name on it, and he had a lot of fun searching for eggs with Mary Louise. 

I love that Kris gets so excited about Easter. He talks about egg hunts and Easter baskets full of surprises and candy for weeks in advance. Even more important to him, though, are all the television movies depicting the life of Jesus Christ. Along with

 his standard soaps and cooking shows he has been watching religious features such as 'Ben Hur', 'The Ten Commandments', and 'The Bible' endlessly.

When our home teacher was sharing some thoughts about the atonement and the crucifixion Kris quickly shared his own, pulling Charlton Heston and Mel Gibson into the conversation.

Last week I heard an announcement coming from the TV in his room that went something like: "You are watching the Trinity Broadcasting station, for people who love Jesus."

Immediately I heard Kris say with great sincerity and reverence, "Oh, I DO love Jesus. I DO."

And I know he does.

Habemus Papam!

 

The first few months Kris was here he would occasionally attend church with us. People were friendly and he seemed to enjoy their attention, but one morning he announced that he was Catholic and didn't go to our church. We found that a very clever way of letting us know that he was no longer interested in coming with us.

 

Wednesday I watched a little bit of the news regarding the new pope while at the office, with my friend Karen, a very devout Catholic. It was wonderful to see her heartfelt happiness and joy. Upon returning home that afternoon I asked Kris what he thought of the new pope.

 

Kris: That man talks too much; I can't understand him. Made me miss my soaps.

Me: Did you know that he's the new leader for the Catholic church?

Kris: That man talks too much. I couldn't understand anything. I don't use that language.

Me: Oh, I thought you would be happy because you're Catholic.

Kris: Not the same. He made me miss my soaps.

 

Timing is everything!

 

 

 

Christmas Notes

First on the scene to help us celebrate Christmas was the Bunker family. 

Jill & Kris wasted no time getting into a deep conversation.

He loved showing her his special "Chia" ornament before hanging it on the tree

We were also privileged to have Sonja, Julie & Pierre spend a whole week with us, which meant much eating of good food. Kris was never opposed to heading off to a restaurant for a meal! He was also a lot of help with running last minute errands with his nieces.

Christmas Eve dinner: traditional tamales, refried beans, Spanish rice, queso & tres leches cake. No complaints from Kris!

No complaints either when he opened his  toasty-warm fleece guitar pajamas from Sonja later that night!

~ ~ ~

Kris was thrilled with every single gift he opened, and enjoyed the festivities of the morning. It wasn't too long though before he had gathered up his gifts and taken them up to his room.

~ ~ ~

The day after Christmas Ayrel, Avery & Miki drove from Tucson to add to the fun; the next day Ben made a surprise 24-hour-7th Anniversary! appearance.  Kris was happy to be part of the adult group that went to see "Les Miserables" and had lunch at the State Line. 

The following night we had a fajita party with close to 30 people. He made a brief appearance and then retreated to his room. I think the larger crowds are a bit overwhelming for him, but all in all he did a great job of participating and interacting through the holidays.

Today, out of the blue, he started talking about his nieces and nephews and how much his mother and father love them. Translation: how much HE loves them!

Blowin' in the Wind

Yesterday it was time. 

Even though the leaves still crunched in a most satisfying way beneath our feet, the time had come to take rake in hand and corral all 32,659,487 of the golden crispy critters into the side yard to be mulched.

Me: Kris, would you like to come and help me clean up the leaves in the yard??!
Kris: NO THANKS. In Gresham I already did that.
Me: Well, would you want to use the leaf blower or the rake?
Kris: Leaf blower is just fine.

After a few simple instructions I turned him loose. He had more fun blowing leaves all over the place while I raked away. He had even more fun than that aiming the blower at me anytime I was in range.

Once he saw how I was dumping the pails of leaves into the side yard he started making a great effort to aim the leaves in that general area. An hour of good hard work from Kris was a lot of fun, and made a difference!

(And I'm not the only one who is grateful!)