Reminds me of my mission...

Cambridge Wards new sister missionary.

Sister Kinjo from Japan, standing proudly at 4 feet 9 inches.

Deja Vu.

a little bitta this, a little bitta that, then some more-a this

a little bitta this:

there is an elderly sister in our ward whose name is heather. she dyes her hair bright red, she's legally blind, and she wears very blue eyeshadow...and a lot of it. every sunday we meet in the hall to tell each other that heather just happens to be the best name ever. last week she told me she found a poem about the name heather that reminded her of me. she was so excited as she handed me the envelope. later, i read these words, "heather--her feet are planted firmly in the air. dreamy, disorganised and rarely punctual, her scatterbrained style is reedemed by her loveable nature." i think that was supposed to be a compliment. i think.

a little bitta that:amidst packing, cleaning and preparing for a new adventure, i've also found myself baby-sitting quite a lot this week. t loved having kev-dawg over to play. i attempted to pack...although as soon as i put something in the box the two boys took it out. oh well, at least they were entertained.

those big blue eyes are so blue. love 'em.

those big brown eyes are so brown. love 'em too.

p.s. everything is a phone these days.

a little more-a this:

today was a really crazy day (which fit in quite nicely to our insanely busy week in this awkwardly busy month), and i mean it. the mr.'s and i ran around town all day with breaks that were few and far between. we were packing, delivering loads of stuff to charity shops, entertaining, serving, grocery shopping, home teaching (me and t were jim's comps!) and walking, no, running, to get it all done. by the time we finally made it to our casa at 7:30 pm we literally fell onto the couch, unable to move from exhaustion.

BUT, just then there was a knock on the door and there was sister clarke with one of her totally famous carrot cakes all for us. i asked her for the recipe a while back, and she brought us a whole cake gorgeously decorated with vanilla frosting and chocolate shavings. and just in case you're wondering, i've eaten at least 3 slices already...and will eat more soon...and it's amazing.

sister clarke brought cake, yes, but more importantly she brought love. her love and Heavenly Father's love. life may be crazy, but it's good crazy. and sister clarke helped me know that we are moving in the right direction.

now i think i'll head in the direction of that cake. again.

ConGRADS Fiesta

Last night we had the Ellises and Lewises (plus a few of the single students) over for a goodbye/conGRADS fiesta. The year is coming to an end, and I will miss these amazing friends more than anything! There was lots of Mexican food, tons of conversation and laughing and at the end, a few sad goodbyes (Katherine and Baby Verla Roberta are leaving tomorrow...the rest of us have a few weeks. PS--I don't think Katherine has bought into our name choice yet!)

Us with me taking the picture.

Us with Rob taking the picture.

These are the graduate cupcakes I made for the fiesta. They were featured in one of my incredible cupcake books, and I am really happy with how they turned out. They tasted good too, which was a miracle since I ran out of white flour and had to use half wheat!

***

Until Lake Winnipesaukee...love ya'lls!

Bathing Baby Beauty

Big brown eyes.

Perfectly shaped eyebrows.

Blonde hair...

growing longer everyday.

10 cute teeth...

more on the way.

Goofy sweet smile.

Cheeks like marshmallows.

Delicious puckery lips.

Look at those ears?

Love them!

Crazy farmer's tan.

Likes to splash.

Drinks bath water.

Eats the shampoo.

Plays with his boat.

Signs all done.

Bathtime is fun.

May Bumps

Cambridge might be home to some of the greatest minds in the world, but I think it's about time someone bought them a calendar. On Friday, JUNE 13 we walked down to the River Cam to watch MAY bumps (AKA civilized bumper boats). Supposedly there is reason to their madness, like students studying for exams in May, but why not just call it June Bumps? Oh well. Since no one asked my opinion, May Bumps it stays.

The boats (each college in Cambridge University has one) start a few seconds apart, with the first boat rowing like heck away from the next boat. The second boat rows like heck from the third, and so on. If a boat bumps the one in front of it, they both pull over to the edge of the river. The bumper goes up in the standings, and the bumpee goes down. It's pretty entertaining, and since it's been occurring anually since 1827 (yep, before California was even a state) I'm guessing the three little Wiggy's aren't the only people who think so.

When a boat bumps another boat, the bumpers get to put shrubbery in their hair or clothes or wherever they want. I guess it's their way of making the bumpees green with envy. Ha!

Talmage was not about to let us put leaves or grass in his hair, but of course he ate both leaves and grass. When does the eat-everything-I-see-even-if-it's-totally-nasty stage end? Hopefully soon. We loved sitting by the river to be entertained, and luckily the weather cooperated. Happy May Bumps everyone...and happy June!

Ear Infection and MOTYA

Talmage has an ear infection and I won the Mother of the Year Award. Let me tell ya all about it.

This was Talmage on Sunday. He cried and screamed and drooled the whole day through. He was feisty and angry. He didn't want to eat and he wouldn't sleep. He was inconsolable. Period.

You see that finger in his mouth? What does that mean to you? Let me tell you what it meant to me--T was teething, again. Sure enough, I checked his mouth and some big, gnarly molars were poking through his gums. We had done this before. We hugged him tight, but it was pretty much business as usual around the Wiggy Casa.

T screamed and arched his back through Daddy's International Studies garden party. Still, I assumed it was due to teething. "You're OK," I repeated to Talmage again and again.

He also ran around like a maniac through Mommy's Relief Society evening. I blamed it on exhaustion, due mostly to teething. Of course. "You're fine," I said over and over.

Let's just get right down to the nitty gritty. After four days of misery, T developed an awful fever today. I made an appointment with the doctor, and took my hot little baby into her office. She was shocked as she looked into his ear and saw that it was horribly infected and the ear drum was bulging. She is afraid it will burst at any moment and started him on antibiotics. Yep, that's when we learned it. T has an ear infection and I won the Mother of the Year Award. Good game Heath, good game. We brought him home and basically let him eat what he wanted, do what he wanted and climb on the couch/windowsill as many times as he wanted. It's the least we could do considering we forced him to attend all of our functions all week, with an ear infection no less.

Poor thing is sleeping like an angel upstairs, and I'm once again feeling like a negligent parent downstairs. Asi es la vida. The sicky pictures are way too sad, so I thought I'd share a few cute pics of T in happier days.

We had a BBQ with a family in the ward and these little cuties enjoyed the pool the whole time. Mr. Independent (I have no idea where he gets that trait!) wouldn't let anyone hold his hands, so the girls were constantly on the lookout. He thought he could swim a few times, but overall he just splashed about.

What a cute little fishy in the pool! He had so much fun and it made me so excited for a summer full of swimming.

Our Oxcellent Day in Oxford

We spent Saturday in Oxford, mostly because I did not want to leave this country without visiting our "rival" universities turf. Call me biased (or maybe call me tired) but we spent a few hours in the city and then were more than ready to come home to our beautiful, delightful, picturesque Cambridge. In my opinion, Oxford is almost a perfect mix of Cambridge and London. It's a big city (especially compared to our little cow town), but it still has the history and colleges. BUT, it was WAY less family friendly (this coming from me--and you've heard my stories of Cambridge's family friendliness) which is always a major turnoff. Despite everything, we had a wonderful day exploring a new city with the fam.

The gorgeous Christ Church College which is Oxford's largest and most well-known college.


Jim posing with a statue at the Bodleian Library. We enjoyed the courtyard and one little room, but pushchairs and children are not allowed in the actual library...bummer.


Jimmy James and Mr. T in a deep blue Lotus...which they both tell me is a really spectacular car. Who knew?

The round reading room. Say that five times fast.

As we are walking towards Pembroke College, Oxford Jim says, "Wow, that Pembroke is a lot bigger than my Pembroke. I'm starting to feel insecure!"

There was an awesome little petting zoo outside the Oxford Castle. T LOVED seeing the animals, and touching them too. It got us both really excited for the Cali State Fair this summer!

Me: Where is the famous pub you wanted me to see? (referring to The Eagle and Child where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien would eat, read and discuss their works)

Jim: It's the one up there with the bird picking up baby Tommage.

The Wigginton Three after walking, no, running home from the bus station in a crazy, random Summer (almost) rain storm. The drops of water were so large they hurt and the three of us were completely and utterly drenched.

Wet.

Really wet.

Wet also, but mostly just cute.

As you can see, he is copying Daddy's tongue-face!