Died and Gone to Santa Barbara

Happy New Year to everyone! We celebrated the 1st day of 2009 with a road trip, and we fell in love with a new city—Santa Barbara. I haven’t instantaneously loved a city like this since Santa Fe. Hmmm…I just noticed the Spanish holy name connection between the two cities, but then again that’s not really much of a coincidence in the Southwestern U.S., is it? Anyway, Santa Barbara is one of those charming cities where I start rearranging our life plans to figure out how to end up there. I don’t have a solution yet, since apparently you have to be independently wealthy or willing to endure a hellish commute. Since neither scenario is likely, I may just have to settle for a few day trips here and there.




Kieran turns three this week, and we’re still pushing the potty training hard. I know we should probably just hold off a little longer, but he seems so close at times. That is, until he wets his pants, and then he doesn’t seem so close any longer. He has started replying to our questions with “What!?” or “Yep” and “Uh-huh.” He pointed out to me today that he was breathing. He often proudly announces his, shall we say, less subtle bodily functions, but I was impressed that he knew what it meant to breath.


Haven is now nine months old and is crowned our “good eater.” She’ll eat just about anything she can get her hands on—cat food, paper in the recycling bin, you name it. She has 7 teeth and will soon be competing with Kieran for the official “hair farmer” title.

Last month, Ryan’s story, “Such Great Heights,” was published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. Not only was it the longest work of fiction they’ve published, but it was also awarded the Best Fiction of the Year prize. If you don't have a subscription to Dialogue (which I'm guessing is everyone-except Aunt Becky and Uncle Brent) and would like to read the story, I'd be happy to send you the PDF.