First Time Swimming!

Please notice the little chin quiver. Sorry there is no sound.

Parties!

It's been a week of partying. Marshall Family Party, Abe's Big BBQ, Mormon Times Party, Evans Cousin Party, and other cabin partying. Sweet, sweet summer. Thanks to everyone who came to Abe's Summer Party! And we missed all of you who couldn't make it!


Thanks for the shades Tia P!


Little Hammie with Malas


Hammer with Isabelle and Joaquin Barrios


"Uhhh . . .Dad? I'm not so sure about this swimming thing."


Abe hanging out with Whitney Tibbs




And Abraham literally met his match last week . . . his new friend Lincoln!

Like Father like son, like Mother like son

Everyone asks us who he looks like . . . we think he's a pretty good mix.

A Dark Night Indeed, for the Cinematic Future

I suppose I should preface this post with a confession and an expectation. Confession: I have not seen The Dark Knight. Expectation: Most people who have seen it will not like what I’m about to say.

I’ve been fascinated watching the marketing, reading the early reviews, and seeing the masses reaction to The Dark Knight. Two things I’ve found in these observations: it’s an amazing movie, and, its name speaks for itself.

TIME Magazine’s Richard Corliss said that director Christopher Nolan wants audiences to “stick their hand down the rat hole of evil to see if they get bitten,” adding that it was "black" and "toxic." He also said it was “puzzling” that the movie received a PG-13 rating due to the “mayhem and torture wreaked by saint and scum.” He finished the review saying that it would “haunt you.” But he still loved the movie. Others have echoed this sentiment. RT critics called it “terrifiying” and said that they've never seen something push the PG-13 envelope like this. The Boston Globe wrote that audiences will "come away impressed, oppressed, provoked, and beaten down." Our own Jeff Vice also wondered whether the dark film merited its PG-13 rating. Despite this talk about darkness, mayhem and torture, the critics love it, almost unanimously. And it shows. Batman is at 94% on the RT-Meter. That is very rare for any film, let alone a summer action flick.

The masses have had a similar reaction. One man told USAToday that he wished there had been a disclaimer saying what exactly was in the film for his kid’s sake. Another woman went expecting a comic book movie, not a film noire. She also said it should have earned an R rating. A theater critic went to see it, and said she left feeling edgy, yelling at her friend, "driving like a bat out of somewhere, and needed something sweet to eat." But they still loved it. Generally, the general public loves it. And it shows. Batman broke a weekend box office record this weekend, raking in $155 million dollars. A blockbuster overnight.

That’s what is disturbing to me. It seems that we are calling evil good and good evil (Isa. 5:20). We’re praising something that depicts torture, violence, and destruction. The film's attraction may have something to do with what Joseph Conrad called the “fascination with abomination.” Christopher Nolan knows how to suck us into a thought-provoking storyline, as he proved with The Prestige and Batman Begins. He moves beyond the physical and enters the psychological. His action sequences stimulate the heart while his plots wrap around the mind. He owns his audience. And on that note, I'm certain The Dark Knight would captivate, entertain and grip me if I were to see it. I'm just not sure that's a good thing. That's been a major part of my conflict over all of this. I want to see it; it really looks amazing. But how can I consciously go see something after reading the above critics' reactions? If someone who watches movies for a living, and has most likely become desensitized to anything Hollywood can throw at them, calls it "black" or "toxic" or says that you'll be "beaten down" by seeing it, why should I feel invulnerable?

The Dark Knight has successfully received a PG-13 rating because there is no graphic violence or excessive amounts of profanity. Kidsinmind.com went pretty easy on it, rating it closer to Prince Caspian and Spider-man than anything else. And if you read the MPAA’s justification, you’ll see that it has this rating due to “intense sequences of violence and some menace.” But, from what I’ve read, from the short clips and previews I’ve seen, and from the other films of his, I can predict the kind of spirit that the film thrives on. As one critic put it, "The carnage here is felt, not seen. But oh, how we feel it. The camera may blink, but your mind's eye doesn't. The Joker forces us to imagine every cut and tear. And frankly, I think I squirmed more through Knight than through the splatter-happy Saw IV. Why? The violence here feels more real, visceral ... painful." The devil doesn’t even need a mask anymore. It appears he’s running rampant throughout the film, with a smeared, bloody-red smile. I’m sure Nolan and Heath Ledger didn’t make the movie under conscious supervision from the devil. I’m just perplexed that we all love it and want more of it. PG-13 means less to me than it ever has. This opened the rating up for a whole new pack of possibilities. The devil sure was patient. I wonder if he planned, decades ago, for something so innocent and friendly as Batman -- with its lunch boxes, underwear, Saturday morning cartoons, and really bad Joel Schumacher movies -- to spawn The Dark Knight.
Look how far we've come.
Okay, this one is even better.

Squishy Face Smiles

Abraham smiles. And he's not four weeks old yet. We have yet to capture his full-fledged, ear-to-ear smile on camera. But here's a teaser.




In this picture, he fell asleep while eating. He's such a squish. Such a fantastic squish.

On a totally unrelated note, everybody, especially bloggers, should read and apply this talk. More to come on that subject.

"What a Wonderful Man"

That's what my mom said when she saw this picture of my handsome husband.



Yesterday, Andrew had a recital for his cello students. He's a wonderful teacher. Imagine the challenge to get six boys between the ages of 8 and 14 excited about playing the cello! But that's just what he does. He does it first by example- each of those boys knows that Andrew is enthusiastic about music, and the cello. He also teaches them how to make cool animal sounds using different parts of the cello (he can also make it look and sound like he's taking a bite out of his cello!). How does he get an 8th grader to be excited about Bach? Every lesson he draws a picture for him that shows the boy and Bach doing something fun together- fishing, going to a movie, even going to the moon! The boys and the parents love Andrew. They'd bend over backwards to keep Andrew as a teacher. I've even been trying to save up enough money to afford him as a teacher!



Playing the "Indiana Jones" theme as the encore of the recital.

Transformations

Three weeks old. 10 lbs. 23 inches. Happy and healthy.
Our boy is changing fast. It's been amazing. As Abe transforms physically in leaps and bounds, I've felt a spiritual transformation take place in me.

My testimony of the Atonement, and gratitude for it, has increased each day since Ariel gave birth to our DLF. The cleansing power of the Atonement is seen in its purity in Abraham's beautiful eyes. I'm grateful for the suffering and pain Christ passed through for children, that they might come into this world unscathed from sin. I'm grateful for the knowledge that "the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins" (Mosiah 3:16). I've learned more about perfection and how to be more like the Son by observing my son than I ever thought possible. Christ loves children so much, and I feel that love as I hold little Abraham.

My testimony of the Plan of Happiness has also increased 10-fold in the last three weeks as I've witnessed it unfold in my life. One reason being that I've never been happier, and couldn't be happier! This little soul has brought the greatest joy into mine and Ariel's lives. And not only that, but life now has more purpose, more reason, and more responsibility than ever before. And I love it. Bringing life into the world has caused me to recognize how small I am, and how great God is. I've never felt so close to Heavenly Father and His plan. This is living like I never dreamed. Life just gets better. Ariel and Abraham are my life.

We love our little boy. He's worth every diaper change, every spit-up, and every middle-of-the-night-I-miss-my-mommy-and-daddy-and-need-to-sleep-in-their-bed
-and-then-I'll-stop-grunting moment.

Pictures and News

Pensive Abe. His nostril size is directly proportional to how hard he's cogitating. We think he's having a heavenly vision in this moment.


Hammie's first trick, sleeping on the shoulder.

Here's a recent story Andrew wrote for the Mormon Times, where he's working this summer. It's about our experience working as inner-city missionaries for the past 18 months.
More baby pictures soon. He sure grows fast!
Click here to read the story.

Waking Up

Bath Time

Our sweet boy never cries- not even at bath time! in fact, we think he likes it!
Also, if anyone has any recommendations on books about parenting, childcare, baby-care, etc. I'd appreciate it!