The G. Low Family Blog: October 2005

Bennett's First Hallowe'en (and my 31st!)

These pictures say it all - we have the cutest pumpkin in the world! We also have some very cute nieces and nephews.

Bennett could simply not believe (look at his expression) there was a night when fools were just giving away candy.

All he is thinking is "Get Candy. Get Candy. Get Candy."

You've gotta love this one of him lounging George Costanza-style. Canada's Next Top (Male) Model! - plus-size, of course.

Hallowe'en Stake Conference

Ok this is one of the reasons why I love living here. Last night we went to the Stake Center for the adult session (does that sound "R" rated to you?) Anyway - I didn't even notice that it was dark - until almost entering the chapel. A tree had fallen over (freak wet heavy snow storms will do that) and knocked down some power lines. We had a back-up generator. But basically no lights. Just little "dimmer" lights in the chapel. People were going to their cars - not to go home mind you - to get their flashlights! Someone had a Coleman lantern in their car (the electric kind) and so that was on the podium. We went ahead with the meeting in a "campfire" like setting. (The half hour I spent trying to find the "perfect" outfit was totally wasted). Conductors (their were 2 special choirs - more on that later) used flashlights/penlight thing-ys so choristers could see them - and people held flashlights, and sometimes even openend their cell phones to shed light on the hymnbook.

The highlight of the evening for me was the Portugese/Spanish Choir. It was a shame it was dark because they dress uniformly (kinda). The women/girls all wore white blouses and had (I think) dark red necklaces. They don't sing very well - if you think tonal uniformity and being musically correct is important. But they are my all-time favorite choir because they sing with all their hearts. They hold nothing back (even when it might be wise to do so). In one song the special accompaniement was the men whistling. I just absolutely loved it. I listened with the biggest smile on my face - wishing I could have seen their faces better (they sing very expressively).

I love living in this Stake because here you have students and faculty at some of the world's best universities, well respected business leaders, (the governor), alongside immigrants who struggle with English and making ends meet. They keep it real. We have 3 great "singles" wards with extremely accomplished individuals who work tirelessly in the stake in many callings. And as different as we all seem to be - there is more that unites us than there is that separates us. And isn't that what the gospel should be about?

Halloween De-Ance!

Last night was my first Halloween Dance as a member of the university ward. It was quite the affair and there were some awesome costumes: Mr Bean, a washer and dryer, a Christmas tree ornament, sushi, a tree and his tree-hugger. The Wellesley girls all went as the four seasons. I was summer and wore this awesome blue and gold dress that I found at the Garment District, which is this totally sketchy second hand shop. You can't see it unless you're pretty close, but it is stained all over the place.

Yesterday afternoon, we girls went to purchase last minute touches and then got ourselves all dolled up. I spent most of my time stitching butterflies onto my dress. By hand - one by one - with curlers in my hair. It was a little tedious. However, I like the final product. Here are a before and an after shot.

From left to right: Charity and Breanna are both Spring (the bubble wrap is rain), I am Summer, Krystal is Fall, and Madison and Katie are Winter. I think that we look pretty good. Krystal's skirt took forever (it's atually a brown skirt of mine that we stitched garland to), but it looks awesome. Man, it got really hot in that polyster dress of mine.

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow!

The weather men were a little off in their predictions for this weekend and our 60 degree Saturday turned out to really be our first snow of the season. Clarke, after coming in from walking to the deli up the street, told me it was snowing - just little flakes. Quickly, the few flurries turned into a constant downpour and our whole world is now white, and the snow is still falling. Looks like all the supermans on Halloween are not only going to be wearing jackets, but snow boots as well. I was actually kind of excited for the snow - as a Californian, this white, cold stuff is always a novelty, no matter how many times I see it fall - but Clarke was a little less excited to be dragged out of the house to take pictures. I guess as a Canadian, Swede, Bostonian snow is just par for the course.

I'm not a frying pan!

Today in Relief Society, I was really touched by a comment one sister made in regards to being an instrument in the Lord's hands. (Men - don't ignore the rest of this blog just because the comment was made in Relief Society.) She said that sometimes we want to be a mixer (it was an object lesson about "instruments") because we feel we would make a really good mixer. It seems so obvious - we have all the apparent qualities to be a mixer. But the Lord has known us for eternity and He knows what we will become and He sometimes calls us to be a frying pan. We think, why am I being called as a frying pan when I would make such a good mixer. We need to be open to what the Lord wants for us, even if we don't think we would make a very good frying pan. The great thing is, in the Lord's hands we become a much better frying pan and do much better things than we would have as a mixer. This comment made me think of a quote by President Benson:

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find that He can make a lot more out of their lives than thay can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whosoever will lose His life to God will find he has eternal life."

My First Institute Exams!

Mom, congrats on the wedding cake. It looks great. Hooray for you is right! (This closing comment only confirms what we already know about mom: she is her own biggest fan).

Somehow when we agreed to go to MIT we must have missed the form whereby I signed my life away to MIT for at least one semester of my first year. Yeah--things have been a little crazy. Three weeks ago I wrote my first two exams as an MIT-student. I think the results can best be summed up as:

Hooray for me!
Boo for me!

The first test--biology--was great. I did really well and was pleased with the result. What I failed to tell you is that biology is a mandatory freshman level biology class. If I didn't do well on that test, then I'd really be in trouble. That kind up sets up the next test.

The second test-thermodynamics--was a graduate level test. Very different from a freshman class. I scored 45% on the test. Now before you start shipping me your remedial engineering books, I should tell you that the class average was 50%. That helped ease the pain a little bit, but a 45% hurts now matter how you look at it.

Well, I'll try to do better next time. As Dorothy said, " I'm not in Kansas anymore." That's certainly true.

My First Wedding Cake!

In an insane moment of weakness last week, I agreed to make a wedding cake for a young African couple in our ward who were getting married today. I stewed and worried all week - started baking the 7 layers on Monday (to freeze)and worked on it almost every day this week. It all came together today and with the help of Amy, Anna and Crystal (Amy's friend from Wellesley) with the flowers. I was really pleased. The bottom layer consisted of 3 chocolate layers with an orange swiss buttercream filling, the middle layer was a spice cake with cream cheese filling and the top layer was a white cake with a raspberry coulis and lemon curd. Yummy! I know because I tried all three layers. Of course, all in the line of duty. I was so pleased because I really did agonize over it all week long. It was so satisfying - especially because it was hard. Hooray for me!

Twins!

Blue (Brooks Brothers) shirts and khaki pants: the uniform of choice for all MIT grads and their sons. Laurie and I died laughing when Clarke and Gordon showed up wearing the same outfit at dinner on Tuesday. Not only the same outfit, but the same exact shirt. (They looked a little funny.) Next time, they should let Morgan and Bennett in on the male dress code.

Desktop Bennet: My Favorite Centerpiece

Keep those pictures of Bennett coming. I can't get enough of his cute little face! Plus, I like having recent pictures of the neph. as my desktop background because it cheers me up everytime I get on my computer.

Like really, how could this not make you happy?

Hey Heather, how about getting us some pictures of Joel. Or, if you don't want to do that, at least post a picture of the poison book I sent you. Beth and Mo would get a kick out of it.

Bennett's First Flames Game

As Morgan mentioned in response to the David Ortiz sighting, we went to a Flames Game with Bennett last night for our Family-Not-At-Home-Evening. While he enjoyed watching all the movement on the glowing ice, he cried like crazy whenever the crowd got too loud (I'm sure those sitting by us were thrilled). Morgan and I were probably the only fans in the 'Dome hoping that the Flames wouldn't score (for non-Calgarians: the crowd goes insane and huge torches of fire ignite when they score-- I was actually kind of scared the first time they scored when I went to a game). Luckily for Bennett, the Flames did not score and lost in a pretty uneventful game against the Phoenix Coyotes (2-0). By the end of the game Bennett was pretty tired and overwhelmed by his first foray into professional sports. This picture is of him after the game (good thing he had his toque made by Jessica to cover his ears and muffle the sound a little, eh?)

FHE with Big Papi

Tonight, Anna and I decided to take FHE to the mall. We drove up to the Burlington Mall and ordered food from Johnny Rockets. In the middle of dinner, our waitress all of a sudden runs out the door screaming, "David Ortiz is in the mall!" Anna and I, being the level-headed, unimpressed people that we are, quickly left out seats, food, and coats (which had my wallet in it), to chase after the Red Sox legend. We ran down to the RainForest Cafe (?!) only to find David Ortiz in the stuffed animal section (?!). I guess when you're 6'6" and almost 300 pounds you have a licence to do whatever you want to. I got a little teary-eyed standing so close to the man who single-handedly brought the Red Sox back from the grave last postseason. This marks the first time we've ever had a professional major league baseball player at FHE. If only we had a camera phone!

Bennett overload?

Just this morning I woke up and thought, "I should post some pictures of Bennett on the ol' Family Blog-- it's been a while." I could not have known that Dad had posted like 40 of him just recently. Anyway, here are some more. I hope it's not overkill. This should hold you, Heather, for a good while!

Here is Bennett in his new chair made possible by the generous donations of his grandparents. He thinks it is very comfy and loves to play catch with his mom in it. It's also great for nursing, telling stories, and winding down before going to sleep. Thank you!

Here's a close-up. It's still not close enough to see that the print on the chair is of little bumble-bees.

Bennett has his own Bumbo chair now. Granted, he'll only be able to squeeze into it for a couple more months, but we thought it could come in handy for future siblings too. Here he is as our favorite centerpiece. I also plop him in it on top of the vanity while I blow-dry my hair and do my makeup. How else is he going to gain an appreciation of the everyday mundane chore of grooming we girls go through?

Bennett has just started eating solids. He doesn't really understand why I put the spoon in his mouth or what the purpose of that white stuff is, but at least he doesn't put up a fight. I'm not too worried that he's not going hog-wild for Rice cereal. He doesn't look like he needs to eat more, does he?