D&B Smith Family Adventures

Month to Month

2012-01-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

So, this is one of the reasons why I have been determined to take pictures of Lynlee each month:

just a few hours

one month

two months

three months

four months

five months

six months

seven months

eight months

nine months

ten months

eleven months

twelve months

To see how she has grown!

Happy Birthday Lynlee!

2012-01-26T18:49:00.000-08:00

I know I have not been the best at putting pictures up lately, so here is what you have all been waiting for. Lots of pictures.
(I even forgot to put up an 11 month post for Lynlee, so that will be included here too.)

So the biggest news as far as what Lynlee has been learning so far, is that she is now a walker. Actually, she is starting to be a runner. :) She took her first steps at 10 1/2 months and was walking all over pretty much by 11 months.

She has started saying a few words here and there: hi, bye, yeah, mama, dada, daddy, and ah-dah (all done).

She is starting to really like reading books with mom and dad and loves anything that she can take in/out of containers.

11 months old

Enjoying one of her favorite foods

We had a little birthday celebration for her yesterday. I knew the whole day was off to a great start when Lynlee slept in and we got to go wake her up with a birthday song:

The day was pretty normal, but Lynlee did get to open a few presents thanks to grandma! and mom and dad! (We gave her the quiet book that I finished a little while ago, and she love it!)

Then we ended it with the classic go-to-town-on-a-piece-of-cake-in-your-highchair. She was a little tentative at first, mostly I think because we have never put a piece of food that big on her tray before. But after a little bit discovered the frosting. And that was about it, to be honest. I was expecting her to have it everywhere by the time we were done, but she must not have seen the same vision we had.

I still am amazed how quickly this last year has gone by. We are so happy to have Lynlee in our lives and look forward to the next years!

crock pot veggie lasagna

2012-01-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I have put a recipe up here, and actually I think I am a contributing author on a few recipe blogs with friends and family, but this is just too good not to share with everyone that I know. Also, this is something that not only I, but my family loves, so I need to remember it for the future.

It's a recipe that I pretty much made up, but again, it's a lasagna, so there's not a whole lot of room for creativity.

Also, for those of you who do not want to make it in a crock pot, I am sure you can and it would be great. You just need to prepare your noodles before hand and maybe cook the veggies a little longer. I was very intrigued by the idea of skipping that step and letting it all happen at once. And I feel like this lasagna holds up really well because the noodles get all of their moisture from the sauce. It is really dense and filling. Exactly what I was looking for in a vegetarian dinner.

So, this is what Dane and I made for dinner the other night--sorry we gobbled it up before we remembered to take a picture :).

Crock-pot Veggie Lasagna

Ingredients
2 T butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 C mushrooms, chopped
1/2 C carrots, chopped in small pieces
1/2 acorn squash, peeled and shredded
(1 C spinach--I didn't add it, but just though of it now. Also, zucchini would prob be good too, but I really don't like it.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp basil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper

dry lasagna noodles (about 1/2 a box?)
about 4 C pasta sauce
2-3 C shredded mozzarella
1C ricotta cheese

Directions
In a large pan, melt butter and saute all of the veggies until the onion start to get translucent. This will only take about 10 min. Don't worry that they are not cooked all the way through, that will happen in the crock pot. Add basil and Italian seasoning.

Now, start layering your lasagna. In the bottom of a large crock pot spread about 1 C of sauce and layer with dry noodles. Next, spread veggi mixture and about 1 C of the shredded mozzarella. Next, 1 C sauce, noodles and then the ricotta. Again, sauce, noodles, sauce and the remaining mozzarella.

Let cook for 2-3 hours on high, or until the noodles are cooked all the way through.

Hawaii!

2012-01-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

Almost every day, Dane and Trent dug a hole. Sometimes big, sometimes small, but always a hole.

Don't they look so happy?!

What trip to the beach would be complete without a sand mermaid/merman? I'm not sure how this turned into an obese one, but it was fun.

This is a pano that Dane took of our beach where our hotel was. Yeah. It was awesome!

At the Dole plantation.

Dole whip! Highly recommend it.

We love cut-outs!

This little guy needs to grow on a plant for 2 years before it will be ready to harvest. Holy cow!

At Haliewa Eats. A Thai curry restaurant. All I can say is yum!

The best curry that we have ever eaten in our lives!

Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Awesome.

Here's Stephanie and Trent, our awesome friends who went with us to Hawaii. She did a term at BYU Hawaii and so she had lots of great "local" knowledge about the stuff to do on Oahu.

Can you see that little white line going up the middle of the mountain? That's the "Stairway to Heaven" hike. We got up at 5 am to hike it one morning, but didn't make it up...

So sad that we couldn't go on the hike. We got turned away by a security guard at the base.

Hiking up to Laie Falls. It was quite a view.

Swimming at Laie Falls. It was freezing!

Our last night, we went to the Polynesian Culture Center and had the classic Luau/show night.

Laie Temple. We wanted to do a session but it was closed for cleaning, so we just stopped by the visitor's center.

Hanauma Bay. Spent the day here snorkeling!

Catching some zzzz's at Hanauma Bay after snorkeling.

Looking over Hanauma Bay. Oh, and no. We didn't see the Obamas while we were there. :)

Saying goodbye from the airplane. We had such a great time!

Can you believe she is starting to walk?!

2011-12-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

Lynlee blew us all away yesterday as she showed how confident she is getting with her balance and moving around. I showed Dane that she would take a few steps to get something that she wanted early in the morning and by the afternoon she had moved to several steps at a time. She was doing it so much that we got a little on video! I think she was a little tired by the time we got to it, so she looks a little less stable than she had been all day, but steps are steps. And we are so proud!

10 Months Old

2011-12-01T13:07:00.001-08:00

I know, it's no news that Lynlee is over 10 months old. But for the sake of trying to be consistent, better late than never, right?

Some new things for Lynlee this last month are:

the fist pump seen here
getting really good at clapping on cue and has also added waving to one of her many talents
She will start bouncing up and down when we play music, so I am guessing this is dancing!
Standing pretty well on her own--yep, not holding onto anything!
She is also starting to climb. This is way scarier to me than pulling herself up to standing, now she is braving climbing onto things--most recently her carseat that was just sitting on the floor. She found out how unstable that was pretty quickly.
And just this morning, she was standing and couldn't reach what she wanted and I actually saw her take a STEP before she plopped onto her bottom and crawled to it. Yikes.
Oh yeah! She has a set of blocks that are all different sizes that fit into each other and stack. She has been figuring out how to take them out of each other and put them back in. So fun!

She still loves other babies and kids, is the happiest, most social, wonderful little girl in the world. (Well at least, we think so.)

As you can see, it's a little difficult to get her to hold still for pictures these days...

a few more pictures

2011-11-22T20:39:00.001-08:00

A few of my close friends have had new babies in the last several weeks and it is so crazy to me to think that Lynlee was ever that small. I know she was small, but again it's hard to remember her any different than she is now. But as I looked through old pictures I found the proof.

We posted about this before because she was growing, but now, see how much bigger? It might be time for a new hoody-towel soon.

Just took this picture a few nights ago after bath time:

Here she was in the same towel at about 3 months:

Compare that to this picture I took when Lynlee was only 2-3 weeks old...

Remember when Lynlee used to sleep in her swing? She has definitely grown out of it now :)

Another point of reference: wearing the same socks in both pictures :) Don't worry, we got some that fit her a little better :)

Thanksgiving Dinner, J Dawgs Style

2011-11-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

Every year JDawgs has a Thanksgiving feast for their employees. It is amazing. The food is great, the company is fun and we always have a great time. One of the best parts? They always have a desert contest for the employees. Last year we made this, remember? And we won first place in the "most creative" category.

This year, we were bound and determined to win not only most creative, but best over all (also includes best taste and sex appeal.) So, if you can imagine, I was on a mission.

This is what we came up with. Again, this year was also inspired by "Hello, Cupcake!".

First step, collect and wash lots of small, fresh maple leaves.

Next step, melt chocolate and paint the backs of all the leaves. Let them harden and carefully peal the leaves off of the chocolate leaves.

Also pictured below: caramel acorns. To make these, take the little square caramels and heat 4-5 at a time in the microwave for 8-10 sec to soften. Then roll into desired shape and dip one end in melted chocolate and roll in chocolate sprinkles.

Next step, make the best tasting chocolate bunt cake possible, frost generously with chocolate, cream cheese frosting. Insert chocolate leaves all leaning in the same direction and place acorns randomly throughout. And there you have it! The most beautiful fall wreath I have ever made (or tasted)!

So in the end, how did it all end up?! We blew them away and swept all the categories taking first place over all!! I would be lying if I didn't say that I was totally stoked.

And for our prize, we happily made our way home as the new proud owners of this:

Looks like it's time to make some pazzookies!

Lynlee and the tiger

2011-11-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

highchair cover

2011-11-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

For my birthday this year, my mom gave me a sewing machine! I can't even begin to tell you how trilled I am and how many ideas have been running through my head non-stop.

The first project I did was pretty simple, Lynlee's Halloween costume. Actually, the only thing that I used the machine for was her hat. It was super easy.

My next project that I just finished today was a lot bigger of an ordeal. I would be lying if I didn't say that it was a huge challenge, and that there are plenty of spots that are pretty funny looking if you get too close. But I do have to admit that I am pretty proud of myself (and my mother who helped a TON) for figuring it out.

I made a new pad-seat-cover thingy for our recently acquired highchair. The highchair was a steal on craig'slist, but it came with a gross, mildew-filled pad. And because it seems to be a pretty old model, I couldn't find replacement pads online, so my natural thought process is, "I can make one!" I really had no idea how, but knew that I could figure it out somehow. :)

All in all, I learned a lot about how to use my machine, how I would have done it completely different next time, AND to make cording. :)

So, here is the finished product!

all finished, ready to see if it fits

Whooo! Perfect fit! Notice how I got fancy and even have slits for the straps to come through!

Other fancy feature: this little pocket on the back that secures the seat cover to the chair

I don't think Lynlee will ever be as excited about this as I am right now :)

9 months

2011-10-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that a whole 9 months has gone by since our little Lynlee joined our family. It feels like it has gone by so fast, but at the same time, it feels like she has always been with us. Hard to explain. We love her so much and are grateful for every day she is in our life....so wanna know what has been happening with her lately? So much!

She has 6 teeth (4 on top)! I tried to get her to show them off for a smile, but I guess her teeth were camera shy today :)
She is getting really fast at crawling
Climbing on everything and walking herself around furniture--Not as many bruises these days
Nap time is becoming a little bit of a challenge because she has figured out how to stand up in her crib, hold onto the edge and jump up and down causing her to completely forget that she was tired in the first place :)
If you look at her and say, "Yay!" She will clap her hands! Or if there is something in one of her hands, she will use the free one to bang on whatever object is within reach
She is mastering solid foods and moved on to more than just the mushy stuff. She loves beans, bread, crackers and quinoa!

We love you, little bug!

Fall Happenings

2011-10-28T10:17:00.001-07:00

Fall is my most favorite time of the year, and I can tell that Lynlee is already loving it too. Here are some of the highlights!

If you come to visit us, you may just see Lynlee climb up to the window and wave!

We have had a lot of leaves to rake...is Lynlee helping or playing?

She loves leaves!!

Halloween! Here are the two little chicks, Lynlee and Zoey, all dressed up and ready to go the the Granite Ward Halloween Party. They didn't love the feathers, but humored Emily and me for a little while in their costumes.

I made the costumes from an idea I found online. So easy, and so much fun!

This little chick is getting pretty good at crawling :)

The Tour de St. George

2011-10-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we drove down to St George for Dane to complete his second century bike race--His first one was this same ride last year. This year, he rode alone, and got leg cramps for pretty much the last 60 miles, but still managed to shave almost 30 minutes off his previous riding time. We are so proud of him!

Dane with the support crew before the race

Can you see him in the middle sucking down his gu?

And they're off!

After a mid-race break

He made it! Bushed!

So proud if you!

so a few days ago...Lynlee turned 8 months!

2011-09-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

Some of the updates and milestones reached this month incluede:

crawling!
climbing and pulling herself up (not completely stable yet though, with some bruises on her forehead to prove it.)
we have moved her crib down to the lowest level...see above
New teeth! She has had one on top come through and 3 more on top waiting to pop out
I think she is starting to learn her name and will respond when someone calls it out

looks like it's time to baby proof the house :)

2011-09-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

little drummer girl, game day

2011-09-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

Dane has been practicing the drums and all his moves with Lynlee. So much fun. This is what they like to do to get ready for football games.

Go BYU! Beat Utah!

a new hang-out for Lynlee

2011-09-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, we went to Denver

2011-09-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

This post is way over due. Almost 2 1/2 months to be exact. But I still wanted to make sure that we got it up here.

Remember when Dane and I won tickets on the first commercial flight out of the Provo Airport? Well, that day, we had no idea that we would be one of only a few "regular people" on the flight. Regular means we weren't important dignitaries somehow related to something significant in Utah or Utah County. The 99 seat flight was full of people like the governor, the mayor, Cecil Samuelson, reps from Frontier Airlines, editors of travel magazines in Utah County...peeps like that.

Grandma Smith was in town and offered to watch Lynlee for us all day so we could spend the day together.

Aside from the fact that we felt a little out of place (and a little under dressed) it was a wonderful day. We were greeted at the airport with a complementary breakfast and a press conference, boarded the plane and all applauded when the captain successfully took off out of Provo. It was a beautiful flight over the mountains (so I hear...I fell asleep) and landed in Denver a little over an hour later.

Our day in Denver started off with a tour guide telling us all about the city on our bus ride into town. First stop was at the Denver Aquarium were we had a fancy lunch followed by a presentation between the Mayor of Provo and Denver...the governors of Utah and Colorado were even there. They talked about the great future the two cities would be having together and honestly it felt a little like they were signing a "sister-cities" agreement. Good news is though that they let us tour around the aquarium when it was all done. Very cool.

Next, they bussed us over to Coors Field, home of the MLB team, the Rockies. We had a behind-the-scenes-tour of all of the facilities from the dugout to the press boxes and even got to see the amenities they have for players of visiting teams. Pretty impressive. Did you know that the only people allowed on the grass are players and the one, yes one, guy who takes care of it. They mow it every day and during the season, twice a day. How would you like that job?

After Coors Field, our bus dropped us off in the center of town where we had about an hour and a half of free time to catch dinner and see whatever else we wanted to. We walked to the REI with Carl and Ashley (the other winners of the Mayor's contest) and then had dinner at Wahoo's Fish Tacos, via recommendation of Sara--my sister who lived in Denver while her hubby attended law school. Yumm.

Then it was back to the bus, and the airport. Back to Provo and home by about 10:00.

All in all, I would have to say that flying in and out of Provo was a wonderful experience! To be home 20 min after we got off the plane was unreal. I am pretty sure that you would never have a back up in line for security, either. So nice. I am not sure if I can ever go back to Salt Lake!

So, here are the pics.

Press conference

just before boarding the plane

lunch at the aquarium

right before the mermaid show!

Our friends, Ashley and Carl

This is a river running through the city that is right next to REI. You can rent canoes and kayaks to paddle around, but we didn't have enough time.

If you are ever in Denver, we highly recommend this place. So yummy!

Waiting to board our flight with the mayor and our friends. Don't we look so official with our name badges? We were all grateful to be winners of his tickets. It was a very fun day.

Art Give-Away

2011-08-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Peeps,
I know that I don't blog that much, but I felt a dire need to fill you in on some important facts!

My wife is an awesome artist.
She has a sweet art blog.
She is hosting a give-away contest.

Go to her blog, http://bridgetsartworld.blogspot.com, and check out her artwork. You can enter 6 times, and you get to choose a work of your choice (if you win that is). So what are you waiting for?! Get off yer keester and go win some art!!

-Dane

just for fun

2011-08-27T18:50:00.000-07:00

7 Months Today!

2011-08-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

And this one goes out to all of Lynlee's gangstas out there

Hiking with the fam at Snowqualmie

2011-08-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

Dane strapped Lynlee on his back....

Leslie strapped Will on hers....

And we all made a nice little trek into the woods to see a pretty waterfall!

Yep! Leslie and her kids hopped into the car and met us in Snowqualmie Pass to go for a hike. It was really fun to see her and her kids were aMAZEing on the hike! Her she is with Molly, left, Will, on her lap, and Annie on the right.

I think the hike wore out the little ones the most. :)

Oh, and P.S. I got a haircut :)

Camping at Mt. Rainier

2011-08-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

We just got back last night from one of the most wonderful vacations. We have spent the last 10 days up in Washington and Dane finally took me camping at this beautiful place:

I know. It was wonderful. We dropped Lynlee off with Grandma and Grandpa Smith, who were thrilled to have her all to themselves for 3 days, and had a wonderful time. Here are some of the highlights:

At the parking lot of Paradise. Just after we ate lunch and locked our keys in the car (but didn't know it yet). Luckily we had left the window cracked so we could break in.

Looking down Box Canyon

The mountain from the parking lot at Box Canyon

reflection pond

On our way up to a waterfall at Paradise. Click and you can see it bigger :)

We made it to the waterfall!

Hiking up to see Silver Falls from our campsite at Ohanapecosh

Silver Falls

Keeping warm at our campsite

On a beautiful hike up at Sunrise, the opposite side as Paradise. (again, click to see how awesome it was!)

And this is the little guy we got to watch hang out in a meadow for a while towards the end of our hike at Sunrise. Cool huh?!

garden harvest

2011-08-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

We have had an interesting time growing our garden this summer. There are a lot of things that I have learned how to and how not to grow certain plants, which ones I think I could do again, and other I would be fine to continue buying at the grocery store. Like herbs, for example. Not worth it. I couldn't seem to keep them under control. Any advice on how to use them all summer with out them bolting out of control? I trimmed them before they got to flower but after a while seemed like I had trimmed away the entire plant.

Anyway, here are a few things that did work VERY well that we have been excited to harvest so far:

broccoli! This is from one of the 3 plants.

tomatillos! These babies are going crazy!

Also not pictured: lots and lots of yummy, sweet cherry tomatoes!

look-a-like contest

2011-08-03T13:24:00.000-07:00

I have been looking at some old photos of Lynlee and some of her relatives, and thought that I should share. First of all, everyone asks us who we think she looks like more, me or Dane. I personally, don't see either of us in her, she just looks like Lynlee to me. But if I look at baby pictures, she for sure looks a lot more like Dane did than I did when we were her size.

So here is Dane at 6 months:

They don't look completely the same, but I see Lynlee's eyes and long face in this picture, don't you?

This weekend, Lynlee's cousin, Ella, and her mom (Dane's sister, Abbie) have been staying with us. Ella is now 3 years old, and so Abbie and I were looking back at baby pictures of Ella when she was Lynlee's size. They definately have their own look, but I thought they looked really similar. Same shape of head, same Smith eyes. This is Ella at 6 months:

And last but not least, here is Lynlee about a month ago so you have something to compare:

6 month check up

2011-08-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

6 month check up today. All in all, it was great because it is always nice to have a professional tell you that your baby is growing well and doing everything that she needs to be doing. However, there were shots at the end, not fun. She was a trooper, though and by the time we were home, Lynlee was her happy little self again.

So, the stats are:

wight: 15 lbs. 12 oz (42th %tile)....she has gained 9 lbs since she was born!
height: 25.7 inches (44th %tile)...same %tile as last time
head: 16.9 inches (63th %tile)...up 20%tile!

And another picture for smiles

6 Months Old!

2011-07-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

We were at a family reunion for this last week which is why I wasn't able to put up Lynlee's 6 month pictures last Monday, so here we go!

I finally got a good one of her teeth. Yep, you heard me right, teeth. The second one popped out just a few days ago.

Other than getting teeth some other mile stones for the past month include:
Lynlee has become somewhat mobile...meaning, she will no longer stay in the same place on the floor, she will roll scoot and pull herself to get pretty much whatever she wants.
She is sitting up! We still need to watch her, and she does topple sometimes, but she can sit on her own really well.
She has started babbling...da da da da, stuff like that.
Also started gurgling. So funny.
She can drink from a cup! Not something we do a ton, but it keeps her occupied while we eat dinner sometimes.
And she can hold herself up standing if we put her into position...for just a little while

she has a tooth!

2011-07-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

If you look closely, you can see little white spikes coming out of the bottom gums in Lynlee's mouth. She got her first tooth yesterday. It has broken the surface but hasn't come up much farther than that, though. So I tried to take a picture, but she was pretty determined to keep it hidden. Shy little tooth. This is the closest that I got.

I like to bounce!

2011-07-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

and I also like to spit-up. Hence the cloth in my mouth. :)

5 Months Old Today

2011-06-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

Some of the biggest mile stones for Lynlee this month include
-her ability to laugh at almost anything
-rolling over from back to tummy almost immediately after she gets put down on the floor--which is weird because I don't think she really likes being on her tummy, but she just can't help it
-sitting up almost all on her own
-she got a new bouncer from Grandma Smith! and she loves it...pictures to come soon
-sucking on her fingers almost all the times, oh and her toes too
-she has tried melon a few times, but almost choked on it a few nights ago, so that might have to wait...
-still eating and sleeping a lot!

Oh, how we love you, Lynlee! The time has gone by so quickly.
Last weekend, Grandma and Grandpa Smith came to visit, so I thought I'd include a picture from the weekend, just because they look so great:

summer nights

2011-06-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

I know, we still need to post about our trip to Denver, but in the mean time I just had to share something that was too cute to wait.

First, let me start with a story. When I was young, like 9ish, my sister and I, and possibly my brother would steel leaves from our neighbor's tree. These weren't just any leaves. They were huge. And our neighbor was a cop and we were totally afraid of him, so when we successfully got the leaves from his tree in the front yard, it was kind of a big deal. The leaves were just the right size to be sewn together with pine needles to make little moccasin shoes. We had great fun.

Now, fast forward to tonight. Dane and I had just enjoyed a lovely bbq dinner with some friends and went outside to let the little ones run around on the front lawn. There was a huge weed/tree growing in the front, so Mike, our neighbor, took the opportunity to hack it down. I saw the leaves and my childhood memories took over. I grabbed a couple of the leaves, some pine needles and made some little shoes for their 4 year old. They were pretty cool until he walked in them and then they fell apart. But that was ok, because it inspired something much cooler. Hats. We had a little too much fun and had to pick on Lynlee as our model because she had the perfect size head and didn't mind if we put anything on her. So, I hope you enjoy (because we sure did!).

This is Jack with the first prototype hat on.

Then we had to make another, this time with the intent to be a hat.

But it really was the best when we wove two hats together.


Lynlee didn't seem to mind it at all.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

This is the first father's day that we have a chance to celebrate how wonderful our daddy is. Dane has been so wonderful since Lynlee was born and I am going to take just a moment to brag about how lucky we are to have him in our family!
From the day Lynlee was born, he has never hesitated to take care of her (and me) when she needs some help.
He was by far the best stay-at-home-dad for 2 1/2 months while I went back to work to finish the school year. During that time, he learned how to sooth Lynlee better than I can and just the right way to make her laugh.
Whenever he gets home from work, if Lynlee is asleep, he always makes sure to go in and see her before he goes to bed and give her a kiss...and then wants to be the first in the morning to go get her out of bed.

I am so grateful to have a husband who is such a loving, caring, father. We love you, and hope you have a great father's day!!

Did you know that I have an art blog?

2011-06-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

I know that a lot of those of you who read this might already know about my art blog, but I am thinking that my it might be one of the best kept secrets in Provo! Ha ha. Just kidding, but really. Sometimes I wonder if anyone really knows that I have an art blog. So this post is dedicated to just spreading the word. The address is bridgetsartworld.blogspot.com and there is a link to it on our side bar.

Here is a post that I recently put up just to wet your pallets:

This week I had a great opportunity to attend an art conference put on for elementary educators all over the state called Arts Express. It is a conference that they put on every year with great keynote speakers and workshops all focused on using all of the arts (visual, drama, dance, music) to teach children more effectively. This year, we had a great representation from Edgemont Elementary including 14 people! Myself, next year's art specialist 3 parents, our principle, and 8 other grade level teachers. I think it was a really good way to get everyone connected and excited about using the arts more.

Oh, yeah, side note-- did I mention before that they were able to hire someone for next year? I know that I posted before about how the district had decided to no longer support the grant position in the school, but they changed their mind!

Anyway, I wanted to share a little project that I completed yesterday in a wonderful workshop. This is a little accordion-style book designed to fit into the 4th grade core of teaching about local habitats in Utah, one of which is forests.

This is the closed book. The woman who taught the workshop had put the books together for us ahead of time so that we would have time to paint the pages. She used this crazy "eyelash" ribbon to tie them closed. Not quite sure how I feel about it...


This is how the book opens "accordion" style. there are paintings on each of the pages. This type of book is great to make for kids because it is easy to put together and you can add info one one side of the pages like I did here, but then put more information on the other side. If I were to teach this to students in an elementary class, we would use the other side to display our writing about our pictures. This style of books is also really easy to display because it can stand up!

Believe it or not, 4th graders can totally do this type of paintings. Our teacher taught us some great skills, like how to paint: realistic looking conifer trees, mountains, a sky with clouds, trees in the distance, trees with snow on them and other things.

This is definitely a lesson that I would love to teach to my students at home as well!

Introducing...food!

2011-06-10T20:28:00.000-07:00

Well, we haven't really introduced solids into Lynlee's diet yet, but did give her a little taste of what's to come in the future. (She is only 4 months, and I think that we are waiting to make the plunge around 6 months.)

We went out to dinner at Red Robbin tonight for Dane's birthday and Lynlee was starting to get restless. My dinner came with a side of cantaloupe, so we let her try it. She just sucked on it all throughout dinner. And, I think she liked it!

St. George

2011-06-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

Last week, we took a trip down to St. George to celebrate Dane's birthday and spend time with friends. We spent time in the pool, went on a hike, walks and bike rides.

Even Lynlee got to get in on the swimming. It was her first time in the pool and she was ready! Outfitted with a matching hat, long sleeved rashguard (to keep her out of the sun), and ladybug floaty raft.

Daddy and Lynlee

"I crazy person." Holland's favorite quote of the week.

Katie and Evelyn Smith

Aleta and Holland Young

Max, Mike, and Jack Smith

We also spent time with Dane's Aunt Beth, who just moved into the house that Dane's parents bought. As you can see, it wasn't hard for them to get along. :)

our garden!!

2011-06-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

For as long as Dane and I have been married, I have been waiting for the day when we had a place where we could plant a garden. In that sense, it is hard being a renter--never knowing how long you will be in one place and never really feeling any ownership.

Well, we finally decided to stop waiting this year. We didn't have a place to plant a garden so we built one. We are very proud of out little planter boxes that are behind our house. They are each 4'x4' and 12" deep. Our neighbors who live underneath us helped us build them about a month ago and have put a lot of work in with us to find the soil and fill them, and then with the planing and care of our plants.

We bought most of our plants from the Provo High School FFA club for a great deal as tiny little sprouts. It is really exciting to see how far they have come! This is really the first year that I have done anything like this, and really hope that we will be able to put some kind of fence around it before the deer find us. As much as we love local wildlife, we would like to enjoy the fruits of our labors!

This is the first box: On the left, from top to bottom, we have 2 basil plants and 8 pepper plants (Anaheim, jalapeno, yellow and sweet). On the right side, you can see our home-made tomato cages surrounding our 8 tomato plants (beef steak, yellow, purple, cherry, and tomatillo). Those little white dots are pesky little seeds that are EVERYWHERE! The wind brought them in and they are the source of all of our weeds so far. Luckily though they are pretty small and easy to get rid of.

And for the second box: can you see the row of green beans along the back? From left to right again, there is a cilantro plant in the back, next a tiny cucumber plant (we had 2 but one has already died so we pulled it out and this one is not looking so good either...) and in the place of the dead cucumber we have a roma tomato plant. The middle column from back to front is 4 little onion plants (again, pretty sure one is already dead) and the 4 broccoli plants (I think the broccoli gets the growing award). And the last column on the right you can see our 2 lettuce plants and 3 little cabbages.

We still have a few more things to plant like watermelon, squash, zuccini and a pumpkin plant, but they all need a lot of space, so we are most likely going to need to build another box.

4 Month Check-up

2011-06-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

We took Lynlee in for her 4 month check up yesterday. To be honest, it was a little rough. We ended up waiting almost an hour and a half to see the doctor--so here you can read: tired, hungry baby. And then we had shots. Yikes. I never want to do that again. I am hoping next time there won't be such a long back up. But the good news is, our little squirt is still growing really well!

Here are her stats. She has moved up in %tile for both weight and head circumference but dropped about 20%tile in height. She is evening out and looking good. We love you, little baby!

wight: 13 lbs. 3 oz (36th %tile)
height: 24.25 inches (44th %tile)
head: 16.1 inches (43th %tile)

And here's a picture, just 'cause she's cute.

PVU to DEN Inaugural Flight

2011-05-31T09:32:00.000-07:00

Aside from the fact that we are totally excited for any news involving local aviation, there was a much bigger reason that we have been posting information to spread the word about the commercial service from Frontier Airlines that will be starting out of Provo Airport this June.

This is the story: The mayor of Provo City has an awesome blog. He posts daily about interesting things happening in or around Provo and recently announced a contest. He Had 4 tickets for the inaugural flight on Frontier from Provo to Denver that he wanted to give to the person or people that could spread the word about the upcoming service to the most people. So, we took the challenge. The winners were announced today, and guess what?!?

We got it!

So, Dane and I will be happily enjoying two seats on the first commercial flight out of Provo. I can't believe it!

Don't worry, we will be sure to take lots of pictures and post all of the highlights!

have you heard?

2011-05-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

HAVE YOU HEARD?

Frontier Airlines is starting commercial service to Denver out of the Provo Airport on June 21, 2011!

Now you can fly anywhere you want without the commute to Salt Lake!

For more info about routes and pricing visit:

Airport.Provo.org

FrontierAirlines.com

This is the info that we put together on a flier and a poster to hang in JDawgs.

Wouldn't it be cool to be on the inaugural flight?

Airline service to Provo!

2011-05-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

A few months back, Frontier Airlines announced service from Denver Int'l Airport into Provo! The inaugural flight out of Provo will take place on June 21st, with the first flight leaving around 8:00 in the morning. They will have one arriving flight and one departing flight each day, with dozens of connection options that can be made through their network in Denver. Their Denver hub is their biggest hub, thus making the options almost all encompassing on a national scale.

This is their route map. Click to enlarge.

This is the jet type they will be flying in. An Embraer 190... a relatively new mid-size regional jet.

The best news about them coming to Provo? The prices are comparable to flying them out of SLC... in many cases even cheaper!

As an aviation student/nerd, I am excited to have a large commercial jet coming into Provo regularly. I think it is good for the economy and to help the Provo airport grow.

Also, Frontier is acting as a type of Guinea Pig for other airlines... if they are successful, then more airlines will be attracted to fly into and out of Provo.

I was thinking about the benefits of this the other day. I already ride my bike out to the airport all the time for school. It takes be about 20-25 minutes from where I like in east Provo. I could lock up my bike and be in Denver within 2.5 hours of riding away from my house! It would be so fun to just go to Denver to visit family, go to a Rockies game, enjoy some food, and fly back. That is so much more attractive than driving all the way up to SLC, parking, fighting lines at security, etc.

Please, spread the word on this service!! It is good for our local economy, and so convenient!

4 months old

2011-05-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

We sure have come a long way from sitting by the boppy like this, huh? She still needs a little help sitting up, but is getting really good at holding herself up. Some of Lynlee's favorite things to do these days include laughing, standing (with help, of course), holding toys, sucking on fabric--especially mom's clothes, rolling from tummy to back, and scooting her body around on the floor.

Sleepy baby

2011-05-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

This is from a few nights ago. We have found that Lynlee sleeps a lot better when she has a full tummy, but sometimes it is a bit of a challenge to get her to fill it up. :)

Trip to Washington pt. IV

2011-05-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

After getting some zzz's, Matt and started the familiar routine of checking the weather, checking our route, gathering all of our things and receiving a flight and weather brief from the Briefer. We got back to the plane, and thankfully it was right where we had left it. We had gotten our tanks topped off the day before, so we didn't have to worry about fueling up. We did all the standard pre-flight inspections, set up our cockpit and made sure the plane was balanced the way we had planned.

During the pre-flight

Emily and me in front of the DA42

One of my best friends from High School, Emily, came down from Sunnyside to say hi and see us off with my parents. It was fun to see her and share what I've been doing for the last two years. We visited briefly, but all too soon, we got into the plane and prepped to leave. We loaded our flight plan into our G1000 (our glass avionics flight-deck... no round dials here! This is similar to the GPS unit that Garmin makes for cars, but on steroids! And way more expensive... and it can do 100 times more), warmed up the engines, taxied down and took off!

Notice what my Dad said there at the beginning? Punk! Go be friends with that chump in Pasco!

My dad shot some video of the takeoff also...

We couldn't pass by the opportunity to show off, so I performed what is referred to as a "soft field" take off. Long story short, you lift off the ground, level off just 10-15 feet off the ground and keep heading down the runway picking up speed. Once we got to the end of the runway, I pulled back a little aggressively and took advantage of all the extra airspeed to rocket into the atmosphere. If I remember correctly, my instruments indicated that we were climbing at about 2500 ft per minute there for just a second or two... that's fast by the way.

We took off to the east, made a left climbing turn 270 degrees so that we could clear the Rattlesnake Hills, and rocketed up to FL180. Our climb was quick and efficient because I set the autopilot for the climb out. It held the best climb airspeed (90 kias) with precision, and consequently we wasted no energy getting up to our chosen altitude. Can I just say that the auto pilot in this plane is amazing? The autopilot is integrated into the G1000 which makes it more accurate, precise and robust. It works in perfect synchronization with all the different functions of the flight-deck.

This shows us our heading, altitude, vertical speed, indicated speed, and much more.

This shows all of our engine info (far left, mostly off screen), moving map, flight plan and more. Up top is our ground speed... 204! That is 235 mph.

We got in contact with Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) quickly, picked up our IFR clearance, and shortly after leveling off at FL180 received clearance to fly direct to Provo from our position.

Flying high (FL180) above Oregon, shortly after crossing the Columbia river.

On our way to Washington, it took us about 3.5 hours total to get to Prosser. On this trip, we planned to go non-stop and get back as soon as we could. We had enough fuel, and we hoped that our bladders would be big enough to handle the trip. Luckily for us, there was a pretty decent tail wind and we got as fast as 204 knots ground speed, and about 170 ktas. That is the fastest I've ever flown (well, flown my own plane), and we made great time back to Provo. Our total flight time was 2 hours and 45 mins from startup to shutdown. Not bad considering that the drive takes about 11-12 hours. :)

Our flight track back to Provo

Coming back, we ran into some clouds with some decent vertical development. Usually that means turbulence, ice accumulation, etc. Not a good idea for our tiny little plane to fly into. We skirted around them, but once we got over the Great Salt Lake, we opted to finish our flight VFR to skip the clouds and expedite our arrival into Provo.

Our arrival took us just west of SLC int'l airport, and then just east of Kennecot. They had us fly above the traffic arriving into the Int'l airport, over the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. After passing the point of the mountain, we made a straight in approach for runway 13 and landed just in time to beat out an approaching storm.

That was it! I hope you enjoyed following along with my long rants and complex explanations. I did this mostly as a means of journal keeping and to be able to look back at it in the future for memories. Despite that, I hope you learned something new about aviation, me or our part of the country.

Recent haps

2011-05-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

This is what has been going on at our house lately:

Lynlee found her feet (and Louie)

She has been really interested in holding her own bottle, but she can't really keep it in the same place for long. I am pretty sure she just likes holding stuff, and has no idea that what she is holding happens to be the item feeding her. She'll get there. :)

We have been going on lots of walks lately using our faux-mobi wrap and another carrier from my mother-in-law.

And here is another exciting moment. Lynlee is starting to have fun holding onto toys. This is a rattle, but again, I am not sure that she has made the connection that the sound coming from the rattle is being made by her shaking it.

It has been so exciting to watch her grow. She rolled over for the first time a few days ago. I only have 6 more days of work, and I am glad to say that I won't miss anything else!

Trip to Washington pt. III

2011-05-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

We had a relatively uneventful departure from Boise. We had a fast climb up to FL180, and cruised towards Pasco. The most eventful part of the cruise portion of our flight was changing frequencies from one controller to another (i.e. not exciting). It was kind of cool that We pretty much flew right over the interstate route I take to drive home. It was a nice feeling to know that we were going more that twice the speed of the cars on the freeway.

This is what our flight looked like... pretty uneventful until the end. More on that to come...

When we were about 15 minute outside of Pendleton, ATC had us start descending at Pilot's discretion (as fast or slow as we wanted), so we started preparing for our approach in the Tri-Cities airport. Begin the funniest story of the trip: So there we were, descending on our arrival in Pasco. We were told to switch over to Chinook Approach, and did so. On the other end was a some what older sounding lady. It was obvious that the Tri-Cities area was not busy, and she gave us the weather info at the airport, and asked what we would like to do. We could have just accepted a visual approach (the easy way), but I was in the mood to shoot an approach. Remember the charted approach we flew into Boise? Well, I let the lady on Chinook Approach know we wanted to shoot and approach. She told us it was up to me, since it was so slow... we had a few options to choose from. I chose the RNAV (GPS) Y RWY 21R approach because (to my best recollection) the winds were 210 @ 8 knots... pretty much we would have a perfect 8 knot headwind on approach, which is pretty favorable. The thing I didn't think too hard about was that it would be no big deal to land with an 8 knot crosswind on the runway that was directly in front of us. Choosing the approach that I did would require us to fly to the exact opposite side of the airport, flip around, and then land. How much did this add to our flight? Oh, maybe, say... 25 minutes! Well maybe that doesn't sound like too much to you, but when you consider that the entire flight was only 1:36, the fact that I spent 1/5th of it touring the vast farmlands of eastern Washington is pretty pathetic, especially when I could have simply gone straight in to Runway 30.

This gives you a better idea of my stupidity. See how just before I get to the OR/WA border, I am heading directly toward the airport? Then I veer off to the right... yeah, I took the long way.

This story wouldn't be as funny if Matt and I didn't have to use the restroom so bad! As we are doing our part to contribute to global warming over the farms of Washington, I am thinking to myself "wow, I have to go to the bathroom really bad... why is this taking so long?"
Another funny story teaches all of us a lesson about Air Traffic Controllers. A pilot (and Controller of course) has to know what a controller sees when they are looking at their radar screen.

What ATC sees on their radar screen.

They see little targets, with the name of the airplane, airplane type, altitude, speed and direction. They use all of this information to separate traffic. While we were flying the aforementioned approach, the lady on Chinook Approach gave us some vectors (directions to fly) to keep away from some traffic. She told us to fly some heading like 350. Then, a few minutes later she asked why we weren't on the heading she gave us. This is where it get's tricky for you non-aviators. I explained to the controller that the nose of our plane was pointed in the direction of 350 just like she asked, but we had a direct left crosswind. This caused our plane to be moving over the ground (this is called ground track) in a direction closer to 360 or 010 instead of the direction our nose was pointing. Even I know that controllers only see an aircraft's ground track on their radar screen. We could be flying backwards for all this lady knew... the bottom line is that all this lady could see was our direction and speed over the ground. But as a controller, you have this extremely basic little piece of knowledge that the wind is blowing up where this plane is (she had just given us the weather info for crying out loud) and that that could be affecting them in a variety of ways. Bottom line, I felt like I knew more than this lady. Anyway, Matt and I had a good chuckle that this lady had to even ask us that question.
So, we landed at the airport, made our way over to the Local FBO (Fixed Base Operator, or flight center) to get topped off on fuel and oxygen. While we were waiting, one of the employees, about my age, approached me and asked if we were flying the Twin Star. I responded in the affirmative, to which he replied "I hate to tell you this, but your plane is ugly." What the...? I have no idea who this guy thought he was... after some more conversation, I found out he doesn't even have any pilot licenses and ratings. He is only a mechanic who works and planes and fills them up. Dirtbag... Matt and I spent the rest of the trip trash talking him.
Anyway, we took of from the Tri-Cities and did a quick 5-10 minute VFR flight to Prosser (S40). I was actually surprised that when we tuned into the CTAF (common traffic advisory frequency... this is a frequency assigned to an airport that doesn't have a control tower. All the pilot has to do is self-announce their position in relation to the airport, and keep an eye outside for other traffic) their were two other planes preparing to land at Prosser also. I didn't expect there to be too much action, but I later found out that Prosser actually has a bustling little community airport.

Another funny story was what transpired when we landed. We had a pretty uneventful landing, but when we parked the airplane, we had attracted quite the small crowd of admirers. We had 3 or 4 older men taking pictures with their phones, asking questions and saying things like "thanks for coming to Prosser!" It was pretty awesome to get some positive attention after talking to the jerk in Pasco.

Immediately after arrival into Prosser, letting the engines cool.

Nice shot mom... walking off the plane.

Pushing the plane into the parking spot.

Using my Boy Scout skills to make sure the plane doesn't go anywhere, with an admirer in the background.

After we got the plane locked and secured, we went to my parents house (sometimes I call it home, at the risk of getting hassled by my wife) and had a delicious dinner made by my dad. Matt already wants to go back for the food. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset and views and took a small tour of Prosser. My parents spoiled us, and made us feel very special and welcome.

Flight to Washington pt. II

2011-05-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, there are two types of ways to fly... there is IFR (instrument flight rules) and VFR (visual flight rules). IFR is much more regulated, with the vast majority of the flying taking place on specified airways (think "highways in the sky") and routes. VFR is still regulated, but more often than not it is more convenient to just fly off airways. VFR really comes in handy when you need to skip around clouds and storms.

So, now that I have explained that, it will make sense (hopefully) to you that we filed an IFR flight plan. This meant that we will be talking on all the same frequencies as the airliners and flying on similar routes, but at lower altitudes since our airplane's altitude limitation is 18,000 feet (or in pilot terms, flight level 180, for "flight level one-eight-zero"). The only problem is that if we were to fly all of the exact routes required for our IFR flight plan, it would take us right through some really big clouds on our climb from Provo to FL180. We didn't want to do that mainly because we are not allowed to and also because we would likely accumulate ice if we flew through the clouds, making flight some what dangerous. Our plane does not have protection from ice accumulation like all airliners and sophisticated jet transports, thus we wanted to steer clear. Our solution to this problem was to takeoff from Provo under Visual Flight Rules. For us, this meant we could pick our own route through the clouds, then call Salt Lake Approach Control (the local Air Traffic Control agency) and change over to our IFR flight plan. We would then be required to follow those separate set rules. Confused yet?

So, takeoff VFR we did! We flew out over Utah Lake, found a hole in the clouds, and poked through without ever touching a cloud.

This is what we saw when we got above the clouds. Normally we would be able to see Utah Valley and Salt Lake Valley.

Another shot looking off the wing.

I should mention that that funny looking mustache on Matt is actually an oxygen mask. It has two nose prongs and puts out a steady supply of oxygen to keep us alive in the thin air.

Once we got going, everything was relatively uneventful. We climbed up to our cruising altitude, set cruise power and enjoyed the ride. While in cruise, we monitor the engine instruments, fuel levels and temperatures (it's cold at FL180! -24 degrees celsius on our way to Boise... it would be bad if our fuel froze!) and our flight plan progress. We look at checkpoints in our flight plan and compare the planned data to our actual data. For instance, we look at our calculated ground speed versus our actual groundspeed. You'd be surprised how accurate we can be with just the forecasted winds/temperatures and a pilot's slide rule (E6B). The purpose of checking the accuracy of the flight plan is to make sure we are aware of how much fuel we are really burning. Are we going faster than planned? Well, then we are using less fuel. Slower? Then more fuel is being used. All this is pretty quick to calculate though, so we also socialize quite a bit. Luckily Matt and I get along really well.
As we got closer to Boise's airport (KBOI), ATC started having us descend in preparation for the approach into Boise. We were able to skip around a few clouds, and we were cleared to fly the RNAV(GPS) Y RWY 28R approach (pronounced: Are nav gee pee ess yankee runway two-eight right) and we landed without any even. We got fuel at a jet center, grabbed a quick bite, and used the restroom. we then did a brief pre-flight and taxied FOREVER to the departure runway.

More to come soon on the rest of my trip!

Flight to Washington pt. I

2011-05-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on my commercial license and I have been busy trying to balance being a stay-at-home dad, flying,a full load of classes, work and my church calling. About 2 months ago my flight instructor, Matt, and I were discussing how I would accomplish some of the flight requirements for my license. I told him that I really wanted to fly back home to Washington and fly into the little airport in the town my parents live in. He thought it would be fun, but he is also as busy (if not more) as I am, and said it would have to wait until the end of the semester. We decided on a date at the end of April and hoped for great weather.

We got to the week before the flight, and Matt and my eyes were checking the weather forecasts a dozen times a day. We were checking the forecasts for 3 cities too... Provo, Boise (a halfway stop for the trip to Washington) and Prosser (my "hometown"). We were actually biting our nails all week long because of precipitation. That was surprising, because of the (for you weather buffs) relative high pressure over the entire area, Provo included. In fact, Provo was looking the most threatening as far as cloud cover and precipitation (For those of you who don't know, we can't fly through clouds in UVU planes because of insurance risks, even though Matt and I are technically certified for flight through and in clouds).

Our day of anticipation came and Matt came to our house for breakfast and to be my ride out to the airport. We had a delicious breakfast bagel, did a last minute check of the weather, called in our flight plan (again, FYI... we have to call a "flight briefer" and give them our planned route so they can work us into the routes of all the other air traffic out there. They also give us a weather observations, forecasts, special notices for airmen, etc), and brought all of our maps, charts, calculations, info manuals, emergency gear and overnight clothes. As you can see, a lot to prepare for!

This is an example of a "sectional chart". It is one of two types of maps I used to plan my route to Washington and back.

Matt and I got out to the airport, dispatched our airplane (334TS), and printed off some last minute weather reports for the flight. On a side note, I have to tell you about our plane from a plane nerds perspective. Our plane is a DA42 Twin Star. It's a twin engine, carbon fiber airplane with turbo charged diesel engines. In normal planes without turbochargers, performance decreases dramatically as you climb. In our turbocharged aircraft you can keep climbing to significant altitude without degraded performance. Well, our specific plane, 334TS (you have to say it like this... three three four tango sierra) was fresh off of a visit to the Diamond Aircraft factory to get a new set of engines... upgraded engines! The old ones had a lot of problems, but were still great. They produced 135 horsepower and were a great upgrade from the single engine planes I've trained in as far as speed and climb performance. Let's be honest, those are two of the funnest parts of flying... horizontal and vertical speed! Well, these new engines have 168 horsepower each, and have bigger turbos too. What does that mean? Better high-altitude performance... more on that later.
Matt and I did our pre-flight inspection and walk around. We had all the tanks topped off (we have four fuel tanks... one 25 gallon tank in each wing, and one 13.5 gallon auxiliary tank in each engine nacelle. About 77 gallons total... enough for almost 6 hours of non-stop flying) with Jet A and got settled in the plane.

The weather looking east. Normally you would have a beautiful shot of Mt. Timpanogos here.

The weather looking west. Much better, with some holes in the clouds to shoot through.

A great view of the new engines and fresh paint job.

334TS. You can see here that the flaps are down for part of the pre-flight check. Matt is in blue.

Matt and I did all of our necessary preflight prep, including hooking up the oxygen (we would be flying at 18,000 feet to stay out of the clouds, pick up favorable winds, and... just because we could! Above 12.500 in an unpressurized aircraft it is required to be on oxygen per Federal Aviation Regulations), getting local weather conditions and other info from the tower and taxiing to the runway.

This is a boring video of us leaving the parking spot...

Our departure out of Provo (KPVU). If you listen carefully, you'll hear Provo's tower controller begin to address us at the end of the video.

More to come on the rest of my trip...

I love to laugh! long and loud and clear!

2011-04-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

just had to share :)

3 Months!

2011-04-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how quickly these last 3 month have gone by! It has been nothing but wonderful. Lynlee has really started to get interactive these last few weeks. It is so much fun. She laughs, and plays all day long. So, here are some of the photos from today:

dark blue eyes, just like Mommy!

Lynlee has started getting really excited about looking around her. One of her favorite things to do is just to lay on the ground and look and look. We figured out how to hang toys above her on a wooden dowel so that she has something to entertain herself with. She can lay on the ground and reach (with her feet) and kick for an hour at a time and stay completely happy. It is so cute. Today she was up to her usual routine, so Dane took a video:

Apparently all that kicking really wore her out because when he looked over at her a few minutes later, he found this:

Spring Break in St. George

2011-04-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

My oldest sister, Elizabeth, turned 40 on April 13th. So, to celebrate, my mom invited all of the girls in my family to spend a long weekend at my parents' vacation home in St. George. Sisters flew in from Texas, Seattle, Iowa and drove from Vegas, Provo and Salt Lake to get together. All 7 of my sisters were able to make it along side my mother, and her mother as well. We had a blast.
Most of our time was spent hanging out with the 4 babies, talking, eating great food and shopping. Right before I drove home Sunday, we went to church and had to get a picture with all of us! (Actually one is missing. Sarah had to drove home on Saturday.)

left to right: Kathy, Emily and Zoey, Joanne and Max, Leslie Ann and Will, my Mom, Me and Lynlee, Grandma Pope, and Elizabeth.

Here are all the 4 babies with their mommas: Me and Lynlee, Leslie Ann and Will, Joanne and Max, and Emily and Zoey

4 Generations: Lynlee with me, my mother, and my Grandma Pope (mom's mom)

Lynlee is getting big!

2011-04-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

Lynlee has been getting so big recently. I didn't feel like I had a good comparison until my sister, Emalei, showed me this picture she took last night...

Compare that to this picture I took when Lynlee was only 2-3 weeks old...
We love our little growing lady!

Welcome Spring!

2011-04-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of spring break, and oh, it has been wonderful. I have had a chance to get caught up on cleaning, grocery shopping, and have been loving the warm weather. The windows have been open all day and I love the smell and feel of fresh air in the house. MMmmmm. So great.

I have also been able to catch up on some unfinished projects. One of them was for our front door. We have a house number, but it is basically hidden by a tree and it makes our place really hard to find. So, we have been talking about putting something a little more recognizable on the door for a while. Had a great idea, but just never had the time to sit down and take care of it. So, thanks to my X-acto knife and a little help from my cricut, this is what you will see when you come visit us from now on:

Don't you think it will be easier to find our place now?
(And for those of you wanting to know, contrary to popular belief, we didn't move here just for the house number.) :)

Weekend updates

2011-04-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a few updates from the weekend. First, I had an awesome April Fool's day on Friday. I decided that goofy holidays like that should always be on Friday. The faculty at my school rotate who brings treats for our monthly training meetings and I was super excited that it was my turn with some other teachers. I brought mini hamburger.

April Fools! They are cupcakes with green coconut shavings, red frosting and brownie patties. The other teachers with me brought fake meat loaf (rice krispy treats) and kitty litter cake. They were all quite tasty.

Dane and I were able to spend the weekend at my parents' house and watch general conference. It was a much needed, very restful weekend. Lynlee got to hang out with a lot of family, including her cousin, Zoey. Here the two girls are with their daddies!

Last night before bed, Dane and I put Lynlee in her pajamas and were happy to see that she has graduated to her medium ducky outfit. And by medium, I think I need to give a little bit of an explanation. We bought a little newborn outfit for Lynlee before she was born because we saw it at the store and couldn't resist. She is wearing it in this picture. Then at 2 baby showers, we were given the exact same outfit but in 2 more sizes: 3-6 months and 6-9 months. We laughed and were thrilled to know that for the first year of her life or so, Lynlee with be able to sleep in duckies. I hadn't realized how much she had grown until we put the newborn size outfit next to her:

We are proud of you, Lynlee, Keep growning.

2 month check up

2011-03-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

I have been so excited for Lynlee to go in for her check up, to see how she has grown and for Dane to have a chance to meet our awesome pediatrician, Dr. Adams. She has been growing indeed! and was very brave when she got her shots. Or so I hear. Dane took her to the doctor and I had to work...I was actually grateful not to be the one there. So, here are the stats:
wight: 10 lbs. 1 oz (27th percentile)
height: 23 inches (64th percentile)
head: 15.15 inches (39thpercentile)

So she is growing really well! I was happy to see that she has gained almost 4 lbs since she was born. Way to go little one!

2 Months Today

2011-03-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

Lynlee is getting so big!

At least I think so until I see her next to her daddy. :)

Happy 2 months, Lynlee! We love you!

watching the moblie

2011-03-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago, but I finally found my cord so I had to post them while I had a minute. (Another post is yet to come with 2 month pics of our little darling.)

Lynlee really is enjoying her mobile, and it always surprises me how intently she stares at it. When we spin it, she follows it with very serious concentration and as soon as it has stopped, she never fails to let out a little squeal to get our attention until we move it again for her.

How can anyone resist this face?

Lynlee's view

Here she is, kicking with excitement!

back to work...warning: spew of random thoughts

2011-03-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

So, I think this goes without saying, but I am falling behind in everything these days.

I am not sure if any of you noticed, but I just did. Our blog header is having major problems, I updated it and need to figure out how to make the picture smaller to fit...
I have a ton of pictures of Lynlee that need to be posted....sorry everyone, no pics today (i can't find my camera cord...ARRRHHHG!) And Lynlee is two months tomorrow! We really need to take pictures of her tomorrow!
I have a pile of half finished crafts piling up...
I have a ton of pics of my students' work to edit and put up on my art blog...
Do I need to mention laundry?
Oh yeah, and grocery shopping? My poor husband probably hasn't seen the fridge this empty since we moved in.
Grandma and Grandpa Smith are going to be in town this weekend to see the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU (but everyone really knows they came to see Lynlee, right?) so that means I need to clean my house, at least a little :).
I am horrible at returning phone calls...especially from family, so if you have called me and even been gracious enough to leave me a message in the last 2 weeks, I am sorry! I love you anyway!
And I know this is sort of a stretch, but none of my clothes really fit...Now that I am two months postpartum, I feel that I should be exercising regularly and starting the journey back into my old body, but excuse me, when?

So why is this all happening, you may ask? (Actually you may not be asking but I am going to answer your un-asked question anyway.) I have gone back to work. It has been over two weeks now, and I am sure that everyone is wondering how I am still managing to function. Well, I think the list above might answer some of that. :) But the good news is, I love my job now just as much as I did before having a baby, so that has made it a little easier to come back. I love what I do, and consider myself extremely lucky to have a job that I sincerely enjoy.
Countdowns also help. After tomorrow, I have two weeks before spring break--which is a WHOLE WEEK! (sigh) and then only six more full weeks of school. Which, I just found out that the last week of school, there will be no specialty classes because there are so many other things going on--so five weeks of teaching for me. Wow. That is going to go by quickly...I hope.
Another thing that has helped a lot is that Lynlee has been "sleeping through the night" for almost 2 weeks now. She graciously decided to start the night of Day-light Savings and slept for almost 7 hours. She has slept as long as 9 hours at a time since then but usually averages about 7. I love her! Not just because she is a good sleeper, and a good eater and an over all content baby, but because she is mine! She makes this all worth it.

Airplane Mobile

2011-03-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

(I know I already posted this on my art blog, but I think there may be a few readers of this blog out there that may not have seen this.)

Over the last few months, I have been working on a project for Lynlee's room. It was inspired Dane. I wanted to make something for the baby's room and got the idea of an airplane mobile. I looked on etsy for ideas, but to be honest, there weren't too many mobiles with planes that I liked. Most of them were paper airplanes...lame. So, I was left on my own to come up with the pattern and everything.

This is what I came up with, and YES! it is finally finished and hanging above her crib. I am quite proud of how it turned out. It is 100% created by me. Now, I just need to figure out how to get Lynlee to sleep in her crib for more than 10 min at a time. She LOVES her swing. We have weened her off of the swinging motion (so we don't go through 4 C batteries every week) which is nice, but eventually she will grow out of it, so the day will come eventually, I guess.

Lynlee's Blessing

2011-03-08T15:38:00.000-08:00

Dane was able to give Lynlee a name and a blessing in church on Sunday. It was a beautiful day and everything turned out really well.
Dane gave a beautiful blessing, his family was in town and able to see it all, my parents came down and afterwards everyone came over to our place for a yummy lunch/dinner of pulled pork sandwiches.

So, I didn't get any pictures of Lynlee in her dress the day of the blessing because we put it on her once we got to church, and when we got home she was starving, so I took it off to feed her. After that, she was in and out of sleeping and eating and with everyone over we didn't really get a chance. So, we got dressed up the next day again just to make sure we got some photographic record of the event. Isn't she an angel?

And of course every girls needs sassy accessories, so this is what was hiding underneath all the pretty lace.

Lynlee is one month today!

2011-02-25T16:46:00.000-08:00

Cousins, 6 days apart

2011-02-18T13:21:00.001-08:00

A week ago, my sister, Emily, had a babysitter for her 4 oldest, Ryan had plans with buddies, and so she was free! Free to come all the way down to Provo and visit Lynlee and me! So, we had to take pics of our little girls together just for history. They are so lucky to have so many cousins that will be so close to their age! It was a very fun night, thanks so much for coming to visit, Zoey and Emily!

Lynlee: 2 1/2 weeks, Zoey: 3 1/2 weeks

2 Week Check-up

2011-02-10T16:21:00.000-08:00

Photo by Dane's sister, Abbie, who graciously came and spent 5 days helping and hanging out with us.

Lynlee was 2 weeks old on Tuesday. Wow. Time has gone by so fast and yet in some ways I can't really imagine what we were like before we had her. I have a number of friends who had babies around the same time we did, and many of them have had medical problems (everything from tumors, eye infections, pneumonia, as well as nervously high jaundice levels..) come up in just the first few weeks of their lives. It has caused me to reflect on the blessing of health. I know Lynlee will not be sickness-free for her entire life, but I am grateful she is healthy. With Dane having everything from flu symptoms, a sore throat, sinus infection, runny nose and a cold, I feel like she has had a little bubble of protection just for the first few weeks of her life. And for that I am grateful.

I was really curious to see how much our little eater had grown at her check-up: she gained 6.5 oz in one week and 1/2" in length. So, she is still in the 18th percentile for weight and 78th for length. What girl doesn't want to be tall and skinny, right? I am having dreams already of her being a volleyball player!

2011-02-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

Here I am, all bundled up, ready to go for a walk with mommy!

I know it has been a little while when you consider the time line of Lynlee's life since Monday, but I just wanted to report on her first visit to the pediatrician. She had her 3-5 day check up and this is where they measured her percentile for everything.

weight: 17th percentile
height: 73rd percentile
head cir: 27th percentile

She is tall and skinny :)
We were so proud of her because she has already gained back all of her weight she lost the first few days in the hospital plus one ounce! I hear they usually make that a goal by the 2 week check up. That appointment is set for next Tuesday. (I can't believe we have been home from the hospital for a week!) I am excited to see how much she has gained by then. She is a really good eater, so I am hoping to up her stats in the weight area. :)

Lynlee Mae Smith

2011-01-26T06:32:00.001-08:00

We would like to introduce the newest addition to our family! Lynlee Mae Smith was born at 3:58 pm. She weighed 6lbs. 12 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. She has been very calm, and has really only cried when she took her first breath. Since then she's been relatively quiet, but alert.

She learned to suck her thumb! She hasn't done it since though. :)

Grandpa Layton with Lynlee

Grandma Layton a.k.a. "The Baby-whisperer"

Our little family, just minutes after Lynlee was born.

All of us with Doc. Harward. He's rockin'.

Lynlee after her first bath. She's laying under the baby warmer here.

After her first bath, in mommy's arms.

Here's my last prego-pic, on the way to the hospital:

Recent happenings and updates

2011-01-02T09:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I have posted, so I thought I would take the responsibility of blogging this time around...
First we have baby updates!

Bridget with our pregnant friend, Jen. She's having a boy. Potential suitor?

Bridget during Thanksgiving in Washington. 31 weeks.

Bridget at 37 weeks on 1/1/2011

Bridget continues to progress well, and the Doc says baby is still doing great! At this point, Bridgie is still on track for Jan. 22nd. With all the stuff we have, we are pretty locked in on having a girl. If it comes out a boy, we're in big trouble!

We have also made progress with the baby's room.

The Changing table with all of the clothes we have thus far.

The Crib is ready to go! We just need a baby to put in it.

My mom bought us a crib set. Thanks mom! She got a smokin' good deal on it.

During the Christmas break we had a lot of fun! It was nice for both of us to just kick back and not worry about school.

We went to the Mo-Tab Christmas concert with my cousin Rob, and his wife Rachel. So fun! We love you guys!

It snowed a lot, and it was really cold. Actually, it still is really cold! It was 7 degrees last night while we were driving home. This is the view out our front door at Y mountain. Can you find the "Y"?

An icicle formed on the front of our bike rack. We enjoyed it until the sun broke it. :(

3 years ago...

2010-12-28T10:48:00.001-08:00

Dear Dane,
3 Years ago, you made my day.

And you have kept doing it ever since. Thank you for the best 3 years of my life.

I love you!

Baby Shower

2010-12-17T10:25:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, some of my great friends threw a baby shower for me. It was so much fun to see everyone there, play a fun game and have some amazing food. It is always a little weird for me to be at a party for myself, but it was so fun. I just tried to think about it as a non-birthday party for our little girl who is on her way is 5 weeks! yikes.

Anyway, thank you sooooo much to everyone who came and to everyone who put so much planning and time into it. Especially because we had to change the time and date a few times because of my grandpa's funeral. You were all so amazing.

Here's some pics from the day:
Of course we opened presents :) I love these little shoes!

This was one of our faves. My friend Naomi made a little blanket that said "Daddy's little girl" on the front with a really cute pink pattern with ducks. I knew that Dane would love it because he loves ducks, but then I turned it over to see why he would really love it. And he did. And the first thing he said was, "It's sad, but I could name all of these different planes."

Here with some of my greatest friends from my BYU days. We all met our freshman year, me, Haylee (expecting her 2nd), Jessica (also expecting her second), and Lindsay who has been married only a few months.

These two girls are 2 of my other faves from my BYU days. Laura and Jordan, who I meet in Art Ed. They were my vice presidents for our art ed organization, NAEA BYU student chapter. Laura teaches ceramics at American Fork HS, and Jordan is teaching art at a charter school in West Jordan.

And last but not least, I had to share this. When Haylee and I were roommates our sophomore year, for some reason, we stuffed clothes in our shirts and pretended to be pregnant. (She is frowning because she isn't married.) Now that we are both pregnant and due basically the same day, we had to take a real one :).

Indian Corn

2010-11-16T08:11:00.001-08:00

So, I am pretty sure that is not p.c., but I am not sure what else to call this.

This last Sunday, the owners and managers of J-Dawgs hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for all of their employees. They deep fried a turkey, and made everything from scratch. Mashed potatoes, candied yams, stuffing, rolls, everything. It was sooooo good! They invited the employees to bring desert and had a contest. So, this is what Dane and I came up with, with some help from Hello Cupcake!.

We won the prize for the most creative desert. It was so much fun. And no, the gourds are not cupcakes. Just the corn. :)

29 down, 11 to go

2010-11-05T10:06:00.001-07:00

All right, all right. You asked, and I finally gave in. 29 weeks.

Bigger and Better

2010-11-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

I am probably not the best one to be giving updates on Dane's flying, so if he wants to add an addendum to this post, I hope he does! I just wanted to say how proud of him I am for all of his hard work. So, here is the skinny. He is a licensed private pilot with his instrument rating. Which means he can fly in conditions where you can't see where you are going--like at night or when it is foggy, raining...etc. We took off to Houston literally right after he finished that. In Houston he received about 35 hours of training on a Boeing 737 simulator. Since we have been back he has been working on his Multi-engine add on to his private pilot license.

This is where bigger and better comes in. I guess it goes without saying that he has been spending all of his training in a multi-engine aircraft (or sim). If you remember this post from a while back, I think I referred to the planes that he flew as an "egg with wings", but these bad boys are a lot bigger. If you use Dane as the scale, it is a really big difference. He fits in them a lot better, and of course they are a lot more expensive to train in, but a lot more fun from what I have gathered. Dane is hoping to take his final mutil-engine check-ride with an FAA official in the next week or so.

So, the next steps are commercial and then flight instructor licenses. Luckily, UVU has a pretty nice set up for these two licenses so that you work on them simultaneously. Which means, when Dane has his commercial license (means he is certified to fly for hire) he will get his instructor license at (crossing my fingers) the same time. We are hoping this will happen early next year around the time our baby is born and I have to go back to school.

I am so proud of all the hard work he has been putting into school. He is not only juggling flying, and learning everything he needs to pass his tests in the air and on the ground for the check-ride, but is also taking classes online and in the classroom. Add on top of that working 17-20 hrs/week and leading the elder's quorum in our ward. Way to go sweety! I love you!

Sugar Cookies

2010-11-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday a good friend of mine gave me a call and invited me to come over and decorate sugar cookies, and she discovered something genius. After we had decorated the white ghosts, and the orange pumpkins, our attempt to mix brownish frosting for the leaves was not working.

So, the thought came up that we should have used cocoa powder. Oops, that would have been great. And before I knew it, she had grabbed the Nutella out of her cupboard and was mixing it in. Wow. I was surprised first because it seemed kind of crazy, and secondly when I tasted it. Amazingness. Her husband agreed. Skeptical at first thinking that the cookies would just taste like they had Nutella on them, even he admitted the creative genius. So, that is my recommendation to all of you. Next time you make frosting, try adding a dab of Nutella!

Happy Belated Halloween!

2010-11-02T19:00:00.001-07:00

(For those of you who can't tell, I am supposed to be a bottle of special sauce.)
I'd have to say that our costumes turned out pretty well this year considering the 15 min we took to put them togeter...

Summer Summary

2010-09-03T09:52:00.000-07:00

So, this is the last of my "catch-up" posts. I just wanted to put up some pictures from this summer.

I was lucky enough to be able to go back to American Income and get a job for the summer. I was not doing sales, though. I handled all of the office administrative stuff and was able to work for just 2 months. They were so gracious to let me come back just for a short time (Thank you!) before I hired and trained my replacement so that I could take August to get ready for school. It was the perfect job for me. I worked about 30 hours/week, and was able to come home and crash at the end of the day...I never realized how much it took out of you to make a little baby!

Dane was able to meet with his flight instructor every day and get back onto his bike. He, Dale and a few of our friends are training right now to ride their first century in October. It is a 100 mi bike ride in St. George. Yikes. As much as I would love to do that someday, I am kinda glad that I have a good reason not to train for something like that right now.

A few highlights from the summer were being able to spend time outside--not in the blistering humidity--see family, and spend time with friends that we missed so much while we were gone.

Here is a panoramic shot that Dane took at the top of the Tram at Snowbird. We went up here with my parents and all of their grandkids over the age of 8 for "cousin camp". So fun! after this we went on ATV and horse-back rides down into Mineral Basin. It was a beautiful day.

Another one of our favorite activities this summer was hiking up to Stewart Falls in Provo Canyon, just above Aspen Grove. We went with our friends Mollie and Rod Pettingill. This is after running through the ice-cold waterfall. It had been a hot day and felt really nice! (note to self, next time I run through a waterfall: don't wear white shorts!)

At the end of the summer, we did get a special treat! Our friends, Jessi and Ryk, who we met in Houston came into town and we got to do dinner with them. We miss them so much and wish that they were just there for an internship and coming back to Provo too! But we do realize that there comes a time when we do need to move on and out of Provo...just wish that our friends all left the same time we did!

And the Dr. says.....

2010-08-31T11:45:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Dane and I went to our 19 week OBGYN appointment with great excitement to find out what our little one would be, a he or a she. As soon as we found out Dane sent a mass text to many of his texting-savvy family that said,

"The Dr. says our baby likes pink!"

It was so exciting to find out! I also found out that I have been feeling her move around a little bit but didn't really know what that twitching was down in my tummy. She is pretty active, and looks healthy so far! What was really fun, was that they let us bring a blank DVD so they could record the entire ultrasound for us. Dane and I watched it again last night before going to bed. I think this may become one of the greatest hits in our house!

We still have not decided on a name, so if any of you have some unique and cute suggestions that would go well with the name of Smith, let us know!

Coming Home in One Piece

2010-08-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

So it's no surprise, but we made it home safely. There is just one thing that I really want to document about our trip home, and that is the adventure with the truck.

Grandpa Hamblin was kind enough to lend us his '87 Dodge Ram for the move out. We didn't take any furniture with us, but still couldn't fit everything we needed for our 5 month excursion to Houston in our little Civic. So, Dane drove to WY to pick it up, and it worked perfectly for the move out, and back. I am happy to say that it made it, both ways!! For those of you who didn't hear, though, we did have a tire blow out just a few hours outside of Dallas. It was no biggy, we called AAA and a true Texan came to our rescue with one of the thickest accents I have ever heard.

Anyway, so back to the drive home, we prayed the entire way home that we would not have another tire blow out and that the truck would just make it. And it did, but I can honestly say that we had angels beside us holding those tires together. I lead the way in the Civic most of the way home because I had the GPS and more importantly, cruise control. When we got to Price canyon though, Dane was feeling the need to lead, so I was happy to follow behind him. I was watching the truck, our stuff and the back, driver's side tire caught my eye. It was a bulge and it was huge. I had no idea how long in had been there, but it didn't look good. I didn't say anything to Dane, though, I guess because I felt it would make the tire explode or something? I donno.

We got out of the canyon and continued on Hwy 89 through Springville, and by this point I had to go to the bathroom really badly, and didn't have the patience to follow old faithful anymore, so I radioed Dane. Told him the situation, and that I would meet him at the house, oh and by the way that his back tire looked like it was about to explode. (I guess I figured we were close enough to home that if he had problems, we would be fine.)

I rushed back to the house, found the keys (thank you Ben and Rosa!) and relieved myself just in time to hear Dane pull up. He had made it! But we both agreed that we shouldn't move the truck until we could fix the tire because upon inspection we found the tread was separating and exposing the metal mesh underneath. Yikes!

This was Friday. (Can I just say here that it was sooooo good to be back in our little house! Ahhhhh. We missed it.) Two days later, on Sunday, when we got back from church, I could see the spare sticking out of the truck bed, where it always was, and asked Dane if he had changed the bulging tire in the back. "No, why?" he asked. To that I pointed out the spare that had apparently EXPLODED in the back of the truck bed.

I don't remember how hot it was that day, but there had literally been a mini-heat wave--the same day that canyon rivers were flooding the salt lake valley. I guess it was a combination of the heat and the pressure difference from the altitude. So were we grateful we made it home? Oh, yes. And with no blow-outs, so we didn't have to use the spare, that may have also blown out while driving.

Our Last Trip: California

2010-08-25T12:31:00.001-07:00

So, our last weekend before moving home from Houston, we hopped on a flight to San Fransisco to visit Dane's mission, Santa Rosa, CA. Marlyn Gillis, a wonderful woman that rented an granny-unit to the missionaries and absolutely fell in love with Dane during his first 6 months, was gracious enough to pick us up, take us to dinner, and let us stay with her for the trip. She was a wonderful host, fed us well, took us to see the redwoods, and allowed us to do whatever we wanted. We love you Mare!

I think this is supposed to be one of the oldest/biggest trees in the forest we visited. The photo doesn't really do it justice, but it was pretty big. Dane said that there are trees that put this one to shame a little farther up the cost. Sounds like we may just have to make another trip someday.

Charles Shultz, the creator and illustrator of Peanuts (Charley Brown and Snoopy) lived in Santa Rosa. There is a pretty cool museum right next to where he lived. I never really appreciated that comic until I had learned all about it.

Marlyn took us on a long, beautiful drive along the cost. It was a perfect day. We even got to see sea lions!

Dane and I took a day, rented a car and drove to some of the other cities that he had served in. Of course we had to make a stop at one of our favorite bakeries, Bouchon in Yountville, just outside Napa. Yumm.

I bet you didn't know the Jelly Belly Factory was in Fairfield, CA did you? Yep, that was one of Dane's areas too! They give free tours of the factory, and even free samples.

It was a great last trip for us, and we will be grateful forever for the experiences we had while we were in Houston. Thank you Continental Air Lines!
I added up all of our flights we hopped on for free. Any guesses? 30 total! 3 of which were first class.
I went to the CAL website, and those 30 flights, if I were to book them ahead of time for the same weekends next year, were worth about $14,546. So, I guess you can say that we got a run for our money!

The Big Apple, courtousy of AIL!

2010-08-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

Last year when I was selling life insurance, I surprised myself (and my family, I think) at how well I was actually able to do it.

Now, I feel I need to say, even though I did find success and make a good amount of money, I will most likely never, ever, ever do it again. It was a really good experience, but just not for me. I have no complaints about the company or the people I worked for. Actually, I love everything about the people I worked with, and the product I sold. However, I decided that no matter who you are, no matter how much money you make, if you are not happy, it is not worth it. So, when I say I wasn't happy, I think the hardest thing about the job was just how demanding it was. It took a lot out of me, but did not give me the fulfillment that I am looking for in a career. As my #1 career goal is to become the best mother I possibly can be, I am kinda picky as to what I want in a job if it is going to take me away from my home.

Anyway, back to the trip! So, every year the company give their employees an opportunity to qualify for an all-expense-paid trip. This year, it was a huge convention with very few meetings and mostly parties/awards nights, and lots of fun in New York City. I was surprised, to be completely honest, when my boss called me up in Houston to let me know I had qualified for this year's convention.

So, in the middle of May, Dane and I hopped on a plane (Continental Airlines... ironic, I know) to New York for 5 days of fun. They gave us true, high class treatment, too. We had tickets for a 2 day hop-on-hop-off bus tour, lots of free time in the city, $50 for a night out on the town on our own, tickets to WICKED(!!), and lots of banquets, along with a great hotel room and shuttling to and from the airport. It was a blast, and a vacation that we really enjoyed. So, here are the pics:

A true, New York deli-style Reuben. Dane and I shared it, and still couldn't eat it all. Take that man.vs.food!

We took a trip to the top of the "Rock", the Rockefeller building. Very nice view.

Of course I wanted to make a stop at the Museum of Modern Art. Here we are in front of a famous Andy Warhol. I have to give a special thanks to all of our friends who tagged along...it was an interesting day. I guess I can just say that not everyone loves modern art as much as I do...

Convention hall.

All dressed up for the formal banquet/awards night.

Wicked! It was the first time for each of us to see it, and we were not disapointed.

We had enough free time one afternoon to take a few hours and visit the Manhattan Temple. It was so beautiful! It was a good day to be inside, too because we later found out from our drenched-freezing friends that it had rained all day, and the double-decker bus tour had not been that great because all of the seats on the bottom were taken.

Houston Space Center

2010-08-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

So, after we worked out the logistics with the police and our accident we were feeling a little deflated, but decided to continue with our plans for the day anyway. So, we hopped this time, into our friends' car and recommenced our journey to the Houston Space center. We were soooooo glad that we did. It was a great way to help clear our minds with something fun. We were ok, and that was what was most important.
So, if any of you remember this post from a while back, you may remember my life-long dream of becoming an astronaut. Well, it goes without saying that I was VERY excited to go to the space center. I actually got to see the room where the famous words "Houston, the eagle has landed," "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," and "Houston, we have a problem," were received over radio transmission. So cool. There is still a little part of me that wants to go to outer-space some day. So, i guess my best bet from now on is to become a multi-millionaire and grab a ticket on Virgin Galactic.

So, here are a few pics from the space day:

Here is the whole gang; Dane, me, Jessi and Ryk Heiner, and Stephanie and Trent Hartman in front of one of the pods that some Apollo astronauts came back to Earth in.

What do you think, does it go with my outfit?

There was a flight simulator, and of course Dane had to try, and of course I had lots of advice to offer.

Moon-mobile

Apollo V Rocket. Huge.

Here it is, Mission Control! They stopped using this room, I think in the 90's. But this is where all of the Apollo missions went down. Pretty sweet tour, if I do say so myself.

A long awaited update

2010-08-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

This update has been a long time coming, even if there are no more readers out there, I have got to do this for myself!
SOOOOOO much has been going on. Here is a brief summary with more detailed posts to come:
Last you all heard we were still traveling the globe from our home-base in Houston, so that is where I will start.
-We got into a car accident. No injuries, but it put us a few weeks of repairs behind our anticipated move-home-to-Provo date.
-Finally got to the Houston Space center
-We made a trip to the Big Apple courtesy of the insurance company I worked for last year. It was a qualification based on sales/agent. So fun!
-Made one last trip to Cali to visit Dane's mission and a few dear friends.
-Moved home successfully, and miraculously in the truck and newly fixed civic.
-I got to go back to work right away with my insurance company for the summer.
-Dane started flying
-And for those of you who haven't heard yet, we found out that we are expecting our first baby! Due Jan. 22, 2011! (I know, next year. That sounds farther away than it should.)
-Dane is still flying and looking for a job.
-I have started to get my classroom and lesson plans ready for the quickly-approaching school year.

So, I plan on starting at the top of list and working my way down to give more details and photos.
Here we go. The car accident. It was crazy. The first one that I can say that I have ever been in, and to be honest, it could have been a lot worse. I am so grateful that no one was injured and we were wearing our seat-belts! (Thanks Mom for the family motto, "We are a seat-belt family!")
We were on our way to the Houston NASA Space Center with friends on a Sat in May. It all happened really fast. Apparently there was a girl traveling on the cross street to us who ran a red light, not paying attention on her cell phone, and as we went through our green light, we t-boned her. Our car stopped dead in its tracks, the airbags went off, and there was smoke everywhere. She was pretty apologetic at first, but of course when the police showed up, her story changed. It was frustrating, to say the least.
Anyway, with conflicting statements, we had nothing else to do other than plead our case the best we could and fork over the deductible to get our car fixed as soon as possible. (We were planning on moving home in about a week...that definitely was put on hold.) Luckily Houston City is crazy about red-light cameras and that just happened to be an intersection where they had one! But there was no way of knowing if it was even working, so we put in a request from the time and date of our accident, hoping for a shred of evidence in our favor, and waited...a long time.
So, all went ok, but to be honest 2 of the best days of our lives so far have been 1. The day we got the video in the mail from the city of Houston showing our accident, and 2. This weekend when we got our reimbursement check in the mail from the girl's insurance company! Yay. I am glad to say that this mess is finally all over. Ahhhh.
So, here are the pics and video of the damage:
Our car....sniff...

Oh, did I mention that it started raining after that? Crazy hard.

This is the damage we did to her. Too bad she only had liability coverage. Her car is pretty much toast. Bummer. Lesson learned. Don't run red lights!

Here it is, the best video that I have seen in a long time!!!

Syracuse, NY

2010-05-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was one of my favorite trips we have taken so far. Is that okay to say? Again, this one was pretty last minute. We called Aunt Beth, Thursday night and hopped on a plane the next day. We were so glad that she had the weekend open! It was such a wonderful time for me to get to know the famous, beloved Aunt Beth a little more, and I can see clearly now why she has such a special place in the hearts of Dane and his family. Beth is my father-in-law's older sister. She has never had children or married and has truly taken her nieces and nephews under her wing as her own. She is an unwavering example of strength, courage and faith. We love you Aunt Beth!

So, for those of you who don't know, Syracuse is about 60 miles from Palmyra, NY. We took a little day trip there on Saturday and had a chance to see the historic sites for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have not been there since my parents' mission and it was wonderful to go back. In a way, I think because they served there, a part of me really feels at home in Palmyra.

Here are some of the highlights from the sites:

Here I am with Aunt Beth at the top of the Hill Cumorah

Going into the Sacred Grove

For lunch, we stopped at the best place to eat in Palmyra, Nima's. Dane's sister, Emalei server as a site sister missionary in Palmyra and Aunt Beth said it was Emalei's favorite place to eat.

We ordered calzones and needless to say, they were HUGE!

Here is the Grandon Building where the first edition of the Book of Mormon was published. Unfortunately it was closed the day we were there because someone was filming a movie, but we got a picture just for fun.

Next, we stopped at a small grave yard in town and visited the grave of Alvin Smith. This is a headstone that the Church made as a memorial.

On the back side of the new headstone you can see where they put the original one.

Martin Harris home

We took a short little detour to go visit the Palmyra Temple. We didn't have enough time to do any work inside, but Dane had never been here before, so it was nice to see.

We walked around the back, and here is a picture of the stained glass window coming from the celestial room. It was really windy and cold, so we ran back to the car pretty quickly.

This is an inside view of the Peter Whitmer farmhouse where the Church was organized on April 6, 1830.

Outside view

Saturday night, Dane, Aunt Beth and I stayed up really late looking at old photos from the Smith family from past generations. Beth had endless stories to share and it was wonderful to get to know more about where Dane came from. Beth has taken upon herself the role of "family historian", and let me just say, she is an All-Star. She really knows her stuff.

Thanks for a great weekend, Aunt Beth!

Washington DC

2010-05-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

For the last weekend in April, I had been told that we would be traveling, not to get a job for Friday, to pack clothes for warm weather, and that I was not allowed to ask any more questions. End of story. I wouldn't know where we were going until we got to the gate at the airport.

For those of you who know me, this was really hard! I love, Love, LOVE figuring things out, and to my husband's dismay, I love prying for information about secrets. He was pretty rock solid on this one though, and I have to say that I was totally impressed.

At the airport, through security, we stopped at some seats and Dane handed me my travel package. It was a Continental Airlines folder filled with papers confirming our hotel reservation, a print out of the weather forecast for the weekend, a map of the Metro system, directions to get to church for Sunday, and a complete list of famous sites to see, such as the Mall, every kind of Smithsonian you can imagine and more, historic monuments, and even info about the National Art Museum in Washington D.C.

I was totally shocked! When he said "Bring clothes for warm weather, and oh, yeah. You might want a bathing suit." East cost was ruled out of my mind. We had to be going somewhere in California or something....Way to go Dane. It was a wonderful surprise!

So I wanted to show you all some pics from our adventures. The weather was amazing. It was hot. Actually, maybe a little too hot. But we soaked in as much sunshine as we could.

Here is a nice view of the Jefferson Memorial:

As you can see, it was very bright! This was the best I could do to keep my eyes open for a picture. Washington Monument.

WWII Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

F. D. Roosevelt Memorial. This was one of my favorites. Lots of pretty waterfalls, stone walls, benches and gardens with inspiring quotes from FDR etched into the stone.

Lincoln Monument

Walking up to the Lincoln Monument...wait, is that Nacho Libre or Captain America waiving that American flag?!?!

US Capitol

On to the Smithsonian Museums. Can I just say it is amazing that they are free. So great. here I am in front of Julia Child's kitchen. Love the aqua.

Of course, we had to go see planes, right?

A way awesome mural at the Air and Space Smithsonian

Look what else we found? The FAA office. A bitter-sweet moment for Dane. :)

Thanks to Abbie who lived in DC for a while after her undergrad for recommending this great pizza place. How could our travel blog be complete without food right?

Two Trips to Salt Lake

2010-05-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

The weekend of April 23, Dane and I were in the airport with our bags packed and ready to fly to California, but because of a last-minute-scheduled doctor's appointment, we raced across the terminal to catch a flight to Salt Lake. We were sad not to be going to see our beloved friends in Santa Rosa, but very excited to get back to Utah to see so many people. We were able to visit our ward in Provo and spend much needed time with family.

Dane's doctor's appointment was Monday. He got both his back and leg x-rayed, and to our relief there was no problem with his back. His leg however, created a little more of a comical picture. In the x-ray you could easily see what was creating the strange lump behind his right knee. It looked like a finger had decided to grow right out of his leg. "That'll have to come off." Is what Dr. Myers said, and so we have an appointment to get a specialists diagnosis in June after we move back.

That afternoon we couldn't make the last flight back to Houston, so we caught the first flight home Tuesday morning. We were so grateful that the managers at Dane's work were so understanding! Thank you!!!

As we had a little extra time in Utah, we were able to be there to interview for a job as a managing couple of a singles' complex. This is a job that we have had our eyes on for the last year or so, and it was a miracle that we could meet with the owners of the complex on such short notice. Even though this job didn't ever really seem like something that was "so us", I had felt so strongly about perusing it. I knew it would be a great opportunity.

The interview went well, and I spent the next few days emailing back and forth with the owners about my resume, Dane's resume...etc. The owner mentioned that she liked my panda shoes that I had been wearing at the interview, and as it also came up that I was an art teaching major at BYU, she let me know about a position that was opening up in the fall for an art teacher at a local elementary school. She didn't know if I was interested but thought she would just let me know.

WOW! I was stunned. I was so excited. I put in my application within the next two days. I couldn't sleep, I was so excited and so grateful that she would be so thoughtful as to share that with me. Being in Houston, I have been a little disconnected from the job market back in UT. I have a job waiting for me when I get back, and I guess I had just let my dreams of having my own classroom someday slip into the back of my mind. Even thought that is what I really want to do, it just seemed impossible to find what I was looking for: full time, in Provo. And there it was. WOW.

So by the time I had everything in, we had been home about a week (and we had gotten word from the apartment complex owner that they had chosen another couple for the managing position). So, now it is Tuesday again. The teaching job closed on Friday. Friday afternoon (2 weeks after we left for SLC the first time) I got a call from the Principle at Edgemont Elementary. He wanted to know if I could come in for an interview on Monday. Dane checked the space available for the weekend, there was room (miracle!), I said, "Of course!" And Dane and I packed our bags and were out the door within the hour.

So just like that, we were off to Utah again. This was actually a great weekend to be in Utah. Dane's buddies from his freshman year had planned a reunion in Provo for Saturday night because a lot of them graduated and we were able to make it! Here are a few pics of the gang:

Also, Dane's great-uncle Grant Bangerter passed away earlier that week and his funeral was Saturday morning. It was so good to be there for both of those things. Dane's mom, Dale and Leisa, and lots of other family had come in town for the funeral, and it was wonderful to see them. The funeral services were beautiful and It was inspiring to hear about what an influential church leader and missionary that Uncle Grant had been.

Dane flew home Sunday night and I went into my interview Monday afternoon. I felt really good about it, and got pretty excited talking to the principle about the kind of art program they had in mind for the students at Edgemont. The said they would let me know within about a week, I said goodbye and put the rest in the hands of the Lord.

There have been times in my life when I wanted something so badly and after sincere prayer have not gotten them. Looking back, I am grateful the Lord is in control, and with those experiences, I felt a lot of peace about the teaching job. I knew that whatever happened, the Lord's will would be exercised and that He really knew what was best.

The next day, as I waited for Dane to pick me up at IAH, I checked my voice mail and almost dropped my phone when I heard the voice of Dennis Pratt, the principle at Edgemont, saying he wanted to talk to me more about the position. I called him back, and to my delight, was offered the job!!! I cannot tell you how grateful I am for this opportunity. It really is such a blessing. It all worked out so well. I never would have heard about the job if we hadn't interviewed for the management position. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Seattle, again!

2010-04-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Dane and the other interns were invited to a behind-the-scenes tour of the Boeing factory in Everet, WA. It was on a Tuesday. When we looked at flights for Monday, the weekend before, they did not look promising, so we thought, "Why not?" and flew to Seattle to spend the weekend with my sister, Leslie Ann and her family. Getting there was a little bit of a roller coaster ride and I don't think I will ever forget how we felt.

Here's the skinny. All day Sat., flights were oversold. And even though that does not always mean you won't get on, it did not look promising. Sunday, looked great though. We decided that spending all day in the airport on Sat. just to get our hopes up wouldn't be worth it, so we went to bed Friday night, planning to hope on a plane on Sunday. Saturday morning, my alarm went off around 5:30 am. Wonderful. Don't you love it when you forget to turn it off for the weekend? I mutter into my pillow, go back to sleep as Dane checks the flight just in case. "WAKE UP!" he shouted, "There are 70 open seats on the flight in 2 hours. If we leave now we can make it!"
We hadn't packed a thing, so in 20 min, we packed and ran out the door just in time to realize that Dane had actually been looking at the flight for Sunday. Grrrr. There was no chance of going back to sleep now, so we though, since we were ready to go, we might as well see if we could get on.

I am realizing that this is not really the short version that I meant to tell...So basically, after dealing with an unhappy gate agent who acted as though her acknowledging our presence should have been an honor we got on the plane. It was oversold by 2 and she had put us dead last on the standby list. Numbers 9 and 10. I could not believe how lucky we had been to get on! I settled into my seat, made friends with my neighbors and suddenly heard someone calling my name. It was the gate agent. He told me that I had to get off the plane. NOW. What? Our carry-on was all the way in the back and by the time I had made my way back to grab it and was off the plane, all I would have needed was a little poke to burst into tears. "What a morning." I thought.
I was just about off the plane, when I heard, "Never mind, ma'am. You may sit down." I have no idea what happened, but they let me back to my seat. It was awful. But really good to know that we were on our way to see Leslie Ann!

So now that I have that story off my chest, let me tell you about how wonderful the trip was!

We loved spending time with Leslie, David and Molly and Annie. My only regret is that I didn't talk more pictures. We went swimming for FHE, out to the hot tub almost every night, decorated Easter eggs (Martha Stewart style), went shopping and maybe my favorite of all was the walk/hike. Molly took her bucket and she and Annie picked all the dandelions they could find and filled the bucket. It was cute to see their personalities show through in this activity. Annie was vary careful in making sure they got all of them, and no dandelions fell out. Molly on the other hand was completely unaware of the little yellow trail she was leaving behind as she swung the bucket round and around. It was like watching a movie. She would squat down to pick up a flower and unknowingly knock over her bucket. Then, discover the spilled flowers on the ground, pick the bucket up, and knock it over again while putting in the first spilled flowers. She kept spilling them and picking them up. Her face was so happy and I am sure she thought she had scored the jackpot of all spots to find dandelions. I think it was really frustrating for Annie. They were both so cute.

Can you see all the dandelions on the ground?

We had so much fun! Thanks for being such great hosts, Dave and Leslie!
Here we are with Molly and Annie.

Dane went on the tour with the interns on Tuesday and we had all been planning on flying home that night on a read-eye. The loads were not looking good. Surprise, suprise, eh? In fact, the chances of us getting on a flight from Seattle to Houston all day Wednesday didn't look good at all. We hadn't checked in either, which meant, all of the interns an other travelers with our same priority would be ahead of us. So, to make a long story short because the flight was wide open, we flew home out of Portland on Thursday. We had a day longer than we had expected, so on Wednesday, we rented a car (thanks Mom, and Dad) and took a little detour over to Prosser. Again, it was amazing to be able to have family close enough that we could see them, share a warm meal together and have somewhere to sleep. This is a picture we took of Mt. Hood on our way to Portland from Prosser.

SIGH. Talk about a long weekend in Washington. I cannot even express how blessed we have been to be able to travel and visit family. Thank you very much Continental Airlines.

DiGiorno Pizza Party

2010-04-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

I think that I have told many of you about this great website called HouseParty.com. It is a place where companies go to get new products out there, and people like you and me, can get cool free stuff. And who doesn't like free stuff right? I am not writing this blog to make you all think that I am advertising for the website, because really, I get nothing out of this other than to share someth
ing wonderful. So, this is how it works because I was a little confused at first. You go to the site, and get on the emailing list.
They email you about "parties" that are being sponsored. This is where companies get new products out there. For example, there are parties for new Aquafina flavored water, Hasbro board games, Gerber baby food, or DiGiorno pizza and bread-sticks.
For the party, you and your guests get to try out this new whatever and have a great time. It is as simple as that. Basically, they provide the party, and all you have to provide it the people and a place.
SO, when you get the email, if it something you want to do, you apply for the party and wait to hear back.
If you qualify or whatever, they email you and you accept.
Use their site to invite peeps, and they send you a party package in the mail.

This is where the good stuff is. A while back I applied and was accepted for a DiGiorno pizza party. My party pack included a sweet apron, a nice pizza cutter, party beads, some games that went along with march madness and last but not least, TONS of coupons for pizza. I didn't have to buy anything for the party. About 10 people came, ate and we still had 2 pizzas in our freezer for later. We had a lot of fun, and it is defiantly something that I would love to do again. Thanks to everyone that came it was great to see you all.

p.s. Just for the record. Yes, the pizza and bread-sticks were WAY good. Not quite sure if frozen pizza is ever as good as delivery though...sorry DiGiorno.

Spring Break Visitors

2010-04-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

Last month, for spring break, I had the best treat ever. My sister, Elizabeth, packed up her car with pillows, blankets, scrap-booking supplies, and her two daughters, Emily(7) and Rebekka(12) and drove up to Houston from Austin to visit! (about a 3 hour drive) They stayed got to my apartment just in time for lunch on Tuesday and drove home that next Thursday. We watched good movies, made yummy treats and got out into the city to explore some fun stuff.

Wednesday was St. Patrick's day, so of course, Tuesday night, we had to brake in our TX-shaped cookie cutter and made a green treat.

Wednesday, Elizabeth and Emily went to the Children's Museum and Rebekka and I went for a run in Hermann Park. We went home, showered, packed lunch and picked up the museum goers with the plan to eat lunch in the park and head to the Houston Zoo. Well, it seemed as though everyone else in the world must have been planning the exact same thing because traffic was horrific. We spent basically the next two hours trying to just get close to the entrance of the zoo. We knew by the time we found a parking spot and actually got into the zoo, we would only have about an hour and a half inside, so we bagged it and went home.

Luckily, the next morning, we were able to get to the zoo a little after it opened and have a great time there.

(my computer is having issues, and I cannot seem to get these pictures to flip on the blog...grrr....)

I love you Elizabeth!!! Thank you so much for coming to visit. We will be making our way down to Austin soon!

Nashville

2010-04-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

I am way behind on some of these posts, so they are going to be a little out dated. I know it really doesn't matter though, because I really want to have them all up here. I will say that the biggest obstacle I have had in getting these posts up, is a lack of good photos. Dane and I lost our digital camera several weeks ago (no, not the SLR one that we are borrowing from Kristy, but this little-fit-in-your-pocket-take-great-pictures-ans-video one) and have resorted to taking pictures merely with our cellular devices. This is usually not so bad if we are using Dane's phone, but mine is a little more ghetto and a little more difficult to get the pictures off of. So, after many, many frustrating sessions of trying to get pictures from my phone, this is all that we will be left with. *Also, the obviously higher quality photos are thanks to Abbie!

Several weeks ago, Dane and I flew to Nashville, TN to visit Abbie, Scott and Ella to celebrate her 2nd birthday. Dane's parents were there for the weekend too, and we are sooooo grateful to them for getting a place for us to stay too.

Once we landed at the airport, Dane and I were the last ones off the plane, and I took a minute to ask the first officer if he had any of those little "wings" that little kids can pin on their shirts. He graciously shared some with us for Ella and her little friend in the ward that LOVES planes. This of course struck up a conversation between Dane and the first officer about flying, Continental, and all that jazz. They instantly bonded. They spent a good twenty minutes sitting in the cockpit sharing experiences before the gate agents had to kick us out so they could board the next flight. Needless to say, we had already had a pretty good start to the whole trip.

Of course we had to visit the Grand 'Ole Opry. (Not that I actually knew much about it before going to Nashville, but this is Nashville!) We saw a great performance of about a dozen different country stars ranging from old to the new including, Easton Corbin and Trace Adkins. This was Louis' favorite part of the trip. :)

Most of all, it was fun to spend time with family, and especially see how grown up Ella has gotten! She is so big. Big enough to get bottles to feed her babies, and a broom to help Mama in the kitchen for her birthday. So cute. Thanks for being great hosts Abbie and Scott!

p.s. a few more things we will never forget from Nashville:
-Getting stuck in the airport and staying an extra day! So fun.
-Applebee's really isn't that great, no matter how hungry you are.
-Cupcakes. Need I say more?
-Ella laughing herself to sleep, and even in the middle of her nap.
-Ella saying "Oh, bless you!" to grandma's sneeze from across the wall when agian, she was supposed to be taking a nap.

Reflections of Easter

2010-04-05T09:19:00.001-07:00

I know that a lot of people like to make a post about how General Conference influenced them and how amazing it was and even make it a missionary tool. I think they are great. But I have a confession: I don't really read those posts. I know. I said it. I think maybe it is because I have my own impressions from conference and just want to ponder those, or maybe it is the fear of reading a big block of reflective text with no pictures. Or maybe a little of both. Well, if you are like me, then you can stop here because I don't think there will be any *pictures in this one.

I am writing this because I think that I need to take more time to record my feelings. A few weeks ago, Dane and I (along with my entire matriarchal extended family) received a treasure from my grandparents. A book. Not just any book, but one that they have spent 10 years+ sweating over, in which they wrote their Legacy. It is filled with pictures and stories of their past up to the present, but mostly filled with their testimonies. Each story they share has a purpose, and that purpose I am sure was to declare to their posterity and the world their testimonies of Jesus Christ, and the restored Gospel. As I have soaked up their love through this book, I have been so impressed by the love they have for the Lord. I have learned so much about not only my grandparents, but my mother as well.

As I have read, very strong impressions have come to me. I want to leave that kind of Legacy for my family as well. I want to live a life devoted to my Savior. Such that my children know that I know He lives and that His is the way.

It could not have seemed more appropriate that this was the overwhelming message that I took from conference this weekend. On our way to the church Sunday morning, I was explaining to George, an investigator that we have been teaching with the missionaries, that the general authorities are not given an assigned topic to speak on. And that they prepare their own talks after much prayer and reflection as to what they feel is the most important message that the members of the church need to hear right now. I was blown away by the next 4 hours of teaching. I had already been impressed by the number of family centered talks from Saturday. But Sunday was incredible. It seemed to me that every talk was centered on the Savior, His Atonement for us, and how parents need to teach and prepare their children to rely on Him when they will be on their own facing, trials, sadness, and opposition. There were not the usual talks on tithing, temple attendance, the word of wisdom, missionary work, or even prayer. While each of those topics were mentioned, I don't think anyone could help but notice the overwhelming focus on the Savior and on strengthening families.

I think that we have hard times ahead of us. Actually, I know we do. The world is definitely changing. How profound that this was the message from the prophets to a church where many of us may be single, without children or even past the time of raising their children. Oh how we must all "...remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Hel. 5:12)

The wonderful news about this is that when we do build our foundations on Christ, WE CANNOT FALL!

Dane and I just sort of smiled at each other when we said, oh I wish we could just remember EVERYTHING that we learned this weekend, so that when we do have children, we will be perfect parents! :) Like that is possible. And that is why we keep listening to conference. Why we keep going to church, reading our scriptures, and praying. Everyday. It is so important.

I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the hope and peace it brings into my life. I know that He lives and loves me. He really does direct our paths if we will let Him. And for anyone out there wondering if this is for you. Yes. Yes it is.

*Stay tuned for some more post to come about, 1. being stuck in Seattle, 2. Nashville, 3. our pizza party, and 4. visitors from Austin...wow, I really am way behind on blogging...These posts will have pictures. I promise.

RODEO HOUSTON!

2010-03-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

Last week, we went with some friends to the Houston Rodeo. Just to let you know, this is no ordinary rodeo. It is huge! In the spirit of "everything's bigger in Texas" it may just be the largest rodeo in the nation. It has been going on all month long and brings competitors from all over North America. They have a HUGE carnival that made me feel like I was at Lagoon, and best of all: after the rodeo each night, they have concerts. If you like country music, pretty much everyone who is anyone comes to perform at Rodeo Houston. Wednesday night, last week, we got to see, my favorite: Rascal Flatts!!!

Before the Rodeo started though, we did go and see some of the other highlights too.

This was Dan's favorite part, the pig races. They were so cute!

We had to go check out the livestock show. I am just joking here, it actually didn't smell at all. That was a surprise.

Got some good 'ol Texas BBQ.

And of course, did some mullet hunting. Yikes.

The rodeo was really fun. I loved watching the bareback riders and the stagecoach races (These pics are obviously not ones that we could have taken from our seats).

But my favorite event, they saved for last: sheep riding! These little kids we 5-6 yeas old and all they did was hold on for dear life. So cute.

Last but not least, the concert was amazing! A few Days before we went, Dane asked me to play some Rascal Flatts in the car so that he would recognize it at the concert. It made me smile to look over and see him sign'n along to some of the songs. That is something I never thought would happen.

That's really them all the way down there, I promise. :)