News

We are very excited to announce that we are having a baby this summer!

Telling people that we are having a baby is a strange experience. I am really excited, and want to share with people, but there isn't really an easy way to bring it up in conversation. Or on a blog post. So this news is delayed for the blog because I didn't really know what to say. Sorry!

So- to answer some questions you all may have- we do not know if we are having a boy or a girl yet. We are planning to find out (and are excited to find out!) and we'll post it here when we know.

I have been fairly sick- not as sick as some people I know, and more sick than others. Not so sick that I needed medication. But I think...maybe...I'm done with being sick? I sure hope so. We'll see.

I haven't finished my degree yet, but I'm going to. I finish classes this semester, I have an internship spring term (which I am also very excited for), and then after the baby comes I will write my thesis. The timing actually works out very well, because my thesis shouldn't be too hard to do with a baby, but classes and an internship would be harder to do.

If you have any advice on anything baby-related, we'd love to hear it. Going into baby-land is overwhelming- there are so many things to do, and get, and SO much information available, and it's nice to hear opinions from people we know and trust. So send us your checklists, or the names of books you think we should read, or your favorite products, or anything else that you have found helpful. We'd love to see it!


Also- so you're aware, I'm not going to post my due date, or our baby's birth date, or that sort of personal information on the internet. I'm happy to tell you, I just don't want just anybody to be able to look it up. :) So if you want to know, send me an email or something.

Lost & Found

Last night, a stray dachshund followed me home from taking Callie out for her evening walk. They were playing together, so Peter took her back to the corner where she first met up with us alone to see if she would wander home. She followed him home too. Since she didn't have a collar, and she and Callie had been getting along, and when Peter took her out she spent lots of time walking in the middle of the road (bad idea for a small black dog at night) we decided to keep her for the night and take her to the vet in the morning to see if she had a microchip.

Callie DID NOT like her once she came into the house. We knew Callie was territorial about food, and we learned that she is also territorial about her house and her people. She spent lots of time growling at the poor little dachshund (actually, the dachshund was bigger than Callie and weighed a lot more) and holding her head down to the ground so she would know that Callie is the alpha dog at our house. Whenever Callie would push her head down, the dachshund would just wag her tail and lick Callie's face. It was sad to watch, so we tried separating them for the night. The dachshund cried and cried until we put her back with Callie. We thought it was weird that she wanted to be with Callie when Callie wasn't being nice to her, but we wanted to sleep so we just left them together. It wasn't the most restful night, because several times in the night Callie felt the need to growl and put the dachshund back in her place.

In the morning, they were both wagging their tails and playing nicely and you would never know that they hadn't been getting along the night before. Peter took the dachshund to the vet, and fortunately she had a microchip so they were able to get her back to her family.

I'm glad we were able to help the stray dog, but it turned out to be a lot more challenging than we thought it would be when we decided to bring her home. It has been nice to have a quiet house this evening.

MR2 x2

Those of you who have been reading this blog since the beginning may remember this post about us getting a black 86 MR2. What I did not include in that post was that the car didn't run when we bought it. We thought it would be a "quick fix" that Peter could do himself that would be fun for him to do. Well, after four years, a new engine, and more money and headache than I want to think about, the car finally runs. It isn't in perfect shape, but it runs. I hope we have learned our lesson and will not buy another project car ever again. Even still, I feel like this story has a happy ending because the car RUNS, and for a long time, I thought it never would.

Jamaica Video

This is the video report for Peter's recent Jamaica project. It talks about their work there, and shows Peter in action a few times.

October

This past month I have been way more flaky than usual. So I wanted to start off this post with an apology to the world in general for all the things I've been supposed to do that haven't gotten done. Hopefully this next month things will go better.

In the beginning of the month, my mom's mom passed away. I was able to go home for the funeral, which was really nice. My sisters, dad, and I played a few songs at the funeral and the luncheon afterwards. I saw lots of family. I was able to see my best friend's new baby in the hospital right before I left to come home. It was as nice of a trip as a funeral trip could be. Unfortunately, it also left me somewhat behind in school.

Peter also went to Jamaica for 2 weeks this month. He just got back last night, which was a miracle because he flew through JFK. They closed the airport after because of a snowstorm, but thankfully he was able to get out before they closed. We all missed him a lot, but he had a good time. I'm not sure if he took pictures or not, but if he did I'm sure he'll post some of them so we all can be jealous. :)

My sister came home from her mission in Hong Kong last week. It has been really nice to be able to talk to her whenever I want to. I'm excited to see her next month when my family comes out for Thanksgiving.

Friday night was our ward trunk or treat, and Michael and I went as lumberjacks. A little girl who was sitting at our table was very concerned that we "didn't have costumes" because I guess to her lumberjack clothes look just like regular ones. I told her that we were supposed to be lumberjacks, and she said, "oh, apple jacks! I love that cereal. We buy it sometimes." It was super cute.

Happy Halloween to everyone tomorrow!

Our Summer

Now that the summer is over and school has started again, here's what we did. We don't have any pictures (sorry) because we either forgot our camera, or we brought it and we didn't have a memory card, so it was useless. Oh well.

1. I got to participate in a dig at Fort Harmony that was a lot of fun. (Click on the link to read a news article and see pictures. I'm the one in the white hoodie looking away from the camera, and I'm not from SUU. Only one of the photos has people from SUU in it, even though 3 of them say that they do).

2. I went to Oregon for a week to visit my family, and mostly to visit my grandmother who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She's actually been doing really well, but in June we didn't know if she'd even live to the end of the summer. It was wonderful to spend time with her and with all the family.

3. Peter went whitewater rafting with the young men in our ward, and had a blast. And came back with knees so sunburned they could barely bend.

4. We were Ma and Pa of a family on our stake pioneer trek. We got to go to Martin's Cove in Wyoming and walk on the actual Oregon Trail/Mormon Trail. It was a fabulous experience, and we had the best kids in our family. No whiners, no accidents, and everybody was happy to be there. And it was really special to be learning about the pioneers, and see the actual places where the stories we heard had happened. Very cool. Martin's Cove is worth a visit if you happen to be in Wyoming.

5. Peter's youngest brother has moved in with us and is living with us and attending high school in Utah for the year. So we have a teenager before we have a baby, but that's okay. We're one week into the school year, and so far so good. We're happy to have him with us, and we'll see how things go.

6. My sister is a new freshman at BYU this year. My family was in town this past week moving her in and getting her settled. I'm really excited to have her out here and to get to see her more often.

7. Peter's sister gets married on Saturday. We have lots of visitors in town this week, and lots of wedding-related things to do. Congratulations to Elyse and Jordan!


So. Now you're caught up on everything you missed while I wasn't blogging this summer. Hopefully it won't be Christmas before my next post. :)

Forgiveness

This story inspired me. In case you aren't inclined to click on the link to read it, or better yet, listen to it, I'll summarize. It's about a woman who forgave the man who killed her son (the perpetrator was a teenager involved in gangs, drugs, etc. at the time) and who has now sort of adopted him as her own son. It amazes me and inspires me to know that people can forgive something so terrible so completely. I sometimes struggle to forgive people for rather insiginificant offenses, but I know that there is healing power that can help me (and anyone) to forgive. That healing power comes from Jesus Christ. I am thankful for His sacrifice that makes forgiveness possible, and for inspiring stories like this one that remind me that I can forgive.