Tim & Rachel Willie

Wow!!! It has Been a Long Time

2011-08-24T21:46:00.000-07:00

I guess with all the other "stuff" out there to keep people up-to-date I have had a hard time feeling motivated to update the blog as well. It takes so much more time, especially if you want to add pictures, etc. I mean, with Facebook, Twitter, Google+.....does anyone even read blogs anymore?

Anyway.....So I accomplished my Day 7 Desire from below......Yep, we bought a house. Closed on June 28 and moved in at the end of July when our rental contract expired. I think what I am going to do, which make sense to do on a blog, is post lots of before and after pictures on here of the house. You see, I couldn't just leave it how it was. No, I had to gut both bathrooms and try to add 3 feet to the garage for the laundry before we moved in.....well, we didn't quite get all of that done. In fact, we still aren't done with all of that. So, sort of modeling this blog after this one I will be posting pictures and updating y'all as we go along. I will only sort of do a retro entry for the stuff we've already done. Mostly it will be pictures of where we started and where we are now as we reach a milestone of some sort in the progress.

Day 8 - A Favorite Song

2010-12-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

Tim
- Someone Exactly Like You
This is mine and Rachel's song. One of my favorites. I feel like it accurately describes how I feel about Rachel. I didn't exactly travel all around the world. But, I guess in my dating prior to getting married I was always searching for something that felt right, that felt different. When I started dating Rachel I felt that, and that is when/how I knew that I should marry her. So, I may not have traveled around the world, but I did my share of searching and I feel like I was searching for someone....exactly like [her].j :)

Day 7 - Something I want to buy

2010-12-07T22:49:00.001-08:00

Tim
This one is really, really easy. A House!!! I absolutely want to buy a house. Hopefully by the time our contract is up (around July) we will have found something and be ready to purchase. We'll just have to see.

Day 6 - Something I Bought Recently

2010-12-06T21:45:00.000-08:00

Tim
1. Rachel's Christmas Present
2. 13 Amplifiers for work
3. A $100K plus upgrade to the sound system (for work)
4. New Wardrobe [except that is my Christmas present and I'm not supposed to know about it.... :)]

Day 5 - Top 10 Pet Peeves

2010-12-05T21:35:00.000-08:00

Tim
1. Smoking/Cigarette Smoke
2. People who don't pay attention to what they are doing and/or their surroundings (drivers, people at stores, etc.)
3. Feeling unappreciated
4. Having people ignore me when I am talking
5. Smoking/Cigarette Smoke
6. Stupid drivers
7. People who don't pay attention
8. Smoking/Cigarette Smoke
9. Smoking/Cigarette Smoke
10. Smoking/Cigarette Smoke

Rachel:
Well, I don't really have 10 pet peeves I only have one big one; smoking. I hate smoking and everything associated with smoking. The only other thing is when people use sarcasm in place of humor. Usually it isn't funny, it is just hurtful and children never understand it.

Day 4 - Something I crave

2010-12-05T21:17:00.001-08:00

Well....that is really easy. Since I have been doing P90X and haven't had anything with sugar in it except maybe 3 or 4 times for the last 3 months.....I really crave some chocolate, with chocolate, and more chocolate and maybe some ice cream too. (I know, I missed this by a day. Sorry). - Tim

Day 3 - A favorite Photo

2010-12-03T23:27:00.000-08:00

So, I'm sure that this probably includes any photo from the web or one that we've taken ourselves. I have so many, just that we have taken it is hard to decide. So, I think I will pick one of my most recent favorites.

This was taken just over a month ago when Rachel and I were in Hawaii. I think it looks as good as a lot of the postcards that they sell. Tell me what you think.

Day 2 - A picture of you last year and now and how you have changed since then

2010-12-02T22:23:00.000-08:00

Tim

Let's see....a year ago. I was fat, out of shape, over ate all the time and was pretty much just in a bad place physically. Now, I have almost completed P90X, have dropped 40 pounds, and I am in close to the best shape of my life.

Has it really been that long......

2010-12-01T22:47:00.000-08:00

So, as you can obviously see from our past blog list....it has been about 5 months since we last blogged on here. So much has happened in that time I couldn't imagine even trying to catch up on all of it. Perhaps we will at least put some pictures and some milestones back in. But for now, we saw this on our friend's FB and Blog and thought it might be a good way to kick start our blogging again. So....as you can see to the right we have listed items for a 30 Day Blog Challenge. On the day indicated Rachel and I will each attempt to blog about the item listed. Ready or not, here we go.........

Day 1 - 5 things no one really knows about me (Tim)
1. My left foot is bigger than my right foot
2. My first kiss came 3 months before my 16th Birthday. I remember nearly every detail of it.
3. I read the entire Twilight Saga books....and actually enjoyed them. Until the last book when she totally butchered the story.
4. I average 3-5 bowel movements a day
5. At one point in the last 7 years (all post Mission) I weighed as much as 285 pounds and as little as 195 pounds. I now weigh a comfortable 225 pounds after losing 40 pounds doing P90X. Though, if you didn't know that last part you either a) Are not my friend on FB b) Do not use FB or c) live in a cave and don't know about my other blog

Day 1 - 5 things no one really knows about me (Rachel)
1. I don't really like Mexican food (unless it is smothered in cheese and sour cream).
2. The only person I have ever kissed is Tim.
3. I love all things miniature.
4. Ceramics was my all-time favorite class in college.
5. I love to push buttons whether it is the keys on the computer, buttons on my phone, calculator, a cash register and so on. Just love to push them. Don't know why I just love to do it. I also love to feel really soft things too.

Daniel Crawling

2010-04-25T18:22:00.001-07:00

Here it is folks, as promised. Enjoy the video.

So, it is amazing how much can change in just a few short weeks. This video is literally some of Daniels very first crawling steps (or are they scoots?). Now, just barely two weeks later he is moving around so much we can't keep him out of anything. He goes from the living room all the way down the hall into the bedroom. He sees the bathroom door left open, and he is at the door in no time (yes, for some reason he seems to really like the bathroom).

We will have to add more pictures and maybe try to get another video of him crawling, and of him pulling himself up onto the furniture. And, today (May 4) I noticed him actually moving from one piece of furniture to another.

9 Month Stats

Height: 27 1/4" - 10-25th Percentile

Weight: 18 lbs. 9.5 oz - 10-25th Percentile

Head: 46 CM - 50-75th Percentile

Daniel 6 Month Pictures

2010-04-25T18:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took so long to get these up. I know, I know, it has been nearly 3 months since these were taken. Our little guy is growing up so fast. We had a wonderful opportunity to have some friends from our old Ward in Provo take these pictures for us. We have always loved their work, so we feel fortunate that they happened to be in California for a wedding the weekend that coincided with Daniel's 6 months. We want to thank Fife Photography for these wonderful pictures. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

The Last Few Weeks

2010-03-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been pretty busy for us: Valentine's Day, Tim's Birthday, day at the Aquarium and so on. Of course we have lots of pictures so I will keep this short and just let you see some of the fun we have been having.

In November we had family pictures taken and although we gave people a family picture we wanted to share some of the other shots.

We also haven't shared many pictures of our cute little guy so I wanted to put some up of just him.

Valentine's Day

Tim's Birthday

Day at the Aquarium

What a crazy hectic week!!

2010-02-12T23:30:00.000-08:00

So, in an effort to keep up my end of the bargain, I am again blogging on Friday night.

An update on Daniel first.......

We can add the following to the list of foods that he has tried: yam, applesauce. He actually really likes the yams. He ate two "helpings" the first time we gave it to him. For the applesauce we put just a little in with his oat cereal. He seemed to like it, but we think it might have made him break out, so we are going to lay off for a few days and then try again on that one.

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And an update on my week...............

The week started off with more conference call/online demos. I am still in the process at work of trying to find some scheduling software to help make my life a lot easier. I am working with the two people who schedule in Salt Lake for Temple Square. We also have a Business Analyst that has been part of the team. We finally have it narrowed down to the last two. We have a "live" online trial for one of them currently, and the other one should have a "live" trial for us Monday or Tuesday of next week. On top of 3 or 4 Conference calls this past week I also had 5 Production Meetings for upcoming events. And, to add one more thing, I had someone from the Finance department come out to do an internal audit. Mostly he just followed me around for the day and asked questions about what I do and how things work. He seems to think that he gathered valuable information. He did have a few things that we discussed that might be able to help me out if we can get any of them to come through.

I now have 7 Steinway Grand pianos in the building getting ready for the piano competition that is taking place next week. The total value of these pianos is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $600,000 or more. I just hope that none of the members (mostly the youth) decide that it would be a good idea to carve something into these expensive pianos since we showed up a few weeks ago and discovered that someone thought it would be a good idea to carve "I love Jesus" and "Ne 2:11" into one of the pianos.

February is one of the craziest times of the year for me. Almost as busy and crazy as Christmas time if you can believe that. Hopefully things will start slowing down a little about the end of March. We'll see. We are closing the building down beginning May 1 this year during the week while they work on a new roof and some seismic upgrades. I think as a result everyone is trying to cram everything they can into the first few months of the year and the weekends during the summer. I also have my first requests already for February of 2011.

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I would like to take this time to throw a few "shout outs" if you can call them that.

Happy Birthday Kendra!!

Happy Birthday Isaac!!

Until next week.

Daniel at 6 Months

2010-02-05T21:18:00.002-08:00

So we took Daniel in for his six month check-up today. Here are the stats:

Height: 26 inches - 35th Percentile
Weight: 16 lbs 13 oz - 30th Percentile
Head: 14.5 CM - 5-0-75th Percentile

What can I say about the little guy. He seems to really like to just sit back and take everything in. He doesn't really talk much, but he really likes to make sounds (sound effects more). He seems to try and copy Hannah sometimes. He is sitting up on his own and has been for a couple of weeks now. He still falls over occasionally, but I think that is to be expected. He can roll from his front to back and can almost go from back to front, though he doesn't do it very often. He hates his tummy, so we have a hard time putting him on it....and Hannah always seems to maul him every time we put him down.

His growth has tapered off quite a bit, but he is still healthy so there aren't any real concerns there. We have started feeding him "solids" recently. He didn't really like the homemade rice cereal so we switched to oats. He seems to like that pretty good, at least until we ruined him by mixing banana in with it. He has eaten banana, and corn. Hasn't had any reaction that we can tell. The Doctor did suggest that we up it from once per day to at least 3 times per day though. That will probably get him growing more rapidly again.

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I know that we have been total slackers on the whole blogging thing lately. I have a really good excuse....just let me come up with it.

Seriously though, we were without the laptop for nearly two months after the hard drive failed. Luckily I had backed it up about a week before and we didn't lose any of the really important stuff (pictures). However, it made it much more difficult to blog even though we have another computer because that would've required going into the "office" to use the desktop, and that just didn't happen.

We have about 1,500 photos on our memory card that we need to get uploaded, so we will hopefully be adding some pictures soon.

The Holidays were great. A lot of partying and travel. We were exhausted by the time we got into the second week of January. Things have finally slowed down some, but we have Valentine's and My Birthday coming up in the next two weeks, so we'll see how things go.

One of my goals for this year is to start (as of right now) blogging approximately once per week at the very minimum. That way no one can complain that they don't know what is going on or that we never update the blog.

Very Busy Last few Months!!!

2009-11-01T17:41:00.000-08:00

The last few months have just flown by. We have kept busy though. September was a particularly eventful month for us with Daniel's blessing and Hannah's third Birthday. It was a great weekend for us. We decided that we would have Hannah's Birthday party the same weekend as the blessing because we would have so much family here and we thought it would be great for Hannah to have family from both sides there. I am very grateful for all those who helped me with games and activities for the party. The kids had a blast with bubbles and homemade go fish. We have tons of pictures, more than we could possibly upload to the blog, so if you click here for the baby blessing, here for Hannah's Birthday, here for milestone pictures of both kids, and here for Halloween Pictures you can see all of the pictures, and we are putting a few here on the blog as well.

Here are some pictures of the baby blessing.

Here are some pictures from Hannah's Birthday.

Daniel has been growing like a weed. At his two month check-up he weighed in at 14 lbs 3 oz. He was 24 inches tall as well. In the 90-95th percentile for both categories. He is already half of Hannah's weight and 2/3 of her height. He should be a very big boy. Here are some pictures of Daniel over the last few months as well.

So, last night was Halloween. We have had a lot of fun with Halloween this year. Our Stake had their annual carnival/trunk-or-treat the Saturday before Halloween. They always have a "photo booth" set-up so everyone can get their picture taken in costume. Last year we only got a picture of Hannah, but since we were all dressed to the same theme this year, we did a family picture. We were going for the whole 50's theme. I think we pulled it off pretty well. For Halloween we went to the Ward carnival/party for Grandma B's Ward. It wasn't as big as our Stake one, but there was more food included. It was fun. Hannah had a good time. Then we helped pass out candy at Grandma B's. We didn't go out trick-or-treating this year. We aren't quite sure how to handle that with Hannah. She can't eat the candy, but if she gets it she will want to. Hopefully we will figure something out before next year. Hannah had a great time helping Grandpa pass out candy. Tim decided to lay down next to the Elvis tombstone in the yard. He scared a few people who weren't quite sure if he was real or fake. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of the yard and all the pumpkins.

So, Tim out-did himself this year with the pumpkins. We had four pumpkins this year. Hannah decided that she wanted to have a doggy carved on her pumpkin (we found a Disney kit) so Tim"helped" her do the doggy. Tim decided to do a dragon. He saw a face that was similar to the one that he did, and used it as the basis to start the dragon. He then added the wings himself. It turned out pretty good, only took about 4 hours to do. I was going to carve the Tigger, but with it getting late Friday night, and being really busy Saturday morning trying to get ready Tim ended up carving the Tigger too. That one only took about 2.5-3 hours.

Tell us what you think.

First Day at Church

2009-08-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

We took Daniel to Church today for the first time. It was interesting, because most people for the few weeks leading up to the birth everyone kept asking when Rachel was gonna pop. They would say things like, "Any day now, right?" and today they were saying, "You had the baby and you're already back?" It was very interesting. Anyway, he was a big hit. Everyone loved him.

A few more pictures from today. Enjoy!!

Proud Papa

Hannah doing her best "Rachel pre-delivery" impression.

It's a ..........

2009-08-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

Boy!!!!

Name: Daniel
Born: 8/5/09 @ 10:00 PM
Height: 20 inches
Weight: 8 lbs 5.5 oz

Rachel sent me a text message at 2:10 PM asking me to come home. She didn't say if she thought she was in labor or not, and I was just starting my weekly staff meeting, so I finished as quick as I could and got home by about 3:00 PM. Rachel felt the first contractions about 4:30 PM. We stayed at home until about quarter to 7:00 and were checked into the hospital at 7:15 PM. Rachel did great!! About 9:30 PM she started pushing, and at 10:00 PM we had our handsome baby boy. Things went much faster this time (5.5 hours compared to 15 hours).

It was pretty intense. Everything happened so fast neither of us really had a chance to take any sort of break between contractions.

Well, enough of the boring stuff that you don't really want to hear about. Onto the pictures:

Hannah seems to be adjusting pretty good. She definitely loves the little guy. She wants to hold him all the time, and when we're in the car she is always trying to get his paci or whatever she thinks he might need. She is a very good little helper......most of the time.

Updates, updates, updates

2009-07-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

So, we have been total slackers in the blogging arena. Finally have a new picture of Rachel's tummy up. It is still from about two weeks ago, but that is better than the last time I updated the side picture. I will try to get another one up this week.

ONLY 3 MORE WEEKS!!!!!

We are getting very excited to meet baby. Since we have no idea what we are having, we are really looking forward to meeting our new little addition. We have our suspicions as to what the baby is, but if you haven't heard us talk about it yet, you'll just have to wait 3 more weeks like we do to be sure.

Grandma & Grandpa Willie came down to visit this last week for a few days. They arrived on Monday afternoon (they actually made it on Sunday, but stayed at one of the Worldmark places the first night). They came to see Hannah before the baby arrives and to help give Rachel a bit of a break. They also decided to bring Hannah's birthday present early. They got her an adorable little bike. Hannah was very excited, even though she didn't know how to ride it yet. Well, before they left they taught her how to ride the bike. I will see if I can get the video from my phone of that uploaded soon as well. Here is another picture of Hannah enjoying her new bike.
While here, we also made a trip to the beach. Amazingly, it is the first time we have been to the beach together as a family since moving to California just over a year ago. It turned out to be a gorgeous day. We weren't sure how the day would turn out since it had been on the cold side for summer all week, and it was supposed to be pretty windy and only in the mid 80's. I think Hannah enjoyed her time with Grandma and Grandpa. Here is a picture of them together working on building a sand castle.

We will get more pictures of Hannah at the beach up this week.

Let the countdown begin. Anyone up for guessing when Rachel will go into labor and have the baby? Provide a date and time of when you think baby will come.

Our Cute Little almost 3 year-old

2009-06-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

Hannah is just growing up so fast and so much. It is amazing to see how quickly she learns things and picks up on them. It seems like it was only a few months ago that she was still not talking very much. She could and would say lots of different words, sometimes even a couple together, but that was it. Then, all of a sudden, she starts talking in almost complete sentences. She is amazing. It seems like every day she is saying more and more.

We finally got the crib put back together and in our room yesterday. Hannah was a very big helper. She tightened two of the screws on the bar that holds the one edge up. We told her as we put it up that we had to put the baby's bed together. Then, when we finished, she went and got her baby dolly and brought it in with a blankie for us to put to bed. It was so adorable. I think she is starting to realize what it means that mommy is having a baby. She got to meet the newborn of one of the Ward members yesterday as well, and then she turned to Rachel and said, "When baby come out?" She randomly comes up and gives the baby hugs and kisses, almost knocking Rachel over at times. It is very cute. You can tell that she loves the baby already. Hopefully that will continue after the baby comes out.

We listened to and transcribed Hannah's baby blessing today (finally). It was interesting, because she doesn't really recognize that she was a baby at one point. So, she is listening to the tape with us, and hears herself crying. She says, "Baby loud. Baby crying."

Only 8 weeks and 4 days left until the baby's due date. Rachel is ready for baby to be out. The baby seems to be doing great. It is getting bigger every day. Rachel says she is already almost as big as she was when Hannah was born. We have a Doctor appointment tomorrow and will let you know if we learn anything new.

A few pictures from yesterday.

Well, the other one I was going to put up turned out blurry, so this is all you get.

2009-05-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

So, today my little girl graduated from her crib. We have been talking about it for weeks and we let her new bedding a few months ago. Today, Tim finished painting the head and foot boards so we could put it all together. Hannah had so much fun helping make the bed. She would climb on the bed to help smooth it out, all the while making it more wrinkly but she was trying so hard to help and she was just so darn cute.

After all the to-do with getting ready for bed, Tim tucked her in and sang to her and she looked so small in this big new bed, but oh so cute. Our hope is that we don't have too many issues with her staying in the bed or getting up in the middle of the night. So far so good, and we are about 2 hours into the first night.

It is hard to believe that Hannah is already 2.5 and has reached this mile stone. The time goes by so fast and I realized the other day just how much she has grown and changed in the last six months to a year. Her ability to communicate has increased so much and her desire for life to be hands on has too. She loves to help me clean and cook and won't settle for just watching me do anything. She made her own peanut butter sandwich the other day. The only thing I did was open the jar of peanut butter for her. Her independence is a good thing but it will take some adjustments on my part because I don't think I am ready for the amount of independence she exhibits. She is on the go, full of life and energy, curious about everything, asks more and more questions , and is just so adorable.

Losing Weight!!!

2009-05-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

We were out killing time tonight walking the mall and decided that I need a new pair of shorts (the nicer, khaki type). Well, since last August (Josh & Sam's wedding) I have lost between 30 and 40 pounds. I was up to needing between a size 40 and 42 in paints (depending on the type/style, etc.). Today, I tried on a pair of shorts, size 36..... and they actually fit. I haven't been in a size 36 since I was in High School, and earlier than my Senior Year....so.....more than 10 years ago!!!

I was totally going to put a picture of the tab up and everything....but I'm too lazy to take the picture. So.... you just have to take my word for it.

Trip to Oregon

2009-05-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

So, this is a long time in coming. April 30 we left for Oregon around 4:00 PM. Made the trip in 8.5 hours, which is pretty good for traveling with a pregnant wife, a two year-old, and after having worked all day. We made the trip so that we could be with Nathan when he went through the Temple to receive his endowments.

It was definitely an interesting experience. There was a big storm brewing when we entered the Temple, and while we were finishing up and in the Celestial Room waiting for Nathan the power went out!!! We found out later that lighting had struck the power grid killing the power in a portion of Portland (Lake Oswego technically). The back-up generator kicked on giving us all the lights for another minute or two, then shut off again due to overloading the generator. The security lights only came on about a minute later, and that was all we had the rest of the time we were in the Temple.

Oregon was beautiful as usual. We really enjoyed getting to see more of Spring since everything has already started drying out down here. Rachel took some really great pictures (I'll put some up if I can sneak them past her).

Hannah really enjoyed getting to see family. She had a blast playing with Josh & Sam and the bubbles. She got drenched, but loved every minute of it. She didn't want to leave when it was time to come home. Now, almost everytime we get in the car to go to Grandma's (or anywhere for that matter) she asks, "Going Willie Grandma?" It is just adorable. She definitely misses you guys.

Tired of Being Sick & Various Updates

2009-04-28T22:19:00.001-07:00

We have all been sick. We have all been sick more in the year we have lived in California than in the previous 4 years we have been married combined. Not sure what the heck it is, but we just can't seem to shake it. One of us will get better, then the second, but by the time the third is getting better one of the others has it again. It is so frustrating. We are just hoping that we are well enough to travel by Thursday so we can go to Oregon for the weekend to be with Nathan when he receives his Endowments. Only time will tell.

We have been trying to get Hannah's new bed ready, but with being sick and just so tired at the end of the day I have yet to sand the dang thing so I can paint it. We did read an article at Rachel's last Doctor appointment that said when you think it is time to move to the real bed test the child by leaving the side of the crib down. We decided to give this a try, and she hasn't climbed out one night. She won't stay in it for anything during nap time (a fact very disapointing and sad for Rachel) but she seems to do great at night. She won't even climb out in the morning most of the time, even though she is awake. She waits for us to come in and get her still. I'm sure it will be a little different when she actually has the bed and there is no restraint at all (she still has to climb a little to get out) but we'll see how things go. Maybe I'll get the bed done before our Anniversary.

Our Anniversary. Hard to believe it has already been almost 5 YEARS!!! Man how time flies. We don't realy have a whole lot planned since Rachel is pregnant and our "built in babysitters" are going to be out of town for a business meeting. We don't have anyone who can even watch Hannah for us. The only thing we had really planning on was ordering a small cake that was the same as our wedding cake since we each only got one bite of it 5 years ago. However, since we haven't done that yet I'm betting we won't be able to have it done before our Anniversary.

"Little Peanut" seems to be doing good. Nothing showed up in ultra-sounds that were cause for concern, and nothing in any of the other Doctor visits has been of concern either. Now, for the last major test before delivery....the pregnancy induced diabetes test thing (I forgot what it's called, sorry). We are supposed to do that 1 week before the next check up which is on May 18th (I think). I'll try to get a picture of Rachel's belly up since it has been almost 5 weeks since the last one.

I should probably head to bed now though, I really need to get sleep still as I'm trying to recover from this crappy sickness.

Hannah's Big Girl Bed!!

2009-04-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

In preparation for the transition after baby arrives, we are trying to get Hannah transitioned to a bed instead of the crib. We picked up a bed from a garage sale a few months ago. We are planning on doing a little sanding and repainting it over the next week or so. Yesterday we went mattress shopping. Hannah wasn't really into it at first. She didn't really want to sit on the bed or even touch it. We went to three different places. By the time we go to the last one she started getting into it. She was climbing on all the beds and bouncing for a few minutes and then climbing off and moving to the next one. We got her mattress, and hopefully we will finish her bed by next Saturday so we can move it into her room and start the actual transition process.

I'll add a few pictures once the bed is finished.

Tim forgot a few things about the Ultra Sound

2009-04-19T19:54:00.001-07:00

Tim forgot to mention that during the ultra sound appointment we had a very busy baby. At one point the technician was trying to look at the feete but the baby was holding onto them and even with some prodding baby wouldn't let go. One minute the baby would be one direction and the next it would have comlpetely changed its direction and position. It just didn't want to stop moving the whole time and I think it was a little frustrating for the technician. I wanted to laugh but tried not to because I didn't need the technician to tell me to stop moving. All I know is that Baby better get all the wiggles out now because in the last few months there isn't going to be that much room and I would rather not feel like my innards are being beat up. Baby can wiggle all it wants after it is born. All in all the Doctor said it looked like I had a perfect little baby in there and it was nice to see how Baby is growing.

One other update....we are going in for another regular appointment tomorrow morning. We will let y'all know if there is any new news after the appointment.

Bio-Scan/Ultra-Sound Appointment!!!

2009-04-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

My little peanut is "all grown up"!!! The baby is definitely not a little peanut anymore. We tried to take a video of the session since Hannah wasn't allowed to go with us, but they said that was not allowed. As a result, the nurse/technician was very, very generous and gave us 11 of the 12 ultra-sound pictures we have, including the 3-D/4-D ones that we weren't supposed to even see unless there was a medical need as determined by the Doctor. See the sidebar for the slide show of the ultra-sounds.

Hannah is such a big girl!!!

2009-03-31T17:20:00.001-07:00

We went on a walk Sunday and took these adorable pictures. Hannah is now 2 1/2. She likes to be Mommy's big helper and doesn't have much interest in eating anything but pasta, peanut butter sandwiches, and toast. She will eat other things but those are the three things that she asks for every single day. She likes to play with the toy kitchen she got for Christmas including bringing the dirt in from outside to 'cook' her meals. She likes to see pictures of herself and Mommy and Daddy. She likes to name everyone in the family photos as well. She loves to go to Grandma's house and always throws a fit when it is time to go home. She also recently did the same thing at Aunt Rebekah's house, so she just must have more fun with other people. I am not exactly much fun these days being pregnant. I don't seem to be able to do much of anything and I have very little energy. Hannah also really likes to wear skirts these days. Every day she has to put one on and sometimes it is the same skirt for three or four days. She is definitely all girl!! She also tries to be very independent. She likes to dress herself and gets frustrated if you try and help and she likes to try things on her own. She has also recently learned how to open the refrigerator and so if I am not fast enough when she says she is hungry she goes in and pulls out the peanut butter and bread and starts to make herself a sandwich. Thank goodness she can't actually open the jar of peanut butter.

She is talking so much more. It is often still hard to understand what she is saying, but she jabbers on and on and on. She has even started talking in sentences. And you should see her with a cell phone. She pretends that she is calling everyone from Daddy to Grandma to Aunt Heidi to her imaginary friends. It is so hilarious to watch. She likes to dance and sing and play the piano. She loves to sing all the time. Like today she kept singing 'I Am a Child of God' all day long. She loves to sing 'Wheels on the Bus', 'Popcorn Popping', and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'. She has also started singing in the car and I find that if I sing with her or get her to sing when she is upset then everything goes so much better and she calms down faster. I also find it easier to get her down for a nap if I spend a few minutes singing with her. Sometimes she will even fall asleep to my singing.

She is just growing up so fast. Soon enough she will be a big sister!!!

Felt the Baby kick!!

2009-03-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, March 25 I felt the baby move. Rachel has been feeling the baby move for at least a month now, but I was able to put my hand on her tummy and feel the baby move.

Hannah Loves Gadgets

2009-03-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

I've concluded that Hannah loves gadets!! I'm not sure if it is because I have always been fascinated by them and try to play around every chance I get, or if it has something to do with the generation she was born in and how important it will be for their generation to know how to use and quickly adapt to the changing technology. So, we went into a Mac store in the mall a few weeks ago. Here are a couple of videos of Hannah playing with some of the gadgets at the store. She looks so darn cute and grown up. She is "working" on the computer and talking on the phone at the same time. Totally adorable!!!

Don't know how well you will be able to see the videos. They seemed a little dark on my phone, but I'm hoping that they will show up better on here.

We are such slackers!!!!

2009-03-16T22:47:00.000-07:00

I guess it is time to do at least a little updating to the blog. We have been total slackers. I was going to put up a post about my birthday (including a lame video I tried to get of Rachel carrying the lit cake into the room and me blowing it out (See video below).

We had another Doctor appointment. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat, but no more pictures yet. Rachel is starting to show some, so I will try to get a profile picture so we can track her belly size on the sidebar of the blog. We have another appointment tomorrow, and I think if we don't have more ultra sounds we will be making arrangements to have those since Rachel is almost 20 weeks!! Man how time flies.

We have been having a lot of problems with Hannah's routine. Things have been off and on. One week or for a few weeks she will be fine and do really good with portions of it, and then the next thing we know she isn't doing so well anymore. We have decided that since we have not done a great job of having her brush her teeth that we would try to incorporate that into the bedtime routine. She gets really excited about brushing her teeth, so we have been using that as her "reward" for sitting still during scriptures and prayers. It is working so far. I think she enjoys it because she gets to turn the water on. For evidence of how much she enjoys the water, here is a video of her combing her hair.

Well, maybe that is enough for now. I will do a separate post in a little bit. We will try to be better in the future. I have asked Rachel to take over the blog, or to at least start the posts and that I would revize them and upload them.

Sick, Sick, Sick

2009-02-13T23:11:00.001-08:00

Big S, Little S,
S, S, S
Silly Sammy Slick sipped six sodas and got ....

SICK, SICK, SICK

We have all been sick for the last week or so. It started actually two weeks ago with Hannah getting pink eye. From there we have all ended up with a cough and a lot of congestion. I think Hannah and I are on the downward side of it, but Rachel seems to just be getting it.

We found out about 10 days ago that Rachel's best friend (Rachel Bush) has Leukemia. The doctors are still trying to figure out what kind exactly, but they don't think she will actually need chemo, and right now they are saying that she won't need a bone marrow transplant either. They are giving her meds and blood transfusions and are hoping that the combination will solve everything. We will update you more as we find out, but if y'all could remember her in your prayers it couldn't hurt.

9 Days and counting

2009-02-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday Hannah was at Grandma Billeter's house before going to Jesse's birthday party. We thought that Grandma still had her pacifier. We didn't get it before they left the party so we had to go to their house to get it. We couldn't find it at first and had to tell Hannah that it was lost. We eventually found it before we left but didn't tell Hannah. She has been without day or night ever since. I am so proud of her. It has been a struggle in the past trying to get her to give it up. We have only had a couple of small problems with her at night since, once on Friday when we let her get over tired and for about 15 minutes last night. She is doing a great job!! Next thing to learn.....using the potty.

I'm a Big Girl Now!!!!

2009-01-23T21:11:00.000-08:00

So, with our goal of trying to get Hannah potty trained before the new baby comes we decided to go ahead and get her a potty to train on. Here are a couple of pictures of her first time on the potty!!

Baby Ultra Sound

2009-01-22T23:37:00.000-08:00

This was taken on Thursday, January 8, 2009 (not January 7 like the ultra-sound shows). Rachel was 9 weeks 3 days at that point (plus/minus 6 days). Baby was a little over an inch long.

My Little Peanut!

2009-01-20T00:02:00.000-08:00

So, I managed to get the new printer hooked up and everything installed. I haven't had a chance to play around with it yet, and I won't until tomorrow sometime since it is after midnight now and I have to go to work early. The first thing to scan....the ultra-sound from Rachel's Doctor appointment a few weeks ago. It is just a little peanut, but that's okay. Hopefully I'll get that up tomorrow.

Work will be interesting tomorrow. One of my "customers" changed. There is a new Director in the Visitor's Center now. The change happened today. I was actually tempted to go into work just to meet the new couple and introduce myself, but that can wait until tomorrow or sometime this week. Things have finally slowed down a bit, but I'm sure they won't be that way for long. We had a little over 700 events take place from the middle of June through the end of December. That projects to approximately 1,200 events per year. Temple Square in Salt Lake does about 5,000 in a year, but they have a crew (staff & volunteers) of nearly 30 people to help with the coordination of planning of events. I have myself to do all the scheduling and coordinating. I still have not been able to get a couple called to be Church Service Missionaries to help me out. Oh well, I don't really want to complain. I have a job, and a very good job at that. There is a lot to be said for that in the current economic climate.

Good night everyone. More tomorrow.

Christmas is over

2009-01-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

So, we finally got all of our Christmas stuff down and put away. Finally!! It has been a bit busy the last few weeks with getting back from Disneyland and going back to work and Rachel not feeling well; it has been a bit difficult to get back into the swing of things. But, we finally got around to getting all of the Christmas stuff taken down.

While putting away the lights from the tree I realized that we had nearly 300 linear feet of lights on our Christmas tree!! Now only a few more things to finish getting put away and reorganized. I am hoping to get Rachel's new printer hooked up soon so that we can scan a few things. Hopefully that will all get done today.

New Year's in Disneyland!!

2009-01-11T22:47:00.000-08:00

For New Year's we decided to do something a little different this year. The last couple of years we just stayed in the house and watched the ball drop on TV. We tried to have a party one year with some of the people from the Ward. We were just stuck in a rut. So....Rachel's family reserved a 3 room suite through Worldmark in Disneyland over the New Year's holiday and invited us to joing them!!

We weren't sure if we were going to go or if we would be able to go. Sort of at the last minute we decided to take them up on their offer. We drove to Disneyland (only about 5.5 hours south of us) on Monday, December 29 after I got off of work. We came back the following Saturday, January 3.

I will try not to bore you all with a bunch of details. The last time I was in Disneyland I was not much older than Hannah was. I'm sure that she won't really remember any of it, but we will definitely plan another trip when she is older. Lots of pictures to come later....we only took nearly 1,000 of them in 4 days!! I will likely only put a few of them on the blog. I will have a link to them from our website. If you don't know the address for our website just send me an email and I'll let you know.

Our first ride: Pirates of the Caribbean
We tried to get some other pictures while we were on the ride, but they all came out blurry.

Hannah sitting in one of Mickey Mouse's chairs.
We almost got our picture taken with him, but we got tired of waiting in the line, it was taking forever. Oh well, maybe next time. Hannah does say Mickey and Minnie Mouse though now.

The first night we were in the park it got pretty foggy on our way out. Here is a picture of Cinderella's Castle through the fog.

Daddy going on a few of the "kiddie" rides with Hannah. She seemed to have fun. She was about half an inch too short to go on the Roller Coaster. She was really excited about it, so I was pretty disappointed that we couldn't go.

One of Daddy's favorite rides (probably ranks second). The name of the ride is California Screamin'. It is actually in the California Adventure Park and not Disneyland, but it was really fun. The first picture is the start of the ride. You pull around and stop. It counts down, and then you go from 0-60 in about 3 seconds. About 1/2 to 2/3 through the ride you get the second picture. That's right, upside down!!

Despite all of our efforts, we actually didn't stay in the park until midnight on New Year's. There were a lot of people, Rachel and Hannah were pretty tired, it was starting to get cold, etc. etc. So we were actually in the Hotel room in time to watch the ball drop in New York. We watched it again at midnight our time, then hit the sack so we could tackle the parks first thing the next morning when there would be way, way less people.

My Favorite Christmas Present

2009-01-11T22:34:00.000-08:00

Outside of the card

Inside of the Card

So, in case you haven't figured it out yet, we are having another baby!!! Rachel told me on December 12. She was about 4-5 weeks along. This was by far the best Christmas present!!

Ooops - - - We are slackers

2008-12-19T22:59:00.000-08:00

We are such slackers. We didn't get Christmas cards in the mail yet (maybe tomorrow) and we didn't get the gifts for my family sent out yet either. So, hopefully everyone will be okay with getting everything late.

Sorry.

Another boring blog

2008-12-19T00:03:00.000-08:00

So, things have not been nearly as bad down here as they have been for everyone else in the family. I think we've had the lowest high in the 40's still. It has rained a little. It is very windy at work, but other than that it hasn't been too bad. This morning there was actually almost a need for an ice scraper it got cold enough last night.

Anyway, I was going to post some video of Hannah at the library from when we got her library card. However, since it is past midnight and I have to get up early tomorrow so I can put gas in the car I better get to bed.

We are all doing pretty well. We have all been sick for the last week or so. I think I'm finally almost done with it. Hannah I think has recovered the best. Rachel is back and forth. Some days are better than others. Oh well, I think we should all be fine soon.

Rachel is supposed to sing with her family and some friends on Saturday at Temple Hill in Oakland as part of the Christmas festivities that take place there. It should be a fun evening, assuming we can get Hannah to actually sit still and listen.

We were trying to get Christmas cards out to people before Christmas, but since we have been pretty busy we haven't gotten any sent out yet. Sorry. I guess you will all just have to be okay with getting them after Christmas. I will post a copy of the letter and picture on here in a few days (maybe) so those who aren't getting the card can at least read the letter and see the picture.

Things have been crazy busy at work. We had 15 different events take place last Saturday (12/13). I think in the month of December alone I have already had at least 60 events take place. The month isn't even over yet. To put that in a little bit of perspective...in Utah there is a building called the Bountiful Regional Center - they have about 200 events a year. Temple Square (includes the Conference Center, Church Office Building, Tabernacle, Assembly Hall, Joseph Smith Building, and maybe one other) have about 4,000 events a year take place. Temple square has 1 Event Supervisor, 3 full-time event coordinators, and about 8 (maybe more) Church Service missionaries that act as event coordinators to do all of those events. I have me and my custodians and mechanics (total of 5 people). Based on the events we have done in the almost 7 months I have worked here (probably 600-700) I would have to guess that we do between 1,000 and 1,200 events a year at the building with way less staff to help. That doesn't include most of the missionary activities (P-day, district meetings, etc.) and it doesn't include any of the Sunday meetings that the Wards have or the other meetings they have during the week (it does include YM/YW). If I added all of that in as well we would probably be close to 2,000 events or more taking place in the building. Maybe some day I will get help.

Oh well. Enough for tonight.

Off to bed.

Way too caught up

2008-12-07T20:48:00.000-08:00

So, I was going to do a few catch up blogs tonight, try and get some pictures and video added, etc. But I got caught up organizing our photos on the computer and stuff and never got around to getting the blog done. However, I now know where all of the photos are so I will try to get to that in the next week.

Reading a Story

2008-11-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

We were over at Grandma & Grandpa Billeter's this past Sunday. Hannah was just adorable. I took a video with my phone of her reading a book to everyone. Here it is! You have to listen closely to Hannah (and have to have the volume up all the way, at least I did) in order to hear what Hannah is saying.

Grandma & Grandpa's Visit

2008-11-21T21:49:00.000-08:00

So, it has been a while since we have updated anything. Grandpa, Grandma, and Trisha have come and gone. We had fun spending time with them, even though the directions we got were a little confusing and got us a bit lost so it took nearly 3.5 hours to get to the condo in Clear Lake instead of closer to 2 or 2.5. We eventually made it. It was a very nice place, but located near a couple of very small towns. The first day we decided to go into one of the towns. There really wasn't a lot to do, mostly just antique shopping. We did see a store called MJ's Place. I'll let you figure out what the store was.

I think Hannah had the most fun when she was trying to feed the ducks and then chased them with Grandpa. She is growing up so fast. She is starting to really get close to talking in full sentences. She says so many more words, and you can see here get frustrated because she will try to talk and a lot of it is still jibberish, but she expects you to understand and gets upset when you don't. (Wow! That was a run-on sentence).

It was a good time. We found a different way home (there was a long, windy road we went down on the way there, and vowed not to go near on the way home). Overall, a very enjoyable "mini-vacation."

Doing my Part

2008-11-01T21:31:00.001-07:00

The weather was horrible today. And it was our day to help with the sign waving in support of Proposition 8. So, I stood in the rain for two hours today holding a sign. It was actually pretty fun until the last 20 minutes or so. It was really interesting to see all the different reactions from people. The people in support either honked or gave thumbs up. We had several people flip us the bird. We had a few people roll down their windows and yell stuff at us that we typically couldn't understand. We did have one lady call us bigots.

All in all, it was interesting and actually mostly enjoyable. There are only 3 days left until Election Day. I can't wait. I have never been this involved in Politics before. I would rather not be this involved, but I felt very strongly that I needed to do what I could to support the Proposition.

I will try to get some pictures posted after the Elections are over. I want to make sure I try and focus my time on this as much as I can (which hasn't been as much as I would have liked).

More later.

Follow-up to Proposition 8 Post

2008-10-12T22:01:00.001-07:00

Proposition 8 seems to endanger more for those who support traditional marriage if not passed than it gives to those (gays/lesbians) who would benefit by Proposition 8 failing. What about the rights of those who believe in traditional marriage? What about my freedom of speech and religion that would be in jeopardy if Proposition 8 is not passed? This is not an issue about Rights. This is an issue about the fundamental definition of marriage. It is a moral issue. The only thing gained by gay couples is the title of their "union", so much more is lost for everyone else.

As best as I can tell, if Proposition 8 does not pass, then the only thing it changes for Gay Couples is the title of their union. Instead of being forced to call it a civil union or domestic partnership, they can now call it a marriage. If they get the "right" to call their union a marriage, what is there stopping them from then asking for equal treatment from society when people talk about families? What is stopping them from demanding that schools, when teaching "age appropriate sex education", teach that a family doesn't matter who is involved. It can be two men, two women, or a man and a woman. Basically, what is stopping them? What about those of us who feel that it is morally wrong? What about my rights? I don't understand how this all became a debate about rights in the first place. In all honesty, this is a moral issue. Is it okay to engage in homosexual behavior? I say no. Others says it doesn't matter and that either side should be treated the same. I disagree. That is almost (emphasis on almost since homosexuality is not against the law) like saying, well you really shouldn't do drugs, but it is your choice and everyone should be treated the same regardless of whether or not they do drugs.

If Proposition 8 does not pass, what is stopping gays from demanding that churches treat them as equal to anyone else asking to be married? Sure, Supreme Court judges in their over-turning of the "voice of the people" said that Churches would not be forced to change their views, beliefs, or policies regarding gay marriage. I find that hard to believe. Why wouldn't a gay person seeking to get married who gets turned down by a Church or minister not get angry or try to sue for prejudiced behavior. Why would they not consider it a hate crime if one Church or Religion (Catholics, Mormons, etc.) stated that they would not allow such marriages to be performed by their clergy or in their buildings?

I think this whole thing really goes back to what the fundamental purpose of marriage and sexual relations. The reason people get married is to form a family. Now, I'm sure that gay couples can have families, but it is not the same. Because traditionally, marriage was a front-runner to sexual relations. You do not have sex until you are married. Society today seems to think that is a crazy notion and that it doesn't really matter as long as you are "safe". But, that disregards the fundamental reason we have sexual relationships; to pro-create. That is what sex is for. Sure, it brings pleasure to those participating (usually we hope), and you do creating a deeper bond with the person. However, the fundamental reason for having sexual relationships has been from the beginning of time to pro-create or replenish the species. Proposition 8 does not take away any of the rights that are given to gay and lesbian couples who form a domestic partnership. They already have all the same rights and privileges under the law that traditionally married couples do. The ONLY THING a NO VOTE changes is the definition of the gay/lesbian relationship and the traditional definition of marriage. Through all of time, until recently, marriage has always been between only a man and a woman. This is natural. This makes sense. I believe this is the way it was intended; if it wasn't then why can't two men or two women pro-create?

VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 8 AND PROTECT THE DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE!! VOTE YES on PROPOSITION 8 to define marriage the way it should be and was intended to be, only between a man and a woman!! Redefining marriage will be detrimental to society. Children need the different types of nurturing that can only come from a Father and Mother.

VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 8!!!!

California Proposition 8 Affects more Than Gays!!

2008-10-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

So, the November election is coming up very quickly. In California we have the opportunity of once again voting on whether or not we want marriage to be defined as between a man and woman or not. In 2000 61% of the state voted that they did, but a few months ago 4 supreme court judges decided to go against the voice of the people and legalize gay marriage. We are not trying to get the State Constitution changed to include the same language that was on the proposition in 2000. Those who are against this proposition say that it is an issue of rights. That gays should have the right to be married. What about the rights of parents, what about the rights of those who believe in traditional marriage?

If California's Proposition 8 does not pass, there will be ramifications that those trying to defeat it do not want you to think about or look at. First, if the proposition doesn't pass it is very likely that something like what happened to the family in this video could happen in California. Basically, if the proposition doesn't pass, public schools will have to treat all marriage as equal. Since schools have curriculum for K-12 that involves sex education that is age appropriate, they will be teaching our children in elementary school that marriage between a two men, two women, or a man and a woman is the same thing. I don't know about you, but shouldn't parents have the right to teach their children about moral issues, and not have them go to school and get confused just because the law says it isn't any different? I for one, do not want my daughter or any other children that may come, to be forced to learn that marriage is between any two consenting adults regardless of gender.

The next big thing that could be affected if proposition 8 doesn't pass, is that religious adoption agencies will receive pressure to allow gay couples to adopt children from their agencies. Most of these adoption agencies have guidelines that dictate the types of people that are allowed to adopt children and it is usually based on the sponsoring church's beliefs. In Massachusetts, after gay marriage was passed the Catholic Adoption Agency received pressure, and instead of giving in closed their doors.

One last thing to note, is that if proposition 8 is not passed, then Churches and their members will be affected. There are many churches that do not support the idea of gay marriage, and if the proposition is not passed they would likely be asked to either perform the marriages, or open their doors for the marriages to be performed within their buildings. If they chose not too, they could be attacked on their tax exempt status, with people claiming that the government should not be supporting an institution with tax exemption that is "biased". Also, members of churches could be seen as intolerant and promoting intolerant views by teaching the same doctrine that they have always taught because it now happens to go against the newly passed law. Why should churches have to have their status jeopardized for doing the same thing they have always done? What happened to freedom of religion? Shouldn't I be able to not only believe what I want, but tell others what I believe without being accused of being intolerant or having it considered a hate crime? What happened to freedom of speech?

Those who are against proposition 8 want you to think that this proposition is taking away the rights of gays. In reality, it isn't. They will still have all the rights that they currently have under the civil union and domestic partnership laws, but will now be able to call their union a marriage. In the process, they will be taking away or jeopardizing the rights of all other Californians to free speech and freedom of religion. They will also put in jeopardy the rights of parents to teach their children. What about everyone else's rights that will be violated or taken away if Proposition 8 doesn't pass??

So, if you support Traditional Marriage, or even if you don't care much about the marriage part of the issue, think about the other rights that are being violated or taken away if the proposition doesn't pass. NOVEMBER 4th - GET OUT AND VOTE!!!

Conference

2008-10-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

General Conference was amazing. I particularly liked President Uchtdorf's talks from the General Relief Society Broadcast and the Saturday Morning Session, as well as President Monson's talk at the end of the Sunday Morning Session. They seemed to speak to my soul. It is often hard during the daily struggles to remember all the good things that we should do, but the reality is that these things are what help us through the hard times and I need all the help I can get. I have decided to really make an effort to apply the messages from conference into my life. I hope that what I have learned we will be able to apply into our lives as a family. ~Rachel

Personally, I really enjoyed the last hour of the Priesthood Session. That is probably partially due to the fact that this particular hour was when I was most alert during the 10 hours of Conference over the weekend. It also has to do with the fact that the First Presidency took up that hour. It was really amazing. I don't think I've ever seen them all talk back-t0-back like that before. The whole session was good, but the last hour really stood out to me. I missed most of the talks because I was either struggling to stay awake (Saturday Morning, Sunday Afternoon) or I was fighting with Hannah (Sunday Morning) or I was distracted because of where we were watching it (Saturday Afternoon). I know, that is a bunch of excuses, but I really didn't get to hear or couldn't focus on most of the sessions. I will have to wait for the Ensign to come out and read them (I know I can go online and hear the sessions again, but that just seems a little weird, you know, like having Church on a Thursday night or something...)

Hannah has hit the "Terrible Twos"

2008-09-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

Hannah has been a pill the last couple of weeks!!!

I think we have had it very easy overall as parents. Almost since the time Hannah was born she would go right to bed and sleep for most of the night if not all of it. She did the same thing for naps. Well, the nap thing started to go a little while ago, but it still wasn't too bad. For the last few weeks (2-3 would be my guess) she has completely fought going to bed. She used to be great about saying prayers with us and reading the scriptures and going right to bed. Now she throws a huge fit every time we try to put her to bed. In fact, there were a few nights when she would seem like she was going to go to bed fine, and we would put her down, and she would get back up and throw herself at the edge of the crib and scream at the top of her lungs. Rachel called it her "abandoned on the side of the road" look. It has been a challenge.

Well, today Rachel and Hannah spent almost the entire day out of the house (visiting teaching, grocery shopping, etc. - a great perk of her having a car) which seemed to exhaust Hannah. I say that because tonight she went straight to bed like she used to. Or almost anyway. She did fight reading scriptures and saying prayers, but didn't fight going to bed at all. It made for a very pleasant evening. I hope that we can start having a few more like them again soon.

New Car Update

2008-09-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

So, after going through several of the features that the Touring Model of the car was supposed to have, we were seriously wondering if we had purchased the touring model. We didn't find all the extra special things that we would have had if it were the touring model, so we concluded (or I did) that we only got the base model with a few upgrades. I updated the link in the other blog (from yesterday) to reflect the actual Blue Book price for the car. Not quite as good of a deal, but still a pretty darn good deal.

OUR NEW CAR!!!!

2008-09-21T22:15:00.000-07:00

We bought a new car last night!! It was kind of crazy how it happened. We had heard about a sale at a Nissan dealership in Fremont (about 15 miles south of us) but didn't have enough time to make it down there, so we checked out a Nissan dealership locally. They didn't have anything under $8,000 which was our target price. We decided to take a look at the used Toyota dealership afterward, not really expecting to find anything, but kind of hoping that we might. We had a much a better idea of what to expect this time, and had a few specific cars that we were looking for. Prior to leaving we went in and looked up a bunch of Blue Book prices for those cars over several years with some different mileage combinations. As we pulled into the lot there was an Acura SUV (2001 Acura MDX to be exact) sitting there listed at $8,995. We didn't think much of it, and drove around the lot before deciding if we wanted to stop or not. We saw a few used cars that looked like they might be what we were looking for, but weren't quite sure on the prices. I walked around for a few minutes with one of the sales agents, and then decided to go and take a look at the Acura after not really finding too much else that was even remotely interesting. It looked like a very nice car. Leather interior, Moon roof, CD player, faux wood trim, etc. I went and got Rachel, and had her take a look. She didn't really say much about the car (I think she was starting to get pretty fed up with the whole car buying process). We decided to take it for a test drive (it was starting to get on the late side, so we weren't sure we really wanted to take the time). It drove very well. Seemed to have quite a bit of power, even though it has a pretty econimical 6 cylinder in it (supposed to around 23 MPG highway). We got back and called Rachel's sister to get her thoughts and have her Blue Book it for us. It has almost every option availalbe, and the Blue Book value, even with all the miles was $13,585 (click here to see the Blue Book). We started wondering why it was selling for so much below Blue Book. We decided to have them see what they could do in terms of payments. We got a Carfax, and there was only one accident which caused minor front end damage (which had been repaired) and nothing else. We told them that our payments had to be under $200 or we were walking out the door. They came back with the original number, and it was too high. They came back a second time, and it was still too high. They came back the third time, and it was right at $200 so we bought it. Here are a couple of links to some reviews about the car if anyone is interested, and then some pictures of our car.

http://www.epinions.com/content_7298059908
http://www.thecarconnection.com/fullreview/acura_mdx_2001
http://www.internetautoguide.com/reviews/09-int/2001/acura/mdx/index.html
http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpcontainers/do/vdp/articleId=46521/pageNumber=1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH!!

2008-09-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH!!

Hannah turned 2 today!! I can't believe it. It has gone by so fast. We are having a party on Sunday for her with all the family that wants to come, everyone is invited. Anyway, here are some pictures from today and a little bit of video.

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Eating dinner at the park for her birthday.

Here is the video. This was in the morning when we first got her up.

This video is of Grandma & Grandpa Willie and Aunt Trisha singing Happy Birthday. Hannah is so adorable at the end.

Trip to Oregon

2008-09-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we made a trip to Oregon for Josh & Sam's sealing in the Portland Temple. I decided to try and take work with me so that I wouldn't have to use 3 vacation days. My boss agreed to let me only use 2 vacation days, which I think turned out to be fair based on the amount of phone calls and emails I took.

The sealing was good. Dad started crying. Josh said yes too early (he was just too excited I guess). I think it was a great experience. The reception turned out better than I was expecting it too after hearing about all the things that they were going to or not going to do.

I hope that Sam (especially) and Josh appreciate what I did for them in protecting their car. The family that Josh married into is a little more redneck than some, and they were wanting to put baby powder in the air vents and limberger cheese on the manifold and a few other things. They even tried to say that I wasn't playing along well enough because I wouldn't let them do those two things. I think we got the car pretty good. Everyone knew they were newly weds, and we even got some cans attached to the back of the car which no one say until they started to drive away (the way it should be).

We spent a few days looking for a car while we were in Oregon since we rented a car to drive up. My car was making some funny sounds right before we were supposed to leave so we decided to rent a car to be safe. We didn't really find a ton that we liked, but we saw a couple that might have been possibilities. Too bad we didn't have more time. I think when we do decide to buy a car we will end up doing it in Oregon since they were significantly cheaper there than in California.

The trip home wasn't too bad. We hit some traffic in the construction areas of I-5 that caused huge delays since the road closed down to one lane two different times instead of just staying one lane to cover both of the areas. We also hit a little traffic on I-80 but things went pretty smoothly once we hit 680. It ended up taking us nearly 10 hours to get home instead of 8 1/2 or 9.

Re-Posts

2008-09-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

Below I've decided to re-post some of the blog entries I did on another blog that I have. I figure these are important to kind of update everyone to our story and let them know what it going on and how we ended up in California. So, hopefully this works out OK.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Updates, Updates, Updates!!

So, quite a bit has happened since the last post. I did a phone interview with the Church to assess my managerial abilities. Once that was done, I got a call from HR that my assessment turned out very well, and that they wanted to know if I could fly to California for an interview for the Oakland position. I told them that would work, but it would have to be the end of the next week (this would be the week after I graduated and my last week of work). It was a 4 hour interview, so I didn't have time to attempt to do any other job searching or interviewing while I was there. I met with the FM, and we interviewed for about an hour and then spent the rest of the time either at lunch or walking around touring the properties that I would be in charge of as the Assistant FM portion of the position I was applying for. As we ended the day, the FM told me that if the decision were up to him I would have an offer in a few days, but that he wanted me to get a chance to meet with the Regional Manager. I came back, and arranged to meet with the Regional Manager the following week since he would be in SLC for some training. I did this, and he told me that there was one other person under consideration, but that I had a pretty good chance.

The next day (Thursday) I received a phone call from HR in the morning, and they said that I was being given an offer, and that she had never seen something like this before. She said that the FM and RFM were so concerned about me coming and not being able to live there, and they really wanted me to come, that they increased the offer from what I was originally told, to about $8,000 more per year than what was originally discussed as the top of the offer range.

So, I have accepted an offer to work for the Church. I will be the Event Supervisor and Assistant Facility Manager at Oakland Temple Hill. I started training this last Monday at the Conference Center with the Events Department. This training is basically focusing on the different processes that they go through, and giving me an opportunity to meet with several other departments that play a part in an Event being put on or happening. I actually have tomorrow (Friday) off as well as Monday because of the holiday and almost no one working on Friday in the department. I will be going in on Saturday for an actual event, so I will get to see one of the event coordinators in action.

It has been a lot of interesting training, and I have actually really enjoyed it, especially the last couple of days. It has been really interesting to meet with the different trades, even if I might not be using all of it. I am really getting excited about getting to California, and a little nervous as well.

Just to make sure that no one thinks this was a decision that didn't involve any prayer, I will say that we definitely prayed and fasted about this decision as well. However, just being on the site prior to my interview I felt really good about being there.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Confirmation Again

So earlier this week we made the decision to reject the job offer in Idaho Falls and try to find something else. We still don't know where we are going, but we know it was the right decision.

Since making the decision we have both felt much more at peace and less stressed. Prior to making the decision we were both always on edge and we were both very stressed. As soon as we made the decision, that all went away.

Also, when I called the company the next day to let them know, it went over very well (which I didn't expect). My supervisor said that he understood and that he really wasn't all that surprised. When I talked to HR they said they were sorry things didn't work out, but that they would be hiring for years to come and to keep them in mind for the future. Now, if someone were really upset about this kind of decision, or if it were not the right decision for us, I don't think they would basically be telling me that I could have a job with them in the future if I needed one or was looking to make a change at some point. They didn't guarantee that in any way, but they definitely made it obvious that the door was still and would still be open.

I haven't talked to my mom since we made the decision, except for a few minutes today. I won't really get into that. If she wants to talk to me she can, otherwise I guess we won't talk. I'm frustrated that she seems to be taking this so personal. It is not her decision to make. She can disapprove all she wants, but it won't change anything. She never gave me a chance to explain, and I'm pretty sure she read the explanation on here. Don't know if that helped her understand at all.

I know that this is the right decision. Every time we have made the right decision things have always worked out. That is part of the reason how we knew Idaho wasn't right. We had so much trouble finding a place. Every time we have ever had to move we've found a place to live within a day. Things have always fallen into place. It seemed like that was happening again, at first. Then we went and tried to find a place to live. We spent pretty much all of three days looking and only found one thing that was even remotely close to feeling right, and even that didn't really seem right.

We'll see what happens.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

And the Verdict is.......

We are not going to Idaho Falls.

This has been a very long and hard decision to come to. I know that lots of people may think that I am crazy for turning down the only job offer that I had received. I agree, it is pretty crazy. However, I know that going to Idaho Falls is not the right thing for us to do.

We have had this job offer since November, and in that entire time we have never felt really good about going to Idaho. I have never felt bad about going prior to the last few days (at least not in the sense that I felt like it was wrong), but I never felt like, "YES, this is the right decision."

When I told my mom about this, she freaked out!! She actually hung up on me. This didn't surprise me too much. I knew that she would not like the decision, I just hoped that she would give me a chance to explain.

So, here is what it actually comes down to. I have been taught my entire life that we should rely on the Lord. That we need to trust in him and not in the arm of flesh. Again, we never really felt good or bad about the decision until Rachel and I had an opportunity to visit Idaho Falls. The first time I didn't really get to see Idaho Falls at all, so I didn't really have an opinion about IF. We never felt good about being there. We had a nearly impossible time finding a place to live. What it really came down to was that we needed to ask the Lord what he wanted us to do. So we decided to fast and pray about it, so we would know for sure. We did that, and we got an answer that we were not supposed to go.

I know that sounds a bit crazy. I know that is hard to comprehend. How could someone trust so much in something as simple as fasting and prayer. It wasn't easy. We had a hard time coming to the decision. I can't even tell you how many times prior to the last 24 hours we went back and forth about what to do.

This is not the first time we have been in a similar situation. Right after Rachel and I got married we moved to Oregon and planned on going to the U of O. We applied got accepted and started applying for pell grants and financial aid. Then we got the letter about financial aid that showed how much they would give us and how much we would have to pay. We didn't like what we saw, we prayed about it, and felt like we needed to return to Utah and BYU to finish school. My mom had a very similar reaction. We were in a very similar situation. We didn't have any sort of job lined up, we didn't have anywhere to live. In fact, the one place that we thought we were going to live in we turned down as soon as we saw it in person and we were homeless for about a day. But in the end everything worked out, and we ended up being where we needed to be when we needed to be there.

I know that things will work out now. No, I don't have any job lined up. I don't know where we will be living in another 3 weeks. But I do know that the decision we have made is the right decision for us. Yes, it is very scary. But I know that things will work out. Since making this decision we have both felt a great deal of relief, even out-weighing the fear.

In addition, since making this decision I have talked to one of my professors who is going to help me talk to members of the school board here about possible jobs as well as some people in Colleges/Universities that he knows on the West Coast. I have also received a call back from a missionary I met at our Stake preparedness fair. He said he will keep his ears and eyes open for me. I have at least one, and possible 3 or 4 current positions that I want to apply for with the Church. I even have a job or two at Standford University that I would like to apply for. There are other opportunities out there, and I know that something that is right for us will come up.

I don't know what else to tell anyone. I won't defend my decision any further than what I have done here. I know it won't be easy, but I know that it is the right decision for us.

Getting my Answer

I think I am getting my answer. I was driving down the street to work, and just kept thinking to myself, "We are rejecting the job offer. We are not going to Idaho Falls." And this warm feeling came over me. I think we are making the right decision by turning down the job offer. It is scary, because that means that we don't have a job, and in about 3 weeks we also won't have a place to live.

What are we supposed to do?

What are we supposed to do? Rachel and I have been to Idaho Falls twice now. We still don't have a place to live, and we haven't seen a whole lot of anything that we like. Every time Rachel goes she just gets a sinking, depressing, horrible feeling about being their, like we're not supposed to be.

So, we decided to fast and pray to know if we are actually supposed to turn down the job and not move to Idaho Falls.

When we first got done praying to start our fast I felt at peace. I felt like that was the right decision. As I have slept on it, and continued to pray, I'm not as confident or at peace about it. This morning I have had thoughts about possible other jobs, but I've also thought about some of the things that my future supervisor told me that I would be doing that I am actually kind of looking forward to. I've thought about some of the places that people have told us to try and look. I'm not sure if they will work out, and I have no way of knowing what is actually on the streets that they mentioned or what the streets are like. We would have to make another trip out there.

Then I wonder if I keep going back to Idaho Falls because it is something secure and known. It is not like we haven't moved before not knowing where we would live or what job I would be doing. Somehow thought, this seems to be just a little bit different. Maybe part of it is that I don't feel like I have really gotten help from anyone in my job search.

Basically, I'm still very conflicted about what we are supposed to do. I know that the Lord hears and answers prayers. I need to have more faith that it will happen and that if we really are not supposed to go, enough faith to make that decision and really commit to it. Yes, I said the words, we are not going. I don't know that we have really made that decision. That is the same thing Rachel said last night when we got done praying. We said the words, but I still feel all confused and feel like we really didn't make that decision. I need to have the faith necessary to actually go through with it.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Idaho Falls....?????

So, last week Rachel and I got to visit Idaho Falls. I had to go out for a physical (don't know why any doctor can't do it, it has to be their's) and since it was going to take two days we decided to take a look around and try to find a place to live.

We looked at two places to rent, and didn't really like either, and felt that we could possibly find a place to by for the same monthly payment. So we ended up looking at several homes. There was one that we actually liked quite a bit that we were considering putting an offer in on. It was a 5 bed (really 4) 2 bath 2,400 SF home on .20 acres of land. It was built in 1971 and hadn't been updated since. The sellers were going to give a $10,000 credit to make upgrades to anyone who purchased it, but we weren't 100% sure that we could do everything that needed to be done for that much, and it was priced at the top of our budget. After taking a couple of days to think about it, we decided not to put in an offer (even though we had tons of ideas on what we wanted to do to it, and we were really excited about the possible changes).

So, we will probably be renting something for the first little bit. This is probably better anyway, since the only money we have to buy a home is what we have left over from our tax returns this year (which is a little over $3,000). This really isn't enough when you need to put at least 3% down now and then you still have to come up with closing costs (unless you can convince the sellers to pay them). So, we will rent for the first little bit and try to save some more money for a larger down payment and possibly for closing costs as well. Our Real Estate agent did just send us two new listings last night with a significantly lower price tag that we would like to take a look at, but I don't know when we can make it back out there again before we move.

Graduation is April 24 and 25, and all of our stuff will be packed up and on its way to Idaho Falls on April 23 and will be delivered or stored on the 28th or 29th. So, basically we have to find a place to live and have our stuff delivered to before then.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Almost Done.....FINALLY!!!

So, school is finally winding down. I have one month of classes left, and 1 month and about 8 days of before graduation. It is getting really hard to stay focused on doing school. There are times when I feel so incredibly frustrated because I have so much stuff to do. There are other times when I feel like I'm doing well and staying on top of things.

Trying to find a job has been a pain in the butt. I have applied and interviewed with 6 different companies (at least) and have only been extended an offer by one of them, an that was back in November!!! I have been incredibly frustrated with myself. The offer in November had a deadline of two weeks. I wasn't sure what would happen with other offers and I asked for a two week extension and then basically told them that I was interested but didn't want to commit 100% yet because I felt I would get other offers. Boy was I wrong. I haven't received any offer from anyone else. I even tried emailing my former boss in Oregon to see if he had any leads on jobs there. He basically sent me an email that said, "Good luck". I was pissed when I got his email back.

So, it looks like we are headed to Idaho Falls. The money is really good for the area, but I'm not super fond of the work schedule. It will be nice to have every-other Friday off though. I'm just not sure how I'm going to like Idaho Falls.

I guess I'm a little frustrated because it seems like my decision is being taken away from me. I have tried to interview with as many people/companies as possible. I thought that I did well in most of the interviews, and I feel like I have just as much and as good experience as others in the program, but they are getting offers and I'm not. So, I guess the Lord is trying to tell me that is where we are supposed to be for some reason. The other thing that is a little frustrating about it, is I feel like I'm behind on the hiring process for the job I did take because I could be farther along. I have to pass a DOE security clearance and that generally takes 90 to 120 days according to the company. Well, I just barely got all that turned in Wednesday last week!!! That means that at the earliest (using the averages) I won't start until June sometime.

I guess I just feel a little stuck. I'm excited to be done, but I don't really have anywhere to go. Rachel has talked about wanting me to go to graduate school, which I'm willing to consider but I have no idea what for or where. I want to have a little time off of school, but if I'm gone too long I won't be able to remember anything. The few jobs that I really wanted I got turned down on, and the job I have taken, no one can really tell me what I'll be doing.

Blog for the Family

2008-08-31T19:20:00.000-07:00

So, we are creating this blog for the family blog. We have a few others, but they are each for something else. This one will be "dedicated" to being used on the family site and we will try to keep it a little more up-to-date.