The Juno Glacier

These are some great shots!! I can not belive how much like a river glaciers look. It was just mind boggling to see something so vast and so still. You really except it to be a moving flow of water, and it is moving, but at a crawl.

ALASKA!! - This has the whales!!

Okay, above is my aunt and cousin, you can hear me talking if you have sound. The one below is the whales I believe. It has been months since I have been trying to get things to work, so I hope this is the right video. If it is, then you will see a pod of Orca aka "killer" whales.

Getting back into things

Wow, I can't believe I have left everyone hanging for a whole month! I really had no idea it had been that long. Given how busy I was getting ready for this trip I guess I can understand. Well I have too much from this trip to put in one post. So in my first post I will trow in all kinds of pics from the camera that have nothing to do with Alaska.

Okay this one is of baby Abby when she was between 2-3 weeks old. You will get to watch her grow a few months in this post....arn't you excited... just for kickers, pay attention to the hair! I can't believe how short it is in this first pic!

This is Abby's first bath in Daddy's sink. Kathie and I had quite the time trying to figure out how to do all that without letting her slip and fall, but it all worked out and we had a clean Abby. She loves bath time, hasn't cried once.

Okay, this picture is dark, I am talking, and Abby is crying...that pretty much discribes her blessing day. She screamed through the whole day. That is my dad and my grandpa there with us. It's a four generation picture, even if it isn't the best one out there!!! That was the fist weekend in June...just FYI.

This is a very confused looking Abby...what is that thing mom... at least she is waving. Just a cuse picture, she was being cute and moving around, so believe it or not his is the best picture in the series. I really should have turned off the vibrator on the chair she is in. Oh well, live and learn. This would be late June or early July.

Okay this one is in late July and it was a family outing. This picture is in Vivian Park, right next to where the Heber Creeper stops/starts. We were playing a card came. It was a wonderful family day. We started out at Brial Veil falls and ate lunch there and then walked up to Vivian Park and played (card) games there for a while. Then we walked back to Brial Veil and went out to dinner. It was a 'day-cation'. Since that was all I was up for. It was a great day! And Abby's first full day out of the house. She did wonderful.

This is early August. Abby is hanging out in her crib, intently watching and listening to the Panda wind chims above her crib. She loves those!

Daddy and Abby hanging out. Arn't they cute. I think this is the first day she wore her lady bug pajamas and I thought they were cute so I took a picture.

Daddy and Abby in the Moby, her favorite way of hanging out...literally I guess. She loves to be in the middle of the action in this and smiles when she see us putting it on.

Aaahhh Football season arrives - Mid August I believe. This is draft day, for Lee's fantasy football league and we hosted the draft at our house.

As you can see Lee's favorite team is the Vikings, yes they are currently 0-2, but you can't always make them win (they really need a quarterback), and his favorite player is Randy Moss. No I did not make this really cool cake. The husband and wife team that head the league are taking a cake decorating class and they made this cake. The name for the league, kinda funny huh.

WARNING CUTENESS ALERT!!! The following picure may be to cute for it's own good.

It's she cute adorable!! This was my first attempt at actually putting her hair up! She is wearing a lady bug in her hair and her 'cute as a bug' outfit. Snazzy huh! This is late August.

Okay last picure. This one is from when we were in Alaska. She is having a ball playing with er worm in the play pen. She is wearing her 'Leader of the Pack' outfit, so I had to take a picture. See all the hair. Okay here is one more a close up. Compare this one with the first one and see what I mean about the hair!!!

Mothers Who Know

Okay, I was just visiting a friends post and she and a friend were talking about this talk. I didn't remember the details of it, so I went back and read it again. It was so good, I thought I would post it here. Here is the link to it.
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=dba62bce258f5110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

I like the whole thing, but here is a quote I really like.

Mothers Who Know Do Less

Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power.

One one more quote

Mothers who know desire to bear children. Whereas in many cultures in the world children are “becoming less valued,”2 in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children. Prophets, seers, and revelators who were sustained at this conference have declared that “God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.”3 President Ezra Taft Benson taught that young couples should not postpone having children and that “in the eternal perspective, children—not possessions, not position, not prestige—are our greatest jewels.”4
Faithful daughters of God desire children. In the scriptures we read of Eve (see Moses 4:26), Sarah (see Genesis 17:16), Rebekah (see Genesis 24:60), and Mary (see 1 Nephi 11:13–20), who were foreordained to be mothers before children were born to them. Some women are not given the responsibility of bearing children in mortality, but just as Hannah of the Old Testament prayed fervently for her child (see 1 Samuel 1:11), the value women place on motherhood in this life and the attributes of motherhood they attain here will rise with them in the Resurrection (see D&C 130:18). Women who desire and work toward that blessing in this life are promised they will receive it for all eternity, and eternity is much, much longer than mortality. There is eternal influence and power in motherhood.

Okay I could really quote the whole thing, please click over and read it. It will be worth your time!

I AM GOING TO ALASKA!!!!!!

My husband is the best! We were making all the travel plans and arrangements for me to go with him to Europe and all that, and he found a way to do it and have a voucher left over. (The only way we can afford for me to go on these trip are frequent flyer miles and plane vouchers from Lee taking bumps on his flights.) So he said why don't you just go to Alaska to visit your aunt while I am on my Hong Kong/Singapore trip. I thought that was a wonderful idea. So I called my aunt and she was more then willing, so the flight is booked and Abby and I are going to Alaska on the 3rd-10th of September!!!! I am so excited. My aunt started babbling things off that I can do, go whale watching and flying up to see the glaciers and something about a tram. I am sooooooooooooooooooooo excited. More excited then the Europe trip oddly enough. Probably because I've always wanted to do this. So we are going to have a very busy next few months to say the least. And it will be nice to get one trip under my belt with Abby before the long flight 'across the pond.'

Other then that things are moving along. So that's it for today.

WHAT!!! You're kidding right?

Well it looks like I will not be going to Education Week. The specifically forbid any child under the age of 14. I called and asked about and yep ... I would not be allowed in the classes with Abby. Considering this is BYU we are talking about I find this very odd, but since there is nothing I can do about it I guess I am not going.



I thought I would give you an update on Abby's growth. She has gained better control of her hands and has started reaching an grabbing things intentionally. From her stuffed animals to dangling toy on the car seat. She has also moved to the more tradition 3-4 hr feeding schedule. So mom was up at 1 am and 5 am for feedings. She does go right back to sleep though, so that is nice. She is trying to take naps, but seems to sleep lighter and wake easier from them. She is about 11 lbs by the home scale and into the 3-6 month clothes. She is also very squirmy and has mastered turning onto her side. She HATES tummy time, so it doesn't last very long, but hopefully that will get better. She holds her head up without any trouble now and can sit up for short periods of time. She loves to ride shotgun (facing out) in the Moby Carrier. Like this.

It is so cute when Lee wears her and I need to get a picture of it. She is still as talkative as ever, following her father's example. Well we are off to find shoes for mom and dad.

Loves.

Planning!!!

Well it has been decided.... Abby and I are going with Lee to Europe and Orlando this October. We have sent in the paper work to get Abby her passport. Her passport picture is soooo cute, but alas, I have no scanner at home with which to scan it ... sorry. We are expecting that back the first week of September. Lee is making the plan reservations this week and I am starting to ponder ways of doing long plane flights with an ifant, but at least I will have Lee with me.

We are looking at things to do while out and about and Lee found a program where you can swim with the Dophins. This is the package we are looking at https://www.discoverycove.com/vi_dcpackages_pricing.aspx
I have to give my aunt a call and see if she is interested in going with me. Lee will be working, so he will not be able to go, bummer for him, and they don't let anyone under six in the pool with the Dolphins. So Abby will just have to watch. The day is expensive, but includes everything, click on the all-inclusive link to see what I mean.

I also need to research where we will be staying in Haag, (I think that is how it is spelled). I need to figure out what the weather will be like and what I will need to bring to keep the family happy.

I am also going to look into Education Week at BYU. Now that I don't work, I might actually be able to go!! Speaking of which I am going to go do that right now.

Loves.

Family Visits and Travelings

Wow, sorry it has been so long! It's been busy here, well relatively speaking.

Lee spent the first part of last week in Vegas .... again ... it's his forth time this year. He really doesn't like Las Vegas any more. Then my sister and niece came in for a visit from North Carolina. It was so much fun to see them and they just loved getting to play with and entertain baby Abby. My parents also came in for the weekend to see them. Lee then had to take off early Sunday morning for Mexico City. We all went to church and afterwards, Patrick came in from Vernal. So it was a real family affair. After dinner and a Monopoly game everyone left for Vernal, and Alethea and Amber headed up to Wyoming to visit the other two boys. She will have seen all of us!! What a trip for her.

Meanwhile, Lee flew from Mexico City to Washington DC Wednesday for a conference on Thursday and tomorrow he will be home!!! WOOOHOO!!

I had pack meeting last night and it was really fun for the boys. I filled nearly 500 water balloons!! And they had a ball popping them all. Then we had snow cones. I was pleased with how it went and it seemed that the boys had a good time.

Now I really need to figure out how to get all the "projects" I have in mind done. Being a mother is a very time consuming thing and I have a feeling it is just going to get worse in this regard, not better. So the time has come to improvise, adapt, and overcome.

Sorry no pics, Lee has the camera and I haven't collected any from family yet.

More Photos

These are of my house and Abby's room. Kathie was a great help getting all this up while she was here with me. THANK YOU!!!

Okay I just stole these pics that Kathie took while she was here visiting from her blog, so that you could all enjoy them too. These are of Abby, aren't they CUTE!! Kathie is very good with her camera, she keeps bugging me to get better.

Okay, let me go hunting and see what other photos I can find, stay tuned.

Getting to know everyone

This is our first attempt at a blog so we will see how this goes. This was created to keep friends and family up to date on the happenings of our little but growing family. Mom hopes she can do a good job of keeping up with all the activities and daily exploits of life.

Most family will want to keep up Abby as she grows and growing she is. She, now at six weeks this Wednesday, is sleeping through the night. She has been for a few weeks. She sleeps from about 10-5 or 11-6 depending on when I can get her to sleep. She is starting to be much more interactive, meaning she will hold your eyes and 'talk' to you. She is smiling and cooing and it's been great to see that become more and more normal these last few days. She is tracking really well with the bells, not as well with just visual objects.

She is also lulling us into a false sense of security with going to church. We went to all 3 hours for the first time two Sundays ago and she slept through it all except the last 10 mins. of Relief Society. Then this Sunday she was sleeping or happy in her car seat all through Sacrament meeting, I feed her the first part of Sunday School, and she was sleeping or happily awake through the rest of church. Somehow I don't think this is going to last, but I will enjoy it while I can.

The cloth diapering has been much easier then I thought it would be. I am still amazed that the dirty diapers don't smell! I know it will only last a short period of time, but I will enjoy it while I can.

As far as dad and I we are doing great. Dad is really excited that his friend who moved to New Jeresy is in town this week visiting so we have a really busy week this week. Tonight mom and Abby get to go watch dad play a pick up game of soccer with his friends and have snow cones afterward.

Mom goes in for her six week check up this week, and suspects all will be well. Now she just needs to figure out how to fit in some time for exercising so she can lose the rest of the Abby weight.

Here are some pics of us.