Blog
November 29, 2011 - "Hugo" 3D is a
wonderful movie in the genre of historical fiction, the fictional part
being Hugo himself. Martin Scorsese took the concept of making a story
about the original cinematic motion pictures and telling it with the
most current movie making technology of today. The movie is fanciful and
magical without leaving the realm of realism. I think you all would
enjoy it as well. Our children were startled by the police dog and
Hugo's brief dream sequence.
November 21, 2011 - This video is
over a year old but still a great listen! This is why all 5th graders
must learn the recorder. Click
here for the video!
November 15, 2011 - It's not that
American's won't harvest tomatoes or fillet fish all day long; it is
that we won't do it if it won't support our family. These companies who
see their migrant employees fleeing have built business models based on
dishonesty and corruption by kept wages staggeringly low by taking
advantage of a situation too large for the government to properly
control. These corporations are getting their just deserts. The same
goes to the American consumer for allowing this to carry on for so long.
November 14, 2011 - Occupy Wall
Street: A group of people who are aware of social issues but have no
idea what to do.
November 12, 2011 - I don't turn my
computer off, I put it to sleep, then when I use it again I have to wake
it up. This process makes me wonder, wouldn't it be interesting if each
set of processes the computer runs is actually a little life form, I
wonder if they get upset when I wake them up. I wonder if that's why
sometimes they run slower than other times.
November 11, 2011 - People say that
the problem with Wikipedia is that you never know if the information is
true, but isn't that the same with most all information from most all
sources?
October 31, 2011 - We're still
waiting for Addie's Halloween costume to come in the mail, it was
supposed to be here Wednesday. Just-in-case we got a different one at
the mall and are ready to return one or the other depending on the mail
today.
October 6, 2011 - It's snowing, I am
so happy.
October 3, 2011 -
Here is a video of one of the songs the 370 member men's choir from
Pleasant Grove sang. Come, Ye Children of the Lord. It was a great
experience,
September 30, 2011 - For all my
friends who are going to attend or watch the Priesthood broadcast
Saturday evening at 6:00, look to the left side of the men's choir and
see if you can find me there.
September 19, 2011 - Over the last 24
years BYU as won 12 games and the Utes have won 12 games, so this last
weekend was inevitable. It's next year that will make the tie breaker.
September 17, 2011 - I left my iPad
at home the other day for Addie to play with. Today in class I was
looking all over for the my Kindle app, turns out Addie moved it to the
task bar and left it open to Beowulf.
September 16, 2011 - Thanks to Wendy,
Addie and Asher for visiting me at work today. It was really nice.
September 13, 2011 - Before I left
for work this morning Addie asked me to rub her feet, amazing the things
she picks up from Wendy.
September 12, 2011 - According to a
report on NPR, the average person spends 34 minutes of each Monday
complaining.
September 6,
2011 - For Labor Day yesterday we went into the Nebo Loop in
Payson to go on a hike to see a waterfall. Asher was in the backpack and
Addie walked the whole way. It was a lot of fun. We also drove by the
hospital in Payson where Addie was born then went to pick raspberries.
Asher wanted to eat them rather than put them in his bucket. He also
preferred to watch the animals (deer, goats, etc...) on the other side
of the fence. Addie on the other hand loved picking the berries but
refused to eat them until we got home. I think she was a little put out
that all her berries were combined with ours into one big bucket but she
certainly enjoyed eating them that evening and again with her breakfast
this morning.
September 1,
2011 - We love our Netflix
subscription. Addie has tons of shows at her disposal in her instant
queue while Wendy has been watching Dead Zone and I have been watching
Star Trek The Next Generation. I am now convinced that season 5 of Star
Trek TNG is the best season. "The Inner Light", "I, Borg", "Cause and
Effect", "Conundrum" and more, really good stuff. Now if I can convince
Wendy to let us be Star Trek characters for Halloween. Addie has her
hear set on us being characters from the Disney movie "Tangled" though.
August 28,
2011 - I'm home from church with
sick little Asher this morning, poor guy, he's taking an early nap too.
August 26,
2011 - NPR has reported recently
about how the recession has affected musical acts that tour to promote
their albums, emphasizing how less people are willing to pay the
enormous ticket prices to see the shows during the economic downturn and
some acts are even combining to increase their ticket sales.
Interestingly enough with the new release of a Red Hot Chili Peppers
album they have decided to do only one concert date and make it a live
broadcast in Cinemark theaters across the nation. I would have love to
have gone and promoted this new type of concert even had my scheduled
worked out.
August 25,
2011 - It's raining, I love the
rain, I think I'll go work outside... with my laptop... and paperwork...
July 25, 2011
- I home from work today for Pioneer day, Wendy and I are sitting in our
family room with our respective laptops, and each of the kids are
playing quietly in their own rooms, amazing!
July 19, 2011
- The kids came to work with me this morning as Wendy went to an
appointment at the doctors office. It was all fun and games until Asher
decided to try and bring the place down, followed by a fit of crying
when I wouldn't let him. Never-the-less, I love having my little ones
around and I wish I could have them here more often.
July 14,
2011
- News columnist, David Cay Johnston,
makes a big error in reporting on News
Corp’s taxes, stating that not only that
they so not pay taxes, but that they
received huge refunds each year. News
Corp has been frequent in the news
recently due to their recent bid to take
a controlling interest of British Sky
Broadcasting. The erroneous statement by
Johnston was due to an inability to read
News Corp’s financial statements
properly. Johnston said in a statement,
“News Corp reported numbers as positive
numbers for cash paid for taxes for
three years and then [in 2007] switched
to reporting them as negative numbers —
that is, as numbers in parentheses. ...
And I didn't catch that those were
negative numbers."
Johnston,
who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2001,
attended San Francisco State University,
Michigan State University and the
University of Chicago, none of which had
he received a degree at. I wonder if
business 101 was included in the list of
classes not completed. More information
is available at
NPR.org.
News Corp,
the owners of Fox News, Wall Street
Journal and a variety of other bias and
unreliable news sources came under fire
recently due to one of their operations
hacking into people's cell phones to
gain access to voice mail.
July 9, 2011
- Wendy won't take me to see the new Harry Potter, something about
opening weekend but I wasn't really listening...
July 6, 2011
- I always imagined myself someday on a car trip with my wife and kids,
singing along to Disney soundtracks and with our recent trip to
Washington my dream has finally come true. I can now die happy.
July 3, 2011
- We were able to take a trip up to witness Josie's marriage to Jon in
Washington. Jon has some great kids and I'm really happy for their newly
combined family. The wedding was held at my parent's house with a group
of family and friends in attendance. Jon's mom and siblings were all
able to come and it looks like Josie is inheriting some great extended
family members. Along with my parents and grandparent, Uncle Mike and
Uncle Steve were both able to come as well which really made me happy
since I loved having the opportunity to talk with each of them for a
while.
Addie and Asher both loved visiting and
staying with Grandma Nievaard and Grandma & Grandpa Glass. At Grandma
Nievaard's house the kids loved playing in the outdoor playhouse while
at the Glass house they loved playing with the cats and dog. Oddly
enough the cats didn't run away from the kids much either. I guess they
know animal lovers when they see them.
June 13, 2011
- My alma mater Wind Symphony has been invited to represent Utah and
play at the 2012 Olympics, and all they need is to raise enough money to
get there. I hope that through spreading the word about this marvelous
opportunity that enough money will be raised so the students will be
able to have this chance of a lifetime. Additional information will be
avaialble for a limited time on the KSL news website
here.
June 2, 2011
- Intel has created a "museum of me" webpage to promote their new
processor. You log into it with your Facebook account and the museum
will be auto generated. I recorded the even (with a bit of color loss in
the video) and added my own music. What great things applications like
this could do for our future power point presentations. If you
are Facebook friend you can see my video by
clicking here.
May
30, 2011
- We found out yesterday that Addie had eaten all of Asher's toothpaste.
Her exact words were "I thought it's good for me" and "I thought it's a
treat". She ended up crying later when we had to use her toothpaste on
Asher's toothbrush.
May
29, 2011
- Wendy's reading books with Addie, one of which is The Three Little
Pigs and The Big Bad Wolf. There was a line that stated pigs were
one of the wolf's most favorite things to eat and I thought to myself,
"I like to eat ham too". So now I'm thinking of writing am updated fairy
tale titled, The Three Little Pigs and the Circle of Life. I just
don't know why I ever rooted for the pigs, I would eat them myself if I
had the chance.
May
25, 2011
- Every time there is a break between semesters of school I find that I
get really antsy, such as now where I have 2 weeks between classes with
only 5 chapters to comprehend as my home work. Usually putting off
homework and having the dread of actually having to do it eventually
keeps me sane so when this type of situation occurs I get more and more
restless. It turns out that even with everything else going on my main
focus has been school, driving my time schedule and setting my
responsibilities.
May
9, 2011
- Just put Addie in bed with Wendy since Addie's bed is now full of
throw up. My poor sick girls.
May
1, 2011
- We loaded up the car and went to
Capital Reef National Park this
weekend. Addie was really excited to
go as she imagined an actual "park"
with a slide and swings despite the
fact that we tried to explain
exactly where we were going,
"nothing but rocks and trees".
Fortunately she wasn't too
disappointed when we got there. As
we hiked the trails we had Asher in
a back pack and Addie got to walk
(usually into the canyons, but she
was later carried out of the
canyons.)
April
27, 2011
-
Today I posted on Facebook, "Hey, I
just remembered I was going to watch
Deathly Hallows again last night...
but then I didn't, guess I'll have
to do that tonight (while Wendy is
away at Scouts... on her birthday)".
A little later I received a message
from our friend Eliza Bryan offering
to watch the kids if Wendy could
have the evening off from scouts.
Needless to say we took her up on
the wonderful offer. That evening
Wendy and I went to Tocanos for
dinner and stopped into Boarders
books store and pick up a few items.
Thanks to Eliza and happy birthday
to my lovely Wendy!
April
26, 2011
-
Day
2,763 in the accounting profession.
April
19, 2011
-
Addie
is getting really adamant about us
getting her a computer. She wants a
simple Barbie laptop so she can type
just like her mom. Wendy is adamant
about getting her a Mobi-Go, a
developmentally appropriate hand
held game system that is a much
higher quality than the laptop and
provides much more content. Let's
see who wins...
April
11, 2011
-
Billy Corgan is selling his Zero
shirt for Tsunami relief in Japan. I
wonder how much I have in my savings
account... The simple zero logo has
been one of my most favorite designs
over the decades, starting with it's
premiere in the "Bullet with
Butterfly Wings" music video. I
absolutely love the fact that Billy
is parting with a piece of rock
history for such a necessary
program. Edit: May 2, 2011, I
noticed at this time that it seemed
odd to See Billy associated with
this old record label, guess this
was a sign of things to come since
Billy was finally able to obtain
full rights to all her previous
Smashing Pumpkin albums which will
soon be re-released, one at a time.
March
27, 2011
-
Check out our new home video titled,
"Addie gets a brand new kite".
Click Here for the video.
March
14,
2011 -
As
far as we can tell all of our
friends in Japan are accounted for
except one family of a friend of a
friend who are still missing. The
disaster is devastating and our
prays continually go to those in the
middle of it all.
March
6,
2011 - Addie Moment:
While
watching Dora the Explorer the TV
show asked Addie, "What do you want
to be when you grow up?" Addie
replied "Play the trumpet." I guess
that battle is lost.
February
21,
2011 -
Addie
Moment: I'm programming and say to
my self, "I'm such a dork", then
Addie replies, "No, I'm a dork!"...
Happy President's Day.
February
17,
2011 -
Addie
Moment: Addie picked out my clothes
for today, a red t-shirt and tan
khakis. Yes, I do look like a Target
employee.
February 16,
2011 - I have the upmost respect for the R&D at IBM for investing Billions on Watson and continuing to advance technology!
February
14,
2011 -
Apparently rapper Drake and tween
sensation Justin Bieber both lost
the Grammy for Best New Artist to
jazz musician, Esperanza Spalding.
First time in history a jazz artist
ever won the award as well.
Happy Valentine's Day from our
family to yours!
February
12,
2011 -
I'm
in class, thinking about Asher's
birthday party today! My little guy
is 1 year old today, time goes by so
fast. We're having a party with
friends and family early this
afternoon. After the kids go to bed
Trent and Megan are coming over. The
guys will beplaying
games while the girls do crafts.
February
10,
2011 -
I
just had some delicious parmesan
chicken pasta for lunch, yesterday
it was roast, preceded by homemade
pizza, with beef fajitas on Monday.
Wendy is the best cook ever!
January 26,
2011 -
Day two being home sick, and I still
haven't gotten any homework done and the kids see that daddy is home so
all they want to do is come in the bedroom and play with daddy.
January 11,
2011 -
Happy 1.11.11
December 25,
2010 -
Dense fog in Pleasant Grove, it looks
like the Dementors have settled in Utah. We had a wonderful Christmas
morning, I think Wendy and I were more excited than the kids. Addie
slept in until 6:45 am then we started the festivities with our sleepy
eyed babies. Addie loved the presents that Santa brought her and I think
it was all a little overwhelming. I think it took a good hour for her to
realize all that Santa brought for her. Thanks and love goes out to all
our friends and family who also got presents for Addie and Asher.
December 24,
2010 -
The kids just went to sleep... and I
think I hear Santa outside! Earlier this evening we made a visit to
Wendy's cousin's house where Santa stopped by and spoke with all the
children. Up until now Addie has been asking Santa for Lipstick and M&Ms
but tonight she asked Santa for a computer. What a smart little girl.
December 20,
2010 -
NPR had a story this morning about how
fast paced action games increase brain power. I certainly feel this is
correct information so I thought that I would share the
link to listen to the story
December 10, 2010 -
On New Years
Eve I'll be playing with a big band in Provo, 9:00 through midnight.
Come check us out!
December 9, 2010 -
Had fun
beating Jake at Yahtzee while our spouses sewed. This was a nice
evening. Thanks to all who participated, that means you Trent. :)
December 2, 2010 -
I got to work
today and found a baby doll brush, folded Kirby Puckett baseball card
and a crumpled crayon drawing in my back pack. Thanks goes to my little
girl for the presents.
November 17, 2010 -
I got a voice
mail from Addie stating that she went "poo poo in the potty." She will
be so embarrassed by this post when she's 16.
October 28, 2010 -
For Halloween
should I be Paul Desmond or Dave Brubeck? A friend suggested that if I
wanted to be scary I should go as Kenny G.
September 23,
2010
- Interesting thought I’ve picked up on. You can’t test ethical theories
because once the decision is made and the result is seen you can’t test
the alternatives. So in this wonderful scientific model of hypothesis
how can we ever explain morality other than in broad definitions with
observations that can’t actually gain any scientific stats. I’m not
complaining about morals, I’m complaining about the scientific method.
September 15,
2010 - There is a little power
button on your laptop and it probably looks like this
Where did
this come from? All of a sudden, about 5 or 6 years ago, this icon
popped up and suddenly meant “power” but who invented it and distributed
it? It’s similar to how the work “employee” in the English language has
changed to allow “employe”. Either is acceptable now and the rumor is
that GM started this practice in order to somehow save money within
their corporation and it just happen to become viral. Whether this is
true or not, the point is someone is actively changing our
culture in small but eternal ways.
August 30, 2010 - It has been really
nice having about a month off from school. I feel like I'm a normal part
of the family again. Doing chores at home actually feels natural again,
not like I'm always pushing to fit everything in. Wendy and I have
gotten to bed at decent hours for the past few nights too.
August 27, 2010 - Time for the
adoption marathon this weekend with Nancy in two too. Today we will be
taking Asher to court to finalize his adoption. Tomorrow we'll be taking
him to the Temple to be sealed to us and lastly on Sunday we will have
his Baby Blessing.
Update: Court went great, the Judge
mentioned how nice it is to have a happy court cases like adoption
rather than the other 80 depressing court cases. He also invited us to
take pictures with Addie and Asher taking turns wearing the robes and
holding the gavel. It was a really nice experience. We also have some
great pictures from Saturday and Sunday as well. They will be posted
eventually.
August 26, 2010 - I just got back
from 4 days in California for Payroll Training. While there I was able
to see Long Beach and Santa Monica too. I'm sure Wendy and Addie would
have loved to have been there to see the sights, maybe someday.
August 21, 2010 - So the weekend
events are over, Friday night Wendy and I had the UVU MBA dinner while
Janice watched Addie and Asher for us. We got to sit at the same table
with Mr. Woodbury, from whom the business school is named after. Turns
out he went to the same LDS Mission area that Wendy and I went to.
Then this morning I got up early as usual to
be in Heber by 7:30 am. In the day's time I was assigned my group with
whom I'll be doing group work with over the next two years, saw various
presentations "who is I?", participated in various team building,
leadership and communication activities like walking around blindfolded
through the desert, building wood bridges from one island to the next
and making faux money in a business game. I like how the program with
have an all inclusive, community based, self perpetuating project that
we will invent and progress on. I'm excited.
August 20, 2010 - The MBA program at
UVU is starting tonight with a kick-off dinner for students and spouses
with teachers and supporters in attendance as well. Tomorrow I'll be
going out to the Heber Campus for 8 hours of leadership training and
in-depth explanations of what the next two years will hold. I look
forward to finally seeing who will be in the program.
August 14, 2010
-While in the bath the other day Addie asked
what bubbles are for? Asher is able to sit and hold himself there
without falling. The point is, they grow up so fast.
July 28, 2010 - What color is your
personality?
Aaron's result: RED - You have incredible will-power and you are capable of overcoming obstacles that would stop others. You enjoy a pleasant and colorful environment. You are capable of bursts of high energy spontaneity, though generally more "laid back". You are energetic and interested in many areas of life. You are capable of accomplishment when consciously focused and persistent.
July 26, 2010 - My parents visited this last weekend and got to see our little family in our home environment. We spent the time taking them to all of Addie's favorite spots, the pool, the Dinosaur Museum, the Children's Flower Garden, etc... Unfortunately I ended up getting sick one evening so I had to miss some of the sun. We figure it was heat exhaustion.
July 10, 2010 - Wondering if Facebook will be the beginning of the end for High School Reunions... (posted on Facebook)
July 1, 2010 - I almost brought my Alto Sax to work today but I didn't and now I'm regretting it.
June 30, 2010 - Wendy went into the
doctors Monday evening and found out that she has pneumonia. The
medicine for it is pretty hard on her as well. Fortunately we have such
great friends in our neighborhood who are so willing to help out.
June 29, 2010 - Respect for all my
friends and cousins who are strong enough to admit they are seeing
Eclipse tonight. It's a great book series and the movies are pretty good
too.
June 23, 2010 - 3:10 am... Asher,
it's time for sleep, for you, for me, for the western world.
June 18, 2010 - Mr. Jobs, we see what
you're doing, we're not blind and we're listening to every word you say.
Give us flash technology on your iProducts or else someone else will.
*cough*Microsoft*cough*... Where are the anti-trust lawsuites on the
iPad? Sincerely, just another iPad owner.
June 10, 2010 - I'll be playing at
the Orem Arts Festival in the park next to the Orem Library on Friday at
5:00 pm. Food, fun and some great Jazz! On Saturday morning I'll be
sitting in with a classic Big Band for the Springville Art City Parade
as well, come rain or shine.
May 31, 2010 - So, the church has
some unused land here over by our home that, starting this month, they
are allowing people to use for gardens. Wendy and I got two plots and
Wendy has been spending some time getting the land prepared and the
water set up. This morning she was able to spend some time over there
getting everything planted since I was home from work for Memorial Day.
For the most part Addie, Asher and I just sat and watched Disney's The
Princess and the Frog until lunch time.
May 18, 2010 -
My school, Utah Valley University is on Dancing with the Stars right
now, tune in and make sure to catch their performance and then call in
to vote for UVU to advance to the next round.
Update: Here is a
link to the performance, they got a score of 29 out of 30, it was a
wonderful performance and congrats to my friend Chris Witt who is an
instructor of Ballroom Dance at UVU as well.
May 13, 2010 -
We're really looking forward to having all the family meet James Asher
this weekend at Grandpa's 80th birthday party.
May 5, 2010
- I feel sorry for little Asher, whose
stuffy nose is keeping him up, and subsequently me too.
May 4, 2010 - Last night Addie
wouldn't stay in bed. This lasted for about two hours. She just keep
getting up every few minutes. Then she was really happy when Daddy
turned on the overhead light to her roo
May 4, 2010 - Last night Addie
wouldn't stay in bed. This lasted for about two hours. She just keep
getting up every few minutes. Then she was really happy when Daddy
turned on the overhead light to her room and she was allowed to run
around for a few minutes. Then once the lights went off she was really
sad to find her brand new door knob was locked. She fell sleep in the 10
minutes that followed.
May 1, 2010 - I think I graduate from
the wrong school (not the wrong University, the wrong school.) I had my convocation with the School of Business
yesterday but most of my peers graduated last year. Everyone I know know
graduated from the School of the Arts and the seniors got to play with
the Jazz Combo for the ceremony. I should have attended that
convocation. I'm having Jazz Band and Symphony Band
withdrawals already.
April 25, 2010 - Nine hours on the
bus and counting... following the Beatles sing-a-long and the Simpsons
Movie I think everyone is just tuckered out, another few hours to go
until we get home... The Jazz Band trip was great fun. We played at a
few high schools along the way but due to the white out we didn't get to
the hotel in time to play that evening. We were smoking at the Festival
except for a flub at the end of Sweet Georgia Brown but that was all in
the tempo. We were still a top band. It's great to see how far the music
program at UVU has come in just one school year.
April 21, 2010 - You know you're
raising your daughter right when you're listening to a John Lennon
Beatles song like "All You need is Love" and she asks for a Paul
McCartney Beatles song like "Hello Goodbye".
April 16, 21010 - Stake Talent Show
tonight, with sectionals and Woodwind Recitals tomorrow night. Next week
has the Jazz Band concert, Symphony Band Concert and the tour to the
Greeley Jazz Festival in Colorado where the Jazz Band will play at two
high schools, one resort, then finally at the festival itself. The week
after that is graduation. I'm glad I stuck around to get my music minor
this year.
April 12, 2010 - "You gotta find the
last paw print, it's the third clue, you put it in your note book 'cause
it's Blue's Clues, Blue's Clues. Then you sit back in your thinking
chair and think, think, think." You'll never guess what is Addie's new
favorite show...
April 9, 2010 - I'm up late feeding Asher and watching Murder She
Wrote and I can't help but wonder, Mrs. Fletcher was present for over
200 murders, that's a lot of coincidences, you'd think eventually the
police would figure out who the "real" murderer must be...
April 7. 2010 - I got home today and Addie told me that she wants
ear rings. I said no. Yesterday she told Wendy that she wants a cat.
March 31, 2010 - We're having a "Jazz Band Concert for Smart and
Attractive People" tonight and you're invited.
Also, I thought someone might get a kick out of this look at the
history of acglass.com.
March 30, 2010 - We had some cake and presents last night for
Addie's birthday (although the actual party will be on Friday.) Addie
got a tent to play in and seems to want to do nothing else but play in
the tent. The only problem is that the tent is a little larger than we
expected so we have no long term place in our home to put it.
March 29, 2010 - Happy Birthday to my
little girl. Since I've been home with her for the last 6 days sick with
Strep Throat and HFMD it was a big change for her to have me leave for
work this morning. That combined with the super tempting birthday cake,
conspicuously hidden on top of the refrigerator, Addie is have a
difficult morning. Grandma Nievaard is visiting this week so once she
gets in we'll have a little birthday party with just the immediate
family. Addie's real party has been moved to Friday due to my recent
illness.
March 24, 2010 - Down and out with
Strep Throat. I've been pretty much bed ridden since yesterday except
for the Symphony Band Concert performance.
March 17, 2010 - Happy Birthday Billy Corgan.
March 16. 2010 - Utah Valley University is planning a brand new
"Center for Arts" and museum on campus. I hope this is completed
before I finish my grad degree.
March 10, 2010 - A friends gave Addie an old phone to play with,
the service has been shut off but the phone still functions. Yesterday
Addie ended up putting it inside the bass woofer along with various
other objects that she has stuck in that little hole over the last few
months. When the phone's battery gets low it starts to beep so...
March 5, 2010 - "I can accomplish anything, my only enemy is
time."
March 2, 2010 - It always look forward to Jazz Band but yesterday
we spent the entire class playing through arrangements made by the
students of the arranging class. The sight reading was fun, and we had
some good laughs playing through stuff where the instruments were
transposed incorrectly and the notes were often well out of our ra...nge
but over all I really look forward to getting back to our charts.
February 27, 2010 - Just about 2:00 am, Asher and I are getting
ready for the next bottle feeding. I'm a little tired... oh and sounds
like Addie might be awake in her bed (which seems to be typical for her
really)
February 24, 2010 - Tom let me have the day off so today is my first "real" day off in
a long time considering that my other days off have all be full of
obligations or sickness. Today Wendy got to sit with Asher and get his announcements
out while Addie and I played in the snow.
February 21, 2010 - 9:25 pm, Wendy's
asleep in bed, Asher is sleeping on my chest and Addie's still talking to
herself in her bed. I love my little family. Asher will eat again at
10:00 pm then I'm going to bed too.
February 20, 2010 - Addie got a hold
of my phone today and made her first actual dialed call... to Wendy.
Needless to say Addie was tickled Pink and we got a good laugh out of it
as well. Now Wendy and Addie are at a birthday party for one of Addie's
friends. Asher and I are just relaxing and he keeps giving me that look,
the one that says, "I would eat your chin if you'd let me." He's such a
cute little guy.
February 18. 2010 - NPR reported
today that about 80% of the youth who received the H1N1 vaccine never
returned for the second shot.
February 17, 2010 - I let Addie stay
up an extra 20 minutes last night as we watch Cloudy with a Chance of
Meatballs (I really enjoyed it.) We also ate some ice cream that I let
her pick out during our last trip to the store. She picked pink ice
cream (Strawberry) but it seems it's not her favorite flavor after all.
I think we'll get chocolate next time. Addie has been going to bed so
well over the last few weeks that I'm always tempted to just cuddle her
forever rather than letting her sleep.
Asher decided to
spend more time awake last night that he has been so far so we played Tecmo Bowl on the Wii Virtual Console. Well, ok, I played and he
snuggled.
February 13, 2010 - Fortunately our new son,
James Asher Glass, was born yesterday. After Wendy had dropped me off
for work she got a call from our agency where we got all the details,
then headed up to West Jordan to see our new son. We spent most of today
with him as well and he'll get to leave the hospital tomorrow. We are
very excited.
Addie got to hold her new baby brother today
as well and she was very happy once she got to be near him. She's
already a great big sister.
February 3, 2010 - Unfortunately the
adoption didn't work out. Our feelings of sadness are hard to explain
but I'm back at work now while Wendy and Addie are safe at home again.
The whole trip was especially hard for Addie who, although always had
her cherry carefree disposition, didn't eat particularly well and didn't
sleep particularly well. We were so happy to get her home into her own
bed and routine.
January 25, 2010 - Wendy and I have been
chosen by a birth mom in South Carolina to adopt the yet-to-be-born son.
We're going to have an interesting next few weeks. Our progress is
available on Facebook.
January 09, 2010 - I'm doing
independent study at school where I compose music under the supervision
on Dr. Jim Colonna. I am tracking my time through a blog found
here.
December 24, 2009 - Now that my parents have
received their Christmas present I can say that over the past month I've
been putting together a series of 8 Saxophone quartet pieces as their
Christmas present. See pictures
here.
It was really nice being home this Christmas
Eve. Addie, Wendy and I spent some time drawing and coloring this
morning. I also got to practice Saxophone for about 2 hours (with Addie
taking turns practicing with me until she didn't want to share the
saxophone anymore.) We also went to Aunt Betty's for some Christmas Eve
dinner with our cousins. After returning home and putting Addie to bed
Wendy and I think we might have caught a glimpse of Santa Claus leaving
Addie's Christmas present, a play kitchen set.
Merry Christmas!
December 1, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - My stitches are out and
I'm loving it! It felt like I had that bandage on forever, but it was
not even a full two weeks. I was so excited to wash my hands. I know,
I'm crazy! It feels so great to be able to move my hand more. The
physician said that the surgery was really successful. I actually have
more feeling in my fingers than the average person! The only downside is
that I now have a yucky wound to look at for the next couple of weeks.
It is pretty bruised around my wrist under the incision too. Overall
though, I'm feeling great and can't wait to start on all of the
Christmas projects I have been postponing. I already made Christmas
ornaments during Addie's nap today. Hooray! I love my hands!
November 29, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We went to church today
and Addie was able to go to nursery for the first time in several weeks.
We have been gone because of illness, stake conference, general
conference, etc. so we are glad to be back in the swing of things and
going to church regularly again. I say that as if we'll never get sick
again. We're crossing our fingers on that! Now I just need to get my flu
shot. Fun. Addie loved nursery. She is such a people person that nothing
is better than hanging out with a bunch of little kids and teachers. She
loves nursery so much. I just hope she is behaving well and getting
along with all of the other kids! She can be a stinker sometimes. Don't
I know it! She's also very loving and affectionate so it's hard to put
her in timeout for being naughty sometimes when she says sorry and gives
you her infamous "squeeze." She also says, "squeeze" when she hugs you.
Adorable, I know. Well, Addie was so tired when we got home that she
barely ate anything for lunch and her eyes were pretty glazed over when
I picked her up and brought her to bed for her nap. She didn't protest
and slept for the next three hours! I love nursery!
November 28, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We went to RC Willey
bright and early... like at 10:00 this morning! We got our appliances
fast and easy with delivery scheduled for later in the day. I am quite
excited for our new fridge because it is the same size as our old one,
but it has more cubic feet inside (because they use better insulation
now and the walls are thinner.) I now have a freezer twice the size of
my old one and a fridge that can hold 9 gallons of milk on one shelf. That is one beautiful fridge! I also have separate drawers for
fruits and vegetables so they now have their own compartments that I can
change the humidity on. There is also a deli drawer devoted to our
coveted meet and cheese! Addie has a space for her gogurt and string
cheese too. Who would have thought I would get this excited over a
fridge! I haven't tried loading the dishwasher yet because of my
bandaged hand, but Aaron seems to like the dishwasher too! Features
include: three-tiered upper rack, adjustable upper rack, 3 separate
containers for silverware (also adjustable and removable), dinner plates
fit on the top, etc. The best part about it is that it WORKS! We no
longer have to wash every single dish by hand. I like that feeling and I
don't mind being spoiled by my dishwasher! I love my new appliances.
November 27, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - One week ago I had
surgery. It's kind of weird to think that it's only been a week, but in
some ways it feels like a month ago. We have decided to turn the
traditional "Black Friday" into "Lazy Friday" because we're not crowd
going people and we don't really have the money to spend this year
anyways. We lounged around for most of the day in our jammies playing
with Addie and napping here and there. I did most of the napping! Aaron
played Rock Band with Addie of course. We ate breakfast casserole for
most of the day because it has become one of Aaron's favorite foods now.
The day was going so great until 8:30 tonight. Our refrigerator decided
to start clicking in warning that it was going to die soon. We really
didn't want to purchase a new fridge, but we also didn't want to lose a
whole fridge full of food - like Thanksgiving leftovers! We're headed to
buy appliances tomorrow first thing in the morning. Maybe I can convince
Aaron that we're ready to replace our dishwasher too... since it's been
broken for several months now!
November 26, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Happy Thanksgiving to
everyone! We had a little feast of our own today so I could be at home
to rest. I love Thanksgiving so much and one of my favorite parts is
making the food. I like the satisfaction of putting on a feast even if
it is just for my little family. In the past we have always just made
stovetop stuffing and instant potatoes because we don't need a lot and
frankly it was just easy to throw together, but this year I made
everything from scratch... almost! Aaron got the turkey in the oven and
I started working on everything else. I made mashed potatoes, stuffing,
yams, rolls and corn. It doesn't sound amazing or anything, but it was
worth all of the work to prepare it even with my hand (because it took
2-3 times longer to make everything). Aaron went out to buy our dessert
because I was too pooped out to make anything. So we had a cheesecake
variety platter instead of the traditional pumpkin pie! I kind of liked
that even more. My friend Megan was in the hospital because she had a
baby the day before so we had her husband Justin and their son Andrew
come over and eat with us too. We sent them home with lots of leftovers
so hopefully they had a good Thanksgiving too. I'm so grateful for a
home to live in and a family to love. Happy Thanksgiving!
November 24, 2009 -
Here is a short video of the
Jazz Band.
November 23, 2009 - In the past week the UVU
Jazz Band (did I mention I'm playing 1st Alto in the University's Jazz
Band) has had two gigs to speak off. First one was last Wednesday where
we played at the new
Pirate Island Pizza. It was a fun show and they asked the band to
return monthly so it looks like we're the new Pirate Island house band.
Second one we had was the Ice Breaker Festival at the University itself,
which was today. We got to listen to a horde of High School ensembles
and we were the featured band ourselves. The 1st Tenor decided to skip
both of these gigs and I haven't heard a word from him, maybe he's in
the hospital or jail? It just meant more solos for me.
Tonight Addie went to bed at 7:00 pm and
now, almost 2 hours later she is still talking to herself (or her dolls)
and rolling around in her bed. I give her another 15 minutes before she
falls asleep.
November 21, 2009 - Wendy had her second
carpel tunnel release surgery last Thursday and is recuperating nicely.
I ended up taking Thursday and Friday off from work to take care of
Addie and Wendy while Wendy relaxed with her pain killers. Addie and I
played games of all kinds and she helped a lot by giving "squeezes" or
hugs to her mommy while mommy was resting. We're also thankful to our
friends in the Ward who help by providing dinner and comfort. We love
and appreciate you all.
Addie's more recent hobbies include clicking
and typing randomly on the desktop computer, watching videos of cats,
kitties and babies on the internet, singing most of the alphabet,
watching Baby Einstein, playing Rock Band with daddy and throwing her
hands in the air at the end of each song, and carrying around my phone
while it plays
Aebersold Jazz Music. This is added to the list of reading picture
books, playing pianos and instruments of varying sizes, driving her car
thingy, playing with her mighty mugs, pushing her dolls in a stroller,
playing chase, swinging on the park swing walking on and jumping on
daddy.
November 19, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I had carpal tunnel
surgery today on my left hand. The surgery was successful and I left
about an hour later. I usually get really sick from the anesthesia, but
the doctor was great and I was only out for a short time. I was brought
into the operating room and slid over to the operating table. They put
cuffs on my arms, straps on my arms and legs, shields around my body,
etc. They washed my arm and hand and then sterilized my hand before they
put me to sleep. The next thing I remember is counting to 2 and waking
up in recovery. I went home about 30 minutes later! Then I went to bed
and slept or watched movies for the next 24 hours!
November 8, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Addie and I are sick. I
took Addie to the doctor on Friday after she had only been sick for 6
days. I was worried enough to bring her in though because she sounded
awful and I was sick too so I knew how bad she must have been feeling.
The doctor gave her a dose of medicine that seems to be helping a
little. Her cough is less frequent, but she's still pretty sick. I have
a beast of a cold too. Aaron has a sniffle or two, but compared to the
flu he had the week before... he's doing much better. Hopefully the
brunt of our colds, croup or whatever it is that is ailing our family
will pass quickly and Aaron will be relieved of all the extra duties he
has taken on since Mommy has been a little out of commission.
November 5, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Happy Birthday Mom! My
mom is the greatest and here's wishing her the very best from Aaron,
Wendy & Addelynn! We love you so much! Have a great day!!!
November 1, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Are you kidding me? Since
when has it been 70 degrees in November? Usually it is much cooler by
now and we are getting our first taste of snow every once in awhile.
Well, we have had a dusting of snow... but it's kind of crazy to have an
Indian Summer again after that. I kind of like it... but I don't like it
when the bees keep coming back! I'm so ready for winter, but ask me
again when it doesn't get above freezing and we're waiting to thaw out
again in favor of spring and summer weather!
October 31, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Happy Halloween! We flew
back home this afternoon and debated on whether or not we should dress
up for the annual trunk-or-treating event held at our church. We had a
reputation to uphold after all. We also knew there would be a lot of
competition this year and we didn't have anything ready since I was gone
for the last week and Aaron was home with the flu. We finally came up
with a plan at the last minute and we were more than happy with the
results. Aaron put on his tux, I put on a gown, Addie wore her cat
costume and we made a sign to display our car as "The Incredible
Invisible Automobile." We sat on a pair of bar stools in our designated
parking space and passed out candy to trick-or-treaters. Nobody would
have ever guessed we could tie for 3rd place without even having a car
decorated! We'll have to think of something even better for next year
now! It turns out that Addie got the hang of trick-or-treating really
fast. She followed the other kids around and said the magic words that
filled her little bucket with candy. She also dug right in and pulled
out a sucker or two for her mouth before we came home and crashed in our
beds!
October 27, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Happy Birthday Aaron! You
are the greatest husband ever. I'm so lucky to be your wife. I miss you
tons and wish you the best birthday ever. I promise to make you a great
cake when we get home... chocolate, frosting, coconut, etc! We love you!
See you soon!
Today was also my grandpa's funeral. It was
a beautiful ceremony at the Tahoma National Cemetery. It reminded me so
much of when my father died. I miss my dad so much. It was a very
different feeling though attending my grandpa's funeral because I felt
so much peace. It felt so good to see so many people who loved my
grandpa and knew what a great man he was.
October 22, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - In loving memory of my
grandfather, Gerald Phil Rengler, who passed away this evening in his
home with my grandmother, Fern Rengler by his side. My brother, Nathan
Nievaard was also present. We're going to miss my grandpa so much, but
we are glad that he is not suffering anymore. I'm especially grateful
for the comfort and knowledge the gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints brings in my life because I know that I'll be able
to see my grandpa again in heaven someday. My grandpa is especially
important in my life because he baptized me when I was a little kid. I'm
so grateful for his example and dedication to serving the Lord. He
taught me how to be a better person and I love him so much.
September 30, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love everything about
my sweet little Addie. She is the most precious little gift we could
ever have. She's a smart little thing and we feel so blessed to have her
in our little family.
September 29, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love it when Addie
puts her little arms around my neck and pulls me close to her to give me
a tight hug.
September 28, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love when Addie
experiments making funny faces in the mirror.
September 27, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love that Addie gets
excited to watch "Little Einsteins" and says "tap - tap" instead of "pat
- pat." It's her favorite television show!
September 26, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love tracing Addie's
hand with a crayon.
September 25, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love looking at
Addie's beautiful brown eyes!
September 24, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love hearing Addie
say "amen" after a prayer.
September 23, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love that "JUICE" is
a word Addie uses for all liquids except water. It doesn't matter if
it's milk, juice, gatorade, milkshake, etc. It's all juice to her. I
sometimes wonder if "JUICE" means something yummy to drink whereas
"WATER" means something tasteless to drink... if only I could read her
mind!
September 22, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love watching her
blow kisses.
September 21, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love that Addie and
Daddy play ROCK BAND together.
September 20, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love when it's time
for bed and Addie runs to her room with her arms folded ready to say
bedtime prayers. The best part is that she's ready for bed and wants to
go to bed, but she doesn't want to at the same time!
September 19, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love how excited
Addie gets when it's time to take a bath. She has taken up swimming in
the bathtub and I love watching her kick her legs and blowing bubbles in
the water.
September 18, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love how Addie gets
excited when Daddy comes home from work! She giggles and cuddles into me
if she is sitting on my lap. She giggles and tries to hide if she is
standing somewhere. She giggles and tries to run away if Daddy is in her
sight. She cracks me up.
September 17, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love how Addie gives
big, cheesy grins and giggles.
September 16, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love watching Addie
color with crayons.
September 15, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love how Addie comes
and gives slobbery kisses.
September 14, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love how Addie talks
about BUGS. I'm not sure when her interest in bugs started, but she
isn't a fan of them it seems. We were walking outside one day and passed
some potato bugs and ants on the sidewalk. I probably said something so
she wouldn't touch them before so this time Addie said, "Yuck, bugs!"
Ever since then I have completely agreed with her and chime in with the
same phrase to support her in the general dislike of bugs. I don't mind
this at all and hope that the natural girl in her continues to keep bugs
at bay. I don't know what I would do with a boy because I don't like
bugs and dirt!
September 13, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love my little
outdoor girl and how excited she gets when it is time to go outside.
Addie will say "outside" and grab her shoes. She runs to the door and
knocks on it until we are ready to go. She loves playing on the toys or
running through the grass or bouncing balls on the basketball court or
swimming in the pool or going on walks in the stroller. Playing outside
always wears her out though and she is kind of fussy when we come home
again. She has even thrown a few tantrums stomping her feet when we walk
in the door and trying to run outside again to play. I think it's
adorable, but I talk to her and let her know that we had play time
outside and now it is time to play inside. She is never really happy
about that, but she survives and has learned to live with the fact that
we can't spend 24 hours a day outside. She probably would if she could
though!
September 12, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love watching Addie
dance to music. She can really get going sometimes when she is being
extra silly and entertaining. Her dancing moves include: the classic one
foot stomp, twirling in circles, jumping up and down (but not off the
ground), head bobbing, clapping, rocking back and forth... etc. She
loves watching herself in the mirror and often tries new things when she
can watch what she is doing. I love my girl and all of her silly moves!
September 11, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love "The Look."
Addie learned from a very young age (7-8 months) to tilt her head down
and look up at you with her eyes. We started calling it "The Look" and
the name has stuck. She will give "The Look" when you ask her to. Then
we all laugh about it so she usually does it again and again. It's
hilarious to us and it's a fun game for her. We love all of her little
expressions, but "The Look" is by far my favorite part of her little
personality!
September 10, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love snuggling with
Addie on the couch or in Daddy's big chair after her nap time. She is
not always a cuddly person so I take advantage of the times that she is!
She is really cuddly when she is sick. It breaks my heart when she
doesn't feel good so I'm glad I can at least comfort her with some
cuddles and hugs. The only problem is that I start to drift off to sleep
when she's on my lap because she is so warm and cozy!
September 9, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love how Addie talks
on the phone now. She loves talking on the phone with Daddy. She gets to
talk with grandmas and grandpa every once in awhile. She listens really
well and gets a serious look on her face. She is responding more now and
actually says a few things now like "hi" and "I love you" and "bye-bye."
I love it when Aaron calls me when I'm out running errands and he lets
Addie talk on the phone so I can hear what she sounds like on the phone.
She's growing up way too fast. Every time the phone rings she wants to
talk. What am I going to do when she is a teenager? Ha, ha!
September 8, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love Addie's teeth. It
is so cute how she says, "CHEESE" when I want to get a picture of her.
It is still pretty tricky actually timing the camera to get a good
smiling picture, but she is getting the hang of smiling now. String
cheese also happens to be one of her favorite snacks so she latched onto
that word really well. I am so glad that Addie's horrendous teething is
mostly over. She finally got her molars in all the way this month and we
are working on those canine teeth. We had some pretty cranky days but it
was all worth it because she has such a great smile. She loves brushing
her teeth, but she spends most of her time sucking the toothpaste off.
Then she wants more. I finally got her a spin brush so it is doing a
little bit more than before. Every time I brush her teeth with her she
closes her mouth tight and wants to do it herself. I don't look forward
to taking her to the dentist, but I'm sure it will be an interesting
adventure!
September 7, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Speaking of food, I love
how Addie asks for a treat when it is time to do her hair. She gets to
have a dum dum lollipop because I need her to sit still long enough to
get some kind of hairstyle in for the day. One of her favorite treats
right now is the classic "Otter Pop." I can never resist when she rubs
her tummy and says, "Otter Pop please." She knows a few words in sign
language and "please" has worked very well for her in getting what she
wants because it is absolutely adorable. Sometimes we have been known to
eat 3 otter pops in a single day... but it gets really hot here in Utah
so I have to admit that it really hits the spot.
September 6, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love watching Addelynn
eat. I know this sounds weird, but you would love to watch her too if
you could see her dimples every time she chewed. She is such a big girl
now and it seems like so long ago that she was drinking a bottle every
few hours. I think it's cute when she blows on her food and says hot
before she tries anything. I think it's cute when she slurps up noodles
and they just keep coming. I think it's really cute when she eats a
whole bowl of cereal, drinks the milk and then asks for more. She gets
pretty creative sometimes when she eats. Her natural curiosity about
everything made me crack up when she started smiling and making faces in
her spoon one day! She is one hilarious little girl.
September 5, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love it when Addie
reads her board books. She has always loved books and takes really good
care of them considering her age and interests. We only have 3 books
that have experienced more than the typical wear and tear you would
expect. One is her favorite counting book... and the other two were her
first books when she was still putting everything in her mouth! I love
it when Addie goes into her bedroom and pulls out the fabric bins with
her books. She can sit in her room for half an hour browsing through the
books all by herself. Sometimes she lets me sit with her and then
she brings me book after book to read to her. I'm glad we have a lot of
books because I have only memorized a few in the many times we have sat
and read together. I love my little girl and how she is already becoming
a little reader. My favorite is when she holds a book and reads to me.
She points to the pictures and the words and says all sorts of things
that I'm sure would be very accurate to the story if I could understand
her little language!
September 4, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love watching Addie
sleep. It is so cute how her sleep habits have changed. I used to lay
her on her back and she would flip over on her tummy and stick her
little bum in the air. That was cute! Now her routine is to lay on her
back and put both of her hands behind her head while I cover her with a
blanket. She gets to have a stuffed animal in bed with her now. At
first, she always tried to grab a few to take with her but she is
getting used to just picking one to sleep with. Sometimes it is the same
one every time for a week and sometimes it is a different one every
night. I love it when she picks her big elephant or polar bear. I love
it even more when she picks her tiny little owl. I love seeing her
snuggled in her blankets and listening to the soft snoring sound of my
beautiful baby.
September 3, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love Addie's feet. She
has feet like her birth mom's. It was one of the traits her birth mother
pointed out to us when we met her. She told us it would be fun buying
shoes for her that would stay on her skinny little feet. She was
absolutely right! We can keep her tennis shoes and boots on with no
problem, but her church shoes have a way of slipping off a dozen times
in the first hour! Ha, ha! We love her long, skinny feet. I love how she
crosses her feet when she's relaxing. I love how she tries to jump up in
the air and her feet never leave the ground. I love rubbing her feet
with lotion after a bath. I love squeezing her little toes. I love
chasing her and hearing the little pitter patter of her feet on the wood
floor. I just bought a bigger pair of shoes for her again. I'm going to
miss her little baby feet someday!
September 2, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I love the way Addie is
a natural mommy. She has always loved baby dolls and now has her own
little collection ranging from small to large dolls in a variety of
colors. She likes to feed her juice or milk to her babies but won't use
the pretend bottles very often. Her own sippy cups are much better
apparently. She also puts them to bed sometimes with a blanket and then
gets them up and pats them on the back. My favorite moments are when she
tries to teach her babies how to sit or read or play with her toys.
She's going to be a great big sister someday... hopefully sooner than
later!
September 1, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - The entire month of
September is all of the things I love most about my girl Addie. She's a
sweetie and a stinker at the same time. I can't get enough of her some
days and other days I can't wait for Aaron to take her away for a few
moments! I love her to pieces and am so happy I get to spend each and
every day at home with her. Being a mom is a great blessing and I hope
the things I write about her will be things she'll look back on and love
about her own kids someday. First of all I love the way Addie laughs.
She gets so excited when we play chase around the house. She has even
recently started snorting when she really gets going. I love to tickly
her armpits after her bath when I'm drying her off with a towel because
her laugh is the cutest when I get her most ticklish spots!
August 31, 2009 - Late Saturday night we
decided to defrost our freezer in order to see if it would get the ice
machine to stop making the freezer leak water. Unfortunately we
accidentally turned off the entire fridge. Early Sunday evening we
noticed that everything had gotten warm and thus figured out what we did
wrong. So... we turned the fridge back on, threw out most all the food
and Wendy went grocery shopping early this morning before I left for
work.
A few items on the lighter side, Orlando and
Tara sent us a DVD Signing Time that Addie adores. She'll watch,
and flair her arms a bit and even sign "Mouse". It's nice to have
something that keeps her sitting on the furniture rather than standing
on it.
Wendy, though I doubt she had any intentions
of mentioning it got an amazing high score (292,600) on a game
called Bejeweled Blitz that she frequents on Facebook. We haven't seen
anyone get even close to such a score except for a computer bot.
Lastly, thanks to the good graces of my boss
at work who is allowing me to work around an odd school schedule, I am
playing Tenor Sax in the UVU Symphony Band and 1st Alto in the UVU Jazz
Band. I hope to post some recordings eventually.
August 6, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I'm making beef jerky. Yep,
that's right... I'm making it right here in my oven. It's not as hard as
it might seem, but it's not the fastest item to make either. While
visiting my grandma's house on vacation, we cleaned and organized her
kitchen cabinets. Among several interesting items that Grandmas have in
their cupboards was a beef jerky making kit. Beef jerky happens to be
one of my most favorite snacks of all time. It's right up there with
bananas. Since we're going camping this weekend, I thought it most
appropriate to try out this little kit that my grandma let me take home
with me. So I got out the kit and a pound of ground beef and set to work
seasoning, mixing and squirting the meat on a tray to dry in the oven
for the next 10 hours. It smells so good already and I can't wait to see
how it turns out in the end!
August 5, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Today was my first of many
meetings in my new calling in the church as a Counselor in the Stake
Primary. Basically I help organize training, orientation and meetings
for Ward Primary Presidencies. They are the ones that actually meet with
kids every Sunday at church and provide classes and music for kids ages
18 months to 12 years. I will directly be involved with the Scouting
Program as well so I guess I'll be ready for a boy in our family
someday! Either that or Addie is going to know everything about Girl
Scouts as well as Boy Scouts!
August 4, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Talk, talk, talk, talk,
talk, talk and talk... That would be the sound of my little Addelynn all
day long. She is so interested in talking right now that she literally
comes and sits by my feet no matter where I am, how long I am there or
what I am doing. Addie followed me around today with a toy and would sit
at my feet playing with her toy and talk at the same time. So here I am
washing dishes, folding laundry, wiping counters, mopping, etc... and
Addie sits either on my feet or plants herself right next to me for the
duration of my activity. Even if I just had to put clothes in the washer
for a minute, she was right there babbling away. We finally went into
her bedroom and enjoyed reading some books together just so I could get
a word in! Ha, ha!
August 3, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We had the best week last
week with Addie taking 2 hour naps twice a day and sleeping 12 hours
straight through the night. I should have known that it wouldn't last
forever because this week she seems to have a change of heart about the
whole napping thing. In fact, she doesn't want to sleep no matter what
time of day it is. She cries and she cries and she cries. It's such a
sad thing to hear her cry especially when I don't know what changed all
of a sudden. I have come to the conclusion that teething continues to
get the best of her. Her molars are taking forever to come in just like
all of her little teeth have done. So instead of having some pain here
and there, she gets weeks upon weeks of misery as the teeth slowly make
their way through her tough little gums. The poor girl - her first molar
has been breaking through the skin slowly over the past month! I can't
wait until she has a full set of chompers... it will probably be time to
start losing her baby teeth by the time that happens at this rate!
August 2, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - After spending many more
hours than I thought it would take, I finally finished my rag quilt for
Addie. It is 9 by 10 squares and just big enough for my growing girl.
She is going to get a big girl room when baby #2 comes along someday so
I thought I should get started sooner than later so her room can be
decked out in pink and green with a few brighter accents here and there.
She loves her rag quilt and likes to just sit on it will all of her toys
around her. She's getting so big now that I can't even believe it
sometimes. Pretty soon I'll be sending her off to school! AAAAaaaaagggghhh!
August 1, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We went to the temple
today! We were lucky to have a friend who is trading babysitting days
with us so we can go to the temple more often. Addie must have had fun
playing with her friend Zachary because she came home a took a long nap.
Aaron took advantage of the quiet time too and dozed off for a nap as
well on the couch. Of course the mom in me just had to spend that time
cleaning up the house and surfing the internet for craft projects. Later
we went to Cabella's for a few camping purchases. We have our very own
dutch oven now! I'm excited, yes - because I love camping and Aaron is
finally convinced that we can get a few things to make our camping
adventures more involved. We also got a pie iron and we are going to
show our friends how to make bread pies the camping way. I can't wait to
head up into the mountains already!
July 26, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We drove home today all the
way from Seattle to Utah. It was quite an adventure for all of us. We
had a great ride with no problems to encounter, but it was soooo long! I
think I had a harder time sitting that long than either Aaron or Addie.
I told Aaron that we would never take the trip in a single day anymore
because it makes for such a long day. We left around 7:00 am and arrived
back home around 10:30 pm. Now we all need a vacation to catch up on
some much needed rest!
July 25, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We spent the day with
Aaron's family today. Addie loved the animals so much! She chased the
dogs and cats around the house until they were all tired. Aaron got to
play saxophone with his parents while Addie and I went for a walk and
took a nap. We have had a long week and we are excited to go home to our
own place. We're going to miss our families a lot though!
July 24, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - My dad would have turned 60
years old today. Happy Birthday Dad. I still miss my dad so much. He was
a great father and I am lucky to have a dad who taught me so much about
service and helping others. A lot of people affected by suicide don't
really understand it or know what to say to someone who has a family
member who committed suicide. My dad made the choice to end his own life
and that is a difficult thing to say because it makes me feel angry,
sad, embarrassed and hurt all at the same time. He must have been
hurting a lot inside and tried to deal with it alone. The important
thing for our family now is to be open in our communication with others
around us. It is important for people to know that suicide can be
prevented. You never know how your influence may be able to change
someone's life and maybe even save it. I miss my dad. Our whole family
does. We will always love him.
July 19, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Happy 6th Anniversary! I
can't believe we have been married that long already. We are such good
friends now and I'm glad we had so many years to get to know each other
better than ever. We waited 5 long years before the arrival of our first
daughter. We hated waiting at the time to have our family grow, but it
was worth the wait because we both matured in our individual ways and we
are better parents because of it. We have had a great marriage and are
grateful for our experiences together. Aaron is still the love of my
life and always will be!
At Mom's house we had an outdoor fire and
roasted marshmallows for smores. We sang silly songs from Disney channel
shows and the kids probably thought I was a pretty crazy aunt! We all
had a fun night and I wish we had more time to spend together. Now I get
to spend the rest of the week mostly with just Mom.
July 18, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron dropped Addie and I
off at the airport so we could fly to Washington and visit my family for
the week. He will finish his classes on Thursday and then drive up on
Friday to meet us. Addie did pretty well at the airport and kept me
running around to look at everything. When the airplane doors closed,
Addie decided that she wasn't ready for this trip after all and started
to cry and fuss. I tried everything from her binky to treats. She was
okay for awhile before she got REALLY tired. We both knew that she
needed a nap, but she is not used to sleeping anywhere but her crib. I
had to hold her tight in my arms and I started nodding off to sleep
before she finally calmed down and slept the last 20 minutes before
descending into Seattle. I was so glad to leave the plane and meet my
mom at the airport. She brought Kaitlyn with her and we saw Heidi,
Hallie and Ethan when we got home. We were joined by Aunt Rita and
cousins Matt and Steven later along with Rich (Rita's boyfriend) and
Michelle (Matt's wife) along with their baby boy Bryce. We took family
pictures thanks to a friend of ours and then we all hopped in the pool
for some much needed cool off time. We had a big dinner and went to bed.
It was a long day and I slept so well that night, but I missed Aaron a
whole lot. It was strange not having him there with me.
July 8, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We are officially approved for
adoption again. That means we just got a letter in the mail stating that
we are available to be presented to birth moms for possible placement
situations. We don't know how long it will be until we are placed with a
child, but we hope for sooner than later. Addie is growing up so fast
and we can't wait to add a new little one to our family!
July 4, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We went to the Stadium of Fire
this evening for Provo's 4th of July Celebration. It was a blast. We
weren't sure how Addie would do at the event because we were sitting in
the bleachers for quite a long time, but she did pretty well. We saw the
Jonas Brothers perform in concert and that was a hit for all the little
girls there! Addie even started clapping her hands and jumping up and
down on my lap! She loved it! We left before the final fireworks because
it was getting late and it was probably a good thing because I'm not
sure Addie would have liked it. We were happy to leave early though
because we beat the traffic too!
July 2, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - List of Addie Words:
| Words Addie SAYS |
| up |
down |
eat |
| Mom |
Dad |
wow |
| no |
yes |
sit |
| juice |
ball |
book |
| hi |
bye |
what |
| milk |
teeth |
all done |
| what's that |
thank you |
I love you |
| Addie's SIGNS |
| more |
please |
| eat |
all done |
| Addie's Animal
SOUNDS |
| moo |
woof |
meow |
| baa |
roar |
quack |
June 30, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We had a get-together again
today with our old college buddies at Liberty Park. It was a super hot
day so it kind of felt good getting splashed every once in awhile while
chasing my girl around the splash pad. Addie absolutely loves the water
and couldn't get enough of it. She would stand right in front of a
fountain and put her face in it. She bent over to the ground to try to
lick the water. She ran around to every fountain that was spraying water
at the time... with a bunch of big kids around her the whole time! Addie
is not afraid to try to do anything. She is a people person in every way
so it is nice when we have a chance to get out and play with lots of
people around. It's fun to meet with my friends and see how their kids
play and interact. They're all a little young right now so their biggest
concern seems to be: What are you eating and can I have some too? OR - I'll just take that cracker thank you very much.
June 23, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - My old college friends met
up today at Wheeler Farm. It's a park with an old farm where you can
walk around on different paths and look at all of the animals. Addie
liked the ducks the most at the duck pond and she can really make a
quacking sound better than I can! It was fun to see old friends with
their little kiddos. It's hard to imagine that someday we'll be sending
our kids off to college!!!
June 20, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I helped host my friend's
baby shower today. It was a lot of fun because she is having a girl of
course! Everything was decorated in pink and brown for Karen and baby.
It was nice to see how many people come out to celebrate. I had to be a
little crafty and make the decorations too. I made fabric flags like the
race track ones, but only in girly pink and brown instead of red and
black checkered flags. I also made Karen a display board to stick her
flowers and bows or pictures on. Hopefully it will go to good use in her
future baby room. Our other friend Megan was in charge of the food
organization of it all. It's a good thing because it was a delicious
potluck!
June 17, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We attended the Pleasant
Grove Children's Parade for Strawberry Days today. That was quite an
event. It could have and should have been a simple day walking on the
parade route with all of the primary kids in our ward, BUT... the
weather was crazy: windy, rainy, sunny, stormy! We also thought it would
be nice to carry balloons to help keep track of the kids in our ward.
That was not the best thing ever because the balloons got tangled up in
the wind and we ended up ripping and piecing back together pieces of
string so the kids could even hold a balloon. Then a bunch of the
balloons popped when the kids were waiting to start the parade, etc...
etc... The funny thing is that everyone seemed to have a good time. I
pushed Addie in the stroller and she had fun people watching and eating
a popsicle at the end of the parade. What a crazy event... until next
year!
June 13, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We attended several hours of
"Adoption Training Classes" this weekend. We met with other couples who
were hoping to adopt for a weekend full of training with stories and
lessons from families who have adopted, kids who are adopted and birth
mothers who have placed children for adoption. We are approved for
adoption and have all of our paperwork completed so now we hope to find
a child to join our family soon. Our profile is available
HERE.
June 10, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - What a busy day! We started
off the day with the cutest thing ever... Addie waved her hand and said
"BYE" to Daddy as he left for work. We both ooohhed and aaahhed over her
cuteness! She is learning to say so many things like: UP, DOWN, BALL,
WOOF, MOO, and more stuff that I just can't remember right now. She uses
sign language for EAT, MORE and PLEASE. This melts our hearts too of
course. We love our girl and all the cuteness that comes with her little
self.
We went up to see the animals today at the
Wheeler Farm. It is a great park where you can walk around and see the
animals. We saw the cows, horses, sheep, ducks and rooster. Addie liked
the ducks the best and kept making quacking sounds at them and kindly
offering her french fries. Luckily we didn't get that close to them
because the ducks weren't so little and Addie is not so big yet.
We also ran a few errands before heading
over to see Greg, Raquel, Brandon and Aleya. The kids are getting so
big. Addie was her usual self and warmed right up to a new place. She
loved climbing their stairs and playing with Brandon's toys. She took
care of Aleya's baby dolls too. Brandon is growing up so fast. He's a
great little guy and liked to entertain Addie by giving her toys. Aleya
was super clingy to her mommy. She snuck in a smile here and there in my
direction and before we left, she fell asleep in my arms. We just wish
that we lived closer to our cousins so we could have the kids play
together more often. Addie and I loved seeing them!
June 9, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is getting to be such a
big girl. She is 24 pounds now and is growing like a weed. The only way
to explain this amazing growth process is the plain and simple fact that
SHE EATS. She will eat anything after trying a taste of it first. Even
if she doesn't seem to like it, she will put it back in her mouth to try
it again. The funniest time was when she was eating a tuna fish sandwich
and must have had a sour bite from a pickle. The expression of disgust
was the best ever and she discarded the bad pickle on the far side of
her tray where she is known to lay anything that doesn't please her when
she tries it. This usually applies to raisins and the occasional
mandarin orange. The funniest thing about this is that she eats about
95% of her raisins, but leaves a few in her "discard pile" for some odd
reason. We may have a food critique on our hands, but then again... she
downed an entire grilled cheese sandwich today with less than ample
chewing. The girl loves food!!!
June 7, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We drove home from our
weekend vacation today. Addie fell asleep soon after departing so we
decided to take a detour on a scenic route up to a reservoir. It's a
good thing because the decision to take a side road made me look at the
gas gauge and I realized that we wouldn't have enough gas to go all the
way through the mountainous area as originally planned. One sleeping
baby, a drive back to town for gas, a quick stop at the market for some
donut holes and we were on our way again... but this time I was driving.
How did I get in the driver's seat again? It turned out to be a good
thing because Aaron got to play with Addie in the back seat and I didn't
get car sick like I usually do. We made it to the top at 10,000 feet and
realized that we wouldn't be hiking in the 34 degree weather up there!
In fact, the trees had a glistening layer of frost on them and we were
wearing shorts and t-shirts! I ran out of the car a few times to take
some scenic shots, but we'll have to visit Cedar Breaks National
Monument another time when it is warmer... if not June, then when?
Surely it won't be snowing in JULY!
June 6, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We headed out this morning
for a little weekend to ourselves in the mountains. We originally
planned on camping, but the weather didn't pan out and we were glad for
our hotel when we drove there in a little rain shower. We drove down to
Cedar City today with the mindset of doing some hiking and playing
around for the weekend. The drive was longer than I remembered so it was
nice to get out and stretch our legs for the hike. It was the perfect
day for hiking with some overcast weather in the sixties. There were a
million butterflies all around and they posed quite well on the flowers
for a picture here and there. We crossed the creek over a dozen times on
our hike. It was really fun to get out in nature again. I can't get
enough hiking! Aaron is a good sport. Addie loved being in the backpack
but was getting tired of it by the time we made it back so it was good
that we didn't hike too long. We drove around Kolob Canyon to see the
views and headed over to our hotel. After dropping off our luggage, we
went into town and picked up food... and lots of it. We headed out later
to see the movie "UP" with Addie. It was her first movie in a theater
and for a fourteen month old baby on vacation without a good nap all
day... she did pretty well. She laughed out loud a few times when the
one dog started talking in a high pitched voice. She liked the dogs a
lot and kept saying woof throughout the movie. She made it halfway
through the movie before she was all tuckered out and snoozed through
the rest of the movie on my lap. We all highly recommend "UP" ... and
Aaron has picked it as his new favorite movie of all time!
May 31, 2009 - Last night I gave some more
time towards completing the illustrations for the children's book Wendy
is writing. I believe I have about 21 of 28 of them sketched, waiting to
be inked.
While doing so I watched a few more episodes
of Quantum Leap, Season 2. I think I have failed to mention that Wendy
and I recently signed up for Netflix which has a vast library of content
available to just watch online, including the afore mentioned series. I
also recently watched Les Miserable online. In general Wendy has been
catching up on various made of TV family movies.
May 30, 2009 - I am a firm believer in "down
time" to assist in the productivity of school and work. The question is,
outside of what is generally expected, how am I spending my time?
Well...
I am currently 3/4 of the way through Agatha
Christie's The Big Four on audio book as well as 1/4 into the recently
released third Ordinary Boy book on hard cover. I am skeptical on how
this third installment of a youth reader will fare against the 2nd one
which was quite clever.
I'm playing my way through Mario 64
in WII Console and have about 58 of the 70 required starts. This game
reminds me of when my parents originally bought me a Nintendo 64 for my
17th birthday. I also have one final dungeon to finish on Legend of
Zelda - Link to the Past.
I received my new Lennie Niehaus Saxophone
Method Books in the mail which are mind numbingly easy to sight-read
through although it's the articulations I will be working on.
Lastly, my seldom mentioned
video game design
project continues right on track towards beta version 4.7 with
various bugs and balance issues still being addressed.
May 29, 2009 - In finishing up my Bachelors
Degree the last class that is required is called Strategic Management
which accompanies an online simulation called Capstone. It in, 6 teams
of 5 students compete as corporations to become the most successful
company. I'm glad to say that so far my group is maintaining 1st place
according to the balanced score card, which is a system used to access
various performance measures.
A good example of how this score card works
can be shown in sales revenue. Naturally, you would expect the best team
to have the most sales. In this case, although other teams were able to
generate more sales revenue than my team, they still ended up with less
income because they had more cost per each of the sales they had. The
balanced score card is used to focus and grade on factors that would
actually benefit a company.
May 28, 2009 - I went to Lens Crafters and
bought myself some new glasses today since my previous pair snapped.
May 27, 2009 - I never got around to
mentioning the fact that since I have a year until my MBA will begin at
who-knows-which school I decided to use the time to finish up my Music
Minor. Fortunately since Music used to be my major I have every single
necessary theory class completed. All I need to do now is complete a
series of Ensembles and Private Lessons at the college.
May 17, 2009 - Well our church Stake
(grouping of various congregations) has split so rather than 13 units we
now have 6. Since I live in the newly created Stake's boundaries I have
found myself without a calling (church related responsibility.) As a
friend recently said, "enjoy it while it lasts."
May 10, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Happy Mother's Day! It was a
nice day at church except for the wiggling baby we had with us. It is
hard for Addie to fall asleep at church now with everyone around her and
it makes for a pretty grumpy girl by the time we get home. Luckily, she
fell asleep after lunch and we all went to bed for three hours in the
afternoon. Her new favorite thing to say is "Addie." She says it
whenever she sees a picture of her or looks in the mirror. Sometimes she
just says it over and over again. Cute girl!
May 9, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We finally attended a ward
breakfast at the church. It seems like we have always had other
obligations and haven't been able to go. I made a hash brown dish and
topped it with rice krispies instead of corn flakes because that is what
I had in the cupboard. Apparently it was good because we brought home an
empty pan. There was an abundance of food including fruit, juice and all
the makings for breakfast burritos. Afterwards we all cleaned up and
headed outside to see the old house next to the church be burned to the
ground by the fire department. It was pretty neat to see but a little
nerve wracking at the same time because the house was just across a
field from where we live. You could feel the heat when it was really
blazing and the firemen pulled back within a few feet of our fence. I
felt a lot better two hours later when it was a pile of smoking timbers.
We have a great view now with the house gone, but it will probably be
developed into more condominiums soon.
May 7, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Our adoption caseworker called
today and informed us that she was leaving the agency to go back to
school. So we are now in the waiting process again to see who will be
assigned to us. Then we schedule our interviews again and start the
process over. I don't like to procrastinate so it is hard to wait on
other people to get things done.
May 5, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I went to a Primary meeting
without Addie tonight and it was so nice not having to worry about her
staying up too late. Aaron is between semesters at the university so he
stayed home and watched American Idol after putting Addie to bed. I had
a baby free meeting and came home feeling refreshed instead of drained.
April 30, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We are signed up with LDS
Family Services and had our first interview today to get to know our
caseworker. We're hoping things will go smoothly and that we'll be able
to adopt through this agency.
April 28, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - My friend hosted an Usbourne Book Party tonight and of course I had to attend. I love their
touchy feely books for infants and toddlers. I got a monkey, kitten and
princess book for Addie. I think we have enough books now because our
shelves will be overflowing if we add any more to our collection. It is
such a great feeling to watch Addie sit and look through a bin of books.
April 27, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - It's my birthday and I'm
officially old. Well, I'm 29 years old which is a great reminder that I
won't always be in my twenties. Aaron brought home an ice cream cake
from DQ. It has always been my favorite cake.
April 26, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We had some friends over
for dinner this evening. It's really fun to get together with other
adults, especially when Addie is not saying more than a few words yet.
It is nice to have some real conversation with people that speak in full
sentences. Addie filled herself to the brim with pork and rice. I think
she found a new passion for eating.
April 24, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I met a few friends this
afternoon to learn how to add yarn extensions to Addie's hair. She was
kind of grumpy so we didn't get to do her hair but hopefully we'll be
able to get it done sometime soon. It helps to have African American
hair braided because it is protected more and breaks less when you don't
comb through it everyday. Braids also don't pull their hair like rubber
bands can. They also last for several weeks and that is the biggest
bonus for us because getting her hair done is not Addie's favorite thing
to do.
April 23, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I am finally getting some
time to update the web page so the last couple of entries have all been
done today in reality! Addie has not been napping very much or very well
for the last week so I'm taking full advantage of this quiet time! I'm
working on my book and Aaron is going to illustrate it for me as soon as
he finishes his finals next week. Then it will be available on
Amazon.com for purchase! I'm so excited! Hopefully this will help in the
fundraising of it all so we can adopt again someday!
April 22, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We went to the zoo today
with Megan and her little boy Andrew. The weather was perfect for a day
at the zoo and it was fun hanging out with Megan. The kids lasted pretty
well, especially after they ate lunch and ran around for a bit. We met
my friend Stacie from Las Vegas with her 2 little girls too! They are
getting sooo big and I can't believe that we only see each other once a
year. I wish we were neighbors! All of our friends seem to be moving
again so it looks like we'll have to make new ones again... but we're
trying really hard to keep our friends here - at least until it is time
for us to move!
April 21, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I had my follow-up
appointment to see the doctor that did my carpal tunnel surgery last
month. Everything looks good and I'm starting to get my strength back
slowly but surely. It is still pretty tender but that should go away as
it heals during the next couple of months. Addie had a play date with
her little friend Quincy today. It has been over a year since we have
seen them so it was quite amazing to see our babies all grown up into
pre-toddlers! Addie got to meet a little boy named Will too. They are a
cute bunch of little kiddos, but the funny thing was that they all
pretty much ignored each other because they don't really know how to
play with others yet! Ha, ha! That's what Mommies are for right now!
April 20, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We went to my friend
Cindy's baby shower at the school today. She is just about ready to have
her baby but still has a month to go. I don't know how she does it when
she is teaching because I cannot even imagine going through pregnancy
with such a demanding job! Maybe that's why we adopted!!! Cindy is
having a boy so Addie will have yet one more BOY friend to play with. We
need some more girls in the neighborhood!
April 19, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Addie and Daddy both took
naps that lasted over three hours after church today. I admit that I'm a
little bit jealous because I would have loved to get some shut-eye, but
it was nice to just relax too. I even had a few moments to sit outside
and enjoy the nice weather. It looks like a warm week with more rain for
the weekend! I love spring... because I really do love a break from the
sun with a little precipitation here and there!
April 15, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We ventured out into a
spring snowstorm to attend a transracial adoption playgroup. It was our
first time going and it was a blast. I was kind of nervous because it
seemed like everybody already knew each other, but I put on a brave face
and talked with as many people as I could. Most people had kids older
than Addie so it is nice to learn things from them. Addie was her usual
social self and started playing with the kids and running around right
away. She wore herself out with all of those kids because she fell
asleep in the car on the way home. I can't wait to see everyone again!
April 13, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We bought a water softener
today! It was so worth it. We have been using the free trial for the
last month and I noticed a big difference in my dishes right away. The
shower and tub is cleaner too. My laundry looks so much nicer now! We
should have invested in this a few years ago when we moved in because it
would have saved us a lot of time and money dealing with the hard water.
I could go on a commercial to tell everyone how much I love it!
April 12, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We had Easter dinner at
Greg & Raquel's house. It was nice being with family and having the
little cousins together to play. There were so many people there though
that Aleya didn't want to let go of her Mom or Dad! I don't blame her
because it would be a little intimidating walking around with a bunch of
towering adults... but Addie was a little trooper and set out to meet
everyone and see what kind of mischief she could find. Conquering the
stairs was her great accomplishment of the day and she never grew tired
of going up them. Mommy on the other hand tried every distraction she
could think of to keep little Addie contained in a manageable area while
Daddy played Guitar Hero with the guys!
April 11, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We had an Easter Egg Hunt
with our friends this morning. My friend Rachel organized the event and
had everyone bring eggs and prizes for the kids. Addie was too excited
to pick up any eggs because she kept running in excitement thinking that
the other kids were going to chase her and get her. Playing chase is her
favorite game so I don't blame her for wanting everyone to like it
too... it's just funny to see her try to run away from someone when they
aren't even chasing after her, but getting the egg right at her feet!
Eventually she filled her basket with Mommy's help, but the best part of
the morning was playing in the bubbles blown by various out of breath
adults and sucking on her first lollipop in the form of a Dum-Dum. She
got her Easter Basket today from the Easter Bunny too. It was filled
with books, shoes, a blankie, doodle pro and some eggs. She opened all
of the eggs by my great surprise... so next year we will have to put
something in them! Ha, ha... but her favorite toy is the DOODLE PRO. She
loves to draw on it - which meant that her books went totally ignored
for the first time ever because she usually spends so much time looking
at her books! I guess the Doodle Pro is just that AMAZING!!!
April 6, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is such a big girl
now. I have to let the world know all of the cute things she has learned
lately:
- Slurping up ramen noodles and shoving them
in her mouth by the handful with just as many noodles in her lap.
- Waving bye-bye with a teasing smile to sneak
around the furniture and surprise you.
- Kicking any ball around the house with
little baby steps.
- Waving and saying, "ALL DONE" anytime she is
done with anything including getting her hair combed and styled.
- Looking at board books and pointing to the
pictures. Every time she sees a cat, she gives it a kiss. When she sees a
sheep... she says, "BAAAA."
- Clapping her hands during the WHOLE song:
"If You're Happy and You Know It." She must be pretty happy and she really
knows it.
- Sitting on Daddy's tummy or FACE and
bouncing up and down. We don't know why the face is so much fun but she does
get some good height from Daddy's tummy.
- Giving LOVES and KISSES especially when she
is tired. She is also good about giving little boys her age a kiss here and
there!
April 5, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We spent a nice lazy day
today in our pajamas while listening and watching General Conference on
television. Addie slept through all of the sessions mostly because her
nap time conveniently falls during the same blocks of time. She is still
getting over little cold and now has a slight fever that we hope goes
away on its own tonight. It is time to start getting the house ready for
Grandma Nievaard to come. Nothing is better than a freshly cleaned home
with brand new air fresheners out!
April 4, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We listened to General
Conference today amid various activities. It is almost too convenient to
be able to watch it on TV because I don't think we do a very good job
really paying attention. We ran errands in between sessions and ended up
listening to part of it in the car with Addie doing a little crying and
whining in the back seat. She's not feeling well with a cold that she
has had for the last week. I hope it goes away soon for her sake... and
ours! She's been really good but the car rides are getting to her ever
since we went on our little road trip last month.
April 3, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I got a great idea for my
cards today and I'm going to try to start selling them for real now. I
just have to get busy and make bunches of them. Hopefully it will be a
small investment on the way to saving more money for adoption. I wish it
wasn't so expensive because we would probably have more kids by now. I
wouldn't trade my teaching years for anything because they have been so
valuable in motherhood. I'm just ready to have a few little ones in my
house already. I should be careful what I say because I may end up
getting just what I ask for!
April 2, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I really can't believe that
we keep getting these spring snow storms. I guess you never know what
Mother Nature is going to come up with next. I really don't mind the
snow. The wind is what gets to me though. It can be so bitter cold. I'm
not a fan of the howling through the windows either. It will be nice
when we have flowers and warm weather again so we can go on walks
outside. Addie loves being outside and she likes to walk now that she is
a big girl. I just hope I can continue to coax her into the stroller for
walks so I can get some good old exercise time in while I'm at it. By
the way, it's really cute to see her walking now. AAaaaaggghh - she's
growing up too fast!
April 1, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron thought he would be
funny and call his dad today telling him that I was pregnant. Ha, ha - April Fools! The sad thing is that I really wish it were true. I feel so
grateful to have been able to adopt Addie, but there is a part of me
that still wishes I could get pregnant someday. We're going on six years
being married this year so it's not likely to happen, but you never
know. Everyone keeps telling me that I'll get pregnant now that we
adopted. Addie is so cute though... it makes me want to adopt again even
more than being pregnant! I have to say that I really didn't mind not
having to deal with all of the trials of being pregnant - like labor!!!
March 31, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Just another day... just
kidding! Happy Birthday Nathan. I know, you are probably too busy to
read this. That's what you get for being an accountant. Oh wait - I'm
married to one too! Just think... only two more weeks of complete and
total exhaustion and then you get one day off to recover from weeks of
working late! Well, best of luck to you and hope that you have the best
birthday ever... and if you have time to read this, then get off the
internet and go spend time with Emily! Love ya!
March 30, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Addie had her one year
check-up today! She is growing on her normal ahead of the gang pace. She
is now over 22 pounds which puts her in the 75th percentile for weight.
She continues to excel in height as well landing in the 95th percentile.
The greatest news of all is that she appears to be a genius. Hey - that's what the doctor said and who am I to not believe a doctor! Her
head is pretty big... 97th percentile baby. We're hoping to go off the
charts by her next visit! Just kidding of course, but it's good to know
that she is smart and growing well. She certainly is eating better now
that she's not so sick anymore. It has been a rough few weeks for her,
but tis the season for colds and everything else.
March 29, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Happy Birthday my little
BABY BOO!!! It is official now, I'm not ready for my little girl to grow
up. I can't deny it now though because she has been changing so much in
the last few weeks. Today was a fun day for her because she got to
celebrate her birthday again with a few friends that came over this
afternoon to eat the extra cupcakes. She was pretty happy to dig into
another cupcake. Her little boy friends are so good with her. Addie can
be a bit aggressive when it comes to playing with other kids. She
doesn't know how to be gentle yet so she kind of ends up in your face or
jumping all over you. Luckily she's cute so her little grin always melts
you anyways.
March 28, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We celebrated Addelynn's
birthday today with an afternoon party. She was such a good girl and I'm
sure that she loved all of the attention. She opened her presents with a
little bit of help. She wouldn't let go of the clothes that Lynne gave
her. We had to sneak it out of the way in order to convince her that
there were other presents to open too! Once she saw her Cabbage Patch
Doll, she had to have it out of the box. She also got a puzzle from Nate
and Karen which she absolutely loves to tease me with by pulling all of
the pieces out when I put them back in. It's kind of the opposite to the
objective at hand, but it's a fun game to her right now! Her cake was a
big success. She was a little hesitant at first and put a finger in it
and then tried to wipe the frosting off on her high chair tray. After
awhile she got the hang of it and was dipping her finger in and licking
all of the frosting off. She finally dug her hands into it and got some
big chunks of cake in her mouth. Janice made her laugh and put her hands
up in the air. It was hilarious. I think the sugar was getting to her by
then because she was a ham ready to perform for everyone. So we now have
a pre-toddler in our home ready to get into lots of trouble!
March 27, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I was really tempted to go
to the store and buy cupcakes for Addie's birthday party tomorrow, but I
resisted the urge and tried to do the whole baking thing on my own...
with the thought that if things didn't turn out - Walmart was just
around the corner! So I took out my box of cake mix and added the three
ingredients to mix it together and started throwing pans of cupcakes in
the oven. I also decided to get really crazy and make Addie's little
cake as well. I was so proud of myself for pulling it off. I put two
little cakes stacked on top of each other and frosted the outside with
white frosting (that I made from scratch thank you very much)... then
proceeded to decorate it with colored frosting. I made those cute little
stars around the top and bottom edges in green. Then I added pink
flowers to the top and pink circles on the sides in various sizes. After
all of that, I put yellow dots in the middle of the flowers and in some
of the circles on the side of the cake. Wow. It was fun. I have to say
that I'm not horrible at cake decorating, especially for my first time.
I even put fancy swirls on the cupcakes (Wendy's Post) - in pink and yellow of course!
March 26, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I was grocery shopping
today and walked down the craft isle just looking at the new spring
stuff when I noticed pink and yellow flower shaped cupcake liners
(Wendy's Post) - the
silicone kind that you bake in. I decided that I just had to have them
for Addie's birthday and I picked them up. I ended up coming home with a
water pitcher, tablecloth, serving tray and treat bowls to match. I also
decided that it was time to invite people to the party so I finally sent
out an invite. It was nothing fancy like I had intended... just an email
with a recent picture of her. I was doomed to over plan her party so I
underachieved in at least one area.
March 25, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We are still recovering
from our little vacation. Addie is taking really long naps and I should
have been getting stuff done like housework, but I didn't. I just sat
around reading and watching TV.
March 24, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - It's back to work for
Aaron. It was really strange to be back home without him today. It was
really nice to spend a long weekend with just our family. I'm supposed
to be unpacking and cleaning up but for some reason it's just not
getting done.
March 23, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We drove home today from
our vacation. We made one last visit to the north end of Zion National
Park by driving through Kolob Canyon. It was spectacular to say the
least. I think I would enjoy hiking in that part of the park just as
much as anywhere else. If I lived in Cedar City, I would probably go
hiking every weekend or something. It was actually cloudy and snowy when
we were driving up and around so it was really hard to take any good
pictures of the area. It was still amazing though.
March 22, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We left Bryce Canyon today
because it is just too cold to do much of anything with the snow packed
trails and windy weather. We drove through Red Canyon area on some dirt
roads. The road even goes over some dry creek beds that are probably
full during any rainstorm with flash floods. We took the best pictures
in this area because the sky was so clear and bright blue. We drove
through a mountain pass on our way to Cedar City. There were signs
warning us that chains were required in the snow. It started snowing
about halfway over the pass but it wasn't sticking to the ground so we
made it through without any problems. We should probably get chains for
our SUV in case that ever happens again just to be on the safe side. We
stayed in Cedar City at a Holiday Inn Express for the night. We even had
time to go swimming in the pool.
March 21, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We spent the day driving
through Bryce Canyon stopping by every viewpoint and going on little
trails to look at the scenery. It was amazing to look down into the
canyon to see the formations. It almost doesn't look real because it is
so unusual to see the rocks formed into arches, domes and hoodoos. Aaron
and Addie took a nap in the afternoon while I did a few loads of
laundry.
March 20, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We did one last hike in
Zion National Park before driving to Bryce Canyon today. By the time we
got to the trailhead, Addie had already fallen asleep in the car so we
let her finish her nap before taking off. Aaron and I read our books
while we waited for her to end her slumber. The trail was really nice as
it curved into an oasis in the canyon. There was a waterfall at Emerald
Pools that got us wet when the wind shifted. It felt good though because
it was starting to warm up. The trail took you around the back of the
waterfall so it was really a sight to see. It was a nice hike to end our
visit at Zion National Park. We hopped in the car and went off on our
next adventure down to the Coral Sand Dunes State Park. There is just a
stretch of land where it is full of sand that has been blown in from the
canyons. We also stopped in at the Moqui Cave Museum. It is built into a
cave in the rock. There was an old saloon with a lot of knick knacks
from way back when. Another room had a bunch of rocks in cases that were
lit up with black lights. The rocks would shine in different colors like
red, green, purple, blue and yellow. Addie liked the purple rocks and
kept pointing to them while screeching. I think she liked hearing her
voice echo in the cave. We got to Bryce Canyon late in the day and
checked into our hotel. We drove through the canyon but it was getting
dark so it was hard to see much after awhile.
March 19, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We spent the morning
hiking up the Watchman Trail. We didn't make it all the way because it
was pretty warm and the view was good enough for us when we got up
really high. Neither one of us expected the trail to be steep and Aaron
had Addie in the backpack so it was extra hard for him. We saw a lot of
little lizards running across the trails. Addie fell asleep in the
backpack and we passed another family with a little girl asleep as well.
We drove through the park a few times throughout the day. We had a quick
lunch at the end of the canyon before heading out on a trail. We pushed
Addie in the stroller because it was paved the whole way. The trail
followed the river up into a slot canyon called the Narrows. If you want
to keep hiking further, you have to have a dry suit and some good gear
to get you through the river in places. We just admired the view and
headed on back on the nicely paved trail with our stroller. What a hike!
March 18, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Yeah! We are going to Zion
National Park today. Ok... we made it to the park. We settled in at our
hotel and headed out for a drive in the canyon. We didn't know that you
have to turn left to actually get in to the canyon so we just kept on
driving up the road until we got to tunnel. It was a really neat
experience to drive through a pitch black tunnel with absolutely no
lights except for your headlights on your car. Every once in awhile
there would be a cutout in the rock that looked out into the canyon with
the most amazing views. It really makes you want to stop the car and get
out to take pictures but of course you can't because you're in a tunnel
with other cars. We just drove really slowly by all of the views so we
never technically stopped! We got to the other end of the tunnel and
pretty soon you drive out of Zion National Park. We finally pulled out
our map and became smarter people. We turned around and enjoyed the
tunnel a second time on our way back to where we were supposed to be
headed in the first place! It was really fun and I'm glad we had the
detour to experience a bit of the park while Addie was napping in her
car seat. I love this place and I never want to leave but I'm sure I
will start missing home at some point... just not yet.
March 17, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I got my stitches taken out
of my hand from surgery today. It has already been two weeks and it
feels a lot better. The nurse who took the stitches out did a finger
prick test to see how much sensation I have in my fingertips. I got 100%
whereas before I got quite a few of them wrong. So the surgery was worth
it after all though it is still painful and sore but not nearly as bad
as the first week. It is really strange to have my hand unwrapped and to
be able to move it as freely as I can. Now I just have to get back my
grip strength and range of motion. I don't know if I want to go through
this again with my left hand. I'll have to forget how hard it was before
that will happen.
March 16, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I finally got my hair cut.
It really needed it. I just can't handle longer hair because it gets
knots so easily since it is so fine. I really like it short or long but
the in between stuff drives me crazy so I don't know if I will ever have
long hair again. It would take some serious patience on my part because
every time it starts to bug me I have to get to a salon before I attempt
cutting it myself... again. It was not a good experience and we'll just
leave it at that. So I have a short stacked a-line hairdo and that's
probably how it's going to be for the long haul.
March 13, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Call me crazy, but I
decided to go with some friends to a scrapbook night at the community
center. I don't know what I was thinking because my hand was throbbing
by the end of the night from using it too much and staying up way too
late. It was really fun to hang out with the girls though. I made cards
while everyone else was working on scrapbook pages. I'm really more into
the digital scrapbook stuff now so I'm just using up all of my paper
goods on cards. Now I just need a new laptop that won't shut down on me
every time I try to make a graphic that it can't seem to handle! It was
actually a really good day today because the repairman came out and
fixed my washer finally. It has been rough having had surgery and going
without a washer. Aaron and I have been taking turns going to the
laundromat but it's so hard to go by myself with Addie in tow. Friday
the thirteenth turned out to be a good day after all.
March 11, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Four loads of laundry at
the laundromat... One broken laundry hamper rolling cart... One cranky
mommy and baby... Four baskets of clean clothes. Sigh. I think I'll fold
everything tomorrow!
March 2, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I had carpal tunnel surgery
on my right hand today and no I'm not typing this today. I am typing
this a month later now that I have a lot more use of my hands. The
surgery went really well considering I went in a few hours later than
planned because another surgery had some complications. Megan watched
Addie for us while I was supposed to be in surgery but then I wasn't. So
Aaron went home after awhile and picked her up, brought her home, fed
her dinner and called another friend to watch Addie. Lynne came to our
home and got her ready for bed. She was a little trooper with the chaos
of the day. This was the easiest surgery so far because the
anesthesiologist was able to get the dosage just right finally. I woke
up from the surgery more quickly than I ever have. I was able to talk
and eat right away so it was really unusual for me. I'm used to being
out of it for a couple of hours before I'm even semi coherent so this
was a big success in my book.
February 23, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is walking now.
She's so cute when she walks because it is very careful and calculated
when she lets go of something and takes her little steps. Then all of a
sudden she is on her bum and has to start the process all over again.
She gets really excited when Mommy and Daddy cheer her on. I have to
admit that I'm in love with all of the little things she can do. She
claps her hands now and also raises them in the air when we say, "SO
BIG." I think it's adorable but so does every loving parent on the
planet. I simply love it and can't get enough of her little smiles and
grins.
February 12, 2009 - I found this nice
little explanation on how you can know if you're cat is plotting to kill
you. You can see the graphic by
Clicking Here.
February 9, 2009 - This weekend's
painting is completed as well as shampooing the carpet. Wendy did all of
the work herself while I watched Addie, although I did help move out the
furniture and tape off the ceiling lights. Addie and I spent most of
Saturday playing on the floor of the bedroom although I got a little
further reading "Flyte" by Angie Sage in between bouts of playing an
studying.
February 6, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Today is a busy
day for us. We are turning in our adoption papers again in hopes of
adopting sometime in the next couple of years. I am also helping set up
tables and decorations at the church for a scouting activity to be held
tonight. Then I have my every other month stamp club with the girls
tonight. Even with all of this, I have the ambitious plans of painting
our living room tomorrow. This includes painting the walls and ceiling,
baseboards, and an accent wall. Then I'm shampooing the carpet. It's a
lot for one day, but I'm anxious to get all of the house projects done
before summer so Addie and I can spend time at the pool! Now all I have
to do today is move all of our stuff from our bookcases, my scrapbook
desk and our entertainment center into the kitchen and dining room. Then
Aaron will help me move the furniture in there as well. This is not
going to be an easy task if you have ever seen the size of those rooms
before!
February 4, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron met us for
lunch today at IHOP. We always get the same thing when we go there
because we hardly ever go out to eat. Aaron had steak and pancakes. I
had stuffed french toast. You can hardly call it a breakfast so it's a
good thing we ate at 11:00 so I didn't feel so guilty about each such a
big meal! Addie had her own restaurant meal for the first time. She had
mini pancakes. She even learned how to drink her apple juice a little
bit from a straw!
February 3, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Addie was so funny today.
We read a Japanese board book that has different pictures of animals on
each page. You have to guess what the animal is going to be by looking
through holes in the pages that show their noses, tails, or ears. When
you turn the page you see the whole animal. Addie loved reading the book
and we ended up reading it 5 or 6 times. Each time we turned the page to
the cat and kittens, Addie would give the big cat a kiss over and over
again. She didn't do that for any of the other animals. I debated on
whether or not to tell Aaron this because I knew he would want to get a
kitten, but I decided to tell him after all because it was just to cute
to keep to myself. I think we will end up with a kitten in our home
someday though!
February 1, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Today was the
first day at church where I considered Addie to be a handful. She was so
busy trying to crawl out of our laps that we were both tired after the
first meeting! When she is very determined to get to something or
someone, there's no stopping her. Today was one of those days and we
thought she would have a great nap after we got home today, but to no
avail. One hour later and our little busy body was back at it again...
lots of energy to get out. Now Daddy is playing with her and keeping her
plenty busy! Yeah for Mommy time!!!
January 30, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We had a girls and
guys night this evening. A few of my friends came over to our house and
we spent the evening scrapbooking and crafting. The guys were in charge
of the kids and then they played the Wii at our friend's place. They
tuckered out before us though but we were all pretty tired anyways. It
was nice to have an evening to hang out with just girls because
sometimes you just need other people around!
January 29, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is already
10 months old! She is growing up way too fast in my opinion and I'm
starting to realize that she won't always be my little baby. I know - it
happens to everyone, but it didn't hit me until today. I had her
pictures taken today - she was excited to be there, but just wanted to
get into all of the props! She had some cute pictures finally after many
times picking her up and putting her back where the photographer wanted
her to be - not where she wanted to be!
January 28, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - This has been a
week of milestones. Addie can officially wave hello or goodbye now. She
used to just look at you and smile when you would wave to her. Now she
does it back and of course I'm overjoyed to see her learning.
January 27, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Addie has finally
learned how to clap her hands. I must have sung "If You're Happy and You
Know It" at least 200 times before she started clapping along. Just when
I thought she might never clap her hands just to tease me, she played
along and clapped like she had always known how to. I admit that I find
the greatest joy in the little things that Addie learns how to do. I'm
one of those first time moms who thinks their child is the greatest and
smartest... but isn't that what moms are for!
January 26, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - It's all about
walking now in Addie's world. She cruises around anywhere that she can
stand up and hold onto something - even if it's just a wall! We are
learning the fine of baby proofing again and again. She's just getting
sooooo tall! I guess that's what the doctor means by 95th percentile for
her height!
January 14, 2009 - Well, I'm starting the process of applying for MBA
programs.
In the meantime work continues on
wonderfully. I really enjoy being an accountant here at
DCWV, being able to pull from my past experience as well as
learn new things too. Wendy just loves that I work for a scrapbook/home
décor company, especially over the Christmas season. We plan to
eventually update our photo album (on the left) with Wendy's latest
scrapbook pages.
January 14, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Addie has become
our little launch rocket as she has discovered the full potential of
mobility in crawling. Basically this means that she will start crawling
and then launch herself when she gets close to the object she wants. It
doesn't matter if she goes over or around something to get there either.
Her favorite things to lauch herself toward are the most undesirable of
things that Mommy and Daddy want her to get of course... like all of
those fun little hooks on Dad's backpack or checking out the shoes by
the entryway. We prefer her to go after things that are nice and safe
like her soft toy cars or her dolls, but you know kids. Their curiosity
drives them into the most interesting situations!
January 13, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I have finally
given up on cleaning the front of our oven. It has become Addie's job to
give it a good licking every day when I am cleaning up in the kitchen or
cooking dinner. There's just something special about that mirror-like
glass and the shine of the stainless steel that Addie just can't ignore.
It's just too pretty not to pull herself up and lick it! When the drool
starts dripping down on the floor and Addie has found interest in
something else, I give it a quick wipe-down and call it good. It's
really amazing how much drool one little girl can make in just a few
minutes! I'm sure her interest will move on to even more strange things
as she keeps learning and growing. Oh what fun for Mom and Dad!
January 12, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Back to our normal
days again... I finally feel like Addie is getting back on track after
the holidays! It's good to be on a schedule... it makes for such a happy
baby (Wendy's Post) - except when she is cutting teeth again! We should see something
coming in soon as evident from her drooling, hand sucking, ear pulling
and just a little bit of whining! It's so nice to think that just as
soon as she gets all of her teeth, they will start falling out again to
be replaced by adult teeth!
January 11, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - There is never a
dull moment. Addie is adjusting to having church at 9:00 am instead of
in the afternoon. We thought this would be great since she was missing
her afternoon nap before... but we have quickly learned that her morning
nap is still just as necessary. We expect that she will be used to this
new Sunday schedule by the end of the year when we get ready to switch
to yet another time for church!
January 10, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Addie has learned
a new trick! She stands up in her crib now if she gets upset. This
doesn't really help the cry yourself to sleep process because it's not
the easiest to fall asleep when you are standing! It's just so darn cute
when she does it though - but it reminds me once again that she is
getting bigger and older. We're going to have to pull out the bigger
pajamas again! I hope we have another girl someday so we can make use of
all of our clothing boxes!
January 5, 2009 - Wendy told me that
today when I left in the morning for work Addie sat at the front door
waiting for me (or maybe just trying to escape.) Needless to say, once I
got home the three of us played all evening till
bed time.
January 3, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - I went to the Stake
Center today for youth baptisms. There were a handful of kids and our
ward was assigned to give the program. I said the opening prayer so I
had the easiest part of it all! It was so neat to see the kids all ready
to be baptized. It helps me remember what it was like when I was that
age and getting ready. I was so nervous at the time, but I was really
glad that my Grandpa Rengler was able to baptize me. It is a memory that
I will never forget and I feel so close to Grandpa because of it.
January 2, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - We went to Park
City today to visit our favorite mall - the outlet mall! Okay, so it's
my favorite place to go and Aaron agrees as long as he can go to the toy
store. It was a nice day and not too busy... and not too cold! Addie was
a doll and loved being pushed around in the stroller. She would touch
the clothing as we walked by and paid special attention to the tags!
Addie was spoiled even more by today's visit. What can I sa) - she keeps
growing!
January 1, 2009 (Wendy's Post) - Happy New Year!
Yeah for taxes this year... we finally get a deduction - an especially
good one at that... thanks to Addie!
December 31, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We actually
stayed up this year all the way to midnight! I have a hard time staying
awake that long, but our friends invited us over to their house for
games and food... it was a blast! Addie slept in a pack-and-play in
their office. Well, at least she was quiet the whole time. Every time we
checked on her, she was awake! When it was finally time to go home, she
was sleeping of course! She was probably wondering what the big deal was
- really, staying up late and making a bunch of noise! What's this all
about?
December 30, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie had her 9
month check-up today with Dr. Spencer. She had her blood level checked
for iron levels with a prick in her toe. She didn't cry for that part,
but she did cry again when she got her 2 shots. That is never fun to see
her get upset. The tears stream down her cheeks like rain. She certainly
does like her doctor though! She gives him her great big smiles and
silly faces. Now that she is getting bigger, she wants to get down from
my lap and investigate everything in the room. I'm sure looking forward
to our 12 month check-up! Ha, ha... but Addie did really well in her
growth again! She is now in the 95th percentile for height. She just
might pass up Aaron and I when she gets older!
Tonight we went to our friend's house for
dinner. Nate and Karen are the best! We entertained the kids and talked
a bunch. We have the greatest friends ever... and we tell them all the
time that they can never move - at least not until we do!
December 25, 2008 - Please take time
to read this year's Christmas Letter.
Click Here
December 25, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Merry Christmas
to all of our friends and family! This has been the best Christmas ever
because we finally have a child to celebrate it with. We all opened
presents... more than we should have bought for each other! Addie got
her baby doll and gave it kisses on the nose! She liked all of her new
toys and left the old ones to collect dust so we are putting those away
for now. We celebrated the day by playing and staying in our pajamas the
whole day. Aaron got Rock Band 2 so we played that for a little bit. I
like the drums much better because they are so quiet. Aaron likes the
guitar because the keys don't click anymore. I love my Boggle Deluxe
game and Aaron is getting up the courage to play it against me. I have
been practicing playing it on the computer so... game on! We all took
naps at some point during the day and I think it has been one of our
best Christmas days ever!
December 24, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron came home
early from work and we had a nice evening. Addie has been sleeping like
crazy. Yesterday she was only awake for 6 hours and the day before it
was 5... she's catching up from the long weekend and the excitement that
went along with it. We opened our Christmas pajamas from Mrs. Claus. We
all got fleece PJs to keep us warm in this weather. Addie is wearing 18
month clothes already, but her jammies are a little bit big on her still
so her feet are floppy sometimes! The trip has really thrown her off
schedule with her naps and bedtime so we are trying to establish a
routine again right in the middle of the holidays. Our traveling is over
though so she is getting back on track... just in time for Santa Claus
to come!
December 23, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron is feeling
much better... his fever is back down and he went off to work today. I
called a few times to make sure he was okay of course. Addie and I did
some grocery shopping at Costco to stock up on canned goods and formula.
The roads were clear and the sun was shining - Thank you Utah snow
plows!! I expected stores to be much busier than they were. The parking
lot was almost full and there were hardly any shopping carts, but it
didn't seem crowded inside at all. Not bad for 2 days before Christmas!
I picked up a little doll for Addie. I can't wait to see her open it up
because she already kissed the box!
December 22, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Now we have the
snow! I went out to get Aaron some Sprite... the store is only a
half-mile away from our home, but it took about 20 minutes to get home
because it started snowing so hard! By the time I got home, we already
had about 4 inches of snow and it had only been about an hour and a half
since it started falling. We got about 10 inches today and it was not
fun shoveling it... well, it was actually fun for me - but my arms and
back were pretty tired! Aaron is still sick and spending the day on the
couch.
December 21, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We had an early
Christmas today with Heidi's family and Mom. We were only supposed to
get stuff for the kids, but of course Mom got us each something too!
Addie loves her new toys... Mom got her a purse that plays music. It's
pretty darn cute! So the next part of our journey begins with Aaron
getting the flu... on the way to the airport. We apologize again to
Heidi and James but we are glad that they were able to drive us to the
airport! Our plane was already delayed, but we knew that so we arrived
later than planned. The airport was quite crowded, but we benefited from
having a stroller by being able to go directly to the front of the line!
Aaron was still sick and I was taking care of Addie. We got to the gate
only to be evacuated because there was a fire in one of the restaurants
at our terminal. We packed up and sat against a pillar for the next
hour. When we finally got back, our plane was delayed even longer. Addie
got fussy because she was so tired from the trip, but lots of people
entertained her in the departure gate until she collapsed on my shoulder
and fell asleep for awhile. We finally boarded the plane when they had
to de-ice it a second time before taking off... when Aaron got sick
again! I almost wish that our flight had been cancelled like the rest of
them for Aaron's sake so he could have at least been sick in a bed! We
made it back to Utah only to find out that the reason we were able to
fly out was because all of our baggage was left in Seattle. Our grumpy,
tired and sick little family drove home and we all went to bed!
December 20, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - The big wedding
day for my little brother Nathan and Emily... and we have enough snow
already! The wedding was great! Nate and Emily were more than a little
bit happy - Emily was shaking with joy... and probably the cold! We took
some pictures out in the snow and warmed up inside with a luncheon.
Mom's friends did a wonderful job. They spent the whole day preparing
food and serving everyone for the luncheon and the reception. We are
grateful for such good friends who continually watch out for our family.
Evening came and the reception started in the middle of quite a snow
storm. Needless to say, not many people made it out that night. It was a
short reception and we cleared out of there as quickly as possible! But
it was too late... driving 20 mph home on the freeway wasn't enough - so
we tried going up the hill from downtown to get back to Mom's house and
we started sliding. There was no way we would make it up without chains
so we slid into the nearest parking lot and tried to find them. I even
packed them in the trunk myself! We didn't find them... there was so
much wedding stuff packed into the trunk and back seat that we didn't
even know where to look! I couldn't remember the roads too well because
it's been years since I have lived in Renton... and everything was
covered with enormous piles of snow... but I thought that we could take
another road home... and we made it... just barely! I cried when I got
home. It had been a long day - I blame it on only getting 5 hours of
sleep total in the past 2 nights!!!
December 19, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We arrived in
Seattle without too much difficulty from Utah. The takeoff was pretty
shaky and the kids behind us thought we were going to crash, but that
was nothing compared to the unequipped roads we were to face in
Seattle... we found out that the shuttles weren't running from the
airport so we had to take a taxi all the way to Redmond. That's more
than a little pricey, but we made it and were glad that we didn't have
to make the drive. We played Rock Band with Aaron's family on the best
drum set ever... I am still envious. Addie and I both took naps - our
little traveler was pretty tired and coming up on a big weekend. She
loved chasing the puppy around the house in her super speedy crawling
way. Amelia (the puppy) knew to keep her distance, but Addie was pretty
gentle with her and the same went for Amelia. We arrived at the church
early in the evening to help decorate and spent the next several hours
dilly-dallying around and finally everything was done. We drove
s-l-o-w-l-y home!
December 18, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - So the last snow
was nothing compared to today! We have at least a foot of snow on the
ground now. It was a lot harder to shovel the sidewalks today too!
Hopefully the roads will get better soon! I really don't like driving 15
mph on compact snow and ice... the plows look like they are finally
getting around and clearing everything up now so tomorrow should be
better until the next storm arrives in the afternoon!!!
December 16, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - This is for you
Mom... we got 4 inches of SNOW today! I got out the shovel and cleared
the sidewalks off as soon as Addie was asleep for her morning nap!
December 15, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is a
crawling machine and has figured out that she can get into just about
anything she can reach! We are in desperate need of a little baby
proofing... as soon as Aaron is done with finals! I guess that means
that Addie and I will have to go out shopping every day this week so she
doesn't destroy the entire house!
December 14, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We realized why
Addie has been a little bit grumpy for the last few days... another
TOOTH! It just broke through the skin today so she should be feeling
better soon. Her little teeth are so cute!
December 13, 2008 - Christmas time
always means music time. Not only a time to listen to those Christmas
favorites but also a time to perform. On Friday everyone left work early
to attend the 2:00 pm Christmas party at
Noahs where,
amongst other activities, there was a talent show. I had brought my
guitar and amp and played my arrangement of Joy to the World.
Unfortunately there was no mic stand available so I had to ask for a
volunteer who would stand there the entire song and hold the mic.
Fortunately the CEO volunteered my boss (company controller) Tom to do
the task. (Tom is always a good sport.)
Tonight (Saturday) we had our ward Christmas
party where the saxophone quartet performed a 3 movement Jazz Christmas
suite, arranged by
Lenny Niehaus (I'm playing Soprano
Sax.) Since our Alto player was feeling a little pregnant and our Tenor
player's wife was due about this time, we were unsure about how the even
would turn out but everything worked out and I think we performed
wonderfully. Thanks Karen, Nathan & Andrew for all the hard work as well
as Matt for being there in a pinch.
December 13, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I waited all day
for a snow storm to arrive. We ended up getting some flurries but
nothing in the form of accumulation... a light dusting is better than
nothing though! I'll just have to wait for the next storm!
December 12, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie's crawling
skills have slowly and steadily been improving and today she is finally
moving forward... literally! I bribed her with little finger foods and
she crawled and otherwise made it a few feet each time. It looks a
little bit like gymnastics because she rolls around, sits up, launches
forward and tries to get her hands and knees coordinating together to
move forward. It's pretty fun to watch since she is our first child...
hopefully all of our kids will seem as amazing as Addie!
December 11, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I had my
follow-up appointment with the ENT doctor. He said that everything is
healing well in my throat and I should feel normal again after a couple
of more weeks of healing time. My throat still gets sore if I talk or
eat too much... but the worst is yawning!
December 10, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I went in today
for my EEG test. I dropped off Addie at a friend's house. I was supposed
to be back to pick her up in a couple of hours, but it actually turned
into four hours when all was said and done. I arrived at the hospital
right on time and nobody was there. After awhile the secretary showed
up. Later she found out that the people that were supposed to be there
for the test were all stuck in the ER with emergencies. At one point a
guy came in... he was only there for a minute when they announced a code
blue over the speakers and he was gone again. Eventually the director of
pulmonary services arrived and he performed the test - 2 hours later.
The hook up all of the electrodes to your head which takes 30 minutes.
Then you lay down and open and close your eyes. Then they have you
hyperventilate for 3 minutes. After that, they have a light that flashes
at your eyes at different intervals. Then you are supposed to go to
sleep after all of that. I could barely even get myself to relax, so
we'll see what happens when we get the results.
December 9, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We had our Ward
Relief Society Enrichment dinner tonight. There was a short Christmas
program following the food. It was fun to be there with all of my
friends. It's nice to have so many people around who are such great
friends. When I got home, I had to stay awake until midnight so that I
would be tired tomorrow for the EEG test. Aaron was kind and stayed up
with me... I almost fell asleep a few times, but I made it. Then I had
to set my alarm for 4:00 in the morning and stay awake until my
appointment at 8:00 am. That was the hardest part, but by the time of my
appointment I wasn't tired anymore!
December 6, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Sinterklaas came
to our house last night for Dutch Christmas. Our presents were sitting
on the bench by our front door. Aaron and I each got a CD. Addie had new
black shoes along with some books and a new baby snack. She devoured the
snacks like we have never seen before. I think she ate half of the can
this afternoon! We'll have to think about whether or not it will be a
good investment to buy those snacks! Her other favorite part of the day
was trying to eat the wrapping paper from the gifts. She likes to eat a
lot of things that you're not supposed to eat, especially if it makes a
good crinkling noise!
December 3, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - It has been one
week since my surgery and I feel so much better. I am glad to be off of
the pain medication so I feel much more normal now. My throat and nose
seem to be healing really well. I can even eat more normal foods and
swallow without too much difficulty so it wasn't as bad as I thought it
would be. I still am grateful for raspberry sherbet though... and
cheesecake jello! Aaron worked from home today so it was nice to have
help with Addie when I needed it. I did okay today though so he'll be
back at work tomorrow.
December 2, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I was on my own
today for the first time since having my tonsils out. It was not the
easiest day. Addie was a good girl, but it wasn't always easy for me to
do everything when I needed to. It's times like these that I wish we
lived close to family so we could have some help when we really needed
it. We all survived the day with a few tears from all of us!
December 1, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - After a horrible
day yesterday, I had a better day today... but not that great. Aaron was
working from home which was really needed. I am so glad that his work
has been so supportive. They have really been good to us with all of the
surgeries I have had this year. This one makes number three and I'm done
for the year... or the next several years!
November 30, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Today was not the
best of days. I was pretty out of it all last week. I didn't even read
any magazines or anything. I watched some movies but really only saw
half of them. Some movies I slept through completely. I guess that is my
body's way of telling me that I need to do nothing so that I can get
better. I was hoping to feel much better than I do, but I'll make it. I
tried not taking the pain medication this afternoon and that was a very
big mistake. I had the worst pain in my head, jaw and ears. I guess I'll
have to wait a couple of more days to let my body heal from the trauma.
November 29, 2008 - Since Wendy has
been on bed rest recuperating from her surgery, Addie and I have been
spending an extra amount of time together. Today was baby's first
trumpet lesson. This play time had to go on somewhere else other than
inside our home though, so Wendy could continue to rest. We eventually
decided on the car as the best place, so as Addie sat in her car seat we
played trumpet and played with the trumpet. (Don't worry, we were gentle
with the Stradivarius)
November 27, 2008 - Happy
Thanksgiving to all. While Wendy was on bed rest I spent most of the day
tending to Addie (Wendy still helped to get her to sleep twice though.)
We had a wonderful day together while little (almost) 8 month old Addie
decided to pull herself up to a standing position thrice. We're pretty
sure she's going to skip crawling forwards and just go straight to
walking. She also surprised us by whistling for the first time, three
times today. Each time she continued to try an whistle but each time
only the first attempt was successful.
November 26, 2008 - Today I took the
day off from work while Addie spend a day with Wendy's friend Lynn so
that Wendy could get her tonsils out. The surgery took less than an hour
and now Wendy is on bed rest with soft foods to keep her company. This
makes Wendy's third surgery this year and hopefully final surgery for
the next few years.
In preparations for the surgery we had our
Thanksgiving dinner last Saturday. Wendy cooked the meal for us while
Addie enjoyed Turkey and Carrots baby food. Now our fridge is full of
enough Thanksgiving leftovers to feed a small army.
November 26, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Today was
the big day... I had my tonsils taken out and the inflammation in my
nose reduced with a turbinate reduction. We dropped Addie off at my
friend Lynne's house to spend the day with her family. Lynne was pretty
excited which I totally understand because Addie knows how to grab at
everyone's heart-strings. The surgery went really well, but the recovery
time didn't go so well. I had a hard time coming out of the anesthesia
again and the nurses and doctor said that I was having seizure-like
activity so I'll need to go to a doctor about that now. It has happened
during other surgeries too so it will be good to find out what is going
on. We picked up Addie on our way home, but I was really out of it so I
stayed in the car. We all came home and I slept most of the day away.
November 19, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie was pretty
curious about the Christmas tree today. She scooted over until she could
reach the tree skirt and stuff it in her mouth. She looked pretty proud
of herself. When I brought her to touch the tree today, she wasn't
hesitant at all - she grabbed a whole branch and tried to bring it to
her mouth! I guess I didn't have to worry about her getting used to the
Christmas tree after all... now my future goal is going to have to be
how to keep her from grabbing it and knocking it over!
November 18, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I put up the
Christmas tree today... I know, it's early - but I have a really good
excuse! Well, maybe not a good enough excuse to put it up this early,
but I just couldn't wait! It was funny watching Addie while I put the
tree up and turned on the lights. She gave a lot of stares and then
would turn away and not look at the tree at all. I picked her up and she
stared at the tree again. Then she turned away so she couldn't see it
again. When I brought her closer she looked at me hesitantly and put one
single finger out toward the tree branch and touched a needle. She
pulled her hand back and that was that. A few tries later and Addie
would touch a few more needles at a time. We'll see what happens!
November 12, 2008 - Looks like I have
my new web software all set up on my laptop. I look forward to making
some more updates in the near future. Thanks dad for the Microsoft Web
Expressions 2.
November 10, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is working
so hard on her crawling skills. She gets up on her knees now and begins
rocking, but doesn't get anywhere yet. She has chewed on some furniture
as she travels backwards around our living room though! Bath time is
really fun... we are going to have to retire the baby tub soon because
she keeps climbing out of it... after splashing half of the water out of
it of course! I've learned how to stay dry now by keeping a towel over
my lap as she delightfully splashes with her hands and feet!
November 5, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Hooray for SNOW!
We woke up to a couple of inches of snow today and I wasn't sad about it
at all. I can say that I love snow more than any other kind of
weather... hopefully Addie will too so we can spend lots of time outside
playing when she is older! Speaking of our little girl... she learned
how to splash in the bath a few weeks ago and I learned that it is a
good idea to have her towel over my lap to avoid having to change into
dry clothes. Well, today she learned that your feet make much bigger
splashes and you can actually get most of the water out of your baby tub
if you kick really fast and scream at the same time. It was quite a
joyous event for her... not so much for Mommy who realized that the baby
bath is not going to contain Addie for very much longer!
November 4, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We have a winter
storm brewing outside. I had to run outside to put some fence rails back
in place so they weren't banging around during Addie's nap. She is kind
of a light sleeper these days and would prefer it if I would just hold
her during her naps so I was quick to make the banging fence stop before
it woke her up again... after all, I have to spend my precious nap time
minutes to get everything done! I grabbed a vest and slid on my flip
flops only to realize that once I was out in the weather that it was
much colder than I anticipated. I came in with very large goose bumps
and some tingling toes, but I can't help but be excited for the snow to
come none the less!
November 3, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie continues to
make progress on her crawling skills. She doesn't even care about
playing with her toys anymore. It is all about getting onto her tummy
and moving. Unfortunately, she doesn't get where she wants to go and
cries out for me to rescue her and give her little arms a break. I have
to say though that she is getting quite the big biceps. She is such a
strong girl. Well, today she scooted backwards again until she got
further and further under the coffee table until only her upper body was
sticking out! She was cool with it though and probably would have kept
going until she got stuck... Mommy wouldn't let her get that far of
course, but I did get some pictures before I rescued her!
November 2, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is now
crawling... kind of... and she goes backwards! She gets her arms up
under her and pushes up until her tummy gets up, but when she gets her
knees up then her arms go down. She's really close to crawling though.
We are going to have to clean our carpets soon so they are ready for our
curious little girl.
November 1, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Our friends
Garrett and Brittany came over for dinner and games. We had fun playing
Rock Band. Addie even had fun playing on the floor and getting lots of
extra attention. During dinner, Addie ate pieces of bread as I gave them
to her. That is quite a feat because she is not the biggest fan of solid
foods yet. She's learning though!
October 31, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Happy Halloween!
We had our ward Trunk-or-Treat party today. It was combined with 2 other
wards so we had a great turn-out. We estimated that about 180 kids came
around. Some snuck around twice too! We were dressed up in our Star Wars
attire... Aaron was Han Solo, I was Princess Leia and Addie was an Ewok.
Basically she stole the show. We even had people ask us if they could
take her picture! Our little star!!! We won the trunk decorating contest
again this year... everyone that came around said they heard that we
were the car to beat! Yeah!
October 27, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Happy Birthday to
Aaron! He is now 29 years old and getting older by the minute...
officially pushing 30! I made chocolate cupcakes today with coconut on
top. I was barely able to fit all 29 candles on one cupcake. Addie and I
gave him some Star Wars stuff and a Wii game. I think he had a pretty
good day!
October 25, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We went for a
drive around Utah Lake just before dark this evening. It was so pretty
to see the sun setting with the mountains turning red in the background.
It was a fun drive. Addie fell asleep pretty quickly and Aaron and I
talked the rest of the way. It ended up taking 2 hours to get all the
way around and back. We probably missed the turn for a shorter route
back but it was fun anyways. It has been such a long time since we have
had time to be leisurely since Aaron is so busy with school. I can't
wait until he graduates! I think he is excited too!
October 19, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie was blessed
in church today during Sacrament meeting. Greg and Raquel came with
their kids and her parents as well as Betty. They sat right behind us in
church. Brandon did great thanks to a big bag of bribing candy! Aaron
invited a few friends to be in the circle for Addie's blessing along
with Nate of course. He gave a beautiful blessing that really brought
comfort to us. Addie only fussed a little bit and Aaron's arms were
tired by the end, but other than that everything went really well. Addie
was so adorable in her white dress and headband!
October 18, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Today was our
temple day! Mom and Grandma spent the night in a hotel while Nathan
stayed here and occupied our living room floor in a sleeping bag. Addie
was so excited to see Nathan. I think he attracts all the girls! Mom and
Grandma both had their turn of grins and giggles. We got Addie all ready
to go and went to the Timpanogos Temple to have her sealed into our
family forever. It was amazing to be there with her finally. I was so
excited that I couldn't even cry! We had so many friends attend that I
was overwhelmed by the support. Addie was hilarious... she gave her
biggest pout for everyone to see when she came into the sealing room! It
was probably overwhelming for her to see so many people watching her! It
was sure cute to see her classic pout though and I wouldn't have wanted
it any other way. Afterwards, we took pictures outside with some of the
people that attended. Addie was happy to oblige with many giggles
because it is always fun to be outside! It was a beautiful day and I'm
glad that Aaron and I were able to enjoy the peace and comfort that
comes from attending the temple.
October 17, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I got my stitches
out this morning at the doctor's office. Everything looked really good
and you can hardly see the scar. It should clear up completely someday.
I get the tube removed from my eye ducts in another month and everything
will be all done. The doctor said that I was really lucky to have had a
cyst and nothing more. The surgery was really rushed last week because
they didn't know what it was and wanted to get it out and diagnosed as
soon as possible in case it was something serious. Lucky for me it
wasn't a big deal. I hope I never have surgery ever again though because
I've had enough!
It was a long day of waiting for Mom,
Grandma and Nate to arrive. They didn't get here until almost 8:00 pm!
That meant that I spent most of the day cleaning and was pretty tired by
the time they got here! Addie was already asleep in bed so everyone just
took a peek at her sleeping in the crib. We had pizza and cake for
dinner... thanks to Jody for the cake! We went to bed almost on schedule
because we knew we had a big day ahead of us tomorrow!
October 15, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Today was the big
day... we went to court to petition for adoption! Everything went great.
I was a little bit worn out having it be my first day taking care of
Addie... not to mention the crazy amount of chores I did to keep me busy
this morning. Addie was a hoot at the courthouse. She let everyone know
she was taking part in the action with her little squeals. She was the
wiggliest I have ever seen her so Aaron had to hold her the whole time!
Everything is done and finalized now so we are glad the long but short
wait is over. She's OURS!!!
October 14, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I got a call from
my doctor today saying that everything was okay with the mass that was
in my tear duct area. It is not a tumor even - but it was a cyst that
normally little kids under the age of two get... I guess I'm just young for my age! He told
me that I could have a party, but I think I'll wait for the weekend for
that! We can't wait to go to the temple with Addie! Tomorrow we have our
court appearance so I'm already getting nervous!
October 13, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I had more friends
and neighbors over today to help with Addie since Aaron is back at work.
It's not fun when I'm not the one pampering Addie. I miss taking care of
her and I think she misses it too - every once in a while she looks at
me like what are you doing Mom? She has been really good with everyone
though so it has worked out well. I was really sick today so I was glad
to have the extra help while I am recovering.
October 12, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - It snowed today so
it looks like we had fall weather for about a week. I hear that it's
supposed to warm up again next week though... we'll see! Addie loved
watching it snow. She reached toward the window while Aaron was holding
her on the couch. He took her outside too! Every once in a while she
would look out the window and watch the snow before going back to
playing with her toys on the floor. It was so cute!
October 11, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - More sleep... I am
still really tired from surgery. I did stay awake more today but drifted
off during every movie that I tried to watch. Addie loved spending the
day with Daddy! She was full of smiles and everything - probably because
Daddy lets her play with cool things like the remotes and his toys.
Lucky girl - spoiled girl!
October 10, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I have the
greatest friends ever. I am not able to lift Addie for a week because I
could strain myself and cause damage to my surgery so I had friends come
over all day today to help me out. I'm sure they all heard me snore a
few times because the pain medication knocked me out! Addie was pretty
good for being all out of whack with her schedule. I think she liked all
of the attention though! She also got to play with some other little
kids so she was really excited and worn out at the same time! I wouldn't
have made it through the day without my friends - I will have to return
the favor someday!
October 9, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - The doctor wanted
me to come in at 8:00 in the morning to get ready for surgery today. I
was really not excited because we didn't even know the results of the
MRI yet. He talked to us and told us it looked really good... the only
thing they were concerned about was removing the mass in my lacrimal sac
and tear duct areas. We had a few hours to kill so we came home and let
Addie take a nap. I went with Aaron to UVU so he could go to class and
then we headed down to the surgical center. I was all prepped and ready
to go when they noticed that I had a fever. The doctor was concerned and
wanted to wait to operate to make sure I was okay, but that would have
meant only a couple of days to recover before going to court for Addie's
adoption... so we went ahead with the surgery and I got a big dose of
antibiotics to make sure I don't get sicker. The surgery went really
well. They took out an M&M size tumor and sent it off to be tested at
UCLA. We'll know the results next week. Until then I get to sleep on the
couch!
October 8, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron stayed home
from work again today. I spent much of the day at the hospital stuck in
a noisy tube. It was not fun. I almost passed out after the first 45
minutes when I stood up for them to change the head brace on the MRI. I
endured the next scan with no problems. I had to go back a second time
later in the day to finish everything up. They injected dye through an
IV and finished up the MRIs. I hope I never have to do that again...
especially 3 hours of it in one day!
October 6, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron stayed home
from work today because he has a bad cold and cough. It worked out well
though because I was able to leave Addie home with him while I went to
the doctor. I had my appointment today with the second eye doctor who is
also a plastic surgeon. He looked at the bump in my tear duct and
decided that I need to have it removed this week. He said it isn't a
good idea to leave anything in there even if it ends up being benign
because it can cause damage if it gets too big. So I am scheduled for 3
MRI scan things on Wednesday. That will be fun!
October 5, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Today was another
day of General Conference. Aaron is still sick so he ended up sleeping
all morning! I can't say much though because I was in bed all afternoon!
Hopefully we will both get better soon!
October 4, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We were supposed to
go on a date tonight, but Aaron and our babysitter both got sick. We
watched General Conference on TV and I finally finished painting some
more baseboards so now our kitchen is finally done. I'll get all of the
painting done someday!
October 1, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I was so excited
for October that I put Addelynn in her Halloween outfit... an orange
shirt, black skirt, and striped tights! It was adorable though quite
warm since it was 86 degrees outside today. That's okay though because
we spent most of the day in the luxury of air conditioned buildings like
the doctor's office and the mall of course! I had my eye examined today
to see what the bump by my tear duct was. The doctor numbed my eyes and
stuck a probe through the little ducts to irrigate it and see what was
going on. Nothing was blocked but the doctor didn't know what it was
either so he is sending me to a plastic surgeon next week. Now I'm
really not looking forward to it. He thinks surgery probably won't be
absolutely necessary but he wants a second opinion from this doctor to
find out what it actually is. It could be a stone like you would find in
your kidneys or a cyst-like growth or a benign tumor. I guess I will
find out next week! Yeah, I'm a little bit nervous, but my lacrimal sac
is taking it pretty well so far!
September 29, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - So I have had a
sore throat for the last two months and now I finally know why because I
actually went to the doctor. Some people know that is not my favorite
thing to do so it is an accomplishment in and of itself that I actually
went! It turns out that I have had a chronic sinus infection and that is
why I have felt lousy. I guess I'll never learn my lesson about when to
go to the doctor because it seems like I always go too early or wait too
long! I'm glad I went though, but I'm not too excited about my referral
to an ophthalmologist that I have to go see later this week for a little
bump in the corner of my eye.
September 28, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron wasn't
feeling good today so he stayed home from church to get over a sinus
headache. I think he is kind of overdoing it with school and work and
family and everything, but he'll make it through as hard as it is.
Anyways, that left me bringing Addelynn to church all by myself... she
chatted up a storm in Sacrament Meeting and filled the Primary Room with
grunts and squeals while the kids were singing. She is getting way to
heavy to carry around everywhere with me. It is going to be kind of nice
when she can walk on her own two feet someday!
September 27, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - My friend Mandi
had her baby shower today which me and a few more of her friends threw
for her. We kept it simple with no "official" games and lots of talking
in a casual open house style. The food was great and very sweet... I
think I gained a few pounds from the cream puffs - not to mention the
leftover tub that I have in my freezer! Mandi is on bed rest so we made
sure that she kept her feet up and enjoyed it. Baby Browen is going to
be a spoiled little boy so we were very happy with the shower!
September 26, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Finally, a
girls' night out... or in... my friend, Elana has a stamp club for
Stampin' Up that I went to tonight. She is so creative and I always get
tons of ideas from her that I steal but can never take full credit for
unfortunately! We made the cutest cards and a Halloween box filled with
candy. I always wonder why I don't think of such cute things but that is
the best thing about getting together and crafting. I sound so nerdy,
but hey - I like being a nerd so it's okay! The best part about it was
talking to other adults. Even talking to a bunch of kindergarten kids
all day was more involved than the babbling sounds of Addie... which I
love by the way - but it's so nice to learn English again after spending
my days and nights with a baby!
September 25, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie and I went
to IKEA with our friend Veronica and her baby Isaac. Veronica was
looking for some bookcases for her front room and I was happy to follow
along and check out all of the cool stuff there. Addie did pretty
good... and she also decided that she was a big girl now. I had set her
down in her car seat which was in the basket while I put her bottle
away. Then she pulled herself up into a sitting position and kept
grunting until I picked her up. So I put her in the shopping cart seat
and buckled her in. I think she thought she had won the lottery or
something because she made sure to let everyone know how excited she was
with her squeals and kicking legs the rest of the adventure through the
store. Oh, how our little baby is growing up!
September 15, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie has
another trick that I just have to mention. She is getting really good at
making the funniest facial expressions. She does this thing now where
she puts her head down to her chest and looks up at you with her eyes.
She does it over and over again with the most serious face on. Then she
looks up and smiles before doing it again. It's hilarious... I know, you
have to be there to see it and I hope you get to see it someday!
September 14, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - So Addie is
really sitting up now. She has been getting more and more steady for the
last couple of weeks and went from "wobbly needs support on both sides
or I'll tip over" to "I'm so cool look at how I sit up on my own and
play with my toys." When Addie puts her mind to it, she is serious about
what she wants. When I lay her down on her back now... she cries and
fusses. When I put her down in a sitting position... she babbles and
squeals with joy! I guess she knows what she wants... I keep telling
Aaron that she is strong willed - just like Mommy!!!
September 13, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Yes, there is a
long break in between these entries. Let's just say that I have been
busy and Addie has been adjusting to being home again! Well, she has
been fine... she is growing a ton. Just a few days ago Addie decided
that she was ready to go to bed by herself. I was rocking her to sleep
and she wouldn't stop fussing so I put her in her crib. She was asleep
in just a few minutes. I guess that was that because I put her to bed
that night and she went to sleep after crying for a little bit. I
thought I was the luckiest Mom ever - the next few days went the same
way... put Addie in her crib, turn on the mobile, and find her sleeping
10 minutes later. What can I say? She's absolutely amazing!
September 2, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I miss home
already! Addie is a little bit cranky today so she is probably
experiencing a little bit of traveling fatigue just like the rest of us.
It will take a few days for all of us to get back on schedule. We miss
everyone and even though we were home for a week, it didn't feel like
long enough at all! We wish we could live closer to family, but at the
same time we love it in Utah too. I guess you can't always have
everything!
September 1, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We made it home.
Yesterday seemed like it took forever. We had to stop by Mom's house in
the morning to pick up something that we forgot. Then we had a quick
trip to Target (one of my favorite stores) for baby wipes and formula.
Then we had to fill up on gas and finally we were on our way! It seemed
like it took a lot longer to get home than it did to get there. We
stopped in Ontario, Oregon for the night at a brand new hotel. I have to
say that the service was great and the place was really nice for a
Holiday Inn Express. We plan on staying there every time we travel if
possible because they were the same price as the rest of the old hotels
that were really old! Aaron drove most of the way home and it was such a
relief to be home. Traveling is tiring when you have to drive for 2
days, but we don't know what it will be like to travel on an airplane
with Addie yet so we will see what happens in December when we go back
to Seattle for Nate's wedding!
August 30, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We had breakfast
with Great Grandma and Grandpa Glass this morning. I can't believe that
we got up and were ready on time. It is a lot harder to get ready with a
baby let alone while you are traveling with everything in a suitcase!
...But we did it and had a good breakfast. I eat so much food when we
are on vacation! Addie loved the trains going around the ceiling of the
restaurant. It's our last day in Seattle. It will be sad to go home but
I am ready to go after such a busy week. It's going to be really quiet
at home all of a sudden when it is just Addie and I home during the day.
We'll have to visit our friends and have some play dates when we get
back.
August 29, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We went to Seattle
today. I was so excited to go to our favorite store, Uwajimaya. We got
some of our favorite foods which are way overpriced and don't taste that
great, but it's Japanese and we love the nostalgia of it! Aaron picked
out some Asian pajamas for Addie which she won't be wearing for awhile
(maybe sooner than we think with the way she is growing). They were so
cute and Aaron was so pleading that I couldn't way no. I looked for my
favorite chopsticks that I cook with, but couldn't find them. The best
part of the store was looking at the bookstore. I found my favorite pens
that you can't find hardly anywhere in America! Nobody makes a finer tip
pen than the Japanese... 0.3 is my favorite size though they do go
smaller than that - what? I'm a perfectionist when it comes to
penmanship so a good pen is a good pen. Aaron found a book with
illustrations from an artist that he likes and I picked out a couple of
board books for Addie. They are so CUTE - they have little cutouts so
you can guess what is on the next page. We also walked down by the pier
which was fun because it brought back memories of the visits I made
growing up in Seattle. We didn't go downtown that often so it is still
really fun. I love looking around in the shops, but it feels a lot more
touristy now that I'm an adult. Did I just say that... I guess you feel
a lot more like an adult when you have kids! Weird. We went to the
Seattle Aquarium which I enjoyed a lot. I am such a nerd that I could
read every display but we didn't have that kind of time... I'll have to
go back again someday! Addie noticed a few things but her favorite part
was the jellyfish. We got her a stuffed octopus - which is a great chew
toy by the way! I'm sure the octopus felt right at home with the amount
of moisture that Addie had to offer!
August 27, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Now it's Aaron's
turn to spend time with his family. We went over to their house today to
spend the rest of the week. Aaron and his dad went to band practice
tonight while I stayed home with Addie and his mom. We all went to bed
early because we hit the sack as soon as Addie fell asleep. It was a
good night... Aaron had fun too!
August 26, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We dropped Addie
off with Grandma and Grandpa Glass late this afternoon so we could go to
the temple with my little brother Nathan for the first time. I was
really excited because I am so proud of Nate for keeping the standards
of the church and reaching his goals. In fact, he is going to be coming
down for Addie's temple sealing in a couple of months so we are really
excited about that. Nathan acted so natural at the temple... it was like
he had been there a hundred times already. It was a good thing that we
loaded Mom up with a bunch of extra tissues because everyone made sure
to get a few tears out of her before the night was through. I'm so happy
to see my family at the temple. I'm really lucky that my mom has stayed
faithful to the covenants she made in the temple so long ago because her
example has helped Nathan and I go to the temple as well. She's the best
Mom.
August 24, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We went to church
with Mom today. It was strange to be in the ward where I grew up because
a lot of people are still there and I have spent most of my adult life
in Utah. It was fun to see some friends from high school with their
kids. Everyone gave Addie lots of attention. They were glad to see her!
This afternoon we all went to Grandma and Grandpa Rengler's house for
dinner. We got to see Travis, Leslee, and Addison (Addy) too. Leslee
took lots of pictures of the cousins together. Addie enjoyed grabbing
onto Addy's shirt, arm, or whatever was in reach and using it as
leverage to roll over. It was cute until Addie pinched Addy and made her
cry. It's all captured on film too - you can see the sequence of events
as Addie moves in on Addy and pinches her right in the arm... we felt
really bad for little baby Addy. We spread them further apart after
that. After play time, both Addie and Addy fell asleep. Yep, you guessed
it... time for more pictures. It is a lot easier to take pictures when
they're sleeping! We had fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house, but we
probably teased Grandma a little bit too much. She is a good sport
though so I hope she forgives us!
August 23, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We made it! Addie
was so good in the car. She was fussy one time and luckily I realized it
was because she had a poopy diaper! We pulled off on a random exit and
used a convenient dumpster behind a hotel to dispose of the bundled up
diaper! We were on our way again and I ended up driving most of the way
today. I was so proud of myself because I don't really like to drive! We
got to see Aaron's parents first. The animals all were curious about
Addie and came around to sniff at her. She was delighted of course. Then
we went to Mom's house where we knew we wouldn't get much sleep because
we always end up talking late into the night! It was a good day. It's
always good to be home!
August 22, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - On our way to
Seattle, WA... we are fortunate enough to have a whole week off of
school and work (for Aaron) so that we can visit our families in
Washington. This will be Addie's first time to see her cousin Addy. We
left today after Aaron got home from work. I spent the day slowing
packing the car by hauling one thing at a time while pushing Addie back
and forth in the stroller all the way to our parking spot... this is not
the easiest thing to do in really hot weather when you live in a condo
and don't park particularly close to where you live! We made it though
and were in good spirits on our way to get a few hours behind us for the
evening. Addie was really good in the car until we got stuck in some
heavy traffic. As soon as we were on our way again, she was sound asleep
and quite a happy little girl. We finally found a hotel in Mountain
Home, Idaho where we stayed the night. Addie was wide awake and ready
for play time so she practiced her rolling over skills on the big bed!
Needless to say we didn't get to sleep right away but it was funny how
excited Addie was to finally have room to roam!
August 15, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - "Houston, we have a
blow-out!" We have experienced our first official blow-out with Addie...
and it was not pretty. We woke up a little bit earlier than usual to
Addie talking away in her crib. I thought nothing of it and since she
wasn't fussy or anything, I enjoyed a few more minutes enjoying the
comfort of our bed. I got up and walked into her room noticing a quite
pungent odor and realized right away why Addie was up early today... and
we experienced "a major blow-out." Her crib was quite a mess and the
smell reminded me of the worst hamster cage days. I quickly removed the
clothing and diaper from Addie - who was smiling as usual - and gave her
to Daddy to clean up in the bathtub. Meanwhile, Mommy had the pleasure
of using half a bottle of Oxiclean on her bedding finishing just in time
for Daddy to hand Addie off and go to work. Upon further inquiry, we
found out that Addie's diaper wasn't changed after her bottle last
night... hence the mess we found today! We won't mention the name of the
person who forgot the diaper changing last night after feeding Addie,
but it was someone around 6'1" with brown hair, green eyes, and a
scruffy face. Next time Daddy gets crib duty... but hopefully there
won't be a next time! We are lucky the weather cooled off enough to air
out the house this morning!!!
August 15, 2008 - Did you read what
Wendy wrote today, you should read that first before continuing...
Ok, here's the whole truth; Addie's diaper was
changed an hour before she fell asleep. Her blowout happened because she
drank 35 ounces, more than she has ever drank in a single day. Combined
with the fact that someone didn't upgrade Addie to the larger diaper size
she should be using because we want to use the old diapers first, we had
a mess. Here is
your chance to vote, who caused the blow-out... E-mail
your vote to
blowout@acglass.com.
August 9, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We had the best time
tonight. I got up while Aaron was walking away just to see if I could
get Addie to smile and coo... instead, we got rip-roaring laughter!
Addie was so excited that she was screaming and laughing at the same
time! I went around the corner and said, "I'm gonna' get you!" Every
time I would come closer she would squeal and grin. I was laughing so
hard that my tummy hurt. Aaron was on the verge of tears and was to the
point that he couldn't make any sound anymore! It was a "you had to be
there" experience so we will be sure to try this new trick out every
chance we get! It has been one busy week for Addie... she was so
tuckered out today that she had extra-long naps!!!
August 8, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I just have to say
that this has been the greatest week! Addie has been doing so much...
thanks to her happy tummy full of new food she is so much more content.
Aaron takes care of Addie every chance he gets and tonight I got to make
cards. It has been a long time since I have dived into a project and
let's just say that I sunk into a heap of paper and scraps in no time!
I'm not cleaning up either... tomorrow looks like another good card day!
After all, Aaron is out of school for a few weeks!
August 7, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - And she ROLLS...
Yeah Addie! I put Addelynn down on the ground for a little tummy time
and turned around to grab some of her toys from her overflowing toy box.
I turned around just in time to see her roll finishing on her back. I
couldn't miss this moment so I put her back on her tummy hoping to see
it again! She performed quite well and the next several rolls were
successful with even more smoothness and speed. She was tuckered out by
the end of the day though so Aaron has yet to see her new trick. My mom
said it is like riding a bike... once you get it you get it and sure
enough, Addie got it! Yeah!
August 6, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - This message is for
you Daddy! We miss you! We love you MORE!!! Hope you are having a good
day at work and good luck on your Calculus final tonight! Can't wait to
see you at bedtime!
August 5, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We found the magic
food... Addie loves SQUASH!!! She was so funny because so far everything
she has eaten was quickly aimed at Mommy at spit out... until now! Addie
opened her mouth for a bite not knowing what to expect this time and was
so excited by the squash that she grabbed the spoon and pulled it in her
mouth. She opened her mouth over and over like a little birdie and
downed half of the squash in one sitting! Now we know what she likes and
she is starting to perfect the art of eating with one hand stuffing
anything left on her chin right back in!
August 4, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We went out and got
Addie her very first set of luggage. She's a rock star so we had to get
a pink rolling suitcase. It just happened to have a matching pink
backpack that came with it. She's getting ready to visit everyone really
soon! We can't wait to see you all!!!
August 3, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is getting
quite the abs! She has really thinned out and gotten longer in the last
little bit. If only I spent as much time pulling my knees up to my chest
as she does! Not a bad idea if you have time to lay around all day long!
Addie is becoming quite a little ball of energy. She is constantly
looking for someone or something to play with. Her latest move is the
half-roll where she gets up to her side but not all the way over... it's
hilarious because she doesn't even care if she makes it to her back or
tummy. She's just happy to be doing something!
August 2, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - So we started trying
solid foods... you can imagine where most of the food ended up! No, not
on her chin... no, not on her bib... no, not on her hands... YES, on her
Mommy! Not only did she push in out with her tongue, but she projected
it with that amazing super baby spit power of hers! I guess she is not a
fan of rice cereal, but we'll keep trying and see if she gets the hang
of it soon!
August 1, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Okay, so I admit it!
I like to dress Addelynn up everyday! I don't mind picking out her
clothes and adding accessories to make her even cuter than she already
is! I did make her some more bracelets so she would have something to
match every outfit. Oh how we spoil our little girl! I never thought I
would be such a doting parent but I can't stand to spend any time away
from Addie. I miss her even when someone else is just holding her! I
guess that I define what a first time parent is like!
July 31, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We had a pool party
today with a few friends from school. A couple of them brought their
kids with them which Addie absolutely loved. She was pretty funny in the
pool because she would suck in her breath when she would get splashed a
little. We were at the pool for almost two hours and Addie seemed to
really like it... or at least not mind it. Part of the time she even
talked to everyone. She is such a social little thing! Everyone kept
saying how good she is to not be fussy at all... but what they didn't
see was the tired Addie back at home. From the moment we walked in the
door, Addelynn was screaming and rubbing her eyes. She was probably way
overdue for a bottle and a nap. I was barely able to get her to drink
anything before she was snoring on my lap. At least I got her wet
swimsuit off and some nice dry clothes on her (even with the screaming).
Let's just say that she had the best nap ever!!! I think we'll have to
go swimming again but maybe not as long next time!
July 30, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addelynn had her
doctor appointment today! She is 4 months old and above average in every
category! She weighs 16 pounds (90th percentile) and is 25 inches long
(75th percentile). Her head size is something big too because she is in
the 90th percentile and the doctor teased her about being a smartie!
Addie sure loved going to the doctor today. She was all smiles and coos!
It all started out with the fish tank that she spotted from across the
room so we had to go over and stare at them for a good 10 minutes. When
we met the nurse and started talking, Addie perked up and decided that
she wanted to be a part of it all... she let out her biggest squeals of
delight along with some hearty laughs to match her dimples hiding deep
within her cheeks. When the doctor came in she was just as excited to
talk to him. It was rather adorable that she finally showed off in
public since she usually does everything just with Aaron and I at home.
The doctor was pretty impressed and sat around to talk with Addie before
she had to get her shots... which she didn't like at all when the second
one went in! Next time he assured us that she won't have as many so I
was happy about that. He said she is ready for solid foods so we are
going to try our best to convince Addie of that in the next few weeks. I
think her growling tummy will finally get the best of her and be the
best encouragement in that department!
July 19, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron and I have been
married for FIVE years now! That seems like such a long time when we are
just now having kids. We have been waiting so long to have a baby...
Addie has been the best addition to our family and we can't wait to have
another one! At first I thought we would wait until Addie was 2 years
old to adopt another baby, but now I'm hoping for earlier... like when
she is eighteen months old!!!
July 17, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Okay, so I'm writing
about Addie again... but what else is more cute to write about? So she
finally started laughing. I was playing with her and blowing on her
cheeks when she got really excited and squealed with delight. When I did
it again she started laughing. It is a completely different laugh from
the giggle that she does in her sleep!
July 16, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie's new favorite
things are to grunt and make a turtle face... but not at the same time.
The grunting usually takes place when we are driving in the car. The
turtle face happens at any moment... she puckers in her lips and her top
lip turns into a little triangle shape. We haven't been able to get a
picture of it yet because it only lasts so long!
July 15, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We dropped off Nathan
and Emily at the airport today. Before they left, Nathan finally got
some big smiles out of Addelynn! Now she'll have to get used to him all
over again the next time we see him!
July 14, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Nate finished the
crown moulding in our bathroom today. It was not an easy job! He worked
really hard to get it all done and he did a great job. Now I just have
to fill in the nail holes, caulk the corners and paint it all. Nate and
Emily were here by 9:15 tonight so we stayed up playing games. It was
fun to get to know Emily better. Nate gave Addie her very own Build - A
- Bear... it is a monkey dressed in a jean skirt, pink hula shirt,
sandals, a purse and cute sunglasses. It is as big as Addie! She was
cute when we were taking pictures because she kept sucking on the
monkey's arms. Addie looked cute in the monkey's sunglasses too!
July 13, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Sunday... we all
slept in today after a busy weekend. I hardly slept at all last night
because I spent too much time in the sun yesterday and ended up with a
terrible sunburn... which I usually do every year! We ended up staying
home from church and I slept in bed the whole time. I felt so sick!
Addie is being a big sleeper today too! Aaron is enjoying time to look
up a bunch of stuff on his computer.
July 12, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - A very busy day...
Nathan and I worked on the crown moulding again this morning. I even
sawed some of the boards. Only one more day to go and we'll be ready to
caulk the corners and edges. Yeah! Greg and Raquel came over this
afternoon. We played Rock Band for awhile before heading out to the
pool. Aaron even brought Addie out for a little bit. She liked it more
this time and kicked her legs back and forth. I didn't feel sun burnt
until it was too late. I could feel my shoulders and back sizzling all
night. I always spend too much time in the sun... it's hard to want to
leave the pool when everyone else is just fine and I am the one getting
a burn! We went to a BBQ for Emily's family tonight. It was fun to meet
them. I wish we had a backyard! I am getting house hungry!!!
July 11, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Nathan is kind enough
to help me with a bathroom project of putting up an extra wide crown
moulding. Basically he is doing all of the work and I help out when I
can. We got up one set of boards today. Later I brought Addie to Aaron's
work to show her off again! Everyone stopped as they walked by Aaron's
desk to say how cute she is!
July 10, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Today we went to pick
up Nathan and Emily from the airport. Addie liked Emily right away and
gave her lots of smiles. She wasn't quite sure of Nate at first! He is a
big guy! We had dinner with Emily and got to know her a little bit.
She's a nice girl.
July 9, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - A day of rest before
Nate comes. I tried cleaning the house, but to no avail with Addie
clinging to my side. So I finally gave in and we both took a long
afternoon nap! Hopefully Nathan won't notice the not quite clean house!
July 8, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - The day finally came
that we had to bring Grandma to the airport. This time it was my turn to
cry. I loved having her here and it was really neat to see Addie warm up
to her and get to know her Grandma. It will be nice when we live closer
to family so our kids can spend more time with their grandparents...
just a couple more years and hopefully Aaron will be done with school!
Then there is the whole "can we afford to live in the best state"
factor!
July 7, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We finally spent a day
at home! Grandma held Addie during her naps so she would get some
sleep... I don't know who slept more though... Grandma or Addie! I was
able to get a bunch of scrapbooking done and finished several pages to
give to Leslee for baby Addison. They turned out pretty cute... so cute
that I wished I could have kept them!
July 6, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie loves Primary!
She sat with Grandma Nievaard in the back most of the time and
jibber-jabbered away! She would make the most noise during singing time!
We love having Grandma here!
July 5, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Another busy day! We
loaded up the car and headed up to the Uintah Mountains to visit Aunt
Betty. It took extra long to get there because we had to make a few
stops along the way. We weren't exactly sure where Betty ended up
camping but we found her motor home right away. Mom, Betty, Raquel,
Brandon, Aleya and I went for a walk around Teapot Lake. It was pretty
muddy along different parts of the trail... Brandon didn't get his shoes
dirty until the very end when he walked straight into a huge puddle!
Aaron and Addie were taking a nap in the car while we were out walking!
We had dinner with Betty and Susan before heading home. On our way back,
we stopped by the Provo River Falls. It cascades down a stack of rocks
that looks like a staircase. It is really pretty. We took some pictures
and were on our way again. We were home before nine o'clock in the
evening but we stayed up talking until 1:00 in the morning!
July 4, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We got up early today
to go with our friends Nate & Karen to watch the Freedom Festival Parade
in Provo. It was packed! The news said that there were an estimated
250,000 parade watchers there! Addie did pretty well once we were out of
the sun. She didn't like the loud noises from sirens or music but she
really liked watching everyone pass by on the sidewalk. She was full of
smiles... someone even stopped by and asked to take her picture! We went
swimming when we came home... it was Addie's first time in the pool. We
put on her swim diapers and her swimsuit. She looked so cute! We blew up
a pool float and took her out in the water... it was a little cool so
Aaron took her inside to have a bottle and a nap! We stayed home in the
evening and watched a few fireworks on TV... Then we all went to bed!
July 3, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Mom and I finally made
it out today to get Addie's pictures taken. Well, I didn't make an
appointment because they are never busy when I walk by... but you know
what happens when you think you don't need to make an appointment! Yep,
we waited for a few hours to get her pictures taken. I don't know how
you can possibly make an appointment for a baby because you never know
what her mood will be! She was asleep by the time we got her in so
waking up with a camera in her face was not her favorite thing! We did
get some good pictures after all of her seriousness... we even got a
shot of her little lip when she was pouting!!!
July 2, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We were going to get
Addie's pictures today, but she was a little fussy so we never made it
there! We did go out shopping for a little bit and it was really nice to
have Grandma there with an extra set of hands to help out with Addie!
July 1, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Grandma Nievaard came
today! Addie and I drove up to pick her up at the airport. Of course we
had to stop by Carter's on the way to pick up a few more things to spoil
Addie with. After picking up Grandma, we stopped at Raquel's house to
visit them. Aleya and Addie played on the floor and held hands. Addie
was so interested and watched Aleya the whole time!
June 29, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Happy 3 Month
Birthday to Addelynn! She's getting big... and is wearing her 6 month
clothes already!
June 23, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie has been
sticking out her tongue all day today so she has moved on from just
sucking her hands to sticking out her tongue and sucking her hands. You
got it... she is adorned with a drool spot on her shirt all the way down
to her belly button! I guess her bib will be a permanent attachment now!
June 22, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I was released from
my calling at church today as the Education Counselor in Relief Society.
That means I don't have any responsibility at church for the next week
or so until the Bishop calls me in for another position to fulfill. It
is a relief because I don't have to worry about hauling Addie around to
meetings while Aaron is in school in the evening. Now I can enjoy my
freedom while it lasts!
June 21, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I went to my friend
Michelle's baby shower this morning while Aaron was helping someone move
out. Then Aaron spent the afternoon volunteering at Deseret Industries
collecting donations as people drove up to drop stuff off. He was hot
and tired when he got home, but we still had one more thing planned for
our busy day! I made pizza pasta and we headed over to the Thill's house
for a BBQ... I have been a teacher for three of their kids (they have
14) so they all call me Mrs. Glass. They're not quite sure what to call
Aaron! We had fun visiting their family. A bunch of other families were
also there. When it started to get dark, they put on a movie in their
backyard with a projector, a sheet hung up and a brand-new sound system.
Just as the movie started Addie started to get really tired so it was
time for us to go home so she could sleep in her crib. I was getting
eaten by mosquitoes too!
June 20, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addelynn and I met
Raquel and her kids up at the mall to do a little shopping. I ended up
getting Addie more clothes! I had to get her a pair of jeans... hey, she
didn't have any! They also happen to be glitter jeans which will look
fabulous on her cute buns! The kids were cute... Addie was fighting
sleep so she got a little upset near the end. Brandon wanted to play in
the play area longer so he wasn't happy when it was time to go! Aleya
just slept in her stroller and smiled a lot. Aaron and I took Addie to
Strawberry Days which is an annual festival complete with a rodeo right
down the street from us! We decided to walk all the way to downtown P.G.
and it was further than we thought! We saw a lot of friends there so it
was really fun to be out and about with Addie! We didn't actually do
anything there except walk around... because let's face it, Addie can't
go on the rides yet... but she sure had a fun time looking at everything
with her wide eyes!
June 17, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - The hottest day of
the year has arrived! It is 100 smokin' degrees outside which makes it
the perfect day to stay inside and update the web page! Addie is taking
her second long nap of the day. She does so much better when she naps in
her swing or bouncer. It must feel like she is still being held. She's
doing well sleeping at night still too. Once it is dark and she is in
her crib, she's out for the night.
June 16, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Congratulations to
Travis and Leslee on their new baby girl!!! Addison Maria was born at
9:40 am. She weighs 9 pounds 3 ounces and is 20.5 inches long... she's a
big girl since she was 2 weeks overdue! Travis and Leslee are cute
parents. Now they have Addy and we have Addie!
June 15, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addelynn learned a
new trick that she has been trying out all day... she sucks on her
bottom lip. It seems like she is learning something new everyday! She is
always so attentive on everything around her. Mommy and Addie woke up
and made breakfast for Daddy this morning since it's his first Father's
Day! Yeah! He doesn't get his present yet though because it still has to
come in the mail... Rock Band for the WII. Lucky Daddy!!!
June 14, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie went on her
first hike today up Battlecreek Canyon which is right next to where we
live. It is a beautiful hike with a nice waterfall only 20 minutes up
the trail. That's as far as we got because Addie was sleeping by then
and other people that went with us were going home too. It was just long
enough of a hike for Aaron too! Tonight we took Addie to her first
drive-in movie... The Incredible Hulk! It was fun to be outside in such
nice weather to hang out and watch a movie. We went with our friends
Curtis & Veronica... and their (not so) baby Isaac. He is getting so
big!
June 13, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - This was the first
day of a very busy weekend. We went with Greg, Raquel, Brandon and Aleya
to Lagoon! It is like a miniature Disneyland... kind of. They have lots
of rides and a small water park. We walked around a lot and watched
Brandon go on rides. Aaron and I went on river raft ride while my
cousins watched Addie. Greg, Raquel and Aaron went on a roller coaster
while I stayed and watched the kids with Raquel's sister. It was a good
excuse for me not to go on the ride! We had lots of fun... Aaron even
played a game and won a stuffed dog for Addie!
June 11, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie's favorite
things to do right now are... try to put both fists in her mouth at the
same time, play with her hair with her left hand while sucking her right
hand, and spitting, blowing, cooing, squealing or making other cute baby
noises.
June 10, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I guess I spent too
much time out in the sun yesterday because I woke up feeling the burn on
my shoulders. I sat outside for 20 minutes two times yesterday while
Addie was napping. I didn't realize that I was getting so much sun
because it wasn't that warm outside. Now I have a lobster farmer's tan
that crosses my shoulders and my knees!
June 9, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I got a haircut today.
I had to wait for 30 minutes before it was my turn and Addie woke up
right then. I was worried that she would start to get fussy but she made
it through with the help of her binky and she didn't get upset until I
was almost done. Hooray! Everyone had their eyes on her so she had lots
of attention!
June 8, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie has learned how
to blow raspberries! It's her new favorite trick... unfortunately she
has not mastered the skill of keeping down her formula at the same time.
She gets so excited and starts blowing... then it all comes out! It's
still cute though! It also means that she gets to wear more of her
outfits because they often get soaked down the front!
June 7, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron took us out for
a drive in the mountains. Originally we wanted to go on a walk up a path
in the canyon. As we were leaving, some nice clouds rolled in and
dropped more than a little bit of rain. So we headed up to a different
canyon and drove through the Alpine Highway Loop. It takes you up and
around the back side of Mount Timpanogos through American Fork Canyon.
Then you leave through Provo Canyon by the ski resorts at Sundance. It
was a beautiful drive even in the rain. The sun was shining on our way
out but we skipped the walk because Addie and I were falling asleep.
Okay, so we weren't exactly falling asleep... we were out cold!
June 6, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is sitting on my
lap while I type this entry... she is interested in everything we are
doing. It is so cute. Here come the hiccups!
June 5, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I had to get out of
the house again today. We went to my favorite scrapbook place...
Archiver's. I had previously seen some paper flowers there and finally
decided to get them for decoration in Addie's room. I made them during
nap time today and framed a couple in some of the frames from Aaron's
company. They are very cute and whimsical... just right for Addie's
room.
June 4, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I made it out of the
house today. We went to Walmart in the rain. One of my grocery bags fell
out of the cart on my way to the car... and landed in the biggest puddle
in the parking lot. Luckily everything is sealed in a nice plastic layer
these days!
June 3, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Another night with the
flu... I think I was even sicker than the day before. Aaron stayed home
yet another day. This time he took the day off so that I could get more
rest. I didn't even get up from the couch until noon. I'm really glad
that Aaron was home! Addie had her 2 month doctor appointment today so
that meant shots! She is growing like crazy... she now weighs 12 pounds
11 ounces and is 22 and 3/4 inches long. She is in the 90th percentile
for weight and the 50th percentile for height. She stared at the doctor
the whole time he was in the room with a real serious look on her face.
He asked if she is smiling and we told him that she does all the time at
home. It was funny to see her watch him. She was really good when he
examined her... then the nurse came in for shots. They gave her an oral
vaccine first which Addie tried to push out with her tongue. She had a
few little gags too. Addie let out a cry with the first shot. Then it
progressed with more crying as they finished up the 5th and final shot.
By the time they put the band aids on she was fine. I picked her up and
rubbed her legs. She survived and had a really good nap after that!
June 2, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - It turns out that I
came down with a bad case of the stomach flu... I woke up in the middle
of the night and was really sick. Aaron went to work and picked up
everything he needed to work from home. He was able to take Addie when I
was really sick so that helped a lot.
June 1, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Sunday... I am not
feeling well today so I stayed home from church with Addie to get some
rest. We didn't get as much rest as we hoped for though... there is
always tomorrow.
May 31, 2008 - Addie sneezed 30 times
today, and she doesn't have a cold.
May 31, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie got really
spoiled today... we had a lot of things to do so Aaron and I made a day
of errands with some fun stuff in between. We went to get our oil
changed and tires rotated and balanced in our car. Then we stopped by
the gas station to get a car wash. After that we drove up to Costco to
pick up formula, diapers and baby wipes... $200 later and we continued
on our way. Aaron was being a sweetheart and took me out to the Park
City Outlet Mall. We went there before Addie was born (actually before
we knew anything about her) but it was too hard to pick anything out
because there wasn't much in the neutral section. I had fun getting her
all of the pink and purple things that we both like. We found some great
clearance items so we have a bunch of outfits for next summer for only
$3 each. It's good to plan ahead.
May 30, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - My last day of school!
We had kindergarten graduation today. The kids only came for 45 minutes
each. They lined up in our class and got their caps to wear. Then we
walked in, sang a song, got their diplomas, sang another song and
announced the kindergarten graduating class of 2008. They will graduate
from high school in the year 2020. I will be 40 years old then!!! That
makes me feel really old now! I said goodbye to all of my kids as they
took pictures with me and Miss Johnson. After both classes came and went
I was officially done with school. I had a range of mixed emotions then
but I didn't cry yet. Since I had Addie with me that day, I gathered up
everything and we headed off to the luncheon with all of the faculty at
the Pizza Factory. It was strange for it to be my last meeting with all
of my co-workers but it is good to know that I'll still get the chance
to see them every now and then. It wasn't until I dropped off Lynne and
Cammie at the school that I lost it and started crying. I had to call
Aaron because it was pretty hard to really be done. I love being a mom
and wouldn't trade it for the world, but at the same time... it is
really hard to leave Bonneville because it is such an extraordinary
school!
May 29, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Happy 2 Month B-day!
Day two at the babysitter... Aaron got off work early so he could come
home and be with Addie. He was a little bit jealous that someone else
got to stay at home with our girl! I had a busy day at school trying to
get everything done for the last day of school. I finally got home just
in time for Aaron to grab a bite to eat before heading off to school. I
took Addie up to the ward activity up in the canyon. There was pizza and
outside games. We watched everyone play kickball for awhile and then
headed home so we could stop by the store quickly for a few things. We
were both tuckered out after such a long day. Addie and I both need our
sleep it seems!
May 28, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I dropped Addie off at
our friend Kristen's house. It was hard to leave her but it was good
knowing she would be well taken care of while I had to work today and
tomorrow. She is such a sweet baby. When I picked her up she was
sleeping. It felt good to hold her and I was glad that I only had to
leave her for one more day. I had church meetings tonight so I know what
it feels like to rush everywhere as a working mom. I don't recommend it
because I didn't have any time to sit and just play with Addie. Being
able to stay at home with her is so much better for the both of us.
May 27, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - A day of rest... Addie
and I took it easy today so that I would be ready for school tomorrow.
Hopefully it will pay off because we both have to get up early in the
morning!
May 26, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Today was Grandma and
Grandpa's last day to visit us. Aaron's mom helped me to make some
projects. I went to Home Depot to pick up a piece of wood so that
I could make a picture board for Addie's wall. It turned into a flower
clip holding board instead which looks pretty darn cute. I made all of
the clips this weekend since I had so many extra hands to take care of
Addie. She is going to have the cutest hair on the block. My friend
Lynne came over for a little bit in the afternoon. Addie ate and slept
so it was funny that Lynne didn't get to see her full cuteness. There
will be many more visits for that!
May 25, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron and I went to
the first part of church today while Addie stayed home with Grandma and
Grandpa Glass. Everyone kept asking us where she was... we had to tease
a little bit and say that we left her napping at home. Then we would say
that she was with Grandma and Grandpa. Greg and Raquel came over later
with Brandon and Aleya. We ate hamburgers and played Dance Dance
Revolution.
May 24, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - What a fun day... we
woke up to our happy baby smiling in her crib. She is really getting
used to sleeping through the night and we hope she stays a good sleeper.
Aaron made a breakfast of eggs with Canadian bacon and toast. We went
down to the movie theater and bought tickets for Indiana Jones to see
later that night. We wandered around Borders and picked up a few books.
Aaron got a few that his dad recommended and I found a funny cookbook on
Twinkie Gourmet. We are going to try making Twinkie Sushi tomorrow! Then
we went to Tucanos for lunch where they serve a great Brazilian buffet.
We ate way too much but the meat is sooooo good. We even had dessert
afterwards which was just a little bit too much food. Later this evening
we had a babysitter lined up so we dropped Addie off at Ann's house so
that we could go to the movies... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the
Crystal Skull. Good movie, but I'm not good when it comes to any
intensity factor so Aaron had to hold me through the whole movie. That's
not a bad thing though! Addie was good for Ann too so we were happy
parents although it is still hard to leave her with anyone.
May 23, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Yeah! Grandma and
Grandpa Glass came today! We were so excited to show Addie off to them
because we think she is so darling! Aaron came home from work early
which was a great help to me because we were able to get some cleaning
done so I don't have to worry about it this weekend... we even installed
a new door lock so we have keyless entry now. That is so much more
convenient when you have a baby in one hand and groceries in the other
because you don't have to fish your keys out of your pocket! We wouldn't
have been able to do all that we did in one afternoon but Aaron's
parents had a very delayed plane... so we didn't get to see them until
this evening. We went out to dinner at Sakura for Japanese food. Mmm
mmmm good!
May 22, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - By the end of the day
yesterday I was so tired that I put Addie down for the night and went to
bed also... at least until 4:30 in the morning! I woke up and couldn't
sleep so what better time than now to get things done. I had my grades
almost finished by the time Addie woke up. Then I fed her, gave her a
bath, put her back to bed and... finished my grades! Then I had to rush
off to school to drop off my computer. I donated some bags of stuff to
Deseret Industries on the way to go out to lunch with Aaron at work. We
picked him up, went to a warehouse sale for his company, and went out to
some good ol' fast food at McDonalds!
May 21, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - All I have to say
is... GRADES! Yep, it's that time of year and of course I leave myself
one day to get all of my grades figured out and put them on the
computer. Needless to say it wasn't the best day for Addie who didn't
sleep hardly at all today which means that I didn't get my grades done
either... I have until 2:30 pm on Thursday so hopefully tomorrow morning
goes better!
May 20, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Ninety degrees
yesterday... FIFTY degrees today! Our weather is crazy here in Utah...
we even had snow in the mountains. I can't believe that it is almost
summer and we are still having such crazy weather.
May 18, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We were so excited this morning because Addie
slept from 9:30 last night to 7:00 this morning! Yeah! Of course I was
awake most of the early morning wondering when she would start crying
for a bottle and worrying that if I fell asleep I would be too tired to
wake up again when she cried. Aaron had a great night of sleep of course
because he doesn't even wake up when Addie cries... that's my job! We
had Stake Conference this morning so we had to get ready a lot faster
than usually because we had to be at church by 9:30 am instead of 1:00
pm. It was actually a lot easier and it was nice to have such a long
afternoon at home after that. We had to let a few people hold Addie at
church and our friend Gina fed her a bottle. Addie soaked up all of the
attention and fell asleep the rest of the time over my shoulder or in
Aaron's arms. She used to love sleeping cradled in your arm over your
lap but now she likes curling up with her head over your shoulder. She
is one cuddly baby! She is communicating a lot more now that she
realized we respond to her coos and expressions. The other day she was
lifting up her shoulders and cooing at the same time. I would smile and
laugh... then she would smile back at me and do it all over again. The
next day she put on her biggest pouty face with her lip sticking out as
far as it can go. I laughed at this of course because she is such a
dramatic girl sometimes. She smiled and did it again over and over. What
a funny girl. Just yesterday, Aaron was sitting on the couch with Addie
laying next to him. She started cooing at him and when he looked at her
she would stop. She is so adorable. She is doing the funniest things now
to get attention. We respond like doting parents and I'm sure that she
is going to be just a little bit spoiled!
May 17, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is growing like
crazy. We went to Aaron's softball game last night and we had to adjust
her car seat head support and shoulder straps to get her in. I'm not
sure how long this car seat will last at the rate of growth she is in.
We were looking at how long she seems to be getting. Her socks used to
go almost to her knees and now she has a couple of inches of skin. Her
little thighs are getting some chunky little rolls and both sets of
cheeks are getting chubby! Her feet and hands seem small now that she is
filling out in the rest of her body. We are wondering what she will be
like when she grows up. I think she will probably be tall and thin with
the way her features are right now. I love her to pieces!
May 16, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I kind of went all-out
on making hair clips this week. A friend showed me how to make them and
of course we had to have an assortment of hair clips to choose from to
match every outfit she has... so I pulled out all of my scrapbook stuff
and went to town putting together flowers with brads in the middle and
attaching them to hair clips covered with ribbons. I like to put a
couple of little ponytails in her hair and slide the hair clips right in
front of them. It is so darling, but I think everything about Addelynn
is just adorable!
May 15, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - It was inevitable...
that I would fall behind in writing on our web page. At least I am more
current than Aaron though! Addelynn is smiling like crazy now... if she
is in a good mood (i.e. diaper is changed and tummy is full) she will
smile again and again at you. It's so cute!
May 8, 2008 - I'm not actually
updating this section myself... my lovely wife Wendy decided that it
would look better if there was actually something new here... and maybe
she wanted to tease me just a little bit. I'm very busy being a new
daddy while working full-time and attending classes at UVU. I get home
around 8:00 in the evening and Wendy is glad to hand over Addie so she
can get some rest after her long days. I'm also on the softball team for
my company. We play every Friday night. So far our team is not doing the
greatest... well, we hope to win a game sometime this season! It sure is
fun though!
May 8, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie had 2 baths
today... one time in the morning because it was bath day and one time in
the evening because she spit up all over everything. Amazingly enough
none of it got on my clothes. Poor baby girl... she had an upset tummy
but was ready to eat again after a nice full diaper! She was much
happier then. We went to visit Raquel, Aleya and Brandon today. Brandon
was so sweet with Addie. He kept laying on the floor with her showing
his toys or kissing her hand. He must be the best big brother to Aleya...
who by the way is such a sweetie. She is such a good baby. She is so
much smaller than Addie! Aleya is getting chubby cheeks though so she
still has a chance of catching up to Addie in weight... but it's not
likely to happen this summer!
May 6, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - So today Addie is
sleeping like a baby... as she usually does. I have no idea what
happened yesterday but today is so much better for her. We are back into
her regular routine of eat, play and sleep!
May 5, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - What a day... I guess
all that sleeping has its drawbacks when the next day is followed by
lots of crying and no sleep at all. Addie was the fussiest she has ever
been (Wendy's Post) - which still isn't that bad at all, but when she is usually such a
good baby it is hard to see her cry and get so upset. She would suddenly
lean forward and just scream out crying. I thought it might be her tummy
hurting or something, but she ate and pooped really well. It may be that
growth spurt she is going through... she is filling up her 3 month
clothes now. Some of her sleepers are getting stretched to their limits!
She is going to be a big girl.
May 4, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is a sleeping
machine... she must be growing again. I tried her headband on her that
was too big last week - and it fits! She looks darling it it too! Addie
went to sleep last night after eating around 7:00 pm. She didn't wake up
until 3:00 in the morning when Aaron couldn't stand it any longer and he
had to go and pick her up. Next time I said that we could go ahead and
let her sleep through the night. I am just fine with letting her learn
good sleep habits. This morning she was up just long enough to eat, play
and take a bath. She has been sleeping ever since. We'll have to wake
her up so that we can go to church! That means we will be feeding her in
Sacrament Meeting at church on a Fast Sunday!
May 3, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - My friend Kim had a
birthday party today at a park up in Salt Lake City. Aaron, Addie and I
packed up and headed on our way. We realized when we were in the general
vacinity that we didn't have the whole address. Luckily I had another
friend's phone number and we were finally able to locate the park. It
was supposed to be a sunny and warm day, but we were in the pavillion at
the top of the hill where is was windy and cool to say the least. I
ended up wrapping Addie up in a blanket and holding her the whole time
so she would stay warm! We went to a small outlet mall on the way home
and picked up a few things on clearance for when Addie gets bigger. We
probably won't ever go back to that outlet because half of the stores
were empty... the only thing we will probably get there in the future is
a dress for when Addie gets blessed.
May 2, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I went to school today
so that we could get some reading tests done in class. I still have to
go back to school to get things done until the end of the year because
it is so busy with grades and testing. My friend Dorothy took care of
Addie while I was in class. She enjoyed every minute of it... Addie that
is, because she was just a little spoiled! So... Dorothy mentioned that
she couldn't get the car seat out of her van and we went to take a look.
Half an hour or so later we were finally able to free the car seat from
its stuck position and we were on our way to do errands. Aaron went to
his softball game tonight while Addie and I took nice long naps.
May 1, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - If April showers bring
May flowers... what does April SNOW bring? Yes, it snowed last night
right before May! I couldn't believe it. We have been waiting for that
nice spring weather to come but it snowed once again making it seem like
the longest winter ever! ...Addie is starting to rub her eyes when she is
tired!
April 28, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie slept from
8:30 last night until 2:30 this morning! We should have gone to bed when
she did because we would have had a lot more sleep than we thought! She
is smiling more and more now. Sometimes they look kind of funny!
April 27, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Happy Birthday to
me! Thank you to everyone for sending me such nice gifts. I feel kind of
funny getting stuff for my birthday now that I have a baby. I always
devote everything to her so I didn't really think about making plans for
my birthday. I went to a meeting at church in the morning and afterwards
my friend Karen brought over a cake for me. She is a dear friend who is
always thinking of others around her. I'm lucky to have such a good
friend. We went to church. Addie slept most of the time but opened her
eyes and everyone was so excited to see her. After church we packed some
snacks and went for a walk on the Provo River Trail up the canyon. We
sat at a park for awhile and pulled out our books to read. I couldn't
take my eyes off Addie so I didn't read very much! For my birthday,
Aaron let me get a rocking chair for Addie's bedroom. It is a big, cushy
chair that rocks. We love it!
April 26, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I had to take the
Praxis II test to renew my teaching license and keep my certificate
current in the state of Utah. I was nervous about going up to Ogden
alone because I'm not familiar with the area so Aaron, Addelynn and I
made an outing out of it... We packed everything that we would need for
the day and drove over an hour to get there. We had lunch on the way and
Aaron wished me luck while he and Addie went for a walk around the
campus. He had to feed her and change a dirty diaper while I took my
test consisting of 24 multiple choice questions and 12 essay questions.
I took almost the whole 2 hours allotted for the test with only 2
minutes to check my work at the end. I had a cramp in my elbow and wrist
from writing so much! I'm just glad it's over... but I have to wait for
my results which won't be here until the end of May. I met Aaron back at
the car after the test and we went back down to Utah Valley, stopping at
Tai Pan Trading on the way home. Then we met our friends at a Japanese
restaurant called Sakura for dinner. Addie had the biggest eyes I have
ever seen. It was pretty neat to see them cook everything in front of
you and of course they perform cooking tricks as well like juggling an
egg on a spatula. We came home and Addie guzzled down her milk before
going to bed. She is sleeping better and better now.
April 25, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron was sweet
enough to let me sleep the whole night so that I could have enough rest
for my test on Saturday. I still had to wake him up when Addie started
crying for a bottle though! I had a super night of sleep!!!
April 24, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - What a great day! Addie decided to have a couple of long naps already. She is eating a
whole 5 ounces now each time we feed her. I think she has decided to
grow some more! After all she is almost a month old now.
April 23, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie has 6
dimples... 2 on her cheeks, 2 on her elbows, and 2 on her knees. That
must mean that she is growing. Her feet are still so skinny though that
her cute socks fall off. She has long, skinny fingers too. I am working
on baby announcements finally. The easy part was making the
announcements which were done when she was only a week old. The hard
part is getting everyone's current mailing addresses to send them out.
Then there is little Addie who just likes to be held right when Mommy
starts a project! We have learned how to hold her while I type on the
computer so that is fun now. Addelynn's newest trick is holding her
pacifier in her mouth. She puts her hand right over the top of it like
she is not going to let her pacifier go for anything. She is also
starting to experiment with her smiles more now... the other day I was
holding her and she gave the biggest smile that Aaron and I both got to
see. She's going to be a heartbreaker with those little dimples in her
cheeks. We are waiting to get a good picture of her smiling but that
will have to wait for when they are more frequent.
April 22, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I have officially
resigned from teaching as of today. I went to the school to sign the
paperwork. It was a sad but sweet experience because Addelynn is so
worth it. It has been the most wonderful three weeks with her even
without sleeping much. She is truly ours and I wouldn't trade anything
for her. All of my friends that came into the office at school wanted to
hold Addie. Everyone says that she is a doll. It is really hard to leave
my friends at work. I have been at the school for four years so I have
some great friends who are like family to me. We'll be visiting often
though because Addie is growing so fast. We have to show off all of her
cute outfits from everyone after all. Addie has been awake almost the
whole day today. She took three 2 hour naps so hopefully she will stay on
the sleeping at night mode so I can sleep more too!
April 21, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron came home for
lunch to be with his girls... really to spend time holding Addie of
course!
April 20, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is 3 weeks
old! It has already been quite a busy weekend! We went to Aaron's
softball game on Friday night. Addie was really good. It was fun to do
something as a family. Unfortunately for Aaron, the game wasn't their
biggest success. You might say that it was for the other team, but we
won't even mention the score! On Saturday, Addie and I ran errands while
Aaron started up his saxophone quartet again after a few needed weeks
off. Addie seemed quite surprised to hear such loud music when we got
home as evident by the biggest eyes I have seen her show off yet!
Saturday evening we went to dinner at our friends' house Lisa & Brent
Frost. Our good friends Mandi and Blake Taylor were there as well. We
enjoyed a succulent meal with the best steak I have ever had from the
BBQ. We even had dessert pizza to top it all off. We played some games
and ended up staying way past our bedtimes, but it was well worth it to
get out and have some fun. Addie was pretty good after having not slept
most of the day. We got home, fed her at 11:00 pm and she didn't wake up
to eat until 5:00 am Sunday morning. We were happy to have such a
content little girl. I got up to feed her, changed her really soaked
diaper, and put her to bed again. She is falling asleep right now and
that means that I get to go back to bed! It is Sunday morning after all
and we don't have church until 1:00 this afternoon.
April 18, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is getting
back to her usual routine. She is sleeping and eating in her normal four
hour schedule. We are hoping that she will start sleeping through the
night sometime in the next month but that will depend on what her tummy
says! If she is really hungry she will grab onto her hand and suck away
at it. Every once in a while she will get a finger perfectly situated
inside that little mouth of hers. We are glad that she is able to sooth
herself, but at the same time we don't want to have to deal with thumb
sucking later on in her life like I did... So we give her a pacifier
whenever she gets that urge to suck her hand! She spits it out when she
is done which I think is the cutest part although sucking her finger is
really cute too. When I gave Addie a bath today she almost fell asleep
when I wrapped her up in a towel. Usually she is wide awake for 2 hours
or so in the morning but today was an exception and she was ready for a
nap right away. I got her dressed, combed her hair, wrapped her up in a
blanket and she was out for the next few hours! Yeah for Mommy because I
was able to update this web page!
April 17, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I have been quite
busy trying to organize all of Addie's stuff. It has taken a couple of
weeks just to get all of her things put into the dresser and closet. We
got our bookcase and rocking chair that we ordered so that is my next
big step... trying to fit my huge collection of picture books onto one
36" wide bookcase. The delivery guys had quite a time getting the
bookcase in the room yesterday because it is really tall, but they
managed to do it without having to move any other furniture. It is nice
to have all of her things in one room. Now we wish we had a garage
though so we would have a place to fit all of our camping gear and
household tools conveniently. Every time we open our storage door we
have to unload a pile of stuff in front of the shelf! A house with a
garage is on our wish list before we adopt another baby someday.
April 13, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We decided to try
and go to church today. Addie had a restful morning along with Aaron!
They both slept in while I got everything ready for church. Addie was
just fine until about 20 minutes before it was time to go to church.
Then she had an upset tummy and cried and cried! We thought maybe we
wouldn't make it to church after all when she suddenly stopped crying
and felt better. We finished getting ready and made it to church just as
they were starting. She looked cute in her little peach dress. It is a
newborn size though and it was really hard to button the top button
because her neck is getting chubby! We got lots of ooohs and aaahs again
from people that hadn't seen her yet. We sat by our friends and mostly
just watched Addie... I'm not sure that I paid that much attention to
what was said but at least we made it there!
April 12, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is 2 weeks old
today! We had another baby shower. My friend Megan Martin put on a
shower so I could invite all of my friends from church. Addie was
spoiled again with cute clothes and very necessary diapers! We love the
Diaper Genie II and the Boppy Pillow! Aaron had to get used to the idea
of using both of these things, but now I catch him using the pillow with
a look of relief on his face when he rests his arm down! Addie slept
through this baby shower too... I have decided that if she is ever fussy
that I will have to take her to a crowded, noisy place. I guess that is
the key to her complete relaxation because there was no way to wake her
from the sound slumber she was in! Tons of people came to and from the
shower since it was an Open House Style. Even my old college friends Liz
and Michelle were there! It was so good to see them... Liz has a little
girl and Michelle is pregnant with a boy due this summer.
April 10, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Grandma had to fly
home today so we hung around the house missing her. We send her lots of
hugs, kisses and little grunts.
Raquel had a baby shower tonight with the
Colorado (now Utah) cousins. Aaron kept Brandon entertained and out of
the cookies! Some people were surprised to see two little girls at the
party so they had to point out whose baby belonged to who. Everyone
wanted to hold the cute girls so they did get passed around a little
bit. Addie was actually awake for the first part of the evening but she
got comfortable and fell asleep. Our cousins also got gifts for us. That
was really nice of them so now Addie and Aleya have some cute matching
outfits. We are planning on dressing them the same when we go out to the
zoo and other places together!
April 9, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Grandma Nievaard
babysat this evening while Aaron and I went out shopping for a rocking
chair... my back is pretty tired after holding her all the time! We
didn't find anything though, but we did discover that gliders aren't all
they're cracked up to be. The floor models were all loose so they not
only rocked forward and back, but also side to side! We came home with
just a few necessities from our new favorite store Babies R Us. We
brought dinner home from Costa Vida which we enjoyed fully right down to
the flan. Of course Addie slept the whole time we were gone so Grandma
was just a little bored!
April 8, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - What a busy day.
Addie had her first doctor appointment today. She slept through almost
the whole thing. She must have been comfortable in just a diaper and a
blanket! It was good to have Grandma there to help me out for our first
outing together. The doctor checked her out and said that she is an
overachiever since she gained so much weight over the last 10 days! She
now weighs 8 pounds 5 ounces but is still the same length. I guess we
can expect a growth spurt really soon here.
We also had a baby shower put on by Dorothy
from school so we took a break after the doctor visit to hang out at
home. The shower was right after school. Everyone oohed and aahed at
Addie of course. She acted really cute and slept through the whole
thing. She was really spoiled with gifts! She got so many things...
we'll have to change her clothes a few times a day just to have her wear
her outfits! She is getting used to her new Boppy Bouncer. She'll sit in
it for about 10 minutes before she decides that she would rather be
picked up and held!
April 7, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Grandma Nievaard came
to visit today! I was so excited because I could count on Mom to help me
with Addie. I was able to get some chores done while Grandma soaked up
all of Addie's little grunts and coos. Addie showed off all of her
cuteness including that little smile she gives just after falling
asleep. Then there's that laugh with a big smile just after that. If her
laugh wakes her up then she starts the sleep process all over and you
get to see another little smile.
April 5, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Addie is one week
old! She is a good baby. She lets us know when she is hungry! She has a
pretty tight schedule when it comes to eating because she will cry
pretty loudly if we are just a few minutes late. We started feeding her
2 ounces of formula when we brought her home. The very next day she
wasn't too happy when those 2 ounces were gone so we moved her up to 3
ounces. Well, it didn't take long after that for her to decide that her
stomach could handle a little bit more than that. By the end of the week
she was eating a good 4 ounces every four hours. She is getting heavier
too!
Josie, Bobby, Nick and Amber came to visit
this weekend. Addelynn loved all of the attention that she got. It took
a few days after that to get her used to sleeping in her crib again and
not being held all the time! It was fun to see Josie and family, but the
weekend went by too quickly. Josie and I didn't even have any time to
scrapbook!
March 31, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We made it
through our first night with Addie! She knows when she is hungry and
really lets us know. We haven't missed a feeding since then. We have had
to start feeding her more though because she is always getting hungry!
March 30, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - We woke up to a
couple of inches of snow so we grabbed warmer clothes and an extra
blanket for Addie before leaving for
the hospital this morning to pick her up. We had to wait for them
to do the hearing test, give us discharge instructions, and fill out our
final paperwork for adoption. We got her dressed while she cried up a
storm. She wasn't too happy with having to go in the car seat either
until we were moving in the car. Then she fell sound asleep so we took
pictures of course. We came home and all fell asleep that afternoon!
March 29, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron never made it to bed last night because he answered the phone at
1:30 am and we got ready to go... We got to Mountainview Hospital in
Payson at 2:30 am and our little Addelynn was born at 3:33 am! She
weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. We didn't get
to see her right away because she had her assessment and was then put on
oxygen for three hours. We finally held her at 6:30 am but only for 30
minutes because she had to be checked again to see how she was doing.
She was so sweet from the start! We stayed at the hospital most of the
day holding her and trying to feed her. She wasn't interested in eating
until 6:30 that night just before we were leaving to go home for the
night. From then on she insisted on eating right on schedule!
March 28, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - I
hardly slept last night because I was so nervous about the mom having
the baby on the plane. It was pretty much a joke being at work because I
was anxious about everything. I found out halfway through the day that
the mom was having contractions while on a layover in Texas, but she was
fine and planned on continuing to Utah. I was so relieved when the call
came that she was in Utah safe and not in full labor! We kept in touch
with the agency all that evening to see when the baby was born. We got a
call around 11:00 saying that they were on the way to the hospital and
would let us know when she was closer to delivery.
March 27, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - The
plans have changed... Our director called us today and said the birth
mom was flying out to Utah on Friday instead. I was shocked that she
could come on an airplane when she was overdue! This worked out so much
better for us though because we would have our baby in only 24 hours
instead of having to wait 3 days back in Mississippi.
We had our home study appointment this
evening. The case worker was here for about two hours. She asked about a
million questions... but it was fun and exciting at the same time. I
wasn't nervous until it was at the end of the appointment and we were
showing our home for inspection. Then I got butterflies as the
realization that this was really happening hit me. We had been in such a
whirlwind of events and the home study was the last thing we had to
complete so I think everything just finally settled in.
March 26, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron and I both went to our jobs and worked out the details of what
would happen if we decided to adopt... because we would have to fly out
to Mississippi for up to two weeks while paperwork went through. We made
a decision to go ahead and go through with the adoption so we called our
agency and set everything up. Tonight we had to put together our profile
pages as well as a letter about ourselves to the birth mother. I was
exhausted by that point so Aaron stayed up to finish everything.
March 25, 2008 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron called me after school today to let me know that we had an
appointment set to meet with our Adoption Agency Director to talk about
possibly adopting a baby in the next week. Since we weren't planning on
adopting until June, we had a big decision to make... including what I
would do with work from now until the end of the year.
February 9, 2008 - With my (not so)
new job, the prospect of adopting, the passing of Uncle Dave, the
passing of President Hinckley and everything else going on in life there
is definitely no shortage of items to write about.
Mitt Romney has recently dropped out of the
presidential race. I voted for his campaign and was sad to see him go
but oddly enough, I am convinced that any of the 3 other main candidates
(McCain, Clinton, Obama) would each make a fine President and would be
able to work well with the legislative branch of our government. It's
almost not worth mentioning but I'm glad to see Huckabee running so far
behind. Those who lose elections are forgotten with the passing of time
but the quote he gave, soon to follow, is frightening how his own
religious views conflict with the foundation of the United States,
"I have opponents in this race who do not
want to change the Constitution; but I believe it's a lot easier to
change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the
living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution
so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so
it lines up with some contemporary view."
Let me make it clear, I do not agree with
this statement above and I am glad that he will get no where near the
political office of President. I wonder which portions of the
constitution he is specifically attacking? the Bill of Rights perhaps?
December 31, 2007 (Wendy's Post) - New Year's Eve!
We had our friends Chris & Gina come over to our house for dinner and
games. We had curry with rice along with a salad and the most amazing
cookie & ice cream dessert. Our friends brought the salad and dessert of
course! We played a couple of our new games "Finish Lines" and
"Visualize." I highly recommend both of them. Chris & Gina brought a
game called "Bananagrams." It is like Scrabble but without the board and
you compete against each other. It is really tricky at first and the
game gets even better when you near the end. It is definitely a game on
our wish list. We also tested our skills on the WII with bowling and a
game called "Big Brain Academy." I bowled with a score of 160... a new
record though it would never happen in real life! Aaron dominated in the
other game because he has played it a few times already. We yawned our
way to the new year and turned the TV on to see the ball drop in NYC. We
had some pear juice and said, "Happy New Year" before saying our
goodbyes and going straight to bed!
December 30, 2007 (Wendy's Post) - Welcome to our
new and improved web page! This year we have obviously changed the
look... an ode to Wendy's favorite hobby and Aaron's new employment
(Wendy's Post) - No
Aaron is not a scrap-booker, rather he is fortunate to have a great job
as a Senior Accountant in the scrapbook supply industry. This is also a
nice bonus for me when he brings home my favorite products! I am
thoroughly enjoying his Christmas gift of 20 lbs. of scrapbook paper and
stuff. Our house is also a lot cuter now with the home decorating side
of the company contributing to our household as well (again my favorite
styles). This is the best job Aaron could have! Ha ha!
December 29, 2007 (Wendy's Post) - Aaron and I went
to the mall today to spend our Christmas gift cards. We had a very good
Christmas at both of our homes and didn't need a thing, but it was fun
to look around and get some things we wouldn't normally get. I actually
bought a purse! Yes, I know... it is really amazing. It's even a real
purse with leather handles and everything. Heidi would be proud! I also
got the Michael Buble Christmas CD. I can never leave the mall without
some lotion from Bath and Body works either! Aaron got a comic book by
Orson Scott Card called "Red Prophet." He also got guitar strings and
traded in some old Xbox games for the three "Lord of the Rings" movies.
We really went to the mall in the first place to get my wedding ring
inspected and cleaned to keep up the lifetime warranty. We ended up
staying quite a bit longer than planned because someone else picked up
our paperwork along with theirs. We decided to have lunch so we ate at
Red Robin. Aaron had the seafood pasta while I had a chicken quesadilla.
We split some onion rings and ended up taking a couple of boxes home
with us. We never did get our paperwork back, but they assured us that
our guarantee was okay. They called several hours later saying that the
paperwork was finally brought back in to the store. Hooray! I didn't
really need that stress in the first place though. Such is life. We came
home, took stuff to Deseret Industries for donation, and finally picked
up some groceries! Now we have real food again... but we did forget the
eggs! We watched the first "Lord of the Rings" movie and that was enough
for me for awhile though Aaron is ready to see the next one. I think
we're too busy to watch it though! I'll come up with something. Ha ha!
December 28, 2007 (Wendy's Post) - We
got back from our vacation very late at night the day after Christmas. Luckily,
Aaron drove the whole way home as I was sleepy and grumpy. We had weather
related delays going to Washington and coming home - both due to the incredible
amounts of Utah snow we have been having lately. I have never seen so much snow
this early in the season before. We have had snow on the ground for nearly a
month now with varying amounts melting and accumulating. I'm happy though since
winter is my favorite season. Monday is supposed to be incredibly cold though...
-2 degrees F with a high in the mid 20's. We'll have to break out the scarf and
gloves now to go outside!
December 26, 2007 (Wendy's Post) - Our last day of
vacation at home! My mom took us to the Great Wall Mall to look around. We were
able to relive our Japanese days by looking around the grocery store and picking
out our favorite foods. Washington has a lot better selection than Utah
obviously. We loaded up our suitcases with our favorite goodies to bring back
with us. We also got steamed pork buns to eat on our way to the cemetery.
It was my first time out there since Dad's funeral. It is such a beautiful
cemetery. We drove around the long loop so that we could see everything again.
We visited the wall and I was able to see the engraved stone memorial. It is
really nice and I hope my whole family can see it too. My mom cried of course.
It makes me sad to see her hurting. I still get angry with my dad sometimes but
mostly I am frustrated with what Mom has to deal with.
December 25, 2007 (Wendy's Post) - Christmas Day! We
slept in at Aaron's house and had a lazy Christmas morning. Mom and Nate came
over just before lunch. When the extended family arrived, we opened presents
with Aaron's side of the family. Aaron's mom made a nice dinner (lunch). We
showed Nate the new Rock Band game that Aaron's dad got. It is really fun and I
like playing the drums the most. Aaron has been trying to teach me how to play,
but I usually get impatient with my imperfection and quit trying. The game is
more fun though and it grabs my attention. Aaron hopes to have me become a
drummer for his music hobby someday!
December 24, 2007 (Wendy's Post) - Christmas Eve! I spent
the morning finishing up gifts that I was making for the family. I made
stationary sets for all of the girls. Mom and I went to a few grocery stores
only to come home without the very thing we went out to get. Nate was kind
enough to run down to the market and get the Jell-O for the salad Mom was
making. I don't know how the Jell-O was missed when the checker was ringing up
the items, but everything worked out in the end thanks to Nate! We had a nice
dinner with my extended family. Grandpa got a few extra goodies with everyone
keeping Grandma occupied. He has a special way of cupping his hand just right to
hide cookies. Grandma knows though so you can bet that Grandpa won't be sneaking
any treats at his house anytime soon! We opened gifts with our family. I think
the best thing was the baby clothes and stuff that Mom got both Leslee and I. I
am so excited to finally welcome a baby to our family. It is pretty ironic that
Leslee is pregnant at the same time and due the same month that we plan to
adopt. I guess it all comes down to sibling rivalry like when Travis and Leslee
got married the week before us!
December 23, 2007 (Wendy's Post) - We went to church with
Mom and Nathan. Mom got teased a little bit about me having to be there to get
her to go to the classes! We went to Travis and Leslee's house for dinner in the
evening. Their house is really cute with a nice sized backyard. They have it
decorated really well and there is just enough space for their growing family!
Leslee is a great cook. We had potatoes, meat and veggies. I sat at the kiddie
table with Mom and Nathan. Travis made sure to get pictures of that! Later we
talked and filled ourselves with too many sweets of course. Then we sang
Christmas songs with the karaoke on their TV. It was pretty fun especially when
Grandpa began singing. We did tease Grandma when we started naming trivia that
was being displayed on the TV. She thought we were making it up until everyone
started pitching in ideas and she finally realized that we were reading it from
the TV. We all laughed so much that it hurt. Grandma is a good sport though we
probably shouldn't tease too much!
October 31, 2007 - The Ward "Trunk or
Treat" was this evening. In addition to normal Halloween activities, the
church tends to have these Trunk or Treats where everyone can decorate
their car trunks and park their cars in the church parking lot for kids
to trick or treat at. I think it's one step safer than going around the
neighborhood. This year we decorated our trunk with a Super Mario
Brothers theme with music playing, topped with Wendy and I dressed as
the Princess and Mario, respectively. We took a week to plan it all but
Wendy ended up only having time to make her dress the night before.
Everything turned out great and we even one a first place ribbon.
October 14, 2007 - Yellow Stone was
beautiful and the time with no real responsibilities was wonderful
(although school never rests.) The park is so huge most of the time is
spent traveling from one location to the next and with a dash of snow
and the occasional wildlife, we were entertained even on rout to each
location. The geysers stank but that was expected. I never realized how
acidic they were until now though,
September 2007 - We had Nate & mom
visit this week. It was a chance to visit with family, especially Uncle
Dave. We were able to set Nate up on a blind date and as far as we know
he had fun.
August 23, 2007 - Today was Wendy's
fourth day back to school. This week is spent in one-on-one assessments
with her Kindergarten and the full class schedule will start next week.
She has thirty students in her class!
August 21, 2007 - Over the summer the
requirements for my major has changed which has caused some timing
problems with my college plans. In the end the entire situation was
fixed... looks like I'll be attending BYU for a term again. Through BYU
I'll be able to take multiple classes that otherwise I would have to
take one after the other. I also avoid a new prerequisite that was
thrown into the accounting program this way. I'll still have one class
through UVSC (soon to be UVU) which means a little more tuition to pay.
August 20, 2007 - This had been a
busy week again. Most importantly, Uncle Dave was admitted to the
hospital Thursday evening and we found that he has brain cancer at only
68 years old. There was an exploratory surgery on Saturday that actually
led to most of the cancer being removed. We hope, along with his
children and wife, to make the most of everything this coming year.
July 7, 2007 - Last night Wendy went
though our home and took most everything that wasn't bolted down (just
kidding) for a garage sale her co-worker Diane was having today. Wendy
and I were up late putting little price tags on every item. Today Wendy
left at 6:30 to take everything to the garage sale which ran from 7:00am
to 1:00pm. It was a success and we made $130.00 selling mostly $1 - $2
items. Today is also Jim Jr.'s birthday. To celebrate (since we're
obviously in a different state) we went to IHOP and ordered Steak (I
think he'll see the significance there.)
July 4, 2007 - Wendy has the summer
off and I had today off to celebrate Independence Day. Last night while
at Wal-mart I picked up a box full of fun little explosives to detonate.
We got together with our fiend Janie (who lives in Gateway too) at about
9:30 to set off fireworks and sing the main themes to the 1812 Overture.
We could also see the Pleasant Grove City fireworks from where we were
while setting off our own so basically we had a double feature.
July 2, 2007 - Since Maggie and her
family are out of town in Texas we had family home evening with just the
two of us. After my evening class we went to Ikea (and bought a new dish
set) then went and saw Fantastic 4 - Rise of the Silver Surfer.
Highlight the following to read a spoiler... I'm
really disappointed that Galactus was nothing more than a huge
intergalactic tempest. I wanted to see Galactus the man.
June 30,2007 - Wendy and I went to
Lagoon for the first time together today. First we went to the water
park lagoon-a-beach and rode on doughnut tubes all morning. Then we got
dressed and rode a bunch of the rides... the less intense ones. We also
took a look at the historic pioneer village with the miniature train
museum. Before going home we each picked out a little stuffed animal
that were just calling out our names. A Siberian Tiger for me and a
Giraffe for Wendy.
June 28, 2007 - Vanessa and Kayla
have been away at girls camps this week at Starvation Reservoir . Wendy
and I got to go tonight for the devotional by President and Sister Henry
and for the testimony meeting. We also brought the girls home early so
they could leave for their Texas family trip.
May 30, 2007- Last Day of
school.
May 13, 2007 – I have my new church calling as the Stake
Financial Clerk. This means I get to do something on Sunday similar to
that which I do Monday through Friday. I also get to work with some
great men in our Stake Presidency. First there is President Henry, who
is respected in the community for his work as a teacher and who was one
of the top wrestling coaches in the area. He is very tender hearted for
a coach. Then there is President Walker who is an accountant also and
works at BYU. Finally there is President Bratt, with whom I expect I'll
get to learn more about over the course of the next few years. One thing
about receiving a new calling in the church is how much you worry about
the status of the person who came to fill the shoes of your previous
calling.
May 12, 2007 – Our movie summer has started with Spider-man 3.
Also this summer is Shrek 3, Harry Potter 5, Transformers, and Fantastic
Four 2. Not to mention we'll also have the last Harry Potter book in
about 2 months.
May 10, 2007 – Our neighbor, Maggie is in the hospital for the
next few days. She has lung disease and now heart problems. I'm her home
teacher too. She has 3 children at home, John (20 yrs), Kayla (16 yrs)
and Vanessa (13 yrs) who we will help watch over the next while. Last
Sunday we had the girls over to play some LDS board games and we'll be
having Family Home Evening with them on Monday evenings for the next
while. Wendy and I are really happy to have them as our neighbors and
we're anxiously awaiting Maggie's return home.
May 8, 2007 - The HOA has been meeting weekly over the past month
to make sure we can get a series of things accomplished by the time the
pool opens for the summer. We're working on the lawn care, getting the
security key card system installed in the club house, decorating the
club house, adding a gate to the pool fence, policing the parking, still
getting the builders to finish some important items (like addresses on
the building) and keeping homeowners informed on all of the things we
are working on. We have some members on the committee who are really
committed to improving the community. In addition, there was a homeowner
who accidentally drove into one of the dumpster gates and we have
someone getting evicted for drug use. My time as the HOA Committee Chair
ends in 2 more months, then I intend to start up the Jazz Ensemble
again.
May 5, 2007 - We went Hiking today up to Battle Creek Waterfall.
We left a little later in the day then we would have normally because I
went and helped our friend, Stephen and Jill Tew, load up to move. Isn't
it funny how it's the people you'd like to have stay that you typically
help to move out when the time come. Since we hiked in the afternoon, it
was especially hot. After we passed the waterfall, we found a place to
sit and read books for about 45 minutes (I read The Baker Street
Irregulars and Wendy read the second Levin Thumps book.)
April 27, 2007 - Today was Wendy's
birthday and she has opened all of her presents. She received some
scrapbooking supplies from Josie and my parents. She got clothes and
jewelry from Heidi and her mom... and from me... well, she picked out a
nice, big scrapbooking desk that has now made a home in our living room.
Photos pending.
April 25, 2007 - Finals are over.
It's been a busy first part of the year with work, school, the HOA,
church and everything that has happened with our family. This summer
should be a lot smoother, although we don't intend to travel much since
the busy season from my work is during the summer.
March
28, 2007 – It is
the end of March and we have snow…? I guess it’s only
to be expected since we had rain up in Washington last weekend and the
weather system just had to follow us back down. The funny thing is that
the snow had completely vanished by 4:00 pm.
March 26, 2007 – Wendy and I have been
buying CDs recently. We tried the internet thing were you can download
songs for $0.99 but the problem comes when you want to use those files
around and about. To use them at work you have to log into your MSN ID,
or in our case we have to log in both of our MSN ID because we bought
songs on each of our accounts. Then if you put the files on a MP3 disk
they won’t play because there is no software available on these MP3
players to decode the security. So basically we gave up on online music
and went back to Wal-mart. This weekend for our trip Wendy picked up two
CDs, John Mayer and The Fray. I couldn’t find anything good so today I
went to Wal-mart and pick up two classics, Foo Fighters (self titles)
and Weezer (self titled.) “I’ve got Kitty Pride, and Nightcrawler too,
waiting here for me yes I do…”
March
25, 2007 – We
spent this weekend up in Eastern Washington visiting Wendy’s sister and
family. We left Thursday evening after school and drove a few hours up to Pocatello. Then we
drove all the following day all the way to Spokane. There also happens
to be a street there with the coolest corner…
March 11, 2007 – Yesterday was the day to
paint the clubhouse. Besides Wendy and I, we had 10 other volunteers
throughout the day. We started getting set up at 7:30am, I left to take
a midterm until 10:00 am as Wendy directed the work, then I returned
(with donuts) and continued painting until about 8:30pm. The clubhouse
looks great, now all we need to do is get the security system up and the
walls decorate.
March 1, 2007 – Today was my first day at my
new job. To reiterate the story, my previous company had decided to move
the accounting department to New York, which meant that there was no
position for me there. This decision was released in January of 2006. I
stayed on the staff, expecting the change to happen approximately in
September 2006. The change over was pushed back to aproximately Jan 2007
then finally to April 2007. With the probability of further schedule
push backs, and the prospect of job searching during my Finals or even
during the busy summer season, I ended up accepting a job with Vinyl
Specialist, an established and growing Utah fencing company as the
Admin/Finance Manager. I am excited about this opportunity.
February 2007 – Valentines Candy…
January
27, 2007 - This has been a busy and tiring month for us. Wendy's father
passed away in the beginning and it has been a struggle to anchor things
down ever since. The memorial is located
here. We continue our hopes to adopt
too.
December
25, 2006 - We wish you our best with this year's
Christmas letter.
September
16, 2006 - Wendy received a new church calling today. She is now the 1st
counselor to the Relief Society President. This replaces her old calling
of youth (ages 12-17) Sunday School Teacher. The funny thing is that I
was recently called to help Wendy teach that class and now I'm teaching
it by myself along with my other calling as Membership Clerk.
Our Branch President
hinted that there might be something else in line for me in the near
future but I hope whatever it may be I will still be able to teach the
youth. I love the calling and it reminds me of when I was a visitor at
Seminary after I first joined the church. Sister Kuntz was the teacher
and she loved the students so much that even though she was called as
the Relief Society President only two months into the school year, she
still wanted to finish teaching her students till the end of the year.
September
3, 2006 - The new Artemis Fowl book, The Lost Colony, is out and I got
it as a present for Wendy. Neither of us has had a chance to read it yet
though. The new Series of Unfortunate Events book is out now too. It's
more like a branch from the series since it's a series of letters rather
than an actual story.
August
18, 2006 - My favorite new thing is
YouTube.com where you can sort through thousands of videos uploaded
by other users. You can check out a play list right
here (Link Removed.)
August
9, 2006 - I have a two week break from school. I am ecstatic to report
that I got a 97% on my Managerial Accounting Final. I went home and
celebrated by kissing Wendy and lying down to read more of Shadow
Puppets by Orson Scott Card, which I finished tonight. Wendy is away
at the church for the scrapbooking club she runs. She fills the car with
bags and cases of scrapbook supplies and spends the evening with others
from the branch (which might become a ward very soon) once a month.
Ever since our long car trip to Vegas, I
have had lower back problems. I went to a doctor last Tuesday and they
game me some medicine (anti flammatory and some heavy Ibuprofen) to see
if it will heal itself.
Note: May 2007, I haven't had any back
problems since.
July
24, 2006 - This weekend we were in Las Vegas (a city with beautiful
buildings and awful billboards)
with my parents and my nephew Nicky.
My parents performed in the Nation Community
Band 2006, which was a tribute to the music of John Phillip Sousa. The
band sounded outstanding. They will produce a CD of the performance and
I look forward to getting my own copy.
On Saturday evening we went to see
the Blue Man Group,
a performance group. The show was full of talent, music, paint, and tons
of white paper. If you ever get a chance to see them I would strongly
suggest it.
July
19, 2006 -
Yesterday after work when Wendy and Nick came to pick me up, we noticed that
the car made an awful clicking noise as it accelerated so this morning I
took the car into the local Saturn dealership for inspection. It turned
out that there
was oil problem which cause a rod in the engine to malfunction and we'll
need a new engine. Wendy and I thought maybe we'd trade the
car in for a new one but in
the end we decided
to get the car
fixed (put in a new used engine) and also buy our second car, a 2007
Saturn Vue, storm grey color. We're excited about our new car and it
will take some time for the old one to be fixed so we'll be driving our
Vue to Vegas this weekend to see my parents perform. My favorite part
about the new car is that it plays MP3s.
July
15, 2006 - As construction on our condominiums comes to a close (a few
more months left) the HOA company had a home owners meeting to select an
HOA committee. Wendy and I attended, I volunteered and got voted in as
the President of the HOA. I have been actively engaged ever since. We
have our first committee meeting the first of August which is when
things will really start working.
My nephew Nicky has been visiting ever since
Wednesday and he will be here through the next week. Wendy and I are
having fun with him. Next weekend we're going to go see my parents
perform in Las Vegas (5 hours away from here) then my parents will drive
home with Nicky the next day.
July
9, 2006 - We are back from Alaska spending the day with Wendy's parents
before we return home. The cruise was wonderful, we ate eight to ten
square meals a day (with exquisite dinners and free room service), saw
many wonderful performances, beat five other teams to win at Family
Feud, spend a lot of time playing games and hanging out with our Roberts
cousins (Wendy and I beat Henry and Patrick at basketball,) and had fun
in all of the cities and town we visited. There were live musicians all
over the boat which was one of my favorite parts about the whole time.
Also, while the parents were tasting wine and champagne, Shirley Temple
became the drink of choice for us and our cousins.
June
29, 2006 - This will be l
ast day of work for over a week because we are
going on an Alaskan Cruise with my mom's side of the family. My Grandma
Dee set up this trip for the family before she passed away and we're all
really grateful for the opportunity to go on an Alaskan Cruise. I'm sure
she would have loved having us on the cruise with her too.
We'll be flying out tomorrow evening then take a train from Anchorage to
the port for sail. The cruise will be for one week on Royal Caribbean
cruise line.
June
12, 2006 - So we took Wendy into the doctor last week and found that she
had a cyst the size of a softball in her pelvis. We were given option to
wait it out and watch it, or to have surgery and remove it. Of course we
choose to get it out of there since we already know it's been there for
a very long time.
Wendy had surgery yesterday and the actually
removed two cysts and we learned that it was not ovarian cysts like the
doctor thought but it was fallopian related, which means they shouldn't
be returning and it would never be cancerous. Today Wendy has some
friends coming to say with her while I am at work so Joan & Roberta from
school came and some friends from our Branch came too.
June
4, 2006 - The school year is officially over now and Wendy has a piece
of the summer to enjoy and recuperate. Unfortunately she has come down
with some stomach illness and has been out of commission all weekend.
What a great way to start the summer. She's feeling a little better now.
I'm looking forward to taking her to new restaurant I found called Osaka
so we can celebrate the summer with some really good Japanese food.
June
3, 2006 - The following is a letter I wrote to my local Utah and not so
local Washington state Senators about an issue that has been brought to
my attention and will go into vote on Tuesday:
"Regarding the marriage protection
amendment, please vote yes.
"I feel it is correct to specify that a
legal marriage and all the benefits that come with it should be
classified between one man and one woman and not any other variation
that could arise.
"1) Marriage is a term that should mean
commitment to a spouse and a family, it is a relationship based on
mutual nurturing and love and one that can perpetuate the same love
through generations. Selfishness in marriage partners has created
instability in the concept of marriage that is greatly recognized in the
western world today. Often the actually union of marriage is purposely
ignored for the fear of commitment or bases on the high rates of
divorce. Marriage should stand for stability rather than be a harbinger
of doom and those who abuse the right of marriage should be punished
within the law (e.g. adultery, abuse...) In other words, a strong
marriage and a loving family is the solution to most of America's social
issues.
"2) Homosexual activities and alliances are
an individuals choices but not one that should be directly assaulted or
protected by the U.S. Government. Homosexuality may in fact be genetic
and a person may be born or choose to homosexual but that shouldn't make
it automatically morally correct. Alcoholism can be genetic too, so can
so many other positive and negative traits and issues. Society has some
issues that I consider to be morally incorrect, same sex partners is one
because they only provide immediate gratification for the participants
and are not biologically sound to perpetuate the human race; the same is
for pre-marital sex, incest and pornography.
"I hope you will vote for a simple means to
properly define marriage in a society that already believes schools,
government & society are at fault for children's progress, rather than
focusing on the family stability itself.
"Sincerely, Aaron Glass"
May 22, 2006 -
Wendy and I finished setting up our home office this weekend. Wendy had
repainted the walls and the base-boards during the previous week
and we finally got out new furniture delivered. Courtesy of my parents,
we also have a brand new, super fast computer, to replace our old one
that finally broke down after years of faithful service and some new
(amazing) music software to help take my time away from school work.
Pictures will be made available shortly.
May 20, 2006 -
I got my grades from UVSC for last quarter and I am glad to say that I
am continuing my 4.0 average that I had going at BYU. Right now I am on
track to complete my Bachelors in Accounting in April 2008. Afterward it
will be 2 more years for my Masters Degree and to become a Certified
Public Accountant (CPA.)
Life takes you on quite the journey and
everything always work out for the proverbial "best". My life is one
long chain of good fortune. When my dad was in the military we moved
around a lot. In 8th grade we moved back to Washington state. I had
never been popular but at this new school I had made a lot of friends
and was considered cool. Unfortunately I turned into quite a jerk and
picked on others whenever the opportunity arose. I was only at that
school for one quarter and thought everything was perfect when my
family moved to Kent Washington, I had no friends and was back to being
a geek. I was picked on relentlessly and decided that I would not do the
same to others ever again. My personality developed during these years
into who I am morally and institutionally today. Even though I'm still
arrogant and conceited, at least I'm tolerable.
In high school I had my first girlfriend, we
got along well since we both were geeks. Two things came from this,
first, I met my great friend Orlando. Second, I never got mixed up with
the crowd of people who do inappropriate things, such as drugs or
premarital issues.
Later my second girlfriend introduced me to
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and with her family's
positive influence I joined the church and learned the principles of
salvation. Her sister got me a job at Wizards of the Coast, and I got my
friend Orlando to hire on there also. At Wizards of the Coast, Orlando
met his future wife and eventually joined the church also.
With my new affiliation with the church I
decided to serve a 2 year mission. I was sent to Japan where the girl
who would one day become my wife, Wendy, was also serving as a
missionary. Through fate we both happened to return home from Japan on
the same day, became good friends, started dating, fell in love and got
married, (Orlando was the best man.)
After getting married Wendy and I made the
decision to move to Utah so she could finish school at BYU. I had to
find a job in Utah really quick and ended up working as an office clerk.
through time I worked my way up to the position of Finance Manager. I
found my career in Accounting and I am now attending school for that
same degree. Wendy and I will be financially comfortable for a long time
to come because of this and I never would have discovered accounting if
we hadn't moved to Utah (and what a great career who someone who
considers themselves slightly OCPD.)
So here it is, 2006, Wendy and I have a
home, we are preparing to adopt and in two moths we will be dept
free (except for our Mortgage.) In the good times and the bad,
everything has had a purpose and I thank my Father in Heaven for helping
me to see what great blessings I have received.
April 06, 2006
- On April 5, Grandma Dee Roberts passed away in her home in Minnesota.
Uncle Steve informed my parents and my parents called me. I will miss
her greatly but find joy that she will be reunited with Grandpa Roberts
who passed in 2003.
April 05, 2006
- Today at 1:02 and three seconds it will be 1:02.03 04/05/06.
It has been a busy testing week. First of
all I had the third test for my accounting class. We got the scores of
the multiple choice section back on Monday. The class average was 58%
and I was in the upper percentile with a 72%. Our teacher stated that
this was a good test because he can see who put forth the effort and
will know how to augment our grades at the end of the class.
I also took my Utah Divers License test. It
was an open book test with only 25 questions so I got a 100% on it. The
weird thing though is that as I took my test, I heard other people
getting the scores to their tests and having to retake it because they
didn't pass. There was about five people in this predicament and I sat
there wondering to myself, do we really want these people on the road?
February
26, 2006 - There have been some major changes in the life of the Glass
family.... no, not my family, but the Glass Sr. family, namely that of
my parents. After a few months of trying to sell their home they have
decided to give up and keep their home. This makes sense since a new,
smaller home would cost more than what the owe of their current home.
The timing is good too because my sister Josie and her family have just
moved back in with my parents.
My dad also has acquired a new position at
Microsoft doing web related solutions so he is keeping anxiously engaged
in all of the new items he has there.
February
22, 2006 - I finally got my test results back for my first class at UVSC
in the accounting program, the class average was 81% and I got a 93%.
It's funny how after years and years of getting mediocre grades in grade
school and early college, I'm
getting repetitive 4.0s. It's not particularly easy to be an 'A' student
in college, at BYU or UVSC, but it's not difficult either as long as one
applies themselves. Life can change so subtly that it takes a good look
at grades to notice that something has really happened. When I first
joined the church I had thought I was already where I needed to be and
didn't have much to change (e.g. I already didn't drink caffeine,
alcohol or smoke) and of course one never sees themselves change but
only looks back afterwards and compares then to now. I thank my Heavenly
Father daily for all of the wonderful things he has bestowed upon me in
my life, not least of all is my wonderful wife and support, Wendy.
January
1, 2006 - Heidi & James (Wendy's sister & brother-in-law) came to visit
us for a few days last week along with our nieces & nephew. One
afternoon we decided to visit Park City and the outlet malls after
visiting some relatives. The entire day we were valiantly braving the
snow and on the way back we got caught in traffic. A forty minute drive
turned into several hours. and we were all tired by the time we returned
home. Ethan, the youngest ended up getting sick and had a temperature of
105. Once they had returned home it turned out that Ethan had two ear
infections. In the end he recovered and we learned a valuable lesson...
snow makes the traffic bad.
December
27, 2005 - I had a choice. I simply wanted to find a game I could play
over my week off, would it be Spider-man or X-men Legends. Nope, in the
end I choose and new game called City of Heroes. It's a MMORPG (Massive
Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) which I didn't realize when I
bought it, neither could it be returned so I started the game by
creating a hero then I took that character into the virtual world. It's
a really fun game and it'll be sad when my trial month is over and
they'll expect me to pay to play more, because I wont.
December
24, 2005 - Wendy and I enjoyed Christmas this Saturday morning. Tomorrow morning
we will have church at 9:00am with choir practice preceding and I'm not
used to interrupting my own Christmas ritual of with two hour away from
home in the morning. In turn, Wendy and I will be able to appreciate
Christmas for what it is, a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
I'm glad to separate the two. Besides, Jesus was not even born in
December.
Wendy has been spending her time (since
Thursday evening) building a new closet shelf system for our master
bedroom. It has been tiring work for her and the bulk of it still fills
our family room. It will be a great accomplishment once it's complete.
December
11, 2005 - I am sick this weekend, I've been slightly sick for two weeks
now, with only a runny, stuffy nose but it hit hard last night.
Yesterday morning I helped an older couple move out of our Branch and
spent four and a half hours back and forth in the cold so it's possible
that my cold was aggravated by that. Wendy went to church alone this
morning and has been pampering me ever since. Isn't marriage wonderful!
December
5, 2005 - Removing the detail of the situation for a far future date, we
were asked by an anonymous party to deliver a Christmas package of
$900.00 dollars in gift certificates to a family with seven children and
one income. We showed up as they were finishing dinner and preparing to
start their Family Home Evening about service projects. They were a
really wonderful family, strong and happy and Wendy & I were blessed to
participate in such a magnificent blessing in their lives.
December
4, 2005 - Today our Stake is being reorganized with a new Presidency.
This will be a first to see for Wendy and I. We had leadership and adult
meetings yesterday with Elder Merrill J. Bateman who is a President of
the quorums of the Seventy. At the adult session, Elder Bateman asked
for a teacher with really nice handwriting to assist him. I volunteered
Wendy so she got to meet Elder Bateman and act as a scribe for him. When
he asked Wendy's age and she said "a quarter of a century", he went into
a little tangent about youth and living a long healthy life. It was a
delightful experience and I hope we'll have him visit the Stake often.
December
3, 2005 - My friend Brian (from work) came over this morning to record
some vocal tracks that will hopefully be included on this year's
Christmas CD. At the same time Wendy has been making candies and tree
ornaments to give away this Christmas. She had her friend Mandy over to
help her.
December
2, 2005 - I received an e-mail this morning stating how my company would
be getting rid of a lot of old equipment. I went over to the I.T.
department and found a few laptop that were available, so I left and
waited until the preset time then returned in hopes of claiming my
prize. A few people were interested in the laptops so we had a drawing
and I won first dibs. I now have my new laptop and I've been using it to
create new card decks for a card game called
Epic Duels.
November
24, 2005 - Happy Thanksgiving! We forgot to take the turkey out of the
freezer on Sunday so we thought we'd never had out Turkey thawed on time
but with Wendy's ingenuity and a little help from mom Nievaard, had a
wonderfully yummy turkey done in time for Thanksgiving lunch.
November
20, 2005 - We have been waiting ever
since we moved to Pleasant Grove for our new church building to be
finished and now after only two extra months of waiting, we have out
first services in the new building today. This afternoon there will be a
building dedication. Our little branch is very happy about this but are
also less excited that they would have been had it happened two months
ago.
This evening we have a stake fireside. I
will be participating in a cantata about the life of Joseph Smith,
celebrating 200 years since his birth. It is full of beautiful music and
is narrated by
David
Nibley, who started in the movie The Best Two Years. I will
be playing the oboe part, transposed for my Alto Sax.
November
2, 2005 - My friend Orlando has turned the insurmountable 28 years old.
For you, Orlando, I put together a little
Public Service Announcement.
October 22, 2005 - Wendy and I celebrated my birthday
Thursday evening. She had Thursday and Friday off this week for teachers
UEA weekend so she spent Thursday shopping around for my birthday
presents. Wendy has never been able to sustain her excitement when she
buys presents, so we never seem to be able to wait for the day of the
holiday to celebrate it. Besides a bag full of various dark chocolate
candy and clothing, she bought me a few DVDs, CDs & books. I also go a
new leather bag to carry my stuff around in. As for the candy, most of
the Oreos disappeared while I was at work on Friday.
October 19, 2005 - Today on my evening trip to the bank I
ended up locking my keys in the car. I called Wendy and fortunately she
had a friend at school who lived down in Provo, so she was able to get a
ride down to unlock the car. While I waited I decided to put my time to
used and see if I could get into the car somehow. I walked around the
car and found the rear passenger window open a fraction of an inch. Then
I search the parking lot for anything that could prove useful and I
found two types of branches. One was a little too thick with knots where
the branches had been. The other was thin and stiff with little sticks
protruding from it. I devised a scheme as follows: First I took the comb
from my pocket and pushed it through the crack in the window (it would
barely squeeze through) and I pushed the rubber lining out of the
crevice to create a little more room to work with. Then I pushed the
stick through the window so it would land teetering across my bag in the
back seat. I removed my neck tie and using a loose string at the end of
it, tied my comb to the neck tie. Pushing the comb-tie through the
crack, I lowered it to the stick and swung it back & forth to gain
enough momentum to swing the comb-tie around the stick, with intentions
to snag the stick and pull it over, yank and unlatch the lock. As I was
engrossed with my plan, Wendy showed up and unlocked the door. I wasn't
fast enough. but given more time, I bet it would have worked.
October 15, 2005 - Wendy and I took a part of today to drive
down the canyon and take some long overdue photos of ourselves. I put
together a little
desktop background with two of those pictures.
Also I am including a link
to a song I transcribed for my dad.
Anything, by Don Burrows.
October 11, 2005 - As Wendy and I wait for the next
installment in the Series of Unfortunate Events books this month,
I found some time to put to paper my thought on the latest Harry Potter
book. For all of those out there who have not read the book yet, please
don't read my editorial yet. This will be full of spoilers and I would
rather have you read the books and enjoy them for what they are because
they really are quite the little masterpieces. For my Harry Potter book
six editorial, click
here.
October 10, 2005 - I just started working on a web project
for my company so I end up putting in an extra hour each day. In turn
Wendy was able to secure a ride home from school with a friend so she
wont have to wait for me to pick her up.
We had
General Conference just a little bit ago and we also had a convert
baptism in our branch the same weekend. It is wonderful to be able to
take a weekend and listen to the words of a Prophet.
September 25, 2005 - Aaron's birthday is coming up again at
the end of October and I put together his wish list on
Amazon.com. Just click "Wish List"
and type in his e-mail address. - Wendy
September 3, 2005 - In remembrance of what New Orleans has
always had and the good things it may once again become, I put together a
Desktop Wallpaper. I find this helps me to
keep the people who suffered from
Hurricane
Katrina in my thoughts and prayers.
September 2, 2005 - Wendy wrote recently,
"My
first week and a half of school has been interesting to say the least. I
had eight students cry, sob, or otherwise shed a tear on more than one
occasion. I had to pick one student up and bring him in the classroom.
One mother and I pulled a girl in kicking and crying. The secretary
brought a girl in who tried to run home. Another girl bit her sister
trying to escape. I pried a girl's hand off the door and dragged her in.
Finally, there were a few who walked in, sat down, and just started
crying. WHEW! I was not ready for that... but today was the first day
that everyone came in by their own free will. It was a good day!
"This positive change may
have been due to a talk we had the previous day about the "sad bug." I
pretended like I caught the sad bug in my hands so nobody else could get
it. We talked about being friends and all of that good stuff. Everyone
was giggling by the end and I set goals with my escapees and criers. Oh
happy day! It's a lot of fun when everything goes smoothly and I hope
things continue to settle down. Just thought I'd tell you what first
graders are like!!!
"PS - I still have one boy
who can't reach the counter to get his lunch... but it's really cute!"
August 20, 2005 - In an astounding 11Mb of furry, I bring
you my first project to test my computer's new multi-track
recording system. After hours of recording all of the parts,
editing and finally settling for less, I bring you my own
watered down version of
Rhinoceros, written by the Smashing Pumpkins. I would
suggest that you right click this file and choose the option to
save it to your computer before you try to listen to it.
August 14, 2005 - This weekend Wendy and I went camping with
Garrett and Brittany at the Wasatch Mountain State Park. Last
night as we took a late night (early morning ) stroll to the
restrooms we noticed that the sky was amazingly clear and filled
with stars. It looked like a photo taken of deep space stars,
with swirling masses and everything. Next time we go camping
we're going to go tent-less.
We also visited the outlet mall in
Park City, kind of near the Wasatch Park. I picked up a new book
called The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer. I am extremely
happy with it, especially considering the twist the book took in
Chapter 7 which I had never heard of happening before in a book.
Recently I have also read The Italian Secretary:
A Further Adventure of Sherlock
Holmes by Caleb Carr. I am happy to report that Caleb's
approach to the characters rivals, if not dwarfs, Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle's own renditions. And through the suggestion of my
Grandpa Glass, I have read The Pilgrim's Progress by John
Bunyan. This was a very old novel of itself, and the copy I
obtained from my dad was printed in the 1860s. It is a very
straight forward novel about a Christian's Journey, or simply, a
Pilgrim's Progress.
And finally, I am
re-reading the Book of Mormon, which, like the Bible,
deserves to be read, reread and studied as often one can make
time to. Out of every book I would ever recommend, The Book of
Mormon is on the top of the list. Besides the moral and
spiritual lessons it teaches, the book's purpose is to testify
that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of mankind and it does that
job very well. The witness of Jesus Christ provided in the Book
of Mormon gives an individual the opportunity to feel the Spirit
of God and to learn for themselves what the book teaches is true
and because of this, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ
today.
July 30, 2005 - Wendy finished reading Harry Potter and the
Half Blood Prince today and I finished it last week while on
vacation in Washington state. We both enjoyed it thoroughly. I
would have liked to express some opinions about it now but I'll
wait because I know there a quite a few who have not read it
yet.
A while ago I follow
my dad's foot steps and got a "My
Space" from MSN. This is basically a place to have your own
website and share information without having to program. I would
invite all to check it out and even consider setting up your own
so that we can all be up to day on the latest news.
July 26, 2005 - We just returned from a week long vacation
in Washington. We visited family and friends on the Glass and
Nievaard side of the family. Although it was too short it was a
well appreciated break.
July 08, 2005 - Tonight we had the last softball game of the
season, we lost by one point so we might not have ended up first
place in our division but that's alright. There's always next
year.
Following the softball game we went on a double date to see
Fantastic Four. I thought it was really well made and
entertaining. The movie theater we went to was right by our old
apartment so as we started driving home we almost went there
rather than head to our new home further north. But we made it
home safely in the end.
It's ironic how I have more time now that I'm between classes
again yet I always seem to find ways to spread myself too thin
and even though I end up doing a lot of things, I leave some of
the more important tasks in need. It's a uphill battle and I
need to make sure to prioritize what is really important right
now.
June 19, 2005 - We will be in Park City this entire weekend
for the
International Association of Jazz Educators Teacher Training
Institute. I will be attending clinics such as, Rhythm Section
101, Starting & Maintaining a Jazz Program, Big Band Rehearsal
Techniques, Sax Section 101 and more. Each day after the clinics
Wendy and I will have fun in and around Park City.
June 18, 2005 - It was a crazy day today but everything
worked out great. We took care of home stuff, got the mail key
from the mailman, had our dryer installed (it needed a "new"
cord), had the internet installed and we had our couches
delivered.
I had my finals at
BYU and they all went smoothly. They best part is that my
religion teacher, Brother Manscill, wants to work with me on my
paper about Joseph Smith to get it published. I was walking on
air all day after that.
June 15, 2005 - We moved in last night from 7:30 to 10:30
pm. A lot of our friends helped us to load up the van and then
they came with us to our new home to unload. We're very
fortunate to know sure great people. Afterwards we ate pizza.
May 30, 2005 - Happy Memorial Day. Since I have today off
Wendy and I decided to do absolutely nothing. Eventually we went
furniture shopping and out for dinner. We also stopped by our
condominium to
take some pictures.
May 29, 2005 - Wendy is finished with school this year. Now
she has the entire summer to relax, apparently the first summer
she's had off since she was 16. This summer we will be moving to
our new condominium, taking a vacation back home in Washington
and I will be attending a Jazz clinic in Park City. We'll
probably fit a camping trip or two in there also.
May 27, 2005 - A few months ago I discovered
Wikipedia,
a type of online Encyclopedia where anyone can add or edit
information. I have been spending some time here and there
working on the entry for Joseph Smith, Jr. This, combined with
my Religion Class at BYU, has been a time for quite some
enlightenment.
When Joseph Smith Jr. died there was something known as a
"succession crisis" where some people declared their own
intended stewardship over the church.
The majority of the members followed the quorum of the 12
Apostles and Brigham Young, the head of the quorum, became the
second President of the Church.
The interesting part is that all of the others who claimed to
have authority over the church were not apostles. Joseph Smith
Jr. himself was not sustained as the President of the church
until after he had been called as an Apostle. One of the many
points of doctrine that the Catholics and the LDS church agree
on is that Peter, as the head of the ancient apostles became the
head of the church on earth after Jesus Ascended into heaven. So
in practice, ever since Jesus Christ has called his first
Apostles, only those who were called could lead in the Kingdom
of God.
I just thought that was interesting.
May 3, 2005 - Life is getting pretty crazy now with
homework, work & other responsibilities. The good news for this
week though is that I will be able to study saxophone over the
summer with Ray Smith, the head of Jazz and Saxophone at BYU.
May 1, 2005 - Our computer had a crash last week so we've
been out of commission until yesterday. Now we're back up again with our
new layout.
I'm back doing college again
with 3 classes this term. At the same time Wendy is finishing up this
year of teaching and is looking forward to a nice summer. Her birthday
has just come and gone (April 27) and she was able to build up her
wardrobe while getting some new items for our new condo, which will be
finished in mid June.
Click
Here
for the song of the day! (Link dead)
April
14, 2005 - Wendy's birthday is coming up on April 27th.
Wendy is done with College.
She got a 191 out of 200 on her Praxis test (Early Childhood Education).
The average for the test was 184. Also, Wendy got a 89.4% on her Teacher
Work Sample. This was really good considering a lot of others failed the
test all together. I'm really proud of her. She's really happy to be
finished.
Wendy and
I have just joined the Larson Davis company softball team. Games are
every Friday starting this Friday. We went out to buy mitts and some
matching track pants but we couldn't find the right size for the right
price (all of the cheap ones where either size Small or XXXL). We ended up
going out 3 evenings this week, and still no pants.
This past
weekend I put my G.I.Joes up for sale on
Ebay. I'll be sad to get rid of them
but on the other hand, they're not that important. And I don't have a
place to put them anymore.
March
26, 2005 - Last weekend we went on a family vacation to Vail Colorado.
We used to go yearly but now, it's been 10 years since I've been. Wendy
was able to ski for her first time and she picked it up perfectly right
away. I think the best part was seeing all of my cousins again who I
haven't see since the beginning of 2003. Click for pictures of the
Vail Vacation.
The good news so far is that
we're now getting ready to move into a new condo. It's a lot bigger than
our current apartment. It is being built right now up in Pleasant Grove
and we get to pick all of the options we want like floors, carpet,
counters and more. It has 3 bed rooms, a large family room and big
closets. We still have a few months left until it's read though.
The bad news though is that we
returned from Vail with a letter in the mail box explaining that I did
not get into the BYU music program yet. I've been pretty down about it
but it'll be alright. I've been spending my time on music theory and
reading Orson Scott Card Books to keep me pleasantly occupied.
March
5, 2005 - Wendy had parent teacher conferences this last week and over
all it went really well. This morning she has her Praxis test at BYU.
Also, on President's Day there was no school so Wendy built an easel to
use in her class room.
Wendy's Easel
As for me, I won a bi-weekly
Ninja turtles drawing contest with the following,
Raphael. Also the song you hear in the
background (if your sound is turned on) is the song that I will be
performing at the up-coming Ward Talent Show in commemoration of 200
years since the birth of the first Prophet of this dispensation, Joseph
Smith.
February
16, 2005 - I was correct in my last entry about it being a long week.
The following day I was approached by the CFO of our company about
cut-backs in my department. I had to choose someone to be let go so I made the
choice and the next day I was looking for a new job. I have now
relocated to Larson Davis. I have been there for three days now and I
feel comfortable with what the situation is turning out to be.
On another note Wendy and I
have put money down on our new condo which will be finished in late
June/July. We're really looking forward to moving in there with more
room and less problems. It will also be a place we can own ourselves and
get some equity built.
I also had my audition for
the BYU music program on Jan 29th but I wont know the results until
early March. Wendy's in the interview process to find a school to teach
at next year. Her principle, supervisors & BYU liaison seem to think
that she's wonderful (which she is) so she shouldn't have a problem finding
a permanent school after this internship. Today though, Wendy's students
apparently missed her a lot while she was gone for a Math Observation
because when she returned her students were so excited to have her back
that they clapped and cheered and one gave her a hug. I guess that means
that her students think that she's wonderful too.
January
25, 2005 - It's only Tuesday on this "sure to be long",
week. The follows is designed to help you spend the time properly.
Clip1,
Clip2
January
21, 2005 - This has been one long, productive week for us. On Tuesday
night we went to Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Band at
Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake City. It was a great concert, Wynton was on,
the pianist was young and has hope, the bass player sang as he soloed,
the Bari Sax player had the best Bari tone I have ever heard in my life,
the last song lasted
way too long and we won free tickets to see DanceBrazil (based on
Capoeira fighting style)
in February.
Wednesday I had ward visits
and Thursday I went on exchanges with the missionaries so I have been
out visiting people a lot these last few days. In between work and
evening activities we have had many errands including car issues. Wendy
has been evaluated this week in her 3rd grade class by her BYU liaison
and then the schools principle. In both evaluation she got almost
perfect scores. She's doing great at teaching even though it can be
difficult at times, especially as she gets more tired during the week.
Tonight is an opportunity to start recouping.
Tonight was Ward temple
night. Wendy was too sore to go (but we did get her a new Temple dress)
and although I went, I was left in the hallway to direct ward member to
the right waiting room. When it came time for everyone to go one in I
was forgotten (along with another brother) and since the waiting line to
get in was doubling back all around the second floor of the Temple, I
opted to return home. Wendy was surprised but happy to see me.
Tomorrow Wendy and I are
going suit shopping because my suit pants tore on Thursday (the second
and final suit pants.) I also will be practicing with my friend Hyrum,
who plays piano and will accompany me on my audition for the BYU music
program. Then we will be going house shopping with a Realtor.
December
31, 2004 - Sir Francis Bacon is quoted for saying, "Knowledge is power."
Stan Lee wrote through the mouth of Peter Parker, "With great power
comes great responsibility." Therefore for the well read the end result
is, "with great Knowledge come great responsibility" and "power" is only
a step that a few too many dwell upon.
December
26, 2004 - Wendy and I are enjoying the Christmas Holiday in
Washington state. We have been reading books and spending time
with our families. On Christmas morning we were at my
parents house and in the afternoon we
went to Wendy’s families house. I haven’t even checked my work
E-mail once and I have another week of vacation.
We have finished the Christmas CD for 2004, late the evening
before we left for Washington. For some reason music has always
been easier to complete with a deadline. Every other year was
the same and will probably continue to be. We you have a
deadline you can’t kill the details. Click
Here
for the new Christmas album
December
17, 2004 - I would like to solve the greatest mystery of Jr. High
School. Does Hermione Love Harry or Ron? First of all Harry likes
another girl, but that relationship didn't turn out quite as he
envisioned, so he's put out and has his eyes on no one else. Ron doesn't
have his mind on any girls at all, he's into Quidditch and a little self
involved. Hermione is frequently annoyed with Ron because of his lack of
tact in speaking. They are friends but Hermione is genuinely annoyed
with Ron too often. Hermione has a great respect for Harry boosted by
the fact that she really does like him. She is very comfortable with him
and her feelings for him are mature which is why they can stay such good
friends even though Harry has not really though of dating Hermione yet.
Hermione has a pen-pall in Victor Krum, and although Krum likes her, I'm
pretty sure she writes an awful lot about Harry. Krum has even been
quoted as praising Harry which means that Harry definitely comes up in
their letters. J. K. Rawlin has said that in her writing, she felt like
she made it clear who likes who and I agree and praise her on her
understanding of the young mind. Chapter 21 of Order of the Phoenix is
a good example.
December
11, 2004 - Wendy and I are preparing to go home for Christmas. It is
expected to be a very uneventful trip, which is just the way we prefer
it to be. Work has been very eventful for each of us with a million and
one small stories to tell. We'll surely be able to share these over this
vacation. I am looking forward most of all to my music audition for the
BYU music program in January. I have already passed the aural test which
was a big fiasco in and of itself. (I got the number to schedule the
testing center time from the web page. That number, when called, gave me
another number to call which led me to another web page which had
another number to call which ended up giving me an E-mail address to
write to.)
Wendy likes to buy clothes.
Her favorite color combination is pink and grey. Wendy also has a new
hobby of watching an unfinished puzzle sit on our family room table. New Christmas pictures
Here also.
November
13, 2004 - The Jazz Band played at the North Park Stake Grand Ball this
last October and you can hear clips of the performance on the
Jazz Band
Web Site. Before that Wendy took me on a vacation for my birthday to the
mountains of Utah. We have pictures in our little web based photo album
Here. We also went to the Ward Halloween Chili Cook-Off. Wendy was
dressed as a sun burnt skier and I was Indian Jones. In November We have
been preparing for our own Thanksgiving here and for Christmas we will
be returning home to Washington. I have been spending a fair amount of
time practicing and preparing for my Audition to get into the BYU Music
Program and a little less time composing and arranging.
Click
Here to hear one of the new Christmas songs for the 2004
Christmas album.
November
5, 2004 - We are long over due for an update and there has been quite a
few requests. so here is an update. Click
Here
for something cool!
September
15, 2004 - I just wanted to remind everyone that Aaron's birthday is
coming up in October and I have his wish list. - Wendy
August
19, 2004 - All week Wendy has been preparing for her first week of solo
teaching. She has been running all over the place to get everything
done. As for me I'm still working, my great friend Garrett Best works
with me now in my department. We tear it up. Also this past weekend I
drew a picture of
Wendy.
August
11, 2004 - Getting ready for Jazz Band again, here is your sheet music
Dave.
Part 1,
Part 2,
(Links removed)
August
2, 2004 - Wendy and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary a week ago by
going to a private little shore on a lake and spending the afternoon in
the sun. Although Wendy is still peeling we both had a great time. As for
presents, Wendy got me a new set of scriptures (because she thought my old
set was a little too ratty) and she got some clothes and shoes.
This
last weekend we both crammed for, and took our History midterm. We both
felt that we did better on this one than the first midterm but we'll have
to wait to see our final score. Wendy is also preparing her class room for
the upcoming school year. She'll be teaching 3rd grade.
July
18, 2004 - Aaron took Friday off from work this weekend so that we could
attend the wedding of another mission friend,
Ben Penick to Jenny Best
(one of many friends who are getting married this year).
The wedding was in the Salt Lake Temple along with 64 other weddings
held there that day! They are a really cute couple!! We went to their
reception at the Best house in Payson. They held it in the backyard so
it was really nice. Gray clouds loomed overhead, but luckily it didn't
rain... until today.
We just got about 10 feet of rain dumped on
us in about an hour. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that much, but it was
enough that we couldn't get to our apartment. The sidewalk and street
was completely flooded with over a foot of rain sitting there. Aaron
climbed the fence and pulled the car around to get me. Meanwhile, I
walked all the way down the street around the water and came back to our
building just as he pulled out of our parking lot. I hopped in the car
and we drove through the water to park the car again. As we drove
through, the water splashed over the roof of our car... I wonder if our
wheels were even on the ground halfway through the puddle! It was quite
an event. All of the kids were outside looking at the giant puddle so we
took pictures and posted them here for you to see as
Small Flood.
We also had our cabinets refinished last
week, so we decided to paint our kitchen. It looks really good now. We
also celebrate our one year anniversary tomorrow! I bought Aaron a new
set of scriptures. He is getting ready to mark a bunch of scriptures in
his new set. He took me shopping this weekend for some new clothes. Next
weekend we plan to go out camping or something to celebrate since we
have work and school tomorrow and the rest of the week. Besides the
major thunderstorm we just had, we have been having incredibly hot
weather. It makes you not even want to go outside, but I did play soccer
with a bunch of 8-year-olds all week for a school project! ... so it is
the fourth time this year that I have been peeling from yet another
sunburn!
June
26, 2004 (later) - Wendy is getting ready to spend a week at girls camp.
I spent a good portion of the day setting up the newest section to our
web page. Although it is not finished here is a preview.
Glass Web
June
26, 2004 - I am proud to report that in my first Quarter back from
college I got a 4.0. The Jazz Band is resting for a month and today is a
simple Saturday at home. I intend to do nothing but what I want (which
is not a few items at all). Last night Wendy and I went to see The
Best Two Years and we both loved it. This has been a movie month for
us, we saw Harry Potter And the Prisoner of Azkaban in the theater and
we update our home video collection with 5 more DVDs. Wendy never really
was a movie person before, she used to talk through the first half and
sleep through the second half but that has certainly changed. There is
also a new song in
My Portfolio.
June
13, 2004 - Wendy was feeling ill so all in all we stayed home for church
today. Currently I am reading Fishers of Men (highly recommended)
from the Kingdom and the Crown series by Gerald N. Lund. I have
been blessed to have received many insights in reading this book that
have brought me to a higher understanding of the emotion surrounding the
time of Christ. I have also notice that at the exact center of the book
the doctrine of the restored Gospel, principles such as "becoming like
God" and "little children are without sin", bloom into easily understood
concepts and teachings with the metaphorical teachings of Jesus Christ
understood and explained by on or the other main characters in the book.
The joy and excitement found in such a novel is a stark opposite to the
time I spent reading the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown which,
although it was full of deep research and interesting interpolations by
the author, the overall message was misleading and the book was embedded
with enough minor historical inaccuracies, opinions and theories that with an understanding in the history of the evolution of the Christian
Church and the work of DaVinci leads to logic holes in an otherwise
incredibly interesting and just slightly offensive concept novel. (How's that for a run-on sentence?)
June 8,
2004 - I would hate to monopolize all of this space with one topic but
that could be blamed on my lack of writing rather than the object at
hand. Here all of three of the songs that I promised to post so that the
Jazz band would get a chance to practice with the music.
Chattanooga Choo Choo
-
Take 5
-
Donut King (link
removed).
Also make sure to visit the site for the
Jazz Band.
May 31,
2004 - Happy Memorial Day. Wendy's Mom & Grandma are visiting from out
of town but unfortunately Grandma had some kind of stoke today and she
will be spending an evening in the hospital tonight. That will delay
their stay for at least one more day. As for Wendy and I, besides
visiting Grandma we have been cleaning and I have even taken some time
to record myself on the Trumpet.
Breezin' &
Motherless Child.
Also on the other side of the bridge Wendy and I are looking into being
homeowners for the duration of our Utah stay. We'll see what happens.
May 26,
2004 - Note to the Jazz Band, here is the recording of our new chart,
Donut King as performed by the
Jazz
Band at Oxford University.
Click Here
for the
MP3
&
Sheet
Music. (Link Removed)
April
28, 2004 - We celebrated Wendy's birthday (April 27th) on Monday with a
Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake. She also got some candles (that she can't
burn in our apartment), a purse and a Digital Camera. Now were back full
on in homework and school. I Had my first Book of Mormon class today and
Wendy is doing her Student Teaching with Ms. Watanabe. I also finished
the web page for the
North Park Stake Jazz Band.
April
19, 2004 - Wendy's newest class project/portfolio is all finished and
you can see it right here:
Wendy's Intasc Standards.
April
18, 2004 - Wendy is in the middle of her finals, she had two on Friday,
one on Saturday, another three Monday and another on Tuesday. Today
being the Sabbath day she is resting by scrap booking. She is working on
my mission scrap book and that should take a good amount of days... or
months... or something. This scrap book is a present for my last
birthday about 6 months ago. Starting next week Wendy will be student
teaching full time.
In the aftermath of the Stake Musical,
the Sound of Music, a few of the orchestra pit guys and I decided to
get together and start a Jazz Combo. After a little organization word
spread and now we are the North Park Stake Jazz band. My home teacher,
Hyrum Weibell (Piano) has been called as the Stake Jazz band director
and our first gig will be this Friday playing at the High Priest dinner.
April
11, 2004 - We enjoyed celebrating the resurrection of our Savior Jesus
Christ. That may very well have been the most important event of all
time. It was a happy Easter here at the Glass house. The Easter Bunny
snuck in and dropped off two baskets, a pink one with Candy & Gift
certificates for Michaels (Scrap books stuff) and Old Navy, the other
was a green basket with candy, four Ninja turtles & a pack of two
G.I.Joes. Guess whose was whose.
April
6, 2004 - At the end of march my parents visited for the first time and
got a feel of Utah. We went to Temple Square, BYU, my work place and out
to eat a lot. My parents also brought down a sewing machine for Wendy
and a Tenor Sax and a 5 String Bass for me. Wendy has been making dolls,
pillows and all sorts of things ever since.
This next semester at BYU I will be taking
3 classes, a religion class (BoM) and two music classes (Saxophone &
Trumpet). I am really looking forward to how this will all work out.
It's looking like we might very well be in Utah until I finish college
but that is still undetermined. Either way we expect to be moving in
July or August as our contract ends here. We're hoping to get a 3 story
apartment in this same area, just 2 blocks north.
March
13, 2004 - Wendy had an overnight experience at girls camp last night
while I spent the evening preparing with the orchestra pit for the
upcoming Sound of Music production. Practice was cut short due to
lighting and stage preparation so I came home had had the wonderful KFC
dinner that Wendy had previously bought for me to eat while she was
gone.
February
29, 2004 - I would have hated missing my only chance in 4 years to write
on the Leap day, (although I always avoid trying to spell out
"February".) This last month we have had a friend from Japan, Shintaro
Tanaka visit and stay with us for a week, followed by Wendy's parents
for a weekend. Were are taking a pro-active roll (with all of these
visits) on taking pictures for the scrap books that will have to be
made. We are looking forward to the visit of my parents in March and
Wendy's sister Heidi in April.
Two current web page projects include the
following Daniel
Murri.com and
BYU Japan club. I am currently learning
to play the Trumpet and Wendy is Student Teaching in the Alpine School
district.
January
27, 2004 - Not this last weekend but a weekend ago we had our Friends
Tomi & Naomi Huffman over. They had both also served in the same mission
as Wendy & I and it was great to take them around to see allot of our
friends and also to see Temple Square. We may be busy but it seems there
is always time for our friends.
January
10, 2004- Oh yeah, check out the Web pages we made for some of our
family this Christmas.
www.Gandalfe.net
January
3, 2004 - We have just returned from a week long vacation back home in
Seattle. We were able to visit with just about everyone we wanted to but
found that we didn't have as much time to visit with each other. I can
understand even more now what the church teaches about young couples not
living with their parents. We need to always have our time to develop
who we are together and the opportunities for this can be suppressed as
our quality time decreases.
December
21, 2003 - It is that time of year again where Christmas is on
everybody's lips and now we have our first
Christmas
Letter to all of our friends and family. Like many social
issues that have been around for a few seasons and become a pet project
in the public eye, I am very proud that the awareness of Christmas as a
celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ is remembered more often and
the commercial holiday spirit has lost some weight. C. S. Lewis put it
simply when he wrote, "Christianity,
if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The
only thing it cannot be is moderately important."
December
19, 2003 - Wendy and I are celebrating our 5 month anniversary today. We
plan to go out to Denny's and ice skating tomorrow night. There has been
some changes also in two areas. First I have a new calling in the church
as the Ward Executive Secretary and second, Jan 2004 marks my beginning
as a full time employee at Rimrock Technologies. Wendy and I are excited
for these changes and blessings in our lives.
November
22, 2003 - We were supposed to get a snowstorm last night, but we only
got an inch of snow and a lot of wind. I think the wind blew all
of the snow away! We saw the movie "Johnny Lingo" last night.
It is definitely one to own someday. We are taking is easy
today... Aaron is working on the web page some more while I make cards.
We'll have to get busy on cleaning the car and house soon!
November
18, 2003 - As of late, Wendy and I have been spending a good deal of our
time on Web Pages. We have recently entered the BYU E-Business Web Site
Building Competition (see
WOW - Africa) and we have also been
asked to make a web page for the BYU Japan Club (see
Japan Club). It has been a busy little
month. (Links Removed)
October
17, 2003 - Wendy has her new calling as the Stake Young Women Sport
Coordinator which now keeps her Saturday mornings busy. I guess that means
more Saturday morning cartoons for me. Well, ALL of the sections here have
been revamped. Check them out.
September
27, 2003 - A Control fire burn in the local canyon went a little out of
control so in the Utah Valley, especially here in the small Provo area,
there is a smoke cloud that surrounds the city. The mountains, which are
usually right in front of our faces, have been literally missing in first
part of the day time. I guess you could call that faith to move the
mountains, David Copperfield style.
September
25, 2003 - Visit the newest section on A&W. Wendy's World! (Link
Removed)
September
19, 2003 -
Aoccdrnig to a rsceearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in
waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the
frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses
and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed
ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
September
18, 2003 - Almost exactly 2 months after Wendy & my wedding, I am
blessed
to attend the wedding of Seth Robins (A great friend from the MTC and the
mission field) and Alicia Ward in the Salt Lake Temple. I will be
attending with Ben, Garrett and Adam, all from the same district. It is
truly a blessing to all be together. Wendy is "Ganbatte"ing in her 7
classes and therefore doesn't get to attend today.
September
7, 2003 - We have just been blessed by the visit of our good friends Ben (Penick)
& Garrett (Best). It's great to have friends whom with I spent 2 1/2
months with in the MTC and 2 years with in Japan over to visit Wendy & I.
There is a brand new section within the web page titled
Prophets of the Latter-days. This is our opportunity to learn more about God's chosen
Prophets in these, the Latter-days.
August
23, 2003 - Wendy and I have been married for a month now and I have had
a lot of opportunities to talk about it, especially about the question,
"who is the right person?". Basically some of what I have found in Wendy
is maturity to match her age, selflessness, and a hard worker in a world
full of lazy people. A key factor in our happiness is the fact that we
both have a firm testimony in the Church of Christ and follow the
principles we have been taught. We have also both served missions for the
church which brings an advanced level of spiritual maturity, a greater
love for people and a stronger bond developing from similar life
experiences. We read together often, especially uplifting books on
marriage and we pray together every day an night. We are unified and there
for have not had the typical, "first argument". (Just for the record,
we've know each other for a year & a half, dated for about 2 months,
engaged for about 3 months then were married.) I have heard many people
sell themselves short of a happy life by saying, "I can't marry so-and-so,
that person is too good of a friend", when the fact of the matter truly is
that happiness is being married to your best friend.
August
18, 2003 - It has been a good month of being married. We are officially
settled in to Utah at our brand new apartment.
July
16, 2003 - Special links for Orlando Montoya just check your E-mail.
July
15, 2003 - I find it very interesting (and in some ways comforting) how we
accept the world given to us. One example is just how easy it is to accept
a dream while you are having it no matter how improbable it is. It keeps
us sane. Another example is when I was playing Monopoly with my friend
Orlando and I rolled a 5 and a 6. We were both positive I rolled this but
after looking away and turning back the dice read 5 and 5 ! We both
acknowledged that it was weird and went on with our lives. Children are a
prime example of someone trying to make sense of the daily unknown that
crashes into our lives. Children don't know what to expect so they accept
almost anything.
July
6,
2003 - It is a beautiful Sunday and all the faithful are preparing for a
lovely day at church. Ironically enough today I get to give a lesson based
on the First Presidency Message from July 2003,
The Marriage
That Endures.
June
27, 2003 - We have just returned from a 10 day vacation in Florida which
included the following. Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Sea
World, Disney's Magic Kingdom, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney's MGM
Studios, Epcot Center and a Cruise to the Bahamas and Disney's Castaway
Cove Island. Tired? Yes.
June 6,
2003 - So the other night my father and I were returning from an evening
band practice, which is about a 30 minute drive. To me, It would be ideal
if we could get some ice cream on the way home, father & son. But alas it
never happens simply because there are no places on the way to get ice
cream. If we went pretty far out of our way we might hit a Dairy Queen but
otherwise nothing. On the contrary there are quite many bars and wineries
on the way. Is this unsettling to anyone else either?
May 28,
2003 - We've just completed a wonderful memorial day weekend where flags
were raised all across the states. One of the most iconic productions of
American is the Star Wars series and here is a little clip to show it off.
Star
Wars Rap
May 24,
2003 - Welcome to the safest place on the web, where you wont have any
popup boxes, meaningless banners or cheap advertisements, thanks to
Microsoft home.
Today must be a wonderful day
because I sat and was able to see He-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,
X-Men Evolution, Justice League and Transformers all on TV. Not to mention
some nice old fashioned Kinnikuman and Gundam nantoka. You know, I
was born on a Saturday morning, just in time for cartoons.
May
22,2003 - Word to the wise... don't stay up late to get stuff done, you'll
be living on borrowed time and it will only ruin the next day. You wont be
able to concentrate as well, move as fast and you'll just create an awful
cycle. Early to bed and if you have too much to do, get up the next
morning and do it, early to rise. It is 12:12 am here. Good night.
May 16,
2003 - Cat's are the funniest little creatures. If you're reading a book
the cat will always come and sit on your book, until you decide to just
forget the book and take a nap, then the cat leaves the book and tries to
sleep on your face. It's true.
Also My cats always seem to want to
eat what ever I'm eating, especially my Macaroni & Cheese. They eat and
then leave, I always wonder why they decided to stop eating until I look
inside the bowl and find a cat hair in there. I know I don't like finding
cat hair in my bowl either.
May 15,
2003 - Are you tired of getting sick and twisted E-mails in your hotmail
box? Well, there are some condolences. Believe in God. When you understand
that there will be a judgment at the end of time you will know that all
lies will be accounted for. Do you know how many lies one person has to
tell to Spam your E-mail account? Not to mention those stupid fake subject
lines they type like, "re: that computer problem you asked about" and
"your long lost friend Amy". Don't sweat it. God will give justice in the
end. All you have to do is believe.
May
6, 2003 - Announcements are ready.
Be prepared world.
It has been a pattern
to return home from Wendy's house rather late due to Wedding preparations,
talking and movies and the sorts and it creates a lot of time to think.
This will be the creation of many editorials on our webpage. And perhaps
a "What's new" section to guide you to all of the new stuff.
May
2, 2003 - I've had the television on all day while working and I can feel
the creativity and coherent thought completely drained out of me.
So here it is. The Home Page of Wendy Marie
and Aaron Christopher.
The song "The Olive Tree" from the Book of
Mormon seminary video soundtrack has been chosen as an appropriate opening
theme song for two reason. First, because it is a song about missionary
service which has played a huge role in both of our lives. Second, because
it was the song Wendy sang (was forced to sing) at the Kurume Ward talent
show where we first met, having little to no idea that some day we would
be planning our wedding and building a life together.
This page will act as your one stop shop
for all of your Aaron & Wendy needs. There are many things left to be
worked on including our calendar, the completed photo album, an about
Wendy section, links and more chit chat about life, the universe and
everything. We all look forward to a semi- completed yet never quite done
web page.
