This is a Döner kebab

Those of you who know me pretty well, know I'm not a big food fanatic. Food doesn't really get me excited, but after having spent almost 6 months total in Germany and Austria, I miss their food! I miss home cooked German food, but even more than that I miss the Döner kebab!

For those of you who haven't had one of these, you are missing out! As an exchange student in Germany, I learned to love them, and when I went back during my study abroad to Vienna, this is one of the things that I was most excited for. Well there were other things too, but this is by far my FAVORITE food. Which is funny, because it is made by the Turks, but when the Turks came over to Germany they brought their little hole in the wall stands. The American equivalent would be taco stands. But, sadly not very many places in the United States have Turkish restaurants, and sadly not very many of those Turkish restaurants have Döner kebab. I'm so glad that James loves them too, because we've found a restaurant in Portland that has them, and one in Tempe. However the last time we were in Oregon I wasn't feeling too well, so we're really excited to go to this restaurant called Efes Turkish Cuisine. They say they have them, and the reviews have been great about their Döner kebab, so I AM SO EXCITED!!! Next time we go over to Europe, I'm definitely not going to take advantage of them, I'll have them everyday!

22 Weeks

Well I shouldn't really even be posting because I don't have time to study and post. But, I want to update our blog a little bit before we leave on vacation. I probably won't post again for over two weeks . . . so I'll write about it now. Needless to say, we've had another ultrasound. It was definitely a fun appointment, while the ultrasound lasted about 40 minutes. The doctor walked us through everything and I was shocked by how much they could see. I told my mom about everything and she was even amazed by how much technology with the ultrasound has changed since Carter was born. The technician kept making comments about how active our baby is. He would be looking at the head, and then the baby would completely turn and he'd have to start looking at something else. It was quite funny, but he kept saying how much our baby moves, and asked me of I could feel it moving as much as it was. I definitely can! I don't know if I mentioned this, but James was able to feel the baby kick at 16 weeks. And about a week and a half ago, we started being able to see the baby kick, rather than just feel it. This baby is a strong one!

Oh but the good news. We now know for sure that the baby is a girl. A sweet little baby girl is going to lead the way in our family. We're really excited about it, and excited to finally be able to plan for the baby. As soon as the technician got a good view we knew for sure it was a girl. It was quite funny because he took about 5 pictures of the gender of the baby just so there was no doubt in our minds. Which is miraculous, I'm amazed he got 5 pictures, she kept moving, turning, kicking, the technician was amazed by how active our baby was. When I shared that with my mom she started laughing and said that is exactly how I was. So it looks like this one will be a handful. But, we're so excited to welcome her into our family in less than 18 short weeks.

During the ultrasound the doctor also confirmed the due date being April 20th. We're still hoping she'll be late. By at least a few days. If pregnancies are similar to your mothers, like people say they are, then I don't have anything to worry about. But, here are some pictures from the ultrasound, and a short clip from the ultrasound. Or at least I'm going to try to upload it.

Helen Louise Schmidt Bateman Peterson Tarran

That's the name of my great grandmother. I'll have to find a few pictures and scan them. She was such a strong woman, James can testify to that. Although I don't think she's every been more than 90 pounds she had so much fight in her. She was born November 7th, 1915 and passed away November 25, 2009. I have been so blessed to have her in my life, but first I wanted to share the last few days of her life with you. I know it was miraculous, and I guess in a way express gratitude. On the Friday before Thanksgiving we headed to Arizona for James' aunt Amy's wedding. While we were driving, I received the worst call from my parents. My great grandmother, who I'm really close to had another stroke. She had one just over 2 years ago, and mostly recovered, but lost most of her ability to speak. But, she understood everything.Then on Monday my family except for my dad came to town. It was fun to have them here, though it was only for a little while, we went and visited my Grandma Helen in the hospital. Then on Wednesday night my dad flew in.
Luckily my dad's flight came in early, because we were early to the airport. So on our way back home we went to the hospital so my dad could visit my Grandma Helen before we drove down to Zion's for Thanksgiving. The visiting hours of that hospital end at 10, so we had plenty of time. When we got to my great grandmother's room that changed. Her heart rate was erratic and she was declining. We were able to be there 8 minutes before she died, and stayed with her as she left. I can't help but feel like she was just holding on to see my father, while she had a special place in her heart for him. And I know it wasn't an accident that we were at the airport early and that my dad's flight came in early, and that we didn't hit any traffic. I really don't think any of it was coincidence. I had a really hard time with it at first, and I don't think James has really seen me that shut up before. The tears fell with no regard at the hospital, and I can't help it now, but for the few days in between I just tried not to think about it. I was really close with her, she was my pen pal, and one of the most amazing women I know. I don't think I've ever met anyone that was so selfless and caring. She was 94, and lived an amazing life, she was first married to my great grandfather, but he passed away over 50 years ago, and remarried two other times, outliving all of her husbands. I will miss her and more than anything I wanted her to be alive when we had her first great great grandchild, but I know she's with her husband, 50 years is a long time to spend away from your spouse and I know she's being taken care of. But, I'll miss her dearly. I wish James could have gotten to know her better before her first stroke. Because she was always so caring and welcoming. It was hard being there after she died, I kept thinking that she was just going to wake up, but of course that didn't happen. Then my great aunt Kathy called to ask if I would play a piano piece and speak at her funeral. After all of that time I felt like I could, because I felt so peaceful about her leaving. I knew she was being reunited after 50 years with her spouse. But, then on Saturday when the funeral came, I couldn't keep the tears in. I have to say part of it probably has to do with the flood of hormones that I have washing through me all of the time now, but I got up there and I was probably making a funny face the whole time while I was trying to fight back the tears. I shared some memories with the audience, while I followed my dad and his siblings. And my memories are very different than theirs.

I was always proud to share with my friends that I had a living great grandmother, in fact it became something that I would brag about. And I always felt like I had a special connection with her, and I really did, but I know that she made everyone feel that way. But, I consider myself so lucky to have known her and to have formed such a strong bond while she was one of the msot selfless people I have ever known.

The first memory I have with her that I really remember was how I first made a connection with her. I have always loved writing, I have completed my twelfth journal and written so many letters and stories, and so when I was about ten I became penpals with her. She has always lived in Utah, so I never really spent much time with her. But, it was so neat to read all of her stories and hear about her childhood. I loved that I was becoming friends with my great grandmother. I am so grateful that I am a pack rat and have kept all of those letters and cards that she sent me. I will forever be grateful tor them. They are so priceless to me. One thing that I realized early on was that there were many inaccuracies in her letters. It wasn't that the stories were false, but when other people would fill in little details it became apparent how selfless her version of the story was. I learned how she would never speak poorly about anyone, and those letters became even more valuable to me. For those stories were no longer just narratives, but they became descriptive of who she was. And I felt like I really came to know her.

The second set of memories I wanted to mention came after her first stroke. At the time James and I were engaged, and we were both in school. I felt so guilty that I hadn't spent more time with her since I was at BYU and she lived about ten minutes away. So I decided to seize the opportunity presented. I may have gone a little overboard, but I went to the hospital everyday for the many months that she was in there. I told her about school, about my study abroad, about my experiences, about music and sports, and after we got married, I lugged my laptop to the hospital and showed her all of my wedding pictures. Despite the loss of her speech abilities her face always said so much more. So while I'll never know exactly what she wanted to say, her face always told me how she felt. And while I'm sure living in the hospital for that long was miserable, she was always so excited to see me and James. Never hinting even in the slightest of how miserable her life had become.

The last memory I wanted to share is more selfish than anything. When James and I found out we were pregnant I was so excited to tell her. And even after two years of speech therapy she still had trouble forming words and sentences. Often when she tried to say anything it came out "What did you, what did you, what did you" or that's what James and I thought it sounded like. So it was kind of humorous when we went over and told her, all of the excitement she had overwhelmed her and she wasn't able to form her words and so she said "What did you, what did you, what did you" over and over again. At the time I made her promise that she would be around in April to see her first great great grandchild. It was a selfish promise, I knew she was in pain, and her body was falling a part so it was asking her to hold on and live in pain for longer than she should have to. That was what I kept thinking as she had her second stroke, that she'd recover, because she just had to be there. Such selfish thoughts I was having, but as I sat watching her move on, I knew it was past her time, that she should go home to her Heavenly Father and her husband and all of her relatives there.

She was my inspiration for taking German. Her parents came over to America right before she was born and right before the first World War. She knew a little bit of German, but it became apparent after years of taking it, that she really didn't remember anything. But, I continued to love the language, I loved the connection that it brought me. I loved going over to Nurenburg and seeing their homes and the places they worked and the Church that her parents were married in. Everyone asks me why I took German, and I think that's basically why.

She always reminded me of President Hinckley, total disregard for doctors, even in spite of the fact that her own son-my grandpa is a doctor. A few days before her second stroke she was walking, and wouldn't use her cane except to help her get up from the couch. It just seemed like she thought it was just something they told her to carry around all the time. And after her first stroke she had to have a feeding tube put in, but she kept pulling it out. I can't remember how many times they had to go back to the hospital because my great aunt Kathy had discovered that she had pulled it out again. And remember, she had all consciousness she only lost her speech, this was just her being stubborn and not wanting tubes coming out of her. She was always so concerned with getting herself ready. Everyday when we'd visit her she had her hair neatly done and seemed like she had put a lot of work into making herself presentable, even during those months at the hospital, she always wanted the hospital bed to look nice and her hair was done and the things she had at the hospital were always organized. I hope I don't put my foot in my mouth for saying this, but my dad's side of the family has had some issues that are ongoing, but Grandma Helen has always been warm and welcoming to my family and always loved to receive calls and visits, even if it's just to drop by. She had a way of making everyone feel included and loved. She had so many wonderful gifts and talents. And though she was an accomplished musician herself, she always wanted to hear me play the piano or sing, even when I was 9 and playing rather annoying songs. She always expressed to me how wonderful I was, I think she thought I was better than I actually am, but she had that way of making you feel so special, that you just wanted to stay with her.

I will forever be grateful for my interactions with her and the example she has been to me in my life. I am so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that I have of eternal families and grateful to know that after such a long parting that she is able to be with her husband again. I really am grateful for the work that is done in the temples and to know that I will be able to see her again.

Halfway there

Well on Sunday, we hit the 20 week mark. I can't believe it, we've now passed the hump. The pregnancy journey is halfway over. But, I'm now into the exciting part. At about 16 weeks I started feeling the baby kick. Everyone mentioned that it would feel like indigestion or bubbles. That was definitely not the case, maybe I felt the baby earlier that way, but one day I totally felt a kick. There was no doubt, and it's continued to feel that way since, granted the kicking comes more often, but it still definitely feels like kicks. It was neat, because James got to feel the kicks during the 16th week too. The doctor told us that's pretty early for him to feel it, so it was really kind of exciting. My tummy is getting bigger . . . I don't have any pictures, because when I've gotten it out to take some, it's pretty unreliable and will only take video. We'll keep trying though. Also next Friday is when we have our next ultrasound. So hopefully we'll get a definite answer for the gender at that time.

Yummy Food!

Okay, so I haven't ever posted anything on food, but this is delicious, and takes me back to Germany and Austria. We made Wienerschnitzel and Deutsche Kartoffelnsalat (German Potato Salad) and then a few days later we made German pretzels, although I didn't take pictures of that. This was such a yummy meal, it takes a little effort to get everything finished, but I loved it, and James loved it too. And since we were so hungry we each ate two of them!

It's a . . . . . .

Well we're going to make you wait a little. We'll tell you about the appointment. We found out that my doctor doesn't do the second ultrasound until 20 weeks, but I would have to wait until 21 weeks with how my appointments are scheduled. However, since my grandfather has connections in the medical arena here in Provo, he referred me to an office that will do an ultrasound. He works in the Doctor's Plaza by the hospital, well and there is a clinic there, apparently for several other OB/GYN's, but that is the clinic where they do their ultrasounds and lab work. So it is a doctor's office, not mine, but I made an appointment and I could have gone last Friday, but James had class, then on Tuesday the only times available were when James had class. So I made an appointment for the Friday after. And told James not to schedule anything. . . cause I really wanted to be sure about the gender of our baby before we start buying some clothing.

So needless to say it has been quite a countdown, since I've been waiting to go to this appointment. What I think is really neat about it is that they can put the ultrasound on their website. So I have the password to get onto ours so if you'd like to view our ultrasound you can. But, we are really excited to announce that we are having a baby. It is definitely a baby, it has a heart beat, and little hands and feet. Ha ha, thought I'd just drag it out a little bit further. That's what happens when you grow up with my dad and Chris, and now living with James, the tease in me is bound to come out under those conditions.

Actually, it's been really funny, all of my siblings thought it was going to be a girl. Maddie was even sure that it was going to be a girl, and Chris wrote in his email that he really thought it was going to be a girl. But, James and I in the beginning felt like it was a boy. Especially since I've been sick longer that just the first trimester, then we took that hormone test which said it was going to be a boy. We were pretty sure that we were right. Well and even now that we've been told what it is going to be, we're still pretty hesitant because I had a friend who was told it was going to be a girl and they prepared for a girl, but then the delivery surprised them and they had a boy.

But, as we had the ultrasound done, the technician said the baby was sitting breech, and she tried multiple times to get the baby to move around, but the baby just wasn't cooperating. But, as far as she could see, she said she was 90 percent positive that it was a girl . . . so right now we're confused. We have another ultrasound in four weeks, so if the doctor says it's a boy, we'll be completely confused . . and we'll have to just try and buy neutral outfits for the beginning. So for now it's a girl. We're a little hesitant to tell everyone, because the first test was 85 percent accurate it was a boy, and the technician was 90 percent positive that it was a girl. So we probably won't do any clothes shopping until the next ultrasound!

Confusion

Well got the swine flu vaccine, when I heard that it would also be passed on to the baby, I knew that was something I should do. But, the doctor has been tracking my weight. There has been really no difference in the clothes I wear, since they weigh me with clothes and shoes on, but I went in for my first appt at 9 weeks, and my weight was pretty normal. Then when I went in at 13 weeks I had lost 4 pounds. Then when I got the vaccine they weighed me again, still no change. I'm so confused, my stomach is so clearly getting bigger, and there doesn't really seem to be any part that is getting smaller, so why am I not gaining weight. My doctor told me that I'm supposed to be gaining a pound a week starting at 13 weeks, in addition to the 4 pounds that I needed to gain back. So already I'm at 7 pounds that I need to gain by Sunday. But, at the same time they encourage me to eat healthy foods. That's fine, I'm great at that, but the healthy foods aren't helping me put on weight. So should I secretly run to Krispy Kreme and buy a dozen donuts for myself? Everything I read tells me that's probably not a good idea, but the doctor clearly expressed concern that my weight went down and hasn't gone back up. And the healthy foods fill me up quicker, so I don't want to be stuffing myself beyond comfortable levels. And I've been trying to eat lots of starches, but no change in weight. I really am so confused how I haven't gained weight, but my body has clearly gained a bump. Oh yeah, by the way I tried to post the pictures James took, and my camera is retarded, I think I'll have to take the camera to campus with me one day to add the pictures. Anyone have any suggestions for how to put on "healthy" weight?

15 Weeks

Well I suggested that we document the belly progression, James got a little carried away and took more pictures than I wanted, but he wanted close ups, and me not to look at the camera. So needless to say I probably am not going to any of them, maybe later to show the growth. Anyway, I'm still not feeling completely nauseous free, but it has backed off A LOT! In fact, we went to Beto's a few days ago, I'm amazed I lasted through it! For those family members who don't know, Beto's is a pretty authentic (greasy) mexican fast food place. We really like it, but with all of the things I haven't been able to eat, I really am surprised I kept it down.

But, yes, food is getting easier for me to eat. There are still things that sound really gross to me, but for the most part that isn't the majority.

Well we aren't sure of the gender, but we took a hormone detecting test to see whether or not it is a girl or a boy and the results came out saying that it's . . . . . a boy! James is super excited about it. We actually find out in a couple of weeks what the actual gender of the baby is. Just a few short weeks, but we're already getting ready.

We've slowly been collecting bigger items, we went to this store Kid to Kid, and found a great used baby swing, really it looks and feels brand new, and we bought it for 10 dollars, as well as a really good baby carrier for 15. And we just bought a stroller, we figured we'd buy a new one since we want it to last for a while. One of our friends let us know about a company that was giving out free nursing covers as incentives to buy other things, but I just took the free cover, which looks like it will be useful. But, we had a coupon for diapers at Costco for an AMAZING deal, so we went and bought a huge box of those as well as wipes. We may be going a little bit overboard for now, but we're saving money! And finding great deals. That is the part of shopping that I love. For now we're waiting on furniture, we're not going to buy any if we're going to be moving soon after the baby is born, so that's one less thing we have to worry about packing and moving to wherever we head. So that's one big expense we're not worrying about for now. But, it's been kind of fun getting ready for baby! We've bought little things too like blankets, pacifiers, some cute little shoes, some burp cloths, oh and how could I forget, we found a graco jumper at DI and it's in great condition. That was something my siblings all loved, I think we got it with Melissa or so, but Maddie loved jumping in it. There were several times that she would fall asleep in it, but her legs were still bouncing. It was so cute!

We're really excited can't you tell? At least once a day James starts singing, "Erin, you're having a baby . . " it's kind of fun to have him so excited for it as well.

But, really we are so excited, we'll find out in a couple of weeks for sure if it's a boy or a girl, even though we already think we're having a boy. But we'll try and post those ultrasound pictures.

Oh and this is completely off topic, but the most amazing store came to Utah, WinCo!!!!! YAY!!!! It was so funny, they opened one in Salt Lake and one in Midvale, and we went to Midvale, and there was a line to get in, because there weren't enough grocery carts. It was really fun to go, and I think James really likes going because he was excited to drive a half an hour to go to a grocery store. Anyway, it was so exciting to find out that they were coming to Utah, you would have thought that since the people here are so big on getting good deals on their groceries that they would have come sooner. It was fun, but I had to ask when we got to the check out counter if they were going to change the name (you know to add a 'U') but they're not, at least to the cashiers knowledge. Just thought I'd share that bit of exciting news!

Our Family

I know it's been a really long time since we posted anything worthwhile. One that's because James doesn't care too much for blogs, he likes looking at other people's, but won't contribute to ours. Two because we really haven't had much going on in our lives lately other than school and finding jobs. And three, I haven't really blogged for the last while, because I've been throwing up everyday and trying to sleep whenever I can and really I have had NO ENERGY. Because (da da DA) we're going to be having a baby. We're twelve weeks along, and I'm just starting to get to the point where I feel like I can do things. I must've gotten the bad morning sickness genes, 'cause James thought I was dying the first few weeks. It was quite humorous actually because as soon as we hit six weeks, I was throwing up everyday which got worse to not being able to keep anything down at all. So I figured out that if I take long naps in the middle of the day, I don't feel sick for a little while. I feel kind of pathetic, because I really haven't done anything. I tried in the beginning, I tried to go grocery shopping, but every time I would happen to look at a food item and that was it- HEAD STRAIGHT FOR THE BATHROOM! It's been sad, because smelling foods can send me over the edge as well. And while I can't really eat a lot of things, I feel bad for James because he is limited in what he can make in the house. For instance, the other night, he was making a basic pasta dish, and put onions in it, well right when the smell hit the bedroom- had to head for the bathroom and the rest of the night I held a candle right in front of my nose, and I actually had to fall asleep like that. I really felt bad because he hasn't really gotten to eat normal food since I've been sick. And when he does, usually that makes me throw up, which in turn makes him feel really bad. But, really James has been such a great supportive husband- since I've had no energy- we think it's been the lack of food that I'm consuming- he's been doing all of the laundry, the dishes, and most of the cleaning. Other than the toilets which I have cleaned quite a bit lately :)

We've already been to the doctor and he did an ultrasound and the baby is measuring a few days small, but said that's pretty normal. We actually have another appointment coming up in a few days, so we'll see if that has changed any. We're really excited and lucky because the baby's due date is April 20th. Which is the second to last day of finals. The doctor said to take my mother's example as my guide. Well, I was her first and I was 10 days late, but I think the earliest person, was 6 days late. So we're thinking around April 26th, so we're hoping we'll completely avoid finals week altogether.

It will be a little hectic, because assuming James gets a job, we'll probably be moving pretty soon after finals end, but obviously not before the baby is born. My parents are really excited while this baby will make them grandparents, and my siblings are all really excited. Even Chris, is excited to be an uncle.

So far things are going well, we're hoping that this morning sickness will completely clear up in the next few weeks. So I can start eating meals rather than just snacking, and so James can eat whatever he wants too. Our grocery shopping bill has been cut down though, because when we go, I purely choose foods that sound good at that moment . . . which doesn't include very many things.

It's been awhile

It's been awhile, I know. And this isn't going to be a very exciting blog, I'm just tired of the honor code rebellion. Do you want to hear about it? Well you're going to anyway. It's been really annoying, almost once a day, I see (usually a girl) walking around on campus without shoes. I heard one of them saying that it was a stupid BYU Honor Code rule. Come on, people? Really, can you not see the purpose of that rule? I almost want the BYU police to go up to one of these girls and say, okay you don't have to wear shoes, but you can't wear shoes when it starts snowing. I really don't see anything positive that can come out of not wearing your shoes. BYU is not a beach, there is only one place where there is a swimming pool, but I think of how many times my feet get stepped on while walking to class. I mean really, and then after it rains and there are worms all over campus? It may seem like a silly rule to have to spell out, but stores have it. No Shoes . . . No Service! I can see more reasons to wear shoes on campus rather than to a store, so why not rebel against stores?

Another thing that James and I have been noticing a lot, is that there are SO many girls on campus wearing short skirts or dresses. What is up with this? Are teachers telling these girls their dress is inappropriate? They should be, there is a girl in one of my classes who when she sat down I couldn't believe how short her dress was. This really isn't the beach! When you come to BYU you are among the lucky few . . . but you have to agree to the honor code. It's also become quite obvious in our ward, that married women aren't wearing appropriate clothing either. Either that, or they were never taught how to bend over or reach for something without flashing everyone. It's been hard to watch, because as the world's fashions get shorter and shorter it seems like so are the standards of the members of the Church.

Why is there such disregard for the honor code? Really does it hurt you? No, it's like when you are a child and you rebel against your parents rules, didn't we all realize that our parents really did know best, they were trying to protect us? I guess not, because now we're rebelling against BYU. I think it's really kind of sad.

Camping, Reunions, and Reading!

This isn't a super exciting post, because I don't have any pictures right now, my camera battery is charging so I can't upload anything right now, but I thought since I have the time I should write about our weekend. It started out not really being that eventful at all, but that changed. On Friday, James and I decided we were going to go camping, so we drove up Hobblecreek Canyon and spent the night, coming back to my roommate Rachael being here setting up her classroom for the next year. It was fun to spend time with her, because all of our friends and family have left for the summer. Then it quickly came to my attention that the Bateman's were having a family reunion, with all of my grandpa's cousins. So we drove up to Draper for that, and there weren't a ton of people there that I knew, but it was still fun to see my Grandma and Grandpa and some of my cousins. And as far as reading goes . . . . I have been reading the seventh Harry Potter book to James, and today we finished it. It didn't take very long, I think it took just a little over a week. But, reading aloud for that many pages at once starts to take a toll on your throat. But, we're done! I think James liked it, I was glad to have him now know the ending to the series. He liked it, but he had no plans to read it himself, so I had to lend a hand so James could share in my Harry Potter knowledge and excitement.

Anyway, that's all . . . nothing too big, but still fun stuff!

Tired of length . . .

Have you ever watched "What Not to Wear" and laughed at some of the subjects when Nick Arrojo comes and girls start crying or simply refuse to cut their hair. I find that one of the most amusing parts of the show. Why are people so afraid to cut their hair?

I think I may be crazy. But, I have always wanted to donate my hair, that's why I keep growing it out so long. But, then I hit the point where when individual hairs fall out, I can feel them on the back of my arms . . . . and I can't STAND IT! That's about the point where I can't keep growing it. And I go into a hairdresser impulsively to get it cut right then and there. This time it really was impulsive, I was going grocery shopping to Buy Low, but I passed Fantastic Sam's and I decided to turn around. I went and cut my hair on my way to go grocery shopping. I realize that there are a lot of people who get scared to cut their hair, I think I feel quite differently, I get anxious to cut my hair. And once the idea is in my mind I can't get it out until I actually get my hair cut, and it seems to solve the problem.

My only stipulation for my hair cuts is that I can still put it in a ponytail, I don't care if I have to use bobby pins or clips, just as long as I can have something to do with it on a bad hair day. This time I cut off six inches. I always think about just trimming it, but that doesn't really seem to solve the problem. So I always end up with something like this . . .

Maybe one day, I'll be able to cut my hair. . . I'm starting to think that's just wishful thinking.

Guess where the Grandkids Retreat was held this year?

This is in the courtyard of the house. There is a little well and it's kind of fun.

James and I got to stay in the guest house for a couple of days prior to GKR starting. It was quite the charming place, it wasn't connected to the rest of the house, but we LOVED it!
Ha ha, this was the little water pump. And here is cute James in front of the guest house. Doesn't it look like Italy, though? It was a fun escape from the busy life of Southern California. That may be why my grandparents bought it, it's far enough out of the way, that you don't realize you are actually in a busy city.

No we didn't go to Italy, although most of the house was imported from Italy and Spain. But, this is the house my grandparents bought in Shady Canyon in Irvine, CA. We stayed there for Grandkids retreat. And the last picture is from Disneyland, this was the group that James and I took around Disneyland and California Adventures.

Katie's Wedding

Well my aunt Katie is married! It was a really nice ceremony. It was nice to listen to a sealing from my Grandad other than my own. He said similar things, which made it that much easier to remember our sealing. They were sealed in the Newport Beach temple on July 3rd. And here are some pictures. The reception, was at the Ritz Carlton, which is where these pictures were taken. I didn't get any good ones outside of the temple. But, maybe I'll have to post some of my mom's. . Here are the Bateman girls with my cousin Karli. Melissa, Karli, and I along with a couple of other cousins were bridesmaids. It was a beautiful wedding and reception. I'll have to post pictures later when I get to see the professional ones that were taken. Because we took pictures out on the beach too!

Aren't we great babysitters (Clay and Kami, here's what we do when you're not home!)

I don't think these really need any explanation!

Part II of California

The real reason we're in California is because my aunt and uncle are on a cruise right now with my grandparents. They have three adorable blonde boys. Matthew, Jay, and Ethan. We wanted to share some pictures, I hope Kami doesn't mind that I have a picture of Ethan in the tub on here. Ethan has been sick for a little while, and then Jay and James started to get sick. I had to include this picture, because most of them are with James, since he's been a hit with the kids.
One day, Ethan woke up at 4 in the morning and wouldn't go back to sleep, so after about an hour and a half or rocking him, I took him downstairs and we started watching a movie. He was on the floor playing with my pajama pants and then a few minutes later when I looked down he was asleep.

Another favorite. Here are all three boys, all up playing the wii before school.

This is typical, but I don't have a lot of pictures, because the boys are keeping us super busy.

Part Two (Part I of California)

We woke up really early on Saturday and drove down to LA for Jaren's basketball games. So we spent part of Saturday and Sunday with Doug, Justin, Marin and Carden. It was fun to spend some time with them . . . and to play with Carden.Look at all of those handsome Sweeney boys!
This was a divider that was in between the two beds of the hotel room, Carden loved playing with it, and so I had to take some pictures from both sides.


We had fun spending some time with them and watching Jaren.

Part One (Oregon)

While we were in Oregon we went up to Silver Creek Falls to go camping. It was really fun, but really cold at night. But we had lots of hot dogs and smores and playing in the fire - - we are definitely a bunch of pyros.

This was one of my favorite pictures, but you can't see just how beautiful it was. It's too bad, because I took several trying to capture what the sun was doing to the waterfall, but I never caught it. Oh well.
These are the North Rim Falls, the whole hike is about 12 miles around the whole park, but we didn't go to all of it we started at the South Rim and that is the main waterfall that you walk behind in the picture above, and the main North Rim waterfall is in the picture below.
This was taken as we started hiking. We didn't last very long, but we went and saw the main waterfalls, and took some pictures.


We also went out to the coast for a day, and we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Yum! We tasted a bunch of their cheeses, and so we bought some of the fancier cheeses. We also all got ice cream cones with 3 scoops. It was so good. We got all of the flavors from Tillamook mud slide to Marionberry pie. It was DELICIOUS! It was also funny because while we were there a whole bunch of college students came in too, and they happened to be the Chamber Orchestra from BYU. It was kind of funny, afterwards we gave them directions to Mo's and actually led them to Lincoln City and ate there ourselves.

We did some shopping at the outlets in Lincoln City and bought this kite, it was a really fun kite to play with and worked really well, until it got really windy - - I was afraid it was going to break. It was really fun. We went to Woodburn and shopped there, went to the beach, went camping at Silver Creek Falls, went to Enchanted Forest- though I left my camera at home so we don't have pictures of that. We celebrated Carter's birthday and drank lots of Italian sodas! It was so much fun. And we're in California right now. . . I'll post pictures of that later.

This is RIDICULOUS!

I just have to brag! My siblings are AMAZING! This was Curt's first year playing tennis- I tried to get him to do track his freshman year and he wasn't too happy with that. Well Curt passed up all of the varsity tennis players and is now the top ranked singles player at my high school. Melissa after much encouraging followed in my footsteps and did track. YAY!!!! Although she's going to pass me up as a sophmore, she is doing the hurdles, the triple jump, and the POLE VAULT! Districts was today, and Melissa placed second as a FRESHMAN in the triple jump and hurdles and placed third in the pole vault. She's going to be a prodigy! Maddie is doing club volleyball and is doing really well right now, she's playing in a 5th and 6th grade team and doing super well. And Carter is also playing a club sport, but he's doing basketball. On average Carter scores more than fifty percent of his teams points. You know the awards ceremonies where they hand out trophies, well Carter received two awards . . . the regular one everyone gets and Most Valuable Player. I'm excited to go to Oregon and watch all of them succeed in their respective sports.

Easter and Finals

Our Easter was pretty exciting. First, we had the best primary class we've ever had so far. The boys seemed to pay attention and learned how to say the word "resurrected" . . . well one of them did. And I officially love the prayers of sunbeams. I think they should say the prayers at general conference, they are so honest and sweet. This week Jack prayed that he was grateful for his tummy ache, and grateful that the Easter bunny came to his house. Then we went and had dinner with Mike and Ashley and had yummy pot roast. And talked for a long time and learned about how to understand a baby's cry.

This last picture is what we did on our first reading day and tax day!




It snowed!

A new cousin!

My aunt just gave birth to a little boy, named Benson Roy. Both family names . . . and we're so excited for them! I'm not sure what number he is in our family. We don't have pictures yet, but we'll go up and visit sometime this week and post some!

The Best Belated Valentines Day

Well James and I didn't do very much on the real Valentine's Day because we had a late one already planned. We don't have very good pictures to show, because they were taken with our phones, but it was AMAZING!!!


So we went to a Rascal Flatts concert. It was incredible. Jessica Simpson opened for them, she was pretty good . . . but Rascal Flatts- were fantastic. That was better than the Tim McGraw concert that I went to. It was really the best concert that I could go to because there isn't a song of theirs that I don't love! We were belting out the songs, and they were very entertaining. We had an LDS dad with three of his teenage and pre-teen daughters sitting in front of us. It was fun because it was totally a concert that was family appropriate. And it was really fun to see a dad enjoying the music along with his three girls. That's probably one concert that I'll want to go to again. Thanks babe, that was the best present!