Erin and James Sweeney

Feeling a bit crafty

2012-01-08T19:53:00.000-08:00

Well, one of the reasons I have taken a little hiatus is that I have become so interested in this website- pinterest- and I've found myself becoming more and more crafty. I've done a few things that I've found on it already. Like for instance- I finally found a way to organize Emma's hair bows.

Or making these hurricanes.
I also made a cupcake platter, and some curtains- but I haven't found where I packed the platter, and we haven't put up curtain rods yet- but their white and navy striped. I also made a bunch of Christmas glitter ball ornaments- which you'll probably see when I post our Christmas pictures. I also made these season blocks, they rotate to say spring, summer, and autumn too.

Oh and I added a bunch of pages to the quiet book I've been making Emma. . .

We also recently heard a story in our ward of a couple who the mother passed away leaving young children. Sad- I know, but it got me thinking about how I would still want to be a part of my children's lives so I started making a cd- which has taken quite a bit of time- mostly in figuring out how to record the songs- and then record songs from playing on the piano. It's mostly children's songs that I sing Emma, but then I decided to add pieces that I like to play on the piano. Oh and last but not least- I've been working on Emma's big Christmas present, that I'd been working on for a while and was putting on the finishing touches.

She has a couple of lights on the ceiling above the sink area, and a phone and chalkboard on the right side and an apron that hangs on the left side. It's not perfect, but I love it- I especially love the faux tile that I did for the counter top.

And I have many more projects on my to-do list- so I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep up the blog updates :)

November Catch Up

2012-01-04T12:52:00.001-08:00

I had to go to Oregon in November, just before Thanksgiving- I had my crown break. Yikes! So we got to see my family a little bit, while my dad had his lab make another one.

For Thanksgiving my mom's extended family goes to Zion's National Park every other year, and so we got to see a lot of my cousins. It was so fun, this picture is of my cousin Landon and my sister Melissa holding Emma's hands while walking around the park. Emma loves my cousin Landon, who just left on his mission to Mexico.
While daddy went hiking up Angel's Landing, we took a shorter hike and found some squirrels that were extremely friendly. We were even a little worried about how close they were getting. But Emma loved them.We did more moving and one weekend when we stayed the night in Provo, we discovered Emma doing this- and we thought it was hilarious.

Catching Up

2012-01-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't posted for such a long time. But, it has become such a hassle now to load the pictures and try to think up all of the exciting things that I should be sharing about our family and our life . . . but then it builds up and then I feel overwhelmed. So I think I'm just going to upload pictures and maybe write a caption to go with it. And I'll try to get an update on here later. But, here was our October ....

I just love Fall- Fall and Spring are my favorite seasons- I just wish Utah had them for longer than they do. . .

Emma was a kitty for Halloween. For those of you who don't know, Emma LOVES kitties!

She also loved helping carve our pumpkin.
Oh and this is fun news- for those of you who don't know, That BYU jersey that reads "Sweeney"- yeah that's James' little brother. He's redshirting this year, but we got to watch him play in pre-season games. That was fun! We look forward to 2 years from now when he'll be back from his mission and playing on the team!

Curt's Mission Farewell

2011-10-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

Okay- so clearly this isn't a picture of Curt's farewell, but I'm trying to catch up on a number of things that I should blog about. This picture was taken at my cousin Claire's bridal shower, we kind of grew up in our group of four cousins. From left to right it's Claire, Shea, me, our second cousin Emily Groberg, and my cousin Rachel. All four of us cousins are married now! So fun!
At Curt's endowment. I'm glad I'm the oldest, I think it was so neat to go to Chris' and now Curt's. Curt is going to the Czech Prague mission- I don't know if I've mentioned that, he's in the MTC right now. Which was also interesting because my parents had me pick him up at the airport and drop him off at the MTC- it is really so different now, but so good! It significantly diminished the number of bawling mothers and changed the tone of saying goodbye from a sad to more of a joyful occasion. It was clearly inspired that they changed the drop off. James wasn't able to come since he got a job. I don't know if I've mentioned that, so our vacation pictures will now be pretty limited since we are now reduced to a certain number of days, but that's fine with us- we're just so grateful to have a job and be making money now!
Oh yeah, while I was in Oregon for his farewell, we went boating at our favorite Detroit Lake. This was a favorite pastime of mine when I grew up, we took the boat up almost every weekend. Well we usually kept our boat up there, so it wasn't as much of a hassle to unload and then load back up. But it was so fun to be there with my family all together for one last time for 2 years. It was so fun- the boys went waterskiing, and we pulled out the banana boat and went for a ride. Emma loved it! She would wave at the other boats we passed on the water, it was so cute!

It was a big success! We loved it!

Emma's Trip to Israel

2011-09-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

Oh we all know the BYU U of U rivalry exists in Israel, don't we? Well a shop owner in Jerusalem had a child who went to the Y and one that went to the U. What are the odds?

So I spent several hours putting this whole thing together. So I better receive some comments- otherwise I think I'll stop blogging... Because I blog in addition to making scrapbooks- so this really just is for the benefit of other people. Also a side note- this post is not for those who are just wanting to look for a minute or two. I have included well over a hundred pictures- yep you read that right, it will take a good amount of time to go through. Oh yes, and note the title- it definitely was Emma's trip to Israel as you'll be able to tell by all the pictures.
Emma was fabulous on the flights. She didn't cry once, and she loved the little bassinet seat that they put up for her. And then she finally fell asleep like this :)
As you can tell we're kind of exhausted.
But we stopped for a day in Frankfurt Germany. So gorgeous! I'd never been to Frankfurt before, I mostly spent all my time in Southern Germany. But, we stayed long enough to have a Doner Kebab! YAY!!!
Then we went on a boat ride on the Rhine river. And saw lots of really old castles!

We started out our trip in Jordan. I had to include this because this happened everywhere. Everyone wanted to take pictures with Emma. It was crazy, in fact when we were in Jerash, there was a huge crowd of the young girls militia- and they swarmed Emma. I'm really sad I didn't get my video camera out for this, because it was so crazy. They all took pictures of her, lots of the girls kissed her. We literally could not move because they had surrounded us.

Our first stop was to look out where Moses was taken and shown Israel, and where they basically wandered for those 40 years.
This was also where Emma and Leah discovered each other. Leah is my cousin, but she's about 3 months younger than Emma, and it was really fun to be on the Israel trip with these two.

Overlooking the valley.

We stayed in this really neat hotel, it was made to look like it was old, but we definitely had electricity and even cable.

Emma loved a window that we had from our bedroom to the living room part of our room.

Our second day of the trip was to Petra. Also what we believe in the Bible to be Edom.

My mom, my uncle Covey, and us in the siq.

Emma's first camel ride- which she loved!

It really is amazing how huge Petra is. And how we think it's so amazing and it's basically a global monument, but there's nothing to stop you from climbing up in anything.

The treasury which is what people know Petra for, is huge, but is nothing in comparison to the size of the Monastery which we hiked for maybe a little over an hour up these rock stairs to get to.

Here's the treasury

And here is the monastery. It may not look like a big difference, but it's at least twice as big! And much taller. Plus you can see the size of the people who are standing in it's entryway.

It's kind of amazing to think about how old this city is and about those who would have traveled through it because of it's placement between such ancient civilizations. Well known people like Cleopatra would be very likely as well as possibly Lehi and his family.

The next day we went to Jerash. Also referred to as Antioch in the Bible. It is one of the best preserved Roman ruins considering it's geographic size and grandiosity. It was one of the cities of the Decapolis

These pillars were huge and to show just how huge they were I climbed up there to give you a good idea. They may not seem that huge, but to think they were built between 3200 and 1200 BC blows my mind.

My uncle Covey holding Emma. He loved playing with her the whole trip, but she seldom let him. Sad!

Sleeping during lunch in Jerash.

Some of the ruins. It's just kind of amazing. The place where they raced chariots was still in tact and that is the bottom of this picture.

It still stands.

I can't exactly remember, but I know this was an important road that the Romans built- I'll have to ask my mom about it. Oh and she's in the picture with me.

Overlooking the new city of Jerash.

Emma was really good the whole trip, she did have fussy moments, but I don't think we could have been luckier. She was pretty happy most of the time.

The cousins in my mom's family standing on pedestals pretending to be statues. James refused to be in the picture. But from left to right: Jonah, Jacob, Claire, me and Emma, Paige, Ben and Rachel.

With my cousin Rachel

Then we moved into Israel. Our first stop was Galilee where we took a boat out onto the Lake and we sang hymns. Emma just liked being near the water. Oh for those of you who don't know the Sea of Galilee is in fact a lake.

Oh I probably forgot to mention my Grandad takes tour groups to Israel because he loves studying about it and has so much material. So my grandad was a headliner for the trip along with my Grammy's cousin Elder John Groberg. We got to know them pretty well because our seats on all of the planes were right next to them.

Family Picture in front of the Sea of Galilee.

The city was really neat too- this next picture is of the synagogue where Jesus would have taught, and how it was built on top of by another synagogue in the 4th century.

Us by the synagogue.

There were a few days of the trip where Emma let my cousin Rachel's husband Ben hold her. It was kind of funny cause she'd never really seen him before.

This is what they believe to be Peter's house. And there is a building built over it now.

We ate some fish from the Sea of Galilee.

It was there that we discovered that Emma really likes figs.

And then we dipped our feet in the water.

Caesarea Philippi- where Peter was promised the keys.

Oh you know just another picture of Emma on a tank :)

The sun rising over the Sea of Galilee, we stayed right on the bank of it.

The Jordan River.

Sitting by the river with my mom and my grandad.

Here we sat on the Mount of Beattitudes.

The Mount of Beattitudes overlooks the Sea of Galilee.

With Covey and my mom

In the excavations of Armageddon.

My aunt Katie, my mom and I standing in front of the Valley of Armageddon.

Emma contemplating what will happen there in the last days :)

Sitting at Natanya University hearing about how they revere Orson Hyde as the first Zionist and the following prophets of our Church for dedicating the land for the return of the Jews. They even have a courtyard of olive trees dedicated for each of our prophets.

Mount Tabor- where we believe Christ was transfigured before Peter, James and John.

This was by far the busiest place we visited other than Bethlehem. This is Mary's home (the mother of Jesus) and there was a whole huge Church built around it.

This was Mount Carmel where we believe Elijah called down fire to consume his sacrifice.

We stopped by the Red Sea, and Emma loved her first trip to the beach!

This is Caesarea where Paul preached to King Agrippa. It is a bunch of ruins that extend all along the Red Sea coast.

The big pool of water was actually King Agrippa's personal pool.

Emma loved her "cousin" Leah.

This is part of the Shepherd's fields in Bethlehem. Although there isn't much left of them, because there is a lot of construction going on.

The traditional place of Christ's birth in Bethlehem has a large ornate Church built over it and they've really commercialized the site making it seem almost unholy because they've added so much to it making it not feel like a nativity or stable at all.

We went to Biblical gardens which was really neat because they had tons of plants that are mentioned in the Bible, for instance James and I picked fig leaves to bring home, and we shelled mustard seeds and brought those home.

Four generations in front of the Dome of the Rock.

Emma's last camel ride.

The Christensen clan in front of the Dome of the Rock.

James and I decided to climb up Masada. A long hike up to a fortification that Herod had built as a fortress for himself, which ironically was overtaken by Zealots who were then fortifying themselves from the Romans. This is part of the palace.

Masada was quite close to the Dead Sea. This is me and my cousin Jacob.

It really is amazing that this is such an amazing place, but no rules or restrictions so James and Jacob climbed up to peak inside.

The Dead Sea. James walked out into it, and the mud squishes between your feet, and before he laid down in the water he couldn't believe that he would float. But he did!

My cousins and friend painting themselves with the healing mud.

The water is extremely salty and kind of stings, so Emma didn't want to get in the water for very long.

The Hasmonean tunnel underneath the Western Wall. These were constructed under King Herod's instruction. It was really neat!

Here are the Pools of Bethesda.

These are from Orson Hyde park, right next to the Garden of Gethsemane on Mount Moriah.

Elder Groberg, my grammy, Diane Brown, and I can't remember his name right now. The cousins

The next few pictures are taken at the BYU Jerusalem Center.

Emma with Mami and then playing with the roses.

The Jerusalem Center is such a neat part of the city. It is such a landmark and so beautiful.

This room is very near the room where the twelve disciples had the Last Supper. We sang some songs and it was pretty neat. But it was one of the more bustling places.

Me and my two beautiful cousins; Claire and Rachel.

The Dome of the Rock

Emma playing on the ground by the Western wall.

Emma liked wearing James' Yarmulke.

More new excavations on the lower part of the Western (wailing) wall.

These stairs were recently excavated and in the summer of 2007 Neil Armstrong asked his private guide to take him where they knew for sure that Jesus would have walked. His guide took him here because these were the steps going up to the temple where everyone would have walked to get into the temple. And he said standing here is more exhilarating than standing on the moon.

Then we went to Caiaphus' Palace (where Jesus was tried in front of the Sanhedrin). This is also one of those places we know for a surety because it has been around forever and being an important building it has not changed. I am standing- James had to sit because the ceiling was too low, where they would have held the prisoners who were waiting to be tried.

This is Golgotha, it literally is right next to the garden tomb.

The Garden of Gethsemane is one of those places which has not changed and we know is correct. This tree has a fence around it because it is over 3000 years old- and was definitely in there during the Atonement.

Emma had just had a blowout- but we had to take a family picture in the garden.

The olive trees are so amazing because although the original tree may be thousands of years old, they graft in newer younger branches to keep them alive.

This is the Garden tomb, there are several prophets who have said that this was indeed the place where Christ was taken.

Four Generations in front of the Garden Tomb

Here is the entire Holbrook clan in front of the Garden Tomb.

The flight back home. A great trip, but we were sad to go back.

Oregon pictures

2011-08-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

Then while James went to sell security systems I drove home with my family to Oregon. As you can see we went strawberry picking, but Emma enjoyed eating them more than picking.
Here mom look at this one!

We also went to the beach and it was a gorgeous day!
Emma loved the sand- just loved the feeling of it.
- but she didn't start out loving it at first!

Emma was so tired at costco that she even slept through the transfer into the shopping cart- so I had to take a picture!

Here are the pictures in this post

2011-08-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

Wow it's really hard for me to figure out in which order the pictures come out in. Well after our Israel trip we made a trip to Arizona. It was really hot, so we spent a lot of time everyday in the pool. It was especially fun for Emma because her cousin Halle was there.

Here Halle is sharing her piece of licorice with Emma. How sweet!
Drying off on the warm cement.
Emma absolutely loves the water. So we've made frequent trips to our HOA pool.

In an attempt to try and get caught up, I am mostly going to be posting pictures of our trips- and then maybe I'll get to the point where I feel like I can post about the Israel trip :) Just maybe ;)

Yay another video!

2011-06-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

Okay I know I have a lot I need to post about, but that just seems to daunting. Two weeks of Germany, Jordan, and Israel to blog about. It's not a relaxing vacation- you kind of just keep going and going. And I want to do the vacation justice by telling about everything. So for now, I'm just including a video from after the trip!

Oh and a couple of pictures . . . Emma loves her baby dolls! She is such a good little mother to them. By the way, she's stopped crawling altogether- and just walks everywhere. And loves carrying her keyboard, her blocks, her babies, and basically anything heavy or bulky while she walks. Silly Emma!

A late Easter post

2011-04-30T13:18:00.001-07:00

I guess I have kind of skimped lately on pictures- other than Emma's birthday. But Easter was hard since we have Church at 8:30-11:30, and Emma takes a nap at about noon, so we had to hurry and take some pictures before she got too cranky. And of course James was so willing to take the pictures (aka not be in them).

A few days before that we went to Hee Haw farms in American Fork. Emma's favorite part was driving the tractor. As you can tell she loved it! Foot up enjoying the ride!

I think she'll love driving stick shift!
Oh and there was a petting zoo with the most adorable baby animals: a calf, a baby goat, a lamb, baby bunnies, baby pigs, baby chicks. But, her favorite was the rabbit, when we picked up the goat and lamb Emma wasn't wanting to touch them. But she loved petting the baby bunny!
Anyway, I'm trying to be totally caught up so that when we get back from our trip I don't feel totally behind that I don't even want to share anything because it will take too long. I'm sure other people know that feeling, right?

I'm SO excited

2011-04-29T08:29:00.001-07:00

So, we're super lucky . . . my Grandad is taking one last trip to Israel and James and I get to go. We're leaving early next Friday, I went about 4 years ago with my family when my Grandad was the tour guide- and more than anything I wanted James to be able to go with him as the tour guide because he has such a passion and interest in doing it, plus he's my Grandad. And I think it makes the trip what it is having him as the tour guide. So as excited as I am to go over to Jordan and Israel, I just found out that we're going to have a 10 hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY! For those of you who don't know, which I can't imagine many of you don't know. I've done 2 study abroads over there and I just love Germany! It really is such a great country. If we were to move anywhere out of the country I would love to move there. The people there are so much friendlier than people in France or Austria, and it is so green and beautiful over there. And I get to spend almost a day there! How exciting!!!! When I found that out I just couldn't contain my excitement, I had been kind of getting anxious to go over there- since it seemed like we wouldn't be going for a while. But, we're going to be over there in less than a week. I'm so so so so excited! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Movie! A Movie!

2011-04-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, well my mom wanted me to post a movie of Emma trying to do somersaults- so we tried recording her. She never did a full one by herself, but lots of good attempts. So I figured I'd post that anyway! I feel like she's way too young to have figured out how to do this on her own. While you can tell she doesn't have enough momentum to get herself over on her own- we have seen her do about 4 or 5 perfect somersaults- I think we have a gymnast on our hands!

Happy Birthday Emma!

2011-04-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

Well we made it to her first year! Honestly I can't believe it, she's getting to be a little lady now and I can't believe that she's been in our family a whole year. Time really flies. For your pleasure now is a montage of Emma's first year. By the way I've been trying to put together a baby book of Emma, I'm sure this is a new struggle people are dealing with, but now that we have digital cameras and we aren't limited in the number of pictures we take, how do people decide which pictures to put in scrapbooks? I already have thousands of Emma, but surely I can't afford to have a book that large printed up! I know, that sounds like a spoiled complaint, but seriously how do people do it? I feel like every picture of Emma is adorable so how do I scale down?

We had a birthday party for Emma and I think it was a little too overwhelming for her (too many people), but we were glad to have so many people come and celebrate with us. Emma we just adore you. You are an amazing addition to our family, and we love you so much! Happy Birthday!

Some momentous key points
-Loves to wave- mostly at little kids
-Also really loves to do somersaults on our bed
-Says bye-bye, no, dada, mama, and baby
-Waves every time we go down to the garage
-Loves knocking over her blocks
-Really loves dancing to music
-Her favorite music is Raffi

11 and a half months

2011-03-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

If anyone even still reads this blog- I'm sorry- I'm really bad at blogging. But alas- I have PICTURES. Doesn't everyone know that they hardly read what you write, it's the pictures people come to look at? :)
I loved this picture, because Emma has a salt water taffy in her mouth, and all that you could see hanging out was one of the little tail ends.
A basketball fan like her daddy!

Just a beautiful little girl, who is about to turn 1! CRAZY! I'm trying to remember some things to share about her, oh yeah she loves to balance by herself. She has taken many steps, the most we've counted in a row is 12. She as you can tell by the pictures is in the phase of putting absolutely everything in her mouth- so we've had to keep an eye on her. She now has all four front teeth in. She especially loves emptying containers- like the laundry basket or the utensil holder in the dishwasher or any drawer. She has become quite the climber. She has started waving again. I think that's the most adorable little thing seeing that wrist flap up and down. She gives high fives. Oh but, of course only to people she's comfortable with. Most of all- she loves ELECTRONICS- phones, cameras, the laptop, you name it- she'd probably love to play with it as long as it lights up and does something when she presses buttons. She loves her daddy, especially when he comes home from a long day at school and she can hear him coming up the stairs- she gets really excited. Anyway, in just under 2 weeks we'll have a 1 year old and I can't believe it. Believe me we'll take lots of pictures and throw a fun birthday party for her and post all about it. Again- sorry for the long lapse in posts!

Amazing Song

2011-02-15T16:25:00.000-08:00

So this is my cousin Karli, she's 16 and been singing all her life. This is a song she wrote and her performing it, everyone should watch it. She's so good!

We have a little walker

2011-02-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

I haven't been able to get any of them on video, but today Emma has taken several sets of steps! YAY! I'm so excited for her, so much opens up to her now! What a great Valentine's gift! YAY EMMA!

10 Months (Picture Overload)

2011-02-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

I know I'm including too many pictures, but I wanted to demonstrate Emma's constant mobility- plus a few cute ones interspersed!

Okay okay, I know I've been really bad about blogging. So if anyone actually still follows this blog, I'm sorry. Emma's 9 month check up went really well. She's just over 28 inches tall, putting her in the 70th percentile, her weight is at 18 pounds 15 ounces- dropping her to the 40th percentile for weight and her head was in the 45th percentile. So basically I've been trying to feed her a lot. I love chubby babies- because they run in my family, but Emma was never very chubby, and now that she's down to the 40th percentile- I'm trying to over feed her! We want to get that weight back up! On a more fun note- she's totally mobile- she prefers her feet, but she crawls to anything she can pull herself up on, and then walks around. I think we need to get her one of those push toys, cause the other day we found her pushing a kitchen chair (see picture with purple shirt) around so she could walk where there wasn't any furniture for her to hold herself up on. We love our little Emma, she likes to wave, splash, and turn pages of books. Her favorite toys are the piano, her maracas, and basically anything she can use to make noise. She loves knocking down anything we build out of cups or blocks. She's fed up with the carseat- I'm pretty sure it's because she has to face backwards, because she always turns her body to the side so she can watch me drive. So we're probably going to move her up to a forward facing as soon as she turns 20 pounds (when it's legal). I'm trying to think . . . I don't know I just can't believe we have a 10 month old. And that a year ago she was in my tummy, and we didn't even know her. And how we're so in love with her now! Oh also- everyone must see fish face picture- we LOVE this!

I guess to update you on James and I. James is in his last semester of his masters program. He'll be done the beginning of May! YAY! Which means right now we're in the midst of the job search. We're trying to stay positive despite the limited jobs right now. But, sometimes it can be easy to get down. I'm staying home with Emma, which can be quite the task. Anything I do takes at least twice as long now, and she's not much of a nap taker, so there isn't much time for other things. We're pretty sure we're moving this summer, we're just not sure where- so Emma's room has become my packing room. I'm going through basically everything- and selling what we can do without. Speaking of which- my services are available if anyone wants me to sell something for them on ebay. I'll only charge a small percentage. Or if you're looking to buy something more expensive, but don't have the time to wait for a better deal- I think I have buying things cheaper on ebay down to an art form. But, that has been a big part of my life lately- listing and selling on ebay- I've made a fairly good amount of money and will probably continue to do so for another few months. other than that. We're just trying to keep up with Emma! I'll try and post pics

$20 Amazon Gift Card for $10

2011-01-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have really loved all of the deals that have been coming out, my favorite was nordstrom 50 dollar gift card for 25 dollars, but that's over. And now . . . you can buy a 20 amazon gift card for 10 dollars.

https://livingsocial.com/deals/21336?ref=conf-jp&rpi=4254423

I love Amazon, I buy lots of used books and movies from them for great deals. So I couldn't pass this up, also I think there are a lot of you that would also appreciate the great deal as well. So I hope this helps someone out there!

9 month old Emma

2011-01-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

Well I made this onesie before Emma was born, since I knew we were planning on going to Disney World- these pants I found at a second hand store for a dollar. And ta da . . . a cute minnie mouse outfit. I liked this a lot better than buying Emma a souvenir- since this hardly costed anything- and was a lot cuter than anything they had in the stores!
I love this picture, I think my little girl is so adorable!

She's not so little anymore though, she pulls herself up on basically anything she can reach. And she likes to free stand now. She hasn't really tried taking steps though. But, she walks along edges of furniture, and has begun to start to whine until we put her down and grab her hands so she can walk. Quite the little independent girl she is. Oh another bit of news- Emma got her first tooth- actually on New Years eve.

We haven't gone to her 9 month appointment yet, that's actually scheduled for the beginning of this next week. So hopefully I'll be posting her stats soon!

Our little girl, we love her so much. We left her with my mom and sister Maddie to go out to lunch for our 3rd anniversary- and I worried the whole time. Not that I don't think my mom will take good care of her- of course I know she will. But, I don't agree with the whole forcing your child to do something they don't want to do- when it comes to going to other people. I don't think I'll be doing that anytime again soon. She may make it harder to eat when I hold her and make our trips out shorter, but I love having our little girl around.

Anyway, I couldn't fit everything into one post- so our Christmas break is down in the next one!

A much needed update

2011-01-14T08:34:00.000-08:00

Well to say in the least this will be a longer blog- or at least one with a lot of pictures. Which I'm sad to say I used to take more of in general, now about 99 percent of the pictures of Emma- which I'm glad to say I have, but I wish I took more of other things, 'cause my family went on a really fun vacation, but I scarcely have any pictures to show for it. But, here are some of the ones I do have.

Gosh, my family sure has changed a lot since our last professional picture. I think that must've been at my wedding. Curt is now almost as tall as Chris- the girls are all about as tall as me. Oh yeah . . . and of course we have EMMA!
This is something we've done in my family. I have a picture of my dad doing this with Madelynne and Carter. We tried to get James to do it, but those pictures didn't turn out as well. And of course our precious Emma.
Since we were leaving for Florida on Christmas, we celebrated Christmas the day before- and well I don't have any pictures- but Emma got this doll- which she loves. Can you tell?Then our first day we went to Universal Studios- the island of adventure. Mainly for the Harry Potter park.

Here we were waiting in line to get into the ride that goes all through the castle. It wasn't a life size castle, but it was still very large.
As you can probably tell, it was really cold. But, well worth it, we beat the crowds, the Harry Potter section of the park reached it's limits by about 9 in the morning, and there was a two hour wait just to get into that section of the park.

But, I really did think the castle was cool. There were so many awesome things that they can do now. Like they had the paintings moving- but still looking like paintings. The sorting hat spoke and moved. The candlesticks from the ceiling, which weren't real- moved up and down. They had the triwizard cup- as evidenced from Curt trying to snatch it. Dumbledore's pensieve.
I took a lot more pictures than I'm posting so as not to overwhelm those of you who actually take the time to look through this. It was really quite authentic, other than I'm sure the castle is a lot bigger than what we saw. But, they had Hagrid's hut, the whomping willow, and the Weasley's car. They really went all out in designing the castle grounds- which made it all the more fun.
Oh yeah, and how can you forget Hogsmeade? Oh my goodness, that was amazing- all of the shops and stores you read about in the books were there. Some of our favorites were The Three Broomsticks, Zonko's- and the sweet shop. Everyone recommended getting frozen butterbeer, but as you can tell we were definitely not wanting to put anything that was frozen in our mouths. So we just got regular butterbeer. But, it was so good! A bunch of us got wands- which there was a huge line going into Olivander's shop- like a 2 hour long line- so we bought some at a stand. Oh as well as some scarves. Then we all got chocolate frogs, bertie bott's every flavour beans, and some other goodies. I think they really captured the essence of the world of Harry Potter. My family- who aren't big readers of the book, over all the parks said they wished they could spend more time there. Because it really was neat- and felt almost reminiscent- of the memories from the movies. It was so much fun! Oh yeah, and they had pumpkin juice too- we bought some, but it's in our fridge.

We went to all of the parks at Disney World except for Typhoon Lagoon because it was closed for construction. I still think the animal kingdom was our favorite because it had the best rides. Oh and also had the safari- we saw tons of animals and they were so close- elephants, giraffes, zebras, lions, hippos, rhinos-black and white, and took pictures of all of those- but those aren't worth the time it takes to post them :) Here we are on the safari. . .
Then we went to Disney's Hollywood Studios- which we also loved because it had the Rock'n' Rollercoaster and the Hollywood tower of terror, plus lots of shows. We got to see Beauty and the Beast there- it was really good too.

But, Emma's favorite park was by far Blizzard Beach, it warmed up, and we decided to go to the one water park that was open. And she LOVED IT! I think it probably reminded her of a really big bath tub, since she always takes baths with me and the water was pretty warm. Cause she kept splashing around in it. That was a fun park to go to, because no one was really there- so we kept going down slide after slide- with no one to really wait for.

Another video and some cute pictures

2010-12-16T12:05:00.000-08:00

Well for the past month and a half- I've been playing the piano quite frequently. I played a piano/organ duet in my ward's Christmas program. It really is a great number, but James hasn't really had a lot more time at home to take care of Emma while I played. So my solution was to pull up a chair and let her sit right along next to me. Well she never liked when I played, she wanted to play by herself. I have so many little clips of her doing this, but I wanted to share one from last week that I thought was especially humorous! I am proud to say that Emma takes after her mom in her love of music. We'll have to harness those skills into some lessons in a few years :)

And we wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Go Jaren Go!

2010-11-29T20:49:00.000-08:00

While we were in Arizona for Thanksgiving, we got to watch 2 of Jaren's basketball games. Emma wasn't too fond of all of the yelling and loud noises, except for when they turned on the music and both teams were warming up. Here was her response :)

She's never done this before, nor has she done this since-

Break through!

2010-11-18T17:38:00.000-08:00

Now for those of you who don't know James very well I want to inform you that James is not very opinionated when it comes to the less important things. He grew up with a brother just above him and a sister just below him for a long time before his mom had 2 more kids- so James is the typical middle child, he didn't really speak his opinions because he was the typical peacemaker. And he brought that to our marriage- many a time when we've gone shopping and I ask his opinion he doesn't really give it. I like to ask his opinion, because it's his opinion I care about most- especially when it comes to outward things. So I thought it was a miracle when last night we were just talking, and he asked if I was growing my hair out. I shrugged and told him not really I just hadn't cut it in a while. Well he said, "you should cut it, you look really cute with short hair!" My jaw practically dropped- yay for James! I was so excited! One that he took the initiative and had an opinion on my hair. And two that James likes SHORT hair! So right now I'm looking up different hair cut possibilities . . . any suggestions?

Days of Truth Challenge

2010-11-16T20:09:00.001-08:00

Well I was a little too optimistic on how much time I was going to have on my hands right now. It's kind of a busy time for me- James and I are in the middle of teaching the marriage and family course. Emma is requiring a little bit more of my attention- the doctor thinks she has separation anxiety and has said the best way for her to get over it quickly is to make her feel like she can trust us. I guess it was bound to happen with at least one of our kids- 'cause that's how all of the Bateman kids were- some more so than others. But on top of that, my parents came out for the Carl Bloch exhibit! Wow- I don't care if you aren't an art person, it is amazing that BYU has acquired so many of his works, and everyone should see it! And next we're going to Arizona for Thanksgiving, and then Christmas in Oregon. Then this last week I've been sick and didn't really have any desire to get on and type about anything really. So I'm giving up for now, I'll start the days of truth challenge maybe when I have less interesting things going on in my life. But, with the holidays coming up on top of everything else- I just don't really have the time to blog about myself on top of everything about our family! I QUIT!

Day 2

2010-11-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

Something you love about yourself:

James always gives me flack for this, but I am very opinionated. And I love it. It must have developed sometime during my high school years, and probably developed from being the daughter of my mother, because they raised me to think in terms of what is most important. But, I like knowing about all the local/national/global political issues. I like to know enough about them to have an opinion on them and be able to back up that opinion. I like that I grew up in a completely different cultural situation than my husband, I somewhat think that's why I have more formed opinions than he does.

Sometimes I think James wished he had known my opinions on certain things- before he married me ;)

But I do, I have formed opinions on a lot of things and there is rarely a topic of conversation that is brought up that I lack an opinion on. I like having a mind of my own- whether or not James, my mom, or my in-laws agree with me. My opinions are my own. James has said to me on several occasions that I would make a great lawyer, except for the fact that I would only choose to defend cases that I agreed with- so I probably wouldn't make that much money.

30 Days of Truth Challenge: Day 1

2010-11-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

The 30 days of truth is basically 30 days of blog posts following this guide line:

Day 1.)Something you hate about yourself.
Day 2.)Something you love about yourself.
Day 3.)Something you have to forgive yourself for.
Day 4.)Something you have to forgive someone for.
Day 5.)Something you hope to do in your life.
Day 6.)Something you hope you never have to do.
Day 7.)Someone who has made your life worth living for.
Day 8.)Someone who made your life heck, or treated you like crap.
Day 9.)Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.
Day 10.)Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.
Day 11.)Something people seem to compliment you the most on.
Day 12.)Something you never get compliments on.
Day 13.)A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough days. (write a letter.)
Day 14.)A hero that has let you down. (letter)
Day 15.)Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.
Day 16.)Someone or something you definitely could live without.
Day 17.)A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
Day 18.)Your views on gay marriage.
Day 19.)What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
Day 20.)Your views on drugs and alcohol.
Day 21.)(scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?
Day 22.)Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.
Day 23.)Something you wish you had done in your life.
Day 24.)Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)
Day 25.)The reason you believe you’re still alive today.
Day 26.)Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?
Day 27.)What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28.)What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29.)Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30.)A letter to yourself: tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself.

Day 1: Something I hate about myself;

Well just as about any girl is, I also fall into the category of the type of girl who scrutinizes herself way too much. I could probably make a list of things about me that I'd like to change. But, hate? It's such a strong word that I'd like to think that I don't actually HATE anything about myself. Something I really dislike about myself now is that I tend to coward off in situations where I really need to stand up and say what needs to be said. And then I get frustrated with the situation and leave thinking about all of the things I should have said and it just gets me even more frustrated. So I think starting this 30 days of truth will be good for me to openly express a little bit of me to those of you who care about reading this.

Our sweet little pumpkin!

2010-10-31T20:26:00.001-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch at Cornbelly's. This was the best picture I got since Emma concentrated on looking and touching the pumpkins.
This was the only picture we got with all of us, in front of Cinderella's carriage.

The cute little cousins, I don't think the cared too much for each other- for this is the best picture I got- :) They will soon though!
The family rocking chair picture . . .
Oh yeah, so for Halloween we bought Emma a penguin costume, because it was just so cute, but our ward was having a party. So we were trying to figure out costumes that would coincide with Emma's. So I'm a mama penguin, and James is the zookeeper.

There have been some really exciting new developments with Emma. TA DA! She can sit up all by herself. She's been starting to reach for mom, and been turning away from people she's uncomfortable with. She's still a mama's girl- and despite what other people may say, I'm not determined to change that. She'll come around to other people on her own time, but I don't feel the need to let her cry to satisfy the wants of other people. Which is usually quite frequent- so often she'll be held by others for maybe a couple of minutes- and then decides she wants mom again. She also gives kisses. I have a video on my phone, but it's not very good, so I keep trying to get it on camera so I can keep it, well and post it too. I know this is late 'cause she's almost 7 months now, but for her 6 month check up Emma's weight fell in the 60th percentile, her height in the 90th and head in about the 50th. She's our little ray of sunshine!

My Best Friend's Wedding

2010-10-15T07:27:00.001-07:00

Don't you love that movie? Well this isn't actually about the movie, this is about one of my best friends who got married yesterday. This friend is very near and dear to my heart, she got baptized about 4 years ago, and so yesterday was just amazing for me, to be with her being sealed to her husband in the temple. She was a beautiful bride, and her in-laws seem like such an awesome family. I'm so excited for them!

I was so glad that James was on Fall Break so that I could go into the sealing. It was one of the most special sealings for me- because I kept thinking how different her life would be right now if she didn't get baptized. Her whole life has changed now, it was invigorating to me- I need to be sharing the gospel more often. I am so grateful for Brittany and the friendship that we shared in high school and what a great example she is to me now. Congratulations Britt!

We've been parents for a whole six months

2010-10-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it. It's gone by so fast, I can't believe we've had Emma in our family for half of a year. Here's a little about Emma:

-Emma loves to laugh, and she does a lot of it
-She sits up by herself
-She likes grabbing faces and hair
-She is really trying to mobile- rolling over, turning herself around, throwing her weight- you can tell she really wants to move
-She still likes to talk- and seems to be starting to copy noises
-She is really aware of noises and where they come from, when I'm driving around with just Emma, I'll turn back and start talking to her and she'll turn her head so she can see me
-She really likes to stand, she doesn't stand by herself, but loves to stand all the time

Emma has had a couple of busy weeks, my cousin Rachel just came home from her mission, my dad, and brothers Curt and Carter came up for conference weekend, we went camping, just lots going on. Here are some pictures . . .
Emma was really good for conference, especially having her dad watch her and letting mom go to a session. But, I was really disappointed in so many of the people who came to conference. I know they have good intentions, but when on the ticket is printed, no cameras- video or picture taking, and no food or drinks, and then they ANNOUNCE IT while everyone is seated, how can you not feel guilty when the prophet comes in and you're snapping pictures away, or you're in the middle of conference and feeling like snacking so you bring out some snacks. I mean you can justify all you want, but how sad is it that you are at general conference and can't even obey the rules they have there for you? Wouldn't you just feel guilty about having a picture of the prophet that you took- when you know that they specifically told you not to take one? That's one of my pet peeve's is people who directly disobey rules. I personally think that that will be one thing we will be judged on is how well and how closely we tried to follow rules, guidelines, and commandments. Anyway, this post was really mostly about Emma, but I had to make that statement because it really is sad that people come to hear the prophets speak to us, but can't even listen to the first few rules that are presented even before conference has even started.

Joshua Bell

2010-09-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

I read this story the other day. I want to always remember the message:

In Washington DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin started to play. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that over 1,000 people went through that station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip; a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old little boy. His mother tagged him along, hurriedly, but the child stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard and the boy continued to walk by, turning his head to watch the violinist the whole time. This action was repeated several times by other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played only 7 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk by at their normal pace. He collected $32.17 that morning for his efforts. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it, and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the finest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a 1713 Stadivarius violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Three days earlier, Joshua had played to a full house at Boston's Symphony Hall, where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

True story.

A writer for the Washington Post named Gene Weingarten set this up as "an experiment in context, perception and priorities - as well as an unblinking assessment of public taste: In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?"

This is how Weingarten described the crux of the experiment:

Each passerby had a quick choice to make,

one familiar to commuters in any urban area where the occasional

street performer is part of the cityscape:

Do you stop and listen? Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt

and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed

by the unbidden demand on your time and your wallet?

Do you throw in a buck, just to be polite?

Does your decision change if he's really bad? What if he's really good?

Do you have time for beauty? Shouldn't you?

What's the moral mathematics of the moment?

(The Washington Post won a Pulitzer in the feature writing category for Gene Weingarten's story about his experiment.)

Oh she's just so fun!

2010-09-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

We LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE our little girl! Emma is (like my title) just so much fun! She has really started to love the peek a boo game. And she does it herself! She'll pull the blanket or shirt or whatever over her head, and then when we pull it down she starts to giggle. Such a smart girl! Her hair is now at the stage where after she takes a nap we have to wet it down with water because it well basically looks like she just woke up from a nap. She still loves her jumper, but has recently been using her walker. Oh and she started scooting around on the floor. I knew she'd probably be an early mover- - she just wants to be going places. Oh and baths are still so much fun, except now rather than relaxing in them, she spends all of her time splashing. So mom has had to pin her arms down, we even tried distracting her with bath toys, but it only drew her attention for a couple of seconds and then she proceeded to splash all over and drench the entire floor.We took this picture on Sunday when we went on a drive through the Alpine Loop, the colors were starting to change and it really did look so beautiful ! Here Emma is getting ready to cheer on those Cougars, who obviously needed our help! Too bad they couldn't hear us! This is the dress my mom helped me make for Emma, I think it's cute, but I had to post this picture because it shows one of Emma's favorite past times- grabbing her feet! Emma loves sitting in the Bumbo that aunt Ashley is letting us use. She is just a smiley girl! I love it. Soon that smile will have some teeth! I'll try and post some videos later! We just love what she brings to our family and house!

2010-09-14T17:29:00.000-07:00

Someone in our house is 5 months old

2010-09-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well we don't have an accurate scale, but Emma doesn't seem to have changed very much in weight. But she changed so much from birth to 4 months that her weight was bound to slow down. She is getting to a friendly stage right now and smiles all the time. She loves to laugh- and we love to laugh with her. She is all about toys right now, and loves to play with pretty much anything, but her favorite is this little crab rattle. I am ALL for babies playing with things that aren't toys too, but who would have thought the car seat would be one of those toys. I wish I had a picture, but by the time I got it out, she stopped. You know those boxes they put on the carseats that describe the warnings and rules about carseats? Well Emma loves looking at them!
She also is a proficient roller! She does not like lying on her back and if you lay her down like that she will procede instantly to roll onto her stomach!

She is the cutest little girl!

Well onto other areas in our life, James has an internship right now with Beneficial Financial Group, which he loves. Oh yeah and after 2 years in Chile, Osorno - - - CHRIS IS HOME FROM HIS MISSION!

I love this picture! My poor grandpa is shorter than all the boys except for Carter, who is 11. In our family we get our growth spurts later than most, and when James and I got married Curt was my height, but here 2 years 8 months later, Curt is practically as tall as James. This was also really fun for us, because Chris and Curt seem so alike. It's crazy my family is growing up. At least I'm still taller than Carter!

Emma at 4 months

2010-08-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

I know she's almost five months, but I'm kind of using this to track her progress since I haven't really opened her baby book. So at Emma's 4 month doctors appointment she weighed 14 pounds 5 ounces. She was 24 inches long. She moved up from the 50th percentile in weight to about the 70th. YAY Emma, which also means those legs of hers are getting quite chunky! I have to admit that that is one of my favorite things about babies- the chunky legs! Her head size hasn't changed much. But, she is just so much more talkative and sociable. Anyway, here are some pictures- we just love her! TA DA! Look what we can do!

Happy 25th Anniversary!

2010-08-21T07:36:00.000-07:00

A few days ago my parents reached 25 years of marriage. YAY! It's been an exciting year . . . my grandparents celebrated their 50th, my mom turned 50, and my parents celebrated their 25th. Speaking of family though, Chris gets home in 6 days! I am so excited. I can't believe its been 2 years! But, I'm really excited he's coming to Provo for this fall semester.

Okay this video actually works. . . hopefully!

2010-08-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

Movie of Emma talking

2010-07-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

Arizona 3.5 mos 092.MOV

I guess it's time for an update

2010-07-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

Well Emma is getting bigger by the day, she weighs somewhere between 14 and 15 pounds, I think we'll figure out just how much at her 4 month appointment which will probably be next week. But our little girl is still our little girl. We love her so much. We love how she loves to talk to us, well mostly mommy, but the other day as we were figuring out loans and our finances for graduate school, Emma kept joining in and wanting us to listen to her. She really is quite the little talker.

We went boating and while mom and dad were tubing and being pulled behind the boat Emma was just content to be in her lifejacket. In fact we're pretty sure she liked how secure she felt in it.

She for sure loved the water, and it was such a nice day to go up to Detroit Lake.

I love this picture because we were just sitting in the car dropping my sister off for girls camp and she was just looking at her toys, and just so happy. So I needed to post this picture, it's one of my favorites.
She's quite a happy baby, she doesn't really cry unless she wants her mom or she's really hungry.
My dad used to play the piano with me on his arms, and he was teaching me how to do it, but I thought it was such a cute picture that I snapped this first before I tried it. Anyway, Emma is quite the little socialite. She loves to talk and smile at strangers. In fact the other day I was in a store, and there was a mother and her teenage daughter who were following us around, eventually when I stopped, they told me that they were just following us because Emma kept smiling at them. This was funny to me, because she really hasn't liked going to other people. She loves to bounce and thus loves her Johnny Jump Up and bouncing. But it seems like her favorite think is to just talk. I'll have to upload a video of that later.

Emma is 2 months old!

2010-06-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

And things are just average :) Just kidding, things are amazing, but Emma's stats are around average. We went to her 2 month doctors appointment and she weighed a whopping 10 pounds 15 ounces- moving her from her 2 week appt from the 10th percentile to the 50th! YAY EMMA! She's such a good eater! Her length also jumped from the 12th percentile to just under the 50th at 22.5 inches. Her head circumference jumped from the 25th to the 38th percentile. Okay, but besides the medical stats, I love my alone time with Emma. I'm pretty sure she likes it too because we can talk for such a long time about nothing; and those are the most precious conversations I have had in such a long time. She also loves to smile, but I seldom catch those pictures on camera since she gets distracted by the camera. And lately, she has become distracted by the TV. She is such a fun baby! We love her so much! We'll be posting some pictures soon 'cause we're going to Oregon and while we're there we're going to get some family pictures done!

Emma's first trip

2010-05-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

I guess I am getting worse at figuring this blog out because when I attach pictures they show up wherever, and then when I try and write things this is what happens, it goes wherever it decides it should go. But, I've also realized that blogs are the best way to transfer pictures, so the first couple of pictures are for my mom- they are the ones I took of my siblings in Oregon. Well and then with Maddie and my mom on the plane. The next few are also for my mom, but some of my favorites. Other than becoming a mother myself, this was the ultimate mother's day present, even though it came a week later. I got to take a 4 generation picture with my mom and grammy. I think it's also kind of neat, because I've always been told that I look like my mother and grandmother, so to be in a picture with them and our little Emma is kind of a neat opportunity. They are the best mothers I know and hope I can be half of what they are. Happy Belated Mother's Day Mom and Grammy!

Mommy's girl

2010-05-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

Emma definitely has her dad in her, but sometimes it just makes me look back at my old pictures when I see her make certain faces. It's quite obvious which one is me based on picture quality and etc. But, it certainly makes me look back and forth between them looking at the similarities

It's so fun to be a mommy!

2010-05-03T20:42:00.003-07:00

We love our little Emma! It has been so much fun getting to know her. I feel like there is too much to say about her. When we went in for her two week appointment the doctor was surprised at how intently she was trying to roll over. So we haven't been putting her on the bed by herself at all. But she weighed 7 pounds. Which I'm sure her weight has gone up a lot more because she LOVES to eat. A few other things that she loves; car rides- you never hear a peep from her once she is in the car, baths- probably from all of the baths mommy took during the last few months of pregnancy, music- she loves music! Again probably from all of the country music that we listen to. She is quite social now and loves to communicate in her own little ways. She leaves nothing to your imagination, if she is feeling uncomfortable or less than pleasant she will let you know with her many faces. It's so fun having her in our family and we just adore her!

Our Little Emma

2010-04-15T19:27:00.001-07:00

Well first I should tell everyone about James, he is AMAZING. I don't know how much I've written about his graduate applications, but he applied to
University of Arizona- got in
University of Utah- got in and got a scholarship
Boston College- got in and got a scholarship
Vanderbilt- got in and got a scholarship
University of Rochester- got in and got a scholarship
Duke- still waiting to hear back

Isn't that amazing? He was so worried about not getting in, and now it seems like he really has every option at his fingertips. I guess we'll be doing a lot of praying over the next few weeks so we can make a decision.

Anyway, so to reprimand all of you who said that I'd probably be dialated to a 3 for a while. WRONG! I went in the next week for an appointment, and the doctor had me 100 percent effaced and between 3 and a half and 4 centimeters. Granted that is between half and one centimeter in a week, but I hadn't felt anything up until this point. But, the doctor wanted to schedule me for an induction. After James and I talked about it for a while, we agreed that a week from that Wednesday we would go in to be induced so that it would be easier on James so the baby would be here before finals. But, I started to feel contractions that night, which continued on to the next day, but I was still hoping that it would be a little while. But, Thursday night they started getting a lot worse. I was trying to let James sleep, but at about 1:30 Friday morning, I had to wake him up and knew we had to go to the hospital. Needless to say it took James a little while to get himself up and ready, so by the time we actually got to the hospital it was 2:00, and I think I was checked in soon after that. The nurse checked me and said I was 4.5, she said she'd come back and check on me in 20 minutes to see if I had progressed any. When she came back she was surprised that I was at a 5, but able to tolerate the pain. So they admitted me into the hospital. They hooked me up to an IV and were going through asking a bunch of questions after admitting me. The nurse left and came back about twenty minutes later and I had progressed to a 6. At this point I was having a harder time and wanted some pain medication, but didn't want to get an epidural yet in case it slowed me down. Well the pain medication completely made me dizzy, but didn't do much for the pain, except made me relax a little bit, so the contractions were more effective . . . so within about 5 minutes I asked for the epidural. I kind of felt like a wimp trying to suffer through it with other pain medication, and then asking a short time later for the epidural. But, when she checked me for the epidural I had progressed to a 7 in about 10-15 minutes of time! The epidural was SO WONDERFUL! I didn't feel a thing, and it was nice to relax after all of that pain, but in just over an hour I was fully dialated, surprising the nurses, they called the doctor, and told me to start pushing. Well after three contractions of pushing the nurses told me to stop because the baby was right there. So we waited another 10 minutes for the doctor to get there, which he did at just after 6. By the time he was dressed and washed up, he had me push for one contraction and told me not to push anymore, and during the next contraction he just slid her out. At 6:12 a.m. on Friday, April 9th our first child was born. Everyone was so amazed that I was only there for 4 hours, and that I was only pushing for 4 contractions. It was by far a shocking delivery for the doctor, nurses, as well as James and I.

We named her Emma Kathleen Sweeney. We had a list of names, but she didn't look like any of the others, particularly because she came out with dark brown hair. I also wanted to use my name in part, but I really didn't like using "Erin" as a middle name, it just didn't fit with anything, and I thought it sounded funny. So I'm passing on my middle name. But she was born 6 pounds 14 ounces, and was 19 inches long. But, she is absolutely beautiful. We've been taking tons of pictures, but I've only uploaded a few from my camera, but here are the ones that I have.

-I love the picture of her in the carseat, it just shows how small she is. That was on the way to the doctors appointment where we found out little Emma was a bit jaundiced, even though the doctor said she most likely wasn't because she didn't look like it nor show any signs of it. And the pictures of her in the blue are after they delivered the bilibed and the biliblanket. We love just so cute!
just so cute!
her! Isn't she

Last One :(

2010-04-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

This will probably be our last blog before we become three, but we're so excited about that. I guess unless the baby does come on time, but the doctor was pretty sure the baby was going to come early. Or unless we get lots of news from graduate schools. But, good news, I have completely finished my capstone paper. I put my nose to the grindstone and wrote it in just over two days! All of my finals are taken care of except for one test which I am going to be scheduling a time to take with my professor, but I finally feel able to have this baby, like life won't be too strained if she came early. I haven't really had any free time since our last appointment because the doctor made me nervous so I've been getting all of my school work done, but after I finished my capstone paper, this is what I did. My friend Alyssa showed me how to do it, and I found some cute ideas . . . so this is what I did with all of those white onesies. Just kidding . . . not all of them, I still feel like I have tons! But it made me feel crafty and like I was able to do something fun for the baby, since I am totally not up to making a quilt or sewing anything. So I learned how to applique!

37 and a half weeks!

2010-04-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Baby,

We went to the doctors yesterday and you're starting to make mommy nervous. The doctor measured me to be 3 centimeters dialated and 80 percent effaced already. I was hoping to have another 3 and a half weeks, not less than 2 and a half. We're really excited for you to come, but mommy and daddy aren't done with school yet. I guess that's not an excuse since it is my fault that my capstone paper isn't finished yet. So I will work my hardest to get it finished within the next week- because we're so excited to meet you! But, we do wish you would stay inside mommy a little longer so that you can be as big and healthy as you can be.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Less than 7 weeks to go

2010-03-04T19:02:00.001-08:00

But doesn't that feel like an eternity? I mean when you are carrying so much extra weight around? It's gotten harder, when you sit on our couch you sink down and I have to have James give me a little push to help me up. As well as help me put my socks on. I have never been a fan of untying my shoes, so I can slip all of mine on- including sneakers (which I'm basically wearing all of the time right now). So he's lucky there :) I have discovered a lot of things I definitely don't like about pregnancy. The biggest being that everyone stares at your stomach. In the words of Stephanie Tanner, "how rude!" It's just funny, it's like you are an alien and they've never seen anyone pregnant before. And maybe I'm not a touchy-feely enough person, but I don't really enjoy all of the tummy touching. So- sorry friends who read this- no offense, it's just weird having you rub my tummy!

Our last check up was great, the doctor is still shocked that my blood pressure isn't rising. I think he last measured me at 98 over 60. The doctor said our baby is starting to slow down in growth, he said this is normal, but it makes me feel so much better! I pray almost every night that she'll be late. I know this is normal for most first time mothers, and it makes me feel even better knowing that I'll be similar to my mom who was never less than 6 days late with all of her pregnancies. It just makes me worry, I would like a few days free from school to relax before I become a mother. And I would have a hard time having the baby during finals, or at graduation. So we're still praying that the baby will come April 27th!

But I should be blogging about James. He'll never toot his own horn, so I'll do it for him. He hasn't finished applying to graduate programs yet, but already gotten into 2. University of Arizona for a masters in Finance and the University of Rochester for an MBA. And he's already been offered a $20,000 scholarship to Rochester! He has a couple more applications to finish, so we won't know for a while where he's going, but I think he's holding out for Boston College, Duke or Vanderbilt. It's confusing weighing the scholarships with the prestige of the school, but I'm positive he knows what he's doing, while we continue to pray about it, his options seem to get more and more broad. But isn't he so smart?!

He would never let me take a picture of just him, but these are from our engagement pictures, and since he didn't know our photographer he wasn't comfortable saying no. Aren't strangers great! He took a couple of just James and they are some of my favorite ones, but I'll most likely never get anymore of just him. Unless I'm sneaky, but he's so handsome that it's a shame he doesn't like pictures!

9 Weeks and counting

2010-02-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

Okay right now, I really should be doing homework. I really don't like the middle of the semester, it's like all of the sudden you become bogged down with homework and tests and life is no longer fun. I don't know why I never counted down the weeks in a semester. I guess since counting weeks goes a lot faster, and I'm doing it now with this pregnancy that it seems things in school are going fast, but then with the pregnancy they are going really slowly!

Here is an updated picture though- 31 weeks. Only 9 left! I can do 9, that actually seems kind of short. Except when I consider that I'm not wearing my normal clothes . . . it was kind of sad the other day I went through my closet separating things, from clothes I definitely didn't want to stretch out and clothes that I could wear. The clothes I can wear pile mostly consists of button up and zip up sweaters.

James and I had a really fun Valentines Week I should say. We found out that my aunt Katie was coming in for the weekend from Maryland, so we celebrated it throughout the week. For instance, on Monday we used a gift card to Cheesecake Factory and went out to eat. Then on Friday we went and saw Dear John- again with a gift card! Isn't it so fun doing things for free?!?! I love it! And we basically spent Saturday and Sunday with my aunt Karen and my aunt Katie. It was really fun to spend time with Katie, because she is that much older than me, and so I've always felt really close to her. Plus she's having a baby, less than 10 weeks after me- and it's going to be a little girl. It'll be fun, but kind of funny to think that her baby will be my cousin. It makes it all fun though!

Also another big thing for me, my cousin Shea is getting married in the beginning of June. I'm really excited because I feel like I've been the odd one out being the only one married, so I won't be alone ;) Just kidding, but really it will be fun. Also I am doing her flowers for her wedding. I'm excited, it's always something I thought was really fun, and with the experience I've had, I am now going to start a portfolio. I love doing it and I think it would be really easy to do while being a mom to earn some money without leaving the home. So I'll definitely post pictures. But, if you know anyone who wants to get their wedding flowers done at a great price- I'd love to be referred! But, I'm excited to do the first whole wedding. I did the boutonnieres and corsages at my own wedding. And made a friend a bouquet for her bridal pictures, but I won't have done a full wedding- until June that is.

James is finishing up his applications. I think he's going to send the rest of them off this week, so we should know in a month or so where we're going. It seems so odd to be hanging in the balance of where we'll be next year, but it's also kind of exciting too! I think those are all of our updates for now!

Some updates

2010-02-11T18:08:00.001-08:00

No one tells you or really warns you how hard it will be to gain weight when you're pregnant. Not that I've found it to be that hard to put on weight, but that all of the sudden I seem to not be able to control it. It's very frustrating.

I guess I was always pretty good at managing my weight, I never really fluctuated. I keep telling James how 8 months ago when I wasn't pregnant I would eat the same things and the same amounts, but for some reason now my body is retaining everything. Plus it's really frustrating on top of that to have someone tell you how many more pounds you need to gain. It seems silly, I've been pregnant all of 7 months, and I've only been putting on weight the last four, but they expect me to know how my body will react and how much I need to eat to gain such and such amount of pounds?! Are they crazy? Maybe in later pregnancies I'll know my body better, but for now it seems silly I don't know exactly what that will take. Plus I don't think I was mentally prepared to be watching my weight go up as much as it has. More often than not I approach another number I hoped to never reach. It is definitely something that is new for me, I'm not eating more than I usually do, but for some reason, now I'm gaining the weight that I always seemed to be able to keep off. I hope this is just a pregnancy change (crossing fingers)!

Well sorry about going off on that little tangent, it's just so funny to me how different things are when you are pregnant. So anyways-I felt like I had the right to change the background of this blog-- because this Sweeney family is preparing for a little girl, so it seems only appropriate.

I'm past 30 weeks now. Just over 9 left, and it feels closer and closer everyday. Three quarters of the way through . . . it feels so close. The scale keeps reminding me :)

As far as the doctor updates, I was supposed to start making appointments every two weeks, but the doctor didn't have any concerns so he set up a regular monthly appointment for me. At least that means that there is nothing to worry about! The doctor still says the baby is measuring tall, but he doesn't think that means she'll come early. Which I am so grateful for! Let's just hope he's right. I took the glucose screening and the glucose tolerance test. Thanks to my doctors office who didn't tell me I needed to fast before the first one, so I'm kind of tired of getting my blood drawn. But, I do not have gestational diabetes. I was kind of relieved to hear that because I'm already worried that the baby will come on time or early. I didn't want to add something else to worry about.

Life is already changing so much, we've been making plans for the future and it is so crazy to think that all of these plans will now include a little girl. That packing and traveling considerations will now include one more person. That our future is no longer just about the two of us. It seems crazy, but we're SO EXCITED!

We've been getting more and more ready, since James is planning on going to graduate school out of state we had to buy a carseat (before we were going to be borrowing my aunts). We've set up the baby's room. And I feel like all that is left is the last minute things and WAITING.

We still haven't chosen a name. James and I have a list of names, but I am more hesitant to choose a name. Each of my siblings had a name that my parents kind of had picked out before hand, but when we arrived the names were changed because we didn't look like a Courtney, or what not. So I don't want to commit to a name beforehand and change my mind when she actually comes. But we're still thinking about names, we've got it narrowed down to about 8. And we decided that we want to give our kids a name of their own as well as a family name. So that's about as specific as I can get at this point.

And I think that's all of the updates that we have for now.

27 Weeks

2010-01-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting to post a pregnancy profile for a while, but I guess I should . . . So I am almost 27 weeks. But, I'm writing that as the heading anyway. Things haven't really changed, I go in for my glucose screening test this week, and then my next doctors appointments are going to start coming every other week. I feel huge, and can't imagine that I have to wait until April for this baby to come, but 13 weeks doesn't make it sound that long. That's only 13 more weekends! We're really excited, but afraid that we're going to spoil our child. As far as the pregnancy news goes nothing has really changed, the baby still moves a ton! We're still thinking about baby names, I think James and I are set that we don't want to choose a name before we go to the hospital in case we change our minds. At each appointment the doctor tells me that the baby is measuring ahead of schedule. Luckily all of my professors are pretty understanding that I may need to take my finals early, if needed.

Other news, James just took the GMAT and did AMAZING. I'm so proud of him, so now he's finishing his applications and we'll apply in the next few weeks. Other than that, we're both busy with school and work, and getting ready for this baby. Our supply of baby clothes has definitely increased as well as our baby gear. We're getting to the point where we are ready for this addition to our little family. But, she couldn't be coming at a more perfect time, right after the flu season ends. Right at the end of our time at BYU, and a few months before Chris comes home from his mission. We're still trying to see if it's possible for him to be a part of the blessing, since that only means waiting 3 months. . . We'll see what happens!

So that's our update for now!

This is a Döner kebab

2009-12-17T09:39:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-09T09:09:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-02T08:41:00.000-08:00

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 . . . . . .

2009-11-06T13:05:00.001-08:00

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

2009-10-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

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 . . .

2009-07-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-07-12T17:54:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

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!)

2009-06-05T21:27:00.001-07:00

I don't think these really need any explanation!

Part II of California

2009-06-05T20:53:00.001-07:00

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)

2009-06-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-05-31T08:29:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-05-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-04T16:27:00.001-08:00

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!

What is IIAC?

2009-03-02T20:26:00.000-08:00

Well I don't have a lot of contact with my dads family, but my aunt Alese just had I guess a still birth. She was almost eight months along and they found out that the baby had died so they had to induce labor and she had to deliver this baby. And we had a funeral for the baby last Tuesday. We found out that it was Idiopathic Infantile Arterial Calcification which was even more sad to find out. It is a really rare disease and both parents have to be carriers of this disease in order for the child to have it. But the veins and the arteries start to calcify and the heart basically explodes. It was really sad for them since they've already had a lot of heartache this year. We're praying for them as they're starting a research foundation for this disease the website is
dmefoundation.org

Primary

2009-03-01T17:33:00.001-08:00

I don't know if I've mentioned on here before, but James and I are primary teachers in our ward. It's pretty fun, we teach the only primary kids in our ward which are a couple of boys. It is unpredictable because one of them is three and the other is four. It's amazing sometimes how much they know, and sometimes what they say. Today for instance, I was trying to give the lesson, while James was trying to keep them in their seats. The four year old came up to James and grabbed his finger with two of his and said "Skidoosh" for those who haven't seen Kung Fu Panda, I definitely recommend it, because it makes the actions and words of this four year old seem so much more meaningful. We love our calling, since kids really do say the darnedest things!

My Christmas Project

2009-02-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

Well here is my first real sewing project other than the curtains. I took different fabrics and cut them into strips and sewed those strips together. Then I made my own template of a stocking and cut them out and back them with flannel fabric so they would hold, and then I sewed another piece of flannel to the back of that and TA DA! Our Christmas stockings. I love it, because I can make them unique and switch up patterns, or colors, but this is what I've done so far.

Horse Back Riding

2009-01-19T09:05:00.000-08:00

I love this picture just for Ashley's face. I think she must have been sneezing, but when I looked at it I just cracked up and couldn't figure out what she was doing.

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We went horseback riding while we were in Arizona, it was really fun, but really cold! Our horses were trained to follow the horse in front of them, so basically we walked the whole time. Here are some of the fun pictures I took.

Thanksgiving in AZ

2009-01-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

Well for those of you who read my blog from Salem, we went to Tucson for Thanksgiving, and Elder (Don) Johnson was there, he had met James' aunt and uncle, and they found out he was from Salem, so he dropped by for Thanksgiving dinner. That was kind of a fun surprise. And James and I had a blast with all of his little cousins. I'm stealing this picture from James' mom, but I think it's really cute!

On our drive back to Utah we took a detour through the Grand Canyon with Mike and Ashley. And here is the series of pictures.

Tahitian Paradise!

2008-12-22T19:00:00.000-08:00

We flew to Papeete on Tuesday, and we boarded the ship, but we stayed in Papeete until Wednesday night because that was officially our first port of call. We did an excursion that day. It was a long bus ride . . . but luckily the bus ride was air conditioned. We met pretty early in the morning and our tour guide was Lasette (sp?) and she was LDS. She took us to the temple in Tahiti and we took pictures, they redid the temple since Grammy and Grandad were there last. The roof is now blue. It was kind of interesting to see a temple in such a tropical place, because the grounds were so different from anything in the United States. Then we stopped at a waterfall park I guess you’d call it, and we took pictures and saw several beautiful waterfalls. It was like something you’d see on a commercial or in a picture. We then ate lunch at this little restaurant that was next to the ocean. There we saw a whole bunch of puppies and were quite entertained by feeding the hungry dogs. We stopped at a floral garden next and saw so many beautiful flowers as well as the bread fruit, the Tahitian noni, grapefruit, and etc. We picked a lot of gardenias, lotus flowers, and hibiscus. There was a tree there too with branches that fell to the ground and we all climbed up them. It was really fun. Our last stop was to a museum, we looked around and it told about the history of the island, it was also really cool because there was a corner of the museum that was devoted to the Mormon church in Tahiti and the first missionaries, and those happenings. We drove around the whole island, it took a while, but it is great to be able to say that we saw the whole thing.

I like the thought process of the next few pictures.

This was when we got off the plane in Papeete, Tahiti.

Thursday we docked in Huahine, pronounced (Who-wa-hee-nee) it was one of my favorite places to be. We went on another excursion, this one my Grandad paid for everyone to go on. We took a catamaran ride to the middle of the barrier reef and went to a pearl farm. It was fun because it’s just a hut in the middle of the ocean, but we each picked out black pearls from the island and we’re getting them for Christmas and we were taught how they harvest and open the shells. It was kind of fun, then we rode a little ways out and we went snorkeling, we saw a lot of cool fish, but I think the fun part was that we were just with our family. After a little while of 50 people snorkeling, we finished riding the catamarans to a private “motu” (island) our guides played Tahitian music for us and sang, while the other guides were getting lunch together for us. We swam in the beautiful water, watched our guide teach us about the many uses of coconuts, and show us how to cook fresh fish. I’ve never been a big fan of coconut, but I really learned to love that and pineapple. We ate lunch on picnic tables in the middle of the water and afterwards we had a fashion show. Our guides dressed all of the girls up in pareos (pronounced Pa-ray-o’s) which you could also call a sarong, we learned the typical Tahitian dance and we paraded around the island wearing the pareos and dancing. It was a beautiful day, the water was so warm and we had so much fun. This was agreeably one of the highlights of everyone’s trip.

Friday we docked in Rangiroa, this was an atoll. It was a completely circular island, and you could walk around the island in about a half an hour. Friday James and I went onto the island and we walked around. We didn’t really do that much, but we found lots of hermit crabs and we saw a whole bunch of dolphins swimming not too far off shore. We really wanted to go out and swim with them, but neither of us had our swimming suits on and we didn’t bring enough clothes to get what we were wearing all wet.

Saturday we spent some of the day in Rangiroa, this time most of our family got off. We had the intention of going swimming. First we passed by all of the huts on the water and we got a tour of them. Some of them rent for $15,000 a night. Holy cow! Anyway then the people gave us a whole bunch of bread to feed the fish. Well we fed the fish alright, then Curt was really hungry and came over to get the bread, but the fish just circled around him so that they could still eat. The water was really beautiful there, it was so clear and shallow. It was amazing! We finally finished feeding the fish and we went swimming and snorkeling. We saw the first sting rays of the trip and got the worst sun burns of the trip! After we got back on board, we started out for our day at sea.

Sunday was spent completely at see, we were heading for Raiatea. We had a sacrament meeting on board, since this was with the Cruise Lady. My Grandad was the featured speaker on board, but it was kind of fun because James and Curt got to participate in it. We spent the rest of the day playing games. By the way, we are a big game family. We played games every night after we had dinner. The most popular games were psychiatrist, the couch game, mafia, and murderer. We played with kids 5 years old and up. It was so much fun, sometimes frustrating, but very enjoyable.

On Monday we were in Raiatea (pronounced Ray-ee-a-tay-a). We had a very animated tour guide who took us up the biggest river in Polynesia and we sang songs and heard about their traditional stories. It was fun because our same tour guide during the day was the leader of the dance and music group who came aboard for a performance for our cruise ship. One part that was also really fun was that we saw a pack of dolphins and they started playing in the wake of our boat, so we drove in circles for probably ten minutes, it was really fun because they were jumping and flipping and riding along side of us- it was really neat. Oh yeah, we were on a Princess Cruise, the name of our ship was the Tahitian Princess. It was kind of a small ship, so it seemed like our family kind of owned the ship since we were a high percentage of the people on board. Anyway we went up the river and then we were taken to another private “motu” and we swam around and we did a bit of snorkeling, but once we headed back it started pouring. Literally the water was coming down, but it was so warm outside and the water was so warm that it was really kind of fun being out in it. We did some shopping after it started raining and we each got our own pareos since we’d just learned how to tie it in about twenty different ways, we bought some Tahitian vanilla, which they are famous for, and some other fun souvenirs.

Tuesday was the first day in Bora Bora, we took two buses, which were basically homemade, they were made out of wood and the nailed benches to the bottom of them and wallpapered the sides and stapled branches of trees to the sides to decorate, it was really funny. We drove around the island of Bora Bora. The people there bury their relatives in their backyards, I guess they never move, but I thought that was kind of interesting. I don’t really remember much else, our tour guide spoke very little English so when she actually said something, I really couldn’t understand her.

Our second day in Bora Bora was PHENOMENAL! I don’t think I’ve ever had a more perfect day. We took a boat out to the middle of the ocean where we swam with sting rays and fed sharks. And really there were both sharks and tons of sting rays. The sharks swam right up to us since we were standing in a line and the sting rays were swimming all over us. We were a little hesitant at first since they were coming right at us, but we were there for about a half an hour and we loved every minute of it. There were tons of sting rays and I wish I had video of all of us because there were about thirty of them swimming all around us. I even kissed one of them! We spend a long time there, but after a while we rode a little ways out, all the while being sung to by our guides (who were LDS), to a place where we were going to go snorkeling. It was the best place for snorkeling we saw eels, sting rays, and so many fish. We did that for a while, and then the kids started jumping of the end of the boat, which basically scared the fish away and ruined the fun of snorkeling. So we drove once again to another private “motu” and this was the most beautiful of them all! The beaches were sandy white, the water was so clear and warm, and it was so sunny outside. Our guides had fresh pineapple and coconut cut up for us, along with coconut bread. It was so beautiful. We swam in the water for such a long time, and we loved it. It was so sad to leave that motu. All 49 of my family members who were there on the trip agreed that this was our happy place! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to beat that day . . . it was amazing.

This was the motu that we spent our time on in Bora Bora. We loved it here!

Our second to last day was in Moorea. Home of Bali Hi (anyone seen South Pacific?). It was so fun, we kept singing the Indiana Jones theme song, because we were riding in the back of trucks, which had benches in them and we were driving about as crazy as the ride at Disneyland. It was so fun though, we drove up the mountains and into a volcanic crater. It was really neat, the crater now is a farm and grows pineapple, avocado, grapefruit, noni, bananas, coconuts, and basically everything tropical. We had samples of everything and I loved it all! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat pineapple and enjoy it ever again. The fruit over there is truly amazing. Another thing that I really loved was all of the flowers. Their flowers grow on their own. They are so beautiful and they smell so wonderful, and since Tahiti and all of these other islands aren’t very high in tourism, we picked basically any flower we saw, and were allowed to. We found very intricate seashells and were encouraged to bring them home. It was really a tropical paradise. I don’t think that I can ever really appreciate going to any beach ever again.

We went back to Papeete on Friday and we spent a lot of time shopping for our friends. We bought a bunch of souvenirs and we just walked around the city, it was the biggest city that we’d been to, but for some reason they were the ones who spoke the least English and didn’t accept American dollars. I guess that’s just how the French are though! Our flight back to the U.S. left at 11:30 p.m. and so we didn’t get into the United States until Saturday, and we flew into Portland at about 5 pm Saturday night, and just in time since they shut down our airport about an hour later because we were in the middle of a snow storm. Talk about polar opposites. Anyway, I know this is really detailed, but I’m trying to remember every little detail about the trip, but I hope it’s been enjoyable to read.

Our "Democracy"

2008-11-06T15:52:00.000-08:00

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new
constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at
the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the
Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:
* 'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply
cannot exist as a permanent form of government.'
* 'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time
that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts
from the public treasury.'
* 'From that moment on, the majority always vote for
the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public
treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally
collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always
followed by a dictatorship.'
* 'The average age of the world's greatest
civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about
200 years'
* 'During those 200 years, those nations always
progressed through the following sequence:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage'
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St Paul,
Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000
Presidential election:
Number of States won by:
Gore: 19
Bush: 29
Square miles of land won by:
Gore: 580,000
Bush: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by:
Gore: 127 million
Bush: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore: 13.2
Bush: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: 'In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won
was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great
country.
Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in
government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government
welfare...'

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the
'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor Tyler's definition of
democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already
having reached the 'governmental dependency' phase.
If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal
invaders called illegal and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the
USA in fewer than five years.