Happy Birthday Addison!

It is hard to believe that one year ago yesterday we spent all day at the hospital and at 12:15am on August 7th our little Addison was born. It is even harder to believe that today we would have a one year old! The last year has been a whirlwind and we have missed having Addison around, but we know that the Lord's plan for us is much bigger than we imagine (especially having just found out that we have twins on the way!). Today we got some flowers and decorated Addie's grave along with a gift from our friend Megan, and some flowers from family and friends. We took some pink balloons with us and let them go and plan on making that our tradition. Andi also asked a sister in are ward to decorate a birthday cake for Addison and it was AMAZING! We had some friends over and sang to our Addison. Thinking of what a difficult time we had letting her go and of all the love our family, friends, and neighbors showed we know we are very blessed. We know that there are many others thinking of Addison today. We know she is looking down and preparing her twin siblings to come to our home!

Twenty Toes!!!

Yes, you read the title correctly. This is our official announcement in the blog world that come February we will have two new sets of toes, twenty in all, in our house! That's right, we went to the doctor on Friday for the first appointment and after joking with the him (as we have everyone else for the last year) about having twins it was confirmed that there are TWO buns in the oven!

We are both excited and nervous, but above all we are feeling very blessed. I'm sure that their older sister is getting them ready to come and live with us.

Over the weekend we visited our families and made the announcement. It was so fun to see their reaction. We made our parents t-shirts that said "Proud Grandparents of..." and then put the number of grandchilderen they would have with two more included. They all got a puzzled look, quickly counted their grandkids in their heads and then, wondering if we had counted wrong, asked if we were having twins?

We will keep everyone updated on the progress as we get further along. It will be about 8-10 more weeks before we find out if they are boys or girls or one of each. We'll take bets at a later date!

THE FOURTH OF JULY!

So, it has been a while since we posted. Not a whole lot new to report. We had a great trip up to the Happy Valley area over the weekend of the fourth of July. We came up on Thursday night and Friday went to see the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple.


On Saturday night we had a barbeque at the Hatch's house and I took a few pictures of the nieces with their new cousin Damon. Grandma JoJo got the girls matching 4th of July dresses and Damon got dressed up for the festivities too.


I got a kick out of Aedyn following her twin "sissies" around. She's a crackup.

On Sunday Baby Damon was blessed and we celebrated Aedyn's and Uncle Trevor's birthdays.

Aedyn was so facinated by her cousin Damon that she has taken to carrying her doll around patting it on the back saying "Good Baby Damon" over and over and over. She loves her cousin.

Write/Call/E-mail/Text your Congressman Today!!!

Just an FYI. Congress will be voting on Cap-and-Trade energy bills this week with VERY LITTLE debate. This is a big issue and has the potential to raise your energy bills by HUNDREDS of dollars next year! Congressmen Chaffetz (Utah 3rd District) one of the few people who does anything good on Capital Hill has said that for every public school in Utah this bill will raise energy costs by $10,000 or more. That means our struggling schools with underpaid teachers and over crowded classrooms will now have to pay higher energy bills. All for the sake of cooling the planet by less than 1 degree. No matter where you stand on the Global Warming issue this bill is UNDER-DEBATED and UNDER-READ by the congressmen that will vote on it. Call/E-mail/Fax/Text your Conressmen today and tell them to vote against it!!! No matter what state you are in. Get the word out. They are supposed to vote on Friday June 26th.

Here is a link to Utah's congressional districts so you can see where you are at and who your congressman is. Southern Utah is Jim Matheson. You can google them and there is usually a link on their website to contact them. It will take you all of 10 minutes to write a short message and tell them NO! Remind them who they work for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Congressional_Districts

Look up your state on Wikipedia.

Girls Camp

When I got back from my 6th year of girl's camp, I thought it was my last. WRONG! I just got back from camping for 4 wonderful days with the Young Women in my ward.

I felt like a kid again:)

Until it started raining and we had to put tarps up over our tents to avoid and further puddles on our pillows.

Curtis got to come up as one of our priesthood leaders for one of the nights. I think he quite liked being at girl's camp. Our camp director is quite a prankster. After it got dark, she gave him a scary mask and told him to jump out at me when I was coming down the hill. He did and I fell to the ground. Only problem is he about fell to the ground too. He ended up with a paper towel and ice on his head because he ran into a small tree on the way to me. (I think the eye holes in the mask were pretty small).

And the best part of camp...camp fire. We had some good ones.

Gardening

Before

After I'm going to try and see how green my thumb is. I've started a garden. Here are some before and after pictures of the plot I picked out in my back yard. There weren't too many tiny spaces to choose from. I went ahead and cleared away as many of the itty bitty rocks as I could and then did my best to mix potting soil with the existing clay. Now, about three weeks later...most everything is growing. I have corn, tomatoes, carrots, onions, zucchini, summer squash, & kohlrabi. I'm still waiting on cucumbers and the cantaloupe already died. Still, if I get one tomato, it will be worth trying again next year.

DC

Right after the cruise, we took a trip to DC for my brother's wedding. It was a quick trip, but quite fun.
The church they got married in was so beautiful. It was a classic wedding with a rehearsal dinner and everything. I really did feel like I was in the movies.

I got so see some of the DC sights that I don't know if I've ever seen (I think I went to DC when I was 4, but don't remember it). It was a first for Curtis as well. We went to Arlington on Memorial Day and got to see President Obama drive past. That was really a cool experience! I almost wish we would have gone and heard him speak just a couple hours earlier. That's not something Curtis would have allowed me to set and alarm for, so we slept in and walked through the cemetary in peace.

More Cruise

We already posted our underwater camera pictures, now here are some others. First off, Curtis started the cruise like any normal person would...on his computer, trying to send some last e-mails for work before internet cost $9.99 a minute. Eventually, the internet connection got slow. Result: Curtis allowed himself to crash.
The whole cruse experience was perfect! We were able to relax, get tan (I think I read four large books), and see some of the most incredable things ever. We spent the first two days at sea. Each night, we got these cute little animals on our beds. I loved them. The food was good, the desserts were even better, and we had some really fun people at our dinner table.

Our first stop was Jamaica. That's where we hiked up Dunn's River Falls. It was really incredible. I got this picture of the coast and my camera died while we were at Dolphin's Cove...so that's all we have of our Jamaican experience.

This is a picture I took in Grand Cayman. It really is that beautiful. We also went to the Turtle Farm. It was surprising how hard those turtles can flap. They calmed down when you rubbed their heads.

Our Escape!

Yes, after a very long year of Curtis going through the Master's of Accounting program we were ready to get away. A week after graduation we packed our bags and flew to Galveston where we left on a 7 day cruise to Jamaica and Grand Cayman, (our Cozumel stop got canceled due to the "swine" flu). It was perfect! The ship was fun, and Curtis didn't even get sea sick (the patch worked great....no, not a nicotein patch!). We met some great people that we ate dinner with every night and enjoyed the ports a lot. It was nice and relaxing. Curtis didn't have to worry about cell phones, e-mail at work, or homework for school, and I had a great time having my husband all to myself for 7 days! At one point he turned on the news in our cabin and after about 2 minutes he was getting fired up about the Pelosi/CIA fiasco. I asked him if he would turn it off so I could have my husband back! He did and we went back to not caring about what was going on in the world. It was nice to have a break!!! We just got our pictures back from Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica and Stingray City in Grand Cayman. Yes, the water is that beautiful, just like in the magazines.

We did it!!!

Wouldn't it be nice if I could take credit for any of it. Last weekend, Curtis graduated with his Masters of Accountancy (I think that's how your write it). It's been a tough road. He's still been working full time and his job isn't exactly stress free. Add a few masters level accounting classes and what do you have...a very busy boy. It's been many months of very early mornings and very late nights to get through. I'm so proud of him! Right before he graduated I asked him if he wanted me to remind him how much he doesn't like school should he ever think about going back again. His answer was “YES!” I guess we'll see what the future brings.

2 YEARS!!!

It's been two incredible years! It really is hard for me to believe that two years have already passed since Curtis and I got married. It the same breath, I can't imagine life any other way. It just seems like it's always been like this. He is almost always absolutely wonderful and is patient with me when I'm not (most of the time). We've been through a lot together. He's the only one who I'd want to take this journey with.

Here's a story to illustrate the dynamic of our relationship. On the morning of our anniversary, this is a conversation that took place
Curtis: I hope your present comes today. It should have been here by now.
Andi: Oh, I thought we didn't get Anniversary presents.
Curtis: Why do I feel like the woman in this relationship? You can just give me what I ordered for myself.

What I good husband I have. He even got me flowers and got home from work before I did!

Amazing Arrangement (even if you don't like these songs)

Okay, so I found this through a friend of a friend of a friend's blog. If you like Jon Schmidt you will love this. Even if you don't like one or either of these songs (the people I'm talking to will know who they are). Give it a chance though. Mr. Schmidt is truly talented. And this will give you shivers at some point.

ENJOY!

After I posted this originally I realized that because my wife has made our blog "cutsie" that this video doesn't "fit" into the blog. If you want to see it on youtube go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys

I know I've been a slacker about this blog thing and I feel like it's because a lot has happened since our last post. Come to find out, I only have one picture, so my life might not be as exciting as I think it is. Here are some of the updates none the less.

First off, Curtis turned the big 26! We, of course, did the whole cake and ice cream thing and put all 26 candles on one cake. It was awesome! So awesome that when he blew them out, the fire alarm went off. I guess that's when you know you're old. Things have been really busy for him with work and school etc. On his birthday, he decided he was going to take the day off work and take his road bike to St. George. It was a great birthday present.

We also ran another half marathon. Again, we must be getting old because both of us had problems with our knees, but we finished. I love training for races because when I know they are coming up, I'm much more likely to get out of my warm and cozy bed to go for a jog. We actually talked our dads into running it with us. They take our excuse of age away from us. They are both in their mid fifties and beat us! It was a chip race so my dad and I started behing the croud. After he took off from me, he spent the rest of the race trying to catch up to Curtis and Curtis' dad. He passed them without even knowing it and came in first out of all of us. It was a really good experience thought and somehting we'll probably repeat.

And, the la test may or may not come with pictures at some point in the future. I competed in a triathlon yesterday. I really shouldn't say competed...I participated in a triathlon yesterday. It really was a whole bunch of fun. When it was all over, I wondered why I was so darn nervous for it. The honest truth is that for most of the race, I forgot it was a race. For example, I was riding my cute pink bike along and I heard this lady coming up behind me. She couldn't be missed because she was breathing really hard. It reminded me that I maybe should ride a bit harder, but I didn't. Or on the run...I saw a few people who looked absolutely miserable! My first thought was "it's only a three mile run, why do they look so aweful?" Then I thought "maybe if I were running a little bit faster, I'd look like that too." The conclusion I came to was that it's not worth it.

Don't worry, we haven't turned into these crazy athletes. We've met our quota of races for the year and now that summer is almost here, we've planned some awesome vacations. It might be a month or two after the fact, but we'll let you know all about them.

A Birthday Present!

So, I see that my last posting was either not too popular or too political to comment on (my intention wasn't to make anyone uncomfortable, i just wanted to share)...that's okay though.

But, if you thought the political stuff was over for me, you were wrong. PLEASE DON'T STOP READING NOW---I PROMISE NOT TO GET ON MY SOAP BOX. I was at work during the Glenn Beck thing (plus we don't have cable). But I heard some excerpts on http://www.youtube.com/ and saw some of the video on http://www.foxnews.com/ and I think everyone should here this.

The main message is that, "If we can change ourselves, then changing the world is the easy part." I hope you will all agree that if we all become better people then our families, our communities and our country become better.

This is NOT a political rant, and it is not a boisterous listing of political failings. Glenn Beck presented 9 Values and 12 Principles that I believe will help us all to make this country a better nation. It is nothing that we haven't heard before from our parents, our church leaders, or our kindergarden teachers. Honesty, Courage, Humility, just to name a few....all good things.

So, if anyone wants to give me a birthday present (Tuesday is the big 2-6...okay it's really not that "big" of a birthday). Please take a few minutes and just here what Glenn has to say. I've posted the video links so you can just click, turn up the volume, and listen.

I think these principles are a great reminder to all of us of who we really do all want to be. The story in the last video link will make you tear up...okay...some of you will tear up...

Glenn has invited everyone to try out these principles for the next 6 months and on September 12th (Saturday) there will be a special show again to see what others around the country are doing.

Sept 12th is signigant because, as Glenn Beck points out, we have all forgotten what it felt like on Sept 12, 2001, the day after the terrorist attacks, when we all became a little more loving, a little more charitable and a little more patriotic...

9 Principles

12 Values, Part 1

12 Values, Part 2

Fox News Video Link - A Great Story!

We Surround Them!

Some of you may have received an e-mail from me about the We Surround Them special that Glenn Beck is doing on his cable show on March 13th. Here is the link again, and if you haven't been to the link yet or I missed you in my address book follow the link here: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/21018/ .

Many of my close friends know that since the elections last year I have been very politically outspoken. Andi tries not to get me going and would probably rather that I stop following the headlines on http://www.blogger.com/www.drudgereport.com in the monrings. She probably wonders why I even need to go to the gym if my blood is already moving.

Here is my honest opinion. America is a blessed nation. Many people have given up so much to make our country what it is, and many people are still making sacrifices to make this a great place to live. Unfortunately as a society we have also made some rather big mistakes, especially in what we allow our elected leaders to do. It's time to take a positive step forward, to stand up and find our voice and not allow our great nation to be burdened with political agendas that will damage this land for generations to come. Whatever the solution is it has got to be a positive one.

I thought the Glenn Beck thing was a positive thing and just wanted to share it as well as warn you that there is probably more political commentary to come.

I do hope though that everyone will pass this along to their friends if they think it is worthwhile. There are already hundreds of people planning to meet together and watch the program on March 13th to see what this is all about. I think there are meetings planned all along the Wasatch Front here in Utah as well as every state. There are dozens of meetings posted on craigslist and the internet.

My hope is that the Silent Majority will in some way find their voice amid all the confusion being created by our leaders in Washington.

I saved $60 on my groceries!

I'm really not sure how to start this post. All I know is that I'm pretty excited about what I'm about to share with you and am looking for any tips/suggestions you have.

Part One: A few months ago, Curtis told me about an article he read on MSN. There was a family who decided they wanted to retire in their 40's (I think). Anyways, what they did was live like they were broke so that they could save save save. He walked to work, she hung their family's clothes to dry and cut coupons. They shopped at thrift stores and drove an old truck when everyone he worked with had BMW's etc. She talked about going to one of his work parties in her thrift store dress and Payless shoes. She felt like a million buck...because they really did have a million dollars! They reached their goal 2 years early and he retired. I think she's getting a PHD now and they're set for life.

Part Two: For one of my New Year's resolutions, I wanted to start reading educational books. I really didn't have a direction: health, running, marriage, finance, whatever seemed interesting at the time. Curtis ordered a few books on money that seemed interesting and had good reviews. I started with “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey. He had a lot of really good advice and I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't already figured out how to be a millionaire.

Part Three: I'm really not obsessed with money or whatever. I just want to do something productive with my time. I only work about 35 hours a week. I did that and more while going to school full time at one point in my life. I don't ever want to go back to that, but I know I can do more. One way I decided to do more is by saving on our food bill. I never thought that coupons were worth it, but if you get $0.75 on enough things, it all adds up.

Here's what I do. I get two or three papers on Sunday, then I cut out and file anything I think I might use. I even cut out brands I don't buy (I'll explain why). Then I go on www.pinchingyourpennies.com and click on grocery finder to find out all of the things that are on sale at the stores I shop at. I make my grocery list accordingly. I buy what I need for my meals and storage items that are on way good sale. Having a usable food storage is wonderful. Last weekend, we went to St George and I didn't have time to go shopping. It didn't really matter though because we were able to make the same food as we usually do with what's in our freezer and pantry. I've found that putting the deals together with the coupons is great! Here's what happened last week: I cut out some Brauny paper towel coupons (even though I've never bough Brauny) and later found them on sale. With the coupon, they'll cost about half the price of what we usually pay for paper towels. Reynolds wrap is on sale for .89 at Wallgreens this week and I have a coupon from a few weeks ago for $1 off. That means they'll pay me .11 to get some tin foil. Pretty good! About a month ago, Albertson's was having a deal. Buy 4 boxes of cereal and get some Silk (soy milk) for free. I had coupons for the cereal and for the silk, so it hardly cost me anything. I've had a few really good weeks and I'm getting better. Last week, I spent $40 and saved $60 between store sales and coupons. Anyways, maybe this will inspire some of you to save money just because you can. If you have any info that might help me to save more, please let me know (because I know there are lots of people who get food for free all the time).

It's the happiest day of my life...

maybe not the happiest, but a very good one. On Friday, I went to pick up this road bike. I finally have a road bike! I've done a few triathlons on my mountain bike and I thought I was just a slow biker. It turns out, having a road bike makes a big difference. I took my new bike down my street and I felt like I was flying--with hardly any effort. I also felt like my hands were going to fall off because it was so cold. I decided that my first real ride would have to wait for a warmer day.
This is a picture of my bike. It was discounted $300 since it was one of the last ones of last year's models! He said it's usually pretty easy to find bikes my size (since I'm extra short). Curtis is still looking for one and since he needs a bigger bike, he might have to go with a 2009 and just pay the extra. I'm excited to go on some good long rides.

run forest run!

So, I don't get a chance too often to post anything on the blog, so I thought today on my day off for the holiday I would update everyone on our training for the Moab 1/2 Marathon in March.

Andi and I have been doing are best the last few weeks to get into shape and work our way up to the 13.1 mile race. This will me the 2nd time we have run it as I talked Andi into running it in 2007. Last year I didn't get drawn out and Andi was pregnant so even though she had a spot we didn't go. This year should be fun because we talked both of our dad's into running it too. They have started their training as well.

We are also training for a triathalon in April, so we are spending our Monday mornings in a spin class and Wednesday or Thursdays at the university pool. Since the weather hasn't been too bad we have even been able to train a little outside.

I have been working hard to learn how to swim, since I have never really been a swimmer and have horrible technique. Today, at the suggestion of a friend we did what was called a Brick - bacically you immediately get off the bicycle after an hour long spin class and go hop right on the treadmill for a run. Because you have been sitting and the blood flow to your legs has been fairly restricted your legs litterally feel like bricks--at least I thought so. This trains you for the bike-to-run transition for the triathalon.

This week is a 5 mile long run and we will have 9 more weeks of training until the 1/2. I am also contemplating the St. George Marathon, but we will see how these first two events go. Andi said no way to the 26.2 miles. I thought it might be fun since I will turn 26 this year.

Christmas Joy

I've been really bad at this blog thing. Really, it's not that I don't have time. I only work about 35 hours a week and I have Friday afternoons off. I don't have class or homework or kids or a calling that takes a whole lot of time. I try to be productive with my time, I keep a pretty clean house, I'm even cutting coupons because since I have the time I might as well be saving some money when I go shopping. I guess what that mean is blogging (along with ironing Curtis' shirts) are not a priority for me. Maybe when kids come along, that will change. Here's a sneak peak into our life in December.

We were asked to play "Mary and Joseph" in our ward's Christmas party. It was a little bit silly, but I think we did a good job. Here we are...

Here we are with our ginger bread house. Curtis was proud of his pretzel fence. He says it made it look "rustic." The house is one of those ones out of the box that gives you everything you need. They look real good, but let me tell you they don't taste good. We tried to eat one of the ginger bread men when we got home, it was way yucky. Next year, we might just have to make our own.

Finally, this is our Christmas tree. It makes me a little bit sad, but this was the last year we will be using this tiny thing. We bought a 7 ½ foot tree about a week after Christmas at 75% off. It's still in the box so I really don't know how it's going to look, but I think it will be pretty.

Addison May

I can't believe it's been four months since we had our little girl! I still think about her every day. Sometimes I look at what we're doing and think of how different everything would be with a little baby. For example, Curtis had a business trip to Vegas last month. I took Friday off of work so I could meet him down there. I went shopping at the outlets while he was in meetings, we walked on the strip way too much when he wasn't in meetings, and swam laps in the pool at the hotel. The truth is, we were planning on having a 6 week old baby on this particular November week. While I was there, I couldn't help but think how differently things would have gone with a little one. First, we would have driven down together because I would have had no need to take time off work (I would have brought my work with me). Next, it would have taken a lot more debating to decide if a trip to the outlet malls were worth it. For our journeys out to the big city, one of us would have been carrying a baby on our belly for each of our walks up and down the strip. The other one of us would have been carrying a bag of baby necessities. Maybe we would have had to look for the best place to feed a baby or somewhere to change her. I'm sure there are 3 dozen other things I wouldn't be able to predict as well. As for the swimming, we might have skipped that all together. These are all adjustments we would have been so excited to make. For right now, we don't get to.

I thought I would post some of the things we have to remember Addison by as many of you haven't seen them and I keep getting requests.

This is a shadow box my sister made. In the little silver frame is her name, birthday, weight, and height. On the pink pieces of paper are her hand and foot prints. The flowers are some of the ones that were sent to us. The cap on the teddy bear was up on her head after she was born. The teddy bear was from the flower wreath at her burial. The name bands are obviously from the hospital. The white hands are actual molds of her tiny hands. Her left hand was perfect, her right hand was clenched, almost in and “I love you” sign. The clenched hands are typical of Trysomy 18. In the bottom left corner is a lock of her hair. It was actually pretty long and dark. Finally, the green background is actually the blanket we wrapped her in right after she was born.

This is a teddy bear that a program called “Angel Watch” made for us. It is made out of another blanket we used at the hospital. This is one teddy bear that children are not allowed to play with.

These are some booties and a sweater my mother-in-law had made for us. They are so sweet and tiny.

They just installed her headstone this week so I don't think any of you have seen it. I think it turned out really nice. As hard as this has been, we know we have been so blessed with a wonderful family and absolutely incredible friends who have helped us through this time. I'm pretty sure it will always hurt to know that we have a daughter who we don't get to see learn and grow. We are, however, so grateful for the knowledge of the plan of salvation. Knowing that this life is just a tiny step and that if we live worthy, we will be able to be with Addison again brings us comfort. The Lord does love us. This experience has brought us closer to Him and closer to each other. I don't know what else we will be asked to endure, but I do know that it's the though things that make us better people.