Kirby and Tara Farnsworth

Let's get crackin!

2011-12-01T08:10:00.000-08:00

December 1st! I'm so excited for today, a little overwhelmed, but still more excited! I'm going out on a limb here, but I might be more excited for today than Christmas day...well...until Christmas Day comes :)

All the anticipation, preparation for the 25th is wonderful and fun and busy. Yes, busy-but FUN, right! December, probably the busiest month of the year. On top of all the normal busy- for me that would include, but not limited to: appointments of any kind, meetings, planning/teaching lessons, working out, making dinners, cleaning house (over and over again), and taking care of my ever-more demanding 2-year-old that I love, 8-month-old Owen and working around a med-students crazy schedule- we need to shop for gifts and wrap them up (which may be even harder), extra cleaning, decorating, lots of cooking/baking, parties galore and Christmas advents to check off the list. Plus, traditions to fill or make/create and memories to have and let's not forget the entire meaning of Christmas and try to instill the importance of it into our children and taking time to ponder the events, re-read them from the scriptures and feel of that spirit daily.

This can be just a bit overwhelming.

I heard just yesterday of people hating to go shopping this time of year because of the crowds and rude people and how this just crushes the Christmas spirit, although some of you are completely on top of things and have all your shopping done-zo, I'm impressed- you don’t have to deal with the ciaos of shopping in December.

Growing up my family would all sleep over at my Grandparents house and the older cousins would watch the younger cousins (I fit into the younger category) and all parents would go out shopping...CHRISTMAS EVE. They had a ball! Well, from my childhood perspective anyway, and if they didn’t enjoy it, why would they do it every year? Maybe because once they all got together and heard what the other had got for their kids, everyone wanted that for their own kids, so they had to go get it. Well that's how I thought Christmas shopping was done...the night before! Ha! I learned quickly that's probably not ideal, if it was then, it's not now.

While I'm reminiscing: as a child my sister and I would make a Christmas advent calendar. One I remember was made just from cardstock and stickers. I would do the even days and she'd do the odd days and put different stickers on the back of numbered papers cut out into squares. Then, I'd turn over the odd days and she'd turn over the even days to see what stickers the other had used. I remember being so excited to see what sticker was on each day. How silly, right! But how simple! And the joy we had from just something so simple helps me to remember I don't need to over do it this season. More like, be okay with the simple.

I have some high ambitions though. Can I share??
My advent calendar (in no order yet):
1. write a letter to Santa
2. Make candy buttons
3. Make marshmallow snowmen
4. 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional
5. Condensed milk painting
6. Build a snowman dice game
7. Stitch paper stockings
8. Christmas Hand print Santa clause
9. Nativity memory game
10. Look at Christmas lights
11. Make nativity “gingerbread house”
12. Watch a Christmas movie together
13. Caroling and hayride
14. Paper snow flakes
15. Color Christmas picture
16. Take dinner to someone in need
17. Ward Christmas party
18. Make Christmas goodies and take to neighbors
19. Go to temple and look at lights
20. Christmas fort and drink hot chocolate to read stories under
21. Salt dough Christmas ornament
22. Visit Santa!
23. Play felt mitten game
24. Christmas Eve usual
25. Christmas Day thankfulness-still thinking

Just for kicks I also need/want to…
*send out Christmas cards
*wrap up Christmas stories to open and read one a night

Yes, this doesn't sound simplistic at all does it!? Well, thus the evils/blessings of pinterest!!

I'm not worried. I just love the idea of planning it all, I may not be the best at instigating but this is the plan, the goal is to spend time together, sharing our love while creating fun, loving memories- let’s hope!

Merry Christmas!! Dec. 1st...Let’s get crackin!

Ok, we cheated a little, we went to the Temple in St. George over Thanksgiving weekend and enjoyed to beautiful set-up there.

he reaps the benefits

2011-11-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

Just take a look at this bug!! Ya, he is my big boy! He turned 6 whole months Oct. 13th. Today he is closer to 7 months, but in the picture he is close to 6. Anyway, Kirby sent this to me from his phone! I love it. Do we all love our phones for taking pictures?! I sure do. This is at a pumpkin patch. I think we actually have more pictures because we used our phones and not real cameras.

We went to the doc today, Owen had an ear infection. Poor guy has been teething and sick for the past month, although he reaps the benefits at night when he gets to sleep in the big bed with mom and dad. Yes, he has 2 teeth, and Im certain the third is coming shortly.

Height: 27 3/4 inches (75-90 percentile)
Weight: 19 lbs 9 oz (75 percentile)
Head: 44 cm (50 percentile)

This was the first time his height beat out his weight. He's getting taller.

Just a few tid-bits of fun:
He is rolling all over. You can see it in his eyes when he has a destination he is trying to reach as he rolls. He is determined to get there, and how can you all but pick him up when he's rolled across the room right to your feet!!

He loves to eat, as always! It's sort of sad though, because he'd eat ANYTHING you'd give him, but you can't give him ANYTHING, so he just stares at us as we eat all this food he is longing to eat. I think he eats a more diversified diet than his sister.

Loves anything that lights up and moves.

Sits on his own.

Likes to be in his walker. I love finding him in different spots every time I look at him.

Oh man, he loves to cuddle and he loves kisses. One time he fell asleep while I was kissing his ever kissable, chubby cheeks, I guess he finds it super soothing. He loves to be held and hugged on and just being close to you.

He likes to play rough, which is new for us, because Anna was totally opposite of this. Hang him upside-down, spin him, throw him, ect...you get a smile everytime. even if he "spits" (in anna's words) afterwards. Annaka still freaks if we hang her upside-down.

Just like Annaka is a daddy's girl, Owen is a mommy's boy! He literally has me wrapped around his finger! Hence the reason he is still not sleeping through the night :S his little cry just melts my heart and his little smile is breath-taking!

He and Annaka are seriously best friends! They always do so much better when they are up together. Their personalities just fit together so well. If Owen is sleeping too long, according to
Anna, she will say she is going to get him...and starts up the stairs. I have to chase her down. She always asked for Owen to sleep in bed with her. And I had tons of pictures of her loving on him and Owen just as happy as can be to have such a sweet older sister to love him. I was telling my mom this the other day and she said that is not always the case...not always do siblings get a long so well. I know this, I have siblings ;) but for now I will take it and run.

We all love our Bug!

that would make it all better.

2011-11-02T21:53:00.001-07:00

**Sorry no more pictures...but you'll feel bad about it in a second, just keep reading ;) **

I'm having a hard time. Our computer crashed...we lost just about everything. I don't know the details, I just know what's gone. I didn't think it was that bad...we thought we had backed-up a lot of what was saved on this computer onto an external hard-drive. I looked today...I'm not sure we actually did.
I'm having a hard time because I'm wanting to find someone or something to blame, you know because that would make it all better-my poor husband, he isn't to blame (I may or may not have tried to blame him), no one is...crummy things just happen sometimes...a lot of the time. I feel like I've even been through the stages of losing someone...denial, anger, sadness (I think this is where I sit now...don't worry all stages have been fairly short lived) and then on to acceptance, right? and understanding eventually?? Ah, the more I think about it, the more I want to Do things in regards to the computer, the more things I realize I've lost....for instance I just remembered I kept a journal of Annaka since she was six months old of the "simple things" she was doing, saying, acting, learning and just fun to remember stuff on a word document...GONE! I think this thought is what got me to write this post today. You know the beauty of a blog is it's ONLINE STORAGE of these things, and you know what, you don't have to actually post every post you type up...but it will still be kept on record in the "edit pages" tab.

and just for the record...because I'm big on making record of things now and saving it online- I lost a lot of pictures...had wiped clean most all our SDS cards a few days before the big crash too...this includes our Africa pictures -yes, tears!- most pictures of our kids and wedding pictures and I'm sure I'll remember more later... We've had this computer since we've been married, so our first 51/2 years are, I mean, were pretty much on here. Lost all my school documents...this may not seem like a big deal, and it probably isn't, but student teaching, resources, papers, etc. mean a lot to the elementary ed teacher... and it's just great for remembrance sake. I lost a lot of primary stuff. I lost my recipes :( and lost music.
I know this isn't even bad compared to what has happened to others, but I almost feel like I've lost a part of me. I'm being dramatic...but give me a break-technology, it's a scary thing sometimes, take good care of it and don't be fooled into thinking it's a safe never to be robbed.

Nevertheless, in honor of this being the big gratitude month, I'd like to try and take a positive spin on things to end my mourning.
*I'm grateful for my dad in taking pictures and saving them on his computer...because I know Owen's birth he has, and some other good stuff :)
*I'm grateful for the internet, for my blog, because I know I did post some pictures of Africa and much more on here.
*I'm grateful for my mom's computer and for heritage maker, and walgreens and costco, because *I know I've saved pictures there that I had printed, or made into books or calendars.
*I'm grateful for online teacher portfolio that I saved a lot of my school work to and flash drives :)
*I'm over all grateful for the internet, I need to learn to me more resourceful and use online storage!
*I'm grateful for my husband in dealing with this all while I was in denial and blaming stages of the whole process.
*I'm grateful for pinterest....although-where were you, um 5 YEARS AGO!!!! (anger might be seeping in again, but I'll get over it ;)0 )

I'm going to talk about the weather

2011-10-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

So this morning I was going to take my kids to the park, get them out and feel like a good mom. But, (yes, I am going to talk about the weather) it was so overcast and cozy I had an urge to just sit on the comfy couch, mix me up some hot chocolate and read a really good book-and not only did I want to do this but I wanted to introduce the beauty of it to my 2-year-old. Ha. Short story, I didn't. First, my 2-year-old wasn't interested. Second, I didn't have a really good book to sit down with. Nevertheless, it was nice to think about it for a few minutes. One of these days, right?!

Do you see what I mean?

(thanks Ilse for the pic, I stole it from Facebook)

We did leave the door open all day and it sprinkled some, and enjoyed the chill, refreshing air! I'm loving the change up in this weather, but I'd like it for just a few days, get my fill then back to 90 please :)- you know, the swimming pool weather (but not toooo HOT, is that asking too much living in Vegas, probably) where my wardrobe consists of only shorts and a shirt.
(A funny- I put some jeans on today, that I haven't worn in forever, and still barely fit into...gotta kept working on these extra pounds...anyway, Annaka saw me and says "what's that" pointing at me. I say, "what? my shirt? this is a shirt"she says "No! What's that" I'm still confused and Kirb clarified saying "your pants!" I had to laugh! She probably doesn't ever remember seeing me in pants, well, jeans. I haven't worn them in FOREVER! see what I mean!)

Freeze time

2011-10-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, I will look at these two and want to freeze time. I think about time-the time I have been alive...a mere 26 years and how it seems to be going too fast. How Annaka is now a whole 2 years old! How when I see Owen I can still see Annaka when she was his age...it helps me appreciate my short, short time I have with Owen being so little-because he is growing so fast (cut his first tooth Monday, will be six months on the 13th, sitting up by himself, and eating "soft, big people" food). I am totally still adjusting to the two of them, how can that be...how can they grow so fast and yet I'm still trying to get my grip on raising them...I better figure something out fast, cause they will be grown before I'm ready!

I can't seem to keep up on recording all I want about them either. Time goes to quickly and days and events go by too fast to find time to record it all, but I won't give up, I can't. I want too badly to remember this stage, these little ones! And maybe one day, they will be able to look back and enjoy this blog more than I can imagine. That's a sweet thought.

14, 14, 14!!

2011-09-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

August we went on Trips

2011-09-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

A wedding, A baby blessing, a funeral, a baptism...the circle of life (although not in that order), but that was the order of the trips we went on in August. One right after the other, every weekend.

The Wedding:
Seriously, how cool is this!? What bride really is okay with jumping on the trap in her beautiful dress?! and Val wasn't just okay with it, she had a blast! Love her! Look at her sister, all prego and jumping the highest of us all! And Kelliann, the cute cheerleader arms, smart! (alright, I was just a little worried about my dress flying up in the pic...you can't blame me, it's happened to me before!!)

She is SO loved! look at ALL her brides maids! See, I couldn't be the poop to miss out on this!

Best "well wishes on your wedding night" shot EVER!

The Blessing:

The Funeral:

This was such an unexpected situatioN! I can't put into words the way I feel when I think about this special, most amazing family! Kirby's cousin's daughter (Jada, what a beautiful name) was killed in a car accident this June. To read more about her and her family, check out her sister's, (Bridian) blog.
http://www.heybridian.com/
It truly will inspire you. I seriously can't stop reading once I start. I am floored by her strength and endurance through each stumbling block placed in her and her families path. It's almost unreal. I really am so grateful for her willingness to share with everyone her life, because it has honestly helped me in more than one way.

The funeral was up in northern Utah, so we made a weekend of it...We went to the zoo, hung out with family (one of my favorite nights-haven't laughed so hard in a long time) and old friends. It was sort of like our first vacation planned for just us. Yes, we saw family and hung out, but it was our little family trip.

The Baptism:

Well, I actually don't have any pictures of the actual baptism day...
Kirby's nephew, Ryan, was baptized! He is the sweetest little boy! I do have a picture of him with Annaka, because that night (after a long day: Pine Valley in the morning, baptism and get together, then family photos, and finally birthday cake and presents) we had a little party for Annaka (which she was a cry baby all the up until she got "Dori" toys). so I have a picture of Ryan being so sweet to Annaka when she was crying and trying to show her the cool gifts she got!

The first attempt at rice cereal

2011-08-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

was when Owen was 3 1/2 months old. He did okay for 2 bites and that was about all he cared for. It's been a month and I still have yet to get him to eat more than 2 bites! I'm not a huge fan of spoon feeding babies...Aren't I suppose to look forward to this time, and be so excited about my child learning to eat? I'll be honest, I feel no such excitement. I just want him to already know and be fast at it too...oh such is life :)

July we went on walks

2011-08-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

Kirb started his first "clerkship" (that's the official word for it, I call them rotations) in July. He did a psych rotation and his working hours were great. So we picked up evening walks, yep, in the heat of July, but sometimes you do what makes your kids happy, and regardless of the heat, they loved being in the stroller. Owen thought he was just so big. And Annaka was so cute to him. He'd love it when she would turn around and say "Hi O-we" and she'd laugh at him and say "O-we's happy" or just laugh his name, our personal favorite: "ha-ha O-we!"Ok, so we just couldn't get Owen to smile! He really wasn't as miserable as he looks!

Oh what fun it is to ride in a double child open stroller.

Whenever Annaka wears a shirt with a hood on it, she thinks she has to wear the hood on her head...and when it doesn't stay on, because it's doesn't sometimes, she flips.

Annaka wanted to go swimming...

2011-08-30T14:46:00.001-07:00

So we went swimming, where mom could stay cool. We usually don't use the tub, my kids take showers, so this was a little different for them both.
Annaka asks me EVERYDAY to go swimming. On Saturday I went swimming, lap swimming without her, of course, and when I got home and she saw me in my swim suit she said..."mom swimming!" "Anna swimming!!" I felt just a little bad...

Mandalay Bay

2011-07-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

This was a fun little outing we got to go on. I left Owen at a kind friend's house so the three of us could enjoy swimming all together. This place was FUN! A lazy river. Two pools (one for adults, one for kids) a wave pool and sand, like a beach! So, so cool! I am so grateful we had this opportunity! It was so good for Annaka to get this one on one time from both her parents...rare occasion for her. We had so much fun, I forgot to get pictures until right when we were leaving and all worn out, but you get the drift...ha-ha...drift. Loved the wave pool. and can I just say, I would spend all my Vegas summer days here if I could!!

Sorry about my finger, it was a fast pic...camera phones!

Nope, don't know a soul in this picture, but there's the wave pool :)

lAke PowElL 2011

2011-07-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

The Lake! Oh, how we love thee! Wishing I was there now, looking at these pics. We had a great time this year, although we came out on Tuesday, instead of Sunday and we missed Tyler and Blair a whole lot, and I always have a little downer thinking about my cousins not being there, but really you can't be too down at the lake, especially LAKE POWELL! I actually did get to spend some time with some cousins this trip, that was nice.

The Campsite:
It's always fun to have a pic of the campsite to look back on and help remember the trip.

Let's Go for a Ride:
On the boat, or behind it...I'm happy to be there. Can't say the same for my daughter-she'd much prefer the be on it. Oh well, she was a good sport and took her turns.
Skiing with Grandpa actually went pretty well. She is a little nervous, as you can see from the pic, but once she was up (which we don't have any pic to prove it) she was fine.

Now Wake surfing for some reason she was NOT having it. I'm sure glad it wasn't me on the board with her flying legs, kicking like no tomorrow, although from a swimming perspective they were beautiful kicks- would have thrown me off balance FOR SURE. Great job, Dad!

Kirb

Me

Just Hanging Out:
Some of the best times on the lake are just hanging out on the houseboat, on the beach, and of course- in the water (the water was cooler this year then in the passed, it was rising)!

My dad and his Buff...Don't judge too quickly, it sure is versatile!

The Kids:
Having kids puts a spin on what you find FUN to do at the lake...spending time with them is as fun as it gets!

Annaka was caught without her clothes/swimsuit on just a couple times...although it was the beginning of the end of NO MORE DIAPERS~! Yippee!

Ok and Owen too...although he's still in diapers.Owen and his cousin Bennett! just 2 months apart...so cute!

Loves his Bumbo!Anna loved the jet skiies

We sure wore him out! He took the best naps!

Some things to remember:
*slide down a monster slide at the Sandhill made by Whitehead cousins
*No baseball :( let's not skip this again, K!
*Yummy dinners and brunches
*swim through debris some canyon I can't think of the name at the moment that ended up in a hike because it we would much rather walk back then swim in the MOST DISGUSTING, smelly debris that gets in any crevice of your body and swimsuit you can find and doesn't come out regardless of what you try, oh and did I mention it STINKS! (ya, who wants to come to Lake Powell now?! Haha, promise it's not always like this!) And who can forget Mike trying to swim UNDER it, but forgot he had his life jacket on and ends up swimming THROUGH the stuff, and I laugh out loud thinking about it now how terrible that must have been! Oh, wish we had pictures!
*I decided to learn how to drive the boat...I told my dad that as we he was driving us back from the adventure I mentioned above and he must have been happy for a break or something because he hands it over to me right then and there, no stopping to switch, just take the wheel Tara! Ha-ha! He must not have realized I have NEVER driven the boat before! and now I'm driving and it's not like the most beginners water to be driving in...pretty choppy actually, but not to the point where I don't want to drive, because I WANT to LEARN! So, I received mixed reviews from my passengers- from headaches to scared for their lives or one who actually said they didn't think I just bad at all and were just enjoying the ride! I definitely need some practice...Let's just say I sacred myself a few times. :)
*Kirby studying like crazy on top of the houseboat...not seeing him for hours...he shaped up though :) and did warm up to the lake and taking a vacation!

2011-07-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

Just some more catching up on the ol' blog.
These pictures were taken at the beginning of May, so almost 3 months ago...

You know those pictures you take when you look over at your kid and think, wow you look so incredibly cute, but no one else really sees it, because they are YOUR kid. And you just have to take a picture, although the pictures never really do it justice, but you still hope that some of the incredible cuteness will be captured and remembered? You know 'those' pictures? Well, these are some of 'those' pictures. I hope you can sort of relate! :)

Annaka LOVEs her baby brother. She is so sweet to him. I have seriously never had an issue or concern with her acting bad to him. I will find her kissing him, or talking to him (like the picture above) or give him toys to play with. when he is in his swing sometimes I will find books, or dolls on top on him. When he is crying, a lot of the time she is there before me, giving him a "bottle" or a blanket. She will say, uh-oh, O-ee. Uh-oh! or if he is sleeping, she will come tell me, "Hes seeping" I get so excited for when he is older and they can interact more. I hope she still likes him as much then, because I think Owen will LOVE HER!

Anna is learning to pray with her arms folded, head down, and eyes closed.

Becky and her husband graduated from Dixie State college on May 6th! I made the trip to support, Pres. Monson spoke. It was really cool. This was the best pic I could do with my trusty camera phone!!

Memorial Day, 2011

2011-07-25T09:18:00.001-07:00

DJ's birthday was May 30th and we celebrated at our house after Owen's blessing. Annaka LOVES DJ...Maybe it's because he acts her age sometimes, so they bond that way ;) But whatever the reason, I don't complain. She is entertained for hours by him.
Enjoying some Costco Lemon birthday Cake :)

She doesn't like her hands being dirty. Even if she isnt finished eating, she wants to clean off her hands. She is so funny.

So, the Monday after Owen's blessing was Memorial Day. Kirby's parents and his sister's family stayed in Vegas. We were so happy they did! We went to the Shark Reef. Annaka had a blast with her cousins there, looking at all the neat sea life. I had it easy. Cousins taking Anna and Grandparents taking Owen, I was at a loss of what to do but just enjoy the break. SO NICE!! Then we went to the mall and had some lunch.

That evening we went to our friends the Adlings for a little BBQ and swimming. A great way to kick off Summer!

Just a chilln' in the nice newly landscaped backyard! Beautiful!!
Swimming with her friend. The water was chilly, but that didnt stop them.
all the fun over...one more pic before bedtime

Owen's Blessing Day

2011-07-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

Kirby Owen Farnsworth
Blessed May 29th, 2011
6 1/2 weeks-oldBeaumont family

Whitehead family

I've been trying to catch on up the ol' blog if you can't tell...Here are just two pics of family that came to support Owen on his blessing day. He was blessed on May 29th...the day before Memorial Day, so it was a bit hard for everyone to make it. It's always hard to get a day that works with everyone's busy schedules. I thought the day was beautiful, and for Owen's NOT so quiet disposition, he did perfect during the blessing. Kirby, as always, was wonderful as well.

**We didn't get any of Owen in his cute blessing outfit grandma Beaumont got him. We still plan on putting him in it to get some pictures just to remember how cute he was~thanks mum!

Stats!

2011-06-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

When Owen was born-

Height: 20 inches

Weight: 8lbs 1 oz

Head Circumference: I actually never was told…Lame hospital!!! I guess I could call and I would hope they would have it on record somewhere, right?

After birth, Owen:

- latched right away, and has been great at nursing ever since.

- was released from the hospital at 3pm the day after he was born.

- had an x-ray of his heart which looked normal, needed to set up another one at 2-months.

- was very strong, even lifting his head-up some!

Owen at 5 days-

Height: 20 ¾ inches {25-50 percentile}

Weight: 7lbs 10 oz {75-90 percentile}

Head: 35 cm {25-50 percentile}

Once Owen got home from the hospital:

- he started spiting up a lot after my milk came in.

- he had a yellowish complexion. We combated this by “baking” him 3 to four times a day in the sun for 5-minutes on each side.

- he went in to his doctor for jaundice and spit-up. Doc said jaundice looked fine and to try going on a diary free diet for the spit up…(ha, like that really happened :S)

Owen from 1 to 3 weeks-

- was circumcised at 1-week-old.

- was spitting up a lot and not taking a pacifier or liking his swing very much.

- Dad had go back to school at 2-weeks old. He got to stay home and it was Absolutely Lovely!!

This is a picture of Owen at 2 1/2-weeks-old, first time going to church.

Owen at 3 weeks-

Height: 22 ¼ inches {90 percentile}

Weight: 9 lbs 7 oz {50 percentile}

Head: 36 ½ cm {25 percentile}

3 weeks to 2 months:

- Somewhere in between this time Owen started to like his swing, sleep only on his belly, smile, hold his head up and move it side to side, and got a stuffy nose.

- Finally started on some acid reflux meds and the difference in his mood was instant – he became a whole lot more mellow and much happier baby.

Owen at 2 months-

Height: 23 ½ inches {75 percentile}

Weight: 13lbs 6 oz {75-90 percentile}

Head: 40 cm {50 percentile}

- Smiles so easily, loves to stick his tongue out.

- Stuffiness has pretty much cleared up.

- Did pretty well with getting his shots. I stayed and nursed him after for a bit, which seemed to help a lot.

- Likes to look at himself in the mirror and watch the mobile on the swing go around. Likes fans and any black/white contrasts.

- He wants to be so big. He started holding his head up all the time and moving it side to side. When I told his doc this at his 2 month appointment she was very impressed, and kept saying babies don’t do this so soon…and just how strong he is!

- He will stand on his feet if you hold him in standing position

- and loves to sit.

Owen today - (July 4th- 11 weeks and 5 days!!)

He is growing so fast…as you can see! He is sitting in his bumbo all by himself for a good length of time. He moves all over his crib, he is never in the same spot we left him.

We call him our little Bud-ha or Bug, or O or Oh-ee. We love having his so much, and I've realized I take a lot more pictures once babies start smiling :)

Right now we are trying to get him on some sort of schedule and sleeping through the night. I have no doubt this guy could sleep through the night without a feeding. He'd be fine. Any suggestions on how to get them to sleep through the night and/or get them on a schedule????

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

2011-06-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

Owen is 8 weeks, TODAY! And I can’t believe it! He is growing so fast, he’s such a chunker (which rhymes with hunker, so you know, cause he is that too :) ) and I seriously love it.

I have had a lot of “bad mom” moments the last 8 weeks. I have had my fair share of breakdowns because of it too…I’ll be completely honest about that. Owen has not been an easy baby. I already know that I’m not a “baby” mom. I like them, lets say 6 months and up. I love to hear them laugh and interact with them. I love to see them smile and play and learn. I know Owen does this to some degree, but it’s still developing and he is really good at crying. I feel like a “bad mom”, yet again, just saying that but it’s true. Anyway, I in no way am trying to gain sympathy, I know I am eating all my words from what I have said about babies after just experiencing one…such as, “how can a baby NOT a like pacifier” and “ALL babies like the swing?!” and “a spit-up baby wouldn’t be that bad, at least they don’t cry all the time”- ha ha! I have learned a valuable lesson!

ALL babies are unique and although I feel more confident with this one, he has provided his own set of challenges for me. I am so grateful he is the 2nd because I thought the first was hard. I also feel like a “bad mom” when I see other moms and babies being so good-ALL the time, it seems. I know that they have their own set of challenges, but it is somewhat hard hearing other moms say, “my baby is just so good and/or easy” and I try hard not to ask myself what I do wrong. Owen is not “just so good or easy” And I’ve come to terms with it. I don't want others to feel bad for me because I say it-It doesn't decrease my love for him in anyway! I just can't pretend it's been easy for me- although he is getting A LOT BETTER!

I saw this video on my friend’s blog, and it really hit me hard. It is only about 3 ½ minutes long. Take a moment and enjoy, even if you’ve seen it before.

I know this is all I ever care to be, is a mom! What an amazing truth that we as mothers are “participating directly in the work and glory of God.”

And how can I not?! Look at these two:

Thanks Lynette for the beautiful pictures!

I have to take a moment to reflect on the mothers I know and admire and hope to emulate in my life.

The first that comes to my mind is my sweet, dear, baby sister who just became a mother this past Friday!! They named him Bennett and he is a dream! I am so happy for her, who is just starting out- although she has been like a second mom to my daughter, Annaka.

Second, I think of my strong, truly amazing and patient sister-in-law, Blair. She is already a mother to me, considering she has been through, emotionally, what a mother should never have to go through and has such love and faith-there is no doubt she is a mom in my eyes and I love her completely for it and my prayers are always with her.

Third, Kirby’s incredible sister Amy! What an amazing mother. I watch her in wonder as she juggles 3 kids in elementary school, an 8 month old, a first year elementary teaching job and a husband only home on the weekends, not to mention a church calling and so much more she would never let anyone know about, because she is so self-less.

Fourth, my mom and mom-in-law. I love them both to the ends of the earth. They have become my best friends as I go to them for support, comfort and strength! I love talking for hours with them, knowing I am not judged for what I say. I can only hope to be where they are now someday in my future. I have been truly blessed to have such great moms!!

Fifth, my Grandmas. I love them and see such strength and wisdom in them. I know the Lord has filled their lives with many blessings. I am grateful to know them so well and to have been given the chance to get to know them, I know that is not too common these days to be able to know your grandparents very well, I have had so many great things come from knowing them.

Sixth, I have some pretty amazing friends that are pretty amazing moms. I must mention the moms I have met here in Vegas because this has been where I have raised Annaka from 4-months-old and now Owen. The support and love they have given me has really helped define how I mother and want to mother. I have truly been blessed to meet some wonderful moms!
The great part about it is how FUN it is to get together with moms and talk about mom things and have girl nights and craft nights and play groups and book clubs and workouts and play soccer and outings and dinners together and learn from each other and just enjoy where we are in life with others in the same block of life, not necessarily the same age. I honestly can say I have made some life-long friends here in Vegas and although I know, eventually, we will all move on or up or wherever, I am so grateful for the friends I have now, today, and will try to make the most of every moment I have to learn from great friend moms! Thanks guys, I mean ladies (guys can’t be moms).

Okay, I know it’s just a tad late for Mother’s day, but I thought I’d better post this before Father’s day right! Because man if you read what I said about mothers, I sure have some things to say about Fathers, you just wait :)

Haircuts

2011-06-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

Anna's second haircut ever-given by our awesome friend Melanie. Thanks Mel, we are so blessed to have you help with our hair issues!

Annaka was pretty good, I was impressed with how well Melanie could cut her hair even though she didnt hold her head still, and I think I need to sit like a statue when I get my hair cut...haha...not anymore!

Melanie decided to trim up her girls hair while the stuff was out...

Mel's oldest (she's a pro at getting her hair cut now)
These girls are some of Anna's favorite kids to play with!

Mels youngest-

She is a doll, I thought it was so funny watching her get her hair cut, if I thought Annaka didn't sit still..well this little cutie wouldn't stop moving her hear around to look to see what her mom was doing. Loved it! Look at Mel go, I never got a shot with her arms not blurred (well 1 because it was taken on my phone, and 2nd because she's so speedy)!

Adjusting to Two

2011-05-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

We are trying to get the hang of this. Owen is 5 weeks today! I wish I knew before I had 2 just how easy one really was...but the twisted truth is I NEVER would have realized how easy it was until I had 2. Time is just a little different than before Owen. I think of how my time would be spent now, if it was just me and Anna...Im not napping now, Im not running now, I'm not showering everyday (don't judge) I'm not sleeping now, I'm not crafting now, I'm lucky to get out of the house, if only life were all about me...would it be too blunt to say life would be a breeze? Okay, maybe, but life is NOT about being a breeze and life without our Owen would be a sad one. I love him so completely I'm more than willing to give up my "me" time (such as running and crafting and sleeping) to have him! and the truth is, we'll get it all figured out and we'll figure out how to fit a lot more into one day soon enough, I'll keep you informed :)

And just for the record: We Love Two!

Although it can be just a little hectic at times We get it figured out.

Anna is pointing at the camera and at herself...she needed to make sure we got her- how could we not :)

Kirby is getting a hold of it pretty quickly as well, but Anna has had a harder time adjusting to him being both her dad and Owen's dad. For some reason she got that me, mom, could have 2 kids, but not Kirby, he is only her dad...for the record, he is both Anna's and Owen's dad, Anna is just a little possessive of him.

Look how small his is, his bum is as big as Kirb's palm. This is also O's favorite position. He loves laying on his belly...even more than the swing...that blows me away!

So while Kirb and I are trying to adjust, Anna is as well. She has done great so far, really. But we all have are times when we are feeling a little neglected because the baby requires A LOT of time...and Anna has come up with her own tactic of getting our attention...

"Maybe they will think I'm the baby"

We sure Love these two!

So, I just wanted to touch a little on how opposite my kids are--already (as babies that is)

When Anna was a baby verse Owen:

Anna took a pacifier without too much of a struggle

O hates the pacifier

Anna would sleep all the time, anywhere-- even right through feedings
Owen never misses a feeding- he is a picky sleeper

Anna was a terrible nurser
To my GREAT relief, Owen will latch on all day long, if he could. He is an excellent eater!

I can count on one hand the number of times Anna spit up
Owen soaks burp rags and spits up after pretty much every feeding

Anna was a bobble head
Owen came out of the womb holding his head up, literally! (They set him on my belly and he looked right up at me)

Anna preferred the swing or the floor or the couch, not really in people's arms
Owen LOVES to cuddle

Even delivery was totally opposite...Anna's was smooth and painless
Owen's was drama and PAINFUL! (More on this when I get the pics from my dad)

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

Easter this year was so wonderful. We just stayed at home just the 4! of us...yes, count us up...we are 4 now. I, of course, I had to make some sort of festive dessert to go with the loads of candy in the eggs. Hence the beautifully pictured cookie "nests" above.

We dyed eggs a bit differently than I am used to...Kirb's Saturday night run to Albertsons proved to us that last minute holiday shopping is probably NOT the best plan- the ONLY CANDY in the store he could find were the theater over-priced kind:

But they were tasty!
Our eggs still turned out pretty cool, don't you think!?

Oh Annaka hunting the eggs...our "Easter Bunny" (although, I think I already gave anyway the EB secret in this post...oops!) Hid A TON of eggs!

Annaka could NOT resist just sitting down and eating them. (once she figured out what was inside!) She was coax way too many times to get back up and find more eggs...the fun's in EATING, mom!

Her bag was over-flowing...man she needs a sibling to share these with! :)

After the hunting, she got another special present...it was really for when Owen was born she was going to get her "own" baby but because Owen was born so close to Easter, and Annaka seemed to be doing well with the whole "new baby transition" thing, we decided to wait for Easter.

It was a whole set of baby things...a crib, swing/high chair and stroller...and you can see from the pic below her pick of the litter:Now, you'd think we just had one child from this post...yes, it's true we are still adjusting, but we didn't forget about him entirely ;)

Here's the kiddo:

Welcoming #2 to the Crew!

2011-04-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to have 2 beautiful, HEALTHY children!

Owen (It's actually Kibry Owen, but Owen is what we call him) was born Wednesday...in the wee hours of the morning, 2:58am. He was 8 lbs 1 oz. and 20 inches long! A full head of hair...more than Annaka we decided...but not by much. Great nurser, although I'm still not. There is a lot to learn about the whole thing, but Owen is great to learn with.

Look at this guy!! He is a dream! We love him! Kirb getting Owen ready to leave the hospital!!!

These pictures are from my camera and we didn't take a lot of pictures with it, so I will have to post some better ones soon!

Owen's heart is good! We go in at 2 months to get it checked out again, but as far as the Cardiologist can see from the ultrasound at the hospital, his heart should be little concern for us :)

We had some visitors/helpers come down for the first few days while Kirb still had school. His Spring Break started the Friday after Owen was born...

Thanks Mom! You have NO idea how much you helped me through it all!
Thanks Becky for traveling down, your beautiful belly and all! It was so nice to have the company and Anna love you!

Sad I don't have the picture I took of Kirb's parents but they made the trip TWICE! and were wonderful to have around...espeically with Owen's yellowish complexion! Thank you all so much!

Grandma B. taking her turn at burping the little man! We have a picture of Annaka just like this! So FuN!

This cute chica is ready to head to church with Dad...She has really taken a liking to him and I'm not sure how she'll cope when he has to go back to school...YIKES! We have until Tuesday next week...we have been spoiled- couldn't have had better timing on Owen's part :) Thanks bud!

It's been a week (how time FLIES!) and things are going rather well:

Right now, Kirb is at school...yes, at school during his Spring Break and a newborn at home, if you know him at all, this should NOT surprise you...But no need to worry...Annaka is playing with friends, Owen is sleeping (yeah, he does great during the day) and pumpkin bread is baking (I had to use up the left-over pumpkin from pumpkin waffles I made before this little guy was born). Life is good! Although I did burn the bread...so don't think I have it all together quiet yet ;)

How about in two more days!?!

2011-04-11T22:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, the induction day has been set...for this Wednesday at 10pm!! Yikes...not the best time of day, I'd say. Now looking back at my previous post I wrote how I’m not opting to be induced "just because it would be nice" I now laugh and think..."yes I was!" but this inducement date is a bit different than the one I had in mind...doesn't it always work out that way...never the way you plan. That's why I really try to just set goals, not plans...because plans never go according to plan, but goals are still achieved even if they were achieved in the way YOU had thought- for instance, my goal was to have this baby...the plan was to be induced April 22nd. Well the plan failed, but my goal is still achievable :)

Warning: this is basically a journal entry, sorry if I bore you!

This little guy in my belly has been giving me some fun times with 3 different doctors...YES 3! I have my OBGyn, I have a Fetal Material Specialist (FMS), and I have a pediatric cardiologist. My OB refers all the patients that she can to the FMS for ultrasounds because they have such great equipment there that they check and measure everything about the baby: his limbs, brain, and organs of all kinds, such as the heart. Now at 20 weeks (my first ultrasound) the ultrasound tech did a very complete examination of baby’s heart and saw something just slightly different, a dilated aorta. FMS then had his go and decided we should schedule an appointment with the Cardiologist to come check me out.

So, the first issue they found: dilated aorta. Second issue they found, still at my first ultrasound: a bicuspid aortic valve; the third and most recent issue they found (which they found 2 ultrasounds later, and thus the reason for induction on Wednesday (I will be 2 days away from 38 weeks, that makes this guy 2 weeks and 2 days early!): baby’s **ductus arteriosus (DA) seems to be closing...which should not happen at all before birth. One reason (stated on Wikipedia) this happens is: Certain medications given to the mother during the pregnancy may decrease the size or completely close the DA prior to birth. Specifically, certain NSAIDs (i.e. ibuprofen) during the third trimester are pregnancy category D. – I, for the record, have NOT taken any medications (that I am aware of) that could cause this closure…so the reason this has happened is still undetermined. What is determined is the sooner we get the baby out, the better, because when baby is born we WANT the DA to close, but before he is born, we want to stay far from the possibility of it closing. Thus the sooner he is out, the shorter time we have for the DS to close completely. Wow, did you follow all that?

**To help explain- Wikipedia: In the developing fetus, the ductus arteriosus (DA) allows most of the blood from the right ventricle to bypass the fetus' fluid-filled lungs, protecting the lungs from being overworked and allowing the right ventricle to strengthen. Under normal circumstances the ductus arteriosus closes shortly after birth, when the newborn takes its very first breath.

Anyone interested in what would happen if intrauterine closure of the DA were to happen (otherwords, the DA closed before birth)?? It would result in increased right ventricular afterload and right ventricular systolic dysfunction…look it up on Wikipedia if you need more info…

The good news: the first two issues seem to have worked themselves out. The bicuspid valve now looks very much like a tricuspid valve…which is the norm. And it looks like his dilated aorta isn’t so dilated. But this last issue seems to be of a more serious concern, and the solution to which is for this guys to be born!! I guess that’s a great solution to the problem because the baby needed to be born either way!  They say that when he is born and the DA closes, his heart should be JUST FINE! That’s very relieving actually.

So, there you have it…in a nutshell…my four billion (okay, not THAT many) doctor appointments rolled up for the final diagnosis…It’s been very interesting on Kirby’s part, because he ‘gets it’ all without having to look it up on Wikipedia (actually, this is the first time I have looked on Wiki…he does a really good job at explaining these things to me- the dummy down version). I must say it’s been a good learning experience for the both of us…not that we would want that in exchange for our child’s health… I have always felt very at peace with things, if not a little irritated with all the doc. apt. But I need to remember to count my blessings! I should be grateful for the advances in technology and the ability we have now-a-days to be safe than sorry, I suppose.

I’m happy I was able to blog this, because I haven’t been great at keeping my journal! (sorry mom, I know you really like it when we do). Thanks for keeping with me! I will post all I can when I can of this little guy when he comes! We are just a so EXCITED!

Baby in 2 more months!

2011-02-18T14:05:00.001-08:00

These ultrasound pictures where taken at 20 weeks...
His profile

1st: another profile

2nd: the "scary" face is what the doctor called it

3rd: nose and month

Yeah, pretty sure we're having a boy :) Not sure what the tumor looking things are...but nothing to be concerned about, or Im sure they would have told me...just the quality of the image

1st: yet another profile

2nd: yes, it does say "pee-pee" in the left-hand corner of this image

3rd: his cute little feet

I get another ultrasound the 28th of February, so just around the corner!

Sorry, a no-header...Kirb only took one shot and then the camera died and of course I was totally not ready for the picture...thus the no head...I'll spare you :)

But this is me at 30 weeks!!

I went to the doc. yesterday and my belly was measuring 29 weeks...I was a little disappointed...hoping he would be big because I want him to come early...I guess you can ask any pregnant lady if they would want their child to come early and I bet most would say yes...but I'm really not wanting it "just because it would be nice" - Kirby has a week and a half off school starting April 16th and ending April 26th...my due date is April 29th! So, in light of the situation I have opted to set an inducement day of April 22nd, (that's a Friday, same as Anna)...ready or not I suppose...although I'd prefer ready as ever! I am a little hesitant about being induced, because I'm comfortable with what I know and all I know is my water breaking with Annaka and it being pretty slick...If I had my wish, that is what I'd want for everyone of my deliveries: my water to break and 5 hours later- a baby! Can anything beat that? I sure hope so if with this one I'm already planning differently! The things you do for a husband ;)

Valentines

2011-02-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

I really love all holidays…I’m a live in the moment type I suppose, because whatever holiday is up-I’m all for it…Valentine’s Day has never been BIG with me in that I expect a lot from my husband (this keeps us both happy) because when we were dating I had quite the experience with a bunch of girls who made it a VERY big deal-- I fell into it and was just a little upset with the results…ANYWAY…after being married for ALMOST 5 whole years, I’ve come to appreciate the little things, such as the dishes being taken care of…without me asking. So, this year I was expecting nothing different. I would go about doing my holiday crafts and gifts and make the most of it…

My friend Lynette has some of the cutest ideas for crafts and is just so much fun...I copied her with this one-and of course couldn't have done it without her! THANK YOU! definitely my all time favorite Valentine gift! I'll post some more cute Valentine pics she took of Annaka soon!

the "kiss" ball and "be mine" I had fun making, along with the "kiss" heart wreath below...

**side note, but must include with my valentine crafts:

On February 1st I hosted a bookclub for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, recommended to me by my mother-in-law...it was a very good read...and at the bookclub of couse I had to make a "potato peel pie". I also made envelopes with the bookclub questions in them. they were a little last minute, so not great quality, but so fun to make! I told everyone to take one home and they must write their Valentine a letter and give it to them for V-day. Hopefully they did, if not they were still fun!

As for Valentine's...

This year was different though…maybe it will be an every 5 year thing ;) I felt spoiled and caught off guard…along with not giving anything in return…what a bummer wife I am! This is how it went: Kirby had blocks the week before Valentines day, so he was busy studying for test all week, the plus side to this is the weekend after blocks it’s sort of a mini vacation for the guys! So, I took advantage. We went to see the ducks and then to iHop for lunch on Friday.

feeding the ducks

slide

Anna insisted on walking on the wall...I was not going to jump in after her if she fell... (funny side note...see that girl in red in the top left corner...well when we walked by her Anna was being all cute and friendly and Im thinking she is just being social...oh no, the girl had cheetos and Annaka wanted some...she got some too!)

Saturday was great too…we had dinner at a park with some of Kirb’s friends from school and he got to play some sand volleyball. Sunday was our sugar cookie fest and jerk Valentines (one of my favorites) and Monday was busy, busy and I felt like I got nothing done…do you have those days? Anyway, I got to go work out at the gym (very needed) and thinking this was my Valentines present from Kirb I was very pleased to get home to a clean kitchen and some sweet notes stuck around the house…

Our Valentine cookies, one of my favorite parts of Valentines for SURE!

Annaka got a wonderful surprise from her Grandpa and Grandma Farnsworth and dug right in! She says thank you! Oh, and did Kirb ever have a surprise up his sleeve for this Valentines day...very unexpected...Mine, oh wait, no...Annaka's Valentine from Dad! She plays the shape game all day...hopefully she's learning them!

I felt like this Valentine's Day was just splendid, even without the extra from Kirb...now I feel real bad about not doing anything for him...I did have plans but time caught up with me and they never happened...I guess I'll save them for next year??

Thanks babe, we love you for a fantastic weekend and a wonderful Valentine's day and for being a great sport dealing with me and my crazy "jerk" Valentines! Also, we are both very excited for the iTouch...I'm getting pretty good at the temple game you know, we might need to upgrade :)
Happy Valentine's Day Love!

2010 Crafts

2011-01-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

The New Year, family, holidays and yes, primary have been consuming my days the past month or so…but this Sunday afternoon, after I had finished the last of my ‘to do’ list for the week I got an itch to start being crafty again…I am trying to think of all the fun crafts I made over the past year and post it to help satisfy some of my crafty craving (I'm not sharing because any of this is amazing, just for fun!):

My friend Melanie taught me how to make these cute bows out of any fabric!

Another one I made

My Aunt Kathleen got me the cutest baby shoe pattern...they were so fun to make!

My same friend Melanie and I got together to make wheat bread around Easter time (thus the bunny loaf...not a bear) I think Melanie has it down to an art now, whereas I have yet to make another batch...it was great by the way!

K, this is cheesy, but I made it for Kirb and stuck it on the door for him to see when he got home from his last day of class of year ONE in med. school...I think I was wrong with the 5 years left...I think after this year he will have 5 years left...so maybe I'll just use this sign again in May :)

My fall craze...owls...although I had plans to make many, I only got this little guy finished

Natalie introduced these to me. Love them, they are hanging over Anna's crib. They weren't the easiest, as you can see I started with the biggest (bad idea) and after making so many roses by the smallest ball I was a master.

I handmade Annaka's 1st birthday invites (it's a bookworm), so that counts

I guess this Halloween costume counts too

This is the top of a table I found at a yard sale this summer...it was $2. I had to scrap down the top layer and sand it all and prime it and then paint it.

The finished product.

okay, cookies dont really count as a craft, unless you make them into fun shapes. I hung out with my neice for 2 weeks during the holidays and we made lots of kid-friendly crafts...christmas tree, gingerbread house, cards, necklesses, snowflakes and so on, but only took these pictures.

My first carmel apples, and they were good...I went to my mom's relief society activity and they taught us the secret to YUMMY carmel apples...so I made them for my primary board...

(TWO MISSING...to be added soon...bow holder, Anna's name in wood letters-both in her room and she's napping)

Something I’ve learned about myself and crafts…I’m really good at being a one-hit wonder, as much as I love the craft I did and the outcome and all the creating and as much as I INDENDED to make more…I didn’t, well…haven’t. I always move on. (this is bad in the sense that I have to buy all sorts of different supplies to do the different projects…needless to say I’m building up quite the craft room…don’t tell Kirb ;))I see something else and I want to make that, sometimes to the point of NOT finishing the project I started on…I should do a post on all UNFINISHED craft projects of 2010…can you hardly wait? (I really won’t because Kirby does look at this blog and won’t give me my craft budget if he knew, not that he does anyway).

As for this year: I have many, many projects I want to get started on and finish from last year…My friend Lynette came to my crafty craving rescue this week with the cutest Valentine Wreath: http://www.theidearoom.net/2010/01/felt-heart-wreath.html

We already started it with a fun craft day (love them), but couldn’t find any Styrofoam hearts to finish it…so it was put on hold, but in the mean time I made my first copy-cat bow I’ve been meaning to do for sometime, and I think it turned out really well:

Now, if anyone has some great ideas on what to craft next, let me know! (My time in limited…April 29th will be here faster then I know)! Also, I'm always looking for fun blogs with great ideas as well! Share them if you have them- I, in no way, have the eye for creating on my own, I copy…and it’s not all very well done either, but I love it anyway :)

This is our New Year's Card:

2010-12-28T11:19:00.000-08:00

This year we are celebrating with a New Year’s card- Remembering all our fond memories with a kiss…

K irby was happy to have a family again; we finally closed on our new house in January. During the summer he busied himself with home improvement projects-new floors and a beautiful landscaped backyard. This won a gigantic KISS from his wife. He has finished one and a half years of medical school, passing with his top grades this last semester.

I get to stay home with Annaka and learn the art of cooking and cleaning, along with being called to primary president and teaching swimming lessons in the summer. I’ve picked up some of my favorite things again this year: running and soccer, but nothing beats the “hello” and “good-night” KISSes from my husband and baby girl!

Sweet Annaka turned one this year! She is full of KISSes, giving them to all who ask. She loves anything baby, books and puzzles. She clings to her dad whenever she sees him, happy for the break from mom (definitely a daddy’s girl). Growing up so fast she’s off the charts in height!

Second child is expected to arrive April, 2011! We are excited to announce it will be a BOY! He currently weights 1 pound 1 ounce and measuring a week and a half early…whoa boy! We can’t wait to share all our KISSes with him!

Hoping all our loved ones get their 2011 New Year KISS!
With all our love,
Kirby, Tara, Annaka, and baby boy

Annaka's Brother

2010-12-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

I thought it might be about time to post about our up and coming baby! This is me at almost 20 weeks…halfway!
Baby is due the end of April, but with my luck it will probably be May.

OUCH

2010-11-19T20:45:00.001-08:00

Kirb got home from an intramural basketball game the other night with this gash:

Looks bad, but it healed really fast, I was surprised. For the love of the game, right :)

Halloween Harvest Festival

2010-11-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

For Halloween this year our fabulous ward in Vegas put together a Harvest Festival on Oct. 30th. Annaka was a ghost and Kirb and I were a spin-off of the Ghostbusters… “Busting our ghost” all night long.

I never got a real good picture of her in her costume, so we're going to have to dress up and try again one of these days.

Our ghostbuster costume :)Me with my friend, Ilse all dressed up as a mummy...loved it!

The Harvest Festival was a hit! So many people attended! We had dinner served: chili, hot dogs, nachos, cotton candy, popcorn and corn bread. There were booths set up all around the gymnasium such as: a fishing pond, pumpkin bowling, ring toss, cake walk and face painting…all the booths gave out candy too.

I donated to the cake walk fund of goodies...it's always fun to make Halloween sugar cookies! Of course I had to make some ghosts :0

Annaka's face-painted ghost...half there, it was super cute! This was Annaka at the end of the night...ready to go home...as well as her dad, if you can't tell from his face in the background...ha-ha!

Oh and the primary put together a SPOOKY spook Alley that made some kids cry…One kid after he went through told me, “don’t go in there, it made me cry!” Here’s a walk through of our “primary” Spook Alley, it was pretty freaky really J :

The touch and feel room. One of the older primary girls helped out in this room telling each visitor what they were touching...like brians, eyeballs and fingernails (that was the worst one, I thought).Then you enter this dark room...yeah, it's pitch black full of these white dots. when you enter it you don't know which way to go to get out, and then some of the white dots start to move because little did you know a person was in the room with you...dressed in black and coved in white dots to blend in... After the dark room you walk into a grave yard with black lights and spooky sounds.A boy in our primary and his dad made these awesome tomb stones as a Scout project, they turned out fabulous! A creepy spider and it's web all full of human bones was waiting at the end of the grave yard.
After the spider you enter the Hall of Monsters!!! Where, yes, we had a "real" monster waiting for them, and this was where most the kids cried Im thinking, because he was scary and would really get you to jump out of your skin...I was scared and I even knew he was there!! Thanks Josh for doing such a great job as a monster!

Last but not least, the tunnels! After the kids got scared out of their wits, if they didnt opt-out before, they got to go through the tunnels with sticky ground and flashing lights and wet cotton balls dipping on their faces! It was a treat! Altogether, it was a real hit, we had to re-open the whole spook alley at the end of the night!

Thanks for everyone in the primary for helping and Cherie for the outline and a lot of the decorations for this spooky spook alley!! AND I must thank the Pettitts, they were heros for Halloween, not dressed up as, but true heros for providing those boxes that are a pain to find! THANK YOU!

Photo Shoot

2010-10-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

When Annaka was 8 months old my friend Natalie was so nice and did a little photo shoot of her...I can't believe Im just posting these adorable pictures now that she is 14 months old. One of my philosophies in life is "better late than never"

Nat took family pictures for us too when Annaka was 1-year-old! They turned out so fun...although the weather wasn't be best and Anna only lasted so long, we got a few good ones...

Enjoy :) and THANKS NATALIE!

Annaka's first Birthday

2010-09-20T13:50:00.001-07:00

All you need to know about her birthday bash posted on: All About Annaka

Summer Begins!!!

2010-06-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day is always a great kick off to summer...We were so lucky and got to spend the weekend up at Pine Valley with the Lubbers, who we haven't seen is a whole year! We got to meet Tate, and they got to meet Annaka. It was so great to get away and be with people we enjoy so much!

We went for a swim in St. George before heading up to the cabin

I made Kirsti take a picture with me in front of Pive Valley chapel. Then we all took a tour, which I've never done before...

I was kind of chilly but we still got some sun on our walk. I love walks in Pive Valley.

This is not a picture of the cabin we stayed at. I had to put this up for our friends :)

Tate and AnnakaThis was Kirby's job while everyone else cleaned up :)

On Monday we were back in St. George and went bowling.

It was really fun, but I've never been any good at bowling...so I cheat and just throw the ball down the middle, between my legs. This strategy really worked well for me...Sorry Troy, I had to document it.

A pretty cool set up at this place is they have colored pins mixed in with all the white ones and if you have a colored pin at the front of the triangle and get a strike you win a free drink! But you have to tell the front desk first, so they can watch and verify. So, when I had a colored pin, I made sure the front desk knew, although I didn't think I'd really get a strike, it was just for fun! And I roll the ball between my legs, the best I know how, and bam, I got a strike! It was so exciting, especially because they had pink lemonade and free refills!! YES!

Happy Mother's Day to...ME?!

2010-05-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

Crazy that I can actually celebrate Mother's Day, for real this time...I always tried to celebrate Mother's Day because I said that one day I am going to be a Mother and thus I should be celebrated as a future mother...and I really just liked to get the flower they handed out at church :) So this Mother's Day was different:

First: I have the sweetest baby girl and really that's what Mother's Day is all about! The beautiful children that make you a mom!

Second: we had/got to speak in church...I thought that on Mother's day only boys talked, but I was wrong about that. Although I really did enjoy talking and the topic, I got to study up what the leaders of our church have said about moms...very good to do, all moms need to.
I just want to post some things we shared:

I spoke more on the responsibilities of mothers-
A quote I used:
Julie B. Beck: The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than at any time in the history of the world, we need mothers who know. Children are being born into a world where they “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).1 However, mothers need not fear. When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children.

Kirby spoke on appreciating mothers-
A quote he used:
Pres. Monson:
May each of us treasure this truth: One cannot forget mother and remember God. One cannot remember mother and forget God. Why? Because these two sacred persons, God and mother, are partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one.

Third: No flowers for the mothers of our new Vegas ward...NOPE...we had an extravaganza! The 3rd hour the primary/nursery leaders were all invited to Relief Society while the Priesthood took over, we had quite the time! We met in the cultural hall and all sat at tables. The bishopric came in and said they have learned they can accomplish a lot with the help of their wives...and thus we were feed fruits and veggies and breads and cookies and chocolate fondue and lots of goodies and just got to enjoy ourselves...now I could get used to this!

Fourth: My husband bought me flowers...something he rarely ever does...I think this might have been the first time he actually BOUGHT me REAL flowers! Love them! I love how they brighten up a room...if I had my wish, we would always be stocked up on live flowers!

One more thing...I can't forget to wish all my mothers a VERY hap-happy Mother's Day! We love and appreciate all you do even more every year!

One of My Favorite Holidays!

2010-04-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

Easter is one of my very favorite holidays (people might say my favorite holiday changes with the holidays, but Easter is extra special). I was so excited for Annaka to go find eggs- I pulled out the eggs two weeks early for her to play with and for me to try to teach her to find them, but no such luck...she really didn't care to find them, let alone MOVE at all. She still isn't crawling, but by all means I'm not complaining. Easter was still a smashing success, whether she could crawl to the eggs or just pick them up and suck on them, I think she had a great time, as did I, especially with General Conference falling on Easter-perfect!

Easter Saturday we went over to Kirby's parents and had a fun little time hunting eggs and hanging out. Annaka got the cutest little easter basket! (Twiner with her only girl cousin -for now :)) Thanks grandma and grandma B!

I think playing around with Easter eggs two weeks before Easter did have some benefits...

She is just so excited to get an egg!

Bubbles were the grand prize at our easter egg hunt! Annaka just loved the wand!

You ask, "what is that she is staring at??"

Well...

It's a bubble of course..."very interesting that it didn't pop once it landed on this pokie grass", Im sure that's what she's is thinking...

Sunday we had a "big kid" easter egg hunt at my parents, Kirby sure stepped it up this year (because last year was sort of a flop for him) and really brought in the dough- ya, these eggs are filled with money! Thank you mom and dad!

For dinner we went over to my Grandparents house My aunts Linda and Grace and uncle Gordie and there family made it and we had quite the feast.

She is starting to pull at her headband and figured we would just let it be - and it seemed to stay there just fine...ha-ha.

Annaka loves to play with her uncle DJ, it's really fun to watch them together! (terrible picture, sorry)

Shopping the Deals

2010-03-15T15:26:00.001-07:00

I'm very new at the coupon-shopping-deals, saving money stuff and I've already had my run- ins at the store to pull me from ever trying out this "shopping the deals" stuff again-but I think that's exactly what keeps me going, the challenge...I know, I've officially become a stay-at-home mom/wife with that comment, but its true...it has not been easy for me...but I love coming home and evaluating my savings and averaging my spending...(I know, I should be a teacher, right?! Someday!) I'm still learning how to get this all right though...like learning the store policies along with all the individual policies of each coupon or promotion...man, oh man! So today I went to Albertsons (which is my store of choice, although I won't go into WHY) and I think I did a pretty good job at my savings:

I bought 20 items with-
1. Only 4 coupons
2. BUT I had 3 double-up-to-a-dollar store coupons
3. And my Albertsons card (of course)
My shelf cost (that’s how much it would have cost without the above mentioned items) was $50.07!
Money saved from coupons: $6.40
Money saved from shopping the deals: $21.70
Total out of pocket: $21.97
Percent savings: 56%
But my favorite of all!!-
Average cost of each item: $1.09

Now, this isn't the best percent savings I've ever had, but it is the best average cost yet! So I thought I better post about my achievement and what I spend my time doing these days... :)

Although this same trip I did have another run-in with some catalina/sales tax issues and wish I was quicker on my feet with figuring out the deals at the register because as I drive home I think of how I could have saved $5 MORE dollars (Kirby would be good at that part)...that’s a good amount of money...but this should come with time, I HOPE!!!

And something I found helpful: BRING YOUR CUTE LITTLE BABY WITH YOU- KNOW ONE CAN BE MEAN TO YOU WHEN YOU HAVE THIS CUTE WIDE EYED BABY STARING AT THEM :) LOVE HER!

I got IT!

2010-02-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

Just for the record, I DID get my below mentioned Christmas wish! Thanks to my ever thoughtful sister-in-law and of course her husband :). Seriously though, Amy is one of the best gift givers I know! She will never admit it, but she remembers the little things people say they like/do/wish and then is able to get them something they really love! I should do better at this. Thank you and I'm excited to get some of those cookies a-baking and bouquets a-making!

Delicious Designs: Cookie Bouquets

2009-12-01T13:45:00.000-08:00

I love cookies! They are my favorite dessert...I love to make them, I love to eat them. So when I saw this book: Delicious Designs: Cookie Bouquets, I HAD to add it to my Christmas wish list...fun, creative way to go about the cookie making business...I would have so much fun with this! I'm sure my family would love it too...reap the benefits of me making them ;)
http://www.recipelion.com/sweeps/Cookie-Bouquets-Book-Giveaway

All about Annaka

2009-11-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

I started a blog "all about Annaka". Here's the link:
http://annakalyn.blogspot.com/
Check it out.

I love this picture, thought I'd share it.

Annaka's Blessing and more...

2009-11-05T10:49:00.000-08:00

This was a big weekend for our little family. Annaka was blessed on Sunday, Nov. 1st at the Santa Clara 5th ward, Kent Frei as the bishop. It was an amazing experience and I was so happy to have so many family members able to attend, although we did miss my brother Tyler who was at an interview for dental school and visiting a mission companion in Pennsylvania. And our brother-in-law Scott who was in Wyoming.

This is just some of the people that stood in the circle to bless Annaka. Grandpa B and Kade, Kirby's younger brother.
Also in the circle: Grandpa David Whitehead, Brady Dunkley, Uncle Gordie Whitehead, Michael Whitehead, Randy Shaw, Grandpa Ross Farnsworth, Kirby's Grandpa Farnsworth, and Bishop Frei.

After her blessing hanging out with her cousins, Ryan, Wyatt and Megan Read

After the blessing we headed down to Vegas because Kirby had his first white coat ceremony...This is when 1st year medical students get their short white coats and take an oath to "affirm their loyalty to the profession they are about to enter" and it continues for about 5 paragraphs saying they will be respectful and honest and not purposefully kill anyone...how delightful.

Of course, I can't forget Halloween...it was fun to have someone to dress up...Annaka was a little piggy...I made the costume from pink paper...cheap, I know, but she was still cute. She was a piggy because she has snorted since she was born, and we would call her miss piggy whenever she snorted, thus she was a piggy.

Annaka rolled over yesterday...this was her third time rolling over from her belly to her back...she rolled over last Monday at my dad's office, when i set her down on her belly and she wasn't too happy about it...This time she rolled over because she loves to look at the TV, so she would lift her head so high so she could see the TV, but in doing so, her head would lean to one side and her little body would follow...unintentional, yet she did it!! Way to go baby girl :)

This is her lifting her head up to see the TV

This right before she rolled over...sorry it's so dark

of course i don't get her actually rolling over

After she rolled over :)

Annaka Lyn, Our New Addition!!

2009-10-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

I finally found the desire to post, if you couldn't tell I sort of lost the drive there for awhile...Many great and wonderful things have happened in our lives the past months...the most important being the birth of our new baby girl, Annaka Lyn. It was the most incredible day, words can't discribe the way we felt that day, one of the happiest days of our lives. We love her and feel so blessed to have her.

She was born on August 21st, probably the best birthday ever, Pres. Monson's birthday as well. She was 7 lbs 13 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. When she came on out, the cord was wrapped around her ankles, so she had blue feet. I made a slide show for all to enjoy, because we have taken far too many pictures to ever post them all.

Thanks for everyone that has supported us during this time, it's been a most amazing and difficult time for us and we have made it through only with the support of many family and friends.

Kirby started Med School down at TOURO University Neveda on August 3rd. He has been living with a friend of a friend, and I have been with my parents in St.George as we are waiting for our house to close. He had to miss a day of school and 2 tests to be at Annaka's birth. I was set to be induced Friday, the 21st at 9:30am, so Kirby came to St. George Thursday night, good thing too, because my water broke at 3:30am Friday morning. This was perfect, because I did NOT want to be induced. Our offer on our house was acceted on August 10th and we still haven't closed on our house and it's the 6th of October, almost 2 months, but I guess that's not too unsual...it just seems like forever when you only see eachother on weekends...but it's all on the Lord's timetable, and we just keep our faith in Him and we know this is all for our good.

House Hunting in Henderson

2009-08-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

House hunting has been a major event in our lives the passed month or so…but we think we have finally got one! It’s not completely official yet, but I’ll still show a picture of our (hopefully) future home:

SUMMER FUN IS DONE

2009-08-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

So now that summer is basically over, I'll post :)

We tried to live up our last month in Midvale the best we could. We hung out a lot with some of our best friends: the Lubbers along with other ward members. Kirby played his last softball game and I got to substitute teach the last 9 weeks at Pioneer Elementary in the 4th grade. It seems like forever ago looking back at it, but in reality it was only 6 weeks ago that we moved down to St. George.

Taking a load down to St. George

Becky and Brady were kind enough to take some of our stuff to St. George as they were passing through Midvale.

It was a harder good-bye than we anticipated and we still are missing it there...Sunday dinners, good friends, and believe it or not...work and even the U of U. We are leaving behind the first 3 years of our marriage and starting up new in Henderson, NV.

(Insert picture of friends here)

We spent the 4th of July without firework, but with wonderful family in Pine Valley for the first annual Beaumont Family Reunion! We had a blast- it was a great get away.

Amy Read the brains behind the reunion: not in tears, but enjoying a great game of hide and seek. She's it.

The LOVE SHACK built for Kade and Kimber

No fireworks but glow sticks get the job done!

Gabe and Kelly trying to get rid of a giant moth

Kimber and Kelly making some fantastic peach cobbler.

Kirby's wild hair and his mom and not too happy Wyatt

Ryan Read making a face :)

Me and Kirby's cheesy smile ;)

Lake Powell

2009-08-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

We went to Lake Powell for the annual Whitehead family reunion…28 years! Love the lake…even if I was 9 months pregnant (36-37 weeks along).

Troy

Kirby and Korey gutting fish

Kirby

cousin Grant

Tyler

Lake Powell sunrise

9 months prego wakesurfing

Me and 2 of my other pregnant cousins riding the tub...it was intense ;)

Me, EmmaJane, Carrie and her daughter Emmalyn

Kirby skiing, he's awesome!

We are moving!

2009-06-08T13:43:00.000-07:00

The first day of summer officially started for me today! Yippy and I got to start teaching swimming lessons again! I was blessed with a long-term sub job for 4th grade the past 2 months and it wasn't easy, but a great learning experience! Our last day was Friday, June 5th. I was offered a job there also...but had to turn it down because we are moving!!

Happy Graduation to us! We found out May 6th that Kirby was accepted at TOURO University in Henderson, NV. He is going to be starting med school on August 3rd! Crazy...because our baby is due August 20th!

Goals (we make goals, not plans, because plans never go according to plan). So, our goals are:To move to St. George first, sort of a transition move, around/close to June 26th (that’s also my dad’s 50th!). We will just be staying at my parent’s house, like a little vacation for the month of July). While we are living there we will be looking at housing in Henderson and hope to get something lined up before school starts for Kirby on Aug. 3rd. SO, if anyone has any tips, suggestions, places for us to stay in Henderson, we would love any connections to help us out!

We did indeed graduate… on May 8th! It was beautiful...we had a lot of fun! My dad has all the good pictures, so you get these from my camera...

This is a picture of just some of my teaching friends and Claudia, my supervisor! I'll miss going to school with them!

Both Kirby's parents and my parents came ALL THE WAY UP to support us...it was a pretty big deal to us that they came, so we want to thank them again for coming and being with us on this special day! We worked pretty hard… if I do say so myself.

After graduation on Friday, we headed down to St. George for a little graduation celebration from my parents…we got to see Brian Regan perform live at Tuachan! It was a treat, to say the least. Thanks for the tickets mom and dad!

This was the only good picture I could get of him...on the big screen.

Just a little random side note: This is my new very favorite desert (LOVE IT!):

I had it at my cohort end of year celebration party and loved it so much I had to make my own, and both Kirby and I are big fans, so we make it whenever we have the time (and stuff).

Some Belly Pics

2009-05-26T16:58:00.001-07:00

I got Kirby to take some pictures, and oh what fun it is to try and get a good one :S
I still think I look funny, but whatever...

I am about 25-26 weeks in these pics.

I am currently 27-28 weeks (27-28 means I'm on my way to 28 but not quite there yet).

The baby is sitting pretty low...it's pretty funny. I finally started to actually feel her kick/move about 2 1/2 weeks ago...I was sort of getting nervous. Now I LOVE it when I feel her move, so does Kirby.

Yep...It's True

2009-05-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

We have had so many things going on in life that I just plum forgot to post the news...we are having a baby...Yep, it’s true.

Due: Sometime the end of August...seems to be a different date EVERYTIME we go in.
Currently: I am 26 weeks and FAT. But that's what’s supposed to happen I'm told.
Gender: well...any guesses, it shouldn't be that hard...just think to yourself, what is everyone else having these days? I have joined the ranks and super excited :)

Congrats to all my “mother to be” friends- I swear there's like 50 of you! So many babies...and so many girls!

Wish I had more pictures, I was really waiting to post until I had an updated picture of my belly, but that requires Kirby to take a picture… he doesn't do that very often.

So I'll try to post that asap, but for now, enjoy what I've got:

8 weeks...click on the image to enlarge. Just looks like a cute little jelly bean :)

12-13 weeks

Me at 16-17 weeks

SLC Cemetery

2009-05-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

And for your viewing pleasure...

Kirby and I were able to make it (finally) to the SLC cemetery to see almost all of the prophets’ graves. I wanted to go with Bro. Smith from Nauvoo...but for some reason wasn't able to make that trip about a year ago. He was the one who got me interested in cemeteries.

(Just a side note: we even did a service project while in Nauvoo at a cemetery- we recorded as much information from the headstones as we could read, because of age the headstones were losing all the inscriptions and thus very important info about the person buried there, it made me realize a little more how important genealogy work is).

Kirby took an institute class and his teacher took them on a tour, I decided to tag along.

It was a beautiful view from the top of the cemetery. I tried to get a picture of the lovely U of U stadium, but it didn't turn out very well. I need one of those cameras my dad has :)

Do I look fat to you? You know, in the belly area?

Kirby was excited to see this one. J. Golden Kimball

(Love the red on red Kirb, I must do a very good job at telling you when you match ;)

Easter must haves...

2009-04-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I don't usually eat the bunny, I give it to my dad, but it's tradition!

YUMMY!!

WE GRADUATE!

2009-04-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

The HAPPY DAY is May 8th! I actually got Kirby to walk, so it's going to be really cool! Everyone is invited :)

Updates...

2009-04-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

Kirby has received word back from both Pomona, CA and Mesa, AZ and they are the same results as Florida...MORE WAITING. I guess we can do that.

He actually was invited for his 5th interview to a school in Vallejo on Mare Island in Northern Cali. It's actually a little over an hour away from my grandparents and my Aunt Cathy's family who live in Lodi and my Uncle Dirk's family who live in Elk Grove. Pretty Cool. If those cities don't help with the location of this school, it's about an hour north of San Francisco. He interviews in the middle of MAY, so more waiting…Our favorite thing!

Kirby is off to Henderson, NV this Tuesday get himself into med school! GOOD LUCK BABE!

And we're back!

2009-04-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

Kirby has been quite the traveler this past month...He has had interviews for med school in Florida, California and Arizona. He still has one more interview in Nevada the end of this month. It's a wonder as to where we will end up living this coming July.

BRADENTON, FL

Kirby actually heard back from Florida, the school is in Bradenton.

The result: he got on their 'wait list'- which is actually the best possible outcome after we thought about it for a second. His interview with Florida was so far before any of the other interviews that he wouldn't know the results from any other school before he heard from Florida. If he would have been offered a spot at Florida, we would have had to put $2000 down, no refund, to 'hold' his place. If he would have accepted the offer in Florida, it would be pretty much pointless to go to any other interviews, because he would lose the $2000 he put down to Florida if he went to a different med school. So, Florida is not a yes or a no, yet, just MORE waiting.

Kirby would like credit for these pictures, he took them from the car.

POMONA, CA

Kirby interviewed here on Thursday, April 2nd. He stayed at my cousins house, the Goodman’s, in Yorba Linda. They were so kind to pick him up, drop him off and loan him their car. We are so grateful for family, we had other family he could have stayed with down there also, everyone was so willing to help out!

MESA, AZ

Kirby got up early Friday morning to fly to his second interview, which was at 11:00am Friday morning. He made it there just fine, again, thanks to the Goodman’s help! Thank you guys so much!! He took some pictures and said he was most impressed with the campus compared to the other 2 places, although Florida didn't look too bad either.

Obviously, no word back from either of these 2 schools, but hopefully I can keep up to date with our blog. And of course he still has an interview in Henderson, Nevada.

Homemade Pizza Night

2009-01-24T18:30:00.001-08:00

We made some great pizza tonight and had a lot of fun doing so. The product sure gave us the most satisfaction. We actually bought the pizza dough from a pizza shop called Litza's Pizza (thanks to my good friend, Heather, who hooked us up with that little secret). The dough is delicious and it's only $1.70. You can make 2 pizzas with just one ball of dough, it's fantastic! Anyway, we cooked up some chicken breasts to make one alfredo and one bbq pizza. We definately made some of the best homemade pizza I've ever made (so, I have only made pizza twice ;).

Ok, so this picture doesn't really do it justice...

So here is Kirby eating it...he's really loving it!

By the way, I cut his hair today, compliments are encouraged. :)

LIGHTS

2009-01-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 3oth

Before the lights were taken down, Kirby and I decided to take advantage of living in the Salt Lake Valley, so we went to Temple Square to see the beautiful lights. The pictures were taken with our phones, because it was sort of a last minute decision to go. Pitty really, because we got a spiffy new Kodak camera from Kirby's parents for Christmas!

Enjoy the LIGHTS-

We had to go into the Tabernacle to get warm...it was such a cold night (we saw other people taking pictures, so we figured it was okay for us).

House Hunting in Henderson

2008-12-30T15:34:00.000-08:00

House hunting has been a major event in our lives the last few weeks…but we think we have finally got one! It’s not completely official yet, but I’ll still show a picture of our future home:

GO UTES!

2008-12-30T15:24:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures from the U-BYU game we went to for Kirby's birthday... It was a beautiful day and a beautiful game.

Warm-up

Half-time

The Utes scoring

(If I was really good I would have remembered who this is that scored here...maybe Freddy Brown...I'm sure Kirby would know.)

Happy Birthday KIRBY!

2008-11-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

It was Kirby's birthday Friday...we didn't do much on Friday because he had to work until 9! But when he came home he had a great surprise waiting for him...his very own organ!! Ya, he was pretty excited! I was so excited the whole week I almost gave it away! Who knew Kirby could play the organ?? He actually was the ward organist in his singles ward- the girls couldn't keep away ;)
How did I get this organ? Well, I'm student teaching right now and a guy that is student teaching at the same school happened to have an organ that he got from his grandma (who never played it) and he is moving (he doesn't play it) and didn't want to keep it anymore, so he asked me if i was interested...and I, of course, said yes. Long story short, on Kirby's birthday Chuck, my friend, brought the organ into our small, quaint apartment and Kirby got it the night of his birthday!!
Some have asked how it fits...well, you see, we moved some stuff (like BOOKS!) and now we have it all organized and beautiful!
Kirby is now trying to teach me how to play...I think its a lot of fun:)

See how excited he is!

Because Kirby didn't get home until late at night for his birthday we celebrated on Saturday...I told him I'd do whatever he wanted to because it was HIS day...so we went to campus at 4 in the morning to stand in line for Utah/BYU tickets!! It was freezing cold and we were not even CLOSE to the front of the line...the line actually started Thursday night after the TCU game...ya some crazies just camped out for a few days at the ticket office...But it was quite the experience...don't worry we got tickets...and funny thing is, we could have got them even if we would have got in line at 8! I love Kirby for his great ideas! :) Happy Birthday!!

School: FULL swing ahead

2008-09-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

School started August 25th, and as you can tell by my lack of posts, we sure have been loaded with things to do. We both started our final year, so we will both graduate in May with our Bachelors! I get to do my student teaching this year, and so far I LOVE it. I'm teaching in a 4th grade class with Mrs. Wright as my "Site" teacher. She is EXCELLENT, especially teaching math. My class is an ALP's class, (Accelerated Learning Program) so the students are taught 5th grade math and reading. I am at the elementary school Mondays and Tuesdays, and half day Fridays for planning. University classes are on Wednesdays and Thursdays-totals to 18 credit hours. But I honestly love it all (so far!).
Kirby has been applying to Medical school all of August and is just about finishing up the 2 round in the process. He is also: still a member of SHAC- he actually gets to be some sort of editor: I read his first article in the school newspaper yesterday, volunteering at the ER doing pain research, taking an institute class (even though he has graduated from institute), scouting (6 boys are getting their Eagles next weekend), working as a TA for an Intro to Med. Professions class, and teaching a basketball class on campus, as well as working every moment he can find.
We don't get out much, but we find time to be together-which is all we can ask for!

OH YEAH- I must mention, I had a fabulous birthday on the 9th...Spending the day at the elementary school was great! Kids write you cute birthday notes, and you get to hand out treats to the class and get a birthday bear on your desk. Kirby always treats me so good on my birthday and gets me presents throughout the day-mostly wonderful books! My Aunt Cathy gave me a Learning Angel from the Willow Tree collection, and I adore it. And Heather, my wonderful schoolmate (and best friend I would die this semester teaching without her) got me a wonderful file box to organize all my lessons and materials-love it! I also love the cards and phone calls I received from parents and Grandparents, siblings, aunts, and cousins! THANKS, it made my day great :)

8-8-08

2008-08-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

What a fun date to get married! The newest addition to Kirby's side is Kade's new wife Kimber. What a beautiful and happy day. It was a lot of fun to see the whole family, even Alexis was able to fly in from Kansas! I borrowed Kelliann's camera for this event, so I have pictures!! Pictures tell it all:

Just coming out of the temple

They were married in the Provo temple.

At the reception we got to sit in the long-term guest room. This is how Kirby felt about that. Haha

The wedding cake!

Tori, I mean Amy helping Tori catch the bouquet- They were not successful :( (But it was rather entertaining:)

The bride and groom

My sister-in-laws: Me and Amy Read, Alexis Wood, and Tori Beaumont

This is my niece, Megan Read and she is sooo much fun!! And just adorable- don't your love those cute cheeks!

Kade and Kirby

Any guesses as to what this is??

2008-08-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

I would really like to know your first thoughts when seeing this picture-so let me know!!

1st picture: Can you tell after seeing just this 1st picture? or do you need to see another?

2nd picture:

How about a different angle?

If you haven't figured it out yet, this picture is a dead give away:

Walker's Swim Kids

2008-08-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

I teach swimming lessons for Liz Walker; her business is called Walker's Swim Kids. (You may have seen this chip on the news, check it out, it's actually really cool to watch- Part 1: http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=6489561

Part 2: http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=6523064

We had an end of summer work party on Thursday and it was so much fun. I work at "the Midvale Pool" (it is just someone’s back yard) with Chelsea and Jessie and it has been a blast- I will miss their excitement and enthusiasm. The fun and laughter you get from the different things that happen at swimming lessons is only something you can truly share and understand with fellow teachers, so I've been really blessed to have had some great girls to share this summer working with.

Jessie is the same age as my sister Becky (19) but I never would have guessed and Chelsea has just turned 21, so because I’ll be turning 23 in September and because I'm the only one married they like to tell me I'm their mom. Jessie would be upset if she saw this and I didn't make mention of her new (swimmer) boyfriend Matt that she tells everyone about, but things are looking pretty serious (I think we see a marriage in the NOT so distant future)

Chelsea, me and Jessie

The staff party was great- They all got to meet my handsome husband which they have been long awaiting. Then Chelsea, Jessie and I got to go swimming in our clothes--not by any choice of our own.

LODI: JULY 31st - AUG. 4th

2008-08-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

We got to go Lodi (near Sacramento, CA) for my mom's parent’s 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration. It has been so long since I have been to my Grandma and Grandpa Verdoorn's house (and Kirby has never). I will take a wild guess as to when the last time was that I visited: probably 7 years ago!! That could be a little off...but that’s pretty crazy to me. When I was growing up in Cali we used to get to their house at least once a year.

My mom, along with my Aunt Cathy put together a pretty stellar party- with great food and plenty of people. We cleaned up the yard in preparation, and man did that make a difference. (I have some pictures, but not with me now, so when I get them I will post them here).

One of the best parts of going to Lodi was seeing all my little cousins, that aren't so little anymore. (We are the oldest cousins on my mom's side of the family, which is a whole different world being the younger ones on my dad's side). BJ is going to be a senior! Peter and Andrew I always got mixed up. Grant sure got tall, I didn't see that coming! Olivia is beautiful and is only in Beehives! Ethan and Anna and Axel are the younger three that I have had limited opportunities to see and interact with, but they are so CUTE and FUN! We all played Duck, Duck, Goose the last night and who knew that game could be so entertaining. I wish I had time to share the details!

LAKE POWELL: July 18th- 27th

2008-08-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

The major event of July was my annual Whitehead escape to the lake. It is always soo much fun to spend a week with cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, parents, grandparents... I don't have pictures YET- but when I get them I will add them to this post.

This year we had 3 houseboats, but what made this year different is that one of the 3 was a timeshare my dad bought into ("Dances with Waves"). We got the boat 2 days after we got the first 2, so that meant as an immediate family we got to stay at the lake 2 days longer than the rest-this was a new experience for us and a bit lonely without 2 other houseboats full of family.

After spending 10 days at the lake-we are wishing we were still there! But real life comes into play. I can only say how thankful we are for a family, and grandparents that are so caring and are so much fun to be with and for parents that take so much time away and work so hard for us to make it all out to the lake. We can't express how much it means to us to be together and grow together as a family. The time we spend together at Lake Powell truly is priceless to us!

THE THIRD and FOURTH and FIFTH

2008-07-08T18:47:00.001-07:00

FIREWORKS! We saw them 3 nights in a row.

The 3rd: Kirby volunteered us to work at the REAL Soccer game Thursday night, which I was totally okay with: a free soccer game with fireworks after- but we weren't allowed to sit the entire night!! It was pretty intense- you might not think that standing for 3 straight hours would be that bad (heck I've ran for 4 straight hours before, but I trained for that- I guess thats my point, we had no training for this 3 hour stand off). We made it through the game and watched the firework show at the end (which was the 2nd best show of the year). Oh yeah, REAL tied 0-0. It was pretty bad...although a fight did break out, which is always entertaining.

The 4th: Laurel was so kind to invite us over to her in-laws for swimming, a BBQ and of course, FIREWORKS (which was the 3rd best firework show of the year) Fireworks to music makes the show ten times better. It was an enjoyable night, with some good food.

Have you ever tired to take pictures of fireworks?? Its not too easy--here are some of the good shots we got (Kirby got pretty good at it, so these are his):

The 5th: This morning we had our first yard sale! It was a great morning, we sold many things that we got free from other people- we were just going to take them all to DI for free; so I'd say we got the good end of this deal.

We also made better friends with Grant Street neighbors. Melissa and Jacob invited us to go to a Bees game with them. This was a lot of fun. The Bees did terrible. But the firework show was the best show of the whole YEAR. We were soo close that the ashes flew into my eyes (so I put sunglasses on :) haha

This is a picture of our small yard sale

Fun back in Ol' St. George

2008-06-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

We got to go to visit family this past weekend. It was fun seeing everyone. We went down Thursday night, after Kirby's Honor's something or other class. Friday Kirby went to shadow a Doctor at IHC for the whole day, and left me to hang out with my mom and Becky (who is now engaged!!!!!). Troy, DJ and my Dad were all up in Idaho at a wrestling tournament (of course) and wouldn't be back until Saturday.

Saturday was the main event and reason for going home. Jessica Williams got married! It was a beautiful day. We were able to attend the temple and we LOVE sealings. We always learn so much. Jessica was so happy and she just shined. We also got to go to the luncheon, with delicious food-WOW. I am so glad we were able to make it!!

This is Jessica and Colton just walking out of the temple. It's one of my favorite, they both look so HAPPY.

ME and the beautiful bride.

Morgan, Whitnie, and me. The sun was really BRIGHT- bright sunny day.

The reception was gorgeous. It was fun seeing friends (Whitnie, Ross, Morgan, Chantelle, Adam...to name a few) and talking with them and hearing some BIG news.

Another highlight of the day was our first trip to the lake this WHOLE SUMMER- which seemed insane. We went out between the luncheon and the reception. It was a lot of fun, but the water was pretty choppy (NOT cool).

Kirby is a killer wake-surfer.

This is Kirby wake surfing, the water wasn't the best, but he had it better than I did, so we will just watch Kirby surf.

Sunday was a big day, June is a big month of birthdays, and it was Kirby’s dad’s (Kelly) Birthday on Sunday, (June 22nd). Troy and Blair just had birthdays on the 18th, Kirby’s mom had one on the 12th, and sister, Lex, on the 6th. My dad’s was on the 26th. It’s just craziness! But it was fun to celebrate with them.

This is Troy (I know, can you believe it!?! He sure has grown)- he was in Idaho on his birthday so we got to celebrate it on Sunday.

HOME

2008-06-16T13:06:00.001-07:00

Back home means back to work and school (for Kirby).
We made it home safely, although we did have some problems with the flight reservations not lining up with the tickets- but we were able to work though it, (thanks to some help from Dad!)

Now that we are back home we can't believe it is already over. It went by so fast. We have gotten some questions as to whether we brought back an African child- and we must tell you we have not, although it did cross our minds a few times, we loved the children! Maybe someday.

Kirby is working up on campus for the Exercise and Sports Science dept. He is also going to be umping some base/softball games. He is also taking a nutrition class over the summer as well as starting to apply to medical school. (Always keeping himself busy)

I will be teaching swimming again to the young children. It's a great summer job.
Our next trip is to St. George for Jessica William's wedding! Congrats Jess!! It will be nice to see family and friends from home after our trip to Kenya.

2008-06-11T05:33:00.002-07:00

This is us at the Mama Tunza's Children's Center. This was a very crowded, smelly, and rundown place. It was very interesting to see.

After church (and Mass) we went to Joan's house and all ate Ugali, choma (BBQ beef), pineapple, and bera (a very good, small fruit)

This is Peris painting Kirby's little finger. She says that he "looks smart."

PICK POCKET

2008-06-11T05:33:00.001-07:00

A Matatu is a small bus, basically a van that seats 14 people. We try to avoid using them due to their driving habits and the lack of safety sitting so close to someone who might be after anything shiny, along with several other reasons. But today we had to use one to get to Kibera.

When Kirby was about to board the Matatu, a drunk man stuck his hand into Kirby’s pocket with Kirby’s hand still in it. This was quite the surprise for Kirby, but he was quick to react by grabbing the man’s wrist. The man had taken sh300 (which is comparable to $5). Kirby realized this and didn’t let go of the drunkman until he had successfully pulled the money out of the drunkard’s hand.

During this time, Tara had taken off the man’s hat, and thrown it, then started to hit his head (two times) and then pulled his headphones out (we aren’t too sure how effective this all was, but nonetheless she couldn’t just stand and watch, as the saying goes, “it was the straw that broke the camel’s back).

Also, the man in the Matatu was very helpful in beating the drunkard across the head numerous times. We felt a little shaken after this, but still take the same trip every day. This was the extent of the excitement of our trip (that day). We had to laugh as we thought of a comment Dr. Guto made just the day before, “There are smart thieves in the city and stupid ones in the slums.”

THIEVES IN THE NIGHT

2008-06-11T05:32:00.001-07:00

When we moved apartment buildings we also moved from the top floor to the bottom floor, which has its advantages and many disadvantages. In the middle of the night I heard some crazy noises, which is not uncommon, (actually, I have not once slept the whole night through without hearing and waking up to some sort of noise). So tonight I had thought it was just the same sort of thing, but the ruckus seemed to be very near and I couldn’t fall back asleep.

I then heard a whistle being blown, over and over again. It was scary, and so naturally I kick Kirby (because he doesn’t wake up easily) and tell him we have to get up, we have to get out of the house. So, we climb out of bed and find Mercy and Sarah going into the front room also.

Mercy looks out the window and sees the watchman blowing the whistle. She tells us that everyone has a whistle and they are to blow it when they need help. At first Mercy tells us the man is crazy, but the more she watched the more she realized that he was not that crazy. So, Mercy finally decides to go outside and talk to the man.

The man tells her that 3 men had beaten him and then followed a car through the gate, made the driver get out of his car and take them to his apartment, the thieves then made the driver get back into his car, and they all 4 drove off. So he was whislting for the police or for someone to call the police.

This was a very scary night for us, and Mercy kept saying that she "cannot stay here", especially the bottom floor...Mercy swears the men jumped right over the wall next to her bedroom. They could have easily stolen anything out in the back (which happened to be all of our laundry, but apparently the men were after much bigger things). Needless to say, Mercy and I did not get much sleep that night.

JOY of STUDENTS

2008-06-11T05:25:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of all the children we went to Mass with on Sunday

After going with our coordinator, Joe, to Kibera and looking at Mama Tunza’s Orphanage, Sarah and I went to the Junction Shopping center because Sarah was craving a bottle of fresh squeezed fruit juice, which is actually really good, (I got passion fruit) and then went back to the apartment.

Kirby, on the other hand, went back into Kawangare to visit Margie (the cleaning lady at the clinic) at her home and shop around a little at the shops (which you get great deals on everything because it’s the slum, but it is only something you can do right before you leave, or people will get ideas). Kirby was on his way home when he saw children running at him. They were students from Tara’s school. They said they had been going from apartment complex to complex asking if mazungu’s live there. They were looking for Tara.

Kirby called Sarah’s phone and told her and Tara to come meet them at the edge of Kawangware, (which is about a 30 minute walk) but Tara was so excited to hear that some of her favorite students were with Kirby she ran the whole way to see them.

This had to be one the highlights of the whole trip for Tara. She thought she had said her goodbye’s and now she gets to see them again. We gave them our phone number and told them we would go to Mass with them the next day. That night Tara got some phone calls from the students and their parents, asking me to really go to mass so they could all meet us.

LAST DAY AT SCHOOL

2008-06-07T00:57:00.001-07:00

Friday, June 6th was the last day I got to go to the school and teach. It was a bittersweet day. It was so sad to leave the kids, but we had a great time teaching and giving the teachers and students gifts. They would take anything we had to give, we had clothes, bags, pencils, erasers.

For an english assignment I had my classes 5 and 6 write a letter to one of my siblings in America. They were all so thrilled to do this. I collected all the letters Friday and took their picture so that the letter recipient would know who had written to them. When I told them DJ's name they loved saying it over and over- it was very entertaining.

Kirby came to the school with me and taught math to grades 5 and 6 and did a really good job. The kids loved him.

This is me with my class 5 and 6 (grades 5 and 6) outside their classrooms made of tin.

We will be leaving Kenya Wednesday night (Kenyan time 10:00pm, which will be 1pm Wednesday day in Utah). We will be home 7:00pm Thursday night...another long trip. We miss you all and are excited to see everyone. We will try to update the blog one more time before departure, but we'll see how things go.