Family

One of the best things about summer is all the time we get to spend with extended family members. We have been busy with small family reunions, which Matt's family is incredibly good at having every year. Last week we had a Watkins Family get together (Matt's grandma's family), and Monday we had a Page Family party. It is always fun to see extended relatives and what they are up to! Chris and Lisa brought their puppies (Sawyer and Jack) to the Page party, and Sydney had fun pointing at them, or touching them and running away. She knows that they will jump on her so she doesn't get as close as she will to older, more mellow dogs, but she sure loves them anyway.

On Sunday we went up to Smith and Morehouse to eat dinner with my family and my cousins, the Schones. Smith and Morehouse is right by our old family cabin, so it is a special place for us. We had a lot of fun cooking tinfoil dinners, smores, and cobbler, and spending time with eachother. Sydney loved the Schone's dog, going by the river, playing with Jocelyn, and exploring the new surrroundings. We had a chance to walk to our old cabin site, which brought back a lot of memories. We used to go up there several times a summer until my grandpa passed away 14 years ago. It's amazing to think that it's been that long since we used to go there. When my grandpa died, the cabin was given to his brother, and we were no longer able to go anymore. It has been sad for us to not be able to go there, especially because it reminds us of my grandpa. My uncle tore down our cabin and built a new one, so it is a little weird for us, but it was fun to go there and walk around. It started raining, so I didn't get some of the pictures I wanted to take- like the tree that has my parent's initials carved in it- but we are planning on going again in August so hopefully I'll get those pictures then!

No News is Good News

Well, I have been waiting to hear the results from my glucose test...but they only call you if you DO have gestational diabetes, so it has been an anxious week for me, basically waiting to NOT hear from them. AND... I never heard from them!!! So I do not have gestational diabetes this time around! I am excited that I won't have to deal with the extra stress of that. It entails a very strict diet that is pretty hard to follow, not to mention taking your blood 4 times a day, so now I don't have to worry about all of that. The only worry is that I will gain more weight than I want, but oh well. I still have worries that they will call me and tell me my results took extra long, or they lost them, or something, and that I really do have it :) Anyway, other than being really BIG, hot, and always hungry, this pregnancy has been going very well. The baby doesn't kick as hard as Sydney did, I have less heartburn, not as many charlie horses, and am overall feeling pretty good. We still haven't thought of ANYTHING for the baby. I haven't looked at clothes, bedding, thought of names, nothing. We have been so busy with life lately that we haven't done much preparing, but we are finally pretty much settled in our apartment, so maybe life will calm down a little and we can prepare for our baby in 12 weeks! This past weekend we built shelves in our storage closet and got all but 2 boxes put away. The last 2 boxes are just pictures and decorations to hang up, so that's all I have left to do. It has been a lot of hard work and organizing, with the little space, but I'm finally feeling like life is returning back to normal. We are feeling more comfortable with our place, Matt's job, and everything.

We got a new camera, a Nikon D90, and I am trying to learn how to use it... Here are some of my favorite pictures we've taken while we practice and learn about the camera...

4th of July and Glucose Test

We had a great 4th of July weekend! Matt had work off on Friday, so we partied it up! It was really nice... we slept in, went to the zoo, and then to the temple and dinner. My brother Tim went through the temple for the first time, and Matt and I were the witness couple for that session so it was a neat experience. It is always nice to get to the temple and have that spiritual boost!

On Saturday, we slept in again! My brothers and sister slept over on Friday night, so we had french toast for breakfast. Then the rest of my family came over, and we went swimming at our little neighborhood swimming pool. After that, we had a BBQ and went to a Bee's game! The game was really fun, but it went a little long...12 full innings! We ended up losing, which was pretty much fine with us, because we just wanted the game to be over so we could watch the fireworks. The fireworks show was awesome! Sydney thought they were a little too close for comfort...which they were VERY close... we even had ashes and debris falling all over us. My dad took her under the seats, where she couldn't see them, and she was fine. We had watched the Sugarhouse fireworks during the game, which we could see pretty well, and she loved those ones. She called them "pretty-booms."

Tomorrow I get to take the glucose test to see if I have gestational diabetes again... I made sure to have a donut for breakfast today :) just in case. Wish me luck! I now officially have less than 100 days left of this pregnancy. It is flying by, but is getting more uncomfortable by the day... my stomach is very itchy lately! It is weird to imagine having two kids in 3 months...CRAZY!

Goings On

Our new place is still not all put together. It has been a lot of work because we have had to buy things in order to put things away, but it is getting there. I get pretty frustrated when things are messy and have to remind myself that everything will be fine soon enough. We have been struggling to fit all of our stuff in this apartment, but we are enjoying the area, how clean it is, and the cheaper price, so it is worth it.

I am getting very big! People at church keep telling me it must be "getting close." In fact the other day the chorister called my mom to see if I could play the piano in Relief Society, but she wanted to make sure that I wasn't having my baby this week. This has been going on since I was 20 weeks (half way). It's crazy to think that we have about 15 weeks left. It actually has been going by very fast because we've had so much going on. I can't believe I'm in my 3rd trimester! I am starting to get heart burn worse, and my ribs hurt because the baby is always in them. Probably 90% of the time I have my hand up by ribs trying to push the baby down out of them. But other than that, things are going very well! I have another doctor's appointment next week so we'll see updates then.

Yesterday we went to Liberty Land with Chris and Lisa. It was a pretty small place, but had some fun things that we enjoyed doing. Sydney loved the big bouncy slide, mini golfing, the rocket ship, and the merry-go-round! Matt and Chris both enjoyed the go-karts and lasar tag. It was fun to get out and do something different!

We went to the aquarium last month while Matt was at home in the days with us. Sydney loved looking at the "fishies" and putting her hands in the water to try to touch the rays. It was a fun outing!

A few weeks ago we went to dinner with Matt, Jen, and Colton Appel. After we ate, we went to Nordstrom Rack, where they had some fountains outside. Sydney and Colton had a lot of fun running around the water! They have become pretty good friends!

We had a wonderful Father's Day! Sydney made a tie for Matt in nursery that is adorable. It has been fun for Mother's Day and Father's Day this year because Sydney has made us little things, and of course is able to give us hugs and kisses! We are so grateful for Matt! He is a great Father!

We had lunch at a park last week and Sydney really enjoyed playing! She calls swings and slides "wee" and always wants to go on them. It is nice because we have a little play ground outside of our apartment that she likes to play on as well.

Here are some pictures of Sydney being Sydney! She is learning so much, always talking up a storm, and is so much fun! She says "aintoo" (thank you) all the time now! The other day I was busy doing something in the kitchen and Sydney was getting into everything trying to get a drink. I was getting frustrated with her and finally had a second to get her a drink. She said "aintoo" in her sweet little voice and it melted me! I couldn't help but pick her up and give her hugs and kisses. She also says "cheese" when we take pictures of her now, and has the funniest, cheesiest smiles! She sure makes life fun for us!

Playing in a box from moving...

With a shoebox on her head, calling it a hat...

Carrying around a purse...

Wearing Michael's shoes...Sydney loves shoes...

Smelling the flowers...

Swimming...which she calls "water"

Another Mission Call!

Last night Matt's brother Alex opened his mission call! He will be going to the Argentina, Salta Mission and is leaving on October 14th! He will be speaking Spanish... which is cool because both Matt and Chris went to South America on Spanish speaking missions. I think we will all need to learn some Spanish if we want to be in on their conversations! We are so excited for him! I have always had a strong testimony about missions and am always so excited for missionaries. We are so proud of both our brothers for being worthy to go on missions. I am excited to be able to teach our kids about missionaries and pray for our brothers with them. I know that praying for my uncles and cousins who were on missions strengthed my testimony a lot. I always said that my "favorite uncle" was the one who was currently serving. Even though our baby will be 2 and Sydney will be 4 by the time our brothers get home, we know that they will look up to Alex and Tim. Luckily Alex will be able to meet our baby boy before he leaves. October will be a very busy month! We are hoping to spend some time with Alex before he goes into the MTC here in Provo. Congratulations Alex!

"Borrowed" Internet

Well we are officially moved into our new apartment! We are so excited to be back in our own place, with our own stuff, and our own schedules! I have the kitchen all organized, and am working on the other stuff, but we have some purchases we need to make in order for me to get much more accomplished. We need to buy a dresser for our room, something we have never had yet, because our closet is small! I need to go to the store and buy some food because I've been living off of Ding Dongs. And I need to get some storage things for blankets and misc stuff, because we have no linen closet. It is slowly starting to feel like home, and it's pretty exciting! We will be selling our washer/dryer, TV, chair/ottoman, and microwave, so if anyone is in need of one of those things let me know and I'll send you a picture. We are waiting for Comcast to set up our FREE cable and internet this Saturday, so I am currently "borrowing" someone else's :) We spent a rainy Saturday moving in. Any one else tired of the rain yet? We'll just say, I really would never want to live in Seattle. Thank you to everyone who helped us move! Matt's brother Alex was in town and had to spend a day of his vacation helping us move and put together furniture, so a special thanks to him!

"Thank you" especially to Courtney and Tyler! We really appreciate you letting us live in your house and figure out our lives. It has been crazy for us, and your patience and hospitality made it so much easier. We hope that you can still be friends with us and that you're not too tired of us :) Sydney will miss being with Kate! It was so fun to watch them hug, hold hands, copy eachother, and do all the funny things they do. Someday we'll tell them of the time they lived together. Whenever we tell Sydney "shh" she says, "Kate." Because she associates that with 'Kate's sleeping'. We'll see how long that lasts, but it's pretty funny! AND if you can believe it, Tyler helped us move, and even let us use his trailor and truck to move our stuff in! We really owe you guys! THANKS!

I'll probably put up more pictures later, when we have our own, free, fast internet!

This Crazy Thing We Call Life...

I can not even begin to tell you how crazy life has been for us the past couple of months. We went from feeling invincible and on top of the world, to having the best laid plans fall to pieces. There have been WONDERFUL things happen, and there have been many not-so-wonderful things happen, but I think overall we are dealing with it pretty well. It has been quite the emotional rollercoaster for me and I think being pregnant has made my emotions even worse, but Matt and the gospel are the two things that have really helped me through it all. I told Matt, that I think the Lord has blessed me with relatively good pregnancies, not throwing up kind of stuff, because there always seems to be so many stressful life events that happen when I'm pregnant. I don't think I could handle it all if I had to throw up too. It's funny the places that you can find blessings when you are looking for them!

Matt found a job! Horray! He actually starts at Comcast this Monday! I am so incredibly proud of him, that it actually makes me cry. Matt has been a rock and has just pushed forward through it all, doing what has to be done. He helps me be a better person and I am grateful for that. I am grateful that he is such a hard worker and that he is willing to take a 50% cut in pay to take care of our family. He is an amazing man and I am one lucky girl to have married him. Even though we are basically starting over, pretty much where we where we we got married except I'm not working, we feel lucky to even have a job. It comes with benefits- good insurance and free cable/internet! We have loved ones and there are so many people who are struggling to find jobs, and we feel blessed to have found one. Those of you who are still looking are in our prayers.

Our condo that we have been building is taking longer than planned. It is the first time that Holmes has built that type of building so they are jumping through hoops with all the fire codes and such. Because it won't be done until the end of the summer we will no longer be able to be approved for the loan. We had planned on still approving through Matt's Discover job, but the timing is off, and we'd have to approve through his new job, which is a huge pay cut, so we will not be able to get it. It has been a very emotional thing for me. We have put so much into this condo. We signed our first papers for it on January 3rd, so it literally has been our plan for the last 6 months. We have saved money, put money down on it, driven by it almost every other day, and dreamed about it. There were so many things I was looking forward to, that it was really hard for me to give it up. Holmes has been wonderful through it all, being patient as we make decisions and giving us all our money back. We are grateful to them for all of the support they have given us.

We have been house hunting now for the past week. It has been quite the process this time, trying to balance a tight budget but have enough room for 2 kids and all our stuff. We have been in and out of the rain for the past 4 days, and I can't even count how many apartments we physically looked at, not to mention the houses, condos, townhomes, and apartments we looked at online or called about. If you need to know anything about aparments in the Salt Lake Valley, I think we looked at them all... but I started getting them all mixed up, so I actually might not be too much help! Our umbrella actually broke because we have been opening and closing it so much going in and out of apartments. One bit of advice... don't search for places to live in the rain, unless you have to! But yesterday... WE FOUND A PLACE TO LIVE!!! It is off of 134oo south and Bangerter Highway. It's somewhat new, so clean and nice, and is a 2 bedroom place. There is a swimming pool and a little playground, and a storage closet. We are excited to have our own place again and are looking forward to moving next Satruday! Courtney and Tyler have been so generous and nice letting us live in their house, and we are so grateful to them. This whole process could have been a lot worse for us if it weren't for them!

Last week Matt drove up to Oregon with his grandparents and Jonne. It was a busy week for them with Molly's year-ending concerts and Alex's graduation! Matt really enjoyed being with his family and participating in events that we normally don't get to go to. We wish we lived closer so we could be there for all of the concerts and games, and we miss being there. We are so excited for Alex! He has so many big things coming up in his life. His mission papers are in, and we are anxious to hear where he will go! He will be a great missionary and we are proud of all he has accomplished! Congratulations on graduating Alex!

I stayed at home while Matt was in Oregon, because my brother Tim was opening his mission call! I can't believe both of our little brothers will be on missions within months, it is crazy! Tim is going to the Ghana, Cape Coast Mission in Africa! We are so excited for him and proud of his patience in waiting for this call! He reports to the Ghana MTC on October 2nd (my birthday) but will leave on October 1st to get there in time. Maybe our baby will come early so Tim can meet him... I am so grateful for missionaries and for what they sacrafice to go on a mission. There was such an amazing spirit when Tim opened his call, as there has been every time I've been with someone when they opened a call. I have so many memories of my uncles, cousins, and friends opening their mission calls. My testimony has been strengthened by all of these men and their faithful service to the Lord.

I love this picture... it is the flags where those in our family have served.

Matt: Valencia, Venezuela

My dad: Connecticut, MA

Michael: Manaus, Brazil

We are excited to add Cape Coast, Ghana to it!

Lastly, there has been one more change...I chopped off my hair. I decided to donate 10 inches to locks of love, so it's a lot shorter now, but I am liking it. It was a nice, non-stressful change. I don't really have a great picture, but you can see it in the picture of my family at Tim's call-opening. I know it's been a long post...there has been a lot going on. We are happy and looking forward to the future. There are so many exciting things happening, even if they are different things than we were looking forward to a couple months ago. We truly are blessed.

Oh and for some cute pictures of Sydney... look at Lisa and Chris' blog http://christopher-lisa.blogspot.com/