A Childhood Memory

When I was young I had a pet hamster I named Huey after the character in the Calvin and Hobbes comics. Huey was a great friend. He would perch on my shoulder while I walked around the house, sit in my pocket with his head out the top, or play around in the stuffed animals on my bed while I laid there. He ran miniature gauntlets, including makeshift slides, and never failed to squeeze into the smallest spaces.

One day when I went to his cage I noticed the top was open and Huey was gone. This had happened a few times before, undoubtedly as a byproduct of his extensive training regimen. I had usually found him very quickly in my bedroom hiding in a corner somewhere, but on this occasion he was nowhere to be found. It didn't take long before my whole family was in on the search for Huey. We turned over the entire house, looking under furniture, in corners, even in the air return vents for the furnace. Over an hour of searching and still no luck. It appeared that Huey was lost forever; a twelve year old boy's friend was gone.

In the frantic search, and among all my anxiety, I am embarrassed to say that I had not once thought of prayer. It was my mother who did. It was she who gathered the family at the top of our stairs, right outside my bedroom door where we all knelt and prayed. I don't remember the words of the prayer or even who said them, but I do remember that we prayed.

We all went back to searching. I went downstairs to continue where I was searching before. Not five minutes later I heard a commotion from upstairs. After the prayer, my father had stayed near my room and had the thought to remove the bottom drawer from my dresser. There behind the dresser, which was pushed up against the wall sat Huey, with his little eyes glowing back at us in the dark, munching on a kernel of corn. I couldn't have been more happy or relieved.

This experienced touched me enough that while sitting in sacrament meeting on fast Sunday, I felt that I should share my testimony. I built up the courage to stand up, and began to speak. Immediately the tears began to flow and my small frame began to tremble. I doubt that the congregation understood even one word from the blubbering youth that stood before them, but I bore my testimony, felt the spirit and an extra measure of gratitude toward my Heavenly Father, and sat down.

Now, I am sure there were better moments to have remembered where the Lord blessed my life, but this is one of the most prominent in my memory from childhood. Had my mother not thought to pray, had my father not listened to the spirit, had I not had that experience and the desire to share it, I would not have felt the tender love of my Father in Heaven nor grown in my testimony of his hand in my life.

Too often people look for the big experiences in life that guide them toward what they should do and who they should be. We overlook the small consistencies of life's choices that add up to great futures. The consistency of a mother's thought to pray, the worthiness of a father who listens to the spirit. The sisters who drop what they are doing to help their distraught brother; these are the truly great acts in life that should not be overlooked, nor forgotten.

A few years later when Huey died, I cried quite a bit. My neighbor who was a carpenter created a tiny wooden casket for Huey and carved his name prominently into the top. The sides were fastened with pieces of a metal coat hanger wrapped around screws to make handles. My family stood around as a tear-stricken boy buried his little buddy deep in the dirt of an unfinished backyard landscaping project. When my parents installed a rock wall a few years later, they made sure not to disturb Huey's burial spot. It is a scene I can look back on now with fondness and laughter as I am sure it would look silly to any other person, but it is what I needed at the time and exemplifies what having a family means to me.

Family Still Gone

I am sitting in sacrament meeting at the Spanish branch. Cambria and the kids are out of town. I will finish the semester and fly out to Utah to meet them in one week. It is interesting that just a few days away from them, and I already feel the impact of their not being here. True we can video message, but it is not the same. The house has become just a house, it is them that make it a home.

This semester has been a difficult one with many stresses and failures, contrasted by some joys and successes. I have never felt such a range nor depth of emotions in such a short time. It is in times like these, with my family gone for even a few days, that I realize that they are my base, my sanity. I don't think this would be possible without them, or at least it would be much worse.

Recently on campus we have been addressing ideas to help reduce stress and depression among medical students. I can't help but feel for those who don't have their families close, or for those who may not feel like they have a good group of friends around them. I am lucky to have both, but it is my family that makes all the difference. There is an indescribably joy that accompanies your children yelling "daddy!" when you get home, or the way that they cuddle up to you when you wake them up in the morning. It is in these moments that all other stresses melt away, sometimes to tears, both tears of pain for having been away and tears of a happiness and love that cannot be contained. I won't even begin writing about my sweet wife or I will cry too many tears of gratitude and joy while sitting in public.

When I was a child I thought I knew love and then I became a man. As a man I thought I knew love but then I became a husband. As a husband I thought I knew love but then I became a father. As a father I thought I knew love but along came another child. I look forward to my future as a husband, father, and eventually a grandfather. What emotional depth will that bring, I can't even imagine. 

Spring Semester

Christmas break was not long enough but it was nice to be home after celebrating the new year. We started off the new semester like a rocket launch into new material. The first day we had 5 straight hours of lecture, and a schedule that has not let up since. Our test schedule is crazy and stressful, but I often step back and look at just how awesome the material is I am learning. What a blessing I have to be here, to have the family that I have, to have the support of the friends around me who are in the same boat, and share my worries.

I am continually reminded of how perfect this place is for me and my family. DMU felt like the right decision from the beginning and I realize more each day just how perfect it is for my family. We have had so many opportunities here. Cambria has the best support system I could have ever asked for. That was one of my major factors in deciding on a medical school. I can struggle through any difficulty at any school regardless of the quality of the school, but to arrive here and see that the quality of both the family support and that of the school far exceeded my expectations had been a testimony to me of the Lord's plan for me and my family.

Not only do we receive so much, but we also have the opportunity to serve often. There are people around us who need lifting up, and while I feel myself not in a place to be uplifting to others due to my own time constraints and trying to juggle my schedule, I am consistently placed in the path of others to help them in more ways that I thought possible to me.

Cambria and the kids left to Utah for her maternal Grandmother's funeral and to help around the house after her mother's GI surgery tomorrow. I sat by myself in church today, looking at the families and fathers playing with their children on their laps, and had the deepest desire to hold my children again. They have only been gone a few short days and will be gone another week.

Medical School

Medical school is the most fun and joyful nightmare. The semester started out just fine with a week of tedious orientation. It was strung out with a lot of trainings that seemed basic, repetitive and boring. I just wanted to get started with classes and learning

Once class started though, school became a downhill locomotive with no brakes, somehow picking up both speed and cargo along the way. I have never felt so many ups and downs physically and emotionally. This has been the hardest thing I have ever done.

In a text message with my mom a few days ago, she asked how am doing. I replied, "I am good, tired, worn out, happy, frustrated, stressed, relaxed, fulfilled - all wrapped up in one. But I am also over the top excited that I have the chance to be at a medical school, and the blessing to learn the things I am learning. How insanely awesome yet humbling is that?"

That doesn't even begin to sum it up though. Before classes began, we were the first to move in and had the opportunity to meet all of the other families one by one as we helped them move in. I tried my best to include everybody and create a family environment. The guys are awesome and I love every one of them. I don't doubt that any of them would drop everything to help any of us in need. After Cambria and the kids, the guys have been the single most important support to me.

Sometimes the mechanics of medical school and studying so hard get in the way of us really getting to know each other as well as I would like. I get along well with all of them but there are a few of the guys who I particularly enjoy talking with. I have had to distance and isolate myself from them at times because I would spend more time talking with them than studying.

Cambria is absolutely amazing. I can't begin to list all the things that she does and the way she supports me and the kids. She knows she is busy but she refuses to see it that way. She constantly says that she does a lot but it's not bad and she enjoys her time at home with the kids. Coming home to her and the kids is the highlight of my day. I hear "daddy!" as Lynlee runs to me and gives me a giant hug. She holds onto me while saying "daddy's home, daddy's home" over and over. Since Benson has learned to walk, he comes running too with arms stretched toward me and a huge smile on his face. Me has recently been more able to calm down and has been just laying his head on my shoulder for a long time. It's such a different reaction from when he was a bit younger and wiggly and crazy ALL the time. Cambria is often running around trying to cook dinner or clean up something but she stops and spends a moment with me.

Not every day coming home is perfect, but the perfect times come when I most need them after a difficult day. I do my best to help and support Cambria where I can but I know none of it equals what she does each day. She has been working a few times a day in the daycare at the YMCA, while the kids play there too. She goes to the gym often, does carpools to Lynlee's preschool, works as a swim coach at the YMCA, does play dates, does the shopping, keeps our budget, and selflessly takes care of everything in our lives. I can't express enough my love and gratitude for the blessing she is to us.

The kids are growing up too fast. Lynlee shows us something new she has learned every day. She grows taller, smarter, cuter, and more independent every day. She has her ups and downs in learning what is right and wrong and how to act, but overall she is the sweetest most helpful little girl. She does so much for Cambria and loves and helps Benson so much. Benson is becoming such an opinionated little guy with expressing things he both loves and hates. One second he will be super excited, then will let you know that he doesn't like that certain food, or something. He is such a boy. He can be as loud and crazy as he can be calm and cuddly. I love his little personality as we see more of it each day. Both of the kids love life, are happy, and do more to bring love and joy into our home than we ever could as parents. I know I make an impact on them, but it is Cambria and her goodness and love that influences them most. She is my rock and theirs.

Mother's Day 2015

At 620 this morning Lynne came out of her room and she had a bloody nose. Her hands were covered and josh got up to help me clean her up. We then went back to sleep, me holding Lynne and josh holding me. What a perfect Mother's Day morning. Then at 730 in the morning I got up to feed benson. I was sitting in the kids room and I thought I heard Lynne walking upstairs... Well sure enough I finished feeding benson and went to our room and Lynne was gone from our bed. I woke up Jose, asked him to go find her and I was allowed to crawl back into bed until 9. Josh took benson, went and found Lynne and they made me breakfast.

At 9 I was woken up by my little angel, saying "happy Mother's Day, it is time to wake up." She then crawled into bed and gave me a big hug.

Hawaii Vacation! (was a draft)

This year, we were fortunate enough for Monty and Linda to get an opening in their time share for Hawaii. Cambria's family has visited here quite a few times throughout her childhood, and she was excited to take me here for my first time. Monty, Linda, Cambria, me, Lynlee, and Benson all came. Cambria and Benson headed out last Friday, since the standby seats were looking better then. Lynlee and I had reserved seats with full price tickets since it is harder for us to fly standby and actually make it onto the plane. We left on Saturday. It was a pretty good flight, and Lynlee did very well. She enjoyed the snacks they brought around, and was so excited about her apple juice, that she tried to drink it witout my help when I wasn't looking, and ended up with half of it in her lap. We cleaned her up as best we could but she was still a bit damp when we arrived in Hawaii. She watched a few shows on my iPad too, and was overall very content. She loved looking out the window as we flew around and landed in Honolulu. She thought it was so funny when the plane turned and she was looking almost straight down at the ground. Upon landing, she started saying "bump, bump, bump" just like she used to when she would go on a bumpy road in Bountiful on her way to her daycare. It was very cute.

Well we got off and immediately saw some beautiful gardens that she thought were very pretty. Then, as we came down an escalator toward baggage claim, she saw her mommy and Benson waiting there for her. Cambria put a Lei made out of fresh yellow flowers around Lynlee's neck and Lynlee loved it. We met up with Grandpa and Papa at the curbside and went out to eat at the Spaghetti Factory. Afterward, we rushed back to the Ko Olina Marriott to our room, so we could get stuff put away and head down to watch the sunset on the beach. It was beautiful. In front of the resort, there is a good sized man-made bay to swim in, and a very nice beach. We sat on chairs just above the beach and watched the sunset with the kids. When we got back up to the room, we hurried and got the kids to bed and crashed. I was exgtremely tired. I was out like a rock and didn't stir until the next morning when we got up early to head out.

That was Sunday morning, and we headed out toward Hanauma Bay, a bay that used to be a volcano until about 30,000 years ago. It was absolutely gorgeous. We got a great spot in the shade of a tree, and despite the wind and periodic light rain, we had a blast. Lynlee mainly played on the beach in the sand. Lynlee had broken her leg on her birthday, at the trampoline park, and we had forgotten her cast cover back at the resort. On our way to the beach we bought tape and sarran wrap, and I taped up her leg so well that ther was no way water was ever going to get into the cast. She played and played so hard, and made sand castles, holes, and all sorts of imaginitive things in the sand.

Cambria and I went and rented the snorkeling gear and headed out into the bay. We had been snorkeling together once before, in the Galapagos, but I was not familiar with this area. It was so much better than I had experienced in the Galapagos, as the water was more clear and there was reef and fish everywhere. I had to get used to breathing through the snorkel and making sure not to hit the reef as we went through a designated path to get out to the deeper area. I lost Cambria through there since she swam fast to get through the waves, and I had to do it on my own. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't find her and she would wonder where I went, but after getting off course, and scraping past a few areas of reef outside of the area I was supposed to go through, I wasn't lost any more and I found Cambria. We had such a fun time swimming around and seeing all sorts of coloful fish. They were so bright and beautiful. We had to head back in after an hour so Cambria could feed Benson. When we got back, Monty and I took Lynlee around looking for fish. She didn't want to use her goggles to put her face in the water so Monty put her up on his shoulders in the shalow area and I went under and signaled to them were to look down to see the fish. She like pointing them out, but they weren't very clear at all to her. I felt bad, and wanted her to see them underwater, but she would not.

We took her back to play in the sand, and Monty and I went out snorkeling in the deep area. By that time, I was more used to how to get around, and we did a lot more. We went out to the deep, and swam way over to one of the sides of the bay, right up against the wall. It was quite a ways, but it was amazing just how much ground you could cover in such a small amount of time. Monty started diving down to look at things, so I figured I would do the same. My ears felt slight pressure but it was fantastic. I would end up right in the middle of a school of fish as they all scurried around me and onto their next destination. They seemed used to humans being around and not being dangerous. It was awesome, and I got some of it on video with a waterproof camera. We saw trumpet fish, which are long and circular. We saw the fish off of finding Nemo (named Gill), that is the leader in the fish tank in the dentist's office. I just looked it up and it is called a Moorish Idol. We saw all types of what I think are called parrot fish. They have hard lips that they use to take bites out of the corral. I could hear a slight crunch sound whenever I saw one bite at it, which was neat. At the end of our swim, Monty and I went through the very shallow area, just above the reef, right up to the area of the beach where Lynlee was playing. She had the biggest smile on her face as she saw our heads come up out of the water. I played in the water with her for a while till it was time to go. We went and tried to see the blow hole after that, but the tide wasn't right for the water to come shooting up out of it so we headed back to the resort. Lynlee still wanted to play in the sand, so we went to the pool that had a makeshift sandy beach on one side of it. The sand was more like very small gravel, and hurt to kneel in as I played with lynlee. It wouldn't even come close to packing together, so Lynlee's sand toys wouldn't work. We ended up trying to build a small mountain but it couldnt even be piled very high. We had fun though, and played until dinner time. We showered, ate dinner, and crashed for the night.

Monday morning, we got up early and went to Perl Harbor. Cambria had planned ahead and had reserved us the audio tour with headphones that we were able to wear as we walked around the area. It was beautiful and the stories that we heard added an aspect to the experience that I was grateful to have. Of all the places we were going to visit, a Pearl Harbor was what I wanted to see most. We took the boat over to the the USS Arizona memorial. What a peaceful and spiritual place. The men still buried in the sunken ship left a feeling of pride and respect for our nation and those who fight for it. These men had no chance to fight, but we're there willing to serve and die for our freedom. There was a wall there with all of the men's names written on it. There were also recent names of deaths of veterans who asked to have their ashes lowered into the ship to be buried with their fellow soldiers. Lynlee was very respectful and listened to us intently as we told her all about the people who died there and how they did it for us.

When we left there, we shared a quick lunch by the van then headed toward the punch bowl. It is a war memorial that is built high up in the crater of an extinct volcano. It was literally shaped like a punch bowl, with worn down volcano sides and a long deep scoop of land that was dotted with graves as it fell toward the middle, and rose again to the other side. We went to a lookout point on the edge that looked over Honolulu, which was beautiful, then walked around the memorial. There were so many things to read that described the entire war that it would have taken a few hours, so I took pictures of it all and we walked around for a while enjoying the views.

We then drove up to the Nu'uanu Pali lookout that looked out from high, vegetation covered cliffs over the east side of the Island. It was nice to be able to see that part of the island because it was the one part that we wouldn't actually be traveling to. Afterward, we came back to the resort and spent the rest of the day at the beach.

Tuesday, resort day! We stayed in and spent the day doing activities around the resort. There was a ton  of activities to choose from. Lynne had a blast feeding the fish in the koi pond. They gave every child a cup full of fish food and they went to town. The koi were fighting a little bit for the food, but Monty said that when they had Aiden and Rya there, the koi were going wild for the food. Cambria got up early and went to a gym class, which she enjoyed. Grandma too the kids out on a walk down the path that leads from resort to resort along the Ko'Olina area. We played and ran on the beach, swam in the ocean, hot tub, and the swimming pool. Lynne built sand castles all day and destroyed them with buckets of water she packed back and forth from the bay tirelessly while limping on her broken leg and wearing her waterproof cast cover. The swimming pools were not very warm so when we got Benson in the pool, he was not happy at all. Cambria got him to calm down a bit my having him cuddled up to her. He did much better in the hot tub, which was a perfect temperature for him. All in all it was a great day together as a family, spent with Grandma and Papa, making fun memories.

Monday - pearl harbor early, punchbowl, lookout on the mountain - saw part of island we didnt drive to, came back and went to beach
Tuesday - resort day, fed fish, gym classes for cam, walk with grandma and kids, beach, pool, hot tub, benson went in pool and was not happy, a bit happer cuddled up to cambria in pool
Wednesday - north shore, snowcones, watched surfing, ate at hannamans, name some of the beaches, cloudy colder day, drizzly, great day for PCC, buffet, luau, show (ha), the breath of life, home late
Thursday - waikiki, ate at moose mcgillicutties, went shopping at international market in honolulu, lighthouse, diamondhead, watched surfers, rushed back for bingo, Lynlee won, went to beach, got pizza.
Friday - resort day, orchid lei making, played at beach went on morning walk to the north, went to Thai restaurant!, mermaid visit, played at the beach
Saturday - packed up and checked out, played at beach, lynlee did canvas bag coloring, got showered while papa took lynlee to beach some more. gave sand toys away to military family,

other things we did - lynlee playing checkers with papa and grandma
cambria, me and monty played Phase 10
linda and Cambria made great meals
benson's pack and play
almost losing lynlee on Saturday
ate spam, pineapple, and amazing purple sweet potato

Benson's Birth

On the evening of October 8, 2014 Cambria went to a Relief Society dinner. While there she felt a contraction that she was pretty sure was the beginning of labor. She came home afterward and told me and we were unsure as to whether or not to tell the family yet until we were sure. She progressed through the evening having more contractions and was timing their intervals. She did not want to be alone so she asked me to stay awake with her. I had not slept well the night before but I do not remember why. So we turned on the iPad while sitting on the couch and watched a show on Netflix. We paused it periodically while she had contractions. She went upstairs and told me to close my eyes for a minute. I woke up an hour later to find out that she had turned on Netflix upstairs to let me sleep for a bit. Even while beginning labor, she was thinking of me. Well when she woke me up around 1:00am she decided it was time to go to the hospital.

On the way to the hospital she was beginning to be in a pretty good deal of pain and she called her mom and my mom between contractions. My sister Kari, who is a photographer, was going to come to the hospital to take pictures of us so we kept trying to call her. We got to Davis Hospital in Layton, Utah, and had to go through the emergency room to check in Cambria was in quite a bit of pain by then and on her way up to labor and delivery, she threw up in a trash can. She could hardly walk so she let them sit her in a wheelchair. She is the type that does not want to get int of wheelchair but wants to walk up on her own to prove she can do it.

We got the the room and got her into a bed just fine. Her mom quickly appeared in the doorway which I know for Cambria is a comfort that she says she will always need. Her and her mom talk on the phone daily and have a good relationship which makes me happy. She labored for a while and my sister showed up then my mom. My mom had to be at work early that morning so she got ready quickly before she came. That is why she was there a bit later.

Well Cambria's contractions were getting very painful and she decided to get an epidural. They called the nurse anesthetist on call and we waited for them to arrive. Cambria was getting quite anxious that they would not get there in time but right as I was clashing with Cambria's nurse on whether or not the nurse anesthetist had a cell phone she could call her on the anesthetist walked in. (Cambria's nurse told us they couldn't call the anesthetist because they were driving and I argued with her trying to get her to check when they would be there, I was trying to support and protect my worried and laboring wifey.) Cambria was moving along quite fast so delivered her a very powerful and fast working epidural. Within the half hour from then, she was pushing, and our little baby boy was born. There were no complications during the delivery but they did see that his oxygen saturation was a bit low so they put him on oxygen. I had them let Cambria hold him for a while while he had oxygen on but then they needed to get him to the nursery and keep him on oxygen to make sure all of his alveoli opened up in his lungs. They said that he just have gotten some amniotic fluid in there during birth.

I went with Benson into the nursery. He was so puffy eyed like all newborns are. He had a lot of hair but not as much as his big sister Lynlee had when she was born. I am always prepared to have an ugly baby because quite often babies are just plain weird looking, but my little boy was not. He was cute as could be and he was mine. I saw that he had Cambria's eyebrows that taper thinner at their edges, and her nostrils that she thinks are a bit larger and annoying but it's better than my nose. He may have my larger nose bridge. He has my upper lip and maybe my eyes. My mom pointed out his little tiny dimples as he was crying. I am not sure where those come from.

We finally got his oxygen up and he was able to go back to his mommy. She was anxious to get him breast feeding and to bond with him. Afterward, we we're transferred to our post-delivery room which was in a corner and was quite spacious. I enjoy being in the hospital with my wife. We had some of our family visit that day and some came by the next. I loved that my little sister, Emilee, drove the couple of hours up from where she lived to come visit. That meant a lot to me.

Lynlee was not able to be there for the birth like Cambria had wanted since it was in the middle of the night. My dad woke Lynlee up that morning, got her dressed and ready, and brought her in. She was so perfect. She was so excited to see her baby brother and to hold him. The first time she held him she sat there for a minute then went to stand up and half pushed him off her lap. We were there to take him but it was kind of funny how she realized there wasn't very much to this little silent bundle she was holding. Since then she has become very involved in wanting to hold him and hug him and kiss him and get diapers for her mommy to change him. She has had a runny nose and it is near impossible to keep her away from him till she is better.

Cambria had a great delivery this time. I know that half of what she dreads are the post-delivery problems, pains, and recuperation, but she noted that they were very minimal compared to her last delivery. We enjoyed our time together in the hospital, talking and taking naps when Lynlee napped. That night I had planned to take Lynlee home to sleep in her own bed but when it came time to  leave she began crying and really wanted to stay with her mommy, so we decided to stay. She slept in the bed with Cambria and I slept on the pull out couch in the room. We like Benson to be in the nursery at night so the nurses can keep a better eye on him the first few nights. The next night I was able to get Lynlee home for a better night sleep in her own bed by telling her that her cousin Braxton was at home to play with before she went to bed.

The hospital provides one dinner that included the father but for most meals Cambria just made sure to order enough to cover both I and Lynlee. Our couples dinner that they called the "candlelight dinner" was served with a nice little flower. They tried to make it nice for the two of us. Lynlee of course was there to share it with us. I wouldn't have it any other way. I occasionally enjoy just a night out alone with my wife but there is something special about being with our little family, a hectic as it may be sometimes. When w went home, all of the delivery and hospital seemed like a blur and we were suddenly home with a little boy. It didn't seem all that different like it did when Lynlee was born. I'm sure that experience will change when we bring home a third child someday and we are suddenly outnumbered by our children.

Since then we have been enjoying Cambria's maternity leave and being together as a family. I have been traveling a lot for medical school interviews, which I will write about another time, and Cambria has been doing excellently at home with both children. She is strong and amazing. I can't describe how happy I am and how blessed I am to have my little family. They are my world and as hard as it is to be away from them, I know that I am securing a good future for them, and I won't have to be away as much as I would otherwise to provide for them. I love life and things could not be better.

Graduation Day

The day finally came to graduate. It came down to my final test the day before and I did not feel ready. I decided to just go take it. I got an 80%, got an A in the class anyway, and was done with everything that had to do with Weber State! I really enjoyed this school but am glad to be moving on. My victory was short lived since I am now studying on campus every day in preparation for the MCAT in about 2.5 weeks, on May 22. I am studying a ton for it and it's tough. Almost every day I take a full length, 4 hour practice test, then sit down and read the analysis to each of the questions afterward. I'm sure time will fly by and I will be completely free soon enough.

Well, on graduation day we got up early and left the house. We drove clear out west to pick up a cake that Cambria had a lady make for us. She did an amazing job. Neither of us know the gender of the baby but the lady made the inside of the cake coorelate with the gender of the baby, blue for boy, and pink for girl. We stored it in our fridge at our still unsold and vacant condo in Ogden near the school, and headed over to graduation. Cambria dropped me off near the door so i could run in in time then went to find parking. I immediately saw my grandma Penrod waiting for my dad to come back from parking the car. She is way cute with her camera and takes a ton of pictures. Just as I was talking to her, I spotted my mission president and his wife (President and Sister Rose) walking up the sidewalk. They were there for their son's masters degree graduation. It was awesome to see them. We hugged and they congradulated me. There's a certain joy that comes with showing those you look up to and respect that you have done something with you life, and are trying to live up to the principles that they strived to instil in you. My grandma took a photo of us, and I had to say goodbye to run in to my graduation.

I got inside and had plenty of time to chat with friends. You could tell that we were all happy to be there and to have made it together. I have a lot of fond memories with them, and their friendships helped boost morale through the last few years of school. There was a lot of what you would expect by way of clapping, speaches about being great and always teaching science whenever you can, and how we are the future. The best part was to simply know that I had made it and that I could move on to medical school application and MCAT prep without worrying about coursework anymore.

Lynlee was extremely cute and multiple times wanted to get away from my family and come and run up to where I was sitting and give me a hug. She did it too while I was standing in the line waiting to walk and recieve my diploma. One guy walked while holding his little girl, and I wish I would have done that.

She is such a special little bright spot in my life and it has been so extremely hard to have to come home after she is already in her crib. Of all the things I am looking forward to the most, it will be to spend more time with her and Cambria. They are what brings me the most happiness. I am extremely excited to begin medical school, but there of course is a part of me that wishes that I were done right now. I have a degree in Microbiology. I can support a family comfortably. I know I want more than that though, and need to go on to medical school. I want to be a doctor. I will have a nice year and a half off of school to spend a lot of time with my family though. Especially our little boy that will be coming in October. Oh yeah, so we found out that day too that we were going to have a boy. Both mine and Cambria's families went out to Ruby River steakhouse to celebrate both my and Nathan's graduations. He got his Masters in Business. After getting settled in at our table, we cut into the cake. We did it first because my sister, Angie, had to leave and wanted to see. Cambria and I cut it together and Cam swore she saw some little blue flakes come out after the first cut, and practically screamed out that she  saw blue, well another cut confirmed it, it was blue! We wanted a boy so bad and were so so excited. I couldn't help but shed a few tears as I am again now while writing this. Periodically thoughtout the meal it would hit me again and I would stare at the blue cake in front of me just thinking, "I'm going to have a boy." When all was said and done and Cambria and most of our family had walked out, Cambria and I stopped and hugged eachother again. She always tells me that she loves seeing just how much Lynlee loves her daddy. Well I told her then that I was excited to see our little boy form a bond with his mommy.

I can't express how perfect of a day it was. Life is beautiful. It may not always be perfect but it's days like that which make it all worth it. I just have to keep reminding myself of that as I study. Speaking of studying, I should get back to it. Until the next time I am prompted to write.

Am I Done Yet?

My last entry feels like forever ago. I thought I was almost done, but it now feels like it will never end. It is Tuesday of finals week and I have 2 tests left. One in Microbial Genetics and the other in Zoology Genetics. My mind has began to drag and the studying has seriously torn me down emotionaly. This morning, Cambria got off working and came home to a depressed, mind-shot, straight faced, ornery husband, limping around because of tendonitis in my achilles from playing racquetball. I feel bad that I was that way, and I kept trying to snap out of it but couldn't. She went to bed and I finished getting ready to come to the school and study. I got feeling a bit better by the time I was ready to leave, and really wished I could talk to her for a while. I wanted to say sorry and be able to show her her happy husband she told me she wished she could have seen this morning. Driving to school, I tried to listen to music that would lift me up and make me smile. It somewhat worked. When I got to school, and sat down at my desk in our little Microbiology department study room, I was slightly annoyed at just how much this little study room comforted me. It has been where I spend more that 10 hours per day studying for the last few semesters. My couch is here, my microwave, mini-fridge, books, and comfortable office chair. My friends I have made at school come and go between classes and we have occasion to talk and laugh from time to time. It's as if I have a dependence on this place, or a love-hate relationship. I will miss it very much. I will miss my classes, the lectures, both the annoying as well as the awesome professors, and the friendships that I have made here. I have been priveledged to associate with brilliant people. I can see the world's future in them. Most of them aspiring doctors, I can see what kind of physicians they will be and am confident in their dedication and care to their patients. I can only hope others see that in me. I am so blessed with all of these opportunities, and still I allow myself to sink into a mental slump and forget all that makes me me. If you'd asked me this morning, I would have said yes, I am happy. I did not show it, and I did not live up to the husband I promised to be, but somewhere inside me, there is a foundation of happiness that wont give up on me. I realize that more now after writing this. As in all things, I know I will look back on both good and bad with appreciation of the experience. So I might as well enjoy it now.

Almost Done

Well life has been crazy for the last while. I am going to have to do a lot of updating on here to get caught up as to what is happening in life. I pretty much live up at the school and Cambria works and stays at home with Lynlee. Cambria has switched job positions but is still working for South Davis hospital. She is now working graveyard shifts in their rehab center and enjoys it. She enjoys the people she works with. Although she's quite often tired, she enjoys having 6 days off in a row to be with Lynlee. Lynlee is in daycare only 2 days a week now, otherwise she is at home with Cambria which makes me very happy.

Last October I began an MCAT preparation course along side my normal semester classes. It is still going on and I will be studying all the way up until I take the MCAT on May 22. It takes up all of my spare time and I miss being with Cambria and Lynlee. On Monday and Wednesday nights I have that class till late and by the time I get home, Lynlee is already asleep. On other nights I stay up at the school to get caught up on other class work. I get to see Lynlee most mornings and quite often get to get her up and ready for the day when Cambria is still at work. Usually Cambria comes home with enough time for us to see each other for a few minutes and say morning prayers with Lynlee before I take off to school.

I will graduate in a few weeks. After 5 and a half years, it's about time. I never knew the pre-med undergraduate route would be so long. I feel like I have accomplished something great in my life and am grateful for all the things that I've learned. I will still need to take the MCAT and apply to med school. The strangest thing for me to think about at this point is that I am graduating with a bachelors degree. I could technically begin my career and support my family and live comfortably. But I know it would not be enough. I wouldn't feel like I achieved what I knew I should. It was a clear answer to prayer that I should go to medical school, so that is what I know I need to do. I also really want to do it. I want to be a doctor and be able to care for others in that way. It is just strange to think that I am where I could begin a career and yet I am not going to for another 8 years after med school and residency are over. I have learned to enjoy the journey and especially look forward to moving away with my little family and growing together on our own.

Lynlee has grown so much, where to begin? She is now over 2 years old and is talking like crazy! She is such a cute little sweetheart. At times when we are playing, she will stop and hug me and say "I love you daddy." It comes out of nowhere and has a way of melting a father's heart. She loves to sing songs with us in the car as we drive. The other day we sang everything from twinkle twinkle little star and the itsy bitsy spider, to rain rain go away and jingle bells. Yes, she loves singing jingle bells even in May. At church, she is doing a really good job at going into the nursery. When the closing prayer starts during sacrament, she gets all excited to go to nursery and begins cleaning up her stuff. She is praying so well. She says very short prayers all on her own, including blessing mommy to be safe because that's what her and I pray for when Cambria is at work at night. She will say quite long prayers though when she is repeating what we say. She loves to read books and will grab a book and run to almost any family member who is visiting and want to climb up on their lap to read. She isn't as obsessed with Elmo any more and she went through a good long period of loving Mickey Mouse. A few weeks ago she and Cambria saw a short clip of Disney's Frozen at the store and Cambria bought it. We are going to save it for her Easter basket but she was so excited to have bought it. The next day I asked her what her and mommy bought. She proudly and excitedly said, "we buy Frozen, I watch it?" There is something new she does every day that is cuter than the day before. There are also things she does every day that are more mischievous than the day before. She is learning to listen better and to pay attention to what we say. She is just so excited to learn and play that she doesn't want to stop sometimes. When she gets in trouble and goes to time out she cries for a minute then quietly says "I talk now" and we have a talk. She has to give us loves (hugs) and say sorry, then she can go back to playing. Sometimes she simply wants to sit in time out and pout for minutes on end before finally deciding its time to leave timeout.

It is the next morning after having written up to this point. I picked up Lynlee in the kitchen and threw her up so she was laying in my arms. She imediately put her hand lightly against the side of my face and said, "I love you daddy." Life is wonderful. I'm trying to think of other things that have happened with Lynlee in the last year. I'm sure there are hundrends of things to write about but it all seems like one big fun experience of her growing up. Just yesterday Cambria and Lynlee were up here in Ogden and were in a drivethrough getting ice cream cones to come and surprise me with. Well, Lynlee has had a cough and she was coughing so much in the car that she threw up. So they came up to the school and I got to see them. Lynlee was stripped down to just her undies and was running around on the grass and eating her ice cream cone. When I left to go back into school, she ran away from Cambria and followed me all the way down the stairs so I came back to give her a hug. 5 minutes later, after getting dressed in new clothes, she ran away from Cambria again to come see me, so Cambria brought her into the computer lab. I had my back to the door but all of a sudden I heard her call "daddy!" and run up next to me.  I got a hug and a kiss from her and a kiss from Cambria before they left. All the other students laughed and I got some comments later from them about her being so cute.

Lynlee has been loving to go outside more often now that it is getting warm again. She has so much fun chasing bubbles in the backyard. On sunday she wanted to go outside and swing on the tire swing so we spent some time as a family walking around and playing. She likes the front porch and has become supprisingly cuddly, especially if there is a sunset and she can wrap up in a warm blanket with one of us.

I guess I could talk about her 2nd birthday. Cambria wanted to do a jungle theme so we gathered up all of the stuffed jungle animals we could and borrowed some from family and neighbors. I helped Cambria make palm trees out of brown paper and green streamers. She had treats that correlated to different animals, like bananas for monkeys. She put out the large water serving bowls with a sign that said wattering hole. It was done really well and we all had a fun time.

Cambria is pregnant again and we are expecting the baby in October! So, durring Lynlee's birthday party, we had Lynlee dressed in a shirt that says big sister. She wore a shirt over it all night but we had everyone gather in the dining room to do the cake and candles. I brought Lynlee in after having taken off the overshirt, and we continued with the song. While singing happy birthday, one by one people began to notice the shirt. Our friends Caleb and Dani noticed first along with Nathan and Sharlyn, then Caleb had my parents move a little to be able to see the shirt better. It took them a minute to realize but they were very excited. We wished that Monty and Linda could have been there but we got them on a video call later that evening and had Lynlee talk to them with her shirt on. All in all we are very excited and are hoping for a boy. Cambria is going to a doctor's appointment today. She said that sometimes they are able to tell the gender at 14 weeks, so if they can they are going to write it on a paper and put it in an envelope. When I graduate, we would take the envelope to a bakery and have them make a cake correlating to the color (blue or pink) of the gender of the baby, and will open the cake box together. Or we would have them do a filling in some cupcakes with that color. Whether we get to know now or have to wait till 20 weeks, we want to do that. It will be fun. We are so blessed in life in all ways. Things can get difficult at times but we are happily moving forward and enjoying the small joys that come our way.

Zion's 9/13/13

Trip to Zion's National Park.  Thursday June 27th I left work a little early with Josh and Lynlee and we started our road trip down south.  We stopped at the Cove Fort exit on our way down to eat dinner at Subway and Lynlee was able to make a new little friend to play with.  It was really cute.  Sharlyn's grandparents have a house in Hurricane and they are currently on a mission so we were able to stay there for the weekend.  It was so nice because we were able to stay in a cool home... when it was actually was over a 110 degrees outside every day.  We arrived after 9:30 pm to their home and Lynlee of course woke up when we got there.  She wanted to play with the cousins and did not want to go back to bed.  Then we got her to go to sleep and she woke up two times in the middle of the night.  All I can say is that I was sleepy the next morning.

Friday morning we left at 8 am to go to Zion's.  We were able to go on a couple of hikes with the whole family.

Mother and Father's Day 2013

Time to recap Mothers day and Fathers day.

Mothers day was great!  On Friday Lynlee gave me a picture that was in a frame that she painted and had help gluing buttons on.  She was obsessed with it and wanted to carry it around everywhere.  She was very proud of it.

We ended up going to Logan the day before mothers day to see Grandpa Worthen.  On our way up there we stopped and got all of our mothers day cards.  Yes we are procrastinators :) we buy cards the day before. It worked out well.  We met Grandpa in Logan and then went to Kneaders for dinner.  We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the weather and had some enjoyable conversation.  Lynlee was well behaved, we did have to redirect her a couple of times.  Before we left we were able to get Lynlee into her PJs and ready for bed so she could fall asleep on our way home from Logan.  It was past 8 pm so all of the desserts went to 50%.  We were able to get a few and enjoy them on our way home.

We stopped in Brigham and left a mothers day card for Grandma Penrod.  They were not home, but of course the door was unlocked and we were able to leave it on their kitchen table.

Then we stopped at Angie's (Josh's sister) to give her a mothers day card.  We were at her house for almost an hour talking and just enjoying being at her home.  We don't get to see them too often so it was great to catch up with Angie.

We finally made it home from the long adventure and made it to bed kind of late.  The next morning, sweet Joshua Made wheat pancakes for breakfast and we were able to still make it to church on time, he did such a good job!  We went to Grandma and Grandpa Ellison's house for a Kalua Pork dinner.  It was excellent.  I found out that day that for mothers day Josh and I would both be getting mountain bikes.  I am super excited about this because we can both go ridding and have a physical activity that we can do together.  Now we just have to get a carriage to attach for Lynlee.  Mothers day was very special.

Fathers day this year went well.  Sunday morning I made Breakfast for everyone and then we went to church.  Afterward, we took Lynlee to Grandma and Grandpa Ellison's to sleep and then we were able to go home, and get a few things in order before going back to their house for lunch.  Josh got a nurf gun, sandles and super skinny wallet.  For months he has been saying that he needs a wallet so he finally got one. The nerf gun was just for fun but he loved it all the same.

(Cambria finish writing)

April 2013

Time to back up to April and write as much as I remember.  Luckily I wrote some things on my spare calendar about Lynlee's milestones.  On April 7th Josh and I decided to lower Lynlee's mattress to the lowest level and while we were at it we decided to take the front of the crib off and turn it into a toddler bed.  Lynlee loved it and was so excited to be able to get in and out of her bed as she pleased.  She did a wonderful job taking a nap in her bed that day.  When night time came it was a completely different story!  She seemed to be terrified to be left alone.  We got her into bed, calmed her down and left.  Well she started to cry.  So daddy went back down, worked on getting Lynlee calmed down again and then left.  He saw her roll out of bed and chase him as he closed the door.  She was screaming and pounding on the door.  So we hurried and put the front of the crib back on and Lynlee went right to sleep.  What an adventure, we haven't tried it again.  We have bought a swimming noodle to put under her sheet for the next time we take off the front so she has something that makes it feel like she is being kept in.

A couple of days later we started noticing that Lynlee was repeating the sound "ba" and "da."  She is very interested in talking.  On April 11th they started to transition Lynlee into the big kid room at daycare, which has 1 and 2 year olds.  She absolutely loved being with the older kids.  Lynlee is super adventurous and likes going down slides.  We have been teaching her to go down the stairs on her belly.  Well she decided to run form mommy and go down on her belly face first.  She was laughing the whole way down and her chin hit every step.

Josh and I are amazed with how smart Lynlee is.  She has learned to use her sign language to communicate a lot of things.  On April 14th she was able to say: more, all done, please, up, and down.  Only a month later she was able to also sign thank you.

April 17th, Lynlee is really fussy and in a lot of pain because she is getting 4 molars at once.  She has a teething ring for molars and she has fallen asleep multiple times with it in her mouth.  She still does a good job sleeping, but occasionally wakes up in the middle of the night whining because her mouth hurts.  We can normally get her to get back to sleep without any problems. Some evenings because her teeth are bothering her Josh has to hold her until she falls asleep.  It is so cute!  Josh normally leaves her room with a big wet ring on his shoulder.  She rubs her face and nose all over.

At the end of April Lynlee entered a new phase of being the biggest ham ever.  She is learning that she can get laughs by performing.  She loves to laugh and is such a happy baby!  We are so blessed to have her and we are excited to see what the future holds.

Long night, little sleep

April, May, and half of June... All gone in the craziness of life; and the entry for March, well I haven't been able to finish that yet.  My journal writing has diminished too because I have not made time to sit down and write what has been going on.  Many times throughout the day I will think of many things that I want to remember, but I don't get a chance to write anything down, so heavens knows that I will forget what I should remember.

So I want to back up to last night, or early this morning and then I will try to recap what has happened in the past few months.  Our sweet Lynlee stayed up a little longer than normal, but it was no big deal because she was happy and receiving lots of love.  Josh had to stay up to finish a final project and right after he got into bed Lynlee woke up at 1:30 so Josh went and gave her a drink and then some Tylenol because it seemed like she was having some pain from her teeth.  We ended up trading places so he could get some sleep and I would wait with Lynlee until the Tylenol kicked in.  That is when the craziness started and we couldn't get her to go back to bed for a few hours.  Every time we tried to put her in her crib she would cry and say "no, no, no..." Josh got back up at 3:00 and tried to sing to her and rock her to sleep, he had no luck!  We couldn't even get her to lay down in our own bed, she just flipped out.  So at 3:50 I climbed into Lynlee's crib and had her lay down with me.  She cried for a few minutes but we both quickly fell asleep.  I didn't wake up again until about 5:20, I went to my own bed and slept until 6:30.  Wow!  What a long night we had and I am sleepy today.

I have decided to try and take 10 to 15 minutes every day at work to write in the blog so we can keep updated and I can catch up on what I have missed, so this is the start of my lunch entries.  They will be short and sweet but well worth the time!

New year

Yes it is a new year and new goals have been made.  A time to take a step forward and to better our selves physically, mentally and spiritually.  Josh and I have made nutrition goals, mainly about eating sweets.  We are wanting to make life long habits for better nutrition, so we don't have to play catch up in the future.  We have also made goals with how often we want to work out each week.  Spiritually we are reading scriptures in the morning as a family, at least Monday through Friday... We struggle with the weekends.  I am so grateful for the support I have from Josh with waking up early and reading the scriptures while I take care of Lynlee.

One of my biggest and possibly will be the most challenging goal for me is to write a minimum of one entry a month this year for our blog. I am currently sitting on my bed thinking about going to sleep, but I want keep a better track of our lives.  I think I will try to make short entries every night when I get into bed, instead of trying to do it all in one night.  I am keeping track on a calender of the big events that have been happening and of course it is mainly things that Lynlee has been accomplishing.

On January 20th we noticed that Lynlee Had another tooth that had popped out.  She is constantly chewing on two of her fingers or her thumb.  She is such a happy baby, even when it seems that her teeth are bothering her.  Lynlee has started to walk, she took her first few steps January ___.  She has gradually improved and walks more and more every day.  She is fun to watch because she looks like a little zombie trying to walk... Arms out in front, bum out and funny little steps.  She is so much fun!

Lynlee makes us smile every day, she has an amazing spirit that brightens up the room when she is around.  She is laughing a lot and I love to hear her sweet voice babbling.

School started up for Josh in the second week of January.  This semester he is taking bio-chemistry, organic chemistry and advanced Book of Mormon studies at the institute.  He also continues to volunteer at Ogden Regional Hospital and will start this week volunteering at a school named Mound Fort Junior High.  He is super busy, but is learning how to juggle his life well.  I could not ask for a better husband.

Work is going well for me.  I have a co-worker that now job shares with me.  Her name is Mandy and I love working with her.  It has made my job more manageable and enjoyable.  I have not been too successful this past week with excercise, so now it is time to try and recommit and do better.  With that said, it is time for me to go to bed so I can wake up nice and early so I can exercise and shower.  Hopefully I don't push snooze too many times :)

Lynlee's First Birthday

                It is a good night to make a quick entry in our blog.  Lynlee is in bed for the evening.  She is so good about going to bed every night.  She has a routine with her dad of going into the room, pushing her door shut, turning on the fan then turning off the light.  Then dad turns on her projector and noise maker and they look at pictures around her room.  She especially gets excited to look at the picture of Jesus and say “jehjeh.”  Then daddy will sing to her and she lays her head on his shoulder.  Finally she will give kisses and a hug and will want put down into her crib where she is tucked in and her miniature blanky is handed to her.  Most evenings she will go to sleep quickly and she sleeps until the next morning.  We love our little angel so much!

                Last night dad was not home so she was put to bed by mom, I don’t think I do the routine just right.  Before we even finished singing “I am a child of God,” she was diving for her crib.  So I put her down to sleep, she opened her mouth for a kiss, I leaned down and kissed her goodnight then she waved goodbye.  It was so cute!  So again tonight I put her to bed and after I put her down and gave her a kiss she waved goodbye.  I don’t know how long this will last, but it is extremely cute!

                Now it is time to back up a bit to the beginning on February.  On Saturday the 2^nd we were able to celebrate Lynlee’s first birthday with family and friends.  Kari & Kyle’s family, Sharlyn and kids, and both sets of Lynlee’s grandparents made it.  Charity came with both her boys, and Tammy & Reece’s family also came.  We had tons of fun.  We had pizza because Lynlee loves it!  JaNae was sweet and brought bread sticks, even though her boys were sick and they weren’t able to come celebrate.  We felt so much love from family and friends and their support for Lynlee. 

                We had decorated the room in lady bug theme and Lynlee had her own lady bug cake.  The night before the party we had help from Aunt Patrice, Kristy Jo, her boyfriend Chris and Grandma Ellison with decorating cakes and cake pops.  Everything turned out perfectly.  The day of the party Lynlee got to eat her own little cake and loved it. Over all she ate more frosting than cake.  She was so good at eating pizza, opening gifts and eating cake.  She was walking a little and was using the chairs and table to stand up so she could get started walking, she was doing a lot of crawling under the tables too, which seems to be her favorite spot sometimes.  She was given a lot of fun birthday gifts, and is such a lucky little girl!

                After the party we cleaned up and Lynlee fell asleep quickly while driving home. She had worn herself out!  We feel very blessed to have such a perfect baby. On Tuesday February 5^th it was like Lynlee almost had another party!  She had a ton of gifts to open from my coworkers during her lunch time with us.  Tori and Adriane both got her some really cute outfits.  Ashlie bought her a fun polka dot dress, Laurie got her some Hello Kitty dishes to keep at work, and cup to drink from (she LOVES them, and knows they are hers). Mandy bought her an adorable outfit and a pair of pajamas.  I feel lucky to have so many people love Lynlee and care for her.  My co-workers are wonderful and will always hold a special place in my heart.

                Since her birthday she has improved greatly on her walking.  She can now stand on her own and walk almost anywhere.  We are not seeing her crawl much anymore, it is sad to see our cute baby growing up! We are excited to see what the future holds for us as a family.  Lynlee has started to say her first words.  For a while she has said “daw,” for dog.  But the first very clear word she said was “da-da.”  Josh was getting her ready for daycare and I was doing my hair and listening to them over the intercom system.  He told Lynlee, “say da-da,” and she immediately said, “da-da.”   I was very excited to hear her.  She is trying to say more and more words, but continually reverts back to “tha-“ if she can’t say anything else for what she wants.  She is so much fun!

                Josh is busy busy busy in his school, work and volunteering.  He has Organic Chemistry 2 and Bio Chemistry, and advanced Book of Mormon studies.  He is also a supplemental instructor for Organic Chemistry 1.  He is volunteering once a week at Mound Fort junior high to help students who are struggling is school and also volunteers at Ogden Regional Hospital once a week.  He also picks up occasional graveyard shifts at Chancellor Garden’s.  Most days he is gone early and home late because he is studying and preparing for classes and teaching.  I know that I never studied as hard as he does currently, and I am so amazed by his dedication and his knowledge.  He is doing so well in school.

                Monday was President’s day.  I finally had a day off to go snowboarding with my dad while Josh had to study and Lynlee went to Aunt Kari’s for the day.  I have been itching to go up all year!  Well we got up to Brighton and it was a beautiful, clear day with a high of 25 and almost no wind.  All the trails had been groomed.  On our first run down I was flying down the hill really fast on my snowboard… Well I ended up catching my back edge and crashed hard.  The toe end of my board dug into the snow and I ended up jamming my left ankle.  I kept going, thinking “I will be okay.”  We went three more runs and I decided the pain was getting pretty bad, so we went to the lodge to see what damage I had done.  Well that ended our day at Brighton.  My ankle hurt bad enough that I wasn’t hardly able to walk.  So instead we went to lunch together, and had an enjoyable day.

                The next day, while at work, Laurie loaned me her crutch, which helped a ton.  Mandy had the great idea that I should go get a brace.  So we went to the store and she helped me pick one out.  It has made the biggest difference!  I am still sore, but I can walk mostly without limping.  I feel blessed that I am not worse off and I only sprained my ankle.

                It is getting late and I plan on waking up early to get some exercise in.  Last week Lyn and I got up early three times to exercise, my injury kind of stopped us on that path so I need to jump back on the wagon and keep exercising.

Update by Cambria

Last month I wrote at the beginning of February... Now I am writing at the end of March.  I have a lot to fill in.  I have been writing on my calendar at work the milestones that Lynlee has been accomplishing.  I will have to take the computer to work so I can make sure I fill in all of the holes.

February ended up being a very good month overall.  Lynlee mastered walking and became very confident in her ability to move around.  I frequently put her hair in a full pony tail because it is quick and very adorable on her.  She is becoming so much fun!  She loves to babble and talk on phones.

The month of February we celebrated Sharlyn's birthday.  We went to the pita pit which one of her favorite places to eat.  We all enjoyed it and had a fun time eating and talking.  The rest of February flew by!  Rya had her fifth birthday on Saturday February 23rd.  That morning I took ribbon bread out to Nathan and Sharlyn's and then I went and had my hair done.  I got it cut a lot shorter than I am used to, it is a cute style and I have grown to really like it.  Sharlyn threw an adorable tea party with lots of finger foods.  She had colored sandwiches, veggies, lolly pop tea and lots of treats.  The kids enjoyed it and of course Lynlee was a bundle of joy running around and adding to the chaos.  It was very well planned with fun games, finger nail painting, cakes and presents.  Poor Rya did not know what to do with all of the attention and so she ended up being a little bashful.  When it came time to blow out the candles she didn't want to do it, someone else did and she ran to her room crying.  Her daddy went and spoke with her and finally came out to blow our her candles.  All went well and she did a great job.

While that party was wrapping up we got Aiden and Lynlee ready to go to Stone's super hero birthday party (Stone's parents are our friends).  On the short drive over Aiden fell asleep just before we got there.  Charity and Zane had some cute decorations and the kids had a great time playing.  They made super hero masks and then ate cake and Stone opened his gifts.  Lynlee and Aiden played so hard and when it was time to go home they both quickly fell asleep in the car.  It was a good day.

On February 28th I picked Lynlee up from daycare and we went home, grabbed a couple of bags of potatoes that we had got form the bountiful basket and we were taking them out to aunt Kari's.  I was on the phone with Grandma Ellison and all of a sudden I heard a splash, then I smelt something a little off. I looked back and Lynlee had vomited all over the place.  Her new car seat had been officially sworn in.  The poor baby.  So we rushed home, after dropping off the potatoes.  Bampa had started up a bath for Lynlee.  We carried her in, stripped off everything and put her into the bath.  While I was cleaning Lynlee I learned that Bampa was out cleaning Lynlee's car seat.  I was so grateful he did that because I had to go visiting teaching and I had just run out of extra time. Yes we made it just in time for visiting.  Lynlee ended up being sick and sensitive to milk products for a few days.  She cleared up in time to go back to daycare the following Monday.

On Friday March 1st, Josh and I drove up to Boise

Halloween

What a miracle, I am finally making an entry into our blog.  It has been months since I have written, its bad enough that I don't even write very often.  We have been experiencing a lot of changes in our life, mainly because of our little Lynlee.

The question is how far back do I go?  Well I just saw what Josh wrote a couple of weeks ago, so I need to share what has happened most recently.

I will back up to Halloween, it fell on a Wednesday this year in the middle of the school week.  I had to work until about four and Josh was up doing a lab until about five this made it so the evening was a little rush for us.  I had to come home and get me and Lynlee ready.  She was a bag of money (I made it) I was a southern bell and Josh was a Texas Ranger.  It was a very fun family costume.  We first went to Grandma Ellison's house to eat homemade soups.  We then took pictures with Nathan and Sharlyn's family.  We then went with Caleb, Dani and Ady to the nursing home that Dani works at so the girls could trick or treat.  Ady was walking around on her own and Lynlee would hold onto our fingers and walk around going from person to person.  So to say the least Lynlee was able to get mom and dad a lot of candy since we have not allowed her to eat any sweets yet.  The girls later on were sitting next to each other, Lynlee kept petting Ady's Lion main and then the girls started to give each other kisses.  I was thought it was very funny and cute.  We then went to the Heder's and ate pizza and hung out.  The girls did a good job playing and having fun.

Lynlee's new thing is that she is a major social butterfly.  In the afternoon at daycare she is given her bottle and she keeps choosing to not drink very much and leave it on the floor to go play.  I guess food has lost the appeal that it used to have.  She used to eat with out stopping and now she looses interest at times.  I don't know if it is due to her teething or if she is not growing as much right now.  We love that little girl so much and she makes us so happy.

Lynlee is Growing Up

So much has happened since I last wrote. We successfully moved out of our condo, and are renting it out to an Arabic couple. We are comfortable in my parents basement and have finally gotten most of our stuff organized. We have a lot of our stuff in a storage unit, but still had to find space for all our necessities here. It all worked out quite well. We mainly live in the long, rectangular room that takes up half of the basement.  On the end of the room by the fireplace is my office space in one corner, and just behind me in the other corner are my drums. Halfway through the room is our bed, against the wall, and beyond that is the large bar area that acts as sort of a kitchen. Off of that room is a door to the storage room with half of it set up as a closet for our clothes and our own storage items. Lynlee's room is a smaller room just off of the kitchen, with both a door into the kitchen and a door out by the stairs on the other side of the basement. We use them both in the day to get to the stairs faster from that side of the basement. So, now that you have the whole explanation I will have to add in a few pictures with I put this into a book.

Lynlee is now a little less than 9 months old. She has been doing well in daycare and has made some little friends she plays with there. Since starting daycare she has learned to babble, and make all sorts of fun sounds and noises, including whining. She especially whines whenever anyone else has food or a bottle and she doesn't. I taught her to clap without even realizing what I was doing. I would take her by the elbows and make her palms clap together. I only did it a few times, but before we knew it she was clapping all on her own. At daycare, whenever the ladies there would say "yay!" she would start clapping. It's so cute.

She interacts well with other babies and loves to be social. When Cambria drops her off, she gives Cambria a hug by resting her head on her shoulder for a few seconds then immediately wants to be put down to go play. She loves coming home and seeing mom and dad. When I walk in the door, she looks around wondering what the sound is, and when I come into sight her mouth opens into a wide open mouthed smile, and her eyes go wide and brighten up. Then I usually get a big grin out of her and a yell or two as she flails her arms around wanting to come see me. It's so cute and it makes my day. She's growing up so fast.

She actually just crawled a few days ago. It was only for about two feet but it was more than her usual short army crawling. She loves laughing, and her laughs are getting cuter and cuter every day. I am growing out a short beard for Halloween and she laughs when I rub it across her belly. She laughs really hard when I pin her arms out to the sides of her and lightly bite her arm a few times while moving toward her shoulder. Tonight we were playing with a stuffed bear that is about her size. I was having the bear attack her belly and neck. She was laughing louder and harder than ever before. We can fly her around above our head while she gets an open mouthed grin and little, short bursts of laughter. And last but not least is moving toward her in little short bursts and she laughs every time we stop. The only thing happier than a babies laugh is when it's your own baby laughing. She brings us more joy than we ever though possible.

She is so cute when she is put to sleep. As we approach her crib, she pushes away from us because she wants to get in it. When we lay her down, she immediately rolls to her left without fail and tries to go onto her belly. We roll her back over and put a blanket over her and under her arms. After kissing her and saying I love you, we'l leave. As we walk out she lets out a few small pouts then is usually quiet for a minute. A few minutes later we will hear her babbling to herself while watching the rotating projected scene on her ceiling. After a few more minutes she is asleep, usually in funny positions all over her crib. We'll go back in, move her, and put the blanket back on her.

Quite often when I get home Lynlee is already asleep. It's hard not to see her in the evenings but I get to spend time with her in the mornings at least. While Cambria is getting ready, she calls my phone and wakes me up. I stumble out of bed and go wake up Lynlee. She plays around on her floor while I find her some clothes. She has a large, 4x5 foot foam floor mat that is also a puzzle. She now likes to take it apart and wave the pieces around in the air. She takes off the foot long border pieces and waves them around, so I grab one and sword fight with her. It's pretty funny because when I stop hitting her sword with mine, she will stop waving hers around. I start sword fighting again and she starts waving hers around again as well. After playing, I change her and get her dressed just in time for mommy to come down to nurse her while I read our morning scriptures out loud. I then take Lynlee with me upstairs to the kitchen and start making our protein shakes and oatmeal for breakfast while Lynlee plays in her saucer. Cambria then takes her upstairs to do her hair while I finish breakfast. When they come down we say morning prayers, then I carry Lynlee out to the car, kiss her good bye, kiss my sweet wife, and they are off for the day. I then get my stuff ready to go. Even though I am not, and maybe never will be a morning person, it has been such a great morning schedule. I get to spend some short but sweet time with my little girl and send her off every morning. 

A few weeks ago I had one day off of school for Fall break and forgot to tell Cambria. When she called to wake me up I told her I would be going back to sleep after I got them  out the door because of Fall break. She told me not to worry about it and to go back to sleep right then. I just couldn't turn down the opportunity to get up and see my little sweetheart, so I got up and we had our normal day's routine, and I still went back to sleep afterward.

It seems like life is happening so fast. Lynlee is growing up in leaps and bounds, the school semester is halfway over already, and the holidays are right around the corner. Halloween is soon, and we are getting our costumes ready. I'm growing out my beard so I can trim it into a sweet handlebar mustache for my Texas ranger costume. I have a cowboy hat, boots, and all the clothes. All I need now is a sweet star shaped badge and a gun and I'll be set. Cambria is going to dress as a cute southern bell that robbed a bank and Lynlee is going to be a sack of money. It's going to be way fun. Well, I hope to write more in here as the holidays come. As usual, life is wonderful.

Life Is Beautiful

Life lately has been a blast.  Lynlee is now about four and a half months old, and is getting more and more fun every day. A couple weeks ago she started doing what we call "the O face". It is pretty much just her holding her jaw down while making an O with her lips. She has become so aware of herself and her surroundings. She is getting close to being able to sit up, and is making the funniest little cooing and squealing noises with her mouth. Cambria has been having a lot of fun with her as well. This last week Lynlee started into daycare on Wednesdays and Fridays. This has been fun for Cambria to be able to feed her on her lunch break. It's also been quite nice for me so I can have more time to get us moved out. We have been in the process of packing our stuff in preparation to move to my parents basement. We will be able to save a lot of money while living there and renting out our condo here in Ogden, and hope to use it for med school applications and travel expenses.

I was taking a physics class this summer semester but it ended up not working out. I tried hard, and the teacher and his style were just not working out for me. I dropped the class and will take it in the fall. It has worked out for the best, as I am able to stay at home with Lynlee all day, and get a lot done in preparation for our move. We will be officially moving this Saturday the 30th. I have also had to prepare my parents basement for us. Lynlee will take over the toy room as her room, so in order for there to be a place for toys, I am finishing under my parents basement stairs for a little playroom there. It has been a long and hard process. I have done drywall and finishing work at the police station we remodeled when I worked in construction with Kyle, but this was a whole new story. With all the corners and angles it was a learning experience that took me a great deal of time to accomplish. I have really enjoyed it though but will be glad ti be done. I have one more coat of paint, then I am finished, and they can get someone to carpet it. I had to frame it so as to fit sheetrock in better, sheetrock, tape the joints and fill them with joint compound, texture the ceiling, place baseboards, and paint. It has taken me more than 60 hours to finish.

Cambria is changing her hours at work slightly. She will be going in at 7:00am and leaving at 3:30. She will be able to spend a bit more time with Lynlee in the evening this way. She is happy to be able to do so since right now she is only able to get a few hours with her before Lynlee goes to sleep. I will be happy to have her home earlier too. I have Lynlee in the daytime, and although I enjoy it, I enjoy the break I get when Cambria comes home to help out.

Life is fun, and we feel very blessed. We have had a very good year so far, and a great time with our little girl. Our love for her grows each day, and we look forward to all the new things she will be learning to do as time passes.