I've been tagged

Here are 10 questions to answer about you and your sweetheart:

1. Where did you first meet your sweet heart?

At the local Young Single Adult Branch. I had to speak in Sacrament Mtg. the week after I got home from my mission, or I probably wouldn't have gone at all!

2. What do you remember about him/her the most?

I had already spoken to him on the phone and thought he was a little goofy, but when I saw him on Sunday, whoah, he was hot (still is) and he spoke to me in Portuguese and he had a yellow and green tie on.

3. Who asked who out first?

He asked me, after a few failed attempts we finally went out.

4. What did you do on your first date?

We drove up to an outdoor theater called Starlight Mountain Theater, I don't remember what we saw though.

5. What was your favorite thing to do together when you were dating?

See eachother, we were far away for a long time, when we were together we liked to watch movies or play games.

6. When was your first kiss with your sweetheart?

October 29, 2005, on my front porch after a Halloween dance.

7. When did you first realize you loved him/her?

When the thought of marrying him actually stuck, I thought, oh, I'm going to actually marry this guy!

8 Who said it (I love you) first?

He did.

9. How did s/he propose?

He asked me my goal with this relationship and forced me to say I wouldn't mind marrying him, then the day before Thanksgiving, the 23rd of November 2005 he drove me out to Lake Lowell Dam and proposed.

10. What are two things you remember most about your wedding?

1. Holding hands over the alter 2. That night, not having to say goodbye!

I tag Mary Duncan and Heidi Luke.

Poor Grace, fun project

Last Sunday we were all taking a nap. Grace woke up and Grant went to get her and let me keep sleeping/lazily lay in bed. As they were going down the stairs Grant lost his footing and fell and they both went sliding down the stairs separately. He was holding Grace on his hip so when he fell he crushed her right foot pretty good! We took her to one of the local clinics that is open on Sunday and got x-rays and nothing was broken, thankfully! But, she just barely started walking on it again on Thursday and still walks on her heal/side of her foot. I had forgotten what it was like to have a crawler, and it wasn't fun! I had to carry her everywhere! This is why you don't get pregnant until your child is walking :) I tried to take a picture of her bruised foot but no matter how I take it, her foot looks fine so no pics!

For all of you Portuguese speakers out there. Go to this website: www.theideadoor.com and email Liz about helping her translate some of her stuff into Portuguese. It is really easy stuff, nothing really complicated. I've started to do some of it but I figure if we all pitch in and then email our friends back in Portugal or Brazil they can have cute stuff like we always have. And, anyone else who speaks any language other than English or Spanish. She takes the primay themes and makes cute little papers, posters activities and other stuff to go with them. Be forewarned though, she doesn't spell check on her website, it drives me nuts but she has cute stuff so I can forgive her :) And, you should go check it out anyway. She has a gospel ABC book under printables you can print out and laminate, so cute with scripture references and everything so it is good for older kids as well. We made a half-size version for Grace and put in pictures of Grant and I, her Grandparents, the prophet, the day we got married and other more personal pictures. Anyway, it is a nice project!

An Eventful Week

This has been quite the eventful week!

Monday: I got my hair cut. Not just trimmed as you all know me to do, but layered and even thinned a little, although you can't tell the thinning part :) You can't tell very well with my hair curly, I'll have to take a pic when I straighten it one of these days!

Tuesday: Grace got her haircut. Her first one! We kept some of her hair to put in her scrapbook. Now she doesn't look like such a scrounge with 2 layers of hair, 3 inches difference!

Before:

After:

Wednesday: Grant and I were both home all day, together (until he had to go to work in the evening) and we re-arranged Grace's room. Grant and I are almost NEVER home together, he almost always is at work or school!! Here is a before and after. As you can see, the before is very cluttered and crowded, and the after, ahh, you can breathe!

Before:

After:

Thursday: Thanksgiving with 27 people, 15 of them children, no pics.

Friday: We got our bed!! These pictures are from box to bed, pretty cool to watch it inflate itself!

Saturday: We slept on our bed for the first time (long story, why we didn't get to until last night) and slept very well! We'll see how these next nights go!

Sunday: Grace stays home from church with Dad and I actually learned something(!) in Sacrament meeting about Gratitude.

The flu

This is her 1st leaf experience. She loved it!


Well, other than runny noses and 1 ear infection that never actually became a full blown ear infection Grace has been perfectly healthy. On Monday she decided to get the flu! If I had known from the beginning that all would be fine and she wouldn't suffer any major problems, I would have enjoyed it more! She just layed on the couch or floor (I couldn't put her upstairs in her crib, that is too far away) and I cleaned, and the house stayed clean! I like sick children! :) She is all better now but Grant decided to be sick last night, and I have a feeling, in my tummy, that I will soon follow suit!

In other news, we ordered our bed. The next update will be all about that I am sure. We ordered it from Bed In a Box. It is a memory foam mattress. If we don't like it, we donate it to charity and they refund our money, pretty cool!

One last note, it is snowing at our house!

Grace thinks this is fun...

Not a lot to report, just some cute things Grace has been up to. She has a fascination with her ears. She loves to put her fingers in her ears (my guess is she likes to hear the difference because she'll put them in, take them out, put them in etc.) After her bath we clean out her ears with those safety swabs, and then I let her play with it a little. This is what she does with it. She thinks it is hilarious!

She also loves the 3 bottom stairs. She will put her babies on them, lay on them, stash things on them. By the end of the day the linoleum floor in the entrance is covered in toys, blankets, dolls, and magnets. It is a habit I need to break her of so I don't fall one day! That could be dangerous!

And, a recent occurrence, another of our fish has died! As I write this Grant is getting rid of him. Does anyone have any advice on keeping fish? It seems like after we change their water, that is when they die. Not when the tank is filthy or we haven't fed them for 2 days, nope, just when they get clean water. Please help!

Bed-In-A-Box, Mission Reunion

So, Grant and I are semi mattress hunting. We think it might be a good idea to invest in something that actually helps us! I was doing some internet surfing and came across a website called Bed in a Box. They sell foam mattresses similar to Tempurpedic. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of them and what you have heard. All the reviews I can find are great but I would love to hear from someone who I know.

Also to all you mission buddies, who is going to the reunion over Christmas down in Utah? I am going to try and convince Grant to go but who knows!

Electoral Votes

So I will admit, I watched the votes come in last night. I was curios for the president, but also a few Senate and House seats here in Idaho. Anyway, I was watching channel 7, the national news, and as the states reported their votes, they put this map on the ice skating rink with red and blue states, kinda cool! Anyway, I have decided they do it wrong! I am a visual person, I did better in geometry than algebra, I like sewing because I can see how it fits. So, the map, I don't like it! They need to make the states the same size in comparison with the # of electoral votes. Like Idaho should be smaller, the eastern states should be bigger so when you look at it, it doesn't look like the republicans are winning just because we won Texas! That is the extent of my political opinion I will post :) (And the picture is Grace about 8-9 months, too cute for everyone not to see!)

Happy Halloween

Well, here it is, Grace's Halloween costume. If you can't tell, she was a ladybug! At my sister-in-laws I added little freckles on her face and it was too cute! I wore a pink shirt as her rose, but no one paid attention to me so I must not have done a very good job :) We didn't go very many places. The local hospital does trick or treating in their parking lot with different organizations. Police men, firefighters, ambulance drivers etc. We went there with my brother and his family, then just to the Grandmas' and one great-grandma's house. I have been enjoying some candy though I must admit :) (yes she is sitting on a bag of trash, it is the only picture I got where she wasn't moving! My child doesn't take still pictures like your children!)

Halloween Cookies

Grant and I are not pumpkin carvers as all of you are. For FHE on Monday we made ghost cookies. I know they don't look very ghosty, more like multi-eyed monster things but Grant insisted we needed more than just 2 chocolate chips on each one! Grace tried to help but she couldn't bring herself to put the chocolate chips on the cookies, they went to her mouth instead! All you do is buy Nutter Butter cookies, white almond bark and mini choc. chips. Melt almond bark, dip cookies, place eyes, let cool and whala, you're done! Very yummy too!

Busy Week

This week was quite eventful! It all started Sunday night as I was getting onto the internet to check email and update our blog. All the sudden weird things started happening. Web pages popped up that I had never been to in new windows I didn't open. The computer was so slow, our homepage kept changing. Come to find out, we had a virus!!! My boss was kind enough to say he would try to clean it up for us and it took him 3 whole days! We were being held hostage and it had embedded itself in us so deeply he had to erase our hard drive and start over again! I guess we got it a long time ago and it has just been sitting on our computer and every time we got on the internet it would go and pull off more virus(es), until finally blowing up on Sunday. But, we have our computer back and it is better than ever!!!

Also, Grace went to Nursery today!!!! What a great Sunday! We got to listen in Sunday School and pay attention, and R.S. was great because I didn't have to fuss with her (that is about her nap time so she gets cranky). Wow, life sure is good!! All of you whose children are not yet old enough, just know there is light at the end of the tunnel!! The sad thing is, I checked on her twice during Sunday School and was almost sad when she didn't even care that I left her! :(

Now I'll explain the pics. The first is just a cute dress we got for 25 cents that I recently discovered in a box. It's patchwork. What child isn't cute in patchwork? The funny thing is, she wore it last week and 3 other little girls were wearing patchwork, funny coincidence I guess?

The second is her asleep with her book. Most kids have a blanket or stuffed something to fall asleep with, not Grace, without her book, naps are a nightmare!

The third is the other day I taught Grace to 'fly'. She thought it was great. I had a cape on as well but I'll spare you the image :)

Cute Grace

So Grace comes up to me lately with her hands outstretched saying mmmahh (or something like that :)) So I think, oh, she wants me to pick her up, so I do, and she puts her hand up to my mouth to kiss it and then is okay and wants down! How cute! She has learned that mommy makes things feel better, I don't think it can get any better than that!! I think the mmmahh means kiss because when she kisses you she makes the same thing, or when she is getting ready to kiss you she makes it as well.

Grace's Fashion (non)Sense?

Grace has recently decided that she needs to pick out her clothes. The first picture, she picked out both articles of clothing. I would hold up shirts until she picked one (because she wouldn't let me put the one I wanted on her) and then with the pants. The second picture was today. I put the shirt on her and then she pointed at the pile of pants I was folding so I let her rummage through the pile and she found those pants. Not too bad, but not what I would pick!!!

We are having a boy, for sure. We got some cute ultra sound pictures that I can't scan, therefore cannot post. But, we got one of his hand and a freaky one of his face, you can see his left eye really well, then his nostrils and his right eye is just kinda this dark patch, he looks like an alien!!

We're Stumped!

Okay, so we find out if we are REALLY having a boy in 2 weeks and we just cannot come up with a name that says 'that's our baby boy' If we were having a girl, no problem, we had two for Grace so this one would get the other name, but, boy names are so fleeting for us! Please leave a comment with as many boy names as you would like. Feel free to guard the names you are going to use, we just need some brain rattling!! PLEASE HELP!! (preferably first and middle together to ease our work load :) ) Thanks!

Finally some pictures!

Well, they are long overdue but here are two pictures from the Triathlon Grant ran in August. There is a picture of him getting out of the water but I didn't want to post it in case someone thought he was too cute and tried to get him :)

Random Stuff

Grace and I hang out with some friends whose husband and daddy works with ours at the same time. So, we hang out a lot because we are women and for some reason a 16 month old and 6 month old don't fulfill our need for conversation :) Anyway, Joesph is 6 months old and loves Grace. She just has to look at him and he is busting up. And as he gets older you can see he is trying to do what she does. We took some pictures of them playing the piano and it was so cute!

Life is getting a lot better around here, for me mostly. I am not as tired so my house stays mostly clean (it would be clean all the time but Grace thinks it a crime to have books on shelves, toys in buckets and clothing in drawers!) So, you can come visit my house now, anytime you want :)

Today in Gospel Doctrine I taught the lesson and it was on the pride cycle. We all know it, probably too well. Grant and I were reading in a totally unrelated place in the Doctrine and Covenants about the law of consecration and I asked him this question, "Grant, if we were living the law of consecration today do you think we would be giving to the Bishop's Storehouse or taking?" And do you know what he said? He said that we would be giving. Now, you other mothers who stay home while your husband goes to school everyday all day and works and you pay out $3000+ a semester for school and other things would probably agree with me when I said, "No way, I would be taking." Well, I posed this question to my class to illustrate how we like the Nephites get carried away with wanting and seeking after riches and the 'things' of the world and they totally agreed with Grant (I did too after we talked more, don't worry) But Grant said that no matter what we earn and have to spend, the Lord would probably ask us where we could cut back. And as much as I would like to say there is no where we could cut back, we could, and then we could contribute. The first counselor in the Bishopric also mentioned that we can contribute with more than just money or monetary things, but with our talents and our willingness to serve. He mentioned an old lady, pretty much bedridden, who made a difference in other peoples lives by sending notes in the mail. It made me realize that no matter our situation, wealth or poverty, sickness or health, there is always somewhere we can give, and give more. Wow, that was what I learned at church today. (my dad always used to ask us at the dinner table, "What did you learn at church today?" and smart aleck comments like, that the bishop falls asleep during sacrament meeting, were not welcome :( ) Comments welcome!

I've been tagged

I don't usually play these blogger games but I don't want Mary coming to my house to make me pay!! So, here goes the tag.

I've Been Tagged By Mary! The Rules are....tell about 6 quirks of yours & then Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same, be sure to leave a comment to let them know.

1. I have to check all the doors before I go to bed to make sure they are locked. Even if Grant does it and says they are, I still have to go check.

2a. This one is for Mary, I cannot bring myself to pass gas in front of anyone, except Grant. Not even my Mom or Dad or doctors, just no one. And if I do, accidentally, I am so embarrassed and want to run! (I'm hoping that most people are like this and that it isn't actually a quirk :))

2b. For everyone else. I have to spell check everything, cannot spell anything wrong (not that I am perfect, and when it comes to grammar I could care less :) ) and when I read other things I am constantly spell checking. Even if I am reading a conference talk!

3. All of my former roommates can attest to this one. When I cook I leave all the cupboard doors open. I don't close them as I go along unless a door is interfering with opening another door in which case it is closed, but the other is left open.

4. I have to read everything. Like if I'm walking down the street I have to read all the signs, all the little posters posted on poles, things written in the cement, everything, even if I already know what it says. I also find myself counting things. How many lines on the green belt, how many bugs in Grace's book, and especially if there is a number and that number of things. You know when a movie starts and they show those stars go over that mountain peak, yep, I count them every time, there are 20.

5. I must know when things are going to end, what time they get over. I cannot go to a service project without knowing how long we will be there. I hate going to movies and not know how long they are so I know what time it ends. I have to know what time it is, all the time. I don't really care how long it is going to take, just so long as I know. I hate it when something says "From 2pm to whenever" I need to KNOW!

6. I can't stand being touched while I'm falling asleep. Grant and I can cuddle for a little while but then I have to roll away. And, I start off on my right side, then move to my stomach (not lately because I have something in the way so it is my back) and then I finally end up on my left side to fall asleep. In that order. And if I wake up in the middle of the night, it all starts over again.

Well, Mary, I hope this satisfies you. What is funny is you probably could have written some of these things yourself! I tag Carrie, Marilou, Sheena, Tracie, Mae, and Monica. I'll be waiting!

Politics

So, I was wondering if any of you watched the Democratic National Convention? I watched Obama's speech and swear he said he would give $50 million dollars to education but cannot find it anywhere on the web, neither the transcript or the video of his speech say anything. I just want to know if I am going crazy or there is someone out there who said, no, he shouldn't have said that and cut it out. Let me know!
Also, I watched Senator Palin's speech tonight for the GOP convention and was not impressed. Sounded to me like she had nothing to say about what she will do (like dodging the bullet) and just wanted to slander Obama. I don't love Obama but I think her speech was worthless.

An interesting week!

Grace was being a pain one day while I was getting lunch ready, so, I put her in the sink!

Grace likes her daddy's hat, when she sees it she picks it up and says 'hat' and puts it on!

Well, this has been an interesting week. First, Grant started school! It has been good for me, I don't get anything done when he is around and my schedule gets thrown out of wack! Grace and I get along better (schedule-ly speaking) with him at school, and my house stays cleaner! Second, Monday night (you may have seen it on the news?) a field up in the Boise foothills caught fire and with the wind we've been having it engulfed 10 houses completely, like to the ground, like nothing left, disintegrated, everything! And damaged 9 more with about 10 more with smoke damage etc. This all happened in about 1/2 hour. The wind was about 50 miles and hour and just jumped from home to home and some barely had time to get out before their house was gone. I couldn't believe it! Makes you wonder what is coming next in these last days, crazy weather, disasters, disease etc.
Third, Grace's weird bowel problem has departed. I haven't written anything about it but she had diarrhea for about 2 1/2 weeks. Finally the doctor told us to take her off of milk for a while and see if that helped, it did! Now we only go through 4 diapers a day instead of 10!!
Fourth, last Sunday Grant stayed home with Grace and I got to go to the broadcast for the Twin Falls Temple Dedication. I loved it! Grant got lots of brownie points for that one! Did anyone else get to go? I guess you all live too far away to care very much about Twin Falls. Just to sit in the chapel and feel the spirit. I am so grateful for temples, without them, I would be one depressed person! I already go crazy thinking Grace or Grant are going to get some weird disease or die in a car crash, let alone not know whether I'd ever see them again! But, I know I will so let anything happen that happens!
Pregnancy is going well, I'm getting more energy (darned first trimester!) and don't have to use the bathroom as often! But, I still eat constantly! Have a great week!

We are still here

This is the newest addition to our family!!!!! We are three months along and so happy! (Although the more I remember of when Grace was a newborn, I get a little bit scared!) In the second picture the doctor zoomed in a little and told us he had suspicions that we were going to have a boy, so we are calling him a boy, little brother etc. (He is better than It) We are due March 1, 2009. The timing is perfect the more I have thought of it. Next summer we are moving to Moscow and if he was any later I'd either have a brand newborn while trying to pack, or be 7-9 months pregnant! We are thanking our Heavenly Father for this timing :) After that news, the rest of the pictures are not as exciting, but, take a look anyway :)

I post the pictures of Grace eating spaghetti because I want to illustrate her cleanliness when it comes to eating. Some of you may remember back to her birthday and how she didn't even touch her cupcake so no wonderful pictures for us. Well, here is another example of how NOT messy she is :)

These two are of Grace loving her fish, Ernie, who has passed from this life. I will spare you the details but Grant had a funeral for him yesterday afternoon. Last night Grace and I went to her cousin's (on Grant's side) birthday party and upon hearing the news, her aunt donated 4 pineapple fish to our cause. They are very tiny, I don't know if you will even be able to see them in the picture. That is all for now!

Triathlon

Well, Grant did not come in dead last, in fact he came in 4th for his age group!! No pics though. I forgot our camera so our friends took one with theirs and she accidentally didn't take one, thought she had though. Anyway, he got 61st overall out of 200+ people so for not working out and assuming almost half were women, he didn't do too bad for not training. He has decided to do it again next year. Here is the home page of the triahlon if you want to see his times and whatever. http://emmetttri.com/






As for the U of I, we got accepted so after this year at BSU we will be moving to Moscow. We don't know if we'll move at the beginning of the summer or the end but we are excited!

Funny Grace

So we got these stickers for free and had no idea what to do with them until one night when Grace and I were bored. She left the ones on her forehead there all night long! It was like she either couldn't feel them, or didn't know where to reach, funny.
Another night I'm relaxing on the couch and I hear the clanging of pots and pans. Oh well, Grace always plays in my cupboards, I put stuff down there purposely so she can play with it. Anyway, I go into the kitchen to see what she is up to and find this, she looks like she wants to be cooked!




















And last but not least, her cute pig tails get an upgrade for church. (they lasted about 10 minutes, oh well!)














As for Grant and I, not much is new. Grant is running, biking, and swimming his sprint triathalon this weekend. He wanted to start a new hobby and thought this was an easier way to get his feet wet! He has had some back troubles though so he hasn't been able to work out a whole lot so we won't be surprised if he comes in dead last, as long as he finishes! :) I've taken on some more work babysitting for a family 6 nights a month. Not too much but it brings in a little extra money to save for when we move! After this year (if we get accepted) we are moving to Moscow for Grant to start the Architecture program up there at the U of I. We are excited!! It is a 5 year program though so keep our sanity in your prayers please :)

An Epiphany

I don't know if I spelled that right, but oh well. Our stake has decided to take the last Sunday of each month for the next five and dedicate the suday school hour to lessons on finances. So this first Sunday was on Tithing. We read the verses in Malachi about the windows of heaven opening and not being able to receive it. We were discussing what those blessings might be and it occured to me that those blessing are those we receive when we go to the temple! Eternal families and the things we learn and can feel there. Wow! I taught this principle to a ton of people on my mission and not once did it occur to me that the temple fell into this category. I hope this makes sense :) That is all I have to say for now!

Our Newest Toy, well, Grace's

Well, we don't have a 4th of July update like everyone else because we forgot our camera. The one exciting thing that happened that weekend was Grant finding wood at my parents and making a sand box for Grace! It fits on our balcony and is really just a square with no bottom and has a tarp underneath instead, but Grace likes it. She plays out there all by herself with a spoon and a rake and a little bucket.

Also, I have video of her climbing up on the chair, she finally got the hang of it, and she can get off by herself if she thinks about it.

Everything is still the same in our lives. I am going to start canning apricots next week with my mom and sister. We were at the cannery the other day and they had canned some apricots and one of the nice old men (who served a mission in Brazil when it was 1 mission!) brought us some to try. It made us all want to can some ourselves! And homemade freezer jam, it can't get any better than that. I'll have to take some pictures so you all can see our big mess!

Grant is still working at UPS, although his back has been bothering him so he is thinking of quiting. So, if you know of any good jobs let us know, oh, they have to be around here, we aren't moving clear across the country or anything :)

Last thing. Grant and I have been fans of the 2 Chronicles of Narnia movies and I decided that I had better read all the books because I really liked the movies. Well, I did and I will just recommend that EVERYONE read them! They are the best non-church yet church book you will ever read! Some of the middle ones aren't as good as the first 3 and the last 2 but it is still interesting if nothing else. They are written for children so they go really fast, you could probably finish one in less than 3 hours. They are written by C.S. Lewis and the prophets and apostles quote him so there is an even better reason to read them! So, turn off your TVs and read!