Reunion at the Pinnacles

August 8th and 9th we attended the Hall family reunion at the strawberry pinnacles between Roosevelt and Heber City UT.
We drove up the afternoon of the 8th thinking we would arrive late. We were actually some of the first. For activities we ate, played horseshoes, had a rubber duck race, had an auction, conversed and swam. A popular item was the rope swing tied to the tree near the river. We spent the night in the loft of a little cabin on the resort. It rained most of the time. Right after we left, my father called to inform us that there had been a flash flood and the river had delivered 25 ft logs and some stairs. Nate lost his wedding ring on a wild swing into the river. Sadly, unlike Kerry Walsh who had Olympic appointed Chinese men to dig for it, Nate would not recover his. I guess that means that Kristen will have to propose again... All in all we had a great time and were happy to get outside. Katie did about what she does here.

Noticing The World Around Us

This is a can of chile. This can of chile when translated says: "Chili with meat with beans". One might say that my exposure to Mexican foods and phrases is simply the result of the location of my upbringing. I can agree with this but have to wonder why a national company doesn't have a single member of the staff that would look at that and say, "that's funny, why don't we just call it Chili con carne y frejoles, or Chili with meat and beans?" Nobody did and so here I am talking about it. I like to think that maybe there was a battle in the upper reaches of the company bureaucracy between a white man and a Latino. After much blood was spilled and lives were put in the balance, a white flag was raised and a compromise was made. Being a western family, love and compromise was essential for their happiness. The compromise is what you see on the can in the picture: Spanglish.

I remember returning from my mission in Brazil and hearing about the Atkins Diet that had swept the country during my absence. I laughed to myself. The trend however has only increased. To the right is an advertisement for nutrisystem. What I would like to bring to attention is the asterisks next to "Amy lost 23 lbs". you look at the note and it says "results not typical". To me this can mean one of two things: 1. people typically loose more or 2. they loose less. Which do you think it is? Good for Amy*

*Amy has an abnormally high metabolism and an experienced personal trainer. Do not attempt to compare yourself to her body type, nor natural appearance. Amy was chosen from a large group of failures to represent the company in this ad. Amy was also chosen as she is just prettier than the rest of the participants. The hamburger in the ad is actual size.

Santa Fe Vacation!

After the doctor appointment we rushed to the pharmacy to refill my pre-natal vitamins, stopped by campus to drop off my final, made a pit-stop at the house, the gas station and Subway and we were on the road to New Mexico by 1:30. (To re-cap the events to give a concise picture of what my day was like: Wake up in Portland at 4:30 am, go to airport arrive at 5:30, flight back to SLC 6:50, throw up twice, arrive in SLC at 9:30, drive immediately to Dr's appointment arrive at 11:30, pharmacy stop at noon, campus stop at 12:15, previously mentioned stops between 12:30 and 1:30, driving until 11:30 pm, complete exhaustion and bed 11:35 pm.) Highlights of our trip include: bunny pancakes with Paula and Lydia, Blue Corn Cafe, finding out Tecolote isn't good food (like the Food Network portrayed), eating at the Pantry, meeting up with Brad's friend Mikel Evans at the Pyramid Cafe, Isotopes Baseball game, watching Kung Fu Panda with the family, Brad eating at Blake's, my massage, eating at Maria's with Brian and Tia, playing with Ben and Lydia, going to story time with Tia and the kids, go to the Talent's house for a BBQ with Brian and Tia, Tia's and my adventure at Olive Garden, Brad's sharing of things he has learned in philosophy with his mom, not having to answer the phone or door (like we do at the motel), sleeping in and enjoying time with the family. The one major downside is that there is no air conditioning anywhere which is a big change for Brad and I since we blast the air all day in our apartment. This is one of the main reasons for the adventure Tia and I had at Olive Garden.
After we had all gone to the dark, cool movie theater to watch Kung Fu Panda we came home to a very hot house. Tia and I were both starving and roasting to death and both a little grumpy because of these two situations. No one else seemed to be hungry or bothered by the heat. I quickly realized that no one was very eager to cook anything because they were not hungry and it would make the house just that much hotter. Brad told me that I should take the gift card we got from my parent's for his birthday and take Tia and go to Olive Garden (I was also specifically craving pasta). So, I suggested this to Tia who loved the idea. So we grabbed Ben, without putting pants on him, and ran out the door...we could not wait to be somewhere cool and to be eating some yummy pasta. Once we got there we had a very friendly waitress named Sara. She could tell it was a girl's night out so she pushed the alcohol really hard. We had to refuse several different offers of wine and margaritas, etc. It was funny aside from the fact that we would have refused seeing that I'm pregnant and Tia is nursing and we were trying to stay within the budget of a $25 gift card. To Sara's dismay we both ordered water. Then Sara went into her sales pitch for appetizers, which we again refused repeatedly...we only had $25 to spend! So she finally asked for our order and we both got delicious pasta dishes. We ate bread sticks and soup and salad and talked and told stories and vented our problems and frustrations. We were having such a good time. We worked our way through our pasta dishes that were so yummy and we were both so happy to be eating and to not be dying of heat that we didn't ever think about the bill that was soon to arrive at our table. But come it did, and then a horrible realization hit both of us...what if the bill is more than $25?! I didn't even think about bringing my wallet, I didn't bring anything with me! Tia made the same confession...neither of us had any money, or a cell phone, or pants for the baby! We had been so eager to get out of the house that we had forgotten that you typically need money to pay for services rendered! I picked up the black folder that contained the bill, flipped it open and discovered that we had overspent by 58 cents. Tia ran out to her car to see if she had any spare change...none. And because neither of us had brought our phones, Tia had to get in the car and leave me alone at the table as she ran home to get her debit card to pay the extra 58 cents on our bill. I sat there, hoping that the waitress wouldn't walk by, but of course she did. I lied to Sara, I told her that Tia went to the bathroom to feed Ben and that she was paying so it would be a few minutes until she could take the bill. Finally, Tia returned, and we made our escape from Olive Garden with images of us washing dishes left behind. As we drove home we giggled about how silly we were and then saw a perfect bumper sticker to explain what had happened, it read: "I do not suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it." We plead insanity from heat, hunger and being pregnant/a mom of 2.
Also on our trip we all enjoyed a pleasant night out at the ball game! We drove to Albuquerque to watch an Isotopes baseball game. They were playing the Cubs. We didn't eat dinner before hand so we got hotdogs and hamburgers and pizza along with huge drinks and ice cream...it was a great game. Once the sun had gone down we really enjoyed the breeze and the 75 degree weather too. It was really refreshing to be able to sit outside, which is something I have really missed since we've worked at the motel. And our home team even won by 4 points, go Topes!
Our plan was to leave Sunday morning so we would be back in Provo Sunday night. But when we got up the trip had just felt too short. So, Brad borrowed some church clothes (I had brought a dress) and we went to church and spent the rest of the day relaxing with the whole family. It was the perfect way to end our vacation. Unfortunately what it meant for Monday is that we had to get up at 3 am to make it back to Provo in time for Brad to get to class. So up we got, and we made it home by 1, finishing the trip the way we had started it...with a Subway sandwich.

Baby Ruth

After my "Flight-o-Puke" on June 17th, Brad and I had a very busy day planned. My plane landed in SLC at 9:30 so we had to grab my bag and hurry back to Provo so we could go to my Dr.'s appointment which was at 11:30. This is the appointment that I've been waiting for because it is the 20 week appointment where you get an ultrasound done and they hopefully tell you what gender your baby is! We arrived in Provo around 11 and went straight to the office hoping that they would just let us right in. We ended up sitting around for a few minutes but it was fine. We went in and the ultrasound started and the sonographer said, "Are you sure you are 5 months?" I said I thought so, but wasn't positive. She double checked dates and said, "You're suppose to be 21 weeks but the baby is small." This made me nervous and the pause that followed this seemed to last forever. Then she said that she would just re-do the dates and make measurements to ensure she was right. She measured the femur and said from that measurement there was no way this baby was 21 weeks. She said I was only 17 weeks along which meant my due date is now November 20th. Both Brad's and my immediate reaction was relief and acceptance. Having a later due date means that I will finish my student teaching by Halloween and then have 3 weeks to relax and prepare for the arrival of the baby! I also won't have to worry about going into labor while up in Jordan and then trying to get back to Provo in time to get to a hospital. The sonographer said she was really surprised that we were happy about a later due date, that most mom's are totally bummed that they have longer to go than expected. After she said that I was a little bummed because it means I am no longer half way through this, but in the end it's only 3 more weeks and those three weeks are truly a blessing. Then the sonographer asked if we wanted to know the gender (of course) so she would try to find out even though it was a little early to tell for sure. She explained to us everything she saw and said it's a girl. Then she suggested that if I wanted to go baby shopping to keep the receipts so we could return stuff if we found otherwise in a month when I come back for my real 5 month ultrasound. So, in essence, a trained professional said her best educated guess was that we're having a girl. We've decided that, if indeed it is a girl, her name will be Ruth. We haven't decided on a middle name quite yet, but we're very excited for Baby Ruth to come! This picture is of her head, on the far left, and her ribs in the very middle, and then her forearm and hand above the ribs like she's sucking on her thumb. (The clear white parts are bones!) The sonographer also told us that the baby is now the size of 2 sticks of butter. So forget the whole turnip image for 18 week mark...a professional told me it was two sticks of butter, not a turnip!

Katie's Oregon Vacation

As previously mentioned I went on a wonderful week long trip to Oregon, sadly leaving my husband behind in Provo to finish his finals. (I was lucky enough to have a professor who gave me the study guide and final to take with me...it was a closed note final too!) I was worried about flying mostly because I have been so sick with my pregnancy, but my first flight was uneventful. I arrived Tuesday night, June 10th and spent a very relaxing week with my wonderful family. I realized while there how lucky I am to have such a great family that I love so much. How cool is it that I get along with both of my brothers, my sister-in-law, and my parents! The first full day I got my hair cut and dyed, and then went to the Chinese Gardens with my bros. We also went to the Pita Pit for lunch where I had the best philly steak sandwich ever! Then we went back to Tigard to meet up with Megan who was getting off work. We went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner and had a great time eating and chatting. Then we went back to play a fun game called "Last Word." The next couple days were not as eventful but it was so great to sit around and talk with my mom about anything and everything. Grandma Lents arrived Friday; everyone thought she was flying in at 8 PM but we got a wake up of our lives when Aunt Sandy called at 8 AM and said that grandma was already on the plane! Luckily dad and I got to the airport in time, although all the walking made me fill pretty sick. Friday night grandma took us out to Olive Garden for dinner for father's day after which we went to an office supply store to buy graduation presents for Matt and Joe. (Matt graduated from high school June 6 and Joe the next day). While there I had a moment of genius and remembered that Brad loves a specific brand of clicky pens that are impossible to find in Utah. I have tried to find these pens for him on several different occasions, i.e. Christmas, birthdays, and anniversaries, without ANY luck. Needless to say I was thrilled beyond belief when I found a box of 12 of these pens in this store. (I gave him the pens when he picked me up from the airport as a Father's Day present...he was nearly speechless!)
Saturday was Joe's graduation from PSU. The plan was to wake up early and be gone by 7 am. Unfortunately the nature of morning sickness is that I am generally sick in the mornings, which made our graduation plan dubious. I had all intentions of going and suffering through, because by now I wasn't vomiting EVERY morning. Unfortunately as I got up this was not to be a non-vomiting morning...and I didn't feel any better once I had. I really wanted to go but the idea of sitting in an auditorium from 8am to at least 1pm seemed very difficult, so my family went off without me and I slept until 11. When I woke up I was feeling much better so I made a fun "welcome home" poster for the boys and brought down the candy posters that I had hidden in my room. (Mom had the great idea to make funny happy graduation posters for the boys using candy bars. Friday night mom, grandma and I made up the posters) I also wrapped their presents. By the time I finished all this everyone was arriving home. We spent the rest of the day eating, playing Settlers and watching silly movies.
Monday was another especially fun day because mom, Matt and I went shopping! We went over to Target and found lots of fun maternity clothes. It was kind of weird because I've been able to comfortably wear my normal clothes until just this week, now if I want to wear my normal jeans I have to keep them unbuttoned!
Tuesday morning was my flight out of Portland. I was very sad to go because the week had flown by so quickly, but I was really excited to see Brad again. The unfortunate part about all this was that I had bought the cheapest ticket home which meant my flight was leaving at 6:50 am, which meant leaving the house no later than 5. By some luck I was actually feeling okay that morning when I got up so I ate some toast, hugged everyone then dad and Matt took me off to the airport. As I was standing in line waiting to check my bag I started feeling queasy. By the time we took off I was feeling really dizzy and horribly nauseous. As we were ascending I pulled out the Target bag from my purse. I opened it up, leaned forward in my seat and pulled the bag over my head so no one could see my face. Needless to say that was one of the most embarassing moments so far in my life. (I forgot to mention that the flight was packed so I was surrounded by people who all got to hear the show.) The mortified girl next to me pushed the call button for the flight attendent who I told loudly,"I'm pregnant" then more quietly said, "I just threw up." I lifted my bag which she snatched and ran back up the aisle. A minute later she returned with another garbage bag a huge pile of napkins and some water. A woman across the aisle looked at me and said, "It's okay, the same thing just happened to my daughter." After this I felt fine for about 30 minutes. Then we began to descend into SLC and for some reason the change made my stomach very upset. So I grabbed for the bag the flight attendant had brought and once again pulled it over my head. I heaved and heaved and this time everyone tried to keep their conversations going and not stare at me, which I appreciated. But for some reason the girl didn't push the button so once I was done I pushed it and had to sit there with my bag of puke until the attendant showed up. She once again whisked the bag away and brought me a replacement. So the beginning of my day was pretty bad, but the rest of it was nice. Read the above entries to see why I say so.

17-18 weeks Pregnant!

Well, the news as far as pregnancy goes is that I've been sick as a dog for about a month now, with increasing bouts of vomiting. The good news is that I'm pregnant! I was searching the web to figure out how big my baby is and found a great picture to depict what is going on in my belly; yes, my baby is now the size of a turnip! I wake up each morning and the first thing I do (when I don't run to the bathroom first) is rub my tummy and it seriously feels like it's getting bigger each day! It's wonderful and we can't wait for the baby to come. On June 17 (the day I get back from my Oregon vacation) Brad and I get to go to the doctor's for the ultrasound and hopefully find out (as my mom would say) the flavor of the baby! YAY! In other wonderful news we found out this last weekend that my wonderful brother and his wife are also pregnant and due sometime in January! Congrats!

Brad's B-day, Mother's Day and Upcoming Anniversary

Brad's birthday was sort of uneventful this year, but we still had an enjoyable day. As far as presents go he got a ticket to go see the reunion tour of the Stone Temple Pilots (the concert is while I'm off in Oregon) and I got him a grab bag of silly gifts like his favorite candies and a controller to play video games on the computer. On the day of his birthday we went cavorting around Provo. The highlight of this was definitely on our way to lunch at the mall. I had been feeling pretty sick while we wandered around Wal-Mart and the Game Stop. But as we pulled up to the mall (where the Old Spaghetti Factory is) I was feeling awful. We headed straight for the bathrooms but I didn't quite make it inside. Approximately 10 feet before the ladies room was a strategically placed garbage can that I utilized to empty my nauseous stomach. It was very embarassing, and poor Brad stood there not knowing what to do. Luckily, after splashing my face with some water and rinsing out my mouth I felt okay, so we went to lunch and enjoyed the rest of the birthday afternoon. That night we also went to see Iron Man which we enjoyed.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I am a mother to be (tomorrow I will officially be 4 months pregnant!). I hadn't even thought a thing about Mother's Day, maybe it's just because I'm used to thinking about my mother on this day, not myself. But Brad surprised me with a wonderful gift yesterday and this morning told me to be expecting the second gift! Wow, I really am going to be a mom! (We think we're having a girl, in which case her name will be Ruth Lydia Laws. We were having a hard time coming up with a good middle name and finally decided to name her after her adorable cousin Lydia, Brian and Tia's daughter.)
Our anniversary is May 20th, this will be two whole years that we've been married, wow! There is a band that we really like called Teitur, and they just happen to be playing in Provo on the 20th! So, that is our activity of choice on our anniversary. So, these are all the updates for now.

Katie Shines Bright

Today we got Katie's Praxis test results. She got 190 out of 200!! It came with a certificate of excellence as Katie scored in the top 15%of all who have ever taken it! That is very good for Katie.

First Weekend of April. Birthdays and Conference

On April 4th My father Dad came into Salt Lake to visit and attend a session of conference. We went to dinner and watched "Leatherheads". Katie and Dad share the same birthday so we celebrated that jointly with a Biscuits and gravy breakfast and not much else. Sunday we went to the morning session and then took my dad to the airport later that night. It was good to have him here and we look forward to the return with the rest of the family later this month. Also, Thanks to Kristen for getting the Tickets so we could go. You are a gem!

Anouncement!!

As of today Katie is 8 weeks pregnant! After two miscarriages this is very exciting news. We were informed today that the due date is November 4th and that all is going well. Katie is working to complete her degree and will student teach starting in July. She will finish a month before the due date and will be resting and purchasing baby shiz.... I am in the midst of finishing my philosophy degree. I have a teaching assistant opportunity in the fall along with a graduate study course. The semester will be busy but I look forward to the baby and the study. We are trying to decide our future and have been in deep consideration of a graduate degree in Philosophy. The Job market is horrible so we are also trying to guarantee our security while I work on it. Much is in consideration. We will almost defiantly move to Santa Fe during the Summer of '09. Decisions, Decisions.

We love Santa Fe

On Presidents day weekend we went to Santa Fe, NM for a short 2 day vacation. While there we tried to eat our fill of real Mexican food and relaxed. Brad helped his father add boxes in his ceilings so that he could hang some fans in the rooms and Katie helped Tia make a grand Valentines day feast. It was also wonderful to wake up to the birds singing and be free of the usual work schedule. Although we did little it was great to get out of the Motel and see the home town. We came home with a resolve to take vacations a bit more liberally in the future. It was also really nice to be able to see my parents new home. Other than the large stacks of things that no longer fit, the house is great and very comfortable.

Visitors

For Katie's class we get to care for a couple of Madagascar hissing cockroaches named Mike and Ike. According to the places I did research they are the most child friendly pet. Why? they don't bite, they are easy to care for, easy to handle and weird to look at. Right. Anyways we get to watch them off and on for the rest of the semester. I admit that we both like the idea of having them, It is a new experience. We have also been offered a Ball Python to keep. That is in the consideration box. Have you ever seen one eat?

Concert Night

On the second of February (happy Birthday Mom!) We went to Park City to see Duncan Sheik and David Poe. We went early so Katie could see the city and walk down the streets. It was fun and we got a really simple dinner at Red Banjo Pizza. The concert was very beautiful. Sheik brought a quartet and pianist to play some essential parts of his songs. We also heard a song from an up and coming band called "THe I Love You" a band formed by Sheik and Poe. We also got to meet and talk to David Poe. It was a nice night...

Katie's Manifestation of Disapproval

There is a time in all of our lives where we want a certain someone to know what we think. We wish for the opportunity to pull them aside and expound upon matters of injustice and error. I think all of us experience that at one point in life, some at home, some at school but most of us...while we drive. There are human inventions to which the race owes great appreciation. Cars have brought our country closer together, making trips to the grocery store quick and easy (although I'm sure saddling a horse and being saddle sore had its own advantages). On the other hand, these same inventions are responsible for more deaths than murderers and even whole wars. For this reason man contrived another idea to create order and safety in the driving process: traffic Signs. Lights and brightly colored signs have functioned well in their time and have saved many a man from fender-bender-dom. Like most things however, they can be ignored. This is where Katie and I come in. As mentioned in the previous post, we have a bowling class that we attend every Tuesday and Thursday. After one such class we were driving home near the BYU campus. When crossing an intersection we saw a blue SUV beginning to move forward through a large, nicely colored stop sign. As I heard myself begin to try and talk my way out of a wreck, Katie acted. In the moments that counted Katie was able to slow down, turn and avoid certain cosmetic damage to our car. While praising her quick thinking and controlled action, Katie decided to make an uncontrolled action. The car that had nearly hit us was now stopped behind us, I gasped as Katie raised her right hand, curling the four outside fingers to form a common gesture of insult. I grabbed her hand and pulled it out of site but it was too late , the deed was done. With her innocence lost and her feelings expressed, we continued home. I never saw who it was that was driving, and I don't think Katie did either, but that person whoever they are, knows that the female driver of a gray Toyota Camry doesn't approve of running stop signs.

Bowling 101

Brad and I are taking a bowling class Tuesday and Thursday evenings. It has been such a blast. We were both amazed how a knowing a few simple rules has made bowling such a fun and easy game. Last Tuesday I bowled my best game ever, I got a 149. Brad also bowled his best game ever scoring a 172! We're pretty much amazing. It's also been really great to be able to get out of the house twice a week and go on dates after class!