2007-08-26 Michelle's Update

August 26, 2007

Hi Everyone,

It has been a week filled with milestones. Ashley and Katelyn started school this week and they both absolutely love it. Katelyn picked out two new school outfits and has alternated the two for the entire week. Mainly she has worn her flaming orange dress. I was grateful when it got dirty and we had to replace it with the other one:) Ashley looks so cute in her uniform and backpack. We did two meet the teachers for them and then they started one day on their own. Katelyn is disappointed that she only goes twice a week. She has 9 other girls in her class, 3 of which are in church with her. We started a playgroup with these same girls on an afternoon when Ashley is in school. It's so nice for me. Justin naps while Ashley is at school and so I have time with just Katelyn and she gets to feel like she has her own friends and own activities. I'm really looking forward to our new schedule. It's great.

Attached are some pictures of them ready for school.

Hans is still busy busy. Turns out the office space needed a lot more concrete then anticipated and so we are already delayed a week. His consultant is trying to negotiate another month free of rent since the extra concrete was pricy and not really our responsibility. We'll see what they say. We are still waiting to hear back from the lawyers about using Cordera as our name. It looks promising, but we want the sign started since it takes 6 weeks. It's all stuff like this that keeps him running. The past two weeks he's taken two days off work and has worked full-time on the new practice. He needs more time.

I have 6 weeks left being pregnant. I fantasize every night about going into labor. I am ready for whatever physical pain I have to endure. I just don't want to be pregnant anymore. At all. I have insomnia with this pregnancy and can get about 3 hours of sleep if I take a benadryl. I also have this weird thing called restless leg syndrome. It's annoying. The ailments keep piling on. I am grateful to feel ready to have the baby. We are all anxious.

We hope all is well with you!

Michelle

2007-08-26 Natalie's Update

Hello All,

Here are some pictures of our trip we took last weekend. We had a great
time visiting The Church sites and finished our trip with Niagra Falls. We
left Thursday mid-morning. Three hours into the drive, we stop in Columbus,
Ohio for lunch. We then continued another three hours to
Kirtland. The Kirtland Temple tours had closed just as we arrived, but we
were able to make it to the LDS tour of historic sites. We saw a number of
things, some were the newly built Ashery (where lye was made for soap,
amunition, and glass) and a working saw mill. We also visited the Whitney
store and the Whitney home, as well as the Johnson Inn. It was amazing to
imagine the period of time where so many historic events took place in the
church. 65 sections or revelations of the Doctrine and Covenants took place
in Kirtland. That is half of the revelations. This was the longest time
period where the Saints lived and thrived. So many good and bad things
happened here. You can really feel the Saints' sacrifice as they gave up so
much for their testimonies. We only spent a couple of hours in Kirtland
before everything closed at 7PM. It was for the best since we needed to get
to our campsite before too late.

We arrived at midnight and quickly set up camp. The girls fell asleep in
their carseats and easily transferred into their sleeping bags. We woke up
and let the girls play at the nearby playground. We then headed another 1
1/2 hours to Palmyra. We first went to the Hill Cumorah. There is a
beautiful visitors' center there with rooms full of interactive multi-media
displays. The girls loved watching all the different segments on the Book of
Mormon stories and the account of Joseph receiving the Book of Mormon from
the angel Moroni. Elsa was mostly intrigued as we walked to the top of the
hill. She was excited to be in the same place where the Golden Plates once
were. It was amazing to see her express her testimony of the accounts that
happened there. It made me a little emotional. From there, we continued on
to the Smith family farm. There is a log house that was replicated to their
original house using the same type of tools that would have been used to
construct it. 13 people lived in this tiny house. It must have been
crowded! We were able to go upstairs to see the room where Moroni appeared
to Joseph and instructed him about the Gold Plates. We also saw the house
that Alvin and Hyrum built, in which the Smith family later moved too. This
was also the place where Joseph hid the Golden Plates in mulitple places to
protect it from theft. Ava was hungry and tired, and melted at this point.
We went into town for lunch. While in town, we visited the Grandin printing
press where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed and sold.
The process was so time consuming and required so much attention to many
details. By the time we finished with this tour, it was pouring rain. We
returned back to the Sacred Grove, waited 20 minutes for umbrellas to arrive
back from a tour, then dashed out with the girls. We didn't last long
because the girls were cold, had mud up to their knees, and mulch in their
shoes. This was the one place I was hoping to just sit and contemplate, but
no luck. Our experience felt less than sacred. We'll just have to return
again. We headed back to our campsite for a hot dog dinner and bedtime.

Then Saturday, we drove about 2 hours to Niagra Falls. It was stunningly
beautiful and majestic. I don't know how to better describe the force and
power of the falls. While waiting to meet up with Brian's friend, Justin
Hohl, and his wife and 18 month-old son, we ate lunch at the top of the
falls. The girls had fun throwing berries into the water to watch their
rapid descent. We took a Maid of the Mist boat ride along the base of the
falls. Ava was ducked the whole time while Elsa's knuckles turned white as
she clenched the railing with her nose over the edge. Neither wanted Brian
nor I to pick them up to "better see the falls." They loved it,
nonetheless. Afterwards, they both asked if we could "do it again." We
hiked a little to a vantage point of the falls. Ava didn't like all the
mist blowing on her, but Elsa thought it was fun. It was lots of fun! By
the end of all of this, the kids were tired and ready for camping. I would
have liked to walk to some of the other vantage points to see the falls from
different perspectives, but I was a minority in this thought. Once again,
we'll just have to return!

We toped it all of on our drive back on Sunday. We stopped once again in
Kirtland and were able to do a tour of the temple. It was pouring rain, so
we didn't get pictures. We were fortunate to have rain after we had packed
up and headed out. Otherwise, it would have been a chaotic mess with all
our supplies getting soaked. The girls were great travelers. We all
enjoyed the sites and camping together. The girls especially loved the
campfire on the last night and being able to roast marshmallows. I was
thinking that for the past five years, we have been to a church history site
each year - Nauvoo three times, Sharon, Vermont, and this year, Kirtland and
Palmyra. We have definitely taken advantage of living near these great
places. I am especially grateful that I get to teach my children about the
gospel in a way that they can visualize and experience some of what took
place in the great history of the Restoration of the Gospel. My own
testimony was strengthened as once again, I was reminded of the sacrifice of
so many people for this gospel. I wonder if I sacrifice enough, or
sacrifice with the right attitude. I have lots to work on. We're looking
forward to going a similar trip again. There was so much we didn't get to
see - the Johnson Farm, the Morley Farm, Martin Harris' home, etc. If any of
you are interested, we'd love to have you visit us. We could all go
together. For now, we still have room in our mini-van for three other
passengers.

I didn't want to crash your computers, so I've only sent pictures from
Niagra Falls. I will send pictures from the Historic Church sites later on
this week. We hope you're all doing well. We love you.

Natalie

2008-08-19 Michelle's Update

August 19, 2007

Hi Everyone,

It's hard to believe we are starting school this week. It makes it feel like August is over. It's been a really stressful week. It's crazy how fast the time goes and how much we end up cramming into everyday. It's exhausting. I've been in nesting super-drive. I wish I could tone it down. I'm trying. I've rarely seen Hans this stressed. Luckily, he handles it well. We are trying to balance each other out. I try to remain calm when he is panicking and he does the same for me. Which is easier for him since I'm stressing about ridiculous things. I will be happy to have the girls in school and all those preparations finished. Turns out the TCA where Ashley is attending school is a little snobby. I think it will be good once she's started, it's just made my getting ready that much more difficult. I think I am there though. I am SO happy to find out that her teacher is Mrs. Meyers. She is absolutely the teacher I wanted. She is also in class with three of her friends, one being her best friend Kaylee. They are very excited. They are also in ballet together so they spend lots of time with one another. It makes my life easier. I am driving all carpools through september so I can have all of October off. She starts on Thursday. Katelyn starts Tuesday. She is really really really excited now. She is starting gymnastics and a weekly playgroup as well. Busy busy. It is nice to know all this will be in place and going for a month before I have the baby so that we are adjusted to the new schedule.

Justin is doing well. He is napping now. Nice and early. We are struggling with the bedtime and sleeping schedule. I just let him sleep whenever he feels like it, which means he can be up until 10 and still up at 6 and then not so much fun during the day. It will be good to get him on a routine as well. He is an amiable fellow, thank goodness. He is still talking a ton. I love hearing him learn so much everyday. He now can show you where his nose is and says "nose" in a high-pitched voice. He also loves pointing out noses on baby dolls and whatever else has a nose. He also can identify his ears, eyes, and belly-button. He has perfected the word "candy" thanks to the girls birthday party candy being all over the house yesterday. He was wired on lollipops. He cannot rest when candy is around. He just points at it and yells mine. He saw me hide it and prompty pushed his chair over and climbed up onto the counter and searched for it. He's still a hazard.

Other than that I think things are pretty much the same. I look much more pregnant this week than last. At least I think so. I'm 32 weeks now. I get crazy looks still. For exercise I have been putting Justin in the backpack and the girls in the double jogger and walking as fast as I can. It's quite the workout, but people look at me like I am out of my mind. I need a triple jogger, I suppose.

Hans is busy, busy and stressed. He still manages to find time to do some crown moulding for me, play his new x-box, and socialize with friends. We just hope the practice works out and supports our family.

Hope all is well with you.

Michelle

2007-08-12 Natalie's Update

Hello All,

It has been over a month, so I'm due for another round of pictures. I
haven't been taking too many because we spend a lot of our days at the pool,
the zoo, and Children's Museum. I am reluctant to carry around a nice
camera to places where it may get broken. We enjoyed a relatively nice July,
but are now making up for it with lots of hot and HUMID weather. In fact,
the water levels are so low on the reservoir, that a toxic blue-green algae
has formed. Health officials are cautioning anyone from swimming in the
reservoir until the problem can be treated. There goes our night activity.
Brian has been so busy lately that we actually haven't gone out as much on
the boat this summer. It seemed like last summer we went out at least two
or three evenings each week. We are lucky if we make it out once. Brian
has had EQ visits/meetings, focus groups for work, and travel. He leaves
tomorrow afternoon to New Jersey to interview with this healthcare
consulting firm. Then on Thursday, we leave for Kirtland, Palmyra, and
Niagra Falls for our family summer vacation. I am excited to go, but not
looking forward to all the driving.

I can't believe that July passed by so quickly. We definitely kept busy.
We went to the zoo a couple of times and the Children's Museum. I love my
yearly-passes and being able to go as often as we do. However, I don't want
to return until school starts back up. There were so many big kids that
plowed through the little ones. It was nerve-wrecking just trying to keep
an eye on Elsa and Ava in the masses. They didn't seem to mind as much.
They always love it. On one of our zoo trips downtown, Brian picked up the
girls while I cut off 9 inches of my hair. It is a couple of inches longer
in the front, a modern bob. I love it. It is a little higher maintenance
since I can't just leave it wavy, but I can still manage to pull the sides
back into a tiny ponytail. I am now tempted to go even shorter, maybe the
next haircut. It is fun to have a change. My hair has been long for so many
years. Brian has only known me with long hair. After six years, I was due
for something different. Six years of marriage. Time goes by quickly!
We've filled with with lots of other changes - moved three times, two kids,
and finished garduated school. Those are a lot of big accomplishments.

Brian and I spent our anniversary in Chicago. My dear friend, Colleen
Douglas, offered to watch Elsa and Ava overnight so Brian and I could go
away. We figured opportunities like this are rare, so we accepted her offer
and headed north. We packed our bikes and rode along Lake Shore Drive. It
was beautiful weather. We then parked our bikes at Navy Pier and had dinner
along the boardwalk. It was so fun to get away, and even more fun to bike
around the city. Elsa and Ava were absolutely spoiled by the Douglases.
Colleen took them to Ratatouille, bought them popcorn (something I never
do), and then to Toys 'R Us to each pick out a toy to play with for the
weekend. They ate pizza, watched movies, played games, and read the same
books over and over again. Colleen said it was great practice for her
grandchildren. (Her first one is two-months old.) She kept gushing about
how perfect Elsa and Ava are. She said they were so obedient, polite, and
didn't fight or cry. I asked about her magic touch because when we had them
over for dinner the next night the girls were all tears and running wild. I
must have that effect on people. :)

It seems like we always have some project to plan. We spent last weekend
sanding the front-porch section of our house and repainting. I then climbed
two stories on a ladder to wash all the windows. They looked good for one
day until a 5 minute rain storm poured dirt back on them. Oh, well. I'll
cleam them again in another two years. Really, it made such a difference
with our house. We also put in a new doorbell. Our old one had been broken
for over a year. Why do we wait so long? I'll ask this same question six
months from now after we complete another all-day project. There are just
so many other things we'd rather be doing, mostly recreational activities.
Brian especially feels like he can't recreate as much as he'd like to. He
did get up early yesterday morning (6am) and drive to a river with one of
his co-workers, John Kreaggy, and his son Ben. They kayaked 16 miles down a
river. It sounds like they had some adventure when John and Ben were thrown
from their canoe. Brian was safe navigating the waters in his kayak. He
got home around 6pm. That is a full day of recreating! He says he now
can't stop thinking about kayaking. I told him now he knows how I feel about
Vampires! This is of course because I've been reading these young adult
books about a vampire romance. You can say it, I need to grow-up. But it
is fun summer reading for any of you who are looking for a good series.
They are written by Stephenie Meyer and titled "Twilight", "New Moon" and
"Eclipse", which was just released on Tuesday. So far, it has supposedly
sold more copies than Harry Potter #7. So I guess I am not the only one not
acting my age. I think what I love even more than the storyline is that the
author is an English Major from BYU. She wrote the first book after the
birth of her third child. Now she is traveling world on book tours. Now
why can't I do something as inventive with my English degree????

We are really liking Indiana right now. Life is just a little more relaxed
in the summer. Kids and moms are outside visiting and enjoying one another.
I love it! Everything-the pool, the parks, the playdates - just having so
much to do. There has been a lot of families move into our ward recently,
which makes that great too. In fact, we just had an LDS family move into
our neighborhood, right around the corner. They have a four (almost five)
year-old, Emma. She plays so well with Elsa and Ava, which makes it even
better. She invites both girls to come over to her house to play too. I am
grateful because Ava gets left out so often, and Elsa is her favorite
friend. It is so great to watch the girls grow. It is even better to be in
a neighborhood with lots of young kids for them to grow-up with. There are
now five 4-5 year-old girls just in the cult-de-sac. The girls get on their
bikes and ride around or get out their doll strollers and push their baby
dolls back-and-forth between houses. I love it, except for the fact that
90% of the time they end up here. That just makes clean-up more work and
more frequent. Since friends are over quite often, we've been spending a
lot of time around the house running through sprinklers and playing with
sidewalk paint and chalk. Ava loves anything with paint, but more gets on
her legs and arms than the driveway. She thinks she is a walking canvas.

I look at my girls and can't believe how lucky I am to be their mother. I
have to agree with Colleen, most of the time, that they are perfect. Elsa
is my helper and sometimes takes it a little further by implementing her own
rules for Ava or tattling on her. Most of the time she is eager to please
and do what is right. She is constantly drawing. She always has a pen and
paper nearby. She likes practicing her letters and gets great satisfaction
with writing them perfectly. She is also into spelling words right now. I
have pieces of paper all over the house with words written on them. She is
getting very good at drawing details in her pictures like hair bows,
eyelashes, fingers, as well as animals like birds, dogs, cats, horses. She
keeps on drawing and drawing. She may be our little artist. She is also a
fabulous swimmer. She now dives for sticks in the deep end of the pool. The
first time she wanted to show me, I told her that it was way too deep for
her. She then ducked under water and seconds later came up with the diving
sticks. She jumps in the deep now without anyone nearby and swims to the
end. I am amazed at good she truly has become at swimming. When she has a
goal, she goes all the way. I am eager to get her back into swim lessons in
hopes that she'll improve enough this year to be able to join the swim team.
Elsa is excited to start back at preschool. She knows that soon after, it
is her birthday. We have frequent chats about what she wants for her cake,
what friends she wants to invite, and what activities she wants to do. She
has it all planned out without any ideas from me. Luckily, she is simple
and easy to please. I can't believe she'll be five. When did I get so old?


Ava, lately, has been a fireball - or better said - goofball. She thinks it
is so funny to say "bum" or "bummy" with anything. It is hard sometimes not
to laugh at her because she gets this mischevious twinkle in her eye and
goofy smile when she says it. She also likes to expose her "bummy."
Countless times during the day I have to tell Ava to put her underwear back
on. A part of it is the frequent bathroom visits. Underwear is just a
hassle! She is coming out of her shy reserved self and turning into a
tease. She loves to tell stories, usually at 10:30 at night. She can talk
and talk and talk. Anything to delay bedtime. (Brian says she gets her
gift of gab from me. I can't deny it after seeing how long this email is.)
I just love her when she isn't being stubborn and driving me crazy. That is
a phrase she often says to me. "Mom, you're driving me trazy." (She uses
the "td" sound for "k" still.) It always makes me laugh, but I wonder if I
should try to teach her that she should show more respect to me. Maybe she
might if I could discipline with a straight face! Until then, I'll have an
irreverent naked 3 year-old, who couldn't be sweeter or "tuter."

I hope you're all well. We miss you.
Love,
Natalie

2007-08-12 Michelle's Update

August 12, 2007

Hi Everyone,

All the pictures are from today since I thought the camera was broken. I dropped it at the pool. Turns out it was just the batteries that were dead. Oops. I was all set on purchasing a newer, fancier, and better camera. I'm glad I don't have to.

We've been having hot weather and lots of fun thunder storms. They are impressive. The girls enjoy them. We go race popsicle sticks down the gutters. Justin loves this game. Justin loves to wear my high heels around the house. He'll look up at me, smile, and say "pribby shoe." It's his first two word combo. Once again making his daddy proud. He is really all boy despite the shoes and interest in "pribby wowers (flowers)." I have been forced into getting a leash for my son. I almost lost him twice this week. It drains me emotionally and physically. If I turn my head for a split second, he's gone. And he thinks it's funny to go run straight into the middle of the street and watch the cars come at him. I feel blessed to have kept him alive up to this point. Hans thinks he's funny. It's cute, but wearing. I gave him a haircut yesterday. I can't go anywhere without a comment on his hair and what a cute person he is. I've signed 3 waivers this summer for random photographers who have taken his pictures. Enough bragging:)

The girls are enjoying the hotter weather. We've been to the pool everyday. They love jumping on the trampoline with the sprinklers on underneath it. We are SO lucky to have so many neighbor girls. We don't have to leave to find playmates.

Attached is a picture of me at 31 weeks pregnant. 8 weeks to go.

Hans finished the crown moulding in our bedroom. Only 2 bedrooms to go:)

Hope all is well with you,

Michelle

2007-08-07 Melanie's Update

My dad informed me that it has been 6 weeks since my last update. I thought it was longer than that, so I am happy. If I was cooler I would be doing a blog, but I am sticking with what I know. Eventually, I will be blogging.

We have had an eventful few weeks. We went camping in the Uintahs with some friends, went to Lagoon a couple of times with cousins and Grandma and Grandpa, and took a trip to visit Michelle in Colorado Springs. This past weekend Jeff's parents were here for my niece's baptism, which was really nice. We enjoy having family stuff to keep us busy. It makes us feel like we can compete with the never ending family activities of our neighbors. I am running the Provo half-marathon on Saturday and Jeff and I are training for the Ogden triathlon in September. I tried swimming laps on Monday morning, and I am nervous I am going to drown in Pineview. Perhaps I will wear a life jacket. We are getting lots of exercise around here. I ran 6 miles, biked 15, and did an hour of yoga on Saturday. And yesterday I swam laps, ran a few miles, and did more yoga. Today I am tired. Jeff ran and biked yesterday as well.

Our kids are doing well. We went to Cherry Hill yesterday and today and it wears them out. They are watching movies now to wind down a little before gymnastics this afternoon. Andrew is currently obsessed with his next birthday party--he will tell you it is in about 11 weeks and then he asks me what 7 times 11 is to figure out how many days. 11 weeks sounds shorter to him than 77 days, so he usually sticks with that. He is planning the games he wants to play and he told me he has to have a Batman cake, so that I had better borrow a cake pan. I guess he doesn't assume I might buy one. He asks me how much money he would have if he got 10,000 pennies and if that would be enough to buy a pogo stick. His friend has one, and he wants one badly. We found a BMX track when we were driving to CO and Andrew rode his bike up and down the dirt hills like a pro. We were proud parents.

Elizabeth loves gymnastics and she is good at it. My neighbor asked me if Elizabeth had been working out because her legs look so muscley and defined. She just does gymnastics. She is good at doing backwards somersaults and backbends over our exercise ball. She loves it. I started practicing the piano with her and she has learned all of her Twinkles and part of Honey Bee. We are going to start her in piano lessons in a couple of months. She is also an excellent swimmer and likes to jump off the side of the pool over and over again. She is still our cuddly girl and will sit next to me and stroke my arm. I love her.

Anna is a pest right now. She likes to whine and throw tantrums. When she isn't doing those things, she is really sweet and mellow. She is talking in full sentences all the time now and it makes her seem so grown up. She wishes so badly that she could do gymnastics and swim by herself like Andrew and Elizabeth, but she also enjoys being the baby and knows how to get her way in everything.

Our big news is that Jeff is planning to quit his job at the end of September and start his own franchise that does taxes and accounting for small businesses. We are deliberating doing the franchise in Davis County or moving to Fort Collins, CO. Anybody been there? We are both stressed at even the thought of having to put all of our stuff in boxes and move it, so we will see what happens.

Take care,
Melanie

2007-08-03 Michelle's Update

August 3, 2007

Hi Everyone,

It feels like forever since I have "updated." Lots has gone on, as usual. Melanie and her family just left a couple of hours ago. It was great fun to have them here. The kids just play and play and play. They are all exhausted. Melanie was able to come to the YMCA with me and to our new pool. We kept busy. My kids will suffer withdrawel. Good thing it's the weekend and we have Hans here tomorrow all day. We joined our local swimming pool, which is great. It's a 2 minute drive and the kids love it. I was tired of being hot and feeling stuck in my house. It's a salt water chlorine, which sold me on the pool. It's SO nice. Melanie assures me it's not hot here. She had a blanket around her sitting outside, but she's used to over 100.

Attached are pictures from the pool of the girls swimming and of Justin pushing around the shopping cart. He's busy pushing things around. He loves to do that. Also of Ashley with her backpack filled with her school supplies and of the girls after a luau party we went to. I think that's all.

Justin is 16 months old officially and a great talker. I've been impressed. He used to say "bu" and do" for bug and dog, but now he can say the g sound on the end. He can say: ball, bug, dog, bike, car, down, up, buckle, waffle, bite, bottle (bobble), milk, cookie (this is my favorite and he says it perfectly), water, mine, no, mommy, daddy, ashley, out, na-night, and more, I am sure. These are the words you can actually understand clearly. He's really an amazing talker for a 16 month old.

The girls are well. Ashley is excited for school. She has turned into an amazing swimmer. She isn't timid anymore. She is great with just her arm floaties and will jump in and bob around and swim under the water. She's made a ton of improvement this year. I'm excited to get her in swim lessons eventually. I've had a hard time committing two weeks to something. I enjoy my flexibility:) She starts soccer in the fall. Katelyn is my social butterfly who plays well with everyone. She's a great friend. She is not so excited to start pre-school, but excited to start gymnastics while Ashley's in school.

Hans is his usual busy self. He purchased an x-box "for the office" so he says. It's pretty fun, actually. I enjoy the old-school games with way less violence and no bad language. He bought these for the kids at the office who are waiting. Hopefully we have people waiting at some point. They've started construction.

I'm 30 weeks pregnant and oh so very tired. I can't sleep at night, which is frustrating. Luckily the baby seems to be doing well and my uterus is holding up (too much information?). I had an ultrasound yesterday to make sure the scar was not stretching too far and the lining was thick enough. It is. I've had a lot of pain, which is unusual. They are cautious with someone like me who's had way too many c-sections this close together. I have to go in weekly for monitoring. Lucky me. I've been advised to space the next one further away, assuming my uterus can handle another pregnancy. I still have to shoot for my 7, right? I get lots of crazy looks from people. I've learned to just smile and assume they are envious. I feel so grateful that my children are so well behaved and just nice people and that I have a supportive husband and several really good friends who are willing to help me out. Seeing the baby in the ultrasound made me excited to deliver and have a new person in the house. I stayed strong and still told them not to tell me the gender of the baby. It will still be a surprise.

Well, that's all!

Hope all is well with you,

Michelle